Chapter 5 of 5

Darkness

WX-78's POV

I traced a single finger along the newly formed cracks down my face as I stepped into the World Between. Nightmare had injured me before, but the wound had almost instantly healed. For some reason, these new cracks stubbornly remained. I hadn't seen my reflection yet, but from touch alone I couldn't help but compare them to tears.

Naturally, I was incapable of crying, but the streaks felt oddly right in their placement. What else would bring a robot to cry than the consumption of their brother's soul?

I dreaded the idea that I would find him here, but I also instinctively knew this is exactly where he would be. The only people capable of being in this place were myself, Nighmare, and its Host, and… given the clear use of Nightmare's magic, it was undeniable that he had already fallen far enough to be considered such.

When I had first found this place, I had spent hours watching my own death on repeat. I had examined every single corner, every millimeter of the memory in an attempt to find something new. To understand what my sacrifice had meant.

I wasn't sure what I would find Tyler doing, but carefully putting pieces of an old memory together was not what I expected.

For a long moment, I simply watched the boy. It was strange. He remained himself here, but the signs of his possession had become much more clear. His fur had swiftly lost its shine and vibrance, instead dulling into an off-gray color. The markings were faint, but I could make out small, colored lines on his arms. His hands were surprisingly steady, especially considering his lame left hand, as he gently removed pieces of shattered memories from a pile and placed them back into their proper spot. I couldn't make out what the memory was yet.

"YOU SHOULD NOT BE HERE."

Tyler jumped so hard he bumped the memory, which was only saved by quick claws steadying it on his lap before it could shatter again. "Wha-? What are you doing here? How-?"
"I AM NOT BOUND BY THE SAME LAWS AS THE LIVING," I answered. I couldn't explain much more than that: even Charlie and I had been uncertain as to why I could enter the World Between. And, of course, since the other dead Survivors were imprisoned, we couldn't test whether any dead person could come here or if it was just me.

His gaze darted up and down, seemingly unsure of what to say or do. Then, his shoulders slumped and he sighed, picking another shard from the floor between two claws and setting it in its place. It fit seamlessly against the rest of the memory. "So… what now?"

"WHAT NOW?" I echoed in confusion.

"Well, surely you came here for a reason. If it's to yell at me or something, you don't have to." Tyler snorted. "I'm pretty sure I've already yelled at myself enough for the both of us."

"I AM HERE TO DRAG YOU BACK TO THE OTHERS," I said. "THIS IS NOT A WISE PLACE TO BE." Especially for someone still living.

"Hardly," he muttered, but before I could ask he continued in a louder voice. "I'll be back in a few minutes. I just need to finish this." Another shard slipped into its spot. His claws shook ever-so-slightly.

"IF YOU INTEND ON FIXING EVERY BROKEN MEMORY HERE, WE WILL BE HERE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS."

"Not all of them," he protested. "Just this one. It's important."

I stepped closer to examine the memory, but it was still too damaged to fully make out. Honestly, I had never seen someone attempt to put one of these back together. Would it even function like it had before? Would those who had forgotten this memory suddenly remember it? Or would it remain darkened and damaged for the rest of time?

"WHAT IS THE RELEVANCE OF IT?"

"It's mine," Tyler said, and there was a glint of emotion in his eye that I couldn't quite discern. "It's- it's my memory and I deserve to have it back."

I had no clue how he knew whose memory it was. Perhaps he had just gone delusional?

"YOU WILL GO INSANE IN A PLACE LIKE THIS. THE MEMORIES HERE ARE NOT MEANT FOR THE LIVING."

"Like I could even be considered living!" Tyler snapped. "How long has it been since I woke up? Like, a day? And already, Nightmare has-" He abruptly stopped, swallowing hard and letting the shard he held fall to the ground with a pathetic tink. "I'm already too far gone."

Such a short amount of time. Somehow, I hadn't even really realized it. My perception of time was warped as it is, having spent months away from any sun or natural light, but to genuinely consider that it had barely been a day-

"IT HAS NOT YET GAINED THE STRENGTH TO EXIST OUTSIDE OF YOU." Stick to the positive facts. The few things that we could cling to when everything else was falling apart. While Charlie and Nightmare certainly existed as one in the same quite often, Nightmare spent a lot of time separated from its host. Tethered to her, wound so tightly that they could never be entirely separate, but existing on its own terms nonetheless. Since none of us had seen Nightmare itself, it was quite likely it still needed to build strength within the boy's body. "WE STILL HAVE TIME."

