Freezing puffy flakes twist and turn in the howling winds. The temperature dropped to freezing and caused crystalized ice to spread across windows. In Snowdin, it was not common for the weather to be a clear lovely chilly day one moment then turn into a white hellish blizzard. During those times, the town's only tavern, Grillby's was packed with monsters drinking merrily to drown their sorrows and enjoy the warmth of the indoors away from the blistering cold. This is how the partially short skeleton felt as he drank eight shot of fire whiskey, down the hatch. Giggling hysterically, tell his puns from left to right. It was easy for Sans to appear to be happy when there was a permanent smile plastered on his face. His blue soul was still drowning in Gaster's emotions of losing a beloved child. He couldn't wrap his mind around how his father could love Alice so deeply but turn around and hurt Arial. From a scientist point of view, his actions were logical. When dealing with test subjects, it was importation to not get emotionally attached. Doing so could put a strain on the project and the final results.
"Grillbz," the short skeleton called out slumped over the bar table as he snickered. His mind felt hazy as lustful eyes glared up at the sexy flame monster. Maybe what he really needed was to feel something else that was less depressing? Bony hands reached out to grasp the bartender's vest, pulling Grillby down to his level. The smell of alcohol drifting from the skeleton's mouth, edging the flame monster close for a kiss, but was quickly cut off by a fire hand place over his teeth. "Why, Not?" Sans grumbled.
"I can't, Sans" Grillby sighed removing Sans' hands from his clothing, looking at the empty stool next to the skeleton. His fire soul was burning very brightly this morning but dimmed down with every passing hour. He hadn't seen his crush for days and started to worry something bad has happened to her. Arial had a habit of not showing up when Sans was around. The fire monster was getting tired of this hide-seek game he had to play with his two best friends. He grumbled to himself while clearing empty glasses and bottles off the bar table. How many more years was she going to hide from her fears? Grillby groaned a bit in anger, tightly wrapping his flame fingers around a beer bottle. The usually orange-yellow flamed hand quickly turned deep red, a glob of deep yellow started to ooze down the side of the bottle. Grillby opened his hand releasing a hot steaming lump of melted glass, onto the bar table. The redness in the flames was not going away. A cloud of uneasiness floated round Grillby, who didn't speak a word. Something was not right. The monsters surrounding the bar whispering to each other. Every once in while looking up at the fiery bartender, wondering what set him off, Stools started to slide across the floor as a few customers moved to another part of the tavern until Sans was only one left sitting at the bar.
"And you didn't even need a kiln. What's with the arts and crafts, hot head?" the skeleton deeply sighed picking up a half-empty bottle of beer, placing it in front of Grillby. He couldn't blame the other monsters feeling a bit intimidated at the moment seeing most of them were organic. The storm was still blowing hard outside, so there was nowhere for them to go. So it was up to the skeleton to calm down his friend before his elemental magic got out of hand.
Grillby hung his head in shame, reaching out for the beer, but stop to notice that his hands were still reddish. He couldn't do this anymore, keeping her a secret. Grillby carefully picking up the lump of glass, before using heat to mold it into a shape of a heart that fits in the palm of his hand. "Do you know anyone named Arial?"
"Yup sure do Pal...She's my half-sister…" He chuckled to himself as he remembered she was parted in two. "It's a long story… All I'm going to say is my pop was like a real-life Dr. Frankenstein but used DNA instead of corpses." Sans deeply sighed, looking at the glass heart in the fiery hand. He should have seen the sign a million timelines ago. He was so fixed on destroying the demon child that he didn't realize Grillby must have found his mate. Of all the monsters in the Underground, it had to be Arial. It was similar to what was happening with Papyrus, but this was different, the fire monster's relationship reset back to square one in each new timeline. A tiny groan escaped Sans' mouth as he quickly grabs his beer bottle and chucks it down. He was going to miss fooling around with Grillby, but his friendship was more important. He pulled his cell phone out of its pocket. Good pals always help their buddy get the girl of their dreams. "Yo, Undyne, are you at Alphys'…Can I speak with Ariel...I'm at Grillby's…No one here is wearing fox mask…I'M TELLING YOU SHE'S NOT HERE!" he shouted before hanging up the phone, not noticing he gained the attention of every monster in the tavern.
