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help-im-a-gay-fish · 4 years

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Brightly Shone The Moon That Night. A Dark-Cream Christmas story.

The following is a slice of life story about my Dark-Cream family at Christmas. It exists in a universe different to @zu-is-here cannon. In this universe positive emotions are not fatal to Shattered so Cross and Dream didn't rush to break the curse. It splits off around 'things will never be the same' or 'the price of happiness'. The twins were created before the last 3 chapters of Dark-Cream were drawn. Any changes to the story or changes to the characters should be accepted as being part of an alternative timeline. Thank you. Enjoy. Original cross and dream belong to jakei95 and joku blog. Original shattered dream belongs to @galacii. This design for shattered is based off the one by @zu-is-here and the Dark-Cream story is also by @zu-is-here. Most of the Story will be under the cut.

"isn't this a bit much?" the gloopy one said, as his partner wrapped a scarf around his neck.

"nope" the former guard replied "can't have you getting frost bite my love"

Dream simply rolled his eyes. "but I can't really get cold? Or even hot for that matter"

"what are you talking about? you're always hot" Cross replied with a sly smile. This earned a confused look from the smaller skeleton, as Cross carefully tied the scarf and gently folded it under Shattered's jacket. Though it became clear to Cross that Dream had twigged what he'd meant a moment later, evident by the creeping gold blush spreading across his face.

The golden guardian playful punched Cross in the shoulder. "Shush you, keep in clean in front of the little ones"

At that Cross couldn't help but smile and turn his head to his two daughters. The two were in their cot, all dressed in snuggly winter clothes, waiting for their Dad's to be done getting ready. Celest was dressed in a cosy jumper with a little bobble hat, while Luna wore a full bodied coat. Their consistent look of confusion and wonder changed into toothless smiles when their dad looked at them. (idk how teething works for skeletons..... Teeth magically form or something......also tbh they should start teething soon) it warmed Cross' soul.

His attention was drawn back to dream by the sound of metal being placed down on wood. He looked to him, seeing that he'd removed his crown band and set down on the bedside table. Dream then sighed and sagged his shoulders. "it.... It feels wrong not having something on my head"

Cross chuckled.

The 4 of them where taking a trip out today. This was something both Dream and Cross had agreed was a good idea.

Cross' eye lights travelled back to the little ones. They seemed so innocent right now, as if recent events hadn't happened. As if the last two weeks hadn't been difficult to get through.

Celest's code had been burning her a lot, to the point where she'd screamed when either of them had tried to hold her, or even touch her. As for Luna, her throat had become clogged with more gloop then ever before. So much Shattered had to use a tentacle to pull some of it out. She had surely been 5 seconds from suffocating.

It had been a fortnight of sleepless nights, screaming babies and a large amount of arguing. The stress of the situation had pushed them very far apart. Many things had been said, old wounds jabbed at, tears shed. But after a lot of long talks they had sorted out each fight. They were a lot stronger then some petty arguments. There was no room in their relationship for emotional strain......not anymore. The two loved each other, it had just been a difficult time.

In recent days, the twins seemed to have recovered to a stable state. Back to the laughing, smiling, Cow lovers. Cross never thought he'd be so happy that they'd started playing with their cow collection again.

After a long talk with his finance, the two concluded that they'd all been stuck in the void space for way to long. Even with the few rooms and furniture, it's not like there was much to do there and a serious cabin fever had developed. So while the twins were in a good place, they had to take the opportunity to spend some time together as a family.

Cross once again looked back at his partner. Only to need to do a double take. Dream was wearing a hat now. A festive white one with golden stripes running across it. It was reminiscent of a classic Santa hat, other then the colours. The fabric had black stains in several places due to where Dream had touched it. Though despite that Cross recognised it all to well. To his dismay, he felt his face slowly get warm. Their first kiss.

He could remember it clearly in his mind, the mistletoe, the hotel, Gaster sniggering in the corner. But mostly, Dream. The sweet, positive skeleton from back then was very different to the one who stood before him now. But he wouldn't have it any other way.

Remembering that day caused his blush to darken. It had truly been one of the most embarrassing, but best days of his life. Though a part of him wondered how Dream still had the hat. After everything, the hat had been saved.

"you've still got that hat?" he said, in a half teasing tone.

Shattered smirked at Cross' flushed face "of course, so many good memories".

A stream of positivity ran through him and with it, it brought a sudden, but expected twinge in his soul. It was a sharp pain, like a knife being slowly pressed in. Dream tried to ignore it but he visually flinched causing Cross to come over.

"positivity again Dreamboat?" he questioned.

Dream nodded "it's alright, I'm used to it" The guardian sensed some sadness from Cross, even if he kept a natural face.

"I'm OK Crossy, promise!"

Cross sighed and gently kissed Shattered's forehead. "if you say so my love"

With that he walked back over to the twins so that he could get their carriers. Dream sighed slightly. It was strange seeing Cross in an outfit different to his guard uniform. So much so that Dream already kind of missed it, not that Cross didn't look handsome is what he was currently wearing.

The last time the family had left the void to go shopping, (which is really a story in itself) they had been stared at from all angles. Every man, women and child. Monster or human, had taken part in watching them. Like animals in a zoo. Cross had insisted that it was the twins they were staring at, since his children were so beautiful that of course people would stare. But in the end both him and Dream knew the real reason.

They were staring at them.

He couldn't really blame them though, how often do you come across a monster with heterochromia wearing what was best described as fancy dress, accompanied by a slime covered skeleton in heels and a crown? Many things had changed since the apple incident, but people staring as he passed had not.

Today they both wanted a peaceful day with their babies, so they had opted to wear more normal clothes. Cross had traded his normal cape and jacket for a puffy white winter coat which he wore a red jumper under. Dream had opted for something similar, though a deep brown colour as to not show the stains so much. It felt odd being in a new outfit, but also very nice. There was only so long someone could take being in tight trousers and shirts with big collars.

The former guard straightened up, clutching a harness in his hands.

"these were definitely a good buy" he said, as he walked back to Dream.

Dream raised an eyebrow "did you really 'Buy' them Cross?" he said is a inquisitive tone.

Cross' body tensed and his partner gave him an sharp stare. Even without his emotion sensing ability, Dream could read Cross like a book.

"uhhhhhhh.......yes?"

"sure" Dream replyed, with slight amusement in his voice.

A nervous chuckle came from Cross. "look they were a good thing to get ok?....... Very helpful for the little ones"

Dream gave him an unsure nod. He still wasn't exactly well versed in child care, so he wasn't really sure what these harnesses where even for yet. Since he figured that the answer was probably obvious, he didn't ask.

"want me to help you get it on?" Cross asked, raising an eyebrow. Shattered wasn't the only one who could easily read his partner.

Shattered said nothing but nodded. His golden blush reappeared when Cross started to run his hands across and around his body to get the harness into place. His soul gave a tiny learch for a moment, but not one of pain.

He knew there was a part of him that wanted Cross to touch his soul again, It had been such a close experience for them both and had brought about a lot of pleasurable feelings. It was truly something he wanted to experience again. A feeling he almost craved. But he knew all to well, as his eye sockets fixed onto the cot to his right, that the potential consequences made it impossible. He was just going to have to live with these unmet desires. Just as he was sure that Cross lived with similar ones.

"there all done"

Dream jumped. Snapped out of his thoughts by his future husband's voice.

Now the harness was all attached. Not too tight, but not too lose. He could see that he now had a pocket on his chest which he guessed the baby sat in. Clever. It was kind of like a kangaroo pouch.

Cross strapped a identical carrier around his own chest and walked over to the babies cot to collect his daughters.

Luna smiled wide at the sight of him. The older skeleton matched her smile and slowly picked his child up. Luna giggled and kicked her tiny feet out as he did. Her tentacle flickered around the corners of her mouth as she laughed. Cross could feel his own joy fill him at the sight. But he nullified it for his partner's sake.

Speaking of which, he turned back to Dream.

"you wanna take Celly or Lu Lu?" he asked.

"I'll take Luna" the smaller skeleton replied "since you are already holding her". He held his arms out in an awkward, slightly unsure way.

Cross gave a soft, knowing smile "Its OK Dreamboat, I'll help you get her in the carrier"

Shattered sighed, irritated by his own incompetence and nodded.

With that Cross carefully attempted to slip the wriggling baby into her carrier. Which wasn't easy, as she cheerfully shifted her legs around. In fact Cross had a slightly hard time keeping hold of her.

After much difficulty, Cross managed to feed her legs through the leg holes and sit her safely inside. The whole time, Dream remained mostly still, he didn't want to do anything in case he ended up hurting Luna.

Once she was buckled in, Cross took a slow step back to admire his handy work. Luna bounced excitedly in her carrier and her Papa looked almost comically uncomfortable by all her movement.

"do you want me to take her Day Dream?" Cross said, upon noticing Dreams unease around the wiggling baby. Dream shook his head "no, its fine" he replied as he relaxed his shoulders. "you get Celest and we can go"

Cross gave a nod and turned back to the cot. As he went to pick up his slightly younger daughter, he noticed that she had in fact fallen asleep. Cross sighed - not again....

For most parents, the time when the children slept was a time of bliss, and after a fortnight of little sleep, Cross almost agreed. But his child had a habit of falling asleep suddenly and for long periods. Dream had told him that when this happened her energy levels were low, showing that her body couldn't regulate itself fully.

With another sigh, Cross carefully picked up the sleeping baby and slipped her into the carrier. It was very hard to wake her when she was like this, but he was still extra careful. Not waking a sleeping baby was basically a universal law, though he would have to if she was asleep to long. After double checking that she was safely inside and her head was supported, he walked back over to Dream.

"any particular preference for an au Dream boat?" he asked

Shaking his head, Dream replied "Not really, just try and get a pacifist timeline"

With a nod, Cross extended his arm. There was a spark of magic at his figure tips and his knife materialised. He dragged it through the air in a fluid motion, as he did it split the air as if it where a piece of cloth. It was a causal splitting of space and time. Simple.

Luna watched her dad with a look of wonder. Her silver eyes where wide and bright.

"gahhhhh daaaaag" she cooed and reached for him.

Cross glanced back at her with a smile "just you wait Princess, when you are older I'll teach you how to do this"

These words hung heavily in the air for a moment, as Cross carefully finished opening the portal. The same thing was on both Cross and Dreams minds.

If you get older.

With a sigh and a snap of his fingers, the knife was gone and the portal was open.

"After you" Cross said, stooping into a slight bow and winking at his fiancé.

Dream covered his mouth with his hand and fake giggled. "Oh what a gentleman" he said with a large smile across his face before walking forward and entering the portal.

The first thing that hit Dream as he reached the other side, was a cold crisp breeze. The chill made him feel grateful that he was wearing his boots, even if they were old and an obnoxious shade of yellow.

The breeze blew lightly causing Luna to shiver. There was no wind in there home, so this brought a welcome change to Shattered. He took a deep breath into his non existent lungs.

It was evening. Strange? He figured that their sense of time must have been thrown out a little. They did live in a void after all. However it was a pleasant evening, with sky littered with stars and a full moon.

Shattered allowed himself to bask in the fresh air for a while, as he heard footsteps behind him and the portal close.

"Oh it's good to be outside again" came Cross' voice from behind.

With a nod, Shattered turned around to face his partner. Luna wriggled more in her carrier, looking around at all the new things she'd never seen before.

"someone is excited" Cross said, leaning down and kissing his daughter on the forehead. She giggled and very nearly headbutt him as he did. Chuckling, he pulled away.

The guard looked around "looks like we're in a small town... If I had to guess its the surface"

The two of them started to look around, trying to find something to engage with. It wasn't long before they spotted something.

Both skeletons attention was caught by something in the near distance. A large crowd of people. Among them were people in hats, jumpers and coats, carrying bags and cups of hot drinks. A vast amount of stalls and stands were among them, not to mention fur trees in fancy dress and lights. Hundreds and hundreds of lights.

"a Christmas Market!" Dream said, his voice hinting an excitement "I've never been to one! I forgot that it was this time of the year"

His excitement felt like a balloon filling inside him. Only to be burst when his soul gave a sting inside his ribs.

But Dream couldn't help but feel a little happy, this was such a good thing to come across, perfect for their trip out.

Cross tilted his head "how do you know what Christmas is my love? It's more of a human custom".

"well that's easy" Dream said, a slight smugness in his voice at the fact he seemed more knowledgeable then Cross about something.

"Christmas is a time where positive emotions take hold, even in the darkest of times, positively rules here"

He eye lit up slightly as he spoke. Even if Dream was corrupted, and technically not the positivity guardian anymore, he was still happy to talk about it. It reminded him of easier times.

"as the former positively guardian it was only natural for me to learn about the festival...." his voice turned somba for a moment "Heaven taught me...... remember?"

There was another heaviness in the air at those words. A unspoken guilt and regret and then a thought. Dream now possessed the very power that had killed him.....

The gloopy one sighed and straightened the baby carrier. Luna gurgled as he did so.

"he would have loved to meet these two wouldn't he" he spoke, his voice twisting in its somba state.

"yeah... But it's ok" the guard replied, taking Dreams hand.

"in a way, he is here" he said in a soft tone, running his finger across Dreams ring. A smile ran across his face before he realised Shattered's hand.

After a short moment of silence they were disturbed by a soft noise. Celest had woken from her sleep. She wriggled and shifted against Cross' chest, her tiny voice gurgling.

"Nice of you to join the party Sweet pea" Cross said, upon noticing.

"we should probably get going, before she falls asleep again" Dream stated in reply. Cross nodded.

The family started to walk together towards the market. As they approached the air was filled with the smell of food and the sound of cheesy pop songs. The emotions of the people around them where starting to fill in.

The first thing that Dream felt was a lot of emotion around him. He was going to need to take a moment to get used to it. From what he could feel it was primarily positive, but then he felt something else.

To his right he felt anger and frustration. That wasn't the kind of thing that he expected this time of year, so he turned his head slightly. There was a human and a monster stood in the huddle.

He caught a few words of what they were saying.

"typical every year you leave gift buying to the last minute" said one.

"it's not completely last minute" said the other.

"it's the 23rd! How is that not last-" and then he was out of ear shot.

"23rd?" Shattered said to himself "huh.... It was my birthday 2 days ago". He counted on his fingers for a moment, trying to figure out how old that made him.

"it was!? Oh my goodness that's right!" came a voice from his side. It was slight panic from Cross. Uh oh.

Dream waved his hands in a jazz hand fashion "woah woah woah, before you go flying off the handle, we both didn't realise-

"I'm so sorry my love!"

Shattered groaned. Here we go.

"I can't believe I forgot! I'll make it up to yo-

Dream cut Cross off with a peak on the teeth. Cross jumped and his face flushed.

"......... Cross, I'm going to have hundreds more birthdays... Its OK if we skip one" the guardian whispered before nuzzling his gloopy face against him. "presides.... We had more important things to worry about"

As if on que both twins cooed.

A little smile creeped on to Cross' face. Dream mirrored it.

"now let's stop standing here go to the market" he held his hand out "it's waiting for us".

With a soft smile, Cross took his hand and they started walking again. It wasn't long before they finally reached the market.

The market was busy.

Both humans and monsters were walking around, talking happily. Children of all ages were rushing around with chocolates in their hands and candy canes in their mouths. Positive emotions were swirling like the snow in the wind. A warm blend of joy, song and family.

The smells of cakes and and pies were everywhere. Hot wine, ginger, cinnamon, dried fruit and nuts. Coffee, chutney, jams and cheeses.

For Dream it was like being spun in a giant bath of spice. The smells did not help his developing headache. There where positive emotions everywhere, every angle.

He let go of his partner's hand and stumbled slightly. The emotions were threatening to make him collapse as they came at all sides. Being in a void space for so long meant he'd gotten used to only Cross' emotions being around. But now there must have been 100 people at lest.

With the surrounding area becoming a blur, the sky and ground became one and he felt something hit his back and press it.

After a moment of silence he could hear the sound of a baby crying from off in the distance. Someone was calling his name but he could hardly hear it as the crying baby got closer. But eventually both got clearer.

"Dream! Dream are you OK!? Can you hear me?"

It was Cross.

"C.... Cross?" he said, looking for his partner's face. He eventually found it, hovering above him.

"why....." he said reaching his heavy arm up "why are you flying?"

The former guard gave him a confused expression. A moment later, Dream realised that the pressure on his back was in fact the floor and he was laying on it.

"you collapsed" said Cross with a pained expression. Cross' worry and stress washed over Dream and snapped him back to reality. The crying baby was very close. In fact it was coming from his chest.

Dream pushed himself onto his elbows and looked down. Luna was crying and wriggling in her carrier.

"oh.... OH!" Shattered said as a sudden and huge instinct hit him. Something he'd not really felt up till this point. Caring not about his state, he pulled her out of the carrier and rocked her in his arms.

"shhhh shhh it's ok, I'm sorry sweetheart, are you hurt?"

If Dream hadn't just collapsed, Cross would have felt happy at the sight of him comforting Luna. The tiny skeleton quieted down, but her non-existent lip was still trembling. Shattered inspected her, happy not to find any marks that would indicate she'd been hurt by the fall. Probably just scared.

"what happened my love?" came Cross' voice again.

"emotions" Dream bluntly responded, before attempting to get to his feet. He hadn't gotten far when he felt his partners hands grip his and help him pull up. He'd barely just gotten to his feet when things started to blur again and his head started to once again throb.

He fell forward slightly into Cross' chest, the guard put his arms around him to support him and keep him steady. He had to be careful to make sure the babies didn't get squished.

Cross' fiancé give out a low, pained groan and Luna give a wine of discomfort.

"Keep hold of her Dreamboat, I'll find somewhere where you can sit down" he softly said, looking around to find a seat. Luckily he spotted a park bench not to far from them.

Cross slowly and gently guided Dream backwards until Dream's legs brushed against the bench and he was able to slowly sit down. He sank his weight against the wooden frame, his limbs felt heavy and his head felt horrible. After a short time he started to adjust. Feeling himself coming back into reality, Shattered adjusted his hold on Luna to make sure he didn't drop her. Cross kneeled in front of them both.

"we can always go home if it's to much for you"

Immediately Dream shock his head, which he regretted a second later as the dizziness ramped.

"no Crossy, we both agreed we needed some time out of the void. ...im sorry that I'm ruining it"

The tall skeleton lightly gripped Dreams shoulders and looked him dead in the eyes.

"you are not ruining anything"

He kissed the bridge of Dreams nose.

"you have made everything in my life better, don't forget that"

A smile ghosted Shattered's face at those words.

"you know.... You're blind, unconditional love for me is really cheesy" he said, his smile turning into a smirk.

"I do try"

The couple shared a laugh and Dream felt himself feel a bit better. He didn't feel great though. The emotions around him where still dizzying.

Behind Cross he could see the market. It truly did look like fun and he felt bad that he'd soured the mood. He continued to rock Luna and she turned around in his arms to burry her face into his chest.

"you should....." Shattered paused as another wave of dizziness hit him "You should go ahead of me, I'll catch up"

"Absolutely not" Cross stated firmly "I will not leave you, I refuse"

"Cross" Dream said in an equally as firmly manner "I can look after myself for 10 minutes, it will be fine..... I want you to go have some fun"

The guard's expression softened and he stood up again, running his hand across the back of his skull unsurely as he did. "I.... I don't know"

Dream rested Luna in his lap and reached his hands out, Cross took them.

"Cross, I want you to go ahead, I'll join you soon, I promise"

Letting go of Dreams hands, Cross sighed. "Alright..... But I'll come back in 15 minutes, if you are still here then we are going home"

Dream nodded slowly "Deal"

After a few more unsure moments Cross started to back away from Dream. He went slowly in order to give Dream time to tell him to stop. After he didn't, Cross turned and walked in the direction of the market.

As Shattered watched Cross walk into the market, he felt his daughter start to fuss in his arms. His golden eye travelled down to her again. She looked a bit confused or upset. Her emotions weren't developed enough to be easily readable by Shattered. But from what he could sense she was distressed by her dad walking away.

He looked back at Cross again, as the guard inspected what seemed to be a stand of various pastries and cakes. There was a sad, yet nostalgic smile on his face.

Shattered watched as he exchanged some words with the vendor and took Celest's little hand and waved it. Clearly he was introducing them. The vendor seemed to coo at the baby a little and Cross straightened up proudly. Probably bragging about something cute Celest had done recently.

After a few more words he put some coins on the counter and was handed a paper bag, containing what Dream had to assume was a pastry of some kind. He waved good bye to the vendor and started to walk away.

As he did, he took his food item out of its bag and went to take a bite. He locked eyes with Dream mid-bite and gave him a slight deer in the headlights look. After finishing taking his bite, he smiled and waved to his lover. Dream waved back.

It was clear from Cross' expression that whatever he was eating was very tasty and it caused Dream to wonder how much food Cross was going to buy tonight.

Luna fussed again as her father and sister got further away.

Luna and Celest had been almost inseparable since day one, Shattered was still a little unnerved by it. They were always most comfortable when together. Knowing this, Dream told himself that Luna was fussing because she was parted from her sister. But another thought came to him.

What if she was sad about Cross leaving?

It was a stupid thing to think, both babies had been apart from Cross before and not responded this way. Yet the thought wouldn't leave him. It was the kind of thought that bounces around your head and burrows into you the moment you try to forget it.

The first time he left them with me for an extended period of time, I'd tried to....

A chill ran over him followed by a long twang of guilt, which caused him to tighten his grip on his daughter. Cross still didn't know about that night and he wasn't sure he could ever tell him. What was wrong with him? He acted like he cherished them these days (or at lest most days), but how could he when he'd thought of doing such a thing? When all he'd felt upon seeing them for the first time was nothing. His eyes stung and threatened to start crying. In that moment he felt tempted to call Cross back and have him wrap his arms around him. But he couldn't. Not while Cross didn't know.

"I'm sorry that I'm not the best parent to you Mi hija"

The words left his mouth as barely even a whisper. They sounded if he'd not been aware he said them. As if he'd not fully intend to say them out loud. His throat was dry and his soul was burning and twisting.

Cross says you are getting better.

One part of him said

But who's to say they will live to see you be better?

He answered to himself.

He felt the fabric of his jacket get tugged slightly. This drew his attention back to Luna.

She had turned in his arms slightly and was looking up at him with wide eyes. If Shattered hadn't known better, he'd have thought he could sense her worrying. Her tiny fist was curled in the fabric of his coat.

"paaaaaa gaa?"

Dream sighed.

"I get a lot of things wrong..... And I'm going to keep getting things wrong, I might be wrong most of the time"

The former guardian continued to speak in a near whisper, his finger stroking the tiny creature's cheek.

"but I'm going to get some things right as well...... And I'll make a deal with you"

Luna's face scrunched up a little. It was almost amusing to see, as if she was thinking really hard.

"if you and your sister keep on fighting, I'll keep on trying" Luna turned her face into his hand and chewed his glove.

"if you stick around long enough, you'll see a day when I get things right most of the time.... You want to see that right?"

"maaaaaa"

"deal?"

"gahhh gahh"

Dream laughed slightly "I'll take that as a yes"

He looked away from her again. Cross had completely disappeared from his view now, probably off stuffing chocolates. Since Dream wasn't someone who needed to eat, he didn't fully understand, but the sweet and warm smells in the air were very pleasant. He'd not eaten a thing for at least two and a half years, maybe he could try a little something. Carefully he slipped the tiny skeleton back into her carrier and fastened her in.

"Should we go check out the market mi pequeña estrella?" he asked, finally getting back to his feet. His daughter gave a gurgle of approval.

"then let's go shall we"

The atmosphere of the market was all together jolly. As he walked into the heart of it, his head throbbed again, but he didn't feel dizzy. He'd adjust to it fully soon.

Despite what he would want to admit, he felt a very slight anxiety without Cross by his side. He was in no way dependent on Cross, but he was so used to having him near, it was strange to have him absent. To not be able to feel his energy or be able to hold his hand.

No Dream! He thought. Don't be such a baby.

He patted his daughters head with his hand absentmindedly, feeling the fabric of her bow slip down slightly as he did. She giggled and a smile creeped onto Dreams face as she did.

A stand caught his eye. It was a stall of what seemed to be jewellery. As many of the stalls were, it was adorned with colourful lights and decorations of all shapes. Though this one in particular stood out to him. He wasn't sure why, but he decided to approach it.

The monster running the stand stiffened as he approached, but he paid it no mind. He could see the jewellery much closer now. Each piece seemed unique and hand made. There were bracelets, earrings, rings and necklaces, shimmering in all different colours. He greatly enjoyed looking over each individual piece, until his eye socket landed on one.

