Wow...just wow. I honestly didn't expect to get as much of a response as I did for this story.

If anyone thought that the first chapter seemed off in the information it gave, think about it. Doing a genocide run on your first try would make anyone think Undertale as a whole was off...in my lame opinion, anyway.

Review responses!

undertale1998: Before Mistral was a skeleton, he was Harry Potter. As for the broken soul...it will be explained in a chapter or two.

Guest: Yes, Hogwarts will get involved in the future. There is a firm maybe on the Dumbledore bashing.

Guest: Yeah, the Harry Potter world will end up getting involved.

Guest: What you claim to be a Homestuck reference is entirely coincidental. I actually had to google 'homestuck 413' to actually figure out what it was I was referencing... In all honesty, I this was my thought process: "Hey, I'll make the death count up in the 400's. Okay, why not? I'll put in a one. Now...a three'll be good here. That looks fine."

Also, thank you to crazy dragon ninja, King of Geth, Andros, FGM, KorinaDragonClaw, Call-Me-A-Punk-Whenever, and Confused Hitman for reviewing as well!

Anyway, on with the story!

P.S. - I still don't own Undertale or Harry Potter.

Mistral was sprawled across the couch, staring vacantly at the ceiling. With a sigh, he held his hand over his head. Two dots of light that served as the skeleton's pupils darted from bone to bone as he attempted to mental review them. Suddenly, the pinpricks disappeared without a trace.

The young skeleton jolted upright, green and blue tears flowing down his face. "oh god!" He stared at his hand, his perfectly solid, (definitely not melting) hand. Mistral choked a sob as he held the hand to his chest. He…he had died! He had liquefied due to wanting something too much! He was a bubbling puddle in Hotland, not alive and in his home! He had to get Sans and –!

"oh, god! papyrus!" Without hesitating, the skeleton pulled on his magic to form a shortcut, closing his eye sockets for a moment –

– and opening them again at Sans's sentry station/hotdog stand.

"yeah, go right on through. my bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone."

Without thinking, the young skeleton vaulted over the station's counter-like wall and tackled his brother in a hug. "s-sans! what's going on? i-i died! i saw you watch me die! how the hell –"

"language," Sans managed to choke out as Mistral held him in a death grip.

"i don't care!" Mistral snapped. "i died! how did –" He gasped when his pupil lights landed on the Brother Killer. The skeleton screeched, trying to use Sans as a shield. "get that thing away from me!"

Sans sighed. "misty, i'll explain in a bit. get behind my station. human, behind that conveniently-shaped lamp."

Mistral ran as fast as he could before launching himself over the counter. His impact caused a few jars of relish to shake. He poked his head up, his eye sockets black, to see the Brother Killer standing behind the lamp.

The sound of Papyrus's quick footsteps caused Mistral to gape in shock. He had never been so glad to have a fused jaw line along with his completely movable mouth. Over the years, Papyrus's jaw had actually dropped to the floor many times when he was startled or stunned.

"sup, bro?" Sans asked, grinning.

"YOU KNOW WHAT 'SUP', BROTHER!" Papyrus yelled. "IT'S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T RECALIBRATED. YOUR. PUZZLES! YOU JUST HANG AROUND OUTSIDE YOUR STATION! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?!"

"staring at this lamp," Sans said, hoping to appeal to Papyrus's 'he's too lazy for this to be important' senses. "it's really cool. do you wanna look?"

Papyrus began stomping his foot angrily. "NO! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT! WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES THROUGH HERE?!"

"then they'll b-be in for your p-puzzles!" Mistral called out, standing up casually. His pupil lights returned, but just barely.

Papyrus turned on his heels. "MISTRAL! WHAT ARE YOU DOING SO FAR AWAY FROM SNOWDIN?! IT'S DANGEROUS OUT HERE WITH THE ROGUE HUMANS!"

Mistral shrugged. "ask sans."

The tallest skeleton turned again, this time glaring at Sans. "WELL?"

Sans shrugged as well. "we've been staring at this lamp. it might just help you."

"SANS!" Papyrus yelled. "YOU ARE NOT HELPING AT ALL! YOU LAZYBONES, YOU ARE CORRUPTING MISTRAL! ALL YOU DO IS SIT AND BOONDOGGLE! YOU GET LAZIER AND LAZIER EVERY DAY!"

