( * )
"Maybe friendship can't begin until someone chooses you. But... that doesn't mean you don't get to make a choice too. You can't do that...unless you know who they are. And they can't choose you...until they know who you are."
― Miyoshi Toumori, A Devil and Her Love Song, Vol. 1
( * )
Papyrus wishes to [MERCY: SPARE] you. Accept? [Yes/No]
Yes.
As soon as I accepted Papyrus's mercy, my board and my soul disappeared leaving me with only my broken, bleeding body as my companion. Even after equipping [Tough Glove] & [Manly Bandanna] and eating [1 Cinnamon Bun] as my breakfast, I still had problems fighting Papyrus.
I probably should have kept [Faded Ribbon] on me but it didn't have as much protection as [Manly Bandanna] did. Though I was glad I had [HP 30/20]. If I had my standard [HP 20/20] I would have died for sure. It was also a good thing I figured out what the blue bones were for. Thank you, Doggo.
"HUMAN! ARE YOU OKAY?" Papyrus looked at me in concern.
"I-I'm okay! I-I just n-need to e-eat something."
I quickly pulled out my inventory and pressed on [2 Cinnamon Buns]. Once the cinnamon buns popped out from the inventory, I stuffed them in my face like I was dying. Which I might have been considering my critical levels of HP.
While I was eating them I felt the monster food healing and reenergizing my body. All of the previous gashes I gained from Papyrus's surprising two turn attacks were soon gone. It was a miracle that monster food healed injuries. I'm so glad for that. Too bad I had to find out the hard way.
Papyrus helped me stand up. "Thanks Papyrus."
"I-IT IS ALRIGHT! AFTER ALL, THAT IS WHAT FRIENDS DO!"
I blinked, a little bit a taken back with that declaration. "F-friends?"
Papyrus twisted his hands nervously. "O-OF COURSE! WE ARE FRIENDS! AREN'T WE?"
I stared at him and thought back to what might have made him think that we were friends. Thinking back on everything, the fact that I played puzzles with him, went to his house, ate his food, and talked with him during the walk to the inn . . . they were all things that friends do. And, if monsters expressed their souls through fighting, maybe fighting is a way for monster friends to hang out with each other.
Ugh, I wish Mom had answered my phone call this morning. She would have probably given me a better answer.
I nodded my head and smiled at Papyrus. "Sure! We're friends. I mean, this is how monsters make friends, right?"
"I-I BELIEVE SO! WELL, THEN, FRIEND. TO START OFF OUR FRIENDSHIP, THE GREAT PAPYRUS SHALL GIVE YOU A GIFT!" Papyrus smiled.
I titled my head to the side in surprise. "A gift?"
Papyrus nodded his head. He then started to glow blue, just like he did whenever he summoned his bones. "BEHOLD! MY . . . NO! GO AWAY, YOU ANNOYING DOG!"
The sight I was met with was hilarious. Papyrus seemed to have summoned a statue of himself made entirely of bones. However, a small, white dog was gnawing on the fibula of the Papyrus statue.
And, with Papyrus's yell startling the dog, the dog pulled the fibula free from the statue. This caused the entire statue to fall apart like a stack of cards.
"AGH! COME BACK HERE! YOU ANNOYING DOG!" Papyrus yelled in anger.
The dog ran straight into the woods with the fibula still in its mouth. I watched as Papyrus followed after the dog, seemingly forgetting my entire existence.
Seeing a living bone chase a dog fills you with DETERMINATION.
Once Papyrus was out of sight I started to laugh.
Hahahahahahahahahaha. Gawd, that was hilarious! That dog reminded me of the fight I had with Greater Dog.
All I had to do was throw my wooden stick away and Greater Dog would chase after it. That was one of the shortest fights I had and one of the most amusing ones. This dog probably wanted to play with a stick too. And, with Papyrus yelling at the dog, the dog probably thought Papyrus wanted to play as well, which is why it ran away with the bone in the first place.
I sighed. I should probably keep going forward. I was lucky that Sans wasn't here for the fight but, knowing my luck, I would probably meet up with him again. I don't know what I'm going to do once I see him again. But one thing was certain, Sans was dangerous.
I continued walking forward, to the next destination. The cold winds and icy floors soon faded away to make room for crystal floors and glowing waterfalls. A sign ahead of me read 'WATERFALL'. Next to the sign was a SAVE STAR.
