Hatter's POV

—A few hours before—

Just a few seconds ago, Anon screamed at Elisha because Elisha peeked into her unfinished sketches. After a few seconds, it seemed like Elisha was interviewing Anon all of a sudden, I didn't really care about their conversation. I was interested in Anon's creations, I didn't get a clear look at the canvas Anon just hid.

There were markings in red and I was quite positive I saw writings like... "Don't forget to color". Does that imply she was the one who brought color to this place? That was awesome! She must know a lot about colors, then perhaps I can learn from her as well.

I look at the fantastic view below me through the glass walls, it looks peaceful and serene with the river gently flowing downstream. The trees were swaying from the wind, leaves were seen falling off their branches, and the sky was as clear as my white home.

Beyond the area, it was completely grey. It was easy to forget the situation we were in, the black monsters attacking us, turning the colors around us dull. It was hard to believe that I was able to leave the white zone, meet people and arrive in this world in less than a day.

"Alright, thanks" I hear Elisha say to Anon in the background. Elisha proceeds to talk to Switch and then goes to a corner of the room to meditate. Anon proceeds to stand in the same spot she spoke with Elisha, looking around the room with her uninvited guests until we meet eye to eye.

"Hatter, right?" Anon asked, approaching me.

"Yep! That's me" I replied. Anon stood beside me, since she was up close I realized she was significantly shorter than me by a whole head.

"You're really short" I said without thinking.

"Wow thanks, I never noticed. Anything else you noticed?" Anon said with heavy sarcasm.

"You're colorful" I added in, hopefully lifting up her mood.

"And you're black and white... your skin is white as hell actually" Anon said with interest.

"Yeah, complete black and white, the whole greyscale" I said, motioning to my skin and outfit.

"Ehhh, no offense, but I dislike black and white" Anon said.

"I don't take offense, I understand. It's pretty boring" I said.

"No, no. It's not that. I don't dislike the colors, it's just that before you guys arrived. This whole world was seemed like it was in greyscale. No life, no activity, it looked incredibly lonely." Anon explained. She seemed uncomfortable with the memory.

"Originally, I was curious about the whole planet being grey. It didn't bother me at all, but as more time went on... it felt lonely. Seeing the areas I painted go back to black and white from the monsters that were trying to take over the place. It just pisses me off every time, it's not easy to color back the areas I painted because it would never feel the same again." Anon continued.

"Oh..." That was all I could say because I couldn't even think of how she felt like. I lived in a life filled with just black and white, so I'm simply born with the colors. I don't hate it, because well....it's as if it's a part of me. I can't hate something that's me, right?

"Well, I'm sorry for that" I added in, trying to show some sympathy.

"No need to be, sorry I ranted when we just met. Hey! Do you wanna explore the areas I colored for a bit? You seem quite interested in the colors" Anon offered.

"I can?" I responded almost immediately.

"Of course you can!" Anon replied back.

"But what about all the blobs outside, isn't that pretty dangerous?" I asked.

"No worries about that! I've been fending off those little shits for years. I'm a professional at it" Anon reassured. She grabbed my arm and flicked her paintbrush at one of the glass walls. A section of the wall disappeared and she dragged me to jump out the window along with her.

"AAAAAAA" I started screaming. The river from below was approaching and I expected to crash into the water soon. Next thing I know, a colorful thick substance slapped my face on my right and carried us onto land. We landed on the roof deck of a building and the view of the sky was incredible.

"What the heck is this??" I asked, while groaning in pain on the floor.

"Paint!" Anon exclaimed.

"Tastes disgusting"

"Well, you aren't meant to eat it"

"How the hell did paint come from thin air though?"

"It's one of my abilities, being an artist and all"

Being covered in paint did not feel good at all, I wished I just crashed down to the river instead. At least the water was fresh and didn't have a very pungent smell. Another thing to add was that my clothes were ruined, it was stained with an absurd amount of colors that didn't make my greyscale outfit dapper.

Wait a minute. THE COLOR IS STAYING THE SAME?

I immediately stood up and stared at my clothes. The colors wouldn't turn to a greyscale and kept it's color all the way, and there were no signs of it changing anytime soon.

"The colors stays the same!" I exclaimed in pure joy.

"Of course?? How would it just change color?" Anon responded back as if it was common sense. With a flick of her brush, the paint that was on us simply disappeared into thin air

"No, no, you don't understand. When I went to the mall and tried to pick out different clothes for myself, the colors just turn grey!" I explained.

