Chapter Two
Ice found its way into his fuzzy pink slippers, between his toes and the bones of his feet. He ignored it, climbing into his brother's car and fastening the seat belt without a word. Papyrus was quieter than usual as he fumbled with the keys. The car's engine roared to life, a welcome break to the otherwise tense silence. Contrary to nearly everything else about him, Papyrus was always careful when it came to driving. It was a fact he thought to question if only to fill the air with conversation, but the words refused to manifest, so he turned to stare out the window.
They didn't speak, as though something had coiled itself around the vertebrae responsible for their voices. Sans settled into the unseen cloudiness which permeated his mind, thankful for the escape. Trying to figure out the issue was pointless when he would learn soon enough. Darkened shapes flickered in and out of his sight. Streetlamps passed by as blurs of light, breaking through the heavy veil of shadow that night had brought with it. He let the fog take hold, allowing any fraction of thought to make its way to the recycling bin. He could always restore them later, right?
He blinked, and the car was coming to a halt. He and Papyrus shared a look, then stepped out into the full parking lot. The ice was still there, hardly any less so than before. A sharp breeze cut its way through his jacket and he spared a moment of pity for the fleshy beings who found this weather more problematic. Speaking of which…
Frisk trotted towards them, waving with a forced smile.
"AH, HELLO FRISK! WE HAVE ARRIVED."
It seemed the tension had stolen her voice completely, for instead of it she used her hands to speak. It wasn't a problem to understand her; the sign language she knew was similar enough to monsterkind's that they'd picked it up rather quickly.
"Did she tell you what's going on?"
"NO. SHE DIDN'T SAY. IS IT BAD?"
She decided not to answer, motioning for the two to follow her inside. His soul picked up its pulsing just enough to notice. The same looked true for his brother as they met "eyes" once more along the way. Frisk's breath appeared in clouds as she lead the way to a pair of huge glass doors. She struggled to push one open, but Papyrus was just behind, and together they managed. Sans slipped in after them.
Monsters of all kinds milled about. The air was warm and thick, and voices merged together to create an endless amalgamation of noise. It was too bright here after sitting in darkness. That coupled with the constant motion of the crowds was enough to leave him dizzy, so Sans looked down for a moment at the gold and yellow floor. Listening would be too much of a system overload, so he tuned out his brother's words. He closed his eye sockets, pretending to sleep.
"OH MY GOSH SANS, ARE YOU REALLY NAPPING AT A TIME LIKE THIS?"
He wasn't sure how much time had gone by, but he sensed that he'd stabilized well enough. Papyrus was tapping his boot on the floor, hands on his hips. A rabbit lady observed with minor annoyance lighting her features. Frisk flashed him a questioning look, clearly having noticed that it wasn't sleep he'd been woken from. He smiled as reassuringly as he could.
I'm okay, he told her without words. She didn't look convinced.
But he was. Everything was fine. Mostly.
"What no, 'course not. Wouldn't dream of it."
"GAH! WELL, DID YOU HEAR ANYTHING OR WERE YOU TOO LAZY TO LISTEN?"
"The second one."
"Sans, this is serious!" The rabbit with the pale blue fur shoved her hands into the heavy sleeves of her coat. "Something's wrong! I don't know what it is exactly, but it has something to do with the humans."
"SO COULD YOU REMAIN CONSCIOUS FOR THE ENTIRE DURATION OF THIS MEETING?"
"Sure, you got it."
"NYEH?" He shook his head. "WELL, REGARDLESS OF WHAT I'VE GOT, IT'S IMPORTANT TO PAY ATTENTION!"
"Er, Papyrus-"
"I will, Pap, don't worry."
"Papyrus!"
Undyne charged at them, the mass of people either diving out of her way or getting shoved to the side. She leaped, sliding to a stop just beside her best friend as their company made way for her. Her pointed teeth glinted in the light as she grinned at him.
"I heard you got a job at Muffet's! That's AWESOME, dude! I LOVE those spider donuts; they taste like VICTORY!" Her expression changed to a thoughtful one. "And bug guts. Wonder what they put in those."
"YES, IT IS VERY EXCITING. BUT WHAT'S GOING ON EXACTLY?"
"Ah, that…" She didn't answer right away, only adding weight to this presence looming over them. "The humans are being a bunch of as- butt holes."
Frisk gave her a look that said "I've heard swears before" that the fish monster didn't notice.
"They… Don't get it."
"DON'T GET WHAT? WHY IS EVERYONE BEING SO CRYPTIC?"
"Ah, Papyrus…" She paused, looking uncharacteristically nervous. "There's some things I never told you. Maybe-maybe you guys shouldn't actually be here."
That last part she directed at Sans, who merely shrugged. She regretted that call-it'd obviously been an impulsive decision- but it was far too late to back out. He processed her words, running them through a buggy program that didn't want to function. At last he realized, as everyone shuffled into another room, that this had something to do with the human souls monsterkind had taken.
