Things were tranquil for a few weeks after the kidnapping incident. Cross decided to name himself Blade after almost cutting Gaster with the blade of one of his knives, almost scaring the poor man to death. Not very original, but he had no idea on how to call himself and he thought it sounded good enough. Reaper opted for Demise. Close enough to his ancient name without being 'Death', which he deemed to be too cliché for a God of Death. It took some time for everyone to get used to the new names, but they did eventually. The three Gods and Blade also grew quite fond of Gaster and his sons during this time. They also decided that Blade would be Torment's dragon and Demise would be Drako's. The choice was made purely randomly since none of them cared about who they would be paired with.
During those few weeks, Drako trained himself to be able to control his crystallization while in dragon form, as well as his elemental magic. It took him a while for the crystallization, but he managed to control it. But he still isn't confident enough to try to use it outside of the Anti-Void, despite all of Psyche's praises and encouragements. He didn't want to accidentally hurt someone with it. He knew that he could take away the crystallization but he didn't want to know what would happen if he somehow turned someone into a crystal statue, even if only for a few seconds.
Demise also trained himself to be able to control his deadly touch fully. He did well, and was now able to touch people without freezing in fear of killing them. He was extremely happy of it. The others soon discovered how cuddly the God of Death truly was, and they could all agree that it was adorable. Of course, they understood why Demise was so affectionate and were happy to drown him in affection, which only made the God of Death happier.
Once his dragon training was done, Drako tried to see if Demise and Blade had gained new abilities with their new appearance. All tests were unsuccessful. The only thing that they hadn't test out yet was the elements. Well, if they had this element-based ability, it surely wasn't bound to the vegetation, unlike Drako. They decided to test it out once everything else would be under control by going into other AUs, like Torment did with Drako while they were searching for his element.
"ArE We GoINg In ThE sAmE AUs As THe LaST TiME?" Drako asked while petting his now associate dragon, who was purring in happiness. "I guess, yes? It should be easier anyway; we just have two small dragons, not a huge one like last time. We won't attract as much attention... Even if we managed not to meet anyone last time." Drako hummed, shrugging slightly. "We StIlL LOOk LiKE OuR CoUNTerPaRTs, If We CrOSS The PaTH Of ANY sAnSEs, We WiLl pRoBAblY HaVE PrOBlEMs." Blade looked up at the mention of his old name. He still wasn't totally used to the change of identity...
"It's not like you can do anything about it. I mean, Torment can take his passive form, but Dream probably could still recognize him and you... Well you can't modify your appearance. And no, your dragon form doesn't count. Plus, we will need to meet them one day, even if only when Dragontale will meet the other universes. The sooner, the better, I guess. We wouldn't want a fight to break out when the others will come here in a few years. We're already lucky enough that Karma and Destiny put us in a young universe." Drako sighed. Demise was right, but it didn't mean that he was less afraid. He got used to be attacked by everyone in their old Multiverse; of course he would be afraid of seeing alternate versions of them!
He felt Psyche pat his head gently. "Hey, everything will be alright Glitchy! You're not the Destroyer here, even if you look like Error. They have absolutely no reason to attack you, and even if they did, you four can take the whole Multiverse down in a snap of your fingers!" He smiled a little, silently thanking Psyche. Torment put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry Drako, we're with you. We probably won't even meet anyone today, so relax."
Drako nodded and let out a sigh. They were right; he wouldn't be able to avoid seeing familiar faces, even if he wanted to. "AlRiGHt, WhICH AU fIRsT?" Torment hummed, thinking. "What about Dusttale to start? We are sure that we won't meet anyone here, so it might be good to calm you down a bit." The ex-Destroyer nodded and opened a portal to the AU, leading directly toward Hotland this time. All of them suppressed their aura, just in case. It would attract people if their auras were felt in a supposedly deserted AU.
"AlRiGHt, LeT'S Go." He mentioned for his family to go first before following them and closing the portal. The change in temperature was immediate; the gentle warmth of Dragontale being replaced by the suffocating one of Hotland. Not like it actually bothered them, they had been in different Hotlands too much to care now. Drako took a seat on the edge, his legs dangling above the lava underneath him. He was soon joined by Torment.
"So... What do we have to do?" Drako turned slightly to look at Blade before answering. "I aCtuAlLy HaVE No IdEA SiNCE My ThINg WaS NaTuRe... WhEN I trIED, I wEnT To FlY AbOVe ThE LaVA To sEe If I FeLT DiFfErENT aND PoSSIbLy StRoNGer. PsYcHE DiDn'T sAy I wAs DoInG AnYThINg WrOng So I GuEsS It'S WhAT YoU HAvE To DO?" He ignored Blade muttering about casually committing suicide through lava bath.
