*Oh my stars. Frisk, stop for a second!
Surrounded by shelves and shelves of books, with the twins bickering (well, Beckett bickering, Myles didn't sound nearly so agitated) in the background, Frisk paused, confused at the ghost's downright gleeful tone.
*You've got to look at this book. No no, this one!
Following the ghost's directions, Frisk meandered over to a shelf of books they'd passed by earlier and ran their fingers hesitantly along the spines until –
F. Roy Dean Schlippe. Okay, so –
*Say it out loud!
"F. Roy Dean Schlippe." They said, and then they got it.
Oh my stars.
"Is this author's name a pun?!" they blurted out loud in sheer disbelief.
Chara sniggered. They actually sniggered.
"If you're interested in that book, there's another one you might like over there."
Frisk nearly jumped out of their skin when Myles' voice spoke up literally right behind them, and followed his pointing finger to another shelf a little ways away.
"Really?"
Myles didn't answer out loud, but there was what could almost be called a mischievous look in his eyes, and Frisk decided to satisfy their curiosity by following his advice and headed over to the shelf.
It took them exactly one minute to find the book Myles meant, and when they found it, Chara started laughing.
*Oh my god.
A book on one of the middle shelves – a romance book by the looks of it – had, brightly but tastefully printed on the spine, the name Violet Tsirblu.
Violets are blue.
Laughter bubbled up in their own throat, and they stifled it with one hand.
"Are these for real?" They managed in between giggles. "Oh my stars, Mom would love these."
They turned back to the twins – Myles definitely looked amused now, and Beckett was rolling his eyes at his brother. "Please tell me that there's more," they managed through their grin.
"Of course." Myles went back to the first shelf that had punned at them, and pulled what appeared to be a psychology magazine from its spot off to one side of several textbooks, holding it out for them to see. "Page thirty," he recommended.
*Oh man, what's this one going to be? Dr. I. N. Somnia? C. Nile Dementia?
Chara sounded downright excited, and Frisk quickly flipped to the recommended page with their own grin rapidly becoming wider. They hadn't heard Chara so happy in ages.
They snorted when they found the page. "Sir. E. Brum? Cerebrum?"
*Oh my god!
"There is one by a C. Nyle Dementia in another volume of the same magazine," Myles said, smirking.
Chara cackled.
*I was joking about that one! Frisk, we need these magazines!
I'll subscribe to them when we get the chance, Frisk promised. We'll get them mail-ordered right to us, so we can show them to Mom.
*Stars, yes!
"They're not that funny." Beckett huffed. He looked a bit put out.
"I beg to differ." Still grinning, they handed the magazine back to Myles. "These are hilarious."
"How are psychology puns funny?"
*Because they are.
"Because someone made them and used them as pen-names." They muffled another snerk, and somehow Myles managed to give the impression of laughing without his expression changing too much.
"Can we not talk about puns right now?" Beckett pleaded. "My pun limit is one or two a week!"
The Ambassador paused, their brain immediately throwing out a suggestion.
Should I? Beckett doesn't seem to be the sort of person to hold a grudge for something as minor as this, but you never know.
Well, if Chara was willing to risk the monsters' safety here, then Frisk could risk something less life-threatening.
They turned towards Beckett with an oh-so-innocent expression and smiled widely in anticipation. If he's anything like Papyrus, this is gonna be good. "What, is all this pun talk psyching you out?"
There was a pause.
"You did not just say that," Beckett said finally, narrowing his eyes at them.
"I believe they just did." Oh yes, Myles definitely sounded amused.
"No they didn't! I refuse to believe that the monster Ambassador would tell a pun that awful!"
*Aww, poor Beck's in denial. That's adorable.
"So you believe them to be a freud?"
Frisk snorted, slapping a hand over their mouth to muffle the sound, (Chara had no such dignity, they started laughing) but Beckett had already heard it, and turned a glare on his brother – not a heated one, but a glare nonetheless.
"Myles. Stop."
"I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Myles!"
And thus began the bickering. Frisk struggled not to tune out after a few more sentences – Myles' puns were rapidly becoming more and more obscure, using more complicated psychological terms that they didn't understand, and though Beckett's reactions were rapidly becoming more extreme, they were nothing compared to Papyrus's.
