Hey, it's me, I'm back with another little drabble! This one is fully canon, it's just not gonna be in my book! But I felt like you guys might be interested in hearing more about Mavis' early, early childhood. So I hope I'm right about that! There aren't too many warnings I'll need to say, but just in case, here you guys go!

Warnings:

Mentions of death

Child neglect

Adoption

Edit: Retconning this drabble. Mostly cannon but not quite.

-----------

"What do you think we should name her?"

"How about Yua? After my mother?"

"No, no... I don't think that'll suit her just right. She's not a fighter, I can feel it."

"What about uh... hm, Amber?"

"Psh, I think not. I'm thinking of Mavis. I think it'll suit her well, wouldn't you agree, Maxie?"

A snort filled the air followed by a pleasant feminine laugh. Soon to be cut off by the blade of a sharp ax...

...

It was cold outside. Freezing cold, in fact, not unusual for the cozy little town of Snowdin. Much less for the residents living on the outskirts. There was a hint of cinnamon in the air as the intown shop keeper baked up a new batch of Cinnabuns to sell to the hungry townspeople. Even those who did not live incredibly close by could smell it several miles away, proven by the fact there was a very excitable young kit standing by the door, holding her favorite stuffed bear wearing an oversized coat on her frail little body. Her fluffy hair had remained untouched, despite constant brushing from her eldest sister, who stood in the kitchen, practicing her cursive writing. Her pretty long, reddish orange hair had been tied up into a bun, allowing for easy motion while she wrote the same words over and over again. Felix L. Fox. Their caretaker's name. Their grandfather's name. This monster was about to do something very, very immoral and wrong.

Watching her do this despicable act was their brother, who had made it clear he felt this was wrong. He gave up on trying to convince their sister not to do this, but he was not going to say anything on it to anyone else. This young man was going to remain silent throughout this process.

A faint chill ran down the elder sister's spine as she just crumpled up her paper and threw it away. "I can't forge his stupid handwriting. It's too complicated. I'm just going to write a note and leave her in front of the orphanage," the girl growled, grabbing another sheet of paper.

"This isn't a mov-"

"Jake, what have I told you? I know it's not a movie, but you and I both know IT doesn't belong here. I'm doing what is right, and you aren't stopping me."

The dark colored brother grumbled and slouched in his seat, before just getting up and leaving to his room. He didn't stop to give a glance at the kit who continued to bounce on her little feet. She carried on bouncing around before she hurried over to the big window next to the door. The elder muttered something under her breath as she wrote and finally held the paper up to better read what she wrote.

'We can't care for Mavis anymore. Can you please find her another home?'

"Perfect!" The eldest squealed, folding it up as neatly as possible. She turned to the excited kit, who had glanced back to see what all the excitement was about. "Mavis, can you come here please? I have a special thing I'm going to need to place in your pockets, okay?" She purred, using her most gentle voice on her sister. The kit hurried over to her sister and eagerly took the note, then pushed it in her coat's pocket. "Good job, now come on, let's go. You have your er... bear ready?"

The kit nodded.

The two sisters left the house, with Summer telling her youngest that she was going to go somewhere where she'll never see her siblings again. Where she'll have new siblings and new parents. Which did confuse the kit, but she made no fuss over it. As they walked, the young kit felt a really odd warm chill wrap around her, almost like a hug, and she paused for a moment.

"S-summy-!" She stared. Her sister turned to look, an annoyed look written all over her face. The young kit paused and closed her mouth, momentarily startled by the look, before shaking it off. "I f-felt something touch me!" She whined out.

"It was just the wind, Mavis, it's not uncommon. Come on, if you can remain quiet until we make it to Flour's shop in town, I'll buy you one of those little Cinnabuns."

The kit made a face, but the scent of those sweet Cinnabuns lingered on in the cold air, making her stomach growl. So how can a kit deny the hunger she felt by disobeying her sister? She closed her mouth and continued to walk, feeling that very odd presence with her the whole way over to the shop.

