Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It all started with an act of kindness, who knew it would change her whole world.

Emma had only meant to go out for some groceries she had forgotten. But by the time she reached the market and picked up the bits she wanted, the last thing she desired was to go straight back home and face all the problems awaiting her in that big old empty house.

So instead Emma walked to the nearby open-air market and sat down on a bench at the edge of the square under a nice shaded tree. She reached into her bag, took out her sketchbook and started to draw, and that’s when she saw him.

The guy in question was about 8 feet tall, wearing a light brown long sleeve top, faded blue denim jeans and bright red half-boots with what looked like golden buckles for fastenings. He also had on matching red gloves and a scarf. The scarf looked pretty worn, unlike the rest of his clothing, “ which probably meant it was something special to him, much like my hat and necklaces are to me” Emma thought to herself as she tried to get a good likeness of him. The said item of clothing was wrapped tightly around his neck and pulled up so that the front of it hid the lower half of his face, while the rest of it billowed out behind him caught in the early summer breeze.

Now that Emma looked more closely at the scarf she could see how the end of it was torn and frayed with a few small holes in it. But this was not what had drawn her attention in the first place. No, it was the fact that he was a skeleton, well, a skeleton monster to be more precise.

Now the fact that he was a monster was nothing new. They had appeared several years ago from Mt Ebott. Emma still remembered that day. It was a day very much like today. She had been out doing some odd errands. When all of a sudden there was a blinding flash of white light and the ground shook so violently that most people had fallen over, Emma included. As people started to pick themselves up off the floor, word started to spread of creatures coming out of the mountain. By the time she got home, it was official monsters were real and here!

Over the next few years, more monsters had emerged from the mountains around Ebott and slowly assimilated themselves into society as a whole. So now, in general, they are an accepted part of everyday life with the same rights as everyone else.

Emma smiled to herself as she continued to watch people go about their day.”They certainly bring more colour into the world” she thought. Sighing as she closed her sketchbook, and put it away.”I guess I should start home soon,” she murmured to herself as she took one last look around the market. Emma spotted the skeleton was also leaving the area. Just as he reached the edge of the market his wallet fell out of his pocket. No one seemed to have noticed this so Emma quickly headed across the market picking it up and chasing after him in hopes of catching up with the guy before he got too far away.

She momentarily lost sight of the skeleton as he rounded a corner. Emma groaned as she tried to run faster. She had never been very good at running or sport in general and it would be a real pain to have to try and find the police station to hand the wallet into.

Praying that she hadn’t lost him, Emma ran as quickly as she could “damn... really need to exercise more” she wheezed as she rounded the corner, to be greeted by the sight of said skeleton talking to a group of humans.

The group consisted of five males. All of them were pretty average in appearance, build and height. Three of them had brunette hair, one was black with dreadlocks and the last one had bleached blond hair and a tattoo on his right shoulder. The skeleton was right in the middle of them bending down slightly to talk with dreadlocks.

Emma slowed down to catch her breath before approaching them. One of the brunettes pulled a bat from somewhere and hit the unfortunate monster on the back of his skull, knocking him to the ground.  The others took this as their cue to start pounding the living daylights out of him. Things seem to slow down and speed up at the same time as she shoved the wallet into her bag and pulled out her phone.

It seemed to take forever to get through to the police, but it was actually a few minutes, and that was all the time needed to inform them of the assault, their location, a description of the men involved, ending it with a “please hurry”. Because at the same time the condition of the skeleton was rapidly getting worse.

Small clouds of dust were beginning to form with each new blow. Now with a monster, this was never a good sign, their bodies mainly consisted of magic with just a bit of what was generally known as dust, which stopped monsters being creatures of pure energy, giving them some physical form. This was one of the major differences between the two races, humans having completely physical bodies and no magic as far as anyone knew. Another difference and the most important one at the moment was what happened to them when they die. With a human, the body would remain the same. Monsters, on the other hand, would disintegrate when they die, leaving nothing behind but a little bit of dust.

“ So the fact that the skeleton was giving off dust meant he was getting close to death. ” This was about the only thought running through Emma’s head, that and: “ not again I’m not watching someone else die “ as she desperately tried to think of something, anything that she could do to stop this.

It probably should be mentioned that Emma is on the small size at about 5 feet tall, quite slim but probably could do with losing some weight, not very strong and as hinted at earlier not very athletic. So picking a fight with five grown men would be suicidal and that really wouldn’t help anyone. 

Luckily or unluckily for our girl fate decided to take a hand in things. For at the precise moment she was thinking of throwing her shopping at them in a desperate attempt to distract them. The guy with bleached blond hair spotted her and decided it would be fun to drag her into the middle of it all. “Looky here boys we’ve got a little fangirl admiring our work.”

“Aaww how cute do you like what you see girly?” With that, the men moved back so now she had a clear view of the skeleton. “Go on take a good look at our masterpiece.” 

Emma couldn’t have told you which one was saying what, for her eyes and most of her attention was caught by the horrific sight before her. The skeleton’s body was barely holding itself together. He had slightly curled in on himself in an instinctive attempt to protect himself from further damage. From Emma’s vantage point she could see that one of his legs was broken it was hard to tell which one from this angle, but she could clearly see the bone sticking out of his jeans. She could also see that his right arm was broken, the hand on that side was completely shattered and slowly turning to dust, which was trickling out of his glove. Also, his ribcage on the left-hand side was completely caved in, so his breathing was now coming in shallow ragged gasps that rattled what was left of his tall frame. 

Lastly, it was quite hard to even see his face because the skeleton was using his one good arm to protect his head, and what she could see was covered in a spider web of cracks with a few small pieces missing. His skull was proportioned differently from a human one. Being more elongated with a long narrow jaw that was fused to the rest of his skull.

The only thing that could be seen clearly was one eye socket. There was no eye in the socket just a faint light in the centre of the pitch blackness. The light seemed to be fading in and out, one moment bright and clear, the next moment it was barely visible like the pitiful creature was struggling to stay conscious.

But for one moment the eye-light was sharp, focussed and looking directly at Emma. The look in that light would stay with her for the rest of her life. The pain and fear was to be expected, but the understanding and acceptance, with a trace of sorrow at what was happening to him that was surprising. 

Then the moment was gone as something heavy was thrust into her hands, instinctively Emma gripped it. Looking down she saw the bat was now in her hands.”Go on girly I know you’re itching to add to it.”

“Yeah go for it kid.”

Looking at the sea of leering faces in front of her, she knew that there was only one thing she could do, and oh boy was she going to regret it. Steeling her resolve, Emma raised the bat and with all of her strength she swung it up between dreadlocks’ legs, causing him to double over in pain. She went to swing it again but was quickly disarmed by one of the men, while someone else punched her in the stomach. Then one of them grabbed her from behind.

“Hold the bitch still” dreadlocks growled as he staggered to his feet “I’m gonna show her what we do to monster lovers here.” With that, he drew a knife and grabbed Emma’s hair forcing her to look at him.

She struggled in vain as the knife came closer and closer to her face. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see what happens next. Then there was a searing pain across her left cheek, followed by dampness as blood started to run down her face.

“Better a monster lover than an intolerant bastard like you” Emma grated out from between clenched teeth.

“Why you little bitch” this was followed by another searing pain across her chest. The lightweight summer top she was wearing offering little to no protection from the knife as he continues to stab and cut her.

Emma’s world became a confusing mess of pain and sound. At some point, she found herself on the ground next to the skeleton. Weakly she tried to curl herself around him so at least one of them might survive. “ I’m going to protect you. You are going to  live, you’re going to be alright I promise you. ” This was the last coherent thought, Emma had as she started to lose consciousness, at the same time a gentle warmth started to spread from her chest dulling the pain. The last thing she heard before the darkness claims her is sirens. The police have finally shown up.

Chapter Text

Emma found herself in a strange place. Everything was fuzzy and out of focus. All she got was a vague impression of white with dark shapes in the distance, and the dark rich red of fresh blood. Above it all was the sense of terrible hunger, longing, sorrow and bitter cold that numbed you to all else.

These impressions began to fade and peter out as she slowly regained consciousness, to find herself in a hospital room. Every part of her body hurt, she had the worst headache in the world and there did not seem to be any place she could put her head that did not make it ache worse. The rest of her body was not in much better shape, it felt heavy and stiff. It was like she had run a marathon and then done a full work out. The only thing that did not hurt was her eyeballs. It also meant it took three attempts to sit up and that was with some choice language. Having finally managed this feat, Emma took stock of her immediate surroundings and herself.

The room was a typical hospital room white, sterile, and empty. All it had in it was a hospital bed, a chair, one of those tables that swing over the bed, a bedside cabinet and an uninspiring view of more hospital buildings from the only window.

She could not see any of her belongings. Her hat, bag and clothes, god even her necklace was gone. All she had on was one of those backless hospital gowns. The strange thing was that although she clearly remembered being stabbed multiple times she was not wearing any bandages.

“Okay, just how long was I out for?” She murmured to herself as she checked out her chest.

She was equipped with the standard electronics to monitor her vitals, but her chest also had a myriad of silvery slashes across it. These marks were not the silvery-white of deep scar tissue, no they had a metallic sheen to them, so as they caught the light they glittered. It was like someone had spilt silver paint all over her torso.

As Emma was trying to get her stiff fingers to move the bedsheet, so she could check the rest of her body, the door to the room opened to reveal a middle-aged female nurse with black hair tied back into a bun. “Oh my, your awake, do you need some help?”

“Um yeah, a couple of questions; how long was I out? Did the skeleton make it? Where is my stuff? And can I have a painkiller, please? My head feels like I’ve got a whole chorus line tap dancing in it.”

The nurse smiled as she altered the bed to better support Emma’s body and started to check her vitals. “That’s a lot of questions there. I only started work a little while ago. You’re my first stop of the day, so I don’t know about anyone else brought in with you. If he was a monster they most likely took him to the clinic across town. We’re not really equipped to deal with them here. As for your other questions, anything brought in with you should be in the bedside cabinet. As for the other bit, let me just check the notes here, though I might have to get a doctor to authorise giving you anything. It depends on what your notes say.” With that, she took a tablet from the trolley she had brought in with her and started to look up Emma’s notes.

As the nurse did this, Emma’s mind started to wander. “I guess it makes sense to send him there, I’m most likely in Ebott General Hospital, but how I ended up in a room, not on one of the public wards, I still have no idea.”

The clinic the nurse was going on about was part of a place called The Centre which was built and run by monsters. It was as a place they could go get any help they needed in adjusting to life on the surface and because monsters bodies were different to human ones it made sense to have a medical facility in it.

Emma was brought out of her musings by the nurse’s voice. “Here we go. You were brought in at 11 o’clock this morning, it’s now 4 o’clock so you’ve been out for six hours” she said looking down at her watch. “There is also a note saying that when you wake up I’m meant to inform the doctors, so someone should be along shortly to talk with you. They will be able to prescribe any medication you need. Also, they will be able to answer any other questions you may have far better than me.”

Emma did her best to stifle the groan that wanted to come out. Nothing good ever came from doctors wanting to talk with you in her experience. "Okay thank you. " It was at that moment her stomach decided to remind everyone in the room that she hadn’t had anything to eat since 7 o'clock that morning. "Err... Sorry about that… Um could I get something to eat, I haven't had anything since breakfast, please?" Emma could feel the blush creeping up over her face as she spoke.

"I'll see what I can do... Miss?"

"Oh, err... its Emma, Emma Lynas"

"Okay, how do you spell that last name please?"

"Um L.Y.N.A.S."

"Right, and it is Miss?"

"Yes"

"Okay, that's your medical file corrected and updated Miss Lynas. I will leave you to rest now, I will pass this information on to the medical staff, and I'll see what I can do about some food for you." With that, the nurse finished putting the information on her tablet, tidied up her trolley and left the room followed by one last "thank you" from Emma.

Sighing, Emma leaned back into the pillow, closing her eyes she tried to get her aching head to work. "Okay, let's try to think this through. She said I was out for six hours, I remember being attacked, there is no way I recovered that fast. Something seriously weird is going on. Either I'm still dreaming, ow...No hurts too much for that. The nurse got the time wrong, or... I don't know... It doesn’t make sense!” She said to herself as she looked down at the strange scars on her chest.

“Okay, hopefully, the docs can clear that one up. So what can I do if they keep me in? I'm going to have to call Steph to go check on and feed Shadow, she is the only one with a spare key. If they let me out, I’m either going to have to call a cab, or a friend, depending on how much of my clothes have survived. Either way, I'm going to need my phone. I just hope it didn't break and still has power. "

With those thoughts in mind, Emma once again tried to get up, only to be interrupted by someone else opening the door and entering the room. This time it was a youngish male with close-cropped chestnut hair, wearing a doctor's white coat, with casual slacks and a blue shirt. "Ah, good afternoon Miss Lynas, it's good to see you back with us again."

"Good afternoon... Doctor?"

"It's Doctor Layton."

"Could you please tell me what happened to me and how long I will be here for... please?" Emma could not help the slight plaintive note in her voice as she asked this.

"Ah yes, a most unusual case, just let me check the notes." Looking up from his tablet, a faint smile played across his face. "You’re a very fortunate young lady. That was an extremely vicious assault you were involved in; you're lucky to be alive."

“Okay, so why don’t I look like a mummy at the moment?”

“Excuse me?”

“Why aren’t I covered in bandages?”

“Ah yes, that’s where your case takes an interesting turn. The paramedic team that responded to you had a Healer with them.”

“A Healer? Isn’t that what monsters call their Medics?”

“Yes, there was a Grade 2 Healer with them, to treat the monster at the scene. They also treated you. Quite frankly, if they hadn’t you would have bled out before reaching the hospital.”

“Okay, so I take it they used some form of healing magic on me, but what does the Grade 2 stand for, please?”

“Yes, as you know monsters regularly use magic in their everyday life. It’s in their food, their medication and there are even some who have the ability to affect the world around them. The grade indicates the type of magic they can use and how well they can wield it. In this case, the grade means that they had about the same level of skill as the paramedics that were there.”

“Alright, that makes sense. So where does that leave me?”

“You are one of the first, if not, the first person to ever be treated for such severe injuries with any form of magic. While their magic has definitely healed you, I am a little concerned with the colour of your scars. So we are running some tests just to make sure everything is alright.”

“Okay, so how long is it likely to take? It’s just that I've got a cat at home and no one to feed her.” Great, I’m getting nervous! She thought to herself as she tried to at least look calm. Emma tended to babble when she was nervous.

Dr Layton gave her a reassuring smile. “Not to worry. We did most of the necessary tests while you were unconscious. We are just waiting for the results. As long as there are no complications, I see no problems in releasing you today.”

“Alright so how long do you think it will be before the results are in please?”

“It should not be much longer, considering the unusual nature of your case we made your tests a priority.”

“Okay” Emma hoped this would not be a case of hospital time, where a short time could be anywhere up to a couple of days to hear anything back from the medical staff.

“Alright, while we wait let’s check how you are doing physically.” He said, putting down his tablet.

The physical did not take much time, the nurse having already checked her vitals, which were good according to the doctor. Emma also learned that while she had been out they had scanned her for internal injuries and broken bones, which luckily she didn’t have. Thank you magic!

So aside from being stiff, sore and aching all over, Emma was basically okay. The Doctor finished off by checking her for concussion. “Good, you are doing just fine physically, there is nothing wrong with you that a few days of rest and some gentle exercise won’t fix. Now we are just waiting on the results of the blood tests to come back and that should be everything.”

As he gave Emma a shot for the pain he said: “Now try to get some rest, I’ll be back when we have the results.” With that, the doctor picked up his tablet, made some notes and left the room.

Emma sighed as she carefully removed a bit of tape and cotton wool from her arm, it was probably where they took her blood from earlier. God, she hated needles, she was so glad she had been out of it when it had been done. It was bad enough when the doctor gave her the shot. Looking down at her arm again Emma wondered if she could take that bit of tape off as well.

Exhaling heavily she decided to leave it alone for now. Instead, she chose to try and get at her stuff again. This time she made it to the bedside cabinet before the nurse came back with some food.

Thanking the nurse again as she left the room, Emma put down the food on the table and pulled out the plastic bag with her belongings in it. Sitting down on the bed she quickly devoured the food and started going through the bag.

Inside the bag, Emma found her trousers, sandals, bag, hat and most importantly her necklace. Sighing in relief she quickly put it back on. The necklace was a simple thing, It consisted of a silver cross plus a ring on a long silver chain, but it meant the world to her.

Feeling so much better with it back on, either that or the pain medication had kicked in, Emma once again looked at the contents of the bag. There was only her underwear left, her top and bra were nowhere to be seen, which given the state of her chest was understandable. Next, she examined her hat.

It was a wide-brimmed black hat with a pair of bronze welder’s goggles over the hatband. One of the dark lenses was cracked and would need replacing. The cog brooch she had made was still intact on the left-hand side of the hatband. The same could not be said for the two pheasant feathers behind it. They were looking pretty beat up and would also need to be replaced. But most importantly, on the opposite side of the hat, still attached to the goggles was the little pin badge that once belonged to her dad. The rest of the hat could be replaced if necessary, but there was no way she could replace that pin.

As Emma put her hat down she noticed that there was some sort of white powder on it. Looking back at the rest of her stuff, it was also covered in the same white powder; that glittered faintly in the light. There were also some traces of blood on her bag and trousers. About the only thing without any marks on it was her underwear. She really hoped that it was just dirt and not dust. Anyway, everything was going to get washed when she got home, but to do that she needed to get home first and she still had not seen her phone. Okay, the hospital had public phones which she could call a taxi from, but without a top that would be awkward, to say the least. She might be able to use a hospital phone to call someone, but she couldn’t remember any of her friend’s numbers. The only number she could remember was her home phone and that wouldn’t help because the only one at home right now was her cat.

She just wished she could remember what had happened to her phone during the fight. Her trousers did not have any pockets and she had already emptied the plastic bag. That left her old college bag.

The bag was a big cloth satchel, it had once been a deep rich forest green but over the years it had faded down to a pale sage colour. Not that you really could see it, as it was almost completely covered in patches. Some were ones Emma had made depicting her favourite anime characters, the rest were ones she had found, or her family had given her over the years.

She rummaged through the contents of the bag. Emma was grateful to see that although her groceries were battered, her sketchbook had survived the ordeal without a scratch. Her purse and cards were still there, so a taxi was an option, however embarrassing it might be. Next, her hand came to rest on another wallet. For a moment Emma had trouble remembering whose wallet it was. Then she realised that she still had the skeleton’s wallet.

Groaning she put it back in the bag. She would have to figure out how to get it back to him later. Right now she really wanted her phone, and finally her hand came to rest on it. Sometimes Emma really wished she could afford a smartphone, but it really wasn’t practical with the way her life was going at the moment. So instead she had the cheapest phone on the market, a £10 pay-as-you-go, with really crappy battery life and a bad habit of turning itself on in her bag. It also tended to die on her at the most inconvenient moments. So she was pleasantly surprised to find out, not only had her phone survived, but it still had enough power to call someone. Now, who to call? Most of her friends worked, or couldn’t drive. As she scrolled through the short list of her contacts, one name stood out, Patch.

With a silent prayer, she hit the call button and nervously waited for him to pick up. Emma always felt tense and uncertain when she tried to talk with someone on the phone. Whether she was trying to simply book a taxi, or arrange a get-together with her friends, it was always the same. Maybe it was because in general Emma tended to be shy and nervous when trying to talk to anyone. It was worse over the phone because it was harder to gauge their reaction.

Her train of thought was interrupted by someone answering the phone. “Hello”

“Hey Patch, it’s Emma.”

“Hey babe how are ya?” His voice as always sounded happy and relaxed.

“Not so good.”

“What’s up?” A note of concern entering his voice.

Emma tried to speak but found that her voice had gone. Her throat felt tight, also tears pricked at her eyes. All the stress from what had happened to her was finally catching up.

“Babe? Em, what's happened?”

With a great deal of effort, she forced herself to speak. “Sorry … just been having a really rough day, and could really use some help right now.”

“Alright babe, take your time. Where are you? And what can I do to help?”

“I think I’m in Ebott General… Sorry, I forgot to ask earlier. I don’t even know what ward I’m on.” She struggled to keep her voice steady as she talked.

“Okay, hun. It’s going to be alright, just take it slow, What happened?” Patch’s calming tones, as always, helped Emma to steady herself.

Taking a deep breath she continued “I was attacked… I woke up in the hospital… They are running some blood tests. Physically I’m fine, so if the tests come back okay they’ll let me go home… So if it’s not too much trouble could you come to pick me up please?”

“Of course babe. Be right there. If you get the chance to find out exactly where you are, text me, okay hun?”

“Yeah, thanks Patch.”

“Any time.”

“Um… Patch?”

“Yes Em.”

“... Could you bring a spare top with you? Mine kinda went M.I.A.”

“Of course Em. I’ll be there as soon as possible. Okay, hun?”

“Yes, thanks again Patch.” With that, the phone call ended.

Letting out a sigh of relief Emma put the phone down on the table, for once not turning it off to save the battery, just in case Patch needed to call her back. After putting on her few remaining clothes, she once more curled up on the bed. To pass the time she pulled out her sketchbook and started to doodle.

At some point in time, a member of staff came round for the empty tray of food. So Emma was able to get the information for Patch and pass it along. While waiting for either her friend or the doctor to show up, her mind started to wander as her hands continued to draw. It drifted to thoughts of the guy coming to get her.

They had known each other for years. Stephanie may have been Emma’s oldest and best friend. But Patch and his wife Jacqui were people she could always count on.

They all shared the same hobby, it was how they met. Patch was a bear of a man at 6 foot. His head was shaved except for the top, where his thick ginger hair was normally tied back in a shoulder-length ponytail. His wife Jacqui was much shorter being closer to Emma in height, but still having a good few inches on her. She had dark blond shoulder-length hair. Neither of them looked or acted like the 60ish-year-olds they were. The only hint to their age was the fact that Jacqui walks with a stick and Patch’s Santa Claus style thick white beard.

Though the pair were old enough to be Emma’s parents they treated her like everyone else, not like a child. Some might find their friendship odd, especially since the pair were old bikers and Emma was still trying to get out of her old art student ways, but they were two of Emma’s closest friends.

Thinking about art she focussed back on what she had been drawing. To her surprise among her normal doodles of dragons, plants and such like, were some rather creepy images. Like a plate of spaghetti with an eyeball and a severed ear on it. There was another one of a commercial-style pot with a hand sticking out of it.

“Okay, so the attack affected me more than I thought. Let’s stop trying to avoid it and just get it out of my system.” And with that thought in mind, she started to draw all she could remember of the assault. From the condition of the skeleton, who she hoped had survived, to the appearance of their attackers.

Much like with buses where you wait for ages for one to show up, then all of a sudden three arrive at the same time. Everything seemed to happen all at once for our girl.

She was just putting the finishing touches to her drawings when her friends showed up. She just about managed to get the greetings (which involved a quick hug from the pair) over with, when Doctor Layton showed up with her test results. As he was about to speak he was interrupted by someone else knocking on the door before entering the room.

Not one, but two people appeared in the doorway. This new pair consisted of a fairly nondescript male police officer, who was dwarfed by the 7-foot tall monster standing next to him. The monster appeared to be a female humanoid fish with bright blue scales, sharp, yellow, piranha-like teeth, brilliant scarlet hair drawn back in a high ponytail and gills where her ears should be. She was also wearing a uniform similar to the police officer’s but with a few differences. The main one being that the badge over her chest was that of the monster royal family known as the Deltarune.

As her, one good eye (the left being covered by an eye patch) took in the room, it came to rest on Emma. An excited grin covered her face, the next thing anyone knew she had pinned Emma against the bed and was fixatedly staring down at her left cheek. “Wow never thought I’d see one… That’s so cool!”

The fish’s hand started to move towards Emma’s cheek when it was stopped by the police officer. “Captain Undyne would you please leave the young lady alone. We’re here to get a witness testimony, not to accost people!”

“Fu fu fu fu sorry kid. I can get carried away sometimes.” Undyne said, rubbing the back of her head. A much more sheepish grin now gracing her face as she backed up to her partner.

“Ahem, sorry about that, please let me introduce us properly.” Glaring at his partner who was still grinning unrepentantly. “This is Captain Undyne of the Royal Guard and I’m Lieutenant Rojers of the Ebott Police Force. We’re working this case jointly since it involves both species. We would like to get your account of what happened for the records please.”

Emma sat down on the edge of the bed. She was not surprised to find someone from the Royal Guard here. Though their main job, as the name suggested, was to guard the monster royal family, they also served as the police force for their race.

Looking at the captain, she fought the urge to get her sketchbook out and draw the cool looking creature in front of her. Instead, she asked. “Um… Okay before we get into that… Err Captain?”

“Undyne, kid.”

“Okay, Captin Undyne, what did you mean by ‘never thought to see one’ please?”

“Oh, you mean the awesome dust scar. Heard old man Gerson talk about them, never thought I’d see one in real life.”

“Dust scar?”

“Yeah, Gerson said that you could sometimes see humans with them during the war.”

The war Undyne was referring to happened over a thousand years ago and had long since faded from human history. It was a war between the races, the war that humans had won. In the end, the humans had trapped the ill-fated surviving monsters under the mountains around Ebott, for all what was meant to be all-time, but as we know this was not the case.

Emma’s fingers ran across the silver scar on her cheek. Doctor Layton furrowed his brows. “Do you mean to say you know why my patient’s scars are that unusual colour?”

“Fu fu fu, yeah the kid just got some dust in her cuts. Not surprising considering she had been covered in the stuff. You’d think she’d killed the guy herself.”

“Oh god, he didn’t die… Did he?” A look of horror crossed Emma’s face.

“Oh no no no the gentleman is doing fine. Actually, he’s perfectly fine now, there isn’t even a mark left on him. Those healers of theirs do amazing work.” The lieutenant reassured her.

“That’s good, I’m so glad… So I’ve basically got the monster equivalent of a miners blue scar or a tattoo?”

“Yeah.” If Undyne's smile got any bigger her face would have split in half.

“Okay Miss, if that answers all your questions? Shall we begin the interview, so the good doctor can finish what he was doing?”

“Yes thank you. So what do you want to know?”

“If you could tell us what you remember of the attack and the events that lead up to it please Miss?” Rojers asked as he drew a pad of paper and a pen out of the folder he was carrying and got ready to take notes.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Emma started to recount that day’s events. At some point during her tale, Jacqui sat down next to her taking one of her hands, while Patch moved to her other side placing his arm over her shoulder in a silent show of support. She finished by describing her attackers plus showing them the sketches she had done.

“Wow, those are awesome!”

“Yes. These could prove useful. Do you mind if we take them with us?”

“Err… I would rather not damage my sketchbook… but if you need them. Then… Okay.” Emma looked down at the book in her lap. It was an A4 hardback thing that her mother gave her for her last birthday. Taking the pages out would weaken it and most likely make it unusable, but she would do it if it meant those men would never hurt someone else again.

“That won’t be necessary, there is a photocopier in the nurses’ station. We can have those images copied for you in a few minutes. Now if that’s everything I would like to talk with my patient.” Said Doctor Layton from the corner of the room where he had been standing the whole time. Emma had quite forgotten he was still in the room.

“Yes, that would be helpful doctor. Now Miss, if you would just check and sign this statement for us that should be everything.” The lieutenant smiled as he handed over the pad and pen to Emma, taking the sketchbook in exchange. “Now, if the good doctor would show me to the nurse’s station we’ll get these copied and let you get back to your day.”

“Yes of course, if you will give me a few moments to finish my business with Miss Lynas I’ll gladly take you there.” Turning to Emma the doctor continued, “Your test results came back clear so you are free to go home. I recommend that you try to take it easy for the next couple of days to give your body time to recover. If you experience any lingering symptoms you should contact your G.P. immediately.”

“Okay. Thank you” Emma could not describe how relieved those words made her. For aside from the fact she really didn’t want to spend the night in a hospital, her body and especially her scalp was starting to inch madly from the blood and dust that she was still coated in. God, she really wanted a bath. It wouldn’t just be her clothes that got a wash when she got home.

“Now lieutenant, if you would please follow me we’ll get the copies done.” With that, the pair left the room.

By the time Emma had finished checking the notes and signed at the bottom of the page, they were back. She and the lieutenant once more exchanged books. As the officers were about to leave, the doctor having already left, Emma remembered something. “Excuse me, officers are you going to see the skeleton again?”

“Yeah kid,” Undyne said as she turned around to look back into the room.

“Could you please give this back to him?” Pulling his wallet out of her bag. “It was why I was following him in the first place.”

“Fu fu fu sure punk.” Taking the wallet Undyne once again turned to leave the room. “Ya know, for a human, your something else.” With that, she was gone. Leaving Emma with her two friends.

Finally being able to take off the hospital gown, she put on the t-shirt Patch had brought. Turning around she noticed a look of sympathetic pain on Jacqui’s face at the sight of her scars. “Hey, it beats the alternative. It’s not like I wear a lot of low cut tops anyway.”

“Mmm…” Jacqui’s face still looked concerned.

“Come on at least they’re pretty.” Emma smiled trying to reassure her friend. “ What’s important is that I'm alive and he’s alive, if this is the price I have to pay for that, then fine, it’s not too bad. Come on let’s get out of here, I’ll buy you guys a takeaway as a thank you for coming to get me.”

“Oh no hun, if anybody is buying food here it’s me,” Patch told Emma as the trio left the room and started for the exit.

They were still arguing good-naturedly as they left the hospital and headed towards Patch’s van. None of them noticed the two sets of eyes that followed them as they got into the van and left the car park. Nor did they hear the growl as two dark shapes detached themselves from the shadows to follow after them.

Chapter Text

The next day Emma woke up still feeling a bit stiff and sore, but nowhere near as bad as yesterday. Once again her dreams were haunted by the faint images that she could not make sense out of. But the feelings of hunger, pain, fear and loneliness, plus that bitter cold, were stronger this time. To the point that she felt cold in her baking hot attic room.

As she got dressed for the day she thought about the odd dreams she was having. For you see, Emma rarely remembered her dreams and when she did they were usually the reverse of what she had last night. Normally there wasn’t any sound and she definitely did not feel anything. There was only one dream she could ever remember having any sound. It had been a strange little dream where she was trying to break a robot which was making a really annoying sound, only to wake up to find out it was her alarm clock going off.

“Well, at least I’m not having nightmares about the attack” she murmured to herself as she headed downstairs for breakfast.

After Emma had finished eating she spent the rest of the morning following the doctor’s advice and relaxed watching Netflix until it was midday when she had to leave for an appointment.

As she walked, she checked her bag to make sure she had everything. She needed her purse and cards so she could stop off at Muffet’s Bakery for a bite to eat after her appointment. The bakery was run by a spider monster who the place was named after. It had, as far as she was concerned, the best pastries in town. She was also one of the first monsters to own and run a business on the surface.

Her thoughts drifted to what sweet treats she would get later. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she was not aware of the two creatures that were following her until a deep gravelly baritone voice growled out. “Human, don’t you know how to greet a new friend? Turn around and shake my hand.”

Turning around Emma was greeted by a broad chest in a white t-shirt and blue jacket with thick grey fur around the hood. She had to look up to see his face. The guy had to be at least 6 feet tall. He was a skeleton. His skull was rounder than a human’s and there was a huge hole on the left side above the eye socket, which had a large crimson orb in it. The right socket was empty with some faint scratches and chips around the base and his mouth was stretched out in a jack-o-lantern style smile. He had one skeletal hand stretched out in greeting.

Slightly behind him and to the left was another skeleton who could have been his twin except for a few things. He was a few inches shorter for a start and instead of a t-shirt he was wearing a white polo shirt. His blue jacket had a grey hood with no fur and it was drawn up over his head. His skull seemed to be slightly fuller too. He had the same jack-o-lantern smile on his face, but the most startling difference was his eye lights. The right one was a deep crimson, while the left one was a light cyan with a bright red ring around it. Looking down a bit she noticed that the two skeletons were dressed identically in the same black shorts with a white line down both sides. They each wore matching white trainers, though the one at the back had not bothered to do up his shoelaces.

Hesitantly Emma extended her hand towards the skeleton. “H-hi”.

God, she hated it when people came up to her like this. Given her shy nature, her stomach was trying to tie itself into knots. She just wanted to run away, but her parents had raised her with manners so instead, she asked. “Can I help you?”

“You can die, dirty little monster hater.” The skeleton growled as his hand closed around hers.

Crying out in pain Emma jerked her arm back freeing it from his grip. Looking down at her hand she was shocked to see a deep bloody gash in the palm. Cradling her injured arm against her body she backed away from the pair of skeletons, while desperately looking around for somebody, anybody, to help her, but there was no one there and no way to escape.

The only thing she could do was try to talk her way out of this. It had to be a mistake, she didn’t hate monsters. “I don’t …” The words died on her lips as she watched in horrified fascination. The first skeleton brought his bloody hand to his mouth revealing a wicked little knife that he had been concealing in his cupped hand. His teeth parted to reveal a long gelatinous blue tongue that seemed to glow with an inner light. With it, he started licking the blood from his fingers.

“Don’t lie, I can still smell his dust on you.” Came a deep powerful voice from behind her.

Turning slightly, she found that the other skeleton had somehow gotten behind her. Then there was a terrible pressure in Emma’s chest, making it hard to breathe. The next thing she knew she was flying through the air until she smashed into a nearby wall.

As she hit the floor she thought she heard someone call out “BROTHER WHAT ARE YOU D…” The rest of the sentence was lost as darkness once more reached out to claim her.

This time there were no dreams, just coming around to another pounding headache. Slowly sitting up Emma found herself lying on a couch in a rather pleasant sitting room. Her hat and bag were on a coffee table in front of her. There seemed to be voices coming from another room. As she swung her legs over the edge of the seat she knocked her right hand on the couch and felt a slight sting. Examining her hand she noticed that the deep gash from before was now a faint mark on her palm. “Well, I guess wherever I am they’ve got a healer. It’s a shame it doesn’t work on clothing.” Emma murmured quietly to herself as she checked out the blood and dirt on her top.

“Brother I Do Not Care What You Say… Oh, Miss, You’re Awake.” In the doorway stood the skeleton from the assault yesterday. But unlike last time she could now clearly see his whole face. It was remarkable, he looked perfectly fine, with no injuries, exactly the same as the first time she saw him. Except this time she could see that his teeth were all crooked and jagged.

A shocked silence filled the room as the two stared at each other. Both trying to think of something to say. Emma was the first to break the silence by blurting out the first thing to cross her mind. “I’m glad to see that you’re alright, did that officer give you your wallet back yet?”

“You’re kidding me. Ya glad he’s alright after you tried to kill him.” This came from the skeleton with a hole in his head, who had somehow gotten in front of the other one, even though he was still standing in the doorway with no way to get around him.

Huffing in exasperation the tall skeleton tried to move past the other one, only to be blocked again. “Brother Stop This At Once! How Many Times Do I Have To Tell You It Was MEN That Attacked Me! This Little Morsel Had Nothing To Do With It!”

“Oh come on bro you must smell the dust on her.”

“I’m Sure There Is….”

“I’m sorry Papyrus but I have to agree with Axe on this. We know one of them ended up in the hospital and she came out covered in the stuff.” Came a quiet voice from the other side of the room.

Turning, Emma was startled to see the skeleton with the two-tone eye lights was sprawled over a chair with a manic smile spread over his face. She was sure that he hadn’t been there before.

“Dust Please If We Just Give The Human A Chance To Explain Herself I Bet There Is A Good Reason For It.”

“Yeah, she attacked you,” Axe growled out as he tried to shake off his brothers restraining arm.

“Brother, Please Just Let Her Talk.”

Three sets of eye lights turned to face Emma. Two sets promising pain and a slow death, if they didn’t like what they heard. The other set looked on expectantly with an encouraging smile on his face.

Taking a deep breath and concentrating on the one skeleton that did not seem to want to kill her, she started to talk. “The reason I was covered in… I guess your dust, was because they attacked me too.”

“Yeah right.”

“Brother Please Let The Little Human Finish.”

“Thanks. Like I was saying they must have seen me calling the police, the next thing I knew they grabbed me and started pounding the living daylights out of me. I don’t really remember much else until I woke up in the hospital.”

The moment Emma finished speaking she found herself suddenly swept up into a tight skeletal embrace while being spun around the room and nuzzled by Papyrus. “OH, I KNEW IT. I JUST KNEW IT! YOU’RE THE ONE THAT SAVED ME NYEH EH EH EH EH.”

“I think the healer had more to do with it than me.”

“WE SHOULD CELEBRATE! I SHALL MAKE US A FEAST!” Just like her friend Stephanie the more excited Papyrus got, the louder he got and the less he seemed to listen.

Emma couldn’t help but smile a bit at the energetic skeleton’s antics. “Wait, what time is it? I would love to stay but… “

“THEN IT’S SETTLED. I SHALL GET STARTED RIGHT AWAY! BROTHER, PLEASE ENTERTAIN OUR GUEST.” Declared Papyrus.

“.... I have an appointment at 1.30 …. And you’re not listening to me... Okay, I guess I’m staying for lunch and phoning them up to rearrange my appointment.” Shaking her head ruefully as she watched Papyrus dash happily from the room. “At least he remembered to put me down first before running off like that.” She thought to herself as she reached for her bag and the cellphone therein.

But it was not there. Frantically she searched through her belongings, hoping that it had just fallen loose somewhere in the bag. Everything else was still there, at least that meant she still had what she needed for the appointment, and money for a taxi, if, or hopefully when, the skeletons let her go.

Emma was not a fool she knew that she was completely at their mercy. She was alone in what had to be their house. No one knew she was here and her friends wouldn’t start worrying about her until she missed meeting up with them on Saturday. This being Tuesday that didn’t really help matters. Also, the fact that two out of the three monsters with her were openly hostile and had tried to kill her earlier, wasn’t exactly comforting either. But for some stupid reason, her brain had decided to treat this like any other visit with a friend. And to top it all off she still could not find her blasted phone. Oh God, maybe it had fallen out when she hit the wall. It wasn’t much of a phone but it was the only one she had.

“Lose something Girly?” Looking up Emma saw Axe holding her phone in one clawed hand.

“Yeah that! Can I please have it? I need to make a call.” Holding out her hand with a hesitant smile now gracing her face.

“Nope” crushing the phone like it was nothing and dusting off his hands “Do you think I’m stupid. You may have fooled my brother, but you don’t fool me.” Axe growled.

Dust moved next to him, his manic grin turning positively evil as his hand started to glow a vibrant purple colour. Emma suddenly found that she could not move a muscle and some invisible force was dragging her to her knees.

Summoning a sharpened bone, Axe knelt down next to her, pulling her head back and placing the tip of the bone against her neck. “Now you’re going to tell me what your game is.”

Emma was normally a sensible girl and would never antagonise someone who had a knife against her throat. But the stress of the last couple of days and the way her life was going in general, just made something inside her snap. So instead of feeling scared, like any sensible person, she ended up feeling just fed up and angry with the stubborn bag of bones in front of her. “Seriously, I needed that! What is your problem? I was just going to call Citizens Advice to change my appointment, if it’s not too late already, since your brother wants me to stay.” She said angrily. “Not that I have a problem with that, he seems to be a sweet guy and I’d like a chance to get to know him. But I’d also like to keep a roof over my head! What did you think I was going to do, call the police? And tell them what exactly? That a pair of insane skeletons attacked me, knocked me out and I’ve woken up in what I think is their home. Please could you use my crappy phone to find me?” She added sarcastically. “Yeah right! Lucky if the stupid thing has any battery, let alone connect to anything. God, it’s so basic I’m lucky it rings. It doesn’t even have internet access! So just how were they going to track me? What did you think I was going to do, hurt him? How do you think I got these scars in the first place? I got them because I WOULDN'T HURT HIM!!”

Whatever Axe had been expecting to hear, this was not it. Where was the screaming? The begging and the fear that made it so easy to tell if someone was lying without having to check them? Any monster could read, or as it was more commonly known among his people, ‘check’ a soul. With this ability, you could see into someone’s soul and depending on what magic you had, and how strong it was, you could learn things about a person. In Axe’s case, he could use it to see if someone was lying. But with this girl, he could not sense a thing, and stranger still, it seemed that she could feel him ‘checking’ her and it made her wince in pain. Not that he cared but humans had lost the ability to feel, or see, their souls when they lost the ability to use magic.

Growling in frustration, he tightened his grip on her hair, pulling her head back savagely making Emma cry out in pain. This girl was starting to piss him off and judging by the look in her hazel eyes the feeling was mutual.

Looking down at her pale skin he noticed the silver mark on her cheek. “Wait, that's a scar?” The bone disappeared as his hand reached out to touch it.

“Yes it’s a scar, I’m not that messy a painter,” Emma said as she tried in vain to move away from the skeletal hand now cupping her cheek.

“It’s silver,” Axe said as he started to twist her head from side to side to get a better look at the thing.

“It’s a dust scar.” Emma grated out from between clenched teeth, as Axe continued to wrench her head about. This was not the most comfortable sensation in the world.

Dust moved closer to get a better look, still keeping a tight grip on her with his magic. “Nope, not my work.”

“BROTHER, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Papyrus asked as he poked his head back into the room.

“Evidently checking out my scar while forgetting about personal space.” Emma couldn’t help the sarcasm that entered her voice. As the other two finally let go of her and backed up, looking very much like a pair of naughty children caught by an adult.

“I HEARD YELLING” Papyrus stated as he gave the pair a suspicious look making them both squirm. It seemed they didn’t want to upset him.

Emma sighed. She was most likely going to regret helping them out, but she found she could not bring herself to hurt this sweet creature’s feeling or damage his world view. “Sorry, that was me... I kind of lost it when I found out my phone got broken earlier... Um, I don’t suppose you’ve got one I can borrow, please? I really need to make a call, if you want me to stay… You see I have or had, I really don’t know what the time is, an appointment at 1.30.”

“You Want To Leave Don’t You?” Papyrus sounded so hurt as he collapsed in on himself.

Sighing again, Emma walked over to the skeleton, ignoring the warning growl coming from Axe, and gently lifted his chin so they were looking at each other. Shaking her head as she smiled softly at him. “You’re not listening... I NEED this appointment but I DO want to get to know you. So I was going to try and rearrange it for another day. After all, you have already gotten under my skin.” She said as she absentmindedly touched the scar on her cheek.

Suddenly Papyrus threw his head back, raised his hands to the heavens and cried. “NOOOO!! I LEAVE YOU ALONE WITH MY BROTHER FOR ONLY A FEW MINUTES AND HE HAS ALREADY INFECTED YOU WITH HIS BAD SENSE OF HUMOUR!!!!”

Emma looked on in confusion. She could hear the muffled sound of laughter going on behind her, but could not understand what was so funny. It looked like she had done it again - made a pun when she was being serious. “Err no, I mean it literally, you’re under my skin.”

Now it was the turn of the skeletons to look confused. “What?”

“Um yeah, you’re the reason my scars are silver.” Gently running her fingers over the mark. Emma looked at the still confused skeletons. “Um, let's see if I can explain it... It’s kinda like when coal dust gets left in a wound giving the scar a blue tinge ….. Evidently, when this happens with monster dust, it turns the scar silver instead. So unless another monster came along and decided to rub their dust into my cuts, which I doubt, this is you.”

“So I’m Part Of You” an awed look filling Papyrus’ face.

“Yes, I guess you could say that.”

“And You Don’t Want To Leave? You Want To Be My Friend?”

“Yes, you silly sweettttt….” Once more Emma found herself being swept up in a bone-crushing hug by the energetic skeleton. “Pap-py-rus breathing is a necessary thing for humans, ease up a bit big guy.”

“Oh Sorry, Tiny Friend I Keep Forgetting How Fragile You Little Morsels Are.” Papyrus apologised as he gently put her back down.

“It’s alright, oh it’s Emma by the way.”

“NYEH?”

“My name is Emma, and you’re Papyrus right?”

“Oh, How Remiss Of Me. I Never Introduced Myself Or My Brothers.” Dust seemed to flinch when Papyrus said this. “Well, This Will Never Do. Proper Introductions Are The Basis To All Good Relationships.” Straightening himself out, placing a hand over where his heart should be. Papyrus cleared his nonexistent throat and continued. “Ahem, Hello I Am The Great Papyrus And This Is My Brother Sa-an, Axe! And This Is My Other Brother, Dust.”

Fighting with herself to keep from laughing at this sweet creature’s antics. Emma extended her hand in greeting. “Hello, Papyrus it is a pleasure to meet you and your brothers. My name is Emma, but my friends tend to call me Em. Would you like to be my friend?”

Before Papyrus could say anything and sweep Emma into another hug, Dust butted in. “Hey, Pap I think I can smell something burning.”

“OH OUR LUNCH!” With that, Papyrus once more left the room. Leaving Emma alone again with the other two.

Biting back another sigh Emma turned to face the two grinning skeletons. “I know there is most likely nothing I can say to convince you that I didn’t try to hurt your brother, but can we please come to some sort of compromise?”

“Like what?” Axe’s bass growl dripped with suspicion as he crossed his arms over his chest. Dust pulled a knife out of his jacket and started to play with it. Both continued to glare at the girl.

“If you’re still worried that I’ll call the police, just let me dial the number for Citizens Advice. Then we either put the phone on loudspeaker so you can hear everything or once I’ve dialled I pass the phone to you with the information you need and you rearrange my appointment. And when Papyrus comes back in I keep the sarcasm to a minimum, and you drop the death threats at least until it’s time to go.”

“Or we could kill you right now.” Axe’s perpetual grin took on an evil edge as he summoned a bone-like axe.

“Okay,” Emma said walking back to the coffee table, picking up her stuff and putting it back on. “Shall we get going?”

“What?” Staring in shocked silence at this strange human in her battered old hat, dirty long-sleeved tunic top, grey waistcoat and black leggings. This is just not normal. Who just stands there patiently waiting for someone to kill them? Was she still trying to play them? In vain Axe tried to check her soul again, maybe he should just pull it out and show Papyrus that this human was lying through her teeth.

Just when he was about to do this Emma began to speak again. “Well, I figure that you don’t want to get blood all over your living room floor, so you are going to kill me somewhere else. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I am going to fight you every step of the way. Not that it will do me any good, so if you could do me the small favour of dumping my body somewhere it will be found in the next 48 hours, with some form of identification on it, I won’t start screaming until we leave the house... Oh, have you thought of what you are going to tell Papyrus yet?”

“So that’s your game, use Papyrus against me?” Axe’s crimson orb flared like a small nova, as he took a threatening step towards her.

“No, just curious how you are going to explain it to your bro’.” Emma sighed once more as she gave in to the weariness that had been building in her for the last couple of minutes and sat back down on the couch. She took off her hat and bag and placed them down next to her. “Look, I don’t know what else to say to convince you that I don’t want to hurt your brother, that I did not attack him or stab myself to fool the police. So if you are going to kill me, could you please just get it over with. I’m too tired to care anymore.”

It took Axe’s rage-filled mind a few seconds to register what had been said. “Wait, what did you just say?”

“That I’m tired. Look, I get it you don’t trust humans and you want to protect your brother. So shall we just get this over with?” Emma said gently massaging her chest wishing two things. One that her chest would stop hurting and two that her stupid brain would stop doing this to her. First, it treated this like a visit to a friends and now the stupid thing was calmly organising her death like it was a trip to the supermarket. Why did her brain keep doing this to her? She knew these monsters distrust would be the death of her, but her brain just did not seem to care.

Axe’s harsh voice cut through Emma’s mental rant “No the stab thing.”

“Oh…. I did say scars, as in more than one. Did you really think that those bastards left me alone after one measly little cut on the cheek?” Emma asked as she raised her top over her head, revealing the rest of the silvery marks to the pair of belligerent skeletons.

It was a few moments before Axe spoke again. “Alright, give me the information I’ll make the stupid call... But if you hurt my little bro in any way...”

“I know, you’ll kill me where I stand... Oh, and thank you.” Emma cut in as she pulled her top back down and handed the skeleton the information with a relieved smile on her face. She was really grateful someone else was going to do the talking.

Axe grunted instead of replying as he walked off to make the call. This strange little human meant nothing to him, but the kid could not have done all that to herself and she seemed to make Pap happy, so he would give her a pass for now.

Meanwhile, back in the sitting room, Emma had given in to temptation, got her sketchbook out and started to idly doodle. Part of her would have loved to draw the skeleton who once again was sprawled over the same chair from earlier, still playing with the knife. However, she didn’t think that the belligerent creature would like it, so she stuck to doodling while trying to figure out what was going on in her brain.

This process was stopped by Dust’s quiet voice. “What are you doing?”

“Just drawing.” Emma looked up, realising that like yesterday there were some pretty macabre images in among her normally light-hearted doodles.

“Why?” Dust asked as he stood up, took the sketchbook and started to flick through it.

“I find it relaxing,” Emma replied wearily, watching the skeleton who had over two months of work in his clawed hands.

Ignoring the look she was giving him, Dust continued to look through the book. He had to admit she had some talent, he could easily recognise the monsters she had drawn, all the images were quite nice. Then he saw the stuff Emma had drawn in the hospital. “What the FUCK is this?” Brandishing the sketchbook like it was a weapon and pointing to the picture of Papyrus slowly turning to dust. “Do you get some sick pleasure from this?”

“No” Emma could not bring herself to look at what she had drawn, it was still too raw a memory for her.

“Then what?” Dust growled, sounding more like Axe than himself.

“I just wanted it out of my system,” Emma said quietly, as she pulled her legs up hugging them, her voice got quieter as she continued. “Dad would always talk things out, either with the people at work or Mum when he got home. But there was no one there, so I tried to draw it out, so I wouldn’t see it every time I closed my eyes. But god, the look in his eye …. Eye light? How could I ever forget that?”

Silence fell across the room as Emma got lost in her thoughts until she felt something touch the back of the head. Flinching at the touch, Emma looked up to see Dust holding out her sketchbook. “Here, put it away.”

“Okay, thank you” taking the book back and hugging it to her chest, before putting it back into her bag.

Dust settled back into the chair and turned on the T.V. Before completely settling down to watch something, he looked over to the girl and asked her about the thing that had been bugging him for a while. “Why did you help Papyrus?”

“I didn’t, I just called the police.” Seeing Dust raising a bony eye ridge Emma sat up straight and spread her arms wide as she continued. “Look at me, I’m no fighter, what chance did I have against five armed men? I was going to throw my shopping at them in an attempt to distract them, but they spotted me and well the rest is history... If the police and that healer had not shown up when they did, we would both be dead now.”

“Yeah, but why did ya get involved at all? You could have just walked on by and they would have left you alone.”

“I just could not watch someone else die... Not again.” The last bit came out in a barely audible whisper.

After that, the pair lapsed into silence as they looked at the T.V. without really seeing what was on it, their minds going to different places. This continued until Axe reappeared to inform Emma that he had rearranged her appointment for tomorrow morning at 11. After a very grateful “Thank you” from Emma they fell back into silence until Papyrus came to tell them that lunch was ready.

Papyrus led the way through to the dining room. If you had asked Emma what the room looked like, she would not have been able to answer you, for all her attention was on the table in the centre of the room. She had thought Papyrus had been exaggerating when he said he was making a feast, but there it was. The table looked like it would collapse under the sheer weight of food on it. All of it looked amazing and the smell was making her mouth water, but the vast amount of it was intimidating. Even considering the size of the three skeletons with her, that was an awful lot of food to get through. “Wow Papyrus, if this tastes half as good as it smells, then this is going to be awesome. I hardly know where to start.”

“Nyeh Eh Eh Thank You, Tiny Friend” Papyrus chuckled as he ushered Emma into a chair and filled her plate with a very generous serving, before serving himself and his brothers with even bigger portions.

The food tasted even better than it looked. Throughout the meal, Emma expressed her pleasure at Papyrus’s cooking skills by heaping praise and compliments on him. This made the tall skeleton’s cheekbones glow a rusty orange colour, which in turn, fascinated Emma. She loved the way the light came up from within him, she was pretty sure this was his way of blushing. She also found herself having to fight the urge to get her sketchbook out and try to capture the way the light played across his bones.

During the meal, Axe relaxed enough to tease his younger brother. Dust, on the other hand, seem distracted, aside from throwing some strange looks at Emma, he totally ignored everyone while picking at his food, lost in his own little world. That was until Axe clipped him around the back of his skull and told him to eat his food or hand it over. This caused Dust to glare at the other relatively short skeleton while shovelling the rest of his food into his mouth as fast as he could.

Shortly after Dust finished Emma had to admit defeat as well. However much she loved Papyrus’s cooking she just could not eat another bite. The other two made short work of the remaining food.

Papyrus then suggested they move back into the sitting room, but as Emma got up to follow him she felt a bony hand on her shoulder. Looking back she spotted Axe who was looking at Papyrus. “Hey bro, it’s getting on, I think it’s time I took the kid home.”

“Ooow.” Papyrus looked so disappointed that Emma just had to say something.

“Hey, Pap would you like to meet up tomorrow? Your brother Axe was kind enough to get my appointment changed to 11, but afterwards I’m free, so if you want we could meet up… say 12 o’clock at the market square?”

“OH YES, THAT WOULD BE WONDERFUL!” Looking over at his brother. “Do You Want Me To Fetch Her Belongings? So You Can Get Going.”

“Oh, I don’t want to be a bother, if you could just call…”

“Yeah bro, you do that.” Axe cut in as he tightened his grip on Emma’s shoulder.

“Look, you don’t have to bother. I’ve got some money, so if you could just call me a cab and I’ll get out of your hair.” Emma said as she tried to free herself from the skeleton’s grip.

In response to this Axe merely tightened his hold on her again until she finally stopped struggling. Then he leaned down so his head rested on her shoulder and whispered in her ear. “You’re a cab, ain’t got any hair and I’m taking ya home.”

Emma flinched as she felt his hot breath against her neck, after a moment she forced herself to relax. “I walked right into that one.” Sighing, she asked, “I don’t have a choice do I?”

She could feel his deep chuckle through her back as he replied. “Nope.”

“Oh, It’s So Nice To See You Two Getting Along.” Said Papyrus, as he came back in carrying Emma’s hat and bag.

“Yeah,” Emma said warily as she reached for her belongings. Axe straightened up and released his grip for now. She could also hear Dust chuckling from his chair, he seemed to be enjoying the show.

“Oh Miss Emma, The Market Square Is Quite Big, How Will I Find You Tomorrow?” Papyrus asked with a slightly worried frown marring his normally happy face.

“That’s easy, you know the benches at the edge of the market that are under the trees?”

“Yes”

“Well, I’ll be sitting on one of them if I get there before you. I should be easy to spot, I'll have my hat on, it’s my favourite one. I always have it with me when I go out unless I know I’m going somewhere like the theatre.” Emma smiled as she held out her hat for Papyrus to look at.

It was the same hat that she had been wearing yesterday, but now it sported two new feathers and green lenses instead of the dark ones that she preferred. Emma had been lucky that the goggles had come with a couple of spare sets. She just hoped her friend Paul would be there on Saturday. Paul worked as a technician at the local university and had access to all the machines. Hopefully, he’ll be able to make a new pair of lenses for her.

These thoughts passed quickly through Emma’s mind as she looked up at her new skeletal friend. “I’ve got to be about the only person in Ebott that walks around with goggles on their hat… Oh, and you can drop the Miss, we’re friends after all.”

Before Papyrus could ask her about it, or anything else, Axe drew Emma tight against his body. “It’s time to go.”

“Oh Alright,” Papyrus pouted a little bit before his normal smile returned. “Until Tomorrow Little Morsel… Oh, I Mean Emma.”

Just as she was about to reply Emma was plunged into utter darkness. There was no light or sound, it was bitter cold, her chest started to ache again and she could not breathe. The only thing that seemed to be anchoring her in this empty void was Axe’s arm around her waist.

Then it was all over. Just as Emma started to panic she found herself falling forward on to the beautiful solid ground, gasping for breath. Slowly sitting up and looking around she was surprised to find herself outside her house.

Behind her Axe’s dark gravelly chuckle filled the air, but when Emma turned to glare at him there was only the empty street. With his final words lingering in the still air. “Be seein’ ya Kid.”

Chapter Text

Once again, Emma’s night was haunted by the same vague dreams. This time she could almost make out some of the figures. The emotions were just as intense as before, but she was sort of grateful for the cold this time because the warmer the weather got, the more unbearable it became to sleep in her attic bedroom.

Her old wooden bed creaked as she got up. The bed was made of a light honey coloured wood. It was a double, so she had plenty of room for her slight frame to spread out in during the night. The bed was older than Emma herself and it stayed together more out of stubbornness than anything else.

Emma Sighed as she pulled the light cotton sheet she had been sleeping under back into place. She really needed a new bed, just one more thing on the endless to-do list.

After she had finished making her bed she walked over to where she had an old chair full of clean clothes. Another thing on her to-do list was to put away her clothes. Emma was great at remembering to wash things but was terrible at remembering to put them away, so they tended to end up in little heaps all over the furniture in her room.

Rummaging through the pile of clothes, Emma found a royal blue medieval-style blouse with drawstring ties down the front. She also picked out a light blue full-length skirt with patch pockets that wouldn’t clash with the top.

After getting dressed she walked over to the dresser where she kept her jewellery. As she was meeting her new friend later, she had decided that she would make a bit more effort with her appearance. So instead of just pulling her shoulder-length auburn hair into a simple ponytail, Emma found a blue silk rose hair clip to hide her hair tie. She matched this with a pair of earrings in the shape of blue roses to carry on the theme. She didn’t own any makeup so she just put on a little light perfume. Emma finished off her outfit by putting on the watch that she had forgotten yesterday and hanging a simple spiral pendant, made from twisted iron, around her neck.

Emma groaned as she headed down the two flights of stairs to the kitchen for a quick breakfast. A new bed and putting away her clothes were the least of her problems, if things didn't work out with Citizen Advice today she was at risk of losing the only home she has ever known. Okay, a five-bedroom house for just one girl plus her seven-year-old tabby cat was probably too much, but it was her home. Even if she was forced to sell the house it would just cause a whole new set of problems. Emma was just about surviving on the benefits she was getting from the government. It was not much and she would be lucky if it covered a room in a bedsit, let alone a flat. Either way, she would have to give up her cat which she really didn’t want to do, Shadow was the closest thing to family Emma had left.

Speaking of Shadow, the cat had decided it was time for Emma to stop her dreary musings and feed her. She did this by launching herself at Emma as she came into the kitchen with a mighty “Meowww”.

“Damn it Shadow, haven’t I got enough holes in me?” Emma demanded as she caught the cat and put her down on the kitchen counter.

All she got in reply was Shadow’s best impression of a Harley Davidson as she started to purr madly and rub herself up against Emma’s outstretched hand.

“Alright menace, I’m happy to see you too.” Emma smiled as she fussed the cat a bit, before replenishing her food and water bowls for the day.

Emma grabbed a quick bowl of cereal for herself before slipping on her sandals and grabbing her hat and bag. She wondered if she should have given her belongings another dose of fabric freshener as she left her house for the appointment. She really did not want anybody else thinking that she had committed murder. What the skeletons had said yesterday had really gotten to her. She was worried that other monsters would smell dust on her, so last night she dosed her hat and old college bag with a very generous amount of the stuff. She had also done her sandals because they were the only pair she owned and even though it was still early spring the country was having an unseasonable heatwave. Emma just hoped that it was not the scars themselves that were giving off the scent. She knew that monsters had a better sense of smell than humans, but she didn’t know how much stronger it was. She also hoped that she had not gone overboard trying to rid of it, the last thing she wanted was to make her tall new friend sneeze.

As she continued to walk her thoughts turned to Papyrus. It was really strange how comfortable she felt with him. Emma had a hard time telling if a gap in a conversation was natural or just awkward, this tended to paralyse her. She would try to think of something to say, but would usually fail miserably with her mouth feeling like it had been glued shut. So when she was with a group of people, Emma just tended to end up sitting quietly somewhere. She was normally so quiet that people forgot she was there. Her mum used to call it pulling a Susan De-ath, like the character in the Discworld books. When this happened she tended to hide in a book or get her sketchbook out. It was only Emma’s friends or family that could draw her out and they were all people she had known for years.

That was just it, the only people she truly felt comfortable with she had known for years. But Papyrus she had known for literally one day, yet it felt like she had known him forever and that was what was really odd in all this. Emma should be way more nervous and wary of her new skeleton friend, especially in light of what his brothers had tried to do to her. Maybe getting knocked unconscious two days in a row had loosened something up inside her head, or it could simply be that his loud and energetic personality, which was quite like her childhood friend Stephanie’s, just put her at ease. Either way, Emma would hopefully be seeing him later. Maybe she could figure it out then, but for once she was not going to let her fears take away the chance to make a new friend.

For now, it was time to concentrate on getting a few things off her to-do list. Mentally going over what she needed to discuss with her adviser from Citizens Advice kept Emma occupied for the remaining time it took her to get to the appointment.

The appointment lasted half an hour, which meant she got to the market square with 15 minutes to spare. The session itself had gone reasonably well. They had managed to get through most of the important stuff, but unfortunately, the only problem they could not really help with was the biggest one she was facing at the moment. However, they had been able to give her some information that might help.

Stifling a groan as she sat down on the same bench as she had on Monday. “Great, more calls to make and most likely more forms and hoops to jump through.” Emma thought to herself as she settled down to wait for Papyrus. “Alright, what to do while I wait? Dwell on my problems? Let my stomach tie itself into knots wondering if Papyrus will show up or not? Or get my sketchbook out and lose myself trying to draw that bunny stallholder and see if I can make her fur look fluffy this time.”

Of course, Emma chose the last option as she pulled out her sketchbook and happily lost herself to the challenge of trying to make a giant humanoid bunny look fluffy. That was something she had noticed, monsters, on the whole, were much bigger than humans. Conversely, being on the small side for a human, Emma often got mistaken for a child, which she found quite funny. Even though she was 27 years old, fully grown, with what her mother would have called an hourglass figure (Emma would laughingly say she got big tits and a big butt with a few extra curves she could do without), it was still kinda sweet to think that she could pass for a child with some people.

