part two is finally here!! took me ages haha but it done :]
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"A soup kitchen? What is that?" Cross stuffed his feet in his shoes, pulling the laces tightly with a grunt before tying them. "s'food is what it is. You didn't think I had food in this dump, did you?" Beanstalk god-man didn't answer, only watching quietly, and Cross snorted. "Thought so." He tugged at his shoes, testing them, and rolled onto his feet, dusting himself off.
"Alright, octo senior-"
"What did you call me-"
"-got any more questions?" Cross sincerely hoped not. Bottle man shook his head, "None that require staying in one place."
"Great! Cuz I've got people to see and places to be."
Cross slung his backpack over his shoulder, working his arms through the straps and cinching them tightly. His phone buzzed in his pocket, chiming with that specific tone reserved for specific people, and he took it as his cue to open the door and nod to Nightmare. "Vamonos."
---
Cross stepped out of line, making for the clothes baskets. His stuff had been getting ratty lately, and he needed new stuff. If he got lucky, he'd find something that would fit. The ever-clueless all-knowing being follow after him with a disgusted look, Nightmare's nasal bone wrinkling with distaste. "What is this?" Cross glanced back, pausing his movements and lowering the shirt he'd been shaking out.
"What does it look like? I'm getting clothes." He held it up to his chest, musing over it. "That is extremely unsanitary," Nightmare grumbled as he watched the shirt get rolled up and crammed in the backpack. Cross shrugged, "This is how I get most of my shit, that's just how it is. Besides, this was just put out today, I gotta take my pick before all the good stuff gets taken."
Nightmare grimaced, "But you have no knowledge of their origins, they could be riddled with disease." Unbothered, Cross continued to test clothes, filling his bag to near capacity and answering absently. "With how long I've been on the streets, I'm probably immune to everything anyways- ooh, jackpot!" A small pile of socks, hidden under a horrendously bright pink scarf, was snatched up quickly and put away.
Cross grinned, finally stepping away from the large crates, bagging a hoodie. "Besides," he led Nightmare back to the much shorter line, "I'm gonna wash 'em." The rest of the trip went by in silence. In some ways, Nightmare was a blessing. His appearance meant more food, though it took some convincing. Soon, Cross was gleefully putting away all the food, excitedly speedwalking in a seemingly random direction, and Nightmare had no choice but to follow.
---
The chain link fence towered over them both, multiple signs warning against trespassers scattered across it. Nightmare eyed one of the signs, uneasy at the image of a firearm. He'd rather not get shot while following some moronic child. Cross's backpack thumped down on the other side, a small cloud of dirt billowing around it and the coins inside giving muffled clinks. The fence rattled and Nightmare turned back to Cross, blinking.
The moral yanked on the fence a few times and flashed Nightmare a grin, lifting himself up with a grunt. "Don't mind the signs. The guard dog's been dead for years." With a skill born from years of practice, Cross scaled the fence quickly, reaching the top in a few beats. Nightmare's eye went wide, a burst of anxiety fluttering in his chest, but Cross had thrown his leg over the side and was on the other side before Nightmare could even do anything.
Thoroughly surprised and shocked, the god could do nothing but stare as Cross hopped down the rest of the way, bouncing on his toes and smiling widely. "C'mon, old man. It's not as hard as you think, promise." Nightmare glanced up at the top of the fence and then back to Cross, and narrowed his eye. Absolutely not.
With a huff, he shifted forms, dropping into a puddle and slipping through the fence. He'd rather avoid making a fool of himself by attempting this mortal's ridiculous acrobatics. He shifted back into his true form, shaking off a bit of dirt, and shot Cross an equally smug grin, mocking him. "It's not as hard as you think."
Rather than being slighted, Cross gave a delighted laugh, another surprise for Nightmare. "Touché, amigo." He turned away, picking up his backpack and dusting it off, slinging it over his shoulder and waving for Nightmare to follow. "Nice trick, dude, wish I could do something like that." Puffing up with pride, Nightmare fell into step behind the other.
