A/N: Sans' sentences at some point will be lowercase. This is entirely intentional.

Chapter 35: Forgotten Promises

Sans and a man with a indiscernable face were walking through the CORE. The console controlling it was in Hotland, the first room on the left. It was one of the places surrounded almost completely by lava.

The console began to spark.

"Sans, you need to get out of here," the man said.

"No, I'm not going to leave you."

Suddenly Sans heard footsteps behind him. He turned and spotted a dark skinned human.

"HAHAHA, guess I finally found you huh? Looks like you're having some trouble. Mind if I lend a hand?"

He lunged towards them.

"SANS, LOOK OUT!"

The man pushed him towards the console while the human struck him across his chest with the frying pan in his hands.

"HA, that's the best you can do?"

Sans felt his heart race. Why was he so worried about the man getting hurt?

He felt his jaw began to move but couldn't hear what he had told the man. It seemed whatever it was it had caught his attention.

The human used that distraction and pushed him into the lava below.

Sans saw him grip the edge with dear life.

Again, Sans felt his jaw move but couldn't make out the words.

He reached out to grab the man's hand. The man's grip slipped and he fell below.

"BROTHER!" The voice was faintly familiar. He was sure that it wasn't as gravely as he remembered.

Sans slowly opened his eyesockets. Whatever he was laying on was very soft.

He looked around. It was a large room with what looked like a finely crafted dresser on the right side of him and a wooden desk to the left.

What was even odder was the bed. It had some of the nicest blankets and red see-through curtains hung from above completely obscuring him from everyone and making everything around him look fuzzy.

He tried to sit up but was struck with pain that shot up his skull. Sans groaned clutching his skull with his hands.

Suddenly the curtains parted revealing King Asgore.

"So you were awake, good. Dogtor told us that you need to take it easy," Asgore said. "Your skull was really rattled up."

"What happened?" Sans asked.

"Don't know. Someone spotted you and your brother knocked out near some kind of machine," Asgore said.

"Machine? There was no machine. We were working on the CORE and someone pushed him, pushed me in too."

That had to be it, it was the only thing that made sense. It was a human too.

"Who?" Asgore asked.

"Me and my brother."

"You mean you and Papyrus?"

"No, I think it was my other brother."

"I did not know you had a brother."

"You mean you don't remember?" Sans asked.

"No, I am afraid I don't."

"Then I guess you didn't see that human who pushed us in then."

"Are you saying a human pushed you?"

"Yeah, he pushed us into the CORE. you don't remember that either, huh? guess that scumbag reset so we couldn't remember a thing," Sans said. "wait, you said papyrus was there too?"

Asgore nodded.

"Yes."

"is he alright?"

"He is fine, Sans. The only person you should worry about is yourself."

"haha, alright."

Days passed before Dogtor dropped by for Sans' checkup. He was a tall husky dog-like monster from Snowdin.

He was one of the few monsters who was good with healing magic.

"so doc, am i free to go?" Sans asked.

"I'm a little worried about the jarring of your skull. Usually this kind of damage can effect memory."

"monsters are magic based. we don't have to worry about memory especially from fall injuries."

"It wasn't from a fall though. Your magic is completely off-kilter like someone's tampered with it. At first I thought your magic had been drained by someone but why would someone put effort into tampering with your magic afterwards."

Sans shrugged.

"beats me doc. so am i better? i kinda wanna see my brother."

Dogtor sighed.

"Yeah, alright you're free to go."

Sans got up and headed out running into the king.

"so where's papyrus? he's staying here too isn't he?"

Asgore ushered him to another room. Papyrus was sitting up a book in one hand and a pencil in the other. The title on the cover of the book was, 'Puzzle Solving for Beginners.'

Bandages were wrapped around his skull.

"papyrus?"

Papyrus looked up, his eyes flashed in recognition at the sight of his brother.

"SANS, YOU'RE ALRIGHT."

Tears appeared from the corner of his eyes.

Sans was in an equal state of relief and ran towards his brother. He reached out to embrace him.

"I'M GLAD YOU'RE ALRIGHT. I WAS SO WORRIED."

"me too, papyrus. me too."

Later that day RG01 and RG02 had stopped by the throne room.

"Is there a reason you wished to see me?" Asgore asked.

"RG01 wanted to check up on the skeleton," RG02 replied. "I know we're supposed to be on duty but-"

"I understand," the king said. "Don't worry I'll explain everything to Undyne."

