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ask-codeearasure · 4 months ago

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The Outer Realms - Chapter 1

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Chapter One:

Sleep’s Claim

—

“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,

Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before” - Edgar Allen Poe (The Raven)

—----------------

Dream couldn’t help but stare from a distance as a human child with a purple and pink outfit, and the ability to transform their arms into blades and summon a pink scythe. She was flailing around, trying to escape the world she was in, but couldn’t succeed. Everything was deteriorating, going surreal. The earth around her began to look like it was made by giant cotton balls. Suddenly, teal strings tied around her and she flailed and struggled, only to be pinned to the ground by the strings that were seemingly invincible. The air around them was becoming suffocating and crushing.

Eventually, her body also became corrupted, far beyond that of her surroundings. She looked like she was cut from crumpled paper. The world was tearing her apart.

“Do you wish to die as well?” asked a dark voice that sounded like it was coming from an ancient radio.

Dream found himself being wrapped in the same teal strings, but instead he was pulled through a portal and…

—-------------

Dream rolled off of the couch, hitting his head painfully on the coffee table. He groaned as he sat up. He looked around the rather humble living room he was in and remembered that he was still in Underswap with Ink. He clutched his chest as he panted heavily, slowly but surely calming himself.

“It was only a dream….”

–

Dream stared at the breakfast Indigo had made for them: Pancakes. They were perfect as always but, the dream he had gave him an odd feeling, and he couldn’t stop thinking over it. He took a deep breath and started eating, keeping his problems to himself—especially from Ink, who would just brush them off as per the new usual.

He did his best to not make eye contact with Carrot, who had been perplexed by his silence. He didn’t want to burden him or his brother, even though Indigo would be elated to talk to him whenever. But that idea just didn’t feel right to Dream. He considered Indigo a friend, sure, but not only did he not want any of them to worry about him, it’s just the resident Sans reminded him too much of someone he lost. Which was okay! It wasn’t Indigo’s fault.

It wasn't odd, though. Dream himself knew he was more than a bit on the hyperactively positive spectrum of a persona. He had no other choice in the matter, considering his situation. He couldn't give up hope. He had to hold on for dear life. Carrot always saw him be positive and hopeful. Always smiling. Even when he was coughing up blood, Dream remained hopeful.

But that dream he had that night…

Something about it made his soul hurt.

Something about it made him feel cold.

Dream found himself halfway through his pancakes, but he couldn't finish them. They were delicious but with the mindset he was in, he didn’t think he could stomach much more.

“I'm sorry… I guess I'm not that hungry…”

He felt like he had to run out of the house to try to get his emotions under control. He made his way deep into the Snowdin forest until he felt comfortable enough to just breathe. He paced back and forth trying to release the emotions but it wasn't enough. As he collapsed against a tree, he found the word that could describe what it was he was feeling.

Anxiety.

But why?

“You okay?”

Dream nearly jumped a foot in the air, finding Carrot was present, who was smoking a cigarette and staring at him.

“Um-”

“I know something's bothering you. You have the same look my brother had when he told me he was joining the guard.”

Shit. Of course Carrot would be able to read him. Dream rubbed his face and tried to calm himself. “I had a really bad dream and I don't know why it's bothering me so much.”

Carrot walked over and sat beside him, “Wanna tell me about it?”

Dream looked down at his gloved hands and shrugged. “Yeah… sure…”

Carrot didn't ask any questions as Dream described it which Dream appreciated. He just sat and listened. When Dream finished, Carrot exhaled a cloud of smoke and said “Sounds like hell.”

“What’s that?” Dream asked.

“Eh, this weird place that humans theorized their souls will go to if they commit too many bad things in their life, or are just plain evil. They say their souls will be tortured for all eternity.” Carrot shrugged.

“That's horrifying.” Dream frowned.

“Like that nightmare you had.” Carrot nodded.

“I don't know why I had it though…” Dream murmured.

