I'm not one of you <Frans>

CHAPTER 31: A fun Trip

Time: 12:56 P.M.
Location: Snowdin
Frisk is still weary of me. She is still afraid.
Good.
She should be afraid of me.

As soon as I shook her hand, her determined stare became more prominent, thus creating a power imbalance in the room, even if it was just for a split second. My eyes widened slightly, and my eyes wavered over to Papyrus, who was sitting in the chair across the table from me; he had felt the sensation as well. The same sensation we had felt at waterfall when Frisk had entered the underground. The tug on our RESET button.

As soon as I shook her hand, that feeling of control slipped away from me, and I quickly put my hands down in my pockets, knowing what had just happened. I had lost control of the timeline. It was in her possession. Did she know the power that she possessed at this very moment? Would she use it and screw everything I had planned, up?

"Are you alright?" Frisk asked, knowing the very sudden mood change from the power imbalance. I felt as if I couldn't respond, and I felt something that I had not felt in a long while— fear. "You look like you might have seen a ghost." Frisk said, acting way too nice to know what she had truly gained power of. Maybe she didn't know it even existed? It would be wise to not let her know of the powers that she possessed.

I tried hard to summon the RESET button, only to get nothing as tiny beads of sweat ran down my face. I wanted to strangle her— demand that she returned the button back to me. As if it were that easy. The power of the RESET was only received to those with enough determination to top the last one, the determination building up higher and higher, each one even higher than the rest. It was gone from my tight clutches.

"SANS! DO NOT TELL ME THAT SHE—!" Papyrus exclaimed, covering his mouth to make sure she could not hear his loud voice. "SHE HAS IT?" He said, almost... angrily. "YOU LET IT SLIP AWAY FROM YOUR GRASP??" Papyrus looked frustrated. "EVERYTHING WE HAVE BUILT UP IS ON A THIN LINE, SANS. YOU CANNOT JEOPARDIZE THIS TIMELINE." Papyrus said, glancing over at Frisk and almost grinning as she didn't even bat an eye towards him. She only kept her worried eyes on me, probably in fear of her own life.

"Are you alright?" She asked once more, repeating herself in a worried tone hat made me sick just listening to. "I'm afraid to ask, but what is the matter?" She said. "Giving this much sentimentality to you may just be what you need to take that step forward." She said, confusing me further.

"DO NOT LISTEN TO HER. YOU DO NOT NEED A STEP FORWARD. YOY ARE PERFECTLY FINE AND FUNCTIONING HERE, IN THE REALMS OF WHERE NOT EVEN HER MIND HAS WANDERED..." Papyrus trailed off, grinning madly. "YET." His grin seemed to be wider than mine at that moment, and his eyes flared a deep purple color, mine matching in response. "ITS FUN HERE, IS IT NOT? STAY HERE WITH ME." He grinned, and I grinned in response.

"Everything is alright." I said in unison with Papyrus, as if an automated voice message. "EVERYTHING IS AS IT SHOULD BE." We said. "I just happened to misplace something, but don't worry..." We trailed off, "We'll have it back soon. I can guarantee that." I grinned madly, looking over at where Frisk was sitting. She shifted in her seat, and looked over at Papyrus for what seemed like the first time, he seemed to grin at her actions, as if she was finally doing something right. "YOU CANNOT SEPARATE US."

She took the RESET away.
She'll take away Papyrus next.

"W—." Frisk swallowed the saliva that had been caught in the back of her throat. "We?" She asked, catching my implementation of Papyrus into the plan to regain the power I had lost. "You mean, you, right?" Frisk said, looking back at me, and then back at the chair where Papyrus was sitting. "Or, does that include... your brother?" She asked, and I grinned even more, standing up rather slowly, watching in pure joy at the look of terror that appeared onto her face as if towered above her now.

Papyrus grinned, but said nothing as I replied to her. "Oh, I meant 'we'." I said, grinning as her eyes still met mine, even with the height difference of her sitting. "You are correct. Me and Papyrus." I said, putting my hands inside my hoodie pockets, my hood was already up. "Now, we had a deal, didn't we?" I asked her, grinned and turning around, bucking as her stomach twisted into knots again. She groaned. "As long as you'll hold up your end of the bargain, so will I." I said, narrowing my eyes slightly. "And you will take me to see Chara if I take you to the barrier?" I asked slyly, grinning behind my permanent smile.

She only nodded and gasped in pain at her stomach that was literally eating her alive. She was nothing but skin and bones at this point— horribly malnutritioned and probably will need food in her system at some point along the trip. The underground is quite small once you get used to it, but going all the way to the barrier could take around 2 weeks. 3 if we stop enough times. Humans are quite needy.

I would have to refrain from hurting her too much, that alone could unlock the powers she holds within her, and could lead to a timeline reset. Which was the last thing I wanted from any of these situations. I could threaten her, but never kill her, unless I got the RESET button back. She would probably take my word for it after our first encounter. How would I be able to diminish the amount of determination that she held before time ran out for the both of us?

"DO WHAT YOU MUST." Papyrus said from the other end of the table. Frisk didn't look at him once more. She only stared at one spot on the wooden table, desperate to distract her mind from the pains for her stomach.

I could always take some detours until I did figure out how to regain it back in my control.

"Well, I'm glad we have that settled." I grinned, popping back up and walking towards the door. "If we want to make it towards the barrier soon, then we will have to head out early. It's already about midday." I said, grinning. I wonder how far I can push her, though. "We should head out now." I said, gesturing towards the door with a sly grin.

She looked at the door with large, sad eyes. Desperate for the offer of food, or anything. Rest, shelter, a jacket. Anything to keep her alive. She took a deep inhale, and sighed for a bit. "I'm coming." She said, almost dejectedly. It was relieving that someone else was in so much pain.

She struggled to get out of the chair, and winced as she held her stomach. She looked at the door tiredly, as if she didn't get enough sleep from the oncoming frostbite that happened 2 days prior. She staggered over towards the door and looked at me sadly, hoping for anything. But I stood completely unoblivious, grinning and watching her suffer.

"This'll be a fun trip." I said, receiving a fit of crazed laughter from Papyrus.