Hello everyone! I would like to inform you that I'm starting to write this chapter right after finishing the last one. I feel a bit inspired at the moment. Okay, I just want to get a decent head-start.
So, I don't know how everyone took the last chapter. I don't know if it was completely flawed, I don't know if everyone hated, I don't know if someone flamed it so much that it sent me into a spiraling depression.
Since I lack the knowledge of those things, I can't give anyone a call out unless I do that in the Author notes at the bottom of the chapter.
Well, nothing else to say. Let's start.
Disclaimer: I don't own Undertale. That sheer level of creative foresight is something I lack.
With the speed that the two had walked at, what should have taken ten minutes stretched out to twenty-five. The sun was already setting in the distance, but it's leaving a dazzling expanse of bright orange as a final gift. The arachnid monster pauses for a moment to take in the last remnant of daylight before the ever growing cold forced her to lead them inside. Opening the door to the quaint shop allows cold air to flow into the building while forcing out the warm. She wastes no time hurrying inside while Frisk closes the door behind them. The immensely warmer interior of the store threatens to make the young girl drowsy, but she starts walking to prevent that.
When she hears footsteps falling in line with her own she knows her companion is following behind her. She leads them over to the shopping carts arrangements before looking over the choice. Unlike many other stores, shopping centers, and shops the owner of the store was courteous enough to realize that monster species vary greatly in sizes. With this revelation, they had custom order multiple different sized carts to making shopping easier on those who are too small or big for regular shopping carts. It was a very simple yet kind act that draws in more people for the relative ease of shopping. The act also made a statement that causes some trouble from anti-monster groups: monsterkind and humanity are equal in this store.
That statement never fails to bring a bit of a smile on Muffet's lips when she pulls out a perfectly sized shopping cart. It also allowed the young girl to overlook the slightly larger prices that the store has to give in order to repair the place. Unfortunately, there has been many assaults on the building as people try to scare the owners into changing their policy or leaving. Such barbaric actions only seem to bolster the monster community into pitching in to help. The young girl herself has considered making a partnership with the store. For a discounted price, she would send them baked goods for them to sell at a slightly higher price than her own. Not everyone would go for it, but it's hard to beat convenience at times.
Still, she would need to make her own bakery a bit more secure in its position before making the offer. With the realization that she's getting off track, she returns her attention to getting what she needs. Mentally, she goes over the items that she would need. For just the basics she would need some dry yeast, olive oil, salt, and flour. She also needs some maple syrup, unsalted butter, confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, and some milk. The arachnid monster stops and scans the aisles while also revisiting her idea of croissants with some special sauces. Honestly, calling this place a quaint store is a bit of an understatement. It was more of a mini shopping center, but somehow it still retained that quaint feel to it.
How the owners managed that is beyond her. It doesn't matter anyways, the feeling just makes her more at home here anyways. Quickly, she devises a general plan to make this trip a smoother experience. In her mind, she divides the actually needed ingredients between the two of them. With the ingredients that she is certain that she needs being split into five for each of them the young girl is certain that this entire thing would take up to twelve minutes at max. With no distractions on the way back, they could be at the bakery in twenty-two minutes.
"Frisk, I need you to get cocoa powder, salt, flour, confectioner's sugar, and unsalted butter," Glancing back to look at the human, the young girl sees them muttering the ingredients to themselves before nodding to her "Good. After you gather that, meet me near the milk section." Frisk gives a reassuring smile before going off to search for what they have been tasked to find. Without wasting a moment, Muffet follows the example as she pushes her cart forward. It isn't long before she gets to the dairy section.
With her experience of baking and finance work, it takes maybe half a minute for her to choose between brand, percentage, and overall cost. Carefully maneuvering six jugs of milk in all of her hands is a bit taxing for her, but she quickly organizes them inside her cart. As she was going to leave the section a strange sight for most caught her eye. In an aisle just past her own, a large sign labeled Ghost Products stands out. Yet, what caught her eye was not the aisle name but rather the being in the aisle. The being looked like a floating sheet with two large eye cut outs that have large white eyes in them. Most people who believe that this thing is just a prank to play on some poor children, yet Muffet knew better than that.
"Napster dear?" Calling out to the lone being usually catches his attention "Napster, is that you?" A smile grows on the young lady's lips as she temporarily leaves her cart to converse with her old companion. What most may not realize is that the spider monster and bed-sheet ghost have known each other for quite some time. When Muffet first went to the ruins to check up on the poor spiders that were trapped there, she nearly stepped on the ectoplasmic being's face. It took a little bit of coaxing, as well as a lot of reassuring, but she managed to convince the guy that he wasn't trash for around two minutes.
