Bound Together Part 20

"Wait there might still be time," Alphys' face lit up with hope. She unlatched the vent cover and reached inside, pulling Frisk out and setting them down. "If we can get upstairs soon, we might be able to trap them or trip them up with my controls on the core layout." She moved to the elevator doorway to see the destroyed machine. "But how to get up there now?"

"Can't." Undyne said. "Their hideout is back at the Waterfall. We'd just be wasting our time." She pounded her fist into the ground out of frustration.

"You think they're there already? That fast?" It shocked Alphys; she wanted to at least believe they had a chance to get them before they got away.

"Even if we catch up to them, we'd have to deal with all those gangsters." Undyne explained. "It'd be a massacre."

Habriel clenched his stomach for a second. Even though he avoided the blast. He still felt the shock wave a little bit. Looking down, he saw a little blood leaking out of his shirt. He covered it with his hand in an attempt to hide it for a couple seconds.

"I meant that we could trip them up by staying here and changing the layout of the core outside..." Alphys murmured, deciding it wasn't worth it to continue as the conversation was going.
Frisk ran over to Habriel, noticing that something was wrong. They made a worried expression towards him.

"I'm sorry, Alphys..." Undyne said, placing a hand on the scientist's shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Frisk asked Habriel.

Habriel quickly turned a little to the side. "Yeah, I'm fine!" Habriel laughed and smiled. He realized there was no point in smiling as he remembered he was wearing two masks.

Skywardsister:

"But, Habriel," Frisk whispered, alluding to the blood he was trying to hide. "You need help!" They said in a panicked, hushed tone.

Habriel held his head down. No longer hiding it. "Show me!" Frisk demanded, stomping their foot. Habriel lifted their shirt and showed that he had tied his wounds with his old violet one. He untied it and showed multiple open wounds to Frisk. The little kid widened their eyes in shock and gasped. There were about five or six openings across his stomach area. All bleeding profusely.

They checked inside their pockets and pulled out their trusty handkerchief, hastily trying to cover over some of the open wounds.
The handkerchief was not large enough to cover every injury.

"Frisk..." Habriel muttered.

"What were you thinking!?" Frisk snapped, causing Habriel to jump. "Why would you try to hide this from me?" Habriel didn't answer. "How long have you had this?"

"Since..." Habriel broke his silence. "Since our first encounter with Iredox...." he held his head in shame.

"Since the first time?!" Frisk stepped back and stared at Habriel. "Why didn't you tell anyone? Why not Mom?"
Frisk continued the fruitless task of covering his stomach with the cloth from their pocket.

"I..." Habriel sighed. "I didn't want to be a burden on any of you. Besides, it's bad enough that you're going through that head injury. I didn't want everyone to start worrying over me, too..."

"You may not wanna be a burden to us, but you hiding your injuries makes it worse," Frisk sighed and shook their head in a troubled manner. "Why don't we tell Mom and Marion what this is all about?"

"Alright..." Habriel said. "If you say so...."

"already texted her." Sans said, holding his phone in the air.

"Well..." Habriel sighed. "So much for dragging it out..."

"alright, well, we should get outta here," Sans put his phone away and pointed back to the destroyed elevator.
"how do you guys wanna do this?" His eye turned blue. "i can try to float people up the shaft."
Undyne picked up Alphys under her arms which made her turn a red hue. "I could carry Alphy up with me."

"you know what?" Sans said. "let's take one of my shortcuts."

"Shortcuts?" Habriel asked.

Sans motioned for everyone to grab onto him. "you think kaizer's the only one who can do this?" Everyone grabbed onto him and his eye glowed blue again. Everyone was already back at the upper floor of Alphys' lab.

"Ugh I'm going to have to fix this sometime..." Alphys paced back and forth glancing at the elevator shaft now and then, preoccupied. "Can't believe it." "It's okay, Alphy," Undyne pat her on the back gently. "I know you can do it! You're a great engineer!" She smiled.

"kid, you wanna find iredox?" Sans asked Habriel. "you think we could get the determination back for alphys?"

Habriel looked down at his wound and over at Frisk. "I would say yes..." Habriel said. "But I think I'm already in big trouble."

