Two Worlds, Two Souls

Chapter 32: Expanding Our World

Angel's Point of View:

Working deep into the night left us all tired when the final day of the fair arrived. Most of us in the house were unable to properly wake the following day, so I put it upon myself to make sure everything was ready to go to the Christmas fair.

I couldn't believe still that Robert had finally relented and apologized to Papyrus, only giving us a mere twenty-four hours to bake for hundreds of people. We had our work cut out for us as Papyrus and I baked while Sans and Frisk were on cleaning, decorating, and packing duty. I tried to alternate between what kind of sweets we made so that we could have some breaks throughout the day, but they were still minimal. We barely had any time to rest, even as we picked up dinner from Grillby's with no time ourselves to cook, having Papyrus run out to grab said food in order to save time. Maria had left earlier in the night then she had planned so she could be up and rested to get the remainder of the items the next morning for the fair.

When the next morning came and it was time to actually put out all the food and paintings out at the booths that had been set up for us, I was the only one up at the hour of six. Even Papyrus was still resting after all the work I put him through the day prior.

I had to be up however. I told Robert to be here early to gather all of the supplies for the fair that we were able to bake in those hours since he morning prior he'd begged to us bake. I had to be up to actually give those items to him.

I hurried down the stairs, though still trying to keep as quiet as I could in my dash to the front door. Quickly peaking out the peep hole, I was surprised to see the little army of people from both Robert's family as well as Bernie's. The army of children and teens surprised me compared to the three adults that stood with them.

"Oh my…" Quickly I opened the door and slipped outside to keep the house warm for the others before hurrying to those waiting for me. "And here I thought I'd be setting up by myself."

"Nope, you've worked your ass off to bake, we'll be gettin' it set up, both the food and your stand." Bernie stepped forward with crossed arms. Her sister also appeared to be here with her little army of children as well. The only one that seemed to be missing was Vinnie, to which I was thankful in that moment due to my exhaustion. "We'll be settin' up your stall for you, that will give you a bit more time to sleep before you join us. We get out of here as soon as we can, then you can get a few more hours of sleep."

I'd never seen so many rabbits in all my life… but God was I thankful for them this morning…

I carefully nodded to them and opened the door to allow the people of Snowdin access to the house. I quickly showed them all the boxes of cookies, pies, cupcakes… every little sweet treat that Papyrus and I got the chance to make yesterday. I also showed them the few boxes I had prepared of paintings to sell as well. Some of which I'd done of the surface as well as paintings of Snowdin or the couple I'd done from traveling with Toriel in the ruins.

Once all the items had been carefully removed from my house, I sighed and closed the door behind them. Kicking off my shoes, I tiredly moved back up the stairs and set another alarm for ten to make sure we had time to wake up and make it to the fair before things got too wild. I curled back into Frisk, only being gone so long that my spot was still warm, even as we snuggled down together back into the world of sleep.

Later That Morning:

Once I'd had more rest, I naturally had woken around nine to see who had woken for the day. It was hardly surprising to see Papyrus already up with Sans dragged downstairs now, though he was dressed and snoozing on the couch. Frisk was the only one not downstairs, who I had to retrieve once we'd all had our morning coffee and woken.

Papyrus and I seemed to be the only ones truly awake as we left, especially as Papyrus carried Sans and Frisk for me while I brought some of my art supplies in order to work at the fair. Maria had mentioned that it was entirely possible that people may come by and ask for a painting. Especially since art is so rare in the underground.

Frisk and I were carefully covered in the garments that Sans had spent some much time getting a hold of. Baggy cloaks had been bought for my sister and I that were a jet black coloring. Matching gloves covered out hands, even though the sleeves were a bit longer to hide our hands and that they were made with muscles and ligaments rather than just bones like we pretended to be. Enchantments had been attached to prevent removal of the hood unless it was by myself. It would keep us safe from any accidents from happening, or any purposeful acts…

As soon as we arrived in the square surrounding the large decorated Christmas tree, I was suddenly surprised by how many varieties of people actually surrounded us from so many other areas of the underground. I could see more reptilian verities, as well as people who had more slime or watery characteristics.

