THE NINTH FALL - Chapter 7 "Nostalgia."
Somewhere else, some time else...
"Gabriel?" I ask to my coworker on my cell phone.
"Oh! Sorry, Quill!" I hear Gabe exasperated on the other end. "I was just telling Kass about something." I hear a bit of rustling on the other end "So do you guys want to join tonight?" He reiterates, the sound of cooking timers going off.
"I'd love to! Want us to come over early? I'm sure Charlotte would love to play with ***." I ask him as I look at my daughter playing with her dolls and cars on the carpet. "Sure! We'll see you soon!" he exclaims, as I smile, and turn off my phone. Its a big thing, the phone is, while I can form myself some dexterous arms, it is a work out, as I don't like to stress myself into a humanoid form all the time. I have to do that enough at work as is. So blobby arms it is for now.
I slither my way towards the center of our fairly spacey apartment, where our living room is. I manage to sneak up on Charlotte, and surprise her, picking her up from behind, and embracing her as she squeals, and I start to twirl her around as she giggles. She loves to play like this, and lucky for her, so do I! I'm a natural Monster jungle gym!
After a minute of being a roller coaster, I plop her down next to me on our large couch. She looks excited to see me, as I am with her. I just got back from a business trip with Gabe and Frisk all the way in Japan. What a beautiful place it was, I'd love to take Charlotte and my wife there one day. Even the people were surprisingly hospitable to us, just curious is all. Nothing like the xenophobia in the States or Russia, we all felt really uncomfortable there, picketers outside our hotel, threatened violence implied. We've declined visits to places we thought were actively dangerous to us, there's no way I'm even stepping a metaphorical foot in just about any middle eastern country. There are a lot of real fanatics there that would actively cheer for our deaths, golly...
I banish those negative thoughts from my mind, instead giving my daughter a hug. "We're going over to Gabe and Kass' for dinner tonight." I tell her, which puts a big smile on her face. "Yay!" she exclaims with glee. "Go put your good clothes on, we'll be leaving soon." I say to her as I get up, and she does too. I prepare to remind her to put her toys away, but she's already on it, filling me with some pride.
After she finishes, and rushes to her room, I start to slither my way our office. Its split between me and my wife, and shes still taking care of some work. Our apartment is quite large. My wife is a very successful business woman, already quite the entrepeneur from back in the old days when she was still a child, and nothings changed today. Starting with a successful local bakery in the monster part of the suburbs, working her way up to a spot in the busiest part of town, to being known as the best bakery in Germany, with rave reviews from all around the country. She employs monsters almost exclusively, and has been a large part in making a good name for them in New Providence. Once we pass equal rights, she plans to expand around the country, giving a foothold for Monsters to spread around Germany, and then eventually, the rest of the world. It won't be easy for her or for me, but we're a team. Other then that, she plays the stock market like a genius, and has already set up us, and multiple other less fortunate monster families for life. Monsters were a close knit community in the old days, and we don't see any reason to change that, we're all a big family of weirdo's at the end of the day, and we all share this burden.
I quietly open the door into our drab and professional office, to hear my wife arguing with someone on her phone.
"What do you mean 'we won't sell to you'!? You people were all hunky dory with me for weeks until you find out who I am, and then you have a problem with me? Who gives a damn which way my soul points, every dollar points the same way! Hello? Did you hang up on me?!" My wife finishes, looking at her phone, before throwing it across her desk in frustration, before grumbling with her many arms crossed. I manage to sneak up on her much like my daughter, and pick her up from under the arms, getting a squeal out of her too, as I embrace her with love. "Remember dear, Monsters don't have souls." I whisper to her in response to the slip of her tongue, a stupid
"Quill! Don't surprise me like that dearie!" she says softly between giggles as I tickle her through her work clothes. She turns around and gives me a hug too. "Work stuff being stressful?" I ask her quietly. "Yeah." she says. "Love you." I try to comfort her. "Love you too, my slimey half." she says back, giving me a nice smile. We talk for a few minutes about our respective works, before I remember to ask her "oh! Gabe invited us to dinner, a big one to celebrate Kyoto going well, Charlotte is coming with me, do you want to join too?" I ask her. She ponders it for a few moments. "I can't, I have too much paperwork to deal with, that deal going to to the trash bin really messed things up for me, and..." She takes a deep breath, before changing her mind. "Ahh... I need a break from work... lets go get ready." She says with a grin before we both head to our bedroom. What a pleasant surprise!
On the way through our lavishly furnished halls, I knock on Charlottes door. "Get ready sweetie! We're leaving really soon!" I say, before I hear her call back saying she'll be ready soon. I open the door to our room after that, Muffet following behind me. The rooms decorated more to her liking, purples and pinks everywhere, huge dressers filled with all sorts of hand made clothing, and a fancy and fluffy bed fit for a princess. Except she isn't a princess, shes my queen, and if it makes her happy, it makes me happy. Liking the fancy bed is just a bonus of sorts, heehee.
I fit into a more casual suit, or at least the top half of one, while my wife dresses in something that reminds me of when we met as kids. It fills me with nostalgia, and happiness seeing her like that. We met when the underground was evacuating, she was going all the way back to the ruins to get her spider friends, as they couldn't get past the cold of Snowdin by themselves. Being native to Snowdin town, it was easy for me to help her.
I remember, she had to try and bundle up to get through herself. She tripped, and couldn't get up on her own, being weighed down by all her coats and sweaters, and I found her, helped her, then heard her plea. We hit it off afterwards, being great friends for years, she got a guinea pig for testing recipes and a warm pillow, and I got a devoted friend, and then a loving spouse in return! Everybody wins! I remember when we got married almost twenty years ago, Frisk, the person we owe our meeting to, at least indirectly, was who declared us husband and wife. She ended up doing that with a lot of couples, must have been bizarre for her when she did the same for her adoptive parents too.
Speaking of that, we may see the former King and Queen tonight too, maybe some other coworkers, maybe Ezikel? I hope dinner goes alright, I know Muffet isn't the biggest fan of Gabes place, mostly because of Kassandra. I know she really likes Gabe and ***. At least... I think she does.