It was a ground breaking two minutes for him "Oh….hello Muffet. How are you?" Ever the courteous ghost it seems. He never seems to change. The poor ghost always seems to be patient with others while thinking of himself as the source of all issues. It can get a bit sad when it is painfully obvious that he did nothing wrong at all, even more so when some individuals take advantage of his timid nature. Then again, those people somehow always end up on Mettaton's show before being publicly humiliated in extreme ways. One could always assume its karma though.
"I'm fine dearie!" It's impossible for her smile not to grow as she thinks about the walk over "I'm here with Frisk." It's also impossible to not notice the look of concentration on Napsterblook's visual as he seems to be trying to place that name "The human that broke the barrier?" A look of realization dawns on the ghost's face before he starts looking down. He seems to be getting depressed again. A sad sigh escapes the spider monster as she sees her old friend beat himself up mentally. He really does need to have someone to confine in, or at least a therapist to help the guy out. Wait, didn't he once speak about a cousin that was always there for him?
The thought is pushed aside as she tries to rest her top left hand on his head "I forgot their name….again…" The ectoplasmic being floats closer to the ground as her hand passes through his skull "I promised I wouldn't." Oh no. The sight of him is starting to look a lot like a kicked puppy whimpering in the corner. It's both so extremely saddening yet somehow slightly adorable! She can't let this continue on or else she'll be spending hours just cheering him up, and while she wouldn't mind that, she does need to get home soon. However, her mind is coming up blank on ways to comfort him.
"Hey, why are you looking so down in the dumps?" A familiar deep voice catches the two of them off guard. While Napsterblook barely perks up at the voice, the arachnid girl immediately looks over her shoulder to see Sans standing there with his own shopping cart. Hold on, is his cart completely filled up with Pasta and tomato products? With Ketchup being the most plentiful in there? All five of her eyes blink one after another as she stares at the sight in confusion. She knows that skeletons don't really need anything to eat in order to survive, but who only buys dry noodles and different tomato-based items. She should really get him and his brother to at least try her baked goods.
"What's wrong kid? You look like you've seen a ghost." The semi-related pun snaps the girl out of her increasingly random thoughts. She mentally berates herself as she realizes that she's been getting much more distracted than normally lately. If her business, survival of the underground, and small combat experience has taught her anything it is that one must always be aware of what's going on around them. She always needs to know if someone is going to try something in her shop, or if they're going to try and swindle her with fake bills- which never works. She also knows just how dangerous things can get, so why can't she seem to keep her focus?
Like right now since she's doing it again "What's with that look?" Again she blinks as she looks over at the short skeleton while noting his right eye more open than the other "Is you're web of thoughts spread too far?" Web of thoughts? Is that even a saying, or did he just make that up specifically to make a pun? With a shake of her head, Muffet clears her mind of those random distracting thoughts. With a clear mind she focuses completely on the situation at hand. If Sans is willing to help, the two of them could probably cheer up Napsterblook rather easily.
"Sorry Sans, but Napsterblook here is feeling down again." While his smile is basically stuck on his face, Sans does express some concern as his eyes lower down to half-lid "You see, he forgot Frisk's name and now he's beating himself up for it." At that, the skeleton's eyes close completely while he nods as if he understands completely. Which he very well might considering the amount of times he's referred to the human as 'kid'. Then again, he does that with almost everyone younger than him. The bony being must like giving out nicknames.
She's suddenly startled when the skeleton is directly beside her "Don't worry," How does such a lazy bag of bones move so quickly? "I've got this." She can't help but eye him carefully as he walks passed her to the saddened ghost "After all, I have a skele-ton of jokes to use about ghosts." The overused pun may not have gotten her to laugh, but a fond smile does tugs at the sides of her lips "So, just continue shopping Little Miss Muffet." That one does make her crack a grin. She didn't really understand it at first until Frisk had brought over a book of nursery rhymes that have been turned into stories. It's a little strange how Little Miss Muffet does reflect her a bit.
Reassured that Sans would be able to help Napster, the young girl starts towards her cart "Oh, and Frisk is just a couple of aisles away." She pauses at that information before continuing to her shopping cart. Is Frisk really just a few aisles away? Curiosity quickly begins to gnaw at her mind. Well, a quick peak wouldn't really affect anything. Turning her cart around, she explores nearby aisles. In the bread aisle there was only some red head with hair spikey enough to challenge some anime character and a blonde woman with two strands of hair sticking up like antennas. They seem to be together if their easy bantering was anything to go by. Muffet walks past them while hearing them call each other 'spark plug' and 'flame head'.