The funny thing was... this wasn't a new feeling for her. In fact, all the siblings have had this feeling. And it was all thanks to their loving parents.

Camilla and Maxwell.

"Maxwell, you're spooking Mavis, please stop lingering so close to her." The ghostly figure of a white fox spoke, floating somewhere over next to Summer's blurred orange face. To the ghosts, the siblings were a bit of a blur. A familiar blur. Their voices sounded muffled as well, but for some odd reason... The two ghostly figures just knew what was being said. They just knew. The feminine ghost floated up in front of the eldest daughter's face and peered into her eyes. "Oh Summer, how could you go through with this?"

The orange fox accompanying her to this flight session with their children perked up his ears, "I'm just trying to comfort Mavis. Why haven't you been trying to stop Summer? She never listened to me like she did you, after all," He asked, furrowing his brows. The white fox sighed.

"We both know neither daughters can hear us. It's only Jake, and he fears Summer's wrath."

Maxwell sighed and let go of his daughter's shoulder to join his wife's side as she floated in front of the siblings.

The two remained silent, watching the blurry faces of the two siblings. Mavis stumbled over a thick clump of snow, which resulted in a rough pull from Summer. Maxwell winced as Camilla remained stone-faced. "I tried so hard to convince Jake to tell your father, Cam. Are you suggesting our son feared his sister so much that he wouldn't even tell someone he looks up too?"

Camilla remained silent.

"Cammie?"

Camilla sighed. "Jake isn't just scared of Summer. He blames Mavis for their lives ending up like this too, whether or not he'll admit it to himself. He's much like his father.." She muttered that last sentence to herself. Maxwell overheard it, but chose not to speak on it. "Jake wouldn't tell another soul if it meant he and his sister wouldn't get to see someone that physically embodies what they feel is wrong in their lives. Every time Summer looks at Mavis, she sees me, and every time Jake sees Mavis, he sees the childhood that was ripped from them both. Sure, Jake perhaps loves Mavis more than Summer, but... he's not exactly clean of sin himself in this situation. He's just going to pretend to have never heard about this."

Maxwell's tail twitched in anger, and he looked away. Deep down, he knew this to be true. But it was a painful truth. The two paused from following the siblings as they floated stationary where they were. "Why did Demice have to end our lives? We could've prevented th-"

"Would you stop involving the gods in this? They could care less as to what would happen to us down here in this HELLHOLE! So let them go! We haven't even seen Demice, and we've been dead for FOUR years, Maxwell. Four. Years. We've been dead for four years, and there's nothing you or I or ANYONE can do about it. We have no choice but to watch this play out and hope she has a good life despite all this."

Just as the words left the female ghost's mouth, a sudden shout alerted the two of them to their children. The two quickly raced after the noises, stopping when they noticed Summer was squealing at some kind of goo sticking in the ground. "EW EW EW!!! GROSS!! UGH!! IF THOSE TWO MORONS DID THIS, I'M FLAYING THE TWO OF THEM!!" She shouted, kicking the snow goo away from her. The kit seemed pretty taken aback by this sudden squeal of disgust from the elder, her blue-green eyes stared down at the ground as snow now covered the goo. "By Asgore's beard, those two dimwits better be thankful I'm not looking to burn some slimeballs into ashes. Disgusting." She grumbled, taking her sister's hand again and stepping over the lump of snow on the ground. The kit just let herself be dragged, her gaze still on the lump until they moved away from it.

They made it up into the little town of Snowden. There was a building being constructed pretty close by. A home. The two phantom beings had no real want to see who may be living there soon, as they were focused on their little girls. They two vixens carried on through the snow, the young one holding her stuffed bear to her chest as they moved on. Soon enough, they made it to Flour's little shop, her two kids playing in the front of the shop with some other kids. The young white vixen watched them play longingly, but as she was much smaller and didn't get to go outside much, she wasn't allowed to play with the other kids. She envied them. They seem... happy.

