Chapter Five

Waterfall:

Curtain and the child entered Waterfall as they passed by a waterfall with rocks flowing down it while finding a tutu behind it. They then entered an area of tall grass when Curtain ducked down along with the child when she caught a scent. They looked up on a ledge to see a shadowy figure clothed in silver armor and a helmet with one eye glowing and what looked like a red tassel flowing from the top. They then saw Papyrus approach the armored figure.

"H… HI, UNDYNE! I'M HERE WITH MY DAILY REPORT...UHHH… REGARDING THAT HUMAN I CALLED YOU ABOUT EARLIER…" Papyrus said, as the two hidden in the grass looked towards one another.

"Undyne..." the human child whispered softly.

"That's Undyne?!" Curtain softly whisper-yelled.

Papyrus continued speaking with Undyne as he tried to tell her that the human was friendly, but she was not hearing it as she told him that she will deal with the human herself. Although he wished he could have done more, Papyrus conceded with worry on his expression as he left. A movement in the grass as Curtain and the child were about to leave caught Undyne's attention, as she turned towards the tall grass and summoned a glowing blue spear. Her glare was sharp and piercing, as the human felt that she was looking right at her as she held her breath, while Curtain's hand glowed purple as she held it behind her back so that it wouldn't show. After a moment of silence, Undyne disappeared into the shadows, and then Curtain and the human walked out of the grass and finally breathed out in relief.

"Yo… did you see the way she was staring at you…? That… was AWESOME! I'm SOOO jealous! What'd you do to get her attention…?" Monster kid asked as he emerged from the grass along with them, and they stared at him with raised eyebrows.

"… Apparently exist," Curtain replied.

"Ha ha. C'mon! Let's go watch her beat up some bad guys!" Monster kid said as he ran ahead and tripped, but he was able to get himself up again to continue running.

"… That child is quite enthusiastic huh?" Curtain asked, and the human nodded.

"He seems nice though… a little odd, but nice," the child replied, and Curtain just snickered.

"Still doesn't know you're a human, right?" Curtain asked, and the child nodded.

The two continued on the trail using bridge seeds to cross the rivers, as Papyrus called the human while Curtain wondered how the seeds were self aware enough to open up when aligned. They then walked through a wishing room with sparking stones in the ceiling that acted as stars, while Curtain and the human were surprised by it's beauty. They walked by some echo flowers as they could hear passing conversations, and then they made it to another area of water with planks of wood to walk along while finding writing on the way of the history of the war of humans and monsters. As they read it, they learned of how strong one human is compared to the monsters, and how a human's soul can persist after death which makes it possible for a monster to absorb a human soul to create a beast of unfathomable power.

"Is… I-Is this why they want my soul? As… a form of weapon?" the child said with a frown, and Curtain looked at her with sympathy as she petted her head comfortingly.

They continued walking to see a square plank that would be the only way to cross the long dark waters before them.

"Looks like only one at a time huh? Want me to go first or you?" Curtain asked her.

"Hm… I'll go first," the child said as she stepped on the plank.

"Okay, just be careful. I'll come as soon as I can so don't get into too much trouble," Curtain said, and the child nodded towards her confidently.

The human floated across the dark river as Curtain stood behind until she reached the other side. She sent the plank to float back, and a cold wind made the child feel uncomfortable in the area she was in. As she started walking across a plank road, a glowing spear landed right in front of her as she saw the warrior in armor looking at her across the river. The human began making a run for it as Undyne tossed spears her way, while she dodged them, and then eventually found another area of tall grass. She jumped in and hid as Undyne came walking over into the tall grass to find her. Undyne stretched out her hand and pulled up the first thing she grabbed… which happened to be Monster Kid. She set him down and left frustrated, while the human crawled out of the grass from the other side and breathed out in relief again. Monster Kid jumped out of the grass excitedly since his hero Undyne actually touched his face, and then ran off in delight, as the human just smiled at him, half-heartedly and winded.

+ OH MY GOSH! SHE ALMOST KILLED ME!

– Yooo, he saved your life that kid.

+ Thank you tiny dinosaur man… kid.

The child then continued on her way, looking back a few times but knowing that Curtain may take a little while to catch up. She walked ahead and found a crystallized cheese, as she hoped that one day the mouse in the hole in the wall would one day get it. She touched the glowing light nearby as her progress was saved.

Tap tap tap tap.

The child heard tapping sounds coming closer as she waited to see if it was Curtain.

Tap tap tap tap.

Her guess was correct as she saw Curtain running towards her, while she grew surprised to see Curtain running towards her on all fours.

"Hey Cha! Are you okay? You're not hurt or anything?! I saw freaking holes in that bridge back there, so I assumed something happened," Curtain said, as she stood up on her two feet.

"I'm okay Curtain, really. Undyne was there, but I was able to avoid her, with Monster Kid's help too," the child replied with a smile, and Curtain relaxed.

"Okay… good to see you're in one piece," Curtain said as she patted her shoulder.

"How do you run like that?" the child asked as they walked to the next area.

"What? On all fours? I can always do that. My mom used to tell me it's in our… jeans," Curtain said as she gestured towards her jean jacket and skirt, while the human couldn't help but chuckle.

