Just warning you guys, this chapter contains coarser language than normal. Also, depression and existential crises warnings are present as well. If that doesn't sit well with you, turn back now. Otherwise, please tell me how I did.


Both Selendis and Frisk were glad that there was a quick way back to Snowdin from Hotland, thanks to information provided by some royal guards that didn't notice that they were human. However, Tenebris stayed silent for the whole trip to Snowdin, slowly losing a battle of self-worth.

He wanted to protected them. They are everything to him and he wanted to protect what he held dear. But in the end, he was the one who had to be protected, the one to be saved like a sick kitten. He was the one what was too weak in the end; that the battle was meaningless because of his weakness. Because of all of this, his depression was coming back with a vengeance, and he's completely clammed up. Selendis assumed that it was because of how tired and in pain he was.

When they reached the backs of Snowdin, they immediately rushed to the house of the skeleton brothers. Papyrus happened to be leaving when they stopped in front of it. "WELL, HEY! DID YOU MANAGE-" He cut himself off when he saw the condition Tenebris was in. "INSIDE, QUICKLY!"

When Tenebris was put on the couch, Papyrus immediately put a hand over the human's still bleeding left eye and it started glowing with magic. Tenebris felt his eye slowly start feeling better, no longer stinging like there was a thousand needles stuck in it. It also, seemingly, restored some of his magic back, but it didn't help his slowly worsening mood. If anything, getting help like this drove him further into the back of his mind.

Selendis looked curious. "You know healing magic, Papyrus?"

"YES! IT'S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY UNDYNE WANTS ME IN THE ROYAL GUARD. BUT THAT'S BESIDE THE POINT. HOW ARE YOU FEELING, TENEBRIS?"

"Huh? Oh, uh... I'm fine. Just... thinking about things. Thanks for the... heal, Papyrus." He looked to the side, a bit of sadness in his eyes, and didn't see Selendis' look of disbelief.

Papyrus didn't register the melancholy in Tenebris' voice. "NOT A PROBLEM! NOW WHERE DID SANS GO OFF TO WHEN WE HAVE GUESTS?"

"right here, bro." Frisk yelped as Sans appeared right behind her. "had to go do something quick."

Selendis sighed. "Weren't you at the entrance to Hotland, sleeping?"

Papayrus looked outraged. "SLEEPING ON THE JOB AGAIN?! IF UNDYNE SAW YOU DOING THAT, YOU WOULD BE FIRED!"

"She did see him, while she was chasing us." Frisk stated in a matter-of-fact voice.

Papyrus looks at Sans with his jaw hanging open from shock. Sans simply shrugged. "hey, don't worry about it. i'm sure she'll give me another pass again. after all, i 'was' on job rather than off the job."

"YOU USED THAT SAME EXCUSE LAST TIME! AND THE ONES BEFORE THAT! HOW DO YOU MANAGED TO KEEP YOUR JOB?!"

"that's for me to know and for you to find out." Papyrus facepalmed with a loud groan while Selendis shook her head. Frisk giggled, but Sans noticed that Tenebris didn't even react. Looking over at the shadow-eyed human, he thought he saw encroaching despair forming on his face, worrying the skeleton.

"ANYWAYS, BROTHER. I WAS THINKING THAT THE HUMANS NEED SOME REST AFTER SUCH A TRYING TIME. PERHAPS WE CAN ACCOMMODATE THEM SO THAT THEY DON'T HAVE TO SLEEP IN THAT INN?"

Sans rolled his eyes. "hey, that's fine with me. after all, no reason for them not to 'drop on inn'."

Selendis groaned. "I'm seriously considering the hotel now. Sounds better than having to deal with Sans' puns; I get them enough from Tenebris."

Tenebris snapped to attention from hearing his name. Now that he thought about it more, he didn't want anybody noticing his encroaching depression getting worse. "Aw come on, Selendis. Where's your 'funny bone'?"

"TENEBRIS, WE DON'T NEED YOU JOINING IN AS WELL!"

Tenebris forced a grin. "Come on, Papyrus, why so 'sternum'? I'm just 'ribbing' you guys." Papyrus let out an anguished cry and Selendis took her turn facepalming while Frisk was trying, and failing, to hold back her laughter. "What's the matter? Don't you find this bone-punnary... humerus?"

Selendis pointed at Tenebris. "That's it, you're sleeping outside tonight!"

Sans rolled his eyes. "aw come on, selendis. can't you see he's on 'femur'?" He tried his best to say it naturally without wavering. He could tell Tenebris just slipped on a 'mask' and was trying to cover... something up.

