Oh, look! A chapter! What a miracle!

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Isn't it strange it is written as my semester ends? After all, homework and tests are so rare right before the end of a semester, right? RIGHT? Like, none of you thought about putting some on the week of nothingness right before the semester ends? No?

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According to my calculations, I was supposed to have time during my holiday. Since it's like the third time this year I say this and end up extraordinarily wrong, I think it's fair to say I am bad at maths. I'm good at BS-ing maths tests though... Somehow.

It apparently doesn't work irl.

So my one and only skill is rock-licking. I am a wonderful future engineer XD

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Akumu : Wow. I mean... Wow. I knew American schools (I guess you're talking about those ones?) were harsh, but that tops it all. I'm in college (or not, it's college level, but anyways), and even I don't have to pull all-nighters because of homework. I heard about the homework problem, but I didn't think it was that bad...

I don't know if that's what you're currently living through, but good luck. It's not being the best that's important, just being good enough will do. In the end, school doesn't matter as much as they want us to believe, our skills and opportunities are what guides to where we go. School is only one way to education, but it's only on paper: it doesn't teach us much about real life. You just have to keep going and, hopefully, it will get better.

Chapter XXXIX

But without the links

It makes no sense.

It simply makes no damn sense!

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And the more Muttler learns about what happened recently, the more he wants to just give up and call it a day. He cannot. But he wants to. He really wants to.

He has the facts — all the facts he could possibly get, he thinks. Yet, even with all the facts, he cannot manage to link them all together into one coherent story.

Well, until the previous day, he thought he did. Now? He might as well walk straight to the Royal Scientist and ask him if he let one of experience loose!

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At first, he had put everything he already knew together. To be fair, there was not a lot to work with… Sans had told him he and his brother came from "far away". How far was "far away"? Was it underground? At the time, Muttler didn't care — he should have, it would have spared him the trouble of finding where "far away" was. Anyway, the first things he had to work with were: Sans is not from around here, and he has a little brother. From those, he logically concluded not many people knew the boys, and he might have two humans on his paws.

Later, he remembered Sans mentioned his brother was a skeleton a few times. He brushed it away at first: probably a cover story. Siblings falling down there were not as rare as some would think, even if having more than one of them surviving for a long time was more uncommon. However, hearing Sans describe some behaviors skeleton children were well-known for — such as summoning piles of bones or tying things to their ribs — made Muttler doubt his first statement. But how and why a Monster child would come to stick by a Human ? He had some ideas, and he was surprised to learn none of them was quite correct.

He had perfectly plausible theories, all based on facts and his own experience; theories resulting from decades of work in the Royal guard, and from centuries worth of History. Yet… Yet, he could not have been more wrong. Nothing could have prepared him for the truth.

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'Sans!' a skeleton child screamed, waving as he ran to the stand. 'Dad says that- !'

'Papyrus! The stand isn't closed yet!'

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A reptilian Monster caught the child's hand, short of breath after having to sprint to catch up on him. By that moment, Sans and Muttler were already exchanging awkward looks — more on Sans's side than his, that was: after all, he wasn't the one in the middle of serving a client. Quickly putting away the empty mustard bottle he was holding, Muttler offered his paw to him, getting him to understand he would take over for now.

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'Just go tell them I need you to clean before closing and that's it.'

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Sans nodded thankfully, giving Muttler the hot-dog left to fill, and the old dog hurried him to go. From his stand, Muttler watched the boy explain he would join them soon to the two other Monsters as he took his client's payment. Maybe he had been wrong by inferring Sans could not possibly know a lot of Monsters — he had survived without being caught so far, it would have been fair to assume it was because some Monsters helped him out. After all, it wasn't uncommon for Monsters to report Humans only when they explicitly opposed a threat, especially when they considered the Human they had in front of them was still a child. He could not blame them: he was doing the exact same thing after all.

As the money pieces clinked in the register, Muttler realized he was overlooking one extremely important element of his secret investigation: chances were this skeleton child was the little brother Sans talked about. As he heard the backdoor closing behind Sans, he glanced at the child, eyes squinting as if it could somehow get him to see better.

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'Is he your brother?'

'Yeah, why?'

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Behind the juvenile traits of the young skeleton, Muttler found a face he once called captain, a smile that once meant he had done well. Those eyes had the same spark as the ones that had welcomed him into the Royal guards more than two decades ago.

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'His face is somewhat…' — his voice faded into a whisper — 'familiar.'