The three headed to the king's guest room where Papyrus was staying. Sans was already seated at his brother's bedside.

Sans looked up. His teeth were planted in a frown and his eyesockets were narrowed.

"aren't you two a part of the royal guard?" he asked. "shouldn't you be out watching for humans?"

"Sans, they know. They are the ones who found you. They came here to see how you two were doing."

"i thought it was obvious. we're both fine."

"Your brother's still recovering though isn't he?" RG01 asked.

"What will you do after he gets better?" the other royal guard asked.

"what do you mean?"

"That's right. You never were good with cooking," Asgore said.

"If you like I could teach you," RG02 said.

"Is that alright, your majesty?" RG01 asked.

"i don't need your pity," Sans snapped.

"It isn't pity. This is for your brother. You want him to be happy don't you?"

Sans sighed and got up following RG01 and RG02 in the kitchen.

Once they left, Papyrus opened one eyelid.

"ARE THEY GONE?"

"Yes," Asgore said.

"GOOD."

"Why? Was there something you wanted to talk to me about?" Asgore asked.

"I'M WORRIED ABOUT SANS."

"Why?"

"LATELY HE'S BEEN ACTING STRANGE," Papyrus said. "HE'S QUIET AND WHEN I TRY TO TALK TO HIM, HE LOOKS AWAY WITH A SCARY EXPRESSION ON HIS FACE."

"You mean the one where his pupils from his eyesockets disappear?"

"YES, THAT ONE."

"I see. We were talking a little bit when he was recovering. He seemed to think you both had an older brother who went missing."

"WHAT WE DON'T HAVE A BROTHER? AT LEAST AS FAR AS I KNOW."

"You should not strain yourself trying to remember. The doctor said you developed long term memory loss from the accident. You and your brother's magic was so out of whack that you both were lucky it didn't cause any long term damage to your bodies."

"SO THAT'S WHY I DON'T REMEMBER MY BROTHERS THEN?"

Asgore grinned sadly.

"Yes possibly, I mean Sans is your older brother but I don't think you've ever had another brother."

Papyrus sighed.

"Still you can make short term memories with the brother you have."

Whilst this was going on, Sans was in the kitchen with the other two royal guards.

"What do you know about cooking?" RG02 asked.

"what do you think?"

"You don't know how to prepare even a simple meal?" RG01 asked.

He sighed.

"Who cooked your meals while you were living by yourself?"

"don't know."

RG02 took several items from the fridge and set them on the counter.

There was a jar of flour, a can of baking soda, cinnamon, a vial of vanilla and a cartoon of eggs.

RG02 got a large bowl and poured some flour in it along with water. Eventually with time there was a dough created.

"You see, that's how you make a simple dough. You can make anything from biscuits, cookies, pies and bread."

"I see."

After a while they had placed the dough in the oven.

"Phew," RG01 said, wiping the sweat off his face.

Around an hour later, RG01 took it out of the oven and began to cut it into slices.

"What's it supposed to be?" RG02 asked.

"Dude, isn't it obvious. It's bread. So dude, do you know how to make french toast?"

"what's french toast?" Sans asked.

"Oh dude, you're missing out. It's like the ideal breakfast food."

After he had finished fixing the french toast and setting it on a plate, RG01 headed back with it in his hands.

Sans and RG02 followed him up to the king's guest room.

"I see you've returned," Asgore said.

"it must have been boring sitting around."

"No, we had a nice chat. It was rather insightful," he said before glancing at the plate in RG01's hand. "I see you three cooked something for Papyrus."

Papyrus' cheeks lit up.

"REALLY? I'M FLATTERED."

RG01 handed the plate over to Papyrus.

"WHAT'S THIS?"

"Dude, just try it. You'll like it."

He handed Papyrus a fork and the skeleton cut into the bread with his fork. Skewering it with his fork, he put the piece of french toast in his mouth.

"WOW, THIS IS DELICIOUS."

"See dude, I told you."

Sans coughed.

RG01 turned towards him.

"thanks a bunch," he stammered.

The skeleton looked away a bright blue flush on his face.

"Don't mention it, dude. If you like, you can stop by anytime if you need more pointers. My mother was the one who taught me everything I know. If you're ever in Snowdin, drop by the item shop alright?"

"will do."

With that the two royal guards left.

"Sans, may I have a word with you?" Asgore asked.

"sure."

Asgore headed out and Sans followed him outside the guest room.

"Sans, are you feeling alright?"

