His face hurt.
And it wasn't like the pain he could now feel in his head, his legs, in his entire body, no, it was a different kind of pain.
It was a pain he had grown used years ago to and at the same time... it was different.
His tears always hurt him, 'crying' Hate through his eyes was not something that was healthy nor recommended.
The cursed tears had burned his skull since he fused his soul with Chara, even if for some reason he stopped crying them the mark of them would never go.
His mother had offered to rid him of them, a long time ago, when there was still a chance to get rid of them, when his and Chara's soul haven't completely fused, but he had vehemently refused, he had wanted them to serve as a reminder...
A reminder of how little he had been worth to his old universe, how so many years of friendship, loyalty, of sacrificing his own sanity in order to stop the genocides meant nothing to anyone.
A reminder of how the monsters he once call friends accused him of being a traitor, of having stolen a soul for himself instead of giving it up for their freedom.
A reminder of how Papyrus just stepped aside and did or say nothing to help him.
He had learned to live with the pain of his corrosive tears long ago.
But the pain felt... different now, like applying alcohol to an open wound.
He was confused, he didn't had any idea of why he was feeling that, his body was not responding to him and he was suffering.
Had the plan failed? Ink and his blind followers have captured them and now he was suffering through one of their attempts to "fix" him?
He hated it, he wanted it to stop, whatever had replaced his tears was healing as well as hurting him and he hated it.
He wanted his mama papa.
He wanted his brothers.
Where were they?
Fate had done something to his mama and that's why he couldn't feel her void in his soul anymore?
(But he still had void in his soul, it was just... not hers).
He couldn't see anything; his body didn't seem to react and he didn't know where he was.
His mind was full of conflicting feelings, everything in him was screaming at that he should be afraid, that he should be panicking over his current situation.
(D̸̡̂o̶̜̕n̶̫͝'̷̣̔ṯ̵͒ ̷̦͒b̷̊ͅe̶̛̖)
But... he was not afraid, there was a kind of mist covering his being, like a warm blanket, it was the same warm feeling that his mama used to evoke when any of them were on the verge of a panic attack.
But that mist, this void... this void was not his mama's.
Where his mama's void was warm and firm, cauterizing but sadly never healing the wounds their universes left on them... this felt cold even if it shared the same firmness, equal and at the same time stronger in its grip than it did than the one his mama had on him and his brothers.
He should feel trapped, he should try to get out of that tight grip, but that thought doesn't even cross his mind.
This new void felt like the thing that had replaced the Hate in his tears, like a cold balm on wounds he'd already grown accustomed to but that never stops hurt until now.
It feels... good, safe, like home.
Was this void of that other God that their mama had given them to?
Did it mean that they were finally safe, away from Fate's strings and Ink's ignorance?
That sounded wonderful, and as movement finally returned to his body, Killer could only think of all the things he would finally be able to do with his family now that they were free.
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Killer wasn't getting up and Error was starting to freak out.
He did not know what was wrong with him, he kept making noises of pain, but Error could not find any wound that could cause them, and no matter what he did, he did not seem to be able to wake him up.
He did not know what to do.
He had moved his brother towards the wall of the ravine, as much as he did not want, the only thing he could do was wait for him to wake up, he would not risk approaching the bridge he had seen before until Killer woke up.
He could do that, if the Anti-Void had taught him anything it was patience, if Killer's life was not in danger there was no harm in staying by his side until he woke up... hopefully soon.
That gave him time to familiarize himself with the place where they were a little, the bridge was close enough so that he could slightly distinguish its passers-by, who were not many, which told him that it was some time of the night or that the place to which the bridge led was not very circulated.
That also made him thank his mom for having him to make a new set of clothes for him and the rest of the Gang, not only had their old clothes been torn apart far from repair from the fight, but they would have attracted too much attention among the type of clothes that the bug inhabitants seemed to wear.
Which at least explained the sudden anatomical change he and Killer had undergone...
He wondered briefly how his other siblings would look now when movement out of the corner of his eye made him look at Killer.
He no longer seemed to be feeling any pain, rather he looked as if he had woken up from a nap, which caused that a tension he had not noticed leave him.
"Welcome to the land of the living Kill" He moved away from the view of the bridge and approached the other skeleton (could they even continue to be called like that?), who looked at him confused until he finally seemed to recognize who he was and tried to get up using the supporting wall to go towards him.
And for a few seconds there was silence, they both walked silently towards each other, Killer was looking at his boring surroundings as if he was seeing the stars of Outertale and Error could not blame him, the possibility of something with the plan going wrong had been low, but it was still there.
Having physical confirmation that they had succeeded was reassuring and it would probably take a while to get used to the idea.
It only took a few seconds to be within reach of the other and Killer wasted no time in hugging Error, as he always did every time the former Destroyer returned from an AU, whether or not he had fought with Ink, one more way to check the veracity of their new opportunity in life.
"...And you thought we wouldn't make it; you owe me 50 of whatever the gold is replace here."
And there it goes, Error thought with some amusement as he continued to listen to Killer boast that he was right, that he always believe 100% that the plan was gonna work, etc., completely ignoring the fact that he had doubts about the plan like everyone else.
