One World, Many Souls

by Halloween Witch

With a quick use of Sans' magic, we had returned to our home on the surface. The lovely three-story home sat quietly among the trees under the moonlight. Sans always loved to teleport just outside the door and glance at it before walking in. He was a little less lazy since coming to the surface. So much to learn. So much to do. So much to love. SEQUEL TO "TWO WORLDS, TWO SOULS"

3. A Puzzle For A Car

One World; Many Souls

Chapter 3: A Puzzle For A Car

Angel's Point of View:

"Brother! Sisters!" The bellowing call of my younger brother echoed throughout our home. "I have news!"

I lifted my gaze long enough to match with my husband. Sans raised a boney brow at me in confusion before shrugging at me silently. He seemed to have no idea what this insanity was going to be about. Knowing Papyrus, it could be anything.

"Over in the kitchen, Papy!"

Our brother rushed to our sides eagerly with the mail under his arm. Mostly filled with adds or letters from those loyal to the Terians family, though one single letter Papyrus held within his slender phalanges. The letter had yet to appear opened and it was carefully set on the table before slid between Sans and myself.

A letter for the Coralstein College of Culinarily Arts.

I gasped, though probably louder than I needed to be as I spotted the letter. "They responded to your application?!"

"Yes!" Papyrus squealed, dancing in his place while on the other side of the table. Then his skull turned horrid. "What if they rejected me?! Oh, the horror! I don't know if I can look!"

"Pap, they ain't gonna deny ya." Sans rolled his eye lights. "Ya had some amazin' recommendations on that form o' yers. Not ta mention, ya had crazy scores on yer test that came with the application."

"Yeah," Frisk commented with a sassy tone. It was a bit too early in the morning yet for her to be awake and have any bit of a filter. "You're a Terians now, denying you is asking for trouble from us."

My eyes narrowed on her in seconds. "Frisk!"

Granted, she wasn't wrong. There wasn't any place I could think of that would deny someone of our family without contacting us privately first. Being from a famous family, if there was any reason to deny someone from said family, they always would call first to speak with the said head of family to avoid public humiliation. If the result that said person of the family wasn't acquired, it would spell trouble for the party involved.

With a single word, a business or family could be destroyed from how many followers there were who worked for a family such as our own. It was honestly quite sad at times. You pissed off the wrong person and you were screwed for life. We've been on both ends of that totem pole before. It was always strange to see how you were affected depending on the side you were on.

"Does that mean they were forced to accept me?!" Papyrus sobbed at the notion. "I don't want to be accepted due to my name! I wanted to be accepted for my skills! I want to prove that I am worth their time!"

"Papyrus," I sighed before helping the younger male sit down at the table before the breakfast I'd made him. "Regardless of what they say, your name now and always will carry weight being a Terians. But don't look at that as a bad thing. All this does is get you through the door. You still have to prove to them just how good you are."

"That... is true!" Papyrus, filled with optimism once more, beamed at me. "My name means nothing if I cannot prove my worth!"

"There ya go, Pap!" Sans grinned at our younger brother. "So, go on. Open the letter."

With a better smile about him, Papyrus reached for the letter once more. With it in his hands, he read over the hand written from of it of who it was addressed to as well as who it was from. He watched it for beaded seconds before reaching forward to tear the seal.

Then he shoved it my direction.
"I CAN'T DO IT!"

The wail that escaped him was ear deafening.

"Alright, alright." I tried to hold my giggle at bay while I pulled the envelop from his outstretched hands. "I'll do it."

Papyrus watched me with jittery fingers as I opened the envelop. Not being nearly as careful as he was, I opened it quickly and with not a care for the hand written front. Part of the return addressed was accidently ripped in my lack of care. Papyrus squirmed in his seat as he watched me.

"Do you want to take over?"

"N-no... but please let me save the envelop."

"Right, right."

Opening it again with a tad more care, I pulled out a printed letter as well as a hand written note inside.

Dear Mr. Papyrus Gaster Terians,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Coralstein College of Culinarily Arts. It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to begin your college learning on August thirtieth.

