Chapter Text
The arrow was removed moments later, after it was clear that you weren't going to focus on yourself. You were as stubborn as your skeletons, if not more, you learned from the best after all. Horror did however, start to dress your wounds himself. Cross examined the wound in Nightmare's chest, as Nightmare's breathing continued to stagger and stutter. "the damage was impactful," Cross remarked, which made you scowl. Maybe the damage wouldn't have been so impactful if they had immediately removed-
"even if the arrow was pulled out sooner, it still would've caused such damage simply due to what nightmare is," Cross added, looking at all of you, though you saw his eye-lights flicker to your eyes specifically.
You tensed slightly when Horror brushed against the wound on your shoulder, wincing slightly. "How do we heal it?" You asked, eyes on Nightmare.
You looked up when nobody responded to you. Error avoided your gaze and you grit your teeth, surging away from Horror, ignoring his small "wait-" as you moved yourself to right next to Nightmare. You placed a hand on the bed to hold yourself as your other hand was placed on the wound. That action caused complaints and warnings from the other skeletons, but you paid them no mind, just focusing on your wounded skeleton. "Heal," you commanded.
You could feel your magic flow from you and into Nightmare. That brought you relief.
Until you could feel only a trim of magic be accepted into Nightmare's body, the rest of it being rejected and returned to you.
That caused your panic to increase.
You could hardly see the original command take place. You ignored the gentle tug at your elbow as you spoke again. "Heal.
The same thing happened.
You tried again, feeling your chest clench.
Again, most of the magic got rejected.
You tried again, getting the same result.
It seemed like the more you tried, the less magic that was accepted into the injury, the more it was blocked.
It felt like something was increasing to block your command, something was stopping the healing from actually happening.
"c̵̨̗̀̅o̸̺̺͌͊r̷̮̓͆r̸̮̗̈́̓ǘ̵͖͠p̷͓̾͘ṭ̸̘͑̚i̷̺̽ó̴̫n̶̝̜̑ ̶̤̑ḏ̶͠ȏ̵̠̱ȅ̴͓͝s̷̩̗͂̈́n̵̝̒'̷͈͑t̴̰̅̐ ̵̦̂͠ḧ̵̝̙́͛e̴̼͐͗á̵̱l̵͙̥̇,̵̬̉̓ ̸͇̃m̸̪̑͑a̷̡̞͐̔ǵ̸͕̾p̴̘̌̚ì̵̭̔e̴͔̔." The glitch of Error's seemed to register in your mind and you took a breath, faltering from the fifth try, looking up at Error.
"n̴̬̏o̶̯͒ ̷͙̒m̴̜͆a̸͖͐t̵̡̓t̶͓̉e̸͇͌r̴̼̄ ̸̗̏w̶͌͜ḫ̶̆ȃ̵̝t̷̢́ ̶̯̒h̶̻͗ē̶̼a̸͈̍l̸̳̇ḯ̶̘n̷̲͠g̶͖̓ ̶͍͒ý̵̨ō̷̗û̶͍ ̴̧̌c̸̠͝a̴͊ͅn̸͇̕ ̷͙̍d̶̡̀o̴̘̚,̴̤̒ ̴̖̓i̷͈̚t̷̻͝ ̸̫̂ẅ̷̞i̶̻͋l̶̞̀l̷̹͊ ̷̱́q̸̪̅u̵̦̚i̵̻͝c̷̻̀k̵̖͐l̵̜̃y̴̯͛ ̷̭̑c̵̹̈́o̶̘͋m̴͚̓ḛ̶̄ ̷̦̂b̴̙̆a̷̼̅c̴͈͋k̸̡̔.̶̭̕ ̷̜̀ṯ̸̀h̴̢̄ẻ̴̱ ̷̠̔ș̶͐a̵̲̐m̴̺͛e̶̞̿ ̵̫͂w̷̞̒o̵̮̾ú̴̻l̷̹͂d̵̘̋ ̷̲͛h̴̜̃ǎ̸̘p̷̤̀p̸̥͑e̵̹̾n̷͍̕ ̵͕̄i̴̜͋f̷͇͘ ̴̰͝d̶̹͊r̸̢̀e̴͈͐a̷͚̎m̶̟̿ ̴̜̃ẉ̸́é̷͚r̶̪̒e̸͚̚ ̶̪̈s̴̱͑t̷̞̍r̸̻͂û̸̱ç̸̂k̵̜̆ ̸̣̍b̶͔̏y̵͖͂ ̷̢͗n̴̠͊i̸̱͊g̶͉͂ȟ̷̙t̴̖̀m̴̮̄a̷̳͆r̶̠̓ē̵͈."
