Hometown
And now the final chapter of the first book is here! I hope you guys enjoy!
...
Darkness. Nothing but darkness.
"Wh... what happened!? I can't see anything!" Susie voice called. There was a tumble and something squeaking, and Frisk hurried to her feet to help Susie, but only ended up nearly crashing into a wall, then nearly crashing into Susie in the dark. "HEY WATCH IT!" Susie complained.
"Sorry!" Frisk ran her hand along the walls and finally felt a light switch. The light nearly blinded her as she flicked it on after all the time they spent in the Dark World, and Frisk blinked away stars, finding that she and Susie had somehow wound up in an empty classroom, surrounded by playing cards, chess and checkers pieces, Legos, and a stuffed toy.
"H-Huh? The unused classroom...?" Susie asked in confusion. "How'd we get here...? Hey, Frisk... What... What just happened?"
"I don't know. Last thing I remember was sealing the fountain." Frisk told her.
"So you remember all that too? Lancer... Ralsei... We weren't just dreaming?" Susie asked. "That really happened?"
"I don't think it's possible for two people to have the exact same dream at the same time." Frisk said softly. "If you remember everything, and I remember everything, it had to be real, right? I mean, if there was a gas leak or something, we wouldn't have the exact same hallucination, right?"
"I...don't think so." Susie told her, though the dragon girl sounded a bit spooked. "But still, what the hell's going on here? How'd we get into this empty classroom when we were in the closet?"
"Maybe through that door?" Frisk suggested, pointing to a door that looked like it could be a closet. She went over, careful not to step on any of the Legos, cards, and game pieces and checked it. "Damn, locked." She then glanced over at the worn out purple stuffed cat with one yellow eye sitting against the wall. "Hey, don't you think this looks like Seam?" she asked.
Susie nodded. "Yeah... it kind of does." Both girls then stared at each other as shocked realization hit. Susie's eyes widened and she dived for the cards, sorting through them frantically, but handling them gently. She then pulled one out silently and showed it to Frisk. Frisk's eyes widened.
The card was a jack of spades. And the jack was Lancer.
"What the hell?" Susie asked quietly. She turned frightened eyes to Frisk. "Damn, don't tell me there WAS a gas leak and we were wandering through this room hallucinating the whole time! Does this mean he's not... he's not..." Her voice shook.
"I don't think that's how a gas leak works, Susie." Frisk told her, trying to calm her, though her head was swimming. Was it real? Or had she and Susie shared a surreal, incredible dream? Was that even possible? Did that mean Ralsei wasn't real? That Lancer wasn't real?
The thought hurt so much, but still she wanted to know. She needed to know. And then she had an idea on what might actually bring them some proof. Turning away from Susie for a moment, she slightly lifted her shirt, checking where she had struck by King's attack. And it was there that she found her proof.
While Ralsei and the others had healed her injuries, the attack had been so deep, it had left scars behind, though much smaller than she remembered the attack being, almost the size of a birthmark, each dark red and with a distinctive spade shape. Scars nothing in this classroom could have caused.
"Susie, you... remember the fight with King, right?" Frisk asked her friend.
"Well, duh, you dived in front of an attack to save me and nearly got yourself killed. Even if we were both dreaming, that was still pretty freaking brave and stupid."
"Well, it...it's not a dream. Look at these." She lifted her shirt to show Susie and the dragon girl's eyes widened at the scars. "A playing card couldn't have done this." She checked around the room. "Nothing in this classroom could have."
"So it IS real... But what the hell? The Darkners are toys?! Did we walk into the plot of Toy Story or something?!" Susie exclaimed.
"I don't know! We could have, it could be an alternate dimension that sort of matches the room it connects to... All I know is Seam told me the Lightners..."
"Were, in the Darkners' eyes, their protectors and creators. But the Lightners that were with the Darkners left, and left them alone." Susie continued, her eyes widening.
"...And you said this classroom had been abandoned." Frisk told her.
"It was. A few years ago."
Frisk paced, though was careful not to step on any of the toys, knowing they were alive. "So the Lightners weren't some sort of mages that imprisoned them. She looked at Susie. "They were children... and the children grew up."
Susie sighed. "Damn, this IS just like Toy Story." She looked down at Lancer's card. "So how do we undo this? I want my buddy back."
"I don't know. Maybe we need to unseal the fountain. We'd have to ask..." Frisk's eyes widened. "Ralsei! Where's Ralsei?!"
While careful not to damage any of the Darkners' physical forms, Frisk and Susie practically tore the room apart, frantically looking for their friend. But there was no sign of anything that looked like it could be Ralsei.
"Where is he? What if he got..." Frisk was breathing heavily now, panicked and worried about her friend.
Susie put her hand on Frisk's shoulder, obviously trying to calm her. "Relax, we'll find him." she said reassuringly, then looked thoughtful. "Wait... Ralsei's not even FROM the fountain we sealed. He's from the other one. The original one. Maybe when we sealed this one, he got sent back to his! Which means..."
"He might be back in the closet!" Frisk gasped.
Susie nodded. "Let's go!" She gently set Lancer's card down. "We'll be back. We'll fix this. I promise." she told him as they ran out.
They rushed down the empty hallways for the closet, reaching it in seconds. Susie yanked on the door. "Damn it, it's locked! Come on, you damn door, open up! Frisk, move! I got this!"
