(As a heads up, I'm changing and interpreting X-Chara and Cross's backstory to better fit this story. It's a nightmare trying to read the Underverse wiki and I have tried many times to watch Underverse but I still can't understand half the things that are happening)
-A few days later-
~Y/n's POV~
I was quickly getting back into the swing of being home again. It took some adjustment after being stuck in that room for so long. I had told the group multiple times of what had happened while in Cross's care. All of them were equally confused by his behavior.
Blade had taken over Ink for a few of the conversations to the notice of nobody but me. She didn't say anything, just seemed to be pondering while I talked. She's still been radio silent according to Ink. He told me he's been noticing a shift in her behavior ever since I've been back from the VOID, and especially after their latest argument.
But I couldn't sit around and try and analyze her behavior. She could come to us when she was ready. In the meantime we've had our attention on Cross's behaviors. I didn't talk in detail much about mine and his conversations, just that he had been friendly, how he had cared for me when I got hurt, and how it seemed like his upmost concern was my comfort.
"I just don't get it. He wasn't buttering you up to get you to do anything!" Ink was pacing in the living room as we all gathered for the umpteenth time. It wasn't a very large group this time. Only Error and Dream. We extended an invite to Night but according to Dream he's been hauled up in his room for the past few days.
"And what was that paint job you mentioned?" Dream brought up.
"I'm thinking he was probably hoping to manipulate Ink into giving him the codes by making me look like I had been hurt. Not that it would've worked since Night could feel I hadn't been. That at least shows they don't know very much about Night's current capabilities." I answered with the thoughts I'd been thinking on for some time.
"That makes sense to me. Still.. he could've actually harmed you and made it much more believable. Why did he go through the effort of hours of makeup?" Poor Dream looked like he was wracking his brain for ideas.
We all pondered this for a moment. Well, they did at least. I knew the answer but I know it'll just confuse them further. I'm not even sure they'll believe me.
"He doesn't want to hurt anybody if he can help it. When I was talking to him he seemed so sincere about that. If his words weren't enough, his actions showed it. The problem is that while he doesn't actively hurt people, he will if he doesn't see an alternative. And I'm afraid his goal is going to do precisely that."
There was silence for a minute. I sat down on the couch and rested my forehead in my palm. My head was hurting..
"I think you're exactly right." Blade had finally responded. I looked up and saw her red eyes looking upon me. I couldn't quite read her expression, but she sounded pleased.
Error sat up in his seat slightly, "Cross has always been an odd one from the times I interacted with him, which wasn't much. He kept to himself most of the time. In battle he didn't hesitate to maim or injure, but he did hesitate when instructed to kill. But then he would without mercy. It was like something took over him in those moments. I hadn't really thought about it until now."
"I noticed that too. His eyes would both go red wouldn't they? Kind of like how mine and Ink's possession works." Something clicked in her head by the look in her eyes. "So that's what you meant by X-Chara, Ink.."
"X-Chara?" Me, Error, and Dream all echoed.
Ink's red eyes dissipated to his regular ones, "Did I forget to tell you all about that? Oops." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly before continuing, "Long story short, I first met Cross after his universe collapsed. He had saved his universe's Chara by absorbing his SOUL, making them the only survivors."
"Unfortunately for him, Chara has memories of all the previous resets so he's gone a little... crazy- to put it lightly. He's sadistic and manipulative as I learned personally. I was making such good progress on helping Cross grieve his universe. I just know Chara put the thought in his head that I could bring it back. They ended up attacking me after I told them there wasn't anyway to bring back a destroyed universe." Ink shivered as he thought back on it.
"..I'm really glad Blade isn't like that." Is all I could muster to say. I was also thinking how could Ink forget to tell us this but I wasn't going to bring that up.
"Me too, even if she's still a pain in the butt." Ink pointedly looked to the side, a teasing tone in his voice as he smiled. A similar smile fell on my lips, were they finally starting to get along?
"And here I thought Dust was just rubbing off on him when I saw him talking to himself." Error shrugged.
"And that's why I was feeling such conflicting emotions from him whenever I was near. In the moments I could get a read from him at all. He's gotten very good at masking them." Dream looked like he had a slight weight off his shoulders.
"All of us had to learn how to mask around Nightmare. Or else he would try and bring you down if you were feeling anything positive, or make you feel worse if you weren't." Error recalled with a small frown.
My head was starting to kill me even more with this new information. A few puzzle pieces had clicked into place. "When he had threatened me, both his eyes had turned red. That's how he's controlling the other Sanses like that.. They're scared of Chara." No wonder he felt so out of character in those moments.
