Broken Souls

Chapter 22

Slowly under the pulsing waves of negativity Nightmare's goop slowly grew and coalesced into a supportive film over his fragile bones.

Killer kneels next to Error not taking his eyes off Nightmare, "mom what can we do to help?"

Error glances at Killer before gathering Nightmare in his arms and standing bones creaking and grinding with the occasional alarming pop.  "I don't know it depends on how his balance is.  I will take him to Lady Life."

Flower stands watching, "we will talk with Dream.  An Horror can call you, about the positive - negative balance."

Dream squirms in Bits hold, "what is wrong with Nighty? Why did his goop come off? Why did he look so fragile?"

Error opened, a glitchy portal and nods to Flower, "listen to Horror he is smart even with that crater in his skull.  Come on Killer let's go." He pauses only long enough to glare at Dream. "If you didn't matter to him." Error steps through the portal without finishing, Killer right on his heels.

Bit watches the portal close, "congratulations the guy who doesn't have the emotional energy to hate anyone, even Ink. Hates you, and loves your brother enough to spare you."

Flower frowns at Dream, "what did he mean about your AU and you Dream?  I thought you were like a swap or something instead of him having a Papyrus."

Dream slumps looking up at them with teary sockets, "I am a terrible guardian.  I was never as diligent or perceptive as Nightmare.  Always running off to play and leaving the work to Nighty.  I don't know exactly what happened in our AU.  Nightmare and Error have hinted over the years but never given details.  We were children. I wasn't paying attention, or maybe I just didn't want to see anything wrong in my world.  Nightmare was always a good diligent guardian. I just forgot why that was necessary."

Horror walks back over and pats Dream on the head. "Children should not have to carry that burden." He pauses trying to find words, "what happened as a child would only make Error mad.  Your real crime was everything after you grew up.  You replaced dad with a false image and the past with a fancy.  You abandoned him and rejected him.  You hurt your brother."

Bit winces standing and setting Dream on his feet.  Watching Dream wilt under Horror's gentle touch and kind but straight forward words.  What a way to rip a Sans a new one.

"Wait, does that mean Nightmare is the swap? Isn't he too tall to be a swap?" Outer watches remembering the confrontation at Error's stargazing spot.  "You mean you don't know what he meant when he said he bled for you?"

Flower turned sharply to Outer, "w'at da fuck da ya mean he said dat?"

Dream flinches and hugs himself, "I don't know okay I just don't.  I may suspect now but I was clueless as a kid.  I just remember Nighty being clumsy when he used to be more athletic than me."

Bit's sockets widen the puzzle pieces snapping together all too easily in his mind.  "Dream tell us did Nightmare ever like to play with your friends?"

Dream shook his head, "Nighty wasn't social he always insisted on staying right by our tree and reading."

Flower looks from Outer to Dream and Bit feeling queasy, "why a tree and not at home if he was just reading?"

Horror picks Dream up patting him on the back like an upset child, "dad told us that story.  The Tree of Feelings was a pillar of the multiverse regulating the flow of positive and negative energy.  It bore golden apples of positivity and midnight apples of negativity.  As such it had a guardian named Nim a dryad.  One day a human came seeking the golden fruit.  Nim refused because the fruit and its energy were to grate for any mortal and meant to flow to and from the multiverse."

Outer looked down and clenched his fist then opened his hand, "I have heard the story of Nim.  Error once told it to my Frisk.  The human enraged by Nim's refusal struck and mortality wounded the guardian."

Dream rubs his sockets, "Nim struck down the wicked human but too late to save herself. So she used the tree's magic to form two spirits to take her place."

Horror nods along, "she needed vestals to hogreatuse the spirits.  First she copied the humans from but it could not contain the  magic of the guardians so they burst.  Then, frantic as her strength was waning, she reached into the multiverse to find a form that could contain them.  An what she found was the original swap Sans she copied his form to make the twins.  Their magic could flow through and around their bones instead of destroying their new vestals.  Then she merged with The Tree of Feelings so that she could guide the newborn guardians."

"Unfortunately I couldn't really hear her.  Nighty could but he said it was more like feeling and impressions, but that was okay she was our mom and home."  Dream lays his head on Horror's shoulder.

Bit frowns looking away, "you and Nightmare took the tree's place somehow didn't you something happened in your AU and now you are guardians of the positive negative balance instead of the tree."

Dream nods looking sad, "not that I should have ever had such power, I am really bad at it."