Having a mouse come out of it's hole seemingly just to comfort you is something to behold. While the humans were resting and recovering from their encounter with Undyne, the mouse came out it's hole and scampered over to the distressed humans, completely ignoring the crystallized cheese. Selendis played with it for a bit, Tenebris petted it, and it rested on Frisk's head in a cute way. When the humans all ate one cinnamon bunny each to heal their wounds, they all gave the mouse a piece as thanks for reassuring them. It ate two pieces and brought the last one back to it's hole, though not before giving them two heartwarming squeaks that seemingly meant "thank you." That interaction brought determination back to their hearts.
Selendis stood and stretched. "We shouldn't let Undyne get under our skin like this. I know we really can't do anything about her at the moment, but neither should we turn back from just one scare."
Frisk nodded, completely refilled with DETERMINATION. "I agree! If we can't get her to leave us alone, we should at the very least convince her we are not true threats."
Tenebris wasn't so optimistic. He knew that Undyne was hell-bent on getting their souls, and he doubt kind words and a hug or a treat will get her to deviate. He managed to connect eyes with her during the chase and saw just how much determination this one monster had; she won't stop without a damn good reason and won't go down without a fight.
He shook his head. "Suppose loitering isn't going to get us anywhere... and I get the feeling we've been saying similar things to that a lot lately."
Frisk shrugged. "Don't think about it." That got a facepalm out of Tenebris and a snort out of Selendis.
When they left the crystal cheese room, they saw Sans with a telescope and another dimensional box. He greeted them casually. "sup? how are you finding waterfall?"
Selendis shook her head. "If you discount the crazy guard trying to murder you, it's pretty serene."
"wow, had a bad run-in with undyne?"
Frisk nodded. "On top of a near-death experience. I'm sure we're fine now, though."
Sans let out a relieved sigh, though he noted some reluctance on Tenebris' face. "that's good to hear. by the way, i'm thinking about getting into the telescope business."
Selendis gave him a funny look. "You mean selling telescopes? When all you can see is sparkling stones that never change locations?"
Sans chuckled. "no, silly. i mean letting people look into a telescope for a price."
"Not a very good industry down here..."
Sans chuckled again at Selendis' deadpan. "you'd be surprised. anyways, i already have one here and... normally it's 50000G to use this premium one... but since i know you, you can use it for free." Sans had to force down a snort when Tenebris picked up what he was doing and, out of Frisk's and Selendis' views, was giving him a shit-eating grin and a thumbs up.
Frisk nodded enthusiastically before peering into the telescope. She looked through it for a bit before she withdrew with a confused look. "All I see is red..."
Selendis frowned. "Really? Let me check." As she put her eye to the telescope as well, Tenebris couldn't contain his laughter anymore and fell over "She's right, nothing but red. Sans what is this?"
Sans grinned even wider with a cheeky look on his face. "you aren't satisfied? don't worry, i'll give you a full refund."
Frisk looked at Tenebris with confusion. "Are... you okay there?"
"I am so dead..." He managed to wheeze out. He got a look at Selendis before redoubling back in laughter, this time Sans joining in.
Selendis frowned. "I don't get you tw-" both she and Frisk looked at each other and saw a purple circle around their left eyes. The sisters pointed at each other before trying to scrub the purple off their faces. "SANS! You sea-horse, you're dead to me!"
"At least it comes off easy." Frisk stated with a giggle, looking at her now purple hand. "I'll admit, it was a pretty classy trick."
Selendis grumbled as she washed her hands and face in the nearby water. "To you it might be... it's almost as bad as Tenebris pranking us with a loose lid on a bottle of ketchup!"
Sans managed to stop laughing. "aw, come on, selendis. no need to get all 'washed up' about it." He shook his head. "c'mon, i'll make it up to you. the nice cream guy just recently moved to this room, so i'll treat ya."
After eating the nice creams Sans bought them and putting away a few more they bought themselves, the humans continued forward with Selendis still somewhat sour about what just happened.
After a bit of walking, they got a phone call. "HELLO! THIS IS PAPYRUS!"