Before Frisk could even say anything, Susie backed up, then rushed at the door, slamming her shoulder into it. Frisk winced at the painful sounding thud, but the doors didn't even budge.
"Ow... Come on, you stupid door!" Susie yelled and made to rush at it again, but Frisk grabbed her arm.
"Susie, stop, you're going to either hurt yourself or get in trouble for breaking school property!" she pleaded. "We'll just have to wait for tomorrow. It looks like they unlock it during the day, so we can sneak in when we get to school or during lunch."
The dragon girl sighed. "Shit, looks like that's the only choice we got. But as soon as that thing's open again, I'm jimmying it so it can't be locked."
"Good idea."
Susie's stomach growled. "And all this crap is making me hungry AGAIN." she groaned.
"Here, I've still got some stuff left." Frisk offered and dug into her bag. Her eyes widened at what she saw.
Susie bent down to her level. "What is it?" Frisk wordlessly held out the black ball of junk that had somehow replaced their food. It was black and brittle, made out of some substance she had never seen before, and smelled faintly of marshmallows. Susie's eyes widened. "What the hell is that? Where'd the food go?"
"...I think that WAS the food." Frisk said softly. She checked her bag again to be sure. "And the money, because that's not in here either." Her heart sunk. She had been hoping to feed Tina with that food, and now it was gone.
"...Huh. Gross."
Frisk made a face. "I know." She thought a moment. "Well, I'm not having terrible intestinal pain, so that probably means it isn't dangerous. I'm not going to take a bite out of this thing though." She eyed the ball of junk dubiously as she replaced it back in her bag.
"Yeah, me neither." Susie agreed. She looked disappointed. "Damn, I was looking forward to having a Darkburger for dinner tonight."
"I could whip you up something at my place." Frisk offered immediately, not wanting Susie to go hungry. While they didn't have a whole lot of food, they still had some, and she'd figure out something.
Susie immediately shook her head. "Nah, don't worry about it!" She smiled reassuringly. "I'll just go grab some greasy grub at the diner. I'll be fine."
"You sure?" Frisk asked.
"Yeah, of course. I got it covered." Susie reassured her. Frisk still wasn't sure she was telling the truth, but she didn't want to push Susie, and finally nodded. They got up and continued on down the halls. No one seemed to be there, not even teachers, and Frisk was relieved after the huge mess they had made in the abandoned classroom and Susie nearly breaking down the closet doors.
"Damn, the school's totally empty. Everyone must have gone home by now." Susie commented. "Guess Alphys'll know better than to ask US next time, huh?"
Frisk nodded with a laugh, then checked the clock. She gasped. "School's been out for like twenty minutes! I need to go get Tina! She's got to be worried sick!"
Before she could bolt in her panic about being so late to pick up Tina, Susie reached over and placed a gentle hand on the shoulder that she had grabbed so roughly this morning. The morning that seemed like a lifetime ago. "Frisk, wait." Frisk halted, looking at her in confusion.
"About that damn school project I jerkily expected you to do all by yourself... Once we get everything sorted out with the Dark World, I guess we can go to the library and I'll actually pull my weight on it. After all, you did kind of save my ass. And it wasn't your fault I fucking flipped my shit over something as dumb as you catching me eating chalk. Sorry about...me kind of being an ass." She rubbed the back of her neck and laughed sheepishly. "Well, not much "kind of," to it. And since I forgot to tell you...thanks for saving my butt from that damn king."
"You're welcome." Frisk said. "And...thanks for saving me too, Susie."
"Heh, no problem. We're friends, aren't we?" Susie said it nonchalantly, but Frisk could hear the vulnerability in her words.
Frisk grinned to reassure her fears. "Yeah. We are." She took the dragon girl's hand and squeezed lightly.
Susie grinned back and pulled her into a one armed embrace that quickly turned into a noogie. "Now c'mon, don't get all sappy on me."
Frisk laughed. "Hey, don't noogie the human!" She playfully wriggled away.
Susie chuckled and let her go, smiling. "Okay, I'll let you go pick up your sister now. See ya tomorrow, Frisk."
"You too, Susie."
...
Once she and Susie parted ways, Frisk bolted to Tina's school, hoping her sister was still there. Tina was, pacing around outside, looking worried and teary.
"Sis!" Frisk called out. "I'm so sorry I'm late!"
"Frisk!" Tina cried out happily and ran and jumped in her arms. "I was so worried!"
Frisk hugged her tightly, so glad to be back to her. Tears pricked at her eyes a bit as it fully hit her how close she had come to never seeing her sister again. "I'm so sorry I worried you, Tine. My friend and I just had to deal with a minor emergency, and it made me late."
"Is everything okay?" Tina asked worriedly.
"Yep, everything's fine. Susie and I took care of all of it." Frisk promised her.
"Who's Susie?" Tina asked curiously.
"She's my new friend. She's a purple dragon girl." Frisk told her.
"Can I meet her?"
"Yeah, of course." Frisk smiled and ruffled her hair.
Tina grinned and bounced happily. "Are we still going to help Mr. Asgore?" she asked curiously.
Frisk nodded, smiling again. "I think we have time for that."
...