Sans shrugged. "no worries, kid." he said.

The skeleton tossed him a monster candy, which he caught and ate graciously. The wounds would already be healing up by the food; he just had to wait.
"alright, we can go when you're ready."

"Alright..." Habriel said he looked down at Frisk again, then back at Sans. "Let's go." He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulled it out. It was a text message from Toriel.

'Come back....' it said. Those two words were more than enough to make Habriel sweat.

"Hey, Sans..." Habriel said. "What exactly did you tell her?"

"Hey, lemme see," Frisk stood on their tip-toes until Habriel lowered his device, allowing them to see the text from their mother. "Huh? Why'd she text that?" They asked, puzzled.

"i kinda already told her about the wound...." Sans admitted. "sorry bout that."

"Well, I'm a little too scared to argue with her, right now." Habriel said. "Can you text her again and tell her I'm fine?"

"it's kinda late to take something like that back now, kiddo..." Sans responded. Frisk looked back at the text and sighed. "I'll at least go back," They suggested.

"Mom would kill me if I just let you go by yourself." Habriel said. "I'll see what she has to say and I'll meet up with Sans afterwards..." Sans nodded.

"i'll meetcha outside the resort." Sans winked and then vanished. Sans held Frisk's hand and went on back to the resort themselves.

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Habriel took off his masks and hood by the time they got back. Heading closer and closer, Habriel managed to see both Toriel and Marion waiting for them from within the lobby. Neither of them looked too happy. Habriel sighed and let go of Frisk's hand as Marion marched through the doors and towards Habriel, with Toriel closely behind. Frisk sat down on a nearby bench. Marion looked rather distressed as she marched towards Habriel.

Habriel nervously scratched his head. "Marion, I-" before he could finish his sentence she slapped him across the face. Causing Toriel and Frisk to gasp. He held onto the hand print for a second and sighed. "Yeah....I deserved that..."

"You're damn right, you do." Marion growled. "How could you hide that from us!?" she snapped. "Show me!" Habriel held his head in shame as he lifted his shirt. The monster food managed to stop the bleeding, but the gaping wounds were still there, all across his stomach. Marion gasped and started to tear up.

"I thought you were done hiding things, Habriel!" Marion said, pushing him. "You said you were done before we left the cathedral! How could you do something so stupid!?"

"I don't know..." Habriel muttered.

"You've gotta stop it with the tough guy act!" she said. "It'll only get you killed."

"I'm sorry.." Habriel said. She started crying and she hugged him.

"I wouldn't know what to do if I lost you..." she whimpered. "Please, Habriel...please stop hiding things from me, from us...."

He hugged her and gently stroked her hair. "Of course..." he muttered.

Frisk half rolled their eyes in the background, watching Marion.
"It also doesn't help to hurt him more," They droned, making Marion jump off of Habriel and shoot a stare at the sarcastic child. Toriel also shot a reproachful glance, but Frisk had already gotten the message.

"She's right, Frisk..." Habriel said. "I tried to hide things about myself from her before we left the cathedral. I promised her that I'd stop that." He hugged her again. "I broke my promise, and I'm sorry..."

"I just don't wanna lose you..." she hid her face underneath his cloak, he felt his shirt get a little wet from her tears.

"You won't." he said. He motioned for her to look him in the eyes. "I can take care of myself." he said. "Now more than ever. We've also got mom and Frisk, too. They won't let anything happen to me." She calmed down and sat on a bench.

"Yeah!" Frisk stood up on the bench. "If anyone seriously hurt you, I'd... I'd... give 'em the uh business." Their threat became weak and meaningless by their tone, and they all laughed.
"Child, if anything, I'd give the attacker 'the business,'" Toriel chuckled, ruffling Frisk's hair.

Sans appeared behind from the lobby. "sup, kid." he said. "ready to go?"

"Yeah." Habriel said.

"Where are you going?" Marion asked.

"Iredox went to Alphys' lab for the Determination." Habriel explained. "He managed to get it and escaped. Sans and I plan on going to get it back for Alphys."

"What?! Wait, shouldn't I have a say in this?!" Toriel exclaimed, tired of her son running off to fight battles which she doesn't know he'll come back from.

