darkeryetdarker

Gaster enters the door, and steps into the darkness of the Void, his flash drive clutched tightly in his hand.

This is it. He’s ready.

This is they day he tests the usb drive.

And, if all goes well, it will also be the day he finally goes back home.

The light from the bar begins to dull from behind him, almost swallowing it up. Even knowing that Milliways will always bring him back when he’s ready to leave, Gaster has never been comfortable in the Void.

Shaking off the memories, Gaster waves his hands, and his face is bathed in light. 

A series of lines appear before him, intersecting here and there, and all converging on one single point.

Timelines.

He touches one, and an image appears. A small corner in Waterfall.

Gaster reaches into his cowl, and pulls out a rock, the one he’d brought back to Miliiways.

Just as he did before, he offers up the drive to the darkness. It slides halfway in, enveloped in blackness, as if inserted into a slot - just as it did last time.

Nothing out of the ordinary yet.

Gaster takes the rock and pushes it into the corner of waterfall. It passes through the image, and appears on the bank of the river, just as it was when Gaster first retrieved it.

There doesn’t seem to be any ramifications of returning the rock to where it was - despite it having been in an alternate universe. Perhaps that’s just an effect of Milliways, though.

After a moment, Gaster reaches towards the image, grasping.

Sure enough, the rock comes back into his hand.

A success on both ends. 

Gaster hesitates a moment. Maybe he should test it on something else first?

No. Not when home is this close. He’s worked too long and too hard.

He thinks of his sons, of Asgore, of everyone else in the Underground.

He can’t wait any longer.

Gaster finds the right timeline - the best one, where everyone goes free, and selects a point on the line.

Not too near the end - with Asriel taking control over all the timelines, it would be too messy.

There - Waterfall, just before the human sets out for the True Laboratory. 

With a bated breath, Gaster begins to push his body through the image.

Just as his body is halfway through, the scenery begins to distort around him.

No. Something’s wrong.

His body is wracked with pain. The sound of running water around him, too, is beginning to sound garbled. The further he pushes, the worse unbearable it becomes.

Gaster grits his teeth, trying to think through it. Focus.

Through the pain, he remembers the flash drive. One of his arms is still in the Void.

Seeing few other options, Gaster grasps blindly, breathing through the pain. He feels the edges of his body burning as they begin to fray.

Finally, his fingers brush against metal. He grabs the flash drive, and pulls.

He loses his balance, and the momentum pushes the rest of his body through.

And then, Gaster falls.

—-

All around him, images from different timelines flicker rapidly. He can pick out a few.

Snowdin, full of people. Snowdin, empty. Undyne fighting the human. Undyne teaching the human how to cook. Undyne, mutated from Determination. 

The images begin to distort, twisted and blurry. Some disappear, only to be replaced with strings of code.

Gaster’s losing sensation in the rest of his body. He shuts his eyes against the onslaught of images.

Suddenly, he stops falling, and lands on something soft.

Gingerly, he opens his eyes.

There’s sun, and grass.

It’s the surface. Gaster has never seen this - not on this side of the door.

He turns at the sound of laughter.

Sans is there.

The human is beside him, laughing and tugging at his arm. Sans glances away, pretending not to listen. Then, his eye glows, and with a flick of his hand, the human lifts into the air, giggling all the while. After a moment, they fall back to earth, landing in Sans’s arms.

Sans gives the human a hug. Then, he glances in Gaster’s direction. His movement stills, and his sockets widen.

The human stares too.

Then, Gaster realizes. 

They can see him.

Gaster opens his mouth to call out, to warn him, to ask for help, anything - but before he can, the scene changes again.

The edges of Gaster’s vision go dark, as if the scene is closing in on itself. Gaster reaches out, desperate to stay -

He feels himself being pulled, and when he comes to a stop, all around him is darkness once again.

He realizes, he’s back in the Void.

He turns, and the door to Milliways is there. 

Gaster, gratefully, hobbles towards it.

This must be a dream - it has to be. 

Gaster doesn’t trust his eyes at first, when he sees the garbed white figure in the darkness. But then he turns, and standing before him is none other than King Asgore Dreemur, Lord of all Monsters.

He smiles, and speaks. “Howdy, Wingding.”

Gaster stares, in shock. Asgore, here? And remembering him, no less?

As if reading Gaster’s thoughts, Asgore shakes his head. “I’m just as confused as you are.” He gives a soft chuckle. “I suppose the dead can go where they please.”

Then it hits Gaster. Of course. This version of Asgore is from the end of the timeline - and not the one where he lives. 

Gaster, overcome with emotion, reaches out to him. “Sire-“

“There’s no need for that now.” Asgore shakes his head gently. “I’m not king anymore. It’s just Asgore now.”

Asgore gazes up towards the sky.

“I finally get to see the surface.” He breaks into a smile. “The stars are so beautiful."

Gaster smiles back, wiping away his tears, and extends a hand.

“Will you walk with me, my friend?”

Asgore takes it with a warm smile.

“Lead the way.”

—-

The two monsters stroll along the lake, watching the moon reflect on the water. The night has a chill, but neither feel it overly much.

Gaster can’t tell which timeline this Asgore is from - but it doesn’t really matter. He dies in all but one, after all. At least Gaster gets to take comfort in knowing that there is one timeline where Asgore and everyone else gets to live happily on the surface.

Eventually, they come to stand at the edge of the lake, overlooking the rest of the grounds. It’s a pity Asgore can’t see this place when the flowers are in bloom.

“It’s so good to see you again,” Asgore says, after a moment of silence.

“And you. I’ve missed you terribly.” This won’t last, Gaster knows. He will wake eventually. So for now, he savors this closeness as much as he can.

“I’ve learned a lot of things, being like this,” Asgore muses. “Things make more sense. I’ve remembered so much.”

Asgore’s face falls. He turns, and takes Gaster’s hands into his paws.

“I’m so sorry I forgot you, Wingding.” 

“Oh, Asgore.” Gaster gives his paw a gentle squeeze. “Everyone did. It’s no fault of yours.”

Asgore reaches out, cupping the back of Gaster’s head.

“In the back of my mind,” he murmurs, “I always felt like something was missing. Like an empty space inside me.”

In a fit of boldness - this is a dream, after all - Gaster wraps his arms around Asgore, pulling him in close. He is the same as ever - warm, and soft, with a scent of flowers on his fur.

“I watched you in every timeline,” Gaster whispers. “I’m so sorry you had to face everything alone.”

The two of them are silent for a moment, holding one another.

“You know that I loved you,” Asgore finally says, very softly. “You know that, don’t you?”

Gaster sighs heavily, nodding against him. “Things were never quite in our favor. You were my superior, you were still married, we both had our own duties to attend to…”

He pulls away, meeting Asgore’s eyes.

“But I loved you, too.” He reaches up to cup Asgore’s face. “I still do.” 

Asgore leans into Gaster’s touch, and presses his own lips to Gaster’s hand.

Gaster is suddenly filled with a sense of certainty that he has not felt in a very long time.

“I will find my way back,” he says. “One day. I’ll find you again. In a timeline where you don’t die, and monster kind is freed.”

Asgore nods. He leans in, pressing his forehead to Gaster’s own.

“No matter where I may go now,” Asgore murmurs, “I promise, I will remember you."

—-

Gaster awakes in his bed, to morning sunlight upon his wet face.