Double chapter drop! Woot! Just one more chapter after this, and I am currently writing it right now, so hopefully I will have it completed so I can hit that magical little dot to proclaim this fic as being done!
Hope you guys enjoy!
Chapter 19
Donatello moved, obeying his Mistress' order without question, even though the temptation to do so burned painfully on his tongue.
His protest remained unsaid because after being with Nightmare for nearly a century, he had learned to never question her orders; not because he feared her wrath, but because she never did anything without a reason.
Shaking away his demonic thoughts -filled with the need to kill, slaughter, and rend bodies- Donatello returned to himself and focused upon the protection and preservation of life.
Never before had he wielded the godly sword Mort Morosis in this way. Nightmare was the one who was able to use the conflicting nature of the sword and he was unsure what would happen if he was unable to turn his thoughts away from death.
His doppelganger's eyes widened in understanding and before he was able to stop him, his counterpart threw his body protectively over Katherine, Michelangelo's arm outstretched to shove away the sword, just as the blade of Mort Morosis easily pierced Michelangelo's shoulder, and the other Donatello's carapace, sliding through his body, out past his plastron and into Katherine's heart, pinning the three of them together.
Letting go of the sword, he stepped back in horrified shock.
"No!" Raphael shouted in horror as he launched himself at Donatello, but he easily side-stepped the young demon and continued to study the three forms skewered together. Two, Donatello and Katherine, were motionless, eyes closed as if dead, but both still alive.
Michelangelo was very much awake, staring in horror at his shoulder as he lay half-sprawled over the other two figures, his eyes wide, his breath coming out in short panicked gasps.
From what Donatello understood about the sword, it could not be used the way that Nightmare was intending, and he did not know the ramifications of what would happen to his doppelganger or Michelangelo being struck by the sword as they had been.
Moving swiftly, he pinned Raphael to the ground. Shooting a glance at Nightmare, the voice of a very angry woman broke the shocked silence of the night.
"You hateful abomination!" Fate shouted in fury. "You don't know what you have done!" accused the anthropomorphic entity trapped within her circular prison.
"Me?!" Nightmare shot back, incredulous at the accusation.
"As soon as you arrived in this world, I saw what you would do to my precious tapestry," Fate snapped. "Threads unraveling, holes forming, destinies altered." Fate stood, her body shaking with rage. "Oroku Saki was not supposed to die, they were! It was woven all so beautifully. Donatello, taken to Oroku Saki, was killed. His death meant that he was unable to save Leonardo from his knife wound. Raphael, tending to his own wound, did not clean it well enough and it became infected. Hampered by pain and fever, he and Michelangelo fell when they attempted to save Donatello, a brother who had already been slain," Fate explained, her voice filled with pride at her vision.
Donatello felt his heart twist at her words.
In this world they…lost?
The thought was a terrifying one, and one he didn't think he could bear.
Fate continued in a furious tone, "I tried to stop the destruction you were about to wreak, but-"
"You did this, not I," Nightmare interrupted harshly. "I had no intention of staying and interfering in this world. I cut too deep, used too much power, and broke through to a parallel universe. I was about to leave immediately but you ripped me from my body and stopped me from doing this," Nightmare accused. "Like Oedipus, whose parents abandoned him upon a hillside so that the prophecy they heard would not occur, they instead caused the prophecy to be fulfilled." Nightmare leveled her suddenly crimson- eyed gaze at Fate. "You were the instigator of this self-fulfilling prophecy."
Fate fumed angrily from within her prison. "You are an obscenity!"
Nightmare gave a satisfied grin as if the insult flung her way was more humorous than hurtful. "You will reap what you have sown, Tyche," Nightmare threatened darkly and waved her hand.
Fate's eyes widened behind her glasses and she began to pound against the invisible barrier that held her trapped and subject to Nightmare's will. However, Fate seemed panicked.
"I've blocked her Sight, she cannot see or hear what is going on," Nightmare explained as she turned and stared at Mort Morosis driven through three bodies instead of one.
"I see you managed to drive Mort Morosis through Katherine's heart, your doppelganger and Michelangelo as well!"
"They threw themselves in the way of my strike," he defended.
"I was not chastising you, Donatello," Nightmare said with a mischievous smile.
"Mikey!" Leonardo yelled as he struggled to his feet.
