Underground Spirits
Chapter 6: Preach What You Teach
Maria Point of View:
I could understand the frustration my husband had always felt for me when I'd made him sleep on the couch. During one of those stupid fights, we'd had when we lost our tempers. He lost his far too often until I had to put my food down. Some things were far too much and we'd scream at each other for days. We tried to keep it away from the children, but I knew we weren't always able to...
I was startled awake by the clatter in the kitchen. I groaned as I attempted to sit up from my stiff sleeping position. I wasn't able to sleep in my own bed. Honestly, I just couldn't bear to do it. I was reminded of my husband any time I tried to approach it.
MK and I had moved out of Angel and Sans' home only a short week again. Staying at home again... it was hard. It was honestly all I could do to stay inside the home on the lower level. I couldn't go upstairs, and it was often Angel, Sans and their family coming over to help bring things down for me to go through.
We wouldn't be here for much longer. MK and I would go through the items of our loved ones, store them for another time to go through, and MK and I would move to a smaller home in Snowdin. Our home was already contracted to be remodeled once we moved out so another family could live there. Sans and Angel helped us get it all settled so that things would be... easier on MK and myself.
There were so many thoughts swimming through my head. I was in no way okay. MK constantly was asking me how I was, when in all honesty I was a hollow husk. Some days I just... laid on the couch without someone to give me the emotional push to try and be myself.
Angel and the others were good at that.
"Mom?"
I blinked and tried to clear some of the blurriness from my vision. MK stood there above me. I could see that he set down some of the items that he had been packing away for me.
"Hi honey... sorry, I'm up."
"Mom... don't you want more rest?"
"No, sweetie..." With a deep sigh and resolve to get myself under control for my child's sake, I sat up. "We have a lot of work to do today, and Papyrus and Frisk are coming over to help. We should be ready when they come over. They'll be punctual and ready to go."
"Okay..."
"Besides, aren't they bringing over some breakfast for us soon too? We need to be ready to take over the next batch of items to the new house." It was such a struggle to put on a brave face for my son while I was breaking inside. I could almost feel my soul shattering. Breakfast... it made me think of Robert and Millie at the table eating together with us all... and Wilbur...
I felt my body shake as another imaginary crack went off in my chest. I couldn't believe what I was hearing... I must have been going insane...
"Mom!" I had to shake my head to get myself to focus on my son who stood right there before me. "Lay back down!"
"What?" I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "MK, honey, I can lay down later. We have too much to do-"
"Your soul is cracking! I can hear it!"
"W-what?"
My son pushed his head forward toward my chest. Using his own magic, he carefully pulled it out, and I was stunned with the result. Multiple fine line cracks were echoing through the soul... some so small I could barely see them. Others were so large that I saw pieces breaking off.
"Lay down!"
My son's demand was loud and empowered. I didn't have the energy to fight him as he used his body to push me back down on the couch. Once I was laying again, still stunned at what was happening, he stepped back from me. "Don't move! I'm getting help!"
And that's when he rushed to the door. A simple mechanic we had for the inside where he pushed a lever and the door was unlocked for him so he could get out. The door flew open with a powerful gust of wind and he rushed out while leaving me there on the couch.
Oh goodness, what have I done...?
Terrible thoughts raced through me while I laid there. Of all the things, I was letting myself crumble. MK was the only sole person I could rely on to keep myself sane... I... I needed help... I couldn't let my son see his mother die too... After all that we'd done to take care of Millie, Robert and... Will...
"Maria!?"
In the door rushed Papyrus, Frisk and MK. The door slammed shut behind them as they approached quickly to where I laid. Papyrus was the one to rush over first and check over my vitals. I watched him feel the pulse of my soul before carefully inspecting all parts of me, my eyes, my ears, my breathing... He was being so extensive...
"Maria, you have let your health deteriorate so much in so little time!" Papyrus chided me as he sighed. "You have neglected your physical health and your mental health is now tearing apart your soul! You need to be seen medically. Sans is going to be here any moment to take you to the hospital where a staff member is on standby. Angel is making the arrangements."
