Well, this was a hard chapter to write. Not sure what happened, but I think it turned out well. Certainly nothing to complain about.

Hopefully you all enjoy it!

The world came back to Karkat in bits and pieces, and then all at once. It took him only a few moments to come back to consciousness, the bright lights and the cold bringing him to as he slowly sat up. The memories, however, arrived immediately.

"Frostbite?" Karkat shakily got back on his feet, looking around the room frantically. He could see the passed-out mass of white fur not far away from. "Frostbite! Jesus Christ, get up man!"

The halfa didn't waste any time moving toward the shifting pile of fur, grabbing on of the yeti's arms and pulling him up. Frostbite looked just as dazed as he did, stumbling as he finally got back onto his. Calliope, shaken but unharmed, was quick to clasp onto her father's leg.

"Well. I can easily say that out of thousands of possibilities, I didn't expect a human to infiltrate this place." Frostbite chuckled, reaching down to pat his kid's heads. He was met with empty air for one of them, causing him to go rigid. "Where's Caliborn? Did he-"

"Yeah, and I have no idea what Doc Scratch wants to do with him, but I'd suggest finding him as soon as possible." Karkat looked around, trying to figure out which way they were. "Do you have anywhere we can drop of Calliope? Someplace to keep her safe?"

"Yes, but did you just say you knew that man?" Frostbite seemed to still be waking up from his sudden bout of unconsciousness, but he seemed to be getting his faculties back. "And how did he get one of the Eyes of English?"

"Doc Scratch tried to let Fright Knight out of his coffin, and he was at a demonstration of a human opening a ghost portal." Karkat raised his hand, cutting off any further questions that he was definitely planning on answering later. "I'll explain when we have the time. Is there a safe place we can drop off Calliope?"

"I- you- Fine. I'll call someone down. The raider situation should be handled. Something tells me it was a distraction anyway." Frostbite grabbed at a walkie-talkie on his belt before looking down at his daughter. "Will you be okay until I come back?"

Calliope didn't say anything but nodded. Karkat figured she'd be fine if Roxy sticking close to the girl with obvious worry was any indication. Frostbite just nodded, turning on the walkie-talkie and giving out some orders.

Someone was able to get down quickly and take Calliope up to a different location with other armed guards. The raider situation was still ongoing, but it was obvious it wasn't a serious attack. Karkat's friends were wrapping things up and helping get any caught raiders into a safe place.

Karkat had decided to make himself useful by using the Red String ability he had, focusing on Frostbite's bond with Caliborn. It gave a good trail to follow behind and Karkat figured that it wouldn't take long to find Scratch and the boy at all.

However, that did leave them both alone, and the yeti ghost obviously wanting some answers. Karkat wasn't entirely sure what to tell him.

"What exactly do mean about a human opening a ghost portal?" Frostbite seemed to still trust him, despite the fact most people would have some suspicions by now. "I wasn't aware that had occurred. Usually something like that would catch attention."

"Yes, and trust me, I've got a handle on it. As long as some ghosts don't go around causing havoc on the other side, it's all good." Karkat was still trying to figure out what a respectable human scientist was doing ghost crime for. "Doc Scratch was at a demonstration held by da- Doctor Spades Slick, the inventor. He did take a brief space walk and saw a building floating in here, but that's it as far as I know."

"Considering he had an Eye of English; I'm guessing he saw something particularly foreboding?" Karkat nodded to Frostbite's question, causing the man to curse. "Dammit, one of the tombs must've appeared at the wrong time."

"If you're talking about that thing with a giant… green…" Karkat suddenly whipped around, realizing something. "Wait, that thing at the presentation looked like your kids! That's why they looked familiar. Is that why he's here?"

"Yes, and I can probably explain why." Frostbite's expression became a lot more severe, taking a more calculated look. "I'm afraid Caliborn and Calliope are part of something bigger, despite the fact that they are only children."

"I'm guessing it deals with preventing a doomed timeline?" Karkat knew he was getting another weird look, something he did his best to brush off. "Your kid's imaginary friends aren't really imaginary. What exactly are they important for?"

"Well… I need you to understand an interesting thing about time before I can actually explain it." Frostbite seemed to think about his explanation before deciding on something that made sense. "You know how some people present time as a circle, while others think of it as a straight line? In a way, both are correct."

"…That really doesn't clear things up."

"I'm getting to that." Frostbite cleared his throat. "Whether we like it or not, many different timelines interact with one another, mostly as a way to help create more stable timelines. The role of a Time Aspect is one fraught with working with more than one, even if their home happens to be doomed."

