WHAT A CURSED CHAPTER 11:

Alphys was a welcome addition to the group as they went down into New Home to trawl through cafés and ramen joints in the late afternoon. Frisk was wobbly— seemed, strangely, to be weakening after peering through the human's memories. Papyrus didn't mind carrying her, and when she dozed off, the only thing stopping her from faceplanting into a bowl of noodle soup was Sans's blue grip on her soul.

.

Back home was finally a bit of quiet. It was only the skeleton siblings, for now. The others lagged back with Asgore for all the human diplomacy updates, plus Asriel wanted to actually have some time with his dad to himself.

.

For the first time in a long while, Papyrus allowed himself to take a rest. With a cooking show playing in the background, he lay back on the couch, cradling his sleeping sister, his eyes glazing over as old, box-shaped Mettaton stirred cake batter dramatically. In a dazed voice, he repeated Mettaton's words quietly. He'd heard them a thousand times. "Stir whip stir whip, whip whip stir."

.

Sans brought him a cup of tea and carefully edged himself onto the couch around his brother's feet. He sighed and rested his cheek on his fist. Papyrus leaned his head back and poured the cup in its entirety into his mouth. Sans snickered.

"Tired, huh?" he said.

"No. Yes." Papyrus sighed. "I'm happy, though."

Sans smirked. "Figured. Gotta admit, kinda nice to have one thing taken care of."

"Must be a new feeling for you." He smiled. "Maybe you could get a similar satisfaction from picking that sock over there up." He levelled his finger at the sock that lay, limp and pathetic beside the wall beside the TV.

"Hm. Probably." Sans didn't move an inch.

Papyrus scoffed, but couldn't bring himself to even feign annoyance as he put his arms around his sister and slumped. "…I'm so glad that's over."

"Freaked you out, huh?"

"Pfffff, I mean. Of course not. It's not like humans could come and they could just try to…" He pouted and hid half his face against Frisk gently. "A-Anyway. There's no way anything bad could have happened. Not with the great Papyrus watching out for her."

.

Sans grinned fondly. He put his arms behind his head and shut up, watching as Papyrus slowly drifted off. Took him a minute to force himself up and to his feet. He dragged up a blanket that had stuck behind the couch and tucked them both in under it. His brother started snoring within seconds. That had to be a good sign.

.

As Sans sipped his tea and began to doze off himself, he heard a clunk and a groan from upstairs. Then, a sort of rough, coughing, retching sound. He rolled his eyes.

.

In the attic, he found Gaster on his hands and knees, eyes squeezed shut, breathing deep and rattling.

"Don't learn, huh?" Sans knelt and patted him on the back. "Need anything?"

His father shook his head quickly. He quivered as he inhaled and then slowly sat back up and rubbed his hand across his brow. "H-How are the kids?" he croaked.

"Fine," he said. "How'd it go?"

"I…" He coughed and slowly got to his feet. "I n-never imagined things were this f-far along. Toriel did not seem at all shocked, though, so I suppose this is normal, hm? Aside from that, un—" He put his hand to his mouth as he choked. "Uneventful. Alphys did give me more of those helpful cakes, though." He held up his phone and then smiled quite brightly. "I still can hardly believe she managed to incorporate dimension box technology into such small personal cellphone devices. It's amazing."

"Oh. Yeah. She did a lot," he said. "You meet Mettaton yet?"

"You mean that robot on the TV?" he said.

"That's the guy," he said. "He's, uh… not quite what he seems. And the tech in that frame is pretty advanced, you should give 'im a look."

.

The loud squeak of a voice jarred the two of them. Conversation forgotten, Gaster went ashen and he stumbled over boxes trying to get to the retractable ladder.

.

Sans was already there when he reached the ground floor. Papyrus was sitting up with Frisk, his thumbs glowing with amber magic as they rested on her closed eyelids. She was wincing.

"What happened?!" he demanded.

"Oh. Hi dad. Ow." Frisk's voice was small, but she smiled slightly. "Um. Whoops."

"Just relax. Papyrus has you!" Papyrus assured her.

"So why the hell was it doin' that?" Sans asked.

"I dunno," Frisk said.

"Doing what?" Gaster insisted.

"Oh, her eyes went red again but the magic sort of started sparking out, it was rather strange," Papyrus said. "But! Not to worry! I feel it settling down already!"

.

Gaster looked perturbed. He folded his arms tight and gritted his teeth. Sans slipped in beside the kid and put his fingers to her temple.

"Oof, it's spikin' a little, huh?" he said.

"Yeah, right outta my eyeballs," she joked. "Hey, dad? Is that normal for humans with magic?"

"Ah. Um. I'm not sure," he said quietly. "Let me just… Uh… Hang on a moment." He bounded away, back up the stairs.

Sans rolled his eyes. "Hopefully he doesn't do somethin' stupid."

"I'm sure he's just trying to help," Papyrus said. "Alright. Done." He lowered his hands and looked at his sister anxiously. "Well?"

.

Frisk cringed a little and then blinked. Her eyes looked utterly normal. She rubbed them with her knuckles and smiled. "Thanks, bro, that feels a lot better."

"I knew it!" He grinned proudly. "Well! That was a big scare over nothing, hm?"

"What else is new?" Sans said with a laugh. "Kiddo, get yourself together, alright?"

"I'm trying," she whined.

"Sans, be nice, she's had a very very long weekend," Papyrus said.

"I am bein' nice." He put an arm around the kid. "Guess determination ain't exactly the measure of how well that power works then, hm?"

"Guess not," she said,

"What do you mean?" Papyrus asked. "What power? What did I miss?"

"Memory read," Sans said. "Like dad does."

"What?! Oh! Okay. So. Wait. I'm confused," he said.

"Worked on dad. Worked on Undyne," Frisk said. "Worked on the human guy, but then I did… you know. That."

"Familiarity, then," Sans said. "Try on Alph, see what happens."

"She might be too embarrassed," Frisk said.

"Just tell her it's for science, she'll do it."

.

The kid snickered. She gave him a hug and then flopped over his legs. He rubbed her back lazily and rested his cheek on his fist.

"Hey, y'know, now that I think about it…" Sans tapped his chin. "I bet there's all kinds of weird crap you can do."

"Wh-What? What d'you mean?" she asked shrilly, flipping over onto her back. "Why, does dad have all kinds of other weird powers like that?!"

"Mmno, but… I mean. We just been kinda takin' it as it comes, right?" he said. "But… Like. If you could do that almost the whole time…"

"So can she finally do bones, then?!" Papyrus asked excitedly.

"No, no, just…" Sans let out a low, thoughtful sound. "Gotta think about it a bit."

.

Frisk's brow furrowed. She looked at her hands and the little red sparks that crackled from her fingertips. She rubbed them together and then looked up at her brother curiously. "Hey, Sans? Did, um…? Did dad… design me like this?"

"Pfff. No." He pointed at Papyrus. "Only one of us had anything even close to that level of thought put into 'em. And even then, we mostly let Paps just kinda develop on his own."

"But he came out perfect anyway, huh?" She grinned as Papyrus snickered and blushed faintly. "Well. I guess I'm okay with that."

"Listen, kiddo, you're way too young to be goin' through a second identity crisis," Sans said with a grin. "Unless, uh, you're actually havin' an issue, in which case, y'know, let us know."

"No, no, I'm good," she said quickly, sitting up. "Fine. Awesome. Cool."

"Hm. Good." He offered her his hand. "Could get a little cooler, though. Hey, Paps, meet you at Grillby's? Think the kid deserves another milkshake."

"What?! Oh… Pffff, fine," Papyrus said. "But only because it's been such a ridiculous day. And Frisk needs it."

