Chapter Text
Karl stumbled through the portal, the injuries he hadn’t been able to feel in the Inbetween returning now in full force. His fingers fumbled over the latch to the chest holding his potions, but when he was able to look inside he saw nothing.
Shit.
Karl coughed, wincing when the action sent a stab of pain through his stomach.
“I still have to record the tale,” he muttered to himself, halfheartedly reaching out with shaking hands to grasp a new notebook and his quill. “I can’t let them be forgotten.”
And so he writes.
For an agonizing thirty minutes, he sat before his desk, ignoring the black spots dancing in the corners of his vision, and recorded the latest story with trembling fingers, cementing those already faint memories into an actuality.
Karl was the Witness. He was the Scribe, the Traveler. He was the one who saw and so was tasked with remembering, with immortalizing those experiences into ink and paper.
Nevermind that he gets nightmares from the tales he’s seen, flashbacks of Sir Billiam and his butler or of his friends’ deaths in the city of Mizu. Nevermind that his memory has only gotten worse since he started time traveling, faces that he’s known for years fading to a blur in his mind and waking up, taking far too long to recall the name of the man sleeping next to him only to hate himself minutes later for forgetting his fiance. Nevermind that he had never asked for this in the first place, only given his task by a bored god who wanted entertainment in the form of Karl repeatedly losing himself to the characters.
Karl carefully placed this new book on the shelf. There were dozens more to its left and, in the future, there would be dozens to the right, though the prospect of continuing any longer made him nauseous.
How much longer until he forgets Sapnap for good? How many more tales before he loses himself entirely to XD’s torment? How can he trust that he hadn’t forgotten one of his friends already?
Already, Karl finds it difficult to recall his childhood. He doesn’t remember his parents, what they were like, how they talked, even whether they were still alive or not. He doesn’t remember his first date with Sapnap or how he met George or why on earth he keeps dreaming of golden wings.
Gritting his teeth against the near blinding pain, he grabbed the ladder in a white knuckled grip and pulled himself out of his secret room.
Surely there are healing potions in one of the chests inside, Karl reasoned, making his way home as quickly as he could. He quietly opened the door, not wanting to worry his fiance with his injury, but was spotted right away since Sapnap was already in the living room, pacing a line in their carpet.
He sighed in relief when he spotted Karl. “Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick!”
Karl gulped. “J-just traveling.”
“Babe, you’ve been gone for almost a month.”
Karl’s mouth went dry. Had he really been gone that long?
“I just— lost track of time, I guess,” he said, the lie feeling bitter on his tongue.
“Are you sure?” Sapnap asked, his brows furrowed in the way they always were when he knew Karl was lying but never called him out. Karl knew his fiance just wanted him to tell him what was wrong, but he didn’t know if he was ready for everything that would come with admitting the truth.
It always hurt both of them when Karl would respond, “Y-yeah. I just got distracted. I’m sorry I worried you, Sapnap, but I’m fine. See?”
Sapnap’s face was pinched in concern. “Karl, are you sure you’re fine? You’re swaying a bit.”
He was swaying pretty heavily, he noticed. It was getting harder and harder to think the longer he kept talking to his fiance and the black spots in his vision suddenly seemed oppressive now that he’s noticed them.
He was tired. Surely, it couldn’t hurt to rest his eyes for just a minute. Then he would go find the potions.
“Pos-positive,” Karl said, his eyelids fluttering closed to the sound of his name being yelled.
—
“Pos-positive,” Karl stuttered shakily, falling unconscious within the next breath.
“Karl!” Sapnap lunged forward to cradle his fiance’s head before it hit the floor and in doing so brushed his knee against something wet. He glanced over, face falling in horror at the growing red patch on Karl’s hoodie that he hadn’t noticed before. Sapnap pushed up his shirt and winced at the sight of the hole in the other man’s stomach, a knife wound if he had to guess.
“He lied…” Sapnap muttered bitterly in realization. He frowned but picked his fiance up off the ground and hurriedly carried him to their spare bedroom— he was not about to ruin the nice sheets in their bedroom. He checked all of their storage for healing or regeneration potions but found none.