"I'm…I'm okay," Michelangelo breathed out. "It feels…weird. Kinda warm, and tingly."
Anguished tears streaming down Leonardo's face, he stumbled forward, kneeling at Katherine, Donatello, and Michelangelo's side, reaching out to pull Mort Morosis from their bodies.
Donatello let go of Raphael and leapt at Leonardo. "Stop!" he shouted as he tried to prevent Leonardo from touching Mort Morosis. He didn't know what would happen to them if the sword was removed, but Mort Morosis would kill Leonardo if he touched it.
Tackling Leonardo, Donatello caught sight of Raphael moving quickly to fulfill Leonardo's intentions.
"Raphael! Enough!" Nightmare ordered as Raphael froze, his golden-red eyes turning more gold as he appeared to listen to Nightmare, his hand still hovering above Mort Morosis' handle.
Whatever hold Nightmare had over Raphael, Donatello knew that it was tenuous at best.
"Demon!" Leonardo yelled at him as he thrashed and bucked in Donatello's iron-like grip. "I trusted you. And you betrayed us to that…that…evil-"
"The only one who has been betrayed," Nightmare interrupted scathingly, "is Katherine." She glared down at Leonardo who was clutching at his chest in agony Katherine's heart no doubt struggling to pump as she still lay dying. "And you are the one who betrayed her."
Nightmare allowed these words to sink in as fresh tears of agony streamed down Leonardo's cheeks, the fight seeming to leave him as he slumped in Donatello's grip.
"She suffered to awaken Raphael," Nightmare continued, her voice grim and firm, "she was willing to sacrifice her life to heal Michelangelo, and I have no doubt that even now, she'll forgive you for killing her to prevent my release."
Donatello stood, allowing Leonardo his freedom.
"You intend to destroy your own world," Leonardo stated softly, no questioning lilt to his voice.
"I do," Nightmare affirmed.
"So, you are something far worse than the Devil," Leonardo observed dismally.
"I am the Devil," Nightmare reminded him, not disagreeing with Leonardo's observation, but not agreeing with it either.
Leonardo rolled over and slowly stood, hand still pressed against his plastron, right over his heart, his breathing becoming laboured and shallow. "If you're still the Devil, then I want to make a deal," Leonardo ground out, his voice breaking in misery. "You didn't let me do so to save Mikey's life, but now, I want you to save Katherine and reverse whatever the hell your demon did to Donny. My terms are still as before, whatever you want: my life, my soul… Name your price."
"No!" Raphael and Michelangelo protested in unison.
"You idiot!" Donatello snapped angrily, surprising everyone assembled around them. "You never make a deal with the Devil! Ever!"
"That's rich, coming from you," Leonardo shot back grimly.
"You make a deal with the Devil, it never works out well for anyone involved," Donatello responded, ignoring Leonardo's cutting remark. It was fine that Leonardo thought that he was some kind of traitor, he knew that he wasn't.
"I don't have a choice!" Leonardo shouted back, renewed tears streaming down his face.
"Don't make a deal with Lady Morning Star, make a deal with Nightmare," Donatello told him.
"They're the same person!" Leonardo gasped as he motioned to Nightmare.
Donatello growled in frustration, knowing that his doppelganger would understand. "No, they aren't!" he refuted. "She has a duel aspect. She rules Hell as Lady Morning Star, but it is a title she has acquired. Nightmare is the goddess of magic and as such, she has the ability to listen to prayers and answer them."
"Goddess?" Michelangelo whispered in confusion. "Duel… So she has like…a split personality?" Michelangelo questioned, suddenly relaxing, his expression brightening into understanding. "Nightmare doesn't want to destroy the world, Lady Morning Star does and so she has to keep her evil side in check. It's like Jekyl and Hyde!" he breathed out as if he needed to believe this to understand why Donatello, even though he was a demon, decided to follow Nightmare and protect her at all costs.
"I don't have a split personality," Nightmare grumbled. "I draw power from each of my respective Seats. I draw power from Hell as Lady Morning Star and the Tree of Life, Yggdrasil, as Nightmare," she explained. "As for why I am destroying my world, I am trying to save it."
"To remake it into something you want," Leonardo charged.
"I thought I had more time," Nightmare murmured as she looked over to where the skeletal visage of Death suddenly appeared at her side.
Raphael gave a gasp of horror as he looked upon the literal figure of Death.
