Chapter 1 – Friendship and Murder

*Please note that this story is a sequel to my previous fic Time Works Both Ways, it would be best to start there if you are a new reader! If you don't, aspects of the story may not make sense to you!

…It was three months ago that the monsters acquired the final soul to breach the barrier. Three whole months ago, New Home was first constructed. The monsters met the humans in peaceful negotiation, bartering for citizenship and rights to which they were granted. It seemed that things were taking a turn for the better when monsters began to integrate into human society. Programs were put in place for humans and monsters to meet and understand one another. Though despite their efforts, humans and monsters would remain independent… the latter mostly remaining in New Home where we felt the safest. Unfortunately, no social program or policy would erase the cultural differences that existed between the two groups. Regardless, humans and monsters remained peaceful and though one may never understand the other, they were content to leave each other be.

And I, The Great Papyrus, found my place in new home by helped my friend Undyne manage the monsters post Underground! There were always plenty of jobs that needed to be done; as being Protector of the Hero of the Underground (or PHU for short) was not a full time job… and I may have still secretly wanted to be part of the Royal Guard. Regardless, when my friend Undyne called, I would not hesitate to answer. Speaking of Undyne, she had branched out from just being the Head of the Royal Guard! Now, she was as humans called: Secretary of Defense of Monsters! With the title, however, came a lot more work as she attempted to protect the monster rights and had much less time to settle the smaller issues. That was where I came in! At least, when my brother Sans didn't require my presence.

I had been preparing spaghetti in our kitchen when my cellphone began to ring. And, being the upstanding monster I was, I answered it within the first two rings. "HELLO! YOU HAVE REACHED THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" I greeted cheerfully, unable to resist the smile that spread across my face. Perhaps this time, she would be calling with good news! "Papyrus? Yeah it's Undyne, there's another monster down. They're in Bunny Family Grocer; can you bring them to Alphys'?" I couldn't help as the corners of my smile drooped at the request. It wasn't good news after all. "I WILL BE THERE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, BUT UNDY-" She hung up on me before I could finish. With how hard Undyne was working, I was worried that she was neglecting her health. Unfortunately, she never gave me the chance to help. Though I was hardly the monster to speak given how things had been going in my own household.

"SANS! I'M GOING OUT!" I called into the house as I turned off the stove. As expected, there was no response as I walked out the door toward the grocer. Picking up fallen monsters had been a sad job that I didn't want to, but had to get used to. It was after the first month post-underground that everything had started to go wrong.

Monsters… had begun to fall down. This wasn't terribly unusual as the same thing would occur in the Underground. 'Falling down' didn't discriminate; it would be the young, the old… the healthy, the ill… The monster could've been perfectly healthy and normal one day, and suddenly unresponsive the next. It wasn't a concern to the monsters of New Home...until monsters started to fall down more rapidly. They just… never woke up. Alphys described 'falling down' as 'the death of the mind, when the body and soul lived on' and the closest we had come to understanding it was when Alphys collected bodies to find a cure.

But a cure never came; and all she had was amalgamations to show. Fortunately, those amalgamations had finally been returned to their families. It had taken a lot of courage, but Alphys finally told everyone the truth about the experiments. She had been afraid, but was startled when the monsters were nothing but overjoyed and welcoming at the return of family members they had thought were gone forever. Though… that would never be the solution that monsterkind was looking for in regards to the falling monsters.

I pushed open the door to the grocer, a small bell tinkling at the movement. A crowd of monsters turned at my entry, presumably around the fallen monster. "FRIENDS! PAPYRUS IS HERE TO HELP! TELL ME, WHERE IS THE FALLEN MONSTER?" I asked, walking through the crowd that had parted for me. I couldn't help the emotion that squeezed my heart as I saw the young rabbit daughter crying over her fallen mother. "I-It's my m-mom… please help her…" She sniffed, pulling back from her mother when I approached. Putting on the brightest smile I could muster, I crouched before the distraught child. "DO NOT WORRY, TINY RABBIT! ALPHYS WILL GIVE YOUR MOTHER THE BEST CARE POSSIBLE!" Reaching out, I ruffled the fur on top of her head with a gloved hand before gently picking up the fallen monster. Turning to leave, I stopped when I felt a tugging on my scarf. "Mr. Papyrus…W-When will she be better?" The young girl asked, eyes widening and tears in her eyes as she looked up at me hopefully.

