Chapter Text
Palette looked around. His Mum and Dad were busy, Leaving him, his Sister Lux and Brother Starcross together in the Omega Timeline. The park the three of them were in was crowded with families and other children, though most were far younger than him.
The few that were older where hanging with Lux, while some of the more rambunctious younger kids where playing with Starcross.
Though they should still be back by now, no, they’ll be back soon He did his best to reassure himself. They probably just got pulled into a longer situation, They’ll be back soon then we can go back to the Apartment.
He fought off a sigh, smiling towards the kids that were crowded around him. Most of them were the human of their respected world, Monster Kids, or other young monsters from a variety of timelines now destroyed or inhabitable.
Some of them, and he wasn’t sure how he knew, slight colour differences, something about them, were children born in the Omega Timeline, either from parents rebuilding in their new home or from two inhabitants from different original timelines or alternate universes meeting and creating a new life, both for themselves and their child.
“Can you draw me next?” One asks, a Chara from a swap adjacent timeline, leaning over as he handed the portrait towards its owner, a purple dinosaur monster.
“No Me!” Another Child, a Monster Kid, demands.
Somebody pushes him away, one of the kids whose parents were from different AUs, some sort of green reptilian. “You’ve Already got a picture from him! Let someone else have a turn!”
The two face off for a moment, brows furrowed and tails whipping behind them before a dog monster pushes his way forward with a bark. “Can you draw me a human-sona?!” He asks, distracting the other two from their fight.
“Ooh!” Shouts a small human child dressed in yellow, “Me too! I want to see what I would look like as a monster!”
Sensing the tensed emotions, he quickly flicked to a new page of his sketch book,, tearing out a number of pages. “Drawing by yourself isn’t as fun as drawing with others!” He declares. Its not much of a lie, but he was surprised to have been found sitting off to the side by such a large gaggle of children and quickly wanted to avoid any fights.
He hands out the sheets towards the group, with a reassuring smile. “I’ve got a bunch of penicils and pens too, so we can all share!”
“Is that really alright?” the reptilian monster asks, somewhat nervously, only for the dog monster and the yellow human kids to quickly grab some paper, shouting in agreement.
He looked towards the rest of the park. Where they were sitting, on the grass underneath some of the shady trees planted to surround the park wasn’t suitable. “Let’s head back towards the park though!” he urges, sitting up, “That way we can draw at the tables!” I’m not sure where all their parents are, best to draw someplace close to the actual park so they know where their kids are.
He hangs the rest of the paper down low, leaning down to grab his large pencil case stuffed with assorted pens, pencils, crayons and the odd tube of paint. A few Children grab the paper with excitement, loudly declaring what they will draw to the other children, and he holds them out gently with a rustle for the odd shyer child to take. Can’t let anyone feel left out.
He smiles down as one of the children grabs at his yellow and blue stripped sweater, tugging to get his attention. It’s the fluffy dog child, whose tail wags as he smiles back up at him. “Do you eat paint like your Dad?”
“You can’t just ask that Roofus!” the yellow human kid shouts at his friend.
“Why not?!”
“Because it’s rude!”
Another child, the reptilian monster, quickly bursts in. “But isn’t that like his medicine or something?” They ask out loud. When they lock eyes, she quickly waves her hands Infront of her face, blushing. “But that’s just what my Mums say!” She quickly defends, embarrassed at the situation.
“Yeah, but Dream looks after him!” This time it’s the Chara from the swap timeline. “That’s why he doesn’t live with Ink, cause he doesn’t need it!”
The theory is far from true. He does need Paint, Ink, any type of artistic supply with pigment in it. While not essential, he can certainly survive just fine without it, it severally impacts his growth. It was the reason, that despite him being born before Lux, that he was technically younger. He just, grew slowly.
Of course, no one knew it at the time, and across the Multiverse Monsters aged at different rates. Lux having overtaken him was noticed by Ink, on one of their rare encouters, and he had suggested the consumption of paint, or other art supplies. Despite some initial hesitation, it had proved effective at increasing his age.
