Children of Chaos

Chapter 6: I ran out of names for chapters

2024-02-27: minor edits until i can rewrite it
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Erratum awoke to the sound of voices. Like usual, he stayed perfectly still and relaxed. "You did wHAT?" shouted an unfamiliar voice. "Brought ki-" Dust was cut off. "Why would you do that? This is no place for children and-"
"The glitchy one is awake," interupted a voice that sounded like his own, but without the glitches. He'd been found out! Erratum scrambled into a fighting stance, protecting Blue. He saw Nightmare in his passive form (did he have a corrupt form in this universe? Erratum would have to check) and the Error of this multiverse staring at him. Dust was also there. None of the others were in sight.

"Calm down. I've been told your name's Erratum? We're not going to hurt you or your friend," said Nightmare. His voice had lost all its previous anger, instead taking on a soothing tone. Erratum glared suspiciously at them.

Error tried to approach, holding his hands up in the multiversal signal of I-mean-you-no-harm. Erratum growled lowly, a glitched sound that clearly stated, 'if you dare come closer, I will rip your arms off and tear your SOUL in two'.

Error wasn't sure exactly how a growl managed to convey such a specific threat, but decided not to argue. He stayed perfectly still. "Kid, c0uld you n0t? That's r3ally freakY."
"Th3n-n sTa*Y aWaY." Error was startled and slightly freaked out by his glitchy voice, but did his best not to show it. "I'm not going to harm you." The kid mumbled something. "What was that?" Erratum stayed silent, choosing instead to wake his friend up.

His friend opened his eyes, and Dust saw Erratum whispering to him again, presumably about what just happened. Blue looked at the three skeletons. He whispered something back.

Erratum turned his gaze to Nightmare, who felt as if his very SOUL was being judged.

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Nightmare
*Uncomfortable with your gaze.
*Thinking about letting you stay.
*Has no intentions of harming you or your friend.
*Keeps a few secrets.

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Erratum studied the other two.

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Dust
*Feels paralyzed by your gaze.
*Just wants to give you a home, no matter what Nightmare says.
*Doesn't want to harm you or Blue.

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Error
*Is very freaked out by your gaze.
*Doesn't know what to think about letting you stay.
*Intrigued by you, but will never hurt you or Blue.
*Doesn't have any large secrets.

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Erratum broke eye contact and smiled. He moved to the side, in essence saying he trusts them not to harm his friend.

Nightmare hesitantly took a step forward, then looked at him for permission. Erratum nodded, so he continued, bridging the gap between them. About two feet away, he sat down. "You know, I really think you might stay here," Nightmare said quietly. "The thing is, you seem like pretty good kids, and we do not-so-good things here. Don't tell the others, but that's the only reason I'm hesitating."

Erratum thought for a moment. "ThAt'$ oKaY. I d0 n0t-$o-Go0d Th1nGs To0." Blue lightly smacked his shoulder. "Don't pretend like you're the only one. I did them, too." Nightmare sighed. "I don't mean stealing-from-a-candy-store bad. I mean killing-people bad." Erratum looked like he was about to say something, but Blue elbowed him.

"So, Dust referred to you as his boss," Blue said, trying to change the topic before Erratum could reveal anything. Nightmare tensed. "Kid, have you ever heard of a gang?"
"Yeah. You're saying this is a gang?" "Yeah."
"CaN w3 j0in?"
"What? Kid, it's not like that. We do bad things, really bad things. Like kill people." Blue and Error looked at eachother, then back at Nightmare. "We'Re 1n," they said in unison.

"Okay, one, that's really creepy. Two, I'll have to clear this with the rest of the gang members. Three, are you sure? You'll have to fight and stuff." Nightmare tried to convince them, but they refused. "We Kn0w HoW t0 f1gHt," said Erratum. "I can beat Dust in a fight," added Blue. This was worrying for SEVERAL reasons, but Nightmare decided to ask them about it later.

