Chapter 1

"SANS, I AM DOING THE LAUNDRY; YOU HAD BEST HAVE ALL YOUR THINGS GATHERED TOGETHER" Papyrus called as he climbed the stairs and made his way towards his brother's bedroom. He stopped in front of the smaller skeleton's door and knocked when he heard no reply from the other. "NYEH. SANS YOU LAZY BONES, YOU HAD BETTER NOT STILL BE SLEEPING" Papyrus said gruffly though paused as his brother's door slowly creaked open, it seemed Sans had not closed or locked the door like he usually did. With a shrug Papyrus pushed the door the rest of the way open and looked into his brother's room.

"UGH, WHAT A MESS; I SWEAR THIS IS THE PLACE WHERE ALL OF OUR TOWELS GO TO DIE. NYEH" Papyrus muttered with a grimace at the articles of laundry scattered about the room. Getting to work he started to create a pile of all of his brother's dirty laundry. He noticed some sticking out from under the bed and with a sigh knelt down. Peering into the depths below, he started fishing out every piece of clothing he came across. His gloved hand bumped against a wooden box and with a confused nyeh he withdrew the container. He looked it over curiously; he had never seen such a box before. It had intricate designs carved into the outside, very delicate work; not something his brother would normally keep.

"WHY IS THIS HIDDEN BELOW BROTHER'S BED? PERHAPS IT WAS PUSHED UNDER THERE BY ACCIDENT AND HE DID NOT REALIZE SUCH A THING HAD HAPPENED? NYEH HE HE! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE ONCE AGAIN SAVED THE DAY! BROTHER WILL SURELY BE RELIEVED TO KNOW THAT IT WAS I WHO HAD RETRIEVED THIS MYSTERIOUS BOX!" the skeleton had exclaimed, posing for dramatic effect. After a moment he looked at the box again, his curiosity as to what was inside was eating at him "HMM… I WONDER WHAT BROTHER COULD HAVE POSSIBLY PUT IN HERE? I DO NOT THINK HE WILL MIND IF I HAVE A PEAK, WE BROTHERS KEEP NO SECRETS FROM EACH OTHER AFTER ALL!".

With that said Papyrus sat himself on the edge of his brother's bed and popped the lid off the box. He peered inside and withdrew the first thing that sat on top. The item was an old and worn picture, in it stood Sans and another skeleton; the taller having his arm over the shorter's shoulders while Sans leaned into the other's side. For some reason the face of the taller figure was blurry and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't quite make it out. Papyrus noticed his brother's expression, it was so happy and serene; an expression so rare that he could count the number of times he had seen it using his fingers. Another glance over the image showed that his brother was holding something, or to be more accurate someone. "WHY… THAT IS ME" he murmured as he studied his own smiling face from the bundle that Sans held.

Papyrus sat there for some minutes, simply studying the image before setting it aside and digging again through the box. He pulled out a stack of files and briefly flipped through them. It was mostly scientific jargon that he had no understanding of, what was his brother doing with these kinds of documents? The shorter skeleton was no scientist, though Papyrus knew that under his brother's lazy exterior lay a very smart brain; Sans just lacked the motivation to use it half the time. He set those aside and pulled out the last item hidden in the box, an old worn journal. He flipped the cover open and saw that it was in his brother's hand writing. Without reading it he noticed that some words were too blurred to make out, they weren't smudged per say but they were illegible as if he were looking through a distorted bit of glass; it was just like the face of the man in the picture.

Okay so I don't really know how to start one of these things. _ gave this to me, I never could say no to the guy heh. I doubt I'm gonna use it much though. Welp… I guess I'll just have to see where this takes me, later gator.

Would this be considered entry number 2 or 1? Does the first bit count since I didn't really write anything of importance? Ah well I guess for the sake of things I'll count it. So anyways, things are starting to get hectic with the humans. D seems to think there's gonna be a war soon… for all our sakes I hope he's wrong.

Entry 3… D was right… god I hope we survive this, I don't wanna lose him.

4. Shit… shit shit shit…. The humans… we've been forced under the mountain… they've sealed us down here… I need to find _ and make sure he's alright… we lost so many… I haven't seen another skeleton since coming down here… am I the last? I have to find _ … I don't want to be alone.

Okay so entry 5. I found him. He was with the king and queen. They were trying to come up with plans for how we're gonna survive down here. I think… he and I are the last of the skeletons… so many people are gone now. D lost his entire family… makes me kinda grateful I don't have a family… this hit him really hard… all we can do now is pick up the pieces and try to move on.

At this point Papyrus had to pause and let out a confused Nyeh. What did Sans mean about having no family? Where was Papyrus in all of this? It was as if he did not exist before the humans had forced the monsters underground. Why was there no mention of him? Surely he had to be there somewhere… To get his answers he continued to read on though he had a feeling he wasn't going to like what he would find.

Wow, can't believe I'm still writing in this, guess I need some place to go to vent. So this is number 6? Yeah 6. D is in a bad place right now, no matter what I say or do, I can't get him out of the funk he's in. He hasn't done any of his inventing since before the war, it's got me worried; I don't wanna lose him but I don't know how I'm gonna get him to snap outta this. He isn't the only one in a bad place. Everyone can't seem to wrap their heads around the fact that the above world is gone.

