Ladies, gentlemen, and my non-binary babes,
let me present to you the chapter you've all been waiting for.

Realization
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In which Gog the builder can't fix this one
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The first thing you thought about when you slowly began regaining consciousness, was how the hell you had lost it in the first place. You didn't recall getting knocked out by someone, nor did you remember the moments before fainting. It was as if your body had just gone 'aight, Imma head out' without any sort of warning.

But it wasn't necessarily a bad thing you weren't awake. Because right now, as you were in some sort of in-between of being out cold and being awake, your thoughts slowly began collecting themselves together. You began to think again, something your body hadn't allowed you to when you had been in the van with Schlatt.

And the reason it allowed you to now, was because you didn't feel any anger. Or panic. You felt at peace, which is what you could expect when not being conscious.

You started remembering Schlatt's last words. How he had kept denying everything you had said, everything you had accused him of doing. In the heat of the moment, you had been too much in a trance to actually let his words sink in. And even if you hadn't, you doubted you would've believed him. But now that you looked back, you remembered the truthful tone in his voice and the confused look on his face that screamed 'I-genuinely-don't-know-what-the-heck-this-woman-is-talking-about'.

And that didn't make sense to you at all. He was Schlatt. He was a maniac, a hypocrite - if he had killed your friend, he would've admitted it proudly, not act like you were talking nonsense.

"I haven't killed anyone. The person who told you that is full of shit." He had said as you were about to kill him. That was one of the only things you could remember from the van. You were pretty good at telling whether or not people were lying, if you said so yourself. And looking back, you were afraid this might not have been the case. Maybe Schlatt hadn't been lying.

And that led you back to Dream.

It was him, who had told you the tragedy of your friend's death. Not Schlatt. It was Dream who had given you the amulet as proof to what he said was true. And him, who had shown you the compass didn't work when getting fused with that amulet.

The amulet was all the proof you needed to know that Dream had met your dying friend. But nothing proved that Schlatt had been the one doing the kill. You had just been so naive to believe what Dream had told you - because what would he obtain by lying about such a thing?

And of course, you just had to question Dreams credibility after you had gone completely crazy on Schlatt. Then again, the only reason you were able to do so now, was because the unquenchable fire that had burned inside of you ever since that conversation with Dream, simply didn't exist when you were unconscious. So now you just hoped this realization would stay with you when you woke up.

And speaking of which, you felt yourself getting dragged more and more into reality. But it was hard to just lean back and let it happen. You still had so many unanswered questions.

If Dream really had lied to you, what was his reason for doing so? Was he covering for the person who had truly killed your friend? Maybe he had done it himself? Or maybe you were overthinking stuff just because you hadn't succeeded in getting your revenge, and this was your mind trying to cope with it. Trying to get over the fact that you had failed your old friend and wouldn't ever get your revenge.

You couldn't think your way to the answer. At least not in right here, in this weird mind-space.

So the only option was to wake up.

Out of nowhere, you felt yourself gasp for air. The very first thing your body wanted to do when waking up, was continuing to punch, scream and cry like it had done right before you fainted. But your body was beyond exhausted, and every little movement seemed to drain you from energy. Your eyes were swollen and had no tears left to cry, so you couldn't even do that either.

And the feelings you had lacked while being unconscious completely overwhelmed you.

The first you felt was anger. A wave of boiling anger that filled every inch of your already shaking body, making your body-temperature rise at full speed. You were furious at Dream and Techno for interfering. It was all because of them your plan hadn't worked. Now, it wasn't just Schlatt who had ruined your life, it was them too.

The next feeling was sadness. A sadness, so strong it almost suffocated you. All of your preparations had been for nothing. You weren't ever going to be okay again. You had been so close to your goal, only to get beaten inches before reaching the finish line. You had failed. You had failed so badly, that it almost made your life lose its meaning.

And the third feeling? Well, it was something you've never felt before. You'd describe it as a mixture of the other two, but that couldn't cover it. This feeling was so extreme you were afraid your heart would give up upon feeling it. It made your insides twist, your jaw clench so harshly, you were afraid it'd go off joints.

And then you realized that it wasn't an unfamiliar feeling that had hit you. It was the very realization from before. About Schlatt. About Dream.

