Pre-Chapter Notes: So! This chapter should have been out a couple of weeks ago! We had intended to go through proofreading and have it uploaded before we moved to settle into our new house. That… didn't end up happening. But, we've finally gotten more or less situated so hopefully the upload frequency will increase going forward.
Anyways, sorry for the delay. Hope this chapter sort of makes up for it.
Chapter 8: Observation
Frisk shivered as a breath of frigid air swept through the trees and into the small shelter where the children were resting. While it was surprisingly dry inside the makeshift sentry station, the flimsy cardboard did little to stave off the chill of the surrounding forest. Still, it was better than nothing and Frisk eventually felt his strength returned, if only a little. Thus, after taking some time to catch their second wind the children emerged once more.
Papyrus' wake had left a large trench dug into the snow which stretched onward into the forest and they decided to followed it, hoping to find its creator at the other end. Eventually, the untrod snowdrifts began to recede little by little until the boy and his ghostly companion stepped out onto what appeared to be a well-worn path that that coiled about the frosted evergreens. It seemed that the more they distanced themselves from the Ruins' sealed entrance, the more packed and traveled the snow became. Heartened by this, Frisk picked up his pace, feeling his way forward with his trusty stick.
"I'm so glad to be out of that…" He sighed, rubbing his arms to fight off a bit of the chill.
"Sorry." Lily responded, noting her own lack of damp or discomfort compared to her friend. "I guess being a ghost has a few perks."
Glad that her friend seemed to be feeling better, the spectral girl resumed her role of guiding him forward. Before, she'd been worried of him loosing his footing or catching himself on a covered stone, but now that the ground had leveled she found those fears lessening. Turning her eyes to the path, she caught sight of a wooden sign staked into the ground a few yards away and drifted ahead to take a closer look. Her expression slowly dropped to a frown as she read the words, and her gaze shifted to the guard post situated nearby. Then to Frisk, who was still walking ahead, straight in its direction.
"Wait Frisk, stop!" She called out.
The boy stopped short and turned back to her in confusion. It was then she saw the short sword flash out from within the station, its glowing cyan blade arcing straight for the boy's heart. There was no time to react… it cut through his chest in an instant, wielded with all the dexterity of a serpent striking its prey. Lily's eyes slammed shut, instinctively blocking out the no-doubt gruesome sight.
'Nonononono…' she thought frantically. 'Oh my God… Frisk…!'
She didn't want to open them… couldn't bear the thought that her friend could be…
"Lily…?" Frisk asked. She gasped.
Slowly, fearfully she opened an eye to look at him. He was just standing there, watching her with a bemused expression on his face. There was no blood, no tear in his shirt… nothing to indicate that he'd just been cut through with a sharp blade. Nothing at all.
Her first reaction was relief.
Her second, confusion.
"How… in the hell?" She blinked.
"What?" Frisk asked, choosing to ignore the swear for now.
"What was that? I know something moved…" A voice growled. "I hear it talking, but it isn't moving anymore. Come on! Move so I can see you!"
Frisk heard that. Instinctively he called forth his SOUL and allowed the strange sight that came with it to flood his vision while Lily quickly drifted to his side. Within the station sat a large bipedal dog-like monster. It wore a sleeveless, cameo-pink shirt with a stylized image of a dog, and yellow, leopard print pants. Its narrowed eyes scanned back and forth beneath a patch of black fur that almost looked like a mask.
"That was too close…" Lily said. "Are you okay?"
"Huh? Yeah…" The boy said inquisitively. "Why? What happened?"
"He cut you, Frisk!" Lily said incredulously. "Don't you-"
"That voice… where is it coming from?" The creature growled. "Will it move this time?"
The dog reached out with one of the two blades it held. It slowly swept over the area in front of the station and toward the children again. This time, Frisk could see it and he might have moved to avoid had Lily not grabbed his arm.
"Don't. Just wait." She said.
"But-"
"Shhh!"
Despite the looming threat of the glowing magical blade, Frisk decided to trust the girl's judgment. He held his ground, unmoving as the blade passed harmlessly through his SOUL. A cool sensation, like touching a flat metal surface was all it left behind.