Frisk couldn't help a grin. She loved Papyrus's never-ending series of "but-onlys" when it came to Grillby's.

xXxXx

Alphys was just getting in the door of the lab when an alarm went off. She squeaked and jumped, looking around with wide eyes. Something in the basement? That didn't make sense, that alarm hadn't sounded since the amalgamate monsters had moved out. She hurried to her computer and brought up her cameras. It was dark down there, but she could see a concentrated spot of extreme blackness, lighting just occasionally. Two points— highlighting the ridges on a skull.

"Gaster?" she asked quietly. Confusion marred her face. She cleaned her glasses just to make sure.

.

She hurried downstairs and raced into the room that had previously been full of beds and now only had a small smattering of beds and was littered with boxes in preparation for moving. She turned the light on and heard a sort of gasp, then a laugh.

"G-Gaster?" she called.

"Sorry, Alphys." The skeleton, wobbly on his feet, stood up and rubbed his skull. His eyes were blazing. "I keep telling myself I should not actually be travelling this way except in emergencies. And then I keep rationalizing that things are emergencies, so…"

"Why, what happened?" she asked.

"It's, ah… It's… Well, Frisk did…" He mimed a sort of explosion from his eye sockets.

"Her eyes b-blew up?!" Alphys yelped.

"Ah! Not like that, her magic was just… Ah. It's… It's okay, Papyrus settled her, it's just… Do you still happen to have my notes, by the way?"

"Oh! Y-Yeah, of course." She smiled bashfully. "I… I could never bring myself to toss a single thing. Plus, I, um, kinda th-thought some of them were mine. Weird, right? Come with me."

.

She lead him to the hidden door to the north of them and opened up the old room of computers and shelves upon shelves of books and notes. Gaster beamed like a kid in a candy store.

"Oh, Alphys, look at this…"

"I know, it's s-so dirty in here, I'm sor—"

"It's great. It's perfect," he said. "Now let me…" He made his way inside and zoomed about between shelves and cabinets, running his fingertips along the spines of books. "Hmm… Now where did I put…?"

"What a-are you looking for, exactly?" she asked.

"Notes on Sans's development," he said. "I had… a notebook annnnd… Ah!" He pulled a big, three-ringed binder from its place wedged against the side of the shelf— the dark grey outer cover was warped.

.

Inside, there was a small, black notebook, alongside some sheets in plastic protectors: little baby skeleton hand and foot prints, measurements of bones, growth rates of both the physical and the magical; records of unique abilities and complications thereof. Alphys snuck over to look.

"Is…? Oh my g-god, are those Sans's little baby prints?!" She squeed. She held out her hand beside the ink marks. "Aaah, th-that's so cute! Look how tiny he was!"

"He was." Gaster couldn't help a fond smile, but he turned quickly and headed for the chair at a nearby computer desk. He zeroed in on that book and pulled it up, skimming the pages with slow deliberation, determined not to miss a thing. "I may just sit here for a while, if that's okay with you."

"Of c-course!" she assured him. "Would you, um, like any t-tea or anything? Soda? Coffee?"

"Oh, Alphys, that's sweet, but you don't need to…" He lifted his head and smiled at her fondly. "You're not my assistant anymore."

"Yeah, but I'm y-your friend, right?" She patted his shoulders. "I'll m-make some coffee."

.

She left him to get the kettle boiling. In the drawer where she kept a box of homemade tea and some small energy drink cans— some of them crumpled and empty— to pull out a yellow bag of instant coffee from the back. She held it fondly for a second before putting it up on the desk. She had always rationalized it that the monster who'd made this kind of coffee had passed away, so no more was to be had. She'd save it for a special occasion, she'd thought, but then it had simply slipped her mind.

.

Her shoulders twitched and she jolted with surprise when she heard the elevator ding.

"Are you sure she would not mind?" That was Toriel's voice.

"Course not." Undyne. "I wonder if she's even…? Hey, Alph?! Are you…? Oh!" She grinned bright and stuck her hand in the air. "Hey, babe, how's it going?"

"Oh, fine. N-Not bad. Um. Everything okay?" Alphys asked.

"Yes. Finally." Toriel smiled, though her eyes looked tired. "Sorry to burst in. I'm just on my way home."

"G-Good. I'm sure they'll be really glad t-to see you," Alphys said. She blushed when Undyne wandered over and bent down to smooch her on the head. She bit her lip. "Gaster's downstairs."

"Is he? That was quick," Toriel said. Her brow furrowed. "…Did something happen?"

"I'm n-not, um… Not entirely clear on that," she said sheepishly.

"Must've. I'll go check on him."

.

Toriel found Gaster with just a cursory look around the lower level. He raised a hand in greetings without looking up from the book he was glued to. She put her paw on his shoulder.

"Have you noticed anything odd about Frisk's magic recently?" he asked.

"Odd? What isn't odd about it?" she said in jest. "Frankly, I do worry about her a little when she uses it. Many times after that… healing, I suppose? If it's not on someone particularly close to her, it drains her. Have you seen that?"

"Hm." He nodded. "Apparently her eyes flared."

"Seriously? That doesn't sound right… Was she okay?"

"She was actually in fairly high spirits when I left, and—" His phone beeped and he froze in place. He lifted it to take a look and his cheekbones flushed instantly. "Oh…"

Toriel plucked the phone from his hand and tilted her head as she read his text. Just from Frisk, asking her dad where he'd gone off to. She smiled fondly at him and passed it back.

.

"Better answer her," she said.

He nodded and put his book aside to text her back. Toriel's smile grew.

"So she's already accepted you, hasn't she?" she said.

"It appears so." The colour on his bones shifted a shade darker. "I… I didn't…" He sighed, but he smiled. "I guess you might be the one person who understands."

"I guess you're right." She laughed. "What an odd pair we are, hm?"

"I'd say so. I'm really very glad it was you who… Well. Thank you, Tori."

She waved a hand at him dismissively, smiling, and patted his back gently. "I feel like I should be thanking you. Anyway." She pulled up a chair and sat with him, resting her elbow on the desk. "Take your time. I will wait for you."

xXxXx

Gaster didn't find much answers in his old notes. Though it was true Sans had had some similar issues when he was a child, they had been more intense and more frequent, and seemingly caused by nothing at all. Maybe it wasn't the same. He'd have to wait and see. He gathered up his notes and some of his other old books, and shared coffee with the other monsters before he and Toriel headed home.

.

The house felt so calm and cozy that night. Papyrus was very watchful and caring, making sure everyone was warm enough and had plenty to eat. Gaster tried to get a little work done, pulling down some boxes of books to begin to sort through them, but his son all but forbid him. Tonight, they watched some goofy bad movies and ate chips, and Gaster began reading through the book of Dirges. Sans turned in early, with both Toriel and Gaster falling closely behind him— despite the latter doing his best to stay up and read. Papyrus tucked him in and shut off all the lights.

.

When Frisk and Papyrus headed to the bedroom to draft some puzzles to pass the time, they found their brother in the blanket mess pile, as usual. Tutting, Papyrus scooped him up and tucked him into the second bed. He turned off the light and then let a half-lit computer screen be all to illuminate the room. He waved Frisk over to the desk and pulled over an extra chair with a book on it for her. He grabbed one of his puzzle books and opened up to a new graph-paper page.

"I had an idea the other day," he said, keeping his voice low. "But you still know a little more about this than me! But I was thinking. What about seasonal puzzles?"

"Ooh. So, like, maybe some plant ones in the spring or leaf ones like in the Ruins in the fall?" she asked.

"Yes! Exactly." Papyrus grinned. "You understand me so well! I had some ideas! How about we…!" He stopped; bristled. Looked back quickly towards Sans.

.

Frisk didn't blame him. She felt it, too. They shared a worried look. Papyrus joined Sans and put a hand on his head, the amber glow of his eyes starting to shine brightly.

"Oh. Oof. Okay." he said. "This is, uhhh… Nyehh…"

"Bad?" Frisk asked.

