Karma finally gets away from the tree but who is this weird monster..?

——

WingVerse

Karma felt weird and he didn't like it one bit. It felt like he was losing track of time but still had the odd sense of underlying forced calm, that never seemed to leave him. He was starting to think this weird 'tree' was the issue but everytime he tried to leave it, he just ended up back at the same place sitting by the base, with no clues how he had gotten there.

It was so irritating scary but he did remember that dad had come to visit, so he was sure they could help!....at least he thought they had but his memory felt a bit fuzzy from that time.

At least Nix didnt seem to be having the same issues as him and was the main way he knew he wasn't being overly paranoid. Still, he was exhausted by this and he did not appreciate his trauma being relieved in new exciting ways 404 felt like they would never stop haunting him .

He was currently sitting at the base of the tree, strangely relaxed by the feelings coming off it but also tense, knowing for sure that it was the cause of all of his issues.

"Meow."

"...you were right and I was wrong. Are you happy now?"

He muttered out, knowing he should have taken their warning to heart. He sighed as he watched the clouds, feeling in a daze as the hours passed. He was so very tired at how these things kept happening to him, not even able to muster even a speck of worry when he sensed a SOUL nearby, just feeling done with everything.

....Jumping into the Void was looking so very tempting right now, despite knowing it wouldn't do much to him, doing his best to ignore the look of disapproval Nix sent him at that thought.

He didn't bother to move when the new monster got closer but did feel some intrigue when it didn't cause him to try and attack the visitor. He had become weirdly possessive of this tree but this stranger wasnt causing him to react at all, making him finally look up at them in confusion.

He stared longer, never having seen this type of variant before.

Sure he had seen Nightmare variants but this one looked and felt strange. Their SOUL for one seemed to be bursting with energy, not to mention their eyelights looked rather weird. He squinted, noticing that one looked like it resembled a sun shape, like the one his dad had but had little time to study them more, shuddering when he felt a sudden weird disconnect.

His wings ruffled in agitation, his magic feeling like it had suddenly dropped drastically. He wasn't feeling that great, having a sudden wave of dizziness, whining and covering his sockets when it felt like the sunlight was blinding him.

He shivered unhappily and when he finally felt like he wasn't about to pass out, he carefully cracked his sockets open, letting out a chirp of confusion when he noticed his new position.

"It's ok. Just go back to sleep. You must be tired, little sun."

...when did they get so close and more importantly, how did they pick him up without him noticing?! He was about to object to this, having no clue where they were going or who this was but let out a yawn, feeling a sudden wave of tiredness come over him. He didn't like magical exhaustion one bit and was puzzled how this occurred, considering he hadn't been doing much lately.

"Dad will be back soon. I should stay here" Karma sleepily murmured to the stranger, struggling to stay awake as the rocking sensation was not helping at all.

" Just rest, little sun "

-

Karma woke up feeling very comfy, nuzzling into the softness and letting out a sigh of happiness. This was nice but he had a nagging feeling something was off. He could sense Nix nearby which relaxed him and he would have happily drifted back to sleep, if it wasn't for one small thing.

"How are you feeling, little sun?"

The voice caused him to bolt up, his wings flaring in shock, warily looking at the room he was in. He didn't recognise it at all and stared suspiciously at the Nightmare variant by the door, sending a blast of Judgement towards them without hesitation.

His wings slowly lowered when he saw their lack of reaction, not getting anything negative from his magic either. He silently looked them over, now realising many details he had missed before. The most obvious was the lack of wings and going by what Nix was telling him, they hadn't left the multiverse so this was clearly a Multiversal traveller just like himself.

Their SOUL still also felt weird to him, reminding him of dads and Ordeals but not quite right either. Ordeal felt much weaker to his senses but this monster felt eerily familiar to his senses, the golden sun shaped eyelight still a glaring difference to what he was used to.

...the omniverse was so odd sometimes.

"I'm going by that little display that you are feeling much better then..? That's good. My name is Eclipse, may I have your name, little sun?"

Karma was puzzled by their tone but it didn't sound mocking or angry, so he cautiously nodded in greeting. He had gotten much better around strangers lately but he still felt very unsettled by the situation he was in but going by Nix's approval, he would guess he was doing alright so far.

"Karma...."

"Are you hungry, Karma? Your magic does feel very low."

"I'm fine!"

Karma had some emergency supplies still, doing his best to not look as nervous as he felt. He averted his eyes at their knowing look, momentarily having forgotten that he was dealing with a Guardian...well, whatever they were, they just felt weird to his senses. Not even Fatal Error had felt like this and they were an odd mish mash of two SOULS!

