Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ink knew something about Error that not a lot of people did.

That being he talked when he was comfortable. Rambled about his interests, rambled about his day when he had a good one, ranted about his day when he had a bad one (although he never went into much detail), talked about anything and everything that came to mind. No matter what, there was no stopping him when he got started. 

Error was a motormouth and Ink was ecstatic that it meant that the glitched skeleton trusted her enough to be that open. 

A perfect example was right now. Ink, Error, and some of their mutual friends were all hanging out at Nightmare’s castle. Error, not too long ago, had started talking at rapid pace about some books he found in a library recently that were full of the au the library was in’s continents and islands.

He hasn't stopped talking for almost an hour at this rate, only pausing to answer some questions the others had about the books.

Error was beaming so much that if this were a cartoon, he'd be too bright to look at. 

Ink couldn't help the smile that grew on her face from it. It was rare to see Error truly in his element and happy..

It was nice. Really nice. 

… It reminded her of her oldest brother. He used to yap all the time too, especially about his interests..

She missed him a lot.. but she was nowhere near him, and had no way of getting back to him or her other brother. 

She swallowed thickly, trying to push away the upset feeling that filled her at the memory, her forcing herself to focus on the happiness that was around her instead.

Unfortunately, all nice things come to an end eventually. The day ended and everyone went home after dinner. 

Ink was good at spotting details. It came with the artist territory she imagined..

But the second before Error went through the portal to his home, the antivoid as it was called, Error's smile dropped. And Ink felt immense sadness fill her at the sight. 

A moment of happiness didn't help much when most of your life you are faced with pain and misery that you are sometimes the cause of. Ink knew that… It hurt knowing how much her friend was hurting.. 

And yet, there wasn't anything Ink could do to fix it. Ink would try, she did try, but…

Fate tended to be a cruel fickle thing. An extremely cruel, unloving thing that made Ink want to tear it apart for what it did to her friend. 

But, Fate was an extremely powerful entity that was much stronger than Ink was.

Ink, despite being a pseudo demigod, wasn't strong enough to fight the concept/personification of Fate itself. She was only simply a protector of the multiverse after all…

Still, the feeling didn't leave. The pure anger she felt.

But getting angry wouldn't do anything but make things worse in this instance, she had come to learn. So she took a deep breath, and went to the Doodle sphere through one of her portals.

She needed to think. She needed to find a way to help Error somehow.

.

.

.

.

.

Error despises Fate. Very much.

He sighed and flopped against the bean bag he had stolen from a random au. It was blue, with pink threading and embroidery.

One of the only furniture items he owned to be honest. 

… He really should get a ball pit…

His heart, or rather soul now, squeezed painfully at the thought. The reminder of something from his old life.

It's been years and yet it still hurt to think about.

He still held a very much giant grudge against the entity that had taken him away from his family. It could've at least had the decency to allow him to not be completely separated from them.

But no. He was taken far, far, FAR away and he'd likely never see them again at this rate.

He was bitter, so angry-

He took a deep breath, holding it before slowly exhaling. 

Being angry was dangerous now. He could really hurt someone badly by getting angry now. 

He didn't wanna hurt anybody. Not when he could easily kill them in the process.. 

He swallowed down the bitter feeling that left behind, staring up at the glowing blue strings draped across the ‘ceiling’ of the white mainly empty void , small dots of glowing colors being able to be seen all the way up high.

Seeing it made him feel sick. Especially since he knew what the colors were and knew that he was the reason they were there in the first place.. 

Souls, especially human ones, were always colorful. 

Most of the colors up at the top of his void were shades of red. He knew what each shade was. He knew which au they came from.

He supposed this was a punishment to himself. Being forced to see the results of what he's done each and every single day that he lives in the void. A punishment he did to himself.

He didn't have anywhere else to keep the souls. And he couldn't release them, because then…

Then he was afraid of what would happen to the souls when the multiverse realized that the souls shouldn't exist now. 

