Level 6
"Splish, splash! Splish, splash!"
"Mary! Stop splashing me!"
Carrie held her hand ups in defense as Mary jumped in every puddle she found, giggling through her breaths.
Both sisters trailed far beyond where Sans walked, who was mostly taking in the sights around him than walking as fast as he should. In exiting a blanket of white he now found himself in a world of stone and water; where a river snaked by his side and endless waterfalls rained from the heavens. Truly the world of the monsters was something to behold, Sans thought to himself.
Because the snow was far behind him he felt no need to be as bundled as he was. But Sans stopped himself from taking off the blue jacket, having become fond of its comfort and snug sleeves. The bunnies however had gone ahead and tied the sleeves of their jackets around their waist; showing off their matching, stripped yellow dresses with short sleeves.
In retaliation to her sister's constant splashing, Carrie reached her hands out to a nearby waterfall and threw the water on her sister. "Take that!"
"Hey!" Mary turned red in the face out of embarrassment as she heard her sister giggle. She shook her head to get some of the water out of her fur before shoving her way over to the waterfall, throwing water back at Carrie. "Take that! And that!"
Soon the only sounds echoing were the joyful laughter of two young monsters. Sans felt a twinge of happiness swell inside his heart to see such merry play. That soon diminished when their laughter transformed into Papyrus' signature laugh in his head, reminding Sans of what his top priority was for the moment.
He gained a brisk walk before passing the girls. "Come on."
"Aw." Mary frowned, having drenched herself in water as was Carrie. She tugged on her sister to follow when Sans showed no signs of stopping.
"So mister, where do you live?" It was a simple question to Mary, like asking if one knew their name. She shook her body to dry herself from all the water she picked up, hearing Carrie whine behind her about getting her even more soaked.
Sans glanced at Mary behind him for a moment, now starting to pay attention to the road before him. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, maybe your brother is at your house." Mary locked eyes with her sister. "Carrie always come home whenever she falls in the snow."
"Mary!" Carrie grew upset with her sister, which Sans was starting to notice was a popular trend. "Don't tell him that! You're so mean!"
"It's true though!" Mary found herself getting just as upset with Carrie as she was with her, and Sans could only shake his head and press forward.
Just then the three came to a little square of extra land before the trail continued onward. It seemed to be barren, to which Mary decided to speak up. "Mr. Sagiv talks all the time about putting a sentry here. But since a human hasn't fallen for awhile no one wants to do the job."
Sans was really happy Sagiv didn't have a sentry here.
Mary idly looked up to Sans. "Oh! Have you seen the two humans yet? They came to Snowdin apparently!"
Carrie's eyes darted away from Sans as she stepped behind her sister and Sans got the feeling that Carrie was smarter than she looked. He decided to keep up his charade however while leading the girls back into following him. "No, I haven't seen them. Have you?"
"Nope! Pa won't let us near them." Mary seemed bummed when she spoke, her head hanging slightly downward as she kicked a puddle. "He says humans are dangerous because of how strong their souls are, but I think if us monsters tried really hard, we could beat them."
"Is there a difference?" Sans became intrigued with the conversation they were having, noticing the tunnel they were following get darker. In response to this, Carrie took Mary's hand as she walked behind her.
Mary opened her mouth to speak, but both were surprised when Carrie spoke up. "Human souls can live on even when a human dies. Humans are more capable of keeping their physical form then we are, that's why a human body can still keep its form even when their dead. Monster souls only disappear when a monster dies, and our bodies turn to dust because we aren't strong enough to keep our physical forms."
"Carrie!" Mary seemed surprised to hear her sister know so much, even Sans was a little baffled. "Where did you learn all that?"
"At the librarby." Carrie smiled now when she spoke, as if this was her favorite thing to talk about. "They have a lot of neat books in there about human souls."
"I still believe we could defeat a human." Mary revoked, though she didn't doubt her sister's words. "We already have five souls. If we can find two more, then the barrier will be broken!"
"Barrier?" Sans sounded confused at first, raking his brain for an answer he knew he had. Soon though his eye widened. "Oh, you mean the barrier that seals the monsters within this mountain, right?"
Mary nodded her head almost too excitedly. "Yup! King Asgore-"
"King Fluffybuns." Carrie added with a light giggle.
Mary giggled back. "King Fluffybuns says that seven human souls can break the barrier and let us all out. See, Pa told me that anything can get in the barrier, but nothing can get out unless it's broken."