Those must have been people from Hotland and Waterfall respectfully…

"Ravie!" Our attention was grabbed as Maria directed me to a large central stand where I could see many people handing out baked goods that had been made by the town, myself and company. By the older female stood her family. Robert looked just as sour as normal, but he flinched under the gaze that I threw his way. "Oh thank you so much! The town and I really tried to come together and put some things together to bake, but no one really has the skill. The normal monster who helps us was ill and unable to recover in time to help!"

"I'm glad we were able to help."

"Food?" We both turned back to Frisk as she lifted her head, smelling the air as she turned out of Papyrus' shoulder where she was curled into. "M'hungry…"

"The allow me to get some breakfast for you, Little Sitka!" Papyrus held her close while narrowing his sockets at his brother. "Sans, I need to grab food for everyone, please get off your lazy butt and sit with Miss Ravie at her booth."

"M'kay." A yawn escaped the older skeleton while Papyrus gentle lowered his older brother to his feet. Once Sans was standing well enough on his own, another yawn escaped him. It had been a late night for us all and ruined Sans' normal napping schedule. I could see his eye lights fading in and out and knew I needed to get him to the booth quickly.

"We'll see you in a bit Papyrus. Come on, Cousin." With a little bump to Sans' shoulder, he shook himself awake long enough to follow me to where Maria had set up my booth.

Many paintings I could see of my work were hung for all to see while I could see a few chairs set up for me inside the small area. I had enough space to spread out my supplies and sit while a lounge chair was set only a couple feet away with a blanket and pillow for Sans. We had tried to plan for everything once Robert had come through with his end of my promise.

I quickly got the older brother down to where he was laying on the lounge chair, blanket thrown over him to keep him warm, even on this mild day in Snowdin. A pillow was set behind his head and an eye mask to cover his sockets while he slept. I wasn't really worried about the noise, Sans had proven time and time again that he could sleep through anything, though I still wanted him to be comfortable.

Once I heard his snoring, I knew he was all set and I could focus on my booth that Bernie's kids had watched for me while I slept.

"Morning A-uh… Ravie!" Young Theo struggled with remembering my code name while the fair was going on and about.

His older sister Remy rubbed the top of his furry head in praise when he got it right. The two rabbits before me both seemed to inherit their mother's near pearl colored fur, though Remy seemed to have black tips to the ends of her fingers and ears that her brother didn't share. The nineteen year old had a much softer smile that showed me just how much gentler she was then her mother.

"Glad to see you." Remy replied as well. "Hope you slept better once we got everything out of there."

I chuckled at them. "Yes, Sans and Sitka are still recovering from the near all nighter, but we're doing alright. I don't think any of us had worked so hard in a long time..."

"Oh, that reminds me." Remy was quick to show me to where a register had been placed on my booth. Opening it up, I was shown multiple draws for going coins that were organized based on their amounts, thought there seemed to be a lot more in there then I would have guessed. "People were trying to buy your paintings before you got here, and they wouldn't leave until they had three. I hope you don't mind that we gave them a price and sold them…"

"Oh, well that was what was supposed to happen." I merely shrugged at the older rabbit. "How much did you sell it for?"

"Well… we couldn't think of a price, so Theo threw out something random and the customer paid it! I was so surprised, but they were from a wealthier family that comes by here every year. They called your works from the surface 'extraordinary'."

I blinked at her. "And the price?"

"….Three thousand gold…"

Three…?

Thousand…?

What the-

Holy-

"Are you s-" I was just able to stop myself before I swore before the little rabbits before me. "You're kidding…"

"No! They bought three of your paintings for a thousand gold each!" Theo was jumping, pulling at my arms to show me the money in the register again. "See?! Did I do good?"

"I've never seen so much gold… thank you Theo!" I had to hold back the gasp that tried to escape me. Turning to Remy, she seemed to hold the same surprised look I did, but not nearly as ready to jump through the roof as I was. "I can't believe this!"

"People loved the surface paintings you made." Remy pointed out to the many I had above. "I even saw Undyne step over here a few times and fall in love with the 'under the sea' one you made. She's been circling around, I think she may come back for it."

"Really?"

This was bound to be an interesting introduction…

"I see her! I see her!" Theo jumped from our arms and ran out of the booth. "Captain Undyne! Captain Undyne!"