7. Praise every power above, _ is finally snapping out of it. I managed to get him to come out of his room, he even ate something. Maybe things will start looking up? I sure hope so, we need something to lift our spirits.

8. He's changed… _ isn't the same happy nerd I used to know, he doesn't get excited about discovering something new anymore, he still hasn't tried to invent anything… I know all this is hard but… it's like something broke in him. I just want to see him smile again… feels like it's been forever since D last smiled a real smile or let out a genuine laugh.

9. So today I found a joke book. The puns in it are so bad they make even me cringe. D found me not long after and asked what I was reading. I said I would tell him but I didn't want him to feel like I was Punishing him. It was as if time had frozen for a second. I could see his brain trying to process my words and I could tell the moment they clicked. His eye socket and mouth started to twitch. I was kinda worried that I broke him there but then I heard a snort come out of him. It was at that moment I realized he was trying to not laugh. You don't know how relieved this made me feel… for the first time in ages I felt like things would be alright. I didn't want to lose the moment so I kept dishing out bad puns and lame jokes. D crumbled under the force of my terrible comedy gold… it felt good to hear him laugh again. At this point I would willingly give up the entire world above, the sun the stars, just so long as I can hear that beautiful laugh and see that blinding smile. Jeez I sound so corny but… I love that numb skull, he's more valuable to me than any life above ground.

10. Seems D isn't the only one bad jokes work on. I can tell they all try real hard to not laugh but it seems a little laughter goes a long way. I think we'll all be alright. It may not be right away but I can tell, we'll get through this.

11. The king and queen are thinking of having a kid. Everyone is all excited over it. It's the first sign that things are starting to look up.

12. It's been a while since I last picked this thing up. A lot's happened. The king and queen named their kid Asriel, little buggers kinda cute. More exploring's been done, the king and queen are thinking about expanding on out further into the underground. Asgore's trying to come up with a list of names but so far it isn't going so well, he never was good at naming things; kid's lucky his mom named him or Asgore woulda named him Goriel or something.

13. A human fell into the underground… the look on _ face… I have a bad feeling.

14. Kid's name is Chara… the king and queen is gonna adopt it… D locked himself away in his room again, I hope he isn't going to re-laps back into how he was after the war, and I don't think I could take it…

15. Thank goodness, he's come back out… he seems different though… he's watching the human closely…

16. Asgore decided to name the new expanse of the underground New Home. I know right? Terrible name. The capital has been moved to the other end of the underground, right next to the barrier. D has been busy since everything was moved. He set up a new lab and has been buried in his work. I think he's inventing something and I'm kinda relieved, it means things will go back to normal soon.

17. Wow, D has really out done himself. He's made something that he calls the Core. It apparently powers everything in the underground using magic and geothermal energy. He asked Asgore about getting an assistant to help him with his work. He has me but I think the extra set of hands will really come in handy. Heh these puns are starting to rub off on me. I think D is starting to get a little annoyed by now with all the bad jokes but I just can't seem to stop myself… not when they are still able to get a grin out of him.

18. Okay so Asgore came through with that assistant. Her name's Alphys. Seems kinda shy and clumsy if you ask me but who knows, maybe there's more to her than meets the eye? D didn't seem too impressed but as always he shook it off and set her to work on some new project he's working on. He won't tell me what it is though, it's got me curious; he never keeps secrets from me… what is he doing now?

Papyrus was really getting invested into this journal. He almost didn't hear the door downstairs closing. "Hey Pap, I'm home!" Sans called, making Papyrus jump from his seat on the bed. He let out a few nervous nyehs as he swept all the items back into the box except the journal. He replaced the lid and tucked the box back under the bed. Picking the journal back up, he tucked it away into his battle body and quickly gathered the dirty laundry into his arms. "Yo, bro, you up here?" Sans called curiously when he got no response. Papyrus quickly bustled out of Sans room just as the other was coming up the stairs.

"OH, BROTHER! WELCOME HOME! I UM DID NOT HEAR YOU COME IN, I WAS JUST GATHERING YOUR DIRTY LAUNDRY… WHICH MIGHT I REMIND YOU BELONGS IN THE DIRTY LAUNDRY BIN AND NOT SCATTERED ABOUT YOUR ROOM!" Papyrus stated nervously, scolding his brother for his bad habit of leaving his clothes lying in the floor.

"Heh, sorry bro, I shirtly don't mean to be a slob, I'm just towel much of a lazy bones" Sans said and Papyrus could almost hear the drums that would come after such a bad pun. The taller let out a disgruntled Nyeh and stalked past his brother who was grinning at a job well done "ah come on, you know you're grinning".

"I AM AND I HATE IT!" Papyrus exclaimed as he made his way down stairs. Sans chuckled and continued on to his room, Papyrus reaction always warmed his soul with a sense of nostalgia. Papyrus heard his brother's door shut and he let out a sigh as he set the other's laundry in the laundry room. He felt the journal shift under his battle body against his bones and suddenly remembered what he was doing in his brother's room. He frowned as he removed it and looked at it, feeling guilty now about what he had been doing; he was invading his brother's privacy without his permission… maybe he should return the journal and confess that he had read some of what was inside? Surely Sans wouldn't get too mad at him for his curiosity. He was still eager to know what else was written within, perhaps the other would read some of it to him if he asked?