You know how I said that I wasn't going to make updates regular? Pretend that's still in effect, because I've honestly been on a roll, which I've thrown myself whole-heartedly into. I don't know how much longer it's going to last, though...
Review answering!
Guest: I'm sorry that I ended up not answering your question in the last chapter. Chapter four will answer it, I promise. Also, thanks!
Guest: I'm glad you like the story so far! This story is following the cannon genders for each character, which is to say...the human is non-binary! They're genderless, and therefore use 'they' instead of 'he' or 'she'. If I accidentally use a male or female pronoun for them, feel free to point out my mistakes! :)
Thank you also to Moonlight's Mist, crazy dragon ninja, AlloraStar217, Maxiforce, D14M0NDHUNT3R, Guest, and bLuewErewOlf25 for reviewing!
Also, the chapter title has several meanings (to my messed up mind) for this chapter, so...here it is.
Also, I still don't own Harry Potter and Undertale.
Papyrus was troubled.
Mistral had raced up to his bedroom a little over two hours ago and hadn't come down since. A plate of spaghetti that he had brought up to his brother's room earlier sat untouched outside the door, the heat having been leeched out by the surrounding air shortly after.
He might have been naïve and energetic, but he wasn't an idiot. He could see how terrified Mistral had originally been by the human, how worried he had been for the safety of his brothers. The youngest skeleton's eye sockets were always dim with fear when his eye lights passed over the human.
It wouldn't do for the Great Papyrus's brother to be afraid of one of his friends, now would it?
"HUMAN?" Papyrus asked.
The human looked up from the TV, which had Mettaton wheeling across the screen, making a quiche. *You ask Papyrus what he needs.
A grin spreading across his face, Papyrus got up from his spot on the couch. "WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO COME WITH ME UPSTAIRS FOR A MOMENT?"
Nod. The human got to their feet and brought their plate over to the half-cleaned table. They set it down and nodded once more to Papyrus.
Papyrus and the human quietly went upstairs so as to not disturb Sans, who had passed out on the couch. Once they had gotten outside of the center one of the three bedroom doors, Papyrus knocked on it. "MISTRAL? YOU ARE STILL IN THERE, YES?"
The doorknob began glowing green in response.
"MISTRAL, USING YOUR MAGIC IN SUCH A WAY IS BOTH LAZY AND UNCALLED FOR! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ONLY WISH TO SPEAK TO YOU ALONE!"
Slowly, the light surrounding the doorknob died down, leaving behind its usual brass. The knob promptly turned blue, turned itself, and was pulled back enough to open the door a crack.
Papyrus took it as an invitation to enter, pushing the door the rest of the way open. The room's curtains were drawn, and the light was off, leaving the only light in the room to be streaming in from the doorway. The second he was inside the door, he pulled the human in. "ALSO, THE HUMAN IS HERE!"
The door glowed blue for a moment as it slammed shut.
"NOW MISTRAL, DO NOT BE LIKE THAT! I, AS THE GREATEST BROTHER, ALWAYS KNOW WHEN SOMETHING IS BOTHERING YOU. AS SUCH, I BELIEVE THAT YOU AND THE HUMAN NEED TO 'HANG OUT', AND GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER BETTER! ONCE YOU GET TO KNOW THE HUMAN, THEY WILL NOT BE AS SCARY TO YOU!" As he monologued, Papyrus inched towards the left side of the door and began feeling the wall. With a whoop of victory, he flipped the light switch, allowing the room to become visible.
A neatly made bed at in the corner of the room with a spotless desk next to it. Two bookshelves were organized alphabetically by each one's author's last name. Any dirty laundry that could be found in the room was in a cloths hamper by a closed closet door.
Papyrus's grin dropped for a moment before he walked up to the closet and opened it. Inside hung several striped shirts. On the floor sat a small skeleton that was doing his best to curl into an invisible ball. Papyrus slowly reached out, only for Mistral to flinch and throw his hands up to defend himself.
The human's eyes widened. Seeing Mistral like this reminded them of someone they knew…and long thought dead. Forgoing the use of the text box, they held up their hands and signed, Free? Both skeletons heard the human's not-voice echo in their skulls, automatically translating for them.
Mistral seized up for a moment as a long-forgotten memory hit him.
Little four-year-old Mistral, still with his skin and flesh, was running again. He bolted around the park's swing sets as he heard his cousin yell for him to get back. Mistral looked over his shoulder to see the pig with a blonde wig that was his cousin…Diddykins?
The split second that he looked back turned out to be too much, because when he looked forward again, he crashed into another kid. Immediately, he helped the kid to their feet. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to run into you. Are you okay?"
The kid hesitated for a moment before nodding. With both their hands, they began signing, I'm fine. What were you running from?
Mistral heard the motions translate themselves in his head. Before he could reply, though, Diddykins shrieked, "Get over here so I can hit you, Freak!"
Diddykins ran at the two children, but the kid stepped in between Diddykins and Mistral. Leave him alone.
"I'm sorry, I don't know how to speak freak," Diddykins spat before trying to shove passed the kid. Operative word: tried.
The kid stood their ground, easily staying holding his own against the overweight bully. Go away.
Diddykins scowled at Mistral for a moment before stalking away.
Mistral decided to speak up once he was certain Diddykins was gone. "Thanks for that. My name's Freak."
My name is –
"frisk?" Mistral asked, stunned. "i-is it really you?"
