Chapters are released every day starting from May 1st and onwards.

"Now what do we have here?"

You hated everything about the skeleton in front of you, the way his knowing smile seemed to pick you apart piece by piece, knowing that he had the full and complete upper hand of the situation and you were forever subjected to his mercy. "What are you doing so far away from home?" he continued, leaning in closer. The blue strings wrapped around your ankles and torso tightened, forcing the air from your lungs.

"That's enough Error," the second skeleton snapped, flicking his wrist and releasing the strings. This wasn't much of a relief however, because you plummeted in a twenty foot drop to the ground below, possibly shattering your rib cage in the process. "But of course, you do pose an interesting question." The skeleton was still staring at you. Unlike Error, he was clad in a much brighter appearance, a paintbrush slung across his back, several vials of glowing paint tucked in a sash across his chest. "How did you find yourself here?"

It became apparent that both of these skeletons would be willing to kill you in a heartbeat if you said the wrong thing. They must think I'm a spy, you realised, taking a tentative step backwards. Where was there to run? The Void was an endless plain of white with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, making you an open target should you make a run for it. What other option was there but then to tell the truth?

"My universe," you explained, the words falling from your tongue faster than you could recall. "Everything was going as normal, you know, the way universes normally function, when suddenly it wasn't." Your voice caught in your throat and you said no more. The wounds of the recent trauma were still fresh no matter how many times you tried to bury them, recalling your memories was pulling the scab and you were bleeding all over again.

"That's doesn't explain why you're here," Error growled, tilting your chin upwards so that your eyes met with his. For the first time you truly caught the insanity that ravaged there, the small glimpse into the skeleton's consciousness, how destroyed and beyond repair it was. You shuddered at the thought of even being near him, wondering how Error could still talk and function with such a disease in his mind, how he wasn't a drooling mess all over the place. And what exactly had made him like that?

"I-I don't understand," you stammered and looked over at Ink, hoping that he had a better explanation. You felt safer around Ink than the demented skeleton that held you hostage with his blue strings, then again, all creations felt safer around their protector and not at the hands of their destroyer. "My universe is gone, in the blink of an eye it vanished. That's all I know."

"What Error means," Ink snapped, looking at the black skeleton with a gaze that spoke of such hidden ferocity that it made your very blood run cold, "is that when most universes expire, or delete in a case such as yours, everyone terminates. There aren't any survivors, no one gets stranded in the Void. So it is very unusual that you are the exception, why you were able to live while others couldn't."

"Live?" It was more of a statement than it was a question. "What do you mean I lived, and they didn't? My friends, family, they're still alive!" You thrashed against the blue strings that held you prisoner but to no avail.

"I'm sorry human, but they aren't," Ink whispered, his voice laced with genuine sympathy. You wondered if he had gone through the same as you, left all alone in the Void without anyone to run to without a world or home to call his own. Your eyes flickered to Error who said nothing, who seemed to be lost in thoughts of his own, dwelling of memories long forgotten. Maybe you weren't the only one who had gone through this.

But the thought of never seeing your family or friends ago was deafening, all resolve, all determination drained from your very will. What was the point in living if there was nothing to live for? Best to die than to keep pushing, when there wasn't anything to push against.

"However," Ink continued and the brief moment of remorse passed, everyone once more snapping back into place. Error pulled from his train of thought and his expression regained its arrogant and cocky demeanor, putting on a mask no easier than a puppet could. "I think the more interesting question is how did your universe collapse? I could suggest one way." He narrowed his eyes and shot an accusing glare at Error who stood behind you.

Anger coursed through your very veins. You had a reason to live now, it fueled your existence. Every thought, fiber and composition of your being was consumed with a profound and utter hatred of the skeleton that stood smiling like an arrogant bastard before you, revealing rows of teeth that you hoped to soon knock from his jaw. He was the one who had taken everything from you, and he was the one who would pay.

"Geez, this one has a temper," Error chuckled, seeming amused by your change in attitude. How dare he play a comedian when he knew that he had been the one to destroy your home, your world, and then laugh about it as if he had merely squashed an ant? "As much as I would have loved to do such a thing, I keep to our truces." He narrowed his eyes at Ink who avoided eye contact, saying nothing.

Confusion washed over you. If Error hadn't been the one to destroy your universe, than who? Who had the power of a god, the power mortals reveled and feared? And what unspoken truce existed amongst Ink and Error?

"You've destroyed universes before?" When there was no reply from either of the two skeletons, you felt your familiar anger resurface. Why wasn't anyone telling you anything? You had a right to know exactly why your universe was destroyed. You didn't think you could live with the thought of your entire world being eradicated simply from a minor mistake or glitch.

"There's a war," Ink said at last. "A lot of universes, alternate realities that coexist all at once, are revolting against each other." He didn't mention anything on this truce between him and Error and you quickly picked up that it was a subject that they did not like to bring up, which you decided to let go and continued to listen to the painter.

"I have spent years in this Void, though time doesn't really exist here," Ink gave a half-hearted laugh. "I protect the universes and safeguard them the best I can. Occasionally there are minor slipups and something happens, but peace has exusted for as long as I can remember."

Protect the universes from what? Your gaze wandered over to Error and felt your hands go numb.

"There is a certain group that has assembled, they don't go by any particular name. They seem to originate from universes where the residents have more violent and sadstic tendencies than most, these seem to be organising and wreaking havoc across the multiverse," Ink concluded, a hollow look in his eyes. When was the last time he slept?

