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jsdimensions · 10 months ago

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Error Of My Ways: Chapter 1

Words: 3,714

Rated T for multiple instances of swearing.

Summary:

A fan of Undertale and its alternate universes, or AUs, is brought back from the dead in the body of one of her favorite Sans variants. What could go wrong?

Everything, apparently.

Next ->

The fic is below the cut.

Nothing.

I felt nothing, yet everything at the same time.

It was as if I was in the middle of a dreamless sleep, yet I was aware of it.

It was nothing. I was much too aware of how much nothingness surrounded me. It felt as if my consciousness, my thoughts, were the only things that existed in this place devoid of comprehension.

I wanted to speak.

Breathe.

Move.

Listen.

Feel.

And yet, nothing was there.

Until, one indiscernible moment, there finally was.

I don't know when it happened, but I didn't care. Existence was something I took for granted, and I was just glad to be back in action, in all honesty.

Although I somehow ended up on the floor, I lied there anyway. I was on my back, arms spread wide. Besides the obvious oddity of being on the floor, I felt about the same as usual.

My eyes remained closed. Presumably, I'd gained consciousness before my alarm, and that's no fun!

And so, I lied there, attempting to keep my eyes closed. However, it seemed like the sun’s rays were trying and failing to reach them. Or something really bright.

…Wait. Was I late to school!?

I sat up, attempting to open my eyes but shutting them immediately. I turned away from where I thought the light source was coming from, but once I completed the motion, I noticed that the light did not change at all.

…How? Why?

I opened my eyes once more, squinting heavily.

White.

…White?

It was the only color I saw. Looking around only revealed the same.

White, white, white…The sight was familiar to me, yet the implications of this being my reality terrified me.

I stretched one of my arms out in front of me to see if the room I was in was smaller than it looked.

Well, what I thought would be my arm, anyway.

For whatever reason, the arm was a mass of blurred colors that almost looked like large colored splotches in my vision. Moving it more confirmed that I had full control over it. My heart skipped a beat.

I could recognize those colors from anywhere. Black with a loosely fitting sleeve, with fingers that were segmented into crimson and gold hues.

…No. This can't be happening, I thought, as I brought one of my the hands closer to my face.

If I had a stomach (I knew I didn't now, for certain), I'd have felt it churn when I came to three different shocking revelations, all at once.

One: I became nearsighted. My 20/20 vision was completely gone. Just my luck.

Two: No more flesh for me! Only bones. Not like being human was exactly my thing in the first place, but it was still a shock to my system.

Three: I died. My memories had just returned to me, and I was pissed.

I was eating in a restaurant when, somehow, a fucking semi crashed through the window, crushing my feeble, fragile human form.

…Truck-kun. The infamous isekai killer, paying me a visit.

I didn't know if I wanted to laugh or cry.

Out of indecision, I continued to stare at my hand instead. It felt like my face took on a blank expression. Both options required vocalization, and I simply wasn't ready to hear that yet. All that could do for me was let my new reality sink in even more. I wanted the bliss of denial on my side for just a little longer…

As soon as a voice spoke from seemingly all sides, all of my hopes were thrown out of the non-existent window.

“Error is now ready for asks.”

I shot a glare in a random direction. I was absolutely not ready, thank you very much.

I flinched as an avalanche of voices crashed down onto me, covering the spots my ears would be if, well, I wasn't a skeleton.

“Are you okay?”

was the only question I could discern from the noise. I shook my head vigorously in response.

And then, one loud voice broke through the noise.

“EVERYBODY SHUT UP!!!!”

For a few moments, I returned to the silence I woke up in. However, the voices eventually started up again, becoming a murmuring crowd. I felt like I was being poked with needles, small areas of my body stinging for a short amount of time before they moved on to a different spot. Glancing down at myself revealed that these short stings corresponded with what I assumed were the glitches. Another voice spoke up, bringing my gaze away from this…new form.

“oh no! i'm so sorry about the others. they're just excited that you're back.”

I slowly got up off the ‘ground’, holding one of my arms with my opposite hand. I felt my brows furrow in thought as I wondered how to respond without talking.

…I quickly realized that I couldn't entertain the thought any longer. I had to talk, whether I wanted to or not.

“…Don't do that again. Please.”

I flinched–no, cringed–as I spoke. The voice that spat out my words was deep and masculine, and it had a stutter to it that I couldn't control. I always liked listening to this voice, but hearing it coming out of my own mouth sent a shiver down my spine, no pun intended.

“And why can't we? Your reaction was quite funny imo.”

