Chapter Nine
Sans giggled, hurrying along behind Daezl and Mizera. Soft thuds filled the hall, their feet against carpet. Oro and Juni were at his heels, trying to contain their own amusement. Daezl growled at them to shut up but failed to hide the light in his eyes. They turned a corner, stampeding towards a pair of elevators. Mizera tossed her purse to Daezl and ran ahead on all fours.
"No! We're not waiting for the stupid metal boxes; we're taking the stairs!"
"They'll never expect it," she told the shadow-furred monster and jammed her finger into a button over and over.
Daezl sighed, coming to a halt beside her. Sans nearly crashed into him. Oro stumbled to a stop and Juni came to a standstill just after. Sans panted, his lungs feeling alight. Exercise was hardly in his vocabulary, and his suppressed magic did little to help. It didn't occur to him until now that skeletons may have a harder time with this barrier than most. His organs when they appeared, were entirely magic, and must have been struggling to stay tangible.
Everyone crammed themselves into an elevator and Daezl lit their floor of choice before shoving Mizera's purse back at her. Sans leaned back against the wall, trying vainly to catch his breath. Oro gripped the railing as though their descent made him dizzy, and Miz produced a candy bar from her over-sized bag.
"Really, Miz?"
"Aw, you're just jealous 'cause you didn't think to bring snacks!"
Juni asked, "do you have any more?"
"I have enough for everybody! Even Captain Cranky Butt over there."
"Dude, the literal, actual Illuminati's chasing us right now and you're spending all our money on candy."
"Yep!"
"You ended up with our savings again, right? Give it to me."
She rolled her eyes and obliged, handing chocolaty snacks out to the rest of them as the doors slid open. They strode as casually as possible through the lobby, Daezl leading them through the halls to a side exit that left them in an ice-covered alley. Sweet and salty flavors complimented each other as Sans watched a few snowflakes fall from their blanket of gray. Juni inhaled the last of her treat in an overly-sloppy manner. Oro curled his tail around his legs as he ate.
It wasn't long before their impromptu candy break was done. Miz dropped the wrappers back in her purse whilst Daezl paced around, tail kicking up little pieces of frozen water. Sans put his hands in his pockets and kept a lookout for any trouble.
This feeling, the one that flooded his soul at the start of all this… There was a word for it to be sure, one that he dumped into the recycle bin. This was ridiculous. What on Earth was he doing? Whoever these people were, whatever they did or didn't know about his Swiss cheese memory, they had still technically kidnapped him. He'd vanished. Poof. Papyrus was sure to be worried sick by now in the metaphorical sense, and Alphys in the literal one.
"Welp. This has been interesting and all, but I gotta go."
"What? Why?"
He ignored the canine's "puppy eyes" and said, "because I gotta brother and a bunch o' friends who probably wanna know where the taco sauce I've been."
"Okay, first of all, that's not like you. Second, you're not going anywhere."
Oro twisted his tail fur with one hand and reached out with the other. Sans' soul flickered green as he said, "he's right. We sorta need you. Sorry."
Yeah, guess it wouldn't be that easy to get away from them. Best to drop the subject for now.
"What do you mean it's not like me?"
"You never wanna run away like this. At least, you never did. Now let me think."
"It's been forever since we've seen each other, though, right?"
"So?"
"So people change. Don't care about this whole Illumination thing."
Daezl halted his pacing to face him. "People don't change though. The Sans I know's in there somewhere and I'm gonna find him, when I'm not busy babysitting the lettuce squirrel over there," he said, gesturing to Mizera.
"Ah, c'mon, some people change over time. Just because you decided to trust the lettuce squirrel with-"
"I'm a criminal mastermind!" he yelled, the sound of his voice drowning in ice. "Now shut up and let me think."
Something pleasant bubbled up from the depths of his soul. "Hey Daezl."
"What?"
"Knock knock."
Stones clacked as he practically slapped himself from facepalming so hard. Juni grinned, shaking her head as Mizera hopped in place with hands clasped together. Her tail was a blur of orange and cream. Daezl stormed off toward the streets and Oro followed with concern filling his sky blue eyes.
"Ooh! Ooh! I know this! Who's th-"
"Interrupting cow."
Miz burst into laughter. Juni snorted, then said, "that's not how the joke goes."
"It is now," he replied, and ambled along after the brothers.
Winter wind howled through the cityscape. Snowflakes drifted downward a few at a time, and the streets were empty save for passing cars. There was no sign of their pursuers, but an eerie quiet lingered in their wake. Oro and Daezl had been speaking to each other in hushed tones. Their conversation came to a halt as they realized they had company. Juni snuggled up into her pink coat as Miz scented the air. The siblings shared a look and Oro warmed his hands. Daezl leaned against the neighboring building and waited.
"I can hardly smell them anymore. They must be downwind," Mizera said quietly.
"So, that way, right?" He pointed.
"Yep!"
"All right. Then we're going this way."
Daezl took the lead in the opposite direction. Everyone else walked along behind him. Sans' slippers slid against the sidewalk, picking up moisture as they did. Well, farts, he'd just gotten them dry. Seeing as the cold didn't bother his feet however, he didn't complain. Juni wrapped a wing around Miz, inviting him into the other. Ignoring her, he quickened his pace.
"So, anybody wanna tell me what that was about?"
"Uh, yeah! Right. Guess none of that made sense to you," said Oro, awkwardly scratching an ear. He cleared his throat and said, "so, those guys were members of the Illuminati, a secret society that worships this inter-dimensional creature lady who wants to take over the world."
"Okay," he said slowly.
"Yeah. And like, she can't get full access to a world without stealing the souls of people like us. People who have this weird affinity… for the weird. And stuff. We dealt with her once before and- Hey! You use blue magic, right?"
"Yeah?"
"Has it ever turned yellow before?"