The last child takes a piece of paper and he returns the rest under his arm so he can rub his fingers together. “I can eat paint, though I wouldn’t recommend any of you trying to do so” he quickly soothes as they reach the table. He sets down the pencil case, spotting a group of taller adults out of the corner of his vision.
He discreetly turns, noting a few recognise their children, and laugh together while they talk with one another. He flicks his eye lights back to the younger children Infront of him, as the dog monster kid empties the contents of his pencil case onto the table.
He fights back a frown, stiffening slightly as some pens roll off the table and onto the ground. “I’ll get those!” he quickly reassures as a few of the kids look over at the dropped pens. He sets them onto the table, as the green reptile monster kid picks out one of the half empty tubes of paint.
“Did you eat this?” she holds it in front of her face with sparkles in her eyes. “Whoa.” She stares at it for a moment, before shyly offering him the tube.
He sets his sketchbook down, and smiles taking the tube of paint, Yellow Ochre, and putting into his inventory with a quiet thanks.
The children around the table talk loudly, voices overlapping and becoming muddled in a way that has him struggling to keep an ear out on the conservations happening around him simultaneously. He claps his hands, gaining their attention, “I know a few of you are going to draw your human, or monster, Sonas so I might do the same!” he offers, deciding that ensuring that they all were set on task would be best. Of course, I need to role model this, though it’s not particularly something I want to draw he pushes the thought to the side, instead, picking up a pencil.
It’s labelled lavender, though it’s far too blue to be a true lavender. Still though, he takes the pencil and starts to scribble in, without much care some pants as well as the guidelines for the rest of the drawing.
His mind wanders, eyes flicking to the kids as they sort through the colours until they find their favourite, and they slowly start to quieten down as they focus on their work.
I sort of wanted some alone time, but this is important too he reassured himself. He smiled, looking at the messy drawings, and different skills of the children Infront of him. Some of them didn’t both much with guidelines, leaving their drawings with strange anatomy. Some had somewhat mastered the guidelines and had better anatomy.
He turned his attention back to his work, picking up a dark forest green pen to start with the hair, circling his pencil onto the page around the head of his figure. This isn’t anything new he thinks, as he switches pencils again, this time a navy, to finish the hair.
Chara, one of the slightly older children, excitedly presents her drawing first. “Done!”
“That’s just Asriel” The Monster Kid deadpans, dropping the pencil from his mouth. “Well, an Asriel. With Red eyes.” They
“Yeah but like, in most of those monster human switch AUs Chara and Frisk are Goats!” they declare. They smile. “Plus! My Dad is a goat, so I want to look like him!”
“I’m done too!” It’s the Dog monster, Roofus, this time. He quickly shows it off to the table, tail wagging violently behind him, almost hitting Chara and the Reptile monster next to him.
“Those both look Great!” he praises. He quickly scans his eyes over the pieces, Chara’s got their goat picture with large horns, while the Dogs human is wearing a big fluffy coat, and a massive beard.
He snorts in surprise. “I like your horns, and your beard is cool, though I don’t think most human kids have beards!”
“I know, I think it looks cool though, real rugged!” he Declares, to laughter from some of the other kids.
“It sure does!” he feels his energy slowly fading, though he does his best to not let it show on his face as he goes back to drawing, allowing more pages of his sketch book to be taken as the kids finish.
By the time everyone, including him, had finished, or mostly finished their drawings, they were spotted.
“Palette!” Starcross yells, launching himself towards Palettes back. He jumps, catching Palette around the neck, while he readjusts his younger brothers leg around his waist as he looks over his drawing.
“We are going to play hide and seek Tag!” he declares, almost jittering in his hold. “We want more players, do any of you want to play?!” he asks with a smile. Palette smiles, glad for the distraction.
“I’m, I’m sorry!” a voice from the crowd of adults nervously calls out, the group turning to her. Undyne, from a universe with a swap component he instantly recognises. She’s older, and the reptile perks up spotting her. “We will need to go soon Mewsie” she holds out her hand, as her kids faces scrunches up in displeasure. “We have to get dinner going.”
“Don’t forget your pictures” he slides over her drawings with a smile. Looking closer, he can recognise, somehow, how the reptile came to be. Undyne, and Alphys. Different AUs, coming together in the Omega Timeline. “you should tell your Mums all about them when you get home” he quietly urges.
