(Sorry that this chapter is shorter than normal!)
Ink roughly grabbed your arm and pulled you away from the glitched destroyer and the empty, blank abyss he called a home. You were still completely immersed in your thoughts though, and didn't even seem to notice what had really just occurred until the atmosphere around you changed to the light air and background noise of Dreamtale.
"And good riddance!" Ink slammed the portal shut and you snapped out of your worrying thoughts with a start. Ink released the grip on your arm with an apologetic smile.
"Sorry about that..." the artist trailed off at the sight of your far away expression. You still weren't completely there, your thoughts still running wild. Why was ink looking for you? How did ink know where you were? And what was this thing with resets? Was Error telling the truth?
Was Ink... lying to you? That thought made a shiver run down your spine, and Ink stepped in front of you to get your attention.
"Hey, now you don't have to worry about Error! I'm pretty sure I scared him off for good!"
"Pfft, for good? Yeah right." You grinned slightly, trying your best to act normal. But this wasn't normal. This wasn't right. You know that something is wrong, and you could catch Ink in the lie right now...
But you won't. You weren't completely sure what's stopping you, but you won't. Some sort of fear of change was keeping you stuck here. Maybe Ink knew this.
"Really though, I wonder why he decided to attack you..." Ink trailed off, and before the artist could think too hard you butted in with your own response.
"Maybe because I was between two aus. He could get in between and pull me out while I, defenseless, couldn't tell exactly what had happened at first and making me take a few moments to realize that I'm not where I thought I was going? It makes sense to me, and it seems like the kind of thing someone like him would do.." You trailed off. Ink seemed... pleased with your answer. Satisfied, in some odd way. Did he know?
"Yeah... you're probably right, y/n. That makes a lot of sense..." Ink was definitely hiding something. You could tell pretty easily now by the emptiness in the artist's usually chipper tone. You barely suppressed a shudder at that, glancing at the skeleton.
"Just one question... what was Error talking about with you anyways? It seemed pretty important..." Ink's tone became almost... threatening, in a way. You took a step back, looking at Ink. His multicolored eyelights had become a question mark and an X while asking you the question, and you cleared your throat as if giving some sort of presentation.
"He... he told me lies. He barely even said anything before you came in. But he said lies." You knew by now that this is what Ink wanted to hear. This is what Ink wanted to see. Your hatred for Error... but did you really feel that way? You... weren't sure anymore. But you'd lie your way out of this conversation, you knew you had to. If Ink knew what Error had said, what would happen? Was it really a lie? Would Ink laugh at you and call you crazy for believing or even listening to Error, or... would there be some sort of reset, like the glitch said? It might just have been your imagination, but did you see a hint of desperation in the glitched skeleton's eyes? You pushed the muddling thoughts out of the way hurriedly, Ink smiling at you. You knew Ink would be smiling at you, after hearing what you said. How you didn't believe Error, how you only believed Ink. There was something behind kindness in the artist's smile...
And you were DETERMINED to find out what.
