Inkwhumptobertale 2024

Day Twenty-Six

Before/after - Nightmares, Breakfast Table, Parting Words of Regret, "I'm haunted by the lies that I have loved, the actions I have hated." 

Trigger warnings: nothing, really.

Comments are welcome and appreciated! 

Please enjoy!

~~~~~

"Guys, I'm-" Cross cut himself off, looking down and shaking his skull. 

"You're what?" Horror inquired.

"Moonlighting as a clown?" Killer guessed, receiving annoyed looks around the board.

"Never mind..it's not important." Cross sighed. 

"Oh, that's how we know it's important!" Killer exclaimed. 

"Cross, the dumbest thing you can say is probably smarter than the most intelligent stuff Killer can say, so just say it." Dust requested.

"Hey!" Killer huffed.

"..." Cross was quiet for a minute, before nodding. "Can you guys promise..you won't tell boss?"

The three stared; Cross..asking them to keep something from Nightmare? The guy who worried about the smallest reports having "insufficient information" when he'd written a fifty-page history on the AU in question as a preface to his actual report? There were few things that Cross had ever hidden from Nightmare..if anything! The guy had given Nightmare a history lesson on his own AU at some point, and he had included his own fatal weaknesses in it, promising to work harder to fix them - one was literally his soul, which was just about everyone's weak point! But this meant one thing: this was important.

"What is it, Cross?" Horror asked. "We won't say a word."

"All right..I've believed it for a while, now." Cross started. "Multiversal peace..I believe it can happen."

"With the way boss and Dream go at it?" Dust shook his skull. "I doubt it."

"I don't. You haven't seen the calm moments; I've made sure to keep track. They sometimes stop mid-battle, and they just..stare. There's something that can be worked with, there..I know there is."

"Cross, what exactly are you trying to say, here?" Killer wondered. "And since when have you cared about peace?"

"..I care about it a lot, actually." Cross sighed, crossing his arms. "I'm..going to do something soon. I'm warning you because I care about you..I trust you. And..I'm asking you to trust me."

"..We trust you, Cross."

The next day, Cross was gone, having left the gang to join their enemies. 

Killer opened his eyesockets, staring at the ceiling of his room and letting out a sigh; he hated how much he dreamed about that day..the last day that he had thought he'd known Cross. It had been nearly four years since then, and..Cross had been right, of course - the final negotiations of the truce had concluded about a month ago, and peace had been achieved, as he'd predicted..all thanks to Cross's effort. But he'd still abandoned the gang to join the Star Sanses; he'd turned traitor, no matter how good his intentions had been, and Nightmare had been utterly distraught in the weeks after the event. Nightmare was a great guy; he'd taken Killer, Horror, Dust, and Cross in when they had been down on their luck, and Cross had..he'd joined their family, shared their meals, and bonded with them all to the point that he'd trusted them with his life, at points! And then he'd left, leaving Nightmare to wonder how he'd failed and the rest of the gang to wonder how Cross had the gall to hurt the one who had given him everything. Maybe they would get to ask him today.