"Mom!" Pallet cries. He rushes past Alloy and falls into Dream's arms, hugging him tight. The God of Balance stands up and gives them space. He picks up Phinigan and mumbles an apology to it before slipping it on his back. His poor needle didn't deserve to be thrown into the dirt. Alloy's brief disguise of the Creator has him slightly unsettled. He spent way too much time in forms that were not his own.

"P-Pallet? Pallet! I'm so sorry....." Dream seems to just be realizing what he did. He didn't even register his son's presence as Shattered. He squeezes Pallet close.

"Great. Peachy. I'm so glad you're done having a breakdown," Nightmare rolls his eyes, sarcasm evident in his voice, "This scene makes me sick. Unlock the AU. Now." Seeing that sort of vicious glare on Nightmare's face nearly sends Alloy running, but he takes a deep breath and holds his ground. Alloy's Nightmare is fierce, yes, but he can also see reason and treated Alloy fairly once he knew who the young god was. Something has gone horribly wrong to make this Nightmare so unforgiving and angry. They reek of negativity.

"I wasn't joking earlier, Nightmare," Alloy takes a few steps forwards towards him, "I need to understand your side of the story. What makes you hate Dream and Ink so much? This can't just be about the tree. I just want to understand, and hopefully then, to help you."

"Fuck off. I don't need anything from you. Stay out of my business," Nightmare growls. His four tentacles flex and ready to fight even though he's still severely wounded. Both he and Dream need medical attention. Alloy has to try a different tactic.

"Well...... you want Ink to be punished, don't you? For whatever he's done? I can do that. It's why I'm here, after all," Alloy remarks casually, relaxing his body language and crossing his arms. Dream lets out a squeak of alarm. Before he can say anything, Alloy puts one hand behind his back and crosses his fingers so Dream and Pallet can see.

Nightmare doesn't know what to say to that at first. He wants to believe something can be done, but Ink's gone unchecked for too long. Nightmare doesn't believe he can beaten anymore. "You can't mess with me like that! Don't mock me. Ink has taken everything from me!"

*************

Despite him having a naturally negative aura, Nightmare did indeed lose his mind briefly when he consumed the negativity apples. He never would have first attacked his twin otherwise.

Ink had actually wounded Nightmare far more severely in their brief scuffle than anyone had realized. The corruption covering his body hides much of the actual damage to his fragile bones underneath. Neither Nightmare or Dream had the power level necessary to travel to different AUs before eating the apples. It was still an untested ability. When Nightmare opened a portal, all he had in mind was someplace away from the pain. His injuries burned. His soul screamed in rage and confusion. How had he gotten all this Lv again?

Nightmare doesn't remember fainting, but he slowly comes back to consciousness laying in an unfamiliar bed. His mind is a muddled mess. He can't think properly. It's all Nightmare can do to try and focus on his surroundings. The bed is warm. A thick blanket is tucked in around him. The room is dim. Nightmare tenses when he hears a page of a book being turned. The sound of the crisp page is oddly comforting. Someone is breathing calmly and slowly somewhere beside Nightmare. Dream? No, it can't be him. Nightmare might have tried to make more sense of it, but drowsiness drags him back into sleep.

Nightmare was alone when he next woke up. Sunlight steams through a window. He raises a heavy arm slowly to try and block it out. Nightmare's breathing hitches when he sees his hand. The black corruption is gone. His memories are fuzzy, but Nightmare remembers bits and pieces of eating the apples and slaughtering the villagers. He remembers attacking Dream with a black haze tearing at his mind. Nightmare's breath shudders. All his magic right now is being devoted to his injuries and there isn't any excess to coat his body in the corruption that lends him strength. Nightmare is mystified by his own hand, turning it and wiggling his pale fingers in the sunlight. It's not the hand of a child like he remembers.

