Book 2: The First Fallen Human

Little Closure

Ink reappeared in the Omega Timeline. He'd checked on Dream to make sure he was okay. He'd been about to bring back Shattered Dream when Fresh had called him, saying there was an emergency. He stopped dead in his tracks. Fresh looked up from next to Red. Ink caught his gaze and nodded. Fresh blinked before giving a single nod back and disappearing.

Red didn't look too good. He had an entire chunk of his skull missing, cracks spreading through the remainder of his face. He was panting. His clothes were ripped and torn, but worst of all, they looked burnt. His white bones were stained with ash. Ink was momentarily horrified and wondered briefly if Red's brother had done that to him.

Red blinked and looked up. He froze upon seeing Ink, his remaining eye socket dangerously lit. "You..."  He growled and pushed himself up, stumbling. Ink blinked in shock. Him?? What?? Red snarled. "YOU TOLD ME SHE WAS DEAD!!" He barked. At that, Ink froze.

"She is!!" He protested quickly. Red let out another raspy snarl. He stumbled again.

"LIAR! What was HER magic doing in MY AU?!" He roared, his bony fingers curled into fists. He was shaking. Ink was frozen. He stared at Red. "There was a DRAGON, Ink!! A goddamn DRAGON made of HER glowing red bullets!!" Red coughed scratchily, bending over. Ink paused. He blinked. When he'd come back down from checking on Dream, Night had informed him that the red human had left "pets."

"Oh no." Ink whispered. Red seemed outraged by this. Ink gulped. "Is the dragon gone??" He asked quickly. He flinched as Red spit at him angrily.

"Yes!! Yes, it's gone, along with half of me and half of SNOWDIN!!" Red hissed. Ink flinched and nodded. He couldn't provide any kind of help. He knew anything he tried to say would make Red's temper worse. Especially with his skull cracked open like that. Ink gulped. Red began to rant at him again and Ink jumped.

"THERE'S-" He interrupted Red quickly, immediately cutting himself off as well. Red stopped and stared at him. Ink took a deep breath and relaxed. "There's still a part of her... that hasn't left..." Red furrowed what was left of his brow and Ink nodded. "Her DETERMINATION has taken on a form of its own."

With a shaking hand, he recreated an image of the red human once again and the sight of it made Red visibly shudder. Ink sighed. "It's been tainted. It does more harm than good. We have it contained, but it's left a kind of animal in some AU's... one of them was yours..." He dispersed the image. Red was silent, clearly bothered by the fact.

Ink slowly pulled out his paintbrush and it shrank to a normal-sized one. He blinked. "Can I fix your head and clothes?" He asked. He wasn't used to interacting with Red as much as he was other AU's. Red blinked before scowling. Ink inched closer.

He stopped for a moment as Red turned to the side before continuing towards the other. Red did nothing to stop him. Ink sighed and reached out, beginning to repaint Red's skull back into existence. Red would occasionally flinch and it was clear he didn't like to be touched. In a way, Red reminded him of Error.

Once Ink had finished the skull, he moved onto the clothes, repainting the sleeves and tattered holes. Finally, he pulled back with a cautious grin. "Alright..." He murmured. Red sighed and thanked the other grudgingly. "You should head back to Underfell. We'll take care of this. I promise." Ink said, with a nod.

Red cast him a side glance before another scowl appeared on his face, his tone dull, yet threatening. "You'd better."