There was a small moment of silence before Carrot got up, stretching his bones before taking a long drag to finish off his cigarette and using magic to dispose of the butt of it.

“Ya know, before you and Ink came here, I looked through the Royal Library a bit, and they have a lot of human books. Some humans have books on the symbolism of dreams and nightmares. Possible meanings and whether or not they can predict the future.” said Carrot, rotating his wrist.

“What's that supposed to mean?” asked Dream, his voice was a bit shaky.

“I mean, your nightmare could be your subconscious trying to tell you something. It could be that you're stressed out, but refusing to acknowledge it. Or something completely different, who knows. Your namesake isn't something anyone understands.” Carrot suddenly smiled. “It's best to not dwell on something that cryptic.”

Dream thought about it for a moment, nodded, and then got up.

“Come on, I want to go with you and Ink to that weird Doodlesphere-place that you two keep talking about. It sounds interesting.” Carrot smiled.

Dream smiled back a bit, still feeling a bit anxious but far more relaxed after talking to Carrot. He was such a good friend. When they both got back to Carrot’s house he and Blue talked a lot about what they were going to do for the day once Ink showed up. Dream ignored them and went through a small notebook he kept to himself. It listed the many things he wished to say to his own brother…

Nightmare.

That strange possession he went through. The destruction of their Alternate Universe (AU). All of it replayed in his head. He just wanted his brother back, but it always seemed impossible. He wanted to be able to reunite with his brother. He wanted to show his brother the many wondrous AUs he’s been to. He wanted to be able to just–

“Hey guys! I’m back!” Ink said, opening the door happily, his eyelights starry and bright.

Dream waved and Carrot gave a nod.

“You hungry?” Indigo asked, “I can–”

“Nope. Thanks, though!” Ink said, practically running over to Dream. “I found a really interesting Underfell timeline! It has no sign of human activity yet!”

Dream held back a grimace. “Great!”

“I know, right?” Ink exclaimed.

“Underfell?” Carrot asked.

“It’s an alternate universe where monsters are cartoonishly evil. They tend to kill each other and humans for even the most minor of reasons!” Ink explained. “It’s very cruel, but so different compared to most universes!” he looked back at Dream, “You have to come with me there. If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to find the human before any other monsters do! Wouldn’t that be interesting?”

“Or dangerous.” Dream mumbled. Charas tended to be genocidal depending on the AU. With it being an Underfell, the Chara there would be genocidal. But if they were a Frisk, they’d likely be sweet and kind, but it was always a fifty-fifty chance as to what he’d be walking into. He remembered the time Ink dragged him into a genocide run. The prospect of going to Underfell was not a good idea at all, and Ink wanting to interfere with its story, even on a small level, was a peculiar thing for Ink to make in general. Out of all his friend’s chaotic tendencies, that was the one decision Dream almost never saw Ink fall back on.

It piqued Carrot’s curiosity though. “Mind if I tag along?” Carrot asked.

Ink grinned, “Of course not!”

Ink went on and on about how interesting he found Underfell to be as he opened up a portal to the Doodlesphere.

“It just looks interesting to me! I mean an entire universe where everyone is cartoonishly evil villains is just… so weird and so funny to me!” Ink grinned as they walked through the bright void that was the Doodlesphere to find this AU.

Dream rolled his eyelights as he tried to tune it out. What Ink wasn’t saying was that this was the twelfth one they found in the past year, though this would be Carrot’s first interaction with one. Dream then paused as he heard in the distance a strange hissing sound. He turned around but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. He turned and saw that the others didn’t seem to hear it.

“I must be on edge…” he thought, “That dream really got to me.”

