George could feel his heartbeat so fast that it felt like he was going to throw it up. He honestly wouldn't be surprised if he saw his heart being ripped from his body, because the strength in which it thrummed against his chest had him shaking.

He was standing by the railings of the ship, gripping the sides tightly. Dream stood right next to him, and with a glance to the side, he could see Sapnap, Bad and Ranboo doing the same just a little further from where he was.

He turned his gaze forward again and took it all in.

Lmanberg.

It was a coastal city, with the port stretching out. Even from a distance, he could see the hustle and bustle from the townspeople, trading and going about their average day.

To the side of it was a humongous castle, bigger than any structure George had ever seen before. A large balcony dipped out from a room, and with his good eyesight (despite being worse than usual because of his human form) he could faintly see the silhouette of a figure standing on it.

George shivered slightly.

Their ship neared, and he could see guards and other people run forward to tie it to the dock.

George glanced over at Dream, who had slipped his mask back on his face, and squeezed his hand. Dream squeezed back.

George wished he could see Dream's face right now. To find some comfort, just to feel safer, but he knew Dream could not do that. Not right now.

George watched as a platform was attached to the ship, in order for them to get off, and he shifted on the spot.

Dream grabbed his shoulders and turned George around to look at him.

"It's okay Georgie," the man murmured, "we've got this. In one minute, out the next. Just like I promised."

George stared at the mask for a second, before nodding.

"Okay."

Phil came over, along with the rest of the crew that trailed behind him like lost puppies.

"Got everything you need, Dream?" he questioned, and Dream shoved his hand into his pocket, picking up the vial and showing him.

Phil nodded in approval, and Dream put the vial back in his coat.

"Please be careful." Sapnap said, fixing the two of them with a stern look, and George smiled.

"Always."

Dream gave Sapnap a quick hug before they started to head over to the dock.

Just as they were about to walk down, George heard a "wait!".

He turned around quickly, and almost fell over, as Tommy had barreled himself into the brunette, hugging him tightly.

George blinked in surprise, before hugging the taller teen back, just as tight.

"Be careful...bitch." Tommy added on the last word to make himself seem tougher, and George rolled his eyes fondly.

"I'll be back in no time." he murmured to the boy, who nodded his head against him, before retracting with a sigh.

George flashed him a smile, along with one for the others, before turning around and following Dream down to the dock.

There were two guardsmen there, both in identical clothing, holding swords.

"Where's the merman?" one of them asked gruffly, and George rolled his eyes, raising his hand slightly.

"That'd be me." he snapped, and the two of them exchanged a look before the other shrugged.

"Follow us." the first man said, and George did so.

Dream walked right next to him, and he felt comforted by his presence.

They walked through the village, and George's eyes widened, trying to look around, but the guards walked so fast that they were out of there in no time.

They walked up a trail into some woods and George saw some weird thing standing on round circles.

George raised an eyebrow in confusion, and Dream must have noticed, because he smiled, nudging the merman.

"It's called a carriage." he murmured quietly, and George nodded his head.

A carriage.

The two men sat on top of a wooden part of it, grabbing these rope-like things attached to two very big animals that George could not identify.

Dream stepped into the carriage and held out his hand for George to take.

The brunette did so, and they both sat down inside of it, the door swinging shut.

The carriage lurched forward, and they started making their way up a cobblestone trail to the castle.

George let out a shaky breath and turned to Dream.

The man gave him a reassuring smile.

They exchanged no words, but George leaned his head against Dream's shoulder, finding comfort from him just being there.

They sat in silence for a while, the carriage bumping every once in a while, when it stopped abruptly.

One of the guards came and opened the door, and he hesitantly peeked out, before stepping onto the floor.

Dream followed him.

The floor underneath him felt different from the village. He glanced down at it and saw it was some sort of stone.

He was the only one not wearing shoes, as Dream hadn't had any spares on him on the boat, but he wasn't complaining. He didn't really care, he had bigger issues to worry about.

The other guard hopped off the platform, patting one of the big animals for a moment, before making his way over.

"Follow us." he commanded, and they did so.

They walked on the stone up to the large castle and stood in front of two gaping doors.

The guards opened them, and Dream and George entered before the doors slammed shut behind them, echoing around the room.

George looked around, and holy shit, it was a large fucking room.

Delicate carvings graced wooden pillars on the sides of the rooms, old paintings hung, the wooden floor shone and sparkled so much George could almost see his reflection in them.

He glanced to the side, seeing wooden floor turn to stone again, as he saw where that big balcony was from earlier.

"Ah. Welcome." a voice rang throughout the room, and George and Dream whipped their heads around, George more startled than the other, to see a man sitting on a throne.

From his general appearance, and the crown that sat upon his head, George had only one guess as to who this man was.

"Schlatt." Dream said for him, and George realised he was correct.

This was Schlatt. The one that had changed his life.

The man had an evil glint to his eyes, and he stood up, taking small steps down the stairs from his throne, and made his way over to them.

He stopped in front of them and stared down at George, who glared at him.

Schlatt studied him for a moment, before turning to Dream.

"Ah. So you figured out how to transform him. Bravo." he mused, and George's eyebrows shot up in confusion.

He thought no humans knew about that. How the fuck did Schlatt know that?

Schlatt rolled his eyes at George's expression.

"Don't act so surprised, merman. I have my sources." he said, voice amused- as if this whole situation was funny to him.

Dream cleared his throat, bringing the attention back to him.

He reached into his pocket, bringing out the vial, and held it out for Schlatt to take.

"Here."

Schlatt leaned forward, picking up the vial and inspecting it carefully before a smug smile flickered across his lips, and he put it into his pocket.

"I must say, Captain Dream, I am impressed." he said, and Dream shifted uncomfortably from the praise.

They stood there in silence for a moment, George looking up at Dream, who was incredibly tense.

"Can we go now?" Dream muttered, after a moment, and Schlatt raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry?"

"Can George and I leave now? We've done what you asked." Dream said, and Schlatt started to laugh.

George looked at the man that continued to laugh, wiping a fake tear from his eye, and an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of his stomach.

"Of course, Dream, you can go." Schlatt said after a moment, waving his hand.

Dream spluttered, "Not without George!", and Schlatt rolled his eyes, gesturing his hand to the guards, who came over and grabbed onto Dream's shoulders.

"I'm sorry, did you really think I'd just let a merman go? How naive of you." Schlatt mused, and one other guard came over to grab onto George.

He shouted in protest, aiming to kick the man, but was unsuccessful.

He looked over at Dream in terror, fear spiking his heart as it began to beat incredibly fast.

"Dream!" he shouted, and the man let out a cry as he was pulled towards the doors.

"George!"

Schlatt rolled his eyes.

"Knock him out. It'll be easier to move him." he said, clearly bored, and George felt himself be roughly pushed to the floor.

The last thing he saw was the fighting form of Dream, desperately trying to get to him, get pulled out of the doors, before a heavy force hit the back of his head, and darkness enveloped him.

x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x

Hello friends!! Okay look, this chapter is really really early in comparison to usual. In mt timezone, I usually post at 5:30 pm, and right now it's almost 10 am, so I can see the confusion. I'm posting early because I've got stuff to do today, and I wasn't sure if I had time later to do it. And also I woke up really early and yeah.

So...I hope this chapter doesn't make you mad :D

Hahahaha. I'm evil.

Happy reading!!!

-Bee

(14/2/21)

Co-posted on ao3