San's empty expressionless eyes never faded as time passed, matched by the lack of emotion inside. It hadn't gone, the body, it was still sitting there in a messy display. He had not been gentle. As always here the light flooding in through the windows was bright and welcoming though he didn't care about that now. Even as he stared at it, the destroyed form of the one he had sworn to kill he couldn't muster anything. His earlier disgust, hate, fear, they had all left. Had he just been a vessel all along? How long had his own emotions been crushed under the weight of what he had to do. How long had he been filled with the strength of others, their will and feelings. Certainly long enough that he had forgotten how to feel for himself it seemed. The question lingered in his mind, what next? What comes next? He had acted the part of the arbitrator but now that he had killed Frisk… He stood up from his crouched position, if she really wasn't coming back this was his new world. He thought for a moment that maybe he should tell the king what had happened. But without a soul to show for it what was the point, besides even if they did get past the barrier now he would never be able to forgive the humans. His stride was casual as he walked down towards the end of the judgement hall that Frisk had come from. "Hey bro…" He whispered to the scarf that still rested under his chin. "You were right…" The warm light streaming through the stained glass windows felt as cold as ice now. "She did have some good left in her, y-you were right to believe, I should have known you couldn't be wrong you were always so cool b-bro." He braced himself on the far wall taking a deep breath. "L-Lets go home Papyrus… I… know a shortcut heh…" but before he could take another step, the world as he knew it was gone.
She knew he couldn't follow her into her memories. The San's that she had seen must have been nothing more than a creation of her mind. That didn't stop his visage from shocking her leaving her with a deep feeling of dread. She opened her eyes that had shut in fear, but this is not at all what she had expected to see. The looming height of the cavern stretched before her eyes and it was then she noticed she was no longer floating around in a void but lying on firm ground. Her fear must have caused her to try to run, and the only place she could think of then was to her save point. 'This isn't the judgement hall.' She thought almost idly she laid there for a couple more seconds before the implication of that hit her. "I'm back!" her joy filled voice rings out, echoing off the cold stone walls. This was all familiar yes she had done all this before more than once. "Everyone is alive! My Friends, Mom they're back." Her running came to a halt though as she walked through the first familiar door into the ruins and spotted a single golden flower sticking up out of a grassy patch.
It wasn't long before the flower spotted her too. "Howdy there, you must be new to the underground. My name is F-Flowey no, I know you, you came back. All the way here, just to, just to… No, you're F-Frisk right? You wouldn't hurt your best friend would you…?" it said weakly, its face morphing into one of fear. "No I remember I still remember. You killed everyone. You are…Chara aren't you…? Why did you come back here? Just to kill me? I'm sorry really I'm sorry I didn't mean anything. I never wanted to hurt you Chara I just wanted to be friends with you I didn't want you to leave."
"You're the one, you made me do this." her voice spoke almost of its own volition a dark edge seeping into her words. "I should kill you right now shouldn't I…Asriel?" her hand reached for her knife but she didn't find it. Instead her hand grasped a rough wooden branch. Its coarse texture once again reminded her that she didn't have to kill anymore. "No! No I won't kill you. I'm going to save you this time, I will I don't want to kill anyone."
The flowers face went from one of fear to confusion. It was like two different people were fighting over one body. "You reset didn't you?" he didn't know why it took so long to come to this realization but now the memories made sense, why he seemed to remember monster after monster being turned to dust at the same girls hands who had just pledged not to kill anyone. "And now you are back here all the way at the beginning. No love, no friends. I think it's you who should be worried about being killed. Heheheh… haha…. HAHAHAHA! You'll never be able to kill me now Frisk, you, and I will get to play here together forever like BEST FRIENDS should."
It was Frisks turn to be afraid as the circle of bullets swirled around her rapidly leaving no chance for her escape. She almost laughed at the irony, all the people she and killed and every horrible thing she had done and now she was about to pay for it when she had finally decided to stop and be kind instead. 'I guess San's was right, I guess I really can't escape my sins.' She doesn't try to move or struggle simply resigning herself to her fate and her best friend's cruel laugh.
The skeletons eyes opened and he realized it was his own shrill cry of despair that had woken him. His eye flared blue with hate, hate for the one who had put him in this state, hate for the one that had made all of his friends disappear. The feelings he had thought were long gone from him were back in force. He threw off the cloth that lay over him as it restricted his body he curled up against the backing of his bed he drew a hand up to his face feeling the wetness there. It was a simple noise that changed everything. He heard what sounded like a pan being put down and footsteps heading his way. Like a lightning bolt he jumped out of his bed throwing open the door.
"San's? I thought I heard you shouting I know I said we wouldn't have spaghetti again tonight but that's no need to get so w-ah!" before Papyrus could finish his sentence his shorter brother practically slammed into him holding him tight.
"Papyrus your back… I thought you were gone forever bro. I didn't think it would actually work." Sans spoke softly trying to wrap his mind around what had just happened. If he didn't know better, if he didn't know anything about timelines and saves he would have thought it had all been just a bad dream. Maybe ignorance was bliss but he had to live with the knowledge that he had seen his brothers dust scattered over the orange scarf that was his favorite part of his battle body.
Papyrus stopped for a minute confused at his brother's actions, but as far as he knew he hadn't even left Snowdin in weeks this had to be another joke his mischievous brother was pulling. He decided to cut him off before he could. "The only thing not working here is you lazy bones. How do you ever expect to catch a human if you are being so noisy and lazy?" he asks smiling as he feels a small chuckle come from San's. He never could resist a bad joke. Now let's go, Undyne would never talk to me again if we let a human slip past when we were supposed to be on duty. Then I'll never get into the royal guard and be famous. I'll have to rely on my internet career. Oh no, but that troll is still around, that would be the worst thing ever!"