She turns to look at him, somewhat in suprise, before smiling nervously. “Alright” she agrees, nervously gathering up the pictures before swinging around on the tables chair to run towards her mother.
“Did you have fun?” The Undyne asks as the two of them make their way towards the gate of the park.
“Yeah! And guess what! He eats paints like his dad does!”
Starcross puffs his chest out, leaning further over his shoulder as Palette hikes him up so he’s holding his legs closer to his rib cage. “Well, if any of you want to join in we will be starting soon!”
Palette slowly trailed after the crowd of children, who had quickly decided that a game of tag would be fun. And he followed! For a bit.
He looked to his right, noticing a trial that led to a wooded area, and without so much as a thought, changed his direction.
The children don’t notice as he makes his way towards the trees, a single glance back confirming that Starcross had in fact gathered a range of children for the game, who were eager to start.
Palette turns back around, and walks further, the sounds from the park slowly fading, as birdsong, the rustle of leaves, and the soft fall of his feet became the only sound. He doesn’t really know for how long he decides to walk, brain numb as he looks around at the scenery of the Forest that the park backed up to.
He looked around as he made his way around a bend and stopped. To the side of the Trial was a clearing, sun shining brightly down onto the vibrant flowers, bees humming softly as they collected pollen.
He reached down automatically into his inventory, frowning realising that his absent mindedness had led to him forgetting both his pencil case and sketching book. Reaching into his Inventory, the only thing he pulled out was the tube of yellow ochre paint he had taken, half empty. More of a snack than anything to paint with.
Fiddling with the tube, he looked around, thinking back to the park. Lux and Starcross always seemed to adapt to those situations better than him. And even now, his absentmindedness had steered him astray once more.
With one quick motion, the tube makes its way back into his inventory. He wasn’t even hungry, and it was acrylic, not his favourite medium.
A deep tiredness settled itself into his bones, and for a moment he wished his parents weren’t who they were. If they weren’t important I could just exist. He didn’t mind people, he wanted to make people happy, but sometimes he just liked to be by himself. Just sit, and not have to worry about how he acted, how people perceived him, how anything they thought would be reflected onto both Dream and Ink. Even if there is nothing I can do about it, it would be nice, to not have worry about all that.
Being who he was, being made in the way he was. Even if both his Mum and Dad say to do as he pleases, he knows what he has to be, who he has to be. I can’t say that I don’t want it, I just want to prove myself. I may be part of both the Guardian and the Protector but, but surely I can be an important on my own.
Everything felt both crystal clear and muddy with confusion.
His destiny, His dream. One in the same.
How do I even reach that. I can barley even entertain a bunch of kids without wandering away.
The clearing seemed to darken, almost matching his mood as he stared straight ahead, face blank. Bees stopped buzzing, and flowers drooping with his mood.
Heh, poetic. The thought brought a small spark of entertainment out of him, before he paused, reassessing the situation quickly. His eyelights shrink to pinpricks in realisation.
That’s not natural. The thought made him freeze. He took a step back, taking half a glance back at the trail that led to the park, before trying to focus in on the energy surrounding him.
Was I imagining things? He doubted it, the marrow in his bones fizzing with tense energy. He forced himself to look relaxed. I’m not, this isn’t poetry, could he really be here, Mum and Dad should be, they should be fighting him.
He looked to the side again, slowly. His gaze followed the edge of the clearings, eyesight’s searching the dark, now darker tree line for any figures. Theres, they aren’t back yet, I would have noticed.
Thoughts raced through his head, bouncing around his skull.
His Uncle, the King of Negativity was here in the Omega Timeline.
He was alone, having wandered along a walking trail into the forest, and was alone.
He didn’t know where the trail lead to, if it had a destination at all.
At the Other end of the trail, was a playground full of Children, including his Siblings Lux and Starcross.
Even If Lux and Starcross had Emotional Magic like their Mum, in this situation, if Nightmare appeared to them, the shock, the fear, from everyone would only weaken them and Strengthen his Uncle.