"peachy."

"I see why you are upset but that anger is not going to fix anything. You have to be strong for your brother and move forward."

"i suppose you're right."

"Which is why I got you a place in Snowdin."

"what?! you can't be serious."

"I am completely serious."

"that's ridiculous. it's my duty to serve you. i went through all that training just to protect you."

"For that I'm thankful however you only have one life and you shouldn't waste it. So have fun and enjoy it while you still can. The royal guards will escort you two there."

After Papyrus was treated, they both were escorted to their house in Snowdin..

As they were heading back, Sans ran into Gerson who was out of breath.

"I heard the news. If it's any consolation I'm very sorry about what happened."

"gerson, did i have a brother other than papyrus?" Sans asked.

"Not that I can remember."

"so you don't remember him either."

Gerson's eyes widened.

"No, I'm afraid I don't. Something though is rather odd. Meet me in Waterfall whenever you have some spare time. I got something to show you."

"i'll keep that in mind."

With that Sans joined up with his brother and the royal guards.

Eventually they arrived in front of a large two story house outside the cave that lead to Waterfall. It was at the corner of town right before they arrived in Snowdin.

"WOWIE, DON'T YOU THINK THIS HOUSE LOOKS KIND OF SNOWED IN?"

"papyrus, please no."

"NYEHHEHHEH, YOU'RE LAUGHING BROTHER. EVEN YOU CAN'T RESIST MY PUNS."

"haha, guess you're right. look like this is gonna be our new home from now on."

RG01 handed Sans the keys to the place.

Both brothers stepped inside the house. Everything was made of wood including the floor. Stairs led up to two rooms.

Papyrus marched upstairs to glance at the rooms.

"PAPYRUS CALL DIBS TO THE ROOM ON THE RIGHT. NYEHHEHHEH."

Sans teleported behind his brother glancing into his room.

"glad you're enjoying yourself bro."

Nearly 10 years had passed since Peri's family had taken them in. No one knew she had lived with them. When she walked to school, Cal quickly discovered that Barby also lived in Snowdin with her father, Grillby and did her best to ensure she wasn't spotted. If Barby ever found out, Cal wouldn't hear the end of it.

It was on one particular day as she was heading to school that she spotted Barby as she was leaving Grillby's.

'Oh no!' she thought. 'If Barby spots me. I'm history.'

Before she could mave a muscle. Barby caught sight of her and her lips curled into a smirk and she winked out her.

'The nerve.'

"My my, looks like you changed your mind about this place hmm? I thought you preferred your luxurious house in the capital."

Barby glanced at her.

"You look awfully ruffled."

"Cal, you forgot your lunch."

Barby and Cal turned to look at Cal's father who had ran towards them carrying a sack lunch.

Cal groaned as her hand massaged her forehead.

"I see so you've been staying here huh?"

Barby chuckled.

"It's not funny."

"Well I always thought you had a stick up your a-s."

Cal snorted.

"The feeling is entirely mutual."

Smoke came from Barby's head.

"Are you insulting me?"

"I'm sorry but who goes around bullying other kids who don't praise the path you walk. I've seen how you treat your 'friends'."

Barby frowned.

"Well why are you staying in Snowdin huh? I know you're not here because you like it or anything."

Cal's face heated up.

"Well I-I-"

"Hah, see you can't even tell me. Are you worried about your reputation?" Barby asked smugly.

"Shuddap. The reason why we live here is because we're dirt poor alright. Happy? Satisfied."

Barby looked surprised. Something welled in her soul, something akin to guilt.

All her life she had acted as if she was better than everyone else and it had lead to her mother getting killed. What did her friends think of her? Did they think she was trouble to be around?

She had never thought it inconvenienced them but she had never been grateful when her mother was alive always complaining about how they were trapped underground and how boring it was.

Her friends were probably in worse situations than her and all she could do was complain.

"No."

"Really? That's surprising. I thought you would gloat. My father had to resort to killing monsters to survive," Cal said.

"What?! That's-"

"Awful I know. I could have stayed in the capital with my father but I can't bear the thought of killing another monster if it means our own survival. I don't care this is mild compared to that."

Barby snickered.

"What's so funny?"

"You're a strange one."

"Look who's talking. What with the warm treatment I thought you were an ice princess. You're the type who's supposed to scoff at the poor victims."

"That's a weird perception you have of me. I do have feelings ya know," Barby said. "Admit it you like it down here."