"Huh? That's weird" Anon said. From that train of thought, she flicks her red paintbrush once again, summoning a small accessory that I saw in the mall. It was a small red ribbon and I found it incredibly dapper.

"Oh! I remember seeing that in the mall. I tried to wear it, but it just changed to a grey color" I said.

"Hm... odd. Try wearing it" Anon handed the ribbon to me. Before I could even wear it, the ribbon turned to a grey color.

"Aw..." I disappointedly stared at the newly grey ribbon in my hands.

"That's weird" Anon stated. She grabs the ribbon and it turns back to it's original color.

"Oh! Lemme try something" She says as she brings out her paintbrush. She flicks her brush to bring out a red wave of paint from thin air and infuses it into the ribbon.

"Now try it!" Anon said as she handed the ribbon to me. I held the ribbon and instead of turning grey, it stayed the same.

"It worked!" I said in excitement. I immediately wrapped the ribbon around my neck and stared at my colored accessory in awe.

"You seem to like it" Anon said giggling.

"Of course I do, it's colored" I replied back.

"Do you like red?" She asked.

"Well, I like the color blue more, but the red does stand out with my outfit. I'd say it looks great" I replied back. As if on cue, a red beam coming from the sanctuary appears from behind.

"Woahh, what's that?" I asked.

"What's what?" Anon replies back in confusion.

"That red beam coming from your sanctuary" I ask, pointing behind her.

"What the—" She says in shock.

Grrrrowlll.

We hear the monsters surrounding us being attracted to the red beam.

"No no no, THEY'RE GOING TO THE SANCTUARY" Anon started panicking. Anon immediately gets up and summons the same wave of paint that brought us here. As we travel through the sky, a big wave of monsters can be seen slowly approaching the sanctuary.

"Well... this is not good" I said

"What the hell is happening there" Anon said. We arrived in the sanctuary and Elisha was creating the red beam that gave off the location to all the monsters.

"WHAT DID YOU DO!" Anon shouted at Elisha, completely angry.

"I— I don't know!" Elisha replied back in panic.

"We need to leave this area guys! It's not safe!" Erika shouted, breaking one of the glass walls to make an exit. The monsters were slowly approaching, and we were gonna be cornered soon.

"No! No! I'm not leaving this place" Anon cried out.

"You can just make another one! We have to leave!!" Vanquish shouted at her.

"It's not that easy! My creations! It's all I have! I can't just remember all of them once it's destroyed! I—"

"We have to go Anon! It's for our safety" I said going towards the exit, while pulling her by the arm. I understood her reasons of wanting to stay, but what would be the use of her creations when the artist itself is gone?

"I can still fight them! Just let me use my brush! Please!" Anon continued to cry out.

"Don't hurt them!" Elisha suddenly said. Anon glared at her from their statement.

"Shut up! You caused this in the first place!" Anon shouted back. The monsters were already heard from the inside, the growls were louder and we would be in grave danger soon. Not leaving now could mean never leaving at all.

"GUYS! WE HAVE TO LEAVE!!" I shouted at all of them with urgency in an attempt to stop them from fighting. My voice felt louder than usual and a burst of energy seemed to flow through my veins. The colors surrounding me turned black and white, and yet Anon still had color surrounding her. Suddenly Anon started coughing up blood, and then she went limp.

"Anon?! ANON!" I shout in panic. The monsters outside go quiet for a while and stop approaching the sanctuary, but the colors start coming back, making them restless once again.

"WE HAVE TO LEAVE! GUYS!!" Switch shouts at all of us, gaining back our attention. I carry Anon behind my back and we all descend from the sanctuary, to make a run for it.

We ran across the green fields until the colors went dull and grey, we avoided any monster we saw passing by and settled in an area where the grass was taller and hid us quite well. My back hurt after carrying Anon for a long period of time, and I settled her down on the floor.

"I think we can rest here, I'll keep watch" Waffles said. Waffles left the rest of the group and everyone else were left to their own devices. Elisha was shaken up by the whole situation, she curled up into a ball and distanced herself from everyone. If it weren't for her bright red outfit, most of us probably wouldn't have noticed she was there behind the tall grey grass.

Majority of the group went to sleep, they were tired from all the running and were clearly out of shape. Anon stayed unconscious with no signs of waking up. The random black and white blast I made awhile ago must have taken a toll on her somehow. The colors surrounding her were duller than usual, and the colors itself seemed to be fighting with each other.

"What was that" I was caught off guard with Elisha hiding behind the grass.

"What was what?" I asked.