"But-"
"No buts!" MK shouted back at me. "You're going and that's final. We'll keep moving your stuff to the new house and storage. Don't you dare come home until you get better. You hear me?!"
I was surprised by the aggression my son was showing, but at the same time, I saw both Frisk and Papyrus nod at his side. Both flanked him, worried or irritated glances upon them.
There was nothing I could do with how bad off I was...
"Okay..."
"I'll stay with Angel. She'll look after me while you get better." MK noted while he came close to rub his head into my shoulder. "Get better, seriously. Stop feeling upset about what we couldn't do. None of us know. We couldn't have done anything. And Will's doing his best to get better! How would he feel if he knew you were withering away?"
The three of them stared down at me so intently. Their gazes were so painful as they watched. It felt so excruciating as I laid there that I felt something snap. Something my soul just couldn't handle anymore.
I felt my vision begin to blur. It felt like I was falling. Within moments, everything turned black and I felt myself become lost.
Later That Day:
The quiet beeping off in the distance was the first thing I heard when my vision tried to come to. Still was it blotchy, black patches swam around before my eyes. It didn't matter the number of times I blinked; my vision was still horrendous.
I felt down through my nerves, trying to move small parts of my body. I felt my fingers move to my mental command. Then I attempted my toes. They moved as well with little effort.
Even if I felt numb most of the time...
"Mom?"
That voice wasn't MK's...
I struggled to shift my head so I could see who was in the hospital room with me. The struggle was intense as I leaned to the side. I still didn't have the energy to lift my head. Everything was white, it was hard to tell many of the shapes apart, or even the colors.
However, within minutes, my mind finally settled and my eyes began to uncloud. In that time, the white colors gained shapes and textures, separating walls from floors, to another body in the room.
My other son...
"W-will?"
"Hey Mom..."
There was my son sitting beside me. He looked... somewhat better than the last time I saw him. Wilbur was looking a bit healthier; he wasn't as skinny as he was before. He looked like his head was sitting a bit better on his shoulders. Though he was watching me nervously. He seemed so... hesitant as he sat there.
"W-what are you doing here?"
"MK came to tell me you were in the same hospital as me. He was worried about you once you fainted. Your soul was breaking?"
"Oh..." I had to pause to remember some of that. "That's right. MK was worried about me... He called for help... I didn't know it was breaking..."
"Papyrus was able to do some on scene healing to improve your soul health, but the doctor's that have been taking care of you are worried about how you've deteriorated." Will sighed from the chair he was in. Only then did my vision clear even more enough that I could see that an IV was hooked up to him. I saw he brought it with him, holding onto it with a free hand. Had he struggled to come to me? "Mom... you know that none of this is your fault, right? I'm the one who screwed up and broke our family."
"N-no!"
"Mom, I'm not stupid. I know I've done the worst. I hurt everyone, and I took people away from them. From you too. I took Millie and Dad from you and MK. Me, Mom. I did that. No one else."
"Stop it..."
"I'm the only one at fault. Not you or anyone else was the reason. I was good until I was dumb enough to be lured in by that fairy for his drug ring... and then I foolishly brought Kat and Kook into that mess too."
"Please Will... stop..."
"Why are you letting yourself crumble? Do you honestly think there was something you could have done to stop me? To save Dad and Millie?"
"Of course I do!" I snapped at my son. I hated how I was so angry...
But Wilbur... oh he had the fire in him of both his parents...
"LIKE WHAT?"
The roar that echoed out of him reminded me of my Robert. My husband would have been so proud of him. Seeing his son recovering and able to stand by what he knew was right or wrong, even if he strayed from the path.
And then look at what remained of me... nothing more than a stupid woman who couldn't do a single thing right. I was a failure... as a mother, a friend, a guardian... everything...
