A Shadow of the Past

Chocolate

Nightmare walked up to Error's room and knocked on the door.

Error felt a familiar chill, wondering what he wanted now. He had learned Nightmare could exert an aura of fear on those in his presence, especially if he was angry. It felt like an icy winter wind, lonely, silent, eerie, and freezing cold. Nightmare had told Error it was a technique he'd learned from the same, unknown person that had given Nightmare his amulet. This amulet, on its own, was little more than a decoration; in Nightmare's hands, however, its power could level cities and devastate entire AUs, corrupting them with its dark magic. It could also corrupt things it touched, such as Error's strings. When he and Nightmare first met, Error assumed the dark skeleton was a threat and tried to kill him. Nightmare tapped into his amulet's power, sending streaks of dark magic up the strings imprisoning him. Error had to let go, or risk being "corrupted" by the dark magic himself.

This ability was well-known among the Bad Sanses, seeing as how Dust can't seem to satiate his curiosity. It didn't kill him, (obviously) but he was out of commission for almost a month. It didn't seem to affect Nightmare, though. In fact, he'd hold it in his hand, rub a phalange over it, and whisper to it, as if it were alive.

(Nights: He sounds crazy-
Me: I know, but he won't sound as crazy, IF YOU LET ME FINISH THE DAMN BOOK, SO I CAN MAKE ANOTHER ONE TO EXPLAIN HIS ACTIONS!!!
Nights: Ok, jeez, calm down already...)

It weirded Error out, but he didn't question it, fearing that Nightmare would turn its power on him for calling him weird. That was something he definitely wanted to avoid, considering what happened to Dreamtale. *Shudders*

"What do you want, Nightmare?" Hmm, his voice stopped glitching again. Is this gonna be a regular occurrence, or...?

"I wanted to talk to you about the skeleton you brought back."

Error opened the door to see Nightmare, arms crossed, and a stern look in his eyelight.
"WhAt AbOuT hIm?" Ok, guess not.

"Where'd he come from? What AU is he from? Did you destroy it?" Nightmare bombarded Error with questions.

"OnE aT a TiMe, PlEaSe. Ok, I bRoUgHt HiM wItH mE bEcAuSe... I fElT sOrRy FoR hIm. HiS bRoThEr Is PrObAbLy DeAd, HiS aU iS gOnE, aNd He'S pReTtY mUcH aLoNe In ThE mUlTiVeRsE."

Nightmare nodded in understanding.
"Sounds familiar. I also brought someone back with me. His name's Cross, and he's a pretty decent fighter when he wants to be. That ghost kid that's following him is funny, too. It'd be refreshing to see a couple new faces around here, anyway."

"GhOsT... kId?" Error had never seen an actual ghost before. Just the "ghost monsters."
There's a difference.

"Yeah, but so far, I'm the only one besides Cross who can see him, and he calls himself 'XChara', whatever that means. It's... probably my amulet that allows me to see and hear the kid, so I don't expect you to be able to see him, either." Nightmare subconsciously reached up to hold his amulet, turning it back and forth on its chain- ribbon, whatever. Error didn't know. He decided to be bold - or stupid - and ask who gave Nightmare the heart-shaped, dark purple amulet.

"It's none of your business, Error. Besides..." His voice grew strangely quiet. "...they're dead now."
He sighed, looking away with a distant and vaguely heartbroken expression barely visible on his face. After a moment, the expression disappeared, and he turned back to Error.
"You didn't answer my question; who's downstairs?"

"ThAt'S bLuEbErRy. I wAs HoPiNg YoU'd LeT hIm StAy HeRe, At LeAsT fOr AwHiLe. I cOuLd LeT hIm StAy In ThE aNtI-vOiD, bUt He CoUlD EnD uP lOoKiNg LiKe Me If He StAyS tHeRe ToO lOnG."