Well, it's about time I updated this story. By now, anyone who for whatever reason has been following the stuff I do (or checked the release date of the story, the date it was last updated and tried to find the average intervals in which I upload chapters, but who wants to do math?) would think that I have a hard time being consistent with my work schedule. And you'd be right. That's why I'm looking to change that and upload more often, so expect more from me more often. But enough about that, let's just get on with the show!
Also, I don't own Undertale.
Smoke drifted aimlessly through the halls of the building. The monsters that usually filled the rooms had all evacuated, so the crackling of flames was the sound that filled the air.
A loud clang interrupted the rhythmic crackling. The sound resounded through the burning building, going back a lonely door at the end of one of the many corridors. A few moments passed, and the echo slowly resided, until it was nothing more than a dull ring.
A second clang sounded off a few seconds after, louder than the first. A dent appeared in the center of the door. The metal door trembled like a bell. The shaking quelled, only for it to be struck again. This time, the strike bent the door outward, and thick black smoke began to seep through the cracks.
Once again, the ringing faded back into the crackling of the fire spread across the floor. Several seconds went by, and the air was once again filled with the crackling of flames. Then, the door was struck one last time, sending the door flying off its hinges. Smoke poured out of the door, and Araerasco burst into the room. The giant armadillo lowered the large pile driver he had pressed to the door, transforming it back into his paw.
Araerasco's eyes darted around the room, his pointy ears twitched to catch the slightest change in the soundscape. His ear suddenly stiffened, as what might have been a whisper.
The shadows cast by the fire suddenly receded. The dark formless blobs began to fuse. The shadows melted together and began to take the shape. Almost instantly, his eyes went to the floor. He jumped back, his guard raised and his lips twisted into a growl.
A frame rose up from the ground. Two wings folded out from behind it, and a head took form on top of its shoulders, the solid black that filled it in split apart with a toothless grin.
"Hey." Araerasco's guard never wavered, catching sight of the grinning figure in the shadows.
"Talon," the armadillo monster growled. "You just gonna sit there, or are you going to make use your teleportation powers of whatever?"
"Sorry, bucko," Talon replied, words flowing out from the shadows like oil. "Says in the official rulebook that I can't interfere with mortal affairs."
Araerasco just narrowed his eyes in irritation. Talon put up his arms defensively. "I'm joking. I only have enough energy for this."
The armadillo snorted, uninterested, before he dove deeper into the flames. Furniture tumbled to the floor, scattering various objects left and right. The flames eagerly leapt up to snatch up the items that fell to the floor. Tongues of red-hot fire licked the thick hide of the armadillo monster, but he paid them no heed. He searched under every desk in hopes of finding his quarry, but he was unable to find even the slightest trace.
Putting his nose to the ground, he attempted to see if he could find the scent of the child, but all that he could smell was ash and smoke. Smoke drifted harmlessly above his head as he panned the room, his eyes darting about in his frantic search, but came up with nothing. A low rumble came from below. For a moment it seemed as if the building would collapse, but Araerasco quietly assured himself that the building was not going down anytime soon; it was one of his design, after all. A flicker of fear must have passed through his eye, as he heard someone behind him emit a low chuckle. His eyes snapped onto the only other being present in the room, the winged form stuck on the wall, tapping his fingers impatiently against the shadow of a desk.
Araerasco narrowed his eyes. "You were never the type for friendly visits, Talon," he growled. "What have you come here?"
Talon chuckled, taking his fingers off the desk, before he leaned back against the wall behind him. "You know me too well," the shadowy figure spoke in a casual drawl, despite the flames that flickered around him. "Thought I'd drop by to see if I could help. Kid's down by the mailroom."
Araerasco shot him an annoyed look. The shadow's grin only got bigger.