Frisk grinned. Your aunt said your cousin was an angel, but you thought he was a pig with a wig.
Papyrus loudly cleared his throat and began inching out of the room. "I WILL GET YOU A FRESH PLATE OF SPAGHETTI, WHILE YOU AND THE HUMAN SPEAK, MISTRAL!" Before either of them could object, Papyrus had bolted out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
The pupils returned dimly to Mistral's eye sockets as tears began streaming from them. "w-why'd you k-k-kill everyone?"
Frisk bowed their head. I was so scared…I killed a froggit while I was in the ruins. Once I killed them, I lost control. I'm so, so sorry, Free. If I had fought back harder…
Mistral uncurled from the ball of bones he had formed. He slowly got to his feet and looked Frisk in the eye. "if you didn't have control, how did you reset?"
When Sans was talking to me, he helped me realize just how far gone I was. When I knew what was going on, I managed to break free enough to die and reset completely. I'm so sorry, Fr-
"m'name's mistral, now. it's been more of a name than 'free' ever was, frisk," Mistral said, slurring more than usual. "n'it's gonna take a while for you to earn m'trust again."
Frisk nodded slowly. I understand.
"besides…" Mistral said, a grin on his face, "at least i know m'best friend isn't dead, right?"
Eventually, Papyrus had come back into Mistral's room to see the two talking as if Mistral hadn't been petrified at the thought of the human earlier. Naturally, he took credit for the accomplishment and proclaimed that Frisk would be staying the night. When morning came, Mistral decided to give Frisk a tour of Snowdin 'from a native's perspective'.
Frisk was surprised when Mistral led him down to the ledge with the different snow sculptures on it, asking if they wanted to make one. They smiled warmly before nodding.
"well, first things first, we've gotta know what we're building!" Mistral said excitedly, practically bouncing with joy.
…Do you wanna build a snowman? Frisk signed, giggling slight.
Mistral stared at him, confused. "what's so funny about building a snowman? just because you haven't met one doesn't mean they're something to laugh about. an army of snow people can easily overwhelm a snow fortress!"
Frisk laughed even harder, signing, I'll show you once we get back to the surface.
The skeleton stiffened, unconsciously pulling up his cloak's hood. "frisk…do you really want to go back up there? after everything the humans put us through?"
They nodded firmly.
"w-why?"
Frisk gave Mistral a determined glare. Because all the Monsters deserve to live on the surface, too.
Mistral didn't reply, instead turning to look at the snow sculptures that had been made.
The human tapped his shoulder, causing him to turn enough to see them sign, Sans and Papyrus deserve to live on the surface.
Mistral flinched back as if struck. The two of them stood in silence for a few moments before Mistral finally spoke. "do you know who made which sculpture?" he asked softly.
Papyrus made the Snow Papyrus, Sans made the lump, and you made the heart?
The skeleton chuckled humorlessly. "close. i made the soul. my soul. it's not the right color, but i wanted to have it be something special. you remember how it was broken…last time around?
Nod.
He reached out and placed a hand on the upside-down heart. His phalanges and metacarpals stood out in stark contrast to the red-dyed snow. "i was just so…angry when i saw you dusting my friends. heh…it was kind of ironic, really. or would it be symbolic? i broke my snow soul, then i broke my real soul. you were the one fighting me, but my rage, my determination to make you suffer, is what killed me in the end. not you."
Frisk remained silent. They honestly didn't know how to respond. Sure, they hadn't known how to react properly during the first few resets, but that had been so long ago. They knew that if they did something wrong, Mistral would remember it, and there no amount of resets would change that.
"…to be honest, i don't even know how to formally fight."
The human's eyes widened. So that's why you never gave me my turn!
Mistral pulled his hood a little lower. "heh, guilty as charged. monsters aren't taught how to fight until after they turn 13. if i had talked to sans earlier before we fought, he probably would've stopped me."
Why thirteen?
He shrugged. "sans and papyrus won't tell me. something about it being a secret until after it happens. none of the younger monsters know, really."
Frisk frowned, snapping their fingers to get Mistral's full attention. Once the skeleton had turned his head so fast, Frisk was sure he would have gotten whiplash, they signed, Aren't you human, too?
"…yeah," Mistral grudgingly confirmed. "it doesn't mean i have to lump myself with them. no offense, but humans are terrible creatures."
None taken.
Both human and Monster ceased talking, merely standing silently in the snow. Finally, Frisk asked, Do you still want to make that snowman?
Mistral cracked a grin. "sure, frisk."
"hey, frisk! th-this is my friend snowdrake!" Mistral announced as he led the human up to said Monster.
Snowdrake, who had been speaking to Chilldrake, turned to face the skeleton. The second his eyes landed on Frisk, a smile somehow worked its way across his beak. "Hey, I know you! You're the person that was laughing at my jokes yesterday! Man, it's great to see you again!"
Frisk grinned back. The text box appeared above their head. *You ask to hear a joke.
The Monster's face lit up as he began stuttering through puns, Frisk's silent laughter encouraging him more and more.
Mistral took a few steps back and watched Frisk closely. He wanted to trust them, he really did, but…at the same time, he would be trusting someone who had gladly murdered him and Papyrus before. He just needed a little more proof before deciding…
What are these, anyway? I saw them earlier, but…
"it's a snow poff!"
But is it an insight into modern life? A metaphor for human ignorance? A hidden flag for equality?
