The Core
The next morning they got ready to adventure on, spending a few minutes buying a few things at the stores, but nothing really important. After that was the Core. Some shadowy people enter the Core, the duo received a phone call from Alphys, letting them know that there wasn't supposed to be other people here.
How queer.
They peer in cautiously, perfectly silent. Aurora didn't even dare breathe. For Frisk however, air was necessary.
The Core appeared normal, but looks were deceiving. Frisk's shoulders trembled, the Dragon-Girl singing softly in hopes to soothe him-no one else could hear her.
"You had your maps drawn...but you had other dreams to hang your hopes on.
Every road they lead you down felt so wrong...
So you found another way..."
They continue slowly, accompanied by flurries of footsteps, echos of voices, and electrical buzzing.
"The angel..."
"...ds good..."
"..Help me..?"
"I can't see!"
"The twin scars..."
Hushed voices appeared at the shaded end of the corridor. They grew louder and louder. Louder still-until the echo of their friends filled the emptiness. Someone was pulling the strings of this world.
"...hate me that much..?"
"...believe in you!.."
"I can't lose!"
Until another voice was heard in the inky darkness:
"..My color! Where is my color?!.."
The voices started to get to Frisk, tears appearing in his milky, brown eyes. Aurora silenced the voices, eyes flaring purple. She rubbed the tears from his eyes, murmuring words of comfort. It was only such.
An intersection appeared ahead, creating a four-way. As the two approached it, a figure darts across-Goner Kid. What was he doing here? He skidded to a halt as he caught sight of the duo, his blank stare hid panic, and he continued running.
Frisk's first reaction was to give chase, but Aurora held him back-she weighed the possibilities. Then she felt a pull on her magic in the kid's direction, so she followed it.
There in a cavern of a laboratory, an old friend typed away furiously at transparent panels. The Gaster followers rushed about, doing little jobs and fetching supplies for the working traveler. The floor beneath the figure was the color of ash, contrasting the blue-and-red theme. Segoe was back in Undertale.
Her and Goner Kid dipped there heads, speaking in hushed Wingdings. Her eyes caught theirs' and she dismissed the monochromatic Monster kid, turning to face them.
"You made it!" her eyes sparkled.
Aurora smiled,"You are the one that didn't respond to my messages."
"...messages..? Oh!" her eyes turned into triangles, "I-I was w-w-well..." she studied her feet.
Aurora shakes her head. "I know, I hope that you are feeling better at least."
"Better-" she turned her head in response to a flashing light on a computer screen to her left, "I do apologize for the mess in here. I found it abandoned, so me and the Gaster Followers set up camp." She returned to her work, "How are you two faring..?"
Aurora turns to Frisk,"We are doing well, We had a fun conversation with Sans."
Segoe exhaled in frustration, "I heard."
"Yes I know," Her eyes darken, "That wasn't nice of him, anyway what are you all doing?"
Frisk looked with worry at Aurora's darkened eyes, "Please calm down sis."
"Timeline tests," she nodded to a man with a face on his hand, he had brought her a mug of something steaming-she thanked him in Wingdings. "We're studying ways to secure time and events, the only way to set future in stone. You can implant anything into a person! Emotions, thoughts, events..." she took a sip from her coffee cup, her eyes sparkling with mischief, "Memories..?"
Aurora smiled sadly, "It wouldn't keep me in their memories." Her eyes turned back to normal,"I also can lock a time if that is of any help, though the cost is high."
"What cost?" was Frisk's quiet question.
"Nothing you need worry about." Aurora replied
"All in theory," Segoe waved her hand, dismissing the topic. "For the time being, I wouldn't ask you to do such a thing," Segoe took another sip, "We have almost stabilized this timeline, I've currently got the script goin-"
Frisk chuckled softly.
"What is so funny?"
"Script," he peeped.
"Alright," Aurora looks Segoe straight in the eyes as her's begin to glow a vibrant purple. "What made you think that it was a good idea to adsorb my magic, especially when you didn't know what type of magic it was?!"
Frisk was getting a bit worried as, around Aurora, formed a dark mist, "Sis?"
"I have no memory," Segoe's shoulders tense defensively, "I can only assume I knew what I was doing. It changed me, though. Ways that are...irreversible..." She doesn't tear her face from the screen. It was a feeble attempt to shield her tearing eyes.
Aurora takes a deep breath, "I understand that, I am sorry I didn't warn you earlier."
"So you have seen what it can do to a soul..?"
Aurora's eyes go black, "Yes... I failed to save that person in time," her voice was full of pain.
Segoe stiffened, "I see. Luckily, mine didn't...belong...to me, so I am fine. M-My... How do I put this..?"
"It was your brother's," Aurora had closed her eyes as the dark wind vanishes.
She didn't turn around, she stood, trembling. Silent sobs shook her lungs, and the duo could witness two translucent droplets hit the bluish tile-staining it grey. "So it was you..?" the steadiness of her voice betrayed her figure.
"No, I realized that later, I didn't kill him," Aurora walks up and hugs her, also she returns the color to the place.
In doing such, she caught sight of Segoe's face. Her left eye, glowing white, sported the color-corrosive tears. The right however, was purple, inky-black tears dripping down her cheeks. The magic changed the spectrum.
"I am sorry for the pain, But I thought I removed it all?" Aurora's voice was filled with sorrow and worry.
