meh,
Not as long as I would like it and not as eventful.

but I will let you guys be the judge of that.

The castle of the king and queen honestly wasn't what one would expect when you think of a castle. It was more of a home, both in appearance and structure, but it was far bigger than what most monsters lived in. Young children had taken to calling it the castle long ago and the name just stuck and now everyone just called it the castle. Gaster, though, truly felt that if there was more room in Home that the king and queen would have made a bigger living space for themselves. Seeing as both Boss monsters were much larger than most monsters and during his visits to the castle he'd seen both royals duck their heads when going through doorways.

Most monsters lived in Home, the city that monsters made when they were first trapped in the underground, but with plans of the core and the looming fear of humans coming back slowly faded they started to travel deeper into the underground. So far two promising areas were found in New Home, the king was not very good with names, and a snow covered land and a cavern a rushing waterfall.

Some settlement had been built in Snowdin, the king needs to pick better names, and that was where Gaster had taken up residents. Some monsters had moved into Waterfall, again with the names, and even still new lands were being found. Hotland was still being explored even though Gaster had set up his lab there. The lava filled cavity was not as a livable place for most monsters but it was far better place for his lab to be built in than Snowdin. Cold and a lot of Gaster's chemicals and machinery didn't work well together.

New Home was a nice change of scenery, though Gaster felt a bit of nostalgia as he walked the dark streets of Home; memories from his childhood and younger self flooding back. Most monsters were in their homes by now, it was rather late, and the streets were bare excluding the royal guard and scientist that raced down the strips and towards the castle.

The royal guard had not explained much about the situation at hand, only having told Gaster what he had said in the beginning and that time was of the essence as they ran. Gaster wished he had more to work with but he figured he would know soon enough. The castle was coming into view in the horizon and its appearance made Gaster pick up his pace; almost leaving the poor guard behind him.

Time was indeed of the essence, in more ways than ones.

Gaster knew it was only a matter of time, weeks, days even, before the human soul would fade away from existence without a body. He tried every which way to make it one but they all failed. He had even tried to make a robot body, but Gaster trashed that idea seeing it as not a worthy body for the soul; the soul needed a real one and not one made from metal.

Gaster was so close to giving up, just about ready to cave in and make the soul's last few days as painless as possible, but then this glimmer of hope fell at his feet and Gaster felt his soul fill with hope. He could study this fallen human and if he was careful maybe he could take some samples back to his lab to recreate a human body for the soul... It sounded a lot better and a lot less creepy in Gaster's head honestly.

Cloning was not a perfected science to monsters, they truthfully only knew of it in recent years due to human books having fallen into the underground, but from what Gaster had gathered monsters were far more advanced in it than the humans. One of his fellow scientists, a rabbit monster named Kit, had once successfully cloned a rat. The rat had ended up being the lab's little mascot if you will and had been named Lucky. The scientists had all loved the rodent and Kit took Lucky everywhere with him.

Lucky lived for only two years.

It was a devastating blow to Kit and the young monster never cloned another animal again in fear of it having a short existence like Lucky had. Gaster really didn't want to reflect on that though. He was on a mission and he was determined to complete it without complication.

When they finally reached the castle, the front door was already starting to open. Standing in the now open doorway stood a small child, Prince Asriel, and his expression held worried and relief as he stared up at Gaster. The small boy then reached out for Gaster and gripped his hand tightly before pulling him into the house.

"This way Mister Science." Asriel said as he led Gaster into the building. The boy knew Gaster's real name, Gaster visited the royal family often to give reports on the core, but when Asriel was younger he had a hard time pronouncing the skeleton's name so the opt to calling him Mister Science. Gaster didn't mind, he honestly liked the nickname the prince had for him and felt honored.

As he allowed the child to lead him, Gaster chose to remain quiet and save asking questions when they made it to their destination and hopefully the fallen human. It didn't take long, they only passed two doors before Asriel pulled him into the third one, and they entered into a bedroom. The room was dimly lit by many candles, offering not much visibility, but it did give Gaster enough light to see that the two Boss monsters were over by the bed.

