Fading Ink

Chapter 14

Blue strings wrapped around his soul, binding his limbs to his sides, and making him cry out in pain at the sudden sting that came from struggling. He was on his knees, and since struggling was out of the question, he stayed as still as possible.

"ink!" Error snarled. He had abruptly stood, and was now standing quite a few feet away. There was something clenched in his hand.

A sharp crack echoed throughout the hall, and with what little movement he had, Ink glanced over.

Blueberry was laying face down on the hard tile floor. When he pulled himself up on his hands, Ink noticed a large crack on his skull that stretched from his right eye to the hole where his nose would be.

"ERRoR!" Blueberry yelled in anger, his glitchy voice echoing along the hall.

"Blueberry!" Ink cried out, wincing when the strings tightened.

"i tOld yOu nOt tO tOuch mE." Error muttered lowly, the strings withdrew themselves, leaving him gasping for air on his knees and in disbelief.

All he'd actually done was reach out. Ink hadn't known Error would react like that. Although Blueberry had to have known, the way he freaked out.

But Error hadn't actually hurt him. What did that mean?

A whimper of pain echoed in the hall, and Ink turned, his attention on Blueberry.

It looked like magic was leaking from the crack in his face, orange magic that dripped to the floor and blended in with the tiles.

"Blueberry!" Ink gasped, rushing over to his side and kneeling next to him.

"i-ink? t-this hURts... aRE YoU okaY? what happEnEd? whERE's ERRoR?" Blueberry whimpered, holding his hand up to his face. Magic dripped out from behind it.

"H-here just, just sit and give me a second. I can fix this, I can do this." Ink hastily pulled a small paintbrush out of his sash. Blueberry had moved, and was now sitting with his legs crossed together, still holding his hand to the crack.

"nO, yOu can't." Error spoke, walking around them, and standing just out of arm's reach. His hands were empty.

Ink glanced over at Error in confusion.

"Y-yes I can-"

"nO ink, yOu can't. ERROR's can't bE hEalEd by anyOnE but thEmsElvEs." Error snapped impatiently, making Ink flinch.

Ink glanced helplessly at Blueberry, who was wiping the magic away from the crack. The magic burned paths in his skull, and he whimpered in pain again.

Oddly though, the magic didn't seem to burn through his gloves.

"Blueberry, stop wiping at it, that's only making it worse." Ink tried to tell him. He was trying hard not to panic.

"what am i sUpposEd to do, LEt it bURn mY facE off?!" Blueberry cried out, but stopped trying to wipe it away anyways. Lines of faded orange now spread from the crack to the side of his skull.

"ugh, yOu cRybaby." Error muttered in annoyance, but didn't make any move to help.

"Error, how do we help?"

"wOah, Okay, thERE is nO 'wE'. i hOnEstly dOn't caRE what happEns tO him." Error shrugged.

"Just answer the question!" Ink groaned in exasperation.

"wEll, hE has tO hEal himsElf. i thOught i mEntiOnEd that?"

"i... think i can do hEaLing magic." Blueberry winced.

"thERE, yOu sEE? hE'll bE finE."

Ink glanced up at Error. He seemed awfully shifty, and Ink frowned.

"What are you so nervous about?" Ink asked after a moment of thought, watching Error's reactions carefully. He looked panicked for a split second.

"i'm nOt nERvOus abOut anything. yOu nEvER lEaRn, dO yOu?" Error's face now held unamusment.

Ink frowned. What did he mean by that?

"ERRoR, stop." Blueberry spoke in annoyance, and Ink noticed that the crack in his face had stopped leaking, and it looked much smaller. Small wisps of green magic faded off of his hand.

"wEll, jEEz, finE."

"Error?" Ink asked, his gaze now focused on a small shape laying on the floor where Error had originally been sitting.

"what?"

"What's that?"

~~~~

The puppet.

Error had forgotten about the puppet.

Ink stared at it, and without thinking, Error walked over and snatched the puppet off the ground.

A thrum of pain waved through him, and he grit his teeth, not expecting it to hit him again.

The puppet he'd made acted as a receptor to the lifeline of this universe. Interesting.

"catch." Error turned and tossed the puppet at Ink, who fumbled it for a second, before finally getting a good grip. The stinging pain had stopped.

"Undertone Sans?" Ink looked up at Error in confusion.

"yOu dOn't fEEl it?"

"Feel what? What do you mean?"

Error stayed silent, lost in thought.

"Error?"

"... undERtOnE is dying."

"... W-what?" Ink whispered in shock, and Error felt a twinge in his soul.

He didn't notice.

"what do YoU mEan, UndERtonE is dYing? how do YoU know that?" Blueberry asked, curiosity in his voice.

"i..."

Error stayed silent, thoughts whirling around his head. Why did they have to know the reason? Why did he even tell them?

Why was this so confusing to him?

It didn't make sense.

Why did the puppet only react to him? That certainly didn't make sense. At least, not at the moment it didn't.

"how do YoU know that, ERRoR?" Blueberry asked again.

"t-thE puppEt." He stuttered, still lost in thought.

"ERRoR, YoU aREn't making anY sEnsE."

"Where did you even get this?" Ink held the puppet up with one hand. "And if Undertone is dying, why don't I feel it?"

"i madE it. and i dOn't knOw." Error answered, sitting down and resting his arm on his knee. He was still horribly confused.

"You made this? You made this?"

"dOn't gEt thE wROng idEa, ink." Error huffed, extending two strings and deftly snatching the puppet out of Ink's hand. Absentmindedly, he wrapped more strings around the puppet and made it dance around, speaking again. "i madE a whOlE bunch Of thEsE a lOng timE agO. mOstly fOR whEn i gOt bOREd."

Another interesting thing. He couldn't feel the pain through his strings. This only added to Error's pile of questions.

"YEah. i REmEmBER thEm. hE callEd thEm by namEs." Blueberry suddenly spoke up. Error noticed his unfocused stare. What was up with Blueberry's eyesight?

"yEah. REmEmbER? undERfEll sans was abOminatiOn numbER thiRtEEn."

"i was aBomination nUmBER ELEvEn." Blueberry gave a sort of wistful smile. Error took a moment to wonder what he would even be wistful about.

"i was abOminatiOn numbER OnE." He added as an afterthought.

Ink glanced between the two.

"What number would I be?" He asked suddenly, and Error stared at him, a wide grin set across his face

"numbER twO."