Disclaimer: Undertale doesn't belong to me. If it did there would be more spooktunes.

-Chapter 10: Eyes on me-

Quietly I set down the book on monster burials in front of me. I had kinda wondered what they did with the dust since dead monsters left that instead of a body. Turns out it was that they gathered it up, and sprinkled it on an object of great significance to them. The idea being that their essence, or something to that effect could continue on in some form through it.

An interesting prospect. I actually rather liked the idea of the practice in a way. I had to wonder a bit if it was one of the things that inspired cremation. There were some similarities, though with humans usually the ashes were brought to a favorite place rather than a favorite object.

Made me wonder... what other things had bled over culturally that we still assumed were human ideas? What caused such a significant paradigm shift that lead two otherwise happily coexisting societies to go to war? What was the genesis of humanity's desire to wage war on monsters?

There had to be some inciting incident, or some individual with incendiary rhetoric. I couldn't find anything in that regard though. Not here at least. Perhaps in the capital archives. Now well enough to move on my own a little, I rose from the bed.

The cracks of white had eventually settled into a small white ball at the center of my soul, pulsing and glowing softly, almost like a second heart. It seemed so benign and nonthreatening now. Looking at it... for some reason filled me with a flutter of hope. I didn't quite understand why though.

Growing tired of the surroundings that had colored my last few days, I managed to slowly make my way to the door and enter the house proper. The stress from recent events left my fingers aching to do something. Dance across some ivory keys. Playing the piano was always a good release for me. I doubted I'd find one outside of the capital though.

I never really got to play much, but I always enjoyed it. It just felt right. The main room of the house was refreshingly normal. The door opened to a landing with a second one further down along it, presumably Sans's room. A flat screen TV sat on a table flush against the landing wall, a comfy looking green couch across from it. The maroon walls were not exactly my taste, but they worked.

An end table sat near the couch, a rather hefty looking book resting on it. Against one of the walls was a decent sized dining table as well. An open doorway down below led into what I presumed was the kitchen. The sound of cookery clanking meant Papyrus was likely at work concocting something hopefully edible.

The sound of a particularly soulful trombone resonated from the far room. Making my way to the door, I took some time to listen. After a time, I knocked on the door. The trumpeting cut out and a moment later the door cracked open, Sans's eye socket peeking through the crack.

"Uh, hey. S'up Chara. Back on your feet I see. Feeling better?" I nodded softly as he stepped out. I only got a brief glimpse into his room before he shut the door. Not enough to see anything besides a treadmill that seemed pretty unused. "Didn't know you played the trombone. You're pretty great."

Sans shrugged. "What can I say? It's good for blowing off steam. And it's nice to get out and play for people sometimes. I personally prefer a bit of stand-up, but some people really dig the tunes when I'm performing at the MTT resort."

"MTT resort. That's near the Capital isn't it? For someone who seems to revel in being lazy, you really seem to get around." Sans gave a knowing wink. "I know a shortcut or two." I sighed a bit to myself. "Well then why don't you just take me right to the capital so we can sort this out right now."

Sans's smile wavered a bit. "Well... I'd love to but...My shortcuts don't exactly work with humans. Even if they're weird magic casting ones." I took a bit of offense to being called weird, but didn't speak out to correct him. In any case he seemed to be telling the truth.

"Fair enough." I leaned against the wall near his room's door. "Say... what's the deal with the human capturing by the royal guard and you only sending people you trusted to keep an eye on me while you did your sleuthing?" Sans looked around as if to make sure we were alone before he spoke.

"The situation's a bit... complicated at the moment, kid. Y'see... Apparently after a certain incident the king, Asgore, declared that all humans that fall down here are to be captured and have their souls taken. Word is if we have 7 of 'em we can take down the barrier. S'not so bad down here but a lot of us don't even remember what the sun looks like, or real weather even."

