Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Blackness

That's all that I saw, and that is all it seemed that there ever would be. Never in my life had I ever felt so vulnerable, so alone, that I started shaking uncontrollably. Something was stirring the hot coals of panic and fear in my chest. I shakily got up and did something that I was told would be useless in my lifetime. I ran. I ran faster than I previously thought possible, my bare feet barely touching the cold, dark floor that covered the inky expanse that I was trapped in. I realized after a minute that my feet weren’t touching the ground, but I was actually flying. I gasped as I felt a sinking feeling in my chest, I assumed that meant that I was flying upward at a rapid rate, but I couldn’t tell because of the lack of surroundings. Then, the sensation stopped, and instead of flying, I was falling. I expected the ground to meet me, but it never did. I stared as I saw something race across what I assumed was the floor. A blood red fissure the size of a pinhead fully opened to reveal a place that was unlike anything I had ever seen, a hellish landscape that seemed to stretch its demonic features in every direction. I had never been more terrified in my life. As I was about to hit the fires that would surely consume me, I stopped, every part of me suspended in a sort of zero gravity, just mere inches away from the flames, when a voice rang out, clear as day;

The legends speak of an angel,
One that would take us from our homes
And unlock the gate that keeps us within these woods
One that could, and would be our stepping stone to climb out on
Our Ivy to climb the gate

I bolted upright in bed, rubbing my eyes furiously and trying to wipe the memory of what had just happened out of my mind. It was no use. I had been having the same nightmare for weeks, but that isn’t what particularly concerned me. I got up and checked my appearance in the mirror and sighed, just as I had expected, there it was, the gold tinge that entered my eyes whenever I had that nightmare. My sister, Chara, was especially worried, as she had come into my room the first night that I had the nightmare to find me screaming, my eyes glowing a bright gold and different objects in my room slowly learning to fly, and then zig-zagging around the room, causing chaos.

Every person in your village knew the legend of the monsters, one day, long ago, there were a group of seven mages that sealed the monsters away, into a magical forest, in doing so, they also trapped all of the magic into the forest. The Great Forest, as our people so cleverly named was standing at the outskirts of the village. Anyone that went in, never came back out. Six human children had entered the forest, and whispers said that the monsters that roamed the forest were waiting, biding their time for the last human to enter before they can break the invisible gate that traps them in their home.

I sighed, I knew that my older sister thought that I was a freak. The first night that she had seen me have one of my… episodes, was back when they first started, about a week or two ago. She had screamed right next to me, and recommended later that we call the local priest. I laughed, just like I always did, and told her that I would be okay. After a while of the same thing happening over and over, I noticed that I didn’t see Chara around much anymore, and when I did, she was always removed and looked at me as if I would explode at the slightest wrong movement. Then, there were the rumors, I could only assume that my ever worried sister had gone to a doctor or something. Nevertheless, word soon spread around about my seemingly magical powers that only awakened while I slept. I couldn’t so much as walk the streets without getting scared and furious glances from people, most of which I brushed off, but one night, everything that I had ever known, my friends, family and life went down the drain with one fluid flush.

I was having the same nightmare, again. I was falling, again, but this time, something was different, just before the ground split open, the world lurched and suddenly I was in my room again, this time there was nothing flying, no strange aura emitting from me, but I had this strange and uneasy feeling that had taken root in my stomach. I looked around and almost screamed when I saw Chara, standing at the foot of my bed, her usual green with yellow stripes shirt on. Something, although I couldn’t tell what, was wrong with her, it made me shift in my bed, ready to bolt out of the window if needed. I know I shouldn’t be scared of her, I mean, we were sisters after all, and she wouldn’t really hurt me, would she? These thoughts were sent galloping through my head as I took her stance in, no. Something wasn’t right here. This didn’t seem like my Chara, she had a somewhat demonic smile plastered on her face and her eyes… Oh God, her eyes were glowing red. I scrambled out of my bed, and started to bolt for the window, but somehow Chara got there faster. Her voice cut through the silence that had started the moment that I got up,

“we wouldn’t want that, now would we sister.” It sounded like she nearly spat the last word off of her tongue. It was strange, her voice was Chara’s, yet strangely, it wasn’t.