*God, how did he come up with even half of these? I mean – wait, hold on a second…
The sudden change in tone – from awed and maliciously gleeful to see someone suffering from exposure to puns, to suspicious, cautious – caught Frisk's attention, and they finally stopped paying attention to the twins.
Is something wrong?
*I'm not sure, but… do you feel that? It almost feels like we're being watched.
They blinked, then surreptitiously glanced around the library. They hadn't advanced too far into the room – they were still near the door, and there were a great many shelves hiding corners of the room from view, but they couldn't see or hear a single sign of eavesdroppers from where they were standing – no books lying around haphazardly, no shuffling of feet as someone shifted positions to listen in more closely. Just shelves and a window opening up to view the grounds outside.
*There's gotta be something here – I'm almost never wrong about this stuff!
That was true. The two fallen children were both observant, but Chara was considerably more so than Frisk – probably because they weren't alive anymore, and therefore were no longer confined to the limited senses of a human body.
So if they thought someone was watching them, then someone probably was.
Keep an eye out.
*Don't need to tell me twice.
"That's it!" Beckett's yell drew their attention back to the twins' conversation. "Since you're so keen on telling those awful puns, then I'm going to tell Frisk what happened the last time Artemis called you with a challenge!"
Those words meant next to nothing to Frisk, but apparently they meant a great deal of something to the black-haired twin, because his amused expression quickly gave way to blatant horror.
"You wouldn't."
Beckett turned to Frisk with a wide, and definitely evil-looking grin. "So, Artemis likes to call Myles up with intellectual challenges and favors –"
"Beckett!"
" - and last time, he asked Myles to –"
"Beckett, if you stop right now, then I will play any game of your choice for as long as you wish," Myles said quickly.
The blonde twin paused. "Any game?"
"Any game. Those atrocious video games you play, ones involving physical exertion… anything."
He sounded desperate. Whatever Beckett had been about to tell them must've been humiliating.
They decided to grant him mercy. No one liked to be embarrassed like that.
"I haven't been able to play like a normal kid for a long time," they offered quietly. "My Ambassador duties get in the way, and there usually aren't other kids around..."
The blonde boy turned to look at them as they said this, and they put a slightly wistful expression on their face. It wouldn't fool Myles, they were sure, but Beckett, so far as they knew, had no psychology doctorates.
It worked. Beckett took one look at their face and immediately agreed. "Okay, I guess I'm okay with that!" He jabbed a finger at Myles, who was trying desperately not to look relieved. "But if you say so much as one more pun –"
"Understood."
"So!" Beckett spun around to face Frisk. "What was your favorite game to play as a kid?"
"Um..." Frisk quickly ran through their memories of the Underground, going back to some of their longer runs. They had played a great many games with the monsters, and most of them were pretty fun, but their favorite…?
A memory bubbled up to the surface, and they smiled.
"I like playing tag," they offered.
Oh yes, they had a great deal of fun playing that with the monsters. Papyrus was an incredibly fast runner, and Undyne a great deal faster – it was an entertaining (if slightly terrifying, when Undyne was It) challenge to keep ahead of them. Playing with a couple of human kids wasn't going to be as much of an adrenaline rush, but they had a feeling that it'd still be fun.
Judging by Myles's reluctant expression, he wasn't particularly fond of the game himself, but he nodded anyway, and Beckett grinned.
"In that case..."
He flung himself at his brother and practically slapped him on the shoulder.
"You're It!"
Then he disappeared out the library door in a blur of motion.
When the pitter-pattering of his feet had disappeared, Myles turned to Frisk.
"Thank you, Frisk. You didn't need to offer anything for my sake."
They gave him a faint smile. "You looked pretty uncomfortable. Um, you don't actually have to play if you don't want to – I can just go after Beckett and say you tagged me before I could run away…?"
He shook his head. "I do not know how, but he will know if I do not play. Twin intuition is far from a myth, apparently." He eyed them for a moment, sizing them up – then smirked reluctantly.
"I'd advise you run."
They took his advice.
It was sometimes hard to remember that the monster's Ambassador wasn't an average human child, especially when they were with the Fowl twins. They never quite acted childish, but compared to Myles or Artemis (especially Artemis) they seemed… well, sort of normal.