Death did not respond to Nightmare's observation, standing motionless, his tattered grey wings pulled in tightly against his back, his faded black robes hanging about his gaunt frame, a scythe with a blade of deepest obsidian glinting in the pale, wintery moonlight.
"I won't let you have her!" Raphael snarled, moving to stand directly between Death and Katherine, as if he could somehow prevent Death from taking her.
Michelangelo and Leonardo looked at Raphael as if he had just gone insane, remaining completely oblivious to the forbidding presence of Death.
"Thank you for giving Donatello back to me, my love," Nightmare said, looking over at Death.
Death continued to remain silent, which was starting to set Donatello's teeth on edge.
On their world, Death was flesh and blood –a beautiful angel- and was much more human thanks to Nightmare inadvertently giving Death some of her humanity while accidentally acquiring some of Death's powers.
For a moment, Donatello wondered if Death and Nightmare were having a conversation only they were privy to, but Nightmare's next words belied this theory as she observed, "You are rather quiet."
Leonardo stared at Nightmare, obviously furious that her attention had somehow shifted away from him to something else.
No one has ever talked to me before, Death, in a voice reminiscent of the soft, echoing toll of a cemetery bell, finally answered.
"How do I pray to Nightmare?" Leonardo asked Donatello desperately, his hands shaking as he fought against his own death.
Donatello didn't answer, his attention firmly fixed upon Death. He, like Raphael, would attack Death if he so much as moved in Katherine's direction.
It was a ridiculous idea, he knew he could not touch Death, but Donatello was sure as hell going to try.
Nightmare raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "I find that hard to believe," she replied. "Mortals pray to death, beg for death… Oh," Nightmare said as she apparently realized something. "You mean no one has ever actually talked to you," Nightmare pondered a moment before continuing. "I suppose the gods and other deities would never have reason to seek you out and have a conversation with you…even Underworld gods."
"I want-" Leonardo began, but Michelangelo's hand suddenly shot out, cutting off his older brother's words.
"Leo," Michelangelo's voice quavered
Leonardo glared, about to angrily snap something at his baby brother, only Michelangelo's pale face and wide, terrified eyes seemed to stop him.
Michelangelo placed a finger up to his lips in a shushing motion. "Leo," Michelangelo whispered in a voice so soft that Donatello could tell that Leonardo was having a hard time hearing it, "look."
Leonardo turned his attention back to Nightmare, his face offering nothing but confusion until absolute fear replaced it.
Shaking his head and blinking rapidly, Leonardo's head suddenly swiveled around as if looking for something.
Donatello realized then that Leonardo and Michelangelo had both caught a glimpse of Death. It was something that could happen; usually to mortals either on the brink of death, or while they stood by, watching over a loved one, hovering on the edge of it.
But a fleeting glimpse was all the two brothers were apparently going to get as both were frantically searching for the figure of Death, even though Death himself had not moved.
"Do something!" Raphael roared at Nightmare, not caring that he was commanding both the Devil and a god to do his bidding.
No one has talked to me, except her, and you," Death said as he motioned with his free hand to Katherine.
Nightmare perked up. "Really?" she said with interest. "Even though her fate was never warped, she still caught your attention." It was not a question and Death did not answer.
A sword of death cannot give life, Death observed as he focused his attention away from Nightmare and to Katherine, Donatello and Michelangelo.
"I know,"Nightmare replied, which shocked Donatello.
Mort Morosis, aka, Capricious Death was a sword of duel natures. It could kill, but it also had the ability to save a life by holding a soul within its body for 13 minutes, keeping it away from Reapers and even Death himself.
But…Death was right. The sword could only be used after death, the purpose, to hold the soul in the body giving Nightmare the time she needed to heal and resurrect the person who had died.
The sword itself did not give life, Nightmare did.
"Then why did you get me to put Mort Morisis through Katherine's heart?" Donatello asked his voice rising in confused incredulity.
"I heard Donatello's prayer and answered it the best way I could," Nightmare replied and Donatello felt his eyes shoot to his doppelganger in shock.
"His prayer?" Donatello gasped.
"D-Donny…prayed?" Michelangelo stammered.
"He asked for me to save her," Nightmare offered gently.
"We've been pleading with you for the past few minutes to save her and you haven't lifted a finger!" Raphael raged.
"Donatello's prayer was made with the pure, unselfish desire to save her life for no other reason than for Katherine's own sake."
