Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The air was heavy with the smell of blood and dust. As you trudged along the field, dragging your scythe from behind you, you block out the sounds of battle. The sounds of agony and pain as soldiers from both sides fight for their kingdoms. You stop at nothing until you reach your goal, your eyes obsessively locked onto a particular individual fighting one of the human knights. The monster falters in its movement as you make your presence known, standing ominously behind the oblivious knight.

A look of fear strikes the face of the monster as it starts to back up, dropping the battle it had with the knight. The knight stares at the monster in confusion, not breaking their stance until they follow the monster's line of sight. The knight's look hardens as they finally notice your presence, and you don't bother acknowledging them as they abruptly turn to escape.

At once, a hand shoots out from under your cloak, the grip on your scythe tightening as you take hold of the monster's soul, willing it outside of its form. The monster stares in silent horror as its soul is forced out, in its shock, it fails to notice you slowly approaching. It only snaps out of its frozen state once you arrived in front of it, a gentle hand reaching out to take the monster's soul.

Your eyes glance up at the monster whose mouth is moving, dry and scarred lips begging you for mercy, but no words reach your ears. You stare at it with an unreadable expression, and it stops begging once it realizes its cries have been falling on deaf ears. You let go of the soul and wave your hand in the area in front of you, willing a twitching rectangular aura to appear. It glowed green dimly as it hovered in front of you, the aura fading in and out of existence as if straining to remain its presence.

Without another look at the monster, your hand slams on the button, and you keep your eyes trained to the floor as the monster's soul begin moving toward you. From underneath your mask, your jaw clenches tight as the screams of pain overwhelm your ears. The soul continues moving despite the cries of the monster, and you watch as it begins to absorb into your chest before completely disappearing within you. The monster's form begins to crumble once you finally capture its soul. You can see it shaking in the corner of your eye, the monster falling to its knees.

You only look up once the noise had finally stopped, only a pile of dust left laying where the monster used to be.

You close your eyes and bring a hand to your chest, lightly humming as you sense the new soul's presence along side your own and a number of other souls you've collected that day. You stand there for a moment, listening to its thrumming until you're knocked out of your daze, your body being forcibly thrown across the field.

You groan as you finally skid to a stop, your entire body aching. You begin to move but flinch as you feel a sharp pain on your side. You look down to see a deep cut on your waist, warm blood oozing out of the fresh wound. You press on the wound as you move yourself up, your eyes locking onto your attacker standing a few feet away from you.

A skeleton monster stood holding its ground in front of you, an eye blazing a brilliant blue in one of its sockets. "s o u l c o l l e c t o r ." It called out, its mouth not moving, remaining in a permanent grin.

"do you know how long i have been waiting to finally meet you?" The skeleton's mouth twitches, its expression hardening as it waves a hand engulfed in a blue flame around. Its words sound light, but no ounce of amusement comes from its tone.

Your expression remains the same at its words, not bothering to give it a sound of response. You continue clutching at your side, your form hunched as you stand in front of the monster. "you make it very hard for a guy to get a talk with you." It raises its hand as it chuckles, the sound deep and reverberating despite the vast open field the two of you stand upon.

"now, i've got a couple of questions for you." the world plunges into darkness as you suddenly feel your soul get ripped out of your chest, a blue glow similar to the skeleton's magic enveloping its form.

"mind answering them?"

You feel the air get knocked out if you as your body abruptly hits the ground, your soul having been slammed down. You're only given a second to recover as you hear a ping. You roll out of the way just as a spiked bone emerges from the ground, nearly skewering you on the spot.

You bite back a gasp of pain as you push yourself to your feet once again, your eyes widening as a light twinkles in the corner of your eyes. You jump back from your spot, narrowly missing a beam of light that burned the ground you were on. Your eyes shoot up to your attacker, and you see multiple large draconic skeleton heads floating above him all in various forms of charge.

You continue dodging as endless beams of light rain down on your form. You recognize the smell of burning cloth as you narrowly avoid getting burned by a beam. Suddenly, you could feel yourself being thrown again, and you struggle to push yourself from the ground as a heavy weight seems to hold you back.

You look up as a pair of feet enter your vision, the skeleton having finally moved from its spot to you. It holds a dark expression as it looks down on you on the ground, its glowing hand keeping your soul from moving. "why are you collecting monster souls?" You struggle to move again, your feet kicking and your arms pushing.

You falter in your movements as you feel your legs hit something. You subtly turn your head to your side, your eyes briefly scanning the discarded scythe laying near you, having been thrown away after the skeleton's initial attack.

"is it not enough that you humans endlessly slaughter my people everyday?" You turn your gaze back to the skeleton, a glare settling on your face.

"what are you planning to do with those souls, h u m a n ?" you shift your leg, your foot hooking over the handle of the scythe. You hold your stare with the monster in an attempt to keep its attention away from your movements.

"answer me!" conjuring enough strength to briefly break lose of the monster's hold, you pull the scythe close enough with your foot, hooking it under it to kick it up toward your hand.

You catch it with ease, knocking the skeleton back with the tip, his hold on your soul breaking as it falls back. Color returns to your surroundings and the sounds of battle fall on your ears. You push yourself up to your feet, holding the scythe against the skeleton on the ground. A crystal ball floats at the head of the scythe, glowing green dimly as you conjure your magic.

The skeleton glares at you from its spot, its eye briefly flaring a brilliant blue once again. The skeleton lifts its hand but falters as the magic begins to diminish, the fire enveloping its hand sputtering out of existence.

The monster's gaze snaps to you and your scythe, its expression darkening as it realizes what was happening. You stare down at it with a blank expression as you begin to raise your scythe. You bring it down on the monster, only to realize that it had already disappeared from its spot.

Chapter Text

You came to find your body being forcefully slammed toward the ground and the ceiling a familiar scenario as you once again found yourself in the clutches of a certain skeleton. No amount of reasoning reached the skeleton’s ears as you desperately tried to crawl away from him and toward the floating soul at the other end of the room. 

“y o u d i r t y b r o t h e r k i l l e r .” 

you dodge the attack of a blaster, crying out as debris from the ceiling falls on your eyes. You desperately wipe at them, ignoring the sting of blood and sweat as you furiously blink away the dust. You hear another charge of a blaster, and you barely manage to jump out of the way of the attack. 

Your eyes snap toward the soul again, determined to reach it no matter what damage the skeleton inflicts on you. You had no scythe to infuse your magic with this time, your magic long since run out. You could only hope to reach the soul in time before it fully shatters. 

The skeleton slamming you around the room was no help at all in your cause. 

“i knew you weren’t to be trusted from the start.” you dodge an incoming barrage of bones. “why didn’t he listen to me?” the furrow in your brows deepen at the skeleton lost in grief. 

He was sending attack after attack, the summons starting to get clumsier as he unleashes everything he had on you. “Stop it you fucking idiot! Let me get hi-” You let out a yelp as you feel a pair of claws take hold of your legs, putting enough pressure to draw blood.

You struggle and kick at his hands as he pulls you toward him. Your hands desperately reach for the soul in front of you, a look of despair flashing on your face as you get yanked a good distance away. You feel yourself get turned over from your stomach and the breath gets knocked out of you as a sudden weight falls on your body.

The skeleton straddling you throws a punch to your face, harshly knocking your head to the side. Your head buzzes at the sudden assault, your vision swaying as you struggle to push the skeleton off you. Another hit knocks you into a daze, your movement faltering. You try to throw a hit on his skull, but the skeleton was quick to dodge, continuing to lay another hit on your face. 

After a few more hits, you finally mustered enough strength to grip your hands around the skeleton’s shoulders. You hold him in place as you throw your head back before launching it forward to hit the skeleton square in the skull. This stuns the skeleton, giving you enough time to shove him off you. 

The skeleton skids across the floor, a hand clutching his head in pain. He snaps out of his daze almost immediately, and a harsh glare settles into his face once more. He moves to stand up, pulling his hand off the floor, but a look of shock flashes across his face as he is unable to. He continued pulling at it, but no amount of effort seemed to matter.

You watch in shock as a dim light flashes from underneath his palm. It grows bigger and brighter by the second, a hole appearing to swallow his hand. The glowing hole starts pulling him in, starting from his arm until half of his body was already engulfed. You stare with wide eyes as the skeleton desperately crawls at the ground, his claws leaving scratches on the floor as he tries to avoid getting sucked in.

Movement in the peripheral of your eye catches your attention and snaps you out of your shock. You practically lunge at the soul that had started to move toward the hole, threatening to get sucked in just as the skeleton was. 

“don’t you fucking touch him!” you hear a deep voice shout in desperation and anger from behind you. 

He calls out your name and you wince at the sound. You ignore the skeleton’s protests as you clutch the quivering soul, you keep it close to you as you struggle to keep it from moving toward the hole. Your heart clenched as you slowly started to see cracks forming around the white surface. 

You don’t notice how the sounds of struggling completely disappeared now, and you don’t notice as your body gets dragged along the floor. All you could focus on was conjuring the last bits of your energy to summon a familiar withering aura. Just before the cracks fully formed around the soul, you slam your hand on the button and watch as it absorbs fully into your chest. 

Too overwhelmed with the feeling of relief, you notice too late the feeling of falling. Before you knew it, everything had already turned black.

You regret coming into consciousness as the pain of all the attacks landed on you throbbed through your entire body. Then again, you really had no choice in the matter. Some part of you was hoping you were somehow in the afterlife, but the logical part of you knew that was unfortunately not the case. As if the unbearable pain was not enough evidence of that. 

With a painful wheeze, you push yourself up to a sit, a hand shooting to cradle your stomach. You sit there for a moment, your eyes shut tight and teeth clenched as you breathe deeply, trying to muster enough strength to move through the pain. You didn’t know how long it took you, but you eventually found yourself up on your feet, your form still hunched over from the pain.

It took you a moment to notice, but tangled in your arms and draped across your chest was a red cloth. You pry it off you to get a closer look and your eyes light up as you recognize it. You slowly move to wrap it around your neck, securing it properly so as to not lose the precious scarf.

You take a moment to study your surroundings, finding yourself in the middle of a forest not in any way familiar to you. Above the canopy of trees stood a tall mountain, breathtaking and intimidating in all its glory. While the forest and its fauna was unrecognizable for you, the mountain was one you could not deny knowing. It was Mount Ebott, the beloved landmark of your kingdom.

Does that mean you were still in the kingdom of Ebott then? That can’t be right. You were sure the surrounding forests of the mountain didn’t look like.. this. The trees and the colors were all wrong. Completely foreign to you. 

A wave of pain overwhelms you and snaps you out of your train of thought. Right. You were still in the process of dying from your wounds. Looking around briefly, you decide you should find a place for cover, and if you were lucky, maybe a nearby village. 

You stumble around the forest for what seemed like hours, and your eyes felt heavy from fatigue. Your vision was starting to become blurry and strained after seeing so much green and brown for so long. Everything started to blend together, making you look like you were walking through an endless void of greenery.

A flash of blue revives your energy, just feeling glad you were finally able to find something new after aimlessly walking around for so long. With renewed vigor, you speed-limp toward the structure, which you recognize to be some sort of abandoned dusty shack.

You peek through the glass of the windows, narrowing your eyes to see what’s inside. You were surprised to find that it was, in fact, not dusty nor abandoned as clean and pristine tools lined the walls of the shack. You quickly move toward the door and yank on the handle.

You click your tongue as the door refuses to open no matter how much force you put on the weird circular handle. You stand back and hold your hand in front of you, attempting to summon your scythe, only to feel more disappointment as nothing happened. You swear, you were gonna result in punching the windows in if only it didn’t mean adding more injuries to your knuckles. 

Looking around for an alternative, your eyes land on a considerably sized rock sitting on the roots of a tree. You quickly move to pick it up, before walking back to the shack. You raise the rock above your head, your arms shaking at the heaviness, before smashing it down toward the handle.

It took a few more hits before the handle finally gave way, the door swinging open and giving you entry into the shack. With a tired sigh of relief, you pull yourself into the shack and scan your surroundings for a lamp as it was considerably harder to see inside. You click your tongue as you find none, deciding to just forage the shack in the darkness instead.

You move along the walls, studying the strange metal tools lining the tables and walls. You were only able to recognize a few of them, the others appearing completely foreign to you. Was this some sort of forgery? There was no furnace though. 

You find yourself in front of a white box attached to the wall in the corner of the room, and you yank it open once you realize it was some sort of chest. Your eyes light up as you recognize the pile of neatly stacked bandages in one end of the box, and you pull them out to examine them. Was this some sort of healing box? Surely that could mean those bottles were some sort of healing ointment? 

It took you a while to get nearly most of your injuries cleaned and wrapped up. You didn’t manage to treat them all unfortunately, as the box didn’t have enough supplies. You ended up not using half of the ointments in the box, not being able to recognize any of the words written on it. You only followed what smells you could recognize, and used those to treat your wounds once you confirmed what they were. 

Your bandaging job was.. decent to say the least. Not the very best, but you think it did the job. Normally you didn’t have to rely on physical healing aids to heal your wounds, your natural magic doing that job for you, but you noticed on your long walk here that your wounds had no progress of healing. 

Your complete lack of magic concerned you.

After taking a look at the rest of the room (which only contained more forging materials), you lay yourself down on the cold wooden floors of the shack. Your head tilts slightly at the small crystal orb attached to the ceiling. Was this shack powered by magic? You shakily raise your hand up towards the crystal, willing your magic to surface and power it. 

Still nothing. 

You let your hand fall to your chest, wincing as it grazes a cut on your skin. You close your eyes and clutch your chest as you sucked in a deep breath. You try to feel the magic within your soul, your brows furrowing softly as you feel a small presence with you. You let out the breath you were holding just as you willed your soul out of your being.

You open your eyes slowly, staring at the familiar sight of your withering soul. A heart hovered over you, its color glowing a dim green. The soul looked like it was moments away from flickering out, but this gave you no concern as it’s always been like this for as long as you can remember. What was new to you were the hairlines of cracks running along the dark surface. 

Your eyes travel toward the little soul floating beside your own. Hovering over your own soul like it was its own little moon. The white upside down heart was just as cracked as you last saw it to be, quivering and bobbing up and down in its weakened state. You could faintly see a green aura surrounding it, flowing from your own soul.

Taking another closer look at the tiny soul, you could faintly see a very small area of the cracks healed over, leaving a faint line reminiscent of a scar. You let out a breath at the sight. Was this why your magic hasn’t come back yet? 

You let out a shaky laugh as you lay a hand over your forehead. Even his soul has yet to give up fighting. 

With this, maybe you had a chance of fixing things. Surely one of the books at the arch mage’s study would hold the answers you’re looking for. Once you regained strength, maybe you could do something to get your friend back.

“Keep holding on, Papyrus.”

You find yourself standing in the middle of an endless white void. No object or structure as far as the eye can see. You walk and walk, numbly putting one foot in front of the other as you traverse the void. No destination in mind. 

At some point, you think you hear a voice calling for you. Calling for your true name. 

You stop in your tracks, your face twitching ever so slightly.

You hear it again. 

A thumping underneath you shakes your feet and your eyes snap down to the sound. The thumping gets quicker and you crouch down to see the faint reflection of a figure. 

It seemed to be shouting but no words reached your ears. The voice sounded as if it was under water.

You tilt your head and reach your hand toward the floor you sat upon, inching closer and closer-

A shrill high-pitched shriek wakes you up from your slumber, your upper body abruptly sitting up and sending jolts of pain throughout your body from the sudden movement. Your eyes land on a figure standing in front of the entryway, its face shrouded in darkness as the sun had already seemed to set, only dim light streaking through the small windows. 

Faintly, you could see the figure clutching a hand to their chest as they breathe in and out quickly as their shriek finally dies down. “Holy fuck you scared the shit out of me!” The voice shouts erratically, stomping a foot on the ground in frustration.

Your brows furrow at the sound of the voice. Why did it sound like-

You cower away as light suddenly floods the room, your eyes narrowing in pain. “Who the fuck are you anyways?” The voice demands as you hold a hand in front of your eyes in an attempt to shield it away from the assaulting light.

“Are you some sort of hobo?” Hobo?

“HEY! I’m talking to you!” A hand suddenly clamps itself around your wrist, and you wince in pain as long red nails dig into your sensitive skin. 

“Look at me when I’m-” 

You could only stare in shock as you look at a mirror of yourself.

The woman donning your face lets go of your hand as if it burned her, scrambling to get away from you only to land on her ass in the process. “WHAT THE FUCK? WHY- WHY DO YOU..” The woman seemed at a loss for words as she frantically crawled away from you, her eyes wide and her face frozen in a look of terror. 

Your brows furrow as you see a look dawn on her face, as if she realized something horrifying. She yelps as her back hits the closed door, and she slowly stands on her shaking legs as she blindly feels for the door handle behind her. “STAY RIGHT THERE MONSTER! DON’T- DON’T YOU GET NEAR ME!” She shrieks, finally finding the handle and twisting it back and forth frantically. 

It takes a while for her to get it to open, never keeping her eyes off your person as she does so. Once she finally gets the door open, she quickly hightails it out of the shack, screaming obscenities at you as she runs through the forest. You’re pretty sure you faintly hear her repeatedly trip on tree roots in the distance, a scream accompanying each one.

You blink once, then twice as you try to process what just happened. Somehow a person with the same face appeared out of nowhere, and seemed to be more scared of you than her. Who was that- What , was that? Had she called you a monster? If anything SHE was the monster. What else could explain being able to steal your face?

You never recalled any type of monster like that, though. In all your years fighting against monsters in the war you’ve never encountered a shapeshifter .

Shuddering at the thought, you get yourself on your feet, albeit very slowly as your injuries still plagued you. You look at the crystal ball above you, now alight with magic. Was that woman a mage? But, you’ve never heard of a monster capable of harnessing the power of the mages. You limp toward a small white box attached to the wall near the door. She seemed to tinker with this just before the light appeared-

You freeze as you’re suddenly engulfed in darkness once again, your gaze slowly turning to the small switch you had flicked. You stand there flicking the switch up and down, watching in fascination as the crystal ball lights up with magic repeatedly. You’ve never heard of a contraption like this before.

click.

click.

Huh. Did it run out of magic?

click. 

click.

The crystal ball no longer lit up no matter how much you fiddled with the switch. Feeling disappointed but your curiosity satisfied, you limp toward the door and bring yourself outside. You look around the forest, and immediately recognize the tracks the woman left in her hurry to get away from you. 

You scoff. Foolish monster, they were basically asking to get tracked and killed. Perhaps it ran off toward its village. You could follow its tracks and scavenge for food there.

With one last look at the shack that looked worse for wear than before you entered (that door did NOT look good), you turn yourself and walk through the forest, following closely the tracks left behind by the face stealer.

Chapter Text

It took a few more minutes of following the woman’s tracks before a structure peeked through the tree lines. One you would’ve definitely missed if not for the lights from the windows. It’d become darker now, and you were glad you were able to reach the town the woman ran off to before her tracks became unreadable in the dark.

You quicken your pace as you enter the edge of the forest, an open field stretching in front of you. In the dark,  you could make out what looked to be an obstacle course, not too dissimilar to the ones the knights used in the castle’s training grounds. 

Was this some sort of castle or knight's outpost? 

What confused you the most however was the building behind the obstacle course. Like the forest you woke up in, its structure and design were not familiar to you. It looked nothing like the usual architecture you would find in a common town or village. 

Perhaps some eccentric noble’s home? It looked too clean and big to merely be a commoner’s abode. In the distance you could see lights illuminating a number of similarly designed buildings. It made you wonder if this was some noble’s villa or private grounds instead. 

You notice figures emerge from the building, lamps among the field flickering open as they stroll out. You move to cover yourself under some bushes, fearing one of the knights might see you intruding. 

You did not want to spend another night in a cell.

Two of the figures seemed to be getting ready to use the obstacle course, beginning to do their stretches as they talked amongst each other. Two taller figures sat in white chairs on the porch, laying back as they watched the other two.

You soon decide it’s time you continued moving, becoming disinterested at the scene in front of you. You pull yourself out of the bush, unaware of the twigs and leaves now tangled in your hair. As you dust yourself off, you look down at the ground in front of you, a rough skid in the dirt catching your eye. 

From it, you could see the outline of heavy footsteps leading away. It seemed to be that the woman stopped abruptly in her sprint before running off double her usual speed in the other direction. 

Taking one last look at the figures, you continue following the footsteps among the cover of the dark tree line until you reach another building. This one looked very similar to the first building you encountered, only a few minor design choices differentiating the two. 

Surrounding the house was a tall black metal fence, its design reminding you of the bars of a jail cell. On top of the fence sat sharp barbed wires, warding off any intruders that might attempt to scale its walls. 

You continue following the woman’s footsteps until you reach a gate that was shut tight with a chain and lock. Your hands reach out for the chains, your brows furrowing in thought as you consider your possible options in breaking the metal. 

Your ears perk up as you suddenly hear the familiar sound of your voice- or, er– the voice of the woman who looked like you. 

“...that.. disgusting freak... on the…” 

Your ears strained to pick up the full conversation, only deciphering snippets of words. Looking around the property, your hands let go of the chains as your eyes catch the silhouette of a tree sitting right outside the side of the gate. Its branches crawled over the fence and hung inside the grounds, granting access into the woman’s base.

Silently, you trudge over to the tree and stare up at it, your eyes scanning over the possible route you can take. With your plan laid out, you begin to scale the tree, although just not as discreetly as you would’ve liked. Your injuries made it very difficult for you to move silently and with ease.

Unbeknownst to you, the suspicious shaking tree had caught the attention of a pair of eyes in the distance. 

“yo, stretch.” The person elbows the skeleton beside him, waking him up from his nap. 

The skeleton clad in orange grumbles incoherently, shooting a look of irritation at the person who’d awoken him from his slumber. The skeleton snorts and flicks his cigarette toward the house in the distance, his head mirroring the gesture. 

Stretch narrows his sockets briefly as he makes out the silhouette of a tree shaking unnaturally. “looks like the bitch’s gettin robbed.” The skeleton chuckles, billowing out a cloud of smoke. He tucks his arms underneath his skull as he settles down once more, an amused smirk on his mouth. 

Looking more carefully, Stretch could make out the small figure of a person climbing up the tree, faintly illuminated by the light of the porch. He watches as they settle themself on one of the branches, sitting down into a crouch. 

Stretch rolls his eyes, sinking himself back into his chair, hands shoved deeper into his pockets. “right. she deserves it.” He mutters, an uncaring tone in his voice. 

You drop into a roll the moment you hit the ground, tumbling into a bush in the process. You groan in pain, various parts of your body throbbing from the jump. Pulling yourself out of your second bush of the day, you remain in a crouch as you sneak along the walls of the building. 

“I tried messing with their shack, but you know what I found?” You hear her pause as if she had been waiting for someone to respond, but you don’t hear anything.

“My fucking doppelganger! Didn’t know those freaks were capable of shape shifting, fuck!” You stop underneath a window, slowly standing up to peek inside.

Your eyes lock onto the figure of the woman donning your face who was walking back and forth across the room, clearly distraught. You notice one of her hands holding up an object to her ear.

“It had my face!” She cried, silence following before her expression suddenly contorted to one of anger. 

“Bitch? Of course I’m sure! Are you calling me crazy?” She yelled, throwing her hand up in frustration.

It took you a while to realize she was communicating with someone through the small object. You had a similar contraption back at the tower, although it was only ever used to help the arch mage call for you more easily. 

A long silence falls over the room, the woman listening closely. “No fucking way I’m going back there.” She spits, disgust clear in her voice as she turns on her heel, facing your window. 

“I never want to see that thing again..” She trails off as her face begins to drain of color, her gaze locked with yours through the window. 

A loud high pitched scream echoes throughout the neighborhood, flocks of birds flying away and catching every person’s ear on the block. 

You clamp your hands around your ears, clenching your eyes tight at the shrill sound piercing your ears.

“IT'S HERE! IT’S GONNA EAT ME!” You could only watch as her eyes suddenly roll back into her skull, wincing at the loud thump her body makes as she drops to the floor.

After you recover from the shock, you begin to search for a way in. You manage to pry the window open, haphazardly crawling and squeezing your body through the window. You let out a loud oomf as your body hits the floor, having successfully made your way in.

You stand over the body of your look-alike, before crouching down to examine her. You take a hold of her face, your rough calloused hands enveloping the sides of her cheeks. You were able to get a better look at her now that she wasn’t jittering and shouting, and you were able to realize that she didn’t look exactly like you.

Her face was smooth, free of any blemishes and scars and her skin smelled of roses. She didn’t have any bruises or cuts on her pristine body, nor did her eyes hold the same fatigue yours constantly bared. Her hair was light and soft, a very hard contrast to the tangled mop sitting on your head. 

She looked like you.. but she wasn’t you . 

This was the face of a person who has never had to bear the burden of fighting a war. 

Your expression hardens as your hands let go of their grip and you don’t react as her skull thuds loudly on the floor. 

This must be some sort of sick joke, or some sort of vision meant to mock you. Your jaw clenches as you hold your arm out in front of you, your hand closing into a fist as you will her soul out. 

A bright red soul emerges from her chest, and you feel yourself hold a breath as it beamed in all its glory. It glowed brighter than any soul you’ve ever seen on the field. It seemed to perfectly reflect the owner of the soul, clean and perfect, clear of any withering or cracking. 

It hadn’t been a monster soul like you were expecting, but it still didn’t explain why she had the same face as you. Even if she was a mage, none had the ability to take the faces of other people. It must be something else. 

But what?

A knock at the door breaks you out of your thoughts, and your hand drops down to your side. At once, the soul falls back into her chest, becoming free of your control. You stand up, ignoring the ticklish feeling in your legs from crouching for too long.

You could hear faint talking from outside the house, one voice loud and one voice quieter. You start walking toward the door as another knock sounds, but freeze when you recognize the person’s words. They were calling for you. They were calling your name.

You hasten your steps, a glare settling on your face as you pull the door open.

The scream echoing throughout the neighborhood startled Blue out of his focus, his foot slipping as he attempted to leap onto the next platform. He feels his stomach drop as he falls, his legs only a little bit too far to make a land on the surface. He faceplants on the dirt of their obstacle course, and he could hear the familiar cackle of Black shortly after. 

He groans in pain, rolling himself over on his stomach. “I WIN AGAIN BLUEBERRY.” The skeleton declares, standing on top of the platform above Blue, his arms crossed and a triumphant smirk on his face. 

“PERHAPS IT'S TIME TO ADMIT I, AS THE SUPERIOR MONSTER, HM?” Blue huffs, pushing himself up onto his feet.

“NOT FAIR! THIS ISN’T COUNTED!” Blue countered, flailing his arms around in exasperation. 

Behind him, Stretch ports into existence, a concerned look on his face. “you ok bro? that was a pretty nasty fall.” His eyes wince as he recalls the memory. 

Blue switches his attention to his younger brother, calming down a bit. “IM OK!” He reassures him, rolling one of his shoulders . “ALTHOUGH, I AM CONCERNED ABOUT THAT SCREAM.” Blue frowns, a hand moving up to rest on his chin as he ponders.

“DIDN’T IT SOUND AN AWFUL LOT LIKE OUR NEIGHBOR?”

It did sound like their pain-in-the-ass neighbor, Stretch thought, averting his gaze from his brother. He and Mutt didn’t bother to inform their brothers of what they’d seen earlier, but after hearing that scream, Stretch wondered if that thief didn’t come there to steal anything after all. 

“SO WHAT IF IT IS?” Black scoffed. “THE HUMAN HAS MADE IT CLEAR NUMEROUS TIMES THAT IT DOESN’T WANT US MEDDLING WITH ITS AFFAIRS.” He states, a hostile look on his face as he stood above them.

“YEAH BUT, I THINK THIS IS DIFFERENT..”

