Snowdin, Underground 201X W. D. Gaster

Gaster watched as Amy sprawled out on the couch, grinning broadly. Her blonde hair had turned gold. Interesting. He didn’t understand why she would be so thrilled to have a house, particularly one she didn’t technically own. A house was a house. Nothing special. “I get the feeling that man, Heathcliff Blaise, is not used to being a landlord,” Gaster said, breaking the silence that had been in place since the landlord had left. “What does that mean?” Amy asked, attempting to glare at him, but not doing a great job. “He was too casual. It was indecent.” “Well, I like him. He’s nice.” “Yes, I suppose you would.” He gave the house an appraising look. “It’s certainly not a palace, is it?” “I wouldn’t want it to be a palace.” “Is there anything else you need me here for? Because I’d rather like to go back to the lab.” Amy rolled her eyes. “No, there isn’t. I can handle everything else by myself.” “Including bringing furniture here?” Amy eyed him suspiciously. “Why, Doctor Gaster, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were trying to make excuses to be around me?” Gaster furrowed his brow. “And why, exactly would I do that?” “I don’t know, how am I supposed to know how your mind works?” She took a deep breath. “I can manage by myself from here on out, thank you very much. No need to make any further fuss over me.” Gaster gave her an appraising look, then walked over to the kitchen, where the rental agreement laid on a countertop. He read the monthly rental fee and dropped a handful of gold coins on top of the paper. He heard the couch creak a little and looked over. Amy had sat up, looking confused. “What exactly was that?” she asked. “My final act in helping you get settled,” Gaster replied, a little harshly. “One month’s rent. I will not pay for anything more than this, so you had better get on your feet soon.” Amy cocked her head to the side. “You do have a little bit of a heart, after all. I never would have guessed.” She bit her lip for a moment, looking away. “Thank you.” The words were spoken with a great deal of hesitance, but were sincere. Of that, he could be sure. “You’re welcome. I’ll expect you at the lab tomorrow at precisely 9 AM, am I clear?” Amy’s former tentative friendliness gave way to irritation. “Sure. Fine. See you tomorrow.” “Goodbye.” With that, Gaster left the tiny house, wondering if maybe he had made a mistake in helping her to the extent he had. He knew how she was. Too reliant on other people. She had lived in the lap of luxury since she fell down here; she barely knew what hard work was anymore. He walked up to the River Person’s dock. The River Person stood on their boat, ready to ferry any travelling SOUL around the Underground. The cloaked figure had always unnerved Gaster; one could never tell exactly what they were. He wasn’t even sure if the River Person was actually human, or some sort of monster in disguise. “Good evening, Doctor Gaster,” the River Person greeted in a high voice neither particularly feminine nor masculine. “Where are we going tonight?” “Hotland,” Gaster said curtly, stepping into the boat. “Of course.” The River Person began to paddle the little ferry forward. From the dock’s perspective, they would be going left. Always to the left, even though the rest of the Underground would be to the right. “Tra la la. The waters are wild today. That’s bad luck.” Gaster cocked an eyebrow and watched the river for a moment. There was nothing particularly wild about it. He cleared his throat. “Excuse me, but you seem like a very, er, wise person,” he started carefully, “so I was wondering if, perhaps, you could answer a question or two?” The River Person turned their head to look at Gaster. “What is your question?” Gaster inhaled deeply. “What do you know about Secondary Trait SOULs?” “Secondary Trait SOULs? They are a perfect combination of two Primary Traits, without being a fusion.” “Could you separate the Traits?” “Hmm…. In theory.” “Also, what do you know about fused SOULs?” “Fused SOULs? Hmmmm… Our dear Princess Amy has a fused SOUL.” “Yes, I know that. I want to know something else.” He hesitated, then leaned forward. “Can it be done artificially?”



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Snowdin, Underground

201X

Amy Faustus





Amy surveyed the larger bedroom, hands on her hips. Doctor Gaster might have been right. She probably did need help with furniture. However, she had already sent him away. She’d manage; she had to.

She walked to one corner of the room. “I’ll want a bed here,” she said, pointing at the wall. “And a dresser there.” She pointed to the opposite wall. “And maybe a desk there, by the door.”

Then she paused. Her face flushed. She was doing it again; she was talking to herself. It was a habit she had thought she had broken. She hadn’t talked to herself since…. Actually, she couldn’t recall ever talking to herself. She scowled. She’d only been alone for what, ten minutes? Five? And already she was talking to herself.

She left her clothing suitcase and walked out of the room. She’d have to find somewhere to work, and some furniture, but that could wait until tomorrow. She was tired and hungry. She didn’t have food, which was a problem, and Grillby’s was expensive. Where to go…. There was a grocery store in Waterfall. Tomorrow, maybe. She really hadn’t explored Main Street much, and on the rare occasion she’d passed through Snowdin in the past, she hadn’t paid attention to the buildings she passed. Perhaps there was another restaurant or shop closer to the Ruins.

She left her house and headed toward Main Street. It was beginning to snow. Wonderful. She started to walk a little faster. She didn’t fancy being caught outside in the snow. Luckily, it wasn’t a long walk.

Near the town’s official entrance was what Amy supposed could be called a strip mall, though it was hardly deserving of the title. It contained a small, likely family-owned grocery store, an inn, a coffee shop, and a pitifully small storage facility. Not that she had expected much else; Snowdin was barely a village, population wise.

She walked into the coffee shop. It was blessedly warm and smelled like warm pastries. There weren’t very many people there. Amy walked up to the counter.

“Good evening, ma’am,” the pretty barista greeted. “What can I get you?”

“Just hot chocolate,” Amy answered, glancing at the menu.

“What size?”

“Large.”

“Coming right up.” The woman began to make the beverage. Amy stood off to the side, waiting. The door opened, and two teenage girls walked in, deep in conversation.

“Living down here really isn’t that bad,” the taller of the two girls stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

“It’s dark and bleak and crowded.”

“It’s not that dark unless you’re in Waterfall. Besides, it’s not like we can break the Barrier, so we might as well enjoy living here. I, for one, don’t mind being able to beat my little brother in a snowball fight any time of the year.”

The girls laughed as they approached the counter. The barista finished making Amy’s hot chocolate at about the same time. Amy paid the five g’ for it and took a seat by the window.

The girls’ conversation had gotten her thinking. She’d never met anyone before who’d honestly disliked living in the Underground. Technically, she still hadn’t; she’d only overheard the conversation. Still, it was unusual for her to hear someone actually complain about it. She couldn’t fathom how anyone could dislike it. Then again, she was biased; the Underground had been her salvation, a welcome and overdue respite from her life above. It was little wonder she’d prefer it down here, even with everything that had just happened.

She wondered why William…. Why Gaster was so adamant about breaking the Barrier. Like most everyone else down here, he didn’t know what he was missing. Oh yes, he’d grown up with stories of the Surface. Most people had. But he didn’t know what life was like up there. Why covet something you didn’t understand?

Then again, at least in Gaster’s case, it wasn’t about reaching the Surface. At least, not entirely. It was about escaping the prison. But this wasn’t just about Gaster’s motives and desires. Whatever his desires were, he was only helping Asgore break the Barrier because he’d been asked to. He was such a sycophant. And Asgore’s motives were…unclear. Amy guessed that they were, at least in part, impure.

She was overthinking the matter, and she knew it. Whatever happened would happen, and there was little she could do to stop it. She wasn’t entirely sure if she wanted the Barrier to fall, but if it did, that wouldn’t be the worst thing. Whatever happened after that, she would deal with then. Today, she was tired. Today, there were better things to think about.