Waking Up from Shattered Dreams
No, no, no, No, NO, nO, NO, NO, NO… AAagh. “WhaT THe hELl.” That was him. He finally found the Protector of Creation… and it was a child. Not just a random child either, one of Nightmare’s group of misfits. His great enemy, the one the voices have been screaming at him to find, the nemesis promised by fate herself and the reason Error was put in so much pain, was a kid. Maybe 15 if Error had to guess? Probably younger. Cross, another of Nightmare’s, had taken the kid and left already.
“oK, lEt’s juST FinISh wiTh ThIs AU and TheN Get BacK to The ANtI-VoiD,” Error said out loud, trying to organize his thoughts. There were no other outcodes or visitors in this AU. Error ripped it apart with his threads, pulling it back to where it started in the desolate white of the Anti-Void. Then, Error teleported to the section of the Anti-Void he called his own.
Alright, Error thought, we’re here. He sat down on his beanbag and then winced as he felt a flood of pain from unhealed wounds rip through his mangled body. The Anti-Void should help him heal now that he’d done as he was supposed to. As long as he followed orders, Error didn’t have to worry about any injury he received as long as he made it back home. The insanity came from the sheer amount of pain he was put in if he didn’t listen to orders. The balance was all off and the last thing Error could remember before waking up in that AU holding his supposed “nemesis”, was pain, and before that? Receiving orders and the pain increasing along with his desperation to find someone that didn’t even exist at the time. Error’s skull throbbed from a wound stretching across his face he didn’t remember receiving. Error’s body wasn’t the only thing messed up either, his clothes were filthy and covered in rips, blood, and dust. Error got up to change only to sit back down as his whole body protested movement until he had healed a bit more.
I need new clothes, for my injuries to heal, to find the kid again, and to figure out what happened in this gap in my memory, Error thought to himself, finally cataloging everything he needed to do. Error sat there for what felt like hours, but could have been nearly any other increment in time, as the Anti-Void worked on a different set of rules than everywhere else. It could also feel longer because Error was hurt and the healing offered by the Anti-Void hurt nearly as much as receiving the wounds.
After a while, Error was still hurt, but most everything had healed except the wicked injury crossing his skull. His glitching had also calmed down, another signal that he had completed the task he had needed to. Error got up and walked to the shelf that he kept most of his belongings on, including a spare set of clothes, and changed. These are unsalvageable, Error thought to himself as he looked at the clothes he had most likely been wearing since his mind had slipped away, however long ago that had been. Error looked at his collection of souls hanging above him, and the dolls that hung either with the souls on the ceiling or sat on the shelf in front of him. There were many, many more of both. Before, the souls along the ceiling had been numerous, but it seemed as if however many he had was multiplied tenfold or more. The dolls were sloppily done, another sign that he wasn’t himself at the time of making them. He must have been following through with what he normally did despite the pain and loss of sanity. Error was used to that, as it had happened before when he had memory gaps like this. Never any as big, but it was not a first. Eight new dolls had made his collection on his shelf. Two of them seemed to be the Sans’ of fell AUs, one of a regular Underfell AU and one of a Swapfell AU, one Sans of an AU Error would guess was some variation of an Altertale AU, one of a Papyrus from a swap AU, both the Papyrus and Sans of a winged au that Error believed was called Zephrtale, and finally, an Undertale timeline Undyne and an Underswap timeline Alphys. The winged dolls were sad sights to look at, stuffing and dust puffing out at different parts and the stitch work being loose and sloppy.
They were by far the worst of the eight new dolls on his shelf, but the others weren’t much better. Error would have to redo or throw away all of them, though at least it gave him something to do. Error would need fabric for that, and for new clothes. He was (unsurprisingly) out of chocolate, even the extra stash that he had tucked away on the bottom of his shelves. He also needed to figure out how long he had ‘been away’. Markettale is always a good place to find information and get new stuff. Error figured that he could be discrete. Get in, find out what he needs to know, steal or buy what he needs, and get out.
Error’s skull throbbed again as he went to make a portal. I’ll take a nap for now, Error decided. He needed to let his magic regenerate to where it should be and to let Error himself regenerate a bit more. Error slept more peacefully than he had since… Well, before his order to find the Protector, that much was certain. The wound across his face was still a gaping thing, stretching from nearly the top of his skull to his mouth. It had healed around the edges, not so jagged anymore, but it was still rough. Error knew he still wouldn’t be up for a trip to somewhere so crowded even if he wanted to try, so he fell back into an uneasy rest.