Oh look, another chapter! It helps a lot to leave something like a review. (Frankly, the nice ones make my day xD)
It was pitch black for a moment before Frisk's eyes adjusted to the monotone gray they were used to seeing when they met with Gaster in their dreams. It felt stranger in person. The hunched form in the center of the room twitched and his form seemed to tear for a blink of a moment as he rose and turned to look at them, his eyesockets empty. Frisk summoned some of their courage but was careful to keep their Determination on a short leash. Sans didn't say anything as he stepped in front of the child protectively, "I won't let him hurt you, alright?"
Frisk only nodded as Gaster watched them, his masklike face impassive as Sans slowly made his way over to him and stopped to stand a few feet away, "So, this is where you've been all this time, huh? Why didn't you say you needed DT to come back? I would have gotten it for you."
Gaster shifted as he watched the shorter skeleton, his gaze flicking back to Frisk before he made several gestures and motions with his disembodied hands, seeming unable to verbally speak, "Need live Soul to return."
The child noticed the melted man watching them and they flinched and moved a bit more behind their friend. He was moving his hands around again, like he was trying to talk, they didn't understand what he was saying but Sans seemed to have understood.
Unseen by Frisk, Sans frowned and signed back as to not alarm Frisk with his response, "You want to kill Frisk? Kind of need Soul to exist." Gaster was about to reply when Sans sharply and silently interrupted the older man, "No, I will not let you harm child, you will nottake Soul."
The once scientist eyed his younger former colleague, "Do not want to kill, simply return."
"How you intend do that? Cannot separate Soul without death." He signed, his words becoming muddled from frustration.
Gaster almost interrupted Sans in return, "Must be willing to help."
All the while they were communicating, Frisk was connecting the dots, watching them intently. Sans' signing became more frantic and choppy, he was getting mad. Gaster just looked annoyed. Frisk frowned and walked closer to the deformed figure and held out a hand, "I don't know how, but I know I want to do whatever I can to help you come back."
The melted man looked down at their hand with only the now present pinpricks of his eye-sockets before eying their face, his gaze boring into their eyes. He startled them by speaking, "yOuR DeTeRMinAtiOn- YoUr sOuL-" He said raspily, his deep voice strained.
Sans grabbed Frisk by the shoulder and yanked them back as Gaster reached to them, "Watch it, Bub." He said, his voice uncharacteristically gruff as he moved Frisk behind him and glanced over his shoulder and down at them, "How do you want to do this?" Sans asked and cursed himself for not coming up with a better plan for this.
They peered out from behind him, "I think... His soul needs to be healed." They said as Gaster slowly slunk toward them.
Sans' brows furrowed, "With what? Yours? How d'you plan on doing that?" He snorted unamusedly and looked to the other skeleton as he continued to inch his way over to them, his movements akin to that of a slug. "Don't try anything funny, 'G." Sans said quietly as Frisk stepped out from behind their friend and walked back up to Gaster.
Suddenly and without warning, Frisk leapt at the unsolidified skeleton. This action caught even Gaster off guard and he moved to catch them. Sans shouted something as the child landed on his torso with a splat causing Gaster to scramble to hold onto them.
There was a moment of panic before Frisk found themself standing in a void of darkness with the older skeleton towering over them, the only illumination was that of the human's Soul with its red glow. Gaster looked down at his own chest to see the reverse heart form of his own broken Soul, loosely held together by an unseen force as it weakly pulsed, seeming tired. The scientist looked to be in his normal form, his posture straight and whole. He wore his glasses and lab outfit and he looked to his arms and legs, seeming surprised at his own appearance. Frisk supposed it was what he was wearing when he fell into the Core. They tried not to dwell on the thought, the amount of fear he must have felt when he plummeted into his own creation.
"I can't give you my Soul but I can help you. You said my Determination was the key to helping you." Frisk said quietly as they cradled the red heart-shaped core of their being in their small hands.
Gaster was immediately suspicious of them, "Why help me?" He asked evenly as he looked down at them, the features of his face barely lit up by the crimson luminance of the child's Soul.
"Because you want to come back." They replied simply, a small smile touching their lips as they looked from their Soul up to his face.
