Lucid dreaming wasn't something you had ever experienced, and you preferred to keep it that way. However, God decided not to listen to you that night, and instead chose to give you a lucid nightmare.

You awoke in a dark room, head aching ever so slightly. You were sat on an uncomfortable wooden chair with a short back, and if you leant over it, allowing the wood to press against your spine, you were sure that something would crack.

You looked down at yourself; your vision was blurred. You blinked a couple of times and went to raise your hand to wipe at your eyes...

But you couldn't move.

Your arms were behind your back, tied to the chair with tightly bound rope, as were your ankles. Your breathing hitched when you tried to wiggle your wrists, only to find them unmovable. You tried to yank them free, but all it did was cause the rope to rub against your already sore skin. With a gasp, you felt tears pricking at your eyes, and you violently shook your legs, trying to get the rope loose.

'Stop moving.'

The disembodied voice tore through the distressed silence like a blade through a windpipe, rendering you speechless. The tears that silently fell from your eyes had made your vision clearer, and you wished that you would go blind in that very moment.

Stood before you, at roughly seven feet in height, was the very thing you never wanted to see for as long as you lived.

'Fuck,' you whispered shakily, 'fuck fuck fuck! God, please let me go, please don't kill me!' You closed your eyes, trembling in pure terror as No-Face just...stood there. Menacingly.

'What are you doing?' He sounded confused. 'What is that stuff coming from your eyes?'

'They're tears. I'm crying cause I'm scared, okay?! Just let me go.' Your voice wobbled as you sobbed, daring to crack your eyes open.

'You are scared of me?'

'Why wouldn't I be scared of you?' you snapped, despair abruptly twisting into anger, 'I was seven fucking years old and I nearly died in that ritual that you so graciously gatecrashed. Do you know how terrified I was when I woke up one night and saw Jeff and the Puppeteer watching me? Do you know how many people have called me names because I was talking to Jane? It's been living hell and it's all your goddamn fault!'

You waited for his response, chest heaving. You were still quivering—of course you were, he was your biggest fear—but all the years of hatred had resurfaced like a vicious dragon, rearing its head with a fearsome growl.

Hah, I guess I never let it go, you thought bitterly, glaring at the entity before you with fifteen years worth of rage and disgust.

There was a noise that could have been a sigh. 'Your name is (Y/N), correct?'

'Kinda offended that you don't even remember the name of the kid your traumatised, but yes, that's my name.'

'Well, (Y/N), I will apologise for the...obvious pain caused by the ritual and my intervention. I did not expect it to hurt you.'

'Thanks?' you said, unsure of whether the apology was genuine. 'Can I go now?'

'No. There is still something to discuss.'

Your eyes widened in fear. You were so dead. 'L-Look, I'm sorry, okay?' you stammered, 'It wasn't my original idea and I—'

'Please stop talking. This is not about your experiment to reverse the effects on Mr Nichols. Yet.'

You closed your mouth, ceasing the rambling.

'Thank you. Now, I brought you to a space inside your own mind to discuss your memories of the ritual. It removed the memories of Mr Nichols, and I am curious to see how it has effected yours. Do you remember what happened that day?'

You shook your head. 'Barely. All I remember is playing in the garden, then being taken to the forest and threatened with a spoon. Then you came along and...the next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital.' The waterworks started again. 'What happened? What happened that day that was so harmful that my brain decided to seal it away?'

'If the memories have been sealed, then I believe that that is for the best. You cannot remember them for a reason.'

Despite your trepidation on remembering the events of that day, No-Face's answer was not the one had wanted. You frowned, tugging your arms in a silent protest to his words. If he had eyebrows, one would probably be raised at your antics.

'You really do wish to know...?'

'Obviously! Why else would I ask if I didn't want to know? Please, just tell me what happened,' you begged, 'not remembering it hurts just as much as remembering it does. I'm tired of this.'

A pause, then he said: 'I suppose I have no choice but to tell you.'

'Thank you.'

'Do not expect a grand story. After I stepped in and prevented the ritual from proceeding any further, all that happened was a weak attempt to end your life. That is all.'

