🦜 Roseleaf Tea 🦜

Return to Home

---

Part 1: Nightmare

18/10/2020

And so Nightmare blinked open his eyes.

He found himself staring out at a vast expanse of colourful interwoven threads, floating in nothing. It was an odd experience to say the least. Just a moment ago he was stood on a grassy hill, sky black and-

Oh god, Dream, where was Dream -

Nightmare wasn’t sure what to do. So he floated there for a while.

He wasn’t sure how long he floated there. Dream was probably dead. Nightmare still wasn’t sure what had happened but he didn’t know how to fix it.

Those villagers got what was coming to them, at least.

Eventually he thought to properly investigate the patterns surrounding him. Not that any of it seemed to repeat. A little more thought and Night realised he had no idea how to move to any of them. Perhaps some sort of swimming motion?

It worked, as any method of moving would have. They were much bigger up close. Big enough to stand on. 

“Hi there.” It was… another skeleton, wearing white and- “I’m Geno,”

Nightmare, given everything, was immediately very defensive, and glared at Geno. “Where is this?”

“I’m not sure,” Geno said, seeming unbothered by the glare, “I think it’s the space between worlds?” He settled on one of the strands and then just pulled Nightmare into it after him.

“What?!”

They were in a cave, an underground city built of deep violet bricks.

“It’s another world… another story. The people I’ve seen end up out there? They’re dust soon enough, can’t handle it.”

Nightmare didn’t know what to think of that.

Geno continued his exposition, “driven so much into madness, I think. But I found a notebook out there. I think you’re like me.”

“Do you always talk this much?” Nightmare asked.

Geno had the decency to look embarrassed, red flush spreading across his cheekbones as he hid in his scarf, “I’ve uh, been practicing my storytelling. Is it good?”

“I don’t know, tell me a story.”

And so, as they headed towards a small cafe Geno apparently knew, he began to tell Nightmare his.

“I come from a world like this one, originally, and eventually I got my happy end. But it wasn’t enough. I was curious. I was stupid.”

---

Part 2: Geno

19/10/2020

I experimented with something I knew was dangerous, because I'd messed with it before, but I was, as I said, curious. I was told not to, but I tend to be stubborn. 

How exactly I got from there to floating around in the white space, I can't quite remember.

But there I was, floating in that endless white. I couldn't figure out what to do, what I could do, except drift through the space, until I eventually drifted into a notebook.

This book was a journal detailing the life of a previous outcode, one I don't know how to find or where, but they had enough information to get me started. They were a Gaster, and in their own world they'd, well, that's another story for another time. With nothing better to do, I read the journal.

All of it. I was drifting for a while. Heh… 

I learned about how to shape stories and change worlds. 

He was what he called an outcode, someone who exists outside of reality, can travel between worlds, and they can change the stories that are told. Really fascinating stuff. I thought, “This is great, I can write myself back into my world”

But it could wait, I wanted to practice first. 

…

……

We don't talk about my first attempt. 

… or my second. You got that? 

Good. 

It wasn't entirely something I hated? This was fun! 

But I wanted to go home. 

… There was one problem with that. Where was home?

Eventually, after a lot of hopping, I found it but… things didn’t go to plan, lets say. 

Since then I’ve been exploring the multiverse alone. 

Hopefully not alone for too much longer..?

---

Part 3: The Coffee Shop

20/10/2020

“Wow.” Nightmare said, he wasn’t sure what else to say. Geno had created a million more questions.

“So.” Geno took a bite of his cake, “How was that?”

“You. I. What.” It had felt, to Nightmare, almost like he was really there, really watching the events unfold. Even from that little bit. 

“You good over there, pal?”

“It’s been a long day.” Or possibly longer than a day. Nightmare still wasn’t sure how long he’d been floating for.

“I get that. There’s a hotel round the corner where I stay sometimes - most of the timelines use g for currency, thank god.”

“Why are you being so nice to me?”

“It would kind of suck to be a complete bastard to the only other outcode I’ve met?”

Everything Nightmare had been through and now he was sitting in a cafe in another world, eating cake. Something must have shown on Nightmare's face because Geno spoke again.

"Still in shock?"

"I think my brother is dead."

"Time helps." Geno grabbed at the tattered scarf he was still wearing. He was silent for a little while. And then eventually spoke. "This belonged to my brother."

Nightmare wasn’t sure how to reply to that. He patted Geno’s arm gently before retracting his hand. Change the subject… “Do you still have the journal, I’d be interested in reading it.”

“What, you think I wouldn’t show you?” 

Nightmare held up his goopy hand. “Maybe not, I haven’t tried to read since…”

Geno stood up, “It’ll be fine, I’m sure.”

---

Part 4: Meanwhile

24/10/2020

“The scientist had, thus, found a way to bottle up souls to use as emotions. A fascinating device had been created that allowed them to siphon energy from the souls around them. Perhaps this would help the suffering flower-”

This Alphys turned around and.

The device was gone.

Just gone.

She could make another one but this was very complicated machinery and-

---

Part 5: Ink

11/10/2020

Ink cackled, and licked at the little vial of happy he’d snatched from the lab. Spring in his step he skipped through the violet city that would later fall to ruin, if other timelines were anything to go by.

Oh! They looked like interesting skeleton monsters!

“Hi!” Ink tackled the purple one. No offence to the other he just… really didn’t like white, okay?

“What the fuck?!” Both yelled, making Ink giggle.

“You look interesting!” Ink sung

“And you look downright insane!” The white one yelled. Oh the red scarf popped, it was very pretty.

“Thanks!”

“Uh.” Purple was shaking. Ink got off of him so he wouldn’t fall.

A warped screeching hit them all and white’s eyes widened.

“Never mind the hotel!” He grabbed purple and ran, Ink chasing after them.

“What’s that noise?” He asked.

All three burst out into the white expanse.

“What was that?” Purple yelled out.

White spent a few moments catching his breath, “That,” he said, “Was the sound of a narrative tearing. The destruction of a world.”

How should Ink be feeling..? Oh! Panic.

Which colour was panic again?

“Just a moment” He had a little of each and eventually… “Oh! No! Why did that happen?!”

Geno jumped into an explanation, “something that was supposed to happen couldn’t. It buckled under-”

Ink tuned Geno out… Something like the device neatly tucked away in his messenger bag, refilling the vials? Oh no, that was his fault.

“I know what broke.” Ink said.

“What?!” Geno tumbled into Ink where they were all floating. “What did you do?!”

“I didn’t know it would break! I just needed-!”

“What did you need that was so important that-”

“I don’t have a soul! This will let me feel!” Ink tugged on the strap of his bag.

Geno paused. Apparently having realized what was happening. After all, only outcodes could enter this space without loosing their minds.

“You’re an outcode too. And you don’t have a soul.”

“What’s an outcode?”

---

Side Sketches