Two Worlds, Two Souls
Chapter 6: Beyond the Iron Door
Angel's Point of View:
It had been four days later since my so called 'argument' with Toriel.
Since that day, she refused to talk about anything that related to beyond the ruins or take us outside of her home. She would travel the grounds on her own and would watch us during the days. Only during the night was that she couldn't keep an eye on my sister and myself. It was during those times that I would leave the comfort of my own bed and sneak under the house through the passage. I wanted to see if Sans was waiting where I'd last heard him on the other side of that door.
Every night I was disappointed to not hear him there.
It had been a difficult set of days where Toriel refused to speak of any topic that my sister and I brought up. Mostly we tried to avoid anything that had to do with the human world, the monster world, or anything that would aggravate her. Yet somehow, something would come up. I would often have to retreat to my own room to do research on the history of this world. I knew that Toriel was watching me. She was frustrated and stubborn, but I'm sure she knew the feeling of being held against our own will since she'd been trapped in the underground all of her life.
Perhaps at one point I could convince her otherwise.
I was afraid of what she was telling me, but I also had idiotic optimism to befriend the monsters down here and keep them from harming my sister and I.
I'd go ever night to see if I could meet up with Sans again. He was an interesting monster that I was intrigued to meet again, yet… I was afraid that I'd frightened him off since I hadn't seen him for so long… It worried me.
I'd lost my only friend I had in the underground. What a wonderful job, Angel…
I brought many books to continue to read through and work while I would wait on him. I tried to return around the same time to make sure to line up with Sans. I would think of any excuses as for why he hadn't returned, even if I knew that there was nothing I'd done to offend him.
If so, why hadn't he returned?
I groaned and sat back from my books. A small glowing crystal I'd brought down from the level above in order for me to use my books and take notes. I read about the current royal family, king Asgore and his wife, queen Tori, along with their children, prince Asreil and princess Chara. Within the most recent history books, I noticed that both of the children had sadly pasted away and the queen had vanished after their deaths. Yet it gave me some hope, due to the fact that princess Chara had been a human that was adopted into the Dreemurr family. If they had been kind enough to take a human under their wing, there must have been some kindness and desire to put the past behind them and learn to live with humans again.
I was wide awake. Nothing to do other than research and wait. I was running low on history books since that's what took up most of my time, as well as passing that information onto my sister. I was also lucky enough to find a map of the underground from just about ten years ago. I spend many days trying to recreate the map to a normal scale in the instant that I needed to know where we were traveling if I could get Toriel to let us leave. However, I struggled with that since whenever I made some progress with the map and recreating it, it was also lost to the fireplace once Toriel got her hands on it.
I learned quickly after that, I needed to keep all notes hidden from her or guarded one hundred percent of the time…
"I remember tears streaming down your face when I said I'll never let you go… when all those shadows almost killed your life…" I sucked in a breath, passing the time as I thought to a song my mother often sang for myself and my sister. "I remember you said, don't leave me here alone… but all that's dead and gone and past tonight…"
As I sang, I felt the burning emotions pass through into my voice as I tried to keep calm. As much as I understood Toriel's pain, at the same time, I didn't. It was perhaps the desire to prove her wrong or my determination not to be held down, but to be free and learn where I'd never had such freedom before.
I was trying to be so patient… but I truly wanted to see what was behind that door… and meeting Sans certainly was something I wanted too. Even if he did tell me he was patrol for humans…
I don't know why… but my heart and soul just seemed to tell me that he was someone I could trust. It was a rare feeling. I never trusted anyone, but as time passed, the idea of opening up to him appealed more and more. I was worried though; would he leave and hate me if I told him I was a human? Granted… I guessed he was already gone with how long it had been since I'd see him…
So, when I heard knocking on the door, I jumped, gasping in surprise.
Was he finally here? How didn't I notice his approach?
"Wow Precious, ya got a hell of a voice." My heart swelled when I heard the same voice before that I was used to.
"Sans?!" I knocked back on the door, trying to hold back how emotional I felt in that moment. I couldn't understand why my soul just ached when he finally was there, or when he had been gone for so long, but I was so happy, and I didn't care. It was soothing to feel his soul so close once more. "You're really here…"
"Sorry about that Angel, my brother was a bit of a hassle these last few days and I wasn't able ta leave the house. I had ta sneak out. Ice to hear from ya again."
