It had been a week since Umbra had 'mysteriously' been hurt, and he wasn't doing too well. They had barely gotten him to 50 HP in that time, which was still very low for the boss monster, since it was usually near the millions.
"Can...someone tell me what exactly happened to him?" Volger asked when he visited Umbra.
Asgore took a deep breath. "Well, first can you explain what exactly happened? Did you have a fight?"
"I… I don't remember what happened after he came in. Everything went black." Volger said rubbing his head.
"Worrisome…" Asgore sighed in concern. "But, if I had to guess you might have hit him when he wasn't prepared." Volgers eyes widened, staring at Umbra before he shook violently. "He's going to be fine Volger, don't worry."
Volger nodded, but the guilt in his heart only grew. Asgore went over to him and placed a comforting hand on Volger's shoulder, giving him a smile. Volger looked back to Umbra when he saw his brother wake up.
Umbra slowly sat up, looking pained to do so.
"Hey." Volger said softly. Umbra turned to Volger and flinched, seeming a bit scared that he'd be hit again.
Volger hung his head and got up, dragging his feet as he left. Umbra didn't see this, his eyes closed. "Volger, wait." Asgore called over as Toriel whispered to Umbra softly.
"He's afraid of me." Volger said sadly leaving the room.
Asgore sighed. "I'll see if I can talk to him." He said before walking after Volger.
"Umbra, honey?" Toriel said. "Are you afraid of Volger?"
"A-a little." Umbra signed. "He hit me for no reason a-and I almost died." Umbra continued shakily, almost messing up his signing.
"Can you tell me what was wrong?" She asked gently. Umbra nodded, and did so shakily. "Oh, oh dear." Toriel said, looking a little more worried.
Umbra simply nodded, looking away.
With Asgore and Volger…
"Volger, please wait a moment." Asgore called to his son.
"Please leave me alone." Volger said still walking.
"Volger please, it was a mistake." He picked up the pace. "Do not dwell on the past and look to the future."
"Umbra is afraid of me!" Volger cried. "After the last two assassination attempts me and Vanny were always there for him, and I do that!? How could he trust me again!"
"Son, I can see you are upset." Asgore started carefully. "Go, and calm down, and when you are feeling better, talk to him."
Volger walked into his room, and sat there. After what seemed like an hour or so, there was a knock on the door. "V-Volger? C-can I come in?"
"Yes Vanny." Volger said calmly, his meditation helping a little.
The doorknob then turned and Vinnia stepped in, timidly as always. "Volger, a-are you going to be ok?" She asked.
Volger looked down for what seemed like an endless amount of time, before he looked at her with tears in his eyes. "N-no." Vinnia walked up to him and gave him a hug as he cried. "I was only worried about him, and when he put the wall in the way I was hurt because I thought he didn't trust me or something. I got angry and… And when he came to see me I blacked out, I didn't mean to hurt him!" Volger cried.
Vinnia remained silent and hugged him tighter while rubbing his back. Volger slowly cried himself to sleep, leaning on Vanny for support. Vinnia easily heaved him up and placed Volger on his bed.
As she started to leave, she took one final glance at Volger. 'Kinda cute when he sleeps…' She blinked at her inner comment before shaking her head and closing the door.
The next morning, at the breakfast table…
Umbra sat at the table with his family, refusing to look up as he nibbled at the food.
"Umbra, can we talk?" Volger asked, as Vanny wouldn't look him in the eye. Not that was a easy thing to do, what with the veil always being over her eyes.
Umbra looked scared, but nodded, getting up and walking out the room, making a 'follow' gesture. Volger following him, looking nervous himself.
The two got out in the hall, Umbra turning to his brother and waiting for him to speak.
"I'm sorry about punching you, i-i-i was only worried about you, and when you put the wall in the way I was hurt because I thought you didn't trust me or something. I got angry and… And when you came to see me I blacked out, I didn't mean to hurt you…" Volger said sadly.
"I forgive you." Umbra signed after a couple moments of thinking, smiling a tiny bit at his brother. "Just please… control your anger and HATE better."
Volger smirked and signed. "And you need to think about stuff before putting up walls."
"Yeah… d-didn't really give me much time to think though." Umbra signed with a smile.
"Good point, also I was wondering if I could test a spell on you, in theory it'll bring back your voice." Volger signed.
"H-how tested is it?" Umbra asked, looking a little nervous.
"All I have to do is set my hand above your throat, if it doesn't work the most that'll happen is it'll itch a little." Volger signed.
"O-okay." Umbra signed nervously. Volger placed his hand just above Umbras throat, his hand glowing yellow along with Umbras throat indicating he was using some form of electricity magic. He removed his hand once it was done, nodding.
"Try talking." Volger smiled.
Umbra felt his vocal cords mending, helped along by the crystal around his neck, his eyes widening.
"Well?" Volger asked excitedly.
Umbra seemed to scared to speak, not wanting to risk the chance of it having not worked and crushing his hopes, but also wanting to try to show it worked.
"Come on Umbra, you'll never know unless you try, don't you want to communicate with people who don't know sign language?" Volger said encouragingly.
