Chapter 18: What Happened At Grillby's

We were standing outside of the ruins, while I knew Alphys was keeping an eye on us via a camera hidden in the bushes. I didn't tell the other two though, so they wouldn't worry all that much more than they already are.

Chara was kinda just staring ahead at the forest when she asked me to run everything I just said, by her again. "My parents were abusive, so me and my little sister ran away and ended up in the underground. Everything was much different than down here though. Everyone was kind and caring, though you and Flowey were't, and I was able to free everyone from the underground. We were only up on the surface for what, two, maybe three days? We were only there for three days, and I've already been shot and killed. Instead of resetting though, I ended up in a void with W.D. Gaster, and he tried to send me home but ended up sending me here…... That's the nice, short and simple story for you…. Hey, how many times have I died so far?"

Chara snapped her gaze to me, and looked at the flowers that were on my body so far. "Looks to be twenty-two." I nodded in acknowledgment. "Frisk, you're not going to try and set them free, are you? Because I know for a fact that if you try, your body would be covered with those wretched flowers in the end."

I looked at my feet as I began to walk towards Snowdin, "I need to try. Not only for them, but for me. If I'm able to get us to the surface, I might be able to find a way to get home, to my Toriel and Chara and Asriel and all of them." I glanced at Chara. She was fiddling with her fingers, holding back a few tears. "And I'll try not to die again. I hate those stupid flowers anyways, okay?" Chara nodded, and I looked at Flowey who was in a little pot in my arms, who also nodded. "Okay. Now," We were at the place where I'd turn around and meet sans, and I turned to face him. "Let's say hi to our friend who's been following us since the ruins." Flowey and Chara, once again, lost all color to their faces.

The Sans I saw before me, was shocked for a second, but quickly recovered and stuck his hand out to shake mine. "watcha got there, sweetheart? a pet?"

I glared at him, an unusual thing for me to do, "Flowey is not a pet, he's my little brother," Sans' smile didn't falter, but he did not like me at all. "And let me take a good look at you, Sans." Once again, I surprised him.

I took a good look at him. He looked like the Sans I knew and loved, but he definitely wasn't him. His teeth were a bit more jagged with one tooth being gold, he was actually a bit taller than original Sans, he had one eye with a white pinprick and the other was giving off a red glow similar to when Sans is mad. He wore a black jacket with grey fluff at the collar being more ruffled than my Sans', he was wearing a red sweater shirt underneath the jacket, he had black shorts with a yellow stripe instead of white, and black shoes with a bit of red and white here and there.

I went to shake his right hand, but he shoved it into his pocket and held out his left hand instead. "uh, i don't think i gave ya my name, so," I shook his hand and smiled.

Then I turned and started walking again, "I know. I confused you, didn't I? But let's just say… I know things."

He walked ahead of me, "whatever you say doll face. so, where ya going?"

I simply said, "Out."

"out where?"

I pointed upwards, "Out there, of course."

He stops in his tracks, so I stop too. "that's kinda ambitious, honey. especially with the monsters around here. see, i'm a-"

I cut him off, feeling a bit impatient, "-Sentry and your supposed to capture humans. But.."

He looked annoyed with me for a moment, "… but if you're not dumb enough to trust anyone, i guess i can let ya slide every now and then." Sans turned his head to the side to look at me, "now my BROTHER, he's a human hunting fanatic. in fact, i think i can hear him coming now." we both listened, and heard metallic footsteps in the distance, "good luck, kiddo." Sans closed one eye socket slowly, similar to a wink. "papyrus isn't a fan of mercy."

I feel a ball of dread form in my stomach. "This definitely isn't right," I whisper.

~Several deaths to Papyrus later~

Half of my left forearm is completely covered in buttercups when I finally notice a boulder to the right side of the path. I ran and hid just as Papyrus approached again. Thankfully, Sans didn't give away my location, distracting Papyrus with puns- "i've been doing a ton of work. a skele-TON." "SANS!" - until he leaves, grumbling loudly about his brother's incompetency.

I peeked out from behind the boulder when I was calm, and gave Sans a confused and angry look. He just shrugged, and walked away. Sans hasn't killed me, but will do nothing to help me if I'm in danger. Yet when I avoid danger, I'm perfectly fine and he leaves me at that.

