"too bad you didn't call before you came. i would've cleaned the house for you," Sans draws a long sigh through his nose, "now i guess i have to clean the house with you."

The light fades from the room as a heavy aura dims from the ceiling down. Chara stumbles backwards, away from the grinning skeleton. They quickly hit a wall though, and sink down in a hail of sharp sobs and weathered crying.

"good to see that your memory still holds up. if it were any other person i'd be intrigued to research this," Sans snaps his fingers, pushing Chara down even further into the floor. Aofil tries to stand up, but Sans does the same to them, "but i can't for the life of me get over this unyielding rage inside. such a shame."

With a scoff, the room becomes even darker.

"oh well," Sans shrugs with his palms upwards. Above them hovers two giant animalistic skulls, one above each hands, "i'm sure it will fade in a second or two, like you will. you want to feel how it is to be at the helm? the same it was the last time you tried."

"Sans, stop."

Sans swivels his head around. Two infinitely black voids stare at Aofil, "don't you worry, i don't have favorites for family members. you'll get the same as your twin here, aof. or are you chara as well?"

"Chara wants to disappear!"

"good," Sans turns back around, "then the two of us want the same thing."

"Frisk is still in there, Sans! We're trying to bring them back!" Aofil sits up after a lot of strain fighting against Sans' magic. It takes a toll on Sans as well, and he bends over a bit to catch his breath. Aofil can see him squeezing the fabric inside his pockets.

"why did Frisk disappear in the first place?"

"It's..." Chara gasps for air, "it's my fault."

Sans has to compose himself again. His fingers are almost ripping his pocket asunder, but he stands his ground, "heh, figured that one out all by myself, kiddo."

"No, it's..." Chara puts Frisk's hand over Frisk's chest, "they wanted me to come out. To convince Aofil to stay."

Sans trades glances with both of the humans. His brow furrows, but he doesn't force any of the humans down again as they try to stand up. He nods for Aofil to stand next to Chara, and they oblige, "i'm gonna keep these two out though," he says while indicating with his returning pupil towards the skulls floating silently, "more witnesses, if you don't mind. now, pray tell, why should i believe a single thing from the two of you?"

Chara begins, "Because..." but they trail of before almost falling over. Aofil catches them. Frisk is pale, and cold sweat is running all over them.

"dramatic," Sans is quick to comment, "should sell tickets," with a quick flick of his wrist he sends a chair over to the humans.

"Because it's the only way to get Frisk back," Aofil eases Chara down into the chair, and gently sits them down as comfortable as possible, "The two of them apparently made a deal. Chara would take over to try and convince me, and in return..."

"and in return? besides having control of Frisk's body to do whatever."

Chara can barely hold Frisk's eyes open.

"Believe it or not-"

"i don't."

Aofil motions with their open hand towards Chara, "It's hurting them to do this. To be in control."

"that's what they're telling you, aof," Sans also motions with his hand towards Chara, but his gesture is the opposite of Aofil's, "they've taken over frisk and killed everyone once already, so i would take what they say with a grain, if not the entire jar, of salt. they're slippery as a snail, and nowhere sweet enough to also be a pie. salt is what you need here."

"Not according to Chara. It was because their and Frisk's shared determination that Frisk lost control."

Chara nods faintly.

It only summons a disdained look from Sans, "just because they said it with frisk's tongue doesn't make it true," and he raises his eyebrows, "i'm a believer in that actions speak louder than words, and chara tried to wreak genocide on all of monsterdom. so you know," Sans rubs his finger on the side of his head, "ears still ringing from that."

"Mine are too from when you tried to kill me, Sans," Aofil reminds with a similar cleaning of their own ear, "but as you so much want me to believe, it wasn't all that it looked out to be. Even a lazy sack like you can make the mental leap that the same can happen to you."

"heh," Sans wiggles an eyebrow, "seems like your head isn't hurting from remembering, aof."

Aofil indicates at the two large and ominous skulls above Sans, "Mostly because it's busy worrying about these two."

"fair," he agrees, "but you still haven't told me what your twin here is getting out of this whole ordeal. i have some guesses on the spectrum of bad to horrible, but humor me for a bit, will ya?"

"I don't actually know," Aofil admits. They catch themselves intrigued, perhaps even more than Sans. Aofil gently disturbs Chara by shaking Frisk's shoulder very lightly, "What would you gain in return, Chara?"

"I..."

Aofil helps Chara sit up in the chair as Frisk's body almost slides out of it.

"I just want to save someone. Just...one..." Chara moves Frisk's eyes from Aofil to Sans, "I couldn't save Aofil when we were kids, I couldn't save the monsters with Asriel, and my presence inside Frisk almost killed the monsters. Now I'm killing them too."

Sans nose would've been wrinkled if he had one.