This was the part I hated the most, because the truth was that she may never recover. "THE GREAT PAPYRUS DOES NOT KNOW HOW SOON SHE MIGHT RECOVER… BUT ALPHYS IS WORKING TIRELESSLY ON A CURE AS WE SPEAK!" I admitted, desperately keeping the smile plastered on my face. I felt that squeezing feeling again as her countenance gradually saddened, giving a small nod before she walked into the back room. There were murmurs around me and I could feel their stares… "PERHAPS IT IS BEST IF YOU ALL RETURN HOME!" At the words, they began to gradually file out… but I could see it in their glances as they passed. 'She's not getting better is she?' 'Poor girl… what will they do without their mother?'

…I waited a couple minutes for the monsters to clear before I walked out the door toward Alphys new and improved lab. As I looked down at the fallen monster in my arms, I couldn't help but notice her youth. She was a strong lady who had gotten married early; and before we knew it there was a litter of rabbits. She worked tirelessly for her children and they were her entire world. I couldn't even imagine the impact this would have on their family; as her husband was a business man who had expanded his horizons into the human market when the barrier broke leaving her to raise the children independently. Many monsters had been busybodies, eager to meet and live among the humans and did so as soon as they could. I… could only assume that Undyne had given notice to their father and he would return to watch over them. But regardless, the monsters were a kind group and would likely look after the children in his stead if he couldn't return quickly.

I would never get used to the door that opened for me at the entrance to Alphys' lab. She claimed it was new technology, as much of her lab was, but there was something familiar about a simple doorknob. "ALPHYS! I HAVE ANOTHER MONSTER!" I called into the building which bustled with monsters; both staff assisting Alphys and family members of the afflicted. Human hospitals had refused to serve monsters due to their lack of understanding on how to treat them so Alphys had her lab transformed into a makeshift hospital once the monsters started falling down en masse. "P-Papyrus? Over h-here, please." I saw Alphys wave to me from the end of one of the fallen wards and I followed her into a room divided by curtains. "Put her down h-here… okay?" She gestured to a bed with hastily prepared covers. "HAVE ANY OF THE MONSTERS GOTTEN BETTER YET?" I asked hopefully as I set the lady down; Alphys moving in quickly to hook her up to monitors. As expected, a thin green line ran across the monitor. Though we didn't need a monitor to tell us; as her soul felt present…but empty.

With a sigh, Alphys turned to walk out of the room. "No…" She finally answered. I couldn't help but be disheartened by her answer when I saw the families of the monsters so hopeful that their loved ones would recover. "IT'S OKAY! THE GREAT PAPYRUS BELIEVES IN YOU. DON'T GIVE UP!" I told her, putting an encouraging hand on her shoulder. A half-hearted smile spread across her face. "T-Thanks…" She whispered before she left. Alphys was another monster who tended to overwork herself; striving desperately to live up to everybody's expectations, never satisfied with the work she had already done. Much like Undyne, there was nothing I could do and so instead I remained positive, attempting to spread my optimism as best I could to my friends... because that was the little that I COULD do to help.