"What? That was what you were going to ask, right?" Talon said, shrugging his shoulders. The armadillo 's eyes remained on the black form on the wall, before he took off wordlessly. Araerasco ran through heaps of burning objects, his eyes steeled with newfound determination. Flames would reach out to get a taste of the armor that jostled around on his body, but every time they got too close, he leapt to safety. He crossed the room in a matter of seconds, leaving a trail of disarray in his wake. The wall was closing in on him quickly, but the giant armadillo did little to slow down his pace; in fact, he increased it. With the wall only meters away from coming into contact, Araerasco closed his eyes, and braced for impact.
He dove through the wall with a loud crash. Pieces of rubble flew awry, clattering on the floor. The armadillo monster barely flinched, he just plowed through the wall and kept on going. His feet plodded against the floor, clanging against the smooth, hard surface underneath him. Fires raged on around him, the charred scent of smoke filled the air.
The shadows cast by the fire once again took the shape of a winged figure, sliding across the wall with the giant armadillo. "Speaking of which," Talon spoke over the crackling of the flames, "why would a council member, such as yourself, be out here in the field? Why not wait for someone more suited in this field to do it?"
"Like the fire brigade?" Araerasco said as he bounded through the halls. "What to do expect them to do when they're dead?"
Talon seemed to consider this. "Well, there are monsters who are more adept at handling this kind of situation."
"Yet no such monster stepped up to the task," the armadillo grumbled.
"Yeah, but aren't you supposed to be overseeing an evacuation?" the winged shadow said, gliding along the wall.
Araerasco hissed in annoyance. "Could you be quiet? I am trying to focus here!" Araerasco snapped.
Talon raised his hands defensively. "My apologies," he said, his grin only growing wider. "Just trying to lighten the mood; maybe help with a few things like-wall"
"What are you-" Araerasco's head suddenly came into contact with a solid surface. Shaking his head, he stumbled back to find himself face to face with the underside of a counter. A spiderweb of cracks had appeared right where he had rammed his head.
"Desk," the shadow muttered, slipping beside him. "I should have said desk."
The armadillo quickly jumped back onto his feet, his limbs eager to leap forward and continue onward, when he stopped for a moment. Taking one long look at the counter before him, Araerasco jogged his memory for where exactly in the building he was. It took a moment for the answer to come to him; the service room.
He scanned the desk. Papers were scattered about the surface, abandoned in the rush to evacuate. Nothing too surprising. His eyes then drifted over the desk and to the wall behind it. It then occurred to him that his accomplice was still talking.
"-we gonna get going or what?"
"You said the child was in the mail room?"
Talon stopped. "Yeah," he replied, his smile quickly morphing into a confused grin. "You forget already?"
Araerasco remained silent, and the sound of crackling filled the air once again. The shadow to his side opened his mouth again to speak, when a low creak came from above, accompanied by a trickle of dust leaking through a tiny crack in the ceiling. The figure in the shadows disappeared in an instant, as the ceiling came crashing down. The flames roared, as Araerasco dashed to the side. Cinders were scattered in various directions; some simply fell to the ground and became still, while others ignited smaller blazes. The shadows quickly melted to reveal the figure of Talon, only to find that his companion had disappeared. He scanned the room, searching for the giant armadillo. A loud clang sounded off to the side, behind the counter.
At once, he was behind the desk. Araerasco loomed over the metal door on the opposite side, his front paw raised into the air. The metal pole at one end shuddered, emitting a deep groan. As if attached to a spring, the pole shot forwards out of his paw, disappearing into a silver blur, and a second metal clang resounded through the room. The door was sent flying back inside the room, clattering to the floor. Then, the giant armadillo slipped inside without a word.
Araerasco leapt through the long dark corridor that stretched on before him. Large machines towered over him. Machines that once filled the air with the sounds of life moved no more, trapped in a building doomed to burn to the ground. The air smelled of oil and dust, as the fire had yet to reach this particular room, but when the giant armadillo glanced back, he saw that a few small cinders had followed him inside. He had let the fire into the room; it would be a matter of seconds before the rest of the place burned down.
With each step he took, the floor trembled underneath the giant armadillo as his paws thundered against the floor. Machines were knocked aside as he plowed through. He had a child to save; he could not afford to stop even for a second.