"Oh, I see." Sans felt himself scratch at his cheek, the thought of trying to tell Papyrus that was almost frightening in itself. He could see the hysteria now. "So… nothing can escape?"
"Pa told me that a powerful human soul can escape." It was Carrie who spoke again, moving herself out of her sister's shadow but still following behind. "But no human has ever reached the barrier."
"The Royal Guard or King Fluffybuns stops them before they can escape." Mary added with a smile Sans didn't think was needed. "I don't think they knew where the barrier was!"
"Isn't it all around us?" Sans started to question how much these children knew, but the more information he could have the better.
"Well yeah." Mary stuck her tongue out. "But the only tunnel through the barrier and to the surface is through King Fluffybuns' castle. I've actually seen it once! It makes this weird noise like, 'shoooo!'"
Mary then proceeded to show off the sound effect, her mouth making an O as she moved her arms out to her side. Carrie only giggled.
"Heh, sounds fun." But while Sans smiled for the girls he made sure to remember what they were saying so he could relay the information to Papyrus later. Thinking of his older brother made Sans irritated to know they hadn't run into him yet, with his thoughts of this all being a trap slowly starting to be confirmed in his mind.
After passing a rushing waterfall the three soon found themselves at a small gap where a river ran through the area. Budding flowers were nestled together in the corner, and a bridge was not in sight for them to cross.
Sans frowned, knowing the gap was too big for him to jump across. Where was Papyrus though? Wasn't this a dead end?
He sighed, perhaps they had missed a room. "Guess we need to-"
However before he could finish he heard Mary and Carrie start to giggle. It was then that he noticed they weren't near his feet and instead were dancing around one another, arms hooked together while they spun in an innocent circle. Two of the giant buds rested on their heads.
Mary stopped and looked to Sans, wilding gesturing her arms over. "Don't just stand there! Come and join us!"
Sans was a bit confused when Mary let go of her sister, grabbing one of San's hands and tugging on it. "Come on, come on! You're missing out on the fun!"
"Alright, alright." Sans walked over to where Mary and Carrie were once dancing, noticing that Carrie had another bud in her hands. She gave the bud to Sans, who took it hesitantly.
His left eye looked down at the two of them for an answer, to which Mary pointed repeatedly at her head and nodding. Sans shrugged and figured, 'why not' and set the bud on his head.
Surprisingly the bud didn't fall off like he thought it would, nor was it really heavy. Mary and Carrie grabbed one of Sans' hands in each before twirling and circling around him, with Sans having to turn with them so they wouldn't have to let go.
Ring around the flowers,
Everlasting showers,
Dust fields, dust fields,
We all run away!
Mary and Carrie sung in a shouting voice as they circled Sans, eyes closed in happiness as they kept repeating the short yet haunting song. Sans wondered if this was supposed to be a children's song, but after he thought upon the lyrics for a bit he shuddered and thought not.
"Sing with us!" Sans looked down as Mary kept twirling about him, with giggles caught in her throat. "Come on, sing with us!"
"Er, that's ok." Sans responded, to which he got a small whine from Mary.
"But you have to!"
Sans eye looked off into the distance. "Maybe later."
"Aw." Mary let go of Sans' hand, puffing her cheeks out as if to stomp her foot on the ground as well.
With the dance done, Carrie decided to walk over to where the gap was that stopped them from proceeding earlier. Sans noticed as she got to her knees, gently tugging on the bud on her head and setting it down in the water.
Naturally the bud should have floated away down the stream, but instead it floated across the gap and ran into the other side, where it promptly stayed.
Sans cocked an eyebrow, but decided to follow what Carrie had done. He walked over to the gap, placing his bud down and watching it collide into the other flower but stay there. By this time Carrie had brought over the last one in the ground, setting it down as it floated over to the others.
Just one more and they would have made a small line across the water.
Carrie eyed Mary, who held her bud fiercely. "No! Not until Mister Monster sings!"
"Mary." Carrie lightly stepped over to where Mary stood, who quickly darted away.
"I said no!"
"Mary!"
Soon the two girls were chasing one another, with Carrie trying to grab the bud as Mary kept shouting no. Sans got back to his feet just as Mary had run over and behind him, sticking her tongue out at Carrie.
Carrie stomped her foot into the ground. "You're so mean, Mary!"
"Hey." Sans raised his hands as if to bring calmness to the hectic scene. He turned his head behind him to where Mary hid, giving her a soft smile. "I'll sing for you later, ok?"
"Promise?" Mary puffed her cheeks out, her small body lightly wiggling as she was preparing to bolt if Sans tried to take the bud.
