Reaper used to love his life.

He and his beloved had been created to get rid of the 'garbage' that their Creator left behind, usually in the form of desolate Universes, where no life would grow no matter how much time passed, places that didn't even deserve to have a name.

Or Universes so horrible to live in that everyone will be better off forgetting about it, left happy to believe that Horrortale was the worst thing the Multiverse has ever had, what Ink didn't know, what Ink forgot, wouldn't hurt him.

And he knew that his beloved was happy with that life too, each Universe destroyed was a dance that they both shared and enjoyed, from a simple partnership born from a mutual directive to the union of their Souls from their mutual love.

The beautiful blue threads of his partner destroyed everything in their path, there was no material in the Multiverse that he could not cut but still managed to be so soft when he used them to make clothes...

They had turned red a long time ago.

Even now, hundreds of years after it happened, he didn't know exactly what happened, Ink had created more Universes than normal so they decided to split up to finish the job quickly, nothing out of the ordinary, if just a bit bothersome and boring.

Reaper didn't see his husband again for 5 years after that, he was nowhere to be found, their Soul connection was everywhere and by year 4, it had started to hurt physically.

There was a point where he couldn't even move, he fell into a random Universe and just waited, maybe for the pain to pass, maybe he waited for death, everything in that last year was just blurry, his entire being hurt and he was alone, his Creator was not being helpful, his memory worse than ever, and his partner had disappeared.

It was hell.

And suddenly, everything stopped.

Only two things remained, the presence of his love, on the other side of the Multiverse, finally within Reaper's reach.

And the need to destroy everything that stood in his way to reunite with him.

Red threads received him with the same love and care as when they were blue, eyes full of madness and murmuring things he did not understand about white spaces and voices that never stopped, about their true purpose and Creators beyond Ink's power, so many confusing answers to unknown questions.

He only understood that his beloved was back at his side, hurt and broken beyond what he ever thought possible, the connection between their Souls finally at peace, the torture his husband suffered taking its toll on him too. Still, he was alive and that was the only thing that mattered at that moment.

More than a thousand universes were emptied of life completely or partially in his path, and thousands more were destroyed in the centuries that followed, all to ease the pain their Souls suffered each time the Multiverse became... overfilled.

What a strange concept, they had never before questioned whether it was even possible that the Multiverse could be filled, they had been created to destroy the incomplete Universes, and even when they began to destroy inhabited Universes, they never saw it as anything more than a form to make the Multiverse look 'pretty'.

He quickly realized that stopping the seemly irrational need for destruction of his partner was impossible and only hurt them both in the long run, so he only concentrated on gathering the fragments of his broken mind little by little, the pleas of innocent worlds did not stop him, the tears of His own Creator did not move him.

It didn't matter if the pain really came from the Multiverse filling up too much, or if it was a trick from whoever took his husband, over the years it became easy not to question what he couldn't prove. Years and years of scars and fights, of trying to piece together what had happened, of adapting to this new dynamic without losing himself in the madness that seemed to infect their Souls.

Years since the last time he spoke the true name of his Soulmate, who now callously referred to himself as 'Error', unable to see himself as the Monster Reaper fell in love with so many years ago no matter how much this one assured him that he still was.

Years before he finally got the name of the one who had destroyed their quiet life.

Fate.

She called herself the Creator of Ink, his mother, convinced that the torture she put his husband through was for the good of all the Multiverse, that Ink had made a mistake by "limiting" them in their destruction and she was helping them.

What a load of bullshit, the only thing Fate had achieved with her "help" was to traumatize the entire Multiverse, especially her supposed son! If even half of what she said was true then Reaper was pretty sure the Multiverse had never even been at half of its capacity with how much he and Error destroyed to have free time and avoid the pain.

Because pain leads to madness. And he wasn't going to allow his Soulmate to return to madness, not when it took so long to snap him out of it.

Fortunately, the last few centuries had been kinder to them, although he still refused to be called by his old name and his threads would probably never be blue again, his loved one was better than ever, the company of the Dark Sanses, especially Nightmare, a fellow Balance Keeper, had been of great help in allowing them to do more than just destroy.

Like weaving, in Error's case, all of the Gang's clothing for years now has been made up of Error's creations, providing excellent protection against attacks from his enemies, and in Cross's words "It helps us remember that we are no longer alone."

And in Reaper's case, he had found gardening enjoyable, the reminder that he could do more than take the lives of others was necessary, his old writing hobby had lost its appeal after all the misfortunes that had happened, the idea of sitting down to write his thoughts only made him sad at best, lead him to destroy the unfortunate Universe he had chosen to write in about at worst.

So gardening was the best alternative, he could get lost in his thoughts without falling into a spiral, just moving, watering, and growing more plants, flowers, and trees; maybe he would try the cuisine in the future when he ran out in space in the Universe where the Dark Sanses had built their base, Horror seemed to like it.

Screams coming from the castle brought him back to the present, he had started a small plantation of roses, chrysanthemums, and peonies for his anniversary and he was checking that none had been damaged during the last parring between Dust and Cross that had ended up too close to his garden.

It didn't seem like the shouting was about something urgent, so he took his time putting away his materials, Killer had probably started a fight between the others out of boredom, again.

It wasn't until he recognized Blue's voice among the screams that he rushed to see what was happening, the youngest was supposed to be in a meeting with the Sans Council and he wouldn't be back so early unless something big, and probably bad for them, had happened.

As if summoned, Blue walked out the door, his normally unfazed expression nowhere to be seen, instead, it seemed as if his entire perception of the world had been turned upside down, and was that a hint of betrayal in his eyes?