Spreading positivity was a job that never ended and I had another location in mind where I would benefit from doing so. So I headed out toward the Underground. Since not every monster wished to leave right away for New Home, two entryways were created from the Underground to allow for easy exit and entry. One of which was where the barrier shattered: Asgore's throne room. The other… was a ladder into the ruins; the entryway in which I was headed. The monster that needed cheering up… well, wasn't actually a monster. It was about a month post-underground that I discovered an odd golden flower in the Ruins…

When I reached the bottom of the ladder, I heard a voice. "Hey! Watch where you're stepping, imbecile!" Scanning the area, I couldn't tell who the voice belonged to. "WHO'S THERE? YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE AFRAID OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" I called out, walking toward the bed of golden flowers. That was when I saw it. "Afraid of you? Please." A golden flower with a face explained sarcastically, rolling its eyes. There was something unsettling about the flower, but I couldn't help my curiosity as I crouched down beside it. "OF COURSE NOT! WHAT'S YOUR NAME? MINE'S PAPYRUS!" I greeted, extending a gloved hand which it eyed with disgust. "Go away. I don't want to be friends." The flower glared. I hadn't thought a flower could glare until that moment… this was definitely a flower that NEEDED a friend. "GO AWAY IS A FUNNY NAME! NYEH HEH HEH!" I laughed cheerfully as the flower scrunched up its face in distaste.

"…It's Flowey. Now leave." The flower popped into the ground, only to sprout up on the other side of the flower bed. "I THINK WE SHOULD BE FRIENDS. YOU SHOULD BE GLAD, THERE IS NO GREATER FRIEND THAN THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" Its face turned from one of annoyance to one of anger when I walked over to where it had sprouted. "I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE." Its face turned malicious and in surprise, I fell backwards onto my pelvic bones…but that soon changed when it sneezed, sending pollen my direction. "YOU ARE A FUNNY FLOWER!" I exclaimed with a bright smile, to which the flower looked scornfully in my direction once again. For a split second it almost looked smug as it descended into the ground, this time not to re-emerge. "BYE, FLOWEY! I WILL RETURN LATER!" I waved though I knew the flower couldn't see me. I knew that I would come again, as there was a shred of good in any creature and I just had to find it.

Unfortunately I had been unable to return to visit Flowey since that day. Today, I decided, would be that day. This time when I reached the bottom of the ladder, there was no snarky voice telling me to leave. Instead, I saw Flowey by the patch of golden flowers, almost wilted in appearance. "FLOWER FRIEND? ARE YOU OKAY?" I sprinted over worriedly, to which the flower didn't respond. Tentatively, I reached out and gently prodded the flower. After a pause it turned to look at me, sadness in its expression which I hadn't seen before. "Did the monsters… really kill Chara?"It asked sadly, to which I was taken aback. Did the flower mean the human child? In that case… "IF YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT THE HUMAN CHILD, THEN NO. THEY… DID SOMETHING COWARDLY." I explained curtly, though in truth we had probably killed the human many of times before they… took their life. In a way, it made us no better than them but… from what Sans said we didn't have a choice. Unfortunately for any human that came our way, I would always trust my brother over them. There was a pregnant pause before the flower vanished into the ground.

"FLOWEY? FLOWEY!" I shouted to no avail; the flower didn't return. "Greetings, Papyrus. Who is it you are talking to?" I heard a female voice ask curiously behind me. Standing up, I recognized Queen Toriel had been the one speaking. "OH, I WAS TALKING TO FLOWEY! HAVE YOU NOT SEEN MY FLOWER FRIEND?" I asked, confused as she seemed to ponder the question. Finally, she shook her head. "No, it has just been me and the Ruins monsters all this time. I have not seen a flower around here. I…hope that I did not scare them away; that wasn't my intent." She explained sadly, as though she took the flower's disappearance to heart. It made no sense to me that any creature could be afraid of Toriel. "IT COULDN'T HAVE BEEN YOUR FAULT, MA'AM! YOU'RE TOO NICE, AND SURELY THE FLOWER KNOWS THAT! IT WILL APPEAR AGAIN EVENTUALLY." I told her with a reassuring smile. She seemed cheered up by my words, a beautiful smile of her own gracing her face. "You are sweet, Papyrus. Would you like to come in for some tea and pie?" She offered graciously, to which I nodded. It may not have been spaghetti but… "THAT SOUNDS WONDERFUL, MS. TORIEL!"

