Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was nearing nightfall. The sky a bright array of pinks and yellows, as the sun set on the town of Ebbott. Humans, monsters, and fae watched the sky with awe and appreciation as the day drew to a close.
But the sky’s beauty was lost on one family of fae.
“Found anything?” one asked as her brother tiredly sulked through the door.
“No. Not yet,” he ran a hand through tawny hair, as his sister approached him.
“Where could she be, Lucian? She should’ve been back hours ago.”
“I don’t know, Yvonne,” Lucian wrapped his arms around her and tucked her head under his chin. “I don’t know.”
The door swung open as two dark fae entered their home.
“Well, none of our kinsmen know anything.” The man slammed the door.
“And the humans were useless,” the woman added. “As usual.”
The other fae smirked at her quip, but the humor didn’t dispel the tense atmosphere in the house. Lucian was still comforting Yvonne, and the dark-haired twins sunk dejectedly on one of the sofas.
Lucian had tawny hair cut short at the sides and back with the top spiked up in a small mohawk. He was pale with black eyes, and tall, about 6’1. Yvonne had beautiful brown hair that faded into gold at the ends which reached her shoulder blades. The light fae’s eyes were a soft amber that accentuated her sun-kissed golden skin and 5’6 frame. The twins were 5’9 with olive complexions and sharp golden eyes. The girl had feathery dark brown hair that reached her chin. Her male counterpart kept his long hair in a high ponytail, though the ends still reached the small of his back. All of the fae were thin and muscled with long fingers, sharp features, elongated canines, and pointed ears.
An hour passed as the fae comforted one another and waited. The beautiful sky had faded to soft pinks and purples when the font door flew open once more. The eldest of the siblings came into view. She was tall, 6’6, with raven black hair and stormy gray eyes. Her skin was a dark almond color and her hair was styled in an asymmetrical pixie cut, the left side short and the right came to the fae’s collarbone. Obsidian horns crowned her head, they reminded many of the popular Disney villainess, Maleficent. Her usually calm face was lined with worry. The fae searched the faces of her siblings, panic twisting in her gut as their gazes dropped to the floor.
“Where could she be?” the eldest fae turned back to the open door, glaring at the sky. Never in all of her 527 years had she felt so… helpless. Even when she lost their parents in the war 50 years ago, the woman knew what had to be done to protect her family. But now, she was at a loss.
A slender hand hesitantly came to rest on her shoulder. “It’ll be alright, Tempeste,” said her dark sister. “We’ll find her.”
The other twin slowly rose from the sofa and came to Tempeste’s other side. “There’s a few places we haven’t looked…” He stared hard at the floor as he mumbled.
His twin stared, “You don’t think,” she swallowed, “that someone took her?”
Tempeste’s eyes darkened. “She doesn’t know any monsters. Has few human friends. But if our kin know nothing…” The worry in her face became fury. Small threads of electricity danced across her hair and horns. Strom clouds blossomed across the sky, dark and ominous. The citizens of Ebbott scrambled for cover as the formerly lovely heavens rained down a certain fae’s wrath. “Tonight we rest,” she said closing the door. “Tomorrow,” a feral smile spread across Tempeste’s ethereal features. “Tomorrow we hunt.”
~~~~~~
“so lemme get this straight” Red tiredly scowled at Black and Mutt.
“ya thought it’d be a good idea ta get a pet…” he glanced down at the struggling woman in Mutt’s arms, “human?”

Chapter Text

“PET!!!!” Black’s voice thundered through the house.
Red groaned into his pillow as the shouts of his alternate self wake him from his nap. Did the human try to escape again? He rolled onto his back and flopped the pillow over his skull, trying to block out the noise. This human of Black’s had caused him nothing but trouble this past week.
That first night she had done everything in her power to get out of Mutt’s vice-like grip, shouting curses in English as well as French, a language none of the skeletons really understood. Black and Mutt had found it cute at first, but after an hour she showed no signs of quieting down. Most of the skeletons had retreated to their rooms by the time she lost her voice. The quiet didn’t last long. The sky clouded over, too quickly to be natural, and it started to rain and thunder. Black’s human had calmed with the storm.
As the next week went by, the storm remained constant, and the human alternated between escape attempts, swearing at her captors, and threats of a "sister that would find her and make them suffer".
Red had risen a browbone at that.
“PET! WHERE ARE YOU?!”
With a huff of annoyance, Red rolled out of bed. If he couldn’t sleep, he was heading over to Grillby’s.

Claire had hidden herself in the closet of one of the older skeletons. Gavin? Garfield? She didn’t try to remember their names. She was surrounded by lab coats, leather jackets, and elegant turtleneck sweaters; Claire knew they wouldn’t find her here. Well, she hoped. The one called Mutt had an unnerving knack for tracking her down.
“PET!” Black’s voice was getting progressively angrier every minute. Claire grinned with satisfaction. She found his annoyance tres drôle.
Black had kidnapped Claire while she was on her way to a friend’s house. One of her few human ones. He had shouted something about pets and had his faithful mutt of a brother (haha pun) fetch her. As far as Claire was concerned, Black already had one ‘pet’ too many. He didn’t need another.

It took Mutt an hour to find her. He didn’t say anything as he dragged her down to the basement. Claire had never been down there before. It wasn’t allowed.
The basement was large. There were several desks and work benches for the more scientific minded skeletons spread-out around the room. There was a door leading to another room, possibly for more dangerous experiments as the door was heavily reinforced with metal and locked with a keypad.
Mutt pulled Claire across the room towards Black and another skeleton, Wing Dings. Black was scowling at Claire with his arms crossed.
“It’s About Time.” He stomped over to Mutt and Claire. She flinched as one gloved hand reached for her neck. Black quickly removed the collar he’d forced on her the week before. Then, he nudged Claire towards Wing Dings.
Wing Dings lifted her chin, exposing her throat and Claire felt the cool metal of a new collar around her neck. After Wing Dings secured it, he turned towards the brothers.
“The collar should help keep her from running away,” Wing Dings explained. “It’s tuned to your magic, so you’ll be able to track her, and,” he smiled sadistically, “punish her should there be a need.” The Fell skeleton turned to his desk, a clear dismissal to the swapped versions of his brothers.
Once the skeletons and Claire were back upstairs, the human gripped her new collar, trying to pull it off. She screamed; her knees buckled as the collar sent a wave of pain through her.
As quickly as it had started, the pain stopped. Claire slumped to the floor, whimpering. The entirety of her 4’10 frame shook. Mutt crouched down and softly stroked her red hair. He didn’t say anything, he never did. Black huffed at the scene. With arms crossed, he stomped off. Leaving his lanky brother with the woman.

Chapter Text

--Flashback—
The door burst open and several soldiers flooded the house. Tempeste watched as they dragged away her mother and father. As the remaining soldiers searched for the rest of the family, Tempeste struggled to move, to breathe. She was completely frozen. She could do nothing but observe the ransacking of her home in strangled silence. The edges of her vision darken, and the scene fades away.
