Ending the Cycle
Chapter 5: Family Bonding
His mind was a mixture of muddled thoughts, information, and images that kept spinning around in an endless cycle. Since sharing knowledge with his younger brother, Gaster was having a hard time trying to collect himself. Although part of him was glad that he was able to reveal so much before this happened, while the other part of him was frustrated that this was happening at all. However, he would probably be a little worse off if not for the constant presence of Frisk trying to comfort him. Ever since his small coughing fit, the child had taken hold of his 'hand' and has since refused to let go; although it was only a few minutes ago so it was understandable.
Of course due to the skeleton's mental state, he didn't even realize that he had come upon the next consistency until he heard the loud voice of his youngest sibling. This caused him to snap out of the train wreck that was his thoughts and focused his gaze on his siblings a crossed the clearing. But he still was so out of it that Gaster didn't even pay attention as the two monsters talked to one another.
"OH-HO! THE HUMAN ARRIVES!" Of course it didn't take them terribly long to notice him but he still had a bit of trouble focusing on what was being said. "IN ORDER TO STOP YOU... AH... HUMAN...? ARE... ARE YOU OKAY? YOU SEEM A LITTLE..."
The inconsistency from the normal dialogue caused the former scientist to be able to focus a little better. And upon spotting the concern upon Papyrus' face, the monster in child form shoved the cacophony of confusion to the back of his mind. The last thing he wanted to do was to worry his brothers and now that he was paying more attention even Sans was looking at him with concern.
"I am fine." Finally came his response with a hesitant smile and a wave. "Just overwhelmed by your greatness." These were his first words spoken to his youngest sibling in such a long time and were certainly far from what he would like to say. But he had to stick to the plan... They had to get this right... "Please continue."
"AH HA! EVEN THE HUMAN RECOGNIZES GREATNESS WHEN THEY SEE IT!" Came the over joyous response which then led into the explanation of the puzzle itself, another consistency.
However now Gaster was able to pay better attention, the scrambled mess was still in his mind but it was more like background noise now. It would either go away in time or come back with a vengeance later on, he would deal with it then and there; not now.
Right now he had to focus on the puzzle itself and so he took a step forward when direct to proceed. And he certainly couldn't help but wince slightly when he heard the sound of Papyrus being zapped. This of course led to another short conversation between his younger brothers before the taller of the pair came over to him and asked him to hold the orb. Although Gaster had to take a step back to catch the item in question as it was tossed to him, rather than handed. But after that it was a simple matter of following the path that Papyrus had unintentionally made when he came to hand off the orb.
Immediately the tall monster became amazed by how easily he solved it, ignorant in the fact that he had shown Gaster the way. Then once again Papyrus was off while declaring that he would be unable to beat the next puzzle, which was Sans'.
"Papyrus seems like he is having fun." With the first words out of his mouth once he was standing beside his younger brother again. "Of course that sentence is a consistency that you normally say. I think..." The monster in human form glanced away slightly as he tried to recall but immediately stopped himself with a shake of the head or else the cacophony of confusion would return in full force. "It does not matter..."
"you're not okay." This was a statement not a question, which caused Gaster to smile nervously at his brother while shrugging slightly. "what's wrong?"
Opening his mouth, the older brother almost responded with the default answer of 'I'm fine' but stopped himself since he had opened up to Sans for situations like this. "I will be alright... There was just too much information sharing when last we spoke... And now my thoughts are... Rather scrambled. I was most likely thinking of too much information at one time. And that is making me a little... Disconnected." The concern upon Sans' face grew a bit more but he was quick to try and wave off the concern. "I will be fine, I assure you. I just need some time to allow my head to clear."
The other monster listened in silence then let out a slightly tired sounding sigh before turning and starting to walk. "follow me, kiddo."
That single word made the former scientist realize that they weren't exactly in a safe spot to discuss such things so openly. So with a small frown he followed after his younger brother and over to a... Nice cream cart? Observing Sans in mild confusion, he watched as the skeleton bought two nice creams then handed him one. With frozen treat in hand, his younger brother continued to lead him across a small bridge and to the far side of the clearing beyond it. Once there he took a seat at the base of one of the trees and leaned back against the trunk. "we can talk freely here."
