Sans sat slumped down in their one stuffed chair, their pet rock nestled comfortably on his sternum. Sans idly pet them, the rock responded with a pleased rumble that sounded a lot like two rocks being rubbed together. He had lucked out, he supposed, having the day the sacrifice was chosen off from his day job. Papyrus was out running errands, as usual, but had said he'd be back before noon.

Sans glared at a patch of sunlight on the floor. "i dunno, balboa, he should be back by now."

Balboa shifted ever so slightly and emitted another subdued rumble.

"yeah, he probably got caught by the crowds, maybe even went to the temple to watch. he's so tall he might even see over enough heads to actually see something." Sans chortled and began petting the rock again, slowly and comfortably.

Sans had never seen the ceremony himself, but he knew of it and could imagine it just fine. It started in the inner court, where only the priests stood. A specially prepared arrow was lit from the Eternal Fire burning behind the altar, the same one that had burned up his offering just last week. Then the arrow was carried out to the outer court where no doubt half the city was packed in to watch the spectacle despite the fact everyone was supposed to stay home in case their household was chosen. It didn't really matter, Lord Fiersome only ever asked of the wealthy for summer solstice. There were probably a lot of flowery words spoken over the arrow, the same ones every year spouted from rote. Well, maybe not this year. Sans imagined high priest Fieri hastily memorizing lines only to flub them. He snickered.

Balboa rumbled in response.

Then the arrow was drawn back on a bow, Sans wasn't sure if there was any aim actually involved or if the archer just shot in a random direction, but after that being crowded in the temple's courtyard was pointless. The arrow would fly out of sight and land wherever Lord Fiersome guided it.

Sans paused his petting, "well now… how many people are even left?" The last couple weeks there had been far more people leaving the city than entering. When asked most had said they were going to visit family for solstice, like that was a thing people normally did. No matter, there would always be a crowd of curious people to watch any ceremony.

If Papyrus were stuck on the outer fringes of the crowd that spilled out onto the streets around the temple he might be lucky enough to watch the direction the arrow takes. Maybe even join in the few who tried to chase after it. Usually there were also clusters of curious monsters gathered around the wealthiest homes and businesses of the city, since that's where it was sure to land. Then again, this year might be different. The bride could be anyone. "guess that means all bets are off," Sans murmured to himself.

Balboa grumbled, upset that Sans's petting had slowed to nothing in his musings. Sans huffed a faint laugh and went back to petting the rock. "you're right, i'm sure papyrus is fine. he'll come home a little late with a rant about how he was rudely delayed and then tell us about his morning."

There was a thunk, like something hitting the door. Sans groaned, he did not want to get up. He waited to see if it would happen again, if it was someone knocking they'd surely keep knocking… nothing. Guess not, probably just some kids playing catch and they missed. Or something. Lucky they didn't hit a window. Sans went back to petting Balboa, "what do you think?"

Balboa rumbled and settled deeper.

"yeah, that's what i think too." Sans settled a little deeper himself, watching the patch of sunlight slowly crawl across the floor. "it's way past noon by now, papyrus has got to be home soon."

Balboa didn't even rumble this time.

Sans drifted off into a light doze when a sharp knock on the front door abruptly startled him awake. Balboa must not have liked that, they squeaked like chalk on slate. Sans sighed and heaved himself out of the chair, leaving Balboa behind to keep it warm as he stretched and ambled slowly towards the door. Another sharp knock.

"yeah, yeah, i'm coming. hold your snails." He opened the door to find head priest Fieri himself standing on his doorstep, a gaggle of priests in their most elaborate robes gathered behind him. A herd of priests? A gossip of priests? What do you call a group of priests?

"Oh, it's you," Fieri said in surprise.

"uh, yeah? can i… help you?" Sans couldn't help being confused, what were they doing here today of all days?

"This household has been chosen."

Sans blinked up at Fieri, the words he had just spoken didn't make sense. Sans couldn't help a surprised laugh. "what?"

Fieri looked up, Sans followed his gaze to find a flaming arrow stuck in the house just above the door frame. Huh, that must've been the sound Sans heard earlier.

"oh."

"I would ask if there are others in the household, but after that little display last week it's pretty clear who Lord Fiersome favors."

Sans pinched his nasal bridge and squeezed his eyes shut with a heavy sigh before snapping them open and looking up at Fieri. He put on his most charming smile. "look, this is flattering and all, but i'm sort of already in a relationship. remember that grillby guy i was talking about? i'm pretty sure we're a thing."

Fieri crossed his arms and raised a brow skeptically. "Oh really?"

"i mean, that's what i wanted to talk to him about. i just haven't had-"

"BROTHER!" Everyone's heads turned at the shout, Papyrus just coming around the corner with a hand raised in greeting. "YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE THE MORNING I JUST HAD!" The wide grin on his face fell to confusion as he took in the sight before him. "SANS, WHAT'S GOING ON?"

Sans turned back to Fieri, "so i'm lord fiersome's chosen, what an honor."

Fieri's attention snapped back to Sans, the skeptical look back on his face. "I thought you were just saying you already have an intended?"

"i was also just saying i haven't seen him in over a month and we never really talked about it so…" Sans shrugged.

Papyrus had approached by then, orbits clearly shifting between the pack of priests, the arrow above their door, the think layer of sweat that was gathering on Sans's brow, and head priest Fieri on their door step.

Fieri turned to Papyrus, "Which of you is the oldest? Are there any others who live here?"

"SANS IS THE OLDER ONE AND NO, NO ONE ELSE. IT'S ONLY EVER BEEN JUST THE TWO OF US." Papyrus's brow was furrowed in confusion.

Fieri turned back to Sans, "What is your full name?"