…And before we knew it, we were in her kitchen drinking Golden Flower Tea and conversing over butterscotch-cinnamon pie. Toriel was an outstanding monster in her own right, and I was grateful that I discovered her when I came to visit the Ruins after the barrier broke. She had become a great friend in the short time I had known her. But as expected, she asked the question I least wanted to answer. "So how is your brother Sans doing?" My body betrayed me as I tensed immediately. Looking anywhere but at her, I considered my response. "HE'S BEEN...SLEEPING A LOT." I picked my words carefully, suddenly extremely interested in my tea.

Toriel had always been quite interested in my brother's well-being… though despite my insistence, neither monster would make the move to meet the other. But even so, I couldn't tell her the truth. I'd never been a good liar, and I knew that it would be as clear as day to the goat queen. "I see." To my relief, she pressed no further, but the atmosphere became awkward quickly as neither of us filled the silence. As much as I wanted to tell her, even to lift the burden slightly… well, I just couldn't. I was grateful when she began to clear the table of plates. "THANK YOU FOR THE TEA, MS. TORIEL! I WILL PASS ON YOUR BEST WISHES TO MY BROTHER." I bowed graciously to the motherly monster, my scarf flapping behind me with the action. "No, thank you Papyrus… Just one thing before you go. If you need anybody to talk to, I'll always be here." She explained with a just as motherly smile. I felt a familiar pang as I turned to leave. I… had to get home to my brother, I couldn't stay any longer.

It was getting dark by the time I made it to our new home in New Home. "I'M HOME, BROTHER!" I shouted before walking into the kitchen, not waiting for a response. I wouldn't get one anyway. "O-OH!" I exclaimed bashfully when I realized I'd left my half-finished pasta and spaghetti sauce on the stove. Oh well, they'd be good when I cooked them fully, right? I turned the dial on the stove before I headed back into the main part of the house. Pausing a moment at the TV, I turned it on before walking up the stairs.

I sighed as I reached Sans' room, not looking forward to the trial that awaited me. But there was no trial too great for the Great Papyrus, and it wasn't in my nature to leave things undone. "SANS! IT'S TIME TO GET UP!" I called as I knocked on the door, only to hear a muffled groan on the other side. It was going to be one of those days, I noted with a groan of my own. Turning the door knob, I turned on the light began my journey past the labyrinth of socks and miscellaneous goods strewn across Sans' floor. I'd always intended to clean it up… but with the way things were now, it was probably better to leave things the way they were. I wished I could go back to the days where my biggest concerns were nagging my brother about socks on the floor. "SANS! YOU CAN'T SLEEP ALL DAY!" I exclaimed, pulling the blanket off of the monster in question. "mfffgh." His response was muffled by pillow as he rolled away from me.

…Sans had been doing well for the first month post-Underground. But as soon as that first month ended, he had begun to decline rapidly. At first he was just exhausted. Then, he got up later despite my insistence. Normally, I would say that lazy Sans was the most comforting sight I'd see as I knew all was right in the world when Sans was… well, Sans. But then he stopped joking and I knew it was serious. He stopped going to Grillbys, stopped playing pranks, stopped eating… and finally, he stopped getting up at all. If I left him, he would probably sleep all day…if he even slept at all given he had been having nightmares ever since the barrier broke.

I still didn't know the reason for the change; I just… wanted my brother back. I'd done what research I could on the topic, even going as far as to visit a human library. All of his symptoms seemed to lead back to a severe depression. But I didn't know what could've caused it, as I thought that the worst was definitely behind us. At first he was finally opening up to me, telling me of some of the trials and horrors he had undergone in saving monsterking. But as soon as that month passed… he was gone, as if we'd made no progress at all.

