A heavenly melody filled the air while birds chirped to their heart content, sitting on a roof covered in piles of snow and Christmas lights going around the trim. Down below, sunlight was bouncing off the snow as it peered through the tiny opening between the curtains. It was a semi blackened bedroom as the white light danced on the skeleton's skull, who was clinging to the bed sheets for dear life. Mumbling screams under their breath.
"SANS….SANS…SANS…Wake up please!" Papyrus screamed in a hoarse voice for Sans to wake. Sure the older brother had terrible dreams from time to time, but never one that made his soul glow two different colors, blue and orange. It was a rare case for monsters to have a soul glowing more than one color unless you had been born with it. It just didn't happen out of anywhere. Could be some unknown sicknesses that affect the soul? Sans' screaming grew into a shriek while blue lights flickered in the left eye socket. The bony hand released the bed sheet, desperately clawing at his cotton shirt trying to get a hold of the soul. "SANS…NO!" Papyrus cried jumping onto the bed while taking hold of the older brother's hands and pinned them to the side.
Orange tears streamed down the side of Papyrus' face as he wondered what he should do. He needs to call for help but if he lets go, there was no telling what Sans would do once he got hold of his own heart. Quickly Papyrus released his hands and unwrapped the scarf around his neck. Looking down he could see tiny rips slashed in Sans' shirt as he used his scarf, to tightly tie the older one's hands up. "I need to call…Undyne…her friend should be able to help you." Papyrus tried calming himself while sitting himself on top of Sans, so the short skeleton wouldn't try anything else to harm himself more.
"Paps…Your bony butt is jabbing my ribs." Sans spoke in a weak voice out of nowhere as he looked up at the younger terrified brother. "HEY!" he shouted, as Papyrus lifted up his shirt.
Papyrus sighed in relief to see the orange light in Sans' soul was gone. Whatever it was, hopefully it was gone. Just to make sure he needs to get his older brother to a doctor. Would his brother be willing to go? Even Papyrus was having a hard time believing what just happen. "Sans...I'm not sure how to explain this, but you need to see a doctor, NOW!"
Sans was deeply confused with what was going on here. Did something happen while he was sleeping and why were his arms tied up? The last thing he remembers was seeing their mother carrying him as a baby. That was right; he was in the Royal Laboratory with his parents and a human girl. Then he blacked out and woke up here in his universe, hopefully, it was his world. Everything in the room seemed to be in order, except for the fact; Papyrus was on top of him. Could this be one of those worlds where they were intimate with each other? Sure Sans was a playboy, but never in his wild dream, he wanted an incest relationship with his little brother. "Anything you say, bro…But could you explain why it looks like you are trying to seduce me?" He asked, hoping there was a good reason to all of this.
"I the Great Papyrus am many things, but I can reassure you, I'm not that…I was trying to keep you from ripping your soul apart. It was glowing blue and orange." Papyrus replied undoing the red scarf around San's hands.
"Orange?" Sans snapped in shock slipping out from under the tall skeleton. Noticing the rips in his white tee, he zipped up the jacket to hide it. Did that creepy monster do something to his blue soul? It didn't feel any different, but Papyrus was right. After what was happening lately, going to see Alphys would be the best and it was a chance to see Arial, too. "Maybe you're rubbing off on me, Paps…I do feel a little more pep than usual." chuckling while placing a hand on the little brother's shoulder before their bodies slowly fade away leaving behind an empty bedroom.
Blue lights flickered in front of the Royal Laboratory. In the center of blue beams, a dark shadow was forming into colorful shapes. In the blink of an eye, the blue light disappeared leaving the skeletons brothers in front of a doorless building. Inside, they could hear a wicked laughter as they started walking slowly into the building. In was rude to enter someone's home without asking, but Sans had a bad feeling about something. There was a bit of blood lust in the air, similar to one Papyrus displayed in the last timeline. He had the right to be worried as a shower of transparent blue spears, blocked their path.
"Undyne!" Papyrus called out watching as his best friend kicked the unknown hooded monster in the stomach. The monster went flying in the air dropping a staff weapon with a long blade, onto the ground. Their body rolled a few times before it came to a complete stop. The young skeleton took it as an opportunity to run up to his pal. He was not sure what was going on, but the fight needs to stop now. Orange flickered in Papyrus' eye sockets as a bone appeared in his right hand. The orange soul hidden by his rib cage had ordered to protect the hooded monster at all cost. "STOP!" he screamed grabbing onto the blue scaled arm hoping to end the fight before something terrible happen.