The bedroom door swings open. Nightmare drops his arm and jerks his head to look over with wide eyes. The other skeleton freezes in the doorway with a bowl of soup in their hands when they see him staring. Nightmare is too weak for hostility even though that's the first reaction his corrupted soul demands. He's not used to kindness. Instead, fear sends a shot adrenaline through him. Nightmare does his best to get away and push himself against the wall, but his arms refuse to support him. They're too weak. Bandages are wrapped all along them.

"Hey! Hey, calm down! You're gonna hurt yourself," the other quickly sets down the bowl and rushes to his side. Nightmare hisses, and then whimpers when they grab his arms. "It's okay, you're safe." Nightmare can't stand that they're so close, and he squeezes his eyes closed and turns his face away. Tears well up. He's not in pain from the other grabbing him, but his mind is in utter chaos. He doesn't know how to respond to any of it. The words jumble in his head in one vicious ball.

"H-Hurts," Nightmare whimpers.

"I tried my best to numb up your injuries with a poultice, but I might have missed a spot. I'm not a great healer. Where does it hurt?"

The sudden calm and steadiness in the voice grounds Nightmare somewhat. The grip on his arms loosen. Unable to get any more words out through the turmoil and confusion, Nightmare slowly pulls his arm closer and taps his skull. The corruption from the apples won't let him have peace. This little scuffle has already exhausted him. He slowly goes limp.

Little fits like these went on for a couple weeks. Nightmare still couldn't form words very coherently or move around. Everything hurts. Somewhere between sleep and consciousness, Nightmare had somehow started thinking of the other as 'Talon' even though he didn't know their name. Nightmare woke up as usual when Talon opened the bedroom door.

"Hey, good morning! How are you feeling?" Talon asks politely, though he continues when Nightmare just stares with wide and confused eyes. "I was thinking we could try something different today. I'm sure that you're sick of this room by now." Talon keeps his steps slow and and his hands clearly in view as he approaches. He's learned that it helps Nightmare stay calm. "Is this okay? Do you trust me?", Talon asks gently, setting his hands on the bed and looking at he other for permission. Nightmare doesn't respond. For days, all he's known is Talon's gentle presence and the turning of pages. Talon slowly slides his hands forwards at a snail's pace. Nightmare tenses when Talon starts to pick him up, but he doesn't struggle or push himself away. Nightmare squints his eyes closed when Talon carries him out into the sunlight. Talon is oddly warm, but it actually feels nice. Nightmare almost whimpers when he's set down. Talon sets him down against a low wall and sits next to him on the ground.

"You keep saying your head hurts, but I've put about as much poultice as I can under those bandages. I'm starting to think that it might be more than physical pain that's bothering you," Talon cocks his head and gives Nightmare a reassuring smile, "This is what I do to clear my head. Just..... feel your body. Try not to think to hard. Maybe focus on your breathing? I find that being outside helps the most."

The two sit there outside together in the peace and calm. Despite how silly he feels at first, Nightmare does try to stop thinking. He ends up focusing on Talon's breathing more than his own. For the first time since eating the apples, Nightmare's mind is quiet. The corruption coiled in his soul seems to finally understand that there's no reason to be angry. There's been a burning question stuck in Nightmare's head ever since he realized that Talon was trying to help. He can ask it now that it's only his voice in his head.

"Why?" Nightmare says out loud.

Talon seems surprised at the question, but pauses for a moment before shrugging. "Because you needed it." It's such a...... Talon answer that Nightmare's soul clenches. "I suppose it's rather late for me to ask now," Takon mumbles, "but I never did get your name."

"It's Night-" he cuts himself off with a coughing fit, turning away and covering his mouth with his elbow. Talon pats his back and lays one hand on his shoulder in concern. Nightmare is the only one who notices the black liquid staining the inside of his sleeve.

"Alright, maybe we should go inside."