“uh bro.. don’t know if it’s connected,” Nor did he really care, “but i think we saw a person climbing the human’s fence earlier.” Stretch casually informed his brother.

Blue stared up at him unmoving, blinking once. “YOU SAW..” He started, “A HUMAN.. BREAKING INTO OUR NEIGHBOR’S HOME.” Blue repeated his words slowly, as if he was trying to process them.

“well not exactly , we just saw it-”

“WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY THIS EARLIER!” Blue shouts, his hands clutching his head, a troubled look on his face. 

“THE HUMAN MIGHT BE IN TROUBLE!” Blue yells as he begins sprinting across the field and toward their neighbor’s house.

“bro wait!” Stretch tries to call after his brother, concerned for his safety. “i don't think we- aand he's too far.” He sighs, dropping his head.

“I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT I’M NOT IN THE MOOD TO INTERACT WITH AN INFURIATING BUFFOON TONIGHT.” Black informs him, jumping down from his spot on the obstacle course. “ME AND MUTT ARE HEADING BACK.” The skeleton declares as he starts moving towards his brother’s sleeping form on the porch. 

Stretch sighs, nodding his head. “yeah yeah.. ‘m gonna go and catch up with my bro.” He mutters, an eye briefly flashing orange as he ports to his brother’s side. His older brother had already moved past the open gates and were beginning to march up the porch. 

Blue knocks on the wooden door repeatedly once he arrives. “you sure about this bro?” Stretch calls out from behind him, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his skull.

“OF COURSE I AM PAPY! THE HUMAN MIGHT NEED OUR HELP!” Blue exclaims, the look of worry deepening on the skeleton’s face as he begins another barrage of knocks, calling out their neighbor’s name occasionally. 

The door suddenly swings open, and Blue holds himself back mid-knock, his knuckle awkwardly held out in front of him. “HUMAN!” Blue cried out.

“WE HEARD YOUR SCREAMS- ER,” He paused, eyes quickly scanning you. 

“HUMAN! ARE YOU OKAY?!” Blue frantically waves his arms around you in a panic. His hands merely hover over your disheveled form, hesitant on touching you, knowing how you’d lash out on him last time. 

In front of them stood their.. neighbor, who looked like they’d just crawled out of hell. 

Your hair was a mess, tangled and matted as if it had been left unwashed for days- hell, months. A tattered cloak hung on your shoulders, and he could see that the clothes you wore underneath were in a similar state. 

Your face was extremely battered, black and blue from abuse. You had multiple cuts and wounds all over your body, some hastily bandaged over, some still exposed. 

Stretch almost didn’t recognize you if not for your striking eyes, one he’d come to know all too well and hate over the time he’d known you as their insufferable neighbor. He almost felt pity for you, but he felt his jaw clench at the look you were throwing at his brother. 

You looked feral, your expression dark and unreadable, your body tensed as his brother continued to ramble concerns over you. Stretch had an ominous feeling they were both more in danger in that moment than any of the previous incidents they’ve had with you in the past.

His eyes flicker toward the scarf wrapped around your neck.

“Monster.” You drawled out, your voice hoarse, but your tone harsh and cold as you address the skeleton in front of you. 

Blue freezes in his panic, big blue eyes looking up at you with furrowed brows. Stretch tenses up, not liking the tone of your voice.

You open your mouth, only to close it again, seemingly at a loss for words. Your gaze flickers to Stretch, your eyes searching for something within his. 

“You.. I..” Your throat bobbed, “..There is no cause for concern.” You say in a softer tone, your gaze moving back to his brother.

Blue fiddled with his thumbs. ”Are.. Are You Sure? You Don’t Look Okay.” He mutters, voice lowered and expression pained as his eyes lights scan the bruises and cuts littering your face. 

Feeling anxious under his gaze, you step back lightly, pulling your cloak closer over your body. “I can handle this on my own.” You state, a small frown pulling at your lips.

Stretch raises a brow, glancing behind him as your eyes start to roam around the area. “I advise leaving at once.” You say sternly, that hard look returning to your face.

The bad feeling in Blue’s gut really made him not want to leave, but there was no telling when you’d snap out of your calm streak and lash out at the monsters like before if you lost any more of your patience. 

“ALRIGHT, IF YOU SAY SO HUMAN..” He raises his hand, wagging a finger. “BUT REMEMBER! WE’RE ALWAYS JUST DOWN THE STREET IF YOU EVER NEED HELP!” Blue states, vigor returning to his voice.

You were given no chance to respond as a pair of arms suddenly emerged from over your shoulders, wrapping around your neck as it suddenly pulled you back deeper into the house. The door slams shortly after, causing the skeletons to flinch in their places. 

Thumping and sounds of struggling could be heard inside the house. The pair of skeletons turn to glance at each other with looks of confusion and concern. “UHH.. HUMAN? WHAT’S HAPPENING?” Blue yells with increasing concern, inching his body closer to the door.

Thud.

Wack. 

“NOTHING! FUCK-” More struggling. 

“IT DOESN’T SOUND LIKE-”

A feral yell of frustration could be heard. “UGH! CAN YOU JUST FUCK OFF FREAK?” 

Stretch scowled, the hands in his pockets clenching. Ah , there it was. He knew it was too good to be true for you to suddenly have a change of heart. No matter how pacified you seemed earlier, you’d just quickly spit your harsh words once you lost your temper.

Stretch clicked his tongue, “c’mon bro. the human clearly doesn’t want our help. you shouldn’t be wasting your time over them.” Stretch mutters as he turns, beginning to walk down the porch steps, a slouch in his posture. 

Blue runs after his brother, mouth opening to protest but no words come out. A frown settles on his face as he glances back toward the house that had become silent now.

“ALRIGHT..” Blue mumbles, a defeated look on his face as he runs to catch up to his brother.  

Chapter Text

The two of you stood across from each other, both breathing quickly as you tried to catch your breath. The woman had unceremoniously tackled you from the door, abruptly ending your interaction with the pair of skeletons. You proceeded to have a tumble around the living room with her as you tried to get her off you and pry her fingers that were pulling on your hair.

You managed to land a hit on her right before the fight ended, and it had caught her off guard, as if she wasn’t expecting you to fight back. She had tears threatening to spill in her eyes as she stood in front of you with a glare on her face. “What the fuck is your deal?” She spits, her brows thoroughly furrowed.

“First you try impersonating me , and now you have the guts to HIT ME? What’s wrong with you?!”

“...I wouldn’t have laid a hand on you if you didn’t jump on me like that.” You muttered with a tired voice, your gaze averting from the woman.

“Well- You were impersonating me! And- and talking to those monsters!” She exclaimed, aggressively gesturing her hand around. “I fucking installed a gate around my house for a reason..” She muttered under her breath in annoyance

You roll your eyes, an exasperated sigh escaping your lips. “Why do you look like me anyways? Are you some sort of monster?” She asks, looking at you with eyes of disgust.

A frown settles on your lips, and you hesitantly place your hand on your chest. Your look-alike flinches at the action before her expression morphs into confusion. You pull your soul out, letting its dim withered form float in the middle of the two of you. You eye the little soul attached to yours, a green aura still faintly enveloping it.

The woman moves back, the look of disgust returning to her face. “As you can see, I have a human soul.” You state coldly, “I am not a monster.”

The look on the woman’s face doesn’t change. “... Surely, you know what a soul is, right?” You ask her.

“That's a soul? How the fuck..” She mutters, finally calming down and itching closer. “How did you do that?” She asks, waving a hand around, copying your previous actions.

You raise a brow at her words but don’t respond. You watch silently as a look of awe slowly melts into her face. She moves a little bit closer, a hand reaching out. 

Her eyes were focused on the smaller soul. “What is that ..?” 

smack.

“ OW! ” She clutches her stinging hand, “Bitch!”

You immediately retreat your soul back into your chest, and avert your gaze, not wanting to entertain any of the questions she was about to raise. You can feel her glare at you but your expression remains the same. 

She rubs her assaulted hand, “So.. you’re human . That still doesn’t explain why you look like me..”

A gasp sounds from her. “Wait!” She shrieks, “Are you one of my cousins? I swear I remember mom telling me I had a cousin that looked like me!” She exclaims, a look of shock on her face at the realization.

…

You blink, your lips pressed into a thin line. What was she on about? “...Yes. Indeed. I am that.” You slowly say, deciding to just go with it. Maybe it might even help you if you played this right. “I am your cousin.” You say in a more convincing tone. 

“Eugh.” A look of disgust on her face (she seems to like that expression a lot), “She never mentioned you were a hobo!” There was that word again. You still did not know what it meant. 

She crosses her arms, her eyes narrowing as she scans you over judgmentally. “You must’ve gotten kicked out of whatever dumpster you were staying in..” She mutters under her breath.

A moment of silence falls, before the corners of her mouth suddenly pull down, that judgemental look still on her face. “Ahh, is that what this is?” She gestures her hand to you. “You came to find me.. to ask me for money .” She had her brows raised, a look of mock pity on her face as she tilted her head.

She looked more smug, appearing as if she had you all figured out. She sighed. “Look, cousinnn.” She strolls over to you, an obviously fake smile on her mouth. 

“I don’t know what gave you the idea,” She places a condescending hand on your shoulder, “but I ain't some charity. I don’t give out money to beggars.” She shakes her head side to side, a (still obviously fake) apologetic smile on her face.

“...” Your eye twitches as you look down at the woman whose presence was infuriating you more by the second. You step back, peeling her hand off your shoulder as you do so. “I don’t need your money.” You state, feeling offended.

“I just.. I’m looking for a place to stay until I recover from my injuries.”

“This ain’t a homeless shelter either.”

You speak before you think, feeling fed up with the girl already. “Ugh, look! I’ll do anything you want, just-”

This seemed to catch her attention as her face suddenly brightened at your words. “Anything, you say?” She repeats your words, moving closer to you with a sly smirk on her face.

Your brows furrow as you start backing up, your hands out in front of you. You already regretted what you’d said. You did not like that look on her face one bit. “Nevermind! I’ll just look for another place-”

She shushes you, placing a finger close to your lips. “No no no! You can’t go back on your word~!” She sang in an annoying tune.

A growl erupts from your throat and you try to swat at the hand in close proximity to your face, but she pulls it back before you can hit her. “Besides! Who would even take in a, eh..” She waves a hand around your form, “thing looking like you?”

“Uhh, you? You just said this place isn’t a homeless shelter.”

She sighed, waving her hand in dismissal. “Welll, that’s what I'm saying!” A look of confusion flashes on your face. “I’m offering you a place to stay, but with just one teensy condition!” 

You did not like the sound of this. This woman’s presence alone was already enough to infuriate you. Who knows what sick condition she was gonna whip out. 

Sensing your doubt, she quickly speaks up once again. “Trust me now, I know everyone in this place. They don’t exactly take kindly to hobos.” She clicked her tongue, shaking her head in shame.

“Well, except me , of course!” You did not need more than one brain cell to know that that was a total lie.

“You don’t want to get kicked out on the streets again, do you?” The tone she was using made you want to kick her.

“Trust me, this is the best, and only, offer you’re gonna get!” She says, wagging a finger. “I’ll let you stay with me, and I’ll even let you get cleaned and healed up! The only condition is you have to do all the chores around the house and do anything I say!”

“Wait, you mean like.. a servant?” You say in disbelief.

“Yes! Exactly! A servant!” She snapped her fingers, looking overly excited. “Pretty good deal if you ask me, considering I’d be letting you mooch off me-”

“I’ll do it.”

“Wait, what? Really?” The woman pauses, looking at you in disbelief. “Damn, I didn’t think she’d actually be that gullible..” She quietly mumbles under her breath, a sly smirk on her face.

You heard every word she said but chose to ignore it. Besides, this really was a good deal for you. You’d spent several years practically working as a servant under the mage tower, which was a whole castle in itself. Her abode was nothing in comparison. From what you’ve seen, her base wasn’t totally a mess, you’d spotted only a few areas in need of attention. This would practically be a menial task for you. 

You were thinking she’d make you do something serious like pledge your soul to her, but her actual condition was nothing compared to your expectations. Although, you were skeptical of her second condition (even though she said she only had one condition, does she not know how to do math now?), which was to do anything she asks of you. Knowing she had a more simpler mind now, you doubt she’d make you do anything dangerous or against your morals.

Beside you, the woman was silently celebrating how she’d practically snagged a free maid. She had already been meaning to get a maid for a while now, but her parents refused to send one. All she had to do was let you crash in one of her spare rooms and she wouldn’t have to do any of those troublesome tasks anymore! She can finally go back to partying and lazing around!

Mentally patting herself on the back for her smart and clever thinking, she moves close to you and lays a hand on your shoulder. Your gaze snaps to her hand. Damn this bitch was touchy.

“Alright cousin! No taking it back now.” She declared, an elated grin on her face. 

“Before anything else, let’s get this straight. I will NOT be paying you, and you have to get your own food!” She announces casually, the grin never leaving her face. 

Your brows furrowed in confusion and you open your mouth to protest, but she shushes you once again, wagging a finger in front of your face. “That means getting a job, and to stop being homeless!” You try to smack at her hand again but she dodges in time.

“Aww, don’t give me that look! Think of it as me helping you get out of the broke life, I mean, we all have to pick ourselves up someday, right?” You growl under your breath, averting your gaze from the woman as you pry her hand off you for the second time today.

“Don’t worry! I’ll even help you get one! What’re cousins for amiright?” That was funny considering that you were NOT, in fact, cousins.

“What’s your name anyway? I can’t remember what mom told me..”

You hesitate at the question, your gaze wandering to the floor. She was the second person to ever ask for your real name. Everyone only ever knew you by your title and didn’t bother to know past that. They were too scared of you. 

With a shaky sigh, you slowly say your TRUE name.

At the following silence, you look back up at the woman. She had paused, looking confused. “Wait, no that can’t be right. That's MY name.” She says, sounding as if you had offended her. 

It was your turn to look confused now. First she has the same face and now the same name? What does this mean? “Well it is right, because it's the same name I’ve had my whole life.” You spit back.

“No no no, this can’t beee.” She whines, her shoulders slouching over as she deflates. You roll your eyes. 

“Ooh! How about a nickname instead? How about Rat? Like, Rattina?” 

“Fuck you.”

The woman doubles over in laughter, slapping her knee. “Nooo! But like- because you look like a rat that came out of the sewers?” She reasoned, as if you’d actually agree with her.

You groan, running a hand down your face in frustration. Was she serious? You were too tired and fatigued to be dealing with this. “I am NOT going by that name.” You say through clenched teeth, your voice deepening with a slight growl. 

“Whatever you say, Rattina.”

You yelp as you suddenly feel an arm slink over your shoulder. You glare at her as she pulls you close until the two of you were shoulder to shoulder. “Rat and _____ Meyer! Against the- Eugh! You fucking stink!” She exclaims, jumping far away from you in disgust.

She raises her arms, smelling the area of her sleeves that had touched you. “Now I need a bath!” She cried. 

Meyer (you refuse to call her by your shared name. your name was yours ) took a quick bath right after that, leaving you with your thoughts, standing in the middle of the living room. It seems that she had forgotten she’d left you there as she soon strolled back into the living room, a towel wrapped around her hair, shrieking in freight when she’d spotted you. You better get used to breaking your eardrums every other day because she seemed to like screaming a lot. 

She quickly sends you off to take a bath yourself, practically threatening you to clean yourself thoroughly or she’d call the deal off, saying she didn’t want you stinking up her house like the sewers. You took no offense in her words and gladly accepted the items she’d handed you saying she didn’t want you using her hygiene products. It consisted of a clean white towel, a luffa and some bottles you guessed were for your hair and skin.

“I am not taking you to the hospital. I have a first aid kit in the bathroom, make do with that.” She said in a dismissive tone, too distracted tapping at her communication device to look at you.

You step into the bathroom, your curious eyes wandering around the room. Just like everything else, the bathroom was designed entirely differently to the ones you were used to. You settle the items in your hands onto an empty shelf on the wall before moving toward a mirror on top of the sink.

You’d almost jumped back when you spotted your reflection in the mirror. You don’t know how long it’s been since you’ve seen yourself. You didn’t expect to look so.. different. Your hair was much longer than it had been before your capturing, and it was extremely dirty and matted. Though, It would be in a worse situation if it weren’t for Papyrus insisting to take better care of yourself, and even offering to brush your hair for you some nights.

A sad smile tugs on the corner of your lips at the memory.

Your face was not as bad as you expected it to be. Although the bags under your eyes were deeper, the bruises and cuts weren’t THAT big, you think. You do admit the color of the bruises weren’t pretty to look at, though.

You inch your face closer to the mirror, your finger moving up to trace the edge of a cut that had healed into a scar. The flesh was pink and itchy, as if it had just freshly healed. You stand back straight, feeling elated that your healing magic had begun kicking again, even if it was only miniscule. You would have an entirely new problem if your magic began to malfunction now. 

With your magic back, you’d be all healed up in no time.

You shiver as your bare skin hits the cold metal of your bed, pulling you out of your drowsiness. You sit up, pulling down your sleeve that had ridden up your arm. You look around your room, a hollow look on your face.

Your cell was cold and dark. Everything was a dark shade of gray, from the metal of your bed, the concrete walls of your room, and the metal bars keeping you inside. At some point, all the colors seemed to mesh together, leaving you sitting in an empty gray void. 

You pull your legs to your chest and wrap your arms around them. Hugging yourself as you close your eyes tight and slump your head against your knees. How many days has it been? How many days in this empty cell? Was anyone even looking for you?

It felt like the world had forgotten about you.

It’d been several days since you were last given your piece of stale bread. Your stomach ached from the lack of sustenance. How were you still alive?

Your captors were diligent in feeding you in the beginning, but after realizing they weren’t going to get anything from you, the days between feedings increased. They didn’t even bother to post a guard outside your cell anymore.

You shift as you suddenly feel a stream of light hit your eyelids. Your eyes flutter open and narrow as you stare at the figure standing on the other side of the bars clad in metal armor. They had one hand holding unto the bars and another holding a white plate. 

The person’s face was cast in shadows, and you strained to see if it was that dog monster who was often posted outside your cell back then. Your questions were answered as the figure called out a loud awkward greeting. The dog monster never uttered a word to you in the whole time it watched over you.

“H-HELLO HUMAN.. I AM YOUR NEW GUARD..” It cautiously said before straightening back up with vigor, “YOU ARE POWERLESS IN THIS CELL!” You already knew that. You already tried. 

“SO DON’T TRY ANYTHING.” The monster warned as it slowly knelt down, slipping the plate he was holding into the cell. 

You launch yourself at the plate, snatching the cold bread on top of it. In the corner of your eyes, you can see the monster jumping back in shock at your sudden actions. You pay it no mind and continue to devour the entire piece. You soon finished it, but you realize it wasn’t enough.

You can hear the monster start to talk again, but you were unable to understand its words. It sounded as if it was under water. You turn to look at the monster who is now in closer proximity to you. They had moved a distance back from the bars but you were able to see their face more clearly.

They called out again, the sound garbled.

Wait.. why did it sound like-

“RAT! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING IN THERE?”

You pop your head out of the water, your eyes wide as you sucked in a deep breath. Your heart was pounding and your head was throbbing. You groan as your hands shoot up to clutch your skull, the action causing the water in the tub to splash.

The door shakes as fists pound on it repeatedly. “RAT! YOU BETTER NOT BE EATING MY SHAMPOO OR SOMETHING!”

Okay, what the fuck?

With a sigh, you pull yourself out of the tub and step your feet onto the plastic mat. You stand for a moment, letting the water drip off you before finally moving for the white towel and wrapping it around you. You move toward the door and pause once you take a hold of the knob. 

Well, time to face the demon incarnate again. 

Chapter Text

You hold your hand before you, palm facing down as your eyes narrow in concentration. You can't help but hold a breath in as you feel magic flow through your system, pooling toward your outstretched hand.

You watched as your staff slowly materialized before you, its intricate designs slowly carving into itself as it manifested. Your hand shakes as you try to fight to control your magic, your face turning blue at the breath held too long as you attempt to conjure your staff.

Suddenly, the flow of the magic snaps shut, and you let out a breath, your whole body warm and shaking from the effort. You watch in defeat as your staff dematerializes in front of you, its formation going in reverse until it is no longer in front of you.

You let your body crash into a tree, using it as support as you slowly lower your tired body. You close your eyes and hang your head in defeat, feeling the frustration build up in you.

It'd already been a few weeks of practice, and you had yet to conjure your staff successfully. You never had this much trouble back then. Whatever magic the monsters used on you during your capture must've damaged your system a lot. You were just grateful your healing magic was at least still working as expected.

Your friend's soul needed all the help it could to heal up. In the time you've been in this strange place, you observed the soul slowly heal itself up to stable conditions, albeit at a very, very slow pace.

You started practicing your magic once again once you deemed it safe enough to spend a bit of it conjuring your staff. But sadly, there is still no success today as well.

You press your hand to your chest before moving it away, willing your soul and its little companion out of your chest. Speaking of, you had to check its progress today.

You continue to hold your hand out, palms facing up as you let your soul hover above it. Slowly, you move your soul closer to your face, your eyes squinting as you observe the little soul orbiting your own.

You hum in thought as you notice there's been no progress since your last check. Was your practice affecting its healing pace after all? Maybe you should take a break to let your friend continue healing.

You jump in shock when you are startled out of your peace by a sudden noise in the distance, your soul snapping back into your chest. You rub the spot in your chest, not liking the feeling of the sharp pain it gave you.

You pull yourself to your feet as you sense two presences move toward you, harshly swatting and pushing away the shrubbery in their path. As they step into your area, you move into a defensive position, your hand instinctively held out in front of you. In normal circumstances, your staff would already be in your hand's grip, but your hand continued to lay bare.

Your glare hardens when you realize two skeleton monsters arrived in your clearing. The monsters tensed up in alarm when they spotted you, their harsh looks hardening to match your own.

Your stance falters as your eyes focus on the taller skeleton who bears a striking resemblance to your friend. Yet another one? You distinctly remember another identical skeleton who visited Meyer's house on your first day here. This one, instead, had a purple get-up and a harsher look.

"MUST YOU ALWAYS RESORT TO YOUR CHILDISH ANTICS?" You hear the smaller of the two bark at you, irritation written all over their face.

"YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE ANGRY AFTER BEING ASSAULTED BY OUR COUSIN,"

You pull your eyes away from the tall skeleton and glare down at the loud one slowly approaching you now. Despite the monster's short stature, their being exuded confidence and power. It would have made you shake in fear had you not faced greater threats before.

The skeleton stopped right in front of you, hands on their hips. "BUT HOW MUCH PROPERTY OF OURS HAVE YOU DESTROYED ALREADY? IS THROWING A TANTRUM YOUR ONLY SOLUTION TO EVERY PROBLEM?"

You could feel the taller skeleton's unrelenting gaze on you, watching your every move. Their body appeared relaxed, their hands in their pockets, but you could not shake the feeling of a looming threat under their passive demeanor.

The shorter skeleton scoffed, shifting his stance and putting a hand to his chest. "I WOULD COMMEND YOU, HUMAN, BUT I AM NOT PARTICULARLY PLEASED TO SEE MY POSSESSIONS TARNISHED."

Your brows only furrow deeper as you try to comprehend what the monster is accusing you of. "I do not understand." You mutter lowly, not particularly pleased to be bothered, and by monsters no less.

After discovering this town was littered with monsters, you tried your best to avoid encountering more. You didn't know how to feel being in their presence, especially not after what you had experienced before arriving here.

You still had bigger problems to think about, and you didn't want monsters to be a part of it. You also wanted to honor your friend's wish, and right now, the only way you knew best was to avoid encounters with the monsterkind.

The skeleton's eye lights darkened at your words, their hands clenching into fists. "OUR SHED! WE CAME UPON IT RUINED! ALL OUR PRECIOUS TOOLS ASKEW AND DEFILED!" The skeleton yelled, his arms shaking in anger.

You flinch at his sudden outburst and take a step back as the monster inches closer. Ah, so that's what they were angry about. You briefly remember the shed you took shelter in on your first day, which was also the shelter that led you to meet your lookalike. You do have to thank them, though, for you would not be in your current position had you not found it.

"That was your property?"

The skeleton had a look of disbelief on their face. "YES??? DON'T PLAY A FOOL WITH ME, HUMAN!"

You put a clenched hand on your chest and bow your head. "Thank you."

A faint snicker came from the taller skeleton, his shoulders twitching as he attempted to stop his sudden laughter. "I- WHAT?" The shorter skeleton paused, a look of complete confusion on his face.

Your eyes briefly shoot to the taller skeleton before returning to the angry one. "I sincerely thank you for the help that you have given me." You repeat, "I will try my best to pay it back."

The skeleton stared at you, trying to read your expression and make sense of your words. You stare back down at him, your blank expression unchanging. As much as you hated it, you've given your word to the monster now. You did owe them, but you could only hope you don't regret it.

You shift in your position, feeling more uncomfortable by the second. You did not like the looks the two were giving you. Another moment of silence passes, with the three of you just standing in a stalemate. With no further response from the pair of monsters, you take it as the discussion settled.

You turn around and bend down, picking up the bottle of water you settled under a tree. You start walking away, bottle in hand, and your shoulders still stiff as you can sense the two boring holes in the back of your head.

You don't stop walking when you hear the skeleton's footsteps following you. "... WHAT TRICKS ARE YOU PLAYING HUMAN?" You listen to him call.

Your brows furrow, wondering what he was accusing you of now. You were playing no tricks. You already gave them your word, too. Not knowing what to say to the monster and wanting to get out of the situation already, you continue making your way to Meyer's residence without stopping.

"I DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE PLANNING," You were getting closer to the residence now, your eyes trained on the metal gates surrounding the base.

"BUT I AM GETTING SICK OF YOUR CHILDISHNESS. JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE A HIGH STATUS DOESN'T MEAN YOU ARE SAFE FROM HARM." You pause. Were they threatening you now?

"I'M SURE THAT WAS MADE QUITE CLEAR AFTER YOUR ENCOUNTER WITH MY COUSIN." Your mood quickly soured at their threats. You already regretted giving your word to the monster. What cousin was he talking about? You had not encountered any of his kind besides the two identical skeletons who arrived at Meyer's door. The encounter wasn't particularly dangerous either.

"DON'T THINK THAT IT IS BENEATH ME TO DO THE SAME TO YOU."

There was no further noise from the skeleton after that, his words hanging in the air as you silently arrived at the gates. You could still feel their gazes on you as you unlocked the gate and stepped inside. You turn around and close the gate in front of you.

You let your eyes briefly wander to the two figures in the distance and shiver slightly at the cold atmosphere. The two stood eerily in the distance, their bodies still but their presence exuding a looming danger. It was one you were particularly familiar with after all those years at the mage's tower.

As you close the door behind you, you stomp your feet, dragging your boots on the mat and trying to remove any dirt on your shoes. Although it was not a problem to you, you didn't want to track any dirt around the residence. You couldn't say the same to the owner of the house, though.

"Holyshit, what was that screeching noise? I could hear it from a mile away!" You could hear Meyer from the sofa as she rose from her slumber, her voice riddled with irritation.

She looked over at you, her bagged, tired eyes narrowing at you. "It was those fucking monsters, wasn't it? I recognize that grating voice from anywhere." She rolled her eyes, abruptly falling back into the cushions and causing one of the throw pillows to fall on the floor.

You approach the living room and see her sprawled all over the couch, her feet propped up on the arms of the sofa and her hands beneath her head. She looked like a complete mess. Her hair was sticky and disheveled, and her clothes were crumpled and stained.

She must still be hungover from her visit to the tavern last night. It was often that you found her in this state during the mornings. Despite having work, it didn't stop her from enjoying her time during the night. The cleaning you had to do around the house doubled whenever she was in this state, as she acquired less care for maintenance whenever she was sick from alcohol.

