(After a 4 month hiatus, I'm back. Extremely sorry for the wait. I just couldn't bring myself to write until a few days ago where I finally got my inspiration and motivation back. Not sure if it's going to stay but I should be back to writing for now. Again, very sorry for the hiatus)

~Y/n's POV~

I had all the items I thought were necessary packed into a large purse. There really wasn't much to bring. I had no idea what Deltarune might look like but that actually made me pretty excited. It's been so long since I've experienced an adventure into the unknown like this.

I also decided to freshen up a bit. My hair had been a mess since I had just woken up only an hour ago. After some combing through with a brush, it looked presentable now. Much better than before at least.

After doing one last check of everything and myself, I headed out the door. As excited as I was, there was also some anxiety building in my stomach. What if we did encounter Cross while we were there? What would happen? Surely nothing good...

Ink had his hands on his skull and elbows resting on his knees when I had entered the living room once more. I was really worrying about him... he seemed so stressed. I wish I knew how to make it better. I got the feeling there wouldn't be much I could do. Maybe if I gave him extra affection? I certainly wasn't against that.

When I started to approach Ink, he quickly returned to a normal sitting position. It seemed like he didn't want me to see how stressed he was. Well that wouldn't do...

He scooted a bit to make room for me on the couch and I sat myself extremely close to him, I was practically on his lap. He didn't seem to expect me to sit so close to him but certainly didn't mind. Surprisingly, he wasn't blushing. He flusters so easily so I knew something was up. I wasn't sure if I should press it though...

"Everything alright, babe?" I asked him in hopes he might just outright tell me. I wrapped my arm around his, I was really craving his touch after being apart from him. Jeez... I was addicted to him. It had been less than a day we were separated.

"Yeah, everything's..." Ink trailed off from his sentence, something apparently dawning on him based on his expression. "It's just-"

Ink was interrupted by Nightmare and Dream entering the room together. They seemed to be talking to each other about something and were paying us no mind. Despite that, Ink shied away from whatever he was going to say. So it must be something he's only willing to tell me...

"Are you guys ready?" Ink asked me and Night, putting up an unconcerned façade unlike the one he had before.

"I think I am, I wasn't exactly sure if there was anything specific I should bring." I answered, deciding to drop Ink's behavior. He seemed like he didn't want to talk about it in company.

"Me neither, but I should have the essentials." Nightmare responded, checking through the purse that he had strapped across his chest. That was... actually pretty adorable on him.

"That should be all you need, I don't expect we'll be staying long. Unless Ralsei decides he's going to be extra hospitable..." Ink muttered the last part to himself.

"Ralsei?" I questioned him, the name seemed familiar in some weird way. I knew for certain I have never met a Ralsei but that didn't shake the weird familiarity.

"Oh, right. I guess I should tell you two about the people in Deltarune so you can be... prepared."

"I expect we'll run into Kris first. Kris is extremely quiet so don't really expect him to say much or anything at all." (Yes I'm making Kris a 'him' in this book, sue me)

"Then there's Ralsei. He's a lot like Toriel in the sense he's caring-"

I interrupted Ink real quick before I could help myself, "Just like you."

There was my old Ink back. His face went rainbow at my unexpected compliment. I saw his eyes flick to hearts temporarily as he glanced at me, letting me know that he appreciated it. I was glad I could make him feel better from whatever was bugging him earlier.

Ink cleared his throat (despite not having one) and continued, "-and worries a lot. I'm sure you'll get along with him."

"Then... there's Susie. She reminds me of Undyne, to be honest. She can be rough around the edges and maybe a bit mean, but she's trying to be good."

I nodded my head in understanding. They definitely seemed like an interesting group. Nightmare seemed to get a little nervous at Susie's description. He's already been subject to a lot of mean people... I was gonna make sure she didn't try anything with him. Otherwise she'd have to answer to me.

"Those are probably the only three we'll meet if we're lucky. Maybe Lancer as well. You guys ready to go?" Ink stood up from the couch and readied his paintbrush.

Me and Nightmare nodded in unison. I stood up from my place on the couch and Nightmare moved himself to stand next to me, ready to enter the portal Ink was going to create.

Ink took a deep breath and swiped at the air, making a neon blue portal materialize from nothing. I noticed how much the paintbrush shook when he moved it, strange... I haven't noticed it vibrate to that extent before. Ink seemed a bit out of breath as well.

"Are you alright?" I asked him quickly, rushing to his side at once. There was some sweat starting to materialize on his forehead. That couldn't be good... I wiped away the forming sweat as he collected his breath enough to talk.

"I'm- huff- fine. Since it's a new universe it's- huff- a long distance from here. It just... takes a bit out of me to make a portal that far. I'm fine, really." Ink reassured me, but I wasn't terribly convinced. His legs were shaking slightly but it at least seemed like he had collected his breath.

