Golden petals and blinding light.
… Eugh… Why did I feel like shit…?
My body creaked in protest as I sat up from the soft flowerbed below me. The sunlight shining down on me was only guarded from my pale skin by the jacket I was wearing. Looking down at my hands…
"Ugh, God dammit." Flower seeds, coating my entire hand. Why the fuck did I have to wake up from whatever sleepwalking-ass bullshit I pulled off in a flowerbed? I hated flowers. "Where the fuck am I?"
The only clues I had were the stone walls surrounding me, the tall, marble pillars, extending into that blinding light, the purple doorway directly across from me with a familiar insignia, and…
A bed of… Golden Flowers.
Chapter 1: The Golden Path
My heart skipped a beat. Golden flowers, that… That reminded me of something, right? It was… Important. A plot point to…
… To what?
Standing from the bed of flowers, I stared at the supremely sticky seeds that were stuck to my hand. These seeds… Were spread across something, right? Or… They stuck to someone.
A sudden shiver ran down my spine, and I shot off the flowerbed I was standing on, eyes wide. That was a grave. I was just… Standing on a grave? But, how would I know that?
"For fuck's sake, man, get a hold of yourself! You're not gonna figure anything out by staring at the grave of…" Beat. Who? "Someone!"
I facepalmed, just before shaking my head like a dog outta water, my mop of curly blond hair flying about with little restraint, before I turned towards the doorway, "Just get a move on, dude…."
Tap, tap, tap, my quiet footsteps echoed. The stone floor I was walking on slowly turned to dirt, then, as I passed a second door frame, and… Woah.
Purple bricks stretched a good fourty or fifty feet or so above me before coming to a stop, candles lining the walls the only light for the dark ruins I had stumbled across. Staircases led to a balcony and a doorway about ten feet off the ground floor, and, beneath that, a pile of red and orange leaves, with… A golden star.
That feels important.
Treading carefully, I walked towards the golden star. My neck shivered. For a moment, I thought someone I knew was with me, and, the next moment, a familiar ping! rang in my ears.
not really feeling up to it right now.
I #m ######, caret#ke# of th# R#ins.
You r##lly ha#e #e… T##t #ec#…?
the o#d w###pie cu#h#on #n t## h#nd tr##k. It'# ###### funny.
… wa#ts to c##ture a #####. it'd be gr#at i# you kept pretending t# be one.
"GAH!" Pain ripped through my brain - It felt like a million little jolts of electricity had shot through my brain at once. Image, people, places… Relationships forged and relationships broken, knowledge accumulated over time, a dumb little thing I did with-
I M### CAP##RE A H##AN! THE# I, THE GREAT #######…
WELC##E YOU WI#H OPEN A##S!
NG##H! WH# SHO#### I TELL #OU THAT STORY WHEN…
I, ######, WILL STRI#E YOU DO#N!
"Stop it, stop it…" More pictures forcefully pushed into my retina. Red eyes, striped shirts, dinky little sprites, lines of symbols, an old jacket, music, a beautiful face, "What the HELL…?"
WELCOME, BEA#TIES AND GENTLE#######, TO-
SOME PE#PLE… I WANT TO PROTEC#.
I#'s a b#autif#l ##y o###ide.
#t's a #eau#iful da#.
Beautiful day.
*You're filled with DETERMINATION.
Slowly, my trembling pupils creaked over to the 2D, black and white text box that had appeared in my line of vision. 16-bit letters spelled it out clearly…. I was…
"... Ah, fuck."
My confidence didn't exactly get much higher after making my way through the rest of The Ruins. A torn up dummy, dusty halls, and a room an inch flooded with tears weren't exactly great signs. Luckily, the SAVE Points were just where I remembered them being, but that wasn't exactly helping much if I wasn't facing any life-or-death scenarios.
*Careful, don't want that gift horse to bite you.
"Eat me." I muttered to the 2D text box in the line of my vision. Leaves started growing more frequent - had to be near Toriel's by now…
*You've got a room or two left. You got a game plan?
I stayed quiet at that. What game plan was I supposed to have? Fight Frisk? Yeah, no, not only did they have more experience with both fighting AND time travel bunk, they also had LOVE by now, too, which I had none of.
I passed the dead tree, hit the SAVE Point, then ducked my head inside. Quiet. A little… Too quiet for my liking, personally.
Ah well, at least that meant it was safe.
I searched around for a bit for whatever I could use, but the only thing I really found was the rest of the pie that was left in the kitchen. I thought to myself for a second, concentrating. Something about [C], right…?
My Inventory menu popped into existence in front of me. Items… The seven slices of pie, of course, which left one additional slot… A dimensional box or two may be nice, but hey, like the text said, gifts and horses.
