Slowly, my eyes drifted partway open. Blurred patches of dusky color shifted in a metallic grey atmosphere. where… am i? I blinked, once, twice. The image cleared. the lab? Indeed, I was in the lab. Without moving my head, I carefully glanced around.
I was huddled in a corner, my back to the wall—same as Grillby, who was beside me. He watched the activities of the lab with a steady gaze, as if on guard; he hadn't realized I was awake yet. I could read no evident emotion in his flames. Following his line of sight, I scanned the monsters huddled in pockets about the room. Mettaton was among the familiar faces, performing skits and dares, doubtlessly trying to distract the youngsters from their fears. Alphys was running around, checking on monsters and working at her computer.
If everyone was here… that meant Undyne was dead.
Heaving a silent sigh, I planted my right hand on the ground and pushed, straightening from my slump. Grillby noticed and turned his attention to me.
"mornin' grillbz," I murmured, my voice sounding hollow even to my ears. His flames flared a bit, a way of returning the greeting. After a moment of silence, I read the concern in his face, and answered the unspoken question. "i'm alright."
"Are you sure?" Grillby asked, unconvinced. A grim smile tugged at my face.
"no, but i'll keep up the act regardless." At this, Grillby seemed distressed, but didn't comment on this statement.
In a way, it was true. Despite Papyrus being dusted at the hands of the human—an event that was my fault—I didn't feel sad anymore. Instead, there was a new mix of emotions. A deep need for justice, a patient rage, a dangerous drive for the destruction of the human, and… determination. Nothing mattered anymore. I had nothing left to lose. So, yes. I was perfectly alright.
Glancing down, I saw Papyrus's scarf still tightly clenched in my left hand. Without taking my eyes off it, I asked—
"where's the human now?"
"Heading our way," Grillby replied.
"they got past waterfall, then." There was a heavy pause. "undyne's dead?" I asked, though it was more like a blunt statement than a question. Grillby nodded.
"Early this morning."
Despite the fact I already knew the ugly truth, hearing it spoken out loud was still disturbing. Letting my head fall back to the wall, I shut my eyes tight and sighed, a manifestation of hopelessness and frustration. Our defense was crumbling.
"Daddy!" At the call, Grillby looked up. Turning my attention to the voice, I saw Fuku hurrying towards us, the ends of her uniform's bow fluttering nervously with each step. Coming to a somewhat clumsy stop, the green fire monster pointed back the way she came. "The last group is assembling, we have to get ready!" she exclaimed. Grillby nodded.
"Alright. Go on ahead, we'll join soon." Fuku nodded also, threw me a quick, tiny, compassionate smile, and dashed off. Grillby stood and motioned for me to follow.
"what was fuku talking about?" I asked, hurrying after my friend and towards the others. But before he could respond, I felt a hand grab my jacket.
"W-wait!" Alphys exclaimed. We both turned to look at her. She blushed. "I was j-just… well—" she glanced at me, "can I see you f-for a minute?" I shrugged.
"um, sure." Meeting Grillby's curious gaze, I waved my hand dismissively. "ah, go on ahead, i'll ketchup." As expected, I didn't get any laughs, but I had likely dissolved any suspicions Grillby might have; good enough. He consented and continued on.
Alphys scurried off towards a side room. I followed her, still dragging Pap's scarf with me. I had a feeling this was coming. My meaningless smile fell into neutrality. Alphys knew. She had seen the truth. i messed up big time. Upon entering the room, Alphys shut the door and awkwardly gestured for me to sit. I complied. When Alphys turned, I promptly hid behind my smile once more.
"There's n-not much time, so… I'll get right to the point. Can you… I need—do the… t-the magic…"
"you want me to do the magic thing," I said flatly, almost sarcastically, filling in the word gaps she could not. Alphys bobbed her head. I sighed. "i'm fine, no bones about it, i just—"
"N-no!" Alphys looked just about as surprised at the outburst as I did, but pressed on. "No, Sans, I-I'm… I'm really worried about you. P-please, you g-gotta let me help…"
Just as I was about to come up with another excuse, I realized—it didn't matter; we'd all be dead soon anyway. Alphys might as well know I was messed up and I might as well find out what caused it.Letting my head droop, I sighed. well, here goes. With one last second of hesitation, I quenched my eye lights, sparked my magic, and met Alphys' gaze. She tried and failed to stifle a small gasp.
"W-what? There's only… o-one? That's… that's—"
"not normal?" I answered. "yeah, i know." The scientist took a tentative step closer.
"And… it's broken? N-no, break-ing. Sans, what happened?"
"i don't know," I whispered, staring emotionlessly ahead. Another hesitant step.
"M-may I… t-take a closer look?" Alphys asked timidly. I stopped looking at the wall to look at her, wondering if I should just tell her everything was absolutely pointless. After a moment of internal debate, I decided to keep my mouth shut.
"knock yourself out," I murmured.
After digging through the bottomless pockets in her lab coat—and accidentally pulling out nerdy anime merchandise—she eventually found what appeared to be some sort of magnifying glass; soon I was the object of close examination. She was so near that if my magic hiccupped it would melt her glasses. If I wasn't so numb inside, I might have laughed at the awkwardness of the situation. But I didn't. After what felt like forever, she shuffled back.
"I've n-never seen anything like this b-before," Alphys admitted. "It's not just superficial; I think it runs deeper. Th-there's n-no telling w-what… what it might do. I don't know m-much about skeletons, g-given how few there are l-left, b-but… I th-think… eye glowing is somehow c-connected t-t-to… the s-soul," she finished, nervously fidgeting.
so, my soul might be breaking? huh. why does this not alarm me? Alphys opened her mouth to say something more when a loud screeching alarm went off. Her face went a paler shade of yellow. An image flashed through my mind…and I started laughing. A grim, cheerless smile covered my face.
"they're here," I stated miserably through chuckles, "they're here in hotlands. it's all pointless..." after one more hopeless laugh, I shoved off the chair and started for the door. "evacuate the last group," I said, "and don't stop running." Alphys stared at me in shock for a moment, then, at a loss for what else to do, hurried after me.
"B-but the Core doesn't—" I whirled and gaped at her in horror.
"the core? the other groups were sent into the halls of the core?!" I exclaimed. Alphys nodded, then shook her head.
"W-well, n-not everyone. Some are… hidden under the l-lab… b-but it's full down there, and so I had the r-royal guards h-hide everyone else, scattered, throughout the Core. I-if we're spread out, there's a g-greater chance of survival," she explained. Another image flashed before my sight. "DETERMINATION. 7 LEFT." I moaned, burying my face in my free hand. those hidden in the core are goners. the human will find them all. Shaking my head, I hurried on. there's nothing we can do for them now.
"no alphys, we don't take them to the core; we hide the remaining monsters in the castle."
"The castle?!" Alphys squeaked.
"the castle," I affirmed. "alph, you've had faith in me before. we even worked side by side once upon a time, remember? you listened to me then; i need you to trust me now." After a moment of hesitation, slowly, she nodded.
"Alright," she whispered.