"No movement… was it my imagination?" The monster said, looking confused. Lily grinned, feeling a little more comfortable now that she'd puzzled out the situation.
"Oh, I think I get it!" She giggled, feeling silly for worrying so much. "Hey Frisk, I got an idea. Try using your stick!"
Frisk raised a brow, then grinned when he realized what she was getting at. He lifted the stick and started to wave it in front of the dog monster's face. Predictably, its head snapped toward the branch as it moved left and right, eyes following the movement as best as it could.
"It's… a stick! It's moving so fast! I… I can't keep up!" The dog said as its fluffy tail began wagging frantically. Lily smirked.
"Easily excited by movement. Hobbies include: squirrels." She said with encyclopedic flair, causing Frisk to giggle.
In a moment of inspiration, the boy reached up and pet the dog monster's neck while it was distracted by the stick, stroking the soft fur and scratching under its chin. The dog immediately lost interest in the stick and shifted its eyes to and fro, searching for the source of the contact.
"I've been pet?! First the stick and now this?!" He said excitedly. "PET? PET? PAT? POT?"
Frisk smiled gleefully and pet the dog monster a little more.
"Where is it coming from?!" He yelled.
"Um… down here." Frisk said, waving his arm and moving a little to allow the canine sentry to see him.
The monster looked down and squinted a little, focusing his attention on Frisk. His gruff features softened as he watched the boy. He leaned forward and sniffed curiously. Frisk responded by reaching up to pet him again. His eyes closed in contentment.
"Heh heh." Frisk laughed. "Hi."
The dog blinked a couple of times and then grinned toothily. "Hey there, kid."
"Looks like it worked." Lily said.
"Yeah… you were right." Frisk smiled up at her.
"Hmm? Right about what?" The dog asked.
"Oh, sorry. I was just talking to my friend, Lily." The boy said. "Um, I'm Frisk by the way."
"Name's Doggo." He said, shuffling around for something inside the station. "Now, where did I put… ah!"
Doggo clicked his tongue and pulled out what could only be described as a dog treat. He popped it in his mouth before using a little fire magic to set the end alight. A puff of smoke wafted from the dog's mouth smelling faintly of bacon.
"He's smoking dog treats…" Lily said blankly, watching the smoke drift lazily on the wind. "He's seriously smoking dog treats."
"Nothin' like a nice treat after a pet. Thanks, kid." He said. "I get so worked up. Only bein' able to see moving things, it's well… it's not the easiest."
"Yeah. I know how you feel." Frisk said. "I usually can't see anything at all. I can only see magic when I use my SOUL."
"No kiddin'?" The dog monster said, releasing another puff of smoke. "Sorry to hear that. Guess compared to that, what I got's not so bad. Sorry for attacking you like that."
"S'okay." Frisk said, and gave him a little thumbs up. "Um, would it be okay if we passed here?"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah sure." Said Doggo, casually. "My shift's about over anyway, so I'll be headin' back to town. If you meet the rest of the clan, tell 'em I said 'hi'.
"Deal." Frisk said. "Thanks, mister Doggo!"
The dog grinned and waved to Frisk as he and Lily continued along.
Lily thought to question what he meant by 'the rest of the clan'. Then decided it would be better not too. After all, they'd just met a dog with Riddoch syndrome who smoked dog treats. What could be weirder than that?
Well, a dog whose neck had the miraculous ability to stretch infinitely into the cosmos was a good contender. Such a dog was exactly who they encountered patrolling the frozen pond not far from Doggo's station. Naturally, Frisk just had to pet it. One pet became two until eventually, the dog's neck seemed long enough to be eye level with the clouds if only the Underground had any. At first, Lily had found the display mildly entertaining but this was getting out of hand.
Her mind and eyes began to wander to the forest around them, letting Frisk have his fun for the moment. She grinned despite herself when she heard the boy giggling behind her. It was nice that he having fun. Still, they needed to move on sometime if they ever wanted out of this forest.
"Alright, Frisk I think it's time to- oh, hello there." Her words were cut short when she turned to see the dog's inverted head staring back at her. She peeked behind it to Frisk who was still petting away. "Um, Frisk? Don't you think we should let him get back to his patrol?"