They all had Training, but they were so young, and in a fight like that-
He couldn’t let that happen. With Nightmare gone, gone from whatever fight with his Parents surely it was almost over. Dream would be coming back to the OT like he said he would, his Mum and Dad would both be back soon.
All he had to do, was buy time. Make Sure he didn’t reach the Park, and hope nobody came from the park, least of all Lux or Starcross.
Do I let him know I know he’s here? He brushed the thought away, gaze sweeping back across the clearing. Does he know I know he’s here? Or are My emotions hidden like with Mum-
His neck prickles and he turns around, finding his uncle standing behind him. He takes a step back, staring at the other skeleton.
He’s even scarier in person.
Black goo dripped weakly from his form, the ground wet beneath him. a dark haze of negativity almost seemed to emit from him, and 4 dark tentacles swayed behind him, almost as if they were tongues tasting the air, tasting his emotions-
“How Surprising” Nightmare interrupts him from his thoughts, and he steels himself as best he can. “I see the rumours are true” Nightmare states, leaning back and analysing him with a careful eye, squinting down his nose at him. He grins, as if amused, “So Ink and Dream did produce a Bastard child! Theres been rumours of course, but I must say, I didn’t expect him to cheat on his beloved Guard Dog”
Silence stretches between them, as Palette struggles with what to say, what to do. How to buy time. Surely Dream will be back soon?!
“Although you seem to take after Ink far more than Dream.” a Tentacle raises slowly, as Nightmares single eyelight narrows. “A husk”
So Nightmare can’t sense his emotions either “What are you doing here?” he asks quickly, keeping as much emotion out of his voice as Possible. I need to distract him, keep him occupied until Mum returns.
Nightmare pauses for a moment, before an unkind grin makes its way onto his face. “Is that any way to talk to your uncle?” he sarcastically asks, holding out a hand dismissively. “One would think Dream would teach you better though I can’t expect much from my twin,” Nightmare retracts his hand back into his hoodie pocket, tentacles once again squirming above him in the air, poised as if they were ready to attack. “He may not be a Female, but he certainly is as stupid as one.”
Palette stiffens in surprised, brow furrowing in confusion, as the tentacles start to sweep around Nightmare, entrancing and almost hypnotic in their movements. What on earth is he talking about? The offhanded comment confuses him more than anything, and a breeze sweeps through the clearing, rustling the leaves softly.
Nightmare continues, “Seems he passed on his stupidity, guess why I’m here” Palette catches the tensing of a tentacle and jumps backwards, dodging the attack. Nightmare Grins, as if pleased that he managed to dodge it. Like a cat playing with a mouse.
He keeps his gaze locked on Nightmare, who retracts his tentacle, but doesn’t move forward for a moment. “Dream is distracted, our family tree needs some trimming, and based on what I’ve heard, Error will be more than pleased if I removed you from the equation.”
Error knows about me?!
Another tentacle, almost lazily, lashes out. Palette jumps backwards again, taking out his Paint Roller as a weapon and hitting the tentacle away as he realises that he won’t be able to dodge in time. Another tentacle flashes forward, and he quickly twists and swings the roller towards it as hard as he can.
The tentacle wraps around his weapon, suddenly pulling him forward towards nightmare. His eyes widen in Fright, and he yelps as he loses his footing slightly. His and Nightmares grip on the weapon the only thing keeping him up as he comes face to face to Nightmare.
He smells like rotting fruit, is the first though Palette has before a cold crawling feeling settles into his bones. The situation he is in, the very real possibility that he could die here.
Nightmare grins, chuckling quietly in glee. “Of course, you are more like a teaser for the main course” Nightmare gloats, obviously enjoying the situation. “I simply have to thin the heirs~”
Palette feels his bones turn to lead, staring in shock as Nightmare sends a distracted glance to where he came from. His eye narrows in annoyance, as if he can feel the positivity from the crowd, from Lux and Starcross, even from here.
He knows they are here, I can’t let him hurt them!
A rage he can barely explain takes over, and he dissipates his roller, regaining his footing quickly. Nightmare turns in surprise as Palette pulls back a fist, before he slugs a punch right across the left side of Nightmares face hard enough to hurt.