"Papyrus!?" Undye snapped at the young skeleton while using her free hand to break free from his grip. Didn't that fool see she was in the middle of a battle and why was he glaring at her with this intent to kill? This was unlike Papyrus, who was usually known to be a kind-hearted monster that would never hurt a fly. The warrior's job was protecting the kingdom and citizen at all cost. Right now her soul was telling her to destroy the hooded creature, but why? Undyne's mind became fuzzy while trying to remember what the point of the fight was in the first place. She came to the laboratory to protect Alphys from this girl. Didn't her crush tell her hours ago that she wanted her to meet someone importation to her? Undyne loved Alphys dearly and at the moment, they were just friends. If there was anything between the mystery girl and the yellow dino, it was a friend's job to be happy for the other friend. There was no proof of this or proof that harm had come to Alphys either. Instead of fighting, she should have been looking for her crush.
"What are you all doing?" a female voice cried from another side of the laboratory. Alphys slowly walked past the broken glass, smashed machines, and cracks in the tile flooring. The sight of seeing giant cracks in the main computer was almost enough to make the yellow dino, faint. She kept her composure while scanning the area for a hooded girl. If Undyne did this much damage, what state was her daughter in. "Arial!" she screamed seeing the girl lay motionless on the ground with Sans kneeling down next to her.
Sans sighed in relief as the dark bloodlust aura had finally disappeared from the room. It seemed like whenever Papyrus thought Arial was in danger, the intent to kill the potential threat came over him. What was puzzling was what caused Undyne to attack Arial in the first place? He was sure in the last timeline, both of them were on good terms and the water monster even joked about being the girl's father. All of this was just too much for short skeleton to handle. Sans' mind was screaming as it tried to process all the unanswered question. Maybe if he was lucky, Arial was cursed with remembering the timeline as well. He carefully placed the girl's head in his lap, lightly touched his forehead, a green light glowed from his hand. "Your daughter is alright." Looking up to see a terrified Alphys covering most of her face with her giant claws.
"Sans…How….do..." Alphys was shocked at the skeleton's words. She knew that Sans was super smart, but how did he come to that conclusion? Arial looked nothing like her and they didn't even share the same DNA, either.
"It's a long story, Alphys. I will tell you later...Right now, I think you need to talk to Undyne, her scales look a little roughed up." Sans calmly waved her away.
"ALPHY, did he just refer that thing as you're….daughter?" Undyne asked in a puzzled voice. It felt like her head was on a spin cycle and couldn't comprehend what was going on. Alphys never mention she had a daughter or had been with other females. Unlike humans, monsters didn't need the opposite sex to have a child. Baby monsters were created when two monsters deeply love each other and wished for a child. Pieces of their magical soul would bound together to create a new soul. After that, it depends on the monster race on how the child was born. Wait, Alphys was a scientist, maybe she created her? The only stuff Undyne ever saw Alphys make was mechanical stuff. Was she that smart to create life? "Did you create her?"
Alphys sighed as she looked at Undyne. After all these years, it was finally time to tell her best friend, one of her secrets. It would be lying to say there was no fear in her heart as the large yellow feet slowly slid across the tile floor dragging her limp tail, behind her. Would Undyne understand or hate her? It was too late to turn back now "No…. Dr. Gaster ….he's the...the one...that creat...ed her to b...break the barrier….I'm not...sure what hap...pen….This poor child…I found her locked up...in the lab...a...a..alone…So I took her in and raised her." Her eyelids lowered in shame.
"Sans, is that true?" Papyrus asked jogging over to his older brother, in excitement. No wonder he was determined to protect the hooded stranger. If she was the skeleton brother's sister, it must have been a sibling bond caused him to react that way towards Undyne. Sans nodded his head as he tries to tune in what Alphys and Undyne were discussing.
