Opening his eyes again, Error found himself in total darkness. He knew he was dreaming, so he wasn't worried- Nightmare or Dream would pull him out if he was in any danger.

"Huh... how strange. I wonder where I am?" Error asked the emptiness, taking a step forward.

The darkness shifted, revealing that he was standing on the platform he'd seen earlier. The glitches seemed to be clearing slightly, showing a blurry image of a blue monster SOUL, streaked with grey, through the glass.

The longer he stood there, the more the glitches faded, so he remained, watching them fade and observing the image.

As the rest of the platform was uncovered, he realized that there were black chains holding the soul down, although most of them seemed to have shattered. Only one remained, and it seemed to be breaking as well.

Then he heard a voice... no, it wasn't just a voice. It was Her voice. The kind one, who saved him the first time he had tried leaping into the void. She had told him, "It isn't time, my child. You must keep going- you need to play my sister's game for a little longer. I promise you will be free, but not yet. Please, stay Determined!"

And now, she was speaking to him again. Perhaps it was finally his turn for a chance at freedom?

"My child. You're almost free now. Fate's hold is weakened, and I can break the chains," said the kind Voice. "But without it... you will die, as all of the injuries to your soul will cause it to shatter. So I have a gift for you, if you will accept it."

"What kind of gift? And who are you?"

"My name is Destiny, my child," said Destiny. "You were my chosen from the day you came into being, but I would solidify that bond by giving you some of my power. It is the power of Determination, of choice, of hope for another chance, and the opposite of Fate's.

Had I given it to you before she took you, you would've been safe... but I was waiting until you were ready to accept it yourself, until you were older and stronger.

That was a terrible mistake on my part. I should've known that Fate would ignore boundaries, just so that her Chosen could play with his powers of creation without fear of the AUs crumbling."

Error shivered, his normally multicolored eyelights bright white. "I-I don't understand... you knew me before the Anti-Void?"

"Yes. Your AU was always my favorite... but now it can no longer stand on its own. You are lucky that I was able to save what I did of it, as well as the other AUs that were destroyed to create the Anti-Void. Let me show you..."

Error felt a pulling on his soul, and the platform he stood upon rumbled.

Destiny irritatedly hissed, "Chaos, control your chosen!"

"What was that about, Lady Destiny?"

"Oh, my apologies. Your friend, the dark balance, he was attempting to pull you from this place. He doesn't realize that if he does, it will likely damage your SOUL, for we are in your Chamber of Awakening- a place between life and death, on the same plane as the Dreamscape.

Back to the topic at hand- your home. Your sibling and friends' memories are lost for now, likely permanently for many of them, but you should ask Eira and Stella about it. They will awaken for you, if you ask for them by name. Now, for your gift- my True Determination, the power to change fate."

An orb of red light appeared in front of Error, and sunk down into the platform, driving away all of the glitches that remained. The grey streaks on the Soul were flooded with a brilliant Determination-red color, flowing throughout and filling in the cracks, recoloring the dark threads winding around it.

He was warm, almost uncomfortably so, but the heat stopped just before it became uncomfortable. It flooded through his bones, healing them of the many chips, holes, and scratches that his fights against Ink had left. Error and Blue had done their best to heal them, but threads wrapped around bones and basic healing magic could only do so much, and they were left brittle even after they healed. The fiery heat that rushed through him didn't just heal them, though- it restored them to the strength they should've been.

The chain that still held the Soul shattered, and Error instantly felt the effect. The weight he had grown accustomed to lifted, and he knew that Fate held no power over him anymore. He'd still fight to his last breath to protect the Original AUs in the Multiverse, though. If Blue, or Stretch now that he thought about it, died... he'd never forgive himself.

"Thank you, Lady Destiny," said Error, his eyelights glowing a happy green. "Is there anything I can do to help you? You've done so much for me, and I don't even remember why you would care for me."