As Tina and Frisk entered the cozy little flower shop, they spotted Asgore humming as he watered the plants. He turned and smiled as he noticed them. "Oh! Frisk, Tina! It's great to see you both today!" the goat monster in the pink and white Hawaiian shirt said with a warm smile.
"Good to see you too, Asgore." Frisk said, smiling.
Tina bounced a little. "Do you need any help today?"
Asgore seemed slightly troubled by something, but nodded with a smile. He gathered a bunch of roses. "Could you deliver this to Rudy Holiday at the hospital, please? He's one of my oldest friends, so just let him know they're on the house."
"Sure!" Tina said happily.
As he prepared the beautiful bouquet in a lovely basket, with Tina coming over to help and him smilingly letting the eager little girl being the one to tie the ribbon around it, Frisk waited by the counter, resting her elbow on it, only to knock some papers down. She quickly went to pick them up, and one caught her eye as she neatly stacked them back right where they were.
No rent received. Again.
Stop giving away flowers.
Start selling them.
You have one month.
-C
Frisk's heart sank. Gentle Asgore, who had always been so kind to them, could lose his home? And yet he had been giving them small amounts of money whenever he could, and food...
What was she supposed to do for him? What could she even do?
"...Frisk! The bouquet's all ready! And I tied the bow all by myself!" Tina said happily, cutting Frisk out of her thoughts.
"She did, and she did a very good job." Asgore confirmed with a smile.
Frisk smiled, hiding her worry for now. "You did great, sis!"
"Let's go to the hospital! I bet Mr. Rudy is going to love it!" Tina said happily, pulling on Frisk's hand.
...
At the hospital, Frisk stopped at the receptionist's desk, manned by a monster with disturbingly large teeth. "Hi! My name's Frisk, and this is my little sister, Tina. We're here to deliver a bouquet to Mr. Holiday."
"Of course. Just go through those doors. It's the first door on your left." the receptionist told her, and she and Tina thanked them and headed through.
"Ahahaha... DAD! I can't just SAY that to her! Oh my god... I'd DIE. I'd LITERALLY die." she heard Noelle's voice laugh as they approached the open door and saw her sitting in a chair next to her father, a fairly large reindeer monster with dark hair and big antlers who lay in a hospital bed. He looked tired, but he was smiling. She waited with Tina, not wanting to interrupt Noelle's conversation with her father.
"Noelle. Sweetheart. First time I laid eyes on your mother... I walked right up and told her she was a HOT piece of work." Rudy chuckled.
Noelle gasped. "R... Really?"
"Yeah, she slapped me so hard I blacked out!" He burst out laughing, but the laughter turned to coughing.
Noelle looked worried, but laughed too. "Hahaha...! Dad, that doesn't help at all!"
"Anyhow, how's Dragon Blazers III? Beat it yet?" he asked.
"Nah, I'm still at the Ice Palace." Noelle admitted. "I've been kind of... kind of waiting to finish it with you, Dad."
He paused for a moment. "...Noelle... Maybe... Maybe you shouldn't wait."
Noelle frowned worriedly. "D.. Dad?"
"You should bring it HERE! I'm bored as hell!"
Noelle laughed. Her laugh sounded shaky. "Har har har! FINE, you win! I'll bring it next time!"
Frisk tried to back away with Tina so she didn't disturb them, but she must have made a noise, because Noelle turned and spotted her. "Oh? Hey, Frisk! I didn't expect to see you here." She smiled at her and Tina. "Who's this little one, by the way?"
"Hey, Noelle. This is my little sister, Tina." Frisk said with a smile.
"We're bringing your dad flowers from Mr. Asgore!" Tina said happily.
Noelle smiled. "That's really nice of you! My dad will really appreciate it! C'mon in!" She gestured to the two to walk in.
Rudy smiled at her welcomingly "Oh! You must be that new human transfer student that came in a few weeks ago. Noelle told me about you. Said you're pretty quiet but nice. Good to finally meet ya. Glad that girl Noelle likes didn't beat you up."
Noelle blushed. "DAD!"
"Don't worry, Susie's actually pretty nice when you get to know her." Frisk said with a smile, not wanting to embarrass Noelle further by bringing up the rest of what Rudy said. "Oh, here's the bouquet Asgore had us bring you."
"I made the bow myself!" Tina said proudly, coming over to greet Rudy as Frisk set it down on Rudy's nightstand and brought him the card.
"And you did a darn good job, half pint." Rudy said, ruffling Tina's hair.
Tina grinned at the praise. "Thanks, Mr. Holiday! But I'm not a half pint! I'm getting really tall! Frisk said I'm going to be taller than her soon!"
"My mistake." Rudy chuckled, taking the card Frisk handed him. "And thanks for bringing those over, you two. I really appreciate it. Though, I don't know what he's thinking, giving me roses. What is this, man? Beauty and the Beast? That ain't gonna work, man! We're both beasts!"
Frisk laughed. "I think he just wanted to make you happy."
"Yeah, ol' Fluffybuns is a good guy. We were old college pals back in the day. Still love him and his family, even if we aren't as close as before." He paused. "Is he doing okay? How'd you meet him anyway?"
"We saw him bringing in a lot of flowers and we went to help him! And he was super, super nice and gave us some money and cookies for it, even though we said he didn't have to, and we've been visiting him a lot." Tina said happily.
