CreaseTale 0.4 (ErrorInk ~ Undertale AU)

Their Tale

All seven skeletons had run that day.

The dull grey rectangular building had come crashing down, and even Shattered Dream had sprinted to avoid the crushing chunks of debris that rained down on the empty landscape all around them.

Ink glanced behind him and spotted a pile of concrete in the middle of the wreckage that seemed to be... moving. Quivering.

Behind him, Cure stumbled and tripped, not even bothering to look where he was going because he was so focused on his brother, Fizz. Fizz, who was much closer to the ruins than they were, and having to twist and dodge and duck as rocks hurtled over his half-ruined skull. So was Shattered Dream.

Error was ahead, but Ink didn't care. He didn't feel anything. His emotions were completely gone.

They ran until they were out of range of the horrors of the fallen building - and by then everyone was winded, exhausted, and gasping for breath.

Fizz actually caught up with them. He was surprisingly good at running.

Shattered Dream had just... disappeared.

Then, the ground shook and tumbled beneath their feet, and Ink remembered Error casting a worried glance in... Fizz's direction. Not his. Not anyone else's. Fizz's.

And they soon discovered the source of that mini-earthquake.

Another...

Another beast.

Bigger than Shadow by at least twenty metres, his talons as long as Ink was tall and his teeth as sharp and gleaming white as daggers or splintered bones.

Why was there another gaster blaster beast? Was this where Shadow had come from?

Swap gasped loudly and exclaimed, "It's a gaster blaster!"

"Yes, we figured that out." huffed Error, exasperatedly, as he frowned down at Cure.

"Didn't you say at some point that your portals worked here and could get us out of here? Because now would really be a good time."

"Error!"

Nightmare shrugged, siding with Error and glowering at Cure. "Yeah. A portal."

"Nightmare!"

Swap was hissing weak insults at the two skeletons for being so mean to Cure when he was 'weak' and 'injured'.

Ink hushed them all, and informed them, "We have to get out of here. Now."

Indeed they did; the larger, brighter, scarier version of Shadow was blinding towards them and would close the distance in seconds. They had no other options.

Yet Cure was swirling a portal, the magic spiralling from his shaking slender fingertips.

Soon enough, an emerald green portal big enough for one skeleton to fit at a time was open.

Ink didn't even ask where they were going - he only shoved Swap in before he could object.

Nightmare went next, slipping into the portal probably for selfish reasons. Error insisted that Fizz - of all skeletons - went first, insisted that he got priority over Ink. Cure forced Ink himself to go next, but Error didn't even glance once at Ink as he leapt through. The cold reality of his betrayal, Ink realised, later on, with a heavy sadness weighing down his bones.

Error dove through the portal and Cure went through last—

But he was too late.

Too late, and the creature snatched him up by his ankle, as the portal closed, and Fizz screamed in agony, and—

Cure was lost.

Ink recalled not caring, since he still didn't have his emotions back, and thinking to himself, 'Well, it's not like he was close.' Ink hated himself for thinking those horrid things.

So, they trailed miserably back to their own AUs, quaking with fear and grief and sadness.

Error had offered for Fizz to stay with him for a while.

Ink didn't want to know what they must've been doing alone together.

Many weeks passed, and Fizz was still grieving. But Ink had collected the ingredients for a new batch of his emotions - despite the lack of help from Error - and was getting one of the Alphyses to help him make them. Soon enough, each feeling became a coloured vial, and Ink could... could truly feel again. Without emotion, his experiences were useless. Without emotion, he hadn't felt the horror and betrayal and pain he did when he realised all that Error was doing for Fizz.

And then, when Fizz was finally healing, trusting Error and not wanting to leave his side, Ink couldn't stand it anymore.

He marched right over to 'their' AU when Error was our visiting Nightmare of getting you to something, and he told Fizz...

He told Fizz some very bad things.

Bad things that sent Fizz spiralling down into deeper despair. Set back his healing so far that he was worse than after he lost his brother.

Ink had planned to leave before Error got back, yet the skeleton had arrived early. And saw what Ink had done to Fizz. And been horrified.

Error had... he'd attacked Ink. Attacked him, like a beast, tearing into his with his bones and roaring in fury.

Fizz had sobbed, cowering in fear, while Ink realised the weight of his stupid, jealous actions.

He promised himself to never again make the same mistake.

Fizz had just been too... too upset. Only a few days later, he'd been found dead under mysterious circumstances. And Error, who must've loved him the way he would never ever love Ink, no matter how hard Ink tried. So when Error...

Ever since then, Error had been grieving himself. And hated Ink, hated every cell, every bone in his worthless body. Ink didn't blame him one bit, he knew he deserved the hatred, but at the same time... he just wished things were different. And that Error and he still had fun riding Shadow yo and down the Crease. Collecting ingredients for Ink's emotion vials. Something simple like that.

...

Once he had finished his tale, Shadow whined, as if you say, that sucks.

Ink buried his skull in his hands. "How will I ever make it up to him, Shadow?"

The beast bowed his own head and whined, nudging Ink sadly. Like he understood.

"I... I just wish he would forget..."

Shadow's shining scarlet eyes glimmered.

Wait.

Forget.

What if...

What if Error could forget?