"heya, pap.
knock kno
it feels weird to write this, but if you're reading this letter that means i'm already dead. or maybe you've been poking around in my stuff again, but... nah, i have a feeling you'll only ever see this if i'm gone.
oh, and if you're not papyrus, you shouldn't read this. it's rude to read messages not addressed to you, right? right. hope that clears things up.
welp, now that we got that out of the way, we can start the real business.
so, pap, you might be wondering why i wrote this in the first place? i wish i could say it was because i was bored during my night shift and did this to pass time, and that's true i'm writing this during my shift, heh but the truth is... i'm afraid, pap. afraid that you might never know the truth. the truth about us, as a family, i mean.
you and i. we're not biological brothers.
do you remember anything about the house orphanage we lived in? i don't expect you to, since you had just turned three when i took you and ran away. and i did that for an incredibly selfish motive. you see, papyrus, a couple was going to adopt you. but since the first day you came into the orphanage, i helped to take care of you, play with you, calm you down when you cried. as time went on, i began to see you as my little brother.
you were my first friend.
but no matter what i've done, i can always picture you forgiving me, because... that's just the way you are. you understand people. you believe in them, and that's a quality few have. let's face it, though: your life would have been a lot easier if i hadn't done what i did.
remember all the long nights we spent on the streets – none of us being able to sleep because of hunger? remember when you couldn't get any money, and you felt guilty because you thought you weren't "helping" me? remember the times the owners of shops and markets would throw us out of their establishments, threatening to call the police? still remember your worst fear then was that we would get separated, heh.
can you still forgive me after that?
my wish is that you never have to read this, and i can tell all this to you in person before anything bad happens. but we're living in war, so i know the next day isn't a certainty.
and i'm a coward. i'm a coward because i can't find the strength to tell you this. not yet.
can you forgive me for that, too?
but i don't want to keep talking about the past. i wanna talk about the future.
pap – when i'm gone, i want you to do what i would never have been able to if i were in your place: i want you to move on.
i know this won't be easy, 'cause you care a lot about me, more than i deserve, tibia honest. actually, you care about the well being of everyone who is dear to you. that's another quality few have. heh, who would've thought, for someone who was practically raised by me, you turned out pretty alright, didn't ya?
but i know, deep inside, you'll be able to do it. frisk and mk – i'm sure they'll have a hard time, too. you three need to stick together. together, you're strong. together, you're safe.
pap... please, no matter what happens, promise me you will keep believing in yourself. promise me you'll keep believing in others. keep being yourself – the world needs the great papyrus more than anything, specially in these times we're in.
and know that, 'til the very end, you were my little brother. my family. biological or not.
welp, got a bit carried away with this letter. maybe i'm not that lazy, in the end. but i'm still not picking up that sock in our living room.
i guess this is goodbye, then.
love you, bro.
- sans"
Papyrus
Three years later...
The flashy orange backpack lay open on Papyrus' bed, piles of t-shirts, pants and socks around it. However, the skeleton wasn't looking at that – but at his closet, searching for something else. He hummed a funny, fast-paced tune while he was at it – a habit he had had for sometime now.
Oh, there it was! He picked the t-shirt up. He could take a lot of shirts in his trip, but he couldn't forget about that one.
He turned around – a mechanical sound of the house's elevator filling the silence – and stopped, looking at all the clothes piled up on his bed, his open and empty backpack at the center. He couldn't take all his wardrobe to that trip – that would be unpractical.
But... he liked all those t-shirts so much. Besides, he'd probably not have many opportunities to wash them, and wearing dirty laundry grossed him out. He frowned, trying to think of a solution.
"So you're going today?", asked a familiar voice from his bedroom door.
The human stood by the room's entrance on his wheelchair, looking around insecurely, as if asking to come in. Papyrus let out a big smile.
"HUMAN!", he greeted. "GOT EARLY FROM WORK TODAY?"
The human gave a little smile and entered the bedroom.
"Yeah... actually I asked to come home earlier.", he replied. "Said I needed to study for my SATs."
Papyrus twisted the shirt he was holding absentmindedly.
"OH, DO YOU NEED HELP?"
The skeleton was always eager to help those who needed – of course, being as great as he was, he was always ready to share his vast knowledge about the subjects he mastered, like cooking, for example. The human, however, giggled and gave him a patient look.
"That wasn't why I asked to come home earlier, Papyrus.", he stated plainly. "I wanted to say goodbye before you headed out."
"OH.", said Papyrus, a bit embarrassed. "OF COURSE! I KNEW THAT!"
From the way the human's lips curled into a smile, it was clear they saw right through his lie, but the skeleton didn't mind. The human was pretty smart, after all.
"You don't seem to be ready, though..."
The human glanced a look to all the piles of clothes on Papyrus' bed, cocking his head a little to the side to see the backpack in the middle.
"Um... all these won't fit in that backpack.", he said, matter-of-factly. "You sure you don't wanna a suitcase instead?"
Papyrus shook his head, energetically.
"NO! I NEED SOMETHING MORE PRACTICAL THAN A SUITCASE TO CARRY MY THINGS! SPECIALLY CONSIDERING I'M GOING BY CAR AND... WELL, I HAVEN'T BOOKED A PLACE IN ANY HOTELS OR INNS ON THE WAY!"
The human's smile faded away ever so slightly, but Papyrus noticed it. They broke eye contact and stared at the open window – the afternoon sun still high on the sky while the summer breeze filled the room.
They wore a white button shirt – it's sleeves rolled up until their elbows. Their hair was long once again – but it was tidy and properly brushed, parted to the side. With a strange warmth in his soul, Papyrus noticed they looked like... an adult. For how long had they looked like an adult?
God, he was getting old.
"It's pretty far away.", the human said, finally, glancing a look to the skeleton. "The place where you want to go. You know that, right?"
"I DO!", Papyrus stated, firmly.
"Don't you prefer to... take a flight or something?"
The skeleton kept twirling the t-shirt he was holding without really paying attention to that. Sure, he had thought about booking a seat on those mechanical Tsunderplanes the humans had on the surface – they were so fast! But, when he really considered his options, he concluded going there by flying would kind of take the point of his trip away.
"NO, I'VE ALREADY MADE UP MY MIND!", he confirmed, confidently. "I'M GOING BY CAR! DON'T WORRY, HUMAN, I'LL BE FINE! NYEH HEH HEH!"
The human looked at Papyrus for a moment, then nodded, agreeing, his eyes setting on the t-shirt the skeleton had been holding for a while now.
"Are you taking that one?", he asked.
Papyrus held the shirt unfolded in front of him. The basketballs on the shoulders, the "Cool Dude" message written in neat letters... no one could deny that was one cool t-shirt.
