Chapter XXVII

One cannot fool them all

'Dad?'

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Who… Right, Papyrus. The souls. The answer.

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'You know Papyrus, accidents… happen.' Gaster pauses, the words simply are too harsh but he has to answer. 'Sometimes, humans fall and they don't survive.'

'They are…' Papyrus seems to hesitate, whether he is doubting his statement or the fact he should say it , Gaster doesn't know. He sees his eyes darting a glance to Alphys — or perhaps it is to the one standing next to her — before he finished his sentence. 'They are killed.'

'No, not necessarily-'

'They can be,' Papyrus cuts him. 'Some monsters are mean… They kill them.'

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He is too young to know all of this. He shouldn't know all of this! He can't understand yet that not everyone — not everything —- has good inside them. Humans can't be left wandering in the Underground: the risk is too great. A single one could wipe them all out… Humans, and their determination, are to be killed on sight for the sake of all monsters — hoping they will never encounter one determined to commit genocide.

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'It's more complicated than that…'

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It is far more complicated that what Papyrus can imagine. The barrier, the danger, the experiments… All those things are depending on whether or not the humans entering the underground are killed. If only those humans weren't children half of the time… Things would be easier. Monsters wouldn't be so reluctant to kill them, to take their soul to their king… But things are as they are, and children tend to fall more often than adults. Perhaps it is due to the surface's geography, one could suppose-

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'You would?'

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The question interrupts Gaster's thoughts, so much than it takes him almost a whole second to understand the two words of which it consists.

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'What?' he asks.

Papyrus carefully avoids his look, suddenly finding his shirt more interesting than it has ever been. 'Kill a human? If you meet one who doesn't want to hurt you?'

'I guess I…' No, he couldn't tell him the truth. Papyrus wouldn't forgive him if he told him he would immediately kill any human in his sight. 'I could… try to talk to them?'

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Gaster observes his son's reaction, waiting for at least the ghost of a smile which keeps him waiting. He doesn't understand Papyrus's concern for humans — sure Myriad couldn't have possibly taught him to care so much for them. It is almost as if… he is afraid? Not for himself, Gaster thinks, he has no reason to fear for himself. He is a monster and, even though skeletons could pass for humans if they were willing to try — something which had caused their kind to be even more hunted during the war — he would never be taken for one. No, he has to be afraid for someone else — someone at risk.

'I also have a question for you, Papyrus,' Gasters starts, wavering his hand in the direction of the monster near Alphys. 'Who is this?'

'It is…' the young monster hesitates, clearly caught off guard. 'It is a friend! I have many friends.'

Gaster laughs. 'Is that so?'

'Yes! He helped me to come here.'

'So you needed help?'

'Of course not!' Papyrus retorts, offended. 'The great Papyrus needs no help for anything! I… uh… accepted company!'

'Sure you did.'

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Gaster stands up, his eyes focused on his target. Papyrus is hiding something, and he has an idea of what it could be. Seeing his father stands up, his kind look turning dark, the child realizes his lies never were convincing enough.

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'I did!' he tries one last time, almost whining. He isn't good at keeping up facades, he has never been — and he doubts he'll ever be. 'Dad?' Gaster ignores him — if he ever heard him in the first place — so Papyrus calls again, louder. 'Dad!'

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Seeing his calls are useless, Papyrus runs to his father and grabs his hand. He isn't strong enough to hold him back, let alone stopping him, yet he hopes to be heard. Gaster's walk slows down when he feels pressure on his arm, noticing how worried — no, how scared his son is. His face softens, white pupils reappearing in his eyes, as he gives a smile to Papyrus. Even if Gaster is right, he can't afford a fight in front of him. Thus, he lets his hand accompany Papyrus to Alphys, never breaking contact as to not worry him. He doesn't tense when he get to his target — the other "monster". He doesn't slip into neither a defense position nor an attack one. He doesn't even put on a threatening face.

He notices how Alphys stare at him, ready to shield Papyrus should a conflict arise. He can feel the fear of the one he believes is no monster at all. He can hear his son's shallow breath as he's barely holding back tears. A tension all too contrasting with the smell of pine trees and the fresh night breeze. Those pine trees could come in handy in a battle, he could use them to his advantage by taking cover there. The breeze would likely cover the sound of his steps with the leaves it carries, even though he would still have to be careful. The setting wasn't ideal for a fight, but it would do should one break out.

However, he has no intention of fighting — not there, not when Papyrus is nearby. Instead, he forces a smile, and crosses his arms. He is now close enough to see the wood grain of what he is almost sure is a mask behind which a perfectly human face hides — a wincing mouth under an eternal smile. It is carefully carved, resembling the face of a skeleton with quite an accurate precision — enough to fool the average monster should they not come too close.

