FurtherDown

Chapter 7, Pages 123-141

Chapter 7 

Asgore sipped his tea, bathing in the brisk sunlight as Toriel waltzed over somberly and poured herself a cup of tea. "Mm," Asgore murmured, acknowledging her presence. Toriel sat down next to Asgore, looking over at her ex-husband with dismal. "Good Morning, Asgore." Toriel said, reluctantly before taking a sip of her tea. Asgore choked a little on his tea, surprised at her comment. "O-Oh! Toriel, Good Morning! How, uh, did you sleep last night?" Asgore asked nervously. "Fine. You?" Toriel responded, never looking up from her cup of tea in her hands. "As best as can be expected. I have a lot on my mind." He admitted. Toriel looked up at Asgore and stared him down for a bit. "I bet you do." She said in an annoyed tone.

"Toriel, Tori, listen. I-l wanted to apologize to you for what, what happened all those years ago. I know we have been avoiding the subject. But it has been two weeks since our freedom." He paused, his hands trembling a bit. "I have done some terrible things, and I do not expect them to be forgotten, but, Toriel. Do you think we cou-" "No." Toriel butted in. "Things will never be the way they were, Asgore. You are king, and I will follow you. That is all." Toriel said nonchalantly to Asgore. Asgore closed his eyes, a bit hurt, but nodded. "I, I understand." Asgore replied, opening his eyes to look down at the cup of tea that was cradled by his large, furry hands. "Good Morning, King Asgore! Good Morning, Lady Toriel!" Papyrus called, shifting their attention to Papyrus, the children, and his brother that followed him as he strided up to the two monsters.

Thyme, the mouse-like monster was atop Papyrus's head, while Temmie and Vectrix - a white rabbit-like monster child- hung off of his arms, skipping along side the tall skeleton. "Yo, what about me? It's my turn, right? Right?" Monster Kid asked impatiently, struggling to keep up with Papyrus's long strides. Frisk hung back behind Sans, looking a bit nervous as she looked at Sans with her hands clasped together. "What a beautiful day!" Papyrus said, ignoring the children that crowded him. He looked up at small, Thyme who was still sitting atop his head, and gave him a smile as he covered Papyrus's eye sockets playfully. "Er, what I can see of it anyways." Papyrus said, smiling. Toriel got up and walked over with relief in her eyes, rather quickly after their presence had been recognized. "I see the children are keeping their habit of 'helping' you boys each morning." Toriel chuckled as she gathered Thyme up in her hands and arms from off of Papyrus's skull. "Yes indeed! While it is true that the Great Papyrus is very great when it comes to getting Sans out of bed, the little ones are, also very good at it." Papyrus admitted, with his red scarf blowing in the invisible wind. Sans tittered, and shrugged sheepishly. "What can I say? For them, it's child's play." Sans joked, closing his eyes casually and smiling his familiar smile. Papyrus immediately swerved around to face is brother, giving Sans a dirty look and growling a warning.

Undyne and Alphys just then walked up to the scene. "Everyone's just about packed, Your Majesty." Undyne reported. "Just a few more things and we'll be all set. We've even got some supplies packed. Grillby found some bushes with these weird red berries, so there's that. Should we take the tents with us?" Undyne asked, pointing back to the tents behind he with her thumb. "We may need them for where we are going. We have no idea what awaits us." Toriel suggested. "It would be a shame to leave them behind; I agree with Toriel, Undyne. We will take as many as we can." Asgore said, giving the final word. "Yes, Your Majesty." Undyne responded, jogging off towards some of the Royal Guard. "Now, you little ones run along over to Grillby's tent. I believe he has some pleasant things cooked up for you. Frisk? My child?" Toriel asked as Frisk tugged at Toriel's dress. "Can I stay with you guys? I'm not that hungry." Frisk asked. "Very well. You may stay with us if you are sure that is what you wish. The rest of you, go along." Toriel ordered.

