Nix finally finds his monster again and is not happy at what he finds

———

%@£!** Multiverse

AntiVoid

Nix was highly irritated and close to snapping at any second. It had taken them far too long to find their monster again, the amount of AntiVoid he had to travel through had been annoying with the scent of Karma growing faint at an alarming rate. They would have thought the babybones was dead if the tiny thread still connecting them wasnt there the end result would not have been pretty for anyone if that was true.

He had refused to give up though and his work finally paid off, even if there were far too many Destroyers littering the AntiVoid like fleas he had been kind enough to reduce their numbers but now things would hopefully get better.

They wouldnt be letting Karma out of their sight anytime soon though, glaring up at the latest monster they would likely have to dust as well.

"I take it that you dont like me very much, do you?"

Nix hissed at the understatement, feeling that this 404 was lucky that Karma had grabbed them when they did. They were smug at the scratch marks left on 404's face, knowing that would take a while to heal with the magic they had infused in their claws.

"You are super soft, kitty"

"Meow"

They purred and put their full focus back on Karma, licking the babybones cheek and gently nuzzling them.

"Look! I recently got a plushy kitty too! I named them X and..why are you laughing? Do they look that silly?"

Nix snickered at the plushy, batting its face and thinking it truly resembled their favourite toy-friend. They sniffed it and felt their fur stand on edge at the oddly familiar magic too familiar but as if it wasnt quite done yet, growing suspicious of what had actually kept their monster away from them for so long.

404 quietly watched the little reunion of what he assumed was a familiar due the full on conversation Goth was having with it and how protective it was of the babybones.

He shifted his hold on Goth so he now had a hand free to check on something. He opened the general Code of the area curious how the white fluff ball glared at him when he did soand began doing what he was originally called for.

He quickly came into a road block of accessing the babybones Code and the..cats was just as impossible and mind bending but he did notice some oddities from the brief glances he got.

"You are very far from home indeed.."

He muttered to himself, feeling slight pity for the babybones while he contemplated what to do next. He discovered he couldn't directly interact with their Code his fingers tingling from the harsh zap he got in response but perhaps there was another option.

He stared down at that far too intelligent eyes of the 'kitty', the pale eyes with error symbols rather intriguing to observe he was sure he had seen a cat like this before but he just couldn't remember when and gently began explaining the issue.

He knew most would think him insane for casually conversing with an animal but he knew they were anything but normal, as could be seen by how easily they harmed him and even snuck up on him.

"Meow?"

"How do you feel about a little deal that will help the babybones?"

He knew he caught their interest, smiling in his unhinged way when he saw the murderous gleam in the cats eyes as he shared his hypothesis. He was very glad his student had called him now, not having this much fun in years and sure he was about to witness an amusing sight.

————-

%?? Multiverse

Karma wasnt sure what happened but his mind felt weirdly foggy and he had an awful headache. He hadn't felt like this since...

Pain/Hurt?LOvE?/Why wOnT yOu LoVe me as I am?!

He flinched at the barrage of better left forgotten memories, opening his eyes and made a face when his vision was full of white, quickly realising it was Nix and gently moving his familiar away from his face.

"Too close, Nix.."

He winced at the sound of his voice, sounding truly awful and wondering what had happened.

"Meow!"

He huffed when Nix near aggressively nuzzled him, holding his familiar up and giving a very confused look to their expression. He wasnt sure why others thought Nix was hard to read and found it the easiest thing in the world, frowning when they looked so sad.

"Dont cry, Nix. It's ok. What's wrong? Can I make it better?"

He brought them close in worry when they let out sad meows while nuzzling him like they hadnt done so in a long while, pausing when he caught sight of the room, pretty sure he hadnt been here before.

"I see you finally woke up. We were growing worried for you"

He felt a shiver crawl down his spine, warily looking towards the voice, his eyelight extinguishing at seeing 404. His wings flared out and he didn't hesitate to send out a blast of Judgement magic, staring suspiciously when nothing happened to them or the surroundings.

So he wasnt in an illusion which he felt only made it worse but Nix was acting weird and he was holding a super soft plushy, not to mention his clothes...

"𝔻𝕚𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖 𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝕞𝕖?~"

He stiffened up at the voice, feeling memories shift in place, hiding his tears in Nix's fur as the voice continued.

"𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕖𝕤𝕔𝕒𝕡𝕖 𝕞𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣, 𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖 𝕓𝕚𝕣𝕕. 𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥𝕤 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕙𝕠𝕨 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕘𝕒𝕞𝕖 𝕚𝕤 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕪𝕖𝕕"

He had no clue what she was talking about, stiffening when the numbers came back and shivering as he hid in his wings, hating how alone he felt.

01000100 01100101 01101001 01110100 01111001 00111010 01000110 01000001 01010100 01000101 00101110 00100000 01000001 01100011 01100011 01100101 01110011 01110011 00100000 01000100 01100101 01101110 01101001 01100101 01100100

"𝕀'𝕝𝕝 𝕗𝕚𝕘𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕜 𝕤𝕠𝕠𝕟 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕨𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕘𝕠 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝 𝕗𝕦𝕟. 𝕀 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕧𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕖 𝕒 𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖 𝕥𝕠𝕠 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘. ℍ𝕠𝕨 𝕕𝕠𝕖𝕤 𝕒 𝕗𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕙 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕?"

