-I wonder if something is missing?-

-Enjoy-


"Grillby's" turned out to be a restaurant, or maybe it was a bar? I had never been in a bar before on the surface, so I didn't have much to compare to. Could monster's even drink alcohol? Well, if a place like this existed, then the answer was probably "yes." In the back of the building, a bartender was standing behind a high counter. His head was on fire. Or, actually, his entire head was fire. And so were his hands. Was his entire body made of fire? He was dressed in a nice suit, but how was it not burning?

Sans put me down as soon as he entered the bar, he made a bee line for the counter, giving the myriad monsters who greeted him a quick nod and wave. The place was full, and I recognized several of the monsters sitting at the tables from my time in the snow forest. The dogs in particular were all gathered around a couple of tables, and their tales thumped their chairs as I waved.

I followed Sans and we took seats on the high stools at the counter.

"Looks like you've made some friends, kid," Sans said as we sat down on the stools.

I nodded. The bartender was giving off a pleasant level of warmth. Would it be rude if I held up my hands towards him to warm them up? I looked at my hands, and then rested them on the table. That would, probably be rude, right?

"Hey Grillby," Sans said, waving to the bartender. "You look fired up today."

I choked back a snicker and Sans grinned at me.

Grillby sighed.

"I see you've brought along a new face, and quite an unusual one at that. Does your brother know you're wandering around with a human?" he asked.

"We both know he's been away for the last few days. Special training from Undyne or something like that," Sans said. "How would he know?"

"I'm surprised you were still working even without him here to keep you on task," Grillby said. "The only bones in your body are the lazy kind."

Sans howled with laughter, slapping his hand on the counter, and Grillby just sighed. I giggled, more amused by Sans's reaction than the joke itself.

Sans shrugged. "Anything you want to eat, kid?"

I shrugged. I was still feeling too sick to be hungry, and that squirming darkness in my chest still hadn't left.

"Should eat something," Sans said. "Grillz, get us both a burger. And don't forget the ketchup."

I groaned. I really didn't want to eat anything. Grillby nodded and went through a door to behind the bar to get us the food.

"So," Sans said once we were alone. "Papyrus."

I looked at Sans. He was staring at the counter, his hands twisted together and resting before him.

"Papyrus is my little brother, the only family I've got," Sans said. "Well, at least right now he is."

Sans glanced my direction and then shook his skull and looked up at the ceiling.

"Anyway, Paps is just about the greatest guy I know," Sans said. "Nothing like me, not a lazy bone in his body, and he's always happy. Normally, by now you would have met him, he's always skull-king around his puzzles, but he's been away from Snowdin for the last few days. He comes back today, always around this time."

"Is that…when I would fight him?" I asked.

"He's found you wandering around Snowdin a few times, before I could find him. Other times you meet each other for the first time outside of the town," Sans said.

"Is he strong?" I asked.

"I don't know if that's really the issue," he said. "You never fight him, after all."

I tilted my head to the side. We fight…but we don't fight?

The food arrived, a pair of slightly charred hamburgers. I was surprised to see such familiar food, and the smell drifted into my nose. My stomach grumbled. Maybe Sans was right, maybe food really would help. When was the last time I ate? The pie at Toriel's? I knew for sure I hadn't eaten anything since then.

"Bone appetit," I said as I picked up the hamburger.

Sans groaned, "Beat me to it."

Sans lifted a ketchup bottle and made a cheers motion with it, but then, instead of putting the ketchup on is burger, he just drank it straight from the bottle. I…wasn't surprised. I watched him for a moment, but the smell of the food in front of me was too much to resist for long. I dug into the burger with an eagerness that surprised myself and Sans. After a short chuckle, Sans continued.

"You've convinced him before in the past," Sans said. "Or maybe it was the future? Well, either way, in other timelines, you were…almost… always able to convince him to give up without having to hurt him. I thought this time would be the same, I thought you just needed to take a few cracks at it. But Paps is being stub-boner than usual. It doesn't seem to matter what you say, kid. Paps kills you every time. Maybe because you didn't get to become friends before you fought?"

It was a strange thing to hear about myself dying from someone else. It didn't really mean much to me, but from the downcast expression on Sans's face, and the way his white pupils kept looking my way for only a moment before looking back at his own food, I knew it meant something to him.

"I'm sorry," Sans said. "Just as Flowey said, I haven't been helping you at all. I thought you could handle it alone, but that wasn't really fair to you."

"So what happens now?" I asked as I set my burger down. "Am I…supposed to just keep trying? Will that…help anyone?"

Sans flinched and then turned to face me.

"What happened to all your D*********, kiddo?" Sans asked.

"My what?" There was that word again. Was it something important?

"D**********n," Sans replied. "It's why you can reset and save and stuff."

"What is that word you keep saying?" I asked. "I can't hear it right."

"Huh? What are you saying, I'm telling you loud and clear, it's your D*********n," Sans said.

The world swam before my eyes and I put a hand to my head. I rubbed my eyes, and after a moment, the scenery around me became steady again.

"Don't tell me, you lost your D********n?" Sans muttered.

I stared at Sans. What did he want me to say?

"If that's the case, then I know someone who might have an idea about what's happened to you," Sans said.

"Who?" I asked.

"Well, you know her, but I guess you don't remember her. Anyway, her name's Alphys, she's the royal scientist working for King Dreemur."

"No."

The sudden interjection seemed to come from nowhere, but when the voice continued to speak I looked down and saw Flowey had managed to pop up out of the floorboards next to the bar. Sans and I stared at the flower, more concerned with how he had managed to burrow through the floor than with what he was saying.

"I don't think we should have anything to do with her, and you certainly shouldn't trust her," Flowey was saying.

"What's got your vines in a twist?" Sans asked. "There's nothing wrong with Alphys. Well…she may be a bit of a recluse, but she's got a good heart. More importantly, she the biggest expert on D…on the thing the kid is missing in the Underground."

"I don't like her," Flowey said.

"Do you like anyone?" I asked.

It wasn't meant to be a difficult question, and nor was it meant to be mean. I didn't know Flowey very well, but I had yet to hear him say anything nice about anyone. Didn't it get exhausting hating people all the time? Flowey opened his mouth to give what was surely going to be a venomous retort, but he shut his mouth and looked away.

"Idiots," he muttered at length and then vanished into the floor boards.

"Huh," Sans said. "How does that even work?"

I shrugged. If Sans didn't know how, there was no way I would.

"So, we need to visit…Alphys?" I asked.

"Yeah," Sans said, nodding his skull. "But first, we gotta convince that bone-headed brother of mine to let us pass, and…well I got an idea for that."