Two Worlds, Two Souls
Chapter 4: A Voice
Angel's Point of View:
When morning came, I half expected for sun to come in, glaring onto my face. When I didn't feel its similar warmth, I sat up looking around for the window. I forgot that the room that I was in with my sister didn't have one.
When I lifted my head, I noticed that I was nearly burying my sister under my arms who was curled into the warmth of my chest. She was still deeply asleep when I came to. I simply laid there and watched my sister for a while, seeing her peaceful face, her stomach filled and happiness in her eyes again.
I was beyond elated.
After a while of watching her, I slowly pulled myself from her arms and stepped onto the hardwood floor. She snuggled back into my warmth of the bed and my pillow while I stepped away. She grabbed the object and placed it under her arms, holding it comfortingly once I was gone from her.
Sneaking out of the room was an easy task. My sister was more of a heavy sleeper. So long as she could get her hands on a pillow or toy, or perhaps even someone else. She would sleep. She had my pillow in her arms to keep her occupied while I would explore and wake up.
Leaving my sister for a bit, I quietly stepped out into the hallway where a small light was on. I could see that Toriel had left one on for us to be able to see in case we had woken before her in the night. I smiled at the kind gesture and looked down the hallway to see if she was awake yet.
It seemed she wasn't…
While the house was quiet, I took to exploring on my own. There were three bedrooms there in that home. Two of them open for us to explore, our own that Toriel had given us, and her own down at the end of the hallway. A third bedroom was locked for whatever reason, but I could see a name that had been carved into it some time ago that had painted over. It was too dark to see the name, but I could look another time.
Besides the bedrooms, I'd seen a bathroom, living room, kitchen, a front entrance and what seemed to be a dramatic entrance to a basement. It seemed the house itself wasn't very large, so learning its layout took hardly five minutes. It would be the ruins I would pay special attention to.
I took a cautious step through the front door, it creaking open loudly and I worriedly looked back to see if I'd woken any of the others. While I held my breath and waited to hear any changes, I heard nothing. Toriel and Frisk were still deeply asleep.
I breathed out a sigh of relief and took a moment to peak through the door and see the outside. The ruins all seemed to hold a hue of purple to the stone around them, looking incredibly old and many of them dangerously close to collapse. It seemed that Toriel's house was the only safe location that wasn't looking absolutely dreadful. The caverns were dark in many areas, but it seemed the main path was bright enough with crystals that glowed. They slipped out between the cracks. They were incredibly bright…
That might be something useful I could grab for later on…
I wasn't entirely tempted to leave Toriel's house yet with the exception of her at my side to know where I was going. She knew the paths much better than I or Frisk could even fathom. I pulled back inside the house, curious and hesitant about the outside surroundings. I would go back to that in time. A change of pace would be to look elsewhere.
Upon entering back into the house, I noticed a clock on the wall. Its hands seemed to face the time of four o'clock, much too early for anyone to be up at. The only reason I could assume I was up so early was from how long I had slept the other day, catching up and sleep, resting, as well as recovering. No one would be awake for a while. I had the entire house to explore.
The only place there was left to discover was the basement area with a very dramatic staircase. It cascaded down against the walls, changing direction every five or so steps. I slowly made my way toward it and saw a few items down below. Toriel seemed to use the area at the bottom of the steps for storage. I could see some extra food in boxes or on shelves. Some clothes had been pulled out of a box, but I could only assume that was stuff she planned to alter so that I could wear them.
Her body size compared to mine was quite different.
However, past all the objects I saw, I noticed that the basement seemed to stretch onwards. A long path went past all the items that it seemed Toriel seemed to stack in order to prevent anyone from looking past. However, I could see a small path through what was in the corner, behind the open boxes of clothes.
Why would she cut that path off?
I stared at the direction for a moment before deciding that it would be okay to check it out, so long as I remembered where I was going.
I crawled through the objects and passed through the small opening to see a long hallway behind the items. It seemed to turn to the right at the end of the hallway. It seemed to lead on for a while, but what was the harm of traversing it?
The hallway trailed on for quite a way before it turned. I followed after it, seeing how empty it was as I walked. There were a few times I worried about turning back around and heading back before I got too far, but with the path being so strait, I pressed on regardless.
