:):

Thank you, everyone, for all of the awesome reviews!

...

Equimavera, you really analyzed the King's law thoroughly and I think you are right. Sans never actually broke any rules. In fact, even the act of striking Undyne could really be seen as him attempting to uphold the integrity of the law by passing quick judgment on an obvious rule infraction.

Still... I doubt Sans would bother to bring this up. He might accidentally end up losing his 'vacation time' hehe. :)

xxx

The Old Antiquarian

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Undyne, as she had promised, had finally left for medical treatment at the Royal Laboratory. Asgore had requested that Sans stay behind, however. He still had things he wanted to discuss with him. But first, he had a special request.

"Sans, I would like for you to do me a favor." Asgore started as he forced his tired body out of his rigid throne. "In Waterfall, there is an old tortoise that owns a small shop near the canal. I want you to find him and bring him here."

"i think i know who you're talking about." Sans nodded. "i met him earlier today. you want me to bring him here right now?"

"If you would."

"you got it." Sans smiled as he stuffed his bony hands into his pockets. Then, in a pulse of blue magic, he was gone.

How useful it must be to be able to teleport, Asgore mused to himself. It was quite a rare ability. Somewhere in his memories, though, he could have sworn he used to know another monster who also possessed that trait. ...But who?

...

Grumbling all the way to the elevator, Undyne felt her frustrations flare. How is it that she got suspended as well? Over a human? Seriously?! She couldn't understand why Asgore had not taken her side on this issue. It's been proven time and time again that humans were the enemy, and no matter what size they were, underestimating them could be fatal... The dull throb she had behind her eyepatch was a constant reminder.

Humans were dangerous.

Sliding into the elevator, Undyne slammed her fist against the hidden button beside the control panel. There was a pause, before the internal gears started clicking and grinding together. Feeling the metal box descend, the suspended Captain, slouched against the wall as she continued to brood.

Years ago, back when she was just a sentry, Undyne remembered the very first time she had ever seen a human. She had been patrolling inside Waterfall when she had spotted it walking ankle deep through the marsh. The thing had been pitifully crying as it tapped at its phone. For some reason. Undyne had felt the strange urge to try and help the poor pathetic creature. She really shouldn't have.

The human didn't appear to have any weapons, but its words were just as effective. "Stay back, you freak!" was the first thing it said, but the spiteful insults kept coming. "Vile monster." "Ugly fish!" "Creepy teeth." Okay, maybe she was a little insecure, but those words had really stung. Even to this day, they still hurt a little.

When she had brought the human's pretty sapphire soul to King Asgore, he had rewarded her. Seeing that she had single-handedly protected Waterfall all by herself, she had been promoted to Captain of the Royal Guard. So, why had this time been so different? Was this particular human special or something?

Undyne grimaced slightly as she remembered the look on both the lizard kid's and the skeleton's face. Panic and outrage. They had been upset with her. Upset with her treatment of a human. Even she had felt a twinge of regret for what she had done. She should have just let it drown, but for some reason, she couldn't go through with it. Why hadn't she just taken its golden soul when it appeared before her?

This human was different. Instead of being violent or cruel, it acted innocent and unassuming. As weak and pathetic as it appeared, this tiny creature was able to trick those around it into acts of sympathy. Reaching up with her good arm, Undyne felt the small bruise that had formed on her chest. Even with such a weak kick, that human had still left damage. It was still dangerous.

They were all being fooled.

...

Appearing in front of the trinket shop's entrance, Sans stood politely outside for a moment. It was really late at night and he didn't want to accidentally startle the old timer. Since there was no door to the tiny cavelet, the skeleton announced himself the best he could.

"knock knock."

"Store's closed!" Gerson snapped. "Come back tomorrow. ...Actually, don't. I won't be here. I'm taking a trip to the Capital."

Sans stared at the cantankerous old tortoise for a moment before assuming a more relaxed posture. Well, at least he hadn't woken the old geezer up. In fact, he seemed more awake than his Royal Delivery Service. "s'why i'm here." Sans started as he watched as an old beat up chest was dumped of its contents. "the king would like to speak with you and he sent me to pick you up. so... whenever you're ready."

