Book 2: The First Fallen Human

Rare Sight

Paint drifted through the Omega Timeline. It was comforting to not have anyone near him for a bit. He blinked as he saw something odd. A mass of bright blue strings hung from the ceiling. He slowed to a stop and drifted around them curiously. It looked like they may have once held something, but not anymore. Paint furrowed his brow. He didn't quite get it.

Of course, he was well aware that these were Error's strings. He wasn't a complete idiot. He just was debating whether it was the Error HE was tracking or the Error that had already been here. Well, to him, it didn't really matter, seeing as there was no Error attached to them.

Paint slowly drifted away from the strings before shrugging. It didn't matter too much. Another splash of vivid color caught his attention and he turned to stare in the darkened parts of the Timeline. 

He froze. Something was staring back at him. It was shaped like a human female, but with drifting, glowing red hair and glowing eyes. Its entire body, including its clothes were red. From its back, it had four thin, needle-like tentacles. They all seemed to be oozing with a dark red liquid. Paint blinked. Blood. It even ran down its chin from its mouth.

With a jolt, he remembered how Ink had told him to stay away if he saw blood. Paint had no doubt he was looking at the thing Ink had specifically warned him about. He slowly lowered himself down, so his sneakers were on the floor. Blood pooled around the human-shape. It seemed just as wary of him.

Paint was much more concerned about the fact that it had blood smeared around its mouth. He stared at it. They were at some quiet stalemate, each of them unsure of the other's intentions. He was tense. The creature's eyes seemed to stare right into him. It seemed curious, yet like it was searching for something. Paint blinked before looking down, taking a deep breath.

He turned and drifted away from the creature, heading in the direction he'd came. He was going to actually listen to his duplicate for once. He was going to just stay away. He didn't know what that creature was. Honestly, Paint didn't WANT to know what that creature was.

"Least I know what the problem is now..." He muttered to himself. He couldn't let his curiosity turn him down a strange path. He wasn't here for whatever the hell was happening. He was here with Dream to catch the troublesome trio of misfits. That was it. "That's it." He told himself firmly.

After another few moments, Paint turned to look back. He'd left the creature far behind. He couldn't see its red glow anymore and he sighed in relief. He continued to check the timeline for more pockets. He blinked as he noticed a small hint of red floating seemingly in the middle of nothing. He drifted up.

Sure enough, he opened a small pocket. He yelped as red spilled out of it. He backed up. Blood. Had the creature been there too?? He peered inside to see what looked like the aftermath of a slaughterhouse. There were destroyed snack bags in the corner, torn, stained, and their contents strewn about the small room.

Paint quickly closed the pocket, disturbed. What if...? He blinked. He knew he'd been told to stay away, but what if the creature got involved with THEM?? He furrowed his brow. It could go inside the little pockets of reality that Cross created. What if it encountered the wayward trio?

He blinked. As annoying as the three were, could Justice Reigns let a creature like THAT kill them?? Their goal was to kill the three anyway, right? For some reason, the thought made Paint prickle uncomfortably. He'd never really thought about what would happen once they ACTUALLY caught them. "We would have to kill them, right?" He mumbled quietly.

Paint was deep in thought. Would the trio be able to defend themselves against such a creature? Ink, the AU Guardian himself, even seemed completely panicked about it. It had to be dangerous. Paint blinked. Should he have just left it there?? He shook his head. No! That wasn't his problem!

But Paint couldn't help but worry that the creature would somehow get involved with them. He blinked as there was a sudden ripple of positivity through the air. DS had returned. He took off towards where he'd felt the ripple originate. He soon found DS on the ground and floated down to stand next to him.

"Boss! I found one of their pockets, but it was..." He blinked. "It... wasn't EMPTY, but they weren't there." He worded carefully. He didn't want to lie to DS. DS turned to him, hands clasped and wings folded neatly behind his back.

DS seemed confused. "Elaborate?" He prompted. Paint blinked. He inhaled sharply, briefly debating whether or not to actually tell DS he'd SEEN the damn creature. That debate was over within a second.

"I saw the blood." Paint said. "I stayed away, like Ink said, but the creature itself is... pretty disturbing..." DS blinked and tipped his head.

"The creature? Isn't it human?" He asked, seeming baffled. Paint let out a whistle.

"You would think that. But stars, it was not. It looked like one, but at the same time, it didn't look like one at all." He described its appearance to DS, who seemed to become more visibly unnerved with each detail provided. Once he'd finished, he noticed some of DS' feathers puffed up.

"And... there was blood from this creature inside of the pocket you found?" DS asked, seeming troubled. Paint nodded. DS was quiet for a moment. Finally, his concerned gaze turned up to Paint. "You understand the concern I have with that, correct?"

Paint nodded. "So we shouldn't let this thing kill them?" He asked. DS shook his head. He furrowed his brow.

"I... Let us ignore it for now, but the moment it gets involved again, it will become our problem as well." DS said decisively. Paint nodded.

"Yes, Boss." He said. DS still seemed concerned, his feathers becoming ruffled. He didn't like that the thing had tentacles coming out of its back, like Nightmare.

Come to think of it, even this world's Nightmare had mentioned a problem. Something wasn't sitting right. DS gave a concerned whisper, almost to himself. "So why is it imitating you?"