Altered Fates vol 3 (Undertale)

To Raise the Tension

Alyssa stared at the Liar for a few seconds.
Then she broke out in a fit of hysterical laughter.
"And why would we believe you?" she sneered, leaning forwards on her elbows. Of course Alphys of all people was the one who found "Flowey".
"I suppose you're trying to play the hero again?" Alyssa added, making her tone as condescending as possible. Alphys looked extremely guilty but didn't meet her eyes.
"Alyssa, lay off her a bit. We should at least be watchful," Asgore informed, keeping his tone light, though there was a hint of a warning in there. Alyssa knew to drop it now.
The table was silent for a few minutes, before Mettaton said "Alphys darling, you ought to get out more. Your scales look dull."
Alyssa couldn't tell if that was an insult or just Mettaton trying to be genuine. Either way, it was funny.
"Yeah not leaving the house for days on end does that to a person," Alyssa said quietly.
"Alyssa."
Alyssa went quiet again and gulped down her soup. She glanced over at Papyrus, who she noticed hadn't touched his. He looked distant.
"You ok?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine."
Alyssa was about to say something else, but Papyrus changed the subject.
"Are the wanted posters still up?"
"Oh yes, they are. I look absolutely hideous in mine! It's like they've forgotten I'm a TV star! Well, was a TV star. Now it's all about Ragface."
Reeva Needleloaf (or Ragface as Mettaton liked to call her) was a TV host who lived up in New Home. She had set up a studio in Hotland and Mettaton had hated her from day one. From what Mettaton had told her Alyssa didn't get why people liked her too. Her show just consisted of her... Well you'd have to watch an episode to understand how bad she was. At least Mettaton was funny in hindsight. Ragface was just... Vicious.
Alyssa was finished her food. She excused herself and headed for her room. She lived in the house Toriel had occupied before... She stopped living there. The room that was under renovations had been finished by herself, Asgore and Papyrus. Papyrus had moved in there. Toriel's room was vacant, because Asgore had decided to take a small house at the edge of the abandoned town.
Alyssa opened the door and glanced around.
Papyrus would probably have an aneurysm at the sight of how messy her room was. Her bed was unmade, books (mainly on law, though there were a few fiction and romance novels here and there) and clothes were strewn across the floor and her drawers were a mess. The only thing she kept neat was the old toy box and that was because she never opened it.
She fell onto her bed and stared at the ceiling.
Had it really been seven years since she fell? It honestly felt longer. She had gotten so used to the Underground that her mind went blank upon attempting to remember what the surface was like. What shade of grey were the clouds? How deep had the sea been? How much warmer was the sun in Summer?
Alas, she didn't know.
Something else lurked beneath her longing for the surface. She missed Tor-
"No, we don't think about that," Alyssa said aloud.
"Indeed we don't," Chara murmured, taking a seat on the floor.
Alyssa picked up a book from the floor and checked the cover.
'Depths of Light'
The cover was of two monster children in bright yellow raincoats on either side of a lake. One was perfectly normal, whereas the other was covered in algae and looked like a living corpse.
She had read the book before. Suffice to say, it wasn't exactly a tale you'd read to a child before bed. Exactly why Toriel had it on the lowest possible shelf where even a baby who couldn't walk yet could reach it was a mystery.
Still, she enjoyed the story.
"Do we have time to read?" Chara inquired, staring longingly at the cover. Alyssa shrugged, then checked the clock.
The she remembered the clock was an unknown amount of time slow.
"Not too sure."
Chara sighed, looking away.
"If only I had my old body..." she muttered. Alyssa felt a twinge of sympathy.
"I still wonder to this day what's keeping me here. Asriel and Toriel didn't..." Chara began.
"Who knows?" Alyssa butted in, wanting to change the subject. Chara sensed this and shot her a cold look.
Alyssa debated whether or not to read today. The book looked like relaxation and bliss, but she had to get stuff done before bed...
Two things Papyrus had said to her over the last seven years came to her. The first one was "C'mon, putting it off for tommorow is only gonna make it worse when you have to do it."
