Hey, lookit that, another chapter posted in less than, like, a month of the last. That's probably not gonna last, so let's all just savor the moment, shall we? First off, review time.
EpicSlayerGuy99: Glad to hear you're liking it, and yeah, we're excited as hell to get to Snowdin.
XelaZagity: Not sure, but things are goin' okay-ish. Depression's just got hands, that's all.
Fixer140.85: Thanks friendo, guess you didn't have to wait too long for it this time, lol.
We still don't own the following things: Undertale, DoubleTale:Rewritten, and/or the DoubleScramble sprite comic. You should check them out though, in case you've somehow stumbled across this fanfic without having played/read all three of them. Do...do people go reading fanfiction for stuff they aren't fans of? Is that a thing? Eh, fuck it, on with the show. Hope y'all enjoy.
Eventually, our little moment of peace and quiet had to end. Frisk was the one to break the silence, standing up from the bench and turning towards me. "...we should probably get a move on…Alphys is probably gonna hold us up at her and Asgore's place anyway."
I followed suit and stretched, some of the bones in my body giving a satisfying pop before I relaxed and slipped my hands back into my hoodie pockets.
"Lead on then, I've got your back." I assured with a smile, earning a faint smile in return from my young guide before they turned to head back to Alphys' house.
Now that we were right next to each other and weren't busy trying to murder each other, I noticed something kinda strange. I was looking down at Frisk. Down. Hadn't we been damn near eye-level with each other before? I shrugged and put it aside for later as we stepped around a massive tree full of red leaves and approached the front door. I reached out to brush against the nearby Save point, noticing that Frisk neglected to do so.
*It's a cozy little house, ain't it? Cozy enough to fill you with Determination. HP fully restored.
Chapter Thirteen: Rest Your Party
*You'll have to see them again. Are you sure you're ready?
I nervously swallowed as Frisk opened the door and led me inside. This was Alphys' house. The first one I met during the visions when getting my magic. Would she be able to tell that her magic was part of my soul? Would I say something stupid and let her know? Shit, was I supposed to hide that I could do magic, or just roll with it? Cter could do magic, but everyone already knew him, and he got that after he'd already been down here. Was I overthinking this?
The sound of Frisk clearing their throat told me that, yes, I was overthinking it, because I'd been staring at nothing while a short lizard lady awkwardly stared at me from her couch. Shit. Say something genius, make the words good.
"U-Uhhh…howdy…?" Flawless. I truly was a master wordsmith.
"A-Another human!?" Alphys shouted, looking like she was sweating buckets as she began to mutter and stammer to herself.
I blinked a couple times before turning to look down at Frisk for assistance, who simply shrugged. God damn it. Taking a deep breath, I took a moment to look around the room. Much like last time, it was pretty dirty. Stacks of dishes loomed over the armrest of either side of the couch, the crushed remains of a chair cut down in its prime laid near the table tucked in the corner, and some trashy 90s anime about a pink cat girl was still running on the old tube TV.
"So…uhhh…whatcha watchin'?" I asked, awkwardly taking a few steps into the room to get a better look at the screen. Clearly I'd said something right, because Alphys' nervous rambling turned into an excited gasp.
"Oh my gosh you've never seen Mew Mew Kissy Cutie before!?"
"What's it about?" I asked, glancing between Alphys and the television.
"It's all about this human girl named Mew Mew who has cat ears! Which humans don't have! S-so she's all sensitive about them! But like... Eventually! She realizes that her ears don't matter! That her friends like her despite the ears! It's really moving! Whoops, spoilers Also, this sounds weird, but she has the power! To control the minds of anyone she kisses! She kisses people and…"
My eyes started to glaze over a bit as Alphys began to chatter at a mile a minute, but I made sure to smile and nod where I felt appropriate even as most of the spiel began to sound more like white noise than actual speech.
"Sounds sick, mind if we watch with you?" I asked.
