He was broken out of his thoughts by Frisk pulling him forward gently. He walked with them, getting a slightly uneasy feeling in his body. He felt like he was being watched. He kept looking around, expecting someone to be there. But there was no one.
There was a branch in front of them, too thick and heavy to pick up, but they just walked around it. However, once they passed it, there was a loud SNAP! coming from behind them. He turned and saw that the branch had been shattered like it was nothing. His breathing picked up in fear, but Frisk only smiled and pulled him along.
He could have sworn he heard someone behind them, but he didn't turn around, just walked faster, now pulling Frisk along until they reached a bridge, and Frisk froze. Harry whipped around and saw someone coming closer.
"Humans don't you know how to greet a new pal? Shake my hand." The figure held out it's hand and Frisk grabbed it, and it immediately made a farting sound. The figure chuckled.
"the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. it's ALWAYS funny. anyway you're humans right? that's-" It was suddenly apparent now that the figure was out of the shadows, that it was a skeleton. A living skeleton. It made Harry hide behind Frisk peeking out timidly.
"Sans, you and I both know we've been through this before… I'm… kind of tired of pretending like the previous timelines haven't happened." Frisk sighed out, making the skeleton look away before huffing out a laugh.
"heh, you're right kid. anyways, who's the new kid? haven't seen him before." The skeleton, Sans, asked. Frisk smiled and gently nudged Harry out from behind them.
"I-I'm… Harry. Nice to meet you Mr. Sans." He greeted, his words soft.
"heh, you don't have to call me "Mr." anything kid. just call me sans." He replied, winking.
"Hey, Sans, listen, this is kind of… important. Harry's a bit… odd." Frisk explained. Harry looked at the ground, tears pooling in his eyes. "I mean, it's not a bad thing I don't think? But it's not something that's happened before."
"oh really? and what is it?" Sans asked, looking critically at the boy. Frisk gave Harry a patient smile and urged him to show Sans his hands. Harry did so, and Sans' eye sockets widened a bit, before he laughed.
"well, that's new." Was all he said.
"There's… also m-my SOUL…" Harry added, rubbing his eyes. Sans looked a bit confused before raising his hand, and Harry's SOUL popped out. Sans took a close look before reaching out and grabbing the white part of the SOUL, but only made Harry cry out in pain. Sans stopped and moved away.
"well, i dunno what it means that there's more than one SOUL there. but it being sideways means-" Sans was suddenly cut off by someone yelling.
"SANS! YOU LAZYBONES WHERE ARE YOU?" The person yelled. Sans only chuckled and beckoned the two forward, until they came to an area where another skeleton was waiting.
"sup, bro." Sans greeted the other. The skeleton turned and glared at Sans, not noticing Harry or Frisk yet.
"YOU KNOW WHAT'S UP BROTHER! IT'S BEEN 8 DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T RE-CALIBRATED YOUR PUZZLES! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?" The tall skeleton yelled. Sans looked at Frisk and Harry and winked.
"not much papyrus. just talking with these humans. wanna try?" Sans asked, his shoulders slightly shaking.
"NO! I DON'T HAVE- DID YOU SAY HUMANS?" Papyrus as Harry now knew, turned and looked at Harry and Frisk, the latter of whom waved. "SANS! OH MY GOD THESE ARE HUMANS?!"
"well, one of them is at least. the other is a halfling." Sans explained, making the two children turn to Sans in shock.
"Um… Sans… what's a halfling?" Frisk asked, looking at the skeleton. Papyrus struck a valiant pose suddenly.
"I SHALL EXPLAIN IT TO YOU HUMAN! YOU SEE, WHEN A MONSTER AND A HUMAN LOVE EACH OTHER VERY MUCH, THEY MAKE A BABY! THAT BABY IS A HALFLING! THEY HAVE THE MAGIC OF A MONSTER, AND THE MAJORITY OF THEIR BODY IS THE MORE PHYSICAL FORM OF A HUMAN!" Papyrus explained. "MOST HALFLINGS LOOK MOSTLY LIKE HUMANS, BUT CAN HAVE SOME MONSTER FEATURES AS WELL!"
Harry's eyes widened and he looked at his hands. He curled his fingers a few times.
"that's right kiddo, you're half monster. looks like you're half skeleton." Sans said, chuckling. Papyrus let out a gasp of surprise and rushed over to Harry.
"HALFLING! YOU ARE HALF SKELETON! THIS IS WONDERFUL NEWS! I DO NOT KNOW IF WE ARE DIRECTLY RELATED BUT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL TAKE ON THE ROLE AS YOUR BIG BROTHER! I WILL BE THE SECOND GREATEST OLDER BROTHER EVER!"
"S-second? Who's the first?" Harry asked, looking up at Papyrus.
"THOUGH HE CAN BE QUITE LAZY AND NEEDS A COOL GUY LIKE ME TO TAKE CARE OF HIM, SANS IS THE OLDER ONE OF US." Papyrus had a smile on his face, even larger than it usually was. Sans wasn't saying anything, though he looked happy. "HOWEVER! YOUR HUMAN FRIEND WILL HAVE TO COME WITH ME! I MUST CAPTURE THEM AND TAKE THEM TO THE CAPITAL!"
