The Snake Pit, an undertale fanfic

BEEP-BEEP

Sylvia rolled over in her bed groggily trying to get out of her tangled bed sheets to reach the alarm. She tended to roll around to much in her sleep making her get tangled up in the white mess. Her fingers stretched out gently pushing off on her alarm. She rolled over in her bed not quite ready for the day hoping she could just lay there another moment before she had to move.

Her room was still dark it wasn't graced with the presence of light from a lamp or sunrise.

Reluctantly she shuffled the sheets off of her only getting her foot caught once trying to make it to the bedroom door. Her boss said she needed to be at work early.

She clenched her jaw tight and frowned. She already knew what it was about.

It was only a month ago when a landslide occurred knocking rocks, dirt, and trees from a nearby mountain. The slide had cleared off half the mountain and still, nobody knew what caused it. Reporters were covering it all over the news when some of them stumbled on a cave. It had been sealed shut until the landslide cleared its entrance.

It would have been turned into a new cave exploration experience for some experienced explorers but what they found in the cave kept everyone clear of the entire mountainside.

Snakeskin.

Not just any snakeskin either. Snakeskin that would put an anaconda to shame.

Sylvia got to her kitchen opening the fridge door the light giving visual to the contents of her fridge. She pushed the milk over pulling out a plate of defrosted chicken breasts. She pushed on the breast making sure they weren't still frozen and placed them on the table behind her. She left the fridge door open so she could see where the light switch was and flicked it on before closing the door.

Sylvia thought back to the reporter on t.v from a month ago. She felt a familiar chill run up her back remembering the woman holding up the massive orange molted snakeskin on the t.v. She didn't need to listen to the experts they got ahold of to know that it wasn't some fossil of a snakes skin.

That was something more recent, like say in the past month.

Sylvia pulled out a long pair of tongs from the pantry. She clicked them open and closed to make she they worked well. She grabbed the plate with the chicken and headed down the hallway. Next to her room was a door in neat, bright green, letters that spelled out 'Tick-Tock' on it.

"Waky, waky, eggs, and baky. Well, chicken but still you know what I mean."

Sylvia creaked the door open, careful not to spill the chicken on the wooden floor to a darkened room. Two small eyes reflected back at her from the floor in the corner. She flipped the light on and the room slowly adjusted to reveal a large nine-foot long crocodile on the floor.

The crocodile stared up at her from the floor next to his little in-ground pool. It had cost Sylvia a small fortune to have it inside but a plastic pool for her crocodile would require a lot more cleaning and honestly she was pretty sure he would just chew on it instead of making her have to constantly replace it. Not to mention hed be too big for it anyway.

Originally she had lived with her mother they had simply converted the backyard pool for him to use. When she got her entomology degree her mother insisted she move out and start her own life away from home. A phone call later asking her if she wanted a job from a nearby zoo allowed her to do just that, taking the crocodile with her.

"Tick-Tock you hungry?"

She used the clamps to grip a piece of chicken holding it out towards her massive pet. He heaved himself over in her direction climbing up a fake rock ledge built for him to sunbath on. Not that there was a lot of sun in his room the heat lamp provided the sunbathing he actually needed. He held his mouth open as Sylvia tossed the chicken inside and he snapped his jaws on it quickly. Gone in a blink of an eye the crocodile opened his mouth waiting for the next piece. Silvia slid the next piece in slowly to the impatient crocodile. He snapped his jaws down, silvia barly able to pull the tongs away in time.

"Hey, you know that's not food." She waved them in front of Tick-Tock as if to make a point. She knew the crocodile just didnt care.

After tossing him the last of the chicken on the floor this time, she scratched him under his chin a low grunt of acceptance vibrated in his chest.

"I have to go to work early today, Ticks. I'm not gonna be back till later tonight okay?"

He grunted at her before turning away and sliding into his pool. She let out a sigh knowing she was gonna have to get her shoes on and get ready to go now that Tick-Tock was fed.

She wasn't looking forward to meeting the Naga.

That's what they were calling them Nagas. Some folklore about giant snake men from India. Sylvia didn't know whether she believed in all that but she knew there were giant snakes out there now, no thanks to her job, or the reporters on t.v.

She rolled her shoulders trying to get Mark, her coworker, out of her mind. He was going on vacation and had asked for her specifically to take on his new job.

Caring for a giant blue skeleton Naga.