"…it's just a pile of snow. you're reading too deeply into it."
"when did all these snow dogs get here? what the hell is wrong with them?"
I was petting Lesser Dog, and –
"ah. say no more."
Why does Sans have so much ketchup and mustard here?
"oh, this is his sentry station. he runs a hot dog stand out of it, but no one ever buys anything. why would someone come all the way out here for a hot dog when they could just go to grillby's for a burger?"
Grillby's? That restaurant in Snowdin?
"…i'm done with this conversation."
The next morning, Frisk was sad to leave the home of the skeleton brothers, but they knew that they had to keep going. All the Monsters had been through too much…they deserved to see the surface. Papyrus was reluctant to see them go, but he understood. Mistral had merely nodded his acceptance before racing back up to his room. Sans…Sans shrugged before promptly falling asleep on the couch, much to the annoyance of Papyrus.
They were terrified when they had first entered Waterfall and heard Papyrus speaking with a knight that they assumed was Undyne. When they had moved, they could feel Undyne's eyes upon them, almost daring them to move. No matter how many times they did that, they were always scared by that.
Frisk had just gotten to Sans's Waterfall station when they saw that both Sans and Mistral were there. Sans was leaning against the inside of his station, hi eye sockets closed. Mistral had somehow gotten onto the roof of the sentry station and appeared to be taking a nap as well. When they approached, though, only Sans opened his sockets. He grinned at the confused expression on Frisk's face. "what? haven't you seen a guy with two jobs before?"
The human raised an eyebrow. Really?
"fortunately," Sans continued, "two jobs means twice as many legally-required breaks. i'm going to grillby's. wanna come?"
What about Mistral? Frisk asked, pointing up at the slumbering skeleton. As if he could hear (or rather see) himself being mentioned, the quiet snoring that was coming from him stuttered slightly before continuing on.
"he'll be fine. he slept through paps yelling and tryin' to shake him awake, once."
Hesitantly, Frisk nodded.
"well, if you insist…i'll pry myself away from my work…" Sans walked out of his station before walking towards the exact opposite direction of Snowdin. "over here," he said. "i know a shortcut."
Frisk followed him. They blinked momentarily, and when they opened their eyes –
– they were inside the warm interior of Grillby's. The music that always seemed to play when Sans was around sounded echoed through the building. Sans's permanent grin seemed to have grown a bit wider. "fast shortcut, huh?" Seeing everyone looking at him, he added, "hey, everyone."
"Hey, Sans."
"Hi, Sans."
"Greetings, Sans."
"Hiya, Sansy~!"
A fish-like monster that was sitting at the bar frowned. "Hey Sans, weren't you just here for breakfast a few minutes ago?"
"nah, i haven't had breakfast in at least half an hour. you must be thinking of brunch."
The music stopped completely as a rimshot played and everyone started laughing.
Sans grinned widely before gesturing towards one of the two empty seats at the bar. "here, get comfy."
Frisk sat down and a loud fart cut over the music. They looked at Sans knowingly.
"whoops, watch where you sit down. sometimes weirdos put whoopee cushions on the seats," Sans said, his voice smug. "anyway, let's order. whaddya want?"
Could I have a burger?
Sans grinned. "hey, that sounds pretty good." He turned to Grillby, who had been absent-mindedly polishing a glass. "grillby, we'll have a double order of burg." Grillby nodded before going to the back room. Sans began combing his skull. "hey kid, what do you think of papyrus?"
He's cool.
"of course he's cool. you'd be cool too if you wore that outfit every day," Sans said, his face lighting up. The lights that served as his pupils were glowing more brightly than usual. "he'd only take that thing off if he absolutely had to. oh well. at least we washes it. and by that i mean he wears it in the shower."
Before Frisk could reply, Grillby came back out with two burgers. He silently set them down in front of them and went back to his glass polishing.
"here comes the grub. want some ketchup?"
Frisk shook their head, grinning.
"oh well. more for me." Sans promptly began chugging the ketchup. Once he had finished, he looked back at Frisk, who had begun eating. "so you and misty've been makin' friends?"
Nod.
"it's…it's been nice having him around. paps can only do so much to keep me goin' somethings, y'know? besides, i don't know if you noticed, but paps doesn't really like putting up with my sansational puns."
They sat in silence as Frisk finished off their burger. Once Sans saw the last morsel disappear, he said, "hey, i wanted to tell you something."
Everything inside the bar froze save for Sans and Frisk. Even the music stopped. "i know you remember the resets, so i won't give you the spiel about the flower. what i wanted to do was thank you."
Why thank me?" Frisk asked bitterly, their head bowed. I tried to kill everyone.
"yeah, you did. you screwed up. but you reset."
Frisk looked up to see Sans smiling softly at them.
"you coulda killed me, asgore, and all of humanity, but you didn't. you stopped yourself. you managed to land in a timeline where mistral is down here with us… he's only a dual-blood, born on the surface. his parents died a few months after he formed, and…his relatives were pretty abusive. i don't even know if misty survives in the timelines where he never makes it down here…"
The human pulled Sans into a hug. After a moment, they released him, signing, He would have survived. He has magic.
Sans sighed. "yeah, but that might not've been enough."
I don't mean Monster magic. I mean human magic.
