Consequences (Part 26)

Consequences Part 26
　
Alphys trudged through the damp waters of Waterfall, searching for Undyne. There was only one place in the entire underground Alphys would have suspected Undyne to have hidden.
　
She approached the garbage-ridden entrance of the underground dump as her footsteps fell sploshing in the dark, shallow puddles.
　
The young ginger warrior sat at the edge of the water, her ears drooping slightly. She held her eye patch loosely in her hand, staring into the deep abyss below. Alphys trotted slowly towards her, her heart racing.
　
"S...so...." She stammered quietly, putting her clawed hand to Undyne's shoulder. "W-where do you think it leads?" She asked, recreating Undyne's first words to her.
　
Undyne barely turned her head.
　
"Well.." Undyne replied, "Nobody knows...some say it could lead deeper underground...maybe to the bottom of the ocean..." Alphys sat herself next to Undyne. "Some even say it could be a portal to another dimension..." She clenched her teeth and fists slightly as she continued to repeat Alphys's words. "All they know is...whatever goes down there...doesn't come back..."
　
Alphys's heart skipped slightly at Undyne's tone of voice.
　
"I..."
　
"You think I didn't know what you were up to that day...?" Undyne growled through clenched teeth.
"I'm not stupid you know..." She sighed looking back down to the abyss. "Anyone could see that pain in your eyes...Not just...anxiety...and worry...But genuine pain....You didn't want to be alive anymore...That much was clear..."
　
"U-undyne.."
　
"I made it my goal that day to make you happy...no matter what it took...you were smart...and talented...and...just so passionate about everything you did....Not to mention cute..."
　
Alphys couldn't help but blush.
　
"You didn't deserve to be sad like that...you deserved...to feel a real love of life....a fire that couldn't be put out even by this damn abyss..." Undyne dangled her eye patch over the open waters of the abyss.
　
Alphys couldn't find the right words to say. She had never seen Undyne like this. Her soul felt numb with the pain.
　
"I wanted to be your happiness...What you turned to when you felt like this...But it seems my efforts will never be enough. Some people can't love themselves enough to be happy..." Undyne's voice faded into a slight whisper.
　
"Undyne..." Alphys whimpered, taking Undyne's hand, "You do make me happy...more than anything else in the world...You're the Ymir to my Christa...I...I love you Undyne..."
　
"Not even that's enough to make you love yourself, Alphys...The most important person in my world...and all you ever do is talk down to her...I want you to see what I see in you...Is that really too much to ask?"
　
"I...I've really screwed up Undyne...more than possibly any monster ever has..."
　
"I don't care about that..." She interrupted. "I don't care what you did in your past...That's not you anymore. All I care about is your future...OUR future...together." Alphys looked down at the floor in tears.
　
"W...what do you want me to do....?" She whimpered.
　
"The same thing everyone else in the entire underground has done except you." Alphys looked up at her girlfriend, confusion in her eyes.
　
"W..what..?" Undyne picked up Alphys's hand and brought it close to her heart.
　
"Forgive yourself..." She replied quietly. Neither said a word for a moment, simply listening to the sounds of rushing water. Undyne simply stared with her eyes forward, looking at nothing in particular.
　
Alphys found herself slowly caressing Undyne's webbed fingers. She knew deep in her heart that she would do anything for Undyne. But this...it seemed impossible...
　
So many months of hiding behind her pain and loneliness...begging to trade lives with anyone...She hated the person she'd become...she hated the things that person had done. And yet now...She was supposed to forgive her...
　
"It's fine if you can't do that." Undyne murmured, "I really don't care...I'm done trying."
　
Guilt trips...wonderful.
　
"W...will you help me..." Alphys stammered.
　
"Hm?"
　
　
"F-forgive myself. C...can you help me?"


　
Undyne gave Alphys a slightly questioning look.
　
"Oh really. And how do you propose I do that?"
　
Alphys blushed slightly, raising her free hand to brush Undyne's hair out of her face...
　
"Well..." She cooed, "Maybe we could start with something like this.” Placing a clawed hand against the scales of Undyne’s face, Alphys gave the warrior a sweet and subtle kiss.