Nightmares face contorts rage, anger, his eyelight glinting murderously. Then to match his face, his form contorts. He stumbles backwards as black goop surges around Nightmare as he lets out an inhuman screech.
Palette is quick, resummoning his roller and sending the end into the ground and extending the base pole with as much magic as he can using it like a pole vault. He sends himself skidding down the path that lead towards the park putting himself in-between Nightmare and his Siblings. Would they notice the negative energy? Surely Mum would return soon? She can’t be that tied up, could she?
Violently, faster than before and with even more force a tentacle lashes out as Nightmare launches forward, form bubbling violently with black negativity as he makes himself larger. He towers over him, and Palette feels his knees go weak at the sight. Palette raises his Roller increasing the size of the roller brush at the end, the only thing he can manage to do blocking the Tentacle.
It hits the roller with force, his arms barley hold up, as he skids further backwards at the force of the blow.
He gasps in surprise and shock, eyes locked in on nightmare as he straightens himself up. The shadows grow deeper, and Palette realises with a cold horror that this very well could be his last moments alive.
A tentacle wraps around his middle, whipping him to the side and across the clearing and straight into a tree. He gasps out in pain as his rib cage and spine crack painfully and he lands on his side into the damp ground. He grasps both hands around his chest, thankful to feel no bones obviously broken beneath his sweater.
He reaches for his roller, still summoned. If he could only touch it just a single touch, he could desummon it quickly, then resummon it back into his hands! He didn’t have enough time to wait for it to desummon on its own.
His hand reached out, and just as he was about to bring his hand down to the roller one of Nightmares tentacles, quicker than him, managed to snatch it away. With a laugh, Nightmare tossed it away across the clearing, close to the path, close to his siblings.
He tries follows it, reaching outward towards it instinctively as best he can with ribs that with every moment creak and snap painfully.
Nightmare Laughs. “Aww, do you want your little paint brush?” The cruel question is followed by a tentacle, cold and wet, twisting around his leg with a loud creak as the bones bend painfully. He screams out in pain. “Why don’t you go and get it!”
He finds himself once again airborne, thrown towards his paint roller. He hits it painfully, inertia carrying him past it before he can grab the weapon, rolling through the flowers crushing them beneath his weight before he comes to a stop against another tree.
He groans in pain, using the roots of the tree to steady himself as he looks up at Nightmare, who slowly approaches confidently with slow steps. He’s monologuing, but Palette can barley hear what he is saying, his skull ringing from the pain, eyes doing their best to barley follow his movement as he approaches. Somehow through the ringing in his skull, he barley manages to catch something about Cross being a guard dog. He grits his teeth in anger and growls, looking towards his roller. He’s too far away, and Nightmare is too strong. The realisation sinks, and he almost collapses down to the roots of the tree.
“Erk!” A tentacle slams him into the tree, holding him down, arms at his side as Nightmare stands over him. The ringing in his skull slowly dims, as Nightmare smiles sadistically above him. “I don’t expect anyone to come to your rescue soon enough,” He turns towards the Park as Palettes mind races. What can he do? “I wonder if they even realise I am here yet? If you are here.”
I don’t want to Die! I don’t want him to get to Lux or Starcross, I need to save them!
I can’t even Reach my Roller, the only thing that I Have is-!
He flicks his hand, the tube of acrylic appearing , hidden in his hand. He can’t unscrew the lid, but he can crush it. Wet paint coats his hands, getting between the joints and small bones as his mind races. The sound from the tube popping alerts Nightmare, who turns in surprise at the sound. He wipes what he can onto the ground as Nightmares eyelight widens in surprise.
The name feels heavy on his tongue as he stares back at Nightmare. “Ink” He chokes out.
Nightmares eye twitches, tentacle squeezing around him tighter as he is lifted into the air. He wheezes through the pain as his ribcage buckles underneath the pressure, creaking painfully. Keeping his eyes open is a struggle, especially as the tentacle tightens around him further.
Dulled eyesight’s dart towards the small smear of paint. Would it be enough? The Paint spreading out, darkening is his answer.