"My sweetheart, what do you think of ***?" I ask her out of the blue as she does her hair in the mirror. "As a person...?" She asks, slowing her grooming. "Yes." I respond. She pauses herself fully. "Thats not like you, dear, why do you ask?" she asks, looking back at me with an air of confusion, and concern.
I sigh, looking away from her. "I'm very conflicted, or concerned rather, about that child. They are capable of being sweet, and kind, but they can be... So cruel, and aggressive at times..." I say, recalling many instances of violence at their schooling. "They're only like that with other Humans though, right?" She replies, having turned around in her chair towards me. I gesture her to quiet down a bit, trying to make sure Charlotte doesn't overhear any of this.
"When it comes to violence, yes, *** only seems to get into confrontations with those who instigate trouble with them, but they'll take it too far." I whisper to her, recalling the time they got suspended for breaking a kids nose for calling them a mean name, or the time they threw a smaller kid in a dumpster for insulting their Father. Its alright to be mad about these things, but its not alright to respond with that level of elevation.
"Gabriel and Kassandra love them very much, and while they are absent from their life fairly often, they do everything to make sure their child is well taken care of, and loved, so I don't think its an issue of neglect." I continue, thinking about ***, which is something I do a lot.
"It may just be the bullying? I know that poor sweet thing takes a lot of abuse in schooling, along with our daughter. But at the end of the day, *** stands up for our precious Charlotte when no one else can. So I don't care if she gives those nasty Human kids what for." She says irritably, as I think about how often Charlotte gets picked on. She's far too soft for this world...
"I... don't *** is a mean person by nature, so maybe its due to their health conditions, maybe we should inquire about them getting therapy?" I suggest as my wife is turning back around to put the finishing touches on her look, her short hair in nice bows. "You've asked about this before, dear. *** vehemently hates anything to do with doctors or therapists." she says, as I frown. I remember when we had help to look for ***, we thought they had run away, but no, they were just hiding so they didn't have to go see their doctor. Hiding against the close side of a bathtub, clever really, if not frightening, we were all so scared.
I hear a knock on our door. "I'm ready!" my daughter exclaims, before running to the front door. My wife gets up, and we start to walk to the door together, but she stops me as I reach to open the door. I turn around, as she rubs my side with care. "Talk to ***. I know they think very highly of you, maybe even more then their own parents. Maybe if you ask them to see a therapist, they'll listen." She says softly to me, with a smile.
"Every day I remember why I fell in love with you..." I say in a stupor. "Oh hush, you say that every week." she whispers, as she opens the door I tell her "I'll have a good talk with *** once I get back from the summit. I want to be able to support them fully, not be out of town, you know?" I whisper to her as we head out. "Sounds good. Now lets go, shall we?" Yes. Lets.
"Gabriel! Quill's here!" Kassandra calls to her husband, as me and my friend watch him stumble his way to the to the front door. Gabe's place is very modest, nothing really fancy about it. Just your average suburban home, a bit of monster influence, a bit of human influence, fitting of his stature. Neither him nor his wife are very extravagant.
I hear Quill and him talk after being let in, as Charlotte drags Muffet's hand, probably to go see *** upstairs. That girl is just a bundle of happiness and good spirits, puts a grin on my face every time I see her. Reminds me of Asgore and Toriel's kid back in the day, sunshine and rainbows.
"Thanks for coming." I whisper to the guest next to me. "I've been... Very eager to find this out, and also very scared." I continue to whisper to him.
"no problem frisk. i'm interested in finding out too. not every day i get to flex my space time knowledge." Sans says to me nonchalantly, laying on Gabes nice couch like he's crashing their for the night.
Sans has been a great friend to me my entire life since meeting me. I know he was looking out for me only because of Toriel all the way back then, but I would like to believe I would have won him over regardless, well, eventually I would have. After Monsters went free, he never became an ambassador with me, but he's always been willing to lend an ear, or uh, side of his head to me? Well, he came to me with a very... Strange question, a few months after we had returned to the surface.
He asked "are you a time traveler?" And while I responded with mock confusion, I knew that question was coming. I was afraid it would. He saw through my charade, and I caved. He only said "I don't care what you do with your powers, but if you are really a friend, the person you've built yourself up to be, you won't take this away from us."
Ever since I fell into Ebott, I realized very early into my adventure, I had access to a... very strange and alien power. I knew that Sans had some knowledge relating to what he called "timelines" and the space time continuum due to some, experimentation I, or Asriel, did with these powers. Once I gave up in my underground pursuits, I used my powers to... Help, the monsters get to the surface. Things went bad quite a few times, and I reset what felt like hundreds of times, trying to make things just perfect... Or even just go right, it took over two hundred loads just to get in touch with authority, tell them I had brought mythical creatures to the surface with me, have them take me, a fourteen year old kid, seriously, then over five hundred attempts for it to end without the military getting involved and killing the entire kingdom on sight. Nothings been as difficult as that one day, not yet atleast, but still...
Its so hard.
I feel as if I have an entire race of people on my shoulders every day.
Every day my resolve is tested by people who want to see monsters die in camps, or as work as cheap laborers. They grate me to no end, they treat me like an idiot, and while my words generally make their mark, its tiring.
And for the last decade, its been only more stressful.
Because I can't reset anymore.
The crushing weight of knowing, if I mess up, even just once, I'll never have another chance. Sure, I don't think I can permanently mess things up for the Monsters any more, bar a really colossal screw up, but I still have an air of unease I won't be able to shake.
But Sans came to me the other day with a strange observation, something that gives me hope.
He took a very in depth look at the time space continuum as per the last twenty years, and aligned the date of my last reset, and noticed a very rapid string of timeline anomalies dating the month of March, 2148. That was the month that Gabriel's child was born two months premature. That baby fought for months with all sorts of machines attached to it, a losing battle said every doctor. But they won that battle. Or maybe they lost it, many times, but had the will, the determination to live...
