AN: 'This is so cute and adorable,' they said. 'It's so funny and fluffy,' they said. Oh, we'll show them. We'll show them all.
"Uuuuggggghhhhhhh. How much longer? My feet are tired."
"We're probably almost there. Right, Tori?" Sans seemed just as bored and exhausted, although he was hiding it a bit better.
"Almost, yes... Unless he's in the Throne room. Then we have a bit more walking to do."
"Which, knowing our luck, he probably is," Sans pointed out, stretching a bit and yawning. "So, if everything goes well, we'll probably have Frisk home by today or tomorrow, then." The percentages were very low, but Sans was going to be damned if he didn't try his best to get her home.
"Yes, that sounds like a good plan." Toriel nodded, smiling at them. As they came upon the house, her smile slowly fell. Frisk blinked, seeing the house was...almost exactly like Toriel's. "Come on."
Sans quietly followed after, and, right...probably not the best time for jokes and puns, considering everything. Although he frowned at noticing the stairs that led down were locked, with a small note attached. A quick glance over it and he nodded, already moving to find the keys needed, glancing back to make sure Frisk had Saved. Frisk, herself, was exploring the home. It was...exactly like Toriel's, actually. It was strange. She walked down the hallway, grabbing up the key that she saw. She looked into the mirror, tilting her head before puffing herself up and brightly smiling. Despite everything, it was still her.
Sans was coming up behind her and ruffling her hair, grinning as he nudged her along before continuing to look for the other key. "You wanna check that room real quick while I help Tori search the kitchen?"
Frisk gave a nod, and a smile as she leaned against him for a moment. "Okay." She went into the room, tilting her head at seeing two presents. With a bit of trouble, she undid the ribbon and tore upon the wrapping paper, opening the box. There was...a knife. Why would that be a present? Shoving that away, she turned to the other and repeated the process. She took a small necklace out of the box, frowning. Opening the locket, she stared at the image of two kids, one human and kinda like her, while the other...
She set the locket back in the box. This room, those presents...whatever they were, they were very wrong. And she wasn't staying in there a moment longer. In the kitchen, Sans was picking up a key from the counter, blinking as he felt Frisk curl up to him, and...he'd blame that one on all the golden flowers in the house. They were everywhere. "Did you find a key?" Frisk dug into her pocket, and held the key out to him. "Perfect." Sans gently took the key and headed over to undo the lock, nudging the chains out of the way to rest against the wall. They were very close, now...
Frisk tugged on Toriel's robe, looking up at her. "How come there's no color?" Toriel gently picked her up, nuzzling at her forehead before pulling her close.
"This place lost it's color long ago, my child." Besides these flowers...color had not been seen in this house in a very long time. "Come, little one. Let us get you home."
Giving a quiet sniffle, Frisk curled up to Toriel. "How come there's so many flowers?"
"Grief shows itself in strange ways, young one, and sometimes we can only cope as best we can." Toriel followed after Sans, the three descending the stairs into a long, trailing hallway, monsters trailing in and out of the hall and towards buildings in the far distance. When walking, a few of them looked at them before speaking.
"A long time ago, a human fell into the Ruins." One look could tell that they knew what Frisk was. "Injured by its fall, the human called out for help." Toriel seemed to freeze up a bit before she continued on, until another monster blocked their path. Frisk only remained curled up to her, looking confused, and a small amount scared. "Asriel, the king's son, heard the humans's call. He brought the human back to the castle." Sans was looking a bit confused, but a glance at Toriel showed she knew this story far better than he.
"Over time, Asriel and the human became like siblings. The King and Queen treated the human child as their own. The Underground was full of hope." Toriel held Frisk close, trying to continue and sighing as they were stopped by another. So this was how it was going to be... It was best they knew the full story before meeting Asgore, at least. "Then... One day... The human became very ill. The sick human had only one request. To see the flowers from their village. But there was nothing we could do."
Sans was listening with rapt attention, piecing the story together with what he had heard, what he had seen, and what was 'known'. Everything they were talking about...there was something that wasn't matching up. "The next day..."
"The human died." Frisk gave a tiny whimper, hiding her face in Toriel's chest. Toriel easily tucked the child closer, body curling around her instinctively, a small amount, Sans walking just a touch bit closer. It was a moment before the story started up again, the monsters who told it changing and switching.
