#badtime-tale

Toriel and I hobbled through the door of her small apartment. It was one of the smaller dark grey apartment buildings near the entrance to the town. The only hint it was inhabited by the lovely goatmom was a balcony full of the golden flowers, collected from the meadow in the abandoned ruins near my crash in the old cabin. But this I figured out later. Barley through the apartment door, I collapsed and fell to the floor. “Oh dear!” Toriel grabbed me firmly and dragged me to the next soft surface she found. It was her small green couch, covered with dozens of pillows with the same flower pattern. With a ‘Huff’ she sank to my side and her paw grabbed my sweat-covered face. “Can you hear me, my dear?” “Y…yes… “ My mind started to slip away. “Stay awake, please… Don’t fall asleep…. Can you tell me your name? What are those strings? Stay awake, hear me?” “…reja… Arejare… I’m… Arejare and…” It took a moment before her second question arrived my mind and then an icy terror froze my spin. It cost me all my strength to warn her: “DON’T touch them! They’re poisonous! Oh stars…Please… Don’t…” Toriel jerked back by my loud voice. “B… but they… some stuck…” “Stuck‽” I leapt up, “Oh, no…they…no. Please… This can not have happened! They need to get out of me! Oh, all your stars, no… no, no, noo…” Darkness devoured me. A high-flare pain in my right arm and a scream awoke me. “Shh… shh… It’s all right, dear. Calm down, the worst part is over.” “What…?” The burning pain slowly decreased. A warm and furry palm stroked my cheek trying to calm me down.  I sighed and squinted my eyes as a fresh blaze panged in my head. Oh… and my headache was still here. Hello again… The entire way from the shack to Toriel, a dull and pricking pain pulsed through my head and left only sticky cotton candy-like memories until I awoke again. I couldn’t remember if or how much we talked, I sighed anew. “We must cut out some strings.” The goatmonster broke my chain of thoughts, “Some were stuck in your veins and they have begun to melt with you together as well… We couldn’t stop it. This was the last one, I think… Isn’t it?” The question was directed in a wary tone to a rangy figure with a cracked white head. Gaster? I rubbed my aching forehead. How strange… “Careful, my dear!” She caught my hand and kept it in her soft, warm paws. “Hm?” I looked back to the goatmonster and to the still silent, dark and maybe former royal scientist behind her. Deep-red blood splatter spoilt the white of his button-down shirt. The unholy red of my own blood shone on the rolled up sleeves and the bones of his forearms. He was cleaning some strange looking instruments without a response to Toriel’s question. She looked back at me. “They were everywhere.” Everywhere? I looked down myself, lying on a grey tarpaulin with some blood soaked towels and a blanket over my body where bloody spots bloom like macabre flowers… Everywhere… I flushed… and felt dizzy. With a little moan, I let my head fall back. Blood… So much blood… As if he could read my mind, Gaster finally spoke. His voice a distance, sonorous tone: “You have lost a lot of blood. I’ve done my best to cut only what was necessary, but I’m afraid there are some more left. One I couldn’t cut or drag out. It’s on the left side of your head but you won’t see it if you cover it with your hair. It is possible that there are ore in deeper spots that I can’t extract. I really hope, they are not in your veins…” “Not… Wait…‽” I hesitated, “Why I can understand you‽” The tall monster looked back astonished, tilted his head to left. “Why you should not?” I bit my lower lip but regretted it immediately as I broke the skin and could feel a little, sharp stitch. I could taste my own blood. Great… More bleeding. “I don’t know… It was a feeling…” I tried to save what could be saved. Brilliant question, AJ, really. I wasn’t somewhere. I was in an unknown AU and had to be careful what I said. I had to keep my thoughts together. His suspicious glares persisted for an awkward moment that seems to go on forever. Finally he shrugged and put the last of the sharp looking instruments in a shabby old leather bag beside him. Then he concentrated on cleaning his hands with a towel, that a second floating pair held ready. “Did you touch the strings?” I asked them both. No matter how I was feeling I needed to know that they were okay. “Maybe I. I’m not sure… I could have when I have carried you?” Toriel replied with a worried look. “But I don’t feel anything different?” “Shit…” I mumbled, with a sigh, but I immediately get a serious look from Toriel. “Language, child.” “Sorry… Erm…” “You said the strings were poisonous? What do they do exactly?” Gaster interrupted me with an expression that could barely hide his curiosity. He had finished his cleaning and now his full attention was on me. “Well… It’s a little bit difficult. They affect magic. So… I… “ I shook my head “It’s easier if you try to do some magic, but Toriel… Be careful, if you do so.” I stumbled over her name and sent a short prayer upwards with a hope that none of them noticed my second multiverse-traveler mistake in a row. Holy skies, I must be in really bad condition. “Hmm…” Thoughtfully she looked at her paws and, with an undulating billow in the air, she summoned two flickering flames. Almost immediately they pixled and glitched into a negative version of themselves. Their the bright color went black as warm reds transformed into a cold blue with only faint hints of red and yellow within them. They looked like Error himself. Toriel yelped in surprise and again in pain as the little flames flared up. She tried to extinguish them by clapping her paws together but one sprouted legs, hopped down from her palm and ran around, until Gaster stomped it into the ground. “Wh… What in all heaven stars name was that‽” Gaster yelled with an angry look at me. There was a deep blue glow in his eyes as he hissed: “Did you know what would happen?” “NO! I didn’t know what would happen. I… I’ve only seen it happen once before how a monster got infected by the strings… But she had an other kind of magic…” I stopped and pieced together the puzzle, “The magic… reverses itself and turns against its owner, I guess…” The conclusion would fit with Error’s goals also. I trembled. What if I was a living virus now? There were still strings inside me… “How can we heal it, human?” Gaster frowned at me, and cleared his throat. “Uh… I mean…” “You’re right, I’m a human… And as far as I know it will only least for a couple of hours. But until then, using magic wouldn’t be a good idea.” “How… did you get them?” Toriel whispered. She lifted her eyes and gazed to me. “How could a … young human get into so much troubles?” I clinched my jaw. I’d known this question would be coming but I had hoped I would have more time… and fewer headaches. In a mindless gesture I pressed the ball of my left hand to my temple and whimpered. A zigzag cut crossed my palm in a burning but harmless way while my head flared up in bright caustic pain. After a few seconds it gradually pulsed into a deep, dull ache with a burning string pricking against my left eyeball from the inside of my head. My eye started to water. When Toriel saw the tears she awoke from her starring and stroked them from my cheek.