God of Balance

Chapter Five

     "So..... Alloy? Do you mind answering some questions?", Blue asks quietly.

     Alloy knows enough that it's not polite to talk with his mouth full, so he swallows before answering. "Okay! WhaT do you want to asK me?". He doesn't see anything wrong with a few questions. After all, Alloy might get the chance to ask a few of his own.

     "Do you know who Ink or Error are?", Bluse asks first.

"No, I'm sOrry. Everyone seems to keep worrying about tHem. Who are theY?". Alloy feels bad that he can't answer the first question. His hands are greasey from the tacos, and he looks around for a moment before wiping his hands on his jacket.

       "Ink is my friend, and Error is someone who I would've like to have known better", Blue decides to give the short answer. He can explain the creation and destruction of the worlds later once Blue can convince Dream that Alloy isn't what he thinks.

"Blue?", Alloy starts, suddenly shy, "Can I ask why everyone at the coUncil didn't like me? You were thEre......". The feeling of being hated feels familiar. Alloy hates it. He craves the approval of others.

"Well..... they think that you have something to do with Ink's disappearance. Your voice and the glitches on your body is similar to Error's, so they think you are him. And your soul-", Blue isn't sure how to finish that thought.

Alloy looks down. He already knows what he'll see, but his own soul still catches him off guard. Alloy cups his hands and draws his soul out to hover over his hands. Blue squeaks a little in surprise. Monsters rarely ever leave their soul so vulnerable. It's a huge show of trust. Then again, Alloy knows no better. His soul is a mess of colors. His first thought is that it's just plain ugly, but then a small smile finds its way onto Alloy's face. He has a soul. The smile falters. The soul is shot through with cracks, but not as many as he was expecting. Strings wrap all around it and hold the colors together. Alloy pinches one string in two fingers and gives it a sharp tug.

Blue nearly faints when Alloy screams. The strange soul, Error's soul, looks so broken that Blue was already stunned silent. Alloy screams and jerks back when he tugs the strings binding his soul together.

"A-Alloy! Are you okay!? What are all those strings for?". Blue jumps up and races around to try and comfort his friend. Blue wants to hug him or even just hold Alloy's hand, but then remembers that he's afraid of being touched. All Blue can do is stand at his side awkwardly.

"Owww....... ", Alloy mumbles after a while. That hurt way worse then his arm. He looks from his soul back to his Blue. "You...... I neveR told anyOne what these stringS wEre for? ThEy're a little loOser....".

"What are they for?".

"They keEp me tRapped-", Alloy slaps a hand over his mouth to stop himself. He watches his soul, waiting for the strings to tighten in retaliation, but they don't. He relaxes a little when he realizes that he stopped in time. "I'm sorrY. I can't tell you uNtil they come oFf".

Blue takes a good long moment to think about Alloy's words. It's Error's soul, right? So these strings keep him trapped. They hurt him. And now they're hurting Alloy. Do they hurt Ink, too? Blue is staring to believe Dream's theory: Error's soul in Ink's body. Blue doesn't think it's a manipulative relationship like the others do. Alloy is too..... happy for that.

"One last question. What do you remember, Alloy? Do you remember me? Do you know who you are?".

     "who I aM?", Alloy repeats. The questions confuse him. He can't temper anything before waking up in the Anti-void. Alloy knows that he didn't exist before then. Should he remember more? This is the first time he's met Blue, but he already had so many positive opinions when he first saw the other Monster. Who is he?

"I-", Alloy begins to speak, but he's interrupted by a loud crash coming from outside. Both he and Blue leap to their feet in alarm. They exchange a quick look before rushing for the door.

The entire area around Blue's home has been vacated. The rest of the Monsters fled in a panic when a dark, goopy portal opened up. Nightmare's aura began to seep out immediately. That alone is enough to send others running. Five skeletons step out one by one to seize up the house.

     "This is the original, right? This is where Blue lives". Killer is slightly confused.

     "Why would Error's soul be here? Isn't Blue kinda neutral?", Cross looks around at his teammates.

     "We're in the right spot. I can feel it", Dust mutters. In one hand, he holds a small jar with a handful of dust inside. It took a while, but Dust has slowly been tracking Error's soul.

"There are two people inside", Nightmare growls, "I sense their emotions". One of his tentacles whip out from his back and slice straight through a tree trunk. It tilts to the side and fall to the ground with a massive crash. That should get their attention.

Not long after, two skeletons barge out of the house. Blue is surprised to see them all, and it shows on his face. Nightmare doesn't recognize the other one. The stranger has a smile when they see the bad guys, but then it turns into a worried frown. That's the normal reaction. Nightmare raises an eyebrow when the smile returns.

     "Blue, we're looking for Error", Horror speaks first, hefting his axe back up to hold in both hands.

"We know he is here! Why the hell would Ink take it!?", Dust snaps. All of them have one reason or another to fight for Error.

Blue swallows. How is he going to explain this? "Listen, there's a lot going on right now, but I promise that Error isn't here again this will", Blue tries. The only reason that the bad guys haven't attacked him yet is that Blue is known to be more neutral. He's let them escape from Ink and Dream before.

"Then where is he?", Killer snaps back.

Taking a deep breath, Blue gestures to Alloy, who's been awfully quiet. "This is Alloy. We met today. Alloy? Can you..... can you bring out your soul again? I know it's a lot to ask".

"AlRight, but I wOn't pull on the strings aGain", Alloy shivers a little. He's not sure how he feels about the five new Monsters. They seem aggressive and dangerous, but Alloy isn't afraid. He uses one hand to cup his chest and then draw out his soul in plain view.

The tentacles on Nightmare's back began to writhe and lash around in a rage. That's Error soul! And now that he looks, Nightmare can see the bright star in the left eye socket and the giant paintbrush peeking over Alloy's shoulder.

"So that's it, huh!?", Nightmare screams out, "Ink wanted to feel so bad that he stole Error's soul?".

    "N-No! That's not it! If you would just listen to what Alloy says-", Blue gets cut off.

     "I don't care if I have to rip it out of him, we're taking Error back!", Nightmare angrily interrupts.  

     Blue doesn't have a chance to react when Dust summons and flings a row of bones at Blue. He only wants to make the small skeleton back off. Alloy was faster. He steps in front of Blue and uses his brush as a baseball bat to whack all the bones off course. What he didn't expect was the goopy tentacle that wraps around his ankle. Alloy yelps as he's yanked off his feet and held upside down in the air. He alanot drops his brush. Nightmare had teleported behind them. Before Alloy can put up any kind of fight, Nightmare tosses him towards a waiting portal.

     "BluE!"

     "Alloy!"

     His black, red, and yellow hand is the last to disappear as Alloy reaches for his only friend. Blue watched helplessly as Nightmare laughs.

     "Don't worry, we'll return what's left", Dust chuckles.

     "Sorry, Blue", Cross shrugs.

     The bad guys rush through the portal after Alloy, closing it quickly and leaving Blue behind. Now, he has no choice to but to call Dream, but Blue isn't sure if there's any way he can help Alloy now.