"But what do they want? It doesn't make sense to start a war without a reason." You shook your head, still not understanding.

"That's exactly the point," Error chuckled. "They don't need reason or an explanation, they do it simply because they can. If they can prove that our buddy here isn't the fierce and valiant protector that so many portray him as," a hint of sarcasm laced his words, "then that establishes fear amongst all the other passive universes. Everyone suddenly becomes a lot more vulnerable."

"You would know," Ink muttered darkly, his mouth buried in his brown scarf. Error swiveled his head to stare at the painter, his eyesockets dark. There was a brief moment of tension before you finally broke the silence.

"Do you think that they had anything to do with this, with my universe?" you asked. More than anything you wanted a name, and with a name often came a face, and a face was something that you could cut and put on a stake for all to see. One would die at your hand, the one who had brought your universe out of existence.

"Perhaps," Error shrugged, not frankly giving a damn. "But what does it matter? Your universe is gone, there's no bringing it back."

And without a second thought you flung yourself onto the glitch, attempting to rip his skull from his spinal cord. You closed your fist around his windpipe and brought Error's head against the ground, smashing it with all the force you could muster. With a mere flick of his wrist, you were flung several feet into the air as Error got to his feet, dramatically brushing the nonexistent dust from his boxers. "Wow," he chuckled. "You're a real fighter."

How dare he tell you that there was no hope for your world? You would bring your universe back, you would see your family and friends again. Once you captured whoever or whatever had destroyed your world, you would force them to bring it back. Surely one with that much power to destroy could bring something back, right?

You struggled against the invisible restraints that held you captive. "You don't know what it's like!" you spat, directing your fury at Error. "You don't know anything about friends, family or what it's like to care for someone! I bet you deleted your own universe, didn't you? I bet - " The restraints tightened around your windpipe and no other words escaped from your mouth. Error's cocky demeanor had changed entirely. For the first time he looked capable of killing, his eyes never once looking away from you with a hatred and loathing so vile and wrong that it drained any resolve from your very being.

Your lungs screamed in protest as you struggled to breathe in, clawing at your throat as if that would somehow ease the magic claming hold on you. "Error, that's enough!" Ink hollered, though it was hard to make out anything he said over the roar of blood in your ears.

Error wasn't letting go, he would never let go until you were a dead, rotting corpse on the ground below. He would wait centuries if he had to, but he would kill you. He was sure of it.

"I won't ask again," Ink snarled and waved his hand, the beginnings of a white fire that danced along the tips of his bony hand. A wave of massive skulls surrounded him, skulls splashed in various colours of rainbow ink with jaws slightly parted, revealing the beams of energy and fury they would soon unleash upon the skeleton if he did not yield his hold on you. "Let them go."

Without another word, Error stuffed his hand into the pocket of his jacket, not bothering to retort with a cocky comeback or even say anything at all. His dead stare was fixated on Ink, not bothered once by the blasters that threatened to blow him to smithereens. Without another word, Error vanished from view, glitching slightly and then nothing.

Ink relaxed slightly and waved the blasters away before turning back to face you. "Are you alright - " He paused, wanting to know your name.

"[Y/N]," you managed to reply, massaging your throat, still on edge as if the invisible chokehold might once more come back and squeeze the life from your veins. "What was that all about? I don't understand."

"Error's story is his own to tell," Ink replied defiantly, before his shoulders sagged slightly. "Though, it is wrong of you to assume that Error and I have always been this way. We were in similar circumstances as you are in now, a world deleted without explanation or reason, simply gone.

"I cannot help you [Y/N]," Ink continued. "I made that promise a very long time ago, to a friend who I swore could bring his universe back. But when he realised it was a lie, he turned on me. But alas, that is a story for another time. However, I can send you to a universe where you will be safe until this war passes. Perhaps after the battles are fought and victory is won, can we decide what to do with you."

You thought for a moment. "I-I would like that," you smiled warmly.

Ink turned to his left and swiped upwards. A ripping sound echoed through the vast and empty Void before a rift appeared out of nowhere, similar to the hole you had first passed during your wanderings of the Void. You had no idea where the portal led, but if Ink deemed it safe, than that somehow was all the reassurance you needed. Without another word, you stepped into the portal, giving Ink a small wave before the rift closed up and vanished from view.

He sat amongst the treetops, watching as the human wandered through the forest. He had been here once, so many years ago, thousands of lifetimes that were long forgotten simply because no one lived to remember. He had been normal, as normal as a monster could get anyway. He couldn't remember the name of his universe, just the thought of that drove Error insane sometimes. But he had a Papyrus, an Undyne, Toriel, Asgore, the whole lot. Friends and family, long gone now.

You don't know anything about friends, family or what it's like to care for someone!

Why did that bother him so much? Error couldn't fathom a reason why. Insults and curses had been thrown at him for centuries by those of the dying universes he often eradicated, but these words had hit home, resurfaced emotions, guilt and lamentations he had spent years avoiding. He should have killed the damn human right then and there, but Ink would have deemed that a breaking of their pitiful truce and kill him in a heartbeat.

And so Error watched as the human continued to progress, blind and lost in this new world. But they wouldn't stay here forever, their fate lie elsewhere, on the battlefield between good and evil.

For the human had survived when all else died, just as he and Ink had both lived without any reason or explanation when their universes passed into oblivion. And for that the human was an anomaly.

A glitch.