“Don’t worry. You don’t need to speak about, if you don’t want to. I’m not angry with you, my dear.” Gaster coughed slightly and gave me a look that told me he wouldn’t let me off the hook so easily. I knew he would continue with the questioning when he got the chance to catch me alone. “So what should we do now? You can’t go outside in your condition. And you must rest a bit more. At least, until you get some new clothes. And you will need some food,” Toriel spoke more to herself than to us.“If you don’t need me anymore I …” But before Gaster had a chance to escape Toriel turned around and cut him off: “Of course I need your help, Wingdings! She can’t go outside as long as she looks human. We need something to disguise her. You know what happened to the last human…” She mumbled the last sentence and turned her face away but I could herd her; loud she said: “Bring me your make-up and something she would fit… And call Sans. We need someone who can slip out of a dangerous situation and take her with him.” I blinked in surprise. She sounded so bossy. But then I remembered I was in a kind of a mobster AU and of course Toriel, as an ex of Asgore, strong in her won right, was a Boss in all possible kinds. Gaster bowed his head. His face bare of expressions. Then he took his bag and left the room with a silent click of the door revealed his leaving. “Well, my dear… I think I will bring you something to eat… Stay here until I’m back. And if you feel better you can take a shower. With a little luck Wingdings will be back shortly so and we can start to prepare your disguise.” She smiled at me and stroked over my hair again. “Thank you. But why are you so nice to me? I’m a stranger… A human…” “You need help… And you… I think it’s reason enough for me to help.” “But you wouldn’t have had to do it… And now, you got infected with Err…. the strings and it’s my fault. I’m sorry.” “Don’t worry, my dear. It was my decision to help and I’m stronger than I look like,” added she with a smile. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll bring you something to eat.” With a quiet groan she got up and left the room. I took the opportunity and looked around. I laid on a green and golden yellow carpet, right in front of the green couch where I collapsed earlier. There was a blood soaked pile of red and black at my feet that I recognized as my clothes. My body was still bleeding from a countless number of cuts, red and blue from internal bruising. Looking over the damage, I assumed the bloody mess of cloth hat was my clothes was nothing more than scraps. Almost every inch of the walls are hidden by bookshelves of various heights and widths. This familiar look let me smile. I’ve loved books my entire life and can’t imagine a world without it. However, the title of the books ranged from human fairytales and novels to guidebooks of how to take care of snail colonies, to cooking books. The room was barren of other furniture, beside a little sideboard with a lamp on top. I wonder why are monster households so empty. Did it depend on how much they earned or did they just need more space? Toriel wasn’t a small creature, that for sure. I shrugged at my own thoughts and then hissed immediately. My body felt like one big wound and the throbbing pulse in my head made it difficult to think up to the next thing I would do. While I was idling with my thoughts, Toriel had created a whole tray of deliciously looking food and a pot of sweet smelling tea. She knelt down by my side put the tray with food beside and helped me to sit up. I flinched. It felt like being pierced by a thousand needles. I couldn’t hide my facial expression from Toriel. She hummed in a soft tone to calm me down. I looked back thankfully and eyed the food she brought. I was curious. How would monster food affect me? Would it heal me or was it more like normal human food? There was only one way to figure it out. I reached for the half filled cup of tea. “Be careful, my dear. It is still hot.” She smiled and I wonder how often she got the chance to take care of someone. She looked so happy right now. “Thank you,” I whispered and smiled back. It felt impossible not to be grateful and feel safe when she was around you. Despite her warning, the tea was cold enough to drink. The scent and sweet taste reminded me of the scene of sweet violets. I inhaled deeply and sighed in delight. The warm steam of tea was enough to let me felt better. “What flavor is this tea? I don’t recognize it.” I added when Toriel look confused. “It’s a golden flower tea,” she explained “They are really common here.” “It smells wonderful… And a little bit like forgotten memories…” She frowned. “Oh, sorry. Did I say something wrong?” “No, no, my dear. It’s… a really accurate description for the scent, I think,” she mumbled. I flinched. Oh good god, how could I be so rude? I already knew what happened in her past and still I messed up with such a stupid comment! At least, now I know that in this AU almost the same had happen. Poor Toriel. I wondered which role Asgore would play here… “I’m really sorry if I said something unpleasant… maybe a bad memory?” I couldn’t stop myself, damn. What was wrong with me? “You should eat something, Arejare. You need it. Wingdings and Sans will be here soon, as well.” “You’re right. Sorry, again.” I sipped the now cold tea and relaxed a bit more. Now the food. I grabbed after a piece of sliced bread with some sort of marmalade on it, that spread a sweet smell of fruits. It turned out it was a raspberry jam. After the first bit, I realized how hungry I was. I ate so quickly I barely registered the delicious meal and hurried to fill my starving self as fast as I could. Toriel smiled at me. Slowly but unstoppable, I felt better. I could felt how I my wounds closed. I sighed in relief. Nice. So monster food would heal me. As the last scarp of food vanished, a gentle knocking from the door disrupted the quite peace. Toriel pushed herself upright and went to the door but didn’t open it. Another, more specifically knocking sound: Exact two knocks. I chuckled and so did Toriel. “Who’s there?” She asked with barley held back laughter. A voice, muffled through the door, said: “adore.” “Adore who?” Toriel asked again. “adore is between us. open up!” The goatmonster and I