Enclosed in this letter are instructions on how to sign up for classes as well as a syllabus of what courses you would need to take in order to complete your degree. Once you have signed up for your classes, a following letter will be sent to the corresponding email we have on file for you of coolskeletondude2 for what you will need prior to your classes starting.

Also attached is a sign-up sheet with instructions if you plan to live on campus with us. Please do fill those out in a timely manner due to limited housing.

We look forward to having you.

Jason M. Huskery, Director of the Culinary Program

Just as the letter had stated, I saw additional papers behind it that were instruction papers that Papyrus would need to sign up for all the classes, buy books, note books, pens and the like for him to study. He hadn't been to school since the age of sixteen where he got his GED in the underground and jumped into learning to be a royal guardsman. It had honestly been at least four years since then.

I hoped he would be able to handle the college life...

"Ya did it Pap!" Sans grinned at the younger male and Papyrus absolutely beamed in pride.

"I did it!"

"Yay for Papy..."

I looked at my sister as she balanced back on her chair with a half tied, half bored expression. She must have been in one of those teen moods, since normally she wasn't like that. Especially not to her best friend in all the world, even more so since they became siblings.

She shrieked, however, when my magic knocked her off balance and sent her tumbling to the ground.

"I know your tired, but don't be a little snoot."

"Ow!" Frisk sat up, much more awake in those moments. "What the hell, Sis?!"

"You heard me Frisk." Rolling my eyes, I turned back to the excited pair of skeletons in my kitchen. "This is a cause to celebrate if you ask me. We can let our friends and family know and have a small party here if you want, Papy?"

"Oh, that sound splendid!" Papyrus either ignored my grumbling sister on the ground or didn't notice her, more likely the latter of the two. He was too kind for his own good at times. "Can we invite Undyne? And Alphys! Oh! And Asgore and Toriel! They must come! And we must inform our beloved Grandmother!"

"Of course, we will!" Giving the male a quick hug, I hurried to the phone on the wall. "Let me call around and see who can be free for that."

Later that Morning:

"Yo, Precious!" Lifting my head from the papers I was shifting between, I looked over at my husband. We both had our own offices on the third level of our home on the surface. With him starting up his job at the school in the next couple months and myself swamped with family duties, both of our offices were used heavily since after our honeymoon.

Carefully our offices had been decorated for each of us. Diplomas that I'd acquired in the last couple of months, such as my GED, my wedding license, newspaper articles about those of the underground as they integrated into society, pictures of my family. They all decorated one of the walls of my office as well as some of my paintings.

And of course, some greenery and plants lined the walls or furniture.

"Ya got those papers for Pap?"

With a sly smirk to my husband, I pulled out the papers. "Yes, I do. Victor will be bringing it by and dropping it off just after the others arrive so Papy won't see it."

"Perfect!" Sans looked positively elated at the accomplishments of our little brother. It was so positive to see my husband so elated. I hadn't seen him so excited since he and I confessed our love for one another, or our wedding day. "Pap's gonna be thrilled!"

"Oh, I know he will, but will he really accept it?" Handing over the papers to Sans, the grin could not be wiped off his skull.

"Precious, I got a plan for that."

I raised an eye brow. "Oh, really now? What are you planning, Darling?"

He wiggled his brows at me. "Let me ask ya somethin'. If I hide this, which office ya think he's gonna look in first?"

Looking to the item in his fingers, the paper that held so much power in those moments, I hummed as I thought.

"He'd look in your office first. Knowing you had something to do with it."

That seemed to make his grin wider. He rushed over to my wall of frames and quickly pulled one down, handing it to me. With wide eyes, I saw it was my marriage license.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't irritated at the piece he chose, even if it would be the least likely place Papyrus would look. "If you're going to hide that here, you're going to hang this in your office until your plan is over with."

"Happily, Precious."

He vanished from sight with the frame in hand. He was hardly gone a second before he teleported back and snuck in a kiss to my lips. I squealed in surprise. My anger momentarily forgotten.

"Don't cha worry. Nothin's gonna happen to the most important paper in m'life."

Later that Afternoon:

Papyrus was living a dream that evening.

