Chapter Text
I woke up the next morning still tired, before my brain caught up to what had happened the night before. Once that happened, I put up my mental walls to keep my racing thoughts from waking Rain up, which was unusual since between the two of us, usually I was the one who slept in.
Remembering the ‘quest’ we’d been given, I clothed myself and started to put my thoughts in order to make some kind of plan. Even if I forgot the plan immediately after making it, it would be easier to rebuild the ideas later if the processing had already happened once, so that would be a smart thing to do while everything was relatively fresh.
First things first, we already knew where one piece of Gaster was: Hotland, elevator R1. That would definitely be the first place to visit, probably with whatever group we put together to get a feel for group cohesion. And a group would probably be needed; different people for different skills were probably going to be needed to get wherever other fragments might be.
Speaking of other fragment locations, we’d need some way to locate fragments. It would have to be some sort of spell, scrying might not be precise enough, especially given that any fragment could be literally anywhere. Plus, scrying assumes visual ability in the context of that location, so if there was no visibility somewhere, that wouldn’t work.
As I ran through spells in my brain where did all this knowledge of DnD spells come from?, I thought of Locate Creature*, but that wouldn’t be as long range as we needed and would be blocked by too much running water. With Divine Intervention**, we’d have a greater range of potential spells, though with a much longer cooldown of a week per cast, rather than a day at most.
Finally, I hit on one spell, a spell accessible to clerics, though it wasn’t in the domain I’d selected, so Divine Intervention would be needed. Discern Location***. A spell that would tell us exactly where whatever we were looking for was, from plane of existence down to the address or name of the building or location, with the internet available to us fragments should be pretty easy to find. The spell itself was from an older form of the game****, but in my version of the Forgotten Realms, all forms of magic from all versions of the game existed at some point in Faerûn, simply falling in and out of favor, in different forms, or with Mystra, Mistress of Magic, correcting an imbalance due to the spell’s gross or improper usage in the Realms. I might even be able to request a ‘filter’ of sorts to help only find the closest unfound fragment, rather than being potentially overwhelmed by the sheer volume of fragments that might exist. Unless some sort of technological solution could be made(doubtful, given how long the native Sans had been seeking his Gaster, along with any solutions attempted and failed by the other Judges, with no progress being made), this should work to help find pieces. And with a little bit of preparation, both myself and Rain were capable of casting the spell.
The next question to think about was about what quest party we’d be bringing. Classic was a definite no, as was his brother- Classic would know best how to keep work going on his own version of the machine, and we didn’t want to get his hopes up, so his brother would need to stay here, both for Classic’s peace of mind and to keep the peace. The Swaps would be in the same situation, with Stretch helping Classic. Fresh would need to stay behind for the sake of suspicion, as well as keeping things relatively calm at the house, as he’d been doing- conflict wouldn’t help him get out of the “gravity well” the machine was creating relative to shortcuts, and a free spirit never likes being caged.
Wine was studying to get into a law school, and likely had some solid, non-magical, gift of gab***** to help figure out potential legal issues or people problems, alongside a decent amount of magical power for physical challenges. He’d be good, as might his brother, who tended to shadow him.
With the Fell brothers, one might want to stay in a position at the house while the other joined us. They might want Red to stay at home to help with the machine, but Edge was in police training, so he’d more likely want to be the one to stay behind if either went with us.
Among our own “arrival group”, we’d probably want to bring at least one person from each faction. Ink shouldn’t be allowed in, as he’d be too easily distracted for a quest that would likely call for some serious focus. Error was a possibility, as long as we had a way to keep him from having to be in physical contact with us, and he’d probably want to stay away from the Creator if at all possible. Ink staying back would mean Dream would need to be the one of their team to join us. Axe and Chef were still adjusting to food being freely available, and humans no longer needing to die for their survival, so they were definitely off the table, at least for now.
Dust… was a ‘maybe’. He might end up as Nightmare’s representative, given Error wasn’t necessarily a part of the Dark Sans group, and it would literally put members of the adventuring party in conflict with each other to have both Nightmare and Dream in the group. But Error might also be enough representation for them, we’d just have to make our pitch and see.
