Chapter 7

After going forward past a small waterfall, me and Monkid reached a bit of tall grass and they stopped me in place with a simple tug with their teeth on my shirt. "Look," they whispered, me looking where they were and gawking. It was obviously a member of the royal guard. This one had very large, imposing armor, a long ponytail of red flowing out of their head, and having only a single glowing yellow eye to show that they had lost the other somehow. And then, Papyrus showed up, making me realize who it was.

"H-Hi Undyne... sorry I'm late... I had errands to run..." Papyrus said with worry in his voice. "Um... s-so anyways, about that human I called you about earlier..." Papyrus said.

"Did you fight them?" Undyne asked, me noting that it was a female voice that was pretty deep and masculine.

"O-Of course I did! I fought them valiantly!" Papyrus said.

"Did you capture them?" Undyne asked.

"Weeeell... n-no..." Papyrus said, Undyne looking at him angrily as I could feel tension in the air.

"WHAT?!" she exclaimed angrily.

"I-I tried Undyne, I really did... but, you know... things come up, things change..." Papyrus said as Undyne growled angrily.

"If you want something done right, I guess you have to do it yourself. If you failed to capture the human, then I shall do so! I'll destroy them and take their soul to the king!" Undyne exclaimed, me gulping and feeling my vocal cords get irritated at that. I had to hold in my urge to cough.

"Y-You don't need to destroy them... M-Mute isn't really deserving of such a harsh treatment..." Papyrus said, me smiling at him as Undyne then spoke again.

"Fine then. If you have a problem with it, then maybe the Royal Guard isn't for you," Undyne said with annoyance. Papyrus then looked to muster some courage and stared her down bravely.

"I refuse to enter the Royal Guard if it involves killing humans!" Papyrus exclaimed, Undyne actually backing up at that.

"W-What?!" she asked in surprise.

"In fact, Mute said that my natural talent is making food. My spaghetti, according to her, was the best she's ever tasted! She even said that, when the barrier breaks, I can make an Italian Restaurant and serve people pasta dishes galore!" Papyrus said with a smile.

"Hmm... she's good. This human's very crafty," she said to herself as I then tried to use this distraction to get out of the grass... but when I moved, the grass rustled, me staying still as Undyne immediately darted her attention to my location and her looking at me before Monkid poked their head out. Undyne then let down her stance and looked directly at Papyrus. "Just don't be late for our secret training, Papyrus. Got it?" Undyne growled as she then walked into the darkness and I didn't dare move until I was sure she was gone. And Papyrus also left around that time.

"Whoa... that was too close..." I said with a shiver as Monkid and I exited the grass.

"Did you see the way she looked at you? That was awesome! What'd you do to get her attention?" Monkid asked, me smirking at them. They were oblivious as to what Undyne was doing... mostly because they never once addressed me as a human.

"I dunno," I simply stated.

"C'mon! Let's go watch her beat up some bad guys!" Monkid smirked, them rushing forward before they tripped and fell on their face. They then quickly righted themselves and moved on ahead, me going after them and seeing they had quite the running speed. I looked at my options and saw that there was a bit of water in front of me. I simply swam to the other side of the water and did the same thing with the next room. And it was then that I got a call from Papyrus.

"Hey, Mute! It's Papyrus!" he smiled at me.

"Hey, Great Papyrus," I smiled, him gushing at that.

"You called me the Great Papyrus... d-did you see what happened?" Papyrus asked.

"Yeah, you were very brave to stick up for me like that. That's what true greatness is. Sticking up for your friends," I smiled.

"T-Thank you, Mute... you're the first person other than myself to call me great! I'm so happy!" Papyrus smiled, me smirking at him as I then heard something from behind me. Some kind of rustling.

"Okay, I got to hang up now, Papyrus. I need to get to the castle before sunset, after all," I smiled.

"Of course! See you soon!" Papyrus smiled as I then hung up and I heard the shuffling continue behind me. And I simply darted my head around just in time to see who it was. It was Flowey and he was spying on me.

"Got ya!" I said as loud as my vocal cords could allow, me rushing up to him and Flowey looking surprised at me being able to see him and him about to dig himself underground... but I managed to grab him by one of the petals on his body.