Wires flew through the air as they were torn out from the motion of the machines as they tumbled to the ground, each towering bulk of metal crashing to the floor. Sometimes one fall would lead to another, as the wires that linked them together was yanked to the ground. As he clomped down the dark corridor, he caught glimpses of his reflection on the polished metal surfaces of the machines that passed by. Seeing his determined expression captured down to every detail, he realized that he had not felt this... alive since a long time ago.
Another crash rang out; another metal shell cracked open like an egg, wires spilling out onto the ground, and the first thought that came to his mind was: "Alow can fix that." Then he remembered that he was dead.
Araerasco complained to himself, "There's no point in having a defense system if you don't ever turn it on." Thinking back, though, he probably shouldn't have told Alow to keep the activation code to himself, as the situation might not have gotten has bad if the scientist had told someone else the procedure to activate the lab's defense systems. Oh well, it was too late to turn back now.
Throwing a quick glance to the ceiling, he saw that a thin blanket of smoke had begun to drift overhead. Araerasco increased his pace as the scent of charcoal began to get stronger, not wanting to get caught by the flames. His armor could withstand heat for a short amount of time, but his shell was already littered with scorch marks that streaked down his sides; it would not take much more for the flames to get through.
His eyes set dead ahead, the wall was closing in fast. Each step taking him a moment closer to making contact. Increasing his pace, his footfalls increasing in pace. He was only seconds away from hitting the wall, when...
"Wait!" Suddenly, Talon's shadowy figure was before the armadillo monster, arms held up defensively. Araerasco screeched to a halt, stopping inches away from the wall. Quickly backing off, his eyes narrowed into yellow slits.
"What is it?" the armadillo growled, his ears laid flat, displeased with the interruption.
"You don't want to go through there," Talon said back, slowly lowering his arms back down.
"Why?"
"There's a large piece of machinery on the other side of this wall," Talon hastily responded, knowing that the armadillo's patience was growing thin. "The child is directly behind that machine, and if you go through here, that rabbit is going to end up squashed like a pancake."
The armadillo huffed in annoyance. As much as he hated staying inside the burning building for any longer than necessary, upon a bit of further digging, he realized that the shadowy figure was right. Shuffling over to the side, he turned to face the door beside him. He clomped over to the wall, and in a blur, his paw had transformed back into a piledriver. His arm shuddered, only for the metallic surface to shoot out of its place, slamming into the door. The door sprung out, and crashed into the wall on the opposite side with a thundering clang.
Araerasco stumbled out into the hallway as his arm melted back into its original state. Without a moment of delay, he set off towards his original destination. Bursting forth into the room, his pupils darted about, frantically scanning the room. Were the conditions more relaxed, he would have waited for Talon to show up and give him more specific details on the child's location, but he could not afford to wait. Each second that went by was another second in which the child waited for their doom, be it from the burning tongues of flame that latched onto the building, or crushed under a piece of rubble loosened by the fire. He did not dare question why his companion had disappeared again, he only knew that he had an objective to complete.
The armadillo took another sniff. The scent that greeted his sensitive nose was the familiar smell of charred material going up into smoke, but amid the ash and charcoal, he picked up a whiff of something else. At once, he knew that it was the child he had been searching for; the terrified cries coming from the corner confirmed it.
He carefully made his way over to the other end of the room, each step hitting the floor with a metallic clang. Weaving his way around baskets full of mail and chutes sticking out of the wall, taking one carefully placed step after another, the child's scent began to get stronger. The smoke stung his eyes, and the wisps of flame that tickled his hide had begun to finally seep through, yet he pressed on.
Rounding the final corner, a small rabbit monster came into view, sitting in the corner, alone, trembling in fear. Barely older than a baby, the rabbit's eyes flitted about, her face frozen in an expression of terror. Araerasco opened his mouth to alert the child of his presence, when his eyes glanced upward for a moment, catching sight of something large looming overhead. He vaguely remembered hearing Talon warn him about some large object positioned like that.
