Breaking point
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In which Dream fucks up.
Pretty-fucking-badly.
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    Your jaw dropped and your questions battled each other for which one to be asked first. . "Tommy and Wilbur are what!? Why!? And by who? Who's the president?! I didn't even know L'manburg had a president!"

   "It's Manburg now." He corrected you in a smug tone - a tone you hadn't missed at all. "And much has happened since you left. Many new people have come to Manburg now."

   Oh, that mustn't be very pleasant for Dream. Was that why he was here? He loved to be in control, and now 'Manburg' was being controlled by someone else.

   "I'm going to help them." You mumbled as you put back on your jacket but Dream stepped in front of the door, blocking your way out.

   "No, you aren't. (Y/n), remember that Tommy and Wilbur were the ones throwing you out in the first place. Besides, don't you have a village to go to tomorrow?"

   You frowned. "How do you know that?"

   "I told you. I know everything."

   "Well, I don't care." You tried going around him. "Wilbur and Tommy's lives might be in danger. And they're my friends too. I guess my old friend will have to wait a little bit longer."

   "I already promised you that I'd protect Tommy from the shadows. You don't know it, but I'm partly on their side now. They are teaming with me so I can help them against the president."

   "Oh, they're teaming with you now? That's comforting, thanks Dream. Now I don't want to go at all." You said sarcastically as you tried pushing him aside. He wouldn't budge.

   "It might be your only chance of finding your friend. Such contest won't be held again."

   You froze. He was right. This might be your only chance to find your friend. Were you really going to blow that chance, just because Tommy and Wilbur may need your help? Techno was already there for them after all...

   But so was Dream. And you didn't trust him. You knew that there was more to this than what he told you. Something was happening in L'manburg, you could feel it. Besides, you weren't even sure that your old friend would show up at the contest. It was only a small possibility.

   "I guess I'll have to hurry then."

   "I'm not letting you return to Manburg." Dream said, taking a hold of your arms, keeping you in place. You writhed out of his grip, pushing him away.

   "Dude, why do you care so much? Look, I appreciate you telling me, but this isn't any of your business. Now would you so kindly either tell me why I can't walk out of that door or step the fuck aside." Your voice was stern, almost threatening.

   Once again Dream hesitated but your angry gaze made him speak up. "Because of Schlatt. The president. He's a manipulative, power-seeking hypocrite, and I would like for you to stay away from him. Until it's safe, at least."

   You almost laughed. "Says the one power-seeking hypocrite about the other. That's cute."

    "This isn't funny. He's nothing like me."

   "K. Now, step away from the door before I jump out of the window."

   "You're not going anywhere."

   "And what, you expect me to stay here, just because you say so?"

   "Yes."

   "Well, I'm not."

   Dream bit his lip and cursed under his breath. Of course, the reason was much deeper than that, but he couldn't tell you. The real reason he didn't want you to go back to Manburg was that he actually cared about you. You had been the love of his life for crying out loud, before he screwed everything up. And if Schlatt found out that you were important to him, he'd use you against him. And he couldn't let that happen. He needed to stay in control. It was the only thing he knew how to.

   He needed to say something - to come up with a lie, that would prevent you from going because right now, it didn't seem like you listened to him at all.

   "Schlatt has killed many people. He going to start another war, and you don't want to be there when that happens." Dream tried, raising his voice as well.

   "That's another reason why they need my help!" You argued, looking back to debate if jumping out of the window would be worth it. It sure did seem like a better escape route.

   Dream pulled his hair in frustration. Why were you so stubborn? Couldn't you see he was just trying to help you here?

   He needed to think quickly. He needed to say something, that would make you lose all of your motivation to go. And there was only one thing he could think of in the heat of the moment.

   Being as desperate as ever for you to stay safe and sound, Dream said something he didn't quite think through. "Schlatt killed your friend, (Y/n)! He's dead!"

   Dream might as well have punched all the air out of your lungs. You hovered over, eyes wide and heart forgetting to function. Your mind stopped, only focusing on the words he had just said.

   "W-What?" You stammered, losing complete track of where you were or how to keep balance. That couldn't be true. Dream had just said himself that there was a possibility for your friend to be at the competition. And now he was dead? How would he even know?

   "You're lying." You said slowly, trying to convince yourself. "You're lying. That's not funny, Dream."

