CHAPTER SEVEN
Who are you…?
Sans.
Something happened to sans.
I thought…I thought he was dead, but then… then I felt him again. Stronger. Much stronger.
What happened…?
I…I'm glad I can feel their souls, that means they're alive, and ok… but what happened to…?
Gaster has stayed by the door, stayed by the sounds of rushing water. He has stayed, waiting for whoever…that was.
The one that sang.
He thinks.
He wonders.
He even does math, making problems for himself to solve, simply to do something while he waits.
He's been talking to the door as well, but mostly he just thinks at it, treating it like his old audio logs from years ago. Many years ago.
I felt strong emotions from both of them. For sans, rage and then pain… which for him would be deadly…
He shudders at the thought.
For papyrus, fear and then…very, very strong terror, mixed with fury…which would be uncharacteristic- i think. I haven't seen them in so long…
he wonders if papyrus is still that upbeat-optimistic-ball-of-confidence
that he was, so long ago…
He misses them so, so much…
He would give anything to see them again.
Then I felt Sans's soul light up again, stronger, and after a few minutes, a wave of relief from papyrus. Then, when sans woke…i think, a wave of disbelief, and then i think the strongest font of emotion i've ever felt from him.
…so, it at least worked out well…
Whatever happened…
He wonders what could possibly have happened for sans to feel so strongly it would echo even to his battered soul.
What kind of revelation could reforge a shattered connection between souls, even across time and space?
"Tra La La what's my name? …it doesn't really matter…"
There, there it is again! The voice, it came back! He wasn't hallucinating, it was real, really truly real-
"Have you found the Key, Tra La?"
It's definitely real.
I- I have to respond-
Talktalktalktalktalktalktalktalktalk-
TALKTALKTALKTALKTALKTALKTALKTALK-
GOD DAMN IT, GASTER YOU OLD FOOL TALK-!
"Tra La La, The Water Is Busy Toda-"
" ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎✍︎✍︎✏︎ ? ﾸﾎ✌︎ ︎ ✡︎ ︎? ﾸﾎ ︎ ︎✌︎ ︎ ? ﾸﾎ ︎✍︎✏︎ ? ﾸﾎ ︎ ︎✌︎? ﾸﾎ ︎? ﾸﾎ ✋︎ ︎ ︎ ︎? ﾸﾎ ︎ ︎ ︎? ﾸﾎ? ﾸﾎ-"
Gaster abruptly shouts through the door, finally getting the words out in a hiss of WingDings static, pole straight and keeping himself completely still as he listens intently for any response, internally muttering to himself like a frightened child.
Please, please be real…please…
"Oh? Hello, Hello, I did not know the door had a Who…"
The voice pauses, as Gaster reels in shock.
He's…talking to someone.
After so long, after so, so long…someone can hear him, someone…someone can help him! He can get back, he-
"If you are who your font forgets, than it must be You….Tra La La~"
I…they hear me…i…i can't believe it…
I..I am heard, I am…
I'm real…I'm real, I'm here, somehow, and-
Emotions rush through the mangled, melting skeleton, his one working eye welling up with tears as he rests his melting skull against the gray, solid door.
"✋︎? ﾸﾎ? ﾸﾎ? ﾸﾎ✋︎ ? ﾸﾎ✌︎ ︎❄︎ ? ﾸﾎ ︎ ︎✋︎✞︎ ︎ ✋︎❄︎✏︎ ✡︎ ︎? ﾸﾎ ︎ ︎✌︎ ︎ ? ﾸﾎ ︎✏︎ ✡︎ ︎? ﾸﾎ ︎ ︎✌︎ ︎ ︎✡︎? ﾸﾎ!"
He shouts through the rock-hard wood, in shock and hope, but the voice cuts him off.
"Your words are but hiss and click, but I know a quick fix…"
Oh…of course. They…they cannot possibly understand…
I was a fool to-
Wait. But… a fix…? Do they mean a way to understand me? That's impossible. Only my only other skeletons- only my sons can understand my particular cipher font.
And they cannot see me sign through the door, so, how would they…?
Unless… someone made…a code…?
I had heard of such things but…only skeletons can see words and fonts, so how…?