His breath hitched at the threat, not realising how tightly he was squeezing Nix and feeling his SOUL race at the idea. He didnt want to leave his family, he was just starting to get happy with his life.

"𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕚 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕓𝕠𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦. 𝕊𝕠 𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕪 𝕝𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕕𝕚𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤. 𝕋𝕣𝕦𝕝𝕪 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕞𝕪 𝕗𝕒𝕧𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕤-"

He twitched when her voice cut out, still hiding his face in Nix's fur and preparing himself for the next tirade. He was so tired and he just wanted to go home, the lack of bonds making his mind dull and yearn for the black once again.

"That enough of that. Has it stopped now, Karma? Maybe i should make the wards stronger just in case. Deities are an annoying bunch. Like spoiled toddlers in my opinion. Pretty sure living that long has deeply affected their thinking. I cant imagine why anyone would work for them..well, apart from that very weird Creator who was convinced they were part rabbit. That was a very dark timeline. So glad i erased that from all of-"

He warily looked up when her voice didnt come back, cautiously observing the 404 and their random rambling. He focused most of his attention on the single bond he could actually feel, Nix was truly his anchor right now and tried not to hide back in his mind.

He frowned in confusion when he properly sensed the monsters SOUL, wings ruffling in his pure confusion. His hand drifted to his wings again but with Nix's pointed reminder he took out his scarf from his Inventory, happy to have some more familiar comfort again. While he did so he took out a small white and black bead that was easily overlooked by his far more colourful trinkets but if looked closer would likely unsettle some monsters.

The Gasters he met in the Void had been nice, pleased with his new bead that gave him the odd comfort of being in the Void again. He wasnt sure if he should go back anytime soon, as the last trip showed he was closer to the edge then he had been in a very long time. Even with his DETERMINATION he didnt think it wise to risk it his mind felt so fragile, the past few months/yEaRs in a constant cycle of RESETS having taken a larger toll then he thought.

He went back to looking at the still talking 404 he hated how a part of him still loved this type of monster, climbing off the bed he was on but still holding Nix and X he might have to rename his plushy at some point needing the comfort.

"Why are you helping me?"

404 cut off his speech and faced the shivering babybones, usually one to talk out loud but had also thought it would help settle Karmas nerves. 'Karma' truly fit them better then 'Goth', pleased at how much sharper their gaze was after helping the familiar bond back in place.

It had taken a good few days to even convince the 'cat' of the idea but he had rather enjoyed the challenge its not like he has anyone waiting for him back home, having all the time in the world.

"..because i wished someone had helped me when i was lost."

He eventually settled on saying the truth, the main reason he had been willing to get involved in such a mess. He knew he could have taken the easy way out but he wasnt that far gone yet knowing it would only be time until his apathy fully set in.

The magic in the air from the babybones settled from his answer, risking getting closer and crouching down in front of them.

"The room is now warded but it can only hold so long but your familiar said it wouldn't be a problem..?"

He wasnt sure on the specifics and the 'cat' had gotten a rather dark glint in their eyes when he asked for details but he at least trusted they wouldnt risk the babybones health. He had taken them to a rather quiet multiverse and hadnt expected any trouble but to say the 'cats' reaction to seeing a monster try and get close to them was enlightening was to put it lightly.

It felt like he blinked at the stranger disappeared, the smug look the 'cat' had made him hold back on any further questions.

Karma trusted Nix, deciding to leave it up to them as he was tired of trying to survive by himself. The memories were painful to look at again, briefly worried when he noticed that the Bitties should be with him but Nix assured him they were somewhere safe, confused when Nix said they had told him this earlier.

How long had he been here that they could know? What else was he forgetting?

Looking back on the past interaction for the past months he wasnt going to think too deeply how long it had actually been he started to draw a pattern of the monsters he had been interacting with.

....was he stuck in some weird paradox/time loop?

He shivered and nuzzled into Nix's fur, hoping he wouldnt have to go through it again. He thought CHAOS had been scary but he forgot how much FATE liked to play with him, wishing he could be left alone for once.

He shuddered when he felt reality shake, knowing it was only time until she broke through. He didnt even flinch when 404 picked him up, accepting the comfort from an adult a part of him missed the sane version of them just waiting for the inevitable.

...He just wanted his family...

~~~~~~

Nix: *Snickering at the cat plushy Karma is showing him, thinking it looks a lot like his favourite toy*

*In a far off multiverse*

X: *Having a rare break from the craziness and feeling a sudden shiver down his spine and looking around paranoid* I bet its that devil cat again!

-

Karma: *Lovingly cuddling Nix* Such a good kitty and so easy to read as well. The perfect combo!

Nix: *Has resting 'Devil face' and a constant aura of danger*
^ ^
(=ʘᆽʘ=)∫

404: *Snickering at such an interesting pair* Error truly does find the most interesting things

-

404: *Spotting a random monster walking by* No worries. Im sure they will-

Nix: *Refusing to take chances after finding Karma again and going into full attack mode*

404: *Deciding not to comment on the scorch mark where the monster was before*..let me show you where we are staying