Toriel wasn't at home when Syphus returned, but it wasn't empty. It seemed that during the couple hours Syphus had been away several Royal Guard members had gathered in Toriel's house, taking off their helmets and armor. Several of the guards were prepared to leave, while others had come to the house for refreshments and food, provided by the queen and left in the kitchen. As soon as Syphus ascended up the stairs, many heads turned towards him, but since he was just a monster more, as far as they were concerned, soon no one was paying him attention. Not that it made Syphus feel any better: exploring the house and looking for clues was going to be impossible with all those guards around.
If I can't force my way in, then the next best option is to talk with whoever is available around here, I guess. There was a guard preparing to go out through the entrance door, if Syphus wanted to talk, then it was going to need to be done right now. Syphus approached and opened his mouth, but the guard saw him first.
"Hey! You're the guy who was snooping where you shouldn't be!"
Despite the words themselves, Royal Guard 047 didn't seem particularly pissed off. Without the helmet Syphus could see it was some sort of monster that seemed to be made of clay, without any special features. He looked more like a blank clay mannequin than anything else. Royal Guard 047 waved from the entrance. "You going to try to sneak behind the fence again?"
A bit abashed by being remembered as the guy who was in places forbidden to everyone else, Syphus hurried to go outside, getting ahead of the guard. After donning the helmet, the guard followed him. "You're not pissed off because I told you to go away from the fence, are you?"
"...no, of course not. You were doing your job" To be completely honest Syphus did feel a bit of rancor over that, but he wasn't going to take it out on someone who was just doing his job "What's so special about that place, anyway?"
"You don't know? And here I thought I was the one who lived under a rock" Royal Guard 47 took his sword, putting it over his shoulder "That's where the human child is buried. You must be rather young to not to know about it"
If Toriel was busy, the next best person to find out if there were humans somewhere around in the Ruins would be the guards, supposing they agreed with Toriel. How to touch the topic? "Do you think humans have gotten in here somehow?" Better to be direct, he guessed.
"How should I know? I don't even know how a human looks like. They could be living right under our noses and we wouldn't even know" at least the guard sounded like it wasn't something he disliked the thought of "I wouldn't mind seeing a human...Queen Toriel says they're not violent and spiteful like we think they are, but I'm not entirely convinced"
"They can't be as bad as people say" Syphus muttered.
"Yeah, right. I'm just a new recruit, but do you know what I'd do if a human came by and tried to kill me?" the guard raised his sword, grasping it inexpertly "I'd fight back. I have nothing against humans and I don't want them to die, but I'm not going to sacrifice myself just to not to hurt them. I know Queen Toriel said to leave it all up to her, but my life is my priority. Don't tell her I said that"
That seemed fair enough. At least the guard wasn't going to kill humans as soon as he saw them. Not that Syphus would deactivate the brooch, he wasn't going to take that risk. "What'll the queen do if she finds a human?"
The guard's helmet clinked, Syphus had the feeling he was smiling under the helmet, somehow. "Who knows. The queen is nice, but I have heard she started to change since she left the castle. She...can you keep a secret? I don't mind talking badly of the Royal Family, but other people aren't very understanding about it" Syphus nodded, so the guard approached so close he was bumping Syphus with his armor "I think there could be someone inside the locked room in the house. Could be a human"
Syphus' eyes widened "What?!" Satisfied with the reaction, Royal Guard 47 nodded quickly, looking around to make sure no one was listening "A few months ago I was in the house, waiting for Queen Toriel, when I heard something behind that locked door. It sounded like...like a song, like a little girl singing"
That was unprecedented! Was Toriel keeping human children looked in a small room? Syphus definitely had to force open that door, then. "Are you completely sure of what you're saying?"
"Completely sure! I have good ears, you know!" the guard raised his voice boisterously for a moment "But it doesn't mean she's still in there. Queen Toriel may want to protect humans, but I don't think she'd go as far as locking them away like that forever"
I know she wouldn't, but it's a bit disquieting... Syphus shook his head. "You must be right. Where could humans live, I wonder...?"