"If you're sure..." I still held onto him just in case he stumbled, plus I liked having the excuse to hold him like this. It was rare I was the one caring for him. It felt... nice. I only wished I could help more.

"And you're both sure you have everything you need?" It seemed like Ink was trying to stall for some reason. Or he was just being cautious? I couldn't quite tell. Maybe he was stalling so he could recollect himself more. If he's being cautious then what is he being cautious for? Is there something dangerous that could be in Deltarune? Other than potentially Cross, of course.

I nodded, I didn't really have to check my purse twice. I barely needed anything. I heard Nightmare dig through his own purse, it sounded like he brought way more than me judging by how full it seemed. He gave an affirmative sound and Ink sighed as if preparing himself.

"Then let's go."

~~~

I must've gotten knocked out upon impact. The last thing I remember was heading through the portal with Ink in hand and Night right by my side. Now, I was sprawled out on what seemed to be grass. It wasn't ordinary grass though, it was a lovely shade of red.

I heard some people talking and opened my eyes fully, the first thing I noticed was that my arm looked different than it had before. Why was I wearing different clothes? As soon as that came to my attention, I sat upright and took a look down at myself.

(Art by yours truly)

The immediate thing I noticed was the scarf wrapped across my neck. It looked near identical to the one Ink wore normally. It felt just as soft as well. I ran my hands through it for a moment, warm memories flowing through my mind.

The second most prominent feature was the rainbow sash across my chest. It reminded me of the one Ink used to wear before he had a SOUL. Why was I wearing so much Ink-related things? Even my sleeves were the same color as his!

The only thing truly unique to me seemed to be my belt. The heart in the center looked an awful lot like my SOUL. It glowed in the same way as well. I brushed a finger against it and a shiver went down my spine. It was cold to the touch but extremely smooth.

I still had questions as to why I was dressed differently so I decided to look up and try and find Ink. I instantly got distracted by the surrounding area. We were surrounded by very weird looking trees. They twisted and warped strangely, their bark was pitch black, and their leaves were different shades of red and were glitching. Odd...

I snapped back to reality when I heard Ink's voice behind me, "Y/n! You're awake, are you alright?" I turned around and was shocked to see Ink and Nightmare had drastically changed clothes as well. Nightmare's bones even changed from white to black.

(art once again by yours truly)

Wow, they looked... awesome to put it simply. They looked straight out of a D&D campaign. I noticed Nightmare in particular looked an awful like his old octopus self. There were even smaller versions of his tentacles coming out from his spine. He clearly seemed shy about this and was avoiding eye contact with me as I marveled at their outfits.

I almost forgot to respond to Ink's concerned question, "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Why are all wearing different clothes?"

"It's just something that happens whenever you enter the Dark World. Some type of transformative magic the world casts. I haven't had a lot of time to examine it but it's really interesting." Ink explained as he helped me off the ground. I saw his cheekbones turn rainbow as he got a good look at the rest of my outfit. "Y-You look beautiful."

"You're quite dashing yourself. Our scarves are almost matching!" I exclaimed happily, spinning in a circle to show off the new scarf. Ink's compliment had shaken off whatever nerves I had about entering this place. I was excited to explore this new world, especially since it could apparently cast magic on it's own.

I noticed that Nightmare was looking really down in the midst of my spin. He was refusing to look at either of us and he even seemed to be trying to back up. Then, when he spoke up, his voice sounded so unsure of himself, "Um, M-Maybe it wasn't a good idea for me to come here. Uh, I t-think maybe I should... go."

I could instantly tell Night was getting anxious. I had a feeling it was about his transformation, but I decided to play dumb for his sake. I walked over to him and put a gentle hand on his shoulder, "Night? What's wrong?"

"W-Well... y'know..." He wiggled his tentacles, trying to hint to me what was wrong without telling me (or possibly Ink). I wasn't sure whether or not to understand the hint, I really didn't want to make him upset by noticing the obvious correlation to his past self. Instead, I decided to point out a different feature about him.

"Is it about your freckles? Cause they're adorable." It was true, after all. The four-point stars speckled across his cheeks were very cute. His skull blushed a light purple, "F-Freckles?! I have freckles??" He palmed his cheek as if trying to feel them.

I giggled at his reaction, it seemed like I distracted him from his anxiety at least. Hopefully that will help him calm down. I looked over to Ink and saw he had an unmistakable look of jealousy. It was kind of an adorable look on him. Still, I decided to ease him by walking over and grabbing onto his hand. I gave him a small squeeze which I hope he interpreted the way I wanted him to.

Ink cleared his throat and asked us, "Are you two ready to head out?"

We both nodded (Night a little bit more hesitantly) and started to follow Ink's lead. I had no idea where we were going, but I knew it was going to be very interesting to explore this new world.

~~~