Stats…
#####
ATK 2 (10)
DEF 2 (3)
"Woah, kickass attack. Wonder why…"
*Pocket Knife
*A small knife with "C&E" engraved on it.
*+7 attack.
"Oh yeah, that'll do it."
*Black Choker
*A choker with a heart loop. Some call it girly, you call it fashion.
"Damn straight," I said with a grin, grabbing my choker by the loop and pulling it. "I make this look good."
Now in the front room, I stared at the staircase leading forward. A lump formed in my throat… Only way forward, now. Only way.
Only…
Nah, some more exploring couldn't hurt.
*You're stalling.
"You're narrating." I bit back, now looking at the second room in the hallway. "Under renovations," huh..? Kneeling down, I looked at the doorknob. Seemed like a simple door lock to me. Perfect.
*You're not gonna get in.
"That a challenge?" I asked simply, diving into Toriel's room for a moment, beelining it straight for her drawers.
*What are you doing?
"Toriel's a prepared lady. She knows how humans act, and she specifically knows how children act." I analyzed, tossing an old notebook full of puns behind me. No "whatever" items here… All storage. To the desk, then, "Hair is messy. It gets in the way, it's annoying, and most human children have a full head of hair. So…"
Bingo!
*Hairpin. Useful for picking locks - or, you know, keeping the hair outta your eyes.
Ignoring Texty's sass in favor of heading to the renovations room… I vaguely remember having to do this a lot for some mechanics shop - Not for stealing anything, I think I worked there…
Twist, pull, push, and…!
Click!
"Veeola!" I mispronounced, "I'm in!"
*Frisk is probably halfway through Snowdin by now.
"Halfway through Snowdin or the end of Judgment Hall - Doesn't matter too much if I can't do squat against 'em." I pinned the hairpin on my pocket, looking around the room… Storage, as I figured. Boxes and boxes of junk that's not safe for kids to play with. Toriel was a queen, so she needed some sort of…
… Staff, okay. A bright blue, wooden staff with a carved flower at it's tip. Didn't look like it was used for hitting people with, more like some sort of staff to cast magic with. It was leaning against the back of the room, so I had to waddle through the boxes to get to it… Knocked over one or two, probably smashed some priceless mementos, but, eh. She wasn't exactly alive enough to care right now.
I grabbed the staff. Definitely magical, now that I was holding it in my hands.
*You... Equip Toriel's Staff.
I raised an eyebrow. "It's probably a lot more powerful than my knife -" I rightfully pointed out, "N'besides, I don't want my knife to get damaged. Pretty special to me."
Texty seemed to clam up at that, which was enough for me.
"Damn Snowdin cold, damn snow, damn wet…" My sneakers had been soaked all the way through, right down to my socks. Maybe if he was still alive I could ask Papyrus to borrow a pair of boots…
I clutched Toriel's staff in my hands. It was a little big for me, looking at it now, but it was the best I had. If I could manage to make it work…
*Magic beats knife. Or gun. Or… Frying pan?
"Frying pan's technically the most tactically advantageous for a Geno run." I stated under my breath, flipping my hoodie up over my head, not only to protect from the cold, but also to hide my full head of hair. I was a human in a striped shirt, after all - Put me as suspect number one if some wayward monster saw me. Was crossing the bridge, heading towards… What I guess would now be the inconveniently shaped lamp ."Allows you to heal every turn."
*Mm. Messes with the themes, though.
*I mean, Chara reclaiming their knife to finish off the rest of the underground?
* *Chef's kiss.*
"Meh." I shrugged, gripping the staff in my hands with both hands. "I wouldnt'a beat Sans without the frying pan."
"Wouldnt'a beat who without the what?"
I must've jumped five feet into the air, whipping around at the deep, rumbling voice with it's southern twang, cocking back the staff as fast as I could and swinging it with every bit of force I had in me.
Miss!
The massive weight of the staff was too much for my skinny twink body to handle, causing me to lose my footing and fall flat onto my face, three-inches deep into the snow.
"Woah, talk 'bout the opposite of a warm welcome."
Without my input, my body shot onto it's hands and knees, my head whipping up to meet the stranger's… Eyesockets?
… Oh shit.
"Sans?" I asked, recognizing the short, chubby skeleton before me, dressed in a blue parka, a pair of basketball shorts, and a set of pink slippers. I immediately regretted my little outburst - Both the swing and the blurting out his name.. No way to know that name if he hadn't just introduced himself.
