Chapter Text
(December 13th, 201X, somewhere in Washington State... )
Winter here is always cold, and in my area it's a mix of heavy snow, brownish slush, and ice. It's a mess, really, but I digress. I was riding home with my mom and dad in our Rolls Royce, thankful for the luxurious yet warm coat and boots that helped keep the chill out, as well as the car's heater. School had let out for Winter Break, and like everyone else, I was looking forward to Christmas. The suburban town I lived in was already decked out in festive reds and greens, with gold and white accents everywhere. Some houses had taken inspiration from Frozen, and decorated things in icy blues and whites, with the main focus being the very snow and ice that surrounded us now. No matter where you looked, everything was beautiful and festive. It truly was my favorite time of year, aside from Halloween.
As I gazed out the right window at the massive Christmas tree in the community park, I got a sense that something wasn't right. Squinting to see through the falling snow and slowly fading light, I saw a box sitting in the snow, several inches of the white stuff building up around it and on top of it. "Dad, can we stop in the park for a moment?" I asked. I had a feeling if we didn't I'd regret it forever, and I made a point of not doing things I would regret.
"Alright, but only for a few minutes, Wren," my dad, Will Cipher, said from the driver's seat. "We need to get home before the snow gets too deep to drive through." I nodded, and as soon as he parked, I unbuckled my seat-belt and got out of the car, running at full-tilt toward the box.
"Wren, slow down!" I heard my mother, Jacky Cipher, calling after me, soon followed by her footsteps, but my instincts were telling me I needed to get over to that box as quickly as I could. Running through snow wasn't easy, but I was desperate to get there in time. When I got to the box, I brushed off the snow, only to find a few ice-clogged holes in the cardboard flaps.
"Oh, no," I whispered, before I started ripping at the packing tape sealing the top of it. My mom was still jogging over to me, being a bit more careful in the snow than I had been. When I finally got the tape off, I opened the lid, and the first thing I heard was a gasp. Make that several gasps. Some were gasps of fear, others were gasps for air. Looking inside, my eyes widened with surprise. Twelve shivering, clearly malnourished Bitties, each one different from the last, looked up at me. The more organic looking ones were gasping and coughing, while the inorganic ones were simply staring up at me, some afraid, some defending others. All of them were battered and the stench coming from them proved they were all in need of a good bath and some clean clothes... except the little blue ghost. Good thing they were incorporeal so dirt and germs couldn't cling to them. "Holy Axolotl, what happened to you guys?" I asked as my mom finally reached me.
"... he left us here," a little golden flower said, hunched over and half-wilted from the cold. "He left us here to die..."
"Who did?" I asked. "I know just about everyone in this town. If you give me their name, I can probably get justice for you guys."
"We, we never h-heard h-his n-n-name," a little yellow dino replied. "B-But we'd recognize his face anywhere."
"Okay, we'll focus on that later," I said. "Right now, I'm gonna take you guys home."
"Wren, what did you find?" my mom asked, before she looked over my shoulder to see for herself. "Oh! Oh..." Mom was a bleeding-heart, the kind of person who would go out of her way to help almost anyone in need. This was especially true when it came to children, animals, and Bitties. Bitties had only been on the Surface for a few months now, but they were insanely popular. However, very little was known about them, and too many people adopted bushels of them without realizing that they were basically really little people and had a lot of the same needs as any human. They could think, reason, and emote just like we could, and it hurt her as much as it did me to see a Bitty injured or worse at human hands. It just made me hate humanity more.
"We can take them home, right Mom?" I asked, looking up at her with my best you-kicked-a-puppy eyes. Even if she said no, there was no way I was going to leave them here like this.
"Don't give me that look, you know I'm not heartless," she said, turning away and walking back to the car.
I looked back into the box. "Whelp, that was easy!" I picked up the box and carried it back to the car, closing the lid just enough to keep the falling snow out. Mom and I got back into the car and buckled back in. I opened the box back up as Dad pulled out of the parking space and resumed driving. "So, you guys have names?" I asked.
"MY NAME'S PAPYRUS!" one of the skeletons said. He was one of the tallest Bitties in the box, along with the Robot and one of the furry ones. "THESE TWO ARE MY BROTHERS. THE SMALLER ONE IS SANS, AND THE ONES WITH THE CRACKS IN HIS SKULL IS GASTER."
"'sup?" the smaller skeleton said casually while Gaster just offered a small, lopsided smile.
"THE OTHERS ARE OUR FRIENDS," Papyrus continued. "THE GOATS ARE TORIEL AND ASGORE. THE FLOWER IS FLOWEY, THE STYLISH ROBOT IS METTATON, AND THE GHOST IS HIS COUSIN NAPSTBLOOK. THE BLUE FISH IS UNDYNE, AND THE DINO IS HER FRIEND ALPHYS. THE FIRE ELEMENTAL IS GRILLBY, AND THE SPIDER IS MUFFET. SO, WHO ARE YOU, HUMAN?"
"Name's Wren Cipher," I said. "My Mom and Dad are both pretty wealthy, so we'll be able to take care of all of you just fine. This was pretty sudden, so the first thing we'll do when we get home is get you all fed. How long has it been since you've all eaten?"
"Ages," Toriel said softly. "The man who put us in here... he barely gave us enough to keep us alive."
"Alright, I'll need to know everyone's' preferences, then," I said. "My Dad's pretty great in the kitchen, so he should be able to whip up a feast for you all."