"TELL ME!" Will continued with his verbal attack. I could hear others shouting outside the room rushing to get inside. Doctors and nurses rushed to stop my son. "GO ON! FUCKING TELL ME!"
"Wilbur! We need you to calm down!"
Hands came down on him. The staff of the medical hospital struggled to pull back my eldest son as he attempted to stay by my side. To yell, to scream, to knock some sense into me. I knew that was what he was hoping to do in his own way. He was much like his late father, regardless of how he felt about it.
"Enough."
A gurgled voice came out and instantly the pulse of magic flowed into the room. Will froze at the magic that slipped around his form and he was yanked backward into place. Red chains wrapped around my son, not only holding him back while also covering his mouth. In the same breath, one of the jurymen, Red, stepped into my room. Covered by the thick cloak they were unseen, but that magic... it was something I was very familiar with...
Angel... she was one of them? She's been helping me all this time?
Just that feeling alone was enough to bring me to tears at all the people who were trying to help me. For so long... I let myself break. I left my friend's help and care because I thought I could do it. I thought I was ready...
But the truth was I was only fooling myself.
Even my son, who had done so much to hurt me, was trying to be there for me. Making me hate him from his shouting to getting me angry at him, rather than myself. I'm sure he wished it was that way. Perhaps it should have been.
But I just didn't have the heart to hate my Wilbur. I couldn't, even after all he took from me, destroyed our lives, he was still my son that I failed. No matter how many times he told me otherwise... he couldn't change how I felt.
Those feelings fought inside me all the time. I could only guess how that was part of the reason my soul and body were breaking down...
"Wilbur, calm down." Juryman Red commanded. I saw my son stiffen at her voice but he nodded ever so carefully. The chains were carefully pulled from him and eventually, he was free of them. Standing on his own, though I saw she was careful to not pull at the medical tree and the IV in his arm.
"I forgot you were coming today." He said quietly while the hooded figure I assumed was my friend focused on him. "And Mom was brought in..."
"You do not need to explain yourself." She tilted her covered head before turning to the stunned doctors and nurses behind us. "Leave, I will settle this. And close the door on your way out."
"V-very well, Juryman Red."
With hesitance in their voices, they began to leave one at a time. The room emptied out, though the tension was high as they left. I remember that an incident similar to this happened when Wilbur was first brought into the hospital in the first place. The doctors didn't like having the jurymen there, nor the judge. They were the direct eyes and ears of the king. They acted on his orders, or on what he would wish of them. Some of their policies become null in void when the jury are involved.
To be honest, it was quite frightening.
"Maria, I have been watching you from a distance." Her crackled voice must have been with some sort of device or magic so that we couldn't tell what her true voice was. Secrecy was the utmost job of the jury. No one was supposed to know who they were. "You are pushing yourself far too hard, while blaming yourself, and letting yourself fall. Why exactly are you doing that?"
"I... I thought I was ready? I... didn't wish to be a burden."
"But you're not!" Wilbur snapped once more, almost pulling on his IV if it wasn't for the look, or lack thereof, that Juryman Red gave him. "Seriously, ask for help! You need it and so does MK!"
I watched my son begin to pace after that. A steady pace where in his rage he actually picked up his medicine tree and began walking with it like a long stick in hand. Red watched him, but she let him do so. I could only guess trying to be more of a peacekeeper rather than too authoritative with my recovering son.
"Oh, screw it!" Wilbur turned back to me and nearly slammed the item on the floor. "You need to listen to me Mom. I know that this is going to suck, but seriously you need to get your act together. I don't care what you think you're feeling right now, but you're not ready to handle these things and you need to take better care of yourself. Dad would be pissed with you if he was still here. I'm angry as fuck! Millie would be super upset and you're one of the last people alive that MK has of his family! Don't you fucking take yourself away from him because of my stupid ass!"
And that's where Wilbur turned, seething in rage, facing Red.
"Let me punch your magic! I need to hit something!"