Rain still hadn’t woken up, I hadn’t spent that long ruminating on what the party might be… 8 people in the party might still be too many, maybe we should suggest only one skeleton out of the edgy boys I had in mind, as 3 might be inflating the party too much. Wine would be a decent choice for a talker, as noted before. Coffee would probably join more for the others’ peace of mind, to keep an eye on the group and be a backup observational powerhouse. And Red would probably be a more abrasive personality, but with confidence in most of his actions and thoughts, enough to share any ideas he’d have. Maybe eventually we’d be rotating party members with house members, once we had a few fragments we could show to Sans as a proof of concept.
Regardless of how many people we had in the group, the next question would be of how to express the quest. We couldn’t just say “hey, we’ve been talking to Gaster, we were able to make contact by the way, and we think there might be a way to gather bits of him from wherever he’s been scattered to”, there had to be some sort of cover story, one that was at least mostly true.
Well, seers are a thing in DnD, people skilled in divination magic, and Toby Fox had existed canonically in my AU, as one of the various iterations of Frisk, carrying over enough vague memories and looking into history enough to make the game Undertale exist, and have Snow and Rain have played it and seen the information. One of the more silly things I’d done for my world was make the Undertale fandom actually exist, with seers and sorcerers not knowing that when they were writing and “creating” AUs, they were actually getting glimpses into other universes and their undergrounds, getting some information wrong but most of it was right.
We could just use that, express that Undertale was where we learned about the potential fragment, that we want to test and see if the universes’ parallels extend there, at least in this iteration. Maybe plan to prepare a Locate Creature spell to find the fragment if it was hidden or close to the expected location without being right there.