"It's, um… Well…" He sat on the mattress and lifted their brother up in his arms, clutching him close. "His energy's very, very heavy. I think… I think, yes, that'll be a stuck one. Not good. Not at all."

Frisk winced. She nodded. She knew what they had to do.

xXxXx

It wasn't very often that the cold was what woke Sans up. There was a strange tremor in his bones. He opened his eyes and felt foggy. It was dark, but not so much that he couldn't see anything. The door was open a crack, letting in a stream of cool, white light. There was something strangely heavy about his skull.

"Hm. Okay…" He blinked one eye and then the other; couldn't see from the right. "Oh great."

He sat up; tossed some junk at the approximate area of the light switch. It clicked on. His room looked very much the same as he would have expected a month or so ago. Socks on the floor, junk in the corner, though the walls had some chipped sections of paint but there wasn't a crack in the ceiling. He hadn't been asleep here, though. No, this wasn't really his room at all.

.

He rubbed his eyes and immediately noticed something else weird. His fingers were longer and tipped with sharp claws. He also seemed to be missing the ring finger on his right hand. He scoffed.

"Okay," he said. Weird to be in a body that wasn't quite his, but he'd make do. Partial blindness and missing appendages were absolutely no hinderance to taking a nap.

.

He kicked back, folding his arms behind his head, and he closed his eyes again. After a little while, he heard a hard rapping on his door. It opened loudly. The lights went on.

"Sans! Come on, it's almost time to head out!" Papyrus said.

"Uh-huh," he said.

"Get up and get your jacket! You didn't lose it again, did you?" he said. "The Captain said you're in huge trouble if you head out without it."

"Oh no," he said, grinning to himself.

"Saaaaaans, come on!" Papyrus whined.

.

Sans opened one eye. Remembered he couldn't see out of that one and opened the other. Papyrus had his back to him, searching through his dresser. Though he wore a red scarf, as usual, the rest of his outfit was made up of shiny black and red armour that was quite spiky, especially at the shoulders.

"What's with that get-up?" he asked, slowly getting up and stretching.

"Hm? Ah! Here we go." He held up what closely resembled a black aviator jacket with a hood rimmed in white fluff. "No wonder you couldn't find it in there."

.

When Papyrus turned to face him, Sans was startled still for a second. He hardly looked like himself. Though the armour could have been easily excused, it was his face that what especially striking. His dark eye sockets, narrower and more angular than usual, had rings of red around his irises, and all of his teeth were pointy. Some were distinctly fangs. It gave him an almost feline appearance. Sans stared back at him for a few seconds before he burst out laughing.

"What? What'd I do?" Papyrus asked.

Sans grabbed him by the shoulders and peered at him curiously, unable to keep from grinning. This didn't suit Papyrus at all. It was kind of hilarious.

"Nothin'. Nothin'." Sans snickered and shook his head, and then grabbed his spiky, fanged brother into a hug, thumping his back. "Good morning."

"Um! Good morning to you, too, brother," he said. "Are you ready to go?"

"Alright," he said. "Gimme a sec."

.

He backed off and shifted himself to the bedroom over. Papyrus's room was all but identical to normal. He was eager to see what the dream had done to him, if his brother looked like he'd stepped out of a fantasy-horror film. He opened the closet for the mirror on the door, and froze when he saw himself. There was a small fracture in his face across his dark right eye, and the iris of his left one was red, visible despite not glowing in the least. There was a similar, healed crack farther back on his skull, like someone's claws had cracked through the bone. In fact, a lot of the right side of his body looked worse for wear. His fixed grin was filled with pointed teeth. He couldn't help it— he began to laugh again. He put a hand to his head and wheezed.

"Brother?! What's going on in there?" Papyrus opened the door and peeked in, and the worried look on his face made Sans break out into laughter all over again. "What? Is there something on my skull?"

"No. No no." Sans took a deep breath and held out his hand. For the first time in a while, he was eager to see where this would go. "Out, right? Toss me my thing. Let's get goin'."

xXxXx

It was encroaching on midnight. The house was dark. Papyrus was cautious on the stairs as he peeked over into the living room where Gaster was still nestled up on the couch, asleep. He tiptoed as quietly as he could and hurried for the kitchen. He didn't dare turn on the light, but he glowed his eyes just enough to help him see into the cupboards. He needed to get Frisk to sleep. Tea could help, maybe. Something else? He wasn't sure.

.

"Paps?" Gaster asked groggily.

Papyrus spun on his heel to see his father sitting up slightly, blinking at him as if even that much light was too much. "Oh! D-Dad. Sorry to wake you up. Um. I forgot how light a sleeper you were."

"Don't worry," he said, pawing around for his glasses. "Why do you look so nervous?"

"I'm not! Uh! I was just… trying to find something to help with sleeping," he said.

"Are you having troubles?" he asked.

"Not me, no," he said. "Um." He rubbed his arm. Couldn't keep the worried look off his face.

Gaster smiled. "You can tell me," he said.

"Okay, but don't be worried, we've done this before," he said quickly. "Sans is stuck in a dream. Frisk wants to fall asleep to go help him until he can wake up."

"Oh?" Gaster looked more alert. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Nnooo, not really, we do this all the time, it works really well," Papyrus assured him. "She sleeps, the dreams go together, and I wait outside in case something goes really sideways. So. No real need for anything else! I mean, unless you know a something that can help Frisk get to sleep quickly."

Gaster looked thoughtful. He tapped his chin. "Spiced milk?" he suggested.

"Spiced… milk," Papyrus repeated.

"Mhm. Let me show you," he said.

"No, you should go back to bed!" he said shrilly.

.

Gaster chuckled and shook his head. He stood up, putting his glasses on, and patted the boy on his shoulder as he headed for the kitchen, smiling fondly.

"Let me at least do this," he said.

.

He pulled a jug of milk from the fridge as magic hands glowed around the room, grabbing some old spices from the cupboard and a bag of sugar. He took a small pot from under the stove, added the milk, and put it on a burner. Papyrus hovered over his shoulder curiously as he added a few spoons worth of sugar and some spices to the pot as he gently stirred.

"Cinnamon," Papyrus said, pulling the little packages away from the false hands. "Nut… meg? Card-a-mom. Huh! I didn't know we had these!"

"You used to love this when you were little," he said. "I'm sure you'll remember once the smell gets going. Pity about the ginger."

"What ginger?" Papyrus asked curiously.

"Exactly," Gaster said with a laugh.

.

Soon, the milk was gently bubbling and the scent was warming the whole room. Papyrus did remember. Before it boiled over, Gaster turned off the heat, then poured the milk into two mugs and then handed them both over. Papyrus looked confused and his father gestured to one of the mugs. Cautiously, he tried it.

"Oh! That is really nice," he said. "Thank you."

His father nodded and patted him on the shoulder. "Good luck. Come get me if you need anything."

.

In the bedroom, under low light, Papyrus saw Frisk with her back against the headboard, watching over their brother as he dozed lengthwise across the foot of the bed, blue leaking faintly from his eye socket. She shot him a tired smile and held out a mug to her. She took it curiously and peered inside.

"Dad made it," he said. "He said it would help you sleep."

"Oh. Nice," she said. "Thanks, Paps."

She took a sip. The drink was very warm and relaxing. She nodded. Papyrus smiled and sat with her, scooting up past Sans and curling up with her. He put an arm around her and she snuggled up close.

xXxXx

It didn't take Frisk much longer to close her eyes and open them somewhere strange. It was dark, with a small, vertical sliver of light shining in her face. Cautiously, she touched it and it creaked. She heard padded footsteps and leaned forward just a little. A form in black crossed in front of the light. Frisk tried to get a look better look.

.

Her foot caught on something and the door gave when she tried to catch herself. She yelped and stumbled forward, toppling onto the floor. She came face to face with a sharp-toothed version of her brother that startled her still, seeming to loom over her with one red eye peering down and his thick black jacket making his shoulders look large and strong.