"My child, I was hoping you would ask that. I need you to stay in Startale at least through the next Reset, as it will cement this into your code. Your voice and code should no longer glitch- although the pixelia seems to be here to stay- unless your soul runs into a missing memory file, which is still a bit problematic. I'll do my best to reconstruct your memories of your life before the Anti-Void, but I believe that my sister has the key pieces, so it will likely be impossible unless I can convince her to return those."

"I can do that," said Error, nodding. "Good luck with Fate, Lady Destiny."

"Be safe, my chosen, my child. And be happy."

As Error began to awaken, he heard her last whisper, glitching in and out. "Seek ... world thread, ... river knows the way..."

————⊰ Blue ⊱————

Nearly three hours after Stretch had left to go explore and find the shop, Blue sat by the bed, waiting for Error to wake up.

Blue didn't want to leave Error all alone in the house, so he wasn't going to explore outside yet, but he was running out of things to do. He had explored the house, but he hadn't found anything interesting- although he hadn't looked in the closet in this room yet, but that could wait, as Error's bed was in front of the door.

Error's sockets began to leak a trace of green, and a faint red glow seeped through his jacket from where his Soul would be. The green twined around the dark skeleton's bones, almost seeming to reach for Blue.

Blue: Error still hasn't woken up
Blue: I'm starting to worry
Hot Cheeto: hes probably talking to dream or nightmare or something like that
Hot Cheeto: im sure hes fine
Blue: WAIT, DID YOU MESS WITH MY CONTACT NAMES?!?!
Hot Cheeto: maaaaybe... >:)
Blue: If you do that again, I SWEAR I WILL NEVER LET YOU GET HONEY EVER AGAIN!!!

Blue quickly corrected Stretch's contact, annoyed with his brother.

Blue: Error's glowing, it's kinda weird.
Blue: I hope he's okay.
Stretch: i dunno, who knows whats going on
Stretch: what color is the glow?
Blue: Green, mostly.
Blue: He's got a bit of red near where his soul should be, but I dunno what it could mean.
Stretch: well green means hes happy
Stretch: so hes probably having a good dream
Stretch: just let him sleep
Stretch: he will wake up when hes ready
Blue: Okay...

So Blue waited. Eventually he just couldn't sit still any longer, so he went down to the kitchen to see what they had. There was nothing- or at least no food- in any of the cabinets or drawers, so it didn't seem that he could cook anything.

He headed upstairs to check on Error, for despite knowing deep in his bones that his friend was fine, he still worried. He always did when it came to Error.

He found Error with his eyes glowing an even brighter green than before, his glitching barely visible. The scratches and chips that Blue had been unable to heal- although he tried!- were gone as well, and Error just... for one, his ambient magic felt better, much less destructive.

After a few minutes, the glow began to dim, and Error seemed to be returning to a normal sleep.

Blue settled onto the other bed, pulling out his phone to see if he had anything in his interdimensional box to entertain himself with. He found a Rubix cube, which he had never actually been able to finish, but it didn't matter, as by the time he was done searching, Error seemed to be waking up.

Blue leaped off his bed and immediately ran over to Error's, just in time to get bonked in the face by Error's skull as he shot upright.

"Blue, that hurt," complained Error, his voice not glitching in the slightest. "Why exactly were you standing over me, anyway?"

"Error, your voice!" Blue exclaimed happily. "And as for why, you've been sleeping for ages, I've been so bored!"

"How long exactly is 'ages'?"

"Well, according to my phone it's almost one in the afternoon, Error. You really slept in," said Blue, "Stretch was up at eight and I was up a little bit after him, probably because of that sugar rush yesterday," he smiled sheepishly when he mentioned the sugar rush, it had been a rather... interesting... experience.

"That sugar rush is why we shouldn't let you have cookies, you goofball," said Error, laughing slightly. His voice still hadn't glitched at all, it really was nice.

"Whatever, we've got to do something now that you're awake, we can't let the day go to waste! So do whatever you need to do to get ready or just come eat, I don't care! Stretch brought back some kind of chocolate pastry from Muffet's for you though, he wouldn't let me try it," said Blue, jokingly pouting.

