An Underswap AU: A Tale of Seven Book 1

Entry # 42: History Lessons

Justin couldn't exactly pinpoint when this feeling started.

It has been steadily growing stronger with each passing day, even moreso when he and his siblings exited the Ruins. A nagging sentiment at the back of his head, saying that everything in the present isn't what should've happened; isn't what he should've had.

He ignored that feeling. Probably just grief catching up with me, he had convinced himself. Falling into the Underground gave him a lot of long lasting distractions. But it felt like someone else had persuaded him to feel that way. . . Like there is another presence nearby, yet so far away. . . He couldn't put a finger on it though. It is confusing, and not wanting to complicate their situation even further, Justin decided to just disregard it as always.

But the a number of strange things occured during their journey.

The Echo Flowers. . .

Gerard babbling about forgetting Viorel. . .

Jaede being utterly terrified whenever they encounter Alphys. . .

His bullet missing the Captain of the Royal Guard. . .

Seeing a portion of each other's memories. . .

And recently, the explosion of Mettablook's roof.

Somehow, he has this feeling that the lizard lady isn't the cause of that. Something weird is going on, and for the first time in forever, Saturn isn't the culprit.

✨ • ✨ • ✨

They bid Mettablook goodbye after everyone changed their clothes. Saturn had wanted to vandalize Alphys' house before they leave, but her siblings stopped her in an instant (as much as Justin wanted to join her, they can't risk getting murdered in that lizard's own turf).

They arrived at at a cave with a weathered sign nailed above it's mouth. Another box lay a few meters beside the entrance. The group opened it and snatched every single healing item available (they can't depend on Jaede's party healing powers. She gets tired too). For some reason, there are still several of Sans' tacos left even if Gerard claimed to have grabbed and stored more than three fourths of the food in his inventory.

"Again, how many tacos did Sans give you?" Viorel signed.

Gerard shrugged. "The guy's pretty enthusiastic about the people who ate his cooking and actually liked it."

Oh well, the more healing items the better.

"Never thought I'd see the day you'll be cheating on oranges." Saturn snickered.

"I'm not cheating on them!" Gerard bristled and hissed like a cat. "The tacos and I are just acquaintances!"

"That statement is absolutely believable." Alice rolled her cyan irises.

As Gerard sputtered for a good comeback, Saturn glanced at the entrance of the cave. "Let's check it out." She said, inclining her head at the direction of the said location.

"I don't think that's safe." Justin replied.

"Nowhere is safe." Viorel thought with a deadpan.

Chara approached the cavern's mouth and stared up at the sign. "It looks like some sort of shop to me."

"The glyphs written on the stone placard is too worn to be understandable." Alice remarked, stepping beside the red eyed boy.

Gerard hastily marched inside. "HELLO! Anybody in there?!"

"Woah there whippersnapper! There is no need for screamin', I'm perfectly capable of hearin' customers a mile away. Wah ha ha!" A old monster cackled from behind a stone counter, waving his magnifying glass as a form of greeting.