Whoa whats this? A post that didn’t take two centuries before the last? I know, a real shocker. I even would’ve got this one done earlier if I wasn’t also writing a longer event chapter which is also getting closer to being done, although you won’t be able to see it yet obviously. I mean you probably think it’s a Christmas chapter, but actually no, while a Christmas one isn’t out of the question (I’m thinking I’ll do a short one for that), I’ve got a fun one planned for New Years, weird decision, but I’ll fully explain it then, I promise. Anyway here’s the first of the shorter chapters, feel free to let me know how it goes, it does feel super short to me, but maybe that’s because I wrote it in one go and I’m just used to the longer ones still, but I still think it’ll be better than waiting 100 years for a chapter. Ok I’ll stop rambling now, hope you enjoy, you people have a good day and stuff.
FIRST, PREVIOUS, NEXT, INFO
Asgore
Asgore found the familiar halls empty of anyone he wanted to see, he passed parents and students that he didn’t really know very well, one of them was in a class of his, though obviously he was busy. Honestly, he’d hoped that maybe one of the kids would show up or Simon, or anyone he knew well enough to hang out with. With a final defeated sigh, he leaned his back on a locker, finding that this was a better place than any to rest, in another ten minutes or so he would go on another search, perhaps more people would out and about. For the next five minutes nothing changed, only one pair of parents passed him, the recently cleaned halls shined a little, yet revealing nothing of interest to break him from his boredom. That was until he heard footsteps running down the hall to his left, glancing over to find a girl clad in what he could only describe as cowboy attire, the old western look being the main thing anyone noticed on first seeing her because of how out of place it was. Although for him and his classmates, seeing Clover like that wasn’t so weird, at least not anymore.
Clover stopped in front of Asgore, looking at him with eyes of contempt and pure aggravation, ‘’God damn it, my fucking luck’’. She kept looking behind her, back towards the corner she came from, now the two could hear some slightly heavier footsteps approaching.
Before Asgore had enough time to even give her a ‘Howdy’, he found himself being dragged by the arm further down the hall, slowing down only 5 meters further and coming to a halt in front of a cleaner’s closet. The human quickly opened the door and shoved him into it with a lot of unnecessary force, causing him to stumble and almost impact the concrete floor, luckily, he regained his balance thanks to being able to grasp some support from a dusty wooden shelf, although he did knock a bottle of cleaning chemical to the ground in his attempt to save himself. Clover soon after dashed into the closet and closed the door slowly, obviously trying to prevent any audible sign that they’d gone inside. She turned to Asgore and put a finger to her mouth as a sign to be quiet, watching him pick up the bottle off the floor with a look disdain. Her attention moved to outside the door as the footsteps became louder and louder, eventually peaking when the individual got the front of the door, their shadow covering the light from under the entrance. But the shadow didn’t move. Asgore could tell Clover was holding her breath and he couldn’t quite blame her, he didn’t even know why he was here and yet he was dreading what would happen if that door opened, what type of situation was he about to get himself into? A deep feminine sounding sigh came from the other side of the door before finally the light from under the door was unblocked and the footsteps begun to fade away.
Clover let out a huge sigh of relief, even taking a few deep breaths afterwards, ‘’Shit, that was real close’’. She looked back at Asgore who now had a matching but less intense look of relief.
Once the halls had once again returned to its former silence, she opened the door and took a few steps out, looking both ways to keep watch and already looking to be on the move.
Asgore followed her out, giving a friendly smile, now enjoying the open, light hall compared to that cramped, dark space. ‘’Hey Clover, uh you alright, what’s going on?’’
The moment his words reached her, she appeared to tense up, her tone making it clear that this wasn’t a conversation she wished to be having, especially with him of all people. ‘’None of your damn business, as far as you should be concerned everything’s fine. Just go run along and do whatever dandy stuff you like to do, I don’t care, just do it away from me’’.
His smile turned to a much more nervous one, faltering at the hostility, ‘’So you’re just going to involve me like that and not tell me why I had to hide from some stranger?’’
She pulled down her hat as she groaned loudly, ‘’No, I didn’t do it to involve you, I bloody well did it because I don’t trust you not to sell me out, for all I know your stupid extreme honesty would’ve kicked in and I ain’t risking that…’’, she pulled her hat back up as her brown eyes found his with an irritated gaze, ‘’Why don’t you stop being real damn nosy and focus on your own problems… because we know you have them’’.
It was finally at this that his expression lost the smile, ‘’Excuse me? But what are you on about?’’
‘’You know, the fact that you get your ass beat every few days because you want to protect some kid… don’t give that confused look, you think those bruises you try to hide were only noticed by those close to you? Almost everyone in class knows something is going on, though most don’t know what… even seems to be a theory going around that maybe that’s happening to you at home after school, if you know what I mean?’’
‘’Th-that’s… That’s not what’s happening! That’s completely wrong!’’
‘’Well the less informed don’t know that. Tell us Asgore, what is going on? Because I mean the way Tori’s been asking around, she doesn’t know either… so why don’t you clear up the truth?’’
The goat monster’s surge of anger disappeared and was replaced with a silence, he only watched Clover with a look that showed he wasn’t going to say anything.
‘’Whatever Asgore, you’re not my problem so just stay out of my way, see ya, make sure to leave me alone’’, with an annoyed and dismissing tone, she walked back the way she came swiftly, trying to leave the situation as quickly as possible, leaving the prince to his own thoughts and secrets.
Sci
While the school was unfamiliar to him, it was thanks to signs and random people walking around that actually knew the place that he managed to find his way. The school itself from the inside looked nice, it was simple and a little generic. However, it was clean, had a large amount of running facilities and lots of room to do whatever classes and students needed to do, he felt like he wouldn’t have minded going to this school back in the day, a time that felt like it was a long time ago, a time where he felt he was a different person to the one that he is now, who knew being an adult could change you. Stifling another yawn that he could feel were becoming more and more overpowering, he made his down the last hall to his destination, seeing two doors to a bathroom for each gender. He opened the door to the male bathrooms and was half way from stepping inside when something made him stop, sending a shiver down his spine and making his eyes widen as well as making his eye lights disappear.