He caught up with them and followed Ink to this new timeline. Dream couldn’t help frown as he was annoyed with these ones, so the most he could say was that it gave him a strong dislike and discomfort. He couldn’t really function to his full capabilities because of the general and consistent lack of positivity available. He couldn’t make a portal out. He couldn’t be at top form there. The hate, the despair, it was overpowering. But he knew Nightmare loved those emotions. He loved it all. So Dream had no choice but to go there anyway. These AUs that give him a lack of access, solely locked away from him unless he followed Ink or anyone else capable of opening portals. He did his best to help out as much as he could regardless

He watched as Ink pointed at the page that was Underfell. “That one right there!” he used his brush to open a portal, and Dream sighed internally. This wasn’t going to be fun for him.

When they walked through the forest of the Snowdin of Underfell, Carrot looked around, amazed that it wasn’t that different from his own. It was when they were in the town that he found many differences. There were a lot of… destroyed and boarded-up buildings. It was sad to look at.

When a small Doggo Pup tripped and fell, he and Carrot helped them up, but they gave them a puzzled but confused and almost mortified look. But what became a new habit for him, Dream simply said, “You don’t owe us anything, just be careful next time. The snow can be so troublesome sometimes!”

The pup, still confused, just nodded their head and ran off as fast as they could in the opposite direction.

“What was that about?” Carrot asked.

“This universe doesn’t have a lot of kindness in any way. No sincerity or love. Just… hate, despair, and fear…” Dream grumbled, “They view acts of kindness as something that deserves payment with one’s own life- like selling your soul for food, or your autonomy for a shirt. That sort of thing. Not even one’s own family is an exception.” he shivered. The fact that these AUs existed made him feel a sense of disgust.

“That… is the saddest thing I’ve ever heard.” Carrot said, stunned.

It was when they walked to Waterfall that they were met with a terrifying sight. The cave walls were flickering in and out of reality, transforming from balls of cotton or sloshes of acrylic, pictures of the sea, or even many different clocks ticking down time as if counting down the minutes till… the sight was indescribable.

“Ink, what’s going on?” Dream asked, his voice trembling.

The resident Sans was blasting at the now clocks where the cave walls should be, but they turned into boulders, then crystals, then mirrors, then crayon scribbled on paper.

“I have no idea.” Ink said, looking around. The artist blinked multiple times, then shook his head, struggling to process the environmental scramble around them.

Carrot ran to Sans and quickly asked, “What’s going on?”

Sans flinched and turned to see Carrot, looking even more horrified. He tried to impale Carrot with a line of bones, but he teleported behind Sans and asked again, even grabbing him by the shoulders. “Look, I know I probably look like ya brother, but ya gotta calm down and tell me what’s happening. We’re here to help.”

Sans looked over at Dream and Ink who were in the process of investigation, even touching the cave wall. Dream even felt the shift in texture with each flicker.

“Y-... you can see it?”, Sans asked.

Carrot nodded.

“It’s been happening for weeks.” Sans said, “It’s been happening, but I’m the only one who can see it for some reason. No one believes me. They think that the Ruins and Hotlands are still there, but they’re not. They disappeared yesterday. But they can’t see that. Some just walk into the… nothingness and disappear!”

There was a loud bang and the reality cracked like glass. Ink summoned his paintbrush and made a new portal out. Dream ran over and said quickly as he pulled their hands, “We need to get out, now! ”

The entire universe was crumbling away into garbled code and dust. They jumped through the portal as everyone else seemed to not care. It was mayhem and maddening to witness. Reality didn’t look like reality. It was surreal and horrific, a corrupt infection. Dream would’ve thought he ate something contaminated or was sick �� which was abnormal even for him, a rarity – but no, Carrot saw it too. Ink, who already had left the universe, saw something that he wasn’t at all expecting. The universe was falling apart, and there was no direct link to what caused it.

All the universes in the Doodlesphere looked like pieces of paper floating around, in this particular case, the piece of paper that personified Underfell burst into flames, soon blowing away in the form of ash.

The trio jumped through the portal and fell on top of Ink, who didn’t have time to dodge. His eyelights were rather large and fully a light violet, indicative of his worry.

“Are you all okay?” asked Ink.

Dream dusted himself off. He could feel his soul beating, magic racing, as though it wanted to jump right out of his ribcage and keep flying off. It was just… terrifying.

