Averse

Chapter 10 - Confliction

"Hello there," a deep voice came from behind Cross as he startled from his curled up position. He turned to face the source, being met with a rather tall skeleton dripping black ooze that covered his entire frame. He looked the figure up and down before shakily summoning his blade, pointing it at the imposing stranger. In return, the goopy skeleton stepped back slightly, holding his hands out in a defensive manner. "Whoa there," he started, sounding less formal than before. "No need to get aggressive, I mean you no harm."

Cross stared up at him, holding out his blade for a few more moments before letting it dissipate into raw magic once more. He remained silent as he continued eying the stranger suspiciously. The taller skeleton knelt down in front of him, resting his arm over one knee and propping himself up on the other. "Now then," he continued. "I was drawn to you by the strong feelings of negativity you harbor. It's the likes of something I've never felt before, to be honest." The stranger brought his hand up to the back of his neck and rubbed at it subconsciously.

"It's almost as if all of the negativity from your universe is harbored within you... and, looking around, I can assume that is actually the case." Cross looked away, a pang of guilt eating at his insides as he realized what the other meant. "What happened here?" The gentle question caused tears to well in the monochromatic skeleton's eye sockets. He could hear Chara's voice in the back of his head attempting to bicker with his own thoughts as he debated on what he should say to this seemingly very knowledgeable stranger. Should he even say anything at all? How could he possibly know this random skeleton's intentions? He certainly looked like bad news. But his voice sounded... somewhat soothing. There was a certain comfort in his words– and as well in the fact that he was another being inside the vast expanse of white that had once been Cross' universe.

Chara's voice grew louder and more aggressive within his mind. He shook his head, attempting to get rid of the nagging shouts that plagued him, squeezing his sockets shut tight in the process. His hands shot up towards his skull and cradled it, digging into the bone in an attempt to distract himself from the screaming.

As he sat there, shaking and attempting to regain control of his own thoughts, two words fell faintly from his lips: "I happened."

The stranger looked at him, concern radiating from him as he watched the smaller skeleton practically convulse in despair before him. Tears trickled from the black and white skeleton's eyes, streaming down his face and dripping from his chin. The stranger gently reached out and rested a hand on Cross' shoulder, squeezing it softly in an attempt to ground him. He sat there, allowing the smaller skeleton to hiccup and sob in front of him until his tears ran dry and his breath returned to a shaky rhythm. Cross turned his gaze back up to the goopy skeleton, whose only visible eyelight was full of empathy as he stared back.

"My name is Nightmare," he began softly. "As mentioned before, I was drawn to your pain. I'm the Guardian of Negativity, you see. I've only seen a few Sanses in similar situations to yours– though, I'm not truly certain of yours yet. I apologize if I'm assuming, though I'm fairly confident I am correct in my assumption that you somehow managed to erase your entire world. Yes?"

Cross nodded softly, reaching up to wipe the tears from his face as he listened to Nightmare. The taller skeleton returned his nod cordially before continuing. "I've taken in a few others from rather dystopian universes. If you are willing, I have many spare rooms in my mansion." Cross continued staring at him, slightly bewildered at the sudden offer. This complete stranger who claimed to be some sort of guardian just decided to waltz in and ask him to move into his mansion? Yeah right! He continued eying Nightmare suspiciously, attempting to discern some ulterior motive or catch to the seemingly fantastic offer.

"I-I will warn you, the others are a bit.. Er.. how to phrase this... unwell."

There it was.

"Their universes took quite the toll on each of them. B-But they respect me enough to follow my orders, and they're quite alright once you get to know them! I promise."