“What did you do to Chara?” I practically growl. She turns toward me with those piercing eyes,

“Oh I am your Chara, sweet sister, but I merely sought guidance from some of the peers around me, and let’s just say… I have decided that it would be best if,” her hand darted behind her back and brought out a knife, one from our own kitchen, “you weren’t around anymore.”

Chara lunged, yet somehow I managed to dodge the first attack. She swiftly turned around, and faster than humanly possible was leaping through the air again. I yelped and ducked, but that didn’t stop her from slicing the back of my quad and calf. I dropped to the ground, my leg screaming in pain as blood gushed from the wound. I stood up shakily trusting all of my weight on my good leg, and stared at the girl that had once been my sister. She had her legs planted a few feet away from me, smiling and then laughing at the look of pure betrayal that must have been cast on my face. I drew a breath as I saw her sprint again, this time slashing straight up my face before I even had a chance to react. I felt pain blossom up my cheek, stopping just before my right eye. I fell to the ground, blood pooling around my nose and mouth. I must have looked dead, because she laughed again and walked out of the room, but not before leaning over me and cleaning the knife on my shirt, saying five words that I will never forget, “ you deserved it, you monster.”

I layed there for a while, the blood it seemed, never stopped. I could have stopped her, I should have stopped her. I started to break down, sobs wracking my body. I had been disowned and betrayed by the only family member that I had ever known, and she had stood over my broken body and laughed. After what felt like an eternity, I shakily pulled myself off of the ground, and stumbled over to my dresser where I pulled out some bandages and other supplies. I hissed when the alcohol touched the open wound, and continued to tightly wrap up my leg and head as best as I could. I looked in the mirror again and sighed, running my hands through my light brown hair, I really was a monster, wasn’t I? The tears came again, but not in sobs. They just silently rolled down my cheeks. I looked up at my crying reflection and gasped as I saw that my eyes were shedding glowing tears. As they puddled around my hands that were pressed firmly against the top of the dresser, I also saw that a faint gold aura emitted from them. I stilled, making a decision, I had to get out of here, I got a bag out of my closet, only stuffing it with the essentials, a hoodie, some sweatpants, some extra shoes and toiletries. Last but not least I packed a water bottle and about a day's worth of food. I didn’t know where I would be going, anywhere but here.

I creeped along the fenceline, not wanting to be seen by the neighbors, or worse, my sister. Could I even call her that anymore? I wasn’t sure what she was, she had almost killed me, and clearly thought that she had. I closed my eyes and just blindly broke into a sprint, the next thing I knew, there was a bright flash of golden light, oh no, I thought, my magic rippled through the air, and I felt my feet lift off of the ground. For a second, I thought I was back in my nightmare, falling. This time though, it wasn’t black, and I could see the ground as it approached me. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the impact that never came. Instead I opened my eyes to reveal that I was hovering mere inches off of the ground, and I was slowly lowered to where my feet touched the soft grass. Looking around, I also saw that I was at the edge of the village, staring into the depths of The Great Forest. I glanced back, unsure of how I had gotten here, my house wasn’t for a good couple of miles. I sighed, looking back at the barrier of the The Forest. I felt an overwhelming sense of determination as I took a step, launching myself over the barrier that separated the two races. Fine Chara, I think bitterly, you think I’m a monster? Well then, you’ll be happy to know that I’m finally where I belong. With that, I gritted my teeth, and plunged into the darkness that seemed to make up The Great Forest.

I hadn’t stumbled but a few feet before completely losing any sense of direction that I once thought I thought I had. There seemed to be the thick trunk of a tree every few steps, their massiveness soon blocking out any of the early morning sun coming from outside. My eyes strained for any source of light, and after what seemed like hours they finally prevailed. I was slowly walking toward a clearing, my hands brushing up against the moss that covered a lonely stump. A strange, almost purple light bathed the room-like area. Looking up, I saw more moss clinging to the canopy that blocked out any source of sunlight. I was surprised to see that the moss emitted a sort of bioluminescent light that was enough to mock a very dim sun. I peered around the clearing, seeing nothing but a patch of flowers in the center, the tallest reaching up to my knees. Their golden petals reflected the light, making them look as if they were glowing. I took a step toward the flowers, emotions overpowering any caution that remained in my head. Joy, anger, fear, love, loss. Something deep within me started to pulse as suppressed memories flashing through my head faster than a speeding train, some parts were forgotten, while others stood out with an unreal clarity, leaving me to wonder whether or not they actually happened.

