/perspective shift Dream
"I have a pickaxe and I'll put it through your teeth!"
It was Techno.
Technoblade, the one who had been Dream's ally through all the destruction, all the chaos. The one he had united with to obliterate L'Manburg. He knew that now. The sense of foreboding had a form, though he couldn't recall exactly what.
Dream wasn't just afraid of him because he could cause the destruction of L'Manburg. He was afraid because he already had.
In his last life, there was nothing left but a crater in the ground when they were through.
His only two vivid memories from that time were the scar on the land and the red glow in Techno's eyes.
No one would ever claim that Technoblade was a normal fighter. But you could attribute a statement like that to skill.
Not for Techoblade. He was beyond even that. He didn't just fight with the impunity of one who could slaughter villages for fun. When he fought, he won. There was no better description for it.
Utter annihilation awaited anyone who stood in his way.
And to protect L'Manburg, Dream would be facing that?
He followed the noises, running as quickly as he could. But with each step his heart sank. When he reached the end of the tunnel, he saw it.
Red.
It wasn't just on the wall, wasn't just in the corpse on the ground, wasn't just dripping from the dark metal pickaxe in Techno's hand.
It was in the air like a haze, glowing in Techno's eyes, and rising from him like smoke.
There were three reds there that night.
The red of blood was the first. Any could see it.
The red of one who had murdered the immortal was second. If you looked closely, you could see it in his eyes and following his pick.
And the third?
That dreaded, dark red of the Nightmare, visible only to Dream.
Three problems stared him in the face in the form of one person.
And he didn't know how to solve any of them.
As long as the world persisted, there would be conflict. Such was the nature of life.
As long as Technoblade lived, he would have that power inside him, that oppressive, ultimate power, that made even death quake.
And the Nightmare?
That would persist as long as Dream was alive. He could never be free from it. Nightmare was the one who was active, but Dream had known in his soul that he must die for this to stop.
Technoblade kept his eyes on him, silent. He could tell, Dream knew he could. He could tell that Dream wasn't Nightmare.
"What are you doing, Techno? Let's go!" Nightmare called, racing into the tunnel from behind. "Punz can only hold them..."
He trailed off when he saw Dream.
Dream turned around and looked at him, and he tensed. The smile on his mask almost seemed to turn down in the low light.
"Come to kill us?" Nightmare asked darkly.
Dream shook his head silently.
"I only came to warn you," he said carefully. "There is no future this way."
"This is the only future," Nighmare snarled, then pushed past him. "And if you try to get in my way, then you'll be the one without a future."
"That isn't how this works, and you know it."
Nightmare's shoulders squared, then fell as he sighed.
"You're getting into things that you don't underst-"
"I've been down this path before."
That silenced him. His back tensed and relaxed a few times before he continued on without a word.
Technoblade remained watching Dream silently for a few seconds, then he said, "There's no future in government either."
"If this was about government, then it would have ended a lot sooner," Dream said grimly.
Techno stood silent for a moment more, then he nodded and turned to go.
"It's not your fault, but you can't solve it like this."
Technoblade paused, then continued on.
Silence fell over L'Manburg once more.
One party was licking its wounds, preparing another plot silently.
The other was biding their time, for an unknown reason.
And Dream was once again caught in the middle. Every time he had taken L'Manburg's side, they had proven again that they didn't deserve it.
L'Manburg should be destroyed. There was no doubt about that. But it also brought people together as much as it tore them apart. A stable nation was a blessing, but they were not content to remain at rest. Everyone wanted more power, and Wilbur's vision was trapped in the center, being pulled apart. The citizens were forced through hurdles that had no right being there.
Dream wasn't sure what he wanted, and that scared him, because he might slip back into the Nightmare.
But even worse than that, he wasn't sure that he would get to choose.
And that?
That terrified him.