The member of the jury listened and provided it easily. Summoned was a spiral of red chains that looked as if they would cushion half the blow my son would put into it. Wilbur took that time then to rip out his IV, clench his fists, and began punching the metal. I saw that it did take part of the blow, and then to see the force my son put into it, the chains moved, rattled and shook while hit.
But never did they bend.
"I CAN'T HAVE ANOTHER FAMILY MEMEBER'S LIFE OVER MY HEAD!"
The reality of those words spoke more volumes than anything else would have.
I had been thinking only about myself. How I felt... but what about MK? What about Wilbur?
I... needed help... in more ways than one...
"Juryman Red... you... have contact with Angel Seeley, yes?"
The juryman tilted her head behind her cloak. "I do."
"Would you... let her know that I need to stay in the hospital for a short while? Would she mind watching MK and moving my things to my new home?"
"I will get in touch with her. Allow me a moment."
"Okay..." Turning from her, who moved away from me, I looked then to face my son. Will was still punching the chains in his frustration. "I'm sorry Will... really, I am... I just... I feel so empty..."
"Then get fucking help!" He snarled while pulling away from the chains he was punching to face me. Annoyance was in his voice while struggled to hold himself back. "What do you think I'm doing?! I know I'm fucked up! But at least someone stopped you before something bad happened!"
Tears actually fell from his eyes. My son raced to hide them; he didn't want to be seen while he cried. My own tears continued to shed while I laid in bed. I tried to reach out for him.
"Oh Will... my cub... I'm so sorry..."
"Don't be sorry!" Will still wouldn't show his face. "Be better!"
That was something I'd not heard in a long time. Words I often used on Robert, or that he would use on me when we would royally fuck up between each other. It was something we taught the kids, but never had they ever implemented it. I never thought it would be used on myself...
What a surprise...
A broken laugh escaped me, and Will finally looked at me then with the change of mood. I tried to smile at him, knowing fully well that my own lesson was used against me.
"Okay."
Witch's Note:
Yeowch! Okay, that was a hard one to write, but I think it came out rather well, don't you all? This little lovely number was actually given to us by MysticBoywastaken! I was incredibly pleased to have a point of view from Maria and to see the real struggle we didn't get to see when she was living with Angel and away from all her problems. This chapter actually thrusted us into them, how much she was neglecting herself, and how worried everyone was around her.
I hope you all thought similarly! Now! Onto the reviews!
Shadow8Phantom: I've glad you loved the Flowey chapter! Isn't it a great look into what happened with him? I always wanted to portray him as he was, Chara's shadow essentially. Looking at how that followed him into his new life, maybe he is actually seeing her over his shoulder from the little bit of her magic mixed with his ashes.
But we can't exactly prove that, can we?
But it is amazing to see the difference between the relationship between our main characters compared to him and Chara…
Thechaosmaster: Hahaha! What a lovely joke! "Rooting" for him! Hahaha!
But yes, isn't it so glad to know that he finally got a happy ending? Or as far as we know based on the first story! We still have yet to see how he plays out as Asriel in the second book. How will he recover? Is there any issues he's going to face? I imagine Chara will be one of them, but also his parents. Look at the struggles we've seen going on with them in this story… and there's more to come… XD
Not A Shady Guy: No worries Shady, it happens. I had a similar issue last story where MysticBoy's reviews and RoseCentury's were also not appearing. Something was happening as well. So we get it.
But yeah… isn't it frightful how long he was working at that? How hard he was trying to get after them? Stalker like and shit… a characteristic we can only guess is from Chara. Not sure if that would be Asriel or not.
But now all of you can judge Maria instead! What do you have to say for this chapter? How does she appear or appeal to all of you? I can't to hear your thoughts on that!
But now I gotta go work on other stuff! And don't worry, for any of you who wondered where Mystic Girl was all this chapter ending, she was on a date and taking care of some confidential documents that I didn't get to know about… Weird…
Oh well! Love you all and see you next week!
Halloween Witch and Mystic Girl
