DSMP AU Oneshots (angst and comfort)

Scattered -- Part Two (Karlnapity angst)

TW// memory loss, anxiety attacks, talk about blood and death

First person POV: Karl POV

Word count: 1270

Just keep in mind this is based partially on lore, so there are somethings I've tweaked for the sake of this story going the way I want it to go obviously lol

My hands trembled terribly as I tried packing up the table while Sapnap washed the dishes. I dropped one of the forks off the plate at one point, and couldn't stop apologising.

My fiancé went to open his mouth multiple times but his sighs continued to steal away any words he wished to say.

Tiredly, he finally spoke up. "Alright, ready?" he asked, once we both put some shoes on and fixed our hair.

"Yeah, I suppose," I answered in a small voice, fiddling with my multiple bracelets and watches. Maybe I shouldn't have pushed to join him over at that 'Las Nevadas' place.

He grabbed my hand to stop me from fidgeting anymore, offered me a smile, then led me on the journey out from my beloved Kinoko Kingdom towards a place I had never ventured before.

Most of the way through a Spruce forest, I began to see mixes of snow and sand before breaking through the trees to discover a partially paved highway stretching all the way up to a small cobblestone bridge leading a mountain of sand, a toll booth, and massive red-and-blue sign boldly proclaiming the location.

"Looks really grand. Uh, what's that?" I asked, pointing to my right at a built-up cobblestone structure behind a rather fortified wall. A large white duck was constructed on top.

"That? I think it has something to do with Tubbo. Maybe just let it be."

A small boy with goat horns entered my brain, along with someone wearing a red and white shirt. Blood and explosions was all I saw when I thought of them, so I shook my head a little to escape the surfacing memories.

By this point, we had fully crossed the bridge and entered into some official-looking corridor. I made sure to stand behind Sapnap for some comfort as an overly cheery voice piped up from seemingly nowhere.

"Greetings, Sapnap from Kinoko Kingdom! Welcome back to Las Nevadas!" A green being of goo waved at us from behind a few metal bars.

"Hi, Slime," he replied, a little saddened but trying to seem happy.

I tugged on Sapnap's shirt. "Who? How does he know you?"

"I've..." He rubbed the back of his neck, trying not to look at me. "I used to come here a lot when you would...disappear."

"What does that-?"

"Oh! Hello, Karl from Everywhere! Didn't see you there!"

"'Everywhere'...?" I squinted my eyes, stepping further out from behind my fiancé to face him. "What does that even mean? I'm from Kinoko Kingdom, like Sapnap. Why do I get a different title? Or, should I ask, how do you even know me?"

Slime's gooey face contorted into a smile whilst he adjusted his glasses. A bit of his green substance stretched as his hand removed itself from the frame. "I've known you from all over, every time. And, on the contrary, Karl from Everywhere, you have been through a lot more than that to give you just one title!"

"Wha...?" My head began to spin as I tried hard to figure out what he meant. A few locations and events began to materialise behind my eyes: a campfire in the midst of a small village, a treasure hunt, a masquerade, people dying through a maze- Blood, blood, blood-

"...Karl, Karl...? Slime, you idiot...! Karl, just breathe. Ok? Deep breaths, deep breaths. Focus on me..."

I stood there staring down at the bumpy, grey flooring, gripping at my heaving chest, feeling faint. Tears pricked my eyes.

All I saw was death. All I saw was every time I died. Every time people I cared for had died. People who looked and sounded like Sapnap, and people who felt like those I knew I should remember. But not a single thing to make me understand why any of that had happened.

"I- I- I don't under-st...and, Sap. What's happening to me? What happened to me?"

He rested a hand upon my shoulder as he sighed. At his touch, I let out a slight whine and rushed into his warm embrace, openly sobbing.

Sapnap used one of his arms to hold me while the other combed through my hair. "Karl? I don't really know how to make this better except to lead you through it, then through it all over again. I knew you shouldn't have left Kinoko -"

"Why the sadness? What has happened, Sapnap from Kinoko Kingdom and -?"

"Shut up, Slime," Sapnap growled. "You've done enough. Piss off."

"Oh." Even though I couldn't see anything from where I was in my fiancé's hold, I still couldn't miss how his overly happy façade disappeared. "Ok, I'll be quiet now. Sorry, Sapnap from Kinoko Kingdom."

Sapnap sighed, but didn't offer anything else of a reply or apology, before returning his attention to me. "Look. Karl, there was one time I entered your library-"

"You are not allowed in my library." My voice grew stiff and emotionless as those words fell from my mouth, without really knowing the reason for it. Although at its mention, I knew it was the reason for all that was happening to me. It called to me. 

Maybe I should...

"Karl? Where are you going? Karl?"

I blinked a few times, realising I was out in the middle of the bridge. Panting. Did I just run off?

"Shit! Sapnap?" I began to tremble, terrified of being so far from him without knowing how it happened. "Sapnap?!"

He rushed over and held me in his arms again. "Shh, shh, it's ok. Shh, it's ok."

"C-Can you explain what's h...happening to me, or not, Sap?"

A deep sigh fell from him, rustling my hair a little. "Karl. I barely know what to say. Every time you ask, you react in such a weird way when I explain. I try not bringing up anything and hope your memory-haze will pass enough that you don't need to ask. Today's been a mess, though. You haven't remembered Quackity in ages-"

"Quackity?"

"Yeah, baby, our third fiancé."

My heart-rate picked up in fear. "Third? What happened? Where is he? Is he...dead?"

"N-No. Not dead. There was a lot of miscommunication between him and us, then you... Something happened during one of these moments where you forget things, and you yelled at him not remembering much about him and broke his heart, so he fled. That was a few weeks ago. That was who I was going to see now because I feel like I've let it go for long enough without checking on how he was. I'm...worried about him, Karl. I love him, whether you still do or not."

I blinked multiple times, trying to piece together what I remembered of my other, forgotten fiancé. Pressing further into Sapnap's chest, I took note of how his breathing was beginning to hitch.

"Love?" I mumbled, gazing up at his face to see lava running down it. One tear fell onto the shoulder of my hoodie with a hiss.

Pulling away to avoid any further damage done to me, I elected to hold his hands instead.

"We can go see him, if you like. I don't mind. I want you to be happy. I want to re-meet Quackity."

"Are you... Are you sure? I don't think I can handle anymore emotional damage done today if it goes south."

"I'll do my best, Sap. Please. Can we go see him?"

He brought one of my hands up to his mouth to give it a kiss. His stumble tickled it a bit before I moved our fused hands to the side of his face for him to lean upon. His eyes closed with a comforting huff.

"Ok. Alright, let's see Quackity."

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