You thought I was dead didn't youuuu?... Well, me too, almost, but HERE I AM! Can't blame you if you hate me though T.T So much has happened in the last couple of months but I didn't want to quit this story, I'll keep going as long as I can.

So here we go, time for (some) backstory!

Chapter Five

A long night

The name tasted sweet on his lips, like a drug he hadn't try in a long time and it send a violent shiver down his spine, the room felt heavier, the silence crushing Asriel, his eyes never leaving the girl's.

She smiled.

"Wao, I had forgotten how my name sounds like, is not like you have to say it often" She said, her voice echoing in Asriel's mind. That's right, she wasn't really here, she was trapped inside him, her SOUL bonded to his. Her physical body had died a long time ago.

Asriel could still remember the day he found her. When he found Chara and Frisk outside the borders of his home, the Monster Kingdom, all those years ago.

It had been a cloudy day, sunlight barely coming through. A young Asriel was picking up flowers for his mother on the borders of the Kingdom, always escorted by two of his father's Royal Guards, Dogami and Dogaressa. She helped him chose the most beautiful flowers while her husband watched lazily, is not that they had much to watch for; it had been decades since the last time the monsters had dealt with any threat. Asriel followed a small path of buttercups when his two guardians got distracted by a small butterfly flying around Dogami's head, getting deeper into the infinite large and dark forest that surrounded his home; the already dim sunlight was blocked by large branches as the boy walked and walked, immerse in his task. He crouched near a bush to collect a lily when he heard a sound coming from behind, near a stone path that lead directly to the castle. The path was narrow, cutting through the forest, so much that if one didn't know how to look for it could get easily lost. The young monster stopped, he turned his head to where it had come from, not sure of what to do, his hand half way to grab the small flower.

The sound came again, followed by what Asriel thought was something heavy hitting the ground and a muffled mumble. Asriel stood completely still for a couple of seconds before heading towards the sound to investigate, vaguely aware his guardians were still distracted. He left the bouquet of flowers on the ground and, mustering all the courage he was capable of, the young prince gave a long step forward, pushing aside the bushes as he approached the path, coming face to face with what was on the other side.

Asriel had never seen a human being in his life, nor did he had much knowledge about them; the only things he knew came from old history books in his father's giant library, and what other monsters told him about the long wars and conflicts. As far as he knew, humans were a weird species, didn't have much fond of monsters and preferred to be left alone. However, finding not only one but two humans on the dirty road that lead to his home wasn't what surprised Asriel the most, it was their appearance: they were dirty, clothes torn, faces covered in dust and dirt, dangerously thin, as if they hadn't eaten anything for entire weeks, eyes sunken with large eye bags, few cuts all over their legs and arms, shoes worn. It took longer than it should for the prince to recognize the two stumbling humans as little girls, maybe a year or two younger than him; pale skin, round faces, the girl on the right had short dark brown hair, with small fringes that fell around her face; the other one's covered her shoulders, right above her elbow, light brown threads covered in leaves. The girl with short hair dressed an oversized gray sweater and torn jeans while her friend wore a brown shirt with black pants

But what Asriel would never forget, was the look on the girl's faces: One of kindness, other of rage, one of hope and one of fury, but both with a fierce strength that reflected in their eyes, an uncrushable will.

Determination.

The instant they laid eyes on him, both girls jumped, startled; the one with long hair put herself in front of her friend, shielding her from Asriel, a defiant grunt leaving her lips, her crimson eyes filled with distrust, surprise, pain and underneath all, fear; a small knife glowed in her right hand, trembling between her fingers and sending a powerful wave of dread up the young monster's spine.

"Wait! Please!" He said as he started making panicked noises and gestures, trying to keep as much distance between himself and the knife as possible. He didn't quite remember if humans spoke the same language as monsters but judging by the girl's expression, they could understand him, however the knife kept pointing directly at him, the crimson eyed girl mumbling something under her breath, her friend responding something equally inaudible. The three of them stood there, neither too sure of what to do, it was at that moment Asriel noted that the little human holding the weapon breathed with difficulty, tired gasps leaving her lips, as if was taking her a huge effort to simply move her chest and he didn't took long to figure out why: she was hurt, a small red circle covered her side and was growing bigger and bigger by the second; the girl with brown eyes knew it too, for she kept glancing at the injury and at her friend over and over, worry written all over her face. In an instant, Asriel's fear melted away. He lowered his hands.