Thankfully though, he did have the ingredients to make them. Sapnap hurriedly tossed a bulb of nether wart into the brewing stand and ran out to their farm to harvest some melons. On his way back, he noticed a figure walking down the street towards him. Sapnap ignored them though instead sprinting back home, but was stopped before he could reach the door.
Sapnap turned to glare at the person who grabbed his arm, but his scathing remark died on his tongue when he saw who it was.
“Quackity?”
“Long time no see Sapnap,” the other man said bitterly.
Sapnap shook off his shock and pushed Quackity’s hand off his arm. “Look, this can wait—”
“Wait?! All I’ve done for months was wait for you! And neither you nor Karl fucking reached out to me!” Quackity shouted.
“Quackity, seriously—”
“I didn’t even know about Kinoko Kingdom until George told me yesterday!” He interrupted. “You guys seriously created a whole new country without me?! We had El Rapids, man! Did that really mean so little to you?!”
“This isn’t the time—”
“Do I really mean so little to you?! I thought you and Karl would be different than him but you’re—”
“Quackity, shut up!” Sapnap yelled, not registering Quackity’s flinch. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, but Karl is dying right now! This can fucking wait!”
He left his shell shocked fiance at the door and ran to the crafting table to make glistering melons and threw those into the brewing stand as well. When the potions were done, Sapnap hurriedly brought them to Karl.
He carefully removed Karl’s bloodstained hoodie and started to clean up the wound, wiping away the blood and disinfecting it before dripping a few drops of health potion on the edge of the wound, waiting for it to sink in and start closing his skin, and repeating the process until it disappeared entirely.
It wasn’t the most effective use of the potions, but it's the only thing he could do with Karl unconscious like that.
“What happened?” Sapnap jumped at the voice, momentarily forgetting that Quackity had shown up. The man must have followed him inside when he didn’t shut the door behind him.
“No clue,” he responded sourly. Sapnap turned, seeing Quackity leaning against the door frame, seeming much less confident than when he first arrived. “He just got home. I didn’t even know he was hurt until he passed out.”
“Where was he today? Maybe he got hurt somehow,” Quackity suggested, hesitantly sitting on the edge of the bed opposite Sapnap.
“I don’t know! Karl’s been missing for almost a month! He just showed up today, lied to my face, and then fainted!” He groaned in frustration, burying his face in his hands. “I just wish he would tell me what’s going on!”
Sapnap sighed, dropping his hands into his lap. “I’m tired Quackity… I’m so fucking tired of this; the disappearing, the lying, the random injuries. I thought we told each other everything, but now… now he’s keeping secrets from me and I— I don’t know what to do anymore.”
“Did you sleep last night?” Quackity asked, brushing Sapnap’s hair out of his eyes gently.
“Too many nightmares,” he admitted, leaning into his fiance’s touch. “I missed you, baby. I wish we caught up sooner.”
Quackity tensed, wings twitching behind him. “And who’s fault is it that we didn’t?”
Sapnap took Quackity’s hand gently. “I thought you knew already,” he said earnestly. “Karl said he would invite you to Kinoko, but then he never came back with an answer so I assumed you said no and didn’t want to live with us.”
Quackity stared at him incredulously. “Sapnap, you and Karl were the only good things in my life. We were engaged for gods’ sake! Why wouldn’t I want to live with you?!”
“I don’t know, okay?! I wasn’t thinking! Clearly!” Sapnap sighed again, running his fingers through his messy hair. “I had no idea he never told you, or I would have gone to find you myself. I couldn’t stand being apart these last few months, especially with Karl going missing for days at a time.”
A blush dusted Quackity’s cheeks and he looked away. “This isn’t the first time he’s gone missing?” Quackity asked, diverting the subject away from himself.
“It usually lasts three or four days but he always uses the same excuse: he just lost track of time while he was traveling. This is the longest he’s disappeared for, but he’s never come home hurt like this as far as I’ve noticed.”
