Chapter 7: Time Wrap
BREAKING NEWS: A large explosion has occurred in the Royal Science Department located near the Capital on 3:00am. The explosion has destroyed the whole facility and few monster's home. No one was reported killed, 10 monster were injured in the process, most of them are scientist who worked inside the building. Royal guards are currently investigating the area and searching for more survivors. They preliminary estimated that the explosion was caused by gas leakage…'
I watched the news attentively, hoping to find/catch a glimpse of my dad on the screen. During the process, I constantly took out my dad's card and examined closely. His face and his name were still blackened, nothing have changed at all. I have lost count of how much time has passed and how many times I've seen the same news highlight repeating over and over again. Most information I've gathered were pointless, they don't exactly related to my dad/his whereabout. The only thing that was useful was the interview of few survivors. One of the scientists mentioned before the accident happened, an alarm was setted off and everyone in the area went for the exit, about few minutes later, he saw the building exploded. If there's enough time for all scientist to escape, why can't I receive any news from him in the past hours? After some time later, I decided to switch off the TV and walked around the house, giving myself time to think.
'There're many ways to solve a problem, sometimes you just need to think out of the box/start with the clue(s) you have in your hand, eventually you'll reach to your solution.'
My dad has taught me to be a problem solver ever since I was a kid. He told me that there's nothing was insoluble, I just need time and patient to figure out. Right now, it's hard to trace back what has happened in Hotland with just a card and some survivor's interview, in addition all evidences have destroyed during the explosion. The only way I can think of was to travel back in time and investigate the area, maybe it can also explain my dad's sudden darkened face and name, as well as why Papyrus unable to remember him. The moment I've made up my mind, a strong sense of determination has filled up my heart (soul). I'll find my dad and save him from the explosion.
Dimension travel can quite unpredictable even I managed to have a better control of my power, there's still a risk of getting into dangerous place/stuck in time for ages. Time works differently in different dimension/timelines and I don't know when will I come back or able to survive in the process, in addition it's too risky to take Papyrus to such shifty place. Before I left, I make sure Papyrus was asleep and well-fed. After that, I wrote a note(letter) to him just in case he woke up, briefly talk about stuff I've been through and told him the situation. Using words to express myself can at least help me cover everything I wanted to say long time ago. There were too much burdens and secrets I've never told anyone, if I really died/unable to come back, I want Papyrus to know the truth.
'…I don't expect you'll forgive me instantly for being a bad brother but I hope you understand. If I can make it back alive, hopefully along with dad, I will answer every single questions you have, I promise. You and dad are always my beloved ones and don't forget to stay cool….'
Once finished writing, I fold the note carefully and placed it on the computer desk. Later I called my dad's friend and asked him to take care of Papyrus for few days, it was lucky that he didn't ask many questions and agreed to help. After that, I gave Papyrus one last look and headed outside the house.
There were big differences between teleportation and travel across space/time. Teleportation was more easy to control and it didn't require much energy. On the other hand, dimension travelling almost took half of my strength to form a large portal which led me to a reality that contains different timelines and worlds. The portal was extremely large and it shined in rainbow colour once appeared. When stepped inside, it was a void filled with colour trails, each timeline has its own unique colour. One annoying thing about travelling was the place constantly changing with different patterns/ direction, it usually take a large amount of time to locate the world/ timeline I wanted to travel, after that you need to time your move and 'travel' specifically to the right spot, otherwise you may end up in the wrong place. The reality was basically one chaotic maze and I don't really like it, luckily after years of exploring and training, I started to get use to it.
After long time of searching, I managed to pick up a light blue trail which led me to few hours before the explosion happened. Without thinking, I dived into the portal which located at the end of trail, in a second, I was inside of a lab. Next to me, there's a giant 'L4' sign was placed on the wall, this must be my dad's working place.
Compare to the Lab in the house, the whole place was bigger and there were more strange equipment and machines scattered around the area. In the center of the room, some scientist were surrounding a skull head which shaped like a hybrid of dog and dragon, they seems to be testing/ studying it. Different cylinder and cage were being placed near to the skull. Each of them have contained a hybrid monster which were far more terrifying than the ones I've seen at the house, some of them were snaring and attempting to escape by hitting the glass cover/knocking the cage door loudly, however they were quickly subdued by scientist who use magic to make them sleep. I forced myself to stay focus and ignored all crazy/strange stuff happened around me, yet after some time of sneaking and searching, there's still no sign of my dad.
'Dr. Gaster! Come look at this!' a voice called out.
I quickly rushed towards the voice's direction and saw my dad and the scientist staring at an unconscious Loox, there were computer screens next to it which displaying some sort of data with colourful diagram and numbers on it. I hid behind a strange machine and silently observed, what were they doing?
'…Should we proceed to Stage 2?' the scientist asked.
'Not yet…though his result is extraordinary compare to other subjects, but we still need to do one more test on him….can you pass me the "BS-100"?'
I saw the scientist passed dad a syringe full of red liquid and he slowly injected it into the Loox. The Loox gave out a small whine and began to stir up. At first, he laid on his bed peacefully with slightly movement of arms, but the movement quickly turned into a violent of shaking and loud mourn escaped from his mouth. After that, I saw the Loox's appearance started to deform and changed into something animal like, the whole process took about few seconds and I didn't have time to react. The creature that laid on the bed was literally 'monstrous', it looked like a deer but with one big eye and some identical features that the Loox had. The creature opened its eye and got up shakily, then it snared angrily at my dad and quickly pounced at his direction.
'DAD!' I shouted, holding my hand out and prepared to use bone magic blocking its attack.
However, instead of a wall made out of bones, I summoned a strange symbol that shaped like a clock and I felt time seemed to have slowed down a little. Instantly, a ring of light suddenly surrounded me and expanded across the room, as the light range became larger, I noticed everything it 'touched' froze in its position. Without thinking, I rushed towards my dad and the scientist, later moved them out of the way by using blue magic. Once moved them in a safe place, time seemed to unfreeze and returned back to normal. The creature immediately dropped to the ground and looked confused, but quickly got up. Instead of attacking my dad it changed direction and charged at me. Just when I was about to summon my bones, the creature was trapped inside a bone cage and unable to move.
'Are you alright, Sans?' my dad asked, looked concern.
I didn't say anything and dashed towards his direction, later gave him a hug. I felt my dad hugged back and even gave me a pat on the back.
After everything I've been through recently, a hug from dad was the most relieve and calming thing I need.
(END OF CHAPTER 7)