:):
Thank you for the nice reviews!
You're right, felisfernus, Fearia really is small and weak but many monsters simply won't see her that way.
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This chapter is going to be a little confusing but I think it will answer some of those pesky time related questions. :)
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Before the Bane
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Laying on her stomach on the lumpy green couch, Fearia's tiny legs swung back and forth in the air with a vengeance as the small child scrutinized her reading material. Frustration creased her brow as she squinted at the large elegant text inside the book she had been tasked with reading. Thankfully there were pictures, but without understanding the words that went along with them, the information was pretty much lost on her.
Despite this feeling like a genuine punishment instead of the beginning of her training, the actual irony of the subject was lost on the child. She knew she couldn't read that well to begin with, but this was absolutely impossible! The letters seemed only vaguely familiar and that just wasn't enough for her to decipher anything.
With a long drawn out sigh of defeat, Fearia plopped her head down onto the couch and let the book fall from her hands as she surrendered to her obvious inadequacies. Who knew such a simple book could make her feel so worthless? As she was wallowing in self deprecating despair, the couch dipped down beside her as someone took it upon themselves to join her exclusive pity party.
"need some help there, squirt?"
"no... I dun need any help. Ima do thith m'self." Fearia refused the help stubbornly, her words muffled by the couch cushion. The last thing she wanted was someone teasing her right now.
Sans stared at the depressed child then over to the book. His ever present grin widened a little when he noticed something. "i know you don't want any help, but it might be a little easier to read if the book wasn't upside down."
Lifting her face from the couch, Fearia felt a small flicker of hope reignite inside of her. "It's upside down?" Quickly turning the book around, that small flicker of hope died a second later. It was still unreadable!
With a groan, the small child once again flopped her face to the lumpy couch cushion. This wasn't the kind of training she was hoping for. Where were the rigorous battle techniques? Where was the grueling discipline that stretched your resolve to the brink? This seemed more like simple academic learning. And she was terrible at that!
Reaching over the tiny human, Sans collected the dingy book. Flipping it open, he skimmed a few sentences before rolling his eye lights. This book was everything he thought it'd be. Boring. "come on, kid, i know it's not very interesting but the sooner you read it, the sooner we can both do something else."
The skeleton received no sign that the child had even heard him. The tiny thing was still face down on the couch, displaying the tell tale signs of someone who has just given up on life. Continuing to smile, Sans resisted the urge to tease and instead turned his attention back to the book. This kid could be so melodramatic sometimes. "i guess i'll start."
Fearia's ears perked when the lazy skeleton started to read from the book. He sounded largely disinterested, but that was understandable because the contents of the book were dry and uninteresting. Even so, the child found herself easily absorbing the information as she listened to her friend's calm voice.
Halfway through the book, Sans paused at the end of the fifth chapter. The child who had seemed glued to the couch cushions before was now sitting beside him, attentively looking at the reference pictures as he read. The book wasn't really that long. There were probably three or four more short chapters and he could easily read them aloud, but he felt like he was doing all of the work here. The squirt should at least do some of the reading.
Tilting the book to the child, Sans tapped at the first paragraph of chapter six with the tip of his phalange. "your turn, kid."
Fearia felt a swell of instant irritation as she squinted down at the words. It wasn't like she was going to miraculously obtain the ability to understand these foreign symbols. "Do I have to?" She asked as she shot the skeleton an unhappy look. "Can't you just keep reading? You're almost done anyway."
"i could, but paps wanted you to read this and you haven't even read a word of it yet." Sans tried to reason with the stubborn child. "come on, kid, it can't be that hard."
"wait..." A thought occurred to Sans as he glanced over at the small child. Her brow was creased in frustration and she was curling into herself again as if trying to hide from the whole situation. "you can read, right?"
"I can read!" Fearia defended angrily. Drawing her knees to her chest, she wrapped her arms around them and partially hid her face. "I just can't read that..."
Sans studied the tiny human for a moment before finally relenting. She was telling the truth. So it wasn't as if she was just being difficult. She just really couldn't read the words in the book. "i get it. the written language on the surface where you're from must be different from what is used down here. you probably can't read anything in the underground. i guess that makes sens-"
"That's not true." Fearia interjected. "I could read the stone tablets in the Ruins just fine. I mean, they were written in riddles so they didn't make much sense either way, but I could still read them."
"the ruins?"
"Yeah." Fearia lifted her head and smiled. "The place behind the big stone door in the forest. It's really old and crumbling down in places, but it looked like it used to be a castle or something. Every now and then I would find a stone tablet with a message carved into it. Some of them were too worn or cracked to read but I could still understand most of them."