"Tra La La, I will be back when the day shows its face, friend…"
Wait, WHAT?! NO, NO DON'T-
A distant rush of water.
And then he is alone.
Again.
He missed his chance, they're gone, they'll never-
He shouts, hisses in his static font again and again for the stranger to come back, not to leave him alone, not again, but hears only the rush of water in return.
The sounds of water.
He missed that sound…
He draws his hands inwards, and knocks on the door, and even tries to open it, tugging and pulling and scraping, but…
Locked, and solid. Solid, when I am not.
He slams against it in frustration, making frustrated vowel sounds in a way that might remind some of papyrus, his melted form dripping against the gray as he slowly bumps his skull against the door in defeat.
At least now, he knows they will return…
But what comfort is that…? They can't understand him…
But he can still make noise, he can still communicate 'yes' and 'No' in some way…
But again, what comfort is that?
He sits by the door, a roiling mass of tortured darkness, his melting skull resting against the door as he sighs.
He's alone…
He wonders, will that ever change…?
Will he ever…
He sighs, to tired to think.
And so, as he has for a very long time, he closes his mangled eyes…
And sleeps.
…But now, he has hope.
Hope of being heard.
And maybe, just maybe, hope of freedom.
Hope…
Heh, where did he get that…?
…
The human sits, still all bundled up in one of sans's jackets, watching the two brothers spar for- and this is hard to think about without scrunching up your face -the first time. Papyrus is constantly shouting words of disbelief at sans's ability or words of vibrant encouragement whenever sans makes a rare mistake.
"THIS IS AMAZING BROTHER! HOW DID YOU LEARN ALL THIS WITHOUT- YOU KNOW - DYING?!"
"Uhh, i, dunno?"
"BROTHER! CONCENTRATE! I NEARLY HIT YOU!"
"Heh, is nearly all ya got?"
"NO! THIS IS JUST YOUR FIRST-"
"C'mon bro! I can take it!"
"ONLY IF YOU START ATTACKING!"
"Uhg, fine bro, but don't hold back."
"NYEH HEH HE- OOF! SANS! THAT WAS BACKHANDED!"
"Pfft, c'mon, you aren't even tryin-"
Suddenly, the sparring goes on a whole new level. papyrus's attacks coming faster and harder, but sans just gives a nonchalant "heh"
And dodges faster, dancing around papyrus's blows with ease, grinning all the while.
Bell watches with wide eyes. Ever since she fell, she's been fascinated with monsters, especially their incredible magic. She watches sans dodge, and thinks to herself;
It's almost graceful, how he winds around them…kind of like a cat on…super fast forward or something!
…he'd be the Cheshire Cat.
She giggles to herself, proud of the surprisingly accurate comparison. Then she starts wondering if there are cat monsters, like the dog monsters she met at grillbys!
Then, sans begins summoning bones of his own.
Papyrus also dodges, but both brothers are seemingly going all out now, taking turns in wild blurs of motion and magic.
…but sans has only just begun attacking.
Suddenly, sans's attacks begin to spiral dizzyingly,
swirling around and around instead of following the box-like restrictions of most…
well, most normal monsters.
It's a dazzling display, bones crawling up trees and over rocks, a dizzying display of intertwined patterns.
It's almost beautiful.
The brothers started sparring only a few hours after the incident, once sans had adequately assured his brother he was fine of course, but sans had seemed surprisingly eager to try it, experimentally hitting his brother with a few bones to prove it.
Papyrus had, of course, instinctively been nervous about it, but as sans dodged blow after blow, he slowly grew bolder and bolder.
Papyrus has to dodge rather impressively to keep up with the corkscrew shape of his brothers admittedly very impressive attack, but mostly just stares at sans in disbelief and a little awe before finally gasping out,
on his turn,
"NYEH? BROTHER, HOW DID YOU-"
But sans only winks at his brother, his smile growing an infinitesimal bit wider. He seems to enjoy impressing his brother for once.
Then, with a grunt of effort, papyrus makes his own corkscrew.
It's…slightly squarer, and there are less bones, but it is nonetheless impressive.