Karkat thought of Aradia, the only Time Aspect he truly knew. That warning wasn't exactly a happy one. "And how do the kids factor into it?"

"Well, currently in our world, there are two instances of one of The Infinite Realms worst villain; Lord English." Frostbite lifted a finger, the gesture almost ominous. "One is the form that was separated after a version of him appeared years ago, as the result of a bloody coup that made sure to separate his parts after the battle in different tombs."

"The one that Doc Scratch saw. He must be under the influence of him, then." Karkat blinked, turning around as something fell into place. "But doesn't that mean-"

"One of my children- Caliborn specifically- will become a version of Lord English later." Frostbite looked pained at the prospect, a memory coming to him. "You know, I found those two abandoned from a town of ghosts that noticed their resemblance. What they represented. They'd tried to cut the problem off by making them die in the elements, instead of taking them out themselves."

"And you decided to take care of them instead?" Karkat wasn't exactly sure how to take in the time travel aspect, but he was surprised that Frostbite hadn't gone for the kill. Most people never think of a peaceful solution when it comes to getting rid of Hitler, or other monster like him. "Why?"

"Don't get me wrong, I knew what the two represented. I thought about getting rid of them to prevent a catastrophe as well." The yeti ghost slouched, as if the memory of those thoughts weighed on him like chains. "But I realized that they were children still. I figured that instead of doing the most utilitarian option, I couldn't help but wonder; why not try and avert it by raising them right? By teaching them both right from wrong so maybe Lord English wouldn't become a name to fear."

"I don't think a lot of people would've thought that. All the more power to you, I guess." That really wise the wise move there. It wasn't like Frostbite didn't have a point. Though, one subject did stick with him… "What about Calliope? What role does she play?"

"Her's is one that's more up in the air, and highly debatable. In history, she was seen as a mysterious figure that was English's counterpart. Someone who either helped or hindered out of a misplaced need to do something." Frostbite shook his head. "She'll most likely grow into great power as well, but something completely different. Her older counterpart was sealed as a secondary lock against Lord English, so we'll never actually know if she was as good as they say."

Karkat remained silent after that, digesting the information that he'd been given so freely. He remembered all the warnings and the mysterious shit the Hoods put him through earlier, all the grief about today, realizing once again that fucking ring didn't mean fuck all.

What the hell were those people pushing him toward? Especially involving those kids?

Karkat smelled something huge, and he didn't like it. He already has enough on his plate, he didn't want to deal with anything else.

The current line of thought stopped as he came to the end of the Red String, leading to a large door carved with various symbols, some recognizable, some not. He could see some of the Aspect symbols, but they were also surrounded by a bunch of others that made it look like a messed-up zodiac. It made his head spin, especially as he saw the locks adorning it.

"Dammit. Scratch must've gone inside there with Caliborn. Not like any of the defenses would've mattered to him much anyway." Frostbite went to the door, inspecting it as he calculated the time it would take to get it open. "I don't know if we can get all the people with the keys down in here in time. It could take half an hour at least and that can't happen."

Karkat looked at the door again, mentally groaning as he realized the simpler solution that was in front of him. Before the yeti ghost could continue spiraling, the rings of his transformation started up, going over him, and turning him into his human form.

The halfa bit back a shiver as he looked at the stunned ghost with a raised eyebrow. Despite the cold, he raised his hands in the air a little instead of wrapping them around himself, if only to be dramatic.

"…Or we could do this. This also works." Frostbite just put his hand out, something Karkat reciprocated so they could do this. "You've really got to stop surprising me. I'm not young anymore. I could have a heart attack if you do anything else."

"I'll keep that in mind." Karkat tugged the yeti ghost, heading toward the door confidently. "Let's get inside. I need to transform again before I freeze."

"Noted."

Karkat didn't need to concentrate too hard as they passed through the door, though it did take him a moment to adjust to the lower light the room had. He had a feeling that the lights were only put on recently, judging from the fact they were slowly building.

The room- more of a corridor, honestly- spread out in multiple different paths, covered wall to wall with different illustrations and cloths, each depicting various scenes. Each path split during certain events, some into three different ways, or four, or ten. It honestly hurt to look at, especially as plenty of them seemed to meet back to the center again.

"What is all of this?" Karkat blinked, shaking his head as he tried to absorb every scene presented. The variance caused his head to spin. "Is this some kind of weird prophecy?"

"No," Frostbite looked at it all grimly, a deep respect for this place settling in. It was a place of reverence, to him, and many people in the Far Frozen. "It's instructions."

