The blue soul drifted in and out the pleasant delusion of slumber, filling it with pure happiness. Tiny whispers filled the air as the short skeleton rolled over on the couch, trying to block out the noise. Seemed no matter how much sleep he gained, it was never enough sleep. Sans has always suffered from anemia caused by being born with a Low Hit Point. The genocide timelines and his father's memory had also put a strain on his blue soul and magic. At that moment, it felt like his bones were at rest and floating on cloud nine. Pushing deeper into the fabric of the cushion while tugging on the side of his winter jacket as if were a short blanket that wouldn't cover the body completely. The skeleton couldn't get back to sleep. The mumbling voices and noises wouldn't let up. A groan escaped San's mouth as he slipped his feet into his pink fuzzy slippers, before walking across the blue-purple zig zag chevron carpet heading towards the kitchen.
A sweet smell of yeast and sounds of clinging dish drifted from the tiny kitchen. An orange-yellow fire monster stood in front of the stove flipping a pancake in the air as the short skeleton walked passed him. Sans chuckled to himself, remembering his foster father, Grillby Senior would always cook thin round pancakes for breakfast for them when they were younger. It also brought back sentimental longing for the pancakes his mother used to make, covered in sticky red ketchup syrup. That fond memory washed away, quickly, replaced with agonizing pain in the center of his right hand. The hallucination only lasted for a second, but it was enough to make him morn in the loss of his mother, who gave up her magic, life, and everything to save the twins.
The blue soul sunk deeper in the depth of grief. The bright white light disappeared from the short skeleton's eye socket. Standing before Sans, in front the sink was Papyrus and Arial locked in a pleasant conversation while washing and drying the dishes. Unaware of the other monster's presence as Sans' bony arm warped around each of the young skeleton siblings, pulling them into a tight backward hug. His round skull buried between the fabrics of their clothing, trying not sob too loud for both of them to hear.
"Brother!"
"Sans!"
The short skeleton didn't speak, desperately trying to hide negative emotions. After last night's nightmarish ordeal, part of Sans wanted to be done with the anguish visions. It's still hard to believe that young female before him, could be Papyrus' twin sister and not some experiment cooked up in the Secret Laboratory. It would explain why the younger brother was protective of her. If that were true, why was she hidden away from her brothers? He needed more information. The thought of dabbling in more of Gaster's memories made his bones rattle with fear.
"BROTHER!"
"SANS!"
"Sorry to crepe up on both of you. Didn't mean to flatten the mood. I could go for some puncakes right about now." Sans chuckled, white light orbs came back into view, looking up at the two startled monsters.
"Holy Crepe, Sans, I thought you were going to flip on us…I guess…" Ariel sighed.
"NOOOOOOO! Please stop it, too early in the morning for this!" Papyrus demanded, his orange orbs glared down at the short skeleton, before turning onto the female next to him. Both of his hands were gripping the side of a plate watching as their sister's mouth slightly open to speak again. "ARIEL DON'T….don't encourage HIM!"
"Alright, We'll let eggo for now." Sans snickered looking up with a proud wide grin plastered on his face. Slipping his hands into his jacket and twirled around in the slippers. Behind him, he could hear something snap in two as the younger brother screamed in frustration. He had cracked the plate in two and hurled the pieces at the pun masters. The short skeleton didn't want to say it, but Papyrus had a bit of a point, it was too early for a full-on punning spree. The blue soul didn't have the heart to keep going as he heads towards the kitchen doorway only to smack into a hard surface. A clinging noise echoed inside his skull as Sans started losing balance and step back to see a black and pink metal in front of his face.
"We're back, darlings!" A pleasant robotic voice boomed with excitement, but his black eyes were glaring down at the short skeleton. A brown paper shopping bag was stuffed into Sans' arms as Mettaton made his way to a grumbling taller skeleton. The metal arm wrapped around Papyrus' waist, pulling him into a tender kiss. "I'm sorry about taking so long, Pappy…" pulling away as a finger traced down the side of the skeleton's cheekbone."The little dear wanted to buy something for Arial." The robot smiled, looking over his shoulder towards the doorway.