Her happy musing and sketching continued until a tall shadow loomed over her. “Miss Emma?”

Looking up she smiled at the skeleton who was precariously leaning over her. “Papyrus, I thought I told you that you could drop the Miss. There is no need to be so formal, we’re friends after all.”

Straightening up to his full height Papyrus’ cheekbones took on a faint colour as he spoke: “I Shall Endeavor To Remember That, My Tiny Friend.”

“It’s alright ‘Mr Papyrus’ I’ll have to just tease you, my tall friend, until you get it,” Emma said, tapping the bench and trying to keep the mirth out of her voice. “Come sit down, you must get a crick in your neck always having to look down so much.”

Papyrus sat down with a “Nyeh.” It was hard to tell if this sound was his version of a huffy pout or just his signature laugh because Papyrus had once again used his scarf to cover the lower half of his face.

As Emma put away her sketchbook, she started hearing a faint rattling sound coming from the skeleton sitting next to her. It was barely audible over the noise of the market, but it was definitely there. Looking over at him she noticed that the normally confident skeleton was missing. Instead, there was a rather nervous looking one, with tiny beads of orange sweat dotting his skull. The rattling sound was being caused by him shaking slightly; he was also wringing his gloved hands and his small white eye-lights were unfocused and looking off into the distance.

Gently Emma reached across and placed her hand on top of his. “Papyrus what’s wrong?”

Blinking, Papyrus straightened up slightly and looked over at the small person sitting next to him. Trying to put his normal confidence back into his voice he answered “Oh No… Everything Is Fine… How Can It Not Be With Someone As Great As I?”

Rising one eyebrow in query Emma said. “Pap you do know you’re a terrible liar right? Something is clearly bothering you, but if you don’t want to talk abou…”

A sudden thought occurred to her. She had picked the market square because it was the one place she could think of that both of them knew and could get to. Raising her hands to her mouth in horror as the realisation hit her. “Oh God, Papyrus I’m so sorry. Did I just force you to walk back through the place you were attacked to get here? No wonder you’re so rattled.”

It was Papyrus’ turn to raise his eye ridges in surprised consternation at the way the conversation was going. “Emma There Is No Need To… WAIT WAS THAT A PUN?” Furrowing his bony eye ridges in mock anger he sighed dramatically “I Knew It Was A Mistake To Leave You Alone With My Brothers!”

Realising what she had just said, Emma groaned as she buried her head in her hands. “Oh god, I’m sorry. I guess I’ve got more to apologise for than my poor choice in meeting places.”

“Though I Wish You Had A Better Sense Of Humor,” Papyrus said as he gently raised her head to look at him. “There Is No Need To Apologise. While I Am Saddened To Find Out That People Can Act Like That. They Did Me No Lasting Harm.”

“Pap are you sure you’re alright? It only happened two days ago, I know I can’t even look at the drawings I did yet.” Sorrow and worry shimmered in her eyes as she looked up at her new friend.

In response to this Papyrus slowly moved to cup her left cheek and started to tenderly stroke her scar. “I Am Truly Fine My Sweet Little Friend And If Anyone Should Be Apologising Here It Should Be Me. Not Only Were You Grievously Wounded When You Protected Me From Those Men, But The Very Next Day My Own Brothers Attacked You, Injuring You Again. It is a wonder that you wanted to see me again after all that.” This last bit came out in the quietest voice Emma had ever heard from him as he dropped his hands back into his lap and hung his head in shame.

Emma’s natural instinct to comfort a friend kicked in. Taking off her hat and putting it down on the bench, she stood up placing herself squarely in front of the tall skeleton. She wrapped her arms around his head in a soft embrace while lowering her own head down slightly until their foreheads touched. “I don’t regret it. So what if I ended up with a few scars, I would do it all again in a heartbeat.” A rueful smile spread across her face as she continued “and as for yesterday. How can I stay mad at them over a case of mistaken identity when it worked out so well for me?”

“HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT? THEY HURT YOU!” Papyrus cried as he wriggled himself free from her embrace to stare at Emma.

Merriment danced in Emma’s eyes and quickly spread across the rest of her face. It even seeped into her voice as she answered. “Because I got to meet you. And have one of the most awesome meals I can ever remember.” Her smile turned ironic with her next words. “As for your brothers’ actions. I admit it was scary, but it was also understandable.”

“Nyeh?”

“Oh come on Papyrus how can I stay mad at them, they thought I had attacked you. I know for a fact that if my Dad had been there and they had actually caught one of those bastards that attacked us. He would have quite happily held their coats, pointed out all the nice squishy bits for them to hit, while patiently waiting his turn to put the boot in.”

“WHAT!??”

“My family are descended from Celts. So we’re pretty kin oriented, meaning we would do whatever we could do to help or protect those we view as family.” Emma winced a bit at the next words that came out of her mouth. “Which also means we’re pretty good at holding a grudge when someone hurts one of our own. Yes, in the long run, I know that letting the law do its thing is better and causes fewer problems, but there is a small part of me that wishes I could introduce those jerks to your brothers, sit back and watch the ensuing carnage.” Emma hugged herself as she looked away, not wanting to see the disappointment that was most likely on this sweet creature’s face. “Sorry...I guess that’s not what you wanted to hear.”

There were a few moments of silence, then, sighing, Papyrus gently pulled Emma onto his lap. Wrapping his arms around her while resting his head on top of hers. “They Truly Hurt You, But You Are Safe Now.”

His embrace was so warm and comforting that it took Emma back to a time when she was small enough to fit on her mother’s lap. It felt so good to be held like this again, it would be so easy to just stay like this and forget about the world just for a bit. But Emma’s conscience would not let her leave Papyrus thinking she was still upset with his brothers. So instead, she spoke up “Pap your brothers didn’t hurt me that much, and what damage they did do is gone. Whichever one of you healed me did such an amazing job that when I woke up this morning I was not stiff or sore. And see there is not even a mark left.” She wriggled around until she could hold up the hand that Axe had injured yesterday for him to see.

A soft chuckle emanated from the skeleton as he examined the hand. “Though It Is Nice To Hear You Defend My Brothers, I Was Actually Referring To The Men That Attacked Us. It Is Only Natural To Feel Some Resentment Towards Them. Even I, As Great As I Am, Have To Admit To A Small Twitch In My Soul When I Think Of What They Did. But As Long As Neither Of Us Acts On It, We Should Be Fine.”

As he spoke Papyrus continued to examine Emma’s hand. It looked so small and delicate in his gloved one. A frown spread across his face as he turned her hand over to see a faint scar running along her knuckles. Absently he took one long gloved phalange and ran it gently along the scar as he lost himself in thought.

“Pap, you can’t blame that one on them or your brothers. I got it years ago.”

“Yes, It Happened When You Were Still At School.” He replied distractedly.

“Papyrus, how do you know that?” A note of concern entered Emma’s voice as she asked this.

“Ummm…” Papyrus for once did not know what to say. He did not want to lie to his new friend, but how could he tell her the truth. He started to nervously rattle, he should just tell her, she would understand, right? But he didn’t want to lose the first friend he had made since coming here.

“Woa, Pap, stop with the mini earthquake. Please just tell me how you knew that. I know I didn’t tell you yesterday, I was too busy complimenting your cooking for that. By the way, I still think it was awesome.” This last comment got a weak chuckle from the nervous skeleton, but he still would not say anything. He just sat there shaking, with sweat once more gathering on his skull.

“It looks like I’m going to have to try harder if I want him to calm down enough to tell me what’s going on.” Emma thought to herself as she patted the still shaking skeleton. It was a rather odd sensation considering she was still on his lap.

Sighing, she tried again “Pap, I promise to listen to you and not get upset… Well, I'll do my best to not get upset, even if it’s something creepy like your brothers breaking into the police station for the incident report.”

Papyrus cried out in shock as he looked down at the small human sitting there. “WHAT!! MY BROTHERS WOULD NEVER DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!”

Sighing some more, Emma wriggled around until she was once again standing in front of the skeleton. “Oh come on Papyrus, they must have done something like that to have known that I was in the hospital on Monday. Also, the fact that Axe dropped me off outside my house without me having to tell him where I live, does kinda have a bit of a creepy stalker vibe to it.”

“Oh Sorry, They Are Just…” Words failed him again. Papyrus knew his brothers were good, they just didn’t know how to act around people anymore. Oh stars, he wished he could just tell Emma everything. She was bound to figure it out anyway if he was right about what had happened to them.

Papyrus was brought back out of his panicked thoughts by Emma’s soft voice. “They were just looking out for you, right? You know, it’s kinda sweet how protective they are of you. It’s also kinda funny that they thought it necessary to go to such lengths to scare a little thing like me.” Grimacing she rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah, not so fun to live through, but it’s funny when you look back at it. To tell you the truth, I’m sorta surprised that they’re not here with you, to protect you from all the bad people out here.”

“Hmph, They Trust Me. I Can Take Care Of Myself.” As he said this he crossed his arms and puffed out his chest, like a small child trying to prove something to an adult.

Raising an eyebrow, Emma could not help a bit of mirthful sarcasm entering her voice as she replied. “Yes, they trust you, it’s the rest of the world they have a problem with. But that’s getting off the point. Was it your brothers that told you about the incident when I was at school?” Maybe she was making too big of a deal out of it. She would have told him about the scar if he had asked, it’s not like it was a big secret or anything. But the way Papyrus was acting, coupled with her own behaviour, was starting to freak her out. Emma was not the sort of person to sit on the lap of someone who was practically a stranger. Hugs were one thing, but to letting a guy pull her onto his lap, what was she thinking? Papyrus obviously knew something, she just had to convince him to tell her.

These thoughts flashed through her mind in the time it took for Papyrus to answer. “I Can Assure You My Brothers Had Nothing To Do With This.”

“Then how Pap? Please, I just want to understand what is going on.”

“Umm… It Is Rather Complicated.”

Emma fought the urge to roll her eyes and sigh again, as she regarded the skeleton in front of her. He was now nervously fiddling with his gloves, while a faint blush covered his cheekbones. Instead, she let her breath out slowly as she put on her hat and bag. Turning back to him with a soft smile she said. “Come on then let’s go. Sweet or savoury your choice.”

“What?” Papyrus stared at her dumbly as she stood there smiling with a hand outstretched.

A soft giggle escaped from Emma’s lips as she replied. “Well, it’s lunchtime so let’s get a bite to eat and you can try to explain it to me. It’s your choice, do you want something sweet, if so we can head to Muffet’s, or do you want a full meal, if that’s the case we could head to Grillby’s instead.”

“Grillby’s? Doesn’t He Do Rather Greasy Burgers? That Does Not Sound Very Healthy.”

“Well, neither does sweets from Muffet’s bakery, when you think of it,” Emma said as she gently tried to get Papyrus to stand. “Grillby’s may have been a grease trap underground, but up here it’s one of the coolest restaurant bars I’ve ever tried. It does so much more than burgers and has the warmest feel to the place.”

“Emma Could You Please Stop With The Puns?”

“Urr… What did I say that was a pun? My humour tends to run to sarcasm and irony.” Emma looked at the tall skeleton in confusion.

“If I Remember Correctly, Grillby, Who The Bar Is Named After, Is A Fire Elemental.”

“Oh sorry, I really don’t mean to pun they just come out sometimes. But if it will heat up this conversation, I am sure I could alight on a few for you.”

“NO, NO PUNS, THEY ARE BANNED!!” Papyrus cried as he leapt to his feet. His worries were forgotten for the moment as he glared down at the grinning human in front of him.

“Well, it got you on your feet didn’t it?” Emma could not stop smiling, seeing the way Papyrus’ reacted was just too much fun. No wonder his brother loved teasing him.

“Humph! Yes, Very Clever. DON’T DO IT AGAIN!”

“Pff haha… Alright, I’ll try. So have you decided yet?”

“Nyeh?”

“Sweet or Savoury? Come on, I’ll even treat you if you haven’t got your wallet back yet.” Emma said, smiling up at her tall new friend. “Though, if you want my opinion. I tend to find something sweet is the most comforting when dealing with stressful stuff, but that’s just me.”

“Oh, We Have It Back, But It Actually Belongs To My Uncle,” Papyrus said as the pair started to walk.

“Okay, so I’m buying. You still haven’t told me what you want.”

“Oh, Sorry, Sweet Will Be Perfectly Fine.”

“Alright then, Muffet’s it is. If we hurry, we can beat the lunchtime rush and grab one of the booths. That way we can have some privacy for our chat, or if you prefer we get something to go and find somewhere quiet to sit down and eat.”

“Let Us See What It Is Like When We Get There.” Papyrus smiled as he took her hand, not that Emma could see it with his scarf still tightly wrapped around his face.

They continued on in silence until they reached their destination. Muffet’s Bakery stood on a corner, just off the main shopping district. Emma loved the way the shop looked. From the tall elegant gothic windows, with deep purple drapes held back by black ties, to the light lavender walls hung with tasteful art prints. The tables and chairs were black with rich plum seat cushions and matching table cloths. If you looked closer at cloths you could see that they were covered with a delicate spider web-like lace pattern. But the most stunning feature of the bakery was its floor, which was painted to look like you were walking on a giant spider’s web.

Emma groaned as the pair walked into the shop. They were too late; all the booths were taken and the few tables that were left wouldn’t give them any privacy for their talk. “Well, I guess it’s sweets to go. Come on, there's not much of a queue.” She said, gently tugging her friend further into the bakery. As always she glanced down to make sure that none of Muffet’s little spider helpers were underfoot. Logically she knew that the little things were fast enough to get out of the way, but Emma always double-checked just to make sure.

She watched in amusement as Papyrus approached the counter, only to lean down so his nasal cavity was almost touching the display case. She would not be surprised to find out he was drooling under that scarf of his. Especially with that hungry look in his small eye-lights.

“Oh Wowie, There Are So Many Tasty Looking Things Here.”

“I know, and they taste just as good as they look, if not better. But alas, I can not afford to buy the whole display case. So I’m afraid you’re going to have to pick something.”

At this statement, an audible whine could be heard coming from the skeleton next to her.

“I know, I know, life is full of tough decisions.”

“Ah, huhu, do you need some help dearie?”

Emma looked up into the five black eyes of the speaker. “Could you give us a second please Muffet? You know how hard it is to pick between your treats.”

“Of course dearie, take your time.” With that Muffet turned to serve another customer.

Emma turned to watch the willowy humanoid spider lady work. Muffet, as normal, was wearing a gothic lolita style dress. Today's dress was black with deep purple accents that complemented her light purple skin. She also had matching purple bows holding up her black hair into two pigtails. Her six long slender arms worked in perfect harmony, moving with a grace that would put a dancer to shame. They worked the till, took the money and gave change to customers, while passing out filled orders. As she did this the little ones waited on tables and kept the shop tidy. It was quite a sight to see and one that Emma loved.

Another whine from next to her drew her attention back to the tall monster. Who now had his skull so firmly pressed against the display case that Emma was starting to get worried that the glass might break. Looking more closely she could now clearly see a growing damp patch on the front of his scarf, also his eye-lights were completely blown. “Pap. Earth to Papyrus, are you still with me? Blink once for yes, twice for no.” Emma said as she gently placed a hand on top of his skull.

Papyrus struggled to focus in on the soft voice and gentle touch of his human. The smells that surrounded him were making it incredibly hard to ignore his baser instinct to consume everything in sight. With a great deal of effort, he drew himself back from his reverie to answer her. “Oh Sorry, What Did You Say Friend?”

Smiling down at the skeleton who was blinking owlishly up at her, Emma said. “I was going to ask, since you seem to be having so much trouble deciding, if you want me to see if Muffet had any tasters or selection boxes we could have.”

Slowly Papyrus straightened back up and somehow managed to nod his assent. He continued to struggle against the alluring smells all around him, as well as the terrible hunger it sparked in him. Trembling phalanges sought out Emma’s small hand in an attempt to anchor himself.

Emma in turn gently squeezed his hand and turned her attention back to Muffet, unaware of the internal struggle going on next to her.

Muffet already had a hand extended with an A5 sheet of paper in it. This was the Other Menu, the one most people didn’t know about, the one with all her special treats and tasters on.

“Thanks,” smiling Emma took the menu and quickly looked through it. She decided on the premium tasters box and a mixed selection of Muffet’s doughnuts, also two of Muffet’s famous spider ciders. This would give Papyrus the biggest choice for the money she had. Okay, it was going to make shopping this week a little tight.

“But it will be worth it. If Pap enjoys it.” She thought to herself as she placed the order.

As some of the smaller spiders went off to fill the order, Muffet smiled revealing two white fangs. “It’s been a while dearie. How have you and your mother been? It’s rare to see you without her.”

The familiar ache spread through Emma’s chest at the mention of her Mother. It was not the sharp pain of yesterday, but a dull tightness. It had been months, but it still hurt. Instead of answering right away, she paid Muffet to buy a few precious moments to centre himself.

“God, why is it so hard to say it? It should get easier with time, not harder. Come on, just say it, get it over with.” Emma sternly told herself as she fought with her tight throat and mouth to get the sad words out.

Papyrus missed what Muffet said, but could feel the sudden tension coming off his small one. Still struggling to get his brain to work properly, he let his instincts lead him. He wrapped himself around her in order to comfort and protect them both. Only to have her suddenly ripped from his arms and thrown across the shop accompanied by angry yelling. “Crooks, what the fuck do you think you are doing?”

Blinking in confusion Emma tried to figure out what just happened. One moment she was taking comfort from her friend’s embrace, the next she found herself pressed up against an orange hoodie. Looking up she found herself staring at another tall skeleton with a very familiar skull. It was almost identical to Papyrus’ with the same elongated shape and long narrow jaw, but his teeth were blunt and straight with what looked like a lollipop stuck between them. Also, his skull seemed to be slightly fuller and although his eye-lights were white like Papyrus’ they were larger and they seemed to be brighter too. At the moment they were staring furiously at Papyrus who was trying to extricate himself from the table that he had been thrown into.

Emma started to pull herself free from the monster’s unwanted grasp. She remembered the other reason he looked familiar, he was one of a group of skeletons she had quietly dubbed the bar flys because that is where she always saw them. It seemed like every time she met her friends at Grillby’s for breakfast, that by the time they left, one or more of these skeletons would be there propping up the bar. That’s why she called them the bar flys. She had never spoken to, or interacted with, any of them before this, and if this was how they treated people Emma was not sure she wanted to now.

The orange-clad skeleton felt the small human start to move against him. Glancing down he noticed the girl was looking at the other skeleton with concern. “It’s alright honey, I won’t let him hurt ya. You’re safe now.”

“What?” Emma could not believe what this idiot in orange was saying, did he really think Pap would hurt her? Okay, she had not known Papyrus long, but she truly trusted him. If he had wanted to hurt her, he could have easily done it yesterday when she had been completely at his mercy. “ That’s redic…”

An almighty growl coming from the floor stopped Emma mid-sentence. Then she was once more torn from the arms holding her. Everything became a blur as Papyrus, clutching Emma protectively to his chest, fled the shop. She thought she heard the sound of breaking glass and shouting behind her, but Papyrus was running too fast to be certain. As they fled, Emma would catch a sudden flash of orange behind them. Each time this happened Papyrus would speed up, trying to shake their pursuer. This continued until Papyrus collapsed to the ground shaking violently, whimpering between ragged gasps, still clutching Emma tightly against him.

As she started to try to calm her terrified friend she felt him flinch, then relax slightly as Axe’s familiar gruff voice broke through the whimpering. “It’s alright bro, I’ve got ya, everything’s alright, come on let’s get out of here.”

This time she managed to get a breath in before being swallowed by the nothingness of the void. As the darkness pressed in all around her a phrase from one of her favourite authors came unbidden to her mind. Black, blacker, blackest. And cold beyond frozen things. Where is between when there is nought to life but fragile dragon wings. With a bit of rewording, this could make a cool image. But for now, she needed to concentrate on her friend. To this end when she felt solid ground once more pressing into her back, Emma started to coax Papyrus into letting her go.

Only for Axe’s voice to cut in. “So ya gonna eat that little snack, or can I have it?”

Papyrus’ response to this was to rearrange his grip on the human and sit up. Blinking, he found himself in a sitting room he had never seen before. “Brother, Where Are We?”

“Somewhere safe bro,” Axe said as he collapsed into a nearby chair.

Emma looked around to find she knew exactly where Axe had taken them. Letting out a small chuckle she turned a smiling face to her friend, who was holding her like a teddy bear. “However much I hate to admit it. Axe is right, you’re perfectly safe here from that stupid orange-clad bar fly.”

Hugging Emma a little closer Papyrus looked around in confusion. “Yes, But Where Is Here?”

“My Living room,” Emma said, throwing an accusing glare at the grinning skeleton sitting in her Dad’s old chair. “And if you’re that hungry Axe, the kitchen is out back, help yourself, as long as you can take human stuff; I don’t have any monster food.”

Axe’s grin turned positively evil as he summoned a meat cleaver out of thin air. “Oh, I can eat humans and right now I could really go for a head dog.”

“Brother Please, Emma Is Our Friend.”

Axe gave a long-suffering sigh as the meat cleaver vanished. “Bro, love ya to bits, but you do remember that the last human you befriended ended up betraying us all?”

“Emma Would Not Do That” Papyrus said as he moved his friend further away from his brother.

Crossing his arms Axe glared at the human, then looked back at his brother. “Pap, you’ve talked to this snack twice. What makes you so sure she is any different from everyone else we’ve met since coming here?”

“Because I Know Her. It Is Not In Her Nature.”

“That’s not an answer bro.”
“AARRGG, BECAUSE WE SOUL TOUCHED!” Papyrus could feel his whole skull light up with embarrassment, as the others in the room looked at him incredulously.

“WHAT?” Came from several sides of the room at once, followed by a terrifying roar from Axe. “YOU FUCKING RAPED MY LITTLE BRO!!”

Before anyone could stop him, Axe made a hooking motion with his hand. Emma’s chest erupted in searing pain as something glowing emerged from her body.

“BROTHER NO!” Papyrus cried out and watched in horror as his friend’s soul was dragged from her chest for all to see, and what they saw was wrong.

Emma’s soul floated in the middle of the room, held tight by Axe’s magic. Instead of having the bright jewel-like qualities that were normal for a human, the little cartoon heart was barely holding its shape and was so pale that it was almost transparent.

Axe’s hand started to shake. What the fuck was up with this kid? He had seen soul injuries before. Void, he even had a crack or two on his soul, and that was just it. They cracked, broke, even frayed. Stars, even in the most severe cases they turned grey and disintegrated, not whatever this was.

It looked like a fragile bubble, with just a little pressure it would pop. This was wrong, so wrong. Axe extended his senses towards the soul only to find he still could not truly ‘check’ it. About the only thing he was getting was a great sense of sorrow and loss.

Papyrus could only watch as his brother’s sockets became matching black voids. There was no reasoning with him when he got like this. He looked down at his little friend who had curled into a ball of pain and misery, with tears streaming silently down her face. “I am sorry” he whispered as he waited for the inevitable. Only for it not to happen, instead, he watched in amazement as his brother dropped his hand and released his hold on the soul. Slowly the little thing drifted back into Emma’s chest as she uncurled herself and fell into blessed unconsciousness.

Papyrus sighed in relief, only to groan as he looked over at his brother. Axe’s sockets remained blank voids, his hand drifted up to his left socket and started to tug on it violently. He also started to rock back and forth and began mumbling to himself.

Groaning once again Papyrus looked around for somewhere safe to put Emma down, so he could deal with his brother. As he looked around he found a sofa with the unexpected sight of Dust sprawled across it. Letting out a long-suffering sigh. “How Long Have You Been Sitting There?”

“Pfft, long enough. You guys are better than a soap opera. Soul touching? Really Papyrus? You hound dog, I didn’t think you had it in you. Rus or Red yeah, but you not so much. You should’ve known how Axe would react.”

“Brother Please.”

Dust’s face turned flinty as he sat up and looked the other skeleton in the sockets. “Papyrus, we both know I’m not ya brother so drop the act.”

Papyrus raised an eye ridge as he gently shifted his grip on his unconscious friend. “You Are As Good As My Brother And I Will Continue To Treat You As Such. Now Will You Please Move, So I Can Put Emma Down And Tend To My Other Brother?”

“Yeah, whatever.” Getting up and moving to an empty chair, Dust watched as Papyrus tenderly laid the girl down making sure she was comfortable. Before turning to check on his brother. “You do know there isn’t a lot you can do for him when he’s like this, right?”

“Yes, I know, I Just Want To Make Sure He Is Not Doing Any Real Harm To Himself.” Having satisfied himself that his brother was okay, Papyrus turned his attention back to Dust. “Could You Keep An Eye On Them? While I See What Food I Can Find Please.”

“Yeah sure.” Dust mumbled as he used his magic to retrieve the remote from where it had been resting and turned on the T.V. Knowing this was the best he was going to get, Papyrus nodded his thanks as he left the room in search of the kitchen.

Papyrus was shocked, to say the least when he saw Emma’s kitchen. It was not that the kitchen was dirty, in fact, it was very clean. It wasn’t even the appliances that were pretty old but seemed to be in good working order. What shocked Papyrus was the giant crack in the floor and the hole in the ceiling.

The crack ran across the kitchen floor, making an unnaturally steep step. The fridge and counters were on the upper half, while the stove and sink were on the lower section. How did Emma cope with this on a daily basis? It must be so tiring to have to keep going up and down while trying to make anything. Also, that hole looked to be big enough that with very little effort he could pass right through it to the room above. Okay, it was by the wall and the rest of the ceiling looked fine, but it was still worrying.

Sighing, Papyrus turned to the fridge, he would have to talk to Emma about it later. Right now he needed to put together some food. Food always helped keep his brother calm and there was no way he was letting anyone skip a meal on his watch. With that thought in mind, he looked inside the fridge only to find another unpleasant surprise waiting for him.

The fridge was barren, with only a few scraps of leftover food in it. A quick search through the rest of the kitchen revealed some tins and dry goods, but not much more. How could his little friend survive like this? Well, he had worked with less and fed his entire village it would just take a bit longer to get ready.

As for Emma, no wonder her soul looked so weird. The soul always suffered if you didn’t look after yourself. He would just have to make sure that she was cared for properly. Now he just had to convince his brothers of what he knew deep down in his soul, that Emma was a good and kind person and that she would never hurt them.

It took Papyrus about half an hour to make what he considered a decent amount of food for everyone. Making sure to leave some for his friend to have later, he headed back into the front room. He was pleased to find that Emma was awake and sitting cross-legged on the sofa with her sketchbook in her lap.

Walking over to his friend Papyrus put her share of the food down on a small table next to her. Part of him really wanted to ‘check’ on her, but considering the state of her soul, it would most likely just hurt her more. So he had to settle for asking “How Are You Doing?”

Looking up from her sketchbook and raising one eyebrow, Emma replied. “I’m not sure you want me to answer that Pap. Anyway, I should be asking you that; you’re the one that got thrown into a table earlier.”

“When Did That Happen?”

“When we were at Muffet’s. I had just paid for our food when that stupid orange bar fly ripped me from your arms and threw you across the shop.”

“Bar Fly?” Papyrus asked, blinking in confusion.

“She means that ashtray Stretch, Papyrus.” Dust said as he took one of the remaining plates of food.

“Don’t worry bro, I’ll deal with him later.” Axe rasped out as his eye-light came roughly back into focus.

“Great, someone else can get beat up for once. At least he will deserve it.” Emma muttered to herself as she started to pick at her food.

“Ya know, I could just kill ya now if ya want,” Axe said with a cocked eye ridge as he reached for his plate.

“Brother Please.”

“You know what Sans Skeleton, GO AHEAD I JUST DON’T CARE ANYMORE!” Shouted Emma.

“Emma Perha…”

“Sorry Papyrus I’ve tried to be polite for your sake, but I’ve had it. So far this week I’ve had the living daylights beaten out of me for trying to give a guy his wallet back. Then the very next day I get thrown into a wall and repeatedly threatened and hurt over a case of mistaken identity. Today all I wanted to do was treat my friend because he was upset over something. And what do I get for my trouble? I’ll tell you what: one of my favourite top’s is ruined, my hat is missing and to cap it all off, I get accused of raping someone, plus attacked again, when I’ve clearly never been alone with him. Also, how would you even do such a thing? We’re two... totally... different… species?”

The skeletons looked at the small human in stunned silence, who was now standing in the centre of the room glaring daggers at Axe.

Papyrus could not believe that he had somehow missed the fact that not only was his friend missing her hat, but her right sleeve was gone as well.

Before he or the others could think of anything to say, Emma turned and stalked out of the room. She just could not take any more. She put up with most things; she’d had to through school, but damn it this was her home. All she wanted was a nice quiet normal day, without pain and death threats. Was that too much to ask? These were some of the thoughts running through her head as she stomped up the stairs to change.

As Emma entered her room, she tore off her ruined top and threw it on the floor. This was all so stupid, she should just try and find her Mum’s old mobile, then get the police or somebody to deal with that damned skeleton Axe. But part of her still wanted to give him another chance, her mind kept whispering to her that he was just trying to protect his brother, and wouldn’t you do the same in his place?

She kicked off her skirt and started removing her jewellery. As she did this her hand caught on the one piece that never really came off, except when she bathed. Pulling out the long silver chain from its resting place between her breasts, Emma looked down at the simple cross and ring now dangling in front of her.

“What would you guys do? I’m so confused right now. I really wish you were still here. You always made things better.” She whispered to the empty air, as the first tears started to fall. Once they started there was no stopping them and soon she found herself collapsing to the floor, sobbing her heart out as all the conflicting emotions came pouring out with her tears.

Downstairs Papyrus did not know if he was more angry or disappointed in his older brother right now. “Brother I Wish You Would Not Jump To Conclusions And Would At Least Try To Think Things Through. I Know It Is Hard For You To Trust, Especially After Everything That Happened. But This Is Not The Underground, We Have A Chance To Move On, To Start Again.”

A faint growl escaped from between Axe’s teeth as he looked his brother square in the face. “You Know the others will never let us forget what we are, or what we did bro.”

“Emma Is Not Like The Others.”

“And when she finds out what we did underground? Don’t you think she will treat you differently then?”

Papyrus hesitated, closing his sockets and taking a deep breath before answering. “No, I Do Not Think She Will. It Is Not The Way She Was Raised. Now, If You Will Excuse Me, I Am Going To Check On My Friend.” With that, he picked up Emma’s plate as well as his own and swept out of the room.

Axe sat there in silence trying to figure out what he was going to do. Humans could not be trusted, life in the Underground had taught him that. Stars, that hell hole taught him that you could only rely on your family and as far as he was concerned Papyrus was his only family. He would do anything to make sure he was safe and happy. Damn that girl, he should have popped that weird soul when he had the chance. He almost had, however much it would have upset his brother, but then, just as he was about to destroy it, he had caught a glimpse of something.

The trouble was he couldn’t remember what he had seen, or why it had made him spare the girl. Of all the times for his stupid brain to malfunction on him. The injury to his skull made his memory spotty at the best of times. It had gotten to the point that he wrote down anything he thought important, so he wouldn’t forget it. This did not help at the moment though, what had he seen that made him risk his brother’s safety? Damn it, what was he meant to do now? Kill the girl and upset Papyrus, or leave her alone and risk her hurting his little brother?

Axe’s thoughts kept going around in these useless circles until Dust’s raucous laughter cut through his mental tirade. “Hahaha, I’ll give the kid this, she really got a creative sense of humour.”

“What?” Axe growled looking over at Dust who was clutching Emma’s sketchbook to his chest while trying not to collapse from laughter.

It took Dust a few minutes to calm down enough to answer. “The kid drew some real rib ticklers in here, but I think I’ll show you them later,” he replied as he closed the sketchbook and put it down on the sofa. Turning back to the other skeleton with a serious expression on his face. “You’ve got more important things to be doing.”

“Like what?” Axe growled.

“That depends on what you saw when you ‘checked’ the girl’s soul.”

“Nothing useful, why?”

“Because she called you Sans, not Axe. Which means the pair did soul touch at the very least, and you better ‘check’ to make sure that they didn’t form a soul bond as well.”

“Fuck,” with that Axe disappeared from the room.

Shaking his head Dust picked the sketchbook back up and followed after him. This was one show he did not want to miss.

In the attic things had settled down. Papyrus had managed to soothe his friend to the point where he could coax her into finishing her lunch. This, in his books, was a good thing, because nothing looked quite as bad when you had a full stomach, at least to him.

After they had both finished eating Papyrus plucked up the courage to ask. “How Are You Feeling?”

Emma stopped fiddling with the hem of the over large T-shirt she was now wearing. Sighing, she turned to look up at her tall friend who was sitting across from her. “Honestly… I don’t know… I just wish someone would tell me what the hell is going on?”

“Emma It Is Rather Hard To Expla…” Papyrus was interrupted by a cacophonous clanging noise coming from the small landing area that opened up into the rest of the attic.

“Aaaah, who the fuck booby traps their bedroom?” The pair turned towards the noise, to find Axe desperately trying to free his skull from some of the wind chimes that were hanging from the ceiling.

The attic ceiling sloped down towards the back of the house. This was also the side the stairs came out on. Emma loved the sound that wind chimes made, so she had taken advantage of the low ceiling and hung some up in this area. When she entered her room she just had to reach up to make them ring. Axe, being at least a foot taller than Emma, was now hopelessly entangled in them. However satisfying it was to see him in pain for once, Emma found that she couldn’t leave him to suffer like this, especially since his hands were now trapped as well.

Getting up off the floor and brushing some crumbs from the baggy dark trousers that she had put on, Emma headed over to the chair at the end of her bed. Picking up the heap of clothes from the chair she dumped them on top of a very surprised Dust who had just chosen that moment to appear on Emma’s bed.

“Hey!” Came Dust’s muffled cry as he fought his way out of the tangled mass of clothing. He glared at the back of the human as she picked up the chair and walked over to Axe.

“Serves you right… Actually, it serves both of you right. What did you expect when you teleport into a girl’s room? … Actually don’t answer that, I’ve got to concentrate on getting this idiot free.” Emma said in exasperation, putting the chair down as close as she could to the madly thrashing skeleton.

The pain Axe was in was getting unbearable as he vainly tried to free himself. Unaware of Emma’s approach he was not prepared for her warm touch on his skull. He jerked back violently and growled threateningly at the human, causing another wave of searing pain to slice through his skull.

“Sans stop that, you’re just gonna make it worse. Now hold still and I’ll see if I can get you loose.”

“Fuck off!” Axe cried as he kicked at the chair that Emma was precariously balanced on.

“Emma, Perhaps I Should Do It?” Papyrus suggested as he watched the pair with growing concern.

Emma cast a critical eye over the situation. Axe was in real danger of doing himself some serious damage if he didn’t calm down soon. It looked like one of the chimes if not more, were caught on the inside of his skull and that could not be good. She had no doubt that Papyrus could calm his brother down, but something told her that his boney fingers would just make matters worse and she would end up having to free two skeletons instead of one.

So instead she just shook her head. “ No, you better stay over there. Don’t want you getting caught up in this too.” Taking a look at the still angrily growling and thrashing skeleton. “Though if you have any tips on how to calm this idiot down… I’d greatly appreciate it.”

“I can hear ya, you know,” Axe snarled as he glared at the small human in front of him.

“Then perhaps you could stop acting like such a baby-bones and let me help you, Sans.”

Axe gave Emma an odd look. “Why do you keep calling me that?”

Emma blinked in confusion. “You mean Sans? That’s your name right?”

Axe slumped as he looked past the girl at his brother. His voice lost some of its gruffness as he spoke. “You two really did soul touch didn’t ya? Alright, Pap do you really trust her?”

Papyrus smiled softly at his brother, “Yes I Truly Trust Her. She Will Not Hurt You. So Please Brother, Stop Fighting Emma And Let Her Help You.”

“Fine.”

Emma sighed as Axe finally stilled. “I think I’m missing half of this conversation, but thanks I guess. Now try and stay still. I’ll be as gentle as I can, but this still might hurt a bit. Tell me if it gets too much and I’ll stop, alright?”

“Yeah whatever, just get on with it,” Axe said as he braced himself for the ordeal to come.

Dust’s voice piped up from the bed, “what’s there to know? You soul touched, so if Papyrus says ya good, then you are.”

“Still don’t know what that means,” muttered Emma as she tried to concentrate on what she was doing.

“Seriously? Ya don’t know?” Axe grated out as Emma managed to free one of his hands.

Emma dropped her hands for a moment as she looked down at the skeleton in front of her. Huffing in exasperation she replied. “Yes, seriously. You’re forgetting that until monsters came to the surface, the soul was just a vague idea to us. I know I’ve got one, but that’s about it. Now hush I’m trying to concentrate.”

Axe closed his sockets trying not to flinch away from the girl’s soft touch. He never let anyone near the hole, not even his brother, it was just too sensitive. The strange thing was that the girl’s touch didn’t hurt, even as she tugged on a stubborn string. All he could feel was a warm tingling sensation where her hand lingered. He was so caught up in this weird sensation, that it took him a minute or two to realise that she had stopped and was speaking to him. “Huh?”

“I said, now that you’re free you might want to ‘port, or whatever you call it, passed the rest of my wind chimes, so we don’t repeat this,” Emma said with a rueful smile.

“It’s called a shortcut,” Axe mumbled as he disappeared and reappeared next to his brother.

Emma shook her head as she carefully climbed down off the chair. “These skeletons are going to be the death of me one way or another, but perhaps now I might get some answers out of one of them,” she thought to herself. She put the chair back and caught the clothes a disgruntled Dust threw at her, restoring them to their previous resting place. “Dust, I don’t mind you being on my bed, but could you do me a small favour and remove your shoes, please? I would rather not find a boot print on my pillow tonight.”

Dust looked at the girl for a moment before kicking his trainers off onto the floor. “There, happy?”

“Yes thank you,” Emma said as she settled back down on the floor facing the skeletons. “So will one of you please explain what soul-touching is and how it relates to rape? Preferably without the pain and death threats.”

Papyrus groaned, burying his face in his scarf as his skull lit up like a light bulb. This was just too embarrassing, souls were very private things, but Emma deserved to know. Why was it so hard to get the words out?

Axe looked at his brother’s bright orange skull and decided to have mercy on him. “It’s alright bro, I’ve got this.” Gently patting his brother’s glowing skull he settled down on the floor. “Alright let’s start with the basics. The soul is the very accumulation of your being. Everything that makes you, well you, comes from it. Your memories, your emotions are all contained within it. Got that?”

Emma nodded.

“Good, now for the nitty-gritty. Since the soul holds your very essence, any touch on it is considered a sexual act.”

“Okay, I can see that, but Pap why do you think I did something like that?” Emma asked a still furiously blushing skeleton.

“Oh, it gets better than that. Somehow you two managed to do the most intimate form of soul-touching.” Dust snickered from the bed.

“And what’s that?”

“Our soul’s actually touched each other,” Papyrus mumbled from inside his scarf.

“Which means?”

“When two souls touch they exchange information. Everything from how they feel about each other, to their memories.” Axe said as he glanced over at his brother.

“And this is what you think we did?” Emma asked curiously.

“Don’t think, know,” Axe muttered absently, lost in thought. There was something he had specifically come upstairs to do. Now, what was it?

“How? Are you sure?” Emma asked with a stunned look on her face. She had wanted answers, but this was not what she had been expecting.

“Ya called him by his real name, not the nickname the others gave him.” Dust told her as he pointed to Axe.

“Oh god,” Emma groaned as the realisation hit her. Those strange dreams she had been having, they were Papyrus’ memories, not her mind trying to cope with what had happened.

She closed her eyes thinking back over the last few days. The creepy drawings, the cold and hunger, they all had to be things from Papyrus’ past. Opening her eyes, a big grin spread across her face as Emma looked over at her friend who was shyly peeking out of his scarf. “Papyrus you’re amazing.”

“Really?” Papyrus asked slowly coming back out of his scarf.

Emma giggled, “yes really my silly sweet friend.”

Axe was only vaguely listening to the conversation as he had finally remembered what he had come upstairs to do. He had to make sure that these two innocents hadn’t added a soul bond to go with the soul touching. Normally a soul bond only existed between married couples. The bond was a permanent link between souls allowing the pair to share things on a deeper level than with anyone else. The bond could become so strong that when one of them died the other one wouldn’t survive the loss.

Axe sighed in relief as he finished checking his brother’s soul. Whatever else these two had done at least they had managed to avoid that complication. Now he had just got to figure out what to do with the pair. “Wait what did ya say?”

“That your brother is amazing.” Emma looked curiously at the older skeleton. “What don’t you think so?”

“Yeah of course, but ain’t ya bothered by what we did?”

“No, should I be?”

Axe looked at the girl happily sitting in front of them. There was none of the fear or disgust he normally saw when someone found out they had to do to survive. There wasn’t even any pity in her eyes, maybe she just got some of Papyrus’ childhood memories. “Ya do know what we did, don’t you?”

Emma rolled her eyes. “You mean the fact that you used to kill and eat just about anything that moved. You haven’t exactly been subtle about it Sans, or do you prefer Axe?”

Axe blinked in surprise, he couldn’t have heard that right. The kid knew and she didn’t care? “Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously”

“Why?” Axe looked so shocked it was almost funny.

Emma’s expression softened. “I have Papyrus’ memories, I know the hell you both went through. You know what really amazes me?”

The pair shook their heads too stunned to say anything.

“That somehow you managed to protect your little brother through all of that and he still came out of it so sweet and gentle. That says a lot about you Sans.”

Papyrus couldn’t contain his joy any longer. Emma knew and more importantly she understood. He knew it, he just knew it. The soul could not lie. With an extremely happy “Nyeh” he pounced on a very startled Emma and nuzzled her into a fit of giggles, before settling back down, smugly hugging her like a teddy bear.

“Great now I’ve got two childhood friends with zero impulse control,” Emma groaned, thinking of her similarly over enthusiastic friend Stephanie. She looked over at the other skeleton. “I take it back. You have to be a miracle worker to have kept this one alive for so long.”

Papyrus affectionately nuzzled the top of Emma’s head. “Contrary To Popular Belief I Can Take Care Of Myself.”

“Uhum… We just need to work on stranger danger or maybe get you a pair of glasses.” Emma grinned up at her tall friend, “not that I’m complaining. It made my dreams a lot more pleasant than they could have been, but just how bad has your eyesight gotten and why haven’t you gone to the Centre to get it fixed yet?” Concern entered her voice as she continued. “At least let someone look at your teeth. I know they still are causing you pain.”

“What?” Axe growled coming out of his stunned reverie.

“Didn’t you know about your brother’s jaw?”

“No, the other bit about getting him fixed.”

“Err… The Centre? You know that place specifically built to help monsters adjust to life on the surface.”

“What?” Axe could feel his anger rising. Those bastards, had they kept him from getting the help his brother needed?

“Umm… Yeah since you guys can’t exactly go to our doctors, they put a state of the art medical facility in it. I’ve seen monsters with gold teeth… Actually two of the bar flys have them and I know Grillby wears glasses. So there should be someone there that can help Papyrus.”

“I’M GOING TO KILL THOSE FUCKING BASTARDS!” Axe roared before disappearing from the room.

“Oh Stars, We Better Go After Him,” Papyrus said, his voice filled with concern, as he released Emma from his lap. Getting up he headed over to Dust who was putting his shoes back on. “Emma Will You Be Alright?”

“Yes go before he does something you’ll regret.”

Dust having finished putting on his shoes got up and walked over to Emma. “Really like the one of Stretch, you might want to add the wind chimes to your collection,” he said as he pressed the sketchbook into her hands. “Well, this has been fun, but we better get going.”

With that said Dust grabbed hold of Papyrus’ arm and the pair disappeared.

Chapter Text

The next day Emma left the house early to do her shopping for the week. She wanted to get it out of the way quickly so she could head over to Muffet’s to look for her hat. It felt really weird walking around without it. She just hoped that it had fallen off at the beginning of all the madness yesterday, otherwise she might never see it again.

Reaching the supermarket Emma got a shopping cart and put her small two-wheeled trolley bag on the back. Next, she pulled out her shopping list. It was quite short with just the bare essentials that she needed to get through the week. As she started down the first aisle she found herself wishing that she could do more than just survive on her weekly budget. It had felt so nice to treat Papyrus yesterday, even if it made things a little more difficult for her in the coming week. It was just a shame that neither of them actually got to eat any of Muffet’s incredible pastries, thanks to that stupid bar fly.

As Emma put the last item from her list into the cart and headed towards the checkout, she thought about what she had learned from the skeletons yesterday. It still felt a little bit strange to suddenly share childhood memories with a brand new friend, but it did make sense of why she felt so comfortable around Papyrus. There was only one other person left that made Emma feel this way, and that was Stephanie.

They had met at lower school and they had been friends ever since. Steph, like all people in Emma’s life, was taller than her by a good few inches. She had a role-poly body which made her look a bit like a happy go lucky marshmallow. This went well with the short ginger hair that framed her round face, chocolate brown eyes that danced with hidden mischief and a mouth always ready to quirk up into a big grin.

After paying for her groceries, Emma headed over to a quiet spot near the front of the store to put her shopping away. As she was doing this, something occurred to her which made Emma stop in her tracks and fight back a groan. She was going to have to call Steph and tell her all about the assault she had been involved in.

Normally Emma would not hesitate to tell her friend anything, but Steph's reactions to bad things involving her friends were quite extreme. Emma really wasn’t sure if she could cope with the inevitable house invasion by her concerned friend right now. Maybe she would chicken out this one time and leave a message for her on Facebook (it normally took Steph a couple of days to reply to any post Emma put up), or she could text her when her friend was at work and wait for the inevitable explosion when she read it. But that was a problem for when she got home. Right now Emma needed to head to Muffet’s to see if she could find her hat.

It was coming up 10 o’clock by the time she got to Muffet’s bakery. Emma winced as she looked at the shop, one of the beautiful gothic windows was boarded up. She had hoped that she’d imagined the sound of breaking glass yesterday. This was not going to improve Muffet’s mood, which meant Emma was most likely going to end up flat on her back, staring at the ceiling the moment she walked into the bakery.

“Oh well, might as well get it over with. At least I don’t have any breakables in my groceries this time.” Emma mumbled to herself as she pushed open the door and cautiously entered. Slowly she looked around as she walked further into the shop. She spotted Muffet in one of the booths near the back. She was talking to a pair of white dog monsters in guard uniforms, while some of the smaller spiders carried on working the till. For one glorious moment, Emma thought she had gotten away with it. Then she spotted him, Muffet’s pet, Muffin, asleep at the back of the bakery.

When he was asleep Muffin resembled his namesake, albeit a giant one (being about the same height as a great dane), with purple icing and sprinkles in a black casing. The only problem was looks could be deceiving. Emma groaned as she watched the sprinkles open up, turning into a myriad of black beady eyes. Ponderously the creature rose up onto eight tarantula style legs, that had been tucked under his body. After stretching himself out like a strange looking cat with far too many legs, Muffin sniffed the air and locked his many eyes on to Emma. Giving off an excited barking sound the mutant beast charged across the shop straight at the girl.

Emma barely managed to move her shopping out of the way and utter a plaintive, “not again,” before she was enthusiastically knocked over and pinned down by Muffet’s strange pet. He then proceeded to try to drown her in saliva, by licking anything he could reach.

Emma really wished that Muffet wouldn’t bring her pet to work, because every time Muffin spotted Emma this would happen. She really didn’t know why he greeted her like this. He never hurt her, but she could do without his over enthusiastic welcomes.

As she struggled to fend off the mutant pastry a pair of black high heel shoes attached to slender light purple legs came into view, followed by a very familiar voice. “Dearie are you alright? He’s not normally like this. Muffin get off them this minute.”

Muffin gave Emma another couple of good licks, before reluctantly retreating to stand by his owner.

“You know that’s a lie Muffet. Your mutt always seems to think I need a bath.” Emma said with a shy little smile. Though she had known the spider lady for many years she still felt a bit self-conscious talking to her. After making sure she wasn’t going to step on anyone. She slowly, if a little clumsily, got back up and started to wipe the drool off herself.

“Oh, Emma dearie, I’m so glad you’re alright.” Muffet cried, pulling the little human close.

“Um, why wouldn’t I be? Aside from the occasional case of concussion and attempted drowning, that mutt of yours does no harm.” Emma’s words came out slightly muffled as Muffet had not released her yet.

“Excuse me Muffet, but is this the young lady from the incident yesterday?” Came a voice from behind them.

“Yes,” turning around Muffet kept one hand lightly on the girl’s shoulder as she addressed the two dog monsters. “This is Emma.”

“Um hi,” Emma smiled nervously at the pair. “Sorry for any trouble I caused yesterday.”

“We’re just glad that you’re alright. There were fears that you might have been abducted,” said the nearer of the two guard monsters smiling down at the girl.

“Abducted?” Blinking, Emma realised that the speaker was actually a female. It was hard to tell with a casual glance since the pair were practically identical.

Both of them had long floppy ears, dark eyes and rounded muzzles with cute button noses. It was only when you looked at their bodies that the differences between them became apparent.

“My name is Dogaressa and this is my husband Dogamy, we’re members of the Snowdin K-9 unit. If you wouldn’t mind could you give us your account of the events yesterday so we can finish our report and be on our way?”

“Oh, yes of course.”

“Come along dearies, we might as well be comfortable while having this conversation,” said Muffet as she gently steered Emma into a seat in one of the booths at the back of the shop. As they were doing this some of the smaller spiders picked up Emma’s shopping and moved it out of the way leaving Muffin standing guard over it.

Muffet smiled as she slid a small treat in front of Emma as an apology for Muffin’s behaviour and then sat down next to her. The dog monsters took the seats opposite them. As Emma turned to thank the spider lady, her scar caught the light making it glitter.

Dogamy blinked. “Wait, are you the young pup that was attacked on Monday?”

“Um yes, how did you know?”

“It’s that scar of yours. You must admit it’s quite unique.” Dogamy said pointing at the scar.

“My scar?” Emma asked, a startled look on her face as her hand unconsciously moved to touch it.

Dogaressa gave her husband a stern look, before turning to the human. “Please don’t mind my husband. The Captain mentioned that you had a Dust scar and it’s been all anyone can talk about in the break room. We all grew up on Gerson’s stories of the war and here you are, a little living piece of our history.” An apologetic smile spread across her face as she spoke.

“It’s alright, I guess I’m more used to people commenting on my hat, not this,” Emma said tapping the scar. She turned to the spider monster next to her. “Speaking of my hat, Muffet, I lost it in all that chaos yesterday. Please tell me you have it?”

“Oh you and that hat,” said Muffet sighing in exasperation as she looked down at her small friend.

“It’s my favourite,” Emma said in a plaintive voice.

Muffet rolled her many eyes heavenward. “Yes dearie, I have it. I was going to give it to the guard so they could try and track you, but since you're safe I guess you can have it back.” With a wave of several of her hands, a group of the little spiders dashed off to retrieve the hat.

“Thanks,” Emma smiled at Muffet before turning her attention back to the two Guards. “Um, sorry about that. Alright, shall we get started? So what do you want to know?”

“If you could give us your account of the events that transpired here yesterday, for the records please,” Dogaressa asked, as her husband got out a notebook.

Emma quickly and succinctly recounted the events that lead up to Papyrus fleeing the shop with her yesterday. She was still quite upset with the other skeleton for his unwarranted attack on her new friend. She also hoped that it had been that stupid orange idiot’s fault that Muffet’s window had got broken. The spider monster was almost as good at holding a grudge as a celt when something interfered with her business.

Emma was brought out of her thoughts when Dogaressa spoke again. “Thank you, Miss, that should be everything we need, unless you have the contact details for your friend?”

Emma shook her head. “No sorry, but you should have.”

“Oh?” Dogamy said, looking up from his notes.

“Um yes, you see he is the other victim of the assault on Monday. We ran into each other on Tuesday and decided to meet up yesterday so we could get to know each other.”

After jotting this new information down the husband and wife team got ready to leave. Thanking Emma for her help, the pair left the shop.

Muffet, having escorted the guards to the door, came back to the booth and slid into the seat opposite the little human. “Emma, why did me asking about your Mother upset you so much yesterday? I saw that your friend had to comfort you.” She said with concern.

Emma stopped picking at the treat in front of her to look at the spider. “Because Mum died at the beginning of the year.” The words still hurt to say, but at least today she had more time to prepare herself for this question. “It’s why I haven’t been around for a while. I’ve been trying to sort out the mess that is Mum’s estate.”

“Oh dearie, I’m so sorry,” Muffet said, as she brought a pair of hands up to her mouth in shock.

“Hey, at least she's out of pain and back with the rest of the family,” Emma said with a sad smile.

“Do you have any family left to help you through this?”

“Does a cat count?” replied Emma dryly.

“Dearie,” said Muffet reproachfully.

“I’ll be alright Muffet. My friends have been helping sort through stuff and I’ve been getting help from Citizens Advice with the legal bits. Okay, it’s a little weird being on my own for the first time in my life, but I’m coping.”

A look of sympathetic concern spread across Muffet’s face as she gazed at the small human sitting opposite her. The girl sat hunched up, picking at the sweet treat in front of her. This was not the Emma she knew.

Muffet still remembered the first time she had met the girl. The bakery had only been open for a few days when Emma and her mother Rosemary had walked in. The look of wonder and sheer joy on the girl’s face, coupled with her mother’s amusement at the way Emma kept pointing out little details of the decor, had instantly endeared the pair to her. But it was their open and friendly manner, and the fact that they weren’t scared of spiders, that had led to a long and lasting friendship.

A chorus of chittery laughter from tiny spiders brought Muffet back to the present. A soft chuckle escaped from Emma as she looked to where the sound was coming from. “Well, there’s a sight you don’t see every day. Spiders doing an impression of cockroaches.”

Muffet turned towards the sound as well. Only to find some of her smaller kin collapsed on the floor, on their backs, legs in the air, laughing their little heads off near an opened book.

“Alright you little horrors, how did you get your hands on that? I had it safely stowed away in my bag.” Emma asked as she got up to carefully retrieve her sketchbook from the chortling spiders.

“They must have come across it when they were putting away your purchases from yesterday. And you know how curious those little rascals can be dearie.” Muffet said waving one hand in airy dismissal.

“Oh erum… Thank you ... I would have understood if you wanted to put the money I spent towards repairing your window…”

“Stop right there dearie. You are not responsible for my window. It was that skeleton Stretch that broke it, and it will be from his hide that I will extract my price. An old friend of my sister’s or not.” A menacing gleam entered Muffet’s eyes as she spoke.

Emma suppressed a shudder, she could almost feel sorry for the guy. Almost, but not enough to risk upsetting Muffet. Especially after he attacked Papyrus for no reason.

“If you’re sure,” Emma said shyly.

“Yes dearie, I’m sure. Now come sit down and let’s see what has got the little ones so stirred up.” Muffet said, patting the seat next to her.

Reluctantly Emma handed over her sketchbook and slid onto the seat. The still happily chittering spiders scrambled up onto the table and started flicking through the book. Emma once again found herself wishing she could understand what the little ones were saying, as they excitedly pointed out one of the images. This was going to be embarrassing; she just hoped Muffet would understand.

“Oh my, is that me? What on earth am I doing to Stretch?”

Emma could feel a blush creeping up over her cheeks as she looked down at the image in front of her. The picture took up a whole side of A4, it was a cartoon of Muffet angrily tapping her foot with her arms crossed, looking up at the skeleton from yesterday. He was hanging upside down, caught in a spider’s web and in addition to his signature orange hoodie, Emma had added a pair of fly wings on his back and some antenna to his skull. The only other thing in the picture was a group of the little spiders clustered around Muffet holding tiny weapons, waiting for their chance at the skeleton. “Sorry, I was a little mad when I did that. I did not mean any disrespect by it… It just felt right at the time, what with the nickname I have for him.”

“Oh, what name would that be dearie?”

“Bar fly” Emma could feel her blush deepening as she continued. “You see the only place I’ve seen him before is hanging around the bar at Grillby’s. He’s one of a bunch of skeletons that hang around the bar like … well, a bunch of flies.”

“Well, that explains the image.”

“Sorry again, it’s just how I vent my frustrations when I can’t find someone to talk to.”

“Oh?”

“Cats make good listeners but are terrible conversationalists. It’s times like this I really miss Mum, she would have sat down next to me and come up with a 100 different things we could do to the guy. She’d have me laughing so hard by the end of it, I would’ve forgotten what upset me in the first place.” Emma said with a little forlorn smile touching her lips.

Muffet looked over at the still faintly blushing human next to her. “Yes, I could see Rosemary doing that. The pair of you did share a rather wicked sense of humour.” Fondness and sorrow warring in her voice as she spoke.

“I had to get it from someone,” Emma said, shrugging her shoulders.

Muffet looked back down at the sketchbook. “So if this is your way of venting your frustrations, what did this other skeleton do to upset you, dearie?” She asked with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. “You know I thought I knew all the skeletons at least by sight, but I don’t recognise that one,” Muffet commented as she examined the myriad of cartoons in front of her.

“Oh, that’s Axe, he's the older brother of the guy I was with yesterday.” Emma smiled as she cast her eyes over some of her favourite recent drawings. She had really gone to town on him. Everything from having him chased by dogs, to using his empty head for a flower pot, and of course her personal favourite for bullies using a catapult to throw him off a cliff. “And as for what he did, I don’t really know where to start, it’s been a week.” She said wearily.

“Well dearie, why don’t we start with what the guards said about you being attacked and go from there.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s the best place to start, everything does sorta relate back to it. God, so much has happened since then. I really haven’t had a chance to sit down and sort through how I feel about it all. There are also some bits I still don’t really understand. It’s actually why I have my sketchbook with me, I normally don’t bring it with me when I do my shopping.” Seeing the curious look on Muffet’s face, Emma continued with her explanation. “You see there is this park on my way home. After I finished here I was going to go sit down in it and try to sort my head out. You know how I am with writing things, I just find it easier to sort my thoughts out by drawing.”

“Well, let’s see what we can sort out together dearie.”

That was it, with those simple words a dam within Emma broke and it all came pouring out. The fear and pain she had suffered during the attack. Her desire not to watch someone else die again. The total weirdness and confusion of waking up in hospital covered in silver scars. That first violent encounter with the skeleton brothers. Meeting up with Papyrus yesterday. Then ending up in another confrontation with Axe that culminated in him accusing her of rape. And finally, the revelation of the soul touching. With the resulting strange feeling of comfort and familiarity she got from Papyrus, that warred with the uncertainty she still felt.

When Emma finished speaking she buried her head in her arms with a groan. She really hadn’t meant to go into such detail when she recounted the events of the last few days to Muffet. Normally Emma would have edited what she told her or tried to put a positive spin on it so she wouldn’t worry her friend. Before, the only person she would have told everything to without holding anything back was her Mum, but she was gone and Muffet was here.

Muffet looked down at the girl next to her as she tried to absorb the information she had just received. Emma looked so small and fragile sitting there that it was hard to remember that she was an adult. Muffet found herself having to fight the urge to pick Emma up and comfort her like the small child she resembled at the moment. In the end, she settled for placing one hand on her friend’s head and soothingly stroking her silky auburn hair. “You’ve really been through a lot haven’t you dearie?” She said gently.

A little ironic chuckle escaped from between Emma’s arms as her muffled voice replied. “Yeah, you could say that. So are you going to tell me how stupid I am for wanting to give Axe another chance?”

Muffet observed her friend for a couple of moments, before making some gestures with her free hands that her smaller kin went about fulfilling. The next thing Emma knew was Muffet’s gentle touch being replaced by a familiar weight. Raising her head up she found her hat on her head and a plate of doughnuts in front of her with a spider cider next to it.

“No dearie, that’s just who you are. Even though Muffin keeps knocking you over. You just forgive him. You do tend to give people the benefit of the doubt, whether they deserve it or not.” Muffet said with a kind smile on her face. “Now why don’t you eat these treats and let’s see what we can sort out.”

“You don’t have to Muffet, I’ve already taken up too much of your time as it is. I know you have got this shop to run.”

“My kin can manage the shop for now. I may not be your mother, but I am your friend and I want to be there for you if you will let me.”

“Umm…” Emma looked away uncertainly. She wanted to talk, but her insecurities about burdening others began to rise within her.

“Dearie, you’ve been through so much in a short space of time, you really shouldn’t keep it all bottled up. If not me, then someone else, but you should really talk about it.” Muffet said with concern.

“Yeah, you’re right Muffet, it’s just that... the bit that’s bothering me in all this is something I’m not sure you’ll be comfortable talking about.”

“Let me be the judge of that dearie.”

“It’s this whole soul-touching thing that’s so confusing.”

“Not the assault or the way those skeletons kept attacking you?”

“Yeah, you would think that, but I haven’t had a single flashback, not even a bad dream about what those men did to me. It’s like Papyrus’ memories have drowned out the other bad stuff.” Emma sighed as she took off her hat and put it on the table. “As for the skeletons, I know I should be terrified of them. They’ve stalked and attacked me, God they’ve even invaded my home. Well, the two older ones have, Papyrus has always been a complete gentleman. And that’s just it, I’m not scared of them. I’m mad at Axe hence the drawings. I’m not even too bothered by the stuff Dust did. I know logically I should be asking the police or the guard to protect me from these violent skeletons, but some stupid part of me wants to trust them.” Emma looked over at Muffet with worry and confusion clearly visible on her face. “That’s what really bothering me, how much of what I’m feeling is me and how much is stuff from Papyrus’ memories?”

Muffet’s face turned thoughtful as she answered. “Though I’ve never been in a serious enough relationship to have done it myself. I can tell you this, what you are feeling is all you.” She held up a hand as Emma opened her mouth to speak. “Now let me finish dearie. What you got from that other soul was just information, what you do with that information is totally up to you. There is a reason we monsters say to trust your soul for it can not lie to you, it is the truest part of you. If it is saying to trust them, then it must have seen something in those memories it believes in.” Muffet smiled and her voice became softer as she continued. “In a very real sense, you now know this skeleton better than anyone else on this planet. Just remember when dealing with his brothers, that you have only got what this Papyrus knows about them to go on. It’s no different from me telling you something about one of my sisters, alright dearie?”