Finally sparing his visitor a glance, Gerson squinted in recognition. "You're that skeleton from before. If you're here, then that must mean you were able to save Freya's child from an untimely demise." The old tortoise let out an exaggerated sigh of relief. "You have my thanks, kid. I just can't seem to keep up with you youngsters these days. I took my eyes off her for one second and she was gone, chasing after the echo flowers."

"echo flowers...?" Sans tilted his skull in confusion. "wait, who's freya?"

"Why, the Queen, of course!" Gerson replied as if it was common knowledge.

Now Sans was really confused. What was this old guy talking about? "you mean asgore's wife? i don't think the kid's rela-"

"No, not Mrs. Dreemurr." The tortoise interrupted. "I'm talking about Queen Celestine of the Kingdom of Magic. Don't they teach you kids anything at school nowadays?"

Sans gave the old timer a passive-aggressive smile. How old did he think he was? Seriously... More importantly, how old was this tortoise? "it's been awhile since i was in school, but i don't think they teach anything about human history. especially not something that happened nearly half a millennia ago."

"Has it really been that long?" Gerson seemed to deflate slightly as he observed the mess he'd made. "No wonder I'm having such a hard time remembering her face..."

"did you actually know her?" As unrealistic as that seemed, Sans was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Strange things seemed to be happening left and right recently, so who knows?

"She was a curious child, Freya, always causing mischief." Gerson smiled fondly as he reminisced. "Did you know, years before the war, monsters and humans used to live side by side with each other. However, no place was quite as diverse as the Kingdom of Magic. It was ruled by both a monster and a human. A show of solidarity towards the other race."

Sans wasn't expecting to have a history lesson right here and now, but the old timer was already shell deep in his story. In truth, he didn't really want to interrupt him either. This ancient tortoise seemed to somehow have firsthand knowledge of life before the barrier. To many monsters, that was literally generations ago. Information like this should have been lost to the ages by now.

"Before Freya became Queen, her mother and Asgore's father ruled the kingdom side by side." Gerson revealed, momentarily losing himself in thought. "She was such a free spirit, that girl, if only I could find her locket..."

"is that what you were looking for? a locket?" Sans asked as he surveyed the mess. "i can lend ya a hand if you'd like. picking through junk happens to be one of my specialties."

"None of this is junk, ya little whippersnapper!" Gerson grouched before simmering down slightly. "But another helping hand might be just what I need right now."

...

Exiting the service tunnel, Undyne slowed her pace as she neared the Royal Laboratory. The sweltering heat nearly burned her skin but the pain wasn't quite enough to will her to move any faster. What was she going to tell Alphys? "I got impaled while doing my job."? That was so lame! Not only that, but being fussed over made her feel weak and unheroic.

Sighing, Undyne reached up and grabbed her shoulder roughly. It stung and throbbed, but she could no longer feel the rest of the limb. Delaying treatment any longer would be unwise. If she wasn't careful, her stubbornness might end up costing her her whole arm. That alone was enough of a threat to push her pride aside and let her sensibility guide her to the door.

Banging a little more forcefully then she intended, the injured suspended Captain waited impatiently outside in the scorching Hotland heat. Good thing she left her armor behind at her house, because right now, she felt like this heat was trying to cook her from the inside out. She was starting to feel lightheaded.

Mercifully, Alphys had taken very little time to open the door after checking the security camera.

"U-Undyne!" Alphys exclaimed as she took in the sorry state of her friend. Frantically, she ushered her inside and out of the heat. "What h-happened?"

Undyne gave the panicked lizard woman an embarrassed grin as she released her hold on her wound. "I... had a little accident." She just couldn't bring herself to explain how this really happened.

"Your shoulder!" Alphys gaped as she took in the painful looking injury. Assuming a look of focused professionalism, the scientist frowned. "This needs emergency medical care as soon as possible. Follow me."

Undyne paled slightly as she followed obediently. Alphys hadn't stuttered at all when she had said that. This might be more serious than she had thought. Now she was nervous.

xxx

Someone's gonna need stitches...

...

In the next chapter, Sans gets to see an old picture of the past.

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