"The Fool is number zero. It is the void from which all other things begin."
Papyrus reacted like anyone thought he'd react. Sans had barely put Frisk on the couch when a very loud shout sounded behind him. "SANS! WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM?"
"i don't know, bro. found 'em like this in waterfall. they didn't fall down, don't worry" There was no need to tell Papyrus the details, in Sans' opinion, and even if he did tell them Papyrus right now was more worried for Frisk than for what could have led to the child being unconscious.
"WE CAN'T LEAVE THEM HERE" Papyrus claimed, carefully picking up the kid. Frisk looked small, cradled in Papyrus' arms "FOLLOW ME!"
"where are you going?"
"TO MY ROOM, OF COURSE! I HAVE TO HELP MY FRIEND" he said, jumping up the stairs quite fast. Sans followed and entered the room just in time to see Papyrus lie down Frisk on the car bed, trying to make Frisk as comfortable as he could. "ARE THEY HURT? I DON'T THINK THEY'RE HURT"
"guess not. i'm not sure"
"I SHALL BRING FIRST AID. IT'D BE A DISSERVICE IF THE HUMAN AWOKE, NEEDED SOMETHING AND WE DIDN'T HAVE IT READY! I'LL BE BACK IN A SECOND!" Papyrus left the room with such speed one would think he was trying as hard as possible to fulfill the 'be back in a second' part. Once Sans was left alone, the skeleton sat aside the bed.
Was this supposed to happen? Many things weren't normal about the timeline. Way too many oddities had emerged since time ago, but how could he know for sure this was another of them? For all he knew in every other timeline they all returned to the surface Frisk fell unconscious like this at some point. Telling himself that didn't help him feel better, though.
"we had a monumental derailing, didn't we, bucko?" he said to Frisk, and sighed.
-ooooo-
Papyrus wasn't the type of person to freak out or lose control. When he got in a tight spot he unconsciously refused to let show any nervousness or hesitation, that was reserved for when the situation got less urgent. Those who knew Papyrus well could know when the skeleton was worried or nervous: he got louder than usual, a feat for someone who was already remarkably loud. The shopkeeper wasn't sure how to react when Papyrus entered the shop and dashed to the counter in the blink of an eye. "I REQUIRE YOUR WISDOM!" he boomed, making the shopkeeper recoil from the loudness.
Her uncertainty as to how to react increased when Papyrus started asking questions on how to take care of "A FRIEND WHO FAINTED". She answered with honesty, though, giving all the tips she thought could come useful, and Papyrus diligently bought everything he thought would help.
"I could take a look at them" the shopkeeper offered "Just let me close the shop for a moment and—"
"OH! THAT WON'T BE NECESSARY!" Papyrus interrupted, raising a finger "IT'S THE DUTY OF A GOOD FRIEND TO TAKE CARE OF THE FRIEND WHO IS IN NEED. I HAVE THE SITUATION UNDER CONTROL!" Anything to keep everyone except Sans from finding out there was a human in his house, defenseless and unconscious. Having rejected the shopkeeper's offer for help, Papyrus left the store and hurried towards his house, his arms filled with everything he had bought. Right when he came closer to his house, he saw someone arriving to Snowdin, someone he knew. It was Syphus, looking rather dejected.
When Syphus saw Papyrus, his feathers fluffed up with what the skeleton interpreted as sincere joy. "Here's who I wanted to see! I need your help, Papyrus"
Papyrus glanced towards his house for a second before turning his attention towards Syphus, hesitating a bit. Frisk's condition could be critical, but Papyrus couldn't deny a friend help! The least he should do was listen. "HOW CAN THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HELP YOU TODAY?"
Syphus led Papyrus a bit further away into the road and looked around, making sure there was no one nearby. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he spoke mutedly. "I found a human and they're in danger"
One of the many objects Papyrus had bought fell to the snow, dropped in surprise. It couldn't be that the word spread so far already! The truth was that practically all of Snowdin knew already, since the Royal Guard members stationed in Snowdin and its forest had encountered Frisk, but since most of the rumors and hubbub regarding a human in the Underground was in Grillby's, Papyrus was unaware of it all. Part of the Royal Guard had wanted to inform Undyne and the rest of the guards, but others had argued to consult with the Queen first. For the moment it seemed Frisk's existence was something known only in Snowdin.
Not having noticed Papyrus' sudden silence, Syphus continued. "He's just a kid, harmless and without a mean bone in their body" Papyrus' grin tensed a bit with annoyance at the pun and his struggle to keep silent about Frisk "The problem is that they don't want protection. I think they don't trust me specifically, so...I wanted to ask you to be with them"
"...ABOUT THE HUMAN..." Papyrus took a quick decision. A human child could only be Frisk, unless there were several milling around in the Underground for some reason, and since Syphus seemed to know them... Papyrus opened the door to the house and beckoned Syphus inside, who complied. Once the door was closed behind them Papyrus plopped on the table all the stuff he had brought and looked towards his room "THE HUMAN WAS ATTACKED"
"...what?"
"SANS FOUND THE HUMAN AND BROUGHT THEM HERE. THEY'RE NOW RESTING IN MY ROOM, CRUISING WHILE THEY SNOOZE! I WAS ABOUT TO STAY WITH THEM UNTIL THEY WOKE UP!"
Syphus felt as if a vice had grabbed him by the neck. The kid had been attacked. Less than half an hour after Frisk got away from them the child had gotten attacked. Had Undyne done it? No, she would have killed the child, it must have been someone else. He struggled to swallow, his voice croaked while he tried to form a coherent word or two. It took him a moment to snap out of the stupor. "Let me see them" he said hoarsely.
"I'M NOT SURE—"
"Papyrus, I need to make sure they're okay!" Syphus interrupted, raising his voice. Sans, having heard him, opened Papyrus' bedroom door to listen better "I want to make sure they're okay. That's all I ask"
Sans planted his forehead against the door for a moment, closing it. "here he comes" Knowing Papyrus, he was going to yield and allow Syphus check on Frisk. There was something about Syphus that seemed wrong, something was seriously off about him, but he still couldn't pinpoint what it was. should CHECK his stats he thought. Maybe he should have done that from the beginning.
Just like expected, Syphus got to Papyrus' room, slowly opening the door. When he saw Sans, the piece's expression soured for a second before settling in a hesitant attitude "...hey, Sans. How's the kid?"