"Huh?" Frisk wondered. Only now did he seem to notice the sheer length of the dog's neck. "Oh…"
"Perhaps mankind was not meant to pet this much." She said sardonically, patting her friend on the shoulder.
"Alright, alright. I get it." Frisk snickered, trying to keep from laughing as he turned to speak to the dog's upside-down head. "I gotta go now. See you later, okay?"
The dog whined, and its neck steadily retracted back to its normal size. Frisk smiled and gave it one last pet for the road before it bounded off.
"I like dogs." the boy said matter-of-factly.
"I noticed." Lily smirked. "It's possible that you may have a problem."
The boy stuck his tongue out at her as the dog's excited barks faded into the distance. The paw prints it left behind traced their path forward through the snow until they eventually faded away, covered by a fresh veil of white powder. Again, the two made their way along the path, more carefully this time to avoid any more scares like the one they'd encountered with Doggo (and in Frisk's case to keep an ear open for any more dogs).
Eventually, his ears did pick up something and though it was recognizable, it was certainly no dog. Rather, it was a voice: loud enough that Lily could hear it just as clearly as it cut through the cold air. Neither child needed guess who it belonged to.
"SANS! YOU'RE SO LAZY! YOU WERE NAPPING ALL NIGHT!"
The winding path curved into a clearing and there, the two skeletons stood. The taller one glared at the shorter who still wore the same perpetual grin.
"Isn't that just sleeping?" Lily snarked as they walked past the tree line.
"i think that's called… sleeping, bro." Sans replied, coming to the same conclusion as Lily.
"EXCUSES, EXCUSES! NO MORE! I-" Papyrus began, but whatever poetic retort he'd been about to make died on his tongue the moment he noticed Frisk. "OH-HO! THE HUMAN HAS FINALLY ARRIVED!" He posed. Cue billowing scarf. "IN ORDER TO STOP YOU, MY BROTHER AND I HAVE CREATED SOME PUZZLES! I THINK YOU WILL FIND THIS ONE... QUITE 'SHOCKING'! NYEH HEH HEH!" He laughed at his own pun, taking a quick glance at Sans who just smiled in encouragement.
Frisk tilted his head in confusion. Shocking? He must have heard wrong so he stepped a little closer to listen further.
"FOR YOU SEE, THIS IS THE INVISIBLE... ELECTRICITY MAZE! WHEN YOU TOUCH THE WALLS OF THIS MAZE, THIS ORB;" He paused for a second to draw out a large, polished orb made of some kind of light blue crystal. "WILL ADMINISTER A HEARTY ZAP!"
"Has... has he lost his marbles?" Lily asked in concern for Frisk who just shrugged.
"SOUND LIKE FUN?"
"Not really. I guess it just doesn't spark my interest." Lily grinned as Frisk tried his hardest to not laugh out loud, the effort resulting in a loud snort that sent his ghostly companion her own bit of laughter.
"BECAUSE! THE AMOUNT OF FUN YOU WILL PROBABLY HAVE... IS ACTUALLY RATHER SMALL I THINK." He actually looked a little nervous.
"Makes sense. Frisk is kinda small himself." Lily continued joking with her one-person audience. Frisk paused mid-laugh and glared up at her. Even still, he was hard-pressed to hide the smile that threatened to split his face.
"OK, YOU CAN GO AHEAD NOW!" Papyrus said, gesturing to the large square of packed snow where the puzzle apparently resided.
At those words, Frisk looked at Lily hovering at his side. She stared worriedly back down at him. Mirth aside, even she was at a loss of what to do here. Usually, Frisk could simply rely on her sight to guide him through, but in this, she was just as blind as he was.
"Maybe if… I go first?" she suggested with a bit of uncertainty. "Maybe the walls won't do anything if I touch them? I am a ghost right?"
"Um, okay…" Frisk said, worried for his friend. He hadn't forgotten how much Flowey's attack had hurt her. "Are you sure?"
She nodded and drifted forward. Frisk followed close behind her, matching her path with his steps. They'd barely gone a couple of feet into the maze when Lily's shoulder brushed something solid. Sure enough, a violent crackle accompanied the orb as it let out the aforementioned zap.