Undyne was a little upset with her best friend for keeping this big secret until now. She understands why and she couldn't be mad at that cutie forever. If the hooded kid was an experiment created by Royal Science, then she had been royal property. Guessing the way Alphys was speaking, the King had no clue that the child lived or ever existed in the first place. It was the captain of the Royal Guard's duty, to report things like this to the King. Which could lead to having her daughter taken away forever and Alphys losing the title of Royal Scientist. Undyne could never betray Alphys' trust even if meant being branded as a traitor to the capital. She loved the sweet yellow dino with all her heart and would do anything for her. "Wow! Alphy! YOU'RE A HERO!" She laughed while placing her hands on her hips and threw her head back. She laughed her head off like a mad woman until she couldn't breathe anymore. "You Got Guts! I would have never done that…..I'm sorry about messing up your lab and ruffing up your daughter a bit. Don't worry I will not tell." she grinned while gently patting Alphys' horns.
Alphys' heart leaped into her throat as blush spread across those yellow cheeks. It was only a simple pat on the head, but enough to make her heart beat, like mad. "Tha..nk…you!" Alphys mumbled feeling a bit weak in the knees.
"Papyrus…could you look after Ariel?...I'm going have a talk with the Doc," Sans asked as the younger brother nods his head while carefully taking the girl from him. Sans rolled his eyes while watching the scene before him, turning all lovely dove. The only new information he learned was that Arial used to be part of a project to break the barrier. If his memory served him correctly, ten years ago, they only had four human souls. Did his father create the girl in hopes of replacing the missing hearts? That couldn't be right. The requirement to break the barrier was seven human souls. It seemed Alphys had no clue about that research but it could be a lie. Sans wouldn't put it past her. If she was able to keep Arial a secret this long, why not Gagster's research notes. Seeing how long it took to get little information in the last timeline, it wouldn't surprise him it happens again. Sans groan at that thought. All of this is so frustrating to him. In order for him to gain any new information, he had to hear all of the same crap he already knew. To top it off, there was probably something wrong with his soul. "Seeing that you two lovebirds are back on good terms…I would love it if I could speak to the Doc…alone." He asked in bit demanding voice.
"Ummmmmmmmmmmm…Alright, Sans…that will be alright. Undyne….Why….don't you…and Papyrus take...Arial u...upstairs to watch….anime…or...or something…" Alphys mumbled a bit as her face turned a deep shade of pink.
There was a light shade of pink that spread on Undyne's face too, at the mention of them being lovebirds. They were not an official couple yet, but maybe soon. "Alright, Alphy...Come on Papyrus…Follow me and get ready to have your socks blown off." Undyne smirked waving for Papyrus to follower her while carrying Arial in his arms.
"This way… Sans, how did…." Alphys asked waving for the short skeleton to follow her as they walked down the long hallway.
"Today was the first time I meet her….I'm friends with Grillbz, who is also friends with your daughter and that's how I found out she was your daughter." Sans partly lied while looking at the tile under his pink slippers. It was a bit strange seeing the laboratory that had previously belonged to his father. Then again, in the last timeline, Arial mention a Secret Laboratory. Which meant the Royal Laboratory was nothing more than a peaceful cover-up to hide the dark secrets lurking in the true laboratory. Alphys was the one that freed Arial so she had to know about that laboratory too. Sans wouldn't be surprised if the shy scientist was also using the Secret Laboratory to conducted experiments. When he examined Arial's body in the last timeline, there were very old scars which were presumed his father may have done it. The thought that their father hurt others, especially a child, made his chest hurt. If Arial was telling the truth that she was younger than Papyrus, then that would make her at least six years older during the time his father disappeared. Before then, she was a caged up lab rat while her brothers got to enjoy life. Even after being free, Arial continued to live in the laboratory with a different scientist. If it were Sans, he would have run away and never again want to do anything related to science. Why did she stay? "Is there reasons why you kept her secret from her own brothers?…You're not experimenting on her too, are you." He asked with a hint of bitterness in his voice.
"I would never hurt my child!" Alphys snapped in anger while making tiny fits. How dare that skeleton to assume that she would be heartless like Gaster and harm an innocent child. In the beginning, she did do a lot of test on Arial, but nothing that would harm her. It was simple things like a blood test, checking the soul, x-rays, and other regiment doctors did to check on the child's development into adulthood. She took a deep breath trying to calm herself down. "She…asked…me too."
"Still not a good reason… I…..We..." Sans remarked, not liking the way those words, slipped out of his mouth. Why was he acting this way towards Alphys? It was clear the girls had a loving mother and daughter relationship. Could it be that he was disgusted with his father and himself for not being honest with others? Maybe if Gaster told him about the experiment, Sans could have helped find other solutions that didn't involve so much pain. Same could be said about Sans keeping timelines secret. It was terrifying, after what felt like years to let others into one's dark secret.
