Chapter 29: Gabriel
"I think... I think I accidentily made him love me."
The silence that came afterward lasted only for several minutes, and was deafening.
It was only when I got a text from Natalie telling me to come in, that I spoke. "Sans, I'm sorry, but I've got to go. I'm being called in to work, and I can't afford to be late." Natalie's text was urgent, so instead of getting to the compound and changing there, I quickly stripped and threw on the black tank top and leggings, the other Sans' jacket being thrown on last after I had put my hair up. I turned to give Sans a hug, ignoring the blue tint brushing his cheeks. "We can talk more tomorrow, okay?"
Sans was reluctant to let me go, "...okay. okay, be safe frisk, and come to me as soon as you get back."
I nodded, and left the room, immediately being transported to the compound.
When I arrived, I was immediately taken aside by Natalie. "Frisk, this is very important, so listen up. Alexandra is in a terrible mood, and since she thinks you've done enough sessions, she wants you to fight another mage tonight."
My blood turned to ice in my veins, "What, tonight?! But I need more time, I'm not strong enough; I still haven't beaten Pandora in hand-to-hand combat!"
Natalie smiled grimly, "Well you'll just have to be stronger tonight, won't you?"
"Natalie, I'll die!" I eyed a save point up ahead beside the room entrance, and knew that I was correct. "Natalie please, can't you do something? Anything!"
Natalie shook her head, "Unfortunately, I cannot do anything, Frisk. But this is the weakest mage, if you just work hard and use your powers, you may be able to beat him."
Natalie led me to the room, and I turned before she could push me in. "Natalie, can you promise me that I won't die or anything? Please." While I spoke, I had reached behind me to save at the save point just in case, and to not be suspicious.
"I can promise that... I'll try my best to keep you alive." It was too much for Natalie to promise me my life, so this would have to be enough.
I nodded understandingly in response to Natalie, and gave her a small smile before heading into the room. When I entered, there was a boy, about 16 years old. He had tanner skin than me, shaggy chestnut hair, bottle green eyes, and was just a few inches taller than me. He looked a bit scrawny, but I could feel the magical energy radiating from him. This kid could kill me.
He only spoke two words before he attacked, his delicate voice breaking, "I'm sorry."
I had died at least 3 times, so far.
I mainly dodged, trying to figure out the boy's attacks, my heart breaking when he got a look of dismay whenever he hurt me.
I had gotten in at least 8 hits with both magic and hand to hand combat, "I'm really, really sorry about this. I don't want to hurt you, you understand that?"
The boy replied, "I know, and I don't want to hurt you!" He threw more attacks at me, "But I don't want to be punished or thrown out on the streets if I don't comply with Alexandra."
The boy threw his biggest attack yet at me, and I died once more.
I appeared at the save point, sore from the last attack. I wasn't going to get anywhere if I held my power back. This time, when I entered, it was me who apologized to the boy. And I attacked relentlessly, dodging every attack that came my way, determined to end this fight.
I ended up pinning the boy to the floor, trying to be gentle with my hold on him, ending the fight quickly. I looked up to the intercom, my voice as cold and sharp as a blade, "Are you happy now? I won."
Alexandra's voice was a bit excited, "Not happy, but quite satisfied. Frisk, me and Zach are going to personally speak with you today."
I jumped off the boy and helped him up, "Sorry about that, just wanted to end this quickly so neither of us would get too hurt. Are you okay?"
The boy nodded and gave me a small smile, "Yeah, that's understandable. And I'm fine, you didn't rough me up too badly. I'm Gabriel, the 1st mage, the weakest. And your Frisk?" I nodded. "Wow, no wonder you beat me in a matter of seconds, you're the strongest."
I shook my head as we made our way to be checked for injuries, "I'm not that strong. Not yet, at least. Gabriel, I have a question for you." Gabriel looked at me, confused as to why I would be asking him a question. "You said something about being thrown out on the streets while we were fighting. Are you living here at the compound?"