Still, that impression of normality didn't last for long, Holly couldn't help but muse from her position hovering outside the East Wing library's window. She'd almost had a heart attack when the kid had glanced at the window, eyes narrowed with suspicion.
Eyes that sharp did not belong on such a round, friendly face.
Still, though it had seemed for a moment that the Mud Kid had seen her, it had been a false alarm. They'd looked away, obviously scanning the rest of the library for potential eavesdroppers before turning away and back to the twins' bantering.
Thank Frond for these uniforms. I don't think they'd overlook a heat haze hovering right outside the window.
So, possible crisis averted. The ambassador had run off with a grin on their face, and Myles had given chase, which meant he was still sticking close to the Ambassador like Artemis had requested. Not a single one of the team here on the grounds had been spotted yet. So far, things were going well.
Unfortunately, none of the rest of the fairies she could hear through her helmet seemed to think so.
"Oh Frond, oh Frond, oh Frond –"
Holly groaned and turned on her mike. "If you're so worried about the D'Arviting flower, then have someone take your place!"
"N-no offense, Captain, but that won't help. It's right here, it's on the Fowl Estate, it's poking around where the Berserker Gate used to be -!"
"Honestly, pull yourself together! Are you Section Eight or not?! Look, I'm not happy about this either. That monster is definitely a threat to our team. But we can't pull out! Myles is keeping an eye on the Ambassador, but if they get away from him, we need to keep an eye on them. We don't know how much they know about the People, or who else does."
"Yessir." The officer sounded none-too-happy, but at least he wasn't arguing or flailing in panic anymore. Well, so far as she could see.
"And besides," Holly smirked. "Monster or no, Butler's here. Juliet's here. Would you pit that flower against the Mud Man who took down a troll?"
"No sir." The officer sounded considerably happier now.
"Exactly. Back to work, Private."
"Yessir."
The line went silent, and the elf sighed, unsealing her helmet briefly so she could rub her temples.
"And I thought Recon was bad," she muttered.
Butler didn't act on any violent inclinations he had on the way back into the manor, despite him obviously taking Sans's threat for what it was. That plus him still answering Pap's questions earned him some points in his book.
He was definitely keeping an eye on Flowey, though, and the short skeleton was starting to wonder if there was something else going on he didn't know about. Had the weed done something to make the human suspicious? As far as he knew, no.
Welp, no use worrying about it for now. He could talk to the kid later. At least in this run, they were as dedicated to the safety of monsters in general as he was to Pap's, and that included the weed, unfortunately. If they picked up on something, they might tell him.
Though judging by the shrieks of laughter and running footsteps he heard a few minutes after being inside, they might be a little distracted to be picking up on important things like that.
"'s that the kiddo?" He asked Tori, just to be sure. He hadn't heard them laugh like that on the Surface – the last time they'd sounded so happy had been in the Underground.
"It would seem so." She was smiling wistfully. "They are playing a game, I believe."
A game? It was hard to wrap his skull around the idea of the kid, what with their dead tagalong and being a time-traveling anomaly, just playing a game with another human kid.
Still, that definitely turned out to be the case, because a few minutes later, Frisk and the other human kid from earlier, the one with yellow hair, came charging around a corner and slammed into Toriel's legs at Mach 1.
"Oof!" Frisk stumbled back, wincing, giggles still slipping from them.
"Ohmygod, I'm so sorry, Your Majesty!" The other human blustered, blue eyes wide. "We weren't looking where we were going, and – "
"It's quite alright, child." Toriel chuckled warmly.
Sans took that moment, with the blonde kid sighing with relief at Tori's motherly approval, to quickly check the boy's LV.
Beckett Fowl.
LV 1
He hadn't expected any differently, but it didn't hurt to make sure.
"WHO ARE YOU RUNNING FROM?" His bro questioned. "ARE YOU PLAYING TAG?"
"Yeah!" Frisk managed, grinning up at him. "Me, Beckett, and Myles." They snickered weakly. "Myles is It."
"He's not very good at it!" Beckett added cheerfully.
There was the pattering of running footsteps coming from the way the kids had come from, and Beckett gasped dramatically.
"Oh no! Frisk, quick, this way!" He bolted down another hallway.
The kid paused for a moment, glancing briefly, questioningly, at the monsters.
