Chapter Twenty 5
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As the night progressed, the group was able to exchange all the information and knowledge they all had. The two Frisk and Asriel explained their past and about the resets and save points. Asriel then revealed that Corruption had attacked him and stolen his last bit of strength to travel back in time.
The two Frisk and other Curtain also said they believed Corruption was from a long time ago but couldn't think of a way to at least see or learn what happened. Curtain and the two Papyrus confirmed that Corruption herself said she existed before the war and remembered when the world was peaceful and that she killed outside of the war which is why there were no record of human killings. The Marisols said they believed that their descent from one of the mages could be why Corruption took an interest in her, considering Corruption was around at that time.
The Sans revealed that they believe because the world was made by Corruption and that each of them share something connected to her, that she brought each of them intentionally because of that. They also mentioned the chapel and how it seemed to be linked to someone else from how different it was and was possibly from Corruption's old self by certain indications.
As they approached the chapel, the Curtains, Marisols, and Frisks felt a sense of dismay.
"What's wrong?" Asriel asked other Frisk when he noticed she showed signs of pain.
"W-Well, the parts that Corruption damaged of me when she possessed me… they're hurting from seeing this place," other Frisk replied as other Curtain appeared near her.
"Indeed. The corrupted bits were so bothered I was able to knock them all off of you, probably why you felt more pain too… and yeah this place isn't normal, even Corruption dislikes it," other Curtain concluded.
"Then it's the perfect hideout from the demon trope for a while! They might not come here so it'll be perfect to have more time to prepare!" other Papyrus said.
"Wowie! It's like a home base!" Papyrus said.
"careful bro. it looks pretty worn so let's walk carefully," Sans said, as they nodded and slowly entered inside.
They all immediately found the inside familiar, even the Marisols, as they walked across the hall.
"… something the matter, Frisk?" Sans asked her.
"Why… Why is the Judgement Hall here? Or… did this exist before that one?" Frisk asked him.
"seems like this one existed before that one, especially now knowing that corruption has been around for a long time… i guess that's why she didn't like me," Sans replied.
"Then Corruption is connected to the Judgement Hall… a place that was above ground… how could any of the monsters have known about it to build it the same way?" Frisk wondered.
"… beats me," Sans simply replied.
"… But what was this place to her that it's still connected… unless… that's why she talks so much… if I think of it as her being a judge of character… Wait! Could she have been a judge for humans and monsters?!" Frisk wondered out loud at her revelation.
"huh? a judge for humans and monsters...?" Sans asked, intrigued by her words as other Sans became more attentive.
"It makes sense by what you guys found out and what Chara told me. It would make sense for a judge of humans and monsters to be a hybrid like she was," Frisk replied, as everyone stopped walking, although GenCurtain and Frisk both took an extra step and then stopped.
"Corruption… is like Curtain?" Papyrus asked nervously.
"Ah! I'm sorry! I guess the rush of running away from Chara made that slip my mind," Frisk said as she rubbed the back of her head.
"that's… pretty important info, kid," Sans said.
"I'm sorry… when I spoke to Chara and realized that Corruption could be a hybrid, they confirmed to me that she was even before they had fallen down in the underground. That she was a hybrid before… becoming what they are," Frisk said
"A hybrid… yes that only could have occurred long before, so it must be true," other Marisol said.
"And that means Corruption was different too... Ah! So 'Corruption' really isn't her name, but... what must have happened to her," Marisol reasoned.
"Hmm, then when the tension between humans and monsters began, she changed… maybe the tension in war between the two affected her? Like because she is born from both and a judge, then maybe it forced a change…?" other Papyrus reasoned.
"That sounds pretty reasonable to me! Though I do wonder about how she was able to get away with the killings she did… why did no one else notice at all?" Papyrus wondered.
"If she decimated any witnesses and left the land barren, then none of them would be able to tell anyone, and it's not like there were phones or anything fast. Also, if the tension began, then obviously they'd just blame each other for it," GenCurtain said.
"You could also consider that, if she was a judge, then the humans and monsters might have accepted those killings as part of her judgment, too," Asriel said.
"…" Curtain silently contemplated the news the most.
"hey, Curtain… i'm sure this is a shock, but are you okay?" Sans asked her.
"Why didn't I see it? She changed her form into a woman and a dragon, like how I changed into an Aecan… I should have known sooner," Curtain replied sullenly.
"maybe, but we all saw her blow up. we thought it was over after that so we had no reason to keep on thinking about her, or would even want to," Sans said.