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Sans stared at him with an unhidden curiosity, the sponge he used to clean the counter suspended mid-air, and Muttler could tell he already had an idea of the kind of response he could give.

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'Do you…' He stopped, hesitated. Asking would force him to reveal his links with the Royal Guard, and he knew it could be a reckless move, but he truly yearned to know. 'Do you know a gentle lady named Myriad?'

Sans's look switched from curiosity to shock to fear. 'Sorry, I have to go. It… Uh… it sounded really important.'

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Muttler did not hold him back: in a way, he had his answer.

And something told him he would not like to learn the details of this encounter.

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Lowering the shutters, Muttler scanned the scattering crow to find Sans. He saw him talk with the Monster who came to the stand a few minutes ago, trying to be as quiet as possible. The skeleton child was bouncing around them, and Muttler guessed he had some parts in the ongoing conversation. At some point, he left them to play with other children around. Whatever had to be said had been said, Sans would be back in a few minutes — Muttler doubted he would risk himself far away from the river and its freshness for much longer. However, what he thought to be mere goodbyes were not. Instead, it seemed to be a more serious conversation the child wasn't meant to hear — the few glances in his direction he caught were enough to tell. Muttler could not hear anything, but he could see how frantic Sans suddenly became. The glances became more repetitive, until he saw the other Monster forcefully make Sans look away from the child. Her hands were shaking, yet she kept holding Sans's tight — at least one of those gestures had to be unusual, judging by Sans's instant freeze when her scaly hands touched his gloves. She whispered a couple of words, be it an inaudible agreement or some friendly words of support, to which he responded positively. An awkward silence followed before both of them decided to part ways, giving Muttler the cue he needed to know it was time to pretend he hadn't seen anything.

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Sans dragged himself to the river's shore, where Muttler waited for him while drinking a bottle of water. The old dog refrained to look at him when he sat by his side: he wanted to appear as nonchalant as possible — the best way to get answers, from his own experience and for all it was worth. His paw reached for an uncapped bottle, one he had gotten out of the fridge before closing so it would be cold enough to feel refreshing, and he handed it to Sans. The boy took it with a muttered "thanks", almost uncapping it before deciding otherwise. Instead, he slipped it in the narrow space between his mask and thin turtleneck, where Muttler supposed his skin was left uncovered. Yet another way to avoid letting Muttler see anything useful, or just a careful habit taken in order to stay safe: to be honest, the second option was more likely to be true. It did not matter, it was not what Muttler was the most interested in at the moment.

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'So…' Should he carefully approach the subject? Or would a blunt question be alright? Being cautious when it came to questions was not something Muttler was used to, but he felt it was a necessity in this case. 'You do know her, Myriad?

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Sans nodded, but he did not even address Muttler a glance. He had been caught unaware, and his reaction had made it obvious he knew her: there was no point in denying it now.

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'He looks just like her.'

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Sans's eyes followed Muttler's paw, landing on Papyrus who was playing with a couple of children whose bodies could handle the heat. It was not a problem for him: being a skeleton, he could easily stand a wide range of temperatures. In fact, he could even stand heat better than Alphys! To think they had to hide what was truly going on to him, however… Papyrus had the right to know, but he was not ready to hear it. Sans himself was not ready to hear it, and it was a possibility he was already aware of — apparently, there was a difference between knowing something can happen, and believing it can happen: he had not taken that into consideration.

Somewhere in this whirlwind of thoughts, Muttler's question wandered — heard, but not listened to — before eventually vanishing. The old dog's answer would not be given yet, but he might as well try another question. Not out of concern, though, he swears…

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'Fine… What's wrong, kid?'

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Silence. As if Muttler should have expected anything else...

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'She's Paps's mother.'

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It took a long second for Muttler to realize this actually was the answer to his first question. Apparently, someone would rather talk about anything but the previous conversation — not that Muttler could possibly be of any help anyway.

It took another whole second for Muttler to realize Sans had just confirmed what he thought: the young skeleton, Paps if he got the name right, was indeed Myriad's son. Come to think of it, it was not the name Sans gave him last time he asked, was it? No, it was a tad longer… Something like Payris? Papay? He should have taken note… Skeletons' names were often way too complicated for him — it was well known they usually were made out of at least a couple of names, even if only one of them was commonly used.

Eventually, after an awkward silence Muttler had not even noticed, he asked another question.

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'Not yours? So she took you in?'