Such strange people.
The next aisle is the candy aisle. A glance into it reveals a child with a cloak much like red has. Though, this cloak seems to have gone through some trying times though as the ends of it is in tatters. The sight alone makes the talented seamstress cringe slightly, yet she did have to admit that it looked uniquely good on the young one. With the cowl up, she couldn't even tell if the youth is male or female. She would have continued to examine this person, but the youth somehow seemed to sense her stare as they turned their head slightly. The young arachnid monster is taken aback by how much fear and caution is in those muddied emerald eyes. It was simply impossible not to feel worried for this child. Yet, before she could do anything the young human backed away. Was this young child scared of her?
"Don't worry." The sudden sound of a male's voice startles the spider girl greatly as she immediately looks behind her "She's just really shy." All five eyes blink at once as she stares at the same teen garbed in a black jacket that gave her one hundred dollars for her doughnuts "Rose, could you come here?" Rose? Her ears catch the sound of hurried footsteps before the young child comes into the very bottom of her line of sight. She can only watch as the teen crouches down before taking the small girl into his arms. The small cowl moves away enough to reveal the pale skin of the child as well as her light brown hair.
Again, this feeling of concern grows inside her as she sees something to constant hesitation in those eyes "I'm sorry if she offended you by her reluctance, but she hasn't had the greatest past." That doesn't sound good at all "Her parents disappeared quite some time ago, and her grandmother, the only other family she had, was killed in an unfortunate… dog accident." Now her sympathy is taking off as well as her sorrow for the little girl "Her last caretakers also were not the best." How much torture did this young child go through? The arachnid girl's eyes widens as the child in the teen's hands gets a frightened look.
Oh god, she has the look of someone who is reliving parts of a bloody war "They kept her isolated, beat her, and played with her fear of big dogs." If Muffet ever found out who did that to this innocent child, she would go on a rampage of vengeance "However, she now lives with my extended family and myself." The teen gets a small sad smile on his face as the girl in his arms buries her face into his shoulder "We're slowly showing her that some dogs are not animals to be feared, and we always try to make sure she's alright." At least this girl is getting the love and help she needs now. Although, maybe there is something that the arachnid girl could do to help out. Her own pet isn't quite a dog, so maybe that would help the child adjust to bigger animals.
"Dearie, if I may ask, where do you two live? I may be able to help the little one." At first she gets a raised eyebrow from the teen as he examines her. For some reason, his gaze seems to be harder than a forged blade. In the back of her mind, her thoughts whisper that it's likely because the boy is protective of the girl in his arms. That thought only reinforces the want to help. He's shown quite the thing of kindness for her bakery, so why not return the favor? That way she could 'work' off the change that he should of got back while helping this poor child. Fortunately, it seems she would get the chance as the boy's gaze softens while he gains a slight smile.
"If you really can, that would be great." Shifting the child so she rests more in his right arm, he pulls out a card before handing it to her "That's where we live, but it can be a bit of a pain to find for new visitors." The spider girl takes the card with her upper right hand while listening "I think you just need to know that our home is a bit of a distance away from the city. Just follow the third dirt road to the left until you reach the gates." Her mind repeats the information several times in order to truly memorize it before nodding. She'll do whatever she can to help this tortured soul, and her efforts already seem to have a positive effect. Rose pulls herself away from the teen's shoulders slightly to look at Muffet with a small, timid smile.
"T-thank you for trying to help me." The young child's voice seems just as small as her stature. The small stutter in the child's voice nearly makes the arachnid's heart break in sorrow, but she holds herself together while she gently pats the girl's head. She may have to sacrifice the only free day she has, but she would help this child. It's strange, but she feels like the girl in front of her came from somewhere like she did. A place that isolated people from the outside world, a place that seemed giant at first but felt smaller as time continued to advance. Perhaps, that is why she feels the need to help this precious girl. She's willing to bet everyone she knows would want to as well. Monsters just happen to be strange like that.
After waving goodbye to the two humans, she continues down the aisles while her mind is flooded with thoughts. She would have to change her schedule around a bit, the preparation for this task would force her to sacrifice some her sleep, and she would have to find a ride to get to their home. Glancing down at the card given to her she sees that it only contains an address and a phone number. There isn't even a name that could be associated with those two, but that doesn't matter to her right now. The more important question is, what kind of person could do that to a small child who is probably just around the age of six!? The slang definition, that humans made, for monsters doesn't even get close to the level of cruelty that child has likely gone through.
