Once Upon A Story

There Was No Constellation

Outer was both amused and astounded by the way the two acted. He debated whether he should walk away and let them calm down or say something so that they acknowledge his existence. Unfortunately, he hadn't any time to debate. The way they saw him was Dream clearing his nonexistent throat and looking over at Outer who was as of now scared. Knowing these two, they'd blame him for taking their little brother.

On the sidelines, Destiny watched in amusement and had a small gleam in her eyes. This was a lovely play just unfolding in front of her. No way was she to pull strings. After all, she had pulled enough strings already. Too many to make up for now. She laid back chuckling at the scene that played out in front of her.

"Cosmo!" Both Sans and Papyrus said in unison. Outer tried to let them see him but Cosmo was not letting go of his shirt. He had a tight grip, almost a magically strong one. He felt like he was being forcefully pulled towards this child's, but nothing good came from that invisible pull. If anything, it had itself set on hurting everything and everyone in it's path. Outer knew who was wanting control and he knew nothing good was to come of it.

He realized he had the child clutched against his chest, unsure of whether he was trying to suffocate him or protect him. The brothers, Dream, and Ink looked confused and scared of Outers intentions. Outer quickly handed Cosmo to Underswap Sans and pulled his arms away. 'Dumbass' he thought. Stupid ghost trying to get him to do things. "Carrot, I need to talk to you, like I really need to talk to you." Outer stated only to have Carrot worried and glance back at his brothers. He nodded and stepped into the hallway. Outer rubbed his skull stressed. "Has he ever mentioned anyone name Handy?" Outer asked before gagging mentally. "Yeah, said he was his imaginary fr-"

"That is not an imaginary friend, that's a Gaster, an evil one. He experimented on monsters and would eat souls. Not absorbed them, I literally mean eat them. We eventually got rid of him, but it seems he's using Cosmo as some kind of host."

Carrot, knowing better than to question what was being said, started thinking of ways to get rid of Handy. He had seen too many weird things to think this was the weirdest. However, some questions needed to be answered. He lit a cigarette and sighed before putting it in his mouth. It had been so long since he last smoked, ever since Cosmo came into the family. He looked stressed and tried his best to control his nerves. "Why would a Gaster want to use my brother as a host? Why a little kid?" He asked. Outer rubbed the back of his neck feeling chills run up and down it. "Little kids are easy to fool, now, I'm not sure what his specific intentions are but they can't be good. But why use a little kid as a host?"

Outer grabbed Carrots arms and looked him dead in the eye sockets and said, "Handy is the reason Nightmare is the way he is, you think Nightmare should be feared, Handy has been around way longer and will kill anything that wants to get in his way. He doesn't engage in fights he kills anything without looking at them." Outer looked crazy, but if this thing can influence monsters and, assumingely humans, he can not let that thing hurt his brother.

"Papy?"

The skeletons looked down to see Cosmo looking up at them and then flinched. He mumbled something and then looked up at Outer. "Thanks for showing me the constellations! Oh, and Handy wanted to know if you like Draco — The Dragon, from Greek mythology." Cosmo said. Draco — The Dragon is a constellation in the stars and when the Greek humans discovered the constellations they gave it a story. It goes like this:

The constellation represents the dragon Ladon. It protects the gardens of the Hesperides. Hercules kills the dragon with poisoned arrows as said in his Twelve Labours. However, in Rome legend, Draco is associated with the Great Titans who warred with Zeus and other Olympians gods. The dragon was killed by Minerva and thrown into the sky where it's frozen above the North Pole.

Was Cosmo on Handys 'Twelve Labours'? Was he going to be turned into a Star? Was he going to die? Who played the part of the dragon?

"Why would he ask about that one?" Outer asked slightly sweating. That constellation had a story he despised and only wished it never existed. He saw Cosmo flinch, but it wasn't too noticeable by his brothers. "He wants to know if want to have a poisoned arrow sticking out of your stomach." Cosmo said, but his voice had static in it and it sounded like two people were talking. Outer growled. "Handy, you can't have him." Outer mumbled. He heard chuckling before Cosmo fell over looking dizzy. It made sense, he needed a host.

He needed a soul to inhabit so he could do what he needed to do. Handy needed to do something, was he going to finish something?

"I hate that constellation." He mumbled lowly and walked away going back to his AU. He needed to get something done.

Cosmo rubbed his eye sockets and looked over at his older brothers. He said something to Outer about a dragon. Did he answer him? He couldn't remember. He didn't know why he was on the ground right now. Did he sit down? He couldn't remember. He remembered Handy saying something and then everything going black for a second. Where was Outer? Did he leave?

"Cosmo!"

Cosmo stood up and looked at his brother's. Papyrus looked concerned and Sans looked slightly concerned. Sans had already lectured him about leaving and using openings (Cosmo refuses to call them portals. He says that's crazy talk). Cosmo trotted up to his brothers grabbing their hands in his small ones.

Which constellation was your favorite?

Cosmo flinched but went unnoticed. Handy was smiling, even though he seemed to smile all the time. He seemed to be really smiling though, like he wanted to. Cosmo nodded nonetheless, and followed his brothers. "I liked Ursa Major, the bear one." Cosmo stared. That was someone's favorite. He wasn't sure who's favorite but that didn't mean it had any less value. "I hope we can go back soon, to Outertale, you can show me all the constellations you know." Cosmo whispered. His brothers kept a sharp eye on him. Handy chuckled and nodded.

Yes, I can show you the constellations I know.

Cosmo flinched again. "Oh, maybe we can see another opening. That would be cool." Cosmo sounded so... so, innocent. He was completely unaware of the consequences he was unprepared to face. Much less, why there were consequences to begin with. He only wished to see the stars, what harm could that bring?

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In Outertale, Outer sat with his legs dangling off of a cliff east side of Snowdin. His jacket lay beside him. He didn't feel like wearing it. It felt like... suffocation to his body. He sighed obviously frustrated. He could only hope that Handy wasn't going to pull anything stupid while he still had time. Outer had a secret weapon to getting rid of Handy. He just wished he knew how it worked. Why it wouldn't start. "Outer," he started talking to himself, "please don't mess this up." He had one chance. All he had to do was get that machine working.

As of now, he had to think of what book to read so his brother wouldn't get mad cause he took forever looking for a book. He remembered a story he was told when he was a baby bones...

Once upon a time, there was a constellation...

But it wasn't what it seemed.

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So there's another chapter. If you still have questions or dares to ask of my small skeleton and his family/friends, go for it. There's plenty of time. Anyway, I hope you liked that chapter. If there was anything you have changed, tell me, it might be helpful in future chapters. Might be a small bit useful.

Cosmo: Can I say it? Please!

I don't care.

Cosmo: We'll see you in the next chapter! Bye!