Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.
Iterations
Bubble
"She like this long?" Grillby's letters crackled softly in the air.
"yeah. it's weird because she was fine, even in this form, for the longest time. then she suddenly started to get worse off really quickly." Sans replied, finishing his explanation.
A tilt of the head.
"Uh… after the sick attacked." He answered, well-accustomed to filling in the blanks where his friend was concerned. "speaking of the attack, how's fuku? she healing alright?"
Grillby's fire seemed to burn a little brighter and warmer. He nodded gratefully towards the bundle still asleep in Sans's arms.
"heh, yeah. the kid has an odd tendency to do what seems impossible."
Grillby hummed, thinking. His words filled the air. "Fuku off too. Connected? Keep together?"
Sans blinked, surprised. "i hadn't thought of that. how is fuku off? and it started about the same time?"
Grillby nodded. "No control power. Surge ball."
His eye-sockets widened. "You had to put her in a surge container? She must hate that."
There was humor in his expression as he replied. "Embarrassed. Feels like child."
Sans chuckled. "of course she feels like that. she got out of hers early by a couple years, didn't she? must be flustering to be need one again."
Sans patted his sleeping friend, serious again but more relaxed than before. "i see what you're saying though. if they both started feeling off at the same time, maybe bringing them together will fill in a few blanks."
"sup, will-o'-wisp?"
Fuku, who was currently just a green ball of flames in an orb, immediately hid herself behind her bed. The flickering glow let him know that she was embarrassed.
Sans let out an 'ow' as Grillby swatted him in the head chidingly. "heh, just kidding. i'm actually here for something important, so can you come on out?"
She floated up into view reluctantly. "What is it?" she asked, her voice echoing and airy as it always was. Sans imagined that if smoke could talk, that was what it would sound like.
"after the attack, someone helped you. it was actually my friend—"
"Frisk," she interrupted.
Sans blinked. "how did you know her name?"
The orb rose and fell, a gesture Sans recognized from Frisk at this point. A shrug. "She helped me and I just… knew."
Sans face blanched, his eyelights going dark in disbelief. He knew what was happening. Immediately, he unwrapped the bundle to reveal Frisk and gave her a gentle but insistent shake. She glowed just a bit brighter, indicating that she was awake. "please tell me you didn't try and give up your soul to a monster."
A pulse of confusion before a tired but steadfast shake that proclaimed that she had not.
"when you helped fuku, did you get any strange feelings that didn't feel like your own, any weird knowledge you suddenly just knew, or memories that weren't yours?"
Frisk did not move, pondering. Finally, a reluctant nod.
"yeah, well, that was you accidentally trying to give your soul up to a monster." Sans stated caustically. "you need to be careful! especially now that you're just a floating, vulnerable soul. this is uncharted territory, kid."
Frisk rose up and lightly knocked herself against Sans's head. An apology.
He sighed. "i'm not mad. just worried. with you the way you are right now, intent matters and can be misconstrued. you were probably thinking something like, 'i'll save her with everything i've got!' which is, right now, literally just your soul."
She nodded solemnly.
"all right then. first things first, let's get you to stop losing magic. grillby, you got another surge protector?"
Hours later, they had found several aspects of Frisk's condition. The surge protector was absolutely needed, especially around Fuku. The monitor on the ball made evident that, when within a certain proximity, more of Frisk's magic wanted to escape, probably as a residual effect of her wish to help that put her in this condition. Conversely, small amounts of magic from Fuku, assumed to be that of Frisk from its strong color of determination, was gradually going to Frisk. While being within proximity helped to restore her magic, it was a slow process. And, regardless of the protector that kept any magic from escaping, the draw was strong and exhausting. They decided the transfer should be done gradually in sessions.
As he headed home, an exhausted soul in his pocket, he could not help but feel relieved. He knew what was wrong now. Even better, they were taking steps to fix it. And it was surprising to be reminded how much having Grillby on their side eased his soul. It felt good to know that tonight he would be bringing his brother nothing but good news.
He entered the home, smile on his face falling as his eye sockets found his brother pacing anxiously, gloved hand pressed against his teeth in a telltale worried gesture.
"paps, you okay?"
"SANS! IT IS VERY LATE! WHERE WERE YOU?"
He felt immediately guilty. He really should get better at communicating with others. "sorry, bro. i should have told you i was running some errands."
"SAFE ERRANDS?" The unrelieved worry in his brother's eye sockets only made him feel guiltier.
"yeah, pap. completely safe errands."
His brother slumped into a chair with relief. He spoke, sounding exhausted. "WHAT KIND OF ERRANDS DID YOU DO?"
Sans grinned, pulling the still-asleep-Frisk-filled surge protector out of his pocket. "we found a way to help frisk."
His brother paused, staring at the translucent ball. "IS THAT FRISK IN A BABY BUBBLE?"
Sans chortled, he had never heard it called that before but it was definitely accurate. "yup. figured out she was losing magic so we're regulating it."
"THAT SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD IDEA." He paused, realizing something. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY 'WE'?"
"Oh… uh… grillby helped me out."
Something in Papyrus's face seemed to fall. "OH. MAY I HOLD FRISK?"
He handed her over and watched as his brother looked critically over their sleeping friend. "HER COLOR IS ALREADY IMPROVING."
Sans frowned. "you don't sound as happy as i thought you would."
"OH, I AM! I'M GLAD AND RELIEVED AND GRATEFUL…" He trailed off. Then he continued, quieter than usual. "BUT I WISH THAT I ALSO COULD HAVE HELPED."
"i knew you'd be busy with the guard," he replied, feeling apologetic now that he knew what was upsetting his brother. "but i really should have left a note or something. and i don't intend to keep you out of the loop anymore, i promise."
"REALLY?"
"of course."
Sans was woken up by a shrill, excited shriek from his brother. He groaned and rolled off the bedding and onto the floor. He laid there, face planted on the ground for a few more precious moments of laziness. Just as he began to doze off again, a giddy "NYEH HEH HEH" forced him back into full consciousness. With another groan, he pushed himself up off the floor and followed the sound into the next room. He paused at the curtain that acted as the partition between the two rooms as he stared at the scene before him.
His brother, excited and happy, seemed to be extremely proud at what he had accomplished. Frisk, of course, was said accomplishment. He had somehow managed to squeeze her, surge protector and all, into a bright red balloon. Now, she just looked like a glowing, slightly more rounded, normal balloon. More importantly, she was floating on her own. She wavered slightly, but floating on her own was barely possible before, with how sick she was.
"heya, what are y'all up to?"
"GOOD MORNING, BROTHER! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE CREATED AN INGENIOUS DISGUISE FOR OUR DEAR FRIEND SO THEY CAN ACCOMPANY US WITHOUT WORRY!" He stated jovially and pushed balloon-Frisk over to his brother.
Sans hummed thoughtfully. "it really is a good disguise. maybe you don't need to be on house arrest, kid."
Frisk bounced once excitedly. While she was still weak, she had been stuck in the home for way too long.
"well, we'll test it out tomorrow then."
A/N: Another chapter up! And relatively soon too. Hope this means I'm back on the ball. XD
Thanks, as always, for reading.
Until next time friendlies,
Dfsemina