Dreamcrash

Eleven: A Multiversal Problem

Pen decided we would head out in a bit, so I got some social time with Patch while Seed and Pen prepared.

"Hey Patch. How's it going?"

"Considering we have a broken AU to deal with and a possible infection outbreak, not very good, but it could be worse."

"Um... What do you mean by infection? And AU? Do you mind explaining?"

I sense confusion, then satisfaction as Patch looks at me and smiles. "Sure. AU is short for 'Alternate Universe,' and infections are when certain pieces of broken code get into other timelines with separate codes."

"I still don't understand."

"Um... I'll try to explain it better then. We are in a separate section of the Antivoid, called the Crashverse. All of the AUs and Timelines that aren't made correctly or end up getting a glitch or virus come here to heal or stay, depending on the condition. For example, your AU. Yours glitched, causing it to corrupt, which is why you saw the other Timeline. So, to heal your AU, Pen transferred it here and I helped heal your code. You would have been able to go back to your original multiverse, but you wrecked the Timeline and now we are here." Patch states rather calmly, but I can feel his frustration. He's mad at me for messing up my AU. "Because of the AUs glitching, this alters the code. Every glitch alters the code in a different way, which infects the inhabitants with what I call a 'Crash Virus'. Crash Viruses are unique to each AU, and so if an inhabitant of one AU went into another, they could spread their Crash Virus, which could cause an infection and break the AU even further, maybe even destroy it."

"Well... that makes a bit more sense."

"Glad to know."

"Patch! Skeleton with multicolored eyes! Come here!"

"Multicolored?" I ask. I don't remember my eyes being multicolored, I remember them being grey.

"Yeah. The left one is purple, the right is yellow." Patch says. "You didn't notice that?"

"No."

"Whatever. Coming Pen!" Patch grabs me and we teleport over to Pen.

"About time." Pen is waiting by something small and black hovering in the air. He's fidgeting with his blue bag and has a golden bracelet around his left wrist. "We're headed to Crashtale first, since it's one of the least messed up of the bunch and we want something simple."

"I thought UnderFV was the least messed up," Patch says with a smug expression on his face. Pen seems to panic and glare at Patch at the same time.

"I hate that AU and you know it. We're going to Crashtale." Pen grabs the black ball that's been floating beside him and uses some magic on it. The ball expands and part of it drips away, leaving a doorway of sorts. "Come on in."

Patch steps through the door and I follow. It's black on the inside too. I touch the walls and realize it's made of ink. Pen walks to what I guessed was the front and touched the ink. The ink crawls up his hand and covers the bracelet.

"Hold tight." Pen grins. "Open gateway.... here we go." I get a really weird feeling like we're moving, but not really. It only lasts a few seconds before it stops, causing me to almost lose my balance from the momentum. Then the ink disappears and we land on the ground.

"What was that?" I ask shakily.

"We were AU traveling. It requires a different type of teleporting then what you're most likely used to."

"Then how come I could get to the... thingy so easily?"

"The Art Dome? It has a different code so anyone in need can get in, and so if I have to do a code transfer it's easier to get there." Pen says. "Maybe I'll teach you more later, for now, we have to find Seed."

I look around. He's not with us. "Wait, why is he not here?"

"Jeez, you sure ask a lot of questions." Pen said. "Seed went ahead to find the human and make sure we have enough time to search."

"The human?" I look around and take in the surroundings, realizing we are in a very different place. We were in a forest of sorts, on a path that seemed to lead to a mountain that was towering in the distance. I could hear birds chirping and smell blooming flowers.

"It's a beautiful day outside..." Pen said. Patch rolled his eyes. "What? I'm not wrong."

"I'll let it slide. Come on, Seed normally meets us by the mountain." Patch heads off towards the mountain. Pen flicks his wrist and the bracelet turns into a drawing tablet strapped to his arm, and he follows Patch while drawing. I pause a moment, then follow Pen, at a distance. I try out my new abilities, attempting to sense Pen, and still feel nothing. Why can't I sense his feelings? I try sensing Patch. That works fine, I can feel he's calm but not relaxed, as if waiting for something. I decided to try something a bit crazy and reach out through the whole AU, trying to find Seed.

Big mistake.

I promptly feel the emotions of every person in the AU. I don't feel them as strong as I'd feel mine, but it's still enough to make my head swim. I pause and collect myself, trying to tune out all the different emotions, and finally find a few people who are feeling peaceful. I try focusing on just them, allowing their emotions to wash over me. It calms me down too.

"Hey Night, you good?" Patch appears next to me. I jump. "You spaced out there."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just trying to control my magic."

"Thought so. Your right eye, the yellow one, it's glowing. That's a common sign among skeletons that they're using magic."

"Oh, okay. Well, didn't mean to hold you guys up, we should keep going."

"Night, we're here already."

I pull myself out of the emotion sensing state and look around. We're at the base of the mountain, and I could see a path that leads up the mountain. Pen is crouched by the start of the path, discussing something with someone small. Patch heads over to them and I follow.

"...and so I had to go get them to do that. That's why it took so long. But yes, the human is in Hotland." Says the thing Pen is talking to.

"Great. By the Spider Bakery, right?"

"Yup."

"So they're near the end. That makes our job a lot easier." Pen looks over his shoulder at Patch and I. "Oh hey, you two. The human's in Hotland, so we have plenty of time." 

"Great," Patch says.

"Uh, hello, who are we talking to?" I ask, walking over to them. I look at the thing on the ground. It's a yellow flower and it takes me a moment to process it has eyes. "Holy heck why does the flower have eyes."

"This is Seed," Patch says, clearly enjoying my confusion.

"What? But Seed isn't a flower."

"Well, in summary, Seed has a really unstable Soul, and whenever he leaves the Art Dome he has to enter this form so his Soul doesn't break. It's also part of his code, since he's the Flowey for this AU."

"I... don't understand, could you-"

"Explain later? Sure. But for now, we have a job to do before the human reaches New Home." Pen says, heading up the path. I look at Seed for a moment.

"That's gonna take some getting used to."

"It does," Patch says. "But you gotta admit he's adorable like this."

"SHUT UP I AM NOT ADORABLE." 

Patch and I laugh, then follow Pen up the mountain.