PATCHWORK SOUL - NEW MEDIUM Chapter 69: SUPERSTAR SUNBOI, an undertale fanfic

SUPERSTAR SUNBOI CHAPTER 69

Shaking fingers were not very conducive to producing technical diagrams, especially not ones of a highly experimental time machine. Stating the obvious, obviously, but Sans didn't have much of a choice. Not that he was anywhere close to a good artist anyway, but give him a couple straight edges and a compass and he could at least make something another monster had a chance at understanding. He felt pretty lucky that, in this case, those other monsters would ending up being Alphys and his father— the biggest megadorks he knew.

Sans held his left hand steady as he could with his right to subdue the tremors as he drew pieces of the time machine and little diagrams of how things fastened together. Prep work. Boring. Necessary, but boring. He munched an opera cake despite having very little desire to. It tasted a little like coffee and he hoped the placebo effect might wake him up a bit.

Papyrus flitted in and out of the living room from the kitchen. He dragged a chair over came to sit at the table and said nothing for a long while, watching the pictures progress. The second Sans paused, his brother pulled him into a warm, reassuring hug.

"Are you almost done?" Papyrus asked.

Sans stuck his thumb up. He dragged another piece of paper over to scribble on. "yea just wanna make sure alph can get it"

"I'm sure she will. And besides. It's not like you won't be around to ask," he said.

Sans raised an eyebrow. Papyrus frowned.

"Listen. I know what you said. And I said I'm going to make sure you're totally fine," he said. "I'm the great Papyrus, and your great brother, after all. It's part of the job description."

Sans scoffed, smiling sideways. "u better not be hard on urself if i drop or im gonna :[ "

"As if I'm intimidated by a small drawing of a frowny-face," the tall skeleton teased. He blew out a sigh and rested his elbow on the table, cheek on his fist. "Sigh. You really are a mess, hm?"

Sans snickered and stuck his thumb up. His brother cracked a smile. He grabbed onto his hand, fingers glowing with a warm and healing amber.

"There has to be something we can do to at least keep you… consistent, right?" Papyrus mused. "Hasn't dad been working on this? He has to have been, there's no way he'd just let you…" He gulped. "Whew, that… does not want to come out of my mouth."

"mostly we just been aimin for the kids," Sans explained. "whtevrs goin on ill be ok onc theyre bck. doin that is workin on it"

"So… So, wait! If it's really that, then…!" Papyrus clapped his hands against the sides of his skull with a hollow thunk. "You really are sick from a broken heart?!"

Sans's eyes went wide and his cheekbones flushed blue, but he began to laugh again, so hard that his voice warped back within hearing range.

"Brother, this is not a funny thing, this is a tragic thing!" the tall skeleton protested, which only served to make Sans laugh harder. "Nyehhhhh, you're impossible."

As Sans wiped tears of mirth from his eye sockets, the door to Toriel's room cracked open and a small, groggy purple crocodaur wandered out, rubbing her scruffy hair. Papyrus perked up instantly.

"Oh! There's my great assistant!" he said brightly as she reached the stairs. "Good morning! Are you feeling any better?"

"Me? Uh." Suzy pushed her hair from her eyes, only to have it fall back exactly in place. "Yeah. Me an' Undyne watched some anime and I fell asleep again pretty quick."

"That's excellent! Sans told me all about what happened," he said. "To be honest, even someone as cool and brave as me would be quite unnerved by what you saw!"

"Y… Yeah. It was scary as heck." She clenched her fists. "But if that guy comes back I'm gonna bite all his legs."

Sans shot her a grin and two thumbs up. Papyrus chuckled and got up to meet her. He knelt before her and offered her a hug, which she gladly fell into. The skeleton beamed.

"Look at you! My extremely brave assistant," he said. "Hey! Maybe someday you can join the Royal Guard! Or! You could be a knight! I think you'd be fantastic at that!"

"H-Hah! I… I dunno yet," Suzy said. Her little tail started to wag. She peeked around Papyrus to his brother and raised her hand. "Hey, nothing dumb happened, did it?"

He shook his head.

"One dumb thing has, actually. Sans has unfortunately come down with a case of the offkeys," Papyrus said. "He may be weak! But! He's going to be okay. We… He just needs a little more time."

Suzy looked between the two skeletons. She folded her arms and cocked her head to the side. "Hm."

Sans shrugged. Suzy frowned and wandered up to him. She stole Papyrus's chair and pushed it closer, then hopped up onto it to stare at Sans probingly. The skeleton rested his cheek on his fist, wearing a tired, amused grin on his face.

"You sure?" she asked.

He shrugged. She grimaced. She leaned over and looked at his drawings, her mouth twisting to the side.

"So what's this?" she asked. "Is it s'posed to help?"

"time machine junk" Sans replied.

She nodded thoughtfully, then pointed to his eraser. "You gonna finish that?"

Sans gestured to it with an open palm and the kid grabbed it and gnawed on the end. Papyrus's eyes bugged out and he hurried straight into the kitchen.

"L-Let me get you some breakfast!" he announced.

"Cool, okay," Suzy said. She leaned back in the chair and kicked her feet.

"Hey, punks." Undyne trudged down the stairs, brushing her loose hair back out of her face. "Damn, I slept like a rock."

"Hey, Guard Princess Undyne," Suzy said.

"Pfff." Undyne mussed up the kid's hair affectionately. "You can just call me Undyne, if you wanna." She turned to Sans, pointing at her own face. "Anythin' get time-warped?"

Sans squinted at her, then stuck his thumb down.

"Cool. Thanks." She leaned towards him with a suspicious squint, her ear fins flaring. "Oh. Got messed up, huh?"

He shrugged one shoulder and nodded. He fished in his pocket to pullout his notes and handed them over.

"What's thi…?" Her eye went wide. She read it as quickly as she could. "Holy shi…oot," she said. "Okay. Okay okay. This…! I mean. It's… good, right? Kinda? I mean, except the messed up stuff."

Sans snickered and shrugged again.

"Breakfast is served!" Papyrus strode back in, effortlessly balancing three plates of spaghetti on one hand.

The pasta was steaming warm and the sauce glistened sharp, bright red. He passed out the plates and Suzy dug in the second she had a fork in her hand. Papyrus grinned proudly and turned his attention to Undyne.

"Good morning! Have you had any strange time shenanigans today?"

"Not yet," she said, taking a big bite of pasta. "You?"

"Just the one," he said. "Things went well with the human, by the way; mom and dad both seemed pretty happy about it. Which, I knew they would be."

"You're good, Paps," Undyne said. "Hm. I should probably take a hike around there today, actually. You wanna come?"

"Yes, absolutely! Is what I normally would say!" Papyrus said brightly. "But. Dad and Alphys should be home soon with some bits for Sans's machine, and I'd like to stay to help attach some things to some other things if I can."