A low growl rumbled through the building; Araerasco's feet was able to feel the vibrations produced by the frame that he had designed himself as the building swayed underneath him. Then, with a shuddering groan, the building tilted to the right. Objects fell to the floor and into the wall, and as Araerasco tightened his grip to prevent himself from sliding into the wall, he could have sworn he heard something snap far beneath him.
Glancing over to the child to see if she was alright, to his relief, the rabbit child had barely changed at all. Then, it suddenly occurred to him that the large object overhead just might come loose. His eyes darted over to the gigantic machine that towered over the small rabbit. His expression became focused, his eyes long yellow blades, as if he was daring it to come down. Of course, the large machine decided to fall.
At once, the child's eyes snapped onto the falling object, her eyes widening in terror. She shut her eyes, bracing for the impact of the large object slamming against her frail body, crushing her under in an instant. Araerasco dove beneath the large machine moments before impact. His limbs burned under the weight of the bulky hunk of metal, his shell straining under the effort of keeping itself off the ground.
It took the child a moment to realize that the crushing impact had been delayed. Slowly, her eyes opened again, and they fell onto the larger frame before her. Two piercing yellow eyes glared back at her, and she couldn't help but shrink back a little back despite knowing that this newcomer would not dare bring her harm.
Seeing the small rabbit trembling underneath him, Araerasco softened a bit. He had not meant to scare the child, but he assumed that if he were in her place, with a larger being appearing out of nowhere, towering over him, he might have been fearful as well. He opened his mouth, probably to comfort the child, but she spoke first.
"We're going to die, aren't we?"
The words he was going to say died in his throat. For a moment, he was left speechless. Most of the children he knew were bright and energetic. Never had he considered the possibility that a child could be reduced to something like this. Then, he took a look around him. Fires raged on in the surrounding area, all exits from the building had been cut off, the child's mother had left her behind. Now he and the rabbit child had found themselves trapped under a large object, and even then, he was straining to hold the massive weight on his shell in place. With this in mind, he understood how a child could think such negative thoughts, as they would see no other option other than giving up.
"We're not going to die." Araerasco's words were loud and clear, despite the crackling of the flames around them. The rabbit looked up, meeting the gaze of the large armadillo looming over her, and her eyes gave away what she was going to say moments before the words left her mouth.
"How?" the rabbit girl asked.
Araerasco just looked back on the object he held on his shell, his expression constant. "If doors one and two are sealed off tight," he growled, "you'll have to make yourself a third way out." Two plates on the top of his shell slid back with a low, quiet screeching noise. Two drill bits popped out of the openings in his shell, quickly embedding themselves into the metallic surface above. With a high-pitched grinding noise, the drills slowly drove themselves deeper inside. Since Araerasco had worked with Alow for a sizeable amount of his projects, he knew for certain that Alow to have his machines be portable, and for a number of them, he had a button installed on the back that would collapse whatever it was attached to if pressed. All he needed to do was drill through, and find that button.
A small click interrupted his train of thought. For a moment, the world remained unchanged. Then, the machine above him bloomed into a fiery explosion, hailing down scorching debris onto the ground below. Araerasco's larger frame shielded the rabbit from the explosion, but by now his shell had been worn away for long enough, and a bit of the heat seeped through, causing the armadillo to wince as his shell was pelted with flames.
Or he could ignite some part of the machine and cause it to explode.
Now that he no longer had a massive weight pressing down on him, Araerasco was able to lift himself off the floor. Shaking off the smaller pieces of metal still stuck on his thick hide, he glanced around, looking for some way to escape. Much to his disappointment, no such exit made itself known.
Without a second to lose, Araerasco snatched up the child with his mouth, eliciting a yelp of surprise from the rabbit. He bounded over to the side, his eyes scanning over the wall before him. As his eyes carefully examined every inch of the solid surface blocking his path, he dug deep into his memory for even the smallest details of the frame that lay behind.