laughed loudly as she opened the door. I lain at an inconvenient angle and couldn’t see anything, but I could hear her ask in Sans and Gaster. In a small snickering voices, she and Sans exchanged other puns, until Gaster had enough and interrupted them both with a harsh “There’s not time for that!” “aww, Dings. if not now, then when? take it easy. it couldn’t be as bad as…” I’ll never supposed to know how bad it could be because Sans stopped immediately as he saw me. The small skeleton shut up and froze where he stood. “Aw, it couldn’t be SO bad. I feel almost better!” I pouted. “if that’s better than before, you where supposed to be dead, kid.” “Are you kiddin’ me?” I tried to relax the still frozen skeleton who continued to block the way into the living room. It doesn’t work. I clenched the hem of the blanket. Toriel gingerly pushed him into the room. He slid to my side to get a closer look of my battered body. The little pinpricks in his dark eye sockets scanned from here to there until they stopped and squinted for a closer inspection of my head. He reached for something above my left eye but stopped before he could touched it. “should they be there?” He asked in a wary tone. I sighed. “No. But it couldn’t be changed anymore.” Only now did he dare to look me in the eyes. His eyelights shrinking to distant glooming pinpricks, like fireflies in the dark night of his eye sockets. Fireflies in a gloom of light cyan blue gloom. The sound of shuffling feet snapped us out of our paralysis. “what happened to ya?” “I fell…” I thought a moment about my words and add: “Literally.” His grin became more skeptical as his probed further. “is that so?” I nodded, trying to keep my expressions neutral. “ya looked like someone who’d had a brush with the death just hours ago, but ya don’t get that way just from falling…” He raised his left brow bone “so tell me, what happened  f o r   r e a l   n o w.” The deep black of his eye sockets and combined with the drop in his voice sent a burning flash of fear down my spine. Holy crap! That voice… if you hear it for the first time you wonder how could anybody resist to urge to run away or hit their final reset. “Sans, that is enough.” Toriel was my savior again. “Don’t push her. She will talk when she is ready. Have you guys brought the make-up?” Sans glared at me for a moment longer than he turned around, his static grin became friendly like before. “sure. Paps sent ya a dish of his latest spaghetti. wanna try a bite while we ‘finish’ her?” “I dare you!” She frowned. “Why are you so untrusting?” “why ya not?” He asked angrily. But then he sighed. “bo… Toriel. why do ya do this? ya don’t even know her… and she’s a human.” With the last sentence Sans glanced at me. His voice grim and deep. I felt awkward. Not only because Sans played his creepy card, but also I felt gross. I needed to take a shower and use the bathroom. Meh… That’s stuff you wouldn’t see shown on TV and merely read in a book, but this was real. And though monster food became energy without needing to pass your system, I had a real human breakfast (or whenever I fell down. Boy… Was it really just this morning that I have had breakfast? It’s felt like weeks…) I wasn’t even sure (but I supposed she wouldn’t) if Toriel had something like a toilette in her bathroom… Oh stars… The longer I thought about it, the more pressing became my need of a bathroom… I hadn’t even been listening to the rest of the conversation around me and suddenly I blurt out loud: “I need to shower, right now! I mean… When I get made-up it shouldn’t be on dirty ground, right? Toriel…? Please…?” “Oh, of course, my dear!” She jumped up: “Come on. I will help you up.” With fast, practiced handhold, Toriel quickly raised me up while I took care to hold the blanket wrapped around me. As I passed by, Gaster starred at me like a dangerous but fragile experiment. When I catch his eyes following me, he hissed with a light blush of dark blue on his cheekbones: “What? It’s not like I haven’t seen you n… undressed before?” Now it was my turn to blush. I didn’t want to be fthe first wo look away, but Toriel, carefully, yet forcefully, led me out of the room. We went through the short hallway, passing a closed door until we finally stepped in front of one door with a silly little chibi-goat face on it. It had a big, goofy smile on its face. I glanced away to the left, and noticed the corridor opened to the kitchen. That could be useful for later. “Do you want me to stay and help you, my dear?” She was trying not to look worried. “Thank you, but I think I can stand by myself. But should be anything wrong I’m sure you wouldn’t be far away,” I said, smiling. She nodded, opened the door for me and flipped the light switch. I sent her another smile and went with slow steps inside. Closing the door behind me I took a deep breath and looked around. The bathroom was empty as I expected. But, thank you all stars, it has a toilette! It rested beside a huge and still comfy looking bathtub with lion feet. I sighed in relief and took my shaky legs to the so eagerly anticipated seat. After I satisfied my needs, I slowly made my way to the slim mirror, hidden between the door and a shelf with typical bath equipment. A small peek at the articles let me chuckle anyway: “MTT delightful honeycomb shampoo for extra fluff”. The little distraction couldn’t last longer as I finally stood in front of the mirror. With an anxiety writhing in my chest, I unfolded the blanket – and winched. I knew I got wrecked, but not that I looked like thrown through a shattered house of mirrors… I felt dizzy again and had to remind myself to breath. I hadn’t noticed I’d stopped. Carefully I traced with my fingertips over my bloody crusted cuts and deep purple bruises. I could feel the difference between a cut caused by my fall or one caused by one of Errors strings. The latter cut deeper than the others and were cold and damp to the touch. The deepest ones had odd blue-purple veining, that branched out like I had survived a lightning strike. The same odd marks crossed the left side of my head and ended at my temple. With the beat of my heart the veins pulsed in a soft glow of teal. I shivered. It was that same beat that sent little picking needles through my head. And there was… something else… But I couldn’t put a finger on it. I looked at myself and frowned. Maybe I would it figure it out when my headache got better. Then I saw my empty ears. Where were my earrings? They were fragile and very old so maybe they broke and I… lost them? Oh stars, no…! Damn… I looked away and sighed, dumped the pain deep inside me. They were everything that was left from my family… But… I took a deep, calming breath. I had to focus… Once, I’d gotten familiar with my busted body, I noticed that I had gotten