Sans quietly listened as he tried to piece together this information. From what he knew of the Ruins, it was the place where Monsters had originally started off after they were banished to the Underground. But that had been centuries ago. The Ruins had been left behind and forgotten when Monsters began migrating to more comfortable locations further into the cave system.
If there was a written language beyond the door, he doubted that anyone would still be able to read it. So, how was it that this small child could?
Unless...
Turning his full attention to the tiny human sitting beside him, Sans studied her for what seemed like the millionth time. He still couldn't find anything outwardly unusual about her, but he was beginning to come to a conclusion. She might actually be from the past. And not like just a few years ago, but more like hundreds of years ago. As implausible as that seemed, it was starting to make sense. From her lack of common knowledge to the stories she told, everything was beginning to click into place.
Time moved differently in the Underground. Sometimes it felt disconnected with the surface world entirely. Other times it felt like they were jumping a few years ahead or falling a few years behind. The tether that anchored the Underground with the Surface was never completely stable. Whether that had something to do with the barrier or something else, nobody really knew. But never had the time difference been more than a few years.
Reaching into his pocket, Sans retrieved one of the silver coins he had found at the base of the waterfall earlier that day. This currency was unfamiliar and he could not read the words etched into the metal, but there was one thing in particular he noticed. Below the mint mark, it clearly stated 11x. Was that really the year?
"kid, can you read this?" Sans asked as he held the coin out for her to see.
Leaning over to get a closer look, Fearia's amber eyes lit up in recognition. "Hey, where'd you get that?"
"doesn't matter. you can read it, right?"
The child scoffed at the lazy skeleton's evasiveness. "Yes, I can read it. Why?"
"what's it say?" Sans asked as he handed her the coin.
"It says "Land of Elm" on this side." Fearia revealed as she showed the side with a large intricately engraved tree. "And on this side it says "10 Quarts." That's almost enough to buy a horse! What are you going to spend it on?"
Resisting the urge to ask what the heck a horse was, Sans grinned and closed an eye socket. "eh, i'm savin' it for a rainy day. you forgot this part." He reminded as he pointed beneath the engraving of a crystal. "is that the date?"
"Uh huh." Fearia confirmed with a small nod. "But this is one of the new coins. Usually only the wealthy people trade with these. The rest of us still use the old brass ones..."
"huh." Curiosity piqued, Sans reached into his pocket yet again and came back with a few more coins. Two were brass and depicted a large acorn instead of a tree, another silver one, and the last was a large golden coin that was missing the middle in the shape of a triangle. "you mean these?" He asked pointing to the beat up brass coins.
"You have thirty Quartz?" The small child gasped as she beheld the small fortune held within his bony hand. "You could buy a whole house with that! A very small house. But still... Where are you getting all of this money? Did you steal it?"
Sans rolled his eye lights at the suspicious child. "i found it."
"Where?"
"i'll tell ya, if you read what's on this coin first." Sans grinned as he dropped a brass coin into the child's open palm.
"It says exactly the same as the silver one." Fearia obliged. "Except these are only worth 5 Quartz."
"what about the date?"
"It's just an old coin from before The Purge." Squinting, the small child struggled to make out the old worn inscription. "I think it says 1482o. It's really hard to read, but I'm pretty sure that's the date. Why did you want to know?"
Sans felt his smile lessen as he consumed this information. "what's... the purge?"
Fearia simply shrugged and shook her head. "I'm not sure. Everyone tries not to talk about it. I asked Frisk once and she just looked really sad so I didn't bring it up again. All I know is that it ended right before The Bane." She visibly cringed as the word left her mouth. "Nobody likes to talk about that either..."
Sans had a bad feeling he knew exactly what The Purge was, but he had no idea about The Bane. Even so, he felt like he was on the verge of solving this puzzle. He just needed one more piece of information. "when was the bane?"
"It's been a decade since The Bane happened. I know because there was a big memorial earlier this year. Right after the last frost." Fearia frowned at the memory. "For some reason father forbade both Frisk and I from leaving our rooms. We didn't get any food that day either. I still don't understand what we did wrong..."
"don't sweat it, kid." Sans reassured with a lazy smile. "i'm sure you didn't do anything wrong. your old man's just a piece of work." He wasn't about to let on to how much he was starting to despise this man, and dwelling on the subject would just depress the kid. Instead, he decided to steer the original topic back into play by holding up the second silver coin. It too had the date 11x on it. "so, is this the current year? 11x?"