‘’Sans… Sans… come to us… Sans’’
The voice was faint and raspy, as if it had to rely on the wind to carry it anywhere, but despite the voice’s quirks, it was all too familiar to him. He turned his head to the left, looking down the hall where he saw a tall shadowy silhouette standing there, not moving, only being audible, repeating those words. Swearing, he dashed into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him and running to the row of sinks in front of the large horizontal mirror. Sci stuffed his hands in his right pants pocket, finding nothing, trying to slide his finger into a small crevice.
‘’Quick, quick, ah shit please, c’mon’’.
Finally, he found what he was looking for, opening the concealed pocket and pulling out a syringe in the open, the glass in the small thing filled with an orange liquid. His eyes found the mirror in front of him and in its reflection, he saw the shadowy figure from before standing on the other side of the room behind him, this time joined by a smaller figure right next to it. They both had eyes develop onto them, familiar eyes, and then that’s when he started to notice colours were starting to form on the taller one, white spreading along its head to make a bone like material.
‘’Is this really Sans? Come to us’’.
This time two voices spoke with the filtered-like voice, the second one seeming a little higher than the first, the way he spoke also had a less confident tone, it made him feel guilt.
‘’G-get… get the h-hell way from me!’’, panicking now, his hands were shaking fiercely and twice he nearly dropped the syringe on the floor.
He rolled his right sleeve up and managed, with a struggle, to position the syringe above where his forearm would be. Barely giving him any time to aim properly, he stabbed it into the bone, gritting his teeth from the sudden sharp pain, finally pressing down on the end of the syringe, making the orange liquid disappear into his arm. After a few seconds of nothing but fear and pain, both feelings just suddenly stopped. Energy, lots of energy, it was the only way he could describe the sensation that was going through his entire body. He felt new, refreshed, powerful. Putting the syringe back in his concealed pocket, he looked up at the mirror. Both figures were gone, he was alone in the bathroom now. He looked at his eyes, making the pair of them blue, the type that would usually show in his left eye whenever using a lot of magic. The skeleton returned his eyes back to the normal white eye light and let out a deep laugh.
‘’Oh, this feeling just never gets old’’, he said to himself as he cracked the bones around his neck.
Any feeling of tiredness had been eliminated, no impending yawns, no sign that he was ever like that in the first place, all they could see was the Sans who was ready to take on the world.
‘’Hopefully this will allow the others to worry a little less, I told them I’d be fine and look at me now, right as rain’’.
With those last few words, he stretched his arms a little before finally leaving the bathroom to go find Alphys and Asgore.
Alright, the final chapter of this act. Can’t say it’s the most exciting thing, but hopefully this will at least kick off the exciting stuff. Thanks to all of you who read this.
Also I will note, I know for the RP people, you already know this, but for others. If the speech is in italics, then it is coming from the voice in Alphys’ head. Cool, also sorry in advance to Floof if Gaster isn’t quite the way you do it.
Hope you enjoy.
FIRST, PREVIOUS, NEXT
The sun in the sky showed it was approximately mid-afternoon as it was heading towards the horizon, and it was under this sun that Asgore got a great view of the house. Seeing all the boards out of place, paint peeling off, and a bunch of other bits of the house falling to pieces. The house gave him a weird feeling inside himself, as if it wasn’t feeling so well, a sick feeling, but that was most likely to do with the decayed look. Asgore opened and walked through the fence gate slowly, the thought of fixing this bloody mess was giving him a slight daunted feeling, Red wasn’t kidding, it looked like it was ready to collapse. The goat child also cringed as he was walking past the garden, the yellow grass and wilted plants were enough to get him riled up. With a smile he stepped onto the porch, no matter how hard the job was, he was prepared to do whatever it takes, and honestly if he really thought about it, the longer it took, the better, apparently hard work builds character, according to his teachers anyway. ‘’Heh yeah, but what happens when your hard work builds you the wrong way?’’, he morbidly thought about the one time he’d been accused of talking back with such a statement, looking back it wasn’t a smart move, but of course he couldn’t keep the trap shut. Thinking time was over, now was the time for action, looking back towards the fence entrance to check that his plan was in motion, he then turned back to the door and knocked on the door, wincing when he realised he may have been rough on the old thing as it shook violently on its hinges, as far as he could tell, the wonky hinges could let go and he would be a bit of a door pancake. The prince was about to knock again when he heard little footsteps heading towards the door, way to small to be Undyne’s so they were certainly Alphys’. The door swung open and Asgore gave his friendliest smile.
‘’O-oh h-hello, what b-brings y-you here? Ummmm can I-I get you a d-drink or something?’’, Alphys watched nervously at Asgore, not expecting him of all people, was Gaster here or something? ‘’O-o-oh no, I’m s-s-sorry, I d-didn’t a-ask how y-you were, or wh-what you’re up t-to coming a-around here’’. Asgore chuckled and scratched the back of his head, ‘’It’s all good Alphys, I’m doing fine right now, sorry for disturbing you….’’ He glanced up and down at her, ‘’…You obviously weren’t expecting anyone.’’ Alphys blushed faintly as she looked down and did recall that she was wearing her PJ’s. ‘’Heh they’re a bit cute Alph. Hey, would you mind if I come inside, just came around to visit a friend.’’ Alphys sighed at his comment and hesitated before nodding, opening the door more, ‘’Alright, j-just h-head down t-t-to the r-r-right and sit on a couch, I’ll be th-there, pl-please just stay th-there until I g-g-get b-back.’’ Asgore nodded and headed inside while Alphys scampered off to her room to get dressed in something a bit more normal, she let out a slight groan as the she heard a yawn from in her head, ‘’oooooo, we got Asgore today do we? Well at least it’s more interesting than visits from those other two.’’, ‘’Y-you n-n-never had to b-be up the f-f-for times Red came over y-y-you know?’’ The voice inside sighed, ‘’I know, but sleeping isn’t exactly less boring you know? Also blasts valuable time I could use thinking of some way out of this mess, or to make you do something amusing.’’
