My Guardian Nightmare

Chp. 4 - Lucid Dreaming

"Where...?" Error looked around in confusion as he then shakily stood up.
He was in a forest of some kind, surrounded by trees and bushes.
It honestly was kinda scary. "H... Hello...?" He nervously called out, fidgeting with his shirt.

Way to familiar goop began to gather in front of Error and a familiar figure formed out of the goop.
The cyan eye of the being looked down at the child. ,,Greetings." It said with a deep voice.
,,Do you remember me? Why, of course you do. Error... was it? My name is Nightmare. I really appreciate how much you are willing to sacrifice for the sake of your family... Something like that I have never seen before. For that, I will make sure that you truly are worthy of my protection, as I am a guardian, not a demon as they keep perceiving me as."

Error blinked in horror, before shock, before surprise as he stared at the demonic being.
"A... A g-guardian...?" Error was confused, what even is a Guardian?
"A-And of course... I... I would do anything for my family..."
Error mumbled softly, well, there are lines he won't probably cross for that really.
Like stealing important stuffs, he doesn't those kind, nor will he probably ever try to...
He doesn't know if there'll be exceptions but he'll go there when he gets there.

Nightmare nodded slightly, his tentacles swaying calmly behind him.
They weren't as sharp as when Error saw him for the first Time.
,,Yes, a guardian. Do you not know what a guardian is?" The being asked the small child.

Error then shyly shook his head. "N-No... I'm sorry Mr. Nightmare..."
Error softly squeaked, fidgeting even more nervously. The being sighed.
,,It's alright. And don't call me ,Mister' that makes me sound old. Well, Error, a guardian is someone, who protects something. Like your mother is your guardian, as she protects you from any harm."

"O-Oh..." Error spoke softly before slowly nodding.
"So... So you're like... My mama?" Error gasped, eyes twinkling a bit.
The other looked at the child and wanted to say something, but Nightmare stared at Error's eyes, before sighing.
,,....Yes." He then said, looking at the young child.

"That's so cool..." Error gasped in awe before he then suddenly ran up and hugged the eldritch abomination. "Thank you Nigh'mare!"
Nightmare stared with a wide eye down at Error, confusion all over his face.
,,Uh-uhm?" The guardian made, before patting Error's skull. ,,What'cha doing there, kid?"

"Mama said that this was a hug... And you hug people when you appweciate something... Or maybe like...? Mama told me it has a lot of meanings."
Error spoke softly before smiling happily.
"And I appweciate you!" Oh Stars the little lisps are adorable.

Nightmare looked down at Error, before blinking a few times.
,,...And why do you appreciate me?" He asked, a tentacle still rubbing over Error's skull.
"Well... You's like mama... A protector!" Error chirped, smiling softly at Nightmare.
"You're not mean like what others say too... You're really nice!" Ahah, yeah. Nice.

Nightmare stared at Error. ,,Kid, I am not nice-"
He then said, tilting his head a bit. The guardian's tentacles swayed lightly.
,,There is a reason why people don't like me."
"But you awe nice to me... Therefow, you's nice!"
Not again with the lisps. He just smiled sweetly at Nightmare. Awh.
Nightmare stared at Error, before sighing.
,,Al-alright, Error." The guardian said, looking like he wanted to curse.

Error then brightened up at that and then hugged Nightmare more happily, nuzzling him a bit before looking around. "Where awe we though...?"
Nightmare grinned lightly. ,,You're sleeping. We are in your dream. Cool, right?"
He said, definitely proud to be able to do that.
And make Error think he is cool, but he would never admit that.

"Yeah..." Error blinked lightly. "But why are we in a forest?"
Error was mostly confused. "Is this what I L... Lu... Luwid... Lu... Cid?? Dweaming?"
Error attempted to pronounce the word.
"Lulid Dweaming?? Is this what it's called?" Error then glanced up at Nightmare curiously.
"I wead it in a book! Well... Gen Gen did."
Nightmare chuckled slightly, but ended the chuckle with clearing his throat.
,,Lucid dreaming? I guess... you could call it that." The guardian hummed.

Error then blinked. "Oooh... How does it work?" Error asked in confusion.
"I heard that you jus... Imawine a scenery..."
Error trailed off before blinking when the scenery changed, gasping as it revealed beautiful floating islands, it was still night, of course, but Error loved the stars anyways.
"Uwaaaah!" Error was in awe.

Nightmare looked around himself, hiding a smile. ,,Oh hey, that's good, Error."
The guardian hummed, rubbing once again Error's head with a tentacle.
"Really?" Error asked curiously before looking up and gasping. "Stars!" Oh stars he's adorable.

Nightmare nodded. ,,Yep! Stars. Do you like stars?" The guardian asked  the child in curiosity.
"Yeah." Error spoke. "Mama doesn't usually haf enough money so we don' have a lot of stuff the school kids have... So we always either stargaze or read books..."
Error softly spoke as he kept staring at the stars. "Mama's also rarely home because of her job... Whatever this job is, it's very meanie."
Error huffed childishly.

Nightmare looked at Error. ,,Oh..." He said and tilted his head slightly.
,,Aren't you sad because of it?" Nightmare asked then the child.
"I am... Especially since we don't get to spend time with Mama. But Mama tells me that this 'job' is important... Because it's what helps mama make the delicious foods she makes for us."
Error then smiled a bit. "So I'm content with just that in the end... Plus, Sundays are always days where Mama doesn't haf a job, so she always has time for us in the end!" Error chirped.

Nightmare stared at Error, before sighing and rubbing Error's head.
,,Don't worry kid, I am sure it will get better soon, yeah?" He said cracked a smile at Error.
"You think so...?" Error softly asked as he looked at Nightmare with hopeful eyes.
,,I know so." Nightmare answered and booped over Error's nose hole.

Error blinked in surprise before bursting into small giggles at the boop.
"Hehe... Okay..." Error never lost his hope, but Nightmare's statement has only made it stronger.
Nightmare smiled at the small one. ,,You are a strong kid."
He then suddenly praised out if nowhere.

Error blinked lightly. "Stwong...? How? I can't even lift Fresh!" Error pouts childishly.
Then again, that's because they don't really eat much, as they don't have that much food to begin with.

Nightmare blinked. ,,There are more than one way to be strong." He hummed then.
,,And you are a very strong kid, mentally!" Nightmare pointed at Error's skull.
,,Because you know that you don't have much, yet you keep going and can find happiness in simpler and smaller things in life. This is another kind of strength, in my opinion a way better strength then physical strength."

"Ah..." Error slowly nodded, well he does like a lot of things, simply because he doesn't really have any other choice.
Not that Error knows it anyways.
He then glanced at Nightmare and then scooted towards him, though he could feel dizzyness coming up, so he was confused.
He didn't know that he was waking up really.

Nightmare hummed slightly, looking at Error.
,,Guess it's time for you to wake up. We see each other... very soon." The guardian said to the child.

"Awh... How soon?" Error pouted, he was quite liking on having a conversation with Nightmare...
Oddly enough, it doesn't trigger his social anxiety...

Probably because of the fact that unbeknownst to him, Nightmare has gotten rid of the social anxiety to be able to form the dream.
The guardian thought for a bit.
Then he said: ,,I would say... in... five minutes, more or less. Depends, really. After you woke up. Dunno how long this can take. If something is waking you, it's only a matter of seconds or minutes, it really depends if you're a heavy sleeper. But you're already waking up, so it won't take long anymore."
"Okay..." Error trailed off as everything around him went dark.

_________________________________________

Nightmare is WEAK.

1376 Words