"YEAH! I REALLY LIKE IT!", he said. "EVEN IF I DON'T USE IT THAT MUCH..."
Anyone could see that – even though the human had given him that shirt almost three years prior, it still looked as good as new. Heck, it evensmelled as good as new.
"In that case, do you wanna any help packing?", the human asked, smiling. "That way we can decide what you need and what you don't need to take."
Papyrus felt the smile almost automatically appearing on his face.
"WOULD YOU? THANK YOU, HUMAN!"
"Yeah, no problem!"
And so, they began packing. It was a slow process – they picked up a piece of clothing and decided if that would be packed for the trip or if it would stay. The human acted as a break to Papyrus – the skeleton was willing to take almost everything, while the human pointed out that he didn't need to take some particular pieces ("You don't need to wear a scarf in the summer!"). It was a fun process – the human was good company.
Finally, they managed to choose a reasonable amount of clothes for Papyrus' trip – and the orange backpack wasn't exploding with things, as it would be if the skeleton was left to organize himself alone. Then, they began to run a checklist to make sure nothing important would be forgotten. The human checked the list Papyrus had made on the computer and read it out loud, while the skeleton made sure he had packed everything.
"Toothbrush?"
"CHECKED!"
"Toothpaste?"
"CHECKED!"
"Deodorant?"
"CHECKED!"
There was a sudden silence.
"Why are you taking deodorant?", the human asked, looking back to Papyrus. "You don't... sweat."
"I LIKE THE SMELL!"
The human smiled in a way he only did when he was amused by an unusual answer – an expression Papyrus had learned to recognize.
"Your call.", he said, looking back to the computer and closing the checklist file. "Everything's ready. You're good to go!"
Papyrus felt his soul thudding excitedly inside him.
"REALLY? WOWIE!"
He checked his cell phone for time – it was four o'clock, meaning that if he was fast enough, he wouldn't even catch a glimpse of the traffic jams that would fill the nearest town's streets.
He closed the backpack and wore it, shaking his collarbone to adjust it. Ok, that seemed fine – he was ready.
The human kept looking at him, their smile turning bittersweet.
"You'll be careful, right?"
"OF COURSE, HUMAN!", replied Papyrus, giving a confident smile. "I'LL BE BACK BEFORE YOU KNOW IT!"
He bent down to give the human a hug, to which they gladly retributed.
"I'm sure you will."
They separated – Papyrus running a list of things he should remind the human of before he set off.
"THERE ARE SPAGHETTI LEFTOVERS ON THE FRIDGE FOR YOU AND MK!"
"Okay."
"IT WON'T LAST A WHOLE MONTH, BUT YOU KNOW HOW TO COOK SOME SIMPLE THINGS, DON'T YOU?"
"You know I do..."
"DO YOU KNOW HOW TO FRY AN EGG?"
"Yeah."
"PLEASE KEEP THE HOUSE CLEAN!"
"Will do."
"AND BRUSH YOUR TEETH!"
"Okay, okay! Are you finished, mom?", the human asked with an ironic smile.
Papyrus puts his hands on his hips, smiling back.
"JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU AND MK WON'T BLOW THE HOUSE UP WHILE I'M GONE!"
The human gave a hearty laugh.
"I'm pretty sure MK and I can handle ourselves just fine, thank you very much."
"VERY WELL! I'M GOING, THEN!"
He turned around and walked out of the room – but when he was at the door he turned his head back to see the human looking absentmindedly at the window, and felt his soul getting a bit heavy. He had been postponing that trip of his for a while now – primarily because part of him was afraid to do it, but also because he didn't want to leave the human and MK alone.
He was the oldest of the three, after all, and often felt it was his responsibility to take care of the others. To be the adult of the family, in a matter of speaking. But looking at the human, he noticed that they had grown up, and that maybe he didn't need to be always around for them. He smiled, happy and sad at the same time.
They would be fine.
"Have a good trip, Papyrus."
The skeleton noticed the human was looking at him now, and he averted his eyes, snapping out of his thoughts.
He nodded, smiling, and set off.
Their very first house wasn't very big – two small bedrooms and perhaps an even smaller living room with a kitchen. But it was their own – and that was important. For the first time of their lives, they had a roof to live under. For the first time of his life, Papyrus had his own bedroom.
He wasn't used to it, though. He felt alone – and in the dark he also felt a bit scared. Those walls separating him from Sans felt strangely suffocating, and he always had trouble sleeping. To top it all, he also felt guilty because of it.
The skeleton shifted sides on his bed – his own bed – trying to fall asleep. He counted sheep – something that always seemed to work with the cartoon characters. It didn't work for him.
After what seemed to be hours, he finally gave up on it and got up from his bed. He was tired of... feeling tired, and not getting any sleep. And if his trouble was sleep, then... well, he knew just who could help him.
The master of sleeping, so to speak.
He opened the door and entered Sans' bedroom – their rooms were connected by the same door, a detail that proved their new home was indeed small, but in the end also meant they were never really far away from each other. Still...
As he entered the other bedroom, he immediately noticed the sound of soft snoring his older brother made. His eye (sockets) were now used to the dark, and he could see Sans sleeping heavily on the mattress on the ground. They had explained that they couldn't afford two fully mounted beds yet, so for the moment Papyrus was the one sleeping on a real bed, while Sans would be fine with just an old mattress. At the time, Papyrus had protested against that, but Sans used his "older brother trump card" to put an end to the discussion. Papyrus was a kid, and kids needed the best sleep so they could grow healthy and happy.
The situation was ironic. Not that Papyrus really understood what irony was.
Not bothering with ceremonies, he lay himself down on the mattress, next to Sans. The older skeleton stopped snoring and moved a bit – the movement had awoken him, and he tilted his head, confused.
"wha..?", he asked, lazily yawning.
"IT'S ME, SANS.", announced Papyrus in his child-like, high-pitched voice.
Sans took a while to respond, as he was yawning.
"oh, 'sup bro?"
"I CAN'T SLEEP..."
And that was when the guilt hit him harder. He could sleep with no problem when they were on the streets (except when they couldn't get anything to eat, but thankfully that didn't happen often). Why was he having trouble now, when they finally had a roof to live under? When Sans had finally gotten a job, and things were starting to get better? Was he that ungrateful?
A hiccup escaped from him, and Sans moved, noticing something was wrong.
"hm? oh, c'mon, don't cry... what's gotten into you?", he said, his voice slow with sleepiness. he shifted sides to face Papyrus and raised an arm. "c'mere."