His gaze was soon unwillingly drawn back to look at them, their SOUL just so strange to him. Just what was up with them..?

"-arma? Are you listening to me?"

Oops, seems he had been staring at them too long, a tad embarrassed he still had that habit when he met fascinating new SOULS. He had been mortified when he had done that to dad when they first met, having hoped that habit would have gotten better by now.

"W-What is it?"

"I was just asking if you feel well enough to go outside. You have been asleep for..a while."

He was puzzled why they said it like that but was distracted when Nix rubbed against his side, purring in encouragement for him to leave the room. That was odd, as they never acted like that with strangers before but he decided to trust their judgement, as he knew he still needed to get better with dealing with others again.

He wanted to continue exploring and travelling just like brother, which he would be unable to do if he was fearful all the time.

He picked up his familiar, letting them settle in his scarf as he got off the bed, watching in confusion when Eclipse smiled at him.

"Let me show you where you are staying, little sun."

He silently followed Eclipse, glad they didnt walk too fast as he would have had to start flying at that point. Now that he was closer he realised just how tall they were, nearly rivalling dad in their size! He nervously fiddled with the charms on his scarf, taking comfort in the odd mix of magic to help ground himself from such a weird situation.

He examined the rooms they passed in interest, not seeing anything particularly exciting, apart from a library but even that didn't compare to brothers, so it was easily ignored.

He decided this place wasn't too bad and it weirdly reminded him of a weird mix of a Nightmares home and dads place. This home wasn't as golden as he was used to but the signs of wealth were clearly seen, even if there was no staff wandering about.

Now that he was calming down he finally noticed how he couldn't sense anyone for miles, suspicious if this AU even had any other living inhabitants. That wasn't the only odd thing here, still very confused why Eclipse was acting like this.

They were very friendly and he had checked with Nix to make doubly sure he hadn't met them before, as they felt strangely comforting to be around.

The tour of the house mansion didn't take too long but now he was unsure what to do from here.

He had messaged X again and with Nix prompting, even sent one to dad but weirdly hadn't gotten any reply from either of them yet. He didn't worry as the bond with dad still felt strong as was the one with brother and Pale, sending pulses of emotions through it.

LOVE/SAFE/LOST?

He smiled at the response he received from dad, his wings far less tense now that he knew he wasn't totally alone.

LOVE/FIND

He was almost tempted to see if creating a portal would help but weirdly Nix screeched a denial, looking rather wide eyed at his suggestion.

Just because he got slightly lost the last time every time he created portals, didn't mean he was terrible at it! Dad believed he could do it one day but he was a tad unsure why brother giggled weirdly whenever it was brought up...

It was probably just an inside joke, growling when Eclipse offered him yet another sandwich.

He had only been here an hour! He didnt need more food. He frowned at the odd look that came over their face when he pointed that out, jumping when they suddenly picked him up.

They were so lucky he had good control over his magic, otherwise his reaction could have been rather unfortunate..for them that is. He might no longer look like a mini Reaper but it was close enough that most monsters exhibited some wariness in going near him.

"You know. There are many AU's in this multiverse that are great for practising magic in."

..Karma was lost what this had to do with him, not thinking his control was that bad. He looked in surprise when Eclipse held out a hand in front of him, watching as a mix of golden and purple magic danced around their hand, soon forming shapes. He really did love magic, placing his hand on theirs and trying to add his own shapes to the scene.

He sharply observed how their shapes seemed crisper, moving smoothly across their palm, while his own still looks a tad raggedy. That last Reaper he met had been really useful in learning fun new ways to utilise his magic but it seemed he still had much more to learn.

"Can you show me more?"

He asked, still observing how Eclipse created a purple wolf that bounded over a golden rabbit on their palm, trying to make his own animal but failing miserably. He knew he couldn't put too much magic into it as that just led to disaster, as could be seen by the many trees he accidently killed when practising with Reaper in the last multiverse.

His wings fluttered in his frustration, letting out a chirp when Eclipse started making their way outside.

"Of course I can, little sun. I have plenty more I can show you, which I know you will enjoy."

Eclipse softly said, an unknown glint in their eyes as they looked at him but it weirdly didn't feel malicious. Maybe this wouldn't be too bad...

~~~~~~

Karma: *Sudden existential dread* Hmm, I've heard the Void is lovely this time of year.

Nix:*Looking up in alarm and ready to aggressively shower Karma in affection* ฅ^._.^ฅ
-
Eclipse: Hello, my nam-

Karma: *Blasting Eclipse with Judgement magic with zero hesitation*

Nix: *Purring in pride at Karma, while looking suspiciously at Eclipse*

Eclipse: *Slightly dizzy from the sudden magic*..what was that?!