“Do you know where he travels to? It had to be far away if no one else on the server ran into him.”
“No clue. He won’t say.” Sapnap sighed. “I’m sorry I snapped earlier at the door,” he apologized. “I was scared and stressed out but that was no excuse for me to yell at you like that. I’m sorry Quackity.”
“It’s… Well, it’s not okay, but— I understand, Sapnap. I know you didn’t mean anything by it,” Quackity assured.
Karl stirred on the bed, immediately drawing both fiances’ attention.
“Karl?” Sapnap placed his other hand on Karl’s leg gently. “Are you awake?”
Karl jolted at his touch and scrambled up, breathing heavily as he looked between his two fiances with terror.
“W–what?” He asked quietly. “W-who are you?”
“You don’t remember us?” Sapnap asked, hurt lacing his tone.
Karl flinched. “N-no… I know I should, but— There’s this— this feeling that I should kn–know who you are, but— but I don’t,” he admitted, scooting as far away from them against the headboard as he could. “S-sorry.”
“I’m Sapnap. This is Quackity. We’re your fiancés,” Sapnap reminded gently, slowly taking Karl’s hand with the one not already in his other fiance’s grasp.
His eyes widened. “I forgot already?” He asked quietly, sounding terrified. “I— I didn’t think it would happen this soon… I thought— I thought I had more t-time before…” Karl trailed off in horror, staring at his wrist intently. Sapnap exchanged a worried glance with Quackity.
“Wh-where’s my notebook?” He asked suddenly, patting down his pockets in panic. “I— I need my book!”
“I’m sure it's around,” Quackity assured. “You probably just dropped it on your way here. Do you remember where you were today?”
Sapnap recognized the subtle interrogation and nudged the man with his elbow, giving him a pointed look. Quackity just shrugged, mouthing the words, ‘if it works it works.’
“I don’t— I— I was in my library— in the room underneath,” Karl answered shakily. Sapnap’s face contorted in confusion.
“There’s a room beneath the library?” He asked.
Karl, seemingly just realizing what he said, paled considerably and shook his head aggressively. “N-no! I— I just— It’s— I meant—“
“It’s okay, Karlos,” Quackity said gently, coaxing Karl to take a deep breath. “Tell us what’s wrong.”
“I can’t. I— I can’t say anything,” Karl muttered quietly. “E-even if we’re engaged like you said… I— I don’t know what’ll— I just— I can’t tell you.”
“Is someone telling you not to say anything?” Quackity asked. His wings puffed up protectively at the thought of someone threatening his fiance.
Karl clenched his jaw and stared at his hands silently.
“Karl?” Sapnap prodded, his concern growing.
“It’s complicated,” he answered quietly.
“Please tell us what’s going on,” Sapnap pleaded. “We just want to help you, Karl, but we can’t do that if we don’t know what’s wrong!”
Karl chewed his lip, looking off to the side. “Y-you won’t believe me…”
“I employ a literal alien at my casino. It would have to be pretty damn out there for me not to believe you, Karlos,” Quackity assured.
“We’ll always believe you Karl,” Sapnap added. “You can tell us.”
“I don’t know how,” he admitted quietly. “It’s— There’s so much. I don’t kn-know where I would even start.”
“Try the beginning,” Quackity suggested earnestly.
Karl took a deep breath. “It’s been happening for s-so long I don’t even know when it first started. The first few times, I didn’t know what was going on. I would wake up in a strange place in the middle of a conflict with no clue how I got there… Sometimes, I would just watch, other times I would try to help. B-but… the times I tried to intervene almost always ended with my death…”
“What?!” Both Sapnap and Quackity straightened up in concern.
“How many lives do you have left?!” Quackity asked.
Karl didn’t respond, only pushed up his sweater sleeve to show his wrist. An infinity symbol over an animated colorful hourglass rested where anyone else would have three hearts showing their lives. Rainbow sand trickled through the inked glass further as they talked.
“What does that mean?”
