Toriel pulled into the driveway of one of the smaller houses in this rich area. It was still opulent, just at a slightly smaller scale. That left more room for the yard, which was manicured to perfection. Toriel admired it as she drove up to the front door. Asgore would have known more, but, then again, he wasn't the biggest fan of ornamental gardens like this. His flowers were always interspersed with practical plants: lavender, aloe vera, fruit bushes, vegetable plants, tomatoes, peppermint, chamomile, sage, etc. This garden was only meant to be looked at and maybe walked through. Toriel knew it would bother him, but he wasn't here, so she could admire it all she wanted to.

Toriel soon found herself at the front door, knocking with the large iron knocker that decorated the center of the door. She had looked for a doorbell, but had found none. Just as she was beginning to worry that no one had heard her or that no one was home the door swung open.

The familiar blur of Frisk barrelled into her legs and clung to her. Toriel had the oddest sense come over her that something was wrong here. She knew this feeling from before, and it always meant that Frisk was upset. She put it up to motherly instincts and thought no more about it. "Is something wrong, my dear child?"

Frisk nodded into her legs. Toriel could feel the tears beginning to soak through her skirt. She knelt down and gave Frisk a handkerchief. "Here you go, my child. Crying is good for you, but it feels nice to get the tears out of your fur. Erm, off your skin. Sorry."

The Savior of all Monsterkind giggled tonelessly at the slip up. Toriel smiled. That was better. "Now, tell me, my child. What has gotten you so upset?"

Frisk finished wiping off their face, handed back the handkerchief, and signed, [I had a nightmare where everyone was dead. You were dead, Asgore was dead, Undyne was dead...Can we please, please go check on everyone? Please?]

Toriel looked up at the blankly pleasant face of the skeleton behind Frisk and sighed. "Yes, my child, we can. Come along, my visit can wait for another time. I am sorry to bother you, Lord Roman. It seems our conversation must wait."

The skeleton nodded briskly. "OF COURSE, MY QUEEN. I WILL LOOK FORWARD TO OUR NEXT MEETING WITH INTEREST."

Toriel led Frisk away a little more quickly than would have been polite. She didn't understand it. She had grown up around diplomats. She knew that smile. She had used that smile. Why, all of a sudden, did it feel ominous and foreboding?

To four of the monsters gathered around Asgore's living room, the somber tone and the fear-filled faces were familiar. It had been a long, long time since Asgore had sat down at a council of war. More than a thousand years, in fact. But here they were, sitting in a circle and listening to the direst of news. Even if it was only a dream.

Undyne was the first to break the silence. "I know we're all thinking it, but it needs to be said: Frisk's dream has a point. Going alone to confront these people is not a good idea. They might be dangerous; they might not be. It doesn't really matter. I never let my guards go alone to arrest someone, and I'm not about to start now. When we finally have enough information to arrest them we should go en masse."

"arrest them for what? i'm a little bit lost here. why are these people on our watch list?" Sans asked. He was sitting with Frisk in his lap, stroking their hair. They were still crying from everything they had shared. The least he could do was try to comfort them. They seemed to appreciate it.

Asgore exchanged a look with Toriel, then went on to look at the rest of the room. Alphys, Undyne, Grillby, Gerson; they all nodded. It was time they brought the skeleton brothers into the loop.

** It was Toriel who launched into the explanation. She left no detail out, including her emotions when they'd learned each fact. Asgore wasn't quite sure why she was bothering when he noticed Papyrus. He seemed to be uncomfortable in a way that was very familiar to Asgore. He reminded him of Chara when they had something to say that they thought might bother him.

Quietly and calmly into the silence that reigned as Toriel finished up her words Asgore asked, "Papyrus. Do you have anything to add to our findings?"

The taller skeleton brother looked torn. His hands were fiddling with a string off his sweater and his right foot was bouncing up and down in a nervous tick. He surveyed each of their faces without meeting their eyes. Finally he sighed. "I, UM, DO, BUT PLEASE DON'T BE MAD AT ME WHEN I TELL YOU?"

Undyne asserted, "We're not gonna be mad at you, Pap. Nothing you say could make us mad at you."

"i dunno," Sans hedged, a smile on his face. "if you said you'd destroyed every last ketchup factory on the planet in order to spite me i'd be pretty pissed. but other than that? you're good, bro."

Asgore smiled as Undyne glared at Sans, but Papyrus' cough interrupted them. "WELL, I AM NOT GOING TO SAY THAT BECAUSE IT IS NOT TRUE. BUT I AM GOING TO SAY SOMETHING… BAD. YES, VERY BAD. UM, WHERE DO I START? MAYBE AT THE BEGINNING… SANS WAS BORN WHEN YOU GOT SICK WITH BUTTERCUPS POISONING, KING FLUFFYBUNS. THE DOCTORS COULDN'T BE THERE FOR THE BIRTH BECAUSE THEY WERE OUT SEEING YOU. HE WAS BORN WITH LOW HP (10), AND IT ONLY DROPPED FROM THERE. IT DROPPED ABOUT 1 HP FOR EVERY 20 YEARS BEFORE I WAS BORN. ONE WAS LOST BECAUSE OUR MOTHER DROPPED HIM AND CRACKED HIS SKULL. A DOCTOR MANAGED TO HEAL IT, BUT THAT'S WHY SANS DOESN'T OFTEN MOVE HIS MOUTH. AND ANOTHER TWO LOST BECAUSE OF A 'REMEDY' THAT NEARLY FRACTURED HIS SOUL."

