404 tries to keep his new child safe but there are far too many obstacles getting in the way of that goal.

——

Forced Gods Multiverse

404 left Karma much easier then the day before, seeing their excitement to explore this AU more. While Karma may have been fine, 404 felt tense the entire time he couldn't see them so went to pick them up early. He was unimpressed when he saw the Creator of this multiverse near his child, clearly having taken them from the AU he had originally placed them in.

Outertale was a nice AU and he was sure he would appreciate it more, if a stranger wasn't blatantly staring at the black code on his child's bones! Maybe he would be stopped soon? He could only hope.

"Did you make a new friend, little raven?"

He kept his expression neutral but his magic must've easily conveyed his anger, going by how pale the Creator was. How fortunate his child didn't notice.

"Yeah! His name is Colour and he knows so many things. Let me show you what we made!"

404 allowed himself to be dragged towards the large canvas, grinning ferally as they passed 'Colour', before examining the art. He made appreciative sounds, paying close attention to everything he saw but narrowed his sockets at a winged monster that was in the background. He had no clue who that was but the way his child was gushing over it, saying he had to make sure it was 'perfect', so had asked Colour for help, made him falter.

This looked far too detailed to be a made up monster, more like a memory. Was his magic not working? He looked down at his child's question, making sure to smile widely.

"..do you like it?"

"I love it, little raven. Good job"

404 would have loved it more without that but it seems today wouldn't end with the surprises. He glared back at Colour when his child asked to visit them again, knowing they had to be to blame for all of this.

"Hmm. I don't see why not. As long as Colour agrees"

"S-Sure. No p-problem. Here is your scarf, Karma"

As soon as Karma grabbed the scarf he used it to cover the black mark, daring Colour to say anything. He felt his hackles rise when they suddenly grinned and grabbed the canvas.

"You should take this! Karma did a wonderful job making this, i'm sure they would like for you to have it"

He could hear the taunting tone in Colors voice, knowing that he couldn't refuse the item due to his child's hopeful expression. He could kill Colour but where would be the fun in that? Having a babysitter, who seemed to care for his child sounded rather useful but if they happened to push him further...well, the omniverse was large. They could easily be replaced.

Ḁ̷͈͛n̶̜̻̳̑̎̕t̶͓̋̽ȉ̴̭͎͉V̵̧̮̫͝o̶̲̱̓̈́̕ǐ̴̭̬͜d̸̡̘̆̌̐

404 had added some more of his magic strings in the AntiVoid, feeling even more paranoid the longer he wasn't found. It also helped to make the place look less dead and he was pleased that Karma seemed to like it.

"You like it? I thought you would be more comfortable in an area with more colour in it"

He followed his child as they made the way to the hammock, thinking they might prefer it to sleeping on pillows. He made his strings playfully curl around Karmas hands, amused how excited they were by this.

"I thought you would like this. This happens as some Destroyers can have their magic act independently of the monster, based on what intent was used to create them. These ones as you can see are rather playful"

While he wasn't technically lying, having only seen this phenomenon once before, in this case it was all him. Of course he felt himself freeze by the next words out of his child's mouth.

"Wow. Did Nova make all of this?"

Nova

How did his child remember them?! That filth of a Destroyer, thinking they were good enough to be near his child...what had Colour done? He had left them for a day?! Would he have to strengthen his magic on them again? What if he accidently dusted them this time? He was very lucky it even settled in the first place. Their SOUL just felt so odd for some reason..

" Nova is far too busy to do this. No, i had an acquaintance help with this"

404 angers snuffed out when he heard a whimper, fear entering his SOUL as he saw the marrow dripping from his child's hand. What had he done? He was a danger to his child without even trying.

All thoughts of dealing with Colour left him as he crouched in front of shivering babybones, who was trying to hide under their wings. He tried to gently part their wings to hold them, guilt filling him as their bones rattled.

"No no no. Don't cry, little crow. I'm not upset with you. I'm sorry for scaring you...Please look at me Karma"

FEAR/UPSET/ANGRY?

"Of course I'm not angry with you! You could never do anything to do that. You are my child, just perfect as you are"

He really needed to work on his magic control, if even a part of him was able to hurt his child. He gently rocked them and sat down, grimacing as they shook in his arms. He started to preen their wings, knowing it usually helped to calm them down but could feel the wound from his child's hand dripping on him, not to mention their quiet whimpers of pain.