He stared at the child, his bony, amorphous brow quirked cautiously, that was it? There had to be another reason, right? Humans never help for nothing in return, why would this one? But, he had to admit, he had been watching them from his place behind the gray door, unable to leave or do anything, just watch everything unfold, this human was different from the ones that had previously fallen. They reminded him of Chara, the first Fallen Child. But this one, this one helped any and all monsters they came across, without hesitation or doubt, as if they felt compelled to do so.
He mentally shrugged, who was he to stop them from helping him? What was the worst that could happen? He could die? He almost laughed out loud at the thought, anything had to be better than this limbo he found himself in.
It was only in this place that he could willingly summon his Soul to become visible outside his body. He pulled at the pieces of his shattered core and willed them forward as he knelt before the human. Frisk stared at the unrecognizable monster Soul, it wasn't quite a boss Soul but it looked pretty close. But, it was barely held together and there were scars on some of the larger pieces. Frisk wasn't sure what they should do at this point but they did the only thing they could think of; they mustered up some of their Determination to fill their own now beating Soul.
They bit their lower lip in concentration as they inched forward. Would they die? Would they lose the ability to 'save' or 'reset'? Would it hurt? So many questions as they tried to mask their fear at the possibilities of what would happen. It was almost like they had to take a bad tasting medicine as they clamped their eyes shut and all but shoved their Soul into his, it was all or nothing. There was an immediate reaction from both parties; Gaster recoiled in what seemed like pain from the touch and Frisk shrieked shrilly and instinctly and immediately tried to pull away. It felt like they were getting sucked into his being the moment their Soul touched his.
Sans got knocked backward several feet from a sudden explosion from the two after Frisk abruptly jumped onto the melted scientist. Sans tried in vain to pry the child from the viscous substance that made up his former colleague's body, "Frisk!" He shouted as he tried to dig them out, their small form quickly sinking into the gelatinous mass. Sans hadn't noticed during his efforts that the masklike face of Gaster sank down the mound of goop, his disembodied hands soon following, any trace of life in the eyesockets of the deliquesced man now gone as his form bubbled of its own accord.
Every instinct in the human child screamed at them to get away from him or they wouldn't come back. But, as if magnetized, Frisk willed themself through sheer determination to not pull themself away, they weren't done, he wasn't ready to come back, 'His Soul isn't healed yet!' They cried out in their mind. They felt like they were losing themself, their identity fading as they pumped more Determination into his Soul. Only when they were shoved back did their Soul disconnect with his. Dazed, Frisk could only look up with their eyes from their place on the 'floor' of the 'dream'- to see the skeleton nursing something glowing and white in his holed hands. He dropped arms to the side to reveal his Soul, slowly beating and cracked, but whole. Frisk found they couldn't move, their eyes only able to helplessly dart about in fear, their eyelids betraying them and slowly closing. Did he want to hurt them? Their thoughts raced in a panic as he slowly approached, the child's vision blurring and darkening. Their muscles screeched in pain and exhaustion, they'd never healed anything before, much less with their own Soul.
He startled them when he knelt next to them and gathered them in his suprisingly strong thin arms as the endless darkness faded to the nearly blinding gray of the 'Void Room'. Frisk was just beyond unconciousness, the 'light' barely visible from behind their eyelids.
Sans watched as the goop that once comprised Gaster melted away and disolved into the floor with a hiss to reveal the slender man kneeling with Frisk in his arms. 'How in the- They actually did it.' Sansthought incredulously as Gaster slowly stood and walked to stand in front of Sans.
A shiver ran down Sans' spine when the older scientist spoke up, his voice exactly the same as it had been years ago, complete with the slight rasp and lilt to it, "We must leave now or we will never be able to."
Sans snapped out of his trance, "Wha- Oh yeah, c'mon." He replied dazedly and headed for the exit, or what was left of it; it was cracked and now crumbling. He would have to muse on that later as he wrenched the door open and ushered the two out. Both of the skeletons watched as the door flickered out of existance without a trace, as if nothing happened, as if it never existed. The shorter of the two took this opportunity to check on the unconcious child in Gaster's arms. They looked fine, physically. He would have to check their Soul and interrogate Gaster later, for now, it was time to get them back up to the surface. Sans held out his hands for the child, "I'll take em', we gotta go topside. I take it you're caught up on current events?"
