Undertale fanfic : Stories From the Surface (35)

Chapter 35 : Stepping Outside





The thrones room was rarely used, as the queen preferred to work elsewhere, but it was big enough to host all the guests and royal advisors in one place. So she had a large table and chairs installed in there.

On the far end of the room was a portrait of her parents watching over everyone in the room. In front of it and covered with a single large sheet whose colours faded a long time ago were the two thrones. In front of those, Bubbles was sitting on the floor.

“Why is this human smaller?” she asked her mother. “Are they a kid too?”

“Yes, my dear”, Lorena answered. “And it looks like they’ve been adopted by boss monsters just like you did.”

The child immediately stood up and went straight to the older child to introduce herself. Then they both sat next to each other at the table with all the adults.

Toriel and Asgore quickly filled the Snow Cave monsters in on what happened to Ebott monsters over the last couple years. The queen couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something they didn’t tell her.

“Of course, we still have much work left to do”, Toriel stated, “but I do hope our that efforts will be worth it.”

Lorena nodded.

“It sounds like you’ve already accomplished much more than I thought possible”, she said. “I would love to see that for myself, but- Wait. Rocky, could you take care of the kingdom without me?”

The rock monster sitting next to her replied in a gravelly voice :

“My queen, you know I can. I’ve been your second for centuries. I will keep everything in order until you return.”

“Thank you, my friend”, Lorena smiled.

“I take it you are leaving with us then?” Asgore said.

“We can go Outside now?!” Bubbles exclaimed, nearly jumping out of her seat. “That’s awesome! I’ll go pack up right n- Wait, when are we leaving?”

“Well, we have to go back to our responsibilities in Ebott in a couple days”, Toriel explained. “Seeing how long it took us to travel here, I think it would be best for us to leave very early tomorrow.”

The young elemental quickly nodded and darted to her room to pack up. Frisk watched her go ; once she was no longer into view they diverted their attention back to the other people at the table. They had barely uttered a word since arriving in the Cave, aside from replying to Bubbles. Lorena assumed they just didn’t like talking when it wasn’t necessary.



“Bubbles? Bubbles, wake up!”

The little girl groaned weakly but did not move. She was comfortable here as a puddle in her tub, why couldn’t she just-

“We did say we would leave early”, her mother continued.

The elemental managed to wake herself up just enough to form her upper body. She was then presented with a large spill-proof bucket.

“You will freeze out there again, so… would you prefer I carry you in my arms or in this?”

She was too sleepy to really care about anything, really, but she figured it would be easier to sleep in the bucket, so she lifted the lid, poured herself inside and went back to sleep. She had just enough room in there to be comfortable.



“Where’s Bubbles?” Frisk asked when Lorena arrived in the living room.

“Still sleeping”, she replied, showing them the large lidded bucket she was carrying with her left hand.

Seeing the look of confusion on the young human’s face, she added : “you didn’t think elementals maintained their form in their sleep, did you?”

They shrugged, then told her their parents were already waiting near the exit with the humans and a few other monsters. They both walked there silently. At this hour, only half of the lanterns in the city were lit and a lot of the residents were still in bed. Those who were out all greeted the queen and her guest as they passed by, and were met with kind words or friendly handwaves in return.

“So, Frisk, I’ve been thinking…” Lorena started as they walked into an empty street. “Your parents never mentioned how the Barrier was broken.”

The human froze for a second, then resumed walking ahead, avoiding her gaze.

“It’s a long story”, they finally said after a minute of silence. “And a team effort.”

“Could you be more specific?”

“…Maybe later.”

They were reaching the exit tunnel where Rocky, Frisk’s parents and Hernandez’s team were waiting, along with a few guards. Lorena gave a warm goodbye to the monsters who would stay in the Cave, then followed the others Outside.



It was only once everyone had reached the foot of the mountain that Bubbles woke up. She was still partially frozen but had enough freedom of movement to gently open the lid above her and take a peak outside, once again forming only her upper body. She observed the sky and the clouds while holding the lid in her hands.

“Wow…” was all she could say, not finding any word to describe what she was seeing. She had never gotten that far from home before. The snow had mostly disappeared here, leaving place to a lot of green and brown and grey. But by far, the blue and white of the sky were her favourites.

“I have not seen this place since the war…” her mother thought aloud.

“Everything’s so… big”, the little girl commented.

“Wait until you see the rest!” Frisk smiled.

Bubbles happily jumped out of her bucket, forming the rest of her body on the ground while her mother handed her her cloak. The two children then walked alongside each other.

Soon, the group reached the first human village. Its inhabitants either gathered around them or watched them through their windows, curious about the monsters but trying to keep a respectful distance.

“Sorry about that”, Hernandez apologised to the monsters. “They’re not used to see monsters up close here. Or celebrities.” She gestured to the Dreemurr family. “Anyway, does anyone still have battery on their phone? ‘Cause mine’s dead as f- Hum, it’s dead.”

Frisk brandished their own phone proudly.

“Great, now we can call a ride to the city and then you’ll be able to take the train and- well, you know.”

“How far is Ebott?” Bubbles asked.

“It is quite far, still”, Toriel replied.