Chapter 17

“Hey, guys,” waved the short skeleton as he walked up to them. “Fancy meetin’ all of you here.”

“What are ya even doin’ here?” Piper asked. “Yer s’posed to be in Snowdin.”

“How did you even get here…? Snowdin is miles away…”

Sans just shrugged. “I know a shortcut, is all. You guys gonna break the barrier? Pap’s gonna lose it when when he finds out.” He put his hands in his pockets. “Hope you do well.” We’re all rootin’ for you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. The whole town believes in you.” He took a step to the side. “King Fluffybuns is through there. Go easy on him, would ya?”

Grillby nodded. “Will do…”

“No one really wants to fight…” Frisk said. They seemed to be the only one who wasn’t weirded out by Sans’s sudden appearance. “We just want to help everyone.”

Sans’s smile grew a bit bigger. “Good luck. You’re gonna need it.” He walked past them and out of the hall. They didn’t hear his footsteps after he went through.

Grillby held both Frisk and Piper’s hands. “This is it… we can’t back out now…”

The humans nodded. Piper looked at him and smiled. “Whatever happens… I just want ya to know that I’m glad I had the chance to meet you…” She turned her gaze down to Frisk. “I love you no matter what...…”

“Likewise, Piper…”

She looked down at Frisk. “I love ya so much… if things get bad, I want ya to run.”

“What!? But, we're a team! We do this together!”

“I know… but I want you to be safe. Please promise me that you'll run if I tell you.”

“But-”

“Promise.”

Frisk stared at them with a conflicted look. After a moment, they hesitantly nodded. “Okay…”

She smiled and took a deep breath, straightening her back so that she stood tall. “Let's go.”

The sound of their shoes on the broken tile floor echoed through the hall. Were it not for that, the  silence would almost be deafening. However, it did little to help with the tension building up between the three as they neared the door to the throne room. Up the stairs, down another hall. It all felt like weights adding onto their backs. But, on they walked.

When barely a foot stood between them and the door, they looked between each other and pushed the door open together.

On the other side was a field of floors just the ones that Piper first woke up in. They grew over everything, and vines covered the crumbling columns and walls. A throne sat at the center of the room, untouched by greenery.  Light rained down from holes in the ceiling. Out of everything she’d seen, this felt to be the most magical.

However, the sentiment didn’t last long. In front of the throne knelt a hulking figure, humming quietly as they tended to the plants. A cape of purple cascaded down their back from golden shoulder pads. Long white horns stuck out and curled from a mane of thick, blond hair.

“Oh… Is someone there?” called a rich voice from the figure. They stood up and turned to face them. He had goat like features like Toriel, though his face was covered by a beard. Kind but worn brown eyes fell on them and widened in surprise. “Oh my… I… no human ever made it this far…”

Grillby and Frisk instinctively looked away from his face, but Piper looked directly at him; her green eyes piercing his brown ones. They stared at each other in silence for a few moments, but the king before her averted his gaze.

She let go of Grillby’s hand and stepped towards Asgore. The fire monster grabbed her wrist and gave her a questioning look. She smiled at him reassuringly, and pulled her wrist free before continuing. She reached into her backpack for something.

“W-What are you doing…?” Asgore took a step back, confusion barely masking the fear on his face.

He got his answer when Piper got less than a yard from him.  She didn’t pull a weapon on him, nor raised a fist or hand to him in aggression. She gave him a calm smile and held his gaze with one of knowing and understanding, and held out a certain Tupperware box full of pie.

“I know what you’re goin’ through,” she said softly. “I know what you've done. You don’t want to fight, do ya?”

“I… I have to…”

“No, you don’t. Let’s just sit down and eat some pie. Been savin’ it for a special occasion, and now may as well be one.”

He looked her over to see if she was trying to trick him, but his eyes fell on her shirt. “That’s…”

She nodded. “I got it from a lady when I came down here. She made the pie, too.” She stepped a little closer and put the box in his hands. “Wanna share?”

Asgore held the box gingerly in his paws as he looked it over, then nodded. “I… I’ll go put on the kettle…