"ACK! Hey, let go of me!" Flowey exclaimed at me. I growled at him and pulled with all my might, managing to get him out of the ground the whole way until I then grabbed him by the stem and he looked genuinely scared of me.

"Listen here, you little bastard. I don't appreciate being spied on, especially by someone as mean and nasty as you. So I'm going to give you a couple hints," I growled at him, me legit feeling Flowey shudder at my raspy voice. "One, no more spying of any kind, or you're going to spend the rest of your life in a pot and locked in a safe. And two, no more going to Snowdin or talking to Papyrus. The residents have agreed that if they see you again, they're going to uproot you and kill you. Understood, you little weed?!" I growled, Flowey shuddering in fear at me.

"Y-Yes, Yes! I won't spy on you anymore, I promise! J-Just let me live!" Flowey said with fear, me simply letting him go and then taking off a single petal from his head, Flowey gasping at that and then retreating underground soon after.

"Good riddance," I frowned as I then continued on my way and I happened to come across something different... a horse with a fish tail and massive pecs. "Wow, you're unique," I smiled at him.

"Heh, name's Aaron, miss. You wanna see me flex?" he asked with a smile.

"Really? Watch this," I smiled as I then flexed my muscles and Aaron smiled at how my muscles were actually large for my body type.

"Oh, a flexing contest? It's on!" Aaron smiled as he began to flex and I saw numerous sweat beads fall from him and I knew I had to dodge them, since they were made of magic. I then smiled and checked him out, smiling at how he had biceps on him, but I did notice one bit that he could use improvement.

"Just to let you know, Aaron, it looks like one of your triceps isn't as buff as the rest of you. You're gonna need to work on that," I smiled at him, Aaron smirking at me.

"Hey, thanks for the tip, girl! I'm always trying to look my best and I appreciate people telling me if anything needs improvement," Aaron smirked widely. "Here, take a tip as payment for your tip," Aaron smirked at me.

"Thanks, Aaron. And my name is Mute. It was nice to meet you," I smiled at him, Aaron giving a thumbs up before then jumping into the water, me then going onward into the area and coming across a telescope and no way to move forward. I decided to look through the telescope and saw that there was a secret message in it. "Check the wall... and it's pointing at the wall at the end of that corridor. Eh, may as well," I smiled as I then went that direction and inspected the wall to find that it crumbled away after I pushed on it. And once I did so, I went forward to see a large marsh filled with reeds that had flowers on them that were shaped like hot dogs, buns and all. It made me smile as I then went across a plank to a different set of wooden bridge and walked for a bit on this one... only for something shocking to happen. A giant spear slammed directly in front of me and I almost got skewered by it!

"Stop right there, human!" I heard Undyne say as she then appeared from the shadows on what looked like a stone structure. "Now I can finally finish the king's-" she was about to finish before I started to run, her immediately giving chase. "H-Hey! Get back here, you little runt!" Undyne exclaimed as I ran as fast as I could as she continued to send more spears at me. I could literally feel some of them scraping against my ponytail as I ran to a large bit of thick grass, not stopping until I saw Monkid and I hid behind them.

"Yo, what's going-" they were about to say before I shushed them.

"She's coming..." I said, Monkid staying still as I heard Undyne coming through the grass until she got right in front of Monkid. She then reached down and grabbed them by the face, her then slowly lifting them up. After inspecting them for a bit, she then let him back down and went back the way she came from. I didn't move from my spot until I was sure she was gone. I then left the grass and Monkid looked super excited.

"D-Did you see that? Undyne touched me! I'm never washing my face again!" Monkid said excitedly.

"Heh, not that you could anyways," I smiled at them.

"Haha, very funny," Monkid smirked at me. "Come on, let's go see if we can catch up to her!" Monkid then ran again, tripped again, and then ran off all in the same fashion that they did before.

"Cute kid," I smiled as I then went to the next room and saw... something very odd. It was a small hallway that had a singular door in the wall. It was white and looked completely out of place. "Odd... I have a feeling something bad lies on the other side of this door... maybe I should test it first..." I said as I simply went to it and did something that I felt Sans would do. "~Knock knock...~" I sung as vocal as I could. I waited for a couple seconds before I could hear something on the other side...