Silence greeted Nightmare's statement, Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo blanching at her words.
Donatello understood that the entreaties that had been shouted at Nightmare thus far had been selfish –Raphael not wanting Katherine to die because he wouldn't be able to live without her, and Leonardo for much the same reason, with the added guilt of being the one who had slain her, and Michelangelo to save his brother's lives. Nightmare could not answer these selfish pleas.
"I don't understand," Donatello said with a shake of his head. "Katherine's still alive," he told her, able to hear the heartbeats of both Katherine and Donatello. "All you have to do is heal her and…" his voice trailed off at the grim look that Nightmare wore.
"I can't heal her, Donatello," Nightmare confessed softly.
"Why not?!" Raphael shouted at her. "You're a fucking goddess! Do something!"
Donatello's thoughts were completely aligned with Raphael's observation, not able to understand why Nightmare couldn't save Katherine.
"I did!" Nightmare snapped. "At this moment Donatello is helping Katherine repair her soul, which had been damaged when she was mortally wounded by the one whose soul rings with hers, but I can't heal her."
"Wait…" Donatello interjected as his mind spun. "You knew that my doppelganger would protect her?" he asked incredulously. "And you wanted him to be pinned with Katherine because…" His mind hit upon the true reason Nightmare had ordered him to put Mort Morosis through Katherine's heart. "You are saying that I pinned their souls together?" he gasped.
"Yes," Nightmare answered. "As I said, Katherine's soul had been damaged and if left, even if she was healed, she would not live long. Like you did for me, he can help her to heal, and like you and Katherine, they are now Soul Bound." She glanced at Michelangelo, a speculative look upon her face.
Donatello felt himself sway a little as the full impact of his actions flowed over him.
He had made his doppelganger and Katherine into soul mates, joining their souls together for eternity. But unlike Leonardo and Raphael, who would be unlikely to survive Katherine's death, the other Donatello would, but he would wish he hadn't.
"Save her," Donatello snarled at Nightmare, remembering the pain and suffering he had experienced after his own Katherine's death.
"I can't heal myself, Donatello," Nightmare said softly and Donatello was left stunned.
"You can't heal…?" Donatello's voice trailed off as his mind attempted to grasp the fact that Nightmare had just admitted to everyone, who she was, or rather… who she had been before she had been dragged to hell, tortured, and killed.
It was dangerous for anyone to know who Nightmare had been, because then they would have her name, and with her name, they could Destroy her.
Darkness, Nightmare's counterpart from a parallel universe, had created Nightmare using the remnants of Katherine's soul and merging it with the Nightmare godhede (the source power that makes a god a god) which Darkness had brought with her from her own world.
Nightmare wasn't actually Katherine. Nightmare had spent over two thousand years ruling Hell (a place where time moved much more slowly than Earth) and Yggdrasil before she had remembered who she had been.
While Nightmare had made significant steps to reclaim her lost humanity, she was still not her.
But Donatello's soul was still connected to Nightmare's, she was his soul mate, and he was okay with this incarnation, even though the thought of Katherine still gave his heart a pang of sadness laced with deep regret.
"Nightmare," he whispered in trepidation.
"It is okay, Donatello. No one here has the ability to use this information against me, or her," Nightmare assured him as she walked forward and placed her hand upon Mort Morisis' hilt. "I can't save her, but you can," she said looking over her shoulder. "Can't you, Gabriel?"
Donatello's head whipped around, silently chastising himself for letting his guard down and allowing the archangel to reappear without his knowledge.
Eyes narrowing in annoyance, he spotted Lucifer, leaning negligently against a tombstone, arms crossed over his chest as he silently observed everything.
The fallen angel eyed the archangel, but the Devil seemed content to let events play out before him without any kind of interference.
Donatello couldn't help the growl that escaped his lips. He had to force himself to stop, knowing that Nightmare had not forgotten about Lucifer and had instead decided to trust this version of the Devil and he had no choice but to follow her judgement.
"I can save her" Gabriel answered as he walked over and knelt beside Katherine. "But I don't know why I would do such a thing," he said as his hand hovered over her forehead.
"For the same reason Lucifer is still hanging around," Nightmare paused dramatically. "Curiosity."
"Curiosity is what got humans kicked out of the Garden," Gabriel replied.
"I thought it was temptation," Nightmare mused.
