"Sans honey, are you alright? Look at me." Mom fretted over me as she knelt down and held my head to check me over.
"I-I'm fine." I shivered, still in shock of seeing her. Alive.
I reached to get her hands off my face, but she suddenly hugged me, holding me as tight as she could. I fought her at first, never being one for mushy stuff like this, but I let her squeeze me. Until I couldn't breath, then I got serious in my efforts to break free.
"Mom—!" I gasped.
"I'm so sorry Sans...!" she began to cry.
"It's... cool...!" I tried to tell her as I was crushed in her loving embrace.
I had no idea what exactly she was sorry for, or why she was as upset as she was, I just wanted her to let me go so I could breath—!
"Are you alright son?" I heard Dad ask Papyrus.
"Nyeh, of course!" Papyrus proudly replied. "I'm glad to see you are alright too!" he grabbed Dad in a hug.
"Ha, we almost weren't..." Dad wheezed as Papyrus hugged him.
I glanced over at them, seeing Dad looking a little beat up looking. He looked like he had just crawled through miles of caverns; his causal suit a bit torn, a few smudges on his face, and he even had his tie stuffed in a coat pocket, something I never thought I'd see with how he kept up appearances 24/7. I almost didn't recognize him now, he had this aura of seriousness about him that he, ironically, didn't usually have. As Mom held me tighter, my attention turned to her. I heard a bone crack as she crushed me. I hope it wasn't one I needed. She thankfully let me go, and quickly wiped away her tears. Then she looked at me intently with a serious expression, like, she stared into my very soul kind of intently.
"Are you sure you are alright?" she asked me again.
I felt like asking her the same thing, she looked the same as Dad, like she had been lost in some off the map place for weeks. There was a smudge of dirt on her face that hid a scar in her bone, making me wonder just where they had been and doing. Her big periwinkle bow she always wore was intact though, heh, she wouldn't be her without it.
"Just a few scuffs here and there, nothing serious." I shrugged in answer.
She got a surprised look on her face as she kept looking at me. I probably looked worse then I ever have after all that I just went through no doubt, maybe even as bad as her and Dad, heh. She held her hand beside my face, rubbing her thumb across is gently, while looking at me curiously.
"When was the last time you slept, Sans?" she asked me.
"A few hours ago, for, like, maybe an hour." I told her.
She must have noticed the bags under my eyes. Even with all the sleep I get these days it just never seems to catch up with me.
It's never good sleep... is it?
I wouldn't say never, but— well you know.
Many of your memories and thoughts are... hard to look through...
You mind not bringing them up then?
"You have been awake for quite a while." Papyrus walked over to us. "You would have set a new record if you hadn't taken that nap. I'm surprised you're not falling asleep on us right now!" he said with concern.
"What do you mean by that exactly?" Mom asked with worry.
Ah-no. Here we go. Heh.
"Don't get me started!" Papyrus shouted in annoyance. "You think Sans was a lazy bones before, you should see him now! He sleeps ALL NIGHT, never cleans his room, leaves a mess in the kitchen, sits on the couch all day watching tv, never answers his phone, always manages to wad his bed sheets together, and forgets to feed his pet rock on a daily basis!" he covered just about every point.
"Sounds like Sans." Dad commented, not fazed by this information.
"Hey, I did the dishes this morning didn't I?" I reminded Papyrus.
"2'o'clock in the afternoon is NOT morning, Sans!" he complained. "But, yes, you did. And I appreciated it." he then said in a kinder tone.
"W-wait, you two live someplace then? Where?" Mom asked us in shock.
"On the surface!" Papyrus happily answered her.
"So everyone's... on the surface now?" Dad said in surprise.
"Yup." I answered.
Mom and Dad both sighed with relief.
"I was a bit worried something terrible had happened." Mom stated.
"When we saw New Home abandoned, we thought maybe, like, that old prophecy had come true in the worse way possible." Dad explained.
"When you... Did you just get back here?" I asked them.
"Oh yeah! There was an anomaly in New Home! Was that you two?!" Papyrus asked them.
"It i-is hard to explain really." Mom stuttered.
"The short version is..." Dad began. "We got thrown, like, into another dimension by some weirdo monsters that were trying to help bring back some demon monster from the past, then suddenly, we ended up back here!" he shouted out.
The Dark Soul Monster...!
"There is much more to it then that." Mom sighed as she stood up. "I thought for sure we would be trapped in that... world, forever, but, some kind of anomaly brought us back. "I did not think we were gone long enough for the Barrier to be broken though." she explained.
"It's been, over 10 years." I told her, surprised she hadn't notice THAT much time passing.
But ya'know, now that I look at her... she doesn't look 10 years older. She looks exactly as I remember her, aged but, not old.
"10... years...?" she stared out in shock.