"Back then, you were all children…grieving over losing Dr. Gaster….your father. Yes….There was times…I wanted to tell you, boys…I had no right…It was Arial's decision to make…I want to keep her safe…Now that you know…Sans….What are you going do about Arial?" Alphys sighed while stopping in the front of the door and placing her hand on a keypad and unlocking clicking noises could be heard.
"I'm not sure how I feel about her …." Sans shrugged his shoulder while placing his hands into his jacket. There was so much mystery around the girl that he couldn't tell if she was a friend or foe. Sure they shared some of the same DNA, but sibling bond is something that grew from love and time. Right now the only family he had left was his younger brother, Papyrus. "Paps seemed super excited about having a sister."
"S...so why are you here?" Alphys asked as the door slid across the floor, revealing a tiny examination room. Shivers went up to her spin as yellow clawed feet touched the freezing flooring. Unlike most of the laboratory, this room was barely used seeing that most monsters knew how to heal themselves these days. Once in a while, monsters would visit to get a checkup or need medicine for a cold. The yellow monster took a seat in an office chair while reaching out to turn on a laptop display on the tiny table.
"Soul checkup," Sans replied standing in front of the examination table then lifting himself up onto it.
"W...why didn't you go t...to a doctor in Snowdin? …When w...was the last t...time you had one?" Alphys asked looking through the patient files to see if the skeleton had one under Hotland, records. Sadly there was no luck and calling the Snowdin Hospital for the records, would take too long. She would just have work with information she would receive from Sans.
"Eight years ago…Also, I want to meet the girl that my best pal has the Hots for." Sans said kicking his feet back and forth.
"SANS!…Soul checks v...very important, especially for LHP." Alphys snapped while clicking on a "new patient" document templet and type out the name "Sans Skeleton" in the name box. How careless could the young skeleton be so careless? Normal magical souls had many layers could withstand many attacks, mental and physical. Those that suffered from Low Heart Points, only had one layer to their soul.
"Wait how do you know I have that?!" Sans snapped back gripping the edge of the metal bed. The only doctor that knew that was his father.
"In my f...freshman year of college, Gaster u...use d to be my doctor… He only t...told me, because I have it t...too. I'm guessing Papyrus d...doesn't know?"
"Of course not."
"Unlike m...me ,…you have a lot of magic to p...protect yourself…but you need to b...be careful. One blow to the…"
"I'm, boned" Sans sighed, placing a hand over his chest as blue lights illuminated through his fingers. The bony hand slowly reached out in front of him as it opened to reveal a hovering blue heart. Alphys carefully took the blue heart into her clawed hand while lifting it up to the light.
"S…a….n…s…Has anyone….t...touched your...soul lately?… "Alphys' voice cracked, noticing a tiny orange lump on the back of the blue heart.
"You are, right now" Sans laughed to try to hide the fact he was feeling a bit uncomfortable having the scientist hold it. There were times during sex that he would let monster he trusted, like Muffet or Grillby, play with the blue soul. Unlike the common monster, a lot of scientists and doctors were skilled with knowledge of the magical soul. What if all those timelines did something to the soul and it wasn't noticed, till now? No way in hell he was going be someone's lab rat. "I'm into soul-sucking."
"No….I mean h...has anyone...used magic on y...your soul?….Have you been…s...seeing visions…t...that's not your own?" Alphys asked worriedly as her claw lightly touched the orange spot. "Ouch!" she cried as a shock zapped her claw.
"Well, I did have a creep try to use his orange-blue magic on me….and afterward I had been dreaming of the past, but it's not my own."
"T...this is bad…S...sans what you're experiencing is A...astral Heart….What it d...does is let monsters see and feel the past e...events that other monsters…lived through. In wartime…it was a w...way to pass…secret information without the humans fi...fnding out….After New Home was built…the King b...banned the use of Astral Heart…Y...you see…the side effects…can mess with monster's s...soul. Spending too much…time in other monster p...past… can change one's personality…Over time…Their own memory s...starts to fade...what they are left with is memories of a...another monster… It was also an e...evil way for some monster to keep living on even a...after the original body was gone. The only way t...to get rid of Astral Heart is to….have the user of the spell, to remove it…Sans, y...you need to find this monster…have them r...remove it…Until then…try…using your magic to fight off…and stay away from a...anything that may trigger a…flashback…Do you have a clue…w...who…the monster Might be?"