"How much? An hour? Two?" He wiped uselessly at his eye with one wrist as he picked up the fallen shard with the other. "I thought I was finally free. For once, I thought that I was finally myself-"

"THERE IS SOMETHING THAT YOU SEEM TO BE FORGETTING," I said, which earned me little more than an unhappy smirk shot my way.

"And what's that? Gonna tell me that Nightmare's actually not all that bad?"

"NIGHTMARE IS A MONSTER." Tyler rolled his eyes at me, but I continued without reaction. "IT FEEDS OFF OF FEAR AND PAIN, AND ENJOYS EVERY MOMENT OF IT. ITS BOND WITH THE WORLD IS ONE SO INTENSE THAT THE TWO ARE CONSIDERED INSEPARABLE. IT IS THE CREATURE THAT HAS HAUNTED THIS WORLD FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. AND YET, WILBUR WAS ABLE TO BREAK FREE OF ITS INFLUENCE. CHARLIE KEPT A STABLE MIND FOR CENTURIES. NIGHTMARE HAS A SINGLE WEAKNESS, AND YOU ARE OVERFLOWING WITH IT."

I could tell he was still entirely unconvinced, but I had his attention now. He held the next piece of the memory in his hand so tightly I could see his entire forearm shaking from the strain. From his single eye, I could see the intensity of which he stared at me. A shard of green light flickered from within.

As used as I had gotten to the World Between, it was still a surprise I was able to pull the memory as easily as I could. It was still vibrant and solid, incredibly new and pristine compared to the others. While the other memories typically glowed with a soft white or gold light, this one hovered contently as an orb of grassy green warmth. Tyler's claws twitched, but he didn't reach for it, so I gently pushed it his way.

Tyler's face was completely unreadable as it played out, but I could see the signs that he was trying to hold it together. He pressed his mouth into a thin line and swallowed hard before pushing it away. "So that's what you're telling me. That Nightmare really does have a weakness, and it's…"

I nodded. "LOVE."

He let out a small, hoarse chuckle, one that actually seemed to show genuine amusement. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

"I HAVE HEARD IT IS THE STRONGEST OF EMOTIONS. STRONG ENOUGH THAT EVEN NIGHTMARE CANNOT OVERRIDE IT WITH ITS POWER."

"The strongest being in the known universe. The shattered remains of an old god, the creator of the world, and its weakness is love. What? The mere concept of loving? Or is it like, something more deep and profound than that?"

"I AM NOT THE ONE TO ASK."

"I guess not."

The silence was a little more comfortable, broken only by the tiny clinks of the memory being put together. He was treating it with such gentle care that I couldn't help but believe that he actually did know what memory it was, but if he remembered it, how could it be broken? How could a memory still held by the world's inhabitants be in pieces?

"So… are you just going to stare at me, or are you going to go back and tell everyone to prepare a big long speech about the power of love and how it's going to get us through this?" Much to my surprise, Tyler actually sounded faintly amused by the thought. I could only imagine the kind of scene he had in his head.

"I WOULD RATHER BE POSSESSED BY NIGHTMARE MYSELF THAN DO THAT. OR HEAR ANY OF THOSE SPEECHES FOR THAT MATTER."

"You're right. Nobody would get away unharmed."

"BUT I DO BELIEVE IT WOULD BE IN YOUR BEST INTEREST TO RETURN TO THEM. I NEARLY LOST MYSELF THE FIRST TIME I CAME HERE."

"Let me finish this at least," he argued. I nearly protested, but then something desperate seemed to wash over his face, like this was something he absolutely needed to do. I crossed my arms and huffed, but nodded at him to continue anyway.

If he was going to find any of these places, it was best that he found the World Between and not the Prison. I couldn't even imagine what terrible things would go down in such a place, especially with the way we were viewed by the prisoners. Some seemed to have a vague hope that we would do something for the betterment of their treatment, but it was safe to assume a large majority would just as soon see us locked up right beside them. I couldn't even imagine how they would feel about seeing the person who had killed Charlie.

Tyler shuddered, seemingly disturbed by something, but he didn't explain and I didn't ask.

I wasn't sure how long I watched him silently work on the memory. I didn't feel safe leaving him alone (he could find his way to the World Between, I was not about to see what other arguably worse place he could find himself) and any further conversation would be stunted and useless. Wilbur was more familiar with Nightmare's weakness than I, for some rather obvious reasons.

I had grown far past my original coding, but I still felt as though I related more to Wilson's conceptual understanding of love than anyone else's nuanced perceptions. Despite everything, I was still a robot with some very firm boundaries that could not be crossed.