A woman with light brown hair, just like mine took my hand. She lead me out toward the field, walking with me until we reached a flower bed filled with daisies.

I took another shaky step toward the light carpet of sundipped flowers, then another and another…

She placed the crown of daisies on my head and gave me a warm smile “Ivy, you look just like your sister!” She exclaimed. Her voice rang like a bell, sending the warm feeling of love shooting through my veins.

I knelt down next to the first flower I got to, gently picking one after another, weaving them together, my hands working on their own as my disturbed childhood flashed through my head.

She took my hand once more, her big one practically swallowing my child like ones. We started to walk toward the house, talking and joking, when the sickening smell of smoke filled my lungs. A scream pierced the air, the woman, no, my mother, looked frantic as she swept her gaze in the direction of our small cottage. Her face darkened as the full realization of the situation hit her, and even though she could not see the house, she seemed to know what was happening. “Child, stay here!” I was pushed to the side, and into the creek that we were trailing next to. I saw the woman run off in the direction of our house as I hit the rocks lining the creek bed, the world slowly faded to black as water rushed past my right ear

I placed the circuit of flowers on my head, their petals covering almost all of my bangs, one dipping down low enough to touch my eyebrow. I brought my knees to my chest, and wrapped my arms around myself, allowing my mind to become lost in the memories.

I woke up, not knowing where I was or what happened. All I remembered was the smell of smoke, and then darkness. I got up on shaky feet, my head throbbing. I stumbled down the well worn path, the remains of daylight fleeing toward the horizon. I rounded the last corner, expecting to see the small cottage that I called home. Instead, all I saw was ashes. Chara was there, crying her eyes out over the charred remains of what used to be my father. Mom was nowhere to be found. I ran up, comforting her as the smell of ashes, smoke and my sister’s tears slowly choked away any emotion that I had previously felt.

I realized that I was crying only when one of my gold laced tears plopped onto my hand. I had been subduing that memory for so long, that the emotions were too much to handle. I shoved the thoughts back into a dark corner of my mind and uncurled myself shakily getting to my feet. The flowers that I had placed on my head brushed teasingly against my forehead. I sighed and rubbed my eyes, willing my tears to stop. My legs groaned as I forced them to stumble on.
Looking back, I was so stupid. I was so caught up in my emotions, so lost in the past, that I didn’t notice the sinister smile that had formed on one of the flowers. If I had, maybe my life would have been much simpler. Maybe I wouldn’t have had to go through so much pain and torture. Maybe I could have saved my family.

I trudged on, the gash in my leg having been reopened after using it so much, the bandages that I had wrapped around it were slowly being encased with my own blood. Black spots had been starting to seep into my vision when I came up to a large ravine. An old looking bridge spanned across it, with bars on either side. I approached it, judging if it was safe enough to cross when I heard a sharp noise behind me. I whirled around to see, nothing. Weird. All I saw was a broken stick in the path behind me. I turned around and continued my trek toward the bridge, blaming my paranoia on the blood loss from my leg. I was one step away from reaching the bridge when I heard a deep voice boom behind me. “Human,” was all it said before I whirled around to find myself face to face with a… Skeleton? It didn’t look like a human skull that was staring at me, it looked more peanut shaped, a tight grin stretched across its face. Its eye sockets were wide and void of light, yet somehow it felt like he was staring into my soul. I froze, and then did what any sane person would do given the situation. I screamed, the pure terror in my voice ricocheting off of the trees. I jumped back, wanting to make as much distance between me and the monster as I could. My feet got caught on something behind me, a rock I think. I tumbled down, my back smacking the ground with enough force to make the skeleton standing a few feet away flinch. The shock of hitting the ground sent pulses of pain shooting up my leg. I sucked in a breath as the world rocked, dimmed, and then sent me spinning into darkness.