"Wh-what? Why? Th-they didn't do anything wrong!" Harry exclaimed, tears pooling in his eyes.
"N-NO LITTLE HALFLING! DON'T CRY! YOU SEE, YOUR FRIEND IS GOING TO HELP US SHATTER THE BARRIER! THAT'S WHAT'S KEEPING US ALL UNDERGROUND! ANYTHING CAN ENTER, BUT NOTHING CAN EXIT! SO WE NEED YOUR FRIEND'S SOUL IN ORDER TO BREAK IT!" Papyrus' words only made Harry start to cry more. They were trapped down here? And they needed SOULs to get out?
"Wh-what about MY SOUL? C-can't you use that?" Harry suggested, but Frisk shook their head.
"There's gotta be another way! How about me and Harry help you guys find another way to get out?" They said, looking up at Papyrus and then looking at Sans. The shorter skeleton shrugged.
"we got nothing to lose bro, so why not? i'm sure undyne will understand." Papyrus seemed to think for a while until he let out a sigh.
"VERY WELL! WE WILL GO AND SEE UNDYNE AND EXPLAIN TO HER THE SITUATION! PERHAPS DR. ALPHYS CAN HELP AS WELL!" Papyrus suddenly bent down and picked Harry and Frisk up, placing them on his shoulders. Harry let out a yell of surprise and grabbed tightly onto Papyrus' skull, trying to keep his balance.
"LET US BE OFF!" Papyrus cried, walking off. Frisk and Harry had to hang on tightly to his skull, as his walk was uneven, making them jerk around a few times. As he walked, they encountered a few dogs.
Harry wasn't too fond of dogs, Aunt Marge's dog Ripper didn't like him, and he didn't like the dog back.
The first dog they met seemed to not be able to see well. He didn't seem to notice Harry or Frisk, being too focused on Papyrus and Sans
The next dog seemed eager to be pet and loved. Harry hesitantly reached out and patted the dog, the dog's neck extended into his hand, making Harry yelp. However, the dog continued to want pets.
It seemed like forever that Harry and Frisk pet the dog, though it was only about 10 minutes.
The third and fourth dogs were a couple, and were barking angrily at Harry and Frisk, not listening to Sans and Papyrus' protests that they were nice.
"hang on, i have an idea." Sans said with a wink. He quickly produced a bone from somewhere, and threw it far away, the two dogs chased after it. Frisk was silent for a moment before speaking up.
"I wonder if Harry can do stuff like that too, since he's part skeleton." They wondered. The group all looked at each other.
"I… kinda want to know too." Harry whispered. Papyrus was beaming and set the children on the ground.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO SOONER? I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO TEACH YOU! NOW, HOLD OUT YOUR HAND AND FOCUS, FOCUS WITH ALL YOUR TINY MIGHT ONTO YOUR HAND. FOCUS ON MAKING A BONE WITH YOUR MAGIC! ANY BONE WILL DO!" Papyrus instructed.
Harry did as he was told and held out his hand. He shut his eyes tightly and focused on his hand. Eventually, a very tiny bone appeared in his hand. Barely the size of his thumb, but he was very proud of himself.
"I did it!" He cried, hopping up and down. Frisk cheered and clapped, and Sans did the same, albeit a bit more softly, but no less enthusiastic. Papyrus was grinning widely and he suddenly grabbed Harry into a hug, squealing.
"YOU DID IT TINY HALFLING! I AM SO PROUD!"
"Y-you can call me Harry… You don't have to keep calling me 'halfling.'" Harry muttered into the hug. He could feel the air being squeezed out of him, but he wasn't too mad. He found like he liked being hugged.
"VERY WELL TINY HARRY! WE SHALL CONTINUE WITH YOUR TRAINING AFTER WE GET TO THE SURFACE! MY BROTHER AND I SHALL TEACH YOU ALL WE KNOW! I AM VERY EXCITED!" With those words, the tall skeleton picked the human and half human up again, placing them on his shoulders.
There was a few more monsters around, and all looked at them with surprised faces. However, they didn't question it, either not wanting to hear a rant from Papyrus, or knowing that they wouldn't get a decent response from Sans, or both.
Walking through the snow was taking it's toll on Harry. Frisk felt fine since they had a sweater and rather long pants on. Harry however only had an old ratty shirt and a pair hole ridden pants. Papyrus must have felt how cold his skin was, and how much he was shivering, so he took off his scarf and wrapped it around Harry's neck. It was big enough that Harry could actually wrap it around most of his body.
"hey bro, we should get the kid something warmer than your scarf. don't want him to freeze right?" Sans suggested. "maybe one of your old sweaters would be good?"
"YOU ARE CORRECT SANS! I BELIEVE I HAVE SOME OLD CLOTHES HE COULD BORROW!" Papyrus replied. Harry was about to argue but Frisk gave him a look that clearly said 'Don't argue.' and Harry figured that there'd be no use arguing anyway, Papyrus seemed like the type to not give up once his mind was set.