"I KNEW SOMETHING WASN'T RIGHT!" Dad shouted out, running up beside Papyrus and comparing their height. "I thought you were done growing son!" he shouted, realizing he was now shorter than Papyrus.
"Nope! I have grown 2 inches since then! Nyeh heh!" Papyrus posed.
"By Asgore..." Mom gasped under her breath. "If it's been 10 years—!" she gasped.
Flowey suddenly popped up out of the floor in the middle of our social ring, and Mom was... quick to react. She immediately shot a Gaster Blaster and sharp bones at him without a second thought. I think we all got a little charred by the blast, but Flowey didn't, he got away in time, popping up behind me.
"Oh my god lady! You tryin' to kill me?" Flowey yelled at her.
Mom's eye flashed with power as fear grew in her expression. Dad quickly grabbed her and pulled her back before she repeated her attack.
"Honey, dearest, put the blaster away. P-please…" he told her, shivering in fear a bit.
"It's okay Mom! Flowey's a friend!" Papyrus assured her.
"That... That thing?!" she said with anger. "I know that flower, he…!" she stopped, looking at Flowey with murder in her eyes.
How she remember him? She never seemed to before when he was resetting things.
"Don't worry Mom! He's good now!" Papyrus told her. "RIGHT?" he glared at Flowey.
Flowey nodded nervously and hid behind my leg. Heh, what a turn around. Mom calmed down, a little, but kept glaring at Flowey behind me.
"I may not remember who you are little flower, but I remember what you did." Mom told him. "If you pull any tricks, I swear, by Asgore's Trident, I will END YOU." she sternly warned him.
"Sans! Call off your Mom!" Flowey panicked.
"As hard as it may be to believe, Flowey has turned a new leaf lately." I shrugged. "Not sure how deep it's rooted in him, but, can't really know until he finally blossoms out in his true colors." I smiled.
Mom looked at me with a disappointed expression. Papyrus face palmed. Dad looked at me surprised.
"You are grounded." Mom told me.
"You can't ground me, I'm nearly 40." I laughed, and cringed at the harsh reality of my age.
Why is that suddenly bothering me?
Because you have realized just how immature you are for your age.
No need to repeat my own thoughts to me kid.
"That means he's almost the same age as us." Dad realized.
"That's certainly not awkward!" Papyrus stated.
"Time travel." I shrugged, not really bothered by that fact, as odd as it was.
It's a common problem that comes up in most Doctor Time episodes. As long as the good'ol grandfather paradox doesn't come into play, I'm okay with this. Mom, I could tell, was not thinking the same as me, she looked completely confused and upset by it.
"Quick question though, since we're all off-topic and what not now..." I got Mom's attention. "How do you remember anything about Flowey?" I asked her.
"Oh, I—" she stopped herself.
"You what?" I pressured her.
She dodged my eyes nervously.
"Mother..." Papyrus leaned towards her.
"Arial, we should tell them." Dad said to her.
Mom stood straight up, stiff as she could be, and seemed unable to say anything. Her face twitched a bit as she looked between me and Papyrus. When she didn't speak up, Dad took over.
"Alright, I'll just give them MY side of the story then." Dad stepped forward.
"No! No... Let me explain it. It will not make sense coming from you." she stopped him.
"I take offense at that." Dad leered at her.
Mom whimpered a bit as she looked back at us.
"Spill it mama, what happened to you two?" I asked her.
She cringed at being called mama. Heh, I thought that one was approved?
"Where do I even start...?" she sighed.
"The beginning would be preferable." Papyrus got his notebook ready.
"The beginning of what though...?" she said to herself.
"Semi." Dad coughed.
"Semi? What's Gramps got to do with this?" I asked.
Mom face palmed and groaned.
"You are not helping me any dear." she told him.
"Just tell them everything!" he replied frustrated. "If you had just told them years ago, like I suggested multiple times,we wouldn't be in this situation!" he huffed as he looked away from her.
"They would also probably be dead!" she shouted angrily at him.
"You don't know that!" he shouted back.
"Neither do you!" she replied with tears.
Dad hesitated to make a come back, instead sighing and calming down. Mom did the same and the two of them looked away from each other for a moment. It wasn't often I heard them yell at each other like this, so it must be some serious stuff they're withholding.
"This might take some time to get out of them Paps." I told him.
"I think I agree with you Sans." he sighed. "At least you simply admitted to your lies earlier." he stated.
"To bad our parents can't admit to their own then huh?" I shrugged my hands up.
"It's alright! We forgive you for whatever it was that happened!" he said with a big smile.
Mom caught her breath before saying anything.
"It mostly has to do with that monster, the one you just met with." she stated, looking at me concerned. "You probably know more than we do about it now." she explained.
"The one that was after us— me?" I replied.
She nodded.
"Do you know why it was after Sans? Why it wanted his soul?" Papyrus eagerly wanted answers.
"I-I do not know exactly why, but... yes. I know more then I wish about it." she answered.
