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Chapter 19 : Crossfire

When Sans finally snapped out of the weird trance he stuck himself in, it was far too late. Around him, a wooded and snow-covered landscape surrounded him. He didn't know where he was or how to get back to Papyrus and Toriel. His anxiety was suffocating.

With hindsight, his little flight in the forest didn't seem like a good idea anymore. Admittedly, it helped him to get a grip on himself and partially control back his magic, but now he was lost and too tired to think of a solution. The night was falling and despite how much he had walked, he never once heard Toriel's voice. He assumed the old queen would be searching for him, and not being able to find her was starting to scare him.

As the hours passed, he became more and more desperate. He had nowhere to spend the night. No shelter, no food, not even a coat. The sweater he found in one of the cabin's wardrobes was soaking and he was freezing.

At one point, he tried to draw crosses on the tree's trunks to make sure he was not going in circles. It took a few attempts to find another path, and he was now walking straight in front of him, not sure if he was heading the right way or if he was moving away even more.

When the sun set completely, the situation turned even worse. The snow storm started again and Sans found himself lost in a white ocean. He tightened his grip on his wet clothes and looked for a shelter. He could only find a huge pine tree whose floor was still more or less dry. The skeleton crawled under the thorns and sat against the trunk. He hugged his legs against his chest and laid on the cold and hard floor. He closed his orbits and tried to sleep, if only for a few hours.

The night had been nightmarish. Between the cold and the forest's scary sounds, he could only sleep for one or two hours, mostly because he cried so much he passed out. At dawn, the snow stopped falling, but it was still freezing cold. Sans' teeth chattered, he was curled up under his tree, barely able to feel his hands and feet anymore. He tried to rub his arms to help, but that didn't have any effect.

As he was going to convince himself to move and walk again, he suddenly froze as he heard footsteps nearby. Even if he wished it was Toriel, his instincts ordered him to stay hidden for now. The footsteps seemed heavy, and after a few minutes, he was even sure there was more than one person walking, coming from two opposite directions.

Soon, boots appeared in sight, between the thorns of the pine tree. Sans immediately understood they were humans. Panicked, he silently held onto the trunk of the tree, hoping it would be enough to not blow his cover. The men quickly scattered into the bushes. One even climbed his tree, fortunately without noticing him hiding under. Sans tried to hold his breath, terrified. He was trapped! There was no way to flee without being seen! Only one man was standing outside in the snow, visible.

As the skeleton thought the situation couldn't get worse, he saw the human standing in the snow tensed even more as new footsteps could be heard nearby. Sans held a scream as Asgore's cape, Gaster's black boots and several white dogs' paws stopped in front of the tree, and the human. Sans walked straight into the lion's den. Terrified at the idea of a royal guard sniffing him, or worse, of his father realizing he was there, he looked around, distraught, searching for a way out.

For several minutes, neither the human or the monsters talked. They were looking at each other, tensed. Sans knew things could never go back to what they once were. Neither time nor peace could repair the damages the war had done. Too many blunders, betrayals, knifes in the back to hope the two species could one day again live in harmony. Several new generations would be needed to appease things. For the humans, at least, who lived only eighty or ninety years. For monsters who could live for hundreds of years, it was a whole other story. Well, that was if there were still monsters living in a few years…

"So, you have the nerve to come without what I asked you." the human noticed with an authoritative voice.

Without seeing his face, Sans knew the man was a soldier. He could recognize that sharp, squared, cold, emotionless intonation anywhere. The man was also standing to attention, feet aligned to the millimeter and hands behind his back.

"We need more time." Gaster answered curtly. "A setback modified our plans."

"Oh, come on, doctor…" The man said ironically. "Isn't there always something modifying your plans? When did I ask for the child again? Three, four months ago? I'm starting to think you're preparing something against us. The Emperor is very unsatisfied at the moment, and charged me to tell you he is getting impatient. And you know how he hates to be played for a fool."

"This is enough!" Asgore's voice boomed. "We promised the child in exchange for a peace treaty and we will stick to our word. We just need more time. Magic is a delicate subject and we can't allow to neglect some details so things don't go wrong."

The human sighed, resigned. "I need guarantees. What is the progress made on the subject? Last month, you said you were running tests to assure its reliability."

"He's controlling more and more his magic and he's even developing new abilities, like teleportation." The royal scientist explained. "He is one of the only subjects that can hold determination and use it to modify his own DNA to create unique abilities that I have personally never seen in any monsters. Once he becomes an adult, he will be powerful."

