The Broken Egg (Discontinued)

Chapter 8

Incubux shivered in the dim light of the street lamps. The street was strangely quiet. The city streets were still deserted despite the time that had passed since the attack. Geno was smiling into the distance.

"Geno?" Incubux began tentatively. Geno turned her smile to him.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Do you really think they can help us find Cross?" Geno nodded.

"I wouldn't have asked them if I didn't." Incubux gulped. "What is it?"

"I don't know what happened to...X..."

"I'm sure he's fine. You've got nothing to worry about." Incubux sighed but nodded.

"Those two sentences," he thought. "Have absolutely nothing to do with each other."

Cross awoke and winced as she accidentally moved her back. Something weighed down her blankets as she carefully rose up to a sitting position. Looking down she found the man from before, Prince Nightmare, asleep on his crossed arms and leaning on her bed. It took all the years of sneaking around and stealing to keep quiet and still.

"Rude," she whispered. He was still in his expensive-looking day clothes but he'd taken his circlet off and his hair was a mess around his face. Careful not to move the sheets, she reached out and picked up the circlet sitting on the bedside table beside her. It was silver and encrusted with amethysts. A little bit of gold lining swept across the bottom and around the amethysts.

"If you're going to try to steal that, I will kill you." Cross looked up from the crown and smiled. Nightmare was awake and glaring at her through his messy hair. She giggled.

"You can't look menacing if you look like that." Nightmare frowned then, realising, turned away and fixed his hair with one hand, cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

"Shut up and give me my circlet back," He growled, holding out a hand and avoiding her eyes. Cross giggled again and gave him the crown. He examined it but didn't put it back on his brow.

"Worried I stole something off it?" Cross asked.

"Worried you tarnished it," Nightmare corrected bitterly.

"Well that was very rude," A new voice interrupted them. Cross and Nightmare looked around to the window. A girl with red hair and strange eyes was leaning against the window frame. The open window blew a soft breeze into the infirmary. They both stared at her. "Oh my I didn't mean to interrupt your conversation but I couldn't find the Prince anywhere else and I need to talk to him."

"How did you open that window?" Nightmare asked, shocked. "It was locked." The girl blinked.

"Magic," She answered with a straight face, making a shimmering gesture with her hands. A small smiled tugged at her lips as she finished and put her hands down. "More importantly I came here to talk to you. So talk to you I shall." She settled comfortably on the window sill and looked at her target.

"About what?"

"Well, I thought you'd like to know I'm the one that kidnapped Dream." Nightmare stood up suddenly, hands clenched at his sides. "I'd be careful with all that negativity if I were you. It's dangerous. Especially around me." Growling, he sat back down. "You should be well aware of how your sister's magic works. She draws power from light and positivity. Without those things, she gets sick and weak and she can't use her magic." The girl smiled. "And I assure you. I have made certain she gets little to no light and there certainly isn't any positivity where she is." Nightmare's jaw clenched in fury but he kept his mouth shut. "Oh and Cross," she continued, switching her gaze from the Prince to Cross. "Your little boy's looking for you. He won't find you here obviously but he's looking nonetheless." Cross paled and she gripped the sheets.

"Incubux?" She whispered.

"Oh calm down he's fine. I don't know what happened to X though so I'd worry about that if I were you." Cross gulped.

"Where's Dream?" Nightmare asked, his voice heavy with false calmness.

"Well, I can't tell you now that'd be boring." The girl tilted her head."You see I don't care about what happens to Dream I'm just here for the story; the chaos." Her eyes changed as she leant forward and said. "And the pleasure of watching the world suffer like the world made us suffer." Cross slowly pulled her feet out from under the sheets and placed them on the ground. Standing up, she stumbled towards the girl.

"Where's Incubux? What happened to him?" She asked. She stumbled and fell against the windowpane.

"Nothing." The girl's eyes met hers and something like pity clouded her vision.

"What's your name?" She blinked then a smile overspread her face.

"Kaya. My name is Kaya."

Ink awoke to a very soft bed. Pushing herself up she pushed at the cushy pillow and smiled.

"Friends with the prince," She muttered. "You're always so full of surprises." She gracefully rolled off the bed and fell onto the floor then stood up. She opened the door and stepped back a few paces as she was met with Error standing at her door, about to knock.

"Oh you're up," he said, lowering his fist.

"Yeah, I'm up. What do you want?" Ink asked.

"Nightmare wants us in the infirmary. Something happened earlier this morning."

"Alright, I'll get dressed then. Just give me a few minutes." Error nodded and shut the door. A few minutes later Ink came out fully dressed and followed Error to a white room with unfamiliar people inside.

"Oh good you're here," Prince Nightmare said, looking up. Ink noticed for the first time that there was a white-haired girl with heterochromatic eyes sitting on the bed beside him and frowned at her. The other people she'd seen briefly while being dragged around the castle but this girl was completely new.

"What happened here Night?" Error asked.

"Long story short someone broke in to talk to me."

"Oh damn we are not doing our job right at all," A girl with mostly black hair said.

"At least we didn't lose Nightmare," The girl beside her said.

"Rude," The shortest girl sniffed.

"I wasn't trying to be rude Savior."

"Well, you sounded rude, Luma."

"Shut it all of you," Nightmare growled.

"But I wasn't even talking..." The last girl muttered, shivering and hugging herself.

"What did they say?" Error asked.

"She told me she was the one that took Dream." A heavy silence fell after that comment.

"Are you going to go after her?"

"Yes." Nightmare looked at the girl sitting on the bed. "But I have a few things to finish up here."

"Alright." Error smiled. "When you're ready to go I'm happy to go with you." Ink stared at him and made a shocked noise at the back of her throat. "What? Got a problem?"

"Yes, there's no way you're going without me," Ink protested.

"But you can stay here. There's no need to travel with me like before."

"I don't care." Ink put her hands on her hips and frowned.

"Aww, that's cute," The girl with dark hair cooed.

"Nina, don't interrupt," the short one chided.

"She can come with us," Nightmare interjected. "It shouldn't be too much of a hassle." Ink's cheeks flushed but she remained silent.

"Alright," Error sighed. He turned to leave. "See you when you're ready to go." Nightmare nodded and Error left the room, Ink trailing behind.