W. D. Gaster - An Undertale Story

Chapter Twenty-Eight

   Gaster held Sans and Papyrus's bony hands dearly as the trio walked their way throughout Snowdin, getting to the area where their new house would be built. Sans and Papyrus weren't exactly cold in any way, for several reasons. Skeletons didn't exactly have skin, so they couldn't feel temperatures unless they were drastically warm or cold. And anyhow, if it was, in any way, extremely cold in Snowdin, Sans had his blue jacket and Papyrus had recently gotten a red scarf. So either way, they would be alright.
   When the small family walked through Snowdin, they finally came to the house that was being built. The construction crew seemed to be working on the foundation, it being their first day working on it. When the crew had talked with Gaster, they said that it would take approximately 6-7 days for them to make the house.
   Sans and Papyrus studied the crew as the house was being built. "Dad, is this the house?", Sans asked, although the answer was quite obvious. It seemed that Sans was just attempting to make small talk. Gaster nodded at Sans's question.
   "Yes, son.", he said quietly. He fidgeted his hands a bit, trying to find a way that he could distract his sons, for he had something that he needed to do. He noticed that one of the construction crew members, Thorn, was taking a break, drinking a bottle of water. Gaster turned to his sons.
   "You two, stay right here.", Gaster said, his hands raised a bit. Sans and Papyrus both gave a nod, obeying their father. Gaster walked over to Thorn, stepping over priced of glass, wood, and buckets of paint. He arrived in front of the red fox creature, who had not yet noticed Gaster in front of him. Gaster leaned forward and snapped his bony fingers in front of Thorn's face.
   Thorn's eyes snapped, almost clicked open. His pupils directed his attention to Gaster. He took one of his red furry paws, wiping the fresh water of of his snout. "What do you need, Dr. Gaster?", he asked, rubbing his eyes a bit.
   "I have to go somewhere real quick.", Gaster said, then pointed over to his sons. "Will you watch them? Please?" He looked at Thorn with desperate eyes. Thorn raised a brow, giving a slight sigh with an edge of a growl. He shook his head. Gaster thought for a minute, slightly clinching his fists. Then he came to a conclusion, one that he knew Thorn would not resist.
   "I'll give you double the pay for today.", Gaster said, a smirk growing across his face. Thorn looked up, his attention caught.
   "Double?", Thorn asked. "Are you sure King Asgore would be fine doing that?" Gaster chuckled a bit.
   "You don't understand, I'll be paying you the part that would be double.", Gaster explained. "So, what's your average pay for one day?" Thorn gave a sneaky smile. Gaster noticed it and narrowed his non-existent brows.
   "Don't be a sneaky fox. Tell the truth.", he said. "Anyhow, I highly doubt that you would want to lie to the Royal Scientist. I can promise you, if you would lie, I would get you fired within five seconds." Thorn then got a worried facial expression. Gaster knew that if he had threatened to fire him, it would cause Thorn to tell the truth. Thorn needed the job to support his family. Gaster always found weak spots in monsters so that he could convince them to do the right thing, or at least what Gaster wanted.
   "Alright, alright. My pay per day is $45.", Throne said, caving in and telling the truth. Gaster smiled.
   "Okay. So, watch my sons while I'm gone and I will pay you $45 when I get back. And they better be alive and unharmed.", Gaster said. Thorn nodded, giving a thumbs-up. He stood up and walked towards Sans and Papyrus. Gaster gave Thorn a look that said "thank you" and left the construction site.
   It had been a while since Gaster had last spoken to Toriel. He felt that he had been too caught up with his job to even spend time with Sans, Papyrus, or even Toriel. He needed to tell her some of the good news, and was hoping to get some information from her. He walked through the snow, snow crunching beneath his feet, walking to the large door that connected Snowdin and the Ruins.
   Gaster got to the door and gave a knock. "Toriel?", he called out, curious if she was even there. Luckily enough, there was a response in Toriel's sweet, soft voice.
   "Gaster? Is that you?", Toriel asked from the other side of the door. Gaster smiled, thankful that his friend was still alive. Still alright.
   "Yes, Tori. It's me.", Gaster responded. "It's been so long since I've spoken to you, or even thought of it." Toriel sighed from behind the door. Over the previous years, Gaster had gathered a fine sense of when a monster was said. He could tell from body language, voice tone, or even just their breathing, their heart rate, their soul. And Toriel was giving off so many negative signs, so many signs of her feeling bad, feeling worried, that Gaster could practically taste it.