A little human slowly stepped into the kitchen with an unsure expression on their face, stopping in front the short skeleton. Sans could see Frisk's hand trembling, holding onto a white flat round object in their hands. Their eyes were cast on the floor, softly biting their bottom lip. There was a gloomy aura drifting around both of them. The skeleton could see something was up, but the kid was too scared to speak. There was only one guess; the demon child had something dark planed up their sleeve. Sans chuckled as he hands the grocery bag over to Grillby before pulling up his hood over the skull. Turning to the side, he leans close to Frisk's face, as he placed a bony hand on the back of the kid's stripe shirt. Hidden from view was a blue orb glowing from his left eye socket, pondering if he should kill the kid now or wait for the demon child to strike. The blue soul was in no condition to watch other family members die. The chance of Papyrus being dusted again was too great. Blue magic swirled around his bony hand. It quickly disappears, noticing Frisk's eyes were closed as a sweet angelic smile spread across their face. Did the kid want Sans to make the first move? What were they up, a reset or something else? Were they testing him to see if he was a cold-hearted demon like them? Sans groaned while lightly pushing the kid forward. "Go on, Kiddo."
Frisk nod their head, skipping up to Arial happily, and held their hands up in the air presenting something. The girl giggled, leaning over as his tiny hands slipped the flat object over her black raven hair until it rests over the human-skeleton's face. "Thank you, Frisk." She spoke in a muffled voice pulling the child into a hug.
"Sis!" Papyrus huffed, at the human child's gift to his sister. Covering Arial's face was a round white mask with a cartoony skeleton skull. The eye sockets were cut out so you could see Arial's left purple iris looking back. The mask's fake smirk felt like it was mocking the permanent one on Sans' face. The tall skeleton pulled away from his lover as he placed his hands on the side of the mask. "There's no reason to hide." moving the mask to the side revealing a deep red blush on the side of the girl's fleshy face.
"Paps, let it go," Sans said looking over at the fire monster's flames which were changing shape and different shades of orange, yellow. It didn't take a genius to known that Grillby was giving off embarrassing signals to Arial with the use of fire magic. "It's the same reasons I wear a jacket with hood and you wear a scarf." Sans stated."…When we feel overwhelmed with emotions we like to try hiding from the world…We got it from Mom…." he sighed, noticing his younger brother's hand lightly touching the red scarf around his neck.
There was a dark, lonely, and creepy silence in the room as the skeleton brothers cast their eyes to the ground. Each one lost in their own thought. The mention of their mother had always been a touchy subject, especially for Papyrus. "I'm sorry." He mumbled under his breath.
"Pancakes!" Grillby's voice beamed out of nowhere, holding up a plate of stacked cakes drenched with sticky red syrup in front of Papyrus and Mettaton. A warm pleasant heat beamed from the fire monster. The robot took the offered food as the grabbed his boyfriend's hand, carefully leading Papyrus into the living room to eat.
"Thanks, Grillbz," Sans spoke in a low voice, while his feet slid across the floor, heading towards the refrigerator.
"No problem. We are family after all." Grillby said placing pancakes on a plate and covering it with maple syrup. In the background, he could hear the refrigerator open and clanking of bottles hitting each other. A flame hand tightly gripped the plate took hold of the puzzled Arial's hand. "Don't overdo it." He said before leaving the room, knowing perfectly well the short skeleton was looking for alcohol.
Sans didn't reply, grabbing a bottle filled with a bittersweet drink that would numb some feelings that were aching in his soul. He didn't bother to close the refrigerator, leaning back against its cold shelving. Fluorescent light casting over the back of the blue winter jacket and shoulders. A Bony hand twisted the cap off of the bottle of Blood Mary, holding up to his teeth, but stopped. In front of him was a set of soft brown eyes staring at him, judging him. "Do you want some, Kiddo? Your soul got to be old enough now." He joked, holding the bottle out for the child to take. Frisk shakes their head side to side, no.