"Hardy har har." I blew a raspberry at him through the door. "I'm just… it's so nice to hear someone not mad at me. I was worried I'd scared you off too…"
"Woah Precious, what happened?" I heard him lean against the door and slid down the ground. "Ya alright?"
I sighed and set my head back against the door. "I will be, but right now, I could use a good friend."
Sans chuckled with at me, the tone matched both a happier turn as well as mildly concerned one. "I'm all ears."
"I asked Toriel if it was possible for my sister and I to leave the ruins on her next run for supplies, just to explore a bit and see more of the underground. All we know is the ruins and there's only so far you can travel to, it almost feels… claustrophobic."
I heard my new friend sigh from the other side. "Gonna tell ya right now Precious, the entire underground feels like that."
I fiddled with my nightdress, trying to find the words to respond back after feeling the guilt of what our family had done a century ago to these poor people. "I never assumed that the underground was a large place, but… it's worse than just being trapped in the ruins. Toriel exploded at us and was worried we'd perish if we left here. She's gone as far as not letting us out of the house now. We're basically on house arrest."
That seemed to catch his attention. The surprise in his tone truly gave that away. "Really? I never knew that she could be like that. Granted, we just laugh and joke through this door. Tryin' to keep our spirits up in this kind of world."
"It's… really hard… I'm also worried for my little sister. She's still young… I don't want this trapped upbringing for her. She's such a free spirit. I know Toriel is trying to keep us safe, but… she's taking it too far…"
"Well… I don't know what ta tell ya, Precious. Only thin' I can say is ride it out. Maybe she'll change her mind. Just keep in mind that she cares about ya two and only wants what best."
"I'm afraid to bring it up again, I don't want her to hate us, but…" I sighed. "It doesn't feel right to be trapped like this. Her soul isn't helping either… I can feel it pressing down on my own, it's suffocating…"
"I was wonderin' about that." His voice seemed to change then, having a more cautious edge to it. "Tell me, Angel, why can I feel yer soul, even when I'm a distance away?"
My eyes widened and I sucked in a breath. Did he know? Did he feel my soul all that time ago before I'd even started to speak to him? "Could… could you feel me?"
That caused him to snort. I should have chosen my words more carefully around that monster… "Awe Precious, don't we have ta go on a date or two first before that?"
"That's not what I meant and you know it!" I huffed, feeling my body get incredibly hot in frustration and embarrassment.
"Sorry…" His laughter settled down and he sputtered a chuckle or two as he tried to calm himself. "You mean did I know ya were there before I met ya?"
"Yes."
"I didn't."
I blinked in utter shock. "Really?"
"At first, I thought ya were just simply another monster that had snuck down into that pathway. You were no different than them. I couldn't feel ya, it was like ya were hidin'. But once ya revealed yourself, I can focus in on it now. Yer soul is… unique. I can feel it stretchin' to the area around me, tryin' to see what's beyond this door between us, and I bet ya can tell what the intention is of the person near ya within this 'reach' yer soul has."
"…yes…" I was stunned he'd figured that all out from the single time I'd met him. "No one's ever been able to figure before…"
"Well besides bein' observant, I can be quiet sansational."
A squeal left my mouth before I could stop it from the laughter that escaped me. I could only imagine my newest friend was grinning at himself from the other side. I struggled to keep the laughing down to a minimum so that Toriel wouldn't hear me from above. I had no idea how loud the sound would carry down here and didn't intend to find out.
"God, you are going to get me in so much trouble!" I snickered from behind my hand; it was hard to breath behind the laughter and also trying to hold said laughter back.
"Trouble? Me? Hardly Precious."
Sans gave me a few more moments after that to compose myself from my little happy moment. It was such a weight off of me to have him here then and helping me out, even if we hardly knew each other. His voice was calming, his jokes were incredible, even the ones he hardly put any effort into. He was just a funny guy in general. I loved every moment of it.
As I caught my breath, I sat back up from where I had hunched over. "Sans?"
"Yeah?"
"What is it like on the other side of the door?"
