Narcissism

Chapter 15 - Rescuing Myself

The purple glow filled Ink’s eye sockets. He glared at it with obsessed curiosity. His gaze never left the thin lines of the barrier, not even as he spoke. “Now, now… there is no need for such hostility.” He extended a finger toward the magic. Only to have his boney digit deflected away. “We are only here for the human children.”

“I told you, we already killed them,” Red snarled as he attempted to pull his arm from Swap's unusually strong grip… unsuccessfully.

“lAirS!” Error spat angrily. “YoU wiLL telL us WhErE thEy aRe…”

San gazed silently at the chaos unfolding before him. Red and Error screaming at one another, while Swap clung cowardly to his edgy lover. And Ink’s bizarre fascination with that unnatural purple barrier. A barrier that was literally crumbling away with every moment. His mind churning and working… something about this situation caught his attention. Some fine detail of what was happening eluded his understanding.

His realization shattered the magic that held the barrier together. It popped into a downfall of fading violet stardust. “What a color!” Ink heaved an exclamation. The others simply stared.

“Your after the determination…” Sans pointed a phalange into Ink’s face. Nearly jabbing him in the nose hole.

“thE wHAt?” Error scoffed.

“The humans we killed. We killed them by using some machine to draw out their determination,” Sans stated bluntly.

Red gasped softly, “That’s gotta be it. I… I’ll take you to them if you’ll leave us alone. Deal?”

Both Ink and Error became very serious. “Show them to us…” It was a demand.

-   -   -   -

“Well? Are they all there?” Ink called upward.

Error was up high on the top shelf of the late Papyrus’ display of jarred human magic. He lifted one up and placed a socket close to the glass. “yEP. AlL hEre.”

Ink heaved a sigh, “good.”

“Um… Mr. Ink…” Swap replied softly, still holding on to Red’s sleeve. Who had long since stopped trying to shake him off. “You said you were going to explain what is going on if we…”

“Right, right. You see, my job is to maintain and guard every AU that is created by the Gods. I protect each storyline, summoning it from the library of storyline. Insuring they see the multitude of timelines they are destined to repeat. No matter how many it must repeat,” Ink wasted no time with his explanation.

Error suddenly reappeared beside Ink. “AnD when thE goDS ComplEtE thEiR sTory… or simPLy BecoMEs boREd witH it… iT faLLs to Me to diSPosE oF thE WaSte,” he held out the glass orb he had lifted from the bookshelf. Holding it in his palm, it was suddenly wrapped in those blue threads. With a wiggle of his odd colored thumb the ball of glowing magic disintegrated into pixelated pieces. Glass and all disappearing into the frightful monster’s magical strings.

Ink continued, “I make sure each AU repeats itself over and over again within three prewritten timelines. This is the result of a new God becoming interested in that AU. I bring it into existence so this God can witness their chosen timeline. And he erases it once they finish. The ultimate result is the new god is inspired to create a brand new AU. However, when Underfell attempted to create their own timeline… it kept the new Gods blind to its very existence and ceased the progression of their creations.”

“iF the GodS stOp waTcHinG thE AUs… thEy STop makInG auS... we All stOp exisTinG.”

Ink nodded his skull in agreement, then continued, “Every AU serves as a catalyst to ignite the powers of the never ending chain of Gods who float into and out of our multiverse. If they like what they see, they add to our multiverse… which is vital.”

“AnD yoU thReE meSSed it uP!!” Error snapped.

The Sans trio wasn't sure what to say. They merely glanced at each other until finally the original Sans replied, “All right, we understand. What do we do now?”

Before either could speak loud sobbing caught the attention of all the Sans. Swap was bawling again as he wrapped himself around Red, “I don't want to leave Red… or Sans. I don't want to go back home all alone. It’s not fair.”

Both Ink and Error began to laugh. It took the others by surprise, so much so that Swap's sobs ebbed slightly, “wE caN’T SeNd yOu BAck.”

“You brought your human to another AU. It scrambled their coding beyond repair. Not even we can reprogram your worlds,” Ink chuckled.

“We get to stay?” Sans’ signature grin returned to his face once more.

“Let’S MakE a dEAl…” Error whispered, somewhat ominously.

Ink gently pulled Error behind him, “We will allow you to stay, we will even slightly bend the storyline so that the others will believe you were always part of this world… You three will be the only ones who will know the truth. However, you must relive Underfell’s prewritten stories. Together. Including the repeated death of Papyrus. Do yo-”

“Agree!” The Sans trio blurted out in unison. Far too happy for their own good.

“FinaLly… Let’S go, InK, i’M tiREd,” Error complain.

As Ink pulled his large paintbrush from his back, he replied gently, “Go to sleep, sleep well for when you awaken your story will begin all over.”

And with a stroke of his brush, the extra Sanses slipped away in a swath of paint. After several minutes the three heaved a sigh of relief. Red jerk his arm from Swap’s grasp, he stated, “They said we would have to relive Papyrus’ death… that means he’s coming back… right?”

“Seems so…” Was Sans’ meager response.

°  °  °

They lay in Red’s bed, fully clothed, clearly unable to sleep. They didn't speak, there was nothing to say. It would take several hours for all three slipped away into dreamless sleep.

This sleep was suddenly shattered when the bedroom door was kicked in. There stood Papyrus, in all his dark glory. Tall and lean. “And here I find you, sleeping. When your supposed to be at work. And I expected better from you, Swap,” he scoffed, “Get your lazy asses up.”

“Papyrus!!” “Paps!!” “Papy!!” They all scrambled off the bed and tackled the tall skeleton. Knocking him to the floor.

Papyrus struggled under their weight, “Get off me!!” Finally he managed to get the Sans’ off him and stand once more. He held a laughing Swap by his crumpled scarf. “Quit messing around and get to your fucking post. If we come by and you two aren't there again… I’ll dust you for sure this time.” He drug Swap off mumbling something about Undyne waiting for them and how it was rude of Swap to keep her waiting.

After sometime Sans and Red took a shortcut to their sentry post. Red lay over the rough wood nearly dozing off, while Sans held a half empty bottle of ketchup in his teeth. “Are you happy Sans?” Red asked without even opening his eye sockets.

Sans laid himself over Red’s back, pulling the bottle away, “Be happier if I were at Grillby’s instead.”

“I mean being here with me… and Swap…”

“Beyond,” Sans clinked a kiss to the back of Red’s skull as snow began to flutter on top of them.

.:End:.