"Cool cool, makes sense," she said, though her brow furrowed. "Then I might just, uh… Actually. Sans? Can I talk to you a sec?"

He scribbled on a piece of paper and held it up. "told him"

The blue monster's eye bugged out. "Seriously?!"

He nodded. Suzy looked between them, confused, as she slurped her noodles. Undyne slammed her plate down onto the table and grabbed Papyrus by the arm, dragging him into the kitchen as he let out an alarmed nyeh.

Papyrus opened his mouth with a question in mind, but Undyne knocked it out of him when pulled him into a hug. The skeleton froze up for an instant, then wrapped his arms around her, too.

"It's gonna be okay," she told him steadily. "It's all gonna be completely fine. You hear me?"

"I… I know! But thank you, I—!"

"Papyrus." Her voice was solid and stern. "I promise."

His soul fluttered, a tiny warble in his usual, beaming strength. He wilted. "I… I need to find—"

"We will. You and me." She lowered her voice. "…Just 'cause him and your dad are tryin' the super-science-time-crap method doesn't mean we can't do somethin' else, too, right?"

"Right! Right. Absolutely." There was a little uncertainty in his expression anyhow. "I, uh… I guess I am just a teeny tiny bit worried sometimes, though."

Undyne grinned her big, sharp teeth. She drew back and held his face in her hands. "I am gonna smooch your head."

"Okay."

She leaned in and gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead. His eyes flared with magic.

"We got this," she said.

"We got this," he echoed. His fingertips glowed with an affectionate warmth and he reciprocated by gently squishing his friend's cheeks. He snickered tiredly and rubbed the back of his skull. "Whew. It's… It's been a day, to be honest."

"I feel that." She smiled from the side of her mouth. "Honestly, I'm kinda shocked he actually told you."

Papyrus grinned. "He did a solid character development; I'm very proud of him!"

A paper airplane sailed into the room, its point bonking into Papyrus's head. He snatched it up and opened it to reveal a heart drawn in blue marker. Undyne scoffed quietly.

"Sans, were you eavesdropping?" Papyrus called.

Another plane arrived. This one said, "u think i can reach eaves? lol"

Papyrus rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help a grin. He folded the notes tenderly and stashed them in his pocket. He patted Undyne on the shoulder and left to rejoin the others at the table. Suzy had already finished her pasta and had started in on Sans's half-finished plate.

"At least someone has a good appetite," Papyrus said. He turned to his brother. "You've at least been eating the cakes, though, right?"

"Effects don't last too long," Sans said, his voice low and hoarse.

"Ugh, that's such a pain," the tall skeleton grumbled. "I don't understand, dad would have an issue and they'd fix it up for quite a while. With you, it's like it's the opposite."

"What if we hit like ten more buttons, though?" Undyne said, peering down at Alphys's machine as it whirred quietly where it sat. "Maybe pour some elixir in it? Something weird, maybe? Like, uh, AOE-booster or something?"

Sans shrugged. "Whatever you wanna try."

"You could be a little more invested in your health, you know," she said with a scowl, folding her arms and tilting her head towards Papyrus.

The skeleton grinned. "Guess I could put a little more stock in it."

Undyne squinted, her ear-fins flattening. "What?"

He shrugged, but his smile widened. "Surface thing, forget it."

"What about soup?" Suzy said suddenly.

"Soup?" Undyne repeated.

"A stock is a soup, right?" she said. "I remember, my sister…" She frowned. "Uh. Well. I mean. Maybe it's fake? But I thought maybe… my sister made soup if we got sick."

"Oh! Actually!" Papyrus said, wide-eyed. "That's true! We have a soup recipe from the King, I think."

"Yo, Asgore's soup?!" Undyne grinned. "Yeah! He'd make that for me, too!" She thumped Suzy on the back. "Good thinking, squirt! That's a great one! Okay!" She jabbed a thumb into her chest. "New plan! I'm gonna go grab some 'lixers and whatever other junk. You guys do your nerd crap; I'll make some soup."

"Soup-er," Sans said.

Papyrus groaned and Undyne gently bonked him on the head.

"If you weren't so sick I'd chuck ya right out the window," she said.

"I mean, maybe I could use the fresh air," he said with a wink. He straightened up a little and jabbed his thumb towards the door. "Speaking of…"

The front door swung open, letting a cold burst of air chill the room. Gaster rushed in with a large bag over one shoulder, quickly closing the way behind him.

"Oh! You're… all here. Excellent," he said. His brows shot up. "Has Toriel not come back yet?"

"Didn't see 'er," Undyne said. She reached out and started mashing all the buttons on the cake-generating machine.

"She's probably still in Waterfall," Papyrus said. "Did things go well at the lab?"

Gaster nodded. "Hm. Alphys's started unpacking," he said, pointing his thumb back over his shoulder. "Is everyone…? You're all alright?"

"Of course, why wouldn't we be?" Papyrus asked.

"Good. Good, alright." Gaster turned his eyes on Suzy. "Little one, are you…? Is everything okay?"

"Who, me?" Suzy asked. "Uh… Kinda?"

He put his bag down and hurried over to her. She let him scoop her up and move her over to the couch, where he quickly drew out the glow of her soul with his pointy, blackened fingers. After a few seconds of silence, he let out a relieved sigh and carefully patted her shoulder.

"It sounds fine," he said. "I apologize. After what I heard happened—"

"With the stupid void man?" she said. "I bit him real hard. That's what I should do, right?"

Gaster grinned. "Bang on. And… how are you feeling? Has anything strange happened since then?"

"I think I just had a fake memory about soup but it was right so I guess that's okay," she said.

"Kid's a trooper," Undyne said as she headed for the door to grab her boots. "I was just gonna head out for a sec. Need anything from down the road, Doc?"

"I don't, but thank you."

Undyne nodded. She thumped him hard on the back and leaned in close. "Keep an eye on Paps," she said under her breath. "Sans told him the full deal."

Gaster's eyelights shrunk to pinpricks, but he nodded, and Undyne slipped around him and out into the cold.

"Uh… You okay?" Suzy asked, tilting her head.

"I should… get to work," he said stiffly.

"You mean WE should get to work!" Papyrus said with a grin.

"Why don't you and Sans just… relax here for a while?" Gaster suggested.

"Pfff, we've done plenty of that already," the boy insisted. "And Sans wants to start putting things together, right?"

Sans stuck his thumb up.

Gaster flinched. "You don't have t—"

"It'll be fine!" Papyrus scooped his brother up in blue magic, letting him kick back and hover in midair, and gathered the papers up in his arms. "I hope you'll come, too, my small purple assistant!"

Suzy hopped off the couch and followed behind him as he headed outside, too. Sans grinned and waved at his father as he floated off.

"Oh! If you could bring Alphys's cake machine, that would be great!" Papyrus called back over his shoulder.

