The main question here was why.
Why had the kid gone through the same thing over and over… and do the exact same thing each round? Wasn't that boring? What was the point?
Sans didn't understand.
What was Frisk doing with all of these RESETS? Were they just scared of growing up, like Sans's initial suspicions?
Or was it something… more?
This pattern of thoughts led to opening a whole new can of worms, though. Because… what if the kid was telling the truth? What if the kid was the same as himself?
If so, then Sans had done something unspeakably cruel to them.
Sans, scratched his head for a moment, considering his options. He didn't really care about what happened so much. He had learned to just… let this kind of thing go after a while. Trying to remember each timeline, each RESET… it started to all mix together and really hurt his head. Just passively watching the storm pass was much better than braving the tempest.
But the kid didn't have the same attitude. And Sans knew better than anyone else how time travel could mess with someone's head… the photos of RESETS that never happened lying scattered in his lab were a testament to that.
"…welp. guess i'm going to have to go check on the kid, then," Sans decided. The kid should be about done with Papyrus's puzzles by now, and Sans had only taken his eyes off of them for a moment, anyways. Just long enough to slip off and check on Toriel's door to see if she was there this time. It was a hope in vain, as after she had begged him to look after the next human that passed through, Sans had never seen her again until the kid's fight with Asgore.
It didn't hurt to check, though.
Sans's feet crunched through the snow, and he wondered how much longer he would remain in these few days. Who knew, it was a hassle to worry about it anyways. Sans would just accept this was the way things were, as his hands were pretty tied when it came to RESETS. Not unless he wanted to go beg him to fix it, and that in itself was never going to happen.
Sans was somewhat surprised to see the kid sitting in the snow up ahead. Sans wouldn't have commented on it, but warning bells were ringing inside of his head. "…? kid?" Sans questioned, confused. "what's taking you so long? The puzzles are pretty short, what-"
"…I didn't mean it…" The human whispered, staring listlessly down at their hands. "I… I…"
Sans circled around them, squatting down to reach over and flick the snow off of their shoulder. He studied them, wondering if he should get involved. No, he had decided to talk to them this time, might as well start here. They were different, after all. Not like the others.
Frisk wasn't a killer.
And then Sans's eyes landed on the small pile of snow that was in between him and the kid. Snow that was a shade darker than it should have been, and the wind was slowly blowing it away. But there was no mistaking that ashy color…
Sans's gaze slowly dropped down to his hand, where he had brushed the 'snow' off of the human's shoulder. The dust residue on his gloves told Sans everything he needed to know.
"…oh. …i see. so that's how it is." Sans said off handedly, wiping the hand into snow as his throat tightened and he tried not to let the storm of emotions inside show. it doesn't matter, he told himself. the kid'll just RESET anyways, this monster will be fine, i'm sure they'll be okay…
Sans took a deep breath, then stood up, towering down over the human. "who was this?" he asked quietly, his pupil's dimming as he suppressed anything but cold indifference from his voice.
The human merely cowered away, acting like his words had slapped them. "I… I… Sans, I didn't think… I was just lost in thought and it was a reaction I didn't mean anything by this, I swear, Sans, please… w-wait where… don't leave me…" They stammered, but Sans had already turned away, stepping back into the shadows.
"too bad, kid. and here i thought you… welp. nevermind, it doesn't matter now. i'm surprised it took you this long to do this, though. i mean, why waste all that time stalling what you wanted to try in the first place?" Sans said offhandedly. "…well. none of my business. see you around… and congrats on your first Level of Violence."
"…you humans really are all the same."
And with that, Sans warped away, not caring to listen to whatever excuses Frisk… the human had. To think that he almost allowed himself to be dragged back into this sick game again.
.
Numb.
Frisk was numb.
They stared blankly at the ground in front of them, head bowed and shoulders slumped. The worst part of all of this was, Frisk only had a faint inkling of which monster they had hurt.
No, scratch that. Frisk had killed someone, this wasn't some paper cut injury that could be forgotten so easily.
However, as they sat in the snow listlessly staring off into space, Frisk just felt empty. Shouldn't they feel something… more? They felt numb, unable to feel the cold snow falling around them or of any internal guilt that Frisk was sure they should have.
No, the only thing Frisk was distinctly aware of was the gritty texture of dust on their hands.
It had been an accident, of course. Frisk had started zoning out at random moments, especially when walking along the trail by themselves. There wasn't any danger, Frisk had thought. They knew the entire area like the back of their hand by now, after all.
But a monster had come up behind them, wanting something. Maybe it was affection. Maybe it was appreciation at a joke, or a compliment from the small human wandering around. Something small and harmless that Frisk was delighted to share.
But… Frisk still hadn't been paying attention to their surroundings. So when the monster, upset at being ignored, had attacked, Frisk had lashed out in surprise, forgetting they were wearing the tough glove.
…that one hit was all it had taken.