"a dual-blood kinda needs human magic to be a dual-blood, kid," Sans replied, chuckling. "me and paps both know misty would've been a sage if he didn't have monster blood, but we don't care. no matter what species you are, magic tends to be weak when you're only a few years old."
That's not what I meant.
Suddenly, the music started again and everyone began moving once more. Sans ignored Frisk's last statement, instead getting up from his seat. "welp, that was a long break. i can't believe i let ya pull me away from work for that long." He began leaving, but paused as he remembered something. "oh, by the way, i'm flat out broke. can you foot the bill? it's just 10,000g."
Frisk stared at him, wide-eyed.
"just kidding. grillby, put it on my tab." Sans walked towards the door again. Just before he could exit the building, he turned on his heel. "by the way… i was going to say something, but i forgot." With those final words of wisdom, he left the bar.
Undyne was seething as she chased after the human. They just kept…running! They wouldn't even FIGHT! As she passed by Sans's sentry station, she did a double take. Sure enough, Sans was asleep at his post. His youngest brother, whats-his-face, had somehow gotten on top of the station and passed out. The captain of the Royal Guard stopped. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING?!"
Whats-his-face jolted awake, tumbling down to the left of the station. He rubbed his hood-covered head. "i don't even work for you…"
Sans didn't even flinch at the screaming.
The fish Monster roared in frustration before continuing her chase. Silently, she vowed to make Sans's life hell later.
Frisk smiled as they walked up to the boat that seemed to be the only one to ever use the Underground's river. Before they could even get on the boat, they were stopped.
"Tra la la. I am the riverman. Or am I the riverwoman…? It doesn't really matter. I love to ride in my boat. Would you care to join me?" The river person's voice was completely devoid of emotion, and yet they still seemed to sing their words.
The human nodded to the person in the dark purple cloak. They stepped on, barely even rocking the boat.
"Where will we go today?"
The obligatory text box popped up, but the river person shook their head.
"Tra la la. You don't need to do that."
Almost immediately, the box vanished. Hesitantly, Frisk signed, Could you take me to Waterfall?
"Then we're off…"
The boat moved swiftly through the water, not even creating a ripple.
"Tra la la. Beware the man who speaks in hands."
Frisk frowned, but didn't get a chance to question the river person's strange words before they pulled up alongside the path to Waterfall.
"Come again some time. Tra la la."
The human nodded before leaving.
Frisk stared at the window that Papyrus had jumped through, still surprised that he would be willing to do that. Undyne's voice pulled them roughly from their thoughts. "So why are YOU here? To rub your victory in my face? To humiliate me even further? IS THAT IT?" As she spoke, Undyne was becoming more and more aggressive.
Immediately, the human shook their head.
Undyne's shoulders slumped. "Then why are you here?" Suddenly, her face darkened with realization. "Wait, I get it. You think I'm gonna be friends with you, huh? Right?"
Nod.
The fish Monster burst out laughing. "Really? How delightful!" she mocked. "I accept! Let's all frolic in the fields of friendship!"
Frisk looked hopeful for a moment. Maybe she meant it…?
"NOT!"
Or not.
"Why would I EVER be friends with YOU?! If you weren't my houseguest, I'd beat you up right now! You're the enemy of everyone's hopes and dreams! I WILL NEVER BE YOUR FRIEND!" Undyne was on a roll. She took a deep breath before saying in a voice that could be compared to the calm before the storm, "Now get out of my house!"
The human bowed their head, feeling the familiar sting of rejection.
"DANG! WHAT A SHAME…" Frisk whipped their head in the direction of the broken window to see Papyrus looking smug. "I THOUGHT UNDYNE COULD BE FRIENDS WITH YOU. BUT I GUESS I OVERESTIMATED HER. SHE'S JUST NOT UP TO THE CHALLENGE." With that, he ran off once more.
Undyne was livid. "CHALLENGE?! What?! Papyrus! Wait a second!"
Said skeleton was either too far away to hear, or didn't care.
"Darnit! He thinks I can't be friends with YOU?!" Undyne yelled. "Fuhuhu! What a joke! I could make friends with a wimpy loser like you any day! I'll show him!
Frisk gulped nervously at the dangerous look in Undyne's good eye. "Listen up, human. We're not just going to be friends. We're going to be…BESTIES. I'll make you like me so much, you won't be able to think of anyone else! Fuhuhu! It's the PERFECT REVENGE!"
Silently, Frisk wondered if every version of Undyne was this scary.
Undyne forced a cheerful grin. The song that had played while Frisk was 'dating' Papyrus echoed through the house. "Why don't you have a seat?"
Frisk cocked their head before going to examine a few things around the room. They walked up to the piano.
"If you know Papyrus, you know his little brother, right?" Undyne asked. Before they could answer, she continued. "I've been trying to teach him how to play the piano, but he's IMPOSSIBLE to understand. Usually, Sans comes over to translate, but he tends to just fall asleep on the table…"
The human nodded before sitting at the table.
"Comfortable?" Before they could reply, Undyne added, "I'll get you something to drink." The fish Monster went over to the fridge and began placing different items on the counter. "All set! What would you like?"
Frisk had barely twitched before Undyne hurled a spear of blue magic at them, cracking the table in two. The music stopped entirely.
"HEY! DON'T GET UP! YOU'RE THE GUEST! SIT DOWN AND ENJOY YOURSELF!" Realizing that she had started screaming, Undyne took a deep breath and, visibly straining herself, said, "Um…why not just point to what you want? You can use the spear!" Almost hesitantly, the music picked up where it left off.