"Karma..you don't have to look at me but can I see your right hand please? I can sense your pain"

He was relieved when they did so and winced at how deep his magic had cut them. He cradled their hand and healed the damage, hurt but understanding when they quickly pulled the limb out of his hold.

"You did so well. Thank you for letting me do that. Go to sleep, i'll get rid of all the strings..maybe you could even have a sleepover with Colour? Would you like that?"

He would need time to practise his magic and despite his hesitance, he knew Colour was reliable. He started humming a tune while rubbing their back, smiling happily as his child finally looked at him.

"There you are, little raven. You must be hungry. Would you like some magic?"

"Yes please.."

404 wanted to frown at their hesitancy and slight fear but still rose his magic, worrying how much they were eating. Maybe he should get them some more SOULS, this did not seem normal. I'm killing them! They need to be free.

"There is no need to be shy, take as much as you want. Did you not have any of your snacks today? I'll make sure to talk to Colour so he knows what to look for"

He would be giving Colour a thorough list tomorrow, smiling in adoration as Karma nuzzled his coat, feeling relieved when they allowed him to stroke their skull.

"You can sleep. I'm not going anywhere. I even got you more coats, as i see you misplaced your last one"

He chuckled as they grumpily hid in his coat, mumbling he was too loud. His child was so amusing.

Forced Gods Multiverse

"Now he needs to have these at around lunchtime and this at 2pm. Hmm, what else am I forgetting? Oh yes! He prefers to have something small then large meals but i'm sure that won't be an issue for you to sort, Colour "

While 404 might have agreed to this he was still on edge after last night. It also greatly amused him to watch the Creator's anxiety rise as he spoke, as he did nothing to hide the threat in his tone. It was very helpful that his child had zoned out early on giving him plenty of time to be creative with his threats.

"Don't you need to go, dad? Im sure Colour has heard enough"

He hid a pout when his child interrupted but looking down at them his doubt surged right back up.

"..maybe I should just cancel my plans and stay here with you"

He was shocked when Karma turned his skull to face them, seeing their blue eyelight blaze in their conviction.

"Dad. I will be fine. Go do whatever you need to do and stop worrying"

He hid a wince, knowing his child was right. He needed to practise and he had found a useful multiverse nearby that ran much faster then this one for his needs. His grin threatened to go down as Colour spoke and he glared.

"I-I will keep him s-safe"

"See. There is no need to worry. I even promise to listen to what Colour says"

He felt himself waver but he ultimately crumbled with Karmas pleading chirp. They were far too cute for their own good.

"Fine..have fun, little raven"

"Bye dad!"

Once he handed them to Colour he left, feeling his hands wanting to rip apart the monster getting closer to his child. It was getting harder to constantly remind himself that they couldn't just live in the AntiVoid, as he knew that his child needed to socialise..but it was still tempting.

Weeks passed by in a pattern of dropping off his child before heading to practise his magic and he finally started to feel he was getting somewhere. His mood was more stable and he had much finer control of his magic thanks to all the 'volunteers' he found!..of course that had to be shattered.

In the middle of his daily routine he froze as he felt his magic on Karma wavered, making him instantly teleport to their location. He wanted to snarl at the Negativity Guardian near his child and he even spotted the Destroyer close by, both with far too knowing eyes.

He flared his magic in warning when he saw a black tentacle get closer to the babybones, as if to hide them away from him. It seems he was being too lax with these monsters but he could easily solve that. After he got Karma somewhere safe first.

Ḁ̷͈͛n̶̜̻̳̑̎̕t̶͓̋̽ȉ̴̭͎͉V̵̧̮̫͝o̶̲̱̓̈́̕ǐ̴̭̬͜d̸̡̘̆̌̐

As soon as his portal closed he picked up his child, trying to hide his anger as best he could. Going by the confusion on their face, he was doing rather well on that front.

"..did you do something special today?"

"I got some gifts today, dad"

" Oh. Would you show them to me?"

He had a feeling he knew what it was and was rather annoyed to be right. He barely held in a snarl at the stupid magical apples in his child's hands. Even now he could see their blue eyelight flickering thanks to the the apples powers. He really should have dusted the Guardians of this place when he had the chance, as they all seemed to be rather large nuisances.

