The Haunting of Collimore Manor || Murder Trio x Reader

Chapter 2: Base of Operations

After their quick escape through the now-closed off portal, the skeletons fell to the floor exhausted. Some leaning against trees while others struggled to stand.

Nightmare, the leader's castle had been recently destroyed which left them nowhere to live, nowhere to hide. Without a base of operations, they would be in a constant loop of war. Dream and his crew had gotten the upper hand over these last few years with a book he discovered. Everyone that had once been a part of Nightmares armies had left him, they were left vulnerable and too drained to fight alone much longer.

With what little magic they each had left, Nightmare had managed to open a portal for each of them to evacuate. While this may only be temporary, it was a place for them to catch their breath and regroup.

While the other three rested, Nightmare handed Error, his right-hand man, a book of spells he had recently come into possession of. They had stolen it mere minutes ago and were currently running for their lives. 

"Take this. Use it in any way you can to keep this place hidden." Error nodded, taking the book from his grasp. "Be quick." Nightmare added before leaving Error to his work.

Next, he turned his attention to the other three. They each lay exhausted and wounded, not even noticing their bosses presence. With a sigh, Nightmare dropped to his knees healing them wherever necessary.

With a weak "Thank you" from each of them, Nightmare let out a hum of relief. He cared about those three as if they were the family he never got. Although they can be difficult at times, he knew that if ever the time came that they would be there for him.

Taking a seat himself, Nightmare let out a sigh, trying to take a moment to calm himself. He leant against a tree close to the others, dropping his skull back to hit the chipping bark. Nightmare gazed up at the old oak with half-lidded eyes, the sight bringing back unwanted memories. Memories of Dream, and how things used to be back when he was weak, pathetic... Nightmare tried to move away from those thoughts, but Dream was stuck in his mind. The Dream who betrayed him. The Dream that never loved him. The same Dream he had been fighting for centuries.

Nightmare felt ashamed of himself, ashamed that he let his brother put him in such a vulnerable position. Nightmare needed that book, he needed to regain his power. Nightmares book of spells was nowhere near as powerful as the one Dream had, even before his own was ruined.

He knew that the book Dream currently had was a poor copy of the original, written in Dream childlike handwriting. Dream lost the original when Nightmare had fought him over it. Nightmare doesn't know how it got lost, or where it got lost to but it was gone. He had only assumed Dream had a copy when he caught him using his magic in ways that shouldn't be possible without the book.

Ever since then, Nightmare made it his goal to find that book. He sent out his gang on daily missions to find it and even looked everywhere himself multiple times. They were searching almost every day for what could've been years.

Dream took some time off to raise his armies, train his warriors, and get whatever help he could from the multiverse. But eventually, Nightmare was out of ideas and out of time, they had no power, nobody on their side. Without having the same spells that Dream has, their attacks would do nothing to them. They were powerless against them.

Nightmare hadn't felt like this for a long, long time. He hadn't been useless, beaten, and weak since his time back in Dreamtale. And never in his life did he think that such an emotion would come from his brother, his own blood. So when the war came, the only thing Nightmare could think of was to run. It hurt him to do so but was necessary for future plans. And now here he was, hiding on the outskirts of a town running away.