"-And could you make sure these get to Milo and Mila? Hate keeps nagging me about it." Betty asked, handing a plastic bag of randomly assorted goods to Tulah. She had no idea what was in it since Hate wanted it to be a surprise and, quote, 'throw you into the nearest lake' if she did.
"He's gotten way softer than I remember. something wrong with him or what?" Mila asked while taking the bag and looking inside at the contents.
Betty guessed Hate had changed a bit; it was less verbally violent and seemed to bite its tongue more often. That and the being had recently started offering assistance out of the blue. The scenario was rather strange. "Maybe, I wouldn't be surprised. We're all having our own problems."
"For real..." Tulah seemed bummed out for a good second before her mood would instantaneously switch back to her usual jolly self. "Oh well! Nothing I can do about it! Do tell him they appreciate the help." She paused and then awkwardly laughed. "Even if they're not in the mood to say it."
"Still not going to let me see them?" Betty asked with a raised brow.
Tulah shook her head. "Nope. Sorry, they're- uh- still off-limits if you get what I mean."
"I understand." Betty wouldn't press on the matter, her previous attempts had got her nowhere so there was no point in fighting it. She turned to leave. " I'll see you again soon."
"Take care!" Tulah waved and slowly closed the massive warehouse door, although she stopped for a second and peaked her head out one last time." Oh! And...good luck finding Kumu." With that, the door was slammed shut.
Right...Kumu. They're gone as far as Betty knew, she had no idea where she went. What she did know was that they were one-hundred percent kidnapped, the blob always followed her directions no matter the circumstances. They were ordered to stay at Mila's house and there was no trace of magic left behind. The fire burned away any evidence, aside from the bodies of the black and purple-eyed humanoids.
The whole burning of Our Town was a cluster of chaos to deal with: both Mila and Milo's parents were confirmed to be dead; which sunk them into depression, Withern is still nowhere to be found, and more lives were lost and added to the recent death toll. To put salt on the wound, Hate's apartment was destroyed, which meant neither it or her had a home anymore. Currently they were residing in a tent set up for the two of them, which she began making her way back to.
The only reason they had a tent in the first place was thanks to the supposed 'guards' Gaster had gotten the Determino district to supply in order to protect the town and Betty - mainly her. All of them were either police officers or part of some sort of group to maintain order and peace. However, a lot of them had now reverted to becoming disaster relief. Since the town was in shambles and Betty was insistent on protecting herself without aid, the only real help they could do was search through the rubble, create reports related to Our Town's status, and offer supplies.
It was hard to find any light at the moment. Betty herself was having a hard time being optimistic with Kumu missing and so many innocent souls being lost. What was the point in being here anymore with everything gone? The environment was in ruin and utterly depressing, mixed in with the fact there was still corpses and monster dust to be found. Just being here ate away at her determination and she feared the same could be said for everyone else here.
Despite that, Betty had to remain strong. Stay determined.
She internally pumped herself up, closing her eyes and imagining her soul raging with determination. Too bad her internal optimism was short-lived when she collided with a faceful of white fluff and a heavy aura of magic. "What the-"
"oops. sorry kiddo, my shortcuts are a bit rusty." Sans apologized while ripping Betty away from Asriel's chest. "it was an unfurseen consequence."
"Oh great, a comedian." Betty grumbled. Without fur blocking her sight, she could see she had three visitors. Sans, Asriel, and Undyne. What in the world were they doing here? Better question: How did they get here? She was a hundred percent sure she hadn't sensed their magical presence nearby. "Why and how are you all here? Isn't Determino City at least two hours away by car?"
"We had Sans use one of his shortcuts as he just mentioned." Asriel casually stated, leaving the pink-haired girl still perplexed. Thanks genius, but what's a shortcut? "As for why we're here: Undyne needs to gather reports and check up on everyone's condition while I, um, want to talk about stuff with you."
"Stuff? As in...?"
"Some things relating to the arena tragedy." Asriel informed, much to Betty's irritation. Over the week she completely became opposed to the idea of associated herself with the public under any circumstances. She saw the damage done with her presence. Never again will it happen.
"No thanks." dismissively waving off the goat monster, Betty pushed past the trio to go back home.
"But it's about human and monsterkind's moral, give me a chance to explain!" Asriel said. Shocked and refusing Betty's answer, he began to follow behind Betty. "There's going to be a public mourning near Determino's arena, people need you-"
"I said no, Asriel." Betty said, her tone dropping to something clearly uninterested and antagonized. "I appreciate you for helping me fight, but I'm not showing my face in public again."
"Why? Is it because of those humans...?" Asriel asked.