"I don't blame them, I carved a new tattoo just to cover up that gash he left me with." Ink gestured to a place on his ribs that wasn't visible from under his clothes. I, however, knew that spot because of how it stood out, the spiral that was slightly too jagged compared to the rest. I may have.. "studied" Ink's ribcage a few times. Definitely only for research purposes.
Dream glanced at the clock, "We should probably call it for today, I need to check if Night wants anything to eat."
The group began to say their goodbyes as I was lost in my thoughts. My confusion for Cross, the fear for X-Chara, and now my worry for Night were bouncing in my head. It was getting dark behind my eyes. I felt like I was going to vomit.. I blinked a few times as the world looked like it was giving way. Uh oh.
I reached out my hand and tried to stand up despite hardly being able to see. I collapsed into a figure I could tell was Ink just by his stature. I couldn't hear a word, it sounded like he was under water.
Water. Something to do with water was forming in my head, mixing with my thoughts of Cross and Night. I was going to timeline jump and I feared for what I was going to. I clutched onto Ink further as I tried to fight it.
Until I could finally hear him, "It's going go be alright. You can jump, I have you right here, okay? It's just going to strain you trying to fight it. You'll be safe if you go." His voice was soft and soothing. I couldn't fight the jump any longer, his words putting me into a state of ease.
I could smell saltwater in the breeze that ghosted across my face. I opened my eyes and looked around after getting adjusted to the brightness. I could tell immediately I was on a beach during a slightly cloudy day.
This became the least of my worries when I heard the telltale sound of a blaster being fired. I whipped my head to the sound of it and saw a pirate ship not too far away from the beach I was standing on. It was enough to make out some details of the inhabitants.
My stomach dropped. I really should've been expecting to jump to the timeline Cross was in. I could tell him apart easily from the other figures because of that awful red blade on his back. He was running across the deck, pushing some pirate-y looking people out of the way.
What the hell do I do?? There wasn't much hiding on the pure sand beach I was on so that wasn't an option. I could only approach the shoreline to try and get a closer look at what in the world was happening.
The people Cross had pushed over were running back after him. That's when I noticed Cross wasn't on his lonesome. Two other skeletons had joined his fray and were blocking his attackers. I was still too far to make out who they were.
Cross had run to the part of the ship that was out of view from where I was standing due to the ship now starting to turn to face the beach. Oh fuck were they planning on crashing?
I ran to the side to A: get far away from the potential crash site and B: try and get a better view of Cross's actions. My eyes were still trained on the ship as I did this and I saw something that made my heart stop.
Someone was tossed overboard.
I couldn't see who had done it because I still wasn't turned enough to spot the whole side of the ship. It was definitely from the area Cross had been running to. Had he thrown that person off??
That thought was gone when he dove in after the overboard person almost immediately. Was it one of his allies then? I was still at a loss to do. There wasn't a chance I could join the fight. I only had my hands as weapons now that my magic was channeling towards my pregnancy. While I was still good at hand-to-hand (I was still very proud of myself for beating Dust's ass) I don't think I could handle multiple people.
The two skeletons in the water surfaced, Cross was carrying the other who looked like they'd gone limp. It looked like the weight of the carried one was weighing down on Cross because he was struggling to stay aloft. I remembered the situation of Ink and the pool, he mentioned he needed weights just so he wouldn't float on top. In the ocean having a weight though..
I had to help. I couldn't believe it but I had to help Cross. I quickly took off my shoes so that I could swim better and took a step into the water. It was freezing cold but I could handle it. Cold bones sound dreadful on the other hand.
Cross was shouting something at the ship, but it didn't seem like anybody could hear him. I should probably call out to him to let him know I was coming to help. Before I could, I saw Cross whip his head towards me as I delved further into the water. I waved my arm to him awkwardly. He must be very confused seeing me.
My suspicion was confirmed when he yelled loud enough for me to hear him over the splashes, "Y/n?? What the hell are you doing here?"
"Longish story! Just start heading my way or you're gonna start heading under!" I went as fast as I could through the water. I was now shoulder deep and feeling the cold sink in. I had to make this fast or I was going to be in trouble.
Cross hesitated for a moment, but after clearly getting some water in his eye he started to paddle towards me the best he could. The closer I got the more things I noticed of the other fallen skeleton. It definitely wasn't one of Cross's usual crew..
I felt myself pale as I recognized who it was. Is that... Night?? I squinted at them to try and hopefully disprove myself upon a closer glance. It only further increased my suspicion. Why was he here? Why had he been on the ship??
I finally got close enough to them to grab onto them. Cross was shivering and Night was still unconscious. My muscles were aching with the strain of swimming but I had to tough it out. "Alright, you put Night onto your back and I'll pull you through the water by your arm."