"Do you like Arial, like Pappy?"
"No!"
Sans could see a bit of sadness in the child's eyes at his answer as they turned away and headed towards the living room. How was the short skeleton expected to put trust into someone that he only met in a few timelines? It was kind of hard do that after being backstabbed by a human he once called a friend and cared about. For all he knows, that purple twin soul died a long time ago and Arial could be nothing, but an untrusting creature. She hadn't done anything wrong yet, but time would only tell. He grumbled as he picked himself off the floor and tossing the empty bottle into a trash can, slamming the refrigerator door closed. In the distance, he could hear laughter as he walked into the living room. Papyrus and Frisk were sitting on the floor with eyes glued to the TV screen watching four cartoon turtles eating pizza. On the couch, Arial was sitting between Grillby's legs; flip through her phone while Mettaton leaned over to see what was on her screen. Sans took a seat next to his brother, as the taller one wrapped an arm around him. A warmth safe aura washed over him, leaning a little more into the embrace as his head slowly slumped into Pap's lap. It quickly ended as the skeleton jolted awake as his head was placed on rough carpet. There was a soft whisper as the sound of wind blowing into the house. Shifting his bones slightly, Sans could see Grillby was standing in the front doorway leaning over placing a kiss on Arial's lips then patting Frisk on the head before shutting the door behind him. The short skeleton went back to sleep guessing it was time for Grillby to open up the tavern for the day. Moments later, Sans woke to the sight of Papyrus hugged Arial and Frisk, before disappearing behind the door holding hands with a hooded monster, probably Mettaton secretly escorting the young skeleton to school. He quickly went back to sleep again only to be jolted awake remember he needs to follow Arial and Frisk.
Without another thought, Sans scrambled to his feet as blue light illuminated him. In a flash, he was standing in the center of town as he looked back and forward between two paths that led out of Snowdin. Wondering which way would a monster without transportation power would take. If Arial was determined to break the barrier, then the best choice would be to skip Waterfall and head straight to Hotland. In a flash, Sans was standing near the river bank as he spotted the two sitting on the boat with the ferryman.
Arial was speaking quietly to the River Person while searching through the contents of her bag. There was sadness in her eyes as a trembling hand was brought to the hooded creature. Nuzzled in the palm of her hand were three silver coins being offered to the River Person. They wouldn't take it, gesturing her hand away while the other hand pointed over to the side of the boat. She froze in surprise discovering a short skeleton standing in the snow. Arial quickly stuffs the coins back into her bag before slipping the skull mask over her face, turning her full attention towards Sans. "S…sans…What are…you doing here?" There was a tone of fear in the muffled voice as she spoke as she fidgets nervously with the straps on her bag.
"There's something I wanted to ask Alphys. I'm too tired to take a shortcut." Sans paused, noticing Frisk's eyes were cast on a wood board of the boat. Their tiny hand gripping onto the side Arial's black skirt. He could sense unwelcome fear blooming from the two of them. "You don't mind me tagging along, do you…Princess?"
"I don't mind" Arial lied nervously looking up at the River Person then back at Sans. Her purple sleeves wrapped around the human child's waist as the girl pulled them close to her chest. The purple heart started beating fast against the chest after feeling something brush hairs on top her head. A deep humming noise echoes into her ear telling her to stay quiet. In the corner of the eye, she could see yellow orbs glowing within the darkness of the River person's hood before he pulled away. The dark hooded figure chuckled as he leaned over, bowing down to Sans. Puzzlement was glowing from Sans' orbs.
"It's an honor to meet you, Comic Sans Skeleton…Tra la la. The waters are wild today…Hotland?"