"sans skeleton."

"And as head of the chosen household are you volunteering yourself as Lord Fiersome's bride?"

Sans nodded, opening his mouth to assent.

"THERE MUST BE SOME MISTAKE!" Papyrus yelled as he stepped between Sans and Fieri.

"Do you doubt Lord Fiersome's choice?" Fieri pointed at the arrow, still merrily burning away above the door. Fortunately the house itself hadn't caught fire, the joys of a magic flame.

"WELL… NO… BUT!"

"i'm volunteering," Sans cut in. "do i need to pack anything?"

"SANS!"

"No, everything you need will be provided by the temple."

"right," Sans nodded once as he spoke. He stepped out of the house, closing the door behind him. "okay, so let's get this show on the road, i guess."

"BROTHER! WILL YOU STOP FOR JUST A MINUTE!"

"c'mon bro, it's just a ceremonial thing." Sans looked up at Fieri, "right?"

"From what we understand the bride is an oracle and a figurehead rolled into one."

"see papyrus, nothing so terrible about that."

Papyrus crossed his arms and looked away. "I DON'T LIKE IT."

"i'm sure they'll let you visit."

"Of course, friends and family of priests are always welcome."

"THEN I'M COMING WITH YOU."

"Very well. But to avoid confusion please stay near the back of the procession. We can discuss everything more thoroughly at the temple, after we complete the ceremony."

"oh joy, you get to parade me through the streets." Sans grumpily scuffed his slippered feet on the street before starting to walk behind Fieri, the pride of priests falling in behind him. It seemed part of the ceremony was walking slowly, which suited Sans's short legs just fine.

Papyrus had moved to the back of the flock of priests, where one was talking animatedly with him. "Head priest Fieri actually had to contact the other cities under Lord Fiersome's protection before we even found out about the divine bride ceremony," she said excitedly, the gem that was her head flashing brightly with every word. "Lord Fieri has never called for it before, not ever. Fortunately Fidelity had it in their records, it turns out Lord Doge, you know she was the patron god of the city before… before the war…" the priest trailed off, her head growing dimmer with each word.

"ARE WE GOING TO JUST LEAVE THE ARROW?" Papyrus asked as he pointed behind them, the house already hidden behind a corner.

"Oh, don't worry about that." The priest waved a hand dismissively. "It'll take care of itself when the sun sets."

"EVERY SUMMER SOLSTICE I ALWAYS WONDERED WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE ARROW."

"It's a relief, can you imagine having to cart around a ladder and climb up it as part of every ceremony?"

While Papyrus chatted with the priests, Sans found the whole trip rather boring. He had to walk behind Fieri but ahead of the hord of priests, so he had no one to talk to. Instead he got to see every last citizen of the city line up along the road to stare at him go by. He ended up shoving his hands deep in his pockets and staring at the small flickers of flame coming off Fieri's head in an attempt to ignore being the center of so much attention. If he had skin he was sure it'd be crawling.

And then finally, finally! They had arrived at the temple. A path had luckily, or perhaps through a lot of hard work, been kept clear despite the crowd. They passed through the outer court and up the few steps to the temple proper. Fieri paused at the top and turned to face the crowd, Sans reluctantly did the same. He even managed not to flinch when Fieri placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Friends, countrymonsters, I'm proud to announce that Lord Fiersome has chosen Sans Skeleton as his bridegroom."

There were a few cheers from the crowd, along with a surprisingly enthusiastic applause. Sans was pretty sure most of them had no idea who he even was.

"The wedding shall take place a fortnight from today, on the day of the summer solstice. Please prepare any gifts or offerings you may wish to make before then." Fieri turned and headed into the temple, Sans followed behind.

Once inside Sans thought they would head for the inner court, but instead Fieri led them to the side of the hall where a doorway Sans had never noticed before was hidden. They walked into an area that had a homier feel already. This new hallway was narrower, the walls hung with swaths of rich fabrics on one side and windows letting in natural light on the other. No tapestries or murals in sight. The hallway was short, they were soon in another section of the temple Sans had never seen before, a crossroads of a sort. Straight ahead was one hallway lined with doors and torches, a light streaming through a window at the far end; then another hallway leading off to the right, lit by torches attached to the wall.

Fieri paused to consider which direction to take, the pod of priests took that as an invitation to crowd around Sans.

"What'd you do to catch Lord Fiersome's attention?"

"Oh man, Ma'll never believe ol' Sans is the bride!"

"I thought for sure he'd pick someone aligned with fire."

"Enough, all of you!" Fieri waved off the priests, "The bridegroom and I have much to discuss."

"AND HIS BROTHER AS WELL." Papyrus politely moved people aside so he could step forward.

"Yes, of course. I think somewhere a bit more private would be better, follow me please." Fieri led the way, Sans and Papyrus following at his heels.

And surprising no one, Lord Fiersome chose Sans. XD Everyone loves the cute little trash goblin 3

So it's not going to come up much, but I'm working on a "the four classical elements" system, where each monster is aligned with one of the elements more prominently than the other three or sometimes just entirely. Clearly someone like Grillby would be just fire, Undyne would be strongly tied to water, Gerson is mostly earth, and I usually put the ghosts as my example of air.

It's funny, while I was writing Home I was all about ghosts and possessing things, I was super curious about it and wanted to explore all the different things a ghost could possess, especially being up on the surface and the possibility of having the perfect body made to order. Now I'm super focused on elementals and the different forms they take, especially earth elementals. I imagine they come in huge variety, there's just so much different stuff that comes out of the earth: giant stones, loose dirt, metal, crystals... I think it's neat how different they'd be from any of the other elementals because earth ones would need to be solid while the rest would all be very fluid. It's fun to think about.