You sighed to yourself as you continued to weave your threads into another setting, the warm threads bending and twisting together until they resembled a place. Wooden floors. Shallow booths and a tall, butcher block bartop with a broken jukebox. Grillby's. A large reflective dancefloor was surrounded by tables and a mute DJ stand was tucked in the corner. "Wowie Puppet!! This looks just like the club back home!" The Papyrus gushed.
You tried to force a smile, but it only seemed to intensify the sorrow in your one humane eye. Your other eye the marked by ashen flesh and horrendous, discordant rings of color, glimmered as you spun your room of string. It reminded you of Euyridice. The latin-dressed skeleton laughed loudly as he spun into the center of his room and executed a perfectly simple twirl. He seemed so positive... so composed... even if he'd been trapped like all the other.
"I'm going to go check on the others." You said softly, trying to smile once again and failing. "See you later Dance!Pap."
"And to you as well Puppet!" He beckoned as he turned back to his dancefloor. You trudged through the void and looked around. You were surrounded by woven boxes like the one you'd just made. They resembled the real thing almost exactly, the fine weaving almost too intricate to be different, but you knew as well as they did. You knew as well as Error's prisoners.
You made a new setting with each person captured. You wanted them to have something familiar, even if Error thought you were being stupid. You didn't want to capture them, so you could at least offer them this little token.
You didn't dress like you used to. Your old, worn jeans had long since been widdled down to threads and disappeared. You used to let your hair hang freely around your head, but now it was tied back in a ribbon like, rainbow thread. Your body was sheltered only by the oversized sweater you wore, the wide neck falling off your shoulder. It's end dangled around your knees. You often looked down at yourself in curiousity. You felt like, in another time, it would have been weird if you dressed like that. You wiggled the toes of your barefeet and sighed again. You did that a lot. Sighing.
Your chest felt hallow. You tried to feel but the closest you ever got was a vague feeling of pity, but it wasn't even yours. It was reflected in the horrified eyes that saw your ghastly scars. The grey tone that leeched across you like an infection, discoloring the skin and hair that was so unluckily placed there. And his eyes. Every time you sat it you wanted to claw it out. You hated it. You hated him. But he was all you knew. You didn't have many memories, almost known. Only distant echoes of names and blurry images that may have been dreams.
You hated it all, but you couldn't find the courage to leave. You were afraid this was the only place you could go...
"P-Puppet"
You heard the familiar stutter and looked up. A glimpse of black bone and you scowled instinctively. "Oh, it's you... You're more stable I see."
"With so m-m-many world c-crumbl-ling I'm able to c-collect myself more. I-I don't have to s-spread myself so t-thin." Error explained.
You didn't respond, instead sitting and pulling your hand together in front of you. Focusing, then closing your eyes, a pair of metal knitting needles dropped into your palms. You extended a pinkie and from it curled a tight ball of sky blue yarn. It wound quickly until it was as large as your foot then stopped. You took the end and began to knit a new sweater to add to your collection. Error face screwed up as you ignored him.
"Don't ig-ignore m-me!!!" He barked.
"What are you gonna do? Kick me out? Erase my memories." Your gaze challenged his as you continued to knit. "I'm almost emotionally empty and the only thing I ever do is keep the monsters here from rioting. All getting rid of me will do is make it harder for you."
Your eyes returned to your knitting and Error growled. He took the needle and they disappeared completely. His power annoyed you to no end. You sighed yet again and set the thread aside as you looked at him. "Error, if you're so good at this, why don't you just make worlds go poof then go about your day?" You asked bluntly. "I'm really sick of playing babysitter to a bunch of monsters I can't even fake emotion for."
He growled menacingly and you raised a brow, challenging his tough exterior. Rolling his eyes, he crossed his arms and spoke. "In the past, everytime I came cl-close to destroying a world-d-d, he would swoop in and rui-ruin everythi-thing. Fix the A-AU! Return the p-people I took hostage! It was a pain in t-the ass. However, this ti-time it's different."
"How so?" You pestered.