It was a necklace. Gold, set with a blueish purple stone. There was a small crescent charm on the chain as well. Dream stared at it and knitted his eyebrows. For a moment he wasn't sure why it caught his eye. But as he moved his hand up and traced his thumb across the stone, he realised. He then retracted his hand is if he'd been shocked. He stepped back and folded his hands together, but his sight remained locked on it.

Where are you? Are you even still alive?

A long sigh left his mouth as he forced himself to think of something else. But as he turned to walk away, he glanced at it again. It was almost like he couldn't bare to leave it.

I'm being silly, I'm a man, why would I need a necklace anyway?

With that, he tore his eyes away and proceeded to the next stand. As before the monster running it tensed slightly.

This vendor was selling what seemed to be plastic toys and figures. These weren't home made and seemed to be just the same old toys you could buy anywhere. There was doll house items, human figures and animals. He was so busy looking over the collection, that he didn't notice as his daughter reached for her favourite animal. He was only alerted to what she was doing by a slobbery squish sound.

She had suck the head of the toy into her mouth and was chewing on it.

"Luna no!" Shattered said "I don't want to have to buy that"

Carefully his pulled the plastic cow from his daughters mouth. A thin trail of a mix between gloop and saliva followed it. He had no idea how one baby could produce so much spit so fast. He wiped some off on his coat, but it didn't come close to cleaning it. Yeah....... he was going to have to buy it. He had a small purse of gold coins that Cross had given him. He hadn't asked where Cross had gotten the coins, it was probably best not to.

As he handed it to the seller and asked for the price, the slimy coating ran onto his fingers. Yuck. Not that he could really talk though, he was almost completely covered in something worse.

Dream expected to feel anger or disgust come from the stall owner. But instead he could only sense fear. His eye locked with the eyes of the monster behind the counter. It didn't take long for him to realise. Cross might have treated him like he was the most beautiful and sweet skeleton in the multiverse, but that didn't stop his appearance from being...... Striking at best.

He grimaced and handed the monster the money he owed and took back the toy.

"have a nice evening" he said, trying to sound friendly.

"y-you too sir.... Merry Christmas"

He turned away from the stall and walked back into the market. After inspecting the toy to make sure there was nothing small that she could choke on he handed it back to Luna. She happy put it back in her mouth, flicking his hand with her mouth tentacle as she did.

Shattered felt a burst of joy from his daughter, which made him light headed for a moment. After collecting his bearings he smiled.

"Adorable idiot" he said leaning over and kissing the top of her head. "now let's go find Daddy shall we?"

It wasn't a market that was too large, just a fair amount of stalls and stands and a handful of people. There was no doubt that he and Cross stood out, so it shouldn't be to hard to find his partner.

If I where cross.... Where would I go?

The answer came to his mind not even a second after asking it.

Chocolate...

As he'd noted before, there was a vast amount of edibles all around him. Mostly foods of the sweet variety, commonly fruity cakes and pies. But it wasn't long till he saw what he wanted. Out of the corner of his eye socket, he spotted what he was looking for. Just as he'd expected, chocolate.

Humans and normal monsters, seemed to be fascinated in forming chocolate into many different shapes. Animals, people, stars and bells. Shattered supposed that they got more pleasure consuming the sweet substance when it involved biting the head off of a defenceless reindeer, or mutilating a Santa or two.

He approached the stall of chocolate items. It was a pleasant smell, reminding him strongly of Cross' coat. There was no doubt the guard would have come here. He just had to find him.

Meanwhile, as Shattered looked for him, his mate was busy in a hearty conversation with his daughter.

The guard slipped a snowflake shaped chocolate into his mouth, having finished off the pastry long ago.

"now what should be get for Papa as a late birthday present hmm?" he asked Celest as she blew a spit bubble. "Something simple, you know he doesn't like flashy things"

Celest continued to blow a spit bubble and watched it as it expanded. "why is it that he must be so difficult to shop for....

His voice trailed off as he continued to ponder the question. What to get someone who didn't like material things. Other then his scarf, his ring and his crown, Dream never held onto things. Maybe he could get him a new accessory, like a new piece of jewellery or something. He continued to think and slipped another chocolate into his mouth. As he did this, without him noticing, the tiny skeleton had popped the spit bubble and was now reaching for the candy cane sticking out of his shopping bag full of goodies. She grabbed it and without hesitation, plunged the bright stripped stick into her mouth without a care.

After not even a second her face screwed up and she recoiled. She let out a wine of regret and disgust, which alerted Cross that she was distressed.

"No sweetie , that's pepper mint" the guard sighed, plucking the now sticky candy from his daughters hands. He put it on the counter of the stand they were stood next to. A stall selling Christmas fauna such as Holly, pinecones and mistletoe.

As he set the candy down, he saw daughters face still looked unhappy. "that must have tasted horrible" he said, dabbing the spit from around her mouth with his sleeve.

"we'll get you some nice warm milk when we get home ok?" he said in a baby voice, bouncing her slightly to try and cheer her up. It worked and she giggled. Cross sighed in relief, crisis averted.

He thought back to his question about presents. About Dream. It had been a little while since he'd left him. It would probably be a good idea to go back.

"Now if you are done sampling my treat bag Celly, maybe we should go check on-

"hey" came a voice from up close to his left. He jumped. After a second he realised he recognised the voice and turned to meet Dreams gaze, some chocolate still on his cheek. He was about to say something about how it was go to see that Dream was feeling better, when Dream spoke.

"wanna prove you aren't just a 20g wager?" the golden guardian said, with a slightly sly smile.

For a moment Cross was confused. Had the emotions caused his partner to go loopy? Before he could ask, Dream pointed his finger upwards. Feeling more confused, Cross glanced up. He could now see that they were in fact stood under a mistletoe. Quite a few actually. The sight of the white berried plant made his cheeks flush. He'd fallen right into Dream's trap. How had he not noticed.

He swallowed what was left of the snowflake the chocolate in his mouth "uhh um.... Uh"

He locked eyes with Dream again, finding that he'd taken a step closer. Taking a gloved hand and cupping Cross' cheek, he said.

"I'll take that as a yes"

With that he gently pulled Cross' face closer, till the gap was closed between them with a soft kiss. Cross' soul fluttered as Dream leaned in more to kiss him stronger. The taste of chocolate in his mouth was soon replaced with the flavour of bitter apple sauce. But he didn't mind it, he much liked apple sauce. Unfortunately the kiss wasn't long lived. The two were forced to separate after feeling their daughters starting to fuss, since they were being pressed between them. Dream stepped back slightly, giving his children room and took a breath of winter air. The euphoria from the kiss surged through him, as it had been a while since they had and therefore felt really good.

In fact, It had been a while since they'd done a lot of things. Including telling Cross that he........... That's something he needed to fix and fix straight away. His eyes locked on Cross.

"Te quiero, mi soldado" Dream said, with his face dusting gold. He looked away and pulled his scarf over his face slightly.

Cross returned his blush and smiled "yo tambien Te quiero, mi sol"

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rosegivy · 4 years

Text

Chapter 2: The Black Knight

Valandi stood in the royal castle feeling slightly nostalgic. Before she became the Black Knight, she used to live in a place like this. Of course, the architecture was much different from that of the paler residents of the kingdom of Laurendia. She sighed sadly as she recounted the gold archways that led to the palace of her people. She wondered if it was still standing after it was conquered, abandoned by their royalty, by her. A bitter taste filled her mouth and she stopped reminiscing. Instead she surveyed the colourful flowers in the royal gardens she was forced to wait in, curious as to why no one came to greet her

She was here to hopefully help another people with their problems. So that she could solidify her status as a noble, male, knight. She may have cut her thick black hair and spent much more time in the sun to darken her skin from a chestnut brown to an almost midnight black, but she had to fake confidence as she felt one small mistake could ruin her guise.

She heard her attacker before she saw them. In one swift movement she unsheathed her yatagan, a short slightly curved sword. She used it to parry the strike. Surprised by her response her attacker, a knight it seemed, was not prepared for the kick to his gut. He doubled over in pain and Valandi used the back of her sword to send a blow to his skull knocking him unconscious. No sooner had she done that two more knights came from her sides. They were armed with a sword and shield each. Valandi rushed the attacker on her right. She feigned a strike to his left with her sword and pushed the palm of her hand to his neck, incapacitating him. She again parried the third man's assault and swept his feet out from under him. She pointed her sword to his throat letting him know she could kill him. Inwardly Valandi rolled her eyes. These people fought like blundering cattle, they had no technique, no knowledge of the body. They were simple army grunts.

A slow clap could be heard from the entrance to the garden. Valandi turned to see a large man in a decorated blue battle uniform. He sported a long beard speckled with gray that clashed with the neatness of his outfit. Despite this, Valandi could tell he was no army grunt.

"Gave them a workout I see." His voice was deep from his stomach.

Valandi sheathed her sword. She did not reply, waiting for the man to get to his point. Uncomfortable with the lack of discourse the general coughed to break the silence.

"Not very chatty, that's fine. I am sure you are curious as to why we summoned you here. The great Black Knight. Black in more than demeanor I suppose." Valandi did not respond. She was used to these kinds of remarks but was getting impatient. She only nodded.

He introduced himself as Sir Graeme, the head general of Laurendia's army. And proceeded to explain the situation. Valandi listened intently. She took the updated map of the region he handed her after he had finished. Rescue a princess, slay a dragon, save a kingdom. Simple. Although she felt her heart skip a beat at the mention of the dragon. She had not fought one since...

"What exactly is the princess' curse?" Valandi asked, purposely interrupting her flow of thought.

"We aren't quite sure." Sir Graeme responded. "Whatever it is you need not worry about it. Just bring her here in seven days and you will be greatly awarded."

Valandi waived away his offer. "The only compensation I can hope to ask for is that you mention my deed to the court of Camelot and back my good name."

Sir Graeme was not surprised. The mysterious Black Knight was known to not take reward from the people he has helped. "Or course. But if you do not mind me asking, why Camelot? You clearly are not from there." He gestures to her complexion.

"A magic free land should be for all people. I wish to become a knight of the round table, so I can fight among those who also wish to fight for the good of common people." Valandi stated simply.

Sir Graeme bowed slightly in respect. "I pray that you accomplish this goal. Surely there is none as noble as you at the round table."

"I wouldn't give myself that much credit." Valandi replied curtly looking at the map he handed her again. She put her fists at her side and bowed slightly before she turned to leave.

"Godspeed sir-?"

"The Black Knight is fine." Valandi responded as she left the courtyard.

-═══════ι▬▬

Valandi rode East deeper into the heart of Laurendia. The princess was kept in a fortress on the border in a more desolate mountain area (most of the border was a mountain range). Her hand clutched the reins as she leaned into Ziba, her horse, urging him to go faster. In the distance she could see the the mountain where the princess' dungeon should be. It was at least a two day journey but she would make it one and a half. Her determination and stubbornness are what has kept her alive, even when everyone she had ever loved wasn't. As she rode, she allowed her mind to wander and after some meandering it went where it always did. To that day.

She was barely a teenager. Her and her family were on their way to Camelot to meet King Uther. They were going to make history. It was the first time people from their kingdom would have a partnership with the new continent that didn't involve slavery. Her family would join the nobility of Camelot, swearing allegiance to each other. And when her younger brother Raja was of age, he would become a knight to honour the agreement. It was part of efforts to have the two very different peoples seen as equals.

They hadn't even made it to the sea that separated the continents before disaster struck. A dragon. A small one, but enough to be deadly. Valandi squeezed tighter at the reins, willing the memory to fade, but the pain stayed. She had to get the scene out of her head and focus. While she continued riding, she went over sword forms mentally. An effective way to get her mind off subjects she didn't want to think about.

She slept overnight in a valley before reaching a gaping chasm, where a thin bridge was constructed as the only means to cross it. Below her she could only see darkness. If there was a river below this bridge Valandi couldn't see it. On the other side of the bridge was a small castle, still magnificent in its own right. However, it appeared to have undergone several ruthless attacks. Most of the turrets where completely destroyed and scorch marks covered large portions of the castle walls. Still Valandi could see no sign that the dragon was present.

She decided to dismount Ziba and continue the rest of the journey on her own. She was afraid that he would run away frightened by the dragon or cause them both to fall on the bridge. Valandi took a deep breath, unsheathed her sword and began to traverse the bridge. With every step it swayed beneath her. Her stomach churned when she glanced down. Keep your cool Val. She chided herself. Just one foot in front of the other. Then she will save the princess and be on her way to Camelot.

Finally, she crossed the bridge and ran into the castle. Now where would the princess be held? She realized that despite the small size of the castle she still had a lot of ground to cover. As she searched, she noticed the failed attempts of her predecessors. Skeletons in armour was all that was left of most of them. Some more recent victims where blacker even in their bones, seemingly burned alive. Valandi shuddered, the image of her brother's charred arm as he tried to protect her moments before his death flashed in her mind. Focus. She chided herself.

Eventually she reached a less damaged part of the castle. Stairs led to the top of a tower. Of course. Valandi climbed them quickly, without losing a breath. At the top of the tower was a door to what seemed to be a bed chamber. She knocked on it and immediately scolded herself. She was rescuing the princess, there was no need to knock.

Nonetheless a sing song voice answered, "Come in!" Valandi opened the door which led to a bedroom like she had guessed. A large, pink, four poster bed was against one wall, beside it a window which overlooked the bridge from where she came. Meaning the princess probably already knew she was coming. At the opposite wall was a mirror and a table filled with cosmetics. In front of the mirror was the most fascinating woman Valandi had ever seen. She had bright orange hair, almost like fire Valandi thought. And her skin was as pale as milk, with freckles dotting her face. Her eyes shone a deep emerald green, matching her silky, green gown. Her striking features were unlike any Valandi had ever seen before. She looked so much different than the people from her land, yet still beautiful.

"Are you here to save me knight or are you going to keep staring?" She mused with one eyebrow raised.

Valandi bowed quickly and cleared her throat. "Save you your highness." She said deepening her voice slightly.

The princess approached her and reached out her hand. Valandi paused before she took it and kissed it, almost forgetting this land's customs. "Then get on it with it. Sir-?"

"You can call me the Black Knight." Valandi replied.

The princess raised her nose. "Hmm that's a strange name for a knight. Mysterious." She curtsies. "I am Princess Christan."

"Yes, excuse me your highness, but there is supposed to be a dragon guarding you, where is it?" Valandi was perplexed.

The princess shrugged. "It must have left to go terrorize a village. We must hurry before it gets back." With that the princess hiked her skirts and hurried down the stairs. Valandi followed. She helped the princess cross the bridge and soon they are on the other side.

Princess Christan sank to the floor, allowing her hands to feel the earth. "I can't believe it." She laughs her smile revealing pearly white teeth.

Valandi allows herself to smile slightly. "How long have you been locked up there?"

"Since I was a young girl." She stands up dusting herself off. "An abandoned castle is no place to grow up, but it had to be done." She said as she pet the horse. Ziba seemed to like her. He nuzzled his nose against her hands and she smiled wider.

"Why were you put there? Seems a bit cruel for parents to lock up their own child."

"I was cursed at birth."

"How so?"

The princess hesitated. "That's not important. What matters is that I was saved." Suddenly she looked at Valandi closely, a realization coming to her. "That means you're my true love." She said, holding Valandi's hands and coming close to her. "I must reward you with a kiss, true love's kiss."

The Princess closed her eyes and leaned into Valandi. Valandi moved out of the way of her lips. "No, I am not." The Princess opened her eyes.

"What do you mean? You saved me."

"Yes, but for someone else. Prince Astor is your true love."

The princess crossed her arms. "Then why didn't he save me?"

"He is no shape to; I must take you to him."

Christan started marching towards the bridge, heading back to her prison. Valandi couldn't believe it. "No! You're doing it wrong. The curse will not be broken unless I am saved by true love. I will be waiting in the castle for this Prince Astor to prove his love for me."

Valandi sighed in frustration. "Sorry princess that's not happening." She grabbed the princess by her waist and threw her over her shoulder.

Christan hit and pulled at Valandi. "Put me down you, you lug!" Valandi ignored her and placed her on her horse roughly.

"Listen here your highness." Valandi scolded her. "Your kingdom is about to destroy another if your marriage does not stop it before that happens. I need to do everything in my power to get you there by next week, or else thousands will die. Do you want that all so you can find love, your highness?"

The princess' eyes widened and she shook her head. Valandi continued, "You will follow me back to Prince Astor's castle, they will cure you, you will be wed and you will live happily ever after. Deal?"

The princess nodded and said quietly, "deal."

"Good. Now let us hurry before the dragon returns."

-═══════ι▬▬

Valandi and Christan traveled for the most part in silence. Valandi walking alongside Christan on horseback.

"Are you not tired?" Christan asked.

"No." She replied curtly.

She was amazed that the knight could be so... knightly. Not once did he complain about walking, while she rode on his horse. Even though they went up and down hills and through mud. He stood stoic without falter. Guiding her towards her happy ending. Something she had been waiting for for most of her life. Finally she would be free of, of it. She hoped that the prince was handsome, but she couldn't help but notice the man that called himself the black knight. His skin was darker than any she had seen before and his hair was blacker than ash. But that's not what caught her attention the most. His eyes were a dark brown, almost black but changed to golden discs in sunlight. She had never seen anything like it.

"What?" Now he was looking at her inquisitively.

"Sorry?" She replied.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Princess Christan blushed. "It's nothing. You're just so... mysterious."

"Hmm." Was all he replied.

What Valandi was actually thinking was the date. As far as she knew she was supposed to start menstruating before she began the journey. She even wore protection just in case, but upon inspection that morning there was nothing. So she decided to go without it for the day (for the stuffing of wood up ones arse is very uncomfortable especially on horseback). But as she felt the princess stare at her, she also felt the familiar feeling of flow between her legs.

"We must set up camp now." The knight said suddenly.

Christan smiled. "Ah so you are tired." Then her smile faltered. She smelt it. The metallic smell of blood distinct to a woman's monthly cycle and it wasn't from her.

"What is it princess?" The knight asked.

Chistan knew she couldn't call him, no her, out on it. It would seem absurd for a regular woman to be able to smell such a thing. So instead of acting on it Christan shrugged and looked towards the oncoming sunset. "Nothing. I agree, I grow tired." Christan saw the almost unmistakable look of relief on the knight's features as she nodded.

"We can set up right here. There is a stream not too far away from here for bathing." They were traversing the mountain range. In front of them was a grassy valley. Just as was mentioned there was a stream that flowed behind a green hill. It's tip resembling that of the mountains that surrounded it.

"I didn't know men bathed often." Christan said curiously.

"It's for you princess, but now that you mentioned it I am in need of a bath." The black knight made a show of smelling her armpits. Christan huffed as she was led to where their camp would be. That was a smooth save, she thought to herself. But Christan was going to find the proof she needed. Soon they stopped in front of the hill near a hollow that resembled a grassy cave.

Courteously, the knight asked, "would you like to bathe first, princess?" Wow, she was taking the chivalry thing very far, Christan thought. However, if she was going to prove she knew she was a woman she was going to need her to be occupied.

"That's alright, I think I'll help set up camp." Christan said removing what appeared to be the knight's camping bag from the horse.

"Thank you, princess." The black knight left Christan with the horse as she made her way to the stream.

Christan pretended to be busy unpacking the knight's things. She didn't pack much other than the bare essentials. Water skin, dried food, some cloth, etc. A small dark brown pouch caught her attention. It was made from a leather she had never seen before. Christan's curiosity was piqued, but something told her not to touch it. Besides, she realized that time was passing quickly and she may miss her window. Reluctantly, she replaced the mystery pouch in the travel duffel.

#writeblr #fantasy #medievel #curse #princess #knight #chapter two

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scribblesofanaricat · 4 years

Note

Maybe 51, if you've got the time

(I am so sorry for how long this took)

“Tell us a story that’s by candlelight, waging a war and losing the fight.” - Green Day, Song of the Century.

Something at their back of their mind wonders if their throat’s always been this dry. If their lips have always been this cracked.

Can’t be true, can it? They hear the tales nearly every evening; tales of a time when the Spillway (as it’s still called, for some stupid reason) was just that, surging with what seemed like a neverending crystalline current.

Luckily enough, getting up to where it lies empty is practically kids’ stuff. Just a matter of clambering up the crags and ridges and kicking aside the trailing strips of faded yellow and black tape. Below, shadows lengthen in a slow crawl across withering grass.

Jaime prods its long, arid skeleton with a toe. The Spillway. Ha. Maybe in another world, some distant universe - one where spilling anything isn’t something verging on sacrilege. But not here, not now. Not for them. Especially on days where those precious rations get swiftly sapped by cooking and washing and - whatever other hoops that have to be jumped through just to live semi-normally, leaving strength to die on sandpaper tongues.

They don’t remember, of course, but the way their grandma tells it, everything was one big fairy story once. Water didn’t come tangled up with a billion restrictions and clauses. Grass sprang up thick and green. The Headwaters ran free, wide...not tainted with blood, in other words.

It’s something that Jaime’s always struggled to picture, no matter how fervently Grandma throws herself into her reminiscence. Yet (as she likes to remind them) times change.

They just don’t see why change can’t come by again and cut them all loose of the ropes pinning them in place.

“How was your walk, Jay?” their dad asks, in that deliberately casual voice. Jaime has to dimly wonder what the point is when his unspoken where’ve you been, what were you doing is about as subtle as a rock to the face.

They shove a hand into their pocket out of reflex. “It was,” is their response, watching with an avid eye as he splits what little is left of the ewer between four chipped cups, draining it down to the very last drop.

Leila, predictably, has to be swiftly headed off from gulping down the contents of her cup in one go. Either the memory banks in her little head reset every few hours or she really thinks she’s obligated to go into a sulk every single time.

Jaime doesn’t bother with an eye roll anymore; it’ll only aggravate the dull swimming ache that’s made a nice cosy home for itself in the side of their head. She’s just a kid who knows nothing about anything. She’ll learn sooner or later.

Their own sip is just enough to unstick their tongue from the roof of their mouth. As usual, an insistent prickle scratches at their throat, demanding more. And as usual, they force themselves to slacken their grip and make it last.

Grandma takes this as her cue to embark on another story. Icy-cool water lining shop shelves by the bottle, tourists flocking to snap photos of a brimming Spillway...at least the words don’t feel like too much of a gut punch anymore. Jaime rests their neck on the chair’s stiff back and turn their attention upwards, occupying themselves with watching the random flickers of the sallow light, like some old filmreel.

Change.

Sometimes, Jaime almost fools themselves into thinking they can see the Headwaters from their bedroom window. Where all the ‘actual’ fighting is. Because of course, of course what Jaime and their sister and dad and grandmother and god knows how many others are doing day in, day out doesn’t count as fighting.

(They’re so thirsty.)

They slam the window shut so hard that its pane rattles in reproach. Fact is, the damn place is too far away to glimpse anything of the sort.

Doesn’t mean too far to travel to, though.

Jaime stares down at their packed bag (the old gun parts stashed away in a secret pocket their dad probably never meant for them to use for it) and the money they’ve scraped up - and wishes they could feel worse about it.

But if not them...then who?

#my scribbles #mine #prompt fill #friend-y things #music prompts #tw implied war #tw gun mention #original writing #writeblr

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uwustray28 · 5 years

Text

Chapters: 6/?

Fandom: Undertale (Video game)

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Relationships: Sans/Sans (Undertale), Kustard

Summary: Red woke up in a really fucked-up state. He was suffering from a hangover, lying in Grillby’s dumpster, and he likely couldn’t even make it home on his own. How could life get any worse?

He found the answer to that question the moment Grillby stepped into the alleyway.

His life was about to get a hell of a lot more complicated.

Ao3 Links:

Chapter 1 || Chapter 2 || Chapter 3 || Chapter 4 || Chapter 5 || Chapter 6 ||

Chapter One Under the Cut

“Urrg...”

Red groaned as he faded in and out of consciousness. He tried to open his eyes at some point, but he found he couldn’t. His head felt ready to implode, and his body was as heavy as lead. He didn’t know where he was or how he got there. If he could think clearly for just a moment, he would have written the whole scenario off as a bad hangover, but he wasn’t doing a great job at playing Einstein right now. Painstakingly, he managed to lift his hand and bring it to his eyes, vainly trying to block out the light pouring through his eyelids. He grumbled when he accidentally dislodged something in the process, wincing as whatever it was fell to the ground and shattered. It sounded like some sort of bottle.

