Reborn As A Dust Sans [Undertale Multiverse]

Ch41 - Talk

AN: I likely won't be looking at / interacting with comments here anymore. I'll still post updates for now though. Also wattpad won't let me cross out text. Rude. Some of the grammar may be 'off' due to this.

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Ashe's POV

You watched as Dream sauntered from the room, the suffocating feel of his ambient magic receding as he disappeared into the hallway. Without that warm fuzzy aura, your bones felt unbearably cold, not even the warmth of your jacket enough to stop the way your bones clattered. Or... were they clattering because you were distressed? You weren't sure. (You weren't sure of anything anymore.)

Ink lingered in the room momentarily, expression looking rather conflicted. He looked at his scarf, which you now noticed was covered mostly in beautiful cursive writing (though the very end notes seemed more like chicken scratch), then looked at you, and then the scarf again, muttering under his breath. He was silent for almost a full three minutes before he finally spoke to you.

"So, uhhh..." he trailed off awkwardly. "Sorry about attacking you and stuff. Blue says it's important to say sorry if you do something bad, he's been teaching me all those moral thingies. I write them all down on my scarf so I don't forget! Er, my handwriting is hard to read, but, uh, that's not the point," he rambled breathlessly. "I, uh, don't reaaaally think I messed up, but Blue says if I'm not sure, then I should probably apologise anyway just in case! So, uh. Yeah. Sorry!"

The artist fled from the room before you had a chance to respond or even process his words. The apology had definitely felt sort of clunky and awkward, but at the same time, it seemed genuine. Like he really did want to apologise, just didn't quite grasp the why or the how.

It felt as though all the pressure to stay together disappeared the moment Ink left the room. You didn't have to pretend to be okay, not that it was really working anyway. You could take time to process things, to cry, and—

Ink returned barely a minute later. "Door! Right! I should close that! Blue would be so proud that I remembered!" he exclaimed, seemingly to himself. His face lit up in a multicolor blush when he saw you, seemingly embarrassed, as though he hadn't meant to say voice his thoughts. "Er. You didn't hear that!" he shouted much too loud, slamming the door shut. You heard a muffled "Sorry!" from the other side, then footsteps as the other ran.

Spooky stared at the door for a long moment, glaring as though making sure it would not be reopened. Finally, he turned back to you, expression far softer. "...NOW THAT WE ARE ALONE, I THINK WE SHOULD TALK," Spooky piped up once the door was closed.

'I don't want to talk, Spooky, I'm really overwhelmed...' you signed out miserably. You just wanted to curl into the bed and disappear entirely. To sleep (and never wake up again.)

You didn't know what to think about the situation. Dream's (manipulative) gentle tone, the way he phrased things as if he genuinely (pretended to) cared about you, the warmth of his (overbearing) aura, it all made you question your own sense of reality (and further unravelled your mental health).

You knew what Dream was saying was wrong, but why was it wrong? Exactly what about it was making you so uncomfortable? What if he was right and you were just overdefensive? You didn't want to listen to him, but what if that reluctance was just a sign you were wrong about it all?

If you couldn't articulate a reason to yourself, did that mean your concerns weren't valid?

You felt so small and helpless in that moment. If somebody was lying to you, would you even know? Could you really even trust your own opinion on anything, or would you just end up messing things up over and over until everybody inevitably abandoned you and you ended up all alone (just like your past life)?

"HM. WELL, I UNDERSTAND YOU DON'T WANT TO TALK, AND I UNDERSTAND WHY, BUT WE'RE GOING TO TALK ANYWAY BECAUSE ITS REALLY IMPORTANT. YOU NEED TO KNOW THAT THE WAY THAT ROTTEN LEMON WAS TREATING YOU WAS ABSOLUTELY NOT OKAY."

'What... do you mean?' you responded somewhat hesitantly. You hadn't... quite expected for him to share your opinion. If anything, you thought he might even agree with Dream, or at least, have some doubts about Nightmare and the gang.

"LEMONFACE WAS COMPLETELY IGNORING YOUR FEELINGS AND MAKING YOU FEEL TERRIBLE! HE WAS MAKING ALL THESE ASSUMPTIONS, AND TALKING OVER YOU, AND NOT LETTING YOU SPEAK AND, JUST, GAHHH! HE WASN'T EVEN NICE TO THE SPLOTCHY IDIOT AND THEY'RE MEANT TO BE FRIENDS!" He exclaimed, sounding more and more frustrated as he spoke.

You could tell he was angry. But... he wasn't angry at you, and that was so much more of a relief than you were willing to admit. You could feel the BROTHERLY LOVE/CARE/PROTECTIVE intent flooding through your bond. You could feel the way he still cared about you. And more than anything, you still trusted him more than you did anybody else.

You lingered on his words. 'But... what if he's right? About Nightmare, about...'

'LEMONFACE CAN USE ALL THE PRETTY WORDS HE WANTS, BUT IT DOESN'T CHANGE THE FACT HE WAS WRONG," he retorted. "AND I THINK HIS AURA WAS MAKING YOU ALL CONFUSED. I DON'T REALLY FEEL IT THAT MUCH, BUT YOU'RE MORE SENSITIVE TO MAGIC, SO DOING THAT IS SUPER UNFAIR! AND PROBABLY MANIPULATIVE! I BET NIGHTY CAN AFFECT EMOTIONS TOO, BUT HE NEVER DID THAT LIKE LEMONFACE WAS!"

He... had a point. At no point during your interactions with Nightmare did it feel as though he were using his aura to manipulate you, to coerce you. If anything, reflecting back, you felt his aura even less than everybody elses. Could he have been repressing it for that very reason? So you wouldn't be coerced, not even accidentally?

'Spooky... I don't want to be here. I want to go home. But where even is home for us? Will the others even want us anymore?'

"OF COURSE THEY WILL! I BET EVERYONE IS SUPER WORRIED. THEY'RE FAMILY, REMEMBER? WE HAVE THE BONDS TO PROVE IT!" he exclaimed, not even the slightest hint of hesitance or uncertainty. He was confident in his claim, confident that the others cares, like nothing would convince him otherwise.

'But they're so faint... what if they hate us? What if they hate me? I got us captured!'

"NYEH. BROTHER. IT WASN'T YOUR FAULT YOU GOT CAUGHT. SOMETIMES BAD THINGS JUST HAPPEN. AND IF THEY DIDN'T WANT US ANYMORE, THEY'D JUST BREAK THE BONDS!"

'Break the bonds? That's... possible?'

"DID YOU NOT KNOW? BONDS CAN BE BROKEN IF THEY'RE NOT WANTED! OR IF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE BONDED HATE EACHOTHER SUDDENLY OR SOMETHING!" He exclaimed. "ITS VERY PAINFUL SO YOU'D KNOW RIGHT AWAY.

'So... they still want me as a sibling?'

"YOU ARE THE COOLEST SIBLING EVER, OF COURSE THEY WOULD WANT YOU! THE BONDS ARE JUST FAINT, SO WE'RE PROBABLY TOO FAR AWAY OR SOMETHING. ITS, UHM, DEFINITELY A BIT WEIRD, BUT THEY'RE STILL THERE, SO THEY OBVIOUSLY STILL CARE."