"Asriel, wracked with grief, absorbed the human soul. He transformed into a being with incredible power. With the human soul, Asriel crossed through the Barrier. He carried the human's body into the sunset. Back to the village of the humans."
"Th- That's nice, right?" Frisk looked up at Toriel, her voice barely heard. "The human got to go back home?" Toriel only stayed silent, tucking the girl back under her chin, staying strong and refusing to break. She had dealt with her grief long ago on this matter.
"Asriel reached the center of the village. There, he found a bed of golden flowers. He carried the human onto it. Suddenly, screams rang out. The villagers saw Asriel holding the human's body. They thought that he had killed the child."
"Oh..."
Sans' eyes were widening, and he had a similar reaction as he glanced to Toriel. He'd heard that Asriel hadn't survived, but... He hadn't known that part. He knew a lot, but not these things. Just what else was he missing?
"The humans attacked him with everything they had. He was struck with blow after blow. Asriel had the power to destroy them all. But... Asriel did not fight back." Considering who the kid's mom was...Sans could believe that part rather easily. Mercy, indeed...
"Clutching the human... Asriel smiled, and walked away. Wounded, Asriel stumbled home. He entered the castle and collapsed. His dust spread across the garden."
"...And with the dust, a flower grew." Sans blinked and looked at Toriel, leaning into her a bit more and how painful was this to her…? He could only imagine. Hearing a story - a near legend - about how both her children had died. He couldn't even imagine the pain she must be feeling.
"The kingdom fell into despair. The King and Queen had lost two children in one night. The humans had once again taken everything from us. The King decided it was time to end our suffering." And now they were all caught up, it seemed...all the Saves, all the Loads, all the Resets, it had all been leading up to this. Until, Sans mused, one little human had started changing things.
"Every human who falls down here must die. With enough souls, we can shatter the barrier forever. It's not long now. King Asgore will let us go. Will give us hope. Will save us all. You should be smiling, too."
Toriel cut them off with a vicious glare. "That's enough. All of you. How dare you wish for a child to... Even if they're human, a life is still a life." There was scuttling and hurried footsteps before the halls were silent once more, no one save for the three of them, and a quiet little whisper from a last fleeing monster.
"Aren't you excited? Aren't you happy? You're going to be free."
Of course, Sans saw no harm in flicking the little monster away with a bit of magic. And maybe grinning as he smacked into a wall a thousand or so feet away. "Heh. Aim is still as good as ever."
"Hm. I could have taken care of it." Toriel looked to be a bit upset that Sans had taken care of it before she had the chance to.
"Well, to be fair, you were the one who made them all scramble for their lives, and all that," Sans pointed out, continuing their way down the hall, absently checking on Frisk. Frisk was curled up against Toriel, slightly shaking as she hid her face. Sans gave a silent look to Toriel, asking if she wanted him to hold her instead. Toriel glanced down to him, giving a small shake of her head as she only rubbed at Frisk's back to calm her.
Sans nodded, the three continuing their walk in silence before they were leaving the black and white hallways for a beautiful, glass-coated room that shone in colors of gold and yellow. It was a room that had Sans shuddering, faltering in his steps for a few moments. Toriel gave him a small nudge, giving him a silent look of her own. Sans seemed startled at her nudge, giving a weak smile before following after, voice quiet when he spoke. "Frisk...did anyone ever explain LV and EXP to you?"
Frisk looked down at Sans, seeming to have calmed down. "...LOVE?" Familiar, indeed... Well, it was sort of his job to explain these things, he supposed...
"Sort of...they're acronyms. EXP stands for 'execution points'. A way of quantifying the pain you've inflicted on others. When you kill someone, your EXP increases. When you have enough EXP, your LOVE increases. LOVE, too, is an acronym. It stands for 'level of violence.'" Sans' voice was quiet as he explained, soft and tired, and so unlike his usual joking nature. "A way of measuring someone's capacity to hurt.
"The more you kill, the easier it becomes to distance yourself. The more you distance yourself, the less you will hurt...the more easily you can bring yourself to hurt others..." Asgore wasn't the only one in the Underground who had killed humans he supposed...
Frisk stared at him for a long while before she quietly asked him, "How much EXP do you have?" There was a long moment of silence, Sans giving a quiet little chuckle that sounded utterly defeated.