The bones rattled at the sound of hearing a gravelly male voice beaming from within the darkness of the monster's hood. The boat wobbled a bit as the short skeleton stepped on board. There was something familiar about that voice, but Sans couldn't recall where he heard it before. It was the first time in his life he was using the riverboat to get around. So why did this monster cause anxiety in the blue soul as he eased himself down gently on to the wooden seat next to Arial and the kid? The River Person pushed an oar against the snow edge, as the boat slowly started to move down the river. Sans watched as the morning light bounced off the white snow became dim as the boat entered into a dark blue-blackness of a cave. He could hear the ferryman ranting from the other end of the boat, but words were muffled out by loud dipping sound of water. The skeleton grasped the edge of the wooden seat as his bones started to tense each time the water splashing against the boat. The blue heart pounded in the ribcage as the last moment spent with his mother washing over the soul.
"Sanssy…its alright." a child's voice whispered in the darkness as Frisk slip into his lap, tiny arms hug the skeleton. Sans leaned over a bit wrapping his arms around them, letting their kindness and warmth destroy the uneasiness within the heart. They softly hummed to a wordless song as they rubbed their cheeks into the fabric of the other's clothing, taking in the sweet smell of ketchup.
The rest of the boat ride was a short silent trip as they all sat in the darkness with only their thought to keep them company. The light in Sans' eye happily lit up as some of the darkness in the cave disappeared. Glowing red sticks embed in a black craven wall, brightening the space around them as the boat came to complete stop. The skeleton watched as Arial carefully picked up Frisk and placed them on the ground before hoisting herself off the boat. She turned around holding a hand out for Sans, the skeleton took the offer and was lifted out of the boat. In front of them was a long rocky staircase leading upwards. The skeleton chuckled to himself as he placed his hands into his jacket pockets. Wishing that Papyrus was here to carry him up the steps.
"Ariel…Could you…ummmm…Car.."
Those words cut off as a large shadow cast over his own shadow. Dark aura loomed around Sans as something grabs the back of the jacket pulling him a few steps back. The sound of static buzzed around his head as the lights that hung on the wall, faded away. A bony hand reached out in front of him trying desperately to grab onto the end of Arial's bow on the back of her dress, only end up grabbing nothing, but air.
"Beware, those that harbor two souls…. Tra...la...la"
His bones rattled as the flashback of a gun covered in yellow light. His body came crashing to his knees splashing into a pile of gray ash. Sans looked down to find a hole carved in the center of his hands as red liquid dripped from it. His head slowly turns to look over the shoulder to see a stream of yellow light as the boat disappeared from the river. Quickly, he was tossed into an emotional whirlpool of sadness and rage as loud screams filled the cavern wall. Orange-blue light beamed from the chest as blue light flared from Sans' left eye. His fingers clawed at the rocky ground try to get his mind under control as images of the past mixed with the reality of the present.
"SANSSY!"
The short skeleton gasped in pain titling up to see two tiny blurry figures standing on the rocky steps. Bloodlust flowed from one of their eyes as they snickered under their breath. The eyes appeared to be hollowed out as trails black goop oozed from their sockets while a twisted black demotic smile spread across the face. Their dark red soul glowing brightly, itching with excitement with every scream that left Sans' mouth. The skeleton rolled onto his back gripping at the cotton shirt, heavily breathing as he summoned his soul, one-fourth of it was covered in orange lumps. Painful discomfort was too much to take. His bony hand penetrated into his own heart. A painful moan escaping each time he pushed hard, causing the soul to lose its heart shape. A drop of blue magic dripped down the hand like blood, seeping from small open wounds.
"STOP!"