“I’ll always respawn n-no matter how many times I die… They said it was— it was a gift,” Karl whispered, a haunted look in his eyes. “For their most entertaining Traveller…
“I’ve been killed more times than I can even remember. Over and over and over and over and over again until I can feel myself start to break down inside. I’ve watched so many people— friends die. I’ve seen people I loved be murdered in front of me. I’ve seen— I’ve seen you,” he said. Karl’s voice was strained, like he was fighting with himself to continue talking.
“You’ve seen us die?” Quackity asked and Karl nodded stiffly. “But—” He exchanged a glance with Sapnap. “I’ve only died once and the only person there was Technoblade.”
“And I still have all of my lives,” Sapnap added.
Karl shook his head. “No. You— You don’t understand. It was you, but it wasn’t you .”
“I’m still confused,” Sapnap remarked.
Karl sighed frustratedly. “I mean it wasn’t the you from now . It was—” He cursed and grabbed his head. “It— it was—”
“It was in the past!” He shouted, straining against himself. Karl whined loudly and both of his fiances lurched forward in concern and fright. “I’m— ngh— I’m a t-ti— fuck! I’m a time traveler!” He shouted finally, the admission taking a heavy toll on his body. Karl grabbed at his head again, now sobbing from the intensity of the pain he felt.
“Karl, what the hell is happening?!” Sapnap asked, his voice shaking. Karl caught a glimpse of his wrist as he raised it to pull on his hair, the hourglass having run out, and his eyes widened in horror.
“N-no! No! No! Please! Not— not now!”
Next time you should learn to keep your mouth shut, Little Traveller…
“Please! I— I can’t— Not this soon! Please! XD!”
Sapnap felt anger brewing hot in his gut at the words and Karl’s frantic pleas only fanned the flames further.
“Please! I just got back!” Karl begged, warm tears flowing down his face like rivulets. “I’ll— I’ll stop! I’ll stop talking! Please! I swear! Just don’t— Please! Don’t make me go back!”
Sapnap let go of Quackity’s hand to wrap his thrashing fiance in a tight embrace before he hurt himself. He whispered, “It’s okay Karl. It’ll be okay. We’re here. We're right here. It’s gonna be okay. We won’t let anything hurt you. You’re okay. Everything will be okay.”
“Sap,” Quackity called quietly, fear etched on his face. “Look at his eyes…”
He looked down and gasped. As he cried and pleaded and thrashed, Karl’s eyes swirled with green and purple and glowed with the same otherworldly intensity as a nether portal. Sapnap held Karl tighter but it wasn’t enough to stop the way his fiance’s body flickered out of existence like he was never there in the first place. Sapnap folded in on himself suddenly when the man in his arms disappeared and stared at his hands in horror.
“What...?” Sapnap whispered. He glanced at Quackity who was similarly shocked and afraid.
“What the hell just happened?” He asked breathlessly. “Did— Did Karl just faze out of reality?!”
“I— I think so…” Sapnap responded slowly, still trying to make sense of what he just witnessed. “He— he mentioned a name… XD.”
“Who’s that?”
“He’s— I— I don’t know how to describe him,” he admitted. “XD is like… the god of the server, I guess. Or something close to it.”
“Do you think he’s the one responsible for Karl’s… time travel?” Quackity asked, saying the last phrase tentatively as he tried to piece together the fragments of their fiance’s admission.
“Y-yeah. It— The voice— it sounded like XD’s. I just— I don’t know where to find him.”
“Shit… Shit!” Quackity yelled, hitting his fist against the sheets uselessly.
“Quackity… what do we do?” Sapnap asked quietly, his voice hitching as he tried to hold back his tears.
“I–I don’t know, Sapnap.” Quackity’s wings slumped in defeat and his shoulders sagged. “I don’t know…”
Sapnap clenched his fists in his lap and took a deep breath, the stinging behind his eyes lessening a bit. “We should check the library,” he suggested.
Quackity sighed and scrubbed his face with his hands before nodding and standing up, offering his hand to Sapnap as he too stood.
They would find Karl.
Even if it's the last thing they ever do.