“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.” Emma smiled as she reached for a doughnut. “Thanks, Muffet, that actually helps a lot.” Her smile turned rueful with her next words. “Still have no idea how we did it, but at least I now understand it a bit better.”

Muffet furrowed her brows as her voice became more contemplative. “Yes, that is the strangest thing about all this. Soul touching is a very deliberate act, there should be no way for someone to do it accidentally, especially not a human. Since as a species you can no longer access your souls.”

“Hey don’t look at me, they just told me it happened. They didn’t explain how, but if I’m right with my guess of when it happened, neither of us were in any condition to do anything.” Emma said, shrugging her shoulders before finishing the doughnut she was holding.

“Oh, and when would that be dearie?”

“Around the time of the assault on Monday or just after it. I had my first weird dream in the hospital later that same day.”

“That’s the same incident you got that scar isn’t it dearie?”

“Yeah it is, but I got a new friend out of it and an interesting story to tell my folks the next time I see them. So it’s not too bad.”

Sorrow filled Muffet’s face, but before she could say anything Emma started talking again. “Before you say it. I know that they are dead and I won’t be seeing them for a really long time. I may not be the most religious person around, but I do believe that one day I will see them again. So when I do, I want to have lots of things to tell them. They don’t have to be big or important things. It could be something as simple as ‘I got a job Mum’, or ‘I didn’t let my shyness and fear get the better of me and I made a new friend’. I just want to have enough stuff so that we can have a really good conversation the next time I see them... Silly huh?”

Muffet smiled softly down at her little friend. “No dearie, it’s not silly, it’s actually very sweet.” Her smile grew wider as she continued, “and I believe I have the perfect thing to add to the list.”

“Oh?”

“Well, I was going to ask you to let me make a copy of that wonderful picture of me and Stretch…”

“Youu… really like it?”

“Yes dearie, I really do. So let’s discuss you doing an enlarged version of it for the shop wall.”

“Seriously?” Emma could feel her blush returning with a vengeance as she looked at her friend. “It’s just a silly cartoon…”

“That I think will look good on the wall. Now shall we discuss payment?”

“Payment?” Emma squeaked.

“Yes payment, I am not asking you to do it for free dearie.” Muffet raised a couple of hands to forestall the argument she could see brewing on her friend’s face. “Now I know you won’t accept my money, but if I remember rightly you told the guards that the lovely blouse you were wearing yesterday was ruined. So why don’t I get my sister to make you a new one?”

“Muffet?” Emma said queryingly.

“Yes, dearie?”

“Last time I checked you had four sisters, each from a different cavern, or is it tribe? I always get confused. And only one of them works with you, so which one are we talking about?”

“It’s tribe dearie, and I was thinking Poison would be the perfect one to help us.”

“That’s right they’re called tribes,” Emma thought to herself, as she remembered when the first of these tribes had appeared.

A year or two after the initial appearance of monsters on the surface, another group of monsters appeared from under the same mountains. They had been trapped in a different cavern to the original monsters and had developed their own unique customs and traditions over the centuries. Then a few short months later yet another group of monsters had emerged from the mountains, again with its own distinctive culture. The leaders of the different groups got together and decided that each cavern would be treated as its own tribe. The ruler of the first group (or as they became known the Classic Tribe) would be in overall charge, but he would have advisers from the other tribes. Over the years two more tribes had emerged and now there was a Royal Council made up of all the different tribal leaders.

The tribe a monster belonged to depended on which cavern they had been trapped in. So you had families like Muffet’s who had been separated from each other when they were imprisoned underground. This meant that each of Muffet’s sisters now belonged to a different tribe.

Thinking of Muffet’s sisters, Emma realised something. “Wait, Muffet, isn’t Poison one of the owners of the Emporium that really posh boutique in town?”

“Yes, dearie.”

“That’s way too expensive, my top only cost me £45. The stuff in the Emporium starts at about £70 and just goes up from there. My work isn’t worth that much.”

“Oh, pish posh dearie. Your work is definitely worth it. Besides, you’re forgetting that I get a family discount there. Also, Poison may well do it for free when I present her with that lovely little mystery you gave me.”

“Um, what mystery would that be?”

“How could someone accidentally touch their soul to another one? Poison is just going to love trying to find out how you managed to do that. With the added benefit that we will get the answer to that little riddle ourselves when she sorts it out.” Said Muffet merrily.

A rueful laugh escaped from Emma as she replied. “Alright, Muffet you win. So just how big do you want it?”

As the pair discussed the painting and Emma finished off her snack, a group of the smaller spiders picked up the sketchbook and stored it back away in her little trolley. They also added some extra treats for their favourite human.

After Emma finished making arrangements for the painting she lingered to talk with Muffet for a while. In the end, over an hour had passed by the time the pair finished chatting and Emma started for home.

Muffet watched the young human from the doorway of the bakery as she disappeared into the distance. As she watched she made a silent promise to her old friend that she would watch over her daughter in her place.

It was nearly 12 noon by the time Emma struggled up the front path to her door. The main reason for her trouble was the rather large canvas she was now carrying at the same time as trying to pull her little trolley bag. Maybe it had been a mistake to stop off on the way home to buy what she needed for the painting, but she really wanted to get started on it.

After a bit of juggling, Emma managed to get hold of her house key and get herself, as well as everything else, inside. Out of habit, she called out, “I’m home.”

Only to get the surprise of her life when a familiar voice replied. “Oh, Welcome Home Little Morsel.”

Emma followed the sound to find Papyrus standing by the open fridge in her kitchen. “Pap you know you’re always welcome here, but could you let me fill the fridge before you raid it?” She gently teased her towering friend.

“Oh, Um… I Was Actually Filling It.” Papyrus said nervously, fiddling with his gloves while a blush covered his cheekbones.

“Pap…”

“It Is Just… You Had So Little Food Yesterday…” Papyrus said plaintively. He walked over and knelt in front of his friend so he could see her better. “It Worried Me… I Had To Do Something.” Emma could plainly see concern warring with embarrassment on his face as he looked at her.

She smiled softly, gathering Papyrus to her in a gentle embrace. “Thank you Pap and I’m sorry I worried you.” A little chuckle escaped from her before she continued. “I guess you didn’t get all my memories... or you forgot.”

“And What Pray Tell Am I Forgetting?” Papyrus asked as he repositioned himself into a more comfortable sitting position with Emma once more safely in his arms.

A little surprised to find herself once again in this position, it took Emma a few moments to gather her scattered thoughts enough to answer him. “That since I don’t get a lot of money coming in I tend to budget on a weekly basis, which means I tend to shop on a weekly basis too. Since I shop on a Thursday, Wednesday is the worst day to look in my cupboards.”

“Oh, I See.”

Papyrus went to nuzzle Emma’s head only to be stopped by her hat. “I See You Found It Then.” He said as he removed it so he could finish what he started.

“Yeah, luckily for me Muffet found it.”

After that, the pair lapsed into silence each taking comfort from the other’s presence. While they were doing this Papyrus tried to sort through the memories and impressions he had gotten from his friend.

Even remembering that Emma was basically okay on her limited budget, Papyrus could not shake his fears from yesterday. Between the state of her soul and her bare cupboards, it just scared him. Unconsciously he tightened his hold on her as if to make sure she was still there. Words escaped from deep within his soul, filled with old terrors and long-forgotten sorrows. “Please do not leave me,” Papyrus whispered as he buried his head into her shoulder.

“Oh, Pap” Emma carefully moved in the shaking skeleton’s grasp so that she could hug him back. A memory crept to the surface, of course this would scare him. How many times had the poor guy watched as those around him died? She may not have lost as many as him, but Emma knew this pain and fear all too well. “Shh, it will be alright, I have no intentions of going anywhere.” She whispered softly as she did her best to comfort her distraught friend.

“No, but he is,” came a tired growl from next to them. Turning the pair found Axe slumped against one of the kitchen counters.

Disregarding the little human in his brother’s arms, Axe addressed Papyrus directly. “Found a couple of places that look possible up in the mountains, just waiting on Dust and we can get going. So finish whatever ya doing here, cause we ain’t taking that snack with us.”

“Brother Are You Sure That There Is Not Something Else We Could Do?” Papyrus pleaded as he reluctantly stood. He continued to hug Emma close like a child seeking comfort from a favourite cuddly. “Perhaps We Can Talk With Dings Or Even Gaster, I Am Sure They Could Sort All This Out.”

Axe wearily scrubbed at his skull as he shook his head. “Pap, Dings may have sent ya on that errand, but that does not mean that he trusts or cares about us. None of them do, if they did they would have told us about this Centre thing. So unless you want Dust to live up to the name they gave him. This is our best option.”

“May have to go with that plan anyway. They’re combing the woods looking for us.” Dust’s tired voice came from the doorway.

Papyrus whimpered, hugging Emma closer. He really did not want anyone else to get hurt. Stars, the surface was meant to be a fresh start for them, why wouldn’t they just let them have it?

Emma could feel the distress coming off the skeleton behind her, it was obvious that he did not like either of these options. It hurt to see him like this, especially when she could give him a third option. The only problem was that if she was going to do this it would have to be for all three skeletons. Emma knew that Papyrus would never leave his brothers behind. So the real question was did she want to give this chance to Axe after everything he had done to her? Sighing, Emma closed her eyes blocking out the muttered conversation between the two older skeletons as she tried to figure out what would be best for everyone.

The plan Axe suggested sounded like they would end up living much as they had underground, with them taking over some out of the way place and living off the land. It would be lonely for Papyrus and make it harder for him to get the help he needed. Also, it sounded like the rest of his household wouldn’t leave them alone and would come hunting for them.

Then there was Dust’s plan, which sounded like it involved mass murder. In the best-case scenario, they would end up on the run from the law. Worst case they would end up in jail or dead. Neither of these scenarios would really help anyone.

Opening her eyes Emma looked at the two exhausted skeletons in front of her and found she couldn’t do it, she couldn’t leave them like this. She had to at least give them another option. If they refused okay, but at least she had tried.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself Emma raised her voice to be heard over the others. “I might have a solution to your problem that doesn’t end up with you on the run from the law, or living like a hobo in the mountains.”

“What?” Axe growled, glaring tiredly at the small human.

“You could stay here.” Seeing the suspicious glare Axe was still directing at her, Emma sighed and tapped Papyrus' arm. “Down please Pap.”

“Oh, Sorry” Papyrus apologised as he gently released his friend and restored her to a standing position.

Emma smiled up at her friend before turning her attention back to the other skeletons. With a serious expression on her face, she said “look, this house has five bedrooms. I’m using one and another one got turned into a craft room, but that still leaves three that aren’t being used.” She bit back another sigh as she watched Axe’s face fall into more stubborn lines. “I know there are some issues we would have to work out… Look, it’s about lunchtime, why don’t I get us something to eat and we’ll go into the living room and discuss this. If you still don’t like the idea then fine. It will also give you time to think about your other options and a bit of a rest. No offence, but you two look more dead than normal.”

“Emma Could You Not,” Papyrus groaned.

“What? I don’t know what happened between you and the rest of your household, but it’s pretty obvious that they're both exhausted. I could've gone with the obvious pun, but I went with the truth instead.”

“Alright, I’ll bite what’s the pun?” Axe asked, crossing his arms as his face lost some of its stubbornness to be replaced with curiosity.

“Emma Please Do Not Encourage Them,” Papyrus groaned.

“Sorry Pap, he did ask. The first one I thought of is that you two look bone tired. I can think of a few more, but that’s the most obvious one.”

“Oh, what other ones ya got?” Axe asked a little grin starting to spread across his face.

Just as Emma was about to reply she found herself back in Papyrus’ arms with one gloved hand firmly over her mouth, as he cried. “NO, WE ARE NOT DOING THIS!! Brother You And Dust Go Sit Down This Minute! I Will Help Emma Prepare Lunch Then We Will Join You.”

“Come on Paps, she did some real rib-tickling cartoons yesterday. I bet she could come up with a ton of puns...a skele-ton.” Dust said with a shit-eating grin on his face.

“NO! NO PUNS!! See What You Have Done!” Papyrus said, glaring down at the little human, who fluttered her eyelashes at him innocently.

“When are we gonna eat? I’m gonna pasta-way here without some food soon. See, I’m nothing but bones already.” Axe playfully whined as he pulled his top taut so you could see his ribs.

“Sans No,” Papyrus groaned.

“Sans yes.” The pair of shorter skeletons chortled with matching grins on their faces.

“Just Go Sit Down Already,” Papyrus said dramatically pointing towards the door. Nearly dropping Emma in the process. “AND NO MORE PUNS!”

“Sure Bro,” Axe called back as the pair left the Kitchen.

“Did You Have To Do That?” Papyrus asked as he released his friend.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to start a pun war. I just wanted him to relax enough that he might actually think about what I’m suggesting.”

“However Much I Hate To Admit It, It Was The Right Thing To Do. Now How About We Get Started On Lunch?” Papyrus asked as he headed towards the cupboards.

“Yeah lets, so what do you think we should make?”

“Mmm...Sandwiches And Perhaps Some Other Light Finger Foods Should Do.”

“Sounds good… guess I better put my shopping away as well.” Emma said as she opened up her bag to find that there was way more stuff in it than there should be. “That sneaky spider, I hope she doesn’t expect me to pay for all that, I’m already doing her a painting.”

Papyrus looked up from what he was doing. “Oh, And What Has Muffet Done?”

“Take a look for yourself, that’s way more than I bought,” Emma said gesturing at the small trolley bag.

Papyrus walked over and looked at the many treats the spider had given his friend. A smile spread across his jagged teeth as he carefully removed each item from the bag and put it on the counter. “Oh My, Your Friend’s Generosity Will Certainly Make The Preparations For Lunch Much Simpler.”

“Yeah, I just hope she doesn’t want me to pay for all of that.” Emma murmured quietly as she watched the growing mound of sweet pastry delicacies in stunned disbelief.

Papyrus looked over his friend quizzically. “Is It So Hard To Believe Your Friend Wanted To Treat You? You Have Had Quite A Rough Week So Far.”

“Yeah, it’s just… So much.” Emma said, vaguely gesturing at the still growing mound.

“All The More For Us To Share. Why Not Start On The Sandwiches While I Finish Sorting This Out?” Papyrus suggested as he pulled out two big bottles of spider cider from the trolley.

“Okay,” Emma replied.

As the pair went about their separate tasks they once more lapsed into companionable silence. It seemed to take no time at all for them to get lunch and ferry it through to the front room. Emma got out some small tables to put everything on, while Papyrus handed out plates and cutlery. In no time at all the group had settled down to enjoy the food.

Axe watched the girl as she moved about the room before settling down on the sofa next to Papyrus. The pair seemed happy and comfortable with each other, smiling and chatting as they ate their food together. Axe could not remember the last time he had seen his brother this happy. It was very tempting to take the girl’s offer just for that, but could he trust her not to screw them over like the others had? On instinct, he tried to ‘check’ her soul once more, only to come up with nothing yet again.

Papyrus noticed Emma massaging her chest while trying to hide a wince. Angrily he glared over at his sibling. “Brother Stop That At Once, You Are Hurting Her. And After She Has Been Kind Enough To Offer Us A Place To Stay.”

“Yeah, but why is she offering? What’s in it for her?” Axe growled as he continued to glare at the little human.

Emma rolled her eyes heavenwards. “Nothing, I gain nothing by helping you. It’ll actually make my life harder if we can’t sort out the one major problem I can see.”

“Yeah, and what’s that?” Axe sneered.

“Food.”

A stunned silence filled the room.

“Look, I don’t have a lot of money… It’s enough to feed me, my cat and keep the lights on, but I can’t figure out how to make it stretch to feed all of us. So if you are going to stay here we’re going to have to figure something out.” Emma hated to admit how tight money was right now, but she hated the look of pity on peoples faces more. So she looked down at her plate and fell silent.

Axe blinked, “that’s it?” The kid was worried about how she was going to feed them. She sounded just like his brother.

“Yes, that’s it. I think everything else can be handled by the house rules. Though we might have to add one or two new ones to be on the safe side.”

“Like what?” Axe asked.

“Like no hurting my friends, however annoying you find them.”

“That Sounds Reasonable, As Long As It Applies To My Friends Too,” said Papyrus, placing a protective arm around Emma while glaring at Axe.

“Fine, anything else?” Axe muttered.

“Just standard house stuff, like if you make a mess you tidy it up.”

“You might as well just give in now Axe. You know Pap will just whine and nag until you do what he wants anyway.” Dust piped up from his seat.

“I Do Not Whine!” Papyrus pouted.

Two sets of tired eye lights wearily regarded the tall skeleton with a look that spoke volumes.

“Sorry to break up this beautiful family moment, but we still need to discuss what we are going to do about food,” Emma interjected quietly.

Papyrus smiled down at his little friend. “Do Not Worry We Have Plenty Of Gold Leftover From Our Time Underground So Food Should Be No Problem.”

Emma sighed and shook her head. “That’s not going to work, the shops up here won’t accept monster currency. You’ll need to get it converted and to do that you will need two things that I don’t think you have.”

“What’s that then?” Axe asked.

“Some form of identification and a bank account to put your money in. I take it your so-called family didn’t bother to help sort that out either, did they?”

“No, they fucking didn’t. Dust we’re going with your plan. Papyrus you stay here. Tonight when their asleep we are going to dust the whole fucking lot of them.” Axe growled menacingly.

After Axe’s hostile words a tense silence fell across the group. As each thought over what he had said. Emma was the first one to break the silence. “You know that this won’t do any good. All you will accomplish is to bring the wrath of the law down on your head and how will that help anyone?”

The only response she got from the two short skeletons was an angry growl from Axe and an indifferent shrug from Dust.

“I get it, you're upset and those bastards most likely deserve everything you’ve got planned for them, but try for once to think of the consequences of your actions. This is not the Underground. There you could dust an entire household and the only reaction you’d get is some mild curiosity to see if there were any scraps left. Law enforcement is too well organised up here for that. Also, I didn’t take you for the merciful kind.”

Axe stared at the girl incredulously. “What part of this sounds merciful to you?”

“Two things really. One, killing them in their sleep is pretty gentle. Okay, I get it, you’re outnumbered so quick stealthy deaths are the best option, but that also makes for merciful deaths. You can’t make them suffer in their sleep. And second, why kill them at all? Once they’re dead, they’re dead, and you can’t make them suffer any move.”

“You seriously think dusting them is too good for them?” Axe asked, still staring at the girl.

“Well yeah, as far as I can tell they've been treating you like a bunch of mushrooms for god knows how long. Don’t you think they should suffer for it?” Emma inquired.

“Mushrooms?”

“Keeping you in the dark and feeding you shit. And you’re telling me a fungi like you can’t come up with a more interesting way of making them pay?”

That got a small chuckle from the two tired skeletons.

Surprisingly, Papyrus didn’t groan at the pun, he was too caught up in his own thoughts to hear it. Emma’s offer was sounding better all the time. Not only could he make sure that his one and only friend was taken care of, but he knew she would do all she could to help them, just as his supposed new family should be doing. This could truly be the fresh start he had been longing for and, if Papyrus was honest with himself, the thought of getting some much deserved payback on the others was an added bonus. A positively evil grin spread across his crooked teeth. “Brother Do You Think It Would Be Possible To Flood Their House With Blue Snow?” Seeing the stunned look on Axe's face Papyrus chuckled darkly before continuing. “Do You Not Think It Would Be Hilarious To Make Those House Proud Skeletons Clean Up That Horrible Sticky Mess?”

“Well yeah, but Pap are ya sure you want to do this? Since we met them you’re the one that’s been preaching forbearance and not killing things anymore.” Axe asked curiously.

“Yes Brother, I Am. Meeting Emma Has Made Me Realise Just How Much We Have Been Missing Out On And I Am Tired Of Settling For What They Will Give Us.” Papyrus’ smile turned fond as he looked down at his friend. “With Emma, We Will Not Have To Settle. So A Little Harmless Fun With The Others, As Long As We All Agree That No One Is To Be Harmed In Our Little Endeavour, I See No Problem With It. Especially Since It Will Solve Our Friend’s Concern About Food.”

Axe was silent for a moment before he started to chuckle. “So that’s your plan, use them as our grocery store. Ya sure your little snack will be okay with us stealing stuff?”

Emma shrugged. “As long as you don’t do anything that will attract the attention of the guard or anyone else, I’m fine with it.” Seeing Axe’s raised bone ridge she sighed and continued. “Look, if we are going to get you guys sorted out we don’t need that sort of complication. Besides, I think it’s about time those jerks knew what it’s like to go without for a while, don’t you?”

Axe burst out laughing as the first genuine smile he’d had in a long time spread across his face. “Yeah, that they do. Alright kid, we’ll stay.”

“Okay then, I’ve got just one more question for you boys.”

“Yeah, what’s that then?”

“Once you’ve all finished eating what do you want to do first? Take a tour of the house or have me show you where the beds are so you can take a nap?”

“Nap!” The exhausted skeletons cried in unison.

Emma bit back a laugh as she replied. “Alright then, while you boys finish up, I’ll go make the beds up. I’ll come to get you once I’m done, okay?”

The skeletons nodded their agreement and went back to their lunch.

As Emma left the room and headed towards the stairs she stopped by an old photograph of her Mother. “I wonder what you would have made of all this?” She smiled to herself and a small chuckle escaped her. “I know one thing’s for sure, I’m going to have one heck of a story to tell you the next time we meet.”

Still softly laughing, Emma headed upstairs to get rooms ready for her new skeletal housemates.

Chapter Text

It had been an interesting three weeks since the skeletons had moved in. It had taken a bit of time, but everyone had roughly settled into the new normal. That is not to say there weren’t some ups and downs in this new situation, like Dust's introduction to Emma’s cat Shadow.

It happened just after the boys finished retrieving the rest of their liberated supplies from their hiding place. Dust had collapsed on the sofa and promptly fallen asleep, while the other two wandered off to do something else. Unfortunately for him, his top rode up while he slept leaving a small gap. Shadow, upon finding the sleeping monster, and being the curious creature she was, investigated the dark, warm space and decided to take a nap in his ribcage. Emma found him a bit later desperately trying to get the cat out while being tickled to death from the inside out. Once she managed to stop laughing, she tried to help, but in the end had to go get Papyrus. Between them, they managed to hold down the struggling skeleton long enough for her to get the cat out. During this process, Emma experienced a weird sensation, like tiny static shocks that crawled up her arm. Emma soon forgot about this strange feeling, but three weeks later Dust was still avoiding Shadow.

Another memorable incident was when Emma’s childhood friend Stephanie had come to visit. Emma had been putting off the call for as long as she could. In the end, she had chickened out and P.M. her friend on Facebook, which a few days later led to an explosive phone call and a visit that same day. Steph had spent the first few minutes in the house switching between staring at the skeletons and staring at her friend. This continued until Emma rolled her eyes heavenwards and told Steph whatever joke she was going to make “DON’T” and informed the skeletons that though she may resemble a rump roast Steph was off the menu. She then dragged her friend upstairs to her room, only to have Stephanie question her sanity the moment they were alone. Okay, Emma had to admit from the outside letting three practical strangers into her home was very stupid, especially when they were of the opposite gender. It made her laugh because it was normally Emma giving this kind of talk to her friend. It was also very funny to see her friend trying to be all serious and mature for once. When Emma had finally stopped laughing, she did her best to explain what had happened between her and Papyrus, which ended up being good practice for when she told the rest of her friends the following Saturday.

That was the same week Emma finished the painting for Muffet. Papyrus had been kind enough to help Emma carry it to the bakery. When it was handed over she also gave the spider lady her ruined blouse, so that Poison had something to work off. When Muffet found out that Papyrus was staying with Emma, the spider monster had given the poor skeleton the 3rd degree, wanting to make sure he was a suitable companion for her little friend. It took over an hour, but by the end of it Papyrus had won her over and they were chatting like old friends.

It hadn’t surprised Emma one bit, with his sweet and gentlemanly manner Papyrus could win most people over. Though his nature did lead to a very polite argument every Saturday morning. It stemmed from the fact that Emma’s upbringing told her that if you had guests staying with you it was only polite to eat with them. Papyrus, on the other hand, believed that she should not deviate from her normal social activities, and therefore should go and have breakfast with her friends.

This little disagreement led to Emma’s current predicament. Having lost the argument with Papyrus yet again, her tall friend had ushered her out of the house too early. So now she found herself staring at the closed door of Grillby’s trying to decide what to do while waiting for the bar to open.

Emma looked down at her wrist to see how much time she had to play with. Only to find that she had forgotten to put her watch on again. “Well, that settles it, I can’t go anywhere when I don’t know how long I’ve got.” She murmured to herself, leaning back against the bar’s door. To keep herself occupied, she reached into her bag, took out her Kindle and started to read. This was an old habit of hers, if she couldn’t draw, she would read, and the quiet side street that the Grillby’s was on really didn’t have a lot to draw at this hour of the morning anyway.

Emma’s reading abruptly came to an end when the door behind her suddenly opened. As she fell backwards a pair of powerful hands seized her and pulled her through the doorway. She twisted and struggled in her captor’s grasp in a vain attempt to free herself as she was dragged through the bar. This proved futile, but she did get a good look at him.

He was a fire elemental, but not the one she was used to seeing. Though he seemed to be the same height and build as Grillby, his flames were much darker, more like a dying fire than the bright and cheerful flames of the elemental she knew. Still, there was something dreadfully familiar about the guy and it wasn’t the fact that he was wearing the bar’s standard uniform of a white shirt, black slacks with matching waistcoat.

Horror and panic gripped at Emma as the realisation hit her. She did know this monster or more precisely Papyrus did. This was the guy who used to run the bar in the village Papyrus grew up in. Fear pulled at her senses as she increased her desperate struggles for freedom. She knew if she didn’t do something fast she would end up being the breakfast special.

For one glorious moment, Emma thought she was safe, as her smouldering top tore freeing her from his burning grip. Then, as she stumbled away from her captor he was tackled to the ground by another fire elemental. This one was a deep purple colour and as the pair wrestled across the floor, she tried to put some distance between herself and the combatants. But then a terrible burning sensation enclosed around her wrist putting an end to her bid for freedom.

Emma lost sight of the purple elemental as she was wrenched off her feet and dragged level with the dark monster’s face. A deranged smile spread across his face as he rasped out. “Mmmeeat.”

As a fiery hand closed around Emma’s throat, she desperately tried to get her panicked brain to remember something, anything that might snap the elemental back to his senses. Words tumbled out of her mouth in a croaky frenzy, as the life was choked out of her. “For fuck’s sake Grillby, you’re on the surface! … There’s FOOD! … Put me down and I’ll get you some!”

“Ffoood?”

“Yes FOOD!” Emma gasped out as she clawed at his burning arm. “Come on big guy put me down… Papyrus would be so mad if he saw this.”

“Pa-py-rus?”

“Yes, Papyrus... Sans’ little brother… You remember them right?... I’m THEIRS”

“Ssanss?”

“Yes, Sans… The Butcher… I’m his… Now... Put... Me... Down!”

“Butcherrr? Food?” The fiery monster asked, blinking as he slowly put down the small human.

“Yes, Sans, the same bonehead that got so drunk he streaked naked around Snowdin. Remember? It took Pap most of the day to catch him?”

A dry chuckle filled with the faint sound of crackling emerged from the elemental.

“There, that’s better,” Emma said softly. Smiling up at the giant elemental she gently took his hand and started towards the kitchen. “Now let’s find you something to eat.”

Spotting the purple fire monster sneaking up behind them, she tried to catch his attention. Once Emma was sure she had it, she slowly shook her head. The elemental’s eyes narrowed behind his glasses for a moment, before he curtly nodded his understanding.

Upon entering the kitchen the pair were greeted by the sight of the bar’s owner Grillby leaning against the wall rubbing his jaw. Seeing the elementals together like this made Emma realise just how similar Grillby and her attacker were, at least in appearance. Aside from their colouring the only real difference between them was that Grillby’s features were softer than the other one’s. They even had on the same wire-rimmed glasses. They had to be related or something, but before she could pursue this thought any further a searing pain erupted in her hand.

Biting back a scream Emma looked over at the dark flame monster next to her. He was sniffing the air with a glazed look on his face. As the elemental’s temperature started to rise again Emma caught a whiff of what was cooking. Quickly she started to tug him towards the exit. “H-hey Grills, it’s such a nice day, why don’t we sit outside and you can tell me about the time Sans miscalculated his short cut and ended up stuck in your wall… How did you get him out in the end?”

The same dry crackly chuckle emanated from the monster as he sat down on the back steps of the bar. “I… had… to call...in a favour...” His voice was slow and raspy, each word an effort to say and behind it all the faint sounds of a dying fire.

Emma nodded, “right. Now you stay put and I’ll get some food okay?”

Getting a hesitant nod from the elemental Emma turned back to the kitchen, only to have the world tilt dangerously as she crossed the threshold. Her body had decided it was the perfect time to remind her of the abuse it had just suffered. But as the ground rushed up to meet her a pair of strong arms caught her.

“It’s alright Miss I have you.” A soft crackling voice reassured the girl as she was gently picked up and cradled against a warm chest.

“Need to get…”

“Shh... Chillby can handle it. Let’s get those burns dealt with.”

Seeing the purple elemental heading for the stove Emma forced her aching throat to croak out. “Not the bacon.”

“What?” Chillby asked, turning to face the scorched human resting in Grillby’s arms.

“Don’t give him the bacon, it'll set him off again.” Emma managed to rasp out. The pain she was in was making it hard to do or say anything, but she had to make sure they understood.

Chillby regarded the girl for a few moments as she tried to speak again, before replying “Got it. Go get fixed.”

Grillby took this as his cue to carefully carry the girl back into the bar and set her down on a stool. “This will feel quite strange, but the sensation should pass quickly.” He said softly as he gently cupped Emma’s injured hands in his own.

Emma watched as a soft green light encased her hands and with it came the promised strange sensation. It reminded her of the weird static feeling she had felt when she had crawled inside Dust’s ribcage to retrieve her cat. It also had this warm pins and needles feeling about it. Slowly the angry red burns receded, leaving behind healthy skin.

When Grillby finished with her hands he moved onto her neck and then checked the rest of her for injuries. As he was doing this Emma closed her eyes and tried to think what she was going to do about her ruined top.

It was going to be nearly impossible to come up with a convincing story to explain the state of her clothes to her friends. She didn’t want to cause any more problems for the poor elemental, which meant she needed to figure out how she was going to get a new top from home. Unfortunately, Emma still didn’t have a working mobile phone. She had found her Mum’s old one, but it was dead, so she had given it to the skeletons to use for parts. That left either walking back through the centre of town in her scorched and torn top or asking Grillby if he had a phone she could use. Then she could either call Pap to bring her a new top or more likely call a cab to take her home.

Emma mentally crossed calling Pap off the list of possibilities. She knew he was trying to avoid the other skeletons, which meant the bar was basically off-limits, as it seemed to be one of their favourite places to hang out. That left her with either walking home or trying to get a cab. Then turning around and coming back in again, which was going to be a hassle, but she didn’t want to miss seeing her friends this week. So it came down to convenience versus expense.

Before she could come to a decision Grillby’s voice broke through her musings. “There, that should do it.”

“Thanks,” Emma said with a hesitant smile. She tried to get off the stool, only to have the world start spinning the moment she moved.

“Careful,” Grillby said softly as he steadied the small girl. “Healing magic can take a toll on a human, you should rest for a while.”

“Can’t...need to get home,” Emma mumbled as the world continued to spin around her.

“Miss, I understand you want to leave, but you really should rest. I can keep my brother away from you…”

“It’s not that,” Emma cut in, before closing her eyes in an attempt to stop the spinning. She opened them again and looked the elemental in the eye. “Kinda need to, unless you can think of something to tell my friends about this when they get here.” She said dryly while pulling at her top, which then proceeded to come apart in her hand.

“Arr…”

“Don’t worry kid I’ve got one you can borrow.” Chillby’s voice piped up from the kitchen.

“That would be great, thank you,” Emma said turning slightly in her seat to face the purple elemental who was leaning against the kitchen door.

“Umm, how is he?” She asked hesitantly.

“Ember? He seems to be back to normal. My brother...he actually wants to talk with you.”

“Chills, that may not be a good idea...” Grillby said with a frown.

“It’s alright, there’s something I want to ask him anyway.” There was something niggling at the back of Emma’s mind about the way they called the dark elemental brother, but that could wait. Right now there was an opportunity to get some information that could help the boys.

“Miss, I can’t in good conscience recommend this, my brother has…” Grillby struggled to find the right word as he looked at the girl with concern.

“P.T.S.D. right? Not surprising if he’s from the same tribe as Pap. I should be alright as long as I don’t smell too cooked.”

“Cooked?”

“Um yeah, when we passed through the kitchen it seemed like it was the smell that was triggering him. So as long as I don’t smell like food I should be fine.”

Grillby looked like he wanted to say something, but before he could Emma’s stomach decided it was time for breakfast and made its opinion known very loudly.

“Um sorry about that… would it be alright for me to order breakfast?” Emma asked sheepishly as a deep blush covered her cheeks.

Grillby coughed in an attempt to hide his chuckle. “Of course, your usual Eggs Royale with a large orange juice?”

“Yes please,” Emma mumbled as she reached for her purse.

Grilllby shook his head, “it’s on the house.” He said softly.

“You don’t have to, I don’t mind pa...” her words faltered as Grillby fixed her with a stern look. “Thanks,” Emma mumbled, feeling her blush deepening as the elemental nodded and went about his work.

Emma carefully climbed off the stool and slowly wandered over to where her hat and kindle had fallen in the confusion earlier. It looked like she was doomed to lose every argument today. The world tilted slightly as she bent down to retrieve her stuff.

“Sheesh kid, Grillby told you to rest.” Chillby crackled in exasperation as he moved to help the girl.

“I'm fine, just wanted to get my stuff,” Emma said with a shaky smile. She slowly straightened up and walked over to her normal seat, which was in one of the booths that lined the right-hand side of the bar.

Chillby crossed his arms and shook his head, “you’re a strange one.” He muttered as he turned to retrieve the promised top.

“Perhaps, but what is normal?” Emma asked, looking up from checking her belongings.

“Being frightened and not wanting to talk with the guy that just attacked you,” Chillby shot back over his shoulder, “or demanding that the guard arrest him.” He muttered as he disappeared outback.

Emma shrugged as she returned to examining her stuff. “At least this time nothing was damaged.” She thought to herself, admiring the new dark lenses her friend Paul had made for her hat.

As she was stowing her kindle away Grillby came up to the table with her drink. “Please don’t mind Chills, he’s from the Fell tribe and they tend to look on the dark side of things.”

“It’s alright, I most likely am a bit strange. I just don’t want to cause the poor guy more problems than he’s already got.” Emma said, adding with a slight smile. “Though perhaps for everyone’s sake you should keep him away from any form of pork.”

“Pork?” Grillby enquired, only for another voice to echo his words from behind him. Turning he spotted the other two elementals coming over.

“Why should I avoid pork?” Ember asked from his position behind Chillby.

“To stop anyone else becoming the breakfast special.” Seeing the quizzical looks on the monsters’ faces Emma laughed and rubbed the back of her head ruefully. “Sorry I tend to forget that stuff I take for common knowledge really isn’t. Pigs or pork smell and taste the same as humans when cooked. So it’s no wonder the bacon triggered you.”

“Where on earth did you learn that?” Chillby asked as he handed over a black t-shirt.

“From my Dad, he’s the one that told me about long pork.” Emma’s reply came out a little muffled as she was currently wriggling around inside the t-shirt trying to get her old one off.

“Long pork?”

“Um yeah, my Dad was a firefighter... Um, long pork was one of the names they gave corpses to help distance themselves from what they were dealing with. You kinda have to with a job like that.” Emma said popping her head out of the t-shirt and stowing away the ruined remains of her old top. “Their humour tends to be a bit on the dark side too. Sorry, I’m starting to ramble, aren’t I? You wanted to talk with me about something?”

“Yes, if you don’t mind Miss?” Ember said in his low rasping voice.

“It’s Emma and it would be hypocritical of me if I did. Especially after my introduction to Axe… Oh sorry I mean Sans.” She reassured the towering elemental.

“So you really did say, Sans?” Ember asked, his voice rising slightly with hope.

“Ember don’t get your hopes up, several of the skeletons are called Sans. She could mean anyone of them.” Chillby said as he moved off to finish opening up the bar.

“But the stories...” you could almost see the desperation radiating off the gaunt monster.

“Maybe this will help,” Emma said softly as she pulled her sketchbook out and tapped the seat next to her. “Come sit down.”

Ember cautiously slid into the seat and gasped in surprise as the girl opened up the book to reveal an A4 sketch of Axe. In the picture, he was asleep in an armchair with Papyrus leaning over him having just finished tucking a blanket around him. The tall skeleton had a soft and loving look on his face as he gazed down at his brother. “This is the pair I know as Sans and Papyrus.”

Tentatively Ember’s fingers reached out and brushed across the image. “They’re alive… I thought… We all thought… Where on earth have they been? We had all but give up hope of finding them.” A soft hissing sound accompanied his words.

Looking over at the elemental, Emma realised that the hissing sound was being caused by hot tears running down the monster’s face. She gently took his hand and smiled at him. “I can’t tell you where they have been all this time, but I can say that they are alive and well.”

“Angel be praised, are you sure they’re alright?”

“Well, they were this morning.”

“What?! Are you living with them?”

Emma winced, silently cursing herself as she looked away. She hadn’t meant for that to come out. She knew that the guys were hiding from the other skeletons, but what if they were hiding from their tribe too? Dam it, she just wanted to comfort the elemental, not risk exposing the boys.

A warm hand closed around her own. “Please Miss, we’ve all been so worried about them. After all they did for us, I just want to be sure they’re safe.” Sincere concern shimmered in the pale flames of Ember’s eyes as he spoke.

“No, I’m not living with them.” Turning and seeing the look on his face Emma decided to take a chance. “They’re living with me, slight difference.” She said with a soft smile.

Ember blinked and opened his mouth to speak, but Emma held up a hand to stop him. “Look, the monsters they were staying with before didn’t treat them very well. I don’t want to lose what trust I’ve managed to earn…”

“Who hurt them?” Ember cut in, his temperature raising with his temper.

“Ow, Grillby! Hand!” Emma cried as she pulled her hand free from his.

“Sorry did I hurt you?”

“No it’s fine,” Emma said flexing her fingers. “And to answer your question they were staying with the other skeletons,” she raised a hand again as the elemental started to flare up. “They never got physical, Axe would never have stood for it. It was just lots of little things that added up until they couldn’t take it anymore and moved in with me.”

“Axe?”

“Sorry one of those little things. Out of the three skeletons staying with me, Axe, or Sans, was the only one who got a nickname I’m comfortable using.”

“The other names?”

“They call this one Dust, which is totally morbid, it’s like someone calling me a corpse,” Emma said, pointing to a cartoon she had done of him standing on a chair aiming a bone attack at her cat. “And you won’t believe what they called Pap… Crooks! Just because his teeth are broken. They make fun of his jagged teeth and do nothing to fix it!” She said in exasperation. “That was the final straw. I innocently asked them why he hadn’t gone to the Centre to get them fixed, only to find out that no one had told them about the place. That sent Axe into one of his rages, one thing led to another and now they’re living with me.” The suppressed fury in her gaze made the gaunt elemental flinch away from the girl. Emma blinked and looked down a little embarrassed by her outburst. “Sorry, didn’t mean to vent on you like that, it just ticks me off how anyone could treat such a sweet creature like that. It also makes me wonder if blindness runs in the family.”

“How so?”

Emma’s head shot up and incredulously looked at the monster sitting next to her. “Axe has a literal hole in his head and no one thought it might be a good idea to take him to a healer to get it checked out? Okay, I know he’s able to function like everyone else, but that’s still not normal. I don’t know how long they’ve been up here, that’s one of the things I wanted to ask you, but you’d think someone would have done something about it by now.” She shook her head and sighed. “Sorry, I’m doing it again aren’t I?”

Ember took a shuddering breath trying to rein in his own simmering rage. “It’s alright, I quite understand, it’s hard to think of my old friend being treated like that.”

“Yeah, so um, Grill...sorry I keep wanting to call you by the name Papyrus knew you by... So um, what should I call you?” Emma said apologetically, rubbing the back of her head.

“Ember, I go by that now, it’s less confusing that way.”

“Okay, so Ember did you just want to know about the boys or was there something else you wanted to ask?”

“No, that was it, though I am curious as to how you met them.” Ember enquired.

“Umm…” Emma mentally debated just what to tell the elemental. She really didn’t want to set Ember off and get burned again today, so it was probably not a good idea to say how she met Papyrus and his brothers. However, she didn’t want to lie to the guy either, so she decided to go with the middle ground. “I met Pap about three weeks ago. We got talking and well one thing lend to another and now they’re staying with me. And since we are on the subject would you do me a small favour and not tell the other skeletons any of this. The guys really don’t want to have anything to do with them at the moment.”

“Of course.”

Emma let out a sigh of relief and smiled at the monster. “Thank you. Do you mind if I ask you some questions?”

“It depends on what you want to know,” Ember said cautiously. There were things in his and the boys past that should never see the light of day.

“I was hoping you could tell me how someone goes about getting identification for a monster.” Emma blushed slightly, “I’ve tried looking it up online, but I’ve had no luck.”

Ember blinked, “Why?”

Emma sighed, “because I want to help the guys get sorted out. I was going to ask Muffet, but I think you might be better able to help.”

“How so?” Ember asked curiously.

“Because you’re from the same tribe as at least two of them, unless D is too?” Emma asked, turning to a sketch of Dust in her book.

Ember shook his head “no, sorry.”

Emma shrugged, “oh well, worth a try. But like I was saying since you’re from the same tribe you should be able to tell me what to expect when I take the boys to the Centre.”

“You haven’t taken them there yet?”

“No, not yet. Believe me, I would have taken Pap to get his teeth fixed the same day they moved in, but after talking with him we decided to wait and try to get some information on the place first.”

“Why?”

“There are a few reasons, the main one being I want the guys to feel as comfortable as possible when we go.” Seeing the curious look on the monster’s face Emma sighed and continued. “Look, no matter what I do, getting Pap’s teeth fixed is going to be an ordeal for both of them. I just want to make it as easy as possible for them. And you know how protective Axe is of his brother, do you really think he’s going to be happy with some stranger poking around Pap’s mouth with something sharp?”

Ember winced. “Yes, that could be a problem.”

“Yeah, that’s part of the reason I wanted to talk to you. When I tried to look up the Centre, all I found was the public website and that didn’t have a lot of info on it. I was hoping you could tell me where to look or had some information I could to give the guys.”

Ember didn’t know if the girl’s request saddened or angered him more. While he was grateful that she wanted to help the boys, registering with the Centre and helping him get his ID sorted were things his new family had done for him. “Didn’t those monsters do anything to help them?”

“They gave them a roof over their heads, food to eat and some second-hand clothes,” Emma said wearily rubbing her face. “God, they weren’t even allowed out to get some new clothes.” She looked up at the elemental, “sorry, I’m doing it again,” she muttered, before growling in frustration. “It’s just… Arg I just don’t get it. Normally I don’t like judging someone without hearing their side of the story and I know Axe isn’t the easiest person in the world to get along with, but I can’t think of one good reason to leave them in pain like this.”

“Neither can I,” Ember grated out as his temperature started to rise again.

Just as his temperature was reaching dangerous levels a hand none to gently clapped him around the back of his head. “Cool it, before you set the dam sprinklers off.” Chillby crackled out, glaring down at his dark brother.

Whatever angry retort Ember was thinking of died on his lips as he scowled back at his brother. Instead, he took a deep breath and tried to rein in his rage. It was hard, so hard, to let go of the anger. Every time he thought he had it under control Ember would remember the indignities his old friend Sans had suffered and it would flare up again. After everything, the brothers had gone through to protect their community, to be treated like this when they were finally free, it burned.

After several tense minutes, the dark elemental stood up and regarded the kind human who had taken his friend in. “I’ll see what information I can get for you,” he murmured.

“Thank you,” Emma said with a grateful smile.

“It’s going to take some time, how long will you be here for?” Ember enquired.

“I normally stay until my friends leave at around midday, but I can stay longer if needed.”

“No, I should be able to find what you asked for by then.”

“Alright, thank you again for doing this… Um, if you want I can take a message back to the boys. I’m sure they would love to hear from you.”

Ember blinked then let out a small chuckle. “You mean Papyrus will.”

“Um yeah, sorry it’s kinda hard to know how Axe will react to anything,” Emma admitted sheepishly.

“It’s quite alright, Sans has always been a hard one to read,” Ember reassured the girl as he walked away.

Chillby regarded the girl for a moment more before passing Emma her breakfast and then followed after his brother, shaking his head as he went.

Emma groaned as she looked down at her plate. She had forgotten to ask Grillby not to put the salad garnish on it once again. He tended to use rocket which Emma found a bit too bitter for her taste, but as Axe would say, food is food and with enough ketchup, almost anything can be made edible.

As she was finishing her breakfast Emma’s friends slowly drifted in and the morning proceeded in a more normal fashion. They always started by catching up on how each other’s week had been, then just chatted the rest of the morning away. All too soon midday rolled around and Emma and her friends got ready to leave.

As the group stood up Ember walked over with a few bags in his hands. He smiled down at the little human who had a surprised look on her face and let out a sheepish chuckle. “I may have got a little carried away with things, but the information you wanted is in one of the bags.”

“And the rest of them?” Emma asked.

“All his favourite treats from before, well…” Ember’s voice faded into a soft hiss as words failed him. How could he tell this gentle creature of the horrors he had lived through?

“Hey, it’s alright, I understand, you don’t have to say anything. I know a bit about the hell you all went through underground.” Emma reassured the gaunt monster.

Ember sagged as he let out the breath he hadn’t realised he was holding. “Thank you, and thank you for taking in the boys.”

Emma shook her head and smiled up at the elemental. “There’s no need to thank me, I was happy to do it. If anything I should be thanking you for doing all this. Even if it’s going to be a bit of fun figuring out how to carry all this home.” She said with a cheeky smile, as she took the bags from the dark flame monster.

“Sorry, since this is going to be the last time I ever cook, I wanted to make sure there was plenty for everyone, but perhaps I went a bit too far.”

“Ember I was teas… wait, you’re going to give up cooking, why?” Emma asked with a startled look on her face.

“It’s too dangerous, I could have killed you!” Ember said dejectedly as he sank into a nearby chair. “And with the problems I have controlling my temperature, I can’t even work out front on the bar.” He mumbled as his head sank down in despair.

Emma regarded the gaunt monster, before putting down the bags and gently lifting up his head. “Hey, none of that now, so you had a bit of a setback that’s no reason to give up.” Seeing the uncertainty still lingering in his eyes, she fought back a sigh and continued. “Look how long have you been up here?”

“About six months,” Ember murmured.

“That’s hardly any time at all to deal with everything you went through down there. It may make me sound like a fortune cookie, but the road to recovery isn’t a straight one. So you had a setback and hit a roadblock. Take a break, then look from a different perspective to find a solution. Look, I’ve gotta go, but I’m in here most Saturdays if you want to talk. Just don’t give up alright?” Emma said encouragingly, letting go of the elemental and picking the bags back up.

Ember took a shuddering breath and nodded before slowly standing up. He looked at the girl for a moment before saying softly. “You’re very like him.”

“Like who?”

“Papyrus, he would always encourage us not to give up,” Ember said so quietly it was barely audible above the noise in the room.

Emma couldn’t help flicking her gaze towards the bar for a moment. Where a couple of the skeletons were nursing drinks and looking particularly seedy this morning. She returned her attention to the monster in front of her. “Umm thank you… Oh, I almost forgot, did you have a message for the boys?” Emma asked, trying to steer the conversation away from herself.

Ember watched as a faint blush dusted the little human’s cheeks highlighting the strange scar on the left one. The mark stirred something in the back of the elemental’s mind, but instead of pursuing it, he let out a dry chuckle before answering. “Yes, I did, don’t worry I wrote them down and put them in with the rest of the stuff.”

“Okay, well I better catch up with my friends. You’ll be alright?” Emma asked.

Ember nodded.

“Okay then, I’ll be seeing ya,” Emma said smiling brightly. As she turned to go, a thought occurred to her. “Ya know, I still don’t know the name of your tribe.” She said turning around to look back at the tall elemental.

Ember blinked before letting out a crackly laugh. “We are the Horror Tribe.”

“Well, that’s…descriptive,” Emma said, wincing.

Still laughing Ember waved it off saying. “Don’t worry about it, the King has never been very good at naming things.”

“If you say so.” Emma wasn’t too sure about that name, but it didn’t seem to bother Ember so she wouldn’t let it bother her either.

After that, the pair said their goodbyes again and Emma met up with her friends, who had been patiently waiting for her outside the bar. A short time afterwards Emma split from the group as she didn’t want the food Ember had given her getting too cold before she got home.

It was nearly 12.30 by the time Emma arrived home and called out the standard, “I’m home.”

“Welcome Back Dear Friend! I Am Afraid You Have Caught Me Unprepared, For I Was Not Expecting You Back Before One And Therefore I Have Only Just Started On The Preparations For Lunch.” Papyrus said sticking his head out of the kitchen.

“That’s alright Pap, I ran into an old acquaintance of yours and he gave me some food for us to share. And if the weight of these bags is anything to go by it should make a pretty decent meal for us.”

“Well, That Was Nice Of…” Papyrus’ words petered out as he squinted at his friend. “Emma, Correct Me If I Am Wrong, But Were You Not Wearing A Blue Top This Morning?”

“Um yeah,” Emma said looking down at her borrowed top. It may have been a t-shirt on the monster it was made for, but on Emma it was practically a mini dress, coming down to just below her knees.

Papyrus sighed as he walked up to his friend and took the bags. “What Happened?”

“Err yeah, remember when I said I ran into an old acquaintance of yours?”

“Why Yes...Oh, Dear...Who Was It And Are You Alright?” Papyrus asked as he started to check Emma for injuries. A run-in with someone from his underground most likely meant she had been hurt again.

“It was Grillby and I’m fine. You see Grillby… oh man, they’re right, it does get confusing. I mean Classic Grillby healed me right up. Once I managed to talk your friend out of making me the breakfast special that is. It’s just a shame healing magic doesn’t work on clothing. That’s the third top I’ve lost this month, but hey, I got a free breakfast out of it and they let me borrow this top, so not all bad.” Emma said, trying to reassure her agitated friend.

Papyrus knelt down so he could see his friend better. “Are You Sure You Are Unharmed?” He asked, the concern shimmering in his small eye lights.

“Yes, Pap I’m fine. It just umm…” Emma could feel the blush creeping over her cheeks as she spoke. “I was too embarrassed to ask them, but did he scorch my hair at all?” She asked, taking her hat off and turning around so he could see.

Papyrus blinked and started to laugh softly, “Nyeh Eh Eh, Your Hair Is Fine.” He reassured Emma gently nuzzling her neck, before standing back up taking both Emma and the bags with him. “Now Shall We See What He Gave You In Compensation For Your Fiery Ordeal?”

“Alright,” Emma murmured, resting her head against his chest. She let the last of her fear drift away in the safety of her towering skeleton’s embrace.

Papyrus smiled to himself as he felt the tension leave his little friend’s body. He knew she needed this. He could tell that for all her reassurances Emma was still pretty shaken up by the events of the morning. His smile turned mischievous as he thought of something that would cheer his friend up.

Emma couldn’t help but laugh as Papyrus used his magic to steal her hat and bag. He then proceeded to use them to perform various tricks, making them twist and turn in the air while walking back to the kitchen still carrying Emma and the bags.

“Show off,” Emma said, giggling.

“Perhaps, But It Did Make You Smile,” Papyrus said happily, nuzzling his friend as he put the bags down on the counter and with a flourish returned her belongings to their usual resting place.

“Yeah, so are you going to put me down or are you going to show off some more and use your magic to see what Ember gave us?”

“Ember?” Papyrus asked, as he gently restored Emma to the ground.

“Oh sorry, Ember is the name Grillby is going by now, so as not to be confused with his brother,” Emma explained.

“That Makes Sense, I Just Hope He Got To Pick His Name,” Papyrus said, frowning as he remembered the nickname he was given.

“Don’t worry Pap, he seems to have a better relationship with his brothers than you do with your cousins,” Emma reassured her towering friend. She gave him a quick hug around the hip, which was as high as she could reach. “Speaking of your cousins, I saw two of them at the bar today. They were looking pretty seedy. It seems like they didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”

“I Can Not Understand Why That Would Be. I Personally Made Sure That All Their Beds Were Up To My Exacting Standards Upon My Last Visit To Their Residence.” Papyrus said, smiling innocently down at his friend.

“That was very considerate of you Pap,” Emma said, trying in vain to keep a straight face.

The pair looked at each other for a few moments before collapsing into a fit of laughter. When they finally managed to regain control of themselves, they found that they had an audience.

“What tickled your funny bones?” Axe asked from his place by the basement door.

Papyrus groaned at the pun and refused to answer his brother. Instead, he busied himself with sorting out the contents of the bags.

Emma shook her head at the skeleton’s antics, before turning around with a big grin on her face to answer Axe. “Oh nothing much, just how miserable a couple of your cousins were looking this morning.”

“Huh,” Axe studied the girl for a minute before turning to his brother. “Hey Pap, when is lunch?” He asked.

“Just As Soon As I Finish Sorting Out These Edible Delicacies, To Find Out What We Need To Go With Them Brother,” Papyrus replied absently as he continued to sort through the bags.

“Yeah, and where did that lot come from?” Axe asked as he shuffled into the room.

“Emma Brought Them Home With Her.”

“Oh,” Axe turned to regard the little human again. “So where did you find this lot then?”

“I was given them by an old flame of your acquaintance,” Emma said, shrugging.

“Emma Could You Not” Papyrus groaned reproachfully.

“What?” Emma asked, blinking in confusion at her friend.

Papyrus huffed, placing his hands on his hips. “Considering We Are Talking About Grillby That Was Definitely A Pun.”

“No, it’s literally that he is a flame monster who is older than you. So he is an old flame of your acquaintance, therefore not a pun.” Emma said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. She had said it without thinking, but it was too much fun teasing Pap like this.

“No, It Was A Pun” Papyrus said, stamping his foot and leaning down to glare at his human.

“No, it’s literal,” Emma said mirroring Pap’s pose.

“Pun.”

“Literal.”

“Pun.”

“Literal.”

Axe sighed, he knew how this was going to go. The pair would keep this going for ages until the kid burst out laughing or his brother picked her up. Either way, lunch was not going to be any time soon if he didn’t do something and he wanted to eat.

“It’s a pun. Now would one of ya mind telling me why ya arguing about Grillby in the first place, so we can have lunch already?” Axe growled, silencing the other occupants of the kitchen.

“Because it was your old friend Grillby that gave me the food,” Emma said grinning at Axe. “Oh, that reminds me Pap, somewhere in that lot should be information on the Centre and how we go about getting you guys your IDs. There’s also a message for you two from Grillby in there somewhere.”

Papyrus nodded happily and eagerly went back to sorting out the contents of the bags.

Axe perplexedly stared at the pair. “Why would he do that and why are ya calling him my friend? I don’t know him?”

“Sans, I’m not talking about the Grillby from the Classic tribe. I’m talking about the Grillby from your tribe, you remember him right? Because he remembers you. The only reason I’m standing here at all is because I reminded him about some of your drunken antics from before things went to hell.” Emma said gently.

“Yeah, but what…?” Axe didn’t even know what he was asking and he felt utterly lost. Why would anyone from his underground want anything to do with him after everything he had done.

Papyrus looked at his brother’s perplexed expression and sighed. “Emma Perhaps You Can Help Sans Set The Table For Lunch And Then We Can Sit Down And You Can Tell Us What Happened From The Beginning?”

“Alright,” Emma said, pulling out the old kitchen table that Papyrus had found, so they could all eat together.

Axe mechanically set the table, then took a seat. Dust soon arrived and Papyrus dished out the food while Emma recounted the events of the morning to the group. Axe sat silently throughout the meal. The food brought back pleasant memories from better times, but the girl’s words left him stunned. The other survivors had been worried about them? Had been looking for them? To make sure they were safe, why? After the things he had done, the name he had earned, why would anyone aside from his brother want anything to do with him? It had to be a trick, but what if it wasn’t? The kid knew what they had done and she seemed to accept them, could it really be true? Could his people really want him after everything that had happened?

Axe was so lost in his confusing and contradictory thoughts that he barely registered his brother speaking until Papyrus gently tapped him on the arm. “Huh?”

“I Said That Included With The Information That Was Given To Emma There Were Two Envelopes. One For You And One For Me.” Papyrus said gently, holding out a white envelope.

Axe stared at his name written in the elemental’s unmistakable style on the crisp white paper, not really comprehending what he was seeing. Hesitantly he reached out, half expecting it to disappear on him, but it didn’t. In a daze Axe stood up and wandered out of the room, still looking at the envelope now clutched in his outstretched hand.

Emma sadly watched the retreating skeleton disappear from sight, before turning to her friend. “Sorry Pap, I didn’t mean to upset him. I just wanted to help, but I guess I messed things up again.”

Papyrus sighed and shook his head. “No My Friend, You Have Done Nothing Wrong, In Fact, You Have Done Something Wonderful. I Believe My Brother Is A Little Shocked And Is Having A Hard Time Assimilating The News That Someone Other Than Myself Cares About His Well Being.” He smiled sadly down at his friend. “Let Us Give Him Some Space So He Can Adjust To This.”

“Alright,” Emma said, getting up to help Papyrus tidy the kitchen, Dust having done his normal disappearing trick.

The rest of the day passed quietly. Emma helped Papyrus continue with his campaign to tame the backyard. It had become quite the jungle over the last few years, mainly because none of Emma’s family had much of a green thumb, so they tended to let nature take its course, but Papyrus was determined to tame it. Dust continued to work on whatever project the skeleton’s were doing down in her father’s old workshop in the basement. Axe, on the other hand, spent the remainder of the day in a daze. Not even his brother’s excellent cooking at dinner time was enough to draw him back out of his thoughts and soon after the meal he called it a night, retreating up to his room. Dust followed shortly afterwards, leaving the other two to enjoy a quiet evening together before they too retired for the night.

That night Emma’s dreams were filled with images of the manic grin on Ember’s face. Along with a jumbled mess of memories involving the elemental. Several times during the night she vaguely surfaced only to drift back into an uneasy sleep.

Around three in the morning, a particularly bad dream left Emma sitting up in bed shaking like a leaf and clinging to her favourite stuffed animal. She decided to give up on going back to sleep, instead, she looked down at the old stuffed tiger in her arms and said. “Well, that was fun. How about you and me head downstairs, make a cup of tea and watch some TV to try and get these images out of my head? Sounds like a plan to you Tigger?”

Of course, Tigger didn’t answer, he just looked at Emma with his soft embroidered eyes.

“Okay then, let’s get going,” She said hugging Tigger tightly to herself as she got up and headed towards the stairs.

The moment Emma opened her bedroom door she heard a sound that sent a chill running down her spine. Her feet carried her forward without conscious thought, as her mind relived the last time she had heard something like this. The sound was a moaning filled with endless pain and suffering and it was coming from Axe’s room.

Hesitantly she raised a hand and knocked on the door. “Axe are you alright in there?”

Getting no response Emma started banging furiously on the door. “Sans, please answer me!”

Panic gripped at her heart as the only sound that emerged from the room was the pain-filled moaning. With trembling fingers, Emma grasped the doorknob and thrust open the door, praying desperately that this would not be a repeat of last time. Upon entering the room Emma dashed to the bed, where Axe was thrashing about madly with energy crackling dangerously around him.

Not even thinking of the danger, Emma grabbed the thrashing skeleton in an attempt to stop him from hurting himself, yelling at the top of her lungs. “SANS PLEASE WAKE UP!... PLEASE FOR GOD’S SAKE WAKE UP!!...PLEASE…” Over and over she repeated her desperate pleas. Practically in tears, as she used her entire body to restrain the unconscious monster.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Axe lay still and opened his sockets. Slowly he sat up taking Emma with him. Bones rattling with remembered fear, he wrapped his arms tightly around the girl, burying his head into her shoulder he burst into tears.

“Shhh, it’s alright, you're alright, everything is fine now, you're safe, it was just a dream. I’m here, everything is going to be alright,” Emma whispered soothingly as tears of relief fell from her eyes.

How long the pair remained like this is anyone’s guess. Emma whispered words of comfort while using one hand to rub soothing circles on the bit of his back she could reach. Axe clung desperately to her sobbing his metaphorical heart out. Gradually his tears subsided and he fell back to sleep, laying back down while still hugging Emma like a teddy bear.

For a long time Emma just laid there, listening to his breathing, before she too drifted off into a deep and dreamless sleep.

Papyrus, who had been woken up by all the noise, silently closed the door and made his way back to his own room. A small secretive smile played across his teeth as he settled down to sleep once more.

When morning came Axe stirred sleepily, snuggling into the soft warmth in his arms. He vaguely remembered nightmares filled with pain and hunger, then comfort and safety. Papyrus must have come in during the night and helped him, but something was off. Pap was much taller than him and harder than the soft thing he was holding. Also, there was a scent in the air that was awakening his hunger in the most terrible way.

Slowly he opened his sockets to find the human cradled protectively against his chest. In horror, Axe flinched back, flinging the girl across the bed. “What the fuck!”

This, of course, woke Emma up, “Sans are you alright?” She asked the skeleton in a concerned voice. Only to find she was talking to thin air as Axe had used a shortcut to escape.

“Of course not. I’m here,” Emma mumbled miserably as she crawled off the bed.

Getting up she saw Papyrus standing by the open door. “Emma Are You Alright? I Came To Get The Pair Of You For Breakfast.” He huffed as he looked around the room, “But It Seems I Must Retrieve My Errant Brother From Elsewhere.”

Emma shuffled over and buried herself in the skeleton’s side. “I’m fine, but I think that Axe is upset with me again,” she mumbled.

