Home sweet home. A place of lies, secrets, and manipulation. A place where one can hide from the world. A safe place… haven from reality. Frisk enters the cabin.
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Chapter 7: The Cabin
Now this was interesting. Chara smiled as she watched Frisk hiking through the snow. Perhaps she hadn't missed her chance after all. She may not have been able to read Frisk's thoughts, but they'd been together so long that Chara had gotten quite good at reading Frisk's intentions. And at the moment, she clearly was clearly giving off an emotion that suggested at much more dangerous intentions.
Reading these emotions, and knowing much of what Frisk knew, it was often easy to predict her intentions. At the moment, she was clearly heading to the house to pick up the knife that she had stashed there. Who she planned on using it on was a little less clear, as was whether or not she would even be able to. Frisk had gotten quite a lot weaker from years of inaction. But the fact that she was still thinking like this was going to make it quite a lot easier for Chara to awaken the demon.
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Papyrus watched Frisk stroll out into the snowstorm, and then glanced up the stairs towards his room longingly. Even for a skeleton, it was relatively cold out, and having a coat would be really nice for outside travel. Plus, he had a new one that he had really been looking forward to showing off to Frisk.
It looked like a jumpsuit jacket with crisscrossing bones and a giant P on the back. He'd found it at the used items store down the road a few days back. No time now though. He'd have to do it when they got back. Right now he had more important things to do, such as being Frisk's protector from a deadly snowstorm. So, with one last look back towards the stairs, he took off into the snowstorm after Frisk.
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As Frisk made her way through the cold, she found herself surprised at how much of a difference the short time wearing Sans' coat had made. Last time she'd left Papyrus' house, she'd still been somewhat frozen through. This time she felt ready to take on the world. She glanced behind and smiled. Papyrus was indeed there.
She felt bad running out without giving much of an explanation to Papyrus. "I'm going to get something to protect myself with. The political immunity ends soon, and I'd rather not be defenseless." Frisk yelled over the roar of the wind. She felt a shiver running down her spine. If Chara was conscious, this action was going to make her very, very happy.
Doing anything that would make Chara happy bothered her, but Flowey's warning bothered her more. Dangerous opponents unlike anything she'd ever faced before. He hadn't said those words exactly, but the fact that he'd bothered to warn her implied that. Never before had he felt inclined to do that.
"Poli…wha?" Papyrus called over the blasting of the wind. He sounded completely and utterly clueless. Frisk smirked at the response. He didn't seem to have any idea what she was talking about. Perhaps Sans had never bothered to explain to him that she wasn't going to be safe down here forever. Wouldn't really be too surprising.
She turned her head back forward again, attempting to get her bearings. She was near Megan's house now. They'd built it about two years back when Megan had officially moved to Snowdin at the age of sixteen. She had insisted it be directly in between hers' and Sans' houses. Smiling, she turned her attention back towards her own house.
"You won't make it, Frisk." The voice came out of nowhere, but their was no mistaking its' owner. Yellow. "You missed your chance. Let it go. Let the knife go. Don't take this path. It will only lead to regret."
Frisk's eyes darted all over the place. She did not seem him anywhere? Where was he coming from? Was he in a human body here in the real world? "Where are you?" She yelled into the wind. For a moment there was silence. Then Yellow spoke again.
"You are the link between monsters and humans, Frisk. You are the only one who can bring true peace. I promise you, you can succeed where you have failed so many times before. We are all counting on you, Frisk. Never give up. Never surrender. Stay determined. We need you."
Stay determined. Frisk's eyes shot open, countless memories rushing into her head. She hadn't heard that statement in the last five years, but during her runs she heard it almost consistently. Practically every single time she died. …which she'd done quite a lot to be honest. It was a memory of a time when King Asgore of the monsters had said it to Chara… Nice Chara, pretty Chara, the ballroom Chara. The Red Soul. Now she was red. So the role was apparently passed to her. And she'd failed.
And what had he meant by 'missed her chance'? Did she need to abandon the knife and sprint straight for the ghost if she wanted to find him. A quick glance at her pocket watch disproved that theory though. And why did she even care what he said. She had no way of knowing if he could be trusted!
Then she realized that he'd fallen silent. "Yellow?" Frisk asked cautiously. "YELLOW?" Nothing. "Fine! Be silent." He was. Frisk sighed. Usually in a case like this, she'd try one route, and if it failed, she'd try the other. That wasn't an option anymore though. Made the path she was on that much more important, but her mind had already decided that the events of one run weren't that important. It had always been a strange sort of paradox.
She could always go for the knife after the Gaster thing, she decided. Regardless of what her pocket watch said, she couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that had come at Yellow's words. "Wait, Papyrus. The movies!" She called out, and turned abruptly. "We can go there first. Don't want to miss…"
Papyrus stopped running and simply stood there, blocking her way. He looked confused, probably because her words really hadn't made a lot of sense. There was more to his stance though. It spoke of an emotion she'd known all too well at one point. Papyrus was filled with determination.