Papyrus let out a heavy sigh. "TO BE FAIR, IT IS REMINDING ME OF HOW WE MET. SANS AND TENERBIS ARE SO SIMILAR, I'D BE SUSPICIOUS IF THEY WEREN'T MAKING BAD JOKES AND PUNS." That signaled to Tenebris that his facade was working... which oddly deepened his depression even further.

Selendis hummed. "I doubt it, sometimes, but I have to agree with you. I can't really put a permanent stop to them from Tenebris because Frisk likes his puns."

Frisk giggled and elbowed her sister. "Selly, are you sure you don't 'secretly' like Tenny's' puns? I always see a ghost of a smile whenever he makes one."

"Ex-CUSE me, I beg to differ. Besides, How can you see it if it's a ghost of a-" She covered her face and let out a muffled groan of agony.

Tenebris gave her a shaky thumbs up. "I'm so proud of you, Selendis!"

"SHUT UP!"

Papyrus nervously clapped his hands together. "RIGHT, WE SHOULD GET YOU THREE ACCOMMODATED! THE ONLY THING I CAN'T FIGURE OUT YET IS WHERE EVERYONE IS SLEEPING."

After a tour of the house, save for Sans' room, and the shed, nothing definitive was set for sleeping arrangements. Papyrus had another run-in with the white dog that 'stole' his special attack during his battle with the humans, earning a trombone from Sans and Papyrus yelling, "STOP PLAGUING MY LIFE WITH INCIDENTAL MUSIC!"

After a bit, Sans got up from the couch. "welp, i'm going to grillby's."

Papyrus looked dismayed. "AGAIN? I'M ABOUT TO MAKE SPAGHETTI FOR DINNER. DON'T TELL ME YOU PLAN ON EATING THERE!"

"nah, bro. just figured i'd go see if there's been anything new going on in the underground."

Tenebris hesitated for a moment before saying, "A-actually.. Sans, mind if I join you?"

"NOT YOU TOO, TENEBRIS!"

Selendis gave him an odd look. "Why do you want to go there when Papyrus offered us a meal?"

"I figured I could discuss my next level of training with Sans while there. It worked out well the last time we discussed it there, so why fix what's not broken?" In truth, he just wanted some distance from the sisters, some room to breath and maybe try and filter out his depression before it got too bad. It was still worsening, and his facade wasn't helping his case.

Sans had to resist smiling a bit wider. He knew Tenebris would take this chance to go somewhere else, where there wouldn't be many prying eyes or ears and he wanted to know what was devouring the human's conscience. "that sounds about fine with me and don't worry, pap. i'll make sure he has an empty stomach for dinner."

Papyrus looked torn as the sisters looked at each other, wondering if it was alright. "FINE, YOU WIN. JUST DON'T COME HOME TOO LATE. I KNOW TENEBRIS ABSORBS HIS TRAINING FASTER THAN JERRY CAN MAKE MONSTERS FLEE, WHY THAT IS I DON'T KNOW, BUT THAT'S NO EXCUSE TO BOONDOGGLE."

"i know, i know. see you in a little bit, then." With that, Sans and Tenebris left the house and wandered over to Grillby's. When they arrived, the only other person besides Grillby himself was the Greater Dog, who seemed to be focused on a crossword of sorts. Grillby gave them an odd look, but didn't comment.

After getting seated, an awkward silence sprung up between the human and the skeleton. Tenebris tried to force down his depression before nerviously saying, "S-so, about t-that train-"

"Buddy, tell me what's eating at you." Tenebris recoiled when he heard Sans' serious voice. It didn't sound scary, but he knew what it meant. "You were clammed up when you first went into my house and I could tell you put up a facade to fool the sisters. You didn't want them to worry... but I can tell they're worried regardless." Silence once again sprung between the two. Sans looked at the human out of the corner of his eye and saw an incredibly conflicted face.

Tenebris finally sighed. "Grillby, give me a drink, the strongest thing you have on hand..." He knew he was underage and that he had lost his family to it. But he knew that Sans had him cornered and he really, REALLY didn't want to talk about it. He needed a drink... he needed something, anything, to ease the pain that had been torturing him ever since he was rescued. When he saw Grillby's hesitation, he gave the fire monster a hard glare before he relented and slid a drink in front of the human.

Sans was taken aback. "whoa, buddy. i know we aren't supposed to eat anything, but-" He cut himself short when Tenebris downed the drink in one go before coughing harshly from how it burned going down. Sans knew that he was already too late to stop the human; monster alcohol acted to monsters as human alcohol did to humans. Monster alcohol mainly spreads throughout the monster's magic to achieve intoxication, but when a human, let alone a human with magic concentrated in his soul, drinks monster alcohol, he stands little chance.