Sans closed his eyes, leaning next to me, trombone hanging loosely in one hand. "Me? I'd like to feel the rain on my bones. Real rain, not the kind in Waterfall. I remember Pops talking about it. Barely, but I do. Word is we've already got 6 of the 7. It'd only take one more to achieve freedom." Sans opened one eye, casting a sidelong glance my way.

"You understand what that means for you and Frisk though, I'm sure." I paled slightly as I started to piece together the picture. Me and Frisk, we were big name targets. " Hey, relax. Just laying a bit of knowledge on you so you can do your 'knight' thing for the kid better."

"You're taking a bit of a risk here, looking out for us Sans." I wasn't sure what to make of him now. "I won't lie kid. I've been busting my coccyx to keep you two from popping up on the captain's radar. It's just... I don't think I can buy into what they're selling, y'know? This all seems like too much of a coincidence."

He gestured forward, as if towards some unseen horizon. "Two humans fall down when we only need a single soul left. Captain Undyne's been on edge more than usual as well. Starting to think something's not quite right with that decree as well... Then this whole business with demons hunting you. It's a big hot mess, Chara." I felt myself just a touch relieved. He was still on our side it seemed.

"Yeah, turns out you weren't pulling my tibia. That panned out. We've got reports of them appearing in all kinds of places in the underground. Thankfully no one's been hurt badly yet... all we can do is wait for now, though. Strange how intent they seem on killing you specifically." I stared down at my feet. "But... why me?"

I bit my lip, feeling my eyes well up slightly as I slid down into sitting against the wall. "I just wanted to live a quiet life in the ruins with mom. It's been a long time since I was that happy." Sans glanced over to me with a sympathetic look. "Call it a hunch, but it feels to me like someone really doesn't want you to have a good time. I don't exactly like seeing kids have to suffer, so I decided to watch over you two. Call it my big brother instinct."

Sans shifted his head side to side thoughtfully. "Well... there's a bit more to it than that... but that's a conversation for another day." He gestured for me to follow him. "C'mon. I know what'll help lift that spirit of yours. Let's get a bite at Grillby's. Probably sick of being cooped up in this place anyways. I know I would be."

Actually feeling pretty hungry, I tossed my hoodie on and followed after him, with his help when I felt I was about to give out. Snowdin really did strike me as a warm and inviting place, in spite of the cold weather. Grillby's was no exception. It was a nice brick building with a sign out front prominently displaying it's name.

Sans was a bit of a gentleman and held the door for me. A rather surprising assortment of different monsters were enjoying themselves today here it seemed. It felt less cantina and more the sort of place where everyone knows your name... and if you get that reference, clap yourself on the back, you're old.

A few booths lined a wall, and there were a few tables with stools scattered about. The room was lit by what seemed to be wall mounted hurricane lamps, creating an interesting bar counter proper sat at the back wall. An ancient looking jukebox sat under a stylized neon sign with the bar's name on it in the corner near the counter.

The hooded dog monster couple which Frisk had distracted with a stick sat at one of the tables, playing poker with greater dog, and Doggo from the looks of it. I ended up learning their names were Dogamy and Dogaressa. I could appreciate this amusing little bit of happenstance that was a bunch of dogs playing poker.

A different particularly fluffy dog monster sat at their own table playing poker with themselves. However that was supposed to work. Judging by their armor, they were probably with the guard as well. An absolutely blasted looking bunny monster was resting their head on one of the booth tables.

Behind the counter itself stood one heck of an imposing figure of a monster. Dressed in particularly impeccable style, the bartender looked to be some manner of fire monster. Like, literally a man made of fire. They cut a really striking form. Safe money was that that was Grillby. There were about half a dozen other monsters there, but by this point I was a bit too hungry to pay much mind.

"Hey, everyone." Sans called out with a slight wave. "Hi, Sans!" everyone called back in their own little way. Must have been part of the routine. The both of us sat down at the bar counter. "Well. Here we are. What'll your poison be?" Sans grinned. Not that that was different from his usual expression.

