The brothers were surprised. Neither knew how to react to the child, not right away. They could feel their mother's magic within her, feel both positive emotion and negative emotion within her. Then Nightmare's eye narrowed, and a tendril snatched her up by the arm. Fable yelped as she dangled there, her purple and yellow eyelights wide. "this must be some joke. what are you, our replacement?" Nightmare hissed out as a tendril sharpened to stab Fable through the chest, but Dream circled his arms around her and pulled her away. "leave her alone, nightmare! can't you see she's in the same boat as us-?" Fable hid behind Dream as soon as she was put down, clinging close to him, seeing as he was the one defending her. "the faster we get this over with, the better. do you really want her to go through the same shit we did? or perhaps you want the villagers to come. there will be no apples to save her this time. they will only kill her-" Dream cut Nightmare off quickly. "i won't let that happen! she can come home with me... she can have a better life than that..." Fable looked up at him, but Nightmare only laughed. "whoever said i was going to let you go, 'brother'."

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Nightmare brought them back to his home and threw them in a cage with other prisoners from past AU raids. Fable clung tight to the other, confused and scared. Dream held her back, eyelights darting around the lost and the hopeless all around them. Monsters and humans who knew they had no home left to go too, but were still hoping that Dream and the Stars would rescue them. Some were already dust on the ground. "Dream?" He could already see the little hope there was here draining from the other's eyes. These monsters, Dream had failed and it made him want to cry. "i-i'm sorry..." Dream whispered, feeling weak in their hopelessness. A jolt of positive emotion surged through him, making him jump. It was just a feeling. The singular emotion of reassurance and he looked down at Fable as she looked up quietly at him. Slowly, she let go of him and vice versa. She walked over to the broken monster and held her arms up. The monster blinked and hesitantly abided to her quiet demand... then they smiled, a little life returning to them.

🟡🟣🟡

Within five minutes, everyone in the cage seemed happier. It had been ages since a child had been around and Fable seemed to be enjoying the attention as Dream watched her work her magic. At least... until Nightmare came back. In a wink, all she had done was lost and Fable retreated to Dream, fear flowing through him and making him sick. Not that she could've known... she was only a little child. "how dangerous... but her influence is far too weak." Nightmare noted as Killer and Horror dragged the two out of the cage. Nightmare gave the silent order to follow and Killer half walked, half dragged Dream along while Horror carried Fable like a sack of potatoes. The two were dumped in a bedroom that locked from the outside. A gilded cage until Nightmare figured out what to do with them. Dream was essential for the balance, after all, and Dream wasn't going to let him kill her without putting himself in the line of fire. Perhaps Nightmare could find a use for the selectively mute brat, somehow. But for now, they would stay in their cage.