Another chuckle caught their attention, as they turned to see Sans standing next to a telescope with his grin widened while Curtain grew a little bashful while rubbing the back of her head, and the child continued to laugh with him.

"nice one curtain. i didn't realize i had competition," Sans said with a wink.

"Ehh, I wouldn't say I'm that good. You seem like you have more confidence than me in front of a crowd," Curtain said.

"heh. it's not so difficult once you get used to it. besides, you got all the good looks compared to me," Sans said.

"… Thank you, Sans," Curtain said with a kind smile.

"no prob," Sans said with a wink.

"… What are you doing here, Sans? I thought you were working at the sentry stations," the child asked, looking at the telescope with interest.

"i'm thinking about getting into the telescope business," Sans replied.

"Telescope… business?" Curtain asked, as Sans nodded.

Sans allowed the child to look through the telescope for free, as all she saw was nothing but red. She moved away from it and turned towards him unsatisfied, while he chuckled and said that he would give her a full refund. When the child turned towards Curtain and said she didn't see anything, Curtain put her hand over her mouth to hold her laugh, noticing the red mark around the child's eye from the paint on the telescope.

After washing her eye when she noticed the red through her reflection, the child continued on her way with Curtain in tow as they spoke about how wings work. They passed through cyan-glowing waters and echo flowers, and passed by Onion-san, the onion-shaped octopus who sort-of disturbed them, and then found a room with a piano. They each played a few keys, until Curtain thought she smelled a familiar scent but disregarded it since it was so small. The child and Curtain found a lonely statute being rained on from drips of water above, and the child noticed umbrellas in the next area. She quickly ran and took one as she put it over the sad statute since it was too sad to just leave alone to be rained on. Music started playing from a music box that happened to be with the statue, as the melody reminded them of the piano. They returned back to the piano room as the two spent a while figuring out how to play the melody on the piano until the wall opened nearby, which made them jump.

Slowly they entered the hidden room to find a round red orb on a pedestal, known as the legendary artifact. The child wished to take such a pretty orb, but she carried too many dogs to do so, which confused her. As Curtain observed the artifact and happened to catch the small familiar scent again, the child deployed the dog as he woke up from his nap. The dog jumped towards the legendary artifact and absorbed it, and then he walked through the wall.

+ …

– …

The girls quickly left as they couldn't comprehend what just happened and decided not to dwell on it and walk onward. Reading the continued history of humans and monsters on the walls, it was revealed to them that a monster's soul cannot be absorbed since their bodies disappear when they die, and only an incredible power can take a living monster's soul. Yet a Boss Monster's soul, when vanquished, lingers a few moments after they are defeated, which can give the human the opportunity to absorb said soul although it has never happened. After they finished reading, they continued on their way and each took an umbrella for the 'rain' ahead: the child with a pale red one, and Curtain with a pale purple one.

"… It's actually nice here," Curtain said.

"Yeah, it is… but you can feel sadness in this place too…" the child said as she looked downward at her reflection in the pools of water.

"True… there's tranquility and gloom. Must be why the monsters would want to leave but at the same time seem not in such a rush," Curtain said.

The child turned to see Monster Kid standing in a corner from the rain, as he decided to follow her and she gave him some room under her umbrella for him. Curtain walked ahead as she smiled at the child's generosity while the two spoke to one another, with Monster Kid mostly talking, especially concerning an echo flower they passed by and that Undyne was so cool and would beat up anyone except those who are innocent. Eventually the three walked across a road that showed a stunning view of a castle in the far off distance. They looked out towards it for a moment to appreciate it's beauty, but the child knew that place would be her final destination if she couldn't help Curtain learn how to fly. They continued along to a pretty tall ledge, as Monster Kid offered to help the child up on his shoulders since he figured that she wanted to see Undyne. The human looked back at Curtain as she put the umbrellas they held in a tub of umbrellas nearby.

"Yo, you go on ahead. Don't worry about me. I always find a way to get through!" Monster Kid said.

The human looked ahead and saw darkness, but she felt like something was watching them somewhere else. Curtain noticed the child's concern as she sensed a certain spear-welder ahead of where the child would have to go through, while she felt like something else wasn't too far behind them. Although it would be risky, but considering that the child survived from Undyne before, Curtain decided to let her go on her own for now.

"Go on ahead, kid. I'll follow Monster Kid, alright?" Curtain said to her with a wink.

"Huh? Ya want to come with me?" Monster Kid asked as Curtain nodded towards him.

"… Okay Curtain. I'll see you two later," the child said as she turned and went on ahead.

"So you're her friend huh? That's pretty cool! But couldn't you have climbed up there?" Monster Kid asked, noticing her claws.

"Yeah, but I wanted to keep you company. If it wasn't for you, my friend would be in a lot more trouble then she is," Curtain said, sensing the something else had stopped moving.

"Yooo! What kind of trouble though?! Is she going to be okay?! What did she do?!" Monster Kid asked.

"Now now, let's be on our way. I'd rather let her explain that story to you when she's ready," Curtain said with a smile.

"Awww… alright. Follow me!" Monster Kid said as he walked along with Curtain following him, unaware of her taking notice of two faint red lights on the dark ceiling.