#shadows beyond divinity

This will happen much further down the line than what is currently written, and is already my banner because goddayum am I proud of it.

As it is the current point in the timeline he's still a very young boy going through trauma and developing powers. Like his nearly trademark shapeshifting.

He currently really likes being a winged wolf the size of a lion. Or the size of a hippo when facing humans.

Or the size of an entire fucking African bush elephant when pissed off.

But he's also still a Noot, and even more: he is very, very dramatic. Absolute drama queen. A theater kid in the 12th century, that's what he gets from reading all those books as a child.

Unfortunately as something wholly unkillable that means he's a violent theater kid when pissed off.

And unfortunately for one king somewhere in Scotland before it even consolidated into Scotland, he is a very murderous drama queen.

Which is its own trauma on his psyche. He's still mentally quite close to his pre Apple Incident self, trying to rationalize his own actions as he steadily becomes more like the Corrupt we know and love. In the end he's going to become far more eldritch than even that, hence the name.

He is a living tragedy, he is beyond gods, he is something else entirely and that doesn't exactly come with a manual.

Crack.

The sound echoed, harsh and terrifying in it's familiarity. He'd heard it ringing out from the woods before, when the people collected lumber.

No. no. What were they doing. What were they doing?!

Nightmare froze in place, panicking. His thoughts scattered in terror before he spotted another black shape in the grass. The plan. The plan! His plan. What else was he supposed to do?? Those sounded like the big scary men, and Nightmare couldn't scare them off like this! They had axes! They were hurting her!

He couldn't stop the tears that sprang up from his sockets this time as he grabbed the apple, desperately casting about for another one as it already magically dissolved. The apples were everywhere, being tossed from the hut built around the Tree. The thwacks continued to ring out, only slightly muted by the cobblestone walls. Nightmare just kept gathering them, slowly filling with a new pain. Was it because of Mother? Was he hurting because she was, too? He blamed himself.

The negative guardian felt wrong now, afraid he was squeezing the apples too hard when he grabbed them. Why else were his hands covered in black? It was even smearing on his sleeves when he wiped at his face. He felt gross- and he should, Mama was right up there getting hacked to death- what was he doing this for?!

His skull was hurting so bad now. Nightmare wanted to stop, but he couldn't. He had to do something. He was supposed to guard her, for crying out loud! Dream wasn't even aware that this was happening, he was the only one who could stop them!

There was a distant screaming, small and high and ever so far away as he scrambled to collect each one he could find. He had a very bad feeling about how every single one was black.

But then there was a sound. A terrible sound, snapping, crackling and groaning as a mighty tree came crashing into the roof of the hut built around it. What few apples remained on its branches thudded onto the ground outside, rolling away.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/71693981

Yet he still came back when things fell silent. Somehow, his mind remained after his body was gone, consumed by what became his new self, or perhaps new kin.

He would never know what he and Vael had truly become.

In many ways, he wasn't sure he even wanted that answer.

He just didn't want the confirmation of his silent fears. Not when they'd done so much since then.

Without that village, without the burden of protecting his mother, they could carve a new path.

Yet.. he couldn't forget.

Nightmare couldn't forget.

He shifted into his favored form, staring at the mirror with dead eyelights. Blue. So incredibly cold and blue. They were a warm purple once.

...That color belonged to Vael now.

No time. Nightmare sensed arrogance approaching, automatically shifting into something more inconspicuous. Somehow that ended up being a horse when the stables were empty. He hadn't realized inhabiting gave them the ability to take the form of something as well. He thought that only happened with creatures they consumed, but apparently not.

The human paused upon seeing them, and Nightmare stared back with contained rage. He didn't like what he sensed from this man, who was distantly confused over his presence before moving on.

Without really thinking about it, Nightmare quietly undid the latch, stepping into the main hall of the stable. It went unnoticed until he dared speak. "Look at me."