Chapter Text

I was falling sickeningly fast through the darkness once again, yet this time, the sensation never stopped, I was just falling. The fear was still there, for I could feel something out there, waiting. A skeletal hand stretched out from the darkness, it looked an awful lot like a human hand, only the skin that was surrounding the bones seemed to be paper thin, and I could clearly make out the blood vessels that were woven beneath its surface. The most startling thing about this was the fact that right in the middle of the hand there was a gaping hole. There was no blood, yet somehow there was a tinge of red lining the inside. The hand reached toward me, and I instinctively recoiled. Closer and closer, as the world somehow turned darker and yet darker. The hand placed a single finger on my forehead, and my magic burst out of my body, lashing out, trying to make contact with something, anything. The spot where he touched me burned, the pain fueling more of the golden tendrils to shoot from my body. Nothing, I hit absolutely nothing.

I woke up with a start, sitting bolt upright in bed. Golden light had filled the room. Myself along with everything else in the foreign room was floating. I curled up in my own little ball of zero gravity and tried to retract the magic. After a few failed attempts, I managed to set down the twin sized mattress, and then the bedside table. I attempted to be quiet with putting down the dresser, but failed miserably, the coarse wood landing with a brutal clunk. I got up shakily, pretty proud of myself for actually being able to control the golden aura. Going to the mirror in the small little bathroom that reminded me a lot of the one that I had back home, I quickly realized that I was in a sort of hotel because of the “do not disturb” sign on the front door handle and the little soaps that were set next to a card that read “Welcome to Snowed Inn! Please make yourself feel at home!” I chucked slightly at the joke and looked at myself in the reflective glass. My eyes had no tears in them, but my previously brown eyes still had a somewhat golden tinge to their irises. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, replaying the dream over and over in my head, trying to come up with a reason as to why that thing had touched my head, and why it hurt so much.

Cautiously I pulled back my bangs to look at my forehead. I gasped and almost let them drop again. Right above the top of my nose was the outline of a diamond with a line going down the center. I touched it gingerly, the flesh around the tattoo still tingling from the burn. So that hadn’t been a dream. It had happened. I felt slightly sick as I let my bangs back down. Now that I knew that it was there, I could see the tip of it peeking out from beneath its curtain of hair. I sighed and went back into the room, unsure of what to do next. On the bedside table there lay the band of flowers I had made from earlier. I put them back on my head, hoping that they did their part in covering the mysterious mark.

I walked outside of the small inn that I was staying at, although previously wary of the rabbit-like monster at the front desk, she proved to be caring and nice as ever. She provided me with the information that the skeleton that I had met earlier actually brought me here. This surprised me a bit, but who else could it have been? The cold air bit at my unprotected arms, the hair rising on them immediately. I realized that for some reason, there was snow on the ground. How was that even possible? Looking up at the towering trees, I saw little clouds formed in their tops. I shook my head in disbelief and continued through the town, my feet crunching in the snow. I wasn’t sure where to go next, I was just walking and getting lost in the thoughts that swirled around in my mind. There were restaurants and homes in the small town, even a library was set up. Although the legends say that the monsters were savages out for blood, they sure seemed peaceful. I had even passed a few on the way, waving and giving them a nod before continuing down the path.

I passed over another bridge, this one much longer than the last, swinging and swaying as I gripped onto the ropes that stretched across either side for dear life. I was soon out of the town that I had found to be called Snowdin, walking at a rather slow pace. A voice sounded in front of me, “I can feel it! Today is going to be the day that I capture a human!” The voice sounded male, but was slightly high pitched. Another voice warbled from the distance, but it was too faint to make out. My heart shuddered in my chest at the thought of having to fight one of the monsters, all of the ones that I have met were nice, even willing to talk. I didn’t want to kill them, or even use my magic on them. As the voices approached though, I didn’t see any other means of escape. I could see their blurred figures further down the path, but they hadn’t spotted me yet. I didn’t back down the path, for fear that they would catch the sudden movement. Seeing only one option, I gathered my courage, and walked forward.

I could tell by the way that the shorter skeleton looked at me that he recognized me as much as I did him. I’m sure all it took was to see the flower chain on my head to be able to identify me. As for me, well there weren’t very many skeletons that went around wearing a blue hoodie and shorts. Although he looked at me cautiously, the taller skeleton that was standing next to him practically had stars shooting out of his eye sockets. This skeleton looked more humanoid for it actually had a jawline, and its eye sockets were more in proportion to his nose. The taller one looked at the shorter one, and said in a loud voice
“Brother? Is that a human?” So, that was his brother, I guess that made sense.