Gaster rubbed the back of his skull. Oozing with worry, he did as Papyrus asked regardless and reached out for Alphys's machine. The second he he touched it, it let out a ding and spluttered a layer of packaged cakes onto the table, and then kept going.

By the time Gaster had gathered up an armful from the still-spewing cake machine and joined the others in the garage, they had already begun tacking Sans's drawings up on the walls at around Alphys-height. He passed the cakes off to his son and began to unpack the bag of parts he had brought along, laying out each one carefully across the floor, being sure to mind Undyne's space behind the curtain divider.

"Wowie, looks like you guys did a ton of work," Papyrus said.

"Oh! I-It wasn't that much, really," Alphys said with a small smile. "M-Most of this just adds, um, extra r-redundancies where the b-blueprints allowed."

"What's a redundant-see?" Suzy asked.

"It's… uh… It's sort of like, you p-put in extra parts that, um, don't normally do anything on their own, b-but if the main one breaks or… s-something goes wrong? That extra bit can take over," she said. She shot a glance at Sans. "You were, um, a little low on m-materials when you built it to begin with, right?"

"Yup," he said. "Plus, uh…" He coughed. "D-Didn't matter at the time if I… y'know. Died."

Gaster's head jerked up and Papyrus cawed loudly.

"You need to get rid of that attitude right away!" he said.

Sans snickered. "Time reset for me back then. Not a big deal."

"Stiiiiilll not healthy!"

"…Time did what?" Suzy asked. She squinted with confusion. "I thought your sister was the time thing?"

"True," he said. "I was just, uh, holdin' it for her before she could use those star things properly."

"…I really want to m-meet your sister," Alphys said quietly.

"I really want to meet my sister!" Papyrus agreed.

"Soon," Gaster said. "It… will be soon."

He got up and joined Sans near the machine and pulled up the compartment where the flowing magic had faltered. His eyes skimmed the interior while magic facsimiles of hands floated up around him, peeking inside the capsule and around the other side. He reached his blackened hand down into the compartment to get a closer look. Tubes of liquid magic bubbled gently, and uniquely stitched filters near the base, below the damaged cables, gave off a steady, almost-inaudible vibration as they drew ambient energy from the air like gills. Gaster's eyes flickered and his strange soul couldn't contain its excited pulse.

"It looks like those strengthened ore parts will do very nicely in here," he said. "I read your blueprints while we were working." He had a million questions he wanted to ask about them, but none of them felt pertinent enough. His son had somehow pried the fabric of time apart and forced some metal contraption to act as a vessel to carry a soul through it. The pride made his bones ache. "They're… very interesting. I'd love to see the full calculations on the inner processes sometime."

"I'll look for 'em," Sans said.

"…Don't tell me you made a one-of-a-kind time-and-space machine and you lost how you did it?!" Papyrus yelped.

Sans laughed. "It's in the closet somewhere." He grinned sideways. "…S'not like I forgot 'em. It'd just take a while to write out again and, y'know." He shrugged.

"I'll put it in a binder," Gaster said.

"D-Digitizing would probably be better," Alphys suggested.

"Nuh-uh, not riskin' a certain six-legs superstar gettin' his hands on it, Alph," Sans joked. "Who knows what kinda messed up stuff he'd do with it."

"Oh god, it happened again?!" Papyrus asked.

"H-Hopefully he won't become, um, O-Octoton," Alphys said, rubbing her head spikes bashfully. "A-And hopefully some… other me, somewhere, doesn't waste a whole lot of time on it! But… I g-guess you're right, even if it wasn't him, it could be… r-risky." She looked down at all the pieces on the floor and then grabbed a slab of solid casing that was a little too big for her.

Papyrus immediately took it from her. "Just show me where it goes!"

"Over here, Paps," Gaster said, waving to him.

As the young skeleton bounded to the time machine, Alphys smiled.

"Um. Does…? D-Does anyone mind a little, um, music?"

"Go ahead," Gaster said.

They were soon fastening metal plating and socketing crystal capsules alongside peppy J-pop beats that carried nostalgia along with them. Though Sans's voice drifted in and out along with the consumption of cakes, he still had enough energy to finagle some of the smaller components back into place when he wasn't slacking off with Suzy. The little monster was only vaguely interested in the assembly unless something had to be whacked into place, which she was more than happy to help with. Papyrus and Gaster worked to install the extra plating and repair some cracks in what could loosely be called the hull of the machine, and Alphys took the inside, booting the system up and making sure the programming could detect and accept every new part.

When Sans leaned in to the compartment to check how things were going, he found Alphys with glimmering eyes as she puttered around his system code. He gestured to the screen and the lizard leaned back to shoot him a smile.

"This is really g-good," she said. "A-And it looks like it saved your previous trip data, too?! There's a f-few that are corrupted, though?"

The skeleton pointed at his father. Alphys frowned thoughtfully before her eyes went wide.

"O-Oh! So that's… when you…? Went b-back to t-try to see the C-CORE incident?"

He stuck his thumb up.

"S-Sugoi…" She grinned. "A-Alright, so, if our plan is to, um, basically use the p-pod itself as a beacon. I c-can input your signature and have some extra magic in there dedicated t-to, um, replicating it. Of course it'll n-never be identical to a real soul putting it out, but i-if it's something those kids can recognize, it should b-be good enough to get them looking in the right direction." She brought up his target screen and began to input an equation that, from the first few numbers, Sans recognized right away. "Now… I-I figure, I put in the full red line, including, um, A-Asriel? Asriel's harmonic resonance. That could, in theory, t-take us to the right place. You'll probably, um, have to direct it to looking into the void i-instead of, um, into the past, though. I-Is that okay?"

Sans looked thoughtful. That new spell for the NOCTURNE should be able to handle it. Thumbs up again.

"Oh! Also. I w-was wondering, should I bind it to the, um…? The note? If it's hers, it might make it more stable, but—?"

Thumbs down this time. Sans pulled his notepad out to write. "system might get confuse tryin 2 go back & out at the same time"

"O-Oh. Okay. Okay! That's… fine." She frowned thoughtfully. "D-Do we… have anything else, then? T-To, um, slot into the physical… item… place?"

Sans shrugged. He looked back at the room and waved Papyrus over.

The tall skeleton bounded over to join them and bent down.

"Helloooo, how's everything going?" he asked.

"P-Pretty good, um…" Alphys pointed into the capsule's control panel. "Th-There's a spot here that's supposed to, um, h-help the machine find it's way. S-Sans used a l-letter from your sister to find th-the past, right? W-We were wondering if there was anything else like that that you had."

"Anything else…?" Papyrus tilted his head to the side. "From my…? OH!" He leapt upright, startling both Suzy and Gaster across the room. "I KNOW! HANG ON!" He raced from the garage at top speed.

Sans leaned back against the pod and popped another medicinal cake into his mouth. It had some mysterious, indescribable flavour. He was on his dozenth one and he still couldn't figure it out.

Papyrus returned quickly with a burst of snow at his back. He had a cube held carefully in his hands.

