Alphys watched the screen. The human child seemed to be staying in Sans and Papyrus' house, they hadn't gone out in quite a while. The camera in this area of Snowdin was positioned in a way she could see most of the street. Since no other camera in the Underground had shown the human child at all, she could only suppose they were still in there, unless somehow the human child had acquired excellent stealth skills.
"Around here?" Undyne's voice came from the cellphone Alphys had requested her to carry for a moment. Alphys stopped looking at the feed from Snowdin and focused on the transmission from the camera Undyne had.
"Y-Yeah! You're near where it was. It's on the right, and—"
"I got a better idea. How about here?" Undyne jumped and managed to leave the camera on a ledge, rather tall on the wall. From that point Alphys could see all the way down the hall instead of just the space inside the chamber it had been at before. There was Undyne with her usual toothy grin, looking at the camera with pride. Alphys felt something fluttering inside her, smiling foolishly for a moment before pressing the phone against the side of her head.
"That's perfect! Thanks, Undyne" Alphys said and hanged up, watching Undyne jog away, intending to finish her daily duties as the Captain of the Royal Guard. She could always rely on Undyne for even the smallest things...how lucky she was to have her. Cheered up, Alphys went to her work table and continued working on one of the many cell phones she had, starting her plan to add a jetpack function. It was going to work only for a little while, but that was enough for what she hoped would happen.
-ooooo-
Nothing happened during the night in the Hidden Village. It was now the start of the fourth day of the game. Syphus stifled a yawn, stretching his arms and swiveling from side to side. His back ached. Why did Cohen need such stiff mattresses? Seriously. I shouldn't complain he thought, smacking his face a few times. It was nice enough of him to give Syphus a place to rest while his cottage was finished. Behaving like he deserved more was very ungrateful, and he knew it. Syphus grimaced, a tad disgusted with himself.
It was the first day of his part-time job at Grillby's. The pay was far from fantastic – after a while Grillby had made clear he didn't really need an employee, that he had given Syphus a job mostly as a favor to Sans – but every single bit of gold was good to Syphus. The piece wasn't going to slack off, though. He was going to show he was thankful, and he'd do his best. That was why after making sure to not to look like he was dragged all the way up Mt. Ebott by the back of his jacket, Syphus started the walk to Snowdin.
He was actually a bit nervous. Could he really be able to work half a day in a pub full of monsters without blowing his cover? He really hoped so, but what if someone tried to touch him? What if he accidentally disabled the brooch's magic and revealed himself as a human in front of everyone? I can't let those possibilities stop me. I really need the gold! He told himself before entering Grillby's. Many of the regulars were already inside. Some of the Royal Guard dogs turned their heads around when Syphus passed by, but everyone else ignored him.
As a whole it wasn't a bad day of work. Following the red bird's instruction supposedly relayed by Grillby, Syphus cleaned every inch of the counter, the floor behind the counter, the jukebox...everything on the back of the pub. "What about the rest?" Syphus asked, wringing the almost-dry rag in his hands.
"..."
"Grillby says he takes care of all that after closing" the bird said. Right at that moment, one of the dogs moved, a plate with leftovers falling to the floor. Syphus glanced at Grillby, who nodded. Syphus approached the table, crouching to pick up the leftovers from the floor. Just like before, all the dogs paid attention to him, observing every single of his movements. Do they know I'm not...? there was something unnerving in having so many canine eyes on him, and after a few seconds Syphus dared to look up.
All the Royal Guard dogs seemed to be on edge. Dogamy looked away with a whine, avoiding to make eye contact. Dogaressa growled softly, baring her fangs, warning him to not to come any closer. Doggo, his fur standing on end, slowly chewed on a dog biscuit, looking as if he was about to say something, but thinking it twice. Syphus gulped and mumbled a 'Uuuuh...' while haltingly slinking away, glancing at the other two dogs. Greater Dog hid their face behind the cards they were holding, while Lesser Dog, away in another table, warily looked from the corner of their eyes, trembling slightly. Syphus shrunk, crouching and getting away to the counter as quick as possible with the plate and leftovers.
"That's not normal..." the bird mumbled, having seen the Royal Guard dogs' reaction to Syphus. Grillby looked at Syphus inquisitively.