Kanaya and Feferi had a lot to talk about after the "incident" involving Eridan. Feferi seemed particularly overwhelmed by all of this, especially after seeing the damage Eridan had allegedly done to the door. It was honestly a fair reaction, considering the boy shouldn't have been able to do that.

"He's never been able to do anything weird before. I'd have known about that, right?" Feferi had asked that question a lot, and so far, she didn't have any answers. "It's not like he goes out and commits- what was it his mom raved about- devil worship or something. I don't think he even knows how to pray normally."

"While I do assume this has to deal with something supernatural, I doubt it's devil worship of any kind. Ghosts might be devils, anyway." It wasn't coming out as comforting as Kanaya would like, judging from the other girl's reaction. She changed gears. "And are you really sure you haven't noticed anything? It could be just that you thought it was normal."

"I-I mean, maybe? I don't know, I used to have some weird dreams when I was a kid or imagined that he could do magic, but that that stopped after his mom was committed." Feferi growled in frustration. "God, why didn't he want to talk about this? He usually opens up to me."

Kanaya made sure to look around and check that no one noticed them. They'd been walking the park discussing this, and it was thankfully devoid of people for now. No one had to witness this breakdown other than her.

"Didn't his father suffer some sort of accident when he was our age? Something involving one of Spades old inventions." Kanaya had looked it up earlier, and that struck her as important now. "It could be a result of that. Ectoplasm might have done something to his DNA."

"Ok, no. You're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting." Feferi waved off the idea almost immediately. "This isn't a comic book. I'm pretty sure mom would've noticed if Oberon started having superpowers."

"Didn't you also say that your mother didn't see him for a long time after, though?" Kanaya felt a twinge of victory as that quieted Feferi, though it was followed by a tinge of guilt. "I'm just as lost as you are, Peixes. I just wanted to know what was going on with Karkat. I didn't mean to make you question anything yourself."

"Well, it's a little too late for that." Feferi huffed, not looking at the other girl at all now. She remained quiet afterwards, glaring into the distance.

Kanaya sighed, figuring it was as good of a time to go over what she learned today. It wasn't like she was going to get anything else out of Feferi anyway.

So far, she'd learned that not only did some of Karkat's actions ring strange to someone outside of herself, but they seemed to coincide with the strange happenings in the town. Not only were his friends possibly in on it, but so was the strange addition of Eridan, who's only been in town for a short time. And he seemed to have some paranormal connection too.

This… was just more confusing. It made it a lot clearer that Karkat was connected to Phantom, and quite possibly be him, but that was also all circumstantial. She'd taken a picture of the Ampora's door before she left, but that could easily be explained away.

There was no winning here unless she went a little farther.

"Hey. Kanaya?"

The girl stopped, blinking as her train of thought derailed. "Is something the matter?"

"Nothing- well, maybe not nothing." Feferi tried to think things through before letting out a deep breath. "Are you really just trying to help Karkat and stuff? For your family and all that?"

"Of course. I just want to make sure he isn't involved with something he can't get out." Kanaya figured that might be too late if her theory was correct. It sounds like Karkat had already made some enemies if he was Phantom. "At least mitigate the damage. Or whatever it happens to turn out to be."

"…I don't think whatever he's doing is on purpose. To be honest, I think he's actually a cool guy. He's at least interesting." Feferi put some of her long hair behind her ear, still keeping her eyes forward. "I mean, let's face it. Despite having some weird stuff happen around him, he's one of the first things to keep my attention in a while."

Ah, so it was some kind of crush. Or an infatuation. Kanaya felt gratified about that, even if she really shouldn't.

"But that doesn't change the fact he's doing something. Hopefully, something good, but still something." Feferi frowned deeply before continuing. "Do you really think Eridan might be getting dragged into it?"

Kanaya figured that this would a be a make-or-break moment. This required a little bit of finesse.

"I don't think he's getting dragged into anything. Quite honestly, even if Karkat can be strangely charismatic, Eridan seems too stubborn for peer pressure." Kanaya licked her lips, hoping this didn't come out wrong. "But they did seem to bond over something you may not have known about. And clearly, it's nothing we could've expected."

Feferi was quiet for a moment, her expression wilting. She had one final question that made her feel sick, one that made her finally acknowledge something was wrong.

"What are they, then?"

"I don't know." Kanaya shook her head as her reply came out quiet. It was almost as resigned as Feferi's. "I honestly, truly, don't know."

The two decided that it was for the best to trade numbers afterward. While nothing was actually agreed upon, it was clear that Feferi would be willing to share any information if she found out something strange. Kanaya figured that was good enough, considering how the situation started.