And sure enough, the woman that I painted before stood there in the snowy streets of town, surrounded by many children and adults alike in awe of her. She seemed removed of any form of armor, present in a sleeveless black shirt that showed off the muscles on her body. Jeans covered her legs and red boots on her feet, reminding me more of rain boots then anything. I could only assume she came from Waterfall, not seeming like the type that would hail from Hotland due to her fish like characteristics. The woman was either brave or very immune to the cold as she stood there with no jacket in the mist of Snowdin. Though she seemed to take pride in every child that came her way with bright smiles and eager questions that she would answer.

Theo hurried up to the woman as he eagerly called out to her. He was telling her something, what I wasn't sure. I watched her kneel down to be at his level to have a proper conversation. However, quickly after their conversation began did I see the woman match her single eye with my being. Her face lit up as she spoke back to Theo, the young male rabbit pointing at me and Remy's direction.

Undyne quickly hurried to her feet before waving at the other monsters and following after Theo back toward us. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous as she approached.

"Hey ya!" With a large toothy grin, the woman smile at me, extending a hand eagerly. "You must be Ravie! Sans and Paps told me about you! Nice to finally meet you! I'm Undyne!"

"Captain Undyne? It's a pleasure." Allowing my hand to settle in hers, I shook her hand. Undyne hardly noticed any of the magic in the items I had on hand to make myself feel and appear more skeletal like then human under the robes. "I kept telling Sans that we were eager to meet you, but he and Papy wished for us to be a bit more settled before meeting you."

"That sounds like that lazy bones, where is he?" I didn't even have a moment to offer any answer before she glanced around me to where Sans was happily snoozing inside my covered booth. The woman was moving toward him within seconds with a scowl on her face.

I had to stop her. Sans needed more rest…

"Captain, wait!" I quickly dove before her and the woman gave me a surprised yelp, not expecting me to move as fast as I had. "My apologies, but perhaps you could wait until a bit later to speak with him? Sans assisted myself, Papyrus and my sister all night to help make baked goods for the town. We've hardly had a moment's rest until about two in the morning. He hasn't gotten much sleep, so could you… perhaps… give him a bit more time and then you could discuss the manor of us not meeting before now later?"

Undyne stewed with that information for a few moments, crossing her arms and showing me a scowl that made her look so cross. "You're not trying to keep me from getting at that bonehead, are you?"

"No, I'm only asking that you postpone it." Looking back to the tired skeleton, I could still see how worn he was, it was written all over his face that he was exhausted from all the work we did the day prior and needed more time to rest. "Perhaps after the festival? We're having our Christmas Eve party tonight once this event is over. I won't stop you then, or even after his and Papyrus' performance at the center-"

"He's preforming?" Undyne jerked a Sans. "That lazy skeleton that I can hardly get to do his job as a sentry, is preforming?"

"Yes, so he'll be up when his performance starts at three. He and Papyrus are the last of the acts to go."

"…Fine." Undyne seemed to scowl and pout, thought it hardly lasted as a mischievous aura surrounded her. "I'll be recording that…"

I couldn't help but feel myself nervously sweat in her presence. "Of course…"

"But now I wanna talk about that painting!" I blinked as Undyne grabbed my arm quickly, pulling me around the stall to where the picture she was speaking of sat.

It was a beautiful image, one I could recall from memory as I had gone on vacation with my parents when I was about Frisk's age. The snorkel trip was stunning with its clear blue waters and colorful sea life. The different colored coral stood out in the picture while a blue tang peaked out from the cracks below. Light filtered through to the ocean's floor where a single shell seemed to be partly uncovered from the sand that glittered in the light.

Undyne seemed enthralled with it. She could hardly take her eye away from the colors, the water and the glittering shell. Her golden eye that normally appeared so ferocious in all the times I'd seen pictures of her or dreamed of her, seemed to be happy and calm that I couldn't help but let go of part of the fear I had for her.

Perhaps there was hope that I could be friends with her yet after revealing myself to her in the future.

But not that day, I would want to establish friendship with her first before I did so.

"Oh yes, it's a beautiful painting. I enjoyed every moment I spent making this one."

"This is- it's supposed to be underwater in the world above right?"