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It was best to pretend he had no idea Sans was not a Monster — besides, as an old comrade, Muttler wanted to know what had happened to his former captain after all these years. They were not close enough to send each other letters, and he had to admit he did not even remember where she moved after retreating from the Guard. All he knew was that, even though she left with the Royal Scientist, she did not come back with him. Yet, despite the years, he still trusted her: if she had taken care of Sans, she must have seen him as anything but a threat. He wanted to believe she was right.

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'Yeah, you could say that…'

'That was to be expected of her, she is a kind soul.' Muttler smiled at the memories he had of her, back when he still worked under her orders. 'She took me under her wing too back when I entered the Royal guard.'

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For the first time since they had started talking, Sans was looking straight at Muttler — shoulders tensed, fists clenched on his pants.

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'You…' His voice quavered, and Muttler realized this small bit of information could cost him way more than he thought. 'You were in the Royal guard?'

He forced his grin to stay: this conversation was not about any encounters Sans could have had with the current Royal Guard — Muttler could investigate about those later, even though he supposed the so-called Undyne was to blame. 'Ah! This old dog has seen more than you thought! I used to be commander, she was my captain.'

'She told me so,' Sans whispered, 'that she was captain of the Royal Guard…'

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He seemed less tense, leaning back with only his hand keeping him from falling on his back — a posture quite unlike the one had before. Muttler assumed Sans saw he meant no harm and though he was above suspicion: after all, the boy had all the reasons to think a retired soldier would not talk about his time in the Guard with someone he suspected to be a Human. Muttler doubted Myriad had mentioned the ethic conflict that had torn the Royal Guard appart twenty years ago: none of them held fond memories of this moment.

The moment their captain dared to stand against the very king they had sworn to serve, using the same oath she had taken to refuse his order.

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When danger arises from the depths of our world, we stand fierce and fearless.

When danger arises from the most wicked of our minds, we save with strength and compassion.

We raise our swords and hold our shields for the people who cannot.

We protect the weaks and stand beside the strongs to never let our people alone in the midst of battle.

We pledge ourselves, from now on till we turn ashes, to be in thrall to our kind.

We are the Royal Guard.

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Decades later, Muttler could still mouth it word for word. This oath had lived through the ages, back from before the war that had trapped them all underground to now, and the Royal Guard was still there. Sure, its glory was no longer as shiny as in the past, but it was alive nonetheless.

And Myriad…

Myriad was the perfect incarnation of this oath.

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'She was the best captain I could have hoped to have: fierce, brave, loyal. Her bones would fend the air faster than what your eyes could catch, but she never made reckless decisions. It was an honor to serve under her command.'

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Where he expected to be met with at least a word of surprise, Muttler only found eerie silence. Sans was not looking anymore, his eyes were now focused on the ground. He could not see his face, but Muttler could imagine there was no smile under the wooden mask. He stared, waiting for a cue to move or talk, but he could not see any. So he turned to the river, and closed his eyes. The freshness of the water, the sweet scent of lush and not singed grass… The scents of people around him.

And the realization one of those scents should not be.

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How and why a Monster child would come to stick by a Human ?

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'Hello, dear Myriad.'

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Events he thought unrelated suddenly clicked together. The news he got from Home months ago. The report Undyne made to King Asgore about shattering a Human's soul in Waterfall. The small talks of New Homes's inhabitants. What he heard from Sans himself. Gaster's involvement implied by his son.

Yet, he still could not see the whole picture.

There were still missing links he could not find. How could a scent uniquely determined by the soul be shared? How could a Monster's scent be mixed with a Human's with both of them existing as distinct beings? How could a soul refuse to shatter? What was the Royal Scientist role in all of this? Who and what was Sans?

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Why her?

Why? He knew why. He knew who.

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'It's really nice to see you, Darius. I did not miss you.'

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How and why a Monster child would come to stick by a Human ?

Because there was no one else left to stay with.

Did I just send Muttler on a side quest? Maaayyyyybeeeeee XD

I mean, the guy showed up in the story and somehow clawed his way into being an important character... Might as well give him a character arc! At least, it can conclude Myriad's arc too (I mean, I never wrote why Darius straight up murdered her first chance he got! You will finally see why I hate this guy) ^^" Am I fixing plot holes after four years or so? Nah, I'm just creating new ones XD

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On a side note, what happened to Alphys's mother? How is it that Muttler replaced the already small part you had without letting me know? Where are you, unnamed mother?