r/Axetale

The uncle snaps back to cruel reality once more

"What..What do you mean I’m not human?" Aliza said, looking confused.

The house's quiet atmosphere changed the moment Aliza awoke. She blinked sleepily, only to find Sans standing beside the couch, his usually relaxed posture unusually tense. There was something different in the way he looked at her. Something that made the room feel smaller. Then he told her.

“you're not just human, ’liza.”

Aliza stared at him, confused.

Sans continued before she could respond.

“think about your life. think about the moments that stood out. the things you could do that other humans couldn’t.”

His voice was quiet, almost hesitant.

“humans haven’t been able to use magic for a long time. someone from the surface doesn’t just suddenly become magic-sensitive after two thousand years. that kind of thing has to come from somewhere.”

Aliza slowly shifted away from him.

Her hands tightened around the edge of the couch.

Her attacker.

Her tormenter.

Was this another one of his cruel jokes?

Maybe he was only saying these things to watch her panic. Maybe he was trying to break her another way.

The thought only made her angrier.

“So what are you trying to say?” she snapped. “That I’m even more of a freak than I already am?”

She gave a bitter laugh.

“If that’s what you’re getting at, congratulations.”

Sans said nothing.

His gaze fell to the floor.

For a moment, he seemed unable to look at her. His head lowered until his eyes were fixed on the dirty carpet beneath his feet. Even though there was no flesh on his face, Aliza could have sworn he looked pale.

Silence stretched between them.

Then, finally, Sans spoke.

His voice was barely above a whisper.

“you’re…”

He stopped.

His fingers slowly rose to the heart-shaped pendant resting against his chest. The gift his wife had given him. He closed his hand around it, clutching the familiar shape as though it were the only thing keeping him steady.

For a moment, he said nothing.

Then his grip tightened.

“you're my daughter, ’liza.”

his words hung in the air. Aliza stared at him.

For several seconds, she couldn't make sense of what she had just heard.

Her anger disappeared, replaced by complete disbelief. “W-What?”

Sans slowly rose from the couch.

He turned away from Aliza and faced the window, his empty gaze fixed on the darkness beyond the glass.

For a moment, he appeared to be staring into the abyss itself. Aliza protested, but Sans continued as though he hadn't heard her.

“before everything went to hell, your mother and i were expecting.”
His fingers remained curled around the heart pendant at his chest.

“We were so happy when we found out we were going to be parents.

but.. the day we were supposed to tell everyone…” His voice faltered. “that weed..ruined everything.”

Silence followed.

Sans lowered his head, his fingers tightening around the pendant.

He seemed to be gathering whatever strength he had left before continuing.

When he finally looked back at Aliza, the pain in his expression remained.

But there was something else there, too.

Relief.

“all these years, i spent alone in this hell. I thought my baby girl died with her on the surface.”

His voice softened. “but here she is.”

He looked directly at Aliza.

“alive.”

Aliza's mind began to race.

Then it went completely blank.

His daughter?

Me?

No. No, no, no, no, no.

I can't. I can't be the daughter of this-This psycho!

How could any of this be true?

The “father” she knew was that thief.

That bastard who had caused her mother and herself so much pain and misery.

Her teeth clenched.

“How… How can you really be sure?”

Sans turned toward her.

“aliza, you created a fireball the size of a house in self-defense.”

His voice remained calm, but there was no hesitation in his words.

“even if you somehow became magic-sensitive as a normal human, there’s no way in hell you’d be able to wield that kind of raw power.”

He paused.

“besides, I saw your soul when that happened, just to know.” His gaze softened. “there hasn’t been one with a soul like that in a very long time.”

“This can’t be true…”

Aliza shook her head, struggling to process everything she had just been told.

“You’re lying.”

Sans flinched at the accusation.

“’liza, i'm so sorry.” He turned toward her, the heart-shaped pendant still clutched tightly in his hand.

“for everything. for everything I did to you…”

His voice trembled. “i don’t expect you to forgive me.

i don't think I'll ever forgive myself either.”

He took a slow breath before continuing.

“but you can’t leave here again. i have to keep you safe. it’s the least i can do for her-”

“The least you can do for Mom is let me go!”

Aliza’s voice cracked. She quickly wiped at her eyes, almost frustrated with herself for crying.

“Let me finish what she wanted! That’s the reason I’m down here in the first place!”

“aliza-”

“No!”

She stepped toward him, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks.

“I can’t believe you!”

Her hands curled into fists as she tried to steady her trembling voice.

“You being my ‘father’ doesn’t change anything. After what you did to me, after what you did to Ruby!”

Sans went still. The glow in his eye flickered once.

Then, slowly, it faded until the eye was completely dark.

Aliza’s breathing became uneven as she fought back another sob.

“Just a while ago, you were going to chop my legs off because I wanted to fulfill my mother’s dying wish!”

Her voice broke completely.
She turned her face away for a moment, wiping desperately at her tears, but they continued to fall.

Sans could only stare at her. A single tear slipped down the side of his cheek. He didn’t wipe it away.

His fingers remained wrapped around the heart-shaped pendant. Then, slowly, they loosened. The pendant slipped from his grasp and fell back against his chest, the chain giving a faint metallic sound as it settled.

Sans’s hand fell limply to his side. For the first time, he seemed to have nothing left to hold onto.

“i’m sorry…”

His voice was barely a whisper.

“i’m sorry, i didn’t…” Sans stopped. His shoulders trembled.

“didn’t…”

He struggled to finish the thought, but the words refused to come. “sorry.” He stared at the floor, lost somewhere between guilt and memories, repeating the apology as though saying it enough times could somehow undo everything.

Aliza watched him through tear-filled eyes. Under different circumstances, she might have felt pity for him.

Not now.

Not for him.

Without another word, she turned away and walked towards her room. Her footsteps echoed through the quiet house as she left him, her supposed father, behind. Before she disappeared, she stopped.

She looked back at Sans one last time. He hadn’t moved. Then she disappeared into her room.

Before closing the door, Aliza spoke one last time.

“If you really loved her, you would let me go.”

Axetober is finally here yall!

Art by UnderHunterFrisk

https://www.tumblr.com/underhunterfrisk/829280947736379392/day-1-distraught-axetale