:):
That's a very clever observation, undershield. You are very good at reading between the lines.
Thank you Starinteris, Equimavera200321, and felisfernus18 for also leaving me a review. I really do appreciate that you have all taken the time to give me some feedback on my story.
Not A Shady Guy, your comment made me smile. :)
I intentionally left Fearia's age a mystery for now but I will say that she acts a tiny bit older than she really is.
Also, by the time the full story comes out, I'm sure everyone will absolutely loathe the chief.
I do and I haven't even written that part yet!
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The Deal
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"come on, i think we both need a bit more sleep." Sans said as he herded the small child out of the kitchen. "i don't know about you, but i'm bone tired."
Fearia unconsciously squirmed at the idea of going back into that room. It was really dark in there... Dragging her feet reluctantly, she paused in front of the old green couch. "Sans...?" She asked uncertainly.
"hm?" The skeleton raised an eyebrow bone at the stalling human. "something wrong?"
"mh mh..." Shaking her head, she pointed to the dimly burning orb overhead. "Can I stay down here and watch the fireflies? Just for a little while?"
Sans gave the child's request a moment of consideration. It wasn't like he didn't trust her. He knew she didn't have any ulterior motives, like sneaking off in the middle of the night. No... it was more like he didn't like the idea of leaving her alone. Who knows what could happen? It hadn't been that long ago that she had nearly killed herself trying to get a drink of water. Call him paranoid, but he just wasn't willing to take another chance tonight.
"tell ya what, kid." Sans started, closing an eye socket with a grin. "we can stay down here for a little while if you answer some of my questions. what do you say?"
Tilting her head, the little girl gave him a quizzical look. "What kind of questions?"
"eh, the normal kind." Sans shrugged. "like how you got here and why."
"Oh." Fearia frowned momentarily before nodding with a small smile. "Okay." That didn't seem like such a bad deal. As long as she answered his questions, she could delay going back upstairs. That was a fair trade. It wasn't like she had anything to hide. Not really...
With an exhausted sigh, Sans lowered himself to the couch then patted the seat cushion next to him in a silent invitation. Watching her clamber up onto the piece of furniture, he again found himself wondering why such a small human would be in the Underground. That was the first thing he wanted to know actually. His second question however, was probably even more important.
Once the little girl was settled next to him, the sleepy skeleton leaned back and practically melted into the couch cushions. This couch wasn't lumpy... it was perfect! Papyrus didn't know what he was talking about. Before he could make the big mistake of falling asleep right then and there, Sans pulled himself back into a more alert sitting position and turned to look at the tiny human. "okay, kid, spill it. how did you get down here?"
Fearia, who had been contently watching the firefly-like sparks, turned her attention to the curious skeleton. "I climbed down." Frowning slightly, her brows creased. "Well, no... I actually fell... But I meant to climb down. I even made a really long rope out of vines and stuff... but, I guess I didn't tie them tight enough or something." Looking away, she smiled as one of the sparks floated close by. "When I woke up, I was laying in a heap of yellow flowers..."
Sans was quiet for a moment as he figuratively digested this information. He hadn't personally gotten to know any of the other five humans who had come to the Underground, but from what he had heard, they had also all fallen. So this kid wasn't unique in that respect, however he had never once heard of a human attempting to climb down here on purpose. What would be the point? "why would you want to come down to the underground?"
"I made a promise to Frisk." Fearia replied, a look of determination appearing on her face. "I told her I'd save her."
"who's frisk?" Sans asked, raising an eyebrow bone.
"She's my eldest sister." The little girl smiled.
"ok... so how's coming down here going to help your sister?" So far this story was making very little sense.
"I made a deal with my father." Fearia explained, her expression darkening. The skeleton's grin lessened as well at the mention of the unpleasant man. "You see, he's forcing Frisk to marry the son of the chief of a rival village. She hates his guts! So I went to confront father about it and I demanded that he change his mind."
"you demanded?" Once again, Sans found himself impressed with this child's fearless but foolish tenacity.
"Yeah." The little girl nodded. "He could have just thrashed me again but instead, he decided to make a deal with me."
Sans grimaced. Why did this kid just speak of being thrashed so casually? Her father was a real bastard. "so, what was the deal?" He almost didn't want to know.
"He gave me a test to prove my worth." Fearia explained. "If I could survive in the monster cave all by myself and then bring him back something to prove my bravery, he said he'd reconsider the arranged marriage."
"what were you planning on bringing back to him?" The skeleton asked, staring intently at the child.
Unaware that she was being scrutinized, Fearia shrugged. "I haven't figured that part out yet." Turning to the skeleton, she tilted her head in question. "What would you get to prove your bravery?"
Sans wasn't expecting the question to be redirected back at him so he answered with the first thing that popped into his skull. "a plate of my bro's spaghetti." He grinned. He knew it was his job but, even so, he felt a little guilty for being suspicious. This kid's LOVE was nonexistent.
Frowning, she puffed out her cheeks in a small pout. "That doesn't sound very brave." Was he picking on her?
"trust me, kid, you'll understand when you taste it." Sans teased, enjoying this moment of levity. This conversation had taken a dark turn and he didn't know how to tell the small child that she had most likely been given an impossible task. What's more, it sounded like her father was actually trying to get rid of her in a very permanent way. Nobody would send a tiny child like this out on her own and have any real expectations of her returning alive. He probably thought she was already dead. "what would have happened if you had said no to the deal?" She should have said no. But how could she have known it was a suicide mission?