Both dragons turned toward the lava, staring at it; one with curiosity, the other with slight worry. "Can I go first?" Blade, the worried one, turned his gaze toward Demise for a second before shrugging, turning back toward the hot liquid. "Sure."
Demise muttered a small 'thank you' before jumping from Drako's shoulder, easily managing to stabilize himself in the air just above the lava. He stayed above it for a few seconds, flying around calmly, before a sudden warmth enveloped his SOUL, making him freeze in surprise. "Hey, what am I supposed to do if this is the right one?" He didn't need to scream to be heard, his voice echoing enough to reach the two other Gods.
"YoU NeEd TO FocUs ON YoUR SOUL... ThAT'S WhAT YoU SaiD, RighT PSyCHE?" He felt his Voice companion nod. "Yep, he must let his SOUL guide him. It's hard to explain, but just like for you, it's should be instinctive." Drako nodded. "AlRiGHt, I wAS rIghT, FoCuS And LeT YoUR SOUL GuIdE YoU. ThANk YoU PsYcHE" Psyche nodded, seeming happy to be able to help even after their duty was fulfilled. "You're welcome Glitchy~"
Demise nodded, focusing on the soft beating of his SOUL. He felt a sudden spike of energy run through his body, making him close his eyes for a second, feeling more alive than ever, before opening them again. Once he did, flames started to rise from the lava, forming a tornado of fire around him. The flames were blue with some being black.
Demise let out a powerful roar and the tornado suddenly exploded, sending flames all around him. The flames stayed for a few seconds before evaporating in the air like fireworks. Demise smiled happily, flying back toward his family. "I guess we found my element." It explained why he felt oddly energized when they burned that shed... He just thought that he had a pyromaniac hidden side that even he didn't know about. The more you know.
The three others nodded, smiling at the sight of the black dragon who, for once, seemed full of energy. And without having any drop of coffee in his organism! "It SeEMs LiKE It, CONgRAtUlAtIOn DeMiSE." Said dragon smiled brightly in response, feeling better than he expected after this experience. He flew back on Drako's shoulder, on which he snuggled close to the skeleton's neck with a happy purr. Torment felt Blade's worry and sighed softly.
"Don't worry, we'll catch you if something goes wrong." The white dragon had a problem with flying. Not that he was bad at it; quite the opposite actually! But he always feared that an accident might happen while he was in the air. Flying above lava was therefore quite scary for him, even if he knew that his family would save him if anything went wrong. Blade sighed and, after feeling Torment pet him in encouragement, he jumped toward the lava. He flew just above the same way Demise did, quite proud that he managed to stabilize himself so fast.
He stayed there for a few seconds before shaking his head, going back on Torment's shoulder. "Nope, nothing for me." Drako nodded and hummed softly. "LeT's TRy BiRdtALe ThEN." That being said, Torment opened a portal toward the AU, landing directly on one of the canyon's cliff. He looked up for a second and cursed silently. "We'll have to be fast, some habitants are training here. I don't think that the Sans of the AU is here but let's not risk our luck."
They all nodded, waiting on the cliff while Blade went flying away for a few seconds. He let out a cry of surprise as one stronger gust of wind send him flying away. He fought against the wind, but it was too strong for his little body. Torment and Drako cursed; they hadn't thought that it would happen. Drako summoned his wings and quickly flew toward Blade, letting out a sigh of relief when he managed to catch him.
Sadly, he also caught the attention of the few Monsters flying around. They went toward him, surrounding him and starting to talk all at the same time. "Woah that was cool dude!" Said one. "You're really fast!" Said another. "I love your wings!" And another... "I never saw wings like yours, where are you from?" Another... "What is this little creature?" Drako barely heard this one, but he did and tightened his grip on Blade. Just in case they wanted to try to take his brother away. Demise also snuggled closer to his neck, hissing softly at anyone trying to pet him. "Are you related to Sans?" This one made him freeze and shake his head rapidly.
Torment could only curse from the cliff that he was on. He couldn't do anything besides watch. He did have a shapeshifting ability –one of the perks of turning into a goopy octopus–, but even that wouldn't help; the attention would be on him if they saw him, and seeing him would probably just make them ask more questions. He was stuck, not wanting to cause them unnecessary attention. He could only wait for Drako to either get rid of them or somehow manage to escape. "Damn it..."
His tentacles started to sway anxiously behind his back. At this rate, the Sans or the Papyrus of the AU would come and see them! This was not good at all... They didn't know what to expect of the skeleton brothers nor how they would react at the sight of them...