A lump formed in his non-existent throat, and he struggled with getting rid of said lump. He tore his gaze away from the ceiling, glaring at the ground as magic welled up in his eyesockets. Magic that soon took the form of tears.

The voices were starting to get loud again. He fought back the urge to pull on ears that were no longer on his head, knowing it was useless. He's never been able to block them out before since they appeared in his head.

‘HAH, YOU'RE STILL UPSET OVER THAT? HOW PATHETIC!’

‘Pathetic is one way to say it. It's honestly just sad.’

‘guys, come on. It's something he was really hurt by-’

‘UGH , SHUT UP , HOPE! NO ONE ASKED FOR YOUR STUPID OPINION!’

More arguing could be heard, and he silently sighed.

The only voice that he didn't mind being in his head was Hope, as they were adoringly named. He named them, which he had zero regrets doing.

Hope was the nicest of the voices, truly kind compared to the others. They also were the most hopeful…

It reminded him a bit of his brother. His brother never gave up hope either. 

He took another sigh, rubbing his eyesockets to get rid of the tears welling up in them. It worked, to some degree.

He's never been one to cry, even before being forced into his current ‘job’. 

He supposed that was a blessing in a way. Kept others from seeing him vulnerable.

His fingers went to idly trace the embroidery on the bean bag, quiet as the voices ‘roughhoused’ (verbally). 

That was another thing that Fate messed up.

He no longer would be ‘the one who yaks’ anymore. He couldn't.

The only time he was , was when he's with his friends… and even then it was a rarity.

This multiverse changed him over the course of the years.

… He's pretty sure he's broken. It's the only explanation for it. Hell, he was created to yak. It had literally been in his name, his identity. And now, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Not unless in the presence of those he trusted.

It made that bitter feeling grow. 

… He needs to get out of here. He needs somewhere quiet.

Or quiet enough. There never was a quiet moment when he had voices constantly berating him in his head. He felt bad that Hope has to deal with the other voices. They didn't deserve being constantly in the presence of the others.

He stood, stretching before snapping his fingers, a glitched portal opening.

Hope was seemingly the only one who noticed, the other voices sounding like they were about to start verbally fist fighting eachother. Hope piped up softly,’ Going somewhere?’

Error nodded, knowing Hope could see him. He didn't feel like talking right now.

‘... Want me to join you?’

He thought about it before shrugging. He stepped through the portal, the grass softly crunching under his feet.

The starry sky was still breathtaking even after all this time…

There was a reason Outertale was his favorite au. The voices were the quietest here, them becoming a low drone of white noise.

A glow appeared on his shoulder, although he didn't have to look to know what, or rather who it was. 

Hope was also the only voice who had a physical form. A small gaster blaster dragon that was able to sit on his shoulder easily. 

They always glowed, their glow a mix of blue, pink, and purple. Error had an inner feeling that that was a purposeful choice by them.

Error sighed softly, letting the breeze blow past him. It wasn't the same as having the breeze blow through his fur but.. it was close enough.

He then started walking before sitting on the edge of the cliff in front of him and him simply staring up at the stars.

Hope had moved from his shoulder to his lap, curling on it like a cat would. Error smiled a little, giving them small pets with a soft hum.

After a moment, they spoke up,”...want me to.. call you by Yak-”

“No.”, he frowned, looking down at Hope as his shoulders tensed.

Hope looked up, clear worry in their expression. And sadness,”... But… that's your name.”

He scoffed, him looking away as a familiar frustration and anger filled him,” it hasn't been my name in a long time, Hope.. Fate made sure of that.” He spat out Fate’s name with as much venom as he could muster.

Hope’s sadness only grew, and they soon set their head on his torso to look up at him,”... Yakko is still your name, whether Fate wants it to be or not.”, they spoke firmly, and Error could swear he heard anger in their tone.

Not anger at him though. 

“You shouldn't let their wants and desires take away your own. And you shouldn't let it take away who you are….”