In the center of the tavern was four Royal Guard dogs seated around a table with poker cards, but none of them was playing as they looked at one another then at the skeleton sitting at the bar. A soft whimper escaped a tall white dog's mouth wearing metal-gray armor. He leaned over and rubbed his head against the head of a short dog in a pink muscle shirt. Which caused the dog to snap back, pointing a paw at the two hooded dogs across the table. Hard to tell what was being discussed seeing no one else was fluent in doggy. One of the hooded dogs broke away from the pack as they headed towards the bar.
The hooded dog leaned over the skeleton as a round snout poke out from underneath, smelling the air around them "You'r e looking for a fox… Right…I think she was a fox…But she smelled strange. Kinda like you, but." the voice spoke, pulling down their hood revealing a female dog with long eyelashes. Sniffing the air again trying to decide if she should continue speaking or not. "She also smelled like the weird tiny puppy she was with…I remember seeing them at one of those puzzles made by that tall skeleton...the one that smells like yummy tomato paste."
"Thanks." Sans nervously replied petting the female monster on the head. The dog monster seemed a bit weirded out by this, leaning in close to sniff the skeleton's jacket. His eyes grew wide as a wet dog nose pushed against him. Panic washed over him at the sound of his bones rattling. Bony hands quickly grabbed the edge of the bar table trying to use all of his willpower to not move an inch. " Grillbz!" he called out, scared at being so close to a canine, hoping she was not looking for a new chew toy.
Sans tried calling out again, but no one answer or sign of the flame monster. Leaning his arms back he pulled himself on to the other stool before crawling over the bar table. Behind the bar was off limits for customers, but he didn't care. Grillby knew skeletons disliked dogs and all, seeing that they were completely made out of bones. So why would he leave him alone with one, unless? "Shit!" Sans cried, heading towards the kitchen to find Grillby putting on a winter jacket. "You can't go out there…"
"I don't care…She's my soulm…Arial must be in danger!" Grillby yelled wrapping a scarf around his neck. Even if skeletons could withstand the cold, Sans comment she was a half-sister. It was hard to explain it, but his soul was trembling with concern and fear. No matter what, Grillby had to find her quick? A flame hand reached out for the back door of the kitchen, only to have his body fling against the wall. Gasping for air as he felt something pressing on his orange soul. "SANS!"
"Sorry, Pal," Sans said not making eye connected with Grillby. Never in his dreams, had he thought would he have to use magical psychokinesis on him. There was no way in hell he was going to watch his best friend risk his life in a blizzard. The fire monster could be right, Arial may be in danger. If she were caught in a storm then she would be in danger of getting hypothermia. What if in this timeline she took Papyrus' place to die at the edge of Snowdin's border? Pulling the cell phone back out of his pocket "Hey Undyne, I need Alphys to check all footage around the Snowdin Forest and the border that leads to Waterfall, for Ariel "Sans demanded gripping down hard on the phone and glaring at Grillby. "She's inside a sentry station …Stay here I will be back in a moment." his voice trailed off as blue light covered him completely, disappearing into thin air, reappearing in an area that was covered in a white cloud. Snowflakes were twisting all different direction in the wind.
"ARIEL!" Sans called out over and over again, the harsh blowing winds muffled out his voice. Placing an arm across his forehead, he leaned down trying to block some snow from blinding his vision. All around, there were snow sculptures with a long snake-like body, a few still supporting a head, shaped into a dog's face with its tongue hanging out. In the center of the snow-dogs was a station with windows closed tightly. "ARIEL!" he called gripping onto the wooden siding, bit fearful that wind could carry him away.
"Sans?" a weak voice called out from inside the station. The skeleton opened the back of the station door slowly finding a large lump covered in white cloth nuzzled in the corner. A soft purple light beamed from under the fabric. Stepping into the room, a bony hand extended out in front of him toward the lump, but stopped as the light disappeared. His mind became hazy as dark red crimson spots soaked through the fabric. The skeleton body shivered in fear while carefully placing a hand on top of the lump. Blue tears streamed down his cheekbone as the lump moved slightly coughing, red spots vanished.
"Al...Ariel" Sans cried, pulling down the cloth, finding a human-skeleton girl looking up with tired, cloudy eye. A weak half smiled spread across the pale human side face as a trembling hand wiped his tears away before resting on the side of his face. Pleasant calm feeling enveloped the blue soul as his skull relaxed deeper into the girl's hand. He could stay like this forever, forgetting sadness and darkness of life. All he needed was the quiet calmness of...A tiny cough was heard as it rushed Sans' mind back to reality, seeing a purple light glowing from Arial's left eye socket. "Don't" Sans snapped; knowing perfectly well, she was using magic to soothe his soul.
