Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Ink was splattered all over the room, looking like a paintball had been shot. Which, to be fair, isn’t that far from what actually happened.

Ink didn’t mean for it to happen, he just wanted to try splatter art! Though, with his track record? Probably should have made sure to put up something to protect his other drawings and paintings alike. Thankfully, none of the ink seemed to get on them! 

Why did you do it with ink? Isn’t it supposed to be paintsplatering?

“Well right you are, Creator! Buut...why not do it with my namesake?!” in the safety of his own home the Protector of AU’s was able to communicate freely with the creators of his beloved Au’s. Whenever he answered them anywhere else, people tended to look at him funny. Not that they don’t already, but, to make people believe I’m less crazy than I am.

The finished project of Ink’s was colorful, and currently not dry, and unless he wanted to watch ink dry he now had to find something else to entertain himself with.

He decided to finally do the line art on one of his drawings of a battle that happened a few months ago. Funny thing about Ink’s memory is that, while it is short-term and he forgets stuff a lot, he tends to remember the most random parts of things. Say, if he was told someone was over five-hundred years old, and their Au was a medieval one, but somehow had cameras. He would remember that said hypothetical persons Au had cameras, but not that the Au was medieval, and would assume that the person wasn’t from a medieval Au. This scenario is hypothetical, of course, of course.

Pulling out his battle sketchbook (because, yes , he has different sketchbooks for different things, what artist with memory problems doesn’t?) he flipped to the scene that he was thinking about and pulled out his line art pens. He started with the people that were in the sketch. It was from his perspective so Dream and Swap were only partly there. The Bad Sanses and Error were on full display. Apparently Error had teamed up with Nightmare for this battle. Doesn’t normally do that, now does he? He suspects that those two don’t normally team up because of the opposing ideas they both had about the multiverse. One wanting to seemingly bathe the multiverse in everlasting negativity, the other wanting to abolish all Aus in existence. It doesn’t make for a good friendship, now does it? Then again, neither would a protector or a destroyer, and here I am, trying to make friends with him.  

He started the line work on Error, using his black pens for him, instead of the teal he would later use for Nightmare’s lines. He often wonders what made Error look like that, he knew why Nightmare looked the way he did because of Dream, but he never knew why Error was dark-boned. Most skeletons aren’t. By the time he was done with the line art of the battle scene his painting had dried. He took the tape off and admired the version of Outertale he had painted.

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He stared at himself. The mirror reflecting him, seeing someone so...colorful, and yet so bland. An artist, life filled with color...but so bland himself. 

Was it worth it? The treacherous voice whispered. Is it worth it to become one of the most colorful monsters out in the wide expanse of the Multiverse, only to know that it is all a lie? To that inside, you are blander than the rest of them? Was the price worth it? To become empty? To become dependent on us?

Ink knows little to nothing of his past, for all he truly knew, he was created because he was needed. He has no idea if he has an AU. No idea if he had friends, a family, like all the other Aus. So what was the price that the voice meant? He refused to call the voices that talked like that, Creators. Creators are supposed to be nice, and caring...right?

So what did they mean?

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A blast was shot. Pain was felt. A scream was heard.

“Finally,” a voice said.

Finally what? The artist thought.

“YOU’RE FINALLY HERE!” Swap yelled, “Now, We Can Start The Party!”

“I will admit, Ink, even if you aren’t on time mostly, I was starting to be worried,” the voice, Dream, said.

“What was the scream for?” Ink asked.

“Hm? OH! I Found This Game In Omega, And It Has A Lot Of Us Sanses As Playable Characters!” Swap excitedly told Ink.

“Yes! And he KILLED me! Can you believe it?! I wasn’t even targeting him! And now I’m dead!” Hearts, previously unnoticed, bemoaned.

“You Were Playing On The Opposite Sides, Hearts, It Is The Only Way That I Would Win!” Swap shot back.

“Yes, and then you just had to make a grand farewell to yourself,” Dream interrupted.

“Well this seems fun! Mind if I have a go afterwards?” Ink inquired.

“No Problem, Friend!”