The Soulmate AU

Cross' arrival

"Are you sure about that?"

Chara's voice echoed for yet another time, for Cross to hear them and make him all the more irritated. "Well, I did say to Dream that I'd pay a visit so..." He tiredly groaned, words cut between bites of the chocolate bar he had. "Besides, He and Blue said it works."

The ghost of a human, only him could see, 'thc'ed at his words. "They could be lying for all we know."

Of course, this was indeed a possibility the skeleton didn't ignore. However, he couldn't ignore either the disappearance of the other members of the bad guy clan, nor the lack of answer from Ink. Even the cheerful duet seemed to have gone away without reason.

It was unusual. Dust, Killer and Horror loved to mess around the castle when there was no one to kill, yet they weren't doing so ever since the day of the reunion. And after a while, Nightmare too vanished, leaving his throne unoccupied. This time, Cross was sure the departure was because of the Soulmate AU, for it happened shortly after Error told him the new of it truly working. As for the Star Sanses, he was convinced Dream most likely was out there, as well as Blue. Ink though, was another story.

And if those suspicions weren't enough, he couldn't hide away his interest of trying out the AU as well.

"You saw it too Chara." he countered it off, throwing the paper of his previous treat somewhere he didn't bother to look. "They're all gone, more or less, and we know the reason why."

Despite not being pretty fond of the whole ordeal, the child simply sighed in defeat. "So what? Don't tell me you're going to try this out too?"

'Do we have a choice?' came a though, one he didn't voice out for his partner to hear. Instead found another idea. "We can still see what to keep from this AU to restore ours."

This excuse barely convinced the other, at best they just shrugged and sighed again, knowing the whole discussion was pointless, since they couldn't prevent him to act as he pleased. "Yeah sure, if there's things of interest but whatever." They gave up with a scowl. "Go on ahead, I won't stop you anyway."

Both were aware this was just a try, to check if it would benefit their common goal or not. Nothing more, nothing less.

Cross didn't waste more energy in words. He directly created a portal to enter the world, Chara trailing behind. Weren't they surprised to be welcomed by foggy streets, a small pitter patter of rain teasing the skeleton's monochrome outfits and skull the very instant he made a step in there.

As he stared blankly at the drops falling down on him, a silent apprehension built up inside. Never would he say he dreaded what could happen to him at that precise moment. So he waited, patiently, for literally anything.

But nothing came.

"You gonna keep staring at nowhere in particular or...?" the ghost's tired tone resonated again.

It ended up awaking him for real. 'This is going to be long.' He mentally sighed, before giving a full answer "No. Let's just go check the place and see."

Without even caring for their complain, nor bothering to look at where he was going, he simply came out of the street to follow a random path, willingly ignoring a strange feeling at the base of one of his phalanges. A soft pull.

Because of the weather, not a lot of persons were outside, or was it because the location was empty of anything of importance, for it was a small park, close to a kindergarten, which was closed. Near the spot he ended up in, some sort of limit could be seen between the tall buildings taking part in residential areas, and houses meant for more private purposes. Maybe families were living in there for all he cared, although he barely cared about it to begin with.

Everything seemed so still and normal, nothing out of the ordinary, or even original enough, could be of use for the duo's plan of recreating their own AU. An observation that made the kid laugh dryly. "Nothing. Today's not your lucky day, right Cross?"

"Shut up. There's maybe more elsewhere." Was all he growled in reply, not waiting for his partner as he walked away. A reaction that made the ghost frown.

Still, they followed the skeleton, without noticing the new curious detail that appeared for them to see.

For minutes, probably hours, both marched the streets in pure, tensed silence. Doubts filling their minds about the supposed power of the AU, or even its originality, for it appeared too casual and flat to hold anything truly interesting. That was, until Cross felt the pull sensation again. He had barely got it earlier, and brushed it off as probably caused by the sudden teleportation. Now though, it was a very distinct feeling, as if someone was gently taking his hand in a way.

With a tired sigh, thinking it was just Chara about to piss him off all over again, he pulled away in return. A move that confused the kid more, but they didn't say a thing.

Rain soon stopped, clouds breaking apart to allow some rays of sun to shine through, giving bright warmth to the city, and enlightening a bit more clearly the buildings and streets. It finally allowed the real beauty of the place to come out, and for people to get out and have fun. Only then the two realized they were in an area full of monsters, and rare humans.

All of them got out to enjoy the fresh air devoid of droplets. Some kids pushing the monochrome skeleton accidentally. Taken aback, he almost fell down on a puddle, for Chara to laugh hysterically at his misery, and him to grow pissed and disgusted by where they ended. It took less than ten minutes for this side of the city to become completely crowded, people passing by in their happiness, working again on whatever they left over previously. Like a hive taking life in a blink of an eye, as if this rain never happened to begin with.

Another reason why Cross didn't waste a second teleporting away under the surprise.

"I can't believe this happened!" The child wheezed, in their own way to chase the shock of such activity, while still making fun of the other. "What the hell was this even?!"

Compared to them, Cross just scoffed in annoyance. "I'd be damned if I know. But that's clearly not something to take for our AU."

"Awn why not?" his partner asked mischievously, ready to finally tease him.

As he was about to reply, the tugging feeling came back, this time really pulling him a huge step back. This was too sudden for him to recover, if it wasn't for the nearby wall of a building, he'd have definitely fallen. He couldn't ignore the thing anymore. "Chara, what the hell?!" he hissed venomously, beyond unnerved that they'd pull a prank of this kind to him.

But the ghost of a child eyed him blankly, although a small hint of astonishment lingered in their eyes. "It... Wasn't me..." they said calmly, an attitude they never had before.

This made the skeleton facepalm. "Stop playing dumb. Seriously wha-"

Words disappeared from his throat once he finally saw the cause of this misunderstanding. At his finger was a little thing out of the ordinary. So thin, yet a bright scarlet, like blood.

But it was just a simple red thread. Tied to him.

Both Chara and him remained in silence the very second they understood the meaning of it. The AU's magic indeed worked, and in the literal way. He was now bonded. He had a Soulmate... If that already wasn't enough, knowledge came in his mind like lines popping inside his skull without his control, which actually scared him a bit.

"No way..." The child spoke, finally connecting the dots together. "They didn't lie."

For a moment lost in the load of information, the skeleton soon got a smirk of accomplishment ornating his face. "Of course they didn't." He acknowledged, watching with certain wonder the fragile-looking string tied strongly around his phalange. Part of him was convinced long already they all got to find their Soulmates, it was now time for him to claim is own... And perhaps add them to his AU. Greed was sometimes leading to impulsive choices.

The look he bore was enough to make the kid understand, then sigh in despair, knowing they'd be here for a while.