"Uuuuugh… uuuuugh." Umbra said, trying to talk, but the muscles memory had faded, and he couldn't quite seem to get it right.
"OK, say hi." Volger said as if talking to a child.
"Hhhhh… hhhhh…" Umbra tried, though seemed to be getting irritated, both at how Volger was talking and his inability to speak even with vocal cords. As if reacting to it, the Cleansing Crystal let out a soft glow and went unnoticed.
"Come on, it's like riding a bike." Volger said chuckling. "You saying you can't do something a five year old could do?"
Umbra huffed at this, frowning at Volger and turning his head.
"Fine act like a baby, I'm only trying to help." Volger said walking back into the dining room.
Umbra frowned, growling a tiny bit in frustration, huffing as he turned and went into the training room.
With everyone besides Umbra…
When Volger returned to the table, Vinnia was the first to ask. "H-How did it go?"
"It started out alright, then I was able to heal his throat with my magic but when I tried to help him talk he got an attitude and left." Volger said annoyed.
Asgore smiled. "Well, I'm glad everything seemed to work out."
Toriel nodded. "Umbra should be fine, the Cleansing Crystal should be working on his mood." She stated, taking a bite of food.
There was the sound of Umbras Burner going off in the training room, telling the group the crystal had a lot of work to do.
"Seriously, I felt bad enough. And I was trying to help him talk again." Volger said hanging his head on the table.
"Well, you tried your best." Asgore said, placing a hand on Volger's shoulder. "And he forgave you, didn't he?"
"I think so, but now he's pissed because of other reasons." Volger said
"True, true." Asgore replied.
"Could you please talk to him? I have a headache." Volger said.
Asgore stood up from his chair. "I will, I'll see you in but a moment." He then left the kitchen and towards the training ground. He soon arrived there, and stopped to examine the area.
There were craters and burning remains what were training dummies littered around the training area, with Umbra growling in the center, floating. The Cleansing Crystal was glowing more noticeably as a result. "Umbra?" Asgore began. " Is everything alright?"
Umbra growled a little. "Fine." He angrily signed to his father. "Working out frustration."
He nodded, again looking at the area. "Yes, well that's good." Asgore said, not looking bothered at the damage. "I'm glad that you made up with your brother, Umbra."
"Yeah… it'd be better if he didn't immediately try to help me talk again by using the most patronizing tone possible." Umbra signed, growling more.
Asgore however chuckled. "Well, you know how he get's when trying to help." He walked over and placed a hand on Umbra's shoulder. "At least he tried, right?"
"He was talking to me like I was two." Umbra signed, annoyed.
"He was probably trying to lighten the mood." Asgore replied with a smile.
"That didn't work." Umbra signed in a deadpan way… somehow.
He raised an eyebrow. "And whose fault was it to let it get to them?"
"Shouldn't of talked to me like he was patronizing me." Umbra signed simply. "C-can… you and mom help me speak again?"
"We can try." Asgore said. "We can try our best to restore your voice."
"I have the voice, I mean… like teach me how again. I can feel my vocal cords restored, they just… have no speaking muscle memory." I signed in clarification.
"Hmm, yes that can be fixed." Asgore smiled. "I'm certain of it even." Umbra smiled, hugging his father.
Umbra let go of the hug after a couple seconds, gesturing for the two to get to the others. His father nodded, before leading the way back to the dining room. The two quickly got there, Umbra walking back over and re-taking his seat. "We're back." Asgore said when we had entered and then sitting back down.
"So, how did it go?" Toriel asked. Umbra shrugged, fiddling with his food. Volger was eating, but didn't look at Umbra.
"I believe that it went well, Tory." Asgore said. Volger glanced at Umbra before getting up and leaving.
Umbra quickly followed, deciding to not let this drama play out too long. Asgore sighed as they left. "Oh dear."
Umbra teleported into Volgers path, crossing his arms.
"Apologizing won't help." Volger said walking past. Umbra growled, raising earth in his way, teleporting closer before surrounding the two.
"Apologize for you patronizing me? I appreciate you trying to help, but you could have done it like you were talking to me and not a five year old." Umbra signed.
"Then maybe you shouldn't act like a five year old." Volger said back.
"So instead of saying that like an adult, you chose to instead mock me and egg me on?" Umbra signed.
"You know what, I don't care. I tried to help and I accidentally talked to you like a five year old so fuck you." Volger said turning to leave, but was only met with wall.
"Vo… l… ger." Umbra growled, a throb of pain coming from his throat as he forced the speech. Volger blinked, before smiling happily.
"You talked!" He said.
Umbra blinked, a shocked look crossing his face before he smiled widely. Umbra tried to again, but a stab of pain went through his throat. "I think my vocal cords need a bit more exercise before I can speak much." He signed to his brother.
"Well you were mad at me, maybe if I keep getting you mad?" Volger said.
"Please don't infuriate me to make me talk, it really hurt." Umbra signed. "Let's go tell the others."
"You can, I need a nap." Volger yawned, ruffling Umbras head. "Good to have ya back little bro." He said.
"Good to be back." Umbra signed, smiling a little, before teleporting back to the others in a considerably better mood.