You bend down and pick up the pillow from the floor, putting it on the other side of the couch and away from the sick girl. You jump when you feel a cold hand suddenly clasp around your wrist, and you quickly shake it off, not liking the feeling. "Rat, get me a glass of water. My head is killing me." She uttered before turning on her side and burying her face into a pillow.

You immediately start heading to the kitchen, wiping your wrist on your jacket as you walk. You retrieve a glass from the cupboards and head to the refrigerator, as Meyer called it. It was a huge ice box where your double kept her easily perishable goods.

You recall lower people in your kingdom using smaller ice boxes for a similar purpose, while people of higher status and mages used magic to preserve the goods without the use of any devices. You were capable of the same, but you didn't find it necessary now.

You pour her a glass of cold water, remembering to retrieve it from the dispenser marked blue as you distinctly remember her berating you for giving her a warmer glass on her first request. You head back to the living room once you find the medicine she commonly uses for her sickness.

You arrive by her side and nudge her awake with the back of your hand that was holding the glass. She shrieks when a drop of cold water spills onto her shoulder. "What the fuck! Do you really have to spill it on me?" She yells, sitting up with an irritated look on her face. She snatches the glass of water and the medicine from your hands, taking it down in one gulp.

She crashes back down on the sofa without another word, turning her back on you and attempting to go back to sleep. You pick up the glass she placed on the center table and take it with you to the kitchen. You pour her another drink and put it back on the center table, letting it sit there in advance in case she requests another glass, which she always does.

You start heading toward the stairs, meaning to spend the rest of your day in your room, continuing your research. In the past few weeks, you spent holed up in the house cleaning up after Meyer and doing research on a device Meyer gave you, trying to find as much information as possible about your current location.

She gave you a device she called a laptop upon discovering your complete lack of knowledge of their world and culture. "Did you finish nursery and spend the rest of your life under a rock? Holyshit." You recall her saying in exasperation after getting fed up with the amount of questions you were raising.

Frankly, you were confused, too. As far as you knew, you were still in your world, only in a different location. Perhaps on another side of Ebbot? But you don't recall there being a private settlement anywhere near Ebbot besides the kingdom. You would soon find out the answer to your questions, fortunately.

"Take this," She shoves a flat square device into your hands. "It's called a laptop," She says the word as if she was speaking to a toddler.

"It's old as fuck and collecting dust in my storage. Ask it the questions, will you? I don't have enough energy to tutor a mindless fuck."

You wouldn't have hesitated to punch her right in the face were you not compelled by curiosity about the device she'd given you. It didn't look like any devices created by the inventors in your kingdom. It looked as if it was created with metal and foreign materials.

Suffice to say, you had no luck in figuring out how to run the device on your own. You tried infusing it with magic to get it to do something other than show you a screen with a painting of a field, but it quickly turned to black after that. You were confused as to why that happened, as most devices needed magic to get it to work.

Meyer was NOT happy when you handed it back to her, and she was unable to put the painting back on again. You recall her screeching in frustration and repeatedly asking you what you'd done to it. You didn't know what the importance of the painting was, but Meyer quickly gave up trying to fix it and instead handed you another one of the "laptop" device with a different color and dimension.

This time, she actually taught you how to run the device, although she was not particularly excited about it. The session consisted of screaming and continuous threats of strangulation. After finding out about the basics, Meyer was more than happy to finally get to leave. You still had a lot of questions, but you figured you could find it out on your own.

With the search engine she showed you (you asked if it was infused with a soul, but she quickly shut down that theory), you spent the whole week asking it several questions of your whereabouts. This was when you slowly realized too much information didn't add up. Several pieces of information the device gave you overlapped with your current knowledge of your world, and the amount was starting to alarm you. You had yet to learn as to why this was, but you were trying your best to research further.

Evidently, as much information as the search engine held, it did not have the answers to all your questions. You figured you would have to do field research on your own soon, but you didn't feel too comfortable with the amount of monsters looming around the town.

You had a feeling they would hinder your search in some way—particularly the skeleton clan next door (as you'd found out). If there were, you wanted to avoid running into any more of them. It didn't help that all of the skeletons you encountered bore a striking resemblance to another pair of skeletons you knew all too well about.

You tried asking the search engine about the ongoing war between humans and monsters, but all that it gave you was tales of myths and legends. You recall going to Meyer and asking about it. "Oh, that silly child's tale? It was just a spooky bedtime story to scare the children in Ebbot from wandering too far into the mountains. Until monsters actually fucking emerged.” She briefly told you, rolling her eyes at the thought.

“I have no idea what war you’re talking about, though. All I know is that there actually were monsters hiding beneath us."

And then she went off on a tangent of how she couldn't believe monsters were being integrated into human society when they're completely different from us. You didn't really care to hear about it, and you cut her off mid-way to ask more about the war. 

She looked irritated you interrupted her, but she answered anyway, insisting that she hasn’t heard anything about a war, nor did she care about it. All she knew was that the monster's rulers said they were trapped underground by a barrier and didn’t give any more information to the press beyond that.

"And it's where they should stay! I mean, they were locked down there for a reason-" You quickly left to continue your research after that.

Needless to say, you were shocked by the newfound information. As far as you knew, the war was still ongoing, but if Meyer's words were to be believed, then the war never existed? But the knowledge that the monsters were trapped underground. You know for a fact it has some sort connection to the war. You’re just not sure. 

Did this mean you had been transported to the another time? It was a possibility. However, it only raised more questions. Where are the kingdom's ruins if you were truly in the future? Why is the technology vastly different from yours? The amount of thoughts flying through your head made you dizzy.

The theory had many holes, but it was something you could start with. Maybe if you could find out what brought you here, you could find a way to return to your time.

While messing with the search engine, you tried to ask it questions regarding the state of your friend's soul, but no relevant answers related to your situation came up. You also tried asking it about soul mages. Some results came up, but the information was vastly different from your current knowledge of your kind. Perhaps this search engine was capable of giving false information.

You soon gave up the more questions you had unanswered. If you were back at the mage's tower, you would have a chance to find a way to fix your friend's soul. The archmage poured his time into research about souls, which you were deeply involved with. He acquired a whole library of information but kept you from accessing it.

He made it so that you were able to take souls, but he never taught you how to bring them back. He simply said there would never be a chance you would ever need to bring back a monster to their physical state.

You didn't question him. You never did.

After another afternoon of messing with the search engine, you felt your head start aching from staring at the bright screen for too long. You fold down the laptop and push yourself up, stretching your arms above your head.

No relevant information gained once again.

You head downstairs to the kitchen to grab yourself a glass of water. You lean on the counter and take a gulp of the cold water, feeling refreshed immediately. You silently stare at the floor as you finish the rest of your water and look up when you feel a presence arrive by the doorway.

You watch as Meyer stumbles into the kitchen, the glass you left on the table now in her hand and empty. She doesn't greet you as she moves to refill her glass.

You walk over to the sink to wash the glass you used, feeling pleased at the current silence. "Oi. Have you been working on your resume?" You wince at her scratchy voice.

You spoke too soon.

Right, your resume. You were hoping she'd forget about that. While your biggest priority was learning as much as you could about the place, Meyer had been bugging you on the side to make a thing called a resume so that you could find a job.

You really didn't want to as you felt you had bigger problems to solve, but she mentioned it was relevant so that you would "stop leeching on her like a rat," buy your own food and whatnot, and maybe find your own place. The thought tempted you to start on it, but you still knew too little of the world to be out on your own.

You asked the search engine what a resume is and how to make it, but so far, you have yet to learn how to actually do it. Do you write it on paper? It didn't look like the sample resumes were handwritten, though. How did they make it look like the text on the search engine?

Additionally, you found that most of the information needed on the resume didn't apply to you. Your past "occupation," if you could really call it that, only consisted of being the archmage's apprentice. As far as you know, that doesn't really count as a valid past experience, considering the search engine's complete lack of information on soul mages.

"Hey, answer me! I'm talking to you."

You turn off the faucet and turn to her. "No. I haven't been working on it." You state honestly.

"Oh my god," She bit her lip and made clenching motions with her hands in the air directed to your neck, her form shaking in frustration.

"Are you trying to strangle me? You would need physical contact for that." You point out in which she only laughs sarcastically in response.

"Oh, I am so very close to that, buddy."

You sigh. "I really don't know how to do it."

Meyer rolls her eyes. "Of course! Is there anything you actually know how to do?" She asks sarcastically as she turns on her heel and starts walking out of the kitchen. You only stand in silence as you watch her leave.

She stops midway and turns to you. "What the fuck are you doing there, gaping like a fish? Come on!" She asks you to follow her, and you start walking up the stairs with her.

"What are we doing?"

"I'm teaching you how not to be incompetent and actually start on that fucking resume."

Chapter Text

“Experiences?”

You open your mouth to ask if being a mage’s apprentice counts, but you quickly shut it, knowing Meyer will ask you to stop roleplaying once again. You really had no idea what that meant. Maybe you should ask the search engine later. 

Meyer narrows her eyes at you from her spot on your small bed, the laptop in front of her and reflecting light on her face. “What? Say it!” She demands impatiently.

“Apprenticeship..” You hesitantly say, your voice monotone.

“Oh for fucksake- where?” Her brows raise in anticipation as you take a moment to continue your sentence.

“At the mage-”

“NOOO!” She yelled in exasperation, her head dramatically falling toward the cushion of the bed. She rubs her face aggressively against the blankets, and you can hear her faint screeches of frustration. “Stop it with the fucking wizard magic bullshit!” She screams into the blanket, her voice muffled.

You roll your eyes as you rub your arm, looking away from the dramatic woman. She was the one who insisted. 

“Holyshit, I am getting a migraine just being in your presence. Why am I here.” She groaned, closing her eyes and massaging her temples.

“You know what, fine! Let’s just put some bullshit experience here like the rest of your resume.” She says once she calmed down, mashing the buttons on the laptop aggressively. 

You move closer as you watch her type on a " word " system within the laptop device. She tried teaching you how to use it yourself but immediately got impatient with your slow typing and indecisiveness. Meyer tried starting with a draft of what you were gonna write but soon found out how much information you were actually unable to give about yourself. 

Well, you did have the information, but it did not seem to fit the woman’s standards. She quickly shut you down every time you tried to say something of substance, just as she did now, and proceeded to fabricate the entirety of the resume. You asked her if that was alright to do, and she claimed it didn’t matter as long as you bore her house name. 

She huffed once she paused at her typing, her gaze returning to you. “Education?” She asked, “ Surely you’ve actually had some form of education.” She says, desperation in her voice.

“I was taught by the- my guardian.” You reply after much consideration.

“So, homeschooled?” 

You pause for a minute, pondering what it probably meant. “... Yes.” You reply.

She hummed, her face contorting as she stared deeply at the screen. “You didn’t go to college? Not even community college?” Her eyes glanced at you without moving her face.

You shake your head with a resounding no. “Ugh. No wonder you’re dumb as fuck.” She sighed. “Are you sure your guardian actually even homeschooled you? Seems like they thought you a whole lot of nothing.” She muttered under her breath in irritation as she continued pushing the buttons on the laptop.

No further words exchange between the two of you, only the noise of clicking occupying the room. You shift uncomfortably in your wooden chair. You distract yourself by fiddling with the scars on your hands, tracing the lighter marks along the surface as you wait for her to speak up again.

The archmage truly didn’t “homeschool” you. You recall your childhood memories were filled with the cold feeling of a cramped room. You spent most days in your room, waiting to be called upon by the archmage. On the off chance you were allowed off your duties and spent your time outside your room, you took the opportunity to explore the library that was accessible to you. 

The archmage didn’t like finding you in that place, though. He claimed you had no need for it. When you grew further and achieved more freedom, you remember spending many nights cooped up beneath towers of books and trying to learn as much as you could about magic and monsters. You wanted to do all you could to help with the war. To finish the endless bloodshed. You had yet to know then that it would cause more harm than good.  

After a while, Meyer stands up from the bed, picking up her phone from within the tangle of sheets. “Alright, stand up.” She instructs, gesturing her hands upward repeatedly at you.

 You do as you’re told, pushing yourself off the wooden chair. “Okay, go up against the wall.” You look behind you as you back up into the wall. Once you’re done, you look towards Meyer expectantly, waiting for her to speak again.

Meyer begins to examine you with narrowed eyes, her expression changing to one of dissatisfaction the longer she stares at you. She begins approaching you before slapping a hand on the top of your back. “Stand straight! You look like a fucking turtle!” 

You throw her a look but do as you’re told, fixing your posture. She stands back and holds her phone up, changing its orientation. She fiddles with the phone for a bit when her shoulders suddenly drop, her tongue clicking. “Fix your expression, will you? You look like you’re about to murder someone.” She complains, an irritated look on her face.

You stare right into her eyes at her words, your lips thinning into a line. Maybe you were.

You try to fix your expression, and Meyer continues shifting her phone around, clicking the glass surface occasionally, yet still looking dissatisfied the whole time. After a while, she finally finishes, turning away from you to continue clicking on her phone.

She began to look increasingly annoyed the more she swiped at her phone. “Ah fuck it!” She mutters, dropping back onto the bed to continue working with the laptop.

You take this as a sign that she was finished and walk over to the bed to watch what she was doing. Your eyes widen slightly when you see a portrait of yourself within the screen. You crouch down, moving to take a closer look. “Is that me?” You point at the small portrait of yourself on the top left of the screen.

Meyer clicks her tongue, moving the laptop farther from you. “Yes!” She yells before taking another long look at your portrait, “... This looks like a fucking mugshot!” She exclaims in disbelief.

You remain quiet, still in awe at the instant painting she was able to create of you. The world seemed more advanced the more you learned of its devices. You once again find yourself marveling at the unique and convenient magic of this strange world.

“I give up. I give up!” Meyer mutters hysterically as she begins typing into the section titled “ Name .” 

...

“That’s not me.” You point out, referring to the foreign name she typed that was followed by the Meyer name.

“It’s you!”

You say your true name, “That’s my name. Not that.”

“Oh my god!” She laughs between clenched teeth. “I literally just removed a few letters of your fucking name!” She yells, gesturing exaggeratedly at the screen.

“We can’t have the same name now, can we?!” You fail to see why not, but you no longer say anything in response. She seems to be really possessive of your shared name.

“Well, this is it.” She announces in a defeated tone after a few more minutes of silence, sitting up from her position and pushing the laptop toward you. “Nothing I can really do about it since your life is filled with bullshit.” She pulls a strained smile on her face as she pointedly looks at you.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Meyer clicks her tongue and groans in frustration, snatching her phone from the bed. She turns on the device and reads the text flashing on the screen, her expression turning sour. She stands up, her hand clutching her phone tightly. 

“Review that resume and change whatever. You’re gonna be hopping down to the print shop tomorrow.” She tells you as she pulls open the door.

“I swear if Im gonna have to take your fucking ass on a leash and walk you to the shop, I’m actually gonna strangle you. Surely you can do that on your own.” She says between clenched teeth, pointing a threatening finger at you before swiping at her device and putting it to her ear. She slams the door behind her, and you can hear her feet thump down the stairs shortly after. 

You pull the laptop toward you and place it on the desk. After reading the page titled the cover letter, you move onto the main page containing all the important information. Since most of the information was fabricated, you plan to review and remember most of it. Meyer mentioned something about having to do interviews after submitting your resume, so it would help if you refrained from slipping up.

The information looked pretty solid, at least to your standards. However, you had to admit you didn’t really recognize most of the words she had written on the skill list. 

You play around with the laptop, dragging your finger around the smooth, flat square in front of the laptop board, controlling the little arrow, and trying to figure out how to leave the word system and to the search engine. Once you figure it out, you start typing the words one by one on the list, trying your best to remember the information attached to them.

After a while, you pause with a hum as you remember a thought that passed your mind. Slowly, you spell R-O-L-E-P-L-A-Y with the buttons. You read the information provided to you, and you slowly start understanding why Meyer kept calling you that. 

Apparently, she thought you were playing a character. You figured she thought this as your clothing style or the way you spoke was vastly different, and this world lacked information about magic and monsters. You did also found out it’s only been a few years since the monsters emerged, so it made sense.

You decide it was a good excuse if someone questioned you. You mentally thank Meyer for giving you the idea.

You pause in your reading and listen closely when you suddenly hear Meyer’s muffled screaming from downstairs. It was often that Meyer would have screaming matches with her communication device. You didn’t dare to attempt to ask her about it for fear of upsetting her. 

You close the laptop after a few seconds more. It seemed as if the noise would last for a while tonight. You move toward the door and locate the lever for the light of the room. You recall trying to infuse magic into it on your first night there. The lights flickered before the whole residence suddenly plunged into darkness. 

Meyer’s screams filled the night right after that. She crawled up the stairs looking for you and demanding to tell her what you’d done. You didn’t bother explaining what happened and apologized instead. She didn’t get off your ass until the lights finally came back on, and she threatened to rid you from the residence if you ever attempted it again. 

Shouting was something you were accustomed to, so your first week when Meyer was more paranoid and easily provoked was easy enough to handle. 

After a while, Meyer must’ve finally realized you weren’t out to threaten her life and calmed down a bit. She was still too much for you sometimes, but it was nothing that you couldn’t handle. 

You often felt nostalgic of your childhood in the time you’d spent in the first few weeks. Except you were given more freedom with your actions now.

After turning off the lights, you move toward the window to let the moonlight into the room. You push aside the curtains and open the windows, closing your eyes and relishing the breeze that flew in. You open your eyes and take in the view outside your window, which consists of the dark forest with the vast mountain of Ebbot looming over it. You wished to paint it if only you had the talent for it.

In a way, it was similar to the view you often cherished in your old room in the tower. It gave you comfort the most when the nights were dark and cold. You would often daydream, exploring the forest and searching for fauna in the warm sunlight, climbing the mountain, and taking in the view of the kingdom from up above.

You were eventually able to walk the grounds of the Ebbot forest, only for a reason vastly different from your dreams.

You soon settled into your bed, blankly staring at the white ceiling and being forced to listen to Meyer’s yelling. You turn to your side and fold your pillow over your ears, trying your best to block out the noise. Hopefully, they wouldn’t contact her again anytime soon.

You were awoken by the sound of your door being slammed open. “Hey! Wake up, Rat!” Meyer yelled as she held the door open with her hand. “You’re supposed to drop by the print shop, remember!” She said, striding toward you and shaking your shoulders violently.

You shove her hands off you and throw her a glare, pushing yourself off the bed and dragging your feet toward the desk. Meyer opens the laptop herself and starts navigating to the word system. You blankly watch her play around with the arrow on the screen, clicking several buttons.

Your eyes slowly move toward her face, side-eyeing her when she suddenly stops moving the arrow on the screen. You flinch when she slowly utters your true name, something she has refused to call you since finding out you both had the same.

“Yes?” You ask quietly, not liking the cold atmosphere.

“Did you not save the file for the resume?” 

Your eyes lit up at the familiar term. You don’t understand how it applies to the current situation, however. Was she also capable of it due to her soul trait? That is certainly a commendable feat, but something you would not suggest. “I do not think that the incantation will work on the device. I recall the last device breaking after infusing magic into it.” You quickly point out before she attempts anything. 

“I think any form of magic, regardless of the trait, would still-” 

Meyer remained unmoving the entire time before she finally broke, “WHAT ARE YOU FUC- WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!” She yelled, her shoulders shaking.

“THE FILE! FOR THE RESUME! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO PRESS CONTROL S OR AT LEAST MANUALLY SAVE IT YOURSELF!” She yelled, frantically dragging her finger across the pad. You watch the arrow on the screen fly and shake across the screen, matching the energy of her anger.

“I do not recall you mentioning anything about saves.” You admit with a slight shrug of your shoulders. Surely, if she did, you would be able to remember it.  

“Oh my god, you fucking idiot .” She muttered listlessly.

“I can’t! I just can't with you. ” She lets out a laugh of disbelief before turning her attention back to the laptop, deciding to focus on trying to recover the file before she blew up any further looking at your dumb expression.

You stand up from the chair to give her the space in which she immediately sits on, still focused on fiddling with the device. You decide on laying back on the bed while she does her work. You were about to doze off when she shouts out of nowhere, “OH MY GOD! YES!”

You sit up as she pulls out a small rectangular object from her pockets, watching as she inserts it into one of the slots in the side of the laptop. “You’re fucking lucky I was able to recover that file.” She says, throwing you a sickeningly sweet smile. 

You take your place back on the chair after she stands up. “I was THIS close to actually harming you.” You hear her say from behind you.

She proceeds to instruct you on what to do once you arrived at the print shop. All you had to do was inquire about the price, tell them the paper size, and hand them the small rectangular device called a “USB”. Meyer threw in one last threat before letting you prepare to leave. 

You took a quick bath before putting on clothes from an old pile Meyer gave you. Several of the garments matched Meyer’s common style when dressing to go out, but there were also several dark and oversized clothes that were vastly different from Meyer’s. You pull a dark jacket over your head, dusting it off once you put it on. 

The style of clothing was certainly different from the one in your kingdom, but you found some similarities. You particularly liked the long sleeved ones that came with a hood. It made you feel protected and reminded you of the cloak you often wore when you were out and about for work. 

You stand in front of the mirror in the bathroom and try your best to wrap your friend’s scarf around your neck. You patted it down and shifted the fabric around until it covered half your face, reminiscent of your old one. You pull your hood up, tucking in the stray strands of your hair inside.

“ARE YOU GOING TO A PARTY? HURRY THE FUCK UP! I’M GONNA BE LATE FOR WORK!” 

You start heading out when you start to hear Meyer’s impatient yells from below. Meyer had a serious look on her face when you arrived by her side, a judgeful gaze on you. “As far as I know, this is your first time going into town,” She starts, and you nod your head in agreement.

“So watch your fucking attitude. I don’t wanna hear about a hobo running around town causing trouble.” She warns, moving closer. “I’m not bailing your ass out of jail, I’m not gonna go out of my way to help you. I don’t care.” She says, shoving a finger harshly on your shoulder. 

“You’re carrying the Meyer name. Act like one. It’s embarrassing enough that you’re like this.” 

Although you knew what she said was partly untrue, her words stick with you. With that, she hands you the USB from her pocket. “Remember what I told you. I don’t want to fucking repeat myself.” She says, pushing you outside the door and shutting it behind you.

“The printshop is in front of the plaza, beside Ebbot elementary, got it?” You nod silently as you watch her lock the door. 

“The town’s main district is just straight ahead, down this road.” She says pointing to the direction before pausing, “Wait, I’m heading the same way, why do I even need to tell you this.” She says with irritation, clicking her tongue and shaking her head.

“Come on.” She gestures for you to follow her and the two of you proceed to travel down the sidewalk toward the direction she pointed to. 

The two of you walk in silence, and you take the time to examine the residences you were passing. You feel a tinge of excitement as its your first time to actually explore the town outside of the forests. Not only did you hole yourself up in the house in lieu of your research, Meyer also avoided sending you out until you cleaned and healed yourself up. She didn’t want to be seen housing a rat, as she worded it.

In contrast to when you first arrived here, you were mostly in good condition now, save for a few nasty bruises and cuts. It was all in thanks to your healing ability. The process was slower than you liked but it was to be expected with the little soul healing along your own. Meyer did not give any care for your condition, sparing only a few healing items, not that you really needed them anymore. 

“Don’t be such a weirdo when we get to town.” She tells you, harshly tugging on the sleeve of your arm to catch your attention. “I don’t want to be seen with a crackhead.” She lets go of you once you acknowledged her.

You feel her gaze remaining on you as you walked. “Why are you dressed like you’re gonna rob the print shop?” She asks, throwing you a look of suspicion.

You avert your gaze and keep walking, not bothering to reply to her comment. You simply felt comfortable in it, especially considering the fact that you were stepping into new territory. “Nevermind, it’s better they don’t see me walking with a caveman.” You hear her mutter in defeat, shoving her hands into her pockets as she finally removes her attention from you.

After passing a large gate that reminded you of Ebbot Kingdom’s own, the two of you finally arrived at the town. There were several buildings, some short, some tall and made up of different foreign materials and colors. 

Much like the private residences, the architecture and layout of the entire town was completely different from Ebbot Kingdom and its surrounding villages. Not even the Monster Kingdom had this bizarre of a style of structures.

The sights further solidified your theory on your current location. Everything looked so different, it deeply intrigued you and made you all the more eager to start exploring on your own to find information. You wished to know how their devices worked, what they ran on. Was it some form of magic you had yet to know about? The thought of the amount of information you would soon uncover made your head buzz in anticipation.

The two of you stop at the corner of a street, and Meyer turns around to face you. “This is my stop. The plaza is just down the street.” She gestures her hand towards the direction.

 “If you still get lost even after my instructions, I’m not looking for you.” She sighed, putting a hand to her temple.

“Understood.” You say with a nod of your head, hooking your finger through the metallic hoop attached to the USB and fiddling with it around your hand.

Meyer quickly left right after, scurrying off down a different street. You turn toward the route she pointed to and start walking in that direction, silently twirling the USB around your finger as you went along. 

You took your time as you walked, slowly moving along the sidewalk. You read each and every sign you passed. You knew well enough that these buildings were not private spaces, unless that was a peculiar thing they did here. But you're sure that wasn’t the case as you don’t recall seeing a big glowing sign announcing her house name in front of Meyer's residence.

They must be some form of market, as you recall passing shops that sold produce and even meat. The buildings were also reminiscent of the stalls in the local market in Ebbot kingdom, which also had signs announcing what they sold. 

You take note of the names of each shop, deciding to remember their locations as you might have to visit them someday. You pause when you come upon a particular shop called a laundromat. The buzzing, shaking machinery that lined the walls caught your eye. 

You somehow manage to find the door to the building which was made entirely out of glass. You ponder if that was a good choice of material as you knew glass to be pretty brittle. You recall the several glass windows in the towns of Ebbot Kingdom were always in some state of disrepair.

You push open the glass door and step inside, immediately making a beeline toward the machinery. You think you hear a greeting from a person by the entrance, but you're too preoccupied watching the motion of the machines. 

You bend down and tap your finger on the circular glass of one of the machines. This one had objects tumbling inside. 

You soon observe it to be clothing. Your eyes light up when you realize it must be another form of machinery for washing garments. You recall the people of your kingdom using similar devices, but none as bizarre and efficient as this. 

“uh.. watchu doing there, buddy?” A deep, scratchy voice sounds from behind you.

“... This machinery is most peculiar. What is it called?” You speak before you think, your mind too preoccupied with the machine.

You start moving around the machine and reading the buttons on its surface. You mutter the words as you read them.

 “... that is called a washing machine .” The voice states, a hint of amusement in their tone.

You hummed, well that was straightforward enough. “and how does it function?”

“ehh, it’s a bit complicated, but it basically runs on this thing we call,” they pause for effect, “ electricity .” 

You knock on the glass, wondering how it hasn't shattered. It seemed as if the items inside were being tossed around aggressively. The glass surely should've shattered by now. “ Electricity ,” You repeat the foreign word, liking the way it naturally rolls off your tongue. 

“Is that some form of magic?” You ask, putting a hand on the cold metal surface of the machine. You begin to spark energy into your hand, albeit barely enough to cause the machine to react. 

“...”

“... i guess it is,” they pause,” are you..”

ping!

At the sound of the noise, you move by instinct and throw your elbow back. You feel your arm hit the person in the gut, making a loud thunk when their body hits another wall of machinery.

You whip around and hold your arms out in front of you in defense, your heart rate quickening at the sensed danger. Your eyes widen when you recognize the figure on the floor as the tall monster clad in purple in the forest from yesterday. 

You watch them groan, clutching their skull as they try to get up. The commotion had caught the attention of the other humans in the room, and they immediately ran to his side. He shakes their hands off as they try to help him, his hardened and confused gaze falling on you.

Your breath quickens when you see his eyes light up in recognition. A glare forms on his face. “ y o u .” He drawls out, beginning to move his hand.

