The Stage is Set

Run Blue! Run! pt9

Run like a Rebel - The Score

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Blue shakes his head. "I'll worry about that later. Go back to whatever Error has in his pocket. What's going on with Ink? Show me what happened." He grips his scarf as a means of comfort. He's been so worried about the state of his friends, seeing all of them, but one is making him worry.

Error steps closer, and he gently pulls the soul half from his pocket. He cups it in his hands and holds it out to Blue. Error doesn't look up at Blue, instead, he watches how it pulses in his hand. It's almost as if it wants to connect to the half he holds in his soul. "The monster threw this at me before it... chained itself up. Before it collapsed in on itself. It's-"

"Part of Ink's soul." Blue shutters. His soul beat stutters, and the rest of him follows. He has an urge to reach out, to cry at the sight of it. It feels like a part of himself has died at the sight. He wants to know everything that happened to leave Ink in this state. Where's the rest of Ink's soul? Something nags him. This is the most potent part of Ink's soul, but it's not the part that holds all of Ink's being. It's off-putting. "T-that's... That's not the important part of his soul. That's not him."

Killer looks at Blue with a quirked eyebrow ridge. "That's... a unique assumption. How did you..." Killer waves his hands.

Blue glances over at him before continuing to stare at the soul piece. He watches as it pulses, and if he put it against his skull he's sure he would recognize the pattern. "I don't know. The thought was right there." His eye pips flare a different shade of blue, an azure blue, and his reaction to the soul changes. He hunches over, closer to the soul piece. His brow bones furrow as his stare grows sadder. "He's... so quiet. So fragile. I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you like I promised." The others glance at him with worry at the tone change as tears gather in the corners of Blue's sockets. There's a near manic glint to his eye pips. "We're almost there. We are so close. It will happen, don't you worry. We'll get there. This is my promise."

Error pulls the soul back, closer to his chest as Blue reaches for it. Dream places himself between the two of them. "What's gotten into you, Blue?! Stop it, you're scaring us!" Dream smacks Blue to get him to focus on him and not the soul.

Blue jolts and shakes his skull. He pinches his nasal ridge to block against the incoming headache. "Ow!" He looks down at Dream with normal eye pips, Dream blinks in confusion. Were they a different color? "What was that for... Why is everyone looking at me?" Blue looks around at everyone, confused at their horrified expressions. He quirks a brow before putting his hands on his hips.

Cross squints at him, taking a step closer. Dream takes a slight step back. "You don't remember?"

Blue looks over at Cross then back to Dream. "No? I was trying to explain how that thought was right there, and then Dream smacked me out of nowhere!" Blue shifts his weight to one leg as he scratches his cheekbone.

Dream looks at Error and Error shrugs, hiding the soul piece from view. "Blue, you freaked us out. You started... reacting? To Ink's soul piece... But not in a normal way." Dream's feathers fluff out as he tries to explain.

Blue stares before slowly nodding. "Huh." He brings a hand to his chin. "I don't remember that. I was trying to say it felt really familiar to me. Like I was-" Blue cuts off with a sharp gasp. He staggers, trying to catch himself as his arms flail.

Dream jumps backward in shock, his gaze fixed on Blue's chest before staring at Blue's face. It feels like his soul has stopped. "Blue?" His voice is weak and soft as everyone else backs up.

Blue weakly smiles at Dream before glancing at the sword sticking out of his chest. A trail of marrow paints a river down his chest plate. The sword sits right through his sternum. His grin falls, and he furrows his eyebrow ridges. Marrow tinting his teeth a reddish-pink. He looks back over at the others. "O-oh."