"I don't know if it's important or not, but I have heard Toriel goes very often to Snowdin. It could be there are humans in disguise living somewhere in the town! What do you think?"
It was actually possible! If monsters didn't know how humans looked like, it was possible some could live among all them and no one would be the wiser, but there was no way absolutely everyone would be fooled! At least that was a lead. If there were no other clues in the Ruins, then Snowdin Town would be the next best bet. "...you could be right"
"I know, right? I feel bad for humans" the guard said, turning around once Syphus and him reached the fence "Our king wants their SOULs, our queen wants to protect them, and they don't have a say about any of that"
It was a tough situation, indeed. Syphus decided to go ahead and touch a second topic "I have heard the Royal Guard is rather divided"
The guard grumbled something before nodding. "Practically all the guards in the Ruins support Toriel, but that's all we can do. If King Asgore took back the war declaration that'd solve everything, but he doesn't want to" after a moment of silence, the guard positioned himself to the side of the room, planting the tip of his sword on the stone floor "I'm at my job station, so get out of here! Scram!"
"Wait, I'm not—"
"Get going already! You're going to distract me if you keep standing there"
Good for you, taking your job so seriously... "Okay, I'm leaving!" Syphus raised his hands, stepping back and out of the room. At least there was now the possibility Toriel had been keeping humans inside the locked room, even if it was for a moment. Had guards left Toriel's house already? Since it was the closest lead right now, Syphus set his sights onto Toriel's house.
-ooooo-
Indeed, the guards had left, but Toriel was there now, freshly arrived from outside the Ruins. Encouraged by that detail that could really mean she had gone to Snowdin, Syphus went outside without even talking to her. Since the queen was there, it was rather unlikely he'd ever have the chance to break open the locked door and sneak in, so instead Syphus was forced to pounce on the best second lead: scour through Snowdin in the very low chance there were humans around. Not that he was very confident about it. Come on...if the monsters in Snowdin didn't see any humans in who knows how many decades, how will I find them?!
It was even more complicated because Syphus had absolutely no idea where to start looking first. The trees all around Snowdin showed no signs of anyone or anything going in. When Syphus asked around if anyone had seen the queen passing by, no one was able to give him a meaningful answer. After a while Syphus started doubting asking was going to lead anywhere: if someone knew humans were living around and wanted to keep the secret, obviously they wouldn't say anything that could lead to them.
Since asking wasn't going to give anything worthwhile, then a more hands-on approach was going to be needed. That was why Syphus started to peek into the houses. With some luck no one around would notice the weird reptile pressing his face against the glass of the windows!
Most of the houses seemed to be empty, and there was nothing that could indicate who exactly lived in there. Noting it'd be very hard to know if the house belonged to a human or not, Syphus considered stopping doing this dubious method of investigating...after this last house, that is. Syphus approached the window and looked through it. It seemed to be a living room. There was a TV, stairs leading to a second floor...what was that stuff sticking to the wall next to the TV? Sticky notes?
"it'd be nice if you didn't do that"
Syphus' shoulders dropped. Of course. He had been way too focused on finding a house where humans could be living he didn't notice this house belonged to someone he knew. Syphus turned around, stepping away and facing Sans. The skeleton wasn't alone, though. There was a taller skeleton with him, looking at Syphus with befuddled curiosity.
"Oh! My bad, Sans" Syphus said.
"my bad?"
"Yeah! I was looking for someone. I didn't know this was your house"
"I SEE! THIS WAS ALL A MISUNDERSTANDING!" the taller skeleton boomed, taking a step forward and gesturing at the house "THIS IS THE HOUSE OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AND HIS BROTHER, SANS!"
Right, the skeletons' house. That could have gone better. "Sorry...I'll get going"
"WAIT!"
Syphus stopped, and Papyrus reached him in just a couple steps, beaming brightly. "WHO ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? PERHAPS I COULD BE OF HELP!"
"Uh, I don't think—"
"I KNOW SNOWDIN LIKE THE BACK OF MY HAND!"