"tori...." Sans muttered.

"No." Toriel snapped. "Habriel, I think you've done more than enough tonight."

"Mother..." Habriel muttered.

"I'm sick of seeing you running out there risking your life everyday!" she said.

"But Alphys needs that Determination! It's important and she worked really hard to get it!" Habriel kept his ground, not wanting to let Alphys down. "She's been willing to help me live until now, and that Determination is what has helped all this time!"

"Fine..." Toriel said. "But on one condition."

Taken aback by the leniency, Habriel widened his eyes. "What is it?" he asked.

"I'm not gonna let you get hurt." she said. "The three of us will go together."

Sans looked between the two of them.
"th' three of us? alright. just make sure frisk gets back to the room and we can go anytime."
Toriel herded the stubborn child and Marion back inside and upstairs to their room in the resort and returned shortly.
"Alright."

"Excuse me." a light voice called out to the group of three. "Can you help me? I'm looking for someone."

"Who?" Habriel asked without turning around.

"Young boy." she said. "White hair, violet eyes." Habriel turned around.

"Why would you-" he gasped and almost fell back on Toriel. His eyes widened in shock. He hadn't seen this face in years.

"What's wrong, child?" Toriel asked.

"A-Aliyah?" Habriel gasped.

"W-what? I-" Toriel put a hand on Habriel's shoulder and the other on her face.
"I thought... how is this possible? Habriel?" She turned, dumbfounded. Sans stared at the girl.

"Aliyah.." Habriel choked. "H-how?"

"It's uh....been a while." Aliyah nervously giggled. "Bro..."

'Bro!?' Habriel thought. 'She's never called me that...' He took a step forward. "Can you repeat that?" he asked.

"I said it's been a while, bro." she chirped. No one noticed, but Habriel shook out of his trance.

"This might sound weird, but...." Habriel muttered. "Can you repeat what you said to me, on the day you died..."

The girl paused, almost confused for a second, but then sighed and smiled. "Why it was 'I love you', of course." Habriel smiled.

"You actually got it right....It's....been so long...." Habriel said. He took another step forward. "Can.....can I have a hug?" he stuttered. She smiled and slowly approached him, with her arms wide open. He smiled getting ready to hug her. But then, suddenly. He punched her in the gut, knocking the wind out of her. She gasped for air while dropping to her knees. Suddenly she glowed white for a couple seconds. The light faded and it was revealed to be the female cat assassin.

"But..." the cat gasped. "You said I got the right words..."

"I lied!" Habriel snapped. He kicked her in the face, knocking her on her back. She spat blood, looking up at him. "What kind of fool do you take me for?" he asked. "My sister back from the dead after seven long years? And somehow, she managed to find me all the way in the Underground, a place I didn't even know exist a month ago." The cat hissed at him. "And on top of that." he said. "Not only did she manage to find out I'm in the Underground. She managed to figure out that I'm at the MTT resort instead of the ruins."

"What were the words?" the cat asked curiously. Habriel pulled out his necklace.

"'With this necklace.'" he said. "'We'll be bound together, forever. Even after I'm gone, I will always be there with you. I will be there to comfort you when things go bad. Know this, no matter how much suffering you go through, there will always be someone there for you. Someone who cares about you.'" He took a step forward. "What a sad and pathetic joke you were trying to pull." he said. "A joke I've heard the punchline to before..." he held out a hand and materialized a violet sword and pointed it at the cat monster. "It goes a bit like this, right?" he growled.

"WAIT!" Another voice called out from above. Habriel looked up and saw the other cat monster jump down from above and he dropped to his knees as soon as he reached the ground. "Don't kill her!" the male begged. "Please! She's the only thing I care about in this world!"

Sans frowned. Toriel bore her teeth at the fowl creatures.
"Yeah? Well what if I went around pretending to be her after she died? How'd you feel about that, huh?!" Habriel interrogated, his violet eyes burning passionately. "How would you feel?!"

"Please, I beg you!" the cat whailed.

"HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU HEARD THAT!?" Habriel screamed. "HOW MANY PEOPLE DROPPED TO THEIR KNEES AND PLEADED THE SAME WORDS TO YOU!?"