Gabriel looked confused, "Did I say that?" Oh shoot, that was before I died. "Well, if you heard it then I guess I did. And yeah, I live here... I have no where else to go, and I'm only here since I'm cooperating with Alexandra and Aaron as the first mage. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here, and I'd be out on the streets."
My heart hurt for Gabriel, "It must be awful living here, no friends or family, and I doubt the living conditions are fit for a growing boy. And you have to do whatever they tell you to? Even if it could result in your death or someone else's death?"
Gabriel nodded, a sad look crossing his eyes. "Yeah, it's pretty miserable living here. I have to though. I have no other choice."
I shook my head fiercly, "No, you have a choice. And I'm going to take it up with Alexandra right now." We entered the room, and I went up to Alexandra straight away. "Alexandra, I need to have a word with you."
Alexandra looked surprised, "And what is it that you want?"
"If Gabriel's willing to, I want him to come live with me." My voice came out strong, even though I was panicking inside.
Alexandra raised an eyebrow, and I could see a smile forming on Gabriel's face behind her. "Oh? And you'll be able to provide for him? Ensure that he'll make it to each and every session, both training and learning alike? You'd do all of this for a stranger? A mere, child, who is useless and worthless to you?"
I narrowed my eyes, my anger starting to rise. "He's not worthless or useless, no one is. And yes, I will be able to provide whatever he needs or wants for him."
Alexandra looked at me for a moment longer, before saying simply, "Okay, do whatever you'd like then. You've proved that you provide valuable information, and as long as you answer my questions, I'll let this slide."
I nodded my head, and looked over my shoulder, smiling. "Gabriel, get checked out, and then get whatever belongings you may have here. You're coming home with me." I turned back to Alexandra, still smiling. "Okay, now what questions do you have for me?"
Alexandra smiled, and practically purred, "You died, didn't you?"
My smile faded, my eyes glaring. "Yes, I did. Why do you ask?"
Alexandra's grin got bigger, "So you are the anomaly within the timelines and such. How do you do it? How do you, come back from death? And why does no one remember anything of it?"
I crossed my arms, reluctant to talk about this stuff without Sans. "I don't know, I guess it's just my pure determination that revives me. And if no one remembers the resets, then why do you know about them?"
Alexandra smiled still, analyzing me with those piercing butterscotch yellow eyes. "No one really noticed at first, but certain documents were recorded, and with those documents, with each, what do you call it? Resets? Well with each reset, certain documents remained, and when discovered, were different from what we had presently recorded. For example: Say Pandora was evaluated during a session, and her data was recorded onto documents that were then put into a filing cabinet. Normal so far, yes? Well, then everything happens all over again, yet we don't know that we're reliving something. This time, we write down something different onto a document, and when we go to put the document into a filing cabinet, there are already documents there on our subject. We found this strange, so we continued to evaluate and find different mages. Imagine our surprise and excitement when we realized that certain points in time were being reversed and lived again. And now, you're the answer to quenching our thirst, our curiosity. So, can you elaborate on your -what shall we call them- abilities?"
I didn't want to tell this... woman, anything at all. But Gabriel needed to escape this place. "Sure, I'll just go right ahead. It's all kind of like a game. There are save points, and I can load from the last save point that I saved at. But you know, there's so much more than just save points." Alexandra gave me a questioning look. "Oh yeah, there's tons more than just save points. You see, I think that every human has magic in them. You know? But just enough magic that they can call forth their souls, and check the stats of others, along with being able to enter fights and such. For example," I surrounded Alexandra's soul with my rose pink aura, and gently tugged it out. Her soul was grey, and had healed cracks running through it. "You have the grey soul, the soul of betrayal."
Alexandra wasn't mad as I expected, just irritated that I had done this without permisson. "Go on then, now that you've already gotten this far. What are my stats then?"
I checked on her stats, gaining information that could ultimately be useful, but chilled me to the bone. "Alexandra Saunders: LV 19. HP 92/92. AT 36 (99). DF 4 (99). EXP 50,000. Weapon: True Dagger. Armor: None. Gold: None." I didn't continue out loud, but instead quickly read the rest in silence.