Sans sighed, knowing he would regret this later. "Promise."
The simple word was all it took for Mary to let her anger go. She gave Sans a happy grin. "Ok!"
She then turned around and to the line of buds, where she happily placed hers. Sans wondered why they had done this to begin with, until the buds started to shake and shift before blossoming into giant flowers.
Sans blinked, not expecting such a thing to happen just as Carrie and Mary rushed over to the flowers. Sans' body hitched and he threw his hand out to catch them so that they didn't fall through the flowers and into the deep water, but was surprised when they ran onto the flowers and over to the other side.
Not once did the flowers falter.
"Hey, what are you waiting for?"
Sans stared at Mary and Carrie, who waited for him on the other side. Sans then hesitantly peered down at the flowers before him, lightly pressing his weight with his foot onto the first one.
When it didn't look like Sans was coming Carrie walked on back over, taking his hand and lightly tugging on it. "It's ok."
Her soft smile told Sans that it was going to be alright, and in trusting her he stepped onto the first flower.
A feeling of awe and shock washed over Sans when the flower held him, as if he were stepping on solid stone then a measly flower earlier. Carrie continued to tug on him as she led him over the flowers and to the other side, where Mary waited eagerly. "Come on, you two! Let's keep going!"
Mary rushed off just as the two had made it over, which surprised Carrie into running after her. "Mary, wait up!"
Sans watched the two children run after each other, but took a moment to look back at the flowers. He felt… giddy, and with a chuckle he soon found himself running after the girls too. "Hey, don't forget me!"
The next area was the same, with the three of them having to figure out where the flowers were supposed to line up in order for them to continue. Whenever they got it wrong Mary would always ring a bell attached to a wall, which brought the buds back. But eventually they figured out the pattern and continued on their way, entering a new area that was darker than the last and littered with small patches of grass that wasn't fully grown.
While Sans was having a fun time with the girls, he could still feel his fear for his brother crawling up his spine like an inchworm, completely ignoring what the girls were doing and saying at this point in time.
He was snapped from his worrying when Mary gasped. "Oh my goodness!"
She bounded ahead while pulling Carrie through a door frame carved out of stone. Sans followed behind into the darkness as the dim light behind him disappeared for glowing lights.
Sans felt his feet plant firmly into the ground as he stared up at the black 'sky', greeted by a million soft, blue lights. They twinkled and glimmered as if invisible light was shining on them here and there, and on the ground blue, glowing flowers littered the stone and gave a soft glow to the room.
Eyes darting around, Sans soon found a small telescope out in the distance, idly sitting there with no owner. A memory flashed inside Sans' mind, but as quickly as it appeared it all but disappeared before he could really reflect on it.
His attention turned to Mary and Carrie who seemed pleased to have come to this part of Waterfall, as they stood farther away and pointed to the ceiling. Mary shook Carrie's shoulder, bouncing up and down in her spot. "Come on sis! Make a wish!"
"Ok!" Hands clasped together, Carrie smiled when she softly spoke. "I wish my sister and I would see the real stars someday."
"Carrie, don't say it aloud!" Mary lightly shoved her sister, who whimpered. "If you say it aloud it won't come true!"
She then clasped her own hands together, looking eagerly at the lights. "I wish to run around on soft grass and feel the sun on my fur!"
"Mary, you can't say it aloud!" Carrie threw her sister's words right back at her, but she didn't seem fazed as she only winked back.
Sans watched the two girls shove each other while they started another bickering session, but Sans wasn't focused on it. His eye drifted upwards again, and with it his heart grew heavy. They wished on glittering rocks, and their sky was nothing but the walls of a mountain.
An eternal night.
"What do you wish for?" Sans was caught off guard when he heard Mary's voice, looking down to notice the two girls near him.
They seemed to be waiting for him to say or do something, to which he mimicked them and put his hands together. He closed his eye, thinking for a moment on what to say. "I wish…."
Cracking his left eye open, Sans grinned. "For a super deluxe hot dog."
"Hey!" Sans opened his eye fully when he felt both Carrie and Mary lightly shove him. Mary talked through her giggles. "You can't say it aloud! It won't come true!"
Sans couldn't help but chuckle along, his hands instinctively going back to the jacket pockets. "How do you know I didn't wish for something in my head?"
"Did you?" Mary seemed intrigued now, as if the notion never occurred to her. Her hands flopped to her side as she hopped up and down. "Well? What did you think? Tell me!"
"Heh, it won't come true if I tell you." Sans remarked, then took off to find a way to continue onward.
