Here it is. I'd like to apologize for the delay in the chapter and for not properly updating the story status. Real Life time constraints have hindered my progress immensely, so I apologize beforehand if this chapter is not particularly good compared to others.
Now that most assignments are over, I can focus more on my story once again. I apologize for the delay and I hope you can enjoy it nevertheless
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN UNDERTALE OR IT'S CHARACTERS.
Toriel rushed as fast as she could, while Sans was lagging behind, although he was surely uneasy about the outcome. An anxious boss monster mother was not something to be trifled with. Bad feeling or not, he could not let that carry on, not after sensing Papyrus preparing his special attack.
'he never even managed to use it before... what could have possibly happened that all of a sudden he feels the need to use the 'bonetrousle'?'
"HURRY SANS! FRISK MIGHT BE IN DANGER!" Shouted Toriel, desperate enough to the point that she didn't care that everyone was looking at her. It was obvious, given how tall she was in comparison to other monsters. For her luck, none of the monsters recognized her or the ones that did were too intimidated by the tall sprinting figure to even consider stopping her.
"i'm coming! ... geez pap, what's going on over there...?" Sans replied, muttering the last part as they were finally reaching the outskirts of town. Toriel was still sprinting, when Sans blocked Toriel's path coming from beneath the trees.
"Sans? How did yo-" Was all Toriel could say before Sans shushed her and dragged her to between the woods so they wouldn't get too close to Frisk and Papyrus battle.
"Sans, I understand your concern, but Frisk needs me and I'm not going to let you interrupt m-!" Toriel was interrupted by Frisk's scream. As she saw Papyrus' special attack, Toriel then rushed ahead, as Sans stared a bit and sighed and inwardly cringed on the possible outcomes.
Toriel, however, stopped when she saw Papyrus coming over to the crying child and consoling him.
"HUMAN...? WHAT'S WRONG? DO NOT WORRY! YOU ARE WITH THE GREAT PAPYRUS! YOU'RE SAFE FROM HARM!" Papyrus spoke as he approached Frisk.
Toriel was about to burst in, but she felt a skeleton hand holding her. As she looked back, Sans pleaded with his eyes for her to not intervene. Despite knowing pretty well what he was asking for, she for once wanted to feign ignorance just for the sake of going to see how Frisk was. For her misfortune, despite being incredibly worried, she knew that Sans was trustworthy, so she retreated a bit further into the woods to not be seen.
Toriel and Sans eavesdropped on Papyrus and Frisk for a bit, listening to Papyrus' enthusiasm as he tries to cheer Frisk up. Toriel was a bit skeptical at first, but shortly after, she was thoroughly impressed on how supportive he was. Above that, she was even glad how Papyrus turned out to be.
"Your brother Papyrus is really good caretaker, Sans..." Toriel said as she allowed herself a meek smile.
"wha? thank you, but the kid is still crying. what do you mean with-"
"Sans, I know Frisk is still crying. Still, his cry is different, now. While he is still in sorrow, he is no longer keeping it inside, instead he's just letting it out, seeking comfort in a new friend..." She continued. "I know a mother won't always hear everything a child has to say, but I'm just glad Papyrus is willing to help on whatever Frisk may not tell me. And for that I'm grateful."
"toriel... thanks for trusting my brother." Sans allowed a small sense of relief, as they continued to eavesdrop.
"... SANS WAS BEING EVEN LAZIER THAN USUAL. I COULDN'T STAND IT..."
Sans shivered a bit at the triggered memories from what papyrus just said. Toriel sensed something, but didn't immediately understand what happened.
"... I WAS SHOUTING AND HE WAS SHRUGGING IT NONCHALANTLY WITH HIS PUNS AS USUAL, BUT... I PUSHED HIM OFF TOO MUCH..." Papyrus smile was visibly weaker. Even though they were slightly distant, they noticed his demotivated stance and tone.
"oh, pap... I already forgave you..." Sans whispered to himself. Toriel put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you all right, Sans?" She asked full of concern. Sans looked at her, now aware that he looked sorrowful, quickly shifting back his attention to his brother's dialogue.