That's another thing I love about monsters, they take turns in battle! They wait for you to finish attacking before they attack you, like fair play.
Bell looks around, suddenly realizing other monsters are gathering to watch the two brothers leap around each other's attacks, whispering and sometimes even cheering.
Bell starts to cheer as well, but alternates between sans and papyrus, so as not to pick favorites.
"NYEH HEH HEH, BROTHER! I DID NOT KNOW WE COULD DO THAT! HOWEVER DID YOU KNOW?"
Sans shrugs mid air, "the river person told me."
Papyrus summons blue bones at impressive speed.
"NYEH? THE RIVER WHAT NOW?"
Sans stays stock still, then dodges to the side to avoid two small normal bones at lightning speed.
"Y'know, that guy- or gal, i guess, -who ferries people up n'down the river for free sometimes? You've never met 'em?"
*Papyrus and sans don't seem to notice the crowd…
"NYEH? NO I DONT- OW, SANS! BACKHANDED TRICKS AGAI-"
But papyrus is interrupted by the most odd of voices. The disembodied voice that is a part of the underground, telling monsters how they feel, or what they are thinking, from time to time.
Bell finds it comforting, the mysterious voice that tells her things sometimes, it means she never feels alone.
But now, everyone hears this one.
"*SANS IS PREPARING HIS KIND-OF-SPECIAL-ATTACK!"
"NYEH, BROTHER? YOU HAVE ONE TOO? WELL, WE SHALL SEE WHOSE IS STRONGER, SHANT WE!"
Papyrus cackles, bracing himself and furrowing his brow as sans's eye flickers blue and yellow, while papyrus's flickers a bright orange with the barest hints of yellow deep inside.
"*PAPYRUS IS PREPARING HIS SPECIAL ATTACK…?"
This time, the voice sounds slightly questioning, and Bell wonders briefly if it's just some random race of invisible monsters, before her attention is once again drawn to the sparring skeletons.
Suddenly, from behind sans comes a low
RRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrRRRRrrRrRRRRRrrRrrRRRRR…..
And from behind papyrus comes a similar
MMMMMMmmmmRRRRRGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRrrrRRRRr…..
The crowd of monsters gasp, as they take in the two gigantic floating animal skulls that have appeared behind each skeleton. Sans is breathing heavily, as is papyrus, but they seem to have just enough left in them to…
"WELL, WHOSE IS BIGGER?"
"Mmmm….i think it's yours."
Sans is right, papyrus's skull…thingeys, are definitely bigger, but what does that have to do with sparring? Sans's are smaller, and look kind of like…wolf, skulls? While papyrus's seem to be bear skulls, but with the most ridiculous googly eyes.
The brothers are scrutinising eachothers skull-things, Sans's apparently winning in the intimidation factor
(they do have a lot of teeth) but papyrus getting the 'highest score'…?
but Bell still can't tell why….oh, that's what they meant.
"NYEH HEH HEH! ANOTHER VICTORY FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS! NYEH HEH H- OH! CROWD OF UNFAMILIAR MONSTERS! HAVE YOU BEEN THERE THE WHOLE TIME?"
"Oh. heya. Isn't my bro cool?"
"NYEH HEH HEH I AM VERY- WAIT. WAS THAT A-"
"Yeah, we sure had a nice time, huh?"
"SANS! NO! NOT IN PUBLIC!"
Suddenly, a feathery monster pipes up from the crowd, squawking out in a high voice;
"aw come on papyrus, it's snow problem!"
"NYEHHHHH! SANS! HAVE YOU MULTIPLIED?!"
"Naw, you know me papyrus…i'm a special little-"
"DON'T YOU DARE."
"Snowflake. Heh."
"SANS I CAN AND WILL HIT YOU NOW!"
"Heh, just you try-"
"GUYS!"
Bell's voice rings out from the crowd.
"It's getting late! And neither of you have eaten!"
She makes a pouting face, glaring at the two skeletons, who both blink a little in mild surprise
(neither of them is the 'mom friend' in any situation, so it was a bit shocking to suddenly be exposed to the wrath of one)
but they quickly relented when one monster commented that it was actually near midnight.