Gabriel shot her a glare as Lucifer snickered.
Lowering his hand, Gabriel gently placed a finger upon Katherine's brow. A brilliant white light quickly spread across and down Katherine's body, completely engulfing her.
Donatello had to look away, the light was so intense, but when he turned back, Mort Morosis had been removed, not leaving a single mark. His doppelganger, Katherine, and Michelangelo were sitting up, confused looks written upon their faces.
Katherine glanced over at Gabriel and her eyes widened in awe at the man who still knelt beside her.
"Your light… Why is it so much brighter than any other?" Gabriel wondered as he reached forward. Tipping Katherine's chin up, he kissed her lightly before he vanished.
Lucifer, apparently sensing that the show was over, also disappeared from view.
"I believe you have gained the attention of an angel and the Devil," Nightmare stated, stepping away as his doppelganger helped Katherine up from the ground.
Michelangelo choosing to remain on the ground.
Raphael was the first to wrap Katherine up in his arms, while Leonardo fell to his knees before her, his head hung low in shame.
"She lived," Donatello breathed out as he felt his knees give way in stunned disbelief. "You saved her," he said looking up at his Mistress in gratefulness.
"I figured there had to be one world out there where she and they didn't have to suffer through her death," Nightmare shrugged, "so it might as well be this one."
At her words Donatello felt himself smile, until his face fell. "But they were all supposed to die, which means Fate will be after them again, just like what happened to us," he said miserably.
His brothers were suspended in time within the crystals created by Nightmare for the express purpose of protecting them from Fate's design. Raphael had been resurrected by Nightmare and she had saved Leonardo from a bullet, but Fate rewove them into her tapestry and Raphael had but days to live, while Leonardo had a little over two months. Michelangelo had avoided death, but his life would be cut short in only a few years after his brothers fell, and Nightmare found this to be unacceptable.
Donatello had already been removed from Fate's mortal tapestry, the chains of his servitude to Katherine having broken with her death. But they had reformed after Nightmare's soul had been fixed and the Universe had decided that a mutant turtle was no match for the enemies Nightmare would have to face, and he had become a demon.
"I don't think Fate will interfere," Nightmare offered softly. "But I want to make sure," she said as she reached into Death's robes and pulled out a Life Glass.
The Life Glass looked like an hour glass, sand funnelling down and counting out the seconds of each life until there was no sand left.
Donatello had seen Nightmare handle many Life Glasses, objects that only Death himself should have the ability to both touch and pull from the Long Gallery -the room in Death's realm where they were stored.
It was possible that the Life Glass Nightmare now held had been upon Death's person, but on their world, Donatello had witnessed Nightmare pulling Life Glasses from thin air, something she knew she should not be able to do, but could.
The fact that Death allowed her to take the Life Glass surprised him.
The Glass Nightmare held was a kind he had never seen before. Each Glass looked identical, carved out of dark wood with black sand and only a gold plate engraved with a name to distinguish them.
But this Life Glass was smaller, more delicate, and looked as if it had been left out in the sun for too long, bleaching the wood and the sand white.
Looking at the top of the Glass, there was plenty of sand remaining and Donatello had learned from experience that Nightmare knew the amount of time left down to the second.
Giving the Glass back to Death, Nightmare held out her hand, two Glasses arriving in each.
Death did not seem surprised, though without any facial indicators or general emotion at all, it was hard to tell, but Donatello had the impression that Death was testing her.
Four Life Glasses in hand, each one identical to the last, Donatello caught the names of the brothers and breathed out a sigh of relief at finding each Glass top heavy with Life Sand.
Frowning in thought, Donatello wondered, "Why?"
Nightmare gave the Life Glasses back to Death who tucked them into his robes without a word.
"Why does Fate not chase after them as she did my brothers?" he elucidated.
"Because Fate's entire tapestry from this point forward has been destroyed," Nightmare explained. "When the Shredder was killed, the future that had been woven around this very important key thread was suddenly changed. This shifted the entire path for the future because so many people, so many lives were affected by the death of this one person. It was why Fate was so desperate to make sure that events remained the way she had planned them. On our world the death of your brothers was more like four threads being pulled loose from the whole, easily rewoven back into the fabric."
Donatello nodded in understanding. "Will Fate seek revenge upon them?" he asked.