After calling around to all of our friends and discovering that they were free for the evening, all parties congregated to our home for a small party for Papyrus. He was so eager to show off his skills and prove himself that he wished to do all of the cooking for the evening. I couldn't break his little soul, so I left the kitchen to him while Sans and I set up the lights and decorations outside.

The air had cooled off as the sun was beginning to set at seven in the evening when the others showed up. Small pendant lights hung overhead as the sky became darker while the tables outside were loaded with the foods and drinks that Papyrus had crafted.

Our friends arrived shortly after seven. Undyne and Alphys had arrived just before the arrival time. They were showering Papyrus with praise of his accomplishment and his food. It was honestly a struggle to keep Undyne from eating it all before the others arrived.

Then came Toriel, Asgore and Asriel. The three of them showed up and the older two were eager to show their congrats to Papyrus while Asriel snuck off to spend time with my sister. The poor younger male was still struggling with a lot of what he had done as that flower. Apparently, he was one of the only people Frisk wasn't being an entire little shit to, so I allowed them to be vacant for at least part of the party.

Then came our grandmother. Gram easily showered the tall skeleton with compliments of his food, saying that if he cooked so well, she'd stay over more often. He beamed at the praise, especially from someone so stiff and picky as she could be when she was in a mood. Our grandmother nodded to us after Papyrus had looked away that she had helped us with our present to him.

Maria also had time to show up with MK. The two of them had a busy life style with a new home on the surface and helping Will get back on his feet. It had been a struggle with his recovery. Apparently, the white bear didn't feel like he deserved to go to the party, so he opted to stay home. His mother and MK instead were proud of the accomplishments Papyrus had done in his short time above the underground city he grew up in. Though Will had been kind enough to thank Papyrus for what he had done for him in the past and wish him good luck.

One of those days, I was going to go and see that bear...

The party hardly got much larger than that. It was a small one, just close friends and family that were able to make it on such short notice. A few others had been messaged or called, but unable to make it. Letters and cards were mailed for Papyrus that I knew he would be pleased to receive over the next week while he began his preparations for college life.

Papyrus had noted to us that he wanted to live in the dorms. He wanted to experience the entire college life to the best of his abilities. While Sans and I had no problem with that, we didn't want him using the public transit if he needed to travel back and forth to come home. He's always been very responsible and had obtained a license for a car just a week or so ago. We had little to worry about besides normal stupid things that just plain happened in the world.

I just hoped he wouldn't be to upset with the present we were giving him...

"Papyrus?" Raising my voice over the crowd, the tall skeleton looked back to face me and Sans. "We have a surprise for you."

"Oh wowie!" Papyrus bound over to us in two long strides. The male was too tall for his own good at times. "What is it? What is it?"

"Something that will help with college." I struggled not to laugh as I turned to my husband. "You want to hand it over?"

The eager older brother couldn't wipe the grin off his face. "Here ya go, Pap."

Papyrus watched eagerly as a set of keys dangled from my husband's phalanges. His jaw unhinged and fell to the ground. Sans and I struggled to not laugh at the sight. Papyrus' eyes lights glowed in his astonishment before he squealed. Leaping into the air.

"No!"

"Yep." Sans snickered as he jingled the keys before our brother. "Go check out yer new car. Victor just brought it by."

Papyrus squealed before swiping the keys from his brother. In his rush, he hit the button for the horn and heard the car echo from behind the house. Hardly waiting for anyone, he rushed out to the vehicle and out of sight.

Sans grabbed a hold of me in that moment to teleport us to see the lovely sight and catch a picture. Papyrus leapt at his new car. Hugging the hood with his gangly arms, the skeleton then eagerly unlocked it to sit in the driver's side. We had already put down the top of it and it had been specially modified for his taller body that if the top was up on this fancy car, that I had no idea what it was called, he would still be comfortable.

"I have a car! A fancy red convertible!" Papyrus leapt from the open door and hugged us both. "Thank you! I promise I will do very well in school and once I have a good job, I will pay you back for it!"

Even though we were expecting it, his words still made us want to fall over in exasperation. I gave him an incredulous look. "Papy, you know we bought it as a gift for you. We don't expect anything back."

