CHAPTER TWELVE: Thundersnail

(AUTHOR NOTE: in the original version of this chapter, i used he/him pronouns for Napstablook- a mistake I've now corrected after actually playing the actual game and seeing that they are solidly nonbinary. Apologies to anyone who might have noticed that.)

"NYEH! I WILL FIGURE OUT THIS SNAIL PUZZLE! IT SHALL NOT BEST ME FOR LONG!"

Bell sits, watching the snails wiggle by, a little bored.

Papyrus is one of her favorite monsters in the whole underground, (of which she has four. The skeleton brothers are first, with MK, froggit and napstablook as her runner-ups) but once he gets going on something, he really gets going. Like, really really gets going. she gives an encouraging smile at her yellow snail, which wiggles harder, the red snail in front of it doubling its pace also. She looks around, already knowing who will win. The waterfall cave is pleasantly cool, and bell has loved leaving messages in echo flowers, hopping over little rivers, exploring through mazes of stalagmites…and ever since papyrus helped undyne apologize, bell has been as happy as can be. She even ran into MK, but he couldn't come with them to the snail farm- he said his moms would get mad if he went that far from snowdin. Bell frowns to herself huffily. She still thinks it's unfair that MK gets to have two moms when she only got to have one!

Then, Suddenly, she notices a familiar face.

"Napstablook!"

she cries excitedly, running over to the ghost monster, who looks rather surprised that she remembers them. They use magic to make their headphones slide off their invisible ears, before letting out a small, embarrassed "O-oh…." as Bell hugs them, beaming happily. Bell looks up at the ghost, her arms wrapped around their soft, sheet-like body, a huge grin on her face.

"I thought I would never see you again! I'm so happy you're here- i thought you lived in the ruins!"

The ghost goes a bit pink, and looks to the side, a very small smile on their usually somber face.

"O-oh….you….remembered…."

Bell lets go of the ghost, her face still shining with happiness as she hops back a little, her dark brown curls bouncing.

"Of course I did! I loved your song! And your hat!"

Napstablook goes even pinker with embarrassment, but their smile gets a little bit bigger.

"Oh…..thank you…this is actually….my family's estate…."

They whisper, and Bell looks over at the snail race, with papyrus still yelling rapid encouragement at a flaming snail, and looks back at blooky with stars in her wide, honey-colored eyes.

"Really? That's so cool! Do you let papyrus play for free cause' he's so nice?"

The ghost gives a small nod.

"I…had a great aunt…who bonded with a skeleton…so I gave him the.…family discount…"

Bell's eyes get even wider, and she lets out a little gasp of excitement.

"Really? Skeletons came from ghosts? That's so cool!"

Napstablook stutters a bit, both at the enthusiasm and at the very literal interpretation of their actual meaning.

"Well…n-not really…..but since my great aunt married another ghost-skeleton…i technically have a full one for a cousin….."

Bell sorts it out in her head, then gives a little nod, and tries to clarify;

"So…your great aunt married a ghost skeleton, and she was a ghost skeleton, so their baby was a proper skeleton? And since papyrus is probably related, you gave him the discount?"

Napstablook nods, their body bobbing a bit in the air as they move, their headphones still floating around their sheet-like body.

"Well…..since he and his brother…..are the only pure skeletons now, i kinda….had to assume…."

Bell's eyes, somehow, get even wider.

"really? They're all alone? That's…really sad… wait, wait. now? Did there used to be more of them?"

Napstablook gives a ghostly shrug.

"You'd have to….ask him….but maybe….don't…..he seems to be…having a good time…"

Papyrus is valiantly nyeh heh heh-ing in the background, cheering for his now practically barbecued snail, and Bell decides that would be for the best. She doesn't want to upset the vibrant skeleton.

"So…ghosts can posses things?"

She asks curiously, and Napstablook seems to perk up a little.

*It seems they enjoy talking about this…

The narrator observes, and Bell feels comforted that she's found a good subject. She likes this quiet ghost- they're gentle, and seem like they need a good friend.

"Yeah…! It's…really interesting actually….i have books…back at my place…."

Suddenly, they seem a little more forlorn.

"But…you don't…have to come…..if you don't want to….its fine….no pressure...just thought I'd offer…."

Bell's face lights up, and she bounces on her heels with excitement, her yellow rain boots splashing in the little puddles that frequent Waterfall, overjoyed by the idea.