The older skeleton blinked and handed Frisk off to Sans, "Indeed."
"Can you still take those 'shortcuts'?"
Gaster was dusting off his already pristine jet black lab coat and looked to Sans, "I suppose we'll find out, won't we?"
Sans shrugged, "Welp, meet you in the throne room." He said with a wink of his right eye and nod of his head and in an instant, he was gone, the only trace of him being the thin cloud of magical essence left behind.
Sans blinked back into existance in the middle of the golden flowerbed, his slippers bruising their petals as he stood in the Throne Room. He walked over the the empty throne and gingerly set Frisk down on it. He put a hand to their chest, feeling it slowly rise and fall. If he hadn't extensively studied humans in the past, he wouldn't have detected the slight wheeze in their lungs, must have been from exertion. "Geez Kid, what'd you do?" He murmured softly and focused his energy to their sternum, gently pulling at their Soul with his magic, it still beat much like heart but it seemed tired, its actions labored. It also somehow felt shriveled, he couldn't place the feeling, but he knew it would be a long time before they could do anything like what they pulled- again.
There was a puff of fabric and Sans looked over his shoulder to see Gaster straightening the collar of his labcoat. Neither said anything as the older man walked over to the two. He looked down over his glasses at Frisk, "Their Determination and youth were the only thing that kept them from being absorbed."
Sans suddenly whirled around, his left eye ablaze in azure fire, "You would have what?!"
Gaster stood his ground and gave a dry chuckle despite his younger colleague's clear anger, "Don't you think I'm grateful for their efforts? The last thing that I want to happen to them would be death or worse, the same fate as I."
There was a whimper from behind Sans. He suddenly turned from Gaster, back to the child, cupping their face in his bony hands, "I'm here, Frisk. You okay? You really had me worried."
They seemed to be fading in and out between conciousness and otherwise. "... S-Sans... It h-hurts..." They croaked and looked as though they were trying to move.
He shushed them, suprising himself with the amount of tenderness in his voice, "No-no-no, don't move, Kiddo. Whatever you did really did a number on your body, I got you." His voice was quiet as he shifted to take them in his arms as gingerly as possible.
Frisk tried to cry out in pain but their exhaustion stifled it to a low groan, tears of pain streaming down the side of their face.
Without a word, he started off for the exit, he didn't want to risk hurting them further by teleporting again, if it did a number on him, he hated to think how it would affect them, why hadn't he thought about it earlier? 'How the hell am I gonna explain this to Tori?' The thought echoed in the back of his mind but the sound of Gaster's shoes on the gold tiling drew him from his cerebration. He glanced over his shoulder to see the taller man following, not too closely, but only a few feet away. He was eying San's back with a glazed look in his drooped features before he locked pinpricks with his.
Sans stopped and turned to face the scientist, "Wait." Gaster hesitantly stopped and watched Sans, his eyesockets narrowing with caution as he waited for a continuation. "How are we going to explain this to Asgore? Everyone thinks you're dead."
Gaster steepled his hands together in thought as he mulled this over. He had to admit, he hadn't been expecting to exist anymore. "While it isn't my strong suit, perhaps the truth would suffice."
"That you had been stalking a human child in their dreams- the savior of the Underground no doubt, and that they brought you back to life? Is that what you want me to tell them?" Sans almost didn't wait for him to finish, trying to keep the sarcasm from dripping into his tone as he stared him down.
"Really, there are stranger things that have happened, even I know that, Sans." The spindly skeleton didn't miss a beat as he replied with a sigh.
Frisk stirred before Sans could snipe something in return. He carefully shifted them to support them against his chest, their chin over his shoulder. "I can't tell you what to do, but I won't let you near Frisk as long as I live, capiche?" He hissed to the older man before turning and continuing his trek with his precious cargo.
Gaster blinked and frowned but didn't reply as he followed him to the long corridor that once contained the barrier. He'd been to the barrier before, mainly for study and (failed)attempts to break or get past it. The magic at the time he had been there with it no longer shuddered through his bones, nor reverberated through his Soul. It was silent, strangely so in it's absense. He never thought he would see the day that he would make it over the threshhold again.