The second one was "Alyssa I will lock you out of the Ruins if you don't do those damn dishes! I'm sick of having to do everything in this house!"
Alyssa grinned. He wouldn't lock her out, no matter how much he threatened to do so. He was too nice.
That precisely was why she got up and headed for the kitchen to do the dishes.
"C'mon," Alyssa told Chara, walking ahead "We have work to do."
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Papyrus left the kitchen and went out of the house and deeper into the Ruins. Scout was off galavanting and Papyrus wanted to take her out for a walk while he had the chance. He reached into his pocket for his dog whistle and blew into it.
A faint bark responded to him. After a few minutes, Scout came into view.
Scout had gotten significantly more muscular once she had to adapt to the outlaw life. She had saved all of them from being caught countless times, detecting threats before anybody else could. Overall Scout was a valuable, albeit not credited enough, member of the crew.
Scout fell in line with his footsteps. Papyrus walked back to the house and passed Alphys on the way.
"Hey Alphys, can you wait at the door for me? I want to take Scout out while the Hunters are busy," he explained. Alphys didn't say anything, instead opting to nod. She followed him out and once they reached the doors to Snowdin, she plopped down and pulled out her phone. Papyrus pushed open the doors, Scout in tow.
The only sounds around them were their own muffled footsteps and animal noises. It was peaceful out here. The biting cold was a welcome change from the stagnant air of the Ruins. Noticing that it was colder than the typical Winter, he drew his worn coat closer to him.
These woods brought back memories. Memories he'd rather keep buried, but always came crawling back nonetheless.
He kept going until he reached the bridge. He regularly fished here, mainly it was close to Sans's old sentry station back when Papyrus had nagged him into doing it.
His mind wandered to old memories of when his parents had been around. He vividly remembered the days when life was simple. Hell, even the year when Frisk fell was calm by comparison to what had been going on the past few years.
Had it really been twelve years already? He couldn't believe he was twenty-four now. It seemed like yesterday he was that twelve year old with no friends and terrified of what the future may bring. He wished the only problem he had was the fact that he had thrown snowballs at the Prince and Princess of the Underground.
That year had been a rough one though. Not just for him.
Murders, probably a nightmare in politics (the captain of the Royal Guard, the Judge, the head of the Royal Scientists and both the prince and princess had all died that year) and the loss of loved ones in every family.
Those times to served as a reminder to him any how... Fragile everything around him was.
Scout barked at him, wagging her tail and looking like she wanted to play.
Papyrus conjured a bone and threw it across the clearing. He found himself grinning at the memory of being hit in the face with a bone by Alyssa on the day they had first met.
Scout caught the bone mid-air and padded back over to him. He repeated this process several times until Scout got bored and ran off.
Papyrus took a seat at the abandoned sentry station and stared off into the shadowy spaces where trees didn't grow. He thought he caught a glimpse of a pair of antlers, though it could've just been a tree branch.
Tales of wolves frequently circulated around Snowdin. Papyrus didn't have a clue what they were talking about. No wolves roamed the woods. Foxes, definitely.
But no wolves.
Papyrus was alerted to a growl, followed by a loud squeal and finally, silence.
Scout bounded out from the trees, carrying something in her jaws.
It was a small, white hare. It's fur was stained crimson around the neck and it's eyes stared blankly at the ground.
Scout dropped the hare next to him, licking her teeth and muzzle clean. Papyrus gave her a scratch behind the ears, murmuring "Good girl."
Scout barked at his praise, her tail wagging at five million miles an hour.
Then she froze, ears perked up. Papyrus stared curiously at her, then realized what that meant. The sound of crunching snow alerted him to someone else's presence. He ducked behind a tree and motioned for Scout to follow.
Scout instead stayed still, her tail between her legs.
"Doggie!" A young child's voice exclaimed.
"Amarys, slow down, you might slip!"
Papyrus's blood ran cold.
"No, no, no, anyone but him," he thought, his brain going into panic mode.