Mary puffed her cheeks out as Carrie giggled at her sister. "Hey! I won't tell anyone!"
"Sorry, kid." Sans replied, even when he felt Mary grab onto his arm and hoist herself up his body. She climbed her way up his backpack and rested her arms and upper half of her body on his head, peering down at him.
"Pleeeease?" Mary whined, her lips protruding without the need of Pringles.
Sans laughed again. "Nope, sorry. But tell you what, I'll tell you if you find my brother before me."
Mary's mind seemed to buzz as her eyebrows furrowed and she gave Sans a determined smile. "Alright, I will! I'll find your brother before you and then you'll have to tell me!"
She then patted San's short, black hair, pointing before him. "Now move!"
Sans laughed. "What, am I your transportation now?"
"I'm tired of walking." Mary whined, patting his hair again. "And I'm not leaving! So let's go!"
"Alright, alright." Sans was about to start walking again but then he noticed Carrie in front him. She was pulling on his big T-shirt, trying to hoist herself up but utterly failing.
Sans decided to help and scooped the little bunny into his arms, where she promptly gasped and hid her face from Sans. "Hey, it's ok. I won't hurt you."
Carrie poked one of her eyes out from her fingers to see Sans give her a safe smile, and that was all it took for her to drop her hands and get comfortable in his arms.
He smiled as they continued onward.
As he started walking though his leg brushed up against one of the glowing flowers; his voice suddenly coming from an external source. "Hey, it's ok. I won't hurt you."
Sans jerked back when he heard his own voice, to which Mary looked down at him in confusion. "It's just an echo flower, silly. They mimic whatever sound they hear."
As if to demonstrate she hopped down from her spot on San's head; rushing over to the same flower. Sans watched her touch the flower and he soon heard her voice come from within the flower. "They mimic whatever sound they hear."
"See?" Mary said, then touched the flower again as it repeated the word.
"Huh. That's… really cool." Sans head soon turned to look at all the other flowers in the room, wondering just what messages they held within their petals.
He would have found a place to sit and write this down, maybe even sketch a few pictures, but Sans stopped himself by remembering he needed to find his brother. He would have to come back here with Papyrus later.
"Ugh, it's so dark in here! But that must mean I'm getting close, right? …Sans, where did you run off to?"
Sans eye snapped to attention when he heard that familiar, complaining voice, his body turning desperately in every direction. "Papyrus!"
His brother wasn't in sight however, instead he found Mary farther off near one of the flowers. "Oh! Sorry!"
Mary took a step back when Sans hurried over to the flower, now fully engrossed in it. "Did you touch it?"
"Y-Yes." Mary admitted, eyes looking away before regaining their usual spark. "That must mean your brother came through here!"
Mary would have stated more but the minute Sans noticed a doorway in a bed of rock he had already scooped Mary into his arms and ran for it. Mary was thrown onto her sister, to which both bunnies tried to get off one another. "Mary!"
"Stop squirming, Carrie!"
Mary eventually got a hold of her limbs, scurrying up Sans once more and planting her small body in Sans' hood while holding onto his hair. "Slow down!"
Sans however didn't take into account Mary's pleas and instead pushed his way through the doorframe and onto wooden docks. His eyes scanned futilely for another path and once found continued onward.
They crossed the river on a small pad of wood, with Sans almost falling in due to lack of balance several times. He sprinted over more docks and long, winding tunnels; they even talked to a social outcast octopus, who seemed very determined to start a conversation. But soon Sans had to stop all his running and was forced to walk the rest of the way, his breaths short from carrying so much with the two girls and his backpack on him.
Mary noticed how tired Sans was and patted his head sympathetically. "Hey, why don't we stop and rest for a little?"
Even Carrie looked concerned, but Sans shook his head bitterly. "I'm fine. I don't want to keep Papyrus waiting."
Mary glanced at her sister, who thought the same thing. Just as Sans was considering taking up the offer, he noticed something before him. A small light shined down from where he assumed was the outside and onto a stone statue. Rain fell upon the creature's head and trickled down the body, and while Sans was more interested in the statue Mary and Carrie noticed something else. "The umbrella is gone."
"Umbrella?" Sans looked around the statue for perhaps a stone umbrella that might have been broken off, but there wasn't any signs on the statue that something broke.
Mary frowned. "Someone must have taken it."
Sans tried shrugging, but that was hard with a heavy backpack and a child on his back. He merely gave Mary a confused look before continuing on.
