ArtistTale: Ink and Adeleine

Act III: Chapter 17

(Perspective: Adeleine)

I looked to the left. There was nothing but cracked walls and piles of rubble. I looked to right. All that was there was a sad tree that appeared to have been rotting for over. Wherever Blue sent us was obviously ruined for several years. Speaking of which, she was nowhere to be found.

“Hello?” I called out. There was no response. I was left with no choice but to keep moving. I walked along the ruined path and found Ink lying on the ground. His face was wet from the tears spilling out of his eye sockets. He held the Star Rod with a loose grip. I got on my knees and placed his head on my lap.

“Poor thing,” I said as I pet his head, “I wish I knew how you felt.” Ink slowly opened his eyes and smiled gently.

“Adeleine,” he said, “You’re here.”

“Yes,” I replied, “Do you know where we are?” Ink’s smile went away as he got up from off my lap.

“I told Blue to teleport us here,” he answered, “It was the only other place that wasn’t corrupted yet.”

“What is this AU?” I asked.

“This is... ArtistTale,” Ink answered, “My original AU before it was erased from existence.”

“But I thought you came from a blank void,” I remarked.

“Yes,” Ink clarified, “But this was an AU that I created for me. I wanted to make an AU where everyone was an artist like me. So I created this AU. Unfortunately, it was destroyed and ruined for several years.” I gasped quietly.

“Who would’ve done such a terrible thing?” I asked.

“Someone known as The Lavender Demon,” Ink answered, “I would get my revenge, but they were killed not too long ago. Ever since, Error has been trying to find a way to bring them back.”

“Perhaps that is the reason he wanted your paintbrush,” I suggested.

“No, it can’t be,” Ink responded, “My paintbrush can’t bring back those that are already dead.”

“I see,” I said, “Let’s go search for the others. They shouldn’t be too far away. Can you walk?”

“I think so,” Ink replied, “Follow me. I think I know my way through here.” I followed him through the ruins. An uneasy feeling crawled down my back, as if something dangerous was about to happen.

“Um, hey,” I said, “Do you think we should stop for a moment?” Ink turned around.
“Is something the matter?” Ink asked me.

“It’s just that, I’m getting this uneasy feeling that some sort of monster is going to jump out and attack us,” I explained, “But there’s no need to worry about me. I can defend myself after all.”

“Okay then,” Ink said. We kept walking. We ended up stopping in a large open room at the sight of an amalgamate attacking Nightmare Sans. The amalgamate looked like it consisted of many dogs as it dripped white goo everywhere.

“Get off!” Nightmare shouted, “Don’t make me kill you!” I turned to Ink.

“We should help him,” I suggested, “Even though he’s a bad guy, I can’t let him die like this.”

“If you say so,” Ink said, “But remember that these things can’t die.”

“Got it,” I said. I rushed over to Nightmare, who had been pinned down by the amalgamate.

“Help me!” Nightmare shouted impatiently, “Now!”

“Alright, alright,” I said. I attempted to touch the amalgamate and pet him. It turned to me and pounced on me. It barked with an eerie echo. Suddenly, a bone was thrown at the amalgamate from the distance right. It went after the bone and then fell asleep after catching it.

“You’ve got to ACT with them in order to truly defeat them,” Blue said from the distance. She walked out of the shadows along with Dream Sans.

“Blue! Dream!” Ink shouted with happiness.

“Thanks,” I said, “But I do have to say, that felt a bit anticlimactic.”

“I agree,” Blue said, “But that’s what it’s like being a Star Fairy.” I looked over at Nightmare.

“I think we have a guest with us,” I said. Nightmare got up and walked over to us.

“I do have to thank you guys for saving me,” he said, “But why?”

“It was the right thing to do,” I told him, “And yes. We know that you’re our enemy.”

“Don’t think we’re letting you off the hook though,” Blue said, “You’re lucky I showed you my mercy and let you go. If I wasn’t so nice, you would be in Anti-Void Jail. I’m going to call a ceasefire until we get to Error and find the others.”

“Alright,” Nightmare said, “Besides, it’s not like I can seriously damage you in this passive state. I might as well tell you where Error is and his current plans.”