And so, the trio returned to the cabin, but the human stopped at the door, seemingly reluctant to come in.
Sans turns, and waits a second before speaking.
Wait, do they actually think…?
Pfft, this kid is such a dork.
"Kid, you don't have money for the inn, and my brother's hospitality ain't runnin dry any day soon. Get in here you dork."
Bell looks surprised, and then sheepish, stepping in and running over to the couch for some needed sleep, but before they do-
"Kid. we… we need to talk."
Bell turns, worried, and finds sans already leaning against the arm of the couch, his expression- though always grinning, somehow unreadable.
Bell stays silent.
Sans sighs.
"I…I wanna know just two things. One, how you did…that, and two? Exactly what you did to me."
Bell looks up at him and gives a sad sigh, looking nervous.
"A-Alright….but, I don't really know exactly what I d-did to you, s-so just tell me what feels different…?"
Sans blinks. Seems reasonable enough, though he expected more resistance from them…
Maybe she's had this conversation before…?
"Well, for one thing, you saw that. outside. I just fought against my brother, and actually did decent. That ain't normal for me, kiddo."
Sans sighs and sits down next to Bell, who looks concerned, but Sans meets her gaze anyway and waves an ungloved hand at himself.
"And, yeah, I know my HP is up, somehow, but it ain't just that. Somethin's different."
Sans's eyes go dark.
"I've fought before. And it always leaves me drained for weeks."
He looks over at Bell.
"So care telling me why I can suddenly walk off fine?"
He takes a breath.
"Cause…it's startin' to scare me."
He looks down at his own hands, and clenches them, feeling magic flow through his bones with a vibrance he thought was impossible from him.
It doesn't feel like him, this…ability.
he's too lazy to just…naturally have such power, right?
He feels a hand on his shoulder. It's small.
He feels….weird… he looks over at the hand-
It's awash with green flame.
He jerks back, his eyes going wide as Bell recoils, fear written on her face-
"i'm sorry i- i just wanted to- to- w-when i-"
She curls into a ball, mumbling;
"Im sorry, i'm so sorry-"
Sans just stares at her, his eyelights slowly returning to the normal size as Bell quivers in fear, scrunched up into a ball as she whispers apologies over and over. Sans blinks, looking down at her, surprised at how fearful she is.
"Hey..kid, i'm not mad, just maybe warn a guy before ya use…whatever that is, on him, eh?"
Bell seems to calm down a little. She nods.
"So uh… you were just checking i ain't dyin or something, right kid?"
'nother nod.
"Good."
Geeze, this kid…must still be shaken up from undyne…
Sans stares at the child, who slowly uncurles, obviously still afraid that sans is mad. His expression softens, at least as much as a skeleton can, and he ruffles the kids' hair, chuckling.
"I really aint mad, ya just caught me off guard, I swear."
Bell looks up at him, and seeing he means it, gives a small smile.
Jeez, what happened to this kid…?
Nothing good, he knows that much.
His eyes go dark again, and he looks away.
"So… do ya know why i feel like-"
Bell interrupts him, touching his arm lightly.
"There's- there's nothing wrong sans."
She meets his gaze, her expression complicated.
"I…i think it's because you're really, really used to having 1HP? I think the 'extra energy' is just how you experience a normal- uh, whatever it is that you monsters have…? After so long of having an…er…weak one."
Sans sits there, his eyes dark.
It makes sense, of course it does. He was just hoping that the human would give him a different answer.
But no.
They accidentally over-healed pretty much everything that was broken in him, probably using a souped up version of monster healing magic on human soul steroids, and…
Well, a lot of him must've been broken.
So…before…well, whatever must've gone wrong, 200 woulda been my maximum. Nice. i dont suck as much as I thought.
But still…they obviously don't have a handle on it. When they touched me…i don't think they meant to activate their magic.
…uhg…they're too young to be doin this sorta stuff.
What is wrong with humans? For a child to have this kinda power right off the bat…?
Somethin must've happened to activate it…
Somethin bad.
Sans sighs, and turns back to Bell, who is looking up at him with a nervous concern, her eyes wide.
Time for the hard bit.
"Alright then, second question. How."