I quickly went forward and touched the SAVE STAR. The SAVE STAR flashed a deep blue color, and another voice spoke.
*FILE SAVED. Know that you will face demons both inside and outside your world. However, your INTEGRITY will hold you throughout your fears.
Sans sat in his sentry in Waterfall waiting for the human to pass by. It was only when the sound of footsteps echoed in the cavern that Sans deigned to open his eyes from his light nap to take a look around. Passing by his sentry was the Frisk.
"Hey, kid, what am I? A pile of bones?" At the sound of his voice, Frisk went still. Their back was tense and they turned to face him with a faintly nervous expression.
"H-hahaha. G-good one." They nervously twisted their hands in their sweater.
Sans narrowed his eye sockets at the kid before putting on a relaxed expression. The way Frisk was acting was suspicious. They better not have hurt Papyrus.
"Hey, you know, it's my break time. I'm gonna head over to Grillby's. Wanna come?" Frisk still looked tense. In fact, they even took a few steps from him.
Sans frowned mentally. What's got ya so nervous around me, kid?
Sans decided to try another tactic.
"C'mon, it'll be a date. You 'n me, pal. And you can't back out on a date. That'll be plain rude." He winked at the kid, trying to make them relaxed.
Frisk looked surprised at the wink. Then their eyebrows furrowed in thought. It was only when they nodded their head hesitantly that Sans walked out from behind his outpost and went near the kid.
"Great! I know a shortcut." Sans then grabbed Frisk's arm and walked with them deeper into Waterfall. While the kid was busy trying to match his walking pace, Sans subtly teleported them to Grillby's.
"Here we are pal." Sans then let go of Frisk's arm.
The kid gawked at Grillby's in shock. "B-but how! We were only at your post a second ago."
"Hehehe. It's a shortcut." Sans walked to the door and opened it for the kid, bowing as he did so.
The kid giggled at the theatrics and entered the bar. Sans then entered the bar right after them.
It was then that Frisk squealed, honest to stars, squealed. Sans turned around just in time to watch the kid run straight towards a group of the most feared Royal Guards, beside Undyne, in the kingdom.
Sans was about to activate his [BLUE ATTACK] to save the kid, but then the strangest thing happened.
Frisk jumped on the nearest dog monster . . . and started to pet them. This consequently caused all of the other Royal Guards to lose their minds.
"Pet! Pet! I want to be pet! I want a scratch! I'm a good dog! I'm a good dog!" Most of the Royal Guards panted as they began nuzzling the kid to get their attention.
Sans just watched in shock as Frisk pet all of the dog monsters. Lesser Dog's neck was growing taller in height with each pet he was getting while Greater Dog's tongue was lolled out at the belly rubs. Doggo was literally howling with all of the attention the kid paid the spot behind his ears while Dogamy's and Dogaressa's legs were thumping on the ground due to the scratching Frisk gave them on their heads.
"K-kid?" Sans choked out.
The kid turned around to face Sans, a smile was on their face. "Yes, Sans?"
This was the most bizarre thing he had ever witness.
In fact, with how quiet Grillby's was, the patron were also probably baffled at what was happening.
"I think it's time that we go an' eat." Frisk's shoulders dropped down in disappointment.
"Aww . . . fine. Good-bye, doggies." The kid gave one last, final pat to the dog monsters before walking towards Sans. With that final pat, the Royal Guards seemed to have realized the scene they caused and pretended to act normally.
Frisk ran forward towards the bar and sat at his regular seat. Sans sighed at how energetic the kid was. Once he reached the bar he sat down on the other side of the kid.
However, once he sat down on the seat, a fart noise came out beneath him. Sans felt his eye sockets widen, a blush crept up on his face. This was the second time that he forgot that he laid a prank for the kid.
Frisk, hearing the sound, giggled. Sans decided to act cool. He pulled out the whoopee cushion he had planted earlier in the morning and pretended that it wasn't him who did the prank.
"It seems that some weirdo out there is hiding whoopee cushions in poor monster's seats." The kid gave him an amused look, knowing that it was his prank, but was courteous enough to play along.
It was then Grillby came and asked them what their orders were. "I'd like to have fries and ketchup. The kid'll have . . . ?"
