Chapter 13: A Tense Agreement
The sound of a gentle stream was in the background as Asriel walked with Jenessa on the bridges at Waterfall. The River Person had taken them directly there, skipping the unforgiving heat of the Core. They were above a glowing pool with similarly glowing flowers echoing what people have said in the past. It wasn't new to Asriel, but seeing Jenessa's fascination with the phenomenon brought brief smiles to his face every time she crouched to listen to what sounded like two kids wishing upon a star.
"Someday, I'd like to climb this mountain we're all buried under. Standing under the sky, looking at the world all around... That's my wish."
A chuckle from the other.
"Hey, you said you wouldn't laugh at it!"
"Sorry...it's just funny. That's my wish, too."
Asriel was dressed in a red sweater and black khakis. Jenessa wore a shirt depicting various muscular "Anna Mae" men with foreign-language characters that roughly appeared to spell "JeJeo" over a grey knee-length skirt and white sneakers.
"I wonder if the kids who were talking here are, you know, still around," Jenessa said.
"It's likely. The flowers usually echo the most recent conversation nearby. Soon the flowers will echo what we're saying." Granted, not too many people came through Waterfall. It was the type of place one came to in order to get away from people, after all. It was his favorite place in the palace for that reason.
News about the prince returning spread rapidly through the underground. Asriel couldn't take two steps without someone asking for an autograph or interrogating him about where he's been. Jenessa was also swarmed with questions, many of them along the lines of "Do you know Sergio?" "Do you and Sergio go to the same school?" One monster in Hotland asked a real screwball of a question: "Are you dating the prince?"
Jenessa was certainly more used to large crowds having lived in a big city all her life. Even with the influx of inquiries towards the both of them, she was able to keep her composure and keep herself and Asriel moving. Even so, Asriel could tell that she was a bit flustered as he was regarding the outspoken rumors of "the prince's love life."
He remembered skipping rocks across the water with Tobias when they were little. Both of them had heard about the mysterious talking flowers before, but he'd never forget the sense of mystery and wonder when he first heard them "talk.' The kids' sentiments back then were the same as the kids' sentiments nowadays; a yearning for freedom.
As if reading his mind, Jenessa continued, "Guess you helped grant their wish, huh?"
Asriel's expression darkened. "Not really. I did anything but help grant their wish. Everything I'd done since Tobias died had only gotten people hurt. If anything, I was just an obstacle."
Jenessa pursed her lips. "I mean, yeah, but who you were back then isn't who you are now. You learned from your mistakes, and you're actively trying to help people. Tobias only wants to help himself."
Asriel opened his mouth, then closed it again. "I guess I can't argue with that."
The water below them was clear, and in the shallower parts of the stream Asriel could see bright gold coins on the stream floor. The sight had elicited a flashback in his mind:
He and Tobias were about 13 years old. They had returned from a fair being held in town and decided to take the long way back home. Toriel and Asgore had to address some royal matters, but they both figured that their sons were old enough to walk on their own.
When they reached Waterfall, the sweater-clad prince reached into his pocket, a few coins jangling before he took one out. Tobias stared at the coin and huffed. "Aren't we a little old to be making wishes? And aren't you supposed to make a wish at a fountain?"
"This is the closest thing to a fountain here," he shrugged. "Besides, making wishes never hurt anybody." He remained silent for a brief moment before flicking his thumb upward, the coin flipping and ascending before making a small ripple in the water below.
"The very least you're doing is wasting money," Tobias answered, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Money that could have been used for raffle tickets. What did you wish for, anyway?" He paused. "Do I even have to ask?"
"I'm not gonna tell you...and no," Asriel smirked. "If I tell you, it won't come true."
Tobias stared into the water, seeing a few other coins arrayed on the stream floor. "That's just a limit you place on yourself. Having a dream is admirable, but if there's no ambition, that dream is only a wish." He turned to Asriel. "Your wish is for all of us to be able to leave the underground. Everybody else wishes the same thing, yet mediocrity tarnishes their ambition. But are you willing to do whatever you can to make it happen?"
It felt as if something was pushing against Asriel's heart, the sensation foreshadowing what would happen years later. "Y-yeah, of course!" he answered quickly, his expression steeled with determination.
"If you can say that with full honesty, you've no need for wishing wells...or streams, rather. The power was within you from the beginning. Perhaps the same could be said of me as well."
"How's your progress on 'beta plan?'"
"Status nominal from the last update. Professor Gaster isn't making the time to meet with me as I requested. I haven't read anything useful for the last two weeks, either. But I remain undeterred."
The sound of a camera shutter brought him back to reality, Jenessa having sat down and taken a picture of the coins in the stream with her sneakers in the picture. Asriel saw her type a caption on what appeared to be a social media app: "Hoping my wish can be granted..."
Naturally, Asriel was curious about what her wish was. He decided to press his luck. "What is your wish?"