Nightmare stayed with Talon for another month. Slowly, he grew stronger, and could walk if he used Talon as a crutch. Nightmare's mind was also recovering from the brink of insanity. It's doubtful that he would have ever healed mentally or physically without someone like Talon. They ate together and spent their time talking about random nonsense. Talon only asked once about where Nightmare came from. He wouldn't answer. He didn't correct him when Talon called him Night, either.

"Thank you, Talon," Nightmare says one day over breakfast.

"Talon?" Nightmare tenses, waiting to be mocked for coming up with such a silly name, but it never comes. "Huh. I kinda like it. Thanks, Night."

Startling awake late one night, Nightmare looks around blearily, confused as to what woke him. There's a full moon out tonight. It lights the room with an ethereal glow. Nightmare sits up to look out the window, absentmindedly scratching at the thin layer of bandages on his right arm. They're wet. Nightmare freezes. He closes his eyes and turns his head, but it still takes another minute of convincing for him to open his eyes. The bandages are damp with a sticky, black substance. His magic is recovering and finally diverting away from his injuries. Nightmare's aura is also returning. Panic seizes his soul. What would Talon think if he saw Nightmare this way? If he felt that aura that made everyone hate him in his home? Nightmare can't stay. For the second time, he rips open a shaky portal and disappears without a trace.

Nightmare stayed away for all of three days. He spent part of the time back in his own AU, but that place is no longer his home. He wandered from AU to AU while testing out the limits of his new powers and portaling ability. It was harder for Nightmare to rein in his corrupted magic as more of it oozed out of and coated his bones. Dark, dark thoughts tried to drown him. Murdering another monster doesn't seem so bad anymore. Guilt is also a negative emotion. Feeling incredibly guilty and missing Talon might have been Nightmare's only motives to get control over it all. He and Dream did not cross paths.

Three days, and Nightmare slips back into Talon's AU. The sun had set hours ago, and it's very dark outside. Nightmare blends into the shadows easily. He just wants to see Takon one more time, and then he'll go.

Talon is sitting on the outside steps beyond the gate of his home. A stick snaps in the darkness. Talon jerks and looks around, but he can't see anything beyond the light from a small lamp sitting next to him. Even so, he knows who it is. "Why did you leave?"

The quiver in his voice nearly incinerates Nightmare's resolve. He bites his tongue. If he speaks now, he won't be able to stop. Nightmare meets Talon's eyes from the darkness even though the other doesn't realize it. Then again, doesn't Talon deserve an explanation? After everything he's done. "I was scared."

"Of me?"

"No!"

Nightmare feels terrible that Talon would ever think that. He hasn't ever cared about anyone but his twin. In a little over a month, Talon has gained his trust. It would be hard not to give it after everything he did. Nightmare loved his brother, so much that he couldn't bare to tell him what the villagers were really like. Talon doesn't rely on them like Dream did. ".......... I'm scared of myself. I'm scared of what you will think of me." Admitting that truth out loud is harder than he thought it'd be.

"What I think of you?" Talon asks, confused. He stands up and takes a step into the darkness in the direction that he heard Nightmare's voice come from. Nightmare flinches, but doesn't back up. His four tentacles are curled tightly to his back and are out of view. If Talon squints, he can make out a faint silhouette.

"I did something..... pretty bad. And I might do more bad things. Can't you feel my aura now?" Nightmare shuffles nervously.

"What aura? I don't think I can even feel those anymore, considering I can't sense any magic through my own," Talon laughs a little self consciously, "And about you doing something bad? Yeah, I kinda understood that when you showed up with so many injuries. But that's okay. You're not the only one who's made bad choices. Want me to go first?"

Nightmare cries. How could Talon be even more understanding than he already is? Nightmare let his family down. Through shaky breaths, he begins recounting his story for the first time to another person. He explains the balance in the Tree of Feelings and the duty given to him and Dream, his twin. The villagers did not like the negative side of the balance. When they destroyed the tree, Nightmare scummed to the promise that the apples would grant him the strength to fight back. The negativity tried to destroy him in turn.