"Who's... there...?" the voice on the other side said.

"~Wah~" I sung.

"Wah who?" the voice asked.

"~Did my knock knock joke make you excited?~" I sung, the voice on the other side then starting to chuckle at that.

"Heh... do you... know my son?... Sans G?" the voice on the other side asked.

"~Yes, I do, he's nice
He likes drinking ketchup juice
and cracking bad jokes,~" I sung with a smile in a haiku this time.

"I see..." the voice on the other side smiled. "I... am his father... W.D. Gaster," the voice on the other side of the door said. "But... I have no idea where I am at... I've been trapped in this void for ages... how can you speak to me on the other side?..." he asked with a bit of raspy breath of his own.

"~There's a door here that's white and outta place.
I was rushing through the area with haste...
But this door intrigue me so,
I then told a knock knock joke,
Should I open it and meet you face-to-face?~" I sung in a nursery rhyme.

"Hehe... a door, huh?... I'll believe it when I see it... truth is, I've been trapped here for centuries, endless time loops gone by as I watch within the void... I just want out of this hell..." W.D. said, me sighing as I then went to open the door and I immediately had someone touch my hand from the next area over... it was Sans and he looked at me with what I could only assume was his serious face... because it had a singular blue eye and the other was pitch black.

"be careful who to believe, kid," Sans said to me as I looked at him in confusion.

"But... he said he's your dad... and you'd rather leave him in there?" I asked with a frown.

"he's not my dad anymore... he's the embodiment of the void itself... if this door is ever opened, the void will swallow up anyone who enters it or gets near it... so, i have to do this... sorry, pops, but i can't risk this," Sans said as he snapped his fingers and I gasped as the door then got swallowed up in a sea of bones and I saw that the door the disintegrated into nothingness! And the hallway we were in? It also vanished completely, leaving me and Sans in the next room to the right by a telescope and glowing water!

"Whoa..." was all I was able to say to Sans.

"it hurt to do that... he was my pops, once, really, he was. but that door is dangerous. it's better it be kept secret and that, when we leave this place, we destroy the core as well," Sans said, me looking at him in even more confusion.

"Sans... buddy... you're losing me here... confusion levels are at 97 percent... what is this all really about?" I asked him, Sans sighing and closing his eyes at that.

"you weren't supposed to be the one to fall down here, mute," he said, me being confused by up to 98 percent. "it was always the same. a blank-faced kid named frisk, goes through the underground with one of three motives. either be the nicest guy around and spare everyone, kill some but leave others alive, or completely kill everyone and then erase the world soon after," Sans said, me gulping at that. "and gaster... the void has completely taken hold of him. if he were to leave that door and enter our reality, the void would slowly devour this world, leaving this place a black space of emptiness... i really did want to free him at one point, and i did try to do so once... but it only led to tragedy before the time loops reset, undoing his dastardly deeds," Sans said, me being at 99.9999 percent confusion now.

"What is this talk of time loops for? Are you saying you've lived the same day over and over again?" I asked him.

"before you came today, over 200 thousand different loops happened... and you are the only one that has any major differences," Sans sighed. "now i ask you not as a warning, but as a friend. please, make sure that everyone down here can have a happy ending. and make sure that you eliminate any possible attempts of time loops... because if this world resets again... i am really going to have given up hope... as if i haven't given up already," Sans said with a sigh and I saw red tears come from his right eye... which he then licked up and I gagged a bit. "so you know, that ain't blood... it's ketchup," he said, me frowning at that and looking at him with a small smile.

"Sans," I said, putting my hands to his shoulders. "I swear to you that I will give everyone down here a happy ending. And that I will never let that door get opened up... I only ask for one thing in return," I said, Sans looking at me with a smile.

"and that is?" he asked.

"Just start being more truthful to me about these things instead of hiding everything from me. I know you're scared of what would happen if everything reset again, but I promise you, I'd never allow something so heinous to happen to anyone," I said, Sans smiling at that.

"you're okay, kid. i like that about you. you're always so willing to help others even if it interferes with your schedule," Sans smiled.

"Well, it's only 1:30, I have plenty of time until dusk arrives," I smiled at him.