She really didn't know what Karkat was, but she had a feeling she'd figure it out sooner rather than later. At least she had help now.

Let's hope that it works out for her.

The images on the wall disturbed Karkat for a variety of reasons. Whether it was the mere variety of them showing scenes of mass destruction, with various players taking multiple different roles, or the fact that each branch varied wildly wasn't what scared him, though. It was when he started to recognize a few of the figures that he started to feel his stomach drop.

Some he couldn't help but think looked eerily like Dualscar, leaving havoc wherever he went. Others he could recognize as Doc Scratch now being an ominous watcher or an active participant in horrors across the board. In some, he could even identify a few ghosts he knew just from their colors alone.

He did his best to ignore all the ones involving a black and white figure. Seeing all the ones that fade into black…

"What exactly happens to the ones that end like that?" Karkat pointed to one of the instances where things went black. "I'm guessing that's a doomed timeline?"

"Yes. Every time a timeline goes too far off the path it needs to take, the Furthest Ring will break, and it gets… devoured." Frostbite didn't look at any of the black spots, choosing to look at all the ones that did succeed. Even if they were bloodier than some of the doomed ones. "Creatures called the Horrorterrors start coming in, and it's said the screech of one is loud enough to end all life at once. We don't know much more, and for good reason."

"…I think I'm fine not knowing more on that." Karkat gulped, refusing to think about it further. It looked like the Red String was reaching its end anyway. He could hear a voice up ahead. "Stay low. Scratch is up ahead."

The two got quiet afterwards, doing their best to not make any noise as they moved towards the sounds of talking. Scratch was speaking in a low whisper, something that Caliborn seemed to copy for some reason. It sounded like he was buying everything the guy was selling too.

"I don't fully understand what your guardian has been telling you, but I'd say this is a much better future for you, don't you think?" Scratch hummed. The rustling of paper could be heard from the other two ghosts end, causing them to stiffen. "Much, much better. It's always the people closest to you that say you shouldn't try to reach these types of heights."

"Are you sure I can actually do any of this?" Caliborn sounded oddly… awed by whatever it was Scratch was talking about. It was weird to hear it from the kid that seemed ready to bite someone's hand off hours ago. "How? How do I do it? Tell me now!"

"Patience, young man. You need to have patience. None of this can be acquired within a day." Scratch was oddly practicing what he preached, judging from the lack of irritation at being interrupted. "If that were true, everyone would be at this level already."

"Don't patronize me, old man!" Caliborn actually sounded like himself for a second before getting back into his subdued state. "Just- just tell me what to do."

"Happily." Scratch seemed to close something, a book from what they could tell. "I'd suggest listening very carefully…"

The two figured it was about time to stop waiting, Karkat grabbing his weapons as he rushed around the corner. He tackled the human before he could do anything else, and he could hear the sound of Caliborn being grabbed by Frostbite.

Karkat wasn't gentle at all as he slammed the man into a wall, holding him by the neck with a sickle at the ready. The halfa glared openly, scowling behind the gas mask.

"I don't know what you were going to show him, but as an old man talking to a young child, you can assume why I decided to stop you." Karkat felt satisfied at the glare he got back from Scratch, though it earned a blade under the man's throat. "What exactly is your game here, old man? I'm really getting tired of this shit."

"I'd suspect it to be the same as yours; keeping the timeline in check." Scratch wheezed, Karkat practically choking him at this point. The halfa wasn't going to underestimate this man again. "I'm just deciding to stick to the winning side. You'd be surprised how many stable timelines result from Lord English winning."

He had. The amount of them were very concerning, especially since he seemed to appear in a majority of the ones they'd seen.

"Yeah, I'm not so sure I believe that. Are you sure you aren't under some kind of mind control? This doesn't seem like something you'd do." Karkat did look deep into Scratch's eyes, wondering if there was something he could notice. He didn't find anything but annoyance and false sense of superiority. "If you really want a goddamn dictator to rise up, I'd definitely be worried about being a little unstable."

"I'd say I'm perfectly in control of my mental faculties. I'm certainly smart enough to know you're more a part of this than I thought." Scratch looked behind Karkat, a smirk moving onto his face. "Isn't that right, Caliborn?"

Karkat was ready to just knock this guy out before he felt a weak ectoblast hit the back of his head. While it didn't hurt much, it was enough of a surprise that it caused Karkat to let go of Scratch, who took it as a chance to slip through the wall and escape.

The halfa was expecting to find another attacker when he turned around, ready to fucking maul someone, but all he could see was Frostbite trying to hold onto his son.

