You got more nervous when the silent staring continued. You felt a small twinge of guilt when Blue groaned again, louder this time. You did not do anything to him, but you did watch it happen. Dream startled at the sound, looking around before he spotted him, struggling to upright himself from his awkward position sprawled over the food cart.
Dream rushed over with a distressed "Blue!". Before you could breathe a sigh of relief, you felt a hand wrap around you. You squeaked, caught off guard by the unexpected touch. Ink tugged you off of the arrow and held you in front of his face, scrutinizing you. His eyelights went through a myriad of shapes and colors. You did not know what many, if any, of them meant.
"...I wonder where Error got you, and how your alive, I didn't make you," he mumbled. Suddenly, he paused, before using a hand to check his scarf, "Mmm, Nope, nothing there, unless I forgot to write it down too... maybe I should ask Dream?" he asked himself with a furrow in his bonebrow.
Seeing this display, your fear from earlier felt like a joke. It was relieving, but also humiliating remembering the entire reason you were fearful in the first place was because of an Ink. Then again, there were some things to fear, like their random and dangerous antics... you hoped this Ink did not make you partake in his "fun".
You were saved from further watching his performance when you heard the sound of crunching grass. Ink turned, the both of you taking in the sight of a limping Blue, supported around his waist by an exhausted-looking Dream. You wondered how you did not notice how tired he appeared prior to your capture.
"OUCH. I THINK I TWISTED SOMETHING TRYING TO DISLODGE MYSELF FROM THAT UNFORTUNATE POSITION," Blue groaned, a grimace on his face. Yeesh, maybe Blue's luck was about as bad as yours. Hurting his ankle from hitting a food cart... but considering that seems to be the only injury he sustained, maybe not. A normal human or monster likely would have broken something from the impact.
"Do not worry. When we return to the base, I can heal you," Dream soothed. Then, he looked to Ink, his expression a touch nervous despite his calm demeanor, "Ink, we must be leaving now. If we stay they may return," he stressed. Ink appeared to consider it, eyelights drifting in thought.
"...I guess. I had kind of wanted to continue the fight, but since we do have a hostage and Blue's injured, I suppose we can return now," he eventually said, his tone clearly reluctant. As much as you did not want to go with them, you were a tad comforted to know this meant Error would not have to fight. Dream and Blue appeared just as at ease with his answer.
They were probably worried that Ink would refuse, regardless of the fact that one of them was indeed injured–with an injury that would have put him at a disadvantage–, and that they did have a "hostage" in his words. You did not like the thought of being some hostage, but you did not really have a say, so there was nothing you could do to change that. At least, not with Ink.
You could possibly sway Dream or Blue, but at the moment you were more content to observe. You wanted to see what they did, and hoped you would get to know just how much they knew about the balances. If they did not appear to know anything, or enough, you would have to intervene and try explaining as much as you could.
You did not want to see Error or the gang hurt anymore. Even if you had not known the gang long, they had a way of growing on you. Like Error had once said, "They're a gang of leeches, sucking the life out of you slowly and annoyingly". That was not exactly how you would describe them–at least besides Killer– and it did not really mean the same thing, but it was close enough.
You were shaken from your thoughts when you heard a splash. Uh oh. You knew what that meant. Looking back from where you had been dazedly staring at the trees, you saw what you expected. Ink had used the hand he was not using to hold you to lift his brush, slash it across the ground, and open an oily portal.
It surprised you how pretty it actually looked. Though looking at the substance alone was not appealing, the rainbow sheen that glistened on it was. While you stared in awe, you were startled when Ink suddenly jumped in. Letting out a muffled yelp, colors flashed by in a dazzling display, like you were looking through a kaleidoscope. You felt as if your body liquified. It was a hard sensation to describe and left you reeling from dizziness and nausea.
The sensations finally subsided as you heard Ink's feet click against the ground he landed on. You had to 'close' your eyes to adjust to the shift. When you 'opened' them, you were blown away by the sight in front of you. You had appeared inside the Doodle Sphere! You had read of what it looked like many times, but none of that could have prepared you for the real thing.
All around, a brilliant, yet soft gold bathed the area in a gentle, soothing light. Glowing like white stars, rectangle pieces of paper–AUs–littered the sky with hundreds of thousands of stories. The originals shone brighter, all of their twisting and fluttering forms creating a twinkling effect that almost overwhelmed your eyes. You stared with childlike wonder. It was really a very picturesque image. You only looked away when Ink cleared his throat.
"Like what you see? I made all of the AUs here, aren't I amazing?" he said arrogantly, a smug smirk on his face... you hated to admit it, but the place did look incredible. However, you refused to say he was amazing for it. Thinking about it though, the amount of AUs was too much.
