Cover Art: FairyFan94 from Deviant Art
Chapter 8 - Selfishness controls Tools
Dark, darker yet darker. A darkness that kept growing. Shadows that cut deeper. A place that was never meant to be found. A place that no one should have known about. That was the black abyss, how he started calling it, the place they were trapped in. All that were erased gathered in this strange place and he was one of them. Yet he was different from everyone else that was trapped here. After all, he was shattered across time and space.
Time and space, those no longer held a meaning here. Yet they still had so much importance. He looked at the small human child kneeling before him, ramming their fist that clutched a knife into the blackness that seemed to be ground. He sensed great frustration from the human. Slowly the black goo of this place clung onto the humans, climbing their body and trying to absorb them, like all the erased beings that had given up.
"Give… Up…" It was an effort to change his voice so much that it was understandable for the human before him, even if it sounded more and more like static. He knew his efforts in stopping this child weren't genuine, like this human he longed to be freed from this black cage.
The childs head snapped up. Red glowing eyes stared into his dark eye-sockets. 'Determination' became radiant as the white half soul burst from their chest. The black goo that clung to them disappeared. He tilted his head slightly, studying the human child as they stood up a maniac grin on their face.
"You won't be able to keep me here forever…" The child chuckled darkly, their head tilted sideways, bangs covering the eyes yet the red glow was still visible. He only shook his head to their false accusation. Their laughter ringed through the blackness. "I will just wait for next time…"
Shaking his head, he watched as the child started playing with their knife. He had spent long enough in the black abyss, watching the outside world pass by, to know that this human child was planning something. He knew for him time had stopped, yet was moving. How long had it been since that child appeared in the black abyss? How much time had passed outside?
The white half soul sunk back into the chest of the human child as they chuckled darkly, staring up at him. A mute sigh escaped him as he phased to the side, avoiding the childs restless attacks. Curses were heard and he turned to watch once more how the darkness tried to swallow them, binding the human onto black wall of goo.
He felt the shadows creep closer, wanting to cut even deeper than they already had. He floated closer to the human. This child had far more 'determination' than he had originally thought. It made him wonder, was what he was doing really okay? His reasons weren't genuine after all but slightly selfish.
"What are you trying to accomplish anyway?! Once I gain control everything will die!" The child yelled ripping her arms out of the goo. He floated away, gaining some distance between them yet never took his eye-sockets of the child.
His mouth opened to say something the human would understand but then he closed it and smiled sadly. The child stared at him as they freed themselves. Their half soul bursting from their chest as it was apparently the only thing that kept the black goo away from them.
Their red glowing eyes narrowed at him and he frowned when they smirked. "I know what you are doing…"
The smirk on the childs face turned into a creepy smile before they burst into a maniac laugh throwing their head back as they looked crazily at him, pointing the knife in their hand at him. "You aren't any better than I am!"
Sans couldn't help but grin as the small human tried to drag him along as Papyrus was already far ahead of them shouting that he was going to prepare a plate of spaghetti for them. They had gotten the okay from Alphys to take the human home when Undyne decided to stay back with the scientist. He chuckled lightly, it was only a matter of time till the two would end up together with or without the kids help.
Yet the short skeleton couldn't shake off the suspicious feeling about his scientist friend. He had been lucky to avoid answering her question though. It was all thanks to his brother calling them when Frisk woke up that he didn't end up questioning the nervous scientist of what she knew.
It wasn't like he wanted to avoid it. Sans kind of hoped that Alphys would be able to help a little but then again, was he really okay with involving her? It would mean that he would let her in on a few of his own workings. After all there was a reason he had his own secret lab. Then again… he did leave her a message… in Wingdings. If she figures it out he knew he was going to meet her by his lab sooner than later and that they were finally going to have a talk. A talk he had pretty much avoided in every other timeline.
'For now though…' Sans thought as he looked down his arm were an excited little Frisk was tugging on his jacket in an attempt to make him walk faster while staring at a text message from her upgraded phone, giggling every now and then. 'I am thankful that she helped.'
"Kiddo, look up or..." The short skeleton said in good humor as the child stumbled over her own feet falling flat on their face. "…you will fall for me."
The giggle that escaped little Frisk made Sans smile. The relieve that she hadn't change was a great one when he had found her getting her breathing cut off by Papyrus yet still laughing. The short skeleton knew all too well how the other kid was missing a funny bone. Her laughing was all he needed for relieve to wash over him. If the kid had stopped laughing and were no longer their Frisk… he didn't want to know what he would have done.
The skeleton was brought out of his thoughts by even harder tugging on his arm. He looked down at the child to see them holding up their phone screen for him to see a picture of papyrus with a plate of spaghetti he placed sunglasses on as well as on his bicep. The skeleton chuckled as the child grinned up at him before turning back to leave a 'thumps up' on Papyrus photo.
A few hours and a slightly uneatable plate of spaghetti later, a selfish thought crossed Sans mind as he watched the happy little human girl working on new puzzles with papyrus. Couldn't he just keep her with them? She could stay with them forever, growing up into the wonderful teenage girl he knew under his and his brothers' care. There was no need to leave the Underground right? After all, the child wasn't showing any signs that they wanted to leave and if needed he was sure that he could get Toriel to leave the ruins.
Shocked over his own thoughts, Sans shook his skull. His grin faltered slightly. It wouldn't be fair to everyone else and most off all it wouldn't be fair to Frisk. Yet he knew that the current Frisk didn't have any knowledge about the barrier but she was aware that there was a need for a human soul for something. 'No thanks to Undyne for that…' The skeleton thought grimly, but the thought of just keeping Frisk with them was too tempting…
A yawn escaped Sans as he leaned more into the couch, the TV was switched on and he felt how the small child snuggled up next to him, leaning on his arm. "Hey kiddo… finished working on puzzles?" He would have to think about this more later.