"Ok, so, we're almost to our next stop, but I need to talk to you first." The abrupt change in tone brought him to a stop. Cross gave him an uncharacteristically serious look. Nightmare shifted, put-off at the new development. "I am listening."
Cross nodded towards a ramshackle building, "My friends aren't going to treat you as nicely as I have." Nightmare nearly snorted at that. If Cross called his behavior 'nice,' then he couldn't wait to see how these friends would act. "I don't care how high and mighty you think you are, but if you decide to start demanding respect like you did with me, I'm not going to be taking your side when that backfires."
"I don't need a child to defend me."
"You also don't need three violent people trying to kill you at once. Listen, I just want you to promise me that you won't act out of line."
"I cannot promise it, but I shall do my best to be a respectable figure."
"...I'm taking that as a yes. Glad we got that settled, then. Now c'mon, let's go. I have some friends to feed."
Nightmare wisely chose to stay behind Cross, following the young monster silently, taking in the slapdash structure as they approached. It was dimly lit with what looked like expertly re-wired motor vehicle headlamps and a faint hum vibrated through the ground, though the source of the noise was a mystery to Nightmare. Rusted metals and various rubble littered the ground in a strange way. An attempt at decorating, perhaps?
There were several rubber-wire circles lined along the home, each one housing a different plant. It was unclear if those plants were thriving or dying, but a few had colored fruits dangling from them, so maybe they were thriving.
A beaten path lead up to a large wooden board that had been repurposed as a door. Cross spared Nightmare one more glance, and knocked on the door, calling out a "Dust?"
The door opened and another haggard child stood on the other side. Nightmare had barely taken in their sunken eyes before Cross was being torn away and shoved behind the unnamed mortal. He recoiled at the sudden movement, hissing in protest, and started to retrieve his companion. Instantly, a jagged, metal staff was in his face, stopping him in his tracks. A third new child stood defensively between Nightmare and the other two, their thin body tensed in preparation to attack. They shook the pole warningly, barking out in a rough voice, "Stay the fuck where you are, or I'll run this through your skull."
Nightmare stiffened, opening his mouth to respond, but the aggressive child only snapped at him. "Hands where I can see 'em. Now." Nightmare swallowed his rising ire, slowly holding his hands up. So this is what Cross had been speaking of.
"Killer!! Killer, wait- He's with me!" Ah, there he was. Cross squirmed free of his friend's grip to dash around and grab ahold of the defensive one's hands. The pole dropped quickly, and a bright red lit up the second friend's cheeks. Nightmare frowned at that, squinting at them and taking in their appearance. A skeleton monster with their soul strangely out of place, the swirling red target hovering over their chest. Their eyes were pitch black, eerily enough, and they clearly had some kind of infatuation with Cross.
Sourly, Nightmare decided he didn't like this one. Killer, as he'd been called, let go of the pole, sputtering unintelligently. Behind them, the first friend scoffed and stepped up behind them to shove them apart. "We don't have time for this, idiots. Cross." Killer let go of Cross, moving away quickly and clearing his throat.
The first, and much shorter friend, a hooded and scarfed skeleton with a gaunt expression and feverishly bright eyes, elbowed Cross unkindly. "Hey. Who the fuck's this guy? n' why's he here?" Nightmare rolled his eye, "I-" The short skeleton spun around, baring his teeth, and Nightmare's mouth shut with a clack. Cross, amused, answered bluntly, "He came out of a bottle."
"...pardon."
"I shit you not, Dust. He came out of a fucking bottle."
Dust blinked slowly at Cross, then looked at Nightmare, and back to Cross. "...fuck off, did you really?" Nightmare sighed quietly, earning another grin from his companion, and was forced to join the trio inside, listening to an extremely overdramatic spun tale of how he'd been freed from that despicable bottle. Killer seemed to find it hilarious, cackling at every little thing like he'd been told some kind of joke.