He seemed to take it in stride, though, "Eyup, that's me. Sans. Sans the skeleton." His grin widened as he looked down at me. "I'm a sentry 'round these parts. Got a call that another human was spotted in Snowdin."
Alphys's cameras.
"Unfortunately, the last human that came through here wasn't exactly the…" His eyelights rolled around in his head for a second, "Kindest. So, ya get me."
*Uh-oh.
I grabbed the staff from the ground, scrambling to my feet and pointing it at Sans, a cold sweat beading down my neck. "Back off! I won't hesitate to use this thing!" I threatened, staring into the cold, unreadable eyelights of The Judge.
A chuckle resonated from him. "Kid, it takes even the most magically-attuned monster years to learn how to use a staff like that. You learning in a few minutes is, frankly, kinda stupid."
A lump formed in my throat. Now what?
"Now, put down the pole and listen for half'a second. I'm not here to hurt ya." He stated, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He turned his head away from me, "In fact, I kinda made a promise not to. I just wanna ask…"
Suddenly, his head snapped back to facing straight forward, looking at me. His eyelights had gone out, and the inky blackness that stared back at me had dread creeping up my spine.
"Whaddya know about the last human?"
Frisk glared at the empty town, dull eyes scanning the surroundings. Something happened, they thought. A light shone in Grillby's… Strange, since on most of their Genocide Runs the lights were off. Boots sinking into the thick layers of snow beneath them, they cupped their tough glove'd hands and stared into the window…
Sans stood behind the bar, looking to be whipping something up. His mouth wasn't moving, but his head moved like he was talking to someone… They followed his line of sight, meeting the back of a black jacket with one red stripe and one gray stripe hung over his scrawny frame, a full head of light blonde, curly hair shielding their view of his face.
A shocked expression flashed across their face, before quickly being replaced with a scowl of anger. They made their way to the abandoned side of Grillby's, crouching there and hiding.
"So, kid, ya gotta name?"
I stared at the Stats menu before me, staring at the five blurred out letters before me. With a frown on my face, I replied, "Apparently not…"
Sans chuckled at that, sliding me a drink from across the bar. "Starin' at your stats ain't gonna make it easier to read, kid."
I caught the drink in my hand, looking at it. I thought about telling him I wasn't 21 yet, but considering my situation, I couldn't exactly remember whether I was or wasn't 21. So, instead of looking the horse in the gift, I sipped the bitter alcohol, a familiar burn sliding down my throat.
"... So, you got an answer to my question, or are ya gonna sit there like a lumpin' log?"
I sighed to myself, running a hand through my hair again. "To be honest, I'm not sure what there is to tell." I shrugged, "The only thing I know about them is that their name is Frisk. Everything else is…"
I left it hanging. I would've said he looked disappointed by that or something, but he simply stood there and looked out the window of Grillby's bar. He glanced at the staff that we had left leaning against the bar.
"... Y'know, you havin' that staff gives me an idea." He turned towards me, grin widening slightly. I didn't question the physics behind it - "If you're willing, I might take it off your hands and run some tests. The little freak doesn't seem to be stopping any time soon, so…"
I raised an eyebrow at him. "... What're you gonna do with it?"
He waved it off. "Don't worry about that for now. There's a lab up in Hotland - make it there and I'll let ya know what I plan to do."
"... And the serial killer right outside?"
He winked, leaning over the bar and placing a hand on the magical staff. "Figure it out, kid. I'm rootin' for ya."
And then he was gone. I slipped out of my chair at that - I was expecting… Something else, I think - A pop, a blink of light, him ominously walking out of sight - but no, one frame he was here, and the next… Gone.
*Freaky.
"You got that right…" I frowned, hesitantly turning to exit Grillby's. "... Could'a given me a warning…"
Before I opened the door, I hit the star that was right next to it. That didn't feel right, for whatever reason, but you get the gist by now. I'm not gonna complain. The little bell rung above the door, and then-
POW!
Suddenly I was flipping through the air, my back skidding on the snow-covered dirt before my ass went over my head, and I was face-first in the snow with a bruised cheek and a sore neck.
"Do you really think you can invade my game without consequences?"
For the second time that day, I was on my hands and knees, glaring up at… At…
The red of those eyes.
For but a split second, Frisk's face was replaced by a beautiful, familiar face, cupped by neck-length raven hair. My heart skipped a beat, before reality sat back in, and I was looking at the squinty-eyed human before me, with ruffled, messy brown hair falling over a bandana that had abs drawn on it. Their tough-glove covered hand clenched, the pink leather creasing under their fist's mighty weight.
"Shit!" I scrambled away from them, my pocket knife appeared in my hand - from my inventory, I'd guess - before I gripped it with one hand, pointing it at them and lowering my stance. "S-Stay away! I know how to use this!"
