Day 21
Maybe it was his master's influence, but he just couldn't stop thinking over and over about Flowey and what would be needed to make him exist. It got so bad that, the next morning, he considered telling Cohen about such thoughts. If there was someone who could dissuade him, for everyone's good, it was him.
But he didn't dare to.
He knew if he told Cohen, the old man would take it very seriously – but what could Cohen do? Lock him somewhere? Always stay with him? Arrange for him to live somewhere else, away from the rest of the humans, maybe with Toriel? No matter what Cohen did, Syphus saw no way for any arrangement to not interfere with the important task of shattering the Barrier. Not only he needed to have a certain amount of liberty, he also needed everyone in the village to trust him. How else would he manage to create and advance his Social Links? He needed that strength to fight everything inside the souls he needed to go into.
It was a bit callous to be thinking of his bonds as ways to strengthen his Personas, but sometimes you had to be pragmatic when you wanted to succeed.
"Any plans for today?" Cohen asked, giving Syphus a plate of food. They were sitting inside the hole in the wall, it was early in the morning. Syphus poked at the content with a fork, measuring his words carefully.
"Not really. I have to work for Undyne, other than that I don't have much to do"" It was decided: he wasn't saying a word about that other matter.
"In that case, would you do me a favor?" Cohen looked around and dropped a sizable amount of gold into Syphus' hands, "I feel like eating another one of those square steaks today. Mind bringing me one?"
"Where did you even get all this gold?"
"Toriel," he said, "She taught us the value of money long ago, using real gold. When I tried to return it to her, she said I could keep it" Cohen admitted, looking a bit nostalgic. "We all have quite some amount"
That was how Syphus found himself going to the MTT Resort early in the morning. The glass doors were closed, inside Burgerpants was cleaning the tables meticulously but without enthusiasm. Syphus didn't knock in the door, he waited for Burgerpants to open. He was noticed soon. A bit curious about why he had arrived so soon, the employee went to the doors and opened them just enough to hear what Syphus wanted.
He wasn't happy at all to hear it was for a steak. "Do you tend to eat steak so early in the morning?" he grumbled but saw no other option than to humor Syphus' request. It was his job, after all. As an apology for asking such thing from him so early, Syphus offered to help Burgerpants to get the place ready to be open soon. While he was getting the chairs at the right places, he glanced at Burgerpants, who was making sure the cooking utensils were clean and ready.
"You really make it obvious you don't like this job" he commented. Even though Burgerpants was actually doing an effort, his face showed he'd rather be anywhere else than in that place right now.
Burgerpants made a gesture as if he intended to take out a cigarette, but refrained from doing so. If Mettaton caught him smoking again in the premises, he'd be in a lot of trouble. "It's not a secret. Even my boss knows it!"
It was a bit of a presumptuous thing to ask, but he did it anyway: "Have you tried looking for a job somewhere else?"
Burgerpants sighed between his teeth, very resigned. "I don't have any other option. Look, I hate this job, and I hate my boss, but I get a lot of gold here. That's the one good thing I can say about Mettaton now, he pays well"
I guess I can't fault him for staying, then... In a way, such motive vaguely resonated with Syphus. Money was a necessary thing, after all. Syphus finished cleaning the tables, and left the rag on the counter. "That's too bad. You still have your dreams about being an actor, right? You could keep trying that"
"Shut up about that. I don't want to talk about it," he grumbled. "There's no point in trying to be an actor, not with Mettaton down here"
"You still should try—"
"Here's your steak," he put the bag with the steak on the counter, impatiently waiting for Syphus to take it and leave. The disguised person grabbed the bag, drumming his fingers against it with hesitation. "You can be really annoying sometimes, dude"
"Is there a way I can convince you?"
"No. You're not the only stubborn monster in this place, Syphus, I can be really stubborn too if I want to"
Syphus put his elbows on the counter, leaning forward a bit. "I'll be more obstinate than you and try to prove to you trying what seems impossible is not a bad idea" Because that's what we're trying to do. Shattering the Barrier usually isn't in the realm of 'possible', you know! If he couldn't even say the right mindset, following it with action would be even harder. He had to maintain such positive thought no matter what!
