Author's Note: I don't really have much to say. Hmm... Actually, I only want to say that I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Some backstory for a certain character. Also, I still encourage to guess who the murderer is or how the Dreemurr kids died!
Date: Sunday, December 15th, 1920
Time: Almost Noon
Location: Sans' House
This was probably the worst case Sans has ever done. No one forces him to do his job, no one forced him to become a detective. He just did. No one forced him to take Toriel's case either; he just did.
While he was sorting out his room, getting some old stuff out and looking through old history books, his thoughts kept wandering to the very reason he chose be a private detective. The very reason why he was involved in this case and why the police hate him.
It was a midsummer night and the air was warm. The years before were tough. The humans had some sort of war going on and they were so short-handed that they even started to recruit monsters to be able to win. Of course, some monsters were suspicious of this; the two races, although living in the same country, didn't exactly get along. The lower half belonged to the humans, they had better summers. The northern half was for the monsters and they got the harsh winters. Not exactly fair was what most monsters thought at first but they got used to it.
Some had set up business with the humans for Christmas trees and for exotic animals that could only live in the north. There was no peace but no war either. Only tolerance.
The humans had pushed that tolerance when THEIR war started.
A short skeleton monster sat in a large warship, surrounded by other monster soldiers and various humans. There was little chat but if there was, it was about how excited they were of going home. The war had lasted four years and many humans died, alongside with an excess of monsters. No one was happy about that but it's the art of war.
He was quiet, hesitant to strike up conversation and scared to make eye contact. Some humans were looking at him weirdly and he didn't like it. He couldn't do anything about though; no one could really.
The ship rocked, sending the passengers spiraling to the sides and allowing barely any time to latch on to something to not move. The skeleton, the only skeleton on-board, wasn't fazed about the rocking. From where he was sitting, not much movement was happening.
His thoughts kept returning to his younger brother and his parents. What had become of them while he was away? How did they cope without him? How did his brother understand that Sans was drafted? More importantly, did Papyrus even understand? Sans didn't know; his younger brother was still only a young adult with being older by a good eight years. Even if Papyrus was old enough to understand, would he have accepted it? Would he have accepted that Sans could possibly be dusted? The skeleton shivered and it wasn't even cold in the ship haul.
Sans peeked outside and was unsurprised to find only water overtaking the horizon. How long was he on this ship? He didn't count and didn't dare to ask anyone.
He could only think of returning home. Returning home not covered in other monsters' dust.
But the war wasn't over yet.
Sans didn't smile at the memory. It wasn't a pleasant one at all. He could only frown while his body moved on its own, sorting out everything he needed. The only "happy" thing that came from that memory was that that was when the skeleton decided to be a private detective, similar to that Sherlock Holmes fellow that humans talk about. He wanted to help people, he wanted no one else to be drafted into a war.
He wanted Papyrus to be safe. Yet still, the eager, younger skeleton keeps asking Sans if he could tag along on his cases. He knows that Papyrus knows how gruesome some cases can be but he still keeps asking. Papyrus always knew how to make Sans smile and because it's just them two, he couldn't bare losing his sunshine.
The telephone in the living room rang. It jolted Sans make to reality and make quick of heading downstairs to answer it.
"hello?" he spoke into the contraption. These phones were still new but they worked wonderfully. Only thing was, they were expensive, but Sans' job pays well.
"UM… SANS?" Sans heard the voice on the other side of the call and instantly recognized it. Why was Papyrus calling? Did he need something? Why didn't he just come home to tell Sans? How was he calling?
"yeah, brother?" The questions in Sans' mind was making him anxious. Why did Papyrus sound nervous? He wasn't in any sort of trouble was he? Did the police do something, is that why?
"UH… I-I…" Papyrus almost never stutters. Why did Sans hear another voice, muffled, on the other line? The other sounded female but something was off about it. It sounded… annoyed? Papyrus almost never annoys someone so what happened?
"brother, if something's wrong then-"
"NO, NO! NOTHING'S WRONG. I JUST WANTED TO… UM…" Papyrus interrupted Sans almost immediately. He sounded a little distracted, like he was listening to two things at the same time. What was the other voice doing?
"papyrus…" softly demanded Sans. What was going on? Papyrus would never call Sans unless it was something important but there were no telephones on the streets; they were only in houses and offices. If this was a joke, it's pretty cruel, but Papyrus would never do such a joke to anyone-
Unless someone else forced him. Well great, Sans knew who he was with.
"papyrus, where are you?" asked Sans as innocently as he could. It wasn't much but he hoped for the best.
"WHA- OH NO, SANS, I'M FINE. I'M ONLY WITH- UH… ACTUALLY, I THINK I'LL GO HOME."
"papyrus, where are you?"
"I'LL GO HOME, DON'T WORRY! I WAS ONLY WITH A FRIEND."
"you going to walk here or did you take the bus?"
"UH…. I GUESS I'LL WALK THERE. HOLD ON." Sans figured his brother must've covered the phone with his gloves. He only heard muffled voices on the other end.
"WELL, U- I MEAN- MY FRIEND DOESN'T OWN A CAR SO I'LL WALK HOME. SEE YOU THERE." The phone hung up. Sans stared at it with concern. If Papyrus was hanging out with who Sans thought he was, oh boy, was he in trouble.
A/N: Quick thing: YES, I did incorporate WWI into this story, it's 1920 and WWI ended in 1918. Plus, I found it useful for some Sansy backstory ;) Also, yes, Sans hates Undyne and MAYBE some Undyrus will happen. Probably. Most likely. Also, I haven't really designed how some characters look like so I encourage fanart or PM me with ideas. For example, I need designs for Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, and Asgore. ;D
