Hello everyone and happy holidays!
My Christmas has been kind of busy, I hope you've had it well with your celebrations. I wanted to post this chapter on Christmas Eve, but I never got the time to do so.
But here's the next chapter! A few more things on my theory of the world is explained and a few hints to how Byakuran has changed Underground during his stay. It's not a complete explanation, because it's supposed to stay hidden. I had a lot of fun writing this story.
Warning for bad puns... Still not that good at them...
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"hey, Byakuran."
The white haired man turns away from talking to his fans when he hears that familiar voice, his smile growing wider when he sees Sans approaching. At the moment, Byakuran has some free time. Mettaton wants to shoot the show with Frisk alone, just like he always does, so this time Byakuran spends his time in the lobby talking to any monster who wants to talk to him. It's a surprise that Sans came, he's usually at his job around this time. But Sans is very lazy in nature so he might be using Byakuran as a reason to skip.
"Sans-kun. How nice of you to visit, I haven't seen you in a while. Is your work in Hot land too hot for you?"
The monsters around him chuckle at his joke attempt, including Sans. The only time Byakuran tries to make jokes is around Sans, because he doesn't see any point in trying for anyone else. Sans is a lot more interesting than other monsters as well as Papyrus, Undyne and Frisk. Only those monsters and human deserves any effort from Byakuran in his opinion, since they amuse him in return with their big roles in Underground as well as the situations they create around themselves. But it's still only towards Sans that Byakuran tries to crack a joke or two.
"yeah, a little. I forgot my sunglasses at home today."
Now this is something Byakuran hasn't heard before as he opens his eyes, looking curiously at Sans. The skeleton has stopped a few feet away, not wanting to get too close to Byakuran with his fans around him. Sans just get the feeling that doing so would not bode too well on his part…
"How would sunglasses help? The flames too eye catching?" Byakuran chuckles softly when he realise that what he just said could be taken as another pun, feeling quite proud of himself. He's getting better at it. Bluebell and Kikyo are going to find him so infuriating once he comes back to the surface.
"nah, sunglasses makes you cooler."
Byakuran has to laugh at that one. The way he says those jokes in a laid back way just cracks him up every time. Byakuran never knew he liked bad jokes until he met Sans, there haven't been much humor in his life other than playing around with other people's reactions. It's a welcome experience. Sans is a very good comedian, Byakuran really needs to remember that one once he gets home. But he also gets the feeling that Sans has to talk to him about something important, something concerning the RESETS.
"I'll never be able to keep up with you on jokes, you're just too good. Or bad according to Papyrus." Byakuran says while backing away from his fans slightly, turning completely towards Sans with a bright smile. A few monsters walk away, knowing that the two friends must want to talk if Byakuran does that. But some are still persistent to talk to the man from the prophesy and stays, fidgeting slightly when Byakuran's attention isn't on them anymore. They had more questions to ask after all, not only about himself as a savior of monsters but also to him as a somewhat TV star.
"well, maybe. Pap has gotten tired of my eggcellent puns. or it's just easy to crack you up." Sans pauses for a short moment to let Byakuran's chuckles die out, a large grin on the skeleton's face. But he did come here for a reason, a very important reason. Since Byakuran is on a break, it shouldn't be any problem either. With a serious light in his eye sockets, Sans stare at Byakuran, keeping his hands in his pockets.
"but before that, I have a few questions to ask. is that ok?"
Byakuran opens his eyes fully, noticing how serious Sans is and gets serious in return. It really is about the RESETS. After staring intently back at Sans for only a moment, Byakuran puts his cheerful smile back on his face with a small nod. He wouldn't want the other monsters to know something is off about him after all.
"Of course! Anything for a friend." Byakuran turns towards the monsters who are still present, his smile turning apologetic as he holds up his hand in farewell. "I'm sorry about this, but don't hesitate to approach me some other time."
With that being said, Byakuran walks towards Sans, his eyes opening once again to stare intensely at the skeleton. Sans can't help but feel uncomfortable when he sees those eyes, so serious and all-knowing. As if Byakuran knows every single piece there is to Sans. Suppressing a shudder, the skeleton turns around and walk out from the MTT building, still tense since those eyes brings up a sense of Deja Vu through his whole being. It's like he's literally looking through the skeleton's soul. Sans uses one of his shortcuts to get them to the place where he knows they won't get bothered, one of his guard posts.