Asgore watched Alphys scurry off after giving her an affirmative nod, and he smiled until he heard her bedroom door close a few rooms away. The kid’s smile had disappeared as he could only stare blankly at the tape covered walls, slight rips in the couch and scratches over tables, part of him swore some of the roof was bending in, but if it was, it wasn’t extreme enough to tell definitively. “Heh yeeeeaaaah this is gonna be quite the project huh?’’ He moved over to a window and looked through it, putting up all of his fingers to whatever was out there, before going to sit down on a couch. Asgore was incredibly grateful he didn’t fall through the battered and worn out couch and was now wondering where to start because he figured he probably should plan his route around cleaning the place. ‘’For the biggest effect, I imagine doing one area and focussing on presentation will be the best bet.’’ The kid felt a bit of a grumble in his gut as he realised he had skipped lunch, ‘’Hmmm think the dining room or kitchen might be the best bet, yep that will be the plan’’, he smiled as he figured he was a genius for such a great idea. Asgore looked towards where he was once again hearing the little footsteps of the resident, and Alphys was wearing a lab coat over a black shirt, her usual attire for as long as he knew her…. which made his plan just a little easier. ‘’S-s-so Asgore, c-c-can I g-get you something? L-like a d-drink or s-something?’’ Asgore nodded, ‘’I can make us both one if you want.’’ The lizard quickly shook her head, ‘’N-n-no I can d-do it, y-you’re the guest, c-come I’ll g-get the kettle going for t-tea.’’ Alphys walked slowly to the kitchen where which Asgore followed, successfully hiding his shock at the state of the kitchen, there really was no where spared from the tyranny of negligence. Alphys turned the kettle on after putting water in it, and started getting tea bags, ‘’S-sorry, I don’t have a-any of the g-golden flower st-stuff, will g-green tea suffice?’’. Asgore nodded, he decided striking up a conversation might settle down the poor girl’s nerves a little bit, ‘’So Alph, how have you and Undyne been doing, living together must be pretty swell right?’’, he wondered what Undyne thought about the state of this place. But the moment that thought finished, he got his answer, the lizard seeming to get a little depressed, ‘’O-o-oh uhhh it w-was good yes. B-but it d-didn’t last v-very long. One m-m-month in and sh-she’s already l-left the country, that was several months ago….’’ Asgore suddenly felt bad and felt uncomfortable, rubbing his arm and watching as Alphys’ face became a smile, albeit a weak one, but one nonetheless. ‘’B-b-but hey, th-that’s j-just like h-her. Kn-knew she wouldn’t be able t-to stay in one p-place for very long….J-just glad she’s happy y-you know…she w-won’t be back for a while.’’ Asgore nodded, trying to make that feeling go away, while he wishes he didn’t bring it up, it gave him some valuable info that he swiftly locked that in the back of his head. ‘’Yeah, of course ummm so you been up to anything recently? Surely something new must’ve happened at…any point’’. Alphys appeared physically relieved at the distraction from the previous topic and nodded, thinking for a few moments before finally speaking and smiling, ‘’Y-yeah well R-red’s come over a f-few times, that’s al-always nice of him, d-do enjoy those d-days……Oh yeah! w-work has been good I s-suppose, the n-new manager i-is a pretty cool p-person……that’s about it.’’ Alphys heard to kettle go off and she took it off the heat and put the tea bags in the cups, ‘’Work huh? Where do you work? Some big fancy lab somewhere?’’. The lizard hesitated at the response, before pouring in the water to both cups, missing the gleam in his eyes, as if everything was going according to plan. ‘’Hehe no, I d-don’t work i-in a lab, k-kind of a j-junkyard really. Th-they hired me to c-combine a f-few things h-here and there to s-sell. G-guess y-you could s-say working o-off my strengths.’’ Alphys started stirring the tea as she gave a shy laugh, before finally passing the tea to Asgore, the two of them tried it at the same time and Asgore made a couple of sounds of approval, ‘’Nicely done, this is good stuff, thank you Alphys’’. She nodded and gave Asgore a curious look, ‘’S-sorry I-I haven’t asked, b-but wh-what’s b-been up w-with you, h-haven’t s-seen y-you for quite a while.’’ Asgore sighed and was thinking on his answer when suddenly, the doorbell rang, ‘’Oh looks like you have company once more, sorry if I intruded, didn’t realise.’’ The scientist shook her head, a nervous expression appearing once more, ‘’I-I w-wasn’t ex-expecting an-anyone, p-please g-give me one moment’’. Asgore nodded and Alphys ran off back towards the front door. ‘’My my, aren’t we popular today, thought we were avoiding this,’’ ‘’Y-yeah I-I know, it’s s-scary, b-but hey, y-you wanted an interesting d-day didn’t y-you?’’ The response from the voice was a groan and after a good five seconds of hesitation, she opened the door, and once more, was surprised to who she found outside.
‘’Oh, why, hello there’’ the pink shawl wearing alligator started and then the cat with the blue overalls who continued, ‘’It’s, like, nice to see you Alphys, it’s been…’’, ‘’….soooo long’’. The two of them laughed in sync after the alligator finished the sentence, giving each other friendly looks, the all so familiar actions of the pair. ‘’Br-bratty? C-c-catty? Wh-what are you t-two doing here? H-how d-did you e-even find my p-place.’’ The newcomers just seemed to laugh in unison and this time Catty decided to start the talk, ‘’Oh well Alph no need to worry about that, we both figured…’’ ‘’Yeah totally the both of us’’ ‘’…that we needed to catch up again, it’s been, like totally, years…’’ ‘’And there’s no better way to do that than a BIG GIRLS CLOTHES SHOPPING TRIP’’ the two seemed to cheer that last bit, ‘’What do ya say girlfriend?’’, the scientist looked at both them, though her gaze seemed to lean naturally towards Catty who was twirling a finger through the blue streak in her hair and the smaller monster’s expression looked a little terrified, ‘’O-oh uh th-thanks ummm….girlfriends? B-but I h-have a guest o-over, m-maybe we can s-sort out a t-time l-later’’. Asgore’s voice came from the other room loudly with a chuckle, ‘’I’m all good, feel free to take her away’’. Alphys paled slightly at hearing that and the girly let out simultaneous yells of excitement and glee, ‘’Oh geez, this can’t be happening, please don’t be taken by them, anything but them please.’’ Alphys ignored her as she was wondering why the heck this was happening, what on earth do you get on a shopping trip, what type of clothes were they going to get. Oh no she hadn’t done research on this type of thing, she was going to be an embarrassment. Catty disagreed apparently, as she barely read Alphys’ expression, “Aww c’mon, like, no need to be worried, we’ll take good care of you’’ ‘’Yeah totes, I mean you got to wear something other than that white coat someday…’’ ‘’Yeah, like, don’t they say something like….variety spices up life or something?’’ ‘’EXACTLY, that’s like totally what I would’ve said, we’re so smart sometimes aren’t we?’’ The two laughed together, looking very proud of themselves. Alphys turned her head and tried to call out, ‘’Asgore wh-‘’, but then she was quickly cut off by Asgore himself, his voice seeming to get weirdly excited for a reason she couldn’t fathom, ‘’Don’t worry, you go have fun, I’ll let myself out after I finish this…’’. The nervous scientist was about call out back when all of a sudden, the two at the front door grabbed Alphys, one by each arm, and lifted her off the ground fairly easily, and started walking her away from the house. ‘’W-wait, WHATAREYOUDOING?!?!’’ Alphys started to panic as she was lifted away by the two, Asgore was laughing heartedly, the panic amusing him a fair bit, and when he heard the front door close and the sounds of a spooked lizard disappear, he put his tea on the bench while leaning on the same thing. ‘’Alrighty, plan was a success, well I know where I’m starting.’’ He grinned as he started pulling a couple of bags of nails, some snacks and a lightbulb out of his pocket.