"unless the time loops reset once again... just to make sure, i have to check one thing about you... i'm going to temporarily take your soul out of your body just to see what it looks like... do you trust me?" Sans asked. I nodded at that. Sans then did just that and he gawked at what he saw... and so did I. My soul wasn't just a red color like I thought I'd kept seeing. No... it was actually made up of a lot of different colors! In total, there was red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple, all of them making my soul look like a glorious rainbow! "oh... my... god... your soul is one of purity..." Sans said, me looking at him in shock before he then sent my soul into my body again.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"i'll explain in song," Sans said, me wondering where this was going as he then took a jukebox out of nowhere and a very cool song started to play. It sounded pretty unique too.

"~Red orange, blue and cyan
purple yellow and green
These souls of the humans
they really interest me...

But when all are combined
they make purity
the most splendid shine
of their combined gleam...~" Sans sung before the song really amped it up and so did his voice.

"~Orange stands for Bravery
Justice is yellow, for all to see
Blue is full of Integrity
Determination is for Red

Sweet Cyan stands for Patience
Green for absolute Kindness
Purple for Perseverence
Rainbow's Purity, they said...~" he sung as he then sung in a different tone for the next part of the song, which was much more upbeat in the wind instruments.

"~If a soul as Pure as yours
Fights a foe it is assured
They will see that they are hurt
By your hopes and dreams!

Pure of heart and Brave and Just
Truthful, Patient, full of Love!
Determined to Keep It Up
until they're redeemed!~" Sans sung as I then started to sing in the next part.

"~What's this gotta do with me?
I am just a normal girl from the surface world!
When was it revealed that my soul was super strong?
Please tell me why, buddy!~"

"~If a soul as pure as yours...
Attacks the barrier, then we'll see the surface world!
Purity of heart is the rarest soul of all.
It is no wonder you'd fall!

You... are this world's light...
Please... do what is right...~" Sans sung as the jukebox then turned off and I simply held my hands in front of me and I simply pinched myself.

"Okay... this... this is a dream, right?... If I really am that powerful... then all it would take to free everyone is for me to attack the barrier myself, right?" I asked with a shudder.

"yes, that's what i just said... but when i said everyone needed saved... i did mean literally everyone. and that means that you're gonna have to find some way to make amends with that flower guy," Sans said, me frowning at that.

"Why would I want to be friendly to a flower like him?" I asked.

"tell ya what, kid... i'll go ahead and help ya out for a change... i'm gonna go talk to one of my old colleagues before you go to hotland. i'm gonna convince them to tell you some things that you'll be shocked to hear. but they need done at some point and i certainly ain't going to do 'em. besides, it'd be safer for you to do this now so you can save the flower along with everyone down here," Sans said, me smiling at him.

"Okay... fine, I'll give you a shot. But if Flowey finds out about any of this..." I shuddered.

"don't worry. after that fright you gave him earlier, he's not anywhere around us right now. he's actually already in hotland right now," Sans said, me looking at him in 100 percent confusion. "if you're wondering how i know that... yeah, that wasn't blood coming from my eye. that was something i had with me from when i worked with my old colleague. a little something called determination," Sans said, me then remembering that, when he was singing, he said that red souls had Determination in them... and Toriel told me to stay determined on my way through the Ruins... and if he had red liquid in him, that could only mean he got that stuff from the other human souls!

"Alright... I think... I think I've gotta wake up now..." I said as I then tried to splash some water in my face and saw I was still awake. I then tried to hold my breath underwater, but the brightness of it just hurt my eyes and I gave up. "Yep... still wide awake... unless I was transported from one reality to a different one," I shuddered.

"hard to swallow, huh, mute?" he asked, my body shaking at that and my head nodding. "yeah, i just thought it'd be easier to let ya know now rather than later... but you should really get going now. i wasted enough of your time," Sans said, me looking at my watch and gasping. It was 1:45! We'd been having that conversation for 15 minutes!

"Crap, you're right... alright, thanks for helping out, Sans. And whatever you do, don't let that door come back," I said to him.

"quite right, kid," he said as I then rushed down the path on my way to the next portion of the Waterfall.