Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Once upon a time, before three particular multiverse existed, there was an Admin named Calytrix. This Admin has taken form of a cat mobian with wheat colored fur and hair, along with mint colored eyes, she wears a blue-green off shoulder sweater, a black cargo harajuku shorts, and a pair of black boots.

Unlike the beings that would eventually inhabit the countless worlds beneath her care, Calytrix existed beyond code and story alike. She stood outside every universe, every timeline, every possibility. To her, realities were little more than ideas waiting to be explored.

And unfortunately Calytrix... Was currently bored, so bored that even her twin, Cygnus, aren't able to distract her from it.

So after several more attempt to divert her boredom onto something else, she decided to create not one multiverse... But three.

Now, she knew that being an Admin to three whole multiverse was going to be a hard work, not because maintaining reality was difficult, no, reality was surprisingly self-sufficient once you got it running.

At first glance, they looked identical, until she started changing things.

"Let's see what happens."

Famous last words.

The first Multiverse was simple.

Instead of having separate beings handling Creation and Destruction, Calytrix created only one God that she named Index. A single overworked god acting as her assistant for her first multiverse.

"Surely this won't cause any problems." She waved off

It immediately caused problems because the poor God spent half their day creating universes while the other half destroying corrupted ones. Then they had paperwork, nobody warned them about the paperwork.

Soon they could be heard screaming into the void.

Needless to say, Index developed a caffeine addiction that rivaled Reaper himself.

The second Multiverse was much more traditional.

She starts by creating Undertale, Underfell, and Underswap.

Once she's done with the core AU of this multiverse she began to create the  main Gods that'll responsible for the balance of Creation and Destruction, in other words this multiverse Ink and Error. Two Gods that will balanced each other.

Perfect.

Or at least in theory, in reality, it more like she became the mother of two siblings who's sharing one braincell, they didn't really hate each other, it's one of those scenarios where your sibling destroy your drawing because you put it on his side of the room after you run out of place to put it on your side, like that but on multiverse level, the major example of this are when Ink would create seventeen new AUs, Error would immediately threaten to delete twelve of them. And then Ink would panic making Error complain, they would argue for six hours, then somehow end up watching movies together.

Neither understood how this kept happening.

Calytrix found it hilarious.

"Ah yes." She nodded wisely. "Peak of siblings shenanigans." Meanwhile, Ink and Error were fighting over whether a timeline filled entirely with sentient ducks deserved to exist.

Well... At least they get along (mostly) just fine. Plus she also make sure so Ink have his SOUL so it'll be fiiiine~

Then there was the third and her youngest Multiverse.

This one is honestly Calytrix's favorite, mostly because it confused everyone.

In this Multiverse, Ink wasn't the God of Creation, he was merely the Guardian of Creation while holding the tittle God of Souls.

"What about balance?" Cygnus her twin brother asked once.

"What balance?" Calytrix replied, making Cygnus became very concerned (fair).

Because without an Error equivalent running around, there's no destroyer to balanced Ink out, who had suddenly realized he possessed significantly less authority than his counterparts because other than he's not a God like most of them. To counter this Calytrix's will hold the sole decision of adding new AU in this Multiverse, which she'll only add at least 5 every year and therefore only adding a new AU when the Multiverse grow naturally. Plus this Ink is also kept his SOUL for convenient purpose of not having a cheese cheddar memory.

"This is unfair." Ink pouted.

"You get healthcare." Calytrix's placate her youngest (essentially) son.

"Oh."

"And paid vacation 12 weeks a year."

"Oh."

"Plus you can actually sleep."

"...I am suddenly okay with this arrangement."

And thus Guardian Ink became the most emotionally stable Ink in existence. The bar wasn't very high.

Years passed and the three Multiverses developed differently. The Index Multiverse became extremely efficient but ran entirely on caffeine and spite, the Ink & Error Multiverse became surprisingly functional despite looking like a disaster from the outside, and the Guardian Ink Multiverse somehow became the least chaotic of the three.

Nobody understood why.

Especially Calytrix who enjoyed having less work because of it and more time to hang out with her children.