Blinding light hits the fae and she finds herself amidst a faceless crowd of her dark kinsmen. Before her on a raised platform, knelt her parents, their backs bloody and wingless, chains circled their arms, binding them to the floor. Behind them, a silhouette of a woman, bat-like wings spread, horns twisting upward. Tempeste was pulled forward, closer and closer and closer still. Dark, maniacal laughter rang in her head and the crowd of fae melted away until the only thing filling her senses was the cackling of the figure and its cold, lightless eyes. Tempeste heard screaming. She began to shake uncontrollably, and she was pulled closer to the dark figure. Closer. Closer. Closer. Clo-
With a gasp, Tempeste bolted upright, the sheets tangled about her shaking form. Sparks of electricity danced across her fingertips. She was breathing heavily, almost choking on the air she pulled into her lungs. A hand shakily made its way up to her head, fingers brushing through her hair until they met a smooth horn. Tempeste snatched her hand back and clutched it to her chest.
“It was a dream, just a dream, it’s not real,” she whispered to herself. “You're safe, they’re safe, she can’t hurt them, she’s gone, she’s gone, it’s not real,” the woman threw off the covers and stood slowly. “They’re safe, Monique, Valentin, Yvonne, Lucian, Clair-“ Tempeste froze, hand on the doorknob. “C-claire,” tears ran down her cheeks, and Tempeste rested her forehead on the door of her room, “Claire.” She finally broke, sliding down to her knees and burying her face in her hands.

Red was, for once, not napping away in his room. He was slouched in a comfortable recliner in the living room, idly flipping through the channels on the TV. From a pocket in his well-worn jacket came the buzzing of his phone. Grumbling, Red pulled the device out.
“yeah?” Red mumbled into the phone.
“hey, bud. how’s everything goin’ over there?” Classic asked in his typical, easy-going way, “anybody dead?”
“ev’rythin’s fine,” Red rolled his eyes. Classic, Paps, Gaster, and the Swap brothers were off in the UK with Asgore, Tori, and Frisk for some international government meetings or whatever. They had left Gaster’s Fell alternate, Wing Dings, in charge. But Wing Dings was engrossed in his experiments, leaving Red to reign in the terror that was the Fellswap brothers. Not that he did much of that. Classic checked-in with him every so often to make sure there’d be a house still standing when they returned.
“so meetings are takin’ a bit longer than they were supposed to. some queen skipped out and not much is gettin’ done,” Sans continued, “we’ll be a little longer than planned.”
“m’kay,” Red turned his attention back to the TV, flipping a few more channels before shutting it off.
“so, bye I guess.”
“bye,” Red hung up and tossed his phone across the room with a quiet “yeet”.
Meanwhile, the storm still raged outside.

--3 weeks after Claire’s kidnapping--
Grillby’s always had a warm, comfortable atmosphere. It was the kind of place where humans, fae, and monsters could sit side by side without care. Racial discrimination was almost unheard of at the fire elemental’s famous establishment.
The tables were full, and the kitchen bustling. And at the end of the bar, sat a pair well into their second bottle of whiskey. One was a tawny-haired, light fae; the other, a certain skeleton with sharp teeth and a taste for mustard. To an outsider, it seemed like the skeleton was trying to cheer up his fae friend, and that would’ve been true if their friendship was any deeper than drinking buddies.
Red was in the middle of a thrilling story about a prank he played on his younger brother, when his companion laid his head on the bar with a dull thunk.
“eh… you ok there?” Red poked his buddy’s shoulder.
“wan’ me ta shuddup?” Red wasn’t offended, sometimes a guy just needs to get shitfaced in silence. Though he’d never seen a fae more than tipsy, his friend included. Even now, the male wasn’t too drunk, despite the ungodly amount of alcohol he’d consumed.
The fae remained facedown on the bar top. “Mmhm,” he replied, sullenly.
For the next hour or so, the two sat there. The fae in silence, while Red and Grillby chatted in between drink orders. Eventually, the pair was joined by two more fae, the twins.
“Come on Lucian,” Valentin said softly, “it’s time to return home.”
Lucian mumbled, “What’s the point? We’re never gonna find her.”
Monique sighed, the voices of the other patrons were giving her a headache, especially the skeleton beside her little brother.
damn. fergot what a hot piece of ass luce’s sis wuz.
Monique shuddered and did her best to block him out, and her twin, sensing her discomfort, moved himself between the skeleton and his sister.
“Lucian?” Monique wrapped an arm around him and pulled him to his feet. The fae wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her neck. She smiled a little and hugged him back. “Lucian, mon petit frère. We must get home. We have to keep searching in the morning.”
“watcha lookin’ fer, doll? mebe I can ‘elp,” Red asked, eager to get into the woman’s good graces… among other things.
The twins shared a look, after a silent conversation, Valentin broke his stare with a scowl. While Monique began to describe their missing sister.
“She’s 23 and rather short, with bright red, curly hair. She’s kind of chubby as well, like a teddy bear.”
As Monique described Claire, a picture formed in Red’s mind. Monique saw a memory of Claire sitting on a couch with a lanky skeleton with sharp teeth. Though she didn’t show it, Valentin felt her shock. The fae and Red exited the bar and parted ways, the skeleton saying he’d keep an eye out for their missing sister.
He knows where she is, Monique hissed in her twin’s mind. Take Lucian home. I’ll handle this salaud. Valentin slung his brother’s arm over his shoulder and Monique released her grip on him. Turning a corner, they separated. Valentin heading homeward with a tipsy Lucian, while Monique shifted into a less conspicuous form.

Red stumbled home in the rain. He would’ve teleported if he wasn’t almost completely sloshed, and the house wasn’t too far. He had to talk to Wings. Black’s human already belonged to someone else. Red wasn’t sure how to handle this. He’d rather talk to someone else, but Edge had holed himself up in his room because of the storm and Mutt was helpless against his own brother. As he drunkenly entered the house, a peregrine falcon landed in a tree close by. The bird scanned each window with sharp eyes until it found what it was looking for. With a large flap of its wings, the falcon landed on a windowsill and began furiously tapping on the glass with its beak.

Black had gone to bed hours ago and Mutt was in the basement fiddling in his workspace, leaving Claire to entertain herself. She wasn’t tired, so she perused the bookshelf in Mutt’s room trying to find something to amuse herself.
Claire was scanning through a promising book, when she heard tapping on the window. The woman didn’t notice it at first, because of the rain drumming against the house. Then the rhythm of the tapping changed and grabbed her attention. She looked up and ran to the window. Claire quickly fumbled with the latch and pushed the window up. A bird darted in and Claire closed the window.
Monique, she thought happily as the fae returned to her more humanoid form. The two sisters embraced, crying with relief.
Claire, ma chérie, Monique breathed, squeezing her sister tightly. She pulled away, looking Claire over, are you alright?
The human nodded. Take me home. Please. She begged silently. Monique nodded absently, having caught sight of the collar around her sister’s throat. She reached out to touch it but was stopped with a wave of memories from Claire. Shocks from the collar. Small ones for any ‘misbehavior’, larger ones inflicted whenever she tried to remove it. And some shocks came just because of a shorter, loud skeleton’s bad mood. Monique gasped at the ghostly pain trickling across her own neck from these memories. Her face, usually graced with a humorous smile, was twisted in fury towards this new skeleton monster. The small, human woman pulled her sister towards the window and opened it. Shaking her head free of the onslaught of memories, Monique scooped up her little sister and leapt from the second story window, unfurling her large, dark grey wings. The two women silently flew off into the stormy sky, leaving behind an open window.

