Chapter 2

With a resolved nod Papyrus marched himself back upstairs and to his brother's door. He tucked the journal behind his back and knocked then waited for a response. "It's not locked bro, you can come in" Sans replied from where he sat on his bed. Papyrus opened the door and stepped inside. "Did ja forget something bro? I'm pretty sure you got all the clothes" Sans told Papyrus and waited for the other's answer.

"UM WELL… THERE WAS NOTHING I NEEDED TO RETRIEVE… I ACTUALLY NEED TO CONFESS SOMETHING TO YOU BROTHER" Papyrus said nervously, his resolve from earlier slipping as his brother's eye lights remained on him.

"Oh? What happened? Did ja break something?" Sans asked curiously, it was rare to see Papyrus this nervous "if you did, its fine, I won't be mad".

"THAT'S NOT EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED TO TELL YOU… PROMISE YOU WON'T GET MAD BUT… I UM WHILE I WAS GATHERING YOUR LAUNDRY I FOUND SOMETHING CURIOUS… AND WELL YOU KNOW THAT MY CURIOSITY TENDS TO GET THE BEST OF ME" He started to explain, his eye lights dropping down to the carpet "I FOUND A BOX BENEATH YOUR BED YOU SEE… I HAD NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE SO I WAS CONFUSED. I OPENED IT TO TAKE A LOOK AND FOUND A LOT OF THINGS INSIDE, A PHOTO, SOME FOLDERS, A BOOK… SEEING ALL OF THIS ONLY MADE ME MORE CURIOUS SO I STARTED TO READ THE BOOK ONLY TO REALIZE THAT IT WAS A JOURNAL WRITTEN BY YOU".

As Papyrus spoke, Sans face went from confused and concerned to serious. When Papyrus paused Sans spoke "how much of that book did you read bud?".

Papyrus blinked and looked back up at his brother "OH UM… I HAD GOTTEN TO THE 18th ENTRY WHERE THE KING HAD HIRED DR. ALPHYS TO BE AN ASSISTANT AND SOMEONE WAS MAKING A SURPRISE? I AM UNSURE WHO FOR IT SEEMS THE NAME DOES NOT APPEAR THROUGHOUT THE BOOK, ONLY THE LETTER D WHICH I ASSUME IS TO REFER TO THE UNNAMED PERSON".

Sans was quiet for a long moment which caused Papyrus to start fidgeting, the journal still behind his back. "And that's as far as you've gotten?" Sans finally asked and Papyrus quickly nodded.

"I AM SORRY BROTHER, I DID NOT MEAN TO GO THROUGH YOUR THINGS WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION, I JUST DID NOT THINK THAT IT WOULD BE SOMETHING PRIVATE" Papyrus said with a sigh as he brought the book out from behind his back "ALSO I ACCIDENTALLY TOOK THIS, I HAD SLIPPED IT INTO MY BATTLE BODY WITHOUT THINKING WHEN YOU HAD CAME HOME, PLEASE DO NOT BE MAD AT ME".

After a moment Sans sighed and shifted to the edge of his bed. He patted the spot beside him and said "Have a seat bud, I think we need to have a talk". Surprised, Papyrus quickly went and sat beside his brother. He held the book out and Sans took it from him. The shorter skeleton flipped through a few pages before he set it down on the table beside his bed and stood up. He knelt down and pulled the box from below then retook his seat. Opening it he retrieved the picture from inside and stared at it for a long moment. "I know you got questions Pap, go ahead and ask" Sans told him, much to the other's surprise.

"OH I UM WELL… GOSH I DON'T KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN. HMM I SUPPOSE MY FIRST QUESTION SHOULD BE, WHO D IS AND WHY HIS NAME IS SO ILLEGIBLE… IT SOUNDED LIKE YOU CARED QUITE A LOT FOR HIM" Papyrus spoke as he looked curiously at Sans who was still staring at the picture.

"Gee Paps, trust you to pick such a loaded question to start things off" Sans said with a tired chuckle as he held the picture out to Papyrus, the other taking it carefully "this guy with us in the pic is D or more precisely W. D. Gaster… He was the royal scientist before Alphys. As for why his name is so illegible in the book… well… *sigh* that's kind of a long story. You know from the book that D created the Core right? Well… he was preforming some experiments with time lines and he was using the Core… one day he fell into it… Somehow falling into that thing changed our time line… no one but me remembers him, anything with him in it has been blurred out".

Papyrus looked long and hard at the picture then looked up at Sans. The other's face seemed so worn, as if this very thing kept him up for nights on end… and for all he knew it could very well have. "I… AM SO SORRY BROTHER… IT SOUNDED AS IF THE TWO OF YOU WERE VERY CLOSE… IT MUST HAVE BEEN VERY HARD ON YOU TO LOSE SOMEONE SO CLOSE TO YOUR HEART".

Sans sighed and took the picture back from Papyrus. He placed the tip of one boney finger against the blurred image of Gaster and stroked it gently "The skeleton I knew… he… I lost him a long time before he fell into the Core… this monster? Well, this is just a shadow of him… a broken creature desperate to regain what he once knew… even if that meant sacrificing everything he still had… I knew all of this but… I guess I was also desperate, clinging onto old memories, to make myself believe that things could get better with time". Sans gently rubbed his right eye socket as phantom pains from his memories reared their head.

Papyrus watched Sans for a long moment, wishing he could do something to make the other feel better. He leaned in and pulled the smaller skeleton into a hug, hoping that perhaps some physical contact would be just what he needed. Sans leaned into the hug and rested his head on Papyrus chest. After a few minutes of hugging, Sans pulled back and Papyrus let him go. "So, any more questions?" Sans asked with a cough, hoping to move things along.

Papyrus nodded and said "IN AN EARLIER PASSAGE ABOUT AFTER THE GREAT WAR YOU STATED THAT YOU HAD NO FAMILY… WHERE WAS I BROTHER? SURELY I MUST HAVE SURVIVED FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM SITTING RIGHT HERE. HAD WE BEEN SEPERATED?". After this question a strange look fell over Sans face, it was not something that Papyrus had ever seen before and frankly it scared him a bit; his brother's eye lights very rarely disappeared like that.

"You… you really know how to pick your questions kid… heh… the answer to that… is more complicated to explain than you might think…" Sans told him as he put the picture away and picked up the book once again "fact is… I dunno if I'll be able to tell you… it's been so long and… I don't really know where to start". He took Papyrus hand and placed the book in his palm "this is as good a place as any I guess. Finish the book bud… all your answers are in it. I know it's been a long time coming, honestly I had hoped that this day wouldn't have had to come and we could just go on like we have been but… somehow… I knew one day I'd have to tell ya… just *sigh* don't hate me once you find the answers you're looking for".

Papyrus gripped the book and listened to every word his brother told him "BROTHER… YOU ARE STARTING TO WORRY ME… I COULD NEVER HATE YOU, NO MATTER WHAT… THANK YOU FOR BEING HONEST WITH ME".

Sans pulled his brother into another quick hug then let him go "you better get going if you're gonna finish reading that, just know that I love ya kiddo". Papyrus smiled and stood up, making his way out of his brother's room. Sans watched him go, a small sigh leaving him as his door shut. "You're my world Paps, never forget that" Sans whispered as he laid himself back down on his bed. He picked up the picture of the three of them again and stared at it for a long moment, a lone tear slipping from his eye socket "Oh Dings… if only you could see him now, he reminds me a lot of you… before that stupid war…".