Asgore was busy hitting some nails into the dining room table with a hammer. The first struggle when he started was hunting down some tools, he was certain the resident should have something, and after about half an hour of climbing around the house, going through cupboards, he finally noticed a shed in the backyard, he went over and plundered it, then got the hammer that he needed. The next step on the great adventure was to change the lightbulb in the dining room, he felt a little bit of pride in predicting its sorry state, which is why he had bought one from a store on the way down. The goat child was quite happy to find that changing the light bulb and making sure it worked didn’t take as long as the hammer hunt from earlier. When Asgore turned on the light, he looked around the room, expecting it to help him fix the table, but he quickly turned it off with a nervous look, as the light only showed even more issues in the dusty room, he didn’t need extra problems visualised at the moment. The table was the main project, the one he was hoping to bring all his work together as a spectacle and he was going to end up working on it for another hour or two without a break, the boredom really gave him time to think on the situation and develop his ideas. The first thing that he realised was that Undyne was probably the one that did a bunch of the maintenance of the house, and her leaving seemed to cause some form of stress for the poor scientist. Alphys needed some long-term help, someone to show her how to do stuff around here permanently, but he wasn’t going to be able to do that while at Gaster’s, not properly anyway. The youngster than suddenly had a lightbulb in his head, an idea perfect for everyone involved, one with no negatives to anyone involved. Now invigorated even further, Asgore went to straightening up the legs of the table, he was feeling a rush of determination that no amount of tiredness or boredom hold him back.
Alphys felt exhaustion as she was walking back home, a small bag with a couple of T-shirts, and dress. Nothing overly expensive since Bratty nor Catty couldn’t actually pay for much, which made it all the more stranger they came around, ’’Ok, next time, I choose boredom, I’m sorry I ever complained about it’’. Despite the voice’s talk she did enjoy hanging out with them, it was fun to talk and get out of the house and such, even if they did cheapskate a bit, and if choosing any form of clothes wasn’t stressful enough. But now she could feel her bed calling to her, ready allow her mind to fade to darkness from all the action she’d just experienced, socialising with those two was always a challenge, but her thoughts of that disappeared suddenly, ‘’W-w-why is th-there a l-light on? I-is someone b-breaking in?!’’, she gulped as she rushed to the front door, ‘’Robbers aren’t going to turn the light on you know… or fix it.’’ In a panic she tried unlocking the door but found it already unlocked. ‘’O-o-oh no....A-a-asgore forgot t-to lock the d-door before l-leaving.’’ The lizard monster decided it was for the best if she listened through the door before rushing in to danger, and she couldn’t hear anything being turned over, couldn’t hear anyone doing anything. Alphys attempted to open the door silently, turning the handle at a snail’s pace as she could feel her heartbeat speed up. Good, the entrance area hadn’t been ransacked, cool start she supposed, at least that’s what she was trying to tell herself. Keys in hand, holding it out in what she hoped was a threatening manner. The scared monster was now trying to slow her breathing as she took small steps towards the light filled room, the dining room obviously, ‘’H-h-here goes n-nothing’’ she whispered before jumping around the corner, looking into the dining room area. ‘’Wh-wh-wh-wh-what…….Whatareyoudoingherestill?!’’, Asgore was sitting a fairly good looking dining room table, at least comparatively, light on and with two sandwiches on the table, one for him and one obviously for a newcomer, which was no doubt her. The goat child had an apologetic smile as he felt a bit guilty, the lady looked as if she was ready to have a heart attack. ‘’Oh uh hey, sorry about that. Honestly wasn’t particularly sure the best way to do this, but I fixed your table and light, that’s cool right? Please um sit’’. Alphys took a few deep breaths before putting her keys on the bench and sitting down, looking at the quite simple ham and cheese sandwich. ‘’U-uh Asgore? Th-thanks for a-all th-this I s-suppose, b-but shouldn’t y-you be g-getting home, it’s g-getting quite late.’’ Asgore shook his head, a grin going across his face which made Alphys feel a little nervous, ‘’No, not really, I have a big proposition for you, I would like to help teach you how look after this house properly and also….move in here too’’. Alphys nearly spat out a bite of sandwich that she just took, taking a few seconds before swallowing safely, ‘’Al, he can’t do that can he?’’. The scientist seemed to be panicking once more. ‘’B-b-but…….G-g-gaster….wh-what about s-s-school….’’. The goat however didn’t look deterred one bit, he was expecting such a scared reaction. ‘’Ok let me break down all the foreseen issues. Gaster will be fine, after this I’m going to give him a call, and we’ll come to an agreement. School will be fine, I’m caught up and there’s a bus stop near here, only a couple minutes away.’’ Asgore paused for a few seconds before his expression came to one on realisation. ‘’Oh and uh don’t worry about having to go crazy shopping or anything, I’ll eat whatever you have, and maybe I can even do the shopping for you.’’ Asgore kept giving off a warm smile, while Alphys looked troubled, something was up here, and she wasn’t sure what. The goat was watching all the expressions on hr face, and he found it weird when all of a sudden, she seemed to be listening to something, nothing he could hear anyway. Alphys nodded, ‘’A-a-alright Asgore, umm p-perhaps y-you call Gaster n-now while I-I check s-something, and I’ll g-give you m-my answer then’’. Alphys stood up and passed Asgore her mobile, she was looking worried before she headed out a door, deeper in the house. The prince decided he would do the call out the front of the house.
