Chapter Two

Mystery Girl

A/N: I'm starting to love writing this story now! For this, I'm starting to alternate between first and third person, to keep em' reading about what's going on in Cooper's head along with the other characters she interacts with. I'm experimenting. But, uh, anyways…. ENJOY!

"What are you planning today, Frisk?" Asriel asked Frisk, while the human stuffs things into his pockets as well and drops things onto the table in front of him. Frisk shrugged and stopped his rearranging. He picked up the spoon that stuck firmly in the bowl of Nice Cream. The fireplace behind the two boys warmed the entire living area. The atmosphere was calming. Asriel couldn't think of anything to say. The air stood still and Asriel starting sweating a bit from the tension he is feeling. Guilt with a side of awkwardness brimmed him. It was only four days ago that Frisk saved his soul. Literally. But only two since Asriel was brought back to his original form. He's never more of the merciless, maleficent flower he once was. He still regretted all the things he did to become "god". To regain power and spread fear among the faces of human being. He repaid his evil, by breaking the barrier that restrained the monsters from the surface. Ambitious monsters, searching and reaching for the trust and peace of the humans.

Toriel is happily humming within the kitchen, setting up the ingredients for a butterscotch-cinnamon pie. Asriel started poking the snail pie that is on his plate. Frisk notices his actions.

"Are you okay, Asry?" He asked, using the nickname he made up for Asriel.

A tint of red lighted on Asriel cheeks. "Uh… I'm alright." Frisk wasn't convinced. He studied him closely.

"Are you sure. It looks like something is bothering you." Frisk wanted to know what's wrong. He knew that Asriel is still hurting. And he will try to comfort him the best way he can as an older stepbrother. Not specifically by blood, but by heart.

Asriel choked on his words. He still can't get over the fact that this isn't a dream. He dreamed about being back with his parents, living a normal, happy life he did before. Everything was the way it was in the past. Playing in the flowers with Frisk, giggling and laughing like little schoolboys. Making memories that lasted a lifetime. When he had these dreams, as Flowey, his soul painfully hurt. But emotions lead to more lust of a sin to become leader, a king.

Frisk's words snapped Asriel back to reality.

"Listen Asriel," Frisk gave him a deep concerning look. "everything is okay now. Everyone is happy."

"But Frisk…" The goat looked down at the table and continued quietly, "breaking the barrier that trapped everyone was a rightful decision, but… that's the only thing I recollected that was good. The path I took was a selfish one. I stole other monsters' and humans' souls to be feared and gain power. I took genocide. Watching everyone suffer and betray the betrayed."

Frisk sat and listened in silence. He knew that the words being said were true. He knew Asriel was deeply regretting his actions. And he's straining his body for forgiveness. Not only from his mother and father, but from him.

Frisk stood up from the table. He heaved himself to Asriel's side of the table, placing his palms on his sharp shoulder blades. Frisk's legs dangle at the opposite side. The force of his maneuver caused the bowl of Nice Cream to break and splatter on the floor.

"Wha-?" Asriel is bewildered by Frisk's projection to get to his side of the table. It was kind of funny as it shows Frisk's laziness to get up and walk to his side like a normal person would. But he knows. Frisk isn't your average human.

Frisk gently patted Asriel on his back. "Asriel. That was the past. Don't let the past be the binge of your downfall. You live to learn. We're all happy that you're here with us again. We can make memories again. Just like we did when we were little kids. I don't care what decisions you make or the nightmares that haunt you, I'll be here for you, loving you like a brother."

Those heartwarming words sent Asriel's eyes to flood. He felt something that he never thought he would feel in years of his floral confinement. Love and compassion. Asriel threw his arms around Frisk. The returning embrace was too strong. Asriel remembers that Frisk is still a pacifist, so his physical strength is fragile. Yet his spiritual strength and determination, stronger than any human nor monster has he ever seen. Frisk winces, but remains there.

"Thank you, Frisk." Asriel whispered. They both remain in the hug, unaware of the fact that Toriel is watching from the kitchen, smiling sweetly.

"COME ON LAZYBONES!" A tall skeleton said quietly loudly, as another, short and pudgy, followed lazily behind. The taller one wore a tacky boxer costume with a short red cape, covering the upper half of his boney spine. Blue spandex that oddly fitted on his hips and red, rubber boots. The shorter of the two, was wearing a blue ski jacket and a white tee that shown underneath. He was wearing black shorts and navy blue slippers. It looks like he just came freshly out of bed.

They crunched the ice frosted ground as they passed Snowdin, a small town that overlooks an entire landscape of winter forests. The town is prettied with festive décor that dapple the town in lights and colors. It has a center tree in the middle of Snowdin. Where people place presents under it every now and then. As pretty as the town is, it seems it celebrates Christmas every day. Being a small town, the population gradually decreased ever since the historical opening of the barrier. Only the monsters who plead to stay lives here now.