Papyrus understood and approached his brother – and they wrapped their arm around him. The younger skeleton rest his head against his brother's collarbone – something still possible to do since Sans was still a bit taller than him (though he had the feeling they wouldn't get much taller than that).
"nightmare?", Sans whispered.
The younger skeleton shifted uncomfortably.
"NO."
"what is it, then?"
Before Papyrus knew it, he was spilling it all out.
"I... I DON'T KNOW! I JUST... I THINK I FEEL ALONE AND SCARED IN MY ROOM, BECAUSE I-IT'S DARK AND I'M ALL ALONE AND I DIDN'T FEEL LIKE THAT WHEN WE WERE IN THE STREETS! I THINK...", he swallowed, trying not to cry. "I THINK I PREFERRED TO BE IN THE STREETS AGAIN? BUT I DON'T WANT TO, THINGS ARE FINALLY LOOKING GOOD FOR US, AND I'M HAPPY AND YOU'RE HAPPY AND..."
He couldn't complete the thought, and for a dreadful moment the room became too silent – he thought Sans was getting angry with him. But the older skeleton began making a weird noise – and only after a few seconds Papyrus noticed they were chuckling.
"awwww, you miss me!", said the older skeleton, amused. "you're still my baby brother, after all!"
"I'M... I'M NOT!", replied Papyrus, though deep inside he was glad Sans wasn't mad.
He felt Sans' hug tightening a bit – as if reassuring everything was alright.
"you don't want to live in the streets again, pap.", he stated. "it's just that... this is all new to us, and new can be scary sometimes."
Papyrus looked up – although from his position he couldn't really see Sans' face.
"REALLY?"
"really. listen, i'm glad you opened up. i don't want you to keep things hidden, okay? we're bros and you can count on me for everything."
Papyrus gave a tiny smile – he felt his soul inside him warm and comforting.
"OKAY! YOU CAN... YOU CAN COUNT ON ME TOO, SANS!"
But Sans – master of sleeping he was – had already fallen asleep again.
Papyrus was still navigating through the town's streets with his red convertible car (his pride and joy), trying to figure out the best route to get to the highway, when he made a change of plans.
It had been a while since he'd visited them.
As soon as they got permission to live on the surface, they got in contact with the human and moved to the same town he did. The trio used to visit them often – but it had been months since the last visit. The human had been up to the neck with things to do – he'd been studying hard to enter a good college, and working harder since the foundation of the brand new "monster-human" embassy the previous year. Meanwhile, MK was busy finishing his last high school year. As for Papyrus himself... well, he had a job at a restaurant he took very seriously. He needed to if he ever wanted to make it for chef position!
But it would surely be nice to give a little hello before heading out of town for good. Once neighbors, always neighbors – or something like that.
He parked in front of their apartment building, wondering if they would be home at that time. Well, he'd never know if he didn't check, so he walked to the building's entrance and pressed some numbers on the intercom by its side. It called once, twice – three, four times, and just as he thought nobody was home, someone answered it.
"Hello?", the voice was deep, but distinctively female.
"HELLO! BONNIE, IS THAT YOU? IT'S PAPYRUS!"
"Oh – hiya, Papyrus!", her voice sounded more cheerful. "It's been a while, right? But I'd recognize that voice anywhere – hold on a sec!"
The front door made a buzzing sound and opened.
"OPEN!", the skeleton informed, walking into the entrance hall of the building.
It was a small, neat room with a painting hanging on one wall behind the sofa at one side, and an elevator next to the beginning of a set of stairs at the other. Bonnie, Berna and Boone's apartment was located on the third floor – so Papyrus opted for using the stairs this time around, since the human wasn't there with him.
He reached his destination fairly quickly (he always skipped a step because going up a step at a time was just so lame) – Bonnie was already by her apartment's door, wearing a casual blue blouse and black yoga pants. She smiled when she saw him.
"Hello, traveller.", she said. "May I offer a piece of pie that just came fresh from the oven? It's on the house."
"THAT WOULD BE GREAT! THANK YOU!"
They entered – the inside of the apartment was cozy looking, reminding Papyrus of Snowdin Town, in a way his own home did too. Maybe the snowy little village from the Underground would always stick with its residents, wherever they went.
Once they got into the kitchen – with its checkered floor and salmon pink walls, like a café taken straight from the 50s – Papyrus laid out the table while Bonnie picked the freshly-baked cinnamon-butterscotch pie from the oven. They both helped themselves with rather generous servings.
"So... it's been a while since you visited.", commented Berna, cutting a piece of her slice with a fork.
"I KNOW! MK'S BEEN BUSY WITH TESTS IN SCHOOL AND BOTH ME AND THE HUMAN HAVE BEEN WORKING A LOT LATELY!"
"Is Frisk doing alright? I mean – can't be easy for him to manage his work at the 'monster-human' embassy and his studies to enter college..."
"OH, HE'S FINE! HE'S REALLY PUTTING HIS HEART INTO WHAT HE DOES! I'M SURE HIS HARD WORK WILL PAY OFF!"
"Does he have any idea what exactly he wants to study in college?"
Papyrus swallowed the piece of pie he had been chewing.
"YEAH! PUBLIC RELATIONS!"
Bonnie's eyes lit up in amusement.
"Well, can't say it doesn't sound fit for him..."
Papyrus nodded, smiling. Since they had told him they wanted to study public relations, the skeleton had been the best supporter he could be. Despite all the long nights and bureaucracy at the work, he could tell the human really loved what they did, and having a major on public relations would be very useful in their field.
"This new embassy is a step in the right direction.", stated Bonnie, twisting a piece of pie in her fork, not really paying attention to it. "There's quite a handful of monsters working there, now, too."
"WELL, OF COURSE!", said Papyrus, cheerfully. "IT'S CALLED 'MONSTER-HUMAN' EMBASSY FOR A REASON!"
Bonnie smiled – Papyrus noticed she always seemed to rejuvenate when she did that.
"You're right... but hey, why aren't you working with Frisk at the embassy, Papyrus?", she asked, curious. "I have to admit – the quantity of Temmies working there kind of worries me..."
"OH, C'MON! EVERYBODY SAYS THAT, BUT THE TEMMIES ARE REALLY INTELLIGENT! THEY JUST... KIND OF CHOOSE TO BE GOOFY MOST OF THE TIME... BUT IN ANY CASE, THEY HAVE GAINED THE SYMPATHY OF MANY HUMANS!", said Papyrus, crossing his fork on his now empty plate. "BESIDES... DIPLOMACY IS NOT FOR ME!"
"Really? I always pictured you as a quite nice diplomat.", stated Bonnie, crossing her fork too. "But that's your life. How's it been in the restaurant?"