A zap which Papyrus took in full force, causing his body to convulse. His teeth chattered comically as the bolt coursed through his skeletal frame. Startled, Lily glanced back at Frisk who seemed perfectly fine himself.
"Ooo…" She cringed as her eyes returned to the still-jittering Papyrus. "My bad?"
Frisk couldn't see it, but from the sound he had a pretty good idea of what happened. "Ow… I guess you can touch the maze."
"S-SANS!" Papyrus cried, doing his best to still his jittery bones. "WHAT D-D-DID Y-YOU DO?!"
"i think the human has to hold the orb." The smaller skeleton replied.
"OH. OKAY." Despite how it looked, Papyrus shook off the shock easily enough before walking through the puzzle towards Frisk. The heavy stomps of his orange boots left noticeable tracks even in the packed snow. Upon reaching the other side, he placed the orb in the boy's hands.
"HOLD THIS PLEASE!" He said happily before running back through to the other side, tracing the path as he went. "OKAY TRY IT NOW, HUMAN!"
"H-hold on! I don't want to hold this!" Frisk complained. "That sounded like it hurt…"
Lily just grinned as she examined the trail left by the energetic skeleton. "No worries Frisk. He was in such a hurry, he left a clear path to follow. I can get you through it now no problem!" She held out her hand confidently. Frisk took it with a bit of apprehension as she led him along the path Papyrus had left for them.
Frisk stumbled slightly around one corner, causing his stick to brush against one of the walls. This, however, resulted in little more than a tiny jolt of residual electricity. Frisk easily shook it off and giggled at the feeling. It reminded him of the kind of shock that happens when one rubs their socked feet against the carpet. Papyrus must have taken most of its energy on himself. In moments they reached the end, and Frisk proudly returned the orb to the tall skeleton.
"INCREDIBLE! YOU SLIPPERY SNAIL! YOU SOLVED IT SO EASILY… TOO EASILY!" Papyrus declared. He sounded impressed, which made both children beam. "HOWEVER! THE NEXT PUZZLE WILL NOT BE EASY! IT IS DESIGNED BY MY BROTHER, SANS! YOU WILL SURELY BE CONFOUNDED! I KNOW I AM! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!"
Leaving them with his characteristic laugh, the taller brother spun in place once before dashing backwards down the path, leaving the two of them alone with Sans. Strangely, he almost seemed to move… faster that way, kicking up clouds of white like a boney snowplow.
"hey thanks... my brother seems like he's having fun. by the way, did you see that weird outfit he's wearing?" Sans asked, looking closely at Frisk's expression.
"Uh… I'm sorry. I kinda can't…" Frisk replied, waving his hand in front of his eyes, his expression sad. "But uh. He sounds really cool!"
Sans rubbed the back of his head. "right. uh, sorry about that." Sans sighed with a shrug. 'damn… thought that'd work.'
"Is it true?" Frisk asked. He was practically bouncing on his heels. "You made the next one?"
Sans gave him a wink. "heh. yep, sure did. better get ready, kid. there's no way you'll solve this one."
"Challenge accepted." The boy said, at the same time Lily said 'bring it on'.
Sans grinned. "welp, see ya up ahead."
The blue skeleton shuffled off down the path, whistling a tune. Again he left in the direction the children had come from. Lily watched him turn down the path and disappear behind the tree line. She raised a brow, but didn't bother checking to see if he was still there. She had a feeling she already knew what she would find… or rather, what she wouldn't.
"Sans... is very strange..." She said after a moment.
"Yeah, but I like him." Frisk replied before grabbing Lily's arm and continuing on.
The girl glanced back a few times. Maybe if she tried hard enough she would catch a glimpse of the short skeleton following them. He must have some means to get around so quickly. Underground tunnels, paths through the trees, flight… hey, if a flower could be a crazy nihilist, and a dog could have a neck like a tape measure, why not? Alas, she saw no sign of Sans' distinct blue hoodie anywhere she looked and eventually gave up trying.
In time they come upon a monster unlike anything they'd seen before. He looked a bit like… a rabbit? Yet his fur was a strange shade of cotton candy blue. He wore a bright yellow shirt, split in two by a vertical red stripe and red pants. It appeared that he was manning a stand of some kind and yet his glum expression stood in stark contrast to the spectrum of color that surrounded him.