"Father, let me go! I need to figure out what he's talking about." Caliborn pointed at the halfa with visible hatred, ready to bite if it got out of his father's grasp. "He's getting in the way of my destiny! You can't let him do this!"

"Son, you can't just attack people like that! Especially since he was helping me save you." The yeti ghost gave an apologetic look after the boy eventually gave up, growling as he weakly kicked his legs. "I'm so sorry about that. I don't know what's going on with him, so you'll have to excuse me."

Karkat fought down the urge to go off on the kid for that shit, especially since it let Scratch get away. If the pint-sized terror hadn't intervened…

The halfa stopped, realizing his enraged look was actually starting to scare the kid. Frostbite even looked concerned.

"It-It's fine. Not really, but fine. I'll just have to look for that idiot later." Karkat grunted, forcing his hands down into his pockets. No need to go nuts right now. "Sorry to bring all this trouble here. Feels like I'm a bit of a bad luck charm."

"I'd say otherwise. The attack would've happened anyway with or without you, so I'd say your influence helped us." Frostbite extended a hand, his other arm still keeping Caliborn. "I can easily say that allying with you in the future is best for both parties."

"Allying- I'm not exactly a government body, dude. I barely represent Redglare as is." Karkat held fast, narrowing his eyes. "What exactly do you get out of this?"

"Nothing. Admittedly, I'm doing this more out of gratitude for the help, a need to repay losing Scratch, and…" Frostbite shrugged. "Well, I believe we'll be getting to know each other in the future either way. Might as well make a Blood Pact out of it."

Karkat looked back down at his hand before sighing deeply. He had a feeling he wasn't wrong, and this was only going to lead to more team ups in the future.

"Fine. I'll help you in the future as long as you help me." Karkat grasped the man's hands, already feeling the effects of a Blood Pact take place. More blood seemed to seep out than usual, which made it all the more serious. "We have a deal."

Frostbite nodded, then moved with Caliborn in tow to the exit. He probably expected Karkat to follow behind, though the halfa stayed back. He couldn't help but notice a yellow and pink hood in the corners of his vision and he had a feeling they wanted to talk.

"Jake, Jane, you can come on out." Karkat figured naming them now would make things easier. "I have a feeling we need to talk.

"Aw, you really do tend to spoil the fun, don't you?" Jake, wearing the symbol of Hope across his chest, just chuckled in a way that seemed old for his age. "A good show you put on there, by the way! Sorry it had end like that, though."

"Not like it wasn't completely expected. It was a good attempt." Jane, with the ironic Life symbol on her hood, seemed amused as well. "You'll get more chances in the future, so I wouldn't worry too much."

"I don't think I'm going to be able to do that, considering what he's willing to do." Karkat wasn't in the mood for the run around. "What exactly is your game here? I get wanting to keep the timeline stable, but I don't actually know what you want."

"It's not that complex of an answer if you're wondering. We don't want Lord English resurfacing in this timeline again." Jake just shrugged, not entirely sure what the problem was. "Admittedly, I can't say that comes without cost…"

"Again, nothing to worry about right now. Or maybe it is something to worry about?" Jane hummed. She floated around him, and Karkat knew that she was looking him over behind the shine of her glasses. He couldn't help but think that she looked almost like John. "I suppose we'll have you decide that."

Karkat frowned, pushing down the need to growl.

"What does this have to do with me? No offense, but I'm just some kid who fucked up and got some ghost powers." Karkat noted the two gave each other a look. Jake's face actually twitched at that. "Unless there's something else here you're failing to tell me?"

"…You're a lot more important than you think. We're sorry about all of this, but you get involved with this one way or another." Jane looked away, muttering to herself. "At least you're a lot more prepared than most versions would be."

"We're just here to make sure you're as prepared as you possibly can be." Jake stopped, leaning down, and picking something up. "You should probably take this."

Jake tossed something over to Karkat, which after catching it, was revealed to be a book. It was leather bound and had no title, most likely a journal belonging to Doc Scratch. It would probably be pretty vital to finding him.

Karkat looked up to find the two already gone. Whether or not that was because they were hiding themselves from view or simply left didn't matter. What did matter was that he was left alone with the endless tapestry.

The halfa looked over the room one last time, making careful note of every picture, every path that showed. All the black and white figures seemed to blend into one another, making him feel sick and the dread hollowed his stomach. He decided to head on out before he could throw up.

He didn't want to be a part of this. But it looked like someone didn't want him to have that choice.

Yeah, Karkat isn't going to have a fun time. I'm certainly going to put him through some hell, but I think it'll be something everyone will enjoy. Except him, of course.

I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you all next chapter!