Papyrus straightened up – something he always did when he was about to tell someone about his latest achievements at work.
"I WAS ELECTED EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH!"
"Oh, congratulations!", complimented Bonnie, her eyes widening. "That's so nice!"
"NYEH HEH HEH! MY COOKING HAS IMPROVED A LOT THESE PAST THREE YEARS! IT WAS ALREADY SPECTACULAR – BUT NOW? IT'S ALMOST OTHERWORLDLY, I ASSURE YOU!"
"Then you're the one who will cook us dinner the next time.", she said, her eyes sparkling. "Can't wait to taste the food from the Great Chef Papyrus."
The skeleton crossed his arms, smiling confidently.
"SOUNDS LIKE A DEAL TO ME!"
Bonnie then got up and took the plates to the sink. She returned with two cups of orange juice, and handed one to the skeleton. He gladly accepted it – the cinnamon-butterscotch pie, as delicious as it was, left him thirsty.
"WHAT ABOUT YOU THREE?", asked Papyrus. "WHERE'S BERNA AND BOONE?"
"We've been fine, I guess.", replied Bonnie, taking a sip from her cup. "Boone is at school working on a project and Berna is out doing some errands. We're thinking on opening a bakery on the neighborhood."
"WOWIE! THAT'S GREAT!"
"It is, isn't it? I think the neighborhood here really lacks a good bakery..."
She smiled, and they both kept in silence while they drank the juice.
"I feel... I feel things are getting better.", she said, looking to her empty glass. "When we arrived here, almost two years ago, people looked at us either with fear or despise. But now... just this last week a nice old lady said 'good morning' to Berna when they met at the elevator, and Boone finally made a friend in school.", she sighed, looking to the kitchen window. "Humans are slowly... very slowly... starting to accept us. And for that, I'm thankful to Frisk. The boy has made the impossible... real, somehow."
Papyrus didn't reply anything – but he agreed wholeheartedly. In the beginning, both he and MK felt the angry and fearful stares on their backs every time they went to the mall or to a restaurant. People avoided looking them in the eye. But, as time went on, some began to notice that maybe – just maybe – monsters weren't necessarily bad or murderous. They began to understand. Sure, things were far from perfect and a lot of humans were still strongly against monster presence on the surface. The hate messages. The riots. But those too were, little by little, getting more and more insignificant on the bigger picture.
The skeleton could even safely say pretty much everyone at his work liked him.
"Very well, traveller...", said Bonnie, standing up to take the glasses to the sink as well. "May I ask you where you're traveling to?"
"OH!", exclaimed Papyrus, surprised. "HOW DID YOU KNOW I WAS GOING ON A TRAVEL?"
Bonnie glanced a long look to Papyrus' backpack, which was on an empty chair next to the skeleton.
"Is wearing these huge backpacks a fashion statement now?", she asked, narrowing her eyes.
"OH, N-NO!", he stuttered, feeling his (face? skull?) getting hotter. "I AM GOING ON A TRAVEL! TO... TO MT. EBOTT."
Bonnie stopped in the midway of an act to putting the glasses on the sink, her smile fading from her expression. She looked to Papyrus for what felt like a long, long time.
"Back to the...", she began, insecure. "To the Underground?"
Papyrus shifted on his chair.
"NO...", he replied. "IT'S... NEARBY."
"I see..."
She lowered the glasses to the sink. Papyrus could feel the melancholy on the atmosphere of the room – and it wasn't hard to know why. The Underground had been the home of monsters for centuries and – as hard as things sometimes were – there were fond memories to be found there, even if the past few years had signified the ruin of the place. In some years (ten years? fifty?), the Underground would be nothing more but an empty place left behind – a mere page on a history book.
"They... moved Undyne back in there recently, haven't they?"
Bonnie's tone of voice was a bit difficult to read – in fact, Papyrus learned she could conceal her real emotions really well if she wanted to (no wonder she and Sans got along). But there was sadness in it – he was sure. And the reason for that...
During the war, after the incident at the cabin in the woods, when two Royal Guard members raided the place... it was Undyne who appeared after Papyrus and his group left. The empress stopped the fight – and took the bunny family back to the Underground, the last safe place for monsters. In fact, she had been taking monsters who didn't want to fight back there. Bonnie, who had strongly opposed Undyne's ruling, was probably caught off guard with that. Despite everything she did... maybe she wasn't really a villain in that story.
"THEY DID.", the skeleton confirmed. "SHE WAS BEING KEPT SEPARATED, BUT NOW SHE'S GOING BACK TO THE UNDERGROUND, ALONG WITH THE OTHER MONSTERS THAT ARE STILL IN THERE. MAYBE... MAYBE ONE DAY SHE'LL COME TO THE SURFACE, TOO."
Papyrus was surprised with the pure, genuine hope in his voice – after everything he went through, after everything he had lost... he still had hope for Undyne.
He still believed.
Bonnie looked up at him again.
"Yeah. Maybe.", she said. "She was your friend, wasn't she?"
Papyrus shook his head with energy.
"NO, SHE IS MY FRIEND!", he corrected, and just a second later he realized what he said. "I'M... SURE OF IT. DEEP INSIDE... SHE'S STILL MY FRIEND. AND ONE DAY... WE'LL SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN."
He knew that day probably wouldn't be any time soon... but he knew it would come. And he would wait.
Because Papyrus wouldn't leave his friends behind.
The sun was setting – the twilight cast a dim, purple light into the kitchen. Whoa, time had really flown by while he was there! He stood up quickly, wearing his backpack back on.
"I HAVE TO GO, NOW!", he said, smiling again. "BEFORE IT GETS TOO LATE! THANKS FOR THE PIE, BONNIE!"
Bonnie, who had been looking so serious, let herself give a little smile.
"You know you're always welcome, Papyrus.", she said, approaching him. "I'll take you to the entrance."
They headed for the apartment's front door, and Bonnie held it open for him.
"Farewell, traveller.", she said, giving a little bow with her head. "Have a nice trip."
"WILL DO! TAKE CARE, BONNIE!"
Papyrus entered the corridor and was with a foot on the first set of stairs when Bonnie called him again.
"Papyrus?"
"YES?"
She hesitated for a moment, as if deciding if she should actually say what she was about to say.
"Why are you... going back to Ebott?"
Papyrus gave her a kind smile, and looked to the ground. His reason for wanting to go back was... very personal – something he kept on the deepest part of his soul. Only Frisk and MK knew why he was making that trip.
"THERE'S... SOMEONE THERE I NEED TO VISIT. SOMEONE VERY SPECIAL."
Bonnie bit her lip, and nodded. No words needed to be spoken.