Regardless of how beautiful they were, looking at them now, with a clearer head, filled you with a sense of dread. These AUs were the reason the balance was unstable. It was unfair how such innocent things were the cause of so much trouble for so many people. It renewed your conviction to help fix it. You had more people that you were determined to help now, to save.
You alone could not do much, you were aware, but that would not stop you from trying. You had Error, the gang–Horror, Dust, Nightmare, heck, even Killer–, every AU inhabitant, Dream, Blue, and despite the many problems he's caused, Ink, to think about. You wished you could just fix everything yourself with the snap of a finger or some words, but not everything was so easy.
Trying to convince, inform, help, and understand Ink, Dream, and Blue was definitely going to be harder than making that alliance with Nightmare was. And back then, you had Error with you. It was not nearly as intimidating with him there, you are sure that without him you would have been killed before you could so much as say a word. Even if you could have, they would not have believed you. That was already proven with the suspicions they had about your 'relationship' with the Stars.
Thinking about that, you hoped your disappearance was not incriminating you somehow. It was kind of obvious you had not let yourself be captured willingly. You prayed Dust saw it that way and reported that to Nightmare. You did not want to imagine what they would do if they thought you had deceived them after all.
You also wondered how they would treat Error then. If anything, he might be seen as an accomplice, perhaps as an unaware one, and be let off lightly. Besides, if they tried anything, well, his title as the "Destroyer" was not for nothing. He could hold his own, so you were not too worried. The only reason he could not beat Ink was because he had support, and Error did not.
But that was before. If the alliance still stood, he would have plenty. You were anxious about how he was feeling right now though. The last you saw each other was through his portal, and getting to that point was already through unfortunate circumstances. You just hoped he was not too worried about you. Suddenly, you remembered your gift.
...you had not been able to give it to Horror. You were not sure if you would feel worse or better if Error gave it to him instead. One on hand, he would get your gift. On the other, you would be unable to apologize in person. You doubted Error would apologize for you, that being something he did not seem like the type to do. Plus, he probably forgot about it anyways with the distraction that was your capture and dealing with the gang.
You were snapped out of your somewhat depressing thoughts when you noticed movement in front of your face. Jolting, you followed the movement to Ink's arm. He was waving his hand right in your face. It annoyed you, and already in a bad mood, you swatted at it. You felt him jump.
"What was that for?!" he whined, withdrawing his hand to his chest. When you just glared, he huffed.
"I was just checking you were in there, no need to get prissy with me. You didn't answer me, then got this dazed look on your face like someone sucked the soul out of you, so I decided to get your attention," he explained indignantly. You deadpanned.
First off, of course you were not going to answer him. Why would you? He did not deserve answers. Secondly, how could he see a "dazed" look on your face? Your face was literally frozen in the same eternal smile all Sans had. The only movement you had there was the upturn or downturn of the corners to mimic a change in expression.
Plus, your eyes were buttons. You wondered briefly if his paints had the side effect of causing hallucinations, or if he really was that delusional. You must have been giving him an extremely strange look, since he gasped in offense.
"Don't look at me like that! It's not like I was lying...," he pouted, looking away.
...you were getting major déjà vu again. Suddenly, it clicked. Ink was very similar to a certain skeleton you knew. Oh dear god, he was Killer 2.0... it was another man-child! You wanted to wail in despair. You did not miss him that much! Scratch that, you did not miss him at all!
...that's it! You were cursed! Surrounded by bad omens! Life was a lie made to trap you and annoy you until you died of anger! You were sure you would be foaming at the mouth right now if you could from the sheer amount of resentment you were feeling.
Before you could spiral further, you heard the sound of another portal opening behind you. It somehow sounded like the tinkling of bells. Ink's mood immediately brightened, and he whipped around to face it, a large grin on his face. Your legs swung slightly from the abruptness.
Out from a gold portal that could rival the sun in intensity came Blue and Dream. Ink jogged over to them, radiating excitement. Dream looked over at him from checking on Blue. He smiled gently, his eye sockets crinkling at the edges. He gave off both a young and somehow aged air at that moment. It was like he knew the cruelty of the Multiverse but hoped, no prayed, for the best.
"How about we go inside? There, we can discuss things more comfortably," he said softly, gesturing behind him. You stared with disbelief at what you saw. How did you not notice the massive house there?? You blamed Ink for being too annoying to notice.
I seem to have a habit of creating a lot of seemingly dangerous situations that end in nothing but mischief and annoyance. Is that a talent? 🤔
My grandma's birthday is Monday, but we're celebrating it today, so I probably won't be paying too much attention to comments then
Hoped you enjoyed the chapter! 😊