One drink, and Tenebris was already blushing and unstable from intoxication.

Sans knew Selendis and Papyrus were going to kill him for this, so he decided to take advantage of the situation. "Seriously, buddy, what happened to drive you to the point of drinking alcohol?"

He got silence again and both him and Grillby exchanged worried looks. They gave a start when Tenebris suddenly said, "H.. hey... Sans... tell me... what's... what's the point in working hard?"

"huh? what are you talking about?"

"What's the point... in doing anything..? Nothing... nothing ever fucking matters!" Sans recoiled when Tenebris slammed the counter in a rage, which got the Greater Dog's attention as well. "What's the point when all that comes out of it is failure?! TELL ME!"

Sans backed away a bit, the human's eye pouring out mist and fire. "w-whoa, p-please calm down, bu-"

The fire in Tenebris' eye intensified even more. "Don't you 'buddy' me, you fucking skeleton! YOU weren't the one who was treated like a fucking lab rat! YOU aren't the one who's treated like a cosmic plaything! I worked for a goal, I expended all of my energy and put my life for a purpose. For what?! For a fucking failure?! Is that all I'm destined to achieve is failure?!"

Sans connected the dots from the 'lab rat' part. Now he knew why Tenebris had his magic, though he would of preferred learning about it from a sober Tenebris. "W-what brought all of this-"

"HAH! Of course you wouldn't know! You wouldn't know what it's like to have a wish to protect those you care about! You wouldn't know what it's like to try and protect and save, only to be the one protected by those you wanted to protect! For everything I did, none of it ever fucking mattered in the end!" Tenebris gave Sans a hard, soul-piercing glare.

What caught the skeleton off guard even more was when the human's face slowly softened and he let out a chocked sob, the purple fire instantly dying out. "None of it mattered to them. I... I wanted to protect them... I was the one who had the power to do so... but it didn't matter in the end. For all my power, I may as well of been an unneeded extra." His sobs got more intense. "W-what's the point in my existence? N-nothing... nothing ever mattered. F-for all my worth, I could of been non-existent and nothing would of changed. They would of been able to save themselves... saved themselves from a danger they had to save me from..."

Sans was even more horrified than when Tenebris was in a rage. He was breaking down and having an existential crisis. The worst part? He was correct; Sans knew he was an anomaly in the time-line, meaning that he was right about whatever just happened. "c-come on, buddy. don't think like that. don't think your existence is meaningless."

"Stop lying to me! Nothing... I'm a nothing... that's... that's all I am in the end: a worthless nobody!" Tenebris sobbed a bunch more times, clear and dark purple tears beginning to fall, before he shook his head pitifully. "Why... why create when it'll only be destroyed. W-why cling to life... knowing... knowing that you have to die? None of it... none of it will have meant anything once you... once you do."

Sans remained silent. This was worse than one of his fits of depression and they're merely about his knowledge of this time-loop they seem to be eternally stuck in. Sans wasn't surprised when Grillby walked around the counter and sat down with Tenebris, who had put his head into his arms and started crying. "Talk to me. I am here for you. All of us are."

Tenebris gave Grillby a surprised look before looking at Sans, who nodded and put his hand on his shoulder. When he heard a whine, he looked back to see a very sad Greater Dog, who had exited his armor and was nuzzling his leg, trying to reassure him. The human broke down sobbing again. "Sorry... I'm sorry..."

They stayed like that until the sobbing ceased and there was only silence from Tenebris. Sans let out a sigh. "i'll... get this kid home. sorry about that, grillby." He got a nod and the fire monster went back around the counter before motioning that he wouldn't charge for the drink. Sans nodded in thanks before tapping Tenebris. "c'mon, bud. let's get you back. you need rest." The human merely nodded and let Sans carry him via piggy-back, like Papyrus always did for him whenever he got drunk. Sans quickly found out that Tenebris was very light for a human his size, which only worried him further.

When they exited Grillby's, it had started snowing which gave the town a very melancholy feel. As he slowly walked towards his house, Sans wondered how the sisters would react to Tenebris being drunk... or to his existential crisis. If he was honest with himself, they were the only ones who can help him through his feelings of worthlessness.

When he got to his house, he realized he couldn't open the door by himself. Grunting, he gave the door a few kicks and hoped Papyrus would answer. His hope came true. "WHO'S THERE- SANS, WHAT HAPPENED?"