Her sister tugged on her hand and she turned to the shop door. Both sister's walked inside, with Summer making them both an order. Herself a coffee and her sister a Cinnabun. Then she let Mavis go to sit down on some benches while she made a call on the shop's phone. Probably to a few friends of hers, if the young fox had to guess. She sat on the chair all alone, until that familiar feeling came over her. This time, it was... akin to standing really close to her grandfather's old TV when it was on. A shiver ran down her back.

"Oh, look who's the one getting too close for comfort now." Maxwell teased his lover, who only gave him a scold. The phantom fox laughed and glanced back at their other daughter, chatting away on the phone. A small sigh escaped his lips.

Camilla wrapped her arms around Mavis, as tightly as she could. "You poor thing..." She sighed, "If only I had just..." The words got caught in her throat as a sense of guilt washed over her. Her yellow eyes glanced down at the young one's hands, which were clamped together. Then her eyes made their way up to her husband, who had just now turned back to them. Camilla wasn't brutally murdered like her husband. In fact, she honestly caused her own death. Grief and anger filled her during her final months of life, as well as the want to take revenge on the murderer. She had her suspicions on who it was, but she didn't catch their face to figure out who it was. The Royal Guard did the best they could, but there weren't many monsters underground that fit her description. Not that it mattered... she fabricated many of the details of the murderer just so she could track him down herself. In the end, all it did was make her body weaken from straining her magical capabilities to the point of no return.

She basically killed herself on the day her daughter was born. Or- was the majority of the reason she had died.

Taking a deep breath, she got up as a fully formed body came up and took a seat where she had been. Summer had herself a nice cup of coffee and handed Mavis her Cinnabun. As much as Summer disliked her sister, Camilla had to give her credit. Deep within those cold, golden eyes of hers, Summer was hiding her deep inner guilt. Perhaps it's her close bond to her eldest child that enables Camilla to feel this, but she knows Summer holds a slowly budding guilt for what she is about to do. After all, it wasn't like the eldest always hated the youngest, it just went into a recession for a short time.

Summer took a sip of her coffee while Mavis peeled back some of the paper around her treat. The smell floated straight up to her nose and her mouth began to water. Slowly, the girl brought the treat up to her mouth, specifically the ear of the bun, and bit down. After a moment, she chewed and chewed, before swallowing and making a happy little chirp. "Summy!" She shouted, looking up at the older, who glanced down while sipping her drink. Mavis held up the bunny, the other ear ready for the taking. The oldest snarled her lip up for a moment, as if offended by the offer, before taking a breath. Her free hand lifted from her lap and tenderly pulled the ear off the head, then stuffed it in her mouth.

This was a common occurrence for the two sisters.

Whenever they got treats from Flour, Mavis would always share, and whether Summer admits it or not, she would occasionally share herself. In another life, they probably could've just finished up here and headed back home, nothing being different, but this wasn't a happy story. Right after their pit stop for breakfast and some coffee, the two made it outside. Snow had started to fall from the sky, which Mavis eagerly stuck her tongue out for. Of course, her sister just wanted to hurry up this process and go home. Every time Mavis would stop for a snowflake, Summer would tug on her to move.

As this behavior continued, the two phantoms followed behind in the air. The journey continued in silence all the way to Waterfall. Mavis' first and probably only visit. The fox gasped in delight as they walked through the puddles and soft grass of the newest biome. Soft sounds of water filled the air, and soon, they were in the Echo Flower part of the cavern. "Whoaaaaa!" Mavis awed, her eyes wide at the beautiful flowers. The nearest one started to repeat what she had said, and soon, some more followed suit. As this occurred, the orange phantom began to laugh and mess around with the flowers. Of course, they can't repeat what they can't hear, but it amused him to no end. The white one shook her head and chuckled, rolling her eyes. Summer seemed to be in a state of calmness as they all stood amongst the flowers. It wasn't for a very long time, but it seemed to have given the eldest fox a good memory of their family.

