Stretch, Snow, and Chara had finally returned from the meeting. It was a bit of an awkward moment when they opened the door, as Error and Syrah still had Blue caught in the strings, and Azzy was still hiding atop the fridge.

Stretch, Snow, and Chara had brought someone else, but they were hiding and Error could only tell that whoever was there due to his ability to sense the souls of others. Error wasn't very worried about that yet though, he was scared about the possibility of Stretch being mad at him for tying Blue up.

"Oʜ. Hᴇʏ Sᴛʀᴇᴛᴄʜ. Sᴏʀʀʏ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴇ'ᴠᴇ ɢᴏᴛ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʙʀᴏ ᴛɪᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ, ʙᴜᴛ ʜᴇ ᴋɪɴᴅᴀ ɢᴏᴛ ɪɴᴛᴏ sᴏᴍᴇ ᴄᴏᴏᴋɪᴇs. Tʜɪs ᴡᴀs ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴʟʏ ɪᴅᴇᴀ ᴡᴇ ʜᴀᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴋᴇᴇᴘ ʜɪᴍ ғʀᴏᴍ ʜᴜɢɢɪɴɢ ᴜs ᴀʟʟ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ," said Error, looking a bit scared.

"It's fine. He's really hard to control when he's had cookies, or really any kind of sugary food. Hopefully Muffet gave us something he can eat without going on another sugar rampage," said Stretch. "I'll look in the basket now, and you get to keep restraining Blue until he calms down. Don't worry Error, I'm not mad at you, okay? It's alright."

"Bʟᴜᴇ's ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ sᴛʀᴏɴɢ, l'ᴍ ɴᴏᴛ sᴜʀᴇ ʜᴏᴡ ᴍᴜᴄʜ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ᴍʏ sᴛʀɪɴɢs ᴡɪʟʟ ʜᴏʟᴅ ʜɪᴍ."

"Well, you'd better hope they hold for a bit longer. Luckily, if he had cookies an hour ago I'd say it should be wearing off any minute now, and then he'll probably just pass out asleep. He has very dramatic sugar rushes."

"Tʜᴀɴᴋ ᴅᴏɢ! I'ᴍ ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ᴛɪʀᴇᴅ."

"If you think that's bad, imagine having to hold him down after some idiot gave him a lollipop. It was one of the big ones too... that was not fun," said Stretch. "Also, after Blue calms down, we can head over to where we'll be staying."

Blue then passed out asleep and started snoring, so Error reclaimed his strings. Stretch then used light blue magic to catch Blue before he hit the floor and gently set him on the couch.

"Sᴛʀᴇᴛᴄʜ, I ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ sᴛᴀʏ ʜᴇʀᴇ ғᴏʀ ᴍᴜᴄʜ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ! I ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴋᴇᴇᴘ ᴛʜᴇ Bᴀʟᴀɴᴄᴇ sᴏ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ Mᴜʟᴛɪᴠᴇʀsᴇ ᴅᴏᴇsɴ'ᴛ ғᴀʟʟ!"

"Umm, I hate to break it to you, but Fresh is the only one with the ability to cross-dimensionally teleport to or from here, and as far as I know, he is unable to take anyone with him," said Snow. "My friend Quill has the ability to make portals, including cross-dimensional ones, but the shield surrounding Startale prevents people from leaving, and he's tried to create portals out, it doesn't work."

"Wᴇʟʟ, I'ᴍ ɢᴏɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴛʀʏ ᴀɴʏᴡᴀʏs," said Error, before tugging at the threads of the Multiverse. A portal opened, but it was coated with a layer of impenetrable magic. "Sʜᴀʀᴅs. I ɴᴇᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴏ ᴍʏ ᴊᴏʙ! Tʜɪs ɪs ᴀ ʟɪғᴇ ᴏʀ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ sɪᴛᴜᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ғᴏʀ ᴀ ᴅᴇᴄᴇɴᴛ ᴄʜᴜɴᴋ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ Mᴜʟᴛɪᴠᴇʀsᴇ!"

