Sooorrryyyy I've been gone for so long! English AP has had me occupied with constant essays and literature that's sort of difficult to understand. I'm fighting though, and I've managed to work up this chapter for you guys. So if you have anything to say about this double long chapter, please leave a review! I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Pessimistic-Comedy: No, we talked about this what are you doing- oh my god why.
Celia Rachel Kelsch: Forth Wall-Breakings are one of my favorite tropes. You should expect them in my stories because I do them for comedy. And A New Leaf was originally just so I could do a different Underfell story while still managing My Mistake, but then I continued planning extensively and found that it would be amazing if I could link the two and form them into one story while still staying to their respective kinds. I hope this proves to be fun reading alongside two different people in two different worlds. But the theme will stay the same: Family. Different but the same.
Throughout the Underground, I've seen lots of things across my travels. You know, the inhabitants running across the landscape freely, the younger monsters enjoying their moments of play while the adults would run after them, the warm, familiar feeling of having Asgore share his tea with me after we went above ground...Everyone was so happy. It was jarring to see that all the progress I made keeping my timeline safe went down the drain the second I tried to save Gerson's life. He meant a lot to me, and it was hard to move on after he passed away. I don't know how many times I've repeated this to myself. But every second I do it, I just feel like such an idiot. I should have listened to Sans.
Occasionally those thoughts would get worse, with me contemplating the idea of resetting the timeline just so I could have the old world that I knew back again. But...that just seemed so selfish. I always felt it was selfish ever since I wound up in this strange world of sorrow and loneliness. For a period, I thought that me abusing the SAVE ability I had was the real cause of this and not me writing in my diary something that never happened. But then, I realized that either option still made me feel like a villain, so I accepted both. It was both my diary and my abuse of my powers. So, I started up a pact as I walked through Waterfall.
Save once a day.
Save before anything important.
Don't go back if you missed something, only if you die; you should take your losses like a normal person would.
If you do die, take precautions to stop it.
If you don't, you're a fool.
Remember that what happened is your fault, so choosing to not fix your actions makes you a horrible person.
Periodically, I would often think that I was fated to wind up in this timeline, and these new people were supposed to be those that I stood by. But I would frequently remind myself that no matter how joyous it may seem to actually take part in a situation such as this where I can actually save that person I tried so desperately hard for, I sacrificed the world I had come to know so well. Was this what people called brooding? I guess so, considering my increasingly torturous mood. I'd never felt so down before. It felt like my mind was swallowing into an eternally dark void of which I was to be stuck in for the rest of my life. I turned by head to the ground as I walked. It wasn't until later that I realized Gaster wasn't speaking anymore. Perhaps he's talking to Macintosh. I would've dwelt on what Macintosh looked like, but I didn't have time. Because it was at that moment someone yanked on my arm and pulled me aside. The place where I stood earlier was occupied by a spear. I noticed that unlike the ones I've seen in my timeline, this one was red.
I look to whoever saved me to find Gerson standing there, an angry look on his face.
"Don't let yer guard down!" He spins me around and shows me Undyne, who stood at the opposite end of the path.
Undyne looked to Gerson. "So you're siding with the enemy now?"
"I never was with you, Undyne." Gerson shook his head. "Maybe trainin' you was one thing, but fightin' by yer side now that you're...this is another."
"You realize what I'm ordered to do to traitors, right...?"
Gerson gave a smirk. "Ya gotta catch me first."
Undyne formed a spear in her hand, causing Gerson to grip onto my arm tightly. He pulled me down the path quickly, breaking into a sprint. I looked to Gerson, shaken from that sudden attack.
"H-How'd she find me!?" I asked, panicked.
Gerson shuffled around in his pockets a bit before taking out a camera. My eyes widened at the sight of it. That was one of Alphys' cameras. I remember seeing Sans destroy one of them down around Snowdin Forest. Looks like Gerson had found another one. He saw my shocked look and nodded, dropping it to the ground.
"It's busted now, completely useless." Gerson shrugged, looking back to Undyne. "Spread out!"
We part, a cluster of red spears hitting the spots where we used to be. Gerson runs back over and grabs my arm, sliding to a stop and facing Undyne. He draws a sort of war hammer, something I'd never seen him use before.
"Old magic trick I'm gonna show yeh." He snickers.
'Yeeees, because magic is definitely a surprise at this point in my lifetime. Anna he's helping you, be grateful.' I told myself.
Gerson grabs the hammer tightly, watching as Undyne readied herself.
"The Hammer of Justice is finally being used?" She taunts, "That old tool is probably worn down from all the times you've never used it. Who's to say it won't crumble into dust with one swing?"
"Well obviously you learned under the wrong teacher." Gerson sighs. "What a shame. Yeh were promising. Guess I have to take back all the brilliant praise I've given ya, especially considering yeh were so disheartened yeh needed external validation to actually feel useful in the first place."
Undyne only seemed to get angry at his words. I could sort of see the tough relationship between them. The air itself seemed to tighten as these two glared daggers at each other. It was teacher and student, and the student was still so far behind the master. But Undyne was determined to prove me and Gerson wrong. So, she threw her spear forward, letting out a yell of rage. Gerson's eye seemed to glint for a split second before he tightened the grip on his hammer, causing the weapon to light up with the familiar blue glow I'd seen from Undyne's spears a long time ago in my home timeline.