Finally, sometime later, I found myself at a door. I blinked at it a few times before I felt something cool on my bare feet. There was air down here; it reminded me of the winter from the frosty chill I felt. I approached the door carefully. I saw there was no one or anything down there, but as I came side to side with the door, it was icy to the touch. On my warmed skin from sleeping, it almost felt nice, if not for the bite afterward.
The door was heavy and large, ancient from the way it matched the ruins behind me. I didn't think I could move it easily, and probably it would be difficult to close. I didn't dare try, though I did lean my back against the door and relaxed a moment, feeling the cooler air.
I wondered what was on the other side of the door? My first through was that there was a cold storage behind it. Toriel had just about everything any other house did, so why would a downstairs freeze locker be any different. It was very possible that she stocked up on materials being out here in the middle of nowhere.
While I knew it wasn't realistic, I thought it possibly being a winter wonderland behind those doors. Wouldn't it be incredible if there were different biomes down in the underground that housed the different kinds of people? I imagined underground lakes, waterfalls, lava, cities, snow… the only thing I couldn't grasp was if there was a type of sky or stars here. Were there magical crystals like what I saw outside of Toriel's house that glowed during the day and night to show the patterns of the sun and moon?
A knocking sound came from behind me. My eyes widened and I flew away from the door. The rapping I head was quiet, almost none existent. I would have passed it off as nothing if it wasn't for the soft voice weakly coming through from the other side.
"Hey, ya there today?"
The voice was masculine. It was fairly deep and at first listening to it, was very comforting to hear. The pace they set when they spoke was easy going, something that had me curious yet cautious.
"Hn… guess not…" I heard the male sigh. "Welp, guess I'll have to just practice on the door by myself. Sucks when she's not here…"
I heard a body slide against the heavy door, though it didn't move in the slightest. I suppose the man on the other side wasn't trying to open it or wasn't all that physically strong.
"Ya know up dog?"
He paused for a moment, as if hoping that I would respond or perhaps it would be Toriel on the other side of the door. His voice didn't sound incredibly older like hers was. The only way I could relate it to would be that he was a young adult and that she was a slightly older mother. He sounded closer to my age then her's.
"Paps would be replyin' 'what?' like he does."
Another pause.
"And I'd go 'up dog, don't ya know'?"
I could hear him chuckling then.
"Pap would be fumin', trying ta understand what I'm sayin'. He'd reply 'I don't understand'." He used this incredibly higher pitched voice to mimic someone else he knew. "And I'd repeat it back to him. 'up dog'."
I tried to hold in my own giggles as I listened to him.
"And he goes, 'What's up dog?'"
He burst out laughing then, hardly hiding it. It was a boasting laugh, one that didn't hold back. As much as I was nervous around this new person, his soul didn't feel dangerous, but he certainly had it guarded as well. I tried my best to keep my presence unknown to him and that he truly was only speaking to a door, but I struggled.
"Ah… it's weird when she's not here, then again… it isn't the time we normally meet. Pretty boneheaded thing for me to do. Quite bonely without her."
"Pft…" A sound escaped me then and I struggled to hold it back with his jokes. I couldn't help but find them funny… yet I was the one who normally laughed at anything…
Things went quiet on the other side of the door and I felt his soul questioning. He seemed… to be like me… able to stretch his soul out and feel those around him and how they respond.
"Who's there?" The voice was deeper now that there was another soul involved. They had discovered me from my small mistake.
"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to bother you. I was just exploring my friend's home and ended up finding this door. Then I heard you on the other side… your jokes are really punny."
A few beats passed of silence before I heard laughing on the other side. His soul seemed to ease up a bit, but still felt a bit guarded. "Well… I wasn't expectin' to find another pun lover. What happened ta the older lady?"
"Sleeping, it's only four in the morning you know. It's awful early to try and meet up with someone, unless, this is normal?"
"I could say the same to ya, Precious."
I felt a twinge of irritation from the pet name. "Don't push your luck, Darling."
He chuckled. "I think you and me are gonna be some good friends."
I rolled my eyes but giggled back. "I'd like to think so. You're a pretty cool guy. Could I know your name?"
"Name's Sans, Sans the skeleton."