"he does. you could use his help"
Somehow, it was rather difficult to say no to someone who was grinning as widely as Papyrus. Syphus sighed, flashing a friendly smile. "I'd like the help. Thanks, guys"
Papyrus pointed at the sky, posing heroically. "FEAR NOT! WE'LL FIND WHOEVER YOU'RE LOOKING FOR!" after a pause during which Sans somehow managed to roll the small lights in his eye sockets in an affectionate way towards his brother, Papyrus asked the question: "...WHO DO WE NEED TO FIND?"
"I'll tell you along the way"
"welp. i'll wait here, paps. good luck"
"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING, SANS! WE NEED MORE PEOPLE TO SEARCH THROUGH THE TOWN!"
While Papyrus tried to get Sans to join the newly-formed search party, Syphus walked away enough to be able to look at the rest of the town. The more time he spent here, the more doubts he had the humans were anywhere around here. What would he do if he never found the humans? His last hope was to force open the locked bedroom in Toriel's house, but if that led nowhere, then...then what?
"LOOKS LIKE MY BROTHER WON'T JOIN US. HE SAYS HE HAS TO PICK UP HIS SOCKS RIGHT NOW, WHICH IS A VERY OBVIOUS LIE" Papyrus said, getting to where Syphus was waiting "I THINK HE DOESN'T LIKE YOU"
"...a lot of people don't like me" Syphus replied dryly. Papyrus and him walked away in direction to the Libraby, while Sans watched from the entrance to his house. Once they were both far away, the skeleton took out a key from his pocket, looking at it with unease.
"what's taking the kid so long?"
Something was wrong. Spurred by an increasing feeling of doom, Sans stepped away from the door and went around the house, reaching a door in the back. Papyrus knew about the small laboratory under the house, but Sans didn't feel comfortable with the weird monster knowing about it too. That guy with the feathers and the jacket was going to be troublesome, he knew it, but he wasn't sure to what extent. Mulling about it, Sans opened the door, locked it behind him and descended the stairs to the table, opening one of the drawers.
There was a photo in there, a photo from the surface. In it there was Sans, Papyrus, the king, the queen, Undyne, and Alphys. It was certainly an unusual group – Sans guessed the king was here because Undyne had brought him, but he wasn't sure why the queen was here. She was nice and all, but she had never seemed the approachable type, always in the Ruins. Sans had never crossed a single word with her.
There was a seventh person in the photo, though: a human child. They seemed...they seemed happy. It was hard to tell with such a neutral expression, but something in their eyes made Sans think they were happy. Sans didn't even know their name, but they felt the child was very important in some way. They were most likely the reason why the photo existed in the first place.
Shaking his head slightly at how things seemed so clear yet so murky at the same time, Sans turned the photo around to see the short line, written with his penmanship. It was a line he was sure he had never written...at least not in this timeline.
'the kid falls down at xx:xx—'
Sans looked at the clock. It was half an hour after the time indicated there. It was unlikely the human child would not fall down, that's something that had happened in every other timeline in existence, or at least he supposed. There had to be some sort of cataclysmic change to the timeline he was living in. It was suspicious enough when Papyrus stated he wasn't interested in the Royal Guard anymore – after so much training, after all those puzzles created, a few months before Papyrus told him that – because Sans had no doubt Papyrus wouldn't quit that dream for no reason, but something as vital as the child falling down into the Underground was a clear sign there was something wrong.
After putting the photograph back into the drawer, Sans went to the machine in the corner of the laboratory. He really disliked seeing it, which is why he kept it covered with a sheet – the machine always brought some rather murky memories he hadn't fully understood yet – but in times like these he had to force himself to endure such memories and turn on the machine. It was large and clunky, but it worked well.
The screen turned on.