*If by "know how to use" you mean "took one self-defense class in high school…"
*Then yeah I'd say you've got this under control.
I ignored Texty's sass in favor of staring Frisk in their curious expression. It stayed blank for a second or two, before a toothy grin spread across their face. "Do you, now? That's funny…"
Another step towards me had me leaping backwards. A red heart had appeared over their left breast - the same must've happened to me, but I wasn't paying much attention. "By your expression, I'd say you're scared shitless."
Cold sweat dripped from my forehead. "A-And by your expression, you've done a lot of this before, right?" Their head tilted to one side… Good, keep them thinking, keep them from attacking you… "I-I'm not exactly, uh, good enough with words to convince you to stop, but… I mean, that'd be nice…?"
Their grin just widened. "... Amazing… A new character… New lines of dialouge…"
I swallowed the lump in my throat. "A-And that means a new opportunity, right? I mean, wouldn't you rather make friends, t-then kill them?"
A shrug. Frisk simply stared me down. I wanted to run, but where? The only way forward was past them… "It doesn't matter. I'm not sure if you'll be here when I RESET…"
"... - and I'd like to play with my food for a minute."
Their footing shifted. Something primal exploded from me, and, once again without my consent, my body moved on it's own - Determined legs had me leaping away from the punch Frisk had thrown, surprised eyes tracking me as my body threw my knife forward, slashing at their face. A red slash appeared across their face - blood started coming out, I think, but I didn't have time to think about it before my body turned forward and my feet started pounding through the snow.
"Care to explain-" A roar from behind me interrupted my thoughts for a moment - "How my body is moving without me doing it?!"
*Side effect of sharing a body - You have more than one pilot.
"Then who the hell are-?!" Once again, my train of thought was interrupted - this time, by a powerful glomp from behind me, knocking my footing loose. We flew through the air for a second, my knife knocked from my grip and tumbling somewhere a few feet from me. Snow flew everywhere as both myself and Frisk hit the ground. They were on top of me,, but I had managed to whip around, blocking their repeated punches with my hands and forearms.
"Come on, twink-boy!" They yelled over the sound of their fists pounding against my skinny arms - "Throw a punch! I doubt it'll do you much good!"
Tears collected on the corners of my vision as the pain from them wailing on my forearms began to get to me - The biting cold I was sitting in didn't help, either. What was I gonna do…?
"COME ON, MOTHER FUCKER! PROVE TO ME THAT YOU'RE AT LEAST A WORTHWHILE TOY!"
I wanted to, I really did, but what could I do…? I… I couldn't…
… Suddenly, a shining light blared from in front of them. A familiar charging sound caught both of our attentions - Before white-hot light filled my vision. It didn't touch me at all, just a few inches from the arms I had thrown up in defense, but it definitely hit Frisk, if their ever-quieter scream was any indication. The weight was gone, too - But what…?
The bright laser had dissipated, and I looked up to see a draconic skull floating above me, smoke peeling from it's maw. And, it was, wearing… Sunglasses…?
"Other human!" Suddenly, another person was kneeling beside me, using one gloved hand to lift my head into their boney lap. "Are you okay?! Count to 26 if so!"
"Pa… Pyrus…? I asked, my eyes creaking over to his kind face staring down at me. At the mention of his own name, he seemed to get excited.
"W-Wowie! We haven't even met yet, and you already know my name!" He helped me sit up, and I stared into the cloud of snow his blast had kicked up. No striped shirt yet… "Are you okay…? I wanted to give that other human a chance, but then I saw them hitting you, and-"
"It's okay, Paps, they probably wouldn't of taken it well anyway." I stood up, glancing back to Papyrus. He was standing, now, too.
He handed me my knife - Undamaged, thankfully, "Here, human! I noticed you dropped this - You may need it here in a moment!"
I flashed him a smile, before laughing filled the air.
"Eheheheheh…"
I stared at the shifting mist… And, for a moment, I thought I saw something green shifting in there. The green quickly shifted to the familiar blue, sauntering out of the mist with one clenched fist in front of their face. The face, which, beneath the bloody, diagonal slash my body-partner gave them…
Was a simple, heart-stopping smile.
=)
"So… You wish to see what a true demon looks like, right?"
Behind them, shadows slithered. Formed the shape of… A simple, six-petaled flower. I glared at this shape, confident I knew who that was… However, I had more pressing matters to attend to, so I turned my attention back to the demon in human skin.
"Fine."
They brought up one fist, another grin flashing across their expression. They pulled back two fingers, in a "come on!" motion…"
"Then let's tango, Human."