"You too?" I looked at Dad.
"Uh, well, not as much as your mother or Semi, but, yes." he nervously answered.
"How long?" I asked Mom.
She looked at me for a moment, her expression giving away her fear, concern, and sadness.
"Too long..." she said softly.
"How come you never told me about it?" I asked a bit angry at them.
She smiled for some reason.
"Pride I guess..." she tried to laugh. "I thought I could keep you both safe… by making sure you never knew." she frowned.
There a lot of things I could say to her right now, but I don't feel like arguing with her. I don't even think I can, I respect her too much for that, even now, 10 years later. And despite the fact that she somehow how knew more than she ever let on—!
So much for your respect...
"Was that the same pride that kept you from telling me the truth about Semi?" I angrily asked her, not meaning to sound as upset as I did. The question itself just forced its way out of my mind. She winced back, surprised by my tone I'm sure. "What really happened to him? Does it have to do with all this monster stuff or what?" I pressured her.
"I honestly do not know." she answered.
"How convenient..." I grumbled.
"That is why we left to investigate." she glanced to the side
"Investigate?" Papyrus asked.
She took a deep breath, looking between us with a more serious expression.
"For as long as I can remember, I have been able to, in a slight way, sense when a reset of time occurs, a-a distortion of sorts in space time. The moment I came to realize they had been happening for some time, I began investigating their cause." she explained.
"So you DID notice, just like Sansy here." Flowey finally spoke, popping up beside me. "That explainsa lotabout how you could track me down so many times over an over again." he side-eyed her.
Wait. SHE was tracking him too during all that?
"I may not be able to clearly recall each instance, but the faint feeling of familiarity is enough for me to know it happened. Once the memories began to overlap from the many resets, I began to fear that... other forces might have been at work." she stated.
"Other forces? Who?" I asked with interest.
"I had somehow forgotten about... the flower..." she glanced down at Flowey.
"Flowey!" he smiled with his petals fully blossomed and his leaves spread out.
"Flowey, yes..." she expressed with distrust. "Not remembering he was causing the resets at the time, I suspected the only other possibility." she said.
"The Rift, a-and the Goners!" Dad said with fear in his wide eyes.
"Yes. Two things I thought I could just leave in the past." she looked at the floor. "I had hoped to leave all of that behind and finally... move on." she stated with disbelief.
"Even I had pretty much forgotten about it at this point." Dad sighed.
"Knowing what the Rift was capable of, I feared someone might have used it, or had been using it, so I and your father left the house the moment I noticed time reset." she explained.
"That explains why I couldn't find you, even though I hadjustreset." Flowey replied.
"That's a quick response time." I commented impressed.
"That's when I suggested we leave a note for you two," Dad began to say. "but your mother, a-and myself really, figured we would be back before either of you, like, made it home that afternoon." he explained.
"Obviously THAT did not happen." I replied.
"It all happened rather quickly… A-And we had no choice but to disable the Rift, but... it was too late." she sighed
"We got SHOVED right in while it was activated!" Dad gestured his hands out.
"By whom?" Papyrus asked.
"The Goners." Mom answered. "Monsters who, rather willingly or not, have lost their souls and are controlled directly by the Dark Soul Monster. I faced them once, alone, not long after..." she paused. "I even fought with them when I was still in school on one occasion." she stated.
"School? Just how long has this been going on?!" I asked shocked.
"From what I understand, the monster has existed in some form since before the war. It was not until Semi's time that it began to reemerge though, and it was not until now that it has reappeared since he and his brother fought with it." she explained. "The lost monsters my father termed Goners have always been present though, trying to gain control of the Rift." she added.
"And you thought it was a good idea to keep this all from me?!" I replied in anger. "I'm guessin' you never told Asgore either? Or any of the Guard?" I asked her.
"Neither did your grandfather, Sans!" she replied.
"Why the heck not?! If this monster is capable of corrupting souls and stealing them, EVERYONE should know about it don'cha think?" I argued with her.
"It would cause widespread panic!" she told me.
"True!" Papyrus interjected. "The Police Chief always says to keep such dangers confidential so as to avoid panic among citizens! For panic is far more dangerous than a single threat, and even causes more damage, and gives the enemy the advantage!" he proudly explained.
"Guess I can't argue with police logic." I surrendered.
"Which is exactly why Semi never told anyone about it, not even Asgore." she told me.
"No, he could have told him at least." I replied still upset. "What REALLY gets me though, is why NONE of you so much as mentioned it around me!" I nearly yelled.
"It was to protect you Sans." she firmly stated.
"How does hiding something like this protect me?" I argued.
"You would be worrying about them if you knew." Papyrus stated in an irritated tone.
I winced. That was exactly why I never told them about Flowey, which was happening just before they disappeared. If I had told them, they— They never would have left, they would have known who was causing the resets, and they... I never would have lost them. The lie I used to protect them, is what caused me to lose them. Were either of us right in keeping these things from each other…? I began to question everything I understood about it.