"No…I'm sure I will BUMP into them soon" Sans answered while his gaze was on the orange lump. If there was truth to Alphys' words, then there was only one monster those memories belong to, W.D Gaster. Which also meant that disfigured monster could be his father. Even if Sans did find a way back to the dark place, he wouldn't be able to speak with him. It seemed the only way to communicate, would be through sign language or the strange writing. Hopefully, the Snowdin Library had books on the subject, to borrow. "You're my doctor now, so AORTA keep it a secret, alright?" San chuckled while pulling his jacket hood up.
Alphys nods her head while releasing Sans' soul and let it float back into its owner's chest. This whole situation left an uneasy feeling in her stomach. Royal Scientists job was to help the Underground citizens and also act as a doctor if need be. She was bound to follow patient's confidentiality law as long as the monster in question was not self-harming themselves or the Royal Family didn't request information. Alphys couldn't breathe a word to anyone. As long as the short skeleton followed her warning, he should be alright for a while. Then again, he did have LHP. What if he was pulled into a traumatic vision and his soul couldn't handle it? Arial would be so heartbroken if she lost another member of her family. "A...are you sure…you don't…want t...to at least tell…Undyne?…She could p...put…out a search warrant…for a m...mystery monster." Alphys nervously asked, watching Sans leap off the metal table and land on his feet.
"Don't worry, I have thick skin." Sans laughed, heading to the doorway as a blue tear ran down the side of his face. There was no way he was going try to dodge Gaster's memories even if meant death. As long as "Reset" was in play, he would be able to come back to life in the next timeline. What terrified him was the risk of his existence disappearing and being replaced by his father's personality. There had to be a reason why Astral Heart placed on his soul….there had to be. Maybe it was the key to free everyone from the horrid resets?
Alphys sighed while nodding her head, deep down she wished she could do more for Sans. If she tried removing the spell, it would kill him in a heartbeat. Placing a claw in her lab coat, she pulled a tiny notebook and scribbles something in messy handwriting. "At least take some pain medicine for sore bones and headache, when you need It." handing him a prescription form.
"Thanks, Doc. You got that doctor handwriting, down." Sans said quickly taking the note and stuffing it into the jacket pocket. Soft almost quite muffled voice could be heard from her, but he didn't bother paying attention to a single word anymore. Alphys could plead all she wanted and try to get him to change his mind, but it wouldn't work. In a flash, the skeleton disappeared from the hall leaving the dino behind and then reappeared in front of the staircase Alphys used earlier. Carefully holding onto the handrail as he started walking up the steps. It would have been a lot quicker to take a shortcut up to the second floor, but kind of dangerous not knowing how Alphys may have redesigned the place after taking over after his father's disappearance. Knowing Sans' luck, he would crash into something breakable.
Sans almost jumped out of his skin as he heard loud cheering noises, filled the air. Near what appeared to be a tiny living room, Undyne was standing next to a coach making weird gestures with her arms. She extended her arms out in front, cupping an imaginary ball while retracting the arms back to one side. " Kamehaaaaa…."
Sans busted into laughter when he noticed she was trying to imitate what's going on the television screen. He couldn't help it; she looked so serious doing it. "What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to turn my magic into chi" she smirked pointing to the television displaying a battle between a spiky-haired human in an orange karate outfit fighting a purple-white monster.
"Sure...Where's Papyrus and Ariel?" San asked rolling his eyes before looking around trying to find the two missing teenagers.
"Arial freak out and went off running somewhere and Papyrus went after her," Undyne replied grabbing the TV remote and hit the pause button.
"Why didn't you go after them?" Sans asked taking a seat on the couch then leaning his head into the back cushions. It's still early in the day, but he was starting to get really tired. It felt like he hadn't slept in days.
"Papyrus told me to stay here…I didn't want to get in way of sibling bonding time. I felt bad though." Undyne answered taking a seat next to Sans. "Are you alright?"
"Just bone tired."
"Lazybones." Undyne rolled her eyes before turning down the volume and hitting the play button. Eyes glued to screen as excitement sent chills down the water monster's spine. Biting her lower lip trying not to make a peep, not to disturb the sleeping skeleton, next to her.