I didn't sign up for that shit

The danger of Love

With a sore back and sides, Error slowly woke up. It seemed to send a searing pain through his body with every slightest movement. He wanted to disappear back into the darkness of unconsciousness, but something stopped him. A gentle little melody kept him awake and lured him more and more into the waking world. The more he listened to the melody, the more he realized it was Frezh. Since when could the lamia sing? Did he even sing? It didn't sound like Frezh but he still knew it was him. How did he do that?

His eyes slowly open. Frezh didn't seem to have noticed him yet and was just taking care of a distraught Love. What did the other one do? He looked like he was punishing himself for the worst crime. And… They were no longer under the Tree of Feelings, in Hover and Despair's home. Error recognized this as the treehouse they had built when they arrived here. Why was he here? Where were the others?

One of the questions was clarified when he felt movement next to him and saw Dust curled up next to him, Cross at his back. Horror was on Error's other side with Killer laying on top of him, sleeping contently. Apparently they were lying in their old nest... Which was completely surrounded by Frezh. Was the lamia already that big before? Error could have sworn that Frezh didn't fit around the nest last time.

“What am I supposed to do now?” Love said in a tone that made it clear how exhausted he was with a situation that was unknown to Error. He stared at his hands, shaking, as if they were to blame for everything. He almost pulled them away from Frezh when he took Love's hands in his. “I can’t go back… You should go back with the kids. I'll manage this somehow. But Hover will surely come looking for me and I don’t want to put you in danger!”

“Why would Hover be after you?” Error was surprised even by his voice. He sounded like he had been screaming for hours, like before, when he was still in his Anti-Void trying to block out the voices. But why was he so hoarse? Why had he screamed? He didn't remember...

"Error-!", as soon as the words left Love's mouth, Love was already with him, looking at him as if Error would become dusty at any moment if he wasn't careful. “You shouldn’t move too much. Otherwise your wings will open again.”

Wing? Ah... He remembers. He had a panic attack thanks to Hover and had self-harmed out of habit. The fact that his wings had to suffer as a result filled him with sadness. He had hoped that he might be able to fly with them one day, but he's probably deprived himself of that now...

"That doesn't explain why you're afraid of Hover." He gently placed his hands on Love's, who still tried to get him to lie down again. But Error has enough strength to resist this. “I know you, Love. You're not someone who would hurt someone without a good reason." Unfortunately, he couldn't say anything like this about Hover. He no longer felt safe around him. This had destroyed the little bit of security quicker than Error had expected. This even made him suspicious of Despair! He expects that he will simply use him and the gang. At least the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, right?

"I attacked Hover and somehow turned one of his horns to dust." There it was. That little bit of satisfaction from this act. Error saw it clearly. Love, even with his gentle nature, had enjoyed harming Hover. But why? Had he been angry? Because of him and the others? But that doesn't explain why Hover's horn turned to dust. His Lust couldn't do that and if Love had been able to do that before then he would have told them! Or they would have seen him use it at some point. But no, this is new, as upset as he was.

"I didn't want to hurt him!" he claimed immediately and looked pleadingly at Error, as if he thought Error would think differently of him because of it. “I was just so angry that he did that to you guys that I confronted him about it! But he didn't even seem to feel guilty, which in turn fueled my anger. I don’t know why I did it, but I grabbed him by the horn and then all of a sudden it was dust!”

“Give me your hands,” Error interrupted him and looked at Love seriously. He hates how similar it sounds, how familiar. He hopes his fears don't come true. He wants it not to be true. It can't do that to Love. Not their love, who had become like a brother to them. And if his fears do come true... It's not just Error who will want to tear the multiverse apart.

Love gave Error his hands without asking why, even though he looked nervous as if he would expect Error's hands to turn to dust at any moment. But Error knows what he's doing. He also felt the familiar magic, powerful and unbridled, and how it welcomed him too. Greeted him as if he had missed him. And that alone should have been decisive, should have confirmed his suspicions. But Error still hoped that it was different, that maybe he was wrong. But he called up Love's Code and there it was, so clear, so immutable, that Error couldn't deny it.

“I'm sorry,” he said quietly and looked at Love apologetically. "I know why you could turn Hover's horn into dust, why you suddenly have so much more magic than before." He doesn't want to say it, the two adults could see that. Love pulled him carefully into his arms and purred as if he wanted to calm Error. Even Frezh rubbed Error's head, giving him a little bit of comfort. Only it didn't give him the strength to reveal this unfair reality to Love.

“You don’t have to tell me,” he said gently and quietly, his voice full of understanding. "I know what it's like to experience something you can never say." At the pain in his voice, something protective stirred in Error, wanting to immediately make everyone who was to blame for Love's suffering disappear. In an attempt to comfort him, Error now began to purr, although it was halting and distorted. But it worked and Love slowly relaxed more and more.

"I'm going to tell you what keeps taking my breath away," Love began, and although Error immediately shook his head, Love shook his head, smiling softly, "You deserve to know." So as he leaned against Frezh's chest, Love took a deep breath. He could even hear Frezh purring softly, in a small attempt to comfort him. Error saw immediately that it worked: Love's wings lowered a little. For some reason, this position the two of them were in seemed… intimate. It wasn't romantic, but it wasn't as familiar as the two of them had seemed to him before. Just different.

“It was only a few weeks before I met you when it happened. I just got punished by Gaster for scaring off a customer by throwing up. I had other customers that day, so I had to hide the traces of his punishment with make-up. Just…” a moment later Love faltered, as if it was becoming more and more difficult to speak. Error was on the verge of asking him to stop when it clearly made Love uncomfortable to talk about it. He doesn't have to do that for him! “I couldn’t take on any more customers. As I was getting ready, I found a tiny soul, so fresh and young, not even a day old. At first I was overwhelmed with joy, rejoicing in the child I was now carrying, even though I was unaware of who the father was. But Gaster wasn't happy when he found out. I was able to hide her for almost two weeks before Gaster saw the soul. And he was angry about it, calling me so many horrible things for not being more careful and getting myself pregnant. But I wanted to keep this child. It was my ray of hope in this hellhole. It gave me hope that I could finally live a peaceful life. However, I was not granted the joy. In the middle of the night I was woken up by a pain in my abdomen. Without any painkillers or anesthesia, Gaster had the brothel doctors remove my child.”

A two-part growl sounded, both Frezh and Error were horrified and enraged at what these people and Gaster did to Love. Error saw that the Lamia wanted to tear Gaster apart. If Gaster were still alive, Error would have been more than happy to let Frezh loose on the bastard. But the gang had already killed him, punishing him for what he wanted to do to Error. At the time it seemed like enough punishment, but now it wasn't enough. He deserved something worse than death.

"I would bring him back to life if I could, just so I could punish him for it," growled Error, clenching his hands into fists, feeling his magic react and being startled for a moment. He knew it wasn't the same anymore, not with Love. But for a moment it felt like Inks and that made his soul tremble. What was that?!

"That's nice of you, but I'm over it now.", the gentle stroking on his head at least calmed his terror about what the hell was going on with his soul. “Meeting you guys was the best thing that could have happened to me at that time. Thank you for barging into my life.”

Now Error felt stupid for keeping what he had found in his code from Love. Love had shared something so private with him. He deserves to know the truth.

“I know why your magic is suddenly so different.”

"Error, you don't have to tell me," Love began, but Error shook his head. He has to say this, it's important that Love knows what's coming.

“Love… You have been chosen as the new Guardian of Destruction.”