Burgerpants wasn't impressed, though. He shook his head, as if he had just heard a child say something incredibly naïve. "You sound like some motivational tape" he grumbled "Why do you even bother?"
"Because we're friends" Syphus blurted out those words knowing it sounded really cheesy, but it was true. "I hate to see a friend wallowing in his own misery like that"
"You're trying to be as cheesy as possible, seriously," he said. "Okay, I'll tell you what we'll do: prove trying to do something impossible is worth it. Then maybe I'll consider whatever you have to say"
"'Maybe'?"
"You're not going to get anywhere. It'll be as impossible as me trying to be an actor." He grinned sardonically. "Go ahead, try it. I dare you"
"I accept your challenge" to seal the dare, Syphus extended a hand, unafraid of Burgerpants maybe finding out through his sense of touch that Syphus' hand wasn't scaly. It was a worthwhile risk, in his opinion. Burgerpants refrained from rolling his eyes, shaking Syphus' hand. I can't back off this dare now. I'll find a way to convince him.
…somehow.
-ooooo-
Day 22
It was clear the next day that maybe he had bitten more than he could chew.
The whole morning Syphus had tried to think of a convincing way to encourage Burgerpants, but everything he could think were empty words that anyone could say. Burgerpants had been right, he had sounded like a motivational tape, and that much showed he was taking the wrong approach.
Syphus was working on paperwork in the Royal Guard headquarters cafeteria, staring into the paperwork in front of him while he tried to focus on it. 023 pushed a cup of very strong coffee towards him. "Take a break, Syphus. You have been dealing with paperwork for hours"
"Someone has to do it" Not that Syphus was eager to take the bulk of the paperwork in the headquarters. It was just his job.
"Whatever" 023 looked around "What's taking 046 so long? He said he'd bring food from the MTT resort, we literally have an elevator that takes you there"
As if that was his cue, 046 entered, but he didn't bring food for everyone. Instead he threw a single croissant on the table, looking at it with disdain. "Here's our food"
025 stared at the croissant. It didn't look tasty, it had many short black lines all over it. "I thought you'd bring burgers for everyone"
"What did you expect? The elevator is under maintenance, and I got lost in Hotlands. I took a wrong detour and…" he sat and gestured at the croissant, as if that explained everything – which it did, judging by how everyone but Syphus sighed, as if this wasn't the first time something like this happened. Everyone murmured the same name almost at once:
"Muffet"
Muffet? Syphus looked up. That name sounded familiar, but his memories didn't say much about who Muffet was, this was new to him.
"Oh dear. I hope she didn't get too much money from you" 027 commiserated
"Just today's pay"
"Her baking isn't even that good. You know it's made of spiders, right?" 025 said. Curious, 023 took the croissant, eyeing it carefully.
"Really? I'd have never realized that" he nibbled on it, swallowing after a moment. "It's not bad"
"Even if you like her baking, don't buy it from her. It's awfully expensive" 027 turned her head around, noticing Syphus was listening attentively. "Right?"
"Uh…r-right…" he looked down.
"Wait, you don't know about Muffet?" Guess there's no fooling 027.
"Never heard of her before. Who is Muffet?" Syphus put the pen aside.
"Muffet is a baker who has her den in Hotland. Anyone who passes by is "encouraged" to buy from her…"
"Nothing illegal, she's just creepily intimidating" 046 pointed out.
"…yes, that's right. When you pass by you're likely to spend all your gold"
"What does she need the gold for?" Syphus asked. Some of the guards present looked at each other, unsure of how to answer that. What did Muffet want the money for? Nobody knew for certain, but 027 offered an answer.
"I remember hearing once she wanted to unite the spider clans from the Ruins and Hotland. Spiders can't survive for long in the cold, so—"
"That's what she wants all that gold for?" 023 stared in disbelief. "How many spiders are in the Ruins?!"
