The sky twisted with dark grey clouds, foreboding of the misfortune that would inevitably take place. The forest surrounded the small hut of which was placed on the edge of their land, Dream and Nightmare were full grown adults at this point, having watched many generations of their Followers come and go, but even though their bodies were old their understanding of the world was still quite young and ignorant.

The woman with the label of Maledizione was young, with silky short black hair and fierce blue eyes. Yet, even with her fierce look, she swayed and glided from room to room, each room filled with tables crowded with different potions and liquids atop. Dream and Nightmare felt bad for the woman, who was in her early twenties, for she had no Leader at all, no purpose to serve. As a result, she had dedicated herself to studying magical liquids known as potions, an idea given to her by Dream himself. 'Why don't you study some potions?' Dream had inquired when she was only of 15 years, 'You could help others when sick or in need.'

It had been eight years since that day, and her whole life had revolved around potions. The only books she owned were about potions, beakers filled with different things were in every room. At random times the twins of Light and Dark would visit her, and she would always greet them with a small wave and the nod of her head. Sometimes she wouldn't even talk to them, but they would tell her stories just to talk to her.

They both had plenty of stories to share.

And this day had started off no different than the rest, the Leaders entering her back door since the front was crowded by boxes of ingredients. Maledizione was reading a book with glasses on her face, her firm eyes glancing up at the two as they entered.

"Hello!" Dream said, wildly waving at her the best he could.

She didn't respond, but Nightmare waved less excitedly at her anyway as Dream stepped over a small crate full of bottles on the ground, sitting down at the chair next to her.

"What are you reading today?" Dream asked, peering over her shoulder.

"It's a specific mixture for a specific potion," She mumbled, not looking up from the material, "Sleeping potion, in case someone gets a disease."

"Oh wow, that seems really cool!" He said, his pupils sparkling with interest as he gazed upon the book within her grasp.

"What would you even use a sleeping potion for?" Nightmare asked, sitting down on the other side of her.

"People who are sick and have no cure, it pauses their body in time, and traps their soul, a curse," She explained more thoroughly.

"Oh, you're looking at the darker potions, huh?" Nightmare asked, "Curses instead of healers."

"Just don't use them for evil," Dream laughed.

"Not too much evil, that is," Nightmare agreed, "Maybe for a little prank, as long as you wake them up sometime shortly after. Is there a counter spell?"

"This is the section of the book where all of these have no known counter spells," Her response was sharp, much more interested into the conversation than before, "So if someone created this and decided to use it, they wouldn't be able to escape."

"H*ll yeah, let's make it and use it on that one guy who ate my steak," Nightmare said, leaning in.

"No, let's not make it!" Dream quickly said, attempting to push him away.

Nightmare jerked away from his hand, since it was near his skull and he didn't want to get tapped. Neither of them had been tapped since Dream has just been blessed again, so they both were on equal terms and were able to attack at any moment. Dream grinned widely at him while Nightmare narrowed his eye sockets, challenging each other to a duel.

"Do you really want to do it here?" Dream challenged, slowly standing up from his chair, scraping it across the wooden floor.

"Doesn't matter, I'll win either way," Nightmare giggled, standing up slowly as well.

They both stared at each other for a minute before they both lunged, both of them trying to tap each others skulls and also trying at the same time to dodge the other, so they ended up colliding with each other with their arms out and their heads bent at awkward angles no human would be able to get. They both jumped back before using the table to separate themselves.

"Not now," The human between them uttered, but it reached neither of their attention since they both were interested in the game far more.

There would never be a winner, but that didn't matter to either of them. They were having fun with each other, and that really is what counted.

When Dream started to move towards the right, Nightmare would move to the left, keeping them the same, if not more, distance apart. Nightmare suddenly picked up a writing utensil nearby and threw it at Dream, yelling out the word "UNBLESSED!" as the object smacked him in the face.

"Aw, missed the head," Nightmare teased.

"Did you seriously just throw that at me?" Dream asked, frowning, "You're a big meanie, you know that?"

"A big meanie who's going to win!" Nightmare had laughed, launching himself halfway over the table to try and tap Dream, who jumped to the side to dodge.

That wasn't a good move.

From that action, Dream had accidently jumped into a large shelved cabinet which was filled to the brim with potions, which of course was tipped over due to Dream's actions. The two twins quickly used his magic in order to catch the shelved cabinet, their dark and light magic residue catching the large wooden object. However, they forgot about the potions of which were stationed on the many shelves of the cabinet, which slide off at the angle they had caught it. As a result, they all shattered on the floor, bright glowing liquid splattering over everything and covering the floor before seeping between the cracks of the floorboards.

"WHAT DID YOU GUYS DO?" Maledizione had yelled, her usually once firm eyes wide and full of fear and surprise.

"I am so sorry!" Dream quickly said, standing up from the cabinet as Nightmare stared wide socketed at the situation unfolding between them.

And, of course, the situation thus far could only get worse.

Since the two were distracted by the mess that was created because of their ignorance to their surroundings, they both lost focus of their magic holding up the large wooden item, causing it to fall over past dream and smash into the table that Maledizione had once been working at, shattering the two into wooden splintered pieces immediately. The dark haired girl screamed out as years of work and effort, in just two movements, was completely destroyed.

Dream could only stare at the mess unfolded out before him with hands covering his teeth in shock. Potions were a slow and hard craft which took years to practice. Ingredients these days were hard to find and often rare, so they had to be treated with care. Over a hundred potions, each precious and carefully crafted, was destroyed in just one minute.

They weren't paying attention.

They shouldn't have acted like children.

He broke out of his trance when Nightmare had quickly moved to kneel down next to the owner of the destroyed products, stating, "We'll clean up, don't worry. We can get some people to build you some new things, and we can help you find those-"

The human suddenly shoved him back, her hair covering her eyes as her mouth was turned into a frown, some tears streaming down her pale cheeks.

"GO!" She yelled, her voice shaking, "JUST GO! I HATE YOU!"

Nightmare stood up as Dream reached out and tried to comfort her, only to receive her smacking his wrist.

"LEAVE!" When she looked up at him as she shouted that, her eyes were burning with a passionate hatred, one of which he knew was justified by his foolishness, "JUST LEAVE! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"

Nightmare grabbed Dream, who looked back at his brother in confusion. The Prince of Darkness shook his head, knowing there was no use. She wouldn't listen to them. They could try again next week, when she calmed down.

Dream sighed before nodding lightly, allowing for himself to be lead out of the once happy cabin that he had loved to visit. They both knew it was his fault, but Nightmare never raised his voice at Dream for making her hate him, never frowned at him for something he was responsible for. If only Dream had spoke up about his feelings, then Nightmare would've admitted that he felt as if it was himself for the cause, since he was the one who dove at the table and started the whole game, then perhaps fate would have been kinder.

But instead, as fate is not kind, Dream and Nightmare simply walked back to their horses in silence, both insisting inside of their minds that it was indeed their own fault and not the others. Guilt and shame were placing themselves within the souls of both, and they would remain there for sometime.