Chapter 53: The Purple Soul
When she awoke it was in Gerson's place. She felt no sign of a wound on her left side.
'Strange.'
Quickly she headed to Napstablook's place to think of a plan to traverse further into Waterfall. She knocked on the door and he answered, peering through the door.
"excuse me, who are you?"
"You mean you don't know?" Frisk asked.
"i had no idea there was another human who fell down here."
"Another human?"
The ghost opened the door wider.
"come in."
A young boy with short brown hair laid on a bed wearing a plaid shirt and jeans. He was just waking up as she sat down.
He glanced around. First he glanced at Frisk and then at Napstablook.
"It's good to see another human here. We should go play outside."
"Sure?"
Frisk followed the human outside looking around occasionally keeping some distance away from the human in front of them.
Even if they looked relatively young it was always a good idea to never drop her guard.
"So what are you doing here?" He turned to ask.
Frisk's thoughts were stalled by his comment.
"I mean this is my dream isn't it?"
"You mean you know?" Frisk asked.
"Of course, my dreams are always direct and concise. Once you know how to control your mind, it's easy to control your thoughts."
He held out his hand.
"My name's Tony and you are?"
Frisk shook his hand firmly.
"Frisk."
"Well nice to meet you, Frisk."
He looked around.
"I wouldn't really call this a dream though after all I know there's no way I could be sleeping. I remember the spears pretty well."
"Spears?"
"From ol' man, Gerson. He's the captain of the royal guard."
"Really I heard Undyne was the captain of the royal guard."
"Who's Undyne?"
"A strong warrior from what I heard."
"Are you dead too?"
"No, at least not yet."
"That makes sense. Undyne must have taken over for Gerson at some point."
Frisk nodded.
"Though it does beg the question. Why are you here?"
Frisk shrugged.
"I don't know. Every so often I get dreams of other children who have fallen down here."
"So others have fallen down here huh?"
"Yeah."
"How do you know?"
"I find their clothing."
Tony stroked his chin contemplatively.
"Do these dreams occur after you find their items?"
Frisk placed her thumb and index finger to her chin, her eyes drifting off.
"Now that you mention it, I usually wear their clothing right before I go to bed."
"Strange, it's almost if our things absorb our essence. How do you usually leave these dreams?"
"I don't know," Frisk said. "It seemed to happen at a random time."
"Can you the dream when you wish?"
"No, sometimes strange things happen. One time I was paralysed from the waist down, in another dream I knew martial arts."
"I see. So these dreams might be dangerous."
"I don't know."
"I mean have you died in these dreams?"
"Not yet."
"Considering how this dreamscape is a direct reflection of my own thoughts perhaps the other dreamscapes were of a more uncontrolled nature due to having no conscious intent on what it looks like."
"That looks to be the case."
"So if a human wants you dead, even subconsciously, there's a chance they might try to kill you in the dream."
"Still what makes you think it's possible."
"Have you ever heard the saying, "Dead men tell no tales." When have you ever heard of dead people having dreams with the living?"
"Too often for my own good."
"I don't know if you can die here but at this point, there is nothing logical about this situation. When there are too many unknowns and things that defy logic, then all you can rely on is the illogical," Tony said.
"Yeah, no sh-t sherlock."
Tony chuckled.
"No need to be so snarky. You know this place don't you? Do you know anyone who could help you leave?"
Frisk contemplated it for a moment.
"Not really."
"Well luckily, I know someone who might be able to help," Tony said. "Follow me."
Frisk walked with Tony to the south. He opened a familiar looking box pulling out a pair of winged boots.
"Winged boots?"
"Yeah, remember I can consciously manipulate my dreamscape."
"Are those boxes also a fabric of manipulation too?"
"No, they're my invention."
"WHAT?"
"My, my you look surprised."
"You can't be any younger than 8 or 9 years old."
"That's right. Someone with that ability would have to be a genius."
"So are their winged shoes in the real world or is this a dream exclusive item?"
"Dream exclusive. I don't think people have quite mastered how to teleport."
Frisk and Tony slipped on the shoes.
"There's a button that should be able to teleport us anywhere in my dreamscape."
Frisk noted there was options to go to the ruins, Snowdin, Waterfall, Hotland and the Capital."
"The person we're looking for lives in Hotland."
He turned the dial to Hotland.
"The switch doubles at the trigger button as well."
Tony pressed it and he vanished, Frisk followed not soon after that.
They arrived at a clearing outside a large white building labeled 'Lab'.