Alexandra Saunders is a dangerous, unstable, borderline psychotic woman. She uses whatever means necessary to get what she wants, when she wants. Having unthinkable acts of betrayal done to her, Alexandra has no care for others. She is aware of the little magic that she has, and has done atrocious things to get her magic levels up. Only has two offspring: Frisk and Melody Saunders. Unfit to be a parent for she has abused previously listed children. One spouse: Aaron Saunders. Be wary and cautious when with Alexandra.
I cleared my throat before continuing, careful not to look at her stats for too long so I wouldn't raise suspicion. "See? Everyone has their own stats, and their own unique souls. Now, can me and Gabriel head home?"
Alexandra nodded as Zach frantically wrote everything that I had said down, "Yes, you may leave. Natalie will escort you two home, and ensure that you get home safely."
In the car, Gabriel asked me a question that I hadn't been expecting. "Frisk, why would you take in someone like me?"
I frowned, my eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"
Gabriel shrugged and messed with his hands, "Well, I'm just some kid who was supposed to fight you and not stop, unless you won or died. And we barely know each other, we're practically strangers. So why would you take me under your wing?"
My frown disappeared, and I gave Gabriel a warm smile. "Because you needed somewhere to go, somewhere other than that compound."
Gabriel looked at me questioningly, "And that's all? I need somewhere to go, so you just... took me in? Just like that? And you won't change your mind and send me back?"
I put my hand on Gabriel's shoulder reassuringly, "I won't change my mind. The more time you spend with me, the more you'll see that I'm a very compassionate person with an extremely big heart. Now Gabriel, can I ask you a quick question?"
Gabriel nodded, "Yeah, anything. And if you want, you can call me Gabe for short."
I smiled, "Okay, Gabe. Now, my question is: Are you okay with the monsters?"
Gabe was hesitant, "Well, I haven't exactly met any of the monsters to properly judge them. So I guess, we'll have to see?"
I gave Gabe an understanding nod, "That's a good response. I think you'll like them though, they're all very kind and welcoming. Though, some of them can get a bit rough when they're messing around. You'll most likely be meeting them tomorrow, okay?" Gabe nodded in response. "And if you feel uncomfortable at all around any of them, just tell me and I'll handle it. Okay?"
Gabe nodded, "Got it. I don't really care if I'm comfortable or not though, as long as I'm away from the compound, I'll be happy."
"Well I care if your comfortable, okay?" We pulled up to the dark house, "Okay, we're here. Make sure to keep quiet, everyone's asleep. And I'll show you to my room for now, we'll figure out your room and such tomorrow."
Gabe nodded and followed me into the house. Every footstep sounded incredibly loud, but no one in the house stirred as we made our way downstairs.
I opened my room door and turned on the light, "Okay, so this is my room. You can sleep in here until we figure out where your room and such will be. If you wake up before me, just head upstairs and wake me up, I'll be on the couch. Any questions?" Gabe shook his head and set his bag down on the floor next to my bed, pulling out a t-shirt for pajamas. "Okay. If you need anything you'll know where to find me. Goodnight Gabe."
Gabe smiled and waved as I stepped out, "Goodnight, Frisk."
When I shut the door and turned away, I almost screamed. Sans was standing right there, a worried expression on his face. Before I could ask him what the hell he was doing, he embraced me in a tight hug, clutching the back of my shirt like it was a life preserver.
When he pulled away, he looked me over, looking for any injuries. "you died, you died four times. how did it happen? where? who? are you okay?"
I gave Sans a small smile, "I'm fine, Sans, you can calm down. Here, let's head upstairs, I'll explain there."
"Frisk?" I felt someone poke my arm. "Frisk?" Gabe's voice reached my ears.
I groggily opened my eyes, noticing how light was just beginning to filter through the living room window. "Gabe? What time is it?"