"Well I'll admit it is pretty nice down here and it's so peaceful but don't let it get to your head."

"Is this where I say I told you so."

"Hah, this doesn't mean we're friends," Cal said.

The two walked to school together.

Once they arrived in Hotland, Barby and Cal had walked past a young grey horse monster with a yellow mane wearing a pair of sunglasses who wolf-whistled at them.

"What's crackling, gorgeous?"

"Ugh," Cal let out a sound of disgust.

"Those hips are to moo over."

"Let's ditch this creep," she said.

"I can hear you, y'know," the horse monster said.

"Hey Barby," Snowdrake fluttered towards them.

"What's she doing here?"

"Didn't you hear the news?" Barby asked.

"Don't say a word."

"Cal moved to Snowdin."

"What?!"

"Are you listening to me?" The horse asked.

"Who cares," Cal said.

The horse's face looked downcast and he frowned.

"You'll regret ever crossing me."

"How could you do that?" Cal asked.

"Come on it's not that bad," Snowdrake said.

"I guess you're right but I'm still mad about it," she said. "Who was that horse monster by the way?"

Barby snorted.

"Him? That's Peter. He goes to my father's place every now and then. A bit of a shady type. We've had to kick him out a couple of times for picking fights with the customers."

The next day, Sans teleported to Waterfall to Gerson's place. The place was full of old stuff, some which was obviously from the surface.

Gerson was standing behind a counter.

"gerson, you said you had something you wanted to show me."

"Oh yeah, bear with me for a minute."

He struggled to pull up something heavy from behind the counter. It was a red box.

"what's that?"

"That's what I wanted to show you. I found something very interesting in it."

Gerson opened the box and took out a photo and a drawing before handing it to Sans.

Sans took the photo and the drawing before glancing at them.

The photograph had a picture of him next to a skeleton, a human, a cat, a clam monster, a goopy monster and two orange monsters.

On the drawing was a picture of him, his brother and an unfamiliar skeleton.

"who are these people?" Sans asked.

"Don't know. I suspected this picture might have been related to something from your past. Only thing is, I don't recall ever meeting any of these monsters especially the one in the drawing. He looks like he's related to you but it's strange. I don't remember 'em at all almost as though he's been erased from my mind."

"erased? that's a good point."

'the humans that fell down here are time travelers. they could easily overwrite anything that has happened down here. maybe they erased them from existance.'

"I wonder if there's anyway to obtain knowledge about what happened to them? Maybe it would clear up some things."

"you're telling me. still something strikes me odd, how was that box able to save this stuff if it's from a past timeline."

Gerson shrugged.

Sans' eyes lit up.

"i wonder if there are other boxes. if the boxes retain things from other timelines maybe there is a way to use that to prevent all of this from happening."

"Well, it's worth a shot."

Gerson handed him the box.

"If you're gonna need a box though, you might has well take this one."

"thanks gerson."

With that Sans took the box and teleported back to his room.

Later during the week some monsters had dropped by to knock on the door of their house.

Sans answered the door immediately spotting some monsters with a large machine behind them.

"why'd you bring that here?"

"The king told us to deliver it in the back."

"the back?"

Sans followed the two behind the house. Behind the house was a large door just big enough that the two monsters could drag the machine inside.

"The king said you had the key."

He unlocked the door and discovered a large uninhabited room.

The monsters left the machine inside and headed out.

"Well I guess that's it then. See ya," one of the monsters said before they left.

Sans glanced at the machine.

A note was attached to the side of it. Sans pulled it off and read it.

'Sans- This is the machine that was spotted near you and your brother. I thought it might be helpful if you can hold onto it for the time being.-Asgore.'

'what good is it to me? i can't do nothing with this bucket of bolts.'

Sans kicked the machine for good measure.

Suddenly he saw a screen flicker to life. On the screen was a graph of a fluctuating line that split into several lines with various four digit numbers on the screen. All the four digit number started with 20 almost as though they were meant to correspond with the years.

Sans tried to determine the reasoning behind the fluctuating lines scattered on the graph before accidentally touching the screen. This caused the door of the time machine to open and a book from the chair inside the machine to fall on the floor.

Sans picked it up. It was a manual to the machine. Inside was a bunch of blueprints in wing dings font which he found he could read with ease.

Apparently the machine was supposed to be a time machine but he was certain that if it had plummeted with them that it had to have some damaged circuitry.