"Mom, Dad, Mister Science is here." Asriel said as he let go of Gaster's hand and raced over to the bed and then proceeded to crawl onto it.

Looking up, Asgore, the king of all monsters, gave Gaster a tired smile. "Howdie. Thank you for coming at such short notice, but I didn't know who else to turn to."

Gaster nodded simply as he tried to see where he presumed the human lay. Asgore was casting a shadow over them and the queen, Toriel, was fussing at the side of the bed. Taking a tentative step forward Gaster again tried to see the human. Asgore, sensing what the scientist was doing, moved aside and allowed some of the light of the candles to cascade over the bed.

With the looming shadow gone Gaster finally got a view at what lay on the bed. A human child, possibly the same age as Sans, lay on the bed; still and breathing gently. It was impossible to tell their gender in the dim light but Gaster could make out long brown locks on their head and pale skin. The child appeared to be resting but as Asriel moved next to them they instinctively snuggled into him and gripped his sweater.

"We managed to get her to rest," Toriel said as she moved so Gaster could stand over the children. "She was so terrified that she would not let me see to her injures; even in her sleep she only let's Asriel near."

As if to prove this when Gaster reached out to touch the child they shied away with a tired whine. Pulling his hand back Gaster sighed and set the bag he brought with him on the bed. At least he knew the child's gender that was a start. Digging through his bag Gaster pulled out a thermometer and a few other objects.

Gaster was thankful that he had managed to stop by his house to gather his medical tools. Though he and his sons were skeletons and didn't get sicknesses like most monsters, he always liked having things on hand if a situation needed them and right now he was glade he did.

Handing the thermometer to Asriel Gaster instructed the child to place it in the human's mouth and under their tongue. The prince nodded and did as he was told and the human did not fight him. Pulling out some ointment and bandages, Gaster had seen a few cuts on the human's arms, he set them aside as he focused his magic into his hand and scanned it over the child.

Nothing seemed to be life-threatening, from what his magic told him, but they were weak in their soul. It was damaged, dim glowing, and had this unsettling feeling inside it that made Gaster shy his hand away. There was something off about this child and whatever it was it went as deep as to the core of their soul.

"Is there something wrong?" Toriel asked from behind Gaster and it pulled him out of his thinking. Shaking his head, Gaster turned to the two royals and placed his hands behind his back.

"Their body isn't too damaged," Gaster said as he turned to look back at the two children on the bed. "But their soul is what worries me. I suggest that they eat something the moment they wake."

Both the king and queen sighed in relief at Gaster's word and their bodies seemed to be more relaxed now. Placing a hand on the skeleton's shoulder Asgore gave Gaster a big smile.

"Thank you, my friend." The king said and it made Gaster blush a bit. Gaster didn't have many people who he considered friends, there were his colleagues and the monsters in Snowdin who knew his name, but aside from Grillby he dare say that Asgore was indeed his only friend; even if the king was friendly with everyone.

Nodding his head, Gaster turned back to the bed and asked Asriel for the thermometer. The child didn't say a word as he took the object and handed it back to the skeleton. Reading over the meter, even if the lighting was bad, he saw they had no fever. Putting the thermometer away, Gaster sat down on the bed and picked up the bandages and ointment.

"I need to clean her cuts." Gaster said to Asriel. "I need you to hold her steady. Can you do that for me?"

Asriel nodded and gently sat the human child up against his chest. Rolling up the sleeves of their shirt, Gaster watched as the prince treated the human as if she were made of glass and would break if he touched her. Once their arms were bare, Gaster brought the ointment and began to slowly apply it to the wounds.

The child stirred in their sleep, the ointment though infused with magic to heal wounds quicker stung like a swarm of bees, but did not shy way as Gaster worked. Once enough ointment was applied Gaster wrapped the cuts in the bandages and smoothly pulled the child's sleeves back down. Once his work was done, Gaster began to pack up his items but stopped.

Slipping his hand back into the bag, Gaster pulled out a large needle and turned back to the human child. This was his chance to get some real human matter and probably his only chance at saving his human soul. He would have liked to have asked the child if he could take some of their blood but seeing as they were asleep he wouldn't get an answer. Though Gaster wasn't sure he take no for an answer if they were.