Sans made a machine, it can sense if an individual is a time space anomaly, the results of decades of research on his, and Alphys' part. Of course, even though I can't reset any more, I still come in very strong on the machines readings. But, if little child *** comes in at all, we have a winner, and if they are the most determined individual, we'll have to act soon. We'll ask if they want to help us, help us make this world a better place for Monsters, hell, just a better place in general. *** has never shown even a shred of interest in being an ambassador, or any of the related politics, so even if they decline, its my duty to tell them about their responsibility, and make sure they don't fall for the powers trappings.
If the power does not belong to them, there is only one other person we could think it belonging to...
When Sans came to me last week, I told him about Flowey, and how he was the last one to hold my power.
"that weed? wouldn't have guessed it." Is what he said.
It took some effort, but I told him about what really happened with the barrier, something he had asked about years and years prior, but I always said "I'll tell another day."
Sans had zero clue that Flowey was the estranged prince of Monsters, it really shook him when I told him about his background, and how Alphys reincarnated him unknowingly. I had never heard Sans with any degree of sadness, but even the full tragedy of Asriel Dreemurr managed to touch his soul...
He is the first one other than me to know the full story behind everything. While there may be a day I tell Asgore and Toriel, I'll never even dream of telling Alphys. That woman took a long time to come to peace with the things she did, but she would never forgive herself for making Flowey, if she truly knew everything about him.
I free myself from my daydreaming.
"We'll worry about *** later tonight. Lets just enjoy the dinner." I whisper to the lounging skeleton next to me. "who else is coming for grub?" he responds back. I open my mouth to respond, but there's a real loud knock on the door. I see Kassandra slowly approaching the door, hand on her head as she scoffs.
"WHATS UP NERDS?" Undyne shouts with vigor, barreling through the door. Shes carrying Alphys in her arms, bridal style, while Alphy is holding Zelda in her arms much the same way, Undyne's as strong as ever. While Alphys has a look of worry about hitting her head off the ceiling, Zelda is smiling ear to ear, giggling. Kassandra simply sighs, and walks away.
I wave over to Undyne, as she makes her way over, sitting on the empty side of the couch after she lets Alphys and Zelda go. "*** and Charlotte are upstairs, want to go see them?" Alphys asks her daughter, who just runs ahead. Alphys sighs, and runs to join. Cute, that old dress still looks great on her, and Undyne looks great too. "Hows it goin Frisky and lazy bones?" she asks with a toothy smile as she gives me a hard pat on the shoulder. "Pretty good here, the Japan summit went great, they loved us there!" I tell her, giving Sans a turn to speak. "not too bad, just here for the food." He says, getting a good laugh out of the fish woman. "Papyrus couldn't make it out?" "nope, i put him to bed before i got here." "That's a shame! Woulda loved to see the bonehead!"
"didn't you just see him yesterday?" Sans looks at her with his empty eye sockets.
"Yeah, I did, but I know Zelda woulda loved to see em." Undyne says, rubbing her hand on the back of her head. "Hows the little girl doing? She looks older every time I see her! You don't though!" I try to flatter her, but I'm lying. Her young incorruptible spirit is the same, but I can see her getting older all the time, same thing with Alphys. Their daughter is the spitting image of them both combined, looks just like a shorter yellow Undyne, but with glasses and a tail, what a dork she is, just like her parents... Speaking of girls, Charlotte is a little angel, I would never thought Muffet the motherly type, let alone the type to marry such a total sweetheart like Quill, but they are really functional parents to the most precious little girl I've ever seen, almost makes me want to be a parent. Ehh, maybe not.
***, on the other hand... is problematic. Very young, but they seem to have issues, countless problems with violence, verbal harassment, stealing, and just generall being mean. I have no clue whats causing it, but I can only assume that its either their health, or their upbringing having the opposite effect it had on Gabe. Its scary to even think about... I don't want another to suffer and make suffer like what me and Asriel did. They are only eleven, that's three years younger then when I met everyone... And *** may never have those type of friends, with how seemingly antisocial they can be... Its a shame they have to go to a Human school to get a higher education, Monsters have a preschool and early grade school education center, thank you Toriel, but they have no late grade school and high school education right now. So ever since they were ten, both *** and Charlotte have been going to a fancy Human school. I know they both hate it, but their parents are adamant about them getting an education.
Undyne drags me back from my extended daydreaming. "Zelda is doing great, top marks in school, lots of friends, she has it all! Why even ask, the answer is always the same from us!" Undyne boasts. "Just being kind is all, I love keeping up with all the kids in our merry band." I respond to her, as she keeps up her larger than life smile, her pearly whites almost blinding. I wonder if Zelda will be going to a Human school too, *** and Charlotte will still be there, so she wouldn't be alone...
"Hows work?" I ask her. "Boring and uninteresting." She sighs, with a frown. While Alphys had a very easy transition to the surface, science and robotics being in demand, there wasn't much demand for a human hunting royal guard. She made good use of her stupid strength for the first few years on the surface, being incredible at labor, perfect for the construction work of the Monster suburbia once we got some area for it. But now that we don't have any space to do that? She just did odd jobs for the Monsters, just needing something to do day to day, until Zelda was born. She was a stay at home parent for years, but now that Zelda is starting to becoming independent, shes back to doing odd jobs. I've offered her spots being an ambassador, but she declined, saying that being around Humans all day may make her want to punch one.
"You know, I love Alphy and Zelda more then the world, and wouldn't trade em for anything, but... I can't help but miss the old days... Back when it felt I had purpose, back when I felt like a hero..." She whispers to me, twangs of sadness audible. "You are a hero to so many of us, don't say that Undyne." I try to comfort her, knowing where shes coming from... "yeah, so many people still look up to you, nothings really changed. even papyrus still looks up to you." Sans chimes in.