As much as he wanted to lie here forever, the danger of not knowing where he was couldn’t be taken lightly. He braced himself and gave a half-assed attempt to lift himself up. A tremor ran through him, his breath went shallow, and pain shot up his spine, but he managed to lift himself into a sitting position, at least. Red forced himself to crack his eyes open, and he let the light scorch them while he tried to make sense of his surroundings.

Well, to start, he was in an alleyway lying in a trash can. Alright. He wasn’t in immediate danger, at least. He glanced down. The can he was in was decently small and rusted from years of use, and at the moment, it was overflowing with trash (if you counted Red.) The concrete around the line of trash cans was surprisingly clean, minus the fact that a ketchup bottle was shattered at the base of the can he sat in. That must have been what he knocked loose. He rubbed his eyes and straightened his spine, taking a deep breath.

The air smelled of burnt food, plastic, wood; Just burnt shit in general. Were those spices he smelled..? Ugh, he thought as he registered the familiar smells around him. Grillbz must’ve got tired of my shit and tossed me in the dump after I blinked out.

He heard a click from behind him and grinned as a familiar crackling confirmed his suspicions. This was the third time this month he’s been thrown out here, he should be used to this by now. The asshole was probably here to dump garbage on ’em and yell at him to go home before he sicked the dogs on ’em. At least he didn’t call his bro on ’em anymore; this was better by a long shot. When he heard the door shut behind the fire monster, he shuffled up and shoved his legs over the side of the can, waving off the figure behind him. “I know th’ drill bud, ’m leavin’, so don’t sweat it..” he muttered in his normal raspy tone. His vision grew hazy as he tried to lift himself over the can and onto solid ground, so he stopped. He felt weak and wasn’t sure if he could get home in one piece this time. Paps would be mad as hell if he had to rush over here to get him in the middle of cooking breakfast, though, so he had to try at least.

“Sans?!” The voice behind him choked out. He almost forgot Grillby was there, he was so caught up worrying over his bro. Something sounded off, though…

“‘Sup-” He started, snapping his gaze to the fire monster who was now standing behind him, much closer than he was comfortable with. His vision focused, and a chill ran up his spine. That isn’t Grillbz, the fuck? The figure stood there, worry and shock written across his face. Everything about this screamed ‘run.’

The stranger’s flames flickered over him in a reddish-orange glow. His frame was wiry and small. His glasses lacked Grillby’s characteristic crack. Whenever one of the imposter’s hands came down and firmly held Sans’ shoulder, the heat didn’t begin to melt the bone. Sans was staring blankly and putting his terror on an HD display, but he couldn’t bring himself to look away.

“W-Who.. the fuck..” he sputtered, shrinking in on himself and cursing as his magic didn’t form or work. He couldn’t even take a shortcut. He was screwed. He needed to run, hide, something, this wasn’t right, but his limbs refused to listen to him, and he stood stalk still, frozen.

The fire monster looked worried, but Red didn’t trust it. He saw past that facade in a damn second. When the fire monster started to slip his hand under his legs, probably to fucking carry him, Red snapped. “G-Get the fuck away from me!” he shouted, weakly summoning a bone and aiming for the bartender’s neck.

“W-Wait! I only wish to help, Sans, please, let me-” The bartender halted and abruptly pulled back, a flaming hand still lingering on his shoulder. He looked surprised or disturbed by something. Red hesitated, the bone he summoned on the verge of deforming. “Your tooth..” The flame mumbled, looking puzzled as he stared at the golden fang. He subconsciously lifted his hand to hold Red’s chin, and the skeletal monster panicked. He jerked his arm away quickly, and the momentum sent him and the trash can falling backwards.

His skull collided with the pavement with a sickening *CRACK.* He must have used his formed attack at some point during the encounter, because the last thing he heard as his vision faltered was flames powerfully roaring in anguish and a distant voice shouting.

-----

“Sans, what the actual FUCK is that thing?!” Grillby all but shrieked. The usually composed bartender was struggling with his composure.

Sans sighed, knowing he would have to come up with some sort of an answer. Silence would only fuel the bartender’s fear. He went with his classic, truthful response. “i dunno.” Grillby glared over his shoulder. Guess that was the wrong answer.

Sans shrugged it off and focused on prying out the dense bone lodged in his friend’s shoulder. Though he wasn’t doing it on purpose, his sockets were eerily void, and Grillby couldn’t read his friend’s blank expression. “let’s talk about this later, grillbz.” His flames crackled, and he nodded in hesitant agreeance. What other option does he have?

Meanwhile, Sans set out the evidence out in his head, trying to make sense of the bizarre situation. Point one, Grillby found this guy outside in the trash. Point two, he was clearly drunk last night. That’s the only two points that made any sense. Point three, he looks exactly like me. Sans shook his head. He couldn’t get over that. All of this lined up perfectly and explained his recent research and findings, but... He never thought one of his craziest throwaway theories would slap him right in the face. He always had subconsciously thought the disruption he detected in the universe was a fluke or caused by a misuse of his powers. Despite that, the cards were popping up aces, and his doppelganger was physical proof of the theory he studied and feared: The existence of a Multiverse. This had to be one of his fucked up nightmares, or he’s lost it for real this time. There’s no way this is reality, right..?

Sans grunted and gave the bone one last rough jerk in a final attempt to dislodge the bone. He immediately regretted it when it roughly popped out of the flames and despawned, causing Grillby to cry out weakly. They quickly clasped a burning cloth over Grillbz’ wounded shoulder and told him to take a breather. After ensuring his friend would be fine, he left the kitchen and drifted over to the roughed-up skeleton on the couch. He looked miserable. Soon after Sans found the two, Grillby stopped him from attacking and strongly insisted in wrapping the trembling figure in a blanket and hauled him upstairs into the fire monster’s suite. After surrounding him with a generous amount of throws and making sure his HP wouldn’t falter, his hands were tightly bound with rope. Better not risk it, right?

The hungover skeleton looked exactly like him. Did he even need to explain how creepy that was? Thankfully, though, there were a few noticeable differences that made San’s horror bearable. To start, while his magic was blue, this guy’s magic was a dark crimson, a shade reminiscent of blood. He bore a large crack in his skull that drug through his socket and ended a little below his right eye, and the bone in that region was still sharp. It had to be a fresh wound, one that Sans couldn’t have survived with his HP as it is. To his credit, the guy had a great sense of fashion. His clothing looked identical to Sans’s, minus the fact that the other chose to don red variants. And, he wore a... Collar? This all goes without mentioning the sharpened golden tooth jutting out of his mouth, looking all too practical for comfort. it’s better to ignore it , Sans decided.

“so. what are we going to do with ’em, grillbz?”

The bartender poked his head out from the kitchen, his flames dimming, and a smokey sigh leaving him when the question was posed.

“Well..” He sighed. “.....I don’t know. He had no malicious intent.” Sans raised an eyebrow. Looking at the rough, terrifying figure under him, this seemed unlikely at best.

“explain the bone, then, bud.”

Grillby ran his hand through his hair and huffed as he thought to retrieve a bag of wood chips from under a kitchen counter. probably comfort food, Sans thought, waiting patiently for an explanation. Grillby tossed a chip in his ‘mouth’ and finally answered.

“...He was scared, and I pushed his boundaries. He told me to back up, and I failed to.” Grillby averted his gaze. “I shouldn’t have gotten so close.”

Sans couldn’t help but chuckle, and Grillby shot him a glare. “wow, really put the heat on him. that’s one way to get your ass kicked.” The fire monster narrowed his eyes, and Sans chuckled. “’m kiddin’. so, uh, next question. should we try to wake him up..?”

Grillby paused to contemplate this, but before he could respond, a groan came from the couch, and Sans nearly jumped out of his skin.

“speak of the devil,” Sans murmured, turning his attention to the figure next to him as Grillby strode out of the kitchen.

Red was still partially asleep and felt even worse than before. If his head didn’t ache earlier, it sure as hell did now. There was a sharp pain collecting in the back of his skull. Did I fall...? He pessimistically wondered, gasping as he felt a cloth press against the back of his head. It hurt like hell, but he was too tired and hurt to protest. The pain slowly began to fade, and confusion set in as he noticed a new, unfamiliar tingle flooded his senses. Is someone healing me...?

After a small while, the cloth left his head, as did the odd feeling it brought with it. His pain had subsided into a minor headache by the time his unknown ally was done with their shenanigans, and he felt slightly less shitty.

As soon as he felt mentally strong enough to put up with the shit going on outside of his own head, he opened his eyes. He immediately wished he kept them shut.

Standing in front of him was someone who looked exactly fucking like him. And behind him was… O h fuck. He mentally swore, his eyelights shrinking to pinpricks that focused on the flame standing behind his doppelganger. It was the imposter from the dump. He didn’t look particularly angry, but he was holding a rag of some sort to his shoulder, and a large area around where he was focusing the pressure burned dark red. It was pretty clear to Red that he had a decent aim, even while nearly passing out. It was even more clear to him that this was suddenly not a good thing. Terror fueled him, and he jerked back. He tried to get up, only to find his hands were tied behind him. I’m fucked. He stood stock-still and said a silent prayer to every makeshift deity he could think of. His gaze nervously flicked between the duo in front of him.

“U-Uh-” He started to speak, only to break down into raspy, soul-shaking coughs that had him reeling. His throat felt like someone had raked a crowbar down the length of it. He didn’t know a hangover could leave him this bad off. He felt something touch his shoulder and jerked, appreciative that whatever it was didn’t linger.

“hey, take it easy, buddy!” a voice distantly spoke to him. By the time he had finished coughing, tears had welled up in his eyes, and the figure above him had shifted to kneel on the floor, hesitantly hovering his hand over his shoulder. He silently gave in and let the hand rest on his shoulder without issue. Why the hell are these guys so damn touchy?

Red took time to observe his captors as the monster above him began to rub comforting circles with his thumb. He didn’t feel half as terrified as he did a couple minutes ago, considering the two hadn’t yet hurt him, a good sign.

The skeleton standing before him was, well... HIM. He was a living, blue-tinted replica of yours truly. He really could replace Red, if it wasn’t for the fact that he looked like a total wimp. He was quick to notice. No scars, no cracks... Hell, he doesn’t even file his teeth down! His jacket screamed “softy,” and his gaze was so relaxed... Damn, how has the lucky bastard not been dusted? He thought, He doesn’t even try to look tough.

His thoughts were interrupted as the monster above him cleared his throat, straightened his back, and lifted his hand off his shoulder to shove it in his pocket. You’d never hear Red admit it, but... He missed the comfort as soon as it left.

“so. who the hell are you?” The skeleton suddenly looked a lot more serious, Red noted. His sockets were now void, a trick Red often used to look threatening. He found it looked even more unsettlingly on someone who previously looked harmless. He’d be a damn liar to say it didn’t scare him.

“Sans. Be kinder, would you not?” A voice muttered from behind him. The walking night light was leaning against the kitchen’s door frame and staring daggers at his friend. “ Sans ?”

They both turned their attention back to him, and he realized he had spoken aloud. “uh, yep. comic sans g. 01 snowdin ave. 272-9787. any other info ya need, or are you going to start spilling your own?” A hint of amusement crossed his face as he spoke, but it was short-lived when he saw Red’s expression.

“You’re shitting me,” Red muttered, squinting skeptically. He must have looked like a deer in the headlights, because he sure as hell felt like one.

“nope.” The skeleton’s grin didn’t falter.

“There’s no fucking way-” He was interrupted by a hand clasping onto his arm and making him choke on his words. His shoulder was squeezed. Hard.

“look. i don’t like threatening anyone. but, if you don’t offer up some info soon, we’ll have to get the royal guar-”

“My name is Sans,” He spat out, his glare boring into the other’s skull. “And I don’t know who the hell you think you are, ‘Sans,’ but call the royal guard and my brother wil-” He saw the glint of anger in the other’s eyes as he was cut off, again.

“i don’t believe you,” the other snarled, his iron grip tightening again. His scapula would crack with any more pressure.

This was quickly escalating into a heated argument, and Red could see the fire monster behind them start to walk over to them. His expression was unreadable. Panic raced through his system, and his blood was boiling, so he blurted out the last thing he could think of before Grillby could make it closer. “Run a fucking check then, bonehead!” He yelled, surprising his questioner and driving both him and the flame behind him back a little. The grip on his shoulder loosened.

“you’re lying.” his captor scoffed, his voice filled to the brim with uncertainty.

Red’s voice came out raspy and low, bluntly carrying the gravity of his request.

“call my bluff, then.”

After a couple of intense moments of Sans staring him down and trying to get him to break, he felt the familiar prod against his soul as his stats were displayed for all to see.

SANS 1 ATK 1 DEF

* Tibia honest, He’s not finding this very humerus.

As the pair in front of him stared at his stats in horror, he took the opportunity to slip his own check in on his imposter. There was no way he was who he said he was, no fucking way. Whenever ‘Sans’ didn’t resist the check, though, doubt crept in. This HAD to be a facade, right…?

SANS 1 ATK 1 DEF

* He’s chilled to the bone.

Dead silence filled the room. The only sound present was the soft crackle of Grillby’s flames, and even then, you could still hear a pin drop. Finally, Red tore his eyes from Sans’ stats. He couldn’t fathom what was happening, and he could feel his breath grow heavier as dread set in. He probably would have given into his terror and cried then and there, should his newfound clone not have spoken up.

“wh- there has to be an explanation for this. uh... dear deltarune, fuck, i... i have a theory, if you’re willing to humor it... “

“W-Well, talus then, we don’t have all day,” Red snapped. He was hoping a bad pun would either lift the tension between the two or hide his fear, both if he was lucky. He usually defaulted to his shitty jokes in these situations anyway, but going by the slight smirk Grillby conjured, they might have just worked in his favor for once.

At first, Sans just stared at him dumbly. Most of his brainpower seemed to still be on the situation at hand, and rightly so. The gears in his head were slowly turning as if he couldn’t register the fact that Red just used a pun . Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and a smile quickly spread across his face. He was trying his hardest to hold back his laughter. Red saw the look in his newfound friend’s eyes and cracked a sly grin, relieve flooding him as he realized his scheme to ease the tension worked flawlessly.

Sans gave in and snorted, and the room erupted into laughter. Neither of them did well with tense situations, so once the opportunity came to break the tension, the two couldn’t help but laugh like damned idiots at the stupidest thing. Even Grillby let out a bemused chuckle, though he really just found it funny how easily entertained and distracted the two skeletons in front of him were. Soon, Red was out of breath, and his ribs ached from laugher, but he was thrilled to finally find someone who appreciated puns as much as he did. Truthfully, he didn’t expect a stupid joke to work so well, though, he guesses he knows himself better than anyone. Sans was still reeling minutes later. His booming, breathy laughter was absolutely contagious to Red. He couldn’t help himself and started laughing yet again, disregarding his sore throat. Sans’ gasped and looked up at him, tears forming in his eyes. He clasped his hand onto Red’s knee in an attempt to steady himself, but his efforts were in vain. He was laughing maniacally as soon as Red gave another rough chuckle, throwing them both into howling laughter once again. The pun wasn’t even that funny, Sans knew, but laughter is notoriously contagious, and Red’s hearty barks nearly made it addictive. It took several minutes for them to both calm down, and when they did, it was only because they were both too exhausted to continue on as they were.

It took much longer than it should have, but they both gained their composure enough to form actual words instead of gaspy wisps of what were supposed to be syllables.

“w- hahaha, wh-whew jeez. i haven’t laughed that hard in years!” Sans gasped out, rubbing the tears out of eyes with his sleeve. He didn’t notice the near-sadistic grin his pal had plastered on.

“‘Guess you could say..” Sans snickered, and Red nearly broke up. Both of them knew the classic punchline, but it didn’t make it any less funny. “‘M-M pretty humerus?”

Red was definitely trying to break his rib cage. It took 10 more minutes for them to compose themselves after that one. If anyone in Snowdin was trying to sleep in today, the punny duo no doubt ruined any chance of that.

“My ribs hurt, Dear Asgore,” Red finally gasped out. A dark red flush stained his face, and for once, his smile was genuine. Undoubtedly strained from half an hour of laughter with a sore throat, but geniune. He might actually pass out again if, Asgore forbid, Sans’ had puns of his own.

“that’s probably a spine that we should stop, buddy.” Sans shot back with a wink. They both chuckled at that one. If they had the energy, no doubt, they would have fallen into hysterics, but both of them were flustered and gasping for air as it is. Red was very seriously questioning whether or not falling asleep then and there, in a stranger’s home with a guy he met an hour ago, would be smart . Exhaustion really did numbers on the guy.

Red was lost in thought. He didn’t even notice Sans had got up until suddenly, the hand that was gently rubbing circles into his knee broke away. Hell, he didn’t even see Sans had rested his hand there in the first place, but his expression showed how much he missed it. He looked up at Sans and nearly choked when he saw him looking back at him with slight surprise, and... was that a fucking blush? They broke eye contact, and Sans quickly fled to the kitchen for a couple of minutes. Red shrugged the moment off and tried his best to forget it. But he couldn’t help but think. ‘M usually not that easy to read, the hell?

Sans returned with two glasses of water and held one out to Red. “bone-appetite. y’ must really be tired after puns that skullful.” Sans smoothly changed the topic, and Red’s dignity was again saved by shitty puns.

Red grinned. “Water ya talking about? I just went with the flow!” They both chuckled, and Red reached his hand out to take the water, only for them to both become acutely aware that he was still tied up.

“oh uh, water boat i help ya there..” Sans said with a chuckle, setting down their drinks and summoning a sharp bone. He stopped and deformed the attack, however, when he noticed Red had tensed and looked startled. Red couldn’t stomach the feeling of being so vulnerable while Sans summoned an attack behind his back. They were both made very aware that they’ve known each other for an hour at most. Red’s magic couldn’t form like this. If Sans turned on him, he couldn’t get out of this one. But what choice did he have? If Sans was hostile, they surely would have fucking killed him by now, yeah? Red forced himself to relax and put on a strained smile when he saw the blue monster hesitate and start to disintegrate his magic entirely.

“Ah, just... D-Dew what you need to bud, it’s not like I Current-ly have another Wave outta this..!” Red chuckled dryly, trying to mask his fear with humor. He knew Sans saw right through him. After eying him warily, though, the blue skeleton reformed the bone he was holding. He looked much more hesitant than before.

“‘ey, uh, don’t be a total beach after i cut ya loose, yeah...? heh heh, i-i’d rather not end up driftwood, y’know,” Sans muttered, placing one hand firmly against Red’s back and lining the bone’s edge against the rope. He was stalling. Red’s hesitation gave him the time and reason to rethink things. After all, why would he want to cut loose a random stranger who attacked his friend? Because he likes his puns? Grillby said he had no ill intent, but is it possible Red’s intentions aren’t as innocent as they seem…?

“Why would I..? Dam, I’m not that Shallow! J-Just get me loose before I get rope burn, would ya?” Red said with a nervous chuckle. He was becoming increasingly aware of the distrust and fear Sans’ was beginning to show towards him, and it was fueling his own anxiety. Seeing as he was turned on his stomach and a sharp bone was prodding at his wrists, his supposed pal’s hesitation wasn’t doing much to quell his distress. Sans took a deep breath and jerked up on the bone he was gripping, shredding through the rope and freeing his potentially dangerous clone before he could overthink it.

He didn’t take his hand off Red’s back for another couple seconds, eventually removing it when Red cleared his throat. He busied himself with grabbing their waters as Red sat up and examined his wrists. He tried to convince himself to put a bit of trust in his newfound ‘friend,’ but he found he couldn’t let him out of his sights without fear spiking through him.

“Wow, uh... Sew, y’gonna hand me my water, or knot?” He said with a nervous laugh. Sans caught on.

“Oh, I’m a fraid I can’t.” He semi-calmly replied as he held the water just out of Red’s reach.

“I’d fight you for it, but’m a bit wrapped up here, y’know.” He clasped his wrists together and let a stray piece of rope hang over them, dramatically holding them up for Sans to see. He was helplessly bound.

Sans chuckled and brushed the rope off Red’s wrists with a single swipe, finally handing him his water. “i’d try to best that, but im a bit too underprepped to keep up with a pun master like you.”

Red grabbed his water from the other’s hands and grinned, “Let’s call this one a tie, yeah?”

“haha, yeah.”

Sans sat down on the coffee table across from Red, seemingly a lot more comfortable with him now.

Silence drew between them, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Sans stared down into his cup, while Red studied the room around them. He considered asking where the walking bonfire went, but seeing as he was ‘Grillby,’ apparently, he probably had a bar to run.

Before he could think more about the twisted doppelganger situation and what the fuck any of this meant, Sans spoke up. “so, uh... wouldn’t really do to be calling each other sans and sans all the time. Might as well start coming up with nicknames for each other.”

Red pondered it. It definitely made sense, even if what he should call himself and... himself, wasn’t a top priority at the moment. But, it was just in his nature to procrastinate the more significant issues and focus on the small ones, wasn’t it?

“Fair point. Ah, nicknames, let’s see..” Red thought a moment, then cracked a smile.

“Heh... I’d name ya after my favorite elements, but you aren’t exactly copper or tellurium, buddy.” Red mused, setting his cup down. He expected his counterpart to take longer to get his half-assed, poor excuse for a joke, but nope, Sans snorted as soon as the words left his mouth. Must be a science nerd.

“wow, is that a nice way of calling me ugly?” Sans raised an eyebrow as he slumped back and shoved his hands into his pockets. “i can still dump you back in the trash, y’know.”

“Pssh, drama queen,” Red rolled his eyes and took another swig from his glass.

“hm.. how ’bout i call ya red? it suits ya pretty well.” Sans hummed, an earnest half-grin spreading across his face. Red snickered.

“‘Red?’ Really? Pahaha, What are we, In 5th grade, color coding our notes again?” Red barked out in a dry chuckle.

“it’s on the nose, fits ya well, and it’s gonna be damningly hard to forget. what? not good enough for ya? alright then bud, since you don’t like red, would you rather me call you jerry? those are your options, choose wisely.”

Red paused. Use the half-assed third-grader-esk name he was offered, or... Uck, Jerry... He would have taken his time to decide if Sans hadn’t started humming Jeopardy music.

“Ugh, alright, alright, whatever. Red it is.”

Sans halted his humming and chuckled, flashing a lazy thumbs up. “so, any idea what you’d wanna call me, or are we gonna go with ‘sans 2?’”

Red flashed him a toothy grin. “Sans 2 isn’t too shitty of a name, y’ know. It’s on the nose and fits well, and will be damningly hard to forget. ‘Sides, makes room for me to tell people ‘I was so damn great, they had to make a sequel!’” Sans broke off into choked laughter, and Red shook his head and chuckled into his next sentence. “Look, I’ll just get used to callin’ ya Sans, and you can just call me Red, ‘ight?”

“well, nice to meet ya then, red.” He extended his hand, and Red stared quizzically at the alien gesture. “what? don’t ya know how to greet a new pal?” Red personally thought a handshake was out of place and overly formal, but there was no harm in the gesture. Sans’ half-lidded gaze showed nothing of his intentions. Red took his hand and shook it, confusion written on his face...

Until he heard the familiar wheeze of a whoopie cushion erupt from their joint grip.

Suffice to say, Red laughed more that day than he had in his entire life.

—

Authors’ note:

couldn’t figure out a lotta stuff, plus im on mobile, so i did 10x more work than probably needed, including formatting every single line for tumblr’s dumb html system. your welcome.

#kustard #fanfic #undertale #underfell #sans #grillby #fluff #fic #my fic

3 notes · View notes

asoftervirge · 5 years

Text

between the salt water and the sea strands

RATING: T PAIRINGS: R. Sanders/P. Sanders (main); T. Sanders/OMC (mentioned)

FIC WARNINGS/KINKS: Deceit Sanders, Bullying/Physical Assault, talks of dying, Body Horror, Body Mutilation, Drowning FIC SUMMARY: Patton makes a deal with Deceit, a magical sea witch.

TAGLIST: @backatthebein, @levy-the-b00kw0rm, @ierindoodles, @rosesandstuff, @notveryglittery, @patchworkofstars (if anybody else wishes to be tagged, please let me know!)

CLICK HERE IF YOU READ IT ON AO3 INSTEAD!

<< Chapter 3 >> Chapter 5 coming soon!

Patton continued to follow Millicent and Remy, slowly questioning where they were taking him. But…they did say they were taking him to a mer who could help him achieve his goals of going to the World Above and being with Roman, so he decided to not question them too much, though his curiosity remained. Together, they traveled more and more into the Deep Sea, and as they did, Patton looked around and saw just how barren it is versus Atlanna.