“Because…I…hate it. Next question.”

I spoke slowly and unnaturally, as if each syllable was its own sentence.

“Geez, you definitely aren't okay.”

“He Isn't Acting Like Himself! Who Are You, Imposter!?”

“amogus”

“hey, now, let's not jump to conclusions! errors are unpredictable, remember?”

“But not like this.”

I didn't question how I sighed as I performed the action.

“Alright, you got me. To be fair, I'm…definitely not like him. I…don't know how to process this.”

“Process what”

“...being reincarnated as a fictional character.”

“lol what that isn't possible though”

“Yeah, that's what I thought, too. You gotta believe me, though! I wouldn't lie about this.”

“Don't worry I believe it!”

“I don't. I'm Leaving”

“That sounds really hard to deal with.”

“OOH, awesome!!!! What's it like?????”

If I had a drink in my mouth, I would have been tempted to do a spit take. Instead, I gave a confused squint to a random section of the whiteness.

“Awesome?” After a moment, I cleared my non-existent throat before speaking once more.

“Uh, anyway, I…don't know how to feel about any of this. It's all so…foreign? Yeah. As I think it would be if you suddenly got turned into somebody else with a way different voice. And into a guy. That too.”

“wait you WHAT”

“Oof.”

“...Yeah. So…I'm actually a girl. In spirit.”

“How haven't you crashed yet? I'd totally be rebooting for the 5th time by now if that happened to me.”

I prepared myself to speak, starting a motion with one of my arms, but I quickly froze in place.

…That voice was right. How hadn't I crashed by that point? In fact, why wasn't I freaking out more!? For the first time in quite a while, I chose to swear.

“...Oh, shit. Wait. Hold on. I need a moment to, uh,” I began to sit back on the ground, “Mourn. Process. Think. All that stuff.”

“take ur time bro”

“At least you have powers now.”

“aw man!! lucky…i wish i had magic!!”

“But, to quote that meme…at what cost? I…I'll never get to see my friends again. My family. God, just when my life got better, too!” I curled up into a ball, head hidden by my legs. “I swear, I gotta be cursed…I got what I wanted, but…I'm alone. I-I don't…” I paused, momentarily deliberating on if I wanted to raise my voice or not. I shook my head. “I don't want to be alone.” My fear, made worse by the distortion of my voice, was a weight on my shoulders. I could feel tears begin to build up on the corners of my eye sockets, and that stinging glitching sensation intensified tenfold.

“But you have us don't you?”

“please calm down…us voices can help accompany you though anything!”

“SO WHAT!? I STILL DIED! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT KIND OF MULTIVERSE THIS IS! I CAN'T ACT LIKE HIM! I SUCKED AT THEATER! I–I just…I don't know what to do. If somebody tries to hurt me, I can't do anything. I can't fight. I don't know how magic works. And none of you can help defend me, because all of you are just…voices. Voices only I can hear. I've always considered myself a mentally strong person, but…damn. This might just be beyond me.”

A long moment of silence, occasionally broken up by an indecipherable murmur or two, followed.

“On a, uh, lighter note, if you're not Error, then what's your name?”

Spaced out, I took a few seconds to process that I was spoken to.

“Oh, it's…” My eyes widened. My sentence ended right there. “Shit. Oh, no. No, no…”

“Did you forget!?”

I nodded.

“Do you want us to call you error then?”

“Not really. I remember thinking about an alternate name to go by just in case I ever wanted to a long, long time ago, so…call me Jupiter until I can think of something better.”

“oooh! pretty name!!”

I couldn't help but smile a bit. Putting a hand near my neck, I confirmed that I had a scarf, so I pulled that up over half of my face.

“Aw! Shy Baby!!”

I waved my free hand dismissively, a slight playful tone present in my voice. “Yeah, yeah, don't get used to it.”

It didn't take long for inevitable, awkward silence to creep in once more. I fidgeted with my scarf, my fingers rubbing against the surprisingly soft fabric.

Looking at the scarf, I finally took note of my eyesight again. Or lack thereof. I was squinting so hard that the muscles on my face, if I still had them, would have begun to feel sore at that point. My eyes widened as a memory came back to me, and I stuck a hand inside the jacket I wore.

There was a pocket, hidden on the inside. Perfect. I took out the item, and it looked like just what I was looking for.

I blinked a few times after putting it on my face. Looking down at my form again revealed that I could see smaller details like the wear on my scarf and the textures on the fabric of the clothes I wore rather than vague blobs of color. I sighed in relief.

“Finally, some semblance of familiarity here…”

“Did you wear glasses before, Jupiter?”