Head tilting to the side in mild confusion, the older skeleton finally followed his brother's example and took a seat beside him. "So why the nice creams?"
"i figured this might help to cool down your raging thoughts." Commented Sans with a slightly wider grin before continuing. "tibia honest you had me pretty worried back there, especially when paps picked up that something was wrong."
The concern and the intent to help were greatly appreciated by Gaster as he idly stared at the nice cream in his hand. "Sorry to have worried you as such but I did warn you about this. Although I did not expect it to come up so soon..."
"like i said before g, you're not alone. you got me and the kid. so don't go off and try to hand-le everything by yourself. all right?" Despite the joke mixed in, he could easily hear the concern and the sincerity in the other monsters voice.
And as if to confirm his words, the skeleton felt Frisk gripped his 'hand' a little tighter and felt the sensation of the child leaning into him. In fact it was like they were both sitting on either side of him and that's when it finally hit Gaster that he was no longer alone. Logically, he knew he wasn't but it hadn't really clicked until now. At that very moment he was sitting there with one of his brothers and a rather sweet human child, no longer was he isolated in the void.
His grip on the stick of the nice cream tightened a bit as Gaster became a little overwhelmed by a new realization. And that realization was the fact that in a way he was living again, he was no longer alone or trapped. He could touch things and more than that he could interact with things, with others.
Glancing over to Sans, he found his brother watching him with slightly concerned eyes and then he abruptly remembered a question was asked. Unable to find his voice at the moment, Gaster responded by giving a weak smile and a nod.
This of course caused the younger skeleton to sigh, his eyes closing, but before anything could be said Sans felt the weight of the small body next to him lean into his side. The child's head was turned down, causing the hair to hide the eyes and part of the the nice cream was now in his mouth. "seriously bro, what's wrong?"
There was only a moments hesitation before the treat was removed so that his older brother could speak. "Just... Overwhelmed... It has just now really sunk in that I am no longer... Sans... I... Through all of this... I can interact with the world again... Interact with others... I can talk to you again... I suppose not again... Since I did not belong in this timeline initially... But... You understand... I am just... Glad... No... I am very happy to do something as simple as sit here and have a nice cream with my brother..." Towards the end Gaster's voice began to shake slightly as tears began to form in the corner of his, Frisk's, eyes.
"i'm happy too big g..." Came the answer in return with a slight sigh and a weak smile, although only those who truly knew him would be able to tell the difference. After that the pair fell silent and simply sat there enjoying one another's company while eating their frozen treats.
The simplicity of the moment helped to ease the former scientist's mental and emotional stress, and soon a genuine smile came to his face. And the brothers continued to sit there even after finishing their nice creams. So serene was the moment that Gaster began to doze off until something cold was dumped on his head.
With a slight yelp of surprise, the skeleton in child form hopped up onto his feet and began to frantically glance around. Then the sound of laughter from almost directly next to him brought his gaze to Sans who was leaning against the trunk heavily, one hand on his face while the other was wrapped around his stomach area. It took but a moment of silence blank staring before it clicked into Gaster's head exactly what had just happened... Sans had dumped a bunch of snow on his head.
Standing there for a moment more and staring at his sibling, who was still laughing heavily, a slight smirk lit up his face. Then he quickly and quietly gathered up a big bunch of snow while his brother was still preoccupied. Once the skeleton had what he felt was a sufficient amount, he walked over to his little brother who was still laughing with the snow held high. "Sans..." Gaster said in a drawnout and slightly mischievous manner and right when the other skeleton began to look his way, he dropped the snow on the other monster.
"ack!" Sounded his brother in obvious amusement while quickly picking himself up, grabbing a handful of snow as he went. And Sans wasted no time in throwing the quickly made snowball at the monster in child form, who was quick to duck behind one of the trees. This resulted in a snowball fight breaking out between the pair as well as teasing verbal challenges twisted into puns.
After a short bit, Sans decided to try and one up the older skeleton and used his magic to gather up enough snow to make a snowman or two. "heeeey broooo..." He called out and patiently waited until Gaster was out from behind cover fully, snowball in hand and ready to throw. However his older brother immediately paused upon seeing the mound of floating snow. "geeeet dunked on!"