"I think Fate will be far too busy reweaving the broken tapestry to bother about a few mortals that will be dead in what amounts to the blink of an eye for a god," Nightmare replied as she waved a hand releasing Fate, who had been sitting upon the ground weeping.
"I release you, Tyche," Nightmare offered softly. "And I hold no ill will towards you."
Fate stood, glaring at Nightmare with hatred before she vanished.
Goodbye, Beloved One, Death intoned softly.
Nightmare looked stunned.
"Beloved One?' Donatello asked before Nightmare was able to, because he was able to sense that it wasn't a nickname, but a title.
You wield all of the powers of Death to the point where you have almost become Death, Death explained as he reached out a bony phalange and tipped Nightmare's chin up in a tender gesture. You are one so beloved by Death, that he has claimed you as his own. With these words Death vanished.
Donatello grabbed Nightmare and spun her around so that she was crushed to his plastron. "You are not Death's. You are mine," Donatello snarled as he leaned in and claimed her mouth in a hungry kiss that only inflamed his need for her.
They finally broke away when an embarrassed cough reached their ears.
Glancing over, he saw Leonardo standing awkwardly beside them.
Donatello released Nightmare, promising her that their conversation regarding Death was not over.
Leonardo raised his chin, his lips forming into a stubborn frown, his shoulders pulled back, spine ram-rod straight as he spoke. "I need to know," Leonardo began, his voice tight with strain, "why?"
Nightmare lifted an inquiring brow and turned her gaze upon Leonardo, whose eyes widened in shock as he let out a gasp of surprise.
"You are…her," Leonardo whispered in awe.
"I was." Nightmare admitted truthfully.
Leonardo gave his head a slight shake, no doubt to rid himself of the sudden pull he felt towards Nightmare. "I've mistrusted you and your motives since I met you," Leonardo began. "Nothing I have heard has changed that," Leonardo's voice strengthened. "But…you saved all of us and I don't understand why," Leonardo said, desperate for some kind of explanation. "You've imprisoned your Donatello's brothers, you're the Devil, and you want to destroy your entire world. But…you healed Mikey, you fought to bring Raph back to us, you got Gabriel to heal Katherine…I just…I need to understand why?"
"Yggdrasil, the Tree if Life on our world is dying." Nightmare looked up at the night sky. "If this were not bad enough, the barriers between our reality and those of Betwixt and Between are falling. Soon there will be an army of bloodthirsty creatures, the very stuff of nightmares, flooding through and into our world, and the humans won't survive the attack." She looked back at Leonardo. "I need to Destroy everything completely." Stepping forward she smiled gently at Leonardo. "I know that sounds insane and it doesn't make any sense, but I plan on saving everyone, even the nightmares."
Stepping away, Nightmare turned. "Come on, Donatello, we have wasted too much time on this world and we still have work to do."
Donatello nodded his assent.
"One last thing," Nightmare paused, looking over her shoulder to where Katherine, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo now stood beside Leonardo. "Okay…two last things," she amended. "I know this is going to be very hard for you, and you all won't really understand, and though the temptation will be there, don't try to get Katherine to choose between you, she can't."
Katherine, at hearing this, suddenly looked at Nightmare and blushed. The brothers glanced between each other awkwardly and shifted uncomfortably.
"Donatello's soul is bound to Katherine's, Raphael's soul calls to hers while Leonardo's rings in time with hers. And I suspect that because of Michelangelo's interference, that because their souls touched, they will be pulled towards each other. So, try to get along and be aware that Lucifer, Gabriel, and even Death himself will probably become a part of her life, which will no doubt become very complicated." Nightmare gave a smirk. "I wish all of you good luck, you are going to need it."
"And the second thing?" Donatello's doppelganger asked.
Nightmare's smirk fell from her face. "You already know, Donatello, and for that, I am truly sorry, but rest assured, you are still you."
With these words Nightmare turned, and using her clawed gauntlet, tore a hole through time and space itself.
Donatello took one last look over his shoulder at his stunned counterpart and his brothers and frowned as he recognized the shadow lurking in the other Donatello's eyes. For that, he was sorry, but there was nothing he could do, and his actions had not been purposeful.
He gave a nod to his counterpart and followed his Mistress. Even though he regretted what he had done, he found that his heart felt a little lighter than it had for decades; renewed hope filling him as he placed his trust in Nightmare and her plan to save everyone.