Mistral blinked in realization. He knew why Sans was so lazy. If what he thought had happened had actually happened…if everything could be undone within seconds…

Suddenly, he sympathized a lot more towards his oldest brother's habits.

"hey, take it easy. i've gotten a ton of work done today." A smirk crossed Mistral's face as he realized what was happening. "a skele-ton." Mistral laughed as Sans turned towards him and the lamp, winking.

"SANS!" Papyrus reprimanded, unable to keep himself from grinning.

"come on. you're smiling."

"I AM AND I HATE IT!"

Mistral glanced back at the lamp and noticed that the Brother Killer was still giggling at Sans's joke. He narrowed his eye sockets suspiciously, making the 'I'm watching you' motion. The Brother Killer tilted their head slightly.

"wow, sounds like you're really working yourself…down to the bone." Sans shrugged in Mistral's direction again, making the cloaked skeleton chuckle.

Papyrus groaned. "I WILL ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES! AS FOR YOUR WORK, SANS, PUT A LITTLE MORE…BACKBONE INTO IT!" With that, Papyrus ran off, 'NYEH-HEH-HEH'ing all the way. As an afterthought, he ran back for a moment, yelled a final, "HEH!", then ran off.

Sans and Mistral were quiet for a moment, Mistral staring at the Brother Killer with empty sockets once more. Finally, Sans declared, "ok, you can come out now."

The Brother Killer came out from behind the lamp, immediately going over to talk to Mistral…who backed away. "h-hey, stay back!" When they took another step, Mistral bolted, charging off in the direction of the Ruins.

Sans sighed, turning to the saddened human. "sorry, misty's not the most open skeleton…especially with someone that hurt people he cares about. he's just a little on edge…and a bit bonely, tibia honest."

The human nodded and began walking away.

Remembering something, Sans called, "actually, hey…"

They stopped, turning to face Sans.

"hate to bother ya, but can you do me a favor? i was thinking…misty and paps have both been kind of down lately…papyrus's never seen a human before, and seeing you might just making his day…and, y'know, seeing paps happy might make misty's day, too."

A look of fear crossed their face.

"don't worry. paps isn't dangerous, even if he tries to be. mistral, on the other hand…" Sans trailed off, hoping he got the point across. "thanks a million. i'll be up ahead." With that, he walked after Mistral.

He caught up to his brother fairly quickly. Hesitantly, Sans rested a hand on his shoulder. In almost a whisper, Mistral spoke. "w-why am i still here?"

"the kid killed everyone," Sans said softly, looking dejected. "i was the last line of defense between them and asgore. i was barely managing to hold them off, even with your soul." The skeleton closed his eye sockets solemnly. "then…they gave up."

Mistral blinked. "w-what?" he asked, shocked.

"they dropped their knife. said they were gonna to reset. i had to kill 'em, then they'd try again, making sure not to kill anyone."

"that…that brother killer can rewind time?!" Mistral yelped.

Sans sighed. "the kid's promised to not hurt anyone…sure being around them chills me right down to the bone, but did ya see their LV?"

"no, i was a bit busy freaking out about the brother killer being a few feet away!" Mistral yelled sarcastically. He took a deep breath, despite not needing oxygen, and said, "and now's not the time to be telling puns."

The grin on Sans's face became strained. "look, all i'm asking is for you to give them a chance. can ya do that?

Mistral pulled up his cloak's hood, mumbling something.

"i'm sorry, i didn't catch that."

"…i won't run screaming in the other direction."

Sans sighed. "well, it's a start."

"MISTRAL!" Papyrus yelled as he saw his brothers come into view. "UNDYNE CALLED ME EARLIER ASKING WHEN YOU WANTED TO HAVE THAT COOKING LESSON!"

The youngest skeleton gaped for a moment, still thankful for his fused jaw. "aren't i the one teaching undyne how to cook?"

"NONSENSE! YOU MAY BE ABLE TO TEACH UNDYNE HOW TO COOK SURFACE FOOD PROPERLY, BUT YOU STILL DON'T KNOW THE FINE ART OF INFUSING ENOUGH MAGIC INTO FOOD THAT YOU CAN EAT IT!"

"actually, i'd say he's doing just fine."

"no, i'm not, sans," Mistral dramatically sighed. "i just find it a little hard to drop the flavor that others would usually taste. in fact, you could say that i find it a little…impastable."

Sans chuckled as Papyrus groaned. "SO…" Papyrus said, hoping to get back on subject. "AS I WAS SAYING ABOUT UNDYNE..."