"Are you ok? You're hurt, it seems bad" He said carefully, taking an attentive step forward, the instant he did it the long haired girl try to threaten him with her knife but she was already too weak to fight, she fell on one knee, her breathing became more erratic, her face pale, lips stripped of all color. By her side, the short haired girl let out an anguished sound, leading against her friend, holding her shoulders, they said something to each other, again, too low for the young prince to hear it. A growing panic was rising inside his chest, this was wrong; he had to help these girls, but how? In that moment, two large brown eyes meet his; the little girl was ready to burst into tears, she looked at him with despair, opened her mouth and even though no sound came from her, Asriel could read her lips perfectly: help us.

That was more than enough to yank Asriel from his own fear, he shook his head and with the bravest expression he could muster, he approached the two humans. His mother was going to have a panic attack.

Asriel could still remember the expression on Dogamy and Dogaressa's face, how quickly they were to carry the two girls back to the palace with him running to catch up, his eyes never leaving the girl with short brown hair, he also remembered the sound of the doors opening as he sprinted pass them, calling his parents. He would never forget the look on his mother's eyes, how worried she seemed and how she along with his father and the two Royal Guards carried the humans to the infirmary, where they would spend the rest of the day and most of the following night, watching carefully as the nurse, a feline monster with glowing yellow eyes who didn't have an extent knowledge of human anatomy, swore to do his best. He worked silently on the little girl's wounds who by that time, had already passed out, while Asriel and his parents waited nervously. The King and Queen tried to talk to her friend, asking her how they had managed to get so far from human populations, what were their names or if they had any family, but they didn't have any luck, she just sat on the chair next to the bed where the girl rested, taking her hand between hers and without saying one word and cowering in fear every time someone tried to step closer to her. Finally, the King ordered the two humans to be left alone with the nurse and for bedrooms to be prepared for them, as well as food, water and clean clothes.

Asriel was forced to leave the infirmary much to his dismay, he looked over his shoulder just as the doors closed to see two brown eyes staring back at him. Him and his parents walked through the long hallway, when the boy noticed something out of the corner of his eyes, his SOUL almost jumped out of his chest when he saw another monster emerge from behind an enormous column, as if he had materialized out of thin air, he stood there, hands behind his back, completely still.

"Oh Doctor!" Said his mother approaching the mysterious person with a smile. Asriel instinctively hid behind his father's large cape. That monster always managed to make him nervous, despite his politeness and seemingly kind attitude; he had always been good to him and loyal to his parents, but despite that, there was just something about him that made Asriel wiry, especially those giant holes in his hands.

"Your majesty" answered the monster with a bow, his voice low, hoarsely, it sent a shiver down his entire body.

His mother quickly explained the situation to the newcomer while Asriel remained hidden, asking him for his assistance.

"I'm sure the nurse will appreciate your knowledge on humans" said his father.

Asriel dared to look from behind the long cloak and found the monster, impossibly tall and slim, smiling at the King, a pale, skeletal hand with a hole the size of his fist over his chest and his head bowed. Asriel shuddered.

"Of course my King, I hope I can be of help, I'll begin immediately" he said and with that, he made his way pass them, his long black cloak moving behind him as if possessed life of its own.

Asriel laid in his bed later, staring at the canopy, remembering the girls, the despair in their voice, the fear in their eyes, cloth torn, bloodied wounds, starving and lost. He had never seen such a horrible thing before.

Asriel made a promise that night, a promise to do everything in his power to help them in whatever way he could, he would help them recover, find their home, wherever it may be, he never wanted to see that look in someone's eyes ever again.

The smile in the mirror before him brought him back from his memories. His hands were still on the edge of the sink, his grip so strong he was hurting himself.

"You kept that promise" she said in his mind. Asriel gave a sarcastic growl, shaking his head.

"That's bullshit and you know it" Asriel didn't like to curse in front of Frisk, but Chara was another matter, he knew she liked when he let his anger go loose like that. He felt her rolling her eyes at him.

"You really suck at taking compliments you know that? I'm being serious"

"I was responsible for the both of you. How did that turn out?"

Asriel felt her SOUL move back to the corner of his chest, if she had been there, in front of him, she would have avoided his gaze.

"How I wanted it to end" She said, her voice echoing in his mind. Asriel's eyes widened, he kept staring at the broken mirror.

She didn't care...she really didn't care about what happened, she didn't care she was dead, her SOUL tied to his for all eternity, her human body reduced to ashes, her life stripped away before it even began. Asriel felt sick, wondering how Chara had managed to keep those emotions hidden from him for so long, maybe it was an unconscious thing, maybe she wanted to protect him from the truth, but that just made him angrier and sad at the same time. How much darkness was Chara hiding? How could he not see it before?

