FurtherDown

Chapter 9, Pages 165 - 185

Sans stood quivering before the entrance to the god forbidden Underground, dripping with rainwater. "Uh, eheh, F-Frisk? Buddy? What are we doing here? We, I, think we went the wrong way, kiddo." Gripping his chest again, Sans felt his invisible stomach twist. "This, this is the Barrier, this can't be where you wanted to go, r-right?" Frisk stood with her head hung low, her eyes closed, her hands balled up into fists. She snuck a look up at Sans who had his eye sockets locked on the entrance, then looked up with a determined look on her face towards the mountain. Frisk started to walk closer to the opening, when Sans quickly grabbed her wrist pulling her back to get her attention. She didn't flinch, but looked back with sorrow in her eyes.

"Right?" Sans asked quickly, eye sockets widening with fear, pinpricks intensely searching her face for answers. Frisk looked back at him solemnly, taking a calmer approach to address her friend's fears, she smiled at him warmly. "Do you trust me?" Sans stood in shock. "Do, do I trust you?" He repeated more slowly. Suddenly, Sans ducked his head away to avoid her gaze, closing his eyes, his chest started to glow that aqua blue once more. "I- k-kid, I want to, believe me, more than anything. I want to believe that you're not gonna just snatch it all away. I want to believe this is it and we can finally be happy. I want to believe this is it and the nightmare is over, but- but I can't!" He collapsed onto the ground, burying his face into his hands, hunched over, sobbing. Frisk took a step back, she felt a small lump in her throat. "Just! Just, do it already. This is where your last save was made, this is where you can RE- RESET, and there's nothing I can do to stop you. So just, get it over with." Tears rolled down Frisk's face as she looked down at her friend. She felt her sins crawling on her back as her throat tightened up, which left her speechless. "Please, just do it." He said into his hands.

Frisk knelt down before the quaking skeleton, bringing her index finger to the bridge of his nose she caught his attention. His tilted his head up slightly, and Frisk cupped her hand around his cheekbone, lifting his head up more towards her face. His eye was tinted blue as he looked into Frisk's eyes, feeling a bit embarrassed for overreacting slightly. Frisk let go of his face and put her finger to her mouth, hush. Then she pointed to her eyes, just watch. She stood up with renewed determination, putting a stoney face on. Sans sat on his knees, still quivering with fear, not with frost, as Frisk opened up her arms, summoning her soul. A red, soft, but intense, light, grew from her chest, blossoming into an determined, red, heart-shaped light. The soul's light became blinding as her soul's power and determination grew into a fierce vigor. The power exploded before Frisk and Sans, sending power and light shooting to the sky, like a beacon. The power of Frisk's soul and determination could be seen from afar, even from the eyes of Undyne and Papyrus. An explosion could be heard from the mountain, grasping their attention. "What, the heck?" Undyne stood frozen with confusion as Papyrus and Toriel turned around to gaze at the light.

As Papyrus stared at the mountain, his chest began to glow an intense orange color, twisting and pulling at his chest. "UNGH!" Papyrus yelped, grasping his chest in his pain. He opened his eyes and looked down at his chest, which continued to glow a more vivid orange. "My, m-my soul?" He stammered, grabbing Undyne's shoulder for support. "SANS IS UP THERE!" "Are you sure? I mean, we passed that peak hours ag-" Papyrus's breathing became rapid as he gripped his chest harder. "I'M SURE!" "HEY!" The skeleton pushed past Undyne, breaking into a full on sprint to Mt. Ebbot, where Frisk and Sans stood alone. "PAPYRUS, WAIT!" Undyne called after him. "Ugh! Why can't things ever be easy!?" She facepalmed. Undyne turned to the rest of the monsters that had caught up with them at the top of the hill. "Find someplace up ahead to take shelter and wait for us. We'll be back with Frisk and Sans as soon as possible." Toriel nodded, and with that, the fish woman turned to catch up with Papyrus, worry knotting up in her stomach. "Dang it, Sans! You and that little squirt better be okay!"

"Ngh!" Sans blocked his face with his arms, his chest still glowing. "N-no." He said quietly, removing his arms from his face to look at Frisk. Frisk hovered slightly in the air, her face lit up by the RESET option. "W-wait! I changed my mind!" Sans cried from the distance. Her hand trembled over the option. "No, please, WAIT!" Frisk raised her fist high in the air, letting it slam down into her final choice: NO. The force of her slamming fist left a crack in the option, the cracks grew and grew, the RESET button diminishing before her eyes. Frisk screamed in the intensity as a blinding light filled the dark space and sky surrounding Frisk and Sans. The light suddenly faded out, becoming softer and dimmer; Frisk's feet touched the ground.

She stared down at where the RESET button had been, shocked. "Heh, heh heh, ahahahah." Frisk chuckled quietly. Sans shook the residue of light from his eye sockets, rubbing them with his palms. He looked up at Frisk, who continued to laugh and cry at the same time into her hands, water still dripping from her hair and body. "Ha ha ha ha, ha, hic!" Frisk's body shook with her sobs. "Y-you, d-didn't do it." "Yeah?" "You didn't RESET." Sans's eye sockets were still damp from his own tears; Frisk wiped tears from her eyes. She shook her head, a small smile on her face. "But you could have." Sans's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to process what she had done. More tears just flowed down her face as the shaking child looked down at Sans, still smiling. Sans shook his head slowly, putting his hand to his head. "I, I-I can't. I don't understand. You," His voice faded out, unable to speak.

Frisk took her hand to his, caressing his hand in hers she kneeling down to his level. She intertwined her fingers with his phalanges into a mess of skin and bone. "Now I won't ever RESET again, Sans." She said bravely. Sans froze, a smile tugging at his invisible lips. His arm shook with tears, his cheekbones and eye sockets dampened with his confusion. A smile suddenly spread like a fire across his face, burning into his skull as molten lava tears streamed down his face as he pulled Frisk in for a tight hug. Leaning into her body and gripping her turtleneck sweater, the skeleton weeped into her shoulder, beaming. Frisk's smile grew even wider as she nestled her face into the crook of his neck. She had finally won more of Sans's trust.