A part of him, relieved, relaxes in this knowledge as Nightmare seethes below him looking towards the growing puddle of paint. He steps away from it, Palette swaying in his hold above him as the Tentacle tightens painfully.
“I won’t allow it” Nightmare declares, staring back at him. He closes his eyes, bones sagging in relief despite the tight squeeze of Nightmares tentacle. At Least Lux and Starcross will be fine, please let them be okay. He relaxes, the world goes dull, and he feels his bones sag, no, dissolve as darkness overcomes him.
Did I die? Is his first thought when he realises he is still aware. He feels like he is under pressure and wet, like he is sinking through an ocean. Though, unlike in an ocean, it feels like his bones, instead of resisting the current, are part of the current.
Did I Dust? Am I dead?
He opens his eyes, and the world turns sharp instantly.
“oof-“ He finds himself at Nightmares feet, curled up slightly though he quickly raises to a crouch. Nightmares Tentacle, still in the air, drips further, more than usual as his cyan eyelight travels from the tentacle down to him.
Anger and Rage make the eyelight flare dangerously, and to avoid his wrath he pushes himself along the ground away from Nightmare. He is stopped, back hitting something fabric. As he looks up, he and Ink, his Father, lock eyes. Only for a moment, before Ink turns back to look across to Nightmare, who is standing in the clearing looking ready to kill. Shadows and darkness dance around him, the air thick with negativity.
He stands, as best as he can, as Ink takes a step around him, hand on his sash. “Leave” He commands. Palette manages to catch a quick glance, Inks hand hovering over one of the red vials he keeps.
A warning.
Nightmare, hunched over and dripping goo, squints at the two of them. His eylight flicks between the two of them, before he turns slightly.
Lux and Starcross!
His form dissipates quickly, shadows overtaking his form as he disappears. “We, we have to go!” he warns, quickly pulling Ink along. “He Might get Lux and Starcross!”
Ink follows for a moment, before he stumbles on the path, coughing up red-gold blood. “Careful!” Ink steadies him, pulling broomie out and shrinking the brush down to a more manageable size. “I can fix that for you.”
“we have to hurry” He warns, struggling to get up. Inks grip is firm, as he swipes the brush over a small fracture on his arm . “They could be in Danger-“
“Palette!” a familiar voice calls out. He turns, tears gathering at the corner of his eyes in relief at who he spots. Its Dream, His Mum, bow drawn and half strung with a bright blue arrow Runs towards him.
The bow dissipates into thin air, as Dream quickly reaches him, falling to his knees and hands hovering above his injuries. “Oh Palette, what happened, are you alright?”
“Nightmare, he’s here-“ he is cut off with a cough. Dreams Hands feel warm as healing magic seeps into his bones, Ink working quickly besides him. “He’s after them too Mum!”
Dream grips his hands tightly, a soft wavering smile making its way onto her face. “No, Palette your fine, he’s gone, you’re alright, you’ll be fine, I’m so sorry-“
“No, it’s my fault, I wandered off-“
“I hate to interrupt but I need you to remove your sweater” Ink cuts him off, as he holds up his paintbrush wet with paint, a relaxed smile on his face. “He seemed to be squeezing you a bit hard, plus the blood thing!” His eyesight’s are bright and expressive despite the situation, switching patterns with a blink.
He lets his Mum remove his soft stripped sweater so that Ink can repair his ribs. Dream of cradles him to her chest, softly stroking his head as Ink quickly repaints the ribs.
It’s a strange feeling, fixing his injuries with paint. The paint doesn’t do anything to numb the pain, however the sting from exposed marrow and does disappear. All that remains is a phantom pain which he does his best to ignore.
Dreams hands glow again, warm and inviting. He leans into the head pats, as Ink retracts his brush from the last fracture. The hands remain warm as his sweater is pulled back over his head, and Dream draws him back up to standing.
“Are you alright?” she asks, softly.
He nods into her collar bone, and She presses a small kiss to his head. Slowly stepping away, he turns back down towards the path, spotting movement. Its Cross, his Dad, following behind him Core Frisk, Starcross and Lux quickly following.