Dream simply nodded, not wishing to speak for the other two.

“What the hell was that ?” asked Carrot, his tone harsh and a bit shaky.

“My universe…”, Sans couldn’t take his eyelights off of his reality, which was now reaching the final corner of the page and falling away into nothing, “It’s gone…”

He seemed to be in shock.

Ink shook his head, “I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it before. Maybe Error figured out a way to—”

“Can’t be.” Carrot said, interrupting Ink. He lit a cigarette and put it between his teeth, took a long drag of it, and exhaled a long cloud of smoke as he took the cigarette with two fingers, “Error has never done anything like this from your stories or what I’ve seen. I doubt he’d even spend the time to figure it out.”

Dream nodded again, “It was… like I was dreaming, but it was real. How would he even…” he couldn’t continue.

“Nightmare, then?” Ink asked.

Dream shook his head. Ink must have forgotten. “No, Nightmare only wants to spread negativity, remember? And Killer has never displayed such… abilities? You know what I mean. Neither of them even have reality-destroying capabilities”

“Okay, can someone tell me what the fuck is going on?”, Sans asked harshly. It took them a moment to remember… Sans had never encountered them until that day, let alone knew the concept of being an outcode.

They all glanced at each other, and in a silent agreement, they decided to go to their favorite hideout… Carrot’s timeline.

—---

It took almost three hours to explain what they could about their predicament.

"So… to simplify this bullshit," Sans grumbled as he pinched his brow bone. "You all are just running amok in this… Doodlesphere because your– " he pointed to Dream, "--brother is an insecure baby and decided to go around torturing people for his own benefit, and using a mentally broken version of us as his attack dog, and because you stupidly left him to his own devices before all of this, he turned out this way and you're actually genuinely surprised by this fact. And you –" he pointed at Ink, "are trying to stop another mentally broken version of us who has been completely transformed by the Anti-Void or gods or whatever and is trying to destroy universes because he views them as unnatural." He then looked at Carrot who was sitting with his older brother, Indigo, "And you two have been housing these two and are also basically if my universe wasn't bullshit and are mine and my brother's roles… just swapped."

"Basically," Carrot shrugged.

“I wouldn’t summarize it like that but yeah, pretty much!” Indigo replied.

Sans rolled his eyelights. "But you all seriously don't know what destroyed my world?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"I'm sorry, but we've never encountered anything like it." Carrot sighed.

"We'll figure it out though, I promise." Dream stated.

Sans didn't seem to believe him.

Indigo got up from his seat, and in an attempt to lighten the mood, stated he was going to get started on making dinner. Dream went off to help him.

He had offered to chop some tomatoes when Indigo spoke to him in a whisper. "Are you okay?"

Dream looked up from the cutting board, "Yeah, why?"

"Well this is the second time it's happened, isn't it?"

"Second time what happened?"

Indigo frowned, "That someone insulted your brother."

Dream paused. Now that he thought about it, he remembered when Carrot first encountered Nightmare.

The words rang out in his mind.

"Your brother is a demon."

Carrot did apologize for it. Hell, he even sensed that Carrot was still a bit apologetic over it. But why was Indigo asking about that?

"I thought you'd be angry about that… or at least a little upset," Indigo mumbled.

"Oh. No, I’m not.” Dream said simply.

Indigo looked at him with a confused expression. "...what do you mean by that?"

Dream paused his slicing again, "I can't blame them. I mean, they don't understand what's going on and even if they did, I still can't blame them. It does hurt a bit, but if anything, at some point, someday, I'll find a way to make it all stop. I won’t give up on my brother.”

Indigo gave him a very worried look but Dream returned it with a brave smile.

"I'm okay, I promise." Dream said.