And I… was struggling to pretend that everything was okay. I didn't talk to anybody about it; everybody had bigger things to deal with and I felt like I was bothering them. Undyne was busy adapting to the demands of her new position and monsters all over New Home and the human lands were falling down with no cure in sight. Alphys, on the other had was desperately trying to solve this dilemma with no cure in sight. And Toriel… well, she was still grieving. In comparison, my brother's issues with 'depression' were small. The last thing any of them needed was to see was my positivity fail, as it was probably just as much of a comfort to them as Sans being lazy was to me. Anyway, I could attract more bees with honey than with vinegar, as the human saying went. Not that I understood why one would WANT to attract bees.

Anyway, it was my job as both Sans' brother and PHU to help him work through it. But as time went on it was becoming hard not to think about how bad of a job I was doing at both. "BROTHER! IT'S SPAGHETTI AND MTT NIGHT! COME ON, IT WILL BE FUN! THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AFTER ALL, CREATES THE BEST FINE-FLAXEN SILKEN SPAGHETTI OF ALL TIME!" I explained encouragingly, as it was after all our assigned spaghetti and MTT night…though the assignment was mostly on my part as he had never actually agreed to it. "i don't feel up to it, paps." He finally answered, but I'd expected that kind of answer and the Great Papyrus does not take no for an answer. Steading myself, I prepared to unleash my ultimate-secret-brother convincing technique.

"PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE BROTHER!" I begged, desperate on both my own part and his. This wasn't healthy in the slightest. With a groan he finally rolled over to face me, trademark smile on his face. But I knew better; it was a smile that hid pain, and sorrow… a mask that he kept up no matter the circumstance. Such was the result of living through timelines of torture that nobody but him could remember. But his expression seemed to soften when he saw the hope on my own face. "okay, i give up. not even the hero of the underground can resist you, bro." I knew he hadn't meant it that way, but I couldn't help how my heart dropped when he mentioned giving up. At least my super-secret brother convincing technique hadn't failed. "EXC ELLENT! THEN UP WE GO!" I offered a hand which he took, standing up with and stretching. Pleased at my success, I took his jacket from the nearby table and tossed it to him. Grudgingly, he put it on.

"LET'S GO! ONWARDS TO THE LIVING ROOM!" Giving him no chance to respond, I grabbed his hand and led him down the stairs at a pace faster than he would appreciate. "woah, pap. give these old bones a rest." I couldn't help but smile at the joking tone in his voice. The evening was already looking to be a good one at this rate. "YOU WAIT HERE, BROTHER! I'LL GET THE SPAGHETTI READY." Helping him up, I paused when I heard what was on the TV…

"Good afternoon, humans and monsters. This is MTT news, brought to you by our sponsor, none other than everybody's favourite: Mettaton! Every evening and morning on MTT channel!" None other than a human reported from a set that looked suspiciously familiar to the old MTT set. "Now for our top story: Monsters are continuing to fall all over New Home. We have a reporter live on the scene; reporter, how is the clinic looking from your perspective?" She asked, as the screen shifted to a view of the lab, where I had been not hours earlier. Inside of it, the reporter (a vulkin) seemed to be chasing after Alphys as it weaved through various monsters to keep up. "Well, it seems really busy! None other than the Royal Scientist, Dr. Alphys is on the case. In fact, she's right here! Alphys! Would you like to tell the monsters how your work on the cure is progressing?" The vulkin with a microphone sticking out of its head shouted as it chased after a fearful looking Alphys retreating through the wards. "I-I'm doing my best. We're…really busy!" She exclaimed nervously, speeding up her pace to get away from the eager vulkin reporter. But before long, it stopped abruptly before a very pissed off looking Undyne. "Personnel only, punk!" She exclaimed with a wicked looking grin as a spear materialized in her hand.