Taken aback for a moment, Undyne sat, staring deep into the nervous eyes of her love. Then grabbing her tightly, pulled her into a rough and passionate kiss, filled with all the past anger and sorrow of their fight.

“I’m sorry…” She cooed to Alphys.

“Y-yeah…”

“Say…” Undyne responded. “What if we went and visited Pap..? I got to go see him anyway...Maybe you’d like to join me?”

“Heh...haven’t talked to Papyrus in a while...m-might be nice.” Undyne jumped to her feet, outstretching her hand to Alphys.

“Hey,” Undyne remarked. “I love you ya big nerd.”

“Heh….I love you too….”

And the two walked away, leaving the lonely waters to their own devices.




Sans lay over his brother's limp body, eyes blacked out and cold.

"Oh my god! Papyrus! Sans??"

Sans barely lifted his head at the anguished cries. Toriel was standing at the doorway, grasping to the doorframe, unable to comprehend what she was seeing. Her breath was shallow. Neither skeleton responded.

Toriel shook, stammering in disbelief. "F-frisk..?" Her voice was broken. Sans lifted his head towards the sound of her cries. "S-sans..." Sans's soul glitched out of control, turning shapeless.

Toriel fell to the floor, grasping Sans's hand, helping him sit up, supporting his back with her arm. Sans barely stressed to help her in the least. “Sans?” Toriel lightly shook him, trying to get some kind of response from him. “Sans...please…” Her voice was full of tears and confusion. “Please say something….”

“I’m sorry…” he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Sans what happened?” Toriel asked sternly but with a calm tone. Sans’s voice was monotone and dead.

“I didn’t get...here...fast enough….” His hands shook, “n-not to save either of them…”

“Sans…?” Tears fell from Toriel’s eyes, “Where is F-Frisk….? Where is my child?” Her voice was higher, becoming more and more into a pleading cry.

Sans sat speechless...He didn’t know what to tell her...The truth was too horrible and confusing for Tori to ever understand. The child of the void….Toriel’s child...a child of death…

“tori…” Sans murmured.”i don’t know what happened.” He lied, “pap...got hurt or something...and frisk ran out...i couldn’t get here quick enough to help…after i heard...noises...or you know...”

Toriel gave Sans a doubtful stare. Something seemed off about his story…

“Sans…” Sans knew Toriel wasn’t stupid. But at this point he wasn’t going to tell her either way...Not until he had taken care of the kid...Both of them.

“Ey! Papyrus!” A harsh voice echoed from the sitting room of Toriel’s house.

“Undyne…” Toriel whispered.

Undyne came bounding up the steps, Alphys trailing clumsily along behind.

“Oi! Papy!” Undyne’s gruff voice cut through the halls like sandpaper.

Undyne paused at the entrance to Frisk’s bedroom, the walls and floors trashed and in shambles. Her spiked ears drooped the sides of her head. Alphys clutched her black leather jacket tightly in her clawed hands.

“P-papyrus…” Alphys quivered quietly.

Undyne was sullen, not saying a word. She didn’t know what to feel...There was nothing to feel..Just...Numbness.

“I’m sorry undyne….” Sans whispered, his voice lifeless. Undyne was silent as the grave. Her fists were clenched tightly, quivering slightly. “I couldn’t-”

“Save it trash bag.” Undyne growled through clenched teeth. Undyne could see clearly Sans was lying through his teeth. All he knew how to do was lie to her. Undyne squatted down next to Papyrus, laying his cracked arms across his chest. Gingerly she picked up his body, holding him close to her like a child.

“U-undyne.” Alphys stammered.

“I’m taking him downstairs.” She said in the tone she used with her guards. “Toriel come with me. We’ll need your healing abilities” She was so cold and distant. “Alphys, get blankets and bandages if you can find them.” Sans interrupted her.

“undyne, please he’s gon-”

“Shut up, Sans” She replied, not yelling, but rather giving him a command as if he were a lesser guardsman. “He’s not going to give up here...He’s the toughest little guy I know...This isn’t the end for him...I won’t believe it.”