"I would love to come! That would be so cool!"

She says, a huge grin across her face, making napstablook pink again.

"Lemme just ask papyrus- but I'm sure he'll say yes, he's nice like that."

With that, she runs over to papyrus, tugging on his elbow, to which she only just about comes up to.

"NYEH? WHAT IS IT, SMALL HUMAN?"

Papyrus asks goodnaturedly, turning away from the ashen escargot and crouching down so he's on eye level with her. Bell smiles her big smile, and excitedly asks him;

"Napstablook invited me over to his place to see his books about ghosts! Can I go? I wont be long!"

She bounces up and down in excitement, fascinated by monsters and eager to learn more. papyrus looks down at her a little questioningly, tilting his skull to the side as he replies;

"OF COURSE, SMALL HUMAN! THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL BE HERE WHEN YOU RETURN! NYEH HEH HEH!"

Bell thanks the tall skeleton, running back over to napstablook with a big smile on her face.

"Hey Napstablook! Told you he'd say yes!"

Napstablook gives her a small smile, and they start walking (or in napstablook's case, gliding) the short distance to napstablook's house, bell stopping to let a woshua clean her hands on the way before they both arrive. She looks up at the odd-shaped blue house, then glances over at the mirror-image pink one. Man. Monsters are so cool... She turns back to napstablook, and trots after them happily as they enter.

The ghost and the human spend a while simply…hanging out, bell listening to napstablook's music with stars in her eyes, the ghost blushing when she told them how good it was, and practically glowing red when she told them it was even better than mettaton. Napstablook had also introduced her to some other underground musicians on a music-sharing forum called 'underbeats,' the ghost awkwardly showing her how to work the computer, and eventually having to explain the entire machine to her. Bell was infinitely curious about it- back on the surface, her harbor town was in the absolute middle of nowhere, with no cell towers or phone lines for literal miles, just a highway you would have to drive hours to get to. In fact, the town was mostly made up of people who'd lived their whole lives there- the town warden never liked tourists. After that, Bell was introduced to ghostly food, and another chunk of time was spent with Napstablook explaining how ghost food works, bell listening with wide eyes. Then, they just lay on the floor for a while, bell staring off into space as Napstablook began humming white noise. It was peaceful, just resting for a while…then of course, literal galaxies began fading in around them, and Napstablook had to spend about an hour explaining magical meditation spaces to the child, who had begun literally vibrating with excitement at the idea of going to SPACE.

Now, bell finally remembers her actual original question, and asks;

"So, if ghosts can bond with stuff…"

Bell asks, from her perch on top of the fridge. She likes to climb things, and napstablook actually hadn't minded, unlike the shopkeepers back on the surface. Who cares if a few limes get knocked around when the best views of the crowds are from atop the greengrocers?

"...then anything could be a ghost?"

Napstablook looks surprised, looking up at her, but answers all the same.

"Oh….not really…..but also…kind of…?"

They glide over to a small pile of books, pick one out, and flick it open using telekinesis, flipping through it before settling on a page and holding it up.

"It says here….that you have to….have a connection to bond…and you have to be able to move…so i mean…"

They pause as if unsure, but, showing surprising courage, manage to say quietly;

"If I ever…you know…bonded…..i'd probably be…something musical…..like…an instrument…."

Bell looks over at them, and sees their whole ghostly face is pink with embarrassment, the ghost becoming slightly translucent.

"But…..i'd…..probably be too scared…..to properly bond…..i don't know…."

They murmurs dejectedly, looking away. Bells eyes widen, and she clambers down from the fridge, walking over to the ghost and giving them another hug in that innocent, smile-inducing way that only 7yr olds can. Napstablook is smiling again now, just a bit, though their entire face is slowly getting pinker.

"I'll still like you no matter what, okay napstablook? You're super cool! And your music is really cool too! So I know that if you ever decide to bond, it'll be great."

She reassures him, muffled by the hold she has on the ghost's midsection, and napstablook almost implodes with the sheer force of the innocent child's sincerity.

"O-oh…."

They whisper, and Bell feels a soft presence fold around her as the ghost hugs her back with telekinesis, blushing furiously, napstablook secretly overjoyed but very bad at showing it.

Bell has decided she likes ghosts.