Asgore was feeling a bit of dread and worry himself now, the rings felt like they were taking forever, he knew this was going to be a little painful emotionally, but it had to be done, for the better of everyone. Suddenly the rings stopped and heard the familiar voice, ‘’Oh hello, Alphys, why are you calling?’’ Asgore let out sigh, and he could already sense the Doctor’s demeanour get serious, ‘’Hey Gaster, sorry it’s a little late,’’ he said as he watched the sun setting. The voice on the phone, it’s curious tone turned to one of anger, ‘’A little late? ASGORE, WHERE THE HECK HAVE YOU BEEN, THE CURFEW WAS DUE HOURS AGO, TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE SO I CAN PICK YOU UP!!’’ The kid had to put the phone away from his ear, a small tinge of guilt seeping into his heart. ‘’Please calm down, no need to yell….but Sorry, but no can do, I’ve made some new arrangements….I won’t living with you guys anymore.’’ He could feel the tension rising, his voice no longer yelling, but still just as furious, ‘’Asgore you can’t just do that, you can’t just decide to move away! I will not have it!’’ He leant against the outside wall, now watching the screen, Alphys had a smiling picture of Gaster for the contact, he recognised it from a family photo he posted on the internet a long while ago…. he missed that smile. ‘’C’mon, I’m in safe hands, also I think some space between me and kids will be for the best…. some space between me and you, these feelings and tension aren’t going away.’’ ‘’Well maybe Asgore, instead of running away we can deal with them, like mature people’’. The child grimaced, his voice turning sarcastic with a hint of hostility, ‘’Oh yes, of course, because that’s totally worked out for the last, oh I dunno, month or so’’. The guardian over the phone’s tone also raised in contest of the sudden attack, ‘’Well maybe if you weren’t so stubborn and didn’t act like a petulant child, we wouldn’t be like this.’’ ‘’Ohoho, I’m the stubborn one, that’s literally like your main trait, nobody I’ve met has ever called you Compromising Gaster or Reasonable Gaster, you must eventually let others make their own decisions you know, you’re not going to be in control forever’’ Gaster was starting to sound real resentful, obviously aiming to antagonise out of anger ‘’Are you insane?! Control is not what I’m after, I’m here to keep you all safe, even if you’re to blinded by your ego to see that, you’re no king boy, merely a small prince trying play grown up….is that why you keep heading over to Grillby’s? Because they make you feel better about your age, want to feel like you can handle anything right, feel strong?’’ Asgore suddenly flared, ‘’That’s NOT IT DAMN IT!!’’. The two heated individuals suddenly started taking deep breaths, finally reaching the height of their anger for the night, the goat child was he first to break the silence of the last ten seconds, with a sad bitter laugh, there were obvious signs of being upset in his voice, ‘’Even when we’re not in the same room, we can’t keep it civil huh? This is the exact reason I have to do this, best for the others you know? Don’t worry, I’m safe, I’ll still be doing my usual responsibilities like school. If you need me, I’ll be at Alphys’ place, please don’t come to try change my mind.’’ There was a sigh on the other end of the line, a resigned weary one, ‘’Please…. just stay safe ok? Maybe at least check in occasionally?’’ ‘’Goodnight Old man’’. With that Asgore hung up the phone and looked up at the sky, the sun had finally sunk fully, just like his morale, leaving him to wonder if he’d made the right choice.
It was five minutes before Asgore headed back into the house to find Alphys back, seated at the dining room table, staring off into the table’s surface, looking a little pale. The goat gave a light knock on the table and Alphys jumped slightly, staring at him after taking a deep breath. She didn’t fail to notice Asgore’s demeanour and smile diminished slightly from previously, ‘’It’s fine on m-my end, how d-did it g-go?’’ Asgore a low energy thumbs up, ‘’We’re all good Al, thanks for that…’’, he then let out a yawn as he passed the phone back, ‘’…but I think I’m ready for a sleep now, alright if I just sleep on the couch? It’ll be fine trust me’’, he said predicting some slight resistance to it. ‘’Th-that’ll be f-fine Asgore, y-you’re welcome t-to sleep wh-where ever y-you w-want. Just s-sorry I d-didn’t have a w-welcome ready or s-something. T-t-tomorrow m-maybe we can d-do something f-fun then…b-but yeah n-now I’m feeling the exhaustion t-too.’’ Asgore walked up to Alphys with a nod, ‘’You know I think this will be a great partnership between us, you won’t regret this I promise. We’re gonna do some good work.’’ The kid’s smile seemed to brighten up a bit more as he offered his hand, the lizard’s expression did the same as she stood up and shook his hand, ‘’W-w-welcome aboard, I-I look forward t-to having you a-around. One m-moment p-please’’. Alphys left down a door to the side and came back with a blanket and pillow, ‘’H-here is y-your camping equipment, sl-sleep anywhere, if y-you need anything else, j-just take it….g-guess they c-call it make y-yourself at h-home huh?’’ Asgore nodded and took the two things of sleepwear, ‘’Thanks Alphys, glad to be aboard this vessel, we’ll get her to be the mightiest ship in due time. Good night, see you tomorrow morning.’’ Alphys nodded and waved ‘’S-sleep tight, s-sweet d-dreams.’’ She then headed off to her own bedroom while Asgore turned off the light and found a couch to snuggle up into, surrounding himself in the warm comforting blanket. Closing the door behind her, she started to get changed into PJ’s, ‘’You know, now life might actually be worth living now that it isn’t so boring, this kid will surely be a bundle of fun. What do you say Al?’’. Alphys smiled faintly, ‘’H-h-he’ll d-definitely be able t-to s-spice up th-the place….just hope I-I’m doing the right th-thing.’’ ‘’What you on about, we’re all gonna be good, perhaps it’ll cheer you up a bit, got to say though, your head is starting to match the house’’. Alphys sighed, ‘’Yeah…. hopefully it’ll be ok’’. She curled up into a ball on her bed in the darkness and started to ponder the consequences of allowing herself to have a housemate.