Neither sea flowers, coral, nor seagrass grew here; it was nothing but bare, gray sand that stretched for miles and miles, feeling like it never ended. Patton could feel how dark the atmosphere was getting as Millicent and Remy lead him further and further into the Deep Sea.

Suddenly, the mer-prince let out a quiet gasp as they came across a giant skeleton that could be served as someone’s house. The giant skeleton in question looked to be that of a Narga, a legendary sea dragon of old; it was said that this beast existed many many millennia ago and was slain by the Old God of the Seven Seas. Patton had always wondered if this legend was actually true, and now he’s discovered that it is. As they got closer to the Narga skeleton, it grew eerier and darker, making Patton very tempted to leave.

Millicent and Remy noticed him freezing and looked back at him, their eyes and tails glowing due to the blackness of the Deep Sea, and their sharp teeth glistened in the bioluminescent lighting.

“Oh, what’s wrong, little guppy~?” Remy asks, his tail swishing gleefully. “You’re not…scared, are you~?”

“N-No!” Patton says quickly, internally cringing at how his voice cracked.

Millicent swims closer to him. “If you’re not scared then, come with us~” She holds a manicured hand out for him, her nails painted a bloody red that matched the rest of her body.

Patton hesitated before finally taking her hand, allowing him to be lead further into the Narga skeleton. He didn’t want to abandon his dreams because of his fears, so, he had to try and be brave.

On the seafloor was a sight that made Patton sick to his stomach and all the air leave his lungs; polypi, half-animals and half-plants, looking like serpents with a hundred heads growing out of the ground. Their branches were long, slimy arms with fingers like flexible worms, moving from root to the top, limb from limb. The mer-prince was so alarmed by what he saw that his heart beat with fear, and he very nearly turned back if not for Millicent keeping a tight grip on his hand and Remy stalking behind them.

He made sure nothing was loose or hanging off his being so that the polypi might not seize a hold of it and drag him under with them. The three kept swimming between the supple arms and fingers of the ugly polypi, Patton saw that each held in it its grasp something it had seized with its numerous little arms: the white skulls and bones of Humans who had perished at sea and had sunk down into the deep waters, oars, rudders and chests of ships were lying tightly grasped by their clinging arms.

Unbeknownst to them, Virgil followed a good distance away, trying to figure out what the two deep sea mer were going to do with Patton. The deep sea merman felt extremely guilty about what he had done back at court, telling Y’Mera what Patton had done even though it was what she assigned him to do: let her know if her eldest son does any misbehaviors. There was nothing wrong with that, but it haunted him when the Queen coldly dismissed her son and Patton ran away, so far away that now he was in the clutches of two of the most dangerous mers in the Deep Sea.

He trailed them all the way until they came to the heart (or really the lungs) of the Narga skeleton, and Millicent let go of her grip on the mer-prince, swimming behind him to where Remy is.

For a moment, Patton looked around; in the middle of the area is a large cauldron, which was kept inside of a pit underground. Directly ahead of the main entrance, is a very creepy-looking chair that was made from the jawbone of the sea dragon. The jaw throne somehow had intricate designs on it, though not nearly as nice as the designs on the throne of Atlanna, for they looked to be ancient sea runes of some kind, there also appeared to be some statues of moray eels slithering up the sides of the throne.

“H-Hello?” Patton’s voice was soft and weak but it seemed extremely loud in the quiet skeletal cave residence. He looked around, thinking that he had heard something, only to be met with nothing (except for Millicent and Remy, who were looking at him with sinister smirks). Just as he thought it was a mistake being lead here, he hears a deep, almost entrancing voice that makes him squeak in surprise.

“Oh, don’t be afraid~! Come closer, my child~” The voice commands, sending shivers down Patton’s spine. “It’s quite rude to lurk in doorways, you know~”

The merprince swims closer to where the voice was and his eyes widened in realization when he discovered who it was that would help him achieve his dreams. “Deceit…”

Deceit was a sea witch, and a very powerful one at that. Everyone knew his name, and most people assumed he was dangerous and not to be trusted. The merfolk had nicknamed him ‘Deceit’ for reasons, after all. Up until now, not once did the thought of visiting Deceit came to his mind. It seemed to make his wish a bit too desperate, but the longer he thought about it, the more his decision felt to be the right one. Deceit could help him. He was the powerful sea witch, surely he would know a way to turn him into a Human, right?

Deceit emerges from the shadows, his long tail reminiscent of that of a giant eel. While the tail ended at his waist, the black scales that decorated his tail continued upwards from both sides of his body: trailing up his hips and scatters onto parts of his chest, then they begin again at his shoulder blades before stopping and starting once more at his elbows, trailing down his forearm and to his wrists and hands. There were also scales on his neck and they crawled all the way up to his face, mainly staying on the right side. His right eye glowed an unsettling yellow, bright in the darkness of his home. His appearance was intimidating, but Patton took a deep breath and tried not to show that he was feeling inferior to the sea witch.

It was a long moment of silence, and just as Patton was about to open his mouth, Deceit spoke. “I know what you want,” was all he said. That caught the merprince off guard.

“You— You do?”

“I do.” The sea-witch nods, calling his ugly water-snakes to him by (affectionately?) calling them his little ‘little chickens,’ allowing them to crawl all over his body. He then waved a nonchalant hand, dismissing Millicent and Remy, who were still present. “I thank you two for bringing him to me, you may go now.”

The two mers nodded and began to swim away. As they reached the entrance of the skeleton, Millicent stopped, smelling a distinct smell in the air. The smell of an anxious deep sea merman. She looked around like a predator that was stalking its prey, and she essentially was, for she finally detected where the scent was coming from. Motioning Remy to follow her, they slowly crept behind a giant piece of ship wreckage, seeing Virgil hiding behind it. They could help but find it as Millicent yanked him up by his hair, causing him to let out a pained yelp.

“And what might you be doing here, Virgil?” she hisses, the spines on her back shooting up in a threatening way, signifying that she would barb him if he gave her the wrong answer.

Virgil whimpered quietly, his anxiety only increasing under their scrutinizing gaze. “I-I—”

“Look at this anxious guppy, Mill.” Remy snarls, forcing Virgil to look at him, his claws poking the skin of Virgil’s neck, not necessarily deep enough to draw blood. His fangs were bared dangerously and his pitch black, dark green eyes glaring sharply at the purple merman. “He followed us all the way here because he cares for that little prince. Aww, now isn’t that precious.” he coos sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he did so.

Virgil wanted to tear his gaze from the other merman’s, but he couldn’t due to the hand that was steeled on his neck. “L-Let me go…” he begs weakly.

Millicent snickers in his ear as Remy cackles loudly. “Oh, I’m afraid we can’t do that, little guppy.” she tells him, feigning a sad tone in her voice. “You followed us all the way here, so why would we let you go so soon?”

“Wh-What are you gonna do…?”

Remy’s snarl quickly turned into a devilish grin, making Virgil’s stomach churn. “Since you asked~…Hmm~…Since you somehow followed us all the way to Deceit’s lair— you brave little guppy— perhaps, you’re brave enough to see what the great sea witch will reward your beloved prince with~!”

Hooking their arms around the anxious merman, Millicent and Remy forced Virgil to swim with them. As they did, he struggled and tried to free himself from their grasp, when he did, however, they simply hissed at him, forcing him to swim faster, leading him all the way to the top of the skeleton. Then, Millicent shoved his head down by the hair as Remy pinned him so his back was to the other’s chest. Virgil yelped in pain again as he was forced to watch his best friend make a deal with the deceitful witch.

“It is very stupid of you—” Deceit begins. That caused Patton to frown and lower his head. “—but you shall have your way.”

Patton quickly shot his head up, a hopeful smiling on his face and a joyous glint in his eyes. “You will? Truly you will?”

Deceit smiled, no wickedness or malice behind it, nodding as his long tail curled around the room, finally coming up to stroke the merprince’s cheek. He involuntarily shied away from the sea witch’s touch, but he continued to look at Deceit as he spoke, unaware of the three mer watching the scene from above. “Roman Alexander Reyes-Sanders, yes? I personally don’t blame you for eyeing him. He seems to be quite the handsome captain, doesn’t he?” he giggled.

This caused Patton to blush lightly, confirming the sea witch’s words.

“However,” Deceit continued on, his face growing grim and somber. “It will bring you nothing but sorrow, my pretty prince. You wish to get rid of your tail and have two Human supports instead? Have the young captain fall in love with you and gain a mortal soul?”

Patton looked down again and nodded, his tail curled inwards. He feels an embarrassed blush come to his face as he became ashamed. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to come here…

Deceit then cackled. A cackle that was so loud and disgusting it caused his ‘little chickens’ to fall from his body and onto ground, laying and wriggling about. “Why, you happen to be just in time! For after sunrise tomorrow, I would not be able to help you until the end of the following year.” He partially swims over to the left of the entrance, (hanging from the one of the ribcages) is a potion cabinet, where he has all sorts of ingredients tucked away for spells. “I will prepare a draught for you, which will cause your tail to disappear and shrink to what the Humans call ‘legs.’ You must be prepared for the consequences though.”

“Consequences?” Patton echoed with a frown. “What kind of consequences?”

“You will feel a great pain, my pretty prince. Movement, which the Humans call ‘walking’, will feel as if a sword were passing through the lower half of your body. But all who see you will say that you are the loveliest little Human that they ever saw. You will move so beautifully and gracefully, no Human ‘dancer’ will ever compare; but with every step you take, it will feel as if you are walking upon sharpened knives and broken glass. If are willing to bear this, I will help you.”

“Y-Yes…I will.” The merprince said in a trembling voice, thinking of Roman and the mortal soul.

“Patton, no—” Virgil began to cry out, but his voice was quickly hushed by Millicent and Remy, who hissed and covered his mouth with their hands. (Millicent’s spines shot up again).

Deceit frowned. “Try again, child. For when you become a Human, you won’t be a merman anymore. You won’t be able to return to the sea, to your friends, to your brother or mother, or to the palace of Atlanna ever again. If you do not win Roman’s love, you will never gain the mortal soul you seek. If he falls in love, and possibly marries, another man, you will transform into sea foam on the crest of the waves.”

“I…I will do it.” Patton states boldly, his whole being becoming paler than a newborn seahorse. (Virgil tried to scream for Patton again, but Millicent and Remy hissed once more.)

“However, I will need a payment.”

“O-Oh…I have nothing to give to you.” Patton said, already making to leave, slightly disappointed. He was so close to achieving his dream yet it was still out of reach. He failed to register that he might have to make a payment. However, just as he was about to leave, he was quickly stopped by Deceit’s tail wrapped around his waist.

“Please, don’t leave! What I ask for it not mere trifle!” He forces the mer-prince to come closer to him, a clawed finger gently traces his cheek and goes down his jawline causing Patton to flinch. “You have one of the sweetest voices in the entire sea, a voice that may be from the Old Goddess herself. While you believe that you will charm the prince with its sound, I’m afraid you must give it to me; the best thing you possess I will have for the price of your legs.”

“What will be left for me if you take away my voice?”

“Why, sweetcakes, you will have your lovely form, your graceful walk, and your very expressive eyes; surely that will be enough to enchant a Human’s heart? But if all else fails, use some good ol’ body language~!” He cackles again as he does a shoulder shimmy, bumping his hip against Patton’s. He stops when he sees the hesitation in his eyes. “Well? Have you lost your courage?”

Patton frowned and absentmindedly touch his throat with his fingers. Was he really willing to give up his own voice, just so he could be with the Human of his dreams? It was a hefty price…would it be worth it? If he did succeed, he would be with his love forever, he would be able to live in the World Above forever. Surely something that big was worth his voice?

However, if he didn’t succeed, he would lose his one and only chance. Everything would be lost to him, both in Atlanna and the World Above. He would be forced to go to the crests of the waves, his beloved home, and be turned into a spirit made of sea foam. It’s an incredibly tragic fate he does not wish to have happen. His mind went back to the two main questions; Is he willing to give up his voice? And would it be worth it?

“Go ahead.” He was determined to make the deal. He would do anything to become Human. Deceit then placed his cauldron on the fire, to prepare the magic draught.

He pricked himself on the wrist and let the black blood drop into it. The steam that rose formed into such horrible shapes that Patton couldn’t look at them without being afraid. Every time the sea witch threw something else into the cauldron— a live squid, a shark’s fin, even the illicium and esca of an anglerfish— it boiled and sounded like a dying whale. When at last, the magic draught was ready, it looked like the clearest water, shining and twinkling like a star.

“Here it is~!” Deceit cheered with a smile, looking down at the brightly-lit cauldron. “But before I give it to you, I need you to do a favor for me.”

Patton frowned as he was stopped from taking the potion. “A favor?”

“Yes. It’s just a small favor, very simple in fact.” The sea witch continued to smile, now looking up at Patton. “All I want you to do, is sing for me.”

“Sing?” The mer-prince was surprised at this. “What— What do you want me to sing?”

“Anything,” Deceit replied, his hands were held behind his back. “I just figured you would like to enjoy singing one more time before you look your voice. Go on! Sing sweetly for me, my dear~!”

Patton nodded and began to sing the first song that came to his head; the song that he had sung to the Human sea captain when he saved his life. He had always liked it because it was something he had learned from his mother, and now, because it had a connection to Roman, he loved it even more.

“Hikari e te o nobasu Kegarenaki gin no tsurugi Madoromi Omoi o tachikirite”

His voice sounded unsure and shaky, mirroring his own emotions. For some reason, he had a bad feeling about this, but it was too late to turn back now. He had made his decision, and he had to go through with it; no matter what. As he sang, he saw that Deceit kept his smile, but it felt a little more…monstrous, this time around (unlike before where it was almost pure and genuine). His glowing, yellow eye held a sharp gaze on him as he began to falter.

“Oh, don’t stop, sweet prince!” he ordered, his tail moving around sneakily. “Please, continue to sing!”

Patton nodded and complied, continuing to sing the next verse.

“Utau seihitsu Suishou yawaku hikari chirite Yami no sariyuku akatsuki Hitori omou”

Immediately after he finished the last lyric, Deceit immediately slithered forth and cut out the merprince’s tongue so that he became mute, unable to speak or sing again. Patton shrieked when he saw the eel holding a dagger in his hand, grasping his throat tightly before making the cut; his voice was now lost forever.

“Perfect,” Deceit hissed with a now-content smile, holding Patton’s tongue up for him to see. Seeing his blood floating and mixing with the water truly made him want to swim to the surface; wishing to forget and not have the image ingrained in his mind. “Consider this, an additional payment, if you will.” He then started to hiss out a spell, one that sounded dark and brooding.

Patton closed his eyes as the incantation hit him, filling his lower body with an excruciating pain. It was actually good that the sea witch had taken his voice away just moments before, for he certainly would have shrieked again if he could. He felt like his tail was slowly being torn apart with a double-bladed sword, and with every passing second, the water that he once considered his home, grew less comfortable. The saltiness of the water began to sting his eyes and he couldn’t breathe anymore.

When the pain stopped, he tried his best to swim upwards, but he felt like he couldn’t move and was simply flailing. His newly created legs were weak and hardly did anything. Patton began to panic, his baby blue eyes grew wide as he began to run out of breath and water started to fill in his lungs. Slowly slipping into unconsciousness, he hardly registered when a pair of clawed hands grabbed him and quickly pulled him to the World Above.

Witnessing his best friend nearly drown before his eyes, made Virgil understand completely why he wanted to save Roman’s life.

#Sanders Sides #Sanders Sides AU #Patton Sanders #Remy Sanders #The Dragon Witch #Janus Sanders #Virgil Sanders #between the salt water and the sea strands

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andrewmoocow · 5 years

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Fooly Falls 2 Ride on Shooting Star chapter 5: Ex-Partners in Crime (originally posted on May 30, 2019)

AN: And now the end is near. And so we face, the final curtain. My fans, I'll say it clear. I'll finish this tale, of course I am certain. I've wrote this sequel, I improved the source with my own flair. But after all of this, the climax is getting there. WKUHH ERBV, ZLWK GLVFRUG XQZDQWHG WZR ROG IULHQGV, ZLWK SDVWV IRUHYHU KDXQWHG RQH PDQ, DQ DQVZHU PDGH KLP GDXQWHG GHVWLQB OHIW WR EH DQVZHUHG, DQG WKHB'UH JRQQD EH HAKDXVWHG

In the style of an old black and white film, an assembly of giant irons stood perfectly single file before the setting sun. Gwen quietly watched before turning away and picked a bottle up off the ground. She then discovered a dejected worker sitting in front of a campfire with his hardhat the only splash of color. Gwen examined the sight before her when she also discovered the outline of a skeleton beneath her feet, where she placed the bottle in the center of its chest. Just then the girl dropped to her side in pain, discovering a small disk stuck in her foot that she gave to the skeleton to serve as an eye. As a nearby engine roared, steam from a structure decorated with irons covered the monochrome land like a sandstorm, sweeping her up along the way. When Gwen opened her eyes, she laid in a colorful body of water with her beanie in hand. Then the world suddenly turned greyscale as she excitedly ran along the shoreline while the Medical Mechanica factory continued to stand upright.

-- Ian whistled a familiar tune while tuning up a large computer monitor nestled within Ford's study. "Ride on shooting star. Yabba dabba doo, somethi-ing." he quietly sang while making a few final touches and dismounted from his maintenance creeper. "Okay, main screen turn on?" "Yeah, main screen turn on." Dipper answered turning to a certain someone tied up and fast asleep in a chair. "Rise and shine old friend." he announced placing a freshly cooked chicken leg under Haruko's nose, and the delicious scent wafting into it finally woke her up. "W-what happened?" she asked slowly beginning to wake up. "Last thing I remember was working on something before there was this napkin that covered me and-hey!" "There's no escaping this Raharu. You will give us the answers on your past that we've been searching for!" Ford declared dramatically stepping out of the shadows. "And perhaps some clues on what you're planning this time. Kanda?" "Will do." Tsukata replied hooking the Vespa Woman up to the machine with a helmet resembling a strainer and the monitor finally activated. "This was originally built to defend minds from the dream demon known as Bill Cipher, but now it's been rebuilt to simply read them and view the memories within." "This could be it everyone, our biggest breakthrough!" Dipper cackled joyously as it began booting up. "You okay there Dipper? You've slowly grown more unhinged." Ian asked nervously placing a hand on the older man's shoulder before he was slapped away. "I'm not going unhinged, I'm just excited to finally see through her lies once and for all!" Dipper continued lighting up a fifth cigarette. "So much so that I've literally cut my smokes in half!" "Yeah, he's officially snapped." Kanda commented taking a puff of his own cigarette and sitting down next to Haruko. "Oy, a bunch of losers the lot of you." Haruhara japed with a grin. "You've all become conspiracy theorists who'd resort to kidnapping an expecting mother just to prove a point. And since when did you take up smoking?" "Since I failed to quit." the agent muttered. "And I've been doing it to help me calm down." Dipper added taking a break from his mini-celebration. "Augh, my back." Haruko groaned struggling to reach for her back. "Must be the ropes getting a bit too tight, or you're just getting old." Kanda commented. "Naw, can't really age." the woman responded. "I've been 19 for what feels like ages now." "How many years exactly?" Ford asked writing in a new journal. "Hell if I know, probably ever since I met you-know-who." Haruko answered. "The summer I turned seventeen, was when I took up smoking for the first time." Kanda explained. "Sort of the same with me, only I took up smoking to deal with becoming a father." Dipper replied just as Project Mentem started acting up. "Oh my God, it's finally time!" "Can't believe it took one conversation for it to get started." Ian remarked pounding at the machine. "Well, let's get cracking." After a few moments of static, a full image revealed itself as a slightly younger looking Haruko dressed in drab work-clothes with a familiar iron in the background. "Wait a minute, is that-" Dipper exclaimed while his eyes widened. "Yep. Haruha Raharu, ex-factory worker." Raharu groaned in resignation over her past. "And it was back when Medical Mechanica had control over my planet too." As the younger Vespa Woman continued trudging about her day, Ford lost interest. "Let's just skip to the interesting stuff." the scientist declared fast-fowarding through the memory until it stopped at Haruha rocking out on some equipment as a makeshift drumkit. "Now that's the little devil we know!" "Hey, keep it down in there Haruha!" a strict, snarly voice cried out to her barging into the room. He was a tall, robust figure with a thick mustache, very long nose and a comically large cigar in his mouth. "Ah, good ol' Heinzenberg. A real J. Jonah he was, really miss when he would scream like crazy at everyone." Haruko reminisced on her former boss. "Either stop those abominable sounds or I'll do it for you!" Heinzenberg screamed pulling out a laser blaster and firing, but his rebellious employee swiftly escaped. "Try and catch me brushface!" "Wow, seems like everyone hated your guts." Dipper remarked as the fight between Haruha & Heinzenberg tore the workplace apart, to the ire of everybody else. When the dust settled, the area was in shambles and Heinzenberg was completely furious. "HAAAAAAA-RUUUUUUU-HAAAAAARAAAAA! YOOOOOOOOOUUUUUU'REEEEEEE FIIIIIIIIIREEEEEEDDDDD!" "Was he really that loud?" Ford asked as the Haruha on the screen was dragged away by security robots. "Yep, to the point where one had to add extra letters to whatever he was screaming." Haruko cackled before her smirk turned into a frown as Kanda fast-fowarded to the biker's home life, where she was being harshly scolded by a man presumed to be her father. "Do you realize what you've done Haruha?!" "Abusive parent, correct?" Ian interviewed their captive. "Oh you better believe it. The old man was a completely irredeemable piece of shit who loved drinking more than his own family." Raharu declared morosely, turning away from that ugly part of her past. "And as for my mom, pretty sure she got killed by him in a drunken rage. But who knows, I barely knew her." "Your slacking off and playing that infernal music nearly got us all in trouble!" Mr. Raharu drunkenly shouted after smacking his daughter across the face. "Either behave like every other girl on this godforsaken planet or never show your face around me again!" Just then, the cruddy former apartment home of Haruha started rumbling and a loud voice bellowed "SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT! I WANT TO SEE WHAT YOU GOT!" The ceiling began falling to pieces little by little, all capped off with a steel girder losing its support and falling right over Haruko's father. "WHAT THE FU-" was all he could scream before the girder reduced him to a puddle of red. "The Cromulons!" Ford exclaimed fast-fowarding to Haruko on stage before the giant planet-sized heads gazing down on her. "PLANET WASPRUS, SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!" the Cromulon boomed. "So what, do they go around screaming at planets?" Kanda asked. "And what do they want to be shown?" "The Cromulons are a race of giant floating heads who force the inhabitants of planets to perform in their own musical contest show." Haruko answered. "My planet frowned upon any form of creativity, but I just loved sticking it to the man." "Aw shitballs you guys, we gotta run!" the belches of a middle aged man sounded as he and his two companions, a stonefaced bird person and a catlike creature, ran for the hills to a hijacked cargo ship. "Hey, the old gang!" Haruko chirped excitedly. "Wait, the what?" Ian asked staring at the screen. "Those my boy, were the Flesh Curtains." Ford stated putting a hand on the eldest Ramirez's shoulder. "A band consisting of Rick Sanchez, an old frenemy of mine; and his two weird comrades Birdperson and Squanchy." "And it's not just them. Look." Birdperson announced pointing upward to a giant red phoenix that warped itself over Wasprus. "IT SEEMS WE HAVE A SPECIAL GUEST DISQUALIFIER!" the Cromulon boomed. "LEGENDARY PIRATE KING ATOMSK, SHOW US WHAT YOU GOT!" While Rick and his posse urged the younger Haruko to not give in, she was utterly mesmerized by Atomsk's might as she slowly stepped towards him. "Don't do it babe, that's Atomsk! His power will seriously screw with your head!" Rick warned, but Haruha didn't listen and reached out to the giant bird while her hair turned into its trademark pink. A large chain wrapped around the Pirate King's neck attached to the girl's wrist and she pulled it with all her might, eventually breaking it in two. Just as Atomsk screeched, Raharu was dragged away by Birdperson and raced to the cargo ship, escaping the doomed Wasprus in the nick of time when it completely exploded. "Welp, there goes that gig." Rick groaned in defeat taking a chug out of a flask. "How's our extra cargo doing?" "Still out squanch from Atomsk." the cat-person stated checking for a pulse just as their passenger came to. "Oh geez, what happened?" Haruha moaned rubbing her head when she took notice of the old man, the bird and the cat surrounding her. "Where am I, and who are all of you?!" "Well I can assure you miss, I am not a man in a suit that will teach you the alphabet." Birdperson answered. "You may call me Birdperson. These two are my bandmates Squanchy and Rick." "Okay, we played the name game. But where's my planet?!" Raharu shouted grabbing the two animal-like creatures by their collarbones. "Well funny story babe, might wanna squanch around and see what happened." Squanchy suggested trying to break free and the future Vespa Woman took his suggestion, gazing out the back window to find what was left of her home planet. "My home's all gone." Haruha muttered shedding a few tears, but those tears were soon replaced with a celebratory manic grin. "I'M FREE!" "Whoa now, aren't you the least bit torn up about everyone you ever loved there now pretty much dead?" Squanchy stated. "I don't care, cause no one felt that about me either!" the Flesh Curtains' passenger whooped. "No more shitty dad, no more boring job, and no more stifling of creativity!" "Hell yeah, now you're speaking my language!" Rick replied merrily. "Hey, didn't get your name lass. What do they call you?" he asked putting a microphone to the girl's mouth. "I'm Haruha Raharu." she introduced herself. "Hm, doesn't roll off the tongue as much." the drunken traveler commented. "You ever tried picking up a name like the ones in the comics like Peter Parker, Reed Richards, Billy Batson or Fred Flintstone?" "I don't believe that last one came from a comic." Birdperson tried to correct his bandmate until he was shushed. "I got a great one! How about Haruko Haruhara?" Sanchez announced pretending to knight the girl with what would become her famous Rickenbacker bass. "I like it, really does sound like those old comics!" the newly renamed Vespa Woman exclaimed. "So where to?" "Wherever the hell we want to!" Squanchy answered pointing onward before the fond memory paused itself. "Ah, the old gang. We were kinda like the Fab Four back then. Rick was Paul, Birdperson was Lennon, Squanchy was Ringo and yours truly was George." Haruko thought back to happier times with a smile. "The four of us were unstoppable! Traveling the multiverse, playing gigs, sticking it to the man, making crossovers and just having fun regardless!" Haruko managed to sneak her foot out of one of her boots to fiddle with Project Mentem and fast-forwarded through many events during her travels with Rick. In particular were running from an angry mob of robots resembling ones & zeros in a city within a computer, holding a concert for tons of excited colorful fans with gemstones on their bodies, playing with a golden snail that had a phone attached to its shell which led to an entire island being destroyed, defacing a money bin and all other sorts of mischief. "But then everything went horribly wrong when we planned what I call 'The Mechanica Mission'." she stated sadly stopping at the four nomads looking over current plans. "-ere's what we're gonna do. Haruko will infiltrate the Brotherhood and rise through their ranks so she can allow us to find Atomsk." Rick explained. "Afterwards, Squanchy will break into the Medical Mechanica factory where our contact has stated he's being held in while Birdperson & I form a distraction." "So even being a first-class space patrol officer was part of your scheme as well?!" Ford exclaimed. "To be honest, I don't know what I expected." "Don't wanna delve too much into it but in a nutshell, everything went to shit." Haruko regaled forwarding faster to a standoff between her and Rick in front of a Medical Mechanica factory with armies of insectoid aliens & Medical Machines on either side, their bandmates hovering nearby on another hijacked ship and Atomsk appearing out of a giant wormhole. "So all this time, we were just being used so that you can have sex with Atomsk?!" Rick screamed as he felt betrayed by his partner. "Pretty sure his pecker is way too big to fit in your hive! And I'm really going to regret those puns!" "But wasn't there ever a time in your life where you sought after ultimate power?!" the Vespa Woman responded sadistically. "Bitch, I've been possessed by those types before! But did I use those to turn on those I legitimately care for!" the alcoholic nihilist shouted preparing to attack with his guitar. "It's no use Rick, get back here before the portal reaches maximum instability!" Birdperson cautioned his bandmate. "I'll be back in a bit you guys, gotta settle the score first." Sanchez snarled mounting what would become Haruko's Vespa scooter and charging at her with battle cry and bass. Raharu would do the same and then, the video faded to snow leaving the four men utterly flabbergasted. "So it all makes sense now." Kanda declared shutting it off. "Or at least, as much sense as a person like Haruko can make it." "Other dimensions? Wait til the others hear about this!" Ian added excitedly. "Maybe I could pitch this to whatever big Hollywood director hasn't had their reputation ruined." "At least we finally got our answers Dipper." Ford said to his greatnephew, but he received no answer. "Dipper?" Dipper on the other hand stared emptily at the blank screen contemplating over everything they just watched. Her home planet, that crazy man, the multiverse, Medical Mechanica, Atomsk. In the time he knew Haruko, her past was a total enigma with the exception of how she was a space cop gone rogue, but even that was all a sham. He began lightly snickering while clutching his head. "Ha." he flatly laughed. "Ha ha ha. Ffnk, ahoo. Ahoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo." Dipper's sanity began tumbling down even faster before his chuckling turned into full-blown insane cackling. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" "Dipper, stop laughing and answer me!" Stanford demanded his now completely insane apprentice. "IT WAS ALL A LIE! IT WAS ALL A LIE!" Dipper screamed merrily continuing his mad chortling and smashing the screen. "YOU ARE TEARING ME APART LISA!" "Uh, has anyone seen Haruko?" Ian asked pointing out the empty stool spinning in a circle. "It seems Dipper's little episode here has given her an opportunity to flee." Ford observed on the verge of coming to a shocking conclusion. "But where could she be off t-Oh no." Just as fast as he made his realization, Ford bolted out of his study and went up the elevator to follow the lying motorist. "Where's he off to?" Kanda asked Ian. "Stan is holding a little wake for Jinyu," the eldest Ramirez son answered. "And I don't want to know what Haruko will be up to."

