Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The air was still. Forest quiet as Error sat near the edge of the cliff, not dangerously close. He didn't want to fall into a void again. Wait, had he ever fallen in a black void? Error shakes his head, clear the memories to blurred and jumbled to even be that. Maybe he should've just gone back to the anti-void after all.

The voices were surprisingly quiet today. The quietest they've been in what felt like forever. He wanted to be happy about it, enjoy it while it lasted before they all inevitably came back with too much noise. But he couldn't, the silence left him uneasy.  He glances down at the broken rib in his skeletal hand, he should reattach it. With a glitched sigh Error hiked up his sweater with one hand and used his free hand to maneuver the strings. Having them attach the broken rib where it was meant to be. Pain shot through him as he took damage. He fixes his red sweater and holds a hand over his chest, his health bar glitching and the number ever changing like a roulette. He watched the bar fill again before relaxing, reaching his hands into one of his pockets to grab his red rimmed glasses, sliding them onto his face before he looked up at the star covered sky.

The sky was always better in Outertale, out of every au he's visited and destroyed, Outertale was one of his favorites, of course the classic au always beat any one of the others. It was his absolute favorite after all. He frequented this one au so often though, no one really bothered him.

A few monsters here or there pass by with a small almost tense smile, but they never did anything to him and he never did anything to their home. Outer, the sans of this au, always showed at some point of his stay, but he never attacked. Outer had stopped getting so unnerved around Error, growing eased with how he never harmed anyone or thing while there. Well besides when the Star Sans show up at least.

The air shifted next to Error, feeling the prickling of familiar magic. Error didn't move his gaze from the sky as Outer appeared at his side, having used a short cut. "Here again?" The star speckled skeleton asked with a hum, standing next to the God of Destruction. The glitched hum he got back had his gaze land on the black skeleton, just sitting there staring at the never ending space that was Outer's sky. "I didn't know you had glasses." He murmured, tensing when Error's multi colored gaze shifts to him.

"I don't wear them often." Error responded simply, words glitching like the rest of him. Outer took in a slow breath and nodded. Was it bad he kinda found that cute? Outer sat down, deciding to drop the topic for now, letting silence over take them once more. It was peaceful, content.

Not for Error though, who was growing increasingly unsettled with the silence. It just felt.. wrong.

Just wrong.

He glanced down at his fingers, besides the normal glitching, they shook. Not a lot. Only to the point where error could notice. It was like addiction.. the urge to destroy. Not something he wanted but needing it to calm himself, the voices, the urge. It was always thrumming under his bones, making itself known with each beat of his soul. He wanted it to stop. Wanted it to be before that voice invaded his mind when he first woke up in the anti-void... that memory was fuzzy too. His hands had still been white then.. he thinks.

He closes his hands tightly before glancing back up to the sky covered with stars. He takes in a steady breath, letting it expand his rib cage before leaving his mouth. He could feel Outer's curious gaze on him, but he didn't acknowledge it. He didn't need Outer's pity. He didn't need anyone's pity. He clenched his jaw, waiting for the other monster's eye-lights to leave him. When they did, he let out a quiet breath, forcing his self to relax his jaw. He didn't need that broken again.

A meteor flew across the space overhead, making the tension melt from his figure as he stared at the sight.

It lit the sky brightly.

Chapter Text

Outer-tale, august ##, ####

    Error stared in awe before the light the meter or gave off only seemed to grow brighter, like staring into a sun. He had to close his eyes and look away before it could fully take over his vision. After a few moments of slight cowardness toward the light, he lowered his arm and opened his eye sockets once more. Confusion quickly taking over as he looked around. Outer was nowhere to be seen, not only that, but he wasn't even in Outertale any longer. He was back in the Anti-void.

Error sat there gazing into the never ending white. It was clearly his with his strings carrying souls above him. But how had he gotten there? He hadn't teleported, at least he didn't think he had. Error gave a small noise close to a groan, laying back on the white floor. "I should probably figure out how this happened." He muttered to himself, but he made no move to actually get up. That is until a high screech boomed through the space.

"WHY ARE YOU JUST SITTING THERE?!"

Error jolted up right, practically glitching out of existence for a second. A millisecond later voices flooded his head.

"Yeah! Why aren't you doing something?"