Turning her back to her friends, Undyne crept slowly down the stairs, as if trying not to wake her friend. Alphys turned hesitantly and followed Undyne down to the living room.

After a long pause, Toriel looked at Sans and gave him a light rub on the shoulder. Then she stood and walked out of the room herself.

Sans couldn’t feel a thing...Not a bit of grief...No anger….Just...Nothing.


Undyne placed Papyrus onto the couch in Toriel’s sitting room while Alphys went to fetch blankets. Without thinking about it, Sans found himself suddenly in the living room as well, not even questioning how he got there.

Toriel had gone to help her leaving Sans and Undyne alone with Papyrus. The two stared coldly into each other’s eyes. It was eerily silent.

“I don’t expect you to tell me the truth about what happened.” She murmured. “You never have before, so I don’t see what changes now. But I won’t let you give up on him...Not again.”

Sans felt an uncomfortable wave pass over his shoulders. He and Undyne had once been so close before the timeline incident. Undyne worried for what seemed like ages about Sans’s mental health. He’d become so depressed and eventually, cut his brother off, leaving him alone with only Undyne as a friend. What had once been worry from Undyne eventually became spite and anger, telling him off when he slept at his senty station or passing angry glances when they spotted each other on patrol. He’d become nothing but another deadbeat sentry guard. Though she could never understand what fresh hell his depression spawned from. He was alone.

Sans felt no compulsion to tell Undyne off or defend himself in the least. There was no anger in their words. Just...distance. Undyne sighed.

“I want to help you Sans...I really do. But you don’t seem to want it...And as long as you’re going to spread that carelessness to Papyrus….I won’t have anything to do with you.”

Sans remained silent.

“You know what...Maybe you should just leave here. Frisk isn’t here and I’m going to bet my ass that you had something to do with this. So clean up your mess for once in your life. For Papyrus’s sake. Because God knows you aren’t going to do it for your own.” Undyne turned her attention from Sans and back to Papyrus, stroking his delicate skull lightly, her ears lowered in pain.

Sans turned his head to see Alphys and Toriel coming back with bandages, blankets, and fresh clothing for Papyrus. Toriel started her healing process almost immediately, her face twisting in discomfort. Sans wondered if she could feel her child’s presence. Mothers always had a way with that sort of thing.

He looked solemnly out the window.The rain was pecking lightly at the glass. It was dark and the cool autumn storms were beginning settle in. Frisk was tough but no doubt they would get shut in somewhere when the storm hit.

Undyne was right about one thing. He couldn't afford to wait around. Sans walked silently up to his brother, stripping off his jacket as Toriel put a pillow under his head.

“I never gave up on you pap.”  He wrapped his brother tightly in his oversized hoodie. “Heh...you probably hate me for that…” He chuckled lightly. Then he walked up to the door, opening it slightly. “i need to find before they get hurt in the storm….” Sans said quietly, looking back at Tori. She nodded, looking at him sadly.

“Bring them home safe, Sans.”

“yeah.” he replied quickly. He turned back, stepping into the rain.

“Wait.” Undyne’s voice echoed from behind him. Sans looked back, watching her fins perk up.

“hmm?”

“Why…” she breathed, “Why the hell….DID YOU TAKE YOUR DAMN COAT OFF BEFORE GOING OUT THERE?? DID IT EVER OCCUR TO YOU THAT IT’S COLD AND YOU’RE GONNA NEED THAT??” Sans gave her a half smirk.

“did it occur to you….THAT THIS LOOKS WAY MORE BADASS AND HEARTFELT??”

“YOU’RE A DRAMATIC PIECE OF SHIT SANS.”

“Undyne!” Toriel scolded her. Her fins fell back down to the side of her head.

“Sorry.” she grumbled.

“But honestly Sans,” Toriel replied, “You really should take a coat.

“i am not taking a coat! i’m a skeleton! i don’t even have skin!”

Alphys seemed to be enjoying the encounter a little bit too much.

“ruined my damn exit...stupid fish.” Sans grumbled to himself before slamming the door behind him, leaving his friends blinking in confusion. Alphys was just staring up at Toriel and Undyne, trying to contain her joy.