"... I NEVER SAW HIM LOOK LIKE THAT BEFORE. HE WAS UPSET, BUT NEVER HAVE I SEEN HIM STAY THAT MUCH. I DON'T SUPPORT HIS LAZINESS, BUT I'LL NEVER PUSH HIM AGAIN WHEN HE NEEDS A BREAK... IT MAKES IT HARDER FOR CHECKING IF HE IS LAZY, BUT I CAN TELL HE APPRECIATES IT, EVEN IF HE DOES NOT MENTION IT." Papyrus said, as Frisk was still observing him with his squinted and swollen eyes.
Sans, observing the scene, sighed and just looked back at Toriel, who was still concerned. "i'll be ok. thanks, tori." Sans replied with a slightly more confident looking expression, as he averted his gaze back to his skeleton brother and the child in front of him, Toriel quickly following his action.
"i love papyrus a lot."Sans said all of a sudden, causing Toriel to turn to him again. "he is probably the most innocent and kind living being to ever exist. and he seems to be growing up. he's just really amazing." Sans said, as a sigh followed it, they both listening to papyrus speech on his motivations to joining the royal guard.
"... MOREOVER... I HAVE THE BEST INCENTIVE OF THEM ALL TO DO SO..." Papyrus said in the distance. "MY BROTHER SANS."
Upon hearing those words, Sans gaze went from pride to sheer confusion. 'what...?' was all rational thought he could gather. Toriel sensed his confusion, but decided against doing anything, as she herself did not understand what was going on.
"MY BROTHER IS... NOT VERY ENTHUSIASTIC... HE IS LAZY AND IS ALWAYS CRACKING JOKES WITH A SMILE, BUT... I KNOW HE ISN'T ALL RIGHT..." Papyrus continued, as Sans breathing seemingly stopped.
"HE IS REALLY GOOD PLAYING IT OFF, BUT WE'RE BROTHERS! AND I AM THE BEST BROTHER IN THE WORLD, SO OF COURSE I WOULD NOTICE! ... HE NEVER EXPLAINED WHY, SO IT MADE IT NEAR IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE HIM FEEL BETTER WITH HIS OWN PROBLEMS."
"he knows...?" Sans muttered in silence, voice filled with worry.
Papyrus struck a pose, full of pride. "SO, I DECIDED TO MAKE THE BEST THING ONLY A BROTHER AS GREAT AS I COULD EVER DO! I WOULD BECOME THE LIVING PROOF THAT YOU CAN DO ANYTHING IF YOU REALLY REALLY TRY! I THOUGHT THAT MAYBE, IF I ACHIEVED SOMETHING LIKE THIS, HE'D TRY A LITTLE HARDER FOR HIS OWN. THAT'S WHY I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL BE A ROYAL GUARD! FOR ALL THE MONSTERS, FOR MY OWN RECOGNITION, AND ABOVE ALL ELSE, FOR THE LOVE FOR MY BROTHER, I WILL DO IT OR ELSE I'M NOT PAPYRUS, THE SKELETON! NYEH HEH HEH!"
Sans was visibly shaken. Eye-sockets completely black and completely motionless, Sans worried Toriel with his static stance.
"Sans... Can I help you in some way...?" Toriel's voice was meek. She knew that there was a lot that Sans was hiding, but wasn't close enough to pry into his problems. "Maybe I could-"
"perhaps it's better if you went ahead and talked to frisk. he needs you, doesn't he? i'll be back for dinner..." Sans interrupted. Toriel flinched a bit from the abrupt comment asking her to leave, but she understood his desire for privacy. Taking a deep breath and warming up a bit, she ran towards the fallen child.
"FRISK! My child, are you okay?" Toriel shouted as she approached Papyrus and Frisk, hugging the child as Papyrus got infuriated for being interrupted once again.
Sans was in complete shock. Not only Toriel now knows he's not well, but she overheard it from Papyrus, the one person that Sans wanted to make sure everything was fine. Instead, he was the one that was the most worried. Moreover, working hard for Sans' sake.
Toriel, Papyrus and Frisk were talking and laughing together, but their words merely echoed without any meaning to the mortified hooded skeleton. They went ahead, while Sans just stared blankly where they were, absorbed in thought.
