ok i finally got around to updating the logical inconsistency, here you fuckers go /lh
there arent any changes besides one scene
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Alright, third chapter! I'll probably rewrite up to like chapter 6 or 7, and definitely make sure the formatting is good on all the others.
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Nightmare had just grabbed a fresh taco from Cross's plate when the Multiverse shuddered. His goop involuntarily receded slightly in shock, tentacles twitching nervously.
"What was that?" Cross asked, though he knew the answer.
Nightmare only gave him a sad look, confirming his suspicions. It was the feeling of one of the Balances having only one side, and the Multiverse struggling to adjust.
The tacos lay forgotten as he made a portal to the Anti-VOID, glancing around for anything Error had left. Besides the few things he'd stolen, his puppets, and the navigational/decorative strings, Error didn't have much, and now he never would.
The most prominent thing was a small box of puppets. They looked different than usual. As Nightmare picked one up, he realized that they were all made of non-magic yarn. There was one puppet each of Fresh, Geno, Ink, Dream, both of Nightmare's forms, Blue, Classic, Cross, some weirdly translucent, black-and-white human, Killer, Dust, Horror, and finally Error himself.
A letter had been placed under the box, and Nightmare picked it up. It was addressed to whomever found it in Error's elegant handwriting. The envelope was made of thick, cream-coloured paper, the ink as black as Nightmare's own goop; he had no doubt that the note inside was written in the same fashion.
He took both the box and the letter and walked back to the portal, where Cross was hovering nervously. "Is he--" Cross couldn't finish the sentence.
Nightmare blinked a few tears out of his eyesocket. "We won't know until we read it. Gather the gang and please get Fresh, Blue, and Core, if you can find them."
They both hoped their suspicions were wrong, but they weren't stupid enough to believe it.
Cross managed to find the rest of the Dark Sanses just as Fresh knocked on the door. He joined the procession, and Core appeared somewhere along the way from the front door to the living room. No one could locate Blue, and Core simply shook their head sadly when asked. They were not often emotional-- seeing everything in the entire Omniverse, all the time does that to a person-- but they had never expected it to hurt so much when Error and Blue left.
"What's up, boss?" asked Horror worriedly when he found Nightmare clutching a box of puppets and an envelope.
"A Balance has been changed today, Horror," Nightmare said in lieu of an answer. "Someone has died."
"Was that what the unradical shaking and quaking of this here Multiverse was, bro?" asked Fresh rhetorically.
"And you think it's--" Dust broke off, looking very much like he was about to cry. "Are those--?"
Killer, too, noticed that the box was filled with puppets. He had seen Error's puppets before-- honestly, who hadn't at this point?-- but there was something odd about these ones. "Those aren't-- those aren't made from Error's strings, are they?"
Nightmare shook his head. "He left us them and a letter before he went to the battle." And didn't come back, was the unsaid ending to his statement.
Opening the envelope carefully, Nightmare unfolded the note. He was right about them being the same style. He read aloud,
"Dear Nightmare, Blue, Fresh, or really whoever finds this, I guess,
Please, please tell the Multiverse about the Balances. I'm not here to help you anymore. In fact, crash Inkblot's meeting. By the time you're reading this, he's probably scheduled one.
The puppets in the box are all made of yarn because my strings have died with me. There's one for each of you, plus Geno, Ink, Classic, and Dream. Please give everyone their respective puppets.
To Horror: It's really too bad that I dusted before your birthday, but there should be some G on the floor of the Anti-VOID. Buy some chocolate for me, will you? I was going to give you a bar anyways.
To Fresh: I know I was a horrible brother and acted like I hated you, but who do you think distracted Ink whenever you needed a new body? It definitely wasn't pure chance. I love you and Geno so very much, even if Geno believes I'm a bad person right now.
To Nightmare: Forgive Dream, boss. Blue told me once that he still considers you his brother, despite everything. I wish I could be there when you tell him.
To Cross: Yes, it was me who stole your chocolate--"
"That mOTHER*TRUCK*ER--" Cross choked out, crying.
"--I was very sneaky. Even CC didn't know. There's a puppet for them in the box, too, by the way.
To Dust: Killer totally likes you. I know because he told me. Once you're both emotionally stable, you should ask him out.
To Killer: Dust totally likes you. I know because he told me. Once you're both emotionally stable, you should ask him out.
To Blue: I broke my promise. I always knew I would. I hope you can forgive me, one day.
You are all my family. I love you all so very, very much.
I'm sorry.
Take care of the Charas for me.
--Error."
"He even manages to make a ship canon after his d-death," Dust laughed through his tears. "What-- what a l-legend."