A small drum accompanied a confused rabbi singing for Julia Jinyu in front of the equally unaware attendees who are staring at Stanley and wondering among themselves why they're attending a funeral for someone who was basically unknown to them. "We have no idea who the deceased is, but I can promise she will rest in peace. May He take good care of this woman, and continue to watch over us all." the rabbi chanted before clearing his throat, switching his Jewish dialect for a growling Midwestern accent. "All right Pines, pay up!" he shouted holding out his hand and expecting cash. "Haven't got all day, have a wedding in Alabama to preside over." "Who's the lucky underage victim and their offender?" Stan asked fishing a wad of thousands out of his wheelchair. "Don't want to get anyone here mad, but it's a juicy one!" the rabbi replied with a smug grin. After snatching his bills from the old man's hand, he wordlessly allowed the audience to give their condolences before leaving. First came Senator Gideon Gleeful. Although he and Stanley made amends, there was still a friendly contempt between the two. "So how's that conspiracy against President Kitaki going?" the con-artist asked his old enemy. "Moving along quite nicely Pines. Already got the Fundshausers on my side." Gideon replied turning to Grenda & Marius with a wink and a grin. "Can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm probably going to being voting for you." Stan admitted. "The less we need of that old hag trying to ban the possibility of intergalactic travel, the better!" Next came Masurao. "Hey I know you! You're that guy from Little Asia!" the great-uncle exclaimed. "I am sorry for your loss sir, but I'm on borrowed time." Masurao apologized before scurrying outside. "What's his deal?" "So the damn thing stood up? And it's also getting foggy." Masurao stated spying on the upright iron from below with Eyepatch. "It'll go away when the sun reaches its peak." Eyepatch responded. "Did we really need to make a pitstop at the Shack on our way there?" "Even if it doesn't have a fraction of the power it once had." his partner remarked gazing upon Canti's head while Aiko spied on the two men without their knowledge. "Don't worry, just forget about it." Eyepatch assured him before they departed in a pickup truck carrying the Medical Machine's remains while the funeral continued on as normal. Eventually the two made it to an orbit elevator area in Portland where a doglike man waited for them. "Hey champ, you training hard for tomorrow?!" Eyepatch greeted the worker with a fistbump. "Oh you know, just trying to save my money." the other man replied. "Feel free to just head on in, warehouse should be up ahead." "Good on the money sport. It's important to make plans for the future y'know." Eyepatch complimented, which warranted a grumble from Masurao. When the worker tried to pick up Canti's head, it suddenly turned on for a split second. "Hey, watch how you're handling that thing Mutt!" Masurao ordered. "It's like, vintage!" "Yeah, this is pretty heavy. My bad." Mutt quickly apologized. "That thing's a piece of junk anyways champ. Hakuna matata as they always say!" Eyepatch casually stated which earned him an earful from his younger companion. "Are you insane?! Do you have any idea how much that-" "I totes got it sir." Mutt assured them. "You know, I had a hard time throwing away my first cellphone! Sentimental value is sometimes worth the most." "You don't understand at all!" Masurao continued shouting before the other two men laughed. -- Back at Jinyu's funeral in Gravity Falls, Arnold grimly faced the wall while Juan & Jorge tried to apologize. "Please, you gotta forgive us Arnie!" the twins cried bowing to the floor in shame. "We'll do anything to make it up to you! Would you like to come with us to that new amusement park opening up?" "I'd rather go with someone who won't deliberately leave me to die just because of their manliness obsession." Arnold glowered not ever taking his eyes off the wall. "But if we bring girls with us, we'll get a hefty discount! Like 99% I heard! Aiko asked me to come with her!" Juan tried appealing to their sullen friend, but he still received no answer even as Gwen entered the room. "Fine, be a jerkass for pretty much barely any rhyme or reason for all we care!" Suddenly, Haruko abruptly barged into the living room riding on her scooter and wearing Jinyu's shades, interrupting the funeral and enraging Stan. She slammed her hands on the coffin to speak to the audience. "So listen up everybody, cause I have an important announcement to make! Kay?" Haruko declared. "I am, um, gonna get married!" she announced switching into a wedding dress to everyone's bewildered cheering. "And everyone is invited! Yes I mean everyone!" "I congratulate you on your marriage madame, but this is a place of mourning. Please save your speech til after the wake." one of Gideon's bodyguards with long hair stated. "Do we have visual on crazy pregnant biker that just interrupted a funeral?" "Noted. Prepare for detainment." his black jerry-curled partner replied swapping the burger he was eating for a cattle prod. "Oh wait wait wait, you can't inflict violence on an expecting mother & housewife like that!" Haruko exclaimed turning into a homemaker with a creepy baby doll on her back. "Now let me tell you all the tale of how my husband and I, fell. In. Love." "So my hubby and I met at an amusement park in Portland, and I was there during sunset." the so-called mother narrated through children's crayon drawings. "Clumsy ol' me was about to get hit by a roller coaster when HE swept in to save me like I was a damsel in distress! It was MY HUBBY!" The final drawing depicted Haruko kissing a humanoid red bird which struck a chord in Gwen, as if she had seen him before. "So remember everyone, amusement parks are a paradise!" the Vespa Woman preached. "Forget this sobstory, let's go have so-" "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-RUUUUUUUUU-KOOOOOOOOOOO!" Stan screamed as loud as his nearly eight decade old lungs could cut his former friend off. "Oh hey, didn't see you there Stanley! Thought this was your funeral." Haruko remarked finally realizing who the funeral was for. "Oh, for Jinyu? You guys barely even chatted!" "Don't play coy with me Haruko! You know I'm being serious since I'm not calling you Raharu!" Stan screamed while Soos & Mabel tried to hold him back. "This will be the chapter where I'll get payback for what you've done to my family all those years ago!" "Okay I just started caring, what?" a plaid-shirted man with some grey in his brown hair & goatee asked. "The rest of you get on outta here! This is between me and her!" Stan commanded and the funeral attendees ran outside just as the coffin was opened by Sammy Determined, a tanned, geeky young man with large glasses and a beauty mark on his chin. "I've been stuck in this coffin pretending to be a dead body for like half an hour. Can I go home now?" "You're excused Sam." Stan politely accepted and Sammy raced out the door within half the blink of an eye. "Anyway, I challenge you to a little standoff sweetheart! You and me, Gravity Falls pool, be there or be half of a square!" The grunkle was just about to leave when he made a mechanical arm appear to grab Arnold. "And you're coming with me Arnold, since you're just as much of a victim here." "Help me." Arnold whimpered as he was taken outside just as Ford and Tsukata burst into the living room. "Oh lord, I'm too late!" he shouted racing around the area for any sign of his brother. "I knew this would happen, I just knew." he groaned pinching the bridge of his nose when Gwen spoke up. "What would happen Greatkle Ford?" "I just knew Raharu would purposefully cut off this funeral to get Stanley's goat." Stanford answered. "Though I'm pretty sure she's lying about being pregnant." "Hey, have you seen Dipper anywhere? Haven't seen him since you kidnapped Haruko." Mabel asked for her brother while the Vespa Woman flipped him off behind her. "We just did some digging through her mind and what we found just...broke him." Kanda answered mournfully. "Who do you think is still available right now?" "Mom and Tyrone are. They're having a mother-son day in watching bad movies." Gwen answered. "Well what are you waiting for dudette? Call 'em!" Soos urged the girl. "Hey Gwennie, wouldn't you rather go to the amusement park instead? You're the one that I wanted to go." Haruko tried to make her change her mind. "I'm not going miss." Gwen quietly said picking up her phone. "GWEN-NIE!" -- "Ha ha ha ha, now I look like an even bigger idiot!" Tyrone & Wendy monotonously cackled in unison in response to the horrible costume worn by the leading man of "Invasion of The Bear-Eating Man Family" while Tyrone knitted a new sweater for Stan. "Wow, Joel Nelson clearly had no idea what made good costuming!" he laughed. "Still slightly better than the outfit he made Michelle Hodgson wear." Wendy replied. "Or lack thereof." Just then, the phone rang. "I got it!" Tyrone shouted racing to the phone, but his mother was also focused on answering which resulted in a play-fight that her son quickly won. "Pines cabin, Tyrone speaking!" Tyrone said. "Ty, thank goodness I can reach you." Gwen sighed in relief. "Listen, has Dad come home recently?" "He's holed himself up in our room a couple minutes ago after getting a can of Willy-Nilly's Coffee beans and a knife." Wendy answered. "I'm getting really worried for him. Tyrone honey, can you go up to check on your father?" "Will do Mommy!" Tyrone accepted with a salute and merrily made his way upstairs, but his cheerfulness quickly turned into dread the further he got. When he opened the door to his parents' room, there Dipper was emptily gazing at an old Petra the Pterodactyl video while munching on raw coffee beans and squeezing a Petra plush and his son's beloved stuffed pig Waddles II in his arms. "I'm asking you for a survey Nilly, do you like Willy-Nilly's Coffee?" Dipper asked through Petra to Waddles II. "No, no I don't." Waddles II replied before Petra suddenly held a knife in its tiny three-fingered hand. "Well survey says everyone does. Because anyone who doesn't gets shanked." Petra revealed about to stab the pig before Tyrone performed a diving save on his pig. "NOOOO!" "T-T-Tyrone? What are you doing?!" Dipper shouted even more neurotically than usual. "No, I wanna know what are you doing! You tried to stab Waddles daddy!" Tyrone cried hugging his father worriedly. "I'm so sorry sport, I've just been going through some things lately." the older male responded hugging him back. "Just some...revelations making me go cuckoo for cocoa." "Like what?" his son asked. "Well for example, Raharu actually came from another dimension where she met this scientist who behaved an awful lot like Stan." Mason explained. "They went on adventures across the multiverse together, playing music and causing borderline madness. Eventually they formed a plan to steal the Pirate King Atomsk from Medical Mechanica but that went south and then everything after that was just white noise." "Wow, that sounds even cooler than what you did with her Dad!" Tyrone exclaimed in awe. "Cool, kinda. Healthy, no way in Hell." Dipper concluded putting a hand on his youngest's shoulder. "We gotta find and stop her at once. Where's your sister and cousin?" "Arnold got taken by Greatkle Stan to participate in his little feud with Haruko and I'm not sure what's up with Gwen, but I really hope everything will turn out okay!" Arnold declared with optimism, blissfully unaware of the oncoming chaos while a faint knock on the door was heard. -- "I won't let you involve my family in your schemes anymore!" Stan shouted to Haruko from the other side of the empty swimming pool. "And I don't want to be involved here!" Arnold cried begging to be let go. "Please Stan, Pacifica will kick your ass hard when she hears about this!" "Oh? You think I'm the bad guy for getting your family all tangled up in my schemes, pyon?" Haruko playfully mocked standing on the other side with her red jacket over a blue one-piece. "For a wannabe white knight, you sure are quite the hypocrite." "Arnie, bass." Stanley commanded his great-great nephew as he pushed a button on the armrest of his wheelchair that transformed it into a miniature exoskeleton to help him walk properly. "Wait, since when could you do that?!" Arnold exclaimed in shock while unveiling a certain Jazzmaster for his great-great uncle to use. "There are tons of things about my wheels that you never knew about, and some you'll never know about." Stan stated taking the guitar and slinging it over his shoulder with both hands. "Well what're you waiting for? Come at me!" "Okay. Let's do this." Haruko chummily declared just as her former friend angrily charged, but she quickly blocked the bass with just her feet. "I know you're super old, but you really got no talent nya." she groaned in disappointment. The wasp continued blocking all of Stan's attempts to land a hit and when it seemed like he was finally about to score one, instead came being kicked into the pool shed. "You learned how to fight with your back, right? Cause it seems like time has made you forget!" Stan was just about ready to surrender until he spotted Arnold nervously sitting on a deck chair and got an idea. "Tag me out kid! Tag me out!" he called for the boy while reaching out his hand. "Wait, you're serious? You want me to fight her?" Arnold said curiously. "Well, this could be a chance for me to be manly without a certain duo threatening my life." The pair high-fived and Arnold picked up the Jazzmaster to use. "I'm the boss, I'm the boss, I'm the boss, I'm the boss!" he quietly chanted to himself while charging forward and preparing a mighty swing, but Haruko then swiftly dodged it. "Whatever you wanna do blondie, you gotta do it with strength!" she announced sticking a perfect landing. Arnold however remained resolute and began muttering "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!" "This is where Stan wanted to fight Raharu!" Ford explained to Gwen & Tyrone while the three arrived at the pool but instead of seeing the other grunkle fight her, it was instead Arnold taking off his sweatervest and trying to swing again. "Use your hips, arms relaxed, chin tucked in." Haruha instructed her opponent after yet another nimble avoidance, but Arnold simply didn't listen and escaped from her grasp. "You're no good m'boy, no good at all!" "JUST STAY AWAY FROM MY FAMILY!" Arnold howled rigorously trying one last time to smack her, but was knocked down with a small tap and a declaration of "Oint." "Stan, do you have any idea what in God's name you're doing to Arnold?!" Ford hissed from the other side of the chain fence to his brother. "Don't go accusing me, the kid's just as much a victim as the rest of us!" Stan replied with a holler. "Okay, maybe I am partially to blame." "Go get'er cuz, show her what we've taught you!" Tyrone cheered for his cousin before he suddenly realized that he cheered a bit too late. "Oh right, you're down for the count. Sorry!" "If strength was measured by the hits one took, then you wouldn't be considered such a loser." Haruko said to Arnold while her bracelet began tingling once again. "To be honest, I thought you'd be better given your heritage. That's why you were taught all those things, to increase your manliness I heard. But I guess all those were for nothing because you know just about as much." As Gwen watched, something in her began trembling and her hat glowed faintly. "That's where you're wrong Raharu. You don't know anything either." Arnold argued bravely to her confusion. "The truth is, I'm completely unsatisfied!" This angered Haruko before she decided to remove her jacket right on top of the boy, which finally made Gwen go berserk. The force given off by her beanie blasted the door away and rapidly sucked Arnold inside her head. "Wait, what's going on!?" "He was right. Pacifica's gonna put all of us in the morgue." Stan regarded fearfully realizing his huge mistake when the absorption concluded leaving everyone shocked. All that was left was a bizarre black cutout with Arnold's Northwest ring on the finger. "Uh, my bad! Things will probably get worse than usual this time around." Haruko sheepishly apologized before mounting on her Vespa and preparing to take off. "I'll be waiting. She zoomed off leaving the four Pines and what was left of Arnold at the pool. "Hey, get back here you bitchy bassist! We still haven't settled our score yet!" Stan cursed angrily shaking his fists at the clouds. Gwen in comparison was utterly heartbroken by what she did to her cousin. "Oh I am so sorry about what happened to Arnold little lady." Ford said trying to comfort her. "You know, this reminds me of my Backupsmore days. Our school just won a cross-country event and we decided to celebrate by tearing everything apart. You should've seen the pool! They flipped the bitch!" "Where were you during that time?" Tyrone asked. "My roommate and I didn't want to take any part in the riot for safety reasons, so we went out for Italian." his genius great-grunkle answered. "I only wanted to lighten the mood after what happened just now, but I'm not sure how it'll work." -- Across town, business was booming at the amusement park with dozens of excited visitors of all ages stampeding through the entrance, most of them being couples. The Ramirez children were among these couples most notably Leia & Ezra, leaving Ian to watch over Juan, Jorge and Abby. "Does anyone have an idea on where Imelda is?" Ian asked his younger siblings while taking a bite out of some confectionery treats from the food stands. "She said that she got a part-time job here but hasn't come back." "While I'm just as concerned for Mel, all I want to know is WHERE IS AIKO?!" Juan cried out furiously typing on his phone. Elsewhere in the park, Tonkichi quietly observed two men fighting for the love of a girl and accidentally getting caught in each other before a red force took over their heads. "Excuse me sir, how much longer will this test ride go on?" Imelda asked Tonkichi. "Oh not too much longer." the theme park owner assured the seven-year-old. "All you gotta do is just stay right there my girl." As for Masurao, he was currently examining the park's webpage with Eyepatch. "Wait, hold on. Not that one." his senior citizen superior stated. "What? I thought it was Mr. Dodo." Masurao replied. "Don't you forget that we're dealing with super top secret stuff here, so that means we must activate the hidden communication mode." Eyepatch advised the younger male. "Go to the shopping section and push the little kiwi strap." "Which one?" Masurao exclaimed trying to find that strap. "The fluffy one right down there." On Eyepatch's commands, Masurao clicked on the image of a kiwi that led the two to a dining menu page. "Are you sure? The link went to a menu." he muttered in confusion. "Now just push She's So Chicky Wings." When he clicked on the menu item, it then guided to an article on one of the rides. "The Icarus Fall is the world's third-fastest falling ride?" "Wait wait wait, go back up!" Eyepatch shouted. "That's gotta be it, the falling one!" he added excitedly. "Uh, they're all falling." Masurao responded not knowing what his boss just said. "The one with the little emu!" "But which one?" "The one with the fluffy wings!" "You have to be more specific!" "THERE!" With a smack of his cane, Eyepatch made Masurao tap the emu which made Tonkichi appear on a video screen in his dodo costume. "Hello there, it's Mr. Dodo!" he merrily greeted them. "It's me." Masurao stoically greeted. "Don't be so sorry. Sometimes a kid will come calling me." the receiver grimly replied when another child greeted him. "Hi Mr. Dodo!" "Hey kid!" Tonkichi waved his wing at the passing child before returning to his teammates. "And any updates from Kanda?" "Nothing yet, though he has promised." Masurao answered. "But we did see the recently installed viking ship. We'll also have to deal with Immigration matters, but I don't want to rush you too much." "And what of the flower pot? Is it complete yet?" Tonkichi continued asking. "Uh sure. It can be activated at any time." Masurao muttered nervously. "The plant is online, alright!" Eyepatch declared, but their partner was too busy trying to greet a pair of girls who didn't want to be near him. "Can you please focus on your real job and see the data I sent you?" the younger redhead groaned incredulously. "This is a real job too!" Tonkichi argued. "Don't you know that this park helps fun-" "Do you think we can make do without that pot?" Eyepatch asked his colleague as the latter closed the video on Tonkichi and Aiko overheard their conversation. "I doubt it." Masurao groaned in defeat. "If you can't activate the flower pot, any backup plans we come up with will be useless!" "Shut up, I know that!" Aiko's father exclaimed while his daughter went upstairs to look for money she made off her dating service in a jack-o-lantern situated in her closet. "Aiko." Masurao called for his daughter while she frantically closed the closet door. "What is it?" the girl asked and her dad just looked down for a moment. -- "So which one of us do you think Pacifica will kill first?" Stan asked while Tyrone helped put his wheelchair back together, Gwen examined the balloon that was once her cousin and Ford collected some leftover pool water that he put into a beaker. "Personally, I'm betting on you poindexter since you started all this by bringing Gwen here." "I started this?!" Ford shouted angrily. "You're the one who's fostered this animosity with Raharu for literally twenty years ever since she first left us!" Still fuming, the scientist examined the beaker he had just used along with four others containing radioactive waste, soy sauce, machine oil and a strand of pink hair. "And what are you up to?" Stan asked gazing at the beakers. "Just been experimenting on some substances to make a superhuman formula. Just got some pool water from here, soy sauce from Little Asia, radioactive sludge from Scuttlebutt Island, machine oil and some of Raharu's hair." "How is that going to do anything of substance you nerd?" Stanley hissed. "Well, other than probably give you a killer stomachache." "It's still highly experimental brother, so maybe there is a chance of a killer stomachache." Stanford agreed before the two great-grunkles gazed at Gwen holding the balloon in her arms. "S-so thirsty." a familiar voice croaked through Arnold's ring. "W-water." "Great Caesar's ghost, he's alive!" Tyrone exclaimed while his big sister took the balloon to the pool showers. "Hey, put on a smile sis! Arnold's still out there!" he tried to cheer her up when the showers seemingly activated on command. "I don't want to remember what happened this morning." Gwen monologued reminiscing to earlier that day in manga form. -- "Oh good morning Gwennie!" Wendy greeted her daughter coming down the stairs. "Check it out, Jinyu left us so many clean & unbroken plates." Gwen however wasn't interested. "Something the matter my little pecan pie?" her mother asked. "I'm just back to my normal self, that's all." "No, you seem eerily different." Wendy said concernedly just as her daughter stepped outside and she realized something. "I've...changed?" Gwen stuttered going back inside to find her mom packing some small boxes. "What are you doing?" she asked. "Just...have fun at the Shack little dude. And tell Stan I send my condolences." Wendy said trying to dodge the question. "And also tell Arnold his aunt says hey!" "Seriously mom, why are you packing? Are we going to move?!" Gwen shouted suddenly getting angry. "I thought Dad wanted to stay here to catalogue all the weird crap going on here and hang with Aunt Mabel!" Wendy frowned to herself over her daughter's feelings before turning back to her. "I think it's time we try something different. Y'know, I always wanted to live in Portland." That was when Gwen's beanie beeping began to coincide with her bursting into tears. -- Returning to the present, the shower stopped and the balloon began to inflate in Gwen's arms. "Hey, is this about losing Jinyu, Greatkle Stan getting mad at Haruko, or losing Arnold?" Tyrone tried to console the older girl. "I'm here for you if you wanna shoulder to cry on." The balloon reached its maximum size and drifted to the ceiling above the kids. Taking a poolstick, Gwen grabbed it and took it outside where it was properly able to ascend. And then, as her beanie began blinking once again, she made a miniature crater beneath her feet which horrified her present family. "Find, the others, now." Ford muttered. -- "Hi, I'm Mr. Dodo!" Tonkichi greeted the happy couples in his mascot costume, but none were paying attention. "Looks like everyone's having a great time, am I right? Hey! Boys and girls!" he exclaimed while a group of employees armed with firearms assembled behind him. "You're all just little brats who still don't have all your hair down there! Sorry, but you're all pretty much useless!" The employees then aimed their weapons at the unknowing parkgoers on command. "FIRE!" Tonkichi ordered. "Sorry, wrong voice." he realized clearing his throat and switching to a deeper voice. "FIRE!" The weapons launched a series of red beams that tagged everyone and making the same red force appear in their heads. "THIS IS WHY I DON'T TRUST THEME PARKS!" Ezra screamed in pain as he and Leia became victims as well. "If I don't make it out of here alive, I want you to know Leia that I really do love you, and I'm basically a tsundere!" "Ha, called it!" Leia chuckled before she went back to screaming and gazed terrified at her brother. "Ian, get the kids away and we'll all catch up later! You four are the only single ones here!" she shouted to Ian. "Right! Juan, Jorge, Abby, come with me!" "But where do we find them? Where do we find Mommy and Daddy?!" Abby cried as Jorge took her arm. "Not sure, but they're probably just as lost as all the other couples here are!" Juan exclaimed racing off. The energy collected from the visitors soon filled up all the big rides at the park and caused them to lift themselves out of their supports. "They started already?!" Masurao shouted watching the chaos from afar. "I have to warn the Pines." Tsukata declared gazing through his binoculars. The attractions gathered around the big castle at the center, including the viking ship that Imelda was trapped on, and formed into a giant robot. "Captain, I don't think we'll make it!" one of the employees shouted. "We've got to do it! No matter the cost, we'll show them all!" Tonkichi declared bravely as the castle bot faced the upright Medical Mechanica iron. "They may smooth out our brains, but they'll never smooth out our freedom! START THE ATTAAAAACK!" The castle robot launched everything it got at the giant iron, but nothing worked and the factory in turn blasted a giant laser that instantly burnt the opposing machine to cinders. -- Far above Earth, Arnold's inflated husk drifted out of the atmosphere and towards an Immigration Control Center satellite storing lost items. A mechanical hand snatched the balloon and tossed it down the chute to be scanned & later dumped into the old Gravity Falls junkyard which attracted the attention of a familiar-looking robot dog. "Well I'll be. Aren't you just the cutest little thing?" Older Man McGucket greeted the little mutt. "Hey I know you! You're that spindly johnny who followed the kids around!" The genius hillbilly scooped up some of the trash from the box it was dumped in, including Arnold's remains, and put it in a dog bowl for the canine machine to eat. "Eat up now little feller!" -- Back at the amusement park, Haruko was spectating the whole battle when she felt her stomach return to its normal size. "So they're still doin' it, huh?" she mumbled getting back to her entertainment when she saw a few familiar faces. "For the record, we already knew something was up long before you warned us!" Ford shouted to Kanda when he spotted Haruko. "Raharu! Can't believe I'm saying this, but we got a problem!" Along with the Stans, Tyrone, Dipper, Mabel, Wendy, Ian, Leia, Juan & Jorge, Abby, Ezra, Soos, Melody, a very angry Pacifica preparing to use a broken bottle as a shiv and Kanda was a now cybernetic Gwen glaring furiously at the Vespa Woman. "Lookin' good Gwennie!" Haruko complimented with a wolf whistle and a nosebleed. "You're really killing it!" Gwen didn't reply with her words, but instead with a gold battering ram launching from her robot arm. "Just so we can all reach a compromise, all of you are to blame for this!" Pacifica shouted tranquilly. "Whoa, hold on all y'all!" Haruko exclaimed avoiding the younger girl by jumping on the roller coaster tracks. "Stop it, I didn't do nothing wrong!" "BULL-FUDGING-SHIT RAHARU!" Stan cursed as Gwen followed his former partner preparing to use the other Mustang to help his great-great niece. "All I did was give you all a little nudge, reignited some old passions, helped you with your dreams, s'all!" "Give him back! Give Arnold back!" Gwen screamed continuously attempting to hit her. "Wah-ho! Guess the Pines still have quite a lot of fight in them!" Haruko exclaimed before she found Dipper, Mabel and Pacifica right behind her. "Give me back my son or else." Pacifica hissed arming herself with Jinyu's Jazzmaster. Before anyone of them could fight, Haruhara surfed away further up the coaster rails. "In the end, you're no different from the rest of us!" Gwen snarled leaping away from her family to give pursuit. "It's all because you're in love with that weird bird, right? You're just another girl stupidly in love!" "See, like I kept telling you Raharu! You can't force someone to love you!" Dipper agreed with his daughter. "Oh quit parroting Mason or I'll shove crackers down your throat to shut you up!" Haruko shouted to the Pines father before she noticed her bracelet starting to react to something amiss. "Huh?" "Uh, dudes!" Soos exclaimed gazing up at the reddening sky. "Is the multiverse going all kaput or am I thinking of some other cataclysmic event?" he asked cuing the others to look up as well. "No. Way." Ford & Kanda boomed in shock. Soon everybody important to the story gazed up at the sky and Haruko realized just who it was. "It's Atomsk." -- AT LAST, IT IS DONE! I started kinda late on this chapter, but it was all worth it to finally beat my deadline. What will become of the Pines family and friends? Will Haruko finally control Atomsk? Why does McGucket recognize that oddly familiar dog? Join us next time for the final chapter of Fooly Falls 2: Ride on Shooting Star and be sure to read my other works for more!