"Do something!"

"Be entertaining, I'm soooooo bored!" Each and every voice was talking over one another's, mixing together and only giving the god of destruction a headache. He rubbed the front of his skull with a glitched sigh. 'course the peace wouldn't last.' He thought, taking his glasses off and tucking them back in his pocket. At least he had some quiet for once, even if it had been tense and just waiting for them to come back, like now.

He lowered his hand, only to pause. His bone brows furrowed slightly, a red string was tied to his pinky. But it didn't seem to actually go anywhere. He reached out with his left hand, trying to grab it, yet his hand just passed through it. He scowled in frustration, glaring at the poor red string. What was it? Why was it attached to him?

"You should destroy."The voice was sweet yet devilish. He tensed immediately his hand curling into a fist, forgetting about the red string as his magic thrummed under his bones, his soul beating loud in his rib cage. The urge was back full force, hands trembling. He needed to get rid of an au. To get the urge to stop. For the good of the multiverse. Error released a shaky sigh, throat feeling all suddenly dry. The reasoning was starting to sound dull, even to himself now. He ignored it, pushing himself up and swiping a hand across the air in front of him, creating a glitching portal to a random au.

The snow crunched under his slippers. Portal glitching closed behind him. The air was still and smelt of monster dust. He started to walk, following the path this universe's frisk had seemingly only moments ago. The human's tiny footprints still crushed into the snow. He follows them. It must be the start of a run if the snow hadn't covered the path already.

The gruff voice of a fell sans reached his nonexistent ears. Him and Frisk must be first meeting than. Error didn't think much of it and sent some of his blue strings forward, catching a soul within them and crushing it without a thought. A body thumped to the snow covered ground, and passing the wood bridge error was greeted with the fell frisk laying still on the ground. A stunned Fell sans standing next to the child's body.

Error flicked his strings at the other skeleton as well, dusting him easily. He continued on, dusting monsters left and right without issue, only pausing for a second when face to face with the papyrus, who glared at him, armed with a bone attack. He shook off the feelings deep within his soul and shot strings at Fell papyrus, sending more when the skeleton cut them away with the attack. The strings coiled around the papyrus's soul and crushed it before there was so much as a word leaving him.

Finishing off the fell Asgore was easy enough, the universe starting to tremble with no original being left. He left the au as it crumbled within itself. Landing in another au, another forest, he released a sigh. Glancing at his glitching hand, the trembles were contained again. Good. Error looked up, eye lights shifting over his surroundings.

The air was clean, fresh almost, unlike the last one. Where was he? He decided to wonder. Following the path the Frisk had yet to pass through. Snow to wood and back to snow. Stopping at the stationed post, a papyrus sat there, and they made eye contact. Error stared. The papyrus in orange stared back. No one made a move. Until the papyrus did.

"I don't think eye seen you around before." The orange skeleton said, the joke was horrible, and he grinned lazily, almost as if he was proud of it. Error squinted at the papyrus before a glitch chuckle fell from his mouth involuntarily. The papyrus's eyes seemed to shine at the laugh. "You're not from here are you?" He asked, relaxed. Because if anyone could laugh at a bad joke, then they couldn't be dangerous.

"No. I'm not." Was the glitchy response.

"I'm Papyrus, what's your name," Papyrus hummed, curious. This wasn't the kid he always had to deal with. It was someone new, someone who felt important for some reason.

"Error." He said, turning to face the papyrus. Either this au was new, or Ink and his band of sans' hadn't reached here yet. That made a feeling he didn't recognise settle in between his ribs.

"That's an odd name,"

"Is Papyrus not odd?"

"Alright, fair." The orange skeleton chuckled. "What brings you?" The black skeleton gave a shrug, making the other raise an amused bone brow. For some reason he felt his brother would like this odd character. "My brother is further down the path, play along with his puzzles, yeah?"

Chapter Text

Underswap #604

The Sound of snow crunching under his feet was oddly comforting. Especially with this sense of dread that had settled between his ribs. He wasn't sure why, it's not like this universes' sans would attack. If anything he'd probably proclaim him to be his friend.