You grab your hood and yank it down in a desperate attempt to hide your face. You start booking it outside of the shop before any further movement can be made by the skeleton.

You can hear shouts and yells from behind you as you dash across the street, but you don't ever think of stopping. You don't look behind you until you finally reach your original destination. Fortunately, it looks like no one decided to follow you.

You drag a hand along your face. You deeply regret letting yourself get distracted.

Chapter Text

That grating ping echoes through your mind. It was a sound you were all too familiar with. Why did you hear that here? Did it come from that skeleton? What was he trying to do to you?

A million thoughts race through your mind as you walk across the plaza, your pace slows with your mind occupied. Only now did you feel the heat under your layered garments. 

You wipe your sleeve across your forehead as you feel sweat tickle your skin. As overheated as you were feeling, you decide against removing them in fear of the looming threat.

You occasionally throw a glance behind you, trying to see if anyone is following you. You continue walking until you reach a fountain built in the middle of the plaza.

You crash onto your knees once you reach it, pulling down your scarf from your face before cupping water into your hands. You gently bury your face into the cool water, trying your best not to spill any on your friend’s scarf.

Your face felt heated, and you continued to splash your face until you felt cool enough. You fall on your bum from kneeling, feeling tired. You let out a deep, shaky breath as you try to calm down. You shift around and lean your back onto the wall of the fountain, letting your head fall with your eyes closed.

You don’t know how long you spent sitting there. Just listening to the sounds around you, the birds singing, the wind brushing against the leaves of the trees, the children’s laughter. It reminds you of those rare days where you’d get to spend your day in the Ebbot plaza where it was always buzzing with busy, innocent lives. You always longed to be a part of that noise, to mingle with the people without a care in the world. But you soon gave up that dream and faced reality. It was easier that way.

You’re soon finally able to get your wits about you, and you raise your head and open your eyes. You wince a bit at the bright light of the sun. 

You let your eyes examine the happenings around the plaza. There were citizens walking with pets and companions, an old person sitting by a bench and scattering crumbs, and children all walking toward the same direction with their peers. 

Among them were several kinds of monsters. You watch them talk and laugh with the people, walking along with no worries. It was such a peculiar sight to see. The scene would almost be reminiscent of the plaza back at the kingdom, if not for the monsters in the mix. You recall the only place you ever saw monsters and humans together was at the frontlines. The scene was a complete contrast to the peace happening before you. 

You can’t deny that you much prefer this place. This world is so much nicer than your own.

You examine how the children all wore the same clothing as if they were in some sort of uniform. You look up and read the sign on the front of the gate most of the children were entering. Your eyes light up when you read “Ebbot Elementary,” spelled with golden letters. You recall Meyer mentioning the print shop being near that establishment. 

You push yourself up from the ground, dusting off your pants when you get up. You begin walking among the crowd of children, listening to their laughter and banter. You soon approach the road which had a group of children standing by its side. You stand among them, looking around and wondering what they were waiting for.

You look across the road and scan the crowd of children entering the gates. You pause when you spot a familiar head of hair among the crowd. They had their back turned to you but your eyes felt drawn to them.

Their head turns to the person at their side as they laugh, and you’re able to get a peak of the side of their face. Your brows furrow as a painful feeling blooms in your chest. 

That.. that looked like-

Unbeknownst to you, you had unconsciously begun to take a step across the road in an attempt to follow after them. A loud noise suddenly sounds in the distance and you feel a small hand clamp around your wrist. You’re pulled out of your daze as you get yanked back harshly.                                                            

A huge object whips fast in front of you as you stumble back into the sidewalk. “Jeez, lady! You got a death wish or something?” 

Your head whips around to find the owner of the voice, and you’re confused when you don’t see anyone. “Haven’t you heard of looking both ways before crossing?” You look down and realize one of the children was talking to you.

The child wore the same uniform as the rest and had a mop of dark auburn hair cut short. Their red eyes glistened in the sun as they narrowed them at you. Your eyes widen at the sight, and your eyes snap down to the hand holding you. You shake their grip off and step back, trying to distance yourself from them.

They give you a weird look before their attention is caught by calls from the other side of the road. “Weird lady..” You hear them mutter as they start walking toward the road, looking left to right before running along the white-striped path on the road. 

That caught you off guard. You weren’t expecting to encounter a person with such a strong connection to their trait, and a child no less. Although it didn’t necessarily mean they were a soul mage like you, the thought of a child running around with such power frightened you. 

Upon seeing their face, you couldn’t help but feel a sense of familiarity, but you can’t recall where.

Your mind immediately snaps back to the person you spotted from across the road, and you desperately try to find them amongst the crowd. You feel a deep sense of disappointment when you’re unable to see a glimpse of them again. 

You start to feel as if your sight is just playing cruel tricks on you. Right. It's been a long time since they were gone.

You let out a sigh and tiredly rub your eyes, not entirely pleased with the stress this entire day has been giving you. You straighten yourself up once more and start to look around for the place you were originally meant to go to. 

You read one of the shops near Ebbot Elementary named “ Papercut Print Shop .” You deduce that as the place Meyer mentioned, and you begin to cross the road, not before looking both ways like the child mentioned. 

You soon arrive at the shop and push open the glass door, looking up when you hear bells ringing above you. “Welcome to Papercut print shop. What do you need?” A human woman at the front asks you with a less than enthusiastic tone.

You approach the desk and pull out the USB from the pocket of your jacket. You place it on the desk and slide it toward the woman. 

What was it again? “Print copies of the resume on normal paper.” You tell them, using Meyer’s exact words off your memory.

The woman raises a brow at your words, but no further words are exchanged between the two of you as the woman takes the USB and ducks under a plank attached to the desk. They gesture for you to follow, and you do so, walking with them toward the main area of the shop. 

Much like the laundromat, the print shop also had several machines running, although there were many more variations here. You had to make a conscious effort not to let your eyes wander to the unique machinery. As much as you wanted to learn their functions, you didn’t want another incident like at the laundromat. You had to stay focused.

The woman stops by a stall with a screen similar to your laptop, except this one has no board attached and stands alone. A flat rectangular device in front of the screen held the letter buttons. Beside it was an oddly shaped semi-circular device that seemed to glow. The woman sits down and plugs the USB into a port on a huge rectangular box, and starts to navigate around the screen.

You move closer and watch as they use the semi-circular device to control the arrow on the screen, much like the pad on your laptop. You deduce it must be another form of the device Meyer gave you, serving the same function.

The woman opens the file for your resume and pauses when they read the contents. You watch as they glance at you, their eyes seeming to look for something. “You a Meyer?” The woman asks, and you nod your head silently.

The confused look remains on the woman’s face, but she turns her attention back to the screen again. A few moments pass, and after a click of a button, the woman finally stands up and walks over to another machine. You hear the machine make faint noises before it starts to shake, the paper the woman put into it seemingly disappearing into the machine.

You move closer and bend your knees, trying to get a closer look at the opening in the front. The woman throws you a weird look and steps back to give you space. “Chill, it’s not going anywhere.” You hear her mutter.

Slowly, you see the paper start to emerge from the darkness. The paper appears with text imprinted onto it, identical to the one on the screen. You pick it up once it lands on the platform and you examine the text, rubbing your fingers on the surface.

thunk!

Both you and the woman jump when you hear a loud noise across the room. By another set of bigger machines was an agitated skeleton monster clad in black and red. They had kicked one of the machines and caused a large stack of paper to fall and clutter all over the place.

“bro! what ta fuck is wrong with this thing!” the skeleton growled, his chest huffing in frustration.

“Hey! HEY!” The woman beside you yells, and the skeleton's head abruptly whips around to face them. 

Your eyes widen as the skeleton looks over to the two of you. You step to the side, gently tugging your hood lower. You shuffle a bit to the side in an attempt to remove the skeleton's attention on you.

The skeleton looked different from the ones you've encountered before, having a different style and demeanor, yet his stature and profile still closely resembled the shorter skeletons you met. You start to wonder if all the skeleton monsters look the same.

Like the purple pair from the forest, this skeleton had a rougher look, with scars, sharp teeth, and a golden fang. “Kicking the printer isn’t gonna fix it, genius!” The woman yells as she hurriedly runs toward the large machine.

You watch as she tries to push the machine back to its original alignment as the monster kick made it askew. “This is the third fucking time! We don't need your non-existent ass breaking every printer here!” The woman shouts in frustration at the monster.

“‘s not my fault all yer printers are dogshit!” The skeleton countered, matching the woman's anger.

“Fuck you!”

Suddenly, the woman lets out a sigh as she puts a hand to her temple, muttering something incoherent under her breath. “JACOB!” The woman yells, purposely ignoring the monster in front of her and looking toward a door across the room.

Footsteps could be heard approaching, and the door suddenly flew open. “Yoooo- woah.” Another human, supposedly Jacob, skips in before pausing in his steps when he sees the mess of papers scattered around the room.

“I thought I told you to assist Red whenever he's here for a print job! This idiot's gonna single-handedly take us out of business.” The frustrated woman says, gesturing to the skeleton.

Beside her, you can see the skeleton rolling his eyes, his posture slumping as he shoves hands into his jacket pockets. “heh, maybe ya should with the state of this shithole.” He mutters sarcastically.

The woman gives him a warning look, daring him to say more. The skeleton yields with a nervous laugh, throwing his hands up in surrender, “ey, ey! ‘s a joke!” He says in an attempt to appease the woman’s anger. As soon as the woman turns around, though, the skeleton’s expression turns sour again.

“Jacob, get the printer running back up and the rest of the flyers done.” The woman instructs as she begins to walk away. 

“And I am NOT cleaning this up.” She says, pointing toward the mess on the floor. “This mess better be off the floor before those flyers get done.” She pointedly says, referring to the skeleton.

Jacob maneuvers his way toward the printer, trying his best to avoid stepping on the papers scattered on the floor. He greets the skeleton as he approaches, and the skeleton returns with much less enthusiasm. He walks toward another stall with the laptop device variant and starts messing with it while the skeleton monster stands back, a bored expression on his face.

You look around at the mess of papers, the bright colors imprinted catching your eye. You bend down and pick up one of the papers by your feet, turning it over to see the contents of the flyer. 

At the top of the paper spelled the words “VOLUNTEERS WELCOME!” in bright red ink. The flyer looked as if it were made by children, having crude and messy drawings of various colors on the side as design. 

It seemed to be a flyer asking for help for a weekly children’s event at the town’s local library. The flyer listed activities planned throughout the duration of the event and other details on the bottom. 

On the other side of the room, Red’s eyelights focused on you, watching as you picked up one of the flyers. His attention had been on you since he first spotted you beside the shop owner. He watched you in his peripheral, standing incredibly still with your face hidden under your hood and scarf, just watching everything unfold silently. 

He couldn’t help but feel unease under your invisible gaze. His gut told him something about you was off, though it could be just because of your suspicious get-up. 

He watched you take the flyer into your hands and begin reading it intently. Next thing he knew, his feet had brought him across the room and to your side, curiosity, and suspicion leading his actions.

“looks shit right?”

You jump at the sudden closeness of the voice, causing you to let go of the flyer you were holding. It slowly falls to the floor before it suddenly stops midway, engulfed in a red aura. You look up to see the skeleton monster in front of you now, taking the paper as the aura brings it up to his hands.

“told’em a dog could draw better than this, and they still went with it!” The skeleton joked with a bark of laughter, a sharp finger pointing toward a little doodle of what looked to be a child in a green sweater. 

You stare blankly at the skeleton, feeling slightly on edge at his sudden appearance. You didn’t exactly get why he was laughing, either. The skeleton’s chuckles quickly die down when he sees your lack of reaction. He coughs awkwardly, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his skull as his light expression dissipates. 

“ya interested?” 

You tilt your head in confusion at his words. “... in volunteerin'” he clarified, tapping a finger on the large red text asking for volunteers at the top of the flyer. 

Red pulls at the collar of his sweater, feeling the awkwardness roll off in waves from your complete silence. Up close, the skeleton was able to see your eyes a bit clearly, albeit still hidden in the shadow of your hood. Like your entire demeanor, your eyes looked dark and blank. Red had thought getting closer would help him get a better read of you, but you remained to be a complete mystery.

“Hey! Your papers are done. Come up to the counter!” You hear the woman call from behind you. Your gaze bounces from her and the skeleton. You begin to step away hesitantly from your conversation to go to the lady, wanting to get away from your weird encounter with the monster.

You watch silently as the lady arranges the short stack of papers imprinted with your resume on the desk. “Do you want some paper clips with this?” The woman asks, looking toward you. 

You nod your head in response, even if you had no idea what that was. “Gimme a sec,” The woman mutters as she ducks below the desk and out of view.

ping!

Your head whips around in alarm at the sound of the noise, your gaze falling on the skeleton standing in the middle of the main room. He looks startled at your sudden movement, looking as if he’d just been caught red-handed. You can see his grip on the piece of flyer tightening. His sharp toothy grin began to look strained, his eyelights gone from its sockets.

You’re certain the skeleton was the cause of the ping, just like the purple monster from earlier. Pain often followed whenever you heard that sound, so you couldn’t help but feel panicked. You fear what they were attempting to do.

You tear your eyes away from the skeleton and try to see if the lady has returned from beyond the desk. You feel the heat returning to your face when you feel the skeleton’s unrelenting gaze burning into you. 

Suddenly, the lady pops back up from under the desk and starts to insert pieces of paper in the middle of a small metallic item. Your whole body remains tense as you wait for the woman to finish. “Alright, that would be one dollar.” The lady says, putting out the palm of her hand toward you.

You blink. Right, the payment. You don’t think Meyer even gave you any currency. You start patting down the pockets of your clothes on the off chance that she did, and you just forgot. Unfortunately, your pockets lay bare.

You purse your lips as you slowly look up toward the woman, empty-handed with no currency. She had her brows raised in question, still waiting for you to hand over the payment. Maybe you can go find Meyer? You have no idea where she works, though.

You jump when you suddenly feel a hand land on your shoulder. “need a little help there, buddy?”

You can feel sweat trickling down your face as you feel dread in your gut. You stay still, your shoulders tense, and your body stiff. “just combine the guy’s charge with the flyer order.” the skeleton nonchalantly says as he steps into place beside you, letting go of your shoulder in the process.

The lady has no complaints and begins calculating the cost. As threatening as the skeleton felt right now, you felt as if you still had to thank him for the (questionable) help. You put a hand to your chest and bow your head, “Thank you.” You mutter in appreciation.

A confused look befalls the skeleton’s face. “no.. problem.” He says, a bit questioningly.

At once, you snatch the stack of paper from the desk and whip around, intending to leave the room as soon as possible. You’re stopped when you feel something tugging your jacket from behind. You turn your body around and see the skeleton holding onto you.

“you forgot yer flyer.” He simply says, a single flyer in his other hand. 

Your brows furrow when you see his expression. He attempts to come off as friendly, his grin wide and strained, but his eyes betray his attempt. It remains dark, its eyelights still gone from its sockets. 

It makes your skin crawl, but you hesitantly take the flyer from his outstretched hand anyway. “hopin’ to see ya there, buddy. would really need the help.” He says as soon as you accept the flyer. You reluctantly nod your head at his words in acknowledgment. You have no plans of attending that event now.

You quickly take a quick bow once again in a silent thank you before booking it out of the print shop. You speed walk down the sidewalk, occasionally looking behind you to see if he followed. You begin to slow down when you’re sure there’s no one on your tail. 

You let out a small breath of relief as you continue your walk at a slower pace. You bring up the flyer in your hands, skimming your eyes through the text absentmindedly.

You don’t know what you did for the skeleton to want you to attend the event. You barely even talked to him. And then there’s the use of magic on you. What for? Were some monsters simply still weary of humans in this peculiar world? Or was he onto you?

You thought you’d be safer in this world where humans and monsters seem to have integrated, but the threat of monsters (especially the skeleton kind, for some reason) still haunted you. Not to mention your status as a soul mage. You don’t know if mages were a threat to monsters in this world just as it was in yours. Though, you’re not certain they even exist here, either.

You tuck the flyer in the middle of the stack of paper. You decide on not attending the event, not that you were thinking of going in the first place. Additionally, you fear what the monster is planning for you. 

You falter in your steps when you spot a flash of purple on the other end of the sidewalk. You recall the incident from earlier and duck your head down and deeper into your hood. 

You glance toward that direction to get a better look and soon realize it is indeed the purple skeleton. You watch as they walk down the sidewalk, nearing you closer by the second. They move their head around, seemingly looking for something.

You quickly turn on your heel, tucking the papers under your armpit as you start speed walking back the way you came from. You see a turn coming up and decide to turn down that way to make sure the purple skeleton won’t find you. You keep the same pace and turn the corner, wanting to get as far away as possible.

Chapter Text

Bam!

You feel yourself run into something, and you fall to your bum, the stack of papers falling from your arms. You sit there momentarily in a daze before you shake your head to snap out of it. You see the papers scattered around you and you panic, pushing yourself up to your knees to retrieve them.

You stop when you see a pair of blue-gloved hands pick up the remaining papers. You try to snatch them from the person before they can take it, but freeze when you come head to head with a familiar face.

You recognize it to be the small blue skeleton who came to Meyer’s door on your first day here. The monster who came in, panicking about your well-being.

The monster utters your name in surprise. “ARE YOU OKAY?” He asks, a hand hovering over you, his expression filled with concern.

Your eyes widen at the sound of your name, and your hands go up to touch your hood. You’re shocked when your hands touch your exposed hair. Apparently, your hood fell off during your tumble, exposing your face to the monster. 

“OH, I AM SO SORRY! ARE YOU HURT?” Much like when he visited for the first time, he was moving all over the place. You can tell he was hesitating to approach you any further.

You pull your hood up and fix your scarf before you push yourself up to your feet, dusting off your pants and jacket. Luckily, you’ve been through harsher tumbles, so you feel no significant damage on your body. 

“I am alright.” You quickly utter as you try to get a grip on the mess of papers in your hands.

You pause when your eye catches the piece of paper still in the monster’s hand and snatch it from him, quickly merging it with the stack. The skeleton flinches at your sudden movement, holding his hands up once you take the paper from his grasp.

You quickly look around to see if the purple monster is anywhere in your vicinity. You see no sight of him, but you feel too antsy to stay in the same place for too long.

“Excuse me.” You mumble, moving around the skeleton in front of you to continue your escape. You fix the papers properly as you speed walk, trying your best to pin them back under the paper clips to keep them from slipping.

You don’t pause when you hear quick footsteps running from behind you. “WAIT!” You hear the skeleton call out.

You take a quick glance at the skeleton, who is now trying to keep pace with you. “I'M SO SORRY FOR RUNNING INTO YOU... ARE YOU SURE YOU’RE NOT HURT?” The skeleton asks once again, worry still plaguing his expression.

You let out a sigh. “I am not hurt.” You assure him. “And I should be the one to apologize.” You say as your eyes begin to examine the skeleton beside you.

“I was the one not paying attention to where I was going.” You admit.

The skeleton looks taken aback by your words, looking apprehensive of the whole situation. He waves his hand in dismissal, a nervous grin on his face. “OH, UH… THAT’S ALRIGHT HUMAN!” He utters in reassurance.

You feel as if you have to be cautious of the monster, but compared to his other counterparts, this skeleton seems the least dangerous to you. He appeared more nervous than anything, looking almost fearful. “Are you... Are You Really Not Angry?” He asks, taking on a softer tone.

You tilt your head at his words, slowing down in your pace. You wonder why he would think that. You already said it was alright, and it was mostly a mistake on your part. 

“... Yes.” You say in a slightly questioning tone.

You can see the monster light up at your words, looking like a tiny weight on his shoulders has disappeared. His shoulders lift from its hunched posture.  

“Oh… Uh, THAT’S GOOD!” He says, a relieved look appearing on his face.

This is only the second time you’ve met, yet the skeleton already looks afraid of you. You’ve never really had any normal interactions with monsters without any threats of violence involved besides your interactions with your friend. You wonder if you somehow exuded a threatening aura to monsters. Could they sense the danger?

A brief silence falls between the two of you when you don’t say anything further, but in the corner of your eyes, you can see the monster looking as if he was hesitating to speak up. You passively observe your surroundings, keeping alert to any danger.

Your attention is caught by the skeleton when you finally hear him speak up. “SOO, UHH..” He starts after a while, holding his hands behind him nervously.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT IN THIS PART OF TOWN?” He asks before freezing, “–IF YOU DON’T MIND ME ASKING, OF COURSE! UM, YOU DON’T HAVE TO ANSWER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO…” He quickly adds, his face scrunching up with every word.

“IT’S JUST THAT, YOU’RE USUALLY AT HOME, Y’KNOW! IT’S UM, NICE TO SEE YOU OUT!” He rambles with his hands moving animatedly, a nervous energy waving off of him.

You raise a brow at his words. His words were not accurate to your past actions, but it was certainly your first time in this part of town, well, really the whole town, rather. “I went to run an errand.” You say, holding up the stack of papers in your hands. 

“I had my… resume, printed.” You add.

The skeleton tilts his head in confusion. “RESUME? DID YOU GET FIRED?” He asks before quickly taking it back, “AH– I MEAN! QUIT YOUR JOB? CHANGE YOUR JOB? MWEHE…” He chuckles nervously.

You softly shake your head in denial. “I am simply attempting to get my first job here.” You clarify with a slight shrug.

The skeleton’s brows raise, his mouth shaping into an ‘O’. “OHH, I SEE!” He says, a weird undertone in his voice. 

“WELL… I WISH YOU LUCK ON YOUR FUTURE JOB HUNT!” He says, a grin pulling onto his teeth as he gives you a thumbs up.

“... Thanks.”

The skeleton seems to light up at your response, his grin pulling up further. “UM, BY ANY CHANCE… DID YOU GET THOSE PRINTED AT THE PAPERCUT PRINT SHOP?” He hesitantly asks, giving a little point at the papers in your hands.

You glance at him, nodding your head in agreement. He appears surprised at your response yet continues his thought, “–I JUST REMEMBERED RED WAS ALSO THERE FOR AN ERRAND!” He tells you before pausing, “OH, DO YOU KNOW RED, ACTUALLY?” He asks.

Was he referring to the red angry skeleton you met at the print shop? If you recall correctly, the owner also referred to him as Red. Well, you certainly knew him now, especially after that.. curious interaction. 

“Yes... He was getting flyers printed.”

His sockets narrow, eyes darting around as he leans closer to you. “HE WASN’T CAUSING TROUBLE… WAS HE?” He asks, a hand cupped beside his mouth. 

Your brows raise at his question, your lips pressing into a thin line. You distinctly recall the red skeleton kicking one of their machines and getting into an argument with the owner. 

“No, he-” You hesitate. Did you really want to snitch on the red angry skeleton?

“–Yes.”

The skeleton perks up, wiping imaginary sweat on his forehead as he lets out a sigh of relief. “HOO! THAT'S GOOD!” He exclaims, clasping his hands.

“WE CAN’T HAVE THE ONLY MONSTER-FRIENDLY PRINT SHOP IN TOWN BANNING US, Y’KNOW? MWEHEHE…” He says, gently nudging your side with his elbow as he laughs.

You shift at the sudden contact, moving your arms slightly up and away from the path of his arm. He freezes when he realizes what he’s done, his laughter dying down. 

You watch as he retracts his arm and pins it along his side, nervously rubbing it. “Sorry…” He mumbles with an uneasy laugh.

A tug pulls down at the corner of your lips at the sight of his expression. The feeling blooming in your chest felt uncomfortable. It was similar to one you often felt when your friend was still here. Many days, he would arrive by your room looking down, and you would feel frustrated not knowing how to get his smile back. 

“UM, SO YEAH!” You watch as he quickly recovers, pulling his grin up once again. Although, you can tell it wasn’t the same before. 

“I DON’T REALLY KNOW WHY PAPYRUS INSISTS ON MAKING HIM PRINT THOSE FLYERS WHEN HE'S ALREADY CAUSED SO MUCH TROUBLE.” 

Your steps falter at the sound of the name, your heart dropping. 

How did he know about Papyrus? 

The skeleton notices you’ve fallen behind and slows down, looking toward you with a confused look. He calls your name. “WHAT’S WRONG?” His brows furrowed with worry.

You shake yourself out of your shock, your grip on the paper tightening as you move to catch up to him. “That… That name you mentioned…” You hesitantly start, your expression grim.

“Papyrus?” You say with uncertainty in your tone.

The skeleton looked uneasy at your sudden inquiry. “YES?” He says in a questioning tone, “YOU KNOW MY COUSIN?” 

Your brows furrow at his words. His cousin? You don’t recall Papyrus mentioning having any relatives other than his brother. The skeleton kind was scarce in your world. At some point, you believed it was the only the two brothers left. 

“You are related to Sir Papyrus?”

The skeleton’s eyes widen at your question. “YES!” He answers a bit too quickly. 

Your eyes narrow as the skeleton starts to fidget, averting his eyes from you. “WE’RE VEERY DISTANT COUSINS, YOU SEE! MWEHE…” He laughs nervously, raising a finger in a matter-of-factly manner.

You could sense the skeleton wasn’t telling the entire truth from his whole demeanor. Nonetheless, you let it go. It didn’t really matter. “... I see.” You mumble, accepting the skeleton’s excuse.

The skeleton remains quiet in the following moments. You can see him wringing his hands in your peripheral as the two of you continue walking. 

“You mentioned that he was the one who requested... Red, to run on the errand?”

The skeleton looks toward you, a nervous grin appearing on his face. “UM, YES!” He answers.

You frown at this. He couldn’t have. He was with you and in no way capable of coming back in his current state.

Sensing your doubt, he speaks up once again. “WE HELP THE QUEEN WITH HER PROJECTS, YOU SEE!” He explains, his eyes examining you to try to get a read of your mood. 

The only explanation you can think of is that this Papyrus must be different from your friend, only sharing the same name, like you and Meyer. You won’t know for certain until you can see this Papyrus for yourself because he’s certainly not your Papyrus. 

“SHE SOMETIMES NEEDS HELP WITH THE FLYERS… AND STUFF…” 

You’re unable to give a response, being too preoccupied with your thoughts. At your silence, the skeleton jumps at the chance to change the topic. 

“HEY! YOU’RE… LOOKING MUCH BETTER THAN LAST TIME!” You look up when the skeleton catches your attention. “NOT THAT YOU LOOKED BAD BEFORE! MWEHE…” He quickly adds, putting his hands up in surrender with a nervous laugh.

“...”

“I’M GLAD YOU HEALED UP WELL!” He says, a calmer grin appearing on his face.

“I KNOW YOU DON’T NORMALLY LIKE THE, UHH…” He pauses, a look of contemplation on his face as he tries to remember the word. “‘HANDOUTS’ ME AND PAPY BRING YOU BUT…” 

“I TAKE IT THAT YOU ENJOYED THE MONSTER FOOD ME AND PAPY COOKED UP FOR YOU..?” He says with a hopeful look on his face and a tight grin to match it.

You don’t recall receiving any monster food in the time you’ve been here. You don’t even recall seeing the skeleton besides on your first day here, either. 

You shake your head no. “I don’t recall indulging in any monster food.” You tell him the truth.

The skeleton visibly falters, looking disappointed at your response. “Oh… Uh, THAT’S ALRIGHT!” He has a reassuring grin on his face as he waves his hand in dismissal.

“THERE’S STILL MORE CHANCES TO TRY OUT OUR WONDERFUL CREATIONS! MWEHEHE!” Vigor returns to the skeleton immediately as he points up a finger with a hearty laugh.

You feel the ends of your mouth pull up at the sound of his laugh. It keeps reminding you of Papyrus’. In your dark corner of the dungeon, you loved hearing Papyrus’ peculiar laugh fill the silence the most. You were not really good with jokes, but Papyrus never withheld you from hearing his. He would often tell you various stories from his life, and you enjoyed listening to them for hours. 