“Palette!” his Dad calls out, quickly teleporting next to them. “Are you alright, is he alright?” he asks, looking between him and Dream, hands outreached as if unsure if he should touch him.
“He’ll be alright now” Mum reassures softly, placing a hand onto Cross’ shoulder to reassure him. “Nightmares gone, he’s healed.”
It did little to calm the worry in his Dad, who quickly turned to Ink, glaring at the smaller skeleton. “What did you do?” he growled, Ink quickly waving his hands in front of his face.
“Nothing Nothing!” Inks innocence did little to persuade Cross whose hand was twitching at his side.
“It was my Fault” Cross quickly turned back to him, gaze softening.
“No Palette, this isn’t-”
It was too Late, Palette was already crying again, doing his best to recall the events that lead up to the attack. “We were drawing, then Starcross wanted to play hide and seek, and I just, I don’t know why I just went away then it got dark and he showed up!” His words came out quicker, and from the corner of his eye, he noticed Core discreetly shooing away Lux and Starcross. Lux looked like she was really considering fighting the human child, but Starcross’ grip on her sleeve was all it took for her to scoop up the younger skeleton and walk away with Core.
“And I noticed him, and I couldn’t go back cause Lux and Starcross were there” It comes out quieter this time, quiet so neither of his siblings here it. “He said, he said he was going to kill me, then …” he trailed off. Ink Sets a hand on his shoulder, surprising him. It’s reassuring, anchoring him as he sniffles, whipping away the last of the tears from his eyes. “I had, I had some paint, and he said you were busy, and so I summoned Ink.” He finished.
Cross sighs, and Dream raises a and to her face, horrified at the implications. “He came here?” she asks, looking to Cross, horror written all over her face. “I know he could, but could he really?”
Cross buries his head in his hands, growling. “I can send the three of them to X-Tale” the offer, something he knows his Dad would hate. “I’ll Make X-Gaster help him-“
“You know he won’t allow that” Dream warns, before catching Palettes eye. “I’m sorry, Palette, could you please-“
“XGaster hates me too much to let him in” Ink quickly agrees, cutting dream off. He slightly tightens his grip, eyelights flicking to a question mark and hexagon, before a cyan square outline and a magenta splotch take their place. “But I know where I could hide him!”
“We are not doing that” Cross tugs him away, back towards him and Dream, setting a possessive arm around his shoulders. “XGaster will take him too, or, or we will find another AU where they will be safe.” He sounds unsure as he speaks.
Dream sighs. “Let’s, lets go back to the apartment” she rubs her cheek roughly. She smiles at him, sad as it is, and wipes underneath one of his eyes clearing the moisture gathered there. “We can, we’ll have to talk about this later” She promises Ink.
He turns back to his Father, who is staring at Cross with a red arrow and blue target mark. he narrows his eyes slowly, as if thinking, before blinking. “Sounds good!” he chirps, mood and tone changing instantly. “Can I stay with you?”
“Go Home Ink” Cross grumbles, pulling him closer. But he sighs, turning back to Ink. “We can talk about this tomorrow, we will summon you.”
Ink smiles at the reply. “Sounds good!” he agrees, before swinging broomie out and making a large puddle on the ground. “I’ll see you then!” and with that, he steps into the puddle, body deforming into ink, and disappearing with the puddle to wherever he sent himself.
Cross drags him along, back towards the playground, before reaching a hand out to Dream, who takes it. within a moment, they are next to Core, Lux and Starcross. Starcross has tears in his eyes, quickly reaching out towards Dream who takes him from Lux, soothing the younger boy.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help” It’s Core Frisk. “It all happened so Fast, I didn’t expect Nightmare to come to the OT, nor find you of all people.” They look down at your feet.
“You got us” Dream points out, smiling softly. “While peoples emotional energy can drain my brother it would be hard to land an attack on him that does significant damage without my Powers. Thank you Frisk.”
Frisk smiles, turning to him and staring deep into his eyelights with their void like eyeholes. “Even though you were hurt, thank you for not bringing him back to the park, I believe more people could have been hurt, or killed.”
He shakes his head slightly, “No, if he, if no one knew he was here then they wouldn’t get scared.”