Sans sighed. "this kid managed to get his hands on some alcohol and... well... it's kinda a long story." He could hear Selendis fussing over Frisk in the dining room, meaning that they didn't hear their return. Papyrus looked at Tenebris, who had a dead-to-the-world 50-yard stare that was topped by an intoxicated blush, and sighed before letting them in. Sans, thankful that Papyrus wasn't asking questions yet, put the drunk human onto the sofa, where he merely sat there, staring forward.

Papyrus inhaled a shaky breath. "S-SANS... CAN... I ASK WHAT'S GOING ON? THIS... ISN'T RIGHT AT ALL..."

Before Sans could respond, Frisk came out into the living room to see what was going on and to escape her sister's fussing over her manners. She stopped dead when she saw Tenebris in his current condition. "T-T-Tenny?"

Selendis came out upon hearing Frisk's worried voice and gasped when she beheld Tenebris. "Sans, what happened? I thought you two simply went to Grillby's?"

"we did. thing is... well he got his hands on some monster alcohol and... this is the result. i stayed by him to make sure he didn't fly off the handle but... well, he did, but not in the way i was expecting."

Now Selendis looked livid. "What are you talking about? Do you realize he's underage?!"

Sans sighed. "you'd undertand if you heard the full story. thing is... i would say you should hear it from tenebris, but... well, as you can see, he's... clammed up now..."

Papyrus gave Tenebris a discerning look. "THIS IS... UNSETTLINGLY SIMILAR TO WHENEVER YOU HAVE ONE OF YOUR DEPRESSED DRUNKEN RAGES, RIGHT DOWN TO THAT VACANT STARE."

The sisters gave Sans a horrified stare as he nods. "that's... the abridged version of it. thing is, pap, anything you heard about my depressed attitude when i'm drunk? tenebris... is far deeper sunk into his depression than i would ever be." Papryus gave Sans a stunned stare.

"B-but... why? H-he was just fine before you guys left." Selendis was grasping at straws at this point. She knew Tenebris was troubled by something earlier, but she didn't think it was too serious.

Sans shook his head. "it... has something to do with you two, i have to be blunt." He didn't know how to tell them the situation when he remembered something. "perhaps an echo flower could help?"

Papyrus looked confused for a second until realization flashed across his face and bolted out the door. This didn't register with the sisters, with Frisk trying to get a reaction out of Tenebris, though Selendis was curious. "How... will an echo flower help?"

"well, you already know how they work as flowers, right? thing is, if you boil the flower into a tea and have someone drink it, they'll run through what they said and done within the hour. it's the only way i can think of to get tenebris to talk." Sans shook his head again as he looked at Frisk, who looked like she was about to break down herself. "papyrus used one to find out that i was in a depressed rage after having to pick me up from grillby's, hence why he knows about it."

Selendis merely looked at Tenebris with immense worry in her eyes. Papyrus burst through the door again and headed into the kitchen and soon after, there was a whistling of a tea kettle. Papyrus brought out a mug with echo flower tea inside. "H-HERE, TENEBRIS. MAYBE THIS MIGHT HELP YOU FEEL BETTER?"

Tenebris nodded numbly and, to everyone's shock, downed the whole mug in one go. He coughed harshly before looking down. The sisters jumped when he suddenly started saying, "H.. hey... Sans... tell me... what's... what's the point in working hard?"

Sans sighed as he managed to bleep out the curse words that flew out of a re-enraged Tenebris, more so for Frisk rather than Papyrus. Papyrus already knew curse words because of his own echo tea moments, but Frisk didn't need to know.

During Tenebris' rage, the sisters looked horrified. They've never seen him so... angry in the time they have known him. What horrified them even more was when he dropped his rage... and delved into his existential crisis. The fact that he wanted to protect them, yet they protected him instead. His only measure of self-worth is his ability to protect them, yet he feels he failed miserably and question the reason behind his own existence before saying some downright nihilistic things.. Frisk wanted to comfort Tenebris, to tell him that wasn't the case and that things would be different without him. Everybody looked shocked when Tenebris had just ended his nihilistic quotes.

Right after he was done, Selendis smacked him across the face. That broke him out of his echo tea state and he gave Selendis a tear-filled stare full of hurt. She trembled as she gritted her teeth. "You... you idiot! You were trying to protect us? That may of been true, but after everything is said and done, you were simply throwing your life away! That's not protecting us at all! You protected us from Undyne, but you failed to do so against something that would hurt us more than Undyne could ever hope to accomplish! What did you hope to gain from needlessly sacrificing yourself like that?!"

