Kit - Just want to say that we both love all your reviews and nice comments! We hope you keep enjoying this story as you are!
Chapter Thirteen
::
"Alright. What's it gonna take for you to hold off on the Loads for a while." Sans looked pathetic. He was used to Resets and Loads - there was a reason he had stopped caring and did nothing but laze about - but really now. Really. Frisk looked from the Save point, then up at Sans, before she was holding her arms out to him, making grabby motions.
"Carry me." Because while Toriel made her feel safe, Sans hugs were...Sans hugs. Sans looked a bit baffled, looking a mix between curious and confused.
"...You don't want Tori to carry you?" Because from what he had seen, Frisk was very attached to Toriel. He was just kind of...the annoying strange family member that she didn't really know and was very annoying. Frisk only made more grabby motions, looking pathetic. "Alright, alright, I'll carry you."
Scooping the girl up, Sans shifted so he could walk with her and she would be comfortable, easily catching up to Toriel. "So. I am now in charge of carrying the tiny human child."
Toriel looked a bit startled by that. Sans...never really seemed to like showing Frisk affection. Seeing Frisk happily humming as she cuddled Sans, the woman gave a smile. "Alright, then. So, I need your help with this puzzle."
There was a long silence from Sans, who looked from Toriel, to the waterfall in front of them with the boulders. He then glanced down to Frisk. "...You tiny monster."
At that, Frisk was beaming, and kissing his cheek bone. "Love you." ...Aw... Dammit! He wasn't supposed to have even followed them after Snowdin but he was worried! Ugh...he was attached now.
"Yeah, yeah, you tiny terror. Oh, look at that? We seem to be past the puzzle. How strange. Oh well, best not to look a Gyftrot in the horns!"
"Mhm. You know, Sans, we still need to talk about-"
"Oh, look, is that another puzzle! We should get past that. You know, it seems pretty easy." A flick of powers and suddenly four lotus blossoms were lined up perfectly for them to walk across. "Wow. Our luck is just blooming today." He was already hurrying across them and nope, nope, nope. He very much wanted to avoid that conversation.
There was a pause, and Frisk was tugging on Sans' shirt. "Go behind the waterfall." Sans sighed, considering they were already past two puzzles before he ended up giving up and doubling back. At this point, it was just easier to not argue with the kid.
"Alright, alright, I'm going behind the waterfall. Don't blame me when we get soaked to the bone, though." The girl nodded, tucking herself closer. Sans rolled his eyes but proceeded, finally just teleporting them in so they didn't get too soaked. Didn't want to make her small cold come back, after all. "So, why behind the waterfall?"
Gasping, Frisk wriggled down and held up a dusty old tutu, grinning widely as she looked at him. "Can I have it?" Sans had a strange expression on his face before he was giving the girl a smile, looking a bit...off.
"Sure, kid. No one's probably looking for that old thing anytime soon." Woo, okay, slightly dizzy. He...he could handle that. Just had to tone it back on his powers and he'd be fine. He was good. Frisk gave a squeal, putting the tutu on before holding her arms back out to Sans, looking delighted. "Adorable."
Sans was scooping her up and teleporting them back to Toriel, who was now used to Sans randomly appearing out of nowhere - sometimes with Frisk in tow. Although she probably wasn't used to Sans looking so worn down. In his arms, Frisk only looked happy beyond all extent, clinging as tightly to Sans as she could. "Alright, let's get this show back on the road. Still got a lot of walkin' to do, after all. And a bunch more puzzles. And all that."
"Sans, are you alright? You look...unwell." Sans only shot Toriel a smile, already walking ahead.
"What? Nah, I'm fine. Probably just where I haven't eaten- Well, no, to you that... Nevermind. I'm fine. Just a bit tired is all."
Toriel only snagged him by the back of his jacket, a hand on her hip. "You gave her your meal, didn't you?"
"...I ate a few of them," Sans chuckled nervously. "'Sides, sorta all bones here, Tori. Eating doesn't do much, and all that."
"Sit."
"...What?"
"You heard me." Sans looked rather startled and confused, automatically sitting on the ground and looking physically confused. If it was possible, question marks would be floating around his head. Toriel was searching through their bag, rustling around for a moment before she was pulling out a slice of pie, heated to perfection with the help of fire magic. Handing him a fork, she set the plate in his lap, Frisk sitting at his side and leaning against him. "Eat."
