Fading Ink

Chapter 16

He wasn't expecting so many shattered universes to be floating around, but thinking back on it, he probably should have.

Seeing all these shattered doors made him angry for some unapparent reason.

He should be happy, being so close to his goal, but he wasn't.

The elation he should be feeling was absent, instead replaced with a curious anger.

...

The Doodle Sphere was bigger than he'd expected.

Error looked around, curiosity flashing briefly through him. Even now, he could see a few doors shatter into pieces every so often.

He took a subconscious glance at Blueberry, who was struggling to stay upright in the non-existent gravity of Ink's domain.

He barely thought about it, and that was what scared him.

But he went over to Blueberry and rested a hand on his shoulder.

Blueberry grasped Error's hand with his own two, pulling it off his shoulder and using it to keep his balance. His sightless eyes glanced up at him.

"ERRoR?"

He gave an uncomfortable hum of acknowledgement. Blueberry's face split into a grin.

"oh mY gosh ERRoR, YoU did it!"

Ink had been looking at all the shattered doors, but now he turned, his eyes lighting up in surprise.

"yEah. i did." Error stared at his hand, avoiding Ink's gaze on purpose. He shifted his stare to the puppet he held in his other hand, and he wondered for a moment why he'd brought it along.

"this is gREat, ERRoR! YoU'RE gEtting ovER YoUR haphEphoBia!"

Error flinched, yanking his hand away.

"hOw dO yOu knOw abOut that?"

"Well, it does seem obvious now." Ink commented, going back to looking through the doors.

"BEsidEs, YoU mEntionEd it in thE anti-void, REmEmBER?" Blueberry had managed to catch his balance on his own, and now he was looking up at him with that stupid cheerful grin.

"vaguEly."

Ink chose this moment, thank goodness, to interrupt their small conversation.

"Undertone. Original."

A white door with a single music note on its surface floated calmly down in front of Ink. Black bordered the door in a sluggish waving motion.

Error couldn't see Ink's face, but he could imagine his expression, especially when Ink reached out, touched the black border, and recoiled.

"what is that?" He found himself asking.

"what is what?" Blueberry asked right after, blinking with curiosity.

Ink turned, holding his hand close to him. He looked up with horrified realization, straight at Error.

"The Void."

~~~~

"How did I not see this sooner?" Ink muttered to himself.

Blueberry heard Error cross his arms.

"thE quEstiOn yOu shOuld bE asking is, 'why?'"

It was a moment before Ink answered.

"You're right. We know what it is now, we just don't know why."

There was silence for a moment.

"nO, REally? i thOught wE knEw that tOO." Error snapped sarcastically.

"ERRoR, stop BEing a jERk." Blueberry turned his blurry gaze to Error, who sighed in annoyance.

"... Error, you know the code for the anti-void, right?"

"yEah. it was pREtty unstablE."

"What about the code for the Void?"

"yEah- whERE aRE yOu gOing with this?" Error sounded skeptical.

"W-well, I'm not sure, but didn't this all start after the anti-void collapsed? And now the Void is, for lack of a better word, swallowing all these universes."

"so thEY'RE connEctEd?" Blueberry asked for clarification, glancing in Ink's direction.

"That's what I think."

" um, ink, wE may havE a pROblEm." Error spoke, his voice incredulous.

"What?"

Error moved, holding his arm out.

Behind Ink, the white blur Blueberry assumed was Undertone's portal shuddered and burst into pieces.

"thE puppEt just dustEd."