   Dream couldn't take it back so now the only option was to make the lie believable. It was weird speaking about himself in third person. "It's true. I was there. It was at another competition one year ago. The village it was held in had scammed Schlatt on some kind of deal, and he wasn't too happy with it. So he decided to make his men kill every single villager - your friend being mistaken for one as well. Schlatt knew me so his men weren't after me. But I saw Schlatt kill your friend. He planted his sword deep in his chest, taking away his last life."

   What was he doing? He was literally just talking out of his ass but he just couldn't let you fall into Schlatt's claws. That would be the end of both him an you.

   "You're lying!" You repeated, yelling this time. "How would you even know who my friend was? How can you be sure it was him?!"

   "Because he repeatedly said your name when he died. Besides..." Dream took something out of his pocket. A golden amulet that you recognized immediately. "I took this from his dead body when Schlatt left. I thought it was pretty. It has your name on it too. You made it, didn't you?"

   You took a faltering step backward, a tear escaping your eye. That, right there, was an amulet you had made for your friend a long time ago. If Dream somehow had it, it could only mean that they had at least met. But he could still be lying right? Was this just a wicked attempt to make you stay here?

   Dream saw you weren't fully convinced and so he decided to take it a step further. "In order to make a loadstone compass, you have to have an item of the person you're going to track. I had the amulet, and I was going to help you find your friend. But the compass didn't work. It malfunctioned right away. Do you know why?"

A/N: Just pretend that's how a loadstone compass works, lol

   "You can't track the dead..." you mumbled in a whisper. Your blood turned cold.

   Dream nodded. His method was working, you weren't trying to escape anymore. "That's when I put the pieces together. That the girl your friend had so desperately whispered the name of when he died was you. And he had been the friend you had talked about for so long."

   Dream took out a compass from his bag. He held up the golden amulet and tried to fuse the two objects together. It succeeded, but the magnetic needle was just pointing to the place it had been created - just like a mal-functioned compass would do. Dream spun around, clarifying.

   You felt as if your organs stopped working. That was the only proof you needed. It was true. Your friend was really dead.

   But what you didn't know was that the compass was indeed working. It didn't point to where the compass had been created, it was pointing to Dream. But of course, you didn't know that. This was truly one of his 1000 IQ moments.

   He had realized that he could make you believe anything regarding your old friend - or well, regarding himself. Your feelings would overshadow your logic. He knew you.

   It was a good thing he had kept the amulet you once had given him. It was the perfect evidence.

   Dream looked at your crying face, with a small smile on his face. He knew you wouldn't return to Manburg now - because you wouldn't be able to look Schlatt in the eyes, without being reminded of your dear friend. And that'd be too had for your little self.

   The only thing that could make you return now was if you wanted revenge. To kill Schlatt. But again, Dream knew you, and killing someone was something you would never do.

   Of course, Dream cared a whole lot about you. He didn't like to see you cry. You had been his whole world once.

   But he cared about power more. And if he had to hurt you in order to keep his power and make sure you wouldn't be used against him, then so be it.

   "I guess that means you'll be staying here for a little while longer." Dream kneeled in front of you, patting your back. You had fallen to the floor, sobbing. You wanted to scream, cry, punch, anything to let your emotions out. But all you could do was sob silently.

   He was gone. He was really gone. The one goal you have had in your life had just been taken away from you. The one person you had ever truly loved had been killed. By Schlatt. A person you didn't even know.

   You felt the world turn grey around you. This was your fault. His death. It was because you let him go. Because you had waited so long to search for him again. If only you had been there. Then he'd be alive. If you hadn't let him go, he would still be here.

   You couldn't breathe.

   "I'll make sure to make Techno hurry, okay?" Dream spoke emotionless as he made his way out of the door. His work here was done. He was sure that you wouldn't dare to follow him back, with the lies he had just fed you.

   But oh, how wrong he was.

   Because as you laid there on the floor, drowning in your own misery, anger slowly began to blossom up inside of you, replacing every other emotion with such force that you completely forgot how it was to feel anything other than that burning anger.

   Your constant gasps for air came to an end as your mind became determined. You slowly sat up, clenching your fists so hard that blood started running from your palms.

   And a realization started forming in your mind.

   This wasn't your fault.

   It was all Schlatt's. It was by his hands your friend had died. His fault.

   At some point, people will break you so badly, that you'll become unbreakable. And Schlatt's actions had caused your breaking point.

   And you didn't care about what your morals once were.

Because you were going to kill that son of a bitch.

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FANART BY Escitora_san , HOLY HECK, GIVE IT SOME LOVE!!! <3