Frisk stared at Grillby in fascination. "You're really pretty!" They blurted out.
Grillby turned a rosy pink at the compliment.
"Hey, kid. How come you didn't compliment me? I'm your date after all." Sans gently teased.
The kid blushed embarrassed. "I-I'm sorry! It's just he's really, really pretty. Not that you aren't what all the dogs bark about."
Sans snorted.
Frisk then turned to face Grillby. "I'd like to have a burger, please." Grillby wrote down the order and then left to make their orders.
"So, kid. Mind tell me what happened with the Royal Guards an' all?"
The kid blushed then replied. "I like dogs. A lot. I always want to pet them whenever I see them so seeing a bunch of dogs there . . . I couldn't control myself. I actually met these dogs before I met you and Papyrus at that electric puzzle so I knew that they liked petting and stuff."
Sans let out a small 'huh'. That explained that whole scene with Doggo. Grillby came back and left their order on the table.
"Hey, kid. I need to ask ya'. Have yo-"
Before Sans could finish his sentence something hit his eye socket hard and caused him to fall on the floor.
"Oh my God! Are you okay?!" Frisk looked down at them in concern. Sans groaned in reply.
It seemed that while Sans was talking, the kid picked up the ketchup bottle and tried to squirt some of the ketchup in their burger. However, they were holding the cap to tightly that it caused the bottle to shoot loose from the cap and hit Sans in his eye socket. Fortunately, no ketchup spilled anywhere. Unfortunately, Sans was assaulted with severe eye pain.
"Wait here Sans, I'll get the bartender!" Sans just groaned and curled in a ball as Frisk left him on the floor.
Sans couldn't tell what happened after that, passing out from having his favorite beverage shot right into his eye socket. All Sans could remember was the faintest of voices saying one thing.
"This is the worst date ever."
I wandered around Snowdin, aimless. After that whole accident with the ketchup bottle, I brought Grillby to help Sans since I didn't know what to do with an injured monster. After checking Sans over, Grillby told me that I should bring Sans back to his house and that Papyrus would take care of the rest.
Which is what I did.
Papyrus was at his house, giving up on catching the dog and the bone. Once he saw Sans, he helped me bring him into his room and lay him down his bed. (The messiest room I have ever been in. I mean, there was a trash tornado. A trash tornado.)
Apparently Sans wasn't seriously injured. He just need some rest to recover from the shock and pain of having an inanimate object hit him in the eye socket. It was good news to hear. Despite Sans being a child killer, I didn't want to hurt him. Hurting him wouldn't bring the child back nor would it fully make up for the child being dead.
Still, once that issue was resolved, I decided to leave. Before I left, however, Papyrus gave me his phone number. Since we were friends an' all.
So now, here I am. Walking around. Restless.
There is a library nearby.
I blinked at hearing the Narrator speak up. I looked around and spotted a small library. If the Narrator made notice of something then it's probably a good idea to check it out.
I entered the library. The first thing I saw was a monster sleeping in the check-out desk. I passed by the desk and headed to the history section.
I was quite curious about Soul Expression. Not to mention, all of the other anomalies I witnessed in the Underground.
Like, why was I frozen solid when I fought Flowey but was able to move when I fought other monsters? And, why can't my soul move further from my body? Why is it that attacks on my soul also cause physical injuries on my body? And, why is my soul a bright red color? How come Papyrus can take two turns?
Pick up the Old, Dusty Tome.
I focused my attention on the giant, brown book that was hidden in the corner of the bookcase. It was the only book that seemed to match the Narrator's description.
I quickly picked up the book from its spot on the bookcase and carried it with me to a nearby table.
Once there, I placed the book on the table and opened it. There was no author or title so I went to the index of the tome for some information. There I spotted a chapter called 'Engagement'. Curious, I flipped to the chapter's page number and decided to start reading.
Engagement
When two monsters begin a [FIGHT] with each other, it is called an Engagement.
In an Engagement, boards will appear with four options to choose from: [FIGHT], [ACT], [ITEM], and [MERCY].
Each option has a specific function.
[FIGHT] is activated when the monsters in Engagement wish to fight.
[ACT] is activated when monsters wish to interact in an Engagement.
[ITEM] is activated when monsters wish to use an item in an Engagement.
[MERCY] is activated when monsters wish to peacefully resolve an Engagement.