"unconscious. paps' taking care of him"
Syphus' expression softened. "Of course Papyrus would do that. Wish people would be as cool as him"
"i know, right?" Syphus awkwardly approached where Frisk was resting and carefully rested a finger on the side of Frisk's neck, looking for a pulse. It seemed normal, no signs of weakening...everything pointed at this being no more than a fainting.
While Syphus did that, Sans stepped back and subtly focused his magic, CHECKing that monster's stats. The most basic data appeared immediately.
SYPHUS – 18 ATK 19 DEF
A piece owned by the apprentice of the Witch of Hope.
that gives me more questions than answers. A further look into the stats did show something a bit worrying, though: LV 3. not high, but bad enough. Most of the population of the Underground had LV 1, very few exceptions existed. That was one proof more Syphus was a highly unusual person, and not exactly in flattering ways.
Syphus didn't notice Sans' CHECK, too focused on the feeling he had to do something now. While he tried to order those thoughts, he asked Sans if he had found Frisk and what he knew, paying little attention to the information. Why do I feel like I have seen this before somewhere...?
...wait. That was it. It was a bit of a long shot, given that he had been barely aware of what had happened that time, but hadn't...hadn't Alphonse and him fainted when he...
"Sans, can you do me a favor?"
"hm?"
"Go check on Papyrus. He said he was going to prepare something for when Frisk woke up. Maybe he'll need help"
"...i don't think i care much for you getting me out of my own brother's bedroom, bud"
Syphus gulped but held his ground. I should have said 'please'. "I'm not giving you orders, Sans. It's just a favor. Please...check on Papyrus" As if that had been its cue, a sudden clang sounded from the kitchen. "Just in case, please"
Sans stared at Syphus for a moment before sighing and shrugging. "sure, why not. keep an eye on the kid" As soon as Sans left the bedroom, Syphus hurried and left the door ajar, placing the end of the car bed so the door couldn't be opened any further but anyone could look inside of the room from the hall. Syphus stepped out of sight of the door and took off the brooch, showing his human form.
"...it'll take just a few seconds. If it doesn't work, then I'll..." I don't know what I'll do. Syphus clutched tightly the firefly brooch, gathering his courage for whatever could come. After making sure the dull collapsible halberd was still underneath his jacket and quickly made a SAVE point, Syphus returned to Frisk's side, in plain sight from anyone standing in the hall. With trembling fingers and trying to moderate his breathing, Syphus secured the brooch to Frisk's sweater, over the child's chest. "Everything's going to be okay. This is what I'm supposed to do" he murmured to assure himself, and raised his hand to press on the brooch and turn it on.
In that moment he felt a sudden tingle somewhere inside his chest, and before he could realize what was going on he felt himself being launched onto the wall, slamming against it without much strength. The abrupt movement elicited a yelp of surprise from Syphus, his hand too far away from the brooch still pinned to Frisk's sweater.
"you didn't think i'd step out just like that, did you?
Sans came out of Papyrus' closet as if he had always been in there, holding his hand and pinning Syphus against the wall with magic. He had reacted mostly out of instinct. Seeing that Syphus was human wasn't big deal, but when he saw Syphus pining something on Frisk he felt the need to act quick, given that leaving Frisk alone had caused this situation in the first place. "S-Sans..." Syphus tried to talk, the pressure on his chest was making it difficult to talk. The skeleton stood in front of him, appraising Syphus.
"so that's what was odd about you. i felt there was something off. guess that disguise of yours wasn't that good" he sounded more amused than upset, which Syphus took as a good sign "wonder how many humans there are in the underground"
"T-There are others...?" Did Sans know about the village?
Sans raised three fingers. "i haven't seen that many. you're just the third. that's two more than i thought there'd ever be" Calmly, Sans glanced at the firefly brooch, approaching to take a better look.
"Don't touch it!"
"ok" Sans stared at it for a moment, nodding as if he had discovered something important "this is what made you look like a monster, isn't it? you were wearing it before"
"D-Don't tell anyone about me!" Syphus pleaded, extending his arm towards the brooch. The tip of his finger was a mere centimeter away of the brooch. If he could get just a bit further away...
Sans winked. "relax. i'm not angry or anything. i'm curious, i just want a few answers. mind if we talk?"
I can't tell him the complete truth. There must be a few parts I could tell, but— The door of the bedroom opened, hitting the end of the car bed. "SANS? SYPHUS?"
"welp"
Papyrus peered through the open space, seeing Syphus held against the wall. The tall skeleton moved the car bed effortlessly and entered the room, carrying a bowl of a sludge that was supposed to be soup. "SANS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
"hey. we're just talking" Sans said, Syphus nodding in agreement. Damnit, no! Please leave, Papyrus! The last thing he needed right now was more people in the room.
"WHERE IS SYPHUS? WHO'S THE NEW HUMAN?"
"that's syphus, paps. he had a costume"
Papyrus' eye sockets widened a bit. "OH! WELL THAT WAS AN EXTRAORDINARE COSTUME!" Papyrus left the bowl aside, staring at Syphus with a bit of admiration "BUT YOU SHOULDN'T TREAT OUR FRIENDS LIKE THIS, SANS!"
"i'll let him go in a moment. there's just a few things i want to ask"
"YOU CAN TALK WITHOUT PINNING HIM TO THE WALL!"
"Papyrus, it's okay. Everything is in o-order" Syphus managed to say, smiling dopily "We're just talking"
"REALLY? EVERYTHING IS OKAY?"
"Peachy as peachy can be!" Please, just go! Syphus renewed his efforts to try to reach the brooch, once again the tip of his fingers mere millimeters away of the object. If he could reach just a bit more, enough to press it, it'd all be okay, especially now that Papyrus was distracting Sans, although Sans was hoping too Papyrus would leave for a moment.
"see? we're just talking"
"I SEE, BUT I ALSO INSIST" Papyrus put his gloved hand on Sans' shoulder "PLEASE LET HIM GO, SANS" The contact made Sans be distracted just enough for his magic to falter for a short moment, moment Syphus didn't waste. Although he was still pinned to the wall, he managed to move to the right just enough to be able to reach the brooch. His fingers pressed the brooch, turning it on.
"what are you—?"
"SY-?"
