Chapter 1: 1
Chapter Text
Every bone in Karl's body ached. He was exhausted, gone for god knows how long wandering marble white halls, swimming amongst the brainless clones of himself. He saw himself in them more and more each visit.
He used to find comfort writing his memories into golden leather bound books upon ivory steps. Now he ached for home, fearful that one day he would completely forget to ache at all.
Getting home always happened in a flash, suddenly collapsed on his knees in the little room of bookshelves he kept secret. Trudging out into the main house, dragging his feet to the bedroom. No one was home besides him, thank God.
He pulled his hoodie over his sore shoulders, color just now begining to fade back into it. It was taking longer and longer each trip, he felt. He hid it under some of his other clothes in a drawer, taking the chance to grab a clean shirt for himself.
He didn't bother to check his reflection, knowing it was the same, washed out, pale, near-death look it always was when he got home. His tired limbs collapsed onto the bed. He couldn't bring himself to take off his bleached white jeans, now slowly fading back to black, or his boots that were going through the same process.
He inhaled the soft pillows he lied on. The soft scent of ash and summer air, the smell of Sapnap, flooded his senses, somewhat overwhelmingly. It was comforting beyond belief. He missed him.
Karl squinted through the late afternoon light, paled by clouds, flooding the room. He was too tired to close the curtains.
He felt the sleep start to settle in. It was non-stop moving and thinking and running for the past week. Week? Month? Hour? Who knows. Karl let himself sleep. Everything in his mind was a problem for later.
He woke up, mouth dry and bland. The room was pitch black and he had been tucked in. His shoes had also been removed in his sleep. He could hear the faint mutter of a television through the door.
Slowly he sat up, head pounding as normal after a trip, and made his way out of his bedroom and to the living room.
Sapnap and Quackity were on the couch, limbs intertwined, watching a movie they had seen a million times before. It took a few seconds for them to realize Karl had walked in.
"Hey!" Sapnap greeted him enthusiastically. Karl smiled tiredly back.
"Hey... How long was I gone?" Karl asked.
Quackity thought for a second. "I haven't seen you in a week man."
A week then. Still a bit long for Karl's liking.
Karl sighed and pressed his palms against his eyes. He moved to sit on the couch in the spot his fiancés had made for him between them. They quickly moved back to hold him as he lied onto them.
"I missed you two," Karl yawned, feeling sleep trying to claim him once more.
"Stop disappearing for so long then," Sapnap teased. Karl frowned.
"I absolutely would if I could," he sighed, taking the hands of both boys. "I would..."
He resigned himself to sleep once more, not caring how he'd wake too early for anyone else to be up, not caring how thirsty he was and oh my god when was the last time he ate? None of that mattered. He was alive and so very, very tired.
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He woke, as expected, early in the morning, sky a pale blue with the not yet risen sun. Karl was tucked in on the couch. Sapnap and Quackity didn't want to move him last night and risk waking him. Karl would be eternally grateful for that. His fiancés might not have known where he disappeared to every so often, but they knew that it was so tiring to Karl that all he could do was sleep afterwards.
He rolled off the couch carefully, joints screaming in anger. He carefully stumbled into the kitchen, getting himself a glass of water and gulping it so fast his stomach hurt.
He rubbed his eyes. Trips were getting more and more frequent, lasting longer. He was forgetting things. He'd forget a name, get a bit lost on walks, forget memories he held on to for dear life. He hated the feeling of knowing he forgot something, the memory dangling just out of reach.
Every time something happened he wanted to remember, he'd try so hard to think about it until it lost the feeling, like saying a word so much it starts sounding foreign. He would just forget it anyways, but this took away a bit of the pain. Not to say it didn't still hurt.
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Another trip? This soon?
Karl sighed and pressed his hands to his eyes. He felt like he could cry. Just as he began to get back into his life, adjust back to the comfort of four arms around him, he was ripped away again.
He spun his pocket watch in his hand, watching the hands spin rapidly backwards. Past it is.
Maybe it wouldn't be too bad, he thought. Maybe it would be fun. Meet new people (though he'd never see them again), see new places, hopefully not meet a painful end.
He'd have to say his goodbyes soon, encourage his lovers to stay safe while he was out doing god knows what.
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He was plopped down in a small riverside beach, a familiar wave of nausea sweeping him. He had gotten good at supressing the sudden motion sickness, his first dozen or so trips resulting in a pool of vomit at his feet.
He steadied himself, taking in his surroundings. It felt oddly familiar, like he'd walked this riverbank before. Then again, most riverbanks tended to look the same if you didnt pay much attention.
He climbed up the hill, searching for any sign of life or hint of structures. He didn't have to search long, though, as he quickly spotted a tall flagpole, flag flying high in the wind.
Wait. Karl knew that flag. How was it here?
How was a L'manburg flag flying here and now?
He quickly rushed up the hill, jogging toward the flag. This was definately L'mamburg, but different than Karl remembered (though memory was not a reliable source when it came to Karl).
Large banners were displayed around the gated entrance, boasting "PRESIDENT TUBBO" and "VICE PRESIDENT RANBOO". That was definately new.