“Ya, Papyrus, I think that is.” His lazy demeanor caught me off guard, I figured he would have been more sinister, given our first encounter. White pinpricks of light shone in his almost void like eye sockets, serving as some kind of pupil I guess.
“Oh my gosh! This is the best day of my life!” The taller one, Papyrus, threw his hands to his face. I couldn’t help but laugh at how excited he was just to see me. He quickly regained his composure, trying his hardest to look formidable, although some of his excitement shone through.
“Human! I, Papyrus, shall capture you and send you to Asgore! So that I may fulfil my lifelong dream of becoming a part of the royal guard!” My heart sank again, oh no. I didn’t want to fight this innocent looking skeleton, but it looked like I didn’t have a choice. The taller skeleton stepped toward me, his boot crunching the freshly fallen snow, and shouted
“I, the great Papyrus, challenge you to a battle.” I couldn’t help but laugh at the quirky way he talked, but I didn’t have time to judge, because as soon as those words left his mouth, I felt a tug at my chest. A tingling sensation started at my heart and then spread throughout my entire body as my chest began to glow. I gasped as the world faded to black and white, and a golden heart phased out of my chest.

It was almost cartoon looking, the golden aura wrapping around to form two lumps, both of them dropping down to a single point. I stared at it, trying to comprehend just what it was, it seemed important, I mean it had just come out of my chest. Looking back up, I saw that Papyrus had flung one of his arms out toward me. “Be prepared human! I have a special attack!” I braced myself, wondering what that could possibly mean. “But first, I’ll give you a totally normal bone attack!” Okay then… Now I was more confused than ever. The shorter skeleton looked at me from the sidelines, seeming to see my confused look. I heard a pop in my left ear and whipped my head around to find the source of the noise. A white streak was coming toward me, toward my heart. I side stepped, the bone instead hitting my shoulder, knocking me back. It dissipated as soon as it touched me, but sent pain flaring through my chest. I rolled into a crouch, ready for the next attack, but it never came. “Erm, human, it is your turn to attack now.” Papyrus was looking at me curiously. I didn’t want to attack this monster, or any for that matter. I didn’t see any other option though. I sighed, wondering if I could skip my turn. “Look,” I said, my voice sounding strained, even to me, “I don’t want to fight you.” He looked at me with a look close to relief on his face.

“Well then.. If you do not put up a fight, then I guess that would make my job easier.” The skeleton looked sad, almost as if he didn’t want to hurt me either. He raised his hand again and all hope that I had dropped down into my shoes, The light in my heart pulsed and flickered, slightly dimming at the sudden change in emotion. More bones flew toward me, faster this time, but I was ready. I dodged and weaved, one bone punched me directly in the stomach at the end of his turn. Any breath that was in my lungs was immediately forced out. I hit the ground with my knees, struggling to regain my breath. When I did, I stood up, my eyes already starting to take on a golden hue. Papyrus seemed to notice this also, because he shifted ever so slightly. “I didn’t want to fight you, Papyrus.” I muttered, “but I really don’t see any other choice.” I saw the short skeleton shift on the sidelines, seeming worried about the fight escalating.

I reached down inside myself, trying to find any shred of control that I could use to attack. I still didn’t want to hurt him that bad. I raised my hand, both eyes blazing. For some reason though, I could still see everything with maddening clarity, the brother on the sidelines jumped and fell back, and Papyrus just stared. I threw my hand out, golden tendrils shooting out of the cartoon heart that floated inches in front of my chest. He didn’t really dodge, just kinda sat there and took it. Two swift blows with the light was enough to make me feel horrible, and just the expression on his face was enough to make my stomach churn with guilt. I halted the attack, grunting with the effort of stopping the tendrils at full momentum. One shuddered and stopped just inches above the cloth of his shirt, right where his heart would have been. I recalled them, trying my best to dim the glow in my eyes, but failing miserably. The pain from both the stomach and shoulder hit were enough to make the magic act defensively on its own. “Wow,” Papyrus said, mystified “I didn’t know that humans had magic! Well then, I guess this calls for… My special attack!”

