Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: Humans and Monsters.

One day, war broke out between the two races.

After a long battle, the humans were victorious.

They sealed the Monsters underground with a magic spell.

Legends say that those who climb the mountain never return.

A familiar story, told many times over. Spanning distances far beyond the caverns under Mt. Ebott, and beyond even the surface above. Across SAVES and RESETS. Across many timelines and into the furthest reaches of the multiverse.

And at the end of this old tale, is the beginning of a new one....

A shrill scream echoed across the cave walls as a small figure tumbled down, cutting off with a loud thud as the figure landed hard in a semi-soft bed of flowers.

The small body was still for a few long moments, then, trembling, rolled onto it's back as it tried to force air back into it's lungs, pants mingling with pained whimpering as it clutched it's chest.

It was a good few moments before the figure, a little boy of about ten, caught his breath and forced himself up with a groan, one arm around his front while the other rubbed his head as he looked around, squinting in the dim light that fell from above.

"Owie..." The boy wheezed out. "Wh... where am I...?" Though the light only fell on the flower bed, there was enough to see that he was in a relatively small cavern, with a path leading off into another that was framed by large purple grey pillars.

Now, the boy was young, yes, and could be somewhat oblivious and naive at times, but he was by no means stupid and he knew that pillars like that shouldn't be this far underground, or probably anywhere nearby, really, except the very old buildings, and this wasn't a building, but a mountain. A mountain that, as far he knew- and he knew a lot, thank you- Mt. Ebott was nothing special, except for hikers, nature lovers, and... and the old legend of monsters and missing children that parents told as a bedtime story and an older sibling told to scare the younger.

The boy gasped, hetero-chromatic eyes shining as an idea popped into his head. Maybe he could be the one to solve the mystery! Maybe he would find the monsters and the missing children! He'd defeat the beasts and save the children and return home as a brave hero! Or better yet, maybe they were all nice and he'd befriend all the monsters! Maybe then the other children would finally realize that he was just as cool as they and would be his friend!

With his new mission spurring him on, the boy pushed himself to his feet, bravely ignoring his aching body and no, those weren't tears in his eyes, not at all, you must be seeing things.

Wiping the not-tears from his eyes- grimacing at the dirt on his hand that would now be on his face. He was a little boy, but a little boy with standards- he marched toward the connecting cavern.

Unlike the hole he fell into, this cavern was mostly darkness with only a dim light in the distance, however, he could just make out the outline of more pillars and a few other structures. The thing that caught his attention, though, was a single flower in the middle of the room, strangely illuminated in the otherwise dark cave. It had dark red petals and a pale yellow center. In that center, was a face.

"Greetings." The flower said, with a friendly smile, red eyes glinting in the dim light. " I am Chara. It's been a while since a new human fell down here."

The little boy blinked, the urge to back away suddenly strong, but with a deep breath he stood up to his full four foot six inches. "Y-yes! I just fell and decided to see if anyone was down here!"

Chara nodded "Oh, well you were very lucky to find me then." They smiled wider. "Newcomers have a lot to learn about the Underground, it can be a dangerous place."

"Oh! No worries!" The boy proclaimed, a fist on his hip and a hand on his chest. "I am the bravest and best! I can get through, no problem!" Maybe the Monsters down here were actually friendly, maybe the children who had disappeared simply decided to stay.

Chara hummed, tilting their head. "Well, I can show you how to be even better." The boy perked up, and their smile turned into a grin. "Oh yes. Here, let me show you..."

The boy stepped back with a gasp as something in his chest was tugged and with a pop the area was flooded with a blue light that seemed to chase all other colors away until there was nothing but black, white, and the glow of what he could now tell was a deep blue heart.

Chara giggled softly. "That there? That's your soul. Your thoughts, your hopes and dreams, your memories. Your entire being all compressed into a little blue heart."

"Wowie..." The boy whispered in awe.

"Now to be better than the best," Chara began. " You must share these." Small white seeds flew up into the air behind them. "In them, is LV, and LV stands for LOVE."

"Oh!" The boy cheered. "I'm great at love! I give the best hugs, and the best get well cards, and the best friendship macaroni art, and-"

Chara quickly cut in. "Ah, but this is a special kind of LOVE. It makes you stronger, just by touching one of these, you'll be stronger, faster, greater than anyone else." The little seeds slowly approached. "Go ahead, grab them.."

With an eager grin the boy reached to grab them, his soul following the movement and floating forward, closer to the little seeds until there were only inches between them, when suddenly as one, the seeds shot forward and buried themselves into his soul.

A screech of pain was forced from his throat as he stumbled back, soul jerking close to his chest as he instinctively lifted his arms around it. Pain blossomed from his chest and spread to his whole body and he fell to his knees, numbers flashing before his eyes.

1/20

"Hehehehe.." He looked up, watery eyes locked onto what he had thought was a friendly little flower monster. "You're so stupid. You really thought I'd just give you some special power? No, no, it's me that'll have the power!" He watched in terror as the flower's eyes widened and mouth gaped, oozing black liquid as it grinned at him. "I'll take your soul, I'll take all the LOVE, and I'll be the best."

"B-but, wh-why?" He sobbed, curling in on himself as a ring of white seeds materialized around him. "Wh-why do you have to do this? C-can't we just be friends?"

Chara giggled. "Friends? With you? Humans are nothing but disgusting, bitter, hate filled fleshbags that bring nothing but pain, you stupid little boy." The seeds seemed to quicken in their approach. "Now do everyone a favor and DIE."

The boy clenched his eyes shut with a sob, curling around his frantically pulsing soul as he waited for more pain. But after a few, agonizingly long moments of nothing, he fearfully eased an eye opened to find the ring of seeds gone, colors returned and his soul back within him, and Chara with a look of confused annoyance, only to be replaced with shock as, out of the nowhere, a little... bone? Yes, a little white bone flew out and smacked the flower, ripping them from the ground and flinging them off.

The boy startled as a deep voice emanated from the dark. "heh, little pest, torturing a kid like that. can be a real thorn in someone's side." The human spun around, gasping in shock as, in the dim light from afar, a short skeleton emerged. It was wearing a black hooded robe over a blue turtleneck sweater, and had what appeared to be fuzzy pink slippers.

The small blue lights that seemed to serve as it's eyes in otherwise large, blank sockets rested on the boy, and the skeleton's permanent grin seemed to soften. "heya, kiddo, no need to look so rattled. there's no spooky, scary skeletons here, just me." It- he?- held out a small, bony hand, one socket falling shut. "i'm sans, sans the skeleton, i live here in the ruins, lookin' out for humans that may have taken a tumble. you're the first in a while."

The boy hesitantly took the hand, standing with the skeleton's help with only a soft whimper of pain. "Th-thank you, Sans... I.. I don't know why that flower attacked me... I only wanted to be friends..."

Sans put a hand on the kid's shoulder, grin lowering slightly. "aw, kiddo, that flower... they aren't the nicest of beings down here, dunno who they are or where they come from, but i don't think it's anything you did to make 'em act that way." Then he chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair. "you're a cool lil dude, i'm sure you'll make loaks of other friends down here."

The boy brightened. "Really? Yes, you're right! The Great-! Wait was that a plant pun?!" The boys nose scrunched as Sans' grin widened, eye-lights brightening. "Ugh, puns. As I was saying! I will traverse the Underground, spreading joy and friendship to all!" He put his hands on his hips, chest puffing out and scarf blowing in a non-existent wind. "I will be everyone's friend or my name isn't The Great Payton!"

"the great payton, eh? well, nice to meet someone as cool as you." The skeleton said, giving the boy a small nudge as he began walking. "now c'mon, let's ditch before the weed gets back."

Payton frowned as he followed easily. "That's not very nice, Mr. Sans, calling someone a weed. Even if they're not very nice, you shouldn't be mean back."

Sans raised his equivalent of an eyebrow, but chuckled and shook his skull. "you're somethin' else kid. not many people would forgive someone so easily for almost killing them."

"Well, I believe anyone can change, that anyone can be a good person if they try."

"heh, you're a cool kid, payton."

Chapter Text

The room following the dark cavern was brightly lit from small glowing stones lining the ceiling, showing purple grey stone and two large staircases, Sans continued up the stairs while Payton lagged behind, gazing curiously at everything. 

Briefly he stopped at a pile of red leaves between the staircases, a strange feeling similar to what his soul had felt like washing over him, but before he could grasp it, Sans calling for him broke him from his thoughts and the feeling vanished. Payton cast a curious glance at the leaves before running up to follow Sans into the next room.  

It was smaller than the one before, with six, small raised platforms to one side, and a closed door on the far wall with a small plaque to the left of it, and a switch to the right. 

"welcome to the ruins, kiddo," Sans started "it's an old, old place, filled with a lot of puzzles to deter… trespassers." 

Payton's eyes lit up at the mention of puzzles, so excited he almost missed Sans' next words. 

"now they're not all that special, or particularly hard," He said. "so i'll go ahead and lead ya through and we can take a few shortcuts to av-" 

"NO!" Payton exclaimed. "I WANT TO DO THE PUZZLES! Please, PLEASE, let me do them!" 

Sans' brows raised in surprise at the enthusiastic response and he chuckled. "woah, kiddo, calm down! You can do the puzzles, no sweat." 

Jumping in joy, Payton walked over to the raised squares, examining them, then the door, the switch, and finally the plaque. Squinting curiously he read the words first in his head, then out loud. "Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones. Both not walk the middle road…" 

Raising a brow, he ran them through his head again, turning and examining the puzzle. "OH! I get it!" Bounding over, he stepped on the first outer square, then the one across closest to the wall, then the one above that, and finally the last outer square, each making a grating sound as they sunk "And now I do this!" He triumphantly hit the switch and the door slid open. 

Payton turned to Sans, a large grin on his face. "Ta da!" 

The skeleton's smile widened as he strode up beside him and ruffled his hair. "nice work, kiddo, i take it you like puzzles, huh?" 

Beaming at the praise, the boy nodded his head. "Oh yes! They're the best, all kinds! But my favorite is Junior Jumble!" 

"oh yeah? that one always jumbles me up." The skeleton winked, grinning wider as Payton groaned in response. 

"No puns!" He whined. 

"aw, but kiddo! that'd be a real punishment!" 

"NO!" 

Sans chuckled. "alright, alright, i'll stop." Payton squinted at him, he had a feeling that that was not true. "now c'mon, kiddo, there's some more puzzles to get to." 

"Yes!" 

As they progressed through the rooms, Sans explained some things to Payton. 

"monsters are pretty wary of humans. some bad things happened in the past to make us that way." The skeleton said. 

"What kind of things?" Payton asked. 

"well, we used to live up on the surface, a very, very long time ago." He said as they crossed a floor of spikes and entered a long corridor. "i was.. born, after we came down here, but i was told that things were always pretty rocky between us monsters and humans. there was a lot of misunderstandings, rumors, and stereotypes that caused friction." 

"but never mind that." Sans turned to Payton as they came to the end of the hall "the point is, monsters are pretty wary of humans. you should be fine here in the ruins, but you should still keep an eye out. many monsters greet strangers through battle, because it helps to get a feel on who we are, our magic," He held up a small bone above his hand "is directly connected to our souls, and battles help us know the intent of a stranger, who they might be as an individual, all that." 

"Oh, so if a monster randomly starts throwing magic at me, it's not that they're being mean, they're just starting a conversation?" He inquired. 

"yeah, basically, you're pretty smart, kiddo." A bony hand once more ruffled his hair. "but you have to remember to be careful, you can't counter an attack, because you don't have magic, so you can use compliments, nice actions, and mercy, and that'll tell a monster what they need to know." 

"Got it!" Payton struck his signature hands-on-hips pose. "I'll give such good compliments, Monsters won't know what didn't hit them!" 

Sans chuckled. "good kid, anyways, i'm going to have to leave ya for a bit, there's a couple things i need to do. i'd appreciate if ya waited here, but if you do wonder, remember to be careful, and try not to get yourself, or other monsters, hurt, alright?" 

"The Great Payton is on the job."  He saluted and smiled up at the skeleton, who chuckled and handed him a phone. 

"keep this on ya, it's got a few cool features that should help ya out, and ya can call me if ya need to," He patted Payton's head once more. "anyways, see ya in a bit, kiddo." And then he was gone. 

It didn't take long for Payton to get bored and leave the hall. He'd encountered a couple monsters, called Froggits and Whimsuns, answered a strange text from Sans asking what type of veggies he liked, fell through the floor a couple of times, wiggled with a Moldsmal, had a nice conversation with a rock, and encountered two of those strange feelings, before he came across a Monster he had not seen before blocking his path. 

"Oh, uhm.." He observed the Monster, it looked like a ghost, slightly transparent white-blue, with large, black rimmed white eyes, a small mouth, they had no other features, like a stereotypical blanket ghost. And they were repeating the letter Z over and over again, occasionally glancing at him and then quickly looking away. "E-excuse me? Mister Ghost Monster?" 

The ghost didn't stop saying Z repeatedly, in fact they were saying it even faster than before. 

"I just need to get by you really quick.." He tried to see if he could somehow squeeze past, but the ghost was taking up the whole path, and it didn't seem polite to see if he could walk through them. 

He bit his lip, wondering if he should call Sans, when he heard a stutter in the string of Zs that kind of sounded like a... sniffle? 

It was, he could now see a couple of glowing tears in the ghost's eyes, and the Zs sounded shakier by the second. 

"Oh no! Mister, why are you crying?!" He stepped slightly closer, but held back as a ghostly tear fell and burnt a tiny hole into the ground with a sizzle. Instead of moving closer, he simply sat a good distance away and after a moment of hesitation, started humming, hoping it may work for the ghost like it did with the crying younger children at the orphanage. 

It took a few minutes, but the crying gradually tapered off and the ghost floated upright a few inches above the ground. 

"thanks..." They sniffled, giving him a very slight smile. "i usually come here to be alone for a while... but today i met somebody nice... oh, but I'm rambling.. i'll get out of your way..." And they disappeared before Payton could respond. 

"Oh, well, bye then, Mister Ghost! Glad I could help!" He called, waving. "Now, which path should I go down?" 

….. 

… 

"NYEH?! Fire!?" 

Chapter Text

So, apparently the room Payton had walked into was not, in fact, on fire. Instead it was where a small group of fire Elementals had set up shop, as the young green Elemental named Fuku told him.

"My grandparents started the business," She said. "Now my mom and uncle run it, and I travel here and there to help out, to get experience, and save up some gold. I came down here to the Ruins to help out these little guys." She gestured to the little flames. "They're not full Flames, just Sprites, so they can't travel outside of the Ruins, it's too cold."

"That's very nice of you to help out." Payton said, poking at a burger and scrunching his nose at the grease it left behind. "But do you have anything less... greasy?"