"How can you say that?" He asked, his voice just a muffled whisper. "How can you even say you wanted this? After what happened... Did you really wanted to die? You wanted my moth-" He stopped, his SOUL and Chara's shaken by a wave of memories brought the mention of that person. Asriel let out an agonizing squeal, the air stuck in his throat. The memory sieged them both:

Two big, gentle hands covered in white fur caressing their heads

A warm smile, the smell of butterscotch pie

A sweet maternal voice telling them it was going to be ok

That same voice screaming in pain, begging them to leave as everything collapsed around them.

It was too much too soon. Asriel had to lean on the sink, his knees suddenly not being able to hold his body, he felt Chara moving erratically inside his chest. The young monster took several breaths, trying to calm them both; the flashbacks had been too abrupt, hitting them like a train. When Asriel was able to stand straight, Chara was still curling around his chest, her SOUL extremely agitated.

"I didn't want this. I didn't want her to die...she shouldn't have been there in the first place, none of you!" She screamed in his mind and for the first time in a really long time, Asriel felt her despair, her remorse like it was his own.

"I had to do it by myself, you shouldn't have gotten involved!"

"What then? You wanted to just go on your vengeance and die hoping that none of us would notice or care? Is that really what you thought would happen?" Asriel was getting angry again, the L.O.V.E thirst made it really difficult to control his temper, when Chara didn't answered, he growled.

"What did you want Chara? What DO you want?"

"For you two to be safe, and happy"

He almost lost it, he rose his fist and slammed it against the wall next to the mirror, the hit echoed through the bathroom, the ceramic cracked, pieces falling to the floor, a faint cloud of dust rose from the wall.

"I was happy! I was happy with you! With Frisk! You were safe, we were supposed to be together in this!" His voice cracked "But you couldn't put your hatred behind, you couldn't let it go. You pushed Frisk aside, you pushed me aside…I wanted nothing more than to make you happy"

"Asriel…"

"How could you choose vengeance instead of me?"

Chara's voice was cut off and she stopped moving. Silence grew between them until it was almost unbearable. Asriel closed his eyes and left the bathroom, the fireball dying behind him until darkness returned to the place. Chara didn't say anything. There was nothing to say, there was nothing she could possibly say.

Asriel was so clouded with anger and pain he didn't notice the shadow sitting at the end of the opposite hallway as he stormed out of the bathroom, watching him leave with sad eyes. Frisk was on the floor, back pressed against the wall, knees to her chest, arms around them and eyes closed, she felt the weight of the heart locket around her neck and somehow that made her feel worse; she opened her eyes, reaching for the locket, her fingers pressed a tiny switch and it opened. She couldn't see anything in the dark but she knew what was there: two pictures, one on each side; the first one, two human girls smiling, one had bright red eyes, the other had brown ones; on the other side, three monsters smiled for the camera, the first one a woman with a gentle smile, long ears and small horns, by her side, her husband had a shy expression on his face, his long beard and hair reaching his shoulders, the two horns above his head were so long they didn't fit in the frame. Their son stood between them, laughing, happy, his purple eyes shone with innocence and kindness.

Frisk pressed the locket close to her chest, eyes closed. She started to remember

Her parents had died when she was just five years old, tragic accident, nothing anyone could do. Having no other family member, she was sent to a orphanage on an unfamiliar city; the idea of being adopted by a new family and having a new beginning somewhere else scared her at first, however she also desperately wanted to get rid of the pain in her chest, of the loneliness, of the memories of her parents. She wanted to feel happiness again, and when the bus driver dropped her on the front door of the gigantic building, when she saw all those children playing, laughing and smiling, she thought she could. Hope returned to her SOUL for a brief moment.

She was wrong.

She started to feel it in the way the children cowered in fear as the nuns walked past them, the way the adult's would look at them, the smiles on their faces and how the children would only seem to relax when they were outside, once they entered the building, all the joy disappeared.