The sun was setting over the horizon as the three made their way out of the mouth of the cave from the Underground and the walk through the forest was silent save for the crunching of leaves and soil as they traversed the worn path back to the settlement. Every now and again, Frisk would give a quiet whimper and mumble something to Sans. He didn't stop to look at the child cradled against his hip like a toddler, "Don't worry about Toriel, I'll talk to her, try and get some rest, Champ." He said quietly to them as he carefully stepped over a log.
For the first time in a long time, Gaster seemed unsure. He thought he would be mesmerised by the view of the surface, being able to see the sky and smell the mountain air after so many years, but he was left feeling... empty. He was left alone with his thoughts again, he had been alone in the Void for so long, it was second nature to him now, only at this time, he was in his original form and outside. Despite all of his efforts, in the back of his mind, he never really truly expected to break the barrier. Maybe it was the dwindling amount of Hope amoung the monsters or maybe he was tired after trying for so long.
"We're here." Sans told him as they stopped to stand near the entrance of the settlement, "I need to take them home, you go explain this to Asgore." He told him, the pinpricks of his eyes boring through the older man's face, almost daring him to dispute his order.
Gaster stiffened and narrowed his eyes at the shorter skeleton, unappreciative of being ordered to do something, but he didn't argue as he walked past him.
Sans watched him head toward the direction of the King's home. He knew the taller scientist knew were everything was, knew that he'd been watching from the Void. How he was able to was another question. Sans shook his head and rubbed Frisk's back reassuringly before shifting them a bit in his arm before heading down the path toward Toriel's house.
Sans knocked on her door without hesitation and waited for her to answer. It wasn't long before she opened the door to see him, "Oh, I was beginning to get worried, it's getting late-" She stopped in mid-sentence when he walked past her into the house.
She watched as he headed to the livingroom. "Sans, what-"
It was then that Frisk whimpered in his arms.
Toriel's eyes widened and she rushed over, "What in the world happened?" She asked as she carefully took the child from him and stroked their face carefully before placing them gingerly on her recliner. "Sans, you have some explaining to do... What happened." She said to him, her voice dangerously low as she turned to face him.
If Sans had a throat, he would be swallowing nervously, but he kept still, his expression impassive. "It was my fault, I should have kept a better eye on them." He replied evenly.
"You did not answer my question, Sans." She said carefully as she folded her arms, her brow knitting together in irritation.
The skeleton considered her question, his expression unchanging, "We got a little carried away helping someone. You might remember him."
She narrowed her eyes a his vague answer but didn't pursue it as she turned back to her child. Her gaze snapped to the door when there was a loud banging behind it and someone shouting, she had a feeling who it was.
She approached the door and looked through the peephole to see Asgore standing impatiently behind it, looking agitated. She squinted when she saw someone else beside him, obsured by the narrow view of the tiny window. She opened the door, "Dreamurr, what is it? Why are you b-" She froze in midsentence when she caught sight of a familarly thin individual dressed smartly in slacks, a beige turtleneck and long black labcoat. Said individual adjusted his glasses (somehow, without ears to actually hold them up). Her jaw went slightly slack as she tried to comprehend who stood before her.
The King cut through the near awkward silence, "Toriel, I don't understand the specifics but somehow, W.D. survived! Is it not wonderful?" He asked breathlessly as Toriel snapped her jaw shut and composed herself.
"Wing, how did you-" She shook her head and stepped aside for the two men to enter.
Throughout this whole exchange, the former royal scientist remained silent, the pinpricks of his eyesockets watching the Queen's expression blankly.
She walked past the livingroom where Sans sat cradling Frisk in his arms and lap in the chair. He looked up from watching their face to the trio as they walked by, narrowing his eyes at his former colleague. Gaster either didn't notice or completely ignored the shorter skeleton before he disappeared through the doorway to the kitchen with the King and Queen. The three sat down at the dining room table and Toriel looked from Asgore to Gaster pointedly, "Care to explain?" She asked quietly of either of them.
The King looked to the skeletal scientist, "Yes, if you would be so kind as to relay the story once again, Wing."
Alright guys, I hope you enjoyed this one! If I don't think I'll be able to update, I'll post it somewhere like on deviantArt or my Tumblr page. Stay tuned!
P.S. I'm also working on a Mystery Skulls fanfic, it's not much right now and I'm really trying to get to know characters but it's fun.