Tenebris chuckled. "Hey, we just ran into your brother here."
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?! HE'S SLACKING OFF YET AGAIN..." He suddenly cleared his throat nervously. "A-ANYWAYS. SO... REMEMBER WHEN I ASKED YOU THREE ABOUT CLOTHES? WELL... THE FRIEND WHO WANTED TO KNOW... UM... HER OPINION OF YOU THREE IS... RATHER... MURDERY."
Frisk sighed. "Papyrus, what did you tell 'her'?"
Papyrus seemed a bit surprised, but caught himself. "WORRY NOT, FOR PAPYRUS WOULD NEVER WILLINGLY BETRAY YOU! AFTER ALL, I AM NOT A CRUEL PERSON. I STRIVE TO BE-"
"- Comforting and pleasant. Frisk and I heard that before, Papyrus." Selendis stated with a weary sigh. He was rather insistent about it.
"R-RIGHT. SO, BECAUSE OF MY INHERENT GOODNESS... I TOLD HER YOU THREE 'WEREN'T' WEARING THOSE ITEMS!" This got a shocked look from Frisk and flat looks from the older humans. "I KNOW YOU TOLD ME THAT WAS TRUE, WHICH IS WHY I MADE UP SOMETHING OBSCENE! I TOLD HER... THAT THE KID WAS WEARING A BANDANNA, THE MALE A RIBBON, AND THE 'TALL FEMALE' A DUSTY TUTU."
Now all three humans bore shocked looks. Papyrus continued regardless, "IT'S OBSCENE BECAUSE I KNOW TENEBRIS WOULD NEVER WEAR A RIBBON AND SELENDIS A TUTU, MEANING IT MUST WORK! STILL, IT PAINED ME TO TELL SUCH A BOLDFACED LIE... I JUST WANT TO BE FRIENDS WITH EVERYONE..." When he got no responce he squeed. "JUDGING BY YOUR STUNNED REACTIONS, IT WORKED! WELL, ANYTHING FOR GOOD FRIENDS OF MINE!" He hung up after that.
Frisk continued to give the phone a shocked look. "How did... he... is he telepathic?"
Tenebris let out a massive groan. "OR just has stupid amounts of luck... or is stupid unlucky, depending on how you view it."
Selendis put away the phone this time, sighing once again. "Too late now. We might as well... do whatever for our equipment."
The humans swapped their equipment around back to what it was before Papyrus called the first time. As they continued, they met a monster named Onionsan, who informed them of his plight; the fact that the water level in Waterfall was dropping and he barely had any water to sit in. When he expressed certainty that Undyne will be able to fix things like this, doubt began to once again come over the trio.
That quickly vanished when they encountered a monster named Shyren, who... somehow encountered them while hiding in the corner. When Selendis got how she was named, she started humming a melody that the monster followed along with. Tenebris and Frisk got in on the singing as well and soon a random concert started up, with Sans appearing out of nowhere to sell tickets made out of toilet paper. When it was finally concluded with a farewell song by Shyren's own making, she admitted that she was tone deaf and was afraid to sing as a result. Thanks to the humans, she had more confidence and taught the humans a lullaby.
The ancient glyphs in the next hallway shed more light on a monster's soul, which Tenebris found curious. "So soul fusing works both ways, just that it's very hard for a human to absorb a monster soul, save one from a 'boss monster.'"
Selendis groaned. "Why are video game analogies everywhere down here? it's like the monsters of ancient times WANTED outsiders to think of down here as a game!"
Frisk shrugged. "I doubt it. Back then, things like electronics never existed, assuming the monsters were sealed around the medieval times. It's just purely coincidental."
Tenebris chuckled. "That's one big coincidence. Still, even I wouldn't treat this entirely like a game; real lives and consequences are at stake and it's not like we can save or load." Frisk gulped silently at those words. She was still afraid of what the older humans would think of her abilities down here.