The two didn't spend much time apart after that. Nightmare told Talon everything that he had experienced, including the fact that he came from another world. With practice, Nightmare was able to teach Talon how to make his own portals. Neither of them wanted him to be stuck somewhere. They explored the different AUs more thoroughly together. Nightmare would sometimes sense Dream coming near, but he and Talon would immediately return home. Nightmare started to notice a strange trend in many of the AUs. They had something called a "reset". Neither Nightmare or Talon had it in their home AUs. Resets are what kept most of their kind from aging. For all years the they spent together, Nightmare didn't notice Talon changing. He was thankful for that.

They had one of the slowest moving relationships in the whole Multiverse. It took half a century before either would admit something had grown between them. Nightmare had thought his situation would prevent him from ever experiencing a feeling like that, but evidently, love bows down to no one. Nightmare and Talon didn't leave the AU at all when a soul cocoon formed between them. Despite everything, Nightmare was undeniably happy when he held his son in one arm and Talon pulled close in the other.

It didn't last. Nightmare had stayed in one place for way too long. His aura might not effect Talon, but it certainly gave the AU a sort of....... stench. This attracted the Creator. It was the first time that Ink had ever been out of paint in his vials. He was being punished. Nightmare sensed him immediately when Ink came into his home. He told Talon to stay inside, but that was met with a glare. Nightmare tucked their son somewhere hidden before they both ran outside to meet Ink.

The Creator looks at them both dully for a moment before something clicks. "You're the one who hurt Dream," he says in a bland voice.

Nightmare and Talon aren't sure what's going on, but they both react quickly when Ink attacks. The battle was fierce and vicious. Ink felt no mercy. Nightmare and Talon made an incredible team, but they couldn't match Ink's endless endurance that comes with godhood. When Talon went down, Nightmare fell into a terrible rage at seeing the other so injured. Ink had no interest in dragging this out any further. He booted Nightmare out of the AU.

He was locked out for ten days. It was agony to not know what had happened to his beloved. When Nightmare was finally able to get back in, he could only stand to watch for a moment before fleeing. The AU has gone thorough a forced True Reset. Talon would not recognize him. Nightmare would not stay to see it. The next time he sensed Dream while wondering the Multiverse, Nightmare went to him. Dream was with Ink. The two were laughing like Nightmare's love and son were not gone. Nightmare attacked them both in a blind rage. He didn't care about Dream's look of betrayal. They are enemies.

When Nightmare first met a monster similar to himself, all he could think of was the chance Talon took on him. Nightmare took the Sans away from their AU and named him Killer. Then Dust. Cross. Horror. Error. They weren't his sons, or even children, but it helped. And then Cross betrayed them. It sent Nightmare spiraling back down into his hatred. He will never forgive Ink for what he's done.

******************

"Okay, that's a start," Alloy nods, taking in the screamed worlds calmly. Nightmare's being annoyingly vague, but Alloy can always do a bit of digging.

"Are you even listening!?" Nightmare bellows.

"Mostly. I've still got a lot of AUs to visit, plans to be made," Alloy swings his brush off his back, "Anyways, I've already gotten Horror, Dust, and Killer back to your mansion. Blue is with them. You should go join them until the meeting." Alloy opens a portal with his brush. Nightmare stares with a confused expression. He looks between Alloy and the portal a few times before he just gives up trying to understand this freak of nature that walks around with a giant sewing needle. Nightmare just wants to make sure his boys are okay at this point.

Alloy turns back to Dream and Pallet after he's left. "Ink's still having a temper tantrum after I tied him up in the Anti-void, so I hope you two don't mind staying here for a bit longer."

"You didn't hurt him, did you?" Dream worries.

"Oh, no! He's okay. I'll make sure of it." With that not so reassuring remark, Alloy sticks his tongue out and salutes before disappearing into a portal.