You honestly didn't know what to think or what to believe. You just knew that you needed to talk with Dream. He had some serious explaining to do before you ripped his head off.

And with that goal in mind, you started getting aware of your surroundings. You were in a place you've never been before, in a bed you didn't recognize. But even though the place, that was clearly a small house, was unfamiliar, a familiar scent of cinnamon filled your nostrils. It awoke all of your senses, and you started to hear the sound of running water right outside a window. You blinked your eyes until they were focused enough to get a proper look at the house.

There wasn't much furniture, but what was there, was all made out of dark wood. The house had a red mushroom theme going on. There were matching red curtains and carpets with white dots on them all over the place. The carpet was placed unevenly on the floor, leading you to believe it had been put there in a rush. There was a couple of paintings to your right, a George to your left, and a-

Wait, a what to your what now?

"Hi, (Y/n)" George greeted calmly from beside you.

He awoke all of your alarms, and you sat up within the blink of an eye, hands about to summon your sword. But when you saw the peaceful look on his face, you immediately began to relax. The guy's eyes were as innocent as ever. He sat on a chair, legs crossed, beside the bed you were laying in. He was even wearing a comfortable outfit.

You've never really had anything against the goggle-wearing guy from the dream team. You used to dislike him just because he was associated with the bad guys, but he had never done anything to you specifically. Well, besides from when he had pressed his sword against your neck at the festival, preventing you from helping Tubbo. That sure hadn't been fun, but even then, he had at least been polite.

"It's a good thing you're awake. I was starting to worry." George continued as if the two of you were friends. As if you hadn't fought against one another in a whole-ass war. And speaking of war, you didn't recall George participating in this one. Where had he been? And where were you?

"George, what- where am I?" You asked, trying your best to calm yourself down. Everything that had just happened with Schlatt was still in your mind, and your anger hadn't faded away yet. At all.

"We're in my house! I just build it! Isn't it nice?"

Your eyes went round, looking at him like he was mad. "You build a house? But... We're in a war."

George chuckled a little, looking down. "Yeah, I, uh... I know. It's not like I didn't want to help Manburg out, but I knew we were going to lose. Besides, it was Dream's idea for me to distract myself by building a house. He doesn't like it when I'm out there, risking my life and all."

You flinched upon hearing Dream's name. You looked sick. You felt sick. And George noticed. He placed a hand on your shoulder, asking if you needed some water.

"How did I get here?" You demanded to know, wondering if George even knew how you had almost killed his president. That you had completely lost control of your own actions not too long ago. That you had lost your mind, and that you'd probably lose it again when you discovered the truth, no matter what it was.

"Dream brought you here not too long ago. He told me to take care of you and stay away from Manburg while I'm at it. He said Manburg had lost the war. He said that-" George paused, now looking scared. He eyed you carefully, wondering whether or not he dared to finish his sentence.

"He said what?" Your voice was dry. You could feel where this was going.

"Uhm... Schlatt's dead. He died."

Your heart stopped right then and there. Sweat started dancing down your body, and for a moment, you thought you were going to throw up. You honestly didn't remember much from when you had completely lost it back in the van, but you were sure you had seen a puddle of blood on Schlatt's shirt. Blood, caused by you. "Was... Was it... Me?"

You didn't know what you wanted him to answer. If he said yes, then you'd be happy, right? You'd finally be satisfied. You would've achieved your goal. You would finally have peace. But then again, if Schlatt hadn't killed your friend... If Dream had lied to you, that meant you had just killed an innocent man. That you had turned into the one thing you despised the most for absolutely no reason at all. You wouldn't be able to live with yourself.

But if he said no... That would be even worse, right? Because that meant, that if Dream had told you the truth and Schlatt in fact had killed your friend, that meant you would never get your revenge. Ever. That you'd live the rest of your life in the same amount of pain you had lived the last few weeks in. Probably even worse. You'd never be able to rest.

"I... I don't know, actually. He just said that he died. He was in a rush, you see"

You needed to find Dream. You needed to find him right now before you lost your mind. That is, if it wasn't already lost by now. You needed to know the truth.

"Where did Dream go afterward?"

