"so. we have a few questions that we need answered." he spoke.
All the skeletons in the room either nodded or grunted in agreement.
"Alright. I'll answer them to the best of my ability. Just as long as you all introduce yourselves first." I started and leaned back in my chair, waiting for their answers.
"alright then. my name is Sans."
"I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS" Papyrus waved and smiled.
"MY NAME IS THE MAGNIFICENT BLUE, BUT YOU CAN JUST CALL ME BLUE." Blue said with a smile just as big as Papyrus'.
"Stretch." the skeleton dressed in orange beside Blue said.
"I AM THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE EDGE AND YOU WILL ADDRESS ME AS SUCH." the spiky skeleton next to Stretch said.
The skeleton next to Edge spoke and a smirk appeared on his face. "name's Red sweetheart, feel free to scream it later tonight." he sent a wink my way. But his playful manor ended when Edge practically slammed his skull into the table.
"DO NOT BE VULGAR WHILE IN MY PRESENCE!" he shouted.
"AGREED!" Another skeleton on the other side of Edge spoke before turning to me, "I AM THE MALEVOLENT RAZ, THERE IS NO OTHER NAME YOU ARE TO USE." He was the skeleton that I saw in the kitchen with Blue earlier.
"aw come on, dat name was hilarious and fit ya perfectly." Red smirked and chuckled.
"EDGE." Raz looked to Edge. Said skeleton whacked Red in the back of the skull.
"ow!!" Red exclaimed.
The tall skeleton next to Raz spoke up and continued the conversation. "name' Rus, nice to meet ya" he spoke. I nodded to show the feeling was mutual.
The two skeletons next didn't speak so Sans spoke up for them. "that's Ax and Crooks, they don't speak much to new guests."
"it's honestly surprising the wimps showed up at all." Red once again commented, only this time didn't get whacked by Edge.
Not sure how I feel about those names. No way they like those names either judging from how uncomfortable they were.
Something to bring up at another time.
The introductions continued with a very formal looking skeleton in purple. "I am M'lord." he spoke in a lower voice than the others who looked similar to him, but his voice sounded like it carried a lot of authority.
"It is a pleasure to meet you." I addressed with a slight bow. From one authority figure to another this was a sign of respect. My greeting seemed to have caught his interest but he said nothing further.
The skeleton sitting next to him spoke up, "call me Mutt, darling." he said with a smirk and a wink.
Then there were two.
A skeleton in tight red clothing spoke next. "I AM BLACK, IT IS A PLEASURE TO MAKE YOUR ACQUAINTANCE." he stated. He motioned to the shying skeleton playing on with something in his hands. "AND THIS IS MY BROTHER COFFEE." he stated.
And with that done it was my turn.
"My name is-" I was about to speak when Red spoke up.
"yeah yeah we know, ya name is Sans, heard it about a dozen times already." he waved me off.
I raised a brow in confusion, I was about to speak once again but was interrupted once again. "we can come up with nicknames while we're here." suggested Stretch.
"OH I HAVE A FEW IDEAS!" Blue exclaimed excitedly.
"I already have a name. It's not Sans though." I spoke. All their eye lights turned to me in confusion, so I continued. "My name is Echo. I'm not sure why you think my name is Sans when Sans is sitting right there." I spoke and pointed to Sans.
Their confusion grew.
".....you're....not a.....Sans?....." I turned to the owner of the new voice, Ax.
I shook my skull, my confusion growing even more. "Why would it be?"
"THEN IS YOUR NAME PAPYRUS?" asked Papyrus.
"Your name is Papyrus. Mine is Echo." I told him.
"Well this is new." spoke an interested M'lord.
I tilted my skull to the side.
"okay let me explain. so far all the skeletons around this table, aside from yourself, are different versions of myself and my brother Papyrus. they came here the same way as you did, through the machine in the basement. their realities are just different from ours. a handful of us are working on getting everyone back to their universes. that's what we were doing when you and that other skeleton showed up." Sans explained.
A few skeletons looked confused.
"THERE'S ANOTHER SKELETON WITH YOU? WHERE ARE THEY? THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE HERE AS WELL." Raz asked.
"She's here, I'm sure of it." is all I said, I didn't want to go down that hole right now. I'd rather go down a different, more important one. "So you're telling me. That you and a few others of you, have been messing with a machine that can tear through realities and interact with them?" I asked.
There were a series of nods and agreements.
I took a deep, DEEP, breath before continuing. "Yeah. That's gonna stop right now." I started leaving no room for discussion. Unfortunately the others didn't seem to get that.
Mainly Red. "like h***! we were so close!" he exclaimed along with a few others working in protest.