Flowey softly said, "Frisk, are you okay?"

A few tears had gone down my cheeks. I wiped them away and said, "Yeah. I'm fine, I'm just feeling a little hurt."

"Physically hurt, or… emotionally?"

I gave a little laugh, "…Heh, I guess it's a little bit of both…. it's more emotionally than physically though….. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"We should probably start going you guys, we need to get out of here," Chara said uneasily.

I nodded, "Yeah, we'll continue on now." We started to head toward Snowdin. Flowey shivering because of the cold, Chara keeping a look out for monsters, and me staying determined to somehow help the monsters we came across.

Getting to Snowdin wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. When we came across any monsters, I just did what I did the first time I fell into the underground until they were reluctant to fight. And when we came across the skele-bros, I just stayed out of Papyrus' sight and trusted Sans to not turn me over to him. Yeah, I got hurt on the way, but it wasn't anything some monster food couldn't fix.

I stopped at the shop to get cinnamon bunnies, and the manly bandanna. I was gonna need it this time around. Then I said 'Thank you' and left. One thing I noticed though, was that the shopkeeper looked astonished that I had said this….. Of course they don't use proper manners down here ya ding-dong.

When I started to go past Sans' sentry station, he stopped me. "hey, sweetheart, i wouldn't go over there if i were you."

I looked at him, patiently waiting to go on with my journey. "And why is that?"

Chara whispered in my ear, even though Sans couldn't see or hear her. "Frisk, what if he's trying to trick you or something? He could kill you in an instant!"

I ignored Chara and listened to what Sans had to say. "cuz my bro, papyrus, you remember him… well, let's just say, you're not gonna have a particularly good time if you go that way."

I felt like crying, honestly. But I held my head high and didn't let anything show on my face, "Thank you." I started to walk away, "Catch ya later!"

I glimpsed back to see Sans blink a few times before shaking his head, and mutter something that I couldn't quite make out. I continued on my way, and came across some puzzles, obviously set by Paps. But these were different, because of course, they would probably kill me if I got one wrong.

But kill me, they did not. I jumped up and down excitedly, happy that I had managed to get all of the puzzles right after thinking about each one for a while. "Yes! We're one step closer to freeing everyone, and to getting home! Come on, let's get going!" I held Flowey a little closer as I started to run ahead through Waterfall.

But I held him even tighter when I bumped into a certain skeleton, that was head of the royal guard in this universe….

Let's just say that this time, I wasn't as lucky as I thought I'd been.

This time as I went to enter Waterfall, Sans stopped me again. But before he could get a word out, my stomach decided to cut in.

My cheeks were tinted a light red, and Sans just laughed. "eh, nothing that a bit of grub from grillbs' couldn't cure. say, wanna go?"

I smiled, "Sure, I could use a break anyways." We started to walk to Grillby's. But without me riding on my Sans' shoulders like a kid, or just getting a piggyback ride, and no goofing around, it felt…. strange, it almost felt wrong.

When we walked into the restaurant, I was happy to feel the warmth. I went up and sat in the spot I would usually sit in.

Sans sat next to me and ordered first, "i'll take the usual grillbs." Sans almost automatically got a burger with a side of fries, and some….. mustard.

He took the mustard and basically just drowned his fries in the stuff. I could feel my nose wrinkle slightly in disgust. He offered me the bottle, but I politely said no. So, he shrugged and started to drink straight from it.

It was okay when my Sans did it with ketchup, because ketchup is amazing. Like, it tastes good, even when you spread it on saltines…. yeah, I'm strange. But mustard?! Come on….

It took me a moment to realize that Grillby was staring at me. I looked up and smiled, "Hi, my name's Frisk. Is it okay if I just get some fries?" He nodded and started to walk away, but I gently grabbed his sleeve and brought his attention back to me. "Sorry, I forgot to ask. May I have a glass of milk? Cause I know I could ask for water, but I also know that you don't touch the stuff."

He gave me a small, genuine smile, and nodded. I waited for only a minute when he came back with my fries, a glass of milk, and….. KETCHUP! I smiled my warmest smile, "Thank you so much!"

Grillby's flames shot up a little higher than usual for a moment, he wasn't used to this kind of treatment. And it made me so happy that I was able to make him a little bit happy!