I jumped as the voice spoke. Right. They exist. “Well, no. I didn't really need them. Jeez, I knew his vision was bad, but not this bad…” I continued examining myself, feeling almost entranced as I stared. It's not everyday a fictional character becomes real, but becoming one? It was unbelievable, really, and I still couldn't process it in full. I doubted I would any time soon.

I put a hand on my face, feeling the slightly rough texture of bone against bone. The face didn't seem to have the most realistic of proportions, but I wouldn't know for sure until I got my hands on a mirror.

My hands worked their way up to my eye sockets when I felt an abrupt change in texture to something strange that felt nothing like the bone I'd been feeling seconds before. Pulling my hands away from my face, I found that blue strings were tied around each of my fingers. I was caught off guard, but not necessarily surprised.

“Interesting…” I mumbled to myself, the smile that appeared on my face quickly turning into a frown as I came to the realization that…

“Um, voices? Do any of you know how Error detaches these?”

A wave of uncertainty was the only response I got. Great. Okay. I was on my own, then.

I kept pulling my hands away, but like melted cheese, it kept on stretching.

I used another hand to try to snap one of the strings. Nothing.

I heard a few chuckles from the voices as I bit down on one of them. I quickly spat it out. It didn't look damaged in the slightest.

I closed my eyes as I put my hands near my face in a display of infuriation. Suddenly, I felt the strings disconnect from my face, trailing down my arms. Opening my eyes again, I was able to pull the strings off my fingers with ease.

Was it that easy?

I cringed from the unfamiliar feeling of summoning another string, with just one of my fingers that time. As soon as I blinked, it detached from my face once more.

“Oh,” I exclaimed simply.

“Right. Magic. Yeah. Um…I should probably get around to learning that, huh?”

I was greeted with a murmur of agreement.

“Guess I can't put it off any longer, then. Do any of you know how this stuff works?”

“Nope not really”

“Magic doesn't exist where I'm from.”

“i can guess but i could be wrong.”

“It Depends On The Multiverse You Are In”

“It comes as instinct for most monsters. I assume you weren't one?”

“Fun. Great. Who said they had a guess? I need to have something to try out here.”

“thats me! ive heard that its mostly a focus thing or drawing power from the soul. as the other voice said before it comes naturally to monsters. idk if you would be an exception or not tho”

“...My soul? Wait, if it draws from the soul, then how could Ink…No. We can think about that later.”

I looked back down at myself, my gaze following my hand as I reached out to the nothingness surrounding me. I felt my brows furrow as my arm returned to my side. I didn't really feel anything different. Whatever connection I had with my soul remained unfelt. I began to think. What was the closest thing to magic I did in my previous life..? A memory–no, a set of memories–flashed in my mind. Would it work? Probably not, but it was worth a try. It's not like the voices would be able to tell anyone else if I did make a fool out of myself, anyway.

“Alright, I'm going to need you all to shut up for a moment. I'll be able to focus better if things are silent.”

The voices, for the most part, seemed to comply.

I remembered the times when I lived in what I called the “old place.” It was a decently-sized house, a little big for just three people. The backyard had a wooden patio that rested under a large tree that basked half of it in shade. Its branches hung low enough for me to touch them, an activity that I quite enjoyed. When the weather was good enough, I liked to go out there with a walking stick with indents carved by wood worms I'd found on a trip with my mom and slowly dance with the breeze. Sometimes, I'd pause, pointing the stick in a certain direction, and the cool breeze would follow the direction I pointed at. It was likely a coincidence, but it made me feel special in a difficult, miserable time.

Although I had nothing to use as the stick, I began to slowly move. My legs were spread in a lunge, and one of my arms slowly reached out towards infinity once more. My other arm was held at my side, almost at a raptor position.

“What the hell are you doing?”

If my eyes weren't closed, I was sure that one of them would have twitched out of annoyance. “I told you to shut up.”

“That doesnt answer my question.”

I began to stand up straight again.

“It doesn't have to,” I snapped back.

“Yeah it does actually.”

I felt my annoyance begin to swell inside me. My eyes clenched further shut as my brows furrowed once more. “Well, I have my methods.”

“You dont even know if theyll work.”

“I'm trying, alright!?”

“Nothing happened regardless.”

“Because you won't let me focus!” My eyes opened, and, palm up, I let my wrist travel towards me ever so slightly. A foreign energy coursed through my arm and into my hand.

I yelped as something hit me right in the chin. Hard. I fell backwards, landing right on my back.

“oh! thats one way to do it!”