"W-What is that?" Asriel asked Gaster as he watched the scientist bring the needle close to the human.

"I… I am taking some of their blood. I'll take it to my lab to be tested, just to make sure they are not sick." Gaster said and hoped that the three royals wouldn't question him. Thankfully they didn't and the prince allowed Gaster to pull up one of the human's sleeves enough for him to draw a sample; a large sample.

Once that was done Gaster placed the needle inside his coat's chest pocket and stood up after gathering up his bag. That had been easier than Gaster thought it would have been, but now that he had the human sample the hard part was to come. Turning to leave Gaster wanted to hurry to his lab and start right away on synthesizing more of the sample and hopefully start the beginning process of making a body for the soul, but when a firm hand grasped his own it stopped him dead in his tracks.

Looking over his shoulder Gaster saw that it was Toriel who had a grip on him and from her expression she was still concerned about something.

"Can I speak with you… in private?" she asked as she looked back at her family and the human. Asgore had taken back his spot by the bed while his son continued to hold the human.

"Of course your highness." Gaster said as he walked out of the room with the queen following close behind him. Once outside the room Gaster turned to let Toriel speak to him and found her gaze to the door of the room they had just left. Her dark red eyes held an emotion Gaster knew all too well. It was a look that only a parent could ever have and only another parent would understand or see it.

Worry. Worry for a child; their child.

Gaster had in the past had that same expression, the first time was when Sans was just born. His eldest son had been born prematurely and sickly, and many thought he wouldn't survive his first year. Gaster could remember how he would stay up late into the night just staring down at Sans in his crib in fear of his little boy turning to dust without him watching. Gaster never knew how many nights he did this, countless times, until he was sure Sans was safe and out of danger. Still to this day, even with Sans having lived longer than expected and in far better health, Gaster would sometimes go check up on his son in the dead of night.

That kind of worrying was something Gaster understood and seeing his queen with such worry in her made Gaster feel sympathetic. The queen was a mother-like figure to all her subjects and she played the part very well. She saw all monsters, young and old, as her children in a way. And it seemed as though this human child would be no different.

"When Asriel brought her home I thought the child was dead, to be honest." The queen said softly, gripping the collar of her dress tightly. "They were so quiet and looked… It was only when I tried to take her away from my child that they stirred. I know very little on human healing, but then Gory said that you had this fascination with humans we hoped you would know something. Looks like we were correct in thinking so."

Feeling his face blush again Gaster turned his attention to the floor. He wouldn't say he had a 'fascination' with humans, he just saw them differently than most monsters and not through the narrow tunnel that depicted them as being evil incarnate. But the more Gaster thought of it, the more he saw that maybe he did have a slight fascination. He knew far more than most monsters, though he only shared his knowledge of humans with the king.

Asgore was one of the few who actually knew things about humans, having lived up on the surface once with them, and Gaster felt comfortable in asking the king questions about humans or telling him about the new information on humans he found. Asgore was very supportive with Gaster's interest and encouraged him to keep learning about humans, saying that maybe one day Gaster would educate the monsters of the underground.

Gaster doubted that though.

"I am happy I could be of help." Gaster replied as he continued to stare at the floor. "If I may ask, what do you plan on doing with the human child?"

Toriel must have guessed what Gaster was getting at from the shocked look on her face and the skeleton wished he had rephrased the question better. He honestly wanted to know if they planned on using the child's soul, all it took for one monster to go through the barrier was to have a human soul; it took seven to break it. All anyone had to do, Asgore most likely, was to absorb the child's soul and walk through the barrier, collect the other six souls, and return to break the barrier.

But Gaster was also asking this to see if his fear of revealing his human soul was justified. He was afraid of it being used in breaking the barrier, even more so now since his human soul didn't have a body while the one in the room obviously did. It would less cruel and more humane in a way to use an artificially made soul than take one from a human. But Gaster didn't want that. It didn't matter to him if his human soul was not a naturally made soul, it was still a living being (in the sense) and something he had created.