The dinner was awkward, but Sans seemed to be adapting nicely. Dream had him take the couch while he himself worked with a sleeping bag in Indigo’s room. When he and Indigo were setting it up, they talked about how they could think of this like a sleepover. Come night, however, Dream couldn't sleep. He didn't know why. His mind was racing but never settling on a single thought or question. He looked over at the sleeping Indigo and frowned.

Yeah, he wasn't getting rest tonight.

He got up and got dressed as he tried to figure out something his mind could settle on. Perhaps he could focus on figuring out what happened to that Underfell timeline? Perhaps the whole universe as well, since the paper of it in the Doodlesphere vanished entirely. As he silently went down the stairs, he found that the light was on and that Sans was up, laying on the couch and staring at the ceiling.

Sans glanced over to Dream, "What's keeping you up?"

Dream gave a nervous laugh and went over, "Just can't stop thinking about what happened."

"You and me both." Sans grumbled, "It's so weird to see that Carrot guy… never thought I'd see a day where my little brother would be nice . Guess I was half right."

Dream shrugged and hummed, "I'll make us some hot chocolate."

Sans gave him an odd look, watching as Dream ran off to the kitchen.

He was even more put off by how the drinks looked. Whipped cream, a stick of cinnamon, chocolate shavings, sprinkles, and star shaped marshmallows.

He sat up and took the drink, mumbling a thanks. He didn't really know what else to say, but Dream didn't seem to care.

They sat in silence for a bit before Dream suddenly spoke up.

"I'm sorry we couldn't save your timeline, or your universe..."

Sans seemed a bit shocked by it but he shook his head, "It's fine. I mean, all that shit happened so suddenly and all of you did say you didn't know what was going on, so it makes sense you couldn't do much."

Dream could feel Sans was forcing his frustration down to try to be as understanding as possible.

"I know you're frustrated and confused about it all, and that’s okay." Dream said, "I just wish I could've done something to stop it. But I promise we'll find out who did it."

Fell finally gave a genuine smile.

"Thanks."

—--

The next day was rough, to say the least. They all decided to try and track down Error, much to Dream's confusion. Ink had insisted that no one else could be the culprit, he even thought of the perfect bait…

Chara.

Carrot, Dream, and Indigo were appalled, but couldn't argue with Ink properly when he was in one of his rare fixation modes. Sans was horrified when he saw Chara, even summoning a Gaster Blaster on the kid, but Carrot was able to get him to calm down.

Indigo couldn't help but call him Edge , because of how edgy Sans behaved. The nickname stuck.

Edge couldn't help it, and was annoyed but he was as unnerved by how the brothers were interacting with Chara. They were so cheery and calm, but the mere mention of Frisk sent them into a panic.

Edge then got the idea as to why they were going to use Chara as live bait, but at the same time, he was even more put off by it.

This had the possibility to fail, and real quickly at that. He and Dream tried to help Carrot and Indigo argue with Ink again, but the artist’s insistence persevered.

Going back to the Doodlesphere made Edge shiver. He hated how quiet it was.

He just hoped that everything went smoothly.

As they were wandering the blankness, Carrot holding tightly onto Chara's little hand, they saw something odd. Cobalt strings.

So many of them, tied around the pages that represented the other universes. All of them were strung up rather tightly and there were moments as though someone was lightly tugging on them, rippling the pages around the edges ever so slightly. Dream had paused, then summoned his bow, and attempted to shoot one of the universes free.

No success. If anything, the strings pulled tighter around their delicate hostages.

"What in the world?" Dream mumbled.

Ink seemed confused as well.

Carrot tried to blast them, but the strings remained. They continued walking a bit further, but the farther they went, the more strings they saw.

That's when Edge heard it. The sound of a piano playing a rather somber and lonely song, as though the piano itself was almost in mourning.

They followed the music, soon finding themselves before a rather unusual skeleton sitting alone at a classical piano, playing the gothic melody. Edge could just make out the name of the song on the pages that sat against the piano.

Lacrimosa D minor.

It was such a slow and methodical tune.

The odd skeleton paid them no mind. Edge noticed that the strings all tied to each other and led down to the stranger's fingers.