Frisk followed Tony up to the door.
He knocked on it.
"Who is it?"
"Tony, I've brought a friend."
The door opened and much to Frisk's surprise, Sans opened the door.
She gawked at him. He was wearing a white lab coat.
'It oddly suits him.'
"Sans?"
He glanced at Frisk in surprise.
"Who are you?" he asked.
Tony turned to glance at Frisk.
"You know Sans?"
"Yeah, I met him in Snowdin. I've been staying with him for a while."
"Strange, guess he moved. Is he still living with his parents?"
"No, I've only seen him with his brother."
"Papyrus," Sans said.
"Papyrus, if I remember right. Sans, this is Frisk."
Sans scrutinised Frisk carefully.
"Come in," he said.
Frisk followed Tony inside joining him on a couch set up in front of a tv.
Sans sat on the floor in front of them.
"Can I help you?"
"Frisk is stuck inside my dream and I want to help them escape."
"I see."
Sans lead them to an elevator on the back wall.
The three were crammed together. Frisk was lodged in the middle between Sans and Tony.
Her fingers brushed the tops of his palms causing her face to heat up.
Sans remained oblivious to these actions and Tony simply looked at them with confusion.
"Where are we going anyway?"
"To the lab."
Frisk addressed Tony.
"Is he always so serious?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Strange, when I met him he didn't seem to have a serious bone in his body."
"Really?"
"Yeah, he's usually very snarky and makes these awful jokes."
"Weird."
"I would have never guessed he had a science background considering how lazy he is."
Tony stammered, glancing at Frisk with bewilderment.
"Lazy? He might be lazy now but at one time he was actually quite brilliant. He was the one who helped me build the box."
It was Frisk's turn to look surprised.
"That's right," Sans said.
Frisk glanced at him.
"Amazing."
The elevator landed on the designated floor with a ding and the doors opened.
Frisk was lead to a room with a single bed below a bunch of complicated machines.
"Lie down," Sans said.
Frisk did without hesitation.
"I'm a little nervous. What if this goes wrong?" She asked.
"I'll be there with you if it'll make you relax," Sans said.
Frisk blushed.
"Remain here. I'l be back."
He walked out of the room.
"Was that your doing?" Frisk asked Tony.
Tony grinned slyly.
"Guilty. You looked a little nervous. I thought he might make you lighten up considering your reactions to him."
Frisk sighed.
"So Sans is only a construct based on your own perceptions of him then. I was wondering why he couldn't teleport."
"He can teleport?" Tony asked in surprise.
"Yeah, don't know how he does it though."
"Strange, that you know so much about him. I was only teasing earlier but maybe you do like him like that."
Frisk was silent.
Sans came back and placed a helmet from one of the machines on her head.
"Are you ready?"
Frisk nodded.
Sans grabbed her hand and flicked a switch on a remote he had brought with him, removing it from his pocket.
It was one for no longer than a couple of seconds before the machine started smoking out of the top.
Sans released her hand before Frisk removed the cap from her head.
He sighed.
"Well that didn't go according to plan."
Tony grinned.
"Well, there's always tomorrow. Why don't we go to Grillbys?"
Sans grabbed Frisk's hand causing her to jump. His other hand grabbed onto Tony's. Together the three teleported back to Snowdin and they headed into Grillbys.
Sans released Tony's hand. His remaining hand however was still clinging to Frisk's.
He lead her to one of the booths sitting down on one side before Tony joined them sitting opposite from them.
Tony immediately noticed the space on the other booth barely was enough to fit the two of them.
'This ought to be amusing.'
Frisk's face turned red as Sans' left leg brushed the outside of her hip. His left arm wrapped around her, pulling her closer causing her to yelp.
Sans grinned.
He grabbed her chin forcing her to look at him with the grin on his face.
"So we were close huh?" He asked glancing into her eyes.
"Are you fishing?"
"I might be."
Glancing into Sans' eyesockets, Frisk noticed his gaze held more warmth than she remembered. His eyesockets were missing the dark, sagging bags that signalled more than a dozen sleepless nights.
It was refreshing to see.
"Ha, you look surprised."
Frisk glanced away from Sans surprised that Tony spoke.
"It's just he looks so happy."
"Is it really that surprising?" Sans asked.
Frisk removed Sans' hands from her chin.
"Yes, it is. While you always look happy, it was obvious that you were pretending to be happy."
"Really?" Tony asked. "I wonder what caused that to change."