Papyrus gently wrapped himself around his trembling friend. “Now Why Would You Think That?”

“I’m in his room and he threw me across the bed,” Emma said flatly.

Papyrus gently nuzzled his distraught friend, as he was doing this he caught a whiff of something that made him sigh. “Believe Me Emma, Sans Is Not Upset With You. He Was Just A Little Startled And Scared This Morning.” Slowly Papyrus straightened back up “Why Not Go Get Dressed And I Will Retrieve My Errant Brother. Then We Can All Sit Down And Sort Out This Misunderstanding.”

Emma nodded dejectedly, before shuffling out of the room. She didn’t think talking with Axe would do much good. Though he was no longer openly hostile with her, it still felt like he only tolerated her for Pap’s sake.

Papyrus shook his head sadly as he went in search of his brother. He had really hoped that Sans, upon seeing Emma this morning would have finally realised that she truly cared about them and sat down to have a real conversation with her. Then, maybe his brother would have admitted that he cared about Emma too.

Papyrus eventually found Axe down in the basement, surrounded by food wrappers and furiously scrubbing his hands. “Oh Brother,” he breathed sadly as he walked over and placed a restraining hand on Sans’ wrist.

“Huh?” Axe blinked, coming out of whatever trance he was in.

“I Believe You Have Managed To Wash Away What Little Blood You Had On You. If You Continue To Do This, It Will Be Your Dust And Mana In The Sink Brother.” Papyrus said gently, retrieving the scrubbing brush from Axe and steering him towards the stairs. “Now I Know You Have Had A Bad Night And A Bit Of A Scare This Morning, But I Believe It Is About Time You And Emma Sorted Some Things Out Before There Are Any More Misunderstandings.”

“Fuck no!” Axe cried, breaking away from his brother’s grasp and backing up like a frightened animal.

Papyrus huffed as he placed his hands on his hips. “Now You Are Just Being Silly Brother. You Can Not Possibly Be Scared Of Emma, She Has To Be One Of The Least Frightening Beings In The Universe.” He said glaring at Axe in exasperation.

“I ain’t fucking scared!” Axe growled, still backing away.

“Then What?”

Sweat dotted Axe’s skull as he muttered something inaudibly.

“What Was That Brother?” Papyrus enquired, cocking his head and cupping a hand to where his ear would be.

Axe desperately looked around for an escape route as he muttered something under his breath.

“What Was That Dear Brother, I Did Not Quite Catch That?” Seeing a sudden gleam in Axe’s eye light, Papyrus darted forward and wrapped himself around the struggling skeleton. “Oh No, Dear Brother. I Am Not Letting You Use One Of Your Shortcuts To Get Out Of This. We Are Having This Conversation, And You Will Talk Things Out With Emma.”

“I ain’t going anywhere near that fucking snack! I almost took a bite out of her this morning already!” Axe screamed, as he vainly tried to free himself from his brother’s embrace.

Papyrus rolled his eye lights heavenward. “And Pray Tell Me Why Should That Matter? It Is Not Like You Have Not Eaten Raw Meat Before Brother.”

“ ‘cause I don’t want to hurt her again! The kid doesn’t deserve it.” Axe growled out as he sagged in defeat.

“There, Was It So Hard To Admit That You Might Actually Like Her?” Papyrus asked gently as he stood up taking Axe with him.

“She’s human, she’ll end up betraying us just like the last one did,” Axe mumbled dejectedly as he was carried towards the stairs.

“I Know Frisk Did Some Terrible Things And I Am Truly Sorry For What You Had To Suffer Through. But Emma Is Not Frisk And Will Not Desert Us Or Treat Our Lives Like Some Game. All I Ask Is You Give Her The Chance To Prove It.” Papyrus said softly, placing Axe gently down on the stairs.

“Fine” Axe grumbled, “but she’d ain’t gonna want to talk to me after I attacked her last night.”

“That Was Not What I Saw Last Night,” Papyrus said, smiling gently. “What I Saw Was Emma Comforting You After Your Nightmare.”

“What Pap, ya have to be kidding me. I could smell the blood on her and on my claws. What do you think triggered my hunger this morning? I must have attacked her?”

“Or You Just Held Her Too Tightly, Your Phalanges Are Rather Sharp. Please Just Talk To Her And Sort This Out. Emma Thinks You Are Mad At Her For Being In Your Room Without Permission.”

“Fine,” Axe muttered as he trudged up the stairs followed by his brother.

They found Emma surveying the wreckage left behind by Axe’s early morning snack attack. Hesitantly she looked at the short skeleton. “H-hey Sans…I’m really sorry for busting into your room like that… It’s just...when I heard you moaning ... I thought...I’m sorry, I’ll try not to do it again.”

The realisation hit Papyrus and he looked at his small friend with sympathy. “Oh, Emma Did He Really Sound Like…”

“Yes Pap, he sounded just like Dad did before he…” Emma couldn’t bring herself to finish the sad sentence. “Sorry, it’s a poor excuse for invading your room like that.”

Axe restrained Papyrus as he went to comfort his friend. “Would one of ya mind telling me what the hell you’re talking about?”

Papyrus looked worriedly over at his little human. This was going to be painful for her especially after that horrid remainder she’d had last night.

Emma attempted a shaky smile to reassure her tall friend. “It’s alright Pap, I’ll tell him it’s not like it’s a secret or anything.” She was silent for a few moments before she started to speak softly. “About the same time that monsters were freed, so about 4-5 years ago. My Dad was diagnosed with cancer, within a few short months it went from being treatable to having spread throughout his entire body, with no hope of recovery. At the same time, I had to watch my father go from a strong healthy man just starting to slow down with age, to a frail old thing who needed help even to stand. My Mum and I fought for ages to get him home, to spend his last days with the people who loved him… Eventually, we managed it… We had him home for just one night. I will never forget it. We spent the whole evening catching up on all the programs he had missed while in hospital...he held my hand the entire time...then we said good night... I was the first one up in the morning...As I was heading downstairs I heard this terrible moaning coming from the room Dad was in… I rushed into the room to find him having a hypoglycemic attack, his blood sugar levels had gone down during the night...I tried to give him something to get them back up...so did Mum and the nurses, but it was too late his heart just couldn’t take it… He died right before my eyes.” By the time Emma had finished speaking silent tears were running down her face and her body was trembling with pent-up emotions.

Axe dropped the arm that was restraining his brother as he looked at the girl silently crying in front of him. Papyrus quickly went to comfort his friend, while Axe stared on in disbelief. The kid had thought he was dying, so had rushed in to try and help him, then stayed to make sure he was alright. Why? Why did she care so much, when all he seemed to do was hurt her?

Not being able to take the tears any longer, Axe found himself moving forward and placing a hand on the girl’s head. Just as he used to do with Pap when he was little, Axe found himself soothingly stroking her head. “Quit with the waterworks, I ain’t mad at ya for being in my room. I chucked ya because your smell was making me hungry. So why don’t ya stop crying and we go get something to eat.” He muttered gruffly, before lowering his hand and shuffling further into the kitchen in search of food.

Emma blinked, a little surprised by Axe’s gentle touch. In the three weeks that the skeletons had been living with her, this was the first time someone other than Papyrus had touched her. Still blinking away the last of her tears she hesitantly followed after the stout skeleton.

Papyrus straightened back up and was about to follow the pair when he heard footsteps behind him. Turning, he found Dust sleepily rubbing at his socket surveying the scene in front of him.

“What happened here? It looks like a hurricane hit the place.” Dust asked, yawning.

“Oh, Good Morning Brother. I Am Afraid Sans Had A Bit Of A Nightmare Last Night, So Breakfast Will Be A Little Delayed This Morning.” Papyrus said apologetically.

“Great, did he leave us any food this time?” Dust whined.

“That Is What We Are Trying To Discern At The Moment, But I Fear We Will Have To Do A Supply Run In The Near Future.” Papyrus said as he picked his way through the mess.

“Um hey, guys I think we still have the makings for Welsh cakes if anyone is interested.” Emma called out from the depths of a cupboard.

“Welsh cakes? What are those?” Axe asked, poking his head out of the small pantry at the back of the kitchen.

“They’re a bit like scones, but instead of baking them you cook them on a hot plate.”

“You don’t have one of those.” Axe pointed out, stepping back into the room.

“No, but I’ve got one of these,” Emma said pulling out a rather large frying pan “and it works just as well. So fancy giving it a go?”

“Alright, how do we do this?” Axe asked, taking the pan and placing it on the stove.

With a big grin, Emma fetched a small red leather book with gold tooling around the edge. Flicking it open she slowly started to read out the directions for the recipe. As they worked Axe made a couple of suggestions on how to increase the amounts so there would be enough for everyone to eat. Soon they were sitting down enjoying a mountain of delicious sweet cakes.

In no time at all, they finished the cakes and went back to cleaning the kitchen. As they worked Papyrus noticed that his friend kept wincing as she moved. “Emma Perhaps You Should Let Me Heal Those Cuts If They Are Bothering You So Much.”

Blinking Emma looked at the tall skeleton in confusion. “What cuts? I’m just a little stiff from sleeping on a mattress that was, um... a little more boney than I’m used to.”

Papyrus pinched his nasal ridge and let out a long-suffering sigh. “I Really Wish You Had A Better Turn Of Phrase. I Can Never Tell If Those Dreadful Puns Are Deliberate Or Not. But Seeing As I Am Such A Great Friend I Will Let That Last One Slide Since You Are Injured.”

“Aww leave off the kid, I really like the way she talks. I think it’s Punsome.” Axe said with a wicked grin.

“No Brother, We Are Not Doing This! I Will Not Let You Distract Me From My Friend’s Injuries.” Papyrus declared pointing an accusing finger at his brother.

“Again, what injuries? I’m just a little stiff this morning.” Emma asked, staring at the pair in utter bewilderment.

“Em, ya don’t have to cover for me. I know I hurt ya last night,” Axe said gently.

“Axe, I know you were thrashing about a lot in your sleep, but I honestly don’t remember you hurting me at all.”

Papyrus huffed in exasperation “Emma You Have To Be One Of The Worst Persons Around For Recognising When You Are Hurt. And I Know I Smelt Blood On You This Morning And I Know Sans Smelt It Too. So Will You Please Just Let Me Check You For Injuries.”

Emma nodded “alright,” not wanting to upset her friend anymore she lifted her top up and turned around.

Papyrus knelt down practically putting his nasal cavity against her skin as he examined her back. “Mmm, It Does Seem That My Brother’s Claws Have Caught You A Few Times. None Of Them Look Too Bad, But I Think We Would All Breath Easier Once They Have Been Healed. So Why Not Head Upstairs And Have Your Bath Early Today And One Of Us Will Be Along Shortly To Treat Them.”

“Okay,” Emma said, pulling down her top and heading for the door. As she was about to leave a thought occurred to her. “Um Pap, have you seen Shadow this morning? She has normally bothered one of us for breakfast by now.”

“I Am Sure She Will Show Up Eventually,” Papyrus reassured his friend, trying not to look at Axe who had started to sweat nervously as he tried to remember just exactly what he had eaten that morning.

An unholy shriek from the basement put a stop to whatever panicked thoughts were running through the skeletons’ skulls at that moment. This sound was shortly followed by the sudden appearance of Dust, who started madly running around the kitchen. He was desperately trying to detach Shadow from his back, all the while screaming at the top of his metaphorical lungs. “GET THIS FIEND OFF ME!”

“I Will If You Would Stay Still For A Second!” Papyrus huffed as he tried to catch the rampaging skeleton.

“And on that note, I’m heading upstairs for my bath,” Emma said laughing as she walked off.

It took perhaps an hour for the noise in the kitchen to die down. Plenty of time for Emma to have a good long soak. Having put on clean pyjamas, which consisted of a large T-shirt and loose bottoms, and braided her damp hair, Emma went to open the bathroom door.

Upon opening it she was a little surprised to find Axe standing there, one hand hesitantly raised to knock. “Um hey, Sans did you need something?”

“Nah, just came to fix your back,” Axe muttered, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets.

“Okay, who are you and what have you done with the Mr Grumpy Bones I’ve been living with for the last three weeks?”

“Shut up! Don’t make this more awkward than this already is. I hurt ya so I’m gonna fix ya, end of. Now come on let’s get this over with.” Axe huffed as he turned and started for his room.

Emma shook her head and followed after the still grumbling skeleton. Upon entering his room he directed Emma to take her top off and lie down on the bed. Nothing happened for a couple of minutes then she felt his cold phalanges against her skin, they were trembling as they explored her back.

“Sans you don’t have to do this if it makes you uncomfortable. They should heal just fine on their own.” Emma said gently.

“I ain’t bothered,” Axe growled out.

“You’re trembling.”

“Shut it! I just...I ain’t done this in a while.” Axe mumbled as he finally managed to summon his magic and started to apply it to the small cuts that dotted the girl’s back.

Emma’s muscles started twitching which made her fidget under the skeleton’s touch. “Dam it, hold still! This is hard enough without you moving all the time.”

“Sorry,” Emma whispered, doing her best to stay still for the skeleton, but the sensations she was getting were making it quite difficult. Axe’s magic felt sharp and cold one moment, then warm and ticklish the next. She wasn’t sure how much more of these weird sensations she could take. Just as it was getting unbearable Axe finally finished, leaving Emma to sink gratefully into the mattress.

“Hey, don’t you dare fall asleep there. If ya gonna do that do it in your own room.”

“Alright, just give me a sec.” Emma groaned as she sat up and reached for her top.

Axe silently watched the girl pull her top over her head, causing a couple of the scars on her back to sparkle in the light. It made him flinch internally. There etched into her skin was a permanent reminder of just how different Emma was from everyone else.

Axe’s thought processes were brought to a halt when Emma stood up and headed towards the door. With a shy smile, she turned to face the skeleton. “Thanks for healing me Axe.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

Part of Axe really wanted to ask why do you care, but his pride wouldn’t let him. So he settled for asking. “Why ain’t ya bothered by my nickname?”

A soft look crossed Emma’s face as she answered. “Because to me, an axe is just a tool my Dad used to use in his job to help him save people.”

“Huh?”

Emma giggled a little before replying. “Let me guess, to you an axe is a tool of war and destruction, it can’t be used for anything good, right?”

Axe nodded dumbly, still a little startled by the girl’s words.

“See, it’s just a matter of perspective. To me, the word has no negative connotations, but if it bugs ya so much, I could go by the monster tradition and give you a literal name like Growler or perhaps Chimes instead,” Emma said with a mischievous glint in her eye.

“Fuck that!”

“Pfft, alright Mr Grumpy Bones.”

“Aaagr just stick to Axe already.” He growled throwing a pillow at the girl.

Emma laughed as the pillow hit her. Picking it off the floor she leaned against the doorframe. “Alright point made, I’ll stop teasing ya, but seriously Sans do tell me if something I say or do bothers you. I want you to be comfortable while you are here.”

Getting a grunt in reply Emma tossed the pillow back to the skeleton. Turning to leave she smiled, “well I’ll leave you in peace. Thanks again for healing me. See ya later.”

As she was closing the door Emma thought she heard Axe quietly say. “Nah kid, it should be me thanking ya,” but she wasn’t quite sure.

Shaking her head Emma made her way to her room for a much-needed nap. Finding Tigger at the base of her stairs she gathered him in her arms and tiredly climbed up to bed.

As she laid down to sleep Emma thought about the last few weeks. Since meeting the skeletons her life had definitely become more complicated, but it was also a lot more fun. She may not be able to do much about their problems, but Emma would do all she could for them.

Thinking about the boys reminded her of Sans’ old friend Ember. It was such a shame that the gaunt elemental was going to give up cooking. He was so good at it and obviously really enjoyed working with his brothers. If only there was a way for him to cook without risking the smell triggering him again.

As Emma drifted off to sleep an idea started to form in her mind. With Tigger watching over her and a contented smile spreading across her face she fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

Chapter Text

The next day found Emma standing in front of a light and airy building, with a very nervous Papyrus and an even grumpier Axe. The building was the Centre and the reason they were here was that last night Papyrus had decided that he wanted to try to get his teeth fixed. So after a quick breakfast, the trio had headed into town. Dust having decided to stay home.

Emma mentally sighed as she thought about Dust. She really didn’t know what to think about the guy. One moment he was joining in with everyone else and seemingly having a great time. Then the next moment he was putting as much distance between himself and the others as possible, in both the physical and emotional sense. There was definitely something going on there if only she could remember what it was.

It brought to mind the problem that both Papyrus and Emma were sharing at the moment. Though the pair had definitely soul touched, they were having trouble accessing each other’s memories. When Emma had asked Papyrus about it, he had theorised it was because they had done it accidentally. So instead of getting a nice simple highlight reel of the other person’s past, which would be easy to access, they had a jumbled mess that needed an outside source to trigger it. The memories were all there, but without some sort of stimuli to help, when they tried remembering something specific they would end up giving themselves a blinding headache. One of the more irritating aspects of this situation, at least for Emma, was the fact that if she was holding a pencil or something and let her mind wander she would end up drawing things from Papyrus’ past. At least now she could talk to Pap about the images and it did seem to help settle some of the memories, but it was still annoying not having complete control over her doodles.

Thinking of Papyrus Emma shook herself out of her reverie and looked at her tall friend. He was fixatedly staring at the glass doors in front of them while fiddling with the end of his scarf. He was, as usual, using it to hide his teeth. Emma really hoped that after seeing the monster equivalent of a dentist Pap wouldn’t feel the need to hide his mouth anymore.

Slowly she raised a hand to touch him in order to get his attention. “Ready to go in big guy?” Emma asked gently.

Under her hand Papyrus tensed, then relaxed as he let out a shuddering breath. “No Not Really, But If I Do Not Do This Nothing Will Change And I Am Tired Of Being In Pain.”

Emma dropped her arm into a slight bow gesturing towards the doors. “Then lead the way my towering friend,” she said with a smile.

Papyrus huffed as he walked forward, head held high as he passed through the sliding doors. He found himself smiling behind his scarf as he watched his friend straighten up with a flourish and follow after him. Trust Emma to play the fool just to try and distract him from his thoughts.

Axe grumbled under his breath as he walked into the reception area behind the other two. He watched as the pair approached the front desk and looked for someone to help them. Stars, he wished they were back at the house, where he could make sure that nothing could harm his family. There were just too many things out there that could hurt them, but Axe knew if he wanted his brother to get fixed then they had to do this.

Axe pulled the hood of his jacket up to hide the hole in his skull and shoved his hands into his pockets as he wandered over to join the others. When he got there he found them waiting for the bear receptionist to get off the phone.

Emma smiled at the stout skeleton as he walked over. At the same time, she took Pap’s hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Though if she was being honest with herself, holding Papyrus’ hand was more to settle her own nerves then his. Emma may of had plenty of experience making medical appointments and stuff for her parents, but it didn’t mean she felt comfortable doing it. She started to mentally go over what she was going to say for the 100th time to make sure she wouldn’t forget anything, only for all the words to disappear when the bear monster looked up from his computer screen and smiled at the group.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. How may I help you?” Asked the dark brown humanoid bear as he put down the phone.

“Umm…” Emma looked hopefully at Pap to take the lead, but he seemed to be at a loss too.

Papyrus knew he should say something. After all, this was all for him, but his mouth just wouldn’t open.

Emma could feel her friend start to shake through their joined hands. She mentally bit back a groan, it looked like she was going to have to do the talking. “Um sorry, my friend here has an old injury to his jaw, that is causing him a lot of pain. We were hoping that there was someone available from the Clinic that could take a look at it for us?”

“That should be no problem, if I could have their name and Centre number I will get them booked right in.” The receptionist said hands poised over the keyboard.

“It’s Papyrus, but I’m afraid neither of my friends has been registered with the Centre. I can tell you what tribe he belongs to if it is any help.”

The bear monster blinked and looked at the group trying to maintain his professional demeanour. “They’re not registered? Are you sure?”

Emma nodded sadly, “yes we’re quite sure. Look I know it complicates things, but is there any way that someone can see him today? He’s in an awful lot of pain.” She pleaded.

As if to emphasise this point Papyrus let out a pitiful whimper as a dark stain developed on the front of his scarf.

“Oh my. Of course, I will phone through to the Clinic right away. If you head straight there I will make sure someone is available to meet you who can get this sorted out.” The receptionist said, picking up the phone.

“Thank you, how do you get to the Clinic from here?” Emma asked as she gave Papyrus’ hand a gentle squeeze.

“Through those double doors, then turn right and follow the signs, you can’t miss it.”

“Thanks,” said Emma with a grateful smile as she led the skeletons towards the doors the bear had indicated.

She looked up at her tall friend as they walked through the building. “Pap are you doing alright?”

Papyrus nodded, but the growing damp patch on his scarf said otherwise.

Axe sighed, “ya knocked that dam tooth again haven’t ya?”

Papyrus nodded miserably.

“And now it’s bleeding again. Told ya this would happen if ya didn’t let me fix it.” Axe growled in exasperation.

Emma shuddered trying not to remember the last time this had happened. “How about we just hurry along to the Clinic and get this sorted out?”

They continued on in silence for a while, until Emma’s curiosity got the better of her and she spoke again. “Um not to be rude, but I thought monsters were made of magic and dust?”

“Yeah, so?” Axe enquired, curiously looking over at the girl.

“So what exactly is Pap bleeding?”

Axe snorted, “mana of course.”

“Mana?”

“Liquid magic.”

“I thought magic was just a form of energy,” Emma said, still a little confused by it all.

“Don’t look at me kid, biology was never my thing. All I know is we have a liquid form of magic called mana running through our bodies, that evaporates when exposed to air. The more magic you have the longer it sticks around.” Axe said with a shrug.

“Oh, I guess that makes sense. Thanks for explaining it to me.”

Axe nodded then the group lapsed back into silence once more. Until they reached a pair of double doors with the word Clinic written above it. Upon entering the room beyond the doors they were greeted by an elegantly dressed deer monster in a doctor's coat. “Are you the medical emergency?”

“Yes.”

“Then please follow me and we’ll see what we can do.” The monster said gesturing for the group to follow them through the reception area.

Emma gave Papyrus’ hand another squeeze as the trio walked after the humanoid deer. As they were walking Axe instinctively placed himself in front of the other two. So he was between them and this unknown monster as they entered the healer’s examination room.

When everyone was in the room the deer monster turned to address the group. “Alright from what the receptionist said one of you has an old injury that has flared up?”

Axe grunted as he moved to lean against a wall, all the while glaring fiercely at the elegantly dressed monster. Papyrus shuffled forward so he was directly behind Emma then froze. He knew he needed to show them his teeth, but all he could think of was the mocking voices of the others, which paralysed him where he stood.

Emma sadly looked up at her friend; those other skeletons really had done a number on Papyrus’ self-confidence. Whatever anyone else said, as far as she was concerned the only thing wrong with the way Pap looked was that it caused him pain. She fought back a sigh, it looked like she was going to have to do something drastic to get her friend to relax. “Pap I know the phrase is human shield, but you have to admit that I’m barely a buckler on you. Now your brother would make an Axe-cellent one.”

Papyrus groaned “Emma Please, It Is Bad Enough I Have To Put Up With Those Terrible Puns From Sans. I Will Not Put Up With Them From You Too.”

“Well, that leaves you with two choices then. You can either stand there and listen to me try and out pun your brother and fail abysmally. Or you can let this nice healer examine you and help you with your jaw.” Emma said menacingly.

Axe smirked as he watched his brother reluctantly move forward, lowering his scarf so the healer could get to work. He had to hand it to the kid, he would never have thought of using his brother’s hatred of puns to get him to cooperate like that. Not that he was happy with any of this, but it was nice having someone else looking out for Papyrus for a change.

Axe continued to glare as the healer started to examine Papyrus’ mouth. “Mmm, the damage to your teeth and jaw is quite severe. I’m afraid this goes beyond what simple healing can fix.”

“So you can’t help him?” Emma asked, resting a hand on her friend’s shoulder.

The deer monster turned to regard the small human. “No Miss, it merely means that he’ll need some corrective dental work as well.” Restoring a stray strand of hair back into their elegant updo, the healer returned their attention to the skeleton. “Now we weren’t expecting to do any dental work today, but it shouldn’t take too long to open up a room and prep it to go. Or we can book you in for one of our regular dental clinics if you prefer?”

Papyrus looked over at Emma who shrugged. “Don’t look at me Pap. This is your choice, I'm not going to make it for you.”

Papyrus closed his sockets and thought for a moment, before opening them and addressing the monster in front of them. “I Have Come This Far, It Would Be Foolish To Stop Now. So Please Book Me In For As Soon As Possible.”

“Alright, now the receptionist mentioned that you haven’t registered with us yet?”

“Sadly That Is True, My Brother and I Only Recently Learned That This Place Existed,” Papyrus said apologetically.

“Very well then, while I get a room ready I’ll give you the basic forms to fill out so we can start the registration process.” The healer said opening a draw in the desk behind them.

Axe let out a deep threatening growl as the healer reached into the draw. This seemed to freeze the monster in their tracks, but as Emma looked closer she spotted a faint bluish flickering light surrounding the poor creature.

Emma rolled her eyes heavenwards silently praying for strength. “Sans, please let go of them.”

All she got in reply was another low growl from Axe. Sighing, she looked over at the irate skeleton. “Sans I can see into the draw, there is nothing in there that could hurt your brother. Unless, Pap can you die from a paper cut?”

“No”

“See nothing to worry about. Now let the nice monster go so we can get Pap fixed. That is why we came here right?” Emma said sternly staring at Axe, “we can’t do that if you keep paralysing folks now can we?”

“Fine,” Axe grunted as he reluctantly released his grip on the deer monster.

Emma’s expression softened; she knew this was hard for him “thanks, Sans.” Then she turned her attention back to the healer. “Sorry about that, my friend hasn’t been on the surface long and still gets a little twitchy around strangers.” She said apologetically.

“That’s alright,” the healer said, slowly withdrawing their arm from the draw and handing a form to the taller skeleton.

Papyrus squinted at the paper in his hands for a minute before looking back at the healer. “I Am Sorry To Be A Bother But Do You Have This In A Larger Format? I Am Afraid My Eyesight Is Not What It Was.”

Seeing the confused and shocked look on the deer monster’s face. Emma sighed, “maybe I should explain. My friends are from the Horror tribe, so they have only had access to basic home remedies.”

“I see,” the healer said carefully, “well that explains a lot and gives us something more useful to do while waiting for the room.”

“Oh?”

“Instead of just filling out that form. I could take Mr… Errr?”

“Papyrus Serif,” Emma said, silently wishing someone else would take over being the adult. So she could go back to being quietly nervous.

“Right, I could take Mr Serif to the ophthalmology department and have one of my colleagues give him an eye exam?”

Emma gently squeezed Papyrus’ shoulder. “What do you say Pap, do you want to see about getting a pair of glasses while we’re here?”

“Oh, That Would Be Wonderful! Then I Will Finally Be Able To Read Your Mother’s Collection Of Cookbooks.” Papyrus said with a blissful smile spreading across his face, as he thought of all the delicious things he was going to make.

“Very well then if you will follow me I’ll take you to the ophthalmology department and hand you over to one of my colleagues.”

After that, it seemed to take no time at all before the trio found themself in another part of the Clinic, with someone leading Papyrus away to get his eyes examined. Leaving Axe and Emma waiting in another small repetition area.

Emma sank gratefully onto one of the plastic chairs in the waiting room, while Axe paced about like a caged animal. The skeleton ceased his restless pacing to regard the small human, who was calmly stowing something away in her bag. “What ya doing?”

“Just putting away those extra copies of that registration form the healer gave me since I take it you don’t feel like filling yours out now?” Axe grunted and went back to restlessly pacing.

Emma took out her sketchbook and started to amuse herself by trying to draw the monsters she had met this morning from memory. After a while, the sound of Axe’s heavy footsteps petered out. Looking up from her drawing Emma found the skeleton standing in the middle of the room with blank sockets. As she watched, one hand drifted up to his empty socket.

Emma put down her sketchbook and took a couple of paper bags out her satchel. Cautiously she approached the silent skeleton being careful not to startle him. “Sans, can you hear me?... Come on bonehead getting lost in your skull is not going to help anyone.”

Axe just continued to vacantly stare at nothing.

“Very well sir, you leave me no choice, but to try plan S,” Emma said opening up the paper bags and carefully waving them under his nasal cavity. She smiled in relief as Axe’s nostrils flared and his eye light flickered back to life. “There we go. Don’t scare me like that. The last thing we need right now is another medical emergency on our hands. Now come sit down and you can have these.”

Axe slowly blinked, shook his head and then eventually followed the girl back to the seats. Once he had settled down Emma passed him the bags before returning to her chair and picking up her sketchbook. “One of those bags should have beef jerky in it and the other one has some mint candies. I’ve also got some toffees if you prefer.” She said as she started to draw again.

“Nah, this will do fine,” Axe said, tossing a bit of jerky into his mouth.

“Okay.”

Axe chewed on the piece of meat trying to get his frazzled nerves back under control. His head was pounding and his empty socket had started to ache. Absently he raised a hand and tugged on the cavity, trying to relieve some of the pain.

“I’ve got some painkillers on me. You can have them if you want.” Emma said, putting down her pencil and looking over at the skeleton.

Axe sighed and let his hand fall back into his lap. “If it’s human stuff it won’t work on me.”

Emma quickly rummaged through her bag to see if she had anything that might help. “Mmm sorry looks like I’ve only got my normal aspirin and the snacks I picked up this morning.” Taking out a small notebook from her bag, she started to write while mumbling to herself. “Get painkillers for friends.”

The moment Emma had finished writing, Axe took the notebook from her and started to read. It took him a little while for him to decipher the girl's writing. This was not because her handwriting was bad or anything, but as Axe commented. “Your spelling is fucking awful. Pap wasn’t even this bad when he was learning. I can’t even make out the last thing on this to-do list of yours.”

“One Papyrus isn’t dyslexic and two it’s nose clip.”

“Why the fuck do you want to buy a nose clip?”

“I thought it might help Ember.”

“What?” Axe stared at the girl in disbelief. “Ya telling me, ya want to help the guy that tried to kill you?”

Emma raised an eyebrow, “well you tried to kill me when we first met and I’m letting you live with me. So why not help someone with a lot of the same problems as you?”

“Yeah well, what makes you think a clip will help him?” Axe enquired.

Emma shyly fiddled with the silver chain around her neck, a faint blush covering her cheeks. “Well, I thought if I got him something like a diver’s nose clip he would be able to cook again.”

“A diver’s clip, seriously? He’s a fire elemental he’s hardly going to go swimming. How’s that going to help him?”

“I thought that if it was strong enough to keep water out. Then it should be good enough to stop him from smelling anything when he’s cooking. And since it was the smell that triggered him, hopefully, this will help him out.”

Axe blinked and started to chuckle, the image of his old friend wearing a nose clip while cooking was just too funny.

“Alright, so it was a dumb idea,” Emma muttered, pouting slightly.

Still chuckling Axe shook his head. “Nah kid, it’s a good idea. It’s just the thought of Grills with a giant clothespeg on his nose tickled my funny bone.”

“You mean like this,” Emma said, pulling her sketchbook over and starting to draw.

Axe full-on laughed at the little cartoon that Emma drew of the dark elemental. “Yeah just like that. Hey, that’s pretty good, what else have you got in there?” He asked excitedly. He took the sketchbook and started flicking through it, his headache momentarily forgotten.

Emma mentally braced herself for the inevitable explosion that was about to happen next to her.

“What the fuck?”

Yep there it was. Sighing she asked. “Which one is it? The stuff I drew after the attack or the cartoons I did of you?”

“The one of Pap dusting,” Axe growled. “Wait, you did some of me.” He glared at the girl for a moment before diving back into the sketchbook in search of the other drawings.

Sighing again Emma tiredly turned to the skeleton. “Before you destroy my sketchbook or me, just let me explain something.”

“Go on,” Axe growled, not bothering to look up from the book.

“As you may have noticed my dyslexia makes it really hard for me to write stuff down. So I tend to use my drawings as a way to remember stuff, also I tend to use them as a form of meditation to help me sort out how I feel about things.”

“Ya ain’t dyslexic, you're reading all the damn time.”

“I’m lucky, I’m not severely dyslexic, it mainly affects my short term memory and my spelling. Reading to myself for pleasure and trying to fill out something like a form are two totally different things.”

“How so?”

“Well, reading to myself it doesn’t matter if I miss a word or two. Also, it doesn’t matter if I end up rereading the same bit over and over again because I’ve forgotten where I was. But when I try to read, or fill out, something official my brain seizes up making me stumble over the simplest things. You want to know how bad it gets? Here’s my mum’s favourite example: One time when I had to write an essay for school I somehow managed to misspell the same word four different ways on the same page, not once getting it right and the word only had three letters in it.”

Axe looked over at the girl. “So are ya going to tell me what the word was or leave me guessing?”

“The,” Emma said, wincing slightly.

Axe continued to stare for a minute before he burst out laughing, “seriously?”

This was the moment Papyrus, wearing a brand new pair of glasses, walked in with the healer. “Do I Really Look That Bad?” He asked miserably.

“No Pap, you look awesome. Axe was just laughing at one of my many misadventures in spelling.” Emma reassured her tall friend.

It took Axe a couple of seconds to reign in his laughter, before he too reassured his brother that his new gold wire-rimmed glasses really did look good. Then the group found themself being led to yet another part of the Clinic and asked to wait, while the deer monster went and checked on the progress of the room.

When Emma set her bag down it gave out a small growl.

“Emma, Are My Ears Deceiving Me Or Did Your Bag Just Growl At Us?” Papyrus asked curiously, staring at the old cloth satchel.

“Pap, you don’t have ears,” Emma said dryly.

“Emma.”

“Sorry Pap, Growler here must have been getting fed up with being cooped up in my bag.” Emma said with a laugh, as she pulled out a rather handsome teddy bear from her bag.

Papyrus took the bear and examined it closely. He had soft golden fur with chocolate brown glass eyes and black button nose. Around his neck was a dark green ribbon that was done up into a big bow at the front and when Papyrus gently squeezed him, he growled softly.

“For some reason, he reminds me of Axe,” Emma commented slyly looking over at the stout skeleton, who was still flicking through her sketchbook.

“I Can See That, But Why Did You Bring Him?” Papyrus enquired giving the bear another squeeze.

“Well, I thought you might like something to hold if they decided to work on your teeth today. So I put Growler in my bag last night. I also packed an eye mask and my mp3 player to help distract you from what they’re doing if you want.” Emma said, self-consciously fiddling with the chain around her neck.

“Thank You Emma That Was Very Considerate Of You, But I Think I Shall Be Alright With Just Growler.” Papyrus said, gently picking up his small friend and hugging her to his chest.

Axe looked up at the pair and smirked. “Hey Pap, why don’t you just take the littlun in with ya. After all, she is your favourite cuddly of the moment.”

“Aww Pap, it sounds like someone is getting jealous down there.” Teased Emma.

“Mmm, I Think You Are Right Dear Friend, But Fear Not, For I Know The Solution To This Problem.” Papyrus declared, swooping forward and gleefully scooping up his brother into his embrace as well.

Axe wiggled for a bit before giving in to his fate, there was no getting out of a Papyrus hug once you were caught. Papyrus smiled contentedly holding the pair close, drinking in the warmth from their bodies. He could feel them relaxing into his embrace and found himself starting to relax as well. It had been a stressful morning so far and it was nice to take a breather like this, before having to dive back in.

Sadly the hug was cut short by the return of the deer monster, with word that they were ready for Papyrus. Giving the pair one final squeeze, he reluctantly released them and followed after the healer, holding Growler close to his chest.

Axe anxiously watched his brother as he was led away. Part of him desperately wanted to follow after them to make sure Papyrus was alright, but the logical part of his brain knew he would just be in the way.

The longer Axe stood there the harder it was to listen to logic. Every instinct in his body was telling him to go in there, take his brother and destroy all who dared to touch him, to hurt him. No that wasn’t right, they were helping Papyrus not hurting him, this wasn’t the underground, but the more time passed the harder it was to remember that.

Meanwhile, as Axe was slowly losing the battle against his instincts, Emma’s nerves were getting the better of her. Her mind kept playing a terrible procession of all the things that could go wrong and her current reading book was not doing much to distract her.
She really wanted her sketchbook back, there was nothing like trying to draw something from memory to help distract Emma from her thoughts. Sadly, Axe still had the sketchbook clutched tightly to his chest.

Emma closed her Kindle with a sigh and looked over at Axe, mentally debating if asking for her sketchbook back was a good idea or not. As she watched, his eye light shrank to barely a pinprick and his perpetual smile took on a fierce and menacing demeanour. Slowly without thinking Emma stood up and walked over to the skeleton. Without saying a word she wrapped her arms around him and buried her head into his jacket.

Axe blinked and looked down at the small thing that was clinging to him desperately. He could feel the tension in her little frame as he tried to gather his scattered thoughts back into some sort of order. As he was doing this Emma started to speak softly, her voice slightly muffled by the jacket. “I guess I’m not the only one who can’t stand waiting. He’s going to be alright and if he isn’t I’ll hold your coat while you dust the lot of them.”

Axe breathed deeply, then started to chuckle. “Ya know, Paps would be so disappointed if he heard ya say that.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right … I just don’t think I could take losing someone else I cared for,” Emma whispered before she pulled away and gave herself a little shake. “Come on, why don’t we sit down and you can berate me about those silly cartoons I did.”

Axe regarded the small human in front of him, although there was a teasing smile on her face, her eyes held an old sorrow that tugged at his soul. He found he didn’t like seeing Emma hurting like this, it reminded Axe too much of himself, smiling and telling everyone he was fine while dying on the inside. He had spent too many years doing that and he was not about to let this tiny thing who had come into their lives make the same mistake.

Axe gently picked Emma up and walked over to the seating area, settling down on one of the plastic chairs with her on his lap. “Nah, gotta better idea. Why don’t you sit there and explain why you thought it was a good idea to draw me in lederhosen?”

“One word, Pinocchio.”

“Pinocchio?”

“Ya know ‘I’ve got no strings on me’ ” Emma giggled as she retrieved her sketchbook from the skeleton and pointed out another cartoon of Axe strung up like a marionette.

“Are ya ever going to let me live that down?” Axe groaned, burying his skull into Emma’s shoulder.

“Probably not, just consider it revenge for knocking me out two days in a row.”

“First, Dust was the one that knocked ya out that first time and second… sorry ya didn’t deserve what I did to ya,” Axe muttered. Raising one clawed phalange hesitantly he ran it along the scar on Emma’s cheek. “From the very beginning, you have done nothing but help us and what do I do to thank ya? I-I hur…”

“Shh… It’s alright. What damage that was done got healed and I think my wind chimes more than makes us even. So stop beating yourself up over this, or do I have to set my attack cat on you too?” Emma joked softly as she gently petted the back of his skull.

“Fine,” Axe chuckled weakly, lowering his hand and hugging Emma closer as her soft caresses and sweet floral scent lulled him to sleep.

Emma contentedly hummed to herself as she listened to the skeleton’s grumbly snores coming from behind her. After a short while, she carefully lowered her hand and went back to drawing, making sure not to disturb her sleeping companion.

And that’s how the pair remained until the sound of approaching footsteps had Axe’s sockets snapping open as he prepared to attack the intruder.

“Remind me never to wake you up from a nap,” Emma remarked dryly patting Axe’s arm. “Now could you please let me go and get rid of those bone attacks before the good healer here has a soul attack.”

Axe blinked, shaking the last bit of sleep from his mind and surveyed the scene in front of him. He was standing with Emma clutched to his chest like some sorta oversized rag doll. She had a rather resigned look on her face as she gazed up at him. A short distance away from the pair was the deer monster, who was nervously staring at a dozen sharpened bones hanging in the air in front of them.

As for Papyrus, he was standing a little further away from the others blinking owlishly, while one hand gingerly explored his jaw. “Brother I Can Not Feel My Face.”

“I’m sure you’re gonna feel it later,” Emma said, wiggling in Axe’s grip until he let her go. “Now leave your face alone so I can see that handsome smile of yours.”

Axe dispelled the bones and walked over to the pair. A smile spread across his face as he looked at his brother’s now straightened teeth. Papyrus smiled vaguely at his companions, still slightly under the influence of the anaesthetic used on him earlier. His smile had lost some of its former innocence, although it was still very sweet, there was a predatory edge to it now that the braces could not hide.

Emma felt a light tap on her shoulder as she admired her friend’s new pearly whites. She fought the urge to flinch away from the touch and turned to face the healer.

The monster held out a paper pharmacy bag in one hand and an appointment card in the other. After handing her the items the healer then proceeded to give Emma detailed instructions on how to maintain Papyrus’ braces. This included what he could eat and what he should avoid. Emma’s head was spinning from all the information that was being thrown at her, there was no way she was going to remember all of this. Luckily she spotted Axe off to the side furiously writing down everything the healer was saying, so she didn’t have to worry. Finally, the deer monster finished by telling Emma that they had made arrangements with the Centre’s assessment team for the boys’ initial meeting in three weeks time.

After the healer finished speaking they escorted the group back to the clinic’s main reception area. Before they departed the deer monster reminded the skeletons to bring the completed forms with them when they came for their next appointment.

Once Axe was sure the healer was gone he turned to Emma. “Ya gonna be alright if I take Pap straight home?”

“Yeah, I should be fine. Do you want me to pick anything up on the way home?”

“Nah,” Axe chuckled, flicking the rim of Emma’s hat over her eyes.

In the short time it took Emma to straighten her hat the skeleton brothers had disappeared. Fondly shaking her head at Axe’s antics she slowly meandered her way out of the building. Emma was in a mild panic by the time she made it outside as she realised that somehow during the morning she had lost her little notebook. This left her desperately trying to remember exactly what she had set out to do today.

An all too familiar chuckle brought Emma out of her thoughts. There leaning against a nearby wall was Axe holding the notebook in one clawed hand. “Let’s see, get Pap fixed, check. Now what’s next…” Axe looked up from the book with an amused smirk on his face. “Em, you do know that phone is spelt with a P, not an F don’t you?”

“Evidently not. Axe did ya leave your brother to the tender mercies of my cat, just so you could tease me about my spelling?”

“Heh, perhaps. And don’t worry about Pap, Dust will make sure he’s alright. Now come on, the next thing on ya list is either get a new phone or you’ve really misspelt something.”

Emma sighed dramatically as she fell into step with the stout skeleton. “This is about those cartoons isn’t it?”

“I don’t know what you’re flowering about,” Axe stopped and squinted down at the little human. “But if you ever think about really using my head as a flower pot, I ain’t gonna be responsible for my actions.”

Emma raised an eyebrow as she regarded the skeleton. “Would you have preferred if I went with my original plan and used that beautiful pristine white skull of yours as a canvas to vent my frustrations on?”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Axe growled as he stared incredulously at the girl.

“Yeah, you’re probably right, no one has ever got me mad enough to do it. Now come on those errands won’t do themselves.” Emma huffed as she walked off.

Axe grinned and shrugged as he fell into step with her and the pair soon made quick work of the errands on the list. All the while Axe carried on making bad puns and teasing comments about Emma’s unique spelling skills, which she countered with some dry comebacks and cheeky comments of her own. Until they came to the last thing on the list, which had Emma hesitantly looking at the door to Grillby’s, trying to work up the courage to go in and hand over the things she had brought for the fiery brothers.

Axe watched Emma nervously fiddle with a plastic bag that held the T-shirt she had borrowed as well as a newly purchased nose clip. He sighed in frustration. “What’s the holdup? Just go in there and give them the stuff so we can go home already.”

“Sorry you’re right, it’s just...maybe this was a mistake,” Emma mumbled, anxiously looking up at the skeleton.

“What, you want to keep that top?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

“It’s the nose clip.”

Axe raised a bone ridge in query and crossed his arms. “Ah-hu.”

“I just don’t want to insult anyone. How do you even bring something like that up?”

“Just open ya mouth and talk.”

“Alright, here goes nothing” Emma murmured, taking a hesitant step towards the bar, before freezing once again as she tried to think what she should say.

“That’s not going in ya know,” Axe grunted.

“I know,” Emma whined. “It’s just … I’m not you, I can’t just walk there and say ‘Hey here’s that top I borrowed, thanks again for letting me use it. Oh, by the way, I got your brother a nose clip so he doesn't try to cook anyone else.’ I don’t think it will go over so well.” She added miserably.

“Arr come on kid that was perfect. Ya know Grills if he’s anything like mine…”

“But I don’t know him,” Emma whispered fiercely.

“What? Ain’t ya a regular here?” Axe huffed.

“Yes, but that doesn't mean I’ve talked to the guy much or anything.”

Axe continued to regard her with crossed arms and a raised ridge.

Emma sighed and hugged the top to her chest. “Look I’m not like you and Papyrus. You guys walk into a room and you’re the life of the party. You can talk and interact with anyone you want. Me, I enter a room full of people and all I want to do is hide. Do ya know it took me over a year to learn that the bar was named after him? When he was healing me last week was the most I’ve ever talked to the guy.”

Axe stared in shock at Emma, in all the time he had known her, he had never seen her look so small and vulnerable. The little thing he had come to know gave as good as she got, returning his terrible jokes and puns with teasing remarks of her own. Stars even this morning the kid had stepped up and taken care of everything, but looking at her now Axe was painfully reminded about how fragile her soul truly was.

Axe sighed and gently drew Emma against his chest, wrapping her in his embrace. “I don’t think I’m that person any more, but I think I know a way to help ya out.”

“Mm?”

Axe pulled back a bit and held out the notebook. “Do that drawing again, ya know that one of Grills and I’ll write a note ta go with it. That old flame brain will take it from me. Then the only thing you will have ta tell them is that your housemate put something in there for him.”

Emma hesitantly took the notebook. “Do you really think that would be alright?”

“Yeah Kid.”

“Okay, thanks Sans,” Emma smiled gratefully as she quickly redid the cartoon of the gaunt elemental and handed the book to the skeleton. Axe just as quickly wrote something down and tore the sheet off the pad. Looking over at Emma he asked, “so what’s the name Grills is going by now again?”

“Ember.”

“Right,” Axe muttered, folding the paper he wrote the name on it before handing back to the girl.

Emma placed the note in with the nose clip, then with one more hesitant smile for Axe she headed into the bar. Five minutes later she emerged from the building blushing furiously. Without thinking Emma let out a loud grown and buried her head into a skeleton’s chest.

“You alright down there?” Axe enquired, patting her back.

“Yeah, just give me a second” Emma murmured. Taking a couple of deep breaths she backed up a bit and looked up with a sheepish smile, still blushing faintly. “Sorry about that, one of the bar flys started hitting on me and I’ve never really been good at handling that sorta thing.”

“Which one?” Axe growled, not liking the idea of one them stupid skeletons messing with his little human.

“I’ll show you when we get home.”

“Fine,” Axe huffed.

Finally having gotten her blushing under control Emma started to walk off. Only to shriek as she was grabbed from behind and pulled tightly against Axe’s chest. The next thing she knew the world was speeding by as Axe carried her bridal style, while he cackled maniacally. From somewhere behind them came the sound of profuse swearing, then something whizzed passed them.

Axe spun around on his heels, flipped whoever was pursuing them a middle finger and fell backwards into the void taking Emma with him.

Emma had the breath knocked out of her as Axe flopped down on his bed still cackling to himself. “Axe you maniac, what was that?” She asked breathlessly, trying to untangle herself from the skeleton.

Still chuckling Axe sat up and gently placed Emma down next to him. “Sorry little snack, saw Red coming out of the bar and didn’t feel like sharing ya.”

“Red? Is he someone from your tribe?” Emma asked curiously, looking up from making sure she hadn’t lost anything in their mad dash.

“Nah, he’s one of ya bar flys.”

“Right,” Emma said, getting up and stretching before heading for the door.

“Where are you going?” Axe enquired also standing up.

“To put my stuff away, why?”

“Don’t you remember, ya said when we got home ya would show me which of those stupid skeletons upset ya?”

Emma tiredly rubbed her face. “He didn’t exactly upset me, but … I never know how to cope when people do things like that, it just…”

“Makes you uncomfortable and that’s enough of a reason for me to have some extra fun with them.” Axe chuckled darkly.

Emma raised an eyebrow and stared at the madly grinning skeleton.

“What?”

“Do we need to have the talk on not breaking your toys again?” Emma remarked dryly.

“Nah.”

“You’re not going to leave me alone until I show you, are you?”

Axe just grinned wickedly in response.

“Alright, follow me,” Emma said with a resigned sigh as she opened the door.

“Huh?”

“I don’t have any drawings of him in my current sketchbook so we need to look in one of my older ones,” Emma said as she headed towards the craft room.

Axe followed the girl down the corridor. He remembered her pointing out the room to them when she had shown them around the house. He’d had no reason to go in before this, so was quite curious to find out what was actually in there.

Emma smiled softly, running a finger over the old wooden plaque on the door, that declared this room the owl’s nest. The craft room had gotten that nickname when she was a lot younger and this had been solely her mother’s domain. Her hand hesitated for a moment on the door handle as her chest ached with the sad knowledge that she would never share another lazy afternoon with her mother, just enjoying each other’s company as they worked on various things.

Axe watched silently as Emma tensed up for a second before sighing sadly as she opened the door and walked into the room. He wandered in after her, eye lights draw in a hundred different directions at once. The wall on the right-hand side was completely dedicated to storage with shelves filled with various boxes, rolls of fabric and other odds and ends. A happy smirk spread across his skull as he noticed that the bottom shelf had been turned into an awesome napping spot, with plenty of soft pillows and blankets. Any wall space not used for storage was covered with a variety of artworks in a range of media and styles. His smile fell into a frown as he turned to see a mountain of paperwork spread over the workbench that ran the length of the left wall.

Unconsciously his hand reached out towards the nearest document to see what it was, but was stopped midway by Emma’s voice piping up from one of the bookcases that flanked the window. “Here we go, this one should have what we are looking for.”

Quickly Axe threw his hand upwards looking for something on the corkboard above the bench to hide the fact he had been about to snoop. Among the old newspaper articles, sticky notes and artwork one thing really caught his eye light.

“Who’s this?” He asked, pointing to a photo of a handsome young man in some sort of uniform.

Emma looked over at the photograph. It was an old school picture of a boy with dark auburn hair, bright happy eyes and a quiet smile. “Oh, that’s Justin, my big brother. He died a couple of years ago.”

“Oh,” Axe murmured awkwardly, rubbing his arm. “So, ya found an image of my new favourite toy?”

“Yeah,” Emma said softly, gladly accepting the change of subject, as she settled down among the pillows and blankets of her little nest. Axe sat down next to her, instantly recognising the skeleton on the page in front of him. The monster had the same rounded skull as Dust and Axe, though perhaps a little bit sharper, but that was where the similarities ended. His toothy smile was cocky, with sharp shark-like teeth and one gold canine. Then there were his eye lights which were a deep crimson that seemed to stare back at you. Emma hadn’t bothered to go into much detail on the guy’s clothes all you could make out was some fur and something dark behind it.

Axe started to chuckle. “Well, well, well it looks like Red is up ta his old perverted tricks again.”

“Red? That guy that chased after us at the bar?”

“Yep.”

“Hmm,” Emma looked down at the image, absently running a finger over it. “He always seems to dress in bad boy chic.”

“Yeah so?”

“Wanna turn him into a pretty princess?” Emma asked, standing up and pulling out one of the boxes from above her.

Axe collapsed in laughter when Emma opened it to reveal a cornucopia of silk flowers in every shape and colour imaginable. Then as he was trying to regain control of himself, she reduced him to a wheezing mess, by adding glitter glue, a rainbow of permanent markers and the girliest stickers he had ever seen into the mix.

By the time he had finally managed to stop laughing Emma was once again sitting next to him with a fresh sketch of Red in front of her. “So do you want to discuss ideas for her ladyship’s makeup or do you want to go free form on your next supply run?”

Axe chuckled and grinned evilly, “let’s see what ya got.”

With an equally evil grin, Emma laughed, pulled some colour pencils out and started to draw. Axe moved closer so he could see better and help plan Red’s new look. They continued until Emma’s stomach announced that it was way past time for lunch. Axe sniggered quietly at the look of betrayal on her face as she glared down at her middle.

“Damn it, why are you always so loud? I was having fun,” Emma muttered, still glaring at her stomach.

“Aww, don’t be so hard on it. Your stomach is almost as good as Papyrus for remaining us to eat. Now come on, Pap would skin both of us if he thought that we were deliberately skipping a meal.” Axe said, standing up and stretching.

“So that’s why you’re all bones?” Emma chuckled following the skeleton downstairs. “Pap caught you skipping and here I thought you were born that way.”

“Damn, you found out my secret,” Axe joked as the pair wandered into the kitchen and started putting a meal together.

As the pair worked, Emma noticed a plate in the sink which reminded her of something. “Hey Sans, do you think we should make something for Pap to have when he wakes up?”

Axe looked up from what he was doing with a thoughtful expression on his face. “Mmm, probably a good idea considering how long it is until dinner.”

“Okay,” she murmured reaching for a plate.

Quickly Axe reached around Emma snatching the plate first while muttering gruffly. “Leave it Snack, I’ll deal with my bro. You concentrate on getting ya own.”

Emma nodded and turned back to getting her own lunch. Axe quickly made a sandwich and poured a glass of water, then took them upstairs to his brother. Finding him still sleeping off the anaesthetic, he quietly put the food on the nightstand and left the room.

Upon returning to the kitchen Axe found Emma sitting at the table reading a book with two plates of food in front of her. He settled on the chair next to her letting out a contented sigh as he spotted that instead of a glass of water she had given him a bottle of ketchup.

“Thanks kiddo,” he said happily, taking a big swig of the ketchup.

“You’re welcome, figured you deserved a treat after everything that happened this morning and Pap’s not here to complain. Oh, speaking of Pap how is he doing? She asked looking up from her book.

“Still sleeping cuddled up with that bear you gave him.”

“That’s good, I’m glad he’s getting some proper rest for once, but I guess that leaves us fending for ourselves for dinner tonight.”

“Heh, don’t worry about it, Pap will happily do it when he wakes up. Ya know how much he loves cooking.” Axe said nonchalantly, taking a bite out of his sandwich.

“Yeah, I know, I just want to give Papyrus a break, he’s been through a lot today. So I was going to offer to cook tonight.”

“Arr kid, ya don’t have ta do that.”

“I know, but I feel like we should be celebrating and since I can’t afford to get the family favourite of a take-away this is the best I can do.” Emma said with a rueful smile.

“Celebrating?” Axe asked, raising a boney ridge.

“Yes, celebrating.”

“Why?”

“Well, we’ve finally got Papyrus to see a healer and we’ve also taken the first step in getting you guys your I.D’s. I think that’s worth celebrating, don’t you?”

Axe smiled softly at the girl. “Yeah kid, it does. So do you have anything in mind?”

“Well, I was looking through Mum’s cookbook,” said Emma, tapping the old leather book in front of her, “and I think I’ve found something everyone should like.”

“Yeah what’s that,” Axe asked, pulling the little red book towards him.

“Macaroni pie,” Emma said pointing to one of the handwritten recipes.

“Macaroni pie? Never heard of it,” Axe murmured reading the recipe.

“It’s one of my Mum’s creations. It’s a bit like lasagna, but the meat and pasta are mixed together and you used the cheese sauce as a lid.”

“Sounds good.”

“Yeah, I figured it was a better use of the beef mince then something like spaghetti bolognese, considering how green everyone else gets when I mention the stuff.”

“Definitely,” Axe confirmed, fighting down the bile and unwanted memories that were trying to rise.

“It’s also something I can make now and just finish off in the oven nearer dinner time. So fancy giving it a go?” Emma asked as she ate the last of her lunch.

“Yeah,” Axe said, quickly finishing his own food, he then grabbed the empty plates and took them over to the sink.

“Cool,” Emma murmured as she double-checked what she would need for the recipe and then set about preparing it.

Once Axe had done the little bit of washing up there was, he helped Emma with the cooking. After they had put the macaroni pie in the oven and cleared up after themselves the pair went their separate ways. Emma returned to the craft room, while Axe wandered off to check in with Dust.

He found the skeleton down in the basement fiddling with some old distilling equipment they had found. “How’s it going?”

“This stuff is ancient but it should do what I want.” Dust replied, barely looking over at Axe before returning his attention to what he was doing.

“How long before ya have something we can use?” Axe asked, moving closer.

“A couple of days, if I’m left alone.”

“Fine,” Axe grunted, turning to go.

“You know it would be a lot easier to kill the others than to keep playing these silly games with them.” Dust called after the retreating skeleton.

“Perhaps, but ya gotta agree Em was right, this is a lot more satisfying and fun.” Axe chuckled, turning once more to face Dust with an evil grin.

“Yeah,” Dust said with an equally evil grin.

Still chuckling Axe turned and headed for the stairs only to stop again when Dust called out. “Hey, since when has that human been anything other than a snack to you?”

“Since I did what my bro wanted me to and gave the kid a chance. Might want to try it yourself, she's quite fun once ya get to know her.” Axe called over his shoulder as he disappeared back upstairs shutting the door on Dust’s reply.

Upon entering the kitchen he did a quick scan of the room, just to make sure nothing had been missed when they had been cleaning up earlier. As he was doing this Axe’s lone eye light fell on the little cookbook Emma had been using earlier. Out of curiosity, he picked it up and started to flick through it, idly wondering what other treats might be hiding between the covers.

The book had an odd mix of things in it. Everything from how to roast various types of meat, to how to convert gas mark to celsius, plus a whole load of recipes with some very interesting names. As he was reading Axe noticed something else interesting about the book that brought a smile to his face. Though the book had belonged to her mother it was clearly written for Emma. It had simple and easy to follow instructions with helpful tips that made it perfect for someone with dyslexia.

Closing the book and placing it back on the kitchen counter. Axe idly wondered about the women who had written it but soon brushed it off as he drifted back upstairs. Not wanting to disturb his brother, Axe soon found himself back in the craft room quietly watching Emma as she listlessly shifted through the papers on the workbench in front of her.

“Want some help with that?” He asked walking over.

“Thanks for the offer Sans, but I don’t want to burden you with my problems when you have got so much on your own plate.” Emma mumbled looking up at the skeleton with a weak smile.

Axe regarded the girl for a moment as an idea formed in his head. “Arr, come on snack ya know I like a full plate,” he chuckled as he patted his stomach. “But if ya feel like ya need ta do something for me in return, how about we make a deal?”

“Like what?” Emma asked cautiously.

“I’ll help ya with whatever written stuff ya got and ya make me something from that cookbook of yours.”

“This wouldn’t be a way to con more welsh cakes out of me, would it?”

“Heh, maybe,” it was actually another recipe, with a rather interesting name, that had caught his eye, but Emma didn’t need to know that yet. This way he could have a little fun and help her at the same time.

Emma looked at the various pieces of paper on the bench and fought back a sigh. She could really use the help, but it felt wrong to take advantage of Axe’s kindness when there was so little she could do in return. The deal felt terribly one-sided considering how hard it was for her to write anything, and what words she did get down needed a cryptographer to decipher. It made her feel like she was trying everyone’s patience with how much she had to rely on others for help.

Emma pulled herself out of her negative thoughts to find Axe still standing there with a small half-smile on his face. “Well?” He asked.

“Alright. I just hope you know what you’re letting yourself in for.” Emma sighed, as she pulled out one of the office chairs by the workbench and sat down.

“Can’t be much worse than ya spelling” Axe teased, taking the other chair and picking up the nearest document.

A little while later Papyrus joined them only to be banished to the other side of the room along with Emma, so Axe could organise things in peace. Emma settled on the floor near the open box of silk flowers and started working on a floral crown for Red. Papyrus sat down next to her happily chatting away as she worked.

The tall skeleton fondly regarded his brother as he sifted and sorted through the various papers in front of him. It was so nice to see Axe invested in something other than survival. There had been a time underground when Papyrus had feared he would lose his brother to either hunger or madness and the sad thing was he didn’t know which one of those was preferable. Papyrus mentally shook himself, that was then, here and now on the surface he could see traces of the skeleton he once knew. He was not some romantic fool that believed that everything would be the same as before, it couldn’t be after what they had lived through. He absentmindedly ran a phalange over his new braces, no not the same, but perhaps with their friend’s help, it could be better. Maybe even Dust would be able to put his past behind him and heal. Only time would tell and thanks to Emma that was something they had plenty of.

Chapter Text

The last couple of days had been peaceful, with Dust requesting to be left alone so he could concentrate on his work. So the other two skeletons had spent their time either planning their next shopping trip (raid) or doing things around the house which included helping Emma organise the various bits of paperwork she had accumulated.

Sadly this peace came to an abrupt end on Thursday morning, when Emma was rudely awoken by a loud crash and raised voices. It took her sleep fogged mind a few minutes to realise that the noise was coming from downstairs. Groaning she rolled out of bed, grabbed the bottom half of her pyjamas and sleepily put them on as she went to investigate. Finding no one on the first floor Emma quickly headed for the stairs trying to ignore the worry that was gnawing at her, as the house fell ominously silent.

“Guys are you al …. OH GOD, WHAT IS THAT SMELL?!?” She cried, desperately clinging to the bannister trying not to fall down the stairs as she choked on the suddenly foul air around her.

The putrid smell invaded all her senses as she continued to cling to the bannister. Her nose and eyes seemed to be on fire as the rancid air played about her. Emma’s head started to spin and her vision began to fade as her throat simultaneously tried to rid itself of the noxious fumes and prevent any more from entering her.

As her consciousness started to slip away, so too did her grip on the bannister. For one terrifying moment Emma was falling, unable to stop herself as she continued to struggle to breathe. She barely noticed when an arm grabbed her and pulled her through the void. What she did register was the sudden bright light and sweet fresh air that now surrounded her.

Greedily gulping huge lungs full of the fresh air and blinking her eyes to clear them, Emma took stock of her surroundings. She was in her back garden with Axe standing behind her, nearby where Dust and Papyrus collapsed on the grass. Axe released his grip on her and sank to the ground next to his brother, joining the others in trying to get their breathing back under control.