"The shield around Startale doesn't care. It's very defensive, it won't let anyone out. We've all tried. I'm sorry Error," said Quill, who had come with Stretch, Chara and Snow. He had been hidden in the shadows and remained unnoticed until now.

Snow and Stretch had worried about Error possibly having a bad reaction to someone so similar to Ink, and had asked him to stay out of the way until they got everyone settled and calm. They had definitely been right to do that, as the second Error saw Quill, his bones began to rattle slightly and his magic went wild. His eyelights seemed to pulse, as magic made its way to where it could easily be accessed if he felt threatened. He involuntarily shivered, the tall skeleton's magic felt so similar to Ink's, but it was much more free, unrestrained by Fate's power. Oddly enough, it felt... familiar.

"I'm not going to hurt you Error! I promise! I have no association with this Ink of yours- I'm from Inkswap, while he is from Inktale, or as least as far as I know. Please, don't be scared of me!" Quill said, worry for Error evident in his tone.

"Yᴏᴜ ᴊᴜsᴛ sʜᴏᴄᴋᴇᴅ ᴍᴇ, ᴛʜᴀᴛ's ᴀʟʟ. I'ʟʟ ʙᴇ ғɪɴᴇ ᴏɴᴄᴇ I ɢᴇᴛ ᴜsᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʏᴏᴜ. Bᴜᴛ... ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴍɪɴᴅ ᴍᴇ ᴏғ sᴏᴍᴇᴏɴᴇ, ʙᴜᴛ I ᴊᴜsᴛ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ ʀᴇᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀ," said Error, rather puzzled by how he felt like he knew this skeleton, despite having never met him as far as he could remember.

"I was worried about this. Thank goodness it went okay," Snow said quietly to Chara.

"Yeah, me too. Now I need to go coax Azzy down from your fridge- mind helping me?"

"No problem, I can help you out. Just give me a second, I'm going to move the box of sweets to a safer place. We don't need a repeat of the Incident."

Snow quickly teleported the box from Muffet's to her secret lab, before returning to their conversation.

"Good idea. I don't think anyone would enjoy that."

"So, are you and Azzy headed home after we get him down?"

"Yeah, Tori's worried about me so I need to go check in with her."

"Good luck with the mama goat... I doubt that she's happy with you right now."

"I'm going to need it. She's probably annoyed with me for having not come home in two days."

"Oooh, that's gonna be a level 9 Toriel mom-mode, I bet you 10 gold."

"I bet you 20 that it's a level 7, for sure."

"Deal. If does end up being a level 9, I want to see it. So I'm coming with you, although I'll be discreet. I'm sure that she won't see me, but I do actually need to visit the Observatory, so that'll be my excuse if I'm seen," said Snow. "The Amalgamates are probably almost out of food, and I need to let them out for some fresh air and a nice walk."

"I still don't know what the 'Amalgamates' are..."

"Trust me, it's better that you don't know. They're... interesting creatures, to say the least."

"I was a judge, I've probably seen worse."

"Well... I guess that you can come help me feed them someday. But not today. Tori will have my head if I steal you away again."

"She probably would shoot a fireball at you and you'd just melt into a puddle."

"Nah, she likes me too much to do that."

Azzy had been watching their banter, and finally hopped down off the top of the fridge, running over to give his sister a hug.

"Hey Azzy! How was your time with Syrah, Blue, and Error? Did you have fun?" Chara asked.

"Blue is scary when he has cookies. Error was nice, although he was a bit shy and talked to someone who wasn't there," said Azzy.

"Well... I'll ask him who he was talking to later, so don't worry," said Snow.

Chara could tell that Snow was genuinely worried for the glitchy skeleton's mental health, even though she was good at hiding it from their younger siblings.

"Now, you two should probably head on back to the castle. I'll meet you there later, so don't worry about me. I have my ways, as you very well know," said Snow.

"Azzy and I will head out in a few minutes. We just need to go and say goodbye to everyone," said Chara, before heading back into the living room with Azzy.

Snow sighed, grateful for a bit of alone time, even if it was only a few minutes.

┈┄┉┅✦┅┉┄┈

This was an entertaining chapter to write. It took a while though.

- Snow ❄️

This chapter was 1250 words.