The odd skeleton's bones were all black minus for his phalanges, which were in an odd coloration. His hoodie was also black with golden fur. His glasses were red and greenish. The oddity of all oddities as Edge was concerned.

He looked up from his piano when he finished with the final notes and grinned with a mouth of golden teeth.

Edge couldn't help but get the feeling that something was beyond off here.

Dream could feel it too. That emotion… It was such an odd one. Why was Error satisfied with everything? Especially their presence. But it also felt malicious. Dark… so much darker than what Dream was used to sensing from the destroyer.

"What did you do to Edge's AU, Error?" Ink asked harshly.

Error clicked his tongue and got up from his seat, then snapped his fingers.

The pain was unbearable. It was so little but so much- like being burned from the inside out.

Strings went straight through everyone except Chara. They kept everyone still, but the decision to kill wasn’t made. Why?

That's when Error summoned Chara’s soul with blue magic and dragged them closer.

Error touched the tear-streak-like stripes on his skull, summoning more strings to appear but rather, they were on the tips of his fingers, as though they were claws. He reared back his hand.

There was a crack, then a scream, and blood sprayed from the wound.

Why was there so much blood?

Chara fell, but before they could hit the ground, Error kicked them over to Carrot just as the strings that were once holding everyone were retracted. Before anyone could react, Error pulled the last string, and the Doodlesphere erupted into an explosion of shredded paper.

Edge couldn't take his eyes off Chara, the horrified look on the child’s face burning into his memory. The hole in their chest where a heart should have been hardly seemed to matter in comparison.

Where did the piano go?

Dream shot an arrow at Error, but it was stopped by something. He couldn't see what it was until the arrow landed behind him.

A string?

What kind of magic was this? Since when could Error’s strings deflect projectiles?

Error fidgeted with the human’s heart, trailing a claw down the middle before stripping the flesh, revealing the soul inside. He wrapped it in the strange strings, where it disappeared in quick succession.

Then Error too disappeared, as though he was a computer program that was causing the mainframe to glitch uncontrollably.

Edge and Dream were jumped back to reality again. The first thing they registered was the despair of the Underswap brothers, and the confused murmurings of Ink.

Lacrimosa.

Edge put a hand on Carrot's shoulder.

"Let's.. go back to your world… we can't leave them here… ya know?"

Carrot gave a mournful nod as Dream opened up a portal to the Underswap universe.

Lacrimosa.

The burial was quick. The Queen, Toriel, made sure of that. She was distraught with the whole ordeal, but she made Carrot, Dream, and Indigo, and even Edge himself, promise to never allow Ink to drag a human out to the Doodlesphere ever again.

They agreed.

She was being lenient, Edge had noted.

Asgore would've had their heads for that…

Their Asgore couldn't stop crying.

Never had he'd seen him as such a softy…

Lacrimosa.

Days passed and they still hadn't heard from Ink. They were visited by Alphys – the buff head of the Royal Guard – and Undyne – the Royal Scientist and a total twig.

Undyne was fascinated with Edge but more concerned about her friends. When he got the chance to, he finally asked her a question he had been wondering for a while.

He had to grab her hand, causing her to jump a little, her scales barely hid the deep blush she had when she looked at him. “Um hey… uh I have a question for ya…”

Stars, if she blushed any more, her glasses would fog up. Can she calm down for a second? She stammered, “Sure! Sure. What’s the question?”

"What does Lacrimosa mean?"

"Oh? Uh…" Undyne cleaned her classes as she spoke, "It means weeping , or tearful . Why?"

Edge felt his soul run cold as he took his hand back.

Weeping or tearful?

It was a somber song.

Slow and uneasy.

There were so many strings.

The pain.

He had the piano there.

"He planned it out…" Edge said in a whisper. "That was the name of the song that Error guy was playing…"

How the hell was he going to explain it to the others? Fuck…. He wasn’t exactly the gentle type.