Her eyes creased in amusement. "Not much of a grease fan, huh?" She turned to one of the small fire sprites and crackles something, it sparked in response and scurried to one of the stalls, with the help of a few others, it carried a glass back to them.

Fuku took it and thanked them, turning back to Payton, she said "We have milkshakes, too, they go well with burgers."

Payton brightened. "Oh, yummy! I'll have two of those, please!"

The flame giggled. "Sure thing, that'll be 10 gold."

He handed her the coins and stored the two shakes in one of his phone's cool interdimensional boxes. "Thank you, Fuku!"

"No problem, Payton! Say "hi" to Sans for me."

"I will!" He waved to her and the sprites before making his way down the next path.

The next room was a shorter hall, with a line of Froggits looking confused, they were apparently playing hide and seek with another Froggit and had yet to fine it.

Payton cast a glance at the little face peering at him from a crack in the wall, it winked and he smiled, turning and continuing on his way. He'd never tell.

Payton glared at the hole in the ceiling. It was the third one he'd fallen down, and he was getting slightly annoyed that he'd yet to find a switch.

Huffing out a breath, he pushed himself up, futilely trying to brush the dirt that had accumulated on his person when he noticed a spot of red in the corner of his eye.

It was a red ribbon, slightly dusty and faded, but still intact. He couldn't take his eyes off of it and he barely noticed himself walking over and gently picking it up.

"I wonder who this belonged to.." He murmured, running a thumb along the smooth material. He shrugged after a moment and put it in his inventory.

Now, time to find that darned switch.

He'd found the switch and managed to dodge most of the Loox in the following puzzle rooms, and hadn't come across anymore puzzles for a couple of minutes. Payton loved puzzles, but this was a bit overwhelming.

The first path he'd gone down after the puzzles had a nervous Froggit who had said it saw Sans go down the other way, and a balcony overlooking the rest of the Ruins below. He hadn't thought there was much else beyond the corridors he'd been traversing, but apparently it expanded into an entire city!

He tore away from the view and bid the nervous Froggit goodbye, heading in the direction it had said Sans went.

The first thing he saw as he entered the next room, was a large, dead, blackend tree. It looked as if lightening had struck it and all of its leaves were on the ground around it. It was slightly eerie and he gave it a wide berth as he walked passed it and to the house set in the cavern wall.

He slowed until he was a few feet from the door, looking up at the small house, the strange feeling was once more building where his soul resided, something inside him seemed to click and suddenly a weight he hadn't known was there lifted from his shoulders. He still didn't fully understand the feeling, but all seemed right in that moment as he took a few steps and knocked on the door.

"sorry for leaving ya for so long, kiddo." They were seated at Sans' little dining table, sipping at warm bowls of tomato soup. Payton had learned that his new friend shared his love for tomato based foods, he even drank ketchup.

If that didn't spell love, he didn't know what did.

"That's okay, Sans, I had a lot of fun exploring the Ruins." Payton responded. "I didn't know it was actually a city!"

Sans chuckled. "yeah, when monsters first came, this is where they settled. it's, uh, it's called home.." He grinned at Payton's expression. "our king's naming skills weren't very good."

"Well, I think it has a nice ring to it, once you get used to it." Payton said.

"it did grow on the place, yeah." The skeleton agreed. "so, what'd ya do in the ruins, kiddo?"

"Oh! I met a few nice Monsters, there was this one rock Monster who was very kind." He replied. "There was also this ghost Monster, he was crying and I helped him calm down by humming."

"oh, yeah that's napstablook, he usually comes down here alone, but sometimes he brings his cousins, or they come to get him." Sans chuckled. "i've actually taken part in one of their family traditions a couple of times, pretty fun bunch."

"I also met someo-" He was abruptly cut off with a jaw cracking yawn.

Sans' grin softened and he stood. "c'mon kiddo, you can use the spare room, you've had a long day." Payton was led into a hall and into the first door. "there's a connecting washroom and some clothes that might fit ya in the wardrobe, clean up and catch some zs."

Payton yawned again and smiled up at him. "Thank you, Sans." He thought for a moment then leaned forward and gave him a hug. Unlike what his species may suggest, Payton didn't feel any bone under Sans' robe, the fabric hardly even gave.

The Monster blinked in surprise at the sudden hug, before his expression softened and he returned the embrace, patting the boy on the back. "s'no problem, payton."

Pulling back after a few moments, Sans ruffled his hair and nudged him towards the door. "now go on and clean up, get some sleep. you've had a long day, kiddo."

Payton rubbed his eyes, nodding in agreement. "Okay. Goodnight, Sans, thank you for everything."

"no problem, kid. goodnight."

Payton woke slowly, unusual for him, as he was normally up and full of energy almost before the sun was up, something that annoyed the caretakers at the orphanage.

He sat up with a yawn, smacking his lips and grimacing at the taste in his mouth. Sans hadn't had a spare toothbrush, so he'd had to forgo brushing last night, and he was not finding that enjoyable.

Choosing to ignore that for now, he lifted the blankets and swung his legs over the side of the bed, stretching and then hopping off. He took the time to make the bed before going into the washroom to attempt to get the taste out of his mouth.

When he left, he made his way out of the room and down the hall to the living room. There was a fire going, making the home feel warm and cozy, and Sans was snoring softly in an armchair, robe off, in his blue turtleneck and black pants, one of his slippers had fallen off, and his sock looked to be not far behind. Payton grimaced, there was a book of puns in his lap.

Deciding to leave his host to sleep a little longer, Payton went into the kitchen. The lower cabinets all had dishes, and there didn't appear to be a step stool to get to the upper ones, so he went to the fridge. Inside were a couple of burgers, some bags of fries, a lot of ketchup bottles and packets, and a container of the tomato soup from last night.

Pulling that out, he set it on the counter and grabbed two bowls, a ladle, and two spoons. He carefully transferred the soup to the bowls, put them in the microwave, and while the soup heated up he put the container away.

The microwave beeped to signal completion and he hurried over to pull the bowls out, he plopped the spoons in and carefully carried them to the dining table.

In the armchair, Sans was awake, sitting up and stretching. Rubbing his sockets with his sleeve and scratching the back of his skull, he furrowed his brows and sniffed. He turned in his seat and saw Payton setting the bowls on the table.

"payton? kiddo, what are you doing?"

Payton turned and beamed at him. "I decided to heat us up some soup for breakfast!"

The skeleton pushed himself off the chair and strolled over. "why didn't ya wake me then?"

"I saw you were asleep and didn’t want to wake you, so I went ahead and heated the soup, as thanks!" He said. "I did it all the time at the orphanage and at foster homes!"

Sans' grin softened, somewhat sad, but also fond. "aw, kiddo, you didn't hafta do that."

"Yes, but I wanted to!" The 10 year old said resolutely. "You have been very nice to me, you let me have a place to stay, saved me from that mean flower, it was the least I could do!"

"heh, well thanks, kid. let's eat, then."

They ate in a comfortable silence. Payton hadn't had this much peace in a while, he was an energetic child, but it could be tiring trying to compete for attention with the orphanage kids and foster siblings. It was nice to just have himself and a person who cared for him, with no one else to focus on.

Maybe... this was somewhere he could actually call Home?

Chapter Text

A week spent with Sans, and Payton had explored almost every inch of the Ruins and Home. He'd helped Sans manage the puzzles, had befriended most of the Monsters, and now he was getting restless. 

A soft sigh escaped him as he tried to keep his focus on the book in front of him. A book he had read already, along with most of the others in Sans' collection that didn't involve some type of science or puns. 

He was very grateful that Sans had taken him in, and though Payton got attached quickly to anyone who gave him attention, he could tell Sans was different. He listened, not out of pity or anything, but because he seemed to genuinely care about what Payton said, he was closer to being true family in one week than any foster family was in months. 

But... Payton was bored. 

He was an energetic youth. He needed stimulus, and there was only so much exploring an almost deserted city and wandering the same corridors could do before he got restless. 

He huffed and closed the book, rolling onto his back and staring up at the ceiling from his position on the living room floor. He lay there for a moment before pushing himself up, elbows on his knees and chin in his palms as he stared at Sans, who was napping in his recliner. 

He liked Sans, truly, he was Payton's first friend and as close to a family as he'd ever gotten. But he was low energy, easily falling asleep and not being very active when awake. Payton sometimes wondered if Sans had some type of narcolepsy, with how easy it was for him to just fall asleep anywhere. He even fell asleep standing on one occasion! 

He debated waking Sans, but decided against it and stood, tucking the book back on the shelf and leaving the living room. He stood for a moment, considering if he should go to his room or outside, but his attention was instead drawn towards the stairs leading down. 

He'd gone down once, only to be intercepted by Sans before he stepped foot off the stairs. When asked, the skeleton had told him not to worry about it, that it was just the basement and that he shouldn't go down there because parts of it were crumbling. He'd let it go, then, because he had no reason to not believe Sans, if he said there was nothing of interest and that it was dangerous, then he wouldn't go. Plus it'd be rude to wander his host's house without permission. 

But now... it was mighty tempting. It was one of the only places he had yet to explore, and the mystery of it was starting to remind him of old movies he'd watched, where the mysterious basement held adventure and intrigue, and the occasional ghost. Though he doubted Napstablook was down hanging around Sans' dingy old basement. 

He took a step, glanced at Sans, took another step, hesitated, then ducked under the locked chain that hung there more as a warning then as a barrier. He held his breath as his boot touched the first step, standing still as he listened for a break in the snores, and carefully continued down as they didn't stop. 

There wasn't much light beyond the stairs, just a couple lanterns with crystals that lit up when he came near. All he could see was a long hall, the same purple brick as the rest of the Ruins, and at the end was a sharp turn. 

He walked the hall slowly, cautiously looking at his surroundings, but Sans' claims about crumbling walls seemed to have been untrue, at least for now. Puffing his cheeks in a pout, he began to pick up his pace when suddenly a bony hand grasped his shoulder. 

With a piercing shriek, he whirled around, stumbling as he threw himself away from what his mind told him was some kind of zombie or Grim Reaper. Except it wasn't, instead Sans stood in place of the cliché horror movie monster, with an upward quirk to his grin and a raised brow. 

"woah, kiddo," He started, waving his hands calmly. "calm down, didn't mean to  rattle your bones." He gave his own a small rattle, grin widening as Payton squinted at him with a pout, finally coming down from his fright. 

"now, uh, Payton," Sans tilted his head, sockets narrowing a fraction, "whatcha doin' down here?" 

"Oh, uhm..." He flushed, looking down and scuffing his boot on the ground. "I, uh, I was just curious..." He bit his lower lip and peered at Sans from under his lashes. "I'm sorry, I know you said not to come down here! But I've already seen all of the Ruins and most of Home, and I just wanted to see what's down here!" 

Sans shrugged. "already told ya, kiddo, just an old, crumbly basement." He put his arm around Payton's shoulders, guiding him back towards the stairs. "c'mon, kiddo, s'about lunch time." 

Payton cast one last glance behind them as he was led away. 

Was it just him, or was there someone standing at the end of the hall? 

Payton sat in front of Sans' home, the feeling the spot brought calming his scattered thoughts. It had been a few days since Sans had caught him in this basement, and the event wouldn't leave his mind. 

He could have excepted that it was just an empty basement, but too many things didn’t add up. Why did Sans exaggerate the state of it? Nothing had seemed to be in any disrepair, while he had only seen one part of it, it looked to be the same as the rest of the Ruins. Why had Sans seemed in a hurry to get Payton out? It had seemed to be more than just not wanting him to be hurt by debris. 

And that figure... 

He bit his lip, glancing at the front door, then the exit of the cavern. Sans was on his usual stroll through the Ruins and wouldn't be back for a while, especially if he decided to take a nap somewhere. 

Slowly he pushed himself up, turning towards the house. It was more of a home then anywhere he'd stayed for his ten years of life, and that filled him with... something. 

The strange ritual done, he walked inside, hesitating only a moment before ducking under the chain and going down the steps two at a time. 

Nothing had changed, the hall was the same purple brick, the lanterns had the same crystals, but there was an almost oppressive air to it as he got further in. 

He passed where Sans had caught him, and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding as he turned the corner, only to gasp. 

At the end of the shorter corridor was a large door, etched into the stone was a circle with wings and three triangles below, the same symbol he had seen throughout the Ruins, and the same symbol Sans had on his robes. 

Hesitantly he approached, lifting his hand as he got closer, almost about to touch... when he heard the sudden scuff of feet behind him. 

He whirled in alarm, a name ready on his tongue, but... no one was there. 

He sighed in relief, ready to shake off the sudden rush, only to stiffen a moment later. 

There was a hand on his shoulder. A thin, bony hand. 

"Payton." A deep, raspy voice said, right behind him. 

He yelped and threw himself out of the hand's grip, twisting and landing on his backside on the ground, staring up at the figure looming above him. 

Blank sockets peered back, a usually friendly grin now strained. Despite his small, cuddly appearance and demeanor, Sans now struck a menacing image, seeming to appear many times larger than he actually was, his usual slouch long gone and the air seemed charged with held back power. 

"S-Sans!" He pushed himself up, backing away. "I-I, uhm, I was just-" 

"I told you not to come down here, Payton." Sans cut in, voice not as menacing, but still contained a hard edge. 

"I just wanted t-to know what was down here!" He defended. 

"Nothing. There's nothing down here that concerns you." 

Payton grit his teeth. "Then why are you being so evasive?! If there was nothing down here, you wouldn't be trying to keep me away! You'd let me see and that'd be it! But no! You're trying to keep me from seeing what's behind the door!" 

There was the creak and grind of bone as Sans clenched his jaw. "Payton, go upstairs. Now." 

"No! I won't!" His fists clenched. "Not until you tell me what's behind the door!" 

"You don't need to know. Go. Upstairs." 

"You're not the boss of me!" In an uncharacteristic move, Payton lunged forward and shoved. 

To a normal adult, it might of made them stumble, even another species of Monster their height could've shaken it off. However, Payton had a lot more mass, and the shove instead practically hurtled the skeleton back, his hood doing little as his skull smacked into the door with a loud CRACK! 

Everything stopped. Blood rushed in his ears and he couldn't take his eyes off of Sans. The skeleton's sockets were wide and empty, face blank, as he slumped to the ground. 

"S... Sans...?" Payton whispered, his anger leaving him as quick as it had come. He took a hesitant step forward and knelt in front of him. 

Dim eye-lights weakly lifted to meet his eyes, flickering like a dying candle. "Sans are... are you okay?" 

Bones clacked as Sans shuddered, chuckling frailly. "f-fraid not... kiddo.." He slumped more against the door, something red slowly dribbled down from his hood and into his eye socket. "you... got quite the shove there... knocked me right outta.. my skin..." And then suddenly he collapsed into dust, a small inverted, shivering silvery heart floating up, hanging in the air for a moment, before it shuddered and shattered. 

