It's okay. Everything is alright. Sans tried to convince himself of that. He didn't even have to hide from everyone when they found out they were freed, Asriel's excuse of a monster baby being dusted had been enough to convince everyone.
"So, what is the next step?" Papyrus asked as everyone started to leave. "Do we get Farrah's mother and go back to her home, Sans?"
Why are my bones saying it's not a good idea? You know, that instinct thing. He should be laying out a plan to get his things before everything got sealed off. He already had an idea he was going to put into action.
He just hadn't put it into action. Sans looked back over toward Farrah. She was normal again. Fine, just an average normal amalgamate again. Ready to work on the next leg of the plan.
"What is it?" Papyrus asked him. "You should feel freed and at least a little energetic, Brother. We made the impossible happen! We are freed."
"Yeah, I know."
"Then why does your soul not feel freed to me?" Papyrus asked him.
Farrah had my bone. Inside of her. She just went through a lot of funky changes having it, to open the barrier.
I get that Brother, I've been here! What's the point?
How long did it take me to come up with that plan? Nothing like that struck me at all, and I have no idea how my bone could have ever ended up in there. My 'gut' is telling me something is wrong.
Like what?
Farrah. I got some memories during the bone birth, and Farrah did too. I mean look at her Papyrus, she went from 19 to a little older than me.
Well? Timelines, humans, and age. She's freed though from it all, she has been. You have been trying to take responsibility for the carnage of her other parts in control too, remember? Why are you finding fault with her now?
"Just how long were we over there?" Sans said out loud. It needed to be said out loud.
—
"Over where?" Farrah came over to him, finally feeling better herself. "Are we going to go after the huger crowd coming, or now?"
"Uh, afterward." Sans didn't say anything else.
"Should we go get your mother, Farrah?" Papyrus asked her.
She would be waiting in the Monster Kingdom. If they went for her, they could go back home. Then again, they could probably just go there without her. No, I shouldn't leave mom just waiting. She would just have to let her know that Sans would need room for his laboratory work.
Now wasn't the time to relax. She still felt some pain from that birthing. The whole changing into different things and personalities wasn't fun at all either. Neither was whatever happened to her bones, but getting out was really her first priority. "We should probably get mom."
"Hey, Farrah?" Asriel came over. "How is the microchip now?"
"Everything seems okay, but I won't know until I get further." She trusted Sans though. If he said he broke it, then she believed him. Sans was kind of hanging around a few feet away for some reason. Maybe he was wondering how he would bring his stuff?
He would have a decent amount of stuff to carry if he really wanted to help with Stephan. Maybe he'd need help? She went over toward him. "Sans?"
"Huh?" He looked over toward her. "Hey, Frisk. I mean, Farrah." He slapped the back of his skull playfully. "Whoah, big screw up on my end there. Sorry about that, just thinking about something else. I can't handle too much of that."
Yeah, right. You're a genius. "Do you need help with the lab?"
"Why don't we let most of the Underground head on out." Then we'll discuss the lab stuff, Farrah. There's a way I gotta get my lab stuff out of here.
Made sense, he couldn't just carry it on his back. Even if he did, someone was bound to ask what they were carrying.
"You stay here, Farrah. I'm gonna go talk to Papyrus." Sans headed over toward Papyrus while Farrah hung around. Some monsters seemed to show some compassion for her for her 'dusted monster'. Some only looked at her with empathy. Others didn't bother her.
"Are you okay, Frisk?" Queen Toriel asked as she came near. "I'm sorry."
Farrah only nodded. She didn't want to simply say 'it's okay, I'm fine'. The less she spoke, the more convincing it would be.
"Most of the Underground has headed out," she told her. "There are representatives on the other side. There will be a new area we can re-establish our kingdom, but everyone is technically free to do what they will. As a precaution, they should have disguisers though for everyone."
Not a surprise Queen Toriel had already gone out. Farrah nodded.
"Frisk, have you seen the other humans?" Queen Toriel asked. "I mean Farrah. I'm sorry. I don't know why I started that. Or is it Farrask?" She smiled. "It's your choice. You are free just as we all are now."