My eyes were still glowing when he raised his hand once more, and suddenly, my soul turned a deep blue, and gravity suddenly increased. I fell to my knees, my entire body feeling as if weights were pulling me down, then struggled to stand as he sent more bones my way. I jumped over one, ducked under another and got hit by two more. My magic was almost blotting out my vision. I think I screamed, but I wasn’t sure, I just know that I jumped.

And my feet never hit the ground. I felt my magic shoot from my heart to my back, forming two… wings. I felt their power with every flap, sending gusts of air spiraling downwards, blowing both of the startled skeletons backwards. My hand seemed to act on its own, raising and shooting the spirals of light toward him. I saw a flash of blue cutting through the golden hue that had overtaken my vision. Something pushed against my magic, and hard too. I released my hold and flew upwards. My seemingly endless magic suddenly turned weak, strained from holding my body up in the air and shooting at the same time. The golden wings flickered and faded, leaving me falling a good thirty feet to the Earth.

I used every ounce of strength that I had to slow my descent. I plopped on the ground, dead tired from the feat. Overwhelming nausea took hold of my senses, forcing me to the ground, rocking back and forth. I was scared, not of the skeleton brothers who stood a safe distance away, the smaller one stepping slightly in front of his brother. I was scared of myself. Of what I would do if I had to fight again. I had almost killed that poor monster! I looked at my hands to find them trembling slightly. Mustering my courage and strength, I stood and faced the two skeletons. My heart was still out in the open, and slowly it faded from view, sliding into my chest. Suddenly, I regained feeling of my slashed leg, cheek and bruising shoulder. I sucked in a sharp breath and started to limp toward Papyrus. The smaller one flinched and placed a protective hand on his brother, the lights in his pupils going out dangerously.

Reaching my shaky hands into my pocket, I pulled out the food I had gotten from the kind innkeeper. It was a cinnamon roll wrapped in a plastic bag. I carefully undid the packaging and held out the still warm bun to the much taller skeleton. He looked at me carefully, the previous excitement was gone, replaced by a more suspicious look. I sighed, “Look,” I said gently, widening my eyes so that he could see that they were a dark brown. “I’m not gonna hurt you, I never did want to in fact.” His eyes narrowed at this statement, and I couldn’t blame him, he had just seen me do the exact opposite. “I’m so sorry, “ looked down, the mark on my forehead burning, I subconsciously rubbed it. “I don’t know what happened to me… I didn’t mean to attack you that much, but then I got hit and…” I was rambling, but it was true, I didn’t think that would happen, I had lost control, and for that, these two skeletons had almost payed the price with their life. I looked back up at him, a skeptic look was still on his face. Tears gathered in my eyes “I-I just.. Didn’t know that… I didn’t mean to hurt you!” I almost sobbed this last part, and I could feel my eyes start to transform again, the golden tears running down my face. I couldn’t help it. Not after all that had happened. My powers had set me apart, once again. Even in a world filled with beings that use magic, if you can’t control it then you were different.

I met the skeletons eye sockets with my own unblinking stare, they were full of a sympathy that melted my heart. “I can’t control it, I’m so sorry.” I cried, tears running down my face. With that, I turned on my heel and sprinted down the way I came, towards Snowdin, and ignored the yells of the overenthusiastic skeleton behind me. I was rubbing at my eyes, cursing myself for being such an idiot. I didn’t care anymore. My legs had gone numb from the cold, and for that I was thankful. My run soon turned into a slow jog, and then to a limping walk, the initial adrenaline from the sprint soon wearing off. I didn’t belong, not here, not anywhere. I had been painfully reminded of that over and over again. With that depressing thought, all of my resolve crumbled like a piece of paper. I fell to the snow with a slight thump, my arms laying bare against the snow. With one breath in, I gave up on the world. With another out, I prepared to let the snow and wind take me away, readying myself for the tug and pull of death.