"Far too much, it seems like." Glancing up to her, he gave a bit more of a smile. "But you...you never gained any LOVE. That doesn't mean you're completely innocent or naive, just that you kept a certain tenderness in your heart." So many fights that hadn't even been started. Frisk smiled, and gave a small nod. It was like Toriel said, she only had to ACT MERCIful. "No matter what happened...you never tried to hurt anyone. You refused to hurt anyone. You did your best to help them, instead. You never gained LOVE, but you gained love...does that make sense?"
Frisk tugged him into a hug as best she could, ending up clinging to his hand. "Posilutely." A startled look and then a giggle, Sans pecking her on the forehead. Adorable child.
Toriel gave a chuckle, looking amused as she set Frisk down to walk. "Certainly your daughter." Instead of a pun, Sans only clung to Frisk, nuzzling against her in delight.
"I'm perfectly fine with that." Knowing that they were approaching The End, and that soon Frisk would be home... It filled them all with...
DETERMINATION.
::
"Wait, I wanna see what's down here."
Toriel tried to stop her, looking worried. "No, Frisk, you don't want to do that!" Frisk was already giggling as she ran down the stairs, Sans looking a bit worried and what was down there, again? It seemed like it was something important but- Oh... Oh, no. A flash and he was chasing after Frisk to try and stop her. Frisk came upon a room with...a lot of stone boxes in them. She went up to the first one, with a red heart similar to her own. C...h...a...r...a.
"...Oh." There was the feeling of Sans picking her up, not even sparing a glance to the room before he was heading back up the stairs with her. He had seen those things enough for lifetimes. "Was Chara...the first human?"
It was a moment before Sans was responding, voice sounding a touch worn. "Yeah... Yeah, she was."
"...Oh..." There wasn't much else to be said.
It was a few minutes before they were in what looked to the Throne Room, a large figure bent over and watering the multitude of golden flowers that spanned the area and filled up the ground. "Dum dee dum.. Oh? Is someone there?" There was a pause, the monster shifting a bit. "Just a moment! I have almost finished watering these flowers." Toriel glared daggers at him, clearing her throat and giving a loud 'Ahem!' "Yes, yes, and...here we are!"
Asgore stood up and turned around, polite and welcoming smile on his face. "Howdy! How can I... Tori?!"
"Don't 'Tori' me, Dreemurr!" Toriel had her hands on her hips, her foot tapping as she glared at him. Asgore looked very startled and slightly terrified for his life, looking between the three of them.
"What... To- What are you doing with a human? Here?!" Asgore had very much not been expecting something like this to happen today. Or ever. At all.
"I'm keeping her safe from you, child murderer!" There was a quiet 'snerk' from Sans, with a 'oh damn' that was just quiet enough so that Frisk didn't hear.
"T-Tori..." Asgore might have been possibly crying because, ow...ow. That one was just painful.
"Well?!" She looked exasperated, going so far as to sigh heavily. "You can hardly say I'm wrong!"
"B-But- I was just doing what I thought was best for everyone!" Asgore defended, sighing a bit heavily himself. "No...I suppose that's a poor excuse...I was merely...afraid."
"Yes, you were. And that's still no excuse. They were children, Asgore!" There was a moment of pause, Asgore looking to the human child in front of him, and...she was so much more tiny than the others had been.
"Why did you bring her here?"
"I'm going to bring her home. By whatever means necessary."
"...Tori-"
"What did I just say?"
"Yes Ma'am." Sans, at this point, had dragged Frisk closer so he could bury his laughter in the back of her head, trying not to show he was cracking up, because, really. Really. He was pretty sure he had finally cracked from stress.
"...Are you two exes?" Frisk asked curiously, looking the picture of innocence.
"Yes-"
"No-"
There was a moment of dead silence, Sans finally letting out a hideous snort of laughter, utterly and completely losing it. "And, ah...who's this?" Sans didn't even seem to hear the question, too busy sinking to the ground and laughing even more.
"This is Sans." Toriel stated it as if it were obvious, Sans now clutching his sides and shaking a small amount and, yep. He had cracked. "Sans, don't crack a rib." The laughter had been calming down until it was worse than ever, Sans having pulled his hood over his head and cracking up.
"He's busting a gut," Frisk commented. Another snort of laughter, Sans looking broken and Asgore looking very baffled.