The snow crunched, startling the three skeletons. The Brother Killer was standing on the path, waving at them. Mistral stared at his brothers, unamused, as they began spinning. Once the two stopped, the skeletons pulled Mistral over to join them in a huddle. "OH MY GOD! IS THAT…A HUMAN?!"

All three of them turned towards the Brother Killer. Sans peered behind them. "uhhh…actually, i think that's a rock."

Mistral snickered, but kept his eye sockets on the Brother Killer.

Papyrus's shoulders slumped. "OH."

"hey, what's that in front of the rock?"

The tall skeleton perked up as he noticed the human. "OH MY GOD! IS…IS THAT A HUMAN?"

"…why not."

"yes."

"OH MY GOD! SANS! MISTRAL! I FINALLY DID IT! UNDYNE WILL…I'M GONNA…I'LL BE SO…POPULAR! POPULAR! POPULAR!"

Mistral coughed into his hand, bringing Papyrus back to reality.

Papyrus cleared his non-existent throat before putting on his 'scary' face. "HUMAN! YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU! I WILL THEN CAPTURE YOU! YOU WILL BE DELIVERED TO THE CAPITAL! THEN…THEN!" Papyrus blinked, looking confused. "I'M NOT SURE WHAT'S NEXT. IN ANY CASE…CONTINUE! ONLY IF YOU DARE!" He turned on his heel, letting his grin show, before running away, laughing.

Sans chuckled. "well, that went well."

Mistral nodded.

The Brother Killer looked at the two skeletons uneasily, thrown off by Papyrus.

"don't sweat it, kid. we'll keep an eye socket out for ya. right, mistral?"

The younger of the two skeletons stiffened, his pupil lights vanishing. "y-y-yep!" he stuttered nervously.

Satisfied, Sans began walking away, Mistral bolting after him.

"y'know, i wasn't joking about you trying to be civil with the kid. they're making friends left and right."

"…"

"…i saw 'em actually hugging snowdrake earlier."

"…"

"look, can you promise me something, misty?"

"…what?"

"if the kid doesn't hurt anyone by the time they get by pap, you'll at least give them a shot?"

"…whatever."

"jeez, misty, you're already starting to act like a teen, and you're not even 11 yet!"

"…10 years, 11 months, 15 days."

"…and it's been almost 6 years already, too…you're gettin' old!"

"still younger than you, bonehead."

"hey, i resemble that, numbskull!"

"WHY DID YOU TWO TAKE SO LONG TO GET HERE?" Papyrus asked as he saw his brothers approaching.

Sans shrugged. "decided to walk."

"IT SHOULDN'T HAVE TAKEN YOU TWO SO LONG IF YOU WERE WALKING!"

Before Sans could say anything, Mistral spoke up. "we might have dozed off for a bit."

Papyrus stared at his brothers for a moment before getting yelling once more. "YOU BOTH ARE SO LAZY! YOU BOTH WERE ALREADY NAPPING ALL NIGHT!"

"i think that's called…sleeping."

"everyone does it, papyrus."

"EXCUSES, EXCUSES!" The snow crunched, alerting the skeletons to the arrival of the human. "OH-HO! THE HUMAN ARRIVES! IN ORDER TO STOP YOU, MY BROTHERS AND I HAVE CREATED SOME PUZZLES!"

"question."

Papyrus brought a gloved hand to his face. "YES, MISTRAL?"

"i didn't d-do anything."

"I DECIDED TO GIVE YOU CREDIT AS WELL SO YOU WOULDN'T SEEM AS LAZY AS SANS! AT LEAST HE SET UP HIS PUZZLE…I THINK."

"uh…paps?"

"YES?"

"the human?"

Papyrus grew excited once more, a huge grin spreading across his face. "MY APOLOGIES, HUMAN! AS I WAS SAYING, I THINK YOU WILL FIND THIS PUZZLE…QUITE SHOCKING! FOR YOU SEE, THIS IS THE INVISIBLE…ELECTRICITY MAZE!"

As Papyrus went over the instructions, Mistral fixated on the Brother Killer once more, seeing a small smile on their lips. For a moment, the human made eye contact with Mistral. The youngest skeleton's pupil lights vanished and his brow bones furrowed momentarily. They flinched slightly.

Sans, who had been observing the human as well, looked at his brother and glared. The lights automatically reappeared in Mistral's sockets as he looked at his feet sheepishly.