A tiny voice called out from the darkness, a child shaped shadow figure with bunny ears hovered over the skeleton. Their tiny hand reached out, cupping the infected blue soul. Purple magic swirled around their hands. The tiny finger was tugging at the orange lumps, causing both to scream in agony and pain. The creature wouldn't let up as the skeleton's vision become nothing but a mess of blurry darkness and chilling cries. The tiny voice begged him not give up over and over until the sound of their voice was nothing, but a silent pitch of stillness. Sans' soul quickly shocked awake at the sound of angry voices auguring to each. His mind was a bit hazy as he tries to recall how he got here. The sound of medical equipment surrounded him as nothing else came to mind as bones felt the puffiness of the mattress. An IV bag filled with green liquid pumped into a thin long tube. Eyes traced along the tubing leading to the floor, bed, and under the bottom of his cotton shirt. Carefully, Sans lifted up the neck collar and found the ends of the cord latched to the blue soul. He was shocked to find that most of the orange lumps had been reduced by half its size on blue soul. Now there were tiny dark burn marks that were slowly being healed by green magic sweeping from the tube that's lacked to the heart. Who did this to him? He wondered as he turned towards the voices in the room with him.
"Calm down, Alphy…The Punk was just trying to help." A deep female voice said clammily.
"B…oth of you are in so much d… d..deep trouble… Wh…at w..were you thinking. Going to the R.. ruins and almost kill…ing…N…now this." A soft female voice yelled, shuddering every once in while with her words.
"I couldn't let Sanssy kill himself…Why didn't you tell me about the Astral Heart?" A third female spoke in hush bitter voice.
The white orbs disappeared from the eye sockets as Sans slowly shifted, turning to the side. Eyesight was a little weak without light floating in the skull, but he couldn't afford to let the others realize that he was fully awake. One of them was a chubby yellow reptile wearing a lab coat over a lacy pink nightgown nervously biting her nails. Wrapped around her was a blue buff arm of a redheaded, water monster. In front of them was an angry human-skeleton wearing a purple-black dress with a human child standing in the midst of the argument.
"I…I…I just want to p…protect both of you." Alphys mumbled, tears forming behind her tiny glass. She placed a trembling hand on the side of Arial's face as she pets the fleshy side of the girl's face, with her thumb. Hoping the child would forgive her.
"You're not my mother, Alphys. So stop acting like you're, her!" human-skeleton girl snapped, both eyes flaring a purple glow, pushing the chubby reptile away from her. "My siblings are all the family I have left." She remarked grabbing hold of Frisk's arm,
There was a tension of darkens in the room as Sans lay in the hospital bed speechless at the girl's words. Was the kindness she expressed towards the older monsters, all an act? He could feel dark magic swirling around her while she drags the human child behind her with a skeleton mask in the other hand while heading towards the door. Bony fingers pressed deep into the fabric of Frisk's sleeves. Not caring about the discomfort they were in as they yelped in pain.
In a flash, Undyne grabbed the human-skeleton by the shoulder as other hand smacked the girl across the face, pulling Frisk away from her. Anger beamed from her fishy yellow eye. She didn't like the tone the teenager was expressing towards the other female monsters. "That's no way to talk to Alphy…real Daughter or not…You need to respect your elders, Kid!" Undyne yelled. "Alphy put her job and life on the line to protect both of you."
"Don't touch me…You don't know what it's like!…" the teenage girl yelled, glaring at the water monster while yanking on the human child's arm. Frisk whimpered under their breath as the girl pulled them closer to her.
"You're right; I don't know what's going on in that soul of yours." Undyne snarled, taking a few steps. Her eye widened in disgust and horror noticing blood dripping down the left side of the teenage girl's lips. Lightly biting the bottom her lips, Undyne turns her head slightly away from the girl for a moment. A deep sigh escaped as her yellow eye cast down staring at her own sharp dark blue nails. "I don't understand this timeline stuff…. We are trying….Kiddo."
Those words sent a rage of anger through the male skeleton as Sans dug the tip of his fingers deep into the hospital mattress. That little bitch, human-skeleton knows about the timelines. No wonder she was able to stay out of sight during all of the resets. It would explain how she knew about Flowey. He wouldn't put it past her if she was working with the child demon, too. Those with a connection to humanity could never be trusted. Part of him wanted to leap off the bed, grab the freak, and the kid by their souls, and toss both of them into the nearest wall. Twist and break every bone until they squeal like little pigs. Comic was his first name and loved a good prank, but playing with other's lives was not a laughing matter. He was sick of these games and being played like the fool. Burning red fury burned in his soul, but Sans forced himself to stay put as he listened and waited for the right time to butt in.
