You recovered from your cold pretty quickly with the help of Black's scientist friend, Undyne. So, you got home to the castle in time for dinner. Nightmare, true to form had yelled at Black for letting you get sick.

The thing that surprised you, however was the fact that Horror was there, making dinner for you all when you got back.

You smile excitedly as you always loved his cooking. He knew just how to cook everything and just the right amount of spice that needed to go into each dish.

You run up to Horror with a wide smile. "HORROR!! You're back!!"

Horror sets down the spatula he was using and turns to you. He kneels down and catches you as you lunge at him with a huge hug.

"I missed you so much! Where did you go? Cross said you went back to your universe for a bit, is that true?? Why did you need to go back for such a long time? Do you have a brother? What's he like? And why is there blood on your apron?"

Horror chuckles quietly at your rapid fire questions. He sets you down and grabs a step ladder, letting you climb up in order to help him cook.

"Well, I did go home. I needed to stay at home for a while to help set up some friends with some "ingredients" I found. Yes, I do have a brother. And he's really nice. He cooks for everyone in town and beyond when he can. I personally don't like eating his food, mostly because I hate the "ingredients" used in the food they make down there."

((A/N: Okay, explanation time. I've noticed that a lot of people don't understand Horror too much. Originally in horrortale the premise was that magic is becoming less abundant in the underground making it difficult to make monster food. SO, in response the monsters in the underground start using other monsters and humans as a food source. Everyone, except Horror. See, Horror is inane like the rest, but he refused to eat the new food source, basically starving himself which is why he's insane. It's the hunger, so Horror isn't a cannibal like most of the fandom calls him. He's just starving. Okay? Fantastic.))

You stare at Horror in confusion. "Why don't you like the ingredients? I was told I couldn't be picky with my food."

Horror smiles sadly at you and ruffles your hair. "For here, that's a great idea. But, you really shouldn't eat anything from my home. It could make you really sick."

You shrug and look back at the ingredients cooking in the pot. "What's for dinner?"

"A noodle soup and dumplings."

You grin happily at the news. Horror's dumplings are the best. "What can I do to help??" You ask excitedly.

Horror chuckles and guides you through a few of the next steps.

------

Nightmare finally came back into the dining room with Black about an hour and a half later. Just as you and Horror finished up setting the table for dinner.

"Oh! Hi Papa! You didn't hurt Uncle Black, did you? He didn't mean to get me sick, and it's not his fault the heater went out..."

Nightmare smiles lightly and shakes his head. "He only got a lecture for now moonlight. Don't worry."

You smile and nod as you place the final plate of food on the table and rush over to your seat, eager to eat.

Nightmare follows, albeit much more calmly than your energetic self. And Black slowly trails behind, obviously still weary of what might still befall him.

One by one, everyone takes their seat. You thank Horror for the meal, and quickly serve yourself a large helping of the meal you've been looking forward to for about a week now.

Chatter fills the air as small groups of conversation starts up around the table,but you were more focused on the mouthwatering tastes that dance on your tongue as you eat.

You give a hum of satisfaction as you savor the taste of the meal you helped prepare.

"-id. Kid!" A voice broke through your bliss. You look up to Dust staring at you confused. "I've been calling ya for a while. Ya alright kiddo?"

You give him a bright smile as you give a noise of confirmation as you swallow your food. "Yup! Just really enjoying the food."

Nightmare chuckles and nods before turning to the table at large. "Alright. Announcement time. Horror will be taking care of (Y/N) for the next three days as you all know, then Death will be taking the kid for two days. After dinner we'll have a meeting about some news I have recently gotten. Anyone else have something to announce?"

Confused looks were shared around the table as everyone shook their heads. Nightmare nods and goes back to his food, signifying the rest to do the same.

---

You wander up to your room for the night with Black and Nightmare. You were currently holding one hand each as you three made your way through the long, dark hallways.

Most people would probably find the dark atmosphere unnerving or even scary. You, simply liked the way it reminded you of Nightmare. He always joked that he was a vampire and turned you into one too.

Black was telling Nightmare the technical portions of your recovery from your temporary illness. You had zoned out, finding the conversation really hard to understand and keep up with.

That is, until Nightmare brought you out of your musings. "Hey, Starlight? Can I ask you about something Red told me?"

You glance up and nod. "Yeah, I guess... Am I in trouble?"

Nightmare shakes his head. "No, no. He just... Well, do you remember towards the end of the last day when he was hurt and you healed him?"

You nod. You remember that very clearly. Red only has five hp due to training and killing, but it's still really low. So, you were really worried when he got hurt. You were afraid he might die.

"Well, normally only kind monsters or humans with a kindness soul trait can heal. And we already know you don't have a kindness soul trait, so... We were wondering if anything like that had happened before."

You stare at the ground deep in thought. You couldn't remember anything specific, but you can't know for sure. You end up just shrugging. "I don't know. Maybe. If I did do something like it before, I can't remember it."