Fearia shot him a glare at the very notion.
"not that you would have!" Sans corrected himself as he held his bony hands up in placation. "i know you want to save your sister, but could you have asked for a different kind of test?"
A quiet fear fell over the tiny human as she pulled her legs up underneath the borrowed shirt and hugged them to her chest, making herself appear somehow even smaller.
"kid?" Sans started to worry a little when he noticed how she was now trembling slightly. Was she cold? Or... maybe this was the human equivalent of a skeleton rattling their bones when they were scared.
"If I would have asked for a different test, father would have taken that as a sign of weakness. Since I had spoken out against him..." Fearia grimaced as she hugged her legs even closer. "He would have taken my tongue as punishment if I had said no."
Sans just stared at the little girl as the seconds ticked by. She was shaking even more now; definitely not the cold. Had she really just said that? Would her father really do something so cruel to his own child? Judging him by the callus nature of the deal he had tricked her into, he was fairly sure of the answer. When the little girl started to sniffle again, Sans gave a low sigh and wrapped a bony arm around her shoulder. "i'm sorry, kid. i shouldn't have asked. no more questions for tonight."
"Do we really have to go back upstairs?" Fearia asked, tensing up. "It's really dark in that room..."
"nah. we can stay down here if it makes you feel better." Lifting his arm from off her small shoulders, Sans retrieved a warm blanket from the back of the couch. Unfolding it, he wrapped the soft material around the little girl. She accepted it gladly.
"Thank you, Sans." Fearia said as she gave him a warm smile. Nestled within the cozy folds of the blanket, she felt herself begin to calm down. She still had plenty of worries, but in this moment, maybe she could forget them for a little while. Just for a little while...
Sans unconsciously set his bony hand back on the child's shoulder once she had curled up right next to him on the couch. He felt kind of bad for upsetting her all over again, but the story she had told upset him as well. The kid was in an impossible situation and she didn't even know it. There was a high probability that if she went back to the surface she would be killed. It didn't make any sense. Who could hate a child that much? Who could hate their own child that much?
This whole situation had reached an entirely new level of bothersome and he couldn't even blame the Ruins lady for it anymore. Though it still wasn't right, what she did probably paled in comparison to what the child was already accustomed to. That must be why the kid hadn't held it against her. In fact, she had seemed more angry at herself, or rather, at her own perceived weakness.
Sighing, Sans ran a bony hand over his skull in tired exasperation. What was he going to do now? Ever since he had made that promise, he had suspected a day like this would occur. Secretly though, he had hoped no human would ever come through the ancient door leading to the Ruins. Now that she was here however, all of his lazy half baked plans seemed rather maladroit.
During the last couple of days, he'd spent more time napping than actually putting any real thought into this matter. Now, not even his best idea seemed feasible. Putting aside the fact that he really didn't know very much about the barrier, only that it was currently trapping them all down here, he had originally planned to somehow get the human back to the surface. Maybe it only worked on monsters and the kid could just walk right on through. In the back of his mind however, he had his doubts. But if it worked, all of his problems would be solved. Sure, there were a few wrinkles in this plan, ...a lot of wrinkles, but in doing so, he'd be keeping his promise. A promise he shouldn't have made...
But now... that plan seemed wrong. He couldn't in good conscience help this child get back to the surface. In his perspective, it was akin to assisted suicide. No, suicide wasn't even the right word since she was unaware of the outcome. It was more like he'd be leading her to slaughter. He couldn't do that. He wouldn't be able to live with himself with the knowledge that he had somehow contributed to this child's murder.
Sans knew in a rational mindset that this really wasn't any of his business but, damn it, he felt like it kind of was now. Staring absentmindedly down at the small child, he focused on the rise and fall of her breathing from beneath his bony hand. When had he become so invested in this tiny creature's wellbeing?
Leaning back into the couch, Sans found himself staring up at the gift floating near their ceiling. It wasn't such a bad nightlight after all. How warm was it? The skeleton found himself wondering how warm it needed to be for a human to stay healthy. He couldn't quite feel it himself, but he was pretty sure this wasn't Hotland level heat. That heat almost felt unpleasant in the marrow of his bones. This must be a much more milder warmth. Before Grillby recalled his magic, he'd need to record the ambient temperature inside the house. It couldn't be that difficult to build something that produced heat.
If the kid was going to be stuck down here, he could at least provide her with a comfortable environment and the necessities she would need to stay healthy. Deep down though, Sans knew it wouldn't be that simple. With the King's order to capture all humans and the general distrust and anger that most monsters held for humans, the kid's chances were slim at best. Maybe this human's life was always fated to be short lived. It seemed like the odds had been stacked against her from the very start.
Closing his eye sockets, Sans allowed himself to relax finally. If he had any say in the matter, this kid wouldn't be dusting any time soon. He'd make sure of it...
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This chapter was a bit dark and gloomy but the next few chapters will be brighter. :)
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In the next chapter, Sans discovers something very unpleasant (In his opinion) about the human. Papyrus is thrilled!
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Thank you for reading.
If you are enjoying this story, please take the time to leave me a review.
Sheii Bae~
