Echoing Souls

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟙

Error was late.

It was normal for Fell to be late, usually complaining about his brother, or Horror to be late, usually raving about this new food he found, but never Error.

All the other evils were in attendance, simply milling about with the ones next to them as they waited for the glitching skeleton to show up.

Nightmare sat at the head of the table, arms crossed as he stared at the doorway. Dust and Killer were comparing weapons, Horror and Fell were discussing food plans for after the meeting, and Mistress and Cross were bugging Swapfell again.

The ticking of the clock became evident once it began to quiet.

Tick

Tock

Tick

Tock

Minutes ticked by, and yet Error still wasn't showing.

"Should we start without him?" Cross suggested, glancing between the goopy octopus skeleton and the door.

"We've been waitin' for ages, we might as well!" Fell barked, leaning back in his chair.

Nightmare stared at the door, trying to imagine Error coming through at any second complaining about Ink again. But now that he thought about it, Dream had something glimmering in his gaze during their last skirmish...

"... Something isn't right."

Multiple eyelights turned towards him, and just as he sighed and opened his mouth—

The door finally creaked open, Error, battered and looking worse for wear, stumbled in before collapsing to the floor with a heavy thud.

Everyone was on their feet in an instant, rushing over to the glitching skeleton. No one could really reach for him, his glitches sparking and stinging any hand that got too close.

Eventually, Nightmare used his tendrils to pick Error up, carrying him out of the room. Nightmare returned a few minutes later, livid rage rolling off him in waves.

The group lingering by the door all backpedaled out of his way, slowly moving to take their seats as their leader did.

It was a long moment before Nightmare spoke.

"The Star Sanses have added a new member to their team. One that's very adamant on stopping us."

~~~

Dove followed Ink through his portal, finding herself in Underswap. "What are we doing here?"

"Underswap is the home of another member of the Star Sanses!" Ink said proudly, closing his paint portal once they were both out.

"Is Dream joining us?" She asked, following him as he walked through the trees.

"Mm, not today. He's keeping watch on Nightmare and his group."

Dove hummed, glancing around. It wasn't much different than her AU, same looking snow, same looking forest.

Then she saw them. Apparently, this AU truly lived up to its name. Never before would she expect Sans to be in a royal guard outfit.

Nonetheless, out of habit, she flipped up her hood, hiding her face. She's scared off too many other people with the echo flowers. Ink and Dove began walking out of the woods, skirting around the entrance to sneak through Snowdin unseen. Ink waited behind the house, watching as this AU's Sans and Papyrus went inside. Turning back to Dove, he waved her along and led her to a backdoor.

At her cautious stare, he gave her an easy smile. "I do this all the time, don't worry!"

She sighed, following him inside and taking in the warm atmosphere.

"Ink! You've come back!"

Dove perked up to the excitable voice, poking her head around the corner that Ink disappeared behind.

Ink was receiving a rather tight-looking hug from the smaller skeleton, and the tall one seemed to have spotted her.

"Is that a friend of yours?"

"Ah yes," Ink took a moment to detach the blueberry skeleton from his midsection, a task probably more daunting than it looked. "This is Dovelyn. She's helping me deal with Error and the others."

Dove stepped more into view, offering a small wave. "Hi... It's Dove, for short."

Swap, beaming ear-to-imaginary-ear, rushed towards her, hugging just as tight, if not tighter, than he did with Ink.

"Hello new friend! I'm very glad you're willing to help us!"

"Can't help much if you end up snapping me in half!" She rasped, trying to detach him like Ink did.

Instead, he let go, looking up at her with a wide grin. A grin that fell slightly the longer he stared up at her.

"Did something happen to you?"

Subconsciously, she lifted a hand to hide the flowers. "Uh... let's just say Error had something to do with it."

Swap gasped.

"All the more reason to put an end to his evil deeds!" He turned on his heels, marching towards the kitchen. "Come! We shall talk plans over tacos!"

Ink shook his head, chuckling softly before following Swap. Dove trailed after, jumping slightly from the soft pat on the head from Papyrus.

Glancing up, she found herself growing more at ease with his welcoming smile.

"Papyrus! No smoking in the kitchen!"

"Fine, fine."

"So!" Swap set a plate of tacos down on the table. "What has happened since your last visit, Ink?"

"Well, Error has been acting up again. And Dove here was unfortunately his latest victim."

Dove spoke up as Swap's gaze fell on her. "He ah... deleted my AU and..." she hesitated, but reached up to pull down her hood.

Swap gasped in horror, a worried frown tugging at his face as probably a hundred questions began to fall from his mouth like a river.

"Does it hurt!? Does it spread!? How well do you see!? Are they cracking your skull—"

"Slow down, Swap." Ink spoke gently, "Give her a moment to speak."

"Ah... Y-Yes, it hurts, but not too badly. It only spreads if I get seriously hurt. I can see just fine. And, unfortunately, yes, it has cracked my skull in some places." Dove explained, glancing down at her reflection in the mug of hot cocoa she was offered, "It's also affected my magic, so while my attacks are powerful, I have to be mindful of how I use them, or else I run the risk of draining myself."

Swap let out a sigh. "Well, as long as you're able to keep going! So, what other news is there, Ink?"

"Dream has reason to believe that Nightmare and the others are planning something big. Like an all out attack on the AU's of some kind."

"And how many of them are there?" Dove asked, "There's Nightmare, Error, Fell..."

"Nightmare, Error, Fell, Dust, Horror, Killer, Cross, Swapfell, and Mistress."

"Who's Mistress?" Swap and Dove asked in unison.

"A skeleton bent on chaos and watching others cower in fear... Seems we're not the only ones to have a new member."

Mistress and Dovelyn (AKA Dove) do not belong to me, they belong to