The two living beings walked away, with the dead trailing them once again. The deeper they went, the wetter and hotter the place got, and then- they made it to Hotlands. The hottest and lowest part of the caverns. The youngest began to pant heavily while the eldest took charge, looking just fine despite the heat around them.

Camilla cringed as she watched the two walk, knowing that poor Mavis was probably dying under that coat. She silently willed for Summer to take it off. Even going so far as to get right up close to Summer and hope her presence makes her realize what to do.

Of course, it didn't quite work out like that at first.

The two would walk on and on, getting closer to their destination before Summer paused, realizing that the kit had slowed down tremendously. So she took off the coat and they sat down near a vent shaft. It was blowing out hot air, which didn't help the heat at all. As they sat there, Maxwell took his time to observe their surroundings before a figure up above them caught his eye. "Uh, Cammie, I don't think the girls or us are alone here..." He whispered. The white phantom joined him and followed his gaze up. There he was.

Shadow.

His face was so recognizable, even from a far distance. Of course, neither could make out his expression, but they could see the glow of his red eyes as he peered down at the two girls. He was silent. Creepy looking, in fact. He just appeared to be observing them from a safe distance, as well as keeping himself in the darkness. "Gods, look at him... it's disturbing to see him crouched down like that." Maxwell commented, which brought Camilla out of the slowly building anger that started to form in her stomach.

"I guess." She growled, turning to look at the girls. He better not come down here. He better stay as far away from them as he could, in fact. Better yet, maybe he should just jump in the l-

"Oh, he's backing away. I wonder if he could see us as well?"

"What kind of question is that?" Camilla asked, looking at him with an angry look on her face, "Of course he can't! If he saw ghosts, he'd have told us before! There's a good dozen down here!" She huffed, getting a concerned look from her husband. She took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. "Let's just sit here and wait for the girls to start moving again."

Maxwell just nodded and floated down to the floor, letting his ethereal body sit on the physical plane. The mother remained in her floating position, her eyes affixed to the two girls.

Around ten minutes later, it was back on the road. Summer stood up and carried her sister over many of the difficult parts of Hotlands, mainly to get through it. The eldest seemed bored and tired, probably ready to go home and eat lunch or something. But of course, she carried on with her sister, who appeared just as tired herself. As they carried on, Mavis would start to ask questions about the caves. About the vents they were taking. About the other monsters they passed by. Of course, her sister didn't give her straight up answers. Instead, she just carried on forward, not giving her sister the time of day. Mavis seemed upset by her sister's lack of words, but carried on walking with her. They finally made it up to an elevator, ready to ride up to the New Home City. At least... Summer was. The kitten that she was walking with just stood with her, curious about where they were going still. Even though she was told.

The two ghostly figures of their parents flew up on the outside of the elevator. Camilla's eyes were trained forward while Maxwell's looked all over the place. Everything was a bit of a blur for him, but he made out details and landmarks that let him know where they were. The third, and final, layer of Hotlands was coming up. "Hey Cam, do you think Shadow knows what's happening with them?" He asked, spotting the dark figure appear, watching the elevator head upwards.

"Ugh. I doubt it. He's probably just being a creep," Camilla muttered, anger filling her voice. Maxwell's eyes glanced over to her, his baby blues staring at her. It made her ear twitch. Despite being a phantom, she still reacted to his look the same way she did when they were alive. "Sorry, I'm just... I'm not very happy with him. I feel like he's ruined everything in our lives." She sighed, finally pausing to look at Maxwell.

The orange phantom blinked at her for a bit. Processing her words. Then he spoke.

"I suppose... I feel bad for him. He must be lonely..." she admitted, before turning up to look at the rising elevator. "He wouldn't be so lonely if he hadn't screwed up our special day, though."