Bell looks away, and then down at her hands, which are trembling, her voice shaking when she speaks.
"I-I don't know…I've always…been able to, but, I've only ever used it once before…"
Sans looks at her, and sees her shaking, her eyes welling up with tears as she draws her hands inwards to her chest, clutching them tight against her heart.
"Kid…what happened? you said you…didn't have anything to go back to. Is that how ya…?"
Bell nods, her eyes still clouded by tears, but she still tells him in a shaky voice;
"I- I come from a town at the b-base of the m-mountain…"
She says, and sans's eye sockets widen slightly. The same town that asriel must've…oh. Oh wow. The stories this kid must've heard about monsters…
"My family…th-they tend the clocktower. We…my parents, they're gone…dad never came b-back after mom died and…My brothers, Oliver, Manny, and…a-and Benjamin, they took over the work. B-but, one day, someone said they were too y-young, and…"
She pauses, trembling, tears gathered in her eyes. Sans wants to tell her to stop, but she keeps going anyway, her voice trembling as she tells her story, sat beside a monster far below the places where these events took place, far below the hard cold streets…
"They threw us o-out. We didn't have anywhere to g-go, so we went to the woods- t-to hide, and my brothers- they were always trying to protect me, and one day, B-Benjamin, he…he… "
Tears spill down her cheeks. And then she screws her eyes shut against the tears, curling inwards slightly as she speaks, voice quivering.
"He got shot. It was just an accident, p-people were hunting, b-but…"
Bell looks up at sans with an indescribable pain in those gold eyes of hers, tears blurring her gaze, and sans returns it with only a shell shocked horror.
So that's what happened to this kid.
sans can only imagine what kind of stuff went through her head when her brother….well, he knows what he'd do if someone shot papyrus.
And it wouldn't be pretty.
"…I…Benjamin was, th-the only one who made sure we had food, and I- I just, I couldn't let him die… I was just so full of pain, and fear, and- and-"
Sans looks down at her, and she's shaking, lost in the memory. Her eyes stare into the distance, and sans can see green sparks flitting around her twitching hands.
"And I was just so full of w-wanting him to be B-better, and, I just…I would've done a-anything to make him better, and then my hands, and fire, and then…"
Sans finishes for her, his voice sad as he guess what comes next.
"…an' then your magic healed him…?"
Bell trembles, her soul pulsing out waves of remembered emotion that Sans can feel crashing against his own soul, a terrible mixture of joy and fear and confusion as Bell remembers the events with a small, shaky nod.
"I- at first, I was s-so happy, because- h-he sat up and, a-and everything, but the hunting party, th-they took me away, they said- they said I was a w-witch, and that i- i-
I had to be…c-cast out, a-and…"
Sans stares at her in horror, at the crying, trembling child that has seen so much. Who would say that to a Child?
That sounds like something only story-book humans would do. The kinds of things that he would have expected Bell to be capable of, if he didn't know her, if she hadn't trusted him even when he'd just scared her half to death…
"And I- i ran up the mountain instead…b-because no one ever came back, f-from the mountain, and…"
Bell looks up at him suddenly, and meets his gaze with her own that's heavy with tears, some falling, some still hanging in her golden-brass eyes.
"a-and then I met you."
Silence falls. Sans stares at her, horrified at what this kid has gone through. What kinda hell must the surface be for a human kid to trust monsters more than her own kind? To trust him, a monster who literally looks like the remains of a dead human even after he scared her half to death? What other horrors had this kid seen, on the streets of a city where they would cast out children from the only home they'd ever known?
"And- a-and papyrus, and grillby, and the d-dogs, and…."
She begins to cry again, and green sparks begin to flit through the air, emotion crashing out from her soul in waves, sans's own soul pulsing weakly.
It glows as best it can in response to Bell's blazing green soul as he slowly leans over, doing the only thing he really knows how to do when someone cries; put his arms around them and just…be there.
That's what he'd done for papyrus, through all of his younger brother's painful days- whether it was a bad day at school or just a normal failure, letting his brother know he was the best until he believed in it himself.
And so he rests his skull on the child's head, and is there.
He's there, as she shakes with memories.
