Weeks go by. I've made a sure point to at least visit Ink twice a day to make sure he's doing okay. I've made a mini-schedule of times for each day, telling when Sci is making observations of us and when he isn't. I go when he isn't so that he doesn't bother us. It seems to make Ink happy, stuck in the blank space. I've asked him if he's tried painting it over to make him feel better, but he has told me he has failed at that. He told me that every time he does and it begins to get colorful and cozy, one snap from Sci when he sees this sends it back to square one. Blank. He doesn't really see a point on wasting his paint if it's being erased. But he does seem happy to watch UnderNovela with me. There have been times when I'm in my room and I'm lost in thought or dealing with my cracked eye. Usually I'd be bored or feeling truly isolated. Then Ink would hop in my window and join me as I have with him. He's memorized Sci's routine, and that says a lot because of his memory.
Ink still has the rough nights and nightmares, though won't say anything about them and I don't tell him what I see while he has these, afraid of what it could mean for him or scaring him more. I've caught him holding the puppet of me whenever he has these nightmares, and it seems to calm him a bit. Truth be told, I do the same with my puppet of him on the nights he hasn't had nightmares. I've had to come and wake him up, but soon the nightmares have ceased slightly. Whenever they do happen, Ink comes to my room after finding out about the path and times the barriers fall. He would come beside me and hold my arm tight. I'd be sure to hold him protectively whenever this happens, or crack a joke to cheer him up. It's become a cycle of visits now. It's our form of entertaining ourselves in these dumb isolation areas. It lit up our boring days here. Not a single visit from anyone, though we have gotten calls. Inky and I have begun to suspect that Sci is not allowing anyone to visit, using the visiting area to only observe us despite the name.
But one day, today to be exact, something changed. I was resting with Ink beside me and had just gotten him back to sleep, this nightmare really got him down. By now we had both covered our cracks. I began to doze and soon was in a dream. Well, one that I thought was a dream. I was in my Anti-Void again and messing around with my strings when I heard footsteps. I look up to see a glitched up kid walking over. They kinda looked like the other kid with the height but I couldn't see much besides their glitchy silhouette and bright red eyes with a grin. They were dragging Ink behind them.
"GrEetInGs, ErRor. LeT's pLay a GaMe, sHalL wE? It'lL bE fUn!"The child giggles, throwing Ink down and slashing him with a knife.
I shoot up in my bed, waking up from the bad dream almost immediately. I cover my mouth with my hand to hold back my yell that I knew I almost instinctively did. I look over at Ink. Still resting. Still holding my arm. Still here and safe. I sigh with relief. But there was still questions in my head. Who was that kid? Where'd they come from? Are they real? What do they want? Are they like the last one? But none could be answered, I still knew nothing.
I felt the pain in my cracked eye again but when I lifted my hand to feel the patch of it that I put on, there was a feeling of something on my head. Something soft and hanging low. I felt around it a bit and knew what it was. Animal ears, cat to be exact if my guess is right. I jolted from shock. Not another one of these tricks! They're taunting me! I lift my scarf up to hide the ears and I simply checked the eye by patting the patch until it stops hurting. Like patting a small fire with a wet blanket or towel until it went out.
That's when I heard yelling. It was muffled but I quickly realized who it was and was overjoyed. All I have to do is keep my scarf up and they won't know.
"No, wait! You can't!"I hear Science yell
"ThAt's iT, ScIeNce! I aM sEeiNg mY bROtHEr aNd yOu cAn'T sToP mE! WeThEr yOu lIKe iT oR nOt!"I hear my bro shout
"Same here. He may not be my brother, but he is one of my closest friends."Dust could be heard stating
The curtains flew open and next I saw was my brother shoving them aside and smiling at me. Beside him was Dust, who had his genocide eye on for some reason and using magic.
"GrEEtinGs bRotHer!"My bro says loudly, amplified through the speakers
"Sup, Error."Dust says casually and not as loud
Ink shifted in his sleep, mumbling something sleepily.
"HElLo, Ink!"My bro cheers after noticing Ink
Dust chuckles and looks away to muffle it from being amplified.
"HeY PaPs. Hi, Dust. PleAsE kEep yOuR vOice lOw, I jUst gOt hIm tO rEsT aGaIn."I say
"Oh? AnD wHY iS tHat? AlSo, DusT, wHat iS so FuNNy?"my brother asks
"Because I know two people climbing up a staircase for no reason now to see Ink and one of their names rhyme with beam. Or should I say Mr complains-a-lot? The other is Ink's brother. "Dust says
"Oh yA! ThOse tWo! HeH, tHey dO cOmPlAin a LoT. SUreLy thAt'Ll tEacH tHem."My bro states with a smile
Just hearing this gave me a lot of common info. Dream and Ink!Pap were complaining while they were supposed to be trying to fix the issue and are now gonna journey to Ink's room for no reward of a sight of Ink. It made me chuckle softly.
"He'S haD nIghTmAres aGAIn lAtEly. He wOn't sAy oF wHat, bUt I cAn gUeSs iT's tHe kId. DoEsN't hElp tHat He GeTs pAnic aTTaCks bEcAuSe oF hIs rOom aPPeArAncE. StuPid ScI mADE iT bLanK aND kEePs eRaSinG aNy pAinT hE laYs oUt. And I thInk wE kNOw hOw bLAnK aND InK do nOt mIx wElL."I explain
"I wilL sPEAK tO ScIeNce SaNS aBOUt tHat! WAiT, DUsT, wHY are yA uSInG mAgic?"my bro exclaims
"Oh, to keep Science from interrupting our visit or bothering them. I've heard that Sci treats them like animals to be observed in isolation."Dust says
We both nod and the three of us talk until Sci rudely kicked them out. Science dragged my bro and Dust with one hand, Dream and Ink!Pap in the other. The door slams behind him, which woke Ink up with a fright. He looks around wildly and then at me. I smile at him and that seems to calm him. I then quickly see a curious look in his eyes. I shyly look away and reach for my glasses. I grab them and looks back at him. He was giving me the same gaze, now mixed with confusion.