"That's great." Rudy said warmly. "With Chara and Asriel at university, he definitely needed the company." He turned to Frisk, lowering his voice. "Is he still being a huge pushover and giving away his flowers for free?" he asked her quietly.
"Yes, and...I'm kind of worried about it." Frisk admitted quietly.
Rudy grabbed his wallet from in the bedside drawer and pulled out some bills. "Here. Tell him Rudy told him to get his butt in gear and start selling his flowers instead of giving them away and that I'm not accepting any more freebies."
"I will." she promised. "It was really nice meeting you, Mr. Holiday. We'll head off now and get out of your hair so you and Noelle can spend time together."
"It was nice meeting you two as well. And come back at any time! Trust me, it's boring in here." Rudy said with a smile.
Noelle then frowned. "Actually, it's getting late... Guess I better go too. I've got HOMEWORK." she groaned.
"Oh. That's the group project voice." her dad said sympathetically. "Bird guy again? What's his name? Nerdly?"
Noelle chuckled. "It's, um, Berdly... He's not that bad, dad."
"I'll kick his ass." Rudy threatened playfully.
Noelle giggled. "Hahaha... Dad, you're not even supposed to get up."
"Bring him by the window! I'll throw something at him!" he joked.
Noelle sighed though Frisk could hear the smile in it. "GOODBYE, dad."
"Bye, honey."
Noelle headed out and Frisk and Tina were about to follow when Rudy called out to them. "Hey, I know we don't really know each other, but can I ask you a favor?"
Frisk blinked in confusion. "Um, sure."
"It's about Noelle. Honestly, I'm a bit worried about her. She has Catti, and that Nerdly boy too, I guess, but I think she could use another good friend to talk to too. And...that's what's really tough about being in here, Frisk. I can't be there to help her. You seem like a really sweet young woman. Can you keep an eye out for her?"
"Of course." Frisk promised. She smiled. "When I first transferred here, I...wasn't really sure how people would react to me. But Noelle, she was so nice. Sat with me at lunch and everything. She's a great friend, and I'll be happy to be there for her." If she wants me to be. Frisk's traitorous mind thought, but she didn't want to end up sounding stupid and insecure in front of Noelle's father.
"Thank you."
"I'll be her friend too!" Tina piped up.
Rudy chuckled. "I know you will. And I know you'll be a great one."
They said goodbye to Rudy and headed out of the hospital and back to Flower King.
Asgore was there, working on another bouquet and he looked up and smiled. "Howdy, you two. How is Rudy?"
"He's really nice!" Tina said happily.
"He's doing well. Tired but seems to be happy." Frisk told him, then pulled the money Rudy had given her for the bouquet out of her pocket as soon as Tina was distracted looking at the pretty flowers. "Here, he gave you this for the roses. Also, he, um, wanted me to tell you "to get your butt in gear and start selling flowers instead of giving them out for free." She shuffled a bit, embarrassed about saying this to Asgore, especially since he looked embarrassed too as he took the money. "His phrasing, not mine, but um, yeah, he might be a little right. I kind of um, am worried about you too."
"Aww, child, you do not need to worry about me." Asgore soothed. He took a few bills off the top of the money Rudy had given him and tried to hand it to Frisk. "Here. This is for the delivery."
Frisk shook her head. "I can't. You can't afford that, Asgore." She looked down. "I accidentally knocked the papers off your desk earlier and I saw the notice when I picked them up. You need to pay your rent. You can't afford to pay us right now."
"Frisk, you and Tina did work for me, and I know you both need the money too." Asgore pleaded.
"Maybe, but it's not going to help ANY of us if your flower shop goes out of business." Frisk pointed out. She twisted her fingers a bit. "Asgore, you were so nice to us when I first transferred here. I don't want to see you go bankrupt... Please, just keep your money and actually start selling your flowers. You...You don't need to make me and Tina your charity cases with everything else going on in your life. So, just take care of yourself first, okay? Tina and I can still come hang out, we both like you a lot, but hiring us when you don't have the money to spare because you're trying to help us can't work. You need to take care of yourself first, okay?"
Asgore nodded. "All right. I will do my best, child. But... I am going to at least give you some food, all right?"
"As long as it won't leave YOU without dinner." Frisk said worriedly.
"It will not. And I insist." Asgore said. He rummaged around in his cupboards and pulled out a large family sized box of mac and cheese and some packaged cookies, and put them in a bag for Frisk. "And Frisk, sweetheart? If you need any help, any at all, you know you can come to me, all right? Toriel, my ex wife, she'd also be very willing to help you. All you need to do is ask."
Frisk's stomach twisted. She wished she could ask, but was too afraid. Her mother had told her so long ago, when Frisk had dared to complain about their life and her not acting like a mom, about being a foster kid herself and ending up in bad homes where she had been abused, getting separated from her siblings and never seeing them again.
"You can call me a shit mother, Frisk, and I'll admit I probably am, but I'm the best a kid like you's ever gonna get."
She couldn't bear the idea of losing Tina, of having her little sister sent to a bad home. And it wasn't like things were that bad. Lancer had had it far worse. At least her parents had never tried to drop her off a cliff... And while she only had a ghost of a suspicion about it, Susie might be going through something just as bad, if not worse.
She would be okay. She could handle it.
"Frisk?" Asgore asked worriedly and Frisk realized she hadn't said anything.
She quickly smiled. "Don't worry, we're fine."
