Chapter 20:

Cashing Out

It was fall when I stepped out from behind the barrier back into the light of the sun. The weight of leaving my friends and family underground was like stones tied to my feet, and the pressure on my chest from dusting King Asgore made it hard to breathe. I could still feel the dust on my skin as I stepped back out into the world I belonged but never felt more a stranger. Was this really worth everything I just left.

I trudged my way back down the mountain to the awaiting town and people, none of which was really home to me. A few people muttered about me as I passed by, one even snapping a picture on their phone. It was as though I was a twelve year old spectacle. Had I really become that much of news?

A police officer stopped me and asked me to follow him to a station to identify if I was the missing person he thought I was, and I had to agree. There was nothing else for me to do at the moment, so why not. He put me in his car and drove me the few blocks to the building he worked in. It was bland enough that I didn't think I'd be able to find it again even in an emergency.

The inside was just as dull when he brought me in and compared my face to a picture. It was me alright, just with shortened hair and less scars. The officer sat me down and asked me questions on what happened and who had taken me. None of which I answered with the word true answer of monster because I was afraid they'd belittle my friends with racism.

After everything he asked he informed me I would have to be put in foster care, my guardians from before having given up on me the moment I went missing. This news was nothing surprising to me, but I did feel a prang of guilt in my heart for leaving my monster mother alone.

From there my story grew dull with the hum drum of hoping foster homes and counseling centers. They all couldn't handle my "bouts of depression and loneliness" and sometimes punished me for not wanting to tell them why. By the time I reached seventeen I was dropped early from the system and left to be on my own.

It was rough getting used to not having a system care for your well being, but I managed. I had gotten a job as a cashier at some retail business that paid enough to get me a low income apartment and food. There I worked a few months before my trouble really began.

Sans paused my story by reaching over and touching my arm. "You alright? I can see it's gettin' to ya a bit..."

My hands shook some and I guess my eyes were looking misty as I told him the story of the past six years. I shook my head and put my hand over his.

"I'm fine. I want you to know."

He nodded but didn't remove his hand. I was glad he didn't because that last year was my roughest.