I didn't sign up for that shit

Doubts

Frezh froze at his little rat's words. Love? A guardian? And then, of all things, a Guardian of Destruction? A role that had already tormented Error so much?

“Are you sure?” Even Love asked, unsure and incredulous, it seemed difficult for him to understand. “Why should I of all people be made a Guardian? I am nothing special that would be a reason to make me a Guardian.”

“Love…” Error looked at Love almost disappointingly, as if he didn’t want Love to talk about himself like that.

“You have every right to be appointed as a Guardian,” Frezh hissed and hugged the winged skeleton, hugging him protectively. He didn't give him a chance to object. "You protected our hatchlings with a fervor that rivals that of a Guardian." While he still wasn't happy about it being destruction, out of all things he could have become, he could begin to see why Love was given this role. This one wasn't entirely dissimilar to him in that respect. Both them would tear the multiverse apart if it meant keeping the little Rattlings safe.

Maybe he should at least tell Love about the possibility of how he can protect the children even better. Because after what he just said, he's sure Love will appreciate this option. He just needs to be careful how he introduces it to Love. Does he not want him to end up being afraid of him, like many others already are?

Plus, Split can certainly use the help. He can Frezh imagine that this self-sacrificing idiot wants to fix everything on his own again.

“Then…” Love began and looked at Error questioningly, if somewhat ashamed. As if he were ashamed to ask a child to do this. “Can you help me figure out my magic?” I know you probably don’t want anything to do with it anymore, but I don’t know if else to ask.”

"Of course." It almost looked like Error was about to start, but then he was stopped by a yawn. Frezh gently separated himself from Love and gently pushed Error back into the safe nest.

“You get some rest. We will take care of you” Love definitely will. Frezh... He's going to investigate this strange feeling he's been having since they arrived with the twins. As if someone was watching them. But whenever Frezh approached the presence, it disappeared. And right now he can't ignore a possible threat.

It's time for a hunt.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Concerned, Despair held Hover's face in his hands, turning it slowly back and forth to examine the damage. That was... That wasn't some random magic Love used there. He recognized the traces of destructive magic only too well, having seen them often enough with Mistake. And while that subtle note that was pure Mistake was missing, the rest of the magic screamed for destruction and protection.

“What were you thinking?” he asked his brother, shaking his head as he looked away from the hole that had once been his horn. "This could have been a lot worse if Love had been determined enough to do you real harm."

“I didn’t want any of that…” he confessed with a soft sigh and if Despair wasn’t still holding his head, Hover would have lowered it. Despair didn't even have to feel his shame and disappointment, as they were written all over his face. “But I guess it was deserved.”

“You blew it, yes.” Despair couldn’t say that nicely. “No matter how “new” we may be to our roles, you know how sensitive the multiverse can be to intent. And your agreement sealed the deal in the eyes of the multiverse. As soon as you had the chance, you should have educated them, told them what was likely to happen. Then they would have been prepared and had the chance to ultimately deny it. You could have asked 404 to try to prevent or undo it if the children were against it. So yes, that’s your fault.”

Just thinking about how much pain and anger he had felt from the children made his soul weep. They weren't his boys, but he wanted to protect them and keep them safe. And he had failed there too. Because he could have done everything he had just told Dream. But... No matter how many times he thinks back to this situation with the villagers, the more natural it seemed. As if even now he doesn't see the point in letting the children in on what exactly they agreed to.

Why? Why was that so? Why hadn't he reacted when they agreed to such a big deal? Maybe he could have prevented it or at least mitigated it. Much easily, if he goes to 404 now, he could try to persuade him to remove that part of the code from Love and the children, give them the choice to actively choose to become Guardians.

"I'm sorry Nighty..." Hover cuddled into the hands that were still touching his cheeks. "I've ruined your ability to be close to your gang again..."

"Oh no, you're not going down that spiral again." Despair immediately forced Hover to look at him, he looked into the eyes of his counterpart, his soulmate. “Yes, your relationship with my boys wasn’t the best, but they learned to love you too. And while your mistake was much more serious with the children, with time and caution we can also smooth things over.”

“You have too much faith in me…” he whispered, looking into Despair’s eyes with a mixture of sadness and love. “I always ruin everything nice for you, ever since we were kids. Be it your relationship with your gang, the children or flying.”

“Oh Hover…” Despair looked sadly at his counterpart, leaning their foreheads together. His soul says quietly and reassuringly to Hover, it was happy when Hover's soul quietly joined in. “You’re not ruining anything for me. Both the children and my boys came with their own problems that we have to learn to deal with. We have made a big mistake, but we will overcome this obstacle. And the children will learn to forgive us too.”

At his words, Hover relaxed more and more, he saw the golden tears welling up in Hover's eye sockets. He burdens himself with so much guilt, some of it really his fault. And some of it was the manipulation of the villagers that they had both succumbed to as children. Had the villagers used them for their own purposes, playing them like two puppets who only followed the villagers' lead.

"We may not be able to fly together anymore since you lost your wings to the villagers, but I don't mind sitting here on the ground with you." Their mouths were inches apart to meet. If he put his full love into his next words, his soul sang all his love. “The sky wouldn’t be the same without you.”

And as the tears began to stream down Hover's cheeks, their lips met, sealing that gentle yet desperate kiss. But Despair was happy to give Hover all the reassurance he needed. He wouldn't leave him no matter what. They belong together, both now and in the future.

“I'm sorry to bother you.” The two of them jumped apart in shock. Almost caught, he turned to the voice, worry growing in his soul. But that went away when he realized Life was standing there. Just because Life was blind didn't make Despair believe he didn't realize what had just happened. But still, he didn't judge either of them for sharing this intimacy with each other. He felt no disgust from him, no disgust. Because even if Life would have despised them for it, Despair wouldn't have stopped loving Hover. He couldn't. They belong together, their souls cannot exist without each other.

"What brings you to us, Life?" Hover asked as he stood up and wiped away his tears. He wanted to try not to seem so pathetic.

“It’s about the children in your care. Something is wrong with Death and the others. They're after Balance and from the looks of it right now, they might try to use the kids to get an advantage." Every bit of anger that welled up in Despair at those words was covered by a cold fear as Life revealed the real reason he was there.

“It will lead to war if we don’t stop them.”