Present
Frisk grabs her bag and comes out of her bedroom. She runs down the stairs and goes to the kitchen where a delicious smell comes out. She stops at the entrance of the room.
"Mommy! I'm leaving early!"
Toriel turns to her daughter. She smiles at her.
"All right, I'll catch up with you as soon as I'm done. See you later!"
The human leaves her for the front door. She quickly puts on her shoes and leaves without a coat. Outside, the sun shines peacefully. A gentle wind comes brushing the child's cheeks but she does not realize it. She starts to walk quickly, light stepping.
She walks through the village where men and monsters live together, greeting each person she meets. It is located at the bottom of a hill, the one where the monsters were for a few years. From here, Frisk can see the barrier that surrounds their former living place. Surprisingly, at the time, the first one to leave this closed place was Sans. The enclosure had been built to protect the people, but the main victim did not take any account of it. This had been his first decision at the end of the trial of his torturers. Together with Grillby, they had settled a little apart from the men, at the bottom of the hill. Naturally, Papyrus followed them immediately, and their father too. Then, things had been done little by little until Asgore locked the fence behind him, leaving it completely abandoned. Now nature had returned.
Most of the monsters went to live in the big cities. This proves that their situation has greatly improved. There are still accidents, of course, but the king and the human government are keeping a close watch, dissuading more and more men from attacking monsters. Frisk also makes sure of it; she is the proof that harmony with the monsters is quite possible.
Leaving the village, she follows a path that leads her to a house set among the fir trees. From here, she hears shouts. It is Gaster and Sans. Frisk sighs. They never stop arguing. This time it seems to be about cigarettes. She can well imagine the scientist pointing out to his son that he still hasn't managed to quit smoking – for the tenth time this week – and Sans giving him a scathing reply, again. Yes, that's how it often happens.
Both are in the garden. Sans notices the newcomer and directly abandons the bickering.
"Hi! You're here early."
"I come to give a hand!"
Grillby then appears in the window.
"You went to get what's missing, Sans? Oh, hello Frisk! I didn't see you there."
"Nope, I'm going. Are you coming with me, kid? I'm gonna need a hand actually."
They both leave for the village, where the bar of Grillby is located. The child grabs the monster's arm and sticks to it, making him laugh softly. She has always thought of him as a brother, and he has always thought of her as his little sister. She is the only human he is close to. After his return and for two years – until the end of the trial – the skeleton avoided men as much as possible. It was only afterwards that he made an effort to be with them again, like a being that you know is dangerous but with whom you try to become accustomed. Even today, it is still difficult for him.
They arrive in front of the bar. Sans opens it with his keys and turns on the light. Inside, everything is in order. The skeleton advances straight towards the storeroom, which he unlocks. He takes out of his pocket a handwritten list.
"Here's everything we need! Afterwards, if we're short, I'll come back for more."
Both of them start looking for drinks in the cupboards.
"It's going to be a big party."
"It has to be. Pap joined the school he wanted at all costs!"
"That must be weird for you."
"Sure does. My little brother has grown up a lot. And next year, we're celebrating your entrance to high school!"
He amicably ruffles her long hair, causing the child to laugh.
Everyone finds their own path. Papyrus will take classes away from his brother; it makes them both sad, but they don't need to tell each other, they feel it. Frisk, when she finishes her studies, intends to help her father for the good of the monsters' cause. Grillby continues his life-long profession while Sans has become a scientific researcher. Of course, he doesn't work with his father – they'd argue all the time – but he went into a field that has always fascinated him: the stars.
They collect the bottles in bags and leave the bar. Sans closes the door behind him then lights a cigarette to consume it while walking. He hates smoking because of the memories it holds, but despite his many attempts, he has never been able to detoxify. Even if he says otherwise, Frisk believes he has given up.
She touches her long hair with her fingers, distracted. She hasn't cut them since the monster disappeared. She thought she would never see him again and that, she will never forget. Smoke rises in the blue sky. At that moment, the skeleton has the same vague and distant look as it did then, when the judgment was not finished. Only two people were judged: John and Oliver. Marc was never found. He is too smart not to have run away, Sans had thrown in the course of a conversation, as if it did not concern him. Besides, that was his attitude all along. He silently observed what was going on until the verdict was given. The sentences decided were minimal compared to the charge: "human" trafficking – monsters being included in this word – physical and moral humiliations, sequestration, torture, rapes for Oliver. However, it was precisely because Sans is a monster and not a human that the sentence was derisory; it was the first time such a case was judged and many still maintained that monsters were animals, the accused first.