What Syphus hadn't realized was that he wasn't going to dive into Frisk's SOUL alone if he was in contact with someone else. Sans being in direct contact with Syphus' SOUL via magic, and Papyrus being in direct contact with Sans meant there'd be two unexpected companions. The three of them lost consciousness, Syphus falling from the wall to the floor in a heap and Papyrus following suit, while Sans seemed to have fallen asleep standing up.
-ooooo-
The sound of gentle breeze was back again. Syphus groaned, holding his head, and rose from the floor with his eyes closed. Why did the dive into someone's SOUL have to be so head-splitting? Slowly, the piece opened his eyes and examined his surroundings.
It seemed this time he had been the first one to wake up, Sans and Papyrus were out cold not too far away. "...this isn't how I thought this'd go. I'm so sorry, guys..." The skeletons seemed to be okay, so Syphus focused on everything around him. "So this is Frisk's SOUL..." Alphonse had mentioned the ruinous house they had appeared at was a place they cherished, so it'd make sense if Frisk's SOUL had the form of a place important to them in some way. Isn't this...?
There was no doubt, this was the surface of Mt. Ebott. Grass, rocks, bushes, a very cloudy sky over their heads...and a familiar city in the distance. Other than breeze there were no other sounds. The dirt and rocks seemed clay-like yet durable, but when Syphus moved a large rock he found there was nothing below it. It was as if he was standing on a thick layer of dirt and no more, underneath the dirt there was no more than an inky darkness that seemed to move. Gasping, Syphus stepped away from the hole. The plants all seemed to be strangely colored, as if the natural green and yellow tones were desaturated. The lighting in the mountain was what one would expect from such a heavily clouded sky, with one single exception:
One shaft of light descending from a hole on the sky, illuminating a section of the mountain far away. It was a strange light, clear and pristine, and Syphus felt strangely compelled to go to the illuminated place, like a moth to a flame. It was a strong feeling; one he barely was able to resist.
A loud groan behind him made Syphus turn around, the skeleton brothers were waking up. "...we got to the surface already?"
"THIS IS THE SURFACE? IT LOOKS..." Papyrus gestured around with his hands "...WEIRD. REALLY WEIRD!"
"hey, 'phus, how did we get here?"
"'phus?" Syphus mumbled with distaste and shook his head "Okay, the nickname is no big deal right now. Listen, guys, we're...we're not on the surface"
Sans looked upwards. "there's nothing above. we can't be in the underground"
"The truth is that we are in...in..." Syphus twiddled his thumbs, mulling how he should say it. Since he had unwittingly dragged them here then they deserved to know the truth, didn't they? "We're in the human child's SOUL"
"I SEE! YES, THAT'S AN ANSWER TO THE QUESTION" Papyrus didn't seem to really be taking too seriously the fact they were in a place directly linked to Frisk's SOUL, while Sans stared at Syphus, his grin unmoving.
"...come again?" he finally asked.
"We're in the child's SOUL. This you see is like—it's a representation of their SOUL. That's all"
"right. mind telling me how we got here?"
Syphus smiled sheepishly. "That's what the brooch was for, to be able to enter here. I was going to get here by myself, but things happened and now you two joined me for the ride! Haha...funny how life is, right?"
"WE SHOULDN'T STAY! I HAVE NEVER BEEN IN SOMEONE'S SOUL BEFORE, BUT I DON'T THINK IT'S A PLACE WE SHOULD BE AT" Papyrus ascended a bit further onto the mountain "HOW DO WE GET OUT?"
"That's the problem here, I have reasons to believe Frisk has the brooch. To get out we need to find them" Easier said than done, of course. It was a mountain, not exactly a small place. Syphus took the halberd out of his jacket, extending it and slowly swinging it around. With some luck he wouldn't need to fight too much with it, but knowing how things had gone so far, he wasn't counting on that.
"THAT'S THEIR NAME? FRISK?" Syphus nodded "IT'S A NICE NAME. ALRIGHT! FRISK MAY BE OVER THERE, WHERE THE LIGHT IS! I FEEL THAT'S WHERE WE SHOULD GO"
"...it's weird, i feel it too. what's up with that?"
"I don't know, but if we all think we should go there maybe Frisk felt it too" Syphus slammed the bottom of the halberd onto the ground, trying to look as serious as possible. "Listen, you two: don't get away of me. This place could be dangerous"
Papyrus glanced at Sans with worried expression, knowing Sans was in particular danger, given his extremely low HP. "THERE'S NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL PROTECT US ALL!"
"we knew we could count on you, bro"
Syphus frowned. If he was given a Persona it was for a reason, wasn't it? Fighting with the monsters' magic or with physical weapons may not be enough. "We'll see. Stay behind me, you two" Thankfully, they were reasonable enough and obeyed, getting behind Syphus "Keep your eye sockets and...whatever you hear with open. We don't know if anything could ambush us" Syphus said, walking and looking around him. It was all pretty silent, except for the breeze moving the leaves of the desaturated plants. Do Shadows even make noise?
"what's the danger, 'phus?"
"Shadows. There could be Shadows in this place. You'll understand once we encounter them" I'm hoping we won't, of course.
It was as if this Mt. Ebott was crumbling away. The part where they had all arrived at had been largely intact, but once the three started the walk in direction of the light, the drier and more broken the path seemed. Cracks, holes, even sections of lands floating in ways that were obviously impossible, it all formed obstacles. Neither Sans, with his perchance for teleporting from one place to another in the blink of an eye, nor Papyrus, with his rather long legs, had trouble, unlike Syphus, who more than once was in danger of not being able to make the necessary jumps. After the third time his foot slipped when landing and he almost lost his balance, he started to consider Sans and Papyrus' presence more as a blessing than as an unfortunate accident. They had saved him a couple times already.
Just like Syphus expected, there were Shadows loitering around, most likely emotions and thoughts from Frisk's subconscious. "Stay back!" Syphus ordered, seeing a small group of Shadows not too far away, the first encounter they had. The Shadows seemed to be no more than black oily blobs, with masks and arms.
"those are shadows? they don't seem very dangerous" Sans commented, although he stood between Papyrus and Syphus, just in case.
"THEY ALMOST LOOK LIKE MONSTERS"
"They're not monsters!" Syphus categorically said "You can't reason or appeal to Shadows"
"ARE YOU SURE? MAYBE WE SHOULD TRY!"