"Frisk...w..as…sca..red." Arial breathed heavy, tiny white clouds escaped her lips. Her bony hand slowly undid the rest of the white cloth around her body revealing a human child sitting on her lap. Her fingers ran through their brunette hair. The town was so far away and the blizzard came out of nowhere. Hiding in the station away from harsh winds helped, but didn't stop coldness from sucking the warmth from their bodies. Using magic was the only way to keep the child's spirit up and calm their soul. She couldn't sit by letting the last key to the monster's freedom, die.
"What the hell are you doing out here?" Sans asked glaring down at Frisk, who was burring their face into Arial's chest. No dark aura was dripping from the child or any sign of the rosy-cheeked demon. The skeleton couldn't let his grudge down. He knows perfectly well that the Kid had killed countless souls before that devil had ringed its neck into the picture. Their innocent act was making him sick to the stomach. The demon within them was a murdering sicko, but it didn't mean Frisk was a sweet angel. Blue orb flickered in his eye shocked as a bony hand reached towards the child. Wanting desperately to turn them into dust. Deep hatred filled the air as a dark shadow loomed over Frisk. The child's body turned slightly, smiling sweetly at Sans. Their tiny hand was tucked across their chest pulling away, purple light cast over their chest. Cupped between the tiny fingers was a purple heart. Every passing minute, it was losing its shimmer and glowing darker as magic seeped into the human child's body.
Arial smiled, carefully petting the side of the little one's warm cheeks. "Sorry…I want to fr…" Arial's weak voice trailed off, looking up at her older brother. Never losing her smile, leaning the human side of her face on Sans' shoulder, breathing in deep scent was embedded in the fabric of his blue jacket. She always hated the taste of ketchup, but it had a heavenly sweet smell to it.
"ARIAL…ALICE….ARIAL!" Sans screamed repeating the names over and over. His soul tangled up in emotions of sorrow, the blue-orange light glowed from under the cotton shirt. A bony hand placed on the back of the girl's raven hair, pulling her closer to him. No, he had to get control of himself, not letting Gaster's emotions take over. If he killed the Kid, then everything could reset, she would be alright. Just kill the human child. His bony hand reached out, tightly pressing around Frisk's tiny fragile neck.
"Sanssy" Frisk coughed, a smile spread across their face trying their best not to let it twist into a painful expression. A tiny hand slowly held up the pale purple heart in front of Sans' skull. The blue light vanished as two white orbs came into focus in the skeleton's eyes. Sans couldn't do it, the Kid hadn't done anything wrong in this timeline yet, it was Arial's decision to give them her soul. "Grillby's?" Kid asked as their eyes cast down on the cold wooden flooring.
"What?" the white lights in Sans grew in puzzlement at the Kid's request. This kid, had the guts to ask him to take them somewhere? He almost had the right of mind to let the brat die in the frozen cold, but Arial wished to save them. With a deep aggravating groan, a bony hand placed on top of the Kid's head as blue magic twisted around the three of them. In a blink of an eye, all three of them were on top of a large table. "GRILLBZ!" the skeleton screamed noticing that they were on top of a table laden with poker cards.
The howling, barking, and poker cards filled the air as the dogs were startled. His skeleton bones shivered at the sight of four dogs angrily looking down at him for interrupting their game. Frisk smiled at Sans while placing the purple soul in the skeleton's bony hand before standing up, turning away from him, and held out a friendly hand to pet each dog on the head. The dogs seemed to be enjoy petting time and calming down, but that didn't help Sans' anxiety, sitting on the table, like a deer caught in headlights.
Out of nowhere, fire hand place over Arial's cold cheek as an arm scooped under her limp body pulling her away from Sans, bringing the skeleton back to reality. The skeleton watched as the warm flames cradled completely around the tiny freezing girl's body. Grillby took a seat in an empty booth. His hand carefully brushed the fleshy face, the tip of his finger turned neon green.
"Grillbz…I'm sorry," Sans said weakly taking a seat across from the fire monster, placing a grayish purple heart on the table.