Dust, who had heard everything, sized Blue up. "I don't think so," he said. Erratum chuckled. "DoN't UnDeRe$t1mAt3 h1m," he said. "I d1d ThAt 0nCe AnD h3 aBs0lUt3lY d3m0l1sHeD m3." Nightmare sighed. "You know what? Fine. You two can stay, if only because I'm curious." And worried, he silently added. "You're not joining my gang, though."

He beckoned them upstairs, where they were led to a door. A faded sign was taped to it, the words long lost to time. Erratum smiled. This mansion appeared to have the same layout as his Nightmare's does (did?), and he recognized it as Nightmare and Dream's old room. He wondered if Dream lived with them, then decided he probably didn't.

Nightmare opened the door, revealing a dusty room. It had a bunk bed in the corner, some toys, and a bookshelf. The top bunk had lavender sheets and a violet blanket, while the bottom bunk had light blue sheets with a yellow blanket. The room had a thick purple carpet and sky blue walls. Dream catchers hung above the pillows on the beds, each decorated with the opposite's colour (the bottom one was purple with black feathers, while the top one was yellow with blue feathers).

A picture of two small, nearly identical skeleton children hung above the toy box. They wore short-sleeved shirts, long pants, and capes that reached to their knees. One was beaming, looking at the camera, and dressed in the same shades of blue and yellow that adorned the bottom bunk. He wore a golden circlet with a swirl in the front. The other was smiling softly at his twin and wore the same outfit, except in lavender and violet. He wore a similar golden circlet, except instead of a swirl, there was an ornately carved crescent moon.

Blue gave a 'let's-do-something-we-shouldn't' look to Erratum, who grinned and nodded to the picture. Blue hopped up onto the toy box, but the picture was still too high up, so Erratum climbed onto him. He pointed to the child in purple.  "NiGhTmAr3," he stated. He pointed to the other child. "Dr3aM."

Nightmare stared in shock. "I get that Dust might've mentioned me, but how do you know my brother's name?"
"MaGiC," Erratum said, doing jazz hands. This caused him to lose his balance and tumble to the ground, knocking Blue over in the process.

"0oF," he said as Blue landed on him. Blue jumped up. "Oh gosh, are you okay?"
"1'm FiNe," said Erratum in a muffled voice. "WhY d0 y0u AsK? DiD y0u FoRg3t Ab0uT 'iT'?"
"I wasn't sure if 'it' would be different now that we're here."
"1t'$ n0t, DoN't WoRrY."
"What are you guys talking about?" asked Nightmare. "Nothing. We forgot you were here," explained Blue. "That doesn't-" Nightmare tried to say, but a voice from downstairs interrupted him. "Dinnertime!"

Blue looked at Erratum, then at Nightmare. "What's for dinner?"
"Tacos," Nightmare answered. Erratum looked up. "BlUe'$ tAc0s Ar3 b3tTeR."
"How would you know that? Maybe whoever's cooking- Horror, probably- is an even better cook than the Magnificent Blue!" Blue posed heroically, his cape fluttering in the nonexistent wind. Erratum remained on the carpet. "MeH. I'm NoT hUnGr¥."
"You're never hungry!"
"TrUe."
"Ugh! Come on!" Blue tugged on Erratum's jacket. "NeVeR!" Finally, Blue gave up. Or so it seemed...

"BlŮe! PuŤ^m3 đ0wÑ!" Blue had picked Erratum up, and was now holding him over his head. "Come on Nightmare! It's dinnertime!" he shouted as he ran downstairs. Nightmare followed, silently asking the gods what he did to find such strange children.
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Hey guys! Thanks for reading! Please leave any questions or comments in the- you know what, if you're actually reading this, you've read it in the rest of the chapters. If you didn't, you probably aren't reading this now, and have instead already tried to scroll to the next chapter (if you're on mobile) and/or looked to see when this was last updated. See ya!