   "Toriel, are you alright?", Gaster asked in a soft, caring voice. He was closer to the door, touching his head, arm, and one hand softly on the door.
   "Yeah, I'm alright.", Toriel said back, although her tone of voice clearly told otherwise. Although Toriel couldn't see Gaster, he still raised a non-existent brow, knowing that she was obviously lying.
   "C'mon, I've been your best friend for years, and I'm the Royal Scientist. It's pretty obvious that you're lying.", Gaster explained. Toriel chuckled a bit, a sigh following. Suddenly, something slid through the bottom of the door.
   Gaster leaned down to pick up the object, which appeared to be a pie of some sort. "It's one of my Cinnamon Butterscotch pies. I know how much you used to love these, so I made one for you.", Toriel said. It was as if Toriel somehow knew that Gaster was coming to the door.
   "How did you...", Gaster started, but Toriel cut him off.
   "It's not fresh or anything. I've had it for a few days.", she explained, clearing up the confusion.
   "Oh! Okay.", Gaster said with a chuckle, understanding. "Now, why exactly are you so sad?" Toriel sighed a bit.
   "If I tell you this, you have to promise me not to tell anyone. And I mean, anyone.", Toriel said with quite an emphasis of how much of a secret she wanted it to be. And Gaster, of course, wouldn't tell anyone. He was a loyal friend.
   "Of course I won't tell anyone.", Gaster said in a reassuring voice.
   Toriel sighed once more. "Alright.", she started. "Do you remember when... when Chara died?"
   Gaster nodded, but remembered that Toriel couldn't see him. "Yes, yes I do. It was sad.", he replied.
   "Well, how she died, or how you thought she died... it's not true.", Toriel said. This took Gaster aback. It was surprising. If Chara really wasn't killed by Asgore, then how did she really die? "Let me explain. The day started nicely. Chara and Asriel had just enjoyed some of my Cinnamon Butterscotch pie and wanted to go outside. So I let them go. Chara was playing near the flowers while Asriel was looking at a few stray animals. Now, you see, Chara truly hated humanity. Though she was a human, she hated humans. It was one of the reasons humans hated her. It was maybe a reason that she fell into the Underground. Maybe she didn't actually fall, maybe she was..."
   Toriel trailed off, silence following. Gaster was silent, too. But he wanted to distract from the sad subject. "Go on.", he said.
   "Anyway, Chara was near the flowers, yellow flowers. I wasn't quite sure if they were buttercups or sunflowers, but I know the flowers were yellow. And she took one and... ate it. The flower, the flower itself killed her. She died from eating the flower. Her body faded of into dust. Her soul still remained. Human souls are different like that. If a monster dies, the soul breaks. But if a human dies, then their soul still remains. It can uphold. But we didn't want people to know the true cause of Chara's death. We didn't want Asriel knowing. The reason for that was because it was possible that Chara didn't want to live. But we didn't want Asriel to know that, so we lied. We said that Asgore killed her, just to cover up. And the reason I left Asgore was because he was truly ready to use her soul. And he made the most offensive comments, especially to you, not really caring for Chara. Not caring for what she would have wanted. So I needed to leave him. He thought that I was putting on a show when I said I'd leave him, but he learned that I was serious. That's the truth of it.", Toriel explained.
   Gaster had no words to say for a minute or two. But finally, he spoke, breaking the silence. "So, it was a cover-up for a girl that could have intentionally killed herself?", Gaster asked. It was one of the saddest sentences he had ever spoken.
   "Yes.", Toriel said. It was silent again. "Are... are you mad? Or confused? Sad? Concerned?" Gaster fiddled his hands for a few seconds.
   "Honestly, Tori? I don't know.", Gaster responded. "I guess I'm just surprised." Toriel made a bit of a slight "hmm" sound. The two weren't sure what to say.
   "So, what did you come here to tell me?", Toriel asked. Gaster widened his eyesockets at the question, remembering.
   "Oh! Right. I just wanted to say that we've built the CORE. We'll be testing it soon.", Gaster answered. Toriel chuckled softly.
   "That's wonderful, Gaster.", she said.
   "I better go.", Gaster said. "And thank you for the pie. I'm sure that Sans and Papyrus will love it."
   "Yeah, alright.", Toriel responded. "I'll hear you soon, I guess."
   Gaster chuckled at the remark. He left the door, heading back to the construction site, not only to see how construction was coming along, but also to see his sons.