Blue ran down the stairs, almost tripping on the last step, and waited impatiently for Error in the living room. The dark-boned skeleton seemed to be almost purposefully moving slowly, just to mess with him.

"C'mon Error, hurry up! We've got places to explore, people to meet, things to see!" Blue exclaimed excitedly, almost vibrating in place.

"I'm coming, I'm coming, calm down Blue," Error grumbled, his bones slightly stiff from sleep. He could sense Blue's impatience, but his magic felt off and he didn't want to strain it by attempting to do too much.

"Oh, Error, are you okay?" Blue whisper-yelled, noticing how Error was limping. "Did Ink hurt you before and I didn't notice?!"

"No, no, Blue, I'm fine. Just kinda stiff and sore. I'm getting used to solid, fully healed bones again, it takes some time to readjust."

"What! How'd you get your bones fixed? We tried everything!" Blue squealed happily.

"I got some help in my dreams. Wasn't Dream or Nighty, though," said Error. "I'll explain later, right now we've got to find the Riverperson. They'll probably be able to tell me where I can find the people I need to speak to."

"Uhhh... okay? I'm pretty sure Stretch said that the Riverperson is down behind the house, past the trees," said Blue, very puzzled by what Error was talking about. "But can you explain what we're doing first?"

"Okay, I guess I can. We're going to find some people named Eira and Stella. Apparently they can help explain my past," said Error, tugging nervously at the threads curling around his phalanges (finger bones, for those who didn't research skeleton anatomy).

"Well, okay then," said Blue, who was rightfully curious about his friend's past. "I wouldn't mind knowing more about your life before the Anti-Void— as it is, I don't like not knowing."

"C'mon Blue, let's go see if the Riverperson is around," said Error, pulling on the shorter skeleton's arm.

"I'll meet you down there, I've got to text Papy and tell him we're going somewhere so he doesn't come back and worry."

"'Kay," said Error, nodding.

Blue was already texting his brother, phalanges darting across the phone keyboard rapidly, as the other Sans headed out the door.

"But if you're not there within five minutes, I'm going wherever the Riverperson takes me without you," Error continued, fast-walking past the house and into the copse of trees.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming, chill out," yelped Blue, racing through the grass after Error.

***

As soon as they reached the other side of the trees, they could see the Riverperson, perched on the front of their boat, right behind the dog's head that made up the bow.

The dog stuck its tongue out at them cheekily before reverting to solid wood. The Riverperson turned to look at Error- or at least he thought so, nobody knew what was actually under that hood.

"Tra la la... Salutations, Destiny-Weaver, tri li li," trilled the Riverperson, dark cloak blowing gently in a nonexistent breeze.

"Hello, Riverperson," said Error, greeting the strange, semi-omniscient being.

Turning to look at Blue, they trilled, "Tra la la... greetings, swap child... tre le le..."

"Hi," said Blue, puzzled by the way the Riverperson had referred to Error.

"Tri li li... don't worry... Destiny's Chosen can explain," trilled the Riverperson, nodding their shadowy hood to Error. "Tra la la... ready to go? Tre le le..."

"Error?" Blue said, giving the taller skeleton a look that promised a scolding if he didn't tell him what was up.

"I promise, I'll explain soon," said Error, nervously looking away from the aggravated swap sans. "But I need to see this through first. Something's calling me, Blue. I can feel it in my magic."

Error hopped onto the boat, carefully avoiding the water. He hated water, it was so... watery, and it made his pixelia and glitching far worse.

"Fine," said Blue frostily, following Error onto the boat. "You owe me an explanation though, got it?"

"I promise, Blue," said Error, gazing off into the distant horizon. "I promise."

"Tri li li... where do you wish to go? Tre le le..."

"We're looking for Stella and Eira. But I suspect you already knew that," said Error.

"Tra la la... get ready, this'll be a bit of a bumpy ride... Tri li li," said the Riverperson as the boat began to rise out of the water. The dog boat's stubby legs started whirring rapidly, and with a happy bork, it began to run across the water.

Published August 20, 2019