Two Worlds, Two Souls
Chapter 33: Taking A Risk
Angel's Point of View:
"Wahoo!" I flinched as Undyne ran passed us with five kids including my sister rushed by through the party with Papyrus chasing them all. The small black plastic item grasped between her webbed fingers seemed to be the object of desire to all.
"Undyne! Bring back my action figure!"
Most of the adults laughed while we huddled up in some small groups and watched the kids run with Undyne. It certainly left the party very active while the rest of us mingled. Papyrus, Undyne and the children rushed up the stairs while the remainder of us stayed behind on the first level, some of us cooking for the upcoming meal on Christmas Eve that night or just caught up in idle chatter with one another.
The group that surrounded me was Maria, Bernie, her sister Vicky, Sans and surprisingly Robert, who sat at the table to avoid anyone who was running in circles around him. We had too much to do as we prepared the last-minute food after being at the fair for near all day to sell paintings or baked goods.
On the table already was multiple types of food, barbeque meatballs, baked sweet potato casserole, salad, baked ham, and so on. More things were coming out and I saved a few of the sweets that I'd baked with all of my friends and family for desert. A couple of the most popular pies among everyone.
Our guest of honor had yet to arrive, so I'd yet to remove my disguise. Sans remained at a nearly alarmingly close distance at the table while I busied myself with work until it was time to put on dinner. Hearing the children, Undyne and Papyrus play kept my mind from getting too scrambled as we waited to meet Vinnie.
The royal guard member who was about to know that there was two humans in his hometown and had been associating with his mother, siblings and friends for nearly four months.
"Well it seems that Undyne is having a blast." Bernie chuckled from her spot washing dishes for me. Her sister was paired at her side. The two of them were twins and looked identical, even their voices were the same so that the only hint I had to tell them apart was that Victoria was not nearly as rough as her twin. Vicky being much more soft spoken.
"Undyne would, she is Urvan's daughter after all."
"Urvan?"
"The previous head of the royal guard before Undyne took over." Maria supplied for me. "He led the guard until Undyne was a young adult, then the plague hit nearly the entire underground and her father passed from it. After he passed, the next two years were a bit in disrepair while everyone struggled just to survive before the guard was truly put back together and their most recent members hired, Undyne being one of them before she was quickly promoted to being the youngest leader of the guard in our history."
"She was always the most dedicated little girl in the past." Vicky commented. "My, she was only a year or so older than dear Sans here."
"Really?" I blinked and turned back to my friend and roommate.
Sans merely shrugged at me. "Meh. Undyne hasn't changed all that much, other than bein' more human crazed then Papyrus."
I tilted my head at him. "And how did she get to be that way?"
"It happened when her dad died," Bernie commented from the sink, turning around to scowl while she gritted her teeth. "It was a chemical spill that ended up coming from the surface that infected the water. Undyne blames the humans for taking away her father from her as well as trapping everyone down here."
I couldn't stop the surge of horror that sunk into my soul. "Oh my god..."
"We don't blame humans, not like she does. But there are a lot of people who do." Vicky added softly from the side, fiddling with her fingers. "Snowdin was one of the least affected places, and most of those who became ill had traveled to the capitol where all the infected water came into."
"And sick monsters managed to infect others, it was a domino effect." Maria added as she sat next to her husband, taking his hand when he appeared the most upset I'd ever seen him. His face sullen and ignorant to everything around him rather then what was in his mind, playing for him. "Eventually King Asgore had to quarantine most of the ill, no hope to save them other than to protect those that weren't sick. We had family members who were a part of it, those who worked in the major cities and would come home at the end of the day, or those who took vacations to popular places. Most died, but there were a few that lived."
It stung so much to see just how horribly these people, these kind people who were the best of friends to me and my sister, had been cheated so much in their lives. Forced to live underground, struggling to live with limited resources, being killed off if something as crazy as a wayward chemical got into the water supply... I couldn't stop the ache in my heart while I fell into a chair. Everyone jumped as they watched my stunned form slouch, head in my hands.
"...We did that?"