Tenebris looked away, tears still welling up in his eyes. Selendis looked down, trembling even more. "Tenebris... please... don't treat your life like it's expendable, like it holds no meaning. Frisk and I... we care about you. You... you're family to us. We couldn't of just left you behind like that. We couldn;t live with ourselves if we just left you to die like that." Now she had tears in her eyes as she gave him a stern look. "Please... don't treat your existence like that. We care about your existence. I... we don't want to imagine what it's like without you down here with us. Your existence means something... you mean something to us."

Tenebris looked back just as Frisk gave him a hug, crying her eyes out. "P-please, Tenny. D-don't think about yourself like that... not ever again!"

Tenebris couldn't handle it anymore as he started to full on cry again. "I'm sorry... I'm so... sorry... please... forgive me..." Selendis drew him and Frisk into her own hug, trying to comfort them.

Sans and Papyrus looked at the scene with soft smiles on their faces. They nodded at each other; they were family and that's how it should be. Papyrus' attention was brought away from the scene when he heard a knock at the front door and answered it, only to be shocked by Undyne's presence. "O-OH... H-HI, UNDYNE..."

Undyne caught a glimpse of the trio of humans she confronted a little while ago and shook her head. "So you took those three in, huh?"

"I-I CAN EXPLAIN-"

"Just come with me, you noodle head. I originally just wanted to affirm something with you, but now I want to talk to you about something."

Payprus looked at the group nervously before exiting the house to join Undyne. "S-SO WHAT DID YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT?"

Undyne sighed. "Don't be nervous, Papyrus. I'm no longer after those three. Seeing them like that in your house... I don't want to tear any of them apart from each other now." She gives a small laugh. "It's funny... despite all my attempts at their lives, they still saved me from certain death." Undyne looks back at Papyrus. "I need to ask, though: what do you think of Tenebris?"

Papyrus looked surprised. "WELL... HE ACTS FAIRLY SIMILARLY TO SANS, YET IT WOULD BE UNFAIR TO CALL THEM EXACTLY THE SAME. THING IS, TENEBRIS SEEMS TO BE LIKE ME IN A WAY. HE PUTS HIS MIND TOWARDS SOMETHING AND DOES HIS BEST TO ACHIEVE IT. IF HE FAILS AT SOMETHING HE VOWED TO DO, HE PUNISHES HIMSELF HARSHLY."

Undyne nodded. "So that's what that was all about. Heh... it's funny how much you learn about someone by fighting them and because of that, I agree with you. Thing is, when he fought me, he wasn't fighting 100%; he was holding back like he merely wanted to force me back. He's the first person in a while besides you, Papyrus, who made me break out into a sweat first time we ever fought."

Papyrus gave her a shocked look. "REALLY?! HE'S TAKING SANS' TRAINING AND HE HAS ONLY FINISHED HIS NOVICE TRAINING! HE'S YET TO CLEAR INTERMEDIATE OR ADVANCED!"

Undyne deadpanned. "Wow, Sans actually doing something? Besides that, the kid was that inexperienced? Ah, well... it's for a good cause, so I won't dock him for it." She shook her head. "But I'm willing to bet that, by those other two protecting him, he took a massive blow to his pride and... will to live. He thinks that our battle was made entirely pointless from that alone."

"HOW DID YOU-"

"I just have a feeling. If there's anything I want you to say to him in my place, it's this: he should be proud to have such great friends, friends who are willing to go back for him."

"UNDYNE... YOU..."

She laughs. "I know it must be really out of character for me to be saying all of this. Thing is, I'm an honorable warrior first and foremost. I respect those humans after everything that's happened. Unfortunately, I can't call anybody off in the rest of Hotland, so be sure to warn them about that, okay?"

Papyrus nods happily and Undyne bids him good-bye. When he went back into the house, he saw Tenebris now sleeping on the couch with Selendis stroking his head and Frisk holding his hand. She motions for him to be quiet and he nods before whispering, "YOU TWO CAN SLEEP IN MY ROOM. I DON'T SLEEP MUCH ANYWAYS, SO IT WORKS OUT." The sisters nod before Frisk lets out a yawn. Selendis leads her upstairs to go to bed after such a trying day.

Sans taps Papyrus on the arm. "tenebris fell asleep not long after undyne dragged you outside. what did she want, anyways?"

"SHE JUST WANTED MY OPINION ON TENEBRIS AND TO TELL ME THAT SHE WON'T BE AFTER THEM ANYMORE."

"that's good. i'll watch over them for now, especially tenebris. while i get the feeling this isn't the first time he's broken down like that, i scincerely hope his soul starts healing. nobody should ever have to go through existential crisis's like that."

Papyrus nodded before covering Tenebris with a blanket and patting him on the head. He wish with all of his soul that the trio of humans can truly find their peace within each other.