The first one came when she was walking down the main hall, looking for her room; the guard at the gate, a man with a permanent frown on his face, only told her to look for the door with her name and to leave him alone, so she went. The place was massive, with hundreds of rooms, with hallways that stretched to infinite, wide windows that let the sun shine inside, but even so, the orphanage seemed to carry a permanent darkness inside its walls. Frisk carried her back with her few belongings on her back, eyes looking everywhere; the children walked by her with heads down and eyes glued to the ground, carefully avoiding any adults on their way. A suspicious feeling started to crawl up her stomach when she crashed into something, the impact strong enough to send her to the ground. She rubbed her bottom trying to stop the increasing pain, her mouth in a painful grimace. Her eyes found the source of her pain: she had bumped into a small boy who had been carrying books and a tall glass of water, judging by the mess of papers and books around them and the water on the floor, the glass rolled and was caught by a sea of feet. Frisk felt the children around them give scared looks and speed up the pace, seemingly wanting to avoid the tall figure that has stopped in front of them. Frisk slowly looked up to meet the cold stare of a nun; her lips were sealed tight, forming an almost perfect line, large eye bags under her dark eyes, pale skin, bony nose and the coldest, hard gaze Frisk had ever seen, a horrible feeling settled on her stomach. The boy on the ground in front of her started trembling, his lips shaking, he began begging the nun for forgiveness, insisting it hadn't been his fault, Frisk was about to open her mouth when the nun raised her hand and slapped the boy across his face, the sound echoed through the hallway. Frisk stayed there, awestruck, eyes filled with confusion and horror; she felt the nun approach her and she tried to move, but her body wouldn't respond, she could only look up, watching as the pale hand descended towards her.

That was lesson number one.

Lesson number two came when she failed to make it to the dining room on time the next morning after she was forced out of bed by the sound of the giant bell on top of the highest tower of the building, the sound hammering in her head; the punishment came in the form of a whip across her back, two because she dared open her mouth and ask them to stop. Lessons number three was one of the worst and at the same time, the best. On the fourth week, Frisk had found a pile of notebooks in one of the closets the staff kept on the third floor, no one seemed to use them so she took one, along with a pencil from a small box, took them to her room and began to draw, mostly patterns and mandalas, it was the only peace she could find in that horrid place disguised as a home. She soon began to take the notebook everywhere she went, her drawings help her relax, help her escape her world and stopped the nightmares that plagued her at night.

One day, during lunchtime, she was once again drawing curious patterns on when a shadow loomed over her; she felt the children cower around her and once again a shiver run up her neck, her hand stopping dead above the pages. The tall figure of the pale nun she'd meet on her first day, the woman took a look at her drawings, then at her horror-stricken face.

"What do you think you are doing?" the woman asked.

Frisk trembled like a leave.

"I-I'm drawing" She answered as calmly as she could.

"And do you think now is the right time for that pointless activity?"

Frisk didn't answer, it was obvious she couldn't. The woman bends over and ripped the notebook from her hands, ignoring her pleas, watching It like it was some kind of annoying bug. Then, to Frisk´s horror, she tore one page apart.

"You better save this hobby of yours to yourself young lady If I see this again where it doesn't belong, I will confiscate it" She said dropping the notebook hard on the table, splashing food and water over all the children nearby. Frisk´s eyes stung from the tears. Rage began emerging from her chest, her SOUL beating rapidly.

"You would never understand what this means" She said the words before she could stop herself, and when they left her mouth, horror struck her. All the children's faces around the table went pale, except one. Before Frisk could speak again to apologize, the blow exploded across her face, the chair fell and she hit the ground hard, she saw white and felt blood on her lip. The tall woman said nothing, just turned heel and left, hundreds of eyes following her and then focusing on the young girl. No one dared to speak.

Frisk stood up slowly, no longing bothering to hide her tears, or the blood on her lips, she´d long learned that that was the normal. She accommodated her chair and sat down, face down, hands turned to fits. Suddenly, something came into her view. She blinked away her tears and saw her notebook in front of her, it was wet and stained but otherwise intact, holded by a small hand filled with small cuts; Frisk followed it and found a pair of big, crimson eyes staring at her from across the table, light brown hair just above her shoulders, a skin so pale it was almost translucent and a stripe shirt. Frisk sniffed and took her book with both hands, murmuring a "thank you"

"The bitch doesn't know anything, don't listen to her" Said the girl, loud enough for the whole table to listen, all the children stared at her, some with fear, others with disbelief and others with a new found respect. Frisk just stared at her, dumbstruck, mouth open. The girl cleaned the leftovers on her side of the table and resumed eating like she didn't just committed what others would consider suicide.

Frisk watched her for a full minute before reacting and nodding, trying to continue eating as well; the unknown girl glanced at her again.

"Don´t let them see you hurt, or crying, never, it amuses them" She said, Frisk met her gaze.

"Never give them the satisfaction of seeing you hurt, you can´t be weak in this stupid place kid" The girl said, hatred and bitterness in her voice, she stabbed a potato and swallowed in a single bite. Frisk looked at her for a moment, then a smiled appeared on her lip, it hurt, but she paid it no mind, the girl coughed a couple of times, hitting her chest, Frisk took her plastic cup and handed it to her, she eyed her with suspicion for only a second before accepting it.

"And stop being so nice, it´s going to get you more trouble" She added like a mother scolding her child. Frisk nodded, still smiling and they kept eating, feeling a little more relaxed that she´d felt in weeks.