"It seems this sort of, 'keeping secrets to save others from worry', type lying, is common in our family." Papyrus groaned. "Even I am guilty of it..." he sighed.
"I just... did not want you to grow up in fear like I had." Mom said somberly. "Everyday I worried about Dad, about myself, about everyone else, it was a constant fight with not only myself, but against Dad as he became so overprotective of me." she explained. "I was an idiot for thinking it would all disappear…!" she spat in anger.
"In your defense, itdidseem we were in the clear for a few years there." Dad told her.
"So that monster has always been around? And those Goner monsters?" Flowey asked. "How come I never noticed them myself...?" he whispered to himself.
"Dad was so close to letting it all go." Mom sighed. "He wasted so much time trying to save what he had lost all those years ago... and I wasted so much time ignoring the dangers..." she took an uneasy breath.
"What do you mean?" I asked her.
"I will explain once we get to the Rift. Everything concerning Semi and what is going on really begins there." she explained.
Guess I'll just have to accept that as an answer for now.
The Rift... What would Semi want with the Rift?
Uh, it can take you through dimensions, what other reason would he need?
It is also capable of taking you through time, that is, if W.D finished it...
Lillian's theories on the subject gave me a migraine.
Semi and him lost so much... Could it be that Semi was planning to go back and prevent it? To go back and...
Actually change time...?
It must not have been finished, otherwise he would have done it long ago. So what happened?
Something.
Obviously..
"Does that mean you found out what happened to him?" Papyrus asked her.
"No." Mom answered.
"Oh..." Papyrus mood tanked.
"But, we did not get much time to really look last we were here, so I cannot say with certainty that the answers are not there." she looked down the path.
"I-I just hope the Goners are not there waiting for us. AGAIN." Dad shivered.
"If they are, I will not show them mercy as I did before." Mom angrily walked past us down the path, towards the Rift. "Come on." she commanded us.
Dad hurried by us, and me and Papyrus followed after them. I nearly tripped forward as a sudden weight hit me from behind. I glanced back and saw Flowey, back in my hood.
"Ugh, this isn't as comfortable without the dirt..." he complained as he settled in.
"You'll survive." I replied.
We walked at a steady pace for some time, deeper into the CORE then I had ever personally been. The control room, far behind us now, was as far outside the maze I had been before. I had to rely on Lillian's memories to recognize where I was from here on, her memories and thoughts helped everything make a bit more sense. What didn't make sense to me now was the silence. Everyone was oddly quiet.
"So you don't know anything about what happened to him? Gramps?" I caught up with Mom, breaking the silence.
"No..." she sighed. "H-he just... disappeared." she told me.
"Like you two did?" Flowey said plainly.
I tugged on my jacket to jolt him as a warning.
"I had the stupid hope that, if I went to the Rift, maybe I would find answers. Instead, we ended up flung across time it seems." she looked downcast. "I should have gone there right after he disappeared, but, our family was in such disarray at the time..." she said with a sad expression. "For awhile, I was actually glad... he was gone..." she stopped walking. And started crying.
We all stopped along with her.
"It's alright Mom." I said. "I... can understand why you took off like you did. More than you know..." I told her.
She looked down at me with tears running down her face.
"No hard feelings between us." I winked. "You're the best momster out there." I joked.
Her eyes went black along with her expression.
"Sans I swear to Asgore—!" she nearly yelled at me.
"You make a momumental mother." I winked and shrugged my hands.
"Sans don't you dare start!" she hissed.
"Relatively speaking, our entire family is pretty awesome." I said. She looked at me with great disappointment. "You, da mom." I snapped my fingers at her with a wink.
She looked at me with intense disgust for a moment, but began to smile.
"Well, you, are my sonshine Sans." she forced out.
"Arial are you okay?!" Dad panicked.
"MOTHER NO! Don't give in!" Papyrus cried out.
"Oh quit your rattling boys." she told them, wiping her tears. "I think up these kinds of jokes everyday..." she sighed with disappointment at herself.
"But you never share them? How could you." I replied with fake disgust.
"We hear enough from you." she pat my head. "Also that one... was rather painful to say." she shivered.
"I bet. How can you stand even, like, hearing them in your head every day?" Dad asked.
"I don't." she replied with another shiver. "And I hate every second of it when it happens. But when you grow up with someone like my Dad you learn how to quickly form them based on the situation and context." she explained. "And I am SO glad he was not here for that one..." she groaned.
"If we find him, I'm totally telling him." I stated.
"You do and I assure you Sans I will find a way to punish you for it." she threatened me.
"You can't tell me what to do!" I jokingly argued with her.
"ZIP IT BOY!" she shouted at me embarrassed.
So I zipped my jacket up.