"Please..." the cat whimpered. Habriel sighed.

"You have no idea how lucky you are." he said. "I'm not gonna lower myself to your level." His sword disappeared. "I'm better than you!" he announced. He turned around. "Take her and get out of here." he hissed. "I never want to see the two of you again."

"Right!" the male cat gasped. "Of course, thank you so much!" he picked up his lover over his shoulder and they left just as quickly as they appeared. After they were gone, Habriel dropped to his knees, crying.

Crying a bit as well, Toriel dropped down and embraced him, sorry he had to ever experience something like that. It was sick. People should honor the dead, not mock them; but there they were, plain as day, imitating Habriel's long-gone sister. Sans sighed and sat down on the bench, watching them with his chin in his hands.
"i'm sorry, kid," Sans muttered.

"How stupid do they think I am?" Habriel growled. "I had a front row seat to her last moment. I was the last person she held hands with. I'm the one who heard her whisper her last words into my ear." he tried to wipe away the tears. "I heard her last breath, and they insult both her and me with that little stunt..."

Eventually, Toriel dried Habriel's and her eyes and suggested that he wait to pursue Iredox until a later date. Sans nodded, approving of the idea.

"Alright..." Habriel said. "I'm pretty tired after all..." He tried to get up but grunted in pain and sat back down. He lifted his shirt and saw that his wounds were bleeding again. "Damn, all that excitement got it bleeding again..."

Toriel took out some bandages and patched up his torso, leading him inside the hotel doors after bidding Sans goodnight. Sans returned to his house in Snowdin. Toriel and Habriel stood silently together in the elevator, awaiting their arrival to the correct floor.

Habriel sighed and looked up at Toriel. "Penny for your thoughts?" he asked.

"I... I'm tired, my child. Tired of worrying that I'll lose you all. But that's not your fault. It's Iredox's and Chara's."

Habriel looked down at his feet. "I feel the same way." he said. "I've already seen it before. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if any of you were taken from this world."

"It's funny." Toriel said. "There was a time when I wouldn't allow myself to get attached to children such as yourself. Because I knew that one day they would leave and I would lose them. But seeing you, Marion and Frisk all together. It resparked those feelings I've so longed for. It gives me hope that despite everything you will succeed." Habriel looked up and saw her smiling. "Thank you." she said. "Despite everything, I'm not afraid to care anymore. I don't have to detach myself anymore."

"And even when you do grow up," She said, eyes welling up as she looked at her son. "I won't be losing you; you'll still have me to root for you and be there when you need." She hugged him as the elevator slowed to a stop on the correct floor.

He hugged her back. He wanted to enjoy the moment a little longer, but the doors slowly creaked open. Habriel and Toriel walked inside their room to see Frisk and Marion watching a movie together.

Frisk was laughing and pointing at the television when they appeared in the doorway, which was first noticed by Marion.
"You're back!" Marion said and walked over to greet them as they closed the door. "You decided to wait to go find that Determination?"

"Yeah." Habriel said. "A lot happened just outside of the resort. If I hadn't realized what was going on....."

"What happened?" Frisk became concerned. Habriel came and sat down beside them to explain things; they paused the movie.
"We encountered those cats again," He said, frustrated. "The girl pretended to be my sister, Aliyah."

"How's that possible?" Frisk asked.

"I don't know." he said. "But when she had on that disguise. It was the spitting image of my sister. And to make things even more unsettling, it had her voice as well. If I hadn't figured out that it was a fake, I don't think I'd be here, right now." he shuddered.

"How'd you figure it out?" Marion asked.

"Originally, I fell for it." he said. "But then she called me 'little brother', something Aliyah never addressed me as. I went over in my head at how any of this could be possible and came up with no logical conclusion. So I tested her. I made her guess what Aliyah's last words were. I pretended like she got the right answer, even though she was dead wrong in order to lower her guard. Right up till the last moment, my heart raced, knowing she could pounce on me at any time. So I took the initiative, and things turned out for the better."

Marion and Frisk shuddered. He could have been long gone all while they sat up here watching a movie. Both hugged him.
That night, they ate dinner in the restaurant they ate at before, and went back up for sleep.