Wired: Metta's Story

Heart to Heart

Mistral

The Lab - December 15, 2012 - 12:02 PM

It almost felt like every time Mistral checked in on Metta's unconscious body, his SOUL looked slightly worse. The glowing blue lines spreading throughout it were... unsettling. It was definitely Bill's magic. A curse of some kind. But Rose said there was other magic there, powerful magic preventing Metta from dying. And that was a relief to know. But she still wished Metta would wake up already so she could be sure he was okay.

It had been a week since her and Rose had brought him back to the Lab, the Lab that everyone pretty much agreed belonged to Alphys now. He'd barely stirred the whole time. Alphys had quickly hooked him up to some cables, fixed his body up, and then said all they could really do was wait until he was ready. But he was stable. So he would wake up.

Felix's body was being stored until the funeral. Metta deserved to be in attendance, even if the autopsy showed that Metta was the most likely killer. Who knew what the circumstances had been? Pretty much only Metta, and Bill, but he was gone.

The world was rebuilding itself from all that had happened while Bill reigned supreme. Some things had disappeared on their own, with the demons. Others... remained. Ruined buildings, injuries, places that would never be quite the same again... and people that would never come back. Like Felix. Like Ray Pines.

Still, humans and monsters were working together to rebuild their shared world. At least for the most part. Some humans still carried a grudge towards monsters, and they had Metta as a negative example now. Even those who were generally tolerant tended to hold a grudge against Metta. Blamed him for the death of their loved ones. Not that Mistral couldn't understand where they were coming from. He had a lot to answer for. And yet, there's two sides to every story.

"You won't be able to spend all your time here once school starts, you know."

Mistral had heard her mother coming, of course. And she'd already known what Ellen would say. Her mother had become... predictable, lately. She sighed, mentally preparing herself for the argument she knew was coming.

"I know that." Mistral couldn't help gritting her teeth. It was just so annoying. "And I don't spend all my time here."

"Hm." The way Ellen looked at Metta... anger. So much. Mistral understood it, but she felt the urge to protect him from even her gaze. "I'm sure you'll know when he wakes up."

"Yeah, but..." Mistral shifted uncomfortably. "It eases my anxiety, a little, to be able to see him."

There was a silence. The worst part of this was feeling like... like a betrayer no matter what stance she took. She couldn't turn her back on Metta, her best friend, her other half, but... Was it betraying her father to side with Metta...? Her mother believed it, she knew. And she would be sure to bring it up sooner or later.

"I know how you feel." Ellen finally spoke. Mistral blinked. That wasn't... this was new. "I've lost people before. My own father, your grandfather... he passed away when I was 15. He was sick, and... I know he was on life support for a long time before we finally pulled the plug. He wanted it. But I remember the pain. The isolation."

Ellen bent down to be eye level with Mistral, whose eyes were welling up with tears. Her mother never really talked about her dad. She placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"I just need to know you won't forget your father." Her voice was a whisper. Mistral responded in kind.

"I never will." And she meant it.

There was another pause as they both silently separated and... and reflected on that. They understood each other, now. It wasn't a perfect fix for the growing distance between them, but.. It was something.

"I still don't understand what the point of school coming back is." Mistral commented in a lighter tone. "I mean, right before Christmas?"

"It's important to get your education." Mistral could hear the slight smile in Ellen's voice. "And the stability for a little while will be good for the adjustment period."

"I know..." Mistral sighed, more dramatic than she needed to be. She turned her face towards her mother, about to... about to thank her, about to try to bridge that gap even more, but that was the moment Rose chose to interrupt from the entrance of the building, calling out that she was back. Mistral was quick to rush out past Ellen to see her. Her mother followed behind at a significantly slower pace.

"Did you find it?" Mistral asked anxiously, anticipating. "What you were looking for?"

"Sure did." Rose waved an envelope in the air, Metta written on it in a quick scrawl. "Turns out dear old dad left his will in a series of personal letters. All he had time to do, I think."

"I'm not certain that's how wills work." Ellen remarked.

"I'm not certain it matters." Rose gave her a catlike glare. Then she handed Metta's letter to Mistral. "Give that to him when the time is right. I'm not sure he'll be able to handle it immediately after waking up."

Mistral nodded. "There were others?"

"Well, one other." Rose hesitated. "That was mine."

Mistral cocked her head. Rose seemed thoughtful for a moment, and Mistral wondered what the contents of her letter could be. But, she supposed it was likely Rose would rather keep that for herself. No matter how curious Mistral was.

"Enough about that." Rose shook her head. "I can feel that his state hasn't gotten significantly worse. That's good to know."

"Yep." Mistral smiled nervously. "And you promise he'll be okay?"

"Promise." Rose offered a warm smile to Mistral. "He'll just need a bit of time. Psychologically, I mean. It's very likely he'll have a lot of trauma, but then, a lot of people do after all that."

"Well, I'll just have to support him through it." Mistral crossed her arms and turned back in the direction of Metta's room, and then she felt it. From the way Rose started running, she knew Rose did too.

Metta was awake.

* * *

My dear daughter,

Rose, I'm sorry. I recently received knowledge of what our future holds, and... I know I don't have long left. You have a beautiful life ahead of you, however, and I wish I could be there to see you live it. Just as I wish I'd been there to watch you grow up.

As for what I'm leaving you, I would leave you the house, but I know there's someone that needs it more. I set aside all my savings for you, so hopefully that will suffice. You're so self sufficient, though, I'm not sure you need it... You can also have my car, if you want it. Enclosed is also my key to the lab, if you ever find yourself wishing to continue my research. You met C before, right? He may also continue to work there, as I wrote in his own letter, left with this one and Metta's. 

Rose, I need you to know I am forever grateful I got to get to know you. We got in a good few years there, right? I'm sorry I wasn't the father you needed for so long. And then, you didn't need me. You still don't. 

I guess even now I'm coming up short. Our goodbye shouldn't be through a letter. I'm sorry for that too. I wish I got to see your face, one last time. But I'm happy knowing you'll be happy, and that you'll always do what's right. I don't need future knowledge to tell me that last bit. It's just who you are. 

Thank you for being my daughter. 

Written with love, your father

Felix Eaton