"This!" he announced proudly.

Gaster perked up, eyes brightening. "Did you get that from the castle?"

"I have no idea!" he said. He turned it so the red heart drawn with its panels showed off. "Big Dog found that this smelled a whole lot like determination. And! When we ran a test, we used this to match that mysterious melody. So! This must be Crabapple Kid's magic in here, right?"

Gaster froze. Sans did, too, eyes wide. He held out his hands and Papyrus gladly passed it over. Sans stared at the red glow and pressed the side of his head against it. There, softly lingering deep in the core of this strange, symbol-marked box, was his sister's hum. Not a digital replica— the real deal. Sans began to beam.

"It's good, right?" Papyrus said.

"Paps, it's perfect," Sans said.

"May I?" Gaster asked.

Sans handed it over and Gaster mimicked him, holding the cube up to his head. A slow grin spread across the man's face.

"…There she is." He clapped Papyrus on the shoulder and smiled fondly. "Thank you."

"Oh! Well, you're welcome! But, don't thank me, thank Big Dog and Crabapple Kid herself, I guess!" He leaned in to look at Alphys. "What do you think, should that work?"

"I…! I think that'd be perfect!" she said. She slid out of the seat and gestured for Sans to take it. "I, um, put all those jackets on the floor, I hope that's o-okay."

Sans slid into the seat and opened up the capsule where he had stored the note that acted as his guide the first time around. With a tap of his finger and a soft spark of deep blue magic, it shifted shape enough for him to take the piece of paper and replace it with the cube before he closed it up. The program responded affirmatively after only a second.

Gaster leaned down and held out a tiny memory card. "Is it compatible?"

"Yeah," Sans said as he took it.

"It's the same as the NOCTURNE," he said. "It should allow for searching the void, if everything goes to plan. We may have to infuse the machine, though."

"Sounds…" Sans's voice cut out. He stuck his thumb up instead, then slotted the card into the console. He was pretty glad that he and his father had the same idea, though: saved him having to suggest it.

The time machine asked if it should assimilate the code. Sans hit confirm, and a loading bar appeared on its screen.

"Do you guys need me for anything?" Suzy asked. She snuck up to them and tugged on Gaster's pant leg. "Do you need me to do some… void stuff, or whatever?"

"…That might b-be a good idea," Alphys said.

"It couldn't hurt," Gaster said. "Oh. Actually. That may be better. What do you think, Sans? Infuse a crystal with void and see if the machine takes it?" He folded his arms. "Now that I think about it, I worry… If my energy lingers out there, it might invite more unwelcome guests."

"Y-You think so?" Alphys asked worriedly.

"I do. Aside from what Suzy experienced, I've felt them myself," he said.

"Ugh, that's s-so scary, though…" she muttered.

Sans tilted his head. Might not be a bad idea. It could give the machine something to recognize to help it deal with the new programming. He patted the console and stuck his thumb up.

"Ooh, I have a f-few extra crystals, hang on," Alphys said, drawing a long, narrow, clear quartz from her phone. "What d-do you think, Sans? Slot this in?"

Another thumbs up from him. She smiled and handed it off to Suzy. "N-Nearly there," she said. She put a hand on Suzy's shoulder and guided her back towards where she'd been sitting before. "L-Let me show you how to do it, it's pretty e-easy."

As the time machine finished processing, Papyrus helped Sans out of it. He grabbed his brother's head with both hands and set a healing glow seeping though his skull. It was so warm and comfortable that Sans had to fight his eyes drooping closed.

"How are you feeling?" Papyrus asked quietly.

Sans shrugged. He patted his brother's hand and gave a thumbs up. Papyrus sighed and looked to his father, whose many hands held one of the last metal plates steady across the other side of the machine as his magic sealed it in place.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" he asked.

Gaster straightened up, mismatched eyes shooting over to his sons. He flinched. "…Sans's illness is external. The best way to help is to stop what's happening to our world. We need our time children to do that. So." He patted the metal casing of the time machine. "If we're lucky, getting this running could end this. As soon as today, even."

"Today?!" Papyrus's eyes lit up bright, but then dimmed swiftly. "That's…! That's fantastic!"

Sans cut his eyes at him. Papyrus huffed and crossed his arms.

"Don't tell me not to get my hopes too high! I can assure you my hopes are perfectly tempered, thank you very much!" He grinned. "But. That would be really good, wouldn't it?"

"Done!" Alphys announced.

Suzy proudly held up the crystal. Once clear, it was now pitch black, with the faintest trace of purple sparkles within its depths.

"Suuuzy, that looks fantastic!" Papyrus said brightly.

Sans gave her two thumbs up. The kid came over and handed it off to him, and he grinned and ruffled her hair. Back into the pod he went, opening up the console to

"Thank you, little one, you're doing great," Gaster assured her.

Suzy was taken aback, but she cracked a toothy grin nonetheless. "Heh. Thanks."

Sans held a sheet of paper out of the pod. "ready 2 try"

"Already?!" Papyrus yelped.

"A-Ah! L-Let's try just a big boot-up like w-we did last time before we do anything," Alphys said quickly. "W-We've put in a couple new variables, right?"

Sans flinched. She was right. He slid out of the seat, his mind tracing to the red scar in his hand. It was probably for the best, actually. Trying to pry more determination from his bones might have ended poorly.

He waved everyone back and Papyrus quickly grabbed Suzy into his arms. The monsters hurried back against the far wall, though Gaster left hands lurking around, peering deep into the time machine as Sans reached in. Red switch flicked, keyboard chord pressed, the panels inside glowed and the machine let out its low, reverberant hum. Sans backed up as the whole thing began to shimmer.

The panels rattled. The garage rattled. The machine's interior glowed. Then, silence. Something popped loudly and light beamed from every compartment in the machine, then dimmed down with shadows too deep to be natural. The machine wheezed, normalized, and let out a soft, discordant whistle.

"…Th-That didn't sound good," Alphys said.

"I was going to say," Gaster said worriedly. He hurried up to the time machine and laid his hands against it. "Hm."

"Aw…" Papyrus muttered.

Sans rubbed the back of his skull. He took a peek into the control area and found the screens dim. He did the shutdown process anyway, and the machine did let out a small chime of affirmation once he finished.

"O-Oh… C-C-Crap," Alphys muttered. "Sans, ch-check the power?"

He did as she asked and found the crystals were non-existent— completely vaporized. He blinked and rubbed his head. Hadn't seen that coming.

"What?! Is it bad?! What's going on?!" Papyrus poked his head inside and then let out a gasp.

"What?!" Alphys squeaked.

"It's a mess in here! Sans! How do you work like this?!"

Sans couldn't help an amused smile. He got up out of his seat and scribbled another note. "crystals gone"

Alphys winced. She gestured into the panel she had open. "I… I thought so. L-Look at this."