Knowing exactly what to do to keep the hangout session moving, Frisk pulled the spear from the ruined table and pointed it at a set of boxes near the fridge.
"Tea, huh? Coming right up!" The room was dead silent as Undyne prepared a pot of water and placed it on the stove. "It'll take a moment for the water to boil."
Silence persisted in the room until the water boiled.
"Okay, it's all done." Undyne finished preparing a cup of tea before bringing it over to the human. "Here we are." She walked to the other side of the table and sat down. "Careful, it's hot."
Frisk nodded, hesitantly blowing on the tea to cool it off.
"It's not THAT hot! Just drink it already!"
They took a sip of the tea and immediately regretted it due to how hot it still was. Despite the heat, they still thought it was pretty good.
"It's pretty good, right?" Undyne said, forcing a grin. "Nothing but the best for my ABSOLUTELY PRECIOUS FRIEND!"
Frisk smiled back and slowly sipped their tea again.
Finally, Undyne broke the silence once more. "Hey… You know, it's kind of strange that you chose THAT tea. Golden flower tea… That's Asgore's favorite kind. Actually, now that I think about it, you kind of remind me of him! You're both TOTAL weenies! …sort of."
She took a deep breath and tried to avoid looking at Frisk. "Y'know, I was a pretty hotheaded kid. You know Gerson, right? When I…he took me in, when I was a kid. He didn't think I would be able to survive without his help. To prove I was strong enough to, I tried to fight Asgore. Emphasis on TRIED. I couldn't land a single blow on him! And worse, the whole time, he refused to fight back! I was so humiliated…" A smile ghosted across Undyne's face. "Afterwards, he apologized and said something goofy. 'Excuse me, do you want to know how to beat me?' I said yes, and from then on, he trained me. One day, during practice, I finally knocked him down. I felt…bad. But he was beaming." She began laughing. "I had never seen someone more proud to have their butt kicked. Anyway, long story short, he kept training me…and now I'm head of the Royal Guard! So I'm the one who gets to train dorks to fight! Like, uh, Papyrus."
Little did either of them know it, but a cloaked figure stood watching from the broken window. His eyes were fully concealed under his hood; his mouth had been covered by a dark green strip of fabric. No emotion could be read from him as Undyne explained her reasoning for not letting Papyrus into the Royal Guard. He did, however, giggle slightly when he saw Undyne start to lecture Frisk for a cooking lesson.
Deciding that they could handle themselves, the figure began walking away. Gripping onto the edge of the cloak, he flicked his right wrist, making the long, dark gray fabric billow around him. In the flurry of gray, Mistral vanished without a trace.
"Tra la la. Care for a ride?"
The human nodded before hopping onto the boat once more.
"Where will we go today?"
Could you take me back to Hotland?
"Then we're off…"
Silently, the river person's boat began moving through the water. Somehow, they managed to sound like they were still singing, despite their ever-present monotone.
"Tra la la. Try to defend the old when in someplace new."
Frisk blinked. That was new. What –
"Come again some time. Tra la la."
"MISTRAL! THE HUMAN JUST CALLED ME AND SAID THAT THEY WERE ABOUT TO GO AND FIGHT ASGORE! WE HAVE TO STOP OUR FRIENDS FROM FIGHTING!"
"wait, what?!"
"MISTRAL! ARE YOU STILL THERE? MISTRAL?"
"nononononononononono-"
For the second time in his memory, Mistral was running to make sure that someone wouldn't get turned to dust. This time, however, he was far from Snowdin.
He entered the elevator, his nervousness building for every second that passed. After what seemed like an eternity, it opened. Mistral barreled out of it, charging toward the throne room. Empty. He sprinted for the barrier, hoping he wasn't too late.
The second he entered the room, he boomed, "no! don't fight!" When he noticed the five pairs of eyes on him, Mistral was very glad that he had his hood up. "…please?"
A Monster that appeared to be a female version of Asgore smiled warmly. "Hello! I am Toriel. Are you one of my child's friends as well?"
Before he could reply, Mistral was shoved aside by a gloved hand. "HEY! NOBODY FIGHT ANYONE! IF ANYONE FIGHTS ANYONE…THEN I'LL! BE FORCED! TO ASK UNDYNE FOR HELP!" Mistral face palmed at his brother's words, knowing that they were one hundred percent true.
"Hello!" Toriel exclaimed, grinning.
"OH! HELLO, YOUR MAJESTY!" Not even lowering his voice a little, Papyrus crouched down by Frisk and began questioning them on who Toriel was.
Mistral decided to take a moment to see who exactly was there. Asgore, Toriel, Papyrus, Undyne, and… "question for the one standing by undyne."
The lizard Monster's eyes widened. "Y-yes? Y-you mean m-me, right?"
The skeleton nodded. "yeah. who are you?"
"I-uh, I'm Alphys, the r-royal scientist."
"nice to meet you, alphys the royal scientist."
"hey guys," Sans said, announcing his arrival. "what's up?"
Toriel's face lit up. "That voice!" She pushed her way by both Papyrus and Mistral. "Hello, I think we may know each other?"
"oh hey…i recognize your voice, too." Sans's grin seemed less forced.
"I am Toriel. So nice to meet you."
Sans winked. "the name's sans. and, uh, same."