He would protect his creation with every fiber in his being. And if still keeping it hidden was the only way to do that than so be it.

"I… I honestly don't know." Toriel said and that worried Gaster enough for him to make eye contact. "The poor thing must have a family to go back to on the surface, but there is only one known entrance in the barrier and there is no way to go back through it. I do know, though, that no child soul is going to be used in our escape to freedom if that is what you are implying. I won't allow it."

Gaster let out an audible sigh at hearing the queen's words and he didn't care if she was confused by his action or not. If what she said was true and the queen kept her word that meant that when he did finally managed to create his human soul a body that it would be safe… hopefully. Things had a tendency to change dramatically around Gaster.

"I see, that is good to hear." Gaster said as he looked at the door behind the queen. "The child should be fine for now. In the morning, make sure they eat something. Their soul needs it. If anything else should happen don't hesitate to call for me."

Thinking that is this was all the queen wanted to speak to him about, Gaster turned to leave but only made it three steps before Toriel spoke to him again what she said made him pause in his stride.

"Why did you really take the child's blood?" Toriel asked and Gaster could feel her questioning stare even though he did not look back. "You said they were fine and, yet, you still took it."

"I just want to make sure there is no unseen illness." Gaster lied, thankfully his voice was calm and sounded cool because he sure wasn't. "Not all sicknesses can be seen on the surface and my magic can only detect so much."

Toriel didn't respond for the longest time and Gaster started to wonder if he should chance teleporting out into the street and just leaving the conversation here. He was just about to do that but when the queen spoke up it sent chills down his spine.

"I don't know what you are doing, and I know you won't tell me the truth, but know this… if you plan on harming this child, you will regret it."

The next thing Gaster knows is that there is the clicking sound of a door opening and closing and he knows he is now alone. Letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding in Gaster glances back and he sees that he is indeed alone and with that he quickly makes his way out of the building.

The queen, though the mother-like lady she was, could be very terrifying. And even though Gaster would never even dream of hurt a child, monster or human, the words Toriel said to him made him shiver.

If things went well and didn't turn sour maybe Gaster would be able to show the queen his real reasoning behind taking the sample.

But until then…

He had a body to create.

This weekend was proving to be a test of Gaster's resolve in keeping up the façade that he wasn't worried about something; that something being the human soul. For the past week Gaster had study the sample he had taken from the human child and it brought up more obstacles than he wanted it to. Every time Gaster thought he was close to cracking the code that would allow him to create a human body something wouldn't work and he would have to start all over.

The soul wasn't faring well either. Its HP level dropped again thankfully nothing more than a point, but at this moment every point counted. It still needed Gaster's magic to get it through the night and sometimes through the day as the cracks on the little red heart grew deeper. But despite all this the soul still found enough energy to send reassuring feelings to Gaster.

Time was running out for the soul, Gaster knew this very well, and even as he sat at home with his boys he was thinking of different ways to clone the sample and make a body. Two problem that struck Gaster were how would he make a body for the soul by cloning but also making the body its own and how to stop the body (when he did finally make one) from creating its own soul.

Gaster wanted the soul to be its own person and not just a carbon copy of the fallen child. The soul deserved that much. The problem of the body creating its own soul was also a problem Gaster was still trying to solve. It would do his human soul no good if the body he made was already inhabited.

Letting out a sigh Gaster looked up from his desk to the living room behind him. Sans and Papyrus were coloring on the floor, the latter scribbling madly without resolve while the eldest drew in a more calm and focused manner. Gaster couldn't see what exactly what Sans was drawing but whatever it was the boy wanted it to be perfect.

"What are you drawing there Sans?" Gaster asked as he stood up and walked over to his sons; wanting to take his mind off his troubles just for a moment.

"Nothing." Sans said quickly as he quickly shoved his picture underneath him and out of view.

"… That didn't look like nothing." Gaster said as he joined his sons on the floor.

"Well it was." Sans said quickly while pulling his jacket's hood over his head.

