philippaki dropped me this today :)

Ashes isn't having much luck in getting what he wants but he thinks might actually be looking up for once. Of course he forgets that he is life's chew toy at this point so things of course get worse. Notes after fic

Ashes was sure he would have liked Fantasytale a bit more if it was in anyways useful to his needs, furiously crossing out another part of the map when he reached a dead end.

Why was it so hard to end his existence?!

Was he really asking for too much?!

The disappointment had started with the fake dragon and continued all the way to the crazy wizard whose magic only made him sneeze and whose potions were absolutely disgusting.

He was pretty sure they were supposed to do something other than taste weird, especially with how the creepy Gaster was cursing when he merely coughed in response. He thought it might have been a slight mistake to voluntarily taste test the potions when the itching pain on his back only grew worse after each one, only stopping when Gaster ran out of potions to give him.

He suppose he should probably look at the back itchiness at some point....but first he had one last thing to check in this AU that was slightly promising to his needs, hearing rumours of a sage that practised unknown arts with some whispering about dark magic being utilised.

He knew it was a long shot but he was pretty desperate right now and he was still annoyed that the Basilisk was just as useless as the last dragon, quietly grumbling about 'false advertising' before he threw his map to the side in utter frustration and teleported to the last marked point.

He just missed the shadowed figure nearby, something he would surely regret soon.

———

Ashes succeeded in finding the 'Dark Sage' but surprisingly wasnt that disappointed by what he found, mainly because he was far too baffled trying to make sense of what he was dealing with. He had come here expecting a horned monster that apparently 'struck fear into everyone who saw them' and dealt with magic so dark it was banned across the land...but what he found was very different....

"Which tea do you want? The frogs spawn or the cow liver? Oh silly me, i bet you want both! Well no one says im not a generous host. Let me go get the blender. It comes out a bit chunky otherwise"

...although perhaps everyone was talking about a different type of fear, eyeing his 'tea' in quiet horror and seriously convinced it barked at him, wary of what else was put into the 'special tea'. He may have eaten a lot of unconventional things in his lives to test his seemingly immortal Souls endurance but it seemed he finally found a limit of what was too far even for him.

"Want some cookies as well? I made them fresh this morning!"

He wasnt even given a chance to decline before the weirdest Asgore he had ever had the pleasure to meet put a concerningly high stack of cookies even calling it 'food' was a generous thing to call it on the table, concerned when the wooden furniture creaked under the weight.

He politely declined taking a cookie when he saw one fall to the ground and dent the stone floor, wondering how he could get out of sampling any of the food without sounding rude. He usually wouldn't care but the sight of a bedraggled looking Asgore whose black fur which looked to be more dirt than anything and rather pure and honest emotions was a bit too much for him.

When was the last time someone looked at him like that? There was no pity or hatred, simply joy in just having his company.

He was really learning a lot of things about himself since this new cycle and he wasnt sure if he liked it or not, his smile straining when he saw Asgore bring out a bunch of potions and thrust them upon him.

"You will need these soon. Oh it's so nice having a visitor again. I think the last one was a nice little skeleton monster who wanted to be a dragon. Oh how times fly"

His pity for the clearly insane monster grew when he realised how long they had been alone and suddenly realised why there were so many rumours about them. He knew how others easily judged anything that was different from the norm the hard way, resigned to spending a few days keeping them company.

Its not like he was in any rush and he had no exact destination to go after this and he had plenty of food in his Inventory so he wouldn't starve.

He got comfy in his seat and politely nodded along to Asgore's words, even if he had no clue what they were talking about and was pretty sure a few words were made up but he had a surprisingly good time.

It was weird and his mind felt like it was twisted into pretzels at some points but he felt himself unwind as he just listened to the goat monster drone on. He hadnt realised how much he nodded a break until this moment, this cycle having been non stop with getting away from the insane Error who seemed obsessed with this Soul that used to be in this body and getting used to all these new instincts didnt help.

He still felt a bit ill thinking about how he nearly ate a passing merchant just because they smelled nice, only years of holding back his wants prevented him from just giving in but it had been far too close of a call for his liking. The worst thing was that there were very few books about Parasites in this multiverse and he wasnt going to go ask Fresh, especially with the lingering threat of eating him given from his 'sire'.

He just hoped the next place he went to was more helpful, internally sighing and quickly tuning back into the words spoken and quickly trying to damage control when he realised he had inadvertently agreed to eat dinner.

"N-No its fine, Asgore. There is no need to make-"

"Nonsense! Everyone loves my forest stew! The secret is throwing any ingredient in and stirring it all together. It makes it a surprise every time what it is!"

..he was so going to get food poisoning, wasn't he?

——-

Good news, Ashes didnt die from eating any of Asgore's cooking!

"Come out, little one. I know you are near. I just want to help you~"

..bad news, his creepy stalker was far more persistent than he realised.

He had been through ten AU's by now and they had somehow still found him, starting to feel his body tiring out and his instincts kick in so he go find some food. He would rather not add eating a monster on the list of things he had done in his life, so was now stuck to going into dead AU's, grateful he was able to read the Code quick enough to do so but he was quickly running out of places in this surprisingly small multiverse.

"I can fix you. Dont you want to go back to how it was before, moonlight?~"

He felt a chill run down his spine and all his instincts were suddenly on the same page at once of running as fast as possible, feeling a sharp pain in his back just as he panicked when he felt Error get far too close, forming a portal to the AntiVoid almost without thought.

He thought he had finally escaped but that was only the start of the downward spiral.

——-

Ashes screamed in pain.

...but nobody came...

He cried for what felt like hours.

...but nobody came...

He thought the pain would never stop.

...but nobody came just like they never would...

Ashes violently shook as he curled up in a ball, his back feeling like it was burning and being pulled apart in unnatural ways. He used his hands to rip his shirt, feeling a moment of relief from the odd pressure before he felt a searing pain followed by a heavy weight that unbalanced him.

He trembled in shock when the pain finally stopped, it taking far too long to realise there was something soft and wet near his face, startled when he saw bright purple feathers right next to him. He stared in utter confusion and growing horror when he realised they were attached to him, suddenly the pain in his back making a whole lot more sense.

He let out a hysterical laughter when he recalled what the potions Asgore had given him were for: Wing care. He wondered if the insane Sage had known, startled when his wings shifted colour when he accidentally tapped into one of his other magic types.

....that would make disguises possibly easier but it also sounded like it was going to take a lot of control, wondering why everything had to be so very complicated.

He was unsurprisingly tired after growing new wings, slumping on the AntiVoid floor and feeling his eyes close, thinking a short break couldn't hurt....

"There you are. Seems i win hide and seek this time~"

Notes:

Wizard Gaster: *Throwing his most insane potions at Ashes* Why wont any of them work?!

Ashes: *Oblivious to how his parasitic nature is happily eating the 'snacks' given to him* Maybe you just suck?

-

Sage Asgore: *Having lost his mind long ago and serving 'interesting' food* Don't be shy. Help yourself

Ashes: *Staring at a sandwich literally crawling across his plate and realising he does in fact have standards* You learn new things everyday...

-

Ashes: *Suddenly getting wings in the most painful way ever*..well, this might as well happen. At least things can't possibly get worse

Error: *Taking that as a personal challenge* Did someone call?~