ACT XV: REGRESS
Nightmare was instantly forced to his knees by a crippling wave of pain that seem to light every nerve in his body on fire. He struggled to raise his head to look into the blazing eyes of the being that had created him.
"Why have you turned your back on me, my child? Ever since the beginning, it was you and I and the world ahead with all in it that would become ours... We would have been a maelstrom, unstoppable! None could have escaped our reign... And you chose instead to turn on me and become one of the enemy! Why?"
Megumi and Ismaire both stood, weapons drawn, waiting for a chance to strike. Lucifurius looked at the both of them and laughed.
"You truly believe you can stand against me? I will remind you, Wind Witch, you have already died once by my hand. Do not assume it will not happen again."
Ismaire took advantage of his distraction and lunged, lightning fast, succeeding in taking hold of one of his horns and whipping the scythe blade around to rest against his neck.
"Let's hear all that superior talk now," she hissed.
Again, he laughed. "Oh, you pretentious, foolish human. You have no idea the magnitude of what you will be made to face. If you had even an inkling of wisdom, you would know to fear me..." He looked down at Nightmare again. "My child... you disappoint me. Perhaps, amidst this, you will realize that your place is at my side, as my hand of Death, as it has always been... When next we meet, you will once more join me..." He paused, sneering. "Or you will die like all others who seek to stand against me."
And with that, he vanished into the shadows.
The pain receded, and Nightmare slowly got to his feet. They all remained tensed for a few moments, relaxing only when they were sure Lucifurius would not be coming back.
Megumi reached out and touched Nightmare's shoulder. "Are you alright?"
He nodded. "It's only pain."
Ismaire scoffed. "Tch. Of course, he ran away like the coward he is. And as for you..." She glared at Nightmare. "That was the most pathetic thing I have ever seen. You're supposed to be the one to defeat him when he can immobilize you that easily?"
Nightmare ignored her. "You said he'd be preparing an army?"
Ismaire stiffened. "And right now we're number one on his hit list. When will our reinforcements get here?"
Megumi shook her head. "It may still be a few days by the time we return. That may still be too long."
"Well, then we'll have to just hold them off as best we can. And we're not getting there any faster by standing around here."
Ismaire slung the scythe over her shoulder and headed back up the stairs to the surface, and Nightmare slowly followed after. Megumi walked alongside, watching him carefully.
"Are you sure you're alright to walk?"
"I said already, it's only pain. And with Ismaire's little declaration, I don't have much choice."
Megumi frowned but said nothing else.
Before, fighting off the army of monsters and defeating Lucifurius had not been priorities Nightmare considered to take much precedence. Having freedom was his goal, and whether or not his creator still existed did not matter. He cared nothing about the fate of the masses of humans Lucifurius would be destroying. But now, with what he had said, it was evident that at the moment, Lucifurius's goal was to first get rid of what was keeping Nightmare from serving him - Megumi.
And Nightmare would not allow that to happen.
For that reason, he would fight.
Sure enough, upon their return at dusk, the city was already swarming with the monsters Lucifurius had summoned the fight for him - gnarled creatures with wings, half-rotted wolflike monsters, and others too twisted to be recognizable.
"Ugly bunch of bastards, aren't they?" Ismaire grumbled, drawing her scythe and heading straight for the horde of monsters.
"There's... so many of them," Megumi stated, sounding uneasy. "How will we..."
"We only need to hold them off until we can defeat Lucifurius, correct? It won't be that difficult," Nightmare assured her.
She nodded slowly. "Yes... You're right."
Nightmare drew his sword and immediately began slashing at everything in his path - and as the winged monsters were swarming around him, it was not difficult. Their blood was black and sticky and quickly covered his sword.
As he was about to cut down one, Ismaire beheaded it, acting as though she didn't even notice him. So that was what this was now, a competition?
She would regret this.