A moment passed. Then two. Then three. You sat there, gazing up at No-Face with a dumbfounded expression on your face.

'Are you...alright?'

'Why did you never mention that they tried to murder me?!'

No-Face shook his head. 'Oh dear. I knew telling you was a bad idea. It wasn't a fancy attempted murder. All the culprit tried to do was stab you. It wasn't that bad.'

'Wasn't that bad?' you echoed, astonished, 'wasn't that bad? They tried to murder me after trying to sacrifice me to Chernabog! What part of that 'isn't bad', hm?'

'You humans are so touchy when people try to maim you.'

'Well, yeah, cause when people try to maim it you generally means they want to kill you.'

'Yet you willingly surround yourself with people knowledgable about various ways to end lives.'

'I have one writer friend?'

'You know very well who I am referring to, (Y/N). Mr Nichols has threatened to kill you many times, has he not?'

Oh. Shit.

You began to laugh nervously, hoping that he wouldn't notice the shake in your voice and in your spine.

'Well,' you stammered, 'the thing is—'

'Silence!'

I'm so dead.

'I do not want to hear your pathetic excuses. Why are you interfering with the life of my proxy?'

'Because we're...y'know...friends?' You felt like a child that was being scolded and forced to explain why you knocked over a cup of coke to your angry parent. 'And friends help each other.'

'So because you deem yourself a "friend" of Mr Nichols, you believe it is your responsibility to undo what the cultists may have done to you? Is it a sort of self-redemption that you humans are so fond of? Because something did or nearly did happen to you, you take it upon yourself to meddle in other people's business?'

You chewed on your cheek, head hung low as you hoped that whoever forced you into this nightmare would let you out.

'Stop this childish game before it ends with a trip to a hospital or a funeral home. Well? Are you going to stop this foolishness?'

'...No.'

'Excuse me?'

'I said no,' you repeated, louder this time. 'I-I'm not going to listen to you. You may scare me, but that doesn't mean you can tell me what to do.' You stuck out your chin. If he was going to talk to you like a child, you were going to act like one.

The already dark room seemed to darken. 'You have some nerve talking back to me, (L/N).'

'Oh yeah?' Fuck I'm stuttering. 'And you have some nerve telling me what to do. I'm not a proxy. You can't control me.'

'But I can control Mr Nichols.'

You narrowed your eyes. 'You wouldn't dare.'

'I would.'

'So you're gonna order him to kill me? Have fun with that.' You scoffed.

'You believe that he will fail?'

'I know he'll fail. Anyway, if you wanted to kill me, you would have done so by now. Or you would've ordered EJ to stay away from me. You're just threatening me.'

'My threat was effective.'

'Not for long. Hey, why don't we make a deal? If I can successfully reverse the effects of the ritual, I'll give up my powers.'

Even though it wasn't obvious on No-Face's face, you could tell he was surprised by the proposition.

'What makes you so confidant about this?' he asked curiously.

'As said by the great Thomas Jefferson in Washington On Your Side, "every action has it's equal opposite reaction". Everything's gonna be fine.'

'I believe the original speaker was Isaac Newton.'

'Yeah but the song's cooler. Just have some faith in me, alright? You won't even notice he's normal again.'

'If I find that you're doing this for selfish reasons, I will have you killed.'

'Yeah, yeah, whatever, No-Face.'

'Are you...prepared to give up the power of sight?'

'You say that like you're gonna make me blind.'

'No, you will not go blind. You will just become blind to the goings on of the proxies.'

'That's fine. It'll be nice to have a normal life again.'

<><><>

When you woke up, you were sweating bullets. Hands clutching at your quilt, you sat up, staring at the white and gold star patterns that made up the quilt cover.

Massaging your sore and aching wrists, a cold dread filled your entire being as you ruminated on the events of the dream—if you could even call it a dream.

You definitely had to talk to someone.

definitely dont have my major exams in may and june that i need to revise for oh no not me

also questioning my pronouns again so yeah fun <3

see you next time!

- gravity