"They did that." Sans was quick to shift the blame from me. His intense eye sockets' narrowed at me, but not in the sense of his anger being directed toward myself. He was upset with the fact I was taking that blame onto myself, being one of the only humans here. "Last I looked ya didn't shove a gallon of chemical waste inta the underground seven years ago."
"N-no... but-"
"But nothing, Angel." Maria reached forward and set a paw on my hand. "You've more than proved to us that humans can be just like monsters and monsters can be just like humans. You need not feel any blame or distress. It is others pain to bare, not your own."
"Oh… alright…" I sighed. "You win."
"It ain't 'bout winnin', Precious." Sans' eased up on his gaze. "Just the truth."
"Well anyway, shall we start putting dinner on then?" I stood and reached over to where the potatoes were waiting to be whipped. "I just need to finish this and basically we're ready to go."
Maria quickly patted her husband's back and stepped away. "I'll let the kids know."
"We'll help you set the table." Vicky and Bernie dried their hands before setting more food on the large table for everyone to grab from. "And the plates and silverware are already out and ready."
"Alright then," I moved away from the table then, allowing others to go first into what we'd made. "Get some grub everyone."
And like that it was a flock of nearly twenty people to the table. Just Bernie and Vicky's families alone made up almost two thirds of our party and certainly ate plenty of the food. Bernie did make sure that the youngest of the kids got food first, so that included Milly and Vicky's youngest, Winnie.
After that, it was a free for all.
In the end, I was glad I made more food then I had originally planned. Bernie's kids ate like they were all on sports teams and had been starved since last Tuesday. By the time I was actually able to make it around and get some food myself, a few dishes were actually empty. I held back the small amount of disappointment as I was thrilled that everyone was enjoying themselves. It had been very eventful party this far…
"Rav." I lifted my head at the call of my skeleton name. With Undyne present again, we had to watch our voices and what we were called. Sans waved me over to him, showing a second plate beside him with the very items I was hoping to get my hands on: whipped potatoes, meatballs, sautéed mushrooms and ham.
Oh, I could have kissed him…
The thought had me turning red in an instant once I thought back upon it. At that moment, I was beyond thankful that Sans couldn't see the color on my cheekbones. Though he may have felt the embarrassment from my potent soul, since he chuckled at me.
"Figured ya wouldn't get the foods ya liked, so I grabbed a few while I was fighting the kids."
"Thank you, Sans."
A knock to the front door cut me off before I could say anything else to my skeleton friend. I saw that Bernie was quick to hand her plate off to her sister before she opened the front door eagerly. On the other side was a young man who looked an incredible amount like his mother. The same grey fur, tall stature and rough looking appearance, thought his eyes seemed to be more of a green color, which stood out against his fur, drawing out the blue hue in it as he walked in. No armor was upon him, only simple work clothes that seemed similar to what I'd seen his siblings wear around the inn.
"Happy Christmas Eve, Ma."
"Vinnie!" Bernie clicked her tongue at him, but still gave him a hug, dragging him inside so she could close the door. "Its 'bout time you got here."
"Sorry, had to finish my final rounds with Ryu." He glanced around the house, seeing most of his family before his eyes landed on Undyne who was eating with the kids. He gave a very causal salute to her. "Sup, Boss? Happy Christmas Eve."
"Hey Vinnie!" The captain of the guard bumped a quick fist with him before resuming her eating. "You better grab some grub before you're siblings eat it all! And happy Christmas Eve to you to, you dork!"
"Yes ma'am."
"Oh over here Vinnie!" His aunt called for him in the kitchen where she stood with us. "I saved you a plate of what I thought you'd like."
"Thanks Aunt Vic." The eldest of Bernie's kids made his way into our vicinity, taking the plate and hugging her briefly before mingling in with us. "And you must be the famous cousin of Sans and Pap, Ravie."
I lifted my head to nod to him, one of my only forms of communications since he couldn't see my face. "Hello Vinnie, it's wonderful to meet you. Your mother has said many things about you."
I couldn't lie, I was incredibly nervous as I stood beside Sans in that kitchen. My appetite was near non-existent once that bunny had walked into the room. I held my plate to keep up the façade while Sans stood protectively near me, also nervous about the night's events.