"Right… no wonder she's so versatile. She can change her form… but why would she kill her own people?! No matter what, whether human or monster it's still our people! Why is she evil? What made her so evil?!" Curtain yelled out as she walked ahead to where the swirling mark on the floor was.
"it might help us to know why, but i don't think she'll be willing to give us more clues after that last battle. they want to really fight. the problem too is we are speculating from clues, so we still aren't one hundred percent sure either," Sans said.
"… if what we assume of this chapel is true. Let's say it's linked to her former self, and it's in a world Corruption made so… could there be a way to find her former self here?" Marisol wondered.
"Or some link to her," other Marisol added.
"A link… if there was some way to use this chapel… if there was a way to go back and see when it wasn't overgrown then maybe we'd find an answer," other Frisk said.
"Hmmm… to use a whole building as some sort of time traveling device…? It sounds like a bit of a stretch, but then again this whole world was created by Corruption and there are doubles of us all so…" Papyrus said.
"Double and Triple," other Papyrus clarified.
"… but going back that far, is it even possible?" Sans thought out loud, as a memory of a certain broken machine came to his mind.
"Time travel is different then memory," GenCurtain said which made Frisk stare at her.
"Memory travel then?" Papyrus asked.
"Though traveling in memory may be questionable in certain cases by perception, in this case we actually need this perception if it is of our enemy," GenCurtain clarified as she sat on the front bench that wasn't toppled over like the others.
"A grand idea, Curtain! Though… does anyone here know how to do that?" Papyrus asked with a few sweat drops on his forehead.
"I don't think anyone has really tried that before," Marisol replied with a tilt of her head.
"Actually, someone did," Asriel said as he looked towards Frisk.
"...That's right!" Frisk said with a hop.
"H-Huh? You mean…?" other Frisk questioned to clarify.
"We did it before with Asriel! Remember? Those memories we got from him!" Frisk said, as other Frisk's eyes widened.
"When we reached out to him we did! Surely if we try to reach out, maybe we can find the memory of Corruption's former self or even reach her!" other Frisk said.
"How will you do so?" Marisol asked.
"We aren't one hundred percent sure how..." Frisk said.
"But we're determined to try!" other Frisk said.
"Then if I may make a suggestion… if we are trying to reach out and find out why Corruption is what she is in order to understand and challenge her again… then maybe here would be the proper place," Curtain said, as she pointed to the swirling spot that she realized by touching it was charred ground.
The two Frisks nodded and both walked over to the spot. They sat down with their legs crossed facing each other, and then breathed out as they relaxed and closed their eyes to concentrate.
"We'll be watching out for you two then. Let us know if you need anything," Curtain said, and they picked up their hands with thumbs up.
Some time passed as the two Frisk were concentrating for a while, while the others were keeping guard and exploring around the chapel, besides the three Curtains who were watching the children. Frisk could feel her soul swell in some sort of feeling, a feeling she concentrated on and felt familiar with.
'… Chance?' She recognized the feeling from her human friend the more she concentrated on it, and could sense a strong sadness radiating from it.
'Chance… why am I sensing you here…? And why are you so sad… no wait… it's as if someone else is sad… have you been carrying someone else's grief…? Wait… if I sense him here, then could he actually be here...?' Frisk's mind contemplated as she could feel her soul pulse from the connection of her friend's feelings and her own.
"… Are you worried or something, other me?" GenCurtain asked, noticing Curtain become a bit more attentive towards Frisk.
"Hm? Me?" other Curtain asked.
"Oh no, I meant her… we need nicknames or something," GenCurtain said.
"Hmm… I can be just Ghost," other Curtain said.
"No. That's too straightforward and I don't think anyone else would want to call you that," GenCurtain said.
"Ah, yeah… hmm," other Curtain thought.
"… How about Veil? You've been keeping your Frisk covered right?" Curtain suggested, as she realized Frisk was still okay.
The two stared at her, as other Curtain let out a chuckle while GenCurtain smiled.
"Alright then! Call me Veil," other Curtain, now Veil, agreed with a nod.
"That's one down," Curtain said.
"And maybe we should call you Blaze," Veil said towards GenCurtain.
"Why that?" She asked.
"Because when you were fighting you were blazing, and not just with attacks," Veil replied.
"Hm… Alright then. Blaze it is," GenCurtain, now Blaze, said.
"Okay cool. Two down. Now what about me…?" Curtain thought.
"I think we can just call you Curtain. Less confusion since you're more likely of an outcome then us," Veil reasoned.
"How so?" Curtain asked.
"Simple: although I exist and you, Veil here is more like you then me and comes more from you. Therefore, you are more original to us then we are. We are more… modified," Blaze explained.