"Just make sure it's within reason," my dad called from the driver's seat. "I'm not gonna have time to get to the store and back before dinner in this weather."
"Hm, how about spaghetti, then?" I suggested. It was one of my favorite meals, after all.
"YAY!" Papyrus responded, throwing his bony hands into the air with delight.
"I'll settle for just about anything edible right now, darling," Mettaton sighed. "Even if I'd prefer steak."
"I can pick up some steak tomorrow once the streets are plowed," Dad replied. "But spaghetti's a good idea. We haven't had Italian food in a week."
With dinner settled, we drove back home and simply made small talk. Sans and Toriel cracked jokes and puns while Papyrus screeched in annoyance, and then my dad joined in. Even I got in a few puns. Mom and Mettaton talked about fashion while Gaster talked to my dad about science. Alphys, Undyne and I talked about Anime, and I even gave them my Netflix password so they could watch all the anime they wanted. I could already see the binge-fests this would spawn, and it would be beautiful! Along the way, I mentioned the expansive gardens we had, and the mention of it seemed to delight Asgore. "I can show it to you once Spring starts," I promised. "It's not nearly as beautiful in the winter. That, and I hate the cold." Flowey didn't talk quite as much, mostly chiming in now and again to give his own opinion, but he made it quite clear from how he'd snuggled into the fur lining of my parka that he hated the cold weather too and was enjoying being warm. When we got home, we each took four of the bitties and carried them inside. They all looked so sleepy now that they'd had a chance to warm up a bit. Some hot food and warm beds would be just what they needed.
Once inside, we deposited them all on the couch in front of the fireplace and the flat-screen TV. While Mom made them all some hot cocoa, I hurried to my closet and began taking multiple pairs of shoes out of their boxes and making mattresses for them using the fleece Mom had bought for me just before the beginning of December. I wasn't an expert tailor like she was, but thankfully I wasn't making outfits, just bedding. It took about half an hour for me just to make one mattress, but I was gonna make sure these guys had comfortable beds to sleep in even if it took me all night!
I was halfway done with making the third one when a sudden voice broke my consentration. "Hey. Your Dad's done making dinner," Flowey said from the doorway. "What are you even doing up here?"
"At the moment, removing a needle from my finger." I said matter-of-factly, removing said needle. "You startled me, and I ended up turning my finger into a pin-cushion." I showed him the little wound where a few drops of blood were leaking out.
"Oh," he replied. "Oops. But what's with the needle and thread anyway?" he started hopping into the room, curiosity no doubt driving him. It was rather interesting to watch a flower bitty hop, the bottom of his stem acting like a singular foot, but it would be rude not to respond.
"I'm making proper beds for you guys," I replied, gesturing to the beds I'd already made and the one I was working on. Speaking of that one, I was fortunate I hadn't bled on it! I quickly sucked the tiny wound dry, then stuck a thimble on it to make sure I didn't prick that one again. "I wanted it to be a surprise for you guys. I don't know what your last human did to you, and I'm not sure it would be wise to tell me, lest I attempt to avenge you. My family doesn't tolerate any form of abuse. But I want you all to feel safe here. So, first thing after breakfast tomorrow, I'm gonna start building a palace for you guys to live in!"
"I... don't understand. You'd go to all that trouble for us?" Flowey asked, looking confused. Maybe a little conflicted. "Why? You only just met us."
"It's simple. If there's one thing that could drive a pacifist like me to kill, it's Bitty abuse." I explained, letting the hidden power glow in my eyes. "Those who take advantage of those smaller or weaker than them do not deserve to live. Call me crazy, but I would sooner slaughter every last human on the planet than allow a Bitty to suffer. It may sound cruel, but after everything monsters suffered at the hands of humans, Bitties don't need to suffer as well."
Flowey stared at me with intense focus, before hopping a little closer. "So... when you find the guy who stuffed us in that box and left us to die..." another hop closer. "What are you gonna do to him?"
With a gentle smile, I extended my hand to pick him up, and after some hesitation, he hopped into my palm. "Well, as soon as I know who he is, I'll start by giving him nightmares," I began as I used a little healing magic on his petals and stem. "I'm a Cipher, after all, a master of the mind. I'll infiltrate his mind and dig up his fears, every last one of them. Every sin he's ever committed will come back to haunt him. He won't even be safe when he's awake, because he'll see it all whenever he blinks. And then, just when he's about to lose his mind, I'll tell him I can make it all go away. I'll tell him that if he confesses to all his crimes and repents, he'll stop seeing them. The next timer he opens his eyes, he'll find himself inside a police station, spilling his guts to everyone there about what he did. But after he's arrested, I'll make the visions ten times worse. When he asks why he's still having nightmares, I'll tell him that he did not repent, and his sins are too great to be forgiven. He'll have nightmares and waking nightmares until his dying day. What happens to him after that is beyond my control."
I opened my eyes and looked down at Flowey, who was staring up at me with big, awed eyes. "Too much?" I asked.
"In all my years, I've never met a human as wicked as you..." he said, then gave me a creepy grin. "I just know we're gonna get along!"
I couldn't help but smile back just as evilly. "Same here, Buttercup," I said, standing up. "But we should probably go to dinner before the others start wondering what's taking so long."
"Yay, I don't have to hop all the way back down there!" Flowey cheered, doing a fist - er - leaf pump. I couldn't help but chuckle at his enthusiasm over getting a free ride. Then again, having to hop all the way from the living room to my room, up a flight of stairs, had to be pretty tough since he had no feet.
It was time to get better acquainted with my new friends.