"Inside, now!" Falmercia shouted, pointing at the door.
Sans' eye-lights were fixated on Falmercia's face, while it was understandable, her behaviour was completely unlike her. He had assumed that she would at least try to seem cool, calm and collected as usual, but she was pacing and she had the vibe of a ticking time bomb that would go any moment.
He didn't even acknowledge Papyrus when he entered the room with Gaster.
"FRIENDS, WHAT IS GOING ON? YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO SAY 'SURPRISE'." Papyrus said innocently.
Falmercia turned to face Papyrus, "Sorry, the party's ruined and that's all on me, I take full responsibility," She spoke fast, frustration showing in her voice.
"ARE WE JUST GOING TO STAND HERE AND DO NOTHING?" Undyne shouted, when Falmercia didn't respond, she huffed, "THAT'S IT, I'M GOING AFTER THEM!"
Falmercia suddenly turned to Undyne, "No, don't-!" But she was too late Undyne already left out the back door. "Dammit!" Falmercia let out a frustrated scream and punched her arm through the wall.
Papyrus approached Falmercia with a gentle look in his eye-sockets, "DEMON-"
"Don't call me that!" Falmercia snapped directing her anger at Papyrus. Sans felt himself take a protective step closer. "That's what they are, and, and, I'm not like them, not anymore! They don't care about anyone!"
Papyrus put his hands on Falmercia's shoulders, "FALMERCIA, YOU'RE SHAKING."
Sans blinked. How had he not noticed that? That was when he realised that Falmercia wasn't angry, she was scared. More scared than he'd ever seen her before.
Falmercia's mouth trembled as she answered, "You would be too if you knew what we're up against."
Papyrus didn't seem phased, "THEN PERHAPS DE-FALMERCIA, YOU SHOULD TELL US." How could his brother be so understanding when he knew the least about what was going on?
Sans smirked. His brother was so cool.
Sans turned his gaze, to Chara "but first, perhaps we should ask the brat here what vindic meant earlier. you knew he was up to something! why didn't you tell us?!" Sans shouted, and Toriel sent him a glare.
Chara looked down guiltily, "Asriel and I bumped into him on the way home… He said that if we told anyone, he'd kill Azzy."
Sans fumed, "you-"
Falmercia cut him off, "For once, the brat did the right thing." Sans turned to her in shock. Falmercia didn't exactly hide how much she hated Chara in the past, and now she was defending them? What was the world coming to? "He may not have struck a deal, but Vindic's an idiot. Demons can't lie and he said he wouldn't kill Asriel. So at least he won't kill Asriel, sure, any of the others can, but with the possible exception of Aropoph, they're all likely to be quick about it unlike him."
Sans looked back to Falmercia, still sour and feeling the need to place some blame, "And why exactly would the want to kill him in the first place?!"
Falmercia was silent for a moment.
"They must have noticed that my chain's broken. I know because they said suffer, then die. Demons don't have an afterlife, so dying is suffering." She said like that was an explanation.
"and what does that have to do with wanting to kill asriel?" Sans questioned.
Falmercia was having a really difficult time answering, "They must have sensed the contract between us. They want to make me suffer before they kill me. So, they're going to get to me, using you guys."
Sans… couldn't force himself to get angry at that. That implied… She cared about them? Since when?... Sans sighed. What was he thinking, of course he knew? Really, it should have been obvious from the way how she humoured Papyrus in his jogs and assisted the kids in their mischief. Not something someone so lazy would do if they didn't care.
Falmercia's soul for the first time ever could feel love rather than LOVE. And of course, her fellow demons would use that against her in this… revenge?... whatever this was.
Falmercia sighed, "Well, Papy's right, I'm just going to have to tell you." She looked up to Gaster, "Sorry, your Party's going to be completely ruined after this." She said in dry humour.
Gaster shook his head, "Learning about demons? That would be quite the birthday present."
Falmercia chuckled, before becoming serious again, "Alright, we're up against five demons. These demons were my kinship back before I got tired of world domination. They turned out to be useless without me and my sixth sibling, Frudole, the lust demon of the kinship, died.
"The remaining five are of course; The wrath demon Vindic, sin of vengeance, pride demon Wisac, sin of know-it-all-ism, envy demon Indigno, sin of unworthy reward, greed demon Megalo, sin of megalomania" Sans sent a glance at Chara, who looked down. "and my least favourite, gluttony demon Aropoph, sin of cannibalism."
Everyone in the room shuddered, Falmercia smiled dryly, "But don't you lot worry, you're not demons, so you're not on the menu, but I happen to be at the top."
Sans was already beginning to understand why Falmercia was so terrified.
