*HIATUS* Mer!verse Continuation Rewrite

Alienation

On their way to wherever the heck Paint lives, the group of three were chatting, or rather, Outer and Paint were chatting, while Misprint kinda just hid behind Outer every time something was directed at him, whether it was a glance, smile or question. Point is, they were trying to learn more about each other. Paint and Outer learned very quickly, however, that Misprint didn't seem to know any of the basic stuff that everyone grows up learning about, like different foods and things like that. So, they decided that Misprint could ask about anything he didn't know, and the two accompanying him would answer them, if Misprint or Outer caught Paint up on how the glitchy mer got hurt, and where they came from. So the entire conversation they had was about the balance, Fate, Inky's ignorance, the few who Misprint trusted, such as the Charas and swap Frisks, Nightmare and his gang, his brothers Geno and Fresh - this part shocked Outer quite a bit - the battle that was meant to kill him, and how they ended up there by jumping in the void.

This conversation was how Misprint learnt the name of those half-fish people, Siraid, which were apparently half siren and half mermaid. There was a story to that, but Paint interrupted himself when they entered a ginormous cave.

"Okay guys, we're here!"

The area they arrived in was absolutely beautiful. There were rock structures hanging from the ceiling that seemed to have been carved into giant chambers so the merfolk could live in there. They were so big and so many that it came to the point where Misprint thought this cave was endless, and it might as well have been. There were also other merfolk swimming around, some looking at them curiously, while others just didn't seem to notice and hurried on their way. Misprint found he didn't like the stares or extra attention and ducked behind Outer as the two hurried to catch up to Paint, who was already on his way to one of the stone-like structures. The galaxy siraid always looked surprised whenever this happened, though he was glad that Misprint seemed fine with his touch and presence enough to hide behind him.

"... how weRe TheSe SToNe STRucTuRe ThINgIeS Made? They ReMINd Me of ThoSe weIRd RockS ThaT foRM oN cave ceIlINgS." Misprint asked, observing the nearest one while still somewhat out of view behind Outer. Paint smile, glad to know he was comfortable enough to ask questions.

"Well, at first - which was a very long time ago - there were just various forms of speleothems, in other words, stalactites, stalagmites, and maybe even a couple columns of rock," he explained, unaware of how Misprints' eyelights snapped towards him when Paint started speaking.

"Then over time they formed longer and larger. Keep in mind that this happened over millions of years, continuing to grow closer to the ground, ceiling, or just widening, inch by inch. Eventually, when our ancestors found this place, most were probably large enough to fit multiple families if they carved holes deep enough in them. So, they did. And continued to do so when there was more space below them, so others could have a place to live." Paint stopped when they reached their destination in front of a stalactite that had already reached the ground. Or maybe it just grew from the ground and reached the ceiling.

Paint knocked a rhythm on a smoother looking rock than the others, before slipping his fingers inside tiny, almost invisible holes on one side, and sliding the thin rock into the wall next to it. It was almost like a slide door, except made of rock instead of wood, obviously, but it still looked really cool to watch for some reason. The three swam inside, two more eager than the first.

"I'M BACK!" Paint yelled, making Misprint jump from the unexpected loud noise. He still doesn't fully trust Ink's counterpart yet.

"WELCOME BACK PAINT!" another voice yelled back, coming from a room in front of the one they were in, making Misprint jump once more. Is yelling across the house normal here? He looked to Outer, who seemed to be thinking the same thing.