Karl took in the very different L'manburg as he walked through the gates, which seened to be permanately wedged open. He wandered the streets until he saw two familiar faces; The president and vice president whos faces could be seen displayed all through the country.
"Hey, Tubbo! Ranboo!" Karl called, joggin up to them with a grin. They turned to look at him, confused grins on their faces.
"Hi, uh, nice to meet you?" Tubbo greeted, glancing between Karl and Ranboo as if they might know each other. Karl stood in confusion. These were the people he knew, so why didnt they know him?
And that's when he realized: Time travel wasn't confined to one universe and one timeline. He was in an alternate reality.
"Uh yeah nice to meet you Mr. President," Karl stuttered out in a hurry, the words foreign on his tongue. "Is there a history museum nearby per chance?"
"No, actually," Ranboo spoke up with an apologetic tone. "But I'm sure that someone will gladly give you a history lesson. I would but, uh, were kinda busy, sorry."
"It's fine," Karl smiled, taking his leave. This was fucking wierd. So it's a universe where he never existed and lmanburg never got blown up? Or did his existence have more of an impact on Dream and Technoblade decisions than he could have predicted, vis-à-vis butterfly effect.
Did this mean other people never existed in this universe too? That was an overwhelming thought. He had to find someone to talk to.
He wandered the deserted streets, searching for any familiar face. After minutes of wandering he could hear faint laughter in the distance. Instantly he rushed toward it, finding himself walking up to a flower patch. Two boys were sitting in it, laughing and shoving eachother.
Oh god. Karl didn't even think about this. Sapnap and Quackity were feet away, having no idea who Karl even was.
Chapter 2: Fresh faces
Summary:
Karl makes some friends
Notes:
I have no fucking clue why ao3 spaced it weird but i don't really care plz enjoy
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Karl stood bewildered looking at the two boys, mouth parted like he wanted to say something. The other two didn't notice him for a moment, having to double take when they did. There hadn't been a fresh face in a while. Karl still stood, staring.
"Hey!" Quackity called, waving. Karl put his hand up weakly. He had to talk to them, he thought, get some history on the very, very different and not blown up L'manburg.
"You alright there, stranger?" Sapnap called. Karl pulled himself out of his trance. He had to remind himself he didn't even know these people. He urged himself to move forward until he was mere feet away from his not-fiancés.
"My name's Karl," he said, putting his hand out to shake and trying to sound formal. This was just another stranger in another time that he'd never see again. "Karl Jacobs."
Sapnap clasped his hand in a firm grip, shaking roughly then pulling away, but not without taking a moment to admire the rings on Karl's finger.
"Married man, eh?" He asked. Karl looked in confusion before remembering his rings. Shit. He usually took them off before trips, but he forgot. How on brand.
"Engaged, actually," he corrected, trying not to stutter through his sentences. Quackity had moved now to shake his hand, lingering a finger over the two rings, slightly turning them to admire the gold bands.
"S and Q?" He chuckled, seeing the small engraving on each ring. "How coincidental. That's our initials."
Karl chuckled, mostly from the anxiety, but partially from being the only one knowing what the initials meant, for having so much information and them none.
"My name's Quackity by the way, and that fucker is Sapnap," Karl had to fight off an "I know". He just smiled and nodded as if he had never heard those names before.
"So, any chance you can give me a quick history lesson?" Karl got straight to the point. "Of L'manburg. I talked to the president earlier but he didn't say much." The two shrugged and sat back in the flower patch, Karl following suit.
"So, it all started with this asshole, Wilbur soot."
Karl sat and listened to the history of the country, waiting for something to change. It took a minute until a big difference made itself clear.
"So, surprisingly, he wins the stupid election-"
"Wilbur won?!" Karl asked, forgetting to keep his bewilderment to himself for a moment. Quackity and Sapnap glanced at each other, laughing slightly.
But of course Wilbur won. As Karl had soon found out, there had never been a Schlatt who ran for office. No Schlatt at all to ruin lives. No Schlatt to steer the votes away from Wilbur Soot.
"So the psycho blows it to shreds with the help of the prison roommates as we call them, aka some guys called Technoblade and Dream."
Karl's eyes widened further. Prison buddies. So Techno was in prison? That explains the lack of crater where he sat.
"And now we have the president and his husband," Quackity finished, eyeing Karl suspiciously. Karl nodded slowly, taking it all in.
"So, you want a tour?" Sapnap asked. Karl shook his head, which was a bit surprising to the boys. Karl knew his way around for the most part, though. Which its not like it mattered since he'd only be here for... For...
He pulled a pocket watch out, muscle memory taking over as he pressed the small gold button on top, watched the lid pop off and checked the time.
Not the real time, of course. No this was a measurement of how long he'd be here. The hour hand sat snugly straight up at 12. Good, no longer than a day. The minute hand, however, had barely passed 1. He'd still be here for a while, probably overnight based on the late afternoon sun hanging overhead.