Then a large and loud slam hit the table. All eye lights turned to M'lord. "Do care to explain your reasoning," he said.
"Simple. That machine is doing more harm than good." I said. There was silence so I continued to explain. "Think of the barrier between realities like a piece of fabric." I used my magic to create a small thing of fabric that floated in my hand. "It's thin and it is there, but no one can see it through their eyes. Two people can be in the same spot just in different planes of existence. What you all are doing is each time you tear into a different reality." I demonstrated by tearing a hole into the fabric. "Thus allowing those realities to leak into each other. Based on what you just said Sans, skeletons are being pulled from those realities and into this one. Once that happens the tear closes." as said the fabric sealed itself up. "Here's the thing though. The more times you do it, the less stable the barrier becomes. For example." I started to tear hole after hole in the fabric, making it less of a piece of fabric and more like a shredded mess. "This piece of fabric looks less and less like a piece of fabric. The more you bore holes into it, the less stable it will become. Then it will cause multiple realities to collide and end everything as we know it." I finished explaining. With a wave of my hand the fabric was gone.
I looked around the room, seeing a lot of confused looks.
"AND HOW IS IT THAT YOU KNOW ALL OF THIS?" Black asked.
A small smirk appeared on my face as I raised my arm, pulling back the sleeves to show them a long line of tattoos up my arm. They covered 90% of my body.
"How do you think I got all these tattoos to begin with? I've had my run in with universal tampering once or twice. All of which had severe consequences." I told him and the others.
"YOU CONSIDER TATTOOS APPEARING A CONSEQUENCE." Edge glared down at me.
"Na, they aren't that bad." I said with a shrug, but my attitude took a complete 180 with what I said next. "But my sibling disappearing was."
The room froze for a second but it felt like forever.
I let out a sigh, "I messed around with universe altering spells in my world. The main goal was to use it to free Monsters and rewrite the wrongs of the world. But it failed, obviously, and in the end my sibling disappeared entirely. I'm not going into specifics because it is a very touchy subject. If any of you bring up the topic again, I will make sure you'll regret it." I threatened.
After making sure they knew my warning, I continued, "Which is why I implore you. Stop using the d*** machine." I told them in a serious tone.
Things were silence for quite some time until all h*** broke loose.
"LIKE H*** WE ARE TAKING ORDERS FROM YOU!" yelled Raz.
"no way, kid." Sans said, his smile strained.
"WE WANT TO GO HOME!" yelled Blue.
"don't...wanna....go...." Ax said. Crooks nodded and fidgeted.
The list of complaints kept going on and on at this point, a few of them didn't complain and a couple were either trying to defuse the situation or say they like the idea of staying here. But didn't listen to any of them, no matter what they wanted, they didn't have a choice.
I didn't have a choice.
I hate not having a choice.
I snapped out of my thoughts when a skeletal hand clasped on my shirt, then lifting me out of my chair and dangling me in the air.
I held a neutral face as I looked into the thin red eyelights of Edge.
"YOU THINK YOU CAN REALLY COME HERE. REFUSE TO ANSWER OUR QUESTIONS THAT WE SO RIGHTFULLY DESERVE. THEN TELL US THAT THE ONLY WAY BACK HOME IS FORBIDDEN. YOU HAVE NO POWER HERE, WITCH." he hissed out.
I raised a brow though I held no expression other than that. "Oh really now? Seeing as how I saved you all from a deranged mistake that somehow got out of my SOUL. No doubt thanks to that machine. Forced in a world that I don't want to be in just as much as half of you. That's only listing the tip of the iceberg." I told him darkly. My magic sparks a bit to help get my point across. I was still rather drained but even in this state I had more than enough to take down a good handful of these skeletons.
Edge started laughing, his grip never leaving or lessening. "AND WHAT EXACTLY DID YOU DO TO 'SAVE' US FROM YOUR OBVIOUS MISTAKE!"
A smirk appeared on my face. "You felt it a while ago, didn't you? The feeling of evil and coldness that washed over you while you were standing by the front door, or at least what I assume to be the front door."
Edge froze for a second. I felt it because of being in his grasp. This only made my smirk grow.
"Yeah. That was her. She would have killed you in an instant if I hadn't interfered. In fact. She would have killed you all without a second thought."
"HA! LIKE WE WOULD BE SO WEAK TO BE KILLED." Raz spoke up arrogance flowing all through him.
"If that's how you feel. I can always release her and let her be your problem." I told him in a serious tone. I wasn't kidding around.
"okay, this is getting out of hand." Sans spoke up. "how about we all take a break to cool off. we can continue this later." he said. Though something told me he really didn't want to continue this any time soon.