Though they had replaced the failed cables and had redone all the capsules, all the liquid magic was gone, except a tiny trickle pulled in through the filters as they watched. Sans sighed. He popped another cake into his mouth.

"Good news: it's not completely banjaxed. Not by any means," Gaster said, patting the time machine's roof. "Structure's intact."

"So…? What? It's just out of power?" Papyrus asked hopefully.

"Seems so."

"Never seen it eat crystals like that before," Sans admitted. "Anyone got more?"

"…Maybe a few?" Alphys said quietly. "B-But they're… not charged."

"So we take 'em up top. Unless…" He grinned sideways and looked at his father. "Might have a use for one of those weather spells in your book, huh?"

"Oh. OH! That's perfect!" Papyrus said loudly. "Because then—!"

The garage door slammed open loudly, causing everyone but Sans to jolt in place. Undyne stormed in, dressed in a big green winter sweater and a toque, lugging in a huge pot with a bunch of bowls stacked upside down on top of it and a ladle over her shoulder like a baseball bat.

"HEY NERDS, WHO WANTS SOUP?!" she demanded.

"U-U-Undyne?" Alphys spluttered.

"Hey, Alph!" she said brightly. She paused in her tracks and looked at the others with confusion. "What?"

Papyrus tilted his head. "Where'd you get all that?"

"Huh? Oh! Hah. The bunny down at the inn thought I looked cold and I couldn't say no." She took off the toque and rubbed her long, shiny red hair which, to the additional surprise of the others, reached almost all the way down to the floor and was styled into a fashionable hime cut.

Alphys's face flushed and her eyes bugged out.

"What?" Undyne asked again.

"Your haircut's very nice, too!" Papyrus said. "Or I guess your hair… un-cut? Reverse cut? I'm not sure how this works, I don't actually have hair, unfortunately."

"Looks cool," Suzy agreed, sticking her thumbs up.

"Wait, my what?" Undyne pulled up a handful of her hair and stared at it with a suspicious squint. "Is it…?" She scowled. "Ah, hell, it happened again, didn't it?!"

"Free hair, though," Sans said.

"Did I want free hair?!"

He shrugged.

"I-I-It looks… r-r-really nice, though," Alphys said in a sheepish voice.

"Yeah?!" Undyne's cheeks darkened slightly. She couldn't help a grin. "Well! Thanks! It better!"

"Not that you don't always look n-nice, but…!" Alphys fumbled for a moment. "It… It k-kinda… looks like it's f-from an anime or s-something."

"DOES IT?!" Undyne's eye seemed to glimmer.

"I can trim it shorter, if you like," Gaster said. "I have quite a lot of experience with fur, and some with human hair."

"I, uh…" The monster ran her fingers through it and turned to look at the length. "Maybe later?! Uh. Ah, hell, forget that for now and eat some damn soup, okay?! I spent a lot of time on it!"

In spite of the failure, the monsters gathered up to have the hot soup— which was very good, despite many of the ingredients looking completely pulverized— and mulled over their next steps. Double-checking records and refilling the liquid magic inside was a priority, but the main one had to be those crystals. Sans worried that it might not be enough. The NOCTURNE had to be powered directly through the CORE. Maybe his machine would have to be, too. They wouldn't know unless it decided to eat as many fully charged power crystals as it could hold on the next attempt.

"Actually, though, this is perfect!" Papyrus said brightly as he finished his second bowl of soup. "I think we could all use a little sunshine about now. Or, at least a break longer than this very nice lunch."
"Paps, I'm not sure we have time," Gaster said quietly.

"Sure we do! And! The more sun, the more time, I bet," he said. "We have to charge those crystals up anyhow, right? So! Might as well make a trip out of it! Who's coming with me? Aside from Sans and Suzy, of course."

"Me?" Suzy asked.

"Yes, of course! You want to see the sun again, right? Oh! If you don't feel like it, let me know, I won't be offended!"

"…I guess it'd be kinda nice," she said.

"Perfect!" He beamed. "What about the rest of you? Dad? Undyne? Doctor Alphys?"

"I dunno, Paps," Undyne said, her ears drooping. "There's… those humans at Asgore's, right? I might… I dunno, time's actin' funny with my mind, I don't wanna risk it."

Papyrus instantly looked worried.

"H-How about we st-stay here and, um, work on refilling the liquid magic components?" Alphys said.

"…Can we fill it with soup?" Undyne wondered.

Alphys snickered. "Honestly? If we, um, strain it, m-maybe a little, it's pretty potent."

The fish monster beamed.

"Soup-er charge it, huh?" Sans joked quietly, grinning wide at the groans he elicited. "Fortify it with Fortitude and I think that'll actually hold."

"Hey! I got that," Undyne said, jabbing her thumb against her soul spot. "Cool. We can do that, then."

"P-Perfect. And. H-Here. Um. Just a sec." Alphys pulled a bright pink duffle bag from her phone and rifled around inside it for a moment before she pulled out a small case of uncharged crystals and handed it to Papyrus. "Good thing I b-brought these, just in case."

"In a case," Sans said under his breath.

"Weak," Undyne said.

He shrugged, smiling sideways.

"Thank you very much!" Papyrus said. "That is a good time-saver." He turned to his father. "And? What do you say, do you want to come along?"

"I'll pull the data from the last attempt," Gaster said. "You three should go have a good time. If need be, Paps, you should be high up enough at the plateau that the weather spell will work for you."

Papyrus beamed. He swooped Sans and Suzy up into his arms as he leapt to his feet. "Then! We will see you all later! Good luck!"

Outside, the world had changed a little in their absence. Next door, the misspelled Librarby was now a misspelled Mangna-Imporium, though the only differences to the building aside from the sign was a poster of a big rhino mech in the window. A pink-haired catgirl stood near the door, passing out flyers that just had her face on it. A few of the houses off the main street were a little different, too— taller, with neon lights shining from the windows. Sans took a couple pictures from his spot draped over his brother's shoulder.

Much to their surprise, they ran into a very tired-looking Toriel about to drag herself out of the riverperson's boat just as they reached it. She elected to come with them instead of disembarking, and so they were on their way again. She had lost track of time with Minerva, she explained. Something in her eyes said more, but she didn't elaborate. Instead, she took Sans into her arms as he dozed off, staring off into the blurring water as she cradled him, her healing magic so strong it lit in the gaps between his bones.

Asgore's home was alive with music when they arrived. Upon entering, the monsters were greeted with the sounds of a game of tag currently in progress, which did not halt until the two human kids bonked into each other in the front hall when Ellie stopped in her tracks. She grinned brightly. Suzy quickly ferreted herself away behind Papyrus's tall boot and skinny leg.

"You guys! Hi hi hi!" Ellie ran up and gave Sans a squish, and then reached her arms up for Papyrus.

He cackled and bent down to give her a hug. "Oh, look, a tiny stripy monster!"

Ellie giggled. "Nobody even guessed!"

