There was so much to worry about! But he could handle it all. He'd keep both the human and the Underground safe, because it wasn't fair to ask the human to be good if they were going to do something horrible to them!

Before he could give the matter any more thought, or figure out how he was actually going to do either of those things, the door opened, and the human walked out, looking very sad for someone doing the right thing. "UM… HUMAN? YOU DIDN'T FORGET TO NOT KILL ANYONE DID YOU?"

The child blinked, surprised to find the two of them standing there, then broke into a warm smile. "No. Everyone's fine. I'm just sad to leave her."

He gave a relieved sigh. One less thing to worry about. Ever since talking to Sans, he'd been panicking about possibly making the wrong choice in leaving the human alone. "GOOD FOR YOU! I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT. NOW, I HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL YOU."

He stooped down to the human's eye level. "SANS EXPLAINED TO ME ABOUT WHAT THE MONSTERS ARE AFTER, AND I CAN'T BLAME YOU FOR BEING SCARED. I MYSELF MUST'VE SEEMED VERY IMPOSING WHEN YOU BELIEVED THAT I WAS GOING TO KILL YOU. BUT WE'RE RUNNING SHORT ON TIME, AND SO, YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO EXPLAIN YOUR SIDE OF THE STORY TO US WHILE WE GO TO THE PUZZLES. AND I HAVE A SURPRISE FOR YOU! YOU DIDN'T SEEM TO LIKE THE PUZZLES LAST TIME, SO WE PUT OUT NEW PUZZLES! SANS EVEN HELPED! NYEH, HEH, HEH!"

He took the human's little hand in his glove, and let them through the woods. "HERE. NOW WAIT RIGHT BY THIS ROCK, WHILE I CHECK THE PUZZLE ONE LAST TIME." Oops, he hadn't given the human a chance to talk. He'd been too excited about the puzzles. Oh well, there was always next puzzle.

Behind him, he heard the human's hesitant voice. "I really didn't hurt anyone. This time." Couldn't his brother hear the sincerity and regret in the voice?

*i know, kid.

"How… oh, right. My L.O.V.E. It's gonna stay at 1, Sans. If it kills me."

"NONSENSE! WE ARE NOT GOING TO LET ANYTHING HAPPEN TO YOU, ARE WE, SANS? IF THEY WANT YOUR SOUL, THEY'LL HAVE TO BEST THE GREAT PAPYRUS."

The child fidgeted. "I practically owe it to them, after what I did. Especially to you two."

He started to wave the harsh comment away, but Sans spoke first. He was already at eye level, so he didn't even have to move. *you might feel worse about what you did to us, for whatever reason, but i don't think any of this would have been any better if you'd left us out of it. not for the underground, in any case.

Tears welled up in the human's eyes, and he wanted to fix it, but the tone of voice Sans was using stopped him. It was that calm, no arguing, think about what you did voice, and it affected people. *that being said, i think it's safe to say that you've learned that not even your special reset powers can change the past. couldn't get rid of your own memories, could ya.

A tear ran down the human's face as they shook their head.

*you might have erased our memories, but even those have ways of lingering behind. the bad memories, sure, but an awful lot of good memories, too. you really are an anomaly, aren't ya, kid?

"I was just curious. I never wanted to erase you all forever. I was going to make up for it by freeing you all."

Sans winced. *make up for killing us all? what, is that a thing humans do? hurt someone really bad, and make it go away with a really nice gift?

"Well… some people, I guess. But then I couldn't. Because of Chara."

He had to put a stop to this. Sans's reflective voice was working alright, but it was time to add his stern voice, because yet another injustice was being committed, and he could not allow it! He crossed his arms, and remained standing as he was, towering over the child. "HUMAN, YOU ARE BEING VERY QUICK TO ASSIGN THE BLAME TO CHARA. BUT DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHY THEY WANTED TO ERASE THE WORLD?"

"Because they're evil incarnate?"

The human really didn't seem to know. In that case, full-blown lazy brother was too high a setting. He toned his stern voice back a few notches. "TO STOP YOU."

"W-what?"

"CHARA COULDN'T BEAR TO WATCH YOU CONTINUE TO MANIPULATE THE FAMILY THAT WAS SO DEAR TO THEM."

"How can you be on their side? They were going to delete the whole world, like it never existed."

He toned his voice back to stern but gentle reminder, and stooped down to eye level. "AND AS WRONG AS THAT WAS, CHARA BELIEVED THAT IT WAS A BETTER FATE FOR US ALL."

