A ghost. It was a ghost.
"What?" I hear Frisk saying impatiently as she looked at the ghost. She was looking for a way around the ghost without disturbing it, but there appeared to be no other way.
"You know that ghosts don't sleep, right?" I say, crossing our arms as I glared down at the ghost - who was still repeatedly saying 'z' outloud. "Honestly, they're ghosts. They don't need to sleep. Or really do it at all. Don't you know this?"
"We… don't exactly get many ghosts from where I come from."
"... Right." I mutter, groaning inwardly. Yeah. I had forgotten. Humans… didn't have ghosts. At least not really. Unless you counted me. And I didn't want to think of myself as the only human ghost in existence. Or… non-existence? Was that even the right word for what I was?
"Can you sleep then?" It was a genuine question - and it was like Frisk had been follow my train of thought exactly.
"I sure as heck hope so. I mean… I guess I go to sleep when you do? We're kind of sharing a body now after all." I point out, before reaching out to poke the ghost. "And c'mon, we gotta get through here somewhere. And trust me, this is the only pathway to the rest of the ruins."
Immediately, the ghost floated off of the ground, before simply staring at us. Was… it gonna attack us? Or what?
"Hey! You're cute for a ghost!" Frisk says, and I feel our cheeks ignite at my indignation that those words were coming out my mouth. Technically, it wasn't my mouth. But for the time being, we were sharing. "Was flirting really the best option here?" I ask, rather exasperated at Frisk's choice of action.
"Hey, it could totally work!"
A second later, this proved to be quite the wrong prediction as now, we were a lot more battered than we were when we came into the fight. "How 'bout instead of flirting, we could try and cheer?"
"Fine… but that isn't as much fun." Frisk huffs, before speaking out loud to the ghost. "Aw, come on! You're fine! Honestly, you're the friendliest ghost I've ever met!" She said, winking at the end to emphasise her point.
A groan escapes my mouth, as I fight the urge to simply let Napstablook go back to 'napping'… and bang our head on the nearest wall. "Why do I feel that comment was directed at me?"
"Not feeling up to it right now… sorry."
"Aw, come on! You're pretty amazing for not attacking me right now!"
"Cause apparently every monster in the Underground wants to kill us. Yay!" If I could without looking weird, I would have clapped for myself.
"Let me try…"
I watch, flinching for a moment when I see Napstablook's tears again… but then went… upward? The confusion was clear in my eyes at his intention. Just what was this ghost playing at?
"I call it…. 'Dapper blook.'" At that, I couldn't help but laughing out loud. It was a bad pun - not the worst I've heard, but still, it was pretty silly compared to many others that I have heard. "Do you like it?"
"I love it!" I exclaim, still holding back whatever giggles were making my way through my system. It had been so long since I had heard a joke, that even if it wasn't as funny as I thought it was, I was gonna laugh at it anyway. Plus, the hat he made was pretty stylish to be honest. At least in my opinion.
"Oh gee… I usually come to the ruins because there's nobody around… but today I met somebody nice… oh I'm rambling again. I'll get out of your way."
Without another word, Napstablook disappeared into thin air.
"Well that was interesting." I said outloud, raising one hand to scratch the back of our head awkwardly.
"... Could you disappear like that?"
"No!"
"Seriously?"
I stared at the tiny webs in the corner of the otherwise empty room. "An actual bake sale from spiders? I thought that the sign was joking…" I murmur raising one hand to scratch the back of my head, as stared at the webs, bemused.
"Well, we're going to buy some, right?" Frisk kneels down, placing a few coins into the webbing. For a moment, nothing happened, Then, I nearly jumped in surprise when some spiders crawled down, and gathered up the coins, before placing a small donut in return.
Tentatively, I picked up the donut before giving it a small sniff. "It smells like spiders also." I comment, before stuffing it in our pocket.
"Let's just hope it doesn't taste like spiders also." Frisk said shuddering slightly before we moved on.
After a number of puzzles - which I didn't understand why they weren't solved anyway, considering mom had been through here only a little while ago.
Speaking of… what the heck was she doing here? It didn't make any sense. She said she came by the place where I had fallen everyday - but that was an impossible length from home. Things just weren't adding up right?b
"Is something still bothering you?"
I blink in surprise at the question, before realizing that Frisk must have sensed my confusion and uncertainty Considering the strange link we had between us, I really shouldn't have been as surprised as I was.
"Kind of." I relent a little, knowing that she hadn't meant harm by asking me. "It's just… mom being here doesn't make sense."
"It doesn't?" Of course Frisk wouldn't know, but it was certainly getting tedious explaining things.
"We live pretty far from here. On the other side of the underground actually. We only came here occasionally. Certainly not every day. Things… are different." I frown as we continue forward, reaching down to press a switch - yet another puzzle before gasping as the floor beneath us collapsed, sending us spinning to another room. I silently cursed myself for not paying attention.
"Well then let's ask!" With that, Frisk whipped out our phone before pressing the return call button.
"What are you going to ask? What happened to you after your daughter died?" I say sarcastically, before becoming silent as mom answered.
"Yes, my child?"
Toriel -
"Hey, can you tell me a little about yourself."
"Well… there's not more to tell. I'm just a silly old lady who worries too much!." The phone clicks off once more.
"Well that didn't help much." I stare at the phone, trying to make sense of it all. Technically mom wasn't that old - for a boss monster. Plus, she could only be a few years older at the most from when I died. She looked nearly the same as when I was alive, which meant time couldn't have passed that long. After all, they still had Asriel. That means they were gonna grow old just like a human.
"Maybe we could try another approach?" Frisk suggested, before dialing Toriel again.
"Hello! Uhm…" Frisk says, and I felt her trying to grasp at something to say. "You got anything?" Frisk asks, the desperation in her voice clear.