"-and so, according to him, he's some god who got shoved in a bottle as a punishment. He called it a Genie Punishment, since apparently genies are the lowest of the low and it's humiliating to be treated like one." It could have been phrased better. At least he hadn't lied about anything.
Dust snorted, "No fuckin' way. What kinda god does he claim to be?" Killer, entirely unneeded, burst into laughter again, wheezing out, "Fuckin' Poseidon..!" Nightmare bristled, goop spiking, and, despite his better judgement, he hissed in a warped voice. "Don't insult me in such a way, you bastardized speck of dust! You mortals dare compare me to such a wretched creature?! Vex me once more-!"
He was lightly smacked in the jaw, an attack so strange that his words died and his body shifted back into its default state. Cross glared at him, scowling, his hand still up from slapping Nightmare. "What did I tell you?"
Across the room, Dust and Killer both stared at them with wide eyes, equally as dumbstruck as Nightmare. Cross continued to lecture him, "I don't know what drama you morons got goin on up in the magical retirement home up in the sky, but I don't fucking care, so stop getting your tits in the grinder every time there's a joke about gods. Capiche?"
"....capiche."
Cross nodded firmly after a moment, "Good. Now sit your ass down and don't fuckin' move. I'm not done butchering your story."
---
A rattling noise cut through the conversation. Nightmare absently glanced over, eye lidded with boredom, to see what had made the sound. Dust, though, perked up, scrambling from his seat to jump over a small wall and duck under something. Killer and Cross had both turned to look as well, the two wearing similar expressions of mixed emotions. Intrigue piqued, Nightmare straightened, peering in the dark corner of the room.
Dust's head poked up, his eyes scrunched with his grin, and he gave a quick hand signal that made no sense to Nightmare. Killer got up immediately after, rushing to go fiddle with a bunch of switches. The already dim lights grew dimmer, and it felt like they were holding their breath.
Dust ducked back out of sight, though he reappeared much sooner, slow as he backed out of the corner. Rattling started up again, a dragging sound coming with it this time, and after a long minute, another skeleton popped up from behind the wall. They stayed close to the ground instead of standing, which was odd for some reason, but Nightmare forgot that in favor of taking in the large head-wound in the monster's skull.
Nightmare looked at Cross, seeking answers, but the other only shook his head. A wheezing grunt brought his attention back to the new skeleton, who still hadn't gotten further than the floor. Their bright red eye was locked on Nightmare, fear seeping off of him in staggering waves. Nightmare found himself altering his size again, shrinking down to be smaller than Dust, shocking himself with his own actions.
Despite his embarrassment for having done so, it seemed to make things better. Dust, who'd been staring at Nightmare, looked away, leaning down to encourage the other monster to get up. "It's ok, Horror, that's Cross's friend. His tiny ass won't do shit to ya, me n' killer'll make sure of it." The pulse of resolution from both Cross and Killer confirmed it. If Nightmare made a move that was threatening in any way, the three wouldn't hesitate to beat him down. He had no qualms about being able to overpower them, he was sure of his own strength, but it would be rather inconvenient for him to lose his potential guides.
Nightmare shrank himself smaller. It seemed to do the trick, Horror pulling themself up onto a knee and reaching up for Dust, who easily stooped over and allowed Horror to loop an arm around his neck. It was slow, the process of helping Horror stand. The monster had a clearly skewed sense of balance, wobbling and letting off feeling of disorientation.
By the time Horror was at their full height, Nightmare felt ridiculous at his current height. They were enormous, almost the same height as Nightmare's true from, and yet, they had been afraid of Nightmare until he'd made himself nearly 3 feet tall. But that brought up the question of why? What had happened to this monster?