When they saw a lonely-looking statue getting rained on, they felt sadness once again creeping into their minds. Tenebris saw umbrellas up ahead and, as a tribute to whoever the statue was built for or after, stuck it in the statue to make it dry. Frisk smiled at the gesture, but what warmed everyone's souls was when the statue started playing an innocent tune, seemingly in thanks for the umbrella.
Selendis closed her eyes with a smile. "It reminds me when Frisk was much younger. Days of innocence... when we had not a care in the world." Frisk pulled at her sleeve and she brought her little sister in for a hug.
Tenebris nodded. "Days we can no longer live. But sometimes... it's good to reminisce about the days of old, when everything was so much simpler..."
They stayed like that for a little while longer before bidding good-bye to the statue, though not before Tenebris kneeled before the statue and prayed that the soul whom the statue was built after found peace.
When they found where Tenebris got an umbrella, they saw it 'raining' ahead in the caverns and took two more. Tenebris and Selendis each held one, while Frisk snuggled with Selendis under one. They found the monster kid from earlier who had taken refuge from the rain. "Yo, you guys have umbrellas? Sweet! Could... um, could I join you?"
Tenebris sighed. As annoying as he was about the one trying to kill them, he was still just a kid. "Sure, why not. I've got room under mine."
"Thank you!"
The kid occasionally gushed over Undyne as they walked and the humans... humored the kid. When the reached a very open-spaced room, they saw a massive castle with a town underneath it. The kid saw their looks and smiled. "I'm betting you never seen the capital before. Well there it is in all it's glory."
Frisk shook her head slowly. "That's the capital... to think our final destination is so close, yet so far away."
Selendis nodded. "Yeah. Imposing as it is even from this distance, go there, we must."
"Okay, Yoda." Tenebris snickered. Selendis rolled her eyes.
They reached a tall ledge that looked too tall for the kids to climb, even if one got on another's shoulders, and the older humans could barely climb it. Tenebris smirked as he put away his umbrella. "Time to use one of my new skills."
Selendis gave him a flat look as she put away her umbrella. "And what might that be?"
A dark aura enveloped his feet as he smirked. "This." He jumped incredibly high, easily clearing the ledge. "Sadly, I've yet to learn how to cast this on other people. At least I can pull you guys up."
He was able to pull Selendis up no problem thanks to his strength-enhancing aura, but everyone realized that he wouldn't be able to pull up both kids. Monster kid shook his head. "I'll stay behind. I always find a way through." Frisk gave him an uncertain look, but got on his shoulders when he offered. Thanks to that, Tenebris got her up onto the ledge as well before the kid ran off again.
They found more glyphs and learned something new: when monsters die, they turn to dust. Selendis grimaced. "That's... kinda morbid, actually. We humans treat getting turned to ash as an option. Monsters don't have that luxury."
Tenebris sighed. "At least I'll know when I have sinned irreversibly if I go too much on the offensive."
Frisk whimpered as she looked at him. "Please don't let it come to that. I don't want to see anybody die..."
He pats her on the head. "Don't worry. I know I must be careful. I'm not cold-blooded." This got a smile out of her.
When the ominous lighting returned, they knew what it meant. They stopped when a teal circle appeared on the ground in front of them. Selendis sighed. "Guess who's back?"
A whole bunch of the circles suddenly surrounded them and spikes shot up from them before Undyne revealed herself one level below. Tenebris hissed in annoyance. "I can't block that! Just run!" The chase began again, but he wasn't having any of playing just defensively again. "You can dish it out, monster, but can you take it?"
He created a shadow orb and threw it down a level, where it began spitting scatter-shot shadow bolts at the guard. She yelped in surprise and the spikes from the ground became faster, but more hapzard. Thanks to that, the humans were able to last without getting hit once.
What dismayed them was that their level was a bit of a maze, and they ran into a few dead ends. Even when they though they found the correct path, it was yet another dead end, though Undyne suddenly stopped summoning spikes. The reason why quickly became apparent to the humans: Undyne had moved up a level to confront them directly. Tenebris put up a shield, only to find it pointless when the guard disconnected the section of the bridge they were on.