"For one, to have you not hover over my shoulder," Jenessa quickly remarked, a smirk mixing annoyance and jesting on her face. "Just felt like taking a picture."
Asriel heard what sounded like a fishing rod being cast, a small splash in the distance. It was dark beyond the echo flowers, so the two nonverbally agreed to walk towards the sound and investigate. After walking for about half a minute, the two found a skeleton in a blue hoodie, black shorts, and pink slippers sitting on the bridge with a fishing pole in his hands.
To Jenessa, he was unfamiliar, but Asriel knew his random appearance meant something important was soon to occur. A small rattle of bones accompanied Sans turning his head to look at the two kids. "Heya, kid. Who's your friend there?" he asked.
"Sans, this is Jenessa," the prince introduced. "She's accompanied me while I was on the surface."
"So you're the new human everyone's talking about," Sans concluded. "Nice to meet ya." He rose from the bridge and set his down on the ground, stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets. "Wish I could chat with you more, but there's something important that needs to be discussed."
Asriel's brows furrowed. "What is it?"
"Follow me." Sans walked away from them, Asriel encouraging Jenessa to follow. Since this was her first time going through one of Sans's portals, she was likely disoriented when they found themselves inside Sans and Papyrus's house. Asriel's haunches were raised when he saw Sergio leaning back on the wall next to the TV, a pensive look on his face.
"What are you doing here?" Asriel demanded, balling his fists as his face twisted to an expression of anger.
Sergio remained motionless, his eyes locked onto Asriel's. Before the hood rat could speak, Sans stepped in between them saying, "Whoa, there, pal, take it easy. Have a seat." He gestured to the green couch at the end of the living room, his expression a mixture of pleading and assertiveness.
"I can't take it easy, Sans. Do you know what he tried to do to my mother?!" Asriel jabbed a finger at Sergio's direction.
"I been told 'im," Sergio claimed. "'Sides, what I did to 'er don't come close ta what you did to all of us 'fore the barrier broke. But I ain't come here ta discuss all that."
"If you can't even apologize for what you did, we have nothing to talk about." Asriel quickly turned on his heel, Jenessa tentatively following him as he headed towards the door.
"It's about Tobias. I know he real now." Sergio's statement emerged in the nick of time, Asriel having opened the door and was halfway outside. The prince stopped in his tracks and slowly turned back to face Sergio.
"So you've seen him?" The angry tone in his voice was partly replaced with hopefulness.
"I done more than jest see 'im. I talked wit 'im. Said his last name was Salvadora, same as mine. Apparently we come from the same family."
Asriel's eyebrows rose. He closed the door and headed back inside the house. So far, Sergio's story seemed to match up with what Asriel knew. He could recall Tobias asking if it was okay to be referred to as Tobias Dreemurr instead of his birth name, Tobias Salvadora. At first, he found it hard to believe that Tobias was Sergio's ancestor given that Tobias never had kids of his own. Nonetheless, Tobias did say that he had brothers and sisters on the surface. Asriel also figured that the resemblance between Sergio and Tobias was more than coincidence.
Still, he wouldn't let his guard down just yet. "What else did he tell you?"
"Said somethin' 'bout how what he was doin' was important ta the 'liberation a' the monstas' or some shit. Look, the point is, I know he real, and whateva he got planned, he intend ta involve me, too. That's why I'm here."
"...What do you intend to do here?"
"You the one who knew 'im best, and you got visions. You help me track 'im down, and I cap his ass if I need to."
"What do you mean?" the prince asked, bewildered.
"He means he wants to kill him," Jenessa clarified, shaking her head. "I thought we were clear that we weren't doing that."
Sans gave Sergio a look of concern. "Kid, you can't be serious. Are you sure you want to do this?"
"I'm the only one in this hoe who prolly can do it. Judgin' from Jenessa's video, Asriel'll jest get 'is ass kicked by Tobias again if he steps up to 'im. It'll be hard for Asgore ta hit anythang when his eyes is full a' tears. If Toriel ain't do shit ta me afta this mornin', or, hell, afta a couple months ago when we actually fought, she definitely won't do shit ta Tobias, neitha. Now unless one of y'all," he pointed to Jenessa and Sans, "feel like takin' 'im out, I'mma have to do it."
"Why are you so convinced that he needs to die?" Asriel cut in. "You hardly know him."
"That's exactly the reason why I need ta be the one ta do it. Think about this. Ya boy out there is bodyin' folks left and right. You already done tried changin' 'is mind once. You may got a death wish, but whatcha gon' do when he hurts someone close ta you? Whatcha gon' do when he kills Toriel? Asgore? This bitch?" he gestured to Jenessa, who huffed. "Still think 'diplomacy' gon' work then? Still think you can try ta convince 'im that 'this ain't the way?' Or are you finna make sure yo' family stay safe the best way possible?"
"What makes you think this is the best way to keep everyone safe? You expect me to kill someone in my own family for the sake of everyone else? What do you know about keeping anyone safe other than yourself? You 'saved' the underground only to save your own skin when the barrier was still up!"