Papyrus, who had been oblivious to the entire exchange, held up the key to the puzzle, a small orb, announcing, "OK, YOU CAN GO AHEAD NOW." Hesitantly, the human took a step forward…and Papyrus to get electrocuted. Papyrus began stamping his foot again. "SANS! WHAT DID YOU DO!?"

"i think the human has to hold the orb," the skeleton supplied helpfully.

The bad mood Papyrus was in was gone in an instant. "OH, OKAY." He walked through the maze, leaving a trail of footprints. When he got to the human, he said, "HOLD THIS PLEASE!" He threw the orb into the air, letting it land on the human's head, before charging back to his brothers. "OKAY, TRY NOW!"

The human giggled before following the footprints through.

Papyrus put on his scary face again. "INCREDIBLE! YOU SLIPPERY SNAIL! YOU SOLVED IT SO EASILY…TOO EASILY! HOWEVER! THE NEXT PUZZLE WILL NOT BE EASY! IT IS DESIGNED BY MY BROTHER, SANS! YOU WILL SURELY BE CONFOUNDED! I KNOW I AM!" He ran off laughing once more.

Sans grinned and waved the human over. "hey, thanks…my brother seems like he's having fun. by the way, did you see that weird outfit he's wearing?"

Mistral frowned, realizing what Sans was doing.

"we made that a few weeks ago for a costume part."

A snicker escaped from the shorter of the two skeletons.

"he hasn't worn anything else since. hey, misty, what's he keep calling it, again?"

Mistral's laughter stopped. "his 'b-battle body'."

Sans nodded. "man…isn't my brother cool?"

Grinning, the human nodded before continuing on.

"misty, they're really trying, but you're making it harder than it has to be."

"what? i don't know how you can do it, but i'm not gonna forgive a dirty brother killer just because he tried to spare a few Monsters."

"mistral…"

"…look, i'll be at home if you need me. if you want me to willingly be near that human without insulting them in some way, i want to know for sure that they regret it."

"mi-damn it…i just mist him."

Sans grinned as he watched the human walk over to him, eating their nice cream. Since he knew that the kid was going to actually show a sense of humor, he could pull his usual pranks. "i've been thinking about selling treats too. want some fried snow? it's just 5 gold."

The human thought for a moment, then nodded.

"did i say 5 gold? i meant 50 gold."

Still the human nodded.

The smile on Sans's face only grew. "really? how about 5000 gold?"

Nod.

"50000 gold. that's my final offer."

They bowed their head, shaking it.

"what? you don't have the money? hey, that's ok. i don't have the snow."

A smile spread across the human's face, before turning into a confused look. To Sans's surprise, a text box appears right above the kid's head. *You ask where Mistral is.

Sans's grin shrank slightly. "d'you remember the last reset at all?"

Nod.

"…so you remember how mad misty was at you, then?"

Nod.

"he still remembers everything up to his death…poor kid's been terrified that you'd backstab us while me and pap were bein' friendly."

*You ask what Sans means by 'kid'.

Sans sighed. "yeah, misty's just 10, but he'd fight ya if he heard you call him that."

The human froze for a moment before more words flashed into the black text box. *You apologize for killing Mistral during the last timeline.

"kid, i'm not the one to be telling that to. misty's the one locked up in his room right now so he doesn't have to be near you."

They flinched. *You ask Sans how to get there.

"look, misty made a promise that if you don't dust anyone before you fight pap, he'll at least try to be friendly. think you can make it?" The last sentence was said jokingly.

Nod.

The human was gave a silent scream as they fell off of the icy puzzle and onto the snowy ledge below. They noticed that there were three snow sculptures made, lined up in the middle of the platform.

The first one was a muscular figure with Papyrus's head.

The second was a lump of snow with 'sans' written on it with red marker.

The third one was a cartoony, upside-down heart that had been scribbled all over with red marker. Small, hairline cracks littered the icy surface of the heart, but it seemed determined to hold itself together…

The human shook their head, smiling softly as they walked back up to the puzzle. It would be rude of them to keep Papyrus waiting for very long, after all.

They almost cried out in joy as they saw a large sign reading 'Welcome to Snowdin'. They made a bee-line for the shop, knowing it would be best to warm up as soon as possible. When they entered, a rabbit-like Monster, who was standing behind the counter, nodded to them.

*You say hello. The text box appeared, but the rabbit appeared to actually hear something instead of seeing the text.