"I don't understand why these aren't selling... It's the perfect weather for something cold..." The rabbit sighed.
The two children made their way over to him. He didn't acknowledge them at first, lost as he was in his own thoughts and it took a moment for him to realize he wasn't alone. He jumped in surprise when at last he noticed the boy in the striped shirt, ears perking up while a hopeful smile split his furry visage.
"OH! A CUSTOMER!" Frisk cringed at volume. He could have given Papyrus a run for his money. The rabbit seemed to notice this as well and cleared his throat. "Hello! Would you like some Nice Cream?" He asked with a smile. "It's the frozen treat that warms your heart! Only 15 gold each!"
"An ice cream stand out here…?" Frisk questioned, wondering at the monster's business acumen.
"This isn't just any old ice cream…" The rabbit gave a suspenseful and all-too-forced pause. "This… is the one and only Nice Cream! Instead of a joke, the wrapper says something nice! So, would you like to buy some?" He didn't say it, but his wide eyed expression all but screamed 'please say yes'.
"Frisk I think we have enough. We didn't use all our money back home. So, we can probably afford enough for both of us." Lily said, looking longingly at one corner of the stall. "Chocolate please?"
Frisk pulled out a few gold and counted it out, giving Lily an affirming smile when he found that, yes they did indeed have enough. "I'll take two Nice Creams please. One chocolate and one strawberry." He counted out thirty gold and handed it to the rabbit monster, taking the treats in return.
"Pleasure doing business with you. Here ya go!" The merchant's mood seemed much improved after the sale. "Don't forget to tell your friends! There's ice cream… out in the woods!"
"Thanks! Have a good day! Bye!"
Frisk placed the strawberry flavored nice cream in the satchel as they searched for a place to sit and enjoy the other. Ahead of them stood a small bridge built over a gap where the ground looked to have fallen through some years ago. They crossed it and found themselves standing in a large clearing with a few places free of the seemingly unending snow. There weren't that many monsters around and those that were didn't seem to pay them much mind so they decided to take the time to rest. Finding a good-sized rock to sit upon, Frisk settled himself down and produced the chocolate treat.
"Alright, Lily. Here you go." Frisk grinned and started unwrapping the treat. The girl squeaked happily and merged herself into Frisk's SOUL.
"Hey, the wrapper says something. 'Is this as sweet as you?' aww." Lily read off the words as she waited impatiently.
"I don't know. Let's find out." Frisk replied with a small chuckle.
He could practically feel the girl's excitement while she eyed the delicious looking treat in his hand. The spicy scent of what he could only read as a silent 'hurry up' lingered in his nose along with the chocolate.
Ignoring all of the breaches of common sense that came with consuming something ice cold in a forest that couldn't have been over single digit temperatures (Fahrenheit, no less!), he gave the ice cream a quick taste.
"Mmm… that's good." He hummed, taking another longer lick of the sweet dessert. Surprisingly, the initial chill on his tongue gave way to a comforting warmth the moment he swallowed. The boy noticed a bit more feeling returning to his numb fingers. He decided he'd ask the seller about that later.
Lily sighed in absolute bliss as the flavor hit her as well. "I know…" She said happily. "Chocolate's the best!"
It was creamy and rich… perhaps a little too rich. Vaguely, she felt that if the taste was a little bit milder she would have enjoyed it even more. Distantly her mind recalled that distinct flavor… one that she loved above any other. Sweet perfection in its purest form. Still, she was never picky when it came to chocolate, and this was very good chocolate indeed. Satisfied, she relaxed within Frisk's SOUL as the two took their time to savor their snack.
A skeleton in blue watched Frisk from the shadows of a nearby grove as he conversed animatedly with the Nice Cream guy. He'd spared both Doggo and Lesser Dog at least, and when he shook the boy's hand the only white powder on his sleeve had been from the snow. He didn't detect any LOVE either. That was a good sign. Seemed that the kid was sticking to the straight and narrow this time… but Sans had learned long ago not to hope for things to stay that way. He knew what the boy was capable of.
A bony finger traced a diagonal line across his torso, right shoulder to left hip. He'd only learned of his own death sometime after the barrier had fallen in the previous timeline. Frisk hadn't been particularly comfortable talking about it, but eventually Sans had forced it out of him. Noted it down for good measure along with the rest… just in case.