"It's about 7:00 am." Gabe had a small smirk on his lips, "You seem... comfy."
I furrowed my eyebrows, "What? What do you-" I looked up to see that I was curled up against Sans, my head on his chest as he slept. I could feel a ferocious blush working it's way onto my face, and carefully got up, trying not to wake Sans.
Gabe looked at Sans curiously, "Is that your boyfriend? Is your boyfriend a skeleton?"
I shook my head and stood up, "No, Sans isn't my boyfriend! He's just my best friend."
Gabe nodded, unconvinced. "Uh-huh, and that's why you're blushing furiously."
I crossed my arms, "Seriously, he's not my boyfriend. I have a boyfriend, and his name's Kody. And Sans has a girlfriend, Pandora."
Gabe just smiled and walked into the dining room, sitting down. "Sure, whatever you say, Frisk."
I huffed, and glared at Gabe, my face burning. Then I turned to look in the fridge and cupboards, "What do you want for breakfast? Eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes?"
Gabe looked surprised, "You're... actually gonna cook breakfast? I thought you'd just give me a bowl of cereal or instant oatmeal or whatever." I looked at Gabe, patiently waiting for his decision, "Um, how about, pancakes, with blueberries? And maybe some bacon? And do you have any fruit?"
I nodded, "Okay, blueberry pancakes with a few slices of bacon and... how about kiwi, do you like kiwi?"
Gabe nodded, "Yeah, kiwi's a good fruit, and everything else sounds good too. Hey, do you need help with that?"
I smiled, "Sure. You're not the only person in the house, and I know the others will want breakfast, so some help would be nice. We'll need 11 pancakes, but it's always a good idea to make extra. If you wanna get some bacon out of the fridge; don't give me that weird look, we leave bacon in the fridge if we'll be using it soon. Make sure you grab the blueberries and kiwis as well, and if you want to grab the chocolate chips, they're up on the fridge." As Gabe started to get the food and such out, I grabbed the pans for pancakes and the measuring cup, and whatever other materials we'd need.
As we set out all of the breakfast materials on the counter, Gabe started to ask about me and Sans again. "So if he's not your boyfriend, then why'd you get so flustered? And why were you laying on him like that?"
I shook my head, glaring playfully at Gabe. "We're just friends, and that was an embarassing position to be in. And you know, even if I did like him more than a friend, I'd never admit it. Besides, I have my own loving boyfriend."
Gabe leaned against the counter, "Uh-huh. You don't have to admit you like him though, 'cause I already know."
I raised an eyebrow, "Oh yeah? And how do you know that I like him?"
Gabe smirked, "Your love for him is just radiating from you. I know emotions, feeling other peoples emotions is a sort of ability that I have."
I pouted, and stuck my tongue out at Gabe before turning back to the task of making breakfast. "Well my love is just friendly love, if you must know. Now, take your pancakes and-"
"My child? Why are you still home at this time? And who is this?" Toriel appeared in the kitchen, confusion evident on her features.
I frowned, "What do you mean, why am I still home at this time? And this is Gabe, I'll be explaining that soon." I was forgetting something, but what?
"I mean, you're usually leaving for work at this time. It's Monday, don't you have work today?" Toriel took the spatula from my hand and flipped the pancake I was currently cooking.
I felt my heart drop and put a hand to my face, eyes widening. "Oh shiz, I forgot about that. Um, y'know, since I don't want to ditch Gabe, I think I'll call in sick for my morning job." I grabbed my cell from my pocket and dialed Dooh Dah's Diner, feigning illness when the owner picked up. I made my voice a bit raspy, as if I had a cough, and sniffled once or twice. "Xavier, I'm really sorry for not showing up. I've been stuck sick in bed since I got home from work on Friday, and I meant to call earlier. Is it okay if I take the day off to try and get better?" Toriel and gabe waited in silence, "Okay, thank you so much. I'll take a weekend shift if you want, to try and make up for this."
When I hung up, Gabe applauded me. "Nice acting skills, you actually sounded ill."
