//------------------------------// // A Talk Over Dinner // Story: The Moon in the Dark // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// After Woona and Chara had finished enjoying their song and dance number, they continued north along the path to the Core. As the surroundings changed from Hotland's red stone to a dark grey and purple paved road, they came across a large building of blue stone with sliding glass doors on the front. Above the doors was a large sign that read 'MTT'. "What's this?" Woona asked curiously. It's the MTT hotel, Chara explained. It's run by Mettaton, and everything here is MTT brand. "Huh," Woona murmured in reply. Lowering her eyes, she caught sight of the figure to the left of the doors. "Uncle Sans!" she called out happily, rushing up to him. "hey, woona," he greeted with a smile, stepping back in surprise as Woona leapt into his arms for a hug. "talk about an enthusiastic greeting," he chuckled, stroking her mane. "i heard you're going to the core. how about grabbing some dinner with me first?" "I'd love to!" Woona exclaimed happily, climbing up onto his head. "Where to?" "this way. i know a shortcut." Turning, he carried Woona into the alleyway on the East side of the building. Since Woona knew how the shortcuts worked, having learned to use them, Sans carried her straight through. At the other end of the shortcut, Sans and Woona were both sitting at a table, the dim lighting and dark blue wallpaper and carpeting of the surrounding restaurant giving a muted, enclosed feeling to the setting, to the point that it wasn't until she heard someone attempting to do a comedy routine some distance away that she was certain that they were actually out of the shortcut. She found herself in a high chair so she could see over the table...and Chara's astral self had a third chair. "things seem to be really changing for you, woona," Sans commented dryly. "you can feel it, can't you? things are starting to build up to a real climax." "...yeah," Woona replied softly. "Something...something big is gonna happen when we get past the Core...when we reach Daddy..." "Your decision once we get there is going to decide the fate of Monsters and Ponies alike," Chara murmured softly. "Are...are you sure you're up to it?" "I have to be," Woona answered. "...no one else can make the decision for me." "you could just go back," Sans pointed out. "you have the shortcuts, and you've been inside the ruins. you don't have to complete the journey to go back home. i'm sure your mom is worried about you...and it's not like time's a serious issue. you've brought back hope to monsters...not with a promise of freedom, but just by being you. if you're not ready to face the end...you can go back to your mom until you're ready." He shrugged sadly. "everyone still around is in it for the long haul. anyone who was going to fall from hopelessness did before you got here...and everyone you've befriended can hang on until you're ready. you don't have to push yourself, woona." Woona considered Sans' words, realizing he was right. Once she reached King Asgore and worked out how to get him and Toriel back together, she didn't need to break the barrier right away. She could wait. "...how come I couldn't open the Ruins door from the outside?" she asked curiously. "it's part of the nature of the barrier," Sans replied. "it creates a pocket space containing the whole underground. the entire place is twisted just out of normal reality. but to create something like that...you need to make something that anchors to normal reality, to keep the pocket space from falling into the void. that's what the ruins are. it's why everything in there is...different from the rest of the underground. more like the surface. and the door is the same way...an inverse of the barrier. and the only way to pass back through it is to have the energies equivalent to a monster and a human." "It's how Mom went back in," Chara explained. "She was carrying my body...and my soulless essence had rebonded to it after Asriel..." His voice trailed off, apparently not wanting to say more. "so the door is locked from the inside, and can only be unlocked from the outside by the amount of energy needed to pass through the barrier," Sans explained. "Does...does that mean I don't have the energy to walk through the barrier?" Woona asked worriedly. "I couldn't open the door..." "The Ruins door is a bit more specific than the barrier," Chara explained. "For the barrier, you just need a certain amount of power. But in order to shape the anchor properly, the Ruins door specifically needs a mix of Monster and Human soul energies." "Oh..." Woona stared down at the table for a time in thought. "Uncle Sans...how come you've always been so nice to me?" "i talked to your mom through the door sometimes," Sans replied. "you already knew that. but...when you first showed up, she was...terrified what might happen to you out in the rest of the underground. i promised her i'd look after you, make sure you stayed safe." He chuckled softly. "never expected you to claim my heart, the way you have so many others. never expected you...to make me care again." He lifted his eyes towards the ceiling. "i've had so many dreams, so many nightmares, of what the eighth child would be like, about what they'd do to the underground, or for the underground...but always, they were dreams. ...heh, even if they were other timelines, i don't think we're a part of them, or they're really a part of us. just...what could have been, but never was. and then they all stopped. day in, day out...week in, week out...century in, century out...no dreams, no nightmares, no future...i stopped caring. i just...let things happen, and nothing changed." He looked back down at Woona. "but you changed that, woona. things are different now, different than they ever could have been." He pointed at Chara. "and the proof of that is sitting right there. so promise me something woona." Woona smiled happily. "Anything, Uncle Sans." "no matter what you decide to do, no matter what happens in the core and beyond..." Stepping up from the table, Sans walked around so he could stroke Woona's mane. "promise me...you won't die." Woona smiled widely. "Promise!" she proclaimed, filled with DETERMINATION to keep her word.