However, Vinnie seemed not to sense the nervousness or slight hostility as we were surrounded by so many family and friends. He only cracked a smile at us as we spoke together in the kitchen.
That comment caused him to smack his forehead. "Oh God, what'd she say this time?"
"Ya damn brat!" Bernie went to go hit him, though Vinnie quickly dodged with expect experience of probably being hit a thousand and one times by his mother. The royal guardsman only chuckled and moved his plate into a single hand and grabbed her in a one sided hug, one that Bernie seemed to struggle to escape from.
"Love ya too, Ma." Bernie hissed at him, but didn't fight much more as the rest of us laughed at them.
I calmed my giggling just long enough to speak to him. He reminded me of Abe, one of Vinnie's triplet brothers, though he was a lot stronger and had better reflexes to avoid his mother's wrath... "There was nothing bad that she said about you, only good things, I promise."
"Cool." Vinnie released his mother, chuckling at her sour behavior before approaching long enough to shake my hand. "Ma's been sending me packages from the inn with your baked goods in it, thanks for them by the way. Me and the others in the guard love 'em. Ryu and I struggled to keep a few for ourselves every time a package came in."
"Why thank you. I learned from my mother and aunt, they were the best bakers I knew."
"And this is really good too!" Vinnie had a single bite in his mouth from when he was talking to me, but before I knew it, he was inhaling what was on his plate. "This is better than Ma's!"
"Vincent!" The eldest of Bernie's children dived out of the way, still eating away at the food. "I'm gonna ram my foot so deep up your ass-"
"Language, dear sister." A quiet but stiff comment from Vicky was all that was needed to make Bernie and Vinnie freeze in place. It had all of us adults laughing once more before some of the younger children raced in, eagerly grabbing on my robes.
"Sis!" Frisk was at the head of the group and yanking the hardest. "Can we open some of our presents now?!"
It had been told to all of the kids that some Christmas presents would be opened before they left that night. Frisk had seen a few gifts with her name on them and was eagerly awaiting to find out what they were. Papyrus too, and the other younger generation that were near teens or below.
"Alright, alright. Just give us a few more minutes to finish up and we'll be right out."
"Yes!"
The army of children rushed out to the other room, eager for some of their gifts early. It was a small tradition that my mother and father had once done when Frisk and I were much smaller and still lived above ground. A party would be the night before and people who we wouldn't get a chance to see on the morning of Christmas we would trade gifts with the night before and see their grinning faces as we opened them before one another.
I remembered my best friend and I did that every year… God did I miss her…
I quickly finished the final few bites of my meal before the children raced back in and yanked their guardian figures into the living room to open gifts. Everyone had at least one present waiting for them as they waited. Frisk eagerly dove into the presents with MK and Milly helping her to pass them around. Wrapping paper was thrown around the room, ribbons lost to the carpet as the kids tore through everything in the way of their gifts.
I heard my sister squeal as she saw gifts that I had never been able to buy her in the past due to our situation. Balls that she always wanted to play with, a stuffed toy that she could snuggle as she slept, and even soccer ball was present so she could play with her friends down the road at the playground. There was a small field there where she hoped to play and had been begging Sans, Papyrus and I for anything that would let her play more with her friends.
I was stunned, however, when I saw the presents that lined up in my own lap as Sans and I sat together. Small gifts and gift cards to stores and locations all over the underground, places where Sans had agreed to take me to once the year and the festives were over. I was excited to check out these places when Sans would finally let us out and travel with him until we knew the underground a bit more thoroughly.
All the happiness that went around, it almost made me forget what I'd have to do later in the night…
Later That Evening:
"Alright ya punks! I'll see ya later!" Undyne waved to us as she finally decided to head home as the crowd in our house diminished to nearly no one. With the party over, most of our friends had already returned to their homes, Maria being one of the first along with Vicky with the kids to tuck them in and get them ready for Father Christmas to arrive and bring them their final presents. The older kids stayed long enough to give us a hand cleaning up before heading home as well, getting ready for their own Christmas while the inn was closed down.