.

They stared at each other blankly for a few seconds. He squatted down and offered her his hand; he had long, distinctly clawed fingers. He tilted his head and grinned.

"The heck you doin' in there, kiddo?" he asked, clearly trying not to laugh.

.

She knew it was her brother the second he spoke. She relaxed and took his hand, and he helped her upright onto her knees. She grabbed him and hugged him tight. He snickered.

"Jeez, I scare you that bad?" he asked.

"No! No, I was just worried about you. You were locked in," she said. "I was trying to get in for like an hour."

"Fair enough," he said. "Hey, at least you look normal, that's good."

"Yeah, what's up with that?" she asked worriedly. She grabbed his face in her hands. "What happened, is your eye okay?"

"Heh. Yeah, it's fine," he said, though his cheekbones flushed faintly red. "It's, uh… probably been like that for a while."

"Have you been here long?" she asked.

"Felt like maybe two hours," he said, shrugging.

"What the heck is going on here?" she asked.

"Not sure, but this place is nuts," he said. "Looks like someone smacked it with the spooky stick."

"Oh yeah? Outside too?" she looked around, and though the kitchen looked normal with the exception of the much more normal-sized cupboard under the sink, she'd take his word for it. "Can I see?

"Uh. Better not," he said with an apologetic smile. "They seem to be more into the whole human huntin' stuff here than back home ever was."

.

Frisk couldn't keep the puzzlement from her face, but she nodded. He grinned and gently ruffled her hair.

"Thanks," he said.

"Mhm!" She sat back and awkwardly got her legs under her to stand. "This is super weird. I don't know how one can happen where you look different like this."

"Yeah. I'm not real sure either," he said as he straightened up. "Heh. Edgelord timeline."

Frisk scoffed and snickered, and her brother grinned. She peeked out into the main room.

"So, where's Papyrus?" she asked. "Is he here? Is he all, like… pointy, too?"

"Oh yeah, way more than me," Sans said. "Seems a bit on edge. Heh. Everyone does. It's kinda strange."

"Hmm… So. What should we do?" Frisk asked. "Just stay here? Until we wake up?"

"Easier than goin' somewhere else," he said.

.

The living room was much the same, to Frisk's relief, though the couch did have a patch or two stitched onto the seats and arm. She jumped on it and bounced on the cushions. Sans joined her. He reached into the side of the sofa and patted around. He pulled out a book that proudly bragged on the cover about containing five hundred jokes, but the inside was gibberish. Sans sighed and tossed it.

"Got anything to pass the time?" he asked.

"Noooot really," she said. "Sucks that we can't just explore. Or watch TV."

"Man, I wish," he said with a laugh.

"I'll make some tea or something," she said. "Sink's not too high here!"

"Fair point," he said.

.

She scampered back to the kitchen. Sans could hear her clunk around, looking through the cupboards.

"Aw! We don't have any," she said. "Only coffee! Man, maybe I can…" She wandered back out, staring very intently at her hands as they started to glow faintly red. "Oof, it's hard here…"

"Don't bother," Sans said.

.

Frisk shot him a questioning look. He kicked back and put his arms behind his head. Frisk let the glow die and sat back down with him. She yawned. He chuckled. He looked kind of sleepy himself. Those grey shadows under his eye sockets looked dark. She leaned back into him and rubbed her eyes with her knuckles. He took off his jacket and draped it around her shoulders. It was quite cozy.

"Thanks," she said. "It's warm."

"I know, right? Kinda dig it," he said. "Might get one like it for real."

"Go for it, it's nice," she said with a grin.

She felt a lump in there and she reached into the side curiously. There was a hole in the lining, making a pocket. She felt something plastic in there. When she pulled it out, she almost laughed. A bottle of ketchup, a real fancy looking one. She smiled and offered it to her brother.

"Nice. Thanks," he said with a laugh.

.

Now that she had his jacket, Frisk noticed Sans's bare arms. His bones, predominantly on the right side, were covered in nicks and gouges. Even the side of his neck was missing a small chunk. She took his right hand. It was missing his ring finger entirely and some of the knuckles across the top had clearly been crushed. She grimaced and looked at him with wide, questioning eyes. He could do little more than shrug. She held his hand tight, pouting. He snickered.

"What kind of weird, pointy-teeth, bone-stealing timeline is this?" she wondered.

"Good thing I'm not right-handed, huh?" he said with a grin. "

"I hope Az isn't in here," she said. "You don't think he is, do you?"

"No clue," he said.

"Boo," she grumbled.

She concentrated hard and tried to feel for him. It was a strain, but she didn't hear her counterpart at all.

.

After a minute or so, the front door slammed open, jolting them both out of their half-nap, and another skeleton burst into the house. He started pacing the floor anxiously, seemingly blind to their presence.

"Hey, Paps," Sans said.

The skeleton turned sharply to look at them. Frisk would know Papyrus anywhere, even though his face was quite different. She was taken aback, but that startled expression was very much familiar to her.

.

"Wh-What?!" he stammered loudly— no matter what he looked like, he still sounded exactly like himself. "S-S-Sans, what are you d-doing with that…?! That human?!"

"She was in the cupboard," he said with a shrug.

"H-Hi, Papyrus," she said with a shy wave.

His jaw dropped. He put his hands on his head, the metal gauntlets clunking unnervingly off the bone. "Sans. No. No! You can't. You. Can't. They'll take your other eye this time if anyone finds out! They'll take your arm!"

"This time?" Frisk asked worriedly.

"Oh my god. Oh my god." Papyrus quickly went back to pacing. "This isn't real. It's not happening. I don't want to…"

.

"Um. Papyrus," Frisk said gently. "D'you wanna stop running around? Are you okay? C'mon, dude, you look super tired."

"Oh no." He froze and stared at her; put a hand to his mouth. "She's really sweet."

"C'mere," Sans said, beckoning to him. "Why don't you ditch that get-up, huh? Take a day off?"

"I c-can't, it's the law!" he said, eyes wide. "A guard must always be armoured up and ready to go at the drop of a spear! If anyone s-saw me—"

"Jeez, what is up with this place?" Frisk asked worriedly.

"Sounds a bit too serious for me," Sans said.

.

Frisk frowned. Papyrus opened his mouth but said nothing, putting a hand against his skull and then shaking his head vehemently.

"Papyrus, c'mere?" Frisk said gently, holding out her hands.

The skeleton froze. He looked at Sans, who stuck his thumb up. Cautiously, he came closer and dipped to one knee. He hesitantly took her hands and she smiled.

"You've heard how strong humans are, right?" she said. "You heard we're really tough and hard to beat?"

"Y… Yes?" he said.

She grinned. "Then I'll protect you! From anyone! From your boss, even! If you want."

Papyrus stared at her silently. The red in his eyes glowed faintly and his cheekbones flushed with the same colour. "O-Okay. M-Maybe… Maybe just this one time," he said, straightening up quickly. "Sans! You better stay indoors too!" He stomped quickly up the stairs and disappeared into his bedroom.

.

Frisk folded her arms, her brow furrowing. "What kind of place is this? He seems so scared."

"Yeah, can't say I'm a fan," Sans agreed.

"Did you hear what he said?" she asked softly. "So… In this place, you helped a human before and someone did all that to you." She gestured to his arm.

He smiled and shrugged. "I guess it can be a little, uh, disarmin'."

"Pffft." Frisk couldn't help but grab his ruined hand again. "Jeez, dude."

His grin only widened.

.

Announced by an awkwardly loud creak, Papyrus snuck out of his bedroom. He was wearing just a cozy red sweater and black sweatpants now, instead of the armour straight from Mordor. He looked almost embarrassed.

"You okay?" Frisk asked.

He nodded quickly, clutching to his own hands tightly.

