Reborn as Error

172 - Easing Negativity

"Don't kill him." I said to Nightmare as I had my arms loosely crossed.

"Give me a reason why I shouldn't." Nightmare said through gritting teeth, glaring at the skeletal in his hold. I just stared for a bit at the two entities in front of me.

"...I got nothing," I said with a shrug. I heard Dwad chuckle.

"Aw come on Error. I didn't take you for the cruel- ack!" Nightmare tightened his grip cutting off Swad from whatever he was going to say.

"Shut up."

"You can't just choke him out. I have no idea how literal I am about that," I said as I leaned my weight to one side. Besides magic being weird and us technically not having throats I really wasn't sure if trying to choke out Swad would even work. I don't understand the logic of his existence quite yet.

"It's not the first time I've killed someone." I heard from Nightmare and I hummed in agreement.

"I know. I only have one excuse really."

"And that is?" Nightmare asked without  taking his angered gaze from the winged variant of his brother.

"You wanna explain to Gradient that you killed someone he was fighting?" I asked and I felt a shift in the air. But he didn't let his grip loosen.

"..." No response, besides a narrowed gaze.

"He'd feel rather guilty for being the reason someone died," I said with a slight hum. I saw Nightmare twitch a bit before he shifted his gaze to me.

"...you play dirty." I heard him say and I shrugged.

"I can live with that. Drop the bird." I gave him a pointed look.

"Yeah Nightmare, let me go-" Swad started with a smirk before he was slammed on the ground. I heard him groan as Nightmare continued to speak to me.

"I'm not letting him roam my domain."

"I know that." I snapped my fingers and a portal opened. I gave a bow as I gestured to it.

"Hey wait a minute-" Swad said, realizing what my intentions were but Nightmare noticed the same thing. He threw Swad through the portal and I closed it.

"Where did that even go?" He asked me after he composed himself and I straightened up.

"No where important I can assure you. I would have to think about it if I wanted to send him to a specific au." I informed and he nodded before he scowled.

"I can't believe that... thing... was in here." I sighed hearing how upset he sounded.

"You can blame myself for that I suppose. Or you can blame Dust, Killer, and Scoundrel for just standing there and letting it happen for as long as it did. I was the one that kept that feather Swad used to get here. I didn't know he would be able to track it's location. Considering everything we've been through I should've known better and tell you immediately when I got back and had it."

I huffed a bit knowing I was really the one to blame for this little scare we went through. I looked at his when I noticed he was quiet.

Nightmare was staring at me as if debating his options. He could go after the three I mentioned or reprimand me as I was standing right in front of him. His expression was unreadable for the moment so I couldn't tell. I saw him raise his hand before I flinched when he hit the top of my head with a chop.

"I highly doubt you did this on purpose. Now then, I have idiots to talk to." He stepped back and sunk into the ground like he usually did. I rubbed the top of my head as I stared at the spot he dissappeared in. Not the reaction I expected.

I just blanked for a second, unsure what I needed to do or what I had wanted to do. I eventually blinked and looked away from the spot.

"Well, time to find Dream."

I wasn't sure where to start looking since he could be anywhere at any given time.

It didn't take long however to abandon my current plans as I caught sight of Horror holding snacks in his arms and walking at a slow pace. Whatever he was doing seem more interesting than trying to hunt down the correct positivity guardian.

"Hey, what are you doing?" I asked and I saw his red eye drag over to me.

"Movie. Wanna watch?" A simple answer from him followed by a straight forward question.

"...why not?" I shrugged and followed him. We both settled in the main room with the TV on the couch. I tossed the remote over to Horror as I got comfortable in my spot. I wasn't sure what he wanted to watch but I didn't really care.

I didn't need to rush off anywhere and could take my time. So I got a snack bag, after checking that it was OK, and enjoyed the random flick Horror decided he wanted to see.

Part of the way through we heard the typical type of noises we would hear when someone was in trouble.

"...what happened?" Horror asked.

"An intruder was here and Nightmare wasn't happy," I said to simplify what happened. Horror just nodded and ate some chips while watching the screen. I copied him.

We went through a few movies actually before snacks weren't enough and we wanted actual food. I just went to the kitchen area and rested my head as Horror made something.

I didn't really think of going to see Dream or Ink for awhile. Like an actual while, not just that day. I ended up enjoying my time for a few days but I did eventually remember. So once I was ready to search I headed for the easiest place to start.

Underswap.