"Farrah is best," she admitted. "I haven't seen the other humans." She didn't think they were up to anything though. "Are they hanging out with their girlfriends?"
"Bratty and Catty?" Toriel looked amused. "Surely you gest. They are free now. I'm sure they bailed at the first sign of their freedom."
Farrah didn't know if she liked the way Toriel put that. The humans were nothing good, that's for sure, but they had also surprised her when they 'married' her off to Sans and Papyrus.
She'd seen them around too. Though Sans had threatened them, it had seemed ages ago, when she first touched the barrier. From what she heard, they hung out with Bratty and Catty regularly.
"Is something wrong, Farrah?" Toriel asked.
"No." Still, Farrah didn't want to hide it. "I still think you should look for Bratty and Catty. They'd been with them for awhile. Maybe they are still together."
"Uh?" Toriel seemed surprised. "Do you really think so?"
"Just . . . you know human or monster. Maybe they got used to each other?"
"Of course it could with you, Farrah," Toriel answered. "Those two humans though? I wouldn't get your feelings confused between their feelings."
Her feelings? Oh, Sans and Papyrus.
"You promise you are going to take me there?" Catty asked as she came up with Freddy, squeezing him. "You better."
"Yeah, of course." Freddy came straight through with her. No thanks for saving us or anything. Not a word to the queen. Just Catty holding him on the side.
And his arm on the other shoulder of Catty.
Farrah looked toward Toriel, as if to say 'people can change'.
"As long as I can hit it," Freddy said not from far away.
"Yep, and I'll get one of the sexy disguisers for you for in public!" Catty exclaimed. "But in private, you'll get all the sweet pu-"
"Anyway, some people change?" Farrah said interrupting the sound current so she didn't hear the rest of that phrase. "Not completely though."
Toriel just sighed with a small chuckle. "Coming, Farrah?"
"In a little while. I am waiting for Sans and Papyrus." She urged her to go ahead.
Most of the monsters were out now. Bratty was out too, with Jason. Once again, not a word.
"Sans wants your help!" Papyrus exclaimed as he came over toward her. "I will be waiting on the other side. Our duty as guards was to ensure no monsters were left behind. I will do a double check on the other side."
Farrah nodded and watched Papyrus go through.
"Hey, uh? Quick check over here." Sans approached her. "Need to take a shortcut with you back to Snowdin. No biggie."
For the lab? "Okay."
—
Sans' and Papyrus' Home
"Great. Just wait here. I'm going to go do one double check over Papyrus' double check," Sans insisted. "You go ahead and head to the basement for the lab. Should be unlocked."
Farrah watched him leave and she headed out the door to the back's private door. Yep, it was unlocked. How did Sans want to take all this?
The lab really had several things. Was he going to start moving the small things? Would his magic let him take most of it at once? "It's pretty far," she said out loud to herself. It was far to her mom's house. How was Sans going to move it?
She waited five minutes.
Ten minutes.
Twenty minutes.
Did Sans fall back into his lazy habit and fall asleep somewhere? It shouldn't take long to count 52 plus the humans. Or were the humans 52 as well?
She didn't know, she was out of her sanity at the time. Still, it shouldn't take that long. Maybe I should go and check on him?
Farrah walked out of the house. Snowdin was deserted again, as it should be. Not one sound of merriment was heard from the merriest areas of Snowdin. She kept walking, sure Sans would show up at some point.
She reached Waterfall. Okay? On the verge of Waterfall, she could see Hotlands. She wasn't permitted to go any further than there on her own because of the danger of the core now.
Farrah sighed and walked backwards. Staying still was never her thing for too awfully long. She was back in Snowdin.
She went back to the lab room, and there he had been.
"Hey there, where'd ya go?" he teased her. "I've been waiting."
Oh he knew very well how to find her. He must have been in a real good mood to leave. "What do you need me to help with?"
"My leg bone," he told her. "I had to do something with my leg bone."
