Chapter 15
Sans and Ava returned home, finding the Whimsun doing tricks in the living room and the kids were giggling happily. Grillby was nearby and chuckling too while Papyrus was out, having had a meeting with Undyne. "Kids," Sans called out, making the girls turn to them.
"Dad!" Frisk said, running up to him with Chara behind her.
"Mom!" Amelia said happily, running up to her mother.
The two scooped up their children, smiling. "Kids, there's someone who wants to talk to you three," Ava said.
"A policeman?" Chara asked.
"Similar, but actually someone your birth fathers paid to find you kids," Sans said.
Frisk looked scared. "He's not going to take us back to them, is he?" She asked.
"No," Ava said. "He suspects your birth fathers weren't telling him the truth, but he wants to talk to you kids to confirm his suspicions."
"Muffet and Toriel both vouch for him. Plus, Muffet wants to apologize to you three," Sans explained.
The kids looked thoughtful. "Miss Toriel was really nice to us," Amelia said.
"And if Dad and Auntie Ava trust her, so can we," Chara said.
Frisk nodded. "Should we also give Muffet a chance to apologize?" She asked.
"Well, she was scary last time," Amelia said.
Ava smiled gently. "If it helps, kids, she's the one that found the person that is looking to speak with you three and he hasn't made a move to harm her," she said. "Also, Muffet hasn't told him where you guys are."
The three kids looked at each other and nodded. "You guys will be there too, right?" Chara asked.
"Oh, I'm definitely going to be there beside my two baby bones," Sans said firmly.
"Your dad and I will be there too, our little candle," Ava said to her daughter.
The reassurances helped and the children agreed to go meet the man looking for them. River Person gave them a ride in his boat and he followed them as they made it to the Ruins. "I want to be sure that spider apologizes to my granddaughter and nieces," he said firmly.
"Plus you want to keep us all safe, Papa," Ava said, smiling as she knew how protective her father was.
"I know how he feels, my love," Grillby said. "Just as River Person feels protective of you, his own daughter, I feel protective of our little daughter."
Amelia smiled up at her parents and Frisk and Chara giggled before they arrived at the Ruins. Toriel was there to meet them, which surprised them. "Miss Toriel?" Frisk asked in surprise.
"Hello, little ones," she said warmly. "Welcome, friends."
"Do you live here too?" Chara asked curiously.
"Oh, no. Asgore and I just come here occasionally to tend to things," she said. "But I was the keeper of these Ruins for many years before I married Asgore and became Queen."
She led them all to the edge of the Ruins. "Muffet took Kyle back to her lair. And it seems she might be falling for him," she said.
The group looked surprised, but continued on their journey, soon coming to Muffet's lair. "Muffet," Ava called out gently, but evenly.
Muffet, hearing the Jury's voice, came out and she nodded to them. "Thank you for coming so quickly," she said before looking at the three children and biting her lip before looking at Ava and Sans. "May I be allowed to approach and apologize to the children?"
Sans' eyes lit up and Ava's own eyes lit up too before their eyes went back to normal and the two nodded. "She's being truthful," the skeleton said.
"You have our permission, Muffet," the half-human said with a nod.
The spider approached the girls and kneeled down, looking contrite. "Girls, I know words can't take back how I treated you three before, but I am sorry for that. You three are under the protection of the Judge and Jury, something I shouldn't have ignored." She took a deep breath. "You don't have to forgive me and if you want nothing to do with me afterwards, I completely understand. I just wanted to apologize for my actions."
Amelia was first to react and she hugged Muffet, which surprised the spider greatly, but she hugged the child back. "Your birth dad isn't going to get to you, dearie," she said reassuringly.
Frisk and Chara hugged her, to which she hugged the two as well, taking the hugs to mean that the children forgave her. Kyle smiled as he came out. Seeing the three girls, he noted that they looked happy, especially when two of them ran to the skeleton he had met earlier and one girl ran to the half-human and the fire monster beside her.
Amelia reached up to her dad, who scooped her up into his arms, nuzzling her forehead with his own. "I'm proud of you, my little candle," he said with a smile.
Sans hugged his two daughters. "What made you kids forgive her so readily?" He asked curiously.
"Because she apologized," Frisk said simply.
"And she said we didn't have to forgive her," Chara said. "When someone says that, it usually means that they are very sorry and feel that they're afraid that we feel they can't change. But she changed. Not only that, she stopped the man looking for us."
"In other words, her actions have proven that she is genuinely sorry for scaring you kids earlier and you forgive her because you can see she's working to make it right," Ava said.
"Yeah," Amelia said.
Muffet smiled and turned to Kyle, motioning him to come closer. He did and she gestured to the group in front of them. "You've met our Honorable Judge and Jury, and you know the girls too. The fire monster beside the Honorable Jury is her intended, Grillby. The cloaked monster is River Person, who is the Honorable Jury's father."
River Person came up to them and he looked at Kyle. "Why do you seek my granddaughter and nieces?" He asked.
Kyle knew he meant the girls. "Their fathers paid a hefty sum to have the girls brought back to them, but I felt something was off. I decided I'd find the girls, but depending on how I found them, I'd make my decision as to what to do."
"What was your plan if you weren't going to bring the girls back to their fathers?" Ava asked.
"Well, if the kids were in a safe place, then I'd leave them with whoever is taking care of them," he said. "But if they were in a bad place, I'd get them out and find a family that would treat them right."
He noted how Sans and Grillby hugged their daughters protectively, to which Kyle held his hands up placatingly. "Don't worry, I can see the girls are well-cared for. They ran up to you without fear. Plus you're protective of them."
"All of us are," River Person said with a nod.
Amelia looked at Kyle. "So...we can stay here?" She asked. "We don't have to leave?"
He shook his head. "No," he said reassuringly to the child. "But from the amount your birth dad and the sisters' birth dad were willing to pay, they're not going to stop looking for you two."
"Meaning we may have to ask our human judge friend for some help on that matter," Grillby said.
Sans nodded. "We'll ask him later," he said. "He's already done so much for us by warning us about the girls' birth fathers searching for them and authorizing the adoptions."
"Sans is right," Ava said. "I may have to have another meeting too with my police friends."
"I might be able to send the men that hired me a false lead, but it'll have to be a good one to get them off our backs for a bit," Kyle said. "At least until we can make a plan to stop them for good."
Muffet nodded. "Let's think more on it and meet up tomorrow to discuss more," she said.
"Sounds good," Sans said.
Ava and Grillby looked at each other before the fire monster took a deep breath. "If worse comes to worse, then Sans, Ava, and I will handle the situation," he said.
River Person knew what they were talking about. "I hope it doesn't come to that, but if it does, I'll help with what I can," he said.
Ava nodded, knowing her father had a good reason to be concerned. What Grillby was talking about was something very dangerous that had been done only once before in Monster-Human history, many years before the war.
But if it did come down to that, she would do anything to protect her daughter and nieces. Not only as a Jury, but also as a mother and aunt.
What was Grillby thinking about? We shall see.
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GoldGuardian2418