The screen quickly panned back to the MTT set. "…and there you have it! In other news, Asgore is currently discussing countermeasures with the government on prevention of the 'falling' from spreading as human-monster contamination has not been confirmed. But as there have been a few reported cases of humans 'growing faint', the government feels the need for a concentrated response. As for weather, air quality continues to be poor around the Ebott area; those with lung conditions or immune disorders should stay indoors…" Quickly, I changed the channel to MTT cooking. The last thing Sans needed was to hear the negativity that was present on the news. "they're still falling, huh?" He asked, looking curiously up at me. "Y-YES! BUT ALPHYS HAS IT UNDER CONTROL, DON'T YOU WORRY BROTHER!" I stuttered before making my retreat into the kitchen to avoid having this conversation. "AND NO NAPPING!" I called over my shoulder as I grabbed a spoon to stir the over-boiling spaghetti.

So the humans were worried about the falling too… Were they going to block us in again? Make another barrier so that our people could never meet again? The idea brought me sadness as I enjoyed meeting the humans (even though the majority avoided New Home). It had only gotten worse since the monsters began to fall since the humans didn't want to fall either. But if they blocked us off… where would we drive? How would we go to the beach, or visit the great human library? I only hoped that Asgore would keep the worst from happening. There would be no peaceful way to break a second barrier… and we were lucky that the humans still didn't know how the first broke to begin with.

I drained the finally cooked spaghetti before plating and pouring the probably-overheated sauce over the noodles. Hopefully my brother would enjoy this batch as I put my heart and soul into its creation… even though I accidentally half cooked it and left it. While monsters didn't need to eat, it was certainly comforting to see my brother doing anything besides sleeping. I didn't even know if I was helping him…because he didn't seem to get any better as time went on. I was considering consulting human doctors for help but I was unsure if they would be able to help. Emotion and feeling in monsters are a lot more important to health than in humans and depression in monsters might be completely different. After all, all monsters are made of is kindness and magic. But if even my brother was made of kindness and magic, maybe there was a chance he'd just get better. After all, I'm more kindness than magic so I'd make the best monster to help!

"BROTHER! I PRESENT TO YOU MY ULTIMATE SPAGHETTI!" I declared as I entered the room, stopping short at the haunted expression on his face as he stared blankly at the TV. That distant look was all too familiar… and I recognized it as when he was reliving another timeline in his memory. "SANS!" I placed the spaghetti on the couch before gently shaking him. "oh… pap. sorry, bro." He apologized, orienting himself before fixing his gaze on the spaghetti. "i fettucini you've made some spaghetti." With a grin, he picked up the plate before examining it. Watching eagerly, I saw as he slowly raised a forkful of spaghetti to his mouth. "is this… ketchup sauce?" He asked after a moment of consideration. "WHY YES IT IS, BROTHER! I FIGURED YOU'D LIKE IT!" I exclaimed joyously as I took my place on the couch beside him. It was my best experiment yet; combining Sans' two favourite things: spaghetti and ketchup! Surely this would cheer him up!

...However as we watched Mettaton EX cook with glitter and an overwhelming amount of sugar, Sans only pushed his spaghetti around his plate after his initial taste. "DID I TELL YOU WHERE I WENT TODAY, BROTHER? I SAW THE FLOWER AGAIN, AND VISITED THE QUEEN IN THE UNDERGROUND! SHE SENDS HER BEST WISHES!" I explained, leaving out the part about the fallen monsters. At the mention of the flower he seemed to become concerned. "you should stay away from that flower, bro." He told me, although he'd told me the same the first time I mentioned it. I didn't know what the flower had done to worry my brother but… "BROTHER, IT NEEDS A FRIEND! IT WAS REALLY SAD TODAY." Seeing the flower today only doubled my resolve to befriend it. After all, even the most solitary creature needed a friend and there would be no better monster to do so than the Great Papyrus. It hadn't even done anything bad; it just acted in a not very nice way! But, taking a page from Sans' book, I was chilled to the bones by his next words: "that flower tried to kill us over a few timelines." Though it was left unsaid as my brother loved me too much to say it; the words still hung in the air: 'and we both know what happened last time you tried to befriend a murderer.'