Dust clicked his tongue, "Killer. Get him his chair." And Killer was moving, darting away and seamlessly bringing a wheelchair that had been turned stationary through the room. Everything felt so unnecessary. Why dim the lights? Why help Horror stand? Why bring him a chair? Couldn't he simply just join them on his own? Nightmare began to turn to Cross once more, all these questions at the tip of his tongue, but paused, tensing.
Horror dropped heavily into the seat, groaning something relieved under his breath. Killer sat crouched behind him, untangling a long length of chain from the chair's legs, the rattling metal winding around the waist high wall. Nightmare felt static filling his head, his corruption bubbling from his shock and astonishment.
A loop of metal, nearly the size of Nightmare's fist, was sunk deeply into the cracked kneecap of Horror's leg, the metal speckled with bloodrust and no doubt preventing movement. Nightmare could sense the heavy infection that had settled deep in the cracked bones. The chain in Killer's hands was attached to the loop. Beneath the damaged knee, two long, jagged bones jutted into ragged ends. His foot was gone, torn off or hacked away, and completely gone.
Suddenly, it all made sense. Nightmare's sludge rippled and spiked, the bubbling becoming audible. A glob of it hit the floor with a splat, the substance hissing against the concrete and eating away at it. Horror was chained to this place. That's why these children lived here. It's why they were so defensive, why Horror was so afraid. The hole on Horror's head was another story on its own, another reason for that fear. Children. These are children. Adults did this. Staring at the stump of Horror's leg, Nightmare knew that an adult, a fully grown and matured adult, had done that.
"Nightmare."
He ignored Cross's call, ripping his gaze away to look directly into Horror's eye. Eye. He only had one eye. Nightmare took in a slow breath, closing his own eye and summoning his own power. He was no lowly wish-granting demi-god, but he was a god nonetheless. He could do what he pleased. Magic swirled in his soul, sparked at his fingers.
"Woah, woah, what the fuck-!"
"Nightmare! Hey!"
He let out the breath of air, a gust of glowing magic the dispersed at his teeth. The four mortals had grouped together, the three able-bodied standing firm in front of their weakest. Nightmare knew he'd changed appearance, it wasn't something he could quite control. Drawing his power forth like he had often removed the glamour that hid his true form. All his physical alterations had been undone.
The heavy set of extra limbs at the base of his spine writhed, the long appendages shimmering and curling at his feet. His vision had changed, the shapes and forms of the mortals now lights and colors that shined. Each one a story, each one a thought, a memory. Magic. Their souls sat in the center of each blob of color. The state of the souls were. Rough. Nightmare released another puff of air, and blinked. His eye always lit up his entire eyesocket, shining a bright green-blue light that had become his most recognizable feature.
Nightmare blinked again, willing himself to see the mortals as they were, and found them all staring at him with various shades of distress and betrayal. Ah. The shift had been rather unannounced. Horror's teeth were bared, his body tense and wound, but his colors were darkening with helplessness.
"Horror." Cross ripped a knife out of his magic, the red blade hot with the intent to defend and protect, "Nightmare, if you touch him-"
Nightmare scoffed, wishing he could at least alter his voice to be less... layered. "Cease your unprecedented self-defense. I do not intend to harm." Killer wrung his hands around the length of his pole, shaking his head reverently, the blackness of his emotions dripping from his eyes. As if he hadn't been odd enough already. That sharp pole end was jerked up, poised to harm, "That's a fuckin' lie if I've ever heard one."
Horror's eye narrowed. Nightmare addressed him once more, "Horror. I would like to offer my service." Dust's face shifted into that of disgust, his companions making similar expressions. Things flickered in the air around the four of them, the magic linking back to Dust. Cross snarled, holding up his knife, "You disgusting piece of shit, I can't believe I fucking-!"
"Silence, all of you! I am not seeking pleasure, do not mistake me for a monster of your world. I may be a god of cruelty but I am not a devil. Now silence yourselves and let me speak." Cross seemed to be a pack leader. Killer turned to him, as did Dust, the three of them exchanging silent words. They looked to Horror, who nodded.