Chapter Text

The flight home wasn’t long, despite the rain and wind. The lights were on in the house and Monique was happy to sense the rest of her siblings waiting for them. As they landed gracefully at the door, Claire shivered. The two were wet from the rain. Once they were inside, Monique used her magic to pull the water out of her little sister’s hair and clothing before doing the same for herself.

As she finished, Lucian ran up to Claire and swept her up into his arms. “Ma sœur! We found you, petit colibri,” he spun around with joy. Claire smiled and laughed softly. And Monique shook her head at the childishness of the light fae. At least he’d sobered up, tipsy Lucian was always a bit depressed and clingy. Now he was just clingy.

Refusing to release his human sister, Lucian went further into the house to the living room where the rest of the De La Cours were. Lucian settled on the couch, in between Valentin and Yvonne, and cuddled Claire to his chest. Monique squished herself next to her twin on the end of the couch. Tempeste, however, remained in her favorite armchair across the room. As she observed her siblings a weight seemed to lift off her shoulders and her face softened. She didn’t smile, but her expression could almost be considered content. Outside, the rain stopped and the wind let up.

Sadly, the happy atmosphere didn’t last long.

“Claire?” the eldest fae spoke through clenched teeth, “what is that… thing around your neck?”

Monique answered for her, “It’s a collar, Tempeste.” Her voice lowered, “A shock collar.”

Tempeste rose from her chair and approached the group. Slowly, she crouched in front of Claire.

“May I see it, ma petite?” she spoke softly, mindful of the warnings Monique whispered in her mind. Claire debated with herself for a moment. During the flight home, she’d shared as much of her imprisonment as she could with Monique through her thoughts and memories. She knew Monique was telepathically sending what she knew of the collar to Tempeste, so she could remove the awful thing. But the memories of her own attempts to pull it off made Claire hesitant. Slowly, Claire slid out of her brother’s arms toward the woman who raised her.

Once she settled on the floor in front of Tempeste, the fae rested a hand on Claire’s shoulder the other hovered over the collar. Tempeste reached out with her magic, exploring the mechanics of the collar. Small sparks of electricity allowed her to map out the wretched thing in her mind. When she located the latch, she lightly rested her fingers on it. Suddenly, shocks started peppering through the collar, causing Claire to tense in preparation for the pain. But the pain never came. Tempeste had drawn the electricity into herself, not allowing a single volt to touch her precious sister. Quickly, the fae removed the collar, freeing Claire. The human woman cupped her throat, feeling the tender flesh. Her siblings could clearly see a ring of red, irritated skin where the collar had rested. Yvonne dropped to her knees and carefully placed her long, thin fingers at Claire’s neck, healing her. Claire slumped into Yvonne’s chest, letting exhaustion claim her at last.

“Take her upstairs. To bed,” Tempeste ordered her youngest siblings. Yvonne lifted Claire into her arms, holding her bridal style, and headed to the staircase with Lucian close behind.

Now that they were alone, Tempeste returned to her seat and the twins shifted to the love-seat closer to their older sister. Monique quickly relayed all she learned from Claire about the skeleton monsters the human had been taken by. They noticed that the only one who ever harmed their sister was the short, loud, spikey skeleton who called himself, Black.

After Monique was finished, she fell silent. The only sound came from the clicking of the collar in Tempeste’s hands as she fiddled with it, thinking. The fae woman exhaled sharply and leaned forward.

“All right, mes chers, here’s the plan.”

Chapter Text

Red woke up to a pounding headache. He had returned home and passed out on the stairs. The smell of coffee led him back down to the kitchen, where his little brother was making breakfast.

“YOU LOOK LIKE SHIT,” Edge greeted his brother, as Red stumbled up to sit at the island.

Red wasn’t expecting to see his brother that morning. Edge had a paralyzing fear of thunder and had spent the entirety of the past three weeks in his room. The only time Red had seen him was when he’d brought Edge food two or three times a day.

“storm’s gone?” Red mumbled to the counter top. He remained face down at the island as Edge place a mug of coffee near his skull. Edge grunted in affirmation, leaning his seven-foot frame on the counter by the stove and taking a sip of his own caffeinated bean juice.

As the morning progressed, the rest of the spikey household made an appearance. Mutt blipped into existence next to the coffee maker, Wing Dings emerged from the basement, and Black returned from his morning run. Breakfast was eaten, coffee consumed, and small talk was disregarded. Mutt kept glancing to the empty seat beside him as if its usual occupant would appear any moment. When she didn’t, the lanky skeleton caught his brother’s eye(light), silently asking where the newest unwilling addition to their household was with a motion of his head.

“WHAT?” Black hadn’t seen his pet since he went to bed last night. “WASN’T PET WITH YOU?” The tiny human usually slept in Mutt’s room. He had quickly become her ‘favorite’ skeleton. However, when Mutt went to bed in the early hours of the morning, she wasn’t there. He had assumed she was with Black.

When Mutt shook his head, Black jumped up, “PET!!!! BREAKFAST!”

“oi, pipe down will ya? gotta hangover here,” Red cradled his skull in his hands.

Black ignored him and quickly marched up the stairs, looking for ‘Pet’. After a minute, Red’s skull popped up from the counter top.

“wait a second. th’ human!” Red turned to Wing Dings, panicked, “wings, we gotta take ‘er back!”

“What?”

“why?” Mutt scowled at Red.

“she’s luce’s sister,” Red returned Mutt’s dirty look. His brother, Wing Dings, looked at him, quizzically, over his coffee cup. “y’know. luce? ma drinkin’ buddy? the clingy one?”

The new information didn’t help Wings figure out who his brother meant, but Edge’s eyelights lit up with recognition.

“THE FAE FROM THAT GREASE TRAP YOU LIKE?”

“yea, tha’ one.”

Wings finished his coffee and rose to refill his cup. “Don’t care, Sans,” he grumbled.

Seconds later, Black stomped down the stairs and back into the kitchen, “MUTT, WHERE IS MY PET?! SHE’S NOT IN HER USUAL SPOTS.”

“don’ know, m’lord.”

“WELL, GO AND FIND HER, YOU USELESS DOG!” Black gave his brother a smack upside the head before Mutt disappeared with a pop.

Red scowled at the bossy skeleton’s back. He was no stranger to ‘tough love’, but the way Black treated his brother was a bit much. “why don’cha use the collar ta find ‘er?”

Black rolled his eyelights but complied. He focused on the magic trace in the collar, expecting to locate his pet in some corner of the house.

But he didn’t.

“WHAT THE HELL? WHY IS SHE SO FAR AWAY?”

Wing Dings stared quizzically, “How far is the human?”

“THREE MILES NORTHWEST OF HERE!” Black started for the door. “MUTT! COME HERE!”

The lanky skeleton popped into existence beside his brother, “m’lord?”

“PET RAN AWAY AGAIN. LET’S GO.”

Edge scoffed, “WHY GO SO QUICKLY? I’D LEAVE IT FOR A DAY. LET IT SUFFER IN THE COLD AS PUNISHMENT FOR ITS DISOBEDIENCE.”