“Ouch! Are you okay!?”

The rest of the voices either gasped or laughed at me.

“What–” My sentence died out before it even began. There was a black bone right in front of me. It protruded from the “floor”, glitch effects that matched mine and all. “–Oh.”

I remained silent as the voices continued their commotion.

…I had powers.

It wasn't surprising, considering, well, everything, but rather…a different word that starts with the same letter.

Surreal.

I slowly got up, approaching the bone. As I reached out my hand, the voices raised in volume.

“Hey, don't do that!?”

“wait stop! it might hurt you!”

I touched it anyway, and…

Nothing happened. It was just a bone.

“You're overreacting. See? It's fine.”

I leaned onto it with one arm, my spare hand being held at my face in thought for a moment before I reached out once more. I willed that energy I felt just moments ago back, summoning another bone that wasn't much larger than my hand. It was a deep red this time, almost the same color as some of the bones that made up my fingers.

And the next moment, I found myself falling again with a snap.

The bone I was leaning on broke in half. The other half that was still attached to the ground ended in a series of sharp points.

“Hmm…that wouldn't be a half bad melee weapon,” I mused to myself as I got up. “Maybe in a pinch. Or if I get into a fight before I learn how to use my strings as attacks. I could just…snap one in half, and then dual wield! Oh, man, that sounds so cool…” I put my hands together in excitement. “Hey! I can finally intimidate people! I was too ‘cute’ for that before…Not that I'm not cute now, of course.” I said with a giggle.

“u would have to leave for that to happen tho

do u want to?”

“Yeah, no, I'm not doing that yet. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. I need to be prepared for a fight first.”

“If you know how to make portals, you can always just run away if a fight is about to break out, right? That way, you don't have to learn yet.”

“Oh, yeah, I could! It would be out of character for Error to do that, though…I'm not sure if I want to try to act like him around other people or not yet. I mean, I did drop out of Theater class because of anxiety, so…ehh. I don't think I could. Not without everyone seeing through it. But what do I even say?”

“Why Not Tell The Truth?”

“Wha…Isn't the answer obvious? I can't just tell somebody that they're not real and the person this body belonged to is probably…essentially…dead…oh.”

“Well shit.”

“I hope the original isn't dead! He was so easy and fun to mess with…”

“if youre in his body, that means either youre right and hes gone or theres a remnant of him still in there somewhere.”

“Oh No !! He Could Take Your New Body Over !!! Watch Out !!”

The thought made me shudder. Hearing the sound of my bones momentarily rattling made me shudder a second time.

“Doubt it. He would have shown some kind of sign by now if he was there.”

“Well, there's only one way to find that out. I don't really have control over it. In the meantime, uh…portals! Y'know, I always hated light mode on anything. This place is, like, the embodiment of that.”

Focusing my magic once more, I did a waving motion with my hand, only being met with nothing.

“u moved on from that quick…”

“When I'm faced with a thought that can make me panic and generally have a not so great time…I distract myself. It's actually a great coping mechanism when used correctly.”

I waved again. The results were about as expected.

“Wait, maybe it was a snap…I swear it was a wave, though.”

I snapped my fingers, but nothing happened once more.

“I think Error edits code to make those.”

“Shoot, right, how did I forget…”

I paused for a second.

“I…I don't know how code works. Is Error able to see code, or was that exclusive to Fatal..? Shit. How did he do this?”

I focused my magic again, squinting my eyes as I focused. Perhaps, I thought, there was something I wasn't seeing…

I thought about where I wanted to go. There were so many AUs out there…

I knew that talking to people was something I needed to avoid. AUs that happen to be peaceful would usually have tons of people in them, but ones without many people would, more often than not, be really dangerous.

“...maybe Outertale,” I thought out loud, nodding to myself. I sensed something, most likely my magic at work, that felt almost tangible. With my hand, I tore a hole into the space in front of me, allowing me to see a sight more beautiful than I ever thought it would be in person. I quickly wiped the tears that threatened to prick at the edges of my sockets as I walked through the portal. My mouth opened slightly in an awe-filled gasp.

Countless lights, more than I'd ever seen before, sparkled in the dark navy-blue sky like glitter poured on silky-smooth fabric. Other colors, no doubt the dust left behind from dead stars, were scattered throughout the expanse like paint that was submerged in water. Oranges, blues, purples… A combination of pleasant sights that made me struggle to keep my composure.

“Pretty, isn't it?”

I nodded, rendered speechless from the sight in front of me.

“Hello? Who are you?”

I turned around quickly as a voice spoke behind me.

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