That same day Mettablook was hit with inspiration. She was going to get the entire underground to remember her name and win the hearts of monsters. If she could win their hearts, she could win the hearts of the humans on the surface. She had the perfect idea.

Mettablook dropped by Napstablook's home eager to tell him about her experience on the surface.

"Blooky, are you home?"

"yes."

"Can I come in?"

"sure."

Mettablook phased inside spotting Napstablook lying on the floor.

"You're not lying on the floor because you feel like garbage again, are you?"

"i'm sorry."

"Don't apologise. I have the perfect thing that'll cheer you up. Lately I've been visiting the surface. It's beautiful up there, Blooky," Mettablook said. "I tried this human food called hamburgers. They tasted really good."

"oh."

"I'm thinking of started a fanclub. Y'know to embrace humanity. Who knew humans could be so interesting. Now what should we call it?"

"the human fanclub."

"I like it. It's pretty catchy. I'll make a poster and hang it in the underground."

Later that afternoon after Sans had vented his frustration he teleported to the lab to retrieve their things.

Snowdin was their home now.

He didn't finish packing until evening. At some point, Papyrus must have gone in the kitchen because he was fiddling with pots and pans.

"'sup bro."

"YOU WERE OUT LATE AND I WAS GETTING HUNGRY SO I DECIDED TO COOK."

"you don't have to do that. i'll fix something for you. what do you want? a hot dog and fries?"

"THAT'S NOT VERY HEALTHY. I THINK I'D LIKE A SALAD. A PASTA SALAD."

"alright."

It's hours before his older brother is finished. He eventually comes in with a bowl for Papyrus.

The pasta salad looked delicious so he took a bite.

"I THINK IT KIND OF TASTES BLAND."

Papyrus picks at the food but eats it without further complaint. There's no use in starving after his brother had been so generous.

"guess it must have been an impasta."

Sans chuckled but the corners of his mouth were frowning and his eyes were upturned.

"SANS, WHAT'S WRONG?"

"some monsters dropped by with a machine. it's supposed to be a time machine but i'm not sure if it even works anymore."

"UGH SANS, YOU KNOW I HAVE NO INTEREST IN THAT TIMEY WIMEY STUFF."

"i know. i just wanted to let you know that all hope isn't lost."

"THAT'S NOT LIKE YOU TO ACT SO MELANCHOLY."

"hopin' to brighten my day?"

"YOU DON'T EVEN SOUND LIKE YOU HAVE THE HEART FOR IT. OF COURSE, THAT COULD BE BECAUSE WE'RE SKELETONS."

'heart of it? maybe that's the key in getting that machine to work.'

Sans snorted.

"thanks pap, i needed that."

After dinner, he headed back into the basement to work on the machine taking it apart. He worked through the night.

By the next morning he discovered there was a device attached to the inside of it that was blackened and cracked.

He had no idea how it worked either so there was no replacing it. Still the machine's screen worked just fine and he was certain it had a way of tracking timelines too. So what did the ending on the fluctuating lines mean?

Every branching line also ended at some point. Were those the times the humans reset?

What was he going to do about it? He was helpless at the whims of some humans with the power to reshape reality.

With a sigh he teleported back to his room. As he reappeared in his room he spotted the box.

Struck with curiosity, Sans opened the box and discovered a journal inside.

Opening it he immediately recognised the handwriting. He had wrote entries in the journal from other dates.

The recent two entries were pertaining to the recent human named Sam.

'I've observed that another human has fallen in the underground with a high LV. It's strange how he's been kind to every monster he had encountered. I was helping him in the underground when we ran into (redacted). The human tried to stop them but he was badly injured.'

After that was the other entry.

'The human told me everything about the previous timeline. He was determined to protect me from (redacted). We promised we'd look out for each other. I was also determined to protect him at all costs but(redacted) managed to find me. (Redacted) is acting strange. It's almost as if they are a different person. I don't know where the human is now. Even if I could find them I wouldn't be of much help if we run into (redacted) again.'

The strange thing about the box was it's ability to keep things from previous timelines. Theoretically the entries in the journal shouldn't even exist with the resetting power of the humans yet here it was.

He wondered if he could manifest the power so it worked on the outside of the box. Maybe it could save time in the area from being reset.

He set off working on the box.

Papyrus caught him later working on it in the basement.

"SANS, WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THE BACK OF THE HOUSE?"

"i'm dissembling a box."

"WHAT FOR?"

"a science experiment."

Still Sans was perplexed who were those people in the photo. He had a feeling not even the king knew the answer.