"Nonsense!" Papyrus snorted at the idea, as if it was the most ludicrous thing he'd ever heard. "I will most certainly be paying you two back for such an amazing gift! This is far too expensive for me not to!"

"Well then, how about we play a game?" Sans commented slyly from my side. "If ya win, we'll tell ya the price of the car and ya can pay us back. If ya lose, ya gotta accept the gift without payin' us back."

"A game?" Papyrus narrowed his sockets at us. "Sans, I am not a child."

Trying so hard not to laugh, I bit the inside of my lip before speaking. "Perhaps 'game' isn't the right world. An invigorating puzzle would be more appropriate, wouldn't you agree Darling?"

"Hell yeah, Precious."

"Oh! In that case! Of course, I'll join you!"

"Perfect." Don't laugh, Angel. Don't laugh. "Darling, could you explain the rules to him?"

"No prob." Sans seemed to be struggling just the same as myself when it came to keeping down our laughter. It was so easy at times to sway our younger brother… "So! Ya got one year ta find the title of yer car that hidden on the property. If ya don't find it in that time frame, by… let's say August one, by seven pm, ya gotta give it up. Now, Angel 'n I know that's a lotta ground to cover with forty acres… so… we got hints for ya."

"Those hints," I took over with explaining once I had a second to compose myself. "They will be distributed every month that you are unable to find the title. Sans and I have already hidden it, so you have no idea where it is. You were so busy with cooking for the night that you didn't notice where the two of us had left property or gone into the house."

"How could I be so blind!" Papyrus near wailed as he sunk to his knees. "You did as such to fool me!"

"Maybe." Sans snickered at his brother, enjoying some of the misfortune during this surprise. "So, it's up ta ya ta find it. Ya got one year, and yer first hint is that it's on the property. Not much a clue, I know. But Precious 'n I agreed that it wouldn't be as fun if we gave ya too much in the beginnin'."

"No! That is far more of a hint then I estimated I would get in all honestly." Papyrus eagerly leapt from his car. "I will begin the hunt immediately! Uh… after the party that is… and perhaps it would be smarter to do once it is light out?"

"I would think so." I rolled my eyes at him. The skeleton meekly struck another pose, though a bit stiffer than the previous time. "Also, the others have been informed that the title is hidden, but none of them know where it is. None of them are to help you unless we say so. That would help you cover ground too quickly to make it a challenge."

"Regardless, the Great Papyrus is up to the challenge!" Striking up his little pose, Papyrus eagerly turned to his car. "Oh, it is so wonderful! Thank you both for such an amazing and thoughtful gift."

Lanky arms came around us then. Papyrus smothered the two of us against him. Both my husband and I could hardly stifle our laughter while Papyrus squealed in his eagerness.

Witch's Note:

Oh my God! Its too wholesome! ITS TOO MUCH!

Its blinding me! I'm gonna die!

Mystic Girl: (She rolls her eyes at me.) We get it, its super awesome and sappy. I love it too, but can you stop making a mess all over the floor? I just cleaned it.

Me: Fine, fine. (Finished with my mood swing, I stand from the floor.) Anyway, hoping you all are loving seeing the new life of Papyrus blooming here before us all! Oh, I'm so excited for you all to see how this pans out for him as the time continues to move on!

Mystic Girl: Yeah, its great to see Papy jump back so quick from his disappointment and now he's got a new car, with a puzzle to see if he's allowed to pay for it, and he's going to college. Holy shit.

Me: Tell me about it. But now! Let's do what we love! Reviews!

Thechaosmaster: I'm glad you think so, Chaos! It was actually a big decision when Mystic Girl and I began working on the second story about what would be a reasonable new dream for him. Breaking his heart was so horrible to write...

Mystic Girl: Yeah right! Knowing you, you probably took enjoyment in it!

Me: Oh, come on! I'm not THAT bad!

Mystic Girl: Do you SEE what you do to these characters?

Me: Whatever, but you and I came to an AGREEMENT on Papyrus' new dream. Especially since legally it didn't make any sense for him to be in an army. And after all the time he spent making those amazing dishes with Angel in the underground.