"And you screwed ova the undaground 'cause one human was finna die."
Jenessa loudly cleared her throat. "Guys, stop arguing. Sergio, you said that you met Tobias. Are you saying that, if we have to fight," she looked at Asriel, "emphasis on if, you'd help us?"
"Ain't no 'ifs' about it. You go through New York with that huge of a target on ya back, you gon' have ta throw some hands. And it ain't jest Tobias we gotta worry 'bout, eitha. There's gangs all ova the city, and it ain't always obvious who they are if you ain't from certain neighbahoods. You might consida ya self the nav, but I know some shortcuts if thangs get hairy."
Jenessa nodded. "As much as I hate to admit it, Sergio's got a point. We don't know what Tobias is planning, but he likely will try to fight us when we get to him. I wouldn't mind having a third guy on our side if it comes to that."
Asriel opened his mouth in protest, but he closed it in reluctant agreement. He certainly considered the possibility that Tobias had gone off the deep end and was unredeemable...but he still drew a blank as to what he would do if that was the case. He already tried physically subduing him outside the mayor's house to no effect. Even with Asriel's current knowledge of Tobias's newfound magical prowess, he doubted that he could muster up the righteous anger necessary to cease his brother's shadowy rampage.
The prince was more than willing to die to keep everyone else safe, but there was growing doubt in his mind that Tobias would actually stop there. At the same time, he had no idea how he could go on living if he willingly let something fatal happen to Tobias, or if he was the cause of it himself. Could he ever face his parents and admit that he was guilty of fratricide? As Flowey, Asriel had seen how devastated Toriel and Asgore were when they realized that they lost both of their sons much too early. No matter which way it went, one son killing the other would put them in an even lower state. No matter who survived the encounter, the king and former queen would likely fade away from either a broken heart or a shattered skull.
Asriel's objective hadn't changed at all from the first vision he had: to subdue Tobias and ensure a peaceful migration for the monsters. He had tried to enlist Sergio's aid before, and weeks ago, he would have been much more relieved to see Sergio turn around like this. However, in one day, the hood rat had become even more of a wild card in this situation. How could Asriel and Jenessa be so sure that Sergio would only be an asset? Who was to say that he wouldn't stab them in the back? Even more disturbingly, he considered the possibility Tobias convinced Sergio to set up Asriel and Jenessa.
Even those possibilities weren't true, he and Jenessa still needed to be vigilant.
"I'll only agree on these conditions," he finally said. "First, we find Tobias. We address the situation my way once we find him. We do everything in our power to make sure he stays alive. As soon as he's dealt with, you cut off communication with me, my family, and the underground for good."
Sans turned to Asriel. "Kid, what are you—"
"Issa deal," Sergio nodded. "Figured it was a long shot ta even think anyone'd want me around at all anyways." He scoffed. "Look atcha, already tryna take charge. Guess the undaground'll be yo' responsibility once ya dad croaks."
"I've got a question for ya, kid," Sans took a few steps towards Sergio. "It's...more than a little disturbing that you offered to kill someone so quickly after meeting them. Even if it's to keep people safe, killing someone is a huge responsibility that follows you for the rest of your life. The fact that you offered still implies that you feel strongly about protecting the underground...or this wouldn't be your first time doing something like this." The skeleton's eyes nearly bored into Sergio's own skull, yet the hood rat seemed a lot less fazed than most people would have been with the implication.
"Look, if you got a problem wit me havin' bodies—not sayin' that I do—you got a problem wit the king himself. If you wanna leave me outta the equation, you gotta do the same wit Asgore. Othawise, y'all would be hypocrites. Y'all ain't got no evidence that I killed nobody, but we all know Asgore ain't wait for them kids ta die of old age."
"But you didn't outright deny the implication," Asriel pointed out. "Which makes it that much harder to trust you."
"Look, y'all want my help or not?" There was an impatient edge in Sergio's voice.
Asriel's jaw clenched. "Give me some time. I need to mull this over." He abruptly walked out of the door, Jenessa staring at Sergio warily before following him.
When it was just Sergio and Sans, the skeleton let out a tense breath. "Sergio...I'm not gonna bother asking about what life was like before you fell here. I can kinda piece a few things together. But there's something telling me that there's more to you wanting to stick with Asriel than you're letting on. If you didn't like it here, why would you come back?"
"Simple. If Tobias really is as badass as everyone's makin' 'im out ta be, I'mma need some backup. And I ain't got no backup at home."
Sans sighed. "Look, I know I got fired up earlier when you told me what happened this morning. But...if you've really had a violent past before coming here, I should thank you for at least trusting us enough not to seriously harm anyone down here. Just...don't hurt anyone else, okay?"
"Yeah, 'cause I'll 'have a bad time' if I do, right?" Sergio let the question hang in the air heavily before leaving as well.