As weariness started to settle in, Sans felt a drop of water plop onto his nose. He looked up just in time to watch a torrent of water fall from the sky, experiencing his first rain in the Underground.
Mary squeaked and held her hands up as the drops of water hit upon her face. Apparently she didn't find water funny anymore.
Sans would have put up his hood but Mary was riding in it, so instead he spoke. "You can hide in my hood if you want."
"I think it's too small." When Sans turned his head back it seemed as though Mary was already trying, shuffling her body from side to side and pulling on the hood to get it over her.
"What about that?" Carrie softly asked, pointing to a silver trashcan not too far away. Sans approached it only to find a small note near the can reading, 'Please take one.'
With Sans holding Carrie he couldn't reach for the umbrellas, but Carrie seemed to be a step ahead of him. She grabbed one of the umbrellas and handed it up to her sister, who eagerly opened the umbrella.
With a pop the fabric had been thrown up and Sans could hear the rain hit the top. He looked down to Carrie with a smile. "Nice going, kid."
Carrie responded back with a light giggle, having taken fondly to Sans now.
Sans trudged further with Mary and Carrie still upon him; each step heavier than the last. He wondered just how far Papyrus had gone ahead, and the question of why was still burned inside his mind. Papyrus sounded upset in the echo flower, but there was also a hint of worry.
"Sir…" It was then that Sans could feel Mary put more weight on his head, the umbrella drooping a little.
Sans looked back and noticed that Mary was trying hard to stay awake, but failing. "I'm tired…"
Knowing that Mary was starting to lose consciousness, Sans looked down to see Carrie in the same boat. She rubbed her eyes and let out a few yawns, getting more comfortable in Sans' arms. He had forgotten that his companions were just children.
"Alright, we'll stop for now." Sans knew going back would be wasting more time than he wanted, so his only option was to take a rest.
With no spot in sight Sans found himself sighing, carrying two children who were starting to fall asleep. He didn't know what inside of him prompted him to do what he did, but opening his mouth, Sans started to sing:
My child,
it's time to go to bed,
Your face is getting red,
but I know best.
My child,
lay your head down please,
You must be getting so sleepy,
I know.
My child,
I'll tuck you in all nice,
"Kiss your forehead twice."
Sans felt his voice catch in his throat when Mary started to sing with him. Her words were slurred but she knew the song, which made Sans hesitantly look at her.
"You… you know this song?"
"Yeah." Mary rubbed one of her tired eyes. "It's the royal monster lullaby. All monster children are sung it, even Mama sang it to us."
Sans blinked, facing forward with a blank expression. "Mine too."
His voice crawling out into his mouth, Sans started once more, with Mary sleepily singing along. Her slurred lyrics mixing with a deep, velvet tone.
Kiss your forehead twice,
and sing you to sleep.
My child,
I'll do this every day,
So you can hear me say,
I love you.
My child,
it's time to go to bed,
Your face is getting red,
but I know best.
My child,
sweet dreams await you now,
And I will allow…
you to sleep.
Just as Sans finished up he noticed a hole in one of the walls. He found a small crevice where the rain fell lightly, deciding to sit down on the moist vegetation beneath him and take off his backpack. Mary crawled off of Sans' head and let him hold the umbrella while she crawled onto his lap. Carrie did the same, and while Sans figured they would have fought for space they simply fell against one another.
Sans lightly chuckled, seeing how these two girls could go from rambunctious to dead-tired in half a day. In remembering the time Sans dug through his pocket, producing the pocket watch. It was the evening in the real world, which made Sans huff.
He pocketed back the watch before getting comfortable with the rock wall behind him. He could feel Mary and Carrie's little bodies move up and down from their heavy breathing as they slept, and Sans couldn't help but know he would join them soon.
Closing his good eye, Sans felt himself drift off from this world and into another, where things were simpler.
He was taken back to when he was just a child, no older than 10. He remembered Papyrus getting him a plastic telescope for his birthday and sitting outside with his brother on that wintery night, gazing at the stars. His mom had given him a star constellation book for his birthday as well, which he used that night to find the 12 zodiacs and show to Papyrus.
Papyrus was always supportive of his dream to one day go into outer space. Their mother found it to be a simple hobby of Sans and treated it as such, but their father was less supportive of it. And as the night dragged on, with both of them laughing and having fun, they both had lost track of time.
His last memories of that moment were when Papyrus had carried Sans in from being out so late. He was drifting to sleep on his brother's back, but still remembered his father's gift sitting on the table. It was a study kit. A book he would never crack open.