Round 1. First thing’s first, you wrote another proxy on Cenna’s SOUL. As a Yellow Major, she will need that.
Then one for Sans--
He raised his hand to decline. “I don’t need it anymore, y’know.”
You tapped yourself on the head for that mistake.
Right, a lot has happened since you planted your Claim. It’s getting hard to keep track of information. It would be nice if you had a notebook on you to jot things down.
“Eh, I’ll handle the memory department. Go plant your magic on your sister first.”
And so you did. Mark, applied. SOUL, returned.
Next, you want to gather all the guys who remember time travel by default. That would be Flowey, Chara, and… Lucas? Crimson Keepers seem to be allotted enough Determination for memory retention.
Cenna confirmed: “Yeah, if he’s on active duty he should have that feature switched on.”
Which means it could also be disabled when required. Interesting.
You called for Flowey and Chara. They crawled out from the nearest vent soon enough.
“Howdy, Frisk!”
“Greetings.”
Hello, hello. Are they ready to help you out?
“Sure!” said Flowey. “What will it be?”
You asked if they could help you gather information. You’re going to use the Keys of Fate at least a few times. It would be helpful to know who does what, and when.
The little prince was delighted to hear your request. “A spying mission, huh? You’ve asked the right flowers for the job!”
On the other hand, Chara sighed: “I wish we had our hoverpads. They would make getting around the Lab a lot faster.”
Hoverpads?
The rosy-cheeked flower smiled. “Lady Lucy made plates powered by Blue Magic for us. That way, we can fly anywhere in our flower pots. Unfortunately, they’re currently in the mansion. So we have to crawl around like vermin until we reach the outside soil.”
That sounds SO cool! You’re excited to see that magitek in action one day!
Eherm. Back to serious business. The flowers should go and find the Jurors if they can. You need to know where they have gone.
“Okay, Frisk. We’ll be back in a jiffy.”
“Five minutes, tops.”
The flowers promptly vanished into the vents. Meanwhile, you want to discuss something with Sans and Cenna.
“‘Sup?” asked the skeleton.
To be honest, you really wanted to give Mezil the ‘Not Guilty’ verdict earlier. But… you know from the way he behaved that he won’t be able to accept it.
So, the purpose of this timeloop is to find out a way to convince himself of his own innocence. Heal his heart with indisputable evidence!
Cenna gave you a quick hug. “I thank ya in advance for him.”
No problem, sis.
Before you knew it, the kids were back, and so they said:
“Niton is playing music for the sheep. Aiden and Dayton finalized a tactics meeting with their group. Jacob, Victor, Copman, and Edmund left the building, so we're not quite sure where exactly they went. Lucas is hanging out in front of Thyme’s room, while Lady Lucy is taking care of her hubby. Meanwhile, Rosemary is being a big herby piece of trash in the backyard.”
You nodded sagely. Thanks for the location update. Now, you want them to keep looking for where the other four went. After that, please come right back with the info. Then start keeping tabs on what actions everyone takes without your influence. The only limitation is that they can’t be in the same zone as you, as your presence would defeat the purpose of this request.
“That’s quite smart! You can count on us.”
“Prepare some compensation for us later, okay? Chocolate, marshmallows, doughnuts, pies, whatever.”
And so, the flower children left to do their part.
Now, it’s time to meet up with Lucas. As the flowers had stated, you did indeed find him leaning against Tsunderjudge’s door, trying to relax while he waited for your inevitable presence.
“How’s Mez?” asked Cenna.
Lucas just sighed. “Aunt Lucy used magic to put him in a dreamless sleep. It’s best to not disturb him.”
You explained that you intend to use the Keys of Fate to get more context, and you’d like to invite him for the trip.
“…One hour,” he said, “I can give you one hour of my time. Any more than that, and the chain of command will crumble. You have to finalize your decision by then or RESET.”
An hour should be more than enough if you loop it around. You checked your phone: it’s exactly 11:00 AM.
So… who should you meet first?
Cenna advised: “Keep Rosemary last. With her fragile mental state, experiencing time-travel firsthand might completely break her.”
But Sans had other ideas. “Actually, we should poke Rosemary first. She’s currently the weakest link on the human side of matters. The only way to fix something is to figure out what’s broken first.”
Uh, you had a sneaky suspicion you know what Sans wanted to do, and you’re not sure you like the idea.
“Whoa, you’re making it sound like I’m the bad guy here. Nah kid, it’s nothing of the sort. I’m not even gonna be in the picture. I’m just thinking the gal’s tantrums must have thrown more people under the bus than Mezil, y’know. Closer folks.”
Like, the Moriartys? You know they’re relatives, but you don’t know if they meet regularly.
Cenna replied: “Ed’s office and Jacob’s bar have been next to each other for decades. Plus Jacob lives right upstairs from his establishment. The kids and grandkids go there for the occasional dinner out and playtime.”
That sounds like they more or less grew up together.