"THERE IS NO WHERE I AM LETTING YOU ROAM ABOUT DURING A BLIZZARD WITHOUT ANYTHING WARMER." He'd used the word 'I', and as always, that left Frisk feeling very unnerved. He considered it important enough to not even worry about trying to sound cool. The look in his eyes, his words, his determination, and the use of that word made one thing very clear. Papyrus was deadly serious.
Papyrus reached out and, gently but firmly, took Frisk's arm. "WE ARE GOING TO YOUR HOUSE, AND I AM GRABBING YOU A COAT. I WON'T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER. THIS IS WHAT WE ARE GOING TO BE DOING. AFTER THAT, WE SHOULD STILL HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH TIME TO MAKE IT TO ESCAPE TO SPACE." Then he turned Frisk around, and taking the lead, began to lead her back in the direction of her house. She couldn't help but wonder if Yellow saw this happening, and what his reaction would be.
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Chara was enraged, storming, furious. She grabbed the lamp from next to her couch and threw it across the room, watching it shatter into pieces as it hit the ground. Destruction. It always had a calming effect on her; the universe going back to the way it was supposed to be. Although it did little to subside her rage, it at least calmed her down enough to put her emotions into concrete thoughts.
She was going to murder that arrogant, meddlesome, irritating yellow soul as soon as she got the chance. Could you kill a soul without a body? She paused. Was the yellow soul, a soul without a body? Either way, she was going to have to dispose of him as quickly as possible. There was only room for one person to direct Frisk's path, and Chara had worked hard to help Frisk become the mindless killer she had always been meant to be. No blasted manipulating yellow soul was going to ruin this for them!
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Frisk didn't argue. She'd learned a long time ago that when Papyrus got like this, one did not even attempt to debate. It did no good. He was one of, if not the, most stubborn people she had ever met. And it showed through the most when he was actually taking things seriously. Like right this moment, for instance. She wondered what had brought it about, her mind drifting back to the mysterious building where Papyrus had been ignoring her. What exactly had he thought was going on then? Did it have anything to do with his peculiar attitude now?
They came to the small cabin that Toriel and Frisk called home. It was a simple house built with only one story. There were five rooms. To the left, a living room with a kitchen branching off of it. On the other right side of the living room, there was a hallway with two rooms. One was Toriel's bedroom. The other was Frisk's. The hallway also had a horizontal mirror, a water sausage, and a cactus.
Walking up to the door, Frisk unlocked it with the keychain she always had hanging from her phone. The phone was a gift from her mother, the keychain from Megan's older sister, Alphys. It had been given to her on one of her birthdays, and Alphys had been a surprise guest. The keychain was a red metal band in the shape of a heart.
Frisk stepped inside and flipped on the lights. She liked the house, clearly fashioned to look just like the ones in Old Home and New Home. Despite all of the nightmarish things she'd had happen to her in both locations, it felt oddly safe and comforting. As long as she stood inside it, she always felt safe and protected. While here, she always felt as if she could hide away forever.
A part of her wanted to stop and smell the wood, run her hands long the table, do the sort of things that always calmed her down, but she was in a hurry. The movie would certainly have enough of a calming effect to counteract everything that she had been through so far. So she could worry about that after the whole Gaster adventure.
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Papyrus followed her into the house, smiling as he walked around. This was his second favorite building in the Underworld. The first was his house because it was full of The Great Papyrus awesomeness. But this place was a close second. There was just one thing about this house that he did not approve of. It was way too lacking in the puzzles department. Sure, his house didn't have many either, but Sans always had weird things lying around that anybody who entered would puzzle over. Like the book on the table, for instance.
There was something about this cabin that he hadn't felt since… well, as long as he could remember, hundreds upon hundreds of years. It felt safe, cozy, peaceful. And the fact that it was where Frisk lived was a bonus. Best friend, and platonic dater's, house. More than that though, it reminded him of before. Back when everything had made sense. Back when it was ok to be in the Underworld. Back when people had hope.
"Hey, Papyrus," Frisk called from her room, and Papyrus made his way over to her. "Can you tell me about your dad?"
For a moment, Papyrus blinked. This was a very out-of-the-blue question. They'd been together… well, platonic dating on a regular basis, for almost two years now. Never once had the topic of his parents come up. And there wasn't really anything in the room… He glanced around to be certain, than continued the thought. There wasn't anything in the room that would have caused her to think about it. The Great Papyrus was confused. But decided to answer anyways.
"DAD?" He replied proudly. "THE GREAT PAPYRUS' FATHER WAS THE GREATEST MONSTER EVER TO WALK THE EARTH! HE WAS A HERO, SAVING THE UNDERWORLD ON MANY DIFFERENT OCCASIONS. HE WAS A SCIENTIST ON THE FRONT LINES DURING THE WAR THAT FORCED MONSTERS UNDERGROUND. HE BUILT THE CORE WHICH IS THE THING THAT GIVES US ENERGY. IT WOULD BE LIKE SUPER, SUPER DARK WITHOUT IT.