Tori smiled at them. Papyrus went "NYEH-HEH-HEH." Sans lifted up a hand next to his side and signed Go play kid. Time anomaly or no, the kid needed to have some fun every now and then, right? They'd probably go crazy if they were serious all the time.
They grinned and followed the blonde.
Barely a few moments later, another human kid stumbled into the room, obviously out of breath. He paused when he saw Sans and his bro, obviously not having expected walking skeletons in his house.
"'sup."
"HELLO OTHER SMALL HUMAN! ARE YOU THE MYLES HUMAN THAT THE OTHER NEW SMALL HUMAN MENTIONED?"
"Yes," he managed. "G-good to meet you."
Sans checked again.
Myles Fowl
LV 1
The boy turned his head a little to glance at Sans – his eyes were sharp, incredibly so, and narrowed with suspicion.
Then they slid past him to glance at his bro – or, rather, at the yellow flower still grumbling in the crook of his bro's elbow. Huh.
"'kiddo and your bro went that way," he said, deciding not to comment. Too much effort. Besides, if he did comment on it, or distract him, then the kid would only get more suspicious.
"Thank you," he said, audibly out of breath.
"YOU SOUND VERY TIRED, SMALL HUMAN MYLES!"
Myles flinched at the skeleton's boisterously loud voice, but nodded.
"I am… not the best at physical activities. And Beckett has been training with Juliet in his free time."
"IS JULIET THE YELLOW-HAIRED HUMAN PRINCESS THAT UNDYNE HAS BEEN TALKING ABOUT?"
He nodded again, and started off in the direction the other kids had run.
"WAIT, HUMAN MYLES! SINCE YOU ARE SO OBVIOUSLY TIRED, WOULD YOU PERHAPS LIKE SOME ASSISTANCE IN CATCHING UP TO YOUR BROTHER FROM THE GREAT PAPYRUS?"
Myles eyed Pap for a moment, obviously skeptical.
"I… would appreciate it, yes."
"NYEH-HEH-HEH! IN THAT CASE –" Pap scooped up the kid in one arm and took off running. "LET US MAKE HASTE!"
"Hey hey hey!" Flowey protested. "Put me down first, you big oaf!"
They disappeared down the hall, and Sans snickered. The kid's expression as Papyrus had easily lifted him up off the ground had been priceless.
"Well, it looks like they're having fun." Tori chuckled again. "I do not believe I have seen Frisk so carefree in a long time."
"Yeah." Despite the answer, Sans wasn't really paying attention to the Queen right at that moment.
Why are all the humans here so suspicious of Flowey? Something's goin' on.
Looks like someone's starting to put the pieces together...
Unlike Artemis at age twelve, Myles is willing to put up with childish antics and indulge in them himself. And despite his cinnamon-roll personality, Beckett IS a Fowl. He knows the value of blackmail, especially when it comes to his brother. After all, what else is a sibling supposed to do to stop the bad jokes? :3
Oh look, Chara's actually not at all serious for, like, the first page of this chapter. And then immediately dives right back into seriousness again. Lighten up a bit, kiddo. At least Frisk's having fun. Being an Ambassador is stressful enough on its own without adding mysterious invisible unknowns and death into the equation, they kinda need to de-stress a bit.
(And oh look, more panicked fairies.)
Daniel and I have worked out a basic idea for a cover image for M est P – or, more accurately, the series it'll be a part of (which we have yet to name, though I kinda like the idea of calling it "Tales of Humans, Fairies, and Monsters"). Tentative plan now is for there to be at least two sequels. You're welcome!
And now for worldbuilding, brought to you by danielxcutter and me: What do fairy souls look like?
Fairy souls look like a mix between monster souls and human souls – they're upside-down heart shapes, like monsters, but colored the same way as human souls. They also have a transparent glowing blue veined shell around their soul, kinda like a network of tree roots. That shell represents their magic, and the more magic a fairy has in their system, the brighter blue the shell is. Fairies who are out of magic or who have lost their magic completely no longer have that shell.
Interestingly enough, Artemis's soul had a similar shell of magic around it after he stole magic from the fairies in the time-tunnel that went to and from Limbo – a very faint shell of magic. When he ran out of magic, the shell disappeared – though considering the circumstances of his resurrection after the Crash, who knows what his soul actually looks like now?