Frisk had recoiled in shock, had cried out and fallen as they scrambled away from the pile of dust sitting in the snow. The only time prior to this Frisk had seen a monster die was Asgore's death, but that hadn't been Frisk's fault. Frisk had waited, expecting to feel guilt and horror at the act they had done, but… they just felt tired. Did it really matter if Frisk had slipped up just this once? No one had to know, it would just RESET again and everything would be fine-
"…kid?" And instantly Frisk felt all of the guilt and horror wash over them because Sans wouldn't forget and it wasn't Frisk's fault and now Sans might never listen to Frisk even more so than he already ignored them and Frisk wasn't sure what to do because Frisk wasn't a killer and oh god please Sans don't look at me like that! I didn't mean to! I'll fix it just… just don't…
Sans left them there, crouched in the cold, icy chills starting to sneak back into Frisk's conscience. Like a switch was flipped, Frisk felt their stomach lock up, their throat grow tight, and they tried to scramble to their feet and rush over the trees to throw up.
They didn't get that far, though.
"…hic…hic…" Frisk rubbed at their eyes, averting their gaze from the nearly vanished pile of dust. They had sat in the snow so long that the snow had soaked their clothes, and threw up all of the food Toriel had given them. They were wet and miserable and hungry and afraid of themselves. How could they have messed up so badly? It shouldn't matter if everything RESET… life was precious! What if this time was different and things didn't RESET? Frisk would be a murderer. That monster would never get to see the sun.
Frisk shivered again, clutching their stomach in pain and suddenly feeling dizzy. They slipped several times, skinning their hands and looking down at their hands as blood and dust contrasted each other in an accusation.
Tired and sick, Frisk called out for help…
…but nobody came.
.
Eventually, Papyrus found Frisk.
The skeleton had waited impatiently for the human to hurry up and return so they could hang out already, but the human had instead asked to play with some of Papyrus's puzzles and have some alone time. This was, of course, completely unsurprising, as Papyrus's puzzles were extremely entertaining and challenging, but after three hours had passed, Papyrus felt… worried.
"…is something wrong?" The flower next to the skeleton crooned, and Papyrus glanced down.
"I AM CONCERNED OVER A FRIEND OF MINE," Papyrus informed him. "THEY HAVEN'T COME BACK FOR HOURS, AND I'M SURE THEY'RE HUNGRY BY NOW."
"You're such a caring friend!" The flower chirped. "Maybe you should go check on them, then?"
"EXCELLENT IDEA, FLOWEY." Papyrus decided. "NOW I HAVE TO GO COOK SOME SPAGHETTI AND GO FIND THE HU- MY FRIEND."
Flowey merely grinned. "Hee hee hee, no problem. Bye, Papyrus. See you around." The flower vanished back into the ground with a pop, and Papyrus turned and started walking back towards town and towards the snow area. He wished at times that he had his brother's powers to warp, but he also knew how much it took out of Sans to use his powers.
Finally arriving at his destination, Papyrus scanned the surroundings and started wandering around. Finally, Papyrus stopped a passing Snow Drake and inquired about his friend's whereabouts.
"Oh. You're talking about them." The monster muttered. "I think I saw them by the ice pond, near the trees."
"THANK YOU!" Papyrus said cheerfully, tossing his red scarf back around his neck. He started to run off, but the monster stopped him.
"Oh, hey…" The monster said, its joking nature temporarily serious. "The kid seemed like a good sort when I met 'em but… there's rumors the kid's done something foul goin' around."
"…? I DO NOT UNDERSTAND." Papyrus questioned. "MY FRIEND WOULD NEVER DO SOMETHING BAD."
"Papyrus… I just heard someone saw them kill an Ice Cap. I'd be really careful, Papyrus… you don't know for sure if that human's been telling you the truth this entire time." The Snow Drake gazed at Papyrus sadly, then turned away. "But it's snow of my business, I suppose."
Papyrus stared after the monster for a moment, then turned back around, breaking into a run. Frisk? A killer? Papyrus couldn't imagine the little kid that had flirted with him while smiling and asking to be his friend hurting anyone. Maybe it was just a rumor… most monsters wouldn't trust a human as quickly as the great Papyrus, after all.
Finally, Papyrus spotted the small human huddled underneath one of the trees. "HUMAN! I WAS WORRIED ABOUT YOU!" Papyrus shouted, relieved. He ran over, and knelt down, confused to see the human sleeping. "…HUMAN? FRISK, WAKE UP, IT IS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS. SURELY YOU HAVE MISSED ME."
Papyrus shook the small child's shoulder, and then he knelt down and peered into Frisk's face. The child's breath created a mist in the cold air, and the child was so very, very pale. A nice shade for skeletons sure, but Papyrus wasn't sure how humans worked. Maybe this was a bad thing.
Papyrus gently reached out and scooped up Frisk, holding them close. The child was hot to the touch, and was shaking slightly in Papyrus's grip. "FRISK? FRISK, WHAT'S WRONG?" Papyrus asked worriedly, and then the human's eyes opened, unfocused and blank, before finally sliding to Papyrus's face.
"…I'm sorry…" They mumbled, and then the human's eyes slid shut again and Papyrus shook them nervously.
"HEY! W-WAIT! DON'T TAKE A NAP NOW HUMAN, I TOLD SANS HE WAS A BAD INFLUENCE. H-HEY, FRISK? STAY WITH ME, HUMAN! HOLD ON, I… I'LL TAKE YOU BACK TO MY HOUSE! YOU'LL BE FINE!"
"….FRISK?"
But the human child slept on...
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