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“Error?” Ink called.
He’d just arrived after feeling Error calling in his peculiar way. It was caused by a persistent gentle…tugging Ink supposed it was. A persistent gentle tugging at an AU’s code. Not enough quite yet to start pulling it apart but enough to get Ink’s attention. Ink kept telling Glitchy he could just text or summon him though liquid or paint, but Error only grinned and said his way was more fun. More likely, Error had started because he was up to something and just hadn’t changed ways. Or because Error was just a cat like that. Threatening to knock something over to get attention.
As he looked around now, Ink shuttered, wondering why he’d been called here. Or why Error hadn’t finished pulling the AU apart. This was one of the post-apocalyptic AUs. One of the ones where things had gone very, very badly. Not radiation he was fairly certain or he would be feeling it. Whatever it had been, the AU around him was a dusty, desolate, empty expanse. Even the sky seemed empty and grey. An AU at the end of its life, destroyed by the story its own Creator had set in motion.
Ink’s eye lights flickered to a white octagon and a deep blue swirl as his hands came up to rub at his humeri. Why had Error called him here of all places? For that matter, where was he? If Ink didn’t find him soon he might just leave again.
“Error?” he called again.
“Over here, Squid.”
Ink spun around to find Error waving casually at him from a boulder not far away. A small, faint sense of relief trickled though Ink. He wasn’t here alone at least.
“Why can’t you just call when you need me?” Ink grumbled, walking over.
Error gave him a cheeky grin as he stood up.
“Wouldn’t be as fun.”
Ink snorted, a small grin forming. Hadn’t he just been thinking Error would say that?
“Well, you got me here, what’s up?” Ink asked him.
“Wanted to show you something,” Error said simply, “Come on.”
He turned and gestured for Ink to follow him. Mildly curious and very ready to be away from the blank grey uniformity, Ink trailed quickly after. Error wanted to show him something? What was left in this dying AU to see? Even Ink could feel it was heading towards collapse. It was a uniform pressure along his bones that made him decidedly uncomfortable. What was left here?
“Error, what-,” he started, but was cut off.
“Ah, that’s telling, Squid. You’ll see,” Error interrupted with an over the shoulder grin.
Ink huffed, shooting him an irritated look, but the expression shifted as they crossed what looked to have once been where a Barrier stood and started down a dark corridor. The longer they walked, the more a quiet feeling of unease started to crawl up Ink’s spine. It was dark and quiet except for the soft tap of their feet echoing. By the time they were out of the tunnel and walking through the tumbled down ruins of New Home Ink had begun fingering his white paint vial.
It was no better Underground then it had been on the Surface above. There was a dull, grey light emanating softly from somewhere, casting the town into gloomy relief. The evidence of destruction was obvious but also looked old. Ink could see signs of magic damage, artillery damage, slash or claw marks, and even extensive signs of what looked to be explosive damage. Had it been war then that had done this AU in? But then without radiation, what had decimated the Surface?
He should just go. As much as he liked spending time with Error, this place was starting to get to him. It was just too quiet. The sad, forgotten remains of a story left to rot away. It made Ink really uneasy. He could feel soft tremors starting to shake through his hands. Ink couldn’t help it. He took a sip of the white. The dull unease sharpened into a growing feeling of dread and fear.
“E-Error please, I don’t like it here. Can we go?” he begged quietly.
He stopped just before what had once been the shaft down into the Hotlands. He could already tell by the lack of sweltering heat that the lava of this Hotlands had cooled, perhaps even solidified entirely. Tears beaded in the corners of his sockets as tremors rattled through him, making his bones echo softly in this empty cavern. He clutched his bandolier over his deep blue and red paints. Why would Error bring him here?!
“Whoa, hey, Inky.”
Suddenly, Error was there. Cupping Ink’s cheek, gentle thumb wiping away the tears. Ink started and blinked out of his fearful daze to stare at Error, reminded absently that they were the same height again. Error was smiling at him, a warmth in his eye lights that drew Ink in and distracted him from his fear.