"Huh… I didn't think of it that way… well since you two are okay with it, then it's fine by me," Curtain agreed.
"Nice and settled then… though what about our Marisols, Papyrus, and Sans?" Veil asked.
"Well the originals keep their names, while the others can be arranged a bit. We can call your Marisol Sol and Papyrus Sur as a play on his last letters backwards and 'Sir' knight. Sans could be… hmm…" Blaze thought for a moment.
"Troth," other Sans said as he appeared next to Veil.
"H-Huh? Troth?" Veil wondered.
"well… it means to remain true to one's word, loyalty, faithfulness… especially in marriage," other Sans said with his eyes closed, as Veil's eyes widened towards him.
"and considering your name is Veil, and we're in a chapel and all… might as well make it official huh?" other Sans said as he stood before her.
"Sans… you really mean…?" Veil asked as her eyes brightened, while Blaze and Curtain were surprised.
"In front of all these witnesses, and other me, I love you, Veil. And ghost or not, I'd like to marry you. What do ya say?" other Sans asked, as Sans appeared before both of them.
"Sniffle… Sniff… yes. I do, Troth," Veil said with ghostly tears, as he smiled softly at her.
"I do, Veil," other Sans, now Troth, said.
"then by the power vested in me, ya'll are married. you may kiss the bride," Sans said with wink.
Veil and Troth wrapped their arms around one another, as they kissed though mostly Veil since she had a form of lips even though ghostly. Blaze just smiled and closed her eyes, as Curtain smiled at them. She glanced towards Sans as they made eye contact while their smiles widened towards each other.
Other Frisk felt a pulse of energy from Veil's soul since they were connected as she suddenly saw a flash before her eyes of a couple standing in the chapel as one held a ring while on one knee and placed it on the other's hand. The ring glowed in gold with a diamond star on it, as it then cracked and everything faded except the hand was black clawed with the ring that was now a red cracked diamond with a black glow.
"GASP!" other Frisk gasped as her eyes shot open, as did Frisk.
"Frisks! What happened?! Are you two okay?" Curtain asked approaching them.
"W-We saw two people here… a couple. And one gave the other a ring and then it was just the ring and hand but it was… broken and red and cracked," Frisk replied.
"I saw it once I sensed Cur- I mean, Veil's emotions. Suddenly I saw that and… that had to be Corruption's hand at the end. I recognized the claws," other Frisk added.
"Then she came here to be engaged and then… she changed?" Curtain asked to clarify.
"By that vision, it seems like it," Frisk replied.
"seems our thoughts are starting to come together with proof… but you saw that when Veil felt what Corruption must have felt…" Sans said.
"Love?" Veil asked.
"Love… the other person disappeared when the changed hand remained so maybe they were the reason..." Frisk thought out loud.
"… other me, let's try again," other Frisk said as she sat in front of her and stretched her hands to her.
"Again?" Frisk asked to clarify her meaning.
"I think… no, I feel it. This time… this time we'll reach out for sure! This time… we'll use love to reach her," other Frisk said, and Frisk nodded firmly as she gave her her hands.
"Veil, Troth… concentrate with us. You too Sans, Curtain. Maybe we can reach out together. All of us know about time. We are connected to it as to each other. Together, we can reach as far back as we need to… even through time itself!" Frisk encouraged, as they nodded towards her.
The two Sans held hands with their respective Curtains as they laid their foreheads together and relaxed. Blaze stood up to inform the Papyruses and Marisols of what was happening, as Asriel came over since he was listening from the bench he was laying on to rest. He stood in their mist as he concentrated too while thinking back to better times, and smiled as he did so.
Then the two Frisk felt a soft energy begin to grow closer, as they looked up while the chapel's natural yellow glow began to dim into a blue hue. They saw a small glowing dot appear as it grew with the feelings they felt, and then their eyes widened upon recognizing the star shape that was similar to the save points. Except this one had a blue and golden glow and was larger then the others.
The two girls were drawn to the light that glowed before them, and they looked at one another in surprise. The light began to recede from their attention drifting to one another, as they immediately looked to it, and then it returned to being large and lovely.
"… Looks like only one of us can use it while the other holds it… go, Frisk. I'll stay here and keep it open for you," other Frisk said.
"Are… Are you sure about that? We both found it so…" Frisk said.
"Yes, but… I still need time to heal and my reset is still broken, but you are fully intact so I think you'd be better suited to go… besides, I feel like you need to be there. This isn't directly linked to my Corruption as with yours," other Frisk said.
"Alright... here goes," Frisk said, and then she stood up and reached a hand to the large star.
Time to go back...