She had no response to that, heh.
You are terrible Sans...
Mom face palmed and walked on, groaning with disappointment.
"Do you think we might actually find him?" Papyrus asked me.
"Hm?" he caught me off guard. "Uh, maybe? I mean, we did find a piece of his coat in the lab after all." I told him.
"You found what?" Mom stopped and turned back to us.
I pulled it out of my pocket for her to look at. She took it from me, and I realized I had pulled out the family photo we found too. I flipped it over and looked at it for a moment. Looking between Mom and Dad then compared to now, I could see some age on them. I also saw Semi's smile... A deceiving smile apparently... Made me think of myself.
Just what secrets wereyoukeeping from me Gramps...?
Something other then what I know...
What happened after the last time they came to you for DT?
"This is definitely from his coat." Mom stated rather seriously.
I had missed a conversation while I was thinking to myself it seemed.
"Do you think the monster got him?" Papyrus asked.
"I cannot say..." she looked the fragment of cloth over. "But... this is something at least." she gripped it.
"I guess." I replied.
She gave it back to me, and continued leading us to the Rift, but now with a sense of renewed confidence.
"Uhm, Arial..." Dad meekly caught up to her. "What's our plan exactly...?" he tried to whisper.
She kept walking.
"We will deal with it as we meet it." she replied in a low voice.
I picked up my pace a bit to stay close enough to hear them.
"But like, what about the monster?" he asked.
"I am not sure at this point. Without the Star Blade..." she stopped short.
Wait... Is the Star Blade is missing? What happened to it?
W.D had it, right? What could he have done with it?
WHY would he do something with it in the first place?
When do you figure it might have gone missing?
If it went missing after he removed me from his soul, that would explain why he and Semi both went a bit power crazy.
They didn't have the blade to combat the monster.
That can't be right though. W.D would not do something foolish enough to lose it.
Maybe while he had you talking him out of it, yeah.
Oohh, Drago, what did you do?
"What is that?" Papyrus hurried to Mom's side.
She flinched in surprise at him, and had to stop for a moment. Seems I wasn't the only one eavesdropping.
"T-The only weapon capable of stopping that monster." she answered.
"Semi had been looking for the Star Blade, for, well, years really." Dad explained. "I-I don't suppose either of you have, like, found it, have you?" he asked with hope.
"Nope." I answered.
Papyrus shook his head.
"I've never even heard of it." Flowey said.
"If we do not find it soon... This is going to be difficult." Mom stated.
"Maybe that's where Gramps disappeared too; he went out looking for it and got lost or something." I suggested.
"It... is possible. We will not know for sure until..." she paused. "There must be SOMETHING." she picked up her pace.
"Slow down Mom, unlike Papyrus, my legs haven't gotten any longer in the past 10 years." I laughed.
She forced herself to slow down.
"You and Dad both..." she grumbled.
"Cut us all some slack honey. We've all been through the ringer." Dad told her with a tired smile.
"We have been through more than that." she crossed her arms and huffed.
Dad's smile grew wider, and he got up beside her and matched his pace with hers.
"Someone's in a mood." he leaned against her.
"Me in a mood?" she scoffed. "You are the one who started yelling at me only a moment ago." she replied, her eyes going black.
"For a good reason!"
"Huh! 'Good reason' he says..."
"You know I'm right."
She groaned and hunched over a bit.
"That does not make much of a difference at this point." she grumbled.
"No. I guess not..." he sighed. "Does it?" he looked back and asked us.
"Hey, that's between you two now." I told him.
"Consider yourselves completely forgiven for any and all lies and misdirections!" Papyrus smiled.
"What he said." I winked.
"There, see? Our boys are more forgiving than Toriel!" Dad told Mom.
"That is all good and well dear, but it does not affect my opinion of you." Mom replied irritated still.
"Do you want me to say I'm sorry? Because I am if it upset you, like, that much. I was just trying to, I dunno... motivate you?" he awkwardly told her.
"Try keeping your tone calm next time!" Papyrus advised him.
"And maybe not bring it up IN FRONT OF THE BOYS." she growled at Dad.
"That was the whole point though!" he retorted.
"Tahoma— ugh..." Mom sighed in frustration. "You may be comfortable telling them about all this but it is not exactly something I want to talk about so openly." she said in a hushed whisper.
"We can hear you, just so you're aware." I informed her.
"Which is exactly why you should Arial. I know you don't like keeping it from them." Dad said calmly. "If this all goes smoothly..." he glanced back at us for a moment.
He then leaned into Mom and whispered low enough for us not to hear. She winced from whatever he said, but kept her pace walking forward.
"I wish I did not have those memories to tell..." I heard her say.
"It's the only way to fully explain it to them." he told her.
"We will see..." she replied.
Papyrus got my attention after that. We both slowed our pace a bit to be further behind them.
"This is getting very interesting." he stated.