He made a point of making sure she could see every kill, every monster he brought down. He snatched some right out of her grasp just as she had done to him, and was starting to rather enjoy himself when she next lashed out at him, leaving a gash in the leathery, malformed flesh of his arm. He growled when the pain hit, turning to glare at her.
"I have better things to do than play 'who's the better killer' with you, kid," she spat. "Waste your energy on something else. Besides... It's not a game you want to play with me. I'll win every time." With a taunting smirk, she darted away.
Enraged, Nightmare whirled around and sliced in half a whole group of the gargoyle-like creatures. Irritating woman. She was lucky Megumi considered her a friend...
They fought until sunrise, assisted by the Sylvan soldiers, until the light forced the creatures to retreat. Obviously, where ever they had come from, there was no light, for upon seeing it they screeched and retreated into the cover of the forests, clawing at their eyes.
The army stood in silence, watching them flee.
"That certainly is convenient," Ismaire said with an eyebrow raise. "Some army he's got there, when they can't even stand the daylight. Even Clunky here trumps that."
Choosing this time to ignore her, Nightmare started back towards the city. Unlike most rulers, who preferred to hide behind their troops, she fought right alongside them. But he hadn't seen her since the start of the fight. Where had she gone?
He asked, or demanded of, rather, one of the soldiers where she was as he entered the castle.
"The queen is currently... rather upset. She's asked not to see anyone," the soldier answered, frowning.
Ismaire, who had been walking by as he said this, immediately rushed at him, shoving Nightmare out of the way. "What? What happened, Noman?"
Noman's frown deepened. "She's had a bit of a... relapse."
Nightmare raised an eyebrow. Relapse? What did that mean?
Ismaire scowled. "The stress of the entire situation hasn't likely been helping anything. She'll come around, if we leave her alone for a while."
Noman nodded, and Ismaire walked off, muttering something to herself.
Nightmare was concerned. What was wrong? He set off to look for Megumi.
He was ready to give up before he found her at the end of an empty hallway, huddled against a wall with her lance tightly gripped in one hand.
Nightmare stopped. "Megumi?"
She looked up at hearing him approach, staring for a minute before faster than was possible to detect she lunged, swinging at his head, stopping a hair's breadth from the side of his face. He scarcely had the time to process what had just happened before she scrambled back, dropping the lance.
"Nightmare, I..." She shook her head. "I wasn't trying... I-I didn't want..." She stepped back again, burying her face in her hands.
He stepped towards her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "...What's wrong?" He ignored the fact that she had just nearly killed him.
She latched onto him, digging her fingers into his shoulders. "I can't... It's all too much, I can't go on protecting humans when they always have and always will follow the same vicious cycle." She stifled a sob, pulling closer to him.
He pulled back a bit to look at her. "What happened?"
She shook her head again, blinking back tears. "I... Ten years ago, amidst a battle between this kingdom and another... All I knew about human nature, all the conflict, wars... Pointless, unjustifiable hatred that would never end. I saw no reason to continue fighting to defend them. I killed half of my own men." She looked down. "I would have killed them all. But Ismaire stopped me. And now, I almost killed you..." Her words choked off, and she looked away.
"But you didn't." He stopped, unsure of what else to say.
She looked back at him. "I... Sometimes I have the same thoughts, and... I lose focus of who the real enemy is. If that happens, I... I don't want you to be near me when it does. Next time, I... might not be able to stop myself."
"I trust you, though."
She feircely rubbed her eyes, wiping away the tears. "I know. That... That's what the problem is."
"Problem or not, it's the truth. And you aren't going to convince me otherwise."
She managed a slight smile. "You shouldn't be so set on that." She sighed. "But I'm glad you are."
Nightmare thought he'd been happy being with her before. He thought he'd been completed, that there was nothing else he'd ever need.
But all that seemed minuscule in comparison to how he felt now, when she'd kissed him. He was no longer completed. Now, he was a different being entirely.
But of course, such happiness would not be allowed to last.
"Well, it looks like I gave you too much credit, you scum. I'd thought that even you might have a little more humanity than this. I suppose I thought wrong."