Now this was strange, Gaster thought as he stared at his son. Sans wasn't one to keep secrets, especially from him, so seeing him getting so defensive about a simple picture was a bit more than alarming. But Gaster knew Sans better than anyone and knew just what buttons to press to get his son to spill.

"You're up to something." Gaster said and from underneath that hood he could see the smile forming on Sans face.

"No. That's the stairs." Sans' muffled voice said with a snort and Gaster let a smile cross his face.

"Sorry, I must have over stepped my boundaries." Gaster said and from Sans he could hear soft muffled laughs. Glancing over at Papyrus Gaster saw how the toddler was glaring down at his paper and was gripping his crayon tightly; obviously trying to ignore the other two.

"Naw, your fine, but I mustache you a question?" Sans said as he peaked out from his hood. "How did I end up with a daddy who is such a beard-o?"

A soft whine came from Papyrus, and Gaster could have sworn he saw the crayon snap in two, but Gaster had his focus on Sans.

"I don't know, I guess you are just that lucky." Gaster said as lifted up a corner of Sans hoodie. "I am hairy awesome."

And that was what broke the dam. Sans couldn't hold it back anymore, he knew what his father was doing but he didn't care. Letting out a loudest and joyous laugh he had Sans pushed his hood away from his face and stared up at his father.

"You may need to trim that ego there." Sans snorted but it was short lived when a red sippy cup came hurtling at him and hit the side of his head.

"NO!" Papyrus screamed as he glared at both his brother and father. "NONONONONO! BAD!"

Looking down at the cup, Gaster felt his face twist into a wicked grin. He knew Papyrus didn't like their jokes but OH this one was too easy to pass up.

"Looks like you've been attacked by his milk there, Sans." Gaster said and from the wide grin on Sans' face and the glare from Papyrus it was obvious both of them knew what he was going to say next.

"How-"

"NO!" Papyrus screamed but it was too late.

"Dairy he." Gaster said and that was all it took to have Sans screaming with laughter, holding his sides, while Papyrus tossed his crayons at his father scream 'BAD DADDY BAD!'

Blocking the onslaught of crayons, Gaster turned to Sans to find him laughing so hard he was snorting and holding his sides. Smiling at the sight Gaster saw a corner of the picture Sans had hidden away poke out from under the child.

"So, what did you draw?" Gaster asked again, knowing that when Sans was more relaxed he was more open to talking and sharing.

Sans had managed to calm down his laughter enough to pull out the paper and slowly hand it to his father; No longer afraid, for whatever reason, to show him. Taking the picture, Gaster looked down at it to see a startling familiar sight.

On the paper, drawn in bright red crayon, was a small heart. It was right-side up while surrounded by sticklike figures that were made to represent Gaster and his sons.

Normally a picture like this wouldn't startle Gaster, but it was the heart in the center of the page that set him off. Hearts in the underground were always depicted upside down, be it drawn by children or by adults, so seeing one right-side up and the same color as the human soul was… shocking.

"I've been having these weird dreams lately." Sans voice broke the bit of silence the room had found itself in and as the boy rubbed the back of his head he looked away. "And that heart is always in it."

"… What happens in your dreams?" Gaster asked, genuinely curious.

"Nothing much, it's just always the same. The three of us and the heart are in a white room, you're hold my hand and I'm carrying Pappy and you're bringing us closer to the heart." Sans said, still not meeting his father's gaze. "By the time we make it to the heart you let my hand go and place the heart in it… after that everything fades and I wake up."

Gaster didn't believe in a lot of things that science didn't explain, but there was no reasoning to explain Sans dreams and he found himself at a loss for words. Staring between his son and the drawing, Gaster tried to comprehend Sans' dream but nothing logical came up.

"But it's just a dream," Sans said while giving his father the goofiest grin he had. "Maybe I'm just sleeping too much."

As if to agree with his brother's statement Papyrus crawled over to Sans and bopped him on the head while saying 'LAZY'.

Allowing himself to smile, Gaster nodded before setting the picture down besides him.

Sans was right, it's only a dream.

If you guys want to see the picture Sans drew
it's on my Deviantart page.

bluejay1995
Sans drawing

Until Next time,

Girl Supersonicboy OUT!