"I don't know what happened" Syphus said, confused and looking back at that table. The dogs had continued their game, although they all looked rather uneasy. There was a stain on the floorboards where the plate had fallen, as Syphus had retired instead of cleaning it up. "I should go back and—"
"..."
"You don't have to do that" the bird waved his wing. Syphus exhaled through his nose, the feathers on his head and back flattening, and nodded. As much as he hated to admit it, it was for the better to not to approach the dogs.
A couple hours later Sans and Frisk arrived. Everyone greeted Sans with high spirits, not questioning the presence of Frisk. Once Sans and Frisk were seated to the counter, Frisk greeted Syphus cheerfully. "Hello!"
"hey. how's the job going?" Sans asked and ordered 'the usual' to Grillby.
"So far? It's nice. I think I'm doing well" Syphus continued scrubbing the floorboards of the wall near the jukebox.
"no problems so far?"
"Um, actually...the dogs don't like me very much. It's a bit strange"
Frisk raised their eyebrows, getting off their stool and approaching the dogs with abandon while Syphus observed from the corner of his eyes. The dogs reacted completely different to how they had done with Syphus. Frisk was even allowed to pet them, scratch Greater Dog behind the ears, and although it seemed like they knew there was something a bit off with Frisk, they didn't react with hostility like they had done with the piece.
"..."
"Something wrong?" the bird asked. Syphus jumped in surprise, noticed he had stopped scrubbing, and continued with the task. There was something about the Royal Guard dogs' reaction that bothered him, but he wasn't sure what it was. A few minutes later Frisk returned to their seat with a big and satisfied smile on their face.
"you look like you had fun, kiddo" Sans commented, Frisk nodding enthusiastically.
"Do they know about...um..." Syphus moved a hand in Frisk's direction, hoping Sans would understand the meaning of his question. The skeleton did seem to catch on. The points of light in his eye sockets shone with what seemed a bit like amusement.
"'course they know frisk is a human. did ya really think we could keep them with us without no one knowing they're human?"
"...actually, that's what I thought"
"rumors fly, 'phus. no one beyond snowdin knows about frisk, though" That was a bit of a consolation, at least. The fact the whole town seemed to be okay with Frisk being around was a tad mindboggling for Syphus. I thought some would be trying to get their SOUL... "hey, don't look at them like that. most people don't want to sacrifice a kid to get their SOUL, you know"
"...no comment" Better not to speak about the events in other timelines, Syphus guessed. The piece stepped back to check better the jukebox, trying to see where it was dirtier.
"The dogs were talking about you, mister" Frisk said, half-climbing on the counter to lean towards Syphus "They said there was something strange about how you smelled"
"I haven't bathed in four days" Syphus continued cleaning the jukebox.
"maybe you should keep that to yourself"
"No, that's not what they meant" Frisk leaned their face on their hand, thinking "They said something like...you smelled like motor oil and plastic" Syphus froze, not turning around. If his claws had been real, they'd have torn through the rag. Frisk smiled, unaware of the implications of what they said "Weird, right?"
"yeah. weird" Sans didn't miss the meaning of what Frisk said. The skeleton got off the stool and looked at Grillby "hey. i have to tell your helper something very important. mind if i take him outside for a sec?"
"...go ahead" Grillby actually replied.
"great. let's go, 'phus, the burgers will freeze if we take too long. the perks of living in snowdin, yanno" Sans went outside. Syphus, after a moment of hesitation, left the rag aside and followed him. Given that Sans before hadn't been worried at all about talking about stuff inside Grillby's, he requesting to go outside to talk was rather alarming for Syphus. He swallowed, feeling his throat suddenly dry. Frisk glanced, mouthing 'sorry', unsure of what they had said that had made Sans want to talk with Syphus alone.
Snowdin started seeming foreboding to Syphus. The quietness, the cold, the trees surrounding the town...it all seemed more menacing now that Sans had called him outside to talk. The skeleton was standing nearby, looking upwards. Once Syphus approached, Sans sighed. "i don't think you're a bad guy, syphus, but there's something about you i don't like. it's how you don't fit at all in the world. something's going on and you're the cause of it all"
"...what do you want me to say, Sans?"