“What?” Undyne asked.




Sans stood silently in awe for a moment the sight of his brother. He looked confused and worried, his head tilted to the side.

“bro…?”

“He...is actually awake??” Grillby asked, confused.

“Huh.” the Riverperson responded, seemingly indifferent.

The two skeletons stared silently at each other for a moment. How much would his brother remember...What could he say….Did he really even remember him? Maybe he just knew who he was on an impulse... Maybe he-

Papyrus grabbed him tightly, interrupting his anxious thoughts. Sans stood surprised for a moment before wrapping his arms around his brother. His anxieties melted away as his soul began to glow lightly, glitching in and out.

“I love you brother...Don’t go away again.”

“heh...i won’t bro...i promise.”



Sans trudged through the wet leaves, following a trace of footprints left in the muddy paths. They were faint but the only thing Sans had to go on.

“Frisk?” Sans called, his voice echoing, “Frisk?!” The thunder boomed in response to his cries. The footprints were drowning in the pouring rain. He was going to lose them soon enough. “Frisk!!” Sans had run out into an open field, unsure of his location.

He closed his eyes tightly, trying to find some idea of where the child’s soul might be. “Come on kid….listen to me...answer me.

Sans focused his soul on his picture of Frisk, trying to find some sign of their soul. The image was hazy...glitching in and out of focus. There were trees...and white stones and crosses marking the grass. Headstones? Sans caught a faint image of Frisk standing in the middle of the field, drenched and cold. What were they doing..? Sans focused his energy trying to gain solid ground on the path of the graveyard. He pictured his soul, face to face with Frisk’s. And when he opened his eyes, the child stood blankly in front of him, their back turned to him, staring at a stone. The sound of the rain drowned out their words.

“Frisk…” Sans called quietly. The child turned their head from the gravestone slowly. Not in shock or surprise. But in grim acceptance. As if they had anticipated his visit. Their eyes were empty...almost dead. Brokenness passed over their face. Sans felt himself staring into nothingness as he faced the child with his own empty glance, his own eye-sockets blacked out and cold.

This selfish brat ruined his life...Sure it wasn’t a perfect life, but it was his. And they played him like a toy...Stealing things they wanted, shaping the world to their own desires...why..? Because they could? Because they felt entitled?….They broke him...They took EVERYTHING...All for what…? What the hell did they gain...Why did they hurt him and his family?

Sans felt his anger growing out of control. So many suppressed emotion of previous timelines. Things he felt he could never talk about...They all came back to haunt him...He couldn’t tell what he was feeling anymore. He could talk to Frisk like his own child...But deep inside he held a flaming hatred for them.

There were things they did...paths they chose to take….that a demon never forced on them. No...Chara never forced that first kill on Frisk….they simply lifted the knife...and persuaded Frisk to let it fall.

Lightning crashed, lighting up the graveyard, casting eerie shadows along the child and skeleton’s faces.

Frisk held a black knife at their side, an eerie red glow encompassing it. It wasn’t Chara this time.

“So….” Sans began awkwardly, “you look like you’ve been busy.” Frisk looked away from Sans’s eyes, their heart slowly breaking. “What are you doing here kiddo?”

“I...I can’t find it….” They stammered, their voice monotone and dead.

“You...you can’t find it? Find what?”

“I can’t find it..I can’t find it!” Their tone was developing into a panic.

“calm down kid!” Sans insisted, “just tell me what you’re talking about.”

“I can’t find THEM! I can't find them!!” tears were beginning to pour down the small child’s face.

Sans approached the child, outstretching his hand to them.

They pushed him back in a panic, backing away.

“N-no y-you don't understand. I..I did something...I-I did a thing...I did a bad thing! A bad thing!”

Frisk was shoving themselves into a panic. Their thoughts were racing in their mind. They couldn’t tell one voice from another.

“FRISK!” Sans yelled. “Calm down! Calm down and talk to me! What did you do?” Frisk stopped moving for a moment, their breath shaky and shallow.

“ I.....I didn't just hurt the monsters.....” They began, their face pale and eyes stricken with fear. “I killed someone else...Someone who CAN’T come back”