A Life, Unforgotten

The In-Between

A year they spend in a lonely Mountain, a year they learned that monsters are not monsters but friends. A year, they stayed in the Underground, forgetting the cold truth that one day things would have to change again.

As a fallen child, their SOUL presented a Patience attribute. A SOUL that Queen Toriel had already claimed. A SOUL that the smaller of the skeleton brothers would protect — and stand up to the Queen to claim an adoption of.

Sans was kind to them where they hadn't expected, despite his appearance he was one of the sweetest people they'd come to know. It would be because of him, because of Blue, that they'd gained any confidence in themselves, gained the courage to shear the hair that hid them from the world, exposed their alienlike eyes of too-pale irises and white-as-snow pupils.

Not all was perfect down below; the fallen child presenting a DETERMINATION attribute, a brilliant red SOUL, they dragged the lone year out far beyond what it should have been. Hundreds of RESETS, hundreds of times seeing their friends — no, their family turn to nothing but dust. Despite everything they could remember each RESET, could recognise that Papyrus did too. They themselves did not believe they could, not until one of the final times they met Frisk where they'd truly broken, quietly pleaded for them to RESET and bring back Blue. Someone they trusted enough to call a guardian.

It was only then that Frisk had taunted Nova, telling them If you want him back so badly, why don't you RESET yourself?

They tried, once. But it seemed as though Frisk's grasp over it was too strong. Nova couldn't have felt more useless after that.

But the final time, the last time they met Chara and were freed, the last rerun of everything, they had held themselves farther back from the red SOUL's owner, always afraid that they'd be deemed useless by the time things quieted. Always afraid Blue would favour Chara over them.

But two weeks after finally settling. Of finally getting to stay with the skelebros on the surface.

They were torn away.

They had to leave Blue eventually. They knew this. And it was because of Blue that they had discovered their heavy aptitude for magick. The branches they summoned had been a lot bigger than expected on their first try, likewise for books. And the SOUL telekinesis?? That was a breeze.

Hence as soon as they had a chance they'd dug up some old grimoires - magick books that the Queen had and read them cover to cover in mere hours, remembering every possible spell. It was like school, but more... interesting.

But as far as having to go back. They knew it. They hated it. Flinching at being recognised in town, moreso at the name they shoved away with their past, but they still hung through the trees, avoiding going back as long as possible until one day it was their brother that found them, snatched them by their wrist and hauled them back home. Constantly being hissed at that monsters were lies, that nobody loved them, that Blue wasn't real and that they were delusional.

Time and time again they tried a repeat of the past, tried to run away, tried to break free of the hell that was this household. They were only met with anger, locked doors and windows, and a lot of worse issues than before. Perhaps the worst being when they were shoved in front of a car going too fast, their 'Father' hissing that that is what will happen if they try to run away again.

They had broken quite a few bones from that, though the injury that would be following them for the rest of their life would be the scar that dragged across their face, curling over the bridge of their nose and back below each eye.

Years of this would droll by before their family grew impatient, grew furious.

And that would be the cause of the move by the time they were only fourteen. Every little belonging they had shoved into a single backpack and tucked against the door where they would be pushed and shoved and fought all through the ride.

If only they had known sooner what would happen...