"Putting those great detective skills to work bro?" I asked him.
"Yes. Yes I am..." he said thoughtfully. "Though, if Caladea were here, she would probably already have everything solved!" he stated with wide impressed eyes.
Caladea was a co-worker of his on the police force in the city, part of the investigation unit and had taught Papyrus quite a bit about how to gather clues and work out solutions. Heck, she even figured out and busted a black market deal I had going on for awhile, heh, trading baseball cards of all things. I still appreciate her letting me off with a warning, if only because the guy who happen to be buying that day was someone she had been tracking for weeks. She sure would helpful down here, so would everyone else.
"Yeah, we did find our folks, and know what happened to them, so that's one case solved." I replied to him.
"But WHY? How does she know about some machine here in the CORE? How does she know anything about a monster no one else has heard of? How did Semi know?" he asked out loud.
"Dunno." I shrugged.
"And most importantly... How is it she can sense resets?" he asked.
"Sans can sense them too, so I'd say it just runs in your family." Flowey joined in.
"I always figured it was a random thing some people had." I shrugged.
"Except Sans, who else do you know of that has that ability?" Papyrus asked me.
"Flowey." I pointed back at him.
"And?" Papyrus asked.
"Uh... Frisk?" I thought of.
"AND?" he asked again.
"Ehh... Mom, apparently?"
"You, Mom, Frisk, and Flowey."
"4 out of 20,000."
"Don't throw numbers around Sans that is not how this works."
"Heh, how do you know?"
He held his hand to his chin and hummed contemplatively.
"Let me ask you something first brother, since I know now that you are knowledgeable in the science involved." he glanced down at me.
"k." I hesitated to reply.
"What do at least two of the four mentioned have in common?" he asked.
"We're both skeletons." I stated.
"I meant the other two..." he face palmed.
"Flowey and Frisk? Those two are complete opposites." I said.
"Oh my god— We both have DT!" Flowey answered.
"Right!" Papyrus told him. "And according to Alphys, DT is what is used to reset time, correct?" he looked at me.
"What all has she told you...?" I began to worry.
"It stands to reason that DT also helps its possessor retain their memories. So, that explains how they can remember and sense resets! DT is the source of all the abilities and powers!" he explained.
"I... I guess so." I replied, a bit baffled by his logic. "But Flowey and Frisk have a ton of the stuff, heck, I'd go as far to say Frisk has more than an average human." I stated.
This is reminding me of some of W.D's research...
"True. But, this helps answer the how of our problem. How does one remember and sense resets?" he asked. "DT." he answered.
"Ok, but what does—" I stopped dead in my tracks.
DT... DT gives a person the ability to sense resets and retain memories…! So... it's not just a random quirk I have...?
I held my hand to my chest, and tried to sense my soul to its deepest point...
You're getting in the way kid.
Sorry..
I had DT now with Lillian's soul... but did I have it before...? And if so... how...?
"I take it you understand my point here." Papyrus said.
"That's not possible though... Monster bodies can't handle the physical aspect of DT; it breaks them down on a cellular level!" I explained to him.
"On fallen monsters." he winked.
"WHAT THE HECK HAVE YOU AND ALPHYS BEEN TALKING ABOUT?!" I shouted in a frenzy of fear.
"After she told me all about the Amalgamates, and what had happened to them, I, of course, had many questions!" he told me.
"Remind me to write her an apology card..." I held my head.
"She told me that she never tested the DT on LIVE monsters, so she was not sure about the outcome for a live monster given DT, but said they might have a better chance at surviving." he explained what she had told him.
"But I-I never used any DT on myself." I told him.
"Actually... in one timeline you did." Flowey interjected. "You got SUPER desperate and injected yourself with the stuff to try and stop me. It was one of my best runs with you I ever had!" he laughed.
"What happened to me?" I asked him, not remembering it myself.
"You got creamed." he answered in a happy tone. "Literally." he leaned against me and whispered into my skull. "It was hilarious! You were SO CLOSE to beating me! Then, plop! You just started melting away." he explained. "I made sure you didn't do it again in any other timeline, so don't worry!" he informed me.
Visions of watching the amalgamates melt filled my mind. That had... happened to me...? I can't even begin to imagine what that's like— I don't WANT to! I was so afraid the same thing would happen to— No! Don't bring that back up...
"Sans?" Papyrus asked with concern.
"Heh, just uh... some bad... memories.." I told him, hoping he wouldn't ask for details.
I could feel myself starting to shake. I grabbed one hand with the other to stop it. Bits and pieces of the resets were coming back to mind, and it wasn't just Flowey's resets, there was... someone else... I couldn't get them all straight in my head. It was like a mess of scenes all playing at once out of order. And they all hurt... emotionally...
"Well, my point is, rather you used it or not, you somehow have DT to be able to sense resets, even if it is only slightly." Papyrus went on explaining.