She understood.
The following days were filled with a typical summer heat as the sun shone bright over the whole country. That wasn't a problem to Papyrus – he didn't feel heat neither cold, which proved to be useful in a number of ways. He couldn't burn himself with fire in the kitchen during his work, and he could use the trendy winter clothes basically the whole year, if he wanted to. Still, there was something cool about just wearing simple t-shirts and jeans in the summer.
Sometimes, less meant more – at least, modern fashion worked that way, in Papyrus' opinion.
A week had passed since the skeleton set off on his not-so-little journey back to Ebott, and he was about halfway through. The sun was exactly above his head as he drove in the highway, and when his stomach (stomach?) gave a weird growl, he noticed he was hungry and decided to stop for lunch at the first establishment he would come across.
Said establishment happened to be a rather regular-looking café named... "Café". That couldn't be good, but he was really hungry, and as he parked the car in front of the place, he came to the conclusion he really didn't mind.
That conclusion didn't last two seconds, for the moment Papyrus entered the café his eyes immediately set on a dark stain on the floor. Fighting his "cleaning maniac" personality trait with all his might, he decided to press on. He took a deep breath before averting his eyes from the stain and walking to the nearest empty table.
There were few people in the place – and the skeleton decided to pay no mind to any of them. He was aware of the stares though – the stares that always followed him wherever he went. Sometimes they was easy to stand, other times – and unfortunately, this was one of them – it was almost unbearable. He wasn't sure why.
A waitress approached his table – she wore a black apron, looked to be in her twenties, and her face had a pretty bad case of pimples.
"What you wanna?", she asked, blowing a pink bubble gum.
That was certainly not... professional, for the lack of a better word – but her uninterested manner was almost comforting for Papyrus in the moment, specially since he felt everyone else in the room was with their eyes fixed on him, like he was a ticking time bomb.
"UH...", he began, glancing a look to the menu at the table. He hadn't checked it. "DO YOU HAVE... SPAGHETTI?"
The bubble gum bursted, and the waitress picked it back from her face with her tongue.
"We only have steak."
"OH, OK! STEAK IT IS, THEN!"
"Alright.", she said in a monotone voice, taking a note. "But we warn you our stove is kinda lame, and sometimes it burns the outside of the steak while the inside remains raw. But sometimes it turns out alright, I guess. You okay with that?"
No.
"YES I'M OKAY THANK YOU!", he replied in one breath.
The waitress walked away, and Papyrus looked down to the table. There was a yellow stain in there too, and it looked days old. He averted his eyes, thinking that trip was being a test of limits for him, in a lot of ways.
He missed home. He missed MK and the human. The three of them had been almost inseparable for the past three years – and they had made so many good memories since then. Sometimes – only sometimes – it was almost like the scars created by the war didn't exist. Like it had all been just a bad dream.
But no, it was real. Sometimes, too real. The nightmares got fewer and fewer as time passed, but he still had them occasionally. Sounds of gunshots. Sans' body crumbling, helpless, in front of him. And he always woke up gasping for air, feeling the adrenaline running high on him.
The skeleton found himself staring at his phone screen – opened in an instant messaging app, the contacts from the human and MK right on top.God, he missed them. But he couldn't talk to them – not yet. If he did, he was afraid he would turn around and go back before he reached Mt. Ebott. And he needed to do that – for his own sake.
He blocked the phone screen once more.
"Papyrus? Is that you?", a female voice said next to his table.
The skeleton looked up, a bit surprised. The woman talking to him held a tiny human – a baby – and her smile got even bigger when she noticed it was, indeed, Papyrus the one she had met.
"It is you! Of all the places we could've met!", she exclaimed. "You remember me?"
Papyrus awkwardly got up – yes, that voice and face weren't strange to him. That straight brown hair and those green eyes... he had seen them before, for sure.
"UM... CLAIRE?", he said, a bit unsure.
She nodded with energy.
"Yes, yes! I can't believe it, it's so nice to see you!", she said, making a movement with her arm to hold the baby in a better position.
Claire was part of a resistance group that had settled in a town near Ebott during the war – the same group that Papyrus joined during the brief time when he left MK and the human in a fit of anger. It had been one of the hardest times of his life, but it didn't take long for everyone on the group to grow fond of him – Claire included.
"IT'S NICE TO SEE YOU TOO, CLAIRE!", he commented, smiling naturally. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"
Claire rolled her eyes and looked back to a man who was by the cashier, probably paying for his meal.
"My husband thought it was a good idea to stop here for lunch.", she said, looking back to Papyrus. "Word of advice: don't order the steak."
"OH... OKAY!", the skeleton replied, a sinking feeling growing inside him.
"We're traveling to see my mother, so she can meet little Lucas here for the first time.", she inclined the baby for Papyrus to have a look. "Say hello to Papy, Lucas!", she said in a goofy voice.
Lucas seemed to be several months old, but still under a year or so. They fixed their eyes on the skeleton and their lips curled into a very tiny smile, and Papyrus cocked his head, amused.
"WOWIE! WHAT A TINY HUMAN!"
Claire gave a youthful, hearty laugh – and Lucas let out a cute vocalization with his cute, baby voice. Meanwhile, Claire's husband approached.
"Sorry 'bout the wait.", he said, looking at his wife and then at Papyrus. "And who's that?"
There was only the slightest hint of hostility on the man's voice, but by that time the skeleton was used to people directing themselves to him like that.
"Oh, right! Papyrus, this is Ethan, my husband.", she introduced. "Ethan – Papyrus the skeleton, as you can see. We met during the war.", she looked at Papyrus in a way someone would look after being reunited with a friend they had not seen in a long time. "Back then, he saved my life."
"AW, CLAIRE, YOU DON'T..."
"But I do! I don't know if I would be here if you hadn't joined our group back then...", she said. Lucas made another sound, and she began gently shaking him in her arms.
"Well, in that case, it's nice to meet you, Papyrus.", said Ethan, offering a handshake. The hostile tone diminished significantly, but it was still there ("do anything funny and you're dead.")
"Monsters are beginning to live in the surface now, right?", commented Claire. "Thanks to the 'Angel'. Still, we don't see that many roaming around yet."
Papyrus scratched the back of his skull.
"WE AREN'T THAT MANY, TO BEGIN WITH!", he said. "WHEN I LEARNED THERE ARE SEVEN BILLION HUMANS ON EARTH, I KIND OF FREAKED OUT!"
"I just knew Papyrus would be allowed to live in the surface right away!", said Claire, looking to Ethan. "But what about you?", she directed to Papyrus. "What are you doing here?"