"tell me if I'm right or wrong" Sans stuck his hands in the pockets of his hoodie, nonchalant "you're not a monster or a human. i think you're a Shadow"
"Why do you think that?" Syphus crossed his arms, listening carefully.
"besides what those dogs said? your eyes when you were in human form. i don't know much about humans, but i don't think having golden eyes like yours is normal in humans" Sans turned his head around, looking at Syphus "i saw the eyes of that thing when it took over frisk. they had the same golden eyes than you.
you're someone else's Shadow, the Shadow of someone who is 'the apprentice of the witch of hope'. did i hit jackpot?"
Syphus stared at Sans in silence, closing his eyes. After a pause he shrugged. "I underestimated you, Sans. I guessed you'd find out most of these things, but I didn't think it'd be so soon"
"so i'm right"
"To be honest I don't really know much about myself. I know I'm someone's...um...'puppet', and that I have no past or anything, but other than that I know nothing about myself" Syphus narrowed his eyes, deep in thought "Maybe you're right and I'm his Shadow. I don't know"
"what are you here for?"
"I know the goal I was assigned: shatter the Barrier without using human SOULs. That's all I know"
"who's this witch of hope person and the apprentice?"
...how do I explain that one. "Do you believe there's someone watching us? People from a higher plane of existence, or something like that?"
"like gods?" Sans looked up again as if he expected someone to be literally watching from the ceiling of the cavern.
"Witches can be outrageously powerful, but they aren't gods. They're more like..." Syphus gestured with his hands helplessly. It was very difficult to explain; he hadn't rehearsed this! Damn it, Sans! "...witches are like asteroids"
"...like asteroids" The lights in Sans' eye sockets got brighter and a little bit bigger.
"Yeah. They're there, floating away from you, and then, in an astronomically low chance, one of them chooses to mess with you or your world by crashing and destroying everything"
Sans chuckled. "well, you do your thing with the witches and the Personas. i'm not going to meddle with your personal business" he winked while Syphus simply looked bemused "just try not to wreck the timeline" That went okay. At least Sans had taken his explanations at face value. Either he had been rather convincing and not confusing at all – yeah, right – or Sans simply didn't really care about that.
"How can you not care, Sans?"
"...i have reasons to think whatever happens doesn't matter in the long run" Sans said before entering back to Grillby's. Syphus, a bit uneasy from the short talk with Sans, followed him back inside. There was a job to be done, after all. It was a bit nice that he wouldn't have to hide from Sans some details, but he hoped no one else would find out. He could at least trust Sans not to tell anyone, that was good enough.
Sans, despite his otherwise blasé way to take the information, wasn't feeling as calm as he had looked. When he sat back to Frisk's side, the child looked at him inquisitively. "t'was nothing, kiddo. we just had a talk" that was enough for Frisk, not really daring to ask more. The skeleton sighed, his shoulders slumping.
Witches. Right. So that was it. That must have been the cause of the mess with the timelines. A bunch of beings from a higher plane had decided to have fun at the world's expense. So many lives were nothing to them, apparently. All the rest of the theories, all the thoughts about the causes, everything had to be revised. Perhaps the skill to SAVE and RESET, the one Frisk had said to have, was given to them by a witch? It didn't really matter. All Sans knew was that it was useless. There was nothing to be done, even if he wanted, and it wasn't like he had felt like trying anything, either way.
"...oh well. come on, kid. let's go home" he said to Frisk. If the timeline events were likely to turn into a major disaster, then maybe the least he should do was give Frisk and Papyrus safety until things unavoidably went into the deep end.
-ooooo-
"...Lucia...did he...do that to this world?"
Cornio had murmured that softly, looking at Sisyphus. The apprentice winced, knowing exactly what Cornio meant. As far as he was concerned, yes, he was the one responsible for everything bad that was happening with the timelines. Lucia didn't hurry to throw Sisyphus under the bus, though. She took her time before talking, smoothing over her dress and pressing her hands together over and over again, until she finally moved her head lackadaisically, going 'uuuuh'.
