HP (Dust x Goddess Child Reader)

Hotland and the CORE

He went upstairs with his gift. He didn't come back for a long time, so you took another nap. Panic attacks were very tiring. When you woke up you were in a race car bed. Papyrus was hovering over you. "Oh you're awake."
"Yup.. Where's Dusty?"
"... asleep as well. What do you want with us?" I tilted my head at Papyrus. "You're friendship? What do you think I want?" You asked. "Our heads."
"But.. you're a ghost..? Can I even have your head? Can I even touch you?"
"I don't even know.. AH! THATS BESIDE THE POINT! Do you intend to harm us or not?"
"Harm you?" You brought your knees to your chest and hugged them. "Why would I harm the only friends I've had in my entire life? All I've ever known was the Void. It was mine and daddy's home, but I didn't learn anything about the real world. There is nobody there but the bad things that wanna hurt me and the Gaster's that are slowly becoming one of the bad things.. So why? Why do you think I'd hurt one of the only people that is teaching me? That I consider my bestest friend?" You concluded your rant, leaving the disembodied head to think on your words. "... fine. I believe you. But! I wanna be one of your best friends as well. Deal?"
"Deal!" You beamed at the skull and attempted to shake one of his disembodied hands, but it phased though. "Well I guess that answers that.." You laughed a little as did Papyrus. "glad to see you both getting along." There Dust was, wearing the jacket you'd made. It looked amazing on him. "Dusty!" You cheered. "hey kid. we need to talk."

《|》

"Im.. I'm I in trouble?" Dust quirked a bonebrow. "wha- no. no no. i wanted to talk to ya about exploring.. and training."
"Daddy trained me alot. Are you going to as well, Dusty?" He hummed an affirmative. "mmhm. gonna teach you some self defense magic, so if the 'bad things' ever come and i can't help out right away, you can defend yourself."
"Oh. Ok. Will it be hard?" Dust shifted on his feet. "imma be honest. it'll be very hard. i know you can do it though." He assured. You were nervous, but Dust's belief in you helped. He switched subjects. "as for exploring.. i need to go to hotland and reinstall the coolant. gotta do this every few years so my au don't blow up. was hoping you'd come with and see the sights?"
"Sure!" You jumped up and down. "Let's see the sights!" You paused. "Will we have to cross Waterfall again..?"
"nah. i know a shortcut."

《|》

We ended up next to a sign that said Hotland. We continued forward and you were met with the warmest place you'd ever felt. It was uncomfortable. Magma pools surrounded the pathways and luckily there was a water cooler because you. Were. Thirsty! After a nice, refreshing drink break we continued on. Very soon we were at a very big, metal building. "this is the lab. alphys. my dad. me.. we all worked here, a long, long time ago. before the genocides. before i.."
"Hurt people?"
"yeah. hurt."
"Wanna go inside? Or maybe just take another shortcut?"
"we can go inside. i don't mind." We went in. It was exactly what you imagined and more. There was a big monitor, and escalators, and books, and tech stuff, and a bathroom. The place was a mess of noodles, blood, and dust. It made you sad and queasy and you knew it was Dusty's doing, but you didn't blame him. You took his hand instead. He glanced at you and led you to the bathroom. It turned out to be and elevator. "Oh wow."
"dad n i worked down here all the time." It was even more sciency than up top! With lots of different devices and gadgets. Dust talked about some of them, and how they worked, but it was hard to focus as you read the signs on the walls. He recognized that pretty quickly and let you explore, so long as you kept on the trail.

《|》

Soon enough Dust was helping you with all sorts of different puzzles. You found them very entertaining and enjoyed them alot. "remember to stop at the blue lasers and go at the orange ones."
"Got it!" You got past a cavern full of dust and spiderwebs, and a big hotel, resort thing Dust called the MTT Resort. "there it is. the core facility. it once provided power to the entire underground. now I merely keep it from destroying my au. just a hunk a metal."
"Its so big.. did you build it..?"
"i helped. it was my dad's creation."
"Its really cool. Your dad was very smart. So are you." He blinked. "u-uh.. thanks.." It'd caught him off guard. "You're welcome!" He ordered you to stay close when you got inside. You followed him to a room with a control panel and he left you there as he set up the chemicals to the coolant. You decided to watch the source of power to the Underground. The CORE's core. It was a big ball of heated magic. Positive magics like blue, yellow, and white swirled in it with occasional negative magics like purple, red, and the smallest flickers of black. There was a thunk, than a clicking noise and green, orange, and grey leaked into the energy orb. They were neutral magic. To keep the positive and negative magics balanced. "I get it.."
"good. let's get back, shall we?"