"That blast you did. You changed the colors to black and white, and the blobs around us stopped as if they were in a trance"

"I don't know, it just happened" I said.

"There must be something! You stopped them for a bit, they're tame-able. There must be a reason why we were sent here. There has to be a reason why we met you and Anon in this dimension. There must be something you should know!" Elisha continued.

"I don't know! I know nothing about whatever you're talking about. You already know I've been in the White Space for as long as I remember"

"Nothing? At all?"

"Nothing, not even my parents, or whatever. I didn't even know what I was, until that dictionary arrived after god knows long I was there" I said in a mumble.

"What the fuck is happening" Elisha said silently.

"How am I supposed to know" I said in reply. We knew nothing about this place, not even a hint from where the blobs came from. The one who probably knew about it the most was Anon, but she's currently knocked unconscious thanks to me.

Now that I think about it, I never knew anything. The existence of the White Space, how my home worked, how I turn everything to black and white. Heck, of course I wouldn't know what's happening here and I was starting to get tired of it.

"You know what, I'm finding a blob and I'm gonna figure out how I tamed them for a bit" I said on a whim

"What." Elisha replied back with a dumbfounded look

"I'm going" I said as I stood up and left the grassy area we were in.

"Wait, Hatter! Hatter, hey!" Elisha tried to call out to me, but she couldn't raise her voice in case she started attracting the blobs or woke up her siblings.

I go through the tall grass and separate from the rest of the group, I knew I wasn't being very bright. Separating from the others could be detrimental especially if I was suddenly attacked, but I couldn't care less. Whatever I did in the sanctuary did something to the blobs. It stopped them.

Of course I couldn't ignore the fact that I also hurt Anon in the process. Although I only met Anon a few hours ago, I felt closer to her compared to any of the siblings. Although the others weren't affected by it, it was worrying that I only caused harm to Anon. Why was that? Do I just actually hate Anon without my knowledge?

Maybe it has something to do with our powers, they're polar opposites. I kept things in a grayscale while she kept everything colorful. Perhaps it had something to do with me turning things she colored to black and white, but it didn't make sense as to how she didn't get hurt when she touched the ribbon I turned to gray awhile ago.

"Why is everything so confusing" I muttered to myself while walking to god knows where. I figured I walked far enough to mess around with the area and decided to look for those blobs.

Walking around more, I noticed the blobs weren't very active as compared to when we were in the colored areas. I made sure to walk silently and carefully to not attract a wave of blobs after me. I noticed some were sleeping in the sidewalks, some seemed to be socializing with one another, some were simply roaming around. I was unsure if it was just my imagination, but I think a few noticed my presence, yet they ignored me.

It was odd, I didn't feel like I was in danger or in enemy territory, it simply felt like I was in a world with the roads bustling with people. As if they were the strangers I passed everyday when I would walk to school. It's odd as to how I knew those familiar feelings despite being stuck in the White Space for as long as I remember.

I was careless, I tripped and attracted the attention of the blobs nearby. I was unarmed and I had no idea how to protect myself.

Shit shit shit

A few were already approaching me and extending their bodies, the same way they ate the sanctuary. After a few seconds of closing my eyes, and bracing myself for a quick death, nothing happened.

"O...Ok?" I heard a echoing voice that seemed to be made by a small child. I looked at the blob again and realized the way the extended their bodies was actually like a hand reaching out for help. Although their bodies weren't formed, I could see the formation of an arm and a hand.

I reached out to the blob reaching out their own hand and they helped me up from the floor. Although the blob was still a blob, it felt human.

"Ok? Mister...ok?" Their voice echoed again.

"Me?" I asked back. Was it trying to ask if I was ok from the fall?

"Mhm, ok?" The blob seemed to nod their head in response.

"Yeah, I'm good. Thanks" I said. The blob laughed and then left, the other blobs surrounding me left to their own devices and I was left unharmed.

The whole situation surprised me, from start to finish. I wasn't hurt, in fact I was happier than before. The blobs that were originally trying to attack us just helped me up when I tripped. They weren't asking for anything, it was just a simple good deed they did out of their goodwill.

Since the blobs here were willing to be around me, I decided to do a different approach. I walked around a bit more and passed by a few blobs in the area, some were chatting with each other, while some scurried alone to their own destination. A few minutes later, I noticed a blob sitting by themselves nearby a tree and I called out to it.

"Hey there!" I said approaching them.

"Hmm?" An echoing voice got out. The blob faced me and stared at me with a curious face.

"Willing to have some small talk, friend?" I initiated.