“Error, what’s down here?” Ink demanded in a quiet voice, “This AU is dying. I can feel it. Why would you bring me here?”
He would need red to put more bite in his words but he had to know. Error knew how he felt about places like this, empty and forgotten. Years passed he could believe Error would do this just to get to him, but things had changed between them so why…? Ink tried to glare at Error. Error snorted a soft laugh and pulled Ink into a hug, wrapping an arm around Ink's back and bringing a hand up to cradle the back of Ink’s skull. A shutter ran through Ink, sockets wide in surprise.
“It’ll be alright, Ink,” Error murmured.
Ink sucked in a sharp breath and pressed closer to Error, hands clinging to his jacket and face pressed to the crook of Error’s neck. If Error was leading him on Ink was going to rage mode so hard. But…Error’s voice was so gentle. Reassuring, that was the word. Maybe there was something worthwhile here after all?
They stayed like that for a time. Ink hiding from the dying AU against Error while Error softly pet Ink’s skull. The light caress and the closeness slowly soothed away the dread. The sense of fear left behind wasn’t so bad on its own. Ink let out a shaky breath.
“Better?” Error asked.
Ink nodded against him, “Y-yeah.”
They stepped apart, but Error lightly caught one of Ink’s hands in his own and held it as he turned to resume leading them. Ink flushed, free hand clutched over his light pink vial. Error rarely touched so much! Ink focused on that. Error’s hand holding his. So different. Warm. It made some of the fear shift to a slight aching in his empty chest. Ink tried to ignore that sensation and tightened his grip on Error’s hand.
When he was willing to look up again, Ink realized they’d wandered into a series of connecting caves that he’d not seen before. The light was rapidly growing dim. Ink gulped. Error was almost lost in the growing darkness ahead of him. His fear grew again, pulling in a strange anxiousness that had him shifting closer to Error. He knew even blind, Error could find his way so long as he had stings to feel by. Still, it was just so quiet.
“Error, do you know what happened to this world?” Ink asked, needing to break up the silence.
Error grumbled something and Ink was worried he wouldn’t respond. But before Ink could say anything else, he spoke up.
“It was war, Squid. War that started on the Surface and made its way Underground. Orphans fell down here, several died, so the Barrier was opened. That let the war in. No one survived,” Error said in an unimpressed tone, “The cruelty of the Creators always amazes me. People hate me for destroying, but at least I don’t think up whole worlds just to wipe them out.”
“Maybe that wasn’t how they’d intended the story to go,” Ink countered weakly.
Error snorted dismissively, “Intended or not, they still left an empty mess for me to clean up once they finished. Another mistake in the multiverse.”
“If it’s a mistake then why do you want me to see it? This isn’t going to keep me from protecting AUs, Error. Every story deserves a chance,” Ink shot back, hand on his bandolier sliding back to cover the red vial.
Error stopped suddenly and Ink, not able to see much in the darkness surrounding them, ran into his back.
“Squid!” Error snapped.
“Sorry! It’s not like I can see!” Ink snapped back.
Ink could feel Error tensing and took a step away, but he was stopped short by Error’s hand tightening in his. Error let out a long breath. Ink heard him shift and then saw his two mismatched eye lights studying him out of the darkness.
“…we’re almost there,” Error said after a tense moment, “just a little further, ok?”
Ink actually stayed quiet for a moment. That faint curiosity was back, edging through the fear. What the heck could Error want to show him?
“Ok.”
Error really wanted to show him something. It must be something neat or else Error would have just ripped this AU apart. He didn’t get much enjoyment out of dead and dying AUs like this one so he tended to pull them apart as fast as possible. Usually, he didn’t even bother with a code check to find out about the AU. Just Blast and shred until the AU finished fading into nothingness and then dust off the hands. Error called these sort of AUs junk and trash cluttering up the multiverse. In some ways, Ink was relieved to see them put to rest.