His hands flew to his mouth as he rocked back on his heels, overbalancing and landing on his backside. He could only stare in horror at what had once been a living being, what had been someone Payton had come to care for like a brother, something he had dreamed of his entire life, and something he had just snuffed out in seconds. Nothing more than a pile of dust and clothing. 

A choked sob escaped him, head shaking as his mind tried to process what he had just done. 

"N-no.. no, S-Sans.." 

He couldn't... 

"No... No, no..." 

Why did... 

"No... No, no, Sans!" 

He's...

"NO!" 

And the world S TU  T T   E   R  ED... .. …. .. . 

He woke with a gasp, scrambling up and whipping his head around to get his bearings. 

He.. 

He was... back in the Ruins.... back in front of Sans' house. 

He fell to his knees with a sob, hands fisted in his hair as he tried to make sense of what he'd just experienced. 

It was just a dream, it had to have been, he wouldn't... he couldn't have actually.. 

"I-it was just a dream... I didn't... S-Sans didn't actually.... It was just a-" 

"It wasn't a dream, Payton." 

His head shot up at the voice, eyes widening and mouth gaping as he stared at the figure in front of him. 

It was a human, only it also wasn't. They had short, shaggy brown hair falling into brown eyes, faintly freckled tan skin, and they appeared close to his age. However, they were translucent, floating a couple of inches above the ground, and a faint red soul shone from inside their chest, a sizeable crack down the middle, looking as if two puzzle pieces from entirely different puzzles were forced together. 

They gave him a sad, sympathetic smile as he stared up at them. "It wasn't a dream, it was real." They said. 

Payton sucked in a shuddering breath, barely holding back tears. "But.. but it couldn't have been real!" He protested, a touch hysterical. "W-we were in the basement, and now we're here! And Sans is... Sans is alive!" He froze, staring wide eyed at the ghostly child. "He... he's alive, right?" 

They drifted down until they were kneeling in front of him, smiling softly as they confirmed. "He is, don't worry." They pat his knee, their ghostly hand leaving nothing but a strange hot-cold tingle. "You reloaded your Save." 

"What..? Reloaded a Save..? Wh-what does that mean? A-and who are you!?" He cried, mind reeling. 

"I'm Frisk." They said. "And reloading a Save, means you went back to a time you felt most..." They thought for a moment. "Safe. Secure. A place that gives you Hope." They gestured to a spot behind Payton. 

He gave them an incredulous look, glancing over his shoulder and back, only to quickly look again. 

There, where he'd had that strange feeling in his Soul, was a shining, golden star-like light. It floated above the ground, shifting and shimmering serenely. 

He tore his gaze from it as Frisk spoke again. "That's a Save Star." They began. "It appears where you most feel safe, secure, and hopeful in the moment, and Saves you a spot in time to go back to." 

"But... how does it do that?" He asked. 

They shrugged. "Dunno... Only humans can see it, and only humans have the ability." They considered him for a moment. "You triggered it due to extreme emotional turmoil. Now you can see them. For some reason, you can only see them after your first Reload." 

Payton sucked in a breath. "So I... I actually k-killed him..?" 

Frisk frowned sadly. "Yes..." 

He choked on a sob, hugging his knees to his chest. "Oh my god...." 

The ghostly child hesitated, unsure about how to help, but was interrupted by a familiar voice behind them. 

"kiddo?" Sans said, frowning as Payton whimpered and buried his face into his knees as the skeleton got closer. 

He knelt, placing a hand on the kid's shoulder. "hey, buddy, s'okay, why're ya crying?" 

Payton keened, curling into himself more. "I-I killed y-you!" He wailed. "I-it was an accident, but I killed you!" 

Sans stiffened. "what? payton, what are you talking about?" 

"I went into the b-basement like you told me not to!" He cried, "I was j-just curious, b-but you tried to stop me and I-I got frustrated and pushed you! I-I didn't know wh-what'd happen! I didn't mean to!" 

Sighing through his teeth, he gently pulled Payton into a hug, not caring about the tears soaking his robes. "oh, kiddo... i hoped you'd never find out about the saves..." 

Payton sniffled. "Y-you know about th-them..?" 

"yeah, kiddo, some of the other humans who fell before you told me 'bout 'em." He rocked them both in an effort to calm Payton down. "didn't really know what to think at first, but i kept getting... dreams and feelings, lotta déjà vu.. i hoped you wouldn't get into a situation that'd cause you to reload, it's usually never a good thing." 

"H-how can you be so calm!?" Payton asked, pulling back to look at him. "I-I just told you that I killed you! You sh-should hate me!" 

Sans' grin turned sad, eye-lights dimming. "aw, kiddo, i couldn't hate you, and you've already made it clear that it was an accident and that you're guilty about it."  He pushed Payton's bangs away from his face to look him in the eye better. "but you shouldn't feel guilty, payton. you're a kid, i don’t blame you for getting frustrated and acting in the moment, while you shouldn't push anyone, anyone other than me woulda been fine. i'm... not the strongest monster out there, kiddo." His grin quirked up. "i'm not even skin and bones, just bones!" 

Payton sniffled, smiling tearfully despite himself. "S'not funny..." He frowned for a moment, glancing over Sans' shoulder. "B-but.. What about-" 

Frisk shook their head quickly. "He doesn't know I'm here, he can't see me. Don't tell him. Please." 

"what was that, kiddo?" Sans asked, brow raised. 

"O-oh, nothing, nevermind..." He scrubbed at his eyes and yawned. 

Sans smiled softly. "c'mon, you've had a rough time," He helped Payton up and led him into the house. "go get some sleep, payton, i'll wake ya for dinner, okay?" 

"Okay, thank you, Sans." He bit his lip, eyes downcast. "You... you're sure you're not upset..?" 

The skeleton pat his shoulder. "i'm not upset, kiddo. just... take my advice, don't reload unless you absolutely have to, okay?" 

Payton nodded, "I won't, I promise." With that he headed back to his room, closing the door gently and collapsing onto the bed, asleep only moments after his head hit the pillow. 

There was dust on his hands. 

"...yton.." 

It filled the air, choking him. 

"..on, wake u..." 

In his hand was a knife made of bone. Dust and blood coated the once pristine white. 

"..Payton... wake up..!" 

Golden light surrounded him, and in the shadows of a pillar was a tall figure, armor glinting. 

"..wake up!" 

The arm holding the knife raised the same time the figure faced him, one golden eye and one empty socket glaring with pure hatred. 

"Payton..!" 

The knife slashed down, red light flashed as the figure met the attack. 

"PAYTON, WAKE UP!" 

He jerked, eyes flying open as a cry tore from his throat. He threw himself up, frantically searching the room. 

Frisk floated in front of him, hands up calmingly. "Payton, Payton, it's okay, it was just a dream." 

He stared at them, face scrunching as he sobbed brokenly. "H-how.... how can I kn-know for sure?" 

The ghost frowned, opening their mouth to answer, only to be cut off by a knock. 

"kiddo?" Sans poked his skull in, sockets angled in concern. "you okay? i heard a scream." 

Payton nodded, scrubbing his face. "I-I'm okay, s'just a n-nightmare..." His lip trembled, new tears threatening to spill. 

Sans frowned. "aw, kiddo," He came in fully, walking over and pulling Payton into a hug, "sshhh, s'okay kiddo..." He pat his back as the human buried his face into his robe. 

They sat there hugging for a few minutes, the only sound being Payton's cries and Sans' quiet reassurance. 

When they separated, Sans used his sleeve to wipe Payton's tears, putting his hands on his shoulders and meeting his eyes. "you okay now?" Receiving a nod, he helped Payton off the bed. "c'mon then, let's get some food and talk." 

They sat at the table, quiet save for the clink of silverware, before Sans straightened, pulling in an unneeded breath. 

"kiddo," He waited until Payton met his eyes. "i think... i think you should know what's beyond the ruins." Payton's eyes widened a fraction, pushing the almost empty bowl away. 

"the ruins and home were where monsters first settled, after we were trapped down here." Sans began. "we stayed here for a long time, far away from where the barrier was erected. It took many years, when technology advanced and monsters were sure humans forgot about us. the caverns and tunnels that make up the underground are natural, so there was only a bit of digging needed to be done, but we expanded far past the ruins, set up our own weather and day cycle, suited for the different monster species." 

He paused, thinking for a moment. "there are many, many more monsters in the rest of the underground, most of them are good folk, only wanting to live their lives as best as they can, but there's also a lot of desperate monsters. young who have never seen the sky and have only ever known confinement. the old who were forced down here because of what they are and not who they are, who may never see the surface they knew again." 

He grew serious. "at the head of it all, is... is regent gaster, who took over when monsters were first imprisoned, after the king died of his injuries and the queen became week of bond-shock and supporting a growing boss monster." His fists clenched, eye-lights flickering. "he declared war on the humans after his son was injured by them, and now beyond the ruins, monsters are made to report or capture any human that arrives so that gaster can take their soul."  

Payton gulped. "Why.. Why does he need human Souls?" 

"because it took the power of seven human souls to erect the barrier, and it'll take seven to break it." His sockets closed, grin strained. "he already has six. he's already killed six humans, a couple being children around your age. He doesn't care whether you deserve death or not, whether you've come covered in dust or completely clean, it doesn't matter how old you are." He stood, beckoning for Payton to do the same and led him to the stairs and down into the basement. 

Sans stood, looking at the symbol on the door. "i've met all six of the humans who've fallen, they've all had their reasons for coming down here, they've all had their reasons for trying to leave." He turned to Payton, eye-lights dim. "i know you've been getting bored down here, you're an energetic kid and the ruins are too small and empty for you to be happy in the long run." He reached into his robe and pulled out a bundle of fabric. "the underground is a diverse place, cold, wet, hot, and there are monsters whose job it is to look out for and capture humans, so you'll need something to protect and disguise yourself." 

With a flick of his wrists, the fabric unfolded to reveal a bright red, hooded cloak with a heart clasp, the same blue as Payton's soul. 

Payton sucked in a breath, grasping his scarf, the only connection he had to a family he'd never known. A family who'd given him up, for whatever reason. No explanation, no effort to contact him later in life, and now here was someone who wasn't biologically related to him, who wasn't even the same species, who took him in out of the goodness of his soul and didn't treat him like burden. With a new resolve, he took off the scarf, folding it and storing it in his phone's inventory, then he carefully took the cloak from Sans and threw it over his shoulders, clasping the blue heart in the middle of his chest. 

 He looked up to find Sans grinning fondly. "it suits a cool kid like you." 

 Payton grinned back, striking a pose. "It is definitely a cloak befitting of the Great Payton!" He calmed, grin turning into a smile. "Thank you, Sans." He frowned slightly. "Why don't you come with me? It must get lonely down here.." 

 Sans smiled, somewhat sadly. "i can't leave, kiddo, there's a barrier at the outer doors tied to my magical signature. if I try to pass, i'm just pushed back." 

 "You're trapped down here?" Payton whispered in shock. "Who.. Who would do that?" 

 Sans shook his head. "someone... misguided. who thinks he's always right, damned the consequences." He put his hands on Payton's shoulders. "don't worry 'bout me, kiddo, I've been here for a long time and I've gotten used to it. worry about yourself, it'll be hard out there, but you've got integrity, you're brave and kind. if anyone can get through the underground, i believe it's you." 

 Payton's lip trembled and he threw his arms around Sans, hugging him as tight as he dared. "Thank you, Sans, for everything. You've been like.. like a brother to me, you've cared more about me in a week than any foster family has in months." 

 Sans wrapped his arms around him, lightly bumping his skull to Payton's. "heh, kiddo, i'd be happy to be your bro, it'd be nice to have a cool lil bro like you." He pulled back enough to look at him. "and if we're gonna be brothers, i think it'd be fitting to give ya a cool skeleton name, to fit such a cool dude like you. what d'ya think?" 

 Payton nodded eagerly, in the time he'd been here one of the books he'd read were about skeleton culture, and giving a skeleton name to a non-skeleton was basically immediate adoption into the clan. 

 Sans grinned. "great! how about.." He considered him for a moment, before his eye-lights brightened. "papyrus. the great papyrus. how does that sound?" 

 Payton- Papyrus grinned and hugged him tighter. "I love it! The Great Papyrus! Nyeh hehe, thank you Sans!" 

 "hehe, anything for my fontastic lil bro." He said, grin widening as Papyrus pulled back abruptly.  

 The human glared. "I've changed my mind. Napstablook is my new brother." He smiled despite himself as the skeleton snickered. 

 "would that mean i'm-" The smile dropped at the mischievous tone. 

 "Don't." 

"-sans a brother?" 

 "AGH!" 

 Now decked out in a new cloak and name, and armed with a large thermos of tomato soup, Papyrus exited the hall that had been behind the door where he'd left Sans. The room beyond was dark, reminiscent of the second room he'd arrived in when he first fell. 

 Including a smiling red flower. 

 Chara snickered. "You think you're so clever?" They asked, red eyes glowing with malintent. "You Reloaded, but that doesn't change the fact that you killed him. You must have felt that rush, right? As your EXP and LV increased. You won't be able to get through the Underground with just Mercy." They spat the word out like poison. "You're going to die, over and over and over, and eventually you'll snap." Their eyes flicked to Frisk, who'd been quiet during his talk with Sans. "They're filling your head with empty promises, with lies. The only way to get far in life is to put yourself on top, through any means necessary! Or else everyone else will stomp all over you." 

 Frisk grit their teeth. "You're wrong, Chara!" They said resolutely. "It's not kill or be killed, not everyone'll be nice, but that doesn't mean everyone's out to get you either!" 

 Chara growled, face twisting into what looked like a mockery of Sans' grin and sockets, red rings replacing calm blue. "I thought you'd understand, Frisk, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You always were weak." 

 "Don't call them weak!" Papyrus yelled, stepping in front of Frisk. "You're wrong, I'm not going to hurt or kill anyone! I'll show them all that we can be friends, and I'll help them reach the surface!" 

 The flower giggled, the sound sending chills down his spine. "Oh, we'll see~" And with that, they disappeared into the ground. 

 He sighed in relief, glancing over at his ghostly companion. "Are you okay, Frisk?" 

 They nodded. "Yeah, I've known Chara for a long time, nothing they say can really get to me anymore." 

 "How do you know Chara?" He asked. "How can they see you? I thought only I could." 

 "It's a long story..." They said, "I'd rather not talk about it right now.." 

 "Oh, okay, that's fine." He turned to the looming door in front of them, taking a breath to steel himself before starting forward. "Let's go." 

 He pushed the door open and stepped out into the cold. 

Chapter Text

Papyrus gasped and pulled his cape closed around his arms as a burst of cold air assaulted him. Looking around he momentarily thought he'd arrived outside of the mountain, before him was a path, and the ground was covered in snow, all around him was a dense forest. However looking up he saw the caveern walls expanding far, far up, until he could no longer see them as the ceiling was obscured by a dense, faintly glittering fog. 