A breath was sucked in by one of the skeletons. "he.. he won't get better then?" You heard Killer ask.
Your hand tightened around Nightmare's jacket.
He won't...
Get better?
You felt something crack in you.
You didn't hear the response that was given to Killer's question, gaze just on Nightmare's pained expression, his rough breathing filling your ears. The longer you kept your hand on his chest, the more you could actually feel the shake of his bones, feel the corruption spread throughout his body. At that realization, you yanked your hand away like you touched something hot.
You staggered a few steps away from the bed, fully aware of your hands shaking this time. When you glanced down, you almost thought you could see some of Nightmare's tar-like residue on your fingers, and that scared you.
Nightmare was...
Nightmare was dying.
You fled.
Your mind didn't, couldn't process the shouts after you as you escaped Nightmare's room, a hand cutting away an outstretched blue string with a knife on instinct. You didn't know exactly where you were running to, but everything felt too heavy.
You needed out.
.. You didn’t know how long you stayed hidden in one of the empty rooms in the mansion, until you felt an urge to leave the room to check on your skeletons. Your body felt sluggish and hungry, telling you it’s been a while.
Once you found one of the skeletons, you would leave to find another until you found and located them all, finding them securely.
All of them except for Nightmare.
The cycle repeated over the days, which was one of the most clear actions you remembered yourself doing during that time.
“he’s in a haze, isn’t he?”
“appears that way.”
“you think he’ll be alright dusty?”
“…”
There was another action you could remember, and actually feel your body doing. Going to Nightmare’s room, standing next to his bedbound body, and trying to heal him. Hours passed during those times as you tried to use different variations to get Nightmare’s body to heal through the injury.
Your exhaustion was clear whenever you were on your rounds to check on your skeletons (making sure they were breathing safely unlike Nightmare), looking worse for wear.
You didn’t have a clear conscious to stop, to breathe, to take a break and think. You just needed to heal Nightmare.
…
You were stopped one night on your way to Nightmare’s room by Dust. Your mind immediately examined him before breathing a silent sigh of relief.
He was alright.
Dust was safe.
You moved to walk past him to continue your routine.
Dust reached out and caught your arm. “why are you doing this?” He questioned you.
You stopped at the grab, about to pull away from him before his question made you pause. You slowly turned your head to stare at Dust. “… What are you talking about?”
“this, magpie!” He sneered, gesturing to your entire being. “what you’re doing right now!”
You blinked slowly. “I’m going to go check on Nightmare,” you informed him.
The grip on your arm tightened slightly. “we both know that’s bullshit pie. you can’t keep doing this.” His voice strangely sounded just shy of pleading.
“Doing.. what exactly?” There was an edge to your voice as you stepped closer to Dust, causing him to loosen his hold on your arm. “What exactly am I doing?”
“you know you’re exhausting yourself, magpie.” He grabbed your shoulders, eye-lights keeping eye contact with your eyes, which made you straighten. “you can’t keep straining yourself!” He exclaimed.
You smacked away Dust’s hands with a shuddered breath, feeling something clench. “What am I supposed to do then, Dust?!” Just let him rot there without trying to find a solution??“ An almost hysterical hushed laugh left your throat, hands raised to your face, like you were about to hold your head. ”I can’t let that happen!“ Your hands didn’t make contact with your face, Dust’s own gloved hands grabbing them and holding them in his own hands.
“there’s nothing we can do!” He pulled you closer to him with your held hands. “corruption doesn’t heal, magpie, no matter how many times you try!”
His voice sounded like he was trying so hard to convince you of this fact.
You didn’t want to be convinced of it.
“I.. Dust..” Your shoulders crumbled and your head dropped. “I can’t just wait and…” You looked at Dust, your brows crinkled together in a grieving expression. “I can’t watch him die, Dust.” Your voice lowered in a hushed out murmur, not wanting to say it aloud, like it would make it actually happen.
Dust released your hands briefly and they immediately dropped to your sides, his hands moving to rest on your back as he pulled you into a secure hug, your head resting on his shoulder. “.. i don’t either magpie. none of us do, but..” His voice faltered for a minute before it continued, sounding almost choked up. “.. there’s nothing we can do..”
