Chapter Twenty One

The halls were dark. Torches were few and far between, casting wavering pools of orange light. The group was wordless as they crept warily onward through the maze of hallways. The silence felt tense and heavy, though not unbearably so, and none of them seemed to have a solution in any case. Sans ambled in the very middle, with Oro and Mizera behind him and Juni and Daezl ahead. Every once in a while, a growl or a screech would halt them in their tracks.

Eventually, they reached a dead end.

It was another puzzle, it seemed, much unlike the one before. Sans watched as Daezl pulled a clump of red vines down to reveal their instructions. It was hard to spot in the feathery half light, but Sans found it easy enough to understand when he made his way closer. The cobbled wall appeared to have no passage through, but they knew better than to believe such. He pushed his way to the front of the group to properly make out the words.

"Well, that's just great!"

He gave Daezl a questioning glance. "What is it now?"

"What- what do you mean what now?" He stared at him as though he'd sprouted a second head.

Sans sighed, looking back to the wall.

"sPeAk aLoud the answer to proceed. Only those of discerning eyes mAy pass tHrough."

"Wh- you can understand that?"

It was his turn to stare. "Y' mean you can't?"

Mizera clasped her hands together and hopped in place once. "Nope! It's all gibberish 'n scribbles to us!"

His head swiveled between them and the wall. "Aw, c'mon guys. Now's not the time for a joke," he said. "I'm not in the mood; 'm tired."

And now that he thought of it, hungry.

"Dude, we really can't make any sense of that," said Oro. "It's all nonsense."

With a heavy breath, he muttered, "fantastic," and took a closer look at the riddle. Why were some of the letters capitalized? He ran through each one to see if they spelled something out. P-A-L-A-H didn't sound too much like a word to him, but Papyrus had his Junior Jumble, and it didn't take long to figure it out.

"Alpha."

There was a sudden, echoing boom. He clutched his chest and jumped back, eye sockets dark as the wall crumbled into rubble and dust. From someplace up ahead, they heard an unholy growl creep through the tunnels.

Juni had her wing wrapped around him as the skeleton took a few deep breaths. He allowed her to pull him close whilst Daezl and Miz rushed ahead to see about the threat. He explained how he'd realized the answer as Oro kept watch.

There was an unholy scream, cut short. The two would return a few minutes after, telling them to ignore the fresh corpse on the floor. Sans and the others would happily oblige, and he was grateful for the darkness between fires, for he was in no mood to see another gruesome sight. The minutes passed by and he yawned. What time was it now, in the normal world? Surely, it must be the early A.M hours by this point.

Another dead end, much like the first. Daezl shoved him to the wall and said to hurry up.

you cAn Rest assured that your jourNey wIll soon be done

He paused to shuffle the letters around, and said, "rain."

The path opened up.

They pushed on, and found that the space between lights was growing ever wider until the five of them shuffled along in a sea of complete shadow. They stubbornly persisted in spite of the darkness and the increasing sound effects pulled straight from some horror film. He heard the soft, muffled thuds of boots against the stone floor, both behind and ahead, until-

His feet lost the ground, and he heard a yelp beside him. Sans was aware of an unstoppable movement. Daezl and the rest called to them, distant. He flailed his limbs around in search of something solid to grasp. He found the need to breathe, and his shirt collar was choking him. His elbow hit a wall. His slippers scrapped against the floor until abandoning his feet entirely. Claws against stone. Unholy hisses.

Backwards changed to down, and he was falling. There was a sickening snap, and a fireworks show of light filled his sockets. He wondered for a moment where that scream was coming from.

Oh. It was him.

Horrible, mind obliterating pain did that to people.

OoOoOoOoOoO

He really hoped his brother was okay, Papyrus thought for the fiftieth time today. And it was only half past six in the morning. Just where Sans had vanished to was a mystery to him, and try as he might, the Great Papyrus couldn't make sense of it. He doubted that the empty cereal bowl was meant to be a clue of some kind, for his sibling was always like that, but had inspected the dirty dish nonetheless. Of course, his efforts were in vain.

He'd checked Sans' room about a hundred times over and found nothing amiss. Well, Sans' room itself was amiss by nature, but there was nothing unusual about it… Except for one little thing. He didn't understand just why he'd hidden those ketchup-stained clothes in the deepest corners of the closet, or why the condiment had an odd metallic scent that condiments weren't typically known for. And his brother didn't wear orange. In fact, Papyrus had never seen that shirt in his life. Also, since when did Sans wear sweatpants long enough to dirty them?