Well, that was getting off track, though Locate Creature would definitely be a good idea to remember. Though, I hadn’t put Sans as a Divination wizard or any other class-subclass combination that could use the spell, nor was Papyrus, so some other work around would be needed… and finally Rain was waking up. Great, time to get ready for the day, get moving, apply those barebones plans, and overall keep rolling so there wasn’t any time to dwell on the situation we were in, far from home, with n̷̟̭̻̖̤̍̿̂̚o̵̜̼̹͂̀͑ ̸̬̹̲̖̱̀w̶̧͐̐͆͝a̵̝̯͆̀͗̕͝ỵ̸̮͚͇̒̌͑̍͝ ̷͖̉̓̒̇͝ͅt̵̮͕̞̱̪̤̓o̸̺͖̞̳̐͝ ̴͉̙͑̉́͑̅͜g̶͎̉͠e̷̡͕̣̠̅̑͒̋ţ̸̝̱̤̪͌͗͋̉̿̚ ̷̢̱̉ͅb̵̬̽̿̐a̵̡̱̜̫͇͕͌c̵̨̹̎k̷̖̲̰͙̯͇͋̀ ą̵̨̟̞̱̼̫̞̤͖̻͔̼̙͐̆̄̓̅̄͌̌̾̍̃̈̎͂͑̓̕͘͝ͅͅͅn̸̨̢͉̺̲͎̻̞̳͕̹̪̈̔̒͋̋͋̓̀́͆͒̋̓͠͝d̸̛͚̗̟̱̺̳͚͙͒̈̄͛̽̑͛̓̈̔̒ ̷̼͙͆̀͑̀̌̎͝ņ̶̡̝̭̣͓̤̦̳͖̖͙̲̭͙̘̀̎͗̔͛́̾̓͂͘ò̷̹̪̹͚̼͙͔̳͚̰̺̺̗̱̅͂̍̆͛̃̌̚͠ ̴̺̲̇̄̓̃͒̀̋̑̓͜͝w̷̨̛̙̙͙͂͋̅̉̅̓̌̿̒͑̂̕̕͜͝͝a̶̧̫̣̮͚̺̅͆̀̽̌̄̊̀̊̎̏̔̈̀͝y̶̧͓̫̖̠̲̼͑̏̚͜ ̸̢̡̼́͋͆̾̓̌͋t̴͙͓͎̫̅̆̇̀̊̐̒͌̿̅̕̕͝ơ̸̛͇̓͐͐͋̂̿̎̓̍̽̾̎͌͛̚ ̵̯͍̫̦̗̿̏̓̐̎̆͌͊̓̐̀̍̂̚k̸̨͇̩̼͎̭̲̫͐̅̊́̂́͐̃̓̉̒͑͝͝ͅn̷̨͚̯͉͖̰͎͔͐͒́͋͋̍̐̓̕o̷̧̨̞͓̼̒̏̾̿̍́̒͋͒̕̕͝w̸̡̢̜͕̰̬̭̜͔̤͔͎̠̳̱̎̇͘ͅͅ ̴̰͚͖̀̊̾͒̅́̈́̔̕̚w̸̧͈̟̜̫̫̟̬͓͖͈͋̓̐̈̍̒̍̌̏́͒̒̕͠ḣ̶͓͙̦̱͖̮̪̫̟͍̺̅͆̈̀̕̚ͅȩ̴̇̈́̈́̅̋͋̀͌̆̇͊͐̇̐͘n̷̢̖͇̩̯̮̹͉͔̖̥͖̉͂̈́͛͒̈́̍̈́̆̈̍̚ ̸̰̱̲̟͌͜͝w̴̨̢̫͓͙̹̰͖̘̑̈́e̸̙͕̯̳͈̥̟̤̣̫̦̓̈̔̐ͅ ̴͉̣̜̟͈̃̈̀͐̚c̸̢͇̯̣̀͋͐̈̀̈̋̇ǫ̴̡̼͚̟̯̙͔̣̬̪̔̀́́͋ũ̴̳l̷̛̼͖̜̙̱͖͙͋̈́̅̑̆̓͘̕͘d̶̡̧̛͈̹̣̣̯̪͎̭̱̤̳̼̍͋͊̽̈͆̇̔̿̓́͝͝ ̶̛͇̱͌̽̍́͐͐̾̎́͌͊͠g̷̮̙͎̯̝̬̘̻͍͍̍̋́͑̈́̃̐͋͌̔̋͘ë̸͉̜̲̬̜̫͎̙͔͑̿̆̑̐̑̂̿́̏̏͘͝͠ț̴̹͖͗̏̀̔̈́̋̄̍̌͋͜͠͝͠͝ ̵̢͍̮̹̦̫͚͉͐͐̃͊̀́́̉̅̚͝ͅh̴͕̄̏̅̋̊̅͛̂̈́̈́̀͗͗̄̕o̶̧̨̼̖͙̳̙͍͑͆͊̽̿̽͊̏͐͒͛͘͜͜ͅm̷̯͇͚̀͊͐̇ě̴̹̖͔͛̃̍̊̒́͆͊̀́̂̂̚͘.
Nope, nope, just time to put on the mask and make sure all the pets’ food is laid out. Also, share what I can about the loose edges of plans I’d made in the dark. Just that, nothing else at all pressing.
With that done, we deactivated the darkness, leaving the room with Neville and Luna still snoozing. Breakfast was eaten, though the energetic skeletons had (apparently) eaten earlier, and the lazier crew (sans Axe) weren’t awake yet for their own meals, so we ended up with just ourselves, Fresh, Nightmare, and Error eating at the same time. However, that group was great for asking them for a more private conversation about the potential quest.
Rain beat me to figuring all that out, though. “WHEN YOU GET THE CHANCE, COULD WE HAVE A MORE PRIVATE CONVERSATION WITH YOU GUYS, PLUS WINE, COFFEE, DUST, INK AND DREAM, AND MAYBE RED AND EDGE?”
Any conversation that had been happening petered out at the sudden request, with Nightmare turning toward us, suspicion clear on his face. “Why us specifically? And why bring it up now?”
