EndTale - Galactic (revising w.i.p. - check desc for update notes)

Chapter 11: It Takes a Devil to Know One

The time dragged as Papyrus screamed, the redness of a new soul raging in his left socket.

Frisk was not without their own pain. Still squeezed into Gaster's magic bubble, they laid folded into themselves, crying relentless tears of agony.

I couldn't imagine what having part of your soul, literally extracted from your living being, and transplanted into another creature, could've felt like...

...but, I could imagine what my brother was experiencing, and what Frisk was going to soon be feeling. I'd felt all of those pains and emotions when fusing with the portion of Gallery's soul I was imparted. I knew what the next step for them was.

Frisk and Papyrus would have to cope.

They'd have to accept the fusion to move on and stop feeling their searing pain.

I wasn't worried about Papyrus being able to do that, though. He was already an ultra-kindhearted monster before he ever met the human, and embracing them as part of his being wouldn't be much of an issue for him, especially with Papyrus possessing only a small fraction of their soul.

But... hearing him like this... it hurt. Last time Papyrus merged with a portion of a human soul, he didn't- it wasn't... it wasn't like this. And he was far too young at the time for him to remember that pain, now.

Sockets shut tight, I took in every cry of his suffering, my own body trembling in discomfort. A few tears slid down my cheekbones as my emotions overtook me. This can only be my fault. I'm the one who started that stupid fight with him. I'm the one who left Papyrus alone for a week. I'm the one who failed at my promise of watching Frisk, and by proxy, Papyrus. I had no way for anyone to reach out to me when shit hit the fan.

If only I had been able to find Papyrus sooner... I could have saved him. But I didn't completely believe that. Still, it was easier to pin the blame on myself than anyone else, since I was the only one who wasn't hurting.

As my thoughts ended, so did Papyrus's screams.

I looked to my right, bewildered.

He'd fainted.

"...Papyrus..." I mumbled, hopelessly.

"He should be talking to the human now, yes?" Gaster's taunting voice cut through the silence.

My gaze drifted to Gaster, expression blank. I felt a jumbled mix of fear, loathing, remorse, helplessness, and self-preservation, but the knowledge of me having no escape kept me from fronting with any of those feelings. If I made any expression but a blank one, he'd find it amusing.

An airy chuckle. "After all of these years, trapped underground. Dozens of centuries after being locked in a volcano by all of humanity, I finally get to see the results of my theories on what the trait of Determination does to a monster soul." He placed a thoughtful finger on his chin. "The math says it's safe, but there's no harm to me if it melts either you or 03 in the long run."

I ignored him. All I was to him was a science experiment, after all.

But Gaster didn't care. He prattled on.

"Would be a shame if the trait given melted you and not him, though." There was a glass clink as Gaster set down a vial twice the size of that he used on Papyrus. "It's been... how many years since I've last merged a monster with a human soul, 02?" He stalked over to Frisk, peeping curiously at their unconscious form. Gaster's head snapped back around, his stare icy. "You left the Royal Laboratory at twenty, was it?"

"Fifteen..."

"Oh ho, he speaks." His tone was belittling. He was trying to taunt the part of me that didn't like information being incorrect, and was succeeding. "How long has it been since then, hm?" He lifted a hand in front of his skull, tapping his wrist as if a watch were there. "I have no frame of reference. Time is irrelevant in the void."