Emma hesitated a moment before she too joined the others lying down on the dew damp grass. Once everyone had managed to catch their breath she looked over at the others who were still a little green around the edges and asked. “So someone wants to explain what the hell just happened?”

“That mangy cat ambushed me again, that’s what happened,” Dust huffed as he sat up and glared over at Papyrus or more precisely the cat in his arms.

Papyrus rolled his eyes lights heavenwards and sighed. “Brother You Should Know By Now Shadow Will Pounce On Who Ever Enters The Kitchen First In The Morning.”

Before Dust could start in on one of his rants about how Shadow was evil and out to get him Emma cut in. “Okay, so that explains the screaming and raised voices that could be heard all the way up in the attic. Now would one of ya mind explaining why my house smells like it’s been dipped in the Bog of Eternal Stench?”

“Numbskull over there decided it was a good idea to carry the stink bomb he’s been working on through the kitchen,” Axe growled pointing at Dust.

Emma looked over at the heterochromatic skeleton, who seemed to be having one of his muttered arguments with himself.

“D?”

“What?” Dust snapped, glaring at her.

“How long before it’s safe to go back in?”

“A week, two tops,” he said, shrugging.

“Seriously?” Emma cried as she sat up and stared at the skeleton in disbelief.

“Yep,” Dust confirmed lying back down.

“Alright, do you have some way to speed things up or are we doing a ram raid on the house for supplies?”

Dust rolled over onto his stomach, propping his head upon his arms and looked over at the girl. “Might have, but it’s still gonna take about a day for it to clear.”

“Sounds better than having to camp out in the garage for two weeks,” Emma commented dryly.

Dust hummed thoughtfully, “true,” he murmured standing up and dusting himself off. “Well, might as well get started then,” he said before disappearing.

Sighing, Emma got up and looked at the other two. “Come on guys, while D is doing that we might as well try to get ourselves sorted for the day too.”

Papyrus smiled, “That Is An Excellent Idea My Friend. Do You Have Any Suggestions?”

Emma absently played with her necklace as she considered their options. “Well, we could either go into town and explore a bit or maybe catch a bus and spend the day in the woods.”

“Woods,” Axe grunted, rolling over and ponderously getting to his feet.

Papyrus lept up with a cry of pure joy and excitement. This was going to be such fun, he was going to have a great day out with the people that meant the most to him. And thanks to his new glasses he would actually be able to see all the wonderful things around him.

He had reached the back gate when Emma’s voice merrily brought him out of his excited thoughts. “Hey Pap, unless you’re planning on carrying Shadow for the rest of the day, you might want to consider putting her in the garage. Before you disappear off into the wild blue yonder.”

Papyrus turned around with a sheepish grin and a faint blush on his face. “Ah Yes, Perhaps That Would Be A Good Idea.”

“Great, while you’re doing that I’ll grab some bits for us from inside. Then once D has finished whatever he’s doing we can get going,” Emma giggled watching her tall friend’s antics.

Papyrus nodded enthusiastically before marching purposefully towards the old garage at the end of the garden. Still quietly giggling at her friend’s amusing behaviour, Emma turned towards the house trying to think of the quickest way to get everything they would need.

Her musing and forward momentum both came to a sudden stop when Axe picked her up. “Hold on there snack, maybe I should be the one to go in there.”

Emma looked up at her stout friend with concern. “Are you sure Axe? Your nose is a lot more sensitive than mine.”

Axe’s deep chuckle reverberated through both their bodies as he replied. “Don’t worry about me, I’ve got a trick or two up my sleeve. Now tell me what ya need.”

Emma sighed, “I hope you don’t regret this, but alright. We need Shadow’s food and water dishes plus that pillow she likes napping on, that should keep her happy for the day.”

“Anything else?” Axe asked, smiling down at the little thing in his arms.

“Hmm, well since we’re going to be out all day it might be an idea to grab some food for us. Oh, and if you could also grab my hat and bag from the hall that would be great.”

“I think ya forgetting something snack,” Axe chuckled.

Emma thought for a moment, “no I don’t think so.”

“So ya planning on going around the woods in ya pyjamas and bare feet? That’s a bold fashion statement.” Axe chuckled, gently tickling a foot.

“Oh yeah, I should probably get dressed,” she murmured, blushing faintly while trying to move her foot out of Axe’s reach.

“Stop wriggling before I drop ya.”

“Then stop trying to tickle me,” Emma complained glaring up at the skeleton.

Axe merely grinned down at her while tightening his grip, before shortcutting to the attic. Once they arrived he unceremoniously dumped Emma on her bed. “Better hurry, that stink is already trying to get in here.” He muttered, throwing open the only window in the room and sticking his head out of it.

Nodding, Emma scurried off the bed and then proceeded to break the record for the world’s fastest quick change. Even with her speed, the air had started to turn rancid by the time she had finished dressing. After grabbing a couple of bits from around the room she made her way back over to the skeleton.

“Done,” she said, tapping Axe’s shoulder to get his attention.

“Good,” he grunted, putting an arm around her and pulling them through another shortcut.

This time when they emerged from the void they were not in the garden, but in a small clearing in the middle of the woods. After making sure she was okay, Axe let go of her and stepped back. It still surprised him how quickly Emma had adapted to his shortcuts, it had only been that first time she had had a bad reaction to it. Unlike that damn kid, they had always thrown up whenever he had teleported them. No, that wasn’t fair, Em was nothing like that brat, it made him wish for the impossible. That Emma had been the one to fall, not Frisk.

Axe sighed, placing a hand on her head, perhaps it was for the best that it hadn’t been her, considering how fragile her soul was. He smiled fondly down at his little human patting her head and saying. “Don’t wander off, I’ll be right back.”

As he was turning to go Emma shot out a hand and grabbed the back of his jacket. “Sans wait.”

“What scared of being alone in the big bad woods?” Axe teased, looking back over his shoulder.

Emma rolled her eyes, “no, I just thought you might like this to help filter out some of that stink.” She said holding out a large black silk bandanna.

A small chuckle escaped Axe as he took the cloth and wrapped it around his skull covering his mouth and nose. “Thanks kid,” he whispered, placing a gentle skeletal kiss on her forehead before disappearing back into the void, leaving Emma to explore the clearing on her own.

It didn’t take long for her to recognise the area that Axe had dropped her in. This wasn’t really surprising considering the amount of time she had spent wandering around these woods over the years. Emma let out a contented sigh as she sank to the ground with her back against an old log at the edge of the clearing. She loved these woods, there was a peaceful tranquillity here that you just couldn’t find anywhere else. Her eyes slowly drifted shut as the soothing sounds of nature lulled her back to sleep.

The skeletons arrived shortly afterwards and gazed down on the sleeping human. Dust fidgeted where he stood, trying to ignore the snide comments from the spectre that hovered next to him, as the other two argued with each other about whether they should wake the girl or not.

Just as the two were thinking of dragging Dust into the argument Emma’s soft lilting voice piped up from the floor. “Can I get a say in this? Because I’m in favour of letting sleeping humans lie, but I don’t think I’m gonna get that with you guys around.”

“Yeah, got that right,” Axe chuckled, reaching down and gently pulling Emma to her feet.

Papyrus smiled, handing Emma her hat and bag. “Well, Since You Are Awake, You Can Help With Breakfast.”

“Sure, what do ya need?” Emma asked, grinning up at her tall friend.

“If You Could Gather Some Firewood While I Make A Suitable Place For It,” Papyrus said surveying the area.

“Um, Pap you’re sure you know what ya doing?” Emma asked cautiously.

“Yes. Why Do You Ask Dear Friend?” Papyrus asked curiously, cocking his skull to the side as he looked down at her.

“No offence, but you did kinda grow up in a place of perpetual winter.” Emma said, nervously rubbing the back of her head.

Axe chuckled, draping an arm over Emma’s shoulders. “Don’t worry about it, snack, I’ll make sure my bro doesn't start any forest fires. But if it will make ya feel better I promise that we won’t set anything ablaze until ya check it. Alright, Miss Fireman’s Daughter?”

“Yeah sorry, I guess old habits die hard,” Emma apologised sheepishly before wandering off in search of some firewood.

Dust continued to watch as the group dispersed and went about their various tasks. Ghostly laughter from next to him drew his eye lights to the spectral creature that floated there. He repressed a shudder as a cold, transparent, red gloved hand rested itself on his shoulder and a matching ghostly red scarf curled itself around his neck. “WELL, THAT WAS MILDLY ENTERTAINING. NOW, WHAT WILL YOU DO DEAR BROTHER? CARRY ON BEING ALL EMO OR WILL YOU ACTUALLY JOIN IN AND SOCIALISE WITH THE OTHERS?”

Dust grunted as he turned his back on the scene in front of him and started to walk away. Not that it stopped his brother’s ghostly voice from echoing around the inside of his skull. “OH, WE ARE GOING WITH YOUR OLD STAND BY OF AVOIDANCE THEN. LIKE THIS HAS EVER WORKED OUT WELL FOR YOU. WHY CAN YOU NOT JUST INTERACT WITH THEM LIKE A NORMAL PERSON?”

“You know why brother,” Dust murmured, half-heartedly trying to shake the spectral hand off his shoulder.

“OH, YES. IT IS TOO DANGEROUS FOR YOU TO GET CLOSE TO ANYONE. THEY WILL ONLY GET HURT.” The ghostly remains of his younger brother huffed, rolling his blood-red sockets in exasperation as his severed skull floated in front of Dust. “IF THAT IS TRULY HOW YOU FEEL, THEN WHY DO YOU NOT JUST LEAVE AND BECOME A HERMIT. THEN YOU CAN WALLOW IN REGRET AND MISERY IN PEACE, OR DO YOU SECRETLY ENJOY TEMPTING FATE?”

Dust sullenly growled, trying to swat the floating skull away. Only to be met with mocking laughter as his hand ineffectively passed through it.

“OH PLEASE, YOU KNOW THAT WILL NOT WORK. I AM NOT SO EASY TO GET RID OF ANYMORE.”

Dust didn’t answer but just continued to swipe at the ghost in front of him. Blindly he stumbled onwards, desperately trying to silence the spectre so he wouldn’t have to think about the questions it was posing. Unaware that with each step he drew nearer to the edge of a steep embankment.

Just as Dust was about to take that last fateful step out into nothingness a voice rang out and something grabbed at the back of his jacket. On instinct, he spun around releasing a series of bone attacks. Luckily for Emma, they sailed over her head barely grazing the top of her hat. Unluckily for Dust, this action left him dangerously unbalanced with his arms madly pinwheeling as he teetered at the edge of the abyss. Somehow Emma managed to grab the madly flailing skeleton and drag him back to safety, overbalancing in the process, so they both ended up sprawled on the ground.

“D, are you alright?” Emma asked, her voice slightly muffled since Dust was currently lying on top of her.

“No, I’m half left,” Dust grunted as he rolled off the girl and sat up.

“Nice one, but seriously you weren’t hurt were you?” Emma’s voice was filled with concern as she sat up and looked over at the skeleton.

Dust stopped brushing himself off to stare at her, then burst out laughing.

“What?” She asked curiously.
“I attack you and the first thing you ask is if I’m okay. Are you insane or something?”

Emma smiled, shrugging, “eh, most likely something. There are some advantages to being this short, those bone attacks of your’s missed me by miles. You’re the one that almost did an impression of Wile E Coyote back there.”

“Wile E Coyote? Who’s he?”

“Remind me to show you Loony Toons sometime. Wile E Coyote is a character on the show that somehow always seems to end up falling off cliffs and stuff.”

Dust stopped laughing and gave Emma a rather unamused look.

“Hey don’t give me that look, I’m not the one who was about to take a nosedive onto the rocks below.”

“Whatever,” Dust muttered trying to stand, only to fall back down with a startled cry as his right leg gave out from under him.

“Shit,” Emma was instantly next to him, gently bracing him with a look of concern etched on her face. “Damn, you did hurt yourself.”

Sighing she carefully moved her hands down Dust’s body causing him to flinch and ready an attack. Emma stilled, calmly looking up at the skeleton. “D, I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to check and see what the damage is. Alright?”

She watched as Dust blinked and cocked his head to one side as if he was listening to someone. For one brief moment, Emma thought she saw something protectively wrap itself around him. Then Dust nodded and whatever it was dissipated along with the attack, leaving him cautiously regarding her.

“I take it, I can continue?” Emma asked softly, hands hovering over his leg.

Reluctantly Dust nodded.

“Alright, I’m gonna take this slow, just tell me if anything hurts.” She murmured softly as she ran her hands first down his left leg, then his right.

Dust only grunted in pain when Emma reached his right ankle.

“Well, it doesn't look like you did yourself too much damage. Now, this next bit is most likely going to hurt, but can you move that foot at all?”

Dust gingerly twitched his foot, wincing with every little movement.

“That’s good you haven’t dislocated it,” Emma murmured, gently feeling around the ankle. “It looks like you just twisted it when we fell. Now do you fancy trying to get back to the others or should I go fetch one of the guys to help?”

Dust silently conjured a bone and dragged himself up, grunting in pain as he staggered forward. The next thing he knew Emma was there steadying him.

“Aren’t you meant to be getting some firewood or something?” Dust grumbled, trying not to show how uncomfortable he was with her touching him.

“I think getting you back in one piece is more important than breakfast at the moment.” Emma said, slowly letting go and backing up a bit so Dust could try to walk on his own.

It was hard for her to watch his stumbling progress, with each faltering step her instincts told her to reach out and help, but she knew from how tense Dust had been earlier that he didn’t want her touching him. Her resolve lasted right up until a misplaced step nearly had him falling again. Quickly she ducked under Dust’s failing arm and braced him once more.

“Sorry, I know ya don’t like this, but I can’t just watch you hurt yourself again” Emma muttered, doing her best to support the taller skeleton.

Dust grumbled under his breath but didn’t try to shake her off. He just started limping forward with Emma automatically adjusting her gait and position to support him as they walked. An awkward silence fell over the pair, with Dust fighting the dark urges and blacker memories the girl’s presence evoked. While Emma fought her old demons of wanting to ease the other’s suffering, but not knowing what to say or do to achieve it.

Progress was torturously slow but they eventually made it back to the clearing. Axe turned at the sound of their approach, his ever-present smile turned into a frown as he caught sight of the pair. “What the fuck happened to you?”

“Brother Langua…. Oh My, Here Let Me Help.” Papyrus cried, rushing over to them.

Axe wandered over to Emma, “so ya gonna tell me what happened?” He asked, totally ignoring Dust and his protests as Papyrus picked up the injured skeleton and walked off with him.

“D took a bad fall and twisted his ankle,” Emma said, shrugging her shoulders.

“Heh, maybe this will finally get him ta do his laces up.” Axe chuckled, watching as his brother gently put a still protesting Dust down by the firepit they had made.

“Oh, come on Sans, would you really deprive Shadow of one of her favourite toys?” Emma joked, playfully nudging him.

“WHAT!?” Dust yelled pushing Papyrus away so he could stare menacingly at the other two.

“Oh, come on D. You know Shadow’s favourite toy is that old bit of string. She’ll pounce on it for hours if we gave her a chance,” Emma chuckled.

“And my laces?” Dust growled.

“Are four tantalising bits of string that twitch with every step you take.” Emma giggled, smiling unrepentantly at the heterochromatic skeleton.

Dust groaned dramatically and flopped to the ground. “I hate you all.”

Papyrus sighed and shook his head then went back to tending to his injured sibling. Dust closed his sockets as Papyrus’ warm magic wrapped itself around his ankle. On the other side of the clearing, he could hear Axe and Emma exchanging some words before their footsteps faded off into the distance.

Once the pair were gone Papyrus spoke, “I Am Proud Of You Brother.”

“For what? Being an idiot and hurting myself?”

Papyrus chuckled softly, “No, For Letting Emma Help You.”

“She didn’t give me much choice,” Dust grumbled, before drifting off to sleep.

Papyrus smiled gently and finished healing Dust’s ankle before continuing with his breakfast preparations.

Dust was roused sometime later by the wonderful smell of frying food. Sitting up he was handed a plate with practically a full English breakfast on it, the only thing missing was the baked beans and perhaps some bacon. From the other side of the fire, Emma’s voice piped up. “Come on Sans I know ya packing.”

“Packing what?” Axe asked, trying to hide a smile.

“Oh come on, we both know ya got some ketchup on ya.” She playfully whined.

“So?”

“Can I please have some?” Emma asked, pointing down at the plate that was resting on top of her sketchbook which in turn was perched on her legs as a makeshift table.

Axe tapped the side of his skull with one clawed phalange, a thoughtful expression on his face and a mischievous glint in his lone eye light.

Papyrus looked up from his food and rolled his eye lights. “Brother, Please Just Give Emma The Ketchup. At Least She Will Use It As It Was Intended To Be Used.”

Chuckling, Axe produced a bottle of Ketchup and handed it over to Emma. After she thanked him a contented silence fell over the group.

Dust enjoyed the peace especially since the apparition of his brother had disappeared after his fall. Sadly this allowed his mind to open up the vault of memories that he tried to repress with every waking breath. So he was truly grateful that after Axe had finished eating, he pulled out the little red cookbook and with a mischievous grin started to flick through it.

“Axe why do you have mum’s cookbook?” Emma asked looking up from her breakfast.

Axe chuckled, “just picking out which recipe I’m gonna get ya to make for me, as per our little agreement.”

“What agreement?” Dust asked.

“I write, she cooks,” Axe said, nodding at Emma, his grin getting broader with his next words. “And I think I know which one I want.”

“Please nothing too complicated or you may not like the results,” Emma said, wincing as she handed her empty plate to Papyrus.

“Do Not Worry Dear Friend, I Will Help You If It Looks Difficult,” Papyrus said smiling down at her.

Emma smiled back at him, “thanks Pap,” then she squared her shoulders and looked over at Axe. “Alright, what am I making?”

Axe’s grin turned positively evil as he pointed to one of the recipes. Emma groaned and buried her head in her hands, she should have known that he would pick that recipe. ‘Well, this is going to be interesting to explain. I wonder if there’s any way out of it.’ She thought to herself as she looked around for an exit.

The other two skeletons curiously looked at the page then at the human.

Dust quirked one bone ridge as he regarded the girl. “Monster Cake, cake for monsters? That’s an interesting name and I’m betting an equally interesting story to go with it.”

Emma groaned again before raising her head. “In my defence, that name was around before monsters surfaced.”

“Now you’ve got me really curious,” Dust said, propping up his skull with one hand.

Axe copied the other short skeleton’s movement still smiling evilly. “Yeah, come on little snack, I think it’s time we learned one of ya secrets.”

“Sans I hate to tell ya this, but I don’t really have any secrets,” Emma remarked dryly.

“So what with the name?” Axe asked.

“Monster is a silly nickname Larper’s use for people that crew their events,” Emma said. “I crew for a local system and mum used to make a cake for me to share with the rest of the crew. So it made sense to call it Monster Cake, since that was who was eating it.” She rubbed the back of her head feeling a bit awkward. “Sorry, I’m most likely not explaining this very well. It just feels weird talking about monstering with real monsters. So ya got any questions?”

“Yeah, I’ve got one. What’s Larp?” Axe asked curiously.

“It’s an acronym it stands for Live. Action. Role. Play.”

Papyrus blinked, “Is That Not Your Hobby Emma?”

“Yeah, it’s actually how I met most of my friends.” Seeing the blank looks on the two short skeleton’s faces, she sighed and smiled at them. “I take it you two would like me to explain a bit more about LARP, right?”

The pair nodded while Papyrus merely smiled and went back to cleaning up after breakfast.

“Alright, what sorta games have you guys heard of, or played?” Emma asked, mentally trying to plan the best way of describing her hobby.

“Why ya wanna know?” Axe asked.

Dust remained quiet, happy to let the other skeleton do the talking.

“So I know how much I’m gonna have to explain. Like, have any of you ever played any sorta RPG based game before?”

The pair shook their heads making Emma groan and slump a bit in despair. This was harder than trying to explain her hobby to the people at college and to this day she wasn’t sure they had got it.

Papyrus chuckled softly pulling her into his lap, he gently nuzzled her as he spoke. “It Is Alright Dear Friend, Just Take It From The Beginning. They Are Actually Much Brighter Than They Appear, I Am Sure They Will Get It Eventually.”

“Hey,” came the indignant response from the two skeletons in question.

Resting his head on top of Emma’s, Papyrus mischievously grinned at the other two.

Relaxing back into her friend’s warm embrace Emma closed her eyes, quietly enjoying the close contact as she gathered her thoughts. Opening her eyes she let out a sigh, “alright let’s start with the basics. At its core Role Play is creating a character to interact with a world either fictional or real, with me so far?” Getting some nods from her audience Emma smiled and continued. “Good, now there are normally two ways people tend to use it when playing games. That doesn't involve the bedroom,” she added dryly. “There is Tabletop, where a person called the Game Master or G.M will create an adventure for the characters to go on, and then use dice rolls to decide the outcome of certain events along the way. Then you have my hobby where instead of rolling some dice to decide the outcome of something, we will try to act it out in real life. Like, say you wanted to run away from something, in Tabletop you would tell the G.M then roll some dice to see if you were successful or not. With LARP you would just run and see if you are fast enough to get away. Right, that’s basically it so any questions?”

“Yeah, I’ve got one,” Axe grunted. “I get what LARP is now, but what’s with the whole monster thing?”

“Oh, right, sorry. It’s because with Tabletop you only really need the G.M and whoever is playing the characters. But with LARP since you are trying to do everything for real you need a lot more people. So we tend to split ourselves into two groups when we play. The players, that’s the people who have made characters for the game and the monsters who become everyone else in the world. That means one moment I could be playing a noble giving out a quest and the next being a wild animal the players encounter on the way. Does that answer your question?”

“Yeah, now about my cake,” Axe said grinning.

“Brother, Are You Sure You Want That Cake? It Has A Bit Of A Reputation If I Remember Rightly?” Papyrus enquired, hugging Emma closer.

“Yeah, I’m a monster, it's a monster cake, what's not to want?”

“The sugar rush,” Emma said dryly.

“What?”

“Axe have you seen how much chocolate mum put in that thing? Diabetics aren’t even allowed to sniff it and that’s without mum’s infamous butter icing on it.” Emma laughed, “it’s why it’s got that reputation. One of my friends had a small piece and I mean small, this isn’t the sorta cake you take in large chunks, after coming off a diet and he swore that he could see time...and it was purple.”

“Seriously?”

“Yep, that was also the event of the famous radio call of caaake,” Emma said grinning, then giving a slight shrug she continued. “But if that doesn’t put you off, I’ll make it for you, or you could have the drunken fruitcake variant if you prefer.”

“Nar, I’ll stick with my monster cake.”

“Okay,” Emma murmured, squirming in Papyrus’ grasp trying to reach her bag.

“Emma What Are You Doing?” Papyrus asked, looking down at her.

“Sorry Pap, I was trying to get my notebook without leaving my comfy chair.”

“Why Did You Not Just Say So,” Papyrus huffed, handing her the book.

“What ya writing there Em?” Axe asked.

“Just adding the bits for the cake to my shopping list,” Emma said as she continued to write. Looking up she asked, “um, how do you spell chocolate?”

“Don’t worry about it, snack. I’ll make sure to pick up everything we need on our next supply run.” Axe said, pulling a small notebook out of his pocket and making some notes in it.

Dust blinked. Staring down at the notebook he asked, “When did you get that?”

“Monday,” Axe grunted as he finished writing and put it away.

“What he‘s not saying is that I gave it to him so he would leave mine alone,” Emma said mock glaring at Axe.

“What? I thought it might like having something spelt right in it for once.” Axe said grinning innocently at her.

“Why you…” A gloved hand quickly covered her mouth as Papyrus cut in. “It Is Too Nice Of A Day To Waste It On Useless Bickering. So Let Us Find A More Enjoyable Way To Spend It.”

Removing the gloved hand from her mouth, Emma asked. “Axe, were we bickering?”

“Na, just revving up to a nice friendly argument,” Axe replied merrily.

“Please,” Papyrus begged.

“Alright, I’ll stop. So, do you want me to show you my favourite ambush spots around here or did you have something else in mind?” Emma asked, grinning up at her friend.

“What?” The three skeletons cried, staring at her.

“Well, where did you think I Larped? My system has been using these woods for years. I’ve ambushed, died and been rescued all over these woods.” She laughed, still happily grinning at her friends.

“Weren’t any of you scared of the old legend?” Axe asked curiously.

“Oh, you mean the one where those that climb Mt Ebott don’t come back?”

“Yeah, that’s the one.”

“Well for one, with the barrier gone no one is getting trapped down there anymore. And secondly, we always stick to the woodlands, we never go into the forest proper. It’s too easy to get turned around in there, so we normally just book a local campground and play in the surrounding woods.” Emma said, shrugging.

“So, got any other stories about your adventures in these woods?” Axe asked eagerly.

“Plenty, but can we make it a show and tell? No offence to my comfy chair, but my legs are starting to go numb here.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a plan,” Axe chuckled, standing and brushing himself off.

Quickly the other two skeletons followed suit, with Papyrus remembering to release Emma from his grasp before standing.

As she got up Emma picked up her bag. Then in one fluid motion, she settled it over her shoulder and swept herself into a deep bow, removing her hat in the process. “Then my fine gentlemen allow me to be your humble guide on this expedition into the mysterious world of Larping and monsters.”

“Nyeh, He, He, Please Sweet Maiden Lead The Way.” Papyrus chuckled playfully bowing back to his friend.

Laughing, the pair straightened up and started to walk. Shaking their skulls and grinning at the younger pair’s antics, Axe and Dust fell into step. As they were walking Emma regaled the skeletons with tales from her years of larping, plus some silly stories from her childhood, which almost caused Dust to fall over again from how hard he was laughing.

At some point during the morning, show and tell turned into hide and seek, with Emma hiding while the skeletons did the seeking. Emma’s intimate knowledge of the local terrain coupled with the memories she had of how Papyrus used to hunt made the game much more fun and challenging for the guys, especially Dust.

Dust didn’t quite have the same sharp sense of smell or predatory instincts as the other two. Nevertheless, he was enjoying the game, it reminded him of playing similar games with his younger brother when they were little. The only thing that was putting a slight dampener on his fun was Axe’s constant commentary and not so helpful tips.

Grumbling, Dust sped up saying that they should split up to cover more ground.

As the other voices faded into the distance, Dust could feel his grin growing. His nose might not be as sharp as theirs, but there was nothing wrong with his eyes. Chuckling quietly to himself Dust silently stalked towards a clump of bushes where he could just make out the unmistakable outline of Emma’s hat.

In a different clump of nearby bushes, Emma was having a hard time suppressing her laughter as she watched Dust proudly get ready to pounce on the wrong bush.

They were so caught up in their little game that neither of them noticed the arrival of another pair of skeletons. That was until Emma felt someone place a gloved hand over her mouth and whisper urgently in her ear. “Please remain calm. My name is Blue and I am here to help.”

Emma rolled her eyes and went to remove the hand from her mouth, so she could tell her assailant exactly where he could stick his help. Instead, she tried to shriek a warning as she noticed a black-clad skeleton dashing towards Dust, summoning a bone club as he went. Sadly this warning arrived too late, for as Dust was turning the bone club made contact with the side of his skull, sending him flying to the woodland floor once again.

Emma scrambled to her feet, grabbing a stout branch in passing, she dashed to her fallen friend’s side. Using the branch Emma knocked the strange skeleton off her housemate, before taking a protective stance in front of Dust and yelling at the top of her lungs. “GET AWAY FROM HIM!”

A wary silence fell over the woods for a moment before a small skeleton with the same rounded skull as Dust stepped out of the bushes. Slowly he raised a sky blue glove in a placating manner. “PLEASE MISS, YOU MUST GET AWAY FROM THAT SKELETON HE IS VERY DANGEROUS!”

“The only dangerous skeletons I see here are you neander-skulls,” Emma growled, brandishing the branch in a threatening manner.

“OH, GIVE IT UP BLUE THEY HAVE OBVIOUSLY FED THIS HUMAN A PACK OF LIES TO GAIN HER TRUST.” Growled the other small skeleton rubbing the back of his skull while glaring at Emma.

“BUT BLACK, WE MUST DO SOMETHING! WE CAN NOT LET THIS HUMAN BECOME THEIR THIRD VICTIM.” Blue cried in dismay, his baby blue eye lights worriedly switching between his cousin and the human.

Emma fought the urge to roll her eyes, she had a pretty good idea who the supposed victims were. She really wanted to give these stupid skeletons a piece of her mind but didn’t want to risk triggering another attack, especially with Dust laying dazed and unable to defend himself behind her. She had to keep them talking until the others got here. So she put on the most sweetly innocent face she could muster and asked in a confused voice. “Are you talking about what happened at Muffet’s or that thing outside Grillby’s? Because I can assure you that the person involved in both those incidents is perfectly fine.”

Black scoffed as he got back to his feet. “I DO NOT KNOW WHAT THESE CRETINS HAVE TOLD YOU, BUT GIVEN THEIR NATURE AND EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY, I HIGHLY DOUBT THAT ANY HUMAN THAT CROSSES THEIR PATH IS FINE.”

“And pray tell, what kind of nature do they supposedly have that makes them so dangerous?” Emma asked continuing in the same sweetly confused voice.

“THEY ARE CANNIBALS!!” Blue blurted out.

“Then that girl has nothing to worry about now does she?”

It was Blue’s turn to sound confused as he asked. “PLEASE MISS WHAT DO MEAN? HOW COULD A HUMAN BE SAFE WITH A PAIR OF CANNIBALS?”

“Well, considering the fact that she is a human and they are monsters. And cannibalism is the act of consuming one’s own species. She has nothing to fear, now does she?” Emma stated calmly. “So you might want to check your facts before you hit a guy over the head.”

Black cleared his non-existent throat, “I STAND CORRECTED. WHAT WE MEANT IS THAT THEY CONSUME HUMAN FLESH.”

“AND MY BROTHER WAS THERE AT MUFFET’S WHEN THE ABDUCTION HAPPENED, SADLY HE WAS NOT ABLE TO SAVE THE POOR CHILD,” Blue added.

Emma burst out laughing, “oh god, I don’t know what’s funnier. The fact that you think it was a kid or that they still eat people when there is so much food up here.”

“HUMAN! THIS IS NO LAUGHING MATTER! THERE IS A CHILD’S LIFE ON THE LINE! NOW GET OUT OF MY WAY!” Black yelled.

Emma’s face hardened and her voice grew cold, as she readied herself for a fight she couldn’t win. “No. I will state this one more time, so listen up. It wasn’t a child, there was no abduction and the person involved in both those incidents is safe and perfectly happy right where she is. Thank you very much.”

“AND HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?” Black growled as he readied himself to tackle the girl.

Emma finally gave in and rolled her eyes, “because I was there you numbskull. Which reminds me, the next time you see that orange coccyx tell him I want my stuff back.”

“WAIT, YOU WERE THERE AND MY BROTHER TOOK SOMETHING OF YOURS?” Blue asked, not quite comprehending what he was hearing.

“Yes, I was there and I would rather like to have my sleeve back. You know the one your brother stole when he attacked my friend for hugging me. Now if you don’t mind I would like to check on my other friend so we can get back to our game of hide and seek. The one that you two have so rudely interrupted.” Emma said glaring angrily at the pair.

“WAIT, WHAT?” Black asked, stopping in his tracks to stare at the girl. Only to find himself staring at the ground unable to move a proverbial muscle.

A dark chuckle filled the air as Axe’s dirty sneakers came into view. “Ya heard her Black. You guys are always interrupting our fun, but that’s alright we’ll just have ta play with you instead.” He said menacingly, summoning his namesake and slamming it into the ground next to Black’s head.

“DO YOUR WORST FIEND,” Black growled, vainly struggling against the magic that was holding him.

“Oh, I will,” Axe practically purred, kneeling next to the smaller skeleton. “But first, ya alright there snack?”

“Yeh, I’m fine. D was the one who got smacked in the head.” She said, worriedly looking over at the heterochromatic skeleton.

“Fear Not Dear Friend, Dust Will Be Fine. Though I Fear He Is Still A Little Out Of It At The Moment.” Papyrus said reassuringly as he tended to the shorter skeleton’s injuries.

“That’s good,” Emma sighed, finally letting her body relax. She slowly sank to the floor smiling with relief. “I guess it’s a good thing you have such a thick skull, huh D?”

Dust tried to nod but winced in pain the moment he moved, so he just went back to staring at Emma. He had actually come round partway through the confrontation, only to be paralysed by the sight in front of him. Even his spectral brother had been lost for words only managing to say. “SHE’S PROTECTING YOU” before his ghostly jaw literally hit the floor and he joined his brother as they stared in complete incomprehension at the human.

Axe walked over while Dust was still trying to gather his scattered thoughts and tapped Emma on the shoulder. “Hey snack, got a moment?”

“Yeah, what do you need?”

“I don’t know, a spit and some rope would be good,” Axe joked.

That comment earned a squeak and a growl from the two captive skeletons.

Emma looked over at the pair as she considered her reply. It was like looking at night and day. Everything about the one called Blue suggested innocence. He was wearing a pastel yellow t-shirt, soft grey trousers and a white jacket, with a bandanna around his neck that matched his gloves and boots. This outfit emphasised his sweet angelic looks. Even his skull seems more childish than the others, with softly rounded cheeks and wide innocent sockets.

Black on the other hand was all sharp and hardness. There was a scar that ran through his right socket, his deep purple eye lights glared daggers at his captors, while his sharp teeth were set in a fierce scowl. His clothes clung tightly to his slight and athletic body and added to the whole bad boy image he had. They were all black and leather and really wouldn’t look out of place on some hell's angel. The only splashes of colour were a gold belt buckle in the shape of a skull and a pair of striking purple high heel boots that matched his bandanna and gloves.

Axe watched in amusement as Emma’s face took on a familiar soft absent look as her hand started to reach for her sketchbook, totally forgetting everything else. Shaking his head and smiling fondly, Axe reached down and took the sketchbook before Emma could start drawing, earning a small whine from the girl. “Ya can have this back when ya answered my question.”

“Um sorry, I guess I spaced out again, but you have to admit the whole light and dark thing they’ve got going would make a really cool picture.” Emma apologised sheepishly.

“Later snack,” Axe chuckled, making sure to keep the sketchbook out of reach.

“Oh right, the rope is back in the basement and this is the closest to a spit I’ve got.” She said holding up the branch.

“Oh well, we’ll just have to make do with the cuffs that Black brought,” Axe said, grinning menacingly at the smaller skeletons.

Blinking, Emma realised that while she had been lost in the captives' appearance and planning her next masterpiece, Axe had sat them up and used the handcuffs he had found to tie the pair up.

“That’s good, I was half afraid they wanted to take you back in a bag the way they attacked D. At least the cuffs meant they wanted to catch you, not kill you,” Emma murmured.

“WELL, OF COURSE, DID YOU REALLY THINK I WOULD SINK TO THE SAME LEVEL AS THESE MURDERERS!” Black huffed angrily, still glaring at everyone.

“Says the guy who just tried to bash someone's skull in,” Emma remarked sarcastically, returning the skeleton’s glare.

“BUT WE THOUGHT YOU WERE IN DANGER,” Blue said earnestly.

“I’m in no more danger now than I was at Muffet’s” Emma sighed in exasperation.

“PAPY HONESTLY THOUGHT THAT CROOKS WAS…”

“Don’t call him that,” Emma cut in quietly. “His name is Papyrus, please use it.”

“HA, THAT IS WHERE YOU ARE MISTAKEN, HIS NAME IS CROOKS AND IT IS WELL DESERVED.” Black scoffed.

Emma shot an arm out, stopping a furiously growling Axe from tearing into him. “So you admit it,” she said in the same deadly quiet voice.

“ADMIT WHAT?”

“That you knew about Papyrus’ broken teeth and damaged jaw and that you were all perfectly happy to leave him in agony.” She stated coldly.

“They Are Not…” Black’s voice lost its normal certainty and trailed off into silence, as he caught sight of the monster everyone called Crooks. Only to find there was nothing crooked about him anymore.

It was shocking for the pair of smaller skeletons to see Papyrus standing there tall and straight. This was not the hunched creature that hid away from everyone. No, this monster had an almost regal air about him as he stood there definitely showing off his new braces and glasses.

As they were trying to come to terms with these changes Emma’s voice cut through their musings. “Not what? Safe for them to be around others? Strangely, no one else seems to have any problems letting members of their tribe interact with the general population.”

“Their tribe?” Blue asked softly, blue glowing tears gathering in the corners of his sockets. “Papy said they were on their own.”

“Did he bother to check with anyone?” Emma growled through gritted teeth, before angrily answering her own question. “No, he didn’t. Because if he had he would have known that their tribe has been desperately searching everywhere for them for the past six months! The same six months you lot have been doing everything in your power to make them believe that they are mistakes and that they should be grateful you let them breathe the same air as you.” Emma sighed and turned to retrieve her hat from the bushes. “You’re just lucky they're not the murderous fiends you paint them to be,” she added quietly.

“And Why Is That?” Black growled half-heartedly still trying to regain his normal composure.

“Because if they were, you and a whole lot of other people would be dead by now. Considering how lacklustre and naive your security measures are.”

“THEY ARE NOT!”

“If your security is so good, how come I was able to have lunch with them at your house?” Emma asked, smiling sweetly.

“Yeah Black, I thought it was too dangerous for us to be around anyone.” Axe said grinning down at them as he wrapped his arms around Emma and rested his skull on top of her head.

Blue watched through tear-stained sockets as the girl relaxed back into the larger skeleton’s embrace. It was strange to see Axe gently cradling the small human against his body. It made Blue question everything he had been told. There seemed to be nothing murderous or dangerous about him. Though the way he was grinning at them was a little unnerving, but no more so than when Red was preparing to unleash some of his vile jokes.

“So what do you want to do with them?” Emma asked quietly.

“Finished yelling at them?”

“Not by a long shot, but I think these bone heads have taken up enough of our time and I want to get back to having fun with you guys.” She said tiredly.

“Do You Have Any Suggestion Dear Friend?” Papyrus asked as he enveloped both Emma and Axe in one of his hugs.

“I don’t know, tie them to a tree and leave them here to rot,” Emma said dryly.

“Emma,” Papyrus gently chided.

“Alright, give me a bit of time to think of a safe place to drop them off. In the meantime why don’t you and your brothers have some fun playing with them,” Emma said grinning. She then pulled one of the pheasant feathers from her hat. Holding it up and wiggling her eyebrows suggestively she asked, “wanna find out if they’re as ticklish as D?”

Papyrus grinned evilly as he took the feather and looked speculatively at his supposed cousins. “Well, Black Did Say To Do Our Worst.”

Chuckling evilly the pair unwound themselves from Emma and advanced towards the captives. As they were doing this Axe pulled out a small unassuming book from the depths of his jacket.

Groaning, Emma grabbed Papyrus’ hand, “hold up there Pap. I think you’re gonna want these.” She said, pulling out a pair of headphones from her bag.

“Why?” Papyrus asked, blinking in confusion as he examined them.

“Look at what your brother is holding,” Emma said, handing over her old mp3 player as well.

Papyrus’ skull shot up, taking in what his brother was carrying. He quickly rammed the headphones over his skull and started to fiddle with the controls of the player. He sighed in relief as music filled his head. Leaning forward he placed a gentle skeletal kiss on Emma’s forehead. “Thank You, Dear Friend. There Is No Way I Could Have Endured That.”

“Endured what?” Dust enquired quietly, coming to stand by the girl.

“It seems like Axe managed to find one of my Dad’s old joke books,” Emma said, shrugging. “Oh, and speaking of books Sans can I have my sketchbook back? Before you start pun-ishing your captive audience.”

“Nice one,” Axe said with a chuckle as he handed the book over, before turning back to the others. “Now excuse me, my audience awaits.”

Giggling, Emma shook her head and settled down with her sketchbook. She tuned out the groans and shrieks coming from the two small skeletons and let her hands and mind drift as she tried to think of what to do with the pair. As she was drawing she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Dust would wince and flinch at every loud sound from the others.

This prompted her to ask, “head still bothering you?”

“Yeah,” Dust mumbled, wincing as another painfully loud shriek cut across the space.

“Umm, I don’t think any of the nearby settlements have a shop. Unless you count the one the Temmie’s have, but I highly doubt that they’ll have anything that will help.” Sighing she looked up at the skeleton with concern, “I guess we’ll have to head into town to get you something. Once I figure out what to do with those two idiots.”

“Wait, what? Why?” Dust practically yelled, snapping his head around to stare at her.

“What? You think we should give them to Muffet, so she can use them for collateral or something? I don’t think she’s that mad at that coccyx.” Emma said dryly.

“No,” Dust groaned, sinking to the ground and clutching his skull as he fought a wave of nausea from the sudden movement.

“Then what?” Emma asked softly, reaching out to comfort him, before stopping herself as she remembered how uncomfortable he was with being touched.

“What settlements? There’s nothing out here and why bother with my head? It will fix itself.” Dust muttered wearily, turning his head to gaze at her from between his arms.

Emma smiled sadly at him, “they really didn’t tell you anything did they?” Letting out a small sigh she continued. “Some of the plant types and weaker monsters didn’t like the idea of being stuck in the city so they settled out here. Come to think of it, I think the marine types have done something similar off the coast.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense.”

“Now about your head.”

“Leave it. It’s just a headache,” Dust grumbled, turning his skull away.

“No, I don’t like seeing you suffer like this.”

Groaning, Dust turned to face the girl again, “you’re not going to let this go are you?”

“No,” Emma said firmly, looking at Dust in his mismatched eye lights.

Dust studied Emma for a moment before flopping backwards and closing his sockets with a groan. “So have you decided where we gonna put dumb and dumber yet?”

Emma silently regarded the skeleton for a second before letting out an exasperated huff. “Well, the Temmie’s village is the nearest…”

“Perfect, let’s leave them there. Then we can go about our day.” Dust muttered, slowly standing back up, trying not to move his head as he did so.

“Ya, sure it’s safe?”

“They’ll be fine, Temmie’s are annoying as hell, but they’re not dangerous.”

“No, I mean for the Temmie’s. I know they can be annoying but I don’t want to see them hurt and that Black has already proven to be violent.” Emma said, a worried frown running across her brow.

Dust sighed tiredly, “they’ll be fine. The others only have problems with us.” He muttered, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket and slouching over to the others.

Emma watched Dust withdraw, silently wishing for the return of the light and happy atmosphere of earlier. Another piercing scream from the captives drew her back from her sorrowful thoughts. Sighing heavily she closed her sketchbook, perhaps once they had dealt with these pests they could get back to enjoying themselves.

Keeping that thought in mind she got up and stowed her sketchbook back in her bag. Then went over to the skeletons to tell them her plan.

Once she managed to get Axe to stop telling terrible one-liners and Papyrus had finished grinding dirt into the already filthy clothing of the captives. Emma relayed her idea, which they enthusiastically agreed to.

Grinning, Papyrus used his magic to hoist the two struggling skeletons into the air. Then with a small hand gesture, he indicated for Emma to lead the way.

It was a horrible half hour long journey to the Temmie’s village, well it was for the pair of dangling skeletons. This was mainly because Papyrus had decided to use this as an opportunity to test his magic out. Happily, he twisted, turned and spun the skeletons through the air, giving them quite the ride, but always making sure not to do anything that would actually hurt them.

These diminutive skeletons could think what they like about him, but he did have standards... and morals. It was just so thrilling to have the excess magic to play like this again, especially after so many years of barely having enough to hold himself together. If he was honest with himself, it was also very satisfying to watch the pair of proud skeletons turn a lovely shade of green as the group made their way through the woods.

By the time they reached the Temmie’s tiny settlement Papyrus was more than happy to put down his little playthings since his magic was starting to run low. Having settled the two small skeletons in the centre of the village, he went to help Emma fend off the Temmies, all of whom seemed to be intent on petting the little human.

While Papyrus was trying to deter the odd little monsters from bothering his friend, Axe ducked into the Temmie’s shop. Dust was rifling through the captive’s pockets and by the time he had finished his search Axe had returned and Dust was staring down at a phone that he had found.

“Good, ya found one,” Axe grunted, looking over Dust’s shoulder. “So, figured out how to unlock it yet?”

“No.”

Axe turned towards the two smaller skeletons. “So who’s phone is it?”

“Mine,” Blue squeaked.

“Good, what’s ya password?”

“DO NOT TELL THEM BLUE!” Black growled.

“Shut it pipsqueak! Just be grateful we’re willing to call someone ta pick ya up!” Axe snarled back.

Black grumbled a bit under his breath before sinking into a sullen silence.

Blue sadly looked at the two skeletons in front of him. How could he have misjudged them so badly? He should never have let the others sway his judgement and actually tried to get to know them himself. Now it might be too late to fix their mistakes. Blue mentally squared his shoulders, well he would just have to do his very best to make amends, starting with trusting them now. With that thought in mind Blue quietly told them his password.

Dust walked a little bit away from the others as he searched through Blue’s contacts. Finding the number he wanted he hit the call button and waited for it to be answered.

“Hey bro what’s up?” Came Stretch’s quiet voice over the phone.

“You’ll find your brother's remains in the Temmie Village.” Dust said in the most dead and monotone voice he could manage.

“Who is this? What kind of sick joke is thi…” A piercing shriek cut through the monster’s rant and before he could start up again Dust hung up on him.

Dropping the phone in Blue’s lap, Dust made his way over to Papyrus. He blinked in surprise, he had expected the Temmies to scatter at the loud noise, but there was also no sign of the human. There was just Papyrus standing there hugging his middle with a faint blush on his cheeks.

“Where’s the kid?”

Papyrus fidgeted, his blush deepening as he tightened his grip on his middle. “Well…”

“Alright Kiddos, time to go, these woods are about ta be filled with angry skeletons.” Axe cut in grinning, then looking around he asked, “where’s Em?”

“Here,” Emma’s muffled reply came from around Papyrus' middle.

Axe raised a brow ridge, “ya gonna have ta explain that, but not here.” He said, grabbing hold of Dust’s wrist and offering his free hand to his brother.

“Of Course Brother,” Papyrus murmured, his blush deepening even more as he took his brother’s hand.

“Got a good hold on snack?” Getting a nod from Papyrus, Axe quickly pulled everyone through the void.

They emerged in a deserted little back street near the centre of town. Dust instantly shook off Axe’s hand, muttering to himself.

Axe chose to ignore the heterochromatic skeleton. Instead, he turned to Papyrus and asked. “So ya gonna tell me why ya have Em up ya jumper?”

“Those Temmies Just Would Not Leave Emma Alone, So I Put Her In The One Place They Could Not Reach.” Papyrus said, slowly raising his top to reveal Emma tightly wrapped around his spine with her head resting on the inside of his ribcage.

Axe took one long look at the blushing pair, before collapsing to the floor in a fit of laughter. Dust soon joined him on the floor howling in merriment as they watched the embarrassed duo try to untangle themselves.

They were still laughing by the time that Emma finally managed to extract herself from her friend. Ignoring the cackling skeletons on the floor, she turned to look up at Papyrus with a worried frown and asked. “Pap, please tell me we didn’t just leave my hat and bag back in the woods? I know I had to take them off to fit, but…”

Papyrus raised a placating hand forestalling Emma’s panicked rambling. “It Is Alright Dear Friend, They Are Safe In My Inventory. If You Would Give Me A Moment I Will Retrieve Them For You.”

“Inventory?” Emma blinked as a memory hit her, “oh, right, those pockets of subspace you can create to store things.”

A quiet groan from behind her drew Emma back from sorting through the new information and memories she had just gained. Turning she looked down at Dust who was clutching at his skull again. “I guess headaches and laughing fits don’t mix.” Smiling sympathetically, she held out her hand to the skeleton, “come on let’s see what we can do to fix this.”

Dust looked at the hand for a moment before grunting and rocking back to his feet. He staggered as another wave of dizziness and nausea hit him. Instantly Papyrus and Emma were by his side steadying him with twin looks of concern etched across their faces. Dust shook them off muttering, “I’m fine.”

“Yeah, if you could lay down in a darkened room for the rest of the day, but that option is not available at the moment.” Emma huffed sarcastically, keeping a close eye on the unsteady skeleton.

“I Am So Sorry Brother If I Was Better At Healing, You Would Not Be Suffering Right Now.” Papyrus apologised sadly.

“I’m not … Pap you healed me up just fine, my skull just aches a bit. So can we please drop it and do whatever we’re gonna do now?” Dust grumbled, pulling the hood of his jacket further over his head, before shoving his hands into his pockets and turning to stare at Emma.

She fought back a tired sigh as she returned the skeleton’s stare with one of her own. “Well, we’ve got several options, it just depends on….um.” Emma stopped, unsure how to phrase what she wanted to ask Dust.

“On what?”

“Mainly on how comfortable you’re going to be around other people. It’s got to be coming up lunchtime, it’s going to be pretty crowded out there.” Emma said, gesturing towards the main street.

Dust raised a brow bone, “you do remember that we first met in town around this time?”

“Yeah, it’s a bit hard to forget, it’s just…” Emma rubbed the back of her head and sighed. “You’ve had a rough day so far and can barely stand letting one human touch you. Are you sure you can handle being surrounded by a lot of them?”

“Yes.”

“Alright then, why don’t we head over to Muffet’s and grab a couple of cakes to go with whatever Pap packed for lunch. Then we can find a quiet spot to sit down and eat?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Axe said as he stood up. Still grinning he asked, “shall we get going then?”

The rest of the group readily agreed and after a short walk, Emma found herself entering the bakery with her friends.

Dust bemusedly watched the girl scan the floor before heading over to the counter to talk with the little spiders managing it. Tiredly he joined the others looking at the display case, trying to muster up some interest in what treat to get.

Once they had decided on which cakes they wanted Emma found herself having a slightly strange argument with the little spiders working the till. This was mainly because instead of holding up the normal sign asking for the money, they were holding up one that simply said (sketchbook).

“Um guys, I know I’m not the best at maths, but I really don’t think that’s the right price for four pastries,” Emma said dryly.

The spiders scurried about a bit then held up another sign saying (Yes it is).

“No, it’s not, now could you please stop messing around and ring up the cakes please?”

(Sketchbook = Cakes)

“Seriously?”

“Now Em, let’s not look a gift spider in the mouth. If they want to exchange some pastries for a look in ya sketchbook, I don’t see what the problem is.” Axe cajoled.

“Because I don’t want to be the reason the till comes up short at the end of the day.”

That statement earned a series of tiny spidery boos and more miniature placards being raised.

Emma sighed, a resigned look on her face, which changed to a calculating one as an idea occurred to her. “Alright, alright, how about a compromise?”

(We’re listening)

“I was going to ask Muffet…”

“Ask me what dearie?” Muffet asked as she came out of the back of the shop with a phone in one of her hands.

“If I could have a dose of that stuff for headaches?”

“Oh dearie, do you have one of your migraines?” Muffet asked, placing a sympathetic hand on Emma’s forehead.

“No, it’s for D, he got bashed around the back of the skull earlier and it’s left him with a pretty nasty headache.” Emma explained, smiling sheepishly up at her friend.

“Oh dear, how did that happen?” Muffet enquired, as she signalled to some of the smaller spiders to fetch what was needed.

Emma sighed heavily and looked around at the crowded shop. “Let’s just say my opinion of the other skeletons has dropped even lower. Which reminds me, I know you don’t like talking about what people owe you, but please tell me you’re suing that fly Stretch for defamation of character.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s going around telling people that you let a child be abducted from your shop.”

“WHAT!?” Muffet screeched, drawing the attention of the patrons sitting around them.

Emma winced as the elegant spider lady started swearing and pacing. “Um, Muffet? Maybe we should move this out back so you don’t scare the customers?”

Not saying a word Muffet turned and stormed out to the kitchen beckoning the others to follow her. Once through the door, she went straight to one of the workbenches, moved some spiders out of the way and started to punch the dough, all the while muttering vile curses under her breath.

This drew the attention of Muffet’s twin sister Tuffet, who stuck her head out of the back office. Adjusting her glasses and raising one perfectly manicured eyebrow she took in the scene, before turning to Emma and quietly asking. “What happened?”

“The guys and I decided to spend the day in the woods where we had another run-in with some of their cousins. During this encounter, I found out that, that stupid coccyx Stretch had told them that Papyrus had managed to adduct a child from this shop. As you can see this information has left Muffet a little upset.” Emma said with another sigh.

“Tsk, I’m going to have to have some serious words with that boy the next time I see him.” Tuffet muttered, her many eyes flashing with pent-up rage. “Now while we wait for my sister to calm down, why don’t you all join me for lunch?” She added with a gentle smile towards the group.

“That sounds nice,” Emma said, shyly smiling back.

Tuffet returned the smile then she ushered everyone upstairs to the breakroom. The moment Emma entered the room all the little spiders that were on break converged on her, chittering excitedly.

“Guys come on, at least let me sit down.” She begged as she tried not to step on anyone.

Axe chuckled as the spiders continued to swarm Emma. “Perhaps ya should hide up Pap’s jumper again.”

“Or she could just give them her sketchbook,” Tuffet said with an amused smile. “Then perhaps you will tell me why you were hiding up someone’s jumper?”

Emma groaned, “one-word, Temmies.” Then sighing she looked down at the spiders that had started to climb over her boots and up her leggings in an attempt to get her attention. “Alright you little horrors, if you let me sit down you can have it okay?”

Tiny high pitched cheers filled the air as the little spiders scampered about forming a path towards a table that was off to the side of the room. Quickly they ushered Emma into one of the chairs, then they expectantly looked up at her making small grabby motions with their many arms.

Rolling her eyes Emma reached into her bag and pulled out her sketchbook. “Okay, here you go. I don’t know why you’re all so fascinated with this, it’s just my silly sketches and doodles.” She said, handing over the book to the excited little creatures.

Tuffet tittered softly as she gracefully settled on to one of the remaining chairs. “Emma dearie, don’t forget that these little rascals may be adults, but they do mainly have the mentality of children. Plus you do have a very similar sense of humour.” She added, fondly watching as the tiny monsters took the sketchbook and retreated to a corner where they started to flick through it, happily chittering among themselves.

As the skeletons seated themselves another group of spiders quickly deposited an array of pastries on the table, before scurrying over to join the rest of their kin in the corner. Once everyone was settled and had selected what they wanted to eat, Tuffet held up a mug and gave Emma a questioning look. "Now, which one of these dearies is this for?"

"That one," Emma said, pointing at Dust.

The heterochromatic skeleton suspiciously eyed the mug as it was offered to him. "What's in it?"

"Sea Tea dearie, it will fix that headache up a jiffy," Tuffet said brightly.

Dust grimaced as he took the bitter salty brew, swallowing it as fast as he could. Once his body had finished absorbing the pungent liquid, its magic quickly made work of the lingering pain in his skull. Putting down the mug he noticed someone had put a couple of extra pastries on his plate.

"Those pastries are about the only thing I found that will get rid of the salty after taste of that tea," Emma stated in a conversational tone.

"Thanks," Dust murmured, taking a small bite out of one of the pastries.

This seems to be taken as a general sign for everyone to start eating and for Tuffet to ask how on earth they had ended up in the Temmie's Village.

Papyrus' cheeks turned a rusty orange as Emma, with a rueful laugh, started to recount the morning’s events. Axe chimed in now and again between mouthfuls, while Dust just passively listened as he ate his food.

By the time Emma had finished her tale, Muffet had joined them, bringing with her a plateful of biscuits shaped like a certain skeleton.

The skeleton’s found themselves wincing in sympathy as the spider lady savagely bit through the pelvis of one of the biscuits, shortly followed by its head.

“Um, Muffet? I think you’re traumatising my housemates with your revenge cookies.” Emma commented dryly.

Muffet huffed, shoving another biscuit into her mouth.

Tuffet sighed, “you might as well leave it, dearie. You know as well as I do that she won’t stop until she finishes that whole plate.”

“Eh, it was worth a try,” Emma said, shrugging before turning back to her food.

The meal descended into silence as the skeletons watched in morbid fascination as Muffet continued to delicately dismember and then devour her cookie victims. The first words out of her mouth once everyone had finished were, “He. Is. Banned.”

“Of course dearie. Now, why don’t we talk about something more pleasant.” Tuffet said in a placating manner.

“Emma Did You Not Have Something You Wished To Ask Muffet When You Next Spoke To Her?” Papyrus asked, turning to face his little friend.

“Um yeah, but it was nothing important,” Emma mumbled, feeling a bit self-conscious with everyone’s eyes on her.

“Oh, what was it, dearie?” Muffet asked with an encouraging smile.

On instinct Emma’s hand sort out the chain around her neck as she answered. “I was just wondering if you had heard anything from Poison about my top or the whole soul thing?”

“I believe she has finished it, but I’m not too sure. You know how she gets when she has a project.”

“Let’s see if I can remember your last rant on the subject. Uncommunicative, secretive minx that can’t seem to remember how a phone works.” Emma remarked dryly.

Muffet tittered softly, “yes that sounds about right. But I’ll give her a call and see if I can’t get a straight answer out of her.” She added, standing and leaving the room.

They quietly chatted amongst themselves until Muffet came back looking rather excited. “Well dearie, do you want the good news or the wonderful news first?” She asked, smiling brightly.

“Start with the good and work our way up to wonderful.”

“She’s finished your blouse and you can pick it up whenever you want.”

“That’s great. So what’s the wonderful news?”

“The Royal Archivist is currently at her shop for a fitting and if we head over there right now he will quite happily answer your questions.”

“Wow, that’s awesome, but you’re sure it’s alright? I don’t want ta bother the guy if he’s busy.”

“Poison would not have said it if she did not mean it, dearie. You know she values her customers too much for that.” Muffet said softly, smiling down at Emma.

“Alright, as long as you’re sure, then okay… Oh, would it be alright if the guys tag along? Since it kinda involves them too.”

“Of course dearie, they’re more than welcome. Now come along we don’t want to keep my sister waiting do we?”

“We?” Axe asked, raising a bone ridge as he and the others stood up.

“Of course dearie, did you really think I would miss out on such a wonderful chance to spend quality time with my favourite human?” Muffet asked, wrapping one set of arms around Emma as another set reached over to grab her hat and bag.

“Axe, you guys don’t have to come if you don’t want to, you could go off and explore on your own. But I want to know what happened to me and this seems like my best chance to find out.” Emma said quietly, taking her things from Muffet and walking over to the group of small spiders to retrieve her sketchbook.

“But Of Course We Are Coming, Emma. For I Too Wish To Know How We Did….Well, What We Did.” Papyrus exclaimed, his cheeks turning orange as he talked.

Emma stifled a giggle at her friend’s behaviour as she stowed her sketchbook back away. “Alright then shall we get going?”

Getting nods from the boys, Emma thanked Tuffet for the meal then followed the others back out to the shop. As she was about to leave the bakery Axe stopped her. “Hold on there snack, you seem to have picked up a couple of hitchhikers.” He said with a deep chuckle as he pointed at her hat.

Emma removed her hat and quirked an eyebrow at the pair of spiders holding onto the brim. “Aren’t you guys meant ta be working? Not joyriding around on people’s hats.”

They looked up at her with big imploring eyes “oh no, you know that doesn’t work on me. If you guys want to cut work then you need to ask your mum for permission.”

Muffet regarded the pair of small spiders for a moment before sighing. “As long as you are alright with it dearie, then it’s fine with me.”

“You know I never mind playing taxi for these guys, as long as they remember to ask first.” Emma said mock glaring at the tiny monsters, who sheepishly squirmed making apologetic noises. “That’s alright guys just try to remember for next time, please. Also, keep in mind I can’t really feel you up there, so you could get hurt if I don’t know you’re there, alright?” Getting a nod from the pair she smiled, “okay then the Emma express is about to leave the station, next stop the Emporium.” She said as she carefully put her hat back on and started off towards the shop with the others.

The Emporium was situated near the centre of the town on one of the main shopping thoroughfares. It shared much the same architectural style as Muffet’s bakery, but with a more edgy twist to it.

Emma did her standard check for small spiders underfoot, as the group crossed the threshold onto the plush dark carpet of the shop. As she was doing this a group of spiders swooped down from the ceiling and stole the hat right off her head. Chittering happily, the little thieves started to swing towards the back of the shop, taking their prize with them.

“Careful guys, your cousins aren’t as robust as you lot,” Emma called after the retreating monsters.

“Ah hu hu, not to worry dearie, they know how to look after their little kin. Though knowing those little menaces they will make you pay a ransom to get your hat back.” Said a light melodious voice from the back of the shop.

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Emma sighed, smiling at the elegantly dressed spider lady.

Poison returned the smile, opening her many arms in greeting.

As she moved forward to accept the proffered hug, Emma was once again stuck with just how similar the spider sisters were. They had several little traits and quirks they all shared, like their distinct laugh, but they also had things that were unique to just them, like Poison’s love of steampunk. Emma’s mother had introduced the spider monster to the style, but of course, Poison loved to put her own unique twist on it.

Take for instance today’s outfit which consisted of a high waisted swallowtail frock coat, that was such a deep purple it could almost be mistaken for black. Tight-fitting burgundy trousers that led to black leather high heel boots with gold buckles in the shape of little spiders holding cogs, which was mirrored in the fastenings on her coat and the ornaments in her elegant updo.

Poison whispered, “it’s been far too long dearie,” while gently stroking Emma’s hair which brought the girl out of her musing.

“Sorry, life’s been a bit … Um hectic lately,” Emma mumbled into the spider’s chest.

“So I heard,” Poison murmured, pulling back a bit so she could run a finger tenderly over her small friend’s scar. “But we can catch up later, we really shouldn’t keep Gerson waiting any longer.” She said, gently steering the girl towards one of the private parlours at the back of the shop.

“Gerson?” Emma asked, looking back over her shoulder at her friend. She knew she had heard that name somewhere before, but couldn’t quite remember where.

“The Royal Archivist dearie,” Poison said, opening a door and ushering everyone into the room beyond.

