MagiStream

Being full of hope that she was going to be able to go home and maybe even help the monsters of the underground, Mira was naive in thinking that this plan was actually going to work...after all, she wasn’t the first to fall nor was she likely the first to come up with this idea either.

The happy look on her face flustering though as she was given the inevitable bad news, Mira felt her heart sink into her stomach at the realization that she truly was stuck down here with no possibility of leaving...

What about everyone and everything she knew on the surface? She had a life up there and family and friends...what
Would they think if she never came home?

“Oh...I see”, sighing as everything she knew and thought could happen up until this point was shattered, where was she going to go and what was she going to do was now up in the air, everything feeling like it was crashing around her in a instant.

There would be no helping monsters get out of here much less herself, the girl looking down at her tea with a expression of hopelessness before she spoke up again.

“I will find a way out of here eventually, even if it means I have to break that barrier down myself somehow”.

This coming from a petite girl like her being laughable at the best of times, Mira was completely serious right now despite her not having nearly as determined a soul as the last human had had in them.

Seeing how hopeless Mira seemed after hearing what he said, Asgore felt even worse. Obviously, he hadn't wanted to make her feel hopeless, though he supposed it was understandable for her to feel that way upon learning she was probably trapped down here with the monsters. "I am very sorry," Asgore managed to say, staring down at his own cup of tea as well. Asgore truly wished he could offer a solution, to find a way for her to be able to leave and go home. Unfortunately, he had no such solutions to offer.

At the last part of Mira's second statement, Asgore's expression took on an even more pained appearance. "Please, do not try anything drastic... The Royal Scientist has been researching the barrier and looking for a way to break it, I am confident she will be able to figure something out... We will try our best to find a way to help you leave, just please don't do anything that might hurt yourself..."

It seemed like the statement had brought up a painful memory.

........

Sans wasn't entirely sure who was in more need of reassurance at this point, Mira or Asgore. 'well, this plan failed spectacularly. great job, sans,' he berated himself mentally. Shaking off the thought, Sans tried to think of a way to cheer the two up.

"hey, it's going to be okay. we'll figure something out, i'm sure of it," Sans said. While it was true that was mostly wishful thinking and he didn't actually have any ideas yet, seeing the hopelessness in Mira's expression and the pain in Asgore's, he had to say something. "let's focus on what we can do, for now," he suggested. Maybe starting on a plan would get their minds off of how they were feeling right now.

"Ah, yes, of course. My apologies." Asgore said, finally looking up from his tea, and back towards the other two. "Mira, you are more than welcome to stay here in the meantime if you wish, there's plenty of room."

Sans figured the offer was intended to reassure Mira that the monsters would take care of her until she was able to return to her real home, and was glad that Asgore had thought of it.

‘What am I going to do? If I can’t go home, than...’

The human’s mind rushing around a hundred different things a minute as she was trying to find some logic in why she wasn’t able to just go through the barrier, it had been designed to keep monsters in, right? Maybe it was just a flaw that human’s Inside couldn’t escape as well....

Regardless, Mira knew she was going to have to try and make the most of what amounted to a new life down here whether she liked it or not if she was unable to go home, her feeling indebted to the helpful skeleton who had assisted her when she needed it most as she tried to be a bit more cheerful about this bleak outlook.

“Y-yeah, I’m sure something will work out~”, To be fully honest Mira really didn’t want anyone to worry about her and the stupid mistake she had made earlier that caused her to wind up down here, “I won’t give up just yet”.

There was still a sadness in Mira’s eyes as she was told she could stay here in the meantime though, her not being sure if it was the best idea as she reluctantly agreed. With no other place to go she didn’t have much of a choice but to stay in this huge castle, even if it made her very, very uneasy to be so close to home yet unable to reach it.

“Thank you, sir, I promise I will leave everything to your scientist”, recognizing the pained look on the king’s face when she had confidently said she would try to find a way to get rid of it herself as one saying she shouldn’t even attempt it, Mira could assume something terrible had happened before that wasn’t the best to ask about.

What had this monster lost to be so reluctant to let her try and find a way herself?

Sans could tell that, despite her efforts to act cheerful, Mira was still sad. Sans felt bad; he truly wanted to find a way for her to go back home. If he'd been separated from Papyrus and stuck in an unknown place, he'd have felt sad too. Sans wasn't even sure if he'd be able to act cheerful if that happened.

Sans decided to offer to help Dr. Alphys research the barrier. While prior to this point, Sans had considered the barrier an inevitable part of life and had seen no point in trying to find a way to get rid of it, now he felt like he should actively try to find a way for Mira to go home. Helping to hopefully reunite her with her family sooner rather than later was the right thing to do; it was what he'd want someone to do for him if it had been him separated from Papyrus.

"i'll help dr. alphys. the more people working on it, the faster we'll find something, right? two skulls are better than one and all that," Sans said, with a hopefully reassuring smile at Mira.