I settled into my stool, a rather lovely red feathered bird monster woman picking at some fries next to me. Fries sounded good. I figured I'd get a drink as well. I was old enough to get away with a beer. A familiar loud wet noise rang out as I sat down. Oh god Sans, why.

His eyes lit up a bit, his grin widening at his own little prank. "Whoops. Might wanna watch where you're sitting. Sometimes weirdos put whoopee cushions down on the bar stools. Anyways, let's order. Whaddya want?"

"I think I'll take a large helping of fries, and a beer if that's alright. I'll go with whichever you think I'd like." Grillby nodded to himself slightly."I'll have a burg and a bottle of hot sauce myself Grillbz." A few eyes turned Sans's way in surprise. Even the impassive Grillby raised a fiery eyebrow.

"Grillby's wondering what's up with that, Sans. Not feeling like ketchup today?" The red feathered bird monster said. "Eh. Special occasion, and I feel I need something a bit more stiff." It didn't take long for food to be served. A local beer was placed in front of me with my fries, and Sans had a burger with a bottle of hot sauce next to his.

I took a drink of my beer and he took a swig of his hot sauce, straight from the bottle. He winced a bit before turning to me. "So uh... what do you think of my bro?" My brain froze up for a sec with the myriad ways I could reply to that question. Truth told, the last day or so I'd started crushing on him pretty hard and my feelings about him had become something of a messy emotional gnarl. "He's pretty cool." was what I settled on. Smooth, Chara. Smooth.

Sans eyed his burger as if deciding if he actually did want it or not. "Of course he's cool. You'd be cool too if you wore that outfit every day. He'd only take that thing off if he absolutely had to. " I munched on a couple fries, expertly seasoned. Totally stealing the recipe later. "Huh. That's pretty dedicated."

Sans shrugged, finally biting into his burger and chasing it with more hot sauce. "Well, at least he washes it... and by that I mean he wears it in the shower." He stared thoughtfully at his burger some more before sliding it my way. "Here. You can have mine. Not feeling real hungry today."

"Uh... thanks I guess, Sans?" He waved my thanks away. "Eh, forgeddaboudit Chara. What's a few burgs between friends? Anyways..." He leaned back in his stool some. "Cool or not, you gotta agree my bro really tries hard. Like how he keeps trying to be part of the royal guard."

I couldn't disagree with that. Sans chuckles to himself a bit. "Funny story, that. One day he went to the house of the head of the royal guard. Begged her to let him be in it. Of course, she shut the door on him because it was midnight."

He leaned over closer to me, his eyes twinkling a bit with mirth. "Here's the kicker. The next day she woke up to find him still waiting there. Seeing how dedicated he was, she decided to give him a shot and train him. That's... uh... still a work in progress."

Holding up a fry, I eyed it curiously, finally remembering a question I was going to ask. "Say... Never really thought about it too much but, how do you guys get the stuff to make this food down here? Stuff like meat and vegetables. How do you GROW that kind of stuff down here?"

Sans's eyes lit up again, a mirthful twinkle to them once more. "Y'know. Not many people actually ask that. Getting started was the tricky part. We had to rely on easy to grow stuff like potatoes for a very long time before. What little we took with us when we got exiled down here. Some forward thinking monsters managed to bring their livestock with them as well. A lot of that ended up going feral and well... the rest is history." Sans shrugged, leaving that in a matter of fact manner.

"As for how we got our agriculture going as good as it is now? There's a place in Waterfall where a lot of human junk ends up washing down. Every now and then you'll find plant seeds in the mix among other cool stuff. We figured out a way to make lamps that help the plants grow as well using the stuff we salvaged. It was egg heads like us that got things reasonably livable again."

A bit more knowledge about places outside of the Ruins and Snowdin. Good to know. "Most folks just call it the garbage dump of course. Might as well call it like it is. Can't deny that some of our greatest advancements were the result of stuff pulled from there though. Man, it's nice to get to talk to someone about this sort of stuff for once and not be completely losing them."