Purpose Of Engagement
Engagement is mostly used as a way to resolve an issue.
It is also used as a way to socialize since 'Soul Expression' is often involved in Engagements.
More rarely, an Engagement can be used as a way to bring out 'Soul Expression'.
Most Engagements are automatically created when one opponent is a magic user.
This is because the boards that are used for Engagements can only be summoned by magic.
*Soul Expression – The Expression of the Soul; Magic Power.
Engagement:First Time
The first time a monster is brought in an Engagement, the monster in question would feel unnaturally heavy and not be able to move.
This feeling would occur because the body is still acclimating to the sensation of their soul being out of their body.
It is only when the monster becomes involved in more Engagements that the monster will become used to the sensation.
Engagement: Range Limit
In Engagements, the monster's soul will be stuck in a range limit.
This is due to the fact that if their souls leave the range limit, they will die.
The range limit is a naturally occurring limitation and will always be used when the soul is out of the monster's body.
Rules Of Engagement
In an Engagement, there is only one turn per monster.
There are some monsters who can bypass such limits, however, it takes much will power to do so.
Monsters cannot [CHECK] their opponent's MP or [FIGHT], [ACT], [ITEM], or [MERCY] options.
All [MERCY] options are the same.
Monsters cannot see other monster's boards.
They can only see their ATK and DEF which adds up to their MP.
It is possible to harm grievously and/or to kill in an Engagement.
An Engagement is mostly used for one-on-one confrontations, however, it is possible for multiple people to be in an Engagement.
When this occurs, most of the monsters 'team-up' to make the Engagement more organized and even.
A monster's soul will always come out during an Engagement due to the nature of the boards.
However, monsters will only be able to see their opponent's soul when they [FIGHT].
This is because souls are private matters.
The next chapter that came up was 'Souls'. I continued reading on, engrossed in the tome.
Souls
A monster's soul and body are connected.
When the soul is attacked, the monster will feel pain in their body due to the connection between them.
Physical injuries would also appear due to the fact that any pain that the soul feels will be amplified to the monster's physical body.
This amplification would trick the monster's body to think that they were injured.
The monster's body would then injure itself to match the amplification.
When a monster's body is attacked, their soul won't feel pain.
Soul Colors
Souls colors can also determine the soul traits of a human.
For humans, their souls are shaped like hearts.
Their entire soul is colored the same color as their soul traits.
Most souls have multiple colors in varying ratios.
It is rare for a soul to only have one color, or for them to have all colors in equal ratios.
Cyan = Patience
Orange = Bravery
Blue = Integrity
Purple = Perseverance
Green = Kindness
Yellow = Justice
Red = Determination
Each soul trait has a special magic ability.
Only a few monsters can use the special magic ability of their trait.
Because of this, many monsters do not know what the special magic ability of each trait is.
Most monsters use their family magic primarily with their personal magic coming in second.
Personal magic mostly depends on the monster in question and how they express their magic.
Most monsters will not have the soul trait of 'Determination' since such a trait will cause monsters to melt from the intense power.
Only Goat Boss Monsters can have this trait.
Even so, it still causes problems for the monster's body.
*Family Magic - Magic that has been passed down generations in family lines and are uniquely attributed to the family's character traits.
*Personal Magic - Magic that is expressed based on the individual monster rather than their family characteristics.
*Special Ability Magic - This Special Ability Magic is the magic trump card for each specific soul trait.
Souls: Differences Between Humans And Monsters
Monster souls, when they die, will shatter once their body turn to dust.
Human souls, however, have the power to still linger on.
Human souls that linger on will become 'spirits'.
Those human souls, if they lingered on for a long period of time, would convert from spirits into ghosts.
Ghosts are more powerful than spirits, with the ability to interact with the physical world, something that spirits are unable to do.
Ghost monsters are created from human souls.
Human souls, that linger after death for a long time, transform into Ghost monsters when surrounded by an abundance of magic.
Their souls become inverted from the magic, thus changing them into monsters.
Skeleton monsters are created from human bodies and human souls.
Skeleton monsters are formed similarly to Ghost monsters, the only exception is that the human bodies transform with their soul.
The abundance of magic that surrounds the dead human envelopes their soul and body, transforming them into Skeleton monsters.
