Two Halves | Book One of The Judgement series

Chapter 32

Dove's Point of View 

When Raven asked me to distract Nightmare while she talked to Dream I didn't think anything of it. Thinking about it now, I should have at least been wary. Why do I say this? Well, lets just say the potion that the two made together was a bit of a flop. From what I understand it was supposed to act like Ink's yellow vial on his sash. Unfortunately, it didn't work like that. Somehow the pair actually managed to create a potion that turned a skeleton human. Now I'm not complaining because human Nightmare is very attractive but I was worried about how he felt about this situation. 

"We need to get him to Ink," I looked Raven in the eye as I spoke. Thankfully she understood exactly what I meant. I looked at Dream as she opened up a portal. "We'll get him back to normal." Dream nodded in response and I pulled my sister and the former skeleton through. We ended up in front of our house. 

"You get the him situated and I'll head to the Doodle Sphere." Raven didn't even let me nod before she started running off into the white void. Nightmare looked at the house curiously. 

"It's cute. Just like you." I couldn't help but blush at the compliment. Taking Nightmare's hand, I pulled him inside. 

"Come on, Nighty. It'll be awhile before she's back." 

~~~~~~ 

"Dove? Be honest with me, alright?" Nightmare put his arms behind his head and laid back on my bed. His silver hair fell over his deep purple eyes. 

"What's up?" 

"What happened back then? I watched you get beaten and then there was a flash of bright light and you were gone." 

"What happened..?" I repeated quietly, my hand drifting up to my necklace. "Honestly, I don't know. I remember telling myself the whole time I was there that I didn't want to get rescued again. It was actually my last thought before passing out. When I woke up I was back in NaJ, your world. At the time I didn't know it was reset so I tried asking Squid and Glitchy for help but they didn't know who I was. Thankfully, Ink saved the world after he furnished the house next door to yours with everything he thought we would need. It was actually the only way I got back because he hid paintbrushes around the house for a quick escape." 

Nightmare was silent for a few moments before he spoke again. "It was hard, watching Cross do that to you and not being able to help. I felt useless every single day because I let you go through that. I didn't defend you when I should have been your knight in shining armor." I giggled at the pun but he continued with a sad look on his face. "I failed you during that time because I was a coward." Delicately stroking Nightmare's cheek, I made him look at me. 

"Reliving the past will only distract us from the future. What we should do is be grateful for the hardships because they made us who we are now. Without going through that, I wouldn't be the me I am today." I gave him my brightest smile and wiped away the tears that were forming in his eyes. "I definitely wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you being there. You gave me the will to survive and continue to refuse the King's offer despite the torture." 

I leaned in and kissed him tenderly. This kiss was different from the one we shared weeks ago. It was slow, sweet, and filled with love. I didn't know how far this would go but I knew as long as I was with my Moon, I wouldn't mind going all the way.

~~~~~~ 

NaJ Nightmare's Point of View

I stroked the hair away from Dove's eyes as she slept. We just confirmed our love for each other in the best way possible. I never wanted to let her go. I never wanted her to hurt again. I wanted to protect her smile.  I wanted to protect her. I heard the front door open and placed a kiss on top of Dove's head before getting dressed. I opened the bedroom door right as Raven went to knock and chuckled lightly at the ravenette's expression. "Dove's asleep. It's best not to disturb her." 

Raven nodded. "That's good. She hasn't been sleeping well lately and I've been worried." 

"Is Ink here? No offence to you guys but I'm a skeleton, not a fleshy sack of meat and hair." I tugged at the silver strands in front of my eyes. To say that the Creator was surprised is an understatement. The guy was astonished and circled me with intrigue written across his features. 

"How the heck did you manage this? I've never seen anything like it." 

"I truly have no clue." Raven leaned on the wall and simply watched as Ink circled me. "I believe that Dream added something extra to the potion while I wasn't looking." Ink hummed and pulled out his giant paintbrush, Broomy. 

"Welp, close your eyes, hold your breath, and hope for the best." With that warning, Ink covered me in deep purple paint. There was a bright flash behind my eyelids and all of a sudden I felt lighter, like myself again. When I looked down at my hands there were bones instead of flesh. 

"I'm back to normal." I felt a bit bummed since like this I probably couldn't make Dove feel the way I did earlier. "Thanks for your help, Ink." 

"Not a problem. Oh, you missed Geno's Christmas party this year. Hopefully, you and your bro can come to the next one."

"I'll talk to my bro about it when it rolls around again." I pressed my fist to Ink's before Raven showed him to the door. When the Creator was gone, the green eyed girl crossed her arms and stared at me. 

"I'm going to say this once so listen." A shiver ran up my spine. Whatever this girl was going to say, I didn't get the feeling it was going to be good. "I don't approve of your relationship with my sister. Personally, I believe that you're not completely different from your counterpart." That statement pissed me off but I bit my tongue. "But somehow, you make my sister happy. There's no denying that but, believe me when I say that if you ever, ever hurt Dove in any way I'll have your skull on my shelf and your bones in my potions."