History and Old Rumors
Papyrus hadn’t been thrilled to discover that Sans had simply let Fang wander out and about in the Underground with only MK for protection, though he had looked thoughtful when Fang had mentioned making friends with the kid via Papyrus’ cookies. Had MK not already parted from them to head home, Fang was almost certain the skeleton would have offered him more. It wasn’t quiet at the table with Undyne there. The sheer volume of her voice as she animatedly described both the tournament and her meeting with the boys after getting a tip from Onionsama. Fang was surprised to discover that Onionsama was, in fact, the strange tentacled Monster they’d seen picking fruit from the orchard trees in Gan’Eden. When Undyne mentioned the thugs who’d attacked them in the tunnels, Papyrus’ expression soured. “They’re getting bolder. I still think we should take the guard and clear out all the caves and tunnels back there.” “BELIEVE ME,” said Undyne, shaking her head. “I’D LOVE TO. BUT ROYAL ORDERS STILL STAND. YOU KNOW AS WELL AS I DO THAT ALL I’M ALLOWED TO DO IS KEEP THE SUPPLY LINES OPEN AND SET GUARDS TO CROP FIELDS. THE ONLY WAY I COULD BREAK THOSE ORDERS IS IF I WERE AFTER-” “A human.” Papyrus finished, nodding. Fang looked from face to face, trying to put the pieces of the human puzzle together. Nobody seemed to like them much, their garbage washed away down into the Underground where it was gathered as a resource by the Monsters, and everybody seemed to want to be on this Surface but nobody seemed to be trying to actually get there. “Are humans dangerous?” he asked at last. Undyne shared a disbelieving look with the two skeleton brothers. “SERIOUSLY?” She said. “YOU DON’T EVEN REMEMBER THAT? JEEZ KID, YOU MUSTA HAD SOME REALLY NASTY BLOW TO THE HEAD.” Shifting her weight so that she was facing him more directly, Undyne took a swig of her drink before going on. “LET’S SEE. THE BASICS. UM... MONSTERS AND HUMANS USED TO LIVE ON THE SURFACE TOGETHER. THERE WAS THIS REALLY BIG WAR AND MONSTERS WERE DRIVEN UNDERGROUND AND SEALED IN WITH MAGIC. TO BREAK THAT BARRIER WE NEED HUMAN SOUL POWER. BUT WE NEED A LOT OF SOULS TO PUNCH THROUGH, AND HUMANS ONLY EVER FALL DOWN HERE BY ACCIDENT, IF AT ALL.” Oof. That was... a lot. Fang was starting to get why everyone was so bitter, as nice as this place was, it was basically a prison for them. There were still some mysteries though. Like why Monsters were so eager to turn on each other at the slightest sign of weakness. “And then...” Said Papyrus, drawing Fang’s attention to him instead. “Well... nobody is quite sure what it was that happened. There was a human who fell into the Underground. But they were just a child, and it was said that the Royal Family took them in instead of killing them. Nobody ever saw them, not even at important ceremonies or big celebrations. Then word got out that the prince had murdered them.” And it got worse. Of course. Why wouldn’t it get worse? Kids murdering other kids. This place was a wreck. Fang glanced at Sans, but the Skeleton had returned to the sofa and was watching the tv again. “Guards rushed to stop Prince Asriel, himself only a child, but he’d already crossed the barrier, and without a human soul they were unable to follow. It was only a few hours later that the quakes started. The entire Underground shook, and the roof of the Everfall Caverns fell in, and massive portions of Gan’Eden were submerged in floodwaters. The damage was immense, but nobody could escape the devastation because the barrier was still in place.” Fang opened his mouth to ask about the damages, but changed his mind before the question had left his mouth and instead asked something else. “What about Prince Asriel?” He could find out more about how the Underground had been before and what had changed from MK, but both Undyne and Papyrus were in the Royal Guard, if they were in the mood for answering questions he’d better ask all the right ones. Undyne frowned. “WE DON’T KNOW. SOME SAY HE RETURNED AND FELL TO DUST IN FRONT OF THE KING AND QUEEN. OTHERS SAY HE NEVER CAME BACK AT ALL. A FEW SAY HE CAME BACK AND LOCKED HIMSELF IN THE TOWER, NEVER COMING OUT BUT STILL THERE. ALL WE KNOW IS THAT THE KING AND QUEEN HAVEN’T SAID A THING ABOUT THEIR CHILDREN, ONLY DEALT WITH THE DAMAGES AND LET THE UNDERGROUND GET EVEN NASTIER OVER THE YEARS SINCE.” Scoffing, Papyrus stood up to clear the plates. “Stuff and nonsense. Nobody knows what happened, they just like making up rumors and causing trouble. And you shouldn’t be encouraging such...” he trailed off, as if looking for some suitable word to describe the foolishness of gossip. “Shit?” Supplied Sans helpfully. Papyrus frowned but didn’t deny it. Conversation turned from there towards discussions about the guard, work schedules, and supply trains. It was as his attention began to stray that Fang realized he’d lost track of the bottle of Mustard. Silently cursing himself he tried to remember where he’d last had it and was forced to conclude that it had been lost in the tunnels somewhere after they’d been attacked. It wasn’t safe to go looking alone, especially not now that it was getting late. He’d have to hope that it was still there later or he was going to have to find another way to appease the skeleton. Predictably Sans was still not looking at him, though when Fang actively turned to stare at him all Sans did was put up his middle finger in the boy’s direction without even turning around. It was clear that Sans was still watching, even if he didn’t look like he was paying attention. Fang might have been comforted by this were it not for the fact that Sans still seemed pissed off. In the end, Papyrus had no objection to Fang training in the Guard, though he reminded Undyne that they had no real knowledge of Fang’s background. Waving him off, Undyne declared that they’d keep looking even while he trained up, if he actually accepted. Fang was surprised, he hadn’t been sure he still had a choice. The way the conversation had been going it seemed all decided. It wasn’t as if he was going to say no, after all he needed to survive in this place, even if he had no plans to kill anyone. But still it was nice to be given the choice. Having happily obtained her answer, Undyne left for her own home. And Fang retired to the room he’d been given to sleep in. As he was closing the window he spotted a shadow dart through the streets near the door. Quietly he trod back downstairs and opened the door. Sitting on the doorstep was the mustard bottle, and a little note attached to it read “You forgot this. -A Friend.” A friend? Really? And why not actually knock? His mind reeling with questions he had no answers for he shut the door and made his way up the stairs. He removed the little note and put the mustard bottle right at the bottom of San’s door where the skeleton was certain to find it. No reason to pass up the opportunity, even if it was weird. He’d figure out who had returned the bottle later, and why.