"Is it okay if we all just hang out here for a little?" she said. "Do you mind?"

"Mhm. Yes. O-Of course it's fine," he said, rushing to join them. He stood on his toes, glancing around as if he expected the door to burst inwards at any moment. "…I hope the Guard Captain doesn't notice I'm not out on patrol."

"She won't," Sans assured him. "And if she does, screw it, I'll chuck her in the river."

"Sans, honestly. That's technically treason, you know," he said worriedly. "I'm scared one day I'll come home and you'll be just a head!"

"Ahead of what?" Sans asked with a grin.

"No no, I mean… BAH! SANS!" Papyrus cawed.

Sans smiled and shrugged. The other skeleton rasped out a tired laugh and rubbed his eye sockets. His shoulders sagged.

.

"Papyrus?" Frisk said gently. "Hey. You wanna sit down?"

"You do look a bit like you're gonna fall over," Sans said.

The tall skeleton looked at them cautiously. He slid over and sat beside Frisk, keeping his legs together and his back rigid. Frisk turned to him and gently grabbed his big, clawed hand. He was shaking.

"What're you scared of?" she asked, and quickly withdrew. "Oh! Sorry. Not me, I hope? I'm not gonna hurt you."

"Oh! No, no, it's just… I know I'm supposed to kill you but that's just horrible and awful, and…! And I don't know! I feel like down here, all the monsters are being bad, but I really don't want to be bad!" he said. "My big brother isn't bad. And I don't think I'm bad! But the law says I have to be bad, and I don't want him to get hurt."

"Ah. Jeez, kid," Sans said sympathetically. "You aren't bad. Couldn't be bad if you tried."

"I know! I was trying! And I couldn't," he said.

.

All of a sudden, Frisk stiffened to the twinge of a song prodding her mind. She straightened up, eyes flitting around.

"What?" Papyrus asked.

"I felt it, too," Sans said.

The kid tried to feel out the energy. There was a weight in her, though. She couldn't move to him. She grimaced and she hopped to her feet. "He's not in the house, is he?"

"Doubt it." Sans raised his brows. "Wuh-oh. Whatcha thinkin'?"

Frisk pulled the coat tight around herself and flipped down the hood. Sans couldn't help but laugh.

"Bit big, huh?" he said.

"I gotta go out there, though," she said. "Aaah, jeez, what…? Ah, dang, it's gotta be good enough."

"Aah! W-Wait a second!" Papyrus squeaked.

It was too late. The kid was already out the door.

.

Even though the house had looked almost just like home from the inside, the outside was a strange, tar-black, twisted structure shaped like a squat fortress. There were still some string lights near the windows, but they were all red.

.

Snow was ankle deep, but it was tinted off-white slightly by reflecting back the colour of odd, magical clouds above. They were heavy and sullen, dark grey, flickering with sparks of red. Frisk didn't know what to make of any of this, but she took a deep breath of the frosty air and felt for Asriel's energy. Seemed like it was to the west, so that's where she headed.

.

If this was Snowdin, it sure didn't look like it. There were shiny metal fences that looked like obsidian spears poking out in front of buildings, all of which were remarkably similar to the skeleton house. Many of them were also decorated with string lights.

.

Frisk ducked under the hood at the sight of the first monster wandering the streets. It was a rabbit, possibly. Black fur, though, with a long face and spikes on their ears and neck, and bright red eyes. Another monster up ahead, coming out of what might have been a shop, looked like a four-legged dragon stretched out and walking on their fingertips, with teeny, leathery wings with massive claws poking out of the back of a dark robe, and spikes jutting out all over. Other monsters even farther down the street were much the same: black, a little white sometimes, with red eyes and spikes everywhere. It truly was the edgiest timeline.

.

Frisk didn't slow at the sound of feet clunking behind her until blue magic seized her soul and she had to stop. She turned to shoot Sans a worried, cautious look. He huffed and leaned forwards to catch his breath.

"Did you actually run?" she joked.

"I'd, uh, call it more of a brisk walk." He brushed the back of his hand across his forehead as he straightened up. He looked around at the other monsters, brows raised. "Huh."

"What?" she asked.

"They're more passive," he said. He stuck his hand out to wave at the oddly-shaped dragon. "Afternoon."

"Afternoon," the dragon growled back, copying his cadence exactly and moving on without so much as a glance at the kid.

"Huh." Frisk relaxed where she stood. "Okay. Not so dangerous, then!"

"Weird," Sans said. "Had more personality earlier."

Frisk shrugged. "I'm not complaining." She grabbed his hand. "Come on."

.

The kid focussed on the music of Asriel's distant soul. It pulled her down a side street and between mounds of black houses coming out of hills between tall, skinny trees that looked like they'd been burnt to husks. She thought she could hear a voice cursing in the wind. She dropped Sans's hand and took off at a jog.

.

The streets were a maze, black and white blurring in the kid's eyes as she followed the sound. A frosty chill was settling in heavily.

"Az?" she asked. "Az, you here?"

.

She came to an abrupt stop when a figure popped out down one of the snowier streets. Wasn't Asriel, though. Was someone a little taller than Frisk, staring at her from under the hood of a baggy sweatshirt. Eyes blazed red in the shadows. Frisk gulped. She felt sick all of a sudden. The person raised a hand. It looked shockingly human. They pointed down a small, side-street. She nodded despite the hair standing on the back of her neck.

"Th-Thanks," she said.

.

Frisk took off as fast as she could. "Az?" she called again. "Can you hear me?"

"Ah, shit, d-don't look at me," his voice came from somewhere.

.

Frisk ran faster, coming to a dead end against a hill of snow between two of the black houses. There was a twitching, grey-green, viney something there. The kid's heart thunked to her stomach. She pushed back her hood and knelt down. The plants recoiled and tried to press themselves into a corner.

.

About the size of a dog, what could loosely be called Asriel's body was formed from a long, thick stem that made a serpentine spine and tail. He had four limbs, at least, almost the same width as the rest of him, with claws made of thorns at the tips of short, creepy plant fingers. His white face was stretched forward, with pitch black eyes and a mouthful of fangs that looked like needles. He had a tattered mane of pale gold flower petals. They locked eyes and he breathed out a deep, annoyed sigh.

"What a frickin' mess, right?" he said.

"I'm glad I found you," she said, offering her arms. "C'mon, it's too cold here."

"Mhm." He moved like a slithering nightmare when he crept over to her. "Uh. Sorry if I stab you."

"Wouldn't be the first time," she joked.

.

He couldn't help a weak snicker as she scooped him up. He curled up as best as he could, heaving out a weak, trembling breath. Wilting, he pressed himself against her, burrowing into her heavy sleeves. She kissed him on the head gently. He tasted like burnt bark and dusty roses.

.

"Got any idea why I look like way more of a freak than usual?" he asked hoarsely.

"Um. We're in some edgy spooky timeline or something," Frisk said apologetically.

"I'll be haunted by the experience, for sure." Sans had finally caught up, and he took one look at Asriel and smiled sideways. "Sheesh, kid, what's wrong with your face?"

"Dunno, how 'bout yours?" he asked, wide-eyed.

"No idea. Sorry you're that," he said.

He drooped and grimaced, his obsidian eyes becoming glossy and wet. "I… I'll be okay."

"Jeez, kiddo." Sans knelt down to look him in the face. "…Do you wanna go?"

"If you'd f-found me first," he joked weakly, winking.

"Az, it's okay," Frisk said gently. "You can."

He shook his head. "C-Can't leave both you losers here alone, right?"

.

"SAAAANS?! Sans!? Are you out here?!" Papyrus called above the frosty silence. "I aaaaam following your fooooootprints, just so you knooooow, but it would be easier for meeeeee if you just said where you aaaaaare!"

The short skeleton straightened up and shoved his hands into his pockets. He shot the kids a questioning look. Frisk shrugged. He sighed.