Frisk sighed, opening her eyes, staring at the blackness before her. Has it really been so long? Over 15 years since her parents died, since she arrived at that torture chamber they called orphanage, since she lost the sister she had chosen. Felt like a lifetime ago.

Did Chara missed her as well? It wasn't like they could talk like before, Asriel rarely talked about how she was doing, even though Frisk knew they whispered at each other all the time, sharing a bond that no one else could understand. Not for the first time, Frisk felt a sting of jealousy, and immediately after, guilt. How could she think like that after all that happened? Asriel hadn't chosen that path, Chara hadn't chosen that path (maybe), she couldn't possibly be jealous of something that was born out of tragedy. But still, she'd always felt relieved that Chara, in spite of not being here physically, hadn't really left, she was there, with Asriel, until the day he died, and that gave her peace. Frisk got up, she should look for Asriel, she will ask him about Chara, after both had calmed down from their argument, she would probably have to do something about it, Asriel seemed really angry. Frisk hid the locket inside her cloth, cleaned the dust from her pants and walked into the darkness.

/

The voices drown him, they were so loud he thought his skull would explode, they all say the same thing, over and over. His name.

The skeleton monster woke up, a gasp leaving his mouth, his eyes wide open with fear. He was laying in his bed, crumpled sheets under his closed phalanges, arms wide open by his side. His entire frame shake as he rolled to his side, desperately searching for something on his nightstand, when he found it, he stood up, put one cigarette between his lips as trembling bones pressed the lighter. A small spark illuminated his face as the scent filled the room. The monster gave a long, frantic puff, then released a large cloud of smoke; he repeated the process a couple of times until his SOUL stopped hammering his ribs and the anxiety died, next, he walked out the room, lighter in hand, cigarette in lips and his other hand on his skull.

The apartment was quiet, the dark, floor-level curtains were drawn to the side, showing an incredible view of the city below, he walked towards the balcony, feeling the chilly air on his ribs and arms, the rest of his body covered in a simple black short. Stupid nightmare. Never leaving him alone, was this the third one this week? The fourth one? He didn't know, he only knew how pissed off they made him feel. How empty. He looked down at his right radius; there, a leather bracelet hung absently, it had metal symbols embedded in it that glistened in the dark; for most people, they were meaningless scribbles, for him, they meant everything, the last bit of memory of a life long gone. The monster read the inscription.

Don't Forget

He closed his phalanges in a fist, closed his eyes and pressed the bracelet to his skull, feeling its warm.

"I could never forget" he mumbled.

"Gabe?"

The voice came from behind, merely a whisper, the monster turned to see a taller skeleton approach him. His bones were just a little thinner than his, his skull was large, with a powerful jaw and a white set of teeth; he was wearing a black pajama with a white stripe at both sides; his eyes, bright orange, stared at him with worry.

"Are you ok?"

"It's fine Pap, I'm ok"

"...Another nightmare?"

"Yes, I got it controlled, don't worry"

The skeleton didn't believe him, but he knew better than to push too much when it came to this subject, he knew his brother didn't like to discuss his dreams.

"Very well" He said.

The young skeleton looked at him, cigarette in hand.

"What are you doing up Pap? I didn't wake you didn't I?"

The older one smiled.

"No, it's my time to get up, remember?" He said pointing at the clock that hang from one of the walls in the living room. Gabe looked and saw the time; four in the morning. He gave a tired whistle.

"Your boss should relax sometimes; what kind of restaurant has to be open at 6:00 am sharp? And why are you the one who has to get up this early?" Gabe asked.

"Is not just me brother you know that, and besides there is a lot of work to do, my boss wants everything to be perfect, every time."

Gabe raised an invisible eyebrow at his brother.

"I say he's going to give himself heart attack one of this days"

Papyrus laughed lightly.

"Well, some of us like to work hard brother"

"Yeah, I can see that, but just don't let them take advantage of you"

"No one is brother, I just love what I do" Papyrus shrugged, turned around and made his way to the bathroom. Gabe watched him leave then turned to the sight before him, the wind kept blowing. It was too late to try and get back to sleep, even if he tried, he knew he couldn't, may as well follow his brother and get ready.

Another day was close.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I'm really not completely satisfied with the name I came up for my version of G!Sans, but If I just sat there and waited for a proper name to come to me, I would have never start this thing, so here you go, lame ass name.

Hey guys, could you do me a favor? u tell me if my grammar is getting better or improving at all? I really want to know because I want to get better. I don't have much time to read books in english, but I'm trying, I promise.