Before the end, there was a beginning. And the beginning was a story, one that starts here.

My name is Serif. This is my story.

The end of everything began as a day full of nothing.

Consciousness coaxed my mind awake. Slowly, reluctantly, I let my eyes drift open a slit. Dim "morning" light poured in from the window. Slight noises from downstairs, the kitchen to be precise, prevented me from falling back asleep. Sluggishly, I evaluated the past few hours of sleep. They had been surprisingly pleasant; I'd only had three nightmares and only one of them had woken me. It could very well have been the best night I'd had since Gaster fell down… since the nightmares started. I lay there, not wanting to move, partially awake, mostly asleep, simply enjoying the peace.

"SANS!" The shout made me jump, and when I didn't respond right away, there was pounding at the door. "SANS, GET UP YOU LAZYBONES! YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE TO YOUR SENTRY STATION!"

Groaning, I rolled over, stuffing my pillow overtop my head.

"alright, i'm up, paps, i'm up. try not to break the door down, k bro?" That seemed to pacify Papyrus, and I could hear him stomp off in those bright orange boots he always wore.

It seemed every day started like this. I was almost bored of it. But—a shudder crawled down my spine as the nightmares surfaced—things could be worse. things could also be better, though. I frowned at this thought and begrudgingly wriggled from under the mess of blankets and pillows.

Sliding with perfect precision into the soft, pale yellow slippers at the side of the bed, I pulled on my typical attire: dark grey sports shorts with a white stripe down each side, a tee-shirt the color of a snowy sky, and most importantly, my worn teal hoodie. It was about two and a half sizes too big; the sleeves came almost down to my thumbs. There were tiny holes, thrice patched, over both elbows and the seam at the edge was coming undone. But I loved it. Pulling the hood up and sliding my hands into the pockets, I sighed. another day. nothing left to do but live it. do it for papyrus, do it for him.

Before leaving the room, I trudged over to the heap of chaos in the corner. Fiddling with the silver charm on my hoodie's zipper, which was shaped like a bird's wing, I started digging. no, no, no… what is this? For a moment, I stared at a strange misshapen mass of plastic, foam, wires and glass, then tossed it over my shoulder. no, no, nope… ah, here. Tugging a dented metal disk out of the pile, I flipped it over, searching for the better reflective surface. Quenching my eye lights, I hesitated, then sparked my magic. My left eye socket blazed to life. Squinting closely at my reflection, I frowned; the crack had spread. Tiny flecks of glowing blue were beginning to disperse from the fractured orb in the center of my eye. It wasn't supposed to be this way.

I'd noticed the fracture a few weeks ago. It had been slowly expanding ever since. The break didn't seem to affect my magic or sight, but it was strange. i wonder what will happen to me if this keeps up...? Shivering, I shoved that thought away. Glancing back at my reflection, I tried to twist my lazy smile to look a little more convincing, a little more relaxed, a little more care-free, and a little less scared and sad.

Shuffling downstairs, I tried my weary smile on Papyrus and muttered a slurred greeting. After a quick lecture on being lazy—half of which went in one ear and out the other—Papyrus presented breakfast: spaghetti. Like always. I tried to eat a few bites, but it was worse than usual; it took a lot of willpower to swallow. Thankfully, Papyrus was too busy chattering to notice me teleport half the pasta off my plate to some unfortunate unknown location; as long as it didn't end up in my mouth, it didn't really matter where it ended up. I tried to refocus on what Papyrus was saying.

"IT WILL BE AMAZING! A HUMAN WILL SHOW UP SOON, I FEEL IT IN MY SOUL! THEN, I SHALL CAPTURE IT, AND I WILL FINALLY BE PART OF THE ROYAL GUARD! JUST IMAGINE HOW COOL I WILL BE IF I JOIN!" Papyrus's face filled with absolute rapture as he imagined this dream coming true. I bit back my response.

Papyrus still hadn't put it together: if another human fell down and died, the power from their soul— the seventh one collected— would contain enough energy to break the magical barrier that trapped us monsters underground. It would be broken and the Royal Guard would be unnecessary. let him hold on to hope. he deserves it.

"you know, that's not how things work, paps," I pointed out. "being in the royal guard doesn't make you cool. you're already super cool." Papyrus practically glowed at this.

"WOWIE! YOU REALLY THINK SO?" he asked.

"tibia honest, i don't think so, i know so. i feel it in my bones." I tried to ignore Papyrus's frown. Unfortunately, it was too early in the morning for my puns to be anything but recycled garbage; I wasn't actually that good at them anyway. Glancing back down at the plate, I stifled a sigh. i need real food. An idea came to me. Looking up at the wall clock, I feigned slight concern. "oh, just look at the time. welp, gotta get to my post. see ya later paps." With that, I teleported out of my seat and into the streets of Snowdin before Papyrus could reprimand me for not eating all of my breakfast.

A trip to Grillby's and a short walk later, I ended up at my post in Snowdin forest. The silence was deep, leaving me to my thoughts. Memories from the night surfaced, and I carefully mulled them over. What horror movie had I watched to give me such nightmares?

Images of Snowdin empty, covered in billowing clouds of powder, of a flashing glint, then a screech as another monster was dusted. A human, dressed in black and charred orange, brown boots kicking up dust. Cries of fear rang out as the child found another helpless, fragile soul. The worst were the dreams of a life without Papyrus. Of blood, dust, golden halls, dust, evil, dust, death, dust, dust, and more dust.

I tried to shake the scenes away. They weren't real, I reminded myself. But it wasn't working. they feel real. I loathed each night, fearing I might wake up screaming; I dreaded each morning, terrified the dreams might come true. just let it go, I told myself. you think too much. just, ignore it all… don't think about it… forget it… and just…

BANG!

Jumping, I started awake. For a moment, I had no idea what had disturbed my sleep. Then I remembered the sound and noticed the slight echo reverberating through the forest. Confusion clouded my thoughts. it sounded like… something heavy slamming shut? At first, I couldn't think of what might make a noise like that. Then, fear lodged in my throat. the ruin doors. no. it couldn't be—oh no. Teleporting from my sentry station into the thick treeline near the overgrown path, I peered out from the shadows.

My soul nearly froze.

There, flipping a dirty knife in the air, a jagged grin cracking their face—

A child. A human child. The Human Child. The one that haunted my dreams.

They were here.