And just like that the former scientist found himself nearly buried, but despite this he was still laughing as he pulled himself out of the mound. "Ice one Sans! But I am sure I could do better!" He was quick to joke as he picked himself up then raised a hand and try to call upon his magic...
Only for nothing to happen... This caused him to pause momentarily in confusion and try again. Nothing once more... Now a worried expression crossed Gaster's face as his gaze shifted to his hand, which he had turned palm up. Again, he tried to use magic... Any magic... Even something as simple as forming a small bone but again nothing...
"what's wrong big g?" Came the voice of his little brother from right in front of him. Upon seeing the change in demeanor, Sans was quick to realize something was wrong and immediately came over to check on him.
"I cannot..." Were the first words out of Gaster's mouth before he trailed off and his worried gaze shifted to the skeleton before him. "My magic... I cannot use it... This... This might complicate things..."
If Sans' could frown he would be right then, however his eyes did darken at the revelation of this news. There was a moment of silence between the two as both were thinking over the situation. Then the pinpricks of light that served as the younger skeleton's eyes returned as he released a heavy sigh. "the kid doesn't have magic... not the kind of magic we use, anyhow. and do you think you'll really need it?"
"I..." The monster in human form trailed off for a moment as he thought about the other timelines. Once again he felt a mental tug as this was one of Frisk's ways to get his attention, but he also felt an increase in determination from the child. It was as if they were determined to make this work even without his magic and that brought a slight smile to his face. That determination was one of the key factors needed to make this all work. And if Frisk was so determined... "No... It is not necessary to complete my plans, it was just extra reassurance that I thought I had. One of the main determining factors is Frisk's determination, which is currently the strongest that I have felt at this moment. I will manage without it." Gaster finally stated with a smile then couldn't help but shudder slightly.
Relief had crossed Sans' face momentarily before worry once again set in. "oh, come on big bro... what now?"
"I... I think I am experiencing the sensation of cold for the first time..." This was also confirmed by the child with a mental nod as they too shivered slightly. Instinctively wrapping his arms around himself, the scientist part of his brain chose to kick in at that moment. "This is fascinating. I was always curious what it felt like and I suppose I have been feeling it this entire time but I simply did not recognize it. How could I? Skeletons do not feel cold. However, the sensation is rather... Unpleasant..."
This brought a slightly suppressed chuckle from his younger brother with a hand to his face. "god bro... i thought we're gonna have to deal with another pressing situation of some sort."
Giving Sans an amused yet apologetic smile, Gaster couldn't help but say. "I apologize..."
"it's fine and easily dealt with." Came the dismissive answer as he began to remove his jacket. "here, you can use this in the meantime. just don't flake out on me and forget to return it." Lightly joked Sans as he held the coat out to Gaster with a wide genuine grin.
"Thank you Sans. I promised to return it once we get to Waterfall." Came the quick reassurance from his brother as the coat was taken and pulled on.
"whelp, water we waiting for? let's get going. don't want paps to get to bonely after all." These words of course brought great amusement to his older brother as they once again went their separate ways.
Of course it took practically no time at all for Gaster to be reunited with both his siblings not too long after. And this time his mind was perfectly clear as he greeted them with a wave and a smile. However his smile faltered slightly as he watched their conversation, another consistency. The skeleton couldn't wait to see an end to the repeat of events, to see time go forward instead of repeating or ceasing to be.
A slight mental tug was the only reminder the monster needed to quickly returned his focus to the present. So without hesitation he walked forward, only pausing briefly to glance down at the paper on the ground that was supposed to be a puzzle. While it WAS a puzzle, it was clearly not the kind of puzzle that Papyrus wanted his brother to set up. With a smile and an amused shake of his head, Gaster continued moving forward until he was standing right in front of them. This being one of the few times that he had been closest to his youngest brother in uncountable amount of time.
Slightly absentmindedly, he glanced up at the taller skeleton and calculated his youngest brother's height compared to his original height. And after a moment he came to the conclusion that Papyrus now stood slightly taller than him. How the passing of time could change so many things...