Tenebris and Selendis barely got their hands on Frisk before they hit the bottom and blacked out. This time Tenebris was the first one to wake up. "Ow... I've been falling a lot lately..." When he saw both Frisk and Selendis unconscious, he panicked. "Oh no no no no, please wake up!"
Frisk stirred. "Mh... what happened? Last thing I remember was falling because Undyne destroyed our bridge section." She looks down. "Again, the flowers break our fall..."
Tenebris noticed the same yellow flowers from inside the ruins as Selendis started waking up herself. "I wonder why there are flowers growing out here of all places. There's no light anywhere here."
"Who... who cares. I'm just glad they saved us once again." Selendis stood up, but was a bit shaky. "At least it wasn't as bad of a fall as the one leading into the ruins."
Tenebris looked around and grunted. "Well, that's just trashy... I think we're in a garbage dump of some kind."
"Please don't start with the puns, Tenebris. My thinking's garbage enough without you... oh god why?!"
Selendis started freaking out as Frisk and Tenebris laugh a bit. "I'm proud of you, Selly!"
Tenebris shook his head. "Anyways, let's look for a way up or out. I don't feel like floating around with the trash any longer than I have to."
Along the way they found a still-functional cooler with some astronaut bars inside. The humans took a few just to be safe and continued on, walking past a dummy that looked similar to the one in the ruins. Tenebris was tempted to punch it, but refrained.
A chill ran down their spines, making them stop dead in their tracks. When they looked behind themselves, they saw the dummy suddenly transform and disappear under the water, only to reappear in front of them. "Hahaha, too intimidated to fight me, huh?!"
"What the deuce is going on?!" Was all Tenebris could manage.
"I am a ghost that lives inside a DUMMY. My cousin used to live inside a DUMMY, too, until..." He points at Frisk. "YOU CAME ALONG! When you talked to them, they thought they were in for a nice chat... but the things you SAID..! Horrible. Shocking! UNBELIEVABLE!"
"You take that back..." Selendis' voice got dangerously low. "My kid sister would never speak like that to anyone, EVER! What right do you have to judge her?"
"YOU should talk! You just walked RIGHT past them, never even bothering to give them the time of day! HUMANS! I'll scare your souls right out of your bodies!" He started shifting his body around, looking extremely pissed.
Selendis growled as Frisk hid behind her in fear. "Tenebris, would you kindly?"
He grinned. "With gusto."
He walked in front of his friends and the Mad Dummy took notice. "What? You think you stand a chance against me?! Futile. Futile! FUTILE!"
Tenebris huffed in irritation. "And here I was thinking we could just talk it out. I was even going to ask you about something, but you don't seem up for casual conversation. Oh well... I still got one for you to answer. You seem to have taken refuge in an inanimate object yourself. Tell me..." He closed his eyes for a bit before reopening them with mist spewing out of one with a purple fire. He gives the dummy a slasher smile. "Do you feel fear?"
The dummy stopped moving and it's eyes had pure fear in them. It started sputtering scared gibberish before crying. "YES, YES I DO FEEL FEAR! I'm outta here, I'm not up for fighting, not when humans can use magic!" It flew away in a hurry.
Tenebris shrugged as the mist and flame died back down. "Oooookay... maybe I went a little too far."
Selendis deadpanned. "I'll say. Remind me to never make you mad."
"I could say the same thing about you." He shot back at her.
"Touche." If there was ever one thing in common between them, it was that they were still protective of Frisk.
"I-I really appreciate you guys sticking up for me, but..." Frisk gave them a distraught look. "C-could you refrain from doing that ever again? I don't want monsters thinking we're scary or intimidating."
Tenebris sighed and nodded. "Promise. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth doing it anyways, even with that dummy."
Selendis shook her head. "No promises from me. I know we're supposed to share the damage between the three of us, but that won't stop me from protecting you from other things." Frisk sighed, but gave her sister a hug anyways. "I know I'm scary when mad, but... well that's how us older siblings are like when our younger siblings are threatened."