He shuddered and forced the thought down into the abyss of his mind. He couldn't afford to be thinking about that particularly dark part of his meta-temporal life. He needed to focus on the here and now.
The boy sat near the cliff face and enjoyed the chocolate Nice Cream with a lively and contented grin. On the surface, nothing seemed out of the ordinary insofar as what could be called 'ordinary' in this twisted child's scribble of space-time. But beneath the surface, he could tell. Something had changed. Of course, change was nothing new… Sans had spent many theoretical years observing all manner of changes over innumerable loops. Yet all of these existed within some realm of possibility – set parameters that, for all of times' malleability remained static and unchanging.
But now, some impossibility had forced itself beyond those barriers. It filled the skeleton with both hope and unease… he wasn't sure which one worried him more.
'let's see… what do I know?' He thought. 'first is frisk himself… kid doesn't seem to remember anything. i might've thought he was messin' with me if i wasn't so good at reading expressions. thought that question about paps' armor would make him slip and prove me wrong but… nope. every record i've got says that the kid 'should' remember everything from each run. it's what set him apart. but, for whatever reason, he's as wiped as the rest of us.'
'second is the loops in this branch. i've noted two spikes so far. A large one, about five days ago, and a smaller one about six days later. pretty sure the first was the origin point, and the second was a recall. kid stayed in the Ruins longer this time… probably 'cause of tori. ran into some trouble there and had to load. there might be more, but it's not likely. it's enough to know he's at least aware of his power.'
Frisk spoke to the air at his side as he finished the frozen treat, paused for a moment, and then nodded before standing up again.
'which brings me to number three. that 'friend' he mentioned.' Sans thought. 'called them lily, eh? sounds like a girl. i'd think he was pulling my leg again if there wasn't clearly someone there that i just can't see. so, now the kid's haunted. great.'
'i might have seen her if i used the Sight, but that would've freaked frisk out, and i'd rather not show my hand quite yet. frisk seems to trust it well enough and it seems benign, for now. the question is, does it have any connection to the malicious anomaly the records mentioned? And if so, what?'
Frisk stopped and listened to the air again in front of the Ball Game court. Sans never really understood the appeal of knocking around a snowball to get it to the goal. Too much effort and not enough purpose for his bones. But Frisk seemed to enjoy himself as he blindly knocked it around with his stick. It took a while, but he eventually managed to get it into the goal. A purple flag shot out from the hole.
'perseverance, eh? maybe next time, kiddo.'
Frisk didn't seem bothered at all and instead turned to head up the path leading to the sentry stations used by the dog couple. Those two were always together, on duty and off. They weren't there now. It looked a bit like Frisk was reading the sign, but the skeleton knew that was impossible. Sans imagined the ghost was doing the reading for him. After a while he set off back down the path.
"guess i should get over there." Sans shrugged. "i'll file this info away later."
He turned away from the path and stepped into the shadows of the snow-covered trees. The very next step saw him standing in the middle of the path just ahead of where Papyrus was busy setting up his own 'puzzle'. Sans heard the tell tale clatter of ceramic on wood as his brother set down a lovely plate of spaghetti made with an unholy combination of techniques he'd learned from Undyne and cooking shows staring Mettaton.
Sans stuffed a boney hand into his hoodie pocket and pulled out a folded up paper. He thought about just leaving it as is but decided he might as well put in some kind of effort for Papyrus' sake. So he unfolded the page and smoothed the creases of the word search as best he could before placing it carefully in the middle of the path. He returned just in time to notice Papyrus heading his way at a brisk pace. His brother may have been a lot of things, but slow was not one of them.
"SANS! THE HUMAN SHALL SOON ARRIVE! HAVE YOU FINISHED PREPARING YOUR PUZZLE?" He greeted his brother animatedly.
"yep. It's all set, bro."
"NYEH HEH HEH! VERY GOOD, BROTHER. AND NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON!"
Sans turned to see Frisk walking in their direction. He listened to something at his side for a moment before turning toward the two skeletons. A smile spread across his face and he waved animatedly toward them. Sans gave a lazy wave of his own. He knew the kid couldn't see, but he had a feeling the ghost girl would relay it. Papyrus, being Papyrus was quick to launch into his beloved japing the moment the boy drew near.