"I don't know! This was your idea!"
"Uh… You looked really… hot today!"
"What the he-"
"child." The phone clicked off, leaving the soft buzz of the dead line.
Oh dear… are you serious? And after you said you want to call me 'mother…' You are an… interesting child."
"..."
"... Chara?"
"... You just flirted with my mom. I think… I think I'm just gonna need some soap to wash out my mouth."
"Bu-"
"Not talking anymore! Just walking! You're now prohibited from using my phone until further notice!"
"Sorry." I could feel Frisk's internal laughter still, however.
"I swear, I'm gonna bang my head against the wall. Which means your head too." I threaten, even if I truly wasn't going to do that. Either way, Frisk stopped talking, which was a small relief in the grand scheme of things.
"A toy knife?" I finger the plastic knife, silently testing it's weight. It wasn't like my own. Not enough weight to it. And kinda useless. But better than the stick that Frisk had been carrying.
"Do we really need that?" I could feel Frisk's hesitation at seeing the knife, and the unease hidden underneath it.
"Why wouldn't we take it? We took the faded ribbon aong with Napstablook again." I pointed out, pointing at the ribbon that was now strung on our shoulders. "This shouldn't be any different."
"But… we could hurt people with this. And… You don't want to hurt anyone do you? You're not gonna follow that flower's advice are you?"
I paused from twirling the knife as I hear Frisk's voice. Did I want to kill anyone? I had never before. Sure, I has been trained to use my old knife - but I only had done that to help protect my family. That's it. Humans… they were a different story totally, in my opinion. I try to push away the gnawing thought that I had wanted to kill humans - and not just to free monsters.
But did I want to use Flowey's advice? Did I want to kill or be killed?
"... No. But I want to take it with us just in case… in case… something bad happens." I whisper, as I clutch the knife tighter. "If you're okay with that…"
Silence between the two of us once more.
"If you're wondering if I ever hurt anyone… no. But I wanted to hurt someone before. I even trained for it. But I never… " My voice cracks, as I stick the knife in our pocket. It hurt. Thinking about our plan. How it failed. It had to have. Mom was still down here. Monsters were still trapped. I had died for nothing… and possibly others also.
"Do… You want to talk about it more?" Frisk sounds cautious as they ask, as if afraid to rouse my anger. I don't know if they're right to be or not.
"No… maybe. Maybe later." Probably not. "But… I promise if there is another way, I won't fight anyone. Not even humans."
I feel the same feeling of worry and concern pop up, this time directly from Frisk…. And most of it was for me. Not even her. If I could truly mindread, I would take a guess that she was wondering why humans were on that list since I was a human myself. Yeah, that story isn't going to be told anytime soon to her. I never even told Asriel the full story.
Deciding that it was enough talking, I went back the way I came. I turned the corner to where I knew the staircase that led to the rest of the Underground led… and found… a tree. A dead tree, by the looks of it.
Suddenly, I spot Toriel, pushing buttons into the phone. Suddenly, our phone to ring in response. The surprise was immediate, as she rushed over to us.
"How did you get here? Are you alright? You got through alright?" Toriel's eyes searched us for injury. And I had to admit, we did have a few scratches here and there. After all, a bandage doesn't really protect us much. Nor does our ribbon.
But as she checked over us thoroughly, and healed us right up, I let out a small laugh, and felt the same sensation of a wetness at the corner of my eyes.
"Are you okay?" She said, her eyes only growing wider at my weird mix of laughing and the few tears that escaped my eyes. "Y-yeah." I say, reaching up to wipe the few that fell on my face - before giving a small grin. "I'm just… really used to be doted on. At least, I haven't been for a long while." My smile slips, and I quickly take my sleeve to catch any other tears that might dare to escape my eyes.
What really catches me off guard is when Frisk speaks up again. "S-Sorry for … um… flirting with you earlier. I just wanted to get to know you better… and you didn't want to tell me… so… I thought that maybe I could learn more about you in another way." A strange hiccuping sound escapes us, from the weird mix of emotions we were feeling. I hope the shock and confusion that I feel at Frisk's apology doesn't show on our face. "... C-Can I still call you mom? I… hope I didn't mess up too bad."
I see the shock of our words clear on Toriel's face. I could understand. We hadn't really talked much up to now. But suddenly, Toriel's face softens, before she envelops us in a hug. A small gasp escapes me at the sudden action, and I freeze at the sudden interaction, unsure what to do.
But, it's not only me, but Frisk also that hugs Toriel tightly in response.
"Of course you can call me mom.. If you really want to." Toriel murmured, stroking our back gently. I still felt the pinprick of tears ready to fall, but I held them back. I wasn't a cry-baby. Not like… Asriel. Where he was was is still a mystery to me. And dad. It was a strange, all very strange. But for now, I successfully pushed away all the rest of my worries, and just let myself be… happy.
It seemed too soon when Toriel finally let go, pulling back. If I wasn't mistaken, I thought I saw a glimmer in her eyes also - though I only saw it for a second, so I wasn't even sure that it was there. "Thank you…" I blinked in confusion, feeling the same emotion arise in Frisk also. "I think I needed that also…. You… remind me of someone from long before." For a moment, there was a distant look in her eyes, before the smile returned full-force on her face. "Come, my child. To see your new home!"
"New home?" Frisk echos out loud, and I feel something from her that I hadn't before - distress. But this time, I didn't understand why she felt it. Instead, my own mind was racing with my own concerns. Home? Sure this was Home but it wasn't home! Our home was in New Home! What the heck was going on here? And… had mom meant me? Had mom meant me?
As we walk around the tree, I felt my jaw drop and a small gasp escapes me. It was a perfect copy of our house.
"W-What's going on?!"