Inkstuck

“Read me back in.”

Your name is John Egbert and your best friend wants to leave you.

You thought that after everything you went through together he would stay. But you guess you were wrong.

You meant even less then you thought you meant to him.

Dave is covered in blood. It pools around his feet and clings to his clothes. It leaks out of Jacks body and pools around on the stone floor. The thick red substance fills the room with an iron-tinged stench.

Dave looks angry, so angry. He just killed someone, and he looks like he’d do it again. Honestly, you’re more than a little scared.

Nervously, you step a little closer.

“I-Into I-Inkstuck?” Your stutter has come back in full force, much to your complete and utter embarrassment.

“No, into the fucking Twilight series. I want to bang all the vampires and werewolves.”

You frown, staring at him. “Dave, p-please be serious.”

“Yeah, I wanna go back.” He says, refusing to look you in the eyes.

Rose, Kanaya and Whisker enter the room in a rush.

“John! Don’t run off like that again.” Kanaya walks over to you, eyeing Jacks corpse a little wearily.

“S-Sorry Kanaya…I-I j-just couldn’t h-help it.” You stutter out.

She frowns a little, turning to look at Dave. “Are you hurt?”

He shakes his head no, a little stiffly.

“Then why does everything in here feel so…tense?”

“D-Dave wants m-me to read him b-back in.” You say, glancing around the room awkwardly.

“Is that so?” Rose frowns and glares at Dave. He flinches under her sword-sharp stare, but recovers fairly quickly.

“Yes that is so.” He shoots back angrily. The venom in his voice startles you.

“W-well if y-you r-really want this…” You pull out Inkstuck from its little back-pack on your back.

He just stares at you, an unreadable expression on his face. But you search it anyway, because you’re desperately searching for any sign of him not wanting this.

You can’t find any.

Dejectedly, you walk over to a rather luxurious couch. Wordlessly, Dave follows behind, sitting down beside you. Whisker jumps up onto your lap and starts kneading at your chubby thighs. Rose pulls up a chair beside you and Kanaya sits next to Dave.

You clutch Inkstuck tighter, running your thumb nervously along the bindings.

Dave stares straight ahead, unseeing.

“Dave, are you sure you want to go through with this?” Rose asks, shooting Dave a look.

“Yeah I’m fucking sure!” Dave bristles, yelling defensively.

“Are you sure you’d rather not leave? I do believe someone badly wants you to stay.”

You blush darkly as he turns to look at you. As he stares, he seems to look at every single part of you. It feels he’s looking into your soul itself. When he notices you staring, he looks away and the feeling is gone.

“B-but it’s t-totally your choice! Stay here, g-go back, as long as you’re happy.” You manage to squeak out.

Rose facepalms.

“I still want to leave.” Dave says, curt and clipped.

“If that’s what you wish—who am I to stop you?” Rose sighs, gesturing wildly.

“It is what I wish, so keep your shitty-ass assumptions to yourself!” Dave yells back, whole body tense. His hands are curled up into fists—knuckles white.

You flinch away from him a little bit. At seeing your terrified posture, he calms down a little, muttering apologies and waving his hands about awkwardly. He places one hand on your shoulder, perhaps to try and comfort?

You leave his hand on your shoulder, because no matter how blood-stained and scary he is right now he’s still your best friend and his hand is very comforting. You open Inkstuck—right to the end.

“I’ll Read you back right towards the end—so you’re safe from the execution and can go your own way. Does that sound alright to you?” You look at him, trying not to let your misery seep through.

He blinks a little. “Yeah that’s fine…” He mutters.

“O-ok then. H-here goes.” You place your finger on the books worn yellow page.

“Oh! I know you’d probably be in a hurry to get back, but I just want to say…thanks…for everything…You’re really, really cool—even though I’ve never said it out loud. You’re really brave and sweet and nice. You’re my best friend and I’m going to miss you so much…” Awkwardly, you lean forward a bit and kiss him on the cheek.

He blushes a bit and looks away, freezing up.

“Sorry…” You shuffle away awkwardly. “Just had to um…nevermind I’ll read you back in…”

Reluctantly, you turn your head down to the pages and begin to read.

“The blade fell upon the traitor’s neck, slicing through meat and bone as though it was nothing more than air.”

(Beside you, Dave moves his hand off your shoulder. You slump down a little in our seat. You will miss him terribly. But hopefully, living with Rose and Kanaya will make it all better. Hopefully.)

“The traitors head was placed on a spike above Jacks castle as a warning to all others who’d dare oppose him. His body was left to rot where it fell.”

(You really don’t want Dave to go. If he goes, then there’s the chance your mother will come back. You don’t think even Kanaya and Rose could stop her then. Especially if she’s learnt magic from Dave’s world.)