"I WAS BORN BECAUSE OUR PARENTS THOUGHT THEY WERE GOING TO LOSE SANS, AND THEY WANTED AN HEIR. THEY NEVER THOUGHT I MIGHT STABILIZE SANS, AND THEY THOUGHT IT WAS SOMETHING ONE OF THE DOCTORS DID, BUT I KNOW BETTER. SANS FINALLY HAD SOMEONE WORTH LIVING FOR; A TINY LITTLE SKELE WHO SMILED AT HIM AND MEANT IT FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HIS LIFE… OUR PARENTS DIDN'T SMILE AT US LIKE THAT."

"SANS WAS HURT AND SICK A LOT BECAUSE OF HIS HP; HIS BODY HAD MORE MAGIC THAN IT KNEW WHAT TO DO WITH, AND BECAUSE HE WAS KEPT INSIDE IN A TOO-SMALL ROOM HIS GROWTH WAS STUNTED. HE DIDN'T REALLY HAVE ANYWHERE TO PUT THE MAGIC. HIS BONES BREAK EASILY BECAUSE THEY AREN'T BUILT RIGHT - THEY'RE NOT CORPOREAL ENOUGH. HIS IMMUNE SYSTEM IS HORRIBLE FOR THE SAME REASON. HE BROKE HIS OWN BONES AS A KID BECAUSE HE DIDN'T GET HOW MUCH FORCE HE NEEDED TO USE TO DO STUFF."

"WE LIVED IN THE CAPITOL AS KIDS. OUR PARENTS WEREN'T THE GREATEST. THEY ALWAYS TRIED TO 'FIX' BOTH OF US. I WENT TO SPECIAL SCHOOLS AND EVENTUALLY WAS TUTORED BECAUSE I COULDN'T FOCUS AND THINK LIKE OTHER KIDS. NONE OF IT HELPED AND NONE OF IT LET US BE US, OR A KID. THEY CONSTANTLY TOLD BOTH OF US HOW MUCH WE WERE A PROBLEM, AND SO BOTH OF US ARE INSECURE ABOUT LOVE, OURSELVES, OUR ABILITIES, ETC."

"OUR PARENTS NEVER LET US HAVE MORE THAN ONE SET OF CLOTHING. THEY DIDN'T LET SANS BECAUSE HE WAS INSIDE ALL DAY AND ME THEY DIDN'T LET BECAUSE I WAS SO PICKY. I LIKE CASHMERE AND FLEECE, LIKE IN MY GLOVES AND THE LINING OF MY BATTLE BODY, BUT I DON'T LIKE KHAKI OR WOOL. SANS NEVER GOT TO WEAR SHOES OR SOCKS BECAUSE HE WAS USUALLY IN BED, SO HIS FEET WERE ALWAYS COLD. WHEN WE GOT OUT HE BECAME OBSESSED WITH SOCKS AND LETTING HIS FEET BE COMFORTABLE."

"WE RAN AWAY BECAUSE OUR PARENTS WERE GOING TO TRY AND SEPARATE US PERMANENTLY. THE IDEA OF NEVER SEEING EACH OTHER AGAIN JUST WASN'T HAPPENING. OUR PARENTS DID THIS BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT I WAS A THREAT TO SANS, AND THAT THAT WAS WHY SANS KEPT GETTING HURT AND SICK. THIS WAS WRONG, BUT THEY DIDN'T LISTEN TO ME. THEY LEFT ME AT THAT ISOLATED BENCH IN WATERFALL WITH A QUICHE TO EAT. I USED TO LIKE IT BUT I NEVER EAT IT NOW. SANS FOLLOWED US IN SECRET, AND THEN WE LIVED ON OUR OWN."

"SANS GOT VERY SICK WHILE WE WERE IN WATERFALL, AND I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. WHILE HE WAS SICK, HE GOT HIT BY A ROCKFALL, AND THIS KNOCKED OUT HIS EYE AND DAMAGED HIS MEMORY. I'M PRETTY SURE THIS IS WHY SANS DOESN'T REMEMBER OUR TIME AS A KID. SANS DIDN'T REALLY ASK IF I REMEMBERED, HE JUST ASSUMED MY MEMORY WAS THE SAME AS HIS. IT, UM, ISN'T? BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO TELL ANYONE BECAUSE PEOPLE USED TO GET MAD AT ME WHEN I'D TRY TO TELL THEM WHAT OUR PARENTS WERE DOING TO SANS. THEY SAID I WAS LYING EVEN THOUGH I WASN'T."

Papyrus' face was covered in sweat at this point. He wiped it off with a handkerchief. "SO, UM, SURPRISE?"