"i think we should listen to him, bro. he must know what he's talking about" Joke's on you, Sans, I'm as lost as you are. Syphus thought wryly and clutched the pole of the halberd, slowly stepping forward. None of the Shadows seemed to have noticed their presence yet, an advantage he was thankful for.
Well, here goes nothing. Maybe attacking first would give him some sort of advantage? The less trouble he had fighting these things, the better. Syphus slowly raised the halberd, slowed down his breathing, and with a cry of fear and determination he slammed the dull blade of the halberd onto one of the Shadows' heads, a disgusting squelching noise indicating the blade had sliced deep into the Shadow, right behind the mask. Although it seemed the Shadow was little more than a jellified blob of ink and matter, the halberd did do sizable damage, although not enough to kill it immediately.
"Stay back!" Syphus shouted to the skeletons, just in case, and focused on his first fight. Depending from how things went here he'd know how well any future fights would go. What are these? Syphus wondered while the Shadows were approaching closer, crawling with surprising speed.
Frivolous Maya, a very basic type of Shadow. Its attacks tend to be of electric nature.
Desirous Maya, a very basic type of Shadow. It's likely to try to weaken the party.
It seemed he had accidentally requested an analysis from a third party. A familiar female voice sounded in his mind, distracting him from the incoming attack from the so-called Desirous Maya. The blob raised one of its arms high, the edges acquiring some sharpness and swinging it towards Syphus, aiming to slice his torso. The man barely had time to dodge, the tip of the foe's fingers grazing his jacket. The rest of the Shadows didn't waste time either, two of them charging up a magic electric attack and aiming towards Syphus. Electrical arcs emerged from the fingers of the Mayas, ascending into the sky before going downwards and impacting on the ground around Syphus, close enough for him to feel the strength of the electrical current. The problem was clear: he was largely outnumbered, but he refused to stand down and regroup.
As soon as the electric current vanished Syphus jumped forward, using the weight of the halberd as a way to impulse himself, and slammed the spike right into one of the Mayas, right below the mask, and immediately pulling it off and swinging it to a side, impacting the Shadow he had hit and started the fight with, killing it and making it disappear into a puff of black smoke. "W-Whoa!" the disappearance of the Shadow was unexpected, the momentum of the halberd unbalanced him. He didn't fall to the floor, but the split second he lost his footing was enough for the foes to strike him.
A sharpened arm slammed him on the back, knocking his breath off. While Syphus tried to regain his breath, he hurried to try to gain some distance, hearing the crackle of electricity and the sound of an impact right in the place he had been standing at. This better work! Syphus turned back, having gained a bit of time, and focused. He had barely recalled the name of his Persona when Ouroboros emerged from him in a flash of light, the big chained empty hood on the triquetra towering over the foes. The Persona's arrival seemed to have deterred the Shadows, slowing them down momentarily, moment Syphus used to hit one with the halberd.
Commanding the Persona's movements while staying focused on the fight was very difficult, having to move his body and mentally direct the Persona's actions at the same time. The Shadows ignored the Persona altogether, focusing on attacking Syphus himself, forcing him to stay on his toes. Syphus instinctually had a faint inkling of what Ouroboros' available attacks were. Crystals of ice formed in the core of the Shadows, encasing part of them before shattering and causing damage. A pattern emerged quickly, while Syphus fought with the closest Maya, through Ouroboros' magic he dealt with the other two, whittling them down with ice.
"Done! Finally!" Syphus proclaimed, burying the spike of the halberd in the last Maya's head and seeing the foe disappear. To Syphus the fight seemed to take a while, but to the skeletons it had all taken a minute and little more. Papyrus hurried to Syphus' side, looking respectful and worried at the same time.
"ARE YOU OKAY? YOU GOT HIT!"
Syphus doubled over, feeling his back aching. He had been lucky he hadn't received more damage, but his back hurt way too much to ignore it. "I'm fine, I'll just...walk it off" It isn't like I have any other option.
"you should let us lend you a hand" Sans said, appraising the Persona. How had it emerged from Syphus? Was it something anyone could do from within a SOUL or something? Although Sans tried, he couldn't make anything like Syphus' Persona appear.
"I don't think it's a good idea if you don't have one of those" Syphus said, slowly straightening up and trying not to hurt his back even more. When Sans asked what it was and how to summon one, Syphus' mouth formed a thin line. "...I don't know how you could get one"
"SINCE YOU'RE HURT YOU SHOULD HANG ONTO ME TO CROSS THE NEXT GAP. HANG ON TIGHT!"
Syphus raised his hands. "Papyrus, I don't think it'll be necessary to—aaah!" without even letting Syphus finish, Papyrus grabbed the back of his jacket and raised him in the air effortlessly.
"PLEASE DON'T PROTEST! YOU CAN'T DO THIS ALONE, AND WE MUST HELP EACH OTHER TO ARRIVE TO THE LIGHT SAFE AND SOUND. LET'S CONTINUE LOOKING FOR FRISK!" he said, taking Syphus away while approaching the next gap to get over onto. The Persona faded away, and Sans stood there for a moment, observing what seemed to be a city in the distance.
Things truly had derailed from any concept of normalcy he had, there were no doubts now. Before following Syphus and Papyrus, the former still protesting about having to cling to Papyrus to cross the gaps, Sans picked up several small metallic orbs that seemed to have fallen from the Shadows, materials he didn't recognize. Maybe studying those would help him understand better what was going on with this supposed 'Frisk's SOUL' world.
-ooooo-
The terrain progressively started getting more stable and with less rifts to cross, although the level of ink and matter in the inside of the mountain had increased, spilling onto the surface of the earth in several places. The closer they were getting to the illuminated area of the mountain, the stronger the Shadows were. Luckily for Syphus, he had also gained a couple Personas more, somehow. He couldn't explain exactly how, all he knew was that after having finished a fight against another group of Shadows, he was suddenly aware he had a new Persona. So far he had gained a tiny fairy-like Persona – Pixie, that seemed to be its name – which had turned out to be rather useful to heal himself, and Omoikane – some sort of bizarre tentacled brain Persona Syphus felt really awkward summoning – providing some basic electric attacks and resistance towards the most common type of Mayas in Frisk's SOUL. Overall he wasn't doing too badly, but he could be doing much better.