Sylvia's lips trembled her head ducked down to the side. Maybe she could call in sick till Mark came back from vacation or hide under her bed till it all blew over. She would likely be fired for missing the entire time and wouldn't be able to buy Tick-Tocks expensive food but it wasn't like he needed to eat every day either. Her arm shook and she gripped it tight to try and steady her breathing. Trying to find a new job would be too hard if she wanted to stay where she lived. After all the work she put in the house for her crocodile so he could be happily content she couldn't leave it behind. Who would buy a house with a gator pool in it anyway? Besides herself.

As if the snake part didn't terrify her enough they had to tell her it was also a skeleton? She tried not to imagine what it looked like but images of some giant fanged, slit-eyed, predator kept popping in her head. Everyone had a theory about what it looked like and would decide to share their ideas with Sylvia in hopes she would tell them there were right. This only added fuel to her nightmares.

Although Sylvia worked in the zoo that housed the creature, she had no idea what it looked like. She had been avoiding it as if the black plague was running rampant. Any pictures of bright blue scales she kept her eyes down towards the ground and any noise that sounded like a slither or a hiss from some venomous beast she covered her ears.

Her fear of snakes ran to her core to her very childhood and only grew worse with the teasing she had to endure. It made people look at her with narrowed eyes and pursed lips, they couldn't understand that despite her fear of snakes she loved other reptiles, like Tick-Tock.

Always had.

She could walk around at work and interact with different creatures with her entomology degree. Allowing her own private thoughts and opinions.

Komodo Dragons. Awesome.

Fire salamander. Cool.

Tortoise. Hell yea.

Corn snake. Fuck no.

She changed into her uniform for work consisting of a grey top and shorts. Her plastic name tag getting caught on her lanyard carrying her keys and security badge. Her specialty sock rolled all the way up to hide her ankles. She hated it when people stared at her scar.

Sylvia passed by the mirror on her way to the door checking her self out. She had a little bit of a pouch from some unhealthy eating habits freckles lined her face from too much sun and her glasses seemed thick and tended to slid down her nose too much for her liking.

Just like dad. Her eyes glanced to the photo of him on the corner of the mirror. His brown hair and stubble stood out on his white skin. He was holding a young smiling girl in his arms on a boat. The child was beaming up at him through her overgrown brown bangs, freckles splattered her face as she held up a turtle to the camera. The man smiling down at her one hand helping her hold the turtle for the camera.

With a quick kiss to the photo, Sylvia cast her eyes down away from the picture and left for work.

When she arrived she went straight to her office, keeping her head down away from the images in the hallways of anacondas and the like until she reached the lizard and gator section of the reptile house. She had made mental notes about where the images of snakes had been kept and unless anyone had come by without her knowledge and put up a new image she knew when she could look at her surroundings again.

She was greeted by friendlier painted faces of turtles and lizards. Her heart slowed down and she let out a breath of air she forgot she was holding. It felt like she entered into the backyard she had grown up in. The smell of swamp water and the sound of frogs greeted her in the halls of the lizard hall.

Next door, just past the newts and salamanders was the snake hut. In about two hours her boss, would ask her to join him in his office to go over her duties until Mark came back from his vacation. Sylvia only had the time it took to feed the enclosed reptiles and check on their water levels before she had half an hour to her self to try and prepare for the inevitable.

She began wringing her hands together trying to settle the anxiety building under her skin, but it didn't feel like it was working.

Why in the world would they make her take care of the naga? They already knew about her fear of snakes.

Mark, especially already knew about her fear of snakes. He had been there in the same school to enforce her fear of snakes, and thus enforce her fear of him. It wasn't fair that he would just up and leave her to what was probably going to be the most devastating experience of her life.

had even agreed with Mark to make her take the job. He knew her fears and unlike Mark, he wasn't trying to harras her in any way. She couldn't understand the two at all.

She was so good too. She did all she was asked, as long as it didn't involve the snakes and yet he was putting her with the biggest and most terrifying one she ever heard of in her life.

It was gonna eat her alive the moment she looked at it, she knew it.

"Sylvi-" She jerked her head a surprised gasp falling out of her mouth as she accidentally dropped her leftover tacos on the floor near Marks feet.

"Pft, scare you, sissy?" His smile tilted into a smirk. His bright blue eyes would have had her swimming in their aquamarine color if it wasn't for the dark mischief he tried to hide whenever he was around her.

His blond hair gave him a boyish appearance in the way it framed his face.