"If I could save Aofil, and get them back with their friends,, that would be enough."

Sans looks over to Aofil to gauge their reaction. Aofil isn't showing anything though.

"was it yours or frisk's idea?" Sans asks directly after with a faint sigh.

"Frisk's."

"and how much convincing did you need?"

"More than Frisk could muster. I couldn't allow them to. They wanted to do it when they met you in your school, Aofil. I refused. I couldn't allow them to. I was too scared."

"yet here you are," Sans reminds with a sharp tilt of his head, "so if you could stop lying that would calm down my tinnitus a bit for me to try and hear if there's any truth in your words."

"Frisk...they forced me. Suddenly I could see, and feel, breathe, think. It was overwhelming," Chara has to pause to catch some air, "I almost gave into the determination back there, Aofil. That's why I gloated when I first saw you. Luckily Frisk was loud enough to remind me, otherwise..."

"you trailing off like that isn't exactly giving me the greatest of confidence about this, you know? and when you say that frisk was loud, you mean that they're quiet now?"

Chara nods, which prompts Sans' pupils to vanish almost instantly. They come back after a second or so though, and he sighs with his hand on his forehead, "you believe them, aof?"

A musical tune fills the room. Chara turns Frisk's head down towards Frisk's leg. Through the fabric, Aofil sees Frisk's phone vibrate. They push it out.

'Mom'

Aofil has to close their eyes as a stinging shock charges through their skull. Dammit! They push the back of their hand against their forehead, and by doing so, they show Chara the caller.

"Mom..."

Frisk's body goes limp.

Aofil quickly disconnects the call, and puts their hand on Frisk's shoulder.

They're still breathing though, but it's pained. Exhausted.

Scared.

Aofil again balances Frisk on the chair, "You've lied worse to me, Sans," and pockets the phone back into Frisk's pants, "so listening to Chara can't be worse than what I've already done."

"heh," Sans scoffs, "got me there," and clasps his hands together, "so, how do we get frisk back? preferably in time for when the second call arrives, or the front door gets kicked in."

Aofil beckons for the memory box behind Sans, "Chara uses the box to try and reawaken Frisk."

Sans turns around to look at the box. He smacks his tongue, and returns his head towards Aofil, albeit with an inquisitive tilt to it, "it can't hook into human souls though. and i'm not in the mood to tinker around with my own soul, i'm afraid. both figuratively, and literally."

Aofil walks over to pick up the box, because Sans clearly won't. They turn the box around in their hand, "We'll calibrate it, or whatever, for my soul. Me and Chara's are the same, so it might work."

"and then?"

"I'll use it myself, I guess," Aofil pushes the flat of their free hand against their forehead, "Feeling a bit of a headache coming along, so that plan is still in motion."

Just need to activate it, and then it's off to the races. If Aofil had any mind left to spare they'd second think all of this, but with current company present, and previous company from another conflicting time, and memory, knocking loudly at the door, Aofil's too busy to juggle what ifs. Even though what ifs are the reason everything is happening…

They heave a deep exhale in hopes that the thoughts follow the air out of their head. Should keep focus on the box, and try to get it open. There's no lock or anything on it. Come to think of it, there's really nothing on it. Sure, there's ornate carvings, but nothing that Aofil can use. No button, no nothing. They can't find a way to activate the box.

"Some help?" they ask of Sans while holding the box out for him.

"yes, just let me get within arm's reach of the kid who's determination almost killed the entire underground, and their twin which has the exact same soul, and determination!"

Aofil's face and shoulders sink into a tired frown, "Sans..."

He snaps his fingers again, and the skulls above him vanish with a silent gust, "just needed to get it out of my system," he puts his hands back into his pockets, and meanders over towards the humans, "let's see here."

Sans inspects it thoroughly while making no effort to remove it from Aofil's hand. He checks every side carefully, thinking in whispers at every line stretching across the box.

"You've done this before, Sans..."

"i know, i know."

"So, what's different?"

Sans swivels his pupils and eyebrows from the box over to Aofil, "apart from everything?" and returns them after Aofil fails to produce an answer, "but i guess the biggest difference here is that we're trying to not only do it to a human, but also on a human that's not the human it will be used on. i can't hot swap my toast in the morning without risking my fingers burning."

"i mean," Sans looks to the side with a quick shrug, "i can do it with my magic, but others can't. you get my point, right aof?"

Aofil mirrors the shrug, "I guess?"

"besides, if you die, or even worse, frisk dies..."

Aofil's not sure how to take that.

"then the royals, and everyone else, will probably, certainly, kill me."

Aofil indicates with their free hand to the empty air above Sans' shoulders, "So then what was those skulls about?"

"you gotta stop living in the past, my friend. gotta let it be behind you where it belongs."

