Oh no, it's a chapter O.O

Chapter XXXXIII

The end of the river

Two days prior to this night, a thin silhouette crossed New Home in a rush. Silently moving through the empty streets, it made its way down to the river bank. It stopped there for a moment, seemingly waiting for something to appear above the horizon line. As minutes passed, it started to glance behind its shoulder more and more often, retreating in the shadow of the trees.

Eventually, humming echoed from where the river engulfed within a cave. A soft, almost eerie, humming as a small wooden boat emerged from the gaping hole in the rock wall… A carved dog's head as its prow, the boats seemed to float above the surface of the waters — sailing, yet flying at the same time. On board, a single person steered the bark without a single movement, entirely covered by a dark hooded cape.

As the boat slowed down to stop as close to the river side as possible, the silhouette stepped out of the shadows and hopped onto the wood. The river person silently acknowledged their passenger, the boat resuming its course above the water.

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'Where to, my good sir?'

'The end of the river.'

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The waters were calm, often the river person said this was a bad omen — often, but not always. No one knew if there even was reasoning behind those words… No one knew what to think of the river person anyway. A mysterious hooded figure helping Monsters travel the Underground at any given time? There had to be a catch, right? Most of them had long decided to close their eyes on this mystery: the river person never gave them a reason to worry, nor did they give them any hint they could feed onto. They simply were there, always following the river's course with their boat, never going against it — you do not want to go against the river, it knows better than you do. Yet, despite always sailing in the same direction, they always took their passengers where they wished to go.

The river person never asked anything about their passengers, except their destinations — and even that they did not always ask, sometimes they just knew. They were always humming, only stopping for small talks once in a while, clearly disappointed when they could tell they were not listened to. It was better to listen, they knew many things — it made sense for someone constantly travelling the Underground. However, their knowledge was a source of discomfort for most people… The river person knew. They knew almost everything. From the depth of Waterfall to the highest affairs in the castle, nothing was out of reach for them. Yet… The river person sailed all day and night, always appearing when someone waited near the river but never setting foot on land. They had done so forever, they would keep doing it forever. The river person was an eternal mystery, one that had been around for centuries and would be around for the centuries to come. A mystery with no name, no age, no end…

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The small villages were replaced by a dark forest — they always were at some point. No matter where it went, no matter what the path should have been, the boat always traveled through the forest… However, when going to the end of the river, the forest was meant to be there and the boat would not leave it.

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'Gaster?'

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Gaster felt shiver running down his spine — the river person never, never, addressed to their passenger by name. This voice was too calm, it lacked the melody of the river person's words… It lacked the humming. He hated using the bark to travel, but unfortunately it was the only way to get to the end of the river; he should have anticipated the river person would know. The river person always knew.

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'Time is not to be played with…' the voice said. 'Don't follow that path. The price is too much to pay.'

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But there was no way for someone outside of the lab to know.

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'What did you…?'

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The river person was not talking.

They were humming, as they always did while sailing, looking at the trees growing on the bank as if they had never seen them before. They always did so, as if the world around them was a constant wonder… As if they had not seen it in eons. To be fair, Gaster was not actually sure the river person had said anything. Those words… They sounded so unreal. As if they had been yelled in a long lost dream and whispered to him at the same time.

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'Tra la la. Sing with me. Tra la la. Why?' The river person paused and Gaster suspected they might have been smiling — not that their face had ever been visible: under the hood was nothing but a black void. 'So I know you are listening.'

'I..' — he hesitated, still troubled by the words he had heard — 'don't sing.'

'Did you ever hear the song of the river?'

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The river person started humming what Gaster thought to be the "song of the river", but their chanting faded out as a water-mill appeared over the horizon. The end of the river… The water-mill before the water disappeared into the ground, a place almost no one had ever heard of but yet not a secret.

The boat stopped at the docks so Gaster could step out of it.

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'Next time then,' the river person said, tilting their head in a way that made Gaster feel compelled to nod.