"...it's not as simple as that. I can tell you that Sisyphus was the one who created the circumstances that led to the repeating timelines, but he's not entirely responsible for that"
"So who did it?"
Lucia stopped moving, lifted her blindfold enough for one single eye to be shown, gave him a withering glance and then slowly said, her eye opening so wide Cornio shuddered, unable to look away.
"Are you feigning ignorance, buddy?"
"N-No, I just..." Cornio's voice got meek "I was just wondering"
Lucia stared at him for a moment before lowering the blindfold over her eye. "You have seen all the information I gave you, dear Cornio, you should know. Sisyphus' timeline manipulation was just the catalyst. There were some people inside this world had a lot to do with it: Frisk, Flowey and Chara. Sisyphus made the land fertile, and those three made grow the plants. You didn't think Sisyphus created all those millions of timelines all by himself, did you?"
Something in Lucia's voice discouraged any kind of wish to argue about it, but she had made clear enough that it'd be incorrect to blame Sisyphus for everything. Sisyphus himself was looking at Lucia with perplexed expression. Did he even know he wasn't entirely to blame for all the timelines? "I understand" Cornio said, scooting his chair a bit further away from Lucia. There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment before Sisyphus, in an attempt to break it, stood up and crouched near Cornio for a strategic question.
"Should I ever tell Sans more about this?" Sisyphus wondered aloud. Cornio, thankful for the possibility of Lucia diverting her attention away from the other topic, nodded immediately.
"You should!" he said
"You shouldn't" she said.
The decision is up to me? Dang it... Better not, at least for the time being. After telling Cornio they should talk, know each other better during the next break, Sisyphus took a piece and moved it forward. Cornio was close to making another attack, he could see it. The only thing to do right now was try to strengthen up his Social Links and be prepared for the second assault.
-ooooo-
Grillby wasn't a bad boss at all! After checking around to see the result of Syphus' work he paid him, giving him a couple hundred gold for the day of work. It was way more than Syphus expected! "Oh my god, thank you, thank you!" Syphus said, clutching the gold.
"..."
"Don't mention it. Sans's actually paying part of his tab" the bird 'translated', getting out of the pub. He was still a long way away from affording anything Mettaton showed in his shopping show, but a few hundred gold was a nice enough pay for one single day. Not having anything else to do in Snowdin for now, so Syphus started making his way back to the Hidden Village. While passing in front of the trees lining the roads, he slowed down, having an idea. Cohen had said Ciruel had lost his antlers, hadn't he?
Fifty minutes later the piece was in front of the door to Ciruel's cabin, brooch deactivated and with a few branches in his hands. "Ciruel, it's me, Syphus. I don't think we have introduced formally yet?"
"...fine" Ciruel sighed so loudly Syphus could hear it from outside. The person who Syphus knew as a scholar in the timeline he came from had taken off the purple make-up off his face, and he seemed rather grouchy. "My name is Ciruel, and what I do for this village is...pretty much nothing. That's it"
"I'm Syphus and I bring you this" the piece showed the branches he had collected from Snowdin "Cohen told me you lost part of some disguise you had, so I brought you these" The gift was something Ciruel hadn't expected at all. He looked at the branches, hesitating, and slowly extended his hands.
"T-Thanks!" he sounded grateful despite how hesitant he was. Ciruel stepped aside. "Come in, let's talk" The inside of Ciruel's cabin was mostly identical to Cohen's. The only difference was that Ciruel had a desk, where several boxes of something were stacked. Ciruel took out from one of them a long strand of leather, and started taking off most of the leaves from the branches "You didn't have to bring me this. We don't even know each other"
"It's simple courtesy! We're from the same village now"
"I guess..." the rather short conversation died. Syphus tilted his head, a bit surprised. It seemed that growing trapped in the Underground had made Ciruel a tad shyer than how he had been in the first timeline, he even refused to look Syphus to the face.
"What's up with the costume, by the way?" Syphus inquired as an attempt to get him to talk. Ciruel smiled almost imperceptibly, working on the leather.
"I don't know what Cohen has told you, so I better set the record straight just in case: yes, I like to get out of this village pretty often. No. I'm not some kind of useless bum. It's simple as that" Ciruel tilted his head "...I just believe humans aren't made to be locked like this in one place"
"What about monsters?"
