Featuring @ask-red-and-solomon's Zach.
Lore under the cut:
Dreaming.
He was dreaming again.
But instead of the horrific red beast chasing him, he was solemn. Quiet. He knew he was dreaming. He looked around, wishing that it was real, as he was outside. The sky was blue, no buildings in sight.
Just him, standing atop what appeared to be a mountain range.
Then, ahead of him, he saw the shape of a person. Brown hair, a green shirt, their back to him as they were kneeling before a rocky outcropping.
He approached carefully, as RED had tricked him many times before with another human in his dreams.
"Hello?"
The person turned to look back at him, offering a crooked smile and closing his eyes as he spoke, "Hey Zach. How are you?"
Zach felt tears prick his eyes as he closed the gap and sat down next to the person. It was him, but... not him. This felt like a real interaction, not a dream state he normally he found himself in.
"I'm... I'm not good," He looked at the shorter brown haired version of himself and placed his arms on the outcropping, trying his best to keep his scars hidden. "How are you?"
The other Zach's smile remained for a moment, before he noticed that Zach was not smiling with him. His expression slowly dropped as he fiddled with the bracelet on his left wrist, "Honestly? Things are good. Not perfect, but... Stable."
Zach's tears streamed down his cheeks as he held back a sob, "I don't... I don't know if you've gone through what I went through, but- Does... Do you ever feel completely fine?"
He clenched his hand on his wrist as he held back another sob, "Does it ever stop hurting?"
The other Zach reached over and patted his alternate self on the shoulder, "I can't tell you how your version of reality is gonna shake out." He smiled again, nodding, "But I think, if anything, you're going to make it. We always do. I've never met another me that couldn't beat that asshole."
Zach wiped his eyes as he smiled at the notion that he was resilient, no matter what reality he was in.
The dream started to fade, Zach watched as the other Zach started to turn to dust before him, "Wait! What do I do? How do I beat him?"
The other Zach shrugged, "Don't lose hope. Don't give up. He can't win if you're alive."
Zach blinked and before he knew it, he was staring at the ceiling in his room. Reality flooding back to his mind.
"He can't win if you're alive..." He whispered as he closed his eyes and sighed.