It doesn't help. "But even Papyrus has something, a calling for him. I don't feel like I have anything right now... Sorry, I don't want to be such a downer, I've just been thinking about it a lot..." She ends quietly. Papyrus runs a mechanic place for Monsters to fix up their rides, a perfect niche for him, honestly. Its something hes passionate about, something he has actual skill doing, something that Monsters need, and something completely free of Human interaction. Papyrus is much too pure and innocent for this world, but even he found a calling, and his lazy bones brother helps him manage it, giving him some purpose too.
"Hey, once equals happens, tons of labor jobs will open up again, more chances to flex those muscles!" I try to cheer her up. She puts a smile on again. "Yeah! I can't wait! Paris is gonna be the best!" She gets up, arms raised.
"Dinner's ready real soon!" I hear Gabe call out. "Perfect timing!" Undyne says through her grin.
We all get up to approach the dining room, in sight from the couch. We hear a knock on the door, Gabriel rushes from the kitchen to get it, narrowly avoiding us. He looks so goofy in his apron and chefs hat. He opens the door, revealing two late arrivals.
"Howdy!" Asgore welcomes Gabriel with a seemingly crushing hug, which he returns as best as he can. "Hello Gabriel!" Toriel says to the middle age man, giving him a hug too after Asgore frees him. "And you too Frisk!" Toriel says after they finish, as I walk over to greet both of them, getting a similarly strong bear hug. "Sorry we were late, your majesty here wanted water all his flowers before we came." She says sarcastically, pointing at him with her thumb. "Hey! They need to have dinner too!" He attempts to defend himself with a small grin. "Not as much as your wife wants dinner." She starts to walk towards the dinner table, greeting Undyne too, before asking me "how are you doing, my dear Frisk?" She gives me a hug too, much lighter then Asgore's. Shes stands just a bit taller then me, so its not all that awkward.
"Alright enough. Busy busy busy, the usual." I say, she walks with me to the table. Its adorned with all sorts of fancy foods, a mix of monster style dishes and human style dishes. I take a seat with her, memories flood back of the erased years I spent with her alone, how we did everything together. It was boring, but I was loved. "Sorry theres no snail pie." I whisper to her with a snicker, remembering the only thing I didn't like about the ruins. "Oh hush, don't tease me like that." She seems displeased.
"Toriel? Frisk? Could I get help from one of you?" Kassandra calls from the kitchen. Toriel moves to get up, but I interrupt her, saying I'll take care of it. The kitchen smells nice, the smell of delectable meats, veggies, and deserts present. Sans and Quill are helping her take more dishes to the large table, or atleast Quill is, carrying a lot of dishes, becoming a mobile platter, while Sans just takes the ketchup, typical of him. "Keep up the good work Quill, its good to see you." I say to him as I pass him. "what about me?" Sans stops and asks. "You're going to say 'I'm playing ketchup' or something like that." I predict, flashing a exaggerated pose, pointing a finger at him. "no, I wasn't, but thats pretty good." I can hear Toriel chuckling from the dining room. "Alright, whattaya need Kass?" I ask the woman. Her black hair and pale complexion match her seeming indifference to a given situation, she smiles when she sees me though.
"Frisk, you look great tonight." She says with emphasis after scanning me. "Thanks..." I say, rubbing the back of my head. I just look what I normally look like. Jeans and a blue and purple sweater, I don't wear make up when I'm not working, and my shoulder blade distance hair is nothing special. "You too." She wears an shirt emblazon with the logo of the hospital she works at, and an unremarkable pair of sweatpants. A very casual attire, but shes a very good looking woman, so she can get away with it. "So, uh... What do you need?" I ask after a moment. "Can you please just go fetch everyone else upstairs?" She asks with a smile, before going back to putting the finishing touches on a dish.
I know there are some Monsters who don't like Kass, but they just don't understand her... Kass is a woman who likes her peace and quiet, she fell in love with Gabe because he was just that, a peaceful and quiet man, but Gabe really likes his monster friends too, and he's in a line of work where those are his only real friends. Kass works as a nurse at a nearby hospital, almost sixty hours a week, sometimes more. Association with her husband means she doesn't have any friends. Its not like Kass dislikes monsters or anything either, she wouldn't have married Gabe if that was the case, and she does like some of me and Gabe's friends. She likes Toriel, Asgore, and the kids, Zelda and Charlotte, for that, I'm certain.
I proceed upstairs, and typical of a lot of homes, over the banister there are a lot of pictures of the small family here. Gabriel, Kassandra, ***, even me, Asgore and Toriel are in a few. *** doesn't look happy in any of them, just like they don't want to be in any of them. As I ascend, I have some difficulty, my old bones disagreeing with me. I can hear talking coming from ***'s room, seems like they are having an alright time in there.
***'s door is marked with a simple wood sign that bears their name, something they seem proud of. I know they enjoy their wood shop class a great deal, maybe that's something I can connect to them with?
I go to open the door, but it opens for me. "Oh! Hello Frisk my dear!~" Muffet greets me with surprise, not expecting to see me, she closes the door behind her, seemingly eager to talk to me, and I'm more then happy to humor her, giving her a hug. "Muffet! Its great to see you!" I tell her. "Always the same!" She responds, being much better at hugging then I am.
"Sit with me here for a second, tell me how things have been!" I say, delaying my one responsibility, as we sit on the top stair. She looks the same as the day I met her, she wears her age incredibly well. "Works just been a tad stressful, but I can't complain in your presence!" She ends with a small giggle. "What happened?" I ask her, having never seen her complain about her work before. "Some arrogant snob just snubbed a deal we had been negotiating for weeks, because she 'doesn't work with devils.'" She ends with air quotes, the rest of her arms crossed. "That's a shame, but speaking of something similar, will you be joining us for the Paris summit? If it works out, equal rights are gonna get passed!" I say with excitement, hoping one of my closest friends will get to join.
Back when Monsters were freed, I obviously didn't get to hang out with many other children, seeing how busy I was, and how most Humans hated my guts for too long. Muffet was one of the only kids I spent a lot of time with, because she was always very mature for being really young, having no parents of her own, hell, a lot of people didn't even know she was younger then I was. We spent tons of time together, becoming close to best friends, she was always so well read and smart, if I asked for advice about ambassador stuff, she always had a really good view on things. It was either her I spent a lot of time with, Quill, or Ezikel, and we were all a bit of a merry band, it was escape from all the stress.
