Two Halves | Book One of The Judgement series

Chapter 23

Dove's Point of View

The things he did to me were horrible, to say the very least. I can't even begin to describe it all. All I can recall without the risk of going into an anxiety attack is the feeling of Nightmare's tentacles caressing and prodding at my soul. I closed my eyes before he did so his disgusting smirk wouldn't be embedded into my memory. No, only the feeling of his touch is. The touch that makes my skin crawl. Nightmare didn't stop at my soul either. He did things to my body too. Things I wish my body didn't react to. I hated every second of it. I didn't want it at all. I was thrown into a cold, dark cell after he was done having his fun. 

After hours of thinking I still couldn't think about why. Why would he do that? What made him change so drastically? That Nightmare, that wasn't the Nightmare that I knew all that time ago. There was something more... sinister about him. It was like he was letting the corruption take him over completely. The Nightmare I knew wouldn't do that. 

I don't know how long its been but I haven't done anything in the time I've been here. I haven't eaten. I haven't slept. I only drink water when Killer makes me. Out of everyone here he's one of the gentler skeletons. Even so, he still can't get me to do anything. I just sit in the brightest corner of the cell, which isn't really bright, and hug my knees. There was a knock on my cell door but I didn't respond. Of course whoever knocked took my silence as an insult and banged on the door to invoke a response. 

I heard Killer yell at who was banging "What are you doing, Cross!?" 

"The bitch needs to learn to respond when she's called upon." 

"Banging against the door won't help you. You need to be gentle with her. Dove's fragile right now." Cross scoffed at Killer's comment. 

"Fragile? You really expect me to believe that?" I could imagine Cross pointing his large blade at the door. "That bitch was strong enough to survive Handplates Gaster and you think a little pleasure play from Nightmare would break her? Oh, I'd love to be in her position right now." 

"One, that's gross and two, she only survived because of her sister's support. If she were alone she would have died by those experiments." 

"Her sister's as good as dead anyways. Nightmare went back on his deal with Dream about the memories. The girl's slipped into a fear induced coma until she relives every last memory of her experimentation." I lifted my head up and stared at Cross and Killer through the bars of my cell. Killer noticed me and smiled softly. Cross!Chara did the same. 

"Hey, kiddo. I'm glad to see you're not completely lifeless." Killer reached through the bars but I flinched away from his touch. "Do you think you could eat something today?" I shook my head no even though my stomach protested. "Do you want to get some fresh air? You've been stuck in this stuffy cell for over a week." I glanced over to the dark corner of the cell. "He won't hurt you again. I won't let him." I heard Cross scoff at this. 

"Come on, Dove. You were so strong when you were talking back to the big, bad King. What happened to that fire? Don't you want to see your family again?" Cross!Chara encouraged me, earning a glare from their skeletal partner in crime. My lips moved on their own and I could hardly recognize my own soft, raspy voice. 

"Lune..." 

"What was that?" Killer leaned closer in an attempt to hear me better. 

"I want... Lune.." I could tell he didn't understand but he still smiled and promised me he'd help. 

~~~~~~ 

Killer's Point of View 

Honestly, I didn't know why I felt the need to help the human girl. I mean she threw a candlestick at my skull when we first met. Even though she apologized, my stubborn skeletal butt didn't forgive her. So why am I helping her now? Maybe it's because I see myself when I look into her lifeless eyes. I remember last time she was here they were a vibrant light blue. Now they were a dull grey color. I knew what she was in the clutches of. I struggle with it every single day. She doesn't deserve to be tossed down that rabbit hole. 

For the first time since she stood up to Nightmare, Dove spoke today. It gave me hope to try to get her to do other things. I got Dove to eat a little and drink more water than she normally does. It'll be a slow process but at least she's progressing. It kills me inside to watch her turn into skin and bones. She asked for someone called Lune. I don't have the slightest idea who that could be but I promised that I'd help her and that's exactly what I'm gonna do. 

"Error." I ran into the pixlexic skeleton at the top of the dungeon stairs. He had a bowl of soup with him. 

"WhAt Do YoU wAnT?" 

"What universe did you find the prisoner in?"

"W-w-WhY?" Error narrowed his eye sockets at me. 

"Reconnaissance mission. Nightmare wants to know if the Star Sanses return to the house to retrieve something." It wasn't a total lie. Nightmare did want to know that. He just didn't make it a mission for anyone to take. Error looked me up and down as if he was trying to gauge my truthfulness. 

"NeRd AnD jOcK aU. oNe Of ThE dIsGuStInG nEw OnEs." 

"Thanks for the info, Glitchy." I pretended to tip a hat to him like how Mafia!Sans would and made a portal to that AU. I made a point not to be seen. Thankfully, it was night there so my job was made a lot easier. I wandered around until I found an empty house that held some strange magickal energy. The house was strange. Not because of a weird paint job or anything like that but because the house was fully furnished with no one living here. "If this is the place Dove lived, who would she call Lune?" 

There was a crash and a shattering sound in the house next door. I peeked out one of the second floor windows just in time to see a young Nightmare climb onto the roof of the house next door. "Bingo."