"Oh! Wait, then…these must be your brothers!" Toriel said happily, turning to get a good look at the other two skeletons. "Papyrus and Mistral! Greetings! It is so nice to finally meet you two! Your brother has told me so much about the both of you."
Mistral nodded, his glowing pupils very visible under his cloak as they landed on his eldest brother. "so much about us, huh?" Somehow, despite only his pupils being visible, Sans could feel the irritation of being spoken about emanating from his little brother.
Unlike his brother, Papyrus was ecstatic. "WOWIE…I CAN'T BELIEVE ASGORE'S CLONE KNOWS WHO I AM! THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!"
Toriel grinned mischievously. "Hey, Papyrus… What does a skeleton tile his roof with?"
Realizing what was going on, Mistral grinned back, his teeth glowing white in the shadow caused by his hood.
"HMMM…SNOW-PROOF ROOF TILES?"
"No, silly! A skeleton tiles his roof with…SHIN-gles!"
Papyrus looked like he was about to scream. "I CHANGED MY MIND! THIS IS THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE!"
Mistral pulled his hood down, feeling a bit more comfortable in the situation he was in. "did sans tell you that?" he asked jokingly.
Undyne, who had been trying to console, Asgore through the whole exchange, continued. "Come on, Asgore! It's gonna be OK!" She sent a glance Alphys's way. "There are plenty of fish in the sea…"
"Y-yeah, Asgore! Undyne's totally right about that fish thing! S-sometimes you've just got to, uh…s-stop going after furry boss monsters and, uh…j-just get to know a really cute fish…?" Alphys seemed to visibly shrink at the strange looks she was getting from both Undyne and Asgore. "It's a metaphor."
"Well," Undyne said, "I think it's a good analogy."
Mettaton (who Mistral hadn't even seen come in) struck a pose. "OH MY GOD! WILL YOU TWO JUST SMOOCH ALREADY?! THE AUDIENCE IS DYING FOR SOME ROMANTIC ACTION!"
"HEY, SHUT UP!" Undyne shrieked back. "Man, the nerve of that guy! Right, Alphys?"
Silence was Undyne's only reply.
"Uh, Alphys?"
Finally, Alphys spoke up. "No. He's right. LET'S DO IT."
Undyne, for the first time since Mistral had met her, looked extremely uncomfortable. "Well? Uh? I guess? If you want to? Then? Don't hold anything back!"
The two began to close in for a kiss, but Toriel ran in between them. "W-wait! Not in front of the human!"
Alphys began sweating nervously. "Uh, right! S-sorry, I got a little carried away there."
Seeing that everyone was moving to face the human, Mistral retreated to Papyrus's side.
Toriel giggled. "My child, it seems as if you must stay here for a while. But looking at all the great friends you made…I think…I think you will be happy here."
A look of realization crossed Alphys's face. "H-hey, that reminds me. Papyrus…YOU called everyone here, right? Well, besides, uh, her. Uh, anyway, if I got here before you…how did you know how to call everybody?"
Papyrus smirked. "LET'S JUST SAY…A TINY FLOWER HELPED ME."
"A tiny…flower?" Alphys asked, trembling with fear.
A vine burst of the floor, wrapping up each of the Monsters in its spiky grip and incapacitating them. Tears began flowing freely down Mistral's eye sockets from the intense pain he was in. A high-pitched voice began speaking from somewhere below. "You IDIOTS. While you guys were having your little pow-wow, I took the human SOULS! And now, not only are THOSE under my power, but all of your FRIENDS' SOULS are gonna be mine, too!" The voice giggled. "And you know what the best part is? It's all your fault. It's all because you MADE THEM love you."
No! Frisk's voice echoed within Mistral's soul.
Despite this, the voice bragged, "All the time you spent listening to them…encouraging them…caring for them…without that, they wouldn't have come here. And now, with their souls and the humans' together…I will achieve my REAL FORM."
Why are you doing this, Flowey?
"WHY am I still doing this? Don't you get it? This is all just a GAME. If you leave the underground satisfied, you'll 'win' the game. If you 'win', you won't want to 'play' with me anymore. And what would I do then? But this game between us will NEVER end. I'll hold victory in front of you, just within your reach…and then tear it away just before you grasp it. Over, and over, and over." The voice giggled again. "Listen. If you DO defeat me, I'll give you your 'happy ending'. I'll bring your friends back. I'll destroy the barrier. Everyone will finally be satisfied. But that WON'T happen. You! I'll keep you here no matter what!"
It was silent for a moment before the voice, Flowey, spoke again, his voice full of rage. "Even if it means killing you 1,000,000 times!"
Mistral heard Flowey cackling maniacally along with the sounds of various attacks hitting something. The last one, however, sounded like it was blocked.
"What?"
"Do not be afraid my child," Toriel spoke through her pain. "No matter what happens…we will always be there to protect you!"
Flowey tried to attack again, only to be blocked two separate times.
"THAT'S RIGHT, HUMAN! YOU CAN WIN! JUST DO WHAT I, WOULD DO…BELIEVE IN YOU!"
"Hey! Human! If you got past ME, you can do ANYTHING! So don't worry! We're with you all the way!"
"huh? you haven't beaten this guy yet? come on, this weirdo's got nothin' on you."
Attack. Block. Attack. Block.
"Technically, it's impossible for you to beat him…b-but, somehow, I know you can do it!"
"Human, for the future of humans and monsters, you have to stay determined!"