She wears a small frown. "I would love too, dear, but Quill and I have a bit of an agreement." She says. "Really? What about?" I ask, wondering why. "He wouldn't ever be able to forgive himself if something happened to me, or Charlotte if we were to join him on any business. I agree with him to an extent, I know how dangerous the job is, just look what happened to Gabriel all that time ago." She says, referencing the time he nearly got killed in a hate attack. "To be fair, that was in the States over a decade ago, and we'd be in a very well guarded location, being here on united nations business." I try to convince her, but she doesn't budge. "It was a part of our vows, dearie, and its something hes absolutely adamant about, as much as I would love to join." She ends with sincerity.
"One day we'll all go together, when equal rights are passed." I say, putting my hand on one of hers. "Oh I would love to try the best pastries in the world." She says, with an air of daydreaming. "What? To feed your ego, because yours are still better?" I say with a laugh. "You know me too well! Ahuhuhu!" We yuck it up for a moment.
I sigh. "Hows Charlotte doing?" I ask her about the precious girl. "Shes the thing, that at the end of every hard day, lets me know all the pain and hardship is worth it. I know you hear it a lot, but thank you, truly, for what you do, and for what you've done already." She ends strangely.
"Whats this got to do with me?" I ask her, confused. "Because of you I met my husband, and because of you, my child will live in a world accepting of her one day." She says, her eyes closed. "You and your husband are doing just as much as I am." I tell her honestly, looking at the photos on the wall.
"We'll call it even then." She says. I'm glad she just takes the compliment, instead of insisting my work is more important, true as it may be. "Hey Muffet" I start, looking at the family photos "do you think you could help me talk with *** later? I know they really likes you." I ask her, wondering about the child. "What about?" She inquires. "Once equals get passed, I want to spend more time with them." I say, a half truth. I never confided in Muffet about my powers, I always wanted to keep our relationship innocent. The only person I've told is Sans, and thats because he pretty much already knew, same with Asgore.
The question amuses her. "You too? Quill brought up the exact same thing earlier today, talk with him about it, and I'll join you two." Really? That's a nice surprise. Muffet gets on her feet, and does a small stretch. "I'm heading downstairs dearie, lets talk after dinner." She ends with a smile. "Toodles!~" She heads down after I say my goodbye too.
I get back up, and go into ***'s room, pretty uninspired, but definitely theirs. No posters or anything of the like, but a few shelves display a few trophies from their old school days, there's room for other trophies, but the space is reasonably dusty. Lots of books of all sorts, they still have their old kids stuff on the bottom shelves, their newer stuff going up. There's a fair amount of video games visible on one of the shelfs, pretty quaint compared to Zelda's collection of games, which pales in comparison to her mothers' massive game and anime collection, they just decided to replace their living room with a colorful library of the stuff...
Charlotte and Zelda are playing a video game on ***'s nice tv, fairly small, but a good fit for a room like this. They seem to be having a alright time, laughing it up, but Zelda is obviously doing better, Charlotte struggling with the controls. Zelda isn't as awkward as her mother though, and is helping the other child learn, just in general being a lot more sociable. Speaking of her awkward mother...
"How much do you want for it." Alphys states as a serious decree rather then a question.
"No." *** states, continuing to play a somewhat old looking game system, relaxing on their bed. They have a look of disinterest, as Alphys tries to curve her head to look at the screen.
Alphys sounds desperate. "You don't understand ***, I NEED this."
"No." *** continues to play, the sounds of lasers firing blare from the tiny devices speakers.
"****** ********, that is a device more then a century old, you risk damaging gaming history every time you play that, it deserves nothing more but airtight storage and delicate claws to maintain it. Those games are hotly desired collectables, in demand from enthusiasts all around the world, and should only be played via emulation, for the fear that the game or its respective system be damaged." She takes a deep breath, and continues her rant. "And the selection of games you have! Almost as if it used to belong to an avid collector, and a true connoisseur they were! These are a best hits collection of this long lived cornerstone of portable gaming!" She gushes.
I think shes done when she stops here, but no, shes not. "People in online forums would actually kill for the chance to even touch this nostalgic collection, a glimpse back in time to some of the glory days of the most iconic games company of all time! So please, ***, I will give you anything, I will do anything to have that system, and those games!" She finishes, *** seems to have paused the game, looking at Alphys with curiosity. "So? What do ya say?" She ends with excitement.
"No." They continue playing their game, as Alphys scoffs, turning around with a nervous sigh. "Oh, uh, hi Frisk! Whats going on?" She asks, a bit jumpy. "Just came up to say dinner will be ready any moment. Hows everyone doing in here?" I greet the room with some volume.
"Frisk!" Charlotte and Zelda abandon their game and jog towards me, both with beaming smiles. Zelda has some of her mothers strength, jumping into my arms, much to my surprise. I give her a hug, placing her down, and doing much the same for Charlotte, she squeals with joy. They both fight for my attention, trying to tell me, or ask me things. "Hey! We can play after dinner!" I say with laughter, the kids warming my heart. "Yeah Zelda, leave your auntie be!" Alphys takes her daughters hand, the small girl almost bigger then her mother.
"Okay mom!" Zelda says with a wide smile reminiscent of Undyne's. Charlotte grips my hand, happy to see me. I kneel down a bit so I can address her, she's a very pretty young girl, her skin a translucent magenta, she has three beady eyes, and just four arms, basically a more rigid, yet still soft combination of her parents, she will be a very beautiful woman one day. "We can talk all you want after dinner, I'll be here for a couple of hours, so don't be in a rush!" I take her hand in mine, I get a look at her cute face. "Now get downstairs with Alphys, dinner looks great tonight!" She nods, and rushes out of the room, Alphys and Zelda following behind, leaving us alone.
I sit on ***'s bed, near their legs, looking at them. The sounds of the video game speaking to their ignorance. This may actually be convenient.