a new haircut as well and groaned. Yes, I was being a little bit vain about the length of my hair and so I wasn’t pleased to saw my precious long, dark hair was slashed into a kind of undercut on my left side. Surely the pulsing string was the culprit. Thankfully my hair had been in a high knot when Error hit me and so there wasn’t any damage to the top layer. I sighed again and took a short look at my backside, which – surprise, surprise – was also cut in pieces and covered with bruised marks, that were becoming darker by the minute watching them… I hummed in exhaustion. But I couldn’t let myself linger on it. One step at a time. First, taking a shower; then getting out of this AU; and THEN kicking Error’s ass so hard that he flew through time and space. A n d  w h e n  I’ m  d o n e  w i t h  h i m  even Gaster will look more complete than him. But first: Showering… I stepped inside the cabin. Speaking of Error… What – and especially how much – should I tell Gaster and Sans? Because, they WILL ask. I sighed again – I’ve been doing that a lot, in the end, this might become a bad habit. Nevertheless I would have to consider answers, which I could give them… When I got out of the shower, I saw a bunch of neatly folded clothes on the rack, near the sink. Toriel must have left them while I was showering. Curious I rummaged through the clothes and picked a large white button-down shirt, a loose-fitting suit pants (they where to large but fitted in the wide), a boxers, a few suspender and a long, worn-out and anthracite coat. I would need a bra too but there was no one either. I sighed (Oh, yes, this is definitely becoming a bad habit!) and took another look through the clothes to see if anything could help me out. Finally I found a simple grey t-shirt that would normally be too tight, but it would work as a temporally bra-surrogate. I also found a dark green tie at the bottom of the pile and I decided to give it a try. I lost some time trying to tie the tie until I made a halfway decent knot. With a laissez faire look, I gave myself a mischievous smirk in the mirror - and giggled. It was a good feeling. The clothes helped me feel a bit better, more like myself again. I took a deep breath and headed out of the bathroom. When I reached the living room, I saw Toriel and Gaster sitting on the couch while Sans sat with crossed legs in front of them. They hadn’t noticed me yet and chatted in such a light and relaxed way that I felt like the intruder that I am. I cleared my throat so they wouldn’t think I had been trying to eavesdrop them. Immediately the mood changed. It made me nervous, but no one prepared to attack me. Okay, Toriel and Gaster weren’t, but Sans’ glare was a little harder to read. It waved somewhere between suspicion and curiosity. Not that Gaster greeted me as a friend but anyway he was polite enough to hide his feelings behind a neutral face. Strange enough that it was Gaster and not Sans who was hiding… Maybe it was caused by this kind of AU. “Arejare, dear. You look much better! I’m sorry we couldn’t offer you some better clothes, but I hope, they will do for now.” “Of course! Thank you, Toriel… and… you both.” I avoided to naming them, unsure how I should call them. Gaster or Wingdings? Sans was Sans, but… They were both so suspicious and wary. Besides they tried to remain aloof, but I didn’t buy it. And I was sure they knew it. The show was for Toriel. I sighed inwardly, smiled, and kneeled at Toriel’s side. Still each move hurt a little bit. I wouldn’t allow the pain to keep controlling me. Nevertheless, it wasn’t a real safe place at all like Toriel had tried to imply. A skeletal hand appeared in front of me. I looked surprised at Sans, who offered me his hand. His gaze hidden by half-lidded eye sockets, which let him look way more relaxed than he surely was. Slowly, I took his hand and we shook them. “Sans. Sans the skeleton. pleasure to meetcha. Taken by surprise I replied: “Hi, Sans the skeleton, I’m Arejare the human. Pleasure’s all mine…” Somewhere deep in my fandom-contaminated mind, I pulled out the next lines, “Tibia honest, first, I thought you would try to pick a bone with me. It rattled me down to the bones. It was a skele-ton of work to compose myself again and it would be marrow of me to think of you this way, I don’t think you would have the heart to do this. And I won’t tell you any fibulas, when I say I wouldn’t have the guts either. But I’m afraid the puns are ulna used up. So I’m really hippy if you would find this a little humerus. And after all of this I hope it made Sans to you.” When I finally closed Sans busted into laughter, joined by Toriel. When I had started, he had looked confused, but with each pun, his grin became wider and wider. “Oh my stars, I’m so DONE with you both, right now!” Gaster cringed at our relieved laughter. Well… This Gaster wasn’t on the pun-train or I went to far for him. “i think it’s hilarious. i’m in,” Sans smirked at Gaster who shot him a glare that clearly screamed ‘You betrayed me!’ But Sans doesn’t care and shrugged. He turned back to me and said: “i liked the last one,” and winked. Gaster crossed his arms. His flying hands clenched in fists, as he glared and grumbled in my direction. Once Toriel could catch her breath, she smiled at me with pride. I felt as if I had passed a secret test, and I couldn’t resist one last pun to Gaster, “Oh, please, don’t give me that sternum look. They’re real rib tickler!” Sans giggled again. “okay, kiddo. i think we can work together. anyone who can appreciate a good pun deserves a chance.” “So… Tell me, human. Why are you here and what is your plan?” Gaster watched me with his wary glare again. He didn’t trust me. I couldn’t blame him, an odd human with even more odd poisonous-strings all over their body, which affect monster magic appears at a place, which is normally human-free. I was dangerous in his eyes – and he wasn’t wrong in the end. But not in that way the might thought about me. I would never kill a monster on purpose. Even to hurt a monster was far away from my intention – except for Error. Maybe in self-defense I would hurt, but never… never kill. So what will I to do now? “I… have to hide myself… and to wait for someone. We… got separated and I don’t know if she even presumed where I could be and I have no chance to inform her… “ I lifted my eyes and face up to Gaster and Sans “The strings shouldn’t rest in me or melt with me eighter. They should disappear or go back to their owner. He attacked me with them. Tossed me away from my friend… She couldn’t do anything. It happened so damn fast…” I sighed deeply… Toriel patted my shoulder. “Don’t worry, my dear. We will find your friend and you can meet her again. What’s her name?” I considered for a moment. I was sure, they would