Neon Tears

Chapter 17

-HorrorTale #15-

Blackberry shivers as he pushes the wheelchair through the portal into the living room of the HorrorTale brothers house noticing the snow blown through the broken windows and cracks in the door.

Fresh 404 steps into the room behind them glancing around with a frown.  Before setting down the IV stand and easing Hatchet onto the ragged couch.  "Bring Papyrus over here, they can share the IV stand and help keep each other warm while we find Chara."

Blackberry moves the wheelchair over to Fresh 404 who moves the IV bag then gently lifts Papyrus onto the couch with Hatchet and tucks the blanket around them both.  "Do you have any idea where Chara would be?"

Fresh 404 pushes the wheelchair through the portal before closing it. "If they are awake, probably with Flowey if not then we need to do the piano puzzle in Waterfall and use the legendary artifact to wake them." With a snap of their fingers tightly woven rainbow webs filled the windows keeping out the snow and other monsters matching webbing covering the door.  "Why don't you look for more blankets while we check the codes for where they are."

Blackberry nodded and started looking for blankets keeping an eyelight on Fresh 404 when ever he could.  Not that the kid did anything other than open a code panel and stare at it.

Fresh 404 closed the code panel just as Blackberry tucked the last of the blankets around Hatchet and Papyrus. "We need to go to Waterfall, to wake Chara.  Do you want to stay here with them or come with us?"

"I will come with you, I am your companion for this run." Blackberry patted the blankets down again before looking around to see if there was anything else they could do for them before going after Chara.  "Seeing this place and them I just want to slap Inky so much.  I know he is a child but even a child should know this is wrong."

Fresh 404 takes a sharp breath.  "We are not sure he has much control over how the Organic Originals formed.  We do not know why he maked the copies but we suspect he spent a long time trying to figure out what went wrong."

"You sound almost like you agree with what he did here?"  Blackberry was rather shocked by the kids' almost forgiving tone in regard to Inky.

"Blackberry,". Fresh 404 opened a portal to Waterfall and walked through, not continuing until FellSwap Sans joined him and the portal was closed.  "No, we do not agree with what he did. It disgusts us, however Inky may be eons old but he is still a child little more than a babybones.  He has a child's judgment and the memory of a goldfish.  We know what he did was wrong.  We have the critical thinking skills to predict likely consequences.  He doesn't and he has never had adult guidance.  Yes he needs some accountability but he needs guidance and care just as badly."

Blackberry frowned but nodded. It was hard to argue the point when he knew the kid was right.  It just felt so wrong for this to go unpunished.  He couldn't shake the image of porous bones that felt spongy while he was tucking Papyrus and Hatchet in.  The image of Hatchet's broken skull thin as egg shells around the break leaving his nonexistent gut churning.  "I know he is a child but that doesn't mean he should get away with this."

"He isn't getting away with it other than repairs he isn't getting to use is magic.  You know, just like a child who has been grounded."  Fresh 404 gets a torn umbrella and walks to the statue in Waterfall.

Blackberry flinched as the music box started to play the notes pure and sweet in stark contrast to everything else in this sick broken AU.  "It still works? I never expected that. I haven't seen a single undamaged thing here."

"We believe a preservative magic was placed in it when the statue was made." Fresh 404 headed back down the path to the piano.  "We wish we could have had music lessons with dad.  It is fortunate that Fresh knows the basics."