"I'M TRAVELING, TOO!", the skeleton replied. "I'M GOING TO THE TOWN NEAR MT. EBOTT, YOU KNOW? I'M... VISITING SOMEONE THERE."
Claire glanced a weird look at him for a moment – of course, Mt. Ebott hadn't been the most popular place to visit during the past few years, and Papyrus was being pretty vague with his motives. For a moment, he feared she would press on the matter.
"That's cool!", she simply said. "Well, we should be going now. Don't want to spoil your lunch now, do we?"
Ethan snorted a laugh.
"Yeah... the food here is actually fine, man.", said Ethan. "Just don't order the steak and you'll be okay."
"OH, I WOULDN'T THINK OF IT!", said Papyrus, his voice cracking a bit. He coughed.
Both Claire and Ethan looked at each other and laughed.
"Good to see you, Papyrus!", Claire said as they both began walking towards the exit. She picked Lucas' tiny hand and motioned a goodbye wave with it. "Have a nice trip, Papy!", she said in that goofy voice again.
"Bye, Papyrus!", said Ethan.
And they were gone.
But Papyrus was left feeling a lot better, actually. Meeting Claire was a reminder that the war had been real – but it also reminded him how kind people could be. It reminded him how it was possible to be accepted in the surface – no matter how much of a slow process it was.
The waitress came with the steak immediately afterwards – but, for some reason, Papyrus didn't even notice how burnt it was.
"SANS?"
As Papyrus got into the kitchen, he caught sight of his brother sitting by the table, holding their head with their hands, a mug steaming with something hot next to them.
He gulped, holding the papers in his hands with force, to the point they almost screwed up. He didn't remember hearing Sans coming home the previous night.
The older skeleton raised his head a bit and looked to Papyrus, his pupils blinking, as if he was having difficult focalizing his younger brother.
"oh...", he mumbled, his voice hoarse. "hey, pap. slept well?"
There was a casual tone in his voice, like everything was alright, and Papyrus hated it. The younger skeleton looked down to him, feelings of anger, pity and sadness all storming inside. That situation had been going for far too long – and nothing was alright.
"YOU'VE BEEN DRINKING.", he said, and it wasn't a question. "AGAIN."
Sans moved in their chair, averting their eyes, and took the mug – Papyrus saw it was actually filled with hot water. He glanced a look to the kitchen counter and saw a closed pack of coffee. Apparently, Sans had forgotten to open it – but he didn't seem to mind as he actually took a sip from the water.
"WHEN DID YOU GET HOME?"
The older skeleton put the mug down.
"dunno.", he said, in a monotone, bored voice. "an hour ago, i guess."
"WHAT!?"
"c'mon, pap, what's the surprise?", Sans sounded annoyed. "i've done this before, i'm 23, i can take care of myself."
Papyrus clenched his fist – the one that wasn't holding the papers, feeling an unknown type of anger surging inside him.
"YOU SAID YOU WERE GOING TO STOP!", he said, his voice quivering a little.
Sans gave an emotionless chuckle and took the mug up again.
"that was before i became unemployed."
"'BECAME UNEMPLOYED'!?", the younger skeleton exclaimed. "IT WAS YOU WHO QUIT THE JOB!"
Sans kept looking at him over the mug as he took another sip.
"so what? in practical terms, it's the same thing.", he said, not taking the mug down.
Papyrus hit his clenched fist on the table and grabbed Sans' arm that held the mug with the other – the papers getting even more screwed up in the process – and forcefully pushed it down to the table again.
"STOP DRINKING HOT WATER, THIS IS NOT NORMAL!", he yelled, his voice with a hysteric note. "GOD, SANS, THIS IS NOT NORMAL! WHAT'S GOING ON WITH YOU!?"
But Sans' eye sockets had turned dark.
"let. me. go."
But the voice that came out from Sans was unlike anything Papyrus had heard – it wasn't that deep, goofy, familiar voice he had ever since his teen years, but cold and dangerous. Papyrus shivered – Sans had never directed himself in that way before – in fact, even when the younger skeleton misbehaved as a kid, Sans had never lost his temper, never raised his voice.
He let go; the older skeleton's eye sockets reappeared – and they looked devastated.
"oh, damn, i'm sorry papyrus.", said Sans, putting his head in his hands again. "shouldn't have talked to you like that, bro, i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm sorry..."
And they let out a hiccup, their shoulders shaking, leaving Papyrus utterly baffled – he had never seen his brother cry before. In a second, all the anger inside him seemed to melt, and he only felt sadness for Sans.
"NO... I WAS THE ONE WHO YELLED AT YOU, I'M THE ONE WHO SHOULD BE SORRY.", he said, sitting down on the chair next to Sans. "WHAT'S GOING ON, BROTHER? YOU'RE SCARING ME..."
Sans stubbornly shook his head.
"'m sorry... you can't help me, pap. if you could, i'd tell you, but you can't."
Papyrus put his hand on Sans' shoulder in a supportive manner – a gesture his brother himself did many times when Papyrus was younger and had a bad day.
"WHY DON'T YOU JUST... TRY, THEN?"
Sans looked at Papyrus for what seemed to be a long, long moment, and then looked back at his mug without saying a word.
"SO?"
"just forget about it."
The younger skeleton took his hand away from his brother's shoulder, a bitter taste in his mouth. That was how Sans was – all fun and jokes until it wasn't. And then, they'd close themselves away, not letting anyone in to help them. Not even their family – not even Papyrus.
He sighed, resigned, and looked down to the screwed up papers he was still holding – and it was like someone had flicked a switch, a little light, inside his soul.
"SANS, I'VE BEEN THINKING..."
The older skeleton lazily turned his head to Papyrus, who in turn smoothed the papers out on the table.
"WE SHOULD MOVE FROM THIS PLACE."
Sans' mouth immediately curled into that characteristic smile he always wore when he heard a good joke, but his eyes still betrayed how he was really feeling.
"move?", he said, slowly. "c'mon, papyrus, we can't move..."
"I THINK IT WOULD DO BOTH OF US GOOD."
Sans didn't reply to that, and after some awkward seconds Papyrus coughed and leaned against the table, looking at one of the papers.
"THERE'S THIS NICE LITTLE PLACE CALLED 'SNOWDIN TOWN'.", he pulled the paper a bit closer so Sans could read it. "IT HAS, UH, SNOW, AND A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD. THERE'S A HOUSE FOR SALE IN THERE, AND I THOUGHT, MAYBE... IT WOULD BE A NICE CHANGE FROM THIS TINY APARTMENT."
Sans kept looking to the paper – a really cute ad for the house on sale at Snowdin, two floors, wooden made, that looked like something taken out directly from a Christmas tale.