Ciruel winced. "Monsters aren't made to be locked under a mountain either! Sorry, I misspoke" he continued working on the leather "So I get out of here with a monster disguise and explore" he stopped working, smiling widely "Monsters are interesting creatures! I'm happy I can get out of here and talk to them"
"Aren't you afraid of getting caught?"
The scholar's smile vanished immediately. He looked away, greatly uncomfortable. "...w-well, of course I do, but if it happens then it happens. That's that" Ah. Ciruel's fate in the original universe had been especially grim, having voluntarily given his SOUL to monsterkind through suicide. All Syphus hoped was that Ciruel wasn't leaning towards doing those same actions. Ciruel smiled tensely. "Hey! I know you like to leave the village too! How about we go together next time?"
"Do you really want that?"
"Yes! It'll be fun. I don't know how you manage to go outside and not get attacked by monsters, but if you want you can join me next time. It's the least I should do as thanks for you bringing me the branches. What do you say?"
It was comforting to know that Ciruel didn't seem to be considering giving his SOUL away. If he had, he wouldn't be offering Syphus to go with him, right? Syphus nodded, relieved. "I'd like that. Thanks, pal"
You feel Ciruel's genuine gratefulness.
You feel a faint bond forming between you and Ciruel
Thou art I... And I am thou...
Thou hast established a new bond...
Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Hierophant Arcana
Hierophant Arcana? Wasn't that his Persona Omoikane's arcana? Good news, I think! Syphus opened his mouth to say something else when they heard a loud commotion from outside. It sounded like two people were arguing rather loudly. Having heard it too, Ciruel went and opened the window a bit, taking a look outside. He grimaced. "Those two are at it again. This got old ages ago"
"Who are you talking about?"
"Cohen and Annie. They have fights like this one once or twice a week" he stepped aside so Syphus could join him to the window and listen. Ananas and Cohen were standing not too far away from Ciruel's cottage, shouting at each other. Ananas was rather red-faced, while Cohen looked livid.
"...you don't trust me! I know I can do it!" she yelled.
"We have talked about this many times: no, you can't do it! Stop it already!"
"Why?! What's wrong with me?!"
Cohen grit his teeth and raised a few fingers. "You're too young, too inexperienced and if any monsters came here they'd kill you immediately"
"I can defend myself!"
"You can't! You're just eight years old! Know your place, Annie"
Ananas recoiled as if Cohen had just hit her. Blinking quickly to try to hide her tears, she tried to refute what Cohen had said, but all she could do was blubber incoherently, chance Cohen took advantage of to continue enumerating the many reasons why Ananas was unfit to be the guardian. Almost none of the points Cohen mentioned were valid, they were more like personal attacks, and with every word, Ananas recoiled more and more, getting redder each time. "...do you really think pretending to be a cowboy will keep monsters away? Grow up already, Annie! Enough with the childish games!..."
"...I hadn't realized Cohen could be so ruthless..." Syphus whispered, horrified. Ananas was looking as if she wanted the ground to open and make her disappear.
"That person is the one who's taking care of the village. Can you believe it?" Ciruel had stopped looking outside, leaning on the wall with upset expression. "We hate that guy. Celia is the only one who wants him around"
"Does this happen every week?"
"Without fail. I like Annie, and I like that she hasn't given up, but someday she'll have to learn it's useless to argue against Cohen" Ciruel murmured "He's way too stubborn"
"I'm doing my best! I just want to help!" Ananas was openly crying now, shouting higher but her voice was starting to crack. She knew she wouldn't last much longer arguing against Cohen, and the old man knew it as well. That's why he took a deep breath and steeled himself to end the argument.
"You'll be of more help if you stop trying. Annie, you'll never be guardian as long as I'm here. Forget about it"
"B-B-But—"
"I told you to forget about it!"
He simply wasn't going to listen. Ananas hiccupped, crying with such intensity Syphus felt as if something was twisting inside him, compelling him to go outside and help Ananas. "Do you think anyone would mind if I go and punch Cohen?"