An ache tugs your chest at the memory. You miss him.

The skeleton falters when he notices you close further into yourself, your shoulders deflating. At the sight, the skeleton hesitantly inches closer to take a look at your face. 

“OH NO! WHY ARE YOU SAD?” The skeleton panics, hands reaching up to clutch his skull.

You flinch back, surprised at the skeleton’s sudden proximity. You turn your face away, burying it deeper into your hood. A hand reaches up to your face to rub your cheek with your sleeve. 

“I’M SORRY! DID I UPSET YOU?” You don’t know why this skeleton seems to like apologizing to you so much when he’s done nothing wrong. 

The skeleton seemed at a loss. “EH.. UH, IT’S OKAY HUMAN!” You glance at him when he reaches over to give you an awkward pat, his hand floating just above your shoulders.  

He rests one hand on his hips while the other points up, a serious look appearing on his face. “THE MAGNIFICENT BLUE PROMISES TO SAVE YOU SOME OF MY DELICIOUS TACOS THE NEXT TIME, OKAY?” The skeleton promises, crossing a finger over his chest.

The skeleton might’ve misunderstood the reason for your emotion, but you deeply appreciate his worry. You give him a single nod of acknowledgment while your hand moves to give the skeleton a thumbs up. 

… His name is Blue, huh?

You’re glad to put a name to the skeleton finally. You really didn’t know how to ask him. You also can’t help but wonder what this ‘Taco ’ food was. Was it some sort of unique monster food? You’ve yet to gain enough information on the delicacy of the monsters to know the different types and properties. The only thing you knew for certain was that it was able to give some bout or boost of healing.

Meanwhile, Blue looked relieved at your positive response, sighing quietly. He settled down, although a look of concern remained on his face. A silence befalls the two of you as you continue to walk side by side. 

It was a short moment after that the skeleton decided to speak up once again. “UM… IF YOU REALLY WANT, WE CAN TRY OUT SOME MONSTER FOOD IN TOWN.” He brings up the idea, his words slow as if he was hesitating to suggest it. 

“–IF YOU’RE NOT BUSY!” He quickly says, eyes darting down to the papers in your hands.

You tilt your head at his words, and his sockets light up as he interprets it as a positive response from you. His head rotates, his feet padding as he moves in a circle, examining the streets and signs around you. Your eyes roam around as well along with him. You realize you have no idea where you are now. This was a completely new area.

You notice the abundance of monsters walking around, a lot more compared to the plaza. You see a few humans bunched with the mix, happily chatting with the monsters beside them. You wondered if this is a scene reminiscent of the Monster Kingdom. Did the streets buzz with life just as your own villages did?

You observe that most of the shops also seem to be run by monsters. Several had unique names and themes, a stark contrast to the shops you saw on the streets on the way to your destination. 

Your attention is brought back to Blue when you see him hop up in glee in your peripheral, an excited grin appearing on his face as he turns to you. 

“HAVE YOU HEARD OF MUFFETS?” He asks, a finger pointing toward one of the shops along the street. This one had a big luxurious sign titled ‘ Muffet’s Bakery. ’

From afar, you couldn’t tell what the treats listed were, but you could make out the words, “Come eat food made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders!” at the very top. Your brows raise at the headline. You did not know how to feel about spider-baked treats.

You shake your head. “Erm, no… I’m afraid I have not.” You admit, though, you don’t really know what you are missing.

“WHAT!” The skeleton cried in disbelief. “THEY’RE SIMPLY THE BEST IN EBBOT!” He says, pointing toward the shop with vigor.

“WELL, NOT AS GREAT AS MY TACOS–” He says, putting a hand to his chest. “BUT! YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY TRY THEM AT LEAST ONCE!” Blue claims, a begging look on his face.

Your face twists with uncertainty. “I don’t-”

“C’MON! LET’S GO TRY SOME! MY TREAT!” Without any warning, the short skeleton grabs you by the wrist and pulls you with him towards the store at great speed. 

A bell similar to the print shop rings above you as Blue throws the glass doors open. You deflate when several people at tables look toward the two of you in alarm. 

Beside you, you can hear Blue let out a gasp. “OH MY GOSH!” He bounces with excitement. 

“MUFFET’S CUPCAKES ARE ON SALE!” At once, he lets go of your wrist and skips over toward the counter at the front.

You slowly follow after him, ducking your head and pulling your hood lower. You could still sense the feeling of a few curious eyes on you.

Behind the counter was another monster, a petite spider monster, to be exact. You don’t recall encountering any of her kind back in the war, but you’ve seen your fair share of normal spiders. 

The spider monster, who you assume must be Muffet, had short dark hair tied up into pigtails with red ribbons. Her skin had a purple hue. Her big beady eyes perked up when she noticed Blue approach, setting down the small pink teacup she was holding onto the counter.

“MUFFET!” Blue shouts her name in greeting, vigorously waving a gloved hand over the counter.

“Ahuhu~” The spider giggled at the skeleton’s enthusiasm. “Welcome, deary~ What brings my best customer to my fine establishment?” Muffet asks, resting her chin over her folded hands.

“I’M HERE TO BLESS MY NEIGHBOR’S TASTE BUDS WITH YOUR DELICIOUS BAKED TREATS!” Blue declares proudly, gesturing a hand toward you.

You rub your arm anxiously when the spider’s attention shifts over to you. “Oh? How nice~” She giggles as her critical stare falls on you.

“And who is this rugged creature?” She asks, tilting her head in curiosity.

Blue steps back beside you and hovers a hand over the small of your back, encouraging you to move closer. You throw him a look but reluctantly shift your feet forward. “THIS IS OUR NEIGHBOR,” He says your name, “REMEMBER HER?” 

Muffet looks alarmed at the sound of your name. You notice her relaxed composure tensing up. Her brows furrowed in confusion, but her sickeningly sweet smile remained. “Oh. The… Meyer girl?” She asks with uncertainty.

Blue is not blind to the tension, and a nervous grin pulls to his lips. “UH… YES!” He confirms, giving a small, awkward nod. 

Muffet is silent as her eyes seem to examine you deeper, her smile faltering a bit. You shift in your place as you avert your gaze from the monster. You did not like the feeling of being observed so closely.

Muffet moves back from the counter. “May I talk with you for a second, deary?” The spider says with a slight tilt of her head, a polite, practiced smile returning to her face. 

“OH.” Blue’s gaze bounces between you and Muffet, a look of uncertainty on his face. 

“ALRIGHT…” He relents after a while, following the spider to the side, a considerable amount of distance from you.

You respect their wish to talk privately and choose to distract yourself with the various items on the counter instead. You’re sure you were the topic of conversation. The spider monster did not look too happy upon finding out about your identity. 

Your eyes begin to scan the treats encased behind a glass casing before your attention gets drawn toward the counter, where you notice something moving along the surface. 

You stare at the small spider crawling along the counter. Minding its own business as it scurries along. It must’ve sensed your gaze as it stopped in its tracks and now looks to be glancing back up at you. 

You watch it tilt its tiny head before it shuffles around and raises one little limb. It moves it from side to side, imitating a tiny wave.

You look around in confusion, looking to see if it was referring to anyone in the bakery. You eventually realize it was actually trying to interact with you. 

You shift closer and hesitantly raise a hand to wave back. The spider jumps up once, seeming pleased. It begins to move its front limbs animatedly, looking as if it was speaking to you. 

You have no idea what it was saying if it really was talking, nor can you hear it. You watch it intently nonetheless, feeling mesmerized watching such a small creature move with so much life.

The spider soon stops and raises one single limb toward you. You tilt your head in confusion as it continuously shakes it toward you. Your brows furrow softly, but you move a finger toward it, unsure if you are interpreting it right. The two of you shake hands, if it could even be referred to that.

You watch the spider do a little dance, seemingly pleased with your actions.

What an odd little creature.

Both you and the spider look toward the two in the corner when you hear Blue's voice start to rise occasionally. “–BUT! … .. … FINE… .. LOOK!” Your eyes examine the pair when Blue briefly gestures toward you.

Blue is caught off guard when he realizes your attention is on them and hurriedly huddles over with the spider once again. You're not sure what they are discussing so intently, but you observe the determination evident in Blue’s expression as he speaks with Muffet.

A few more minutes of whispering occurs, and you patiently wait with the spider. Soon, their conversation finally draws to a close. “I PROMISE!” Blue shouts, crossing a finger over his heart and raising a palm up.

The spider girl crosses her arms and gives a short nod of acknowledgment. “YAY!” Blue cheers, throwing his hands up in triumph before he turns and pads over to you with a pleased look on his face.

The two of you make eye contact, and he gives you a reassuring smile. You raise a brow in confusion. What did they talk about?

Muffet follows behind him, her eyes focused on you as she returns to her spot behind the counter. “Oh, please excuse us deary… ahuhu~” She giggles, giving you a calculated smile. “We just had a few matters to discuss~.”

The petite monster says no more as her attention is drawn to the small spider on the counter. She offers it a soft greeting, reaching a hand down so it can climb up to her shoulder.

It begins to speak with her just as animatedly as it did with you, and Muffet listens closely to it. Her brows raised softly in surprise at what the spider had to say. You watch as her eyes occasionally glance toward you. 

“... Alright,” She says once the spider finishes speaking, a puzzled tone in her voice.

“Erm, what would you like deary?” Muffet asks, pulling a polite smile back onto her lips and looking toward the skeleton who was already surveying the possible options in the glass case beside the counter.

Blue stood before the display case, a hand rubbing his chin. “THE CUPCAKES ARE ON SALE RIGHT?” Muffet nods her head in agreement. “NICE! WE’LL GET THOSE!” Blue says, looking toward Muffet with a wide grin.

He glances toward you shortly after and gestures for you to come closer. He was lightly bouncing in place as he waited for you, excited to show you the case. You slowly shuffle over to his side, glancing at his face before focusing on the array of treats in front of you.

Blue points towards a line of shiny donuts at the very top shelf behind the glass. “MUFFET’S SPECIALTY ARE HER SPIDER DONUTS AND SPIDER CIDER!” He tells you.

Your brows raise at the name of the sweet treat. You throw a questioning gaze toward the spider girl, watching the two of you. She only gives you a big fanged smile at your confused expression. 

“THE SPIDER DONUTS HAVE SPIDER CIDER IN THEM.” Blue clarifies, raising a finger in a matter-of-fact manner.

Oh, is that why? 

“AND THE SPIDER CIDER IS MADE OUT OF WHOLE SPIDERS.”

Wait what.

You’re unable to get any further explanation as Blue quickly moves on to other pastries on the display case. He tells you about each one, rambling particularly on about his favorite ones. He suggests each one to you and subsequently tells Muffet to add it to the order. 

You listen to all the information he tells you, his enthusiastic manner of speaking making the topic of pastries very interesting. You find yourself invested in the different possible types and variations of baked treats. 

He seemed encouraged to speak further the more he noticed your interest in his words, a happy grin remaining on his face. “AND THIS ONE IS A CARROT CAKE MUFFIN!” He says, pointing toward the orange treat. 

“IT HAS CARROTS IN THEM!”

Blue soon ran out of treats to talk about, having reached the bottom of the display case. In the long duration of Blue’s baked treat showcase, Muffet excused herself to tend to any new customers who arrived, telling Blue to take his time and alert her when he was ready to finalize his order. 

“AND THAT’S IT!” He finishes, a proud look on his face as his hands settle on his hips. 

“I'M SURE THERE ARE A LOT MORE, THOUGH.” He squints his sockets with a hand on his chin. “MAYBE I’LL GET TO TELL YOU ABOUT THEM IF MUFFET BAKES ANY NEW ONES!” 

“The amount of baked delicacies there are available is certainly surprising.” You comment, giving the display case another scan. Blue added several of the treats to the order, picking only the ones he claimed were a must-try. You were curious to see what they tasted like.

Your eyes feel drawn toward one of the pastries more familiar to you. It was one the archmage often indulged in. You remember always imagining what it would taste like. 

The first time you got to try a sweet treat in your life was when Papyrus arrived one day carrying a tiny muffin. He claimed he tried a hand at baking something new and wanted you to be the first to try it. You were surprised to see it roughly resembled your master’s favored treat.

The flavor was unique, one certainly sweet. It was unlike anything you had ever imagined. You can’t say you didn’t like it, for it was certainly a memorable experience. You were finally able to pin a flavor to the treat you’ve envied to try for such a long time.

Beside you, Blue watches as you stare at one of the treats with special interest. You looked almost calm.. melancholic. It wasn’t a treat he included in the order, but he was more than willing to add it if you wanted it. 

“IS THAT YOUR FAVORITE?” Blue asks, moving closer to your side.

You glance at the skeleton, who gives you a smile in return. Your eyes search his expression, which seems to hold no hidden intention, no malice or spite. It was so foreign to you to be smiled at so genuinely.

“... I suppose it is something like that.”

Blue’s smile brightens at your words. “LET’S TRY IT THEN!” He says with cheer in his tone.

He looks over his shoulder, raising a hand to wave over Muffet. “HEY MUFFET! WE’D LIKE TO ADD ANOTHER TO OUR ORDER!”

“Here you go, dearies… ahuhu~” Muffet giggles, setting down the last plate of treats in the middle of the table. “Enjoy~” She bids farewell with a little wave before she turns to leave.

Blue led you to one of the tables in the corner of the bakery, away from the other patrons enjoying their own pastries. It didn’t take a while for Muffet to prepare the array of pastries Blue ordered and two cups of tea for you to pair it with.

Blue looks delighted, looking over the various treats displayed on the table. You feel a bit intimidated at the sheer amount. “NOW, I USUALLY DISCOURAGE MY BROTHER FROM HAVING THIS MUCH SWEETS…” He raises a finger, “BUT YOU’RE AN EXCEPTION AS THIS IS YOUR FIRST TIME AT MUFFET’S!” He declares.

The two of you begin trying out the different pastries. You feel at a loss trying to pick out which one to begin with, and Blue happily suggests one for you. The two of you try out the same treats, and Blue frequently asks what you think of the flavor. 

To which you often simply reply with, “Sweet.” 

Blue laughs at your repeated monotone responses. Despite your lack of reaction, he could tell you were enjoying the pastries by how quickly they disappeared from their wrappers, which was enough for him. No wonder you were such a grouch! It seemed as if it was truly your first time trying out delicious baked treats. 

Blue remained puzzled at your true character. His interactions with you in the past were numbered due to his brother always insisting on keeping him away from you (nor did you really allow for any interaction with their family either), but any interaction always seemed explosive. Blue didn’t like the feeling of upsetting anyone, so he was always careful around you.

Blue argued that they might have just always caught you in a bad mood, but his brother insists on a reason otherwise. The more interactions he had with you, the more he didn’t know what to believe anymore.

“I’m full.” 

Blue is shaken from his thoughts at the sound of your voice. You were sat in front of him, your face hidden under the shadow of your hood as the setting sun's rays streamed in through the glass windows of the bakery.

Blue looks over the remaining treats on the table. “OH DEAR…” He says, noting the amount. “IT SEEMS WE HAVE A LOT OF PASTRIES LEFT OVER!” He comments with a small laugh. 

“NO WORRIES!” He assured you whilst sliding off his seat. “WE CAN GET IT PACKED UP!” He declares before quickly running over to the front counter and toward Muffet to ask for a box to pack the treats in. 

He quietly walks back over to your table, humming a quiet tune as he arrives and starts packing the treats in. He pauses when he picks up a familiar treat. It was your favorite one. 

He looks toward your face, calling your name questioningly. “Do You Not Want To Try This One?” He asks. Usually, anyone would go for their favorite treat first. 

Your head turns to him, and he watches as you take a long look at the pastry in his hand. You eventually reach for it, gently holding the muffin in your rough, calloused hands. You pull at the paper surrounding the muffin, opening it up and slowly bringing it to your lips.

There was a slight pause before you finally bit into it.

Blue notes the trembling of your lips as you chewed.

The two of you proceeded to walk home after spending the entire day in the bakery just trying out and savoring each treat one by one. You found that you enjoyed listening to the skeleton’s rambles. It reminded you of Papyrus’ own talks when he discussed his interests with you. They were both very pleasant company.

Fortunately, Blue allowed you to follow him home when you realized you had no idea how to get home. He continued chatting with you about a variety of topics, and at some point, he was indulging you with his cooking. 

“IF YOU LIKE THOSE TREATS, WAIT ‘TILL YOU TASTE MY DELICIOUS TACOS!” He proudly declared, pointing his thumb to his chest. 

“UM.. ONLY IF YOU WISH TO TRY IT, OF COURSE..?” He says, looking uncertain at your reaction.

You give him a short nod. “Certainly.” You say. You can’t say you weren’t curious to try out these ‘Tacos’ he so often renowned. 

Blue’s feet bounce at your reply, looking beyond excited. You swear you can see stars form in his sockets.

The skies had an orange hue by the time you entered the familiar scenery of the streets lined with huge manors. The two of you soon arrive and stop between the Skeleton clan’s manor and Meyer’s.

You accept the box Blue hands you, slipping your fingers through the handle. “I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE REST OF IT!” He says as he gives it to you. 

“MAYBE… YOU CAN TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK OF THEM NEXT TIME?” He reluctantly suggests, a sheepish hand on the back of his skull.

You nod your head in agreement. “Alright.” You had no problem with that. 

An awkward silence falls between the two of you. Blue rocks on his feet, a single hand in his pocket, not knowing what to say any further. Your gaze is placed on the box in your hands. 

“Thank you.” 

Blue is caught off-guard by your words, but his grin widens all the more. “IT’S NO PROBLEM!” He says, waving his hand in dismissal.

“I ENJOYED TRYING OUT ALL THOSE TREATS WITH YOU TODAY!” He says in admission. “ACTUALLY… I MIGHT HAVE TO DOUBLE MY TRAINING FOR TOMORROW! MWEHEHE!” He jokes with a big laugh.

A small smile pulls on your lips at the sight. He looks so happy.

Soon, the two of you were finally able to part, giving each other waves of goodbye. In your peripheral, you can see Blue giving you another enthusiastic wave as he enters their front yard, a big grin on his face. You turn to his direction to return his wave one last time.

You turn the knob to the entrance of Meyer’s residence, feeling relieved when it easily opens. You were worried Meyer would yet to be home by the time you arrived. 

You drag your shoes on the mat before moving to remove them. Quickly soon, though, you pick up the sound of footsteps approaching you.

“What the fuck is that?” 

Chapter Text

Your jaw clenches as you stare at the empty box of sweets sitting on the kitchen counter in front of you, disappointment welling up inside of you. You woke up looking forward to getting to try the rest of the sweets but it seems like someone beat you to it. You look toward the living room and at the lazy figure lying on the couch. Around her were familiar wrappers scattered around.

You let out a sigh and crouch down to retrieve a clean glass. You slowly approach Meyer, a glass of water in your hand, the condensation dripping down your hand. Meyer takes a second to notice your presence, her head shifting to the side to look up at you through squinted eyes. Wordlessly, she snatches the glass from your hands, spilling a bit of the water on the sofa in the process.

“You ate my treats.” You state, your voice flat as you stare at her face with a blank expression, the disappointment hidden in your eyes as you watch her gulp down the water.

“And?” She mutters with a hoarse voice as she lets her head crash back down on the pillow of the sofa. She presses the cold glass on the side of her sweating face in an attempt to cool herself down.

“I believe they were mine.” You could almost feel your eye twitch as she continued to lay down without a care.

“Yeah, right,” She scoffs as she shifts her position on the couch. “You want me to believe you actually bought those?” She looks at you with mocking disbelief.

“God forbid you actually stole those from some poor baker.” She snickers as she raises the glass toward you, hitting your chest in the process.

You narrow your eyes at her, your anger boiling the more she spoke. You stare at the glass on your chest for a moment before you finally concede, taking the glass from her hand and turning around to return to the kitchen.

There was no point in getting angry. It would not bring back the desserts lost. Though, you would be lying if you said you weren’t greatly disappointed. You were looking forward to tell Blue what you thought of the treats you had yet to try.

After cleaning up the glass, you head toward the back door, slipping on your boots before pulling the door open. Behind you, you can hear the sofa squeaking from movement. “Where are you going?” You hear Meyer ask.

“Out.” You reply curtly and without another word, not wanting to spend any more time with your dreadful copy in the same room.

You traverse through the woods behind the Meyer’s household, your hands warmly shoved into your jacket’s pockets. The sun had just risen, the soft sunlight streaming through the leaves of the forest, occasionally blinding you as you strolled through. You breathe in the fresh smell of the forest, your eyes closing to relish the scent.

Oh how you loved the familiar smell, you swear you would never get sick of it. After years of spending locked up in the tower, you always cherished getting to experience strolling freely through the forest. Now you got to experience it every morning instead of only on missions.

You soon arrive at your usual spot in the forest, a small clearing surrounded by decaying trunks and your usual forest greenery. You stand on the tip of your toes to retrieve a blanket you hung on a tree branch. You lay it flat on the ground, smoothing out the creases before you sit on it, tucking your legs into a cross underneath you.

You let out a silent breath before you pull your soul out of your chest, feeling a tug as it slides out. Your soul looks the same as always: dim and horrible. What you’re more pleasant to see is your friend orbiting around your own. Like yours, the little white soul looked the same. No progress and no setbacks either.

You jump up to your feet once you’re done with your daily inspection. You were still planning to continue mustering up the strength to conjure your staff, although a bit more slowly now. You didn’t want to hurt your friend in the process.

You hold your hand out in front of you, your palm facing down as you try to pool your magic towards your fingertips. You close your eyes to focus, feeling the magic in your system start to tingle as you awaken it for you to control.

You open one eye to take a peek at your hand, and you feel greatly disappointed to see no staff in sight. Well, you can’t say you were really expecting it to work. Looking back on yesterday’s session, it would be harder to conjure it now that you were holding back from straining your magic for your friend.

Just as you were getting ready to try once again, you finally noticed the presence of the figure in your clearing who had been spectating silently. You raise your guard as you stare down at the tall skeleton. Why do these monsters seem to like to intrude in your training sessions?

You recognize the skeleton to be the same one you had accidentally shanked with your elbow yesterday. Surprisingly, the skeleton appeared calm despite your assault yesterday. Though, you could still sense a tinge of hostility from the way the skeleton gazes at you.

“Can I help you?” You ask after a long moment of silence. You were starting to feel uneasy just standing there, seemingly having a staring contest with a guy with no eyeballs to look back into.

The skeleton shifts in his stance, a skeletal hand moving out of a pocket to pinch the cigarette on his lips with two fingers. “ah, nothing.” He mutters with a careless shrug, beginning to take a step towards you. The more casual he seemed, the more threatened you felt.

“you can continue doing whatever that was if you want.” he waves the hand holding the cigarette dismissively before bringing the cigarette towards his lips once again. He puffs a cloud of smoke, a provoking look in his eye.

Your gaze hardens, taking one step back as he approaches. “I would prefer if you remained where you stand, sir.” You had no idea what the monster wanted, but you didn’t like the decreasing distance between the two of you.

At your word, the skeleton stops, an amused expression on his face. The skeleton looks you up and down, seemingly trying to analyze you. “y’know you’re really funny..” He pauses, “no, maybe really good! ya tryin’ for a role or sumn?” He asks with an expectant look, a lazy smile on his lips.

Your brows furrow at his words. Once again, you had no idea what he was talking about. “Whatever are you talking about?” You ask, complete confusion lacing your tone.

The skeleton pauses before chuckling. “ah! method acting. gotcha.” he says with a knowing look, tapping a finger on his temple as if he had figured out the equation.

“nice acting yesterday, by the way! was not a fan of the elbow.”

You felt as if he was playing games with you. “What is your business with me?” You ask, feeling tired of his antics.

Before you could react, the skeleton suddenly blinks into existence right in front of you. He bends down to level with you, staring at you right in the eyes. “i have no care for whatever sick game yer up to once again.” He mutters in a low, threatening voice.

“but if you take it even a step too far..” He falls silent, his eyes seemingly trying to search for something in your glare. A moment of silence passes between the two of you, his brows furrowing deeper as the two of you stubbornly hold each other's gaze.

He abruptly stands back straight, not bothering to continue his sentence. His casual demeanor seemed to seep back into his stance. “eh, we’ll see, won’t we?” He drawls, shoving back his hand into his hoodie’s pockets with a shrug.

“nice catchin’ up with ya, loser.” He says with a wink and a salute. He takes a step back, and you watch as he is suddenly engulfed in an aura of purple. In a blink of an eye, he disappears from the clearing.

You’re left speechless and frankly threatened by the encounter. So far, all of your encounters with the monsters were unpleasant and usually ended up with someone hurt or threatened. The former being them and the latter you, usually.

It did not help that they were hostile toward you most of the time (though to be fair, you hit the tall purple skeleton completely unprovoked yesterday). The only pleasant encounter you could say so far was your afternoon with Blue. You hoped the little skeleton wouldn’t antagonize you like his cousins soon.

You roll up the blanket on the ground once you finish your training session. Although you failed to conjure your staff once again, you didn’t dare neglect your physical training. You had to protect yourself another way now that you couldn’t access your magic easily.

Just as you throw the blanket onto the tree branch, you can hear approaching footsteps from afar. Great, another one. You let out a tired sigh. Which one would it be this time?

You hear your name being called out, and your face lights up once you recognize whose voice it belongs to. In a moment, the little blue skeleton arrives at your clearing, an excited look on his face.

“MEYER! I FINALLY FOUND YOU!” Blue exclaims, waving vigorously at you as he jogs across the clearing.

A pleased expression rests on your face at the sight of the friendly skeleton. “Blue, a good day to you.” You greet with a slight bow of your head.

“How did you find me?” You don’t know why you bothered to ask, as the skeleton clan seemed to frequent your clearing a lot. It would be no surprise if they revealed your location to all of their cousins to warn them.

“OH! I HEARD FROM MUTT THAT HE MET YOU HERE EARLIER!” He says before a worried expression appears on his face.

“HE DIDN’T HURT YOU DID HE? I KNOW MY COUSINS  DON’T REALLY... UH,” Blue seemed to have trouble finding the right wording.

You don’t know why the little skeleton was troubled to be straight to the point with you. It was clear his cousins didn’t like you at all anyway. You don’t know if they have a general hate for humans, or really just you. After you shanked one of them yesterday, you weren’t surprised anymore.

“No, no. We just had a short exchange.” You explain to him in an attempt to dissipate his worries.

A look of relief appears on his face. “WELL, THAT’S GOOD! … SO! HOW’S YOUR DAY GOING SO FAR?”

“It’s been good. I just finished my morning training.”

“OH STARS! YOU TRAIN? YOU SHOULD JOIN US IN OUR MORNING SESSIONS AT THE OBSTACLE COURSE!” Blue suggests eagerly.

So far, Blue was the only non-hostile skeleton toward you. You weren’t entirely sure if any of his other cousins would be pleased seeing you in their premises. Nonetheless, you agree with the skeleton, not wanting to disappoint him. “That would be great, Blue.”

The two of you continue your conversation as you stroll through the forest. You were planning to head back to Meyer’s residence to clean up, but promised you would accompany Blue after he asked if you wanted to “hang out” with him.

He follows you to the back gate but remains outside, an uncertain look on his face. Blue knew you didn’t like it when any of them came close to your property, so he remained outside, not wanting to trigger your anger.

As much as you wanted to invite Blue in instead of leaving him outside in the hot sun of noon, you knew Meyer had a strong disdain for monsters. She would not be pleased to wake up to a monster in her living room. Speaking of Meyer, she remained passed out on the sofa, wrappers still cluttered around her.

After taking a quick shower and changing clothes, you quickly clean up the living room, not wanting to face Meyer’s wrath if you leave her to wake up to the mess she had made. You jog to the kitchen to throw away the handful of empty wrappers in your hands, pausing when you catch a glimpse of Blue anxiously waiting by the back gate through the window.