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By the time he arrived at the door of the mill, the boat was long gone…

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oOo

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They called her the witch, a nickname she gained due to her knowledge of the lost arts — enchanted objects. She was a master of illusion and a skilled crafter, perhaps the most skilled one in the Underground — being centuries old undoubtedly played a big part in this. Some speculated she was the queen of another group of Monsters, one that had fought along the army led by Asgore. Others claimed she lived in the mountain even before the war. As for Gaster, he only knew she was already there when the Underground started to become a livable place — she requested to be left alone when Asgore and his queen turned the dark caves into a new kingdom. Entrusting someone he knew so little about was a risk he hated taking, but he had to admit she was the only one with the skill he was looking for — the object he came to her for was crucial to his researches.

However, while the door to the mill opened before he even could knock, the house was completely devoid of any presence. Gaster stood waiting in the entrance, not daring to go further into the house without a proper greeting until a voice rose from one of the rooms.

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'I finished the artifact you ordered, it's in the box on the table.'

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Indeed, a wooden box had been left on the dining room's table. It was nothing catchy, not even decorated in the simplest manner — just two halves and just as many hinges. No one could have suspected the kind of object inside had justified a genocide during the war…

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Eventually, a feline Monster steeped out of the workshop, using a rag to clean her hands. She brushed some remaining dust from her mane and clothes, grumbling when she realized she could not get rid of all of it, and came to sit at the table.

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'You can examine it if you wish,' she said while inviting Gaster to take a seat, 'but don't expect to test its abilities just yet.'

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Gaster nodded almost without thinking, too absorbed by the examination of the object in his hands. It was a mask made out of ceramic, cold and smooth to the touch, just like skeletons' bones — he was not expecting such a quality, even from her. Illusion masks from the old time were often nothing more than painted wood which could only fool the eyes, but this? This was a work of art.

He had doubted her words when she had told him she could make a mask which could replicate the feeling of a real face down to the way it moves. Illusion masks were, as their name said, nothing more than masks capable of generating an illusion with a Monster's magic. Their biggest flaw was that they were nothing more than what their name indicated: illusion masks. Illusions could not be touched, they could not be felt. A face was often left uncovered, and touching it was a dead giveaway to know the truth… But to know she had perfected them down to the point the face was no longer an issue? It was simply unbelievable.

Gaster suspected she might have something to gain, but he needed her too much to refuse her offer. It would take more time, but a mask able to move along with the illusion was so much more than he could have hoped for! Sure, it was more draining, but using the ability was not compulsory and it allowed eating and drinking without taking the mask off. Such artifacts would have been mortal weapons back when the war was raging on… Skeletons would have been able to infiltrate Humans' communities with even less trouble, and the war could have taken a very different path. Now they were nothing more than legends among Monsters… But they still cost his kind to be chased even more than the others.

However, the mask he was holding was no war tool. It was not meant to open the path to bloodsheds and assassinations. This mask was no death bringer, it was a life saver.

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And something told him the witch knew it too.

Yay! We got the mask! Important item acquired!

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More characters keep showing up in this story, I wasn't expecting that... But I like the witch's backstory, even though it won't be explored here. Truth is I just needed to get the mask one way or another and she fitted that role perfectly XD Plus it was funny to drop hints at multiples things (I have been waiting for a long time for some of those hints) as well as giving answers as to why skeletons were almost killed off during the war.

Next step: the result of the blood test! Alphys and Sans know half of the bad news, my phone says I know the other half (tanks to those recordings I make because my memory doesn't work past midnight but it's party time for my imagination), but you don't know anything except that it's not good news XD Hopefully, it shouldn't take half a dozen chapters to get there, right? No really, I do hope it won't take that long. How come nothing goes as planned in this story? Where are my "20 chapters and it's done"? Why can't I write short things?

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Enjoy spring before trees succeed in killing us all with the power of pollen excess!