"The excess was removed...the stain? Not so much..." she summoned the shards that were her soul. They were blue, yes, but some were partially, or fully, pitch. "M-My soul wasn't always patient, it used to be hatred. That is where...this came from," she rubbed the black tears on her sleeve, "Your magic is the purple-taking away bits of the patience, and leaving the darkness behind." When studied closely, the black was outlined in magenta.
"Can I fix it?"
"Not sure," Segoe replaced it, "but I'm alive, for now, so I'm going to finish what I started."
"As will I, um, how much did you overhear?" Aurora had calmed down completely.
"Enough!" She spat, "That skeleton is going be judged for his actions one day!"
Aurora laughs, "The Judge will be judged, as we all are judged in the end."
Segoe laughs, the tears disappearing. Until she is brought back by a small beep and a box that clearly read "Error." She sighed, untangling the knot of miscode that she let appear.
Then an unsettling presence entered the room, growling, "Virus detected."
Aurora just rolled her eyes "What did I say about that, Sans?"
Too late, the attack already came. Before anyone could react, a projectile found Segoe's back. Greyish liquid spattering the floor, sapping away the color, but Segoe did not acknowledge it. She stared curiously at the bone that had impaled all the way through her, grey blood dripping from her mouth. It dealt no damage.
"You can't kill me, Sans. My hp is in negative numbers," her voice did not support pain or anger. She dislodged and removed the bone attack, causing more grey to spill, but she untied her bow from her waist, and wrapped it around her. 'Good as new.'
Aurora's eyes begain to burn, one black and one purple. With a wave of her hand she returned the color to the room, she then turned to Sans. The dark wind once more coming back, this time stronger, "Sans, care to explain?"
Frisk, had a tiny panic attack, and the Gater Followers rushed to comfort him. Sans' pinpricks averted contact and he tried to teleport, something heald him in place.
"Not so fast, Sans," Segoe returned to her work, still bleeding, "I need your assistance."
Aurora just stood there glaring at Sans.
"What..?" he seemed a little wary of her calm posture. His slippers squeaked as he made his way to her side-almost shoulder to shoulder, but safe enough to keep his color. Frisk seemed scared, he trembled. Sans eyed the codes dancing across the screen, his shoulders loosened, "Ah! Now I see! Here, I'll take this side." They seperated, Sans' phalanges clicking on the floating holograms of computers. Segoe organized data. The two were working together like old lab partners.
They occasionally shared hushed words, at one point it seemed as though Sans had made a joke!
Aurora calmed down enough to go over to Fisk and comfort him, the wind vanished but her eyes remained the same, "I am still waiting for an answer."
The two were too absorbed in their work to hear. More and more screens appeared, Segoe having an eye on each.
"Can I get our coordinates?"
"X-238.42, Y-1845.48, Z-00.235," she read a newly appeared monitor.
"Thanks."
"Are you alright Frisk?" Aurora wasn't happy, but she knows that she will get her answers soon.
Frisk nodded shakily, "I-It was just...force of h-habit. I haven't seen Segoe like this since...I..."
"Since you died..?" Aurora hugs him close.
"Since I k-killed her..." he hung his head in guilt, "It w-was more so her leaving with wounds, though... Sh-She told me the same thing she told Sans."
"Well, it looks like she forgave you, at least I get that impression." Aurora's eyes slowly become normal, "I hope that Sans will get over himself."
"It seems he already has! Look! They're comfortable around each other Sans is losing his color," Frisk smiled, "I don't see why they hate each other so much!"
"It does, so, are you excited for this?" she was trying to change the subject.
"Of course! I can't wait! I just.. feel kinda guilty, y'know..?" Frisk's eyes closed, and he let out a disheartened sigh.
"I understand that, but hey at least you can give them a happy ending."
"Y-Yeah! You're right, thanks, sis," he flashed her a Determined smile.
✂️❄️✌️? ゚ムネ ❄️? ゚ヨミ? ゚モᆰ ?¬リᄍ️?¬ワフ️? ゚ムネ?¬ワツ️ Segoe instructed Goner Kid, who played at her feet. ("Take this, please.")
He smiled softly, taking the empty coffee mug from her.
Aurora gives a sad smile at Frisk.
"Hey you two love birds done?!" she directed her attention at the techies.
They whip around in unison, "No."
Segoe returned to her work, furiously muttering curses under her breath about, "Stupid Aurora," and, "As if."
Sans held Aurora's glare for a moment longer before turning back around with slit eye sockets, "Let's get this over with, Virus."
She exhaled frustratedly in response.
"No what?" there was playful humor in the dragon's voice, "No you aren't love birds or no you aren't finished?"
Frisk chuckled softly.
"Both!" they shouted in sync.
Aurora laughed to herself, "So Bro, anything you want to do?"
"Hey, Segoe! Are we free to leave?" Frisk asked. She hummed a response, nodding yes.
She copied a strand into the system, but Sans intervened, "Nope! That goes here," he changed it's position.
"Oh yeah, thanks," she turned back to her work, Sans falling into his as well.
"I should call ya 'Error' instead of 'Virus,'" he joked.
"So off we go! To adventure!" As Aurora got ready to leave she sent a message to Sans, saying 'we will talk about this later.'
Also at Sans' remark Aurora's eyes darkened for a moment, "Please don't call her that! That name has some memories attatched to it."
"I'm kidding," he growled, "Bye."
Aurora leaves with a wave of her hand, in the other she holds Frisk's hand.
"See ya," Segoe called over her shoulder.
The Skeleton and the Spectrum continued saving the world.