Error must have checked this time before he started yanking this AUs code apart. Why else would he know about something down here? Usually he’d just Blast away at the Underground from somewhere like Snowdin or New Home while unraveling code. He must have seen something before he started. Error stopped again and Ink realized just before running into him.
“This should be about the start,” Error hummed to himself, giving the words an odd fuzz.
“The start of what?” Ink asked, hovering close to Error.
“This.”
Ink felt Error reach out and suddenly, the tunnel around them was lit with a soft bluish glow. Ink gasped softly. All along the wall there was spots and lines of glowing phosphorescence that intertwined and wove around each other until it seemed like they were walking through a tunnel of stars.
“What...?” Ink breathed softly.
He stepped closer to the wall, softly touching just under one of the small, branching lines of phosphorescence and tracing it to a brighter, larger spot. There was a slight niche here and when Ink leaned in to examine it, his eye lights flashed to a yellow star and a blue flower in wonder. The spot was created by tiny moss flowers all sparking together. The miniscule flowers reminded Ink of echo flowers except they made no sounds. But when Ink tried touching the moss gently, the flowers brightened.
“It’s so pretty,” Ink cooed, “Was this what you wanted me to see?”
Error chuckled and shot Ink a fond look that went unnoticed, “Part of it, ink blot. Come on.”
Ink let himself be pulled along as he looked all around the small cave like tunnel. This place was some kind of natural occurrence. The lines seemed like they were probably tiny roots or something that crisscrossed the stone to connect the patches of moss together. If Ink reached out to touch a line or bunch of moss than the ones closest to it became momentarily brighter. The moss grew on any crack or outcrop bigger than one of Error’s threads. The tiny flowers that sprang from the moss grew in small clusters and splashes that, when he looked up or around, really did have an effect as if they were walking through the night sky. No wonder Error liked this!
The tunnel curved around and back before sloping downward. The moss grew thicker as they went, more tiny star light flowers glimmering at them. Here and there, crystals began appearing with their own glow, brighter than the flowers. It was beautiful and Ink wished Error would stop and let him paint it. The fear he’d felt when Error first led him down here had faded away and Ink had replaced it with wonder and joy so he could properly appreciate what he was seeing.
“Error, how’d you find this? This isn’t a normal part of the Underground! I’ve never seen something quite like this. Do you think it was part of the original story? Or is it something hidden in every world? These look like tiny echo flowers!”
Error gave a skipped bark of laughter at that, “I better be glad they aren’t then or I’d be listening to a million tiny Squid voices right now.”
Ink stuck his tongue out at Error, “You like hearing me talk! I know it~!”
Error laughed and shot Ink a look.
“Not as much as you like to hear yourself talk, Inky,” he shot back.
“See? Makes us both happy,” Ink said with a triumphant grin.
Error scoffed but Ink could see he was smiling, “You keep telling yourself that, Squid.”
Ahead of them, the tunnel cut sharply left and then seemed to narrow into a dead end. Ink blinked curiously.
“Don’t even ask, Inky,” Error said before Ink could do more than open his mouth, “there’s a sharp turn.”
Ink laughed brightly and let himself be lead around a very near u-turn, then he gasped as his sockets went wide. He dashed forward, dropping Error’s hand to get a better view. They’d come out into a large cavern where the moss arched up to decorate the ceiling around larger glowing crystals that cast everything into bright twilight. There was some kind of pale grass around his feet and a small stream running nearby and large fern like plants on tall, fat stalks and all of it seemed to have its own soft light. As Ink raced about, he noticed that he left a path of brighter glow behind him and the leaves of the large ferns would curl away from him if touched. The cavern was full of soft, glowing colors and beautiful life.
“Error, this place is amazing!” He called out, “And look at these!”
