Closing the door to Raven's room, Salem walked backed to Nightmare who was watching the flames dance around in the fireplace; deep in thought.
Giving him a knowing look, she spoke up "Don't be too hard on yourself, Guardian. Raven would have done it even if you two weren't friends. Believe it or not, she has always watched over you but was too shy to approach you at the time."
Nightmare looked up at the healer in surprise, "Really?"
Pulling out a chair she sat in front of him, humming in response, "MMmm... the first time she saw you was the day I had to drag her out of the house... literally! She was always shy and took a while to adapt to new things..."
❤︎Flashback to Raven: Age Two❤︎
"Was hiding under the bed really necessary, Starlight?"
The only reply was silence.
Salem sighed sadly as she continued to walk through town looking at the vegetable stands to figure what would do nicely to go with the deer that her husband hunted this morning. She has been trying to get her daughter to speak for a while now but with no such luck. With another sigh, the mother turned her attention back to the stand; not noticing a little butterfly catching her daughter's attention causing her to chase after it.
With her white dress and black pig tails flowing behind her, Raven continued to chase the butterfly around as she squealed and giggled without a care in the world. She stopped when the insect lead her to the bottom of a hill where the Tree of Feelings stood proud with its leaves and fruit swaying with the wind. Drool dripped down her mouth as she eyed the apples hungrily but tilted her head in confusion; why were there two different colored apples? She looked to the brighter side of the tree but wrinkled her nose in distaste; she didn't like how the apples sparkled so much and doubt they would taste any good. Raven, then, looked to the left where the darker apples were; her eyes sparkled at the color. They were a unique black that had a tint of purple but had sparkly dots on them that reminded her of stars in the night sky. The child frowned at the thought of eating them; she didn't want to ruin something so pretty.
A sigh caught her attention to the trunk of the tree. Waddling up to get a better look, she stopped to see a skeleton monster fast asleep with his back against the tree with a book on his lap. He had on a royal purple and gold long sleeved shirt with black pants which were tucked in his black boots; a gold belt was wrapped around his hips and a gold crown with a crescent moon symbol adorned his skull. But what truly caught the child's eye was the peaceful smile on the monster's face; her eyes shined in wonder and awe.
"Pwurple... pwetty!"
Raven's small hand went to touch the smile until she heard her mother's frantic calls. Turning back to leave a quick peck on the sleeping skeleton's cheekbone, the two year old whispered , "Nwght, nwight, pwetty pwurple!" Before running back to her panicked mother giggling.
❤︎End of Flashback❤︎
"Since then, for past two years, Raven has been going into town just to see you but hadn't had the courage to talk to you. Until..."
At the edge of his seat, Nightmare whispered out, "Until.. what?"
Looking at the dying fire, Salem gave a small frown "It was two days before you two became friends when Raven came home in tears clutching her chest because she witnessed some of the townsfolk taking their hatred out on you. But what I believe what truly got to her was seeing you cry for the first time in the period she's watched over you."
The mother turned to looked back at the skeleton only for her to gasp in surprise; before her was Nightmare on his knees with his hands covering his face as his body shook and broken sobs escaped him.
"All this time I thought... that everyone hated me... that I was going to be alone and suffer for as long as I live... but all this time... I find out that I wasn't really alone... I-I don't deserve her love, Salem!" Lifting his head to look at the women, Salem couldn't help but let a few tears fall from her eyes at the broken expression on Nightmare's face.
"Why would she choose me out of all beings to love?! I'm no one special! I'm not made out of positive energy! I am made out of the things that people don't want! So... just... why...?"
Kneeling down next to the broken SOUL in front of her, Salem cupped his face with her hands; with a gentle smile she wiped his tears away "Maybe it was fate that lead my daughter to you and brought both of you together." She sighed as she closes her eyes before opening them as her expression become serious, "Yes, I do believe it was fate as what I'm about to tell you regarding Raven's SOUL is extremely dire."
"What's wrong with her SOUL?"
Laying her hands in her lap she explained, "As you know, I have a SOUL of KINDNESS while Batair has a SOUL of PATIENCE. But my husband's trait hasn't always been that..."
The Guardian tilted his head in confusion; Batair's SOUL wasn't originally PATIENCE? Is that even possible? How can a SOUL trait change?
"As you know, mages have almost gone extinct due to others hunting us down. Before I met Batair, he lived a peaceful life with his family as hunters. They lived off the land and never bothered with outsiders. Until one day, witch hunters stormed their home and murdered his family right before his eyes. Due to his parents unfortunate demise, his light blue SOUL was consumed in RAGE and killed the hunters maliciously. Even after killing his parents murderers, the fire in his SOUL never quenched as it still thirsted for destruction.
He destroyed many villages and killed a lot of people who got in his way; human and monster alike weren't safe. His RAGE consumed him to the point where he only lived for destruction and L.O.V.E. He lost his sense of self over the years he rampaged; until he came across me."
Her arms wrapped around her waist as Salem hugged herself with tears streaming down her cheeks.