"Don't worry bro, I don't think he'll be bothering you for a while." Everything was almost back to normal, maybe it really was a dream? 'A reset…' his mind flickered to the notes he had made while studying that strange flower his brother had told him about. Resets allowed them to go back in time but he knew about them, he could remember if only a little bit. 'If that was all real, and this is a reset then…' "Bro, I have something I need to take care of, I'll meet back up with you at your post." He wouldn't stand by and let it happen again he had a second chance to save everyone he wouldn't stand idly by and let the human take everything he loved in this world away from him again. He was determined to stop her.
"I need to go mom, I need to leave the ruins." She pleaded with the motherly monster that stood before her baring her way. Small burns covered her body, the same fire that had saved her shortly before from Flowey. 'If only she knew.' She thought coldly but the flickering fire magic that surrounded her no longer came close to harming her. Toriel stood tall in front of her but despite their size difference it was clear who was afraid her. Not only that but Frisk knew she couldn't bear to hurt her anymore. A deep pang of guilt cut like a knife into her soul as she remembered how she had taken advantage of that caring nature of hers to kill her not so long ago. She knew no matter what happened she would live with these regrets until the day she let death finally take her. "I know, you just want to protect me…" her body was hot from the blinding flames on either side of her. "I know you are afraid I will die. But I need to go…I love you mom, please." She hated the pained expression on Toriel's face but let out a small sigh of relief as she relented.
"You are stronger than I thought my child, I am sorry for this. I know that you would be unhappy living here now, I feared for your safety so I tried to keep you against your will." She knelt down so that she was at eye level with the one she was about to say goodbye to. She wanted to let her know how much she would miss her, that she really would have cared for her like her own child. She couldn't though. She couldn't bear the thought of seeing her anymore. The possibility that she would die at the hands of her ex-husband or any of the multitude of monsters out there sickened her. Her only hope was the request she had made to the mysterious man behind the door. The one she had asked to watch over any humans that came through. As long as he was around she knew this innocent one would be safe. "Go now my child, but I have one last request to ask of you. When you leave here do not re-" a loud bang on the far door cut her off. "It, seems we have a visitor." She says confused, the door had been locked for ages and It had been a long time since anyone had come to it. "Let us go greet them, perhaps it's a friend?"
"Maybe." The child in the striped shirts voice seemed more than a little uncertain. It wasn't that she didn't know who was at the door far from it, there was only one person that could be. They reached the door and Toriel pulled it open. It seemed she also had an idea of who it might be. She squinted her eyes as they adjusted to the blinding light reflecting off of the snow a steep contrast from the dark tunnel they had been fighting in. She didn't have long to focus on that though, in front of her stood the grinning face of exactly the person she had been expecting. His cold gaze pierced her as he stood there silently. She heard Toriel next to her questioning what he was making all that noise about, and after that introductions began. Though his words seemed pleasant enough that gaze never lost its focus on her.
"Don't worry, I will take care of her from here. I'll keep an eyesocket out for her." He spoke finishing their impromptu meeting. The relief he felt was immense to see her alive but he didn't let it show. It may have been petty but he wanted to strike fear and uncertainty into the child that stood there as much as he could. As he quickly realized if he killed her now he would be the bad guy. So what little revenge he could have was worth the effort. "Come on kid. I'll show you around."
He took her hand much like Toriel had but his grip was cold and bone-y far from comforting. She heard the door to the ruins close behind her, her last chance at escape vanishing in an instant. When they had walked a good ways off the beaten path into the woods she finally gained the confidence to speak. "W-Where are we going?" she asked but received no response they walked a little farther until finally he let go of her turning around to speak.
"You couldn't just be happy could you?"
The question surprised her and confirmed her fears, much like Flowey he remembered. "W-What do you mean…?"
He shook his head in what appeared to be frustration. "That look you gave me, back in the hallway. You knew me before. We were friends and you didn't come back to fight me again. Why? Why leave that all behind our friendship, everyone's freedom. Why would you bring us all back here to kill us?"
Any response she could have been formulating caught in her throat at that. That was exactly what she had wanted to know. Just like Flowey had before her she just wanted to know what would happen. She had helped them all to the surface so many times she just wanted to know what would happen if she took a different route. If this is where it got her she wished she could turn it all back to forget everything that had happened. She had had a good life.
"Nothing to say huh?" his pupils vanished leaving a terrifying smiling visage on the face they had gone from. "Do you think that you are above consequences kid? That you can just do whatever you want and get away with it with a little reset?" an out of place laugh came from him but it contained no mirth. "You're wrong. I know what you did and what you could do again. That cute little kid thing is all an act isn't it?" he put his hand on top of her head patting it softly. "You aren't going to get away with it again. You may be sinless here but," he dropped down to one knee his hand shifting to hold her chin so she had to look him right in the eye. "I, will, never, forgive you. Dirty brother killer." With that his pupils reappeared and another laugh escaped him just as cold as the first. "Now what do you say we go and make our way back to the surface, I think it's about time we all go free don't you Frisk?" he took her hand again squeezing almost caringly but it was clear this was all a rouse. "Oh and hey kid, don't think about resetting. It doesn't matter how many times you come back I'll always be waiting for you. Same place as always. This is your last chance, mess this up give me one reason to wipe your existence out of this world and I'll send you straight to hell where you belong." All of this was spoken with a casual tone, like there wasn't a more natural thing in the world he could say." I think we are going to have a GREAT time don't you kid?" none of his threats were empty. It was time he took determination into his own hands and stop letting everything pass him by. He could almost thank the kid for this. He felt it burning inside him a flame that refused to die. And with this new tool he knew it really was going to be a bright future for monster kind.