"Oh, you're talking of it like it's going to grow up. This is cute."

Sans felt his chest squeeze. They were talking about him! Gaster really wanted to give him to the humans! It was a thing to know it, but another to witness the whole thing. Sans was hyperventilating, more and more scared.

Asgore clenched his fists. "Please show some respect, mister Jolanger." the king ordered. "We are talking about a sacrifice so this stupid war we never started in the first place can stop, not some toy you can break as it pleases you."

"With all due respect, your Majesty, your people don't deserve any compassion or humanity in my eyes. If we ever sign that peace treaty, that won't go without more ties, starting with your entire species locked under Mount Ebott as it was planned in the beginning."

"I'm sorry?!" the King exclaimed, now angry. "This is not what we agreed to!"

"Times change, mister Dreemur. You are the one who didn't respect his part of the agreement. We are only making you pay interest for the time we're wasting because you cannot give us what we want."

"You're just an arrogant idiot, we will never submit." Gaster hissed, pissed off.

"Measure your words, doctor, you could regret it quite bitterly." the human threatened him. "We're giving you three more days to prove to us you're working on the subject. If we don't hear from you before then, we will erase what's left of your people in your pitiful little camp. Have a good day."

He didn't let them have the possibility to answer back and turned around. The soldiers hiding in the bushes immediately got out of their hiding places to follow him. Sans flinched when two boots dropped right in front of him, then an entire human body. When the soldier saw Sans, he immediately aimed his gun at him. Before he could scream, Sans panicked and stretched out his arms instinctively. The human's soul turned blue and he immediately got projected at Asgore's and Gaster's feet, as they were just about to leave.

Sans froze as a long silence took place. Suddenly, Gaster kneeled down to look under the tree. His eyes widened in shock for a moment, before he immediately became more severe.

"Sans! I forbid you to move!"

The child turned around and ran in the opposite direction. He heard Gaster scream to the royal guards to catch him. His soul briefly became blue, but he quickly managed to escape his father's control zone before the scientist could paralyze him. Sans zigzagged between the trees, trying to remember Toriel's advice on how to lose people following him.

He changed directions several times, tried to erase his tracks when he could. The thick snow made him slower, but it slowed his pursuers too. However, he could still hear the royal guard's captain barking furiously after him.

Panicked, Sans ran full west, where the snow was less deep. He was alarmed when he realized he was now leaving a lot of footprints behind him, but he couldn't slow down anymore. He could now see the dark armours of the royal guards behind him. They were way faster than he was, running on all four paws. But he wasn't ready to give up yet. He jumped through the bushes, cutting the human legion's road accidentally. He immediately recognized the man who was talking with his father and the king sooner.

All their weapons were pointed at him. Sans froze immediately, terrified. Asgore and Gaster were arriving from the north and other groups of royal guards were blocking the way he chose to flee. Now trapped, he turned on himself, tearing up, desperately searching for a way out of here. Gaster lifted his arm and his soul turned blue, locking him in place. He couldn't move anymore. It was over.

A human soldier at least as terrified as him shot his way. Sans only survived thanks to Gaster who pushed him out of the way with his magic.

"Don't shoot!" the human commander, mister Jollanger, screamed. "Asgore, what's the meaning of this? Is this the child?"

"Sans! Sans, calm down!" Gaster said, trying to get closer to his son.

Sans was now screaming and thrashing on the floor, trying to get rid of the blue effect. No. Not like this! He refused to be caught this way. His eye turned light blue and a rain of bone fled everywhere around him. The royal guard jumped in front of the king to protect him while the humans, panic-stricken, entered a murderous rage and started to shoot at the monsters as well.

Sans screamed and created two huge blasters that shot deadly beams at everything moving to protect him. One hit Gaster in the chest, sending him flying several meters away. The scientist lost his grip on his child's soul, freeing him. Sans didn't waste any time and ran away under a shower of bullets. Excited like hunting dogs, the humans were now shooting at him and at the King. Sans could briefly see Asgore dragging his father away before he found himself encircled by the forest once again.

Overjoyed he survived, he didn't look where his feet were going. Suddenly, the floor gave away under him. Before he could realize what was happening, his head hit a section of big rocks. He fell several meters down, his body hitting rock after rock. He felt his soul crack a little more with every impact. Finally, he collapsed on the muddy floor of a cavern, exhausted, but somehow still alive.