The knight jolted, freezing in place in a jarring spike of terror. But worse? Nightmare caught recognition threaded into it. This was one of the men he'd originally encountered, before they split to return or to slaughter his family. That was the only way he could be recognized.

"I warned you." Nightmare rumbled, ice laced into his voice as he stepped closer. His false hooves sounded similar to footsteps on the packed earth, a different material from that of true hooves. "You invade my home and not only ignore my warnings, but you come and slaughter what is mine?" There was a depth there, one Nightmare hadn't known he was capable of. A forceful sound that couldn't be described. Unnatural. Heavy. Angry. It was wrath made audible.

He was so close to just ripping off that head from those trembling shoulders, but Nightmare paused. He had nothing to lose anymore. He only had this one Soul that he wanted to.. he wanted to rip the human to pieces, shred apart the Soul he knew resided there, but.. he wanted him afraid. And there would be no more fear if the man was dead. And no one would know how he died. Not for sure. They might suspect it, but.. wouldn't it be all the more terrifying if they had blatant confirmation? They had no idea what he could do. It would still take a while for word to spread. He didn't even need to leave the man intact.

Nightmare shifted openly, contorting back into an upright stance, a tentacle of black curled softly against the human's chin, brushing up against stubble. Then it wrenched, forcing eyes towards him and a whimper out of the man. Gentle. Careful. It was too easy to snap a neck. That would be counterintuitive. He wanted this man to run, to scream. He would still die, but later, when he'd served his purpose.

"I will have my vengeance." Nightmare hissed, finding himself enjoying the feeling of tremors against the limbs. A tip hardened, somewhat curious as it poked into a shoulder from behind, feeling the shoulderblade beneath. He was familiar with skeletal anatomy. He used to have it, even if it was shaped differently from human proportions. He still remembered.

The man gasped as the sharp point pressed deeper. "Please-! W- we left! I wasn't there! The king ordered-" "You know what you have done. I am out of mercy." Nightmare snapped, driving the point through. The human cried out in agony as it went soft again, end emerging on the other side beneath the clavicle, cutting directly through the muscle around it, pressing against the rib beneath. The human writhed, fully restrained, fully lifted off the ground.

Nightmare yanked upwards. There was a violent tearing sound as the cries shot up in pitch and volume, flat out screaming. He knew people heard it when elsewhere, there picked up a sense of alarm, concern and a little bit of fear. This was a man screaming for his life in agony. So he sped up.

He slammed now clawed phalanges into the man's side, aware of some of the organs and muscles there- if only loosely through assumption and familiarity with other bodies. His arm rooted through a surprisingly small slit as the flesh writhed around it, looking for a familiar shape that could be lost as more tentacles impaled the limbs, burrowing like worms.

Finally, Nightmare tore out what he was looking for with a startlingly dense snap, tentacles moving as one held out an arm, tip sharpening into an edge. The man blubbered nonsensically, begging in rasping breaths as people came running to the terrible sounds. He felt.. oddly indifferent to it as the makeshift blade sawed through the wrist. Impassive to the piercing screams and desperate attempts to yank free.

He had his prize just as pounding footsteps slid to a stop at the other end of the stable, quickly joined by another pair. They had frozen in shock and horror at the scene. Nightmare took a moment to soak it in, before revulsion shot through him at it and he dropped the sobbing and bloody mess on the floor, face carefully neutral.

Nightmare turned slightly, tentacles twitching aside so that they could all bear witness to the kidney he gripped in his hand, already starting to squeeze. He dared to speak again, rage curling inside just as the tentacles coiled outwardly. "Tell your king that he has made a terrible lapse in judgement." He paused as his victim let out a louder sob, still bleeding. He didn't bother looking at it. "He knows what he has done. He knows his men are dead. He will follow. But he will only join them when I have finished unmaking him." His hand trembled, the twitch sending claws stabbing into the organ as it squirted. One of the now small group of horrified onlookers bolted away in terror.