You wash your hands before heading back outside, giving Blue a quick wave and watching as his face lights up at the sight of you. “MEYER!” You flinch at the volume of his voice, and gesture for him to quiet down. You didn’t want to wake up Meyer.

Blue throws you a sheepish look. “Sorry... Mwehe.”

“So, what is it you wished to do this afternoon?”

The two of you begin heading back into the forest, with Blue taking the lead. “WELL, IT’S MY TURN TO FIX UP THE SHED. MUTT BAILED OUT EARLY YESTERDAY, YOU SEE.”

You nod your head in understanding. Ah, the shed. The one you rummaged about on your first day here and the one the short purple skeleton threatened you about.

“I wish to aid you.” You say after a moment, looking toward the skeleton to examine his reaction.

Blue looks bewildered at your words. “OH NO, YOU DON’T HAVE TO. I JUST WANTED SOME COMPANY WHILE I WORKED.” He shakes his hands in front of him, laughing nervously at the thought of making you help him.

“I’m the reason the shed was pilfered, Blue. I insist.”

“OH.” Blue would be lying if he wasn’t all that surprised it was because of you. It was often you took your anger out on their property. The shed wasn’t the first victim. What he was surprised by, however, was your offering to help out.

“... ALRIGHT, IF YOU SAY SO.” Blue concedes.

A moment of silence falls before he suddenly looks up at you. “THANK YOU.”

Your brows raise at his words. “No need to thank me.” You say with a shake of your head.

“If anything, I should apologize for ruining your family’s property.” The two of you arrive at the shed, and it seems to look the same as it did the last you left it. “THAT’S OKAY MEYER. YOU’RE HERE TO HELP NOW, AFTER ALL.”

The two of you pile into the shed, with Blue flipping on the switch on the wall beside you. He looks up at the bulb at the ceiling, which remains off no matter how many times he flicks the lever.

He chuckles nervously beside you. “YOU WOULDN’T HAPPEN TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT, WOULD YOU?” He jokes, glancing toward you briefly.

You lightly wince at his words, feeling apologetic for putting the contraption in disrepair. “I apologize. It was my first time encountering such a device.” You admit, tucking your hands behind your back. “I got a little too curious.”

Blue appears confused at your words but laughs, waving his hand dismissively. “UH.. NO WORRIES! IT’S AN EASY FIX ANYWAYS.” He says as he begins walking towards a box dumped in the middle of the shed.

The box had marker text lazily scribbled on it saying SHED FIX. Blue opens the box and clicks his tongue upon seeing the organized contents inside. “It hasn’t even been touched. Did Mutt even do anything yesterday..” Blue quietly mutters with a sigh as he starts pulling out materials one by one.

“AH! HERE IT IS,” Blue announces as he triumphantly presents a small box in his hands. The box was painted blue with an image of the same bulb that hung on the ceiling.

He tucks the box underneath his arm before pulling on a metal ladder leaning on a wall. He unfolds it into a triangle structure before beginning to step on it. He pauses when the ladder starts wobbling, his arm stretching out to balance himself.

“UHM.. WOULD IT BE ALRIGHT IF YOU COULD HOLD THE LADDER?” Blue asks with hesitance in his voice.

You quickly move your feet towards him and hold onto the ladder to keep it steady. Blue beams at you, quickly uttering a word of thanks as he continues climbing up. You watch silently as he twists the old bulb before pulling it. You see him hand it toward you, and you accept it, your one arm remaining on steadying the ladder.

Blue swiftly installs the new one before climbing down and testing the light switch again. A grin appears on his face as the room is engulfed with light.

You felt amazed once again at the workings of the contraption. Meyer had told you what the device was (of course, insults about your intelligence came along with it) but failed to explain how it worked. You still had yet to learn if it was powered by magic. You wonder, though, if it was powered by, what was the word that skeleton said again?

Ah, Electricity?

Blue watches you with interest as you seem to appear enamored by the simple workings of the lightbulb. Blue remains confused about the stark difference between your current attitude and your past one, but he felt thankful you decided to give him a chance for friendship.

“It’s really fascinating.” You mutter in awe. “This... Electricity, is it the same one powering this crystal?”

The two of you begin working on working on various parts of the shed, fixing both parts you destroyed and old parts that needed repairing. Blue happily entertained your endless questions about the different tools that were present in the shed, and you felt thankful he was a patient teacher.

You often had to research on your own as your master did not appreciate pointless inquiries. You somehow felt right at home, acting as the monster’s assistant. You often waited for his instructions and insisted on helping, no matter the numerous times he asked for you to take a break.

“HOW WERE THE REST OF THE TREATS, BY THE WAY?” Blue asks as the two of you work on fixing the knob of the shed. You held up the knob as Blue meticulously installs it into the hole.

You didn’t wish to dampen the skeleton’s mood if you admitted you weren’t able to try them out. “They were simply divine. They’re nothing like anything I have tasted before.” You say. Though it was a half-truth, it was truly your first time tasting such an array of delicacies.

Blue seems to light up at your words. “THAT’S GREAT!” He exclaims, enthusiasm evident in his tone. With renewed energy, he focused on installing the last screw of the knob, his movements quick and efficient.

Blue hesitated, his eyes shifting nervously as he placed the screwdriver back into the toolbox. His voice, usually confident and strong, was soft and uncertain as he turned to face you. "HEY, UM, WOULD YOU LIKE TO VISIT MUFFET’S SHOP AGAIN SOMETIME?" he asked, his gaze meeting yours with a hopeful glimmer.

“I'M KEEPING AN EYE OUT FOR ANY NEW CUPCAKES ON HER MENU, AND!” He points a finger up excitedly, “WE HAVEN’T TRIED THE OTHERS TOO!” Blue appeared hopeful as he awaited your response.

You offer him a smile, feeling somewhat pleased he seemed to want your company. “That would be delightful, Blue.” You say, “I must say, I’m looking forward to trying out the ones we missed.”

As much as you wished to gather more information about this world immediately, you didn’t mind getting sidetracked. After all, it was your first time having this much freedom. You might be able to do all the things you swore you’d do with Papyrus without being locked up in the dungeons.

Although you felt sad you wouldn’t be able to experience these firsts with your good friend, you felt happy you were able to gain a new connection with the excitable blue skeleton. You swear that once Papyrus all heals up, you’ll ask him to try out all these new things with you.

Blue begins gushing to you about the different treats you have yet to try, and you listen, intrigued. The two of you stand over the table in the shed, listening to Blue as he rambles while organizing the tools back onto the wall.

BAM!

Your peace is suddenly broken when an orange-sleeved arm appears out of nowhere and slams onto the table, startling both you and Blue. The sudden impact causes the two of you to jump, and the tools on the table and wall shake, some falling to the floor with a clatter.

You stumble back, your arms outstretched in defense in front of you as you back away from the orange clad skeleton that had appeared beside you. “STRETCH!” Blue shouts once he realizes, looking upset at the intrusion of his brother.

You recognize him to be the same skeleton Blue was with when he first checked up on you. The taller skeleton’s demeanor was tense and alert, a vague flash of orange shining in his socket.

Stretch dismisses his brother’s call and keeps his gaze on you. “you.” Stretch hisses, his voice dripping with hostility.

Stretch lifts his arm from the table and turns toward you. From the way his hands were positioned, you could tell he was getting ready to conjure his magic. “What are you doing here?” he asks in a commanding tone.

If the skeleton truly wanted to get into a fight, you would be at a great disadvantage. Not to mention, you and Blue had just finished cleaning the shed up. You didn’t want to waste Blue’s efforts.

You return his glare, already thinking up all the ways you could escape if he truly decided to jump you. “STOP!” Blue is quick to jump between you and Stretch, keeping you behind him while he holds back Stretch from getting any closer to you.

“STRETCH, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Blue asks in a panic as he looks up at his hostile brother.

Stretch's expression remains steely, his eye sockets narrowed as he continues to glare at you. “that’s what i’m asking her.” He retorts, his tone laced with suspicion.

You can feel the weight of Stretch's gaze bearing down on you, his posture rigid and alert. It's clear that he's not backing down, and his hostility shows no signs of abating.

Stretch had no qualms of getting into a tumble with you, he would just easily overpower you with his magic. He decides against it, though, as he knows of the consequences were he to hurt a hair on your head. You had quite the reputation of yapping to the authorities any bit of trouble you found with his kind.

“how many times did i tell you to stay away from my brother?” Your brows furrow in confusion at Stretch's words. This was the first time you had heard of any warning about staying away from his brother.

In front of him, Blue tries his best to get his brother’s attention, waving an arm in front of his face in an attempt to break eye contact. “STOP IT STRETCH! SHE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!” Blue shouts in defense.

Stretch’s gaze shifts towards his brother, eyes narrowing with skepticism. “yeah, right,” he scoffs, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “did you suddenly forget how much of a bitch she is?” The words are laced with bitterness, and his lips curl into a sneer.

You look toward Blue, who appeared desperate to diffuse the situation. As much as you disliked being threatened, you felt that you needed to back down before the situation could escalate any further. You decide to drop your defensive stance, holding your hands up in a sign of surrender.

You didn’t want to stir conflict between the two brothers. It was clear you had overstayed your welcome anyway. You land a hand on the shorter skeleton’s shoulder. His head turns to you, his eyes wide and worried. “It’s alright, Blue.” You whisper, hoping to calm the anxious skeleton.

“BUT-”

“It is getting quite late. It is time I return home.” You say as you pull a tight-lipped smile on your lips.

You keep your gaze fixed on Stretch as you shuffle around the two brothers, trying your best to keep your distance as you attempt to get to the door. Beside him, Blue appears defeated, a sad expression on his face.

Before you step out, you turn back to give Blue a reassuring smile. “Thank you for having me.” Without another word, you bow your head and swiftly take your leave.

Stretch watches as your figure disappears into the forest, brows furrowed as confusing thoughts plague his mind. It wasn’t like you to back down so easily. It was often that you insisted on being the victor of a fight.

“STRETCH!” Blue’s voice interrupts his thoughts, a hand gripping onto his hoodie sleeve to catch his attention. “YOU SCARED HER OFF!”

Stretch shrugs dismissively, an indifferent look on his face. “good riddance bro.” Stretch mutters, rolling his eyes. “what was that bitch doing here anyways?”

Blue recoils at his brother’s words. “LANGUAGE, STRETCH!” Blue scolds, looking offended at his choice of words.

“SHE WAS HELPING ME FIX UP THE SHED SINCE MUTT WAS TOO LAZY TO,” Blue explains as he turns back toward the table of tools. He begins rearranging them in an aggressive manner. His face scrunched up in frustration.

Stretch’s brow raises as he watches his brother pick up the tools that had fallen to the floor. From the way he moved, he could tell he was still upset. “wasn’t she the one who trashed the shed?” Stretch asks, his voice laced with confusion.

Blue pauses, frustration evident in his tone, “WELL- YES! THAT'S WHY SHE WANTED TO HELP OUT.”

Stretch scoffs, feeling frustrated at his brother’s foolishness. “bullshit. y’know you don’t have to cover up for her.” He leans onto the wall as he watches his brother busy himself with fixing the tools.

“if she’s harassing you-”

“SHE’S NOT, OKAY?”

“you really want me to believe that?” Stretch says incredulously, straightening up his stance as he looks at his brother more seriously.

“you haven’t seen how horrible she can really be.” Stretch ports to his brother's side, attempting to make eye contact with him, but Blue refuses to look at him.

“blue.” he calls, gently taking hold of his brother’s shoulders.

Blue finally concedes and looks up at him, appearing calmer than before. Stretch looks at his brother with worry, a sigh escaping his lips. “look, i just don’t want you to get hurt.” He mutters, a solemn look on his face.

“i don’t know what meyer is up to, but you can’t just trust too easily. remember eleanor?” Blue visibly deflates at the mention of the name.

“Yeah..” Blue mutters, his gaze falling to the floor.

“i can’t tell you what to do bro,” Stretch says as he steps back, shoving his hands back into his pockets. ”but i suggest staying away from meyer. she's more trouble than she's worth.”

“i don’t want you to get caught in the crosshair when she finally decides to stop playing her new game.”

A moment of silence passes, Blue seemingly getting lost in his thoughts. “blue?” Stretch calls his brother's name, waiting for his response.

“Yeah. Okay.”

Chapter Text

A ripple in the endless ocean of white catches your attention. You swear you could hear a faint voice calling out your name. 

Another ripple, another call.

You put one foot in front of the other, catching yourself from stumbling as you begin to follow the source of the sound. You squint and blink your eyes as you trudge along, beginning to lose sense of what's up or down. Everything was white. The floor and the sky was beginning to merge together into one blank void.

You pause when you come upon a great disturbance in the lake of white. You watch the white thrash and splash, looking as if a helpless animal was struggling beneath the depths. Gurgling noises filled your ears, your heart aching at the sound.

You stumble closer toward the commotion, feeling a sudden urge to come rescue whatever was drowning in the water. You crash to your knees once you arrive, and you waste no time reaching into the lake. 

You watch your arm disappear into the water. You wave your hand aimlessly, trying to look for something not there. You try to grasp at something, anything. But alas, your fingertips reach nothing.

The water goes still. The sudden silence rings in your ears. 

You failed once again. 

Maybe another day.

Your eyes flutter open, your mind waking up to consciousness. You stare up at the white ceiling above you, watching the shadows of the curtain dance as the wind blows through.

You let out a sigh. Another day, another dead-end. 

You don't flinch when the door abruptly opens, the knob crashing into the wall before bouncing back. You're surprised the drywall had yet to fracture upon the many times Meyer had dramatically barged into your quarters. 

“Get off your lazy ass Rat. I need breakfast. I'm hungry.” Meyer says in a demanding tone as she pops her head in and out of your room, looking to be in a hurry. 

Despite having the exact same voice, you're surprised how much more grating Meyers’ can be. Especially in the morning.

You swing your legs over the side of the bed and lift your arms over your head to do a quick stretch before heading out. You jog down the steps of the stairs, and faintly, you could hear loud footsteps running around the ground floor. It could only be Meyer, who seemed to be performing the same rushed routine every morning.

She moves past you once you reach the end of the stairs before suddenly pausing and looking toward you with an incredulous look. “What are you doing there, gaping like a fish? Get to it!” She shouts impatiently before continuing to run around.

You roll your eyes once she’s out of sight, your hand moving up to your mouth as you stifle a yawn. You start walking toward the kitchen, watching in your peripheral as Meyer battles with the monster she calls her hair. She picks and prods at it with her hairbrush, yet the beast remains stubborn. Meyer eventually surrenders to it, deciding to do other matters instead.

You begin cooking Meyers’ usual breakfast, the classic egg and bacon sandwich she'd forced you to learn a few days back. You had cooking breakfast added to your list of duties in the household after many mornings when Meyer had to rush to work on an empty stomach. 

Most likely growing sick of working with the fatigue of hunger, she added a clause to your deal.  She added that she would let you also have whatever meal you would cook up for her in the morning. Other than that, you were not to touch any food in the icebox.

It was one hell of a day when Meyer tried teaching you how to run the kitchen. There were many hazards, and she did not want you burning her house down. You were afraid to admit the only thing you were good with were the knives. 

Though you did have some experience cooking meals back at the tower, there was an alarming amount of foreign contraptions in Meyers’ kitchen. She gave you a quick rundown of how everything worked before leaving you to figure out everything else. She only stayed back to make sure you wouldn't actually burn down the house.

Lucky for her, you were a fast learner at working with the contraptions, and you certainly enjoyed a good challenge. What was not lucky, however, was your complete lack of skills in cooking actually decent meals. 

You're afraid to say, but the meal you were more familiar with was the common rabbit or mushroom stew you'd have to cook up in the middle of missions in the Ebbot forest. They were a complete contrast to the luxurious meals Meyers always demanded of you. She soon gave up and gave you a recipe for a basic breakfast sandwich. One, she says you would surely not mess up.

Besides burning the eggs and toast a few times, you eventually got the hang of it. You were meaning to learn more recipes soon, as you're sure having egg and bacon sandwiches every morning would make someone sick of it eventually. You were fine with the repetition of the meal, but you’re pretty certain you couldn't say the same for Meyer.

Meyer clacks her way into the kitchen, her heels loud smacking on the checkered tiles. You hold back a wince at every loud clack until she finally settles onto one of the seats at the dinner table. Her face was red and dripping with sweat, her whole presence screaming stress.

You quickly bring her meal in front of her, pairing the sandwich with a glass of orange juice. Meyer sighs in relief at the aroma of the meal, setting down her purse on the chair beside her before holding up her hand with a hairbrush toward you.

You immediately take the brush from her and begin to smooth out her hair, using your hands occasionally to remove the bigger tangles. No words are exchanged between the two of you as you finally tame the beast on her head, just in time for her to finish her sandwich.

“I'm going out to town again today.” You inform her as you bring her plate to the sink, carefully balancing the empty glass and metal utensils on top of it.

“What was that?” You hear Meyer call from the living room. You can hear frantic shuffling and clacking as she attempts to finish preparing and finally head out.

You let out a sigh, briefly closing your eyes as you set the dishes down in the sink before heading to the living room. “I said, I'm heading out.” You repeat, leaning against the doorway.

An annoyed look flashes on her face, looking bothered at your pointless words. “‘kay.” She mutters as she searches through her bag to check if everything is in place.

“Long as you don't make trouble, I don't give a fuck.” She makes a face at you before finally stepping out and slamming the door loudly behind her. 

You purse your lips as your eyes scan over the mess in the living room. You would have to clean up everything before heading out. It wasn’t a new occurrence that the living room would be a complete mess in the morning. Whether or not Meyer was passed out in it or if she was going through her morning rush for work.

You clean up the kitchen shortly after and move to the living room to finish up. You wipe the sweat off your forehead after you set the last pillow on the sofa in place. At last, you were finally free to start preparing for your adventure of the day.

You had been frequenting the town more recently after the drought of information you found on Ebbot online. Several results were showing up on the search engine, but none were relevant to your cause. Your morning training sessions weren't any good either. Although you were finally able to fully form your staff, you still weren't able to hold it for more than a few seconds. 

You eventually decided to explore the town in order to get your mind off your frustrations. Although having a routine was fulfilling, Meyer started getting angry at you for holing yourself up in the house. Saying something about you stinking up the place? 

A change in routine was quite nice anyway.

After getting into clothes more appropriate for an outing, you crouch down to your knees to retrieve a small box beneath your bed. The box was already there when you went snooping, and it was filled with a bunch of old, dusty items. It was clear from the state of the objects that it had been a long time since it saw the light of day.

One such item that caught your attention was a red journal. Upon inspection, you noticed the first few pages appeared to be ripped off, and the rest of the surviving paper was blank and yellow from age. You took it upon yourself to use the journal for your research, taking down important information using a yellow pencil you'd also fished out of the box.

You’d soon fill the journal with information you had found from the internet, and the remaining pages waiting to be filled with more findings. You recall the town having a library from that poster you were given during your first outing, and if the libraries here were anything like the one in the tower, you were sure you would be able to have much more luck getting relevant information there.

You soon arrive at the front steps of the library, one hand gripping the strap of your satchel that held your journal and pencil. Above the large wooden doors in front of you was a large gold plate with letters spelling EBBOT LIBRARY. Fortunately, the library was just near the town plaza, so you had no trouble finding it on your first time out. 

You enter through the wooden doors, ignoring the stares you receive as you try your best to close the door as quietly as you can. It looked to be another slow morning in the library, with only a few patrons occupying the endless rows of tables. Noises were few and far between, the occasional cough and the frequent fluttering of pages.

Near the entrance were computers in cubicles similar to the one the lady used in the printer shop. It fascinated you when the librarian taught you how to find where books and entries were located just by entering the title in the search engine.

Back at the tower's library, you would have to ask the librarian to guide you through the maze of shelves and painstakingly search one by one which book fits your interest. 

You were currently reading up on Ebbot and its culture, though you were eager to finish it and move on to more relevant topics. It was one of the first books the librarian suggested to you, and you took up her offer. Although you had finished reading other books, there were only a few relevant information you could write down in your journal. You were hoping this reading today would be more successful.

As intrigued as you were by the culture of Ebbot, you were disappointed at the complete lack of monsters in the book. To be fair, it had only been a few years since monsters appeared at the surface, so you were having quite a bit of trouble finding books referencing them.

You head to the back of the library, where most books on Ebbot are located. Once you find your book, you head to the little corner you'd made your home since you started frequenting the library. 

There were no cushions nor lamp lights, but the feeling of the cold floor somewhat comforted you. It brought you back to your childhood, where you spent the whole day reading any book that caught your interest and trying to gain as much information as you could about your world.

You spend the following hours finishing up the book. You'd noted how vaguely similar this Ebbot’s culture was to your home. The only major lacking thing was the monarchy and the presence of the mage tower. Perhaps also the great difference in technological advancement.

So far, there has still been no mention of mages. You were beginning to wonder if this town had mages in the first place. You recall that kid you'd encounter the first time you went to town, though, and you were certain they were connected to their soul magic. The color of their eyes was a blatant telltale of their power.

You were just about to begin the last section of the book when a rumble of noise suddenly echoes through the library. You sit up more properly, straightening your back and craning your neck in order to take a peek at the main hall of the library. 

Suddenly, you could see several tiny figures whipping past the tall bookshelves, running up and down the main hall as whispers and laughter rang out. Two students in uniform walk down the hall beside you, talking amongst themselves as they scan the books on the shelves. 

You recognize the children to be students from Ebbot Academy, donning the same uniform you'd often see at the plaza. Faintly, you can hear the meek voice of the librarian asking the children to quiet down. The loud noises dwindle for a moment, only to pick back up in volume shortly after.

It seems that the students were brought to the library for one of their classes.

Feeling your curiosity satisfied, you settle back down, your posture deflating into the corner of the wall as you try to find where you left off. Your finger traces the lines of text, and your brows furrow as you search for the words.

You halt in your search when you notice a pair of legs appear in your upper peripheral. Your eyes move up to meet blood-red ones staring down at you with interest. On their lips was a sweet smile, but from the way their cheek twitched, you could tell it was forced.

“Hello, lady!” The child greets with a single wave, leaning to the side and causing their short, auburn hair to fall on their face. 

You recognize it to be the same child that had saved you from running into the middle of the road on your first outing. The same child you told yourself to be wary of.

Your back immediately straightens at the sight of the seemingly innocent child, and you subtly attempt to scoot farther away from them. The kid's eyes crinkle in delight at the sight of your tense figure, and they crouch down to meet your eye level, arms on their knees.

“Say, aren’t you the same lady that almost got herself run over?” They ask, feigning a ponderous expression while tapping a finger on their chin thoughtfully.

Without waiting for your response, the kid slams their fist into their palm, a dramatic look of realization spreading across their face. “Ah, yes! It was you. I’d remember that dumbb..” they pause briefly, quickly correcting themselves “—cute face anywhere.” They giggle, falling back onto their bum before scooting into place beside you against the wall.

The backpack behind them gets squished in the process, and the kid lets out a grunt when it suddenly jerks, pushing them forward abruptly. The kid's smile becomes strained as they begin to remove the backpack from their shoulders and settle it on their lap.

Noticing your staring, the kid focuses their attention back on you and flashes the same sweet smile from earlier. Paired with their red eyes and childish demeanor, you could feel the hairs on your arm rise. No matter how innocent the kid wished to appear, you couldn't feel anything but unnerved.

Although it was only the two of you in the wing of the library, you felt cornered by the tiny child. 

“Ooh! Ebbot culture, that's an interesting one.” The kid comments excitedly, their eyes lighting up in delight upon spotting the title of the book in your hands.

You have no clue why the kid's interest was placed on you, but you greatly wished they would take it somewhere else. You just wanted to continue your research in peace. 

You swear you see the kid’s eye twitch at your lack of response or reaction. Still, their smile remains fixed. “Say, are you new in town, lady? I haven't seen you before,” They ask with a hint of curiosity.

You stare at the kid for a moment, your eyes scanning their expression in an attempt to read their intentions. The kid's brows raise in anticipation at your prolonged silence. 

You let out a sigh and shift in your seat, closing the book in your hands. ”You are correct.” You reply curtly, a look of resignation on your face.

A gasp escapes their lips as a dramatic look of shock paints their face. “How exciting! A new friend,” they exclaim, giggling as they lean forward. Their arms tighten around their bag in a crushing hug.

Your brows furrow as the bag shifts once again, seemingly pushing at the child's arms. Ignoring the movement, the kid aims to garner your attention once again. “Welcome to Ebbot, lady!” they exclaim enthusiastically without a care of the volume of their voice.

“The most magical place in the country,” the kid adds, shimming their hands to the side in dramatics.

You couldn't say you were too excited to be here. No one would be that enthusiastic waking up to a place and world completely different from their own. 

Although there were uncanny similarities to your home kingdom, you could no longer deny that this place might not be on the same plane as yours.

“The name's Chara.” The kid says, holding out a hand for you to shake. “Just Chara- no nicknames.” The kid quickly adds, holding a finger up.

“Not chi-chi or cha-cha, and definitely not ra-ra.” Chara lists off each nickname with their fingers, a tone of disgust in their voice. Despite their smiling face, you could tell they were serious about it.

A moment passes before you finally offer your name, resigning yourself to shaking the kid's hand. You could not stop the suspicious gaze you had on the kid as their other hand clamped around yours before vigorously shaking it up and down. 

“Nice to meetcha, lady.” They say with much enthusiasm.

You pull your hand back with force when you suddenly feel a sharp buzzing pain run down your arm. You hold your arm against your chest as a disturbed look crosses your features.

Chara maintains an innocent expression, a questioning hum emanating from them at your actions. “What's wrong?” They ask, concern lacing their voice.

Your brows furrow further before you stop yourself, shaking your head and settling your hand down. You couldn’t overreact. It might've been just your usual pains. “Nothing.” You reply quietly, giving the child a tight-lipped smile.

Just as Chara opens their mouth to say something, your attention is suddenly caught by a voice calling out the child's name in the distance. 

An older lady turns the corner into the aisle, and her face perks up when she spots Chara by your side. “Chara! There you are. You've kept your class late once again,” the teacher scolds in disdain.

“Stop bothering the poor lady and hurry along to your classmates.” You don't miss the irked expression that flashes upon Chara's features at the words of the teacher. It is quickly masked with their usual smile as they jump up to their feet.

“Yes, Madam Cress!” Chara does a dramatic bow. “I apologize,” they say in an apologetic tone, with a sheepish smile. Quickly slipping on the straps of their backpack, Chara watches as their teacher begins to walk away, appearing satisfied with Chara's immediate compliance.

You watch as Chara follows closely behind the old lady. Just as they turn the corner, you see Chara look back at you with a toothy grin, giving you a quick salute before finally disappearing from sight.

You let out a shaky breath once you're finally alone. As friendly as Chara appeared to be, you can't ignore the uneasy feeling they gave you. Something about them just seemed off.

Not only do you suspect Chara to be a soulmage like yourself, you're also worried that they may have already sniffed you out as one. It would certainly explain their particular interest in you.

As soon as you calm yourself down, you push yourself back onto your feet. You grip the book in your hand and start heading toward the section it belonged to. You walk down the aisle, your eyes trailing along the titles on the spines of books as you try to find the home of the book on the self.

You stop once you arrive at a break in the lines of books, a single spot where your book belonged. You push the book back into place, feeling satisfied at how perfectly it fits in like a puzzle piece.

You continue down the aisle, your finger trailing along the spines as you try to find a new book to catch your interest. Your finger stops on a hardbound book, an icon on the top of a human, and a circular creature engraved in gold. 

The title reads THE HISTORY OF EBBOT.

It seemed to be just what you were looking for. You recall reading a book similarly named a few days back, but this one seemed to be different. You pull at the spine of the book, eager to begin reading its contents. 