The tall skeleton turned around and tapped his foot impatiently as the other skeleton slowly catches up.

"YOU'RE WALKING EVEN SLOWER EVER SINCE WE LEFT ASGORE'S CASTLE. THE MONSTER KING DEPENDS ON US TO FULLFILL HIS RESPONSIBILITIES WHILE WE IS AWAY. SO STOP SLACKING, SANS."

"i'm not slacking, paps." Sans stuffed his boney hands into the pockets of his jacket. "it's just you who's walking too fast since we left the king's castle."

The taller skeleton puts his hands on his hips and boasted an obnoxious laugh.

"NYEH HEH HEH! THE GREAT PAPYRUS ALWAYS HAS THE NEED FOR SPEED!" Papyrus turned away from Sans and walked towards the greeting sign for Snowdin.

"heh." Sans smirked to himself and followed his brother, one lazy step at a time.

The two skeleton is on a mission to tend all the flowers of the Ruins. Ever since the barrier has been taken down, and monsters were sent free, Asgore, The Monster King, has set up a cozy little floral shop on the surface to try to befriend the humans and once been told as an gentle giant once more. He now lives on the surface as well. And comes to the Ruins to pay a visit sometimes. Not for Toriel's behalf, but for his son's, Asriel. Asgore is still mourning since his divorce with Queen Toriel, but tries his hardest to overcome and move on. He knows that Toriel is never going to take him back again. Not if he was the last, good looking monster on Earth.

Sans, who was led by the ambitious Papyrus, passed through the puzzles and traps they set up for Frisk many years ago. Sans closed his eyes as the memories came back to him. He let out a sigh through his teeth. The warm breaths he took condensed into the cold air.

"i remember meeting the kid." Papyrus knew he was talking about Frisk.

"AH THAT FRISK. HE'S A SMART ONE. BUT WASN'T SMART ENOUGH FOR MY PUZZLES!"

"but didn't he surpass every puzzle you threw at him? not to mention that machine-generated color coded puzzle. that failed." Papyrus faced turned to a pout.

"I MERELY JUST HELPED THE FELLOW BECAUSE MY PUZZLES WERE TOO SOPHICATED FOR HIM." Papyrus snickered a silent 'nyeh heh heh…heh?' Sans grin grew wider.

They passed the gate that Papyrus built to stop any passing human. Papyrus proudly tapped the gate on the wooden planks before traveling the long road ahead. The bone brothers finally got to the door that separated Toriel's basement to the path towards icy Snowdin. Walked down the hallways till they got to the stairwell to the mudroom of Toriel's house.

"yo!" Sans greeted as he and Papyrus ascended the stairs.

"In here!" Frisk called from the living area. The two turned to the right and entered the living space. Frisk was scrubbing the floor from the sticky and stubborn Nice Cream while Asriel carefully picked up shards of the bowl and disposes them in the kitchen's trash bin.

"Ah! Hello Papyrus! Sans!" Toriel chimed as she took off her oven mitts and came in the living area. She dusted off the flour that powdered her apron. With a cheerful smile, she spoke, "You two came just in time! The pie is almost ready."

Papyrus shaken his head. "I AM SORRY FOR TURNING DOWN YOUR OFFER, MRS. DREEMURR. BUT SANS AND I ARE NOT HERE TO ENJOY YOUR LOVELY PIE. WE HAVE ERRANDS TO RUN BEFORE WE DO ANY OTHER ACTIVITY." Toriel nods in understandment.

"BUT I WOULD LIKE IT IF YOU WOULD SAVE ME A SLICE LATER."

"I'll save you a piece, Papyrus." Toriel's sweet natured personality is causing Papyrus to blush slightly. Papyrus started to glance around, noticing that his brother is not beside him.

"SANS?" The four hear clacking coming from the kitchen. Since everyone was near the entrance to the living room, nobody could see what's going on in there.

"yeah?" Sans causally walks out of the kitchen with a generously large slice of butterscotch-cinnamon pie.

"sorry, i didn't have brunch yet." Frisk and Asriel laughed, but Papyrus does not look amused.

"GEEZE SANS," Papyrus pointed his finger at Sans, like a scolding mother. "STOP DOING THAT."

"can't you be more…"

"SANS NO-"

"pie-ticular about it?" Papyrus cringes.

"OH MY GOD."

Toriel bursts into snorts and laughter. Frisk tries to hold back a comeback pun and a laugh, from Papyrus' reaction to Sans' terrible pun. Asriel doesn't get the joke, but joins in the laughter, anyway. Papyrus storms out of the room and to the front door, leaving the house. Now eager to join his brother, Sans places the plate on the table. He takes the pie, momentarily looking at it. Sans shrugs, and jams the slice into his jacket pocket before nonchalantly departing from the house. The others watch Sans leave, with the expression of dumbstruck on their faces.