"O-Of course not! Grab a seat!" Alphys exclaimed, scooting over so Frisk and I could fit on her admittedly kinda small couch. The show…wasn't actually half bad, to be honest. It was cheesy, and the dub was kinda awkward, but it certainly managed to burn a few hours easily enough. I burst out laughing at a truly terrible line, glancing over at Frisk to see what they thought…only to notice they'd fallen asleep. A yawn climbed out of my throat as I pulled my phone out to check the time.
"Yikes…it's getting kinda late, I should probably follow Frisk's example over here." I chuckled, pointing a thumb over at the sleeping teen.
"O-Oh, alright…did you like the show?" Alphys stuttered.
"Yeah, it was a blast, and all the trivia you know about it is kinda interesting too." I replied, smiling at her as I got up and stretched.
"Oh! I'm sorry, I wasn't aware we had guests…" A deep, booming voice softly rumbled from behind me. I nearly jumped, turning around to see…furry Santa in a floral shirt? Wait, no, his beard and hair were blonde, and while he was huge, he didn't look overweight.
"Name's Marian, and sleeping beauty here is called Frisk. Pleased to meet ya." I casually greeted, blinking in surprise as the gentle giant carefully picked Frisk up.
"Frisk and I are already acquainted, but it's very nice to meet you, Marian. My name is Asgore." The large goat-man rumbled, leading the way towards a guest bedroom after I bid Alphys goodnight.
The room was tiny, and sparsely decorated even by my standards. A bare mattress laid on the floor, which Asgore set Frisk down on, and a lone dresser and lamp flanked it.
"I'm sorry we don't have another bed for you, Marian." Asgore said, looking a little embarrassed.
"I-It's fine, we're imposing on you guys, I have no right to complain." I replied, shaking my head, "'sides, it's not like it'd be my first time sleeping on the floor."
"It's no imposition, we're happy to have the company. It can get rather lonely here in the Ruins." Asgore said, offering a small smile. "If you need anything, my door is the furthest one down the hall. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Asgore." I replied, taking against the wall directly across from the door as it was gently pulled shut.
*He's a big softie, no matter how imposing he can seem.
"Got that right…" I mumbled, smiling as I glanced back over at Frisk, who was still peacefully snoozing. Good, they probably needed it more than I did after the harrowing experience we went through before the timeline Reset.
*How long do you think they'll last?
"Until what?" I asked my text box, arching a brow.
*Until they get bored, Reset again, and start prodding you for new content like everyone else.
I glared at my text box, shaking my head. "They're not gonna Reset again." I replied without skipping a beat.
*How can you be so sure? You barely know them.
"How can you be so sure they'll get bored and Reset? You don't know them any better than I do." I countered. My text box didn't seem to have an answer for that, and I was tired as hell, so I let the matter drop for the time being. I settled in for a less-than-stellar sleep, closed my eyes, and began to drift off shortly thereafter.
I quietly groaned as I stared at the wooden floorboards, my eyes bleary from a half-assed sleep. On the floor, seated against a wall was proving to be one of the worst places I'd slept so far. I kept waking up and dozing off again, and I found my attempt to repeat the cycle interrupted by the faint sounds of people arguing. I debated trying to ignore it, but a glance over at Frisk's fitful slumber made me think twice. They'd wake Frisk if they kept at it. With that in mind, I forced myself to my feet and dragged myself out into the hall.
"No! I-I can't just let them go out like that!" I heard Alphys shout from down the hall, coming from the direction of the living room.
"But they're the future of humans and monsters…" Asgore's much deeper, booming voice replied, much softer than the shrill voice of the woman I'd met earlier despite sounding quite capable of rising to volumes that'd drown hers out.
"...You know as well as I do that these are no conditions…to take care of a pair of humans…let alone a child." I heard Asgore heave a deep sigh before continuing. I crept further down the hall, thankful that the poor lighting and heated argument made it harder to notice me. "We have no food, we need to clean, and…eventually they're going to leave."
Alphys seemed to deflate upon hearing that, before responding.
"I-I know that, Asgore, b-but I…I-I can't just let this go. Those humans are my friends! A-And it's safer in here than it is out there!"
Asgore took a moment to compose himself, offering a shaky smile as he tried to get through to Alphys.