The overall group agreed and spread out through the house. Edge didn't let go for a while, just glaring at me, I glared back. Then he dropped me then and there. I fell and my tailbone, that was going to be sore for a while. Edge then stomped off, Red following, sending a glare at me as he left with his brother.
I stood up and patted down the dirt and dust off of me. I looked around to see that all the skeletons were gone from the room. I let out a sigh.
"Wow, you did so perfectly over there! I'm sure they all love you at this point!"
"Shut up Reverse." I muttered. I couldn't see her without my magic vision but that didn't stop her from being heard. Much to my annoyance.
"Aw you're so mean to me!~" she whimpered.
I rolled my sockets and walked through the house. After being outside for the first time, it did confirm that this was a house. Speaking of which.
I managed to find the door that Edge was by earlier during the fight.
The door that led to the outside world.
I didn't move for a while, questions and possibilities filled my skull. Eventually though my curiosity won over my anxiety. I grabbed hold of the door handle and for the first time (the fight didn't count) stepped outside.
It wasn't as bright out as it was before, but that didn't stop it from being just as beautiful. There was a cool breeze that contrasted the warmth the sun casted down on the beings that basked in its shine. The stories of the surface world didn't do it any justice.
The grass was so soft under my bare feet. I closed my sockets, just taking it all in. The sounds, the smells, the feeling.
Gods.
This is what freedom feels like.
Not being trapped.
Not being cornered in any way.
Finally free.
Unfortunately that feeling didn't last as someone clearing their voice interrupted everything.
I opened my sockets and looked over to see Blue standing in the doorway. "YOU REALLY SHOULDN'T BE OUTSIDE SO SOON AFTER BEING HERE. IT CAN BE VERY OVERWHELMING TO MOST." he spoke carefully, trying not to sound mean or bossy.
I shook my skull, "I understand your concern. If it wasn't for the fact that I already saw the outside earlier today, then I would be very much overwhelmed." I told him honestly and made my way back to the house.
"Um...." Blue started but seemed to get nervous.
I raised a brow, "If there is something you wish to speak to me about, you can go ahead and do so. I won't be upset at whatever it is you need to say." I told him.
"You Shoved Me Out Of The Way Earlier....Didn't You?" he asked.
I thought over what exactly he was referring to, when it finally clicked. "Yes, I believe I did so." I answered.
"Why? Not That I'm Ungrateful Or Anything! I Owe You My Life....But Why?" he asked, keeping his voice low enough that the conversation wouldn't be overheard.
"Blue. I couldn't let her take a life. It's not right. Especially when there was something I could have done to prevent it. " I told him honestly.
He seemed surprised by this response but surprise turned to excitement and joy. "THAT IS GREAT TO HEAR THEN! I WAS ALSO WONDERING IF WE COULD BE FRIENDS SINCE YOU DID WHAT YOU DID." he asked.
I tilted my head, "Friends?"
He eagerly nodded his skull.
I've....never had a friend before.....
"I'm sorry Blue. I would accept your offer, but I don't know the first thing about being friends. I wouldn't know what to do and what would result might not be what you expect." I try to put him down gently.
That didn't seem to work on the excited skeleton as his eyelights turned to stars. "THAT IS ALRIGHT! I WOULD BE HONORED TO BE YOUR FIRST FRIEND AND TEACH YOU ALL THE THINGS FRIENDS DO!" he offered.
A smile made its way across my face. "Well then, how can I say no to an offer like that." I told him.
Blue then proceeded to jump around happily, excited to have a new friend and doing all kinds of friend stuff together. In fact he started going over all the things he wanted to do to celebrate the new found friendship. Saying something about friendship tacos, which did sound pretty good at that point, but that's probably just the low HP talking, but either way it did sound good.
Blue then rushed off to get things ready.
Leaving me once again alone to roam the halls.
"That little brat is so annoying. You should really kill him before I go insane!" Reverse complained.
"You're already insane." I muttered to her as I kept walking. She neither denied or accepted it.
I walked into one of the rooms on the first floor, Sans said it was the relaxing room. The one of the few places where screaming and fighting are not allowed, it is also the one space where all skeletons with a loud voice must keep it down. If they don't do that and bother others in the room then they would not be allowed to do other things and instead be given extra chores. It was a brilliant concept to say the least.
Too bad it wont stop Reverse.
I let out a sigh and gave the room a try.
The inside of the room was dark but had a bit of light in it. There was some soft music playing and the sound of running relaxing water provided by a small water fountain. There were also a handful of chairs positioned around the room.
A few of said chairs were being taken.
Ax and Crooks sat there, sharing what looked like a bag of snacks. Both seemed to freeze up as I entered. It seems I interrupted something.