As Gerson swung the hammer, his magic seemed to clash with Undyne's. It caused the spear to sort of bend before turning blue itself and speeding right back towards the commander, causing her to flinch and dodge the shot, falling over as it snagged her hair and tugged her to the ground. Gerson gave an excited laugh. Undyne just looked shocked.
"WAH-HA-HEY! HOW'S THAT FOR STRENGTH!?" He shouts, pumping his fist towards the sky, "I MAY BE OLD, BUT YOU'RE STILL AN AMATEUR!"
There was a gleam in his eyes, something I'd seen in the old Gerson. It seems that everything about this turtle was nostalgic, because the sight of his excited face caused me to smile all the same. For this Gerson, it was the spirit in battle- not treasure- that got him so worked up and giddy.
Gerson points towards Undyne. "Respect yer elders, kid."
He grabs my arm and runs off around a corner. I got that same gleam in my eyes as well. Gerson continued laughing quietly the whole way.
"I haven't battled like that in so long, I'd forgotten how it felt to be in one!" Gerson looks to me. "I wonder if you could feel that spirit all the same as I did."
"Most likely not, Gerson. I'm not a violent person. At least, I don't think so." I shook my head. "But your joy made me feel some of the spirit. I'm sure others do too, if you'd ever done such a thing around them."
Gerson ruffled my hair. "Yer a good kid."
I grin, looking around. Something hooked the diary strapped to my side, sending it to the ground. There was a red spear in it. Instantly, I found myself dizzy. Shaking fatigue off of me, I run over as the spear disappears, grabbing at as Gerson once again tugs me out of the way of something that might impale me. Flipping through the ruined book, I find the page where I wrote my age down. It was absolutely ruined. As we took cover around a corner, I find myself shrinking back to what I used to look like: an eleven-year-old girl. Gerson looked me over for a bit before nodding with satisfaction. He didn't need to ask any questions to understand that I had always looked this way. The result was pretty relieving actually. I don't think I'm ready to grow up at all. Nope. Never never. Nobody's making me.
I could faintly hear thudding sounds approaching us. Gerson pulled me close and held a breath, looking to see Undyne's form standing just beside us, staring off in the distance. I flinch and grit my teeth, with Gerson putting a hand over my mouth. She looked left...right...and I swear I could feel her gaze upon me. But she turns and leaves the scene, having not found us at all.
"Ya okay...Anna was it?"
"Mhm," I respond, "I'm fine. Just a bit shaken is all,"
"I can't believe yeh let yerself get caught so easily."
I took out my diary and ripped out the ruined pages, which were quite a lot. That meant I needed to get writing again. Gerson looked like he was going to speak, but he hushed himself and turned his head away. I was going to ask why before I looked down at my book and realized. He was just being respectful.
"Hey, I don't write anything personal in here. It's fine." I nod.
"Yeah? What's that book for anyways?" He asks.
"It lets me SAVE."
"...So you're like that other kid that passed through here. The brown haired one."
He's talking about Frisk. My eyes widen a bit at that. Is he somehow aware of the SAVE ability too?
"Y-Yeah. They're a friend of mine."
"Relax, I'm not bloodthirsty." Gerson sighs. "Won't lie, it's annoyin' doing the same old things because someone's yankin' all my strings. But it can get fun sometimes. That doesn't make it right, mind yeh."
"I understand," I explain, "That's sort of how I got caught too."
"Eh?"
"I was thinking about how I got here, and what my SAVE ability had to do with it."
"Yeh mind explaining?"
"...In my home timeline- I am so sorry if that sounds confusing."
"Nope! I'm aware of 'em! I know it ain't easy ta see, but there's knowledge in this old geezer's skull." He taps his head a few times, chuckling.
Huh, looks like I was right.
"Well, in the timeline I used to belong to- because this isn't my regular one, y'know- you...died. Murdered in cold blood."
Gerson went quiet at that, but soon spoke up. "So let me guess, you messed with that SAVE function, and yeh tried to bring me back."
"I had the best of intentions, Gerson. Please understand that I didn't mean for all of this havoc to start!"
"Don't blame yourself, Anna. It would've happened anyway."
"...What?"
"I know it may be hard to explain what's going on, but trouble has been going on down here before anyone's even heard of yeh. I think yer blamin' yerself because guilt's gotten into yer noggin."
I looked down and closed my book after I finished writing, closing my arms around myself.
"I'm sor-"
"Don't apologize. C'mere."
Arms wrapped around me. Gerson rested his head on mine.
"...Y'know, Undyne used to love these quiet moments," Gerson spoke, "The king's gotten to her though...And I can't reason with her anymore,"
"What happened with Asgore...?"
"He was so set on breaking her mental strength and digging into her mind. Now that she's been conditioned the way Asgore wanted her, I think she's lost for good."
He looks down to me. I could see a single tear down his face. "This is just the rambling of an' old turtle though. Wouldn't want the young one to worry now would we?"
I hug Gerson back. "It's fine, Gerson. I'll bring her back for you."
Silence...
"You're a good kid, Anna. Don't you ever doubt that."