“The citizens of Derse went about their daily business, not even caring that their king was a cruel dictator. But that’s how life goes. People move from place to place with barely a thought in their heads. Journeys end. Every person dies. Everything ends.

That is the circle of life.”

You stop reading, because the book is finished. You yawn, shutting the book. Whisker yowls and rubs up against your leg anxiously.

“What is it girl?” You say, reaching down to pat her.

Whisker yowls a little louder.

It is at this point you realise that not only is Dave not in the room anymore, but Rose and Kanaya are gone as well.

Sitting next to you, where Dave was previously sitting, is mother.

Next to you, where Rose was sitting, is that blonde lady, all poised and still holding that note-book.

Beside mother is a girl you’ve never seen before. She’s tall and lean, with tan skin and messy dark hair. Bright green eyes stare at you in curiosity. Her clothes suggest her to be a servant girl—but her demeanour shows you an entirely different story. A story of wildness and wind and the ocean and endless forests.

“No. No no no no…” You whisper out, clutching Inkstuck to your chest. You attempt to run away, but mother grabs your wrist, crushing it in a too-tight grip. She yanks you back into her arms, digging in her nails into your flesh.

You go still in her grip, daring not even to breathe. If you move—even slightly—she’ll be mad.

Your mother is terrifying when she’s mad.

“Well well well. Aranea, looks like you were right. The boy is a Reader.” Her fingers slides across your cheek, fingernail pressing deep into your skin.

“I’m always right.” The blonde woman, Aranea says, smirking self-satisfactorily.

You close your eyes and say nothing as you feel a trickle of blood run down your cheek.

Because your eyes are closed, you don’t notice it at first. But upon hearing mothers surprised yell, you open them.

You’re floating in mid-air, slowly drifting away from mothers cruel arms. Whisker has surrounded you with an energy field and is using her telekinesis to drift you to safety.

She sets you down behind her, snarling at mother and Aranea.

You stumble a bit. Reading always takes energy, but you can’t sleep now. Then mother will take Inkstuck and burn it for sure, no matter how rare it is.

Whisker is a Pokémon right?

You just have to shout out a move and she’ll do it, right?

She’ll protect you…right?

“W-Whisker, use Crunch! And don’t let go!” You yell out. You hope she obeys you.

Luckily, Whisker is more than enthusiastic to dig her teeth into mothers arm. Mother lets out a roar of pain and flings her arm back, knocking Whisker into the wall behind you.

“Whisker!” You yell, reaching out to Whisker’s fainted form. You trip on nothing and go crashing to the floor.

Blackness creeps along the edges of your vision—coloured spaces getting smaller and smaller. You feel yourself getting more and more exhausted. You struggle to get up, weak, flabby noodle arms attempting to right you back on your feet. You can’t sleep here. Mother would kill you, or at least make you wish you were dead. (Not that she hasn't made you want to die before).

But…you’re so tired. You struggle against the waves of sleep, but it’s futile. Your arms fail you, and you collapse onto the floor.

You succumb to the darkness.

Your name is Dave Strider and you regret everything.

You regret asking John to read you back in. He looked devastated. You were devastated. You wanted to stay…but you can’t. You don’t belong there.

You regret being so cold towards John in the end. You wish you could’ve been a better friend.

You wish you didn’t regret everything.

But it’s too late now. You can hear the roar of the Dersian crowd. You can smell the familiar stench of horse dung and rotting foods. You can see the polluted sky up above you. Derse is…just as underwhelming as you remember it.

You’ll never see John again…

Knowing the Dersians, they’re probably more than a little confused right now. Better pretend this was all part of your plan.

You sit up, expecting masses of people surrounding you. Those expectations are not met.

Instead of standing on an old wooden execution platform, you’re standing above the citizens of Derse. Which is fine. It makes it all better for telling them how you escaped.

What isn’t fine is the two people standing/sitting behind you.

Kanaya is rubbing her head in confusion, eyes closed.

Rose is already standing, looking around in amazement.

No.

No they can’t be here!

You were supposed to be Read in alone.

John would’ve gone back with Rose and Kanaya and lived happily without you. You would’ve gone your own way, no matter how lonely you’d have been.

John’s probably sitting all alone in that draughty castle, lonely and confused.

Then, it gets worse.

In order to Read, the laws of equivalent exchange must be applied—so Rose and Wikipedia say. If three people went into Inkstuck, then three people had to go back into John’s world.

You have a sinking suspicion that you know who went back.

You feel worse than ever.

Because John sent his mother here. In return, you were Read into John’s world. Now, John read you back in. So that must mean…

You look at the roaring crowds below you, unseeing.

All you can do is worry about John…

You hope he's okay...