Their souls become inverted from the magic and begin occupying a nearby vessel, the human's former exoskeleton, thus changing them into monsters.
Souls: Absorption
When a monster absorbs a human soul, they will gain tremendous power.
In fact, with one human soul, most monsters would be strong enough to match a Boss Monster.
If a monster absorbed three human souls, they would be strong enough to match a Human Mage.
It was theorized that a monster with seven human souls will have the power that rivals a God.
Humans cannot absorb monster souls.
This is due to the fact that monster souls shatter after they die.
However, it is possible that a human can absorb a Boss Monster's soul since they linger a few minutes before they shatter.
There has never been any records, however, of a human absorbing a Boss Monster's soul.
It is theorized, though, that if a human absorbed a Boss Monster's soul, they would be able to match the strength of seven Boss Monsters.
Monsters cannot absorb another monster's soul.
This is because monster souls disappear quickly.
They can only absorb their dust, this causes their LV or LOVE to rise.
It was theorized, however, that if a monster did absorb another monster's soul, they would enter a Fusion.
Fusion is where the souls of both monsters would be fused, creating an entirely new being.
Humans cannot absorb another human's soul.
If a human has another human's soul inside them, then it is called Possession.
The two souls in the body would fight to gain control.
This is due to the power of a human soul, the body can only handle one of them in control.
Dangerous side effects can occur with both human souls trying to take control of the body.
However, if the two human souls work together to take control of the body, Harmonization would occur.
Harmonization is when the two souls overlap with each other to closely resemble one synchronized unit.
The Power of LOVE
LOVE is a pow-
"Closing time!"
I was brought out from my engrossed reading and looked up from my seat just in time to see the monster who was previously sleeping on the check-out desk checking out the books of a small bunny monster. I quickly got up from my seat and headed to the check-out desk. I was still curious about the contents in the tome so I decided to take it with me to continue my reading.
After the bunny finished checking out their books, I stepped forward and pushed the tome up on the desk. The desk monster didn't say anything at all about my appearance and, instead, bar scanned the tome and handed it back to me. I quickly grabbed the tome and exited the library.
Once out of the library, I pulled up my inventory and slotted the tome inside. I then dismissed the inventory and walked in the direction of Waterfall.
On my way there, I spotted the tiny dog that stole Papyrus's bone. It saw me and ran up to me, dropping the bone in its mouth on the ground and barking at me. I crouched down and pet the dog, causing it to bark happily.
"Aww! You're a good dog, aren't you? Huh? You just wanted to play, huh?"
The dog barked in reply. I smiled at the dog. "Hmm. You know, you need a name. . . . How about Snow?"
The dog only whined unhappily. "You don't like that, huh? Then how about Arial? Freddy? Nixon?"
The more names I said, the louder the dog whined. I couldn't really think of a good name . . . until the strangest idea occurred to me.
"How does Toby sound to you? Toby Fox?" The tiny dog started to bark like crazy.
"Hehehe. It seems you really like that name, huh? Who'd have thought I would name a dog after the guy who created Undertale?" I rubbed the dog's ears.
After a few more pets, the dog- Toby Fox –wiggled away from me. Once away from my affectionate hands, he barked at me a few more times before trotting off in another direction. I just waved him away.
Once I couldn't see him, I got up and dusted the snow off my body. I was about to leave before I realized the Toby Fox had left his bone. I picked the bone up and studied it. It was a sturdy object and really useful, something I could use to protect myself in a fight.
I decided to take the bone with me and pulled up my inventory, slotting the bone next to the tome I picked up from the library. It seems that the gift the Papyrus wished to give me ended up in my hands in the end.
Once that was done, I dismissed my inventory and started walking towards the direction of Waterfall once more. This time, there were no more interruptions.
Knowing that you have a friend in the Underground fills you with DETERMINATION.
( * )
"HUMAN. ALLOW ME TO TELL YOU OF SOME COMPLEX FEELINGS. FEELINGS LIKE . . . THE JOY OF FINDING ANOTHER PASTA LOVER. THE ADMIRATION FOR ANOTHER'S PUZZLE-SOLVING SKILLS. THE DESIRE TO HAVE A COOL, SMART PERSON THINK YOU ARE COOL. THESE FEELINGS . . . THEY MUST BE WHAT YOU ARE FEELING RIGHT NOW!"
- Papyrus
( * )