He barked out a laugh, him unable to hold back the bitterness leaking into it,” and who am I exactly? Cuz I sure as hell don't feel like-”

“You are Yakko and Error. And you are one of my dearest of friends.”, They spoke forcefully, interrupting the destroyer. Error briefly wondered how they managed to hold so much conviction in their tone… They continued, surprisingly fiercely determined for such a small creature,” I care alot about you, Yakko. So much…. And I will not let you belittle yourself because of something Fate did to you. “

Error stared at the small dragon curled up in his lap, and the lump that hadn't left was slowly going away now. He sighed quietly after a moment, a genuinely small smile on his face,”... I care about you too… t-thanks Hope.”

Hope smiled in their own way before letting out a simple purr, them not replying with words. Instead they levitated a bit to nuzzle his cheek before going back to being curled up in his lap.

He pet them again, going back to look up at the stars. 

Despite not feeling like talking earlier… he couldn't help himself. Looking up at the stars reminded him of something from his old life, something from a movie his siblings and him made..

The words slipped out before he could stop them,” …You know, there was a story I remember hearing once… and telling as well.”

Hope perked up, looking up at Error curiously. They listened intently, their gaze hyperfocused.

He continued, undeterred,” it was called the tale of the wishing star… It was said that up in the sky , way up there in space, one of the stars was the Wishing star. A star that could grant any wish. To be able to get the wish, there was a song you had to sing and you'd need to pick the right one out of hundreds of stars out there. If you picked right, your wish could come true…”

The little dragon’s eyes went wide, a coo of wonder leaving them. He chuckled,” from what I remembered… if you picked right, the star would fall and you'd need to head directly to it and be the first to touch it to make your wish. Wish in person and what not. “

Hope hummed, turning to look up at the sky,”.. is it real?”

Error paused before sighing,”... No. But sometimes I wish it was.”

They fell into silence again. It was comfortable, but also incredibly short-lived as Hope asked,”... What was the song? Can you sing it to me?”

Error grimaced then, although his eyes never left the stars shining above them. His voice.. it wasn't at all like it was before. It was changed, shifting tones and pitches and glitched badly.

He didn't think he'd ever be able to sing properly ever again.

But he knew sometimes he'd break out into song, when alone. Singing songs he knew and songs he made.

Ink was the only one who wasn't a voice inside his head who'd ever heard his voice, and that was because she accidentally caught Error singing once. 

Hope had heard his singing before. They'd always been present for it due to the nature of them.

He knew they liked hearing him singing, even when he didn't. So he pushed down the discomfort and hummed,” … I guess. But.. it's been a while since I sang that particular song so I might be rusty.”

Hope giggled,” I don't mind that. I like your voice no matter what you sing or how you sing it.”

He shrugged, a smile forming on his face again,” alright, if you say so… Uhhhhhh I think it went something like this.”

He took a small breath before starting to sing, his glitches worsening for a moment as he did,” Twinkle, twinkle wishing star, how I wonder where you are.

Out in space so bright and clear, can you see me way down here?

Help me pick the star that's right ,and pick the wishing star tonight. 

Like finding a needle in a haystack.. 

Eenie, meenie, miney, mo, that's Jack!

Wishing star, please hear my plea.. Grant one wish, one wish for me..”

As he did, he couldn't help but lift a hand to the sky. It was silly, but he pointed to a star as he sang..

It was one he had noticed earlier. Purple , pink, and blue glittering in the same spot. It twinkled a little bit brighter when he did.. or he thought it did. He might've been imagining it.

That feeling of hoping that maybe a wish would be granted to him. That maybe, he could wish to reunite with his siblings after all this time..

But of course, nothing happened. He wasn't disappointed, he knew it wouldn't work…

But he could only dream. Dream that maybe, it would work. That he would have a way to reunite with his younger brother and sister. 

He dropped his hand back to his side, biting back a sigh. 

Hope was silent, staring up at the sky with a thoughtful expression.

Silence once more filled the air, and Error didn't mind. It was a nice silence after all..

Maybe, one day, he'd find the right star. It may be silly, but remembering that story

and the song helped him. No matter if he knew it was fake, just the thought of something like that existing out there filled him with a bittersweet hope.. 