I leaned in, projecting more “quietly”. “sorry about the timing, it’s tricky to word, but essentially we’ve figured something out that, if it works out, will help with the goal of getting home, or out of this universe sooner. but, we don’t want to give false hope, especially to those that might not be able to handle that hope getting dashed. it’ll take way too long to explain without someone potentially walking in, so we’ve narrowed down a potential group to go on this…” I paused, trying to find some other word but ultimately sticking with “quest. and most of the potential questers are here, none of those we don’t want hearing about this until results are found, so it’s good timing to bring it up. most of the people we’re asking to be there are to ask about them going, while a few are going to be there so they know to cover for the group, and others are being asked for their own peace of mind… i’m rambling, so i’m going to cut myself off there and… i’ll just explain more later, okay?”
After some noises of understanding at the logic, we agreed that maybe the edge of the woods would be a good place to meet, in about an hour, so we could go somewhere a bit more open for the conversation, and take advantage of a beautifully sunny winter day.
As Neville and Luna popped into the room at our ankles (just in time to avoid being tripped over), we went to gather our thoughts and clean up the area we’d sparred in before.
______
Shortly before the hour had elapsed, Rain and I took a quick shortcut back to the edge of the woods to find that everyone we’d asked for was there, plus Chef, who seemed to be there simply to know what was going on.
We asked everyone to get in a line, myself and rain at the start and end of the group, and the Stars and… Nightmare’s group plus Error split by the Fell brothers and Fresh. Once everyone was lined up, I opened the start of the shortcut, Rain stepping through to keep the other end in place.
Everyone stepped through one at a time, though Chef and Ink were the only ones who stepped through with no hesitation, Axe only slightly more hesitant.
“we found this place… yesterday? the day before? we’ve only been here a few days and they’re already starting to blend together…”
My sibling cut in to my rambling. “WHAT MY SISTER MEANS TO SAY, IS WE FOUND THIS AREA A BIT AGO, IT’S FAR ENOUGH FROM THE HOUSE TO BE PRIVATE BUT NOT SO FAR IT’S TOO MUCH OF A SHORTCUT FOR INDIVIDUALS TO MAKE WITH A PASSENGER, SO ONCE WE’RE DONE HERE WE CAN ALL GET BACK ON OUR OWN OR WITH MINOR ASSISTANCE.”
With the extra time that bought me to collect my thoughts, I jumped back into the swing of explaining things. “right. yes, that’s where i was going, thank you very much for skipping to that. ok, trimming things down… alright, we think we’ve found a way to speed up the timeline for figuring out how to get out of this universe. background stuff is, g’s not here, that’s classic’s current goal- trying to get him back. current issue is that he doesn’t have anything the machine can sniff like a bloodhound to get a clear read on, and the closest thing he has available is his own magic.
“if certain stuff from home stays the same, we know where “a piece of him” is. with that, we have some spells that we can cast to help find any further fragments shattered across this time, if he was shattered across time and space more fragments should exist over time according to whatever the temporal range was.
“what we need from you guys is hopefully a party. a group of people who are willing to go with us, since we don’t know what lies along the path, the terrain, wild creatures or any overall difficulties. or even if some fragment might be claimed by a creature of some kind.
“some of you are also here because we need people running interference since we’re not 100% certain on this and don’t want to give false hope to some of the others, at least until we have some proof of concept. some of you are here because we figure knowing is better than not for various reasons. some of those reasons are a bit of an either-or, for example, we probably want either Dust or Error, given that we’re traveling and your side of the balance will probably want someone in on this.”
I continued going through the list and expressing as clearly as possible the who’s and what’s of my reasonings for everyone there, stopping only once I was done listing out the logic I’d planned out just that morning. There may have been a bit of overexplaining, but, well… how else could I be sure they understood what I was trying to say? Language, especially English, is just so messy and unclear.
Anyway, at that point, there wasn’t much else to say after my word vomit heavily wrapped in Intent other than letting them know that they could talk it over as much as they wanted, we’d just pop back to the house and let them talk it over amongst themselves. And before I could be any less eloquent, I shortcut myself and Rain back to our room, myself collapsing on my sleeping bag in sheer embarrassment.