You desperately didn’t want to hear those words, but you said nothing, just curving your arms to return the hug tightly, face pressed into his hoodie.
The words did little to comfort you, but the hug helped slightly.
..
Dust’s words circled in your brain as you were sitting next to Nightmare’s bed one night, watching him. You had been forced to stop healing Nightmare by Dust, the others catching wind of it and agreeing. You were only allowed to see Nightmare if you were going into his room with no intentions to try and heal him.
It was failing anyway.
You were failing.
Despite your desire to try again, you could feel a tight strain in your body, something that had grown the more times you continuously used your commands. So you may have strained your magic, which may have been tiring you out.
So what?
“What use is my magic if I can’t even heal him?” You muttered to yourself with a bitter laugh. “If I can’t heal him, fix him, wake him up, then what use is it?”
The fact that Nightmare was on his deathbed was bad.
The fact that you couldn’t do anything to help was worse.
You suddenly paused, Gerson coming to mind, or rather, an old story that he told you when you were younger.
("There was a kid that used to be in the Underground, the one that freed us monsters and allowed us back on the surface. Old age has me forgetting their name, but there was something remarkable about the kid. They could turn back sometimes, before a bad deed was even done. In better terms, they could-")
Reset.
…
..
The kid could Reset.
…
.. What if..?
You were tired, your magic exhausted, you weren't even sure if you could provide a proper working command right now (not that it would have worked on the wound anyway). But what did you have to lose?
You can't bring back the dead. But what if you brought him back before he died?
What if you Reset?
You flexed your hands, stretching them out. You weren't going to wait, it would be best to try now while you were alone with him. You didn't want to watch him die. You wouldn't stand for it.
You reached for your magic, drawing it up, feeling it gather in your SOUL. You strained to keep it in place, feeling too exhausted to even hold it there, forcing it to stay. You couldn't falter, you had to try.
You could feel the patient hum of your magic, the edges of your vision being tinted a light blue as you tried to gather more of it. You didn't know how much you needed to try to pull this off, most of it already exhausted away from repeated hours of trying to heal Nightmare, but you couldn't try with such a measly amount.
("A Determination SOUL that kid had.")
You didn't have such a thing, you knew that, so you needed to draw enough magic to even try.
The longer you forced your magic to gather, the more tinted your vision became. You felt slightly queasy, a hand landing on the bed to keep yourself upright. A harsh cough startled you and you looked towards Nightmare, who looked so sickly, deteriorating away. A barely audible whisper of your name came from the skeleton, not your nickname, your name. A hand twitched closer to your hand on the bed, phalanges just brushing against your fingers before he stilled again, the only sound from him being his ragged breathing.
You saw red.
Determination filled your SOUL as you gently grabbed Nightmare's hand, holding it like a lifeline. You wanted him back. You couldn't let him die, you wouldn't let him die. You wouldn't let him go.
You gripped onto Nightmare's hand, your eyes narrowing, the tint that filled your vision no longer that patient blue that you recognized with your magic. It was as red as the determination you felt to heal him, to make him survive, to go back.
("Memories are hardly kept during a Reset, Spitfire. You ask me if I remembered the kid? Hardly. There was a skeleton in the Underground that remembered the Resets though, only him however. Warned me about them, the dangers the kid caused. I, however, regained only a life's memory of the kid.")
Gerson's words only filled you with Determination.
It was fine.
You didn't need to keep your memories.
If the other skeletons didn't remember either, then that's fine too.
As long as Nightmare lives.
Red filled your vision and you instinctually felt something wanting to be freed.
You gazed back down at Nightmare, a sad, bitter smile on your face as you spoke words he would never hear. "Thank you, for everything Nightmare. I appreciate, and love you, so please. Please survive," you whispered the last part, feeling something roll down your cheek.
You had no time to say anything to your other skeletons. You hoped you could be forgiven for that.
They wouldn’t remember you anyway.
"Rewind."
Something shattered within you.
...
..
Birds were singing.
Flowers were blooming.
The breeze was nice and cool.
There were little to no clouds in the sky, just people walking around peacefully.
Your town was just… so peaceful, hardly any complications.
There was hardly any trouble where you lived.
The residents were kind and nice to each other, it was a nice community.
Nothing ever happened.