"Are you sure?" Asgore asked gently.
Frisk nodded. "Yeah. Um, I gotta get home. Got homework and stuff. Tina, you coming?"
"Coming!" Tina called and hurried over.
"We'll see you tomorrow, Asgore." Frisk said, smiling as she took the bag with the food. He still looked worried, but finally nodded.
"Bye, Mr. Asgore!" Tina said happily and gave him a hug, which he returned, before the two girls headed out.
...
Frisk took a deep breath when they headed out. She definitely planned to help Asgore, but she would need a more stable job so she could take care of Tina. She was finally old enough to actually legally get a job, and while she didn't want to leave Tina at home by herself or with their parents or for Tina to walk home from school alone, she had to figure something out. She had made sure to teach Tina not to let strangers in or touch the stove without her there, and she knew the little girl was getting to be responsible, plus if she could find a place to work where she could either bring Tina or see if she could find a daycare for low income families that she could annoy her parents into signing up for or an after school club in this town, which was much safer than Ebott, then she'd be able to bring in more income and make sure Tina was safe and happy too.
She was holding Tina's hand, heading up towards the diner or the new grocery store that had just opened to see if they would hire high schoolers when she heard a voice from behind her. "O-oh! Frisk! Frisk, you're OK!"
Frisk and Tina turned to see Alphys hurrying up to them. Now she was worried, but Alphys seemed more relieved than angry.
"What happened? Was the emergency scarier than what Frisk told me?" Tina asked worriedly.
"E-Emergency?!" Alphys asked, sounding even more worried now. "Frisk, what happened? D-Did someone get hurt? And is that your sister? W-Where were you?"
Frisk slightly panicked, trying to figure out what to tell Alphys without sounding absolutely crazy. Somehow, the truth came out. "We had to seal a fountain!"
Both Alphys and Tina blinked in utter confusion and Frisk tried to think of a cover story that made sense. She then came up with an idea that sounded plausible. "Yeah, Susie's neighbor's fountain. Kid our age named Ralsei. He's homeschooled or something, but some assholes got into his yard and broke open a fountain. He was really freaked out and couldn't call his parents, and well, Susie's scary, so he wanted her to come over for protection, and she brought me so I could help him clean up and seal up the fountain so it stopped spurting everywhere while she acted as security guard." She looked down, feeling guilty for the half truth. "I'm sorry we kind of ditched school without warning, but it really was a mess. When we got it sealed and everything, we came back, but by that time school was out and everyone went home."
"H-Hey, don't worry about it! Y-You're not in trouble, n-not since you left to help a friend! A-And I'm the cool teacher! I'd never get upset about something like that!" Alphys reassured her. "N-Now, do you need anything?"
"I, um, kind of need to know what the project was about." Frisk admitted. "Since, well, Susie and I missed class...and if we have homework tonight."
Alphys brightened. "I-I'm really glad to see you keeping ahead of your studies, Frisk! T-There's no homework tonight, and the project is that the two of you need to make something for the school science fair. It can be whatever you like, but you need to make a hypothesis, keep a project log, and make sure you write a good report." Alphys told her.
"Will do. Thanks, for being so understanding, Ms. Alphys." Frisk told her.
"N-No problem! Well, y-you and your sister go have fun! I-I need to go h-home and give my kitty Mew-Mew her milk." With that Alphys headed off.
Frisk had to think for a moment. Where was she?
Right, checking the diner and grocery store to see if she could get a job.
But as they were headed up the street towards the diner and grocery store, she was once again distracted by her task, this time by the sight of Noelle's blond hair as the reindeer girl stood by the gate of a rather impressive looking house. She looked dejected.
Frisk remembered Rudy's words, plus, Noelle had been there for her on those first scary days of entering a new school. She wanted to help Noelle too. "C'mon, let's go see Noelle real quick." she told Tina.
Tina nodded. "She looks sad."
Frisk hurried over to Noelle. "Hey, Noelle!"
Noelle jumped, then turned, a smile on her face. "Hey, Frisk! Hey, Tina! Everything okay? Oh, Frisk, do you need help with anything? I know you missed almost all of class... I can loan you my notes..."
"It's okay, Noelle." Frisk was quick to reassure her. She knew Noelle liked helping people, but had she done something that made her think Frisk would only approach her if she needed something? She didn't want Noelle to think that way. "Alphys already gave me the notes I needed. We just saw you and you looked lost, so we wanted to make sure you were okay."
"Do you need help?" Tina asked worriedly.
Noelle looked surprised, but smiled. "No, I'm fine. I just...um...kind of forgot my house key again." she admitted.
Frisk tried to think of a way to help. "Maybe I can try to climb over and unlock it on the other side? If I had a pin or something I could try picking the lock, but no guarantees that would work."
Noelle's eyes widened. "No, Mom has a security system and I don't want you to get in trouble."
"Can you call her and ask her to unlock it?" Tina asked.
"No, she, um, doesn't like it when I bother her at work." Noelle admitted. She then smiled. "But don't worry! I can just go to my friend Catti's or something."
"You sure you'll be okay?" Frisk asked, feeling the same worry as when she had heard about Lancer's dad.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Don't worry about it." Noelle reassured her. "But um, can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
Noelle's cheeks turned pink. "So, um, I know you kinda spent the whole day with Susie, and you came back unharmed... I knew things would turn out okay though, and you said she's nice."
