2- Nothingness

Ink needed someone he could trust completely.

100%. No doubts about them.

Sure, there were the other Sanses, like Dream and Blue, but it wasn't the same.

Not when you knew that there was an alternate version of Dream called 'Shattered Dream'.

Not exactly the most cheerful name.

Or a that there was a 'Yanderblue'.

Yes… Ink knew enough about anime to know that a yandere wasn't someone that you wanted to be associated with.

There was might even be a 'bad' version of himself!

It made Ink wonder if he really was the original Ink. Maybe there were other Inks before him? …What if Ink was just another au? There weren't really any 'Ink' aus that he was protecting at the moment… But that didn't mean that there wasn't an Ink before him.

How many retries had it taken before Ink had turned out the way he was? Were there more abandoned Inks out there, waiting for something to happen?

Ink shook his head, rubbing his eyes. He had to stop overthinking things.

Wait… there was a bad Ink… either it wasn't that popular, or Error had destroyed it before Ink had the chance to get a proper look into it.

Error!Ink. (The first time Ink saw that he thought it was the ship of him and Error. Ink thinks that there are waaaaay too many aus of just sans, and that there should be more of the other characters too, but he's not complaining cus that's his job)

Ink did trust Blue and Dream…to an extent.

At least the 'Bad Sanses', so to say, were open about their bad attributes. But with cheerful, optimistic ones like Blueberry and Dream, you never really knew what was going on behind those smiles. At least the 'Bad' Sanses admitted what they really were… but the others were too scared of how the others would react if they found out their secrets.

Like Ink.

He was absolutely terrified of anyone finding out about his 'problem'.

He was pretty sure that Dream suspected something, though, because of his ability to detect emotions. He was almost certain that Dream thought something was up with Ink. In fact, he had approached Ink once or twice inquiring into why he was unfazed when faced with a life-threatening fight. Ink replied with a 'Oh, I try to keep calm under stress', but was pretty sure that hadn't swayed Dream.

Maybe even Blue suspected something! Ink suddenly realized. He had asked Ink what the 'colorful paint sash thingy' was on his chest. Ink was caught off-guard. No one had ever actually asked him that question before, which was kind of odd, seeing that the sash was slapped smack-on his shirt, in full view.

I mean, it's not everyday that you see a heavily clothed skeleprotector with paint vials and a giant paintbrush on his back.

Ink had countered Blue's intelligent question by saying that it was his 'weapon source', with no other context. Blue seemed to accept the answer with a happy 'WOWZERS! NOW, OFF TO RECALIBARATE MY RIDDLES! MWEH!'.

Error… Well, he 100% knew Ink had no soul. He just didn't say anything about it. Error had once tried to capture Ink's nonexistent soul with his strings, but had failed, confused. Ink hoped that he just thought that it was part of his magic, and that it had nothing to do with the fact that he didn't have a soul, nop-

Well… what would happen if they actually realized that Ink had no soul?

When he had nothing to do, Ink had thought up of different scenarios of what they might do if they found out.

One version was that they got so scared of Ink that they never tried to come near him again. Another version was where they smiled and acted like everything was fine and dandy, but inside they were cautious of every move he made, keeping their distance from him in case he lost it. The last one was… the worst, in Ink's opinion.

Where Ink went insane and killed every au's residents. He wouldn't listen to their pleas of friendship and acceptance.

He just killed.

No mercy.

Ink shuddered, moving into a more comfortable position, while still floating. He hoped that would never happen! He definitely wouldn't do that. Ink's friends were to precious to him to be slaughtered so mercilessly.

Even…Error.

It wasn't that he had anything against Error ; not even anything against the bad Sanses, but…Error just did things without thinking twice. Without using his head or heart. He just… did what he wanted.

In some ways, Ink wished that he could be as free as Error.

Not as in destroying people's creations! It was just that , Ink felt so…restricted sometimes.

Kind of funny that the protector and 'creator' of au's was feeling bound by rules.

Some people viewed him as a god, for goodness sake!

Ink closed his eyes, sighing deeply (once again).There had been too much on his mind lately… and there was still the problem of being bored.

What would it be like having a real soul?

A real soul, which gave you real emotions, not fake paint ones that you had to drink first.

A soul. The center of every being. The lifeblood. Everyone had one.

Except, of course, yours truly.

Why did he even decide to rip his own soul apart? Kinda dumb now that Ink thought about it… But, it was either that, or staying in that place with no body else.

That white empty huge nothingness… that was what had led him to destroy his soul.

That place…

It was huge empty white bleak desolate lonely endless barren boring meaningless.

Like himself.

Was he even supposed to exist in the first place? Ink didn't think that a 'mistake' should have ended up as the protector of universes.

He was an abnormality. It was unheard of to be soulless and still functioning, much less the protector of Alternate Universes.

His own creator had abandoned him. How bad must something be for someone to just…leave them?

He wasn't supposed to exist, then. It was just luck. Luck ,timing, a series of coincidences, and some insanity on Ink's part that led him to who he was today.

Would things have turned out different if Ink had just��� stayed there? Stayed there like he was supposed to? He would still have a soul… maybe if he had waited longer, the creator would come back? Ink would have his own au then, with his own Papyrus and his own personality and his own ways of life.

But he didn't. All because he couldn't stand being alone. Being forgotten. Unused. Tossed away, like a piece of garbage.

Was that what he really was? Just… a shell? Ink didn't even know what would happen to him if he somehow died. He didn't have a soul. Would he turn to dust, or just…disappear? Would anyone remember him?

They would probably be glad that he went. Because he was a joke, a mistake, he never meant to exist. He was an abandoned project, unfinished. Ignored. Betrayed. Dropped. Hewasn'tsupposedtoexistunifinisheduslessnothingreplacehewasa-

Ink cradled his head in his arms, rocking back and forth.

He was.

An error.

"You doing good there, bruh?"