Sitting on one of the plush sofas was an old turtle monster with bushy eyebrows and a long white goatee. He was wearing a khaki safari outfit and was drinking from one of Poison’s delicate teacups.

“Heh, that’s me,” Gerson cackled, eyeing the group over his cup, “and I take it this is the whippersnapper that somehow managed to do an accidental soul touch?”

“Yes sir,” Emma said hesitantly, fiddling with the hem of her top.

“Well don’t just stand there kid, come over here so these old eyes can get a good look at ya.” The elderly turtle monster said beckoning the girl over.

Emma moved forward until she was standing awkwardly in front of Gerson. She couldn’t help but feel a little self-conscious as the old monster’s yellow eyes slowly roamed over her body. Lingering first on her scar and then on her chest, making it ache again.

Gerson quietly hummed to himself before looking over at the group. “So which one of ya did the deed with the kid?”

There was an awkward silence that Emma shyly broke by saying, “That would be Papyrus.”

“Papyrus?”

“The really tall one that’s glowing like a lightbulb, while trying to hide in his scarf,” Emma said, pointing at the embarrassed skeleton.

“Emma,” Papyrus whined, burying himself deeper into his scarf.

“Um,” Gerson regarded the tall skeleton for a while then nodded his head. “Yep, I think I know what’s happened, but I would like to ask you youngsters a couple of questions to clarify things.”

“Gerson, perhaps it would be a good idea to let everyone sit down before interrogating the poor dearies.” Poison gently chided the older monster as she invited everyone to take a seat.

Gerson cackled, “my apologies Poison, when you get to my age you sometimes forget your manners. Now if everyone is comfy shall we begin?”

“Yes,” Emma said quietly from her seat between the two spider monsters.

“Good. Now I want an honest answer from you two. Are you the pair that were attacked near the market square about a month ago?” Gerson asked with a serious expression settling on his face.

“That Was Us,” Papyrus answered, peeking out of his scarf.

Gerson nodded, “thought as much, that scar is pretty unmistakable. Now, this next question is quite important, what do you remember about it?”

There was a momentary silence as Papyrus and Emma looked at each other. They hadn’t really sat down and talked about what had happened yet and now neither of them knew how to begin.

Emma was the first to break eye contact, hugging herself she turned to face the old monster. “I don’t really remember much about it…. I do remember calling the police and the men grabbing me...showing me their masterpiece. Then someone shoved a bat into my arms, wanting me to add to it.”

“Did ya?” Axe asked, cutting in.

“Oh, I added to it alright. Right up between one of those bastards’ legs.” Emma said, with a mirthless chuckle. “They gave me this in thanks,” she added, tapping her scar, “it’s just after that things become a blur….the next thing I clearly remember is waking up in the hospital covered in silver scars.”

“Mmm, and you boy?” Gerson asked, turning to regard the taller monster.

Papyrus slowly lifted his skull out of his scarf and sighed. “My Recollections Of The Events Are Not Much Clearer Than Emma’s. I Was Running An Errand For My Uncle When A Group Of Humans Approached Me …. I Cannot Remember What Was Said, I Just Remember Bending Down, Then Searing Pain. It Seemed To Go On Forever …. Then This Warmth Enveloped Me And I Heard A Voice Promising Me That I Would Be Safe, That They Would Protect Me. The Next Thing I Remember Is Coming Around Back In My Old Room With Another Raging Argument Going On Around Me.”

“Good, now I’ve just got one more question for ya missy,” Gerson said nodding, before turning his attention back to the girl.

“Okay, what is it?”

“What were you thinking about through all of this?”

“I didn’t want to watch someone die again …. I didn’t want him to die, he had done nothing to them. He didn’t deserve what they were doing to him.” Emma whispered, clutching herself tightly, trying to suppress a shudder.

Muffet and Poison instantly moved closer, sandwiching their small friend in a comforting hug.

Gerson nodded sagely, “figured it had to be something like that.” He said, taking a sip of his tea before lapsing into silence while stroking his goatee thoughtfully.

The silence seemed to go on for an eternity, but actually, it was just a few minutes before the ancient monster spoke again. “It’s been a very long time since I met someone with such pure intent in them.”

“What do you mean?” Emma asked quietly.

Gerson took another sip of his tea and looked the girl straight in the eye. “To understand what happened, you need to understand how intent and the soul interact with each other.”

“Alright.”

“So what do you know about the soul?”

Emma thought for a moment before answering quietly. “It’s the very accumulation of your being and any touch on it is considered a sexual act.”

“That’s about it, though there are a few exceptions to the whole touch thing, but that’s getting off topic. The main thing here is that the soul is also the place where magic is generated.”

“So for a monster who is made up of mostly magic, the soul is a very important thing?” Emma inquired softly.

“Got it in one kiddo. Now since the soul is so integral to our being it leaves us uniquely vulnerable to the intentions of others.”

Dust let out a derisive snort at the confused look on Emma’s face. “What the old fossil is trying to get at, is that since emotions are also an integral part of the soul, a human child wielding a toy knife could decimate the entire monster population if they had enough hate, and the desire to hurt us, in their soul.”

“Ouch, that’s not good,” Emma said wincing, trying to ignore the odd dead-eyed, but manic look on Dust’s face.

“But The Reverse Is Also True. Your Desire To Protect Me Was So Strong, That It Negated All The Harmful Intent Those Men Had Towards Me,” Papyrus said, smiling gently over at his friend.

“Okay, I think I get it, but that doesn’t really explain how our souls touched,” Emma said looking over at the old turtle monster.

Papyrus hummed, “Yes That Is True. Though I Know With My Entire Soul That You Were The Warmth That Protected Me, It Still Does Not Explain How We Arr…”

“Had soul sex while we were barely clinging to life?” Emma added helpfully.

“Emma, Could You Not,” Papyrus pleaded.

“What? It’s the truth.”

“But Did You Have To Phrase It Like That?” Papyrus groaned, burying himself back into his scarf.

“Wahaha, and there’s your answer,” Gerson cackled.

“What is?” Emma asked in confusion.

“That whole predicament you whippersnappers found yourself in, is the very reason your souls touched,” Gerson said, pointing at the girl’s chest.

Emma blinked, “I know it had to have something ta do with it, but I honestly can’t see how. From all I’ve been told it should be impossible to do what we did since it takes conscious and deliberate effort ta do anything to your soul, let alone someone else’s.”

Gerson nodded “true, but do you know what happens to your soul when you die?”

“It disperses or transcends depending on what faith you follow.”

“True again. Now for most monsters, this happens almost instantaneously. There are a couple of exceptions to this rule. Boss monsters, like your friends here and humans, their souls will linger for a short time after death. This is particularly true for humans since your souls are considered stronger than ours, with some souls leaving lingering traces long after the person has perished.”

“Okay, but I still don’t see how this explains what happened to us.”

Gerson placed his cup down with a heavy sigh and sadly regarded the girl. “You were so close to death that your soul had started to separate from your body. Combine that with your desire to protect your friend. It must have drawn your soul to his.”

A stunned silence filled the room as everyone tried to process what they had just learned. The first sound to break this silence was Dust’s empty laughter. “You’re telling me that this human gave her life to protect Papyrus? That’s hilarious!”

“Emma died protecting me?” Papyrus whispered, hugging a cushion to his chest. His brother’s sockets once again turned into matching voids of darkness with a hand drifting up to the dead socket.

Emma sighed, got up, walked over to Papyrus and gently embraced him. “Silly skelly you know I didn’t die, I’m right here. Now ya gonna help me with your brother, so he doesn’t hurt himself?”

“Sadly There Is Very Little One Can Do For Him When He Gets Like This.” Papyrus sighed, looking mournfully at his catatonic brother.

“Well, I guess I’ll just have to try plan S again, that worked last time…. It’s a good thing I forgot to unpack my bag after our trip to the Centre.” Emma murmured, taking the toffees from her old satchel.

“What Is Plan S?” Papyrus asked in confusion, watching his friend examine the teapot on the table.

“Oh um, it’s just something I noticed about you guys….is this sea tea Poison?”

“Yes dearie.”

“Can I have some?”

“Of course dearie, but what on earth are you up to?” Poison asked as she poured a cup of tea and handed it over.

“Hopefully snapping Axe out of this, without anyone getting hurt,” Emma said as she carefully moved to stand in front of the skeleton. Then without another word, she started to waft the tea and toffees under his nasal cavity. She softly whispered words of comfort and encouragement, attempting to gently draw him out of whatever dark place his mind had gone.

Axe’s lone eye light slowly flickered back to life as his nasal bone flared. Taking a deep breath he blinked and looked around, “Pap?”

“Right Here, Brother.”

“Good,” Axe mumbled before lapsing back into silence.

Emma placed the toffee’s in Axe’s lap and then gently guided his hand away from his socket. “Hey there sleepy head. Why don’t you leave your socket alone and have some of these toffees instead or if you don’t fancy that we have sea tea and whatever your bro packed for lunch.”

Axe took the cup muttering a quiet, “thanks.” Then he turned to his brother with big imploring sockets silently asking for food.

Papyrus smiled down at his brother and handed him a packet of sandwiches, before turning to gaze in awe at his small friend. “Emma That Was Amazing!”

“Really?” Emma enquired as she settled back down between the spider sisters.

“Do you know how hard it is to snap Axe out of one of his episodes without being attacked?” Dust demanded.

“Nearly impossible?”

“And yet somehow you managed to draw him back in a matter of minutes, where it can take hours for him to come back on his own,” Dust growled.

“Huh? Em got me back that fast without any casualties? How ya manage that?” Axe asked between mouthfuls.

“Simple, I used one of your greatest loves,” Emma said grinning.

“Pap?”

“No food, Plan S is just carefully waving some snacks under that sensitive nose of yours, like smelling salts, and talking to you until you come back around.” She paused for a moment before quietly adding, “though I guess considering what tribe you come from it shouldn’t be a surprise that food is so important to you.”

“Oh, and what tribe would that be precisely?” Gerson asked, as he thoughtfully regarded the group.

“Emma Told Us That We Are From The Horror Tribe.” Papyrus piped in helpfully.

Gerson raised one bushy eyebrow in surprise, “you boys didn’t know what tribe ya from?”

Emma let out a tired sigh, “sadly the gentlemen they were staying with before weren’t very forthcoming with any sort of information.”

“That’s the fucking understatement of the century,” Axe growled, tearing at his sandwich.

“Brother! Language! There Are Ladies Present,” Papyrus chided.

“Oh come on Pap what else am I meant ta call it? Ya know as well as I do that if it wasn’t for Em we would be still stuck in that fucking attic, having ta make do with whatever scraps the others deigned ta give us.”

“Be That As It May, It Still Does Not Excuse Using Such Language In Front Of Her Friends. What Must They Think Of Us.” Papyrus said, shaking his head in mild disappointment.

“And just who are we talking about here?” Gerson enquired.

“Their so-called family, the Serifs,” Emma said sarcastically.

“The Serifs?”

“Yes sir.”

“Then one of you better explain what has been going on.”

“Why?” Axe growled, suspiciously eyeing the older monster.

“The Serifs are deeply involved with the royal council. If they’re involved in something shady or illegal we need to know.” Gerson stated, calmly returning the skeleton’s gaze.

Axe instinctively reached out with his magic to ‘check’ Gerson. He wasn’t interested in most of the information contained within his soul. Axe just wanted to make sure that the old monster wasn’t going to screw them over.

“Well, boy?” Gerson asked after he felt the skeleton’s presence leave him.

“Em, you better tell him since you’ve got the best grip on the timing of everything,” Axe grunted, grabbing another sandwich.

Emma nodded and turned her attention to Gerson. “Okay, the first thing you need to understand is that when Sans and Papyrus came to the surface they were pretty out of it and they wandered away the rest of their people. How long they were wandering around in the wilderness is anyone’s guess, but at some point members of the Serif household found them and took them back to their residence. What the others said to convince them that it was dangerous for anyone to find out about them I don’t know, you would have to ask the guys as I can’t remember. I also don’t know how long D has been on the surface or why he’s been lumped in with Sans and Papyrus, but I do know he was already in the house when they arrived.” She stopped for a moment and looked over at Dust, who was glaring at nothing and seemed to be lost in thought. Shaking her head sadly Emma turned her attention back to the turtle. “I’m not saying it was all of them, but until Papyrus’ uncle sent him on that errand everyone seemed quite happy to treat them little better than prisoners.”

Gerson looked up from the notes he was taking, “would you mind expanding on that last bit?”

Papyrus sighed and hugged the cushion closer as he took up the narrative. “That Errand For Uncle Dings Was The First Time I Was Officially Allowed To Leave The House. Up To That Point We Were Basically Confined To The Attic And When We Were Let Out, They Made It Abundantly Clear How Unpleasant They Found Our Company.”

Axe chuckled darkly, “they ain’t exactly been treating us much better since we left.”

“What’s this?”

“A couple of days after the attack Paps and I had decided to meet up so we could get to know each other. It was around lunchtime, so we headed to Muffet’s. While we were there one of their cousins came into the shop and on seeing us immediately attacked Papyrus. This triggered a flashback in him and he ran out of the shop taking me with him,” Emma said quietly.

“This Was The First Time Any Of Them Had Been Truly Violent Towards Us. This Incident Also Brought To Light Some Of The Lies The Others Had Told Us. When My Brother Confronted Them, I Am Sad To Say It Did Not Go Well And We Ended Up Seeking A New Domicile.” Papyrus added.

“And since they moved out their so-called cousins have attacked them a further two times,” Emma chimed in.

“I see, when and where did these other incidents occur?” Enquired the turtle monster.

Emma quickly outlined the events that lead up to Axe being chased and Dust being attacked by their so-called relatives. Once Gerson had finished making notes he asked to speak to the skeletons on their own. After making sure the guys were alright with this Emma went off with the spider sisters to have their own private chat.

Once the door had closed, Gerson quietly regarded the skeletons before addressing Axe, “so you’re the missing judge.”

“Ain’t been that in years,” Axe grumbled, “and not gonna start now.”

“Your people need their judge.”

“If you think I would ever help that fish bitch after what she did, you got another thing coming buddy,” Axe hissed.

“No marine type monsters came through from your underground,” Gerson stated calmly.

“Then who’s in charge?”

“Your Toriel.”

“Huh, guess Grills forgot to mention it in his note.”

“Well, He Did Not Have Much Time To Write It If He Wanted Emma To Deliver It For Him,” Papyrus commented.

“Ah yes, your young friend, how much does she know about where you all come from?” Gerson enquired.

Papyrus blinked and looked at the older monster in confusion. “What Do You Mean? We Soul Touched. The Information May Be A Little Scrambled Due To How We Did It, But I Assure You It Is All There.”

Before Gerson could clarify things, Axe’s hollow chuckle cut in. “I think he means what old Comic kept ranting on about.”

“Oh?” Papyrus enquired, blinking down at his brother.

“Ya know, that we’re just poor copies of him and his bro from another universe and it would be really bad for us if anyone ever found out,” Axe said sarcastically. Then turning his attention to the old turtle monster, “and to answer ya question. No, the kid hasn’t remembered that bit yet, she only remembers some bits from our time underground so far, but if she asks I ain’t gonna lie to her.”

“I see, well I will have to trust your judgement on that. Though it does make me wonder why she keeps calling them your so-called cousins if she doesn’t know.” Gerson mused to himself, stroking his goatee.

“Oh, That Is Because They Do Not Act Like Family. To Emma Family Are The People That Love And Care For You, That Will Be There For You Through The Tough Times As Well As The Good. And That Is Certainly Not The Way Our Counterparts Have Been Behaving Toward Us.” Papyrus said, frowning as he remembered how the others had been treating him and his brothers.

“Mmm, I’ll have to get you boys to make an official statement on their behaviour to the council. But first, we need to get you registered with both the Centre and your tribe.”

“Oh, You Do Not Have To Worry About The Centre, Emma Has Already Helped Us Book An Appointment With Their Assessment Team.”

“Did she now, well that’ll make things simpler. We can get you on your tribal rolls at the same time.” Gerson chuckled, “now I know I have to contact the Horror tribe for you two, but what about you…. D was it?”

“What?” Dust growled, glaring at the older monster.

“Do you have any idea where your people are?”

“Yes, they’re dead.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“How do you know?”

“There is a reason the others name me Dust,” he said in a voice devoid of all life.

Gerson suppressed a shudder as Dust’s sockets became as empty as his voice and a manic grin spread across his face. Eventually, he managed to break eye contact with the creature of death in front of him. “I see, we’ll have to see if one of the other tribes will take you in, otherwise you won’t be protected under law.”

Dust let out a derisive snort, “like anyone would be dumb enough to take me.”

“Do Not Worry Brother, You Can Be Part Of Our Tribe. After All, You Are Family,” Papyrus said cheerfully.

“Whatever,” Dust muttered, turning away from everyone again.

“WELL, IT LOOKS LIKE THIS OTHER ME IS JUST DUMB ENOUGH NOT TO GIVE UP ON YOUR SORRY COCCYX.” Cackled the disembodied head next to him.

Dust looked tiredly at the spectral creature floating next to him. No matter what anyone said he knew the truth. The closer they got to him, the closer they got to death. Dust could already feel the old familiar burn building in his soul, just begging him to take one more life to dull the pain for a little bit longer. Perhaps it was time to just give in and let the flames consume what was left of him. It would be so easy to kill them all, none of them would stand a chance against him. Unconsciously Dust started to gather his magic, preparing to attack until a gloved hand gently tapped him on the shoulder.

Flinching, Dust turned to face Papyrus desperately trying to rein in his magic before he impaled this gentle giant. Seemingly unaware of how close to death he was, Papyrus just continued to happily smile down at the smaller skeleton. “Brother It Is Time To Go.”

Dust nodded listlessly. He slowly stood and then trailed behind the others, as they followed after one of the smaller spiders to retrieve the human. He silently sighed, human, that one word had been the bane of his entire life. It had been humans that had trapped them underground. It had been his father’s hatred and obsession with humans that drove the man to treat his own children as mere tools in his grand schemes of vengeance. Leaving both physical and mental scars that were still with Dust long after the man’s death. Lastly, it had been a human’s genocidal games with time that had driven him to the point where killing everyone he ever cared about in order to stop them had seemed like a good idea.

Now in this new world, there was another human that confused the hell out of him. She acted so differently from the creature he had faced in his own world, that he didn’t know how to respond. Even Axe was easier to understand since they had both had to deal with the consequences of their Frisk’s actions. Though he found it strange that a judge didn’t treat him with the contempt and barely contained hatred that the others did.

Dust was so lost in his musings that he didn’t notice that the others had stopped until he ended up walking into the back of Papyrus. Blinking he started to mutter an apology only to stop as he caught what was being said.

“Emma please, have you seen his LV, I must insist you take some of my little dearies home with you for your own protection.” Poison’s exasperated voice drifted in from somewhere in front of the skeletons.

“I thank you for your concern Poison, but you do remember I have a cat that thinks anything smaller than her is a toy right? It just wouldn’t be safe for them,” came Emma’s calm reply.

Papyrus politely cleared his throat alerting the ladies to their presence.

“Oh, hello dearies, finished your chat? Where’s Gerson?” Poison asked, suspiciously eyeing the skeletons.

“Back in that room finishing his tea,” Axe grunted, vaguely jabbing a clawed phalange over his shoulder, “why?”

“Oh, no reason,” Poison replied in a falsely cheery voice.

“Most likely thinks that you guys dusted him to make mock turtle soup or something,” Emma commented dryly.

“Emma,” Poison gasped.

Axe chuckled darkly while Papyrus and Muffet merely shook their heads. At the same time, Dust shuffled a bit to the side so he could see everyone.

Poison was sitting by Muffet at an elegant coffee table glairing indignantly down at Emma, who was sprawled on the carpet surrounded by drawing materials and small spiders.

Emma slowly sat up, carefully dislodging several spiders in the process. “I’m sorry, but I’m not going to let you get away with being a hypocrite. I know the guys have some LV just like you do. I trust them just as I trust you. I know none of you would deliberately hurt me. I don’t know what you saw when you stealth ‘checked’ their stats that freak you out so much, but I’m not some naive striper that needs protecting. I do actually know what I’m doing.”

“Now dearie…”

“Oh don’t you dare now dearie me….and if you even think about bringing up that whole cannibal thing, I’d like to remind you of your own family motto.”

“It’s not them I’m worried about. It’s that thing behind them! He has so much LV it’s surprising he hasn’t gone feral and killed us all.” Poison yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Dust.

The room fell silent as all eyes turned towards the heterochromatic skeleton.

Dust sighed and closed his sockets as he felt several weak ‘checks’ on his soul. He could have easily blocked them, but what was the point? Either they would attack him and he would kill them or they would retreat in fear and disgust, shunning him as he deserved. Either way, he would be on his own again with only his disembodied brother for company. It was better this way, attachments just led to regret and pain, when the inevitable happened.

A tentative tug on his sleeve pulled Dust out of his morbid thoughts. Flinching he stared down at the human who looked at him with concern.

“D, please don’t let what Poison said upset you. She means well, just doesn’t always go about it in the best way,” Emma apologised softly.

Dust continued to stare in utter disbelief at this strange human as hysterical laughter bubbled up from deep within him. “Stars, you’re really are naive. Do you even know what LV is?”

“Yes, LV or to use that stupid acronym L.O.V.E stands for Level Of Violence, your ability to cause harm to another. This number increases with the number of people that you have killed. This number is also connected to your EXP or Execution Points, which is a numeric value your soul assigns to the pain you cause others, when it’s high enough your LV will raise. Is that a clear enough explanation for you or do you want more?” Emma asked, returning the skeleton’s gaze steadily.

“Even knowing all that you’re still willing to be around me? When you know that at any minute I could snap and hurt you, even kill you.” Dust demanded, his hands hungrily reaching out towards her, earning angry hisses from the tiny army of spiders protectively clustered around the girl.

“Yes,” Emma stated softly as her fingertips gently brushed against his.

“Why?”

“I learned a long time ago not to judge people on first impressions, they’re often wrong.”

“You’re all idiots,” Dust muttered, dropping his arms. “You have no idea what I’ve done, what I’m capable of.”

“You’re right, I don’t know, but I do know that high LV can be pretty painful and hard to control on your own.” Emma said softly, “I also know what it’s like to have part of yourself that you have to accept and learn to control, so you don’t hurt the people you care about.”

Dust snorted, “you? What could you possibly hav…”

“I’m a berserker!” Emma blurted out.

Dust blinked, he couldn’t have heard that right? This kid couldn’t be a berserker. He looked around at the others for some form of confirmation. Muffet’s face gave nothing away while Poison just continued to glare murderously at him. Axe looked just as shocked and confused as he was. The only one who gave him any sort of answer was Papyrus, who merely nodded sadly.

“That can’t be right, you’ve lost your temper around us before. Heck, you did this morning at the pipsqueak squad.”

“No, that was me just being a tad upset and venting my frustration on them by yelling. Believe me, as some of the kids at my old school can testify to, there is a world of difference between that and me truly losing it,” Emma said tiredly, turning her head away and hugging herself. “Look, I know movies and books tend to portray a berserk rage as a terrible murderous frenzy that destroys everything in its path and I guess for some people that’s true. But for me… it’s cold...no that’s not quite right, it’s more numbing. The only thing left inside of me is this all-consuming desire to hurt the thing that upset me. Nothing else matters, as long as I can make them pay….I just stop caring and the worst thing is when someone finally manages to calm me down, I remember everything. There is no happy blank spot in my memory.” She let out a humourless snort, “the bit I regret is losing control of my temper, not the fact that I almost ended up putting those brats in hospital.”

“Well If You Ask Me Those Bullies Had It Coming. If They Had Not Been Picking On You Then They Would Not Have Been Hurt.” Papyrus huffed, picking Emma up and hugging her to his chest.

“Condoning violence bro? How unlike you,” Axe chuckled.

“Well, They Deserved It,” Papyrus pouted.

“Too right dearie, anyone who would hurt my precious little doodles deserves everything that happens to them.” Poison purred, eyeing the skeletons menacingly.

“Um, Muffet, do you think you could get your sister to turn off mama bear mode?” Emma inquired.

“Sorry dearie, I believe your mother was the only one who knew how to do that.” Muffet chirruped happily, tittering softly at the groan that left her young friend’s throat.

Dust barely heard this exchange as his mind tried to come to terms with this new information. It was hard to equate the gentle girl that had stood between him and his counterparts this morning, with the berserk creature that Emma had just described. The one thing that kept running around his head was why, why had she never told them?

“Because you never asked.”

“Huh?”

“D, I may have a bit of a cheat sheet for you guys thanks to Papyrus’ memories, but I’m no mind reader. I told you I don’t really have any secrets, but if you don’t ask I don’t know what you want to know,” Emma said softly.

“But, don’t you think this was something you should have told us?” Dust demanded.

“No, not really,” Emma said, blinking down at the skeleton. “But don’t you think you should have told your brothers about the trouble you’re having with your LV?”

Instead of answering, Dust just grunted and turned away.

Sighing Emma tapped Papyrus who released her. Once she was down she reached out and gently took Dust’s hand. “D, please don’t do that. Look, I didn’t mention it because I haven’t had an episode since I left school. My family helped me find a better way to manage my anger and stress and if you let us, we can try and do the same for you.

“Stop it! Just stop it! Stop pretending that you care,” Dust cried, yanking his hand free from her grasp.

“D, do you really think I could fool someone who has my memories for this long?” Emma asked quietly.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Dust growled, turning to glower at the girl.

“It Means I Will Never Again Allow Friendship To Cloud My Judgement. If I Had Detected Any Falsehood In The Way Emma Treated Us. Then However Much It Would Have Pained Me, I Would Have Put A Stop To It,” Papyrus stated calmly.

“D, I know you most likely only tolerate me for Papyrus’ sake. But please believe me when I say that as long as you’ll let me, I will stay by your side and help you and your brothers adjust to life on the surface as best I can.” Emma said softly, holding out her hand to the heterochromatic skeleton.

Dust’s phalanges twitched forward seemingly of their own accord. Then just before cold bone could touch warm flesh, he hastily pulled back, shoving the offending limb deep into a pocket muttering. “You’re such a fool.”

“Well, it takes one to know one,” Emma huffed, dropping her arm.

“Yeah well, are we done here?”

“Yeah, I just need to retrieve my hat and bits.”

“Then I’ll see you outside,” Dust said, turning and disappearing back the way they had come.

It didn’t take too long for Emma to gather up her belongings and get ready to leave. What took a bit longer was removing the myriad of little spiders that kept trying to stow away in her bag. While she was doing this Poison continued to try and cajole Emma into taking some of her smaller kin home with her.

Poison only gave up when the group reached the front of the shop again. “Well, I see, I can’t convince you. So I’ll leave it for now, but you better show up for our normal luncheon dearie.”

“Alright, I’ll see you then,” Emma said, smiling shyly and giving her a farewell hug.

“And you boys better take good care of my sweet doodles or I will dig out my old cookbook and make a very special batch of treats.” Poison added smiling menacingly at the skeletons.

Groaning, Emma disentangled herself from her friend’s embrace, gently chiding her for threatening the guys again. She gave the elegant spider lady another quick squeeze, before saying her goodbyes and heading off with the others.

Shortly thereafter Muffet left the group and headed back to her bakery, leaving Emma once again alone with the skeletons. Grinning she turned to them and asked, “so what do you guys want ta do now?”

There was a momentary silence as the brothers tried to think of something they wanted to do. Just as Axe was about to give up and asked Emma if she had any ideas, Papyrus spoke. “I Just Realized Is Today Not The Day That You Normally Do Your Shopping For The Week?”

“Well yes, but we should have enough food in the house that I can get away with doing it tomorrow instead. Anyway, I need to rethink my shopping list a bit, ta see if I can afford ta pick up some first aid stuff for you guys.” Emma replied, sheepishly grinning up at her friend while rubbing the back of her head.

“Why do ya wanna do that?” Dust asked, coming out of his sullen reverie to stare at the girl.

“I was already planning on getting some painkillers, but after what happened this morning. I figure that it might be a good idea ta get some basic first aid stuff in for you guys. Since I literally have nothing designed for monsters in the house.”

“You don’t need ta do that, we have magic,” Dust said quietly.

“But I don’t and I hate the thought of one of ya being hurt and not being able ta do anything,” Emma whispered, trembling hands tightly curled in the hem of her top.

Axe clapped his hands together, “alright then it’s settled, we’re going shopping.”

“Sans you don’t hav…”

“Nope, you need food, it ain’t good for ya ta eat just monster stuff, it’ll make ya sick. And we need prank supplies so we’re going shopping.” Axe said cheerfully, wagging a finger under Emma’s nose.

“Brother It Is Not Fair To Ask Emma To Purchase Pranking Supplies For Us. You Know How Tight Her Budget Is At The Moment.” Papyrus said in a scolding tone, looking disapprovingly down at his older brother.

“Don’t worry bro, I’ve got it covered,” Axe said, pulling out a rather large wad of cash and handing it to Emma. “Will this help?”

“More than help,” she breathed, slowly leafing through the bundle of notes. “There’s gotta be a good couple of hundred here,” Emma looked up at the grinning skeleton and asked. “Axe, where on earth did you get this? Not that I’m complaining, but I thought you didn’t have any human money?”

“Didn’t,” Axe said shrugging, “I got that from selling the keys ta those magick suppressing cuffs to the Tems back at the village.”

Emma let out a sound somewhere between a groan and a chuckle. “Gods, I knew the Temmies were bad at business, but this takes the cake.”

“Speaking Of The Temmies Brother, What On Earth Did You Do Back At The Village That Scared Them So?” Papyrus asked curiously.

Chuckling Axe once again reached into his jacket, taking his brother’s hand he dropped something into it. “Let’s just say I cut that tiny tyrant down to size.”

“Brother, Are These The Heels Of Black’s Boots?” Papyrus asked as he examined the items in hand.

“Yep.”

“Why?”

“Just sending a pointed reminder that I won’t let anyone hurt my family ever again. No matter who or what they are.” Axe stated calmly, closing Papyrus’ hand around the severed heels. “Now if that has satisfied ya curiosity, how about we go get Em’s food?”

Papyrus nodded, “Yes Let Us Do That. Oh, What Should I Do With These?” He asked, looking at the items in his hand again.

“Keep them or toss them, I don’t really care,” Axe said, skillfully avoiding another attempt by Emma to give the money back. Shaking his head he gently caught her hand and pushed it back towards her chest. “You better keep hold of that since you actually know how it works.”

“But it’s yours,” Emma protested once again, reaching out towards the stout skeleton.

“Nope, it’s safer with you,” Axe said, tapping his skull near the hole.

“Fine,” Emma muttered, stowing the money away in her bag. As she was doing this her hand brushed against her sketchbook and an idea popped into her head. “Hey Paps, if you’re still unsure what ta do with those heels we could just give them back.”

“Hum, Why?” Papyrus asked, blinking down at his friend in confusion.

“Well, I just thought the little imp might like his horns back.” She said grinning innocently while showing him one of the many sketches she had done that morning.

The three skeletons drew closer, curiously gazing down at the silly little image of Black dressed as a cartoon devil. A positively evil smile spread across Papyrus’ face as he looked at the purple heels in his hand, then back at the picture in front of him. “Do You Think It Would Be Possible To Make The Wings And Tail As Well?”

“I don’t see why not, but we’ll have ta see what we can find in the shops since I rather not hit mum’s fabric stash for something that’s just going to end up being destroyed,” Emma said as she put her sketchbook away.

“Then let’s get going,” Axe said eagerly as he threw a companionable arm over Emma’s shoulder and started to guide her down the road.

Papyrus’ smile became softer as he watched Dust get drawn into the conversation the other two were having. It was nice to see his new brother enjoying himself like this and if things went according to his plan, this would become a normal sight for all of them. Chuckling softly to himself Papyrus happily joined in the discussion of what they wanted to buy as they wandered towards the shops. Quietly in his head, he continued to plan how best to care for this small odd group of people that had come to mean so much to him.

Chapter Text

Emma bit back a groan as she shoved some documents into her bag. It had been such a good weekend, why did the week have to come along and ruin it? She had just finished her final appointment with Citizens Advice and let’s just say it hadn’t gone well. Soon she was going to have to make some pretty difficult decisions, but hopefully, she could put it off until after she had taken the guys to the Centre for their initial assessment.

As Emma’s feet automatically started for home her thoughts drifted to her housemates. Their antics never ceased to bring a smile to her face and, at least for a time, drove her problems from her mind.

Those skeletons had certainly done some amusing things over the weekend. Starting with the looks on Axe and Papyrus’ faces when they saw who the delivery guy was for their takeaway on Thursday night. Axe’s face, in particular, had been a wonderful sight to see. He had been the one to insist they have a takeaway to celebrate getting back into the house, and of course, it just had to be Grillby’s. So the mix of shock and surprise that crossed his battered skull, when it had been his old friend Ember who delivered the food, was a delight. As was Papyrus’ cries of joy at being reunited with someone he had thought was long gone, it had been the perfect way to end the day.

Though perhaps the funniest face Axe pulled that weekend had been when her period had started. Emma bit back a snort as she remembered the looks of sheer panic that had crossed the faces of all her housemates. Okay, so the reason for Dust’s panic was a bit different from the other two, but it was still hilarious to watch him dash off to the kitchen in an attempt to protect their food from Axe. Who it turns out has a strong hunger response to the scent of blood. She smiled softly to herself as her feet continued to carry her homewards. It had definitely been an interesting conversation, once she had managed to calm everyone down enough to explain what was actually going on. Emma giggled quietly to herself as she thought about how brightly the trio had been blushing by the end of it. She paused for a second and winced inwardly, before snorting softly. Perhaps she shouldn’t tease the boys about their blushes when her own had been hot enough to fry eggs on that Saturday. All because Grillby had cordially greeted her by name before Ember had brought her a cup of her favourite tea (something definitely not on the menu) and sat with her, while her breakfast was prepared. Emma was just not used to that amount of personal attention and her natural shyness had nearly overwhelmed her.

As Emma started walking again she started to mentally debate whether it had actually been a good idea to leave the gaunt elemental alone with his old friends. Suddenly she was grabbed from behind and dragged into a nearby alley. Before she had a chance to cry for help a fist slammed into her stomach, knocking all the air out of her as she was brutally thrown to the filthy floor of the alleyway. As Emma tried to gather her scattered wits a heavy boot slammed into her back knocking what little breath she had left right out of her. The next thing she knew sharp fingernails painfully scraped against her scalp before they viciously tangled themself in her hair and yanked her head up.

As a strangled gasp escaped her throat, Emma heard a voice from behind her that she had hoped never to hear again. “Well, if it isn’t the little monster lover. I’ve been hoping to run into you again.”

It was one of the men from the market, which one she didn’t know, but there was no mistaking that hateful voice. Emma barely got to register this fact before her face was brutally smashed into the cold concrete beneath her. She could barely hear the man’s vile taunts over the nauseating ringing that now filled her head. Though for some reason Emma could clearly hear frightened whimpering coming from somewhere in front of her. She bit back a scream as another series of blows rained down on her slight frame. At some point during this brutal attack Emma’s head was dragged back up, giving her a chance to check out her surroundings. Blinking some blood out of her eyes, she caught a glimpse of a pair of furry monsters cowering by a dumpster. Then another blow blurred her vision before she was wrenched up and thrown against the monsters.

Dark laughter echoed around the inside of her head as she slowly and painfully dragged herself into a sitting position in front of the two fluffy creatures.

“Aww, the little bitch still wants to play hero. Maybe if you beg nicely we’ll make your death quick.” The man taunted, accompanied by his companions’ sniggering.

But his taunts fell on deaf ears, as Emma had spotted through blurry eyes a piece of graffiti that filled her with a wild hope. Pausing only long enough to say a silent prayer to whoever might be listening. She took a deep breath and let out an ear-splitting undulating whistle that echoed off the alley’s walls.

“What the fuck was tha…”

His words were cut off by the wonderfully familiar sound of scrabbling legs and barking. This was shortly followed by screaming, as Muffin and an almost identical beast barrelled into the alley and started attacking the men.

A few minutes later a pair of wolf monsters rounded the corner, their jaws dropping in shock at the chaotic scene before them. After a moment the darker of the pair turned to his lighter counterpart and said. “Fuck, Ice I think we’re gonna have ta get the boss ta sort this mess out.”

“Damn it, she’s in a meeting,” Ice groaned as he ran his claws through his fur, before giving his partner a calculating look. “Rock, paper, scissors ya for the joy of disturbing her?”

“No need,” came a clear cold voice from behind them. This was followed by a sharp snap of shapely purple fingers that sent a wave of small spiders crashing into the alleyway, putting a stop to the chaos as quickly as it had started. “Now, would one of you dearies mind telling me why my precious pets decided to break down the door and have a romp around with some filthy humans in an alley?”

“Sorry, that was my fault Venom, but I think I prefer your door to my body any day of the week,” Emma said with a weak chuckle.

“Emma? Dearie, is that you?” Venom asked, delicately picking her way over to the prone human.

“Yeah, it’s me, I wish it wasn’t, but it is.” Emma wheezed as she attempted to stand.

Venom silently observed the girl’s struggles for a moment, taking in both Emma’s state, as well as the condition of the pair behind her. Before gently sweeping the girl up into her arms, “I expect a full explanation from you, once your injuries have been treated.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Emma murmured weakly, resting her head against the spider woman’s ample bosom, as she fought a fresh wave of nausea.

Venom tenderly brushed her fingers along Emma’s scar, which was now surrounded by a deep dark purple bruise. Her eyes turned steely as she looked down at the group of men tied up on the floor. She then turned her attention towards the wolf monsters. “Well don’t just stand there gawking, help me get these poor dearies in. Then you can get rid of that trash.”

“R-right boss,” the pair practically yelled as they hurried over to help.

“Err, auntie you might want to hold off on garbage disposal,” came a quiet male voice from the mouth of the alley.

“And why is that nephew?” Venom asked, glaring at the tall slim spider monster.

“Because someone called the authorities and they’re going to be here any moment,” he said with a rueful chuckle.

Venom let out an exasperated sigh. “Oh, very well, please tell me they at least called for a healer as well?”

“Yes aunt.”

“Good,” Venom murmured, as she gently stroked her small friend’s hair and listened to the rapidly approaching sirens.

Emma closed her eyes trying not to groan as the flashing lights and sudden loud noises made her headache worse.

The thugs started yelling the moment the police rounded the corner, trying to claim that the monsters had attacked them. Only for Emma to yell back, that the fucking bootprint on her back said otherwise, which might have been a mistake on her part since her rant ended up causing a coughing fit.

Things became a bit of a blur for Emma after that, as she was handed over to the paramedics. At some point, while the medics patched her and the two monsters (who turn out to be a pair of bunnies) up, a police officer came over, documented their injuries and took their statements. The next thing she knew she was sitting down in one of the plush booths in Venom’s club, suspiciously eyeing a bubbling vivid green drink that had been placed in front of her.

“Come on Em, you know you’ll feel a lot better once you’ve drunk it. Plus if you haven’t had it by the time auntie V gets back, she’ll just make you take it.”

Emma cautiously poked the glass, which made it release a mushroom cloud of neon green smoke. She then turned her attention towards the tall spider monster dressed all in black. “Terry, it looks like something from a witch’s cauldron, why on earth would I drink it?”

Terry huffed and crossed his many arms, “because it’s one of auntie’s best healing potions and let’s face it you need it.”

“Okay, put it in a to-go cup and I’ll drink it when I get home.”

“Nope, you’re drinking it now,” Terry said firmly, as several of the smaller spiders pushed the glass closer.

“Terry,” Emma whined.

“Nope,u-ha, Em you’re not talking your way out of this one,” Terry said, marching over to glower down at his smaller friend. Sighing in frustration he ran his fingers through his hair. “For fuck’s sake Emma you’re lucky you're not in the hospital at the moment! Just drink the Angel damned medicine! Before my aunt makes you!”

Emma tiredly glared back, “look here you Matrix reject, there is no way I’m drinking that now.”

“And why is that, dearie?” Venom asked, walking over having finished dealing with the police.

“Because I’m covered in blood and god only knows what else and if that stuff is half as strong as I think it is, then it’s going to knock me out for several hours. And when that happens, I’d rather be clean with somewhere soft to crash ....preferably my own bed.” Emma stated firmly, fighting down the tired ache that was trying to consume her body.

Venom cooly regarded the girl for a moment, but before she could say anything, Muffin scrambled past her, demanding fusses from Emma.

Emma tiredly smiled down at the mutant pastry. “Hello there you mutt, where’s your partner in crime?” She asked, as she gently patted his soft down-like fur.

Then with a huffy growl, the other one trotted over, dragging several of the smaller spiders along with him. “Hello Tiffin, I see you’re up to your normal tricks,” Emma weakly chuckled, as she tried to get her stiff fingers to cooperate long enough to untangle the silken threats from around his body.

Terry sighed, knelt down and started to help untangle everyone. “You know I still can’t figure out how you do that.”

“Do what?” Emma asked as she freed another spider.

“Tell them apart.”

“Oh, that’s simple, Tiffin is bigger and has a more reddish hue to his colourings compared to Muffin.”

Venom continued to quietly observe the younger pair as she listened to the approach of the wolf brothers. “I thought I told you dearies, to keep my precious babies outback until we got the door fixed?”

“Sorry boss, I honestly don’t know how it happened,” the darker of the pair apologised.

“I’ll tell you what happened, Dire. The mutts know that Ems is here, so of course they want to see her,” Terry laughed.

“Hey, it’s not my fault the pastry patrol likes me better than you,” Emma retorted back.

“Children,” Venom sighed, picking up the glass. “I believe we have more important things to discuss than Emma’s popularity.”

“Venom, I said I didn’t want to take that now,” Emma said, eyeing the glass with grave suspicion.

“Of course dearie, but we still need to discuss who is taking you home and who is staying behind to mind the shop.” Venom stated calmly, as she placed the drink in her inventory.

“Oh, you don’t have ta do tha…'' The words died on Emma’s lips as the matriarchal spider monster glared fiercely down at her.

“Dearie, did you really think I would let you attempt to walk home on your own, in your condition? My sisters would never let me hear the end of it.”

“I was going to get a taxi,” Emma murmured meekly.

“Nonsense, why waste the money when Terry has a perfectly good vehicle we can use.”

“Hey, what’s wrong with using your own car?” Terry huffed as he stood back up and pouted at his aunt.

“Mine’s in for maintenance. Now hush,” Venom said, waving off her nephew’s concerns. “Now as the police had to take that trash with them, that leaves us to deal with getting the Buns home as well.”

“Well, since I’m going to be playing chauffeur for you lovely ladies, it can’t be me,” Terry muttered.

Ice looked at Dire, “rock, paper, scissors?”

Venom sighed, “why is it that any time you two need to make a decision, you have to play that infernal game?”

“Fairest way ta sort things out,” Dire said, shrugging as Ice nodded sagely.

“Well, I have better things to do than watch you two play silly games for the next hour. So here is what we are going to do. Dire you make sure that the Buns get home safely, while Terry and I take Emma home.” Venom said firmly, crossing her many arms.

“What about me boss?” Ice asked.

“You shall remain here and deal with the contractors when they come to fix the door.”

“Right boss.”

“Now if that is everything, I believe it is time to get this little one home,” Venom said, picking Emma up and heading for the exit. “Oh, by the way, Ice dearie.”

“Yes boss?”

“If anything happens to my precious babies while I’m gone, I will be holding you personally responsible,” Venom added with a menacing smile.

“R-right boss,” Ice stammered, looking uncertainly at the pair of pastry beasts.

Dire chuckled, giving his lighter counterpart a sympathetic pat on the back with a muttered, “good luck man.” Before heading off to complete his own task.

Terry hid a smirk as he followed quietly behind his older relative. “Is it really necessary to terrify folks like that aunt?” He asked as he unlocked his car, “don’t get me wrong it’s fun to watch and all, but…”

His words petered out as he caught sight of Venom’s mischievous smile, “but of course dear nephew. After all, I can’t let people think I’m going soft, now can I?” She said as she tenderly settled Emma into the car.

“Of course,” Terry murmured, settling in the driver’s seat and starting the car.

The car ride was relatively short, which Emma was very grateful for, considering just how bad she was feeling right now. The whole ordeal had left her so worn out she didn’t even protest when Terry took her key and Venom carried her into the house.

Which might have been a mistake because the moment that Papyrus spotted the trio, he let out a panicked shriek as he dashed forward to see what had happened to his dear friend. All the noise this generated, in turn drew the attention of the other two skeletons, which led to quite the chaotic scene in the entry hall.

“Why the fuck can I smell blood?” Axe shouted, cutting through his brother’s panicked ramblings.

“As I was trying to tell your brother, Emma was attacked near my club, dearie.” Venom said with an exasperated huff.

“Who?” Axe growled, his eye light shrinking as he took in Emma’s bruised and bloodied appearance.

“It was one of the men from the market,” Emma said tiredly.

Axe’s growl became more guttural as he started to plan how to find and kill the bastard that had dared to touch what was his.

“Axe, however much fun it is watching you do an impression of a grizzly. I would rather like ta get to the bathroom and you’re blocking the way,” Emma commented dryly.

“Huh?” Axe uttered, blinking at the pair in front of him as he came out of his murderous thoughts.

“Sans, you’re between my captor and the stairs.” Emma said gently, “so could you please move, before Venom decides to yeet one of us or worse yet she decides that this is all too much of an effort and force-feeds me that vile concoction she has on her somewhere.”

“Oh, hush you,” Venom murmured as she tenderly restored a stray strand of Emma’s hair to its proper place.

“Who?” Axe asked, still blinking in confusion.

“Oh right, I never introduced you guys. This lovely lady is Venom, she owns The Parlour in town, and the one skulking in the back is Poison’s son Terry.” Emma said, smiling tiredly at the others.

“The what?”

“The Parlour, it’s a cabaret nightclub near the centre of town,” Emma murmured softly as she fought with her body to stay awake.

Venom looked down at her small friend’s exhausted and pained expression and decided to cut through the remaining pleasantries. “Alright dearies, that’s enough idle chit-chat. I will answer any questions after I have bathed and healed this little one.”

“Is There Anything I Can Do To Help?” Papyrus asked, as he nervously fiddled with his gloves.

“Yes dearie, you can find Emma something clean to wear once I’m done with her,” Venom stated as she swept up the stairs.

Papyrus enthusiastically nodded before happily hurrying off to complete his task. Leaving the two remaining skeletons alone with the younger spider.

As a tense silence fell over the group, Dust found his eye lights drawn after the girl again. This had been happening quite a bit since their little woodland trip. He just couldn’t get the girl’s words out of his head or how her hand had felt in his for that brief moment. But why? Why couldn’t he move past the fact that the quiet human with the soft shy smile had a violent side?

“DWELLING ON THAT HUMAN AGAIN DEAR BROTHER?”

Dust rolled his eye lights at the ghostly apparition hovering next to him.

“I WONDER WHY?” The apparition mused.

Dust didn’t bother to dignify that question with an answer especially since he didn’t have one.

“IT CAN NOT BE THE FACT THAT SHE IS A BERSERKER, AFTER ALL, VIOLENCE IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU EXPECT FROM A HUMAN.” The spirit continued on blithely, “NO, IT HAS TO BE SOMETHING ELSE. MMM, NOW WHAT COULD IT BE?” He murmured, absently rubbing his ghostly chin. “PERHAPS IT IS THE FACT THAT SHE IS NOT BOTHERED BY YOUR LV? NO, NO, THAT CAN NOT BE IT, SINCE THAT OTHER ME AND HIS BROTHER DO NOT FEAR YOU OR YOUR LV AS WELL AND YOU DO NOT OBSESSIVELY FOLLOW THEM WITH YOUR SOCKETS. THOUGH YOU DID CHOOSE TO REMAIN WITH THEM, INSTEAD OF RETURNING TO THAT JUDGEY YOUS ATTIC PRISON.”

Dust huffed, wishing what remained of his brother would just go haunt someone else for a change.

Of course, the ghost ignored his brother’s silent wish and continued. “SO, IF THAT IS NOT THE REASON, THEN PERHAPS IT IS THE WAY SHE SEEMS TO HAVE HER RAGE UNDER CONTROL AND IS STUPIDLY WILLING TO TRY AND HELP YOU LEARN HOW TO CONTROL YOURS. BUT IF THAT IS THE CASE….GASP BROTHER…..DOES THIS MEAN THAT YOU ARE FINALLY READY TO MOVE PAST THIS SILLY ‘WOE IS ME’ EMO PHASE OF YOURS AND RE-ENTER SOCIETY?”

The apparition paused for a moment as if waiting for a response from his brother. When none was forthcoming the spectre sadly shook his severed head and started to speak again. Only to have Papyrus unwittingly interrupt him by literally walking right through his spectral remains as the tall skeleton took Emma’s soiled clothes to the kitchen to be cleaned.

Just as Papyrus was about to cross the threshold into the kitchen he turned and looked at the remaining spider monster. “Terry? Do You Happen To Have The Rest Of Emma’s Belongings?”

“Yeah, where do you want….” Terry started asking, as he pulled Emma’s hat and bag out of his inventory. Only for Papyrus to gently take them with his magic before the spider could finish his sentence.

“Thank You, Now While I Am Dealing With These, Why Do You Not Go Sit Down In The Living Room? It Will Be Much More Comfortable Than Standing Around Out Here While Waiting For Your Aunt.” Papyrus said, politely gesturing towards the room before turning his attention back to Emma’s belongings.

Terry nodded before cautiously moving past the skeletons to settle down on the couch in the living room. A few moments later Axe followed him, just to make sure that this stranger didn’t try anything. Dust stayed in the kitchen with Papyrus, watching as the tall skeleton put Emma’s clothes in the sink to soak. As he was doing this, the pair could hear voices drifting down from the hole in the ceiling.

“Alright Venom, you’ve made your point. I’ll try to pay more attention to my surroundings when I’m out walking okay?” Emma muttered tiredly as she sank into the warm bathwater.

“Do more than try dearie,” Venom replied firmly, picking up a sponge and gently starting to help her little friend wash herself.

“Alright, so now that’s out of the way. What do you want to scold, oh sorry, I mean lecture me on next? The state of my house or the dangers of befriending monsters with high LV?” Emma asked quietly.

“And what makes you think I want to talk about either of those subjects, dearie?”

“Because Poison’s little spiderlings, according to you, are the worst gossips around and you’ve been eyeing the hole where my shower used to be since we came in here,” Emma remarked dryly.

Venom sighed softly, “you’re not wrong there. The thing I’m having trouble understanding dearie, is why neither of you mentioned the state your house has gotten into? When any member of my family would have gladly lent you the money you needed to fix it.”

Emma let out a derisive snort, “you make it sound like all this was recent.”

“Oh?”

“The shower broke when I was about 10, leaving that hole there and the crack in the kitchen floor, I think I was about 15 when that happened,” Emma said with a tired sigh.

“There’s a crack in the kitchen floor?” Venom asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Um, yeah, a pipe burst washing out the earth from under the back of the kitchen making that big crack.” Emma winced before continuing, “not the nicest way to find out that part of your house doesn’t have proper foundations.” She snorted again, “it always seems to be water with this house.”

“Oh?” Venom murmured softly, encouraging her young friend to keep going, as she carefully washed the blood out of her hair.

“We’ve also had the ceiling down in both the living room and the attic because of another burst pipe and a slipped tile.” Emma sighed, “but the house insurance dealt with those at least,” she added with a shrug.

“Alright, I can see that this is an old problem, but I still can’t understand why your mother never mentioned any of this in all the years we’ve been friends. Did she think we would turn her away after everything the pair of you have done for our family? You know we Fells always pay our debts.” Venom said, frowning down at Emma who smiled sadly back up at her.

“Because even if you did loan us the money, there was no way we could ever repay you and you know mum would never take advantage of a friend like that. Plus mum did have a plan in mind to deal with this.” Emma said, vaguely waving a hand in the direction of the hole.

“And what was that, dearie?”

“That once she had cleared the mortgage, she was going to use the money that was freed up to slowly renovate the house.” Emma let out another tired sigh, “it’s just a shame that that plan has gone down the drain now.”

“And why is that dearie?”

“Because it turns out that mum had only been paying back the interest on the mortgage and now that I’m responsible for it the mortgage company is demanding that I pay the whole thing back right now.”

“That can’t be right.”

“Yeah well, according to the lawyers at Citizens Advice it’s all legal and above board. So I guess I’m going to have to sell the house because I can’t see any other way I’m gonna be able ta deal with this. I just hope I can hold on to this place long enough for the Centre to find somewhere suitable for the guys.”

“Ah yes, your boys.”

“They’re hardly mine,” Emma commented dryly.

“Oh, I wouldn’t be too sure about that, dearie. They all seemed quite upset by the fact that someone had hurt you.” Venom said, gently running her fingers through her friend’s damp hair.

“Papyrus would’ve been upset no matter who had been injured. Even if it was one of his shitty cousins,” Emma said with a chuckle.

“And what of the other two?”

“Axe I think is more upset about missing a chance ta take a bite out of one of the bastards that attacked his little brother, than what happened to me.” Emma sighed, “and as for D, I think he is just looking forward to the day he can leave…. Not that I blame him.” She snorted at Venom’s raised eyebrow, “oh come on, even if this house was in pristine condition, you have ta admit it’s just too small for monsters. Especially for someone as tall as Pap, god his head is almost brushing the ceiling when he stands up straight.”

Venom stopped her ministrations for a moment, “are you sure it’s just that, dearie? The eyes of that hooded skeleton seemed to follow every move you made down there.”

“I think that’s more ta do with him finding out I’m a berserker than anything else,” Emma said quietly.

“Oh?”

Emma sighed softly, “I can’t see a soul like a monster can. So I can’t see his LV or read what little bits of info he’s willing to share with the world, but I have learned to read a person’s body language.” She paused for a moment before letting out a quiet breath, “and from what I can tell, whatever happened to him underground was extremely traumatic and involved a human in some way. So it’s no wonder he’s watching me like a hawk and removing anything sharp from my vicinity. He may have a love, hate relationship with that knife he always has on him. But he’s not dumb enough to leave something like that lying around where someone he is not sure about could snap at any moment and use it to hurt his family.”

Silence fell over the pair as Venom quietly rinsed Emma off and helped her out of the tub.

“You’re getting that bodyguard,” Venom stated calmly as Emma started to slowly dry herself off.

Emma stopped what she was doing to look over at the spider, “Ven…”

Venom held up a hand to silence any arguments her friend might make. “No dearie, you are going to listen to me, then do as you are told.”

“No promises,” Emma muttered as she went back to drying herself.

“Dearie, you seem to be forgetting that we monsters follow our souls.” Venom said, sternly glaring over at her small friend as if daring her to interrupt. “Meaning we follow our emotions. Now, this just normally means we can form connections and bonds with others rather quickly. But monsters with high LV are usually emotionally unstable and tend to react violently to the most common of situations and if they manage to form a bond with someone else it will often become twisted and will turn toxic. So you can understand why my sister and I are rather concerned with how close you are to that skeleton. Especially after you just told me that he has started to associate you with whatever traumatic event that caused him to gain that alarming amount of LV in the first place.”

“Okay I can see that, but D is not emotionally unstable, if he’s anything it is emotionally constipated and dangerously close to slipping into depression, if he is not already there.” Emma turned to sadly regard her friend, “and that scares me. I know how dangerous depression is for a monster, that if you lose hope and give up on life you’ll…”

“Their bodies will stop producing magic and they will slowly fall into a coma before dying.” Venom said softly, “but if what my sister said about his stats are true, then even if he has depression it will take him decades to fall down.”

“Are you sure? I just don’t want Pap to have to go through what I went through with my parents.” Emma asked, sadly wrapping her arms around herself.

“Oh, doodles,” Venom breathed, tucking Emma under her chin with a gentle embrace, while tenderly stroking the girl’s damp hair. “I keep forgetting just how much you care for those around you. So to help alleviate your fears I shall let you in on one of the secrets of our souls.” She sighed softly as she continued to gently rub Emma dry. “As you know monsters' souls are made of magic which is a form of energy and when it runs out we die. Now what is not generally known is that when our souls are forcefully shattered, say in a fight, the remaining magic will try to earth itself in the nearest suitable vessel.”

“So in a monster vs monster fight, it will go to the surviving monster?”

“That is correct,” Venom closed her eyes and let out a long shuddering breath that sent a corresponding tremble through her body. “It’s quite the rush when that power hits your soul. That stolen power will increase your mana pool, it will make you stronger and harder to kill. It was one of the main reasons why our king let the kill or be killed mentality survive in my underground. It was his way of strengthening us for his coming war with humanity.” Venom sighed bitterly, as damp arms wrapped themself around her waist. “Sorry dearie, I shouldn’t let my issues with my former monarch distract me when I’m meant to be comforting you.”

“It’s alright,” Emma said softly, as she gave her friend a gentle squeeze before she stepped back to finish drying herself. “Sooo, you’re saying that since D’s LV is so high his mana pool should be ginormous?”

“Yes dearie.”

“That’s good,” Emma whispered. ‘That means there is still time to find a way to help him and maybe I can actually help spare his brothers the pain I’ve known.’ She silently added to herself.

“Yes,” Venom said, smiling down at her friend before she gave herself a small shake and became all business again. “Now that is sorted, I believe Flotsam and Jetsam would be perfect for your defensive needs. So why don’t you get dressed then we can discuss delivery and accommodation for the pair.”

“Venom no,” Emma said firmly. “I’m not letting you traumatise any of your, or Poison’s, little kin, in some misguided attempt ta protect me.”

Venom’s eyes narrowed as she stated just as firmly. “Your current state begs to differ, dearie.”

Huffing in exasperation Emma gestured at her body. “This had nothing ta do with them! And however special your kin’s bite is, it took a swarm of them to take those men down!”

“Now dear…”

“No,” Emma sharply cut across her friend’s attempts to placate her. “I’ve listened to you, now you will listen to me. Both you and Poison seem more worried about a skeleton who has only attacked me when he thought I had hurt his family, than a group of men that are actively going around attacking both humans and monsters. Gods, you’re not even too concerned by the fact that I’ve got two former man-eaters staying with me.”

Venom angrily crossed her many arms, “we’re concentrating on him because he’s the biggest threat at the moment. The others can be easily dealt with if they become more of a problem.”

“I’d say the humans are the bigger threat, considering recent events,” was Emma’s bitter comeback.

“No dearie, that monster’s LV is the main threat to your safety at the moment.” Venom said firmly, shaking her head, “you just don’t realise how dangerous LV addiction can be.”

Emma tutted, “gods are you even listening to yourself? Can, could, maybe! The only thing you know for sure is that he has extremely high LV, everything else is just guesswork on your part. I’ve been living with the guy for well over a month now and he’s not done a thing to me. Gods, even Axe, who could give Poison a run for her money on how protective he is, trusts D to watch over his precious baby brother when he is vulnerable.”

“Be that as it may, that skeleton still has a dangerous amount of LV, and you’re still his most likely target.”

Emma bit back an angry retort, then took a deep breath trying to calm her growing irritation. “Alright, this is getting us nowhere. If I can prove that D is more stable than any of you seem to believe, will you please back off and give the guy a chance?”

“Dearie, if you can achieve that. I will not only manage any legal matters that might crop up for your little group, but I will personally advise them on how to invest their gold so that their lives up here are as comfortable as possible.” Venom said, holding up a hand to forestall anything her going friend might have to say, “but if you can’t. You will stop fighting my family and accept whatever measures we deem necessary for your safety.”

“Fine, deal,” Emma said, holding out a hand which Venom shook, sealing the bargain.

Emma then took a moment to organise her thoughts before speaking again. “As you know I’m not very good at keeping up to date with the news or politics in general.”

“Yes dearie, that is how you missed the emergence of another tribe.” Venom said, in the world-weary tone that adults have used for centuries when dealing with children. “Now where precisely are you going with this?”

“That even as dense as I am about current affairs, I’m pretty sure I would have noticed if someone went on a killing spree, or if there was a sudden increase in missing person cases since the Horror tribe came up.”

“I can see the point you are trying to make, but according to what your skeletons told the royal archivist, up until they moved in with you they were basically kept locked up in their relatives’ attic. So I don’t see how this helps your case dearie.”

“Because the Serif never bothered to restrain their magic in any way and D can teleport,” Emma said smugly.

Venom closed her eyes with a pained expression, “Emma dearie, please tell me you’re joking. They can’t have been that stupid?”

“I don’t know if they were stupid or just arrogant, but those skeletons seem to think a locked door and some vague threats of dire consequences, would be enough to keep the guys from going out for a midnight stroll.” Emma shrugged, “I bet if you got Terry ta do his computer thing you’d be able to find CCTV footage of the guys’ late night wonderings over the past couple of months,” she added with a light chuckle.

“Well, at least that gives me something I can verify your claims with.” Venom muttered before sighing, “but you’re not wrong, the death rate has not noticeably increased since the last tribe came up.”

“Which means?” Emma gently encouraged.

“It means, I’m going to have more things to discuss with your skeletons, once we’re done here.”

“They’re not…”

“Ah, ah, ah enough talking. Let’s get you dried and tucked up with a nice healing potion. Then I can go talk with your boys.” Venom said crisply, waving a finger under Emma’s nose.

Emma huffed quietly, but didn’t try to correct the spider again as she finished getting dressed. It just wasn’t worth wasting what little energy she had left arguing with Venom, when there was still one more flight of stairs between Emma and her bed.

Venom cast one more critical eye over her young friend, just to make sure everything was in order, before gently guiding her up to bed. Back down in the kitchen, Papyrus sighed as he listened to the sound of his friend’s footsteps fading into the distance. Dust silently watched as the gentle giant finished prepping Emma’s clothes and transferred them to the washing machine. Shaking off whatever melancholy thoughts were running around inside his head he turned with his normal bright smile towards Dust. “Now That Is Dealt With. Brother Will You Please Aid Me In Preparing Some Refreshments For Our Guests?”