help, but still… “Writer Universes. She’s a fire monster with magenta and cyan color. She’s wearing a monocle on the left, a long red scarf with a bow in her back and has and golden upside-down heart-necklace…” “fire monster, hm? well, maybe I know someone who could know her…” I bite my inner lips not to blubber again. Surely Sans talked about Grillby… But he can’t know where Writer was, nobody could know. I hoped she was well... Damn, Error! When I get his fucking ass, he… “We should prepare her now. It’s not much time left and maybe somebody has seen how Toriel and the human went in. “ “alright. knock yourself down, bro.” With these words, Sans crossed his arms behind his head and closed his eyes, while he leaned against the couch. “No way, Sans! You’ll be instructed to help!” “Dings, three monster for one face? Isn’t that a bit too much? less is more, bro,” he winked. Gaster growled. “I’ve operated her already. Now it’s your turn to do something.” “i’m here just the jump out, remember?” He blinked to Gaster with one open eye. But the taller skeleton retorted with a grim glare until Sans unfold himself with a sigh and turned to me. “okay, sweetie, let’s revamp ya...” I blinked. Did he just call me…?

Toriel and I hobbled through the door of her small apartment. It was one of the smaller dark grey apartment buildings near the entrance to the town. The only hint it was inhabited by the lovely goatmom was a balcony full of the golden flowers, collected from the meadow in the abandoned ruins near my crash in the old cabin. But this I figured out later. Barley through the apartment door, I collapsed and fell to the floor. “Oh dear!” Toriel grabbed me firmly and dragged me to the next soft surface she found. It was her small green couch, covered with dozens of pillows with the same flower pattern. With a ‘Huff’ she sank to my side and her paw grabbed my sweat-covered face. “Can you hear me, my dear?” “Y…yes… “ My mind started to slip away. “Stay awake, please… Don’t fall asleep…. Can you tell me your name? What are those strings? Stay awake, hear me?” “…reja… Arejare… I’m… Arejare and…” It took a moment before her second question arrived my mind and then an icy terror froze my spin. It cost me all my strength to warn her: “DON’T touch them! They’re poisonous! Oh stars…Please… Don’t…” Toriel jerked back by my loud voice. “B… but they… some stuck…” “Stuck‽” I leapt up, “Oh, no…they…no. Please… This can not have happened! They need to get out of me! Oh, all your stars, no… no, no, noo…” Darkness devoured me. A high-flare pain in my right arm and a scream awoke me. “Shh… shh… It’s all right, dear. Calm down, the worst part is over.” “What…?” The burning pain slowly decreased. A warm and furry palm stroked my cheek trying to calm me down.  I sighed and squinted my eyes as a fresh blaze panged in my head. Oh… and my headache was still here. Hello again… The entire way from the shack to Toriel, a dull and pricking pain pulsed through my head and left only sticky cotton candy-like memories until I awoke again. I couldn’t remember if or how much we talked, I sighed anew. “We must cut out some strings.” The goatmonster broke my chain of thoughts, “Some were stuck in your veins and they have begun to melt with you together as well… We couldn’t stop it. This was the last one, I think… Isn’t it?” The question was directed in a wary tone to a rangy figure with a cracked white head. Gaster? I rubbed my aching forehead. How strange… “Careful, my dear!” She caught my hand and kept it in her soft, warm paws. “Hm?” I looked back to the goatmonster and to the still silent, dark and maybe former royal scientist behind her. Deep-red blood splatter spoilt the white of his button-down shirt. The unholy red of my own blood shone on the rolled up sleeves and the bones of his forearms. He was cleaning some strange looking instruments without a response to Toriel’s question. She looked back at me. “They were everywhere.” Everywhere? I looked down myself, lying on a grey tarpaulin with some blood soaked towels and a blanket over my body where bloody spots bloom like macabre flowers… Everywhere… I flushed… and felt dizzy. With a little moan, I let my head fall back. Blood… So much blood… As if he could read my mind, Gaster finally spoke. His voice a distance, sonorous tone: “You have lost a lot of blood. I’ve done my best to cut only what was necessary, but I’m afraid there are some more left. One I couldn’t cut or drag out. It’s on the left side of your head but you won’t see it if you cover it with your hair. It is possible that there are ore in deeper spots that I can’t extract. I really hope, they are not in your veins…” “Not… Wait…‽” I hesitated, “Why I can understand you‽” The tall monster looked back astonished, tilted his head to left. “Why you should not?” I bit my lower lip but regretted it immediately as I broke the skin and could feel a little, sharp stitch. I could taste my own blood. Great… More bleeding. “I don’t know… It was a feeling…” I tried to save what could be saved. Brilliant question, AJ, really. I wasn’t somewhere. I was in an unknown AU and had to be careful what I said. I had to keep my thoughts together. His suspicious glares persisted for an awkward moment that seems to go on forever. Finally he shrugged and put the last of the sharp looking instruments in a shabby old leather bag beside him. Then he concentrated on cleaning his hands with a towel, that a second floating pair held ready. “Did you touch the strings?” I asked them both. No matter how I was feeling I needed to know that they were okay. “Maybe I. I’m not sure… I could have when I have carried you?” Toriel replied with a worried look. “But I don’t feel anything different?” “Shit...” I mumbled, with a sigh, but I immediately get a serious look from Toriel. “Language, child.” “Sorry… Erm…” “You said the strings were poisonous? What do they do exactly?” Gaster interrupted me with an expression that could barely hide his curiosity. He had finished his cleaning and now his full attention was on me. “Well… It’s a little bit difficult. They affect magic. So… I… “ I shook my head “It’s easier if you try to do some magic, but Toriel... Be careful, if you do so.” I stumbled over her name and sent a short prayer upwards with a hope that none of them noticed my second multiverse-traveler mistake in a row. Holy skies, I must be in really bad condition. “Hmm…” Thoughtfully she looked at her paws and, with an undulating billow in the air, she summoned two flickering flames. Almost immediately they pixled and glitched into a negative version of themselves. Their the bright color went black as warm reds transformed into a cold blue with only faint hints of red and yellow within them. They looked like Error himself. Toriel yelped in surprise and again in