As they entered the town, Harry could feel a kind of… warmth. It wasn't a physical warmth, it was still very cold, but more of an emotional warmth. This town seemed to radiate a kind of happiness and friendliness that just made Harry feel happy despite everything. He wasn't sure why he could feel something like that, but he chalked it up to the magic.
A few people waved to them as they passed by, not seeming to realize how out of place Frisk and Harry were. Eventually, they came to a house, next to which were two mail boxes. One was overflowing and one seemed to be empty. Papyrus unlocked the door and entered, setting Frisk and Harry on the ground once he was inside.
Sans closed the door behind him with his foot, then jumped onto the couch face first, making a loud THUMP as he did.
"SANS! YOU CAN'T BE A LAZYBONES RIGHT NOW! WE NEED TO HELP OUR NEW FRIENDS!" Papyrus exclaimed, looking disapprovingly at his brother. Harry couldn't help but giggle a little at the reaction. "I WILL BE GOING TO MY ROOM TO FIND HARRY A BETTER SHIRT! YOU MAKE SURE THEY DON'T WANDER OUT AND CATCH A COLD!"
Papyrus sprinted upstairs and once the door to his room closed, Sans sat up.
"hey kid, mind if i see your SOUL again?" Sans asked. Harry was a bit confused but nodded. Sans took out Harry's SOUL, but instead of trying to peel off the white part, he turned it blue, and gently lifted it away. This time it didn't hurt Harry, but made him feel… uneasy. Harry's actual SOUL was now visible. It was a bright green, with a speck of red on a corner.
"hmm… well, this is definitely a monster SOUL…" Sans mused, he put the white SOUL back, and turned the red part blue. This made Harry whimper a bit. And as Sans tried to pull the red part away, Harry started crying.
"That… hurts. Real bad!" He cried out. Sans didn't stop however, instead, he pulled until the red part came off. Harry's scar had been turning red the entire time, and as soon as the red SOUL fragment was removed, it began to bleed. Harry only shut his eyes to the pain, used to things like that by now.
Sans seemed to produce a jar from nowhere, and put the tiny SOUL fragment inside. "heh, that things gone now. it wasn't really a SOUL… more like a… parasite leeching off yours kiddo. it's better that we got it off ya. i'mma take this thing to a friend of mine, have her analyze it." He said.
Frisk's eyes were wide, so was Harry's. Behind them, Chara floated, arms crossed, glaring at the SOUL fragment. He wasn't sure who or what that thing came from, but he KNEW that whoever or whatever it was, was absolutely batshit insane.
The entire time he'd been quiet, more curious than anything. When Mom said that Harry's SOUL was sideways, and had different SOULs latched on, he was confused, having never heard of anything like that before. And hearing that Harry was a so called 'halfling' made things even more confusing. No one had told him anything about that when he was alive, and so he was excited for something new to happen.
Though… looking at the SOUL fragment made him uneasy. It was similar to his own. He only had a shard of his SOUL left, just enough to keep him in the mortal realm as a spirit. His time as a spirit had made him a bit… unstable, most of his mind focused on the revenge against the humans for their mistreatment of him, and the guilt of harming Asriel. The latter only making the former more intense.
For all his time as a spirit he'd been vengeful, only focused on getting his revenge on humans, but looking at this SOUL, and seeing how utterly messed up the owner of it was, made him start to rethink his choices. He didn't want to end up as twisted and insane as that SOUL. For now, he would watch, and wait to see how things played out.
This was FAR more interesting than the previous timelines. He watched as Harry rubbed his eyes free of tears, and Frisk wipe the blood from the younger child's head. At that point, Papyrus walked down with a large sweater. It was a bit too big for Harry, but he seemed to like it.
Harry did indeed like the sweater. Though he'd worn hand me downs his whole life, this felt different. It felt more loving and kind rather than not wanting to buy him new clothes. The sweater was orange and had a rabbit on the front.
"Thank you so much Mr. Papyrus!" He yelled, smiling up at Papyrus. The skeleton went wide eyed.
"TINY HARRY YOU NEEDN'T CALL ME 'MR.'! IT MAKES ME SOUND OLD!" The skeleton replied, making Frisk giggle. Harry smiled softly and nodded. Suddenly, there was a loud growl in the room, coming from Harry. They all turned and looked, and he looked down at his stomach and blushed.
"seems like the kid's hungry… maybe we should take him and the human out for lunch eh?" Sans suggested.
"N-no! You don't need to. I'm not that hungry. I just ate a few hours ago. I've gone longer." Harry protested. The other three stared at him, wondering why he'd gone so long without food. It was slightly concerning.
"don't sweat it kid. we'd be more than happy to get you something to eat. c'mon." Sans didn't leave room for anymore protest as he walked out, giving Papyrus a look, making the other skeleton nod. Papyrus took Harry and Frisks' hands and followed his brother.