Sans reaction to the human's stare is quite amusing to Byakuran. This has happened before, so he knows exactly what Sans is going to ask about. But he lets the trip to where Sans want to go stay quiet, enjoying how the laid back skeleton can get so unnerved by simply receiving a hard stare. He should have done this earlier last time this happened if it would get this kind of reaction.
Once they've arrived, Sans lets out a small breath in relief when Byakuran's intense stare doesn't feel as intense anymore and sits down on one of the two chairs inside his booth, hands still in his pockets. He looks up expectantly at Byakuran, gesturing to the chair in front of him with his ever present grin.
"might as well sit down. this'll take a while."
Byakuran nods, smiling back with his eyes closed and elegantly sits down on the chair, leaning back on the backrest and pressing his wings against it. It doesn't hurt at all to place his wings in this position. He's gotten so used to the wings that he barely feels them anymore. Crossing his arms over his chest, a carefree aura around him, Byakuran decides to start the conversation instead of Sans.
"You want to talk about the RESETS, don't you?"
Sans tenses up, white dots in his eye sockets shrinking slightly in surprise. He quickly recovers though and shrugs, closing his eyes lazily. It is quite remarkable how quick Sans can cover up his emotions and go back to being laid back, truly remarkable. He would be a great asset later on.
"heh, you saw right through me, buddy. tibia honest, I thought I had to ask you questions about it. but that wouldn't be humerus for you, would it?"
With his smile transforming into a grin, Byakuran has to fight hard so he won't laugh. That Sans would crack skeleton jokes in this serious situation is unthinkable to Byakuran and it amuses him even more. If something is serious, it's supposed to stay serious. But perhaps Byakuran hoped too much that he would be able to make Sans break his facade enough to show confusion or shock. But he will never know unless he tries, so Byakuran will continue on his small plan to make the skeleton as confused as possible.
"Nope~. I always like a good show. No pun intended."
Sans grin seems to widen at that, taking out a hand from his pocket to hold it up into the air lazily. Sans has a sense of Deja Vu again, this situation has happened before. But he doesn't know in what way or why, which is slightly annoying to him. Byakuran knows about the RESETS, that much is certain. But is Byakuran the cause of them? That's the question Sans really want to be answered, the main reason why he wanted to talk to the 'angel' alone. Because if they start talking about this stuff with other monsters, they'll simply be confused since they aren't even aware of how time repeats itself.
"but there can never be too many puns. it's simply puntastic."
Byakuran laughs softly, shaking his head in disbelief. Why can't Sans take this seriously like last time? Saying puns to make him laugh, in this situation it's hard to believe that Sans is as analytic as he is. Taking a serious conversation as something he can use to make bad puns is truly remarkable.
"You always surprise me in different ways, Sans-kun. I thought I would make you confused or shocked at least once. But maybe you're too good of a player for me to read you easily."
That gets another reaction from Sans, something Byakuran actually anticipated from what the skeleton himself has told him other timelines. So Byakuran relaxes slightly and dims down his smile when he sees that the pupils in Sans eyes disappear from his sockets. Now, he'll be able to steer the conversation how he wants it to go. To let Sans stay quiet while Byakuran throws a lot of information all at once in his face. He's certain it will make Sans confused for once.
"... player? so you're one of those controlling the RESETS? you really do see all of this as a game."
Although, he hadn't anticipated that Sans would accuse him for the source of the resets, nor that Sans would make his left eye glow in an eerily blue colour. This has only happened once before, when Sans felt the need to force information out of him. Byakuran would rather not be held up against a wall again, which he still hasn't figured out how it works, so he quickly holds up his hands to try and calm down the skeleton. Byakuran's smile is slightly strained, which makes Sans wonder what he could have done in the other timelines to make Byakuran of all people nervous of him. Nothing seems to face the 'angel' in terms of power nor in a conversation.
"No, no. I can't control the RESETS, I'm trying to stop them. Having time jump back and forth will eventually tear this world apart and I don't want that to happen." This information causes Sans to lose the light in his eye and go back to having his normal pupils as he pays close attention to what Byakuran is saying. Knowing that the use of magic is out of the way, Byakuran once again feels at ease and lean back against the chair, putting one of his hands in his lap. "There's no need to be so suspicious, Sans-kun. I've told you all of this before." Byakuran looks up into the roof with a comically surprised expression, putting his raised hand on his chin instead. "Oh, I forgot. Only me and Frisk-chan remember everything. Sorry~."