The monster in child form was quick to snap out of his thoughts as he was asked a question of which type of puzzle was harder. There was certainly no hesitation as Gaster claimed that jumble was by far the harder, which greatly pleased the youngest skeleton present. And just like that Papyrus was once again off to prepare the next challenge. Although this time no words were exchanged between him and Sans, there was no need to at the moment when a simple exchange of smiles told so much more.
And just like that the former scientist continued on his way, passing by Papyrus' 'spaghetti trap' along the way. However upon arriving in the next area Gaster ended up pausing as he tried to remember how to pass this part. But with a helpful nudge from Frisk the skeleton was quick to find the switch and continued on his way.
Only to be stopped by a pair of dog sentrys... But luck was on his side as the monster couple took one sniff of him and immediately smelt Sans due to the fact that he was wearing his younger brother's jacket. After that the dog monsters were quick to apologize and move on their way, without him having to say a word thankfully.
Solving the puzzle that came after was a simple matter and he was able to have his first briefing one-on-one encounter with his youngest sibling. And when the skeleton asked him about the 'spaghetti trap' Gaster was quick to tell him that he ate it, which of course made his brother really happy.
But instead of running off to the next puzzle like every other situation he could recall, the monster in human form found the other looking at him in slight confusion. "THAT COAT LOOKS ODDLY FAMILIAR... IF THE GREAT PAPYRUS MAY ASK, WHERE DID YOU GET IT?"
"Oh... Well..." Taking but a moment to consider what to say, he saw no reason not tell a partial truth. "It is Sans' coat, he is letting me borrow it because he saw I was cold earlier."
"WOWIE! THAT WAS CERTAINLY NICE OF HIM! SANS CAN BE SUCH A LAZYBONES BUT SOMETIMES HE DOES SOMETHING THAT MAKES ME REALLY PROUD!" Stated Papyrus in an over excited tone of voice, sounding sincerely happy of his older brother's actions. "AND THEN HE DOES THINGS THAT MAKE ME QUIESTION WHAT GOES ON IN THAT SKULL OF HIS... LIKE THAT SOCK COLLECTION HE HAS..."
The majority of this conversation was new to the former scientist, but he was sure he had heard something about a sock collection in one of the other timelines. And while Gaster also thought it was a strange thing to collect, he also knew that there was worse things one could collect. "As odd as it may seem, at least it shows he had an interest in something. Something his willing to dedicate time into, rather than doing nothing at all."
"THAT IS... ACTUALLY A GOOD POINT... I THE GREAT PAPYRUS..." He took a moment to pose dramatically with one hand on his hip and the other touching his chest. Then abruptly Papyrus' expression became slightly downcast as he continued. "AM ACTUALLY DISAPPOINTED THAT I DIDN'T COME TO THAT REALIZATION MYSELF... BUT NO MATTER! FOR YOU HAVE OPENED MY EYE SOCKETS HUMAN! AND I WILL NOT SOON FORGET YOUR WORDS OF WISDOM! COME! LET US BE OFF TO THE NEXT PUZZLE TOGETHER!"
With a smile and a nod, the skeleton in human form walked along beside his youngest brother and listened to him talk about the next puzzle with great enthusiasm. And once again he couldn't help but take great enjoyment in something so simple as listening to a loved one talk about something they enjoy.
It took no time at all to reach the next puzzle and even less time for Gaster to solve it. And of course once again, Papyrus was amazed by his puzzle solving skills and was off to prepare the next challenge. And standing casually on the other side of the blockade was his other brother.
"Papyrus asked about your coat." He commented offhandedly with a shrug once he reached Sans.
"oh yeah? what did you tell him?" Inquired the normally lazy skeleton, he was currently wearing a spare jacket that was a slightly different shade of blue and had a simple hood versus the fur lined one his coat normally had.
Once again shrugging casually, he put his hands into the pockets of his borrowed coat as he answered. "I told him that you saw I was cold and let me borrow it for the time being. I saw no reason to hide that fact. And he was actually rather proud of your course of action."
"that right? my little bro is cool like that." Came the immediate response from Sans as his endless grin widened a bit. "let's get going, kiddo. paps is really excited about the next one." This statement was accompanied by a slight nod of the head in the direction that their youngest brother had went.