So, he allowed himself just a little bit of leeway. Because it was a reminder that it was ok to hope every once in a while…

Chapter Text

Blue was this close to pulling out his gaster blaster hammer and flattening someone with it.

Really, he was tempted. This was the twentieth (or was it thirtieth?) genocide run the human (as the script made him call them all the time-), Chara, was doing. 

He didn't even know what spurred this chain of genocide runs to happen. It was almost like Chara was releasing pent up anger or something in the form of killing everyone over and over again!

Of course, He wasn't technically supposed to remember. Anyone in papyrus’ place never did.

Yet in this life he was a sans. He just happened to have a Papyrus' role. 

It also helped that in his past life he was able to break the fourth wall very easily. 

He remembered most, if not all the runs.

Which made him repeatedly ask ‘why’. Chara was usually a good kid. An extreme pacifist always trying to save the monsters and free them from the underground.

Something changed. Something had to have happened to cause this…

At least, that's what he hoped it was. If Chara had simply gotten bored….

Well, he was going to be even more upset. 

The genocide runs were also getting to Orange, his au’s Papyrus. He could tell by how the taller skeleton’s eyes had darker bags under them, how the other napped more than usual. 

Orange never wanted to tell Blue what was going on, or the fact he remembered past timelines.

It was frustrating because Blue was the older brother of the two of them. The oldest. And yet he was treated like a child most of the time…

Well, he was a child in his past life. But in this life? He grew up into an adult! He could handle learning stuff like that, even before!

Maybe Orange just didn't want to ruin Blue's worldview or something. Even though the runs haven't ruined it since he started remembering them.

Blue still gave people second chances. Still held onto hope and didn't give up on it. Still saw the good in others.

He sighed, slowing the pacing he was doing to rub the side of his skull with his gloved hand. 

….Sometimes.. well, most of the time, he wished Yakko was here. To give him advice, or just because he missed having an actual older brother…

It was hard being the oldest. Blue figured that out when he was younger. He was the one who took care of Orange when they were both really young.

Blue paused, a thought he usually had when thinking about his siblings from his past life. He wondered what they'd think of Orange… 

Would they accept him as a sibling like Blue has? Would they even like him? 

…. Blue thought they would. Orange was a good person, only wanting to help and protect his family. Just like Yakko and Dot did. 

He realized his face felt like something had dropped down it, him reaching up to wipe it off and looked at what it was.

Magic. Light blue in liquid form…

Oh… he'd been crying again. He swallowed thickly, him quickly trying to wipe the tears away.

They wouldn't stop easily, like usual.

He sniffled, his blue eye lights dimming. 

He really missed them… he missed his siblings.

Getting a brother in this life didn't replace his other siblings… it never would.

He loved Orange, don't get him wrong. It was great having a younger brother! Amazing to have another sibling.

It still hurt that he'd never see the other siblings he loved ever again though…

He gripped the bandana wrapped around his neck tightly in his hand, letting out a shaky breath.

He aggressively wiped away the tears rolling down his face, trying to hold back a sob. He always cried harder when he remembered he was far away from his siblings. 

He froze when he felt eyes watching him.

It was an ‘ability’ he kept from his past life. Toons always had this ‘sixth sense' if you will for when they were being watched. Him and his sibs always theorized it was because toons were created to entertain, and thus could tell when they were supposed to do so. 

The feeling was followed not too long after by a snap sound, like someone stepping on a branch. Likely intentional…

If he had fur still, it would be raised by now. Not that he was scared… it was just…

It meant he likely would have another encounter with Chara. Which would not be fun seeing as the current routes they are doing are genocide ones. 

Unless it was Orange. But the other wouldn't be pulling pranks on Blue during these runs. He never pulled them before during them.

Act. He needed to act. Just like old times.

Follow the script…

He quickly wiped his face again, taking a deep silent breath before swallowing down the sorrow he was feeling seconds later.

He acted as if he was perking up, him looking side to side in ‘confusion’ as he called out,” Huh? Papyrus? Is that you?”