"Arial…Please wake up!" He called out running a hand through strands of raven hair. No movement, but for slight breathing in the chest. The fire soul screamed in a rage after all these years of yearning to see her face, only to have her life slowly slip from his heart. This was not right. No, he couldn't let her go, not like this, not his soulmate. The fire monster placed a hand on his chest, pulling away, heart cast in flames floated in his hand. Carefully taking his other hand to force the girl's mouth opened, while slipping the orange heart inside. The monster groaned a bit feeling a slight wetness touching the fire soul. What he was doing was reckless and forceful. Swapping souls was something that was only done between those that wished to become soulmates. For monsters, it was similar to humans exchanging rings. If potential mates were able to harbor each other's soul for a year, then they were true soulmates. If something went wrong they could both be dusted. Grillby screaming in agony, closing Arial's mouth shut, causing her body to jerk and twist, orange light beamed from under the skin until the heart rest nicely inside the girl's rib cage. "I'm sorry," Grillby said softly, picking up the gray-purple soul and swallowing it.
Without another thought, Grillby leaned over and pressed his rock mouth on to Arial's lips. Orange magic swept down in flames traveling through the girl's throat to the rest of her body. The fire monster slowly pulled away watching his lover's eye slowly open. Breaking into a fit of laughter, he pulls her into his chest tightly. She was alive.
"Grillbz" Arial choked, not sure what was going on. Her chest felt tingling warm and strange, somewhat empty at the same time. The head was lighter than usual, leaning deeper into the black fabric of the bartender's vest. Why was he laughing? The usually tiny voice that reinsures her about things, was not speaking. Tears welled up in her eye socket. She was lost for words on what to do; it felt like someone importation was taken away from her. A flame hand sizzle a bit as it softly dries the tears from her eye.
All around her she could hear the clinging glass and cheering filling the air, Arial's body was slowly lifted up into a sitting position. Her cheeks turn a deep pink, looking around to see every monster looking towards her direction. Her hands quickly wrap around her face, wishing to disappear from sight.
"You're Beautiful." It was the only words Grillby could think to say, after what he had done to her. He just forced Arial to be his soulmate, could be easily undone. The purple soul was still too weak from losing so much magic and it still was painfully cold. It was a good thing he was a fire monster which helped to conserve magic to warm the soul up. The purple soul beat against his chest, Arial slouch over, placing her head on the table. Grillby could feel the fear and anxiety beaming from the purple soul. "its alright." the fire monster spoke softly.
"Why were you…you laughing?" Arial asked feeling a tingling of warmth again inside her chest but also felt on the side of her cheek. A fire hand cupped the bottom of her chin as the girl's face pulled up to see the orange-red flame turn into a smile on his face. Without waiting for permission, he pulled her into a kiss. Everything felt like wobbly jello as her body melted into the passionate kiss. It only lasted for a second, but lips still warm as coldness brush against the skin, causing chill ran down her spine.
"True Love's First Kiss" Grillby answered watching her cheeks turn deep red, it was their second kiss, but he wasn't going to tell her that. The first one felt like such a cliché fairytale kiss that he had to steal another one to see what would happen. Adorably hot was the only description that trailed in his mind, wrapping his fingers around her waist. Both their souls were racing as his finger playful slid across the black sash keeping his soulmate's kimono top, closed. She had an odd appearance, but he found it breathtaking. All he could see was her face and hands. Ariel's face had a vertical and geometric shape, one side was just bone while the other side was covered in pale pinkish human flesh. He's never seen anything like that. One of his favorite parts, for now, was the purple iris eye; it's the same color as violet flowers and her soul. Deep down, he hoped that she felt the same way he did about her. With her consent, he could easily undo the black bow in the back to see more of her. Arial was still a minor, he promises for now that he would not pressure her into anything else against her will, maybe just a kiss, that was it. For now, he had to stay in control of his heat and focus on healing her soul.
"Ummmm….Gggggrrrriiiiiiillllllbbbbbbz …?"
"I think you broke sleeping beauty." Sans laughed, not taking his eyes off Grillby or Arial. It was a smart move the fire monster did. He couldn't help feeling a bit worried about their souls. If something went wrong, Grillby's hot body could have toasted the purple soul or Arial's wet insides could have smothered the orange fire soul. "Grillbz, don't you think the Princess, needs to take Donsoap?" he leaned over the table as his fingers glowed a slight blue color, flicking the flesh part of the girl's forehead.