"How... how is it snowing inside a mountain..?" He asked his spectral companion, "and how are there trees when there isn't any sun?" 

Frisk shrugged, wiggling their fingers in front of them. "Magic~" 

"Oh," He nodded, "Makes sense.." 

He searched the area around the door, but found nothing really interesting except a camera hidden in a large bush. 

Frisk shuddered, suddenly on edge. "We need to go. Now." 

Papyrus furrowed his brow, confused. "What, why?" 

"Those cameras are Gaster's. He knows you're here." They said, "We need to keep moving." 

He heard the urgency in their voice and relented, leaving the camera and continuing down the path quickly. 

Everything around him was dead silent, just his breathing and the faint wind in the trees, which is why the gasp he heard further down the path was crystal clear, despite how it was obviously stifled. 

He paused biting his lip and glancing at Frisk, who had also heard it. "Should... should we continue?" He whispered. 

They nodded. "I don't feel anything bad coming from them." They said. "In fact, they seem really nervous, probably a lot more scared of you than you of them. Just stay cautious." 

He exhaled slowely, calming his nerves, and started forward, now listening out for any signs of their mysterious watcher. 

It was silent for a few moments, save for one time he thought he heard the click of a camera and a quiet 'eep', it wasn't until they neared a bridge over a large crevise, blocked by a locked gate, did they find their tagalong. 

"W-woah! Oomph!" He and Frisk whirled around at the exclaimation, spotting a splotch of yellow behind the trees. Further investigation found that it was actually a tail sticking up from behind a fallen tree, attached to the tail was a short lizard Monster wearing a pink coat and a black and white polka-dot scarf. Aqua eyes met multicolored and they stared at each other for a moment, but when Papyrus opened his mouth and bent down to offer the Monster help, they yelped and scrambled back. 

"D-don't!" They stammered. "D-don't come c-closer!" 

Papyrus took a step back and raised his hands "Don't be scared! I won't hurt you!" He reassured, "I'm Pay- Papyrus, what's your name?" 

They looked at him warily for a moment, slowly pushing themselves up till they were standing. They fiddled with their mittened hands for a moment before speaking. 

"I-I'm Alphys..." They- she?- stuttered. "Y-you're a human, right?" 

"Yup!" He beamed. "I'm the Great Papyrus, at your service!" He bowed, inwardly patting himself on the back as it brought out a slight smile. "It's very nice to meet you, Alphys!" 

She ducked her head bashfully. "I-t's nice to.. m-meet you too, Papyrus." She frowned for a moment, considering him. "I-isn't... P-Papyrus a s-skeleton name?" 

"Well, yes, my human name is Payton." He replied, "But! My brother," It felt nice to say that and mean it, "is a skeleton and he gave me the name Papyrus!" 

"O-oh! Wow, n-not many people can s-say they're c-close enough to a s-skeleton to be g-given a font name." She said, surprised. "Th-the only ones who might've w-were.." She trailed off, shoulders drooping. "N-nevermind, u-uhm..." 

There was a slightly awkward silence, neither knowing what to say, however they were saved by a faint voice in the distance that caused Alphys to perk up, a strange mix of delight and panic taking over her features. 

"U-Undyne!" She yelped. "Y-you have to hide! Undyne's part of the Royal Guard, her orders are to capture humans and she's good at it! I-I'll distract her while you get through the gate!" 

Papyrus nodded, hiding behind the trees as she ran out and up to the gate, unlocking it and going through just as a tall, blue fish-like Monster ran into the small clearing. 

"Babe!" Undyne grinned at her, and Papyrus both shuddered and stared in awe at her many sharp teeth. And her eyepatch. And her muscles. 

"So cool." Frisk breathed. Papyrus nodded in agreement. 

"H-hi, Undyne,"Alphys stuttered, scales turning bright red as she was picked up and a big kiss was planted on her cheek. Papyrus thought it was adorable. 

He shipped it. 

"So, whatcha doing all the way out here for, babe?" The fish Monster asked, not bothering to put Alphys down. 

"O-oh, I w-was just taking a w-walk." The lizard Monster replied, flustered but comfortable where she was. 

"That's my girl! A walk could do ya some good!" Undyne finally put her down, not before giving her another kiss on the cheek. "I'm going to continue my patrol, remember not to stay out in the cold for too long!" She backed up the way she came, "See ya at home, Alphy! Love ya, babe!" With that she turned and jogged out of sight. 

"Love y-you too!" Alphys watched her go with a smile, not noticing Papyrus as he walked up beside her. 

"You two. Are. Adorable!" He gushed, surprising a yelp from her. 

"O-oh!" She blushed, scuffing her boot in the snow. "Th-thanks.." 

"She's your girlfriend?" He asked. 

"W-wife, actually.." She corrected, "Still d-don't know how I was able to get someone l-like her.." 

"They're adorable." Frisk informed him. "How can two people be so cute? It shouldn't be possible." 

Papyrus gave a subtle shrug. Probably magic. 

"A-anyways," Alphys turned to him, "I-I'll go up ahead and d-distract her for you.." 

"Wait," Papyrus said, "Why are you helping me? I thought Monsters were supposed to report or capture humans?" 

"Oh, w-well," She paused in thought, gloved hands fidgeting, "I-I'm not really human-capturing material, a-and reporting you... well, you don't seem all bad, quite the opposite, really, i-it doesn't seem right." She said, "U-Undyne is, uhm, enthusiastic, and takes her job seriously. She's very kind, i-if a little rough, but she has a b-bit of a grudge against humans and s-she's never met a nice one before." 

"Well, thank you, Alphys!" He grinned at her, causing her to blush slightly. "I appreciate your concern, however if me and Undyne do meet I'm sure she'll eventually see that I'm very cool and nice and we'll all be friends!" 

Alphys smiled, "I-I hope so. Now, I'll get going, o-okay?" 

"Okay! See you later, Alphys!" 

He waited a little after Alphys left, exploring the little sentry station, which was barren, until he thought he'd given her enough time to get closer to Undyne. 

There was another Save Star in the next clearing, and two paths, the one going straight he could hear voices, while he heard running water going left. He Saved before starting towards the one going left, however before he could get far a shadow suddenly loomed over him, accompanied by the sound of large wings. 

"Papyrus move!" Frisk exclaimed. 

He threw himself backwards, just in time for a large Monster to land where he had been a moment before. It was a large bird-dragon Monster, with light blue feathers and a tooth-filled beak, the feathers on it's face vaguely resembled a snowflake. 

Papyrus tensed as his soul was called forth, color seeping out of their surroundings 

"That's a Snowdrake." Frisk said. "Like most of the Monsters in this part of the Underground, they have ice magic." 

"Hey, you better not snowflake out!" The Snowdrake jeered, sending a volley of ice-boomarangs. 

Papyrus held back a groan, dodging the projectiles. He made puns. He thought he'd escaped them when he left Sans! 

"Laugh!" Frisk advised. "If you laugh to appease him, he'll leave you alone!" 

When the barrage ended he looked up at the Monster, who was trying to look unphased, but was definitely looking for a reaction. 

He grinned and clapped. "That was a good one!" He added a small giggle at the end. 

"Really!? You think so?" The Snowdrake beamed at him and the colors bled back in, Papyrus' soul retreating into his chest. "Yes! Dad was wrong!" With a delighted squawk he took off into the air. 

Once he was gone, Papyrus shuddered. "Ugh, what's with this place and puns?" 

Frisk giggled. "I don't know, there seems to be a lot of them here, both accidental and intentional, always have been." They grinned. "You have to admit, though, that one was pretty clever." 

He scoffed, "I will admit no such thing." 

The path to the left had nothing of interest, just a river and a fishing pole with a phone number dangling from it. Frisk dared him to call it. He did not call it. 

They checked the box that sat at the beginning of the next path.  Frisk informed him it was similar to what his phone had, that there were a bunch of them scattered everywhere and if you place something in one, it'll appear in the others. 

The box had nothing in it but an old boxing glove. 

It was covered in dust. 

Papyrus chucked it into the river. 

He stored the faded ribbon and his scarf in the box, checked his phone's inventory, Saved, then finally continued on. 

Whoever had been on the path before the Snowdrake had distracted him was gone now, just two pairs of footprints. He stayed cautious though and let Frisk float ahead to check the sentry station and surrounding area, then proceeded once the all clear was given. 

The station was well built and under it was a small box filled with manga and comics, a couple seemed a bit.. questionable, so he quickly closed it with a blush while Frisk snickered over his shoulder. 

"I think this is Undyne's post." They commented. 

"What makes you say that?" He asked. They simply pointed to the post's surface. 

Etched into the wood was a big heart surrounded by smaller hearts, inside the big heart were the words: 

"U+A 

4Ever and Always" 

It was almost too much. Neither Frisk nor Papyrus could understand how such an adorable couple could exist. Frisk advised that they continued on before the cuteness could kill them. 

"Aren't you already a ghost?" Papyrus asked. 

"I don't want to chance it." They replied. 

It took a few more minutes for them to come upon the next station, and from the faint shuffling inside, this one was not empty. 

While Frisk kept watch, Papyrus checked the sign before the station. 

"Absolutely NO MOVING!!!" 

He exchanged a confused glance with Frisk, but otherwise ignored the sign, cautiously stepping out in front of the station, being as quiet as possible. 

He was almost past it when a black and white furred head popped up, dark eyes squinting suspiciously. 

"Did something move?" The husky Monster asked himself, and Papyrus held himself as still as possible as the dog looked around, not even Frisk moved. "Was it my imagination?" 

"I wish I couldn't only see moving things.." He grumbled, warily walking out of his station. 

Just as the dog was about to pass over Papyrus completely, a large gust of wind blew through, ruffling Papyrus' hair and blowing his cape back with a snap. 

The dog's eyes immediately locked onto the movement, lips pulling back into a snarl. 

"Human!" He barked, pulling out two short swords, "I'll make sure you never move again!" 

Colors once again bled away as his soul was called out. 

In his mind he could now see the dog's STATS, as Frisk called them. His name was Doggo. Of course it was. 

The dog growled and swung it's glowing blue sword. 

"Papyrus, don't move!" Frisk yelled. He did, more out of confusion than anything, and the sword passed harmlessly through him. "Light blue attacks are Patience magic, don't move and they won't hurt you!" 

He resisted the urge to nod, instead standing perfectly still as Doggo peered around, swinging his swords a couple of times, but was unable to find him. 

"Pet him!" Frisk piped up. 

He shot them an incredulous look, but didn't argue and very slowly reached up once Doggo's back was turned to give him two gentle pats on the head. The dog stiffened and Papyrus jumped back and froze as he whirled around, tongue lolling out and tail wagging. 

"Someone pet me!" He yipped. "Who pet me!?" 

Papyrus couldn't do it. Doggo looked so happy about being pet, that he couldn't just crush his hopes. 

"Uh, I did.." He said, tensing when Doggo's eyes snapped to him. 

"You pet me?" He narrowed his eyes. "But.. you're a human." 

Papyrus shrugged, grinning. "I am, but even us humans can recognize a good dog when we see one!" 

That was definitely the right thing to say as Doggo's ears perked and his tail wagged a little faster, colors returned and his Soul retreated. 

"You really think I'm a good dog?" He asked. 

"Definitely!" Papyrus beamed. 

Doggo shook giddily. "Alright, I'll let you go, but, uh, you think you could.." He lowered his head and gestured. 

Chuckling, Papyrus gave him a few pets, and some ear scratches for good measure, laughing when his foot thumped in the snow. 

He waved goodbye as Doggo lounged in his station with a dog treat, completely relaxed. 

Beyond Doggo's station was a larger clearing, in the middle was a large iced over pond, there was a path continuing straight, and one leading left. 

"Which way?" Papyrus asked. 

"There's a sign in the middle of the ice, maybe it has directions?" Frisk guessed. "I'll fly over and see." 

"No! I want to do it!" He interjected, rushing to the ice. 

"But.. ok, we're doing this then." They sighed, following him. 

He carefully placed a foot on the ice then pushed off the ground with the other, sending him sliding across the pond. 

"This is awesome!" He cheered. Angling himself slightly, he was able to grab onto the edge of the sign, his momentum caused him to fall onto his backside, but he simply brushed it off and stood against the sign. 

It read: North- ice. South- Ice. East- Snowdin Town. West- ice. 

"Guess we're going East." Frisk deadpanned. 

"I wanna see what's on the other path first!" Papyrus said, pushing himself off the sign and to the edge of the pond, stumbling a bit as he hit the ground. 

As he expected, the path led to the river, however instead of a desperate plead for love, there was a snowman waiting near the water. 

"Hello traveler!" The snow-Monster greeted cheerfully. 

"Hello!" Papyrus chirped in reply. 

"Where are you headed this fine day?" They asked. 

"Oh, I'm traveling to Snowdin Town for the night, but after that I'll be continuing until I reach New Home!" 

"That's lovely! I hope you have safe travels!" They shifted. "However, may ask you a favor?" 

Papyrus nodded. "Sure!" 

"If you could please, take a piece of me with you," They inquired, "I have no legs, you see, and can't move. If you take a piece of me with you, then I'll finally be able to explore." 

"Ooh, well of course I can!" Papyrus assured, "But, won't it melt?" 

"It is magic snow," The snowman said, "It won't melt easily." 

"Then sure!" He gently removed a handful of snow from the Monster, packing it tightly and tucking it into his pocket. "Once I get to town I can find something to store it better!" 

"Thank you, you have made me a very happy snowman!" 

Papyrus returned back to the clearing with a skip in his step, happy to have made someone else happy. 

The scrunch of quick steps in snow brought his attention to the straight path and he tensed, only to relax as Alphys came into view. 

"He Alphys!" He called, making her jump. 

"O-oh, Papyrus!" She smiled hesitantly. "I-I'm sorry I took so long, I-I meant to find you before you passed Doggo, but I g-got... p-preoccupied.." She blushed. 

"That's okay, Alphys!" He assured. "I got passed him with no issue!" 

"Oh, g-good, now, uhm, you s-saw his blue attacks, r-right?" She asked. At his nod she went on. "W-well, that's Patience magic, and a-as I'm sure you found out, if you d-don't move it won't hurt you. Th-there are other colored magic types, dark blue, orange, yellow, green, purple." 

"What about red?" He asked. 

"O-oh, it's very, very rare for Monsters to have red magic, so rare no one knows exactly what it does." She replied. "N-now, the reason I'm t-telling you this, is that if you do meet Undyne, you should know about her colored magic. She uses green Soul magic. There's a difference between Soul magic and Bullet magic, Soul magic affects the Soul. Green Soul magic turns your Soul green and freezes you in place, however green is Kindness magic, so the instigator must lend some of their magic for the effected to use as a shield." 

"That's neato!" Papyrus said. "She must be very cool!" 