Frisk nodded against his arm. The eye lights in his eye-sockets moved to look at the child that was staring at the Mettaton show. Papyrus soon plopped down in the empty space next to Frisk happy to see if favorite show on TV, pointing out every now and then something to the small human between them. Sans couldn't help but chuckle when once again after a while both, his brother and the human girl, were asleep. Carefully he shifted the human child so that she was now leaning against his brother.
Standing up he placed a blanked over them. Once more he felt like everything could just stay like it was right now. Frisk living with them seemed so natural already. It was a selfish thought, and the short skeleton knew that. He shook his head glancing at them once more before stepping thought a shortcut. Instead of appearing right inside his lab he appeared outside by the door right behind the house. He wasn't really surprised when he saw Alphys, wearing heavy winter coat against the cold, waiting by the door.
"So you figured it out?" Sans asked lazily, he knew the question was pointless but he didn't want any tension to build up from staying quiet already.
"I-I did." The scientist stuttered out glancing from the ground up at him. With default grin in place the skeleton motioned to the door. "Welp, it's time for a talk then…"
Alphys nodded and turned to the door. The skeleton didn't move to unlock it and Alphys nervously looked at him. Sans chuckled as he grabbed onto Alphys arm and dragged her a few steps along only for them to suddenly stand in his secret laboratory.
"W-what…?" Still a little confused from finding herself in Sans lab, Alphys took a look around while taking off the heavy winter coat. Once her eyes landed on a glaring flower she gasped and took a shocked step back. "T-the flower…."
Sans eye-sockets went pitch black. "You know this weed?"
He ignored the glare Flowey was sending him and solemnly focused on the scientist that looked ashamed down at the ground. The suspicion he had rose as he watched his friend. If she knew Flowey, did that mean she was already involved? Did that mean that she had lied to them all, not only about the true lab but about even more?
"I-I…" Alphys didn't know what to say. She clearly recognized that flower. It was the one that disappeared from the true lab one day. The one she had chosen as candidate. The one that came from the outside world… the one she interjected with 'determination'.
"How much do you really remember?" Sans suddenly asked, he wanted to know her connection to the flower but he would save that for later for now he needed to know how much she knew about the timelines, and if she maybe too remembered them.
"R-remember?" Alphys stuttered unsure, her eyes kept glancing at the flower as multiple thoughts raced through the royal scientist head.
"Okay let me rephrase that…" Sans started his eye sockets closing. "How did you know the human was a she? And what do you know about her time anomaly? Her time traveling?"
One of Alphys hands flew up to cover her mouth, her eyes wide with a sudden understanding. "S-so she did t-travel through time…"
Sans opened his eye-sockets staring at the scientist before him. She still didn't answer his question yet but what she said sounded… like with his question, he was the one that had cleared a suspicion that Alphys had.
"I-I… had dreams." Alphys finally confessed, playing with her fingers while staring at the titled ground. "D-dreams of e-events that n-never happened… d-dreams of t-things that h-happened similar… d-dreams of the f-future…"
The dinosaur took a nervous gulp still not looking up. "I… never k-knew… I thought… t-they were… b-because… but t-they… everything r-really happened… at l-least once, r-right?"
Alphys finally looked up and Sans only nodded, knowing that she was talking about different timelines. He didn't know what he should think about this, but he knew for sure now that he wasn't the only one that remembered the other time lines. Of course there was Flowey but Sans didn't really count that evil plant, since it didn't provide any help. Also there was Frisk, but she didn't have her memories this time around and Sans would prefer for it to stay like that at least a little bit longer.
"T-the time we lived A-aboveground… w-we were all h-happy so w-why?" Alphys said unsure. She tried to connect the dots. If all the strange dreams she had were memories of past timelines, why were they in the Underground when they had managed to get out at least once. After all she did have a few dreams of an older human watching Animes with her and Undyne, or just spending time with them. Then there were the memories of the child killing everyone, were they also memories? If yes was the child she help dangerous then?
"That pest killed her." Sans only answered pointing over his shoulder at the flower that seemed to chuckle evilly despite the tape that muted him. "Not completely sure how but the reset that happened this time was caused by me."
Alphys stared at the skeleton her eyes wide for a moment before she looked down once more deep in thoughts. "Y-you r-reseted?"
"Yup." Sans answered leaning with his back against his shelf. "A reset turns the time back to the moment the kiddo fell into the Underground. I am pretty sure the kid isn't able to reset anymore because I caused this one."
Alphys nodded as she thought more about this. "B-but t-the time a-anomaly o-on her…"
Sans shrugged. "She used to be able to SAVE and LOAD. Not sure if she still can do that. Haven't seen any signs that the kid did that."
"T-the traces of t-time anomaly… h-her collapsing…" Sans rose a skeleton eye-brow and the scientist mumbling.
"What do ya think doc?" The short skeleton asked the light returning to his eye-sockets, even if they didn't really talk about what he had in mind, it looked like the royal scientist was on his side and even willing to help.
"T-they must have t-turned back i-in time…" Alphys mumbled still a little unsure. "T-that w-would explain t-the traces. If… not… t-then someone m-must have u-used this p-power against her w-will…uhm it would e-explaining why she c-collapsed…"
"So…" Sans pushed himself of the shelf, hands stuffed in his pockets as the light in his eye-sockets became small pin like dots. Flowey too stopped in his glaring to look curious at the scientist. "You're saying someone is controlling the kid?"
The female scientist shook her head. "N-not controlling b-but using t-them… uhm… her power… like uhm… like a tool…"