He'd have to find somewhere to sleep too. Fuck. He had no money for a hotel room, nothing even to trade, no friends (at least from their perspectives), and he wasn't going to be here long enough to care about a house.
He knew two people, actually. Two people that he loved in another world, another dimension. Two he couldn't bear to love here, too.
"So, Jacobs," Sapnap said, absentmindedly picking blades of grass and throwing them into Quackity's lap. "Tell us about yourself. Where you from?"
"Oh, I'm not really from nearby," Karl said, his response to every form of that question he'd ever been asked. The others looked on in expectance. Oh, they wanted him to say more. Karl searched in his head for something to say.
Noticing this, Quackity piped up, "What about your fiancés?" Karl's heart skipped a beat as he thought hard about what to say.
"Well, I mean, what's to say? Uh, we've been engaged for about half a year soon. I miss them. I haven't been gone long, but still."
Karl had some distant, sad look on his face as he avoided the eye contact of the other two. They frowned.
"What are their names?" One of them asked, Karl not paying attention to who. He knew this question was coming.
"I'd rather not say," he decided on. "I think S and Q is good enough to know them by." They shrugged. Fair enough, they thought, since they just met this guy.
But Karl had an air of familiarity to him, like a childhood friend they couldn't remember. It was as if they had knew him for years but only met him today.
The three talked for over an hour about themselves; likes, dislikes, gossip about people they had no idea Karl knew, the occasional "You gotta meet ____" or "you'd love ____".
It was a bit of a pleasant change for Karl, to just sit and talk with the boys. It was so different from the usual call to adventure and constant movement. He still had a feeling his joints would be exhausted afterwards anyways.
"So, where are you staying?" Sapnap asked at the sun began to set and the sky faded pastel orange. Oh god, Karl thought, make something up make something up make something-
"I have no clue," he said. Oh god damn it. "I don't have money for a hotel or anything, and I don't know anyone." You don't know these people stop dropping hints oh my god.
"Oh, there are free hotels in L'manburg for travelers," Quackity said. Karl couldn't help but feel a bit sad. Even though these weren't really his fiancés and he's known them for a few hours tops, his heart still tried to cling on to them. The memory of them made him want to tell them everything about him, consequences be damned.
"Perfect," Karl smiled. The sky was turning pink as the sun set further, yet the boys still sat in the flower patch. There was no rush, really. Sapnap and Quackity had stayed out many times before to stare at the stars and drink all night. Maybe Karl would find that fun.
Or was that too forward? Karl had only been around for a few hours, they had to remind themselves. They didn't want to come off as rude. Then again, he was only a traveler who was visiting for a day or so, right? Might as well show some hospitality.
Sapnap pushed himself to his feet, stretching his arms and back as he did.
"Want a drink, stranger?" He asked, looking over to Karl. Karl raised an eyebrow. Did he mean drink as in alcohol? But they never-
Oh yeah. This wasn't his Sapnap and Quackity. His Quackity couldn't stand alcohol, even the smell of it made him want to puke. He guessed it made sense that this Quackity wouldn't have a reason to turn away from drinking. Karl hadn't had a drink in ages though, even before knowing Quackity well. One drink couldn't hurt, right? This was a special occasion enough.
Karl sighed. "Why not?" Sapnap grinned before his eyes greyed and his face sunk to a neutral position. Only a split second later multiple brown bottles appeared in his hands, seemingly from thin air, and his normal expression returned. He handed a bottle each to Quackity and Karl.
Karl was about to ask about a bottle opener when Quackity simply popped the lid off with his bottom canine, which Karl just noticed shone brilliant gold in the light if the setting sun. Sapnap popped his cap off with his thumb nail, unsurprising to Karl really. As a partial demon, Sapnap had strong, sharp claws he usually filed down whenever he could (how the file was powerful enough to shave down these claws was unbeknownst to Karl). This Sapnap had all nails filed but the thumb, assumedly for this very purpose.
They then remembered Karl there, sitting nervously with a bottle clutched in his hands. Sapnap gestured for Karl to hand him the bottle, which Karl did, watching Sapnap pop another bottle cap off.
Karl hesitantly took a sip, a familiar yet still strange burning on his tongue followed by a warming comfort down his throat. He could tell by the other boys' giggles that he had made a face.
"I, uh, don't drink much," he tried to explain. "My fiancé he can't stand being near alcohol. Had some bad experience with a drink ex." Already Karl felt like he had said too much, but the boys were only half listening as they threw bottle caps at each other between drinks and laughs. Karl smiled. They seemed happy here, in this life.
It almost made him want to stay here forever.
Almost.
Notes:
I swear I put so much effort into these fics id just kill for fanart of any of my fics one day.
Chapter 3: Authors note
Chapter Text
I rarely ever do this, but
I have absolutely zero self control and a bad case of writers block.
If you've seen my account, you'll know this is only one of many fics I have in progress. I can't stop starting things (hence the 0 self control).
I've decided to temporarily put this fic on hiatus until I get motivation back gor it and until then work on other fics.
Thank you for your support! I love you all! I will get back to this fic eventually, I swear.
-Ace