"Miss Toriel," Mak said, smiling warmly. He tilted his head. "Oh. Are you okay?"

"Of course." She patted his hair fondly and knelt to embrace him when he offered. "Thank you for asking, sweet child. How have things been here?"

"Actually, really nice," he assured her. "Ellie's family is cool and the King's keeps making us a ton of tea. And the Doctor, he was nice, too." He looked past her and to Sans and Papyrus. "Oh, are you—?"

"That was our dad," Papyrus said brightly. "I! Am the great Papyrus! It's nice to meet you, small human." He pointed to Sans. "And this is Sans. He is unfortunately losing his voice on and off, but I know he is glad to meet you, too!"

Sans shot the kid a tired smile. He offered his hand. When the boy shook it, a loud fart-sound tooted out. Mak looked shocked for a second before he burst out laughing. Sans did too.

"Eeeeeew, a big fart!" Ellie said loudly, giggling shrilly.

"SANS!" Papyrus scolded.

Sans merely shrugged and grinned, showing the whoopee cushion he'd had stashed in his palm. Toriel stifled a laugh behind her hands.

"Aaah, I'm sorry, I have no idea where he keeps getting those," Papyrus said.

"No, no, that was funny!" Mak said.

Sans shot finger guns his way. Mak responded in kind.

Ellie snickered. She caught sight of Suzy just behind Papyrus and her eyes bugged out. She waved quickly and drew back to Mak. "A-And hi, Miss Toriel, and um…"

"Oh! That's Suzy!" Papyrus said. "She's my very excellent puzzle assistant."

"Suzy?" Mak grinned. "Nice to meet you. I'm Mak."

Suzy looked confused. Sans patted her on the shoulder and she edged out a little father. She stuck her snout towards them and sniffed.

"You… guys are both humans?" she asked.

"Yup!" Ellie said. "Oh! Wait! No! I'm in disguise. Don't tell anyone." She leaned forward. "You're a kid, right?"

"Yeah?"

Mak and Ellie shared a look. The boy offered Suzy a hand. "Wanna come with us and play? We… Er. I… kinda can't leave the house, but…"

Suzy tilted her head. She looked back at the skeletons. Sans stuck his thumb up and Papyrus clasped his hands together, beaming, and he nodded. Suzy turned back to the kids and grinned her big, pointed teeth.

"Yeah, I'll play, if I can be it first."

"Yeah!" Ellie cheered. She booked it towards the kitchen. "Go go go, run run run!"

Mak laughed and joined her, and Suzy took a five count before bounding along with a playful growl.

As soon as they were out of sight, Toriel let out a little sigh of relief.

"I'm so glad," she said quietly. "I wonder, where is…?" She took a few paces into the house, her ears raising up. "Ah. The man is snoring." She headed down the hallway and vanished for a minute. When she returned, she shook her head. "It seems as if Asgore and the other human have left, for now. I—"

Mak barrelled back into the room, laughing. Suzy was carrying Ellie above her head, her teeth bared in a big, sharkish grin, and they raced away down the hall.

"Children?" Toriel called. "Would you prefer to run around on the surface for a little while?"

"The surface? Can we?" Ellie asked as the three of them returned.

"I thought I… couldn't go?" Mak asked with a curious frown.

"Oh! Right. Like Minerva," Papyrus said as Toriel's fur bristled. "Well… Did you try that way?" He pointed down the stairs.

"Oh, no, I don't think so," the boy said.

Papyrus grinned. "Let's try, then!"

"I went before, come on," Suzy said.

Ellie grinned. Though Mak looked uncertain, she seized his hand.

"Just hold on real tight and maybe we'll stick together this time!" she said.

"Y-Yeah! Okay."

The kids raced down the stairs and Papyrus bounded after them. Sans was about to follow, but Toriel made no move to. He shot her a look with a brow raised.

"Go on ahead, dear," she said. "I just… need a few moments."

Sans's frowned. He went back to her and she folded her arms and a small sigh passed between her teeth as her fangs began to show. He held her hand, a tingle of reassuring blue in his fingertips. She said nothing, but her face crinkled up like there was something heavy caught in her throat. She bent and embraced him, her grip tight despite the tremor of exhaustion in her fingers. When she began to pull back, he reached up and held her fluffy cheeks, passing a sense of cool, sympathetic reassurance to her. Toriel let her eyes close for a moment. She cracked a smile and kissed him on the forehead.

"Thank you," she said. She nodded towards the stairs. "Go on. You could use some sunlight."

He pointed at her. She chuckled.

"I know. I will be along soon."

Sans headed along the way out with tired steps, fairly positive whatever was bothering Toriel had something to do with their visit that morning— one that might have been many mornings away from her, at this point. He didn't see the human boy on the way. He hoped that meant he'd made it up top.

Down the stairs, along a path overlooking the city, fractured in the skeleton's eyes, and he soon reached the golden hallway he'd stood in for so long. The inside held phantoms— anomalies long gone, bones jabbed through floor and ceiling; even the fragment of a phantom of himself, imbedded in place. That was pretty weird. It hadn't been this bad the last time he'd been here. He could almost hear voices, and he was certain the echo of his own warped battle resonance lived in the echo of his footsteps.

He cracked a tired smile. Of course, this room had probably seen the most time travel of anywhere in the underground. Even sound was leaking through.

He turned back to look over the muddle of the hall and some kid in a blue and pink striped shirt brushed past him, their red eyes turning to look straight into his as if they could see him. A shiver ran up his spine. He moved on.

Out on the plateau, Sans was pleased to see that his brother and all three kids had made it up. The two humans and the purple monster had resumed their game beneath the cloudy sky. Papyrus stood close to the edge of the rocks, hands on his hips, making sure they were safe. Sans smiled to himself. It was a shame the kids wouldn't remember this. Or, maybe Mak would, wherever he'd end up once everything was done. That'd be nice.

"Sans!" Papyrus called. "Is mom not coming?!"

Sans could only shrug. He popped his last cake into his mouth. Papyrus pouted. He pointed upwards.

"Pretty grey, right?! What do you think, should I give it a try?!"

The short skeleton stuck both thumbs up. Papyrus grinned. He whisked the book of Dirges out from his phone and into his arms, dramatically fanning the pages out.

"Small humans and Suzy, watch out, I'm about to do a large magic!" he announced.

"Whoaaaaa, I wanna see!" Ellie said.

"And you will! Because! I! The great Papyrus! Am going to summon the sun!"

"…Can you do that?" Suzy asked with a frown.

"Nyeh heh heh. No. Not really," Papyrus said, his cheeks flushing. "But! I can make the clouds move a bit! I think! In theory!" He flipped through the pages of the old magic tome and skimmed it, nodding to himself. "All right! Let's! Try it! But in an extremely cool way!"