"A lot, I guess" she said "I recommend you stay away from her, Syphus. Muffet can be quite ruthless when she wants to be, and she's not going to stop until she achieves what she wants"
"Is that so?" as if 027's cautionary tip sparked an idea in Syphus' head, he started thinking, scheming something that would just fit his current predicament on how to help Burgerpants. Yes, this could work... "Okay, thank you"
046 tilted his head. "You're not going to listen to 027, are you?"
"I'll use my right to remain silent" Syphus said, winking and returning to the paperwork.
-ooooo-
"Syphus" Burgerpants said, deadpan.
"Yes?"
"I think I hate you" I can't blame you. Syphus himself was starting to get really tired of his more impulsive decisions leading to so much trouble. Hindsight was always 20/20.
Then again, you didn't need to be a genius to realize intentionally going to see Muffet was a terrible idea. The guards had tried to warn him, he hadn't listened, and now he was hanging upside-down, wrapped in spider silk and trying not to mention how the blood was rushing to his head. Burgerpants didn't seem to be doing much better, he looked as tired and fed up with everything as usual.
Convincing Burgerpants to go with him after work had been easy, but Burgerpants was not stupid. He knew the danger that lurked in that area of Hotland. "Hey, we should turn back"
"Is it really that bad?"
He had looked at Syphus as if he had just lost his head. "Do you know who lives over there?"
"I know. Sometimes you have to trust the person you're with, my friend. I know it's Muffet, but I think I'll have the situation under control"
His statement had been received with skepticism. "Can I really believe that?"
"Follow me and we'll be okay, I promise"
Clearly Syphus had overestimated his own diplomacy skills.
Muffet lounged on her pet, watching Syphus and Burgerpants struggling and trying to get rid of the web enveloping them. "It's not everyday someone strolls in here on purpose. What could you be looking for in my parlor, hm?"
Spinning a bit, Burgerpants managed to face Syphus, gesturing with his head. "You deal with it. You got us in this mess, you get us out of this mess"
You're not wrong, pal... It was fair, in a way. Syphus smiled hesitantly, attempting to mask his discomfort behind friendliness, and trying to ignore the goosebumps he was feeling. Or maybe it was spiders walking all over him. "We just wanted to talk"
"Talk? Ahuhuhuhu~" she laughed, covering her mouth with a hand. "Why didn't you say so before, dearies? And here I was about to turn you both into pastry filling!"
Burgerpants blinked. "You're joking, right?" he didn't sound afraid, more like he just couldn't conceive such ludicrous possibility. Muffet winked, somehow.
"Who knows..."
"Then can you untie us already?"
"I didn't say I wasn't ever going to turn you both into pastry filling. Maybe if I had some gold I could be appealed to...?" Syphus swayed a little, some of the gold he brought falling to the floor. "Now that's what I wanted to see. What did you two want to talk about?"
"What are you gathering all that gold for? We're curious" he asked.
"I could have explained that to you instead of you dragging us here to be turned into food" Burgerpants whispered to Syphus. A bit surprised this was the question her guests had come to ask her, she crossed her legs, the pet beneath her rumbling with hunger.
"Is that so? I guess your friend here wanted to hear it straight from me, for some reason" she said "If this is what you wanted to talk about, then I don't mind. You may be aware I have gathered in my parlor all the spiders from Hotland...I have been working to give them a home. I'm talking about thousands of spiders; in case you don't know"
"Including the ones you use in your baked goods?" Burgerpants incisively inquired. Not bothered at all, Muffet nodded.
"Yes, them included. My dear spiders are such a valuable ingredient too; it'd be a shame not to use them" she said "But these aren't the only spiders in the Underground. There are many other spiders in the Ruins. We can contact them anytime, but it's a pity the spiders are separated from each other. It truly breaks my heart.