Alright here we are again, not much to say this time, not much happens here, mostly setting up, but I assure you that the next couple of chapters are going to be interesting... or well at least stuff is going to happen, gotta finally shake things up. Hope you enjoy well enough.
FIRST, PREVIOUS, NEXT, INFO
It all started with darkness, pure pitch-black darkness no matter where she turned, no matter where she moved nothing changed, she wouldn’t even be able to tell if she was moving in the first place, there was nothing visible, not even herself, there was nothing.
However, there was comfort and safety in this darkness, she had learnt to enjoy it, this place where nothing normally could hurt her, a peaceful place. Parts of her yearned for this to never end, just to stay forever, it was easier than doing anything else, couldn’t exactly stuff this up. Unfortunately, it had to end, it always had to end, usually slowly and calmly, but this time it concluded with a rarer occurrence. In the darkness there were two dots horizontally parallel to each other, they were distant enough that most people wouldn’t be able to properly identify what they were, but she knew better, she knew what was coming for her. The dots lightly bobbed as they got slowly got larger, as they drew closer and closer.
‘Please stop, just leave me alone, just disappear forever’, her own voice echoed around her head and area around, but despite the fearful pleas, it kept coming closer. The red dots now were forming into crimson red eyes, still approaching.
‘No, no, just don’t please. Don’t do whatever it is you want to do. Why me?!’
The eyes actually made a sound this time, a distorted arrogant laugh, as if there was awful radio connection interfering with the things voice, nothing like gender could be told from it.
‘I don’t get it… I just don’t get it… I h-haven’t done anything, n-not to you, y-you don’t need to do this? J-just let me go!!’’ Where the eyes were, a silhouette of a humanoid figure started to take form, appearing grey and featureless, the only thing that could be told from it was that it was walking at a slow pace towards her, it’s unblinking stare piercing her through and through. She wanted nothing more than to scream, run, hide, call for help, anything to even say some more words of protest. But as her tormentor approached, all she felt was this overwhelming feeling of fear and hopelessness, it was taking her voice, smothering her, she felt as if she was suffocating on nothing, as if it was just her throat that closed up. The figure was finally close, and it was laughing that distorted sound again, except it didn’t stop, the laughter kept going tirelessly, echoing around and flooding the area around them, there was no other sound. She felt like her heart was going to explode, she wanted to get out, she needed to get out, that darkness needed to return, she wanted everything to go back the way it was, this situation needed to just stop. The figure’s laughter loudened right before it lifted its arm and thrusted to grab her face, smothering her vision. She felt nothing, the blackness had returned, but that evil, fear striking laughter continued, it just kept on going…
ALPHYS
Alphys woke up with a start, frantically looking around with fear in her eyes, breaths going in and out as fast as you could flip a light switch over and over. The monster gripped her blanket and brought it close to her as she spent the next few minutes calming down, mostly just trying to slow her breathing while also using the blanket to wipe off some of the sweat dripping down her face.
‘’Damn, it happened again… don’t suppose a dream therapist or whatever the hell it’s called could help us?’’
Alphys shook her head at the voice’s words, ‘’N-no, th-there’s no need… it’s b-been getting b-better right? Ever s-since those t-two came, they’ve b-become l-less frequent’’.
The voice sighed, ‘’Well if you think you’ll be ok, but I don’t think we should just rely on having those guys around… we need to have our solution to this shit, can’t keep taking the lazy way of dealing with this stuff, it’s gonna affect your mental health’’
‘’Yeah th-that’s rich c-coming from y-you isn’t it?’’
‘’Hey I may not be natural, but I’m sure as hell good for you, I’m basically a friend who knows who you truly are’’
Alphys having calmed down to a workable extent got off her bed and started to undress from her pyjamas, ‘’I-I w-wouldn’t g-go th-that far. Y-you’re not m-my friend. Y-you’re j-just freeloading up th-there, s-someone who I-I have to d-deal with… who i-is a little helpful s-sometimes’’.
‘’You know Al, you might actually hurt my feelings one day, you should feel lucky to have someone like me, some people would kill to have someone care about them like this’’.
She decided to just put on a random plain t-shirt and some shorts for the morning, she didn’t have anything on for the day, so it would probably get her through the rest of the day as well. ‘’Nobody w-wants s-someone l-like you to care a-about them, n-not the way you do it’’.
‘’I think you’re just being ungrateful’’
‘’I-I think y-you lack a-all s-sorts o-of self-awareness’’
‘’Suppose we’ll just have to agree to disagree my dear hostess, but either way I think that we should still watch out for that health, wouldn’t to get worse than me… and god forbid, I would hate to have a friend up here, don’t think your mind could handle three residents… one friend is enough’’.
Alphys sighed and shook her head, after all this time she knew that’s really all she could do. ‘’Y-you know, w-we wouldn’t e-even be this f-friendly if I w-wasn’t alone in th-this house s-so much’’.
The voice made a slightly unsettling high giggle that she didn’t hear often at all, ‘’Exactly, you would be lonely without me, aren’t I just a godsend to you, it’s not to late, we could become besties before you know it’’.
With a slam of her cupboard that was a little louder than intended, she gave simple response, ‘’H-hell no!’’
Alphys could sense a retort about come from the voice until a loud knock on her bedroom door blasted through her tired senses, which both of them decided was currently more important to focus on than the current conversation.
‘’Hey Alphys, you awake in there? I uh ummm… think you need to come out for this, it’s kinda important… I think? I dunno this is for you’’, Sci’s voice going through her door all unsure and concerned like that made her worry just a little bit, what could be going on? What was this about, did something happen to the house, or perhaps weird real estate guy wanted to talk to her about the property?
‘’Oh goodness, I’m getting a little excited, finally something to beat back the boredom of daily life at this house’’, the voice deciding now was the right time to fill her head with words that buzzed with glee, a slightly antagonistic hint thrown into the mix of words.
‘’R-really? Y-you’re bored o-of those two a-already? Fuck I m-might think th-that y-you’re the boring one’’.
‘’Oh, umm you ok in there?’’