"Hey ***, how are you doing?" I ask, trying to be nice. The sounds of the game stop, and they look at me with a face of indifference.
They speak quietly. "Alright, I guess." They close their game system, and set it next to them with a small plop. "Where did you get that?" I ask them, curious where they got something so old.
"Stole it from an antiques place." They say with complete honesty.
"***! Why would you do that?" I ask, kind of disappointed in them. I'm not going to get mad at them, I want to understand why they do this.
They sigh. "The old lady who owned the place was mean to us, called Charlotte a duster and everything." They say, with a bit of pouting, crossing their arms.
I look towards the ground, a bit of anger as I totally believe them.
"***, you can't respond to hate, with hate. That only makes everything worse. That old lady is closeted and racist, yes, but this has probably only strengthened those opinions." I try to explain to them, they look at me with disinterest, and frown.
"Sure..." They say quietly, obviously not convinced.
I try to change the subject.
"You look good, your hair is so pretty." I tell them with a smile. "Everyone says that, but I hate it. I rather have hair like yours, or like moms." *** has never been all that concerned with appearances, so its strange to hear them comment about them desiring anything related. I scooch up closer to them. "You should embrace the things that make you unique, not shun them." I try to give them some advice, but this gets me attitude in response. "Not when this stupid hair gets me shunned, its just another excuse for the other kids at school to pick on me, without it, I could blend in better, maybe get treated as a normal person by people who don't know anything about me." They say with some aggravation.
"I hate talking with adults sometimes, all I get are empty words of encouragement, advice, and lectures. I just want to talk sometimes, not get talked at." The frustration is evident, and I feel a twang of guilt.
*** is such a change of pace for me, any kids I've ever dealt with have been nothing but respectful and nice. I know *** likes me, but they are the only kid that never seems starstruck around me. Any other children treat me like some legend and hero, *** doesn't really care all that much, which is refreshing, I'm just their weird Aunt. They aren't really rude to me, just a bit abrasive sometimes, but I don't think its out of malice.
I pat the device in my pocket, taking it out, and taking a look at it. A simple phone shaped object with a screen and button. Straight line means the target is inline with the time-space continuum, anything else is an anomaly. I grip it with a bit of fear, afraid of the result.
I stall, asking them a question through the awkward silence.
"***, what do you think responsibility is?" I ask them.
They scoff. "Is this another lecture? I'm not interested in-" I interrupt them "***, I'm speaking to you as an adult here, an adult that cares about you a lot. So, if you could humor me, speak to me as an adult back, give me your opinion on this. This isn't to lecture you, this is... about something, something important." I try to convince them.
"Dinners ready! Come on down!" I can hear Kass call from downstairs.
*** moves to get up from the bed, but I hold their arm in place with my hand gently.
"They can wait a minute, I want to talk for a moment." I say, getting them to reluctantly sit up in the bed, looking at me with annoyance. "Fine..."
They take a deep breath.
"Responsibility is taking care of the things you were put in charge of. That good enough for you?" They say, looking the other way, obviously wanting to leave.
I take the device in my trembling hands, to their curiosity. "What the hell is that?" *** asks, confusion present. I turn the device on, pointing it at an empty space in the room, it comes up flat, as it should.
Please don't be it.
Please don't be it.
I pray that we were wrong.
You don't deserve this burden.
I take a deep breath, and point the device at the confused child.
The line is no longer straight.
They are an anomaly, they are the anomaly now.
"Responsibility... Its having ownership of a great power, and making sure you don't misuse it, and fall for its trappings..." I say, I feel a tear rolling down my cheek. "Okay? Can we go no-" I interrupt them with a tight hug. They don't seem to struggle, just reluctantly accepting it. "Are you okay auntie...?" They ask with concern.
"I am, I just regret I haven't spent as much time with you as I've wanted too. After Paris, how would you like to go out to dinner together? I'd like to get to know you a bit better, okay?" I ask them.
"That sounds alright." They say. "Are you sure you're okay? This is weird..." They continue, completely unaware. Its okay, they'll find out soon. This will be... complicated to explain, I'll need to put the plan together now.
We get up together.
"Lets go eat." I say with a smile, taking their hand into mine, and walking downstairs.
Together, towards the future.
One plate at a time.
My name is Ezikel Dallora Delta the 4th.
I'm a Monster ambassador, working directly under and with Gabby "Frisk" Dreemurr. Together, and with the help of a lot of other Monsters, and a few Humans too, we seek to gain equal rights for Monsterkind, and ensure the protections of those Monsters. Its not an easy job, but it sure is fulfilling.
I'm going to a dinner at another coworker's place tonight.
Its a nice night out, a cool breeze in a warm summer. I can't drive, so I'm forced to walk to Gabe's place, not that I mind, I'm pretty good at walkin! I had a bad habit of tripping when I was young, but I got over that a long time ago, I mean, I would hope so, I am the ripe age of fifty five afterall! I'm looking mighty spiffy in my work clothes right now, want to look my best around Frisk, and her friends too.
Soon enough, I make it to the party place itself, a bunch of cars, and a bike in the driveway. I make my way up to the door, doing a quick neck stretch, before giving the door a knock with my tail.
…
I wait a few moments.
...
I ring the doorbell.
"Is someone at the door?" I hear over the chatter inside.
After another hot moment of waiting, the door opens, and I'm greeted by a coworker.
My big blue blob of a friend, Quill greets me. "Oh, hello Ezikel! You sure are... late."
I pan my head to peer behind his gelatinous form, to see a dinner table with next to no food left, only a few chatting people. "Hey MK!" a few of them call to me. "Egh... I thought dinner was at eight...?" I ask in confusion. "Seven, Ezikel. It was at seven." He says, obviously humored. "HEY MK! HOW'S IT HANGIN?" My coworker is trampled, the mighty Undyne standing on his deflating body, much to his surprise.
Wow...
Shes just as awesome as always!
"ITS GOIN GREAT!" I give a light shout, before also trampling over Quill, into the house.