Dust nodded numbly and shuffled further into the kitchen to help. Papyrus’ soft chatter washed over him as he mechanically prepared the tea, while his mind kept short-circuiting over the fact that the human had defended him again. Okay, it had been verbally this time, not physically like when she stood between him and his smaller counterparts. It just confused the hell out of him. Emma knew about his LV, knew how dangerous he was and yet she still kept reaching out to him with that same shy patient smile of hers. He expected Papyrus to act like this, even after everything he had been through the sweet monster still tried to see the best in people. Just like his own brother had been before he…….. The kettle’s whistle interrupted Dust’s train of thought before it could turn too morbid and drag him back to his time underground.

“Ah, What Perfect Timing,” Papyrus said brightly, as he put the finishing touches to the tray of nibbles he had been preparing. “Now Which Tea Do You Think Our Guests Would Like Brother?” He asked, turning to Dust with a teapot in hand.

As Dust shrugged a voice piped up from the entranceway, “well dearie, if you happen to have it, I’ve always been rather partial to golden flower tea.”

Papyrus smiled over at Venom, “Well Then It Is Fortunate That We Recently Acquired Some. Now Is There Anything Your Nephew Would Like To Drink?” He asked as he went to retrieve the tea.

“That little heathen will drink just about anything dearie,” Venom huffed as she surveyed the kitchen.

Papyrus absently nodded as he finished assembling the tray of refreshments and ushered everyone into the living room. Once he had made sure that their guests were comfortably settled and had served everyone, Papyrus turned his anxious gaze towards the elegant spider women and asked. “Before We Discuss Anything Else I Have To Know, Will Emma Be Alright?”

Venom took a small sip of her tea, then looked over at the tall skeleton and gave him a reassuring smile. “Yes dearie, she will be just fine,” her smile fell into a frown with her next words. “Though I must admit those creatures gave her quite the beating, the healing draft I gave her will fix anything the medics missed, but she will likely be out for the next several hours while it does its work.”

“Good,” Axe grunted, grabbing some biscuits off the tray, “now mind telling me what the fuck happened?”

“The silly child let her guard down and was dragged into the alley next to my club, where some human trash had already captured a pair of buns and started to beat the living daylights out of her until my darling babies intervened.” Venom said with a slightly annoyed huff.

“Babies?” Axe asked between mouthfuls.

“She means those mutant pastries that the ladies of my family seem to adore,” Terry said with a dry chuckle.

“Nephew, would you please stop referring to my precious pets like that. They are not mutants, they are some of the last remaining familial beasts and have been loyal companions of our family for generations.” Venom said through clenched teeth.

“Technically only one of them belongs to you aunty dearest,” Terry pointed out cheerfully.

“Tarantula Spinner….”

“Though This Argument Is Very Entertaining, I Believe We Are Getting A Bit Off-Topic Here. And I For One Would Like To Know What Happened To The Man From The Market Assault.” Papyrus said politely, forestalling whatever angry retort was brewing behind Venom’s steely gaze.

Taking another sip of her tea to centre herself, Venom sent one more angry glare at her nephew before turning her attention back to the skeletons. “He’s currently in police custody along with his little cronies, so they’re out of reach for now.”

“Well, At Least They Will Not Be Hurting Anyone Else For Awhile,” Papyrus said with a faint sigh.

“Yeah, let’s hope it’s not like last time,” Terry muttered.

Papyrus blinked at the younger of the spider monsters, “This Has Happened Before?”

Venom sighed, “yes dearie, but last time there was no one there to save them and several monsters ended up dusted. Which brings me to something I wish to discuss with you boys.”

“Is this about what you and the kid were talking about upstairs?” Dust asked sharply, cutting across whatever the elegantly dressed spider was going to say.

Venom cocked an eyebrow, “so you boys were listening.”

“I Am Terribly Sorry, But It Was Nearly Impossible Not To, Considering The Fact That The Bathroom Is Right Above The Kitchen.” Papyrus apologised with a faint blush dusting his cheekbones.

“It’s alright dearie,” Venom said, waving off the skeleton’s apology. “After all, information is a valuable currency and that’s what I’m willing to share with you boys, since your counterparts have been so stingy with it.”

“Oh, and what information could you have that we can’t get from Em?” Axe asked as he reached for more biscuits.

Terry snorted, “how about anything that’s happening in the world right now. Ems has always been terrible at keeping up with it.”

“And considering you’re the missing judge that folks have been trying to confirm the whereabouts of, I can advise you on the current political situation. And give you a good idea as to how the various members of the council will react to you.” Venom stated calmly, her many eyes never straying from Axe’s lone one.

“Hang on, this isn’t what you agreed to do for the kid,” Dust growled.

“Isn’t it dearie?”

“No, it isn’t,” Dust practically spat out, glaring at the spider. “You just said that you would help us with the legal stuff and make sure we got a good deal on our gold. Not whatever this political consultancy bullshit you’re trying to pull here is. So what’s your real goal?”

“Actually dearie, I said I’d help your little group live comfortably up here. And to do that you need to understand what’s going on. Especially since at least one of you is a judge and those foolish royals will try and drag you into their silly little games of one-upmanship.”

“And just how do you know I’m a judge?” Axe asked with a faint growl.

“Yes, It Is Rather Curious That You Know About My Brother, Considering He Has Not Told Anyone About His Old Job Since Coming Here. And The Only Time It Has Been Brought Up Was In A Private Conversation That None Of Your Family Was Meant To Be Privy To.” Papyrus said, frowning slightly at their guests.

Terry smiled softly as he languidly extended an arm out, palm slightly cupped. In the centre of his hand was a small fluffy spider, which waved at the skeletons before skydiving off Terry’s hand so it was swinging back and forth from a silken thread. “Are you really surprised? These little critters get everywhere and are fiercely protective of their friends. And with how close you are to someone who is precious to my family, so of course…”

Terry’s monologue was cut short by Shadow, who had woken up from her nap and decided she wanted to play with the interesting fluffy thing that was dangling from the boy’s fingers.

Luckily for the spider, the moment that Shadow tried to pounce, someone caught her in their magic. Allowing the small spider to scurry back up Terry’s arm and hide in his jacket pocket. “And this is why Emma keeps saying that it is dangerous for little spiders to come here.” Dust said, chuckling emptily as he used his magic to move Shadow over to Papyrus’ lap. “Now if you’ve done trying to intimidate us into behaving, I believe it’s about time you came clean and told us why a version of Muffet is willing to do anything that doesn’t involve some sorta profit for them.”

Venom quietly studied the heterochromatic skeleton while she took another sip of her tea. “So little doodles is right, you’re not as far gone as my sister thinks.”

Dust just cocked a brow ridge and continued to glare at her.

Placing her cup down Venom calmly regarded the skeleton. “It all depends on what you view as profit, dearie. If keeping my word means I can make sure that Rosemary’s child gets the help she needs through this difficult transition period, then that’s enough of a profit for me.”

Papyrus chuckled happily, “ Ah, I See. That Is Why You Said You Would Take On Our Entire Group. It Was To Make Sure Emma Was Taken Care Of As Well.”

“And I’m betting that if she hadn’t won your little wager. You would have helped the kid and left us out of it,” Dust added.

“Of course dearie, now if that’s everything shall we get down to business?”

“I Believe It Is,” Papyrus said as he looked inquiringly at his brothers.

To this Dust just shrugged and Axe grunted and waved his hand vaguely to indicate that they should continue.

“Very well,” Venom said, sitting a little straighter and carefully arranging her arms neatly in her lap. “Now from what Poison told me you have your initial assessment with the Centre either next week or the week after.”

Papyrus nodded, “Yes, That Is Correct. If I Remember Rightly, It Should Be The Monday After The Next One.”

“I take it you’ve been given some forms to fill out?”

Papyrus nodded again.

“Then this is what I propose. Pick a day next week and I will set aside some time to go over the general process with you and I’ll double-check your forms so the whole thing will go as smoothly as possible for you dearies.”

“And the kid?” Dust surprised himself by asking. Why did he just say that? He doesn’t care. She’s human, so why…

A small sigh from Venom drew Dust back from his confused mental ramblings. “Emma’s situation is a little bit more tricky to sort out. The Human legal system is quite complicated. I will have to call in a favour from a lawyer I know and get him to look into this mortgage situation for me, along with any other little debts she has been hiding from me.” A frown formed on Venom’s face with her next words. “But to do that I will have to convince her to give me all the relevant information, which is going to be a task in and of itself.”

Papyrus smiled serenely at the spider, “Oh, We Will Not Have To Bother Emma Over This.”

“Oh?”

“Nyeh, Eh, Eh, Considering That We Have Been Helping Emma With All Her Paperwork. It Will Be Quite Simple To Allow You Access To Any Document You Require,” Papyrus said with a soft chuckle.

“Are you sure Em’s going to be alright with you sharing her private papers with us?” Terry inquired, cocking an eyebrow at the smiling skeleton.

“Oh, She May Moan A Bit About Sneaky Spiders And Add Some New Cartoons To Her Sketchbook, When She Realises That You Managed To Trick Her With That Deal Of Yours. But That Is About It, Contrary To What You Might Think Emma Is A Very Sensible And Practical Person.”

“Yeah, just wish she wasn’t quite so stubborn,” Terry muttered.

It was Papyrus’ turn to raise a brow, “Is This About The Fact That She Will Not Let Any Of Your Kin Play Bodyguard For Her?” He asked, as he lightly scratched a madly purring Shadow behind an ear.

“Yes, but not for the reasons you might think.”

“Oh? So ya ain’t worried about your precious little doodles hanging around a pair of cannibals and a serial killer?” Axe asked between mouthfuls.

“Dude, technically my whole family are cannibals,” Terry laughed. “And yeah your bro’s LV is scarily high, but I trust Emma’s ability to judge people enough to know she’d never let someone who would hurt her move in. It’s those humans that I’m concerned about.”

“Why?”

“Because those thugs attacked in broad daylight, in the centre of town,” Terry shook his head. “They obviously don’t care about the consequences and Emma has interfered with their fun twice now. If there are any more of them out there, then they might just start actively looking for her and that thought scares me.”

“You Do Not Have To Worry. Now That We Are Aware Of The Situation, My Brothers And I Can Make Sure That Our Friend Is Protected.” Papyrus reassured the younger spider, before turning his attention to Venom. “Now, Do You Want Me To Fetch You The Documents So You Can Sort Out Which Ones You Need Us To Copy For You Or Is There Something Else You Would Like To Discuss With Us First?”

“While there are several things we will still need to discuss. It might be better to table them until our next meeting,” Venom said, thoughtfully tapping her chin.

“Very Well Then, I Will Gather The Documents And While You Peruse Them We Can Decide What Day Will Work Best To Continue This Discussion.” Papyrus said, standing and giving their guests a quick smile before he darted out of the room.

A silence fell over the group while the others went back to enjoying the treats that Papyrus had prepared. Dust on the other hand continued to struggle to ignore the smugly grinning spectre that hovered next to him. The ghost of course had other ideas, with a slightly annoyed huff he moved to float in front of his brother.

“SO SHE IS EMMA NOW?” Dust turned his head away, still trying to pretend the other wasn’t there. Not that this perturbed the spirit at all, who just smiled happily at him. “AND HERE I THOUGHT WE WERE DOING GOOD WHEN YOU CALLED OUR HOST KID, BUT FOR YOU TO ACTIVELY LOOK OUT FOR HER INTERESTS LIKE THAT, YOU MUST TRULY CARE FOR HER.”

“I DON’T CARE! SHE’S HUMAN!” Dust yelled at the top of his lungs.

The others stared in shock at the sudden outburst from the normally morose skeleton. Dust glared angrily at the smug-looking apparition. Stifling a groan he prepared to shortcut away to avoid the inevitable questions about his mental state, since no one else seemed to be able to see or hear the thing that haunted him.

The stare-off was broken not by Dust teleporting as you might expect, but by Terry suddenly collapsing into a heap, laughing his head off.

Dust tore his sockets away from the spectre to glare at the giggling spider.

“Sorry, sorry,” Terry apologised, sitting back up and wiping a tear from one of his many eyes. “I’m not laughing at you, honestly. It’s just that’s exactly what I said the first time someone caught me being nice to Emma.”

Venom tittered softly, “yes dearie. Let’s just hope he isn’t quite as stubborn as you were and actually listens when someone gives him advice.”

“And what is this sage advice then?” Dust sneered, turning his glare towards the other spider.

“Stop thinking of her in terms of her race and try judging her on her actions instead.”

“OOW, NOW THAT IS AN INTERESTING IDEA BROTHER. I SHALL HELP YOU IN THIS ENDEAVOUR BY NOW LISTING ALL THE THINGS OUR HOST HAS DONE FOR US.”

Dust groaned and buried his head in his arms trying to drown out the spectral creature’s voice. Much to Dust’s dismay, his actions did little to muffle the ghostly thing’s droning. Even the arrival of Papyrus with a stack of papers did little to distract the spirit from his task. The ghostly remains persisted in listing everything Emma had ever done for the skeletons all through the others’ discussions. Only stopping to take a metaphorical breath when the spiders left. Then starting up again, this time listing all the nice things that, as the spectre put it, the other them’s had done for Dust.

By the time the spectre had finished Dust’s skull was ringing from the constant prattle, leaving him feeling tired and nauseous. This made the rest of the day a rather unpleasant ordeal for him. One he happily ended at the first opportunity that presented itself, which turned out to be just after dinner, when he retired to bed.

Later that evening, once the others turned in for the night, Emma found herself restlessly tossing and turning unable to fall asleep. The combination of today’s events, her natural inclination toward insomnia and the enforced nap she had earlier, left Emma staring at her ceiling, listening to the rain lashing at her window. Sighing she rolled over once again attempting to still her mind enough for her to finally sleep.

Just as she was drifting off a loud crash of thunder jolted her back awake. Groaning Emma sat up as another peel of thunder split the sky, she picked up Tigger and looked deep into his embroidered eyes. “Well Tig, it looks like sleep is off the agenda for tonight…So what shall we do instea…..”

A sudden flash of lightning heralded the arrival of some unexpected guests. This was naturally followed by panicked flailing and cursing as everyone tried to sort themself out. Sadly, the ancient bed they were currently occupying decided it couldn’t take all of this activity and broke with a resounding crack, dumping everybody on the ground in a heap of bones, flesh and plushies.

After a few shocked moments of silence followed by some choice swear words and some determined wiggling, Emma managed to pull herself free from the pile of flailing limbs. With a pained groan, she stood up and surveyed the wreckage in front of her. “Well, I guess I’m going to have ta move getting a new bed up my ta do list.” Emma muttered with a heavy sigh, before turning her attention to the pile of bones that was lying amidst the wreckage. “You guys alright down there?”

“Y-yes,” came Papyrus’ hesitant reply as he tried to extract himself from the heap. Though his attempts were severely hampered by Axe continuously grabbing at him. Axe for his part was desperately trying to keep hold of both his brothers, while at the same time he tried to grab hold of Emma as well.

Huffing in exasperation Emma backed away from the flailing skeleton, “Axe calm down, you’re gonna hurt someone if ya keep this up.”

In response Axe made a sound somewhere between a growl and a panicked whine, as he tried to lunge forward and grab hold of her again.

Being careful of the skeleton’s sharp claws, Emma knelt down so she was on the same level as him. “Sans I know ya upset, but I need you ta calm down and tell me what’s the matter.”

In his panic Axe barely registered what the girl said. His instincts were riding him too hard for him to think clearly. All his mind could come up with at the moment was, that here was dangerous and he needed to get his to safety, but his smallest one was out of reach. But in his current state Axe couldn’t convey any of this, all that would come out was a frustrating mix of growls and whimpers as he continued to desperately try to get at the small one without losing the other two.

Emma looked up from the panicked skeleton to his taller sibling, “Hey Pap? Do you have any ideas on how we calm your bro down?” She asked “Aside from food? Preferably before he strangles D,” her concerned gaze falling on the headlock Axe had the other short skeleton in.

Papyrus ceased his struggles for a moment as he contemplated his answer. But his thoughts were interrupted by another peel of thunder, which caused both him and his brother to freeze in momentary panic.

This gave Dust the chance to free himself from Axe’s stranglehold and yell. “Oh, for fuck sake! Get your ass over here before the roof caves in! He’ll calm down once we’re safe!”

“Cave in?” Emma’s face clouded in confusion before her eyes widened in understanding. “It’s alright, it’s alright you’re on the surface. You’re safe. The sky isn’t falling my little skeles. It’s just a really bad storm. It’s just noisy falling water.” She said soothingly, as she opened her window letting in the rain.

Slowly the skeletons untangled themselves and cautiously approached the window. Even as a blinding flash of lightning cut through the dark room, causing the trio to finch. They found themself slowly relaxing, their fears are almost forgotten as Emma calmly taught them how to calculate how far off the storm was by counting the time between lightning strikes.

It took some time and a great deal of patience, but Emma eventually managed to calm the trio down enough to gently guide them into the living room. Where with the help of a still slightly shaken Papyrus she managed to create a giant pillow fort in the centre of the room, with plenty of soft things and snacks to help ride out the rest of the storm. Once everyone was settled Emma turned on the TV to drown out the last of the noise and watched with gentle amusement as the guys slowly relaxed and drifted off to sleep.

Several hours later Emma still couldn’t sleep. With a silent sigh, she carefully untangled herself from Papyrus’ embrace, crawled out of the fort and made her way to the kitchen. Where she was startled to find Dust sitting in the darkened room with his head in his hands staring mournfully at the floor.

“D?” Emma called cautiously, as she approached, a little confused as to why he was here, she could’ve sworn he was asleep with the others back in the living room.

The heterochromatic skeleton glared over at the girl, “what are you doing here?”

“I’m guessing about the same as you. Couldn’t sleep and thought a cup of tea might help,” Emma said, shrugging as she walked over to the kettle. Looking back over her shoulder she asked, “want one?”

Dust continued to glare for a moment more before shrugging in return, “yeah sure.”

“Any preferences?” Emma asked as she reached for another mug.

“No.”

“Well, I’m going to have some chamomile or do you want to take pot luck on one of the monster brands?”

“Monster.”

“Okay.”

Silence fell over the pair as they waited for the kettle to boil, the silence continued as they drank their tea. It only ended once the pair had finished, with Emma sighing gently as she put her empty mug into the sink. “I guess we should head back in, before your bros miss us,” she said softly, glancing over at Dust.

“They are not my brothers,” Dust growled, as he sullenly glared down at the empty mug in his hands.

“That’s not what Pap thinks.”

“HE’S WRONG!” Dust yelled, “I killed my brother. I killed everyone. They’re gone because of me. I killed them. They are all gone because of me.” He continued to mutter and mumble as he sank to the floor and curled in on himself. Glistening purple tears slipped from his sockets as his phalanges dug into his skull.

Dust started slightly when a pair of soft warm hands firmly grasped his and tenderly pulled them away from his skull. The next thing he knew, Emma had gently ushered him into a chair and was kneeling in front of him still holding his hands.

The first words out of her mouth were not the empty platitudes Dust half expected but instead. “Okay, can you tell me why?”

“What? Not going to tell me that I’m a good person and it wasn’t my fault?” Dust muttered sarcastically.

“Would you believe me if I said it?” Emma asked as she calmly examined his hands.

Dust huffed, glared at the girl and then silently turned his head away.

Emma sighed, “thought as much. It doesn’t matter how often we say that we trust you and like having you around if you don’t believe it yourself.”

“You shouldn’t. No one should,” Dust murmured dejectedly.

Emma shook her head with a soft chuckle, “there you go again proving me right.”

“What?”

“Don’t you realise only a quote 'good person' would care enough about other people to keep warning them about how dangerous they are?” She said with a slight smile.

Dust stared blankly at her before firmly stating, “you’re wrong, I’m not.”

“If you say so,” Emma sighed as she stood and dusted off her knees. “We can argue whether you have a halo or a pair of horns another time. Right now, we better get you patched up before Axe wakes up and goes all Tasmanian Devil on the kitchen again.”

“Patched up?” Dust blinked in confusion.

Emma sighed again, “you may not be feeling it yet, but during your little meltdown you smashed your mug and cut your palm.”

Dust blinked and stared in disbelief at the gash on his right hand. Some muttered cursing drew his mismatched eye lights back to the girl. He snorted in amusement as he watched Emma struggle to retrieve the first-aid box from the top shelf. His mouth quirked up slightly as he easily used his magic to take the box and set it down next to him.

“Thanks,” Emma murmured as she knelt back down in front of him. “Now let’s get that hand cleaned up,” with those words she proceeded to deftly clean and dress the wound.

As Emma was doing this Dust found his mind drifting again, but for once his thoughts didn’t wander toward something dark or morbid. Instead, Venom’s words from earlier kept repeating themselves as he marvelled at how soft and warm Emma’s touch was as she gently bandaged his hand.

“There, that should do it,” Emma said softly, drawing Dust back out of his reverie. “Hopefully this will be enough to keep your big bro from wrecking the kitchen again,” she added as she inspected her handy work.

“He’s not…. They’re not…. I-I’m not related!”

“Are you saying that because you feel guilty about what happened or because it’s true?” Emma asked quietly.

Dust growled and glared angrily down at her.

“Sorry, that most likely came off a bit more bluntly than I intended,” Emma muttered as she stood and reached for the nearby broom. “Look, I may not understand everything you’re going through, but I do understand something of the guilt that goes with harming a loved one. But you can’t let that guilt isolate you, it just makes everything worse in the end.”

Dust sullenly watched the girl as she started to sweep up the pottery shards for a short while before curiosity got the better of him, “who?”

“You remember my best friend Steph?”

“That rotund thing that burst in here shortly after we moved in?”

“Yeah, not the kindest of descriptions. But yeah, that rambunctious personality of hers, rubbed me the wrong way a few times growing up and I ended up hurting her.” Emma said with a little half-shrug, “felt like a real….”

“Monster?”

“For the lack of a better word, yeah.” Emma looked back at Dust sadly, “I wanted to hide from everyone when it happened, but my folks wouldn’t let me. They told me that this rage was part of me and if I tried to hide from it and bottle it all up, then the next time it got loose it would be a lot worse.” She stopped sweeping for a moment and snorted ruefully, “of course they were right. So with their help, I leant to control it, just like they did before me.”

“What?”

Emma sighed as she fetched a dustpan to put the shards in, “I inherited my temperament from my parents. It’s so common among Celts that it’s often called the Celtic temperament.”

“So both your parents were….”

“Berserkers, yeah it kinda runs in the family. Come to think of it, I believe my big brother J might be the only one in recent generations to escape it.” Emma stated calmly as she finished dealing with the broken mug.

“Huh,” Dust blinked and fell silent as he contemplated this new information.

Putting away the broom and dustpan Emma turned to retrieve the first-aid box with a groan. It was times like this she really wished she was just that little bit taller, it would make things like this so much easier. Just as her fingers were about to touch the box it was enveloped in a purple glow and shot backwards.

“Really?”

Dust smirked slightly as he used his magic to replace the box back on the top shelf.

Emma smiled and shook her head at the skeleton’s antics. “Alright, if you’ve finished playing. Shall we head back into your br….”

Dust sighed tiredly, “you can say it, brothers.”

“Sorry,” Emma murmured as she sank into another chair, “I know this is a sensitive topic for you.”

Dust quietly regarded the girl as his mind tried to sort out the confusing mix of thoughts and emotions that she evoked in him. Through this confusing maelstrom one thought managed to escape, “why ain’t you afraid of me?”

Emma blinked a little startled by the question, “why would I be?”

“I don’t know,” Dust muttered sarcastically, “maybe because on our first meeting I threw you against a wall and helped Axe interrogate you? And let’s not forget how I almost impaled you in the woods, or maybe it’s the fact that everyone that has ever checked my soul has turned from me in fear and disgust.”

“Not everyone that has seen your soul hates you, ya know.”

Dust snorted derisively “what, your little spider army had a change of soul?”

“Highly unlikely. I was actually referring to Axe,” Emma stated dryly.

“He should,” Dust whispered, “I committed an unforgivable sin. I killed my family.”

“Not all of it.”

“They are not my brothers,” Dust stated through clenched teeth. “Why can’t any of you just accept that?”

“Maybe it’s because, if tiny magical spiders can be related to giant humanoid ones. Then a pair of skeletons with a striking family resemblance totally can be related to each other.”

Dust sighed dejectedly, “if you can’t remember why then I can’t tell you.”

Emma held back her own sigh as she watched the skeleton start to shut down again. “D, please don’t shut me out. I know there’s a lot of stuff I don’t remember about what has happened to you all and there is even less I can do to help. But maybe I can at least give you a different perspective on this whole brother thing if you will let me.” She said softly as she stood up and held out her hand towards Dust.

“WELL BROTHER, WILL YOU FINALLY ACCEPT HER OFFER OF HELP OR WILL YOU CONTINUE DOWN THIS MISGUIDED PATH THAT YOU ARE SET UPON?” The spectre asked, gazing sadly down at his older sibling.

Dust looked first at the ghost then at the proffered hand. It felt like he was trying to move through hardened molasses, but slowly he reached out and took hold of Emma’s hand, “Alright.”

She smiled softly at Dust, then gently led him up to the craft room and settled him down into her little nest. Once Emma was sure that he was comfortable she turned and retrieved one of the many sketchbooks that lined the wall by the window, before settling down next to the skeleton. After a few moments of flicking through the book, she handed it over to Dust. “Here this should explain my family’s view on kinship.”

Dust blinked and stared blankly at the pages in front of him trying to understand what Emma had given to him. He gazed at the image on the first page, it was a pencil sketch of a human male that vaguely reminded Dust of Emma. He quickly dismissed the drawing and turned his attention to the verse on the other page.

It read:

For Justin

Not flesh of my flesh.
Not bone of my bone.
But still miraculously my own.
Never forget for a single minute.
You did not grow under my heart.
But in it.

Dust looked over at Emma in confusion, “I don’t get it.”

She smiled, “would it help if I told you that this is one of my mother’s sketchbooks and that is a picture of my older brother?” She asked as her fingers lightly brushed over the image.

“No.”

“Then I guess Pap never told you.”

“Told me what?”

“That J was technically only my half-brother and actually was no relation to my mother,” Emma said, her smile turning a bit wistful as she continued. “Not that she ever heard the word step, any more than I did the word half, he was just my brother to me.”

“Huh,” Dust looked back down at the picture again, “still not sure what you’re trying to get at.”

“Just as my mum claimed J as her child even though they weren’t related. Axe and Pap have claimed you as their brother. Does it really matter if you’re blood kin or not?” Emma placed her hand over her heart, “mum always told me that the heart or I guess in your case the soul was a marvellous thing, there’s always room for one more in there.” She sadly regarded the skeleton next to her, “look your little bro will always be your little bro no matter what. But if you let your fear consume you, then you will lose another family, one that would’ve helped you tame that darkness inside of you, just as you could’ve helped them tame theirs.”

“How can you be so sure that I’m not the lost cause that your friends say I am?” Dust asked, his hands curling tightly around the sketchbook, “that I’m actually worth all this trouble?”

Emma gently grasped Dust’s hands and unclenched them from around the book. “I Know because your stupid cousins are still alive even after the shitty way they treated you.”

“They had every right to. I committed an unforgivable sin. I killed my family.” Dust mumbled as he tried to curl in on himself again.

“Why?”

“It doesn’t matter, I still did it.”

“Of course it matters, sometimes the reason why we do something is just as important as what we did,” Emma said softly, as she gently squeezed his hands.

“Why are you so sure I had a reason?” Dust demanded, phalanges tightening around her fingers.

“Because there is always a reason or meaning behind stuff. That meaning might change depending on who you ask but it’s always there if you are willing to look.”

Seeing the sceptical look on the skeleton’s face Emma sighed and freed her hands from his. Then she closed the sketchbook so Dust could see the hand-stencilled owl on the cover. Smiling softly she drew his attention to the words just underneath.

R.A.L

XX.XX.XXXX TO XX.XX.XXXX

“Rosemary Anne Lynas to me she was my Rose-mummy,” Emma said, pointing at one of the many paintings that hang on the walls that surround them.

Dust couldn’t help but snigger when he saw how Emma had turned her mother’s nickname into a visual pun. The woman in the image had long dark hair spilling over one shoulder, she was smiling down at a baby in her arms. But the thing that made Dust snigger was the fact that the lady’s dress and the baby's blanket were made completely out of vibrant red rose petals.

“Yeah, yeah, I know it’s a silly sentimental image. Ya know there is another one up there about my mum’s name, but this one is based on the actual meanings of the words.” She said with a rueful chuckle as she pointed at another image on the wall. In this one Rosemary was older, her dark hair was now shot with grey and cropped short, wrinkles just starting to appear across her face. She was kneeling down by a grave, her hands were clasped together and her head bent in prayer.

“In the language of flowers, Rosemary means remembrance and the name Anne means prayer. So my mum’s name literally is Remembrance Prayer.” She smiled at Dust, “see the same name with two totally different meanings. Just like when I look at your brothers, I see an incredible pair of survivors, but all your cousins see are a pair of dangerous cannibals.”

“And what do you see when you look at me?” Dust whispered, his phalanges once again curled tightly in on themselves.

Emma sighed quietly as she observed the distraught skeleton. “I see a prank-loving chemist who has an affinity for puns, which he uses to torment his little brother, who he loves dearly even if he is scared to show it.” She gently embraced him, “I also see someone who’s been through hell and is still trying to figure things out.”

Even as his body slowly sank into the warm embrace, his mind rebelled against the words the girl had said. He wasn’t that monster anymore, that monster had died underground with his brother. But something about being around these guys kept bringing flashes of him back.

“You’re an idiot,” Dust breathed as he started to pull away, but which one was truly the fool he no longer knew.

“Well, as I’ve said before it takes one to know one,” Emma muttered as she put the sketchbook back.

Silence fell over the pair until a small yawn escaped from Emma’s mouth, breaking the momentary peace. “Well, um, I guess that’s my cue ta call it a night.”

“Wait.”

“What haven’t you had enough of my idle ramblings?” Emma asked, turning away from the door with a teasing smile.

“No,” Dust pouted, “I just want to know more about the pictures.”

Her smile turned soft as she settled back down next to him. “Alright, so those paintings are part of a series I did for college. The brief was to explore what the word Home meant to us. To me, home is wherever my family is, so I decided to do a series of paintings based on their names.” Emma stopped for a moment and wistfully looked over all the images on the wall. “If I remember rightly my father was the hardest to come up with something for.” She smiled and pointed at another painting, “Da’s first name was David which means beloved, which isn’t too bad. But his middle name was Anthony which means priceless, which as you can imagine was a lot harder to do something with.”

Dust looked at the picture of a slightly younger Emma hugging an older man. In the background, he could just make out the faint glint of something metal. But before he could figure out what it was Emma started speaking again.

“Ya know, I’m still not sure if I’m completely satisfied with how that one came out. It’s alright I guess, but I still prefer the one I did for my brother,” she mused quietly as she gestured at another picture. In this one Justin was a man full-grown, he was clad in full plate armour and was sitting at a desk writing something. Nearby there was a silver lantern that cast a warm glow over the myriad of books and documents that surrounded him.

“As you may have guessed Justin translates to Justice and his middle name Huw means intellect or mind. When I think of justice I see a knight, so I drew him as my Knightly scholar.” She giggled, “it’s even more appropriate when you consider that he used to work for a university.”

“Hu, yeah, that is kinda cool,” Dust thought for a moment. “Hang on, do all humans have middle names or is it just you lot?”

“Well I wouldn’t say all humans have one, but it’s pretty common.”

“So what’s yours?”

“Urr.”

“Oh come on, it can’t be that embarrassing,” Dust huffed.

“It’s not that, I actually rather like it. It’s just …. Um Papyrus kinda begged me not to tell you.” Emma mumbled, fiddling with her necklace.

“Oh did he now,” Dust grinned, “so what is it?”

Emma shook her head and crossed her arms. “Nope, I’m not risking upsetting the cook, just to sate your curiosity.”

Dust raised his hand and snapped his fingers, causing several sharp bones to appear. “I could just make you tell me.”

“And I could just set my cat on you,” Emma stated dryly, giving the skeleton a rather unimpressed look.

“Leave that fiend out of this!”

“Then leave your bones out of it,” she retorted.

The pair glared at each other until Dust gave in with a pouty “fine” and a wave of his hand made the bones disappear.

“Thank you,” Emma’s expression softened as she looked at the pouty skeleton. “Now look I’m not going to break one of my cardinal rules of life and upset the cook over a simple case of curiosity. But since you’re so curious I will give you this. When I was researching everyone’s names I came across my own and did a painting based on it. So if you can figure out what Emma means and if you can find that painting it should be pretty obvious what my middle name is.”

“So what does Emma mean?” Dust asked eagerly.

“Uh-ah, if you really want to know you’re gonna have to put some backbone into it and find out on your own.” She laughed going to stand again.

Only for Dust to pull her onto his lap, “or alternatively I hold you here and get you to tell me about each picture until we find the right one.”

Emma squirmed in the skeleton’s hold “D, you do realise that the bathroom is the only room in this entire house that doesn't have either books or artwork in it, right?”

“Then we better get started, unless you want to spare us both the trouble and just tell me what it is,” he whispered into her ear.

Emma sighed and rolled her eyes, “So which one do you want to start with?”

“That one.”

“Alright,” Emma murmured softly, fighting back another yawn, before quietly telling him about the image.

As he listened to the girl’s voice Dust found his eyelids growing heavy and slowly drifting shut as sleep finally claimed him. After listening to his soft even breathing for a while Emma carefully manoeuvred Dust down and curled up still in his embrace before joining him in sleep.

The only sound to break the silence was a ghostly chuckle as a transparent glove flicked the light switch off with a quiet, “GOOD NIGHT”, before fading back into nothingness.

Chapter Text

As Papyrus helped Emma pack an old green backpack that had some sort of weird metal frame attached to it, he thought about the changes that the storm had wrought in their household.

It had been about a week since it had happened and Papyrus still found himself smiling at the memory of Emma’s face when they had replaced her bed. They had traded her old broken one for a practically new one from their counterparts. That had been a particularly satisfying raid. Between liberating the bed and their normal supplies, and planting one of Dust’s stink bombs in Comic’s room, it had been exhilarating. It was just a shame that he could not figure out how to stabilise his blue snow in the higher temperatures of the surface.

A soft giggle drew him back from his musings. “That’s quite the forlorn face you got there Pap, ya're not still upset over that whole middle name thing are you?” Emma asked teasingly, smiling up at her friend.

Papyrus sighed and shook his head before engulfing Emma in one of his hugs. “Though I Wish You Had Not Made My Brothers Aware Of Its Existence. I Must Amit Cooking Has Once Again Become A Pleasurable Experience, Now That Dust Has Finally Given Up Upon Hiding All The Knives In His Quest For That Dratted Name.”

“Hey, don’t be mean, my awesome big bro chose my name and I happen to think it’s cool,” Emma said, playfully slapping Pap on the chest.

“My Apologies Dear Friend,” Papyrus murmured as he gently nuzzled the top of her head. “Your Name Is Truly Beautiful And It Suits You Very Well. I Just Fear How My Brothers Would Use It If They Ever Found Out What It Is.”

“Branch out into a new field of puns,” Emma said, nonchalantly shrugging as she wiggled free from her friend’s grasp and went back to sorting out her bag.

“Emma Please, It Is Far Too Early For Such Language,” the tall skeleton groaned, collapsing dramatically to the floor.

“Oh come on Pap there were no puns in that sentence,” Emma chided lightly, “well maybe one if you count the actual word, but that’s it.” She added thoughtfully as she finished checking her bag.

“Ha, I Shall Not Be Fooled By Your Innocent Act,” Papyrus huffed, sitting up and pointing an accusing finger at his friend. “We Both Know That There Were Two Deliberate Puns In That Sentence!”

Emma gasped and clutched her chest in mock hurt as she turned to face him. “Pap you wound me. As if I would do such a thing to my most treasured friend.”

“For Some Reason, I Doubt The Validity Of That Last Statement” Papyrus said, once more drawing Emma into a hug and nuzzling her gently until she started giggling.

“A-alright, I sur-render they pff were p-puns! Now ha ha, l-let me up you fiend! Before my lift gets here.” She somehow managed to wheeze out between giggles.

“Very Well, I The Great Papyrus Shall Grant You Mercy This Time.” He said as he released her. Before sternly adding, “But No More Puns”.

“Ok, but in my defence, those puns did get that sad look off your face,” Emma said gently cupping his cheek.

“Your Methods Are Deplorable,” Papyrus said deadpanly, “There Are Better Ways To Cure My Melancholy Over The Failure To Recreate My Favourite Trap.”

“Still having trouble with your blue snow?”

“Yes.”

“Well, why not ask our resident chemist for some help? It might be a nice bonding activity for the two of you, plus it might just distract him from this whole middle name thing.”

“That Is A Marvellous Idea, My Friend. I Shall Endeavour To Broach The Subject With Him This Very Day.”

“Are ya sure ya gonna ta have time for that? Considering your normally full schedule of cooking, cleaning and rearranging all the pictures to frustrate your brothers,” Emma asked teasingly.

Papyrus smiled softly as he gave into temptation and gently drew Emma back into his embrace. “Of Course, I Will Always Find Time For Family.”

“Yeah, family’s great,” she murmured wistfully, ignoring the small twinge in her heart as she reached up to stroke the back of his head.

From their hiding place on the landing, the other two skeletons silently watched the younger pair continue their embrace until the doorbell rang.

“Well that’s my lift,” Emma sighed as she reluctantly left Papyrus’ embrace.

Back up on the landing Axe made sure his grip on Dust was good before teleporting them to a hiding spot outside. From this new spot, the pair could see a familiar large, red-headed driver.

“So the kid’s lift is the same human from the hospital,” Dust stated quietly.

Axe grunted, his lone eyelight never straying from the ex-biker as Emma stepped outside to greet him.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Dust asked, his own sockets glued to the scene in front of them, especially now as Papyrus had stepped out to join in the conversation. “We've got no idea where those two are going or how long it’s going to take to get there.”

“Yeah,” Axe growled, his eyelight flaring in rage as his grip unconsciously tightened on Dust’s shoulder. “I’m not going ta let another bastard hurt her, she ours.”

“Fine,” Dust murmured as he rearranged his grip on Axe to make it more secure before teleporting them to a different vantage point. Their new spot allowed them to better observe the vehicle and the surrounding area.

Silently the pair watched as Emma said her goodbyes to Papyrus and scrambled into the van.

“They’re heading west,” Dust stated.

Axe grunted and shortcutted them to a point in front of the vehicle. Once Dust got over the vertigo from having someone else pulling him through the void, he started to look around for places they could teleport to. While he was doing that Axe continued to keep an eye on the van.

“Still west,” Axe grunted.

Dust nodded and moved them to one of the points in front of the van. Almost instantly upon settling Dust sort out the vehicle and tracked its movements, while Axe took over finding their next hiding spot. Just as he was about to lose sight of the van, Dust informed Axe which direction it was headed in and the stout skeleton once more shortcutted them in front of it, before switching roles with Dust again.

Using this method the pair manage to follow Emma for well over an hour, swapping jobs each time they teleported. Until finally the van pulled into a small complex of warehouses some ways outside of the town.

As the pair sort out the perfect spot where they could observe everything without being seen, Emma jumped out of the van and hurried after her friend. “Thanks again for giving me a lift Patch, I really appreciate it.”

“No prob’ hun,” Patch said happily, waving it off. “Now come on, we don't want ta be late ta the briefing.”

“Okay,” She said softly, following her friend into one of the warehouses where the pair signed in. After that Patch was called away, so Emma wandered over to the makeshift stage someone had set up, took out her Kindle and settled down on one of the chairs near the front.

Slowly the seats around her filled up and once everyone was seated a man stepped up onto the stage. He clapped his hands drawing everyone's attention to him. “Alright folks settle down, we’ve got a lot to cover today and not a lot of time to do it.” Silence fell over the room as the man continued to speak, “alright, first off please make sure your sign-in forms have the correct information on them or we won’t be able to pay you. Next up we had to make a couple of changes to the order of the scenarios we’re running today, so please make sure to double-check your info packs as soon as you get them and if you have any problems, take them immediately to your section chief. Now with that out of the way I like to remind everyone to be on your best behaviour today, as we will have a TV crew as well as members of the monster embassy observing us today. On that note, since this will be the first time we have monster participants joining us on the course I will now go over how to interact with them during the Sim.” He stopped for a moment to check his notes before continuing. “First off, if a monster says they are ‘checking’ you are to tell them whatever information they ask for. This will mainly apply to the casualties as the healers will be using it to gauge the severity of your injuries. For those among you that will be playing terrorists please be aware that the guard has been cleared to use restraining magic during the Sim. If you are uncomfortable with this please tell your section chief immediately so we have time to make any necessary adjustments to the scenarios. Aside from that the guard has agreed to follow the same grappling rules as the police, so as long as everyone obeys the safety protocols there should be no problems.” He once again checked his notes before adding, “I believe that’s everything, so are there any questions before you are given your roles? And by questions I mean relevant ones, so you can put your hand down Patch. We don't have time for your games today.”

“Arr, Steve,” Patch pouted as he lowered his hand, only for Emma to hesitantly raise her own. “Um, what method will we be using to replicate the effects of healing magic, since our injuries won’t be real?”

Steve blinked, “that’s a very good question. Thank you for reminding me. I should have something on it somewhere,” he murmured, flicking through his notes. “Ah yes here we are. The wounds have been given a numeric value so if a healer says they are using magic to treat you, you are to tell them how many points your injuries are worth and they will deduct the appropriate amount from their mana pools. As for identifying those who had magic used on them, the healers will be carrying ribbons that they will attach to the people they have treated. As for how you should act after healing, unless you are walking wounded the effects of the magic will render you unconscious.” He scanned his notes one last time, “now I believe that’s truly everything, so unless there are any other questions. We will now hand out your assignments, once you have them please report to your respective section chief so we can get things underway.”

Up in the rafters, Axe tried to figure out what was going on as the humans below started to move. His mind felt a bit sluggish making it hard to think, but with his little one surrounded by strangers, he couldn’t afford to let his guard down.

A sudden shriek from below had Axe preparing an attack until Dust stopped him. “Easy, it’s not her. See Em’s safe.”

Back down with the humans, Emma was still blissfully unaware of her bodyguards. Her attention was caught by a hysterical woman who was trying to stamp on something that was scurrying around her feet. Emma moved forward trying to see what had scared the woman so. Between the legs of the gathered crowd, she spotted a small purple thing darting about, desperately trying not to be stepped on.

“It’s alright love, I’ll get that nasty toy spider,” a middle-aged man said, grabbing a box.

Just as he was about to drop the box over the little thing Emma’s voice could be heard yelling over the general noise. “That’s not a toy! That’s a monster.”

Upon hearing her voice the little spider changed direction and quickly scrambled to safety in the pocket of Emma’s old hoodie. With a heavy sigh, she carefully fished the small thing out and brought it up to eye level. “Alright, first off are you okay?” Getting a nod from the spider Emma let out a sigh of relief, “good. Now, what are you doing here?”

To this, the spider whipped out a sheet of paper and waved it in front of Emma’s face.

“Come on folks, the TV crew could be here any minute. We have to get ready,” Steve called out as Emma managed to retrieve the piece of paper.

“Well I don’t know about the TV people, but your caterers are stuck at the gate,” Emma called back.

“What?”

“Um, yeah evidently they tried to call you when the guard wouldn’t let them in, but they couldn’t reach you. So they sent this little one here to find you,” Emma said, trying to ignore all the eyes on her as she gently stroked the spider.

“Shit,” Steve muttered looking down at his phone. “Patch, take Emma and get this mess sorted out.”

“Sure thing boss,” Patch said cheerfully as he headed for the exit with Emma in tow.

The little spider tapped the hand it was riding on to get Emma’s attention. Once they had it they held up a placard that simply said (Hat?)

She blinked and tried to puzzle out what the little thing was asking. A smile spread across her face once she figured it out. “Oh, are you asking where my normal hat is?”

The spider nodded.

Emma’s smile softened as she gently ran a finger down its back, before touching the peak of the plain baseball cap she was wearing. “Sorry little one, I know you guys love my normal hat’s wide brim, but I never wear anything I truly value to these things. There’s just too big a chance of it getting damaged or lost for me to risk it.”

The spider nodded sadly before resolutely tapping Emma’s hand, while dramatically gesturing towards the gate.

“Oh, I take this to mean onwards mighty steed?” She asked with a giggle. Getting another determined nod, Emma laughed and sped up saying. “Alright, you better hold on then.”

Patch was already sorting things out with the gate guard by the time Emma got there, so she turned her attention toward the van. The vehicle, like most things that involved the Spinners, was a light lilac with the familiar logo of the bakery on it. Leaning out of the driver's side window was a smartly dressed male spider monster. When his bored gaze fell on Emma he broke into a broad grin and waved enthusiastically at her. “Hey Em, what are you doing here?”

Emma laughed and waved back as she walked over, “I could ask you the same thing Drider. I thought you would be too busy with that restaurant of yours to be doing a simple catering job like this.”

“Why he’s being a good boy and helping his beloved mummy, dearie,” Tuffet said merrily, popping her head out of the other window.

Before either of them could respond to her cheery words, Patch called out. “Alright folks, everything is sorted out now. So you can head on through,” he turned towards his small friend, “hey Em, could you show them where to set up? I need to head back.”

“Sure,” she called back as she scrambled into the van next to Tuffet.

As they started to move Tuffet stayed quiet while Emma told Drider where to go. Once the instructions were completed, she turned a worried eye towards her young friend and asked. “Emma dearie, not to sound critical or anything, but shouldn’t you have dressed a little bit smarter considering who’s meant to be showing up today?”

Emma blinked and looked down at her faded black hoodie and patched grey leggings. “Considering that this is a Sim. Nope.”

“Sim?” Drider enquired as he followed his friend’s directions.

“You know, a simulation,” seeing everyone’s blank stares Emma sighed. “I never told you guys about my side job have I?”

The little spiders on the dashboard shook their heads as Drider commented, “I didn’t even know you had a job, aside from caring for your mum.”

“Technically I don’t,” she said, wincing, “it’s just not worth all the paperwork involved if I told the Job Centre about this. Especially since I can’t claim Carers Allowance anymore.”

“Job Centre?”

“The part of the government that is in charge of my benefits, now that mum is gone.” Emma shrugged, before any words of sympathy could be expressed over her loss, she continued. “So back to your original question, Sims are training courses that recreate normally dangerous situations as safely as possible. This way the participants can learn how to cope with those scenarios without anyone’s life being actually in danger.”

“So who do you normally get on these courses?”

“It’s usually just aid workers going out to third-world or war-torn countries. But every now and again we will get a special request like today, from the emergency services to run a specific Sim for them.”

“That’s cool, so what is it you do at these things?” Drider asked as he pulled up by one of the buildings.

“I’m normally either a casualty or a hostage, depending on which one we’re running,” Emma said as she jumped out of the van. “So don’t be surprised if I come back covered in blood and gore later.”

At that last statement, the little spiders leapt from the dashboard and started to check their friend for injuries.

“Ha-ha, come on-n guys th-at tickles. I’mm not h-urt and even-n if I-i come back later covered in blood, I promise non-ne of it will be real.” Emma stammered as she tried to stop the little things from crawling down her top.

Tuffet sighed and started to retrieve her smaller kin, “perhaps it would be best if you were a hostage today, dearie.”

“Yeah, I think I’d rather be blown up than go through that again.”

“Why?” Drider asked as he fished out the last of his kin from Emma’s backpack.

“I rather not have any more knives in my personal space at the moment,” she stated with a rueful smile as she turned to face her friend.

All the spiders winced in unison as they remembered what Emma had been through recently.

Emma for her part tried not to shrink under the silent stares that her friends directed at her. She smiled awkwardly at them as she nervously rubbed her arms. “Um, well unless you guys need some help setting things up, I’d better head over to make-up so I can get all bloodied up for the medics to play with.”

“No need to worry about us, dearie. You do what you need to do, we’ll be just fine,” Tuffet called merrily as she moved towards the back of their van.

“Alright, I’ll see you guys later then,” Emma said, giving her friends a small wave in farewell. But as she turned to go, the spider that Drider had retrieved from her bag started to make a ruckus, which the other little spiders soon joined in with, as it angrily pointed at the backpack.

Emma looked at the agitated spiders in confusion, “what's got your metaphorical knickers in a twist? I promise I’ll play with you guys later, but I’ve got to get ta work now.”

“I don’t think it’s the fact that you’re leaving that’s upset them, I think it’s the fact that you have a packed lunch in your bag when we’re meant to be providing lunch today.” Drider commented, with the smaller spider monsters poutily nodding along with his words.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you guys were the ones providing the catering for today.” Emma said softly, as she sheepishly smiled and rubbed the back of her head. “But even if I had known, I don't think I would’ve fought Pap too hard over the food,” she added quietly.

“Oh? Why is that, dearie?” Tuffet asked, poking her head out of the van.

Emma sighed before she quietly said, “his tribe was in the middle of a terrible famine when the barrier broke. So now it’s a point of great pride and joy for him to be able ta provide for those around him.”

“And our little care bear just loves making others happy,” Drider added with a shake of his head and a small chuckle.

“So I like seeing my friends happy, what’s wrong with that?” Emma pouted up at the taller monster.

“Nothing at all, dearie,” Tuffet crooned as she pulled Emma into a side hug. “It’s just one of your many adorable traits that make you so special,” she added, while she sneakily snuck a few extra treats into her friend’s bag.

“I’m not adorable,” Emma muttered as she reluctantly pulled away from her friend’s embrace.

“Of course dearie,” Tuffet tittered softly, “now don’t you have somewhere to be? We don’t want your boss docking your pay now do we?” She said, while affectionately patting the top of her young friend’s head.

Emma nodded and quietly repeated her farewells before she once again turned to leave, but she stopped as she remembered something. “Oh, before I forget the terrorists are setting off a bomb at the beginning of the Sim, so don’t be surprised if you hear an explosion later.”

“Okay, thanks for the heads up Em,” Drider called after his friend’s retreating form.

As she hurried along to makeup, Emma noticed that the quadrangle in front of the warehouses was filling up with people as the participants had started to arrive. Groaning, she tried to speed up, desperately praying that she wouldn’t be made to play a hostage because she was late. Normally she didn’t care what role she got, but as she mentioned to Tuffet, she truly didn’t want any more knives waved in her face at the moment. Emma huffed and rolled her eyes as she continued to weave her way through the growing crowd. And of course whenever she was a hostage, they just had to pick her to be held at knifepoint while the ones playing terrorists negotiated with the police. It wouldn’t be so bad if it was someone she trusted like Patch, but he was working special effects today. Whereas if she didn’t hurry she would end up in the second part of the Sim, which involved the police tracking down the terrorists, and that normally culminated in a hostage situation.

Just as Emma started to mentally lament the fact that she was never allowed to play a terrorist, because according to everyone she just had victim written all over her. Someone bumped into her, knocking her to the ground.

“Hey… woah are you alright?”

“Yeah, sorry I guess I should have paid more attention ta where I was going,” Emma said, ruefully smiling up at a blond guy in a paramedic's uniform.

“Naa, you don’t have anything to apologise for, I’m the one that knocked you over,” said the paramedic with an apologetic smile as he helped her up.

“Thanks,” Emma mumbled once she was back on her feet, before awkwardly adding. “Um, well I better get going, I can't keep the others waiting.”

“Hey wait, you’re one of the actors right?” He asked as he reached out to stop her.

Emma blinked and looked back at the medic in confusion “um, yes.”

“Then can I ask you something?”

“If it’s about the running order of the Sim, then I wouldn’t be able ta tell you anything. You’ll just have ta wait for your briefing.”

“No, no, no I just want you to talk to a friend of mine. It’s her first Sim and she’s having trouble with the whole idea. I was hoping that talking to one of you would help settle her nerves.” The man pleaded as he released his grip on her.

Emma bit her lip and tried to hide a whine as she mentally debated what she should do. She was already late, so the logical thing would be to politely say no and get on her way. But she owed her life to people like him, she might never be able to thank the paramedic who saved her but she could at least help this one. Letting out a quiet sigh Emma fully turned to face the man, “I’m not sure if I’m the right person for this, but if you think it will help… then lead the way.”

“Thank you so much! She’s right over here,” the medic said enthusiastically, grabbing her hand and half dragging, half guiding Emma through the growing crowd. He brought her over to a small group of monsters, though the word small might be a little misleading given that one of them was a 10ft tall humanoid goat monster. Emma stared up at the statuesque creature, he had fluffy white fur, long flowing golden locks and a neatly trimmed bread, with an almost fatherly demeanour.

Before Emma could register anything else about the group the medic called out to them. “Hey Briar, I’ve got someone I want you to meet!”

“Jeff? What on earth are you up to this time?” Asked a softly spoken female bunny monster. Emma's inner artist was instantly drawn to the look of this monster. She was wearing the standard green healer's outfit that contrasted beautifully with her soft lilac fur and warm brown eyes.

Jeff grinned broadly, “I remembered how nervous you were on the way here. So I asked this actor to come to talk to you.”

Briar looked at the shabbily dressed girl who hesitantly smiled at her, “um hi,” the little thing said with a small wave.

Briar returned the smile before bowing apologetically, “I’m so sorry that my friend wasted your time, but I’ve decided not to participate in today’s event.”

Emma blinked, a little startled by the bunny’s response. “That’s alright, but can I ask you why?”

“I recently attempted to treat a girl and I honestly don’t think I can face that again…there was so much blood… Oh, Angel's mercy I don’t even know if she survived.” Briar wailed desperately, hugging herself.

“Hey it’s alright,” Emma said soothingly, taking one of the bunny’s hands. “I know dealing with stuff like that can be pretty traumatic,” she added, before snorting, “gods it turned my dad into a chain smoker.”

“Was your father a medic too?” Briar asked quietly.

“No, he was a firefighter and I’m not gonna lie he had to deal with some nasty stuff over the years. But he always said that the Sims helped.” Emma said with a soft smile, giving the healer’s hand a gentle squeeze.

“How?”

“Well for a start, though we try to make everything as real as possible, it is still fake. So no matter what mistake you make today everyone will be alright at the end of it. And once it’s over the instructors will tell you what you did right and what you need to work on. They’ll even recommend courses you can go on to improve your skills,” Emma said, giving the bunny’s hand another encouraging squeeze. “And this might sound a little nasty, but this could be a good way for you to find out if you do have a problem or not. At least here there are trained people that can help you if you do have a panic attack or something. Then you would know for sure one way or the other. If you do have any issues then you and your friends would be able to figure out a plan of action. But that’s just my personal opinion, I’m not a professional, if you’re truly uncomfortable doing this then you shouldn’t do it.”

A giant paw lightly rested itself on the bunny’s shoulder, “she has a point, my dear. I know it’s hard, but take it from someone who knows, the longer you take to deal with something like this, the harder it will become.”

Briar hesitantly looked up at the older goat monster, “I know sir, but….”

A skeletal hand suddenly appeared and started to wag itself in front of the younger monster's face, stopping her mid-sentence. Just the hand, mind you, there was nobody attached to it.

“Aaaa, no buts young Lady! I won’t have one of my best healers doubting themselves like this.” Everyone turned to face this new speaker as he popped out from behind his broader companion’s back. This new monster was a brightly dressed skeleton. He had an oval face that was closer to human in proportions than any of the other skeletons that Emma had seen so far. He had two scars on his face, one running up from his right eye socket and the other one under his left socket running down towards his mouth. His startling mismatched eyelights glowed warmly as he gazed down at the young bunny. “Briar, you are an amazing healer, and I am quite sure that the young lady you treated is fine.” He said, gently taking her free hand.

“But Director.”

“Briar, what did I just say about buts? As my nephew Crooks can testify, you are a brilliant healer, but if it will help ease your mind I will contact the hospital and see if we can find out what happened to that girl.”

“Wait, did you say Crooks?”

The skeleton tilted his head so his orange and blue eye lights were now fixed on the small human. “Well, yes my dear, but what has that…”

“Then does that mean you are the healer from the Market Square incident?” Emma asked excitedly, unintentionally cutting the other off mid-question. Briar nodded dumbly down at the girl, whose shy smile turned into a broad grin as she swung her bag off her shoulder and knelt down. “Then I think I can save you a phone call,” Emma said, as she rummaged through her backpack.

Before anyone could ask her what she meant, Emma had popped back up holding something. “This is for you. Thank you for saving my life” she said brightly, holding out a wrapped package towards the healer.

Briar stood dumbfounded for a moment before she silently took the package and unwrapped it. Under the paper was a simple wooden box with the words ‘Thank You’ carved into the top. And when she opened it she found it to be full to the brim with handmade biscuits and cookies, with a pencil sketch of Papyrus and Emma holding up a banner also saying ‘Thank You’ smiling up at her from the inside of the lid.

Briar blinked and looked down in surprise at the girl, who smiled nervously back at her.

“I know it’s not much, but Pap and I wanted to make you something to show you just how grateful we are for what you did for us.” Emma mumbled, her hand unconsciously seeking out her necklace for comfort as everyone stared blankly at her. Emma was glad that she had let Papyrus talk her into bringing the box with her today instead of dropping it off at the Centre. However, she wasn’t sure that this had been the right moment as they all just continued to stare at her. A deep blush that highlighted her scar started to cover her cheeks as the silence deepened. “Sorry, it’s probably silly to want ta thank someone for doing their job, but I am glad I got ta meet ya. I’ll leave you in peace now, again thank yo….”

Before Emma could finish saying her goodbyes and beat a hasty retreat, she found herself surrounded by green fabric and lilac fur. “It’s you, it’s really you. Oh, Angel’s glory. I’m so glad that you’re alright, I was so scared that what I had done wasn’t enough.” Briar wailed, clutching the girl to her chest.

“Briar my dear perhaps you should ease up a bit before you suffocate the poor child and undo all your hard work.” The goat monster chuckled as he gently patted the bunny’s back.

Briar hugged Emma closer before she let her go, “sorry.”

“It alright,” Emma murmured, silently wishing that one of her friends was here to take some of the attention away from her. “Um, well, I um guess, I’d better get going before someone comes looking for me.”

“Please wait,” Briar called out after her, “will you please tell me your name?”

She looked back and smiled shyly at the bunny, “it’s Emma.”

Briar’s eyes widened in horror as she finally realised what that silvery mark on the girl’s cheek was. A gasp escaped her mouth as she sank to the floor in shock at what she had done to this girl. “Oh Angel's heavenly mercy, I’ve scarred you.”

“What?” Emma forgot all about her nerves as she turned her attention to soothing the healer. In one fluid motion, she swung her bag off, pulled the metal frame apart to reveal a stool and sat Briar down on it. Then she firmly took hold of the bunny’s head and looked her straight in the eye. “Let’s get this through that fluffy head of yours. The only thing you’re responsible for is saving my life.”

“But.”

“No buts. The only one responsible for my wounds is the man who inflicted them,” Emma stated firmly as she gently squished the monster’s cheeks.

“But healing shouldn’t leave a trace,” Briar whispered sadly.

“By whose standards? You know by human standards what you did for me was practically a miracle.”

Briar blinked and stared at the girl in surprise, “a miracle?”

“Yeah, a miracle. For all our advances in medicine, I would’ve bled out long before I made it to the hospital if you hadn’t intervened. Gods, I was so close to death that my soul had started to separate from me.” The moment those words left Emma’s mouth she felt a sudden sharp pain in her chest. “Gods! Whichever one of ya is trying ta check me, could ya quit it! Ya worse at it than Axe and he has a fucking head wound!” She cried out as she doubled up in pain.

“Oh, sorry,” the goat and skeleton monster said in unison.

Emma sighed in relief as the pain subsided. She blinked away tears from her eyes as she looked up at the pair of monsters, “thank you.”

In turn, the two monsters knelt down so they were closer to the girl. “My dear, are you alright?” The skeleton asked, a concerned hand reaching out towards her.

Emma backed away from the monster, “yes I’m fine. Just please don’t use so much magic when checking someone. That was really painful,” she said, rubbing her chest.

The monsters shared a concerned look before the goat monster addressed Emma again. “My child, a check should not hurt no matter how much magic is used. I fear your soul may be damaged,” he said, with a worried frown marring his face.

“But I feel perfectly fine,” Emma protested, once again taking an involuntary step backwards.

The skeleton summoned a couple of hands to try to stop the girl’s retreat. “My dear, you should listen to Daniel. A check will only hurt if you actively fight it. And well you’re….”

“A human,” Emma muttered, crossing her arms protectively over her chest.

The skeleton nodded “yes human. I know the soul doesn’t have quite the same importance to you as it does for us. But any injury to it, no matter how small, can have serious implications for the rest of your body.” He said, cautiously inching towards the girl.

“So?”

“So, I would like to take you to our clinic and give you a check-up.” He said, standing up and offering her his hand.

“No,” Emma stated firmly, her hands still protectively clasped over her soul.

“Can I ask why? My child,” Daniel enquired softly.

“For a start sir, my mother taught me better than to blindly go anywhere with a strange man.” She said, giving the pair a rather pointed look.

Daniel rubbed the back of his head and chuckled ruefully as he looked over at his friend. “It seems that in our old age, our manners have started to slip.”

The skeleton gasped dramatically as his hand flew up to cover his mouth. “Oh my, how silly of us. I do apologise my dear, I’m Dr Dings Serif, Chief Medic as well as the Director of the Clinic. And this is….”

“Howdy, I’m Daniel Dreamurr, I’m the Director of the Centre.” He said, standing and offering the girl his paw.

Tentatively she shook his hand, “and I’m Emma, an extra for this Sim. Who is seriously at risk of having her pay docked if she doesn’t get her ass over to make up soon. So if you would please excuse me I better get going,” she said, releasing the monster’s hand and turning to retrieve her bag from Briar.

Jeff, who had been quietly observing the others this whole time, stepped in front of Emma with his hands raised in a placating manner. “Hey, I may not understand everything that’s going on here, but monsters are the experts on anything soul-related.”

“So?”

“So maybe you should listen to them when they say this could be serious.”

Briar stepped up next to Jeff, “he’s right Emma. You should really take the Director up on his offer.”