George thought about it for a moment. "He hurried back to Manburg. He said something about how he wanted to see the 'show' in person."

The show? What show? The war was over, Geroge had just said it himself.

And then your eyes widened, blood leaving your face. "The TNT. Wilbur. Shit!"

"The TNT?" George questioned in his British accent, following you as you got up from the bed.

Maybe it wouldn't be the smartest thing to tell George, but you didn't have time to think it over. "Wilbur is going to blow up Manburg! Dream gave him the TNT to do it, I bet they-"

"No."

You blinked. "What?"

George shook his head and crossed his arms. "There's no way. I've known Dream for almost five years, and he would never help Wilbur with something like that."

You were about to tell him that his picture of Dream was absolutely distorted and that he couldn't be more wrong when you froze. "Wait, George... What did you just say?"

"I know Dream wouldn't help Wilbur do something like-"

"-No, no. The other thing!"

"I've known Dream for almost five years?"

And just like that, the last puzzle piece fell into place. A puzzle, you hadn't even known existed until this very moment, but now everything started to make sense.

You took a faltering step backward, eyes wide in realization. George's words had just opened the door to a possibility you hadn't dared to think about before.

George noticed he had hit the right spot and decided to elaborate, even though he didn't know why you were so confused at this. "Yeah, Sapnap and I met him at a contest, he and Sapnap were participating in. It feels like ages ago."

George seemed to smile a little at the memory. You, on the other hand, felt like the world as you knew it began to crumble. Your body threatened to faint again.

"A-a contest, you say?" You almost couldn't breathe. Five years ago, was when your friend had left you for a stupid contest. And not so long after, George and Sapnap had met Dream at a contest. But that couldn't mean... You refused to believe it...

And then all of the similarities hit you at once. The way Dream laughed (or well, wheezed), the way he walked, the way he fought. Heck, even the way he fiddled with his gloves when he became impatient suddenly felt way too familiar to you. His dirty blonde locks sticking out from under his hood and behind his mask. Even his voice hit way too close to home, even though it was much deeper...

Moments you've had with Dream started flooding your head. How he had completely frozen the first time he saw you. How he would always be able to read you like an open book - know exactly what you would say before even saying it, like he knew you better than you knew yourself. How Techno had said that you reminded him of a special someone from his past.

You remembered the conversation between you and Dream, when Dream had just killed Tommy in their duel. You had asked Dream if killing people was easy. Dream had leaned against a tree, looking up into the sky. "Well... It became easy over the years. At first, it wasn't. I was reminded by a special someone every time I tried to."

You remember huffing, before saying: "You don't seem like the type of person who has a special someone."

And Dream had then replied with: "I think you'd be surprised."

And so... What if you didn't just remind Dream of that special someone?

What if... What if you were that special someone?

What if the one you had looked for all this time had been right in front of you, hiding behind a mask?

It all made sense. How Dream's fingerless gloves were almost identical to the ones you've made for your friend. Why the amulet was under his possession. And that day, in Techno's house, where Dream had convinced you the loadstone compass, he had just made of your old friend, didn't work because he was dead... He had led you to believe it just pointed to the place it had been created, just like a broken compass would do. But it hadn't been pointing the place it had gotten created. It had been pointing to him, hadn't it?

You covered your mouth with a pair of shaking hands, your eyes tearing up. All this time... This whole time, he had been right in front of you.

How could you have been so blind?

You could just be overthinking things. But the evidence seriously made you doubt it.

You needed to find Dream. Right now. You needed answers. You needed explaining. If Schlatt being alive hadn't corrupted your mind enough, the possibility of Dream's true identity being your old friend most certainly would. And you needed to find him before you'd completely snap.

Without saying another word, you headed straight for the door. George was calling your name, saying something about how it would be dangerous to return to Manburg right now. How Dream had said that you had to stay until he came back, so you could talk.

But you were going to talk with him, all right.

And this time, it would be without that stupid, little mask of his.

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I wanted (Y/n) to discover the truth on her own, rather than someone else telling her, or her finding out by accident. I'm sorry if it isn't what you wanted. But trust me, things get a little more spiced up in the next chapter. I know y'all are suckers for drama :')

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