Mystic Girl: (You could see her slightly hiding her drooling thinking back to some of the creations those characters did of food.) Fair...

But anyway Chaos, loving that office of yours! Just got it finished the other day for you with all your specifications! My god, Mystic has been drooling over those weapons you have! And, oh my! I think I see Mystic Man eyeing your magnums! Lovely choices! I personally think the scythe is a fantastic choice, and love what can be done with it!

And no, it's perfectly fine! We gave both you and Mystic Boy free rein when it came to your offices, so there's nothing to be ashamed of! Also, I think Mystic Girl wanted to talk about some updates or her own office, which will cover after you two have both had your time to shine!

Mystic Girl: (She pouts at me, but doesn't say a word.)

Shadow8Phantom: Well you certainly have been busy! Glad to hear it. But I'm sorry to hear about the struggles with studies. You're welcome to talk about it if you like. No judgement here!

I'm glad you thought so highly of the transition. It was a difficult thing, because how do you break his poor spirit? Papyrus is a dedicated soul, and he doesn't give up on much, so it was a struggle to find the balance of having his character stay true, but also having him give up in a true Papyrus fashion, and then spring back so quickly we all get whiplash! And I can see where you're coming from with another job possibility, being a teacher? I can totally see that, or raising young kids. That would fit him so well with the kind of personality he has!

Is it bad that I now want to play that scene with Gordon Ramsy and Papyrus? XD I can feel like that would go very drastically in one direction or another...

Not A Shady Guy: Shady! You're back! It's so good to see you! Don't worry, you're not too late to the party over here, just Mystic Girl getting ready to launch a new dungeon of horrors upon the characters I release to her once they've finished their purpose. Which means I get to tease and deal with a lot of shit for the next twenty or so chapters until those characters are free for her to play with. Until then, they're under our protection. Gonna need a lot of help there... XD

Glad you enjoyed it, and welcome to the next leg of our story!

MysticBoywastaken: Awe! Aren't you being sweet! Look Mystic! Look how our readers are acting!

Mystic Girl: (She giggles and blushes at her two fellow members.) Super cute.

Me: I know right?! And what an interesting office concept! Hey Mystic? Did you take care of that clock?

Mystic Girl: (You can see the woman up on the ceiling actually climbing along the walls to open a secret compartment that was hidden in the blackness. The door popped open to show a hollow white box shaped hole where a rather lovely old clock stood, mounded to the space. It was already making the rather creepy slow ticking sound. She snapped the door shut before grinning down at me.) All set! Love the room!

Me: Exactly! Now, I know you wanted to tell them about your office now that you're done helping with their renovations and allowed them a chance to speak. So, you wanna tell them?

Mystic Girl: Duh! (She plops down from the ceiling, leaving Mystic Boy's office behind to lead us to her own. An elaborate locking mechanism was activated once she put her special necklace to the door to open it. Inside her office was rather technical. A large sectional couch for lounging during her down time was to the side for her and Mystic Man to enjoy with an eighty-inch plasma screen tv hanging on the wall. She also had on this pleasure related side a sleek black massage chair that was hooked up with many features I'd seen her use depending on the stress of the day. Of course, she had two of them so Mystic Man could join her, or me if she was kind enough to let me have it for a few minutes.)

(On the other side of her office room was more work oriented. Her rather large desk was accustomed to having three large computer screens hanging on the wall for her to switch between depending on the event. Though she tended to keep them to one particular task each. One was for spying- sorry... monitoring, wait no, spying is okay? Okay then, spying on those who she was serving punishment to, one for her personal typing or looking over my work, and finally one for planning out her next meetings with her group that she still hasn't renamed.)

Excuse you! I want to tell them the name and you won't let me!

Me: (I just giggle at her.) Don't want to tell them the name too soon~

Anyway, I think we've covered plenty this week! I hope you all loved this most recent chapter and I can't wait for you all to let us know what you all think!

Love you all and see you next week! Let's see what other chaos we can get up to! And know that we can!

Mystic Girl: Hell yeah!

Halloween Witch and Mystic Girl