Drako smiled anxiously at all of them, who started to talk about his scars –not caring about how insensitive they sounded by talking about it so freely, despite Drako not really caring about the subject – and his resemblance with their Sans, while he was just denying ever meeting such a skeleton. "I-I... PlEaSE L-lEaVe Me ALoNE... I DOn'T LiKE To BE sUrRouNdED..." It wasn't really a lie; the last time that he was surrounded, he was ambushed by all his Multiverse. It was therefore normal for it to bring back bad memories. But he could deal with it, honestly, it was just a pretext for them to leave him alone.
It seemed to work; most of the Monsters nodded and flew away to go back to their own occupations. Only one stayed, wanting absolutely to pet the dragons. "PlEaSE, sTop, ThEY DOn't LiKE To BE tOucHEd By STraNgERs..." The Monster huffed in annoyance. "I don't care! Let me pet them right now!" Drako frowned at the tone used by this Monster while Blade and Demise both started to hiss at them, baring their teeth in a threatening manner. Drako let his destructive aura out for a second and the result was immediate; the Monster flew away in fear.
Drako quickly went toward Torment. "We'RE gOInG, QuIcK." Torment only nodded, entering the portal toward Oceantale that he had prepared in advance. Thankfully, the portal leaded to one of the smaller islands of the AU. There was no habitant or habitation, and they could traverse it in just a few steps. Once everyone was in Oceantale, he quickly closed the portal while Drako unsummoned his wings. He had taken a picture of the Monster and was planning on giving them a few nightmares for harassing his brothers like this. Hey, he was maybe not the King of Negativity and Nightmares of this Multiverse, but he was still one, and nobody mess with a King of Negativity's family!
Blade went to fly above the water for a few seconds before a sudden calmness enveloped his SOUL, warming it gently. He froze on the spot, breathing deeply and starting to focus on his SOUL, like Drako told Demise to do sooner. He felt energy course his body like strong waves of water, making him hum softly. Then, the water around him suddenly moved; forming a dome of water around him, which exploded after a few seconds.
Blade laughed in happiness, flying directly in his brothers' arms. "I did it!" The three smiled in response. "Congratulation Blade." Drako gently petted his head with a smile. "Can I train a little please?"
They all looked at each others for a second before shrugging. "Yes. I don't think that we risk much here anyway. Perhaps we can also go back to Dusttale later, if Demise wants to train too." Blade nodded and went back above the water to play with it, creating numerous forms in the water; some being simple spheres, some being squares and some looking like animals –those were the less well made, unsurprisingly, but it was still easy to guess what animal Blade was making–. It was really pretty. Blade soon noticed that he could freeze the water or make it boil, and was having a lot of fun with this ability. He then went back on Torment's shoulder. "I'm done, it was fun!"
"It was beautiful Blade!" The white dragon smile brightly at the black one, his tail wagging gently behind his back, like a happy puppy. It made Torment and Drako smile fondly at the sight.
Sadly, they didn't notice the approaching boat behind them until it was too late. "Hey you! What are you doing here, d'you need some help?"
The four of them jumped and turned around, discovering a skeleton whose face was way too familiar for comfort. It was the Sans of this universe; who opted for the nickname Ocean in their old Multiverse. He was wearing a blue captain hat, with golden decorations. His right eyesocket was covered by an eyepatch. He wore a light salmon colored shirt with a black jacket, on top of which was a blue coat which almost reached his feet behind his back but only reached his knees at the front. The back of the coat had golden embroideries. He wore greenish dark blue boots with golden details. They knew that the back of his skull was slightly broken, and that instead of legs, Ocean walked on blades.
The boat was simple; nothing too extravagant. It was proudly showing a black flag with a cross formed by two bones. The wood of the boat was painted in red fading to purple at the back, some blue and white bones decorating it. The four of them could hear distant humming coming from inside of it, accompanied by soft 'Nyeh's. No doubt, Papyrus was also there, which wasn't a surprise as the brothers were often navigating the sea together.
Torment and Drako looked at each others with worry. Torment's tentacles started to move a little faster and seemed ready to strike any possible threat while Drako's right hand went to his cheek, ready to use his strings. With one look and a discreet nod, they decided to act normal. It was too late to run away so they might as well show that they weren't a threat... For now. "No, we were just passing by... May we know your name?"
The Sans tilted his hat a little, observing the two skeletons with a calculating gaze that they didn't like at all, before smirking slightly. "My name's Sans, but I guess y'already knew that, heh?" Torment didn't answer, his tentacles twitching slightly. "Not gonna talk? Heh, alright then. The name's Ocean, who are y'all?"