Just as you pop the book from its place, your eyes suddenly focus on a blue orb glowing from beyond the hole in the shelf. Your eyes widen when it seems to morph into a star, glowing more brightly. 

You wince when you suddenly hear a familiar voice shouting your name.

You faintly hear rapid footsteps running down the aisle opposite yours. In a panic, you press yourself against the shelf and hunch over in an attempt to make yourself small. You open the book in your hands and hold it up and over your face. You can hear the footsteps get louder before finally stopping right beside you. 

“Meyer?” You can hear Blue call out for you in a quieter volume. 

A moment of silence passes before you finally decide to take a peak at the skeleton beside you. You pull a polite smile to your lips, feeling caught red-handed despite having no crime. 

“Blue.” You say, feigning shock. “What a surprise.” 

You feel a tinge of guilt when you see the skeleton’s downtrodden expression. “Are You Avoiding Me?” Your eyes widen at his question. 

“Oh no, not at all, Blue.” You shake your head, an apologetic smile settling on your lips. Your gaze falls to the book in your hands, finding it difficult to keep staring back into Blue’s sad eyes. 

“I just thought…” You thought he no longer wished to seek your company after you almost had an altercation with his brother at the shed.

You didn’t wish to make trouble for Blue if he truly wanted to stay away from you. These thoughts might have also contributed to your decision to refocus on researching—it helped to keep you distracted.

Your gaze trails back to Blue, who had a hopeful look on his face. You pull a tight-lipped smile to your lips. “Never mind,” You say, shaking your head as if it was nothing but a silly thought.

“I’m Sorry I Wasn’t Able to Meet You These Past Days. Things Got.. Busy At Home.” Blue admits, an apologetic look on his face. 

In truth, Blue had been looking for you all over town after he kept missing your morning training sessions. He also had to throw Stretch off his back so another situation wouldn’t arise again if he ever caught him with you again

Although he understood his brother’s concerns, he couldn't find it in his heart to abandon you, especially when you’ve treated him with nothing but kindness and patience. 

Even if you were truly just playing a game on him, he’d rather play the fool than make the big mistake of letting this blossoming friendship go to waste. No matter what stories he heard about you from the past, what mattered to him was the present moment.

You shake your head. “It’s alright, no need to apologize.”

The two of you smile at each other, perhaps in relief and gratification that your connection has not been severed.

After a moment of silence, Blue clears his throat. “So!” Blue tucks his hands behind his back as he looks around with a curious smile on his face.

“This Is Where You’ve Been These Past Days?” Blue asks.

You nod your head. “Indeed. I have just been researching the culture of Ebbot.” You bring the book in your hands up, “I’m about to delve into its history.”

Blue tilts his head in confusion at your words. “They Don’t Teach It In School?” Blue swore he once helped Frisk with their homework on the history of Ebbot. He recalls how frustrated Frisk had gotten, complaining about how inaccurate the information was in their textbook.

You visibly pause at his question, hesitantly shaking your head. “No.. Well, yes?” You say, a bit conflicted. 

“I just wish to recall the information. It’s been quite some time.” You explain.

Blue nods his head in understanding. “Uhm.. Hey, Have You Eaten Yet?” He soon asks, and you shake your head no in response. 

You had spent the entire morning reading in the library without stopping. It hadn’t occurred to you that it had already turned noon. Regardless, it wasn't as if you had the money to buy food anywhere anyway.

At your response, an air of hesitance washes over Blue. “Would You… Maybe Wanna Grab Lunch With Me At The Mall?” Blue asks hesitantly, looking closely at your reaction to his question.

“Oh, I would love to, Blue, but I’m afraid I don’t have the allowance to buy a meal,” You respond with a small, apologetic smile.

Blue’s face brightens up slightly. “Oh, Don’t Worry About That! My Treat! I Just Thought It’d Be Fun To Hang Out Again,” he offers, his voice filled with hopeful enthusiasm.

You hesitate, not wanting to burden the skeleton further. He already covered the costs of the deserts he’d invited you to have with him last time. The words die in your mouth as you see the hopeful look on Blue’s face. 

“Alright, if you insist.” You concede, giving the skeleton a smile before turning to place the book back on the shelf. 

You make a mental note to return to it later.

“HAVE YOU GONE TO METTATON’S RESTAURANT BRANCH AT THE MALL?” Blue’s volume returned to its usual once the two of you took to the streets. 

He took the lead as usual, saying that you two had to take a quick bus ride to get to this place called the Mall. The two of you stood underneath a blue shed by the side of the road. Beside you was a sign with the symbol of a rectangular object on a tiny road. 

Blue pauses when a thought suddenly hits him. “UHM..” He awkwardly hums, realizing you’ve probably never gone or didn’t want to go because of your disdain for monsters. You didn’t appear to dislike it when he invited you to Muffet’s, though. Perhaps you would also be open to Mettaton’s restaurant as well?

You tilt your head at Blue’s sudden silence. “I’m afraid I haven’t.” You admit.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what is this location called the.. Mall?” You let the word roll off your tongue, your brows furrowed in question.

“WELL, IT’S THIS-” Blue's hands began to move as they usually do when he rambles topics to you, but he suddenly pauses in his movement, an incredulous look appearing on his face. 

“... WAIT, WHAT DO YOU MEAN?” He asks, wondering if he misheard your question.

“This Mall. I haven’t heard anything like it before.” You repeat, a curious lilt in your voice. 

“... Is something the matter?” You ask in worry when you see Blue’s confused expression.

Blue felt unsure if you were joking or if you were playing some kind of game. “IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY.. DIDN’T YOU USE TO WORK AT THE MALL?” Blue was sure of this as Edge, who also used to work there, would often go on rants about how insufferable you were. 

He recalls how Edge would complain about how you would meddle in matters not related to you and how you often made his job harder. He also recalls how Edge rejoiced when you suddenly changed jobs, one away from the mall.

This time, it was your turn to be confused.  “No.. I have never had a job there.” Not to mention, it was your first time hearing of such a place. You’ve technically had only one job in Ebbot, and it’s been apparent that this wasn’t the exact same Ebbot you’ve grown in and fought for.

“HUH. BUT..”

You press your lips thin and watch silently as Blue trails off, a distant look in his eyes as he gets lost in his thoughts. Soon, Blue’s eyes dart toward you once he notices your staring. 

A nervous grin cracks on his lips. “RIGHT,” Blue chuckles sheepishly. 

“SORRY. I MUST BE THINKING OF SOMEONE ELSE.” Blue says apologetically, a hand reaching up to scratch the back of his skull.

The sound of a low roar and a sharp hiss catches both of your attention. You turn toward a vehicle that pulled up on the road beside you, its doors slowly opening on its own. 

You look up in awe at the huge machine.

You’ve seen it around town occasionally, passing by in a hurry, leaving behind a trail of dust and smoke. You deduced it might be this world’s version of a carriage or chariot. Like always, you wonder how it functions and what it runs on. 

Most carriages in your world were pulled by steeds, but you recall that in some distant kingdom, a new type of mode of transportation was being developed. One not needing any type of animal to carry it, but energy instead. You never got to see it (not that you would be allowed to travel in the first place), but you wonder if it would be similar to the vehicle in front of you now.

You hear Blue call your name as he hops onto the steps of the entrance. “COME ON,” he beckons, gesturing with his head toward the inside.

You quickly follow him, shivering as the cold air hits you. Beside you, Blue pulls out a card from his pockets before tapping it twice on a small rectangular box by the front.

He utters a quick greeting to the coachman as he passes before leading you toward the main room of the vehicle. Blue ushers you toward two seats nearby, and you quickly slide in, taking the seat by the window.

You try to get a view outside as you sense Blue settling in the seat beside you. The vehicle has started moving now, and you watch as the buildings around you pass in a blur. 

Fortunately, you were never one to get sick in moving carriages. As long as you don’t move around too much, you feel fine. You couldn’t say the same for your old charge. However, as you recall, how nauseous they got on their first carriage ride.

After a while of watching the view, you turn to your side to voice a question that popped into your mind. You close your mouth just as quickly as you open it when you notice Blue staring at you, with an unreadable expression on his face. 

Your brows furrow in concern, your head tilting slightly. “Blue?” You call. “Is there something troubling you?”

Blue quickly gives you a reassuring smile as he shakes his head. “AH, NO.. IT’S NOTHING.” 

Blue’s eyelights suddenly focus on something behind you, at the window, and he quickly stands up. “ALRIGHT! THIS IS OUR STOP.” He announces to you, the usual cheer and enthusiasm returning to his voice. 

Chapter Text

The two of you step off the bus and Blue begins leading you toward a large building in the distance. The sheer size of the building reminded you of a noble’s castle, although the architecture remained to be completely different.

Several large paintings lined the bare walls of the building, advertisements, as you’ve come to learn after encountering several on Meyer’s laptop. To the side of the building was a large open field covered with concrete, and littered with rows of various kinds of vehicles. Most smaller than the vehicle you had just traveled on.

The two of you walk among droves of people walking toward the front of the building and converging toward a small entrance. The two of you stand behind the line, and you watch as two people in uniform swiftly check the contents of each person’s bag.

How curious. It reminded you of how your tower’s knights would perform inspections on the belongings of the visitors of the tower before they would be allowed in. Perhaps this place is a castle after all.

You quickly follow their lead as you near the front, opening your satchel ready for checking. In front of you, Blue stands still as the knight waves a rectangular paddle in front of him, and quickly moves forward. You let the other knight peek into your satchel and you watch as they pick and prod at the inside with a stick.

Upon only seeing your journal and a pencil, they give an approving nod and gesture for you to move forward. The other knight stops you and uses the same rectangular paddle stick on you before allowing you to finally pass through.

Blue greets you on the other side with an excited grin, one hand beckoning you over. Blue sets his hands on his hips as he joins you in your first viewing of the inside of the building. Blue grins as he watches you look around in complete awe.

The inside was very bright, with lights coming from both the glass windows on the ceiling above, allowing the afternoon sun to stream in, as well as the several lights coming from the different sources on the ceilings and lamps around. Despite the brightness, you were once again engulfed in coldness, and you couldn’t help but tuck your hands into your hoodie’s pockets to shield them from the cold.

The two of you were standing in the main atrium of the building, and you could see two large corridors branching off at the sides. There appeared to be several floors above you, like several mezzanines, blocked off with railings made of glass. The building was littered with several stores with big signs, similar to the ones you often passed by in the plaza.

“SO.. THIS IS YOUR FIRST TIME AT THE MALL, HUH?” Blue asks, his elbow nudging the air beside you.

You briefly glance toward him, slowly nodding your head as you continue to look around. “Yes. I haven’t seen anything like it.” You admit, although it did vaguely remind you of one of the main temples at the holy empire.

Blue calls you as he begins to walk across the atrium, and you quickly follow after him. “THE MALL IS BASICALLY THIS ONE BIG BUILDING FILLED WITH DIFFERENT KINDS OF SHOPS AND RESTAURANTS.” Blue explains as the two of you walk.

“THERE'S NOT MUCH MONSTER-RUN SHOPS HERE.” He gestures to one store in a corner with a tall monster standing in front of it in uniform.

“MOST OF US CHOSE TO SET UP OUR OWN SHOPS IN TOWN, LIKE MUFFET, BUT METTATON HAS SEVERAL BRANCHES AROUND TOWN, AND HERE IN THE MALL TOO.” This time, he gestures to several shops around the atrium, all themed quite similarly, but catering to different services.

The two of you stop in front of one of the shops, though this one looks to be a restaurant. Above the wide entrance spelled the words, “MTT-BRAND BURGER EMPORIUM.”

A tall statue by the side of the entrance catches your attention. It looked to be a shiny statue of a slender robotic monster in a peculiar pose. “I’M SURE YOU’VE HEARD OF METTATON.” Blue says with a chuckle, “I’M PRETTY SURE SOMEONE TRIED TO STEAL THAT ONCE.”

The two of you enter the restaurant, standing near the entrance as you follow Blue in looking over the menu above the counter. There were several food items completely foreign to you, much like your first time at Muffet’s.

What was Steak in the Shape of Mettaton's Face?

Beside you, Blue was reading the menu intently. “WHAT DO YOU WANT TO GET?” He suddenly asks you, his eyes still trained on the menu.

You hum, your eyes scanning over the menu once more. “I’m not quite sure.” You say. “Perhaps I will just have what you will have.”

“UM, ALRIGHTY!” Blue agrees with a nod of his head, giving one last glance at the menu to confirm what he wants to get for the two of you. Since this seemed to be your first time here, he reckoned the classic meal would be a good start.

Blue walks over to the line in front of the counter with you following suit. “WOULD YOU MIND SAVING A SEAT FOR US? LOOKS LIKE THE RESTAURANT IS PACKED TODAY..” You follow Blue’s line of sight to the restaurant’s main dining room that was buzzing with life. The majority of the people occupying the seats were monsters, but you could spot a few humans here and there.

Silently, you nod your head and start walking over to the main room. You maneuver your way around the numerous tables and seats, dodging occasionally the odd monster or two suddenly moving their arms in your way as they converse animatedly with their companions.

In the corner of the room, you spot an empty booth. You immediately make your way to claim the seats before anyone else could beat you to it. The booth appeared to be meant for four people, but there were no other vacancies, so you decided that it would suffice.

You slide into the leather seats, situating yourself beside the cold wall, and settle your arms on the table. In front of you was a bunch of tiny posters on a standee. You pick up the advertisement and start reading over the text. In the middle was a rectangular-looking monster posing together with one of the menu items in their hands.

In your peripheral you see Blue enter the dining area, his hands balancing a tray of various food items. He was looking around trying to find you amongst the sea of restaurant-goers. Once his gaze passed your area without recognizing you, you decided to hold your hand up to wave to him.

His eyes immediately catch your movement, and a relieved smile blooms on his face. He quickly saunters over and carefully places down the tray of food on the table. “FOR A SECOND THERE, I THOUGHT YOU’D LEFT ALREADY.” He jokingly says with a laugh as he slides into the seat across you.

You tilt your head wondering why he thought you would leave when he’d clearly instructed you to find seats. “ANYWAYS– I GOT US THE GLAMBURGER MEAL, I THINK THAT’S A GOOD START SINCE I THINK THIS IS YOUR FIRST TIME HERE!” He explains as he places a purple box in front of you along with a cup filled with a dark substance.

“FOR A PLACE WITH A LOT OF BRANCHES, THEY’VE REALLY GOT TO EXPAND THEIR MENU OPTIONS.” Blue jokes as he watches you stare at the food items in front of you in silence. He wasn’t sure if the meal was to your liking as he couldn’t gauge your reaction. Maybe your tastes were too refined for this place.

You take hold of the cup and bring it up to your face. You take a whiff of it, but you can’t pinpoint any familiarity with the smell. You wince when tiny droplets of the drink land on your face. “Is this safe to consume?” You ask, growing concerned at the liquid’s nature.

“UMM, I’M PRETTY SURE ITS SAFE?” Blue sounded unsure of himself. “IT IS QUITE UNHEALTHY, BUT I THINK IT WOULDN’T KILL YOU AFTER A SINGLE CONSUMPTION.” He clarifies.

“I WAS PLANNING TO JUST GET YOU JUICE BUT THEY ONLY HAD THAT AS A DRINK OPTION TODAY.” He figured you wouldn’t be the type of person to consume soft drinks, similar to Black’s aversion to it (He’s sure he’d have his head if he found out he dared to compare Black with Meyer.)

You bring the cup to your lips and take a sip. Your brows raise at the sweet flavor that greets your tongue. “It’s sweet.” You say.

You weren’t sure why you were expecting it to taste bitter. Maybe because it was similar in color to the liquid medicine you were familiar with.

Your reaction was not too far from Blue’s when he had first tried it. “RIGHT? I WAS ALSO SHOCKED WHEN I FIRST TASTED IT!” Blue says with a grin as he drinks his own cup.

He begins opening his box and you follow suit. In the box was a sandwich along with what looked to be potatoes chopped into thin strips. In front of you, Blue begins to reach for someone in the middle of the table but stops when he notices something wrong.

“HUH. THERE ARE NO SAUCE BOTTLES…”

“I THINK THERE MIGHT BE SOME AT THE FRONT LET ME JUST GET SOME-” You stand up just as he was beginning to push himself off his seat.

“Allow me to get them for you.” You offered. He had just situated himself after acquiring food for you, so you didn’t want him to stand up and do more work again.

Blue’s brows raise in surprise and soon slowly nods. “ALRIGHT..” He says a bit confusedly.

“THE SAUCE CORNER IS JUST NEAR THE COUNTER, THERE SHOULD BE A BUNCH OF BOTTLES THERE.” He points towards where he entered and from your place you could already spot the place he was pertaining to.

You make your way over to the sauce corner with your eyes already trained on the different colored bottles lined up. You read each one of the labels and click your tongue, realizing you’ve forgotten to ask Blue which one he meant to get. You pick two bottles, one red and the other yellow, labeled ketchup and mustard respectively.

You’d figured these were certainly for the food, and (not surprisingly at this point) you had no idea what these sauces were. Perhaps a taste test would suffice. You pick up two tiny plastic cups beside the bottles and put each sauce in their respective cups.

You bring the red sauce to your lips, and you’re met with a sweet tangy flavor. It tasted familiar, but you couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

You try the yellow sauce next and immediately cringe at the strong flavor. The smell and the taste were definitely more aggressive than the red one.

You feel yourself yearning for a glass of water to relieve your mouth of the flavor. You begin reaching for a napkin stacked at the side to wipe your tongue with, but freeze when you hear a chuckle behind you.

“geez. i never thought i’d see the day a human actually drinkin’ mustard like that bastard.” A voice lazily slurred from beside you.

You jump at the skeleton that had appeared who was reaching over for the cup of red sauce. “personally, i think this one is superior.” he says with a cheeky grin before putting it up to his lips and drinking the entire cup as if he was drinking a beer.

The skeleton beside you was similar in stature to Blue, only this one was wearing a white tank top with a blue jacket on top, black pants, and pink fuzzy slippers.

His sockets were half-lidded and there were deep bags under his eyes. His words were slurred by how slow and tiredly he spoke.

You feel incredulous at having bumped into another one of the skeleton monsters, just when you thought you had seen the last of them. Perhaps this is actually someone you’ve already met and were simply wearing new clothes. They all did look very similar. At this point, you weren’t sure what to think anymore.

You stay silent, feeling a bit uncomfortable at the monster that has shown up. You force your focus back to the task at hand once you see the skeleton reaching for his own bottle of red ketchup, and true to his word, he starts sipping on it.

You stare down at the two bottles of sauce in your hands still unsure of what to get. The other one tasted absolutely horrid.

A finger suddenly appears and taps on the red bottle in your hands, “just get that one, there’s no need to think about it.” He says.

You hummed, looking down at the skeleton with a weird look. “Certainly this… mustard one is not poisoned, is it?” You ask with concern, holding up the yellow bottle.

You were familiar with the taste of some poisons, and this one was not too far from them. You didn’t want to accidentally serve poison to your friend.

The skeleton laughs at your words, a hand slapping on his forehead. “poison?” He chuckles.

“i think it actually might be kid. be careful.” His words were a warning, but you weren’t sure if they were serious with how he was acting.

You frown and decide to heed his warnings anyway. Good thing you had asked, if the warning was not enough, the flavor was surely a dead giveaway to its danger. Seeing how much ketchup the skeleton had already downed at this point, you deem the ketchup was the right choice to bring back to Blue.

“IS ANYTHING WRONG? YOU’VE BEEN TAKING– SANS?!”

You and the skeleton glance behind you when you hear Blue’s voice. You watch him jump in shock when he recognizes the skeleton standing beside you.

He immediately moves faster, putting himself between you and the new skeleton. You determine this was certainly another one of his cousins.

“blue?” sans mutters in confusion, his brows furrowing at the sudden appearance of the blue-clad skeleton.

“SANS! FANCY MEETING YOU HERE!” Blue laughs as if it was the wildest thing he’d heard all day.

“ERM- WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?” You can sense his nerves by the way he was fidgeting with his fingers.

“just dropping by to get lunch.” he responds, slowly dragging a hand down his face.

“i’d apparently promised paps to go shopping so he dragged me out here to do it.” You can tell the skeleton was not feeling up to it with how exhausted his whole body screamed. He looked as if he was about ready to collapse on the floor and start cuddling with the bottle he had been sipping on since earlier.

“SHOPPING?” Blue tilts his head, “WHAT FOR?– OHH!” He pauses when the answer to his question immediately comes to mind.

“I REMEMBER NOW! THAT’S FOR THE–” He stops himself for a split second.

From where you were standing you could not deduce why he had stuttered, but you could notice sans’ eyelights suddenly shift their attention to you.

“FOR OUR NEW COUSIN!” Blue smoothly continues with a sheepish chuckle.

“YES! I DO REMEMBER PAPYRUS MENTIONING THAT.”

In your peripheral, you notice a group of humans standing over your unattended table. You eye their movements for a minute, before realizing they were beginning to sit at your table. You glance one last time at Blue who was still conversing with his cousin before deciding to leave to get your table back.

You quickly arrived at the table and explained to the humans you were still occupying it. There was a bit of hesitation but they’d quickly left and went to go find another table.

You let out a sigh of relief and sit yourself back into your previous seat, carefully placing the bottle of ketchup you had brought near Blue’s food.

You rest your head on your hands while you wait for your friend to come back, your eyes trained on the two skeletons conversing across the room in front of the sauce corner.

You could not hear them anymore, but you notice as Blue begins to fidget nervously once again after Sans speaks. You could tell he was rambling with how much his hands were moving but in the end, he stopped and nodded his head, looking a little defeated.

You straighten up once you realize the two of them were beginning to walk over to your table. You see Blue shoot you an apologetic look as he occupies the seat beside you, reaching over the table briefly to slide his food items towards his new seat.

“hey, it's you again.” Sans says as he takes the seat across the two of you, settling down his own tray along with the bottle of ketchup.

“Greetings..” You say with a slight bow of your head.

You feel uneasy sensing the new skeleton’s gaze on you, not sure if you should indulge in your meal or keep an eye on the monster. Beside you, Blue was moving cautiously, sensing the tension on the table.

“didn’t know you were here with the human.” sans states as he begins to unpack his food tray, his eyelights darting between the two of you.

“OH!” Blue says feigning shock as if he’d just remembered the fact. “YES!”

“UH.. THIS IS..” Blue trails off as he tries to think of a new name, not wanting to reveal your identity to Sans. He wasn’t supposed to be seen with you, and he was worried Sans would mention you to Stretch. He didn’t want all his efforts to go in vain.

“Rat.” You finish for him, not taking your eyes off the skeleton across the table.

Blue perks up at your words, raising a finger. “YES! YES, THIS IS RAT- RAT?!” Blue does a double take at your words, his skull whipping toward you, an incredulous look on his face.

Sans raises a brow at Blue’s actions. “rat?” Sans repeats, looking equally confused.

Blue snaps his attention back to Sans, a nervous chuckle escaping him. “MWEHE.. YES..” He sounded unsure himself, “I-IT’S A NICKNAME, YOU SEE?” He says unconvincingly.

Sans narrows his eyes in suspicion as he takes a bite of his sandwich. “I SAW HER BATTLING A RAT BY THE SEWERS AND NOW THE NAME JUST STUCK! HA HA!” Blue continues to ramble in a panic, waving his hands all over the place.

You blink in complete silence at the story. You were certainly capable of defeating a mere rat, although you wouldn't just do it for fun on a normal weekday.

“The rat stood no chance.” You chime in, deciding to help out your friend in his efforts.

You had no clue why he was trying to hide your identity, but you reckoned it might have something to do with his brother and the altercation between the two of you last time.

Sans appears to choke on his food after hearing the story of your supposed meeting. He slams his fist on his chest as he coughs. Though, you couldn’t tell if he truly was choking or just trying to hold in his laughter by the way he was grinning. Perhaps a mixture of both.

“wow, that's.. that's really interesting.” Sans coughs out after taking a swig of his drink and clearing his throat

“I gotta say kid, that’s rat-ther bold of you to take them on like that.” Sans says giving you a wink, his grin widening.

You’re not sure why Blue’s expression suddenly soured at the Sans’ words. Your eyes dart between Blue’s frown and Sans’ growing grin.

“what? it’s not every day you hear of a jus-mice fighter.”

“THAT DOESN’T EVEN MAKE SENSE!”

“i don’t know what you’re talking about.” Sans shrugs, an innocent look on his face as he takes another bite of his sandwich.

“YOU!!” Blue sputters, throwing his hands up in defeat and putting his attention back to his own food.

You had no idea why Sans was mispronouncing his words nor why Blue was so upset about it, but you decide to just busy yourself with the potato slices in your own meal box.

“well, a proper introduction’s in order,” Sans says, winking at Blue as he reaches out his hand to you.

You reluctantly take the hand of the skeleton. “the name’s sans, sans the skeleton. i’m one of blue’s cousins.”

prrrrt

You blink at the sound emitting from the skeleton’s hand. Was flatulence from their hands a trait skeletons always had? You quickly withdraw your hand, giving the skeleton a disturbed look.

Sans laughs at your expression. “DID YOU HAVE TO??” Blue sighs.

“yep, it’s a sacred rite.” Sans says with a shrug, “whoopy cushion in the hand trick. never gets old.”

“grime fighting aside, are you new in town, rat?” Sans asks, his attention on you once again. “haven’t really seen you around before.”

You look up from your meal, a potato midway into your mouth. You quickly chew and swallow on it before saying, “Yes... I had just arrived here a few weeks back.”

“ahh.. that explains it. new… faces are rare to come by in ebbot.” Sans says. “so, you must be new to seeing monsters then?”

“Mm.. Not really.” You mutter, a somber look on your face. “I’ve had my fair share of interactions prior to arriving here.”

“hm.”

Sans nods his head, taking in your words. “i see,” he says, “well, that’s good. not everyone takes too kindly to monsters.” He lets out a chuckle as he takes a long sip from his bottle of ketchup.

You sigh. “Yes.. Well, I-”

You glance up when you suddenly hear the sound of a loud gasp nearby. “PAPYRUS!” Blue called from beside you.

All at once the world around you fades, your vision only focused on the nearing silhouette of your friend.

You feel fabric at your fingertips.

You look down and see the same face talking to you, a sad smile on its face. You try to listen but the crackling of the fire is too loud. You try to see but your vision is clouded. Someone is screaming but you block it out. You needed to hear.

“I’m sorry.” You whispered.

But no one seemed to hear.

You flinch when you feel a hand on your shoulder.

“Meyer?” Blue whispers in a concerned tone, looking at you with furrowed brows.

“MY GOODNESS, WHAT A HASSLE!!”

Your head snaps up at the sound of the voice.

There, Papyrus stood at the edge of the table, a frustrated look on his face. The armor he wore looked different than the usual one he donned, his face looking healthier and clean, but you had no doubt that it was him.

But how?

Your throat starts to tighten, your eyes dry as your friend you’ve suddenly shows himself in front of you as if in a dream.

It was not possible. Yet, he remained here, in front of you, no matter how many times you tried to remove the illusion.

“TURNS OUT THEY DIDN’T HAVE THE SPAGHETTI I WANT TODAY! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT, BROTHER?” Papyrus shakes his head, turning to the shorter skeleton beside him, a look of disappointment on his face.

The illusion is finally shattered when you hear him talk to Sans… his brother.

But no, the Papyrus you knew didn’t.. His brother wasn't–

You begin to tremble as you are dropped back to reality, your heart thumping and your hands clamoring. Another call from Blue finally shakes you out of your stupor. You sink deeper into your seat, wishing to disappear.

“jeez bro, sounds completely impastable they wouldn’t have any.” Sans says, a tired grin on his face.

You close your eyes as you try to calm your beating heart. Within yours, you could still feel the thrumming of his soul, in sync with yours. Still healing, still broken.

He was there.

This wasn’t your Papyrus.

