We are at the halfway point of this story. WooHoo! Almost there!
Thank ya'll for favorite-ing and following. It's means a lot to me. :D
Also, Yay for Christmas! It's coming soon!
Day 15
Work was only half a day, and Curtain told her coworkers and boss to come over to her house in the evening and they agreed. Curtain went home and she called Marisol and her other friends to come over at evening, and they all agreed too. She kept the door to the upstairs locked since her room was up there. Sans and Frisk found Curtain in her house at noon and were confused, until she explained herself to them.
"You see, every month all my friends, coworkers, and Boss-bro have a get-together to whichever person or peoples' house and hang out. It's a way for us to get out of work and just take a break to catch up with one another. Especially if a new person or people are added to our group, like you two and Ciara since she works in my same job now. This month is my house, and I cater to everyone," Curtain said, as she was organizing food on the table to prepare for or'derves.
"Ohhh. Do you need help?" Frisk volunteered.
"I'll help out too. Seems like a lot of food to make, especially since those guys can eat," Sans also volunteered.
"Sure thing, and your right. As thin as they are, those dudes can eat a lot, even the girls," Curtain said, and the three got to work.
Evening came, and everyone was in the living room eating some food. Ciara left early, and Curtain went into her kitchen to rest for a moment. Frisk went to check on her while Sans stood in the living room to make sure that no one bothered Curtain for a while.
"Hey Curtain, how you're doing?" Frisk said, as she sat across the kitchen table from Curtain while passing her a cup of water.
"I'm alright. Just a little tired is all," Curtain said, and she took a gulp of water.
"Oh okay. Sans is making sure no one comes in to bother you," Frisk said, and Curtain smiled.
Realizing that no one was coming over, Curtain decided to question Frisk about Sans.
"So Frisk. What do you know about Sans? Like, before he met me? What was his life like before? I told him about me, so I want to know about him. I should ask him, but considering that me and you are alone, I thought to ask you now," Curtain asked.
Frisk lowered her eyes downward with a sadness in her expression, and as she shook it off, Curtain looked at her in heightening interest to her response.
"Well, he said it was okay to tell you if you asked... okay. I'll tell you, but let me give you some background information so that you'd understand better..." Frisk said, and then she began,
"First off, of all the Embodiments, the king and queen are the highest authorities, along with their subordinates. The king is Asgore, Embodiment of the Galaxies, and the queen is Toriel, Embodiment of Life as you know. Second to them are Gaster, Embodiment of Magic, and Gerson, Embodiment of Wisdom. Although they are the heads, Asgore always calls in all of the Embodiments to discuss important matters... Secondly, when Embodiments and Elements die, which is mostly from being killed in some way because we can live forever, it is different. Embodiments disperse into pieces that are scattered throughout the galaxy, and after some years later, the parts reunite and the Embodiment comes back alive. Now when an Element dies, they break and are dispersed in the world, then in a few weeks are brought back to life, but they are not the same person..."
"What do you mean?" -Curtain
"Well, I am Frisk, Element of Mercy. But if I'm killed, I'll disperse, and when the pieces come back together, I will not be Frisk. I'll be someone else with a new name, although they will still be the Element of Mercy. They may have faint memories of mine, like how I have the faint memories of the one before me, but that's it. I will be gone, like how regular mortals are."
"My goodness Frisk..." -Curtain
"That's why Embodiments look out for Elements. We don't come back... Thirdly, the queen and king had a son named Asriel, Embement of Hope."
"Embement? And Embodiments can have kids?" -Curtain
"Yes. Embodiments and Elements can have children too when they're older since Elements need to grow up, although Embodiments are already grown up when formed. Embement is what Embodiments have, which is a premature Embodiment with Element qualities, like how we need to train to become stronger, and they can't travel far by portals. When they grow up, the Embement becomes an Embodiment or Element depending on the parents, and they gain their full powers. Now, Asriel was one of my best friends along with Chara, the Element of Power..." -Frisk took a moment to breath, and then she continued,
"You see, one day me and Asriel were waiting for Chara in the king's court, with Asgore and Toriel tending to their plants that they like to keep around. When Chara finally showed up, Asriel and me were shocked to find her badly beaten up and almost at an inch of her life. Her body was pulsing from her powers trying to keep her moving towards us, but it was hard for her to keep them in control. We wanted to help her, and find who did this, but Chara said she couldn't see who did it because they made her blind for awhile. Papyrus and Sans suddenly arrived and we asked them for help... but, Papyrus started speaking to Chara very sadly, trying to tell her to let go. We were surprised, but Sans explained that the only reason they were there was because there was no way to save her, and only dying could save her from the pain. Asriel was devastated and said that there had to be a way while his parents comforted him, and I pleaded with Sans to have mercy but... I could see in his face that he didn't want to reap her either. Chara was stubborn and didn't want to lose her family: us. Papyrus could no longer help or reap her with his scythe... it was too painful for him... So Sans took it upon himself to do it..."
