Broken Souls

Chapter 30 - Death of a True Friend

Truth be told, Gaster had planned on having a serious conversation with Casua after she'd got back, perhaps asking what exactly the book's passage meant exactly in relation to her. Something along the lines of what he and Sans had just discussed, making sure to keep the actual intentions well hidden of course. Gaster would have asked a few vague questions, get what information he needed, and then act upon the information at a later date. Or at least, that had been his plan, until Sans came down into the Lab with a panicked expression, saying something about a news report.

Sure enough, when Gaster came upstairs with him, he saw the human news report on the TV. A small part of him wanted to turn right back around and ignore it, but the captions along the bottom kept his gaze focused on the screen.

"-repeat. Jade Aleson was found murdered outside her place of work at 5pm today. The investigation into her death is ongoing and may last for several weeks. Until such time as the murderer is caught, police advise that you take caution when travelling around the city alone."

Sans still seemed to be panicking, for a reason unknown to Gaster. The Royal Scientist said as much.

"cas was in the city today!" Sans cried, "what if she was involved somehow?"

"Personally, I don't understand if you're worried about her wellbeing or if she was the murderer." Gaster snorted. Sans glared at him nervously, but his nervousness soon slipped away into a more serious expression.

"kinda both at this point."

The two stared at each other in silence, then Gaster sighed, going to mute the TV. He had no time for the humans, especially not their petty fights among themselves. Still, Sans had raised a good point, in that neither knew where Casua had gone, especially since the Royal Scientist had rung her only ten minutes before asking for her to come home. There was no way she could have taken that long to get-

"Hi Wings! Heya Sans! Whatcha watching?" Casua asked, stepping out of a shortcut into the middle of the living room. Gaster jumped, spinning around to find his adopted daughter eating the last of what seemed to be one of Muffet's croissants. She finished it off and looked up at him with dull eyes.

"We were just finishing off a news report." Gaster replied smoothly, "Probably of significance to the humans, but hardly for monsters."

Casua raised an eyebrow as she noticed the report repeating a final time before the news program ended. She didn't need to hear the reporter to understand what happened, which was evident by her sudden expression change. Her eyes widened and her next remark got caught in her throat. She swallowed hastily, grinning at the two skeletons rather nervously.

"I have to go check on something." she announced suddenly, vanishing into another shortcut before anyone could protest. Gaster made as if to go up to her room, which was where it seemed she'd gone to, but held himself back.

"That's some odd behaviour." Gaster mumbled under his breath, "Nevertheless, I'm sure the King will be subject to a lot of hate regarding this murder, which means I will be called upon as an adviser. Keep an eye on her won't you Sans?"

The shorter skeleton nodded,

"sure thing. i'll make sure she doesn't do anything strange."

===

Three days passed after the first murder, with a new death for each new day, each one bringing more fear and resentment between humans and monsters. Asgore worked tirelessly with Toriel and Gaster to try and diffuse the sitation, but the humans would not have it. They claimed that seeing as there was no discoverable DNA traces on the scene, the culprit had to be a monster of sorts. Despite the fact that no monster would ever do such a thing.

Still, humans were stubborn and it would take more than just 'monster nature' to persuade them. To make it even worse, some of the monsters who had finally decided to go to the human school had suddenly stopped going. Toriel had gone around the City, asking the families why that was, and was discouraged to hear that many had left out of fear for the safety of the children. Which, in the end, only worsened the rift growing between the two races.

The King and his advisors had their hands full most days to say the least. Even Frisk had been called in one day to vouch for the monsters' innocence. They'd asked Casua to help them, naturally, but she turned them down for a reason she refused to say.

And that led to another problem for the Gaster family. Because Casua had excluded herself more and more for each new death that occurred. Her blank stares and forced smiles became more noticeable, to the point where Papyrus asked her repeatedly if she was okay. All questions about her health were answered with a monotonous "I'm fine."

She stayed in her room most days, only coming out when she took a shortcut to school and even then she hardly went anywhere but her classes. In less than a week, Casua had been changed from a reserved, intelligent member of monster society to an outcast. Papyrus tried the hardest out of everyone to keep Casua motivated and like she had been before the murders. But after a while, that wasn't the problem anymore. Casua wasn't depressed, or lonely or sad or anything like that. Ever since the murders she hadn't felt much... or, perhaps more truthfully...

She felt nothing.

At least, until the sixth murder report came through.

===

"At 4pm this afternoon, Rose Summers became the sixth victim to the recent string of murders. She was found on the outskirts of her hometown, after having allegedly set off to visit the neighbouring monster city."

If it were possible for a skeleton to go pale, the three sitting on their couch just did. Casua was already acting strange because of these murders... if she found out about her friend (which was probably inevitable), it could be enough to push her over the edge. Papyrus took a minute to regain his posture, then stood up shakily.

"I'll go tell her..." he mumbled, at a volume that was unusual for a monster as loud as himself, "It's probably best to do it sooner rather than later."

No one argued with that logic, so Papyrus headed upstairs. Gaster and Sans sat in silence for a few minutes before they heard a commotion from up in Casua's room. Seconds later, a scream of raw anguish filled the house in one long wavering note. Papyrus appeared at the top of the stairs, his hands clamped on either side of his skull. He looked a little disheartened, which was to be considered good, considering the situation.

"I don't think she took that well." Papyrus said simply. He quietly walked downstairs and sat back on the couch. Sans instantly snuggled up to his brother, giving the taller skeleton a hug. All around the house were the echoes of Casua's screams, although the source of them had long since fallen silent since her first outburst. Gaster looked sadly down at the holes in his hands, then to his two sons, then back at the staircase.

Why had everything gone wrong?