Those Days Continue: Happy Mornings and Nights Spent with Everyone
After the barrier broke, the monsters of the underground chose not to rush to the surface. They kept their daily lives, their snow towns and lava rivers, their laughter echoing through the caves. Frisk lives with Toriel, going back and forth between Snowfull, Waterfall, and Hotland. The great war is over. Peace has settled in like an old friend.
One morning, Toriel wakes Frisk with a gentle voice. After a breakfast of warm pie, Frisk heads outside. A game of catch with Undyne turns into a wild
Those Days Continue: Happy Mornings and Nights Spent with Everyone - The hot spring town is in an uproar!
Every step on the snow made a crunching sound. Squeak, squeak.
Frisk stood still for a while in front of the cracked snowfield. Thin white steam rose faintly from beneath the ground. When they touched it, the snow was damp and a little warm.
(That's strange. It was much colder before.)
Their chest still felt a bit unsettled. The big tremor from last night, Toriel's shaking arms, and this cracked ground they were looking at now. It all felt connected somehow.
(Alphys might know something about this.)
Frisk thought that and turned their feet toward Hotland. That yellow dinosaur monster always knew a lot about machines and data. When something worried you, it was best to ask someone who knew about it.
＊
When they arrived at the lab, it was busier than usual. Red dots blinked on and off across a large screen.
"F-Frisk...! You came at just the right time...!"
Alphys spun around from her chair like she was jumping up. Her eyes behind her round glasses were much wider than usual. She gripped the remote in her hand tightly.
"Did you figure it out? The reason for that ground tremor?"
"U-um... I've been looking at the data all night..."
Alphys pointed at the screen. A map of the underground world was displayed, with red marks scattered all over it.
"It's a hot spring, you see."
"A hot spring?"
Frisk asked back without thinking. It was a word they never expected.
"Yeah. The hot water under the ground mixed with groundwater... and the pressure kept building up. That's what was shaking the ground."
Alphys continued explaining while tracing her finger across the screen. Her voice was her usual small voice, but confidence showed through in what she was saying.
"It's not something scary... It was just that the hot water wanted to come out."
Hearing those words, Frisk's shoulders suddenly relaxed.
(Thank goodness. Nobody was angry.)
The rumbling from last night and the cracks in Snowdin weren't bad things. They were just warm hot water.
"That's amazing, Alphys! How did you figure out something like that?"
"...B-because I have... lots of sensors..."
Alphys fidgeted with her fingers shyly. Just then, a loud cheer came from outside.
＊
When the two of them left the lab, the road between Hotland and Snowdin was hazy and white with steam.
Round, glowing puddles had formed here and there on the ground. When they got closer, they saw it was clear hot water. White steam rose fluffy from the rocks at the edges.
"Wow..."
Frisk let out a small voice. Large hot springs were bubbling up everywhere—at the base of the Lava Bridge, near Temmie Village, in the snow. Everywhere.
"Yo."
A familiar, laid-back voice. When Frisk turned around, Sans was carrying a large pipe on his shoulder. His round eyes glowed mischievously.
"Check this out."
Sans leaned the pipe against the edge of the biggest hot spring. He tilted it at an angle, from top to bottom, like a slide.
"Did you make that?"
"If there's a hot spring, you need a slide."
Sans said that and shrugged. Soon, puppies from the Canine Guard Station and Temmie children gathered around.
"Yay!"
One after another, they slid down the pipe into the hot water. Splash, splash—big sprays of water flew up each time, and laughter echoed. Frisk couldn't help but run over and get in line.
"Can I do it too?"
"Go right ahead."
Frisk slid down from the top of the pipe. Their body floated for a moment, then went splash into the warm hot water.
"It's so warm!"
They felt a gentle warmth spreading from deep inside their body. The laughter of the children playing around them echoed through the steam.
＊
A little ways away, a camera light shone brightly.
"Alright, alright, the Underground's first hot spring broadcast!"
Mettaton struck an exaggerated pose in the steam. Pink light reflected off the steam and sparkled. Moving his long limbs gracefully, he delivered his signature line to the camera.
"Me, Mettaton, soaking in hot water... this will be a historic photo!"
The monster audience applauded and cheered. Frisk watched from a distance and couldn't help but laugh. It was the same old flashiness.
A little further away, Toriel was soaking in a foot bath. She had lifted the hem of her long purple robe and was soaking just her feet in the hot water. She was chatting casually with the monsters around her.
"My, this is lovely hot water, isn't it?"
Toriel said that and narrowed her eyes. When her eyes met Frisk's, she waved a small hand. Frisk waved back.
(Toriel looks happy too.)
It was completely different from how scared she looked last night. Frisk was happy to see her smile.
＊
Near the hot spring, there was a large pot steaming. When Frisk got closer, a skeleton in a red cape was rolling up his sleeves and peering into the pot.
"Frisk! You're here at the perfect time!"
"What are you doing?"
"As you can see, I'm attempting hot spring spaghetti! If I boil the noodles in hot spring water, it's sure to be the ultimate dish!"
Papyrus puffed out his chest confidently. In the pot, the noodles were bubbling away.
"All that's left is... to top it with an egg!"
The moment Papyrus said that, heavy footsteps approached from behind.
"Papyrus! I brought eggs!"
It was Undyne. She was cradling several hot spring eggs in her blue scaled arms. With a proud face, she held up one egg.
"Watch this—there's a trick to peeling the shell!"
Undyne gripped the egg in one hand. The next moment—
Squish.
Not just the shell, but the entire egg was crushed in her hand.
"...Oh."
The yolk flowed out between her fingers. Some of it splattered onto Papyrus's face.
"W-what is this?!"
Papyrus shouted. His eyes were wide, his face covered in yolk. Frisk burst out laughing.
"You put too much force into it!"
"S-sorry! I just...!"
Undyne scratched her head and reached for the next egg. Her face was serious again, determined to get it right this time.
Squish.
The second egg met the same fate. The monsters watching burst out laughing. Frisk laughed so hard they held their stomach.
"The eggs are the ones who should feel sorry!"
"It's not my fault—the eggs are just too weak!"
Undyne said that with a serious face. That made it even funnier, and Frisk laughed even harder. Papyrus, covered in yolk, puffed out his chest proudly for some reason.
"Couldn't this be considered a new dish?"
"That's just egg over spaghetti."
When Frisk said that, Papyrus froze for a moment, then laughed with a crumpled face.
"...You're right!"
＊
As evening approached, Frisk sat on the edge of the hot spring with just their feet in the warm water. All around them, many monsters were still laughing together. The steam glowed softly in the dim evening air.
(That terrifying rumbling turned into something this fun.)
Frisk gazed at the shimmering water at their feet. It was warm. The tiredness in their body slowly melted away.
Sans was telling jokes to the children by the pipe. Mettaton was still posing in front of the camera. Toriel was relaxing in the foot bath, laughing with someone. Papyrus and Undyne were still wrestling with eggs.
(I'm glad everyone is here.)
Frisk thought that. When they first fell into the Underground, they never imagined a day like this would come. But now, what lay before them was a warm scene wrapped in steam and laughter.
Suddenly, somewhere far away beyond the steam, the ground made a small creaking sound.
Frisk looked up. No one else seemed to notice. The children were still playing on the slide, and Undyne was crushing another egg and getting laughed at.
(Maybe I imagined it.)
Frisk thought that and looked back down at the hot water at their feet. Warm steam brushed gently against their cheek.
But that small sound lingered a little in the back of their ears. As if it had come from far, far away, from the very bottom of the Underground.
Frisk gazed for a while at the darkness spreading beyond the steam.
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