Black paused, considering the idea. Then he turned and tromped his way up the stairs, “EXCELLENT IDEA! WE’LL WAIT UNTIL AFTER DINNER. THEN MY PET WILL KNOW NOT TO TEST THE PATIENCE OF THE MALEVOLENT BLACK! MWAHAHA!”

After finishing his third cup of coffee, Wing Dings made his way to the basement door. Before descending, he turned to his brother, “Sans, be sure to accompany them. I don’t want the collar damaged. It’s my only prototype.”

Red scowled but made an affirmative grunt. should prob’ly make sure luce’s lil’ sis is ok, too. i’d feel bad if somethin’ happened to ‘er.

While Red was thinking, Edge was doing the dishes. The tall skeleton glanced out the window above the sink and noticed something strange.

“BROTHER, THERE’S AN AWFUL LOT OF CROWS IN THE YARD.”

Curious, Red joined his brother at the sink and peered out the window.

Sure enough, the trees outside were laden with crows and ravens alike. All of them faced the house in complete silence, just watching. A shiver trickled down Red’s spine, but he kept his voice light, “well, you know wha’ they say, bro,” Edge’s eyes narrowed as Red grinned cheekily, “birds of a feather flock together”.

“NYAH!” Thwap. The towel Edge was using to dry the dishes smacked the shorter skeleton in the face as Edge stormed out of the kitchen. 

Chapter Text

Breakfast for the De la Cour family was a far more cheerful affair than the past few weeks. Bacon sizzled on the stove as Yvonne attending to the pancakes on a griddle set up on the counter. Valentin made scrambled eggs, while his twin chopped up various fruits and set out other toppings. The eldest fae was at the dining room table arguing over the phone.

“As I’ve said before, I am busy, Matthias. I do not care about your little tête-à-tête over there.”

“But—"

“Is it really so important that you cannot handle it?”

“Well, no,” the poor man tried, “But I—”

“Then I see no reason for me to be there.” Tempeste rolled her eyes. She had recruited the elf so she wouldn’t have to deal with the utter stupidity of the many human courts. The first twenty years of those ‘meetings’ were more than necessary to convince her of humans’ inability to do much of anything, leadership-wise.

“Her Majesty, Queen Titania, refuses to meet with me. Perhaps you could call her?” Matthias attempted a compromise.

Tempeste agreed, but remained silent, relishing in Matthias’ tense anticipation of her answer. The fae enjoyed making the high elf’s life… inconvenient.

“Very well,” her lips twitched in amusement as Matthew sighed in relief, “I will contact Titania after my lunch.”

“Thank you so much, Yo—” click. Tempeste hung up on him.

Soon, breakfast was ready, and the table was set, curtesy of Yvonne and the twins. The two youngest of their family were telepathically awoken by Monique and all six of the siblings were at the table for the first time in almost a month. As everyone began to load food onto their plates, Tempeste watched Claire, who had yet to serve herself anything.

“Are you not hungry, mon colibri?” she quietly asked the red head beside her.

Claire kept her head down, eyes on her hands clasped in her lap. Pets are always served last.

“Claire?”

Silence.

“Ça va, ma sœur?” As she spoke, Tempeste reached out to her sister, but Claire flinched away. The dark fae froze, hand hovering in the air. Slowly, she withdrew and stood from her seat at the head of the table. Carefully, she picked up Claire’s empty plate and began to place food on it for her. When it was set back in front of her, it had a small amount of bacon and eggs as well as a single pancake with all her favorite toppings.

“Chérie, tu dois manger,” Tempeste pleaded. “Just a little?”

As Claire picked up her fork, she noticed a smiley face near her pancake drawn in chocolate syrup. It’s just like when I was a kid and T made me breakfast. The woman’s eyes shone with tears, but she smiled a little and began to eat.

Do you want to talk about it later? Monique telepathically asked Claire. Silently, Claire agreed.

That evening, long after nightfall, three skeletons made their way across town, following the signal of WingDings’ collar. It led them to an old warehouse on the Northern outskirts of the small city. Red looked at the building in disgust. “what a dump. ya sure she’s in there?”

“If Your Brother Is As Smart As He Thinks He Is Then, Yes,” Black narrowed his eye sockets. Of all the places to go, why here? “Be On Guard. This Is… Suspicious.”

The bony trio entered cautiously.

It was dark, the only light in the gloom came from three sets of eye lights.

After a minute, Red mumbled in irritation, “where th’ hell ‘re th’ lights?”

As soon as the words left his teeth, the lights overhead fizzled to life, revealing a tall, shadowed figure on the catwalk over head.

“Bonjour, boys,” Tempeste smiled at them as she leaned on the railing, her head resting elegantly on her left hand, arm propped on the metal bar before her. “Did you enjoy your walk?”

“Where Is She?” shouted the tiny tyrant below.

The fae 'innocently' tilted her head to the other side, horns glimmering in the dim light. The eerie smile remained on her lips, “What ever do you mean, cher?”

Black’s cheekbones colored slightly at the endearment. French was common in this country, so they all understood a minuscule amount.

“M-My Human, She’s Supposed To Be Here,” his scowl deepened and fists clenched. The short skeleton wanted to go home already. “I Traced Her Here Through Her Collar.”

Recognition sparked in the woman’s eyes, “Ah, you mean this one?” With a flourish, the collar appeared, dangling from her slender fingers, taunting the trio below.

Mutt’s eye sockets widened, where was his—

“WHERE IS SHE?! WHERE IS MY PET?!”

Tempeste’s eyebrow twitched. One of the light bulbs above exploded, sending a spray of sparks.

“Pet?” the woman straightened, smiled falling, eyes flashing, “You made my sister youR PET?!”

Red stumbled back as raven wings spread behind the fae. More lights sparked and shattered. With a single flap of her dark wings, Tempeste leapt over the railing, landing mere feet away from her prey. Electricity was dancing across her form, and Red thought if he wasn’t afraid for his life, he would be incredibly aroused right now. collar be damned, i ain’ dustin’ fer this! wings c’n make another one.

“I was going to allow you to live,” the dark fae snarled, “but I’ve changed my mind.” Electricity built up in her hands as she stalked toward Black.

“wait!” with a shortcut, Mutt stood before her, his brother safe behind him, “wait, please?”

The woman paused; brow raised in silent question.

Knowing time was short, Mutt thought fast, “me. take me ‘nstead. a siblin’ fer a siblin’, y’know?”

She huffed in amusement, and Mutt knew she was going to say no. But then, she froze; as if someone was speaking to her.

Take it. Take him with us, Monique whispered into her elder sister’s mind.

What? No! Tempeste hissed back, I won’t accept anything less than the death of that petit bâtard.

Sister, that’s Claire’s soulmate! Take. The. Deal.

…fine.

Tempeste glared but let her power fizzle out and folded her arms. “Two months.”

Mutt stared, “what?” Wasn’t she going to kill him?

The woman sighed, “I will spare him, if you come with me for two months. A sibling for a sibling, no? She was returned to me, so I cannot keep you against your will forever.”

The lanky skeleton recognized her tone. She was negotiating.

“three weeks. s’only fair.”

“Four. Final offer, mon cher.”

“Deal.”