"Don't. You'll lose" Ciruel shook his head "He's way too good at punching. Let it end, like it always does" at that moment Graham appeared in scene, approaching Cohen and Ananas. He looked at them, realizing immediately what was going on.
"Again?" he asked in disbelief.
"It's not my—" Cohen tried to defend himself, but Graham ignored him and went to Ananas. He helped Ananas stand up, whispering to her.
"It's okay. Don't listen to him, Annie. You're a capable girl"
"This is why she keeps asking, you're all feeding her hopes" Cohen mumbled, crossing his arms. Graham turned his head around.
"Shut up! Can't you see how much you're hurting her?" that seemed to snap Cohen out of his behavior. He looked at Ananas, his mouth forming a thin line, then murmured a 'sorry' and walked away to his usual sentry station on the edge of the village. Once Cohen was far enough, Graham said to Ananas something softly enough Syphus couldn't hear it.
It had been a rather ugly scene, one that had changed Syphus' opinion of Cohen. "Come on, let's go outside" Syphus said, opening the door, but the scholar refused.
"I'm staying here. I'm not getting involved in this mess"
"How can you just stand aside and do nothing?!"
Ciruel raised his hands defensively. "What do you want me to do? I'd be useless, Syphus. Go if you want, I want nothing to do with this"
"Are you making excuses to not to help Annie?" Syphus' accusing question was a wake-up call. Ciruel looked at the floor for a moment before nodding.
"...yes. I'm sorry. I just don't know what to do" That's the worst excuse you could give! There were few things worse than refusing to do something just because he didn't know what to do, that's what Syphus thought, but this wasn't the time to give anyone a moral speech. Rolling his eyes, Syphus exited the cabin to where Graham and Annie were talking, approaching slowly.
"Sheriff? Are you okay?"
"M-Mister Syphus...I...I tried to talk to him, but—"
"How may I help you?" Graham interrupted, looking at Syphus with distrust. What? Did I do something wrong?
"I just want to talk to her" the piece said softly. Graham looked at Ananas, leaving it up to her, and the girl nodded after a pause. Accepting Ananas' wishes, Graham stood up and walked away. Ananas, still sitting, grabbed her knees, looking at the rocky floor with melancholy. She had stopped crying but she looked very dispirited, like she was bound to crying again at the slightest provocation. Her face was still very red. "...will you be okay, Annie?"
"...I don't know" she said, rubbing her eyes fiercely as if that was going to dry her tears "I don't want to see Cohen again. I hate him! W-Why did he say—"
"Annie, don't say that. He just...he cares for you and doesn't want to see you hurt" Syphus himself didn't believe that. He had no idea why Cohen had gone for the jugular like that, destroying Ananas' hopes, but he chose to give Cohen the benefit of the doubt.
"Why everyone says that?!" It seemed this wasn't the first time someone tried to think for excuses for Cohen's behavior. How many times had they fought like that? Ciruel had hinted it happened way too often, but how long had it been happening? Ananas hid her face with her shawl. "I don't care. I just want him to stop saying that
Every time he says I'll never be the guardian, or that I'm too weak, or that it's better I stay out of the way and stop bothering him...I want to show him he's wrong. I'm not useless! I'll show him!" she made a move to stand up, but Syphus softly pressed on her shoulders, forcing her to stay sitting on the ground. Once she stopped resisting he let her go, the girl staying sitting down. Once again she was showing to be excessively impulsive, although it was no surprise after what happened. Anyone would want to prove their worth.
"And what are you going to do?" Better to try to find out and convince her not to do something that may prove not to be wise. Ananas clenched her fists, holding them in front of her face, until her shoulders dropped and she laid on the floor, looking at the ceiling of the cave.
"...I don't know. I don't know, mister. I...I have no idea what to do" she puts her hands on her chest and turned her head slightly in his direction "What should I do?"
I don't know either, Annie. Syphus slowly passed his hands through his hair, trying to think of something to say. Just saying 'I don't know' was bound not to be taken well, in his opinion, so he had to think of something, and quick, before she got impatient. "Uh, do you want my...honest, true to heart opinion?"
"Yeah" she seemed honest, paying attention to him.