He shuffled sideways, muttering quietly to himself about the architecture of the building. The child in his grasp began to grow restless, and she started to squirm in the firm grip of his jaws. When she received no response, her struggles only became more numerous. The only indication that he noticed her actions was that a low growl emitted from the throat behind the rabbit. Her struggling ceased at once, and she slowly glanced up to meet the gaze of the bright yellow eyes above her.
"What is it?" Araerasco said, a menacing tone buried in his voice.
The rabbit began to feel a little more fearful, hearing such a menacing tone. She hesitated, before she asked, "What is taking you so long?"
Araerasco huffed, annoyed. "Unless you want me to bring down the entire building, you should let me do whatever I have to do," he grumbled, in a tone that one would use as if they were saying the most obvious thing in the world. These words did have its intended effect, however, as the rabbit closed her mouth. Satisfied with the response, Araerasco's piercing yellow eyes left the child held firmly in his jaws, and continued to scan the wall before him.
Then he stopped. Eyes set on one specific section of the wall, he racked his memory for any detail he could find on this specific part of the wall. All he could find was that the wall had no structure behind it that would affect the other parts of the building. Without a moment of hesitation, he sprung into action. Taking a step closer to the surface before him, he extended the drill bits at his side, stretching them over the front of his shell. A rumble emitted from the blades as they began to spin, starting slowly at first, before they slowly began to pick up speed. The drills buzzed loudly as they finally bit into the wall in places next to each other, before gouging themselves deeper inside, sinking through like a hot blade against clay. Then, as the drill heads met fresh air, and small pieces to flew out from the wall, Araerasco slowly pulled them apart, steadily carving out a hole in the wall. An exit gradually began to take form as the cut in the wall began to get wider, letting in more outside air.
The drills had just touched the floor, finishing the cut, when the cut-out section began to shake. A groan sounded off as the wall began to fall outward, sending bits of debris falling to the ground below, but an arm shot out moments before it tumbled over the edge. Hastily reeling it back in, the moment it was fully over solid ground again, Araerasco flung it over to the side, causing it to crash against the floor with a loud clatter. The armadillo paused for a moment, eyes set on the piece of wall, before he snapped his head back over to the opening, remembering the task at hand.
Araerasco, with the rabbit clutched in his jaws, finally emerged from the building. They were weary and burnt all over. Araerasco looked especially ragged, with scorch marks that streaked down his side and sweat pouring out from underneath his scales and armor. But at least they were alive.
On the ground, the crowd of monsters huddled underneath burst into cheers. Araerasco stepped forward to escape the confines of the building, but he met solid resistance from the side. In his rush, he had not made his opening wide enough for him to fully pass through.
Araerasco attempted to speak, but his voice was drowned out by the murmurers of the crowd. His attempt was not completely futile, as someone down below had noticed his attempt to speak.
"Quiet!" A voice called out from the crowd. "Silence! The counselor speaks!"
At this, the other voices quieted down, until all that was left was a quiet murmur. As soon as the air was void of sound, save for the crackling of the flames beneath, Araerasco spoke again. "Could someone please come over so I can relieve my jaws of this burden?"
A soft whisper flowed through the crowd again. This time, a taller rabbit monster stepped out of the crowd. She rushed over to the foot of the building, arms outstretched as if to assure him that she could make the catch. With a sigh of relief, Araerasco let go of the child, dropping the baby into her mother's waiting arms. His eyes never left the child, watching her fall to the ground, before safely landing in her mother's outstretched arms. The rabbit monster looked back at the armadillo monster, who gave a sigh of relief, knowing that the child was safe again.
His eyes wandered back to walls at his side. Taking a step back, the drills at his sides sputtered to a start. He stepped back to give himself more room, keeping mindful of the objects behind him. The drills at his sides began to go faster and faster as they inched closer to the surface. Sweat began to pour from cracks in his armor as the fire grew more intense. A low rumble came from below, and the floor shook. Araerasco froze in fear. Then, underneath him, something snapped, and the building came tumbling down.