"Y-yeah," Killer agreed, wiping his eyesockets. The HATE that constantly trickled out got on his sleeves, but he didn't care.
CC nodded solemnly to themselves, thinking. They had had their suspicions that Error could see them, but now it was confirmed. As it finally sunk in that one of the few people they could interact with was dead, they began to cry.
Fresh just stood there for a few seconds, glasses completely blank. Tears traced his face, dripping onto the ground. "Error..." he managed to murmur. "He didn't... hate me?"
Horror shook his head. "H-he always talked about you to us. Whether you were safe, when you needed to get a new body; he even made a f-few plans to use you as a mediator between himself and Geno."
That those plans would never come to fruition weighed heavily on everyone's minds.
Though they could not cry, Core's voice still broke as they asked, "Why did you call me here? The letter made no mention of me."
"I... I want to know Error's last words, and what happened to Blue," Nightmare answered quietly.
"Error survived the initial battle. When the Star Sanses followed him to Outertale, intending to capture him, they fought near the cliff that leads to the VOID. Error misstepped and fell, bringing Blue, who had tried in vain to save him, with him. Ink and Dream are currently extremely distressed. They did not mean for either to die." Core smiled sadly, an expression of regret on their face. After a few moments of silence, they said quietly, "There are many multiverses."
The Sanses waited as they struggled to find their next words. "And?" Killer prompted.
Core jolted slightly, having almost forgotten that the others were there. "There are some where Error falls into the void, or he jumps. There are some where he does not enter the void, but dies another way. There are even many that Error does not and has never existed in."
Another long pause, but this time it seemed more like they were debating whether to say something.
After a few more seconds, they shook their head slightly. "Just.. know that you are not alone in grief. My apologies, but I must go now. The meeting is starting soon; you should crash it in a few minutes. Farewell."
They dissipated abruptly before the others could stop them, abandoning their physical form and allowing their focus to dissipate for a split second before zeroing in on Ink and Dream, standing at the front of their meeting room as Sanses filed in. Ink was still holding Blue's bandanna, and they both had tear marks streaking down their cheeks. Instead of Ink's usual colourful eyelights, they were small, white ovals. Dream's were entirely gone.
Core watched as the meeting started off with Ink declaring the Destroyer was dead, but Blue had fallen with him. The Sanses, which had become quite joyful at the news of Error's death, quickly grew silent. They all remembered the small, bubbly skeleton that had helped each and every one of them in some way.
Just as sadness was beginning to turn into vague confusion-- Outerswap, Swapfell, Overswap, and many other -swap Sanses were still there, rather than dying with their universes as the original Underswap universe crumbled-- the Dark Sanses crashed the party.
They all had nearly identical tear streaks to the remaining Star Sanses, though Nightmare's voice didn't waver as he took control of the meeting. "So, you all know of the Balance between Life and Death. That's common knowledge. Without either there would be entropy."
Classic frowned, trying to see where he was going with that. He looked at the gods present. Positivity, Negativity, Creation, and Death. Destruction had died, and Life was a Toriel. Something was niggling at his thoughts, some memory he wasn't quite supposed to remember. "oh. oh. there are more balances, aren't there?"
Nightmare gave him a sad nod. "Yes. The Positivity-Negativity Balance, between me and Dream, the Good-Evil Balance, between the Frisks and the Charas, and the--" He paused, getting his emotions under control. "The Creation-Destruction Balance, between Ink and E-Error."
Well, if the death of Blue was a bombshell, that statement was a nuclear warhead.
Dream looked down in shame. All this time, he had prosecuted Error and Nightmare just for doing their jobs! He had hurt them in his blindness! He fought against his own brother on a daily basis! Fresh tears stained his face. He felt his SOUL shudder slightly, strained by the sheer magnitude of his negative emotions, but he didn't care.
Nightmare glanced sharply at his twin, concerned by the overwhelming negativity surrounding him. "Nononono Dream, don't--" He ran to his twin, pulling him into an embrace and doing his best to keep him from Shattering. "Don't blame yourself, you didn't know!" Dream only cried harder. "I-I can't lose you, too!" Nightmare cried desperately. "Please, just--" His goop began to melt off, revealing his original form. "Please..."
A voice Dream never thought he'd hear again broke through his thoughts. "B-brother?" he asked, looking up.
"Yes, Dream," Nightmare said, crown glinting in the light. His dark clothes were a sharp contrast to his pale bones. "I'm here."
"Truce?" Ink suggested.
"Truce," Nightmare agreed.
And so, although things weren't quite alright in the Multiverse, they were going to be.
This multiverse, that is.
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I'm evil >:) I gave you all the feels
Did I do the feels right, though? I'm not very good at them...
See you next time.
1695 words