"Okay, so, what I think is that, hm, you should...you know...do that thing, and then, you get it..." Syphus snapped his fingers, having thought of something "You should think it twice. Annie, if something happened to you it'd be a big loss for the village, and—"
Ananas rolled on the floor and kneeled, looking at Syphus with uncertainty. "What? What did you think I was going to do?"
"...show Cohen you're not weak? Maybe by, uh, picking a fight with the first monster you saw?"
"Why'd I do that?" Syphus' expression must have turned particularly severe, because Ananas looked away, contrite "I won't"
"Great. Have patience, Annie. Maybe when you're a bit older he'll let you be the guardian"
"I don't want to wait until I'm older. I'm eight, I can do it" she muttered quietly, pressing her teeth together "I'll keep training, he can't stop me from training"
"What kind of training do you do?"
"Push-ups! I need to be strong!" she said. Syphus stared at her, deadpan. She seemed to be entirely serious. Syphus nodded, trying not look dismissive. Keep trying, Annie.
Ananas is determined to fulfill her goals
The Ananas Social Link has reached Rank 3!
Your power to create Personas of the Chariot Arcana has grown!
"By the way...mister?" Ananas looked at the ground, her hand reflexively going to her hip, where her gun would usually be. "Thanks for talking with Cohen yesterday. Having someone who believes in me and doesn't think I'm a stupid child...it's nice. Thank you"
Syphus frowned. "That's what you think people think of you?"
"...yeah. What else would they think?"
...things are worse around here than I thought. "Why don't I go talk with Cohen again?" the girl's expression got dark for a moment when Cohen was mentioned, she shrugged noncommittally.
"I don't care"
"You can't stay angry with him forever, he's one of us"
"Don't tell me what to do" Ananas spat. Seeing that merely mentioning Cohen was a sure way to get her upset again, Syphus decided to give it a rest for the time being. After helping Ananas stand up from the ground, she went to hang out with Graham, saying she was going to play with Monster Kid the next day. Syphus watched her go, mulling the fight he had witnessed not long ago. What were Cohen's true reasons to deny Ananas the chance to prove herself? It must be a really good reason, if he's willing to go as far as hurting Annie so much he thought, walking towards the sentry point.
Cohen wasn't inside. He was standing outside of the hole on the wall he watched from, looking at his hands. He had taken off his worn gloves, and was now rubbing his knuckles, with pained expression. "Cohen" The old man looked in Syphus' direction, breathing deeply. He looked...like he was feeling guilty.
"Good evening, Syphus. Had a good day?"
"I had a better day than somebody we both know"
The fingers of Cohen's left hand curled tightly around his knuckles. "So you heard us" he entered into the sentry hole, dragging his feet "Since you did, could you pass this to her?" after a few seconds he took out what seemed to be some sort of quilt.
"What's this?"
"An apology" Cohen muttered, trying to get Syphus to take the quilt. The piece stared at what Cohen was giving him, with an expression of mild disgust. Then he said rather slowly, trying not to sound as upset as he felt.
"Cohen. Do you really think a quilt is going to fix everything?"
The old man was silent for a moment, then left the quilt aside. "No, this won't work. I'm sorry, that was stupid of me"
"You should apologize to her in person. Annie needs an apology"
Cohen started putting on his gloves back, trying hard not to look at Syphus to the face. "She won't accept an apology from me. I have hurt her way too many times already. It's too late for apologies" after a pause he glaced at him just for a moment. There was something in his eyes Syphus wasn't sure what it was. Regret? He hoped it was regret. "How is she?"
"She's very upset, don't ask stupid questions" Syphus said before he could control himself. Although he had mellowed a bit when he saw Cohen was upset, his anger at the old man was slowly returning "Cohen, have you realized how much you're making everyone hate you?"
"Of course I know! I'm not stupid, Syphus, I know it very well!" Cohen suddenly shouted in response, gesturing towards the village "I know that. There's not a single person in this village that likes me. And you know what? That's fine!"
"Why? Because you're protecting them, and it's good to be hated? Why?!" Syphus raised his voice, unable to understand just what Cohen was thinking. Why is it so hard to understand someone?