"that's really nice, pap.", he finally said. "really. but look at how much it costs! this is almost all our savings, and i'm unemployed, and we can't start spending money like that..."
When he heard that, Papyrus couldn't help but smile – feeling his usual confidence and cheer coming back to him.
"I'VE ALREADY THOUGHT ABOUT THAT!", he said, excited. "DO YOU REMEMBER MY FRIEND, UNDYNE?"
Sans looked at him for a moment.
"the fish girl?"
Papyrus' eye socket twitched – he wondered what would be Undyne's reaction if someone called her "fish girl" in front of her.
"YES, THE FISH GIRL.", he replied, quite dryly. "ANYWAY, YOU KNOW SHE'S THE HEAD OF THE ROYAL GUARD, RIGHT?"
Sans nodded and Papyrus, with his hands trembling a bit, pulled the other two papers close – they were screwed up, but fortunately were still readable.
"SHE GAVE US PERMISSION TO START WORKING WITH THE ROYAL GUARD RIGHT AWAY!", he said, a childlike wonder in his voice. "AS SENTRIES! OKAY, WE WON'T BE REALLY ROYAL GUARD MEMBERS YET, BUT WE CAN GET IN THERE IN THE FUTURE, IF WE WORK HARD!"
Sans' pupils actually lit up and he looked to the papers – actually, application forms to start a sentry job – with doubled attention.
"whoa...", he said, his voice genuinely surprised. "did you... did you get us jobs!?"
"YES! AND THE BEST PART IS THAT, IF WE WORK AS SENTRIES, WE CAN GET A VERY GENEROUS DISCOUNT WITH THE HOUSE! SO WHAT DO YOU SAY?"
Sans put his hand on his forehead, as if having difficulty processing what he had been just told.
"wait, wait...", he said, looking at Papyrus. "wouldn't you have to be at least eighteen to be allowed to work as a sentry?"
The younger skeleton kept smiling, but inside he felt a bit hurt with that comment.
"I... I AM EIGHTEEN.", he said, looking away. "MY BIRTHDAY WAS LAST WEEK."
An uncomfortable silence fell upon the two, and Papyrus could almost hear Sans cursing himself in his mind.
"shit.", he simply said.
"SWEAR.", replied Papyrus in an automatic fashion.
"i'm sorry, pap."
"APOLOGY ACCEPTED."
"and happy birthday."
"THANK YOU VERY MUCH, BROTHER."
Sans had never forgotten Papyrus' birthday before – and that was something, considering he sometimes forgot even his own birthday. But Papyrus couldn't help but immediately forgive him when they looked at each other again – they really did love each other, even if their relationship had been full of complicated moments lately.
Sans smiled and looked to the papers again – he seemed to be filled with an energy Papyrus had not seen in him in a long, long time. The younger skeleton felt a lot better seeing his brother cheering up.
"so... snowdin town people: you better brace yourselves, 'cause the skeleton bros are coming!"
If MK and the human tried to avoid entering forests whenever they could, Papyrus had an entirely different vision on the matter. He liked forests – they had protected him during difficult times and were his shelter on a time he had been completely broken, both in mind and soul.
Still, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to wander in that forest alone in the middle of the night. As he turned around, shining his flashlight behind him, he wished he had waited until morning to explore the woods near Mt. Ebott. It wasn't like they would get anywhere, right?
But he was just so close – he simply didn't resist the temptation of leaving the hostel he was staying in for the night to actually go there, against all recommendations (his own included). He even left his backpack there, and only took a handful of things in his pockets.
He couldn't see the city lights anymore, which meant he was really deep into the forest. He turned around again – the forest wasn't too closed and he could see the legendary Mt. Ebott if he looked over the tree tops. Well, he wasn't really far from where he wanted to go, so he decided to just press on.
He walked a bit further and stopped, pulling a pocket map from the region up and shining the flashlight beam over it, so he could read it. Hmmmm... the ground all around the mountain foot looked about the same – how was he supposed to find the place he was looking for?
He kept walking forward for some time (ten minutes? an hour?), until he suddenly stopped, a weird sensation growing inside him. He flashed the flashlight all around him, trying to recognize his surroundings. He approached a tree, touched its trunk, took a deep breath.
He was around the same spot he was when he reunited with MK and the human once again. More than three years had passed since. Whoa, had so much time really passed? He was really getting old.
He remembered how overcast the sky was that day – and how it rained throughout all night, too. Tonight, however, things couldn't be more different – the weather was nice and the sky was clear, giving Papyrus perhaps the vision of the most starry night he had ever seen in his life. He smiled – maybe it was a sign. Maybe he was really meant to go find the place he had been looking for in that particular night.
He walked a bit further, and the trees got more sparse, the forest ground giving place to the hard mountain ground. He was at the foot of Mt. Ebott, but what would he do next?
Being next to that mountain made Papyrus feel weird – he became extremely aware that he was really close to the Underground. Maybe there were monsters passing by right beneath his feet, and they'd probably have no idea of that. If he decided to climb the mountain, it wouldn't take long for him to find human-made barriers, technology and special forces all guarding the Underground's entrance.
Luckily, the place he wanted to find wasn't anywhere up in the mountain – quite the contrary, it was by its foot.
He marched on, walking around the mountain, shining the flashlight over the stone walls. It wasn't hard terrain to walk over – he could understand how the human, still a child, managed to find the Underground all those years ago... how many years? Ten?
Geez, he needed to stop thinking about time. He felt ancient.
There, he found it – the cave he, MK and the human camped into in that same day they were reunited and shared their stories of what they had gone through. He stood by its entrance, a silly smile appearing on his expression. That day flipped his world upside down – that day when he learned about resets, timelines, and how Sans knew it all.
His hand automatically went for his pocket, grabbing a piece of paper he had been carrying with him during that whole trip – the letter. Every time he thought about Sans, he'd go for the letter – it made him feel a little closer to them and evoked good childhood memories he had. He and Sans sharing a meal. Sans comforting him after a tough day in school. Sure, his childhood hadn't been easy by any means, but he wouldn't trade those moments he had with his brother for nothing in the world. Nothing.
He turned around, shaking his head to snap out of his thoughts. He had found the cave – which meant he was close. Really close.
He walked back to where the forest ground began to mend with the mountain ground – there were some trees there. He looked at them, touched their trunks – they all seemed about the same. He decided to look at the ground instead, starting to feel afraid if he wouldn't find it, and that it would all have been for nothing.
That was when he found two bones – one of them broken, on the ground next to one of the trees.
He felt his soul leaping inside his body and he crouched down, putting his hand on the ground. Yes – it felt different from the ground around it.