Papyrus had carried Syphus on his back for quite a while. Since Syphus was just a foot or so shorter than Papyrus, he felt ridiculous having to be carried, feeling he voiced several times. "YOU NEED TO SAVE YOUR STRENGTH! UNDYNE SAYS THAT KNOWING YOUR LIMITS IS VERY IMPORTANT. ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT!" he had said after the third time Syphus tried to say he didn't need to be carried. Sans had been more or less content with following from behind, picking up the debris and unusual materials Shadows left when they were defeated, although from time to time he told them to wait behind while he went ahead and checked what kind of Shadows were ahead.
"i may not look like it, but i'm rather good at dodging and staying safe" he had said with a wink when Syphus suggested him to stop going ahead. Sans vanished and was back in matter of seconds, the lights in his eye sockets a bit contracted "there are more of those fish Shadows ahead" Syphus groaned. The Calm Pesces had proven to be especially annoying, as they were completely immune to the ice magic and showed to be remarkably resistant to anything he did with the halberd.
"How many?"
"two. there's also a beetle thing with them"
"That's new" Syphus got off Papyrus' back, swiveling from side to side to see if his back was any better. It didn't hurt anymore, but it felt a bit stiff. Syphus readied the halberd, already making some sort of plan. Ouroboros should be able to get rid of the beetle Shadow while I kill the Calm Pesces. Shouldn't be too much of a problem he thought, raising his halberd when the Shadows noticed him approaching. He was starting to get used to fighting, although being hit by the Shadows and by their magic attacks still hurt way too much to get used to. If it weren't for Pixie he'd have died already.
The Calm Pesces moved first, hovering to Syphus to try to ram him with their noses. Syphus dodged to a side, taking advantage of the floating fishes' slow movements, and summoned Ouroboros to deal with the beetle, having requested a quick analysis from the voice he had identified as Lucia.
Adamant Beetle. Rather strong physically.
Then I'll have to blast it with magic and hope for the best. While Ouroboros kept the Adamant Beetle at bay with Bufu ice magic, Syphus aimed the blade of the halberd to the spaces between the coils of paper that formed one of the fish Shadows, swinging it straight into the empty shell that formed its body, trying to rip it apart. Having been struck directly onto the inside of its belly with the blade, the Pesce struggled to get away, but Syphus didn't let it go, dragging it away and avoiding the other Pesce when it spun in the air and tried to hit him on the head with its tail. Syphus pressed the blade further, a satisfying tearing noise resonating when the Pesce turned inert and disappeared.
The noise seemed to have gotten the Beetle's attention, as in a wrong move Syphus did with Ouroboros it moved away and focused on Syphus instead, charging towards him, his horn glowing with a threatening strength.
Syphus barely managed to turn around and block the horn with the handle of his halberd, the bamboo wood creaking under the impact, the Beetle recoiling and falling back. Seeing a chance to strike, Syphus raised the halberd high and swung it with all his might on the Beetle's head.
That was a mistake. The halberd blade bounced on the Beetle, and Syphus felt the strength of his attack hurt him. With a cry of pain, Syphus stepped back, his halberd at the ready to block anything the Beetle would do and accidentally leaving his back unprotected. Syphus didn't notice the Pesce approaching him, aiming with its nose towards the piece's back for a rather damaging strike.
"WATCH OUT!"
Syphus jumped to a side, too late to avoid the hit, or at least it would have been too late if it weren't because of the wall of bones that emerged between Syphus and the Pesce. The Shadow slammed against the bones, getting hurt gravely. A bit stunned, Syphus glanced towards the skeleton brothers.
Papyrus had extended his hand forward, making the bones appear from the ground, and while the Pesce tried to regain its bearings Sans followed up Papyrus' attack, more bones emerging and moving across the field until they hit the Pesce. "you deal with that one" Sans said, preparing more bones while Papyrus raised walls to separate the Pesce from Syphus and dividing the field in two.
Sans' attacks were rather weak, but a constant barrage of bones eliminated the threat. While the skeletons attacked the Pesce, Syphus fully focused on the Beetle, changing his Persona to Omoikane and firing electric Zio spells over and over, despite how taxing it was in his mind. Omoikane's magic was reasonably strong and soon managed to kill the Beetle, ending the fight and letting Syphus rest. The piece plopped on the dirt, breathing raggedly. "You guys...saved my hide. Thanks for...for...for saving me" he puffed between breaths.
"WE WEREN'T GOING TO STAND BACK WHILE YOU WERE IN DANGER!" Papyrus affirmed, his cape billowing in the breeze.
"i'm not really the type to fight" Sans said, his hands deep into the pockets of his hoodie "but i guess i could give you a hand sometimes until we're out of here". Sans would have preferred to stand back and let things happen, but in a completely unfamiliar situation he guessed no other timeline had, he supposed he should do the bare minimum to get back to normalcy.
Syphus closed his eyes and sat, taking out of his pocket a strange viscous drop he had found around that supposedly would help him recover his strength to use the Personas. After crushing it and feeling his head get a little bit lighter and less pained, he sighed, nodding slowly. "Fine. I admit I may have been a bit over my head when I said I could fight alone"
"just a bit?" Sans' grin seemed to enlarge a bit.
"Fine, more than just a bit. The point is that...your help will be useful. Just be careful. If your attacks get reflected like it happened to me I don't think you two will survive it" Syphus pointedly looked at Sans, who shrugged nonchalantly.
"guess that's something to reflect on"
Papyrus stifled a sudden laugh, making his best annoyed face. "SANS! NOW'S NOT THE TIME FOR JOKES!"
"if not now then when? during a fight?"
"...POINT TAKEN. JOKE ALL YOU WANT RIGHT NOW"
-ooooo-
"Sans!"
"SANS!"
Papyrus and Syphus were running down the cracked path. The most recent fight they had gotten into was unexpectedly difficult. Despite their best efforts, the Shadow had managed to decrease their defense, leaving them way too vulnerable to its ice attacks. Although Syphus would be okay, thanks to Ouroboros' resistance to ice, Papyrus didn't have the same advantage, forcing them to retreat. Sans was nowhere to be seen, having left when the fight started. For his sake he better be scouting ahead or I'm going to— The Tranquil Idol was slow, but its Bufu spells were still appearing all around them despite the distance.
There was Sans! Right ahead, at the bifurcation of the path, waving disinterestedly at them. "We have trouble behind us!" Syphus shouted at him, grasping his halberd and looking back. The Idol was levitating towards them, sitting on its pyramid altar and preparing more ice spells.