"Alphys. I…have a feeling about them. I feel like they're going to accomplish great things," he explained, taking a few steps closer to his roommate, "You just need to let them-"
"N-N-NO! I haven't had friends like this in YEARS!" Alphys suddenly shouted, causing me to wilt a little as my heart ached for her. Was Asgore all she had in here? "T-They would get me! You w-w-w-wouldn't UNDERSTAND!" She screamed, beginning to break down crying as I stood there, pressed up against the wall. I mustered up my nerve, feeling that familiar, pleasant warmth fill my chest, and stepped out into the room.
"...h-hey," I started, causing the lizard woman to jump and break out of the hug the imposing, white-furred goat man had her wrapped in moments prior. "S-Sorry for eavesdropping, but uhhh…you guys weren't exactly quiet, and I feel like this kinda conversation's a bit important to keep me and Frisk out of."
Alphys sniffled and shook her head, scrubbing at her eyes and taking a few seconds to recompose herself while Asgore replied, "It is quite alright…this conversation would have to involve you two at some point."
"I-I'm sorry you had to see that…i-it's just… It's dangerous for humans here…" Alphys trailed off for a moment, taking another deep breath before continuing, "Human souls are…they're the key to our freedom. And the underground has had a lot of trouble with them b-before."
Alphys' face morphed into a sheepish grin as she forced a nervous chuckle out before she sighed, her expression deflating again.
"It's alright, I get it…but I dunno about the dangerous thing. I ran into quite a lot of folks on the way over here, and we all managed to hug it out and go our separate ways pretty easily." I replied, grinning and shrugging. "Besides, I'm a grown woman, hobbies notwithstanding, I think I can take care of myself just fine, and Frisk's no slouch either."
"Be that as it may, the fact of the matter is that, if I am not mistaken, you and Frisk's presence together makes eight human souls in the underground at once. Seven in total are required to break the Barrier and set our people free…" Asgore countered, shaking his head. "As much as I believe in you, Alphys' concerns aren't without merit. I shudder to imagine how the people will react with our freedom so close at hand, and Undyne's declaration of war…" The massive goat man trailed off, looking a lot less certain than he'd sounded when arguing with Alphys.
I sighed and nodded, but I still cast a glance back the way I came with a grin. "Somehow, I think we'll manage, ain't that right Frisk?"
The squinty child in question stepped out of their hiding spot, a blank, determined expression on their face as they nodded.
I turned back to the monsters, my expression sobering up for a moment. "Don't get me wrong, I know full well it's gonna be dangerous, but neither of us will be happy taking advantage of your hospitality."
"...I…I guess there's no stopping you, huh?" Alphys sighed, shaking her head. "Could…could you at least wait a day?"
I smiled and nodded. "Of course. The rest of the underground ain't goin' anywhere." I replied, before stifling a yawn. "On that note, I'm still friggin' exhausted, so I'm gonna go crash again."
The monsters nodded, and Frisk and I made our way back to the guest room, settling back in for the night. Right as I was about to close my eyes and get back to sleep, I noticed Frisk staring at me.
"...something up?" I asked, arching a brow.
"...n-nothing…" They mumbled, rolling over without another word.
"...alrighty then…goodnight Frisk." I replied, letting my eyelids flutter shut.
"...goodnight…" I heard them mumble, before I managed to pass out.
And that's that. Next chapter's gonna be Snowdin, and it's probably gonna be a doozy. Can't leave shit too cozy for too long, ya dig? Anyways, if you enjoyed it, and you've got a couple minutes to spare, why not go ahead and drop a review? It's always nice to hear how we're doing. No pressure though, time's precious, and not everyone's got a lot to spend telling some insecure fanfiction writer that they liked their word spaghetti. If you wanna be notified the second a new chapter drops after months of inactivity, follow the story, maybe favorite it if you really feel it's worth it.
Edit (11/22/23): Went back and touched up a few small things with this chapter alongside a few others, as well as porting the other revisions that made it in when we ported DoubleTime to Archive of Our Own. Hope y'all enjoy.
We're the TiredWhiteMayge, and this shit's starting to cruise at speeds above glacial, so look out...maybe. Who knows? We don't. Anyways, laters.