Like it had been caved.
When the realization hit him, he froze in place, his hand still resting over the ground.
"HELLO, BROTHER.", he said with a faint quiver on his voice.
He let himself sit on the ground in front of that particular spot of soil and hugged his own legs, looking at the bones over there. He had summoned them in a cross formation to mark the place when they made that burying ceremony for Sans three years before. At the time, he didn't understand why he did that – it just felt appropriate, even if apparently it didn't stand the test of time.
Well, it was the intention that counted, right?
"I CAME TO VISIT.", he hesitantly continued. "WERE YOU FEELING LONELY HERE?"
He kept looking to the patch of soil – that particular spot where Sans' dust lay to rest underneath – almost as if expecting an answer. A fresh, pleasant breeze blew instead, making the foliage from the trees rustle softly.
The skeleton fumbled inside his pocket and took the special present he had brought to the occasion – a bottle of ketchup, Sans' favorite brand. He looked at it for a while, smiling with nostalgia. When they moved to Snowdin Town, Sans stopped drinking alcohol and switched to ketchup – surely, a healthier habit (maybe), but one Papyrus liked to pick on nonetheless.
"I BROUGHT THIS TO YOU!", he said, placing the ketchup bottle over the patch of soil, next to the bones. "THEY HAVE A LOT OF THIS HERE ON THE SURFACE! SEE, I WASN'T WRONG – HUMANS DO DRINK A LOT OF KETCHUP! NYEH HEH HEH!"
He laughed, but his voice sounded different – it had a new layer of melancholy that wasn't there before. Or maybe it had always been there ever since the day his brother passed away, and he just hadn't noticed it. He looked down, pensive, before fumbling inside his pocket once again. When his hand came out, holding the letter – the last thing Sans had left him – it was trembling a bit.
"I GOT YOUR MESSAGE.", he said, looking to the envelope. "THE HUMAN GAVE IT TO ME AFTER THE WAR WAS OVER. HE FOUND IT ON YOUR STUFF – OH, AND DON'T WORRY, HE DIDN'T READ IT! HE'S... HE'S A GOOD BOY."
Then, he remembered how much time had passed since he had met the human for the first time.
"A GOOD MAN.", he corrected, hacking.
He tightened the grasp of the letter – in the dark, he couldn't see it, but he knew the words "to papyrus" were written on the envelope. By now, he knew the whole letter by heart – even the parts Sans tried to poorly conceal or change – as he had read it many times over the past three years.
"SANS... WHEN I READ THIS LETTER, I KNEW I HAD TO COME BACK HERE.", he started. "TO TELL YOU... I FORGIVE YOU. FOR EVERYTHING. EVEN FOR THE THINGS YOU WERE TOO PROUD TO ASK FOR FORGIVENESS."
The wind blew again, and Papyrus hugged his legs more tightly.
"SO, WE'RE NOT BIOLOGICAL BROTHERS...", he kept going. "I'M NOT GOING TO LIE, SANS... I DID HAVE MY SUSPICIONS, BUT I NEVER INQUIRED YOU ABOUT IT BECAUSE... WELL, I GUESS I WAS AFRAID TOO."
Now that Papyrus thought about it, he remembered he had never really asked Sans about their parents – or if they remembered anything about them. His brother would surely have been embarrassed if he did so – and they probably expected him to inquire about it one day... but that day never came. For Papyurs, it didn't feel necessary. For the longest time, he had Sans – he only had Sans – and it had been just the two of them.
"BUT THAT'S STUPID, RIGHT? BECAUSE IT'S LIKE YOU SAID IT IN THE LETTER! BIOLOGICAL OR NOT, WE'RE BROTHERS! WE'RE FAMILY! WE'LL ALWAYS BE."
The skeleton glanced a look to the envelope before inclining and placing it next to the ketchup bottle and the bones. A little part of him felt sad for letting go of the letter, but he was mostly relieved for doing that. It felt like a natural thing to do – like putting the final mark at the end of a sentence.
"THE HUMAN AND MK ARE DOING JUST FINE. THEY'VE GROWN UP A LOT SINCE THE WAR.", he said, giving a small chuckle. "WE'RE... WE'RE HAPPY."
Or, to put it in better terms, they were learning to be happy. They hadn't forgotten the nightmares – the ghost of a war that destroyed so many lives, living in their closets. But, day by day, that ghost seemed less like a horrifying beast and more like a natural part in them. A scar that they couldn't erase, but could live with.
"THINGS ARE GETTING BETTER."
And that was undoubtedly true.
He looked up without really thinking – he was facing the mountain, but he could see a good portion of the nightsky in his position, and the lights from the millions of stars above once again engulfed the skeleton in their wonder. A memory – a single, very happy memory – was brought back by his mind. He was thirteen or fourteen when Sans, who had just been assigned as the royal scientist's pupil, took him to that cave in Waterfall – the one with a thousand shiny stones that mimicked stars. Papyrus was amazed by it, and when Sans told him the real sky at the surface was bigger and the stars brighter, he actually thought they were just pulling his leg, like usual.
"THE STARS ARE BEAUTIFUL HERE, SANS.", he commented. "JUST LIKE YOU SAID."
And he felt a sting, right in his soul, because he wished, more than ever, that his brother could be there with him. But it was a good pain – because missing Sans didn't make him feel bad anymore. It gave him the reassuring feeling that he had loved them very, very much – fraternally and unconditionally – and that Sans knew it. They knew it. Papyrus was sure they did.
"I THINK..." he said, after a while. "I THINK THIS IS A NICE PLACE. YOU'RE NOT ALONE OUT HERE, AFTER ALL."
Maybe it was just Papyrus' imagination, but the stars seemed to flash a brighter light when he said that.
And somewhere – somewhere else, at that exact same time – Frisk and MK were home, watching one of those simple, stupid fun 80's comedy shows, and snarking at how bad the storylines were; Bonnie and Berna made plans for their new bakery while Boone played videogames on his new computer; Claire and Ethan sat on the living room with the former's mother, chatting and playing with the new member of the family, Lucas. And, just like Papyrus, a few more than a thousand monsters that were already living on the surface all looked to the beautiful night sky, all filled with determination and the assurance that better days were yet to come.
Because the future seemed just as bright as the stars in the sky above, and that night was the starriest one they had ever seen – in that timeline, or in any other.
THE END
AN: After seven months of writing, it's done. The series is now complete.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you who read everything – those of you who left reviews, followed and marked the story as favorite were the reason I kept going. So thank you.
If you want to keep updated on what I'm up to, consider following me on Tumblr: overratedjoe.
Until next time!