pain as the little flames flared up. She tried to extinguish them by clapping her paws together but one sprouted legs, hopped down from her palm and ran around, until Gaster stomped it into the ground. “Wh… What in all heaven stars name was that‽” Gaster yelled with an angry look at me. There was a deep blue glow in his eyes as he hissed: “Did you know what would happen?” “NO! I didn’t know what would happen. I… I’ve only seen it happen once before how a monster got infected by the strings… But she had an other kind of magic…” I stopped and pieced together the puzzle, “The magic… reverses itself and turns against its owner, I guess…” The conclusion would fit with Error’s goals also. I trembled. What if I was a living virus now? There were still strings inside me… “How can we heal it, human?” Gaster frowned at me, and cleared his throat. “Uh… I mean…” “You’re right, I’m a human… And as far as I know it will only least for a couple of hours. But until then, using magic wouldn’t be a good idea.” “How… did you get them?” Toriel whispered. She lifted her eyes and gazed to me. “How could a … young human get into so much troubles?” I clinched my jaw. I’d known this question would be coming but I had hoped I would have more time… and fewer headaches. In a mindless gesture I pressed the ball of my left hand to my temple and whimpered. A zigzag cut crossed my palm in a burning but harmless way while my head flared up in bright caustic pain. After a few seconds it gradually pulsed into a deep, dull ache with a burning string pricking against my left eyeball from the inside of my head. My eye started to water. When Toriel saw the tears she awoke from her starring and stroked them from my cheek.“Don’t worry. You don’t need to speak about, if you don’t want to. I’m not angry with you, my dear.” Gaster coughed slightly and gave me a look that told me he wouldn’t let me off the hook so easily. I knew he would continue with the questioning when he got the chance to catch me alone. “So what should we do now? You can’t go outside in your condition. And you must rest a bit more. At least, until you get some new clothes. And you will need some food,” Toriel spoke more to herself than to us.“If you don’t need me anymore I …” But before Gaster had a chance to escape Toriel turned around and cut him off: “Of course I need your help, Wingdings! She can’t go outside as long as she looks human. We need something to disguise her. You know what happened to the last human…” She mumbled the last sentence and turned her face away but I could herd her; loud she said: “Bring me your make-up and something she would fit… And call Sans. We need someone who can slip out of a dangerous situation and take her with him.”  I blinked in surprise. She sounded so bossy. But then I remembered I was in a kind of a mobster AU and of course Toriel, as an ex of Asgore, strong in her won right, was a Boss in all possible kinds. Gaster bowed his head. His face bare of expressions. Then he took his bag and left the room with a silent click of the door revealed his leaving. “Well, my dear… I think I will bring you something to eat… Stay here until I’m back. And if you feel better you can take a shower. With a little luck Wingdings will be back shortly so and we can start to prepare your disguise.” She smiled at me and stroked over my hair again. “Thank you. But why are you so nice to me? I’m a stranger… A human…” “You need help… And you… I think it’s reason enough for me to help.” “But you wouldn’t have had to do it… And now, you got infected with Err…. the strings and it’s my fault. I’m sorry.” “Don’t worry, my dear. It was my decision to help and I’m stronger than I look like,” added she with a smile. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll bring you something to eat.” With a quiet groan she got up and left the room. I took the opportunity and looked around. I laid on a green and golden yellow carpet, right in front of the green couch where I collapsed earlier. There was a blood soaked pile of red and black at my feet that I recognized as my clothes. My body was still bleeding from a countless number of cuts, red and blue from internal bruising. Looking over the damage, I assumed the bloody mess of cloth hat was my clothes was nothing more than scraps. Almost every inch of the walls are hidden by bookshelves of various heights and widths. This familiar look let me smile. I’ve loved books my entire life and can’t imagine a world without it. However, the title of the books ranged from human fairytales and novels to guidebooks of how to take care of snail colonies, to cooking books. The room was barren of other furniture, beside a little sideboard with a lamp on top. I wonder why are monster households so empty. Did it depend on how much they earned or did they just need more space? Toriel wasn't a small creature, that for sure. I shrugged at my own thoughts and then hissed immediately. My body felt like one big wound and the throbbing pulse in my head made it difficult to think up to the next thing I would do. While I was idling with my thoughts, Toriel had created a whole tray of deliciously looking food and a pot of sweet smelling tea. She knelt down by my side put the tray with food beside and helped me to sit up. I flinched. It felt like being pierced by a thousand needles. I couldn’t hide my facial expression from Toriel. She hummed in a soft tone to calm me down. I looked back thankfully and eyed the food she brought. I was curious. How would monster food affect me? Would it heal me or was it more like normal human food? There was only one way to figure it out. I reached for the half filled cup of tea. “Be careful, my dear. It is still hot.” She smiled and I wonder how often she got the opportunity to take care of someone. She looked so happy right now. “Thank you,” I whispered and smiled back. It felt impossible not to be grateful and feel safe when she was around you. Despite her warning, the tea was cold enough to drink. The scent and sweet taste reminded me of the scene of sweet violets. I inhaled deeply and sighed in delight. The warm steam of tea was enough to let me felt better. “What flavor is this tea? I don’t recognize it.” I added when Toriel look confused. “It’s a golden flower tea,” she explained “They are really common here.” “It smells wonderful… And a little bit like forgotten memories…” She frowned. “Oh, sorry. Did I say something wrong?” “No, no, my dear. It’s… a really accurate description for the scent, I think,” she mumbled. I flinched. Oh good god, how could I be so rude? I already knew what happened in her past and still I messed up with such a stupid comment! At least, now I know that in this AU almost the same had happen. Poor Toriel. I wondered which role Asgore would play here… “I’m really sorry