"Fine, fine, jokes aside, where are the others? Did they go exploring while you stayed to wait for me to wake up? Did we get in trouble yet?". Finally noticing that they were the only ones of the Gang there, Killer joked and looked around, as if he expected them to come out from behind the rocks and join in his little 'celebration'
His smile lowers a bit at Error's initial lack of response, but before he could think of the worst the taller one spoke up. "They jumped into the portal just before me, so they're definitely here... we just have to find them before trouble does."
They both knew that the problems would find them before them, but at least they could come to get them out of them, hopefully Nightmare would be with the rest and would be a voice of reason for a while.
They talked a bit more deciding that they should go wherever that bridge led would be the best idea.
Which led to the matter of clothing.
Those of Killer were in a better state than those of Error but the best thing would be to simply start using the new ones, the scars that both of them, especially the former Destroyer, had would already be striking enough, they did not need the extra looks when leaving the tattered clothes.
But before they could get the clothes out of their 'inventories', a small pile of pebbles made a noise, as if something had suddenly fallen on them.
They turned around as fast as they could, waiting for an enemy, an animal from this universe or simply more rocks that could have come off the mountain range.
What they saw was... Error wouldn't know how to describe them.
They appeared to have similar anatomy to some insects he had seen passing over the bridge, but its head appeared similar to the "mask" that he and Killer now had, but it seems less a mask to the face and more a part of his body, even if there was not visible mouth.
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Their siblings were nearby!
Hallow had finally begun to feel the void of their siblings as soon as they entered Dirtmouth, in the process drawing the attention of the bugs that passed through the town with their presence.
And they couldn't blame them for staring, even if Hallow's home was now the Abyss, they were still Prince of Hallownest, heir of the Pale King.
So seeing them without guards and late at night in a place as far from the castle like Dirtmouth was would attract attention.
But that couldn't matter less to them at the time, Hallow had a mission to fulfill and at least one sibling to lead to the safety of the Abyss.
Once all of their siblings were safe, once father along with the medical bugs of sire healed them of any possible injuries they had, then they would worry about whatever explanation that would be asked to them.
Or maybe not, they father had left quite an... intense impression when he was searching all over Hallownest for the rest of the Vessels along with the masks the Shades had left behind when others destroy and force them back to the Abyss.
They don't bother to use the bridge and just start climbing up the hillside, taking the direct path to Howling Cliffs, they didn't want to waste time, their siblings hadn't moved from where were and they wouldn't risk the reason being some injury.
Hallow landed on the other side without a problem, they made sure to make noise as they did so, not want to scare their siblings too much.
They were not surprised when saw that they did not look too much like Hallow, they were the child of a wyrm, a root and a God of the Void, the two in front of them were only children of the Void God and their appearance reminded them more of an ant or even a mantis than a wyrm or a root.
Which was good, another proof that sire had nothing to do with their existence.
The shortest seems the same height as Hallow, so it shouldn't go past they second molt, and the other was just a little shorter than Kin, so was either approaching to third molt or had recently had it.
They stared at him, Hallow wasn't sure how to communicate with them, didn't know if they understood Hallownest sign language, and using mental communication would probably scare them more than calm them down, so they just limited themself to sending out feelings of warmth and security through they link through the void, in the same way that father had taught to calm they siblings in the first days that the family was getting back together and as still did from time to time with Collect, the days when they forgot that should no longer put things in vases.
It seemed to work, their postures had relaxed and now they only looked at Hallow with curiosity and, would even dare to say, a little hope.
On the other hand, Hallow began to worry the more they looked at the general appearance of their siblings, it seemed as if they had come out of a fight even if there were no open wounds, their clothes were barely holding, they had scars and cracks everywhere.
And oh gods, the smallest one seemed to be leaking void, the substance kept spilling from they sockets and Hallow had to force himself to stand there to avoid running towards them and pouring as much Soul as they could to heal them and get them to stop bleeding.
That don't prevented them from starting to slowly approach, they did not know if whoever created them was behind them, as much as he wanted to gain their trust little by little as did with Ghost when they finally found them, the fact that one was leaking void was worrying and they did not want risk it being something that could put their life at risk even if it didn't seem to hurt them.
The connection between them became stronger and stronger as the time passed, Hallow could already feel the confusion, disbelief and hope as if were them, it was obvious that their siblings apparently did not know how to avoid sending their emotions through the void, which was even more disturbing, something like that should be natural for them, especially given their apparent age.
Who had their siblings and what had they done to them for something that should be as easy as breathing was unknown to them?
Hallow didn't know the answer, but they swore that if ever had an answer, the culprit could only escape the clutches of death by escaping to another world.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
This chapter took more time than it deserved but here it is!
Using they/them pronouns is pretty confusing to me and if someone who read this uses those pronouns please feel free to correct me if I'm using them wrong with Hallow or the other vessels, I would really appreciate.
Btw Hallow is using they/them with Error and Killer bc they are asuming they also go by they/them like the rest of the Siblings.
In the next chapther: Nightmare is lost and Herrah don't know why this strange kid looks like the spawn of Shade Lord and a Ooma but is too early to deal with it in her mind.
Baby Hornet just want to stab it.