Tired, tired with nothing, tired with everything, tired with the world's weight he had never chosen to bear."
- F. Scott Fitzgerald
Some things come from nowhere, those you never expect to happen.
Arial never expected Frisk to come along and SAVE her from a fatal blow, neither did the Disbeliever, nor any of those present there.
Chara held that body she loved so much for a while before it went to the spectral world, crying her heart out and turning back to a confused Papyrus.
His eyesockets grew orange, then blue, before going dim for a minute. Chara wanted to avenge Frisk so badly, but she could not do a thing in this timeline. She knew that her urges would be her downfall.
She cursed the Ribstones in her breath, before looking at where would Arial stand. The mother felt the gazes, that of her son looking for relief, and that of a daughter that hated her guts.
She started by checking on Frisk, who goy badly damaged. Going back to being a ghost SAVE'd him from losing any sort of hold in this world. Arial did the best she could to patch him up, before floating back to Papyrus, who stood there with a spear in his hands.
Sans and Aster did not budge once, they knew they would only get in the way. They simply witnessed how the kid got stabbed, and that was far too familiar.
"that kid loves pointy things, like a certain someone clutching her fist just right here."
"Bonehead, don't ..."
"Indeed, Sans, there is no need to provoke her any further."
Sans sighed, although things were okay with Chara, he could not bring himself to trust her fully just yet.
"MAMA ..."
Everyone turned towards Papyrus hugging thin air, as some skeletal figure appeared from nothing. A tall, slender, and slightly feminine bone figure stood there. She had a few cracks here and there and still held a dagger in her bony hand.
Papyrus kept calling his Mama as she hugged him as long as needed, slowly making him regain some consciousness.
[...
...
...
THAT CAN NOT BE RIGHT ...
THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAN NOT LOSE TO A FAKE MAMA.]
Before he could land a hit, Papyrus got "stabbed" in the ribcage. Dripping black mud filled his surroundings, as a shadow howled and left his body.
Papyrus felt empty.
So empty.
So terribly empty.
Sans had stepped in for a second, aided by his father who took the dagger from an unaware Arial. She too was taken off guard when Papyrus hugged back, crying his SOUL out.
The whole monster family joined in for a hug, including a reluctant Sans. As touching as this bone-ding was, the Comedian had no puns to deliver.
He was no better than Chara, was he?
She, who left the family alone, ran to find her own surrounded by anxious monsters.
"Human! Where is the duo?" yelled a fish monster.
"The Bone Brothers?" said Chara, almost as if she was a Grillby regular.
Everyone else nodded and gulped when the child grinned darkly for a second.
"They're okay, they have ... a sort of family meeting."
Most Snowdin villagers just looked at each other, except Toriel and some old ones. Few knew about that family, and Chara just felt her own Mother grab her for an embrace.
"My child, you are back ..."
She could feel Toriel shaking slightly, perhaps because the Queen thought she would lose her again. Just like her desire of getting Frisk back, Chara was eager to have her mother come along and make memories they longed to have.
Just like all the children that hugged them.
Bunnies, monster kids with and without arms, and children of all statures and species got in and hugged the queen and their human counterparts.
Chara felt something weird inside her, it was not her Love for a human, it was just ... warmth, sheer bloody warmth filling her insides.
For a second, Chara forgot about Frisk ... until Arial whispered to her.
"Princess, the child awaits in your room."
There is nothing stranger than talking to a fellow killer of sorts.
Frisk felt the dread in Sans' voice whenever he was near the grinning, lazy skeleton. Long ago, that vibe never came to mind. Now that a genocide took place, it is as if everything he knew about Sans disappeared.
"kid, why so dodgy? ya scared or somethin' ?"
" ... "
Sans also looked at Frisk with caution, even though he only went through that once. After all, Frisk did kill him on the first try, he was so determined to do so that even Sans was surprised.
Both stood in silence as Frisk lay down on the bed, still ethereal and weak. Although he managed to escape a fatal blow, he got seriously injured and needed some timeout. Chara took her time to come, and Frisk simply gazed at Sans before speaking quietly.
"I am sorry."
" ... "
"I really am"
" ... for what, kid? "
" ... "
"chill out, I ain't gonna hurt ya. Plus, you're already laid back enough now."