"Well, I can't say that this stay hasn't been equally enlightening. I never knew we had so much in common."
"What do you mean?"
"I guess it isn't obvious but I've always been a science nut."
"Really, me too," Tony said. "Not alot of kids my age were really interested in that kind of thing though."
Frisk noted a sad expression briefly crossed his face before it turned into that of a smile.
After the three finished, they headed back to the lab.
Many experiments later, Tony let out a deep drawn out sigh.
"We've been at this for hours. Nothing's working."
"We can't give up. I don't want to be trapped here forever. I refuse to accept it," Frisk said. "So try again."
"Not even if it meant seeing my pretty face forever?" Sans asked.
"I'll admit that the circumstances are ideal."
Sans' face glowed."
"That's not any indication to think that I like you but maintaining this reality just for my sake must be taxing considering you know nothing about me."
Frisk glanced at Tony.
"I don't know how this reality is able to hold up but if you're manipulating it all for my sake, it must be taxing on you all the same making sure I'm happy even though you don't have any idea what makes me happy. That is why I have to keep trying."
"You're quite stubborn aren'tcha?"
'Perhaps but if escaping here means learning more about you in the real world then I'm willing to pursue that option.'
Frisk closed her eyes grasping Sans' hand.
'I want to return.'
She kept repeating this like a mantra over and over in her head.
The next thing she knew, she woke up back at Gerson's place. The tortoise stood sitting at her bedside.
"How long have I been out for?"
"For about a week. Most of the infection has went away. You should be free to move now."
"Well that's good."
She got up and stretched before heading outside.
Once outside she was about to head out further into Waterfall when she spotted Papyrus who was wearing a red scarf matching gloves, a white shirt and blue shorts. He was holding some clothes in his hand.
"Papyrus, what are you doing here?"
"That's my question," Chara said.
"I CAME TO DROP OFF YOUR CLOTHES FOR THE COSTUME PARTY. I JUST FINISHED TALKING TO SANS. HE TOLD ME YOU WERE PROBABLY TAKING A WALK AROUND WATERFALL."
Frisk took the pile of clothing from Papyrus' hands.
"Wasn't that costume party a couple of weeks ago?"
"You actually remembered?" Chara asked.
"WE HAD TO CANCEL IT BECAUSE DOGAMY AND DOGRESSA GOT SICK AND ULTIMATELY SPREAD THEIR SICKNESS TO THE REST OF THE CANINE UNIT."
"I see. So is that why you're wearing that giddup?" Frisk asked.
"IT'S THE COSTUME WE MADE. SANS MANAGED TO MAKE A COUPLE OF ADJUSTMENTS TO IT. DO YOU LIKE MY STYLE?"
"It's great I suppose."
"Are you actually lying to him this time?"
'Nah, believe it or not the comment was genuine.'
"ANY FRIEND OF MY BROTHER'S IS A FRIEND OF MINE."
She headed back to Gerson's.
"Oh, you're back. Can I help you with something?" Gerson asked.
"Is there a bathroom in here?"
Chara face palmed.
"Bathroom? What's that?" Gerson asked.
'Are you trying to tell me no one has a bathroom in this joint?'
"Do you mean a bucket? Haven't seen one used in a while. A bit nasty I say."
"Huh?!" Both Chara and Frisk were thrown for a loop.
"You do mean taking a dump don't ya?"
Frisk blushed at his crude language. Not that she hadn't used it herself before some time or another but she never thought the old geezer would use it.
"Not quite. I mean I need a private place to change my clothes."
"Oh, I have a room in the back of the store that should do the job."
"Thanks, Gerson."
She slipped out of her sweater ahd shirt revealing her crimson stained undershirt. Frisk quickly slipped on the top supplied by Papyrus before slinking into the pants slipping the tutu off her hips.
After she was finished she glanced in the mirror with a satisfied look in her eyes.
The mask provided by Papyrus, obscured most of her face except her eyes and mouth. Frisk stepped out of the changing room.
"You sure clean up nicely but I feel your getup is missing something," Gerson said.
He found a white top hat that hung from the back of the store and placed it on her head.
Frisk felt her face heat up.
"Thanks a bunch."
"Good luck."
Frisk left to catch up with Papyrus. She saw him up ahead.
"Hey Papyrus."
He turned to look at her.
"I'LL SAY. MY BROTHER HAS GOOD TASTE. YOU LOOK VERY STUDDLY."