—
Barrier
Farrah found herself at the edge of the . . . "Sans?" The barrier was up again? "Sans, what happened?"
"Oh? Uh, so the core is real dangerous to humans," Sans said. "After everybody was safely over, they brought down the barrier again."
Wait.
Wait.
"You knew I was over here, and you came over here." Farrah stared at him. "What's going on?"
"Heh." Just a single 'heh'. Not his usual funny 'heh's either. "Farrah. I know why you gave birth to my leg bone."
"To get out from the other timeline," Farrah said.
"Nah, that's not what I mean." Sans held out his pinky bone. "I had to combine magic with human. Why'd I pick something as big and painful as a leg bone? Why didn't I use my itty bitty finger bone?" He took off his left slipper and lifted his foot, wiggling his toe bones. "Why didn't I just lose a toe?" He slipped his foot back into the slipper.
Hmm . . . "The bigger the better?" Farrah guessed.
"Hey, good guess," Sans told her. "Really good guess. Magic don't work like that, but good guess. I mean, I totally didn't get it at the time either. Heck, it made the whole birthing thing that much harder." He shook his skull. "I really didn't get it. When I don't get something, I just go with the flow and hope I eventually get it. Kind of how the whole world works."
Farrah looked toward the barrier. She looked back toward Sans. "Then you get it now?"
"Yeah." He sounded dull. "Yeah, I do." Sans scooted closer to her. Real close. Closer than he usually did. Geez, if he had a nose, they'd be touching. "A sacrifice."
Sacrifice? Farrah watched his eyes. They weren't solid black, but his usual cheery light guiders were gone in them. "Sacrifice?"
"I didn't know until afterward." Sans looked at his bony feet for a bit before he continued. "I can feel things from a soul, Farrah. Not everything, but I can feel and see when things change. Even if I don't get it."
Her soul. No. "Am I still microchipped?"
"No, but you might as well be. You and me, we aren't leaving this place until your soul feels like it can." Sans' missing bone appeared in his hand and he threw it into the ground deeply. Real deeply. "Try and budge that, Farrah."
Budge it? She could barely see the edges sticking out. Farrah started to grab it.
"Come on, Farrah, I need you to take that out," he assured her. "I know it don't make sense, but if you can't do it on your own, everyone who'd been trapped in here will die in five minutes."
What?! "Are you joking?"
Sans shook his head. "Give it all you got."
Five minutes? Farrah tugged at it. "Can't you help?"
"No," Sans told her.
Why not? Farrah kept tugging at it, pushing her feet into the ground to get a good grip. It still wouldn't budge. "Why is this happening?"
"Something to do with the zoo," Sans assured her. "I know, Farrah, I'm sorry. Can't explain, but you only got three minutes left. Hurry."
"I'm trying!" Farrah put her whole soul and strength into it. Everything she could. She pulled so hard, she screamed feeling her back almost wanting to break.
"Farrah, less than a minute, don't let Papyrus die!" He yelled. "Please!"
Farrah screamed putting everything she had into it. Everything!
"Time's up." Sans' voice didn't sound urgent anymore. "That's deep enough, but just in case." He took his hand and waved it over the bone, making it sink even deeper. Almost out of sight. "With everything you had, you couldn't pull that."
It had to be a trick, he was way too calm after believing Papyrus just died. "Sans! What's going on?!" Farrah was mad. He made her believe that everyone was about to die and she failed.
"Simple. We aren't leaving until I take that out." Sans gestured to the almost bone in the dirt. "When I get it, I'll put it back in the barrier. Done."
"Explain. Now."
—-
That look in her eyes. "I had no choice, Farrah, I had to test you in the hardest situation." He hated it. "I'm the sacrifice, Farrah. If things go bad."
She looked confused, and he didn't doubt her.
"Your soul, it feels different since the birthing. Divided." That word seemed to trigger her eyes into understanding. "Amalgamate. You went funny in the other timeline because you didn't belong. That's not just it though, amalgamates can do some weird and unexpected things."
"You got Papyrus and everyone else out." She seemed to understand. "You want to make sure that I can't reach that bone when I become . . . evil again."