"pap..." Sans whispered, before shaking his head and staring ahead. "thanks, bro..." He started talking alone, as he looked at Waterfall with a hollow expression, something forming in his mind. "guess i'll have to make sure my precious brother's effort don't go to waste, won't i?" Sans said, before slowly walking towards the mist.
"time to visit my undesirable 'friend'." Sans said, vanishing in the fog.
She had just woken up. Not yet accustomed to the place, she sat on the bed slowly, cautiously absorbing the scenario. The room was just like it was before she took a nap: Dark blue colored, with some plain, yet charming furniture, the drapes were drawn in order to block any light that may be reflected from the sparkly gems in the ceiling, since despite the underground not having sunlight, it was awfully disturbing if you were trying to sleep.
After taking in her location, she stepped off her bed, only to shortly recoil after touching the cold floor bare-feet. Looking around, she stretched her tiny legs, putting on her fluffy pink slippers. Still rubbing her eyes, she went downstairs only to find Shyren cleaning the house, with no sign of her "body". She was humming softly a song she has never heard. Being tone deaf, Shyren's singing was not the best, but no one could take away the passion she put whenever she sang.
"Hello!" The little girl greeted as she grew more awake. Startled from being heard singing, she quickly shut up and just waved shyly back at her.
" ...ave a ...ice ..ap?" Shyren's voice was nothing more but a soft whisper, almost inaudible.
"What didju say? Speek loud!" The no longer sleepy girl got excited and prompted shyren to speak louder.
"... Did you have a nice nap...?" Shyren fidgeted a bit before repeating her sentence, although just barely loud enough to be heard.
"Yeh! I dweamed that I was a buttewfly!" The little girl replied, mimicking the motions of a said insect, although Shyren had no idea of what animal she was talking about, as there were not many insects in the Underground, specially the surface dwellers. Regardless, Shyren felt no need to call her out on it, as it would only remind her that she was away from her real home.
"That's wonderful..." Shyren said, floating around a bit closer and patting her long silky hair. The little girl hummed as she let herself be pampered by the blue haired floating fish. Claire looked at the scene and wondered how neither sides actually found strange how contrasting each other's species and situations were. 'guess they are too naive to fully understand how unnatural this situation is.' Claire shrugged as she went back to the kitchen to bring her baked goods.
"Hey guys, snack is ready!" Claire chimed in the kitchen, causing both Shyren and the small human to turn their attention to the source of the new-found smell.
"...bread-rolls..." Shyren whispered as she happily floated away to the kitchen. The infant also followed her in a hastened pace, almost stumbling over her own legs, but fortunately not tripping at any moment.
They approached the kitchen. As the cheerful clam woman took the baked goods and some jam, she served them on the table. Among the snacks, there were bread-rolls, cornbread and a croissant look alike, despite being blue. Claire took out of the oven a burnt pastry, frowning in disappointment. Shyren meekly looked away while the kid just flat out covered her mouth, expressing her aversion to Claire's final meal.
"I'm sorry! I'm not good at making sweets!" Claire apologized, closing her shell in rage. "mph mmmmmph humph!" She yelled, although being muffled by her own shell made the young child to tilt her head in confusion. Shyren floated above Claire and rested on her head, softly patting it with her fins. "Don't say that... You're really good at baking... You just need more practice and you'll be able to make wonderful sweets..." Shyren consoled her, as Claire was still shut from embarrassment and frustration.
The little girl approached her and hugged Claire, attempting to comfort her. She opened up her shell and was greeted by a mildly concerned facing an innocent smiling expression with eyes covered through her bangs. Upon seeing that, She couldn't help but smile back. "...Thank you, darling. You're too sweet, did you know that? A lot sweeter than my apple pie, at least." Claire said, bopping her nose, causing the girl to giggle and ask to be carried. She complied and picked the child in her arms. 'It'd be nice to live like this. Sure, it's far from perfect, but at least, for now, I can picture us living together as we are. Me, Shyren and S-'
Claire's thoughts were interrupted by the loud stomping of metal armor. Upon hearing it, she quickly, yet still carefully placed the child back on the floor. "Shyren, take her back to her room."