"I'm not sure if you're trying to an ass just for fun now, Sans. Or if you think provoking me is somehow gonna makes this easier?"

Sans pauses to think about what he just said. He shrugs it off after some quick deliberating,"some determination might actually be good in this case, but it was not my intention, believe it or not. i'm trying to do good here and focus everything i got into figuring out the safest way for us to do this arguably idiotic idea."

"There are arguments for what we're doing?"

"you're the one telling me that frisk and chara is hurting, aof. interrupting me to nitpick is not gonna make this faster. unless you've figured out how to reset," Sans closes his eyes for a second or two, but it's not long enough. Aofil sees but for a brief moment that his pupils have faded, "but i'm sure you wouldn't be in this predicament if you could."

"You can take the box out of my hand, by the way," Aofil advises, "You don't have to bend all over me."

"a couple of reasons. one, the box is made out of magic. two, i'm made out of magic. three, adding these two together might lead to some corruption. or you experiencing the memories as me, and thinking that me is you. i wouldn't call that corruption though. again, if it was just you, or just frisk, then it would be fine, but since we're trying to make it susceptible even after being calibrated, then i'm gonna refrain from touching it. you've carried heavier things, you'll be fine."

Aofil opens their mouth for a few well chosen words, but Sans stands up straight, "i think i've looked at it enough now," and nods towards Chara, "i'm gonna assume that they're ready as can be."

Frisk's body looks very peaceful and calm, but from all the evidence laid out during the day, Aofil's convinced that the peace is only skin deep.

"So, step one?"

Sans throws a thumb over his shoulder, "let us move the kiddo over to the sofa."

"And by us-" Aofil doesn't even bother finishing the sentence. Expecting anything else than a quip and a wink from Sans would require a miracle.

Aofil would rather use the miracle to increase their chances of this going somewhat fine.

Gotta have that miracle in the first place though…

Carefully, Aofil eases Frisk's body up on their shoulder. Frisk is rather light for their size, which is all fine for Aofil at the moment. They're not really a heavyweight contestant themselves, so it still takes a bit of effort to move Frisk across the room.

Sans watches Aofil put Frisk down on the sofa, "not as young as you used to be?"

"Zip it."

"grab that chair," Sans motions for one across the room, "and bring it here."

Aofil reaches for one that's much closer though, leaving Sans without one near him to use. His furrowed stare fails to reach Aofil. They instead motion for him to start, "Ready as can be on my part as well."

"so, the first step is to bring out your soul, aof. frisk's too."

Aofil looks down at their chest, "Any chance we can do it without taking them out?"

"yes, actually," Sans nods, "but that is adding another layer of chance to this cake of chances. you're both gonna eat it and have it too, so it's up to you how high you want it to be."

"Is it already towering?"

"i'd say so, yeah."

"Then what is another layer, really?"

"heh," Sans beckons for Aofil to scoot closer with their chair, "i guess so."

With a few careful jumps, Aofil inches closer to the sleeping human. They hold the box in their outstretched hand between their and Frisk's chest.

"a bit closer to yours," Sans instructs, "once you feel like you're being sucked away shove it into frisk's chest. hopefully that will be enough for it to be configured for your soul, and not enough for it to begin working on your soul."

"Hopefully..." Aofil repeats. A weary sigh is forced out of them, "Always that word."

"it makes sense in this situation, i'd argue."

"Why?"

"because we have three of them. well, two and a...something. two and a half if i'm generous."

Two and a half?

"Of what?" Aofil wonders, despite them being a bit afraid of the answer.

"hopes."

The moment of silence following speaks volume.

"you don't know what your soul means, do you? or what frisk's, and i'm hesitant to say it, but chara's meant as well?"

"I know that it means almost everything bad that has happened to me," Aofil is quick to inform, but please, pray goddamn tell, "What does my soul mean?"

"hope."

"Of course it does..."

"why else would all the monsters that have gotten near you feel stronger? why do you think that you and frisk mean so much to us?"

Aofil's eyebrows almost crash through the ceiling, "Because our souls are red?"

"in the same way that you're alive just because of millions or so long strings of the easiest game of 'match the shape', yes. you might not feel the magic that your soul radiates, aof, but us monsters do."

"Even you, Sans?"

"why else would i agree to all of this? i might've been a bit hesitant, but for some damn reason i still think we can do this."

Before Aofil can list the many other reasons they´re more than glad to share, Sans puts up a hand to stop them, "look, aof, i'm not saying that we like you only because you have a red soul. what i'm saying is that we want to be near you because it fills us with hope. with you or frisk around the sun is shining, you know? like a nice summer breeze no matter the weather."

"You are saying that you're only around me because of my soul."