That's why I'm gathering funds to bring all the spiders from the Ruins all the way here, to Hotland!" It did fit with what the guards had told Syphus. While Burgerpants already knew this much, at least he was listening with attention.
"And your spiders can't survive the cold of Snowdin, right?" he asked.
"Exactly, deary!"
"Why don't you just use a big box and make a few trips?"
That didn't amuse Muffet at all. Her pet lunged forward, snapping at Burgerpants' face, stopping right in front of him and spitting crumbs all over his head. The fast food worker barely flinched, just moving back and trying to stay calm despite almost getting his head bitten off by Muffet's pet. Muffet reached forward, making Burgerpants spin around a bit. "That was so rude of you...if I didn't know better, I'd think you hate spiders"
"You don't need to make your goal so complicated" Burgerpants insisted, to which Muffet pushed him back and forth like a pendulum.
"The spiders deserve only the very best. I cannot expect you to understand, but if you want to do something, you can't cut corners"
"That's easy for you to say..." Burgerpants grumbled.
"I know what people say about what I do, deary, and I don't care what they say: I will succeed" she smiled sweetly, finally stopping Burgerpants from swaying around "And for that I need the gold. You're going to help, aren't you?"
"I'm flat broke" he said – and that wasn't a lie.
Although Syphus had brought Burgerpants here for him to talk with Muffet, he couldn't hold himself back and finally asked something that had been bugging him for a long while: "Is this really the right way to get your gold?"
"What do you mean?" she reached for her tea set, serving herself a cup of tea with calm. Spiders scurried all over the outside of her teacup.
"You're pretty much extorting any monster that passes through this place" Nothing illegal, 046 said. Yeah, right. "No matter how you look at it that's wro—"
"So what?"
Muffet's nonchalant response made Syphus choke in his words. He hadn't expected such a quick response to his righteous pontification. She sipped her tea, as if she was talking about the weather with guests who weren't hanging from webs. "W-What...?" he asked in disbelief.
"Sometimes to do something you really want to do, you'll have to do what's necessary, even if other people don't approve of it"
"But to do something like this—"
Muffet looked straight at Syphus and said the words that'd shake him to the core:
"What would you regret more? Doing nothing and being unable to ever succeed, or doing something that may hurt others but will be good in the end?"
Syphus had no idea what to reply to that. He felt he should say immediately 'of course I'd regret more hurting others!' but the words didn't come out of his throat. Maybe it's because that's not something he could say with sincerity.
He was at a loss of words.
Satisfied with Syphus' silence, Muffet turned her head around at Burgerpants. "What about you? What would you regret more?"
Unlike Syphus, Burgerpants answered immediately, although he went for total apathy: "I don't care"
"Really?" Muffet sounded disappointed.
"I have no goal. Look at me, lady, I'm just some guy who is going to be flipping burgers for the rest of his life. I have no time to be thinking about that kinda stuff"
"That's very sad, deary" she pulled from the web, effortlessly liberating Burgerpants. He fell to the floor and stood up slowly, always looking at the pet still growling and looking like it'd like nothing better than take a bite out of Burgerpants "You don't have gold, you don't have purpose...I don't know what to say to you. Just go"
"Not without him" he pointed with his thumb behind him, to where Syphus was still suspended.
"That's going to be different" a bunch of spiders brought a small box full of pastries. Muffet got off her pet, took the box and approached Syphus, licking her lips. "Can I offer you a pastry? It'll be worth every piece of gold you give me.
Shall we do a business deal? Ahuhuhuhu~"
If something could be said about Muffet's good traits, is that she was rather focused to achieving her goal but also had a certain sense of fairness in her, enough for her to let Syphus go once he took out every single gold he had on him. Syphus walked through Hotland, staring at the donut he had bought. "That went well" Burgerpants commented, hands in his pockets. "That Muffet monster isn't so bad, but I'd like to stay away from her from now on. Don't take me to her again" Syphus said nothing to that. They walked in silence for a bit longer, he craved another cigarette. "Who cares what she said, anyway. She knows nothing about me. I'm not going to go in a journey of enlightenment or something like that just because she says so"
"...yeah...?" he said without much enthusiasm.