Mistral managed to gather enough strength to crack his eye sockets open. A little yellow flower was sending another attack at Frisk's bright red soul. He created a single bone to block the seeds. He winced at the effort, as well as noticing the very high LV that the little flower had. The skeleton could feel all eyes/eye sockets on him as he managed to talk through the pain he was in. "hey, you can do this. if you can take down a bitty bones that has no knowledge of formal fighting, you can take down this stupid f***ing flower."
Although he couldn't see it, Mistral could tell from the tone of Sans's voice that his pupil lights had gone out. "how do you know that word?!"
"piano lessons."
Before Sans could fish for more answers, almost every Monster in the underground began flooding the room, telling Frisk how they believed in them. The little flower began to look nervous.
"Urrrgh…NO! Unbelievable! This can't be happening…! You…YOU…" Suddenly, the flower's cheerful voice took on a dark tone. "I can't believe you're all so STUPID. ALL OF YOUR SOULS ARE MINE!"
The pain running through Mistral increased a hundred-fold. It blinded him for a few moments before he passed out.
He felt his memories begin to slip away. Good moment after good moment, each one vanishing from existence. The horrors he lived through demanded his attention, pushing away any remaining happiness.
Instead, there was fear, and anger, and loneliness, and self hatred.
The soul was…lost.
A voice called out an unidentifiable name, but the soul still felt compelled to answer. When he saw what had called him, he flinched away in fear.
The human (friend/murderer/defender) took a step towards them, and a voice echoed within his soul. Would you cook something for me?
"Freak! Get in there, and don't you dare burn breakfast again!"
The Lost Soul looked down at his feet. His voice wavered. "I'd only ruin it like I ruin everything else."
They frowned. Do you wanna build a snowman?
"Get him!" Cold snow pelted at him from all directions. Rocks and ice embedded in the snowballs easily bruised his body.
"Snow is bad. It hurts people…"
Another frown, this one followed by a look that screamed determination. Can you show me some magic?
Immediately, the Lost Soul froze up from the sheer amount of memories associated by that one word alone.
"There's no such thing as magic!"
"If I hear you say that word again, you'll be worse off than without food!"
"Mum! The freak said the 'm' word again!"
"Th-th-that's a b-b-bad word," the soul cried out, pulling up the hood of his cloak without a second thought. He retreated into the comforting darkness, but it only made him more anxious.
They realized that they weren't getting through to the Lost Soul. Desperately, the human called out for help…
"Who would ever help a freak like you, boy?"
"No one ever comes," the soul stated bitterly. "Why would they start now?"
Before the human could reply, they felt something squeeze their shoulder. They turned their head to see a tall skeleton with two long cracks in his mask-like skull. He was wearing a black robe, and had a large hole in the center of each hand. Two semi-transparent hands appeared at his sides and began gesturing as he spoke in complete gibberish. Somehow, the combination of the two managed to brush the human's soul, letting them understand what was being said. "THANK YOU FOR PULLING HIM THIS FAR FROM THE MADNESS OF LOSING ONESELF. MY WIFE AND I WILL TAKE IT FROM HERE."
He walked forward, closely followed by…the river person? The river person pulled down their hood to reveal a skull with a separated jaw, just like Papyrus's. Their, no her, hands flew up in an attempt to cover her mouth as her eye sockets trained on the Lost Soul. She tried to rush towards the soul, but the taller skeleton held her back. "what are you doing?! my baby bones needs me!"
"L.D., WE HAVE TO TAKE THIS SLOWLY, REMEMBER?" The river person nodded, staying perfectly still as the taller skeleton released her. Slowly, he lowered himself to his knees before holding out his arms. "I ASSURE YOU, LITTLE ONE, THAT MY WIFE AND I WILL NEVER INJURE YOU, AND WE WILL DO OUR BEST TO PROTECT YOU FROM THEM."
"relax, kid. my family won't hurt you." He sighed. "look, i don't make promises often, so can you tell that i mean it when i promise that they won't hurt you?"
"THERE IS NO REASON TO FEAR US, LITTLE ONE. IT WOULD BE WRONG OF US TO EVEN THINK OF HURTING YOU. PLEASE…I UNDERSTAND THAT YOUR TRUST IS NOT EASY TO GIVE AFTER WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN THROUGH…BUT CAN YOU AT LEAST TRY?"
"i know why you don't want to trust me…but if you want, i'm always in here around this time, if you want me to teach you how."
"LITTLE BROTHER! I, THE GREAT … PROMISE TO YOU THAT I WILL BE THE GREATEST BIG BROTHER TO HAVE EVER LIVED! COME, AND I WILL SHOW YOU HOW TO PRANK OUR MOTHER AND FATHER!"
"DO NOT WORRY, LITTLE ONE. THOSE HUMANS WILL NEVER REACH YOU, SO LONG AS I LIVE."
Suddenly, memories came rushing back to him, the veil over his face lifting. Mistral's pupil lights were almost taking up his entire eye sockets when they landed on the taller skeleton. "d-dad? is that really you?"
Somehow, the mask-like skull managed to grin even wider. "YES, BUT I WILL NOT BE HERE FOR LONG. IT IS TAKING ALL OF MY STRENGTH TO EVEN MATERIALIZE ON THIS PLANE OF REALITY."