He would not make this mistake in the next multiverse they visited.

"Those are dangerous and should not be given to babybones. I will need to have a chat with whoever gave you those"

"B-But i won't eat them dad. I don't even feel compelled to! I just like the way they feel.."

This was a tad harder than he thought it would be but he kept up his resolve, refusing to falter at their wobbly eyelight. He knew if he gave in he would never see them again. His magic was the only thing convincing them to stay.

"That's how it can start, little raven. Don't you remember my story? You should be careful of these new friends of yours"

He smiled in relief as they handed over the apples, even if he felt slight guilt at their downtrodden expression. Once he destroyed the apples he showed off two items he had been planning to give them later, but felt would be perfect to lift their mood.

He showed off a blue and white bead made of his magic, as well as a bright blue stone, which were perfect gifts going by his child's expression. Just another way to claim them as his.

Forced Gods Multiverse

404 thought things were going well. His child admitted to meeting a winged skeleton and going by the description he was sure it was a Reaper. The lack of recognition or fear on their features when they described the encounter made him smile widely, very pleased how well his magic was working.

...but then it happened. He felt the exact moment when his magic on his child strained, close to snapping and he wasted little time teleporting to them, quickly scooping up his screaming child. Their SOUL was fighting against him. Would they be free soon?

"It's ok, little one. I-It's ok"

The lack of recognition and flashing red and blue eyelight was terrifying and he headed for the AntiVoid, hoping he could stabilise him.

Ḁ̷͈͛n̶̜̻̳̑̎̕t̶͓̋̽ȉ̴̭͎͉V̵̧̮̫͝o̶̲̱̓̈́̕ǐ̴̭̬͜d̸̡̘̆̌̐

"You are doing so well but I need you to respond to me. Can you hear me now? You need to breathe. Karma? You need to pull in your magic!..Please"

"..h-rts"

As soon as they spoke he squeezed them tight, quickly loosening his hold at their whimper of pain. At least they were more cognisant now.

"I-I'm sorry. It's o-ok. Don't worry, i will m-make it all better"

He had taken off their scarf earlier, which gave him full view of the marks on his bones. They were still black but now they all almost look like they had been seared into his child's bones, as if his magic was desperately fighting to stay put. He should have never done this in the first place. He placed a wet cloth on their neck, having to fight to keep them in place.

"I-I know little raven. I'm sorry. Please don't f-fight me"

In more than one way. Their dark magic was starting to pulse, leaking out of their hands at an alarming rate. He was thankful when they stopped and when he pulled the cloth back he was impressed how much cooler their neck felt.

"..Feel better now?"

He smiled as they nuzzled into him, yawning sleepily.

"...sleep now, my child"

-

404 thought things were going well. His child was close by and safe..but they were not waking up. No matter what he did, nothing worked. His worry skyrockets when he noticed dust start to fall off them, looking at the black mark on their neck in accusation.

He thought he was imagining things at first but as time passed it grew worse. Several times he had found his hand near their mark, close to ripping it off but each time he hesitated, imagining the look of betrayal when they found out.

Instead he held them, walking around the AntiVoid with no destination in mind. It was when it was close to the two week mark that his efforts to wake them up increased. He lost count of how long he spoke to them, almost fearing his voice would give out before they did so. Their SOUL was strong but at some points it felt like it was silently judging him.

"Wake up, sleepy head"

He paused in his rocking, feeling their magic stir.

"Little raven. Won't you wake up?"

He frowned as nothing happened and gently lasted them on the pillows, relieved when they actually moved by themselves.

"..Karma?"

He shakily stroked their wings, wincing at all the feathers that fell out. When he saw their sockets open, he tried to steady his voice, not wanting to frighten them. It was very lucky they were a Goth variant, as he doubted any other babyones would fare so well.

"Why hello there. Did you have a nice sleep?"

He was pleased that they stretched their wings and started to move, even if the dust falling off them was rather distressing.

"D-d?"

"What is it? Are you still in pain?"

"Can I see my fri-nds?"

404 felt his jaw clench at what they asked. They still wanted to see the monsters that were the cause of this? It was his fault! Look what he did to his chil-. He aided his child to sit up and moved them to be in his lap, really not liking their condition at all. His expression fell when they didn't even notice him raising his magic for them to feed from.