"Ouch!" Arial cried before a tiny pill was popped into her mouth. It was used similarly to a shield for fire monsters to prevent their elemental bodies from burn things. Causing the fire to just feel like warm steam against the skin, without moisture. For Arial, it was being used as protection from the blazing heart, beating in her chest. "Why'd you do that?"
"You're a bonehead", Sans snapped, not forgetting the stupid stunt she pulled back in the forest. If she had died back there, how was he going to explain that to Papyrus? Sure, the short skeleton was an emotional wreck back in the forest, but all that had to be Gaster's emotions. Right? He was only protecting her because she is so dear to his little brother and Grillby, who was his brother-in-law now. The skeleton chuckled to himself, slipping out of the booth, and pulling out his cellphone to quickly text Undyne that Arial was alright and was with him. It was five o' clock, so there was plenty of time before the family dinner. He had spare time to raid the tavern kitchen for ketchup to re-fuel his magic. Pink slippers slid across the white flooring as he made his way to the fridge. A bony hand reached out and grasped the metal handle, laughing a bit; remember the time Grillby had seducingly pushed the skeleton against the fridge door. Those times were over; there were plenty of other monsters in the Underground. A strange bad feeling was starting to sink in, a monster which he had sex with was now a mate to one of his siblings. What would happen if she found out about them? It would be awkward, but he was sure Grillby would never tell, out of fear of losing her. So it should be alright. Why should he worry about the girl anyway? What he needed right now was to keep the Kid interested in this timeline as long as possible until he found more information about Gaster's research. Sans pulled away from his thoughts as he felt something tugging on his blue jacket. Speak of the devil. Looking down he could see Frisk standing next to him holding up a ketchup bottle, their eyes cast to the ground. "Do you have something to say, Kiddo?" The human didn't say a word as the bony hand grabbed the bottle from them. "I thought so….If you ever touch one of my siblings' souls again, I swear I'm going to dunk you right into hell…. I'm not kidding." the blue flamed up in his left eye socket for only a moment, returning back to the white dot. Both of them silently headed back to the others.
In the tavern dining area, Grillby had pushed back Arial's left sleeve finding the black burn marks decorated all over her arm, and then quickly pulled down the other sleeve to find scars on her bone. The flames behind his glasses turned a bit red, not appreciating the damage found imprinted on his soulmate's body. What did W.D Gaster do to his daughter? No, wonder she was scared of the skeleton brothers all these years. It seemed like something had changed between the siblings as he watched the short skeleton place his ketchup bottles on the table and slide into the booth. Ariel hasn't tried to run away. Something in the back of his mind was telling him to tug on the girl's ear lube to lighten up the mood a bit. A fire hand brushed back her raven hair, leaned down, and lightly bit and pulled on the ear.
A soft moan escaped Arial's lips, turning her head around quickly up at the fire monster, pulling her arms away from him. "Grillbz….I'm al...rig..ht.. It was a long time ago…Sans, help" Arial called out, wishing Grillby would give her some space, as she covered her ear. Her eyes went wide a bit noticing goosebumps on her arm. Did that arousal her?
"I'm Sorry, Princess," Sans said glaring at Grillby, watching the flame monster take one of the ketchup bottles and starting to drink it. He didn't care what those two did later, no way in hell he was going to watch them do lewd stuff in front of him. Was he being jealous already? He was positive that Arial was still a virgin; if the flame monster did decide to do the tango with her, not on his watch. Alphys would find out and tell Undyne, who would probably crack his skull with one of her spears for not protecting his sister from a wolf in heat. "I would Lava to help, but looks like you've met your match because he's got the hots for you."
Arial deeply sighed; for once she did not like her brother's bad puns. Why was he calling her princess? Did she look like a damsel in distress that needed…Her thought pulled away looking down to see that Grillby was pulling her sketchbook out of her bag, placing it in front of them, opening to a clean page. She watching in interested, as a flame hand draws an almond-shaped outline, inner circle, and dot in the center. Then moved on to draw a heart under the eyeball, and letter u. A deep pink blush spread across human-skeleton's face taking the pencil from him, wrote the number two. She was not sure where their relationship was going, but symbols on the page were embracing warmth to the soul. The kind of connection she had with Papyrus the other day, but stronger and different. This one made every fiber of her body tingled in pleasure. "Stop that", she told herself looking around to focus her mind on something else. Then she noticed the human child looking up at her with puppy dog eyes. She slipped off of Grillby's lap, positing herself next to him, and leaning down to pick up the child. "Grillbz…This is Frisk…They are new to the Underground…They are trying to get back home."