All that remained was myself, Sans, Papyrus (who carried my sleeping sister up to our room), Bernie and Vincent. Sans had cracked out a bottle of Echo Flower Essence. That had us all having a few sips. It was a smaller bottle, not from his larger stash he had showed me a while back before all the stress of the fair was finally over between us and Robert. No one was drunk, but perhaps a tad tipsy. It was loosening up Sans a bit and calming him down thankfully. Bernie had a few swigs too to calm her nerves. I'd had one small sip myself, but Vinnie had decided against it. Most likely with him being in the guard, he wanted to be as sober as possible in case of anything.
"That was a great ol' party there Rav, thanks for having me." Vinnie commented from his spot on the couch.
"Oh it was wonderful to have you and your family," I tried not to let him hear the nerves in my voice. "I'm just glad my sister and I got to finally meet you."
"Alright Vinnie," Bernie yawned as she stretched her arms, getting ready to stand. "I'm getting a bit tired, so we gotta wrap this up."
"I got it Ma, let me get your coat." Vinnie quickly got up to grab the coat from the closet by the front door while the rest of us stood. Bernie gave a quick nod to us while Vinnie's back was turned.
"Vinnie, do you remember that human scare back in October?"
"Human scare?" The eldest of her children questioned. His eyes quickly lit up in realization. "Oh! You mean when George called me, right? I remember you told me when I came back that it was a false alarm. George was just having nightmares again."
"Yeah… well… I might have fibbed on that bein' a dream…"
The male rabbit's eyes narrowed at his mother, yet Bernie stared him right up. She didn't give an inch when his tone changed.
"Bernadette, what are you talking about?" Vinnie's eyes turned harsh them, resembling more of glowing acid rather than their bright green color they were moments ago. "You mean to tell me that there's been a human down here all this time-"
"Now hush that thought right now Vincent." Bernie cut him off, quickly marching up to him and putting her nose practically up to his. "Do you think that I would ever allow a human of all people near my children or your siblin's if I even remotely saw them as a threat?"
The royal guardsman crossed his arms. "I would hope not, but at this moment I'm not sure."
"Damn it Vinnie, you already met the humans that are staying here, and god damn it, their kinder then any normal person that lives down here. So the least you can do for them is give them a chance! They been down here for nearly five months and nothin's happen!"
"Five months?! That's how long they've been there?!" Vinnie hollered at his mother. "We could have been free all that time ago Ma! How could you?"
"Vinnie please stop!" I couldn't stand to see them argue. Without even thinking, I ran forward in hopes to stop them. I hated to see anyone fight, it never ended well and just would hurt them both so much.
"Ravie?!" Bernie saw me approach and clicked her tongue. "Don't-"
"Stay out of this!" I felt Vinnie's arm against my chest and before I knew it, I was hurled back into a wall with such a force that I felt something… crack under the pressure.
I lopped over instantly, clutching the area around my stomach. I felt my lower ribs had broken from the force, pain shooting up as I struggled to hold still. The scream that escaped me was blood curling.
And just like that, everything changed.
The entire house was coated in a thick wave of magic, the pressure was unreal, even if it wasn't being used on me. I saw Vinnie instantly drop to the floor, struggling against the hold of Sans. I could barely see my "attacker" was on a single knee. I grunted as I tried to push myself up, but quickly I felt hands on me, hands that were trying to heal me.
Those same hands were trying to keep me still as I struggled, even with all the pain. In those moments, everything was ringing in my ears. Blackness came over my vision and for a few moments, I was removed from reality. Voices were sporadic, the situation and the stress making it difficult to put together the words.
"-lease!"
"God dam- roke 'er rib-"
"Why?! Sh -dn't do anything wrong!"
"Vinnie! How could-"
"Do ya wanna have a bad time?"
I gasped as I suddenly felt air leap into my lungs. Bernie and Papyrus were above me while my sister had been hugging my side. I could feel the healing energy from the three above me while I turned my head just enough to see Sans have a death grip on Vinnie. He was holding him in the air, crushing his soul.
"Sans!"