.........

Asgore was relieved to hear Mira wouldn't try to break the barrier herself. Never again would he allow the monsters' desire for freedom to put a weight on the shoulders of a human, one that they never should have had to bear...

"We will do everything we can to help you return to your home as quickly as possible," Asgore said, noting that Mira seemed sad even though she'd agreed not to try anything potentially dangerous. "I will also speak with Dr. Alphys. I'll ask if there is anything else she needs for her research of the barrier."

Asgore had also noticed the reluctance in Mira's agreement to stay at the castle, and wondered if she'd feel more comfortable staying with other monsters farther away from the barrier. "If you would prefer to stay somewhere else, that is fine too. I'm sure anyone you asked would take you in while you are down here." Asgore managed a small smile to show there would be no hard feelings if Mira wanted to stay with other monsters instead.

Mira being unaware that she was the first human to fall down here in a very, very long time, the human would have thought it more common seeing as there was a unnervingly large crack in the ground near her forest bordered home...

But then again perhaps that’s why they were warned so much to always stay on the path...what if some humans in her village had known all about the dangers of falling down here but had done nothing?

The thought of that made Mira’s blood boil, her determination to somehow get out of the underground and back to where she belonged only getting stronger if what she was thinking was true.

All these monsters that were helping her, a mere human, was enough to fill the girl’s heart with a warmth she hadn’t had felt in A long time, her soul of love being revived in a sense because of their kindness. Laughing a little as Sans claimed two skulls were better than one, it seemed the two shared a love of silly little puns such as this despite being two different species.

“Thank you so much, y-your very kind”, the sadness and fear she had felt for so long finally beginning to wash away, Mira genuinely smiled for once without the underlying nervousness that usually accompanied her emotions, “I promise you will barely know I’m here, sir”.

Living in a castle? It was definitely going to be strange, but Mira was going to do her best to keep to herself and just wait things out since it seemed the king really didn’t want her to do with anything regarding the barrier. Having a natural curiosity though, the human was bound to leave the castle at some point and explore what was to be her home for a long while.

Sans couldn't help but grin a bit when Mira laughed at his pun. Sans was glad his sense of humor had managed to lighten the mood, even just a little bit. With how hopeless the mood was getting, it was a relief to know he wasn't entirely useless, as he'd been starting to think. Beginning a mental list of possible ideas to bring up with Alphys- though she'd doubtlessly have already thought of most of them, he was sure- Sans felt determined to help as much as he could.

Sans was just planning to text Alphys to set up a meeting to discuss the ideas when his phone started ringing. "oh, sorry! i'd better answer this, it might be my brother," Sans said, stepping over to the side of the room so the conversation wouldn't interrupt Mira and Asgore.

........

"You're very welcome," Asgore replied, smiling back and feeling glad that Mira was smiling genuinely now. Asgore had worried that the bad news might have completely crushed her hope. "And there's no need for that, you are completely welcome here. You do not need to hide or anything. Really, it would be nice to have someone around to talk to."

If Asgore was honest, the castle could get rather lonely. Monsters like Alphys, Sans, Undyne, and members of the Royal Guard stopped by now and then, but in between those visits, Asgore was alone with his thoughts. Obviously, if Mira didn't want to talk with him, he'd never try to force her to, but he'd leave the offer open in case she ever did want to talk.

Asgore hoped that, though this wasn't her home, Mira would at least be comfortable and happy here until she was able to return to her own home.

Meanwhile, back in Snowdin town...

Being ever villigant in his hope to one day capture a human, there hadn’t been one to fall for many, many years obviously but that wasn’t something that was going to put off Papyrus!

It would only be a matter of time until a human was enticed to fall into the underground as from what little human history he knew humans moved in herds, and statistically one would come to them eventually, right?

Or maybe that was Deer...?

Nonetheless! Papyrus had many important things to do, not the least of which was calling his brother to make sure he knew he had to recalibrate his puzzles once he got back from wherever he was!

Where would his pun loving brother be without his constant great guidance?

“Sans! I know there is a one to a thousand chance you checked your puzzles today! Where have you been??”, The overeager skelebro calling his sibling up as he hadn’t even seen Sans after he had sent him on patrol in the forest, he figured the lazybones had taken a nap instead like always.

..................

Mira honestly being more than happy to keep the king company if he was lonely in this castle, the human just didn’t want to impose herself when she knew she wasn’t supposed to be in the underground in the first place.

Already being kind of nervous around even the likes of Sans, being treated so kindly by Asgore wasn’t the type of welcome she was expecting when they had come here to discuss the barrier, Mira having assumed that since she was a outsider things might go south.