"HUMAN! I HOPE YOU'RE READY FOR…" He began, and then trailed off. He slowly turned and glared down at the shorter skeleton. "SANS! WHERE'S THE PUZZLE!"
"it's right there, on the ground." Sans pointed at the creased up word search sitting in the middle of the road. "trust me, there's no way they can get past this one."
Lily, who had since let herself out of Frisk's body, noticed it. "Oh! A word search. I can help you with this one."
Frisk approached the piece of crumpled paper and knelt down before it, scrunching up his face in concentration. Lily seemed confident enough so he decided to follow her lead again with this one.
"Um, do you have a pencil?" He asked.
"uhh, sure kid…" Sans began. That… wasn't what he'd been expecting.
He riffled through his hoodie pocket for a moment. Empty chisp bag, a bit of loose change, a small container of pet rock flakes… pencil. He fished it out, strode over to the boy and placed it in his hand. The point moved over the letters left to right, right to left circling the words as Lily directed.
"Okay right there. Diagonal, up right is 'winter'. 'Monster', horizontal right there in the middle. Bottom left to top left is 'spring'." She directed him to each of the words, but frowned when she got to the long, gibberish looking one. "Gee-as-f… whatever. It's the whole top line but… it's different in the list. Circle it anyway?"
Frisk did so, and then returned the word search to Sans, grinning proudly. The short skeleton looked it over in disbelief. The lines were a little off and some of them cut into the letters, but Frisk had found every single word. He stuffed the paper back into his pocket and shrugged.
"huh. can't believe ya managed to pen it down." He said.
"SANS…" Papyrus growled.
"you really made your mark on this one, kid."
"SANS!"
Frisk giggled at the skeleton's joke. Lily did not. Breathless, stomach clutching laughter would be a better way to describe her reaction. Papyrus ground his teeth as Sans grinned up at him.
"Frisk… F-frisk." Lily stammered, trying her hardest to catch her breath. "Tell him this:"
The girl whispered into Frisk's ear. He snorted with renewed laughter and turned to the boney brothers. "Lily says… don't-" He took a moment to steel himself against his own mirth. "She said: 'aww, come on. Don't go and erase all our hard work. We don't want it to be point-less. After all, we're as sharp as they come!"
Papyrus gasped in what could only be described as absolute, unbridled horror.
"heh. good one, kiddo." Sans said, giving a slow clap.
"SANS! STOP BEING A BAD INFLUENCE ON THE HUMAN!" Papyrus chided. "UGH… I AM GOING TO CHECK ON THE REST OF MY PUZZLES. GOOD LUCK, TINY HUMAN!"
He left and Sans winked at Frisk. "good job on the 'search. guess you had a little help, huh?"
"Yep!" Frisk said proudly, waving his hand in front of Lily to show where she was. "We're a team!"
"Aww, Frisk…" Lily said, flattered.
"It's true." The boy insisted.
"heh. well, it's good to know there's a couple more people out there that like bad puns." Sans shrugged. "guess you should get going after paps."
"See you soon, right?" Frisk said hopefully.
"i'll be around." The skeleton replied.
They said goodbye and headed off toward where Papyrus' culinary disaster awaited. Sans silently hoped they'd give a little bit of thought before trying that one… for the kid's stomach's sake. He shrugged and stepped into another shortcut to get into a better position to observe them. Sure enough, Frisk had reached the dish and seemed to be contemplating on whether or not he was willing to brave a taste. He stumbled unnaturally, and the blue skeleton imagined an unseen girl pulling her solid companion away and pleading with him to abstain if he valued his life. He wasn't far off the mark either.
Leaving the spaghetti (thankfully) untouched, they headed through the cliff-lined path and into the next clearing. The boy walked a short distance before stopping just before the row of spikes that blocked the way forward. This wasn't one of his brother's puzzles. Rather, the dog couple had put this one together. It was a pretty nice setup, he had to admit.