"They might not have any souls with 'em, but all demons have a basic skill set. We all have aura's that compel mortals to fall to our deadly sin. We all have advanced soul checks. We all have varying increased strength and speed, by the way, for reference, I'm the weakest and slowest. We all are experts at soul magic and we all can form contracts." Falmercia continued to talk for a while, but everyone else remained dead silent, nobody wanted to miss a thing she said.
"We each can summon different weapons, suited to make things more difficult for us in battle. I summon a staff because I'm a sloth demon and it requires more effort to defeat someone with a staff compared to skill based tools. Vindic has a bow because he can't put passion or rage behind it like other weapons. Wisac will have a knife, a coward's tool that has blood cover him and damage his pride. Indigno will have a long sword because she will want everyone else's weapons anyway. Megalo doesn't get anything but has a special skill of being able to kill other demons with his claws. And Aropoph has the ability to eat anything so she never needed a weapon in the first place."
Gaster raised a hand and stopped Falmercia in her explanation, "Why wouldn't they just use mortal weapons?"
Falmercia answered, "Demon weapons are infused with hate, so half the damage they deal is unable to be healed with soul magic. Basically, if demons used regular weapons in demon battles we'd just keep being able to self-heal and we'd get nowhere."
Sans raised an eyebrow, "wait, chara said that demons can't be hurt by bad intentions,"
Falmercia nodded, "That's true for mortals, all demons are equally the evillest things imaginable, so the intent cancels out." Sans pondered that for a moment. He had a theory, but he couldn't voice it yet. He didn't have proof and he couldn't bear to bring the others' hopes up.
"A final skill that all demons possess is called the '100 rule'; if a demon collects 100 souls they gain 'true immortality' for 100 days before losing the 100 souls. A demon with true immortality gains infinite Hp and simply, cannot die." When Falmercia said this, she had a look in her eye, a 'planning look', and Sans wasn't sure he like it.
Falmercia continued her explanation, "And then we each have our own skills, mines enhanced intelligence; pretty much what it sounds like, I have an IQ of 300, an eidetic memory, and an enhanced desire check. While all demons can sense a mortal's desires, I get a better read on why they want something."
Sans could only find a mild comfort in knowing that he was outsmarted by the smartest of the demons he had met.
Falmercia frowned, "Vindic's abilities are mostly simple, he's stronger and faster, but because he is also the sin of vengeance, he knows how to make anyone hurt. I already told you Megalo's and Aropoph's abilities. Indigno can copycat anything she observes, in person, I should add, not that it matters so much with our lifespans. Wisac has boundless confidence, a slightly stronger aura but…" Falmercia hesitated, "Like Vindic he also has a specialised skill because his sin is so common. He can make you 100% certain in something that you already know. It sounds weird but… if you were only suspicious that your friend lied to you, he could make you certain, and unable to be persuaded otherwise, even with proof."
That… that didn't sound good. Sans shuddered when he remembered how Undyne ran off earlier.
"So, idiots, I have a plan!" Falmercia said confidently. Sans sighed in relief, finally, some good news.
"You lot are all going to pack your bags and go back and live in Alphys' old lab. The radiation from the CORE will prevent them from being able to 'short-cut' in and I can set up some basic barrier to prevent them from getting in. They aren't going to want to go anywhere near Papyrus, so he and Sans will go out and get supplies when you run out. Other than that, none of you are to leave. Meanwhile, I'll go out on my own to go for the '100 rule' and take care of things."
Everyone shouted protests at once, but Toriel's was by far the loudest of the bunch.
"There's no way I'm letting you kill a hundred innocents!"
Falmercia rolled her eyes, "I wouldn't be killing them, I'd just be making deals. There are easily a hundred humans that would sell their souls to become monsters now that they know that they're real and can do magic."
Toriel fumed, "You will still give them stained souls, do you know no shame?"
"no, she doesn't" Sans answered for Falmercia. He was angry about Falmercia's plan like the rest, but he couldn't place it completely on her. "she has this magical chain strapped around her soul that seals away her conscience. she can probably tell the difference between right or wrong but she simply cannot care."
Toriel blinked and turned back to Falmercia, whose silence only confirmed what Sans was saying.
"PLEASE FALMERCIA," Papyrus spoke up, "I KNOW THAT YOU WILL NOT FEEL BAD IF YOU CAUSE ALL THOSE PEOPLE PAIN, BUT I WILL KNOWING THAT YOU DID IT FOR OUR SAKE."
Falmercia looked at Papyrus with pain in her eyes, "The only other way puts all of you in danger." She pleaded.
"I DON'T CARE. PLEASE."
Sans had to admit, thinking about it, Falmercia's plan would have kept them all safe while putting herself at great risk, while having them with her would have kept her safer. He had to feel a small bit of respect for her DETERMINATION to keep Papyrus safe.
Falmercia closed her eyes, "Fine, we'll do it your way Paps."