Alphys smiled happily. "Y-yeah, Undyne's great!" She gushed. 

He grinned. "And thank you,  Alphys, for warning me." 

"N-no problem, Papyrus." She said bashfully. 

"Why don't you walk with me? We are going the same way." Alphys agreed and they started walking. 

"So, if you're not a sentry, what do you do?" He asked. 

"W-well, I work at the labs in Hotland as the Royal Scientist's assistant. Undyne and I are here because she was assigned leader of the Snowdin Guard," She said, "Since Snowdin is the first place humans appear, and she's the Royal Guard Captain's second in command and one of the strongest Monsters." 

"Wowie! That's really cool!" Papyrus exclaimed. 

"Th-thank you! Oh! Watch your step!" She grabbed his arm before he could step any further. "Th-this is where Undyne's electric maze is!" 

Papyrus squinted. "I don't see anything?" 

"I-it's underground, one step on the wrong p-pressure plate and you'll be f-fried." She said, "O-only Monsters c-can cross it." 

"Oh! The, uhm, how will I pass it?" He queried. 

"Ah..." She chewed her lip, fingers fidgeting. "I-I could... carry you? I, uhm, it shouldn't be a problem, I pick up heavy stuff in the lab all the time." Her eyes widened. "N-not that you're heavy! Y-you actually seem quite thin! A-and that's n-not a bad thing! I-I, ah, uhm, o-oh.." She ducked her head and covered her face with her hands. 

He patted her soulder, smiling. "Don't worry, Alphys, I know what you meant. If you're sure, then I'd be very thankful." 

She nodded, too flustered to say more, and bent her legs, offering her back. He carefully climbed on, arms wrapping around her neck as she hoisted him up, and though she'd assured him that she could do it, he was still surprised at the ease in which she lifted him. 

Once she was sure he wouldn't fall, she quickly crossed the threshold of the maze, feeling the tingle of magical electricity at her feet. 

He slid off once they crossed and smiled gratefully at her. "Thank you, Alphys! I appreciate your help!" 

She smiled back. "Y-you're welcome, Papyrus. 

"Smells like friendship."  Frisk noted. 

Papyrus ignored them. Frisk was weird. However they were, somewhat, right. 

Friendship was great! 

Four dogs, nine puzzles, plenty of Ice Caps, a Jerry, and a grumpy cat coffee vendor holding a one-sided rivalry with the peppy rabbit nice-cream vendor across from him, and Papyrus had finally reached the town as whatever passed as night quickly approached. 

"There's an Inn." Frisk pointed out. "You can barely walk straight, much less keep your eyes open." 

Papyrus nodded without argument, as much as he'd like to explore more, it was getting dark and he could see townsfolk returning home and businesses beginning to close up. 

He walked into the Inn and shivered at the warmth. The cape had kept out the cold well, but it wasn't a perfect substitute for the real thing. 

"Oh, hello dear!" The bunny behind the counter greeted, a small bunny head could be seen peeking over the counter. 

"Hi." He greeted back, his usual enthusiasm tampered by exhaustion. "Could I have a room for the night, please?" 

"Of course, sweetie, one twin bed is okay?" She asked, he nodded and she grabbed a key. "You've come just in time for the Gyftmas discount!" She chirped. "Just 30G for the night." 

"Thank you, ma'am." He smiled, trading the gold for the key. 

"You're very welcome, hon!" She turned to the little rabbit beside her. "Hopston, would you show our guest his room?" The bunny nodded and hopped out from behind the counter. 

"C'mon." They gestured, leading him up the stairs. 

"Thank you very much." He said to the rabbit once they reached his room. 

The bunny shrugged, mumbling a you're welcome and wishing him a good night before hopping off. 

Papyrus closed the door and locked it, tiredly pulling off his boots and the cloak, really wishing he'd brought the pajamas he'd had at Sans' as he laid on the bed and pulled the covers up to his chin. 

"Good night, Frisk." He mumbled, yawning. 

"'Night Papyrus." 

Chapter Text

They remembered Snowdin.
They loved coming here with Frisk.
With Him.
There had been epic snowball wars, snow sculpture -"hehe, it's a skullture, get it?"- building contests, and then they had supper at Muffet's diner.
But that was a distant memory, now.
They were dead. Frisk was dead.
He was Dust.
Now, all they had was the borrowed Soul of the one who'd killed Him-
I'm sorrysorrysorry I didn'tmean didn't mean it!
-and Revenge
Now, Snowdin was coated in Dust. It choked the air, coated every surface.
Their hands were caked in it. The orange of the glove they wore was no longer noticeable.
Monster Dust was interesting. Different types of Monsters left different Dust.
Snowdrakes were light and soft, Ice Caps were cold and slushy, the dogs had been clingy.
His had been like finely ground rock.
Like crushed bone.
The town had evacuated before they arrived. So they wouldn't know what rabbit or spider, or any of the other inhabitant's Dust felt like.
Save for one. A short figure in the fog on the outskirts of the town, fidgeting and shaking in fear.
Don't pleasepleaseplease stop!
Chara wondered what a lizard Monster's Dust felt like?
Payton, would you like to know?

Chapter Text

For the second morning in a row, Papyrus woke up crying, scrambling up and into the headboard in a panic.

Frisk was once again in front of him, hands hovering at his shoulders in an attempt to comfort him.

"Shh, Papyrus, it was just a dream, you're okay!" They insisted, trying to get him to meet their eyes.

He clamped them shut instead, digging the heels of his palms onto them and taking shuddering breathes as he curled in on himself.

Frisk frowned, settling next to him close enough that their shoulders would have brushed had they been corporeal.

"Do you.. wanna talk about it?" They asked hesitantly.

"I-it was like last night.." He sniffled "Only... it was even more clear... I couldn't control myself, instead C-Chara was there, controlling me, taunting me as they killed all the Ruins Monsters and the ones outside of Snowdin.. They were comparing their Dust, Frisk!" He exclaimed, "a-and then... and then Alphys was there, and Chara asked if... if I'd like to know what her Dust felt like and... and killed her.."

"I'm so sorry, Papyrus." They murmured, "Luckily, you're here and everyone's alive. It wasn't rea-"

"But what if they are!" He stressed, "I knew things about Snowdin that I couldn't have known! Like how there's a diner called Muffet's, run by a spider Monster of the same name!" He bit his lip, looking at them uncertainly, "A-and.. and I thought I caught glimpses of.. of you and another human that looked kind of like you... there was someone else there, a Monster, but it wasn't clear.."

They frowned, "Oh... but, it couldn't have happened, we would've remembered.."

He buried his face into his hands again. "What if I actually killed people? S-Sans was an accident, but everyone else in my dream..."

"Hey, if what you said was true, then it wasn't you." Frisk said firmly. "If, somehow, this timeline we don't remember actually exists, then Chara was controlling you. They were using your body and forcing it to do these things. None of it is your fault."

"But, I killed San-" He tried, but was inturrupted.

"By accident. You reacted badly, yes, but you didn't know that would happen and you won't do it again. Besides, if Chara did decide ,and was able, to start controlling you and killing everyone, Sans dying wouldn't have been their motivation in doing so." They said. "At least... not their only one."

Papyrus frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

They shook their head. "Nothing. How about we head out? You're probably hungry and we need to move on, anyways."

Papyrus sighed, but nodded in agreement. He hopped off the bed, tucking in the sheets and smoothing them out, then slipping his boots and cape on.

Making sure he had his phone and the room key, he slipped out the door and downstairs where the same rabbit woman and child were sitting behind the counter.

"Oh, hello!" She greeted with a warm smile. "Did you have a good night, dear?"

Papyrus nodded and returned the smile. "I sure did, you have a very nice inn!"

She tittered behind a paw. "Why, thank you! You'll be heading out then?" He nodded. "Well, then I hope you have a good day, dear, you're welcome back anytime!"

"Thank you, have a good day!" He waved goodbye as he exited the Inn.

There was a Save Star between the Inn and neighboring shop, so Papyrus quickly Saved before doing anything else.

"You should probably go into the shop for more healing items." Frisk advised. "You still have a milkshake, the tomato soup, and the Nice Cream and Crabbyccino from those vendors, but I have a feeling you'll need more if you meet Undyne."

He nodded in agreement and walked into the shop. Behind the counter was another bunny, a little stockier than the Innkeeper, with purple fur instead of pink.

At the sound of the door, she looked up and straighted, giving a friendly smile. "Hello, traveler! How can I help ya?"

He smiled back and wondered over to the counter. "Hi! I'm just looking for now."

She nodded. "Alright then, don't be afraid to ask if ya need help, hon."

"Thank you!"

As he browsed the shelves, he struck up a conversation with the shopkeeper.

"There's Muffet's Diner, if you're hungry," She said when asked about the town, "She mostly does pastries, but there's a few other items you can get. Her Spider Cider and Donuts are the most popular, but, and ya didn't hear it from me, I think they're a bit overrated." She leaned her head in her hand, tapping her chin. "There's also the library, small, but it's got some good stuff. Or, ya can just sit around outside, won't take long for those two lovebirds to do somethin' interesting. They're the main entertainment for most of us, never boring when they're around."

"You mean Alphys and Undyne?" He asked.

"Mhmm, that's them, ya met 'em?"

"I met Alphys, I saw Undyne briefly on my way here, but I never talked to her." He said

"Well, she's nice enough, bit rough and loud, but the kids adore her. They're always clambering over each other trying to get her to juggle 'em and show off wrestling moves. Alphys is sweet, too, and passionate when ya get her talkin' bout science or her ani-mays and main-ga."

Both Papyrus and Frisk winced at her mispronunciations.

Finally done browsing, he picked his few choices and put them on the counter.

"This everything?" She asked, at his nod she started pulling up the prices. "Heh, you're the only person interested in this old thing," She said, holding up an orange bandana with a picture of a well-defined six pack, "Dunno where it came from, was a few years ago when it just showed up in the shop."

He shrugged. "It seemed unique, never seen a bandana with abs on it." In truth, Frisk had insisted on buying it, though they wouldn't give a reason.

"Heh, well you're not wrong." She chuckled, bagging his things. "Would ya be interested in a couple of chinnabuns? Fresh outta the oven, two for 25G."

Papyrus quickly checked his gold, then nodded. "Yes please!"

She wrapped the 'buns up and added them to his bag, exchanging them for the gold.

"You have a good day, hon." She said with a wave.

"Thank you! Hope you have a good day as well!" With that he exited the shop.

As he opened the dimensional box next to the Save Star, he asked Frisk. "So, why did I need the bandana?"

"It's... important.." They said hesitantly, "Just... I don't know, I feel like we need it, just like the ribbon you picked up. There's somewhere they need to be."

He nodded, deciding not to push further. "Ok, so where should we head next?"

Frisk shrugged. "Food would definitely be a good thing right about now, I would think."

As if on cue, Papyrus' stomach gurgled, causing him to blush and smile sheepishly. "Yeah, I think that'd be a good idea."

They giggled. "To Muffet's it is."

Papyrus observed the town as he walked to the Diner. There a few Monsters out, since it was still early, and they all seemed happy, smiling and chatting to each other, slowly beginning their day. There was what looked like a Christmas tree in the center of the town, surrounded by presents and lovingly decorated.

"Despite the similarities, it's not actually Christmas." Frisk stated. "It's actually a little holiday that started when some teens a few years back decorated a Gyftrot's antlers, when they were caught they were made to make it up to it by helping it out a few times a week. They learned their lesson and saw how happy it made the Gyftrot to receive kindness and company, that they started handing out little gifts and chatting to some of the lonelier citizens, and then everyone got in on it."

"Aw, that's kind of them." He whispered with a smile, waving at a few of the townsfolk as he finally made it to the Diner and stepped in.

The place was clean and nicely decorated. Spider webs on the walls making intricate designs and streaming from the lights like silky banners. Everything was in soft shades of pinks, blacks, purples, and some blue, and spiders scurried around, expertly dodging legs and working together to carry heavy items.

According to Frisk, they were actually a type of spider Monster, but similar to the Flame sprites, they were not as big or powerful as their more humanoid cousins.

"Hello, dearie!~" The more humanoid spider at the counter greeted, Papyrus assumed this was Muffet. " Please, take a seat and I'll be with you in a moment~"

Papyrus nodded and smiled, taking a seat at one of the smaller tables, picking up a menu already sitting there.

"I recommened the donuts." Frisk said over his shoulder. "I know the shopkeep said they were overrated, but if they're anything like I remember, then they deserve the talk."

He was about to concede, when something caught his eye.

NEW!

Tomato Cake w/ Tomato Glaze

Limited time only, 20% off with the purchase of one regular menu items!

"Hello, dearie~" He looked up to see Muffet rolling to the table on a pair of roller skates, one pair of arms on her hips, another clasped behind her, and the last holding a pencil and notepad. "I apologize for the wait, what can I get for you?~"

Frisk glared at him fro over Muffet's shoulder. "Don't do it, Papyrus. I beg of you."

He ignored them, instead smiling up at the spider. "Hi! I'll have a glass of milk, two Spider Donuts, and a Tomato Cake, please!"

Muffet tittered. "Feeling daring, aren't you, dearie?~ She asked, writing the order down. "Not many have taken interest in the Tomato Cake, it was a bit of a daring move on my part, just to shake things up."

"Actually, believe it or not, I just really like tomato based things!" He chirped. "Spaghetti, lasagna, tomato soup, all of it! I've never heard of tomato cake, though, and I'm really looking forward to it!"

The spider smiled, showing her fangs. "Well, then, I hope you enjoy it, dear.~" She said. "I'll be back with your food in a few.~"

"Thank you, Ms Muffet!" He turned to Frisk, who'd floated down into the chair across from him, head in hands.

"I can't... believe you got that..." They despaired.

Papyrus pouted, looking around before responding quietly. "What's so wrong about me ordering myself a cake made of tomatoes? You can't even eat anything!"

"It's the thought of it." Frisk deadpanned. "It's... ugh..." They shuttered dramatically, causing him to roll his eyes.

As he was about to respond, he noticed Muffet skating back to the table, so he kept silent and instead smiled as she stopped and placed a plate and glass on the table.

"Here you go, dearie.~" She purred, smiling back. "I hope you enjoy, please call if there's anything you need.~"

"I will! Thank you, Ms Muffet!" He said. When she left he turned to his plate, taking in the aroma of fresh donuts and cake.

"Well, it doesn't look like it was made from tomatoes, I'll give it that." Frisk said, eyeing the cake like it'd suddenly burst open into a giant spirit eating monster.

He rolled his eyes again, "You're being dramatic, Frisk." He said, he cut a piece off with his fork and put it in his mouth, eyes widening as he froze.

Frisk snickered, crossing their arms smugly. "See, told you it was ba-" They were cut off as he muffled a delighted squeal, swallowing and taking a slightly bigger bite. "Wait, you... you actually like that?!"