“It’s a tough situation. You are still a kid, and this should have never happened” Frisk continues. “You couldn’t Flee, and you were hurt and for that I apologise. I should have done more, I knew Nightmare could enter the Timeline, and yet I could think of nothing I could do. Sorry.”
“There isn’t much that you can do to keep him out” Points out Cross, patting Lux’s back reassuringly, “Player can keep out Error, however Nightmare has a way in that we can’t figure out.”
Core nods, “I will ask them if they will be able to find a way in the future to keep Nightmare away, but for now maybe another AU where he can’t enter will have to be the best option.
Cross nods, and Dream looks away. “Thank you Frisk” She says. “Does anybody know?”
“No. I want to keep it that way, if that is alright with you?” she asks. “Fear will not do any of us good.”
“I agree” Cross looks towards Dream, a strained look on his face. disagreement. Dream looks back towards him, frowning slightly. “We should, we should keep this secret for now” she continues. “But, but later, we need to talk, we should talk with parliament about what to do in these situations, should they come in the future.”
Cross dips his head, looking away, shoulders sagging. “Thank you Dream” Frisk smiles softly. “I’ll be off now, I hope you all get home safe.”
And with that, Frisk walks away. Cross pulls him closer, Dream stepping up towards him with Starcross still bundled in her arms, eyelights dim with exhaustion.
With a blink, they reappear in the cozy Apartment Frisk had gifted Cross and Dream for when they were present in the OT. He didn’t know what he wanted to do with himself, he wasn’t hungry, but he was sore and Tired.
“Can I go to bed?” he asks softly.
“Do you want any dinner brought in?” Cross asks, soft and comforting. He shakes his head, looking down to the floor and leaning into his Dads soft jacket. “Alright Kiddo, if you want anything let us know alright” he says. “If you want to sleep in our bed, you can, alright?”
“I just want to be alone.”
Cross pauses for a moment, before nodding. “If you change your mind, you’re always welcomed.”
“I want to sleep with Cross” Starcross whines as he makes his way towards his room, bones aching with every step. Dream shushes him, reassuring Starcross can sleep with him.
He felt more alone from his siblings in that Moment. felt the divide between them, their powers, their abilities. If he were like Lux, or Starcross young as he was, he might have stood a fighting chance against Nightmare. Might have been able to stall him without getting hurt.
He liked being alone as much as he hated it. Starcross and Lux seemed to thrive under all the attention, all the adoration of the residents of both the OT and AUs. And today, all he did was run away because everything got to be too much and he ran into trouble.
Maybe if I stayed and played hide and seek, sensing the positive energy, Nightmare would have never attacked? Maybe if I had chosen another path on the trail through the woods, Nightmare wouldn’t have noticed him? Maybe if he was like his siblings, and could utilise Positive Energy as a weapon, he could Fight Nightmare.
He crawled into bed, pulling the heavy blanket all the way over his head as he curled into a ball.
Even now, hearing Lux and Starcross make their way into their Parents room, seeking attention, he felt lonely. He didn’t know why he did this to himself. He wanted to find comfort in their touch, in their room sleeping next to them. But unlike Lux and Starcross, he never had to be chased into his own bed.
For a moment, he wondered if Cross were actually his Dad, his biological Father instead of Ink, how different would his Life had been. Memories started to resurface, and he did his best to stamp them down.
Don’t think about that Palette, you’ll just make yourself Miserable, Mum and Dad are already Worried-
He turned to his other side, trying his best to think about something else, to remove the thoughts plaguing his mind, the feelings bleeding through his bones from himself. think about something else, think about, think about going to the beach again. I can see so many seashells, and go into the water, and just, play, or sea otters, yeah. I can be a sea Otter!
His mind drifted to thoughts of his Life as a sea otter, how he would behave, his favourite clam smashing rock, how he would be able to dive through the cold water, warm due to a thick pelt of fur, and consume almost a fifth of his weight in seafood every day.
Swimming through kelp forests, holding his breath, feeling the ocean current push and pull.
He slowly felt his body grow heavy, and soon enough, sleep slowly overtook him, dreamless and peaceful.