Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

The world felt far away. Almost as if you were staring at it from behind a screen. Gazing at the flashing lights and colors like watching a tv show. You felt isolated. Despite being in a room full of people, despite being with someone these last few days, you felt alone.

But why? You should be happy. Happy to be back with your family. To be home and seeing your sibling, sans, papyrus, everyone, all happy and safe because of your actions. You were freed, now back where you belong.

No more strange dreams of the underground, or that eyeless child warning you of some impending danger of remaining in the anti void-as error called it- you were safe. But that didn't stop the sensation of loneliness.

It was like darkness crawling towards the light. Lingering on the outskirts waiting until the flame from the candle dwindled before settling its self in to every corner of your heart.

You laid back on the couch, staring mindlessly up at the ceiling. Chara sat not to far away, entertained with the tv in the skeleton brothers home. You felt...empty.

Like being away from error had ripped this bug gaping hole in your chest. But that can't be. He kidnapped you. He was going to destroy your home. Your friends. Your family.

"You asked me why I destroy au's a while ago." His voice rang in your head.
"This might be hard for you to believe, but I don't actually enjoy the suffering of those worlds. I just want to set them free."

I just want to set them free.

The sentence looped like a broken record in your mind as you watched the imprint on the ceiling begin to take shape the longer you stared. You hated to admit it, but somehow, he wormed his way into your heart.

Not romantically of course, no no, but he was your friend now. At least you liked to think so. It was true, he wasn't as bad as he seemed. He let you go after all. He didn't need you, and he was using you for bait, but he kept his promise. He didn't destroy your home.

You still wondered about his motives. They didn't make sense, after all what was he setting these worlds these universes free from? But regardless he wasn't as bad as he seemed.

It feels...so empty with out him.

In a strange way you felt as though you understood him. Isolated from everyone. The outcast. But you're not really, though you can't help but feel that way.

Here time seems cruel. Now you were unused to it, it felt foreign. When you had come home you didn't expect to be gone for so long.

"Here she is! As promise!" Ink had said, swiftly after his return. (Just moments after you had been embraced by everyone.) They told you just how long you had been away. But it couldn't have been that long? It only felt like a few days, yet somehow here time moved on quickly. Ink left and then things were exactly how they were left.

Time felt as though it moved in a blink of an eye. You'd mindlessly eat breakfast blink and just as soon as you woke up you were now tucking chara back into bed for the night at home. You felt detached, as though you had no real grip on this world anymore. But that was an impossible thought you're here, experiencing it.

Though sometimes you suspect you're not. So far away and lost in your thoughts that there's a vague noise of static in the distance. The first time you heard it, you thought it was error paying you a visit.

But it was nothing more than a white noise. You hear it sometimes when you're alone. Just a buzzing sound. Like someone trying to change the frequency on a radio station to tune into something else. Maybe it was your mind trying to cope with the events you had gone through.

You sighed, blinking slowly, before lifting your head to gaze out at the living room. Just as you left it. Chara in front of the tv, though now instead of watching they were drawing alongside sans. Both of them sprawled on the floor on their stomachs, legs kicking in the air behind them. You guessed Papyrus stayed in his place too.

Just to be sure though, you still looked. Finding him relaxing against the couch. One arm out against the back of the couch, the other taking the cigarette out from his mouth occasionally to blow and inhale it.

Somehow being here didn't feel right anymore. Somehow this felt all wrong. Like this wasn't how things were supposed to go. You're trapped in a world you shouldn't be in. A stranger from the outside. And outcast that no one will remember. A-

"Hey," Papyrus's voice jerked you out of your spiraling thoughts, "you okay?"

His hand rested on your shoulder. You hadn't realized you leaned forward more holding your head in your hands. Your eyes flickered towards him. So many thoughts raced through your mind.

No.

You wanted to cry suddenly.

I haven't felt okay since coming back.

You wanted to scream just as suddenly.

"Yeah," you weakly managed to talk, "yeah I'm fine. Just tired."

You forced a smile, smoothing your hair partially from your mini episode. What just happened? What was that for? You haven't felt like this since chara went missing.

"Ya sure?" Papyrus's normal laid back, permanent, smile etched into a frown upon his face. His brows furrowed on his head in concern.

"Yeah," you nodded this time, "I'm gonna go grab a glass of water though. Man am I thirsty."

You laughed a bit as you stood up, gazing down at Papyrus forcing a happy expression. He doesn't seem convinced. You ignored that however, pushing forward to walk towards the kitchen. You could feel his gaze upon your back.

Stop it.

You wanted to say.

Stop looking at me like that.

You wanted to scream again. Though you easily shook that away this time as his gaze could no longer follow you once all the way into the kitchen. You let out a breath you didn't realize you had been holding. Relaxing your body, and in turn your expression.

You stared at the sink distantly. There's that static noise again. Was it because you're lost in thought again?

You walked towards one of the cabinets, standing on your toes to reach a glass before taking it to the sink. You leaned forward, reaching a hand out to pull the faucet up, releasing the water. Your hand shook as you rested it on the edge of the sink. Staring as the water disappeared down the drain, but that didn't last for too long.

The dishes from lunch had been piled inside, now towering over gently from the sudden rush of water. Covering the drain. It rose, and for a moment you caught a glimpse of your reflection in the rippling water.

Your heart was pounding inside your chest. Your lungs felt as though the air had been squeezed from them. What was going on? You can't catch a breath. Are you having a panic attack?

You tried to focus on a few things. Simple things. But so far noise wasn't working. Maybe you should look at your reflection?

Peering into the water you watched your face continue to ripple across, at first it looked like you. But as the water shifted and changed from the rushing faucet what stared back at you was no longer you.