"Arilly." Frisk smile, hugging her, rubbing their face into her chest.
"I'm alright...I'm happy you're alright too." Arial smiled, hugging the child as she started brushing back their brunette hair. The child's hairs were so soft as it curled around one of her fingers. For a second, the brunette color turning into a black flame that curled around her finger. Her purple eye looked up at the fire monster then over to Sans, wondering if they were seeing what she was seeing. None of them seemed fazed a bit as both of the male monsters took another hit from their bottles. It must have been a trick of her mind, as sh lifted a hand up trying to make the top flames on Grillby's head curl around her fingers, nothing happens as her fingers felt like going through warm steam. Flames don't curl. She pouted a bit pressing her back into the cushion of the booth, wondering why her mind had conjured the image. "Don't you have to work, Grillbz?"
"Nope…Closing early….Once the storm goes away" Grillby answered, still not having the heart to tell Arial that she was carrying his soul. She would definitely find out if they were separated too far away from each other, their whole body would tense up or shut down completely .
"Then it's six for dinner, tonight?" Sans said, knowing perfectly well how the soulmate rituals went. He leaned back watching the three of them on the other side of the booth. The peacefulness was interrupted as something vibrated inside his winter jacket pocket. A bony hand reached inside and pulling out a cellphone displaying a text message from Undyne. The white lights in his eye socket widen as the skeleton read the text.
"Comic Sans Skeleton this is Alphys Dino. Thank you for saving my daughter and I hate to trouble you, but I need you bring Arial and Grillby Flames II to me. I know you told us not to worry and she's alright but she is part human, there's no telling what effect the fire soul may have on her body. She's still a child."
Sans groaned at the use of his first name. From the sound of the text, it was clear that Alphys knew about the soul swapping, but how? The skeleton looked around until he spotted a security camera behind him on the ceiling and another one hanging over the bar. In the last timeline, the reptilian science had hacked over a million cell phones warning them about a dangerous human. So it was no surprise to think this time she used her hacking ability to hack the traven's camera and probably many other cameras in the Underground. If Sans returned her home now, he could lose the chances get some of his questions answered. Why did mothers have to be so protective of their children?
"I would love to help you there, but the storm is still going on and I'm not sure if one of my shortcuts is the best thing right now. Arial's soul is still weak and I don't know the effect it would have on swapped souls…I could always come get you." Bony fingers texted out words before hitting the send button on the phone screen. It didn't take long for the phone to buzz again as he received another text from Alphys.
"Thank you. I will be in the main lobby"
The skeleton sighed as he stood up onto the booth cushions slipping the phone back in winter jacket as blue light shimmered around his body as it quickly disappeared into thin air before reappearing in the same spot with Alphys next to him holding onto a large black medical bag. The skeleton didn't bother with an introduction to the newcomer as he plopped back in the chair. A bony hand reached across the table, grabbing a fresh bottle of ketchup.
"ARIAL!" Alphys cried, hands tightly gripped around the bag wanting badly to leap over the table and hug her daughter. She kept her ground as eyes looked down at the small human child then back up at human-skeleton girl. The chubby yellow legs wobbled as the worried dino mother slowly slid down into a seated position next to Sans. Her mouth slightly opened, but quickly closed not sure what to say to the girl. It felt like her soul was doing summersaults exploding with mixed emotions of fury and happiness. "Al...A...arial, w...what were you thinking…If...f S...sans hadn't call Undyne…Y...you would have…and G..grillby d..didn't…"
"Mom, I'm alright…" Arial said softly carefully placing Frisk on the ground before slipping out of her side of the booth. "I didn't mean to scare you." She smiled, pulling Alphys into a hug while her bony hand lightly brushed the horns on top her head. "I'm safe…I'm still here mom…No one is going to take me away."
Grillby felt a little guilty as he watched the display in front of him. He knew that Arial had mentioned a few times she had a mother, but there was never any proof that woman existed until now. The purple soul dripped with sadness inside Grillby's fiery chest as he stood up and bowed slightly to his mother-in-law. "It's an honor to finally meet you, Miss?"