Papyrus held out his hand and his large, fanciful longbow appeared, much to the awe of the kids. He passed the book off to Sans and took a few steps to the side. His soul shone bright in his chest, lighting up his eye sockets as well. A song swirled from him, carrying on the wind. The energy lit up in golden rings around him and he pulled back an invisible bowstring. An arrow of energy appeared in his fingers, the same ring of magic swirling around a blunt tip. The kids ooh-ed and ahh-ed, and Sans's eye lit up blue. Papyrus grinned, his brow furrowing with determination. He braced his feet on the stone and he drew back the string as far as he could. He aimed the arrow as high as he could and then let it fly.

The bolt of magic pierced the heavens and split the clouds before it, dispersing them and letting rays of light beam down. Papyrus's bones surged gold for just an instant, lingering in a spot on his forehead for just a second longer. His jaw dropped and he cackled loudly, punching the air with both fists.

"I! DID IT!" He whirled, his scarf billowing in the wind as he struck a pose with his longbow. "The great Papyrus finally—!"

"YOOOOO!" Suzy hollered.

"THAT WAS SO COOOL!" Ellie yelled.

The kids whooped and hollered, instantly overwhelming the bright skeleton. Sans snapped a picture, unable to stop from beaming himself.

"Nyeh heh heh! I should have thought to try that sooner," Papyrus said, grinning. "Okay! Crystal time!"

"What's crystal time?" Mak asked.

"It's when I put all these crystals out on the rocks," the skeleton said, producing the case. "And let the sun fill them full of magic."

"Is the sun magic?" he asked.

"Apparently!"

As Papyrus got to work, Suzy stuck in close to him, watching the crystals glimmer. The human kids bounded off closer to the edge of the precipice. Sans trailed them, just in case. They peered out over the forest towards Anthelion and the massive castle built around the mountain at its back.

"Whoaa, lookit that!" Ellie said, shielding her eyes and pointing out towards it. "We were over there before!"

"Really?!" Mak stared, too. "I wanted to go there but I never got to, is it nice?"

"Aah, I dunno too much, my grandma made me stay inside. But I really wanna go to that big castle!" Ellie said. "They said it was a magic castle but it was super mist… Mist? Mistears or something." She craned her neck to look back at Sans. "Did you go there?"

He shook his head.

"I wanna," she said again.

"I wish I could see more," Mak said, standing on his toes as if that would help. "The King said it'd been…? It's like… This place is like a hundred years or something longer than when I'm from? I wonder if it's super weird now."

"So where are you from?" Ellie asked. "I'm really from… Um…" She squinted around the horizon. "A-Actually, I'm not sure!"

Sans moved up beside her and squatted down to her eyeline and pointed off to the southwest. She shielded her eyes with her hand.

"Ooh! Gullport's there? Yeah! You can kinda see the water," she said. "Over there."

"I'm from that way, too, but way farther," Mak said. "Me and my parents came all the way that way over the water on a plane." The kid's face fell. "I wish I could show them."

"Aw." Ellie grabbed his hand. "I wish I could show my mommy, too."

"Hey, so, how'd you get in?" Suzy asked.

"Who, me or him?" Ellie asked.

"Both," she said.

"Right here," Ellie said. "With my dad and Miss June and these skeletons and a big blue lady with big teeth and a fun musical robot. Papyrus flew the car, it was super cool."

"Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it!" Papyrus called

Suzy nodded. She pointed at Mak. "What about you, though?"

"Oh. I, um. Well." He looked a little embarrassed. "So, thing is, my parents, they're really big nerds. They said someone asked them to come try to find out why a lot of stuff doesn't work right around the mountain? So they went to do that and I went with them and I… got lost in the forest."

"Why'd you go away from your parents?" Ellie asked shrilly, eyes wide.

"I didn't mean to, I just saw this little bird hopping around and it looked like its wing wasn't moving," he said quickly. "I wanted to help it but when I caught up, I couldn't find where the road was anymore. So! I thought maybe if I went to the mountain and went up, I could see it from there."

"…And you fell in, huh?" Sans asked.

"Ah! Y-Yeah," Mak said. "It was an accident, and it kinda hurt a whole lot. But, Miss Toriel helped me and that's what happened, basically."

"Whoa, that's a lot of stuff," Ellie said quietly. "Sounds scary."

"It was, kinda!" the boy said. "I mean, until Miss Toriel found me. Then it wasn't too bad."

"She is SO tall," Ellie said. "I wanna be tall like that."

"Me too!" Mak said with a grin. "You could carry your dad around."

"Yeah, that'd be cool!" the girl said. She pointed across the plateau. "Ooh! Hey, maybe we can see the castle better from over there!" She grabbed Mak's hand again and pulled him along with her. "Suuuuzy, come toooo! Show me where you're from!"

"I'm from the mountain, dingding!" Suzy said, following anyway.

"Oh right!"

Sans chuckled to himself. He put his hands in his pockets and strolled around, keeping one eye on the kids as he did. Mak was watchful enough that he didn't let the others get too close to the edge. Smart kid.

"Hey. Brother." Papyrus waved at him and beckoned for him join him at the edge.

The nostalgia was still a little much, but Sans sat with him anyway. Papyrus grinned, leaning back as the wind passed over his skull. The spot on his forehead was still shining.

"That spell was very easy," he said. "I hope I can try more sometime."

"Do it," Sans said.

"This was good," he said, looking at the kids. "You look a little better, too. How are you feeling?"

"Been worse," he said.

"Did the soup at least give a little buffer?"

"Uh." Sans pulled out his phone and used SOULSCN to check— there was a little green number in brackets beside his reading. It was still a zero-point-something but it was far better than nothing. "Actually, uh… Yeah. Not much, but yeah."

"Excellent! We'll have to keep making it, then." Papyrus clapped him on the shoulder. "We're going to figure this out, Sans. I know it."

"I dunno, dude, not sure I can drink soup that fast," he said.

"You know what I mean!"

Sans snickered. "Yeah. It'll be alright."

Papyrus sighed. He fished inside his pocket until his fingertips brushed the red artefact inside. The moment they did, he felt the weight of a dog sag over his head. He rolled his eyes and plucked the little creature up and handed him over to Sans. The short skeleton laughed and gladly squished the pooch's face. His eyes traced to the orb as Papyrus pulled it out into the light. Its faint, red glow warmed his fingertips.

"Still dunno why it does that, huh?" Sans asked.

"Not a clue! It's very annoying. But…" He patted the dog's head. "At least it's somewhat cute."

The dog stuck its tongue out. Sans snickered and scritched its head. He leaned back to make sure the kids were doing okay. They were closer to the bulk of the mountain now. That was reassuring.

"Well. I guess now's the time to do this," Papyrus said. He got to his feet. "Would you mind taking some pictures in case it does any strange runes or magic circles or arcane nonsense?"

"Sure," Sans said. He pulled out his phone. "I'll just film or somethin'."