Sci’s voice snapped her back to reality as she let out a small scared squeak before rushing to the door, as a slight chuckle emanated through her head, the voice finding delight at her bait having practically been swallowed whole. The lizard monster quickly went through the door after opening it and closed it behind her, now suddenly being almost nose to nose with her skeleton housemate who was clad in a dress shirt and some black pants. It took a couple of seconds before Sci moved a few steps back after realising he was a little to close after having been up close to door in hope of hearing an answer, obviously that was no longer necessary. With her back flat against her door she put her right hand up and gave a small wave, her face doing it’s best to give off a kind, innocent type of smile that had a not so subtle hint of nervousness to it.
‘’Oh u-uh sorry, j-just was uh, mumbling to m-myself you see?’’, with the sentence came a small stuttering laugh as if it was meant to be something comedic that she had no confidence in herself. ‘’S-so ummm what’s going on?’’
Sci didn’t seem all that concerned with Alphys’ panic and went straight to it, ‘’Well it’s about Gaster, well more specifically Quantum, he’s on a phone call with Asgore right now and it seems for whatever’s going on, he’s decided that he needs to talk to you… also from what I can tell, he really doesn’t sound happy at all’’. The skeleton sighed, Alphys could just imagine him being given the phone and having to deal with an unhappy Gaster, something she wouldn’t wish on anybody.
‘’A-alright, I’ll umm… I’ll d-deal with it… I h-hope’’, she felt anxiety start crawling all over her and with it a small chill ran through her as all the worst possibilities, did someone die or something? Would she have to help deal with that grief? Surely, she wasn’t ready to deal with such a thing? Asgore didn’t go around shoplifting, did he? He was to good of a boy to do something like that, that couldn’t be it.
‘’Wouldn’t it be so interesting if Asgore was involved in some sort of scandal, some spicy new drama. The ultimate moral compass shown to be a big fat crook would be an excellent story… although it would be annoying if it ends up affecting us, sounds like more work for me honestly’’. The voice butt in suddenly, starting off excited but then slowly becoming less enthusiastic, however the only person who heard didn’t acknowledge it.
Sci gave a soft smile that somehow reassured her slightly which gave a small form of motivation to get moving, she was one step from her original spot when she stopped by something that was tugging at her mind, something that was a little different than she was used to.
‘’S-sci? You don’t h-have work t-today right? I-I mean at l-least have nothing on r-right?’’, she gave a curious look as she moved her gave up and down the skeleton multiple times.
Sci tilted his head slightly, she knew from being familiar with his expression herself he was wondering what her cause for question or concern was, ‘’Yeah that’s right, is something the matter?’’
‘’It’s j-just, umm well you’re dressed quite uh f-formally for someone whose d-doing nothing.’’, she remembered the night before how he told the two of them that they had nothing on which was only interesting because every other day he had something on, whether it was a full day of work, or even just dropping into help a co-worker with anything, always keeping busy, except for today and yet here he was, dressed in that white shirt that made it look like he was headed for a meeting.
‘’Oh there’s no special occasion, just want dress like I’m ready for anything. Never know when the opportunity to further yourself is going to appear, got to always be ready and active, not time to just be laying around lazily’’. Sci even gave her a cheesy looking thumbs which only proved to unnerve her a bit further.
‘’This is… weird, maybe his lack of a brain has made his personality inconsistent’’
Alphys couldn’t help but agree as she found it incredibly strange hearing that from Sci or even a Sans in general, but at the moment she had something else to go and do.
‘’Alright uh f-fair enough then, w-well umm I-I better see what’s going on… y-yeah’’. With out much chance for a response the nervous monster quickly scurried out of the room to the living room. Sci had a faint smile as he followed after her slowly, it was obvious he wanted to know what was going on as well.
‘’How about we just think of it as me being considerate of your time, after all, you have another five kids to look after. Some probably need more attention than me.’’ Asgore spoke with a fairly bored sounding voice, part of it strained as if he just wanted this to end as quickly as possible, which Alphys assumed was most likely the case. The goat’s gaze turned to look behind him as he heard Alphys, and not far behind Sci, approach, ‘’Alright Gaster, Alphys is here, want to talk to her?’’
After a few seconds Asgore handed the phone over to Alphys and she quickly put it to her ear, the fear of not knowing what to expect just eating away at her. At first the only thing on the other end was some heavy breathing as if Gaster was trying to calm himself down.
Eventually the breathing stopped and Gaster started with a serious tone, ‘’Hello Alphys, sorry for disturbing your day, I wished I didn’t have to’’
‘’O-oh it’s o-ok, you w-weren’t interrupting anything, wh-what’s going on? Something I-I can assist with?’’, she tried to make her tone sound as genuine as possible in some way to reassure him.
‘’Actually yes there is something…’’, he sighed with displeasure, ‘’Suppose I should explain first, tonight the school is about to host parent-teacher interviews, so parents can talk to the teachers about students’ progress and such. You have to book in certain times during the day since there are a lot of students and usually I would book in times that allow me to see all the teachers for all the kids except…’’ another sigh, similar to the last, was heard over the phone, ‘’…Asgore basically booked in random times for himself so there would be no way for me to take part in all of his interviews among my busy schedule.’’.
Alphys sighed, trying her best not to show any signs of relief, but as far as she was concerned, but it could’ve been so much worse, so so much worse.
‘’Soooo do we have to do this? You realise what he’s going to ask of us right?’’, the voice said slowly which snapped her back to reality, in all honesty she had forgot that he wanted her to do something and it wasn’t to hard to guess what.
‘’Alphys, I know he’s not your child and I know that this isn’t something that should be thrusted upon you so I don’t mind if you decline. But could you perhaps take my place for Asgore’s appointments?’’ Gaster’s voice was showing all the signs of annoyance, he didn’t seem to enjoy asking for help in this matter at all.
Alphys took a deep breath as she thought it over, it wouldn’t be that hard would it? Just talk with the specific teachers and report back to Gaster, then she could return home. Even though she knew Gaster couldn’t see her, she smiled in the hope that it would improve the tone of her voice as she announced her answer, ‘’O-of course I’ll help y-you with that! Don’t y-you worry about a th-thing. I’ll m-make sure you get all th-the information you need.’’
Gaster made a small amused sound at the enthusiasm, his voice sounded a bit softer and kinder, she could only imagine there being a smile on the other side, or at least she could hope, ‘’Thank you, I really appreciate your effort. I trust you’ll do well with this responsibility. Is there anyway I can make it easier for you… I know Asgore will have a list of teachers and times with him’’.