"Thank you. So where is Sans anyway?" Frisk asked.
"HE SAID HE'D CATCH UP WITH US LATER."
Papyrus guided Frisk to the place west of Napstablook's home.
"Is this where we're going?"
"YES, IT'S AT UNDYNE'S HOUSE."
The building looked like the head of a fish. The right half of it was violet, the left half was black. There was a fin on top of it's head and on the side of the house. Yellow windows were on both sides appearing to be furious fish eyes. A tail appeared to be hanging on the left half resting on the ground.
A sliding door that looked like teeth stood in the middle. On the lower right corner was a blue skeleton fish rug.
"Wow, her house looks so cool," Chara said.
"It looks creepy," Frisk said.
"WEIRD, USUALLY THERE'S A DUMMY BABBLING ON ABOUT AVENGING HIS COUSIN WHO MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEARED."
Chara glanced intensely in Frisk's direction.
Papyrus knocked on the sliding door. Within minutes the door opened it's jaws revealing a tall blue skinned woman with yellow eyes and red hair tied up in a ponytail.
"I hate to admit it but Undyne is looking pretty hot," Chara said.
"Hey Papyrus. Er...you're kinda early," she said.
"THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS ALWAYS EARLY TO HIS APPOINTMENTS."
"So who's your guest?"
"OH, HE'S NOT MY GUEST. HE'S SANS' GUEST."
"Well come in, you crazy skeleton and you too."
Frisk followed Papyrus inside.
"Oh, looks like she's seen through your paper thin disguise," Chara chimed.
"Stop!"
'Sh-t.'
Frisk and Papyrus turned.
"Amazing, you're both like a matching duo. Those outfits are so cool."
Chara facepalmed.
"WOW, I LOVE WHAT YOU'VE DONE WITH THE PLACE."
Frisk looked around. A long sword stood against the right wall. Near that was an orange table with an orange laced placemat. On the left was a blue piano. A door stood on the northwest wall next to the kitchen counters that lined the north wall.
"Alphys helped me clean it up a bit."
"ALPHYS?"
A yellow reptilian monster waved from where she had been sitting on the couch. She was wearing a white lab coat and a pair of spectacles that rested on her nose.
"oh hiya," she said, waving at them.
Alphys glanced at Frisk.
"are you supposed to be tuxedo mask?" she asked.
"Er...no. Who's Tuxedo Mask anyway?"
"Remember how I mentioned something about anime," Chara said. "If you ever watched anime, you would know who he is."
'Enough with the anime talk already."
"he's a character that fights for truth and justice alongside sailor moon in the best anime series of the millenia. it's even better than mew mew kissy cutie."
"Debatable," Chara muttered under his breath.
"Say Papyrus, I've been meaning to ask you this but where's your brother anyhow?" Undyne asked.
"HE SAID HE WOULD MEET US AT THE PARTY."
"there may have been a slight change of plans."
Frisk turned and saw Sans in his costume standing behind her.
"Well since everyone's here, let's hit the road," Undyne said.
"don't ya mean "scale" the road. I mean it's easy to get lost and you can't exactly 'fish' a map."
"SANS!"
"what?"
"CEASE WITH THE FISH PUNS."
All four monsters headed out, Frisk following close behind.
Alphys slowed down a little to walk next to her.
"you're human, aren'tcha?" she whispered.
Frisk nodded.
Alphys chuckled.
"i knew it. you look exactly like the ones I see from watching anime. do you watch anime?"
"That's a fat nope," Chara supplied.
"Nope."
"huh, let's be friends then i can tell you all about it."
"Why do you want to be my friend?"
"well I never really had friends. i mean i do but i always wanted someone to rely on. i used to be able to tell someone about how i feel but now i can't even do that."
"Why?"
"what if i make them sad?"
Frisk sighed.
"Emotions are so inconvenient."
"huh?"
"People are always afraid to speak their mind not wanting other people to hate them. For what reason, it doesn't liberate you. In the end you are confined with only satisfying other people and neglecting your own happiness only to satisfy them.
"you think so?"
"If you've been around for as long as I have you see things. A person says one thoughtless remark and it causes people to hate you not because they're fighting for some false sense of righteousness but rather because they don't wanna be seen as creepy, strange or weird ironically becoming the creepy strange, weird people who do the creepy strange things that they scorn others about. Do you think those kind of people are happy with themselves? Do you think they have any semblance of control?"
"well no but..."
"You shouldn't let others control your feelings. Do what you feel is right."