"Yes, at least that's what I've gathered from the books and pictures I'd seen." I remembered the night when I felt this painting wishing to be done. I felt in the mood to do something water related once I had come from a bath, seeing the light reflect off bubbles and feeling the warm water made me thing back to the vacation my parents had taken me on when Frisk was no older than four. We'd traveled together to explore a new place together and had so much fun. Frisk especially loved all the pictures I took when I was snorkeling.

This painting was one of those pictures I brought to life.

"How much are you asking for it?" Undyne asked almost impatiently, though I could see she was trying to retain it due to her desire for the portrait. "The kids were saying that they were going for about a thousand… but I don't- I don't really…"

That was too much money for her, even if she really loved it and was a royal guard. I could understand, I figured there would be someone who couldn't afford something of that price.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting nearly what I had gotten for my pictures. Anything above the price of materials would have been enough. I was going to price things around fifty, or a hundred gold pieces if I was really attached. But they were selling so well. Behind me I could see Remy selling more with the help of her brother, even if I knew the two were looking back every so often to see how I was doing with Undyne.

I needed the money, and if people thought they were that kind of worth, then it wouldn't hurt to let them pay what they thought for them.

But I thought Undyne could use a bit of a break…

"Tell you what," the head of the guard looked at me intently, eagerly attentive for my decision. "I'll give you the friends and family discount since you're so close to Papyrus and I hope you'll be as close with my sister and I one day. I'll half it to five-hundred."

Her jaw dropped then. "Just like that?"

I smiled at her, even if she couldn't see it. Though I was sure my shoulders shook in my muffled laughter. "Just like that. Five-hundred and its yours."

"YES!" She hesitated not a millisecond more as she handed me the coins and pulled down the piece. "This is amazing! Thanks Ravie! You're the best!"

"I'm glad." Coins in hand, I pocketed them while the fish woman danced around with her picture. "If you'd like, Undyne, you can store it over at the house until you get ready to go home to keep it safe."

"Thanks! I'd hate to ruin it!" Tucking it under her arm, the woman ran through the snow, not once slipping or falling as she took off in the direction of the house. I watched her take off eagerly before turning my attention back to the teen and child who were helping me run my booth. I tucked the money Undyne had given me into the cash register and prepared to have people asking for paintings while the kids sold others for me.

I hardly even noticed when Papyrus returned with food for us all to enjoy while my sister wolfed it down and then slept with Sans, eager for some more sleep.

Later That Afternoon:

"All I want for Christmas… is… you!"

The crowd cheered as Papyrus and Sans finished their number that they had been working on for the last couple of weeks prior to the fair. Undyne stood beside myself and Frisk with her jaw dropped, and I'm sure if she had been a skeleton like the brothers it would have reached the floor if muscles and scales weren't in the way.

"No way… how are they good? I thought they were going to suck!" Undyne seemed to grumble a bit at the fact she wasn't able to make fun of Sans and Papyrus with their preformed. I could only roll my eyes at her.

"The two of them have been practicing daily. Papyrus was so eager to be in the show that he managed to convince Sans to be his back up and I helped them with the vocals."

"They weren't very good in the beginning!" My sister was giggling from the seat beside me in my booth. "Papy didn't know how to match his vocals to Sans, and Sans didn't even really try to sing, but they were really good once they tried."

Undyne seemed to sigh then. "I guess I gotta tell him he did good. Never expected this from him, but he's been getting really good at a lot of things lately… maybe he'll finally give up on being in the royal guard…"

"Give up?" I'm certain my tone told her all she needed to know about how upset I was from that. "It's Papyrus' dream to help people and be a part of it."

"I know… I know…" Undyne rubbed the back of her neck. "But… you know how he is… more likely to make a friend rather than hurt anyone? He's good at fighting, he's amazing… but… he hasn't hit that point where he'd do anything to protect someone, even hurt someone else. Hell, I'm afraid if I let him into the royal guard, he'll make friends with the very human he needed to capture to free us all…"

Which is exactly what he did…

Undyne was entirely right. She didn't know about us being humans, which allowed me to gather that information, but to be perfectly honest, we were lucky. We were in the perfect spot to get all the items we needed. We made friends with just the right people to get away with not being found out about to even the point where I was able to talk to the head of the fuckin' royal guard and not be arrested because she had no idea that I was a human.

