Reborn As A Dust Sans [Undertale Multiverse]

Ch9 - Magic

Ashes POV

Still facing Outer, you chose to made a gesture with your hands, trying to nonverbally communicate through what was essentially an unwilling game of charades. The other raised a brow at first, taking in your movements with an expression of confusion, only to quickly flash with a hint of understanding.

“Oh, ya want somethin to write on?” He hummed, to which you nodded in confirmation. “Eh... I’ll go see if I have an old notebook or somethin’... But ya gotta stay here, yeah? Don’t go messin’ with the stuff in my room.”

Your thumbs up must have been enough to reassure him that you would stay put as he quickly disappeared in what you could only assume to be a shortcut, leaving you seated on the bed with only your phantom sibling as company.

Not that you could complain, though. This was the perfect opportunity to speak to Papy without having to worry about being judged for talking somebody you were sure was invisible to everybody else.

“SEE, BROTHER! I TOLD YOU THAT HE WOULD HELP YOU!” Papyrus exclaimed, grinning widely.

‘Papy, how did we get here? I don’t remember what happened after Ink flung paint into my sockets,’ you signed thoughtfully, still trying to see if you could dredge up any further details from your blurred memories.

“YOUR MAGIC WAS VERY DAMAGED AND UNSTABLE DUE TO YOUR INJURY, SO THE ADDED PANIC MADE IT KIND OF BLEED OUT? I WAS ABLE TO USE IT TO TELEPORT US TO SAFETY.”

Whilst you appreciated the explanation, you found it only increasing your confusion even further. He was able to use your own magic, but... wouldn’t teleporting through different timelines take a very large amount of energy? How would he have had enough to take you here, when your magic had been so deficient at the time?

‘I don’t really understand...’ you confessed, hoping he would be willing to explain it in more detail.

“HM. WELL, BROTHER. LET ME ASK YOU THIS. CAN YOU FEEL MY MAGIC RIGHT NOW? HOW ITS KIND OF MERGED TOGETHER WITH YOURS?’

You took a moment to consider his words. Now that you thought about it, you realised that he was right. There was the gentle buzzing warmth of his magic that surrounded you, seeping into your own, interweaving and combining until it was impossible to discern what magic belonged to you and what belonged to him.

‘...I do. But what happened? It wasn’t like this before!’

“YOUR HEAD WOUND ALSO AFFECTED YOUR MAGIC DIRECTLY AND MADE A SORT OF HOLE. BECAUSE OF THAT, YOUR MAGIC WAS SEEPING OUT AND LATCHED ONTO ME, REACTIVATING MY MAGIC TO TRY AND SORT OF... PLUG THE LEAK?” He begun to explain. “OUR MAGIC IS NOW PERMANENTLY A SINGLE COMBINED STREAM.”

That was beginning to make more sense to you. ‘So if our magic is merged together, what does that mean? Is it dangerous?’

“HM. YES AND NO. YOUR MAGIC MUCH MORE STABLE NOW, YOU HAVE TWICE AS MUCH AS YOU USED TO. YOU’LL PROBABLY HAVE TO BURN OFF EXCESS MAGIC, OTHERWISE IT MIGHT HARM YOUR BODY... ON THE PLUS SIDE, IT SEMS I CAN STORE SOME MYSELF, EVEN IF ONLY A SMALLER AMOUNT. DOES THAT MAKE SENSE?”

You nodded. ‘You seem to know a lot about magic.’

“NYEH HEH HEH! OF COURSE! THE SPOOKY PAPYRUS IS VERY SMART!”

You let out a soft giggle, nodding in agreement with his declaration. ‘Oh! Since you teleported us here, do you think you could do it again?’

“I THINK SO! I BET I COULD EVEN TAKE YOU SPECIFIC PLACES INSTEAD OF RANDOM! BUT I DO THINK I WOULD NEED SOME PRACTICE FIRST....”

‘Is it like shortcutting?’