The floor caved in below the armadillo monster. He scrabbled against the floor, but was unable to stop himself from sliding away from the exit. He watched the gaping hole in the wall grow smaller, escape nothing but a distant fantasy now. The walls collapsed around him, flames tearing through the rubble and scorching him all over. As if the flames from afar weren't hot enough, now that they were licking at his sides the only way he could describe the feeling was... pain. The fact that large chunks of wood and metal were hailing down on him, ramming into his worn shell, crushing him underneath their weight.
Being one of the king's more intellectual men, he had plenty of memories of conversations he had with other monsters of similar intellectual power. Of those conversations, now mostly faded and dry, he remembered a philosopher once asked him what it would be like to have death be something one so desperately desired. At that moment, Araerasco could not answer the question, as since he was an architect, not a member of the army, he could not imagine what kind of thought process would evoke such a desire. Now, as he was being pressed under the weight of what must have been a few hundred, or even thousands of tons, as his sides felt contact with tongues that felt soft, but left a blossoming feeling of being crushed from the inside, he had a solid answer to that question. He was suffering terribly. The blissful sleep of death would make it all go away.
He had remembered that Alow had once said to him that he could be surrounded with the best security technology the lab had to offer, and he still would feel unsafe, but inside one of his own creations, he would be completely at ease, even if the creation had only taken a few minutes to construct. Whenever he chided someone for being too trusting of their surroundings, Alow would always joke that the trust he had in his own constructions could get him killed as well. As it turns out, the scientist was right. He had expected the building to hold out longer, simply because it was his own, and now he would die for his mistake. That was the last thought that entered his mind.
Terrified citizens watched as the building that had once towered over them crumbled to the ground, with the armadillo monster still inside. Dust was stirred up into large clouds that blanketed over the landscape. As the clouds began to settle to the ground, monsters turned to look back at the rubble. They watched for any sign that the councilor was still alive. A minute passed by. Then another. The pile of rubble barely even gave the slightest twitch. Eventually, they began to realize that to wait was futile, and one by one, they began to turn their backs to the fallen building. Slowly, they filed out of the area, to the land beyond, conversing quietly with each other. But the rabbit girl never looked away. Her curious eyes never left the rubble until it was no longer in sight. She knew that something important had just happened. Her childish mind just could not process why everyone seemed so upset. As the fallen construct disappeared from sight, the thought gradually faded from her mind, but somewhere in the back of her head, it had left a nagging doubt about her world.
She awoke to the sight of her mother kneeling over her, with snow in her fur. The rabbit girl groaned, clutching her aching head as the world spun around her. As her head began to clear, and the word came into focus, she realized her mother had been speaking to her.
"-alright! I was so worried about you!"
At first, the rabbit girl just stared back. Slowly sitting up, she blinked as the fog in her mind slowly lifted out of her mind, the fire behind her warming her backside, and the first words that spilled from her mouth were: "Who was he? The monster who saved me from the fire?"
The rabbit mother looked confused. "Undyne?" she asked softly.
The small girl stopped. She quickly racked her mind for a memory of such a figure, but all she could find was empty space. Suddenly, the face of a fish monster came to her, a wild grin plastered on the fish woman's face. "No, not Undyne," the rabbit child replied. "The monster from the other fire. The fire from before."
Upon catching a glance at her mother's confused face, the rabbit girl was filled with disappointment.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about," the rabbit mother said. "This is the only fire we've had in the inn."
"No, not a fire at the inn," the girl muttered. "It was a fire somewhere else." Her eyes flitted around, searching for something she could use to jog her mother's memory. Then, she stopped, for off in the distance, she saw the shadow of a large mountain looming overhead. Slowly, she lifted her finger to the direction of the mountain looming overhead.
"There," the child said, excitement building up in her voice. "That's where the fire was."
The rabbit innkeeper glanced over her shoulder and caught sight of what her daughter was pointing at. "Shadow Mountain? I don't think we've ever been there."
