Serendipity (Karlnapity Fantasy AU)

Chapter 7

In the past, the simple world as Karl knew it had been a pure nightmare. The itch in his legs ordered him to run away constantly. Into the next big city or deep into the forest where no one could find him, to be a small insignificant part of something big. 

Now Karl was in this strange world he didn't understand and he had no idea what role he was playing here. He couldn't escape here, because he had already fled to another world. Instead of fewer problems and more peace, he only had more and much more dangerous problems on his hands.

"I want to go home..." sighed Karl. They were back in their room. Sapnap had sat down with Karl on his bed and now Karl was leaning against Sapnap, keeping his eyes closed. He didn't know if Sapnap was still awake or if he had woken him up with these words, but he moved at these words. Sapnap leaned his head against Karl's shoulder.
"What's your world like? What would you be doing if you weren't here?" Sapnap asked quietly into the darkness. The lamps outside on campus had long been out, and the only thing giving the two lights was the small nightlight in the middle of the room on Sapnap's desk. Karl pulled the blanket that hung on his shoulders tighter around him. His body still ached from the confrontation with Quackity.

"I'd probably plan with my friends what we'd do during the summer holidays...", Karl turned his head a little to Sapnap and pressed his cheek against the soft black hair.
"What are vacations?", Sapnap asked and lifted his head so that he looked him directly in the eyes. The faces of the two were not far apart. For a brief moment, strands of Sapnap's hair flared and a smile formed on Karl's face.

"It's a long period of time without classes," Karl explained, and Sapnap sighed selfishly.
"I wanted to go to the beach too, with my fa-," Karl stopped. Panic flickered in Karl's eyes as he realized he had just forgotten something important.
"What the honk...what was I just talking about?" he asked Sapnap. Panicked, he dug his fingernails into his forearm.

"Something about a beach, I think. You wanted to go there with someone," Sapnap released Karl's hands from his arms and gently enclosed them in his. Karl couldn't remember. He knew it was about people from the other world, but not which one.
No. No. Please, no, he thought. His heart did not calm down anymore, it became faster and faster. It almost threatened to burst. Sapnap was saying something but he couldn't hear it, instead, he could only hear his own frantic breathing and his heart. The world around him threatened to tear apart. Seized by panic, he tore himself away from Sapnap and rushed out of the room into the corridor. 

Without thinking, he ran to the community bathrooms and turned on the faucet. After a load of ice-cold water, which still ran down his face, he sank to the floor next to the sink. He obsessively went over the spoken words with Sapnap, repeating them over and over. He had to try to remember. How he would love to curl up in a ball and scream, but he just couldn't. Just as his breathing calmed, he heard footsteps in the hallway.

The door opened slowly without making a sound and a worried face met Karl's teary eyes. It was Sapnap who now cautiously approached Karl and went down on his knees in front of him. With one hand he carefully took Karl's in his.
"What happened, Karl?" whispered Sapnap, gently stroking the back of Karl's hand with his thumb. Karl had to tell Sapnap, or he really would go crazy.

"I think...I think I'm going crazy. I can't remember certain things from my old world and I'm afraid my brain is dissolving," Karl was pulled into a hug by Sapnap as he began to cry. Karl was terrified and as time passed he was sure he would forget everything. He dug his hands into Sapnap's shirt and sobbed,
"Everything is stressful right now. You just worry too much and Quackity didn't really make things better today," Sapnap gently stroked Karl's back.
"No. This has nothing to do with Quackity," Karl sobbed and Sapnap didn't say anything else but nodded.