"Here, Paps," he said, raising his voice a little.

.

Heralded by the sound of crunching snow, Papyrus rounded the corner to join them, looking uncharacteristically nervous. His jaw dropped. So did Asriel's.

"Who is this?!" he demanded.

Asriel shrivelled down in Frisk's grasp but awkwardly raised a limb to wave anyway. "Uh. Hi. I'm, um, with these nerds?"

"Well, obviously! Nyeh!" Papyrus said. He straightened up quickly, alert and wide-eyed. "Wait! Shh. Do you hear that?"

.

Frisk and Asriel shared a puzzled look. She tried to listen. Snow crunching, maybe? Sans bristled. He pulled Frisk's hood back up and took a cautious step in front of her.

"We should go," he said. He grasped Frisk's soul.

"Y-Yes! Um! Yes, we should definitely…" Papyrus gulped heavily. He recoiled backwards as dark fingers oozed around the corner of the building.

"Human?" a low voice asked. "Human?"

Another voice joined in and a shadow with eyes seeped onto the ground. "Human?"

Papyrus trembled. Black monsters forming a shadowy mass encroached. His eyes flared red and he backed up, placing himself between the others and the darkness.

"No no no not again no no no no," he muttered.

"Paps, chill out," Sans said.

"No no, they know, they know," he whimpered. "No no no no no. Big brother, you have to run, y-you can't—"

.

Frisk hurriedly joined him and held his hand tightly. "They don't know," she whispered.

"They don't?!" Papyrus looked at her with wide eyes and, as he froze, so too did the approaching dark mass of monsters.

The kid's gaze darted back. Sans pointed forward and stuck his thumb up.

"Run," Asriel hissed.

Frisk pulled the skeleton and ran, pushing through the mass of bodies that parted like smoke. He yelped and, jarred from his stupor, he scooped her up.

.

The monsters, acting as one, roared with a dozen voices and barrelled after them, fangs bright and long fingers reaching out from a writhing mass. Papyrus broke into a sprint, breathing hard.

"Huuuumaaaaan," the monsters groaned. "Traaaaaitttoooorrr."

Frisk's heart was thumping. She ventured a look over the skeleton's shoulder and couldn't see much beside darkness pricked with red eyes. It seemed to reach so far up into the mountain's cavern that it fused with the roiling thunderheads above.

"Can't you do anything?" Asriel asked shrilly.

.

It was too late for an answer. True to any nightmare, Papyrus tripped and the three of them tumbled to the frosty ground in a tangle. Frisk coughed out a mouthful of snow and shoved herself upright only to see a roiling thunderhead of creatures. Papyrus was stunned still, horrified, hands clasped together.

.

Frisk took a deep breath, positioning herself between the darkness and the others. She rolled up her sleeves, focussed her magic, and held out her hands. "Come on, come on, stop," she muttered. "Stop stop stop." Red flickered from her fingertips and she felt like she was pushing on a wall.

The mass of darkness slowed, sparks of her magic dancing through them.

"It's just a dream," she whispered. "Just a dream. Knock it off." Sweat beaded at her forehead— the pressure was immense. She gritted her teeth and pushed back.

.

The mass of monsters turned sluggish and though they strained, they couldn't pass the farthest point they'd reached, giving the kids only a few metres of breathing room. An uncomfortable stalemate.

.

Papyrus whimpered and scuttled backwards. Asriel growled and leapt up to him, staring into his face.

"Are you real? You're not ours, are you?! No. No, you'd be…" He grabbed the skeleton's shoulders. "Why'd they only appear when you showed up, huh?!"

"I… I d-don't…" His teeth chattered.

"Frisk!" Asriel said. "Think this guy's broken, you're on your own."

"But… she's… sh-she's…" Papyrus gulped. "It's a nightmare."

"Sure is!" Frisk said. She took a deep breath. The dream was starting to feel like a fog creeping into her eyes. Her vision was fluctuating between what she could see and what she'd already seen.

.

The kid's magic burst red around her small form. The pressure started to fade and and her magic gently wound the cloud of monsters backwards, forcing their roiling retreat. Then, almost as quickly as they'd formed, the clouds dispersed and all that was left was some relatively normal monsters, wandering about and back to their business. The kid blinked; hoped her eyes weren't fooling her. She took a deep breath and slumped in place, rubbing her head. She shot Papyrus a reassuring smile.

"Told you I'd protect you, right?" she said.

.

Papyrus's jaw dropped. He grabbed Frisk's soul and she squeaked as he pulled her over to him and held her shoulders.

"You…! You! Nyoooo, I can't believe it! I f-froze up, I'm sorry! I…" He shivered. "I'm so confused. This doesn't seem right. A-And my big brother…? Oh… I'm worried but I'm happy?!"

"You're okay," she said gently. "Don't worry so much, alright? You're safe."

"Where's my big brother?" he asked, wide-eyed, peering around her worriedly.

"He'll catch up," Asriel said.

"Nyooo… Not again, not again." The skeleton held his head and started to breathe a little too fast.

Frisk hurriedly cupped his face and drew his eyes up to meet hers. "Hey. Hey, it's okay. It's okay! I'll go back and get him, okay?"

"Frisk, c'mon, he'll be fine," Asriel said. "Let's get somewhere safe before something goes nuts again. It's not like it's real but I dunno what those things'll do to us if we're locked in."

"I know, but…" This close, Papyrus looked a little younger than she'd expected, actually. "I can't leave him like this."

Asriel huffed. "Well. I mean. I guess if we're stuck anyway…"

.

Frisk smiled and backed off, waved, and then bounded away back the way they'd come. She followed her footprints in the snow and bumped right into Sans around the first turn she took. She hugged him tightly and he chuckled.

"Took care of it?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said.

He mussed up her hair. "What a weird frickin' place."

"This can't be real, right?" she asked. "I mean, there's no way this is ours."

"Farther," he agreed as they began to trudge back towards the house. "Real… I mean. The detail's pretty high. Might be real somewhere else."

"But those monsters making a cloud thing, that seemed… off," she said.

Sans merely shrugged in reply.

.

Papyrus and Asriel were waiting outside the house. The tall skeleton perked up and ran for Sans, scooping him up right off his feet and squishing him tight.

"Whoa, bro, chill out," Sans said gently.

"Nyehhhh, I was worried," he grumbled. "The small human rescued me, did you see?!"

"Oh, uh, yeah. Course. Kiddo's real good at that," Sans assured him. "Now, uh, why don't we head back in and relax a bit. You look like you're about ready to fall apart."

"Buhhhh, fine, yes, you're right," Papyrus said. He carried Sans over his shoulder and back into the house.

.

Frisk sighed. She looked around at this dark place and flinched. Asriel tugged on her huge sleeve.

"Hey," he said. "Something's weird."

"Tell me about it," she muttered.

"No. I mean. I know." He climbed up her arm and she held him gently. "That Papyrus. I mean. He's not ours, right? He's not asleep."

"No, he's the dream, I guess," she said. "He's having a rough time, though? I mean. He acts pretty real. Maybe because of Sans? I dunno."

"Yeah. I mean. Maybe?" He frowned. "He said something weird while you guys were gone."

"Like what?" she asked, reaching for the door.

"He said this all doesn't seem real," Asriel said.

"Well, yeah, why would it?" she said, smiling sympathetically as she took them back inside.

"But why would dream guy care if a dream doesn't seem real?" he pressed.

"I, uh…" Frisk's heart thunked. "I have no idea."

.

Sans was flopped out on the couch as if he'd been tossed there like a sack of potatoes. Papyrus was gone. Frisk snuck over to the short skeleton and nudged his shoulder. He raised a hand lazily.

"Was that what it was like outside before?" she said. "Sorry for getting us into trouble."

"Meh." He sat up and rubbed his face. "No. It was more… normal? That was full on nightmare cloud, don't see that kinda thing all that often. Were you, uh, real spooked?"