When the verdict came down, all the monsters protested. As if it wasn't enough already that the kidnappers had not been found, that all the witnesses had been exculpated, the barman and his accomplice couldn't have such light sentences, especially since there was no lack of evidences and testimonies. So all but one rose up. Sans. Let it go, it's not worth it, he said before moving in with Grillby, as if to set an example.
The skeleton always thinks of the others before himself. This can be a weakness, but in his case, it is what saved him. By dint of fighting for the happiness of his loved ones, he gradually regained a taste for life. It has not been easy, however. He has been destroyed physically and broken psychologically. The traces are there, omnipresent, the scars as well as nightmares, hallucinations, uncontrolled and uncontrollable fears. In addition, he tends to hide his pain but fortunately, no one lets him do so and everyone is there for him. It is probably thanks to this that he has managed to come so far.
They are back at home. The interior is decorated with a thousand colors and the top of the table is filled with food, including Toriel's pies.
"Everyone is here. Undyne went to the station to get Papyrus, they should be here soon."
They all stand in the center of the room and start waiting. Standing like this makes them feel like they are being staged and makes them laugh. Finally, they hear a car, they try to calm down and stop making noise. There is the sound of footsteps and a suitcase rolling. The door opens. Everyone throws confetti.
"Congratulations!" they shout.
Under a multicolored rain, Papyrus smiles. He rushes towards his brother, lifts him up and spins him.
"I made it Sans! I made it!"
"Eh, I know. That's why we're all here. Congratulations, bro!"
Papyrus poses Sans and turns to Undyne who hands him what she was holding hidden: a huge bouquet of flowers. He offers it to his brother.
"It's for you! I wanted to thank you for always supporting me! You are an irreplaceable person for me!"
Sans takes the flowers, surprisingly moved. They are of all colors and shapes. A dazzling glow in this joyful place. How is this possible? He was supposed to save monsters from humans and then kill himself, he who was nothing. There was no hope, no future. Yet they found themselves in the same place and are now laughing innocently, as before. They are there, all of them, including him. So maybe he can hope, maybe in the end a future is possible, maybe they can be happy. Maybe they already are.
He hugs the bouquet and smiles broadly. "Thank you all, thank you for everything."
Strange feeling to experience a completely banal event and yet to find it unbelievable since we thought it was impossible that it would happen again. I don't know if I managed to pass on this emotion, but at least that's how Sans feels.
So the epilogue brings AfterHell to an end. We can say that it's a mixed end, can't we? I didn't want it to be all rosy because a year such as Sans has undergone necessarily leaves its mark. But he gets over it, little by little, as the years go by. I agree with Frisk, you need to keep hope ahah
Who had imagined that Sans and Grillby would end up together? (or who had seen that detail because I don't really talk about it ahah) It was planned from the beginning and I even hesitated to write a paragraph about it but it didn't really go with the general atmosphere of the fiction (and I'm bad at romance ahah)
Sans and Gaster fight all the time but it's because they love each other (I assure you u.u) otherwise they wouldn't see each other as often!
It would have been terrible if Papyrus and Sans were unable to pull themselves apart, for fear of losing the other one (as they lived it, it's a fear all the more present) but in the end it's okay, Papyrus goes to study quite far away and it's not so bad.
Frisk stays true to herself, she looks to the future. It was necessarily her who had to conclude, with her unfailing optimism!
Special thanks ~
A HUGE THANK YOU to Jim Ekas for your help with the translation. I would never have done it without you. Do you remember? We started translating in August 2019. I really didn't think it would take us this long ahah (oh my, the translation took longer than the writing itself ahah) So really, thank you, I would never have done it without you. Thank you.
(and see you soon, I thank you for other reasons after u.u)
Thanks to Mr-Poule who was the first to know about the project But what the hell am I doing… and who supported me all along!
Thanks to Jim Ekas (again x)) and Lunana26 for their support and their crazy comments that made me laugh! (how is it possible, with such a story?!)
For the translation: thanks to Jim Ekas (again, but I owe you so much ^^) and also to Guardian-of-Dreams!
And of course, once again, thank you for reading this story! I hope you liked it ^^ (and didn't make you too depressed)
A huge thank you for all the drawings that have been done on AfterHell! q.q Have a look at their drawings, they are beautiful!
Mr-poule - EllyandSakura - Lumargann (JimEkas) - Lunana26
If you haven't done it yet, you can take a look at all the AfterHell illustrations on my Deviant Art ^^
Thank you again for reading!
See ya!
French version ~
Started in September/October 2018
Finished writing on May 9, 2019
Proofreading finished on November 18, 2019
Final proofreading finished on April 6, 2021
English version ~
Started in August 2019
Finished translating on February 19, 2021
Proofreading finished on April 22, 2021
Final proofreading finished on April 24, 2021