"Hiya!" she replied. "Welcome to Snowdin! I can't remember the last time I saw a fresh face around here." She gave the human a once-over before frowning. "Where did you come from? The capital?" The bunny-Monster noticed the stripe on their shirt, her expression softening. "You don't look like a tourist. Are you here by yourself?"

The human decided not to answer the question. *You ask the Monster what there is to do here.

"You want to know what to do here in Snowdin? Grillby's has food, and the library has information… If you're tired, you can take a nap at the inn. It's right next door – my sister runs it. And if you're bored, you can sit outside and watch those wacky skeletons do their thing." The human smiled softy. "There's three of 'em…Brothers, I think. The older two just showed up one day and…asserted themselves. The younger one showed up a few years later. The town's gotten a lot more interesting since then."

*You ask why the younger skeleton showed up later.

The shopkeeper shrugged. "No one really knows…I think the first time I saw him was when the lazier skeleton dragged the younger one into Grillby's. He was petrified…like he'd never been inside a restaurant before. Crazy, right?"

The human frowned as they processed that new information.

Mistral raised a bony eyebrow as he watched Papyrus charge excitedly through the front door. Muting the movie he often watched to calm himself down ("c'mon, dragons are cool! they get to actually be in the sky!" "i never said they were lame, misty."), he stared at his brother. "what's got you so happy?"

Before Papyrus could answer, the door opened and the Brother Killer stepped through it. It was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. Even the ambient theme had died, leaving the room in total silence.

"…oh. so papyrus i-invited you here, then?"

They nodded.

Mistral sized the human up, staring right at their chest. After a few moments, he visibly relaxed. "cool," he said, the unease and defensiveness almost completely gone from his voice.

At that, the tension in the room seemed to lessen significantly and the theme began playing once more, as if nothing had happened. The human walked around the living room, looking at different things. They seemed fairly amused by Sans's Quantum Physics/Joke book, as well as the sticky note argument Sans and Papyrus had been having over a single sock left by the TV. Seeing a mess of loose papers surrounding a rock on a plate, they picked one up. It was labeled Bonetrousle.

Papyrus, seeing what it was, grinned widely. "AH…MY SOUL'S FIGHT THEME. EVERY MONSTER HAS THE ABILITY TO CREATE ONE BASED OFF THEIR NORMAL THEME, BUT ONLY A SELECT FEW ACTUALLY PUT THE TIME AND EFFORT INTO COMPOSING A FIGHT THEME. AND I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM ONE OF THEM!"

The human tilted their head curiously. *You ask what Sans's and Mistral's fight themes are.

Papyrus scanned the text box that had appeared out of nowhere, deciding not to question it. "SANS IS TOO LAZY TO ACTUALLY COMPOSE HIS FIGHT THEME. SINCE MISTRAL IS SO YOUNG STILL –"

"and is still in the room."

"– HE WOULD NEED TO SEE SOMETHING REALLY TRAUMATIZING FOR HIS TO EVEN BEGIN TO COME TOGETHER."

Mistral stiffened, not liking where the conversation was going. The theme paused once more. He pulled up his cloak's hood before standing. "if you need me, i'll be practicing." He bolted up the staircase. Now that the human was paying attention, they noticed that there were three doors on the second floor, the bone picture missing entirely. The young skeleton picked the middle door and walked in, slamming the door behind him.

…

Music filled the house once more.

*You ask Papyrus what Mistral is practicing.

"OH, MISTRAL DECIDED TO TAKE UP THE PIANO A FEW MONTHS BACK. I BELIEVE HE WAS INSPIRED WHEN SANS PICKED UP AN INSTRUMENT."

*You ask Papyrus what instrument Sans plays.

The skeleton shuddered. "PLEASE, DON'T REMIND ME OF…"

The human nodded before turning to the kitchen. Their eyes widened as they saw how tall the sink was.

"IMPRESSED?" Papyrus asked, making the human jump. "I INCREASED THE HEIGHT OF MY SINK. NOW I CAN FIT MORE BONES UNDER IT! TAKE A LOOKSY!"

They opened the cabinet (if something that big could even be called that) to see a small, white dog chewing on a bone.

"WHAT?! CATCH THAT MEDDLING CANINE!"

The dog zipped between Papyrus's legs, fleeing the house.

"CURSES!"