She healed him, she poured out her soul to save his life, and she gave him so much more than just a second chance at life. She gave him so much more than she probably knows.
And so, he's there.
He's there, as Bell sobs into him, remembering the screams of 'witch!' And the horses that pounded the ground, the hands that dragged her from her brother, the baying of dogs, the blood from her brothers shirt caked on her hands and the men that dragged him away kicking and screaming-
she sobs.
She sobs and shakes, her breath coming in choked, shallow gasps, and sans can feel her gasp for air as the child sobs hysterically.
"hey…kid, look at me, breathe, ok? Breathe."
sans says quietly, shifting himself slightly, trying to catch Bells gaze as she shakes hysterically, the child shuddering as she gasps for air.
"Hey, look, I'm sorry. I shouldn'tve-"
Bell's eyes go wild as she looks up at him and shakes her head furiously, still gasping for air even as she rejects his apology- or attempted apology- with all the strength she has left, her wild chocolate brown hair bouncing as sans tries to calm her, grabbing her shoulders and forcing her to stop shaking as he still feels emotion rolling off her soul.
"Kid, no, stop- kid just- just stop-"
Bell keeps trying to shake her head, even though sans is trying to get her to stop, she's gasping and crying and this kid is still trying to tell him it's not his fault-
What did the world do to this kid? Why did something so terrible happen to someone so…
…so kind?
Eventually Sans gives up, pulling the shuddering child into a bear hug and just letting them sob into his shirt, which is beginning to stick to his ribs with their tears of pain. Sans can still feel his soul trying to shoulder the emotion rolling off the human's soul, but he just can't- there's too much, too fast.
And they stay that way, a monster holding a human close as she sobs and sobs with the cruelty of her own kind.
Slowly, Bell calms, the memories relenting as she dissolves into sniffles. Sans pats her curly hair and lets out a sigh, shaking himself a little as his soul recovers from the powerful waves of emotion that have been crashing down on it.
"Hey there kiddo. You're safe, ok? You're safe. It's ok."
Sans says, his words punctuated properly as they rarely are, as his mind reels and the child trembles.
"O-ok…"
Comes the whisper, and sans draws back a little, the human wiping their eyes on the sleeve of his jacket, still shaking. Then they look up, meeting his worried gaze.
"Th-thank you…"
They say, trying to muster a smile.
Sans looks at them and sighs heavily, his eye sockets tired and sad- sad for them.
this kid. This poor, poor, kid.
They've been through so much, at the hands of their own kind. And for what? Why were they cast out?
Because the humans were scared of a child?
Because they didn't understand her?
Then, suddenly, sans realizes.
Or because it's tradition.
Six human children, each with powerful souls….
Driven up a mountain by threats of worse fates.
And how many children didn't go up the mountain…?
Sans shudders in horror.
Humans…when they do bad things- or good things, though that's probably just bell- they do them fully.
To the extreme.
If he ever gets to the surface…
Well.
Someone's gonna have a bad time.
"Hey, look. I'm sorry for makin' you remember, i-"
Bell looks at him sharply, shaking her head hard, her curls bouncing.
"D-Don't you dare! I- th-that was the f-first time I…"
Bell trails off, sniffling, the green sparks dying down as she shakes slightly.
"…i let myself be sad a-about it, i- I needed to c-cry…"
Sans nods, making sure she knows he understands.
She shouldn't have to talk any more.
Not because of him.
This poor kid.
She squeezes him one last time, then draws the blankets around her tightly, sniffling, as sans looks down at her with concern. He doesn't know much about humans, but he knows that they probably aren't meant to cry so much in such a short time, especially such a small one.
Especially not a kid…
"…you want some water…?"
Sans asks, tilting his head and trying to sound comforting.
"You kinda….made a lot of it, so…"
Bell blinks, staring at his near-soaked shirt, then…laughs. It's a laugh choked by tears, shaky, but it's a laugh all the same, as she wipes her eyes. She can see the soft glow of his soul through his shirt, and it calms her slightly.
"Y-yes please, s-sans…"
Sans nods, shortcutting to the kitchen as Bell almost melts into the blankets around her, exhausted.
When sans returns, she's fast asleep.