I bowed, "Thank you, thank you. Now," I turned to see mom's disapproving look at calling in. "Sorry mom, but I didn't want to leave Gabe here by himself. He doesn't really know you guys, and I wanted to be the one to introduce him to everyone. Are you mad?"
Toriel shook her head, "No my child, I am not mad. Just don't do something like this again. Now, would you like some help with breakfast? Or maybe I can set the table?"
I smiled and nodded, "You can set the table. Oh yeah, Gabe, this is my adoptive mother. Toriel, Gabe. Gabe, Toriel."
Toriel appraoched Gabe slowly and held out her hand, "Hello Gabe, it's a pleasure to meet you!"
Gabe slowly took Toriel's hand and shook it, a smile forming on his face. "Hi. It's nice to meet you too."
Toriel smiled brightly, "Oh my child, how old are you? Will you be with us long?"
Gabe sat at the table with Toriel, smiling. "I just turned 16 a few months ago. And I think I'll be living with you guys for a while?"
I nodded, piling the last of the pancakes onto a tray, and moving on to the bacon. "Yeah, if it's okay with you guys. Gabe doesn't have anywhere to go, he was sort of living on the streets when I came across him. And so now I've kinda... taken him in, I guess. I dunno, but it's fine if he lives here, right?"
Toriel was more than welcoming, "Oh, of course! But Frisk, what about a room of his own? We don't really have any extra rooms to give him, so what shall we do about that?"
"We have that one room downstairs that's supposed to be a storage room, he can have that room. We just need to move a few things out, tidy it up, get him a bed and we'll be good to go!" I piled the last of the bacon onto a plate, and moved it to the table with the rest of the food. "Toriel, could you go get the others up? But could you also tell them that we have a guest?" I got out some orange juice and milk, setting them on the table as well.
Toriel got up from her seat and started for the hallway, "Of course, I'll be back in a moment."
Soon, everyone had groggily made their way to the dining room and sat in their spots. The only one who was wide awake was Melody, and she was eyeing Gabe with curiosity. "Frisk, who's this?" Melody asked, pointing at Gabe.
"Melody, it's rude to point, stop it. And this is Gabe, he's... well, I guess he's a new member of the family." Gabe was shy, but I could tell he was overjoyed at the mention of being family.
Melody didn't question it and her eyes sparkled with excitement, "Does this mean I have an older brother? DoesitDoesitDoesit?!"
Gabe looked hesitantly at me, and I nodded, letting him know he can do what he wants. Gabe reached for Melody and pulled her up onto his lap and hugged her. I scrambled to get my phone and get a video, catching the moment when Gabe said: "Yep, you have an older brother now. And I promise, I'll protect you no matter what."
After squealing from the cuteness overload that is Gabe and Melody, the others had been introduced properly to Gabe, and everyone got along just fine. Gabe was still quite shy and still wasn't sure how to talk with everyone, so he was pretty quiet.
As I got up to rinse my dishes, I felt a pair of cool arms wrap around me, preventing me from walking. "Sans, I need to rinse my dishes, please let go." My face heated up slightly as I realized Sans' face was buried in my neck, but I got over it quickly. "Saannsss, let goooo."
Sans just held on tighter, as I tried my best to walk forward. "but friissskkk, you're just so waaarmmm."
When I got to the sink, I was a bit out of breath. "Sans, let go. I need to go change out of my dirty clothes and shower. You're hugging a person with dirty clothes and greasy hair right now, let go."
Sans' voice was muffled, "so? you changed in front of me yesterday, what's the difference today? besides, i don't care if you're dirty, you're waarrmmm."
I blushed furiously at the thought of having changed in front of him yesterday, and whacked Sans on the head, getting him to let go of me. "I only changed since I was urgently called in to work. Now begone demon, the power of Christ compels you." I briefly saw Sans hiss and pretend to crumple as I made my way downstairs, laughing.