"Out here?" Sans snorted. "Nothin' more than a tundra and a few trees."
"So it is a different biome out there?" My interest was perked. I knew the cold feeling was something amazing from being down here. "What do you see?"
"Snow and ice."
"Sans…"
"What do ya want from me, Angel?" I heard him sigh. "That's all there is out there."
"That doesn't paint me much of a picture you know. A tundra could be taken in lots of ways. To me, it means a barren frozen wasteland. If this place is hidden, it can't be a tundra unless we're hidden under the ground?"
"Fine…" I could hear him groan in annoyance at me. "Well… there's a lot of trees back here surroundin' Snowdin, the town here. Evergreen trees with lots o'needles that don't really fall off, since it's always frozen and cold here. I can see a path in front of me, covered in pure white snow. The only thing marrin' it is my footsteps, showin' where I came from, but it's snowin', so those'll disappear before long. Behind me, this wall, the ruins are carved into the mountain yer within that reached up toward parts of the barrier and the surface. It's quite the grand door with the royal family's logo on the front. The door looks like it used to be a rich purple like what ya told me the inside of the ruins were like, but wear and tear have all but taken that away from it. The thick layer of ice coatin' it doesn't help either."
"Wow…" I day-dreamed of the path Sans was picturing for me. I'm sure nothing I thought of would truly recreate the real thing. I'm sure Sans thought I was being crazy, but I always loved exploring and seeing new places. Finally, being free of the fears of the world above left me feeling like a child again. Free to do as I pleased and learn.
That was all I had ever wanted.
"Now do the same for me."
His words stunned me. "Excuse me?"
"Do the same for me; describe what yer seein' now." Sans turned quiet for a moment before I picked up on his voice again. "Tell me what ya see inside the ruins. I haven't been in there since I was a kid. That place has been locked up tight, has for a few years now. No one's been in there for a long time. There used to be little cracks in the mountain that we could use ta sneak in, but they were closed."
"Well… I'm sitting at the end of an incredibly long purple hallway. It sits under the home that Toriel has here. I try not to keep anything down here with me, but some of the most recent nights I've brought an entire set of history books to know more about this world. I've been researching nearly none stop since we last talked. I have them scattered all over my lap while a glowing crystal I have in my hands to provide me with some light. It was the safest item I could get my hands on to light my way. Toriel never seemed to mind anyway…"
"Glowin' crystals are normal in the underground. Ya see 'em just about everywhere. But there are a lot in there." Sans noted to me. "All areas have those glowin' crystals only on the ceilin' ta keep a constant glow about for us to see. The ruins were one of the only places where they grew some place other than the ceilin'."
Just dreaming about seeing a gorgeous line of crystals all over the caver ceiling sounded wonderful. I was eager to see it with my own eyes. "Wow… I wish I could see it."
"Maybe someday ya can?" I heard Sans shift then and sigh. "Well, much as I hate ta leave, I better get back Angel. We've been out here a while and I'm sure my brother will be up soon. Toriel probably will be too. Ya better head back."
"Okay." I began to gather my things while I felt that Sans' soul was still standing outside the door, waiting for me to give the okay for our final good-bye. Once I had my books in hand, I knocked to let him know I was done. "Will I see you again soon?"
"Well, ya can't see me even now."
I felt the veins on my forehead expanding in frustration. "You know what I mean, Darling."
"If ya mean what I think ya mean, I'll be back soon enough. Maybe tomorrow or the next day, gotta get around Paps." Sans knocked back again, telling me he was heading out. "See ya, Precious."
I sighed as I felt his soul leaving the area, slowly he left before he escaped my reach of sensing him and he was gone. Once he was entirely, I moved myself back to where I'd entered the long hallway.
At least one friend didn't hate me…
I couldn't stop the smile from appearing on my face, not the warmth in my cheeks from being able to hear him again.
Witch's Note:
God! Moments between Sans and Angel always make me weak at the knees! I always gush at the two of them as their friendship/relationship grows!
And Angel has magic? What the heck? How's that work? Well, you'll just have to keep reading to find out what her magic is like! And maybe Frisk has some too?!
Love you all and see you all next week! Don't forget to review!
Halloween Witch