"She talks a lot of nonsense" Burgerpants said "But in a way...hm..." he couldn't say she was wrong. So what if he had no purpose in life or anything? It wasn't like he could do anything. Everything was against him, he had a job chaining him down, and nothing in the Underground would be of help. It made no sense to even give thought to any of this.
Still...he couldn't get those words out of his head, no matter how much he tried.
You feel Burgerpants' starting to reexamine his thoughts
The Fast Food Worker Social Link has reached Rank 3!
Your power to create Personas of the Magician Arcana has grown!
Burgerpants expected Syphus to reply with something, be encouraging, or even say that Muffet was a cold-blooded scammer who had swindled him from way too much gold, but Syphus said nothing. In a way it was unsettling. So far Burgerpants had known him as a kind of annoying, well-intentioned reptile who was trying to befriend him for some bizarre reason. To see him silent and lost in thought...it was something he wasn't sure he liked.
"Speak already, you're making me antsy" the worker finally said. Syphus blinked, looking up. "I thought this whole thing was for me, why are you the one overthinking stuff?"
Syphus clicked his claws against each other, unsure how to put into words what he was feeling. "Some of what she said just hit a nerve, that's all"
"Don't pay attention to her, I told you it's nonsense. It's not worth it" he glanced at the donut that was still in Syphus' hand. "I bet you're getting depressed because you had to buy that thing for way too much gold. I'll deal with it for you"
"Huh?" What kind of offer was that?
"I'm going to eat it or something"
Apparently that got Syphus out of his reverie, he smiled sardonically. "I spent all the gold I had today in a single donut. I'm not going to let it go to waste after having paid that much!" and before he could change his mind, he opened his mouth and ate it in two bites, chewing thoughtfully. "...huh" 023 wasn't wrong, it's not too bad.
"What? Too many spiders?"
Syphus swallowed. "I dunno, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. I'm definitely not going to buy another, but it actually was kind of tasty"
"You must be insane"
"Better that than being completely stagnant like you!" Syphus seemed to have returned to his usual attitude, pushing Burgerpants lightly to a side. Burgerpants turned his head around to hide how he snorted, actually letting some relief show on his face even if it was just for a moment.
That was a better attitude on that usually upbeat guy, as far as Burgerpants was concerned.
-ooooo-
Day 23
He hated to admit it, but what Muffet said simply didn't get out of his head. The next day he was still thinking about that.
"If you don't feel okay you should go home" Undyne had told him after a helmet slipped from his hands, clattering to the floor right in front of her.
"I'm okay, just a bit distracted"
"You look more than distracted" Cohen had said when he found Syphus staring blankly at a wall.
"I just have a lot to think about"
"Celia once told me when there's a lot to think about, you should empty your head by talking about it with someone" Ananas suggested, sitting near him and smiling, expecting him to open up to her.
"I think I can deal with this by myself"
"Are you sure? I could help you with anything that's bothering you" Toriel had kindly said, leaving some supplies they had forgotten a few days ago.
"No, thank you. I just need to be alone for a moment"
"You're not going to be alone in here" Burgerpants had said curtly.
"It's not the kind of thing I can talk with just anyone, okay?"
"I can't help you" Alphonse had said, finishing the fusion "You'll have to take the decision by yourself"
"I don't know what to do! Seriously, what am I supposed to do?!"
"I'M WILLING TO LISTEN! YOU CAN TRUST ME, I WILL HELP YOU, I PROMISE!" Papyrus had immediately offered his help, as expected.
"Thanks, Papyrus, but I...I don't know what to do"
He couldn't remember any other time he had felt so lost.
His demeanor had turned rather pensive that day, so much everyone noticed it and tried to find out what was wrong, and he hadn't said anything about it to anyone. How was he expected to explain what was bothering him so much? It's not like anyone would understand it!
...or maybe there was someone who could faintly understand it.