"Alphys Dino...It's nice to finally meet y...you in p...p...person." She sounded cross. "I saw w...what happened! I'm not s...sure how I feel about this y...yet. She's just a child. S...sans? Why didn't you bring her straight to me? Maybe I could have done something. She's my daughter." Alphys said wiping the tears out of her eyes. A fiery hand carefully reached out as a warm steamy kiss was placed delicacy on her hand. A light blush appeared across her cheeks while she softly mumbled to herself taken back by how charming and dashingly hot the fire monster was before her.
"Are you the Alphys Dino, the Royal Sciences?" Grillby asked returning to his seat watching as the reptile monster slightly nodded her head yes to his question. The flames on his head turned yellow as the fire monster was lost for words. He was mostly known to be cool-headed, but at this moment flames were twisting in worry. Sitting before him was a powerful authority figure and mother of his soulmate.
Alphys stood up motion for Arial to take a seat next to Sans before digging into the medical bag and pulling out monitors that attached to a metal band.
"Don't worry Grillbz...My mom's harmless." Arial smiled as Alphys wrapped the band covered in wires, around her head.
"Sweetie I need you stay put," Alphys demand slightly loosening the black obi around the girl's waist before slipping a metal disk under the clothing and placing it on her chest. "The reader can't check your heart and the soul if you're moving about …Mr. Grillby can I have words with you." She asked slightly glared over at the fiery monster.
The two older monsters pulled away from the group and headed to the bar leaving Sans alone with Arial and Frisk. It would have been easier summoning a soul out of the girl's chest for the checkup. Alphys was playing it safe and decided to use the soul wave monitor to get a reading on the fire soul. Looking down, he could see the white light going up and down on the screen as it made high pitched beeping noises. The reading seemed to be normal until out of nowhere the light started to skyrocket to the top of the screen and wouldn't come down. His eyes quickly looked up towards the bar to find the usually red-orange fire monster was now pale orange. "Looks like she's giving Grillby an earful." Sans started "I wonder what they are talking about?"
"It's rude to easy drop, Sans…" Arial remarked as her body leans over while a hand clung to her purple kimono top. The soul felt like it was dancing around in pure bliss, but at the same time, dripping with fear. Two bony hands carful reached around the back of the girl's head as Sans pulled off the headband. There was no need for any more testing. Whatever Alphys was saying to Grillby was affecting his emotion which in return was affecting Arial deeply and the results of the soul readings were useless.
Arial smiled softly before reaching into her massager bag to pull out three white plastic packages that looked similar to condiment packets.
"Are those ketchup packs?" Sans asked in puzzlement picking one up and flipping it over to find a sickly yellow substance inside.
"Nope, its honey…I can't stand ketchup." Arial answered before using her teeth to open one of the packs. Her body felt like it was on edge and weak after all the things that happened through the day. Right now she needed something sweet to calm the nerves and help replenish the magic.
"Too bad, because we have some ketching up to do." Sans chuckled placing the package with the rest of the honey. "Could you explain why the old man created you? The legend says it would have taken seven human souls and a monster soul to break the barrier. So then, why you?"
"Um…"
Sans groaned under his breath watching as the girl's eyes turned away from him, sucking on the package as if her life depended on it. The bony fingers scraped against the table causing the girl to shiver and tense up as the package fell out of her mouth. "You're not going tell me, are you?!" anger raged from the blue soul. "Look I want help you and kiddo, but can't if there are secrets between us." Sans sighed waiting for an argument to happen again like in the last timeline. Nothing happened.
"It's not that, Sans…I….It's hard to explain, but I can't remember everything… I feel like there are holes in my memory…If I push too deep I blackout or I get headaches." Her eyes lower more, casting down into a pit of sadness. Her hand slipped under the left sleeve as bony fingers started picking at the scars that decorated down that fleshy arm. Her mind slowing drifted into darkness as bones rattled under her clothing.
"Repressed memories?" Sans asked, grabbing hold of her bony hand. He really hated seeing her doing that to herself. Picking at scars was not going to make it go away. He had a nagging feeling there was a mix of truth and lies to the point she was trying to get across. In the last timeline, she had put up a fight to keep their father's secret. Not this time. Why? "What can you tell me?" he asked gently.