Wilbur had not only spent a significantly longer amount of time in Nightmare's shadow than I had, but the time spent had been much closer and much more informative. He had been able to completely free himself of Nightmare's suffocating embrace by the sheer force of will, and only because of his mate and daughter.

And it was true in assuming that Tyler had a much better place to stand against Nightmare than any of us would. After all, despite how much his physical appearance had already changed (gray fur, fuel leaking from his eyes and his scars, the chill of his skin) he remained still mostly himself. He was still holding on. He was still himself. Those little shards of light still decorated his eye, as bright as the moment they had appeared.

When Tyler fitted the last piece into its slot, he held the completed memory in his hands with such tenderness I almost believed that it had actually brought it back, even though it still appeared murky and dark.

After a good few seconds, though, he let out a deep, exhausted sigh and allowed the orb to roll out of his lap. Instead of floating and attaching itself to associated memories as they typically did, though, it simply clunked against the ground, dull and lifeless. "I thought I could…"

Memories didn't just shatter on their own. They faded and frayed, unwound like a ball of yawn, but never shattered. For one to have shattered, it must have been destroyed by someone… and the only one I could see carelessly destroying such an artifact was Nightmare itself. I didn't need him to explain his desperation to fix what Nightmare had broken.

"LET'S GO BACK."

"...yeah. Yeah, okay." Tyler finally pushed himself to his feet, knees popping from the awkward position, and met my gaze directly for what was apparently the first time. His morose expression suddenly turned downright tragic, and I couldn't even figure out why until he reached forward and touched the new lines adorning my face. His hand shook, and his skin was cold. "WX, I… did I…?"

He must not have even realized that he had hurt me, if his expression meant anything. His eye had widened with horror. When he reached forward with his other hand to pull my face closer and get a better look at the damage, I could feel the clamminess of his palms. I had originally planned on thoroughly chastising him for attacking me as he had and then running off- couldn't even give me the chance to fight you back, huh?- but he must have been telling the truth when he said that he had been yelling at himself the entire time. Instead, I scoffed and brushed his hands away.

"I HAVE RECEIVED WORSE."

"Because of me," he said in a tiny voice. I was confused until he elaborated with a suspiciously shiny eye. "The worse injuries you've received were all because of me."

Nope. Absolutely not. We were cutting that line of thinking off before it even attempted to take root. "DO NOT EVEN BEGIN WITH THAT. I MADE A DECISION AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF SUCH ARE MINE AND MINE ALONE."

Again, he was not convinced, but this was far from the last thing I wanted to talk about right now.

I didn't like to think about my death. While it hadn't been entirely painless, I could easily say that the pain was easy to ignore. Whether you explained that in a more organic sense as my body going into shock the moment I was impaled, or explained it as my mechanical body receiving enough damage that basic functions ceased to work, it didn't really matter. I had certainly felt every aspect of it, but the sensations were stronger than the pain.

The process of dying was arguably worse. Actively feeling your own power slip away, damaged beyond repair. Tempted to make promises about being alright but knowing it would just be wrong. Realizing only at the last minute what it felt like to be cared about, and that it actually felt good, but only as long as you had left. It felt as though a world had opened up for just a tiny glimpse beyond the door before violently slamming shut.

Somehow, though, I hadn't really considered how Tyler would take it. Obviously, considering how surprised I had been to see his poor state. But somehow, realizing that he had just blamed himself the entire time was probably the icing on the cake.

And would Nightmare's host still be able to feel so bad over injuring someone? Does he realize the sheer body count that his predecessor had?

"I RECOMMEND YOU DISCUSS THIS SITUATION WITH WILBUR. I BELIEVE HE KNOWS MORE ABOUT NIGHTMARE THAN I."

"Will you be there?" Tyler asked, voice just on the side of frantic. I didn't even bother allowing myself to feel confusion.

"IF YOU NEED ME TO BE."

He at least seemed satisfied by this. It was then, and only then, that he allowed me to lead him out of the World Between and back to Darkness.

…

"Okay, the guessing game is clearly unsustainable. We need to know more about what to expect." It was Wilson to state the obvious, listlessly picking at his cuticles and watching Tyler like a hawk as the boy paced back and forth. He was similarly abusing his claws, chewing them down to broken points and he walked.

"CHARLIE HAD MANY ABILITIES UNLOCKED BY NIGHTMARE'S INFLUENCE. SHE WAS STRONG, BUT OFTEN REFUSED TO USE HER POWERS. THEY WERE NIGHTMARE'S TO USE, NOT HER'S."