When they played with his hands he took a shuddering breath at how chalky their bones felt. This was going to take ages to fix. He jolted at their despondent tone, rapidly brought back to the initial issue.

"..it's fine, dad...where are we going next?"

"We can see them..but not for long! Would that be ok, little raven?'

He was deeply alarmed when they tried to turn to face him, having to stabilise them before they fell off his lap.

"Careful! You are still recovering. Do you feel ready to do this now?"

"Yes!"

Forced Gods Multiverse

404 felt exhausted after the argument he had with his child. He really did love how bold they could be, but he would rather he didn't have to argue for points that affected their health. He still had no clue how he had lost the argument but at least he was allowed to hold their hand to stabilise them.

They were far too wobbly for his liking and he had to use his other hand to stop them from falling, when they tried to run to the Creator and Destroyer of this multiverse.

"Not so fast. They aren't going anywhere"

At least they came when he summoned them, even if he thought they had very few redeeming qualities. He quietly hissed when he spotted the one monster he thought he had avoided. Were they going to help?

Looking at the Creator he saw the falsely innocent expression, making him narrow his sockets at them. He must have been far too distracted to miss this. He cooed at his child when they backed up into him, rubbing their skull when they groaned in pain.

"Karma. Have you met our friend before?" Colours voice rang out in the clearing, 404 barely restraining himself from dusting the lot of them, only thanks to Karmas interest did he refrain.

"He is really nice. I bet he will let you touch his wings if you ask?" Colour continued, as if ignorant to his heated gaze on them. He guessed being soulless was working well for them at this moment. When his child looked up at him, he smiled.

"The choice is yours, little raven"

He smiled at Oneiro snarling, knowing this would only drive Karma further away from them.

" He won't hurt you, he is just very noisy..kind of like Colour. " Mono speaking up was unexpected, as he did not think the Destroyer was that invested in this situation.

"Hey!"

" You know I can stop anyone easily. You have seen me fight. " Mono sounded smug, which did cause an unwilling smile to form, when he saw Oneiros insulted expression.

404 observed his child when they turned to Oeniro, as they let out a quiet whimper at spotting the golden winged monster. He was pleased his child wanted them with him and he switched his gaze to Oneiro, smirking at the slight shiver they gave at his gaze.

"..I'm Karma. What's your name?"

"It's Oneiro~"

"..Oneiro? That's a pretty name"

Things were going wonderfully so far, no recognition and slight hesitancy of even getting closer to the other

"Thank you. I like your name too~"

He watched as Karma played with the golden wings, fingers twitching to rip them far away from Oneiro. He flared his magic in warning when he saw their wings glow but was soon distracted by Karma's voice.

"They are so shiny..dad? Do you think I can get my wings to look like this?"

"Of course you can, little crow. Once you get better you will have the best wings''

He flinched as another of his child's feathers fell but when he looked back at Oneiro his anger rose when he realised what they were doing. He glared when he spotted their finger twitch, as if to touch the Code on his child's bones.

"Mr Oneiro? Are you ok?"

"Of course. I am curious though. Have you seen your brother recently?~"

..brother? Would he perhaps get to learn more about this mysterious monster? He stiffened when Oneiro tapped the pin on his child's scarf, not having bothered doing anything with it. It seemed that was a terrible oversight on his part, as after Oneiros' question that dreaded name came out.

"Who got you this?~"

" Traveller "

He swiftly picked up his child, growling as their eyelight flickered again before settling on dark blue. All their memories should have been vague or fuzzy by now, so how were they still remembering this monster?

"It's ok, little one. I'm sorry you had to learn it like this...would you like me to take the pin? It could be causing you issues? Who knows what Oneiro has done to it."

404 barely kept his tone even, really wanting to snatch the pin and destroy it. He lit up when he was given it and put it in his Inventory for now, nuzzling his child in joy and walking away from the three monsters.

"It's ok, little one. I'll protect you"

~~~~~~

Karma: You will love my dad, Colour. They are super nice!

*404 appearing, casually threatening Colour and everything they care for*

Colour: *Shaking in fear and struggling to keep his voice even*..seems like a g-great guy
-
404: I only want the best for Karma and deeply care for their opinion

Also 404: I should add more changes to their Code so they can never leave me
-
*Karma saying great things about their 'dad'*

Everyone else who has ever met 404: That monster is a walking red flag of issues and should not be allowed near children!