It was easy to read the readings. On the screen there was a grid, showing a dozen or so of the most recent timelines, represented as golden line. Most of those timelines extended away of the screen, indicating they continued further into the future. From time to time tiny sections of those timelines flickered – a sign of temporal manipulation, which Sans was rather sure the human child caused, for one reason or another – but overall those didn't seem to cause any repercussions in the timelines themselves. The last timeline in the list, which represented the one Sans was in, was completely different, though:
After a point the timeline flickered and distorted, and it wasn't just one tiny point: it was the whole timeline, as if it was about to crumble down at any moment. It didn't even look like a straight line anymore, it looked slightly wavy. The state of the actual timeline was something that troubled Sans, he wasn't sure of the implications of such extensive damage.
What was worse was that the point where the timeline started to glitch like that was rather close. Sans calculated it'd take around one hour before such point finally arrived, and when it did...what would happen? Would reality break down and disappear? That seemed likely.
After taking a look at the compartment on one side of the machine to make sure there weren't any objects from other timelines inside, Sans left the laboratory. He planned to return here shortly before the big moment and see what happened. Whatever would happen...it didn't really matter, did it?
After all, no timeline lasted for long. After some point, usually a few weeks from now and the longest one being little more than a year later, every single of the dozens of millions of timelines before the actual one cut off, so no matter what happened or if everything went okay for everyone, in the end it would all be for naught. That was why he could stare at the screen of the machine without any emotions beyond a scientific interest. If the timeline broke down in one hour and everyone died horribly...well, so what?
Better now than later.
-ooooo-
It couldn't be denied Papyrus was rather thorough.
As soon as Papyrus and Syphus walked away, Papyrus asked the vital question: "SO! WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR?" ...well, crap. That was something Syphus himself had no idea how to answer, despite knowing how they looked like in the original timeline. What age were they? Did they look exactly the same? There were way too many variables, and he didn't even know what they were wearing...no...that wasn't true. There was something Syphus could count on.
Syphus asked Papyrus to look for someone who owned or was wearing a cowboy hat. That was unique enough, so random monsters wouldn't own one, and he knew one of the six humans was likely to have it with them when they arrived to the Underground.
Papyrus started to search everywhere, and in a much less subtle way than Syphus had done, Papyrus didn't hesitate to ask around while Syphus stayed in the background, sighing into his hands, chagrinned. So much for subtlety regarding the humans. 'EXCUSE ME! HAVE YOU SEEN A COWBOY HAT SOMEWHERE?" All responses were negative. Since asking didn't work, Papyrus started searching around the houses, in the trash, among the trees.
After some time, Papyrus got off one of the many trees he had gotten onto, landing right beside Syphus. "HOW COULD THIS BE? I DIDN'T FIND THE PERSON YOU'RE LOOKING FOR"
"It's fine. Thanks for trying" Syphus said with a small smile. He really was thankful Papyrus had tried to help, but it was to be expected it wouldn't be easy.
"DON'T GIVE UP YET, SYPHUS!" Papyrus snapped his fingers despite his thick gloves "I GOT IT! TELL ME SOMETHING ELSE ABOUT THEM"
"S-Something else?"
"ANYTHING!"
After a moment of doubt, Syphus decided to take a leap of faith, anything was better than not progressing at all. "Have you ever seen a human?"
"A HUM—OH!" At that moment it was as if something changed in Papyrus. He went still, caught off-guard by the question, before slowly closing his jaw, looking around with nervousness. "A HUMAN? RIGHT. A HUMAN. WELL...IT COULD BE POSSIBLE...I HAVE SEEN SOMEONE HUMAN-Y BEFORE"
Now that was rather unfitting. Papyrus had showed to be rather excited about humans in practically every other timeline, his reaction right now didn't mesh at all with that data. "Really?"
"BUT I DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY ARE RIGHT NOW" Papyrus hurried to add "IT PAINS ME TO DISAPPOINT A POTENTIAL NEW FRIEND, BUT I KNOW NOTHING"
Syphus looked at him askance "Are you sure?"