"Dr. Gaster used particle beams to shoot lasers to increase my magic. It worked. He had to stop after…" Arial bit the bottom of her lip feeling a dark aura of hurt and disappointment looming over her older brother. Talking about her creator was the last thing she wanted to do. It felt as if she were trying to keep quiet but Sans would just keep pushing her for information. She pulled her hand away and slightly moved away as her face came into contact with a lump white fabric. Without time to react her head was pulled into a hug as yellow fingers started to run across her back raven hair
"H…he almost radiated h…her brain." a tearful voice finished Arial's sentence. Alphys pulled the girl tighter against her chest causing the child to push back. In a quick motion, Arial pulled away gasping for air before a half smile spread across the human side of the girl's face. "S..s…sorry Sweetie." the motherly reptilian spoke softly with a weak sorrowful smile.
"You have a brain" the white light in San's eyes grow as fingers tap on the bar table. He was a little taken back at this new information. Ariel's body was still a mystery to him. He understood that she was both human and skeleton. Skeletons had no need for skin, muscles, or organs like humans. Both races did have bone and blood. Still, how did it all work, magic? Part of him was itching to find out how.
"She does and other human organs as well, like a lung and heart…" Alphys frowned as she looked at soul reader carelessly lying on the table and not hooked up to Arial. The information which was collected showed everything seemed stable, but for a few high readings that matched up to Grillby's reaction to their talk. "Which s...she needs to be more c..careful with…You may be half s…skeleton…I..It could K...K...Kill..." she started to snap at the girl, but held her tongue.
"Aunty…We are sorry." Frisk apologies as Arial stood up, scooping the human child into her arms, and took a seat next to Grillby. The fire monster wrapped his arm around, pulling the two more close to him. An adorable giggle escaped the human's lips as a fire hand ruffled up their brunette hair.
"I…I know, human…" Alphys said taking a seat again next to Sans with her eyes cast down. She rubbed her hands together a few times, trying to remove something unseen. Her hands stop fiddling as sadness loomed over the scientist as she stared at her own yellow scaly palms. "Guess y...you couldn't help it, Arial…. You are...Gaster's d...daughter after all. Willing to put o..one's life on the line even if means h..helping others…I shouldn't d..do this…" Alphys bit her lower lip before taking in a deep breath and releasing the air out of her lungs. "but I'm...still allowing y..you to go over to your b..brothers' as long as S…sans keeps an eye on you and k..keep you out of trouble…We will d...discuss all your p..punishments later" Her eyes scanned pass her daughter, the human, and the fire monster.
"I'm sure Prince charming will help too…" Sans joked. "Just let me know when you're ready to go back to the lab, Doc" He watched Alphys twiddle with her thumbs. He could see in the monster's eyes that she really didn't want to leave her daughter's side, not after what happened an hour ago. As soon as the storm stopped, they would need to head towards the Skeleton Brother's house. No way could she go with them. It didn't matter how many layers of fabric the dino monster put on. The cold would only send the reptile into hibernation causing the body shut down and go to sleep until she found warmth again. She was too large for any of them to carry her. Teleporting her to the house was another option, but he didn't want to bother with the offer. There were already three monsters he needed to keep am an eye on and protect them from the human. He didn't need another one to look after.
"Just wake me up when it's time." Sans chuckled as his eyes went black, listening to bits and pieces of conversation going on around him as he pretends to sleep. The memories of long ago started drifted into his mind, a time when they could call the human, a pal. Sitting at Grillby's enjoying burgers and french fries. Other times building a skele -snow in the snow with Papyrus. Watching the Kid try to make pasta in the kitchen with Undyne, almost resulting in a house fire. He laughed a bit to himself while playing an image of Frisk, Papyrus, and Undyne, covered head to toe in tomato sauce in his mind. Here was Sans, face to face across from Frisk again after hundreds of genocide runs, the human child, not the one he called a demon. The trust between them could never be fixed. Frisk had killed Papyrus and countless other monsters in other timelines too many times to count. Which left him with dark uneasiness each time it happened, what if it never resets again? A new nagging question, slipping into the back of his skull. Toriel had given Frisk a cellphone that displays the time, they knew when the blizzard was going to hit. So, why did they keep Arial far away from town, were they waiting for the blizzard? Maybe to get a reset or something else? The skeleton's bony finger pressed onto the bottle and slid it across the label, shredding it off. Seeing clearly now that Frisk was taking advantage of Arial's female nature, acting like a lost innocent child looking for compassion and safety. They smiled at her as they drew a picture with her in the sketchbook. Just like the skeleton brother's mother, Bel, Toriel, and Alphys; Arial slipped right into a protected motherly role with the kid. God dammit!