Sans sighs, "heh," and pinches the bridge of his would be nose, "in a sense i am. we probably wouldn't have been here if it wasn't for you, aof, and by that i mean the entire you, both your soul, and your mind. your magic, and your humanity. we could've been unlucky and met a red soul that had it all against us..."

Sans stops, looks at Aofil, and then down at the memory box. His smile freezes, and his eyes turns dark and empty, "is that what happened the first time around?"

Sans inhales sharply, and his pained grunt answers his own question, "yep, that is what happened," he shakes his head sternly, "otherwise i wouldn't feel that a knife cut my mind just now."

Aofil's feeling something building up as well.

"it's all in the past, that never was," Sans takes some calming breathes, "i'll deal with it later," it seems to work, and he exhales calmly, "alright, where was i?"

Aofil hazards a guess, "You were trying to make some sort of point?"

"ah," with a quick snap of his fingers, Sans continues, "yes, your red soul, and with you being nice to us," he adds quickly, "has done so much for us you can't even believe. around it, around you, we monsters feel good, and because of that we're more encouraged, and because of that we succeed with things we might've not done without you. yeah, we might've blown what you did out of proportions according to you, but to us. heh, the only reason you and frisk's statue isn't welcoming everyone into the city is because we couldn't make them big enough."

Aofil tries to let that sink in, but the image of it…They're too much for them to swallow.

"whether or not," Sans tilts his head towards Frisk's body, "your twin would've also been there i'm not sure. my tinnitus started ringing when their name was brought up at the planning meeting."

Sans throws up a very stern finger, "you, aof," and bends it Aofil's way, "you and your soul helped us with all of this," Sans waves his finger all around him, "you and frisk. we've escaped the underground, and managed to settle down on the surface, something that we for many many years thought were impossible. that is something we managed only with the help of your red hearts, both fleshy, and magical. we might've put you up on a pedestal without your permission, aof, but we did so because of the things you did."

He moves his fingers to the side of his skull, "your actions," and rolls up an imaginary ball of ear wax before shooting it away, "is what helped us. for what it's worth, sorry that we paraded your name without your permission, but understand that we didn't do it maliciously. we bought you a massive tub of nice cream, but we didn't know you were lactose intolerant."

"Got a hell of a brain freeze because of that, gotta tell ya."

"water under the bridge?"

Not even close.

"No," Aofil hangs on the word, as it is heavier than stone.

"heh, see what your hope made me ask. get started now before we wisen up."

A click is heard as Aofil moves the box closer to their chest. They hesitate, but Sans waves for them to continue. Despite Aofil's better judgment, they continue. As the box creeps closer, Aofil starts to feel a bit more…

Hollow?

Drained?

Used?

They can't really put their finger on it, but something is definitely happening. Something is ha-

"shove it."

Aofil's vision twists and turns, as if it's being siphoned away.

"shove it!"

Sans throws his fist against Aofil's elbow, and it extends out. In the same moment the box hits Frisk's chest, the feeling fades away from Aofil. They blink in half a panic.

"keep it steady," Sans maintains his push on Aofil's elbow, "and put it down as close as you can to the kiddo."

Aofil places the box just next to Frisk's chest. They bend in Frisk's arm to hold the box, and then lean back.

"That was," Aofil blows their lips, "horribly unpleasant."

"we'll see in a bit if it works."

Again Frisk's pocket vibrates.

"and in the meantime," Sans makes a small hook with his finger, and pulls out Frisk's phone, "you can make it up to the royals."

Aofil pushes away the ringing phone hovering in front of their face while being careful not to see who the caller is, "I still have the memories, Sans."

"oh yeah," Sans brings the phone to him, "right. then how about some tea? there is bags and a kettle in the kitchen which is out of audible distance," and waves it playfully, "if you catch my totally tangential point which has nothing to do with this."

"I getcha, I getcha," Aofil stands up, and follows Sans' outstretched finger towards the kitchen.

"a bit of sugar in mine, please."

"Two spoons?"

"if you insist."

Aofil turns their wrinkled brow around, but Sans quickly answer the phone, "ello, ello?"

Aofil ducks in through the kitchen door, and closes it quickly behind them. Their angry mumbling serves two purposes. One, it keeps them from punching a hole in the wall. Two, it lessens the chance of any rogue word slipping inside their head.

Screaming would be preferable, but right now Aofil can't muster up one.

Sans' kettle whistles a tune different from Aofil's despite looking very much alike. Is it because of the tea? Doesn't seem to be Golden Flower. Either way, Aofil pours a cup for them, and one for Sans.

Aofil deserves something today, so no sugar for Sans.

They catch Sans's attention through the glass pane in the door, and he nods that it is safe for Aofil.

"yeah, aofil just finished the tea, so why don't you all come over?"

He…

With a flick Sans disconnects the call, "i hope you put in some extra sugar to offset your sour frown."