Chapter Text

I woke up with a start, gasping for air, my legs and arms were tingling, still slightly numb from the cold that they had previously endured. Something was wrapped tightly around my limbs, keeping them pinned slightly against my sides. I soon realized that it was a blanket, and wiggled out of it, placing my arms on top of the soft surface and pulling myself up into a sitting position. I looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings I was in. I was sitting on a green and slightly lumpy couch, looking out at an almost cozy looking home. A tv sat across from me, and above it was a loft area, where two doors sat, leading into the unknown. I saw an archway to the right of the tv, leading into a small looking kitchen. I shifted and looked down the wall that the couch was leaned up on. There was a slightly tall door leading to what I could only assume to be outside. I looked back up to the loft, wondering where each of the doors lead. I felt like it would be rude to just go snooping around someone's house, especially when one of them probably lead to a bedroom. It would be best if I just went back to sleep, but my mind was overactive, wondering where I was, and more importantly, who lived here.
“Heya kid,” a voice sounded from the balcony, snapping me out of my daze. I looked up at the familiar skeleton standing just outside of the door to the right. I assumed it was his bedroom, but I couldn’t be sure.
“Hi,” I said, moving to stand up. He sauntered down the stairs, his eyes sizing me up. I realized that he was a solid two or three inches taller than me, which didn’t surprise me, I was pretty short given my age. I stuck out my hand, and his ever present grin stretched even wider. He took my hand and shook it, the bones in his hand were oddly warm.
“Nice to meet ya, the name’s Sans, Sans the skeleton.” I smirked, “no really, I’m Ivy, Ivy the, erm, human.” He chuckled a bit, his teeth clicking when he brought them back together. I released his hand and brought it back to my side.
“Welp, there's a lot that we need to talk about Ivy, and I think that you know what the first subject is going to be about.” He stated darkly, the lights in his pupils dimming to almost nothing. I shuddered involuntarily, I didn’t know if I was comfortable talking about my powers with anyone, but it didn’t look like he was giving me much of a choice. “What do you want to know,” I ask, deciding that it would be a good idea to tell him what he wants to know, and nothing more.
“How did you get it?” He sat down on the couch, leaning against the armrest that I had previously laid my head on as he said this. I sat on the opposite side, taking a minute to collect my thoughts.
“Well, that I don’t know,” My voice was a bit raspy from just waking up, but after clearing my throat and coughing a few times, it was back to its normal pitch. “It started one day, I had these nightmares, and afterwards, I would always wake up with that gold in my eyes.”
“Would they always do what they did when you fought Pap?” I glanced out of the corner of my eyes at him, his hands had clenched into fists and he was staring hard at me. I hugged my knees to my chest and my hand drifted up to my face, rubbing the mark. “No,” I finally say, and it wasn’t a lie, I had never used my powers as a weapon. Heck, I had never used them consciously before that. I also assumed that by Pap, he meant Papyrus. “I have never tried to hurt anyone, but he wasn’t giving me much of a choice.” I muttered, I knew that the excuse wasn’t much, but it was all I could offer.
“I know,” he sighed, “But kid, you gotta show some mercy sometimes, even if they insist on fighting. Especially with a soul like yours.” A soul like mine? What does that mean. He must have read my expression because he chuckled again, “Wow kid, I guess no one ever showed you how it works down here. And tibia honest, I think that you ought to learn.” I threw him a sidelong glance, did he really just…
“Did you just…”
“Yup.”
“Oh my god,” I burst out laughing, for some reason, that bone pun was just too well timed. He sat back against the couch, obviously pleased with himself, I wheezed “I guess you could say that joke was pretty, humerus.” It was his turn to give out a hearty laugh.
“Alright, alright, that was pretty good, but seriously,” He looked towards me again, seriousness crossing his features. “I know you lost control there in the end, but I am thankful you decided to pull back, I know that had to be hard.” I slowly blinked, I could have very easily killed his brother, and I don’t know how much damage I actually did. I felt tears prick my eyes, and I looked away, gathering myself. When I looked back, the white pinpricks in his eyes flicked from my eyes to my forehead, I was sure both of them were glowing faintly from the the burst of sadness. “So,” I said, knowing that I needed to keep a close leash on my emotions. “That cartoon heart that came out of my chest, that was… my soul?” I was still a bit confused by all of this.