"Not completely, exactly?" Sans struggled. "Farrah, I don't know for sure if you will. I think it was a precaution. I don't remember what happened in that timeline, but I'm betting it is. Especially if you had killed that Sans and his brother and loved ones . . . many times over. I can see that."
Farrah rubbed her neck. "Forget Stephan, I'm the real threat." Tears started to pour down from her as she covered her mouth.
"A warning." Sans wanted to rub her tears away. "Doing that bone thing messed you up with a lot of magic. I don't think I knew for sure."
"If I go evil, I'll kill you." Farrah continued to cry while she spoke. "I'm sorry."
So often, she was so good at hiding those deeper emotions. She'd just gone through too much. Everyone had a bullshit limit, and Farrah was way past hers. "I'm gonna make this quick, so we can get this over with and go home." Sans sighed. "Okay, so that bone is still connected to me. If you try and get out, I'll stop you. I won't try stopping you unless you kill me. If you kill me, the bone will disintegrate and you'll be trapped behind the barrier forever."
Farrah didn't answer at first. "You left someone a note?"
"Yeah, I slipped it with Asriel," Sans revealed. "He knows a lot more than he likes to let on. I figured if the me I can't remember kept doing that shit to him, I would too." He watched Farrah shiver. "If you decide to just go for the bone to release yourself, it's in too deep. You'll never get it out." That's why he had to test her.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry you're the sacrifice to keep me in check." Farrah slid to the ground and sat on it. "I would never want to hurt you."
"It's a precaution," Sans said again. "It's not guaranteed, I don't think the part of me I don't remember knew for sure." She had to understand that. "I don't know what'll happen, but I'm not just going to sit back and let it happen, GP."
"I'm not in the mood for a new nickname," she muttered.
"Nah, GP means Guinea Pig," Sans answered. "First, I'm going to figure out how to fix that soul of yours to be peaceful a hundred percent of the time. You know, be you. Then, we'll work on Stephan."
"I don't have powers," Farrah told him. "I just become . . . a murderer. It would be smarter to run away."
"It probably would be," Sans confessed. "I just, I don't think I can. I need to try and save you."
"Or you'll need to kill me."
"Yeah. Or that." Sans kept his voice lower on that part. "I don't-"
/ "I'd rather you die, Frisk, than continue to live like that. I'm gonna keep killing you as long as I can."/
"I don't want to," Sans continued as a slight memory came back. "Staying like that, it's no way to live."
She nodded her head. "I'll do whatever it takes. If you can break this, I'll do anything." She hugged Sans. "I'll even go out and have a hotdog witcha. With plenty of catsup. Sorry 'bout that, Sans. I'm doin' it again."
Sounding just like him. Overwhelmed with emotion. Huh. I think I feel that Frisk part of her. So the parts of her souls move back and forth in their power a little I guess. More emotional. "I get it, Farrah, nothing to apologize for. Heck, most monsters always liked when ya mimicked 'em." It wasn't for him though. He just enjoyed her being herself. "Let's go see what's on TV?"
"Mettaton is gone," she reminded him. "Everyone is gone. You saved them all."
Eh. "Then, we'll just head off and go chat for a bit. Not so bad."
Farrah closed her eyes. "I don't want to hurt you, Sans. I wish I had some control."
"We will try to get it under control," Sans said encouragingly. "It was a busy day though. Maybe your soul just needs a freshening up? You went from goat, to skeleton, and to goat skeleton. Not to mention the whole birthing leg thing. Let's go home and relax?"
"How is it you can even look at me?" she muttered. "When you know what I could become?"
Boy, that determination had really taken a beating in that other timeline. "It's not Farrah you, just parts of you. It . . . wouldn't be Farrah to not give you a decent chance?"
His joke hit right on the money. Through her tears, he actually made her laugh. She wiped her tear away. "You're right. Just, be careful with me?"
"Don't worry. I like living," Sans reminded her. "I think it'll be okay. Just a precaution."
Just a precaution. A small precaution. That was all.