"But she did still use them," Wilbur argued. "It wasn't as if Nightmare actively stopped her from doing so."

"Stop dancing around it," Tyler snapped, whipping his head to face us. "Just- just tell me what is going to happen to me. What other things are going to happen to my body without my control?"

"We've all seen how Nightmare could shape the shadows to do its bidding. Like how it held us back during your fight," Wilbur said, earning a nod from Winona and a grimace from Wilson as he rubbed his chest.

"OR HOW YOU TRAPPED OUR FEET DURING THAT ARGUMENT."

Tyler winced. "Y-yeah. Obviously."

"IT COULD ALSO TRAVEL ANYWHERE IN DARKNESS, CHECKMATE, AND THE WORLD BETWEEN AT WILL. CONSIDERING YOU HAVE ALREADY UPGRADED YOUR HABIT OF RUNNING AWAY TO FIT THAT I ASSUME THAT CAN ALSO BE CHECKED OFF."

"This is stuff we already know," Wilson said. "We need to know what to expect in the future."

I wasn't entirely sure of the extent of Charlie's powers, now that I genuinely thought about it. If she ever used them, it was primarily how she shaped the shadows. She had to chain me by the wrists when I first met her, although it hadn't been her first reaction. I thought for a moment, sparing Wilbur a glance in case he thought of something.

"Nightmare can read minds," Wilbur said dully. "I'm fairly sure that Charlie could, too."

How had I forgotten that part? I had almost gotten so used to it that I barely even bothered to think about that.

For the others, though, this seemed to set off a small bomb.

"Whoa, what? Absolutely not. Don't you dare say that." Wilson immediately jumped to the defensive- or, rather, the offensive if the glare he sent at Tyler meant anything. "I swear, that's- if I find out-"

"That's… that feels so wrong," Winona muttered, folding her arms around herself. "Like, just… whenever?"

"No-!" Tyler immediately blurted. "Not just whenever-" It took him that long to wisen up and slam a hand over his mouth.

Oh.

Ooohhh.

No wonder. I really should have come to that conclusion earlier. Somehow, I hadn't really noticed him seeming to react to things I didn't say out loud in the World Between. The mumbled 'hardly' after I had thought about how he was still living. Shivering when I wondered how the Prisoners would react to him having killed Charlie.

Impressive that he managed to hide that for a whole few hours. Someone really needed to give this kid lying lessons.

And of course, my realization was immediately confirmed when he glared at me for seemingly no reason.

"IT'S TRUE. THAT WAS EMBARRASSING FOR SOMEONE TRYING TO KEEP A SECRET. I THOUGHT YOU WERE BETTER."

Wilbur also seemed mostly unbothered, save for the faint grimace on his face. We were both used to it, apparently. Though, given what I had seen of Wilbur's actions in the World Between, maybe I should've been more worried about the boy accidentally seeing those kinds of thoughts.

Wilson and Winona, apparently, were less comfortable with the idea of the resident angsty eight year old having access to their thoughts.

"Pardon?" Winona sputtered, taking an uneasy step back. "You- how long-?"

"So you were just going to go along this whole time actively violating the privacy of everyone here and you weren't even going to say anything!?" Wilson shouted. His shoulders hunched, eyes glittering with ire.

"You get used to it," Wilbur said.

"I am not going to get used to someone just- digging around in my head! That is violating!"

"That's not how it works!" Tyler snapped. "Just keep your thoughts to yourself and I can't hear them! So far, it's only been when something is directly about me! And it's not like you guys are super secretive about how you feel about me. It basically comes right back out of your mouth anyway, so I don't know what the deal is!"

Winona buried her face, apparently uncaring about how specific the parameters were. Really, now they were just being dramatic. "That's still not right, Ty. You know that, right? You realize how that's bad, right? It's extremely important to me that you realize that."

"Good for you. Still doesn't mean I can control it." Tyler threw his arms in the air with an irritated groan. "Surprise! There's no manual on "How to Handle Being Possessed By a Vengeful Demon"!"

"So you were just going to let it get to the point where you can hear all of our thoughts without even a warning?" Wilson accused.

"I don't know! What would you have preferred I done? It's not like telling you earlier would have changed your reaction!"

"YOU ARE OVERREACTING," I muttered. Honestly, you would think the two humans had just learned that the entire world was ending with the way their faces had darkened. "THIS IS AN ABILITY THAT YOUR OWN SISTER HAD, WINONA. ARE YOU TRUTHFULLY THIS UPSET ABOUT SOMETHING CLEARLY UNCONTROLLABLE?"