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mayjaymayjay · 6 years

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Title: One Percent (Part 2: Pregnancy and Birth) Word Count: 6404 Pairings: Romantic Alphyne (Alphys and Undyne), Platonic/Romantic (Could be seen as either) Papyton (Papyrus and Mettaton), Platonic Toriel/Asgore Warnings: Arguing, Lying, Major Character Death, Death, Birth, Birthing Scene, Water Breaking (Let me know if I missed anything!) Summary: Alphys and Undyne have a baby shower and things go as good as it could while Alphys holds her tongue. Author Note: Part Two of the last fanfiction I ever wrote for Undertale! Hope you enjoy!

The new MTT Resort’s restaurant was closed that day, or, rather, reserved for a special occasion that Alphys and Undyne had planned out to announce the grand reveal that the fertilization was a success and Undyne was two months pregnant.

Most of their close friends had attended, even King Asgore and the pun queen herself, Toriel made sure they would attend, even if they didn't know what it was exactly about.

Sans, on the other hand, knew immediately what it was about, but came along anyway to support them, despite the slight sense of impending doom, but he put it in the back of his skull, today was going to be a day that should be celebrated, not worried about.

Everyone had arrived, all except Frisk, who couldn't attend due to some trouble at the capital. They were the ambassador of two species, of course, they would have responsibilities to handle, even if they did want to go to the party.

The monsters were all dressed formally, which was Mettaton’s only request to rent out his restaurant, but some were more excited about the attire than others.

“Damnit,” Undyne complained, pulling at the dark red choker she wore, the golden tear-shaped pendant catching a perfect amount of light. “This necklace is really itchy.”

She wore a beautiful scarlet evening gown, that would shimmer in different angles, her hair was in a simple and semi-messy bun, just tight enough for it to stay intact, but loose enough for her to be comfortable, even her red bangs were let loose over her eye-patch. She wore black, short heels, after all, there was no way in hell that she would wear high heels, she claimed that her outfit was “girly enough” without them.

“I told you t-that necklace would be uncomfortable,” Alphys told her. “You should've gone with the pearls.”

Alphys decided to get a new dress for this momentous occasion, it was a simple blue evening gown, that had silver, tiny polka dots scattered on it, a silver bow wrapped around her waist for a finishing touch. She wore simple black flats, since she never was comfortable in heels, let alone, high heels.

“But it's like the one from Mew Mew Kissy Cutie!” Undyne argued. “It's too awesome not to wear!”

“I-if you say so,” the scientist shrugged, grabbing her wife’s hand under the table. “Are y-you nervous?”

“Nope!” The ex-royal guard squeezed her hand anyway. “What? Are you?”

“A-a l-little,” she stuttered. “I j-just don't like p-public speaking.”

“Hmm,” Undyne pondered for a moment, then turned to her wife. “How about I do the announcement, would that make you feel any better?”

Alphys nodded, then, quickly after, Undyne slipped her hand from her wife’s grip and stole a quick kiss Alphys’s head sweetly. “It's going to be okay, Alphys.”

Undyne stood up, tall, then cleared her throat to get the attention of the chattering crowd, who were presenting theories on what this gathering was about, but stopped to listen to what the elegant fish monster had to say.

“Alright,” she began, clasping her hands together. “So I bet you all are wondering why we are here and why the hell we are wearing these dumb dresses and tuxedos.”

Undyne glanced down at her protruding abdomen, then back at the crowd. “Well, last time we got together like this, we announced our engagement. I'm not sure if you would consider this better or worse, but we’re pregnant.”

The whole room enveloped in shouts of joy, while Alphys stood up and grabbed Undyne’s hand as they both grinned, the taller helping Alphys onto a chair, knowing that hugs of congratulations were necessary.

Papyrus was the first to come up, tears were clearly forming in his eye sockets. “ I cannot believe this! I'm so happy for you two, oh my God!”

Papyrus had worn a black tuxedo he had gotten with Sans and Mettaton a few months back, which Mettaton quite enjoyed to see him in. It had a golden flower on the right side and, as good as he looked in that bow tie, he decided to go with a simple black neck tie, because he didn't like the feeling of the bow tie.

“Come here ya punk!” Undyne pulled Papyrus into a noogie.

“Please don't noogie the emotional skeleton!” Papyrus exclaimed, soon escaping the grip of his best friend. He wiped a tear from his eye socket as he smiled again. “Congratulations, my dear friends.”

Papyrus leaned slightly awkwardly as he hugged both Undyne and Alphys, leaving the two afterward to go back to his table and sitting down.

Up next was Toriel and Asgore, the two had become great friends, after a year of Asgore begging for forgiveness. Toriel apologized as well, stubbornly, for the grudge and they've been good friends ever since.

They were both clothed formally, like everyone else. Toriel wore an elegant royal purple dress with a white trim, it shimmering somehow in every angle, and had long droopy sleeves. As far as footwear, she wore the same colored flats. Asgore, on the other hand, wore a simple black tuxedo, with a purple bow tie.

Toriel couldn't hold back the tears of joy and pride for the two spouses. “I could not be happier for you two. Nothing is better than the process of having a child, I wish you both the best, my children.” She wiped away another stray tear.

Asgore raised an eyebrow at his ex-wife, who had a grip on his right arm. “If I remember correctly, you acted quite miserable during your pregnancy.”

The motherly woman playfully pushed her friend. “Oh, hush, you.”

This brought a grin to Alphys, Undyne, and even Asgore himself, as they all chuckled lightly at the cute duo.

“Anyway,” Toriel looked at the two wives again, letting go of Asgore as she walked over to them for a hug. “Congratulations.”

They both hugged her back, Asgore going into a hug as well for a nice group hug. This was by far the most comforting and sweet hug they've gotten so far.

After the rather long hug, Toriel joined arms back with Asgore and returned to their table, which was right next to Papyrus’s table.

Second to last was Mettaton, wearing a black tuxedo with a hot pink bow tie wrapped around his collar, cried hysterically and ran towards the two brides, as if he hadn't seen them in years. “Oh, my gosh darlings! I'm so unbelievably happy for you two!”

They were a bit taken aback by the hug, since the force was unexpected and, quite frankly, hard, since he was made out of various types of metal, but they hugged back nonetheless.

Mettaton let go of the hug, a smile ingrained on his face, along with black tear stains along his riveted, metallic, yet, perfect cheek. “Words cannot describe my joy for you two, all I want is that the baby will be at least half as amazing as you two are, but I'm sure with your genetics, that would be nearly impossible to not happen.”

Alphys twitched slightly, but unnoticeable, at those words, “genetics”, she knew she had to tell Sans eventually, but now wouldn't be the best time.

“T-thank you, Mettaton,” Alphys stuttered, as he hugged them one last time, and went back to Papyrus’s and his table.

Last, but not least, Sans was up, wearing a simple sweater vest, white long sleeve formal shirt under it, with a light blue bow tie wrapped around his collar, and black formal pants and shoes.

“Well, I guess it worked,” Sans shrugged.

“It wouldn't have been possible without you, Sans,” Alphys replied.

“Eh, you would've found someone eventually,” he shrugged again. “Anyway, congrats, I couldn't think of anyone more deserving than you two to have children. Well, maybe one other person.”

They glanced over at Toriel and Asgore, who were laughing and joking with each other, probably reminiscing about the past and the good times. This made the trio smile.

“So, uh, Sans,” Undyne called, earning his attention. “Alphys and I have been thinking and we've decided on something.”

Alphys grabbed a hold of her hand.

“We want you to be the godparent,” Alphys completed.

“Whoa, I, uh,” he was astonished. “That caught me off-guard.”

He scratched the back of his neck but returned his gaze back to the couple. “Why me? I mean, Toriel and Asgore seem to be much more suitable to be parents than I ever would, they've had children and-”

“Sans,” Undyne interrupted. “They declined.”

“What?” Well, he definitely didn't see that coming.

“They have Frisk and, even if they didn't,” she continued. “They've had their time as parents, they're tired.”

“Man,” the skeleton sighed. “I'd be brainless to decline after that point, huh?”

“Was that a pun?” Alphys glared at him.

“You do know me, right?” He joked.

They laughed, now that was out of the way, maybe Alphys could drop a hint about the whole “one percent” ordeal.

“Hey, um,” Alphys started, getting Sans’s and Undyne’s attention, as she touched her wife’s hand. “Can you, uh, c-check on everyone.”

“Okay, sure,” Undyne shrugged and took the hint, walking off the small stage, and went over Papyrus’s table.

Alphys reverted her attention back to her skeleton friend. “S-so I have a q-question.”

“Shoot,” he replied.

“J-just out of curiosity,” she began, scratching the back of her head awkwardly. “Why were you s-so insistent on this baby not getting any of your genetic code?”

“Psychological disorders are genetic,” he answered bluntly, without any thought, like that answer was rehearsed. “I don't think anyone truly deserves one. Especially if I can help it.”

“I-I g-guess that's f-fair,” now, she was anxious.

“You seem nervous, Alphys,” he pointed out, light concern glistening in his eye sockets. He could read her so easily.

“N-no! W-why would y-you think that?” It was blatantly obvious.

“Alphys,” his voice lowered, concern was out of the question. “Is there something you wanna tell me?”

This party of joy and celebration was rapidly turning into more of a get-together of anxiety and condolences, needless to say, this was not going as well as expected. Sans was onto her, he wasn't dumb, he was outrageously smart, he just never really showed it.

“Alphys,” he gained back Alphys’s attention. “Did something go wrong with the transfer?”

She hadn't noticed it before, but the room was eerily silent, she looked over his shoulder, then grew more anxious than ever. “Sans, l-look b-behind you.”

Sans turned around, his pupil dimming out immediately. Everyone was looking at them, they had heard their conversation, and, was completely baffled. That conversation sounded a bit too fishy. Transfer?

“U-uh,” Alphys stuttered. “I, um, this sounds a bit s-suspicious, however, it's e-easily explained.”

“Alphys,” Sans called. “Just tell them the truth, they were gonna find out eventually, anyway.”

“O-okay,” she started shaking, and it wasn't because of blood sugar. “L-looking for a-a donor was more d-difficult than we thought, s-so, after much consideration, we asked S-Sans to do it.”

Most of the guest, although a bit shocked at the choice of a donor, seemed unmoved by the news, though another skeleton in the room seemed enraged.

Papyrus got up and stormed out of the room without a single word. His brother looked at Alphys, who was lost for words, then back at the crowd, they didn't have any words either. His main concern was his little brother. He ran off the stage and left the room as well.

“Papyrus!” He burst through the front doors of the resort, seeing his younger brother walking away. “Papyrus, wait!”

The tall skeleton stopped walking, just stood there as Sans caught up. Why couldn't this happen differently?

“Okay, Pap, look-”

“I don't want to hear your excuses and lies, Sans,” he snapped, now, turning towards his brother, then pointing an accusing finger at him. “Why didn't you tell me?”

“I don't know, I just,” he sighed. “I just didn't want to hurt your feelings or anything.”

“Feelings?” The angry monster quoted. “Why would my feelings be hurt? At least you would finally be telling me something!”

“Wait, that's not what you're mad about?” Sans, for once in quite a while, was puzzled.

“No! I'm angry at the fact that you never tell me anything!” Papyrus flailed his arms to emphasize his frustration. “You hide things from me all the time! Do you think I'm ignorant or something?! I'm not some little child anymore, I can handle it! I'm an adult for goodness sakes!”

Sans buffered for a second, he never really realized how much he's lied to his brother until now, how could he not have realized that? “Bro, I'm sorry, I just wanted you to not worry about me.”

“Well, you did that well,” Papyrus never thought sarcasm was a great argument or humor tool, but he didn't care about that at the moment.

Sans was a bit taken aback by the comment. “Would you rather have me complain about having a bad day or just being in a bad mood? It's more often than you think.”

“No, Sans, I just want something from you!” He exclaimed, sighed, crossed his arms, and looked away from his brother. “Do you remember when we were little, you would give me piggy back rides and tell me stories off the top of your head?”

Sans nodded.

“The stories would be different each time, but always related to your feelings for that day or just how your day was,” he stared at the ground for a second, then returned his gaze back to its original point. “I missed those fun stories, they were so… Abstract and extravagant,”

He smiled to himself, but then returned to his frown. “Then they slowly began to feel more and more forced to have a happy ending, until, finally, you just started to read me that silly book.”

Sans did remember that, if only he could remember what exactly caused that, but most of his childhood was just a blur.

“Brother, I don't know what happened, but I miss those times,” He continued. “I miss you expressing yourself in little odd ways. But most of all, I miss you. I just want my older brother back.”

The shorter skeleton stood silent, but soon began to walk towards his brother, Papyrus flinched slightly as his shorter brother hugged him. Hesitantly, he bent down awkwardly and hugged him back.

“I'm sorry, Pap,” he cleared his voice. “I just don't want to bring you down.”

“The only thing that's bringing me down is this distance,” tears beckoned to fall, but he blinked them away, the Great Papyrus mustn't cry, at least in public. “I love you, brother, I just need you to talk to me.”

“Okay, bro,” Papyrus was right, Sans hid way too many things, but he had always thought it was for the better, but what good was it doing?

The two let go of each other, Papyrus, whipping up a sincere smile. “Are we good now?” Sans asked.

“Yes, brother,” the taller brother agreed, before walking with his brother back inside.

As they went back inside the room, they could both feel the thick tension, so thick, in fact, they could probably couldn't even cut it with the knife, well, maybe Frisk was a better candidate for things such as that.

All eyes averted from Undyne and Alphys’s stuttering to the two skelebros, who were exchanging glances with each other, mentally arguing on who would be the one to explain what just happened.

“Um,” Papyrus blurted, immediately regretting doing so. “Everything is sorted out now, so we should just go back to having fun.”

“Everything is far from being sorted our, dear,” Mettaton interjected, crossing his arms. “I'm curious as to why him?”

“It wasn't anything personal, Mettaton,” Sans replied, hoping to smooth over the situation.

“I understand that I'm just curious,” he turned back to Alphys, awaiting an answer.

“W-well,” she cleared her throat, preparing herself to speak. “I never installed anything like that in your system, M-Mettaton. I-I knew Asgore would be uncomfortable with it, a-along with Undyne and m-myself, s-since he is more like a father t-to both of us. Anyway, P-Papyrus just didn't feel or seem right, since he and Undyne have a more sibling relationship. The final candidate was Sans, who was so kind to do this for us, e-even after that machine m-messed his hands up so badly.”

Sans still had scars and jagged grooves in his palms from that day, most of the wounds healed, but there are plenty still there as a constant reminder.

“I just find that reasoning difficult to understand considering Sans’s medical history,” he retorted, for someone so “understanding”, he sure acted offended.

Sans’s white pupil disappeared again as the room filled up with silence again and even more tension, both of them were unsure what to say at this point. Everyone’s darted from the short skeleton.

“That's it!” Undyne stomped her foot, stepping in front of her wife, grabbing the knife as she did so, earning back the attention of the room.“Listen here, punk. I'm growing sick of your attitude, I don't know what your problem is, but accusing my friend of some sort of-”

“Undyne, he's right,” Sans interrupted.

“Wait, what?” Undyne blurted unintentionally.

Sans interrupted, staring back at the floor with blank eye sockets. “Back when I was a teenager, I was diagnosed with clinical depression, it's not that big of a deal, everyday people and monsters deal with it every day of their lives, some, not even knowing that it's a problem they have, and they function one day at a time, just like you.”

He looked back up, this time, directly at the robot, point a finger at him as well. “I'm genuinely happy now and functional, so why don't you chill your motor, Mettaton?”

Mettaton had no comment, looking away with a scowl on his face. Sans lowered his hand and sighed. “Now, that's enough of drama for one damn night. Let's just have a good time.”

“Y-yeah!” Undyne exclaimed, trying to bring back the positive energy. “I don't know about you, but I'm ready for some awesome gifts and cake!”

Undyne succeeded, the rest of the night was uneventful as far as drama goes, everyone went back home happy and blissfully unaware of the future that was at hand.

…

“Ugh!” Undyne groaned, lounging on the couch in front of the TV, poking her abdomen. “When the hell is this damn baby coming?”

It had been almost seven-and-a-half months since the baby shower, Undyne was due a few weeks ago, but the baby didn't seem to care, sure, there were false alarms, but that's about it. The lab had a few adjustments as well, a new nursery was added, along with a couch that sat in front of the huge screen, that used to be used for security cameras to track the human, now, it had cable feature added.

