The Stage is Set

Chapter 20: That deepest desire from so long ago (pt 1)

Part one of this "chapter." Honest to the stars, it was too long to stay as one chapter... I may go back and break up older chapters to be shorter. We'll see. Deepest desire - DHeusta.

"Blue! Dream! Wake up!"

Their eyes snap open with a gasp as they look around. Everything is covered in ink and paint. Dream shudders as he feels his arms tied up and behind himself. He looks to see his arms being held up in the air by black inky ropes. He looks over to his left to see Blue tied up to the floor. He goes to call out to his brother, for the first time being able to see his brother through the glass. His voice is cut off by seeing Blue thrash against the ropes.

Blue struggles, feeling them tighten in a way that doesn't hurt him. It confuses him. It feels like two people are struggling to tighten the strings or to let him go. As soon as he feels them tighten, he can feel the ropes loosen but not let him go. He looks over to Dream with confusion. Dream's legs are free and his shoes are gone. Why would Ink, who knows them best, leave Dream free enough to use his bow? Dream can shoot his bow with his feet, they both know this. So why? Blue notes that his hands are also rather close to his belt. It doesn't take much to summon his sword.

So why would Ink let them be able to escape?

Blue looks around to escape, gathering enough magic in his hand to summon a knife. He feels the familiar weight of a knife in his hand before grinning in success. He looks over to Dream before gasping as he feels some paint crawling up his hand and taking the knife from him. He struggles to hold the knife as the paint pries it from his grip. He growls before Dream calls his name. He looks over at Dream, Dream nods his head toward the bubbling paint. Watching it bubble as if it's boiling without any heat. He watches as a figure emerges with horror.

The figure is tall, huge is a better term for it. Big enough that Blue could fit on its hand, one of the four of them. He looks up at the crack on the left side of the face, the way it runs down to the jaw. The four eye sockets, the two on the bottom are poorly sewn shut with glowing red strings. The way the mouth seems to be ripped apart. A covering over the teeth, sharpened and dripping with ink. The lone eye light red with anger and corruption, encasing a black-and-white light. All of them fear moving as the eye pips shrink to pinpricks. A growl, one that would belong to a feral animal, is wrenched from the throat of the beast. Its body is dark with black paint. The tattoos are a mix of dark red and white, outlining where the four arms are, and the pointed tips. How the back legs are those of cheetahs.

The bones were bent, broken, and reassembled. It makes Blue almost gag. Those legs should not be like that. It makes him wonder what happened to his friend. He looks in horror as the ink splotch on the cheek gives away who it is. He watches as Ink melts before hardening again. Everything stills as Ink takes in a breath. Dream looks up in panic and distress. Something in him wonders if Ink would be able to recognize them. Why did Ink grab them? What was the point of this?

Everyone in the room stops breathing as their souls pound in fear. What is that? Is that Ink? Fear takes hold of all of them as the urge to run fills them. Something deep in their coding tells them to run in fear of this beast. Nightmare stares, feeling mixed emotions coming from the beast. Fear, contentment, distress, wonder, anger, relief, despair. It all has the metallic taste he's come to associate with Ink's emotions. His own emotions overwhelm him as he stumbles back. He doesn't want to believe that the monster before everyone is Ink. Tears and goop trail his face. Questions fill his mind as Killer clings to him. Cross looks around before picking up the dolls that Dust dropped and drags Dust over to Nightmare. He picks up Error and carries him back as well. Herding the others into the back of the room, Nightmare lets his goop cover him and holds them all close to him. Cross gets in front of them, ready to protect them from anything he can as he summons his knives.