His Nightmare Queen (Pitch Black x Reader)

30: Eternally

*October*

You kept one hand set upon the gray stone railing of the looping staircase. Your steps were slow and steady as you descended down. The lair was filled with the crisp outdoor autumn air flowing in from the above openings where light streamed in at various spots. You kept your breaths even as you held your head high while only looking ahead of you with anticipation. High heels that shimmered with glittering gold like stardust carried you onward down the curve of the stairs that continued for a final loop. The elongated train of your gown dragged behind you like you had seen in the cloakings of the one who patiently awaited your presence. The soon-to-be Nightmare Queen made her way toward her aisle independently and with pride, for the bride of Lord Pitch required no one closer than her king.

Your summer prior to this fall had been spent in thought of each precise detail for the coming occasion. This was to be no regular human wedding day in a chapel nor in a sunlit garden surrounded by every relative both sides could think of. Rather, your upbringing into full royal glory to live out forever was within the kingdom that was both the Nightmare King’s as much as yours. While perhaps not as many preparations as a normal ceremony between two mortals were needed, they were still plotted out carefully up to the very point when you woke up this morning on the day you were to be married. You faced no issue with having required the mares to fetch you some of your necessities beforehand, outfit included. And what better time to set the date at the end of the desired month?

Your hair was pulled back and pinned away from your face with a few loose strands hanging here and there to frame the highlight of your cheeks. Clipped and tucked into your locks was the veil that matched the shade of your attire hanging low behind you. Skin was cleansed, exfoliated, moisturized to an extent that you glowed like the fresh brightness in your eyes where the soft golden patterns of your gown sparkled a slight reflection. It was no virtuous white, nor was it the ideal black that would fail to stand out against Pitch’s usual getup, especially considering how bridal gowns in black had grown in popularity in your human culture and have been declining in uniqueness. Instead, the shade like a deep chardonnay hinted with quiet gold nodded to the past of your intended as well as brought out the lighter sides of the life you were both about to promise into together.  

The long mesh sleeves of the dress extended down over the tops of your hands and hung off your shoulders beneath the exposure of your collar bone. The bodice hugged the curve of your waistline until the skirt loosened at your lower half where it flowed to the floor, the additional attached portion fastened at your hips where it flared out in its extra radiance to grant you a magnificent weighted train. It was as if you were already carrying your queenly responsibilities with you, but in the form of dark champagne material patterned with twinkling plus-shaped star-like designs in a range of sizes that glistened in the matching dim golds. You were a constellation to be discovered by only one, and the clouds were parting for you for you to shine under the rays of the All Hallow’s Eve sun to soon be replaced by moonlight.

You were taking your last few steps down the twist of the stairwell. Your eyes flickered down to the floor to watch where you were headed, then back up to look out toward the opening ballroom space before you. Your palm slid away from the rounded edge of the railing and fell to your side before you quickly recollected yourself into an upright posture of folding your hands to hang with straight arms in front of your lower abdomen.

Before you stood a sea of the four-legged creatures that were Pitch’s mares. Dozens of pairs of amber eyes were on you that you could not see past. However, when you set both feet upon the ground floor from the stairwell, you watched the ocean of black sand figures begin to part. Tens of hundreds of nightmares were backing away from and with one another to give way for their master’s bride. The mass of darkness parted in the center to form a path for you. The pale stone floor was revealed to you in a straight line in which you would continue forward. When they cleared the way and split entirely down the center to the very end of the room, you were able to see who you were looking forward to walking down your aisle to be with.