"This t-time I have a bargain-ning chip." He supplied, cutting himself off.
"A bargainig chip against 'him.' And what's the bargaining chip?"
"Y-You."
"Me?"
Error nodded. You pursed your lips and stood. "You're telling me, that however I got here is because you were upset you kept loosing to a paint-splattered skeleton?!" You snapped. "You dragged me here over a fucking grudge?!"
"I took you because-se it was the only way to w-wipe away all of the glitches."
You roared in frustration and clasped your hand around your head. "When the fuck are you going to make sense?! Can't you just wipe my memory completely and let me go?"
"No." He said harshly, almost as if you insulted him.
You opened your mouth to speak but Error turned away and opened a portal. He seemed suddenly frustrated by the conversation and disappeared. You watched as he opened a portal and your heart skipped. Though only a glimpse, you peered at the dimension he vanished into with childish excitement. You studied it, the portal. As soon as he was gone, you smirked. "Dumbass."
Your opened a palm and out slid a blade you'd taken from one of the Sans. You flipped the blade so you held it in a tight grip and darted away from the collection of rooms and prisoners of the void. You ran into the abyss of white until your small settlement of AUs was a speck on your self-made horizon. Glancing back, you took a deep breath and held the blade between your two hands. "Okay... focus... imagine my destination..."
You didn't have the same ability of dimensional travel like Error had, but since you'd been captured you realized something. They opened rifts by second nature, but when they did, the portal always appeared as though hole was being cut from top to bottom. Then it widened and you'd pass through. You tried practicing, but you could never summon enough to make a portal. Finally you realized your mistake.
You channeled your thoughts through the blade and gave a battle cry as you reeled back and swung the knife foward. It snagged on something invisble and your heart lept. Excitedly, you yanked down at the tear. You filled in the image as it was revealed to you, like coloring in the lines. Your mistake had always been you forgot the destination before you could summon it. The key was building it by hand. You ripped away the blade and a shrewdly slice hole swirled in front of you. It was almost too narrow to fit a person, but you managed to cut it just wide enough.
You folded the knife back into your sweater and grinned as you squeezed through the haggard portal. "I'll be back later." You muttered to a non-existent audience.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A portal opened. My eyes darted up as magic shifted in the air. Swap!Papyrus looked at me from across the table, startled by my jerking movement. "Wow there Ink, what's wrong?" He asked.
"A portal... I can feel it. A portal just opened in Swap. They're here." I jumped to my feet, throwing my paintbrush around my neck.
"Wow, what about the plan?!" Chara blurted, scrambling to her feet.
"If I get her now we won't need it. I have to move now!"
"Wait a moment! We're coming with you!" Chara said.
"No time."
I was out the door in moments. In Snowdin the cold air only made me feel more vigilant. I dashed as fast as I could. I could feel magic coming through Waterfall. The portal seemed weak, but someome definitely passed through. Slowly I honed in on the traces. I drew a portal, feeling the magic and using it like a beacon. I gree farther and farther from the beaten paths. I didn't notice my surroundings, focusing solely on the magic.
They were close. They had to be.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
You stepped through and looked around. Something about it felt familiar, but everything looked mistreated by time. You stepped carefully, your barefeet not ready for the damp earth beneath your toes. The sound of water trickling drew your eyes to curtain of turquoise liquid hiding the entrance. You stepped again, curious and enthralled. You felt happy. Emotion felt nice.
Your hand trailed over a damaged, moth-eaten couch. A stack of books, most of them wrinkly with dried water, were flank between the stone wall and loveseat. Notebooks bound by spiral wire rested on the couches cushion. A bucket of water sat next to the cave wall, dissolved pulp floating in it's surface. On the wall, a drawing that curled to the very shape of the rugged cave walls. It was detailed to even the most miniscule parts.
You felt unrivaled pride as you gazed at it. "Amazing..." you cooed.
The figure, a skeleton, was splattered in tactfully placed ink. He seemed to be grinning but you felt you knew better than to assume that. It was like he hid something. Something only you could decipher. You wanted to know more about Ink.
