Adrian

Beyond the Ruins was a world of swirling white and ice cold.

Even though it was underground, snow fell from above and blanketed the ground in a layer of white. Ahead of the two teenagers stretched a single trodden-down path through a pine forest. It went on for as far as Adrian could see, vanishing into the snow several dozen meters ahead. The icy wind nipped at Adrian's face, and he shivered, glad to have kept the clothes from Toriel at least. They would keep him warm enough.

"Let's go," Nyssa murmured.

Ice crystals crunched under their boots with every step they took. For a while, that was all there was: the steady rhythm of two pairs of feet on snow, Nyssa and Adrian's quiet exhales forming clouds in front of their faces. More and more of the path revealed itself as they went.

When the two of them decided to stop, though, Adrian noticed something that immediately sent a chill down his spine.

Their feet had stopped, but the footsteps hadn't.

Adrian whipped around. There were only two sets of tracks in the snow behind them, and when he listened for the disembodied footsteps again his ears picked nothing up. The sound must've been my imagination, Adrian reasoned. He and Nyssa continued down the path. At one point, Adrian nearly tripped on a stick. He sidestepped it and continued.

Seconds later a sound pierced the soft silence: the unmistakable snap of the stick. That definitely wasn't Nyssa. She was standing right next to Adrian, looking at him with huge, startled eyes.

"Who are you?" he yelled. "Show yourself!"

There was no reply except the snow, lightly falling down, sprinkling their hair with miniscule, melting gems.

The two teenagers, now deeply unnerved, turned to walk faster. Before long they reached the end of the path. It led to a small wood bridge spanning a frozen river. There were bars across the bridge, but they were wide enough to fit through easily. Just before Adrian and Nyssa took their first steps onto the bridge, they heard a deep voice behind them.

"Human."

Adrian froze.

"Don't you know how to greet a new pal? Turn around and shake my hand."

Xandre

Finally, finally, he had reached Mount Ebott.

The mountain loomed imposingly over him, but he was there. It wouldn't take as long to reach the top–or whatever Xandre had come for. Feeling renewed energy in his veins, Xandre started up the slope without hesitation. Soon he would be at his destination and the answers that awaited him there.

The long and tedious hike upwards gave Xandre time to think.

The people he had seen in his dream certainly weren't people. They were monsters, clearly, but they acted so contrary to what he had been taught all his life. They weren't snarling and fighting like wild animals. They were so civilized and so loving, just like humans. He couldn't believe they were the descendants of those who had committed mass murder in human villages two thousand years ago. And there was something unusual about all the places he'd seen. They were all underground.

That all pointed to one possibility, one exhilarating possibility, about where Xandre was being drawn.

The Underground?

According to myth, the monsters were imprisoned underneath Mount Ebott, after all. Xandre looked at the ground under his feet and wondered whether there were monsters down there right now and what they were doing. What are they thinking? He mused. What are they dreaming of? What do they hope and fear? They must long to escape the Underground. I wouldn't want to be punished for something my ancestors did, either.

If I had the power to free the monsters, would I? Xandre asked himself. True, the monsters did attack the humans, but that was a long time ago. This generation seems so much more compassionate in the dreams I had. But who's to say they won't turn savage again?

Nyssa

As soon as her hand touched the stranger's, there was a long, loud, and obnoxious fart sound. The grinning skeleton whose hand she'd shaken was holding a small pink whoopee cushion. He seemed thoroughly pleased with himself, and chuckled when Nyssa fell for his trick. "The whoopee cushion in the hand trick," he laughed. "It's funny every time."

Nyssa did a double take when she saw the skeleton's face, and instantly memories of her dreams came rushing back to her. She had seen this person countless times while she was sleeping. He was connected to her almost as strongly as Adrian and "Wing Gaster", whoever he was, and the feeling of recognition was just as strong. In almost every memory of the goofy skeleton, two other people also turned up: the girl who had been there when Wing was made Royal Scientist and another skeleton, taller but younger.

"Hey, I'm Sans. Sans the skeleton. I'm actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now, but I don't really care about capturing anybody. My brother Papyrus, on the other hand, is a human-hunting fanatic. Actually, I think that's him over there. I have an idea. Follow me through this gate thingy."

Nyssa and Adrian followed Sans uncertainly. They stepped off the bridge into a clearing containing a sentry booth and a randomly placed lamp. "Quick, you two, behind the sentry booth."

The two complied. As if on cue, the taller skeleton Nyssa remembered strode into the clearing. "Sans!" he yelled. "You lazybones! It's been eight days and you still haven't recalibrated your puzzles!"

Adrian

Papyrus stormed off after his rant, and Sans waited a good twenty seconds before telling Nyssa and Adrian they could come out.

As they were leaving, Sans called out to them. "Hey, hate to bother ya, but can you guys do me a favor? My brother's been kinda down lately. He's never seen a human before, and seeing you might just make his day. Don't worry, he's not dangerous, even if he tries to be. Thanks a million. I'll be up ahead." With that, Sans left, taking an alternate route through the trees.

As soon as Sans was out of earshot, Nyssa and Adrian started talking as they walked.

"You felt it too, didn't you?" Adrian asked her. The look in her eyes told him that she knew exactly what he was referring to.

"Yes," she replied quietly. "What do you think it means?"

"I don't know yet. But I'm sure we will very soon."

Nyssa

After a battle against an avian monster named Snowdrake in which their souls showed up once again, Nyssa had a theory. She had finally put two and two together–or, in this case, one third and one third–and had an idea of what she and Adrian had to do with Wing. It had been in the back of her mind for a long time, but this was the first time she seriously considered it.

"You know how we always have memories of our souls being split apart?"

"Yes."

"Well, I think I might have come up with a theory. Emphasis on might."

"I'm listening."

"I don't think the white thirds of our souls are human souls, necessarily. I think they're pieces of a monster's. One that was shattered into pieces and ended up inside humans, us, when aforementioned monster died."

"Wing's soul," Adrian said quickly, immediately catching on. "Nyssa! I think you're right. That would explain the memories, the emotions, the connections we feel to people and places we've never known in our lives."

"This is so hard to believe," Nyssa murmured, shaking her head incredulously. What are we, she suddenly wondered, if even our souls themselves aren't entirely… us?

Yaay! Double digit chapter!

I FINALLY managed to finish the Ruins for Nyssa and Adrian! I hope I don't drag on as long for Snowdin...

So yes, Nyssa and Adrian have finally figured out their connection to Wing.

There's the longest Xandre-narrated part I've had in a long time. I promise, there will be a lot more from him in future. Once his story gets a bit more... interesting.