A few years later, there came a day when Calytrix reached her limit, not because of a universe-ending crisis, not even because somebody had accidentally created a timeline entirely populated by talking potatoes.

No.

It was because she was bored, very, very bored. Being an Admin was exhausting. So one morning, after staring at her Multiverse for approximately three minutes, Calytrix made a decision.

"I'm going on vacation."

The Multiverse immediately felt a sense of impending doom.

Packing took approximately five minutes, mostly because Calytrix being practical. A suitcase, several changes of clothes, snacks, more snacks, even more snacks, and an emergency supply of snacks (look her priorities were clear, nobody messed with her snacks, nobody), also her twin brother, can't forget about, she needed to drag him from his work for this.

Once everything was packed, she called for the beings responsible for maintaining her three Multiverses.

Four figures appeared; Index, who essentially her oldest child, Ink & Error, essentially her twin children, and another Ink, who's practically her youngest. The second Ink was from the Guardian Multiverse, to avoid confusion, everyone simply called him Guardian.

Hey, nobody claimed they was creative in this family.

When they arrived to her domain the group stared at Calytrix, then at the suitcase, then back at Calytrix. There was a long silence.

"...You're leaving." Guardian asked with a wobbly voice.

"Not forever bud."

"Why?" Error asked this time, voice almost as wobbly as Guardian.

Calytrix slowly lowered her sunglasses. "Because... there come a time where a girl want a vacation so suddenly, Error."

Error considered this. "...Fair." He conceded.

Index immediately looked concerned, the sole God of his Multiverse was many things. They were competent, reliable, efficient, and chronically overworked.

But they knew that their (essentially) Mother won't be (or able) to leave them for too long, because for all she look uncaring towards her creation they knew she loved them to bits.

That's why they resolve their SOUL because the chance of Mother appointed them as the one in charge is definitely high as they were her first creation and undoubtedly the most responsible one between his 'siblings.'

"How long?" Index asked.

"A few weeks." Calytrix sheepishly answer.

Index's eyelight twitched. "A few WHAT?"

"A few weeks."

To be fair there's a reason why Index freaking out, because the ratio of Admin plane and their own plane is 1:100, meaning while it's only been one minute there here a year is probably already passed by.

"That's not a vacation." Index weakly refute.

Meanwhile, Ink was already panicking.

"You can't leave!" He practically sobbed.

"I'm not gone forever sweetsoul..." Their Mother said while patting Ink's skull.

"What if something goes wrong?!" Ink continue spiraling.

"You're not alone Ink, you guys can help each other."

"What if we can't fix it?!"

"Then ask Error."

Error immediately pointed at himself. "Absolutely not."

Guardian was the only one who seemed remotely calm, mostly because he actually got sleep. "You know, normal bosses usually appoint temporary replacements."

"I did tho?" She looked at him, confused.

Everyone paused at that, then slowly looked around, then back at Calytrix.

"...Who?" Index asked, already dreading the answer.

"You." Their Mother pointed at Index.

The silence that followed could have been measured, Error blinked, Ink blinked, Guardian blinked, Index meanwhile looked like they was calculating the exact moment their life went wrong. They already anticipated it if course, but anticipate did not necessarily means they're ready.

She turned toward the group. "Listen buds, I'm only going to be gone for a little while. Nothing bad could possibly happen in that time frame."

The four exchanged glances, none of them looked reassured.

"You'll be fine." They're still not reassured.

"I trust you." That somehow made it worse.

"Look guys, the instructions are simple." She held up one finger. "Keep your Multiverses running." A second finger. "Don't start any wars in the multiverse." A third finger. "And the most importantly, do. Not. Let. Any. Foreign. Deity. Invade. Your. Multiverse." Finally, Calytrix grabbed her suitcase while she adjusted her sunglasses, then smiled, the kind of smile that usually sooth all of them. "Alright?"

The four immediately became nervous.

"Now then behave while I'm gone, I already asked Void and Feeling to check on you from time to time, so if there's any big emergency go through them and they'll relay it to me."

"Yes Mother."

"At least we still get supervision," Guardian muttered.

