The cosmos had been churning for quite some time. Papyrus looked outside through an open window with a worried frown. Frisk had relied on the Keys of Fate repeatedly in an attempt to resolve the latest trouble.
Meanwhile, The Six had been sleeping blissfully in their beds… provided that they’re not experiencing nightmares, discomfort, or hunger. Being a rapidly developing baby can be quite tiring and scary.
I SHOULD PREPARE MYSELF FOR ANY POSSIBLE HICCUPS. THERE HASN’T BEEN A SINGLE EVENT THAT WENT SMOOTHLY IN OVER A MONTH.
So he did some breathing exercises. Breathe in, breathe out. Sans did this so effortlessly, almost on an instinct. But for Papyrus, he had to be more conscious about it.
I HOPE MY BROTHER IS ALRIGHT. FLOWERY WARNED ME THAT IT MAY TAKE LONGER THAN EXPECTED FOR US TO RECOVER FROM THE SURGERY.
I DON'T FEEL ANYTHING WEIRD ABOUT MYSELF. IN FACT, THAT BATTLE IN VOID SPACE WAS SOMETHING ELSE. SOMEHOW, I WAS AT MY VERY BEST.
He got downstairs to pace around the lobby, occasionally glancing in the direction of Mezil’s room. It would be nice if the tsunderjudge wasn’t brought so low by discouragement. Everyone always got a boost of confidence whenever he was around, whether Mezil noticed it or not. It certainly made a difference for Papyrus.
Before he could put his mental pen down to write the next part of his story, the hero’s fishy friend came barging through the door. She brought two Magi with her.
Undyne dropped the man on a sofa and ordered him to rest. As for Cenna, she leaned against the foot of the seat with her head spinning. And then Undyne herself slumped over the edge of the seat, panting hard from the intense dash.
Papyrus quickly fetched a glass of water for Undyne. She must have lost a lot of sweat from all that running.
With a hoarse voice, Undyne said: “Thanks, Paps.”
Glug, glug, glug, down the hatch it went. Then she took a deep breath and gripped the skeleton by his shoulders.
“Some punk ass possibly-Gungnir jerks kidnapped a girl named Rosemary at the lake! We need your epic awesome Seer’s Eye to find her!”
“WHAT?!? WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST CALL ME???”
“All our communications are being jammed. The phone. The radio. The backup radio. Everything is completely blocked!!!”
When he checked his phone, Undyne’s words rang true. There was no reception, making it impossible to send or receive any calls.
Papyrus wasn’t shocked to hear that. So he said: “GIVE ME A MOMENT TO FIND AIDEN. THIS DEED COULD HAVE BEEN DONE BY A FORMER ALLY OF HIS, TURNED INTO A BITTER RIVAL. MEANWHILE, YOU REST AND TAKE CARE OF THE HUMANS.”
Looking at the exhausted Magi laying down and slumping on the sofa, the fish agreed. “Yeah I’m gonna get some sports drinks for these two. Bring Aiden here whenever you can.”
And so Papyrus hurried to meet the Aratet.
He found Aiden and his sons gathered in the kitchen. Dayton’s face glowed red from fury, while Niton’s tan skin turned pale from fear.
“Ijang!” Dayton yelled out. “Uppa ijang denga dia!”
Yet Aiden remained silent, his fists clenched.
Papyrus asked, “DOES THIS HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH ROSEMARY GETTING KIDNAPPED? UNDYNE BARGED THROUGH THE DOOR TO TELL ME THE BAD NEWS. DID THEY SEND THEIR DEMANDS YET?”
Aiden released his clenched fist, revealing a crumpled note. In printed words, it read:
Open the Vault. Or else your people will take the blame.
“THE VAULT…? WHAT DO THEY MEAN?”
“What does ‘she’ mean... Only one person would demand that I open the Aratet Vault. That would be my sister. My half-sister.”
Aiden stood up. His sons tried to grab him by the arm. However, his imposing aura of determination prevented them from following through.
“Oracle,” he asked, “Can you use your powers to find their hideout?”
“FUNNY THAT YOU ASK, BECAUSE UNDYNE REQUESTED ME TO DO EXACTLY THE SAME. I JUST NEED TO FOLLOW THEIR TRAIL.”
“Then do it. I’ll follow you.”
“ALRIGHTY!”
But before he could activate his Seer’s Eye, it started to burn on its own. Instead of following Rosemary’s trail, it showed flashes of the chaos to come.