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'So,' he says, 'I believe you are the one who helped Papyrus?'

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The one he is speaking to instinctively steps back hearing the question, as if caught by surprise. Gaster, however, can tell it is definitely not surprise. There is no way he hasn't seen him coming, no way for him to think he wouldn't be talked to. The question in itself isn't the problem either… No, the question is not. The tone is. This underlying threat behind innocent words. This other sentence barely hidden by a fake smile; a sentence which says "I know".

Gaster's look is piercing, detailing the one he thinks is a human in search for evidences. It sweeps the mask, the clothes, the posture… and there it is. The nervous shiver running through the body, this very shiver accompanying the quiver of the voice and the irregularity of the breath. A breath which is muffled: the proof of a mask.

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'Uh… Only a bit at the end? A… tiny bit?'

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He wasn't expecting the voice he heard. It sounds older than expected, but Gaster hasn't seen enough humans in his life to make more than guesses based on this sole information. Taking the height into consideration, Gaster reckons he could be a human teenager. It's a few years older than what he would have first guessed from afar, but coherent. However, it also means the human is old enough to be manipulating his son into protecting him.

Only once he has made those assumption does Gaster think about what he has been told. A little help at the end? He doesn't think so. He doubts Papyrus could have travel all the way from Home to New Home without help. Besides, a child alone would have been taken in by another monster should they look even slightly distressed — and, without his mother, there is no doubt Papyrus would have been seeking reassurance somewhere.

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'I think it's more than a bit,' Gaster says with a smile he wants reassuring — after all, a scared human is more prone to attacking.

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He doesn't see Papyrus discreetly moving from behind Alphys to the human's side before his son mutters an excuse, magical tears running down his face.

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'Sorry…'

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Movement. The human.

Gaster calls upon his magic, summoning a blaster to protect his son. The shoot doesn't even charges up before firing. It's precise, Gaster is confident, Papyrus won't be hurt. It may be weak, but at least it should-

A wall. A barrier of electricity, barely strong enough to resist the blast… A barrier appeared to stop his attacks. It's not the first time Gaster sees this magic, Alphys's magic. But why? Why would she do this? She is not the type of monster who would blindly protect a human. Could he be… missing something?

The purple tint of his vision fades as his pupils stops glowing. To his surprise, the human's only movement was to kneel, not to attack. Gaster glances at Alphys, seeing she is ready to shield him from another attack. His eyes then go from her to the human, human who is no longer looking at him. Instead, he has put a hand on Papyrus's shoulder, telling the young skeleton he did great.

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'I must say,' Gaster begins, 'this is a nice mask you have.'

'Dr. Gaster-'

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With a gesture of the hand, Gaster let Alphys know he means no harm. However, it doesn't stop Papyrus from moving between the human and him.

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'You said you would talk!' he pleads. 'Sans is nice!'

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Sans? So it is the human's name… It's quite uncommon. Have humans started to use Skeletons' names? Such a thing is highly improbable. A nickname then? Not impossible.

The human, Sans as Papyrus called him, is staring at him. Only now does Gaster notices he is close enough to see his eyes behind the wooden mask. However, he doesn't immediately realizes why he didn't notice sooner, while he was talking to him. He doesn't, because what he sees is quite common among monster. Nevertheless, as common as it may be for monster, it most certainly is not for humans.

Gaster didn't notices he could see Sans's eyes because he had kept them close for as long as he could.

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'Papyrus?' Gaster tries to sound reassuring, even though he knows Papyrus is warry. 'Would you mind if I talked to… Sans a little? I promise I won't hurt him.' Papyrus hesitates, shares a look with Sans, and nods. Gaster smiles in return, willing to appear less threatening as he invites Sans to follow him. 'Alphys, I entrust you with Papyrus. I will let Sans go home with you later.'

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He turns around, knowing the human is following him. It is a risky manoeuver, to turn his back on a potential threat, but it's a necessary one to earn his trust. As he walks to his house, his mind playing what has happened again in hope he could have a more global vision, a detail catches his attention.

Sans had kept his eyelids firmly pressed together once Gaster got too close. Not because of fear, not because of the light of the blaster… No, the latter had actually caused him to open them. If he had kept them closed, it was to hide the fact they were glowing.

Humans' eyes don't glow.

Oh no. It is a cliffanger. I am so eager to see what it will lead to. If only the autor could post the next chapter, I really want to know :/

No, seriously, I am so not eager to see what actually happens next because I KNOW WHAT IT IS AND IT HURTS. Like, not in the next chapter, but that's the beginning of the second to last arc and... I'm sorry T.T