"alright, here you go" A thick wall of cyan bones erupted from the ground right in front of the Shadow, who, not knowing the intricacies of the attack, started crossing the wall, accumulating damage. It didn't even get to half of the wall before dying. "done"
Huffing, Syphus scowled at Sans. "A bit more of timely help would be good, Sans!"
"WHERE WERE YOU?!"
"scouting ahead. we'll be getting to the light in no time if we go through this road" Sans pointed with his thumb at a steep path that was crawling full of Shadows, then to another one that went downwards "this one will be a long walk but it has nothing in it"
"So, what should we do?"
"the second path is the best, obviously"
"ANY SIGNS OF THE HUMAN?"
"nope. they must be somewhere under the light"
Papyrus frowned and stepped towards the steep path. "WE SHOULD GET THERE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! WHAT DO YOU SAY, SYPHUS?"
"...I don't think I'm ready for everything that's in there" he said. It was true, his head was throbbing from the mental effort to summon Personas and use their magic, and his arms and shoulders were sore from swinging the halberd. Running into the swarm of Shadows would be too risky in that state "I say we don't do much effort for a while"
"i second the motion"
Papyrus's shoulders dropped. He was worried about Frisk and wanted to find them as soon as possible to escape this weird place full of creatures trying to kill them – he refused to believe this mountain could be Frisk's SOUL – but he didn't want to push Syphus beyond his limits, either. Sans seemed to be okay and he himself had more than enough energy to keep going, but Papyrus refused to ignore the needs of anyone in the team. "ALLOW ME" he said, taking the halberd out of Syphus' hands. Syphus sighed in relief, rubbing his sore arms.
"Thanks, Papyrus"
"YOU DON'T NEED TO THANK ME! YOU CAN ALWAYS COUNT ON PAPYRUS, YOUR PARTNER IN SOUL EXPLORING!"
The downwards path was like Sans had said: there were no Shadows at all, and although it was certainly longer than the more dangerous road, it wasn't as long as Syphus feared. The light was almost above their heads, the three of them could see the illuminated terrain with detail. Encouraged by the closeness of their objective, Papyrus went ahead, still carrying the halberd.
"so, what's your story?" Sans asked, deciding to ask now that his brother was away.
Syphus glanced at Sans with the corner of his eyes. "What do you mean?" he asked, trying to gain a few seconds to think what to say "If you're going to ask about why one of the things I can summon is a scantily clad blonde angel I swear I don't know"
"that's still a very weird thing but that's not what I was asking about" Sans shook his head, remembering the Persona Syphus was talking about "come on, bud. you're a human pretending to be a monster. you have a brooch that opens portals into people's SOULs. we're walking inside a SOUL and fighting weird beings. there must be a story behind this all"
One didn't need to be perceptive to notice Syphus was an extremely strange person with even stranger circumstances, and Syphus knew it, but he hadn't thought yet of an explanation to give. He had hoped the topic would simply not come up. It was a childish hope, now that he thought about it. "There's no big mystery, Sans. The brooch makes me look like a monster, and the whole SOUL thing is something I don't understand yet"
"why do you have something to enter SOULs?" he almost added that Syphus knew he had to put it on Frisk and activate it in order to save the child, but he decided to leave that for some other time.
Stop asking questions I can't answer, Sans! "A friend gave it to me and told me it'd come useful"
Sans closed his eye sockets, his grin getting a bit bigger. The brooch was something that went beyond the scope of what monsters could do with their magic. It could be done with technology, he guessed, but he was rather sure there was no technology involved. In that case, there was one single person Sans could think that could have given him that. "the witch of hope?"
Syphus' head turned around so fast he thought he'd snap it off his neck. "Where did you hear that?!"
"i have my sources" he replied, nonchalant, as if he hadn't just revealed something he shouldn't know by any means "do you know what you're doing with the SOUL exploring and the brooch?"
"...to be honest I don't know anything. All I know is that I need to do this" that wasn't entirely a lie, he felt woefully uninformed. Sans looked at Syphus, trying to determine if he was telling the truth. Something in Syphus' face tipped him off that yes, it was the truth...mostly. Sans wasn't sure if that was good, or if that was bad news.
"right. who are you?"
"I'm just a human who fell into the Underground" he refused to look at Sans. The skeleton didn't need to be so good at reading expressions to know that was a complete lie.
"that's it? no more to say?"
"I told you there's no big mystery, Sans. Don't pay attention to me" he refused to say anything else, so Sans didn't waste time asking. Sans quietly decided something: he'd let Syphus do whatever he wanted. If Syphus wanted to traipse through SOULs and save unconscious people, then so be it. It was more important to know why and how Frisk had suffered this, and hope no one else in the Underground would experience something similar, monster or not.
-ooooo-
The golden light felt warm and nice compared to the humid air in the rest of the mountain. As soon as the three crossed the threshold into the light, they felt reenergized. The soreness didn't go away, but Syphus felt with enough strength to fight again. "Alright, Frisk must be somewhere around here" Syphus said, looking around. The plants were lush and green, and the dirt had moss and small plants everywhere. It felt like a completely different place, compared to the rest of the mountain. "This must be the deepest part of his SOUL or something"
"why is their SOUL the mountain above the underground?"
"SOULs take the form of a place that's important for the person" And since the mountain was the place Frisk went to – for reasons Syphus didn't know – and found a whole new world and monsters residing under the mountain, it was no surprise it had caused such impression their SOUL took this form.
"HEY! WHAT'S THAT OVER THERE!" Papyrus had still been walking ahead, avoiding the Mayas and Bronze Dice that were crawling around the place. He pointed at what looked like a cave above a rocky plateau. Syphus froze, looking at the plateau. He recognized it. He had seen it in his original timeline, this was the place where Chara had stayed at for centuries, the place with a dozen caverns into the wall of mountain, the hole that'd led to...of course! The deepest part of Frisk's SOUL could only be the point where their life changed and got turned upside-down, the place that marked the transition between their past life and their journey through the Underground:
The cave with the hole they had fell through.
Papyrus was already climbing the wall, inching closer and closer to the edge. It was very easy for him to climb, thanks to his long frame, and soon Papyrus was able to look over the rock. "YIKES!" he suddenly yelped, letting himself drop down to the ground where Syphus and Sans were waiting.
"What? What's up there?"