“W-well in that case I would be happy to stay here a while and keep you company, sir”, It just being her and the king now as Sans seemed to get a call from his brother, apparently there were more skeletons in the underground that Mira had yet to meet , “I’m sure we can have a great time together~! Do you like baking at all? I-I would love to make you human food sometime”.

Just as Sans had expected, it was his brother checking up on him. Normally, Sans would joke around and make puns to tease Papyrus, but Sans already felt awkward enough about getting a phone call in the middle of trying to help Mira find a way home, so he figured he should remain serious and get to the point.

"hey bro. sorry about the puzzles, something came up. i found a human and i'm trying to help her go back home," Sans explained. Sans wondered if Papyrus would berate him for not having checked on the puzzles yet, or if the news of a human's arrival would distract him.

........

Asgore smiled, "I have been trying to learn how to bake, though I am afraid I'm not the best at it. You're of course welcome to bake any time you want, and I would be honored to try a human dish." Asgore was glad to hear Mira seemed to enjoy baking; perhaps he could even learn a few tips and improve his own skills. Part of Asgore felt a bit guilty about being glad for her company; after all, the more time she spent down here, it meant it was taking longer for her to be able to go home.

Asgore resolved again to try to help as much as he could with finding a way for a human to cross the barrier so Mira could go home. At least she seemed more optimistic about spending time in the Underground until then; Asgore didn't want her to feel hopeless anymore. "Would you like to tag along when I go to speak with Dr. Alphys? Perhaps with all of us working together, we'll think of something we wouldn't have otherwise."

Papyrus not thinking his brother would ever be skillful enough to catch a human by himself, the skelebro had puzzles for a reason! It was why he wanted Sans to stay up to date on them! What if a human cane through the ruins and ended up being let loose in the underground? It would be a disaster!

“A human?? You managed to catch one??...how?”, The stunned skeleton seeming to be kind of skeptical when his brother so casually said he had found a human, If it was true than he wanted ALL the awesome details, “this isn’t one of your practical jokes Is it? How big is it, just a baby? Did they bite you yet?, what do they look like?, What’s their favorite food??”.


————————

Mira figuring that if she were stuck down here than the least she could do was get along with this king who was gratefully allowing her to stay in his castle, it seemed they had a immediate connection with cooking luckily enough, that human loving to bake all sorts of sweets back on the surface in her free time.

And down here it seemed like she was going to have a lot of that, fortunate or unfortunate as it was....

“That sounds wonderful! It isn’t often that I’m really able to cook for anyone besides myself”, her face blushing a little as she admitted that her life on the surface was likely a bit lonely, Mira at least had a little bit of a audience now to show that she was capable of something useful.

The offer to tag along with the king when he went to speak with this past talked about Dr. Alphys being readily accepted by the curious human, Mira really did want to know more about the underground as it was proving to be a very interesting place so far, “I don’t know if I can be of much use to you guys but I’ll help as much as I can, sir.

Sans barely managed to suppress a chuckle at how surprised Papyrus seemed by the fact he'd found a human. Sans knew his brother considered him a lazybones, so he supposed it made sense he'd be shocked that Sans had succeeded in finding a human. Of course, the fact Sans hadn't actually been intending to find the human in the first place and it was more of a case of being in the right place at the right time, wasn't something he was about to tell his brother.

"well, i found her in the forest. no, it's not a joke. uh, i'm not actually sure what her favorite food is, i can ask later? although if you're this curious about her, maybe you should just come meet her yourself?" Sans suggested. Though he'd tried to keep up with his brother's many questions, it wasn't always easy to do considering how quickly he jumped from question to question. Regardless, Sans figured that it would be a lot easier to just let Papyrus ask Mira his questions himself than try to keep track of everything to ask and then tell Papyrus after.

Plus, Papyrus was quite friendly and Sans figured making another friend might help Mira feel better; though she did seem more optimistic now, Sans knew that it could take some time to find a solution to the barrier issue and he didn't want her to lose hope again.

..........

Asgore smiled at Mira's first statement, though when she explained she didn't get to cook for others much Asgore wondered if perhaps she had been somewhat lonely as well before she fell into the Underground. If that was the case, he understood how it felt and decided to try his best to make sure her time spent in the Underground wasn't lonely at all. Asgore was sure the rest of the monsters would be happy to be friends with her, since she was quite nice.

The trip to visit Dr. Alphys would probably result in Mira meeting at least a few monsters, plus the sooner they met with Dr. Alphys the sooner they would start coming up with ideas for what to do about the barrier, so that seemed like the logical next step. "I'm sure you'll be able to help a lot; looking at things from a human's perspective rather than a monster's will probably mean you'll think of some things we wouldn't," Asgore replied reassuringly. "In fact, you'll probably be much more help than I will, in that sense." After all, Dr. Alphys would also probably think of any ideas he might have, and quicker too most likely since she was a scientist. Nonetheless, Asgore would still try to think of ways he could add to the conversation in a beneficial way.