~ 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ~ {𝑵𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒙 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓}

Chapter 7: A Thousand Lies

After seeing the violet buttercups on the table, Nightmare was... disturbed.

He wasn't sure what sort of feeling it was when he saw them, nor what sort of feeling he had felt earlier with (N/N).

The purple flowers were certainly rare—they didn't even exist. But then again, the Castle and his mind were almost one in the same. Did that mean something was wrong with him? With his mind?

"...S-Sire?"

Nightmare whipped around, his tendrils barely missing the neck of a Papyrus. The servant shivered slightly, sheet white eyes widening. The way they would act sometimes was either foolish or extremely comedic.

When Nightmare had first created the guards, they were programmed to be efficient and silent, like robots of a sort. However, after a while, something in Nightmare longed for something more... sentient. Improvements were made, codes were modified, and the current Papyrus guard was created. Nightmare still regarded them as items, however, not bothering to name any of them.

"S-Sire, Dust is in the library with (N/N)," the servant stumbled over his words. Nightmare's eye narrowed.

It was quite clear that Dust had it out for (N/N). He had walked them around, hung out with them, even gone so far as to flirt with them—well, mildly flirt. (N/N) never seemed to catch on; if they did they didn't show any interest.

That was good.

Leaving the servant behind, Nightmare stalked off to the throne room. The throne itself was a culmination of darkness and negativity, making the only being able to sit on it himself. Not only was it fit for him, it also ensured that the only ruler would be him. No uprisings, no revolutions.

Sitting upon the throne, Nightmare put his skull in his hand and pulled up an Orb of Sight. The Orb would allow him to see anywhere within the Castle he wanted to. And right now, he switched to the library.

There, just like the servant had informed him, was (N/N) and Dust. They were flipping through a large book—no, wait. Nightmare leaned in closer.

The cover was hidden, but the pictures at the tops of the giant pages gave away the book's identity. It was the archive of universes.

Dust was talking away while, flipping through the book, (N/N)'s eyes wandered around in thought. Even without his aura-reading abilities, Nightmare could tell that they weren't interested in whatever Dust was saying.

To his surprise, Nightmare found himself smirking slightly. Their disinterest only left open gaps in Dust's head, gaps that Nightmare could seep through.

A sudden movement caught Nightmare's eye, making the king slide his gaze from (N/N) to the hooded skeleton. Dust had moved, scooting a bit closer to the other figure.

Nightmare twitched. The temperate reacted immediately, dropping a few degrees. He watched as Dust shivered. Oh, he knew what was coming now.

After a few more words were exchanged, Dust poofed away to his room. Coward, Nightmare sneered, allowing the temperature to rise once more.

Nightmare watched as (N/N) rose from the book, slamming the cover shut hard. They were obviously furious and confused; Their aura was a dead giveaway.

But there was something layered beneath that anger, something lacquered with concern.

Sadness. Homesickness, to be exact.

Nightmare rolled his eye. Of course they're homesick. I destroyed their home, after all. But then something roused inside of him. Something warm and slightly blurred, something strange. Old but new.