They shook hands. As they did so, small threads of her electric magic twisted around their joined hands; a faerie deal is unbreakable.

Once the deal was made, Tempeste refolded her arms and looked off to the side. “Say your farewells.” The two brothers froze, not expecting kindness from her. “What? I am petty, not cruel.”

Mutt said his goodbyes softly, not really expecting his brother to say much. He was shocked when Black hugged him. Awkwardly. They don’t do affection, okay?

While the FellSwap brothers saying goodbye, Red kind of shuffled his way closer to Tempeste.

“um… c’n, uh, c’n i get that collar back?” He shrunk into the fur of his jacket, red sweat sliding down his skull. She said nothing. “i-i-it’s kinda ‘mportant t’ma bro an—” She raised a brow. “kno’ what? nev’rmin’,” he slowly slid back to his original spot, “s’not tha’ important anyway.”

When the brothers parted, Mutt made his way to Tempeste’s side. Then she said, “If he wants his contraption back, he can come get it himself.” And with a snap of her fingers, they were gone, Mutt’s collar left where he had stood.

Black snatched it up shoving it into his pocket. Then. The remaining lights went out, leaving the two skeletons in the dark. Red pulled out his phone intending to use the flashlight on it to light their way out.

“shit. ma phone’s dead. what ‘bout yers?”

“Mine Is Dead As Well.”

“aww man!”

Chapter Text

When the warehouse faded to black, Mutt thought he could keep it together. It would be fine. He could handle one month. Without his brother. Imprisoned by a temperamental faerie with enough power to summon month-long, massive, electrical storms at will. Mutt was terrified damn it.

Soon they emerged from the darkness, the skeleton gazed around bewildered. He didn’t know what he was expecting, but it wasn’t the nice, ivy-covered, two-story cottage before him. what is this, a fairy tale? heh, fairy tale. Wordlessly, he followed the fae through the front garden up to the door. The night air was warm, and there were fireflies around. Above, the stars twinkled, too bright and clear to be anywhere near town. As they neared the house, Mutt noticed a large creature curled up in front of the door. It was doglike, with black fur, and appeared to be asleep, except for the thumping of its tail as the fae woman approached.

“This is Geoffrey,” she said as she nudged him aside to get to the door. Then, to Geoffrey, “This is a visitor, no biting, chéri (darling, dear).”

Geoffrey slipped in behind them as the door shut. Mutt was led into the living room and his host(?) settled into an armchair and gestured for him to sit as well. Mutt was unsure if he should allow himself to take a seat on one of the black sofas. If he were with his brother, he’d be expected to stand behind his chair, ever the faithful watchdog. But he wasn’t here, and Mutt didn’t feel like a guest to the woman. Slowly, he lowered himself to the floor.

…

“Qu’est-ce que tu fous? (What the hell are you doing?)” Tempeste muttered. Why was the skeleton sitting on the floor? Was it a strange, monster custom? She didn’t understand. Thankfully, Valentin came into the room with a sleepy Claire in his arms, followed by Monique, who had just gotten home.

When Claire spotted the skeleton, she smiled and wriggled in her brother’s arms, silently demanding to be put down. Then she launched herself into her soulmate’s arms. The ensuing forehead nuzzling and Eskimo kisses almost made Tempeste wretch, it was so disgustingly adorable.

“There will be rules during your stay,” she said, bringing the two back to the present. The twins exchanged an amused look; Tempeste was in ‘Mom Mode’. “You,” she pointed to Mutt, “will be sleeping down here, in the guest room, and you,” points to Claire, “will sleep in your own room. And you two will not be left unchaperoned. Ever. Am I understood, amour des oiseaux (love birds)?”

Amber magic flushed across Mutt’s cheekbones and he quickly nodded before hiding his face in the crook of his soulmate’s neck. Claire mumbled a complaint in French, which earned her a glare from her mother figure, but she agreed to the rules. With Claire’s agreement, Tempeste went to bed, leaving the twins to watch over the couple.

After a while, Monique ushered Claire upstairs and Valentin showed Mutt to the guest room. The room was rather plain, but it was clean and cozy. The bed had soft sheets and a forest green comforter on a walnut wood bed-frame with a small, matching dresser against the opposite wall. There was a large window with green curtains overlooking the side garden and beneath the window was a small desk. As Mutt settled in for the night, he decided this wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be.

Chapter Text

When Red and Black sulked into the house, Wing Dings was waiting, coffee mug in hand. Black silently passed the older skeleton and stamped up the stairs. Red tried to do the same, but his brother was not having that.

Wing Dings set a hand on his shoulder, “So? How’d it go?”

Red shrunk into his fluffy jacket. “terr’ble. th’ managed ta piss offa scary ass light’nin’ fae bitch. swear, if mutt hadn’ sacrificed ‘imself, we woulda all been dust.”

The hand on his shoulder tightened its grip. “That’s not what I meant, Sans. Where is it?”

“uhhhh.”

“You don’t have it. Do you?”

“w-w-well ya see—”

Wing Dings sighed, loud and frustrated. “Sans, I gave you one job. Do you have any idea how much this will set back my work, hm?” The coffee-loving inventor turned away, heading back to the basement. Red followed, mind racing for a viable excuse. A disappointed Wing Dings meant a passive aggressive Wing Dings, and nobody could handle that for long.

“well ya see, wings—” he tried again.

“What could possibly be the reason for your failure? I’m absolutely dying to know.”

Red took a deep breath, deciding to get it over with as fast as possible, “sh’said’fya wan’itsobadyahaftagoge’ityerself.”

Wing Dings froze.

“What?” Unsurprisingly, he had no idea what his brother said, but he sounded desperate. More so than usual.

“th’ fae. she wants ya ta go get it yerself.”

“Ah. I see.” The new information seemed to appease Wing Dings a bit. He took a long sip of coffee, pondering his options. With an absentminded “goodnight, Sans” the madman vanished into the basement. He had a faerie to hunt down. Somehow.

Black slipped into his room, shutting the door uncharacteristically softly behind him. Leaning his back against the door, he slowly slid down to the floor.

I Have Failed Him. What Kind Of Monster Am I, Allowing Papyrus To Take The Fall For My Folly? He buried his skull in his kneecaps, mind swirling deeper into shock. What Can I Do? Faerie Deals Are Unbreakable. What Tortures Will That Witch Condemn Him To? Something slipped out of Black’s pocket, hitting the floor with a clink.

His brother’s collar, the only thing of Mutt’s he was able to bring back home. Black snatched it to his chest.

It’s My Fault.

He started shaking, bones rattling, yet Black’s sockets remained tear-free.

It’s My Fault. It’s My Fault. It’s my fault. All my fault. It’smyfault. Myfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfault.

Chapter Text

Classic was looking forward to getting home and sleeping in his own bed for the first time in five weeks. However, he had a strange feeling, as if all was not well at the house. He sat back in his seat on the private airplane, watching his brother, Blue, and Frisk stare out the windows and talk excitedly to each other. Asgore sat beside him, speaking with his father, Gaster.

“It’s strange that only the monarchs of the Seelie Court attended,” Gaster was saying, “I would have expected Queen Mab to be very eager to insert herself in international matters.”