"I mean, I guess I get the shock," Wilbur said. "If you're not used to it I can see how you would be upset. But it's a passive ability. Not something that's supposed to be invasive. Nightmare was part of a god. It's natural that it still has a fraction of its omniscience."

"Oh my god you guys are so used to it you don't realize how inappropriate this is." Wilson pressed a hand to his forehead. He let out an awkward, uncomfortable laugh, shaking his head and looking positively horrified.

"I… I'll be back." Winona took another step back, brow creasing, before quickly retreating. Wilson was quick to follow. I would've rolled my eyes if I had eyes to roll.

"Great, so anyway, anything else you're trying to hide from us?" Wilbur continued on, finally dropping the issue. Unfortunately, I was sure I would have to sit through more long, annoying discussions in the very near future, but at least we got to make progress for now.

"I didn't realize it was such a big deal," Tyler muttered. Even he didn't seem too concerned, although perhaps sharing a mind with a violent spider for years meant he, too, cared little about others hearing his thoughts. In fact, he didn't even seem too bothered with Wilson and Winona's reactions. Instead, he gave me a sort of crooked grin and leaned back onto his hands. "It's literally a one-way street in Wilson's head about me. Something mean appears, he says it five seconds later. The filter is nonexistent. Though I guess that's partially Nightmare's fault." He tapped his chin with one claw. "I wonder if that's something I could reverse."

"People like to think that their minds are private," Wilbur shrugged. "I mean, I guess there's a few things that I can imagine people wouldn't want kids hearing in their thoughts, but if any of those thoughts are specifically aimed at a kid I think there are much bigger issues to consider."

"HAVE CHARLIE AS A CONSTANT COMPANION FOR A FEW MONTHS AND YOU GET USED TO THE IDEA THAT NO THOUGHT IS TRULY PRIVATE. THOUGHTS DID NOT NEED TO BE DIRECTED AT HER. I IMAGINE YOU WILL ALSO LOSE THAT LIMITATION." Terrifyingly soon, if the current progress meant anything.

"If it means anything, I'm pretty sure that you've already shown the majority of the Night Monster's abilities, albeit in weaker forms," Wilbur offered.

"No more surprises then. I won't complain."

"YOU SEEM ODDLY AT EASE WITH YOUR PREDICAMENT," I said.

"I can assure you I am not," Tyler said plainly. "But there reaches a point when you become so horrified, panicked, and confused, that it all just kind of dulls into the background."

"So you're dissociating."

Tyler shot freaking finger guns at Wilbur.

"I would say something about how unhealthy of a coping mechanism that is but honestly, I don't know what the healthy one is at this point, so I guess dissociate away or something."

"Yes sir. Already several steps ahead of you."

"SO, FROM WHAT I AM GATHERING, THE ONLY THING WE CAN DO IS SIT AROUND AND WAIT FOR WHATEVER THE NEXT DOOR REQUIRES TO SHOW ITSELF WHILE ALSO WATCHING TYLER DEVELOP INTO A FULL-FLEDGED NIGHT MONSTER WITH NO WAY OF STOPPING IT."

Tyler laid back on the ground, lazily waving one hand in my direction. "Yeah yeah, basically. We'll just watch as Nightmare completely consumes my body and leaves me nothing but a parasitic host. Been there, done that. There's only so many times you can get your mind hijacked by some malevolent being before it really just becomes par for the course. Yawn. Something different next time. Be unique."

"Tyler, go to sleep," Wilbur sighed. "This is a discussion that we need to have when you are present and not dissociating so hard that you can barely comprehend anything happening."

"That's valid."

"We're going to really have to keep an eye on him," Wilbur said, voice soft enough that only I could hear it. Although, I realized, it really wouldn't matter if Tyler could hear our thoughts about him anyway. Then again, he seemed to be so dazed at the moment it would be a wonder if he could even understand someone actively speaking to him, so maybe there was a point to whispering. "I… don't know everything about what Charlie could do, and I'm not sure if he will be willing to actually talk to us about anything new."

I couldn't help but take another close look at my brother. While the low light of Darkness meant it didn't really stick out as much, it was clear that his fur was still as pale as it was in the World Between, but he hadn't said a word about it despite physical differences being the most obvious. Maybe he hadn't noticed. Maybe he didn't want to think about it.

"I AGREE," I conceded. We had no idea how long we would be here, and until this world's requirement popped up, we wouldn't be making any progress.

We just had to sit there and watch and pray, that no matter how much time passed…

I wasn't going to lose my brother again.