Its pretty lively, Gabe and his wife are talkin in the kitchen, making smoochy faces with each other, as they clean dishes. Charlotte and Zelda are playing a board game together with Alphys and Undyne, after she sits back down with them. Quill moseys back over to sit with his wife on the living room couch, they both give me a little wave, I wave back at them with my tail. I take a walk into the dining room, all the food is gone! No! I scrounge the table for scraps, taking quick spoonfuls of mashed potatoes, and a few bites of salad.
Wheres Frisk? I've seen everyone else, I think... Gabe's kid is a no show, but their probably just hidin out in their room. Ol' king and queen should be around too.
I walk into the kitchen, Gabe notices my approach, turning around with a laugh. "Fashionably late as always Ezikel, but better late then never." He says before giving me a brief hug. "Good to see you too!" I say, glancing over my tardiness.
"I've seen everyone else, wheres Frisk though?" I ask towards the two.
"Shes outside talking with Sans." Kass chimes in. "In the backyard?" I ask. "Yup." She responds, before starting to wash again.
I make my way through the comfy, tan halls, eventually reaching a window pane that opens to the backyard. I end up peeking on a weird sight, did something happen?
Sans is giving Frisk an embrace, and she looks really sad... I should give them a minute.
I stand up against the wall, listening to the conversations in the other room.
"SUCK IT NERDS! NGAHHH!" I hear Undyne shout, followed by a loud crash. Huh, she must have won.
I spend some time fooling around on my phone, really slowly at that, a long tail is really nice, but its hard to use any sort of holo-screen device with it. Good grief, the internet sucks for anything political, its always either one extreme end, or the other, fake sensationalist news drones out the real stuff, information pollution and all that. I've given up hope on finding any legitimate worldwide reporting on us, but I always vainly hope that some big place will do some justice for us. Better some hope then no hope though.
I know what the internet is good for though. Silly cat videos!
After a few minutes, and a bit of chuckling, the door opens up, and closes.
"Frisk? Oh, hi Sans!" I say, working my way to my feet in an awkward shimmy.
"oh, hey mk. didn't think you were gonna show." He looks up at me with his empty eyes.
"Everything alright?" I ask, concerned.
He takes a moment to respond. "its complicated." Thats not like Sans, he's usually a lot more succinct then that. I have this nagging feeling in the back of my mind, the kind the reasonable part of my mind wants to immediately dismiss, but I can't help but letting loose a stupid question.
"Sans... what is Frisk to you?" I ask, almost immediately regretting it, cringing. Stupid, stupid!
He stares into my soul.
"a close friend. i know what you're asking, and you can ask her if you want. she won't lie to you." He says, his tone unchanging. "Sorry, I was really paranoid..." I say to him. Sans has always been a blank enigma, even though I feel like I'm his friend, I don't know a damn thing about him other then surface level stuff. Frisk seems like she does, which always made me wonder, why? They didn't seem all too close in the underground when we were evacuating. "i don't blame you, but look at me, i'm a sweater bag of bones, and even if i was interested, which i never have been, shes over a century younger then me, would be way too weird." He ends, reassuring me. Damn, Sans is way older then I expected, didn't strike me as a geezer type. "Sorry, that was a dumb thing of me to ask." I say, ashamed.
He begins walking away. I move to go out and see her, but Sans stops to remind me about something. "we still on for tommorow night? shyren and blooks performance?" I smile. "You know it." I confirm, before he heads off.
I pop open the screen door, back into the nice night. Frisk is looking up at the moon, the sky is really clear tonight, I can see why.
"Its nice out, huh?" I ask her, getting her to turn around and greet me. "MK! You sure are-" "Yeah, yeah, yeah, MK is late, I know." I interject, sitting down on the edge of the deck with a plop, my bare feet feeling nice on the grass. The backyard is simple, and small, some garden stuff in one corner, a swing set in the other. Stereotypical is what it is, but that's not a bad thing.
She sits down with me.
"I talked with Sans." I break the moment of silence. "About what?" She asks. "I saw you crying with him, and I ended up asking him a... real stupid and dumb question." I say, quieting down near the end of it out of shame. "What did you ask him?" She says, seeming to cheer her up, as she tries to peer at me, as I look away. "C'mon! What did you say!" She nudges me, as I stay silent.
Just say it, let her get a good laugh at what a turd you are...
"I asked what you were to him." I force out.
She howls with laughter, her back on the deck, slamming her fist into the wood, much to my embarrassment, as I put my head into my lap, groaning. She laughing the type of laughing where it gets hard to breath, looks like you are having a coughing fit. She intersperses the laughing with all sorts of disbelief, like repeating what I said, or stuff like "that's golden" "why would you ask that" or other unintelligible babbling.
She does stop eventually, or slow down rather, still giggling like a school child, as I wallow in embarrassment.
It goes back to awkward silence after that, until she asks "why are you still so interested in me?"
"I-I don't know... I just like you." I say, still refusing to look her in the eyes.
She sighs. "Why? I'm some wrinkly old Human, when you're basically still in the prime of your youth... So why still me over any number of Monster women who I'm sure would jump on the chance to date a handsome ambassador like you." She states, in a bit of a pout.
"Cuz none of them are you." I tell her, with an exaggerated tone. "Oh, you're such an awful flirt." She says with a laugh.
Me and Frisk have been... on and off casual dating for almost twenty years now. We keep breaking it off, for the sake of being professional, seeing as we work together. But things happen, we have a stressful work night, one thing leads to another, and we just take comfort in each other. We've both expressed a level of interest in making it a serious thing, but its never gone anywhere.
"What are you gonna do when there's no more need for ambassadors?" I ask.
She puts rests her head on my neck, her hair tickles my soft skin.
"Like, work wise?"
"Yeah."
"Probably nothing, retire, and be the weird old lady down the road. I want to be more active in ***'s life, so hopefully that isn't too long off." She says, daydreaming, or night-dreaming rather.
"I'm gonna be out of a job too, when that happens. I have no clue what I'm going to do after that." I say, unsure of my future. I've spent so long wrapped up in this job, I've never had time to get interested in anything else.