"Nyeh hehe, let this be a lesson for you, Frisk." He declared. "Never underestimate my love of tomato based foods."

As Frisk wallowed in despair, Papyrus finished off the cake and milk, then after a bit of deliberation, one of the donuts. Definitely didn't compare to the tomato cake, but it wasn't bad.

Flagging down a spider, he said he was ready to pay and requested something to put his remaining donut in to-go. The spider nodded and scurried away, returning with a few more, carrying a little paper bag and his receipt. He took out the required 25g, plus a few more as a tip, and used the offered pen to write down a few good words on the paper, drawing five stars and adding some exclamation points for good messure, and set it on the tray the spiders carried, making sure nothing would fall off.

He made sure his table was clean, that anything he couldn't throw away himself was stacked neatly to be gathered and washed, then picked up the trash and threw it away.

Muffet peeked her head out of the back as he did this. "Leaving dearie?~"

He smiled at her, nodding. "Yeah, but you're food was really good!" He gushed, "The tomato cake was the best and I can see why people love the donuts!"

She giggled behind one of her hands. "Ahuhuhu, thank you, dearie, you're one of the nicest customers I've had.~" She complimented. "I do hope you come again sometime.~"

"I will!" He promised. "Bye, Ms Muffet!"

After a quick detour back to the Save Star, he began to explore the rest of the town.

If Snowdin wasn't the perfect example of a small town, he didn't know what was. It seemed everyone knew everyone, all the houses were close together and appeared warm and homey, he could imagine small families spending their days together, out chatting with friends, going to work when needed, and coming home to a nice, warm meal and talking about their day. Opposite of the Shop and Inn, Muffet's, and the Library, was a little clothing store, a clinic, and a little food market, down the street going right were houses and he could see a small school at the end, while to the left were houses, a huge wolf throwing blocks of ice into the river, and and a small path leading to a little dock.

He stepped into the library, but couldn't really find anything that interested him, the one about Monster funerals caught his attention briefly, but it brought up unpleasant feelings, so he quickly put it back.

On the way out he was suddenly bowled over by a blur of yellow and brown, sending him crashing into the snow.

"Woah!""Oof!"

He lay there for a moment, blinking dazedly at the cloudy cavern ceiling. The one who'd run into him groaned, pushing themselves and then gasping as they noticed him.

"Yo, dude, I'm so sorry!" They said, scrambling off of him and peering down at him with wide eyes. "You okay dude?"

He nodded pulling himself up and brushing the snow off.

"Yes, I'm okay, no harm done." He assured, looking at the Monster in front of him.

They were about his height, yellow and scaly, freckled with brown scales, with small spikes trailing down their head. They wore a yellow and brown striped shirt and light brown pants. He noticed that they didn't appear to have any arms.

"Whew," They sighed, grinning at him. "That's a relief, sorry again, I, uh, don't often looking where I'm running."

He waved it off. "That is okay, though you should probably be a little more careful."

They chuckled sheepishly, "Yeah," They perked up and grinned, "Anyways, I'm Riley! You're a kid too, right? I know 'cause you wear a striped shirt."

Papyrus was confused for a moment, but Frisk informed him that it was because so many Monsters were different shapes and sizes, it was hard to tell who was a kid or not just at first glance, so kids wore stripes until they turn a certain age, depending on their species. Then they noted that it was kind of strange that each of the younger humans that have fallen also happened to wear stripes.

"Oh, yes! I am!" He said, "I am Papyrus! Nice to meet you, Riley!"

"Nice to meet you too! Yo, were you heading to Waterfall? So was I!" Riley babbled, jumping from foot to foot energetically. "I was gonna see the Captain!"

"Captain?" Papyrus asked.

"Yeah!" They exclaimed. "Only the coolest Monster ever! I was on my way to see him! Do you wanna come?"

Papyrus had a feeling meeting this Captain was not in his best interests right now.

"How about you go ahead?" He suggested. "I have a few things I need to do, but I'll catch up!"

"Alright! See ya later, Papyrus!" They said before sprinting off.

He wondered around a little more, but found nothing else really interesting.

"There's nothing else to see, really." Frisk said. "This is as small a town as you can get, so it's just the essential things, it'd be best to move on."

Papyrus nodded, "Yes, you're right, wish I could have seen Alphys again, though." He quickly ran up to the Save Star before continuing on.

There was only one house near the end of the town, across from a small building he could guess was a guard house, by the barred windows and the Delta Rune above the door with two crossed swords behind it, so he quickened his pace until he entered a dense, snowy fog.

"Why is it so foggy right here?" He asked, squinting through the endless white around him.

"I never got the specifics." Frisk admitted. "But I think it's because this is the border to Waterfall, the cold and damp air makes this fog."

"Waterfall?" He wondered.

"Yeah, it's exactly what it sounds, a place full of water falls, a lot of streams, creaks, rivers, ponds, very damp, it even has rain in some places. It's actually one of the most beautiful places in the Underground." They said.

"Oh, well I can't wait..to... see.." He trailed off, stopping in his tracks as he looked up at the figure in the fog a few feet away from him.

Tall, with a glaring yellow eye and sharp, sharp teeth, red hair billowing in the wind behind her, Undyne cast an imposing figure.

Her eye narrowed and she straightened. "Human." She growled. "I almost didn't believe the dogs when they said they'd encountered a human. After all, no Dust has been found, no one's gone missing." She let out a harsh chuckle. "But, you're just being sneaky, aren't you? You've probably Spared who you've seen as important and gone after the ones no one would quickly notice was gone."

Before Papyrus could protest, she summoned a glowing spear with a flash of blue, sliding into a stance.

"We'll have the Seventh Soul at last." She promised. "Even if I have to tear it from your body myself!"

The colors barely had anytime to fade before she unleashed a barrage of spears and he threw himself aside to avoid them, landing in a roll with a pained grunt.

"W-wait! Please, I didn't kill anyone!" He pleaded.

"Liar!" She snarled and he yelped as she sent a wave of magic from her spear, not having time to dodge as it washed over his Soul. "En Garde!"

He clutched his Soul close as he expected pain, but when none came he blinked his eyes open, confused, before gasping in shock.

Where there was once a brilliant blue, now he held a green Soul.

"Wha..?" He stumbled to his feet, looking from his Soul to Undyne.

She gave him a vicious smile. "As long as you're Green, you can't escape! Unless you learn to face danger head-on, you won't stand a chance against me!" She cast off another barrage of spears.

He yelped and tried to dodge, only to find that he was stuck in one spot, able to circle his Soul, but nothing more. He threw his arm up futilely, gritting his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut.

However, once again his was not met with pain, instead, as he opened his eyes, he saw that in front of his raised arms were two crossed spears and a green shield.

His eyes widened in realization as he remembered Alphys' words the day before.

"Green Soul magic turns your Soul green and freezes you in place, however green is Kindness magic, so the instigator must lend some of their magic for the effected to use as a shield."

He straightened up and looked at Undyne, who was waiting for his next move.

He grinned. "That's was so cool! You must have great control of your magic!"

Her brows furrowed, mouth twisting in confusion before going back to her scowl. "Yeah, nice try, human! You're not gona distract me with praise!" She sent another barrage, this time instead of them going straight at him, flew around to his back and sides, forcing him to up his guard and quicken his movements.

"Please, Undyne! I haven't hurt anyone!" He yelped, narrowly blocking a spear. "I don't want to fight! I just want to be friends!"

She let out a sharp bark of laughter. "Friends!? Yeah right! All humans are cowards who hurt whoever's in their way with no remorse!"

"There might be some who do the wrong thing, but not all humans are bad!" He insisted. "Everyone deserves a chance, and even the worst person can change, if they tried!"

"Papyrus, look out!"

At Frisk's shout her turned, a second too late as a spear pierced his abdomen.

"Urk-!" He stumbled, the shield flickering away as the green faded from his Soul, and he fell to the ground.

The last thing he saw, was his Soul crumbling, and Undyne's shocked stare, before everything faded to black.

...

...

...

...frisk... chara...

.. i miss you..

please.. stay determined...

...

...

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Chapter Text

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Papyrus came back into awareness at the Save Star, the phantom feel of the spear causing him to stumble and clutch where it had pierced him.

He stood there, frozen, tears leaking and chest heaving as he tried to process what had happened.

Frisk hesitantly floated close. "Papyrus?" They hovered a hand over his shoulder, "Are you okay?"

He opened his mouth, came up blank, closed it and swallowed. "I... I-I think so...?" He managed, eyes flicking up to meet theirs. "I, uhm... I knew, what the Save Star did, but... i-it just..."

They smiled sadly. "I know." They said, "The first couple of times is... really rough, and I can't promise it'll get easier, but you'll get through it, you just need to stay determined."

He nodded, taking a stabilizing breath and straightening. The trek back through the town calmed him only slightly, but he still shuddered uncertainly as he came upon the foggy stretch, Undyne's silhouette just barely visible in the distance.

He steeled himself and walked forward, stopping as he came within a few feet of her. He stood there as she went through her previous speech.

He tried pleading once more as the encounter was initiated, and she once again called him a liar.

He lasted long enough for the green magic to fade, the sudden lack of a shield and the ability to move causing him to stumble into her next attack.

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"Please, Undyne, I don't want to fight!"

"You're not going to fool me, human!"

"Grk-!"

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"Fight back, you miserable fleshbag!"

"I won't!"

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"Get back here, human!"

"Please stop!"

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"Face me, you coward!"

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"NYAAHG!"

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"No-!"

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"Plea- Hrk!-"

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Papyrus didn't know how many times he'd died, he didn't know how long tears had been falling, all he knew was that he had to get away. He'd learned that he couldn't talk her down, he had to flee, had to find another way to get her to stop. He just hadn't found one, yet.

They had left the town a while ago, crossing the long bridge and passing many puzzles. He'd avoided all the spears, just barely, not quite believing that he'd managed to get this far.

He passed over the small bridge where the Nice Cream and Crabbycino carts had been, trying to figure out how he'd get over the electric maze when there was a loud cracking sound behind him, accompanied by a cry of shock.

He turned, slowing but not quite stopping as he checked what it was.

Something in the bridge had given as Undyne went over it and now her leg up to her knee was dangling below, the armor of her shin guard catching as she tried to pull it free.

He stopped, watching the scene with concern and hesitantly stepped forward, only to jump back as she noticed and sent a spear at him. She didn't send more, though, as the abrupt movement disturbed the bridge and her leg fell through more, now stuck up to her mid-thigh.

She snarled. "This is all your fault!" She yelled, moving to throw another spear only to brace herself as the bridge creaked ominously. Now that she was unable to throw more spears, he cautiously approached once more. "Feh, you gonna Dust me now?" She laughed. "Finally showing your true colors?"

He shook his head, "I just want to help."

She barked a laugh, ready to snarl something scathing, when suddenly the bridge jerked, finally giving beneath her weight.

Papyrus yelped as she disappeared from view, throwing himself at the edge and peering down.

She had managed to grab onto a jutting rock, claws making an ear grating noise as they dug into it, however the rock and surrounding wall was covered in a thin lair of ice and she was slowly loosing her grip.

"Papyrus, use your cape!" Frisk exclaimed as he tried to figure out what to do.

He practically ripped the cape from his shoulders, shivering at the cold as he lowered it down, bracing himself as much as he could.

"Grab on!" He called. She looked at him, her eye narrow and mouth in a thin line, before heaving herself up to grasp the end of the cloak. Papyrus grit his teeth, holding onto the cape and pulling with all his strength, until finally she was far enough to haul herself up.

They sat in the snow for a while, Undyne glaring at him thoughtfully. He flinched as she slowly stood, frowning.

"Wha- H-hey!" He yelped as she reached for him, throwing him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

He grabbed at her armor, gasping as he felt her tense and then jump, he watched wide eyed as they soared over the gap.

"Oomph!" He shook the snow from his hair, pouting at the Monster from where she'd dropped him after landing.

Undyne frowned at him before scoffing and turning away, trekking back towards the town.

He sat up and stared after her, hardly able to believe what had happened.

"You did it.." Frisk muttered in disbelief. Neither knew who started, but soon they were on their backs, Papyrus in the snow and Frisk in the air, laughing until Papyrus was gasping for air.

"Nyeh heh..." He chuckled, catching his breath.

Frisk giggled, righting themselves. "You should probably go find a Save or get some food in you, unless you want to go through that again."

He nodded, pushing himself up and standing. "I don't think I'm going to be up for continuing to Waterfall, right now."

Frisk floated after him as he started walking. "But, if you don't count the Reloads, you only woke up... at most two hours ago?"

He blew out a surprised breath. "Really? Wowie... definitely doesn't feel like it.."

They had only got to where Papyrus had met the Dogi when they heard stumbling footsteps and labored breathing coming towards them. They tensed briefly, only to relax as Alphys stumbled around the corner.

"Papyrus!" She yelped as she caught sight of him, rushing towards him and grasping his shoulders, moving him around as she checked for injuries. "Oh thank the stars, when I came home and Undyne said she had met the human... I w-was really worried.."

"I'm okay, Alphys," He assured her, "Just a little tired and sore."

She nodded in understanding. "I can i-imagine, come on, y-you can come to my house to rest."

He frowned. "But, what about Undyne?"

Alphys puffed up her cheeks and let out an irritated snort from her nose. "I-I'll deal with her, don't worry. I understand her r-reservations on humans, but this is r-ridiculous."

"I wouldn't want to impose, I'll be fine going to the Inn!" He said.

"N-nonsense," She waved it off. "Undyne needs t-to apologize and learn not all humans are b-bad, and I don't want you to be a-alone, sometimes you need someone there for you, and... you don't have anyone down here.."

Papyrus glanced at Frisk, they shrugged. "She is right." They said, "I am here, but I can't do much for you, they can. It really would be good for you to have someone who's able to actually help you."

He sighed. "No, I don't have anyone who can help me, right now."

She nodded. "Th-then it's settled.

The house across from the guard-house, was apparently Alphys and Undyne's, which made sense in hindsight.

Alphys led him in, slipping off her coat and headband to hang on the coat rack and setting her boots on the mat by the door. As Papyrus copied her, hesitating on his cape, he noticed there was a larger pair of boots, Undyne's, minus the shin guards, as well as a smaller pair that looked almost brand new and unused. The coat rack also had a teal coat that was most likely Undyne's and a small striped poncho. It appeared they might have a kid.

He'd ask later, as he could see Undyne, back to them, in the kitchen across from them. She was humming as she vigorously stirred what looked like hamburger meat in a pan. Her armor was gone, instead replaced with a black tank top and blue yoga pants, her hair was down and slightly damp, suggesting that she's probably recently taken a shower.

Alphys glanced at him over her shoulder and gave him a hesitant, but reassuring smile, then proceeded into the kitchen.