Sylvia felt her face flush with embarrassment as he picked up her leftovers from the floor.

"I'm not a sissy." She muttered under her breath but Mark looked up at her through his long eyelashes. He had heard her perfectly clear.

As he came up he gripped her wrist a little hard and put her lunch in her hand. The bag crinkled in her hand as he shoved it roughly into hers.

Something must have leaked a sticky, wetness grew from the bottom of the bag into her hand. She wrinkled her nose at the bag trying to figure out if it was sauce from her tacos on her hand or if she hadn't drained the grease from the meat like she thought she had.

"Ugh, Gross." She gripped the bag at the top and tried to shake whatever was on her hand off.

Mark covered his mouth but Sylvia could hear the laughing he was trying to hide as a few snorts escaped from his hand as he turned away from her.

"Try putting it into a plastic container next time." He turned his head towards her and smirked at her. His eyes trailing up her scrawny legs to her face. "Bye, sissy." A final wave to her and he disappeared around the corner most likely off to his vacation.

Sylvia stared off after him. She wanted to smack his smug face right into the alligator pond but not only would she lose her job, but she would also most likely come out disappointed when the alligators barely did a number on him. She had actually seen him wrestle a saltwater crocodile before and come out on top. A few nicks and scraps wouldn't be enough payback for her for everything he does and keeps doing to her.

She held the bag back up to her face as she watched the slightly red colored water from the sauce drip out of the bag.

At least they would still taste good.

With a final sigh, she turned to the cages getting ready for her chores preoccupied from the Naga. The distraction probably being the only thing she could thank Mark for, at least for the next hour while her mind pictured what it would be like if she actually managed to get enough determination to actually do something to him.

When she was finally done with the cleaning and feeding of the reptiles her mind had drifted back to the Naga. hadn't gone easy on her either like she hoped she could persuade him to let her do another job without giant skeleton snakes involved, but he had been firm in his decision.

"Relax Sylvia. Yer fear of snakes is holding ya back once we get you over this hurdle ya'll be fine. Mark guaranteed me ya be fine." He said.

If only he could see her now.

She stood just outside the door that led to an observation room for the employees to view the naga in its cage. Maybe she deserved this. It felt like she deserved this. Her stomach churned at the thought of opening the door in front of her but if she didn't...

What would happen to Tick-Tock?

She let out a breath and tightened her lips together, her fist clenching to her side. She had to do this for Tick-Tock. She would never be able to keep him or maintain him otherwise.

Her mother would offer to help if she did lose her job and her brother would give her that silent glare he normally always did when she was around.

Her mother was too nice sometimes. She often found she wished her mother would give her that same glare but she never did. She couldn't bring herself to rely on her mother, not again, not anymore.

She looked to the doorknob the key card slot just above it. Her hand shook as she held it out to the door keys insert. Her other hand gripped her wrist to try and steady her shaking arm letting the card go from between her fingers. It slid into the slot and the door made a clicking noise, the card slot showing green. Her hand slid next to the door taking in a shaky breath, she pushed it open.

The room at first blinded her it's bright fluorescent lights bathed the room in an almost pure white color. The green floor and painted blue walls gave it a calmer feeling than she thought it would.

The large blacked out window on the wall and steel door that led to the nagas cage made it feel like she swallowed a rock and it was now resting in the pit of her stomach.

A little dizzy she entered the room and pushed the door lightly letting it click close behind her and lock. She felt cold shivers running down her back as she approached the window to the nagas cave.

There was a light switch nearby so the cave behind the glass could be aluminated. The moment she chose to flick it on she would see her worst nightmare come to life. Her breath became harsh strains stuck in her throat a cold sweat dripped down the side of her face and her hearing intensified.

She listened but could hear no movement besides her own heartbeat trying to break out of her chest.

She needed to do this.

For Tick-Tock, the most stubborn, lazy, and loving crocodile she knew.

Her hand was on the switch before she knew it, without hesitation she flicked it on.

A low glow lit up the room behind the blacked out window showing a well-detailed cave. She couldn't remember the difference between the stalagmites on the floor and the ceiling or what types of rock it might be made of. Her sights were focused on a nearly empty room. Her eyes shifting to every corner trying to find the monster that hunted her in her nightmares. She saw rocks and some water that had accumulated on a wall to provide moisture and balcony's made of rough stone. But, no giant snakes.