Sans set the bottle of hot sauce aside before continuing. "The dump's been around as long as anyone can remember. I think it was actually here before we were even sealed, thinking about it..." Wait a minute... "Before we were sealed? But that's like... several thousand years ago. The surface would still have been in the middle ages by then. And you said that there was stuff in there that caused great technological advances?"

Sans gave me a confused look, thinking on what I'd said. "Y'know kid... I never really thought about that. Weird." Weird indeed Sans. Weird indeed. " Yeah. From the sound of it, that stuff's not coming from the surface at all then." Sans stared at the counter, in thought. "Well... if that stuff isn't coming from the surface... then where is it coming from?"

I just shrugged in reply. "Another mystery to the list of things to solve, I guess. Something I'll be happy to help you solve once our current mess is sorted out." By now I was about half-done with my meal. Sans suddenly snapped his fingers. "Ah. There was something I was meaning to ask you..."

A sudden shift in the atmosphere in the place. It felt almost like it was just me and Sans now, in this moment. "So tell me, Chara. You ever heard of a talking flower?" I hesitated a moment. Was he talking about Flowey? "Well... Yeah I suppose." He gave the bottle a light shake before downing some more.

"Yeah. Echo flowers. They're about as common in the Waterfall marshes and such as wild boar are in Snowdin's woods. Everyone knows about 'em. You say something to them, and they'll repeat it over and over if you touch them... " Sans narrowed his eyes.

"But that's not the kind of flower you were talking about, were you. Papyrus once told me about a flower that would speak to him. Would appear when no one else was around. Whisper stuff to him. Flattery, advice, encouragement... predictions. Thought it was just someone using echo flowers to trick him at first... but now I'm not so sure. You'd tell me if you knew something about that, right?"

How much did Sans really know? Sans finished the rest of his hot sauce. "Well. Not that it matters too much now. A few weeks ago the flower stopped showing. Not too long before those demons of yours started popping up. Said it before, but something's real rotten about all this, so keep your eyes sharp and your ear to the ground." I nodded. "Yeah. That's the plan."

Sans nodded softly at that as I finished the last of my meal. "Good to hear. Oh... and watch out for my little friend there. Because if you don't..." Sans's sockets went dark again. A chill ran down my spine. "You're gonna have a bad time." And just like that he was back to normal. "Ah, I'm just messin' with ya. I know you wouldn't let anything happen to the kid if you could help it."

Hopping down from his stool, Sans looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. That feeling of things being just between me and Sans dissipated as abruptly as it came. "Y'know. My breaks almost up... but we got a little bit more time left. How about we have some fun, huh?" I raised an eyebrow. What could Sans be up to now? "Alright, I guess? What you have in mind?"

Sans grinned like the Cheshire Cat. "Well... you got a thing called Karaoke on the surface?" Oh god no, Sans. What were you doing. "Well yeah. Why?" Sans winked. "Well then you know what to do. Now pick a good one and have fun." Oh joy. Now everyone was looking at me expectantly.

Taking a breath, I made my way to the jukebox. Best not to disappoint them, I suppose. Perusing the selection I settled on a song after a long moment. Closing my eyes and taking a breath to calm my nerves, I set things in motion. "Whenever I sang my songs on the stage, on my own..."

I relaxed and let the music take me away. "Whenever I said my words, wishing they would be heard... I saw you smiling at me. Was it real or just my fantasy? You'd always be there in the corner of this tiny little bar. My last night here for you. Same old songs, just once more. My last night here with you? Maybe yes, maybe no."

A hush fell over the bar. "I kind of liked it your way. How you shyly placed your eyes on me. Did you ever know that I had mine on you?" It felt good to sing, something I hadn't done in ages. "Darling, so there you are. With that look on your face. As if you're never hurt. As if you're never down. Shall I be the one for you, who pinches you softly but sure? If you frown then I will know that you are no dreamer."

Truth told, I could probably have put down the entire song's lyrics here, but that wouldn't be terribly interesting I imagine. By the time the song had ended it was like I had fallen into a trance, pouring my emotion into my singing. As the last few notes petered off, there was a long silence as everyone stared my way, mouths agape. Well, if they had mouths at least.