Nodding, Shyren gently nudged the now confused kid back upstairs. Strong knocking almost takes down the door. Sighing, Claire opens the door and is greeted with a tall, imposing figure. It was fully armored, with a strong aura of determination and a strong sense of justice. The only thing that could identify this armored soldier from the others was the noticeable red ponytail coming from the helm. A raspy and intense sounding voice echoed from the armor.
"HEY! Claire! Still living with Shyren, I see. How have you been?" The armored figure said, removed the helm and revealing her fish like features, the most noticeable ones being her blue skin, scales and her razor sharp teeth.
"Hi Undyne. I'm fine, thank you." Greeted Claire, holding in her frustration. As much as she liked Undyne, she didn't want her to be there, not right now, when SHE could be found out. "What brings you here?"
"Nothing much." Undyne replied with her usual smile, before approaching and whispering to Claire. "Hey, did you see anyone suspicious or... 'different'... around here?"
Claire knew immediately what Undyne was talking about. "No, I did not. Why are you asking though? Did you find any new leads?" She asked, hoping to avert Undyne's attention from her house.
"Yes, actually." Undyne closed her fist and pumped it angrily. "I received an anonymous letter of a witness claiming that they found out of a human here in the underground. Worse yet, that they have been hiding for almost two months!" Undyne grumbled a bit, before taking out the letter to show her. "According to it, they assumed that they had seen a human days ago, but could not confirm. Seems like they were scared of being charged of false claim..." Undyne sighed, before growing fierce again. "Those humans... I'll PERSONALLY end them and deliver their SOUL to Asgore. Then... All monsters will be free!" Undyne said, becoming incredibly flared up, as Claire tried to hide her distress.
"You look worried, Claire." Undyne said, making Claire flinch at her words, afraid of being exposed. "I see... You oughta be worried about 'what if I can't find the human?'." Claire slowly breathed out, not to look too tense, as she felt relief on Undyne not being able to pick up on her subtleties. "Don't worry, C. I know they probably were well hidden, given how long they have been for now, but today I lost contact with the Dog units, when no one reported in Snowdin, so I have all the reasons to believe that the human is coming to waterfall, given that the RUINS are sealed since forever." Undyne said a bit grief struck, but growing more passionate by the second. "So I'll get 'em! I'll make them pay for what they did!" She then calmed down a bit and looked away. "And talking about that..." Undyne put her helm on. "I have to hurry up so I don't miss my opportunities to ambush them at the choke-points. See ya!" Undyne waved goodbye before sprinting ahead, despite the obviously bulky armor.
Claire finally started to relax as the tension had ended. Before going inside, she was met with a golden flower popping up.
"Claire! You have NO IDEA how close that was! How did you-"
"The girl... she's human, right?" She interrupted Flowey's sentence, staggering his already poor stance.
Flowey did not reply, only looking away from her. He did not take in account that Undyne would go asking all citizens of waterfall if anyone had seen a human, let alone that the first one she'd visit would be the one monster he entrusted to look after his "insurance". Now he'd have to take in account what Claire would do, which was incredibly hard. Through what felt like one million resets, seldom he met her, so even after resetting enough times to lose count, he could not accurately predict her and her changes in the world. He barely understood HOW she did all that.
"I won't ask the specific reason for why it should be ME the one who look after her." Claire said, while Flowey was still looking away. "You obviously were not expecting that I'd know what a human looks like, that much was given. However, I still need to thank you for it." She continued, causing Flowey to look at her in confusion. "You probably care for this girl, so looked for someone who'd not give her to the royal guard. Thank you for trusting me in this task." Claire smiled as her eyes glimmered a bit. Flowey flinched upon hearing those words, but faked a smile nevertheless.
"You're welcome, Claire. I still wonder though... why do you look after her? I know it's a child, but it's a HUMAN child." He asked. Claire lifted her eyebrow, questioning, prompting him to continue.
"I mean, I'm extremely grateful, as anyone else would have turned her in and that would be too horrible to my poor heart..." Flowey faked being teary eyed as he crafted his pseudo emotional dialogue.
Claire thought for a while before replying. "I think... it has to do with the fact that I don't care who or what they are. I just want everyone to be happy!" Claire said. Flowey stared at her blankly for a few seconds, registering what she just said.
"That's wonderful! You really are kind hearted! I'm glad I made the right choice in asking you. Well, Claire... I have to go now. I have other affairs to look into. Good bye!"
