"I grieve and dare not show my discontent,
I love and yet am forced to seem to hate,
I do, yet dare not say I ever meant,
I seem stark mute but inwardly do prate.
I am and not, I freeze and yet am burned,
Since from myself another self I turned."
- Elizabeth I
Frisk looked at Toriel once more, seeing how happily she was skipping with Chara. Like Aster, she scared monsters off to guarantee there will be no casualties. Not that her daughter wanted to kill, but Toriel felt she should do her part for the sake of the party.
He and Arial floated ahead, looking for the missing Papyrus. They searched every tree, puzzle, and snow puff. Frisk mentally noted the one with the G's to tell Chara about it, although she never took items unless necessary ...
"I wore this for you as well ... Do you like it?"
... or when she wanted to show her "love".
She really was silly to love someone like him, and the thought made Frisk absent-minded for a minute. Arial noogied him Royal Guard style, making him yelp and rub his spectral head.
" Aw ! What was that for, partner ? "
" Don't let your thoughts slip away, partner, we need to figure out where my son is, I - "
Frisk saw Arial's jaw gaping, before she choose to wear a frowning face. He knows what made her look concerned just now, after all ...
" Remember who killed my son just now, human. Remember who the real monster is ... "
... both killed Papyrus last time they met.
Leaving that aside, there was absolutely not trace of Papyrus, no puzzle was properly re-calibrated, and even the frozen spaghetti was missing. Arial and Frisk started to get worried, shadows crawling along the path they took. Before either of them spoke, they laughed it off all of a sudden.
Of course the living would be fine together, after all, or so they thought.
Frisk waved to Arial so she comes along the exit of Snowdin, where Papyrus could be hanging out to stop humans. The village was unusually quiet and empty, gifts were left unwrapped at the tree and only a few dared peeking from the window. Arial searched what Frisk recalled to be the brothers' house, but even Sans was not there.
Both ghosts managed to see Papyrus in the distance, holding a bone as tall as himself. He stood there, not moving despite the chilling wind and thick snow. His eye sockets were glowing from afar, and seemingly ... crying? Arial slowly hovered over her son, she could barely recognize him. It's been so long since she actually did not outright kill him, the thought being so absurd she wished she could die again.
Frisk simply stood there, in the distance, unable to do a thing. While Papyrus did not seem to move or see any of the two ethereal beings, he seemed to mutter something. Frisk could only hear a part of it, something along the lines of :
"Humans do not know MERCY, why did Sans lie to me?"
Papyrus threw a bone close to where Arial was floating, scaring her rather than doing any damage. Something fled from the bush where the bone landed, a monster kid with no arms that Frisk barely remembers. After spending some time along an unresponsive Papyrus, the two ghosts were backtracking to meet the party at the village's entrance.
"I'm sorry I made you kill my son."
"I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to stop it."
"You did"
"Did I ?"
Arial remembers that her partner at the time struggled not to finish him off, which infuriated her firsthand, but now ...
"You did, partner, thank you."
... she would be eternally grateful if they could SAVE him this time.
Chara hardly recognized her mother now that she walking along her to Snowdin Village. Back when she was not revived, she used to go as far as Waterfall. She did not like the cold that much, but people eventually settled there once the capital got too crowded for their taste. Toriel was jesting with Sans ahead, leaving Chara stuck with a note-taking, mute Aster.
"Why are you still scribbling on that old memo?"
Aster hasn't turned around, and kept on writing what he saw as the party walked across the forest.
"Research is like the void, endlessly expanding through time and space."
"Funny thing, coming from a Voidwalker"
"I agree, although our once sharp minds were dulled by the illusion of time."
Chara looked nervously at yet another monster consumed by a shadow, what you would now call a Darkcap. Each time Chara acted normally, the Icecap would attack a little harder.
Toriel kept healing her until she heard Bonehead whisper something through the FIGHT.
"perhaps you should not ignore him, for once, like you did with those you sliced before."
Chara winced a bit, but nevertheless looked at the Darkcap intensly. He was getting flustered at the attention, and left without further ado. Chara got healed by her mother, who hugged her a tad tighter than usual.
"Mom ! I'm ... really dying now ..."
"Thank goodness, you're alright."
"sounds like she capped her knife sheathed"
Both Mother and child threw daggers at the jesting skeleton, but quickly laughed it off before departing. Aster beckoned his son to his side, which surprised the comedian who reluctantly approched him.
"what is it pops, you bone dry already?"
Aster chuckled lightly, wondering why this baby bones of his decided to talk to him.
"its not like i have a choice, they're having a moment there."
"Is the Queen ready to meet her once subjects?"
Aster had the unpleasant habit of cutting to the chase, but sans never minded that. He simply told his father about their earlier conversation, as Chara looked behind her to make sure he doesn't gossip too much. Skipping the first half full of puns, Aster noted the rest carefully.
"Thank you, we may now hope she can rally the people for us."
"heh, who wouldn't like a cuddly, fiery goat mom like her?"
Sans dodged a snowball, then another, then a lot more coming from a steaming Chara. This skeleton had the nerve to try hitting on her own Mom after.
"Chara ! Please behave !"
While Chara went to apologize and hug her mother, Sans shrugged and gave a "told you" look to his dad. He then asked him on a pressing matter : The shadows.
"It seems all creatures we fought against, have been tainted so to speak. Our deepest fears, regrets, and desires manifest into shadows and corrupt any monster they can reach."
"spooky scary shadows, huh? never thought we'll have a challenger."