Ignoring the pain in my chest still, I leapt up with newfound energy and launched myself at him. The energy quickly left me with ever step I took. I struggled and ended up falling on Sans the second I got close enough to reach him. I pulled myself up, using his shoulders to climb up and hold myself on, even as my rib was screaming at me in pain.
I made him look at me, only at me.
"Sans! Stop this!" I held his skull. His eye was blazing with magic and his hand still held outward toward Vinnie. He tried to move around, tried to teleport away, but he couldn't break free of me. "No, don't look at him. Look only at me okay?"
Without waiting for him to respond, I ripped back the head of my cloak. All sound in the room died as everyone saw. I revealed myself as the human in front of Vinnie.
"Sans, I'm okay. You don't have to hurt him." I let my head close in on him, letting him see nothing but my eyes. "Please stop. Papyrus and Frisk are here, please don't do this in front of them."
And just like before, he calmed down, at least enough that rational thoughts could be processed. I felt his hand lower against my sides, taking hold of me. His eye dimmed in glow and he fell forward, landing on top of me.
Sans was my only stand force keeping me up however…
I fell to my knees. Sans fell into my chest. Arms wrapped around me once more. The fear of this situation was more than enough to keep me from blushing, but I would be later on. I always ended up in embarrassing positions with this skeleton…
"You're the human?" The disbelief and utter shock seemed to stun Vinnie almost right out of his rage. "Ravie… what's your real name?"
"Angel." I glanced down at Sans for a moment who just limply laid in my arms, not fighting me in the least. "My name is Angel. My sister, Sitka, her real name is Frisk. She's also human."
My sister quickly walked over to me, her hand in Papyrus' as we all were together. Papyrus sat on the floor, my sister sitting in his lap to remain close as we were under Vinnie's gaze.
While his eyes didn't appear as furious as they were before, they were annoyed slightly as they glared down at me. "How long have you been here? Tell me your entire story."
"We've been in the underground since this summer, my sister and I had an argument that led to her running up the mountain before we fell in by the ruins. We hid out there before I made friends with Sans and Papyrus around… the beginning of October. That's when they invited us to move in with them. We made fake identities and were able to get our hands on these cloaks to blend in."
Vinnie scowled as he faced the two skeletons. "You're both sentries, how could you allow two humans to pass and integrate into our society?"
"B-but Vinnie!" Papyrus tried to argue with him. "They don't wish to harm anyone! They don't even want to go back to the surface!"
"They don't even…" Vinnie turned back to me again. "Explain."
"We… we were on the run on the surface."
"From what?"
"…"
I knew I had to answer. I really didn't want to, but this was a delicate situation. One wrong move and the fragile stalemate we had going on could be broken again.
I carefully looked about between the others. Bernie looked like she wanted to get closer to the four of us, but her son's gaze kept her back. Normally she was so aggressive and quick to take charge that it was strange to see her actually obeying anyone. Vinnie's gaze held her. While they glared at each other, I looked over between the others.
Honestly, Sans looked entirely worn. He was so tired after all the work he did yesterday and teleported so much along with the show he performed with Papyrus… that last heavy burst of magical energy seemed to have depleted him. His sockets were vacant of his little eye lights while he hung his body against me. He didn't even have the energy to sit up while Vinnie interrogated us. Sans had exhausted all of his magic.
I prayed we wouldn't need it anymore…
Frisk looked absolutely terrified as she sat in Papyrus' lap. The taller skeleton had his arms wrapped around the little girl I called sister. Her fingers clenched around his ulnas. She looked at me, eyes wide as saucers and looking more white then brown in her fright. She couldn't seem to take her eyes off of the tender situation as we tried to keep as calm as possible.
Her clutch on the other hand held my sister very closely. Papyrus had her in his arms much like a teddy bear during a nightmare, which this most certainly was. If he had been human, then his iris' would have been just as blinding white as my sisters in their fear.