Sans gave a heavy, dramatic sigh but munched on the food anyways, looking a touch amused, and, really. Toriel was certainly something. Although the pie was delicious, and he was already feeling better. Although he might have slipped a bite or two to Frisk when she wasn't looking too closely. When he tried to slip her a third bite, she only pouted up at him, looking pathetic. Sans only pouted back, munching on the rest of the pie. Although he did manage to slip Frisk the last bite with a well placed poke to her side to get her to giggle. Toriel looked down at the empty plate, and gave a nod. "Feeling better, then?"
"...A lot, actually." Instead of one of his amused smirks or joking smiles, the smile Sans had was small and genuine, and very...fond. And maybe a touch adoring. "Thank you, Tori." It was...nice, to have people there to help him. Even if he was a bit stubborn here and there.
The woman smiled back, pressing a kiss to his cheekbone. "You're welcome. Now come on, we have plenty to go before we get to the Core." There was a tiny shudder from Sans, an uneasy and almost terrified expression on his face there and gone in a flash before he was scooping Frisk back into his arms.
"True, Waterfall is still rather big after all, Hotland even more so."
A frown, and Toriel was setting a hand on his shoulder. "Sans, are you going to be alright?" A pause, Sans giving her a smile.
"I will be. I'm rather resilient, after all, even if I am made up of just bones."
"If you're sure. Come on."
::
Papyrus' voice could not be mistaken for anyone else's, but with all the rushing water of Waterfall, it was hard to pick up words being spoken! Especially when he was all the way up on a cliff and Frisk was down in the tall grass. Frisk sighed, trying to listen as hard as she could. After a moment, it sounded like Papyrus left. She rustled around in the grass for a moment, brushing off her tutu.
There was then a bright flash of blue that came whizzing through the air and tearing through the grass in front of her. Frisk squeaked, freezing and right. Blue. Blue attacks. Just stay still- Blue stop signs. Blue stop signs. There were no more attacks after a few minutes, and it seemed like it was safe to move again- After all, her soul hadn't come out! So it wasn't like she was in a Fight, or anything. Leaving the grass, she shook her head, and hugged her arms around herself. Why... Why was she attacked? Maybe she should go try to find Toriel and Sans. She had only meant to explore what was up ahead.
There was a rustling beside her, and then the sight of a familiar kid that she had seen in Snowdin. "Yo...did you see the way she was staring at you?!" There was a silence, the child speaking in hushed tones that got louder. "That...was awesome! I'm soooo jealous! What'd you do to get her attention...?" An excited motion, the child bouncing before flopping over and getting back up. "Ha ha, c'mon! Let's go watch her beat up some bad guys!"
Frisk followed after, frowning as she glanced behind her. "Who is she?" The kid looked back at her like she was crazy.
"What?! You don't know who Undyne is?! She's the coolest monster there is! She knows everything! She's Captain of the Royal Guard, she's never lost a fight, she always wins, and she's the best monster ever!"
"Do you think she would ever fight...humans?" Because if Papyrus had been trying to get into the Royal Guard... She may have been five, but she wasn't stupid.
"Of course! She's the ultimate human hunter we have! Man, if I was human, I'd be wetting the bed every night with the thought of Undyne after me!"
"...Oh..." The monster kid was bouncing up and down in excitement, looking ecstatic.
"I'm gonna go on ahead! Meet you up there!" With that, he was running off, beaming widely and unknowing of the Save point he had just run over. Frisk ran up to the Save point, Saving. Who knew what could happen?
It wasn't long until she was meeting up with Toriel and Sans again, Toriel fussing over her and making sure she was okay while Sans only observed her carefully, nodding in satisfaction. "So, see anything interesting while scouting ahead, kid? Maybe something like-" A ringing interrupted his unsaid pun, the skeleton looking confused for a second. "...You have a phone?"
"She gave it to me," Frisk said, gesturing to Toriel. She picked up the phone, sounding a bit miserable. "Hello?"