Sans and Mistral each poked their heads out of their respective rooms, Sans with a trombone at hand. Mistral, who had his back to the doorway, had somehow moved a large piano just inside of his door The older of the two played a three-note phrase that almost everyone knew meant failure, while the sound of a piano playing a more complex version of the same notes drifted from Mistral's room. Once the notes were finished, both doors closed once more.

"SANS! MISTRAL! STOP PLAGUING MY LIFE WITH INCIDENTAL MUSIC!"

Mistral grinned as he used magic to close his door once more. Luckily, he could easily hear Papyrus over his piano. He was still secretly glad that Undyne had agreed to teach him more than the basics he had learned over the years.

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to focus on practicing anymore with Papyrus and the human hanging out downstairs, Mistral's eye flickered blue and the piano lifted off the ground and hovered into the corner of the room. Once it was set down, the skeleton glanced at the pile of books that covered most of his room's floor space before picking out a single one and beginning to read it.

"AUGH!"

Mistral jumped, banging his skull against the wall. He dropped his book to clutch the throbbing area as he quickly got to his feet and ran to Papyrus's room. His left eye began to glow blue, and his right green, fearing the worst had happened. He threw open the door to see that…Papyrus was wearing his 'date' outfit and the human had their red SOUL bared. Stunned, both of Mistral's eyes flickered before leaving behind empty eye sockets. "…papyrus, what the heck is going on in here?"

"I'M DATING THE HUMAN!"

The younger skeleton blinked once, then twice, his pupil lights reappearing in the process. Deciding that he would be able to hear anything that would happen from downstairs, Mistral sighed. "i don't wanna know. if you need me, i'll be making dinner."

He trudged down the staircase and into the kitchen, pulling out all the ingredients that he knew he needed. Using his magic, he lifted a large soup pot out from the counter's hidden cabinets and up to the sink. Mistral magically turned on the water until he thought it was at a good level before flicking it off and hovering the pot onto the stove. The step-stool that was present in one of the kitchen corners moved itself to stand in front of the oven, allowing the short skeleton to see into and actually work with what would be in the pot. He was just about to pour an opened box of spaghetti noodles in when Papyrus came bursting into the room, human tucked under his arm.

"MISTRAL! THE HUMAN AND I ARE GOING TO ASSIST YOU WITH DINNER!" Papyrus proclaimed, posing heroically.

"…hey, isn't mettaton's show on right now?" Mistral tried, hoping to distract his brother. He didn't want to be near the human, but that didn't mean he wanted the human to suffer from almost tasteless food.

Papyrus's eye sockets widened dramatically. "YOU'RE RIGHT! COME, HUMAN! WE MUST WATCH THE TV TOGETHER!" He charged out of the kitchen. Shortly after, Mistral heard the TV turn on.

Mistral released the breath that he didn't have to hold before continuing on the meal.

"hey, papyrus!" Mistral yelled. "i'm about to do the thing, and you and sans said not to do the thing without one of you in the room, so can you get in here?" Mistral had put the spaghetti and the tomato sauce he had thrown together into two separate bowls, only a few inches away from each other on the counter. Two glasses of milk stood there as well, along with a bottle of ketchup.

"OH, THE HUMAN MUST SEE YOU DO THE THING! COME, HUMAN!" Papyrus sprinted into the kitchen, the human following behind him. "YOU MAY DO THE THING, NOW. I WILL STOP YOU IF IT DOESN'T GO WELL."

The younger skeleton flinched. "o-ok." Mistral closed his eye sockets for a moment in an attempt to focus. The air around him began glowing a faint green, throwing everything into an eerie light. The young skeleton opened his eye sockets once more to reveal that his right eye was glowing a bright green. Slowly, Mistral gestured towards the food, the green aura surrounding him slowly flowing in the direction of the food. It sank into the dishes before slowly fading. Mistral's pupil lights both flicked back to their usual white. "so…h-how'd i do?" he asked nervously.

Papyrus frowned. "I DON'T THINK YOU USED ENOUGH MAGIC. CAN YOU TRY TO ADD A LITTLE MORE?"

Mistral flinched, as if second-guessing his decision. "i-i wanted to m-make sure that there's still s-something left for the human…i'm p-pretty sure they c-can't digest magic very well." The 'I'm trying my best' was left unsaid, but both Papyrus and the human heard it.

The older skeleton looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding. "GREAT THINKING, MISTRAL! I KNEW YOU COULD BE FRIENDLY TO THE HUMAN!"