I felt a hot flush come over my face from all the attention. I expected any moment some manner of stereotypical uproarious applause or such to suddenly break out, but mercifully it did not. Instead everyone started to intensely discuss the performance with each other.

Sans seemed rather impressed himself. "Well. That was one heck of a passionate performance." He gave me a firm pat on the back as we made our way out of Grillby's and back to his house. "So. Who was it for?" I nearly choked on my tongue right there. "E-excuse me?" That damn knowing smile of his again... "Usually a performance that passionate is meant for someone special. Won't pry if you don't want me too."

"R-right. Let's just get back... I think I wanna lay down..." Sans shrugged. "Whatever you say, Chara. Just a bit of advice. Don't get so wrapped up in obsessing over someone that you get emotionally destroyed if it doesn't work out. You're still young and there'll be plenty of time for things to work out." I nodded quietly, taking in Sans's advice.

Stepping inside to the warmth of the house, I sat down on the couch. Sans just closed the door and wandered off, maybe back to work maybe not. With a moment to myself, I called up mom. Ring ring. "Hello, my child. How goes your journey so far?" It was good hearing her voice. "Well... that's a bit complicated. We've had a bit of a delay. I was actually calling for some advice."

A thoughtful hum came through the phone. "Advice? Well, I am always willing to give you my insight, my child, if you should need it." I cast a glance toward the kitchen, where Papyrus was rummaging through the fridge rather intently. "Well... I might have developed a crush on someone. What do you think I should do about it?"

A soft mirthful laugh from Toriel. "I remember what that was like in my younger days." I sprawled out on the couch as she continued. "I believe that the best course of action would be to make your intent clear when you find the opportunity. If they're really a friend, the worst they can do is say no."

"Alright, well... I'll keep that in mind I guess. Thanks mom. How's things in the Ruins?" I could just make out the soft crackling of the fireplace back home as she more than likely moved into the living room to sit down. "Quiet as ever my child, though I did hear word from a few monsters that you saved their lives."

Huh. Well news did travel fast in the Ruins so I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. "Chara, my beloved daughter... I just want you to know this. No matter what your decision is from here on, I am extremely proud of you." Don't cry... don't cry. You're not a kid anymore, Chara... What strange twist of fortune lead me to deserve someone as kind and patient as her in my life?

"Alright... Hey, do you wanna talk with Frisk? I can see about lending them the phone for a bit while I get some rest. I'm still a little under the weather, but we should be able to hit the road again soon." I really was starting to feel a bit tired... "Oh, that sounds like a wonderful idea. If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you my child?"

I smiled a bit to myself as I got up. "Yeah. No problem." Making my way to the kitchen, I found it to be a bit of a disaster area, with smashed tomatoes and other such ingredients all strewn about the place. It seemed Frisk was trying to instruct Papyrus on better prepping pasta... with limited success. "Heya, Frisk. Mom's on the phone. Think you can pull yourself away for a minute?"

The kid wasted no time giving a thumbs up to me and motioning for Papyrus to stay put, said skeleton seeming eager to get back at it. "Alright. Here you go. If you need me I'll be taking a nap. Make sure not to lose that phone, alright?" They gave a determined nod. "Hahaha. Alright. Thanks for being patient with me 'scholar'."

I ruffled their hair a bit before heading back to bed. I now had a lot to reflect on again, and time to reflect on it. Resolving myself, I decided that tomorrow I would talk with Papyrus about how I felt. I would endeavor to finish my recovery as well. Now was not the time to be mired in pessimism... and besides, I was too damn determined to be pessimistic right now. For now though, I was too tired to think anymore today.

MsYakumo: This chapter took faaaar longer for me to write than I would have liked. Between it being longer than I anticipated, life events popping up, Halloween, and the election i've been busy busy. Take this as a pretty clear sign I'm not dead though and intend to see this story through.