(10)
The crowd that had gathered to watch the duel stood stunned, they had just witnessed an actual fight take place right outside their town. Kids were abuzz about how the silver-armored guy jumped so high and how Papyrus was actually pretty cool. But they still thought he wasn't as cool as Undyne, especially a certain yellow-scaled monster kid…
Papyrus, L, and Toriel were walking back towards town when a familiar voice rang out from the crowd. "hey, nice fight you two." Sans was leaned against a tree, his hands in his pockets as always.
"DID YOU SEE HOW WELL I DID, SANS? I AM UNQUESTIONABLY ALMOST-NEARLY-JUST A LITTLE LESS COOL THAN UNDYNE NOW! OH, AND L FOUGHT PRETTY WELL TOO… BUT DID YOU SEE MY BLUE ATTACKS?! THEY WERE LIKE…" He held his mitted hands out as wide as he could, going on about how strong Undyne's training was apparently making him. As Papyrus went on about how awesome he was in his own little monologue world, Sans beckoned L over.
"so, L huh? i'm not one to talk when it comes to short names, but i think ya got me beat pal. anyways, thanks for taking it easy on my brother, he really needed that. undyne's been giving him warrior training, but he's been having… mixed results, so that'll give him the drive to keep going, at least for a while."
The undead fiddled with his sheathed blade, somewhat distracted by Papyrus' excited mood and the now dispersing crowd of monsters who'd seen the sparring match. "A favor for a few friends. Papyrus invited me and Toriel to your home, will you be coming?"
"nah, i gotta get to my post out in waterfall… what? never seen a guy who works two jobs? just means double the legally required number of breaks… anyways, don't you and tori have some big mission or adventure you need to be going on? pretty sure she said it was 'of dire importance' or something stressful like that. i think you guys should get on that, and that's comin' from the master of procrastination himself."
L silently considered Sans' words for a few moments. "...You may be right, Sans. But I would hate to just leave after Papyrus invited us…"
"nah, don't worry about it. i'll tell him you guys had to get going, he'll understand. besides, he's going to be in his own little world for a while after that fight."
Sure enough, Papyrus was still monologuing.
Sans gave L a somewhat wider grin than usual. "you and your lady-friend over there get going, wouldn't want undyne to try and stop you if you take too long to get outta dodge, people are bound to be reporting things right about… now."
'Just what is Sans implying about me and Toriel…?'
Sans winked, seemingly knowing just what the undead was thinking. L gave him a slightly suspicious look before he walked right past the still-monologuing Papyrus and back to Toriel, who had tried her best to tune out the skeleton's long-winded speech.
"We should just keep going. Sans said people will be reporting what happened here, so we need to get moving again."
Toriel looked relieved. "Good… I doubt I can handle even seeing Papyrus' spaghetti after the first time… and to think you can eat that, you must be made of iron."
L actually grinned at that, then kept walking East with her. "Well, actually, there is this particular pyromancy I know…"
vvv
As Papyrus continued to monologue, Sans felt a drop of sweat forming on his skull as he watched the duo walk East towards Waterfall. He'd felt it the first time he'd seen that human, and it's had him more on edge than ever. He seemed like an agreeable guy on the outside, but his LOVE and EXP betrayed him. Where he was from, the guy had been killing things like it was going out of style.
Every time Sans got near him, he could feel the sensation of a strong soul, but it wasn't natural, not in the least. It seemed more like an amalgamation of souls all piled into one with vague hints of many human souls, strong standout souls he couldn't recognize at all, and what he swore were tons of duplicate souls. How L had managed to absorb human souls in the first place was beyond him, but the duplicates definitely caught his attention.
Souls are unique, and to have multiple of the same soul constituting L's soul meant that he would need to be a part of a time loop, albeit one that didn't reset his soul. Whether or not L's mind and memory are like most peoples' and gets reverted when time resets, he wasn't sure. He'd have to get to the bottom of that…
'later though, can't skip out on my breaks.'
There was something else bothering him, now that his attention was drawn to it, something definitely felt off about… well, everything in general. Sans knew he was unique in that he was the only one capable of retaining memories beyond resets across multiple timelines, but he just couldn't place a finger on what was different this time. Obviously, Frisk wasn't involved this time around. It seemed like other smaller things were different, yet they also felt as if they'd always been like that. He figured it was a quirk of how his memory interacted with a timeline going out of whack or changing drastically.