"Apologies. I did not mean to interrupt. I'll leave you both be." I told them as I made my way back to the door. But stopped short, something has been bugging me for a while. It's best to go ahead and get it over with while I have the two in the same room. I turned back to the two skeletons. "I do have a question for the two of you. If you don't mind me asking, that is."
Neither skeletons said anything to stop me from asking. So I asked.
"Do the both of you like your given nicknames?" I asked.
Both skeletons seemed to be taken aback by said question as they looked at each other with confused expressions. They shared some silent conversation before turning back to me and shook their skulls.
"I see then. It is as I thought. Would you mind if I called you something else then?" I asked.
They once again shook their skulls.
I slowly sat down in a chair as I thought over some names that would work well for them. Reverse wasn't much help as she kept saying rude and absolutely unacceptable names. I had to mutter to her a few times to either 'shut up' or to say 'how about I call you that.' much to the other skeletons' confusion.
My eyelights shifted to what they held in their hands, apparently sharing between each other. They were sharing a bag of Monster cookies.
Cookie was close to Crooks, but definitely different.
If Crooks was going to be called something sweet, then so does his brother, the two give off a 'never going to be separated no matter what' kind of vibe.
The name Sugar came to mind.
"How about Sugar and Cookie?" I asked.
".....why.....?" both seemed to be very confused at the names, but no signs of dislike.
"Well mainly because you're sharing a bag of cookies, Cookie is close to Crooks but completely different and has a different meaning to it than Crooks. As for Sugar, it goes well with Cookie since cookies are sweet and often filled with sugar." I tell them.
Both skeletons seemed to gain a bit of color on their faces. Cookie seemed to move around a bit more than what I've seen him do in the short time period I've seen him. So he was either getting very anxious or he was struggling to contain his joy.
Sugar gained a more relaxed and realistic smile on his skull. "Like....names...." he spoke.
A smile appeared on my face. Cookie spoke up, "Y-Yes....T-Thank You........Sweetness..." Cookie said.
The nickname definitely caught me off guard. "Sweetness?" I tiled my head as a soft and happy smile appeared on my face. "Where did that come from?" I asked.
Cookie's face became a dark orange and she began stuttering and fidgeting. So much so he turned to his brother for help, said skeleton was more than willing to help.
"because.......you're.....sweet....to us...." he told me.
"Ah, well I'm happy with that nickname then, and I'm glad you see me as sweet." I told them with a small smile.
Not that I deserve it or anything.
My dark thoughts were interrupted by the door opening, Sans poking his skull in through the door. He seemed surprised to see the three of us in the calming room. "um, the others are ready to continue, if that's alright with you all." Sans said.
Sugar seemed to go from relaxed to annoyed, Cookie seemed to get more nervous. I didn't care either way but I said what we were all thinking. "Let's get this over with."
We all then regrouped at the dining table.
Sans was the first to speak through the silence. "let's take a vote on the whole machine thing. it's the best option to see where everyone stands on the topic rather than it becoming a screaming match. all those in favor of keep working on the machine."
Edge, Red, Stretch, Mutt, M'lord, Raz, and Rus all raised their hands. Blue didn't seem to be all that happy to see his brother vote against him.
"alright, all those in favor of stopping all work involving the machine." Sans asked.
Sans, Papyrus, Blue, Sugar, Cookie, Coffee, Black, and myself all raised out hands.
"alright, that settles it. we stop working on the machine for now until we get a better handle on the situation it might bring up. that includes the possibilities that Echo has brought up." Sans said, leaving no room for discussion.
"SHE HAS BARELY BEEN HERE FOR A DAY! SHE IS NOT ALLOWED TO WEIGHT ON THIS VOTE!" Edge protested.
"she can when things are a draw. it's 7 against 7 otherwise Edge. plus, whether you like it or not she will need to stay here even if we work on the machine. so therefore she does have a say in votes." Sans told Edge.
"Great. With that being decided, I am going to go to my room and try and process all of this." I said with the biggest smile on my face as I walked away and went up to one of the spare rooms that Sans had shown on his tour.
"DO REST WELL ECHO! WE WILL GO INTO TOWN TOMORROW TO DO SOME MUCH NEEDED SHOPPING FOR YOU AND FOR SUPPLIES FOR THE HOUSE." Blue said.
I nodded and agreed and went to my room for the night.
I walked over to the bed and laid down in it.
"This has been, by far, the weirdest and most stressful day of my life." I muttered to myself.
"I agree but that's what makes it the most interesting." Reverse stated.
"Even the part where I sealed you once again." I purred out with a smirk.
"Shut up." she hissed.
I paid her no mind and fell asleep. Thus ending the strange day.