"COMPLETELY SURE! IT MAY NOT HAVE BEEN SOMETHING HUMAN. IT COULD HAVE BEEN A GERBIL. OR A ROCK"
Sure it wasn't a human, buster. "Okay, fine" Syphus shivered, why was there snow in the Underground, seriously? "Thanks for helping me search. At least you stopped me from creeping into other people's houses like before"
Papyrus' usual cheerful attitude returned immediately. "NYEH HEH HEH! OF COURSE! IF YOU EVER NEED MORE HELP YOU CAN TELL ME. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL LEND YOU A HAND ANYWHERE, ANYTIME" and there was no doubt Papyrus meant every single word of that. Syphus wasn't sure he'd have the need to ask for help again, but it was nice to know there was someone he could count on.
Besides, how could one say no to someone who was willing to give one support unconditionally?
You sense Papyrus' sincere friendliness.
You feel a faint bond forming between you and Papyrus
Thou art I... And I am thou... Thou hast established a new bond.
Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Sun Arcana
Something about Papyrus' offer made Syphus feel warm and fuzzy, and it was likely it wasn't just because of the recently formed Social Link. Papyrus could be a bit overbearing, with his loud voice and extremely energetic mannerisms, but it was hard to hold it against him when he wanted to lend a hand. "Thanks, Papyrus"
"AND NOW, I SHALL LEAVE! I BET SANS IS TAKING ONE OF HIS MANY NAPS NOW THAT I'M NOT AT HOME. COME BY TO VISIT ANYTIME, SYPHUS!" and with that, Papyrus walked away, practically gliding over the snow in direction to his house. It was a somewhat productive hour, if only because a Social Link was created. It'd be more useful if I understood what these links are for, seriously.
But at least now he also knew it was rather unlikely there were any humans hiding in Snowdin. It wasn't much, but it was a tiny bit of progress. Since one of the two options had now been cleared, it could be good to check the other, see if it was true Toriel was hiding a human in that locked—"
"Yo! Mister!"
Biting back a remark about how busy he was, Syphus turned around to see who was calling for him. The voice had sounded rather young, and indeed, it was a child, resembling some kind of ochre armless reptile, wearing a striped shirt. Syphus' expression softened while he crouched to talk at eye-level with the monster child. "What is it?"
"You were looking for someone wearing a cowboy hat, right?" the kid asked, their tail swinging slightly.
"Yes, what about it?" he said in his most patience voice.
"Yo, I know someone like that!"
That was it! Although it was far from confirmed and it could be anyone that wasn't a human, Syphus' heart immediately jumped to his throat. "W-Where...?"
"In Waterfall! She and I play there every day. I could take you there if you want!"
It was a long shot; he couldn't deny it could very well be absolutely nothing useful...but he couldn't just ignore that. Shaking away the snow from his boots, Syphus nodded and pushed aside any kind of anxiousness or impatience he could have shown. "Lead the way, kid"
"Follow me!" the Monster Kid trotted away without even turning to check if Syphus was keeping the pace. It shouldn't be that hard. Waterfall wasn't a difficult place to traverse, as long as one knew exactly where to go and where to step. Syphus ran behind Monster Kid, managing to stay near, although he wasn't as fast as the kid running ahead.
A lead as good as any, I suppose!
-ooooo-
Being asked like that if he had seen a human had taken him off-guard. Papyrus was perfectly capable of lying if the situation required it, although he really disliked doing that, but the question had come so suddenly he didn't have time to prepare himself to lie. Luckily, it seemed his new friend had believed him! Another everyday victory for the Great Papyrus!
But there was something else he had to do. Papyrus quickly returned home, managing to run on over the snow without losing his footing not even once. The skeleton ran past his house until he reached a shed that was right to the side. Usually that shed was locked to prevent anyone from going inside. In the past it was a pen of sorts to keep any human he captured until he could take them to New Home, but since he had renounced to the Royal Guard he had dismantled the pen. Now it had a different use.
Papyrus knocked on the door three, four times and stopped, waiting for a moment before doing it again. It was the agreed signal for the person inside to not to panic. Right after finishing the knock, Papyrus took out the key of the shed and opened the door, stepping inside. "I'M BACK!"
The inside of the shed had been refurnished into a makeshift shelter of sorts. There was a fort of blankets and pillows in a corner of the room, barely large enough for Papyrus to fit in. That was all one could see from the door, so Papyrus stepped further in, until the rest of the inside of the room could be seen.