Frisk nodded with a smile and Tina was smiling too. "Frisk helped her repair her neighbor's fountain!" the little girl piped up.
Noelle looked at them curiously and Frisk repeated her cover story. "...So that's what happened. And...after that adventure, we kind of ended up being friends." Frisk ended, smiling.
"That's really great, Frisk! So, um, what's she like? I've kind of been curious about her. I mean, who DOESN'T wonder about her? She never talks to anyone. So, can you tell me about her, if that's okay?" Noelle asked with a pleading tone.
"Well, she's really tough, and she pretends she doesn't like anyone, but once you do earn her trust, she's really sweet and kind." Frisk said, smiling. "She's really protective of her friends, she's funny... and when she wants to, she works hard. Though she did ditch us for a few hours to play with this lonely neighbor kid, Lancer, who kept pranking us while we were working." she added with a laugh. "He really needed a friend though, and honestly, she was so freaking sweet with him. It was adorable." Her eyes widened. "NEVER tell her I said that. She'd be embarrassed, then she'd be mad at me. Susie doesn't like to admit it when she's soft."
Noelle's eyes were sparkling. "I knew she was amazing! Tell me more, Frisk!" She then blushed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound so pushy, but, um, can you tell me more about her? I'll bake you peppermint cookies if you do! L-Like does she like metal music? Is she really an obligate carnivore!? What's her favorite food? Does she really have a tail underneath her jacket?"
"Slow down! No need to bribe me with cookies, though we'll certainly both take them if you do!" Frisk laughed, feeling a bit overwhelmed. Noelle could likely tell and looked embarrassed.
"What's an obligate carnivore?" Tina asked in confusion.
"I think it's someone who can only eat meat." Frisk told her. "And the answer to that one is no. Susie can eat pretty much anything she wants. As for her favorite food, she seems to love sweets, but then again, she seems to love anything edible, as well as a bunch of stuff that isn't." she said with a laugh. "I don't know about the music thing, I haven't seen her listen to any. As for the tail, I THINK I saw one, but I didn't look THAT closely at her butt. That likely wouldn't have ended well."
"Thanks, Frisk. I really owe you one." Noelle said with a smile. "I'll, um, try talking to Susie tomorrow...and I'll bring those cookies I promised to school tomorrow. Do you guys like peppermint cookies? Or should I make chocolate chip, or..."
Tina's eyes shone. "Peppermint cookies sound so yummy!"
Noelle smiled at the little girl. "Peppermint it is then!"
Frisk and Tina happily thanked Noelle, and after Frisk made sure Noelle got to Catti's okay, they continued on back to the grocery shop and diner. The diner wasn't hiring, but Q thought they looked cold and "peaked," so gave them free hot chocolate, which they accepted gratefully.
But just as they had left the diner and were about to head for the grocery store, the sun setting and the streets beginning to grow dark, there was a loud sound coming from the dumpster in the alley next to the diner. They both jumped and instinctively turned that way, just as the dumpster lid started to open. Frisk pushed Tina behind her protectively, just in case it was someone or something dangerous, then her eyes widened as the person started to climb out, and she recognized who it was.
"Susie?"
...
Getting enough to eat when you were a growing dragon with a voracious appetite was hard.
When you had been kicked out of your own house by your parents and left with no money and only with whatever you had in your backpack, it was even harder.
And being seen as the school bully and town troublemaker, which she was, there was nowhere she could turn to for help. She was terrible with people, so no one would hire her, and even if she swallowed her pride and resorted to begging the police or her teachers for help, she knew she wouldn't be believed. Undyne had caught her breaking into enough places that she doubted the police woman saw her as anything other than a delinquent, and most of the teachers were terrified of her.
Well, there was ONE person in this world that she knew beyond a doubt was willing to help her, but Frisk was struggling enough. It was clear the human girl didn't get enough to eat herself, not to mention she had a sister that she was taking care of. Susie didn't want to add her problems to everything else on Frisk's plate, and she had no doubt that if she had let Frisk make her something that it meant Frisk would let herself go hungry, and there was no way in hell Susie was going to let that happen. Not to one of the only three friends she had.
Frisk had already literally taken bullets for her. She wasn't going to let her get hurt any further.
So she had lied to Frisk, saying she'd just get something at the diner. Well, technically it had been the truth, but she wasn't going to tell Frisk that it was the diner's dumpster that she was getting her dinner from tonight.
Thankfully, dragon monsters could eat just about anything they wanted to without getting sick. Unless it was pinecones apparently. Damn pinecones.
She stuffed some cold fries in her mouth, along with the box they had been in, and grabbed a half eaten burger before lifting the lid of the dumpster she had been hiding in and starting to climb out.
"Susie?"
Susie's eyes bugged out as she stared into the eyes of the exact last person she wanted to see her doing this. Frisk was standing there like a deer in headlights, just like she had when she caught Susie eating the chalk, a little girl in a pink dress that could only be her sister holding onto Frisk's striped shirt and peeking out from behind her.
Dammit!
"Frisk! I, um, I... What the he... heck! are you doing here?!" Susie exclaimed, having no choice but to jump out of the dumpster as she was caught. "Look, this isn't what it looks like. I... I just... I dropped my phone in the dumpster! I had to go in to get it!" Then she realized she was still holding the half eaten burger like an idiot and hid it behind her back. Her face turned red in embarrassment and she looked into Frisk's eyes, expecting disgust and/or pity.