So many stars. I wonder if there's anyone else out there, more people like us. There has to be good people, and bad people. It scares me, but intrigues me at the same time. This Earth is so much bigger then any of us Monsters thought, but the world beyond that is so much bigger. There are Humans on the moon, and on mars, right as I think this. Some of those Humans have been up there longer then we have been on the surface, I wonder what they think of us, from all the way up there? I wonder who will be the first Monster to venture outside Earth, and if they'll face the same adversity. Will the first aliens we meet be like us, or like them? Will there be war again? I'll live to see it, most likely.
That's right. "We're all checked out for Paris, got the plane booked. Was kind of a nightmare to get the negotiations down, but I managed. 'What do you MEAN you want to book THAT MANY monsters? And only two of those things are even ambassadors? This is a joke, right?'" I end, mocking my experiences with an exaggerated voice, before scoffing. What a pain in the ass that was, costs a fortune to rent out a private jet, UN still won't get us a ride out on their business, even though they are taking this quite seriously.
"Thanks MK. You're the best." She thanks me.
I scoff in jest. "I can't believe how long that nicknames stuck, like why don't people call me 'Monster Man' instead? Thats way cooler, and sexy." I say, accentuating the end. "Ezikel fits you even better." She whispers. "Also, MK sounds better then MM." She adds, kinda undermining the compliment.
"I don't wanna be your monster kid, I wanna be your monster man." I joke with a fake country accent.
It gets a good chortle out of her.
"I should write valentines cards." I say.
"With your tail-writing? Not a chance, people don't like getting chicken scratch for a gift."
"Oof! That hurts!" I say in mock hurt, wrapping my tail around her side, tickling her weak side, getting her to laugh a bit more, saying to stop. I do, after a moment.
I rest my head on hers.
We spend a few minutes looking to the moon, the dotted black sky around it.
"You sure you don't want to try again?" I ask.
"I'd love nothing more, but I can't." She whispers, knowing exactly what I'm asking.
"You're telling the truth? I always get the nagging suspicion you're just being nice to me, and that you aren't interested at all. I don't want to be the creep that doesn't take the hint." I ask, scared.
"I wouldn't lie to you like that, its just too complicated right now. I need to be able to focus, especially now, on the cusp of success."
"What if equals gets passed? What then?"
She thinks about it for a moment.
"Take me out to a nice dinner, and we'll talk about it."
"Sounds like I better give it my all in Paris." I say with some confidence.
I know this is gonna work out, we'll do this together.
"Hey, go talk with Zelda, she really wanted to see you, kept talking about your excellent piggy back rides during dinner. I need to do some stuff too." She says, slowly getting up.
I get up to meet her. Shes old, but shes still the same person, and she still looks beautiful in the light.
She gives me a kiss on the cheek, before going in. I follow after her a few dazed moments later, a big dumb smile on my face.
The night goes by like a blur.
This is why I do all this. Why I work as hard as I do.
I treasure each and every one of these moments.
A house of Monsters and Humans, having fun together. A big loving family, its possible.
After talking with MM, I came back in and played with the kids a bit more, getting to talk to *** a bit more too, I love it when they talk about something they love, its almost like they are a different person. Got to discuss some things with Muffet too, she invited me to have a girls night out of sort after Paris, something I gladly accepted. Quill is all ready for Paris, so I discussed some accommodations with him and Ezikel, once he got out of his stupor, we're all super excited for Paris, almost everyone is gonna be there, it'll be like tonight every night for almost a full week.
But tonight is over.
Zelda has already tuckered herself out, so Undyne, Alphys, and her are the first to leave.
Asgore and Toriel head out afterward, bidding everyone a good night. They talked with *** for a bit too, also concerned about them. I'll have to talk with Asgore when we get back, they'll want to have a part in ***'s teachings too.
Sans disappeared, after saying bye, the usual.
Ezikel headed out not too long after, giving me a wink on the way out, like the smooth criminal he is...
Charlotte and *** are playing the board game in the living room now, a close match. Charlotte ends up winning, with a small clap, *** sulking at their loss.
Me and Quill talked with Gabe. We all share that we want to spend more time with ***, even if Equals doesn't get passed, Gabe especially expressed a lot of guilt over not being with his child enough. Kassandra agreed too.
"Its time to go sweetie." Quill and Muffet state to their child, getting a bit of a disappointed reaction, but she gets up. "Don't fret, we'll be coming back after your father comes back from Paris. It will be a large celebration, we can even come earlier!" Muffet kneels down to cheer her daughter up, before they leave for the night, *** waves goodbye to their friend, and I do the same. I'd love to spend more time with the slimeball and spidergal, they are both a joy to be around.
Kassandra rounds the corner, still cleaning the remnants of the feast. "When're you headin out, Frisk? If you want to stay the night, you can." She offers, to which I decline. "Put away the game, and head off to bed ***, its really late." She reminds her child and says bye to me, before heading off upstairs, probably to go to bed.
I get up from the couch, the oh so comfy couch, and approach ***, kneeling over. "You need help cleaning this up?" I ask them. "If you want." They respond, gathering the many pieces, I help them. Eventually shelving the large game and its many pieces.
"When I come back from Paris, do you want to go to the book store? I'll treat you." I ask them, they sit down with me, letting loose a yawn. "That sounds nice." They say quietly.
I get up on my feet again, turning around to look at ***.
I kneel down to them again.
"I want you to know, if you ever have a problem, or an issue, you can tell me. I'm not your parent, I won't tell them, I won't punish you, it'll be our secret. And if you ever need help... I will be there for you. It may take time, but I will help you." I try to reassure them.
"...okay. Thanks." They say quietly, with a small smile.
I'll be there for you, I need to be there for you.
I won't let you suffer like me and Asriel did.
Next week, we go to Paris, we try to make Monsters more then that.
I've worked my entire life for this, slaved to the bone to make sure the people who saved my life can live theirs fairly, and freely.
My long, long life of passion and hardship...
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry it wasn't good enough.