"HE BUILT A SECRET VILLAGE FOR A RACE OF MONSTERS THAT WANTED TO LIVE SEPARATE FROM EVERYBODY ELSE. MOST IMPORTANTLY, HE SEALED OFF THE WILDER PARTS OF THE UNDERWORLD IN ORDER TO KEEP WHAT IS INSIDE FROM WIPING US OUT! EVEN THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO MATCH HIS GREATNESS!"
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Frisk blinked. That was a long list of accomplishments. Although she'd known what the core did, she'd always wondered where exactly it came from. The secret village was probably built for the Temmies of old. Temmies being rather curious creatures. They were very similar to cats in most ways, but had a few rather distinct differences. They had dog ears on the side of their heads, as well as their cat ears. They also had shoulder length black hair and blue eyes. Their legs were longer than a typical cat's and they were around two foot in size.
She paused at the last statement. Wilder parts of the underworld? She'd always just naturally assumed that Old Home, Snowdin, Waterfall, Hotland and New Home were all that the Underworld had ever had. How big WAS the whole thing? She'd file that thought away for later though. Right now, she needed to focus.
It was time to go. Frisk turned from her closet. What are you doing?Friskfrowned. She couldn't shake the thought that she was forgetting something important. You can't leave without getting a coat for Papyrus. Sure he's a skeleton, but he's shivering.Frisk glanced over at Papyrus, nodding her head. Then she buried her head back into the closet again, searching for something that he could wear. As she did so, her eyes fell on the panel behind which she hid her toy knife.
Take it. She really shouldn't… The yellow soul cannot be trusted. You know this. Spirits in general cannot be trusted. They are manipulizers. Frisk reached for the panel, hesitantly. Then she began to pull back again. Don't take it to fight. Take it to make yourself feel safe. Use it as a warning to AVOID fights. Frisk reached forward and opened the panel. After all, even in your pacifist run you never said no to a weapon.
Frisk picked up the weapon and slipped it into the inside pocket of her jacket. She could use it for protection, and she was already here. There was no reason she shouldn't take it. Well, besides the words of a spirit she didn't even know if she could trust. She pulled out one of Toriel's older, lesser feminine looking jackets and tossed it to Papyrus. "So, what happened to your dad? I don't think I've ever met him." She turned from the closet and walked towards him.
Papyrus frowned for a second. "THAT KNOWLEDGE IS BEYOND EVEN THE GREAT PAPYRUS' COMPREHENSION. ONE DAY HE WAS THERE. THE NEXT HE WAS NOT. SOME THINK HE FELL INTO THE CORE WHILE ATTEMPTING TO ADD ANOTHER FEATURE TO IT… BUT NOBODY ACTUALLY SAW IT HAPPEN. SO IF HE DID, NOBODY KNOWS WHY.
THE GREAT PAPYRUS USED TO THINK HE WAS STILL ALIVE, BUT SANS ALWAYS INSISTED THAT HE WAS ERASED BY AN EXPIREMENT GONE WRONG. THE GREAT PAPYRUS DOESN'T USUALLY TAKE THE LAZY SANS' WORDS AS ACCURATE, AND FATHER'S EXPIREMENTS NEVER WENT WRONG. HOWEVER, HIS FAILURE TO RETURN AFTER SO MANY HUNDREDS OF YEARS… SUGGESTS THAT HE NEVER WILL."
Then he fell silent, slipping on Toriel's old coat and stepping out the door rather abruptly. He turned and strode towards the theater, not even glancing behind to make sure that Frisk was following. He seemed to simply assume that she would be. It was an odd reversal when considering that she had just done the same thing to him a couple of minutes before, when leaving his house.
Frisk followed behind him silently. This was very un-The-Great-Papyrus of Papyrus. He must have been very broken up over the loss of his father even now, all these years later. And she supposed she could understand that. To have somebody close to you disappear like that, with no real proof left behind to show what happened, would leave a terrible lack of closure.
She was bothered by something else though. Gaster was alive. She'd seen him. So why hadn't he come home? Why abandon his children for hundreds of years only to reveal himself at last, and then leave, without uttering a single word? Wasn't really the definition of a great monster in her opinion. Seemed more like a jerk.
As they walked away from the house, Frisk glanced back at it one more time. There was something lonely about the way the cabin stood empty in the middle of the blizzard. And a feeling she couldn't quite explain settled in the pit of her stomach. She was beginning to feel whatever it was that Megan and Sans had been trying to make her feel, something off about the world, and she didn't like it.
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Things are beginning to reach a boiling point. Chara and Frisk, partners for life. Hope you enjoyed the shocking events that have been unveiled in the latest entry of our adventure. As always, your fanship means a lot to me. Hope to hear from you.
~ Xanatos Stones
(P.S. UltimateGamer101, Ringcaat, and Owl Chaser - Thank you for taking the time to review. It means the world to me. Peace out.)
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