The captain of the Royal Guard couldn't care less about what was on television at the moment, though. She just wanted, as she would put it, “this thing” out of her. She was tired of sitting on her rump, she wanted to train with Papyrus or just herself, but the little monster inside wouldn't let her, earning herself maternity leave from anything she considered fun.

“Should be here any day now, Undyne,” Alphys wearily answered, she was just as ready as her wife was, she needed to stop being rudely woken up to a false alarm, if she was going to be woken up, it should be for the actual thing.

Alphys walked over and handed Undyne a cup of tea, the fish lady sitting up and propping herself on her arm, to give room to her very sleep deprived bride on the couch. “That's what you always say.”

“That’s the o-only t-thing I can say truthfully,” she took a sip of her tea, she made it a tad bit too sweet, oh well. “If I c-could just magically make it happen, I-I would.”

“There is still the option for a c-section,” Undyne took a sip as well, a bit too salty this time, but she wasn't too picky.

“You rejected that option last time because you wanted to do it the ‘hardcore’ and ‘natural’ way. As you put, ‘Just how my awesome ancestors before me did it,” Alphys added air quotes, emphasizing her irritation.

“Oh yeah,” the blue-scaled creature leaned her head back, searching for an idea. “We could try searching for one of those home remedies or whatever.”

“Those never work, only make a mess,” she took another sip, yup, still too sweet. “I don't want s-screw up anything with the process either.”

“Fair point, I guess,” Undyne was tired of this, not sure if he was more tired of the conversation or the pregnancy itself.

“I-I know one thing, we need more s-sleep than what we’re getting,” Alphys definitely had a fair point there.

“Agreed,” She nodded, then took another sip of her tea, eh, it was slightly better.

Undyne slowly spun around, pushed herself backward, and laid her head on the yellow lizard-like monster’s lap, it was quite comfortable. Alphys ran her fingers gently through her love’s scarlet hair. The calming situation made the two doze off, but Alphys was rudely interrupted by a knock at the door, Undyne was always difficult to wake up.

She slipped from under her and softly made her way to the door. When she opened it, she was greeted by Sans and Papyrus, carrying gym bags in their hands.

“O-oh hey, guys,” she welcomed. “U-uh, what's g-going on?”

“We were making sure you both were okay,” Papyrus stated truthfully. “You've seemed a little… Uh…”

“Bone tired,” Sans joked, making his brother glare at him, along with Alphys. “What?”

“Nothing,” Papyrus groaned. “Anyway, we’re worried about your and Undyne's health.”

“We just haven't gotten m-much sleep because of all the f-false alarms,” Alphys rubbed her eye, trying to keep herself awake just a bit longer. “We're fine, I-I promise.

“I suppose,” the taller one sighed.

“Well,” Sans piped up. “We think we should move in temporary, ya know, to help around the place and stuff.”

"I-I appreciate the gesture, r-really I do,” she replied. “But I-I think we really are fine.”

“Obviously, you're not,” Sans bluntly said, then sighed. “Look, you two need help, I don't want to be forceful, but this is becoming unhealthy and unSANSitary.”

“Did you just make a pun with your own name?” Papyrus asked, somewhat confused.

“Yup and I'm proud of it,” Sans admitted, jokingly, then returned to his original tone. “Anyway, we just want to help you two.”

“I-I understand that, b-but-”

“Uh, Alphys,” Undyne’s voice interrupted her, making all three of them face her.

“What, now?” Alphys groaned once she turned to her wife, though, her eyes widened. Undyne was surrounded by some type of liquid.

“I think my water just broke,” Undyne was just as surprised as Alphys.

“Oh, crap!” Alphys ran over to her wife as the two skeletons did as well. “O-okay! Dammit! The closest legit monster hospital is on the surface!”

“Here's what we’re going to do,” Sans declared. “Papyrus, carry Undyne!”

“Alright!” Papyrus picked up his mentor, his arms between the underside of her knees and head and neck, with a bit of trouble since she was not only not to fond of the plan already, feeling that she looked rather weak being carried around like a princess, but she also was very heavy.

“I hate to do this, but we’re going to have to take a shortcut,” he stated.

“Are you sure that will be safe for Undyne and the baby?!” Alphys questioned.

“What other option do we have?!” He countered the question.

She stood silent.

“Everyone, hang on!” Sans commanded as everyone gripped on his jacket.

Snap!

Undyne felt a sudden jump, almost as if the force of the teleport pushed the baby further. The friends rushed into the hospital, Undyne winced as the contractions began, full force, Alphys yelled at the nurse, gaining their attention. The four were soon surrounded by nurses as Papyrus was ordered to place Undyne on a gurney, they followed her and the crowd of nurses to a maternity ward room.

“Whoa there, guys,” a female nurse stopped the friend. “Only the partner and/or the father of the patient can be with her at this time. So, who is her partner?”

“I-I am,” Alphys stuttered, the nurse raised an eyebrow.

“Really? Well, who is the father?” She asked, looking at the two skeletons.

“Technically, I am,” Sans raised his hand slightly then put it back down as he stepped forward.

“Well, this is an odd circumstance,” she placed a hand on her hip. “Anyway, enter please.”

“You're okay by yourself, right, Papyrus?” Sans asked, turning towards him before he went inside.

“The Great Papyrus can handle himself, brother!” He exclaimed proudly. “Just, please make sure Undyne is okay.”

“Will do, bro,” he nodded, then went inside, the nurse shutting the door behind him.

Alphys and Sans rushed to Undyne’s side, Alphys grabbing her hand as Undyne held back screams of pain. Sans placed his hand on top of Alphys’s hand, earning a quick glance from her, but she averted back to the situation at the time.

“Alright, Mrs. Undyne,” one of the nurses called. “Are you ready?”

“Just get on with it!” She screamed, pain prevalent in her voice, Alphys squeezed her hand in reassurance.

“I need you to push for me, alright?” The nurse gingerly told.

She did as she was told with another scream, as she squeezed Alphys’s hand, as the yellow monster quietly whimpered at the slight, sudden pain.

“You got this, Undyne!” Sans cheered. “I'm rooting for ya!”

The fish-like monster nodded as she was commanded to push again, doing the same thing once again, tears beginning to well up in her eyes, earning squeeze to her wife’s hand. This time, Alphys only winced.

“Damnit! I can't do this!” She cried, choking on her own tears.

“We didn't go through all this trouble just to give up! That isn't like you!” Sans exclaimed, slightly squeezing Alphys’s hand. “Stay determined, dammit!”

“We need another push, you're doing great!” The nurse encouraged.

She did as she was told, yet again, screaming a bit louder.

“They've breached!” The nurse exclaimed. “One, two, three!”

Undyne yelled as she pushed once again, not squeezing Alphys’s hand as hard this time, the shorter wife could tell her lover was losing her will and strength.

“U-Undyne, please!” Alphys barked. “I promised we'd work t-together, and I intend on keeping that promise, b-but you need to keep your side of the bargain! S-so don't give up and leave me!”

Sans glanced over at Alphys, but too quickly for her to notice, he felt somewhat appreciative of Alphys at that moment, though, he couldn't quite explain why exactly. The Royal Guards-woman squeezed her hand in agreement, soon ordered to push once again, and did so.

“One more strong one, okay?” The nurse coaxed. “One, two, three!”

The final push was given, along with a shout of agony from Undyne, and another piercing cry a few seconds later of the new born baby.

“It's a girl!” The nurse cheered.

Alphys smiled at her wife as tears fell down her face as Undyne did the same. She climbed up to kiss her love’s head as Sans let go and stood back from the bed, admiring the couple.

“Sans, do you want to cut the umbilical cord?” Alphys asked, turning towards him.

“Nah, you should do it, you’re her wife,” he put his hands up in defense just to put them back down.

She didn't bother to argue and walked over to do the deed. With a simple snip, she was given the baby in a small pink blanket.

The baby looked more so like Undyne, with her blue color and scales, but had a small tail trying to poke out the bottom of the blanket. She seemed so peaceful and quiet now, not to mention the most beautiful baby Alphys has ever seen, even if her opinion at that moment was a little bit biased.

“Do we have a name, yet?” The nurse asked gently and kindly, almost seeming to be a bit excited for the infant.

“Do we, Undyne?” Alphys asked, turning to her wife, who seemed to be asleep until she noticed that her chest wasn't lifting up and down. “Undyne?!”

“Take her to urgent care, now!” Two other nurses quickly grabbed the gurney and ran it out the door, as another gently took the baby from her mother, the mother willingly giving her to them, as she attempted to follow the nurse crowd, but Sans interrupted her pace with his arm in the doorway.

“Sans! Let me go!” She cried, trying to push him out of the way. “I need to go help her!”

“The nurses will help her!” He replied, adding more force as she did the same thing.

“But she needs me! She needs…” she weakened her fight until she stopped completely. “She needs… me.”

The skeleton shifted over to hug her as she sobbed hysterically into his shoulder. “You're going to be okay. They're doing everything they can.”

“Why aren't you telling me she's going to be okay?” She whimpered. “I know I will, why can't you say that about her?!”

“Alphys…” He tightened the hug as she sobbed harder.

“W-what just happened?” A sudden, shaky voice asked as Sans looked up to meet the eye sockets of his brother. “Why was Undyne rushed somewhere?”

“I… I don't know,” he answered honestly. “They are going to do everything they can, whatever it's for.”

“I h-hope she'll be okay,” Papyrus stuttered, he was just as worried as everyone.

“Me too, Pap,” Sans agreed.

Sans let go of Alphys as she did the same but quickly gripped his arm like a clingy, nervous child would to their parent during a bad thunderstorm. Then, they made their way outside of the room and sat on the floor, leaning against the wall.

The royal scientist eventually fell asleep on Sans shoulder, finally getting the sleep she needed, and snoring quietly.

“Do you really think Undyne is going to be okay?” Papyrus whispered, not even facing his brother, his gaze seemed as if it was off somewhere else in the universe.

“I honestly don't know, bro,” he replied. “All we can do right now is hope.”

Silence pierced the room.

“Sans,” Alphys called, causing him to turn his head her direction. “Remember when Undyne and I told you that we wanted you to be the godparent if anything happened to either of us?”

“Yeah,” Sans replied, he knew where this was going,

“Good,” she didn't proceed the conversation further, she knew the Sans knew what she meant.

Seconds felt like minutes, minutes felt like hours, hours felt like days until the nurse finally came out of that room, distress drawn all over her face. She removed her surgical gloves and mask as the three friends stood up in the sight of her.

“I need Mrs. Alphys and Mr. Sans to come with me, please,” she motioned back over to that horrible room.

Sans looked back at his brother, who placed a hand reassuringly on his shoulder, then sat back down. The shorter brother got the message and followed the nurse, alongside Alphys, who was trembling in fear and anticipation.

Upon entering, they were instantly flooded by the smell of a mixture of fluids and unkept tools that were defiantly overdue for a cleaning. Presented in front of them was a table that had been covered by a thin, yellow-white sheet, surrounded by the same nurse from before, who all shared the same look: failure.

Once the two stood feet from the table, the nursed gingerly pulled back the sheet to reveal a small pile of dust. Alphys screamed as Sans simply starred in shock. How could this possibly happen to Undyne the Undying? Sure, Sans thought about this happening, but he never would've fully accepted it as a possible reality.

“N-no!” Alphys shook her head as she covered her mouth in shock, feeling both nauseous and emotionally disturbed. “T-that's not her, i-is it?! I-it can't be!”

The head nurse turned her head away in disgrace.

“No. No. No! No! It's not her!” She began to look around, forcing herself to laugh. “C-come on, Undyne! This i-isn't f-funny anymore! Joke’s over!”

“Alphys,” the skeleton muttered, reaching a hand out to touch her shoulder, but it was quickly slapped away as she turned back to him.

“N-no! Don't act like s-she's dead! She isn't!” She was in full denial. “She c-can't be! S-She has to come back, b-because she promised s-she wouldn't leave!”

“Alphys, please, I know that this is difficult to accept,” he said, in some odd attempt to calm her down. “But she's gone.”

“B-but she promised,” she said in a voice almost as soft as a whisper. “S-she p-promise she w-wouldn't leave. S-she did.”

Sans pulled her into another hug, she didn't hug back, she simply stood there in silence, as he forced his eyes shut and his tears back.

“S-she promised s-she would never leave m-me,” she whimpered before eventually hugging her friend tightly and sobbed into his shoulder.

“Sometimes promises like that can't be kept,” he somehow got out without enveloping into sobs as well, he knew that too well.

“S-sir,” the nurse called. “I'd like to inform you two that I would like to help in any way that I can, I know how hard it can be to lose someone close to you, so please let me assist you in any way I can.”

At first, Sans was angered by her interruption but then had an idea. “Alphys, did you hear that?”

“Y-yeah,” she managed to let out.

“Do you want to go with her while I go talk to Pap?” He asked, letting go of her as she slowly did the same.

Alphys wiped away her tears and nodded, much like a child who had just gotten teased by a bully and comforted by her caring parent. She then walked over to the nurse and was escorted to a room next to the operating room they used to be in.

Sans walked out the room and down the hall, Papyrus, tearing his gaze from the wall across the hallway that he had been sitting in since the doctors went to the operating room to attempt to bring back Undyne.

“H-how is she?” The tall skeleton stuttered, standing up as Sans stood in front of him. “Is she okay?”

“I uh,” he tried to find the right words but only stammered. “I don't know how to tell ya, Pap. This is… This is a lot harder than I thought it would be.”

“I-I understand,” Papyrus interrupted Sans’s thoughts, his voice shaky, but then clearing it afterward. “She's gone, isn't she?”

“I'm sorry, bro,” Sans apologized. “If I just declined when Alphys asked me to help, this wouldn't have happened.”

“Sans, this isn't your fault,” he boldly stated. “If they had gotten any other donor, this would've happened either way. She w-would've… Would’ve…”

He covered his mouth, as tears flooded from his eye sockets, then falling to his knees. “Oh, God…”

Sans hugged his brother while Papyrus returned the embrace and sobbed into the shorter brother’s shoulder while he repeated her name over and over again, taking in ever syllable, along with every pleasant memory that went with it until the very last moment.

“It's going to be okay, Pap,” Sans tried to comfort him. “I… I promise.”

The two brothers finally let go, Sans grabbing Papyrus’s shoulder as they did so, forcing his brother to look at him in the eye sockets.

“What I'm about to request you is going to be hard, but I really need you to do it, okay?” He asked.

“O-okay,” the younger brother stuttered, wiping away his tears.

“I'm gonna need you to stay with Alphys while I help with the baby, I don't want her to do anything she may regret,” he told him. “Just until Mettaton comes back from tour, it should only be a week or so.”

“I'll do it,” he nodded, his voice now devoid of emotion.

“Thanks, bro,” Sans quickly hugged him. “I'll be back, I need to see the baby.”

“Where's Alphys?” He questioned.

“She's in the room next to the operating room, she's talking to the nurse that helped us earlier, she said she would help her,” he answered.

“Okay,” Papyrus stood back up, he even walked with no emotion, that kind, innocent, and positive brother was gone, and Sans wasn't too sure if he was ever coming back.

Sans shook his head of his thoughts and walked down the hallway, this time, he was on his way to the nursery.

As he walked down the corridor, many monsters passed, some in worse condition than others, but, in this very moment, he shared some emotions as they did, and he felt that which he didn't quite feel very often. He felt the anxiety, anticipation, worry, and some with sadness and anger as well, all of it, they were shared with him and other monsters at the hospital, for once in a long time, he felt that he could relate to another monster about how he felt. Though this definitely wasn't the place to feel relatable, in fact, he wished it was the least relatable place.

Sans was snapped out of his thoughts when he stood in front of the nursery. He had observed that the hospital was very outdated and this wasn’t any exception. Regardless of observations, Sans had a mission: to make sure the baby was there safe and sound. He took a look inside of it, peering through the gigantic panel of windows. There was the baby, sleeping quietly, she looked just like Undyne.

Sans smiled, though, it was a sad smile, it was a happy one too.

The baby woke up, with a small yawn, it looked up at Sans and giggled, this made him laugh a little bit until he examined her eyes. Her eyes were mostly normal, except for the blueish tint in her left eye. The skeleton was right, Alphys couldn't avoid natural genetic code.

End of Part II

#undertale #undertale fanfiction #sans #alphyne #sans undertale #alphys #papyrus undertale #undertale papyrus #undertale sans #undertale alphys #undertale undyne #undyne undertale #alphys undertale #undyne #sad #angst #death #major character death

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coutelier · 6 years

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Killer Aqua Bunnies

Another excerpt from the current draft of my WIP, featuring verbal utterances and Planet of the Tweens.

Killer Aqua Bunnies

Cash in hand, Kaya made her way to the green room, which somehow always disappointed her by not actually being green. It was predominantly beige with splashes of brown. At least the drinks were free and at least one of her band-mates was taking full advantage of that fact when she arrived. On most weeknights anyone could come in to play so long as they could strike at least three chords. There were seven people in the room, three women besides Kaya and another band made up of extremely pale boys dressed all in black.

Candace Mullin’s red face and flaming hair bounced up from the bar. “Hey Kay!” She beamed. “Why so blue?” It took Kaya a second to realize it wasn’t a genuine inquiry about her emotional state, but a reference to how she’d colored her hair. A girl with what looked like a badger on her head snorted - Kaya was sure she must have heard Ashley actually speak, once, but long ago she have just accepted Candace as her own mouthpiece. Candy certainly had a very forceful personality, only slightly amplified by drink.

“Why don’t you say hi to my new vampire friends?” Candace put her arm around and squeezed one of the boys lined up next to her, all eight sunken wide eyes staring straight ahead through the wall. The one in her clutches shivered at her touch, which only caused Candy to grin widely. “Hey, what’s wrong Nosferatu? You’re stiff as a corpse,” she chuckled, sliding a glass in front of him. “Maybe this’ll loosen you up. Or do you only drink blood? Not on the menu, I’m afraid. Unless,” shattered glass splintered their ears, all the goth boy’s hearts actually stopping for an instant. Candace brandished the remains of a bottle under the nose of her captive whose black mascara streamed down his face. “I could cut one of you open, if you like. Or do you all just like to dress up like these ancient bad asses, but really you’re just kids?”

They were all shaking, terrified, doing their best not to look as Candace toyed with them like a dog bothering sheep, like if they couldn’t see her she would disappear. Kaya needed to intervene before Candy went too far. “Hey!” she shot to the bar, pulling Candy away. “Come on, we’ve not even played yet, and you’re acting like this?!”

“Aw, come on! I wasn’t going to do nothing to him,” Candy promised, yanking herself back away from the furious Kaya. “You know what we should do, though? We should trash this place!”

“Great plan,” Kaya rolled her eyes, “you know, except for the part where Stan has us all murdered in our sleep. I don’t want trouble. I just want to play some music then get out of here.”

“Oh where’s your spirit of rock ’n’ roll?”

“This isn’t rock ‘n’ roll, you’re just being a b—” the word stuck in Kaya’s throat. She tried, but she couldn’t get it out. “You just need to cut it out, okay? Or we’ll all get chucked out.”

Candace raised her chin above Kaya’s, looking down her nose. “Why do you never swear?” She asked amusedly. “It’s only words you know.”

“I guess I just choose to use different words,” Kaya answered, not really sure where that came from.

“Huh,” Candace appeared to ponder. “Well whatever. It’s all cool. I was just messing around. Sorry. Hey Dracula,” she turned to the goths, “sorry I scared you. Now, Kay, why don’t you go and check on Sayuri? I can never tell if that girl’s asleep, or Asian,” she quipped, but only Ashley chuckled. Ordering Kaya to go check on the drummer was, Kaya knew, just a way of reestablishing that she was in charge. Kaya didn’t like how she’d said it, but she didn’t want any more trouble either. Candace turned to her phone, she and Ashley giggling probably over some troll posts they made. But there was no more immediate danger, so Kaya went to the corner of the room where Sayuri had her feet up and huge purple headphones over her ears, so she probably hadn’t heard Candy’s remark about her.

“Actually,” Sayuri yawned as Kaya approached, “I was asleep. I was having a lovely dream where Candy had a zipper over her mouth. She’s getting worse you know. Someone’s going to have to do something about her.”

Kaya dropped herself onto the bench next to her. “Not tonight,” she said, stretching her neck. “I’ve had a really bad day and all I want is to get through the evening with another tiff, catfight, or any more mayhem. Think we can manage that?”

“Up to Candy right now, isn’t it?” Sayuri pulled her feet off the table then pulled her headphones down to hang about her neck.

“She’s not so bad,” Kaya said, not trying to lie but knew it wasn’t really true. “She’s just… energetic. You’ve just got to know how to talk to her.”

“You know,” Sayuri leaned forward, popping the cap from a bottle which she then handed to Kaya, “you sound like a mom making excuses for her rambunctious child.”

“Rambunctious?” Kaya accepted the drink, arching one of her blue brows.

“I read a thesaurus,” Sayuri shrugged. “So indict me. We got a crate of them back in the store, so if you want one I could knock maybe fifty per cent off the RRP. You know, because you’re a friend, and it’s never too late to aggrandize the lexicon of one’s verbal utterances.”

Sayuri’s family ran a store, Oshiro’s. They were general traders, buying and selling just about everything and picked up a lot of stock discarded by the much larger chains. On this occasion though the sales pitch was unsuccessful. “No thanks,” Kaya said, “I’ll stick to speaking like a human being. And I’m not making excuses, I just—”

“— want to play music, right?” Sayuri sighed.

“We’ve had this conversation before?”

“Three times. And each time you look more and more depressed by it.”

Kaya couldn’t deny that was how she felt. “It’s just, no matter what I try and do, I seem to always end up back here. I don’t know if it’s me or if I’m just cursed.”

Sayuri’s ears picked up at that, as anything vaguely spiritual or mystical always intrigued her. “Why would you think you’re cursed?”

“I’ve done some pretty mean things,” Kaya said, quaffing some of her drink. “Especially when I was a teenager.”

“Everyone does dumb stuff in their teens,” Sayuri assured her. “I once thought it would be a good idea to pay people to take bean tins from our store, then I’d make up the loss from all the other things they would buy. Madness.”

“I once pinned a girl to the bathroom wall so that Candace could write ‘Airhead’ on her forehead in lipstick,” Kaya frowned, her hand feeling the elf-arrow necklace she wore.

“Okay, well, that’s pretty bad,” Sayuri solemnly admitted. “I hope you got at least a detention for it.”

“Nope. That girl never told anyone what me and Candy did. I used to just do whatever she told me. Back then she seemed so strong and sure of herself all the time, and I… I wasn’t. Now—”

“— now you’re in your twenties, and she hasn’t matured at all, and you’re wondering where the hell your life is going? Am I right?”

“I guess,” Kaya sighed, knowing she was right.

“Well,” Sayuri gulped then put down her own bottle, “I’m not a psychiatrist, but sounds to me like you’re having a crisis of identity. An internal conflict between the person you’ve been and the person you want to be.”

“So what should I do?”

“Hell if I know. If I was a psychiatrist I’d probably prescribe some drug, marked up thousands of times from it cost to produce. How about some tea instead? Maybe if we got you relaxed for once you’d be able to think more clearly.”

Maybe, Kaya thought. It was nice to imagine tea having power to cause all the badness to leave her body in a thick, dark, cloud which was absorbed by crystals which could then be crushed and buried. Unfortunately she didn’t really believe in any of that. Another person entered the not-green green room, white blouse with black tights and skirt and puffy black hair. That was Amara. Stan Greif may have owned the place, but it was Amara who actually managed it and had to suffer Candace talking to her. Whatever was said, Amara wasn’t amused, and was less amused by the broken glass on the floor, but she grinned and bore it. After looking about the room to find everyone she announced, “Killer Aqua Bunnies, you’re on in ten.”

It was a silly name. “Why can’t we be babies?” Kaya moaned.

Sayuri looked very oddly at her. “You want to be a baby?”

“No! I just mean, why does everyone have to grow up? Things are great when you’re small. Nothing’s complicated. Every day is excitement and adventure and seems to go on forever. Why can’t we all just stay like that?”

“Well,” Sayuri considered, “if everyone just stayed a baby they would all die because they need adults to feed them. You’re basically fantasizing about the world being a huge baby graveyard. It’s kind of sick.”

Kaya hadn’t been, but now she was imagining an orange desert in which lay a giant baby skeleton. That wasn’t what she wanted at all. “Okay, but what if we stayed, like, ten or eleven years old? That’s good, right?”

“We’d still die out, eventually,” Sayuri pointed out, “and haven’t you read Lord of the Flies?”