Her daughter deflated, all the excitement blowing out of her like a leaking balloon. Taking notice of this, her mother hastily added, "Can you describe him to me? Maybe that will help me remember."
The girl brightened instantly. "Well, he was big and yellow, and crawled on the ground with four paws, though I think he might have had an extra pair of paws."
The rabbit woman pondered this for a moment. "Maybe it was Monster Kid's father," she said.
"No!" the rabbit girl huffed. "They only have four paws. I'm sure this monster had six. Besides, he also had pointy ears and a long snout, with red scales on the edges of the giant shell on his back, and he had eyes that were yellow like... like..." the little girl paused as she attempted to find the right word to complete the simile. "Like cheese! That's it!"
Her mother's expression morphed back into a confused one. "I'm sorry, I don't think such a monster ever lived in the Underground."
The sound of snow crunching underneath metal prompted both rabbits to glance over to the side. A tall figure in a suit of armor approached the two rabbit monsters, a long red ponytail trailing behind her, and a serious expression taking the place of a toothy grin on her face.
"Is your little girl alright?" Undyne asked the rabbit woman kneeling on the ground, her single eye giving off a searching look.
The rabbit innkeeper hastily got to her feet, brushing off the chunks off snow that lay on her dress. "She is doing well," she said, prompting a nod from the captain of the Royal Guard.
"That's good to hear," Undyne replied gruffly. She turned to leave, but the rabbit woman stopped her.
"Wait!" she called out. The fish monster turned back around, giving her an inquisitive look.
"What is it?"
The mother motioned towards her child sitting in the snow. "My child here says that she remembers a monster who had once saved her from a fire, but I can't seem to remember them at all."
Undyne raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Could you describe this monster to me?"
"Well," the rabbit woman explained, "he apparently had pointy ears and a long snout, along with a large shell on his back. He also happened to have a coloration of yellow and red, along with yellow eyes."
"And six paws!" the child added from below.
"And six paws," the innkeeper repeated. Undyne's eyes went over to the side as she dug deep into her mind, attempting to find any memories she had of such a monster.
"I'm sorry," Undyne said apologetically. "I can't seem to recall anyone like that."
Again, the rabbit girl's eyes were filled with disappointment. The snow crunched beside her again as the captain of the Royal Guard knelt down. Then, she said, "Look; I read in the lab that sometimes, we mistake dreams for reality, so the monster you might have thought you remembered might actually have been a dream."
"But it wasn't a dream!" the girl protested. "It felt so real, I could..." Her face became downcast as she trailed off, thinking that no one would believe her.
"I'm sorry dear," her mother said, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Hey, why don't we go next door and see if your auntie has any hot chocolate. Maybe that would cheer you up."
"Alright," the rabbit girl replied in a sullen tone. Slowly getting to her feet, she watched as her mother took the first few steps towards the purple rabbit standing in front of the store next door. She turned back, and watched as Undyne barked orders at the Royal Guardsmen desperately attempting to fight back the flames. Her eyes wandered to the location of the fire, and at once her mind was brought back to the monster she faintly remembered. Her mind lingered for a moment, before she shook it off. Perhaps it was all just a dream, as Undyne had said. As she turned back around to follow her mother, however, she couldn't quite shake off the ghost of a feeling that still hung around in the back of her mind.
"...Will the spell affect our aging process?"
"This question has been the first you have asked me whenever you approach me in hopes of gaining my aid in a situation that requires the use of magic. Why is this so?"
"I simply concerned for the wellbeing of my dear friends."
"Or perhaps you are more concerned about accidentally interrupting the regularity of their daily lives, to create a drastic shift in what is considered normal."
"...Perhaps..."
"I do not believe so. The spell mostly affects the mind. The most impact it would have on the age of the denizens of the Underground would be temporary blocking the aging delay effects of the crystals, but it would only last for a few seconds before everyone reverts back to their normal varied aging rates. The possibility of this occurring is also extremely low, so I would not worry about this at all."