"Than being happy?"

*than being jerked through timelines at the 'mercy' of your whims.

He ignored the pun because, while he was sure Sans was fully aware of the double meaning, it was serious enough to let slip. Sans didn't need an over-reaction from him right now, and neither did the human. "SO YOU SEE, YOU TWO COULD BLAME EACH OTHER FOR THE REST OF ALL TIME, AND IT WOULDN'T SOLVE ANYTHING. YOU COULD ALWAYS ARGUE THAT CHARA WAS WORSE. CHARA COULD ALWAYS SAY THAT THEY JUST WANTED TO SAVE THE MONSTERS FROM BEING KILLED ANY MORE TIMES. BUT THE TRUTH IS, YOU'RE BOTH WRONG, AND YOU BOTH PLAYED A PART IN THIS. WITH THESE POWERS OF YOURS, YOU HAD A… A..."

*responsibility.

"YES! EXACTLY. YOU HAD A RESPONSIBILITY TO DO YOUR BEST. EVEN IF THE MONSTERS WERE WRONG, TOO. I WANTED TO CAPTURE A HUMAN, JUST TO FULFILL MY OWN DREAMS, WITHOUT BOTHERING TO FIND OUT WHAT THEY EVEN WANTED THE HUMAN FOR. IT DOESN'T MATTER THAT YOU WERE KILLING EVERYONE, I BELIEVE I WOULD HAVE TRIED TO CAPTURE YOU ANYWAY. AND FOR THAT I AM DEEPLY…"

Two hands shot out, and covered his mouth. Tears were streaming down the child's face now. "Don't! Please… don't you dare apologize to me, Papyrus. When I fought you, it was never because I was afraid of you! You… you were the only monster in the whole Underground who wouldn't kill me, no matter what. I didn't even have to beat you to get past you. You couldn't bear to keep fighting me. I… I've done terrible things, and you're right. It wasn't all Chara. It wasn't Chara that forced me to k-kill you. I- I made that choice."

The human began to sob, and he chose to act with a healing hug. He looked over the child's shoulder to his brother, and was delighted to find that Sans's eyes had softened. He was starting to believe in the human, too, despite himself.

"FEAR NOT, HUMAN. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL TEACH YOU EVERYTHING I KNOW OF MERCY."

"Y-yeah. You've already taught me, a lot."

"IT'S SETTLED THEN! WE SHALL ASSIST YOU THROUGH THE UNDERGROUND?"

"Please? I'm not royal, but I can't think of a better guard to have. I won't have to be scared, with you there to protect me."

"WOWIE!" He felt his face flush, and was powerless to stop it; even though such compliments were only to be expected for someone of his greatness, it was a true but ironic fact that his brother was one of the two people who ever bothered to utter them out loud. He appreciated it from Sans and Undyne, but it was extra special to hear from someone who hadn't known him for a very long time. "I MEAN, NATURALLY! HUM… ER, DO YOU HAVE A NAME, HUMAN?"

"Yeah. I'm Frisk. But I don't mind if you call me human. It's okay."

"WELL, HUMAN, UM, FRISK, THIS IS YOUR FIRST PUZZLE. AND YOU PASSED IT WITH FLYING COLORS! YOU SEE, TO SOLVE THIS PUZZLE, YOU HAD TO UNDERSTAND THE VALUE OF FRIENDSHIP, AND MERCY, AND TAKING THE BLAME TO CHANGE THE X'S TO O'S, AND LOOK!" He quickly walked across the three X's, changing them to O'S. "YOU SEE? I AM HELPING YOU ALREADY! ON TO THE NEXT PUZZLE!"

The electricity maze was… pretty much the same. "FEAR NOT, HUMAN. THE LESSON HERE IS THAT WE ARE FRIENDS, AND I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL FIGURE IT OUT FOR YOU! NOW… LET'S SEE… WHAT DID I CHANGE THE PATH, TO?"

*um… maybe we just oughta turn it off, huh?

"AND NOT SOLVE IT, SANS?"

"Um… I have an idea…"

They turned, and watched Frisk walk around the puzzle. Which was practically cheating, and yet… "AN INVENTIVE SOLUTION AND NOBODY GOT HURT! YES! THAT WAS THE TRUE TEST OF THIS PUZZLE! NYEH, HEH, HEH! AND NOW, ON TO THE NEXT PUZZLE! SANS MADE THIS ONE."