His bones rattled intensely. He was sure that Aiden and his sons asked about his well being, but he couldn’t hear them anymore. The visions overtaking his senses begged for his priority.
Distorted flashes and dancing lights.
Screams of monsters and humans.
Deep alarm and anxiety.
A nightmare of Determination everywhere.
The vision ended as quickly as it began.
“UNDYNE…” Papyrus muttered, “I HAVE TO TELL UNDYNE.”
His feet scrambled toward his strongest childhood friend, almost forgetting that he had just invited Aiden. He could hear the Aratet family following right behind him.
Undyne was still by the sofa, making sure that the recovering Magi properly drank their electrolytes.
Concerned by the look on his face, she asked, “Papyrus? What’s up?”
“YOU NEED TO GO TO THE LIBRARBY. POINT BETA. RIGHT NOW. B-BRING DAYTON AND NITON WITH YOU.”
“…Some crap is gonna hit the fan, right?”
“YES.”
“Are you sure we should take the boys?”
“IT’S NOT THAT WE ‘SHOULD’. WE ‘MUST’.”
Turning to his sons, Aiden instructed: “Do as the Oracle says. No doubts.”
The boys didn’t try to argue back. Instead, they both said ‘Ya, uppa’ in a solemn, quiet manner.
Undyne said, “If you say I need to take the boys, then they’re coming along.”
“I’ll drive,” Dayton volunteered.
“Ya, ya!” Niton chipped in, “Brother drive since back at farm. Very good!”
“…Since this is an emergency, I’m not gonna ask about your licence!”
And so, The Aratet boys headed out to the library with Undyne.
…MY VISION WASN’T AS CLEAR AS I WANTED. YET, I HAVE THIS HUNCH THAT I’M IN MUCH BETTER HEALTH THAN I SHOULD BE.
I FEEL FINE, I’M NOT IN PAIN, AND MY BONES ARE AS STILL SUPPLE AS THE WEEKS BEFORE.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
I WONDER IF IT’S BECAUSE OF MY MERGING WITH FRISK? PERHAPS MY SHORT STINT AS A GOD HEALED MY SOUL?
NO. THAT CAN’T BE. I WAS ALREADY AT MY BEST BEFORE THEN. UNLESS BEING IN THE VOID HELPED? THEN AGAIN, MONSTERS ARE LINKED CLOSER TO OUR SOULS THAN HUMANS. AND THE SURGERY WAS ON MY SOUL, NOT MY BODY.
ARGH! WHY IN THE BONEDONGLENERY AM I THINKING LIKE SANS WITH ALL THIS INTROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS?!? MAYBE I AM NOT BEING MYSELF AFTER ALL!!!
In the midst of Papyrus’ intense ponder, Lucas sat up and said: “Take me to Rose, Mister Papyrus. I have to--”
But Cenna reminded otherwise, “Luc, no. Being the gungho rebel is my gig. Leave it at that. You’re a Coordinator. Go coordinate. Everyone is depending on you in this communication black-out.”
“Right… You’re right.”
Papyrus’ Eye showed him a glimpse of Lucas’ past. When this man was a college-age boy, thugs almost kidnapped him in a shopping mall. Broad daylight, wide open. Back then he could have been like Rosemary, whisked away in a single blink.
The situation had grown so personal, it threatened to cloud Lucas’ sense of judgment.
Papyrus nodded. “YOU’RE LIKE A WALKING RADIO TOWER, MISTER LUCAS. MISS AUNT WILL SUPPLY THE POWER, WHILE YOU SEND OUT THE SIGNALS.”
“Miss Aunt? Wha?” Lucas snickered, looking at Cenna. “Seriously? Since when are you an aunt?”
“Blame Mez. Just blame Mez. Anyways, give me your arm.”
The two Magi channeled their united magic into a scroll. Lucas immediately started asking for status updates and making adjustments along the way. Papyrus thought it would be best to let them focus on their work.
At the front porch, he thus summoned his bone bike. It would have been nicer to use his red car… if only he could remember where he parked it. Although he would have no problem finding it using his power, they didn’t have the time to make the retrieval.
Aiden climbed on the back without a hint of hesitation, a subtle sign of trust. Then Papyrus gripped the handle and burned his Eye.
Unlike the previous warning vision, his search was much clearer. He saw a sharp image of Rosemary hopping into her granduncle’s car. The duo tailed the illusion to retrace her steps.