"Uh huh." Fearia confirmed as she reluctantly handed the coins back to her friend. "So, where did you find them? You said you'd tell me."
"i found em in the water." Sans grinned obnoxiously as he shut an eye socket. "happy, kid?"
"No." The small child pouted. "You're not going to tell me are you?"
"i just did." Sans teased, thoroughly enjoying watching her reaction. Her facial expressions were amusing to say the least. Especially so to someone who wasn't accustomed to reading them. He was getting better at it though. "bonus round. so, what does this one say?" He asked as he held up the large golden coin with the hollowed out center. Out of all of them, this particular one had the most words engraved into it and it was kind of strange that the kid had completely ignored the coin outright.
"Nobody uses these anymore." Fearia answered as she accepted the coin. "Not since the Kingdom of Magic fell..."
"so, it's an antique then?"
"Not really." Fearia shrugged. "That happened like ten years ago. It's just that nobody wants anything to do with the Kingdom. So it's kind of a taboo to even use these coins..."
"you going to read it?" Sans urged. He didn't know why, but learning about the Surface world from this time period was starting to fascinate him. According to the information he'd just pieced together. This kid was, despite all improbabilities, from just after the Monster race had been banished into the Underground. It was crazy. This tiny human was actual living history. Though it was probably unlikely, she might even know something that could help them break the barrier. If so, he needed to learn everything he could.
Reading the coin silently in her head, a thought occurred to Fearia and with it, a mischievous smile. "I'll read this to you, if you will read to me the rest of that boring book." She bargained.
Oh. Sans felt his grin lessen. Oh no. The kid was learning his tricks. A moment later, his grin returned full force. He was so proud! "well, well, squirt. look's like you've got yourself a deal. don't let it go to your head though."
"Yes!" Fearia grinned triumphantly before turning her attention back to the coin. "This side just says "Kingdom of Magic. 50 Quartz." Flipping the coin over, she continued. "This side says "A World Apart" on the top and "United by Magic" on the bottom."
"is there anything else?"
Studying the coin carefully, Fearia noticed a hidden inscription circling the edge of the golden coin. "There's one more thing. It says... Verum est rationem animae Revelata. Vide quid sit, non videri."
Feeling a strange vibration, Fearia almost dropped the coin in surprise. The hollowed triangle in the center had begun to glow an eerie blue before fading to near transparency. What had just happened?
Sans was just as surprised by what he had just heard and seen. Did this kid just unknowingly chant a spell? What were the words she had spoken? More importantly, what did it do?
"Sans! Sans, look." Fearia delighted as she held the coin out and peered through the center. "I think I can see your Soul. Why's it upside down?"
"what?" Smile going flat, Sans was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. Could she really see his soul?
"Here, you try." Fearia said as she offered the coin to the skeleton. The center flickered slightly from the transaction but stayed lit, shimmering faintly.
Holding the coin up to his face, Sans felt a little silly as he gazed through the center. A golden heart greeted him in pristine clarity as the child giggled. This wasn't the first time he'd seen her soul, but he'd never seen it so clearly before. He usually relied on a type of clairvoyance, but it was never like really seeing something. It was more like he inherently knew what the soul looked like without actually having to see it. This was different. He could actually see the childlike aura emanating from her soul in gentle glittering pulses.
After a few more seconds, the light in the center of the coin finally faded and it was once more just a piece of useless metal. Truthfully, Sans didn't really know how to feel about this. On one hand, he'd just witnessed real human magic. Besides the strange healing stars, he couldn't remember another instance of actual magic being preformed by a human. They weren't generally thought to be very magical beings. But on the other hand, this kid seemed to be outside the norms. He never even considered that she might be able to do something like this. And if she could use magic then what else could she do? More importantly, was it safe?
"you forgot to tell me you could use magic, kid." Sans said as he looked back to the small child. She looked completely unconcerned as she let out a tired yawn.
"I can't use magic." Fearia denied as she tried to stifle another yawn. "I just read the words on the coin. The coin is magical, not me."
"right." Sans was unconvinced to say the least. "so if i held this coin and said those words it would activate again?"
"Mh hm..." Fearia nodded tiredly. "Go ahead and try. You'll see."
"uh..." Sans hesitated as he tried to remember what the heck she had said. "remind me. what were those words again?"
Letting out a weary sigh, the small child repeated what the inscription had said to the best of her memory. "Just say - The True Nature of a Soul Revealed. See What Cannot Be Seen."
"yeh, that's definitely not what you said before." The skeleton argued. "that's something completely different."
"Just say it." Fearia gave her friend a determined look. She didn't like being doubted.