"More than that." Betty huffed and picked up the pace in hopes of out-walking the young monster. Unfortunately, they were determined to continue pestering her, prompting her to continue speaking. "I already hate having attention, people would get in my way and have unrealistic expectations for me just because I have a determined soul."
The goat monster still persisted after her small explanation, silently as if waiting for her to speak more. She gritted he teeth and stopped in her tracks. "And yes, it's also due to the humans who attacked because they wanted my soul and I showed myself in public at the time."
"Well we could...could..." Asriel noticed Betty's expression scrunch in anticipated anger, knowing what his next words would be. He backed down, lowering his head and nervously clasped his hands. "Protection isn't going to convince you, isn't it?"
Betty shook her head. "I'd rather not have more lives risk themselves for mine than I already do here."
"welp. seems like this conversation is a bust, asriel." Sans casually appeared from behind, his permeate smile ever-so-slightly faltering. "not to ruin the mood or anything, but it's going to take me some time to teleport back home. I'm used to a few dozen miles of teleporting, but over a hundred is when it gets ridiculous." his white pupils shifted towards Betty. "so if it isn't awkward, could you keep him busy for an hour or so?"
"..." Betty shifted her eyes at Asriel for a moment and then back to the skeleton "Why can't you?"
"don't feel like it. thanks and bye." And then Sans suddenly ceased to exist.
"Wait-" Betty shouted, baffled before taking a deep breath and sighing. Great, I have to babysit a goat. "Okay, few rules: Don't talk about my soul, don't talk about the Sicko Incident or the Arena Tragedy, and don't try convincing me into anything related to the public-"
Asriel opened his mouth.
"My answer is still no." Betty said harshly, plastering an ironically sweet smile.
Asriel winced. "Alright..."
"Good." Betty began to march forward once again, the two of them weren't very far from the tent at this point. "As rude as it is to not attend a mourning, I can't risk getting attacked again with people in the crossfire...Let's change topics."
"If you say so..." The goat monster sighed in defeat and went on to change the subject. "You, uh, mentioned tracking the suspects?"
Approaching the tent, Betty grabbed Asriel's arm and pushed through two open flaps to the small space. Inside was pretty basic, two sleeping bags with a small container holding basic hygiene and food. Huh. Hate is gone. She sat down the monster and herself across from him, arms folded. "I'll be honest, I haven't had any luck. All I've managed to gather is how they operate and their abilities, nothing about their whereabouts."
"Abilities? Like what?" Asriel leaned forward, curious.
Before Betty said anything, she realized she was about to tell a near-stranger rather vital information. Sure, they helped her fend off the attackers back at the arena, but it was a one time thing and she'd rather not have anyone getting caught up in her own mess again. Her goal was to protect humans and monsters, not disturb them. "I have a question before I answer that, I dare say. Why do you want to know?"
"Er..." Asriel thought for a moment before something popped into his mind. "Wait, I don't think I ever properly introduced myself! I mean- you already know my name is Asriel, but I forgot to mention I'm one of the saviors of monsterkind. Is...that enough to convince you?"
Betty was very, very skeptical. Monsterkind's savior? She thought there was only one, the determined human before her. They were the one that saved monsterkind...right? "I don't buy it."
"A-ah. I guess I don't really look like it, but I'm the reason monsterkind is actually free. Everyone just assumes it's the human." Asriel tried to explain in hopes of convincing the pink-haired human.
Unfortunately for him, it wasn't enough. If anything, she thought he was lying. Why hasn't she heard of his achievements until now? Betty had heard so much about the human savior of monsters, but nothing about a monster savior as well. Not only that, but to destroy the barrier it would require 7 human souls. What he's technically saying is that he used his own soul to destroy the barrier, which should be impossible since he's a monster. To do that, his magical power had to be the equivalent of a human soul. " A monster can't possibly do that."
Seeing as Betty's skepticism failed to disappear, her facial scrunched up with doubt, Asriel would take drastic measures. "Well, my soul is different from any monster I've known." He held his palms out, letting his soul manifest above his hands. It looked like a human soul, but it had a white outlined and alternated between every known soul color. A rainbow soul. How is that possible? Is that a human soul on a monster? Or is it a monster soul? "Will this convince you?"
"H-how- That- What is that?" Betty stuttered.
"It's a monster's equivalent to a determined soul, I'm the first in history to have it." Asriel explained with a soft smile. "I was given it to help free monsterkind alongside the previous determined human."
"How unique..." Betty reached out to touch the soul but quickly retracted her hand when she saw Asriel's amused expression. She gave an embarrassed pout and looked away. There's no harder evidence than his soul. I don't remember such a type existing, so it'd be impossible to disprove his information. It looked like it could destroy a barrier. "Okay. You've convinced me, hero. I'm assuming your intentions are the same as mine?"