“Yup, that was your soul, the very culmination of your being, everything that you are, were and ever will be are all in that little heart.” My eyes widened, that was literally everything that I was. I assumed that it was also the most direct way to kill me, assuming that was how monsters seemed to fight. “Why does my magic come out of it?”
“ Well kid, see that’s the difficult part,” He gestured to me, “You are a human, blood, guts and all. Those are things that monsters don’t have, we are literally made out of magic. Forms created by our souls. Some monster souls are stronger than others, therefore they can have more health and sustain a larger form.” I nodded, this seemed pretty believable, given what I had seen so far.
“Humans are much stronger than us, just because they have a physical tie to the world around them.” He added emphasis on the word much, making gestures in the air with his hands. “The power of one human soul, without magic, could be enough to wipe out our entire race, given that they have enough determination.” As he said this, his skull turned toward me. I murmured quietly “I don’t want to hurt anyone, but sometimes my magic wants to.”
“Trust me, I know exactly how you feel. All monsters have met a point in their life where they can’t control their powers. Most are much less… Destructive.” I tucked my chin back onto my chest, refusing to make eye contact.
“Do you know how I got my powers? Do you think that I can get rid of it?”
“The only way I have heard of a human having a monster's powers is when a monster absorbs a human soul, or vise versa.” I looked at him, more confused than ever.
“Absorb…”
He sighed, and reached his hand to the back of his head, scratching where it met the top of his spine. “Ya… A human's soul has the ability to persist, even after death. If only for a few moments. A monster can then absorb the soul and gain the human's feelings, along with their determination. With the power of both a human and monster soul, they would be unstoppable, killing as they wish.” His skeletal hands clenched and unclenched, while the lights in his eyes dimmed again.
“And I’m taking it that a human can absorb a monster's soul too?” I said this, looking up at him with a horrified expression on my face, did I actually kill something? Wait, that wouldn’t make sense, I had my powers back home, where there weren’t any monsters.
“Well, only the soul of a strong monster that we like to call boss monsters can persist after death.”
“So,” I said carefully, making sure that I was wrapping my mind around this right. “You are saying that I have my magic because I absorbed the soul of a boss monster, even though there are no monsters on the outside.” I looked at him incredulously, saying it out loud sounded even more crazy than in my head. He shrugged at my confused expression.
“Kid, as weird as I’m sure it sounds, yes. That’s what I’m sayin’.” He chuckled at my baffled expression. “Well, I’ll ask you this, when is the last time that you saw someone dead?”
I thought back, I don’t think I had ever…
No. I had. I thought back, slowly the smoke filled my lungs and the sound of sobbing pierced the air. Nonononononono, that couldn’t be it. There had to be another time. Why couldn’t I think of anything else?
“Kid… You okay?”
No, I was not okay. “Ya, I think so”
“So, I take it you remember.”
I nodded slowly, not trusting my words.
“Who were they?”
I did not want to answer this question, not trusting my emotions or my magic to keep under control. “T-they were my p-parents.” I silently cursed myself for stuttering.
“Oh.” was the only word that came out of his mouth. He looked down, and then back at me, searching my face. As for myself, I was shaking, anger, sadness and loss all boiling and churning inside of me, making a great ball of emotion that was begging to be released. I took a few calming breaths, my brain barely registering the slight pop that came from the left side of the couch. I turned toward the direction of the sound, thinking that it must have been the skeleton popping his joints and saw… nothing.
What in the… I scrambled to the other side of the couch, looking over the armrest to see if he made a great escape that way. Leaning over the side, all I saw was the hard wood flooring that paneled the entire house. I flopped back down on the now vacant couch. I knew that I honestly shouldn’t be surprised, I was in a world filled with monsters that used magic on a regular basis. If one of them could teleport, then why not. I wonder if I could do that? A side of me wonders. Nope, not thinking about that, sleep comes first. And with that I closed my eyes once again to the world that I had run headlong into, unsure of what was to come when I woke up.
I had no idea what time it was when I stepped out onto the porch of the skeleton brother’s home. I couldn’t tell what time of day it was, and frankly, I didn’t care. My mind was far too active to allow me any rest. I sat down on the edge of the porch and stared at the packed in dirt that lead up to the house. Just thinking.