"T-That would mean Mom does as well than." I realized, looking ahead of us to see her and Dad down the path glancing back to see us lagging behind.
It must also mean that I've had DT before Flowey. Maybe even before...
Chara.
"Exactly." Papyrus replied. "So that answers the how." he stated.
"Well, not the other how." I told him, trying to keep my mind off the old reemerging memories.
"That kind of goes along with the why." he replied.
"Yeah, I guess it does." I rubbed my head.
"MOM!" he ran towards her.
"No—!" I caught him by his legs.
He tripped and fell to the floor, and I quickly got on his back to pin him down.
"Papyrus, no...!" I hushed at him. "You can't just tell her that..!" I snapped at him.
"Why not?! Maybe she knows something about it!" he told me.
"Boys." Mom walked up. "Do not fall behind like this. We need to stay together." she strictly told us.
"You got DT in your soul?" Flowey plainly asked her.
"You little—!" I nearly cursed.
"DT?" Mom asked confused.
"Heh, d-don't mind him Mom!" I tried to distract her. "He's just causing trouble, as usual." I glared back at him.
"Then why are you so nervous yourself?" she peered at me.
"Mom!" Papyrus tried to get out from under me. "I know how you can sense—!"
I shoved his face into the floor.
"Oh he's clearly hiding something." Dad narrowed his eyes at me.
"Sans. Get off your brother." Mom ordered me.
I tried to smile up at her, hoping she would just drop it. Her leering eyes said she wasn't going to. Why were they so perceptive dang it...
"Get off!" Papyrus flung me off of him. "Good gravy Sans..." he stood up and brushed his clothes off. "You really do worry too much!" he told me.
I just laid on the floor where I was. There was no stopping this now...
I wonder if she already knows?
She said earlier that she's been able to do it for as long as she could remember.
How long is that I wonder...?
I don't wanna know...
"As I was saying; I believe I have solved the puzzle of your reset sensing abilities!" Papyrus declared to Mom.
"Oh...?" she replied surprised.
"You have DT in your soul! It is the only answer!" he stated.
"I do not know what that is dear." she replied with a puzzled smile.
"It is what gives a human soul its power!" he explained.
"Human soul...? Y-You mean, WP?" she asked nervously.
"I guess?" Papyrus replied.
"WP, or Will Power, is what... Oh my..." she became distressed. "This is going to require a whole other explanation." she sighed.
"Isn't that, like, what Semi used to reset time?" Dad asked.
Stinkin' Gramps. Of course this started with him as well.
"Papyrus, dear, I do not think that is the answer." Mom told him. "It is just something—"
"Sans said the same thing, but we have thus far proven it wrong!" Papyrus stopped her. "Only Frisk and Flowey, who have lots of DT, can recall resets and sense them happen, so obviously, the only way someone, even monsters, could do the same is if they had it themselves. This leads me to conclude that you and Sans both, by some unknown means, have had DT injected into your souls, explaining your uncanny abilities!" he explained without any doubt.
"I don't think you realize just how big of a deal that is Papyrus." I sat up and told him.
"It is also ridiculous." Mom awkwardly laughed. "Only Semi and my Uncle had WP— egh, DT, to use, and I mean, heh, the only way I could have gotten it is if one of them gave it to me, and it would had to have been when I was just a baby bones because I have... always... noticed..." she trailed off, stunned for a moment. "Stars... Could one of them have...?!" she shivered with blank eyes.
"Out of curiosity bro," I walked up to Papyrus. "have you ever noticed?" I asked.
"Me? Hm..." he thought on it. "M-Maybe... I do recall feeling like I knew Frisk when we first met. It felt like... I already had met them?" he said puzzled.
"I noticed that you noticed that when we both first noticed it." I put my hands in my pockets.
"I think all of you experienced feelings of familiarity like that while I was resetting." Flowey stated. "Well, except that bozo there." he gestured towards Dad.
"That's why I rely on your mother to keep my informed." Dad shrugged with an awkward smile.
"No... No this can't...!" Mom's eyes grew wide. "Could he have...? Is that why he told me everything?" she said to herself.
"Who?" Dad asked.
"My Uncle, W.D." she told him.
W.D?
Lillian's reaction to that name made me gasp.
"Oh yeah, he told you, like, about the Rift didn't he?" Dad replied.
"He told me almost everything I know about it, and it is how I knew what Dad was dealing with, what drove me to find a way to help him. It was almost like... he knew I would remember even when Dad reset time... Like he knew..." she paused. "He knew he was going to die." she realized.
W.D... What happened...?
Mom looked at her hand for a moment.
"How could he have known...?" she whispered.
"If they both had DT, Semi and this W.D, I'm guessing they both could reset." Flowey said.
"T-They did, a number of times, and Dad kept doing it, even after..." Mom told him, her voice trailing off on the last point.