Soon the car reached a junction. There, the image split into two, one going left and the other going right. Papyrus recognized this path: turning left would lead towards the lakeside park, while turning right would put him on the main road towards the Town Hall. It was a hint that Rosemary might have gone the other way to meet her father, had the communication black-out not occurred.
When Papyrus arrived at the entrance of the lakeside park, he saw how the kidnapping incident happened, van and all. This was where the real work began.
He continued to trail the vision, followed it through every twist and turn, every off-road dirt path and every sidestep. Somehow, someway, they managed to dodge the watchful eyes of the Magi.
“WHAT IS THIS EXCESSIVE COMPETENCE???” Papyrus exclaimed out loud, “I THOUGHT WE ALREADY WON THE HEARTS OF THE VERY BEST OF THE ENEMY CAMP???”
“Who?” asked Aiden.
“YOU! AND THE ARATET TROOPERS! PLUS MALAYA, THE NEW GIRL!”
“I’m honoured that you think of us so highly, but my sister still has some dangerous people on her side. She may be weak and immature, but her servants are not.”
“ARE THEY LOYAL TO HER?”
“I wouldn’t know. She gained a sizable following and fortune over the years. But who’s to say they’re truly loyal?”
The visions led Papyrus further and further away from town. He followed a worn, cracked road covered by leaves from the previous autumn, leading towards a neighbouring set of mountains.
The rain stopped once he had driven beyond the borders of his civilization.
I’VE NEVER BEEN HERE BEFORE, YET IT FEELS VAGUELY FAMILIAR…
The vision overlapped with a van abandoned by the foot of the mountain path. The thugs opened the door and pushed the girl out. Rosemary tried putting up a fight, shoving and kicking and screaming.
But a masked person just hauled her over the shoulder and carried her up the slopes. They were not dressed in the usual human attire that Papyrus had grown accustomed to seeing. Instead, they wore a strange black cloak, almost entirely engulfed in white glitch squares, pulsing in and out of existence.
IT APPEARS TO BE SIMILAR TO THE ANTI-MAGIC CLOTHING AIDEN WEARS. SIMILAR, BUT NOT THE SAME.
IT’S A LOT MORE INTENSE.
Looking up towards the side of the mountain, he spotted a cave. The images of Rosemary and the kidnappers went inside.
His visions ended there. There must be a reason why his Eye didn’t proceed further.
“...THIS IS A TRAP.” Papyrus remarked.
As a veteran, Aiden must have thought of the same. “Yes. Everything is too simple. Straight like an arrow.”
“ANY IDEAS ON HOW TO PROCEED?”
“This is as far as we can go undetected. Still, we don’t have a choice. This trap must be sprung.”
“SO YOU’RE TRYING TO FORCE ANOTHER PERSON’S HAND?”
“That’s the fastest way to expose these devilish tactics. Leave it to me.”
The man got off the bike and took a few steps forward. Then, he yelled: “Madina Odin! I’m here! Come out and face me!”
The name ‘Madina’ triggered yet another vision for Papyrus, replaying like a panorama movie in the background of his mind.
Once upon a time, a Dire Wolf and a knight raced across the elevated grasslands of the mountain plateaus. They searched for a girl named Madina, Persona to Genocider -- The Legendary Hero -- the last in line before Phillip Eldin broke Gungnir’s hold on the Keys of Fate.
And now another Madina exists in this era as the last known surviving daughter of Kenneth Odin.
A light projector and a speaker were switched on. Looking at this woman more closely, Papyrus could spot the similarity. She shared her father’s copper eyes, and the fire that comes with it.
Madina said: “You actually came with a Lichborn, my so-called brother. And it’s that same idealistic moron I once captured! His stupidity must have infected you. Cozying up with The Vampire himself? The man who killed our parents? How much dosh did he offer? You Aratet really are mercs through and through.”
Aiden took great offense to a detail. “No. Your parents. Not mine. My mother is still alive. That double vendetta is yours and yours alone.”
“Fine, whatever. Answer me: where is our father?”
“…Our father is dead.” Aiden replied, “I gave his soul the final rites.”
“What are you on about? We know The Vampire sealed him in his own body. You couldn’t have done any final rites ten years ago.”
“I’ll be more explicit. Yesterday, I killed him with my own two hands.”
There was a moment of silence. The proverbial volcano prepared to erupt.
“You… you! You fucking KILLED Dad?!?! I spent all those years bunking your trash son and fixing your backwater village just so you can kill MY dad???”