"Ah, child! I am glad I caught you! A friend of mine, Undyne, told me that she was looking for a human! I of course said I knew of no humans in the area, but she seemed adamant that there was one! I told her there was only you in your striped shirt, but she wanted to know what else you're wearing!"
"Uh... Don't tell her I'm wearing a tutu."
"Understood!" Sans was looking curious, tilting his head.
"Is that Pap? Why is Pap calling?" Papyrus didn't usually call out of nowhere, after all.
"I shall tell her that you are instead wearing a dusty tutu! Then she'll be thrown off your trail!" Sans was now close enough to hear the call, looking concerned.
"Paaaap. Who are you talking about."
"Is that Sans? Tell him I say hi! Now, I must go and talk to my friend!" With that, the call was disconnecting, Sans looking confused and what friend... What exactly was supposed to happen in the timeline after this anyways- Fuck. It was Undyne.
"...Is Undyne gonna..."
"So, ah, Tori...how well will Undyne remember you?" Sans asked cautiously, absently shifting closer to Frisk and scratching at her head.
"That's a good question. I assume we'll find out." Toriel sighed, giving a shake of her head. "Everything will be fine, my child. You will see."
"Yeah, although if you ask me, Undyne sometimes scares the carp outta me." A pause from Sans as he looked to Frisk. "...You won't get that one yet, but you'll probably at least giggle when you do."
"Okay." And Frisk may have been clinging to his hand, a bit. Because she was human. And Undyne, she... Sans only gave a small squeeze back, giving her a smile.
"Don't worry, kid, we got your back. Now c'mon, we still got puzzles to get through, irritating as they are."
"Mmkay." And with that...she felt a little better.
::
"Oo, I know this room." Sans looked a little nostalgic as he looked around, the ceiling looking like it was coated in a world of stars. "Everyone calls it the Wishing Room. We don't really have a sky down here, so everyone comes here to pretend this is the night sky. Make wishes on stars, and all that."
A moment of silence, Sans' smile growing a touch softer. "See the echo flowers around here? People will come and whisper their secrets to the stars, and the flowers pick them up. They remember them, so that maybe someday...if we ever get out of here, they might come true..." If, huh...
"...How come you can't leave?" Frisk looked confused, staring up at Sans as she clung to his shirt. Sans' smile grew a bit bitter at that, but he hid it wonderfully well as he ruffled the girl's hair.
"You might not know this, but a long time ago, us monsters used to live up on the surface with you humans, there was...a pretty bad fight, though. Long story short, we got trapped down here with a magic spell and we...can't break it." They could but...a few thought the price wasn't worth it.
"Oh... Not at all? Not even a little?" Sans tilted his head, leisurely walking through the room with her, Toriel right behind them.
"There's...ways people have suggested..." A glance to Frisk, Sans smile becoming a bit more. "I don't think they're worth it, though. 'Sides, we're doing just fine, down here. The surface is overrated."
There was a long moment of pause before Frisk was tugging on his sleeve, looking down at the ground. "Like what?"
"...The thing that keeps us trapped here is a Barrier. A magical force the humans created that monsters can't pass through. We've tried...a lot. Some people have suggested banding together and using our attacks and magic all at once, some have suggested trying to destroy it with more modern means, and some suggestions." There was a pause for a moment. "Are better left unsaid."
"Oh. Okay." Frisk leaned against him as they walked, yawning as she rubbed at her eyes, starting to trail behind him. It was only a moment before she was gently being picked up, a quiet chuckle heard.
"You, kid, are a literal handful."
"I'm fine, I'm-" She was interrupted by another yawn, curling up to him. "I'm not tired."
"Course not. Still, walking is probably boring. And I guess you could say I'm a little bonely for attention." While the girl giggled, Toriel gave a snort of laughter behind them. "Still got it." Frisk nudged Sans while she waved for Toriel to come closer. "Hm? What's up, kid?"
When Toriel bent down closer, Frisk was kissing their cheeks with a happy hum before settling back down. "Love you." Toriel was the first to react, giving a quiet chuckle and petting the girl's head.
"I love you as well, my child." Sans was only looking pathetically broken and oooh, he was in deep.
As she started to doze off, Frisk was certain about one thing. She was DETERMINED to help her friends go to the surface.
Kit - Careful there, Frisk. You might be in for more trouble than you bargained.