Turning to Lucas, you asked if he wanted to speak with Rosemary. Since this is the first round, whatever he says won’t be set in stone.
“It’s better that way,” said Lucas. “If this was linear time, I would have given myself at least a day to calm down.”
Ouch. You apologize in advance for putting him through the stress.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“Just put it on Sans Serif’s tab. Or Doctor Gaster’s.”
Chuckling at the response, Sans said: “Fine by me.”
You headed towards the backyard. Rosemary sat there alone at the edge of the porch with her knees curled.
Huh? Looks like Mettaton’s studio van had packed up and drove elsewhere. Come to think of it, you don’t see any signs of Alphys or Napstablook either. Maybe they had gone to the border together?
You took a mental note of their absence.
Rosemary looked in your direction. Spotting you, she stood up and tried to distance herself.
Yup. She’s still afraid. Better not to get any closer to her then. You let Lucas know that he can start whenever. He approached his cousin while you, Cenna, and Sans stayed behind. Although you couldn’t see his face, you could see the tenseness in his posture.
You tried to imagine what he might be going through… but you don’t know him enough to make an accurate guess.
Was he angry? Conflicted? Does he want to let his heart out, or does he want to stay professional?
A cool spring breeze blew by. The seconds of awkward silence felt like whole minutes.
Finally, Rosemary shut her eyes and exclaimed: “Can you stop staring at me like that?!”
He drew in a deep breath, folding his arms behind his back. “And how exactly am I staring at you?” A coarse edge bled into his voice. “Here’s a thought: why don’t you air what’s been going through your head? You’ve obviously been keeping something to yourself.”
Huh. So that’s how Lucas sounds like in a more, um, familiar setting.
Rosemary started to get feisty too. “Oh, I dunno. Maybe the whole fact that my uncle is a Vampire Lord who attempted to execute an Esper Kid in cold blood??? He’s not even married to a human for God’s sake! Somehow she’s the same species as THAT spooky skeleton over there!”
Her finger pointed to Sans. Pretty on point if you do say so yourself.
Hang on, what about Papyrus? Wasn’t she super excited to meet him?
Sans whispered back: “Us Ebottians are more of a curiosity and less of a rude surprise.”
“Hrmph.” Lucas huffed. “Vampire Lord? You mean the man who’s always breaking his back over his own knee, just so you have the liberty to freely speak your mind?”
He took a step forward, sounding almost amused. “What’d you even come here for? You had to have seen the footage of Uncle Mezil fighting that colossal wolf. Wasn’t that enough to make you decide to stay in bed that morning?”
He took another step, doing a tonal 180 all of a sudden. “And, whatever else you have to say, don’t go dragging my Aunt into it. Period!”
Rosemary seemed shocked by the defense. “Lucas, I thought they’re just top notch Magi! Not the reincarnation of Vlad Dracul and his Grim Reaper wife! Why are you speaking about them like they’re regular humans???”
Not long after, her face contorted into one of betrayed disgust.
“…You knew. You knew all the while. For how long?”
“Six years.”
“SIX WHOLE YEARS?! Wait. Wasn’t that the time when you suddenly got whisked away to the magical mansion for summer vacation? THAT long ago?!? Whenever I asked you about it, you just kept giving me vague non-answers!”
“Do the words ‘classified information’ mean anything to you? Until you signed that NDA, it wasn’t your place to know, and it wasn’t my place to tell you.”
“But this is about my direct uncle! My Mom’s very own brother! And you withheld it from me?! Did we grow up together for nothing?!?” Rosemary wheezed, catching her breath. “How are you okay with… with… whatever dark magic he threw around in that trial? What about the Winston curse? You must have noticed something after working with him for so long.”
Lucas replied, “Nonsense. That’s not ‘dark magic’. Psychia magic is as good or bad as the caster. You’re just seeing him at his worst.”
“Ugh. You’re talking like you know what it’s like to be in his position.”
“Damn right I do.” Lucas jabbed a quick thumb towards the omnipresent smoke on the horizon. “Friends of mine are getting molotovs thrown at them right now so innocent civilians don’t have to. So called ‘normal people’ are there in droves to do to us what we’d never consider doing to them. People with the same sentiments as you, condemning magic out of fear. Think about that for a moment.”
After a stark moment of silence, her expression changed to shock. Oh no... You realised that she’s putting some one plus one together, and it’s not a positive equation.
Rosemary backed away from Lucas in fear. “It’s… it’s you. You were the one who smashed up the mall. Everyone in the bar was whispering about a boy who destroyed the electronics section with a whirlwind of flying heavy objects. And you disappeared right on the day it happened too. You didn’t even come home with a new computer like you planned to do.”
“You… You’re just like the Vampire Lord and the Esper Kid.” After the cold, icy proclamation, Rosemary ran away. There was no reason to stop her anymore…
Once she was gone and out of sight, Lucas let out a big sigh. He turned around to face your group, fixing his glare at Sans in particular. “Happy now? I don’t know how I let you convince me to go through with this...”