So far though, things were going about as smooth as they could. Despite having LV and EXP beyond anything Frisk ever got, L wasn't showing any genocidal tendencies. L had also become close friends with Toriel and even managed to get her out of the Ruins and traveling with him, which was also new. What would make Toriel leave the Ruins to speak with Asgore? Another thing he'd have to figure out, again, at a later time. Beyond some concerns, if things kept up at this rate, Sans figured he wouldn't really need to get involved other than to put to rest the feelings of curiosity and slight unease the situation was giving him.
After contemplating for a bit, Sans brought a bony finger to his forehead and flicked off some snow that had settled atop his skull. "maybe it's got something to do with the surface, could explain a lot of this."
Papyrus caught Sans' talking to himself, distracting him from his monologue. "-AND… SANS, ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING? HEY… WHERE DID EVERYBODY GO? SANS, DID YOU TELL THEM ONE OF YOUR PUNS AGAIN?"
Sans was knocked from his thoughts by his brother finally realizing he was talking to himself. "eh? oh, L and toriel just had to get going, i'm sure they'll be back to hang out later. anywho, i'm going to grillby's…" Sans gave a shrug and walked off into town. He seemed as nonchalant as usual, but he was feeling troubled and did his best to hide it like he'd been doing around L and Toriel so far.
Papyrus watched as his brother slinked off to town, now realizing he was alone. He shouted after his brother: "WELL, I AM SURE UNDYNE WILL LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT IT!" and then pulled his phone from his battle body, and just as he was about to make the call, his phone rang. He answered it…
An earsplitting yell issued forth from the cell phone.
"WHAT THE HELL, PAPYRUS?!"
vvv
Toriel and L had just passed Sans' empty second sentry post, and they were still discussing magic. L's hood was off, and Toriel felt a little warmer in the enclosed cavern, so she left her cloak's front undone, revealing the dark-blue Delta Rune.
Toriel had just got done asking L how he casts his spells, in response, he unsheathed his claymore as he walked and held it before him.
"I use my claymore as a catalyst for sorceries, it is essentially a long piece of enchanted steel, so I can use it to channel my magic. The tassel is actually a rather powerful talisman, which lets me cast miracles as well. I am also capable of using a good number of pyromancies, but I need gauntlets or gloves to use them since pyromancy requires one to actually hold a flame." He reversed his grip on the claymore and held it out for Toriel to hold. He had never let anyone else put their hands on his claymore, not once, but considering all she'd done for him, L felt he could trust Toriel. "Would you like to hold it?"
She gingerly accepted it with both hands, the heavy blade being totally alien to her. Her magical sensitivity let her feel just how strong of an enchantment it really had, and she could feel the significant use it had gotten. It had been the catalyst for quite a few spells in its time. The talisman felt like a silken smooth cloth, and just touching it gave her visions of the long-lost moon she had once seen so long ago, now only a vague memory...
She gave it a lightly-forced testing swish, before shooting a look to L. "It certainly feels potent… how was it enchanted?"
"I used quite a few materials to do it, the magical ones being pieces of a material called 'titanite', essentially, after I improved the steel itself, I had hammered in the enchantment into the whole of the weapon with the titanite pieces, green and blue ones specifically."
"So a kind of magical forging, then? I expected wizards or some other spell caster to have made it for you…" She carefully handed the weapon back to L, who took it and resheathed it.
"Truth be told, other than myself and the unfortunate soul who previously owned it, you are the first person to actually get their hands on it."
'He is willing to let me hold his most prized possession… his life depends on that blade, and he trusts me that much…' Toriel felt happy to know he was that open and trusting with her. It was comforting knowing their trust was mutual, she had told him some rather deeply personal things, after all.
A waterfall could be heard ahead, it wasn't roaring loud, but it could be heard from within the cavern for a little ways. Once they caught sight of it, they saw just how deceptive that sound was. Rocks the size of small children were being tossed about like they were nothing, and it flowed right over the path.