Toriel gave a small smile, shaking her head. "No no, little one, he doesn't have any to do so with." It was another minute of crazed laughter before Sans was trailing off with it, shaking a tiny amount and silent. The woman only gave a quiet laugh, nudging him with her foot. That spewed on another few giggles, Sans peeking up to show his face was utterly blue, a few tears in his eyes and grin beaming, and, really. He had finally cracked in the company of the King, Queen, and a small human child. He had lost it.
"Is he dead?"
"No, no, not quite. Sans, come on, get up." Another few giggles before he did as told, Sans brushing at his face.
"'M good, 'm good. Just minor breakdown. Totally good." There was a small noise from Asgore, who was looking at him a bit curiously.
"You seem familiar..." Frisk, meanwhile, was wandering away from them to something in the corner, covered by a sheet. She tilted her head, and yanked the sheet off, staring at the throne curiously. It was a bit smaller than the one in the center of the room, and very dusty, as if it hadn't been used in a very long time. "Well, nevermind. But are you truly trying to get her home?"
"She has a family, too. You never thought about that, did you?" As they argued, Frisk wandered away and down the hall. There was a large space, similar to... But there wasn't any green in it, surprisingly enough. She continued to walk until she came upon something...enormous. And hugely powerful.
It was utterly white - or maybe it was just colorless? - and it seemed to stretch on for an eternity. There was no end in sight, and no beginning besides the door she had just left, and even then...it felt like something very powerful, that was never meant to be broken. But she knew it was wrong, wasn't it? This was the Barrier. The thing that kept all her friends trapped, and...she'd just traveled the entire Underground within a few days. It couldn't have been that big.
So caught up with her examination and thoughts, she at first didn't notice the sound of creeping vines and shifting earth. Didn't notice until a dark chuckle. "Having fun, ChaRA?" Frisk turned around, her eyes widening as she screamed at seeing Flowey there, and far bigger than she remembered. Before a vine could snag her she was being pushed out of the way by something she couldn't see, her scream soon having the other three monsters running to her. Flowey hardly seemed to notice, only grinning widely. "Seven human souls, isn't it?"
"MOMMY! DADDY!" Flowey only laughed, another vine flying towards the girl before it was thrown off course by fire magic, blue energy wrapping around Frisk and teleporting her behind the three. Frisk clung tightly to Sans, her breathing ragged as she tried to hide from Flowey as best she could.
"Aw, look at how they CaRe for you," Flowey cooed, looking wildly amused, eyes glinting with sadistic glee. "They all do, don't they?"
"SANS! WHAT on Earth is going on?!" Sans glanced back to see...Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, all of them there... Eyes widening, Sans' gaze shot back to Flowey, growl in his voice as large skulls of indeterminable beasts flickered into life behind them.
"I will not let this timeline become like so many before it."
When Toriel tugged Frisk away from Sans, she whined, looking terrified. "Daddy?" Sans only settled a hand on her head, grin dangerous and sharp, powers flaring around him.
"It's alright, sweetie...I promised you that I wouldn't kill him, remember? But he is going to be in for a very bad time..."
Alphys' eyes widened as she tugged on Undyne's hand. "Has he always had this amount of power?"
"W-Well, I saw it once before when I first met the kid," Undyne muttered, scratching at her cheek. "But this looks even...more... Hey, Papyrus, is this normal?" Blue energy was already wrapping around Flowey and tossing him against the Barrier itself, blasts from the creatures in the air above him firing. Frisk watched, not sure if she should be horrified at Flowey himself...or the way he was being treated.
"I...don't know," Papyrus answered, a bit unsurely.
It seemed Frisk didn't have long to be horrified, since Flowey only tilted his head, looking as if he had hardly even been touched. "Ahahahaha. AhahHAAHAHAHA. YOU THINK YOU CAN CHANGE ANYTHING?! YOU'VE KNOWN FROM THE START HOW THIS ENDS!" A flash of power and six souls were hovering around Flowey, the flower smiling sweetly before cooing. "I already won~"
Toriel glared at him, nudging Frisk behind her. "You have six. You need seven. And we won't let you get hers."
"Who said I needed hers?" At that, vines were wrapping around the six monsters and dragging them into the air, painful energy coursing through them - most of it concentrated on Sans, who had to fight to cut off the startled, pained scream. "Now, now, Chara, we're not done with our game yet, are we?!
"After all, it's only just beginning..."