"Bye bye, Flowey!" Claire waved slowly as Flowey buried himself beneath the earth again.
A couple of rooms ahead, Flowey popped up again. "CARING FOR HER? DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH! WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT? HOW DOES SHE KNOWS ABOUT HUMANS? Argh!" Flowey looked from one side to another, as being a flower would limit him in the capacity of walking from one side to the other. "Seems like Undyne has a bond with Claire, just enough to change the course of action. I should be more careful when leaving hints to other monsters, else they might become too unpredictable... I need to know HOW to stop the brat... I wonder what should I-"
"there you are." A calm, deep voice called him.
Flowey's train of thought was broken when he was nearly plucked off the ground. The surprise of it made him yell, gripping to the earth as hard as his roots possibly could, afraid of what just happened.
"WHAT THE HELL!? WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Flowey shouted desperate.
"sheesh, pipe down, weed. you're making a much bigger fuss than i expected."
Flowey was still struggling, but he calmed down a bit when he finally recognized the voice. He slowly turned around to face the blue coated skeleton holding him
"Er... who are yo-?"
"cut the act, 'sunshine'. there is no one else around and we both know that both of us still remember what happened last reset."
Flowey cringed a little at being reminded of it, sighing afterwards, trying to relax. "Ok, Sans, you win. What do you want? I didn't do anything about THAT, if that's why you're here." Flowey now looked not startled, but just angry. "I wasn't stupid enough to mess with you back there and I value my life, as odd as it seems. I get it, you don't want to risk messing things up anymore." Flowey frowned and turned away.
Sans closed his eyes for a second before looking at the golden flower in his hand. "good to see you know not to mess with me. now, i need your help precisely to change everything."
Flowey looked back in disbelief and extreme confusion. "WHAT? AFTER ALL THE THREATENING? AFTER YOU NEARLY MURDERING ME OVER EVEN TRYING TO DO SOMETHING, NOW YOU WANT MY HELP? YOU HYPOCRITICAL TRASH BA-" Flowey lashed on, but was quickly pulled much stronger than before.
"i know what i said and i know why i said it." Sans eyes were pitch black and his tone was serious. Flowey began cowering in his hand. "i stopped you before because you wanted to be an irresponsible and emotive little flower that wants to do whatever it wants and believe that it is above everyone else, while that guy has way too much power over here." Sans retaliated, while Flowey hid himself in fear and mild embarassment. " don't get me wrong, i'm not here begging you for help. i don't even need your help. you have reached near god like levels of power and yet i stopped you every single time. i'm not calling you because 'i can't do it without you', i'm here telling you to either help or don't get in my way. don't be so entitled just because you once you could reset so you could experiment everything until you found the right answer. sometimes one chance is all you get, so you can't mess up. do you understand now why i told you to stop acting like a spoilt rotten weed?"
Flowey was horrified, slowly nodding. "W-well, w-what should we do then?" Flowey said, trying to look confident again, cursing himself for stuttering. His morale with Sans grew lower and lower each encounter.
"well, this time, we are not going to just rebel like a bunch of immature kids and ask the first stranger for help." Sans said with a scowl, despite still being smiling, which only unnerved Flowey even more. "this time, we are going to think through our actions more carefully and go straight to him." He finished with a smirk.
Flowey's jaw had dropped, completely stunned with the idea. "WHAT? OK, THAT'S IT. ALL THAT POWER DROVE YOU INSANE!" Flowey shouted without restraint, struggling once again in the bony hand that held him in his place. "YOU WANT TO TRY TAKING DOWN THE ONE THAT CONTROLS THIS PLACE? Have you really lost whatever was left of your mind?"
Sans shrugged at the insults and the shouting. "listen up, flowey. there is a reason why you never beat me. it's because this lazy bag of bones is much better than you at facing things much stronger than me." Sans replied nonchalantly, making Flowey sulk a bit. "we'll do it like this..."
"WHERE IS SANS? THE SPAGHETTI IS GOING TO GET COLD!" Papyrus shouted, displeased at his brother's absence. Meanwhile, cold plates of unedible spaghetti were placed around the table, while Frisk stared at it in fear and Toriel smiled, while also fearing for their health.