"THERE'S A SHADOW IN FRONT OF THE CAVE. IT LOOKS VERY STRONG!"
"like one of those we already defeated?"
"IT'S A NEW ONE. IT LOOKS LIKE A WARRIOR!"
That sounded rather bad. Except for the Tranquil Idols, so far the Shadows had been generally simple: generic blobs, animals, objects like dice or tiaras with hair...nothing like 'a warrior'. Syphus gripped his halberd and looked at the wall to climb. It was going to be a problem to get up there with the collapsible halberd weighing him down even if he kept it inside his jacket, and once he did, it was possible he wouldn't have time to be ready before the Shadow attacked. "there's no problem. follow me" Sans entered the small grove aside the path.
"SANS, YOU KNOW I HATE WARPING" he protested, but followed him nonetheless. The three walked between the trees for a couple meters before exiting right above the plateau, the Shadow they had been alerted about roaming there.
"W-Wait, how did we get up here...?"
"surprise, 'phus"
Syphus shook his head, deciding to ask about Sans' skill later. "Okay, nevermind that. Think we can run to the cave without being seen?"
"WE COULD WARP IN THERE!"
"nope we couldn't. i have never been inside that cave"
"But then how did you warp up here—aw, nevermind!" You just don't want to make the effort, don't you, Sans? It wasn't like anyone could force Sans to take them there, even if it'd be convenient beyond any measure, so instead Syphus focused on the Shadow.
It looked rather strong and unusually detailed, compared to every other Shadow so far. The Shadow was tall, armored, and seemed to have a sword prepared to attack. The cave the group was planning to go into was too far away, it was unavoidable they'd have to fight it, or at least keep it busy until they could pass through. This is going to be a tough one Syphus thought, mentally browsing all the Personas he had gathered so far. None seemed especially useful against that enemy, so he decided to use Ouroboros out of familiarity.
"LET ME TRY THIS" Papyrus raised his hand towards the Shadow and attempted to turn its SOUL blue to move it away. Nothing happened.
"I think most Shadows don't have SOULs, Papyrus" Syphus tried to sharpen the halberd against a rock without achieving much "We'll have to fight"
"welp. good luck, guys" Sans winked and sat against a tree. While Papyrus bellowed about how Sans should help too, Syphus started to approach slowly, taking deep breaths and with the halberd at the ready. Everything's going to be fine. We defeat this thing, go inside the cave and find Frisk. No big deal he told himself over and over, trying to gather enough courage to attack without fear.
It didn't work.
Hakurou Musha. Extremely agile.
Agile? The Musha took out the sword, holding it and moving forward towards Syphus. The Shadow didn't seem to be that agile, its movements were predictable and the armor seemed rather heavy. When the Musha swung its sword, trying to slice Syphus, he dodged it easily and attempted to make a hit of his own.
It was as if time froze for a moment for Syphus. One moment the Musha was to his side, directly on the path of the halberd, the next moment it was on the other side of the plateau, the halberd hitting the floor instead of the Musha. "Wait, what?!" taking advantage of the situation, the Musha ran back, aiming the tip of the sword right at Syphus' chest.
"I'M HERE!" Bones slid across the ground right to the point the Musha would be at, but it saw the attack coming, jumping back and dodging it with ease and moving to attack Papyrus. The skeleton, not expecting the Shadow to change targets that quickly, avoided the Musha's onslaught with difficulty, the tip of the sword grazing his armor several times. "THIS IS BAD!"
Syphus focused, quickly thinking of a plan and changing Persona to Angel, he remembered a skill it had. Come on, what is its name...? Sukukaja! Having increased his own agility to evade and attack, Syphus chased after the Musha, raising the halberd blade high in the air to attempt to hit the foe in the back of its helmet, but despite his improved speed the Musha dodged it way too easily, instead the halberd almost hitting Papyrus. "Damn it!"
"STAY STILL!" Papyrus warned and summoned light blue bones, launching those through the ground towards the Musha and through where Syphus was standing, having frozen right in time. There was no way the Shadow could know it had to stay still! And indeed, it didn't know. Instead it jumped high, way over the bones, and fell sword first towards Papyrus, who wouldn't be able to move in time to dodge it, nor Syphus had enough time to attack.
Suddenly, a blast of magic came from the edge of the grove, hitting the Musha on its side and launching it away of Papyrus, hitting the ground with a loud thud. Looking towards the grove, Syphus saw Sans standing there, a large animal-like skull floating to his side. He didn't even have time to thank Sans for his quick action when the Musha stood up in one swift move, using its sword as impulse to leap forward, trying to slash Papyrus again. "Don't stop moving!" Syphus shouted to Papyrus and changed plans. If trying to hit the Musha with the halberd and with bones wasn't going to work, then the Personas were the only option left.
And indeed, it was more effective! It didn't seem like Angel's Garu wind spells were hurting it much, but at least the Musha was being hit, and sometimes it would stun it for long enough for Papyrus' bones to collide against it. The Musha, seemingly getting more furious at how the group was finally managing to harm it, used its sword to block all the bones Papyrus was throwing at him, moving through them towards Papyrus. Why is it so focused on him?!
It was matter of time before the Musha managed to strike Papyrus, despite Syphus and Sans' efforts to keep him at bay. The Shadow's sword swung through the air, the blade embedding into Papyrus' chest plate, dust leaking from the hole in the armor. Papyrus shrieked, very alarmed and tried to get away, but the Musha got the sword out of the hole it had made and moved to strike again. Before it could do much more harm to Papyrus by attacking his head or through the hole it had made through the chest plate, Sans' Blaster fired at the Musha, making it move away from Papyrus.
"you okay?!" Sans shouted from the grove. Papyrus, in shock, touched the hole in his chest plate while Syphus changed Personas and continued attacking the Musha with ice magic. That was way too close. If the sword had gotten just a little bit deeper, it'd have cut Papyrus' spine in two. It was already very lucky the blade had been inserted between his ribs.
"YEAH...YEAH! I'M—I'M FINE! VERY FINE!" Papyrus shouted back, slowly snapping out of his shock, and focused back into the battle. Syphus' Persona – Ouroboros – was moving against the Musha, following it while using ice spells and trying to push it away with its wide frame. Now that the Shadow had managed to harm Papyrus it had stopped focusing on him, instead going for Syphus.