Sans frowns slightly as he tries to come up with a face which matches the name 'Frisk', but nothing comes to mind. Byakuran says everyone's name with a -chan or -kun added to it but Sans doesn't know why. It must be something specifically for humans on the surface so he doubts he'll understand it anyway. He is also a little irritated that Byakuran would mock him on how he can't remember everything in every timeline but that irritation is easily bypassed.
Sans glances out towards the opening of his station, just to make sure no one is there to listen in. When he doesn't see anyone, he look back towards Byakuran. The 'angels' smile has grown even wider. Sans is cautious, which is always good to see.
"you and Frisk? who's that?"
Byakuran nods his head slightly, really glad he asked that question at least. He thought that would happen. He gestures towards Sans, still keeping one hand placed in his lap. It would have been more comfortable for him if he was sitting in a sofa like he usually did, but beggars can't be choosers.
"See? You don't remember. Even when they told us their name in your house, very quiet but they did say their name. It's kind of sad, really. You would have had enough 'determination' to remember too if you just don't feel like everything is useless. Seeing things repeat over and over, it would get quite tiring if you never try to change your routine."
Byakuran lifts his hands in a shrug when Sans frowns in a glare, he isn't faced by Sans stare if the risk of magic being involved isn't there. Otherwise, the short chubby skeleton doesn't pose any threat to him. Byakuran doesn't know who the strongest is, and he would rather not find out yet either. He needs to research more on how magic works before attempting to fight the skeleton.
"well, like you said, I don't remember every RESET. how am I supposed to know when I'm doing the same thing and when I'm doing something different?" Sans says and reaches over towards a shelf inside his station. He takes a bottle of ketchup and look towards Byakuran in a silent question if he wants some. Byakuran quickly shakes his head, a slightly disgusted look on his face at the thought of trying ketchup like that again. "besides, it's not the Deja Vu feeling that makes everything useless, just that everything will go back to how it was before that. before all this ever happened. since that's going to happen over and over, why bother putting more effort than needed?"
Sans takes a gulp of ketchup and seems to get even more relaxed by its familiar taste. Byakuran can't understand how he can drink so much ketchup like that, it isn't needed at all in his opinion. Byakuran would prefer sweets over anything. But the human quickly controls his expression and smiles again towards Sans.
"That might be true…" Watching Sans drink ketchup makes a thought come to Byakuran which makes him smirk slightly. "Did you know that in another timeline, you love mustard instead?."
Sans look at him, blinking a few times in surprise that he would know something like that. Sans leans forward, interested to hear more. He knows about other timelines and universes, but he has never been able to look through them. Byakuran could do that all this time? Is that why he knows so much? Then it might not be such a surprise that he knows what he does.
"really? you can see them?"
"Of course." Byakuran says with a cheerful smile as he turns his head towards the opening to Sans station. They're still in Hot land it seems. He watches Sans reaction out of the corner of his eye. "Ever since I came here, I've always known about the other timelines in here. But I can't grasp a clear picture of those timelines, just small glimpses. Since I remember everything, I know so much more about everyone in this world." Byakuran turns towards Sans again. The skeleton is still quiet as he stares at Byakuran, leaning forward while still holding onto his bottle of ketchup. But he leans back in his chair again when Byakuran looks at him, the dots in his eyes dimming slightly as if he's off into his own thoughts. Perhaps it's impossible to make Sans react like Byakuran wants him to. But he has a few more cards up his sleeve.
"It's quite curious how there are so many more worlds other than this Underground and this world's Surface. I can see it all and I have never once ended up in Underground. It's very refreshing to find a new place I've never known about with so many secrets to unravel. If I didn't have my ability, I doubt I would be as comfortable as I am right now. It has saved me from a lot of misunderstandings."
Sans know Byakuran isn't a threat to him, they are friends after all, but Sans can't help but feel a little uncomfortable when Byakuran reveals how much knowledge he can have. But also fascinated since he's interested in those other timelines. For all Sans know, this world has been reset many times already and no one but Byakuran and 'Frisk' remembers everything from each timeline. But how can he still keep his memories when even Sans doesn't remember everything? Is it something only human souls can do?
That thought jolts a memory within Sans, making his eyes go black again. That's right…. This guy… He's a human. Frisk is that human child who entered Underground. He's not an 'angel' like he told everyone… He's not the 'savior of monsters' like everyone think he is... Byakuran is actually a human. A normal human who's tricking everyone to believe that he's the angel everyone wants him to be when he's really a human with just some wings attached to him. Sans has always had that suspicion, but it was never confirmed. Even the king said Angel monsters existed once after all and Byakuran is very kind to all monsters. Just what is his goal in being here?