"My parents were tortured and brutally killed before my eyes and I was used as bodily relief for my parents killers. I was to the point were I couldn't feel any form of emotion to the point the color of my trait slowly faded to white. It was on one fateful stormy night that Batair randomly barged in when I was in a middle of a 'session' with my abductor. To say he was mad was an understatement..."
Letting out a breathy chuckle, Salem gave Nightmare a wavering smile as he gave a sad one back.
"He killed the bastard and I hoped he would kill me to free me from my suffering; but he showed me MERCY. I begged and pleaded for him to just end me; for I have lost my purpose in this world. I had no living family and I was broken beyond repair; so who would want me? He stared at me for a while before he spoke; told me what happened to his parents and what he had done. That he regretted killing all those people and knew he couldn't take back the sins he committed; that he wanted to do something right and that when he saw me as broken as he was that it just came naturally. Do you know what he asked me to cause me to break down?"
The Guardian remained quiet as Salem gave a dry chuckle, "He asked me if we can be broken together..."
"Since we're both lonely, I was wondering if you want to be lonely together? Want to be friends?"
Nightmare couldn't help but chuckle back, "You know Raven said something similar to me? But instead she asked if we can be lonely together..."
"Ah... of course she would get her unique pick up lines from her father."
The skeleton only shrugged, "Like the saying goes 'The apple doesn't fall from the tree."
Salam raised her brow in amusement, "Funny, since I'm talking to a being who guards one. Speaking of which, aren't you supposed to be guarding it? Aren't you afraid someone is going to steal a apple?" Shaking his head, Nightmare replied, "Raven was more important than the tree at the moment and Dream should be there by now so we have time for you to finish your story."
"Alright. As I was saying, I- we were both broken beyond repair but yet Batair and I continued on despite our suffering. It took me three years for my SOUL to regain my original green color back. As for my husband, his RAGE slowly resided but never fully went away as I doubt it ever will; thus explains the outline of his soul. Now, my theory as for why Raven has it is because her and her father cherish bonds to the point if either of them loses a loved one, they react to it in an extremely negative way."
Tilting his head in puzzlement, the confused skeleton slowly asked "What does that have to do with me?" Giving a bright smile, Salem placed her hand on Nightmare's shoulder "Since you are the Guardian of Negativity, you are able to sense people's negative emotions! If there ever comes a day that Raven's RAGE starts to go berserk, you'll be able to to sense it coming before it even shows! You'll be able to prevent it from happening!"
"How am I supposed to do that?!"
The mother smiled down, kindly, at the shocked skeleton, "Just by letting your presence known to her! It could be as simple as a hug! You are the most important thing to her Nightmare; if anyone could do it, it would be you."
~ TIME SKIP TO THE TREE OF FEELINGS~
Nightmare sat in his branch at the Tree of Feeling looking out into the night sky. The stars were out and cold wind hit against his frame; winter would be here soon, leaving the world around the Guardian in a frozen dreamscape. When he arrived back at the tree, he was met by Dream; who was asking for his whereabouts and why he had left it undefended. So the Guardian of Negativity told his brother what he told Raven what he was going to do; that someone was messing with the tree and that he was chasing them out of town. That tomorrow he was going out to the forest to make sure the perpetrator wasn't hiding out in the words and needed Dream here while he was doing so; even if that wasn't entirely true. He was just using that as an excuse to make sure his friend was ok and to confront the bullies who nearly killed her earlier that day.
Getting lost in his thoughts, the skeleton thought of what happened after Salem told him about Raven's SOUL and her parents past.
☽Flashback☽
After the long heartfelt talk, Nightmare stood up and was about to walk back to the Tree of Feelings when Salem stopped him, "Nightmare!" Turning around to face her, the Guardian saw her walking towards him with a vile in hand, "Batair and I have noticed that it seems you haven't been getting enough sleep; so I have concocted a sleeping potion to help you. It is quite useful for all kinds of sleeping situations since it has my magic indued in it; including night terrors since Batair and Raven get them all the time."
'So they noticed, huh?'
Scratching the back of his neck, Nightmare blushed "Thank you, Salem."
She warmly smiled back, "No, thank you Nightmares for existing! Without you, my husband and I wouldn't have fallen in love while living through our sufferings and ended up with our beautiful Starlight. I am honored and grateful that our daughter has befriended the Guardian of Negativity and has SAVED her from her loneliness! Thank you for everything, Nightmare!"
☽End of Flashback☽
He couldn't help the blush and bight smile from forming as he took the vile from his pocket and examined it. The liquid glowed a bright green from the healer's magic and oddly radiated her kind INTENTIONS. Taking the stopper out, Nightmare took a whiff and was surprised to smell the scent of freshly baked cookies coming from the medicine. As the healer instructed him to do, he took a small sip and was even more surprised that it tasted like the said sweet!
'I wonder if this is where Raven got her addiction to cookies from?'
Chuckling at the memories of the child and her love for said food, Nightmare couldn't help but let his thoughts wonder into darker thoughts as what he was going to do to the problematic trio. His eye lights dimmed as he clenched his teeth; he knows he can't kill them but that doesn't mean he can't scare them a bit. Feeling a wave of drowsiness, the Guardian closes his eyes and, for once, slept peacefully.