“That would be great,” I said, “We really need to know what his next plans are.”

“Okay, so here’s what he told me a while ago,” Nightmare began, “He was planning for you guys to end up here because he knew that this was the only place he couldn’t corrupt. It was then that we was going to awaken Void Termina and destroy Ink Sans for once and for all.”

“This all doesn’t make sense to me,” I said,
“Why would Error was Ink dead so badly?”

“Probably has something to do with all of the creativeness in the world,” Dream suggested, “But I don’t even know either.”

“Whatever the reason is, he must be stopped,” Ink said, “I can’t let Error do this any longer. Let’s go. Nightmare, do you know where Error is?”

“He should be near the end of the ruins at where the first home would be,” Nightmare answered, “If you follow me, I should be able to take you there.” We followed Nightmare through the sad, lonesome ruins. About halfway there, I noticed Ink slouching over a bit as he took heavy steps.

“Hey, are you okay?” I asked him. He shook his head.

“I’m just a bit tired,” Ink answered, “Is it okay if we take a quick break?”

“Nightmare, let’s stop for a moment,” Blue said, “We need some time to rest.”

“Sure,” Nightmare replied, “This is a good spot to rest, right where the spider bake sale used to be.” We all agreed this was a good spot and proceeded to sit down. I waved my paintbrush in the air to create a small cookie and then handed to Ink, who was sitting right next to me.

“Here,” I said, “Take this. It might give you some more strength.” Ink took the cookie and smiled.

“Thanks,” he said. He slowly started to eat the cookie while I got up and looked around the old spider bake sale. The cobwebs slowly fell to the ground, and beneath it was old baked spider donuts, which had something growing on them. While I was examining the grim and lonesome bake sale, Blue walked over to me.

“So, you’re a Fairy Eater,” she told me, “That was one of the few things that I didn’t expect to see, even through all of my visions.” I turned to her.

“You can see the future?” I asked, “I didn’t think that was possible.”

“Seeing the future is a special power that only the SOUL of Patience can have,” Blue explained, “I knew all along that Ink would get into trouble with this. And yet, I did nothing to stop him.”

“Why not?” I asked him, “If you’re a protector of the multiverse, then why did you let this happen?” Blue scratched the back of her head and smiled with guilt.

“It’s not really my business to get involved with the future and its outcomes,” she answered, “Besides, I knew that if he made this mistake, he would learn from it. And he met you. Might I say that you are one of the sweetest girls I have ever met?” I blushed slightly.

“Thanks,” I responded, “When I first met you, I thought you were this really tough cold-hearted girl, but I now I’m starting to see your patient side a bit more.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Blue said, “I really am a patient person. I just sort of blew up when I found Ink finally.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure Ink forgives you,” I told her. Blue chuckled a little.

“You really do love him, don’t you?” she asked me.

“Yes,” I answered, “I’ve never felt a stronger connection to anyone before, and it’s not just because I gave him half of my SOUL so that he could live and feel real emotions.” My smile turned to a slight frown.

“But I fear that something very bad is going to happen to him,” I continued, “He has this issue where he doesn’t tell me the full truth. If it wasn’t for me, he would’ve been killed by Error the night he snuck out of the hotel.” Blue wiped away the tear that fell from my face.

“He’ll be fine,” she said, “My visions say that everything will be fine in the end. I’ll promise you this. If I ever see Ink in danger, I will protect him with everything I have.” My smiled returned to me.

“Sure,” I said. I held my hand out and we shook on it.

“I better get back to Ink,” I told Blue, “It’s time that we left. Before you go as well, be sure to talk to Dream. I think he has something he wants to tell you.”

“Okay,” Blue said, “I will be sure to talk to him.” I walked back over to Ink and sat down next to him.

“What were you guys talking about?” he asked me. I responded by kissing his cheek.

“You don’t need to worry about it,” I told him, “You ready to go?”

“I think so,” Ink answered as he stood up, “Thanks for the cookie. It was delicious.”

“You’re welcome,” I answered as I also stood up. I held is hand loosely. He blushed a bit.

“Follow me,” Nightmare said, “Home shouldn’t be far now.” We then started to follow Nightmare towards Home, in hopes of finding Error.