"Because I deserve it!" Cohen threw his hands in the air "I'm not a kind person, Syphus! I know I drive everyone away! I just..." he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down "I'm not going to tell you some bullshit about being strict because I want to protect them. That's not true. I didn't want to be hated"
"Have you tried to make amends?"
"I'm eighty years old, it's too late to change" he went outside of the sentry station "It doesn't matter, but...you know what?" Syphus didn't reply. He was listening carefully, but stayed away from Cohen "I wish things weren't like that. These people...they're the only family I have now.
My former life over the surface was so long ago I don't even remember much of it. Instead I grew up with these people, and I saw almost all of them grow up. They're...they're like my family now. We're all the only family we have, all of us and Toriel" he sighed "Guess all families have someone who doesn't get along with the rest"
Syphus touched the quilt, examining it. It was a rather detailed work, Cohen had a lot of skill. "It's not too late to apologize"
"Maybe someday I will" Cohen shook his head "This is stupid. I'm not brave enough to apologize. How infantile of me"
You feel you understand Cohen's heart a bit more.
The Cohen Social Link has reached Rank 3!
Your power to create Personas of the Emperor Arcana has grown!
At least Cohen knew he wasn't behaving like he should, and as far as Syphus was concerned, that was the first step towards a healthier relationship with everyone in the village. "...Cohen, please, be honest: why don't you want Annie to be the guardian?" Cohen pointedly avoided looking at him "Cohen!"
"I don't have to explain anything to you"
"Come on! Is it so bad you can't tell anyone?" Why does everyone have to be so damn recalcitrant?!
Cohen looked towards the stairs that led out of the village. "I'm tired, and I have to do my duty. Please leave me alone"
"But—"
"I'm not going to change my mind, Syphus. Leave" his face had tensed, it seemed whatever reason he had to deny Ananas the role was deeply ingrained into his feelings. Syphus tried again to convince Cohen to speak, but he refused to, not even bothering to say another word. Seeing it was useless to try to convince him, Syphus walked away towards the rest of the village, immersed in his thoughts.
The Hidden Village's morale was Cohen versus everyone else. There should be some way to convince him to try to mend his relationships with everyone, but how? The piece grimaced and entered Cohen's cabin, intending to spend the rest of the day trying to sharpen his halberd and try to solve the emotional puzzles that were all the Social Links he had gathered so far. Those in the village seemed the most important right now. As if the whole Persona thing wasn't enough, he had arrived to the Underground at a rather delicate moment of the village's life. If nothing was done to correct the matter, tensions could escalate even more, if that was possible.
The problem was that he didn't know if he could do something to help. He wasn't some sort of magic problem solver, and he never would be. Lucia had ingrained in Syphus one clear creed: 'A witch of Hope doesn't meddle in people's affairs. We're guides, like stars. All we do is point in a direction and encourage them to follow. What they do is completely up to them' If he was going to be Lucia's apprentice, then he had to follow that self-imposed rule. How? How can I point them in a direction when I don't even know what's the right one?
You're starting to grasp the delicate situations in the Hidden Village
The Last Timeline Social Link has reached Rank 2!
Your power to create Personas of the Aeon Arcana has grown!
-ooooo-
During the night, a heavy feeling of foreboding settled on Waterfall, like it had happened before Frisk was found unconscious.
That hazy feeling was still around the next day.
SOCIAL LINKS:
Fool - Frisk - RANK 4
Magician - ? - RANK 0
Priestess - Alphys - RANK 1
Empress - Toriel - RANK 2
Emperor - Cohen - RANK 3
Hierophant - Ciruel - RANK 1
Lovers - ? - RANK 0
Chariot - Ananas - RANK 3
Justice - ? - RANK 0
Hermit - ? - RANK 0
Fortune - ? - RANK 0
Strength - ? - RANK 0
Hanged Man - ? - RANK 0
Death - Cornio - RANK 1
Temperance - ? - RANK 0
Devil - ? - RANK 0
Tower - ? - RANK 0
Star - Lucia - RANK 1
Moon - ? - RANK 0
Sun - Papyrus - RANK 2
Judgment - ? - RANK 0
Aeon - Syphus - RANK 2
Jester - Alphonse - RANK 2