The river person stood on the tips of her phalanges, reaching up to swat the taller skeleton on the back of the head. "you're gone for years, leaving me out of my mind, and you think you can just pop up for a few minutes with everything being ok?! oh no, wingding, it's time you and i had a talk!"
Wingding flinched. "L.D., DO WE HAVE TO DO THIS IN FRONT OF MISTRAL?"
Mistral grinned. "actually, i'd like to know this as well."
The taller skeleton's hand projections seemed to fizzle for a moment, like they were on a TV with bad reception. Wingding's small pupil lights were full of fear as he began signing and speaking faster than before. "I DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME, BUT I KNOW ONE OF – " Glitch. "–FAMILY WILL FIND A WAY. TELL SANS AND PAPYRUS THAT I LOVE THEM, AND I'M–" Glitch. "–I WASN'T ABLE TO SEE THEM AS WELL. I SPEND EVERY MOMENT ATTEMPTING TO FIND A WAY BACK, AND I…I…" His form seemed to flicker. Hurriedly, he pulled L.D. and Mistral into a hug before fading out completely.
Mistral's eye sockets met the human's, Frisk's, eyes. They were as cold as ice. "make that creepy psycho flower suffer."
The world faded for Mistral once more, but not before he heard his adopted mother cry out in pain as her soul mate shattered into the infinite timelines once more.
When Mistral opened his eye sockets again, he was surprised to see hundreds, if not thousands of souls, floating through the room and back to the rest of the underground. An upside-down heart he could see was a fiery orange landed beside him. It glowed slightly, before forming an orange body of pure light. The light slowly faded, revealing the teal scales of Undyne. She slowly opened her eye, amazed at the sight before her. "What…just happened?"
Mistral smirked. "i believe i now owe frisk more trust."
Two more souls separated from the migrating wave. One began forming a lanky, greenish-blue body while the other formed a short, dark blue one. In perfect sync with each other, the light faded to reveal both Papyrus and Sans, looking just as stunned as Mistral and Undyne.
Over time, three more souls landed, reforming into Alphys, Toriel, and Asgore. Surprisingly, everyone was so star-struck at the sight of the mass soul migration, it wasn't until the last one had left that Toriel noticed that Frisk was lying on the ground. She gave a yelp, which startled the other Monsters into noticing.
Hours went by, the seven Monsters all trying to wake up the small human. They all could see how terrified they were.
"Frisk!" Toriel called out steadily, holding the human's hands in her own. "This is all just a bad dream! Please, wake up!"
Almost immediately, Frisk's eyes flew open.
"Oh! You are awake! Thank goodness!" Toriel exclaimed, throwing her arms around the human in a hug.
"W-we were so worried!" Alphys stuttered. "It felt like you were out forever!"
"Yeah!" Undyne agreed, a smile on her face. "Any longer and I would have freaked out! Tell us next time you decide to take a nap, okay?!"
Mistral grinned. "you were freaking out."
Undyne glared at the skeleton, who tactfully retreated behind his brothers.
"yeah," Sans agreed. "you made papyrus cry like a baby. and misty was looking a little misty-eyed."
"WHAT! I DIDN'T CRY! I DON'T CRY!" Papyrus yelled indignantly.
"neither did i, sans."
"I JUST…CAUGHT SOMETHING IN MY EYE."
Sans grinned. "what did you catch?"
"TEARS!"
"Now, now," Asgore said, trying to refrain from laughing. "The important part is that Frisk is all right." He crouched down, handing the human a cup. "Here, Frisk. Why not drink some tea? It'll make you feel better."
Toriel looked uncomfortable. "Err…why don't you give them space, first? They must be very exhausted. Though from what, I am not certain." She blushed. "Frisk…we do not remember exactly what happened. There was a flower…and then, everything went white."
"i already told you, toriel!" Mistral exclaimed. "the creepy psycho flower came, stole the souls of everyone in the underground, then frisk here saved us!"
The goat-like Monster chuckled. "My, what an overactive imagination. No matter what happened, the barrier is gone. When you are ready, we will all return to the surface. It seems the door to the east will lead us there now. But before then…perhaps you might want to take a walk? You can say goodbye to all your wonderful friends. Do as you wish. We will all wait for you here."
Frisk glanced over all the Monsters, wanting to see what their opinions were on the matter. Each one gave them a supportive smile, except for Mistral, whose expression was completely hidden by his hood.
Noticing Frisk's gaze, he slowly pulled the hood down, revealing the proud grin on his face. "i'm sorry i doubted you, friend."
The human smiled back before backing out of the room. There was something that they wanted to check before they left. A small point of light in the corner of the room drew their attention. Without hesitation, they walked over to it.
(Knowing that the monsters are finally free, but still have a long way to go, fills you with determination. Would you like to save?)
(Saved.)
And thus, the Monsters were free, Mistral did his best to open up (but still doesn't trust Frisk fully), and everyone wondered what the heck even happened. As for the swearing learned from piano lessons, Undyne is Mistral's teacher. Imagine Undyne getting frustrated with a song that she wanted to try to show her pupil. Let it sink in...
The snow poff philosophical discussion is actually from a Steam Community post that I accidentally stumbled upon. If you google 'is it really a snow poff', it's the first Steam Community link that pops up. I recommend at least reading through it.
Okay, so I'd still like people's opinions on a Tumblr blog for this story. I've seen other people do it before, and I think it would be a great idea, but I don't want to waste my time with something no one will actually see. Thoughts?