I believe I stood for all of us when I thought that none of us expected things to go this badly, expect perhaps Sans…
I should have listened to him… but it was too late then…
"We had an abusive uncle." I finally spat out the words. "After a series of… unfortunate events, we were placed into his care after the deaths of our parents and grandmother. He being our only living relative left. He was a drunk, constantly under the influence and one too many times he came after Frisk and I in his… moods… I tried to keep my sister from it, but one day he went too far… and we left…"
Vinnie said nothing as he stood there. Watching and waiting for more information, I assumed. He didn't speak, but I knew he was debating if I could be trusted. He'd heard about me for months, but this was his first encounter for him and me to meet.
And it was quite the rocky start…
"We'd been on the run for the last four years before we came here, trying to escape the law enforcement so that we didn't go back. Two years ago, I was no longer a child and became an adult, so I wouldn't have to worry about those laws anymore. However, my sister was still so young, so I ran for her sake. When we fell down here, a place where no other human could find us, I had hoped we could use this as a new start. No one knew us, no one after us, other than the fact that we were human. Therefore, I came up with this crazy plan to try to befriend the entire underground so that my sister and I could live here in peace." I couldn't help myself when I hugged Sans closer to me in the stressful situation. At a later point, I would had to ask him if I had choked him with how tight my hold had been.
"So… you don't want to go back up to the surface, you want to co-exist with monsters down here?" Vinnie I could see was struggling to hold back a scoff. "I'm assuming other residence of Snowdin can back up your story?"
I was about to speak, but I hesitated. Of course, I'd made many friends in my time here that could vouch for us, but at what cost? If I revealed them, how much more trouble could they be in. Papyrus and Sans were already going to be in more trouble then I'd bargained for. I didn't want that on anyone else if I could avoid it…
Before I could say another word, loud banging on the door caught our attention. Even Vinnie jumped at the sound of it. Everyone froze for a minute before we heard the knob forcibly broken and the door shoved open.
Never did I expect to see Robert at the door.
The older bear took one glance around the room before his eyes landed on the four of us in the center. His teeth bare back in a snarl as he approached.
"Robert, you need to leav-"
Vinnie was quickly halted by a roar that came out of the older bear. He stood between our two parties, only glancing back once or twice to see the condition we were in before snarling back at Vinnie.
"Oh Angel! Are you alright?" Quickly did Maria enter the home as well, the two youngest of her three children with her as they came to our aide. "Come now, let's get you off the floor."
"Maria…" I tried my best to looked grateful, even as I slewed out an intense amount of swears as she lifted me and Sans onto the couch. I felt Papyrus quickly healing me, trying to sooth the pain in my side from the broken rib. Sans seemed to come to, having enough energy then to at least sit up off of my chest, though he did lean on my shoulder a bit to keep upright.
"We know it was supposed to be just the few of you here, but once we felt that power serge from Sans we just couldn't leave well enough alone." Maria winked down at me before holding me close into her side. She turned to her husband and was quick to snarl. "Keep him back, Dear."
"Mom!" I think I could safely say that Vinnie was stunned as he watched his entire family, all siblings, cousins, and aunt all re-enter our home and stand tall against Vinnie. I watched as Bernie's youngest kids quickly hugged her waist.
Vinnie was absolutely stunned as he watched all of this. His mouth was a gap until he managed to find some sort of bearing to look angry at us again. "Aunt Vic, you need to leave and take the kids with you."
"I will not." The twin of Bernie narrowed her eyes at her eldest nephew. "It seems you're going to have to make us and the entire town of Snowdin, my dear nephew."
I couldn't suppress the gasp that escaped me as I dared to look out the still open door out onto the streets. So many people I could see huddled out there under the lamp lights, watching on intently. They must have gathered when they felt the pulse of Sans' magic. It had been so overwhelming in his rage; I wouldn't be surprised if the entire snowy biome down here felt it.
I couldn't believe that I'd touched so many people down here… they were trying to keep us safe…
"Well Vincent?" Bernie stepped forward, stepping up beside Robert to stand guard before us. "How do ya want to play this?"
"Ma… all of you are comminuting treason! They're humans! Don't you know that they're the last souls we need to be free?"
"Freedom isn't worth the price of murdering innocent people." I heard Maria state. "It you were told that one of your monster friends, or even a family member, had to die for the freedom of monster kind, would you do it?"