"My name's Angel, and uh… girl?"
"Well I gathered that, bone-head." Sans snorted from the other side. "What's the matter, it's not like yer a human, right?"
I frowned at that. Well I kinda am, so that is a serious question. "Is that a bad thing?"
Sans hummed at me. "The other lady asks me the same thin' when we brin' up this conversation."
I blinked. "You must mean Toriel. She and my sister were readying joke books all night before bed."
Sans was silent for a moment. "That sounds like her, she and I joke with the door bein' the only thin' between us."
Confusion washed over me. "Haven't the two of you met outside of here before?"
A huff I heard come out of him. "She doesn't come out of there, Angel. Even for supplies. She's locked herself in the ruins for a long time. I don't know why, but she has her reasons."
Locked herself inside? Then why is she so close to this entrance? My questions I tried to keep to myself, but I was burning to ask the new friend I'd made.
"Sans?"
"Yeah?"
"Are humans bad?"
"Hasn't anyone told ya about the history of us monsters? We're locked down here cuz of them." Sans' tone wasn't rough or angry, it sounded like he had… just accepted that fact. It was… terrible to hear that from him.
I knew monsters weren't how humans saw them…
"But are all humans bad? I'd like to believe that there are good and bad ones, no different than monsters can be, right?"
Sans chuckled at that. "Ya sound just like her. But… it's not a bad thought ta have. We're all stuck down here; maybe a good human will come by and set us free. Probably not, but nice ta think that way."
The way this conversation was shifting was worrying, but finding out more information was important…
"Sans, what would happen if we were to find a human?"
"They'd be taken ta the king to have their soul used ta break the barrier for us. We only need one more ta do it."
"W-we've killed humans before?"
I could only imagine the strange look on his face. "Do ya know anythin' about this world?"
I sighed and couldn't help the joke that escaped my lips, even with a shaky breath. "I guess you could say I've lived under a rock all my life."
"Awe… that was bad, even for ya, Precious." Yet I could still hear his laughing on the other side of the door. It couldn't have been that bad if he was still laughing somewhat. "How long ya plannin' ta stay with Toriel?"
"I'm not sure… I'm a bit indebted to her after she helped my sister and I, and she seems so lonely… we only just arrived a few days ago…"
"That's why she was so excited last night." Sans' voice I could barely hear that time through the door, he was most likely muttering to himself. He came back a moment later, a little louder. "Well, I'll have ta talk to ya every now and then too. It was cool havin' another person to talk ta."
I couldn't help but feel myself nodding, craving he newfound friendship, even though I knew it was a dangerous one. "Me too. Do you come by here often?"
"Well… I patrol for humans every day, so I guess you could say I'd be in the area."
"I'd really like that. This is all so… new and different. I've never been out this far before."
"Sure, Precious, just let me know when ya escape yer dungeon and I'll take ya out to Grillby's."
I sucked in a breath, both feeling mortified and goofy from the strange nickname he gave me, and the fact that he didn't mind the one I gave back... "Sounds like it'll be a blast, Darling, but I better get back before Toriel wakes up. I don't want her to worry. She's going to take us around the ruins later today, my sister is really looking forward to it."
"Cool." I heard Sans rise from his spot, the crunching of something blow his body giving him away. I could only think the sound could be snow, but I wasn't sure. "Hey, learn some more puns before I come back. Keep thin's interestin', Angel."
I stood myself and held my back against the door for a few final moments before I chuckled at him. "Just as soon as you learn how to flirt better, you bonehead."
A snort escaped him. "I'll get right on that."
And like that, I heard him step away, the crunching of the snow sounded further and further away from there as he left. It was strange, I felt a longing feeling as his soul pulled away from mine, a complete stranger that I'd hardly known for an hour.
What did that mean?
Witch's Note:
Oh my God! I friggin' love Sans! He is my absolute favorite character with Papyrus and Frisk as a close second! I've always been a fan of the skeleton brothers. They were a heavy influence on the story and the direction it took when it came to how the girls adapt to the underground life!
Not to mention, what girl doesn't love stupid cheesy puns that makes you burst out laughing?
Hope you guys are enjoying the chapter! Love you all and see you next week! Please don't forget to review!
Halloween Witch