L examined the falls, deciding the best course of action to stop the rocks from buffeting them off the edge of the falls. "A perfect time for Iron Flesh, if I do say so…" He readied the pyromancy in his right hand and slammed it to his chest, becoming a reflective steel color all over. "Stay to my right, the rocks will just bounce right off me while this is active."
Toriel looked him over and decided to trust in his spellcasting. "Alright L… I will trust in your skills, that spell sounds strong from what you told me of it earlier."
He gave her a literally steely smile, then slowly walked next to her into the flow, allowing himself to take the rocks now that he had far greater poise and weight. They forded the waterfall without issue, and L had taken little in the way of damage.
Once they were safe on the other side, Toriel gave L a check over, making sure he didn't get hurt and was just faking it. She even checked with her magic. "That is quite the spell, L…"
"It is… but I am going to be stuck like this for a few minutes, and the most I can do is walk intimidatingly." He demonstrated the hilariously slow and awkward walk he had to do.
The two kept going forward, and thankfully for L the Iron Flesh wore off, letting him walk normally again. Just ahead, the cavern brightened, like it opened up to the outer underground somewhere above. They walked into the opened up area and noticed an oddly out of place patch of tall grass, when L heard something above.
Footsteps. Armored ones, and they were heading in their direction. L had to be quick to avoid whoever's attention they were about to attract. He held onto his claymore in its sheath, casting the Hush and Hidden Body spells, then took Toriel by the hand and started leading her to the grass.
"L… what-" He got her into the grass and managed to get her to hide, her black cloak doing the job nicely. His stealth spells worked as well, hiding his eye-catching bright armor and metallic footfalls from perception. The steps were about to crest just above, and Toriel now understood what was happening. L looked up…
He saw a flash of blue and a knight standing above, wielding what looked to be a glowing blue spear. The knight was half in light and half in dark, a glowing eye visible through the helmet, and what looked like a red plume coming from the back of the helmet. The knight's eye swept across the path they had been walking.
The knight kept looking until they eventually seemed to have given up the search, then backed off, disappearing from view. L and Toriel remained still for a few more minutes before L drew his claymore and took the risk to move out of the grass once his stealth spells wore off, not getting any response from above.
"I believe the knight has left… we need to keep moving."
Toriel stood up, brushing the grass off her cloak and the dirt from her knees pressing against her robe on the ground. She joined L outside the grass, standing next to him.
Toriel did her best to see what was above them, but all she saw was the light filtering in from one side. "I wonder who that could have been, it seems like they were waiting for us here."
A small yellow blur jumped out of the grass, almost excitedly running around the duo before it stopped just before them. L noticed it was the kid who was looking at him back in Snowdin and sheathed his claymore, not wanting to scare him.
The monster kid was looking rapidly between the ridge and L, before finally calming down enough to actually speak once he noticed both L and Toriel looking at him disapprovingly. "Oh, that was Undyne! How do you two not know who she is, she's only the coolest knight in the whole Royal Guard!"
Toriel and L shared a troubled look between each other. L crossed his arms. "So Sans was right, she has caught wind of us. I get the suspicious feeling that is not the last time we will be meeting. Anyways, we need to be going." L pointed to the kid with a gauntleted hand. "You, go home. This is not a game, and you should stay out of these tunnels until we have made it through."
With an "Awww…" the kid slinked off, almost tripping as he did. But he knew his way around these tunnels, he'd be back. There's no way he was going to not see what was going to happen between the two knights!
L watched the kid walk back the way they had come, and once convinced the child had left, he and Toriel continued further into the Waterfall area.
As they walked, Toriel noticed just how on edge L was after the first encounter, his hand jumped to his sword at echoes of his own armored footsteps, thinking them to be Undyne's- She stopped him and set her hand on his plated shoulder, getting his undivided attention.
She needed to make sure he was thinking straight, he must have been remembering his battles on the surface... "L. You need to calm down. Undyne is another soldier following Asgore's plot, but she will likely not be able to hurt you. Do not worry for me either, monsters do not hurt monsters. Just… try to think about a way to defeat her if you two fight that will not kill her. Remember how fragile monsters are in your presence. Whatever plan you make, I will be sure to stay out of the way if it bothers you. Please… just do not hurt her, she is just another monster convinced of Asgore's plan."