This room was packed more so than the previous, a problem that gradually sorted itself out as people found seats or places to stand. The brothers parted ways with Frisk and Undyne and claimed two chairs in a far corner of the massive space. Asgore stood upon a stage, waiting with unyielding patience. In spite of the distance, he could tell in the king's eyes that he was tired. Sans guessed this wasn't the first meeting like this that Asgore had called today. The building was filled to the brim with monsters, but there were far more over all.
"SANS- Sans…"
It would come as a surprise to many that Papyrus could be quiet when he wanted to.
He whispered back, "yeah?"
"What was that about?"
"What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb with me, Sans! Undyne said she doesn't want us here after all, and she looked at you. What's this secret you two are keeping?"
Crap. His brother never failed to fascinate him in how Papyrus could have so many contradicting traits. He was oblivious at times, but at others, revealing a much more observant side of himself.
"It's uh…" He shifted uneasily, gaze averted to the blank white wall beside him as though it were the most interesting thing in the world. "It's not really a secret."
Crap. Crap. Crap.
Agh, Papyrus, why ya gotta do this? I didn't want…
A heavy blanket of cobwebs fell upon his brain.
You… didn't need… to know all this.
"Thank you everyone, for coming." Asgore's deep, thunderous voice echoed through the room, commanding silence. "I wish that I could say I came with happier news. As you know, Toriel, Frisk, and I have been meeting with the human leaders of the world. We have been trying to establish a peaceful place for monsterkind on the surface. Thanks to Frisk, we were somehow able to break the barrier, and we have been able to walk in the sun again after so many years underground."
His grip on the armrests tightened. His soul pounded. He didn't like where this was headed. Sans' toes twitched in response to the melting ice. He felt it now, the cold seeping into his feet.
"But before her arrival, we spent those years waiting for humans to fall into our prison. We waited, collecting their souls one by one. Six human children fell underground, and…" His voice wavered more and more as he approached the subject. "Six human children fell to members of the Royal Guard. Frisk has been doing all she can, but we are not fully trusted, and the humans of this land feel we may be a threat to them."
Sans looked to Papyrus, allowing some measure of his true feelings to show, soul clawing desperately for some form of reassurance that didn't come. His gaze was fixated to the stage, his expression unreadable.
"I have told them that the Guard was only following my orders, and that I will do anything I can to atone for what I have done. They have not reached a final decision. In the meantime, new barriers will be created around our towns and cities."
Voices tore through the quiet, panicked, ireful, defensive, and more. Someone shouted, "but I didn't even know what a human looked like before!"
It was likely true. It had been so long since the sixth human, that their appearance had escaped common knowledge by the time Frisk arrived. People had known of course, that the king was gathering souls to break the barrier. They had clung to the promise of freedom. He supposed that somewhere along the line, monsterkind had forgotten just what that meant, dreaming of a sunrise they never knew they'd see.
"Heh, Papyrus? You okay?"
"I…" He was staring at nothing, voice nearly too quiet to hear. "We were…?"
When at last his brother turned to him, looking just as helpless as he felt, Sans found himself unable to form words.
"Any monsters who do not live in one of our settlements will be required to visit one." His raised voice had brought all argument to a halt. "The barriers will not keep us trapped in one place, as the one before did. These new barriers will detect any monster souls that pass through them, and suppress our magical abilities for as long as we are out of them. Since our Royal Scientist lives so close by, I have called her to this meeting to explain. Alphys?"
He watched her skitter timidly up to the microphone. They took a moment to adjust it to her height, muffled thuds resounding as they worked.
"U-um, hi," she greeted with an awkward wave. "I'm-I'm Alphys, th-the Royal Scientist, and I'm going t-to tell you everything you need to know about the n-new. Barriers."
He would've liked to give her some form of support. This prickling in his feet nearly stole his attention away; it was taking all the determination he had to stay focused.
"So, um… The humans- the humans didn't want to accidentally h-hurt us. So-so I've been working with them. To d-design it. The barriers, I mean. We've done a-a lot of research, and there shouldn't be any um, negative-negative side affects. A-at the same time, monsters have never… had to do this s-sort of thing." She paused to take a deep breath. Hushed voices filled his "ears" with words he couldn't register. She continued, "so it's important. To be aware of any-a-any possible symptoms if you-if you stay out for very long. Th-there's no way of knowing what k-kinds of symptoms to look out for, and everyone i-is encouraged to use their best j-judgment and if… if you think you may-may be having any side affects, to r-return to a safe- a magical zone! And. S-see a doctor. Uh, th-thank you bye ohmygoshIhatepublicspeaking…"
She retreated in the blink of an eye, leaving Asgore to make any closing statements. Sans tried to listen. Tried. Nothing in his skull was responding to his commands. His soul no longer pulsed to the unsteady rhythm of before. Things weren't quite as bad as he'd thought, but they could certainly be better. And now Papyrus knew their dirty little "secret" in spite of previous effort to shield him. He asked himself despite knowing the answer, just how all this had slipped past his radar.
Something rippled through his soul. Something flared to life for a millisecond, one millisecond too long.
The world blurred. Sounds grew painfully distorted. He sensed himself moving, speaking, chuckling. Oh stars, he hoped he hadn't completely lost it.
Crash.