“Didn’t you know, Gaster? Her reign ended about fifty years ago. The Unseelie Court has a new ruler,” Asgore informed his old friend.

“I see. I must have missed that while catching up on all that’s happened while I was gone,” the old scientist mused.

Classic had brought Gaster back from the void a couple years ago (along with a horde of his alternate selves) and his old man had taken up his old job as Royal Scientist a few months before now. Unfortunately, he was still trying to learn about more recent events; Classic and Paps did their best to help him, but there’s only so much one can do.

Just then, the pilot announced that they had arrived home and the plane descended to the runway.

When the five skeletons finally pulled into their driveway, Classic’s previous misgivings emerged. It was quiet; too quiet.

Normally, the house was a chaotic loud mess; Black and Blue being the main contributors to the noise level. They were far too similar to get along well.

Quickly, Paps and Blue unloaded the taller skeleton’s red sports car and piled their brothers’ luggage just inside the front door. The two scooped up their own bags and sped off to unpack.

Classic lazily nudged his small suitcase with a pink slippered foot. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, the short skeleton looked around the dark entry hall.

“home sweet home,” he grinned.

Stretch chewed on his ever-present sucker stick, “doesn’ feel like home,” the two friends wandered into the kitchen. “something’s wrong.”

Classic nodded. Something was definitely wrong, but what?

Finding out that Mutt was “missing” wasn’t exactly expected.

The two skeletons sat across from Red at Grilby’s bar, each nursing their favorite drink, as Red caught them up on happenings at home. Completely unaware of the pointed ears eavesdropping mere feet away.

To distract himself from grief, Black had thrown himself into his work with abandon. He used to be picky about the cases he took at the law firm, but now he couldn’t care less. As long as he’s busy, he can’t think, and if he can’t think, then it won’t hurt as much. Right?

Black’s determination to bury his grief led to an all-time high in his success as a lawyer for monsters, but it negatively impacted his health. Dark maroon shadows appeared beneath his sockets, and he was unusually lethargic at times. The others were very concerned. The poor monster looked on the verge of dusting.

When Monique got her doctorate in Psychology, she never thought she’d be using it to help her youngest (and shortest) sister through a traumatic experience. Nor did she expect Claire’s soulmate to have so much baggage.

Since her kidnapping, Claire had become quiet and withdrawn. She constantly touched where the collar had rested on her throat and could be found clinging to one sibling or another throughout the day. Earlier that week, Monique had discovered Claire couldn’t sleep when alone, so she asked Tempeste to let their human sister sleep with her instead. Claire seemed to be doing better now, but Monique missed her sister’s usual bouncy personality.

Mutt wasn’t such an easy fix, unfortunately. With a life beneath his brother’s thumb and growing up in a kill or be killed world came a lot of unresolved issues. Currently, Monique was helping him learn to make his own decisions as well as learning basic household chores like laundry and cooking simple meals.

It was Friday, Red waltzed into Grilby’s and sat beside his weekly drinking buddy.

“’sup, luce. ‘ow ya doin’?” Red quickly flagged down the fiery bartender for his usual mustard monstrosity.

Lucian, however, was not here to drink. “Did you know she was my sister?”

“wha’?” the skeleton was caught off guard. Wasn’t it over and done with? She was back home safe and sound. Red didn’t even have anything to do with the kidnapping in the first place.

The fae set his glass of water on the bar top and stared Red down coldly. “Sans, did you know?”

“n-not ‘til last week,” sweat formed on his skull and his accent came out in his panic, “i swear, i’da neveh let ‘em keep ‘er if i ‘ad known ‘fore dat.”

Lucian slowly rose to his feet, “Maybe not, but you figured it out,” he shook his head, lips turned up in a humorless grin, “You figured it out and you didn’t. Say. Anything.”

“luce?” Red’s sockets widened as Lucian turned away. “luce, ‘m sorry! ‘ah didn’ know!”

“I never want to see you again,” the fae threw over his shoulder as he left the bar.

Mutt and Monique were sitting at the kitchen island, finishing up another therapy session over snacks. But there was something on Monique’s mind.

“Why do you call yourself Mutt, triste (sad one)?”

“uh. it’s what my bro called me in th’ undergroun’,” he shrugged, popping a pretzel in his mouth. “jus’ never changed it I guess.”

A bit of his memory flashed across Monique’s mind. Mutt and the other skeletons gathered in a nicely furnished living area. One of the short ones, in a blue hoodie and black basketball shorts, giving himself the name, Classic. And one after the other was given a nickname, until it was the FellSwap brothers’ turn.

“IF MY OWN NAME IS NOT AN OPTION, I SUPPOSE YOU MAY CALL ME, THE MALEVOLENT BLACK. MY BROTHER WILL BE CALLED, MUTT.”

“I see,” Monique took a sip of her tea. “Perhaps we could make a trade.”

“huh? watcha mean?”

“You could give me your name, and in return, I shall give you another.”

The lanky skeleton half shrugged, “sure, i guess.”

“Very well,” Monique set her mug down and held out her hand, “give me your name.”

Boney fingers clasped hers, “t’s mutt.”

White light wrapped around the intertwined hands. Monique gave a rare smile.

“Thank you for the name. I think I shall give you the name… Rus.”

The light around their hands pulsed once and then faded away. Monique released Rus’ hand and took another sip of tea.

“so… what did tha’ do?” Rus questioned.

“Now, no one shall recall the name from before, it is no longer yours, Rus.”

“oh. cool.”

Claire was flipping through Hulu trying to find something to watch with her soulmate.

The skeleton in question was of no help, being just as indecisive as the woman curled up at his side.

“wha’ about ’90 Day Fiance’? tha’ sounds in’erestin’,” he suggested.

Claire shook her head. “The last time we watched it, T short circuited the power in the whole house.”

“And I will do so again, mon colibri (my hummingbird),” came Tempeste’s reply from her favorite chair. She calmly turned the page of her book. “The humans in that show have the most toxic relationships I have ever seen in my five centuries of life. To watch that again would be a slight to my sanity.”

“Ooh! Let’s watch Kitchen Nightmares!” Claire clicked on the show, starting the first episode, and snuggled further into Rus' side. The couple contentedly watched Gordon Ramsey yell at people while Tempeste chaperoned.

Chapter Text

It was a bright, sunny day without a cloud in sight. Then again, it was always like that at the De La Cour’s. The consistency kind of reminded Rus of the Underground. He was lounging beneath a large tree, watching Claire and Yvonne work on a flower bed while he picked at the grass. This garden put this world’s Asgore’s flowers to shame. Varieties of flora from every region and season of the surface flourished side by side. Rus couldn’t even begin to name them, and he was certain some of the plants wouldn’t be found naturally in any human-inhabited place. The skeleton was so absorbed in his thoughts, he hadn’t noticed Claire approach until a featherlight touch brushed his skull. His head jerked up and his soulmate giggled at him. She had perched a flower crown on Rus’ head, which now hung askew. The crown was made of marigolds twice their natural size. Rus looked adorable. Claire’s giggles grew when Rus dropped a handful of grass on her head in response.

