The Soulmate AU

Butterfly Effect - Ink's arrival

"Why are they taking so long?" Ink wondered in the emptiness of his Doodle sphere.

It's been a moment he kept asking the question over and over, to no one in particular but himself.

Dream and Blue said they would come to see him one day, for an important discussion from what he remembered. But ever since then, they've been making themselves desired, without giving any reason for their strange disappearance.

Not that the artistic skeleton cared much. He had taken profit of all the time he got to rest, draw and create, using his talent and imagination to fill up a little more his void-like home or the AUs, so much so he was now sadly in quite the predicament... His supplies were running low, although he was sure someone stole from him, despite not having caught the culprit.

That, however, was nothing compared to his sudden lack of inspiration. Something every artists dreaded, he was no exception to this rule.

It was predictable though, he spent so many hours, days, maybe months in his home, without going out once. Plus, the silence of his allies wasn't doing him a favor, he had even gotten a little worried about them. All of this combined brought this situation for him to deal with. And it was frustrating so to speak.

For yet another time, he checked his scarf, trying to find a clue about where the Guardian and the other in blue would be, since he had taken the habit of writing everything down to remember them, just in case his short-term memory would fail him.

Unfortunately, nothing was there, except a few scribbled words he must've written in haste, because he couldn't read them well anymore.

Only the letters "AU" he knew like the back of his hand, and S, were familiar, but that was just it. He couldn't make up conclusion out of them.

With a deep bored sight, he gave up, knowing how useless it was for him to persist over something he likely won't remember, and instead went to get his trusty giant paintbrush, Broomie, to prepare for a little travel through AUs. It was his sole option to resupply, and probably get to know where Dream and Blue could be.

No other possibilities were left either way, so he took this one before he forgot.

Colorful eyelights scanned every single papers, each one destined for an AU, over the thousand and more existing. But they soon stopped on one paper that was separated from the rest. It stood alone, closer to him and somewhat different from the rest. At this sight, Ink frowned, before his mind connected the dots together. This was his Masterpiece. At least one of them... That was how he remembered it.

Needless to say his choice was quickly settled, he entered the masterpiece of an AU without any second thoughts, nor looking back. Convinced to get everything he needed there.

A paradoxical cold warmth welcomed him. The rays of the sun warming up whatever they touched, while a calm chilly wind refreshed them in the meantime. His bony foot met with a small puddle, which was enough to make him jump out of surprise, until the rest of the scenery shocked him definitely.

He had arrived at a park, the main one judging its size. Rather than a lovely sight though, only messes of branches and leaves tainted the usual pure pavement. Some trees were lying dead on this same ground, the bases of their trunks now used as sitting spots for some elderly people, whereas children claimed them for few random games. To sum it up from an artist point of view, this was a work left as an unfinished draft, although the inhabitants were working together to clean this mess.

Of all things he thought to find, this clearly made him frown the most. Had he forgotten something to perfect this AU? Or was it the work of Error to piss him off or break the Truce's rules? It took the explanations of a bypasser to understand it was neither of these two possibilities. A huge storm had just created this chaos recently, one that hurt a few people, without killing them luckily, and did several damages, also creating a weird weather. Sometimes it would rain heavily, then the sun would come back randomly to heat it all up again. In other words, a natural event made by the world itself.

To that, he couldn't feel more reassured, knowing his masterpiece safe and about to shine again. What made this moment all the more better for him was his AU was healing without any help. Inhabitants themselves worked hard to get rid of the traces left by the storm, creating a new different background, turning this masterpiece into another improved one. Like an art that would never end.

With this peace acquired to his mind, Ink allowed himself to focus back on his task of getting new supplies, although he was sure to have forgotten something. Sadly, in this search of his, most of the shops that could've been of interest were either closed or had their stuffs sold out.

Only an old monster woman possessed what he needed, and accepted to give it to him in exchange of some help in her store that have been halfway destroyed.

It was settled as a deal, and Ink oddly felt happy while he provided the service, which was simply taking boxes he knew were filled with everything he needed, to put them where she asked him to. He barely acknowledge this feeling coming inside of him, since he believed it to be caused by the paint he drank earlier to be a little more emotional, for the sake of being normal, though he did notice how different it was compared to how he'd usually feel.

He soon got too distracted to forget about it. Especially because of a curious butterfly.

The insect peacefully sat on the counter of the shop, looking bigger than any other alive, and weirdly enough seemed to look at the skeleton. Its graceful wings had an arrays of colors, of all the rainbow, blended together in a bright dance, along with some black, grey and white. Same colors were ethereally changing in a swirl, like a canvas that couldn't choose what it would become.

Something was odd about this being, like it didn't belong at all, and didn't care about the world around it. Its only focus was the artist, and nothing else.

"Is something the matter, friend?" the old monster lady called, capturing Ink's attention in a matter of second.

He quickly turned to meet her curious hazel eyes, smiling sheepishly. "Oh- No ma'am! I was wondering-"

Voice died down as an emptiness he knew too well took over himself. However, A few seconds lasted before he could understand he was back in a state he never wanted to be in. Blank. Emotionless...

Soulless.

A hard reminder of something he'd rather forget for the rest of his life, yet couldn't do a thing but to pretend everything was fine, for the monster lady grew worried about his silence. He had to lie. Play like it was okay, knowing it wasn't. At least, she offered him the supplies he needed, and he got to drink some paint again without her noticing.

'That's a first.' He thought only then. 'Forgetting my paint like that...'

The moment he excused himself out of the shop, he realized one small detail : The butterfly was no longer here, on the counter.

Instead, it was flapping away in the distance, zigzagging its way between the people. Unfazed, uncaring, like the breeze in this bright day, it flew away somewhere, far from the artistic skeleton.

A feeling crept in him when he saw it again, making his eyes widened as he suddenly realized the meaning.

'Soulmate...'

Memories came back in his skull this very instant. This masterpiece was the Soulmate AU, a world made to obtain what everyone deeply wished for, whatever it was, linking them to someone who would make their wishes true, becoming their Soulmate. The butterfly was none other than his Soulbond, what would bring him to the person meant to give him what he wanted : a Soul. Real feelings.

Upon acknowledging that, he instinctively tried to look for this butterfly again. His desire to feel for real outmatching his need for inspiration. Sadly, it was gone. His only chance to grasp what he wanted had disappeared.

With a silent curse, pained to have lost this first try, he vanished too, back in the Doodle Sphere.

Though not without swearing to come back.