He wasn't sure why meeting eyes with the small blue skeleton had his chest feeling so tight, or why a feeling of..guilt? Seized his breath as the armored one gave a large curious filled smile. He wasn't sure for how long he stared, how long he was frozen in place as thoughts, for once, drowned out the voices that rarely gave him time to think.

All he knew was that the blue sans was suddenly in front of him, looking worried, and reaching forward, saying something that Error couldn't hear despite him being right there. He practically scrambled back, out of the others reach. Error took in a shaky lungful, sounds suddenly too loud. Oh. He was panicking wasn't he? Error closed his sockets and swallowed, taking a moment to go through his breathing steps.. steps Swap had taught him back in the anti void. The thought only made his soul seize for a moment with emotions he didn't even wanna go through.

"Are..are you okay friend?" The soft voice, ever so slightly louder than a normal sans would be, brought him from his own mind. Error opened his sockets and gave a stiff nod.

"I'm fine." The sans blinked, eyes lighting curiously, examining the darker skeleton.

"I'm Sans! Who are you friend?"

"Error." He grumbled, maybe he should've just gone back to the anti-void after the first au.

"Neh he! What a wonderful name! Not as wonderful as Sans, but next best!" Sans beamed hands on his hips, looking very proud of himself. It made that guilt twist, yet.. his soul felt warm. It wasn't his swap. He had to remember that. They may look almost identical, they may be so so close to the same, but they aren't. And he wouldn't try to replace swap let alone try and shape an Underswap sans to be his swap.

Despite himself he gave a small weak smile and gave another nod. "Right. Your brother told me you had some puzzles to catch a human?" He asked, voice surprisingly quiet and soft, to the point where a few voices decided to comment. "Eeewww!" "What's with him?" "Oh who cares! Do something!". He ignored them though. Let him have this. He hasn't seen his swap in.. so long. Just let him have this.

The high pitched squeal of excitement was enough of a comfort that he barely paid attention to the hand tugging him along, or his more than normal glitching.

Sans had rambled for hours, Error sitting on a rock listening as 604 sans explained his puzzle and demonstrating. Error was far from bored, having been suggesting things to help the traps- puzzles catch humans better. It had been a steady flow of conversation, enough so that it dulled his focus on his mind, on the voices. They were like a numb buzz compared to 604 sans's obnoxious chatter.

They found out it had been hours when Papyrus had headed back from the stationed post, seeing them still at the puzzles instead of at their home in Snowden already. "You're still here?" He had blurted out, surprised, catching both skeletons attention.

"Papyrus! I'm definitely going to catch a human now! Error has been such a great help!" 604 Sans bounced over to his brother. Papyrus blinked, he had said to entertain him, but he wasn't expecting the black skeleton actually would! He guessed his feeling on Sans liking error was true.

"Oh yeah? That's good." Papyrus said, glancing at the tall dark skeleton as he stood and brushed snow from his lap. "Why don't we head home, huh?" Sans had gave his signature laugh and led the way, claiming that was a 'spectacular idea' and claiming he shall make tacos for Error to taste. Error had stilled, looking at Sans with a blank expression. He was expecting to split ways, but it seems Sans had decided that no, they were not parting.

Error followed behind Sans, Papyrus next to him.

"Seems my bro likes you." He grinned at the shorter skeleton. Error gave a nod in response, not quite saying anything yet. "When I said entertain him, that didn't mean for real," he said, glancing ahead where Sans led the way with great enthusiasm.

"I like it." Error stated, catching papyrus's gaze on him again, watching the other with renewed interest and a warmth his swap's brother had never even considered with him. He was a monster, a monster in the human sense of the word. Someone not worthy of chance. The god that kidnapped Carrot's older brother. It stirred something bitter deep within.

The rest of the walk was silent besides Sans's enthusiastic 'tour guiding'. Sans walked into the house first, and because Papyrus wasn't moving second, error did, then followed closely by papyrus. Sans hurried to the kitchen to whip up some tacos, Error deciding to join him, because that sad comfort was better than the bitter sour feeling with Carr- with Papyrus.

Error sat on a stool, watching the version-that's-not-his-version of swap make tacos. Listening to 604 sans drone on with instructions and explanations. He.. liked this. This domesticity that his life as destroyer has kept him from.

Until the glimpse of a red string on sans's finger as he was taking the oven mitts off his hands caught Error's attention.