“Why do want to crush my dreams? I was just trying to reminisce about being carefree and innocent.”

“I just think you’re romanticizing childhood too much. Kids act on how they feel, because they don’t understand consequences. So they can be sometimes very sweet, but sometimes brutal. Your little Planet of the Tweens would tear itself apart.”

“You never think the world’s tearing itself apart anyway? And that’s with adults in charge,” Kaya pointed out, and for a few seconds was unjustifiably pleased with herself for doing so.

“Ohh, such biting satire,” Sayuri remarked sarcastically. “Well maybe there’s your solution - you should go and write political cartoons.”

“You know I used to think you were nice,” Kaya grumbled. She peered sideways at Sayuri and after a moment each broke and shared a smile. “So if you dislike Candy so much, why do you hang out with us?” Although both Kaya and Sayuri had grown up in Irongate, they’d gone to different schools and only met a year ago when Sayuri responded to an ad for a drummer.

“I just want to play music,” Sayuri said, her eyes drifting across the floor to Candace who had gone back to tormenting the goths while Ashley silently approved everything she did. “There’s something very therapeutic about whacking stretched skin with a stick.”

Amara was wandering the room, too fed up and overworked to do anything about the bullying. “You guys hear?” She said as she came to Kaya and Sayuri’s table. “You’re on soon. And why are you looking so miserable?” Amara asked specifically of Kaya. “You don’t work here.”

“Kaya wants to regress everyone in the world to ten years old,” Sayuri explained, “and she thinks she’s cursed.”

“Right,” Amara nodded. She was probably used to hearing much stranger drunken or chemically influenced conversations. “Well, if it’s a curse bothering you, maybe you should go and see the witch.”

Kaya squinted. “What witch?”

“Madame Lumina?” Sayuri guessed.

“Nah,” Amara scoffed, “Lumina is a fake-ass hex. But my little brother, he says there’s a tower west of town. You take the main road over the bridge, then a dirt road heading north through the forest. Then there’s another trail that winds up a hill and up there is where the witch lives. No-one’s ever seen her though because if you get close you’ll hear howls and wails warning you to stay away, and if you keep going you’ll start to feel sick and lose your mind. No-one ever returns after that.”

“So,” Kaya thought, “if no-one’s seen her, how do they know she’s a witch? Or that anyone lives there at all?”

“You not hear me say howls and wails and shit?” Amara retorted. “Don’t make me repeat myself. Anyway, I’m just passing it along. Maybe it’ll help you, but it probably won’t. Now do me a favor - after you’ve been up there and played,” she glanced sideways toward Candace, now holding a goth by the neck and stuffing peanuts up his nose, “you take that trash the hell out of my club. And if she shows up like that again I’ll tear you all a new one.”

#writing #writeblr #writblr #writers on tumblr #excerpts #wip #my wip #sci-fi & fantasy #pharos one #project elf

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thegreatmeddler · 6 years

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Coats & Boots

Original Story

“Gather ‘round, tu carriot,” the old woman called out.

She looked frail and worn out, her boisterous robes and bejeweled rings sparkled in the soft light though, and it was obvious that despite her delicate frame, she was a dignified lady. Her face was reminiscent of a skeleton and the paleness of her taut skin rivaled the moon’s pearly white.

The children sat in a circle around her and the nearby boxes. These were their supplies and clothes. The government’s mandatory help to the orphanages.

This orphanage in particular was one of the oldest in Antinon’s Ramora Isles. It was not favored, however, because of its close proximity to the Ocean. The fear of children drowning steered people away from this place.

Nowadays, only the orphans of questionable individuals were sent here. Sometimes poor families gave away their children, protecting them from starvation and thinning the already little rations.

The old woman was only the heiress of a noble family. She had been furious to find out that before their death, her parents had been neck deep in overwhelming debts. After they were collected, all that was left was an old fashioned, gaudy building.

She had lost every bit of fortune she had once been in possession of, so she had had no choice but to take advantage of the only boon she had. Those days, orphanages were showered in wealth and high budgets; she had had no doubts that there would be some leftovers for her to use to her whim. She could have built up a new life.

However, she was still in this hell. Old, wrinkly and about to turn to dust. She was only a waif now. She had nothing but these children and this wretched house.

“Winter approaches, tu carriot,” she spoke. Her voice was heavily accented and hoarse from constant use. “Choose your clothes.”

In the boxes were several bundles of coats and pairs of snow boots.

The children leaped onto them like salivating dogs. There was kicking, shoving, biting and a few punches here and there; not even the girls had held back.

Everyone got a pair of footwear and something to keep their back warm.

All but one.

“Don’t we have to give Shadow some?” Nefari asked, her wide eyes widening further.

“But there are no coats left,” Balat said. “Maybe we can give her those old shoes.” he offered.

“Let’s.” Nefari agreed. They picked up the last boots and went upstairs to the attic.

Contrary to its outward appearance, the orphanage wasn’t durable. The few furnitures inside were wooden and the floorboards creaked at the smallest touch. As the two children climbed the staircase, they shivered in fear.

“Do we have to?” Nefari whispered in the hall’s silence. Balat dragged her by the wrists, “Yeah, otherwise Matron Cecil’s gonna yell us all, if she finds out Shadow didn’t get any.”

They stopped in front of a door with no knob and knocked, hesitant. The sharp sound echoed ominously. The utter quiet in the empty corridor and the distant sound of winds merged, and the door opened.

The one who answered was a small girl. She was as pale as the old woman, her joints were bony and her limbs lacked the healthy flush of life. Her teeth chattered silently and from the slight shivers that wracked her body, she was cold and had been for a while.

“Here,” Nefari extended the pair of boots to her. Both she and Balat were standing a feet away from the tiny kid. “Take them.”

She stared at them apathetically. Her gaze was blank and wistful, but it looked as though she was wandering in her own little world.

Slowly and carelessly, she took hold of the boots and wore them. They were warm, at least.

The two children ran back downstairs at lightning speed, crying out for the matron. She watched them go. She didn’t mind.

She had been waiting for the winter supplies to arrive for a long time. There weren’t any coats left but she had gotten boots, and she had managed previous winters just fine as she was. They were enough. It was never too cold anyway, at the seaside.

She took her blanket just in case.

Shadow closed the door with a loud creaking sound and walked to the little, circular window that led to the roof.

She could feel the roughness of the tiles in her palms and the fresh, biting chill of the wind through her hair, hitting her face and blowing by her ears. She made quick work of climbing to the top and inching closer to the corner of the unstable surface.

At last, she was able to see the ground. It was high enough that, should she miscalculate, she could break her neck with the force of falling. Probably.

Then she saw the empty boxes a few meters to the right. She could quite possibly jump on them and survive the impact of she slipped.

‘Let’s do this.’

She hadn’t counted the fact that it would create noise, for all her planning.

“Who’s there?!” the matron yelled. She had a lantern on one hand and the monthly Cloudless Sky, somehow fitting the image of a banshee from the legends.

Shadow didn’t stay around to find out more, however. She dashed as soon as the boxes tumbled down in a gigantic heap against the stone wall.

With her thin blanket tucked into her shirt and panting from the exhaustion, she must have seemed noticeably ridiculous, indeed. But she ignored her self conscious thoughts and savored the feeling of chilling wind meeting with her heated face and cooling her sweaty hands. It was hard to run so abruptly after staying in an inert state inside her room for weeks, so she didn’t fight when her muscles burnt from overuse and screamed at her to stop. She slowed down bit by bit, her thighs getting heavier and the sensation of dewy grass cutting her ankles registering.

It must have been an hour or so before she recovered from her sudden sprint, because when she turned around to see of someone had followed her, the sky was considerably darker, far more enchanting with millions of tiny fragments of crystals glittering from its depths and the sun was setting on the far horizon.

She liked it here. The sky was peaceful, simple. She wanted to give away her troubles to it she could get a bit of rest. She wanted to hide behind its inky drapes for all eternity.

But that wasn’t quite fair, was it?

She couldn’t do it to the sky. It was already carrying everything; the stars, the sun, the clouds, the moon... She would just be extra burden. She had to stand upright.

She stood back up with great difficulty. She could still feel the buzzing ache in her legs and her lungs. But she had to move on. Sooner or later, they would notice the Shadow gone and look for her. Paranoia fuled her and she began walking towards the hills ahead.

It was such a shame she was in such a hurry to leave. The meadows surronding the shore were such a pretty sight, although the liveliness of it was gone and the landscape was starting to grey, she couldn’t but appreciate that she had grown up here.

She was far away from the old, mouldy building now. If she looked back, all she could see would be vast, endless meadows and odd numbered hills.

But as she tilted her head to the side, she was suddenly aware of a tiny black blob on a high hill by the Ocean. She began walking again, albeit faster.

Shadow’s room in the orphanage was dark and dusty and cramped with broken furniture. The only openings were the creaking door and the small window that led to the worn roof. From up there, she had always had a breath taking view of the unending waves and the blue tide. Somedays, if the sky was clear and she squinted enough, she could see a small cliff by the shore, far, far away. That place had always been as mysterious as the dark, vague remains of a dream. She had longed to see beyond the green meadows and the blue waters and satiate her boiling curiosity.

She had made up stories about that place, dreamed about it and daydreamed of going there to have adventures. Sometimes, when she felt particularly courageous, she would imagine that there was an entrance for an underground cave on top of the cliff. She would sigh and dream of hidden alcoves and glittering fish in small ponds.

As she approached the cliff, though, she realized that it was much, much bigger than she had thought. She felt excitement simmering beneath her skin and found the strength to go a little faster.

The climb to the top was gruelling. For every step she took, gravity pulled her back half. When she finally reached the summit, she took in the place.

The cliff, as it seemed, wasn’t all the special. There were hardly any differences from an ordinary hill. The grass wasn’t as colorful as it would have been had it been spring but it was definately greener than the orphanages’s dull garden. Near the cliff’s edge, sat a boy with hair as black as the starless sky he was sitting against. His back faced her and he was as still as a statue.

“Hello,” she greeted. She wasn’t sure ‘good night’ counted as a greeting. “I thought this place was smaller.”

The boy glanced at her briefly, continuing to gaze upon the navy view. “It is not.” he muttered.

He was dry as the summer wind, but it was okay for her. It was a new experience.

“I’m going to sit here, is it alright?” He just grunted. She took out her soft, blue blanket from underneath her shirt and presented it, holding from two ends. “We can share it if you want.”

The boy didn’t reply for a while and he looked at her with hesitant eyes. In the end, he shrugged lightly and fiddled with the tails of his coat. “It is fine,” he said. “I have my coat.” He tripped over his words a bit.

She walked to his side; however, seeing as the grass, along with being greener here, was more damp as well, she spread the blanket underneath her and sat, burrowing her feet under its layers.

“Not cold?” he asked, scowling. She blinked at him and made a curious ‘hum’ sound, “What is not cold?”

“You,” he deadpanned. “You have no coat.”

“It’s not like I can take yours. I’ve got no choice.”

He grunted.

Shadow decided they could have been friends, if he had lived close to the orphanage. She had, at times, seen good friendships develop back home. Some would be so good friends that they didn’t even need to talk. During lonely nights, lying on her moth infested mattress, she would be green with envy, dreaming of a future when she didn’t have to hide behind closed doors.

The boy shrugged off one arm of his coat and held it out to her, “Come in.”

“Won’t you get cold?” she countered, but nevertheless, sliding in gingerly. “I’m sweaty too.”

“No trouble.” he said. The silence stretched and they spent a while just watching the waves crashing against the dense rocks.

“I am Grim,” he introduced. “You?”

“I don’t have a name.” she said. Grim made a perplexed face, his forehead wrinkling. “They didn’t give me one.”

“What about your mother?”

“I don’t have a mom.” He hummed thoughtfully, tapping his fingers on the wet grass, water droplets splashing on his hand. “What do you like?” he inquired at last, turning his head to look at her.

Shadow took a look around. She considered the sea; it was always moving, so blue and deep and angry. She had always wished to go near it.

“I like the sea,” she said at last. “It’s so free.” Grim hummed again and muttered something under his breath, she didn’t recognize the word. “What’s that?” she asked.

“Sea,” he clarified. “Simé. Do you like it?”

“Not really,” she answered. “It doesn’t... fit.”

“What else do you like?”

“Why are you asking?”

“I am going to name you,” he said, exasperated. “It is annoying, I do not want to call you ‘hey you’.”

She pondered some more. She had to admit that having a name was a delightfully appealing thought. She compared herself to the things she often saw. But they didn’t fit. They were free.

They called her Shadow, though, so the others must think that it fit her. A shadow wasn’t free after all. It was tied to the body.

“Shadow,” she suggested. Grim bit his lip and glared hard at the rolling ocean beneath them, thinking hard.

“Eona.” he told her.

“Eona,” she parroted, tasting the feel of it. “Eona.”

It was such a strange feeling, the thought of merging with this new, foreign entity. However foreign it was, it fit. She could feel a piece of herself in it. An excited greeting with a life-long companion.

Perfect fit.

“Thank you,” she said, with the most sincere gratitude she had ever felt. “I’m Eona.” He nodded at her, seemingly content.

As the night went on, she decided that this was a night to be remembered, so she plucked a blade of green grass and extended it to him. He stared, bemused.

“Hold it tight,” she told him. Eona was excited for this. He seemed unimpressed. “It’s important.”

In the end, he did. Eona pulled it fast and it snapped into two pieces in their hands.

“Whisper about yourself and make a promise, then throw it to the Ocean.” she instructed. She had just made it up but it felt like a big deal. A moment that had the world stopping.

Grim rose an eyebrow and gazed intently at the piece of freshly picked grass. It was still dewy with the dawn air and sharp like knives. He sighed once, muttered lowly, then promptly let it fly out of his hand and into the bright waters.

“You?” he dared, his eyes accusing. Eona held it in her palms, brought it closer to her chapped lips and uttered silently,

“I’m Eona,” she mouthed against it. “It’ll be a long time before everyone forgets me.” She opened her clasped hands and blew it away. It flitted about in the air for a few moments and took a direct dive towards the restless waves.

She realized that even if she ran away from the orphanage, she wouldn’t be able to do anything. She would be a burden to be taken care of.

She could only hope that they didn’t close off the trapdoor to the roof.

As she walked back to the orphanage, she thought back to Grim. He was a nice boy, if a bit dry. She wished that she could have stayed a little longer, she had enjoyed speaking with him.

When she reached the front gates, Matron Cecil was already waiting there, reading the monthly Cloudless Sky on a rickety stool.

“There you are,” she sighed in relief and rushed to her side. “Where have you been? We’ve been knocking on your door for an hour now-”

Eona tuned her out. Her mind wandered to her new friend and conjured an image of his mother’s hand curling around his bony wrist and dragging him home. ‘I’m sorry...’ he had mumbled out.

“Cecil...” she adressed with a scratchy voice. “I don’t want to be adopted.” The matron gaped, startled.

“You... Why?” she asked, concerned. “Is it about the other kiddos? Don’t worry, even if they are adopted first-”

“No, I just...” Eona’s heart constricted. “...don’t want to be adopted.”

The matron gave in. “Alright,” she said. “It’s your choice, I see.”

She didn’t. But that was okay. Eona didn’t mind.

“Even so, we need to hurry to breakfast, or there won’t be any left for you.”

“Just like the coats?” She asked, striding along the hallway to the dining hall.

Matron nods. “Just like the coats.” she confirmed.

Their footsteps echoed away...

#fantasy #story #original #short story #fantasy story #original story #orphanage #freewritting #series #childhood

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addict-with-pen · 6 years

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Echoes of Rosegold (Pt 8)

She was in an unfamiliar room. Sitting up and rubbing the sleep from her eyes with one hand, Zilanna took in her surroundings. Unfamiliar white walls with a few decorations, most noticeably a tapestry depicting Valentia’s origins, surrounded her. The room was cozy, but still strange as she had never been in it before.

There was a knock on the heavy wooden door at the far end of the room.

“Come in!”

With a click, the door swung open. Mill poked his head in cautiously and saw Zilanna still under the covers of the bed.

“Good morning, milady.” he said softly with the barest hint of a smile. He looked worried; though about what she couldn't imagine.

“Good morning, milord.” Zilanna yawned. She sat up as Mill opened the door fully to admit himself and then closed it behind him.

“How are you feeling milady?” Mill asked her, settling down into a chair next to the bed. “Mind if I glance at your shoulder?”

Zilanna nodded. Mill shifted so he was sitting on the side of the bed instead and carefully looked over her shoulder. He hummed to himself with a satisfied nod.

“I feel fine. My shoulder feels great.” she said quietly.

“We had our best healer take care of it. It wasn't supposed to leave a scar, but I see it did-”

“That was there prior, milord.” Zilanna sighed. “Is there any other reason for your visit?”

“Your father is here. He came after you himself when you didn't come home, apparently.” Mill told her. “Are you sure you're alright, Lady Zilanna-?”

“Milord. I think after last night you've earned the privilege to call me by my name with no title. In fact, if you'd call me Zil, that'd be great.” Zilanna rubbed at her forehead with a sigh. “We are going to be working together, aren't we? Unless the attack last night has changed your family’s minds.”

The goldie boy shook his head. “Not at all. If anything, your skill and willingness to protect me only solidified my parents’ decision.”

“Was my father angry?” she asked, her voice only a hushed whisper.

“No.” Mill shook his head. “Well...mom and dad didn't seem to think so, anyway.”

Zilanna nodded. “Thank the Mother. Anyway, we had better go and speak with the adults about today. I’m not sure what they want me and you doing or if I’m teaming up with someone else or...anything really.”

Mill gave her a faint smile. “I thought we had agreed that we were teaming up, m’lady.”

She snorted, shaking her head as she threw off the covers and stood. She was dressed in the same outfit as the night before, a light blue and white tunic length dress with black socks that stopped only an inch below the skirt’s hem. The socks would’ve ordinarily been covered by shiny, black boots, however they seemed to have been removed at some point. A small, almost shawl like cape was attached to her upper arms and back of her neck, the thin material torn slightly from last night’s scuffle. Her clothing was oddly reminiscent of a priestess; albeit a bit flashier and showier than the priestesses Mill had seen. She glanced around for a few moments before Mill pointed to a corner of the room where her white and silver armor was stacked neatly.

“Kiara put your armor there after the healers removed it and someone cleaned it. Your boots are there too. Oh, and Astria is in the stables. I’ve been told she wasn’t any trouble.”

Zilanna smiled as she clipped her breastplate on. “That’s good. I was a little worried she’d be resistant to whoever ended up stabling and caring for her. She has a bit of a stubborn streak and doesn't like others caring for her.”

Mill snorted. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more devoted animal.”

“She’s more intelligent than most would give her credit for.” she hummed thoughtfully, standing as she slid on the last bit of her armor: a couple of black, fingerless gloves with silver metal on the tops to protect her hands and wrists. She turned to face Mill, who was in what she had come to determine was his standard outfit: a gold and red suit. How many of those did he even have? And why?

“We should probably meet up with the adults.” She repeated awkwardly with a nod. Mill seemed to snap to attention, his body visibly jolting at the sound of her voice.

“R-Right.” he nodded quickly. “This way, milady.”

Metal clanged against bone.

Terrors used strange weapons. Though rusted, in the hands of these creatures, they were still deadly. Those without swords and shields had claws and fangs to use as weaponry. Terrifying creatures, but slow.

And incredibly susceptible to Zilanna’s magic.

“I need you tO MOVE!” the former priestess growled as she hurled a bright fireball at one of the Terrors: a scraggly creature with sickly green skin and a thin, white beard. Several weapons stuck out of the creature’s body at varying angles, tokens from lesser fortunate warriors. It disintegrated, only to be replaced by another Terror. This one was a skeleton, with a square helmet-like shape to the base of its forehead. Oddly, the top and inside of its flat head was ablaze, giving the sockets of the skull an eerie glow. The thing held a shield that was old and rusted in the shape of a head with long horns, paired with a sword that could bend and extend at will.

Little was known about a Bonewalker’s Bone Sword, only that the creature that used it was slow enough to have terrible aim. It was fascinating that the “sword” could work as both a whip-like weapon as well as a sturdy sword. How did Terrors figure out to use the things halfway efficiently? Could a weapon similar in design be developed and mastered? Would it be worth it? So many questions.

Unfortunately, a battlefield was no place for such musings.

Zilanna danced away from the creature's swipe, then deflected the second blow with her own sword. The Terror wobbled, not expecting Zilanna to actually fight back. The creatures lacked coordination...or anything that indicated life, really.

With a swing, Zilanna had decapitated the thing and was on to her next victim. Why were they appearing? The Accord shouldn't be broken. Neither Rigel nor Zofia had actually invaded….right? Surely her family, being on the border, would be the first to kno-

Zilanna barely twirled away from another bone sword. This Terror proved harder than previous, but ended with the same result: an eerie skull separated from the rest of its body. This one had armor and even a few strips of cloth.

She heard footsteps and turned, sheathing her sword as she did. She had taken care of the last of the Terrors in this section. The small group of troops her and Mill’s houses had put together would take care of the rest.

Mill stepped up onto the same platform she was on: the base of what used to be a mausoleum. The building itself was long gone. Zilanna gave the goldie boy a wave before taking out a bottle and kneeling next to one of the heads she had separated from its body. The flame had gone out the moment she had “killed” the thing, leaving behind a slimy, dark substance.

Bonewalker oil was said to be one of the best types of oils for any type of smithing work. Zilanna hummed as she scooped what was left of the slime into her bottle then moved onto another skull. This one had slightly more oil. Mill walked over and watched her, eyebrow raised.

“You do that yourself?”

Zilanna shrugged. “Sometimes. Most the time I’m pulled away and others scavenge for the oil. Besides, I owe Mara a favor. And yes, this is a thing that pesky maid needs. Goddess only knows what for.”

Mill gave a quiet chuckle and knelt next to her. Zilanna gave him a tired smile before going back to her work.

“You have a very strange maid.” Mill told her. “How long have you known her?”

“Oh we practically grew up together. She’s the daughter of some servants already in my family’s service. She followed her parents’ footsteps as soon as she could.” Zilanna nodded. “She and I used to play together as children. It’s actually incredibly strange to have her as a servant. She’s much more like a sister.”

“You two must be really close. It certainly seemed like it last night.”

“We’ve distanced a little as I’ve gotten busier. With mother being ill, I had to take over several of her duties. She’s recovering, though, so she’ll eventually take those over again. At least I hope. I am getting older, though and I will be the head of the house one day, so maybe they won’t.” something in her seemed to shift as she said this. She tucked the bottle away with a sigh. Mill glanced away sheepishly.

“I...I’m sorry about your mother. Really.”

“What happened was my own fault.” Zilanna shrugged. “Nothing for you to be sorry over.”

“I...um-”

“Lady Zilanna! Lord Mill!” a short soldier with light brown hair came running up to them. Zilanna stood, instantly falling into the role of commander.

“Report, soldier.” her voice went slightly deeper. More authoritative.

“The enemy has been routed, ma’am.” the soldier said quickly. “We are awaiting your orders.”

“Return to the mansion, soldier.” Zilanna told him. “Lord Mill and I will be there in a moment.”

“Aye, ma’am.” the soldier saluted and ran back the way he had come before Mill stood, dusting his pants off. He’d actually changed out of his gold and red suit. His new outfit consisted of some dark pants with a white shirt and leather beneath gold armor. He didn’t have a helmet, choosing instead to have his bright, golden blonde hair exposed.

Zilanna decided that it wasn’t a bad look on him.

“So, m’lady, are you walking back to the others?” he tilted his head. The sun caught his hair just right, making it shimmer. Gods, that looked amazing.

No. Control. He was Rigelian. Rigelian. Just like-

“I was milord, yes.” Zilanna told him. “I’d better get a head start, since you have your horse-”

“Why don’t you ride with me? You let me ride Astria with you last night. It’s only fair.” he told her with a bit of a silly grin as he mounted his horse: a reddish-brown mare with a black mane and tail.

Stop that, please, my heart can’t take it.

“S-sure, milord.” she nodded. It’d be rude to say no...right? And it would be more efficient. Right. Efficiency.

Mill nodded and held his hand out to her to help her up into the saddle. She swung up behind him quickly, wrapping her arms around his waist to secure herself in her seat.

“You ready, Zil?”

“Y-yeah.” she nodded.

#fire emblem #fire emblem echoes #fire emblem echos: shadows of valentia #fire emblem gaiden #millanna #rosegold #addict-with-pen #my writing #fanfiction

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