Inktobertale 2022 : Compilation of novels

10th of October : A hero falls

[Okay, full transparency : I thought today was "Dye", and not that prompt which scared me from the very first moment I saw it. So yeah, sorry if it seems rushed.]

As Ink coughed up on an umpteenth dose of black paint, Blue couldn't do otherwise than keep looking at his friend. The guardian's rib cage was wide opened, and soaked in all the various colors of paints that his vials before they had been smashed. His left arm was grey-ish and dry, and seemed to decompose into small bits of a paper-like material which would fly away into the wind. And this state of rotting away was slowly progressing on the rest of Ink's body. Dream was standing up behind the two, with a grave look on his face. Slowly, Ink's eyes drifted back on the Royal Guard, and he flashed a delusional smile. "Hey... would you look at that. I did it. I saved the whole multiverse."

"Ink..." started Blue, "You need to... you must economize your breath okay ? The healers will be here a-any moment now."

"Blue... It's fine okay ?" answered Ink.

"Wha- NO ! You're not fine ! You're bleeding, a-and your limbs are broken and-"

"That's not what he means, Blue." said Dream with a sad voice as he got closer.

Ink smiled more, in a more sincere way, as he looked at the two. "Wow... you two really look like shit, you know ?"

Dream had a painful chuckle, as golden tears started appearing at the corners of his eyes. "Even that can't shut you up, right ?"

Ink took a closer look at himself. "No... I guess I'm really that persistent."

"W-what are you two talking about ?!" yelled Blue as he started shaking, "You c-can't be that pessimistic, you're going to live, alright ?! You just need to take your bru-" he continued, as he bent over to grab Broomie and put it in Ink's hands.

But the moments Blue's fingers closed over the large-sized tool, the skeleton felt the wood crack under his touch, and his eyes widened as he looked at the brush's handle slowly dusting away, and he started panicking. "No. No,no nono nononono-" 

He leaned, and grabbed Ink by the shoulders. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO US !!! You have to live !!!" he screamed, as his tears soaked what was left of Ink's clothes.

"Don't you get it ?" answered the protector, "I've done that. I've lived a good life, thanks to you two. I don't know how many times we separated, then got back together to argue more and all, but..." He stopped to take a look at the stars above them, as Dream and Blue followed his gaze. "In the end, it's always been the same, I guess. Three stupid, foolish companions ready to take on the entire multiverse, to live the greatest adventures ever and fight the most evilest dangers up to their last breath. And now..."

"...Now, I think we can safely say 'mission accomplished'."

Blue stood still, teeth clenched, until suddenly, he hugged Ink as hard as he could without a word, but with the greatest sincerity the multiverse had ever seen. Ink had a small laugh. "Careful with that, I might just puke what I have left in my stomach on you..."

"I'm going to miss you, Ink. It won't be the same without you." said Blue between his sobs.

"Yeah, I'm really gonna miss you too, buddy." replied Ink as he proudly stared at his friend. "And you too of course, but you know..." he added towards Dream.

"Yeah, I'll manage." shot back Dream as he silently let his own tears fall down his face.

"God, you two have evolved so much, and..." Ink took a good look at himself through a broken mirror next to them. "I'm still little old me."

"Yeah, but we wouldn't trade that for a million of other friends." simply replied Dream as he joined Blue in hugging the protector. His voice was calm and mastered, but even then you could feel the emotion phasing through it.

There was a moment of silence, as the three remained like this.

"Say..." eventually said Ink, "I don't know, how much time I have left, but I think you two should get going now. It won't be long before the whole AU gets erased. You can't put yourselves in danger any longer."

"Wha- No ! We can't leave you here, alone ! You...

You can't just die alone like that."

"Blue..." Rainbow drops fell from Ink's eye sockets. "It's fine. It's how it all started anyway." He accompanied that sentence with a nod from his head.

Blue was going to replicate, but just as Ink stopped nodding, he felt Dream's hand clench on his shoulder, and understood too late what was happening as yellow particles surrounded him and the guardian of positivity. "NO !!!"

Understanding Dream would not let him go, he made one last effort to leap and grab Ink. "YOU'VE GOT TO COME WITH US !!!" but as his hand approached the skeleton's face, Ink suddenly (and gently) grabbed Broomie, and placed the brush into it. "I know." He simply replied. And just like that, they were gone.

With a sigh of relief, Ink fell back down, and remained like this against the ground, not taking his eyes off the starry sky. He was fascinated by them, the nebulas, the constellations drawing mesmerizing forms. As his vision blurred, he believed to see familiar faces among the stars. A family he had long been separated from, but today, he felt ready. With the knowledge that the entire multiverse, and more importantly all the people who mattered the most to him we're safe and sound and together, the protector of universes closed his eyes one last time, and expired his last breath.