Chapter Four

Daezl crossed his arms, surveying the scene with narrowed eyes. Hundreds of monsters milled about outside of an extravagant building. The cold air brimmed with excited chatter of a celebrity by the name of Mettaton. Shapes and sizes of all kinds moved along over fresh, black pavement. Chemical odors assaulted his nose, driving his thin, furry tail to twitch. The noise grew too bothersome, and his ears drew back to block it out as he watched.

His icy stare scanned every inch of visible space, eagerly awaiting to pick out a particular individual from the crowd. How many years had it been again? The nether realms were such an easy place to lose track of time in, that he doubted any of them had an exact answer. The shadow-furred monster shook his head to rid it of such thoughts. It matter how long. Ten years, twenty, five thousand- their missing piece was still here. They'd felt his presence the moment they arrived. The first thing to do was find him.

He leaned back against a tree, keeping an eye out for his target even as his focus wavered. Daezl looked up at the twinkling lights far beyond the tree's bare branches. Stars. The moon. Wispy clouds drifting along just beneath the white circle, gleaming silver in its aura. So this was the sky, huh? He failed to understand just what was so special about it, or anything on the surface for that matter.

He sighed, losing what little patience he had. He persisted regardless, keeping to the darkness at the edge of the area and staying alert. His reward would come a few minutes later in the form of a tiny skeleton in a blue jacket. His ears perked up, his tail rising up to sway behind his head. He observed as Sans ambled along behind an excitable group of people he failed to recognize, save for Papyrus. Wow, was that really Papyrus? He'd grown so tall! And his old friend, well, he'd grown older. And from what Daezl was able to tell, sloppier.

The ethereal fire in his soul burned brighter at the sight of their missing member. He took a few steps forward before coming to an abrupt halt. No. Not yet. Sans wasn't likely to remember him. Caution was a necessary burden to bear, for now. It wouldn't do well to draw attention to himself.

Sans stilled, allowing the others to leave him behind. Tail twitching, he retreated, blinking as the skeleton turned to stare in his direction. Was it possible…?

Sans dismissed this suspicion, trotting after the group just as they noticed his absence. Voices rang out, uttering playful words that he failed to pick up. A low growl rumbled in his throat. No. Of course not. They'd been quite thorough, after all. No matter, Daezl told himself, as they would have their old friend back one way or another.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Sans awoke at his usual time, noon, and poured himself a bowl of cereal for lunch. He had through much trial and error, managed to get the Incident out of his mind, and wasn't about to undo all that by making toast. Besides, sugary cereal with extra marshmallows was far superior, especially since Papyrus had long gotten past that health food craze. He no longer needed to hide his addictions.

Dim light drifted in through the kitchen window. The sky was a pale grey, promising rain. He ruled out opening his totally-legal hot dog stand for a few hours. No one would be out in such weather. He tapped the spoon against his now-empty cereal bowl. Metal clinked on glass as he absently played out a familiar sequence of beats. Ah, crap. That song remained stuck in his head, and he didn't even care for the robot's music. Head resting in his other hand, Sans surrendered to the ear worm and considered his options.

He was officially forbidden from helping with the laundry, a rule he'd happily follow. He'd finished up every interesting book he knew of. The idea of video games only soured his mood lately. He couldn't think of them without thinking of what had kept Alphys away from them. Even now, the lizard lady scarcely had a moment of free time. The rhythmic tapping died off, allowing silence to swallow the room. He missed his best friend.

A few half-notions floated around within his skull, of pranks to play, and of his favorite victims. Alas, he found none of the possibilities interesting enough to pursue. Sans stared at nothing, burying himself in his mind in search of something he wasn't able to name. His memory was akin to Swiss cheese. Unfortunately, it was troublesome to occupy his mind with such things, leaving him with little to do. No apostrophe dogs, no games, no pranks or decent science books.

He ignored the familiarity of this odd restless feeling. A walk would soothe his fragmented brain, refresh it. He'd surely feel a little better after getting some fresh air. He left his dishes behind on the table, ambling out of the front door without a second thought.

Being without skin had its perks. While most would shun the freezing rain the sky carried, Sans would be fairly unbothered. It was notably quiet, but not foreboding. A pleasant scent filled the wind, he realized with a curious breath. The sidewalk was dark with previously fallen droplets. His slippers met the concrete with wet scraping sounds as he shuffled along aimlessly. Just as he'd expected, hardly anyone was out. Those who were walked quickly, their faces obscured beneath hoods as they refused to look up at the barrier.

It was visible from anywhere in Bellmare. The darn thing towered high above the city's tallest buildings, a precaution due to its winged residents. The wavy, ever-shifting wall of violet loomed over them constantly, a presence which only served to further dampen his mood.

Dampen… The weather…

Agh, why'd they have to rain on our parade? I know my brain's been real cloudy lately, but still. Seems like I woulda noticed a whole storm of trouble. Maybe somebody can shed some lightning on the problem and explain it to me? After all, our soul reason for all that was-

"Hi, Sans! It's been so long! How ya been?"

A flicker of something in the core of his soul. He turned to see a canine monster jogging to meet him. Her fur was a dull orange, and her excited gaze a dark shade of brown. She waved at him with a clawed cream hand as she approached. Her curled tail was a blur of happy movement, and her attire a collection of faded colors. She kicked up dead leaves in her hurry, nearly slipping once. Her boots thudded against the sidewalk at an otherwise steady pace until she skidded to a halt.

"Uh…"

"What? You don't recognize me? It's me! Mizera! We know each other!"

"Hm, nope, don't think so." He liked to think he would've recalled such a lively person. "Guess ya got me confused with some other bonehead."

"No, no, no!" She hopped in place a few times, as though unable to contain her annoyance. "We know each other! Aw, c'mon, you gotta remember me!"

He suppressed a chuckle at her erratic display. "Welp, sorry Miz, I don't. No offense."

"Oh, fine!" She clasped her hands together, tail still going. "Well, why don't we go get some milkshakes or something and I'll tell you!"

"Tell me what?"

"About that time! You know, when we did those things!"

"Heh, uh, I actually gotta go."

Her ears drooped, eyes watering in an instant. "Go do what?"

Sans glanced around, finding no one nearby. He was half-tempted to simply teleport away. For some unknown reason, he simply didn't.

"Uh, I gotta go do a thing. At a place."

"Can't you do the thing later? I just wanna catch up with an old friend," she lowered her muzzle, staring at him a moment before realizing her act wouldn't work.

Only Papyrus could get away with that, thankfully.

And yet…

The words left him before he could register their meaning: "Maybe. What'd ya have in mind?"

"Yay! Come with me! I know a great place for milkshakes!"