if I said something unpleasant… maybe a bad memory?” I couldn’t stop myself, damn. What was wrong with me? “You should eat something, Arejare. You need it. Wingdings and Sans will be here soon, as well.” “You’re right. Sorry, again.” I sipped the now cold tea and relaxed a bit more. Now the food. I grabbed after a piece of sliced bread with some sort of marmalade on it, that spread a sweet smell of fruits. It turned out it was a raspberry jam. After the first bit, I realized how hungry I was. I ate so quickly I barely registered the delicious meal and hurried to fill my starving self as fast as I could. Toriel smiled at me. Slowly but unstoppable, I felt better. I could felt how I my wounds closed. I sighed in relief. Nice. So monster food would heal me. As the last scarp of food vanished, a gentle knocking from the door disrupted the quite peace. Toriel pushed herself upright and went to the door but didn’t open it. Another, more specifically knocking sound: Exact two knocks. I chuckled and so did Toriel. “Who’s there?” She asked with barley held back laughter. A voice, muffled through the door, said: “adore.” “Adore who?” Toriel asked again. “adore is between us. open up!” The goatmonster and I laughed loudly as she opened the door. I lain at an inconvenient angle and couldn’t see anything, but I could hear her ask in Sans and Gaster. In a small snickering voices, she and Sans exchanged other puns, until Gaster had enough and interrupted them both with a harsh “There’s not time for that!” “aww, Dings. if not now, then when? take it easy. it couldn’t be as bad as…” I’ll never supposed to know how bad it could be because Sans stopped immediately as he saw me. The small skeleton shut up and froze where he stood. “Aw, it couldn’t be SO bad. I feel almost better!” I pouted. “if that’s better than before, you where supposed to be dead, kid.” “Are you kiddin’ me?” I tried to relax the still frozen skeleton who continued to block the way into the living room. It doesn’t work. I clenched the hem of the blanket. Toriel gingerly pushed him into the room. He slid to my side to get a closer look of my battered body. The little pinpricks in his dark eye sockets scanned from here to there until they stopped and squinted for a closer inspection of my head. He reached for something above my left eye but stopped before he could touched it. “should they be there?” He asked in a wary tone. I sighed. “No. But it couldn’t be changed anymore.”  Only now did he dare to look me in the eyes. His eyelights shrinking to distant glooming pinpricks, like fireflies in the dark night of his eye sockets. Fireflies in a gloom of light cyan blue gloom. The sound of shuffling feet snapped us out of our paralysis. “what happened to ya?” “I fell…” I thought a moment about my words and add: “Literally.” His grin became more skeptical as his probed further. “is that so?” I nodded, trying to keep my expressions neutral. “ya looked like someone who’d had a brush with the death just hours ago, but ya don’t get that way just from falling...” He raised his left brow bone “so tell me, what happened  f o r   r e a l   n o w.” The deep black of his eye sockets and combined with the drop in his voice sent a burning flash of fear down my spine. Holy crap! That voice… if you hear it for the first time you wonder how could anybody resist to urge to run away or hit their final reset. “Sans, that is enough.” Toriel was my savior again. “Don’t push her. She will talk when she is ready. Have you guys brought the make-up?” Sans glared at me for a moment longer than he turned around, his static grin became friendly like before. “sure. Paps sent ya a dish of his latest spaghetti. wanna try a bite while we ‘finish’ her?” “I dare you!” She frowned. “Why are you so untrusting?” “why ya not?” He asked angrily. But then he sighed. “bo… Toriel. why do ya do this? ya don’t even know her… and she’s a human.” With the last sentence Sans glanced at me. His voice grim and deep. I felt awkward. Not only because Sans played his creepy card, but also I felt gross. I needed to take a shower and use the bathroom. Meh… That’s stuff you wouldn’t see shown on TV and merely read in a book, but this was real. And though monster food became energy without needing to pass your system, I had a real human breakfast (or whenever I fell down. Boy… Was it really just this morning that I have had breakfast? It’s felt like weeks…) I wasn’t even sure (but I supposed she wouldn’t) if Toriel had something like a toilette in her bathroom… Oh stars… The longer I thought about it, the more pressing became my need of a bathroom... I hadn’t even been listening to the rest of the conversation around me and suddenly I blurt out loud: “I need to shower, right now! I mean… When I get made-up it shouldn’t be on dirty ground, right? Toriel…? Please…?” “Oh, of course, my dear!” She jumped up: “Come on. I will help you up.” With fast, practiced handhold, Toriel quickly raised me up while I took care to hold the blanket wrapped around me. As I passed by, Gaster starred at me like a dangerous but fragile experiment. When I catch his eyes following me, he hissed with a light blush of dark blue on his cheekbones: “What? It’s not like I haven’t seen you n… undressed before?” Now it was my turn to blush. I didn’t want to be fthe first wo look away, but Toriel, carefully, yet forcefully, led me out of the room. We went through the short hallway, passing a closed door until we finally stepped in front of one door with a silly little chibi-goat face on it. It had a big, goofy smile on its face. I glanced away to the left, and noticed the corridor opened to the kitchen. That could be useful for later. “Do you want me to stay and help you, my dear?” She was trying not to look worried. “Thank you, but I think I can stand by myself. But should be anything wrong I’m sure you wouldn’t be far away,” I said, smiling. She nodded, opened the door for me and flipped the light switch. I sent her another smile and went with slow steps inside. Closing the door behind me I took a deep breath and looked around. The bathroom was empty as I expected. But, thank you all stars, it has a toilette! It rested beside a huge and still comfy looking bathtub with lion feet. I sighed in relief and took my shaky legs to the so eagerly anticipated seat. After I satisfied my needs, I slowly made my way to the slim mirror, hidden between the door and a shelf with typical bath equipment. A small peek at the articles let me chuckle anyway: “MTT delightful honeycomb shampoo for extra fluff”. The little distraction couldn’t last longer as I finally stood in front of the mirror. With an anxiety writhing in my chest, I unfolded the blanket – and winched. I knew I got wrecked, but not that I looked like thrown through a shattered house of