The Stage is Set

The Sweetest Suffering of a Parent pt.2

Derniere Danse - Indila

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Blue jumps out of Dream's grasp as they meet the fragment. Surprisingly, it hasn't changed yet. It's as if it was waiting for them to come find it first. Blue wonders if it is Ink waiting for them before starting to tell his story. Lust takes a deep breath before looking over to where Dream landed with a small nod. He hops off his gaster blaster and walks over to the two. Dream nods back before using a wing to nudge Blue closer. Blue smiles in thanks and stress. He steps in front of the fragment before slowly cupping his hands under it. He holds it close before pressing a whispered plea against it. A whisper of a question. An ache to know and understand. A need to heal the mourning he's been doing since they set foot in this room.

The glow blinds all three of them for a moment before revealing another version of Ink standing before them. Made of green and yellow, it falls to the ground with a sob ripped from its throat. Dream and Lust watch in fascination as the area starts to create the scene around them. They watch in fascination as trees of, what they assume are, other Multiverses start to fill the area. Ink had told them of the Multiversal Grove. So this must be what he once talked about. They never thought they would ever get to see it. The figure screams in pain as they clutch scraps of cloth in their hands. Their form shakes with their attempts to breathe in. It rocks and jolts with the force of the sobs releasing all the air they could hold. All three of them flinch hard from the sound. Ink's never sounded like that before. Blue takes a step closer, wanting to comfort the younger Creation. The being just continues to grieve.

Ink sits there as he sobs. How could the creators do this to him? How could Lea do this to him? After everything that he's done for them, all the fighting he's done, the freedom he thought he won. He fought! He took the punishment for them! He gave and gave! Time and time again, he gave everything he could to the creators. He knows that he was supposed to be imprisoned to Rewrite!Verse as a means of punishment for his attempt for freedom against Bani; but how could he think of that as punishment when a place to belong is all he wanted? No, what he screams about is them taking away the two beings he loved. How can Gin's creator decide that he deserves to die? Constantly taking his sweet Gin away from him every other day. Forced to watch those final moments constantly. On repeat. Why would they take GIn away from Swap and him? How could Swap's creator take him too?

No.

Ink knows it wasn't Swap's creator that took him away. He's known from the start. He knew it was coming. He's known since they first started creating. It was them. The ones who watch, the ones who influence the creators. They took Swap and turned him into this disgusting wretch known as Blueberry. How could they? How DARE they?! Ink gathers himself together, at least he tries to. He curls further upon himself before screaming out of anger. He screams again, tapering off into a sob. He grips the scrap cloth tightly as he tries to calm his breathing. Just this little scrap is all he could get his hands on from the original Multiverse tree, not enough to make another Swap. Not enough. It will never be enough. All of it is gone. GONE. Stolen or corrupted by those who chose to ruin him in the first place. How could they do this to him? He looks back down where his legs should be, he should've known it was a trap. He should've known that Bani was waiting for him to show his face. That they would attack him. Ink looks up as a shadow engulfs him.

Blue sits next to Ink, holding the figure tightly. Tears of his own have started to spill without his knowledge. His soul pounds with a beat that screams that this was when he was created. This is why he has that familiar feeling. From this grief, he was made. Was he even supposed to turn out the way he did? Did Ink just want Swap back? He forces the thoughts to the back of his mind. More pieces are starting to fall into place. The love he has for Ink, why it never felt right in the way his friends would tease him about it. It was never romantic love, it's more than the familial love he thought it was. Yet, he doesn't know how to explain it. He squeezes the figure as another made of ink stands in front of them, he wants nothing more than to protect his... friend.