Summary: Children had never been in Error404's itinerary- Between destroying worlds and rebuilding AlphaTale, he was far too busy for such things. Yet, somehow, one came into his possession. An adorable little skeleton that everyone but he could touch.
Children, spawn, the consequences of two monsters passionately combining their magic- They were not something Error planned on having. His love life was abysmal, and he had zero interest in establishing a romantic relationship with anyone, which made the appearance of his offspring all the more baffling.
This occurrence was impossible. Unprecedented! By all means, a soulless monster like himself should not be able to reproduce, sexually or otherwise. Yet...
Error glanced off to the side. Nightmare, his right-hand monster, sat on the floor of the Anti-Void; In the dark creature's arms was none other than a tiny black skeleton, Error's offspring. The child that, theoretically, should not exist. The being that defied the known laws of the universe- and magicked into existence sometime during the past three hours.
It came as quite a surprise when he found the defenseless newborn abandoned in his domain. No one in their right mind would toss a child into the Anti-Void. Or the normal Void. Error tried to approach and inspect the little skeleton, but that had adverse effects. The staticky wail of a baby had never sounded more terrifying. So, he called reinforcements: Nightmare.
Aided by the sludgy skeleton, it was determined that the child somehow belonged to him, as evident by their glitchy bones, blue tear marks, and constantly shifting voice. Aside from those features, the child looked very different from Error. Solid black bones. Red and yellow phalanges. Deep red eye sockets. Quite the stark difference compared to his white bones, blue fingertips, and normal eyes.
Thankfully, Nightmare had yet to hound him about potential mothers. The likeliness of finding one was more than unlikely- A hopeless endeavor. Error rarely mingled with other monsters. He preferred the solitude provided by the Anti-Void. Not to mention, he had an extreme distaste for physical contact. A secret lover did not exist. Despite Nightmare's wishes that one did.
With a sigh, the glitched skeleton pondered, What am I even to do with a child?
Care for it? Raise it? An average parent would do those things, but Error... He couldn't even get near the child without them both glitching and lagging. No doubt a cruel joke by the Gods.
Error watched as Nightmare cooed at his offspring, wiggling his tentacles in front of its' face playfully. A squeal of delight escaped the child as it reached for the appendages. Never before had this side to the king of darkness been shown. For a cold, vicious ruler, the dark skeleton was oddly paternal. The other practically barged into his domain the moment mentions of a child reached his 'ears'.
While Nightmare had been a great help since the tiny creature's discovery, Error found himself silently seething. The offspring was his. It was supposed to laugh and smile at him. Not someone else.
How could he achieve that, though?
Perhaps a new puppet is required, Error thought. One I can use to care for my offspring with. One that I can use as a playmate for him. One easy to control so they will always be smiling at me... But who to choose?
None of his current puppets were suitable for watching or protecting a child. Each had a varying level of lethality. Thus why they were chosen to be his puppet in the first place. A swap Sans may be fitting. However, those skeletons always had too much energy for their own good. The last thing he needed was a swap spontaneously combusting due to low magic/energy usage. A rare phenomenon, but it had happened before. Dust got everywhere. It took ages to clean the white powder off the equal white surface of the Anti-Void. And that would scar his offspring for life... if the explosion didn't kill them.
A fell? No. Definitely not. Too violent; Too crass. Classic? Laziness personified. Science? Insomniac with a caffeine addiction. Horror? Cannibalistic. Killer? A predisposition for stabbing. Dust? Also highly violent. Swapfell? One of the worst combinations between two AU types. Aftertale? ...No amount of child-like wonder or cuteness could cure that amount of depression and malice. Lus- Not in a million years.
Was there no one in the Multiverse worthy to care for his offspring?
"Error!"
Error started, though he would never show it.
"I'm right here, Nightmare. There is no need to shout." He stated, coolly.
"I have been trying to get your attention for the past ten minutes!" Nightmare hissed. "Clearly a stronger approach was required."
Ten minutes. Had Error really been trapped in his thoughts for that long? "What is so important that you would disturb me?" Nightmare knew better than to bother him without reason. For all the other knew, Error was deciding which strings to pull to cause the Multiverse's next crisis.
The dark skeleton sighed, pointing a tentacle at the baby snuggled in his arms. "The kid. What are you going to name him?"
"I haven't given it-" Error froze. Him. Nightmare said 'him'. His offspring was male. He internally facepalmed. Of course, Nightmare would know that- He was the one to dress the child, likely noticing the boy's gender then. So the name should be masculine. Something that screams "Child of the White Demon"; Powerful and fear-inspiring. Throughout history, human royalty had a strange tradition of naming one's male offspring after the most powerful and renowned male in the bloodline. Perhaps that custom fit in this instance.
"Error." He tested the name. Yes, the name was his own, and naming one's child after themself seemed narcissistic- but it was a name that could one day strike fear into the Multiverse.
Nightmare gapped at him in shock, "Excuse me?"
"I am going to name him Error."