"Sans, do you have a moment?" Syphus kicked some of the snow on the base of Sans' sentry station. The Snowdin forests were as silent as usual, there was nobody at all in the area other than Sans and him. That was convenient privacy. Sans, as relaxed as usual, nodded, indicating the empty space beside him inside the stall.
"come over here. what's eating you?"
Syphus stands beside Sans, leaning on one of the poles holding the roof. "I need advice. I'm trapped in a situation I see no way out of, so—"
"you really think i'm the guy you should talk with?" Sans sighed, shaking his head. His tone was more of disbelief than anything else. What was Syphus supposed to reply to that? "fine. tell good ol' sans what's up with you"
Now that Sans had given his blessing, Syphus tried to order his thoughts, but he just had no idea how to put it. He couldn't just go ahead and say he needed a human soul. Maybe he could say he needed Determination? Maybe that wasn't much better, it wasn't like there were a lot of sources of Determination other than human souls. There simply was no correct way to phrase what was troubling him so much!
While he kept trying to think a discreet way to say what he wanted to say, Sans decided to take the initiative. He was more than willing to force the matter wide open if he needed to. "whatever you're not sure you should do will end in someone getting hurt, am I right?"
"What do you mean?"
"come on, 'phus, what else could it be?" Sans shrugged, sounding very carefree despite what he was about to say "besides, it's not like it'd be the first time you hurt someone"
Syphus couldn't avoid looking away. He should have guessed Sans wouldn't have any problems saying such things, even though the piece had tried to pretend anything like that had never happened. "What are you talking about?"
"your soul says it all, pal"
LV 3
The skeleton playfully shoved Syphus, grinning. "don't make those faces, I'm not judging you. I dunno what happened or why, and I don't really care, okay?"
"I just don't like how you can know something like that, Sans"
"that simply means you feel your sins crawling on your back. good to know you still have a conscience" he winked, as if Sans hadn't just insinuated Syphus had something to be regretful for "lemme ask you something, though: this person you hurt…was it someone I know?"
How was he supposed to answer to that?! Well it didn't matter. Sans was frighteningly perceptive, if Syphus tried to lie he'd know. There was no more option than being honest. "...yes"
"figures" Sans got a chair from under the counter of his sentry station and unfolded it, getting comfy in it "it's no big deal, don't worry. besides, whatever you need to do would be undone by you loading the timeline back"
"I'd rather not to do awful stuff in the first place, Sans"
"really? that's great" Sans wasn't sure if he actually believed Syphus' statement "then don't do it, simple enough. what'd happen if you don't do anything?"
Syphus scratched his neck, unsure. "...nothing? Nothing at all, I guess"
"then doing nothing is an option. take it from me, i do nothing all the time and i live a nice good life" he said, leaning the chair back "nothin' wrong with doin' nothin'"
"I just feel like I have no option other than doing something" What'd his master do if he refused to do anything? It wasn't like he, as a piece, could refuse to do something. He was chained to his other self's desires and plans, no matter how much he wanted to resist.
He was screwed.
Sans closed his eye sockets. "that's bad. then guess there's no option" That sounded like it meant Sans saw no point to discussing it any further, no matter how much Syphus wanted. Looking for advice from Sans hadn't been useful at all.
Everything was now on Sisyphus' hands. It all depended on him.
-ooooo-
Day 24
It was very early in the day, so early almost nobody in the village was awake. It was going to be a couple hours before he needed to get going to New Home to work.
His halberd – the halberd Undyne had given him and Alphys had painstakingly improved – was there to his side, lying against the wall. Syphus didn't have his disguise on, feeling rather disheartened and not wanting to hide himself. Slowly, he raised his hands, forming a SAVE point. He'd be returning to this point if he actually went through this whole thing. Asking Alphys about containers that could hold a soul was a tad awkward, he had been saved by the fact Alphys was too reticent about asking why he needed one.