Alphys looked over at Sans longingly; walked over to him with her scanner. Frisk turned around from Toriel to find Sans again. She had been very wary of his presence more and more now after last night. She felt a tinge of worry that tugged at her, tugging her closer to Sans. Frisk felt that she shouldn't leave his side, no matter what. She was afraid of his absence. She was afraid of what the future would hold. Sans seemed to understand, and she could easily relate and talk to him. So she gravitated toward him, orbiting around him. Sans hadn't seemed to notice her actions yet, he hadn't even seemed to notice how she looked at him with worry and pity. Instead, he stood in the morning light, smiling as he observed the flow of life in his friends and family.

"Bip. Bip. Bip. Bip. Bip. Bip. Bip. Bip." Sans's grin had been worn down to an annoyed look as he recognized the noise. "A scan, huh? Ya know, that feels kinda weird. Whatcha doin, Alph?" Sans questioned, tilting his head back a bit to see her scanner in Alphys's hands. Alphys looked down solemnly at the screen in the scanner, eyes never moving or looking up to face Sans. "Making sure you're okay." She responded. "I'm fine." Sans said calmly. "You're tense" Alphys retorted. "No, I'm Sans." Sans said, pointing at himself with his first metacarpal. "Those are tents." He said finished, pointing with his thumb towards the tents in the distance. Alphys finally looked up with an unimpressed look towards his lame joke. Sans kept looking at her expectedly, eyebrows raised, smiling widely. "Um, Doctor Alphys?" Asgore asked, interrupted. Sans's playful manner had diminished as he turned towards his king. "Is, everyone alright for travel?" He asked, worry in his eyes. Frisk, in Toriel's arms, looked over at Asgore, then down at Sans, gripping Toriel's dress. Undyne looked a little puzzled; a contrast to Undyne, Papyrus became timid and held the same worried look that glistened in everyone's eyes. Sans felt guilt trickle down his spine, a knot formed in his throat. Alphys stayed silent, looking between the scanner and the monsters nervously. "Come on, Alph. We can't stay here and wait for the humans. If we're gonna go, we gotta go now. I'll be fine." Sans said, his face soft and unreadable to the others. Alphys let out a sigh, looking down at the scanner, reluctant to let him go. "W-Well," Alphys paused. The scanner read that Sans was at 0.96/ 1 whole health point and that he was exhausted, but anxious to leave the Valley. "Yes. Everyone I have checked this morning has been stable. We can travel, b-but I will be monitoring." Alphys admitted. Papyrus was quiet at first, but a smile poked its way onto his face. "Hmmm." He hummed as Papyrus walked up to his brother, lifting him up from under his armpits. "Don't worry, brother!" Papyrus cheered. "I shall protect you, every step of the way!" Papyrus beamed to his older brother."I promise." Papyrus said quietly as he brought his brother closer, into a hug. Sans didn't say a word at first, a little stunned at his brother's words. "I know you will, bro. 'Cause you're so cool." Sans said quietly to Papyrus, wrapping his arms around his younger brother and nuzzling his nose into Papyrus's firetruck red scarf. "Well, of course I am!" Papyrus admitted. Sans chuckled at his comment. Placing his hand and arms under and behind his brother for support, Papyrus freed his brother from his grasp. Papyrus seemed to be a bit more careful with handling his brother now, being sure not to drop him like he did yesterday. He was a little nervous, though Sans couldn't tell. Sans rested his arm across Papyrus's shoulders and left his other arm free. "Now let's get going, brother! We have a whole world out there to explore!" Papyrus gestured extending his left arm to emphasize whole world. "And we get to see it all!" Papyrus smiled widely. Sans laughed at his actions and excitement; he too, could feel it rising in his body. Adrenaline radiated off of the brothers and the rest of the monsters. Frisk, felt uneasy, and was not impressed by their enthusiasm like she normally would've been. In fact, she was afraid. Afraid of getting caught.