"But if he knew the timeline would end with him dying, why didn't he prevent it? Why not reset his death? Seems kinda stupid to me." he stated.
"Dad theorized his soul was shattered within the collapsing Rift. I do not think even the most powerful of soul can reset from that." she explained.
"Probably not..." Flowey replied.
W.D... Is that really what happened to you...? After everything you and your brother did... that was how it ended...? N-No...
"Hey uh... You alright there Sans?" Dad cautiously approached me.
"Huh? Yeah I—" I felt a tear fall off my chin, and I wiped another away.
Lillian.
Her emotions were overwhelming and were beginning to show through. Her sadness was... soul crushing... Even worse was her rage, her anger, her... hate. I gasped for breath as her emotions made me cry. Then she— LILLIAN NO—!
"I never should have left him!" she cried out through my voice, causing it to have a slightly higher pitch. "Kid stop—!" I snapped at her as I fought back. "What happened Arial!?" she shouted out. "STOP!" I fought her control.
"You are not going to win Sans. Believe me." Flowey sighed.
Mom looked at me, not looking too surprised. Our eyes met, but her gaze went past me. She was looking through my eyes at Lillian.
"Lillian." she plainly said. "I knew I sensed something strange about Sans." she stated.
Lillian's emotions knocked me down to my knees. She wanted to cry, but I held her back, or at least, I tried. Tears were falling to the floor as I did my best to suppress her emotions. It was such a strange feeling. The emotions weren't mine, yet I was still experiencing them in some secondhand way. Mom knelt down to us I noticed. I managed to look up at her as Lillian continued to break down over the loss of W.D.
"W.D and Semi met at the Rift, as they often did at the end of the timelines they reset, but the last time they met, things played out very differently." Mom began to explain to Lillian. "They lost control of the Rift, but before the other half of the Dark Soul could come through it from the other side, W.D and Semi overloaded the system to collapse the portal it had created. W.D fell into the collapsing portal, and Dad, semi, believed the unstable rift in space shattered his soul. When time was not reset, he concluded W.D was... gone." she explained.
"Why didn't HE reset then?" Lillian asked her distraught.
"He could not, space and time had been too heavily damaged by the incident. The Rift overloaded, and the CORE nearly went critical, causing shock waves of distortion that nearly engulfed the entire underground. If he were to reset to, or past, that point in time... Well, he only told me he probably would not survive the process, and time itself would be left in a shattered state." she explained.
Lillian's emotions were running rampant, and I could feel them weakening our soul. I tried to keep my side of our collected mind positive to counteract it, but, her sadness and rage were too much to combat. And the longer it went on, the more I succumb to it.
"I-I never knew Semi had... a brother, until recently..." I said through Lillian's tears, trying to focus on other things. "I see why he never mentioned him..." I gasped for breath.
"He was never the same after that happened. He worked tirelessly to rebuild the Rift, so he could use it to time travel back and save W.D, along with others he had lost. He never even knew if it was possible or not, but that did not stop him." she paused. "He was so scared of losing anyone else, especially you two." she laid a hand on my shoulder, smiling fondly.
I couldn't hold Lillian back anymore, so I let go, and she cried out in anguish. Semi and W.D were her best, and really only, friends, and while I found the story upsetting, it didn't hurt me like it did her. But it sure explained some things, and in a way, I could relate to her feelings of loss, only making it harder to fight them...
"Shh shh, it is alright..." Mom held me close, to comfort Lillian. Probably me too. "Crying over it now will do no good." she whispered softly.
"I-It's... not doing me any good..." I tried to laugh.
"Let her get it out Sans..." Mom told me.
I did. And it was taking forever, heh. I didn't think I had this many tears in me to cry. I'm going to be bone dry when she's done. When we both get done… Lillian laughed at that, and began to ease up a bit.
"Better?" Mom asked her.
"No..." Lillian groaned.
Chin up kiddo. Maybe we will find something at the Rift.
Maybe...
I gave her a few more moments, and she began to calm down. I regained control of myself, and was able to catch my breath now that she didn't have me sobbing so much. Mom like me go, and I wiped my face of Lillian's tears. If I had eyeballs, they would be pretty sore right now I'm sure, heh.
"Are you alright Sans?" Mom asked.
"Yup! I'm okay." I winked with a smile to prove it. "I wasn't expecting that to happen..." I told her, still I bit emotional.
"Neither was she I am sure." she softly smiled.
"What are we going to do if W.D is gone… along with the Star Blade?" Lillian asked through me.
Mom tapped her skull to the top of mine.
"We will have to wait and see." she replied.
Her soft, yet confident smile, cheered me up. Lillian, not as much. But then, she wasn't her mom, heh.
We continued on towards the Rift from there, but Lillian's thoughts, emotions, memories... It was giving me a migraine again. This girl's mind never stopped working.
Drago... Why did you let this happen...?