Papyrus had done exactly what she was afraid of, though her fears were more of him getting killed rather than just befriending anyone. I don't think she can comprehend a kind human, but her fears and care were in the right place. If it had been anyone else… if it had been a scared and aggressive human…

Papyrus would have died a long time ago, and perhaps Sans and our entire town of friends too…

It brought an uneasy feeling to my gut as I thought about that. Their worry was placed right, humans haven't been really all that good until the most recent couple of decades, after peace movements and demands for equality of all kinds that I remembered from the surface I'd come from. I remember reading about all the terrible things that had happened in the past to the people down underground or other humans above who weren't like the rest, who weren't colored right, or who looked funny. They were all treated terribly, mocked, harmed, even killed.

If someone from that old world came down and faced Papyrus or even most of the people in Snowdin… Their entire world would have been destroyed, along with everyone in it…

"Hey!" I lifted my head at Undyne's unhappy look while she tried to see past my cloak's hood. I gasped in surprise, stumbling backward into my cash register. "What's with you?! I called out to you and you totally spaced on me!"

"Sorry Undyne… I got lost in thought after that last comment." I sighed, holding a hand to my heart. "I never meant to do that… I just… couldn't help but think if a human really did come through here, about what would happen, and how right I think you are."

"Oh…" That quickly stopped the blue woman from speaking again as the air turned awkward in silence. "Yeah, well… no human has been reported so far, so we'll just keep watch. Besides, Sans won't let anything happen to Pap. He might be a lazy bones, but anyone who knows Sans knows that he'd do anything for Pap."

And I believed her…

"No humans? But wasn't there a scare back in October that had Vinnie running back? The news buzzed all over town."

"Yeah… that was a false alarm by one of his siblings. His mother cleared that up with him and me later."

She has absolutely no idea that a human, let alone two, is in the underground? Wow… Bernie has more power over her children then I thought…

"But enough about this!" Undyne's toothy grin returned as she looked over my nearly empty stand. "You sold a lot today! And people asked you for work! That's gonna help you a lot!"

"Yes," I carefully looked over the stand to only a few paintings remaining, a handful that people had looked at and said they'd return, but never did. Those couple that remained I would take home and with the help of Sans and Papyrus, I would get a website running to sell my work as well as keep track of clients.

Apparently, Papyrus also thought it would be good to have a social account on the undernet…

"It will help a lot to get my work out there as well as help me pay back Sans for all the lodging and meals he's paid for, and materials…" I groaned, hearing the 'ch-ching' sound in the back of my head at every expense. "I owe him so much… and he won't let me pay him!"

"Ha! That sounds like that lazy sac of bones. Doesn't want to deal with that." Undyne clamped her hand on my shoulder. "I'll go grab those two boneheads and we'll get ready to head back to your place. We got a party tonight, right?"

"That we do. We're very excited to see everyone and a few new people as well."

I smiled at her as I hurried to grab the money I'd earned that day… thousands of gold…

The first thing I was going to do was build a bank account to store as much of this as I could when everything opened up after Christmas. Until then, I would hide it. I hoped Sans would help me with that, since I'd made a lot of money.

Witch's Note:

Oh, my Lord! What an amazing chapter! Getting to finally enjoy the fair, everything is good in the world and we actually get to meet Undyne without the worries of her catching the girls! But next chapter we have to worry because royal guard Vinnie, the bunny man, who could take the girls away! Oh no! What in the world are we to do?

But also, Angel got three-thousand gold coins for her paintings and who knows how many more during the fair! She's gonna become an artist! And so far she seems to be doing so well! And she's got some money~

Now onto our reviews!

RoseCentury: I know right? To much sugar and its just down right messy! Frisk is always going to the butt of every joke when it comes to too much sugar. This will not be the only time I will be using those jokes.

MrFoxHoundSir: Sorry! That was a typo! Just fixed that. Won't happen again! Don't be afraid to say anything else about the story, love to hear from you! Welcome to the story!

Alright, so that's another week done and I hope you all enjoyed it! Now we gotta prepare ourselves for next week, because it is a doozy… Yikes…

Because my dear readers, Vinnie is a scary bunny….

Love you all and see you next week! Don't forget to review!

Halloween Witch