"H-hello, Undyne." She greeted. The fish Monster whirled around, teeth bared in a grin as she caught sight of her wife.

"Alphy, babe!" She exclaimed, practically throwing her cooking utensils down as she went over and picked her up in greeting. That was when she noticed him.

"Alphy," She grit out, her grin frozen. "What's the human doing here..?"

"O-oh!" Alphys smiled nervously. "I-I met him outside of town, h-he looked like he could u-use a good meal and s-some rest."

Undyne slowly lowered Alphys to her feet, clenching her hands into fists rythmically when she straightened.

"That so?" She asked with false cheeriness.

Alphys sighed, rolling her eyes. "U-Undyne, I know y-you don't like humans-"

"That's a huge understatement." Undyne muttered.

Alphys glared at the interupption, but continued. "But not all humans are b-bad. Y-you can't blame an entire race on the transgressions of a f-few."

"A few!?" Undyne shouted, throwing her hands up. "Monsters were banished down here by the entirety of the human race!" She exclaimed. "Anyone not thrown down here were killed off! You've seen the history books, Alph, humans have completely forgotten about us, any mention of monsters are their urban legends and fairy-tales meant to scare their spawn! Not just that, the first two humans down here killed what was supposed to be their adopted sibling, your best friend, and then ran away. Who knows where they went! Maybe they killed some other unfortunate Monsters and escaped! And almost every human that's followed was proven to have killed multiple Monsters!"

"Undyne-" Alphys tried, but was interrupted.

"They killed my parents!" Undyne screeched.

The house was silent, nothing but Undyne's heavy breathing could be heard.

"One of the humans killed my moms, Alphys, you know that." Undyne stated. "Killed them, with no remorse, and continued killing. And then another took my eye, simply because they thought I deserved it. The first ones, who we both knew and considered friends, killed our friend and ran away like cowards." She grit her teeth, her eye glaring at Papyrus. "So why should I believe he's any different? How do I know he's not like them, how do I know that he won't lure us into a false sense of security only to stab us in the back later?"

Alphys opened her mouth to answer, but Papyrus beat her to it.

"Undyne," He started. "I am sorry, that my fellow humans have caused you so much pain. I don't know why they would do that, I can't understand why anyone would enjoy killing or think you deserved losing an eye. I am so sorry you lost your moms and your friend." He said. "But I promise you, that I don't intend to harm anyone. I don't want to hurt anyone. I saved you from falling off that bridge, not because I wanted favors or to gloat, but because I didn't want you to get hurt. I didn't want you to leave Alphys behind, not knowing where you went and finding your dust at the bottom of the cliff."

Alphys' eyes widened as she stared at Undyne. "Y-you almost fell off a bridge!?"

The fish Monster looked away, running her claws through her hair. "Actually, the bridge gave out under me..." Noticing that didn't help, she added. "But I'm fine, babe! The... the human saved me..." She murmured reluctantly.

Alphys frowned, puffing her cheeks in irritation. "A-and you still think he's out to get you? Did he once raise a hand when you were chasing after him? Did he hesitate in helping you? Have you heard of anyone going missing?" At the lack of response, she nodded. "Then until he gives you a r-reason, a good reason, to distrust him, you need to act civil. I know humans have hurt you, they've hurt all of us, personally or not, but you need to understand that some are good, just like there are some bad Monsters. I don't want you to go down the wrong path, Undyne. I love you t-too much to let you do that." She took Undyne's hands in her own, gaze pleading. "Please, Undyne, try. For me?"

Undyne groaned. "Aw, babe, not the face!" Sighing, she nodded. "Alright! Alright, I'll try, you're right, I'm getting a bit obsessive and vengeful." Taking a breath, she turned to Papyrus and stuck out a hand. "Truce, human?"

He grinned, taking her hand and shaking it firmly and enthusiastically. "Truce! And the name's Papyrus! It's nice to finally meet you properly, Undyne!"

She nodded, letting of his hand and putting her fists to her hips. "Now, if we're going to be friends, we're going to need something to bring us together!" She grinned, lifting Papyrus and Alphys off the ground. "And I know just the thing!"

A couple small stove fires later, and the chili came out pretty good. Though Frisk said it looked both burnt, and seemed hard to tell the beans from the meat, but Papyrus shushed them as he sat on Undyne and Alphys' couch, watching as they tried to chose which anime to watch.

"M-Mew Mew Kissy Cutie!" Alphys insisted.

"Babe, Alphy, I love ya, but we've watched that a million times already!" Undyne argued. "And that's just this past week! I wanna see the one called Nan baka!"

"W-well, what about Papyrus?" Alphys asked. "He's our g-guest, he should have the final decision."

Papyrus was suddenly pinned with two glares, DVD cases shoved into his face.

"Which one's better!" The Monsters demanded.

He blinked, glancing at Frisk, then looking at the cases. "Uhm, well... I-I've never seen either, anime were banned at the orphanage, and I never saw any at the foster homes."

They looked at him like he just said he'd lived in a box his whole life.

"WHAT!" They both screeched. "That's just wrong!" Undyne exclaimed.

"D-don't worry, Papyrus, we'll rectify this." Alphys assured.

"You're doomed, dude." Frisk said. He cast them a pleading stare, but they just laughed.

Papyrus stirred as he felt himself being picked up and laid more comfortably on the couch, a blanket draped over him and a pillow being tucked under his head.

"Ssshhh.." Alphys whispered as he blinked blearily up at her, patting his head. "Go back to s-sleep, Papyrus."

"Yeah, punk," Undyne said, she was sitting on the other end of the couch. "You were able to outrun and lift me over a cliff, you deserve it."

He didn't really want to go back to sleep - he didn't want to be lazy! - but his eyelids were already closing as he cuddled under the blanket.

"See ya in the morning, punk." Was the last thing he heard as he drifted off.

Chapter Text

Papyrus woke early that morning to the sound of clattering in the kitchen. He pushed himself off the couch, yawning and stretching. He folded the blanket he'd slept under and sat it on the pillow, then made his way into the kitchen.

The remains of their cooking session still marked the wall, counter, and stove-top, but that hadn't stopped someone from making pancakes, probably Alphys seeing as there wasn't any evidence of new scorch marks.

Said lizard wasn't in the vicinity, but Undyne was, plating a good sized stack of pancakes and drowning them in some type of syrup. She turned to sit at the small dining table off to the side and caught sight of him, sending a hesitant, but still large smile.

"Hey, punk! Go ahead and help yourself to a plate!" She said, throwing herself into a chair and digging in. Papyrus complied, getting his own plate from the still open cabinet and stacking the last few pancakes. He considers the syrup Undyne had used, it wasn't maple, instead it said 'Golden Flower' in fancy lettering on the lable.

"Golden flower?" He inquired, looking at Undyne.

"Yup." She nodded, swallowing her mouthful. "S'a flower that only grows only in certain places in the Underground. The late Queen found that it made a delicious tea, and in her memory her son added it to other stuff, like cakes and syrups."

"Aw, that's such a sweet thing he did!" Papyrus commented, adding the syrup to the pancakes. Then he noticed the sudden silence and looked over his shoulder. Undyne was staring at him suspiciously.

"Did you..." She narrowed her eye. "Just make a pun?"

His eyes widened as he realized. "I.. I did..." He threw his head back dramatically. "NOO! I've been corrupted!"

Undyne snorted. "Punk, I think you'll be fine with just one accidental pun slip."

He pouted and seated himself at the table. "That's what you'd think, but if you're not careful you'll be punning every other sentence, all because you didn't worry over that one slip."

She shook her head, chuckling. "Sure, dweeb."

He stuck his tongue out at her doubt, but didn't respond, instead turning his attention to the pancakes.

"So, punk," Undyne started as the finished up. "What are you planning on doing today? You sticking around or are you gonna continue to Waterfall?"

"Well," He sat back, considering. "I thought, maybe, I could stick around and maybe we could.. hang out? Cause, uhm, I'd really like to be friends! And friends hang out, so.." He trailed off, fidgeting with his cape.

Undyne grinned. "Heh, sure, punk! We can hang out! And I know just the thing to do!"

Papyrus soon found himself in a small clearing out in the forest right behind Undyne and Alphys' house, the house visible through the trees.

"A-are you sure about this?" He asked Undyne, who was standing opposite of him.

She scoffed. "Ptch! Don't be a wimp, punk! Of course I'm sure!" She summoned two spears, tossing the one in her left hand to him. "Now! This isn't a real Encounter, just a spar! Meaning I won't be calling your Soul out!"

He raised his hand. "Does that mean you can't use that green Soul attack?"

She cocked her hip and rested her free hand on it, grinning. "Good question! I could call your Soul out and use Soul magic, but it's generally not done outside of an Encounter, because in an Encounter it's only seen by your opponent, while outside of one, it's vulnerable to anyone! You ever seen an Encounter from the outside?"

He shook his head in the negative. "Well, on the inside of an Encounter, color drains to black and white so it's easier to see the magic colors. While my spears appear blue now, in an Encounter they're white, that's because they're just plain magic. On the outside of an Encounter, everything appears normal, colors and all, but if a Soul is out, whoever's on the outside can't see it, they can only see the effects of Soul magic as a glow around the person it was cast on, but not the Soul itself unless they force themselves into the Encounter, which is extremely rude. It's kinda like two people having a conversation and then some stranger jumps in the middle and starts butting into the conversation."

He nodded. "Okay, I think I got it."

"Good! Then enough talking!" She gave no other warning as she charged at him with her signature yell, slashing the spear at him.

He yelped and rolled off to the side, bringing his spear up to block the next slash. They were in a brief stalemate for a moment before he ducked and dove under her legs, the loss of support causing her to stumble, but she quickly righted herself and whirled around.

"Fuhuhuhu! That's the spirit!"

They continued on for a while, Papyrus slowly grew to enjoy it, grinning widely as he dodged and, in the rare times he found an opening, lightly jabbing Undyne with the less dangerous end of the spear.

"Y'know, you remind me of someone!" She said as she tried to trip him up.

"Really?" He asked, dodging and parrying.

"Yeah! Captain Asgore! I've known him since I was little, and he's a huge fluff-ball who doesn't like to fight if he doesn't have to!" She tried to distract him with a sudden volley of spears. "He's a total wimp! But, he's really nice, and super strong when he needs to be! In fact, he trained me!"

"Wowie!" He gushed. "I'm flattered that I remind you of him!"

She laughed, then stabbed at him again.

They were both so ensnared in their spar that they didn't noticed their lone spectator, not until a sharp whistle pierced the air. Their heads snapped to the noise, but their bodies continued in the directions they had been moving, causing them to fall into a heap of tangled limbs. Thankfully, Undyne had the mind to dissipate the spears before there was an impaling. Which was a relief, Papyrus would rather not go through that again.

A muffled snort brought their attention back to the one who'd whistled. Alphys stood at the edge of the clearing, trying to cover her giggles behind her hand.

"S-sorry," She said, "Didn't m-mean to startle you."

Undyne pushed herself up so she wasn't suffocating Papyrus. "That's okay, babe! Seems time for a break anyways. Hey, punk, you hungry as I am?"

Papyrus spat out a few strands of her hair that had gotten in his mouth when they fell. "Yeah! Is it gonna be chili again?"

Undyne seemed to be about to confirm, only for Alphys to interrupt. "A-actually, I already made some soup while you w-were sparring. Y-you've been out in the cold and it'll help you warm up."

The fish Monster shrugged and sprung to her feet, hauling Papyrus up by the hood and slinging him over her shoulder, then surprising Alphys a moment later by doing the same to her.

Said lizard Monster squeaked in shock, scales turning an interesting shade of red, and despite not being able to see her face, Undyne seemed to know, because she had her teeth bared in a pleased grin.

She carried them into the house and set them down inside. Alphys took a few moments to compose herself, and a red blush still remained as she scurried into the kitchen to distribute the soup.

As he was taking off his boots, Papyrus once again took notice of the small boots and striped poncho. "Undyne? Do you two have a kid?"

She grinned. "Heh, yeah! Scrappy little punk, that kid. They're about your age, still in stripes. Got home while you were sleeping and left after scarfing down their breakfast."

"Oh, I hope I can meet them!" He said.

"Fuhuhu, they'd like to meet ya too, punk." She said, ruffling his hair. "Now, let's get some grub!"

The soup was very good, and tasted like a much better version of the cup noodles Papyrus has had at different foster homes. Alphys was also right in that it warmed him right up.

They'd given him a small thermos of some left over soup, which he stored in his phone's inventory alongside his other food items.

"You sure you don't wanna stick around?" Undyne asked as they stood at the front door.

Papyrus nodded. "I'm sure, I really have to continue. But it was really nice to hang out with you two! And thanks for letting me stay over!"

Undyne grinned and ruffled his hair. "No problem, punk! Glad I got to know you, instead of, y'know, killing you."

"Yes, i-it's quite fortunate how things turned o-out." Alphys said. "N-now, if you need anything, please call and we'll help however we can an-" she yelped as they were both suddenly scooped up into a hug.

"Yeah, punk! Anyone messes with you, and I'll beat 'em up!" Undyne declared. "And! You're gonna meet Asgore in Waterfall, but don't worry, he's a huge pushover when it comes to small cute things! You'll be fine!"

Papyrus blushed, fidgeting with his cape. "Nyeh heh.."

She put them back on their feet and they said goodbye once more before he headed in the direction of Waterfall.

"You have fun?" He almost jumped as Frisk appeared suddenly at his side.

"Where have you been?" He asked quietly. "I haven't seen you since last night!"

"I, uh, had some things to check up on." They said.

"What things?"

"Nothing important. How was your time with Alphys and Undyne?" They asked.

Papyrus frowned at their dodging, but dropped it. "It was fun! We had pancakes with golden flower syrup, which is really good! And then I sparred with Undyne for a while. After that Alphys made some soup.." He recounted as they walked further into the fog.

The change from Snowdin to Waterfall was drastic. Where it was once bright, cold, and cheery, it was now darker, the chill less biting and more damp, and there was an eerie peacefulness to it.

"I can tell why it's called Waterfall." Papyrus commented as they passed yet another small waterfall.

Frisk snorted. "Yeah. All the Monsters in charge of naming are... not very good at it."

They came upon an unmanned guard station, next to it was a glowing blue flower with a fish monster lingering next to it. But what interested Papyrus more was the Save Star glittering next to the flower.

He gratefully went up to it, not wanting to go through yesterday all over again, even if it turned out okay in the end.

"Hey, kid." The fish Monster called, "You ever seen an Echo Flower?" They canted their head towards the flower at their side. At his head shake, the explained. "Well, they're magical flowers that grow here in Waterfall. Their name comes from the fact that they repeat the last thing they hear."

His eyes widened. "Wowie! That's so cool!"

The fish nodded. "Go ahead, give it a try."