But all she saw in Frisk's face was understanding as the girl smiled once again, though it was slightly sad. "Hey, don't worry about it! I get it, I've been there." she said lightly, as if talking about the phone thing, but Susie knew what she really meant. Her heart ached as she realized Frisk had to do something this sucky too.
Tina however didn't seem too concerned. "Yeah! Frisk likes to go to the dump and find cool stuff people threw away! She fixes it up and makes it all pretty and new."
Susie grinned, feeling a little better. "Cool! So what do you make, Frisk?"
"Mostly woodwork and fixing clothing, toys, and furniture." Frisk told her. "I collect scrap metal and cans for recycling too. I want to learn to fix mechanical stuff and electronics, but wires confuse me and I don't want to zap the heck out of myself."
"Heh, I've actually built that kind of stuff." Susie said with a soft smile. "Lancer has too. We can teach you."
Frisk grinned. "I'd really like that. Anyway, I'm really glad we ran into you. I...wanted to know if you wanted to come hang out at our house for the night. Our parents aren't home and we can work on our class project. And Asgore at Flower King gave us a big family-sized box of mac and cheese and some cookies for doing a delivery for him, so dinner's all covered." She held the plastic bag up hopefully.
"Yeah, you should come hang out with this! Frisk says you're really cool!" Tina said happily. "Please?!"
Susie looked into two sets of pleading brown eyes, and found herself immediately giving in. "All right, all right. I GUESS I can make time to hang out with you." she said, though not without a smile as she grabbed her backpack from where she had set it beside the dumpster.
Frisk grinned. "Great. Just let me stop at the grocery store. I wanna see if I can get a job."
They did indeed end up stopping, and in Susie's eyes, Sans the skeleton was probably the most annoying monster she had ever met, and she had met a LOT of annoying people. He told terrible puns and seemed to go out of his way to be as infuriating and obstructive as possible. and she had no clue how Frisk remained completely friendly the whole time. He finally did end up telling Frisk that she could come tomorrow to get an application, but also kept staring at her weirdly, not creepily, but like he was trying to place her from somewhere.
"Is everything okay?" she finally asked, a lot more politely than Susie herself would have.
"Heh, I just feel like we've met before. Have we?" he asked.
"I've never seen you before, but I just transferred to the Hometown school district a few weeks ago. Me and Tine are the only humans around here currently, so you've probably seen me around." she suggested.
Sans shrugged. "Makes sense to me. Hey, are you doing anything this weekend? You should drop by my house."
Frisk tensed a bit. Susie did too and glared at Sans from over Frisk's shoulder, silently telling him that if he tried anything creepy on Frisk that he'd have her to deal with.
Sans noticed. "Whoa, chill out. Wasn't playing that game. I promise I'm not that kind of creep, though props to you guys for being cautious. I just wanted to see if you'd like to hang out with my little brother, Papyrus. He could use some friends."
Frisk looked at Susie, then studied Sans for a moment. Susie did too, noticing that even if the asshole skeleton was weird, he didn't seem threatening. Finally Frisk nodded. "Um, sure."
"Cool. For some reason, I think you guys would really like each other."
After that, Frisk said goodbye to Sans, and led the way back to her house. Susie looked around. The house was a fairly run down two story house and looked old, but the grass was neatly trimmed and the windows were clean. Frisk led them inside and flipped the switch. Susie heard her let out a soft sigh of relief when the dim lights flicked on.
The inside of the house was fairly simple, with an old looking refrigerator and stove with attached counter, though all were kept clean. A long plastic table sat in the dining area with four mismatched chairs, and a worn out couch sat in the living area in front of a coffee table. It looked like it had been torn up and stitched back together a few times. A set of stairs led up to the top floor.
"The bedrooms are upstairs. Mine and Tina's is the first one on the right. You can set your stuff in there if you want. Here, I'll go unlock it for you." Frisk went upstairs with Susie following, and unlocked the bedroom. "The main bathroom is the second door down. The water doesn't come out very warm and it sometimes takes a minute to run clear, just as a warning, but it still works. There's a toilet downstairs too, but something's wrong with it that I can't figure out so we don't really use it."
"Cool. Um, do you mind if I go get cleaned up?" Susie asked sheepishly, knowing she probably stank from the dumpster.
"Not at all. Go right ahead. I'll start dinner." Frisk smiled. "Also, if you toss me your clothes, I can get them cleaned up for you. And do you need a spare change of clothes? I can see if any of mine..." She trailed off awkwardly, probably realizing the obvious difference of her and Susie's sizes would make sharing clothes impossible.
"Yeah, I don't think any of your clothes would fit me, shrimpy." Susie teased, though felt bad immediately for doing so when Frisk was being so damn nice. "But thanks for the offer." she said awkwardly. "I've got an extra change of clothes in my backpack though, so I'll be fine. And I'll wash my own clothes. You're already feeding me; you don't need to be doing my laundry too."
Frisk nodded, thankfully not pushing. "All right. The towels, soap, and laundry tub are in the bathroom closet, and there's hangers in our bedroom closet."