"yeah…heh heh…h-hey! could the human head upstairs and d-drag sans down here for d-dinner?"

"I DON'T KNOW…" Papyrus said, frowning. "I THINK THEY'D LIKE TO HELP SET OUT THE FOOD YOU WORKED SO HARD TO PREPARE…"

Mistral grimaced, something that didn't go unnoticed by either Papyrus or the human.

"…WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO RETRIEVE SANS, HUMAN?"

Nod. Without saying a word, the human walked out of the kitchen.

An awkward silence grew between the two skeletons as Mistral tried to avoid Papyrus's gaze. Finally, he mumbled, "i'll clear off the table," before bolting.

Papyrus followed his brother, sighing when he saw Mistral actually going through all the sheet music by hand to make sure it was organized. Mistral cleaning something up without prompting only meant one thing. "…WHAT'S WRONG, MISTRAL? AS THE GREATEST BROTHER, I AM REQUIRED TO BE INFORMED OF THINGS THAT ARE IRRITATING YOU."

"s'nothing, papyrus. don't worry about it."

"HOW CAN I NOT WORRY WHEN MY LITTLE BROTHER IS SO OBVIOUSLY NOT ALL RIGHT? YOU ARE CLEANING, MISTRAL!"

The younger skeleton blinked, then stared at the floor. He mumbled something so quietly, Papyrus wasn't able to pick it up. "I APOLOGIZE, WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

Mistral bowed his head. "m'not hungry n'more," he muttered, slurring more than usual. "l'be in m'room." With that, the skeleton set the papers he had been organizing back on the table before sprinting up to his room. At the top of the staircase, he bumped into the human and Sans, but didn't pay attention.

As he watched his brother's retreating form, disappointment and sorrow flashed through Sans's eye sockets. If the human hadn't been paying attention, they might not have even noticed the subtle flicker. Immediately, the text box opened. *You ask if Mistral is going to be okay.

For a brief moment, Sans's mask shattered, revealing the depressed soul underneath. "to tell the truth? i dunno…too much pain from a group kinda makes you hate 'em. i just hope he…" Sans blinked, the mask instantly reassembling. "hey, that's enough 'doom and gloom' for now, huh, kid? i dunno about you, but thinkin' like that gives me a skullache."

A scream of frustration was heard from downstairs.

Sans waved for the human to follow him down the staircase, his usual grin plastered back on his face, before walking down. The human moved to follow, but hesitated as they noticed what appeared to be a small pulsating ball of light present outside of Mistral's room.

(The need to help Mistral fills you with determination. Would you like to save?)

(Saved.)

Mistral still is nervous around the human (who shall remain unnamed during notes until they are actually introduced in the story), but then again, wouldn't you be nervous around someone you watched murder everyone you knew in cold blood that you also discovered somehow had the ability to rewind time? Sans has had who-knows-how-many resets to go through to actually (somewhat) come to terms with the fact that the human can reset with almost no memories left behind, but Mistral's first time through was literally an aborted genocide run. Sans had (or hopefully had) a few neutral and pacifist runs under his belt before the first genocide run.

Music that a Monster's soul plays or that plays in a Monster-inhabited area might end up being important later on, but the headcannon behind why the music was actually heard will be explained.

Normal themes are found anywhere from a month to half a year after a Monster turns 13 in a process that will come into play later on. A normal theme is basically a Monster's soul using its magic to announce who it truly is to the world. It can be used as a way of greeting others, or even scaring others into submission. Fight themes are when a Monster feels confident enough with theirself to begin structuring their fighting style after their soul's song. As they get better at fighting, their Fight theme evolves, becoming more unique. If a Monster fights in a way unlike them, their Fight theme becomes unlike them as well. Being traumatized or pushed passed their breaking point can also cause a Fight theme to change (or form) drastically.

And there is my headcannon for why Papyrus is a terrible cook! It's not that his spaghetti is terrible, it's that only skeletons are able to fully taste the sheer amount of magic that skeletons are forced to put into their food to actually process it. Papyrus just doesn't fully realize that other Monsters can't truly taste the magic (except for Undyne, who is a special case), so he gladly keeps making it the way he makes it.

Sorry for the long A.N., but I just felt like explaining some of the lore. Question: If I made a tumblr blog or something similar for this story, would anyone actually use it to receive tentative update dates and my crazy headcannon lore for this? There wouldn't really be any art from me, but...something to think about.

Please review or P.M. your thoughts to me!