Hey Everyone!
Interference in bold, puns and memories in italics, magic is underlined.
-text- indicates either texts, or mental "talking".
All Undertale stuff owned by Toby Fox, else me or a reference.
Inside the envelope are a pair of tickets to be in the studio audience for the season premiere of your favorite show, Cooking with a Killer Robot!
Toriel
I carefully tuck my poor, adorable godchild into a nest of pillows and blankets on their couch...he looks so small when he is asleep, does he not? How can I possibly have forgotten about them...he looks so like his father, does he not? Times had the same short stature, the same roundness to him...how did I never notice it before?
...I really have been a horrible mother, haven't I? My children...my godchildren...they have all suffered so much, and I...I did nothing to stop it. I did not even search for them...the SOULs of the fallen children...I-
"TORIEL!" Undyne's almost songlike voice of excitement bounces down the hall. I look...good, Sans is still asleep. I had hoped he would not be returning to his old habits of shallow sleep...it seems I need not worry...at least while he is still so frail.
Papyrus' worried voice chases after the pounding footsteps racing towards me, "UNDYNE, HER MAJESTY EXPRESSLY WISHED FOR US NOT TO-"
"It is alright, Papyrus, Undyne. What is it that you wish to ask of me?"
The two figures skid to a halt in front of me. The scales around Undyne's eyepatch twitch, tensing and untensing...I do not believe I have ever seen them move in quite this fashion before. She seems...eager, excited, and yet...far more nervous than I have seen her about anything other than Doctor Alphys. Beside her, Papyrus remains nearly as tense as he was earlier this morning...I really must bring over that pie.
Undyne stands to attention, nudging Papyrus until he joins her. I sigh at their antics, but I am more than willing to wait through it, as these displays seem to put the taller skeleton at ease. At ease - I must remember to tell Sans that one!
"Your Majesty," Undyne throws up a salute, "I wish to request temporary quarters for two guests until such time as permanent housing can be supplied."
The words of Sans and that...that creature echo through my mind.
I believe it is customary to inform the faculty of any large changes in attendance one is responsible for? You may wish to arrange seating in the magelet's classes for another eight students…
"i think the phrase she used was 'the swift return of the SOULs'?"
Is this… "Captain," if I was not seeing it with my own eyes, I would not believe it were possible for Undyne's posture to become even straighter, "These guests...are children, are they not?" Her eye flashes with some kind of emotion I cannot name.
"...they are, Your Majesty," I sigh.
"Which are they?" Both she and Papyrus tilt their heads to an identical degree. I stiffle a laugh...I suppose my question was not all that clear, was it? "You can describe them for me, can you not?"
Undyne shifts from foot to foot, "Your-"
"Undyne."
She sighs, "The description my gua- my subordinates sent me is...not as full as I could wish," She pulls her phone out of her pocket, wipping a red smear off the screen, "Human, approximatelly eleven or twelve. One male, one female. The female was wearing a light blue dress and…"
She pauses, too long for me to believe she is only finding her place. She is hiding something… "The male was wearing an orange jersey," Several seconds pass, her free hand clenching in time with the scales around her eyepatch. She looks up, her eye...she is worried, is she not? "He...I...he may be related to one of the children who fell down…"
I stare in surprise. She is less uncertain than her words suggest...is she not? There is a glint in her eye that reminds me so much of Frisk...determination, that was the word. Certainty, and determination. She squared her shoulders and faced me.
"You ever heard how I lost this eye? When I was small...well, pretty small, REALLY small, like, Sans small...new Sans small, even...where was I going with this? Right. Anyways, I lived in Waterfall, right? Just north of the major crossroads. Big family, lots of kids running around all the time, lots of Uncles and Aunts and stuff...pretty busy place. Easy to get lost in the crowd, y'know?"
Papyrus has turned to face his friend...he appears fixated on her every word. Has he not heard this story before?
"I liked to get away sometimes, y'know? Mostly I'd go off to hang with Gerson. He tells the best stories...sometimes I'd go over to the Dump and go searching for treasure...not often, but...one time, I was down there, digging through one of the big heaps near Mad Dummy's place, when I ran into this human."
I suck in my breathe. She gives me one of her grins...but it seems to be shaking.
"Course, I didn't KNOW he was a human...I thought he was just some kid from Snowdin. Had a stripped shirt and everything, orange and red. Pretty cool kid. We talked for a while. He told me about his dad, how he was a researcher who'd bring home these cool stories about human soldiers from way back when who went around fighting evil and exploring and helping people and stuff...he thought they were really brave, wanted to be just like them. Nerd."
Sean. She is talking about Sean. I...did not realise...they had met.
"Told me about one dude who went around fighting the strongest people in the land, just trying to find someone who was better than him. Didn't hurt people, just wanted to know his own strength. I thought that was pretty cool...he asked if I'd spar with him. He wanted to see what it was like, went and found some gloves and a tied his hair back with a bandanna...I'd just figured out how to use my spears, so I gave him one of those."
He always was so brave...when I told him about Asgore, he wanted to fight him, to prove to me he was the strongest...I feel a tear rolling down my face.
"Punk was pretty good. Course, that was one of my first FIGHTs...I think I missed him more because of bad aim than anything he did. Made me want to do better," Silence fills the room, "It was fun, really. We got really into it, shouting all kinds of stuff...Gerson must have heard and got worried. He...he came to check on us, brought his hammer and everything. Started sprinting when he saw...I...he, um...I got distracted."
Undyne's hand rubs the twitching scales, pushing deep into the muscles below. Papyrus flinches...oh. She…
"The kid was really worried, tried to get me to eat this thing he had...some kind of pie, I think. I...well, I was a kid. I didn't know it would help, just knew I was hurting and there was this red stuff leaking all over me. I pushed it away."
She looks at her arm, seeming to notice what she is doing for the first time. She scowls at it, and crosses her arms over her chest.
"Anyway, Gerson pulled us out of there...told me to get back home to Dad while he took the human up to Asgore...didn't really process it at the time," She sighs, "The kid kept trying to say he was sorry, and that I was totally awesome, and that he hoped we could finish our match when I got better."
Papyrus blinked, then stared at her phone, "OH."
She looks over at me, and must have seen an indication of my confusion, because she taps on her screen and hands the phone to me. She looks around the room - up at the ceiling, out the front window, down at the sock - anything to avoid Papyrus' gaze. I skim through the email she has pulled up on her screen. I...can see why she looked so certain. She was, was she not?
"Sean."
Undyne's head snapped towards me, "What?"
"His name was Sean...it may still be, may it not? His family...his father was an academic, a researcher who traveled the globe looking at old documents. The two of them went everywhere together. His mother...I am not certain where she was. Sean could not remember her...his father did not talk about her. His family came from all over the area that is now the UK."
I let my eyes wander, passing over the two still figures standing before me. I...have not spoken of them...of their lives, their names...for a long, long time. I can feel tears pushing at the edges of my eyes.
"His father had decided to investigate the rumors surrounding Mt. Ebbott, and had brought his son along...they were camping along one of the old trails when a wildcat got into their tent. Sean fought it off...but his father was badly injured...bad enough that I am certain he died."
A boney hand presses a square of fabric into my hands...it is not surprising that Papyrus would have a handkercheif, despite how rarely he would be in need of one. I dry my eyes, and clear my throat.
"He ran off to find help. It was nighttime, and there was a thunderstorm...he tripped over a root and fell into the Underground."
I breathe in, and open my eyes. The look Undyne is giving me...it is more compassionate than I would have expected.
"Captain...I am more than happy to care for these children for as long as they are in need of me," ...and I always have been.