Sans finally caught up with Papyrus in the magenta colored corridor entrance of the Ruins. Papyrus looked calm now. After Sans' punthetic joke. They both walked in silence. Sans didn't want to say anything because he thought Papyrus is still angry. But Sans started to feel uncomfortable. Usually by now, Papyrus will be talking him to death.

After the next moments of silence, Sans finally asked, "you okay, paps?" He couldn't stand it anymore. It was scaring him.

"OH! SANS, I DIDN'T NOTICE YOU THERE. I WAS THINKING RATIONALLY."

"about what?"

"SOME PUZZLES I CAN WORK ON LATER, AND WHAT WE SHOULD HAVE FOR DINNER TONIGHT. I WAS THINKING ABOUT HAVING A SPAGETTI PIZZA. SOUNDS GOOD, EH?"

"yeah. that sounds good." Sans was relieved. Sans is still on edge about the recent turmoil he had with Papyrus. Sans kept warning Papyrus about a strange evil he had dreams about. But he was afraid that Papyrus didn't take him seriously. But it was a dream, after all.

"you go on ahead, paps." Sans leaned against the door the entrance that led to the bed of flowers that Frisk fell on a long time ago. He popped a few pieces of mashed up the pie from earlier in his mouth.

"don't wanna spoil the flowers with a sweet treat."

"WHATEVER SANS." Replied Papyrus as he took a water pail out of thin air like he was summoning it. Clearly Papyrus is watching too many of Alphys' anime fantasy girl CD collection.

"I'LL BE RIGHT BACK." Papyrus left and traveled down the dark hallway. Sans merrily ate the remaining pieces of pie left and whistled a well-known tune.

"what a beautiful day." Sans looked up at the mid-day sky. It's not like Sans was trapped in the underground. He could move from the Ruins to the overworld whenever he pleases. But Sans prefers to stay underground, for a little while longer. Sans lifts his wrist to read the watch on it.

"shoot. i'm gonna be late for work," Sans muttered.

"oh well, i'm just gonna head to grillby's after paps is done-"

"SANS! COME HERE, QUICKLY." Papyrus is yelling from the end of the hallway. The yell caused Sans' left eye light to dim and his right shining brightly with an overpowering magical blue. Sans ran down the hallway. The best exercise he had in days. "oh god paps this better be good."

Papyrus knelt down at the lifeless body of a girl. Sans was breathing heavily has he approached closer to the patch of golden flowers. His eyes converted back to normal.

"is… she still alive?" Sans asked. Papyrus rose the arm of the girl and pressed his two fingers on her wrist, yearning for a pulse. There is one.

"SHE'S PRETTY MUCH ALIVE," Papyrus said.

"how long was she like this?" Sans hands twitched in his pockets. He glared down at the girl.

The air stood still and Papyrus' words emerged into the depths of Sans' mind. He wasn't paying attention to Papyrus anymore. The bright color of the flowers under her slowly filtered to a monochromatic scheme. He's too focused on the girl. Something isn't sitting right with Sans. There's something strange about this girl. And it sent chills up his spine. Schoolgirl giggling oddly emitted through the personal space of him. He looked around. Nothing but black space. Just him and the girl. One eye shone a blue as he skimmed around the dark ambiance. As he darted his glaze back at the girl. She was staring at him. Viciously. Her eyes was a deep red. She gave him a look of "I'm going to kill you." The dots in his eyes flashed brightly when Papyrus snapped at him.

"SANS ARE YOU LISTENING?" Sans wasn't aware that Papyrus was staring straight at him. Sans shot back down at the girl. Her eyes were closed, just like before.

"uh, yeah, wh-what was that again?" Sweat was beading at the top of Sans' skull.

"I SAID SHE MUST'VE BEEN LIKE THIS OVERNIGHT." Papyrus looked down at her again.

"what should we do?" Papyrus thinks for a moment. The answer was pretty obvious.

"WE NEED TO TAKE HER TO TORIEL," Papyrus stands up,"TORIEL KNOWS WHAT TO DO TO BRING HER BACK TO GOOD HEALTH."

Sans walks over to the girl and picks her up, bridal-style. She was lighter than Sans thought she would be. His eye sockets hazed to no source of light in them. Papyrus was astonished at how Sans lifted her so strongly, but gently, from the flower bed. Sans' expression was unreadable. But at the same time, Papyrus was aghast at how directly Sans responded to the situation.

"don't worry, paps," Sans bright orbs were back. "i won't drop her."

Giving Papyrus a good-natured wink, he continued, "lets go."