‘’No need sir, I th-think I h-have everything u-under control. Y-you just f-focus on your group’’.
Gaster finally content with what he was hearing decided that it was around time to sign off this call, ‘’Again thank you Alphys, please don’t put to much pressure on yourself… so good luck. Hope you can still have a good day after this.’’
Alphys did her best to keep her slightly more enthusiastic tone, trying to make sure it seemed everything was ok on her end, ‘’Th-thank you sir, umm y-you too! See y-you later!’’.
Finally, with a beep, the call was disconnected, and she headed over to where the home phone usually lay and put it down, so it could stay charged. Now she looked at the other two who were watching her, waiting for her to initiate conversation, Sci had a curious confused look as he wanted to know what was going on, while Asgore on the other hand had a small smile with a faint disappointed look in his eyes, she couldn’t be entirely sure what it was that caused that look, she decided first thing was to brief Sci on the general gist of things.
‘’I-it seems th-that due to Asgore’s… i-independence, I’m g-going to th-the school t-to see teachers about Asgore t-to help Gaster.’’
Asgore quickly decided to cut in, ‘’I don’t suppose I can change your mind?’’
The lizard monster shook her head, giving a worried look towards her friend, ‘’No I-I can’t, I’m g-going to pull th-through on this… Asgore, h-how did y-you manage to pull th-that off, I would think you’d n-need teacher approval or something.’’
Asgore shook his head and sighed, watching Alphys’ concerned look making
his expression look a little more down. ‘’It’s… well you do sort of have to, although they tend give students with a good rep some leeway and well they… figured I could be trusted.’’ She started sensing some regret in him as he spoke the last bit, was he questioning himself?
Neither of the two expected Sci to be the next one to pipe up, ‘’Taking advantage of trust like that doesn’t sound like you, what’s going on? Why did you do that?’’
Asgore watched Sci’s curious look with a faintly annoyed expression, to her it looked as if he was on the verge of straight up telling the skeleton it was none of his business, ‘’It really doesn’t matter, just decided that it was for the best, does there have to be anything else? Don’t you trust my judgement?’’
‘’Well… I certainly did before, but now… I don’t know, just feels a little rude what you did. Makes me a little worried about you kid’’. Sci spoke slowly, as if he was debating what he should be saying to him.
Alphys found now was a good time to interject before the possibility of an argument could settle in, at the moment she was effectively the kid’s guardian, she was going to have to sort this out, it was her responsibility. ‘’O-ok that’s enough, Asgore, I-I don’t fully understand w-why, but I c-can’t have you d-doing this again, please.’’ Her voice was a little shaky as she hoped her pleading was going to be sufficient in some way to prevent this from happening again.
The goat appeared to be thinking carefully, tapping his foot on the ground rhythmically as he tried to figure out his answer, ‘’I…. I can’t make any promises… I don’t think’’.
The regret in his voice made Alphys worry more than she already was, there was something quite troubling to her about his actions and tone, why did he seem so conflicted when it came to this whole situation. ‘’Ummm o-ok uh…’’, she paused as she tried to gather courage together, looking away for a few moments as she considered this, was she the right person for this, could she do anything of note? ‘’A-Asgore, w-would it be o-ok if we c-could talk this o-over? I just want to know the s-situation from y-your perspective, even if i-it doesn’t change y-your mind, I… p-please just want t-to talk’’.
It was almost instantly that Asgore responded, shielding himself from such a question with an answer to deflect it away, ‘’Sorry but no can do, if you plan to do exactly what you say, you better get moving. It starts in like an hour and a half, and judging from your attire, you don’t look ready to go out.’’
Alphys recoiled back slightly at realising the deadline was so close, ‘’Oh for fucks sake child, you’re pulling low blows left, right and centre’’.
Sci demanded almost a little to harshly towards Asgore, ‘’Tell us, why on earth didn’t you tell us that already?! That should’ve been the first thing!’’
The younger monster gave an apologetic smile as winced at a little as Sci raised his voice, ‘’Sorry, didn’t really occur to me, after all I was counting on you guys rejecting the request, time didn’t really come into my head’’.
The lizard monster started to recover from the surprise and looked back at Asgore, watching his face and started once more wonder what he was hiding behind that mask. With that she decided to have one more go at reaching out to him. ‘’I-I see, well umm c-can we please t-talk after all this, t-tonight then? Would th-that be ok?’’
Once more the child thought and then gave a sigh, ‘’Ok fine, I will have some go at explaining my thought process. But don’t expect much to come from it ok?’’
Alphys nodded and smiled, ‘’Th-thank you so much, that’s all I want’’.
A throat clearing sound came from outside of her vision and she turned to look at Sci, who was pointing at his wrist, ‘’I mean I know we’re having a nice chat, but I think it might be the time for action. I’m ready to go, but I think that maybe you need to get ready to go.’’ He pointed at her which made her look down at herself, a simple t-shirt and shorts probably wasn’t the way to go, she needed something just a bit more professional, or at least something that showed she wasn’t just being a slob at home, appearances had to be kept.
‘’A-alright, I’ll g-go get ready, j-just make s-sure you’re a-all good to go? O-ok?’’ Alphys watched the two of them nod which was all she needed as confirmation before turning and rushing back to her room, although she was a little surprised that Sci nodded, she supposed he was coming then. Moving inside the safety of her domain and closing the door behind her, she stopped while leaning on the door and just went over all the information in her head. She was going to talk to Asgore’s teachers, remember what they said and report back to Gaster, that was it, surely she could do that?
‘’S-so… i-is this wh-what you wanted? This going to s-satisfy you?’’, she had a slightly amused smile as she closed her eyes to focus.
‘’Well I mean, it could be more interesting, school isn’t what I would call the epitome of entertainment… but I suppose it’s better than being in this stupid house, and it doesn’t put us in any real danger. I think I can approve’’.
A light laugh came from Alphys as once more she looked through her wardrobe, ‘’What w-would make y-you happy then?’’
‘’I’ll… think on it. How about we focus on this.’’ The voice seemed quite calm, at least calmer than usual which in a way made her feel calm herself as some sort of side effect. With one last deep breath she went on to look through her clothes, she was going to do her best, she had to prove to be reliable, for Gaster’s and Asgore’s sake.