She shivered it had to be in here. If it wasn't in here, then where the hell was it. A small click behind her caused her to yelp and turn around. Her eyes were only greeted by the sight of the green and blue room around her. Her eyes landed on a pen she had used earlier to mark charts for the containers of food to feed the reptiles. It had been haphazardly shoved in her shallow pants pocket and must have fallen out. It had to have fallen out.

She took in a breath of air and slowly lowered her self to the floor. She picked up the pen and placed it in her shirt pocket instead, making sure it wouldn't fall again. She stood back up slowly remembering she left the light on behind her in the cage.

Shakingly she turned slowly back to the cage trying to hold back tears that threatened to fall. She kept her eyes down afraid of what she might see. Like the pictures of the snakes that decorated some of the halls, she didn't want to look up. A movement from the corner of her eyes set her on full alert.

She found her chest tightening as she forced her eyes up to look back in the cave.

There towards the back something bright and blue was peeking around one of the stone columns. Her breathing hitched in her throat, color draining from her face. A large blue tail was slung around the column of rocks a few more dashes of blue leading around random jaunting stones in her direction. Sylvia's eyes went wide as it followed the path of blue to another rock closer to her.

Something white poking up behind the stone carefully raised itself in front of her. Her breathing hitched as that something white poked out behind the rock and locked eyes with her.

It resembled that of a human skull it's bone-like material far brighter and whiter than a normal skeleton. It's eye sockets were filled with a blue light that drifted over the room she stood in till they landed on her.

The creatures sockets went wide and it tilted it's head to the side staring at her. It raised it's head higher above the rock revealing its mouth to her. No sharp fangs greeted her like she thought they would instead a fairly normal looking mouth, for a skeleton, showed up behind the rock. He didn't look as scary as she thought he would, with that in mind she was able to swallow some air down. The skeleton seemed to notice her movement.

Before she could fully recover from the shock the skeleton's mouth stretched into a wide grin rivaling that of the Cheshire cats. He sprang over the rock causing Sylvia to yelp and fall backward moving to the wall behind her as fast as she could before she slammed up against the blue cement.

The skeleton toward near the top of the window separating them from one another. The bone feature seemed to continue downwards till it reached where Sylvia assumed his pelvis would be before it broke out to the long blue tail that had hidden behind the rocks.

Sylvia had herself pinned as far back to the wall as she could watching the naga in front of her tilt it's head in her direction. It lowered itself towards the ground pushing its tail further behind it. Sylvia watched as the tail coiled around the ground looking for a place to position itself while she felt a knot forming in her throat looking at it.

Tap-tap-tap

What was that? Her eyes started looking around for the source of the sound.

tap-tap

Her eyes shoot towards the skeletal part of the naga. His index bone pointed to the glass as he tapped it against the window. His eyebrow bones pinch together at the center as he lowers himself to the ground in an attempt to seem smaller. His smile shrunk into a frown as he tilted his head at her, leaning forward on the glass.

Sylvia felt her mouth drop open, eyes wide staring at the skeleton unable to believe what she was seeing in front of her. Slowly she stood her back still pressed against the wall her breathing shallow. The skeleton watched her as she slowly made her way to the door. His smile shrunk realizing she was leaving.

Her eyes lifted to his face catching a trembling lower lip and a stare that felt like he was begging her not to go.

She paused at his reaction. Sure, Animals had always been able to express feelings if one knew what to look for but, these emotions just seemed so...human to her. Not animal like at all.

She let out a sigh and looked to the ground. This Nagas reaction made her think for a moment he was human. It was stupid of her to think they put someone of high intelligence like that In a zoo. She had a hard time believing they put dolphins in an aquarium though too.

It all just seemed stupid to her, even what she was going to do seemed stupid.

"Uhh, hello?" her voice shook as she forced herself to look up at the naga before her. He stared at her through the glass of his enclosure. Just as she suspected, he was just an animal. Her eyes went back to glancing over the floor.

He tapped on the glass again and her eyes went wide.

The skeleton held his hand up and waved to her.

She felt her breath leave her like there was a vacuum taking all the air out of her lungs.

"Ca-ca-can you understand me?"

The naga tilts his head to the side without taking his eye lights off of you. His little smile suddenly broke out into a fully beaming grin and slowly he nodded.

She couldn't believe it. Her back hit the wall again and she slid down It slowly, her eyes never leaving the naga's face.

He was not an animal.

He was sentient.

He was a person.