Chapter Text
Nightmare sighed as he looked down at his two charges. It had been a week since Ink had dropped his potion, turning both himself and Dream into babybones. By the way they acted, Nightmare guessed they were roughly 9 months, as both could crawl and babble. He was currently sitting in his study, both of them playing and crawling on the floor under his watchful eye.
Suddenly, Error walked into the study, looking worried. "Nightmare, you won't believe this-a new au formed."
Nightmare blinked. "How is that even possible? Doesn't Ink create them?"
"I have no idea, it isn't possible for Ink to have created anything, not with the bracelet I made from my strings," Error and Nightmare glanced down at Ink, who currently had a foot in his mouth. Error's bracelet was still on his wrist, and on noticing the two's attention, Ink let out a confused and muffled, "buh?"
Nightmare looked back up at Error. "Perhaps Ink is not the only creative force in the universe, or perhaps he plays a different role that speeds up creation of new aus. Whatever happens, at least creation is at a much slower and manageable pace," he mused.
He then stiffened. "Error...I have an idea. Just, hear me out."
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Nightmare's gang gathered in their living room, wondering what the boss wanted to say. It had been a fun week exploring aus like Candytale, with only one small skirmish with the Light Sanses, who had not proved to be much of a threat.
Nightmare sighed. "Error discovered that a new au formed yesterday."
The gang murmured to each other, looking confused. "We're not sure how, but it seems creation is continuing, even without Ink's help."
"I had an idea when we realized this. If creation continues, the balance can be maintained if Error slows his destruction. Negativity and positivity can also stay balanced if I'm careful. Which brings me to idea- what if we let them stay like this?'
All looked at him with wide sockets.
"What?" Horror croaked. "Boss, no offense, but looking after two babybones for eternity is not a good idea!"
Dust intervened, "We wouldn't be looking after them forever, we'd be looking after them until they grew up."
Killer frowned. "We'd be looking after the two them for years, though. I don't like Ink, neither does Error."
Error frowned but concurred. A week in, and he still felt Ink was creepy, though he hadn't done anything out of the ordinary for a baby.
Cross spoke up, "If we do this, we may never have to fight them again. We would be free to roam au's as we like. I think that would make it worth it."
"What if they still grow up and hate us? What if it just turns out to be a waste of time?" Fresh questioned worriedly.
"I'm not asking to decide right now. I will say this much; if they stay like this, I will want help. I could watch them for the time it would take to make the antidote, but I cannot raise them by myself," Nightmare announced. "I want you all to think about this carefully and we will vote on this in a week. It needs to be unanimous, since this will affect all of us. Does everyone agree?"
The gang nodded and broke up, comparing the pros and cons of the choices. Nightmare let out a breath and gazed down at Dream, who was playing with a tentacle in his arms. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he dearly wanted to keep them like this. He wanted his brother back.
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The gang reconvened, and after a lot of debate and multiple votes, they finally made a decision.
"That's that then. We'll raise these two."