“NOPE! ITS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT... HM. I CAN’T THINK OF A WAY TO EXPLAIN IT,” he let out with furrowed brows. Then, suddenly, his orbs became less cheerful, expression shifting. “OUTER IS WATCHING YOU FROM THE HALLWAY.”

You gave a minute nod, then turning to the hall in which he had gestured towards. He probably had not been there for long, but you were fairly sure he had seen at least part of your conversation. Would he believe you if you told him you were talking to your dead brother? Or would he think you were insane?

You waved at Outer and he came in. “Uhhh. Sorry. It looked like you were having a very... intense... discussion with the wall there,” he let out.

“NYEH! I AM NOT A WALL!” Papy immediately retorted, aghast at the comment.

You turned back to the floating skull. When he wasn’t talking to you directly, he was usually by your side, though you always had to gaze upwards a little since he was higher. ‘Papy, he can’t see you, remember? I’m sure he’s not trying to be mean.’

“NYEH... I STILL THINK YOU SHOULD STAB HIM FOR BEING RUDE.”

You gave an unimpressed stare to that, crossing your arms. ‘Outer has been nice enough to help. We are not stabbing him!’

“...FINE. BUT IF HE HURTS YOU, I EXPECT YOU TO STAB EXTRA HARD.”

You rolled your eyes, then turned back to Outer, not having meant to have ignored him like that.

“Uhhhh.... Is the, uh, wall, done talkin back, orr...?” Outer interrupted, sweat dripping down his face as though he were finding the situation incredibly uncomfortable. He wasn’t scared of you, was he? You might have to be more mindful of talking to ghost Papy with company, then.

You simply nodded at his question, casting a soft grin in hopes to reassure him that you weren’t offended at his question. “Er... good, then,” he let out, taking a moment to clear his nonexistent throat. “I found ya this old notebookand a few pens. Keep ‘em if ya want.”

The little bundle that he passed into your hands was a simplistic notepad with lined pages, there being enough room that it should last you a decent amount of time. It had a sort of leather case to it though, one you could slip off if you wanted a new notepad, the cover having a beautiful echo flower and vine engravings.

It was far more beautiful than you had expected. It seemed rather old, yet well cared for despite the lack of writings in it. It looked like it would have been quite expensive. It seemed far too pretty to simply be giving away. Why wouldn’t he keep it? Or the leather case part, at the very least?

He picked up on your questioning gaze and sighed. “It, uh... belonged to th’ old royal scientist. Found it in storage collectin’ dust. Guess he didn’t get around ta using it.”

“...BROTHER, WHOEVER THIS OLD ROYAL SCIENTIST PERSON WAS, OUTER CLEARLY DOESN’T LIKE THEM. JUST TAKE THE NOTEBOOK. BESIDES, YOU CLEARLY LIKE IT’.”

You nodded, feeling more comfortable accepting it now that you had Papy's reassurance. It really was beautiful, you would be sure to treasure it. After all, this was your first gift in this life – well, aside from Undyne’s gloves, if that even counted as one.

Using the pens he had also passed along, you decided to write a short note to Outer. ‘Thankyou for helping, and for the lovely notebook, Mr Outer.’

“Uh, sure,” he responded casually after taking a moment to read it.

You then stood up from your bed, as you had been seated until this point, and turned to ghost Papy, signing instead of using the notebook. You definitely preferred signing to writing, the pad would be mostly for emergencies or trying to remember things.

‘Papy, do you think you could take us to a new timeline? I’m not sure if you could get to the neutral aus that Outer mentioned, but maybe we can try anyway?''

Papyrus gave a cheerful, albeit mischievous, grin. “OF COURSE!”

Then, like before, you felt the buildup of magic all around you. It took only a few moments, just barely long enough for you to wave goodbye to the space themed skeleton. The scarf around your neck seemed to blacken with saturated magic, and moments later, you were in a completely different timeline.