He turned around towards where the branch snap sounded from, hands on his hips as his brows furrowed in the most ‘try to replicate Dot' way ever,” This better not be a prank again!” 

He paused when he saw no one though, this time feeling an actual spark of confusion. Chara never hid.. unless behind the conveniently shaped lamp. But the lamp was no where near this area, that was on the other side of Snowdin. 

His brother would hide, but Blue could tell if it was him. Brother intuition or something like that.

Huh.. that's weird…

He paused then, a sudden thought coming to him. 

If it wasn't those two… then…

It was someone who wasn't supposed to be in the au. He was sure of it.

Who though…?

… Ink…? It felt like her.

Blue didn't know how, but he could kinda sense if Ink or Error were nearby. Maybe it was his fourth wall breaking thing? Whatever it was, it helped him be able to tell when his friends came for a visit. 

He looked around again, checking for anyone who could ease drop. Once he was in the clear, a smile grew on his face,” Ink? You can come out!”

A loud whining groan sounded out from somewhere in the bushes, and a familiar skeleton’s face popped up from them. She was pouting, her mismatched eyes narrowed at him,” HOW???? HOW DID YOU KNOW?!”, she raised her arms and threw them forwards with her hands splayed out, an incredulous expression forming on her face.

He giggled, beaming as he jogged over to his friend,” I just do….” He paused then, his brows furrowed,”... I'm happy to see you, don't get me wrong… but… why are you here? Weren't you busy with protecting the multiverse?”

Ink shrugged, dropping her arms with a soft sigh,” Well… I was.. but I came to check on you. I noticed you haven't been joining me and Dream lately and I got a bit.. worried.” 

Oh. 

… Right. 

Blue's been so focused on the genocide runs that he lost track of his Star Sans duties. 

A swirl of guilt formed inside him. He didn't mean to not let Ink and Dream know he wasn't going to be able to join them for a while.

It's just… he didn't want to worry them or make them upset.

Clearly he wasn't doing a very good job at that considering Ink was worried about him. 

“Ah- uhm-... That… I'm sorry if I worried you… I just…”, he shifted on his feet nervously, looking away as he gripped his arm tightly. His shoulders hunched, his smile dropping a bit. “Uh….”

Ink’s brows furrowed even more, her crossing her arms. Her head tilted a little, and it appeared she was studying him. After a moment, she froze, her eyesockets widening as her eyelights shifted to a red exclamation mark and a purple spiral.

“.... Blue, please tell me the recent runs haven't been genos..”, Ink immediately looked a tad stressed, and he grimaced at the fact he was the cause.

He didn't answer her, biting the inside of his cheek instead. His eye lights dulled even more, almost making his eyesockets look empty. 

That was apparently the only answer she needed, her sharply inhaling. She cursed, making him hesitantly look back up at her.

She was starting to pace from one side to the other, clearly upset. She was gripping her scarf in her hands, her tugging on it in distress.

He winced, more guilt piling up on him. He didn't mean to make her distressed! “Ink-”, He tried, only to flinch as she sharply glared at him. Her eyelights had quickly shifted to a red target and a blue teardrop. His mouth snapped shut quickly, a flicker of ‘oh shit she's actually pissed’ going through his mind. 

He's only seen Ink truly angry once or twice before, and he knew it usually was because someone hurt someone she cared about. Or someone was doing something that could hurt someone she cared about. He was the same way. 

Although, usually both eyelights would be red targets…

Blue teardrop shapes were usually the sign that she was the sad and devastated kind of upset. 

… Maybe because despite being a demigod, Ink wasn't able nor allowed to interfere with genocide runs, or any route happening inside of an au. 

A bitter feeling came over Blue then. Fate… Blue hadn't met them, but he knew the control they had over Ink and Error. 

Fate wouldn't let Ink interfere no matter how much the protector wanted to. Fate barely even allows Ink to even be friends with Blue in the first place..  

Same thing with Error. It was easily one of the most frustrating things Blue knew of.