With a nod and a smile, Gaster continued on to the next consistency and one he was actually slightly curious about. Upon arriving at the next puzzle, he stood there silently and listened well carefully observing the unlit panels in front of him. Then his gaze shifted to machine on the far side that was designed to activate this particular puzzle, interest clear on his face. After the explanation was given and he confirmed that he understood the instructions, the puzzle was activated and... Created one clear path for him to walk, which resulted in his youngest sibling walking away in silence disbelief.
After crossing the panels, he stopped to look back at the colored sections then glanced to the machine itself. "It was always curious how a device designed for random patterns would always come up with the same one... Is it fate perhaps? Or faulty machinery?" He couldn't help but question out loud without meaning to.
"perhaps both." Commented his remaining younger brother as the other monster moved to stand beside him, his gaze also on the machine. The pair stood there in silence for a bit until Sans once again lightly tapped his shoulder while speaking. "whelp, i'm gonna head off. see you later kid." And with those parting words the other skeleton was off to meet him somewhere up ahead.
And once again Gaster was left alone with only Frisk to keep him company. Speaking of which, the child had been rather still through most of this; even if he could feel the other's emotions through the link they shared. 'Are you well Frisk?' He inquired of the human as he moved on to the next puzzle which involved sliding a crossed ice.
Feeling the obvious hesitation from the child, the former scientist walked over to the edge of the ice and glanced over the pattern as he patiently waited for a response from Frisk. Finally he felt a slight mental nod from the young human which was accompanied by something he thought he would never hear. 'I didn't want to bother you when you're spending time with your family...'
Those words were said in such a soft tone of voice that Gaster briefly wondered if he actually heard them. Turning his focus away from the puzzle, a soft smile appeared on the skeleton's face as he pulled Frisk into a mental hug and spoke with a gentle voice. 'That is sweet of you and while I appreciate it... But I do not want you to feel awkward or left out. We are in this together after all. Besides, my mind is like an open book to you, so privacy is the least of my concerns.'
'Okay...' Came the soft-spoken voice of the child once again and he was just glad to hear Frisk speaking to him at all. 'That snowball fight between you and Sans was really funny to watch.' These words were followed by a soft giggle and even the monster couldn't help but smile a bit wider.
'It was qui-' The skeleton had started to reply as he began to slide along the edge of the ice. However, his sentence was quickly cut off as he reached a hand up to cover his mouth as he began to cough. This unfortunately caused him to lose his balance which ended up with him tumbling down a hill and thankfully onto a soft pile of snow. Unfortunately he didn't stop coughing and he now had his other hand to his chest out of reflex to the pain he felt there. Gaster even had trouble focusing his thoughts and didn't even hear Frisk calling for him.
And then... His world faded to black.
That's another chapter done and sorry for the cliffhanger, it just felt like the right spot to stop at. I'll get the next chapter going and up as soon as possible but my updates might slow down a bit due to some changes in my daily schedule. That and I am steadily trying to make the chapters a little longer...
On another note, I like some of the AU name suggestions I've seen. In particular I like Cycletale which was recommended by a guest(sorry, would say your login name if you had one...), as well as Ghostertale suggested by Kira Akuma. However I might go with Cycletale considering the future plans I have in mind.
Anyway, yes I decided to go with a Gaster that appreciates puns because I find the thought amusing that maybe Sans picked up his love for puns from his brother. As well as how frustrated Papyrus probably gets when they would both make puns just to tease him a little. However, I also see Papyrus' love for puzzles as coming from Gaster in much the same way; whether he remembers it or not and despite the different timelines.
And one last thing before I wrap this up, I am surprised by the number of people who have viewed my story within the past nine days or so. And in case anyone is curious, 549 is the number of views this story has had thus far at this point. It's probably partly due to my frequent updates but seeing so many people coming to read my story is always so inspiring to me. And of course the reviews only helped to solidified that feeling and increase my desire to provide more. And I have a lot in mind for this story and be very aware that dramatic changes compared to how the game runs will come. Despite Gaster's best attempts from straying from the pacifist timelines he has seen.
However that's all the spoiler you guys are going to get. Until next time. R&R.