"Is s-sOmEtHiNg wRoNg?"I ask
"Why is your scarf on your head? Is something wrong?"Ink replies with questions
"E-Erm...I..."I say, trying to think of an excuse and checking the curtains
They were shut. Thank the stars.
"Did something happen?"Ink asks
"WeLl, kiNdA...Yes..."I say, unable to think of an excuse.
"Oh no! Let me see if I can heal it!"Inky says, thinking it's an injury and removing my scarf from over my head.
I saw his eye light shrink. I feel my face warm at his gaze with his orange exclamation point eye light. He looks over at the curtains that were still shut. Then back at me.
(drew it myself, inspired by Neko Sans shown in music videos)
"InkY, I...I cAn eXpLaIn!"I exclaim.
"Did Sci experiment on you or something while I was asleep or something?"Ink asks, narrowing his eyes and giving a side glance at the curtains
"WhAt! No! My cRaCk hUrt aNd NeXt I kNew, tHeSe cAmE! I bEt ThE KiD iS TaUnTiNg mE!"I explain, pointing to my ears
"Ah, okay. Never can tell with Sci."Ink says, his gaze returning to me
"I gUeSs thEy tHiNk tHey hAvE tHe uPpEr PaW."I say, casually making the pun
Ink chuckles.
"Glitchy, wow! Even now you make puns!"Ink tells me
"WhAt cAn I sAy? I'm pUnStOpPaBlE!"I state with a smile and shrug
Ink chuckles and kept looking at the shut curtains with narrowed eyes. I was confused.
"I swear it seems as if someone is there, watching. I can feel it."Ink mutters
"Eh, I'm sUrE it'S fiNe. UnDerNoVeLa?"I assure him
"Sure."Inky says
I open a view of the UnderNovela timeline and watch with him. To put Ink at ease, I summon my strings and make a wall at where he kept looking. I noticed Inky took out his notepad and began nervously writing away. We were enjoying this time when I felt a tug on my string. Meaning someone was here. WHAT? HOW? THE BARRIER'S UP! SCI WAS SO SECURITY-BASED! HOW DID SOMEONE GET IN HERE?
The world suddenly got bigger and I was in some dark place. But I could move and feel fabrics. I pop my head out one end and realize the darkness and fabrics were my clothes. Did I shrink again but to a worse level?
Ink looks at me and gasps, unaware of the inrtuder trying to get through my strings that were still set up. His face got a rainbow blush stain across it. I was confused. His eye light was small as if in shock. I look up at him, then he lowers hand down to me. I reach out a hand to him, not removing my gaze from him. I fear the intruder would sneak attack him.
I realized how small I've become, but I felt something soft. I look and see I had a kitty's paw. I jump in shock and gaze at myself. I've become a cat! Ink scoops me up and holds me in his hands gently.
"Guess you were right. They're pulling tricks on you."Ink says, gazing at me curiously
I nod, but then see a figure appear behind Ink. It was the glitchy kid from my dream! They had this sinister grin on and held something above Ink. I hiss and leapt over Ink, knocking the kid down. Not another one of these brats! I scratch and hiss and kick the kid. I hear a splash and the kid teleported away. Soon as they did, I was a skeleton again. Ink was soaked in something and he looks at me confusedly, blinking a few times. I approach him, gazing at him worriedly.
"Error? What are you doing here? Where am I?"Ink asks
"HaHa, vErY fUnnY, InKy. yoU kNow thE aNsWeRs to ThOse QuEstIoNs. StOp pReTEnDinG yOu dOn'T knOw."I say
"I'm serious. Don't call me Inky! Nobody calls me that! What trick are you pulling? What are you planning now? I know you're planning something to destroy the AUs."Ink snaps, grabbing his brush and pointing it at me
He wasn't kidding. He really forgot. I back up.
"InKy, pleaSe...It's me, Glitchy..."I say
"No, you're Error. Now tell me what you're doing to the AUs in this weird place!"Ink demands
The kid made him forget me to the point of being enemies. Ink does not remember the truce, our friendship, my feelings for him, nothing. I felt anger at first but then pain. I bowed my head.
"Not gonna answer? Fine, I'm outta here. You're acting strange, Error. I'll go make sure you didn't destroy any AUs."Ink says, painting a portal and gathering his pad and sash, the puppet of me in his jacket
I let him walk through, then sigh. I open a portal to my anti-void. I walk through, realizing my crack was gone as soon as I turned back to a skeleton. I sit in the anti-void, thinking of what to do. I couldn't do much. If I went to Ink, he'd think I was up to something and was lying in his current state. If I told anyone else, they'd be in the same position as me. I really just have to hope Ink randomly remembers everything I guess. I'll just stay here and not destroy any AUs, keep the truce going, my end at least. But the more I thought of it, I realized Ink may just attack here thinking I'm planning something. Plus, Dream may be overjoyed to have Ink on his side against me again. I decide to go and stay in OuterTale. Few would think to look for me there.
I sit and lay against a rock and rest, deep in thought. I stargaze and wonder if things between Inky and I will be ok.