And that seemed to make Vinnie backpedal.
"Angel has been selfless and kind from the start and her sister is a wild but sweet child who still has so much to learn. Just because their human, you're going to take that away from them?"
"Maria, it doesn't matter what I think!" Vinnie argued back. "It's the king's orders! All humans are to be brought to the capitol, dead or alive."
Robert lowered down his head to be nose to nose with the rabbit royal guardsman. "Then you'll have to face this entire town to get them."
Vinnie couldn't suppress the groan. "Oh for God's sake!"
"Vinnie, allow me and my sister a single chance." The rabbit looked back toward me. With the healing on my side, only a like ache remained while I stood. I felt hundreds of hands trying to pull me back to the couch, but I pulled away from them, reaching forward to brace myself off of Robert's arm. Before I could move forward anymore, Robert's large paw stopped me; claws extended in the case Vinnie tried anything.
"Stay back."
"Robert, please. It's okay. He won't try anything while everyone's here; too many people could be hurt, including his family." I held his arm a little tighter that held me back. "No one wants that."
A heated huff left the bear, but his arm moved away from me. I carefully moved forward so that I was only a foot away from the rabbit man, his eyes narrowed as I approached. I saw him close and open his fists, a habit I could only assume as he tried to keep calm.
"Vinnie, I know you hardly know me. But I also know your mother has been sending you information about me for the last few months, as Ravie. Yes?"
A subtle nod was all I got out of him.
"As Ravie the monster, did you have any fear of me?"
"No, but as a human-"
"Please, won't you let me try?" Vinnie's eyes seemed ever so softer then, but he kept up his rougher attitude. "I care about everyone in this town. I love so many of them and I don't want to get them in trouble. Please won't you give us a chance to prove that we mean no harm?"
"And how would you prove that you mean no harm?"
"Whatever you want, short of being captured. We live with Sans and Papyrus, but we'll go wherever you want, do whatever you want us to do in order to prove it. We just want to start a new life. I'm hoping to one day maybe talk to the king and convince him that we can live here peacefully."
The gob smacked look on the rabbit's face was all I needed to know that he didn't think that was possible. "You are absolutely insane! The king would never-"
"I won't know until I try!" I glanced back to look to all of my friends. So many nervous or determined looks were scattered about at me before I turned back. "Look at what I've already accomplished, Vinnie. I never thought I'd get to the point where I'd have the entire town of Snowdin look at me like a normal person. And yet, I have. As much as it scares me, I have friends down here that are willing to fight for me and my life. If I've managed to do this, who's to say I can't do more?"
Vinnie turned quiet. His gaze actually turned away from me and looked about through the many people here before filtering back to his family and friends.
"Ma, you not lying to me, right?" Vinnie looked back over to his mother. "Everything you told me about those two are truthful?"
"Yes, Vinnie. I never lied other than them bein' humans." Bernie carefully made her way back up to us, laying her hand on my shoulder. "Come on Vinnie; give the poor girls a chance."
"… I reserve the right to pop in whenever I want unannounced to check in on them."
The gasp left me, unable to contain the small excitement in my chest. "Does that mean…?"
"Fine, I'll give you a chance." The royal guardsman finally relented as he looked at us. He still looked quite worried, but at least he wasn't infuriated anymore. "Just be aware that if you're caught as a human, I won't be helping you."
"I understand."
I knew he wouldn't. It was his job to keep his people safe as well as find humans to use to break the barrier. Many people of the underground saw us as evil. It would be a long battle to change that point of view as time went by.
Nevertheless, with every person changed, it was a victory. I had to accept it, no matter what.
Vinnie sighed and moved around us, heading for the rack that had his jacket and his mother's. "Look, I'm going home to think. Leave your door unlocked between the day hours of eight in the morning and eight at night. I won't be that rude and just barge in during the night hours, but I still plan to keep an eye on you."
I bowed my head to him. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me just yet." Vinnie walked to his mother with her jacket after putting his on. "Come on Ma, we're going home and you and I are gonna have a long chat."