Nightmare nods and opens your door for you. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow morning. Goodnight Starshine."

You smile and give Nightmare a big hug. "Goodnight Papa, night Uncle Black!"

Black smiles and gives you a small wave. "GOODNIGHT YOUNG ONE."

You smile and jump into bed, sinking down into the mattress quickly.

--------

The next morning you were woken up to a knocking on your door. "Hey, kid. Want to help me make breakfast?"

You sit up and yawn, stretching your tired muscles for a good few seconds before hopping out of bed and grabbing one of your stuffies making your way to the door.

"Yeah! Let's go." You mumble sleepily.

Horror chuckles as he quickly picks you up and places you on his shoulders. "Alright. Let's go kid."

As you and horror wander down the halls you poke the hole in Horror's head. "Hey, Horror? Why is there a big hole in your skull?"

Horror glances up at you, his one bright red eye staring at you intensely. "That's a story for another day. It's... A bit gorey."

You pause to think on what that word means specifically, but come up blank. Guess you've got a question for Uncle Black for later.

"Okay, what about that axe you bring everywhere? What's so special about it?" You ask glancing down at the axe hanging loosly from a strap around his waist.

"A gift from my brother. I was to help me hunt back at home. That and it gives me a sense of security I guess. Even if someone has more magic than me, a physical object like my axe here can cut through a lot of their attacks and can do a lot more damage."

You think back to when you had to live with... him... You guess you can see where Horror is coming from. You did the same thing with the frying pan from your old house you guess. That is how you got out of the house and met Papa Night after all.

"Hmm... Okay! I think I get it." You mumble, still tracing the different small cracks in Horror's skull.

Horror smiles as he shakes his head. "You are one weird kid, you know that?"

"Yup!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dream looks through the backpack he was packing again, shaking his head. "Come on Dream. Stay focused. You're the hero. You can't let them down. You have to do this. If the kid is okay, then we won't do anything. But, if the kid is in any danger, we're getting them out of there. It's okay, calm down." Dream has been telling himself this for about a week. There are still a few more days until the steak out.

With some help from some of the more intelligent AU residents, Ink, Dream, and Blue were able to calculate where Nightmare's castle is and how to get into the pocket dimension undetected.

But, Dream was terrified and he can't tell why. He's the god of positivity. He's not supposed to feel fear, or guilt, or sadness, or anger, or any of this stuff that has been going on. So, like he's always done, he's pushed those feelings to the back of his mind and ignored them.

They keep coming back though! He's not supposed to feel the bad emotions, so why is he feeling this overwhelming sense of fear? Why can't he stop this feeling of guilt when he didn't do anything wrong?! He didn't do anything wrong, right? They always told him that he was always right, so he shouldn't feel guilty over anything, right?

No! He can't think like this, not now. He can't question himself. He's always the good guy. He's been told that from the moment of his creation. His brother was wrong and bad and evil and he's good and right, and perfect. That's how it's always been. There has been no evidence of anything else. So... Why is he- No! Stop. Not now. He has to finish packing.

"Dream, there you are." Dream glances up to see a short man with ruffled black hair and bright purple eyes. He was dressed in a dark grey tank top and a black jean jacket.

"Oh, Zelus. Where have you been?" The man smiles and gives a light shrug at Dream's question. "Eh. Don't worry about it, kid. Just been around. Where ya going?"

Dream looks down at his packed bag and sighs. "We're going on a steak out at Nightmare's castle in a few days."

Zelus smirks and crouches down so he can look Dream in the eye. "Ain't that a good thing, kid? You're making progress on stopping your brother! That's a good thing. He's the bad guy, remember? It's your job to stop him."

Dream shrugs half heatedly. "Yeah. I guess... It's just... He said some things that-"

Zelus holds up a hand. "Oi. I'mma stop ya, right there. If HE said something, should ya really be taking it that seriously? I mean... Villains tend to try and make the hero question themselves, so who's to say he's not just trying to do that?"

Dream glances away nervously, obviously having his thoughts very conflicted. "I- well, I mean... He, he just... Could he have really faked that emotion?"

Zelus rolls his eyes. "Dream, kid. He's a god who's jurisdiction is emotions, just like you. It'd be really easy to fake em."

Zelus stands up and rubs Dream's skull. "Remember, kid. You can never trust the villains, never."

Dream nods his head slowly, stuck in his own thoughts for a moment longer before smiling up at Zelus and nodding more firmly. "Yeah, yeah! Sorry, he was just really convincing. I won't let him distract me again."

__________

A/N: Boom. New character. Sorry for the OC input, I just couldn't really grasp the personality of the other option for who could take his place. So, as a conciliation prize I'll give y'all a hint on what his porpoise is. His name, Zelus has a deep tie to what he is, and I love to incorporate Greek mythology into everything. Have fun theorizing!