Frisk stumbled about for a while, apparently guided by his ghostly companion. In time his foot nudged away some of the snow covering the map drawn beneath. They seemed to notice as pretty soon, the human set about clearing all the snow from the area. After taking a moment to study, they made a quick trip up to the switch and removed the spikes before moving forward.
'can't imagine how tough that must have been for him before.' Sans figured, 'guess that's one good thing to come from this new anomaly.'
No sooner had the boy stepped beyond the spikes than Dogamy and Dogaressa stepped out from the shadows, twin axes in hand. Their cloaks billowed in the wind as their white snouts peaked beneath their hoods.
"What's that smell?"
"(Where's that smell?)"
"If you are a smell…"
"(Identify yoursmellf!)"
'heh…' Sans chuckled. 'How is he gonna handle this one?'
It turns out, easily enough. Either he'd learned from his encounter with Doggo or the girl had suggested it, in minutes the dogs were eyeing (and sniffing) the stick he waved in front of them. He threw it into the distance and the two canine lovers bounded after it. They each took one end and brought it back to the boy together. He played fetch with them for a while before walking up and petting them both at the same time.
"Weird smells can bring good things…" Dogamy said.
"(Friendly fun fetch!)" Dogaressa agreed.
"Thanks, weird smell!"
"(It sure was fun to 'stick' together)"
Frisk stayed and pet the dogs a little longer before they bid each other farewell. The boy continued onward, a smile on his lips as he headed down. Sans nodded with approval and pulled a small notepad from his pocket, along with the pencil Frisk had used on the word search. He flipped to a blank page and began to write
'Current analysis: A 1 displays minor discrepancies in behavior outside established patterns. He appears to have no memory of the previous timelines or the events that transpired. I suspect that either the prior RESET resulted in some loss of his chronal recollective capabilities or that these have been removed for reasons unknown. It would take some serious magic to do that… worrisome?
He remains placid at least, if more animated than in previous timelines. He continues to befriend the denizens of the Underground and has thus far displayed no instability or tendency toward violence.
A0 has remained dark. This is in line with his activity during earlier loops. If the theory that all vestigial recollection has been purged is true, it is possible that his have been as well. That's good. It would be unfortunate if that one was walking around with that kind of knowledge.
No new information on A2. I know precious little about it. What little information is stored in the archive wasn't left by me either. Not sure which is more troubling.
Concern regarding the newly revealed anomaly named Lily and what connection (if any) she has with A2. For now, I'll refer to her as A3. There have been no mentions of her presence in any prior reports. She remains an unknown, and I've yet to make any true observations regarding her nature. My present theory is that she exists as some kind of phantom or spirit who is accompanying A1 for unknown reasons. Whether this is of her own will, or through a mental or spiritual connection, I have yet to confirm. However, this does not explain when she appeared or why. She seems a benign force at this time, and appears to be acting as a guide for A1.
Despite A1's lack of memories, there seem to have been far fewer temporal spikes than earlier runs. I surmise A3's guidance is the main reason for this. A1's limited eyesight was the primary cause of many spikes in previous timelines.
Further observation is required.
Final thoughts: The kid's doing good so far. He's making friends just like before. Still don't know what caused him to turn from that or why we're all back here now. I am pretty sure he's the one that left the info on A2 though. Just wish more of his entries weren't hidden behind that damned cypher. Did I teach him that? It's not one I know right now, that's for sure.
Not sure how I feel about his new ghoul-friend either. She seems nice enough, but why'd she never come up until now? Still, anyone who likes bad puns that much can't be all bad, right? Almost reminds me of someone else.
Ah well. Better end this now before it gets too long. I'll update the archive once I get back to the 'shop.'
Authors' Notes: So yeah… sorry for the delay once again. We hope the story has been enjoyable so far. Hopefully, we can get back on track and put out more consistent updates going forward. Speaking of updates, the beginning of Chapter 6 has been changed slightly. We decided it felt a bit too heavy-handed and might have revealed a little too much so it's been changed and shortened to add a bit more mystery to it.
Lily saying "Oh hello there" Is actually part of the game. If you pet Lesser enough that his head comes back down from the clouds far enough he will eventually go beneath the box with the Name of the character, LV, and the like. Once there he looks straight at the name and the "Narrator" says the "Hello There." Just thought it would be nice to throw that little tidbit in there.