Tenebris shrugged. "Technically speaking, I don't have a younger sibling. You're just that much my family, Frisk."
Frisk hugged him too. "And I'm grateful for it. Just... try not to resort to scare tactics, please?" He ruffles her hair in response.
"Oh... somebody's there..?"
The older humans jumped in fright, but Frisk smiled. "Napstablook!"
A sad looking ghost appeared before them. "Oh... hi... Frisk... I haven't seen you since the Ruins..."
"I'm glad you're doing well!"
That seemed to cheer the ghost up. "Thank you... you're so kind to me. Who... are your friends...?"
Frisk grabbed Selendis. "This is my older sister, Selendis, and my friend right here is Tenebris!"
"Oh... nice to meet you... I'm Napstablook, nobody really special..."
Selendis gave him an encouraging smile. "Don't say that about yourself! I'm sure you're a somebody to someone. You are to my sister, after all!" Tenebris nodded with his own encouraging smile.
"Oh... you two are also so kind to me... I met Frisk in the Ruins because nobody every goes there. I'm glad I did that one day..." Napstablook looked at Tenebris. "You... have shadow magic. Are... you scary?"
Tenebris let out a large sweat-drop and he chuckled nervously. "I don't try to be 99.9% of the time. Don't worry, I'll be on my best behavior."
That seemed to reassure Napstablook. "Oh... that's good. If you want... you can come to my place for a bit... but... no pressure." The ghost floated back the way he came.
The humans decided that a small break was in order, so they followed him to his house. It was pretty run down, but otherwise accommodating. Sadly, all Napstablook had to offer for food was ghost sandwiches, which none of the humans could interact with, much to the ghost's disappointment.
He decided to change the subject. "After a great meal, I like to lay down on the ground and feel like garbage. It's... um... a family tradition. Do any of you... want to join me..?"
The trio, not wanting to make the ghost sad, agreed and lay down with the ghost. After a bit, they relaxed a lot. Tenebris' eye even started giving off the mist again without the purple flame.
What surprised all of them, even Napstablook, was when Tenebris became so relaxed to the point of understanding the universe a bit better, The mist suddenly enveloped the room and changed to what appeared to be a live backdrop of the cosmos. This gave everyone a look at the cosmos that the Underground never had a chance to see, something Napstablook enjoyed immensely.
Selendis let out a content sigh. "As much as I would like to lay down forever, we need to get going. Thank you for having us over, Napstablook."
The ghost nodded with a small smile. "Yeah, it was... nice having you all over. Thank you... for that show, Tenebris..."
He shrugged. "I'll admit, that was an unintentional byproduct of understanding the universe better, so I should be thanking you, my good sir." He bows courteously.
Napstablook blushed a little. "Wow... all three of you are so kind... I... actually have some information that might help you, Tenebris..."
Frisk looked at him curiously. "Is it regarding his shadow magic?"
"It was... called the magic of darkness in ancient times... I know that there's a book on it somewhere in the underground with info on it in there... I hope it helps..."
Selendis smiled and patted the ghost as best as she could. "It will help immensely, thank you."
After bidding farewell to a now flustered Napstablook, the trio quickly found a make-shift shop in some ruins. The monster that ran it, an old turtle monster, quickly noticed them. "Woah there! I've got some neat junk for sale."
Frisk gave him an odd look. "Just junk and that's it?"
"Well... okay, whippersnapper, only two things here 'could' be considered junk. If you need food or drink, I also got it."
Tenebris checked his water bottle. It was empty from everyone having to drink from it when needed. "I guess we can stock up here. What kind of drink?"
The monster chuckled. "Sea tea. Might not be the best tasting tea out there, but it's hydrating and puts quite a zip in yer step!"
As Tenebris and the monster, who calls himself Gerson, filled the bottle, Frisk noticed a pair of glasses and a torn notebook on sale. Selendis got Gerson's attention when he was done helping Tenebris. "Please excuse me, but do you know of a book that has information on... the magic of darkness?"