“Sister, his mind was long gone. He ushered in the Akasa Kayaamat, the most heretical curse of the heretics. We’ve refused to spare even our greatest heroes over less.”
“I don’t give a flying fuck about your supersitions! You were supposed to become Dad’s vessel, bring him back, then retrieve Gungnir, The Spear of Lightning!”
Deep down, Papyrus could hear the pain of a girl who could never hug her father ever again. Not even through a proxy. Her hopes: broken. Her lashing was a way to salvage the tragic pieces.
“Madina. Take the gold, gems, and silver. I don’t care. But you can never take the spear of Asas Asal Ara! It is a weapon of mass destruction. Without the Chosen’s Blessing, you will only destroy yourself. And everyone you love.”
“Yeah right. I studied electrical engineering and got down to the nitty gritty as an electrician for a reason. It’s so that I can control Gungnir with humanity’s science! I don’t need your stupid Mark. I just need you to OPEN the damn… Fucking… VAULT!”
“I refuse. The Aratet won’t become a sacrifice again!”
“That’s your answer? Fine. Your decisions never mattered anyway.”
Papyrus exclaimed, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY ‘NEVER’?!”
“Go look at your cute little town.”
Not long after he turned towards that direction, he saw a dark red smoke flare launch into the sky.
And another. And another, and another, and another.
A trap was sprung while they were far away. This whole exchange turned out to be nothing more than a giant distraction. Bait dangled on a stick.
The woman started to laugh. “Look at your dumb faces. Go ahead, stay there gawking if you don’t care about what happens next.”
The rattling in his bone returned.
Aiden said, “Go back if you want to. I’ll handle this alone.”
CAN I…?
AIDEN IS GIVING ME PERMISSION BUT… SHOULD I…?
Leaving the human all by himself spelled only one of the two possible outcomes: Kill, or be killed.
Papyrus’ imagination ran wild. He thought of how Aiden would suffer many, many death blows, as he himself had suffered under Chara. Then he imagined how Aiden would slaughter his foes, be it with the edge of his blade or the charring might of his lightning.
Either way, it was a path of death. His own conscience refused to accept such a choice.
So, as painful as it may be, Papyrus faced the cave instead of his hometown.
“…NYEH HEH HEH!” he thus proclaimed, “THAT GUILT-TRIPPING BAIT WON’T WORK ON THE GREAT PAPYRUS! HE HAS PLENTY OF CAPABLE FRIENDS BACK IN TOWN TO THWART YOUR VILLAINOUS SCHEMES! AS SUCH, HE WILL PROMISE TO STAND BY THE SIDE OF HIS NEW FRIEND! ISN’T THAT RIGHT, MISTER IDENTITY?”
Surely, Madina thought of him as a fool: her sentiments were already made clear. But this proclamation was not for her.
With the slightest of smirks, Aiden replied, “Heh… no outsider has ever called me a friend before.”
“THERE’S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING, NYEH!”
Madina grumbled. “God this is so sickening. Alright. You like surprises that much, Come inside. We have many more in stock.”
The projection deactivated. There was no way but forward now. And so, Aiden and Papyrus rushed up the slopes to reach the cave above. Inside, there was only pitch black darkness awaiting them, as far as they could see.
The skeleton started sweating from the nerves. “IS THIS A GOOD IDEA? I WAS HELD HOSTAGE BY YOUR SISTER DESPITE THE AWESOMENESS OF MY CLAIRVOYANCE.”
“You’re still alive,” Aiden remarked. “If death was the outcome of your capture, you would have already seen and avoided it.”
“THAT IS QUITE TRUE. BUT I’M AFRAID TO SAY THAT JUST BECAUSE I CAN WITNESS MY OWN DEMISE DOESN’T MEAN I CAN PREVENT IT. CHARA TAUGHT ME THAT VERY WELL.”
The moment Papyrus went deeper into the caverns, he found himself stricken by a thick, smothering aura. Choking. Twisting. Distorting. Like staring into murky glass.
Aiden touched his shoulder. “Oracle, are you alright?”
“T-THE FUTURE… I… I CAN’T SEE IT ANYMORE. MY EYE IS BEING MUDDLED BY WEIRD MAGIC!”
“Be careful, my friend. They’re targeting you first.”
“THANK YOU FOR THE CONCERN.”
Though his instincts compelled him to retreat, he refused to leave. He shall keep his promise to the bitter end.