Now, demons seems to be a in the ballpark for that. The hands gripping the handle of her shopping cart tighten their hold until the skin around her knuckles are a pale violet. The arachnid girl had heard tales of how cruel humans could be, but for them to do that to their youngest kind? It's just hard to accept. Those kind of actions should be unthinkable, they should be impossible to commit. Has mankind's sense of morality weakened while monsterkind was trapped? Her stomach twists up into knots at the thought. Legends did say that humans are prone to great levels of violence and cruelty, yet her encounter with Frisk made her think that maybe the stories passed down through time were wrong. She hoped that the despicable humans that crave conflict would be the minority.
Her eyes were opened slightly when those people defaced her bakery. Yet, she thought they were just troubled youths. Then the attempted robbery occurred a few days after she dealt with the hooligans. She considered them desperate people who needed the money to survive. Still, she began to notice the way people referred to her as the 'arachnid child', 'spider monster', and 'insect off-spring'. It did become clear to her that humanity has quite a bit of prejudice against all monsters. Still, even though those nicknames are technically true, the more they were said to her the more it hurt her inside. It seems that those who are open-minded and kind are not the majority. No, they are the minority.
One small comforting thought echoes in her mind as she approaches the kitchen utensil aisle. At least she's friends with someone as kind hearted as Frisk. They would never do anything to harm anyone. Despite the fact that her realization made a painfully empty void grow in her chest, that thought soothes the unwanted sensation. She smiles slightly as she glances down the aisle. Her distracted mind almost ignores what she was seeing as she started to continue forward, but once it really registers her eyes snap back to the sight before her. The muscles in her body begin to tense up, her eyes grow wider, and her skin becomes uncomfortably clammy as she starts to sweat. Something about this just doesn't sit well with her.
Down the aisle is Frisk, who seems to be enamored with the knife in their hand. The distant look in their eye is disorienting. The knife's point is gently pressed into their pointer finger as they slowly swivel the cooking tool. The blade shines with reflected light in a simply menacing way. Everything about this scene just seem wrong. The suddenly conflicted girl's mind jams as it refuses to accept the vision she is seeing. For a mere instant Frisk's jacket and shirt combo is replaced with a green and yellow sweater. A cold shiver goes down her spine as she starts to feel light headed. Why does it feel like she is in danger? Why does she feel so afraid?
Why is she suddenly terrified of Frisk?
So…. I have to admit that I'm sick right now. I am not in the best condition, and I will openly admit that this may not have been written that well and some ideas put in may not be the best. I am sorry about that. Oh, and I've been distracted by watching all of Kill la Kill again.
There are some other things I would like to address: First off, some people may not like the interaction that happened between the teen, Muffet, and young child. They may feel that it's taking away from the main focus of Muffet and Frisk. I would like to counter with a simple fact: All people in Undertale, enemy or otherwise, has always felt like their own people. They have personality traits, interests, and desires of their own. If I didn't give that kind of thing to the other people around Muffet/Frisk, then it wouldn't be like Undertale.
That being said, if it is hated so much that people complain immensely, I may try to re-write it. However, doing so will take away some character from Muffet. The scene did show her selfless side after all. I will also leave the idea of Muffet going to help the child up to you people. Tell me what you think.
Next thing to address: I've been getting even more mixed notes about Red. Some people say that they don't want her in the story at all, one person even complained that the story would turn into a love triangle, others claim that they would love her in the story. I'm a bit torn on this. I will admit that Red most likely will come back to the story sooner or later, but how big of a role she has is based on how people will receive her. Whether or not you mean to, you're reactions are going to affect my writing. I'm a very paranoid guy after all.
Also, the biggest complaint about Red is the fact she's an Oc. I would like to point out that every background character is technically an Oc. The small girl Muffet interacted with? Oc. The couple in the bread aisle? Oc. The teen she conversed with? Oc.
I didn't hear any complaints about those people in earlier chapters.
Regardless, I would love it if you guys would review, comment, favorite, or follow this story! Especially comment/review. It always helps me decide on what to do next when I get feedback. Also, I would just like to celebrate on the fact that this story has the most genuine reviews out of all of my stories! In such a short amount of time too.
Anyways, I need to get going. See you later! Bye!
~DeathOnWings1203~