He dashed around a pair of fern trees to a large stone covered in bright little flecks that seemed to glimmer and shift as he moved. As if someone had trapped a galaxy in the stone and it was shining out at him. He circled the stone a time or two and placed a hand on it. It almost seemed to tingle, as if it had its own magic to it. Not like a monster would have magic but the feeling was similar. What was this place? How had it survived? Even the water seemed to glow softly!
Ink dropped down by the stream and dipped his fingers in. The clear water brightened around his fingers, tingling with the same soft feel of magic as the stone had. He tried a sip and felt immediately invigorated. Magic warmed him in a soft rush and Ink’s eye lights popped to a bright green exclamation point and an orange ring. He made himself a bottle and plunged it into the stream so he could keep some with him. As the bottle filled, he saw that there were small fish like creatures darting here and there. Some even came over to investigate his hand by nipping blindly at his fingers. It tickled!
Ink pulled out the bottle, closed it and stashed it away so he could study the little creatures. They swarmed in little groups, darting here and there. Ink couldn’t tell if they were after something or just moving about but they were fascinating to watch and not just because their small skeletons could be faintly seen though transparent reddish orange scales. They all seemed to move in little groups that didn’t change and would carefully swerve around other groups. Were they like tiny packs? How cool!
“You’d forget to feed them.”
Ink jumped. He hadn’t heard Error come up and almost forgotten the other skeleton was here.
“I probably wouldn’t!”
Error laughed, “No, you would. Come on, you should see this.”
Ink huffed but followed after Error. He hadn’t really wanted the fish. They were just really neat! They were also quickly forgotten when Ink saw where Error was leading him. A massive tapering column of stone rose up at a slight angle from the pale grass to about halfway up the massive domed ceiling. It was a solid white but, as they moved, it seemed to have a soft pearlescent sheen to it. Ink marveled as he raced up to the base of it, hands reaching out to touch. It was like a frozen rainbow waterfall! Magic hummed warm and tingly under his fingers and the stone was oddly smooth. Error came up next to him and rested a hand next to Ink’s.
“Ruru, this place is beautiful! How is it here?” Ink asked, voice full of awed wonder as he turned to look at Error.
“You tell me, Inky. From what I can tell, the magic remaining in this AU seems to be gathering here,” Error answered with a shrug.
The stone under their hands seemed to pulse, sending a warmth radiating up their bones. They shared a look, Ink’s bright and star-eyed, Error’s with a raised eyebrow. Then Error shook his head and turned to sit on the ground with his back against the white stone.
“Go ahead, Inky. I’ll be here,” Error hummed.
He closed his eyes and leaned back with his fingers laced behind his head. Ink watched him for a moment. Error had brought him here, shown him this fascinating place. Now Error was telling him to go enjoy while he waited here. He was probably smug about having known how much Ink would like this hidden wonder. Ink wished right then he could feel stronger for Error than he did. Plucking his light pink out, Ink took a sip. Warm affection curled through him and a flush brightened across his cheeks. He dropped down next to Error and leaned in to press a kiss to Error’s cheek.
“I think I’d enjoy it best from here if that’s ok Ruru.”
Error blushed brightly starting up to stare at him. Ink smiled at him, eye lights a pink heart and a yellow star. Error’s blush spread and he coughed, looking away. But he held out his arm. Ink immediately snuggled against his side, getting comfortably seated. Error’s arm curled around his shoulders and Ink hummed. He pulled out a sketch book and pencil. He rested his head against Error and started slowly sketching the secret cavern Error had lead them to. This really had been worth it. Who would have thought there would be something so amazing hidden under a bleak world?
“Thanks, Ruru.”
A kiss was pressed to Ink’s temple, making him giggle.
“You’re welcome, Kiki. Now hush and draw,” Error grumbled.
Ink smiled and did as he was told. He’d get up and explore in a bit, but he wanted to enjoy this while it lasted.