Curtain passed Frisk a tissue and a glass of water, and Frisk drank some of the water and whipped her moistened eyes. When she was ready, Frisk continued, as Curtain sadly listened,
"Sans raised his scythe to strike her, but he stopped almost midway because he felt so bad about hurting his friend and a friend to us all... but seeing her in pain, he finally continued his strike... yet, Asriel jumped in front of Chara, and both of them were hit. Asriel was hit fully, and Chara partially so she was still alive, but her powers opened another portal to an unknown world and, we never saw her again... Asriel had dispersed, and he was gone. Toriel and Asgore could only watch in tears as their son was gone, with the rest of us doing so... Sans felt the worst about it, even though the king and queen knew it was an accident and were not angry with him. His guilt overshadowed him, and he disappeared for a long time, only Papyrus being able to see him but not being able to convince him to come back soon... Asriel eventually returned to the king's court, but since he was an Embement, it was him on the inside, but outside he went from a child goat monster to a yellow-pedaled flower with a face. He became the Embement of Despair, and although he lost his Hope, we kept our hope for his sake. I would visit him, Papyrus would, and his parents would look after him. He's gotten better, but we hope that one day he'll return to normal."
"You still have a chance with him." -Curtain
"Yes... Sans still didn't show himself for awhile, but one day I heard he came back and I went to see him. He was with Papyrus, and I went over to them but... you know how Sans makes jokes, has white dots in his eye holes-"
"White pupils in his eye sockets." -Curtain
"Yes, and he keeps his hood off most of the time and is chill like what Hare said?" -Frisk
"Yeah." -Curtain
"He was always the way he is now before the incident, but when I saw him after that... he wore his hood all the time, his eye sockets were just empty holes, and his smile wasn't genuine. He never changed expression, and he spoke without feeling in it. I asked Papyrus what happened to him and he said that Sans felt that his emotions made him second-guess his actions and that was what resulted in Asriel getting killed, Chara being lost forever, and everyone getting hurt from all of that. He had decided to rid himself of emotions by suppressing them and no longer feeling anything so that they wouldn't get in the way, and that it wouldn't hurt if someone he knows has to be reaped." -Frisk
"W-What? But it wasn't his fault." -Curtain
"The King and Queen tried to reassure him that they didn't blame him and that it wasn't his fault, but nothing could be done. He wouldn't listen. He thought it was better this way so that history wouldn't repeat itself... then, not too long ago, Papyrus went to see Gaster because he felt sick even though he wasn't. Gaster asked for Sans to come in for a check up because Sans hadn't got one in a long time." -Frisk
"A check up?" -Curtain
"The soul is checked to see if the Embodiment is in balance or sick, and Elements can get checked to make sure there is no damage on their soul. Well, Papyrus was fine even though his soul was beating too fast, but Sans... His soul was withering. It was as if it was peeling and chipping away, as I overheard Gaster tell Gerson. He was very sick on the inside, even though he was fine outside. If his soul was to continue to wither, he would break apart one day, and it may take many years before he could come back together... or never. Papyrus was heartbroken, and the rest of us were devastated. It took Papyrus pleading with Sans, and even crying, for him to finally agree to get help for his soul and not hurt his brother and the rest of us. Gaster, Papyrus, Toriel, and I were set to watch over Sans, and to help him recover himself and his emotions. It was years at the time since he had any emotions, so we knew it would take a while for him to get them back, especially since he forgot how to feel." -Frisk
"Then what did you guys do?" -Curtain
"We talked to him, and he would hang out with us. We usually didn't leave him alone for awhile, and he eventually became annoyed which was a great first step in his recovery. Then we talked about all the different emotions, and he would watch how we would express our emotions like smiling when your happy or talking loud and a lot like Papyrus. We would show him a lot of things, and we would take about a month to show him one to two emotions at a time, so that he wouldn't be overwhelmed. Eventually he slowly started feeling his own emotions, but it was really tough. Then Gaster decided to let Sans see how mortals felt and expressed emotions so that he would have a different perspective, and we all agreed because we thought he was doing much better and it would help him. He would take time to watch people living their lives and he would see how they expressed their emotions, whether it was happy, sad, angry, in pain, or grieving." -Frisk
"The man at the cemetery... so Gaster told him to watch people, and you all agreed so... your all the reason why he found me," Curtain said with narrowed eyes and one eyebrow raised.
"-Sign- Yes. That's why Toriel wanted to help you more and me too because we're all to blame for him finding you. We didn't think he was going to fall in love, and especially not try to just take you away, but it's understandable though... Sans never felt love as he does for you. He loves his brother and us but we're family, although Papyrus is more family since they're related. So, I think the reason he thought he could take you was because he never felt love before, and he's a very powerful Embodiment so..." Frisk said, as she weighed her hands.
"That's why he thought it was okay huh... He didn't really know what love was like and what to do... but then... does he really love me?" Curtain asked, a little sadness in her voice that Frisk didn't pick up.
"I think he definitely feels strong affection towards you. I think he's understanding love when he's around you to be honest," Frisk said, and Curtain nodded.
Suddenly, Sans almost busted through the kitchen door, as Curtain and Frisk almost choked on their drinks.
"I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow. That Dark presence is near," Sans said, and then he teleported away.
"What? It's close? Curtain stay indoors, I will be back to tell you when everything is safe," Frisk said, and she ran out.
Curtain drank the rest of her drink, and she moved into the living room. She was able to keep her friends there longer when she challenged them to a brawling game and they accepted. Frisk returned to the house to tell Curtain that the coast was clear, and that they were safe for now. Everyone returned to their homes, and Frisk left as well.
When going to bed that night, Curtain only worried if Sans was okay since he didn't come back to see her.