"Hold it right there." The harsh voice came abruptly and you jumped. You turned immediately, remembering an echo like that voice. Your heart hammered against your chest.
"Ink?" You said softly, looking at the newcomer in hope.
Your eyes met with two mismatched sockets. His face seemed to fall with yours, his gaze flickering between the two sides of your face. He'd seen you some time ago, but it looked as though this was his first time gazing at the horrific corruption.
You could help it as a sinking feeling weighed you down. Your face flushed red and you looked down, folding your hands over one another. You wanted to speak. You wanted to know what he knew. To remember. But you didn't want him to seem so afraid. What if you weren't the same as the one he knew? What if he thought you were some sort of demon?
"I'm sorry." You muttered instinctively. You didn't know what you were apologizing for. Maybe it was the combination of unsightly scars on your legs and corrupt flesh. Maybe it was because you'd disappeared. You just felt the need to apologize.
"(Y/N), what did he do to you..." Ink asked gently, taking a cautious step forward.
Your muscles locked up, body rigid as though his concern triggered a reset in your mind. You couldn't speak. Only watch your trembling fingers. "Your eye. Your skin. There's a virus crawling across your body." He said, the vicious vocabulary contradictory to Ink's sweet tone of voice. "You're shaking. Are you... okay? What has he done to you? Please talk to me. I want to help you."
"It's hideous right?" You blurted, not bothering to sound frank. "I thought so too, but I don't remember what I looked like before. I looked normal didn't I? Like the other (Y/N)s? I've seen some of them, but I never had the guts to confront them. Get the token. Get out. That's my job."
"What are you talking about?" Ink asked.
"Some many worlds are dying Ink. Why aren't you saving them? Error told me you always triumphed over him so why aren't you now? Their AUs are dying. I listen to them everyday and pray that somehow their homes will come through. Even if I stopped feeling other emotions, there's still that little sliver of hope."
You could feel tears on your face, but you didn't wipe them away. You let them drip down your face. You curled your nails into the yarn of your sweater and looked up at Ink with every ounce of pity you possessed. "Tell me Ink! Why aren't you protecting them?!" You sounded bitter, angry.
"(Y/N) calm down. You don't sound like yourself. Tell me what's wrong." His voice still sounded gentle. It still sounded like he cared. He tried to step closer but you moved back. He was avoiding the question, refusing to answer. Just like Error. You grew more frustrated and yelled out.
"(Y/N) isn't here! I don't even know who she was!" You yelled. "I don't remember anything Ink... I don't know anything but what Error has told me. I don't want to believe him but I only have that one truth. Is he really winning? Are you failing to save their homes? Is there any use in me keeping them alive?!"
You looked down, squeezing your eyes shut. Your chest felt heavy. Moments ago you felt empty. Then elated. And now, everything. You were hit by a wave of emotion you couldn't control. You were in tears of joy and rage, of fear and sadness, of loneliness and uncertainty. You wept quietly for a few seconds. Your head hurt from grasping at wisps of memories.
You could feel it as arms wrapped around you. You let it happen. You needed to feel warmth in safety. Your head fell into his shoulder, teil fabric cushioning your head as his skull rested atop your hair. Your mouth was mute, but you were satisfied by the gentle embrace. "Ink..." you whispered.
He shushed you gently as he stroked at your back in a comforting manner. "It's okay. You're safe now."
"No... I'm not." You replied with a sad grin. "I can't escape Error."
"Wha-"
You pushed him back viciously as bright blue strings lashed at you. You screamed out in pain as deep gashes lined your body. Your corrupt eyes darted away towards the still open portal. Through the vortex you saw only black, ten strings drawn taut extending from you towards the void. You smiled sadly as you looked at Ink.
"Looks like I'm all tied up. I guess Error found out. He's not far away. Do your job. Please Ink. Save the Aus."
"Wait! (Y/N)?!" He reached for you as your body shot backwards into the portal.
It snapped shut behind you and you smiled again. "My name's Puppet."