The old turtle laughed a bit. "That one, eh? I can't blame you, since your male companion can use it. And before you ask, I've seen it my fair share of times in the same way he can; it can be dangerous but also beautiful." He gives Tenebris a curious look. "It was as rare as it was strong; few monsters way back then and even fewer humans had it. How you you come to possess such magic?"
Tenebris sighed and shook his head. "I... don't want to talk about it. All I can say is that it was forcefully injected into me. As a result, I don't have full knowledge on how to control it, though I have enough training to keep it in line."
"Hmm, that's good. The book you seek can definitely help you. Mind you, it covers another type of magic as well, though I don't remember. I do remember the title. Elements: The Magic of Spirit. I used to have a few copies of it, but some went to the capital while one went to Snowdin."
Tenebris nodded. "Thank you, sir. And thank you for refilling our drinking supply."
Frisk got Selendis' attention. "I think we should buy those glasses."
Gerson laughed. "They would look good on one of ya, if I do say so myself."
Selendis sighed. "Well... considering such things seem to increase our defense against magic attacks, I guess so."
After purchasing the glasses, she put them on at Frisk's suggestion. Gerson whistled. "Don't you look like a pretty young human now!" Seeing their shocked looks, he laughs again. "Don't worry about me knowing who you are. You are fine folk, so I'll just pretend that you never stopped by."
Selendis sighed in relief. "Thank you, sir. Let's go- where's Tenebris?" Sure enough, he was suddenly gone.
Gerson gave an amused smile. "He whispered to me about having to do something before bolting. Sounded like he forgot something important, so I wouldn't worry about it." Seeing that they got worried looks anyways he shook his head. "If yer that concerned, just wait in the room with trails lit up by glowing mushrooms. I'll send him yer way if he comes back."
Frisk still looked unsure. "If you say so, Mr. Gerson..." With that, the sisters left.
Gerson chuckled before looking under a nearby counter. "You okay there, buddy?"
Tenebris was hiding there, clutching his knees to his chest and repeating, "I'm trash! Total, utter garbage!"
Gerson clapped his hands together, which got the flustered human's attention. "They're gone now, if that's what yer worried about." Tenebris slowly climbed out, face still tomato red. This made the monster howl in laughter. "Look at you so embarrassed! Oh to be young and in love again!"
Tenebris stuttered, "I-I couldn't h-help it. S-she look s-so cute in t-those glasses combined w-with that r-ribbon! I'm utter trash, I-I tell you!"
Gerson patted him on the back. "Calm down kid. You aren't trash, no matter what you try and tell me. You just have strong feelings for the girl you never felt before. Tell me: have you ever asked her out before?"
"N-n-no. I-I don't want to ruin our f-friendship, plus I-I doubt she w-would ever... view me in the same way." Tenebris lost his blush and looked down out of shame.
Gerson gave him a stern look. "What makes ya so sure?" When he was met with an averted look, he sighed. "Kid, you shouldn't make assumptions all your life about the one you love. Life always continues on without you and... well I'd rather you know than for you to live your whole life, tormented by that one question."
"I... I don't know..."
"It's that you're not trying to know. You don't HAVE to ask her right after this conversation, but don't wait forever. You never know when something might permanently tear you two apart. Besides, if it's any consolation to you, she looked mighty worried when you suddenly vanished on her like that, and I don't mean as just a friend."
Tenebris remained silent for a bit before sighing. "I... suppose your right. I... might not ask her in the near future, but... maybe after all of this is over."
Gerson leaned back, satisfied with his answer. "Take it from an old coot who's been around since the Human-Monster War. All too often, I see a young monster fall in love, only for that love to be snatched away, either by someone else or by a cruel twist of fate, and live on, never knowing if their love was returned in kind." He gives the shadow-eyed human a stern stare again. "Don't live permanently broken like that. I've seen what it does to monsters with otherwise bright futures."
Tenebris nodded, a small smile on his face. "Thank you, Gerson. I should be going now." With that, he left.
Gerson chuckles as he pulled out a pipe. "Human or not, don't live and suffer like this old fool once did..."