There within the reflection was a face made up of nightmares. It looked like a deformed skeleton, with skin seeming to be partially sticking to it. It's eyes hallowed and sunken in except for an occasional purple flicker in the left eye socket. It grinned up at you, and once you made eye contact the ripped and splintered off bone that was supposed to be teeth and a jaw line grew into what seemed like a wider smile.

Black goop seemed to fall from its eyes creating dark and gross looking tears that started to bubble up into the sink. Creating pockets of this black goo up upon the clear water.

It's mouth opened wider, releasing a set of garbled nonsense. You couldn't hold it back any longer.

You screamed.

What was that-that thing?! You continued to scream as you pushed yourself away from the sink. Desperate to get away from the water as you stumbled back into the kitchen nearly loosing your footing. (You would have lost it if Papyrus hadn't caught you in time.)

Everyone was in the kitchen now. Looking around for what ever it was that had made you cry out like that.

"Eldest human! What happened?!"

"Hey, hey, calm down talk to us."

"Sis?"

Everyone was bombarding you with questions. Questions you couldn't answer aside from pointing hastily at the now over flowing water. Papyrus moved to have you sit at the dining table, now pushing forward with chara to investigate what had made you screamed.

Sans stayed beside you muttering words of encouragement that felt hard to listen to. The static was so loud now. Why was it so loud? You covered your ears squeezing your eyes shut shaking your head. Make it stop.

"Oh it was just a clogged up pipe. Musta spooked ya pretty bad with these gross mold patches-(Y/N)?" Papyrus was midway coming up with a reasonable explanation for the black goop within the now turned off sink.

You couldn't listen. He felt as though he was being drowned out by the static. It was so loud. Make it stop. Make it stop! It hurts!

"Eldest human!" You could still somewhat hear sans, but even he sounded muffled. As though he was talking to you from behind a door. The world felt as though it was spinning and that sensation of darkness creeping in on where light remained came back.

"(Y/N)!" You heard the brothers shout your name, loudly at that, but it was too late. You could feel the world slipping away from you. Vanishing like someone blew out the flame to the only light source you had left.

Your tether to the real world felt as though it slipped from your grasp and you were transported to somewhere that existed beyond time. Beyond an anti void. You felt as though you had just been sucked into a black hole.

Or better yet, an endless void.
___________________________
"INK!!!!" It was useless. Screaming out to nothing in pure rage was useless. What's the point in being angry if there was no one to show how angry he was?

Error gripped the strings he had created, tethered up to the ceiling to create a swing suspended far above the ground in the anti void.

How long as it been now since his miserable defeat, yet again? Minutes? Hours? Somehow it felt like an eternity. His eyes glanced down, gazing upon the now abandoned strings close to the ground. Where he had kept you until deciding it was fine to let you wander.

"You're lonely." Your words haunted him.
"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for what ever you've gone through that's made you this way."

He really meant it, he didn't need your pity. And yet somehow he wished you were here with him. He knew letting you go was the right choice. He knew that. But somehow he felt like a moron for doing it.

You had people who cared about you. People who'd fight for you. What did he have? Just himself.

I'm not lonely.

He justified his jealousy for a moment.

I just enjoyed her company.

He rolled his eyes. Enjoyed your company? Did he really? Maybe it was because you're the only person who actually listened to him. Who didn't want to fight him immediately. There was only one other person like you in this vast multiverse. And you both reside in the same AU.

Maybe it was a defect of that place, yeah that was it. It was some sort of cruel defect. And besides it's not as if he could get close to you to begin with. Or he'd corrupt your code just like he accidentally did to that sans many many years ago.

"Oh error!" What?

Error peeked down a bit from where he was sitting squinting his eyes partially to look further into the distance. Damn he should probably put on his glasses he can't see.

"Error!" The voice was annoying. A constant thorn in his side. Ugh was that ink? What was he doing back here.

"What do you want?" Error hissed as he descended from the ceiling. Glaring at ink who just smiled.

"It's been a while!" He laughed. But he was just here?!

"YOU WERE JUST HERE!" Error believed in saying what he was thinking. After all it got to the point faster than rephrasing it.

"For you maybe," ink sighed throwing his arms over his shoulders to rest them behind his head, "it's been a few months for me."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Error scoffed crossing his arms.
"Never mind I don't care. What the hell are you doing back here?!"

"Oh, I'm here for plot purposes!" Ink snickered.
"You know gotta push this forward a bit now. At least with you. I also got a name to redeem!"

"What?" Error couldn't help how confused he was. Ink was more stupid than just a moment ago.

"Listen! Everyone in the comments in chapter 12 are mad at me! I'm just trying to help." Ink sighed shaking his head.
"Blaming a guy for having fun-oof!"

Error had enough of ink's nonsense. He sounded crazier than normal. In an instant ink was strung up and slammed into the air, knocking the wind out of him. What ever the hell he was going on about didn't matter. He didn't have time for his foolishness or his games. (And he had no interests in beating him now. What did it matter now?)

"OW!" Ink whined, easily slipping out from within the soul strings sliding against the white floor.
"I'm just trying to keep you company now!"

"I don't need it." Error turned away allowing his back to face ink. He didn't care if he tried to attack him. Somehow it didn't feel the same with out you here.

No he's being ridiculous. He has a perfectly good opportunity to bring ink down! He should act upon it. So why can't he?

"Uh, weren't you just monologuing about how you miss (Y/N)?" Ink had a smirk that was obvious in his tone.

Error's eyes twitched in annoyance.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!!!"

For a moment things seemed normal. For a moment as he attacked ink almost blinded by his own error codes, he felt like things were back to the way they were. But the truth was nothing would be the same for him.

All because of you.