"And remember." Calytrix stared pointedly at all of them. "You are all responsible adults."

The silence was deafening, suddenly Error burst out laughing, Ink looked offended, Index looked at her deadpaned, Guardian looked ready to resign.

A portal opened behind Calytrix. "See you in a few weeks boys!" Then she stepped through and the portal slowly closed, and just like that the Admin was gone.

The four main Multiverse caretakers stood there in silence, nobody moved, nobody even dared to spoke, the Multiverse itself seemed to be holding its breath.

Then Error pointed at Ink. "If anything explodes, I'm blaming you."

"What?!" Ink shout indignant.

"Called it first." Guardian added.

"THAT'S NOT HOW THAT WORKS!" He screeched.

Index groaned, already (mostly) resigned on being his younger siblings babysitter.

However, unknown to these four, the peace will not last long... It lasted exactly four hours thirty-seven minutes and fifty nine seconds for everything to collapse. Which, admittedly, was longer than Error had expected.

The moment their Mother left, the three Gods and one Guardian immediately became busy with their respective duties. Index returned to their Multiverse to managing his Multiverse before reality could file complaints, Guardian went back to overseeing his Multiverse and making sure everything went smoothly since he can't leave it for long as it's still in its most important developmental stage, Ink & Error also went back to their Multiverse, Ink to resumed painting new worlds in his pocket dimension he called Doodle Sphere and Error returned to his own pocket dimension he called Main Frame while muttering about their happy-go-lucky Mother.

Everything seemed normal, it seemed peaceful even.

Which is why nobody nobody is prepared for what came invading their Multiverse.

Unknown to Calytrix at that time, far beyond the boundaries of the three Multiverses, two figures, sisters, watched, waiting, and observing, for centuries they had remained hidden, and for centuries they had desired one thing.

A Multiverse of their own.

The taller of the two smiled, her grin was sharp, unpleasant, and definitely predatory. "She's finally gone."

The second figure nodded. "Finally."

Both turned their gaze toward the distant Multiverses, their eyes gleamed with greed, not admiration, or curiosity, because they wanted them. Everything of the most recent Multiverses they had found.

The two beings called themselves Fate and Destiny, definitely a grand names, though unfortunately... They were fakes, because neither controlled Fate, or controlled Destiny, they only able to imitate it my manipulating other beings. In reality, they were no more than banished gods, former gods that had been cast out from distant Omniverses for crimes nobody bothered discussing anymore, mostly because the list was very long, and because they had earned every single exile. Naturally, they blamed everyone except themselves.

While Destiny was busy ruining one Multiverse... Fate was busy ruining another, as one does. The banished goddess drifted through the oldest Multiverse with all the confidence of someone who had absolutely no right being there. Which, to be fair, described most villains.

Above her stretched an entire Multiverse thriving beneath the watchful eye of a single deity.

Index. The being responsible for maintaining the balance of Creation and Destruction.

Frankly, Fate thought he looked exhausted, well to be fair, everyone thought that, including Index's Mother, and especially Index.

Relaxing in their rate time of rest inside the sacred World Tree of Reapertale, Index sat beneath the endless branches, its roots stretched throughout the entire Multiverse, its branches touched every corner of existence, it served as a support for Index to maintain the Multiverse balance.

Unfortunately Fate, the bitch that she is, arrived precisely during one of those breaks, because villains had impeccable timing.

The God never saw her, one moment he was enjoying a rare moment of silence, dozing peacefully under the morning sun, and the next golden chains erupted from the roots.

Index's eyes widened.

"What in the—"

More chains with additional ancient symbols ignited across the bark, the World Tree itself groanedas it recognized an intruder.

Unfortunately though it was too late.

"Oh, don't look so surprised." Fate smiled mockingly.

The God immediately attempted to break free, but the chains held.

"...you." Index's expression darkened.

"Me." Fate give them a smug smile

"You've got nerve."

"I've been told that." Immediately after she said that an Ancient sleep magic flooded through the chains, it's powerful enough to affect gods.