"and one of those is about you, isn't it?" Sans say, staring intently at Byakuran with a small glimmer of blue appearing in his left eye due to his determination to know the truth. "why have you lied to everyone about being a monster when you're really a human? and especially about being this 'angel of prophecy'."
"At least I'm somewhat honest with my origins." Byakuran cuts in automatically so he'll come back 'on top' of the conversation. But when the glimmer of blue disappears from Sans eye and the skeleton tenses up, Byakuran actually feels… bad over saying that. His origins must be a very private one if simply mentioning it would get that reaction from Sans. But it is true, Sans has never told him when and how he and Papyrus came to Snowdin but was happy to talk about other monsters. Same with Papyrus actually, which is very curious. Byakuran shouldn't pry, but it's simply a reflex for him to take any information he has and use it against the one he's talking to so it will make them as shocked, hurt or angry as possible. But that isn't his intentions with Sans, he… Yuni and Tsunayoshi has influenced him more than Byakuran thought.
He sighs softly, running a hand through his hair as he stares down at the floor. He has never felt bad about saying anything to anyone, this is certainly a first. It must be because Sans is the most amusing person in underground, that has to be it.
"Sorry, sorry, that was out of line. But all monsters want to be freed and they believe the only way to do that is to gather 7 manifestations of human souls to break the barrier. If I told them I was human, the royal guard would have hunted me and I would have never done this much in Underground. Being seen as a saviour helped my cause. And it would be such a shame if this interesting world would get destroyed, knowing that I could have done something about it."
After a few seconds of silence, Sans take a deep breath before his pupils appear again. His posture still seem tense, but he netherless looks at Byakuran. But something about that gaze makes something... tightened in his chest. He only felt like this when he made Yuni disappointed or cry, it has never happened when he has said something out of line. Either this place is affecting him in strange ways, or he actually sees Sans as a precious friend. … The first option is more possible in his opinion. He doesn't need anyone other than Yuni. … Or does he?
"you're saying there's another way?"
"Of course there is, but where's the fun in telling that?" Byakuran answers easily, as if he doesn't have any conflicted thoughts inside his head. But Sans can feel that Byakuran is a little less 'energetic' as he was before. So with a small huff, Sans relaxes a little more in his chair. Perhaps this human isn't as complicated as he make himself seem, he actually feels bad about bringing up Sans past. This makes the skeleton feel a little better, that Byakuran regrets mentioning it. "Even if I did tell you, the world would just reset again, the cykle won't end unless we focus on the problem."
"you mean the thing with 'Time is changing'."
This comment makes Byakuran blinks once, slightly surprised but hides it behind an expertly performed smile. When did Sans have the time to write that down? Or does he remember? If so, why didn't he bring it up before? That was said three timelines ago. Sans grin widens, as if he knows that Byakuran is surprised. But that's impossible.
"Yes, that's right. Time in other worlds are constantly changing while I'm here. One moment, I'm watching the same time I'm in, then I see far off into the future. Time holds no solid value in here. Though I doubt it has been like this constantly, because if that were the case I would have known about monsters. But something that happened here caused time to shift outside of this place while still keep going normally in here. It is a very curious phenomena. I have a theory but it's not certain."
Sans shrugs lightly, lifting his hands in the air with the shrug. A theory is better than nothing. But Sans still get the feeling that he won't really like what he'll hear. Not because of Deja Vu, but just a feeling. He'll probably like the content, but not how he got hold of the information.
"you can tell me. any theory is better than none. two skulls are better than one, am I right?"
Byakuran nods, making his smile disappear to show the seriousness of this situation. This phenomena shouldn't be possible if it was performed in the right way, but they obviously didn't have the same kind of resources he and Shoichi did. He is also slightly worried that Sans will get angry enough to use his magic again. Byakuran doesn't enjoy the feeling of losing control of his limbs or that something is moving him through taking hold of his core.
"Something was built in this place which affected the whole world. Not for a single person like it was planned, but I believe because of a malfunction it affected this place within the barrier. I have never heard of Underground or monsters, because it never existed. Perhaps it was destroyed, or perhaps it was transported… The energy from this world came out of nowhere, Sans. All of this has something to do with the time machine."
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Aaand time machine theory is revealed! It stretches much deeper than that, but neither you nor Byakuran knows about that yet. Muahaha~.
Don't hesitate to ask me questions, and please leave a review. Oh, and check out my blog Flametale if you're interested. See ya soon~.