My laughter soon dissolved into frustration not only because of the fact that me and Sans couldn't be together, but because Natalie texted me telling me that both Gabe and I had to come in.
When we got to the compound, Gabe was standing in silence, while I was angry at having been called in so soon.
I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms when I saw Alexandra, "Why did you call us in so early? We usually get a few days or so between each session."
Alexandra said nothing, and instead, made her way toward Gabe. I don't know what happened, but one moment Gabe was looking at Alexandra with a mix of fear and disgust, and the next, Gabe was on the ground in gasping in pain.
Alexandra's voice was full of amusement, "Save him, Frisk. You have powers, so go ahead, help him."
I ran forward and dropped to my knees, scooping Gabe up in my arms. "What'd you do?! Alexandra!" Gabe had been shot in the chest, the bullet lodged inside. I whipped around and glared at Alexandra, tears pricking my eyes. My voice was full of ice cold fury, "You crazy bitch! What the hell is wrong with you?!" I didn't miss the anger forming on Alexandra's features as she dropped her satisfied smile, but I ignored her for now, focusing on Gabe.
I closed my eyes, focusing. The bullet was lodged near the aorta, if I wanted to save him, I would have to be quick. I worked my magic deftly, trying to be careful yet fast at the same time. I was close to stopping Gabe's bleeding when I felt something sharp and icy slide across my neck, and I froze as warm blood started to spill from me.
"You shouldn't have called me a crazy bitch, Frisk. That's a very, very uncivil thing to call your own mother." Alexandra shoved me forward, and I collapsed across Gabe, unable to help him.
I closed my eyes, and hoped for a fast death so I could load from the last save point.
I opened my eyes and found myself in my room again, just before I got the text from Natalie. This time, only I would go.
When I found myself in the compound again, I approached Alexandra slowly. "Frisk, where is Gabriel?"
My voice was quiet, "He's at home. Only I came."
Alexandra frowned and crossed her arms, "Both of you little twits were supposed to come in, so why-"
I launched myself at Alexandra before she could finish, knocking her to the ground. Before she could even react, I was punching and clawing at her, rage fueling my actions. When she reached for her gun, I easily knocked it out of her hands, and continued my violent acts. I got in a few more punches before security grabbed me and forced me off of her.
I struggled to get out of their grips, forgetting all magic and relishing the memory of my hands colliding with Alexandra's face. "Let go of me!" I took a good look at Alexandra and saw that I had broken her nose and bruised her up quite badly, also drawing blood where I had dug my nails into her skin. I would feel bad later, but right now I was only filled with anger. "You had no fucking right to do what you did last time!" Security began to drag me toward the compound exit as a medical team came out to greet Alexandra. My voice rose above everyone's conversation as I glared at Alexandra, "We're not coming back! You hear me? Me and Gabe are done, we won't work for you anymore!"
I only smiled as Alexandra looked up at me with a venomous and loathing look.
Alexandra's Point of View:
"We're not coming back! You hear me? Me and Gabe are done, we won't work for you anymore!"
I threw Frisk a look full of loathing and venom, temporarily forgetting my pain as I focused on hating her. When that girl was out of my sight, the pain of my injuries hit me full force.
My voice was calm and collected, though fury and a thirst for blood raged inside. "Get me Mage #4, the healing mage. Now, and tell him to hurry, or else he's dead."
While the medical team left, I turned to Natalie, a fire burning in my eyes. "Get me Pandora. Tell her she has a mission."
Natalie was scared of me. I could tell. "What kind of mission, ma'am?"
I turned away from Natalie, anger shaking my voice.
"Assassination."
So, yes, another chapter! And yes, I tried something a little different with the point of view. I don't know about the point of view thing though, so let me know what you guys think.
But anyways, I got a review not too long ago, and I think the girl's name was Never? And let me just tell you: I absolutely love reviews like that, it literally made me so happy, and now my day is amazing! Seriously you guys, any sort of review, either a review of criticism or of a compliment or of fangirling/fanboying will absolutely make my day you guys!
Until Next Time~