Cross turned back to Nightmare, his voice sharp and unforgiving. "Spit it out, then. But if Horror says no, you back the fuck off." Nightmare tilted his head, amused. Silly mortals, thinking they had power over him. "I had not planned otherwise. I shall abandon the dramatics, and present my offer outright, if it pleases you." Cross's eyes narrowed, but he dipped his head in agreement and Nightmare finally said what he'd been wanting to say.
"If you wish for it, I free you from your chains and heal the infection in leg. And, if you truly want, I will restore what was lost."
When none of them moved, when none of their colors changed, Nightmare quickly added, "The offer is timeless. There will be many opportunities for it-"
"..can you?" Nightmare blinked, his mouth shutting. Horror stared at him with a wide eye, a flickering hope lighting up the slow sway of colors around his soul. "if... I ask...now... will you?.."
"I would not offer it if I could not."
Killer's pole thumped on the floor, the mortal setting it down forcefully. "No fuckin' way. That has to be a scam, it's not fuckin' possible." He jabbed the pole in Nightmare's direction, "You're a stars-damned liar."
Nightmare scowled. "I am a god. I have the power to do whatever I want, your disbelief does nothing to lessen that."
"You're not a god! You're some fucking psycho with just enough magic to make fancy lightshows! None of this," Killer gestured wildly at Nightmare, "is fuckin real!" Cross grabbed Killer's shirt collar, yanking him back. "Killer, shut the fuck up! It's still worth a try." Cross shot Nightmare a glare, "But, if he's lying, if he does anything to even touch Horror the wrong way, I'll slit his throat."
Nightmare doubted he could. Dust glanced at Horror. "Still wanna go through with it?" Horror nodded quickly, "yes, yes.. please.."
Dust waved at Nightmare immediately, "Fine then. Come work your magic, you freak." Killer's protest was muffled under Cross's hand. Nightmare didn't fool around, quickly approaching to kneel at the space that was made for him. The scalding red blade of Cross's knife was abruptly at his throat, the threatening heat halting Nightmare in his tracks. "One wrong move, and I'll cut you." Nightmare sensed Killer's pole an inch away from the back of his skull. God or not, it was unpleasant to be in pain. He muttered an agreement, waiting for Cross's permission to take Horror's knee in his hands.
"I hope the four of you are away that some pain is inevitable."
"If that chain comes off, then your head stays on."
Fair enough. Nightmare pushed his corruption into the cracks, and Horror gasped, howling as the acidic substance burned through the metal. Nightmare closed his eye, his magic filling the broken and split bone sending him enough feedback that he could omit the need for eyesight. In some sense, it was a powerful feeling. Sweeping through every inch of infection and wiping out the bacteria. A genocide on a microscopic scale, Nightmare mused to himself.
Infection dealt with, Nightmare redirected his intent to the chain, his magic eating through it easily. He made sure to make another two passes, ensuring that the wound was clean, and allowed his magic to finish off the chain link. Horror's screams tapered off into ragged panting, the sound of the chain falling away deafening the room. Nightmare cleared the space where the chain had been diligently, pulling away after it was done.
"Holy shit, that's-" Killer's comment was lost as Horror shouted. Nightmare was now focused on the stump, his corruption visibly writhing across the jagged tips. Thankfully, there wasn't as much infection here. The majority of the filth was dirt and other grime. Nightmare hummed. He pulled his magic away entirely.
"You might want to prepare yourself. This part, I've found, is the most unpleasant." Horror, already teary eyed from the pain, set his jaw, determined. "do it."
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FUCK YOU ALL[AFFECTIONATE], I LOVE YOU <3 HAVE A GOOD DAY
ALSO I NEED TO POST ANOTHER THING HOLD ON, IT'LL BE UP IN LIKE A MINUTE