"If you mean protecting monsters and humans alike, yeah!" Asriel said, his eyes glowing with a hint of determination.
"I see." Betty lightly giggled. She would recognize Asriel as an ally for now despite being a near-stranger she only met a week ago. With a soul like his, there was no reason to decline him. A monster's equivalent to a determined soul. With that power like that by my side, he could prove to be useful. "Well, I'll tell you what I know now."
"Save it for later." A loud, heavily accented voice uttered from the tent entrance.
Both teens turned their heads towards the intruder to see it was some police officer with cowboy-like accessories with Hate and Agni right behind him. He tipped his cowboy hat and gave a gruff smile. "Mighty fine soul ya have there, Prince Asriel. Ah don't mean to barge into y'all's conversation, but there are some important things I need to talk to some determined human named Betty."
Who's this stranger? "That'd be me. Who are you exactly?" Betty was a bit freaked out by some random human suddenly appearing to talk to her. They seemed like they were part of law enforcement, given their attire, but it didn't match any of the officers currently guarding her and the burnt town. They had a grey and green look going on, sort of like the district sheriffs she had seen on TV where some show had people chasing criminals.
"Just ol' Adel." Adel introduced with a rough chuckle. He leaned forward, his eyes sharpening to a hard stare at Betty. "I don't mean to be rude or anything, miss, but I happen to catch wind of your talk with the prince. I would attend that mournin' if I were you."
"Oh god, not this again." Betty groaned. She stood up and crossed her arms, her expression turning sour. "I've stated it already, I'm not going to that! I would put lives at risk with my presence! Why do you even care? Better yet, why were you eavesdropping on me?"
"I apologize for that, my friend Agni here didn't want to ruin your chat." Adel gestured over to Agni, who gave a shy wave and stepped forward. Friend? This guy is a friend of Agni?
"H-hey Betty... Look, I know you don't like attention, a-a-and I'm aware of the issues it brings up, but we really need you to go to the public mourning. L-Like, badly." Agni squeaked.
Betty had enough. This was getting too ridiculous for her. She summoned her scythe and gripped it hard in her hands. "What is up with you all wanting me to go?! What the hell is so important about it that it's worth risking another attack?!" her weapon began to glow under her furious demeanor, causing everyone to take a step back.
"W-well, for me it's public moral. It'd put a lot of people at ease to see you honoring the dead." Asriel stammered, holding both hands in front of his face in surrender.
"As for us, Betty- For the love of god put that scythe down!" Hate growled as Betty pointed her weapon at him. Getting cocky, he smacked the weapon away and hissed. Thankfully it wasn't enough to set the pink-haired girl off. " More people might die if you don't and we can learn where those corrupted humans went!"
"What? How does that make any sense? How are people going to die if I don't attend? And how is it going to help me find a lead?!"
"Yea...I'm not following with what you're saying either." Asriel commented, just as confused as her.
"Well, this is going to take some explainin'. Hm..." Adel stroked his chin then gestured over to Asriel. "Why don't ya tell the girl what's going to happen at the mourning? That'll help explain everythin'."
"I...Guess I could?" Asriel cleared his throat. "The thing is pretty much formal and uses a lot of monster traditions. Humans and monsters will gather around the arena to mourn their losses for a bit, wearing all black and holding golden flowers. After that, me, my parents; the former royals of monsterkind, and the current determined human will approach and offer our condolences."
Betty got the gist of the information, although the whole process sounded rather nutshelled. "Was this a normal thing back underground?"
"A long time ago, yeah." The goat-like monster nodded. "We had it take place at the barrier every year since our arrival. I had a brother, before the human who helped shatter the barrier, who had a determination soul. He stood with us every time. It's why we need a determined human: to carry out the Dreemurr tradition."
So there was more than one reason why Asriel wanted to Betty to attend, it was also a tradition. She was starting to feel a bit bad she was rejecting to participate in a custom, but it wasn't enough to persuade her to attend. She just couldn't bear the idea of showing herself in public once more. It was more trouble than it was worth. "I see..."
"But here's the important thing!" Asriel empathized. "Since a lot of innocent monsters died, their families want to spread their dust somewhere important. A lot of them want to spread ot on Mount Ebott, so after the mourning all of us make a small pilgrimage there. A ceremony."
"w-w-which is bad because there's something strange going on there!" Agni quickly added
"Strange? " Both Betty and Asriel questioned.
"I'm sure you're aware of em smiling fellows? Pitch black with swirly eyes? There been sightings of them." Adel elaborated. "A bunch of monsters could be walkin' into a deathtrap and we need a partner like you, Betty, to make sure it doesn't happen while we check up on the matter."
