"You did this."
The antivoid was a complex space. It was absolutely overflowing with noise, yet completely silent. It had been Error's prison of solitude for so long, and now was the only place he was safe.
But as he stared into the eyelights of the once-Protector, he would rather be anywhere else in the Multiverse
"Ink. It was no one's fault."
Ink let out a delirious laugh.
"You sent PJ to Corrupted. You were the one who sacrificed them."
"You were the one who rejected your own child."
Ink flinched, and Error almost regretted his words.
"They were not...They were not safe with the Stars. You know this as well as I do. If I had housed them in the Doodlesphere any longer they would've been discovered-"
"Then you should've made some way around that," Error snapped. "You thought handing them over to the Destroyer would save them?"
"We were well into a truce at that point! I didn't know you were a backstabber. Double agent. Guilty of torture."
"Gulity by association. I made a mistake, Ink. I am not proud." Ink let out a cry of fury.
"PJ came to you, begging for safety."
"He came to me, asking why his father had abandoned him."
A long cry escaped the once-saviour. Not of fury, not of fear; something deeper. Error watched the former quietly.
"You are drowning."
Ink rose, eyelights glaring bitterly. "Because of you."
Error said nothing. His mismatched eyelights stayed locked with the artist's.
"Protector," He finally acknowledged. Ink laughed again; a hoarse voice. "What is there left to protect?"
"The last of the Multiverse, perhaps."
Ink's eyelights disappeared.
"I don't...I don't want to."
Error stayed silent, then asked the question."Why?"
"You know why."
And Error did.
For they were the reason no Guardians remained in this world.
Error and Ink, after all, established the Truce in a mutual agreement to...assassinate. Error targeted Dream, and Ink, Nightmare. Error had succeeded. Ink had too.
But Ink had killed Nightmare. Not Corrupted.And so Error turned his own child in, to Corrupted in a bid to earn his trust again. The same child he'd been begrudgingly housing for...he didn't know how long, blocked it out.
Grief melted time into a neverending hell, after all.
"Sorry excuses for gods, aren't we?"
"Failures," Error nodded.
In the past few moments, Ink's skull had fallen into the crook of Error's shoulder. Error welcomed the pain of touch.
"I detest you."
Error exhaled.
"I know."
Error's phalanges touched Ink's skull momentarily.
His other hand was intertwined with Ink's.
"We're technically still married, y'know," Error murmured. Ink didn't reply; his grip tightened. "What happened to us, Ink?"
"You left PJ to die. His destiny was the only reason we even consummated."
"The Multiverse was collapsing because its infrastructure was weak," Error agreed.
"And the Creators spoke of a Restorer. The only one who could save it. A child born from the Destroyer and the Protector. That is the only reason I married you. I have —had— no love for you."
Error hummed.
"Corrupted has taken over more than half the Multiverse," he mused. Ink dodged his gaze.
"I know."
"You mourn for a fallen world while it begs for you to save what's left of it."
"I cannot save even a universe. You know this. The Creators—"
"Ink." Error whispered into his ear. He fell silent.
"They said that the child would be the spark for salvation. It never claimed the undoing of PJ would be the undoing of the Multiverse."
"Perhaps not. But it has been mine." Ink finally met his gaze. "A Destroyer who wants ruins to be saved."
"Failures, remember?"
"..."
"Ink. I know why you refuse to fight. You know that once every AU is corrupted, the Multiverse will self-destruct."
"..."
"And once the Multiverse disappears...so will you."
"...You know me far too well." Ink rose from the embrace. "So? What argument will you use this time to convince me otherwise?"
"I happen to agree with you, Ink. But let me show you something, before you withdraw to the Doodlesphere." Error rose too, hand outstretched. Ink glanced at it tentatively, but he took it and the duo strode into the distance.
Error summoned a screen of code, a window into what Ink recognized to be inside an AU, but everything was aflame so he couldn't tell which. Lust and Swap were on the ashy ground, while they pleaded for a monster to jump from a window onto the gaster blaster.
"I'm really sorry but we really have to go," Lust begged the monster. They shook their trembling head, daughter in hand.
Ink jolted.
A child in danger.
"We have to go, please jump onto the blaster or we'll have to leave without you!" Swap shouted.
The monster's gaze glassified. They looked behind them, inhaled, then jumped.
Only one hand made it, grasping onto the blaster. The monster's other hand was blasted by flying debris, them letting out a cry.
"Mama?" The daughter cried out.
"Papa?"
Ink couldn't face them.
"You can't stay here anymore."
The monster stared at their daughter.
Then swung her over onto the blaster and let go as more debris struck them.
"NO!" Lust yelled, eyelight glow intensifying.
"WE HAVE TO GO, LUST! WE CAN'T SAVE EVERYONE!" Swap bellowed, finally pulling the orphan, himself and Lust to safety.
The window of code closed.
Ink stared at the empty space where it had been.
Error faced Ink. He would not pretend, it had affected him as much as it had Ink. He was just better at hiding it.
"It won't work, Error."
"It already has."
Ink crumpled. Error was there to catch him.
"We can [RESET] the world, Ink. Everyone will be safe. And you can be there to make sure the same mistakes don't repeat."
"I can't," Ink croaked.
"It'll be hard, Ink, but please. I'm begging you to be strong one last time."
"It's not that," Ink admitted.
"..."
Then what? Error's gaze met his.
"I don't want to lose you. If- If I [RESET], I'll lose everything we...we are."
"..."
Ink looked away.
"You'll remember."
"But you won't."
"Then make me. I fell in love with you once. I'll do it again."
"Error, I can't."
"You can, and you will."
Error smiled once again. Ink only wished it wasn't because of this.
"I love you, inkblot. I know you. You will find a way."
A tear crept past Ink's eyesocket.
"What if I don't?"
Error's smile faded.
"Then perhaps it is for the best. But know this; I have loved you for centuries, Ink. This is fact. Nothing will not change our history. Nothing will change that it did happen."
"We were never destined to fall in love. It won't repeat."
But Ink leaned in, and they shared an embrace of passion and grief.
"I trust you. I love you."
Error's hands guided Ink to the [RESET] button. He laughed hollowly.
"I love you too."
And the world was washed away in white.
- - - - -
"Who are you supposed to be?" Error snorted.
The figure stayed silent, standing next to his beanbag. They exhaled, then sat down on the floor.
"Mind if I watch Undernovela with you?"
"...If you must, anomaly."
The figure smiled. "Thank you."
- - - - -
(a/n: If you liked this oneshot, please consider checking out my long fic on wattpad, Immortals and Empires!)