Index fought, but exhaustion had already been his constant companion for countless ages, and Fate had taking advantage for this. Slowly their movements became sluggish, their eyelights dimmed, and the chains tightened.

"N-No..." His voice faltered.

The World Tree shook violently but Fate simply smiled softly but definitely mocking the current chained God.

"Sleep."

Index's eyelights flickered once, twice, then finally went dark. His body slumped against the trunk motionlessly, dreaming until somebody woke him up.

Which Fate intended to prevent.

"There you go." She dusted off her hands.

"That was easy."

With the God removed, Fate immediately moved on to the next phase, and admittedly her favorite phase.

Creation, because of course every Multiverse needed a Creator, someone the inhabitants could look toward, and also, someone Fate could control.

A being woven from her plans and expectations, one who would never question her authority, one who would never rebel, and definitely one who would never fail her.

A skeleton formed from vibrant colors and endless creativity, paint splattered across his clothing, with a giant brush resting in his hands, and asmile that never seemed to fade.

"Ink."

Fate smiled wider as the young skeleton opened his eyes and immediately looked toward her, waiting for instructions exactly as intended.

Within months, of her sealing Index the First Multiverse gained a new face of prtector, a new God of Creation, not like the locals knew that, Index is rarely show themselves to the inhabitants after all. And it made everyone's lives easier, especially the villains'.

Yet despite her success, Fate quickly encountered a problem, one that she honestly should have anticipated, the Multiverse was unfortunately finite. And creation without destruction eventually led to it imploding on itself, reality would eventually drown beneath its own weight.

Fate sighed dramatically.

Being a conqueror was exhausting.

"Fine then." She crossed her arms while pouting petulantly, "I'll just need to make one."

The search took less than an hour, yhere were countless beings throughout reality. What can she say, her child is very active after all, finding a suitable candidate wasn't difficult, finding one nobody would miss? Even easier.

Fate eventually settled upon a particular soul, they're not especially powerful, they're also not especially important, they're also not someone surrounded by divine protection, they're simply someone unfortunate enough to catch her attention. The poor AfterOuter!Sans soul never even realized what was happening.

One moment they chilling in their Save Screen, and the next strings suddenly wrapped around their body and their soul.

The Sans screamed.

And Fate ignored it.

"Sorry." She definitely wasn't sorry. "Occupational necessity."

Then Fate cast them into the Anti-Void.

White.

Endless.

Silent.

Empty.

There was nothing there.

No sounds.

No people.

No landmarks.

Only eternity.

The unfortunate soul wandered.

Days passed.

Weeks.

Months.

Years.

Time lost meaning.

The emptiness swallowed everything. Little by little, they faded. The skeleton tried remembering their name.

Failed.

Tried remembering their family.

Failed.

Tried remembering who they were.

Failed.

Eventually they stopped trying.

The voices arrived shortly afterward. Whispers at first, they're soft and distant, usually impossible to understand. Then it became louder. And louder. And louder. Until they became impossible to ignore.

The voices echoed endlessly throughout the Anti-Void.

The skeleton curled into themselves when Fate finally appeared before them, towering above them.

The voices immediately fell silent as if waiting for something.

Fate smiled, then she spoke.

No.

She shouted.

The words shook the Anti-Void itself.

"YOUR JOB IS TO REESTABLISH THE BALANCE OF THE MULTIVERSE BY DESTROYING THE COPIES!"

The broken soul flinched as the voices repeated it. Again. And again. And again. Until it became impossible to escape.

"STOP THE MULTIVERSE FROM FALLING INTO THE VOID!"

The voices echoed her words over and over. A truth forced into a shattered mind.

"THIS IS ALL YOU ARE GOOD FOR!"

The words struck harder than any weapon. The voices repeated them. Hundreds. Thousands. Millions of times, until they became inseparable from thought itself, until they replaced memories, replaced identity, replaced self-worth.

The soul trembled as the voices continued.

And somewhere in the distance, Fate smiled because the First Multiverse now had its Creator and very soon...

It would have its Destroyer as well.

Even if the unfortunate soul trapped within the Anti-Void no longer remembered who they had once been.