There still was plenty of time to go back, to pretend he wasn't going to do anything bad, but it felt like a compulsion was keeping him right where he was. To his right there was the entrance to the large cavern where the Hidden Village was at, he could see the cottages from where he was standing.
Even though his master was keeping him rooted to that place, he took it as a good sign. Not even Sisyphus was feeling like targeting a concrete person to take their soul. Even though he was still going ahead, Syphus took that as reticence. Maybe there was hope! Maybe he'd actually not have to do something like this!
The plan was to stay there and attack the first person to pass through. There were only like two people who'd pass through, and one of them was someone he was someone he'd sooner use his own soul than take hers. No way he'd take Ananas' soul.
"Syphus, you woke up early"
Ciruel had ascended the stairs. He was wearing his fake antlers and the purple facepaint, ready to get going to Snowdin. Syphus smiled faintly, refusing to look at him. "I couldn't sleep" That wasn't a lie, he spent the whole night staring at the ceiling of Cohen's cottage.
"No kidding, you look awful" he took off his glasses, rubbing a spot of purple paint off the glass. "Want to go with me to Snowdin? I'm sure Papyrus would want you to be there"
Syphus didn't reply for a moment. "No, I'm fine. I have to deliver this thing" he nudged the halberd. "Thank you for your concern"
The former scholar didn't suspect anything, he just adjusted his scarf and nodded. "Guess I'll see you later. Have a good day, Syphus" he said, turned around and started walking in direction of Waterfall. Syphus took a shaky deep breath and carefully grabbed the pole of the halberd, slowly separating it from the wall, and stepped forward to follow Ciruel.
-ooooo-
There was some comfort in knowing Sisyphus hadn't immediately jumped onto making his move. He ad been staring at the board for a couple minutes already. The move they dreaded was obvious, Cornio hadn't managed to move enough pieces to ensure there would be no chance, so their last hope was that Sisyphus would think it twice.
Lucia was standing up near the window, looking outside. This was a decision Sisyphus had to make himself, she wasn't going to interfere at all. Cornio, on the other side of the board, was begging silently for Sisyphus to take the right decision. Nobody had to die! Flowey wasn't needed! Sisyphus had to realize that, surely he knew that by obtaining a human soul and using it to recreate with Alphys the experiments that made him exist he'd only bring misery to everyone.
The corners of Sisyphus' mouth twitched downwards. Even though he had every intention of making the move, he was hesitating. He had said he was going to do it, but when push came to shove, he didn't have in himself the heart to throw a friend under the bus to save another –to do something that wasn't even guaranteed to work. Even if Flowey was created and existed, that didn't mean he'd turn into Asriel. He'd be Flowey forever, unless Sisyphus threw all caution to the wind and tried to force it to happen, which would require even more souls, not only of his friends, but potentially of other innocent people.
Was helping Asriel really worth it? He thought making Flowey exist was something that needed to be done, but did he have enough restraint to not do something as astonishingly cruel as abusing his power to meddle with souls until he got what he wanted? Heck, that was supposing Flowey would even cooperate! There was no guarantee of that!
"Sisyphus, please…" Cornio said, trying to push him away from the brink of doing something that would lead only to disaster.
"Don't talk to me. I'm thinking"
"You know it isn't right. You don't have to do it"
"You're wasting your time" Sisyphus looked up "I don't expect you to understand, but that monster…I owe a lot to him"
"Then do him a favor and don't kill someone just to save him! This wouldn't even save him!"
"I can't just leave him not existing. I have worked for decades to try to solve everything that's wrong in these timelines, and I'm finally on the right track. It'd be cruel if I managed to succeed and the one person I owe so much to isn't there to have a good life"
"You're talking about taking a friend's soul and using it for your own ends! That's—it's wrong!" Cornio stood up, pleading "You have to reconsider, don't do it!"
"It'll be okay. Even if I do it, I just have to LOAD and it'll be like he never died" Sisyphus smiled, feeling very cunning. He was lucky so many things had fallen in place to help him achieve this moment. "He won't even remember what happened. Don't worry, I have a plan!"
