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“There were two skeletons who existed before anything else could.
One destroyed everything out of anger and resentment.
One inspired others out of desire and fear.
They existed thousands of years before a world was created, before a home was made.
And yet, despite them being the only ones there…
They hated each other to no end.
The first could not understand why the latter enjoyed making such stories.
The second could not understand why the former hated their stories.
The first, who went by Error, heard the voices of his insanity speak to him.
The second, who went by Ink, felt the call of the Creators and saw their wishes.
How could such direct opposites exist together?
They both decided that they could not.
Countless fights would be started and ended.
Countless worlds would be lost.
Countless worlds would be created.
They could not defeat each other, for they were equals in every way.
But being equals did not mean that they were the same.
No, they were far from being the same.
Though Error was what society would label as “the bad guy”, he still had a soul.
He could feel.
Though Ink was what society would label as “the good guy”, they had no soul.
They couldn’t feel, not on their own.
One day, Ink noticed something peculiar in an alternate universe.
It was an alternate universe labeled “Dreamtale” that Ink had interacted with once before.
It was changing.
It was not moving as intended.
This universe was meant to create two outcodes, one to balance negativity and one to balance positivity.
But something had happened.
And Ink felt like it was his fault.
He watched in horror as the brother of negativity known as Nightmare had broken the script, turning his brother to stone and leaving the world.
And about five centuries later, Dream was freed.
Nightmare and Dream were outcodes, but not as intended.
So now there were two pairs of outcodes fighting about in the multiverse.
Ink and Dream teamed up.
Error and Nightmare teamed up.
Only for the sole purpose of one side being able to win.
To eliminate two from the fight.
And this went on for another decade.
Nightmare soon showed up one day with… someone.
Who knows whether they were considered slave or worker to Nightmare.
This someone was named Killer, a Sans who had been forced to kill his world by Chara.
He gained more followers.
Dream gained his own crew.
And they were known as The Nightmares and The Stars.
And they fought on for decades to come.
But then the multiverse began…
…collapsing.
Timelines were no longer being created.
Worlds were dying.
And no one knew why.
Ink tried to save them.
Dream tried to save them.
Nightmare tried to save them.
And at some point, even Error tried to save them.
One by one, the creators left, and their worlds left with them.
Until all that remained was Undertale itself.
Nightmare and Dream’s crew had died.
Some were old, some were killed, and some didn’t escape a timeline quickly enough to make it.
It was just Dream and Nightmare.
But they were not immortal.
They would die in a thousand years, and a thousand years was only a century away.
Unknown to everyone but those four alone, both Nightmare and Dream had children.
Rather, one child each.
Nightmare had Crescent.
Dream had Palette.
So when those thousand years came close, they taught their children to take their place.
To keep everything balanced.
To carry on living for them.
And when Dream and Nightmare passed, Error and Ink only realized then how tired they were.
And then they discovered Paperjam and Gradient.
They were accidental children in a way, just like Palette and Crescent were.
They were made because Error and Ink’s excess magic from one of their fights was a little too close together.
And when they knew that their roles would be taken when they died, they left.
And no one blamed them for leaving.
Not Palette, not Crescent, not Gradient, and not Paperjam.
That doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt.
And you may be asking now, how is the multiverse now?
Well, it’s back to normal.
The creators came back, made a ton of stuff, and so far?
It’s all good now.
Just peace.”
The children clapped when he finished reading out the story. He smiled and put away the paper he was reading from.
And though it’s just a silly tale to these children, that such a thing never happened, Paperjam remembers the day Error and Ink left more than anything.
Kids are such suckers for happy endings, aren’t they?
He wishes that the story had ended the way he made it end.
That the creators actually did return.
Oh well.
They still had Undertale, and they were going to do their best to keep it alive until they couldn't anymore.