mirrors… I felt dizzy again and had to remind myself to breath. I hadn’t noticed I’d stopped. Carefully I traced with my fingertips over my bloody crusted cuts and deep purple bruises. I could feel the difference between a cut caused by my fall or one caused by one of Errors strings. The latter cut deeper than the others and were cold and damp to the touch. The deepest ones had odd blue-purple veining, that branched out like I had survived a lightning strike. The same odd marks crossed the left side of my head and ended at my temple. With the beat of my heart the veins pulsed in a soft glow of teal. I shivered. It was that same beat that sent little picking needles through my head. And there was… something else… But I couldn’t put a finger on it. I looked at myself and frowned. Maybe I would it figure it out when my headache got better. Then I saw my empty ears. Where were my earrings? They were fragile and very old so maybe they broke and I… lost them? Oh stars, no…! Damn… I looked away and sighed, dumped the pain deep inside me. They were everything that was left from my family… But… I took a deep, calming breath. I had to focus… Once, I’d gotten familiar with my busted body, I noticed that I had gotten a new haircut as well and groaned. Yes, I was being a little bit vain about the length of my hair and so I wasn’t pleased to saw my precious long, dark hair was slashed into a kind of undercut on my left side. Surely the pulsing string was the culprit. Thankfully my hair had been in a high knot when Error hit me and so there wasn’t any damage to the top layer. I sighed again and took a short look at my backside, which – surprise, surprise – was also cut in pieces and covered with bruised marks, that were becoming darker by the minute watching them… I hummed in exhaustion. But I couldn’t let myself linger on it. One step at a time. First, taking a shower; then getting out of this AU; and THEN kicking Error’s ass so hard that he flew through time and space. A n d  w h e n  I’ m  d o n e  w i t h  h i m  even Gaster will look more complete than him. But first: Showering… I stepped inside the cabin. Speaking of Error… What – and especially how much – should I tell Gaster and Sans? Because, they WILL ask. I sighed again – I’ve been doing that a lot, in the end, this might become a bad habit. Nevertheless I would have to consider answers, which I could give them… When I got out of the shower, I saw a bunch of neatly folded clothes on the rack, near the sink. Toriel must have left them while I was showering. Curious I rummaged through the clothes and picked a large white button-down shirt, a loose-fitting suit pants (they where to large but fitted in the wide), a boxers, a few suspender and a long, worn-out and anthracite coat. I would need a bra too but there was no one either. I sighed (Oh, yes, this is definitely becoming a bad habit!) and took another look through the clothes to see if anything could help me out. Finally I found a simple grey t-shirt that would normally be too tight, but it would work as a temporally bra-surrogate. I also found a dark green tie at the bottom of the pile and I decided to give it a try. I lost some time trying to tie the tie until I made a halfway decent knot. With a laissez faire look, I gave myself a mischievous smirk in the mirror - and giggled. It was a good feeling. The clothes helped me feel a bit better, more like myself again. I took a deep breath and headed out of the bathroom. When I reached the living room, I saw Toriel and Gaster sitting on the couch while Sans sat with crossed legs in front of them. They hadn’t noticed me yet and chatted in such a light and relaxed way that I felt like the intruder that I am. I cleared my throat so they wouldn’t think I had been trying to eavesdrop them. Immediately the mood changed. It made me nervous, but no one prepared to attack me. Okay, Toriel and Gaster weren’t, but Sans’ glare was a little harder to read. It waved somewhere between suspicion and curiosity. Not that Gaster greeted me as a friend but anyway he was polite enough to hide his feelings behind a neutral face. Strange enough that it was Gaster and not Sans who was hiding… Maybe it was caused by this kind of AU. “Arejare, dear. You look much better! I’m sorry we couldn’t offer you some better clothes, but I hope, they will do for now.” “Of course! Thank you, Toriel… and… you both.” I avoided to naming them, unsure how I should call them. Gaster or Wingdings? Sans was Sans, but… They were both so suspicious and wary. Besides they tried to remain aloof, but I didn’t buy it. And I was sure they knew it. The show was for Toriel. I sighed inwardly, smiled, and kneeled at Toriel’s side. Still each move hurt a little bit. I wouldn’t allow the pain to keep controlling me. Nevertheless, it wasn't a real safe place at all like Toriel had tried to imply. A skeletal hand appeared in front of me. I looked surprised at Sans, who offered me his hand. His gaze hidden by half-lidded eye sockets, which let him look way more relaxed than he surely was. Slowly, I took his hand and we shook them. “Sans. Sans the skeleton. pleasure to meetcha. Taken by surprise I replied: “Hi, Sans the skeleton, I’m Arejare the human. Pleasure’s all mine…” Somewhere deep in my fandom-contaminated mind, I pulled out the next lines, “Tibia honest, first, I thought you would try to pick a bone with me. It rattled me down to the bones. It was a skele-ton of work to compose myself again and it would be marrow of me to think of you this way, I don’t think you would have the heart to do this. And I won’t tell you any fibulas, when I say I wouldn’t have the guts either. But I’m afraid the puns are ulna used up. So I’m really hippy if you would find this a little humerus. And after all of this I hope it made Sans to you.” When I finally closed Sans busted into laughter, joined by Toriel. When I had started, he had looked confused, but with each pun, his grin became wider and wider. “Oh my stars, I’m so DONE with you both, right now!” Gaster cringed at our relieved laughter. Well... This Gaster wasn’t on the pun-train or I went to far for him. “i think it’s hilarious. i’m in,” Sans smirked at Gaster who shot him a glare that clearly screamed ‘You betrayed me!’ But Sans doesn’t care and shrugged. He turned back to me and said: “i liked the last one,” and winked. Gaster crossed his arms. His flying hands clenched in fists, as he glared and grumbled in my direction. Once Toriel could catch her breath, she smiled at me with pride. I felt as if I had passed a secret test, and I couldn’t resist one last pun to Gaster, “Oh, please, don’t give me that sternum look. They’re real rib tickler!” Sans giggled again. “okay, kiddo. i think we can work together. anyone who can appreciate a good pun deserves a chance.”