"What's the point of explaining everything….You're all going to forget it anyway...I'm tired of this!" the human-skeleton girl snapped, tears of anger streamed down the side of her cheeks. Frisk hummed softly as they pat the hand gripping their arm tightly. A deep purple glare of her eyes hushed the child up, quickly.
"You said as l….long as no o…one k…k….k…killed the human….We are safe…Right?" Alphys was trying to make herself sound reassuring while slowly walking over to the children. Trying her best not to cry as a half-hearted smile spread across her face. Pulling a tissue out of her robe pocket, she reaching up to wipe the blood from her daughter's lips. Only to have the offered helping hand, pushed away.
"Come on Punk…Smile a bit…. Alphy is a Super Nerd. We just have to protect the human until we can seal up their powers. Everything will be alright." Undyne said trying to lighten up the mood with a sorry expression in her eye. Doing her best not to yell or stick the kid again. Reminding herself this was not one of her training cadets or Royal Guard members. This was a very upset teenage girl, who was kind of similar to her at that age. Angry at the world for taking her parents away and trying so hard not to fall apart.
"What if they go genocide?"
"Then I just beat the kid up… I'm Undyne the Undying." Undyne smirked showing off her sharp teeth while trying to look scary as she stared down at the human child. Frisk quickly looked away as they mumbled something under their breath before taking refuge behind Arial's legs.
Arial grumbled as she slipped the skeleton mask on before leaning over to whisper to Frisk, who was burring their face into the fabrics of her black skirt. Their head slightly nods, pulling away looking up at the girl then towards the direction of the bed. Then mouthing the words "farewell".
"W…where are y..you going,?" Alphys asked, noticing the children were heading towards the door again. Her eyes lowered a bit as her head turned towards Undyne for help.
"Take the little freak to the Fucking King…So we can all finally get our happy ending." The human-skeleton girl spoke in a bitter voice, looking over the shoulder to see a scaly blue hand was placed on her shoulder. She was getting a little tired of adult monsters always getting in the way. Why couldn't they see this game was never going to end until the child and demon souls were destroyed? She was only trying to finish the task her father left for her to finish. A deep purple glow of magic swirled above her and Undyne.
"No, you don't, Al…." Undyne barking words replaced with a painful cry. Sharp purple magical bones ripped through her blue scales and her boots scraped across the floor as the water monster's back was pushed against the wall. The bones twisted over and over as the fish monster screamed until the pain was too much for her to handle.
"U...U...UNDYNE!" Alphys gasp, covering her mouth from view at the horror before her. The yellow body was petrified to the spot watching as red liquid dripped down onto the floor. Eyes drifted up to see a blue limp body mounted against the wall. Thin sharp bones illuminated in purple magic was wedged in each shoulder, blood flowed down her arms. The yellow dino tail drag on the ground as Alphys slowly walks towards Undyne, tears streamed down scales of her cheeks. A trembling hand reached up carefully pulling the sharp bone out the older female's shoulder. The echo of the door shutting filled the room as more tears streamed down Alphy's face.
"Alphys!"
A blue light glowed from Undyne's chest as the water monster was carefully placed on the ground in front of the terrified scientist. She didn't have to turn around to know it was Sans that came to the rescue. Her yellow claw brushed through her crush's messy fiery red hair. Part of Alphys wanted to chase after her daughter, but she couldn't leave Undyne, not like this. The damage was deep and needed medical attention. Without it, the warrior would bleed out from blood loss. "P…please I b…beg of you, S...sans…. P..please stop her a…and bring her h…home . " she choked back a few tears, both hands hovering over the wounds as green healing magic swept into Undyne's wounds. Again the room was filled with an echo of the door opening, but this time leaving Alphys alone with a broken heart.