L looked to the ground at Toriel's pleading yet strict gaze, his hand slid from his claymore, and he slowly buttoned the straps on its sheath over the handguard to keep him from quickly pulling it- a mechanism of the sheath he had never used in the field. "...I… I apologize, I was just having… scarring memories involving plume-helmed spear-wielders. I do not think disarming her is an option, she seemed to summon her weapon like Papyrus, only much quicker. Striking her is not an option… maybe if I ran? I am highly agile, and I doubt she is as fast as me. I have been wearing armor for hundreds of years-"
Toriel smiled at him. 'He is still willing to use my peaceful tactics.' "Good… if we get into a confrontation, outrun her. I am sure she will tire before you, you could probably run her into exhaustion if you needed to." Toriel slowly slid her hand from the warrior's shoulder, before giving him his space.
"Thank you for keeping my head clear, Toriel. I can get through this without harming anyone, I just need to keep in mind that this place is not the same as the world above…" L let out an airless sigh to de-stress. Eventually, the two kept walking, this time more relaxed and overall less on-edge.
As she walked, Toriel looked around the caverns around her, recalling memories. The occasional twinkling rock in the wall reminded her... "I do remember passing through these falls, long ago… it is actually very beautiful ahead. Just wait until you see it, you will know what I mean, L."
For a few moments, L was silent, thinking of the most beautiful place he could recall seeing outside the Underground. "...There is actually one place in my world where I go for some peace, a massive, sprawling underground lake, where great trees grow up from the water and support much of the land above. There is a single dragon who lives there, a peaceful one. It simply sits in its nest, not once have I seen it leave or act in hostility. I visit it from time to time, I like to sit before it when I tire of fighting. The place is not much more colorful than the rest of the world, but it is quite awe-inspiring to see..."
The idea of the man having at least one sanctuary on the surface actually made Toriel somewhat glad, knowing it wasn't all bad.
"...Of course, my first visit there I was accosted by mushroom people, curse-breathing basilisks, giant man-eating clams, and a Hydra Greatbeast, of all things…"
Her relief fell. Every rose has its thorns, she supposed.
The duo's next "obstacle" was a simple puzzle involving flowers that only bloom into a bridge if there's four in a row on the water, but the bodies of water they needed to bridge were only ankle deep and weren't flowing nearly fast enough to warrant trying to rely on flowers to cross them. The second time the flowers were needed, they just stepped across the gap. Was this here for smaller monsters…? A doorway on the northern edge of the wall led them to the next area…
L looked up, and he saw glimmering stones far above. The cavern had become incredibly tall, with twinkling rocks set all across the ceiling of the cavern, shining like stars. The ironic thing was, this was the closest thing to a starry night L could remember seeing. Toriel spotted a familiar blue flower, and L saw a sign on the wall which read "WISHING ROOM."
Toriel gently ran a hand across the flower's petals while remaining silent near it, causing a voice to echo from the plant. "A long time ago, monsters would whisper their wishes to the stars in the sky. If you hoped with all your heart, your wish would come true. Now, all we have are these sparkling stones on the ceiling…"
The two kept walking, taking in the sights of the cavern's "stars" above. When they'd pass by a flower, Toriel would touch it, letting it echo.
"Thousands of people wishing together can't be wrong! The king will prove that."
"C'mon sis! make a wish!"
"I wish my sister and I will see the real stars someday…" That one, in particular, made L feel sorrow for these people. Even if they got to the surface somehow, the world above never changed time, all they'd see is that accursed sunset forever, the night would never truly come.
The end of the hall had a telescope and another flower. Toriel inspected and used the telescope, bringing her eye to the lens and looking around the ceiling with it. L touched the flower, eliciting it to speak. "Ah… seems my horoscope is the same as last week's…"
Toriel remembered the "hidden" wall, but the telescope gave a clue as to where it was. She gestured for L to follow her once she spotted the wall ahead, getting his attention.
"Hmm? Ah, yes. Let us get going then."
The flower behind him had recorded his gruff voice and continued to play it as the duo continued on through the hidden wall.
"...Let us get going…"
(10)