Papyrus walked up to the flower, it seemed normal, despite the fact it was blue and glowed. He hesitantly brushed his hands against the petals, and a voice, higher but definitely the fish Monster's, emanated from it. "Go ahead, give it a try."

"Oh, wow!" He the flower again, and it said, now in a squeaky version of his own voice. "Oh, wow!"

Papyrus grinned and looked up at the fish. "Thanks for showing me!"

"No problem, kid, have a good day!" He waved and walked passed the sentry post.

"Yo! Papyrus!" He looked up, it was Riley, running towards him from the hall heading deeper into Waterfall. He gasped as they tripped and face-planted dangerously close to the waterfall. He rushed forward and crossed it, dodging rocks until he was on the other side.

"You okay?" He asked as he helped them up.

They nodded, shaking off the fall. "I'm good, dude!" They hopped from one foot to the other excitedly. "You're lucky, dude, the Captain was on a different route yesterday, so you didn't miss him! I spotted him up ahead! C'mon, before we miss him!"

Though worried about meeting Captain Asgore, he couldn't disappoint his new friend, so he rushed after him, deeper into Waterfall.

Chapter Text

They walked for a bit, chatting casually, when Riley gasped and pushed Papyrus into a patch of tall grass, kneeling and looking up at the ledge above them, where an armored figure stood facing away from them, partially obscured by shadows.

Papyrus looked at Riley, who grinned at him, putting the tip of their tail to their snout in a shushing gesture.

The sound of footsteps and metal on metal brought their attention back to the ledge, where another figure joined the first. Papyrus' eyes widened, shadows covered her face, but he recognized the long red hair.

"Hey, Asgore!" Undyne said with a grin. "I'm here with my report!" The figure- Asgore nodded slightly for her to continue. "That human I called about? Well-"

"Did you fight them?" Asgore asked, his voice so deep Papyrus could feel it in his chest.

"Tch! Of course I did!" Undyne scoffed. "Chased him all through Snowdin! Speedy little punk!"

"Did you capture them?"

"Well..." Undyne grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. "No. I tried!" She said firmly. "I tried pretty damn hard, buuuut..."

"Then they are in Waterfall." Asgore rumbled. "I will find them."

"Wait, Asgore, you don't have to-!" Undyne stopped as Asgore turned fully to face her, his helmet hid his face, but Undyne seemed to see something anyways, with the way her shoulders dropped as she sighed in frustration and reluctantly said. "Ugh, fiiine! I'll help you!"

Asgore nodded. "Thank you, Undyne, you may go. Have a good afternoon. Say hello to Alphys for me."

She waved her hand. "Yeah, yeah, you too, I will. See ya later, Asgore!" With that, she sped off.

Asgore sighed and turned away from them, however as he was about to leave, Riley's tail, which they'd been trying to stop from wagging in excitement, finally escaped their efforts. The rustle caused Asgore to whirl around and stomp to the edge, Papyrus barely bit back a gasp as he kneeled on the ledge and summoned a large red trident, aiming it towards them.

Quickly, but quietly, Papyrus held Riley's tail down, biting his lip and trying to breathe softly even as his heart raced. He watched as the horned Monster inspected the grass, continued watching as he straightened and called off the trident, backing away from the ledge until he disappeared into the shadows.

He stayed still for a while, before Riley's enthusiasm could no longer be contained and he warily followed as they sprung from the grass.

He watched, panic ebbing away and amusement taking place, as they jumped from foot-to-foot, tail wagging in glee. "Yo... did you see the way he was staring at you!?" They exclaimed, apparently oblivious to the danger. "That... was AWESOME! I'm so jealous! What'd you do to get his attention?" They asked, but didn't wait for a response. "Haha! C'mon, let's go watch him beat up bad guys!" They rushed forward, tripped and face-planted, then popped back up and raced off, disappearing.

"That was intense." Frisk said.

"Yeah," he agreed, lingering at the conveniently placed Save Star. "But, it was pretty cool! Wish I could be as intimidating as him."

"Please, the world couldn't handle that coupled with the coolness you already possess." They teased.

He sighed, fighting a smile. "I suppose you're right, The Great Papyrus can't be too great. That just wouldn't be fair!" They shared a brief laugh, the lingering tension fading away, and they continued on.

They were accosted by a horse-eel Monster named Aaron at the bridge seed puzzles, Papyrus was happy when he flexed himself out of the room, he kept winking creepily. The puzzles themselves were pretty fun, and Papyrus ended up finding a hidden room with an Echo Flower that repeated a whispered "I don't know if I can handle the responsibility.." Under the bench was some kind of impression in the dirt, and a few crumbs. Papyrus hoped that whoever left the message in the Echo Flower was able to solve their problem.

They continued on. However, before they could go into the next room after completing the last bridge seed puzzle, Papyrus' phone rang.

He and Frisk shared confused glances as he answered. "Papyrus here."

"Hey, punk!" Undyne greeted. "So, uh, Asgore said he thought he'd spotted you, asked me to confirm what you looked like. I, uh, told him, so, you better get a good disguise, punk!"

Click

Frisk huffed. "Well, at least she's honest?"

Papyrus grinned, stuffing the phone back into his pocket. "That's a good thing! You should always try and be honest, I wouldn't want to get her in trouble by lying to her boss!"

"Yeah," Frisk agreed, "But, this is a matter of life and death. Asgore's job is to catch you and bring you to Regent Gaster to be killed for your Soul, which is the last one needed to break the barrier. Gaster will then lead the Monsters to slaughter when he declares war on humanity."

"Ah, well, yes, but she knows how great I am! She believes that I can get pass this, so I have to believe in her as well!" He said.

Frisk sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry, I guess I... I have a little trouble having faith in... in adults.."

"A lot of kids at the orphanage felt the same." Papyrus said. "Bad things happened to them that made them that way. But don't worry, I'll help you!"

Frisk smiled. "Thanks Papyrus."

They were walking along a dark pier. Papyrus, distracted by the unsettling plaques he'd come across, didn't notice the red glow of magic until Frisk flew in front of him with a shout of "STOP!"

He froze just as a large red trident pierced the boards in front of him, the pole just inches from his face.

"There!" Frisk pointed. Asgore emerged from the shadows, red magic coalescing into more tridents, pointed directly at the human. "Run!"

Papyrus didn't hesitate and booked it down the pier, Asgore hot on his heels. He could feel the magic tridents thunk against the wood behind him, could feel the sharp snap of magic through his boots and short tugs at his cape as the tridents caught the edges, but he just barely kept ahead of th-

SHH-LUNK!

His vision darkened. His SOUL shattered.

...

...

...

...frisk... chara...

.. i miss you..

please.. stay determined...

...

He didn't take any chance this time and started running as soon as he got to the pier. He heard Asgore pursue and felt the tridents impacting with the pier, but didn't hesitate or look back.

At the end of the pier was a patch of tall grass, which Papyrus dove into as soon as his feet left the wood. He curled up on the ground and he and Frisk watched anxiously as Asgore appeared above him. Papyrus couldn't see his eyes, but he could feel the heaviness of his gaze, and he hoped Asgore's magic didn't include laser vision.

He tensed as Asgore's head snapped towards him and through his arms over his head as an armored clad arm descended. Nothing happened, however, and instead he heard Frisk let out a relieved and partially exasperated noise. He peeked out from under his arms and stifled his amusement as he saw none other than Riley hanging in Asgore's grasp. The Monster kid was practically vibrating in excitement.

A deep sigh hissed through Asgore's mouth guard, full of fond exasperation. He gently set Riley back down in the grass, cast another searching look around the grass and surrounding area, before turning and stomping away.

He waited until the clanking faded into the distance before crawling out of the grass, heart pounding and skin twitching from adrenaline. Riley bounded of the grass behind him, bouncing and jittering, and Papyrus had to smile, because yes, it was terrifying, but he also had to agree with Riley in that Asgore was awesome!

"Oh my Stars! That was so cool!" Riley exclaimed. "Did you see him with those tridents? I can't wait til my magic manifests, I want it to be just as awesome as his!"

Papyrus grinned. "I bet it'll be even cooler!"

Riley bounced excitedly in place for another moment before racing off, they tripped, but Papyrus was only slightly concerned. He'd already concluded that this was a normal Riley thing.

Papyrus and Frisk continued on to the next room. To their surprise, they were met with Alphys, who was crouched against the wall with a pair of binoculars, some paper and pens, and a camera.

"Alphys!" The lizard Monster jumped at her name being called, blinking behind her glasses and then smiling.

"P-Papyrus! Hello!" She greeted.

"What are you doing?" He asked, looking curiously at the papers.

"O-oh, I'm mapping out the crystals." Papyrus followed where she was pointing and gasped. Millions of glittering crystals dotted the cavern ceiling, giving the appearance of a night sky.

Alphys smiled at his awed expression. "I-it's pretty, huh? W-well, unfortunately, a friend of m-mine can't see it. S-so I'm drawing him a map and taking pictures."

"That's very nice of you! I'm sure he'd appreciate it a lot!" Alphys blushed at the praise, stuttered out a thank you, and then went back to taking pictures. Papyrus gazed at the crystals for a little more before getting up.

There was a little room where he found Nick the Nice Cream vendor and Felix the Crabbycino vendor. They greeted him, Nick with enthusiasm and Felix with boredom. Their carts were closer to each other than back in Snowdin, and Felix was no longer glaring, so it seemed the 'rivalry' was now, at least, an acquaintanceship.

Papyrus left them, 50g short, pockets 1 Hate Chocolate and 1 Nice Cream heavier, and more wise than before.

"They like each other." He told Frisk.

"What?" They looked back at the vendors and frowned thoughtfully. "Wow, how'd I miss that?"

He met a strange Monster named Onionsan, and encountered a shy, but nice Monster named Shyren who he hummed with. There were two more plaques, this time telling of a species of Monster who's SOULS could persist for a short time after death. It brought up bad memories, so he left those quickly.

He grabbed an umbrella to block the 'rain' trickling from the ceiling and continued on, jumping in puddles along the way.

"Yo!" Papyrus stopped, spotting Riley huddled in a dry corner.

"Riley! Come on, you can share my umbrella!" Papyrus held the umbrella out slightly, making room.

"Thanks dude!" The Monster jumped under the cover, shaking some of the water off.

They resumed walking, occasionally challenging each other to see who could make the biggest splash in a puddle.

"Dude, isn't Asgore soooo cool?" Riley asked at random. "He's, like, the strongest Monster EVER, and beats up all the bad guys and never loses!"

Papyrus laughed. "Yes, he is pretty great!"

"I know right!? He's huge, he can see over everything! And he's the only one I've ever seen with red colored magic! It's not Determination magic, but red is a super rare color to have!" Riley gushed. "And you wanna know the best part? My moms know him! My mom is in the Guard with him and my mama's work let's her meet him a lot!"

"Wow!" Papyrus gasped. "Have you met him before?"

"Yeah, a couple of times when I was little. But I got really sick for a while, so I wasn't able to go with them to see him, and I was too out of it to notice if he visited. I only got better recently."

"Oh, no! Well I hope you're good as new and don't get sick again!"

"Nah! If I do get sick again, Imma kick it in the butt!" Riley kicked and swung his tail around, pretending to fight an imaginary opponent. Papyrus laughed and joined him.

Papyrus and Frisk were once again alone as Riley ran off to find another path. There was something about the room they were in that filled them with trepidation. It was dark, the ceiling was taller than other rooms, so the crystals' glow didn't reach as well, and below the second walkway was a black abyss.

"We can't exactly turn back." Frisk stated, casting wary glances at the darkness below them.

Papyrus sighed and drew himself up. "No, we have to believe that we'll be okay! We'll get through whatever is thrown at us!"

Frisk huffed fondly, giving him a clap. "Very inspirational, Papyrus. 10/10."

He beamed. "Thanks! I've been practicing!" They giggled, the tension fading slightly as they finally moved onward.

However, luck was not on their side. A red glow only a couple steps away was their only warning before a red trident was thrust up from the boards.

They gasped and looked down, staring up at them from the gaps in the wood was Asgore, one arm pulling back as he readied another attack.

This time Frisk didn't have to tell him to run, he was already sprinting across the walkway, yelping and dodging here and there as more tridents rose up.

"Go, go, go! The end is right there!" Frisk urged, flying close to his back as if trying to push him faster. In a feet of sudden agility he didn't know he was capable of, Papyrus threw himself into a forward roll to escape a large group of tridents, coming up from the roll already running.

He stopped, however, when he found that the walkway ended suddenly, nothing but darkness could be seen beyond the edge.

The heavy thunks of an armor clad Monster caused him to spin around, gasping as his eyes met Asgore's hidden ones.

"Please, Mr. Asgore, I don't want to fight, I don't want to hurt anyone, I just want to be friends!" He pleaded. The Guard Captain was silent.

"I'm sorry." He rumbled, before bringing his hand down. With a flash of red, multiple spears broke through the walkway, sending Papyrus careening into the abyss below.

..

...

what's that sound? it came from over here...

woah! man, that must've been a pretty bad fall. hope you had a nice trip, at least?

jeez, sorry, here i'll help ya up.

frisk and chara? nice.

the na m e ' s.. . .

Chapter Text

It was too bad ghost Monsters couldn't be dusted unless bonded to something corporeal. They would have loved to see what their remains looked like.

Oh well, plenty more to see. Right, Payton?

Please, stop it...

The pattering of footsteps approached from behind. Chara turned.

Oooh~ Look, what about them? Do you think their Dust will look like Alphys', Payton?

Nonononono, stop it! Don't!

"Yo!" Reese? Ron? Randy? Chara didn't care- The Monster kid called out, stopping a few feet away. "Yo, Asgore told me to stay away from you. He said.. that you hurt a lot of people." They paused. Chara didn't answer. "But, yo, that can't be true, right?!"

"Yo... why won't you answer me?" They asked hesitantly. Chara stared. "A-a-and what's with that weird expression...?"

Chara shambled toward them. They backed away, panic leaking into their face.

"Oh... oh man.." They stuttered."Yo... y-you better stop r-right now! Cause, i-if you wanna hurt a-anyone else, you're... y-you're gonna have to go through me, first!"

Chara grinned and the world darkened. Their stolen voice croaked.

"In my way." They struck.

The force of their strike, of their hate and anger, of their LV, broke straight through the solid red magic suddenly thrust in front of their target.

Chara's rictus grin widened.

Asgore.

The Prince pushed the Monster kid further back and called out another trident.

"Go, child. Find your mothers." He spoke, not breaking gaze with Chara.

"But-"

"Go, Riley!" The Monster kid whimpered and sprinted off. Asgore straightened, the gentleness he had shown now gone.

A wheezy giggle escaped Chara's stolen throat. "They're only gonna find one~"

Asgore growled, magic crackled in the air. "You will no longer terrorize my people, demon."

No, no, please, don't!

They clashed. Magic and fire sparked.

Then Dust once more filled the air.