"No, not really," she admitted. "I guess a little bit? But not until it showed up."

"Hm. Right, so…" He tapped his pointed teeth. "Az?"

"Don't look at me, if I have nightmares, they're not about that," he said.

"Same," Frisk said.

Sans could only shrug.

.

"B-Board up the door please." Papyrus peeked out of the kitchen, wide-eyed and rather low to the ground.

"Dude, it's fine," Sans said.

"Nyoooo, I'm not happy with this at all," he said.

"Aw, jeez, Papyrus," Frisk said quietly. She put Asriel on Sans's legs and got up to join the cowering skeleton. "Hey. It's okay! It's okay."

He looked nervous. He was hunched over against the wall; seemed like he might want to hide away in one of the cupboards if he could fit. She frowned thoughtfully.

"Can I hug you?" she asked.

"What?" he asked shrilly.

"I'd really like to give you a hug, if that's okay," she said.

"I… I'd like that," he said quietly. "Sk-Skeletons secretly love hugs. We're not supposed to tell people that, but it's true."

"Good!" she said.

.

She hugged him tight around his neck. He squeaked and his shoulders slumped. He sat on the floor and, cautiously, he put his arms around her, and though she knew it probably was in vain, she let her soul glow warmly for him. She was surprised when she felt something hum back at her. He clung a little tighter. When he looked back at Frisk, it was with wide, surprised eyes.

"Oh!" he said. "I… Wow. Okay." He raised his hands and looked at them, staring as if it was his first time to see them.

"You okay?" she asked gently.

"Mhm! Very much so!" His expression had completely switched. The melancholy was gone and he had begun to grin. "In fact! This is better than I've been in a while. Thank you, little human! What did you say your name was?"

"I'm Frisk," she said.

"Frisk! Right! Wowie. That's interesting," he said. "Oh! So. You are not from here, then, right?"

"Uh. Right," Asriel said. "We're just kinda stuck in the dream until we wake up."

"Right, right," Papyrus said. He stood up and stretched, wandering back into the living room, and Frisk followed him cautiously. "Well. Thankfully. This is just a dream. Because those monsters before were pretty bad! And this place was thoroughly awful."

.

Sans raised his brows. "You just become self-aware or somethin'?"

"Well. Sort of," he said, rubbing his skull and sitting on the arm of the couch. "My mind was stuck in a weird past time, but now it's much looser, thankfully! Thank you, little human! Can I hug you again? I'd like to!"

"Yeah, of course!" Frisk assured him.

He cackled, pleased, and scooped her into his arms. She clung to his shoulders and he snuggled her gently. He felt almost as warm as her real Papyrus did.

.

"So what kind of place is this, anyway?" Asriel asked. "Why does everyone look so weird?"

"We don't look all that weird, do we?" Papyrus asked.

"Just compared to what we're used to," Frisk said. "But you still look like a Papyrus to me!"

"Nyeh heh heh, because I am a Papyrus!" he said. "But, um! Yes! I think the plan of laying low would be a good one because this is not a good time. Especially to be… Well. Especially to be anybody, really, it's all around unpleasant. Human, that was really brave what you did out there before but I'd be really worried to risk it again, because that was probably quite a close call."

"Yeah, it seems kind of rough," Frisk said. "What happened to Sans?"

.

"Oh! Gosh, it was horrible," Papyrus said, putting the kid on his knee. "So. When I was just a little Papyrus, I met my first human! I liked her a lot! But then the King found out. He wanted to eat seven human souls, but he had five at the time."

"Wait, eat?" Asriel asked. "He… Wait. I don't understand."

"Oh! Well, you see," Papyrus said, "the Prince and Princess got killed by humans. And so the King really, really hated humans. He got so mad, and the story went that he was so mad that it cursed all the monsters into looking very dark and pointy, so the Queen told him he was horrible and left him, and he just got madder and madder."

"Well that's horrifying," Asriel said, wide-eyed.

"Yes! It was not good. So, I tried to hide the human. But the King found out and took my human's soul. Sans pretended he was the one who hid her, so he got punished i-instead of me," he said.

"Makes sense," Sans said with a shrug.

"But that's awful!" Frisk said shrilly. "He's all smashed up."

"Yes, it wasn't very good," Papyrus said, looking quite sad. "I would have… I mean. I was was very young. B-But I—"

"Hey. Big brothers watch out for little ones, alright?" Sans said. "I'd always choose that."

"But this is… Anyway. This is after that. By a lot," Papyrus said quickly. "This is the day I met my second human. I got to keep this one, though, and I love her very much!"

"Wait, so what happened to the King?" Asriel asked.

"Oh! Well. My human broke the curse on everyone! The King snapped out of being so angry, and he actually became really nice, but he'd done a lot of really bad things," Papyrus said. "So he exiled himself. I don't actually know where he is anymore. But that was a few weeks after this day."

.

"So… this really is another timeline," Frisk said quietly. "This doesn't sound anything like ours."

"Could ours really have ever gotten like this?" Asriel looked at Sans worriedly. "If the world ended enough times?"

"Can't really answer that," he said. "Sorry. I mean, maybe? Who knows?"

"If you don't, I guess nobody," Frisk admitted.

Papyrus looked a little confused. "Your… timeline," he repeated.

"Ah! Sorry, never mind," Frisk said sheepishly. "I wish we could help with yours, though. Whatever this is."

"Oh! No no no, don't you worry," he assured her. "This isn't real! It's okay. I mean, I thought it was for a little bit, but you made me see it was just fake, so please, don't worry about it at all."

"You're not scared of the Guard Captain showing up anymore?" Asriel asked.

"She's actually the Queen now! And she's much better now that the curse is gone. Everyone still stayed a little pointy, but not as pointy as this! I even got my proper magic colour back! I mean, red is nice— it's my sister's colour— but I like my normal one much better on me," he said. "Hey! While you're here! How about I make you three some nice, refreshing spaghetti! I'm quite good at that!"

Frisk had to stop a laugh. Some things never changed. "Can I help?" she asked.

"You want to cook spaghetti with me?!" He absolutely glowed. "Wowie! I'd love that! Thanks so much, Frisk! Let me show you how I do it! I am basically a master chef, you know!"

.

When Papyrus bounded off into the kitchen, she followed him, and soon the house was filled with the smell of tomato sauce. Sans stayed put, though he kicked his feet up onto the couch and cradled Asriel carefully. It was sort of funny to see that even his toes looked like talons, except for a couple on the right foot that were broken off at the ends.

"You're a mess," Asriel commented.

"Sure looks like it," he said.

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

"Nah," Sans said, shrugging one shoulder.

"What about your eye?" Asriel pushed.

"Who needs two, really?" Sans joked. "Just means I can sleep with it open."

"Shit," he grumbled, looking up at him worriedly. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, of course." Sans chuckled. "Don't worry about me. How about you?"

"Honestly? Screw being a plant. Like. Honestly. It's the worst."

"I know," Sans said.

"I'd rather be d… Oh!" Asriel's warped plant body started to glitter. He let out a relieved sigh. "Finally. Hey. I'll call."

"Forget it. Talk in the morning. See you, kid," he said.

.

A loud, alarmed yelp came from the kitchen. Sans got to his feet as Asriel turned to glittering sand and vanished completely from his arm bones.

.

Papyrus had recoiled against the counter, and Sans had just enough time to see the red sparkles of his sister drift away.

"Wh-Where'd she go?" he asked.

"Oh. No worries. She just woke up," Sans said.

"Oh! Wow. Okay. Phew, I was scared for a second," Papyrus said. "So, that's what it looks like."

Sans was taken aback. "What?"

"Waking up," Papyrus said. "I've always wondered. I usually wake up first, so I've never really seen it before!"

"…What?" Sans's eyes went wide. The gears spun in his head and he almost didn't believe the conclusion he'd come to.