“Heh, I’m happy alright. You’ve unearthed a ton of useful information for us to work with.”
“First thing’s first…” Sans pointed his thumb at both Lucas and Cenna. “When was the last time you two checked up on the gal?”
Cenna rubbed the back of her neck. “We’ve never been close. Even when we met, it didn’t get beyond surface level pleasantries.”
On the other hand, Lucas glanced on the floor with a regretful gaze. “She’s like a sister to me. But… I’ve not seen her since my wedding. That’s about four years ago. I was too busy with my job, wife, and daughter.”
Sans tucked his hand into his pocket. “Heh. Thought so. You’ve drifted apart. Four years is a long time, especially during that tricky transition to adulthood,”
Continuing his explanation, he said: “Our gal’s behaviour screams of a kid left out. She sees that secrets are a sign of inclusion and trust. Not sharing them means you consider her an untrustworthy outsider.”
“I can’t blame her for feeling that way. It’s only natural. Still, she doesn’t realise that her own immaturity had built many walls and burned several bridges. People will only share secrets to a person who can handle them, y’know. And she’s proven time and time again that she’s too weak.”
No kidding there. You told Sans that she already almost broke down just from discovering time-travel is real.
Cenna crossed her arms and tapped her feet. “Then why the hell did Mez let her get on board? If she can’t take the truth, she was better off left waiting outside with Anise.”
“With that little self-awareness? Nah. She’ll only push back harder. I bet the old judge let the gal in as a test: for himself and for her.”
You rubbed your temples. What a headache. It’s another one of those ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ situation, huh…
“The bad news ain’t over yet. See, I think she suffered a major setback in her life during Lucas’ absence. Not only is she craving for belonging, she’s also trying to use her rich and powerful uncle as a springboard. And failing spectacularly, might I add. Talk about overcompensation.”
Focusing back towards Lucas, Sans added: “Now contrast that with you, Keeper Fennel. It’s clear that you went through a huge positive turning point with Mezil and Lady Lucidia. You defended them to the core.”
“I'm guessing you could have become a juicy target of media frenzy when your powers activated in a crowded area. Pretty life-destroying stuff. House Berendin helped you out big time by taking you in as a relative.”
“While you were there, you proved you have the willingness to learn, the maturity to improve, and the integrity to keep secrets. It’s the stuff that wins hearts. Once the trust had been earned, it was smooth sailing from there. A win-win situation born from a messy beginning.”
“Welp. It’s everything that Rosemary dreamed of. That realisation makes it all the worse for the poor girl.”
The more Sans disclosed, the more apprehensive Lucas seemed. “Your sense of insight is like my grandfather’s. Rather uncomfortable, if I’m honest.”
Sans shrugged, “Not my fault that the gal was as transparent as glass. Look at it this way: by the time we’re done, you will have gotten a shot at repairing your broken relationship with your cousin.”
Yep! By the way, Lucas’ power piqued your curiosity. What exactly is it? A Mark can’t trash a mall upon its first activation, can it? That’s bonkers! Not even your infamously powerful Star did that! May you see it?
Lucas declined. “…I’m sorry. Even though I have a great deal more control now, I don’t want to risk damaging Doctor Alphys’ property.”
It appeared that you had yet to win his trust. That’s fine. You don’t want to repeat Rosemary’s mistake by taking it as an offense.
Instead, you’re going to lead by example. You asked him to show his palm.
“Uh, sure?”
Despite the hesitance, Lucas showed you his gloved hand. You conjured your star and pasted it on the surface.
Then, you tell him that you’re going to share the secret behind your Mark. It’s unique to yours and no other. As far as you know anyway.
You switched the star between its various modes, changing it from Red, to Orange, to Yellow, to Green, to Cyan, to Blue, to Purple, and back to Red again. You then explained that you can alter your Mark to function like each of the SOUL colours. With the right tools and knowhow, you could synergize them into more potent magic.
“I… I can feel their nature change to their associated Aspects. How? I thought Marks are limited to Red Magic.”
It’s because you’re a Triple Red, the ultimate wildcard. Since you don’t have a true inclination to any specific trait, you have access to the full spectrum. Nothing specialized, though. Think of it as a jack-of-all-trades.
Your disclosure is proof that you trust Mezil’s judgement, and that you trust Lucas by extension. Chara may think of him as an usurper, but you definitely don’t. He can rest easy on that front.
“I see… Thank you for your vouch of confidence, Crimson Keeper. May I suggest our next course of action?”
You sensed that Lucas had opened up a little bit with his offer of advice.
Go ahead, you said. An expert opinion is always welcomed!
“We should meet up with Commissioner Eldin before you RESET. Taking note of current developments will help improve our defenses down the line. You do intend to erase my argument with Rose, right?”
That’s a superb idea. And yes, the drama would vanish down into the void of rewound time. You guarantee that.
“Thank you.”
No problem! Now, it’s time to get back to business. When Flowey and Chara get back, you’ll know Copman’s location.