And then I noticed Sans kinda just, oh, I dunno, staring at me? I ate some of my fries before speaking, "What, not used to seeing this kinda thing?"

He went to eat some of his…. fries, if that's what you can even call them. But, I could see a slightly red tint to his skull, like a blush. "it's unusual, and strange. why do you even do that anyway?"

I thought for a moment, 'cause even I didn't know why I did it, all I knew was that I liked doing it. "Well, I guess I have a few reasons. One reason is that just small acts of kindness, can really make someone feel much better if they're having a bad day. And if you're nice to someone who's having a bad day, they'll feel good and be in a good mood, and hopefully spread that kindness. And not only does it make the receiver of the kindness feel good, it also makes me feel good." Sans looked at me for a moment, and was gonna say something, but he looked just behind me and shut his mouth. I'm guessing Grillby was who I had to thank for that. "Another reason, is that I can't help but be nice. I see so much hatred around me, and I just think that someone should help turn that hatred into love, or to at least lessen that hatred. Why? Because love and kindness, is so much better than hate and cruelty." It was a little bit difficult trying to explain this to not only one person, but basically the whole bar. Yeah, everyone was listening in. "And I think the last reason is…. I just like being kind and caring. It can really get you somewhere in life, especially if you're kind to the right people." It was silent as the monsters took this in.

Sans snorted (without a nose, I'm not sure how that works, but I won't question it.) and went back to his food. "so you're a doormat. and i don't see how it can get you anywhere in life."

I ate a few more of my fries, and sipped my milk. "Sans, I know the difference between being a doormat, vs. being a generous giver. And small acts of kindness, can get you anywhere in life. Do you know where it got me?" Sans looked at me for a moment, before going back to his…. fries. "It got me a big, kind, loving family who would do anything for me. Just as I would do anything for them."

"oh yeah, then where is this big loving family, huh? up on the surface? that why ya wanna get up there so bad?" Sans sounded so… angry. Why?

My soul swelled with multiple emotions at those words, but sadness was the strongest. "No… They're in another universe right now. I'm only hoping to find some way back on the surface…."

"and how'd ya end up in my universe, huh? did you mess with something you weren't supposed to? did your oh so loving family actually turn out to be murderers? hmm human? ooh, what if-"

"Sans." My voice was like ice as I spoke, which shut him up quick. "I was murdered. By another human. I ended up in the void, and W.D. Gaster meant to send me back to my world. Instead, I was sent here." Sans seemed to pale at the mention of Gaster. And my tone got much warmer and softer when I started to talk again. "And do you know who my family is, Sans? Toriel, Asriel, Chara, Papyrus, you, Grillby, Undyne, Alphys, Mettaton, Asgore, basically everyone in the underground is my family. And then there's my little sister, Melody. She's the only one who is actually related to me, born from the people who decided to have us." There had been a soft chatter starting up, but now it was hushed. And once again, it was so silent, you could hear a pin drop. "And you must be wondering why I don't consider my birth parents family. Well, they were abusive and cruel, and they have no place in my heart. It's you guys who take up every inch of my soul. And… and…." Great, the waterworks decided to start up. Flowey was starting to reach up to wipe the tears away, and Grillby looked to be ready to give me a hug. "And I miss you guys…. so much…. I-"

My voice was cut off by the sound of a soul starting to crack and fade away. My soul. I could feel my eyes widen, and everyone in the room stood up. I looked to my right just as my vision started to go dark, "Sans….!"

I could feel myself fall from my seat, and feel some familiar hands catch me. There was some shouting, all kinds of voices, but it was all muffled. I tried to open my eyes, but they were so heavy….

"Don't worry Sweetheart, we gotcha."

Well then. Wow. What's gonna happen next?! Even I wanna know, and I'm the author!

And yeah, I said I was gonna publish this sometime around spring break, but I never did…. I think I'm gonna stop saying when I think the next chapter will be out, and just get the chapters out as soon as I can. Buuuttt, now that it's summer vacation, I can write all I want! (If I'm not sleeping that is)

And yeah, the chapter is a bit short. I know. I'm gonna try and make the chapter longer next time, I promise!

But… Thank you for reading, and until next time!

Stay awesome you bootiful potato you!