Blue hadn’t seen Black in weeks, and he was worried. The first few days of silence were absolute bliss. The two skeletons hated each other! But ever since Mutt Black’s brother disappeared, no one had seen Black eat or sleep. So yeah, Blue was worried. The short skeleton hovered at Black’s bedroom door, unsure how to proceed, when it was flung open with magic so abruptly, Blue almost dropped the tray of food he held.

“Well? Come in already,” came Black’s abnormally quiet voice. Blue gingerly stepped inside. The room was a mess! Papers covered every available surface, including the floor, and the scratching of pen on paper was almost deafening. Black sat hunched over his desk, surrounded by documents upon documents, court case upon court case, leases, contracts, tax forms, anything a lawyer had business looking at. Blue couldn’t tell where paper ended, and the room began!

“I BROUGHT YOU SOME FOOD,” he said as cheerfully as possible, raising the tray slightly, “WE HAVEN’T SEEN YOU AT DINNER LATELY AND– “

“I’m not hungry.”

“WE’RE REALLY WORRIED– HUH?” Blue couldn’t believe it! The other skeleton looked on the verge of dusting! He stepped forward, over a pile of crumpled paper and dried pens. “BUT BLACK! YOU HAVEN’T EATEN OR SLEPT OR JOINED US IN TRAINING OR– “

“I SAID I’M NOT HUNGRY!” Black clenched his fist so tightly, his pen snapped. Ink dribbled down his wrist. Blue darted forward holding out a napkin he’d brought with the meal. The ink was cleaned up just in time to save the page Black was filling out. The bubbly skeleton let out an exaggerated sigh of relief.

“GET. OUT.”

Then Blue was magically thrown out of the room, food and all.

Down in the skeletons’ basement, Wing Dings stared down a bulletin board covered in newspaper clippings, printed online articles, photos, and his personal notes. Red string connected each one to at least one other. Headlines popped out at him; ‘FAIRIES EXIST!’, ‘THE DARK QUEEN INVADES’, ‘WORLD WAR III IS UPON US’. The mad doctor dragged a hand across his face. These were all useless! In the center of the board was an old photo of a sixteen-year-old Claire, standing next to a woman. The woman’s figure was blurred and almost unidentifiable, save for the shadow of twisting horns atop her head. Wing Dings had scoured the internet, seen every news site, scrolled through endless social media accounts, all for naught because no camera could capture an image of a high fae.

“You enjoy reading.”

Rus nearly toppled off the couch in surprise, dropping the book he was reading. Behind the couch stood Tempeste staring down at him, unimpressed.

“m’sorry! ah jus’ found it lyin’ there an’ it looked in’erestin’,” Rus scrambled for the book and held it out to her. She took it and moved to the stairs.

“Follow me, squelette (skeleton).”

They went up to the third floor and Tempeste led Rus down the hall to a large, elaborately carved door. The fae opened it and gestured the skeleton inside.

It was a library. An absolutely massive library. There was no way the house could contain such a room without magic. Shelves stretching nearly seven stories high. Spiral staircases leading to each floor. Books floating in the air. And in the midst of it all, a large desk made of mahogany with a few bean bag chairs scattered nearby. Tempeste settled behind the desk and beckoned him closer. Rus stood in front of the desk and was startled when she returned the book to him.

“wha?”

“You may finish that. Or start another.” The woman picked up a pen and started on some paperwork. “This is the family library if you have a specific book in mind just ask. The books will listen.”

Rus remained there, sockets wide. Was she being……. nice to him? Tempeste looked up at him, wondering why he was still standing there. The silence was unbearably awkward. She sat back in her chair.

“Claire asked me to get along with you,” Tempeste tucked her hair behind a pointed ear. “I thought you would appreciate the library.”

“uh, thanks?” Rus hesitantly shuffled over to the nearest bean bag and settled in to finish his book.

“Don’t thank me, or any fae for that matter,” she said, almost absent-mindedly. “Favors aren’t something you should entangle yourself in.”

“You are not handling this well, are you?”

Black looked up at the thin form of Dr. Gaster in his doorway. Sluggishly, he curled further in on himself, shivering under the covers of his bed. The doctor slowly made his way to Black and set a mug of goldenflower tea on the bedside table. Then he sat down on the bed.

“Drink up.”

The bedridden skeleton grabbed the mug with both hands and shakily brought it to his mouth. The magic of the tea sent a thrum of warmth through him. He settled back against his pillows and glared at Gaster with dim eyelights.

“I failed him,” he coughed, glancing at the papers all over the room, “all of them.”

After nearly two weeks of nonstop work, Black’s body had given up on him and the rest of the house had been nursing him back to health.

“Yes, I suppose you did, didn’t you?” the old scientist agreed. “You made the wrong decisions, and the consequences were… incredible to say the least.”

Black slumped even further at this but remained silent.

“But I think you forget, your brother saved you and he’ll return within the week if I understand correctly. Wouldn’t you rather he return to a healthy you, instead of,” he gestured to Black with a cheeky grin, “this?”

With that, Gaster got up and made his way out the door, shutting it gently. Black took another long sip of his tea, thinking on what the old doctor said.

Rus wasn’t sure what to make of this situation. All the De La Cours gathered around the dining table playing Uno. And it was getting kind of intense.

“Hah! Plus four! Votre déménagement (your move), Yvonne,” Lucian crowed.

Yvonne shrugged and played her own +4 card. Claire grinned and put down another, followed by each of the twins. Then, it was Tempeste’s turn. She carefully considered her cards, then the pile, then she locked eyes with her youngest brother and slowly set down another +4 card. Lucian stared in disbelief. Tempeste gave him a smug grin and Monique started snickering. With a wide smile, Yvonne gleefully said, “Comme on fait son lit, petit frère, on se couche (As you make your bed, little brother, you go to bed).”

The youngest fae grumbled as he added 24 cards to his hand. Rus leaned over his soulmate’s chair as the two light fae squabbled.

“ain’ there only four o’ those in th’ deck?”

Claire grinned up at him, green eyes sparkling mischievously. “Well, yeah, but we usually play with three decks at once.”

“…why?”

“It’s more fun that way. We all start out with 21 cards and play like normal,” she set down a red three. Valentin rolled his eyes and drew a card. “You should see us play Risk.”

“Absolutely not.” Monique set down a reverse. “I never get to play when we get that out.”

Valentin drew another card.

“That’s because you cheat,” Lucian accused, as Claire played another reverse, and Valentin sighed and drew another card.

“I don’t cheat!” Monique slapped down another reverse, and pointed a finger at her brother, “It is NOT my fault that you can’t keep your thoughts quiet!”

Valentin sighed. And drew another card.

Lurking deep, deep down in the darkest recesses of the royal library, surrounded by grime and cobwebs, a certain obsessive inventor was sifting through tomes not seen for over a century. Carefully, he examined each spine, pulling out some to flip through pages of knowledge lost to time. Most were returned to their shelves, slightly less dusty than before, but a few of the ancient books were stowed away to be studied more thoroughly later.

--Later—

“sooooo? whassup, wing ding-a-ling?” Red popped down to the basement at his older brother’s request (read: demand) and leaned to the side to see around the stack of old blueprints, indecipherable notes, and books on the desk hiding his brother from view.