Frisk laughed, it was a lame one, but it made him laugh a bit. Sans took some time to defuse the tension, he knew he could snap at the kid if he ever apologized for ...
Killing Papyrus.
Both spent some time chatting like in Grillby's, Frisk being the not-so-clueless child anymore. Sans was still resentful of both children, which made him a little distant at times. Still ...
The bed in Snowdin Inn felt like old times, and Chara climbing the stairs was the clue for Sans to hop in a portal and leave.
"need anything?"
"Two burgs, please !"
"gotcha"
As the knob moved to open the door, you could see a pale girl running hastily into the bed. She hugged the body that had yet to appear, as a torso slowly formed where she snuggled something. Chara looked frightened to see anything wrong with Frisk but sighed when there were no signs of his previous injury.
"Chara."
"You're here"
"I am here, and so you are."
"You are really ... here?"
" I am, Chara."
It took a while for them to learn how to hug again, how to love again, and how to feel again.
Chara was afraid of losing him, Frisk was afraid of losing her. They looked at each other in a hurry, felt each other's skin in a hurry, brushed manes, and caressed cheeks. They stole a few kisses, some strong, some weak. They gasped and felt their heart pound, and fire beneath the flesh. They looked at the deep red, and the tender chocolate.
Chara, however, never had enough.
She grabbed him by the collar and kissed him oh so hard that they both melted in an instant.
Arial was there, watching from afar, hoping she could see her beloved do the same. He was busy being a father again, although it felt far too alien for him. He had been seeing his son's culinary work, and although the taste was questionable, the passion was there.
Sans muffled a laugh as he drank some ketchup swiftly before Aster pinched the bottle just enough to spill a little.
"uh, pops, now i really look like those kids."
"Oh, sans, you never were into drama and bloodshed."
"I CAN HEAR THAT, FATHER !"
Strange indeed.
Beyond strangely flavored spaghetti and wasted ketchup, Aster felt at home for once. Once in a lifetime of Void, he felt he could stop watching timelines unfold. Once in a lifetime, he could just be part of a quiet family time.
"Arial, come on in."
"MAMA?"
" ... "
"Sans, I know you don't want me here yet, but ..."
Sans slowly grabbed his slippers and went through the twenty meters between him and his lost mother ...
... and did a whoopee cushion handshake.
Arial was speechless, so much that Sans could not tell if that worked. She then laughed, hard, so hard you could hear her jaw cackle. Everybody did that afterwards, for the silliest thing ever.
This timeline felt good, for all those lost SOULS.
Papyrus had a rough night that day.
He did a good job keeping a smile all through it, especially when he broke into tears when he was "defeated". The Great Papyrus was no better than those humans who came down here to fill in urges to kill. He just felt that today, that overwhelming darkness that corrupts the heart.
He went to bed like usual, after hearing a bedtime story and snuggling in his dream car. Arial and Aster went to the Inn for the night, while Sans just stayed in his makeshift lab just like every day the God of the Underground made.
Papyrus rolled in his bed, hearing voices he never heard, and saw that wretched flower again.
"KILL OR BE KILLED, THAT IS THE TRUE WAY OF THE UNDERGROUND!"
He heard that so many times while watching monsters die by his hand, then humans, then ...
Sans.
It was as if he was the human genocider, only humans never NYEHEHEHEH. He felt what Frisk and Chara felt. Emptiness in their heart, an urge to throw sharp bones at everything and anything. He could not believe anymore that there was good in the world below the surface, or that he could see parents he never knew much of.
Today, he stayed a bit with his father and fed him his homemade spaghetti. He knew it was not that good, but the monster ate it all and praised his work. The Great Papyrus had sparkles in his eyesockets, which made him cook some more for the days to come.
Yet, that joy went away.
That night, Papyrus stood awake, afraid, unwilling to close his eye sockets. He shivered with a weak nyeh, looking left and right. He wanted Sans' company since he was the one who raised him until now.
Then, somehow ... He got hugged again.
He could tell who that was, his mama felt his distress and came along floating. She stayed for the remainder of the night, holding his skull in her lap.
"MAMA ... I ..."
"I know, Papyrus, hush now ... you have done nothing wrong."