But, Blue wasn't a demigod. So.. battling the literal concept of Fate itself was… very much something he wasn't gonna be able to do no matter how much he wanted to. 

Maybe if he still had his toon powers, he would be able to. After all, toon powers worked on the rule of funny. Make it funny, you can fight anything with them. Even concepts like Fate. 

Can't kill with them, because that was a very big no, but still. 

Unfortunately, he did not have his toon powers, so fighting Fate was out of the question… for now. 

Ink was still pacing, her gaze leaving him almost immediately after it landed on him. She was muttering under her breath, although a lot of it vaguely sounded like swears. He watched her, his head dipped closer to his shoulders as he did.

She only stopped after a few minutes of this, her turning to him as a small growl left her,” how long has this been going on?”

Blue hesitated, but figured he'd answer her,”... I.. think multiverse time wise… it's been… going on for a month…?”

“A month???? And you didn't even mention it to Dream or me?! I bet you also haven't told Error, have you?”, She bit out, her tone matching her upset feelings. He winced again, curling inwardly even more. 

She wasn't wrong about that. He hasn't mentioned it to Error either. 

“I-i-... I was just…”, He struggled to explain himself, the confidence he usually shows faltering quite a lot. “... I-i know how you guys feel about the runs. And.. I didn't want to put a damper on an-”

“Blue, you'd never do that!”, Ink interrupted, her eyes widening as her eyelights changed to a blue exclamation mark and a purple triangle. She faltered for a moment before continuing,”... You're our friend, Blue. Of course we'd be upset about you going through Genocide runs. But… never think you can't tell us these things just because they're upsetting. Friends tell each other things, no matter if it's good or bad. And we help each other. You've always been there for us through thick and thin.. let us be there for you.”

He teared up again, him silent for only a moment,”... But… you guys can't interfere. A-and you could get hurt… You can't respawn outside of your au-”

Ink huffed, setting her hands on his shoulders. She had to look up at him a little, mainly due to how short she was,”Blue. Just because we can't interfere doesn't mean we can't help in other ways… besides, you know I'd interfere if I could. Also, I'm not scared of a kid who decided to go on a murder spree. I've seen scarier things believe it or not. “

He rose a brow, his shoulders lowering just slightly,” l-like what?”

Ink hummed, a small smile forming on her face,” Well… there was this one time I saw a clown-”

His eyesockets widened, his eyelights shrinking as he tensed,”c-clown????”

Ink nodded gravely, putting on the most serious face she could muster, although she couldn't keep the slightly amused glint out of her eyelights,” yes , Blue. A clown. He was the most terrible clown in all the multiverse! He terrorized anyone he came across!”

He started to shake, only to pause. Wait a dang minute-

She was making a joke. Or at least, trying to make something up.

 He frowned, giving her an unamused stare,”... ink, that's not funny. You know how much I don't like clowns!” 

Ink snickered a little, giving him a lopsided smile,” I know. But they scare you more than anything. Sooo they were one of the most scariest things I've encountered.”

Blue huffed, his frown deepening,” you aren't even scared of clowns-”

“Maybe not. I don't get scared easily, I'll admit. But still.”, Ink grinned cheekily, patting Blue's shoulder lightly.

Blue rolled his eyelights, still unamused by Ink’s antics. But he couldn't stop the small smile from forming on his face.

Ink was trying to distract him… he could tell. The thought that she was trying was.. heartwarming? No, not exactly.... It made him feel cared for. She's always had that effect on him. 

Ink noticed his small smile apparently, because she looked very proud of herself not too long after. 

“... Ink…”, He started as an apologetic expression formed on his face after a moment of silence,” I'm sorry… I know I should've told you and the others… but you guys mean the world to me. I hate being the reason you guys get upset or angry…”

Ink’s expression softened at that, her reaching up to pat Blue's head,”hey , don't apologize!... I mean, I get it. But we would only get angry and upset for you, not at you! You gotta remember that, ok?”

“... Ok. I'll… I'll try.”

He didn't know whether he believed his own words or not.