"If you can keep it busy I can try something!" Syphus shouted, starting to sweat due to the fatigue. Papyrus nodded and restarted his regular attacks, forming patterns and attempting to slam the Shadow. Seeing his chance, Syphus quickly changed Personas, summoning Apsaras, which seemed to be exclusively geared towards healing and status boosts. Hoping the Persona's skills would work even towards someone who didn't have a Persona, Syphus attempted to heal Papyrus with it.
"Do you feel better?!" Syphus changed back to Ouroboros to continue his ice attacks. Papyrus stepped back, gaining some distance from the Musha just in case it changed targets, and nodded after thinking it for a second. He did feel better, less shaken up, and the dust had stopped.
The fight continued for quite a while. Despite Syphus' attempts to find if the Musha had a weakness while Papyrus kept it busy dodging and sometimes scoring a hit, it seemed like the Shadow had no weaknesses. Neither ice nor wind nor electricity had hurt it more than normal, and its evasion of physical attacks was as remarkable as ever. Not only that, the Musha's attacks had turned stronger, his sword glowing with a blinding shine when he tried to slash Syphus. He could feel the crackle of a strange power coming from the sword each time he dodged it.
"We're getting nowhere!" Syphus shouted after a few minutes of fighting, starting to feel very tired from his constant moving and his use of Personas. The Musha strode through the plateau to the edge of the grove, near where Sans was, but ignored the skeleton. Instead the Musha stood completely still and raised its sword up, aiming at the sky. Its entire body and armor gained a subtle light.
"guys, don't get hit! i think it charged up power"
"Agh, fantastic, just what we needed" Syphus mumbled, making sure to stay as far as possible from the Shadow, while moving Ouroboros closer to restart the ice spells. He felt he wouldn't last much longer; his concentration was starting to fade and the Persona was starting to move erratically. That's when the Musha did something Syphus never expected.
It attacked the Persona, striking it with its charged-up sword, a direct hit. The sword passed through Ouroboros, the Persona not reacting at all besides being moved aside, but Syphus felt the entire brunt of the attack.
It felt as if something had exploded inside his head. Suddenly, an immeasurably sharp pain erupted. Syphus doubled over in pain, clutching his head, unable to notice anything that wasn't the pain. He cried in pain, tears starting to stream down his face, feeling dizzy and deaf. Slowly, Syphus fell on his knees, trying to stay conscious. The attack would have hurt a lot if done like normal, but since it was charged up it had brought Syphus to the brink of death. He wanted to stand up, but he couldn't focus not even to do that simple task. He couldn't see the Musha attacking Papyrus and hitting him, stunning him, then bolting towards the piece with its sword aiming to crack Syphus' head open.
A strange noise sounded right above him. After a few seconds that seemed like eternity to him, Syphus blinked several times to dispel the tears and looked upwards, seeing a bone mere inches from his face, and the steel of the Shadow's sword right behind it. "S-Sans...?" Sans was there, having warped from the grove to Syphus' side, blocking the sword with a bone and struggling to keep the edge of the sword away from Syphus.
"move"
Trying not to lose focus and start throwing up from the throbbing inside his head, Syphus dragged himself away from Sans and the Musha, crawling backwards until he was far enough. The Shadow tried to follow Syphus, but Papyrus placed more bones in the way. Trembling and coughing, Syphus stood up shakily, something primal growing in his chest. "I...I had enough of this..." he muttered, then shouted: "Hold it down!" We won't get anywhere if it keeps moving. We need to finish it off!
Sans didn't acknowledge Syphus, simply making a Gaster Blaster appear right above the Shadow, and firing it at point blank. The strength of the impact forced the Musha flat onto the ground on its belly, hurting it constantly. Trying to use the last bits of his mental strength, Syphus summoned Ouroboros once more, but instead of attacking he simply let Ouroboros fall down onto the Musha with all its weight. The Persona fell right through the Blaster and onto the Shadow, pinning it to the ground. "P-Papyrus! Do something!"
"HERE I GO! A STRONG ATTACK!" Papyrus raised both hands, a veritable platform made of light blue bones went through the entire Musha without reaching Ouroboros. The Shadow's struggles to get Ouroboros off it only hurt it further, a cycle that kept depleting its health constantly until it stopped moving altogether.
Syphus approached slowly, still trembling, expecting to see the Musha spring up at any moment. "Is it...fainted? Dead? Why hasn't it poofed away?" he wondered, picking up the halberd he had dropped.
"dunno. paps, take away the bones" Sans said, and Papyrus did as indicated the Shadow still didn't move "it may have fainted" Syphus poked it with the spike of the halberd, receiving no reaction at all.
"SYPHUS, ARE YOU OKAY? YOU SEEMED TO BE IN A LOT OF PAIN!"
"Y-Y-Yeah, I'm okay..." I feel like something ran me over. At least now he knew he should be more careful when handling Personas, if them getting hit would mean he'd receive damage too.
"I CAN CARRY YOU AGAIN IF YOU NEED"
"No, thanks. I just need a moment to recover" he was still dangerously close to death, after all. Syphus hobbled away, leaned on a tree of the grove, and looked in his pocket for several of those curious drops he had gathered during the trek. They were indeed effective in helping him recover his strength to use the Personas, and right now he needed to heal himself a lot. After consuming the Soul Drops, he summoned Apsaras again and healed himself over and over until the headache stopped and he was able to stand up without shaking like jello. "Done. Your turn, Papyrus" he said, returning with the rest and healing Papyrus until he was sure the skeleton was on top shape. The Musha continued unmoving. Could Shadows even faint? Was it faking dead, or something? Why hadn't it vanished away yet?
"let's get going. you think the kid is in here?"
"They must be in there. I don't know where else they could be" They better be there because if not I don't know what we'll do.
Slowly, with hesitation, the three entered the cave. Right when they stepped inside, there was a noise behind them. The Musha was standing up, holding its sword as if nothing had happened. The three stared for a moment without saying a word, until Sans summoned a Blaster right above the Musha again, firing immediately. This time the Shadow dissolved into smoke. "finally. that one was tough"
The cave wasn't very long. It seemed like trees were lining the walls, as if the mountain had grown around them. Bark and plants filled the cavern, leaving enough space for the three to walk through, until they reached a round chamber at the end.
And there was Frisk standing near the edge of a hole that could lead to an unescapable void, with a SAVE point in their hands and the firefly brooch attached to their sweater.