~ 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ~ {𝑵𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒙 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓}

Chapter 20: Rising Darkness

Pulling your sheet further onto you—ignoring the hundreds of thousands of violet buttercups that fell to the dark floor—you shivered under Nightmare's cold gaze.   

But that wasn't Nightmare. Somewhere in your gut, you knew that this wasn't him.   "W-What? What do you want to talk... Why do you want to talk?" You cursed yourself mentally for stuttering.  

"Have you had a... strange little dream tonight?" He asked, cocking his head to the side. It looked playful, but the way his tendrils whipped through the air gave away his anger.  

You exhaled. "Yes, actually. And... I have a few things to talk to you about as well."   

He stiffened. Of course.   

Before he could say anything in his defense, you snapped, "Who's the purple skeleton? Why does he look like you? And why..."   

You stopped talked once you saw the look on Nightmare's face. He was teetering on the line between unbridled fury and insanity. Even a tinge of struggle.  

"...Ah," he whispered. It was deadly quiet. You could hardly hear him, even from your position right in front of him. "I see. I see how it is. So you finally came to your senses."

He inched closer to you, face full of darker intent. You scooted away until your back hit the wall, tense. Chuckling, Nightmare used a tendril to lift your chin. "Now now, (N/N)," He chortled. "There's no need to—"  

"—WHY?" You cut him off. "Why lie to me? Why not tell me about—about the other guy?"  

Nightmare smiled. It was that same smile he gave to his victims. "My dear (N/N), I would never lie to you. It is he that is doing the lying." The inky skeleton sounded sickly sweet and genuine. Too genuine. His voice dropped back to a small whisper. "There is a reason he is in chains, you know."  

So he did know. But how? You knew every damn room in the Castle because of your Castle Chats. Nightmare had already told you the general location of every room.  

Unless, of course, he wasn't in a room.  

Unsheathing a knife, you said, "Welp, it's been a good talk. Really. But I have a few things to do. With Dust. We're training together." Sliding off of the bed, Nightmare's tendril hovering a mere centimeter above your jugular, your feet landed on the floor. "So if you will excuse me—"  

You slammed into the wall.  

Wincing, you forced your eyes open again. At least I didn't land on my fucking knife. Nightmare stared at you with a merciless eye. You felt your blood drain from your face.  

"(N/N)," he sang, "Do you trust me?"  

You looked in his eye. You tried to pry into his mind, to find some sort of weakness—or sign. A sign that the better side still existed. For a split second, you swore that you saw a flicker of violet around the edges. Hope sparked in your chest like the first puffs of a campfire.

But then it was gone, forced out by a murderer and a destroyer. You didn't see the same person that you had seen when you had seen him for the first time. You didn't see a hero or a savior. You saw a monstrosity. A murderer that took everything from you--and from countless others. You saw an entity that would not hesitate to kill you right then and there.

You didn't trust him. You couldn't.

Taking a deep breath, you looked down and behind him. The door was right there. You were properly armed, and had the right passage of time. You just had to wait...