A shelf filled with books about puzzles had been placed there, most of those books taken out and opened all over the place. Countless sheets of paper littered the floor, all of them with complicated diagrams, apparently puzzles created by Papyrus and his guest. In a side there was a desk, where a single notebook was wide open, lines and diagrams filling its pages, and sitting right in front of it, was a human adult. A man, to be more precise, wearing a robe, and a shawl over it. His skin was horrifically pale, with faint bluish veins visible underneath, but his face and arms were covered with a makeup that resembled fur...as long as one saw it from rather far away. From up-close it looked more like he had faceplanted into a puddle of half-dried dark purple paint.
Ciruel turned his head around, adjusting his large glasses. "Paps, I thought you'd be away for longe—"
"I BRING BAD NEWS! SOMEONE IS LOOKING FOR YOU" Papyrus announced, holding the door with his back as if he feared Syphus was going to burst through it at any moment. That got the man to stand up immediately, picking up a headband with large antlers glued onto it. "Who is it?"
"SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO CAPTURE YOU!"
Ciruel grimaced, putting on the headband "Damn it! Where are they?"
"HE WAS NEAR GRILLBY'S. HERE, LET ME HELP YOU!" Papyrus randomly picked up a few of the books and put it all inside a nearby empty backpack, immediately hanging it onto Ciruel's neck and making the man fall to the floor.
"Oof! T-Thanks, Paps..."
"I'LL PERFORM MY ROLE AS DISTRACTOR NOW! WAIT UNTIL THE COAST IS CLEAR AND THEN" Papyrus raised a finger "THEN YOU SHALL RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN!"
"Understood. You give me the signal, Paps" Ciruel positioned himself beside to the door, putting his glasses away. This was going to be a long run towards Waterfall, but it was going to be necessary if someone was starting to suspect he was here. Damn it, what did he do wrong? He was sure he had managed to come here during the last few months without raising any suspicions! Maybe he should stay in the Hidden Village for a while.
Papyrus opened the door, intending to go outside and make sure there was no one in the way and Ciruel would be able to get out safely, but the skeleton barely had time to peek outside when he slammed the door closed, yelping loudly and once again holding the door with his body, ready for any onslaught that could come anytime now. "TOO LATE! HE'S HERE!"
"Where did I go wrong?!" Ciruel went to the other end of the shed, uselessly hiding beside the desk. It was all over. He was going to get caught and sent to Asgore, he was going to die and get his SOUL used to break the Barrier, oh god, was it true the king had a trident, that was going to hurt—
Papyrus, unaware to the thoughts that were crossing through his friend's head, listened outside. It was faint, but he heard Syphus' voice while he passed running in front of the shed. '...unning so fast...I'm not exactly young, you kn...!" the voice faded in the distance. After a moment of silence, Papyrus relaxed, slumping on the floor.
"I THINK HE WENT AWAY"
Ciruel peered from behind the wall. "Who is it, anyways?"
"IT'S MY NEW FRIEND! HE'S GOING TO WATERFALL RIGHT NOW. I SHALL FOLLOW HIM" Papyrus aligned himself with the already broken window, still unrepaired from a dynamic exit earlier in the day.
"No!" Ciruel shouted, not wanting to deal with more glass "Just leave him alone. If he's going to Waterfall I'll just wait here for now" and so the matter was settled. Even if there were monsters trying to find the Hidden Village, Ciruel was reasonably sure they wouldn't find it at all. Only Toriel and the rest of the humans would know how to get in there, and there was no way the queen that had gotten them all in there in the first place would spill the beans and allow anyone to find it. The rest of the humans knew keeping the village's location secret was vital for their survival, too.
That 'new friend' Papyrus had could try as much as he wanted, he wouldn't find it.
After a moment of silence where Ciruel had the time to take off the headband and sit again to the desk, Papyrus stood up, getting closer. "...I DON'T LIKE IT"
"You don't like what?"