"You do know you could just smoke them out, baby bones."
A laughter was heard ahead of Sans, both females started giggling as they picture a baby Bonehead. He sighed with a smirk, it was hardly imaginable to just waltz around with people he could be hating.
The Father who left them alone.
The Child who murdered them all.
Truth is, he could forgive them. He would not be able to forget what he saw, as much as the old lady would.
They even had that conversation earlier, wondering whether they could stomach that much sin.
"y'know what your little naught daughter did, right old lady?"
"I do, although I still cannot believe it or remember much about it, except for those nightmares.
"yea, she was a little edgy at the time, but guess the other kiddo helped her to stop."
"Frisk, was it? What a waste to lose another human child."
Sans had that dread feeling each time he almost snapped, his lights went out whenever someone pitied people that shouldn't be.
"i cannot forgive either of them, for killing paps ... can you forgive them for "killing" you that much?"
Toriel stopped for a moment, she looked at her once white paw. It was now permanently black, since the healing didn't get rid of the color.
"I cannot really do that either but ... I've been waiting for a day like this for a very long time so ..."
"can't say i ever saw that day coming either."
After dealing with a few more dark monsters, who almost killed Chara more than once, the party finally arrived at Snowdin. Thanks to Toriel's healing, Aster's mysterious powers and Sans' bone baits, Chara was there in one piece. She slowly got in the familiar village she passed by so many times, covered in monster dust and wielding a freshly bleeding blade.
Monsters looked both amazed and intimidated by the new party, whispers about every member were escalating. Nobody seemed to recognize Toriel yet, but the Grillby regulars waved at Sans before going for another round.
A few monsters however, seemed to glare at Toriel. She looked back at them for as long as she could, feeling increasingly embarassed. Chara gripped her robe, then gave her a hug - in a Frisk fashion. She looked puzzled, questioning her child about this behavior.
"He used to do this, so I can relax."
When Toriel hugged Chara, the Snowdin Village "Mayor" moved forward, making sure he was not mistaken.
"Queen Toriel? ... your majesty ... is back?"
Goat Mom looked a little afraid now, but sans stood next to her, as well as Aster. Bonehead could not keep himself from saying thay she goat this.
"Ehehehe, maybe I do after all."
She looked back at the bear monster, who knows seemed certain of her identity.
"Yes, I am back. I am sorry for leaving you all this time."
A silence suddenly filled the village, people were being briefed by the Librarby staff about the Queen. Cheers erupted shortly after everyone knew about Toriel, who squirmed a bit but waved back like the royalty she was.
"Thank you, my children. I am glad I finally managed to come out and see you again. I had reasons to recluse myself before, my children were dead, and our King decided to shoulder the burden of killing human for our sake ..."
Monsters listened to the speech, Sans whistling for fun and Chara yelled Go Goat Mom in the background. The audience laughed at the two jesters, but was still uncomfortable around the man who stood next to the Queen.
" ... as of now, my daughter came back from the dead. As unreal as it seems, I am grateful. I no longer need to stop humans from coming this way, but I still require everyone's help now. We will find a way to get out of here, without killing any- "
A mouse monster, along with a few other skeptical individuals, wanted to say something.
"But we need the human SOULs to cross the barrier right? Can't the human just give us his SOUL? And who's that monster anyways, he looks creepy !"
Clamor could be heard, as people started to argue about what should be done. As Toriel planned to get their attention, Chara moved up and spoke.
" I am the Fallen Angel."
The dispute ceased right away, people looking at each other in disbelief. The girl sure looked like the princess they had, as far as the legend they read or heard of.
" I was given back life thanks to this monster you know nothing of, and another human who died for my sake. I would do the same to SAVE you all, laying my life for my home is too little a price."
"We do not want you to die, Angel !"
Monsters said that out loud, making Chara on the verge of tears. They had no idea how bad she was, they just hoped she would save them all, like the prophecy foretold. Still, uneasiness could be felt as they stared at Aster, who seemed unphased by the whole thing.
"um guys, i'm going up"
"What up, Sansy, gonna do another gig?"
Laughter filled the place, the wacky skeleton's antics were popular in town and made people happy. Sans wanted to help the old lady, even though it meant he would help monsters he is not fond of - the other two members of his "party."
"guys, i think i need bone-ding advice. the guy you've been staring at is my old man."
Confusion were visible among the Snowdin folks, who wondered how a human and a monster managed to come back to life.
"he ain't the best pops ever, but he got backbone and got a pretty heavy skull. just uh ... go easy on him."
A round of applause ran through the village grounds, along cheers and hopes and dreams of freedom. Everyone started dispersing after shaking hands with the Queen and meeting her party of sorts. Chara was exhausted, so she lent an inn room for two, expectong her mom to come. The other three were busy dealing with the locals, thus Chara used that alone time to sleep for a bit.
Nostalgia filled the room she was in, it was the same one she used to share with Frisk. She could still hear him confess, after he fought off her demons and subdue her.
"BUT I LOVE HER SO MUCH !"
She will never forget his face when he saif that, a desperately innocent child trying to help their one and only "friend".
Aru here,
There are many little flashbacks in store for the next bonus chapter - which will probably crash down here on Wednesday.
It's just another one of those chapters I finished up after a all-nighter - sort of - so no promises it is any good.
Mamaaaaa ~ oooooooh ~
... or why you could get ot not what the title has to do with all that crap I wrote - same for the quote really.
Vote and review, dear reader, just make your voice heard.