You faintly feel the sensation Blue’s hand on your arm, you let it ground you. You open your eyes and look over to him.

Papyrus pauses for a moment and decides to ignore what he’d clearly heard. “... RIGHT. WHAT KIND OF PASTA PLACE DOESN’T HAVE PASTA!”

Blue’s face is full of concern, but he gives you a smile, attempting to calm you. You try to reassure him by laying your hand on top of his, but your fingers continue to tremble. You try to put a smile on your face but you find that you can’t.

“that’s prepastarous.”

Papyrus is silent at the sound of his brother's words, a serious look on his face. “BROTHER, DON’T MAKE MY DAY ANY MORE WORSE WITH YOUR PUNS.” Papyrus says, a hand on his forehead.

“excuse him, he’s gets quite upsetti-”

“STOP.”

“without his spaghetti.”

“OH MY GOD.”

“alright bro, I'll just relish this good bottle of ketchup instead.” Sans chuckles, looking proud of himself, his eyes half-lidded as he takes a swig of the bottle.

Papyrus shakes his head in dismay, switching his attention to Blue. “BLUE! MY BROTHER WASN’T BOTHERING YOU WAS HE?”

Blue’s skull whirls over to Papyrus, giving him a reassuring smile as he shakes his head. “NOT AT ALL! I WAS ACTUALLY JUST INTRODUCING HIM TO MY FRIEND HERE.” Blue gestures to you.

You freeze at the sound of Blue’s words. You wanted nothing more than the ground to open up and swallow you whole.

Papyrus' gaze lands on you, his brows raised in surprise. “WOWIE! A NEW HUMAN FRIEND!?” He quickly slides into the booth, settling himself right across you on the table.

“GREETINGS HUMAN!” Papyrus says, leaning a bit closer across the table.

“I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! THOUGH, I AM SURE YOU’VE HEARD OF ME BEFORE. ALL GOOD THINGS I HOPE!!” He says proudly, offering you a gloved hand to take.

You remain frozen in your seat, your heart beginning to race once again. No matter how much you try to tell yourself it isn’t him, it felt impossible to calm your nerves just to hear him.

You keep your eyes trained to the outstretched hand in front of you, yet you make no moves to take it.

The two skeletons' gazes lingered on you at your lack of response. Blue looks over to you in concern while a similar expression grows on Papyrus’ face.

“ARE YOU ALRIGHT HUMAN??”

Blue waves a hand in front of you to catch Papyrus’ attention, a nervous grin on his face. “SHE’S ALRIGHT, SHE’S JUST A BIT NERVOUS!” Blue lies through his teeth. You looked like you wanted to be anywhere but there.

“I SEE!” Papyrus says in realization.

“NOT TO WORRY! I AM QUITE FAMILIAR WITH THIS REACTION!!”

Papyrus and Blue’s attention is briefly caught by the sound of a ketchup bottle spurting loudly. Beside Papyrus, Sans appeared to be preoccupied with his now-empty bottle of ketchup, turning the bottle upside down and looking disappointed when nothing comes out.

“HAVE WE MET BEFORE, HUMAN? YOU LOOK AWFULLY FAMILIAR…” Papyrus hums, turning his attention back to you, a gloved hand rubbing underneath his chin as he examines you closely through narrowed eyes.

Blue’s eyelights dart between the two of you as he tenses up. Just as he was about to divert Papyrus’ attention, Sans suddenly slams the bottle down on the table.

“hey blue, can you passs-ta that bottle?”

“OH MY STARS, SANS! I THOUGHT WE WERE DONE WITH THAT.” Blue grits through his teeth as he passes him the other bottle of ketchup in a hurry.

Blue winces when he hears Papyrus gasp, his sockets growing wide in realization. His gaze darts to Blue, a look of disbelief on his face. Papyrus began to look nervous as he turned back to you as if to double-check if he was seeing right.

You, on the other hand, remained lost in your own thoughts. Blue was growing increasingly worried. What was happening with you?

Blue stares back at Papyrus with wide sockets and discreetly shakes his head, attempting to mouth to Papyrus to stay quiet. Papyrus appears nervous seeing Blue’s pleading face and slowly nods his head in understanding.

He glances at Sans to gauge his reaction, but it seemed as if he was still preoccupied with the bottle. “UM, RAT IS ACTUALLY NEW TO TOWN!” Blue clarifies with an unconvincing look on his face.

Papyrus clears his throat, straightening back up. “I-I SEE!” He says, “WELL, IT IS NICE TO MEET YOU.. RAT!” His usual grin was plastered on his face but Blue could tell his unease.

“WELCOME TO EBBOT NYEHEHEH!”

Blue almost lets out a sigh of relief when you finally nod your head in acknowledgment. He was starting to think you had gotten a heart attack. Was that a possibility?

“... it’s good to see you, Papyrus.” Was all you said.

Blue clasped his hands, “SO! I HEARD YOU GUYS WERE HERE TO GO SHOPPING?”

“WHY YES! WE FIGURED IT WAS ABOUT TIME WE BOUGHT SOME CLOTHES FOR OUR NEW HOUSEMATE!” Papyrus explains.

“I THINK IT IS RATHER UNHYGIENIC OF HIM TO KEEP STAYING IN HIS OLD… UNIFORM.”

“I’M NOT TOO SURE WHAT STYLE WOULD FIT HIM THOUGH! I TRIED ASKING HIM YESTERDAY, BUT I THINK HE’S STILL UPSET THAT WE WOULDN’T LET HIM OUTSIDE AFTER HE-” Papyrus pauses, his gaze quickly darting to you.

“UHH.. AFTER HE UM… DID THE THING.”

Beside Papyrus, Sans snorts loudly, as if remembering a funny memory. “you mean giving that bit-” Papyrus slams a hand on his brother’s shoulder in an instant.

“DON’T USE THAT KIND OF LANGUAGE HERE BROTHER!” He scolds with a laugh, a nervous undertone in his voice as he looks over to you for your reaction.

Sans looks confused but shrugs it off, dropping his head back into his hands. “HEH HEH! SAY, MAYBE YOU CAN HELP US BLUE! I ALSO HAVE SOME THINGS I WANT TO ASK YOU ABOUT!” Papyrus says, his eyes trying to signal something to Blue

Blue sighs, nodding his head. “ALRIGHT.. LET’S FINISH THIS MEAL FIRST THOUGH! IT’S GOTTEN COLD ALREADY..”

—

“BLUE, IS THAT.. IS THAT ACTUALLY WHO I THINK IT IS??” Papyrus whisper-shouts to the shorter skeleton beside him, a mildly panicked look on his face.

The two were walking ahead of you and Sans and were trying their best to converse as discreetly as possible. Sans appeared to be drunk from his lack of sleep, swaying and slurring his words, looking to be in his own world. Blue swore he was already napping while walking earlier.

You, on the other hand, still had your eyes focused on Papyrus. Your eyes were wide and glossy, looking as if you had just seen a ghost. You were walking silently beside Sans, your hands tucked into your pockets and your posture tensed.

Blue had no idea what was going on with you. Did you have a problem with Papyrus? He doesn’t sense any hostility though, so it must be something else. He recalls you had asked about Papyrus that day he bumped into you in town. Did something happen between the two of you?

“IT IS,” Blue confirms the tall skeleton’s thoughts, confessing as if he had been caught red-handed. “PLEASE DON’T TELL STRETCH!” He pleads, clasping his two hands together and looking up at Papyrus with begging eyes.

Papyrus was taken aback by Blue’s words. Meyer getting along with Blue, or any monster for that matter, was the last thing he had expected.

Papyrus’ past interactions with Meyer were not too far from the others. When they first moved into their new home, he made it a goal to try and befriend everyone in their neighborhood. Some were easier than others, and then there was Meyer. Despite any of his efforts, however, she would often just blow up at the sight of them. Her clear distaste for monsters was very clear.

Still, Papyrus was determined! No human would be left un-befriended by The Great Papyrus. He reckoned one taste of his great friendship spaghetti was all she needed to see that he would actually be a great friend to have and that she’d be begging at their doorsteps to become his friend at once!

Alas, in the end, however, it was starting to seem that his efforts were futile. She would often slam the door at the mere sight of him, and wouldn’t even give a glance at his well-cooked spaghetti, no matter how good the smell was.

He would still often give her some of the other foods he would cook in the hopes that she’d eventually soften up, and when Blue arrived he’d even helped out in the effort. At some point, they started to just leave the food at her doorstep since she wouldn’t even give them a chance if she caught sight of them, but they would never hear the end of it. The food would always be gone the next day, but they never received any feedback.

Their brothers would often say it probably just ends up in the trash and to stop bothering with her, but Papyrus had faith that she actually enjoyed them and was too shy to admit it. After all, no human can resist his friendship spaghetti!

After the incident with their new housemate though, Papyrus was sure any attempts at friendship would be in vain. So Papyrus was particularly surprised to find out that Blue had actually managed to befriend the irritable human.

“THE HUMAN ACTUALLY TALKED TO YOU WITHOUT GETTING UPSET? BUT HOW??” Papyrus asked in disbelief.

“I’M NOT TOO SURE EITHER,” Blue fidgeted with his hands as he recalled the memory. “BUT I BUMPED INTO HER IN TOWN THE OTHER DAY, AND ONE THING LED TO ANOTHER AND WE HUNG OUT!” He says, grinning at the memory. “IT ACTUALLY WENT PRETTY WELL!!”

“WE’RE GOOD FRIENDS NOW, BUT STRETCH DOESN’T BELIEVE IT.” He deflates at the thought.

“WOWIE! I.. I ALSO CANNOT BELIEVE IT!! YOU’VE CRACKED THE MOST UNSOLVABLE PUZZLE YET BLUE!” Papyrus exclaims in awe.

“I HATE TO ADMIT IT, BUT YOU’VE BEATEN ME AT MY OWN GAME…” Papyrus says with narrowed sockets.
“SO WHAT WAS IT? DID YOU ALTER YOUR FRIENDSHIP TACO RECIPE?? I MUST TAKE NOTES!!”

“SADLY, I HAVE YET TO OFFER HER MY FRIENDSHIP TACOS, BUT I WILL VERY SOON!” Blue says, excited at the thought. “I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING PARTICULARLY DIFFERENT, I JUST ASKED HER IF SHE WANTED TO HANG OUT WITH ME AND WE HAD A PLEASANT EXCHANGE.”

“SHE’S ACTUALLY REALLY NICE ONCE YOU GET TO KNOW HER. I REALLY THINK WE ALL JUST GOT OFF ON THE WRONG FOOT.” Blue explains, “MAYBE IT'S NOT TOO LATE FOR YOU TO BEFRIEND HER TOO!”

“OF COURSE!! I WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO BEFRIEND THE HUMAN!! BUT…” Papyrus looks behind him and locks gaze with your icy ones. He could feel his neck burn from your gaze the entire time he and Blue were conversing.

“I DON’T THINK THE HUMAN IS TOO DELIGHTED TO SEE ME…” Papyrus lets out a nervous laugh.

Blue looks behind him and confirms you were still indeed staring at him. “YEAH…” He can’t help but match Papyrus’ nervousness, “SHE DOES THAT A LOT! DON’T WORRY TOO MUCH!” He reassures.

“OKAY… I’LL TAKE YOUR WORD ON IT, BLUE!!” Papyrus declares with determination reinvigorated in him.

“PERHAPS ALL OF THOSE FRIENDSHIP SPAGHETTIS HAVE ACTUALLY SOFTENED HER HEART UP! ILL... I’LL GIVE IT A SHOT!!!”

The two skeletons exchange an excited grin as they stroll into the department store, matching each other’s stride as they walk with purpose.

—

“hey does this dress make my butt look big?”

“YOU HAVE NO ASS BROTHER!! TAKE THAT OFF.”

“aw c’mon, you gotta give me some credit. i’m ownin’ this.” The short skeleton strikes a pose in front of a mirror, his brother’s reflection standing behind him with a gloved hand dragging down his face.

“i think the red makes my eyes really pop.”

“I HATE TO ADMIT, IT DOES LOOK GOOD ON HIM.” Blue chimes in.

“DO NOT AGREE WITH HIM… IN FRONT OF ME.” Papyrus grumbled, shooting Blue a look of dismay.

“WE ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO STAY ON TRACK!! WE CANNOT HAVE A REPEAT OF THE LAST SHOPPING SESSION.”

Blue winces at the mention of the memory. “YEAH, I AGREE. WE CAN’T AFFORD TO GET BANNED AGAIN.”

Papyrus drags Sans by the hood of his jacket as the four of you walk along the department store. Around you were droves of clothes all hung up or displayed. The place looked similar to the boutiques in town, only bigger and more varied. Along the displays were people dressed in uniform, you guessed they must be the tailor’s assistants.

You follow behind the tall skeleton with Blue walking beside you. Blue was flitting about, admiring different displays as you all walked about.

You try to remain present but you couldn’t take your eyes off... Papyrus. He looked too much like him, you didn’t even need to squint to see the similarities. You felt hopeful that all your worries were finally resolved but the beating in your soul was a constant reminder that it wasn’t him.

Still, you couldn’t help but feel unease at seeing a copy of your friend. Even his voice and behavior matched him.

Your eyes trail down to the shorter skeleton being dragged by Papyrus. In contrast to him, his brother looked nothing like the skeleton you often fought against.

Looking at his tired and lazy demeanor, you could not see any similarities at all. The skeleton you knew was ruthless and a pain in the ass, a complete contrast to the skeleton in pink slippers.

Seeing the copy of your friend made you think about the question lingering in your mind. Perhaps your suspicions were correct after all. You had to make a visit to the library as soon as possible.

Blue’s voice calling your name takes you out of your thoughts. “Yes?” You murmured, your eyes scanning Blue’s worried expression.

“You’ve Been Out Of It Since Earlier…” Blue mumbles, “Are You Okay?”

You pull a weak smile to your lips in an attempt to appease the skeleton’s worries. “Yes... Forgive me, my mind is quite preoccupied today. I’m alright.” You try to reassure him.

Blue gives me a comforting smile as he nods his head in understanding. “Just Let Me Know If Anything’s Wrong.” He says one last time before running off to Papyrus’ side.

The four of you had arrived at what seemed to be the upper garment section of the boutique. Papyrus stood in front of a mannequin, holding the sleeve of the shirt on display as he talked to Blue. After a brief discussion, they move deeper into the section of the store, checking through each hanging cloth.

As the two conversed you were once again left with Sans, who was having a battle with his sleepiness. You would watch as he dozed off while standing, only to snap awake when either Papyrus or Blue would call for him, acting as if he had been awake the whole time.

“yeah, he’d totally love it.” he’d grumble before quickly continuing with his nap.

The two would also occasionally call for your opinion, although you weren’t that well-versed in the art of fashion. You often wore uniforms given to you by the archmage for whatever occasion or job he’d make you do, so you never had a choice in that department. Still, you tried your best to give useful insights.

“IF A SKELETON OF MY STATURE WOULD WEAR THIS, WOULD A LONG-SLEEVED SHIRT OR A SHORT SLEEVE FIT MORE?” Blue asked you once.

To which you replied, “I think it would depend on what they are using it for. It would be quite a hindrance if the long sleeves were to get in the way of their work. But, it could also help protect them if the job heeds it.”

As you continued on, you couldn’t tear your eyes off Papyrus, observing his actions as he moved about. You couldn’t help but make comparisons of the skeleton to your friend. You kept seeing him in his little movements and quirks.

Unbeknownst to you, the skeleton in question was painfully aware of your eyes on him, and it made him extremely anxious.

“ARE YOU SURE SHE’S NOT UPSET AT ME??” Papyrus whisper-shouts to Blue once they were a few aisles away from you and Sans.

“I'M PRETTY SURE..” Blue replied although he sounded unsure of himself.

“LOOK, WHY DON’T YOU TRY TO TALK TO HER! I’M SURE IT’LL WORK OUT!” Blue suggests, grinning as the idea pops into his head.

Before Papyrus could get a word in, Blue quickly picks up a random shirt off a shelf and pops out of the aisle to wave you over. “HEY, DO YOU MIND HELPING PAPYRUS OUT FOR A WHILE?”

“I’M GONNA GO TRY TO ASK SOMEONE IF THEY HAVE BIGGER SIZES FOR THIS!” Blue holds up the shirt before scurrying off.

Blue blurs past you, leaving you alone with the taller skeleton. You feel your heart start to quicken at the skeleton’s newfound attention on you.

“WHY HELLO AGAIN HUMAN!!” Papyrus greets you with vigor, although there was a hint of awkwardness in the air.

You clench your eyes for a second. “Greetings… Papyrus.” You stammer out a bit too quietly, your gaze trained on the floor. Now that his eyes were solely on you, you couldn’t get the courage to look back at him.

Papyrus could barely hear your response, but it was something! He could work with that! “I DON’T KNOW IF YOU REMEMBER ME, BUT I USED TO PERSONALLY BRING YOU MY FAMOUS FRIENDSHIP SPAGHETTI!!” Papyrus exclaims proudly.

“I’M SURE THE TASTE MUST BE FAMILIAR TO YOU! I SUSPECT YOU MUST EVEN CRAVE FOR IT FROM TIME TO TIME!!”

You didn’t need to rack your brain to know that you’ve never consumed any spaghetti made by this Papyrus. What was familiar to you was your friend’s cooking.

“No. I’m afraid I haven’t had the chance to try it.”

Papyrus visibly deflates at your answer. “D-DON’T BE SHY HUMAN! I’M SURE YOU’VE HAD A BITE OF IT! NO ONE CAN RESIST MY DELICIOUS PASTA!” Papyrus insists.

You didn’t know what to say but to shake your head. “I-I SEE!!” Papyrus stammers, a bit surprised at the revelation.

“NOT TO WORRY HUMAN! I’LL MAKE SURE YOU WON’T MISS OUT NEXT TIME!! NYEHEHEH!” He cackles as the two of you continue walking through the aisle.

The two of you look through different jackets and coats while Papyrus tries his best to start a conversation with you in various ways. Papyrus felt like he was grasping at straws at your short answers. He didn’t know how to crack you!

Papyrus turns to the shelf beside him and picks out one of the darker-colored ones. “THIS WOULD CERTAINLY GO WELL WITH A RED JACKET DON’T YOU THINK??” Papyrus asks, holding up the shirt to you.

The mention of red makes your eyes wander to the scarf on his neck, the same one you were wearing. Your hand moves up to clutch the clothing wrapped around your neck.

“...Yes, I think so too.” You mumble.

Papyrus’ sockets widen when he takes notice of your scarf. “WOWIE!! WE HAVE THE SAME SCARF!” Papyrus gasps, stars twinkling in his eyes.

“HUMAN… PERHAPS YOU ARE ACTUALLY A FAN OF MINE?!” He exclaims, not able to believe it himself.

You stare up at him with wide eyes, not knowing how to respond to him. Now that you look closer, it did look quite similar. Even the color matched to a tee.

“OH DEAR! IT LOOKS LIKE YOURS IS QUITE BEAT UP.” Papyrus frets, bending down closer to take a closer look.

You clutch your scarf tighter, thumbing the burnt edges of the cloth. Sparks of fire flash in your mind, the images of the red cloth burning as it hangs off its owner’s head haunting you.

“I WOULD BE MORE THAN GLAD TO LEND YOU A NEW ONE HUMAN!! THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS NEVER LACKING IN FASHIONABLE SCARVES.” Papyrus offers, throwing the dangling end of his scarf back as he strikes a pose.

The sound of Papyrus’ voice snaps you out of your daze. You shake your head, taking a small step back. “That’s quite alright sir.. I am content with this one.” You say.

Papyrus tilts his head, puzzled at your words. “HMM… ALRIGHT!!” He says.

“IF YOU INSIST HUMAN!! A FANCY SCARF WILL ALWAYS BE A FANCY SCARF, AS I ALWAYS SAY!” Papyrus reassures you with a grin, a large gloved hand patting you on the shoulder.

You cower away from his touch, taking a step to the side before his hand can land for a second time. You try to give him a smile of acknowledgment but you look more constipated than anything.

Papyrus tries to return your smile with a grin. You didn’t look too well.

Blue returned shortly after, you couldn’t help but wonder what took him so long. When he arrived, you and Papyrus already had a tall pile of clothes in the shopping basket. There was minimal conversation between the two of you this time.

“HEY GUYS!!” Blue cheerfully called as he neared, though his grin morphs when he senses the awkward tension between the two of you.

“UHH.. SO TURNS OUT THEY DIDN’T HAVE ANY OTHER SIZES. IT’S APPARENTLY ONE SIZE FITS ALL.. OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT!!” He explained.

You nod your head in acknowledgement but Blue could tell your gaze looked far away. His eyes dart toward the taller skeleton beside you who had an awkward grin, his eyes screaming for help.

“WHAT HAPPENED?” Blue whispers to Papyrus once the two were left alone together. Blue sensed that there was more tension between the two of you than there was before he first left.

“I AM NOT SURE.. I THINK I MESSED IT UP!! I DID NOT KNOW THE SCARF WAS A SENSITIVE TOPIC!!” Papyrus exclaims, hands clutching his skull in a panic.

“WHAT?? I DIDN’T KNOW EITHER!”

“WHAT DO I DO?! I FEAR THE HUMAN HATES ME MORE NOW!!”

Surely it wasn’t that bad, right? “NO, NO.. I’M SURE IT’S ALRIGHT. MAYBE YOU GUYS JUST NEED MORE TIME TO GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER??”

“Here is the jacket you wished to inquire about.”

The two skeletons jump at the sudden sound of your voice. “H-HUMAN!! GOOD TIMING! THANK YOU!” Papyrus stammers, taking the jacket from your outstretched hand.

Your gaze flits between the two fidgeting skeletons in front of you. You’ve been noticing the two whispering about since earlier, though you weren’t too sure. Did something happen?

The three of you move on to different sections of the boutique, the two continuing to discuss between themselves and once again asking you for your thoughts.

“WAIT A SECOND… WHERE IS SANS??” It was soon that Papyrus realized he had completely forgotten about his brother, who had been missing since an hour ago.

“OH DEAR, NOT AGAIN!! WHERE DID THAT LAZYBONES WANDER OFF TO NOW!!” Papyrus exclaimed with a face full of worry as he hurriedly ran down to the previous clothes sections.

The two of you watch as Papyrus zips past multiple aisles in a blur, checking every nook and cranny for his brother. “YOU’D BE SURPRISED BY HOW OFTEN THIS HAPPENS,” Blue says with a sigh.

You follow Blue, lost in your thoughts, as the two of you try to trace Papyrus’ path, remaining at a slow pace as Blue idly swings the shopping basket beside him. “SO... HOW’S THE JOB HUNTING COMING ALONG?” Blue suddenly asks after a long moment of silence.

You let out a low hum, thinking about it as you snap back to reality. “Oh, I.. I haven’t really got to it yet.” You say, your eyes trained on the floor. “I’ve been preoccupied with other matters. Although my.. cousin has been bothering me a lot about it.”

You see Blue nod his head in understanding in your peripheral. “Um… I’m ashamed to admit, I don’t really know how to go about it?” Your gaze wanders to him as you lift your shoulders in a shrug.

“I haven’t really.. It is my first time having to find a job.”

You chew on your lip as your mind becomes flooded with worries about the job hunt. You had been setting the matter aside to prioritize your research, but it was only a matter of time before Meyer lost her patience. She had been getting a lot more insistent about it lately.

You frown at Blue’s lack of response. It had already been a minute. Was it that bad? “I apologize, it must sound foolish.” You mumble.

Blue, having been lost in his own thoughts, jolts at the sound of your voice. “OH, OH NO! NOT AT ALL!!” He reassures you, an apologetic smile on his face.

“IF YOU WANT, I’D BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO HELP YOU OUT! I’VE HAD MY OWN FAIR SHARE OF EXPERIENCES IN JOB HUNTING.” He says, raising an arm and placing a hand on his bicep.

Your brows raise at his words. “It’s alright, I do not wish to be a bother.” He’d already given you plenty of help.

“IT’S OKAY! I INSIST!” Blue says with a wave of his hand. “BESIDES, I’VE GOT A FEW PLACES IN MIND.”

“BLUE! HUMAN! THERE YOU ARE!!” Papyrus stood from a distance, carrying his sleeping brother under one arm. He begins to jog toward the two of you from across the room.

“LET’S MEET UP ANOTHER DAY! WE CAN TALK MORE ABOUT IT!” Blue hurriedly tells you just before Papyrus arrives in front of you.

“I FOUND THIS KNUCKLEHEAD SLEEPING INSIDE ONE OF THOSE CIRCULAR CLOTHING RACKS AGAIN!” Papyrus exclaims, shaking a fist in frustration.

“mmm..” Sans grumbled underneath his brother’s hold, “keep it down bro ‘m tryna sleep.”

“I AM SAD TO SAY WE MUST CALL OFF THE SHOPPING SESSION HERE! I DID NOT KNOW MY BROTHER WAS TIRED TO THIS EXTENT!” Papyrus shakes his head, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose.

Blue nods his head in agreement. “ALRIGHT! I ALSO THINK THIS IS ENOUGH FOR NOW.” He says as he briefly wafts through the pile of clothes in the shopping basket.

“I THINK WE’RE MISSING A FEW ACCESSORIES, BUT I GUESS IT CAN WAIT FOR ANOTHER TIME.”

The three of you soon find your way to the counter. You help out Blue in sorting the clothes while Papyrus tries his best to fish for his wallet while also trying to keep his brother from slipping in his arms.

The lady at the counter looked taken aback by the amount of items you had presented but continued scanning them with a tired expression. By the end of it, Blue and Papyrus were left with arms filled with bags of clothes. You attempted to offer your help since you had experience in carrying such a weight, but the two insisted that they could handle it.

“EXCUSE ME!! ALLOW ME TO PULL UP THE CAR HERE!” Papyrus said the moment the three of you stepped out of the building.

You watch as the skeleton runs off with his brother in his arms. You couldn’t help but smile at the sight. It felt bizarre to see the two brothers together, even though they weren’t the same, you couldn’t help but wonder if they ever got along like that.

“ARE YOU SURE YOU DON’T WANT A RIDE HOME?” Blue asks.

“It’s alright, I wish to return to the library before it turns late.” You tell him.

“ALRIGHT.. IF YOU SAY SO.” Blue says.

A honk catches both your attention and a red vehicle pulls up beside you. Papyrus was at the front waving at the two of you. At the back seat was Sans, lying down, curled into a ball. Papyrus hops out and helps Blue load the bags into a compartment at the back.

“IT WAS NICE TO MEET YOU AGAIN HUMAN!!” The skeleton said as he neared you one last time.
“I APOLOGIZE IF I SOMEHOW UPSET YOU EARLIER..”

You lower your head, unsure of what to say. You didn’t realize he was aware of that.

“AND– I KNOW WE GOT OFF ON THE WRONG FOOT, BUT, I REFUSE TO GIVE UP!! I BELIEVE WE STILL HAVE THE CHANCE TO BECOME BESTIES!!”

Your brows raise at his words. Your friend used to declare the same thing. No matter how much you refused, you remember how stubbornly he would continue to try. You recall all the times he would come to bring you out of the darkness, giving you the will to continue on when there was none.

You once thought that Papyrus would be the last person you would ever truly get to know. But somehow, someone always came to show you hope, just like he did.. and just like Blue did.

Perhaps, this world is truly different from the one you once knew…

A nagging voice reminds you that you couldn’t give yourself that.

You had to keep going.

The thrumming in your soul was a constant reminder of your mistakes.

You couldn’t let him down.

You still have to fix everything after you…

“WELL… I GUESS THIS IS GOODBYE FOR NOW, HUMAN!!”

You watch in silence as their vehicle drives off. Blue continues to look back at you, waving goodbye along with Papyrus.

“TAKE CARE!!” He shouted.

As you lift your hand to return their farewells, an ache throbs in your soul.