"HAVING TO LEAVE YOU HIDING HERE. FRIEND, YOU SHOULD BE OUTSIDE, HAVING FUN AND EXPLORING THE TOWN! NOT HIDING HERE"
"You know the situation doesn't allow me to do that, Paps—"
"I KNOW! I WANT TO DO SOMETHING" Papyrus declared "I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE MY FRIEND IN MY SHED"
Ciruel frowned. This discussion with Papyrus was rather commonplace. The skeleton had been rather excited when they had met for the first time – despite his attempts to capture Ciruel and use him to enter to the Royal Guard - but after some time, and after Papyrus proposed to use the shed as a base of sorts for them to meet and share their common interests with each other, such friendship had always argued because of one point: the need of having to lock the shed with Ciruel inside.
So Ciruel did the same he always did: rehash the argument. "Paps...we have to do it. I don't like it either, but you risk someone entering here and finding me if you don't lock the shed, and you can't stay here forever, too. You have a life out there"
"BUT...THERE MUST BE SOMETHING WE CAN DO!"
"There's nothing we can do. You tried to talk with the king, and it led nowhere"
"YOU SHOULD TALK WITH THE KING! HE'S A GOOD GUY, HE'LL LISTEN TO YOU!"
"...a good guy? He wants to kill me and use my SOUL! Would a good person do that?!" Ciruel shouted, turning around to glare for a moment before sighing. This wasn't Papyrus' fault, shouting at him solved nothing "I don't want to risk it, Paps...I don't want to get killed"
That was how the discussion almost always went. Ciruel really liked to come to Snowdin and visit Papyrus, but at times like this...it was tiring. That's why this time he decided to add something else, something he felt Papyrus should know. "Papyrus, thank you for being my friend"
"EH?"
"Thank you for letting me come here" Ciruel murmured "Thank you for doing puzzles with me, and for telling me so much about the Underground. Thank you for...for being like you are"
"YOU DON'T HAVE TO THANK ME! EVERYBODY NEEDS FRIENDS"
"No, I really needed it. These twenty-six years I have spent down here have been a nightmare. Having to live in such a small part of the Underground, and always having to fear slipping and someone finding out I'm human, I hate all that.
Coming here and spending time with you is literally the only good thing there's in my life. Thank you"
Papyrus emitted a sound like a particularly excitable puppy, and put his hand on Ciruel's shoulder. "I'LL BE YOUR SUPPORTIVE FRIEND ANYTIME!"
"Nice" Ciruel opened his notebook, feeling the joints of his fingers stiffen momentarily and painfully. Almost three decades without any sunlight had taken a toll on his body, and his was a rather mild case. The humans who had been around for longer were much worse. The oldest one, in particular...she had been almost a century without any sunlight. It was a miracle she still had hair on her head, but other than that, she looked extremely frail.
If it weren't because the magic in the food helped to keep their health at an acceptable level, they'd all be much worse.
"You should get going" Ciruel said "I'll stay here for an hour more. There are a few details I want to tweak before I show you this riddle"
"ALRIGHT! I'LL BE AT MY HOUSE"
"Oh, and Paps?"
"YES?"
Ciruel smiled warmly "This time try to leave through the door, okay?"
SOCIAL LINKS:
Fool - ? - RANK 0
Magician - ? - RANK 0
Priestess - ? - RANK 0
Empress - Toriel - RANK 1
Emperor - ? - RANK 0
Hierophant - ? - RANK 0
Lovers - ? - RANK 0
Chariot - ? - RANK 0
Justice - ? - RANK 0
Hermit - ? - RANK 0
Fortune - ? - RANK 0
Strength - ? - RANK 0
Hanged Man - ? - RANK 0
Death - ? - RANK 0
Temperance - ? - RANK 0
Devil - ? - RANK 0
Tower - ? - RANK 0
Star - ? - RANK 0
Moon - ? - RANK 0
Sun - Papyrus - RANK 1
Judgment - ? - RANK 0
Aeon - ? - RANK 0
Jester - Alphonse - RANK 1