Safe With Me (Shatteredmare fic)

I Feel Like You're Stalling

"OK, OK, I'll tell you!" Nightmare squeaked, his gaze flicking from the knife pointed at his chest to Cross's face, which was above his head by a few feet. "W-Well, I don't know much, the last thing I remember before 'meeting' Sh-Shattered was me sleeping beside the Tree of Feelings with my brother on my lap after telling him a bedtime story... Do you know what the Tree of Feelings is?"

"I feel like you're stalling," Cross growled, his eye sockets lowering in the slightest with impatience.

Nightmare gulped and decided that he didn't have to go on about detail unless he was talking about Shattered. "N-Never mind... I just remember waking up with the smell of smoke, wood and blood, in Shattered's arms... when he told me that he saved me from... something, a-and that my brother didn't make it, he said there was this 'Incident' and that I can't remember, and for some reason he insisted that he help me, even when I told him how useless and pathetic I am...!" Nightmare said. Cross didn't say anything, so Nightmare continued. "W-We reached the castle fairly quickly where he told me that it was my castle, but I can't remember that it was, and he said that it would be 'our castle now'. He said he had a room for me--"

Cross's eyes widened for a brief second, only for his brow to be raised while the other lowered with suspicion. That was when he cut off Nightmare. "Wait. Stop. You said something about the castle originally being yours?" He asked.

Nightmare felt a shiver because of Cross's intense stare. He didn't like being put on the spot like this, especially when he didn't know what was going on in the first place. He tried to respond, but he stuttered, "I-I-I-I--"

"Spit it out, you pest," he snapped.

Some tears swelled in his eye sockets. His eyelights were wavering, he could tell, as he gulped with his nonexistent throat. "I-I-- He said it was m-mine, but that I don't remember because of the I-Incident," Nightmare stammered. It was very hard to let the words out when he could very well die at any given moment... He was at Cross's mercy, and he hated that fact. Who was to say that Cross wouldn't kill him after getting information?

Cross muttered something, his eyebrows perking in surprise. He must have realized something. He stabbed his knife into the nonexistent, white ground next to Nightmare, Nightmare squeaking and pressing himself further up the bones that Cross had magically summoned. Cross knelt down in front of Nightmare and ordered, "Summon your soul. Now."

"Wh-What?? Isn't that like, the culmination of every being's being?" Nightmare was confused... He had heard of souls, and read about them, too, but he didn't understand the concept of souls.

He always wondered what his looked like.

"Yes. Now summon yours or I'll have to do it for you," he barked.

"Why is this necessary?" Nightmare peeped. "I don't know how!"

Cross rolled his eyelights and stood up. "Fine. I'll do it myself." (Reference not intended XD)

He let out a sigh before Nightmare felt something around him, although it wasn't terribly powerful. It was just enough power to lift and raise Nightmare in the air to Cross's level. It was a little uncomfortable, but not much.

Cross's eyes widened. "You don't have a soul!" He gasped. He looked almost... cheerful, but Nightmare wasn't sure why he would be. Besides, Nightmare was... not expecting this... he honestly thought he had SOMETHING in common with everything around him, SOMETHING to make him like everyone else, SOMETHING for him to be with everyone else... But no... He didn't even have that...

Maybe that's why everyone hates him... It's because he doesn't even have a soul, something almost everyone has...

"Oh my lanta! I'm so sorry, Nightmare!" Cross exclaimed, dropping Nightmare immediately. Cross rushed to hug Nightmare, profusely apologizing to him with many words.

Nightmare was extremely confused, watching as Cross abruptly let go of him and stepped back, pretty much kneeling down on one of his knees, bowing. For reasons Nightmare didn't quite understand.

"Umm... Yes? I'm Nightmare? Like I told you??"

Cross's eyes opened and he looked up at Nightmare. "No, THE Nightmare!! Shattered must have screwed up your memory... And as soon as you get it back you're going to KILL ME..." Cross babbled on bashfully. He was blushing with embarrassment. "I'M SO SORRY for mistreating you, PLEASE don't hurt me when you get your memory back!" He begged, dropping his hands to the ground and basically sitting there on his hands and knees, almost pathetically.

Nightmare was still extremely confused. What was his relationship to Cross? What was his connection to him? Shattered never mentioned Cross... If it was important, than Shattered would have told him, right?

"What are you to me?" Nightmare asked, curious, but mostly puzzled.

"Nothing," he spat.

Nightmare held back a snicker, he really had that one coming. "N-No, I meant, what were we together? I don't remember, obviously, so I was thinking--"

Nightmare felt a sudden surge of Negativity. He winced. Cross immediately shot up. He must have noticed something or someone behind Nightmare. "We have to get out of here!" He shouted. He picked Nightmare up bridal style and rushed off, taking his knife with him.

"CROSS, GET BACK HERE!" The familiar voice of Shattered screamed.

Oh. That would explain the panic in Cross's eyes... but what would explain the Negativity? It felt familiar but at the same time, still foreign to his own. It was from someone else. Was it Shattered? It was too strong for it to be just his emotions...

Nightmare didn't want to leave Shattered behind, but Cross had already teleported before he could protest.