“The fae you had the altercation with, describe her,” Wing Dings was furiously scribbling on a fresh sheet of paper. “Was there anything unique about her?”

“ya mean, ‘sides th’ ligh’nin’ an’ th’ wings? ‘n th’ ligh’nin’? ‘n th’ horns? an’ th’ ligh’nin’?”

“Horns?” Wing Dings snatched a book from the pile he’d ‘borrowed’ from the Dreemer’s library and flipped through it.

“yea. big, twisty ones like th’ one chick in tha’ disney movie!”

“How did I overlook that?” Wing Dings muttered, scratching down another note. “It’s so obvious now!”

The older skeleton leapt to his feet and darted to the cluttered bulletin board. He tore down the blurred picture and raced to a blank chalk board. He began drawing. Soon a person’s image emerged, then another, and a third and fourth.

“whatcha doin’, wings?” Red looked at the board sideways; his brother whipped around with wide sockets and grinned.

“Tell me, Sans, what do these three,” he gestured to the first three figures he’d drawn, “have in common?”

The short skeleton squinted at the board. The first, was a drawing of the Unseelie Queen Mab. The second depicted Queen Titania, and the third, King Oberon.

“uuhh, they’re all faeries?”

“And?”

“they’re all… royal faeries?”

“And?”

“uhhhhhhhhhhhhh i dunno?”

Wing Dings stabbed the board with his chalk, snapping it in half.

“Horns! They all have horns!” he exclaimed excitedly.

“….so?”

“SO!” the inventor flipped his book to a page and shoved it in Red’s face. “Only reining kings and queens have horns! And what happened to the Unseelie Court fifty years ago?”

“……….”

“They had a rearrangement in the monarchy. Meaning this,” he circled the fourth drawing, an ambiguous, faceless, horned person. “This is their new ruler!” He whipped out an old, printed news article with the headline, ‘TYRANT DETHRONED! ALL HAIL NEWEST UNSEELIE QUEEN, TEMPESTE DE LA COUR!’

“And she has my prototype! With all my missing data!”

Chapter Text

Lunch was an unusually formal affair that day. Normally, the De La Cours fend for themselves until dinner, but Monique requested that they all gather for the meal as Rus would be providing it all on his own. He had made the suggestion during one of their counseling sessions, much to Monique’s surprise. So, all seven of them sat at the table, enjoying a simple meal of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. The chatter was lighthearted and Rus was laden with more compliments than he could bear, especially from Claire. By the end of it all, his entire skull was aflame and he had sunk down in his chair, jokingly hiding under the table. Tempeste watched him with a reserved fondness. But she had sad news to give.

“It has been four weeks, squelette. Tonight, the deal will be fulfilled.”

Rus straightened in his seat as Claire began to protest, but her soulmate covered her hand with his and she quieted.

“‘m not sure i wanna go back, tho.”

“I understand,” Tempeste elegantly wiped her mouth with a napkin. “But we made a deal. It cannot be broken.”

The skeleton opened his mouth to protest further. But Tempeste continued.

“We will be returning as promised, however, that does not mean you cannot come back here.” With a flourish, she summoned Rus’ phone, which she had taken at the beginning of his stay. She passed the device to Rus. “I have taken the liberty of putting each of our phone numbers in there. Should you ever need our help or wish to visit, you need only to message one of us. You have also been added to the family group chat, for which I apologize in advance.”

Rus stared dejectedly at his phone. He had missed his brother but…he wanted to stay here, in this house, with the woman he loved and the family that had treated him as one of their own. But he understood. A faerie deal cannot be broken. Claire squeezed his hand and he squeezed back. Just then, his phone went off, along with everyone else’s.

Luci-loo: Welcome to the meme fest skellie ;)                          

                                                             happy 2 b here

For the first time in several days, Black was well enough to be up and about. No one thought he should have been, but he was up and about. It was finally the day his brother was coming back home and he had to prepare. He had cleaned his brother’s room from top to bottom, dusting the bookshelf, decluttering the desk, organizing his brother’s jackets by fluffiness, even stripping the bed and washing the sheets and blankets. Black also made sure the medical kit they had was fully stocked with anything he might need to heal whatever wounds that fiend may have inflicted over the month of his brother’s captivity. He might have even purchased his brother’s favorite brand of barbeque sauce, but he would deny any involvement if others asked.

Wing Dings was also preparing for the meeting, eager to get his prototype back from the dark fae. His curiosity was piqued, as he hadn’t interacted with a fae since long before his universe’s war with the humans and he had never met a high fae. The scientist was so excited to see how much the real thing differed from the legends he had recently read that he almost couldn’t focus on his latest set of calculations for the machine. His alternate self spent a good part of the morning keeping Wing Dings on track as the man’s notes kept devolving into hypotheses about faeries and the high fae he was to meet that evening.

Red was the only one going that didn’t want to be there. He would much rather stay as far away from the lightning bitch as physically possible. He didn’t want more reminders of the friend he had lost. Lucian had been actively avoiding Grillby’s since the night he told Red their friendship was through and the skeleton was at a loss for what to do about it. He wasn’t the one who kidnapped Lucian’s sister. He wasn’t the one who made the shock collar. He hardly spoke two words to the woman for fuck’s sake! None of that was his fault or even in his control, so why was he getting punished for it? And why did he care so much?

Night had finally fallen and Tempeste was ready to go. But removing Rus from the house was proving more difficult than she had anticipated. No matter how much she cajoled, argued, bargained, or demanded, Claire would not let go of him. She had wrapped her limbs around the skeleton like a koala, arms around his neck and legs locked around his waist. Tempeste was at a loss and Rus wasn’t very helpful in removing his soulmate from his person, preferring to stand there and nuzzle her hair affectionately.

“For the love of my sanity! What will it take to get this spindly boy out of my house?” 

Claire looked up at Rus and then grinned at her exasperated sister. “Ten minutes. Alone.”

“Absolutely not!”

The young woman hummed and readjusted her grip, pulling Rus’ skull down to kiss along his cheekbone. Tempeste could feel her eye twitching and the foyer lights flickered.

“You may have two minutes,” she relented.

“Five.”

“Fine!” the dark fae threw her hands up and marched around the couple towards the front door. “Five minutes. Not a second more!”

The door closed with a slam, shaking the house, and nearly drowning out Claire’s cheer and her sister’s string of French curses. 

The warehouse looked just as rundown and dark as it had four weeks ago. Patches of paint chipped from greying wood, the tiny windows either boarded up or sporting shattered panes of dirty glass. The pavement was crumbled and cracked under foot, the doors barely clung to rusted hinges, and it seemed even the spiders had abandoned their webs to the dust and decay. Cautiously, three skeletons entered the dark ramshackle building. 

The silence weighed heavy on Black and Red, fear suffocating their ever-shortening steps until they fell still. Wing Dings, however, seemed almost giddy. His feet bounced a few steps ahead of the others before restlessly stopping. Waiting.

The silence stretched on for a breath. Then a soft hum filled the air, slowly filling the large space with a static buzz. The lights flickered on, revealing the two figures further in the room.

“ Bonne soirée, ” grey eyes met red eyelights. “How have you been, Black?”