"it won't work."
"Say. It."
"fine fine." Sans relented as he held out the coin. This was totally not going to work. "the true nature of a soul revealed. see what cannot be seen."
...
Just as expected, nothing happened. The coin didn't vibrate or glow or do anything special. "see. told you." Sans said as he held the coin out for the child to see. "it's you that's magical, not the coin."
"No, you just said it wrong!" Fearia argued as she swiped the coin from out of his bony grasp. "Here, Watch. You just gotta say it right."
Sans said nothing as he watched the small child repeat the incantation just as before. And just as before, the coin began to glow from its center. "just curious, but, are you aware that you're speaking a different language?"
...
"kid?"
Without any warning, the tiny human slumped forward before collapsing in a limp heap across Sans' bony lap. The coin, for all its magical glory, slipped between the couch cushions to join the rest of the loose change. Startled, Sans found himself frozen in place for a moment before a wave of worry took over. "h- hey, kid?"
As gently as he could, Sans turned the child over so he could see her face. She was sound asleep, breathing deeply. Other than the fact that she was completely zonked out, there wasn't anything else wrong with her. As his worry subsided, the skeleton released a quick breathless sigh. "jeez. don't do that to me..."
Looks like his worries about whether her magic was a threat or not were unfounded. He had once again completely overlooked the fact that she was still so young. From the looks of it, she had somehow overspent herself magically and lost consciousness as a result. It would probably be a good idea to put that coin away someplace safe and out of her reach. He could just see this happening again for the dumbest of reasons.
Leaning back into the lumpy couch, Sans stretched his bones tiredly to alleviate himself of nonexistent stiffness. Once he was done, he gathered the small child into his bony arms and stood up. "alright, kiddo, time for bed." He said quietly as he headed for the stairs.
Laying the child gently into his brother's bed, he tucked her in with care. He knew that this whole sleeping arrangement wasn't going to work for much longer. The kid needed a place that was just for her and she couldn't just keep snoozing on the couch. She needed her own bed.
Even as he was considering this, a small worry that seemed to be constantly lurking inside his mind resurfaced. How much longer was she going to be staying here? With them. If he was being honest, he actually liked having her around. Her very presence brought an energy that seemed to brighten up a room and with it everyone's moods as well. Papyrus hasn't been this genuinely happy in years and as for himself, well, he was finally starting to feel a bit hopeful again. And this was all thanks to this tiny human.
But what would happen if she stayed long enough for them to become completely attached? For it to feel normal waking up everyday and greeting Papyrus and the kid when he walked into the kitchen in the morning. To plan their days, not just for themselves anymore but now having to take into consideration of what she might need. What the shopkeeper had said to him was true; truer than he had realized at the time. Taking care of a kid was tough. But at the end of the day, it would all be worth it to see her smile.
But that was just the thing, Sans thought as his smile lessened slightly. What if she stayed just long enough for her to become apart of their little family, to become apart of their lives, only for her to be ripped away in the end. She was so small and there were so many things that could happen. Sure, she had her healing stars to keep her healthy. But what if that just wasn't enough? A fatal accident wasn't out of the realm of possibilities. Not to mention something that wasn't accidental at all. Being a human in the Underground wasn't something that was tolerated, what with the King's order's and all.
If anything happened to this kid, then what would happen to them? Could they just go back to normal? Sans knew the answer and it unsettled him. Of course they couldn't. Looking down at the sleeping human, the skeleton's grin went flat. This brat was a gift of impending grief masquerading around as a little girl. He once again found himself cursing the lady behind the Ruins door. He knew though that it wasn't really her fault.
Bringing Sans out of his dark reverie, the child made a small whine as she rolled over onto her side. Face scrunching up slightly in disgust, she started mumbling in her sleep. "noo... too salty... i dun wan nmore ghetti..." Wrapping her small arms around Papyrus' pillow, she curled herself around the squishy object as if to hide from whatever she was dreaming about.
Grin turning passive aggressive, the skeleton grunted in slight amusement. "you've got no idea how much trouble you are, and yet you're still complaining? you're a real handful, you know that, kid?" He said quietly as he leaned over and pulled the covers back around her shoulders. "it's a good thing paps likes you."
Later, he'd see about making her her own bed. And perhaps getting her some real food. As much as he loved his brother, he couldn't stand by and watch as Papyrus kept trying to feed the kid his cooking. Nobody deserved that...
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I tried my best with the Latin but I know it's not by any means perfect.
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In the next chapter, one of Fearia's greatest weaknesses is revealed!
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Thanks for reading!
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Sheii Bae~