He did exactly as I advised, almost dipping fully into the water as Night fell against his back. I was hoping he wasn't going to slip off. I grabbed Cross by the gap in his arm and began to swim to shore with him in tow.
"Just keep kicking your legs, maybe use your other hand to make sure Night doesn't fall." It was so much harder swimming while carrying them along. I closed my eyes and tried not to focus on how far or close the shoreline was. Don't focus on your muscles burning, don't focus on how the cold water is seeping into your skin, just focus on moving.
I took deep steadying breaths and before I knew it I felt sand under my feet again. I let go of Cross immediately and crawled onto the warm sand. Thank the universe..
"Are you alright?" I turned to Cross who had laid Night in the sand carefully. That was when I noticed the large slash in Night's leg. A black blood like substance was seeping out of it.
I quickly rushed to his other side. "What happened??"
Cross took in some shaky breaths, "He tracked me down as soon as I entered Undersail.. He got attacked by Killer. Slashed in the leg and he hit his head against the ship before falling overboard." Cross sounded exhausted and he placed his hand gently over the injury. The green magic began to glow around it.
"What about you, are you alright?" He was still trembling and soaked in the ocean water.
Cross seemed surprised at my question, "I'll be fine. It's Night I'm worried about. Killer's knives hurt like a bitch." Cross gingerly put his other hand on Night's face. He rubbed his cheek softly and seemed to forget I was even there.
My heart lurched as I witnessed the show of affection. He really did care for him beyond his own needs. The magic strain from Cross was clear in his face, but he was doing it anyway.
"You love him." I didn't even mean to say it out loud, the statement just slipped out from my head. Regardless, I didn't regret pointing it out.
Cross stiffened but then released a sigh and let himself hunch over, "Yeah. No point denying it."
I let myself smile and put my hand onto the one that was healing Night. "He's been a mess ever since he's been regaining the memories. I think he doesn't want to admit his feelings."
Cross's face purpled under the mask. "I don't imagine why he would. Me and him are on opposing sides now."
"Why do you have to be? Can we not just talk this out amicably? We don't even know what you're after. There could be a compromise or another way so nobody gets hurt." My hand squeezed onto his, "I know you don't want to hurt any of us. Especially Night."
Cross was silent for a long while. I took that as the answer: no there wasn't a way we could resolve this peacefully. Cross finally spoke up after I had accepted that answer, "I don't. I really don't. But I made promises to so many people. I can't just break them."
"...I hope it'll be worth it then."
Cross glanced up at me and looked almost afraid when he saw me staring him down. He looked down at our hands, back to Night's face, and then at me again.
"I'm the one that brought Dusttale back." He blurted out, like he had wanted to say it for so long.
I felt my breath catch in my throat but did my best to catch my composure, "How?"
"I can't tell you that, but it felt like your home right?" He questioned with a hint of desperation.
"It.. did. Why wouldn't it?" I answered slowly but then a small prick of horror entered my voice, "What did you do to it?"
"It's basically the universe it was before then. It'll be worth it.." He shut his eyes and I could tell he was smiling under his mask from the way they crinkled up.
"Basically the same? Cross, is that not Dusttale?" My hand tightened on his as I tried to search for an answer.
"I only made a few changes to make it a better place to live in. I got a peaceful Frisk's code so there won't ever be a genocide route there. No resets either."
I felt sick to my stomach and I let go of Cross. I couldn't stand to touch him anymore. He looked up at the loss of contact.. his eyes were manic, "What's wrong, Y/n? Wasn't it nice seeing your parents again? Toriel is there too."
My mouth dried at the mention of Toriel especially, "No.. Toriel has been dead for years. I saw her get murdered."
"That version of her, yes. But the new version is the exact same as her! There's no difference to be had."
My eye twitched, "It doesn't matter if there's a 'new version' of her. Once someone is gone there isn't any bringing them back.. you did that to my parents didn't you? They were erased with the universe.. What the FUCK have you done Cross." My fists bunched up in the sand as I refrained myself from trying to strangle him. My eyes were starting to water.
He was clearly not expecting my unbridled rage that was coursing through my veins right now. "I did what I had to. It proves my goal is possible."
"Well thank you for confirming with me that my parents are indeed erased." I snarled as a few tears crept down my face. I didn't spare him another glance as I removed his hand from Night's wound, "We'll be going now."
I grabbed onto Night and willed myself to get us back to Ink. I didn't want to spend another moment in Cross's presence. That was enough to trigger the jump. The last thing I saw was Cross looking upon us with confusion and shame.
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