Torment frowned a little, feeling how suspicious Ocean actually was of them. He moved closer to Drako, never leaving Ocean from his sight. "My name is Torment." He pointed at Drako. "This is my brother, Drako." And then at the two fluffy balls. "And their names are Blade and Demise." He couldn't call them his brothers, no matter how much he wanted to, because it would only make Ocean more curious of them, and he didn't want to tell him their story. Not yet. He didn't trust him enough for that.
Ocean hummed, analyzing them without even trying to be discreet. "Truly? You reminded me of... Someone else... Heh, whateva', what are you lot doin' here, on this small island?" They frowned, knowing fully well that he was talking about this Multiverse's Nightmare and Error. "JuST HaNgInG ArOuND, wHy? Is ThAT a PrObLEM?"
"Nah, not at all, it's just... Unusual to see people on such small islands... Other Multiverse travelers usually come on bigger ones, or directly on boat." They heard the Sans of the AU mutter a little 'even if we told 'em not to...' but chose not to comment on it. Torment hummed in response. "Otherwise, which AU are y'all from? I never saw you before, and as I said, you remind me of two other Sanses, which is... Surprising."
Drako and Torment both frowned, while Demise and Blade snuggled closer to their necks, eyeing Ocean with distrust. "WhY sHOuLd wE tELl yOu?" Ocean raised his hands in the Multiversal sign of 'I mean no harm' with a chuckle. "Heh, no need to be so defensive kid, I was just askin'."
Torment's tentacles twitched in annoyance at being called a kid. He sighed and, after seeing Drako nod, decide to tell half of the truth, so Ocean wouldn't get too suspicious of them or try to link them at their counterparts. "We come from a young AU, that still had no Multiversal visitors. You're actually the first 'Sans' we met outside of it. I... Don't want to tell you our AU's name, as you could be dangerous and I don't want my family in danger. I hope that you understand..."
Ocean nodded with a smile. "Yeah, that's understandable; there are some dangerous people in this Multiverse... Do y'all wanna come on the boat for a ride through my AU?"
The little family was a lot of things; dysfunctional, weird and sometimes reckless being some of those things, to name a few. But they were absolutely not stupid –well they weren't most of the time–. Ocean was trying to gain their trust and possibly gain more information about them. They were not naïve. "ThAnkS BuT nO, We NeED To Go BAcK HoME OtErWiSE oUR dAD wIlL Be WOrRiED."
Ocean hummed in response. "Well then, see y'all later I guess!" They all nodded, Drako opening a portal back to the Anti-Void quickly. He didn't want Ocean to see anything from their universe. They all went inside and Drako closed it before Ocean could see what was on the other side of the portal. "Welp... I guess that we are now introduced to the Multiverse..."
Psyche snickered inside of Drako's SOUL. "He totally thinks that you both are Nightmare and Error's children!" Drako cringed at the mental image of him being in a relationship with his brother. Well, it technically wasn't 'him', just another version, and they maybe didn't consider each others as brothers... But that didn't stop Drako from finding the thought weird and mentally curse at Psyche for saying that, who only laughed in response.
Torment sighed. "It seems so... Do you still want to train in Dusttale or would you rather go back home?" Demise shrugged. "If you don't mind, I would like to train a little."
"It SHoUlD Be ALrIghT, EvEN If OcEAN tAlKs AbOUt Us, ThEY WOn'T SeARcH DuSTtALE... WeLl, I dON'T ThInK ThAT ThEY WiLL." That being said, he opened a portal toward Dusttale's Hotland and let Demise have fun with his new ability.
During this time, Ocean was staring at the spot where the teenagers and their dragons previously were, brows frowned. He sighed and took his phone of his pocket, quickly calling someone. "Hey, I have a question."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Me while writing a different story: Fate will be evil. No, nice. Evil. Nice. *realize that I ended up making them both evil and nice, somehow* Welp fuck, this is weird. :0
Anyway, the Multiversal troubles are finally starting and Cross and Reaper are now called Blade and Demise. Great.
I'm seriously questioning which story I'll write after the one that I'm currently writing, even though I'm far from being done with it. I have four (make it five, I just had a new idea-) that I really want to make at the moment-
Speaking about them, I'm currently hesitating between creating a ship that I never saw before with Error or making the character Error's child/brother... Which is extremely different, but I'm a bit scared to try this ship honestly-
I started to panic because I thought that I forgot to post a chapter last Friday-
Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! ^^
Lunar's out!~