"I- well, I guess you are right. But we did try to get in touch with him. It's like he vanished out into thin air," Maxwell commented, starting to rise up again, "if only we can speak to him. Tell him to stop them." Camilla followed him, joining their daughters on the exit platform. They made it to the city.

Summer squeezed Mavis' hand as they walked into the bustling crowd, now her head down to cover her identity. There were tons of foxes in the city, so to any unknowing monster, they were unassuming. A few monsters yelped as they were bumped into or whenever Mavis tried to reach up at what they were holding. They were clearly feeling bothered. The phantoms felt sad as the children carried on, until finally, they made it to their destination.

New Home Orphanage.

There were little roses and teddy bears painted along the bottom of the building. Meanwhile, the rest of it was embedded into the stone wall. Summer took a deep breath and lowered down to Mavis' level. For a moment, there seemed to be a glint of regret. A glint of fear. Was she going to change her mind about this?

No.

Summer merely patted her sister on the cheek, told her to be good, and got up, leaving her sister there, alone. At first, Mavis tried to follow her, but the crowd caught up and seemed to help Summer disappear. Mavis started to holler and cry out for her sister, only saying her name in the only way she ever could. "Summy! S-summy!!" She cried, tears starting to fill up her eyes.

Monsters kept going. No one stopped for a moment. Too busy thinking about work or the latest issues in the kingdom. No one thought to get Mavis away from the crowd. That was until a sudden force grabbed her by her coat tail and pulled her backwards, on her butt.

Maxwell managed all the strength he could to pull Mavis away from the crowd. She was going to get trampled if she kept trying to go in. She was so small. Besides, Summer was already gone. He and Camilla lost sight of her. Now, here they were, together, watching their little girl bawl her eyes out. Oh, what were they to do? Maxwell was barely able to pull Mavis back with whatever energy or magic he had. And Camilla couldn't figure out how he did it.

"Gods, what are we going to do?" She asked, trying to wipe the tears off of the young vixen's face. None were affected. "Oh gods!" She wailed out, screaming up into the sky-covered ceiling of the underground. "PLEASE! If any of your gods can hear, please! Do something! Anything?" She cried. Maxwell sat next to her as they helped the sobbing little girl.

He looked up at the ceiling himself, pleading silently for anyone to listen to them. Anyone at all.

Just then...

A familiar silhouette appeared. Tall. Lanky. Red eyes. The young girl looked up, getting her parents to look up as well. Camilla glared angrily and started to float up to the shadow. However, Maxwell grabbed her wrist and shook his head. "Cam. This might be our message. Can we at least give him a chance?" He asked, pleading with his wife. Camilla looked at him, sighed, then sat back down. "He might be exactly what we need. Please?"

Camilla stayed silent, allowing the shadow to phase through them and pick up Mavis, who sniveled. He dug his hand into her pocket, revealing the corner of the note that Summer placed in her pocket, then pulled it out. As he pulled it out, he brought her up to the orphanage and knocked on the door. Both fox parents stood up and watched as the door opened, a surprised worker eyeing the shadow up and down. After a brief conversation between the two and a quick reading of the letter, the two adults walked inside with the baby. Seems that Mavis would be safe after all.

Maxwell breathed a sigh of relief while Camilla watched, angry and silent. However, deep in her eyes was a glint of gratitude. Perhaps for the gods? Or for the shadow himself? Either way, Maxwell was glad to see she was a little thankful. He took her hand and smiled at her, "Let's go follow Summer home. I think Mavis will be okay for now..." He told her. Camilla looked at him and nodded in agreement. Together, they both floated up and hurried over to the direction of the elevator, passing by another ghost as they did so.

-----------

So uh, this took me so much longer than I expected. I took a long break from writing in general, but here I am! This is one of my most favorite drabbles! I'm really pleased by it! I hope you guys did too.

Word Count: 4154