The rest of the Gang stood at the door like the gossiping little shits they were, Reaper mentally preparing himself for whatever Blue was going to say.

"...". But he didn't say anything at first, he just stood in front of him, as if he was waiting for him to confess something.

What had he done to make him upset this time?

The awkward silence stretched until Blue seemingly had enough, putting his hands on the destroyer, and in the most serious voice he had ever used, told him. "LEVIATHANTALE'S SANS INTERRUPTED TODAY'S MEETING BECAUSE HE FOUND A BABY GOD IN HIS AU." He paused for a moment as if he hoped that meant something to Reaper. "PLEASE BE HONEST WITH ME, IS THERE ANY CHANCE THAT CHILD MAY BE YOURS AND ERROR'S?"

... Huh?

Maybe he had already fallen into madness and hadn't realized it? Because he was pretty sure that what Blue had just said didn't make the slightest sense.

A child? Of him and Error? Perhaps in the distant past, they had considered asking Ink for one, a small light to care for and to show the beauty of the Multiverse, but any chance of that had gone away after Fate interfered, and they definitely hadn't tried to get one of their own recently.

Whatever face he was making must have been enough of an answer for Blue, as he let go, although he didn't seem relieved to find out that whoever this god child was, it wasn't the Destroyers'.

...It couldn't be his right? If Blue was here asking it meant that Ink had nothing to do with this, the Creator was just as lost as they were.

And since they were talking about a child, unless he had developed serious memory problems, there was no time in recent years when he and his beloved could have created one with their magic.

So, unless Dream had a lover nobody knew about or Nightmare had learned how to do mitosis, there was really only one possible culprit left for this child's existence...

But what reason would Fate have to do this? Nothing big had happened, Ink had not created more nor had they destroyed less than normal, the Multiverse was the closer it could ever be to being at peace. If this was a new way to keep them under control, it was an uncalled and cruel one.

"...PER, CAN YOU HEAR ME?!". Blue'sworried cries snapped him out of his fears, both of them were now sitting onthe ground, the younger one had his hands held firmly, not the slightest bitafraid for his life, his voice as low and calm as was physically possible."THERE YOU ARE, THAT WAS A BIT OF AN EXTREME REACTION... SHOULD I CALLNIGHTMARE?"

It took him a moment to find the strength to speak, but Reaper was sure he wouldn't need a negativity drain anytime soon. "I'm fine, it's just... I can't think of any good reason for this little god to exist, he's not mine, but it wouldn't be the first time Fate imposed something on us that we never asked for."

The sharp exhale at his side reminded him that they were not alone, Nightmare's little rascals clearly hadn't realized the severity of the situation until he mentioned the source of most of their problems.

Blue on the other side did not take his eyes off him, weighing his next words, as if fearing that they would make him fall back into his mind. "...Do you want to wait for Error before going see that kid? Or would you rather wait for Ink to do it and for me to bring you the information? The little one doesn't seem to be in danger so it shouldn't hurt to wait."

It was obvious what he was going to choose, but was still grateful for the options. "I'll wait for Error, we'll probably just keep an eye on them from afar for now, I doubt Ink's 'visit' will end well."

The younger skeleton just nodded and helped him stand up, his husband should be back from bringing supplies in a few hours, so the only thing left to do was wait.

And then they would go to see who may or may not be a child of theirs created by the same being that ruined their lives.

...Maybe he would need a negative energy drain after all.

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Solid ink.

The skeletal being that had invaded his home was composed of solid ink, he had compared it to all the types of ink that his Overseers could obtain, from animal to artificial. The composition was closer to that of an ordinary pen than to that of one of those so-called squids.

But somehow this being could take shape and possess consciousness.

He didn't know how that was possible, but he had a suspicion that the giant creature he saw before that thing appeared had something to do with it. Once he had time to review his memory, it was clear that both beings shared similar facial features.

Deciphering the center of the world had become a priority, as had creating greater defenses for his inner can. If these beings could overcome his basic defenses and his Overseers, it was clear that he needed something more like the Lizards that had once inhabited his can.

But it would only put his Saint at unnecessary risk, even with clear directives those animals tended to follow their stomachs more than their creators, and he didn't want to waste time modifying their base genetic code when possible threats were lurking.

Maybe a couple of Leviathans could keep the water creature away, but they would do nothing against the ink being. Going through the genetic information he had in his old database, he really didn't have much of a choice.

The Vultures were too big and relatively easy to avoid if one stayed under cover.

He refused to bring the Scavengers back, too much bad blood and the little feeling he still had of his body in the cold tundra had let him know that those vermin had turned part of his structure into their new lair.

The Insects had the same problem as the Lizards, the genetic information Pebbles had about them was from after the Ancients had left, they were wilder and he didn't have time to repair that.

There was only one species left to use.

Slugcats.

...It wasn't such a bad idea, the little vermin had proven on multiple occasions that they were a force to be feared, his Citizen had wiped out an entire tribe of Scavengers on her own! Even the round scug had finished off enemies that should have devoured it by mere logic.

Well, he had said that his Saint needed more company besides him, he could very well kill two birds with one stone, he had the genetic material of almost all the scugs that had passed through his can and lots of water to bring a small army after all.

Now, which ability would be best to against the ink being, explosions or spears?

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

*Crawls from under a rock of writer-block* ...Hello :D

No drawing for this one sadly, couldn't get Error's design the way I liked it, so for now enjoy me finding a way to bring the other slugcats to this mess >:D

Btw this month I will be participating in the Artfight, so if someone wants a drawing hit me up, I'm LunaRo on there 👉👈