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"Karl?"
The voice that called out was familiar, but only vaguely. Why hadn't he come back to the present in his library, like he normally did? Who was this?
He tried to focus both his eyes and solidify his form to one type at the same time as he spoke. "J-James?"
"No?" The first person replied. At the same time, another vaguely familiar voice rang out with "Who the fuck is James?"
Karl's vision came back before his form went back fully human.
"How... How do you know my name?"
The two, faces familiar yet also foreign, looked at him with confusion.
"Y-your kidding, right?" The second one, looked to be duckoid, responded. Cute, in a dorky way. Karl's nerves were overriding any attraction though.
"Should... Are you guys significant?" Maybe he wasn't in the present. Maybe he's in the future, but not too vastly. "Am I significant?"
The other one, who appeared human minus his half-sized tail, which seemed to lose altitude with each sentence Karl spoke, and his somewhat pointed ears. Very attractive as well, but again, Karl was confused.
"I-I mean, you're significant to us..." He said, matching Karl's current level.
Every active color receptor became dull and pale, grayish purple swirls and springs fotming over them. It was confusing, and he was at a loss for spoken words. A duckoid? A demon hybrid? What could either have to do with him? How was he important to them?
The looks on the familiar strangers both shifted. The demon woth concern, and the duckoid, face shifting much more than it should've, was of sadness, betrayal, and the same concern that was the sole emotion of the demon. Maybe the duckoid was also a hybrid?
Karl laughed a little. "Sorry, guys, y-you're gonna need to refresh my memory..."
"Joder, sabía queél también se iría ..." The duck mumbled, causing a tilt from Karl. What did he mean by that?
The other went to say sonething, but Karl was asking allowed "What do you mean, él también se iría? Where am I going?"
A groan/growl hybrid sound escaped the duck. "Right, every language is simultaneously your first and not-first language."
"Quackity has... Reasonable abandonment issues." The demon said before grabbing Karl's half natural state hand. He twirls the rings on Karl's hand, and forces a twirl on his own ring. "Do you remember what these are? What they're for?"
Karl gave them a good look, and then shook his head. "I-I know what they are, b-but they're... I don't quite know why I have them. They feel important though."
Quackity just screamed in frustration, fiddling with the bracelet on his wrist.
The demon was practically forcing his hand into Karl's. Karl felt both strange and comfortable with the situation.
"C'mon, Karl, this joke's gone on long enough!"
His colors started shifting from confusion to fear. He has no idea who these two are, and that seems to be devastating for them. "I..." He fiddles with his rings. What do these usually symbolize when they're of importance, again? It wad a bond of some sort. A strong bond... Who all did he see with them before?
Helga had one. So did James. Charles. He thinks he recalls younger Philza having one... What did all these people have in common? What was it? What was...
Oh.
Oh.
"Are... Do... Where... I... Did.... H-how far along in the process are we?"
That was all it took for Quackity's anger to be snuffed out.
"Wait. Waitwaitwaitwait. Carlos, do you actually not remember us?"
The name of Carlos sparked something in Karl. He felt strangely warm hearing it. Happy.
A small laugh he didn't understand escaped as je answered. "I think I'd remember someone like you, handsome. Could I put on a joke for this long?"
Quackity's jaw dropped in a cartoony way, earning a quick laugh from the other two before the demon spoke.
"Q-Quackity this is s-serious..."
"I know, I know. Sorry." He went back normal and looked at Karl. "How'd you lose yoir memory of your fiancés anyway?"
Only fiancé status. Plural, actually. Fiancés. Was that why Quackity had been fidgiting with his golden bracelet? He did have webbed hands, maybe rings weren't an option for him.
"I... Promised to not tell..." Was all Karl said. His hand was dropped.
"You remember promising to not share why or how you've lost your memories, but not your own fiancés?!?" Fire spewed from the demons mouth a little.
Now Quackity was the one trying to calm the other. "Hey, Sapnap, we know that memory is odd. Especially when amnesia is happening. I'm sure he has a good reason." Sapnap huffed, backing away a bit. "Right, Carlos?"
"I... Wrote it down many times. Or maybe only a few times and then read ir many. A-and I think that's the only real reason." He looks at Sapnap again and covers part of his face eith his hand. "Are you sure you're not James? You two look so similar..."
"I think I know my name, Karl."
"Right."
Karl wasn't even sure why that name kept popping in his head. It just did. Maybe they were an ancestor of this Sapnap's? Sapnap probably wouldn't even know.
"Alright, c'mon." Sapnap starts trying to help Karl up.
"Wait I'm not ready!"
A small laugh leaves the others. "Don't worry, hun. Practically everyone here knows how you actually look."
Another pet name got Karl all blushy. These two cause such sttong reactions, more than others who were attractive. Maybe they are in a relationship. His vestigial wings fluttered a bit, which ends up looking like a super-short furred or naked dog's tail wagging.
"Where are we going?"
"Home. Kinoko Kingdom. And then we're gonna talk. I need to know where you keep going, since it's lead to you forgetting your fiancés."
He guessed that made sense.
Looks like Karl's down for another fun adventure as a result of his time travelling. That's what his thoughts said.