Immediately the pink-haired girl knew who he was referring to: Boukyaku. They seemed like the dispensiable member of the corrupted humans from what she learned, all of her friends were attacked by his duplicates. It wasn't surprising he'd be out in the open, but why was he near Mount Ebott? Was he expecting to her to be at the ceremony and make an assassination or was he after the monsters for their souls? "Are they planning an ambush?"
"Nah, they seem focused on somethin' else, but they're dangerous regardless." Slipping out a phone from his pockets, Adel would put on a video of Boukyaku's sighting and show it off to Betty and Asriel. "This should help explain."
The video was rather unimpressive, low quality with grainy noise diluting what could be seen. It was only enough to get the general view of the entrance to Mount Ebott's underground. On the left, bottom corner there was a watermark reading 'AMD'. After a good moment of nothing happening, a figure would exit out the cave followed by four more similar in appearance - all pitch black with vaguely purple-colored faces jumbled by the video quality. They all seemed worn out, doubling over or leaning sitting on the ground and wiping their foreheads.
And then they would all begin to talk, a lot of it garbage noise due to the horrendous sound quality. There were only a few bits and pieces the video could catch, a lot of them either jokes or complaining, but one specific voice clip would have one duplicate saying 'We're not having any luck'. In that same clip another clone would reply, saying something along the broken lines of 'We'll find it eventually. The video would cut off after that.
So they're looking for something. What was in the Underground that was important for them to search the place? Betty had never been in the underground before. She heard some monsters still live there, but that was about all she knew. "Are they after an artifact? What could the Underground possibly offer?"
"That's what we need to find out. Ya get why we need you, Betty? If something goes wrong, you'll be savin' monsters and us." Adel said.
"How'd you get this footage? It's AMD." Asriel pointed out. Records by the sub-organization were normally hard to obtain, and they were unwilling to give them out to the public. Only officials or those affiliated got their hands on footage like this.
"Ah have some ties. It ain't important. Was is important is if Betty will go to the mournin' or not."
Weighing the options and outcomes, Adel was making an awful lot of sense. If she didn't attend, there could casualties if monsters happened to encounter those Boukyaku clones. It was evident no one was focused on her soul at the moment either, after something else entirely for now. It had only been a week too, if she was attacked it'd be with a lot less firepower. They were likely still reorganizing and amassing power again. That was only a theory, though. The true size and firepower of the corrupted human group were unknown.
She hated to admit it, especially because she hated public attention to any degree, but Betty had no rational reason not to attend the sorrowful event. There was just one more question she had pertaining to Adel's relationship with her friends. "Just one more thing: you're not planning on having those two participate, right?" she asked, pointing at Hate and Agni.
"W-we're actually joining." Agni awkwardly informed. "It's been a while since I've seen Adel a-and this isn't the first time I've helped him before and-" she stopped talking and shifted her eyes away "You get the point."
"And you, Hate?" Betty questioned. She could understand Agni, apparently being the cowboy's friend and wielding a rather devastating amount of power. The anxious mess was a lot more capable than she let on. Hate on the other hand...While it is rather decent close combat, there was absolutely no magic in the being, making them an easy target. It also sported a cyan ribbon on its neck for some reason, which would make the black mass painfully noticeable.
"...Personal...Reasons?" Hate said.
Betty looked at Hate blankly.
It threw its hands up into the air, annoyed by her reaction. "It's none of your business! Leave me be! "
"You know what you're getting yourself into, right? You must have one hell of a personal reason to participate."
Hate bit its lip and refused to reply.
Must be really important to him... Betty knew it was a stubborn being, she decided not to press on the matter and risk a heated conversation. "Well, given that two of my friends are joining your possibly dangerous adventure, I have no choice but to participate too." She finally lowered her scythe, demanifesting it from her grip.
She had to admit, Betty didn't expect to be persuaded. Of course, she would one hundred percent hate being seen by large amounts of strangers who praise her sheerly due to her trait - having larger-than-life expectations for the girl - however, this was a necessity, exceptions had to be made. She wouldn't be putting people at risk with her presence, rather the opposite if she didn't attend the public mourning.
There was also another underlying reason why she should go: Kumu. Why didn't I think of that sooner? They were most likely captured, at least displaced, by the group of corrupted humans. It might be possible to interrogate one of the Boukyaku clones if Adel and her friends didn't kill all of them - if they found any. She desperately needed to find them and this might provide a lead.
Betty was a bit more eager to attend now, in stark contrast to her initial reaction. Kumu, innocent lives and two of her friends' lives were on the line. "When do we start?"
"The day after tomorrow."
Notes:
•Sorry that it's pretty short and there's no short story either, I've gotten worn out. I'm going to be taking a small break from writing.