.

Papyrus sighed; seemed very relaxed. He smiled. His hands and shoulders began to sparkle, like wisps of sand blowing away from him.

"Ah! And there I go, too, I guess. I know this was just a dream, but I really appreciate this," he said. "It's been hard to sleep recently and Sans has been staying up to watch over me, and—"

"Wait. Wait wait wait." Sans grabbed his shoulders. "You're real?"

"Um! Yes! For sure I am!" he said, eyes wide. "Though I don't normally look quite as spiky as this! Not anymore, anyway!"

Sans started to laugh. He couldn't contain it. He put a hand to his head. "Same here."

"Wait, you're real, too?!" Papyrus's jaw dropped. "B-But how?! Wait! Your human must be a time human, too, right?! And she was real, too?!"

Sans nodded. "Sure is. How'd you get here?"

"Well, actually, I've been having these strange dreams of things that happened for real for a while now. My brother, too; we call them time dreams. They're usually very exhausting," he said. "But I was actually really excited when you started doing things different, and your little human was not the same as the one I know, and is a really nice one! And how she beat my nightmare cloud— I get that sometimes even when it isn't time dreams. And it was so weird, I thought this was real, but then she hugged me and it snapped me right out of it!"

.

For once, Sans was at a loss for words. It took him a moment to regain himself. "You have the time dreams, too."

"Uh, yes, unfortunately, me and Sans— my Sans— have had them for a while," he said.

"So I guess you figured pretty quick that I wasn't your Sans," he said.

"Well, of course," he said with a smile. "My brother never calls me Paps. He calls me Papy. Not that I mind either way, of course! But you're a lot like him, actually, so I was glad to see you." The sparkling in his hands began to speed up and he smiled. He patted Sans affectionately on the shoulders. "Well! Guess I'm going to be awake really soon! Thanks for making it more bearable. And thanks to your cute little human, too! And that weird plant monster!"

"Y-Yeah. Heh. No problem," Sans said. "Uh. Feel better, huh?"

xXxXx

When the front door closed in the middle of the night, the sound was quite distinct. Pair that with a lingering scent of coffee, and the two together were odd enough to jar Gaster out of slumber again. He sat up on the couch and rubbed his eye sockets. The kitchen was dark, but someone had just been there.

.

Gaster could see the coffee maker set up on the counter beside a bag of sugar and some small cream pods. The carafe was still half-full, and hot. He poured himself a mug and, grabbing his housecoat, bundled up and headed outside.

.

Tracks in the snow lead around the side of the house, and there was a waft of steam gently flowing around the corner. Cautiously, Gaster peeked around the side of the house. As he expected, Sans was there, looking absolutely dead on his feet. He was clutching a mug, staring absently up into the dark above them.

"You and coffee?" Gaster said as he slid in to stand beside him. "Didn't think you mixed."

"Well, uh, that's what you drink, right? When you don't wanna sleep?" He sipped from his mug and stared ahead with a blank gaze. "S'not so bad. Just add a ton of sugar to it. I'm sure that's healthy."

"Sans…" Gaster's brow furrowed worriedly. "What happened? Did the kids find you?"

.

Sans was at a loss for words. He held out a hand like he was trying to beckon some from somewhere. He sighed and shook his head. He took another swig of coffee; continued looking vacantly out into the cavern. Gaster put a hand on his shoulder.

"Let me help you," he said.

"Don't think you can," Sans said, shooting him a sideways smile.

"What happened?" he asked again.

Sans still didn't say. Gaster sighed.

"Didn't there used to be a time where you told me everything?" he said.

"I never told you everything," Sans said with a tired grin.

Gaster laughed. "It was worth a shot," he said. "Sans, adult or not, you're still my son, and I hate to see you so out of your head. If I can do anything…"

"Not sure I'd want you to do anything," he said. "But thanks."

.

Gaster nodded. He sipped his coffee. They stood in silence for a while until the steam rising off their mugs started to vanish. Sans sighed; his father instantly perked.

"The dreams are gettin' worse," Sans said.

"Oh. Sans, I'm so sorry," he said quietly. "But not sleeping won't—"

"It's not just that," he said. "Doesn't help that I'm draggin' those kids though it all too, but… No. It's… Heh. I don't even know."

"What?" Gaster said gently.

"It was real," he said, and he raised a hand before Gaster could interject. "Not like before. The Papyrus in there wasn't just a dream. He was real. From another timeline."

.

Gaster stared back at him, frozen. Sans sighed.

"I thought it was just a real weird regular one at first, but then Frisk hugged him. Synched her soul with him. It let him break free of a loop, just like she did," he said. "He knew things. I saw him wake up." For the first time in ages, the sturdy little skeleton's expression fell to genuine uncertainty and fear as he shot his father a cautious look. It faded quickly, though, as he laughed tiredly and rubbed his hand over his eyes. "Shit," he said quietly.

"Is… Is this the first time?" Gaster asked.

"Can't say," Sans said. "I suspected for a while. It started happenin' more over the last, I dunno. Two months? Seein' timelines that I knew couldn't be mine. But this? Nothin' like this."

.

Gaster was at a loss. His shoulders slumped. He didn't even know what to say. Sans downed the rest of his coffee. He stretched his arms above his head, then patted Gaster on the shoulder as he wandered back towards the house. He heard the door open, then clunk closed. He put a hand to his mouth and winced, his soul starting to ache.

.

He peeled himself from the wall and went back inside. He walked in on his eldest cradling his youngest on the couch, a faint, purple glow seeping from their chests. He stopped and stared with surprise. Frisk said something quietly to her brother before shooting Gaster a tired smile.

"Hey, dad, doin' okay?" she asked.

"Uh. Oh. I'm fine. Thank you, Frisk," he said. "Did…? Um. Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm fine! Thanks for showing Papyrus that drink, it was nice," she said.

"Oh, that was no trouble," he said. "Was the dream okay?"

"Weird as heck! But not too bad," she said. "I mean, none of us got killed or anything. Wish Asriel didn't get dragged through, though, it always turns him into a flower thing again and he haaaates that."

"Who wouldn't?" Sans said. "Anyway. Pretty late, huh? How 'bout you go, grab Paps and a book or somethin'. I'll be up in a minute."

Frisk nodded. "Don't worry. If that guy was… If you're right, we'll figure it out." She sat up on her knees, kissed his brow, then bounded away.

.

Sans stared after her vacantly as she closed the bedroom door upstairs. He sighed. "She's sweet, huh?" he said quietly. "Hate to put her through this. Hate that I kinda need her afterwards." He cut his eyes at his father and grinned tiredly.

Gaster sat on the arm of the couch with a worried crease in his brow. "Sans…"

"Actually, though. Glad I was the prototype," he said. "It's better this way."

"Come on, you weren't a prototype," Gaster assured him gently.

"I like that better than byproduct," he joked.

"Sans," Gaster chided.

.

The short skeleton laughed. He rubbed his eye sockets. "More I see, more glad I am that I'm here. Believe it or not, I wouldn't change this," he said, and he pointed to his right eye and glowed the left so his white pupil vanished. "In there? Couldn't even see out of this side. Could be a lot worse. Trust me. I'm okay. Just gonna be real tired for a bit. Heh. What else is new?"

Gaster sighed. He grabbed Sans in his magic and dragged him over to give him a hug. "I never wanted this for you. I want you to feel safe in your own mind," Gaster said quietly. "If you want, we could… We could modify the old stabilizer, we could—"

"Nah. I'm good," Sans said.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'll deal." He patted his father's back and got to his feet. "Alright. Welp. Wish me luck."

"Mm. Good night," Gaster said gently.

.

Sans vanished. Gaster's knees went weak and he plopped back down onto the couch. He put his face in his hands. His fractured soul pulsed; nauseated him. He'd made a terrible mistake.