It was the same 'place' as before. The same empty, desolate space where not even light existed. There was no way to tell up from down, or left from right, other than from the place you were standing. If there were a floor and ceiling to this place, they were discernable from each other.
Like always he waited, and like always, they came.
Looking up from his hands that rested tensely on his lap were the outlines of faces so familiar, it would take a miracle to forget. Each of the four outlines had their own distinct silhouette and color, and each one was of a human child. And then, all at once the children were gone, and standing in their places were adults, each keeping the color the child that once stood there had.
"Stop this!" He cried.
They didn't respond, they never responded. They didn't even meet his eyes, theirs always veiled by shadows of hair.
He was no longer in the empty space. Now he stood on a battlefield, monsters and humans fighting on all sides of him. Standing before him, no longer just an outline, was one of the four. Shadows were splayed across the top half of their face, hiding their eyes from his.
"Please, stop!" He pleaded despairingly. "I don't want to fight!"
It was a vain attempt, but it never worked.
The human raised an arm unhesitantly. He watched as scarlet light gathered in a sphere in the center of their palm. Then that sphere of scarlet light was hurtling towards him, just barely stopped in time by a glowing shield of purple. He shivered, knowing what came next, anticipating their next move with sorrow laced anxiety. Theirs raised both hands, palms positioned just inches apart. Within a heartbeat, a glowing dot of crimson formed. It started small, but all too quickly grew as they moved their hands farther apart. He raised his barrier up once more, but it never stopped the backlash. Pain seared into his entire body, marrow deep.
Gaster woke with a start, head still resting in the crook of his folded arms. He was alone in the lab, not another soul to be found. That still didn't help chase away the lingering panic any faster. Not that having someone did either. At least alone, no one got to see him like this; an anxious, shivering mess.
It was only a dream, nothing more.
The scientist dubbed his bleary eyesockets with the arm of one sleeve. Despite just waking up, he didn't feel very rested. He felt even more tired than he had before dozing off.
"The war ended decades ago, so why do these blasted memories still insist on haunting me?" He griped.
He already knew the answer, but didn't feel like admitting it to himself this time. One finger came to trace the crack on the right side of his face, running from the bottom of his eyesocket to the top corner of his mouth. The left side of his face wasn't much better, a partner cracks from the top of his left eye up. They no longer hurt, but they were still grim reminders none the less. As were the holes in the center of both his hands.
"I shouldn't dwell on the past, Gillby'll have my tail if I do." He mused in light humor.
Glancing at the clock, he balked at how late it had become. He must have lost track of time working, because he knew he hadn't been napping for very long, he be even more exhausted if he had. He needed to get home, Sans and Papyrus would be getting hungry soon. And hungry kids was a recipe for a kitchen disaster.
Gaster got up and gather up all the papers strewn hazardously across his desk and began dividing them up into two piles. One pile he shoved into a drawer, the other was tossed into a bin on his way out. At least it wouldn't take him long to get home.
Flipping off the lights, He teleported from his lab/office in the center of the hotlands to his home located near the outskirts of the capital. Opening the door, he was greeted by blue blur tackling into him, nearly knocking him backward.
"Hello to you too, Sans," Gaster said with a chuckle. His eldest son looked up at him with wide eyesockets and his usual large grin.
"Dad's home, Dad's home!" He cheered.
Papyrus made a little noise of agreement from his place sitting by the living room entrance.
"Yes, yes, it's good to see the two of you too, now let's get inside so I can make dinner. Because unless Grillby stopped by or one of you two miraculously learned to cook, neither of you two should have eaten since lunch."
"Tebi-a honest, I'm pretty sure the kitchen wouldn't survive another round." Sans said with a pun.
Gaster rolled his eyes endearingly as Papyrus made angry baby noises in protest to his brother's humor. Their youngest didn't take to well to his brother's comedic habits most of the time, where as he could at least tolerate his eldest son's antics. Most of the time.
"I would love to learn where he got that sense of humor from, but that may remain a mystery until the end of time." Gaster thought.
"Sans, you and your brother will be spending tomorrow and most likely a chunk of the following day at Grillby's, I'm going to be working late." Gaster informed them from his spot in the kitchen.
He'd decided to make them Sans's favorite; pasta, and was in the middle of boiling the noodles.
"I want you to collect everything you think the two of you will need and put it in your backpack, okay?"
There was no reply for a pause.
And then an "Okay Dad, I will." From Sans.
Gaster let out a happy sight. His job as the royal scientist wasn't an easy one. Being tasked with finding a way to free all of monster kind from their underground prison, and by the king of monsters himself, was no easy task. It was hard when the hopes of everyone rested squarely on your research. If it hadn't been for his dear friend Grillby and his beloved sons, He might have bent and caved in under the daunting pressure a long time ago.
I'm very fortunate. He thought with a smile.