"You're going to kill him, it's not like breaking something and then gluing it back! Sisyphus, this is a life!"
Something about the way Cornio said it was very grating to Sisyphus. "I know that! Do you think I'm stupid or something?"
"N-No, that's not what I was saying—" even though Sisyphus was indeed being stupid, Cornio didn't want to say that to his face. Baring his teeth in a scowl, Sisyphus grabbed the top of a pawn, eyeing the piece he was aiming for, directly in diagonal to the pawn. "Sisyphus, please don't—"
"I'm tired, Cornio. It has been decades of work, I have been trying to do this for decades. I'm closer than ever to success"
"You're going to hurt someone who is your friend!"
"I don't care! I have to do this!" Sisyphus' fingers trembled. Even though he didn't want to admit it, this was hurting him. Ciruel was indeed a friend, sacrificing him was something he'd have preferred not to do.
But what option did he have now? The muscles of his arms tensed.
Cornio's eyes darted between Sisyphus' face and the piece he was lifting up. It was as if everything was in slow motion. 'You have to stop him' a familiar voice said inside himself.
'I know, he's not listening!'
'You can't let him die, you have to do something!'
Cornio's hand moved to his pocket, where he had the brooch that held the illusion that disguised him, but he didn't undo it. The other him inside his soul was urging him to do anything to stop Sisyphus. 'Hurry!'
'I know, I have to—but is this really the right choice?!' If trying to revive Flowey – and Asriel, by proxy – was what was pushing Sisyphus to do something like that, who knew how he'd react to seeing a grown version of Asriel in front of him. Somehow he had the feeling it wouldn't be with relief.
'Then…' the other him hesitated 'Maybe you could…fight him?' he didn't sound certain at all.
'Fight him?!'
'It's the last resort! I don't like the idea either, but you—we have to stop him!'
But Cornio didn't dare to fight. The emotions inside him were conflicting and disorienting. He was feeling outraged, he wanted to grab Sisyphus from the shoulders and hold him until he recovered a certain measure of sanity, he wanted to yell Lucia for help, he deeply regretted letting things get to this situation. From his soul he felt desperation emanating. Desperation, sadness, a deep fondness towards Sisyphus, it all welled inside him, mixing with his own. He couldn't think straight long enough to think of something convincing to say, he didn't even know if he how he wanted to say it. Sisyphus was an acquaintance, he was a friend, he held a lot of gratitude towards him, he felt like that man was more trouble than it was worth it.
Certainly, having two different versions of himself in one body was tearing him apart emotionally. His soul felt like it was going to burn straight out of his chest.
Without even thinking it, as if the Asriel who thought of Sisyphus as a good friend had done it, his hand grabbed Sisyphus' wrist, enveloping it. "D-Don't do it!" he pleaded one last time. "You're going to bring a lot of trouble. This won't be worth it!"
"…I'll make it worth it" that was his reply, cold as ice. With a flick of his wrist, he managed to get out of Cornio's grasp.
It took him just a second to move his pawn and knock down the piece.
SOCIAL LINKS:
Fool - Frisk - RANK 5
Magician - Burgerpants - RANK 3
Priestess - Alphys - RANK 4
Empress - Toriel - RANK 2
Emperor - Cohen - RANK 4
Hierophant - Ciruel - RANK 2
Lovers - ? - RANK 0
Chariot - Ananas - RANK 5
Justice - Undyne - RANK 4
Hermit - Gaster - RANK 1
Fortune - ? - RANK 0
Strength - Celia - RANK 1
Hanged Man - ? - RANK 0
Death - Cornio - RANK 3
Temperance - ? - RANK 0
Devil - ? - RANK 0
Tower - ? - RANK 0
Star - Lucia - RANK 2
Moon - ? - RANK 0
Sun - Papyrus - RANK 3
Judgment - Team - RANK 4
Aeon - Syphus - RANK 3
Jester - Alphonse - RANK 2