"Perfect! Okay! Here we go. This… This is going to help. I know it." He grasped the orb lightly in just his fingertips and thrust it straight up in line with the sun.

The orb instantly began to shine and vibrate. A flash of light and the world around them seemed to shift to red. A ring of light spun in its depths and circles of light beamed themselves onto the stone, forming complex arcane patterns and magic circles with such detail it would have taken months to draw— three that overlapped and four around one side of it.

From the orb, light spread. Papyrus's bones glowed again, beaming intensely gold, and the artefact's vibration increased. He gawked and reflexively pulled the orb in close so as not to drop it, but the moment he did, he was engulfed in a deep, white fog.

"Uhhhhh…" Papyrus spun in place. He couldn't see anyone or anything around him. "Nyehh… Hello? Sans? Human kids? Suzy?"

No reply. Uh oh.

Papyrus took a deep breath. "It's okay. It's fine. I'm just having a weird vision. Or a… mysterious black tendril is going to slobber on me again and it's going to be okay. Right? Yes! Of course."

The fog was very thick, though. Impenetrable. And there had just been a cliff in front of him. He took a step backwards, just in case.

Then, a voice. Or, the echo of one. Something he didn't recognize, and yet he felt like he'd heard a million times. He cast around, but he still couldn't see a thing.

"Is someone there?" he called.

Then, a flash of red across his vision, just for a moment. He jerked in place and looked around.

"What the heck was that?" he said under his breath.

Fingers bumped against his on his orb and, in an instant, an apparition materialized before him, floating in the air. A little girl in burning red, consumed in an aura of heat and flame. She looked to his eyes to be humanish, maybe, except little nubs of horns on the top of her head. She held his orb with him, beaming eyes wide with shock.

"P-Papyrus?!" she yelped. Her voice was like some unknowable sound, and yet he could understand perfectly.

Shock ran all through his bones. He blinked at the mysterious, fiery ghost. "Y-Yes?!"

The girl bit her lip and her brow bent into such an expression of anguish that Papyrus instantly felt bad for her. She threw her arms around his shoulders and clung tight with skinny, strong arms. So much energy pressed into him so suddenly that he couldn't help a yelp of surprise. There was a soul there, burning with desperation.

With careful hands, he cradled the red being against him. Her breath snagged and she whimpered as she collapsed onto him. The skeleton's head spun. Something about this was so familiar.

"P-Papyrus…" She was in tears.

"Oh! Red little friend!" he said shrilly. "What's…?! What's wrong?!

"I m-miss youuu," she whined. "I'm a messss."

His soul ached for her, even though he didn't understand. "Shhh, shh shh, I've got you," he said quietly. "It's alright, it's…"

She missed him? But she'd never met him, had she? Maybe he was missing something. He was missing…

"Wait. Wait wait. Why can't I…?" He gasped— that strange voice, could it be…? He held her back and cupped her face, eyes wide and bright. "L-Little sister?!"

The small someone stared back at him. Big, shiny tears rolled down her cheeks and she nodded. It hurt, how sad she looked, but even so, joy brightened his soul and he couldn't help but beam. He pressed his brow against hers and it felt like he'd done it a million times.

"I knew it! I knew it was helpful! Nyeh heh! Oh, I'm so glad to see you, you don't even know! I mean, I guess I can't really see you, but! It's close enough." He cuddled her, feeling a lot like crying himself. His soul ached. He hadn't realized, but he loved her so much. "Oh, you poor thing. Please don't be upset. Why are you upset?"

"I wanna come home," she said quietly.

"Then please come home!" he said.

"I c-can't yet."

Though he frowned with confusion, Papyrus nodded anyway. "Can I help you? I'd like to! I…" He perked up. He held up his artefact. "This brought me here. It must be important, right? Maybe it can help you, too?"

The kid sniffled and it broke his heart. She cautiously reached out for the orb. Her fingers brushed it and some of her fire dimmed, the artefact taking it in. Before Papyrus could ask a thing, it flashed crimson and wiped everything away.

Papyrus stumbled back onto the stone of the plateau, eyes wide, gawking. Tears poured down his face.

"Uh, Paps, you alright? You spaced…" Sans leaned towards him. He carefully brushed a tear from his brother's face and shot him a questioning look.

"…I… Nyeh. I saw… her," he said.

Sans's eyes went wide. His expression said he wanted to ask a question but he could not.

"Crabapple Kid. Little sister. I… I saw her, she missed me, I…!" He hurriedly wiped his eyes on his arm and began to grin. "Sans, she's…! She…! She's out there, and…!" He pulled him into a tight hug. "I think she gave me something. I think…! It's something important, I…!"

Sans shivered. He patted Papyrus's shoulders, and then drew back. He gently tapped Papyrus on the forehead. The boy frowned with puzzlement and held up his phone as if to take a selfie. There was still a golden mark glowing on his forehead.

"…You don't think that's one of those marks like mom has, is it?" he wondered.

Sans instantly stuck both thumbs up. Papyrus brushed his fingers over it. The glow dimmed down to nothing. He quickly wiped his eyes again and jumped to his feet. He offered Sans a hand and pulled him up, and then passed the red orb to him.

The short skeleton stalled as soon as his fingers passed over the artefact's surface. There it was again— the song of the world, humming right beneath the surface. It hadn't been like that before, had it? He was baffled. From his perspective, Papyrus had simply frozen in place for a moment before toppling back onto his tailbone. But, this…

He pointed back towards the mountain. Papyrus nodded.

"Small kids!" he called. "Time to go back in, okay?"

"Aww!" Ellie whined.

"Do not be disappointed, small friends, we'll go inside and get some snacks and it'll be good!"

That seemed to placate the humans, and they eagerly dashed back inside, giggling amongst themselves. Suzy hesitated though. She drew back to them and looked at them with a questioning frown.

"What was that light?" she asked.

"My strange artefact. Don't worry," Papyrus said.

"Um. Okay." She tilted her head. "You alright?"

"Yes! Of course! The great Papyrus is always alright!" he assured her. "Go on ahead, we'll catch up."

Suzy didn't look entirely convinced, but she nodded. She followed the others back down the stairs.

As soon as she was out of sight, Papyrus deflated with a loud, long sigh, and lay down on the stone, staring up at the sun. Sans looked at him curiously. He sat down on the ground with him.

"…I didn't know I loved her so much," Papyrus said quietly.

Sans smiled sympathetically.

"Have you been feeling this ache this whole entire time?" he asked.

Sans shrugged and nodded. Papyrus sighed and put his hand to his soul spot. It glowed faintly at his touch.

"Ugh. Okay. I just…" He put his arm over his eyes. "Nyoo. I just need a minute."

Sans patted his brother's head. Papyrus simply nyeh-ed quietly into the wind. A small, white dog pranced up and lay down beside him, rolling onto its back, too. They sat there quietly as the clouds began to move back into their places. Papyrus's soul seemed to only glow more brightly and warmly in the shade.