The smack that came down on Vinnie's head surprised us all while Bernie stood there defiantly. "You're an idiot Vincent, you're lucky I love you."
That seemed to bring a smile to both of their faces, in a weird way that I wasn't familiar with. "Yeah, yeah Ma. I love ya too. Now move your ass."
And just like that, as they left through the door did the stressful situation leave us. I nearly collapsed if it wasn't for Robert grabbing me, holding me up with a single paw from where he stood.
We were so done with that crazy day…
Third Person Point of View:
As the festives and the folks all headed home for the night to prepare for Christmas day, shadows moved about in the dark. At the edge of Waterfall did they approach. A small building sat there beside a river. Cobblestone steps led up to what would appear to be a local bank. Glittery letters appeared above that showed "Corona Savings Bank" were fastened to the structure for all to see.
Only a single guard walked about in the night, a young fox that barely looked old enough to work as she patrolled the hallways. Flashlight in hand, she walked her rounds along the front entry way, double checked the draws with the amounts she had been listed with as she checked each desk.
It wasn't a big bank, nothing larger than two desks to assist people with handling money, a small section to the side that was where they kept the safes filled with valuable items or bonds. Before those desks were offices for managers or for workers who helped to make accounts, checks and credit cards. The young fox deliberately took her time checking all sections to make sure they were secure before moving on.
However, a night of diligent work was not going to happen for the poor guard.
A mechanical screech caught her by surprise, the young guard jumping a foot into the air at the sound before turning toward it. Her flashlight caught the sight of a small moving figure only twenty or so paces away from her. The guard approached, hand glowing with magic at the anticipated danger until she caught sight of the figure.
A metal toy monkey clapping together symbols.
"Wha-"
And that was all she were able to say before she were hit over the top of her head and crashed to the floor, others suddenly in the room and scurrying around them. She only vaguely saw a lavender glow of magic before succumbing to darkness.
Witch's Note:
What in the world is this chapter?! We go for a lovely beginning where we have Christmas Eve dinner with our friends, open some presents, and then end up being attacked and somehow convincing a royal guardsman to somewhat join their side!? HOW?!
But even so, now we have another friend on our side! Quite a few actually? Did anyone notice how Robert was helping them out?! How many of you hate me for that? I told you guys that we're not done with that bear! He'll redeem himself yet!... maybe….
And now onto our reviewers:
Ceoko: Oh, my lord! Its so good to hear from you again! I was getting so worried! Glad to see your okay and back with us! And those predictions? I must hear these! What's going on in that lovely mind of yours? Because if you actually guess what I have planned for any of the next so many chapters, I will be really surprised!
ShunGod: Lovely to hear from you! And you've got a lot of questions I need to answer! So first- (I dive out of the way as Mystic Girl dove over my form as she tired to grab an item I had around my neck.) Seriously Mystic Girl? You're not getting the key to Robert's protective cell! Anyway! ShunGod, I don't want to spoil too much, but Undyne and Angel will have a… unique relationship. I would love to say more, but I know I'll give something away if I do say anything… And- no Mystic Girl! No, you can't tell him anything! Quit it! (Shoves her down below the table.)
But also, as for the question about genocide? Yeah… not gonna have that happen I'm afraid. Also, while we will have Flowey to deal with again in the future, I can also tell you that I changed out the powers of save, load and reset with what Angel and Frisk currently have with their power of chains. The very vast number of chains that they can control and weave is all based on their sheer willpower to keep going, despite the odds against them. Once you find out more about what happened to Angel to get her that willpower to get through everything, why she's so strong and why Frisk has such a drastic difference in strength will be more apparent then.
RoseCentury: Great to see you too! Hope this one was a great little burst of action while also a bit of seeing what good Angel and Frisk have done for the town around them in the span of four months to half a year. Whew…
Alright! I think we've covered a lot this time around! Hope you all enjoyed the chapter and hope I answered some questions that maybe some of you were thinking! But now we move onto something new! What in the world was that breaking into a bank involved?! And how is going to affect our lovely characters? Oh no! We're in for a real stinker I bet.
Love you all and see you next week! Don't forget to review! Love to hear your comments!
Halloween Witch
