"So monsters are held together by… 'magic', right?" Asked the boy.
"Mmhmm." His lizard guide said with a nod. "From your tone, I'm guessing that's hard for you to believe."
"Well, yeah." Ed snorted "Magic isn't real."
"All right." Marty said, readjusting his glasses "What is 'magic', then, to you?"
Ed opened his mouth to respond, but upon finding he didn't quite have a response, he closed it again. He mulled over to himself a moment and finally came up with his answer.
"Something that's not real." He said, scrunching up his face. As Marty opened his mouth to offer a response, the boy continued with "So maybe our ideas of 'magic' are different then. I mean, magic isn't real, but to you it's real. It's the same name, but different things."
His guide smiled, bemused. He gave a sage nod of his head "That's quite open minded."
Ed gave him a big grin at the praise.
At the advice given from Alphys, Marty had taken it upon himself to guide Edward to the home of this 'Toriel' person. On the walk there (which was quite long, as the woman lived a bit of a ways outside the city), Ed had barraged the lizard-man with questions, eager to learn as much as he was able to about Monster life. Marty seemed to be quite knowledgeable, and this came from his background as a researcher (the only detail of himself he bluntly shared with Ed). So the man shared information about the monster's concept of SOULs, magic, and magical SOULs (why he insisted SOUL was spelt with all capitals was a mystery).
"Here we are." Marty said, motioning up a well-cared for path. Light shone through the leafy canopy, illuminating the homey cottage in a way that made it look like it came straight out of a child's story book.
"This is where that Toriel lady lives?" Ed blinked.
Marty nodded, turned, and gave a wave "Goodbye, Edward."
"WAIT, WHAT!?" Ed snapped "You're just LEAVING!?"
Marty nodded "Yeah. I still have some errands to run."
Ed stared "Uh…"
Marty gave him a forced smile "Toriel will help you find your brother, don't you worry." His expression shifted "But she doesn't like me too much, so I better get going."
"I can see why she doesn't like you." Ed muttered "You can be a bit of a prick."
"That is true." Marty said again "Just knock on the door, she'll be right with you. Bye."
"Bye." Ed snorted as he watched Marty walk away.
Now, standing in the dirt path and stripped of his guide, Ed felt quite vulnerable. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he felt uneasy alone. It was very uncomfortable without a living presence standing by his side. He was just so used to his brother being there….
Ed sighed, shook his head, and strolled up the dirt path. He was acting stupid, he knew that. It was simple: find Al, and go back to looking into that lead of theirs….
And then afterwards go back to that Grillby's place.
Ed knocked on the wooden door with his metal fist, and the knock was promptly answer by a series of yells, the loud crashes of objects being knocked over, and the holler of 'UNDYNE WATCH WHERE YOU ARE GOING', followed by 'It's okay Mom, none of us are hurt!', followed by a stampede of footsteps and the door being practically torn off its hinges.
Before him suddenly stood a tall bi-pedal…fish lady. With an eyepatch. Ed couldn't help but admire how cool she looked before he asked:
"Er….Are you Toriel?" For some reason he had his doubts.
"NOPE!" The lady grinned, she turned back inside the house and yelled out "TORIEL! SOME KID'S HERE TO SEE YOU!"
"Undyne, please lower you voice." Some spoke much more gently. A woman strolled into his line of sight, dressed in purple skirts. She was…very tall. White furred, horned, and with large claws and fangs to match. But despite all the sharp features, she seemed soft. And not just literally. Her smile was warm, her eyes gentle and her stride peaceful.
"Greetings." She said, looking down on him "How may I be of service?"
Ed shook himself out of his memories, exchanging them for his request "I'm looking for my brother. I was told you could help me find him?"
Toriel hummed to herself a moment, looking down at him thoughtfully "Would your brother happen to be named 'Alphonse'?"
"Yeah!" Ed said, staring. "How'd you know?"
Toriel chuckled briefly, moving to one side and beckoning him to enter her home. Despite every instinct the boy had accumulated about mindlessly wandering into a person's home, memories of stew and a mother drew him inside.
He followed her through a short hall, decorated lavishly with photos of her and her friends, he assumed. He saw several of a child with brown hair, several more of a pair of skeletons. One or two were of that fish lady, Undyne, and a monster who had a likeness to Marty. Alphys, Ed safely assumed. Aside from the photos, paintings of landscapes and potted plants displayed themselves to anyone who entered. The fragrance of cinnamon and flowers intermingled to create a pleasant aroma.
She led him to a living room, similarly decorated with flowers and photos. But the large suit of armor sitting cross-legged in the middle seemed to stick out-
"Alphonse!" Ed hollered, sprinting to his brother and skidding to his knees.
"Brother!" Al chirped. He then fidgeted with his gauntlets "Oh, I, uh, made you worry, didn't I?"
Ed snorted "Only a lot." His voice rose "Why the HELL were you staying here-"
"Excuse me!" Toriel interrupted, towering above them "I would appreciate you avoiding that kind of language in front of Frisk."
"Frisk?" Ed blinked. Al chuckled awkwardly, winning a confused stare from his older brother. The armored spirit shifted himself over slightly, revealing the child from the photos. They straightened their glasses and smiled broadly.
"Hello." They said.
"Er….Hi." Ed said meekly, suddenly feeling ashamed. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly "uh…Nice to meet you, Frisk."
The child giggled a moment, then shot fingers guns in his direction "Makes since 'hell' was the first word you used around me, 'cause you're hell-a fine."
"What." Ed blinked, flushing red. Al chuckled, Undyne started roaring with laughter, and Toriel had began scolding the child while holding back her own laughter.
After that whole fiasco, Toriel insisted the brothers stayed a while longer to eat some pie she had baked. As Ed hadn't eaten in a good half hour, he jumped right on the offer. Al politely came up with an excuse to not eat a thing. It was when Toriel offered Undyne some that she said something interesting…
"Sorry Toriel, I can't right now." She refused, shaking her head "I gotta get back to Alphys." A wide grin spread across her fishy lips "And really, you should all come with me!"
"Hm? Why is that?" Toriel inquired, tilting her head ever-so-slightly to the side.
"'Cause apparently Sans came back last night!"
"Sans?" Frisk jumped at the name, eyes shining bright and eager "Sans is back?"
Ed and Al exchanged a look.
"Oh! Then I suppose we should wrap this pie up to go, hm?" Toriel smiled "Well, after the boys get their share-"
"They should come with us!" Frisk said. "So that way they can meet Sans and Alphys!"
"I got no objections here, punk!" Undyne grinned.
"I believe that is for them to decide." Toriel interrupted "Last night, Alphonse had seemed in quite a hurry to leave, so it is most likely they had something they needed to do."
"Oh." Frisk said, disappointed.
Ed and Al gave each other another look, and with a silent nod they reached an agreement.
"Nah, we'd love to go meet your friends." Ed said, grinning. He ruffled Frisk's hair, who had giggled lightly before swatting his hands away. Ed finished with a bit less light-hearted statement "Well, as long as I don't get flirted with again."
"No promises." Frisk smiled.
A/N
Hey look an update. WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT CHAPTER!? WHO KNOWS?
Me.
Anyway, for those of you wondering who the frickle frackle Marty is, he's one of my Undertale OCs for my fanfic 'Long Ago'. He's my favorite one, so he got a cameo.