Susie thanked her and walked into the now open bedroom. There was a single bed with a slightly yellowed mattress and worn blankets, a black and white stuffed puppy, a teddy bear, and an orange striped kitty plushie resting on one side of it. Next to the bed was a wooden dresser that looked like someone, probably Frisk, had put it together by hand, with flowers painted on the sides, and a card table with some library books and papers neatly stacked on top sat against the wall with an old wooden chair sitting in front of it. She smiled at the childish drawings that practically wallpapered all four walls. "Heh, cute."
On the dresser rested a picture in a homemade cardboard frame of Tina and Frisk with Santa, and next to it was a handmade Mother's Day card with carefully painted pink and blue flowers. Unable to fight her curiosity, Susie picked it up. Inside was a drawing of Frisk and Tina holding hands and smiling and a message in a childish scrawl.
Happy Mommy's Day, Frisk, because you take care of me just like a mommy does!
I love you!
Love, Tina
"Aww..." Smiling softly at the card, she set it carefully back on the dresser where it was, dropped her backpack on the floor, and grabbed the hangers before heading into the bathroom. She grabbed the necessary supplies from the small closet, and spotted a bottle of watered down generic strawberry shampoo in the tub. So THAT'S why she always caught the faint scent of strawberries around Frisk in class. She fought the urge to drink it to see if it tasted as nice as it smelled. She was already eating Frisk's food, she didn't need to be drinking her sparse amount of good shampoo.
A while later, clean, dressed in fresh clothes, and with her clothes scrubbed and hung up, she returned downstairs, where Frisk was both cooking mac and cheese over the stove and helping Tina with her homework. It was both endearing and heartbreaking seeing her fifteen year old classmate basically acting like, well, a mom. Susie herself had learned to take care of herself at an early age, but had never had any siblings to take care of, and she was grateful that there were no other smaller versions of herself that would have had to deal with first her parents and then homelessness.
"Hey. Anything I can do to help?" Susie asked.
"You mind grabbing the plates and silverware for me? Dinner's almost done." Frisk asked, adding some spices to the mac and cheese and giving it a stir. She pointed out where they were.
"I'll help too!" Tina said happily, getting the silverware from the drawer as Susie grabbed the plates. Together they set the table, and Frisk dished out the food for them, giving Tina a decent child sized portion and Susie a generous one, but did exactly what Susie feared and only took a little for herself. But Susie wasn't having it and dumped some of her portions on Frisk's plate, making them equal while giving Frisk a firm look that said what she couldn't figure out what to say in words. Frisk looked embarrassed, but thankfully knew not to push and sat down and ate.
It felt comfortable, sitting there at the worn out table, eating the first homecooked meal she had eaten in a long time, listening to Tina happily chattering away about school and seeing Frisk smile as they talked about anything and everything.
It, not necessarily the house, but being with Frisk and Tina, felt like...home.
...
They didn't actually talk about the class project that night. Between Frisk taking care of Tina and them being already exhausted from the Dark World, it was unanimously decided to sleep and discuss what they were going to do tomorrow.
Frisk offered Susie the bed, but she flatly refused, and not knowing how Frisk's crappy parents would react if they came in and saw a total stranger sleeping on their couch and worried they'd take it out on Frisk, even though Frisk insisted they never hit either of them, decided to sleep on the floor in Frisk and Tina's room. The worn out carpeting was much more comfortable than the graveyard bench she had been sleeping on for the past few weeks, and Frisk made sure she had a pillow and blankets.
Sitting in her makeshift bed, Susie watched with a smile as Frisk tucked little Tina into bed with her plushies. "What story are we reading tonight?" the little girl asked happily.
"Actually, I got a brand new story for you tonight." Frisk said with a smile. "It's a legend long passed down. It is a legend of hopes. It is a legend of dreams. It is a legend of light. It is a legend of dark. This is a tale of four heroes, a human, a monster, and two princes who saved a land from utter destruction." Tina snuggled close, listening with rapt attention. "This is the story of Deltarune, and it all started with two girls, a human just like me and a dragon monster just like Susie, who were sent to get chalk from the school supply closet... Their names were Kris and..." She glanced to Susie.
"Sam." Susie supplied.
Frisk nodded with a smile. "But when Kris and Sam reached the closet, it was so dark that it turned the entire hallway into shadows."
"And Kris was really scared." Susie teased.
Frisk gave her a playful dirty look. "Don't pretend Sam, even though she was the tough girl, wasn't too."
"Okay, Sam was a bit freaked out too." Susie admitted with a laugh. "The closet was filled with only old papers, and was pitch black inside. But both girls were tough, and they went in anyway. They walked on and on, only to find out the closet was endless, and it didn't have walls. So they tried to turn back, but the door slammed shut on them. Then the floor crumbled under them, and they fell for a long, long time. And then when they woke, they found themselves separated and in a whole new world... A Dark World."
...
I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and liked the changes I made, like Susie and Frisk discovering the Darkners were toys and Susie staying over with Frisk. I might get bitten in the butt by having made this backstory for Susie, but as my friend told me, everyone's writing AUs now anyway. :)
I'd like to give a thanks to the awesome J-Farraday, who helped me with scenes of this fic and let me babble about it for hours on end! Thank you so much, July, and if you guys get the chance to check out her own works, please do! She's an amazing writer!
The first chapter of Book 2 should be released next Saturday.