What was going on?

He was early. He made a point to always be early. Papyrus was a hard worker. In fact, he was sure that he was the most efficient member of the family. Not that he would know, seeing as his memories of family were like pasta that had fallen victim to pests and mold. That is to say, not the best. But he and Sans had an unspoken agreement not to dwell on the matter.

Driving was a challenge in this weather. A thin layer of ice had caked itself onto the road. He was up before the sun (darn lazy sun, didn't it know it was morning?) and took extra caution on his way to work. Papyrus tried his best to quell any worrisome thoughts. His focus was needed elsewhere; that being on not crashing his shiny new car.

But his mind was a multi tasker, and brought up a hundred subjects at once. Sans hadn't picked up his phone, not for him, nor his best friend Alphys, Toriel, or even Frisk. After a certain point, it had stopped ringing altogether. Why would his brother leave without telling a soul? Why would he not answer his phone? What business could his dear lost sibling have to attend to so urgently?

There were dark theories floating about town. Papyrus knew them well, and so loathed to consider them. Undyne and the others tried to keep them from his not-ears, but it was impossible to not hear about them, and it wasn't as though he was incapable of coming to a few on his own. Honestly, why did people think him so oblivious?

Tensions with the humans were high; anyone with half a brain cell could see. But would any of them truly harm a monster, and his brother of all people? Undyne was among those who suspected foul play, and Papyrus felt a twinge in his soul at the very notion. Alphys and her scientist friends believed that Sans must have ventured outside the new barrier, and suffered some kind of side effect. He found it a bit easier to think about, as Sans did have a condition, and this scenario gave way for more hope. In the end, he liked his own version the best. Sans had gone off somewhere willingly, and would be back soon with a logical explanation.

Probably. Hopefully. Papyrus didn't know what he'd do if…

OoOoOoOoOoO

"...key wakey, eggs and tomato sauce…"

His bones felt too heavy, his consciousness like a broken computer screen. It was much too early to be awake. He pushed forth a slurred collection of noises meant to be a request for more sleep. The light, melodious voice refused to let him be.

Sans opened his eye sockets, which in of itself was a challenge. The darkened, blurry shape before his face morphed gradually into a now familiar muzzle. Mizera stood over him, head tilted, a look of mild concern painting her features. He yawned, as the recent events rushed back to him and overloaded his circuits with a slew of information. On cue, a jolt of pain rushed through his leg.

He must've shown it, as the canine said, "sorry. I tried my best, but I couldn't fix it all the way. Juni will know what to do though!"

He sat up slowly, wincing at the flaring in his leg and the overall soreness his body now carried. They were in a small chamber, lit by a single torch. An empty table sat at the wall, and the broken remnants of a chair beside it.

It was hard to see, but a part of him thanked his lucky stars for that. His leg was an utter wreck. Dark lines splayed across his shin like the beginnings of a spider's web. Just seeing it was enough to bring a fresh wave of prickling sparks. It was in one piece, but that piece was much too weak for comfort.

"Need me to carry you? I give great piggy back rides! Well, except for that one time with those demon lawn gnomes."

He considered the offer as he rose, using the wall for support. He wasn't one for being lifted or carried around, as his sibling would often try it as a jab at his small stature. Any weight on this leg brought a painful tingling sensation, however, and he found himself hardly able to move it at all. Walking wasn't the most possible act at this time. Even if he could manage, he'd only slow them down to a snail's pace.

He looked from his limb to Mizera, who radiated far less energy than before. She'd been telling the truth about her efforts, and any ire he may have held at her before melted away. She was thoughtless, hyperactive as a rabid lettuce squirrel, but her soul was in the right place.

"Yeah."

Carefully, she helped him climb onto her back. He warned her to take it slow and steady, and she promised to heed his words. She crept warily out from the room and into pitch-black darkness. Supporting his injured leg with one arm, she slowly moved the other away to light a bright white flame. She flung it forward, creating a light trail near the wall. Sans blinked at it whilst she brought her arm back to hold his other leg.

"Miz."

"Yeah?"

"You could'a done that before."

"Yeah. We all just sorta forgot, huh?"

"Collectively."

"Mm-hmm."

"Whatever. Let's just go."