Emma sighed and rubbed tiredly at her face “look, I understand what ya getting at, but I really can’t afford to lose this job. So if one of ya could give me a note or reference I can use to book an appointment the next time I’m at the Centre, I would really appreciate it. But I seriously need ta get going.”

“Oh, it shouldn’t be a problem. I’m sure we can arrange something with your boss,” Dings said brightly, smiling down at the girl. “After all, your health is the most important thing here.”

Emma’s hands curled into tight fists as she bit her lip and tried not to cry out of share frustration. She didn’t like this, she really didn’t like this one bit. She didn’t like how they all crowded around her, trying to coerce her into doing something she was truly uncomfortable with. It left her feeling trapped and unsafe. The logical part of Emma knew that their actions came from concern for her well-being. She also knew that she couldn’t afford to offend these two giant monsters, not only because of her job, but because these two could make things incredibly difficult for the guys. Thinking of her friends ignited a small spark of anger inside of Emma. How could this skeleton stand there all concerned for her, a complete stranger, when he had left his own flesh and blood in agony for over six months?

This conflicting roll of emotions left Emma desperately wishing that her mother was here with her. She would have been able to sort out this whole thing out in a matter of moments without upsetting anyone. But that was an impossibility, which left Emma uncertainly looking up at the pair of ancient monsters. Her panicked mind tried to think of a diplomatic way to decline their offer without either endangering her friends or her job.

Sighing deeply, Emma sidestepped around Jeff and Briar, folded up the stool and put her backpack on. She did her best to plaster on a polite smile before turning to face everyone. “I thank you all for your concern, but I think I would rather have a note. It will save a lot of complications in the long run.”

“My dear, I wish you would reconsider. This isn’t something you should put off,” Dings said, concern shimmering from the depth of his sockets.

“I am aware of that. I just don’t want ta go anywhere with a man who would leave his own nephew in agony for over six months.” Emma grated out from between clenched teeth, silently wishing that this guy would just take a hint and leave her alone.

“What?”

Emma cringed back, instantly regretting her words as the skeleton’s eyelights snuffed out leaving his sockets as matching voids.

“What did you say?” He whispered, his empty sockets trained on the girl.

Emma silently cursed herself for letting her frustration get the better of her, especially after her boss had told everyone to be on their best behaviour today. She sighed, ‘well there goes this job and any chance of a reference. So I might as well accept the consequence of my actions and give this skeleton a piece of my mind.’ With that thought, Emma squared her shoulders, straightened to her full 5ft and angrily glared up at the skeleton. “You heard me, I refuse to go anywhere with a guy who would leave someone in pain like that.”

“What do you mean?” Dings whispered.

“Do you know how I found out about my soul?” Emma asked quietly but continued before the other could have a chance to answer. “It’s because my soul touched Papyrus’. So I know all the shitty things your family has done to him and his brothers.”

“My child, you must be mistaken. I've known Dings for many centuries and he is not capable of harming his family,” Daniel said softly, as he attempted to soothe the girl.

“I would be the first to admit that because of how we did it the memories came to me a bit scrambled. But when you get a fire elemental bawling his eyes out, ‘cause he just found out his dearest friend, who he thought was dead, is alive. It makes at least me wonder if something fishy is going on.” She said, smiling sweetly up at the fluffy monster.

Daniel blinked, a little startled by the change in the girl’s demeanour, “well, I guess so.”

“Exactly! When I asked Pap about it. He said that they had been told they were the only ones that made it through from their underground.”

“They didn’t,” Dings whispered as his skull slowly turned an odd ashy grey colour.

“They didn’t what exactly? Keep them locked in the attic? Tell them that because they’re so broken that no one would believe that they’re related. So they better behave or the nasty humans will come and take them away and do unspeakable experiments on them. Or do you mean the inadequate and inappropriate amount of food the others gave them, considering that they came from a starvation timeline?” Emma demanded, angrily glaring up at the skeleton, daring him to contradict her.

While she was speaking Dings slowly collapsed to his knees with a growing look of absolute horror on his face. “I didn’t know…. My poor nephews, no wonder they were so guarded and hostile towards everyone if that was how they were treated.”

Daniel sighed softly and placed a comforting paw on his stricken friend’s shoulder. “Don’t blame yourself too much Dings, there was no way you could’ve known. But now you can fix the damage the others have caused.”

“You’re right Daniel!” Dings declared, jumping to his feet and dashing the glowing blue tears from his sockets. “This is no time for tears! I must find my nephews and make this right!” He then turned towards the human and bowed, “my dear I cannot thank you enough for bringing my nephews’ plight to my attention.”

“Ya’re welcome,” Emma politely murmured back, still suspiciously eyeing the monster.

“I know that this might seem a bit rude, but since you’re obviously close friends with them…. Could I perhaps prevail upon you to provide me with their contact information?” He asked, gazing hopefully at the girl.

Emma cocked an eyebrow and continued to stare at the brightly dressed skeleton. She honestly couldn’t remember how much this one had been involved in all that had happened. But she was not about to risk her friends' safety, just because this guy seemed genuinely shocked at how they had been treated. So with a heavy sigh, she said, “look if you really want to talk to them you can leave a message with Miss Spinner at Muffet’s bakery. And I’ll make sure they get it.” She tiredly scrubbed at her face. “Now if that’s everything, I have ta go and see if I still have a job after all this.”

“H-hey wait,” Dings cried, making a grab for the girl as she tried to leave again. An action he instantly regretted as she flinched away from his touch and turned to face him with wide frightened eyes. “Sorry, but does that mean you know Tuffet?” He asked, awkwardly rubbing the back of his skull.

It took Emma a moment to gather herself and put a polite smile back on after that little scare. “Um yeah, my family has been friends with hers since the bakery opened.” She was silent for a second before adding, “actually Muffet’s Bakery is providing the catering today, so Tuffet and her son are here if you wanna talk to her about any of this.”

“Huh?”

Emma let out another sigh, “I know monsters tend to be more open and trusting than humans, but I just levelled some pretty serious allegations against your family. So I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to have some form of verification and Tuffet basically knows what’s been going on from our side of things. So if you have any more questions you can ask her. Now if you would excuse me I must really be going,” she said as she turned to leave again.

Without really thinking Dings found himself reaching out towards the girl, still trying to absorb all the information that had been dropped on him. Only to stop when the girl tensed up and whispered, “please I can’t afford to lose this job.”

Daniel looked between his friend and the girl as their oddly tense stand-off continued. He knew Dings could easily get carried away with things and what he just learned must have been upsetting, but perhaps it was time to reign his friend in before things got any worse. As Daniel looked over at the girl one last time he caught Briar doing the same thing while her fingers absently traced the carving on her box. He watched as the bunny nodded to herself, then resolutely squaring her shoulders she grabbed Jeff’s hand before saying. “She’s right, we all better be off if we don’t want to miss the briefing.”

Dings blinked and broke his stare off with Emma, to turn and look at Briar. “Oh, does that mean you are willing to participate in the Sim now?”

Briar took a breath and nodded, “yes.”

“That’s wonderful Briar, but are you sure you want to do this?” Daniel asked, seizing the chance to steer the conversation back onto its original course.

Briar nodded again, tightening her hold on both Jeff and the box.

Daniel smiled and clapped his hands together, “alright then. Jeff, could you please escort Briar back to the others?”

“Yeah, sure. Come on Briar!” Jeff said enthusiastically, as he started to merrily lead her away. She barely had time to wave goodbye to everyone before he dragged her back into the mass of people.

Now that the young healer was safely dealt with, Daniel turned his attention towards his old friend. “Doctor, perhaps you should check in with your staff just to make sure everything is still on course? After all, we have both the Ambassador and the media watching us today.”

“Yes of course,” Dings nodded, silently thanking his friend for the subtle reminder about his job and his responsibilities. Giving himself a little mental shake, he turned his attention back to the girl. “My dear, I do apologise for any distress I may have caused you,” he said with a deep bow. “I have to be off now, but I will make sure that Tuffet has the reference you requested by the end of the day. So please book that appointment as soon as possible.”

“Okay, thank you,” Emma said softly, before adding with a hesitant smile, “and don’t worry I will.”

“Good, well then I’m off,” Dings said with a mischievous grin before he disappeared with a flourish into a shortcut.

“Gods, all he needs is a smoke bomb ta make that a really dramatic exit.” Emma breathed to herself, forgetting for a moment that she wasn’t alone.

That was until Daniel’s deep chuckle brought her back to reality. “Yes it would, but please don’t tell him that. Dings has enough fun startling people with his ability as it is.”

“No worries.”

“Thank you. Now, shall we be off?” Daniel asked, smiling down at the girl.

“We?”

“Why yes, I need to apologise to your employers for keeping you for so long.” He said, kneeling again to bring himself close to the girl’s level, “I believe I also owe you an apology… my child.”

“For what sir?” Emma asked, looking up hesitantly at the monster.

“For not noticing how much distress our persistence was causing you,” Daniel stated, sadly gazing at the small human.

“It’s alright, I know it came from a place of concern. And I guess I owe the both of you an apology as well, for going off on ya like that when I don’t have all the facts.” Emma said softly as she nervously fiddled with her necklace.

“That’s quite alright my child, personally I find it admirable how you stood up for your friends. And I am quite sure that once Dings has had some time to process things, he will be very grateful for the information you shared with us,” Daniel gently reassured her.

Emma blinked and looked up at the old goat monster in slight confusion. “I guess if it helps the guys then ya’re welcome. But if ya don’t mind me asking, why do you seem so ready to believe me about all this?”

Daniel sighed and fully sat down, “because it confirms the suspicions that we have had for some time now.”

“I see,” Emma murmured, raising an eyebrow in inquiry.

Daniel sadly looked over at her, “perhaps I should explain. Normally Dings is the one who would be looking after the day-to-day responsibilities of his household, which would include making sure that his nephews have everything they need. But between the demands of the Royal Council and the medical conferences he's been attending, he’s hardly been home recently. So he’s had to leave the running of things to others in the family.”

“So who is in charge then?”

“It was meant to be his brothers, but I fear they may have let themselves become distracted with their own work and have been neglecting their duties to the household.”

“In other words, no one is really in charge at the moment and the guys have just been slipping through the cracks?”

“Sadly yes. This is no excuse for how they have been treated, but now that we know what's been going on, I give you my word Dings and I will do all in our power to rectify the situation.” Daniel stated resolutely, standing up and offering the girl his hand.

Emma took hold of the giant paw, “I’m gonna hold you to that. The guys have been through enough, both above and below.”

“You are a very kind person, they are lucky to have found you,” Daniel said, smiling softly down at the small human as he started to lead the girl back through the growing crowd.

“I’m not that kind, it’s just … after seeing Pap’s memories….how could I not want to help them?” Emma murmured as the pair weaved their way through the throng.

“Ah, yes….I’ve been meaning to ask you. When you were telling us about what your friends have been through, why did you call their underground a timeline?”

“Wasn’t that the right word?” Emma asked, looking at the ancient monster.

“Well…yes, but it’s not something I would expect to hear from a human,” Daniel explained, regarding the girl with uncertainty.

Emma blinked and smiled apologetically at Daniel. “Sorry, I know it’s the right term, but for the life of me, I can’t remember why. I guess that memory hasn’t fully settled yet,” she added with a slight shrug.

“I see, so is this what you meant when you said that the information was a bit scrambled?” He enquired softly.

She nodded, “Um yeah, but if you consider the fact that the touch happened during the assault, it’s not really surprising that things ended up being a bit jumbled.”

Daniel stopped in his tracks and stared at the girl in shock, but he quickly shook it off and started moving again. As the pair continued to work their way towards makeup, he tried to sort out his thoughts on all the things he had learned.

Meanwhile up upon a nearby rooftop a low growl escaped Axe as his lone eyelight followed his through the crowd. He could not hear what was being said down below, but there was no mistaking how tense his had become. He just wanted to take his small one home where no one could upset or touch her. But she had something important to do here, so for now he would continue to watch over his smallest one. Yes, for now, he’ll just watch, Axe thought to himself as the tiles creaked ominously under his claws.

Back down below, Emma was trying to pluck up the courage to tell Daniel something as they approached the makeup area. But as she hesitantly looked up at the monster and opened her mouth to speak, a very loud and familiar, yet strange, voice drove all the words from her head.

“UNDYNE! PLEASE DON’T NOOGIE THE SKELETON!”

There, a little way ahead of her was Papyrus, but not her Papyrus. This one was a good foot shorter than her dear friend and unlike him, this skeleton looked like he had never had to fight or go without anything his entire life! With his soft, smooth white bones and bright, sharp eyelights. He was even wearing what looked like a very expensive tailor-made suit, whereas her poor friend was having to make do with whatever secondhand clothing they could find to fit his tall frame.

In an attempt to stop the growing resentment she felt towards this baby bones version of her Papyrus, Emma turned her attention to the guardswoman who had him in a headlock. It startled her a bit to see that it was the same person who had interviewed her a couple of months ago, right after the attack. But this plan backfired spectacularly because as she continued to watch Undyne horse around with her friend, she was hit with a hellish tidal wave of memories that drove her to her knees.

Image after image ploughed through Emma’s head, each one was centred around Undyne and the friendship she had had with Papyrus. From how they met, to how it all fell apart, it was all there. But it wasn’t the same Undyne as the one that was in front of her now. The one from the memories had visible facial scars around her missing eye, plus the gills? fins? at the side of her head were way more ragged and torn than those of the lady in front of her.

Emma’s attempts to sort out the confusing deluge of information that she had just received, was interrupted by a soft paw on her shoulder and a concerned voice. “My child? Are you alright?”

“Y-yeah, just give me a minute, please?” Emma murmured as she blinked some unshed tears from her eyes.

“Are you sure you are okay?” Daniel asked as he helped her up.

“Yeah, sorry,” she said, smiling sheepishly up at the old monster.

“That’s alright my child, but if I may ask, what just happened?” He enquired, his concern still heavily evident in his voice.

“Um, I guess you could call it a memory overload,” Emma said wincing.

“A memory overload?”

“Yeah sorry, but it’s the only way I can describe it,” she said with a shrug.

“Oh?”

Emma offered him another half-shrug, “because the touch was accidental the memories need something to trigger them. And seeing those two horsing around just triggered a bucketload of them,” she said, pointing at the two monsters in front of them.

Daniel barely spared the pair a glance before turning his attention back to the girl. Though she said she was fine, it was pretty obvious that whatever she had seen had left her extremely shaken.

Emma shifted nervously, starting to feel uncomfortable under the monster’s intense scrutiny. Silently in the depths of her heart, she wished could just leave and find somewhere quiet to sort everything out. But she had bills to pay, so instead, like always, she pushed her discomfort aside and did her best to put on a polite smile. “Well, I better go find my section chief and apologise. Oh, and when you speak with the organiser, please don’t forget to tell them about Briar. That way the instructors can keep an eye on her and help her if she starts to struggle.”

Daniel nodded, “I will. But first I believe I should accompany you to apologise to your chief for keeping you so long.”

“Alright,” Emma murmured as she started forward again.

As the pair neared the other monsters the skeleton smiled in greeting. “OH HELLO DIRECTOR DREAMURR! Undyne please let go of me. IS EVERYTHING SORTED OUT WITH THAT HEALER NOW? IF NOT I WILL LEND YOU MY GREAT ASSISTANCE.” He enquired as Undyne grinning unrepentantly finally released her hold on him.

“Thank you for your kind offer Papyrus, but we managed to sort everything out, mainly thanks to this little one here.” Daniel jovially replied, placing a fatherly paw on the girl’s shoulder.

Emma tried not to grimace as everyone's attention was once again focused on her. Part of her had vainly hoped that she could get past these two without having to interact with them, just in case they triggered any more memories. But that was obviously not on the cards, especially with Daniel’s giant hand ever so gently pinning her in place. So since she couldn’t think of a polite way out of this, Emma did her best to keep her smile in place as she quietly greeted the pair. “Um, hi.”

Undyne blinked and stared at the shabbily dressed human for a moment before her grin got even bigger. “Hey, you’re that little punk from the hospital! What are you doing here?”

“UNDYNE? YOU KNOW THIS TINY HUMAN?” The skeleton asked, looking between his friend and the girl.

“Yeah, this is the little punk that got beat up trying to protect your cousin. Now back to my question, what on earth are you doing here?”

“Being one of the victims of this terrorist attack,” Emma said with a small half-shrug.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN TINY HUMAN?” The skeleton asked, curiously looking down at the girl.

“I mean, I’m one of the extras for today’s event Cream.”

“I’M SORRY TINY HUMAN, BUT WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?”

“Vanilla Cream, that’s your name, right? Or at least that’s what your counterparts call ya.” Emma said, looking up at the monster with a faintly puzzled expression.

The monsters stared nervously at the human until Undyne spoke. “Urr punk? Don’t you mean cousins?”

“Isn’t that what I said?” Emma asked, her face now set in a confused frown as she tried to track down whatever memory seemed to be bothering them so much, risking a headache in the process.

Daniel worriedly looked at the girl as he tried to think of some way to take back control of the conversation. He needed to stop her before she remembered the one thing that all of Monsterkind had agreed on, that no human should ever know about their origins.

Luckily for the ancient monster a voice called out to them before anything regrettable could be said.

“Director Dreamurr it’s good to see you. I see you’ve managed to find our wayward extra,” Steve called as he approached them with a mixed group of people that included several important-looking monsters.

“Ar yes, Mr Longate. My apologies for keeping this little one for so long. But after she was so kind as to help soothe the worries of one of our healers. I just could not help myself,” Daniel said with an apologetic smile.

Whatever Steve said in reply was lost on Emma as she fought a losing battle against the rising panic that was trying to consume her. Surprisingly it wasn’t either of the skeleton monsters dressed in guard uniforms that filled her with dread. Even if the pair resembled dark and edgy versions of Papyrus and Dings, with their vivid crimson eyelights and their sharp dagger-like teeth. Nor was it the young human ambassador for Monsterkind Frisk, in her signature purple and pink striped top. Though seeing her did have Emma fighting back another sickening wave of memories. It was in fact one of her fellow extras that had her frozen in fear.

On any other day, the guy’s appearance would not have triggered her. But between the stress of earlier and the things she had just been forced to remember. It had her staring at the training knife in this fake terrorist’s hand with growing horror. Desperately Emma tried to remind herself that the weapon was made of rubber and couldn’t hurt her. But in front of her terrified eyes, the blade kept morphing into something sharp and deadly, drenched in blood.

As the girl next to him started to tremble under his paw, Daniel found himself once again looking down at her with growing concern. Her pupils had shrunk to mere pinpricks as she stared fixedly at the group in front of them. As he gave the girl’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze, Daniel wondered if seeing Dings’ counterpart Aster and his son Edge had triggered more terrible memories for the poor child. Perhaps he should make an excuse and take the child somewhere quiet to recover.

But Daniel never got the chance to act on this thought because as his grip tightened on the girl, she let out a terrified scream and scrambled out of his hold.

As she retreated further away from everyone, Emma desperately tried to regain control over her body. Sadly this endeavour was greatly hampered when she bumped into another extra who was carrying a bucket of fake blood. As its contents spilt over her Emma let out another terrified whimper as she continued her retreat.

It took Steve a moment to shake off the shock of seeing the normally quiet and steady girl having such a severe panic attack. But once he had he instantly took control of the situation and along with Daniel started to work on calming her down.

But sadly, however much Emma wanted to respond to them, nothing seemed to be able to get through the numbing fog that had enveloped her mind.

Undyne impatiently watched everything for a while, before she finally couldn’t take it any more and spoke up. “Hey punk! I know you’re stronger than this!” She said gruffly as she started to move towards Emma, “now just folll…. WHAT THE FUCK!?” She cried, summoning a spear as a wall of sharp and jagged bones forced her to jump back away from the girl.

As everyone else scrambled away from the unexpected wall in confusion and fear, Emma found herself being drawn into a warm skeletal embrace.

Axe for his part emitted a contented hum as he felt his smallest one relax in his hold. As he sent another wave of bones towards the fish monster, Axe could almost hear his brother reminding him again to be careful with how much magic he used, since their mana pools were dangerously depleted after the famine. But he felt perfectly fine, there was no sign of the numbness or tiredness that normally came when his reserves were running low.

A fierce battle cry from Undyne drove all thoughts from Axe’s head as he fought off the bitch’s attempt at restraining magic and prepared a counter-attack of his own.

Emma squeaked in surprise as she felt herself being repositioned so her protector could move more freely. This action also made her realise just whose chest she was gently cradled against. Cautiously she looked up into Axe’s face wondering why he was here. But Emma instantly pushed the thought aside as she saw the state of his lone eyelight was in. It had shrunk to a barely visible pinprick, which meant that he was experiencing what Pap would call an episode and Emma had a feeling that plan S wouldn’t work this time, especially with the obvious threat of Undyne around.

Just as she started to ponder how to safely snap him out of this state without any casualties. A curt voice cut through the commotion around them.

“Nephew, cease this foolishness at once! And release that girl!” Aster commanded, as he appeared behind Axe, almost getting impaled for troubles as the stout skeleton nimbly dodged his grasping hands.

Axe glowered at this new threat, a low growl emanating from his chest as he protectively moved his little one away from the bitch’s new guard.

Emma watched on with a growing mix of awe and frustration as the tall skeleton in the fancy uniform summoned a myriad of hands to capture her friend. Only to see Axe almost instantly destroy them, before he sent another wave of bones towards the fish monster.

While Aster and Undyne continued in their attempts to retrieve the human, Edge started to evacuate the civilians away from the battleground and call in more guards to safely contain this degenerate version of his brother.

In the middle of all this chaos, Emma let out an annoyed huff, before calmly stating, “you know this isn’t gonna work. All ya gonna end up doing is getting someone dusted.”

“THEN WHAT PRAY TELL ARE WE MEANT TO DO ABOUT THIS DEGENERATE?”
Edge demanded, angrily glaring at Axe.

“Oh for fuck sake! No wonder you guys left, if that’s their attitude.” Emma muttered into Axe’s neck, then with a deep sigh she calmly replied. “Well, for starters get Undyne the hell outta here and back off. Then I might have a chance to calm him down. Meanwhile yo….”

“Hey! Why do I have to leave?” Undyne yelled as she furiously continued to dodge Axe’s attacks.

“Because he’s a Horror and you share a rather unfortunate resemblance with the Usurper. Ya know the one that bashed in his skull.” Emma stated, rolling her eyes and silently praying for the strength to deal with these idiots. “Now if that’s answered your question, could ya please get the fuck outta here, find Tuffet and get her to call Rosemary.”

“Okay, why?” Undyne asked as she warily started to retreat.

“Because Paps should be at her house at the moment and he should be able to give you some advice on how to handle one of his brother's episodes. Since his so-called family obviously don’t hav….”

A dangerously familiar voice cut Emma off before she could finish her bitter words.

“Heya kiddo, didn’t think I’d see you again,” Dust said, his normally monotone voice taking on a manic edge as he stared blankly at his most hated enemy.

Frisk was here again, just like always, standing in the judgement hall, knife in hand, silently glaring at him with that stupid determined look on their face. How. How many times had they done this same song and dance? How many times had he been forced to helplessly watch as this thing killed everyone? Just to die at the end. Then to wake up to have to live through it all over again and again and again. No…. No not this time. This time he had the power. There were no more laws binding him. This time. This time he would finally, finally finish this. He would end this hellish cycle. Then, then he would finally rest.

With these thoughts running around inside his head on a loop Dust raised his right hand and cocked his skull to the side. His wide grin turned manic as he asked. “So do you wanna have a mad time or will you die?” Snapping his fingers, thousands of deadly purple bones surrounded Frisk and attempted to turn her into a pincushion.

Fortunately for the young ambassador Edge, with the assistance of Cream, managed to hastily erect a barrier before any of the projectiles could find their mark.

Deranged laughter rang out across the area as a ghostly red scarf settled around Dust’s neck and pale purple smoke started to emanate from his left socket.

Edge swore under his breath as he poured more of his magic into the barrier, which had started to waver under the continuous barrage of bones.

“MURDERY BROTHER PLEASE STOP! I’M SURE WE CAN SORT ALL THIS OUT WITHOUT RESORTING TO VIOLENCE!” Cream desperately pleaded with the insane version of his brother.

But all he got in reply was sharp red bones being added to the barrage.

“Um not to tell ya’re job or anything, but this may not be the best time to talk about murder,” Emma called out to the two besieged skeletons, from the safety of Axe’s arms.

Aster growled in frustration as he was driven back by one of the stout skeleton’s attacks again. This was ridiculous, he was the Commander of the Royal Guard, one of the greatest tacticians that Monsterkind had ever had and here he was unable to think of any strategies to safely end this. Instead, he was having to rely on a small human civilian to sort out this mess. Another growl escaped from between Aster’s clenched teeth as he silently signalled Undyne to do as the girl had instructed.

The fish monster hesitated, unwilling to leave either her friend or fellow officer in such obvious danger.

“Do as you are told, Captain!” Aster barked as he looked for a way to teleport over to the others so he could extract them.

Undyne cast one more worried glance towards her friend before she obeyed her superior’s orders.

A small sigh of relief left Emma as she watched the scaly guardswoman disappear from sight. That was one problem solved, now if she could just remember what her friends had told her about how to snap someone out of a PTSD episode. Then she might be able to help D too.

Speaking of Dust, while the others had been conversing, his deranged laughter had gained an unnerving echo. His manic grin grew even broader as he snapped his fingers again, causing a giant animal-like skull to appear and shoot an intense beam of energy towards the ambassador’s group.

A rare curse word slipped past Aster’s fangs as he hastily erected a barricade of bones in front of others in an attempt to protect them. Before he himself was forced to teleport away to escape the ferocity of the blast.

Even Axe had to turn away and summon a wall to shield his fragile little one from the onslaught. He gently tucked her inside his jacket and hunkered down as the hellish heat wave from the blast hit and the world whited out. How long they stayed like that was anyone's guess. But after what felt like an eternity Axe finally straightened up and released her from his hold.

The moment she was free Emma instantly started to check her friend over for any injuries. Earning an amused huff and an affectionate pat on her head from the skeleton. Emma gently took his hand, fondly shook her head and smiled up at him, before she finished what she had been doing.

Once she was satisfied he was alright Emma turned her attention towards Dust and the creature he had summoned. An excited gasp left her mouth as she finally got a good look at the beast. It had two long slender horns that started just above its deep bestial sockets, then flowed up along its wedge-shaped head until they passed the triceratops-like frill at the back to touch the sky. Its sharp jawline reminded her of a crocodile with its visible canines and rounded snout. A happy grin spread across Emma’s face as she unconsciously moved toward the creature.

Dust stopped mid-laugh and turned ready to attack the approaching human, only to freeze in utter confusion at the sight that greeted him. The look of child-like awe and joy on the bloody human’s face was so different from the cold dead stare he was used to seeing, that the hallucination of the golden hall started to break and fade away. He watched on in a daze as the girl approached his blaster with her hand outstretched like his summon’s was nothing more than a skittish puppy. There was so much warmth and love radiating from her that even the normally fearsome beast stilled and gazed curiously down at the girl.

Emma just smiled up at the creature, her hand still reaching for it. There was only one thing running around inside her mind as she watched the creature cock its skull and blink down at her. “God, you’re gorgeous.”

From behind the safety of the police cordon, Patch didn’t know whether he should laugh or cry. So he settled on a facepalm with a deep-seated groan. Only Emma, only Emma would look at a deadly giant laser skull and think it was gorgeous. Okay, like everyone else who had been friends with her for a long time he knew just how much she loved anything remotely related to dragons. But this just took the cake, didn’t she have any sense of self-preservation left inside that empty head of hers?

While Patch continued to lament the sudden lack of common sense in his friend, from behind the bone barricade Edge watched on in utter disbelief as the blaster descended and gently butted the girl’s hand. Just who was this human? Blasters are fierce magical constructs created for war, they are deadly weapons! They do not nuzzle into tiny humans looking for fusses.

The beast closed its mismatched sockets and let out a contented rumble as Emma gently stroked its snout.

“OH, WOWIE. I DON’T THINK I’VE HEARD A BLASTER MAKE A SOUND LIKE THAT BEFORE. NOT EVEN FROM UNCLE WINGS’ ONES” Cream breathed as he watched in growing awe as the pair continued to snuggle into each other.

Emma joined the beast with a contented hum of her own as she rested her head on its muzzle. From this unusual position, she happily called out to Dust. “Hey D, I know ya’re having a knife time with your cousins, but Axe is looking a little bonely over there all by himself and I bet he’s dying of hunger as well. So why don’t we find somewhere quiet to eat and you can tell me all about this handsome fellow here?” She asked, gently patting the blaster’s jaw for emphasis.

Dust blinked slowly, his hand twitched like it was about to move. But sadly this was the exact moment that Frisk decided to appear from behind the barricade and take a curious step towards the unstable skeleton.

The second Dust spotted the young ambassador, any hope of him regaining his sanity went right out of the window. With a flick of his wrist, he trapped her in a cage of deadly red bones and called his blaster back to his side. The crimson light in Dust’s right socket bled outwards until it filled the whole thing as he prepared his final attack.

But just as the beast was opening its maw to incinerate her, two fingers sharply wrapped it on the end of its snout. “No! Bad Skully! Sit!” Emma commanded in a strong no-nonsense voice.

Much to Dust’s and everyone else’s surprise not only did the blaster instantly snap its jaws shut and drop to the ground with a piteous whine, but so did every dog monster in the vicinity.

Not that Emma really noticed, she was just so grateful that her desperate act had worked and the ambassador was still in one piece, at least for the moment. Slowly she patted the skull and softly murmured, “good boy.”

On the other side of the blaster Dust’s hand started to twitch again, magic chaotically sparking between his phalanges. Luckily for the young ambassador, Emma spotted what was happening and quickly blurted out the first thing she could think of to distract him from forming an attack.

“Hey D, I know I’m going to regret this, but my first name means universal and my middle name is Rose. The painting you’ve been looking for is of a rose with a universe swirling through its petals. Pap didn’t want me to tell you because he feared that you would branch out into a new field of puns and unleash pun-ageddon on us all.”

Dust blinked owlishly at her, his magic slowly dispersing as his mind tried to comprehend what she was saying and why it felt important to him.

Emma just smiled softly at him as she continued to soothe the distressed blaster. “And ya know what, I be-leaf he’s right. I bet a fungi like you has a bushel of corny puns that will leaf your bro berry upset.”

In the ensuing shocked silence following the girl’s actions. The sound of groans of utter disappointment could be heard coming from the two tall skeletons behind the barricade.

“Oh, throw me a bone, I’m doing the best I can here! Puns are so not my thinggg.” Emma called out to them, before quickly ducking to avoid the bone Dust through at her. “I didn’t mean literally you neander-skull, poor excuse for a museum exhibit!” She cried in exasperation to the now cackling skeleton.

As she continued huffily to throw as many insults and puns as she could think of at the slim skeleton, Dust’s cackling slowly turned into sobs of despair as he fell to his knees and all his attacks evaporated into nothingness.

Slowly Emma gathered the weeping skeleton to her chest, wrapping her arms protectively around him. Dust desperately clung to her as he mumbled almost incoherent apologies to people long dead.

Axe moved toward his two, while warily watching the two not brothers emerge from behind their bone barricade. A low threatening growl left him as the pair of fakes took a step towards his.

“I don’t know who you are, but back off. Sans will not hesitate to attack you if he thinks you’re a threat to his bro.” Emma stated calmly as she continued to comfort her distraught friend.

“BUT…” Cream stopped, he wanted to help his weeping cousin, but for once in his life he had no idea how to.

“Please, just take the Ambassador and back off. Give the guys a chance to calm down.” Emma softly begged, never once ceasing her stream of reassurance to Dust.

“VERY WELL,” Edge grunted as he used his magic to grab hold of the other two and drag them back towards the police cordon.

From his temporary command post, Aster watched his son make his way back to safety. “Good, that’s our two VIPs secured. Now is there any progress in retrieving the civilian?” He asked one of the many monsters that were surrounding him.

“I’m afraid not Sir. Any attempt we make to approach the group is instantly countered by your nephew.” The guardsman stated with a crisp salute.

He gripped his nasal bridge with two phalanges as he fought back a sigh. This whole situation was so different from anything the guard had faced before that none of the normal solutions could be used here. With a normal LV break the monster would be so out of control that the only way to stop them would be to knock them out. But could this situation truly be called a break? Yes, Dust’s overwhelming attack had all the earmarks of it. But the way he responded to that girl, spoke of a level of awareness that he shouldn’t have if this was a true break. And then there was Axe. He was definitely too focused and in control for it to be a break, but there was still something off in the way he was reacting to everything.

“But if this is not a break then what is it?” Aster muttered to himself.

“A PTSD episode would be my guess,” Daniel said absently as he quietly observed the small group in front of them.

“What?”

“Well, if what the little one said is true, then they’re probably a couple of our missing Horrors and I have yet to meet a Horror that doesn’t have some form of trauma related to their time underground.” Daniel explained calmly, as he gave the skeleton a rather pointed look. “Much like your own tribe Aster.”

The Commander grunted, “well then Director, since this is more your field of expertise than mine, how do you suggest we subdue the pair, while we still have the situation contained?”

“For starters, stop thinking of them as criminals and start treating them like people!” Dings declared, storming over with Undyne and Tuffet in tow.

“Well, how else am I meant to treat them? They have attacked both the Guard and the blasted Ambassador. This is not something I can overlook Dings.” Aster snapped back, glaring at his brother.

“Ahem, perhaps this discussion should be tabled for when the boys are back in their right minds gentlemen,” Tuffet said, impatiently tapping her foot while covering her phone with one of her hands.

“You’re right Tuffet, sorry” Dings murmured apologetically, rubbing the back of his skull.

Aster just grunted in acknowledgement before asking. “Have you managed to contact their brother yet?”

Tuffet held a finger up as she turned her attention back to her phone. “Yes dearie, I’m still here. Sorry, I was dealing with a pair of idiots. Now hold on for just a second Papyrus while I put you on loudspeaker so we can all hear you,” without another word, she tapped a couple of buttons before she asked. “Alright, that should do it, can you still hear me, dearie?”

“Yes, You Are Coming In Loud And Clear Dear Friend. Now That Is Sorted Out, Could You Please Answer My Question And Tell Me The State Of My Brother’s Eyelight?”

“Huh? Why do you want to know that?” Undyne asked as she blinked in confusion.

Papyrus sighed heavily down the line “Because What State His Eyelight Is In Will Tell Me How Severe His Episode Is.”

“Faint, barely visible, pinprick,” Aster stated curtly.

“Has He Said Anything?”

“No.”

“I Feared As Much.” There was a pause as Papyrus gathered his thoughts. “Mmm, Well This May Not Be The Most Severe Episode He Has Ever Had. But This One Is Still Pretty High Up There.”

“I see, then what is the best way to deal with him and retrieve the human?” Aster asked, as he mentally went through the resources he had available to him.

“Before I Answer That, Can I Enquire What Happened Just Before My Brother Showed Up?”

“Your young friend was in the middle of a panic attack when he appeared,” Daniel said calmly.

“Is Doodles alright?” Tuffet demanded.

“Don’t worry Tufty, she's doing just fine,” Daniel reassured her, gesturing towards the girl who was still gently cradling her weeping friend.

“IF YOU CALL HUGGING A BLASTER FINE,” Edge muttered as he joined the group with Cream and Frisk following close behind.

Papyrus’ soft chuckle could be heard coming from the phone “Yes She Is Fine And To Answer Your Question Uncle. The Best Way To Deal With This Situation Is NOT TO TOUCH THE HUMAN.”

“WHY IS THAT SCARY ME?” Cream enquired leaning over the phone.

The faint sound of bone scraping against bone could be heard coming from the device as Papyrus answered. “Because As Far As My Brother Is Concerned Emma Is One Of Us And He Will Quite Happily Kill Everyone There To Protect Her.”

Aster rubbed his temples in an attempt to keep his growing headache at bay. “So you’re telling me that this entire time the only reason that Axe has been so aggressive is that he believes he is protecting that girl?”

“Yes That, And You Are Guards.”

“Hey! What have you got against the Guard?” Undyne demanded as she made a grab for the phone. Only to end up headbutting Cream as Tuffet took a step back to avoid the raging fish.

The exasperated sigh that left Aster at the younger monster's behaviour was echoed by Papyrus as he answered. “Because The Guard Sided With The Usurper During The Revolt, While My Brother Stayed Loyal To The Monarchy. So You Can Understand Why He Is Not Happy To Have Them Around Our Vulnerable Friend. Now Are There Any Relevant Questions?”

“Do you have any idea how to deal with Dust?” Aster asked glaring at Undyne to keep her mouth shut.

“Mmm, From What The Fish Said, It Sounds Like He Is Having A LV Induced Episode. The Only Time He Came Close To Having One Since I Meant Him, Sans Grabbed Him And Took Him Somewhere Else, By The Time The Pair Of Them Had Returned Dust Had Calmed Down.”

“So you’re telling me that the only one who knows how to deal with one of Dust’s episodes is your brother, who is currently in the middle of his own episode?”

“That Is Correct Uncle.”

“This is great, just great” Aster muttered, tiredly scrubbing his face.

“I don’t think you need to worry about Dust. It seems like Emma has matters well in hand.” Dings said, reassuringly patting his brother on the back.

Aster grunted in agreement as he watched the girl continue her gentle campaign to soothe his distraught nephew. Though it stung his pride Aster was enough of a professional to realise when he needed to step back and let others take the lead. “Mmm, if the human is the only one who can pacify the pair, then our best course of action will be to move them to a more secure location so the girl can work in peace.” Aster mused to himself as he started to formulate a plan.

Meanwhile, while the others had been talking, Dust’s hysterical weeping had quietened down to a silent stream of tears with the occasional tired whimper. Emma hummed and gently rocked him, with watery sockets Dust looked up at her and uttered another apology. She smiled softly at him and wiped away his tears with her sleeve. “I Know and when you are feeling better we can discuss ways you can prove it. But for now, I think we better get your big bro outta here before he mauls someone.”

Dust stared at Emma not really comprehending everything she was saying. The bit he did understand was that she wanted to move, but Dust wasn’t sure he was capable of doing that right now. Everything was just too bright, too loud, in a very real sense Emma was the only thing anchoring him in a sea of madness.

Emma gently shushed her distraught friend as another whimper escaped him. “Shh, I know, you’re tired and don’t really feel like doing anything, except maybe taking a nap. But this really isn’t a good place for you. Plus, to tell you the truth, I don’t want to have to deal with the ramifications of Axe accidentally killing someone.”

Dust tightened his hold on her, before with great reluctance he released her and shakily stood up. Instinctively Emma moved to support her friend, once she was sure he was steady she called out to Axe. “Hey Sans, D and I are gonna get some food, wanna come?”

Axe glowered at the surrounding guards and gave them one more low threatening growl before he turned towards his littlest one. But as he took his first step towards the pair something strange happened. The world suddenly started to grow fuzzy and the ground seemed to rush up to meet him.

Emma froze as for one horrific moment the image of her mother collapsing in the entryway replaced that of Axe. Savagely she shoved the image aside as she dashed forward to catch her friend. Calling for a medic as she went, she somehow managed to get under him before he could smash face-first into the gravel and concrete below.

As she carefully turned him over, Emma couldn’t help but notice something that terrified her. Axe’s normally smooth white bones were turning grey with a grainy texture to them.

“Could he be falling down?” Someone asked as they came up behind her, voicing her deepest fear.

Emma took a couple of slow, deep breaths in an attempt to calm and centre herself before she answered. “No, he may be a grumpy bag of bones most of the time, but he’s got too much going for him for that to happen. This has to be something else.”

“She’s right. Now everyone back off and give me some room to work.” Dings stated authoritatively as he summoned several hands to shoo the onlookers back. Then he knelt down next to his nephew and ran a deep check on him to find out what was going on.

A soft hiss followed by several muttered swear words left the tall skeleton’s mouth, as he flicked his wrist to call an old-fashioned doctor’s bag from his inventory. Dust stumbled over to them and sank down next to Emma, as Dings quickly pulled a few devices out of the bag. Then he deftly set them up to verify his findings and to monitor Axe’s condition.

“Dings?”

“Mmm.”

“What’s wrong with….” Emma's throat closed before she could finish her question.

But Dings still seems to understand, “magic deprivation.”

“Magic what?”

“Deprivation,” Dings said, looking up from his monitors. “Basically the boy has used so much magic that he has barely enough left to hold himself together.”

“Is there any way to replenish it?” Emma asked in a small voice.

“Several, but his body is so fragile at the moment that most would destroy him before they could do any good.” Dings said, looking down sadly at his nephew’s prone body.

“Can’t we just apply healing directly to him?” Daniel asked, as he approached and knelt down beside the others.

Dings shook his head. “Too much risk of overloading the soul in his current state.”

“Then that rules out any injections of magic directly into his mana lines as well.” Daniel quietly mused, absently stroking his beard.

“True, and with the state his body is currently in, I doubt he would survive any attempt to move him to the nutrient baths at the Clinic,” Dings added with a sigh.

“Not even by a shortcut?” Emma enquired.

Dings shook his head again, “the sudden change would be too much for his soul to bear.” Turning his attention back to the monitors he muttered.“If only Axe was a bit more conscious, then we could just feed him something and let his body’s natural recovery mechanism do the work.”

“So we just need to trigger a hunger response in him then?” Emma asked hopefully, looking up from her semi-comatose friend.

“That would be preferable. Because the only other thing I can think of that might work is drawing out his soul and applying healing magic directly to it.” Dings stated seriously, looking over at the girl.

“Dings, are you sure that’s wise? Considering the condition he’s in if his soul resists in any way he could….”

“Die. I know Daniel,” Dings sighed. “But unless you have a better idea, this is our best shot.”

Daniel desperately racked his brain for an alternative solution. But he realised as he watched the younger skeleton’s laboured breathing, that they were running out of time. If they didn’t find a way to stabilise his beleaguered soul soon, it would give out from the strain it was under.

“Do either of you gentlemen have a needle or something sharp I can cut myself with?” Emma asked, breaking the fluffy monster out of his morbid thoughts.

The pair of ancient monsters stared at the girl in confusion. “What?”

“Axe gets extremely hungry when he smells blood. So if I cut myself, maybe we can get him to eat something. I’ve got some food in my bag. Although I don’t know how much magic it’s got in it, since it was made for me.” Emma stated as she tenderly stroked her gaunt friend’s face. “But it’s worth a shot right?”

“Yes, that could work,” Dings said excitedly, as he quickly drew several things from his bag. “Daniel use this on the food; it should make it easier for his system to absorb it.”

“Right. My child where….” Daniel started asking as he caught the bottle his friend threw.

“Main body,” Emma said, interrupting the other as she nervously eyed the needle the disembodied hand was offering her. “Um, I’m sorry about this, but could one of ya do it? I’m not actually that good with needles.” She added holding out her hand as Dust wound himself around her waist.

“Of course,” Dings said, taking hold of her hand before calling out to his friend. “How’s that food coming Dandy?”

“All set.”

“Alright young lady, are you ready?” Dings asked, holding up the needle.

“Nope, but do it anyway,” Emma muttered, squeezing her eyes shut. She bit back a pained hiss as the needle pierced her flesh. As soon as she felt it leave her body, Emma opened her eyes and squeezed her finger to draw out some more blood, then she wafted it under Axe’s nasal cavity. Much to everybody’s great relief a faint light flickered to life in the depths of his working socket as his jaw parted slightly. On seeing this Daniel instantly started to break the food into smaller pieces and carefully fed it to the skeleton. Time ceased to have any meaning as he kept up this delicate work, making sure that each bite was fully absorbed before giving him the next bit.

The progress felt agonisingly slow, especially to Emma who couldn’t help but end up comparing it with how her own parents had died. A tense atmosphere fell over the group as she tried to push these unwanted thoughts away. After a few agonising minutes, a happy sigh from Dings broke both the tension and her train of thought.

“Good, he’s stabilising,” said the elder skeleton looking up from his monitors. “Let’s see if we can get him to sit up and drink that formula directly now.”

Emma nodded and with Daniel’s help managed to get Axe into a more upright position. With great care, she gently supported the still semi-conscious skeleton, while Daniel brought the bottle to his teeth. As Emma softly encouraged Axe to drink she felt Dust faintly stir beneath her. Glancing down she found that he had unwound one of his hands from her waist and was now loosely holding onto Axe’s jacket. In response to this Emma carefully repositioned herself so she could now hug Dust while still supporting Axe’s hefty frame.

“You’re doing great, keep it up. If we can just get his soul to stabilise a little more, then we should be able to safely move him.” Dings encouraged, smiling softly at the girl and feeling silently grateful that even during their current crisis, she was still looking out for Dust.

“Is that so? Then I will arrange transport. I take it you’ll want them to see them at your clinic for a check-up before I can have them Dings?” Aster asked, startling everyone with his sudden appearance. Which earned the man another wave of bone attacks from a now very aware Axe.

“No, nonono,” Dings cried as he watched in horrified fascination as his patient’s soul graph went haywire. Quickly he shortcutted behind his brother and slammed something into the back of his skull. “Aster! You, you imbecile! You’re undoing all our hard work! Go away! The boy needs rest and a stress-free environment to recover!” He yelled, emphasising each new statement with another whack on the head with what turned out to be a glowing frying pan. “Now shoo and go do something useful, like pacifying the media. Instead of antagonising my patient, please!” Dings added, summoning some hands to toss the skeleton back the way he came.

The moment the constructs released him Aster turned his fall into an elegant flip and landed neatly on his feet. “Very well Doctor. I will leave you in peace, but those boys will have to face the consequences of their actions sooner or later.” He said, tucking his hands behind his back before crisply turning and walking back to his command post with military precision.

Dings huffed and glared after the retreating skeleton before turning his attention back towards his nephew. Only to witness Axe steal the bottle from a stunned Daniel and give it to Emma.

“Um, thank you Sans, but this is yours. Mr Daniel was just going ta get mine from my bag, right?” She said looking at the tall fluffy monster next to her.

“Oh, rrright. I’ll just get that for you.” Daniel said, slowly reaching into the backpack, taking out the remaining bits of her lunch and handing it to her.

While Emma handed the bottle back to Axe, Dings quickly grabbed the monitor praying that all their hard work hadn’t gone to waste thanks to Aster’s sudden appearance.

Axe for his part paid very little attention to the skeleton that was fussing next to him. Now that that guard was gone he was more concerned about making sure that his two were fed and safe. So he watched with satisfaction as his littlest one took a swig from her thermos and a bite out of the pastie his brother had made for her. Axe swatted away several of the fussy skeleton’s hands as he looked down at the unresponsive form of his other brother.

Noticing the growing distress from her stout friend Emma tried to figure out what he was staring at. It didn’t take her long to realise what, or more precisely who, he was fixated on, as well as the reason why. She softly smiled as she rested a hand on Dust’s hooded skull and gently tried to rouse the napping skeleton. Axe wouldn’t settle, let alone eat until he was sure that everyone in his care had eaten. After several unsuccessful attempts that only resulted in Dust tightening his grip and trying to burrow into her side, Emma had to admit defeat and looked up apologetically at Axe. “Sorry Sans, it looks like D is more interested in sleeping than eating at the moment, but he did have breakfast and his bone colour is good so why don’t we let him sleep and finish our lunch? Then perhaps we could raid the guard’s supplies before we find someone ta give us a lift home.”

Upon hearing this Axe bent down, meaning to pick up his two and teleport them all home.

“No Sans, we can’t use a shortcut. In the state D is currently in it’ll just make him sick and we don’t want that do we?” Emma gently chided her friend, earning a huff from the skeleton, but he did settle back down and start to eat the food that Daniel had provided for him.

Dings sighed in relief as Axe’s stats finally stabilised, they were still pretty low but they weren’t falling anymore.

“Dings?” Emma called softly.

“Mmm?”

“Will Axe really have ta go to the Clinic?” She asked, trying to keep the concern from her voice.

Blinking, Dings looked up from the monitor, “huh why?”

“I um am not really sure how well he will react ta all the sights and smells of that place. Especially since he’s barely settled now.” Emma said cautiously, her eyes switching between the older skeleton and her friend trying to gauge their reaction to what she had said.

“Not to worry, while I would like to give all three of you a thorough check-up in the near future, I realise as your doctor what you children need right now is rest and a good meal.” Dings said brightly “so once you’ve finished eating I’ll escort you and the boys to your car, that way the Guard will leave you alone.” He added with a reassuring smile.

“Thank you, but um I got a lift in from a friend and I’m not sure if his van can safely take all of us.” Emma said softly, her free hand once more resting on top of Dust’s skull.

“Well that simplifies things,” Daniel said with a soft chuckle.

“Um, how so?” She asked uncertainly.

Daniel smiled kindly down at her “well, while I distract (ahem) I mean help Aster calm things down here. Dings can take you home.”

“Oh, that’s a wonderful idea Dandy! That way I can continue to monitor Axe,” Dings said smiling happily at everyone.

Emma couldn’t help but tense up upon hearing this suggestion. Though she knew that this was most likely the best solution, she couldn't help feeling that she would be betraying her housemates' trust if she let this skeleton take them home. One of the very same skeletons that her friends were trying to avoid.

The soft crunch of gravel underfoot and a low warning growl from Axe brought Emma out of her thoughts.

Tuffet after receiving the warning stopped in her tracks and held her hands up in surrender. “Doodles dearie? Are you alright? You’re looking a bit gruesome there.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. This is just some fake blood that got spilled on me when I bumped into someone earlier.” Emma said, absently rubbing at one of the many blood trails that ran down her face.

“You’re awfully tense for someone who is fine dearie,” Tuffet gently accused.

“Oh um…that’s because we were discussing how ta get the guys home and well….” Emma fell silent as her eyes uncertainly flickered between Axe and Dings, not quite sure how to voice her doubts to her friend.

But it seemed to be enough for Tuffet to grasp the situation. “And whatever Dings suggested has left you worried about how your boys will react.”

“Um yeah,” Emma murmured as she nervously fiddled with her necklace.

Tuffet smiled softly down at her friend as she put her phone to her ear. “Papyrus dearie, I’m going to hand you over to Emma. She has something she needs to discuss with you.”

Axe growled again as Tuffet extended her arm towards her young friend.

“It’s alright Sans,” Emma gently reassured him. “Ya know Tuffet, she won’t hurt us. Remember she even shared her food with us.”

Taking the hint Tuffet took several muffins from her inventory and handed them out as she passed the phone to Emma.

“Hey Pap.”

“Hello Friend, Is Everything Alright?”

“Y-yeah, ya bro gave us a little bit of a scare earlier and I believe he’s slipped into survival mode now. Plus D seems to have turned into a limpet. But they are both calm and stable at the moment and once we’re finished eating, I’ll try to get them home.” She said with a tired sigh.

“And You Are Concerned About This?” Papyrus asked softly, wishing he could be there in person to help her.

“Um yeah.”

“Alright, Let Us See What We Can Do To Resolve The Issue,” he stated resolutely.

Emma took a deep calming breath “okay, the major problem as I see it is safety.”

“Hmm.”

“In Axe’s current condition, any stranger that approaches us is likely to be attacked, especially if they’re in a uniform.”

“True.”

“Your uncle Dings has offered to take us home and Axe does seem to tolerate his presence. But if you’re not comfortable with him knowing where you’re staying….I’ll tell him no…and figure something else out.” Emma said quietly while looking apologetically at the older skeleton.

Papyrus fell silent as he considered Dings’ proposition before answering, “Take The Offer.”

“Are ya sure Pap?”

Papyrus sighed down the line “Yes, We Will Have To Deal With Them Eventually. So We Might As Well Start With The Least Hostile Of Them.”

“Okay, hopefully we’ll be home soon. So maybe try not to stress clean the place out of existence before we get there.” Emma softly teased.

“I Make No Promises,” Papyrus huffed in mock annoyance. “But On A More Serious Note, Is There Anything You Would Like Me To Prepare Ahead Of Your Arrival?”

“Just your bro’s normal aftercare stuff and perhaps a bed for D since he seems pretty out of it at the moment.”

“And For Yourself?” He gently prompted.

“Um, a bath, some clean clothes and perhaps a crowbar if I can’t get D ta let go.” Emma absently mused, looking down at the sleeping skeleton who was still firmly attached to her.

Papyrus’ soft chuckle echoed from the phone. “Of Course Dear Friend, Everything Shall Be Ready By The Time You Arrive.”

“Thanks Paps, do you want me to pass you over to Dings ta get a proper update on your bros’ or should I give ya back to Tuffet?”

“Dings Please.”

“Okay. Dings ya nephew wants ta talk to you.” She said handing over the phone before giving into Axe’s silent prodding and continuing with her lunch.

Dings unconsciously slipped into his native dialect as he quickly updated Papyrus on the current condition of his two siblings. By the time he had finished talking Axe and Emma had consumed all the food.

“Dings? Is Axe stable enough to move now?” Emma asked softly, as the older monster passed the phone back to Tuffet.

Dings checked Axe over one last time before giving her the thumbs up.

“Okay, come on D it’s time to wake up,” she said brightly, giving the slumbering skeleton a good shake.

Dust responded to this by defiantly burrowing further into Emma’s side and once again tightening his hold on her.

“Alright, that didn’t work. Anybody else got ideas on how to wake sleeping beauty here?”

Before the other monsters could say or do anything, Axe swooped forward, picked the pair up, rearranged them in his arms so everyone was comfortable and then started to walk off. All this was done without waking or disturbing the napping skeleton's hold on the little human.

“Oh my, where does that rascally nephew of mine think he’s going now?” Dings cried in exasperation as he scrambled to gather his things.

“I believe he’s following his nose and heading towards catering,” Emma called back over the retreating skeleton’s shoulder.

“If that’s the case, then I better get Aster to clear the way,” Daniel said, dusting his knees off as he stood up.

“Good idea Dandy, the last thing we need is another incident,” Tuffet said as she started to follow after her young friend. “Oh, Dings dearie, while I keep an eye on things here, why don’t you move your car over to catering, that should speed things up a bit.”

“Right, I’ll give your boy a heads up on what’s happening while I’m at it.” Dings called back before disappearing into a shortcut.

As the guard scrambled to clear the way for Axe, Emma found herself being lulled to sleep by her friend’s rocking gate. Resting her head on his sternum she listened to the soothing hum of his soul. Though she was enjoying this peaceful moment, Emma knew she couldn’t allow herself to fall asleep, as she was the only one here who truly knew how to handle Axe in his current state of mind. Thinking of her friend, she still didn’t understand why he was here, let alone why he was treating her with the same protective care that he normally only gave to his brother.

A faint rumble accompanied by her ride’s slowing pace drew Emma back from her drowsy musings and alerted her to their imminent arrival at catering.

“Em?”

There standing just outside the building was Drider. He was fidgeting with his glasses while the little spiders gathered around his feet, waving tiny white flags and holding up a giant basket of treats.

Axe’s rumble turned to an audible growl the closer he got to the other monsters.

“Hey, take it easy, they're not going ta hurt us. I know you don’t know him but that’s Drider, he’s Tuffet’s son, he won’t hurt us and look the little ones have more treats for us to take home.” Emma softly reassured her stout friend.

“That’s right nephew! No need for violence! We’re all friends here!” Dings said brightly, popping out from behind the others.

In response to this sudden appearance, Axe instinctively moved to protect his charges by summoning a bone and throwing it at the skeleton. Fortunately, Dings spotted the attack and teleported behind Tuffet before the thing could hit.

Though this action had saved him from Axe’s attack, it did little to protect him from the annoyed whack he received from the spider monster. “Dings, dearie? What part of don’t provoke the boy did you not get?”

“Sorry Tufty, force of habit,” Dings apologised, rubbing the sore spot where she hit him.

“One that will get you killed one of these days!” Tuffet exclaimed in exasperation, throwing her many hands into the air.

“Um, I’m sorry to interrupt, but could I get some help here?” Emma called softly, wiggling slightly in Axe’s hold and earning an amused huff and a gentle nuzzle from the skeleton.

“Oh sorry,” the pair apologised in unison, before carefully aiding the girl in freeing herself from her friend's embrace and then getting the boys settled safely in Dings’ vehicle.

Emma once again silently lamented the fact that since on the whole monsters were bigger than humans it meant that anything built for them had to be bigger too. This meant Emma felt like she was trying to climb a mountain, rather than just get into a car.

A tired whine from his smallest had Axe reaching over with a fond smile, then gently picking her up and settling her down next to him on the back seat.

“Dearie, is everything alright back there?” Tuffet asked as she slid into the front passenger seat.

“Um, yeah,” Emma absently replied as she fished her phone out of her bag and tried to send Patch a text to apologise for her absence and explain what was happening.

By the time Patch had sent a simple reply of ‘Okay, see you Saturday’, Tuffet had given Dings Emma’s address and he had started the car.

As he drove Dings attempted to engage the trio in conversation but met with little success. Axe just stared blankly ahead while munching on some cookies. On the other hand, Emma did try to be polite and respond, but all the stress from earlier had caught up with her and all too soon she was joining Dust in a nap. After seeing that two-thirds of his audience had fallen asleep Dings chuckled softly and shook his head, then spent the rest of the journey quietly conversing with Tuffet.

As for Emma, the next thing she was aware of was Papyrus’ long slender fingers carefully untangling Dust from around her.

“Now Brother I Know That Emma Is Extremely Comforting To Snuggle With, But I Must Insist That You Release Her This Instant.”

Dust whined and shook his head vigorously unwilling to loosen his hold on the one thing that was keeping him sane.

“It’s alright Pap, D can stay with me if wants. As long as he doesn’t mind seeing me naked because I seriously need that bath.” Emma said, smiling cheekily at her friend.

“Well, He May Not Mind But I Most Certainly Do!” Papyrus cried, giving an almighty heave and finally succeeding in pulling Dust off of her. “He Is Not At That Level Of Friendship Just Yet,” he declared, gathering the smaller skeleton to his chest. “Now I Suggest You Avail Yourself Of The Bath I Have Run For You Before The Water Becomes Cold, While I Tend To My Brothers And Our Guests,” Papyrus added as he started to usher the others towards the house.

The mention of hot water had Emma grabbing her bag, scrambling out of the car and up the stairs before the others had even made it to the front door. A grateful sigh left her throat as she shed her clothes and sank into the warm bubbles of the bath letting her body finally relax. After a short while, she gave in to the prodding of her conscience, picked up a sponge and slowly started to clean herself. Sadly her nap had done little to relieve the mental fatigue left over from all the emotional turmoil she had been put through earlier. So while she washed the blood out of her hair Emma let her mind wander in an attempt to sort everything out, before returning to the others.

A series of muffled footsteps from the other side of the door had Emma snapping out of her dazed state and guiltily scrambling out of the now cold bath. Quickly she pulled on her pyjamas over her still damp body and flung the bathroom door open ready to apologise for taking so long. But the sight that greeted her caused the words to die on her tongue.

Dust blinked owlishly at her, his left hand was hovering over his sternum, while he tightly gripped his hated knife in the other. The soft glow that emanated from within his chest cavity sent a shiver of fear down Emma’s spine.

“Sans? What are you doing?”

“Sans died underground with his brother,” Dust murmured, ignoring her question as he started to pull his soul out again.

“Well the dead can’t commit suicide so hand over that knife mister!” She stated firmly, taking a cautious step towards him.

“But I must atone for my sins.”

“Well, unless ya’re planning on doing a Dante this is a terrible way of going about it.” She said, slowly reaching for the blade.

“Dante?” Dust asked as he moved the knife away from her questing hand.

“He’s the main character in a mediaeval poem called The Divine Comedy. I’ll tell you all about it if you give me that knife.” Emma gently cajoled him as her outstretched hand made a give-me gesture.

Dust kept the knife firmly out of reach as his dull eyelights stared intently at her.

“D, I promise I’m not gonna do anything with it. I’m just going to put it in a lockbox so it can’t hurt anyone again.”

Dust remained silent and still, but slowly the glow from his chest faded. Then with a heavy sigh, he handed over the blade.

“Thank you,” Emma said softly, taking his hand and leading him towards the craft room. “Now let’s lock this bad boy up and I’ll tell you all about Dante.” She offered him a slight smile as she settled him in her nest and wrapped her favourite blanket around him. “Okay, so I don’t know how accurate this is to the original, since I’ve only seen the movie adaptation of it.” She said as she turned around and started to rummage through stuff looking for the box. “But according to the film Dante was a knight who went on one of the many holy crusades in the Middle Ages. While he was out there he committed an unforgivable sin and then a short while later he was murdered. Of course, after his death, he was sent to Hell, but he wanted to be with his loved ones who were in Heaven. So he decided to fight against his fate and make his way through all the rings of Hell to Purgatory.”

“Purgatory?” Dust interrupted, watching dully as Emma pulled out a small metal box and dropped the knife into it before locking it.

Emma hung the key around her neck, then gave Dust the box and settled next to him before she spoke again. “Mmuh, let's see, according to Christian beliefs Purgatory is a place between Heaven and Hell where a penitent soul can work off their sins and make themselves fit for Heaven.”

“Huh,” Dust mumbled, giving the box a shake before looking over at Emma. “So does he make it to Heaven?”

“Not in the film, which ends just as he reaches the steps of Purgatory. But I know the poem continues his journey up to the point he makes it to the Pearly Gates.”

“Pearly Gat…”

“The gates of Heaven,” Emma quickly explained.

“Oh, Okay.” Dust murmured, before turning his attention back towards the box in his lap. After a moment of silent contemplation, he curled his phalanges tightly around it, then asked in a small broken voice. “Do you really think I could do it?”

“Make it to Heaven?” She inquired softly.

He hunched in on himself and gave a slight nod.

“Yeah, I think so and if you truly want to apologise to your friends you’re gonna have to,” Emma said, gently curling one of her hands around his.

Dust blinked and slowly looked at her in confusion, “huh?”

A quiet giggle escaped from her as she gently tucked the blanket more firmly around him. “Well, you’re the one that keeps saying that you want to apologise to everyone. So unless you’re telling me that everyone from your world was evil and hell-bound. Then ya gonna have to.”

“But…”

“Aaa, don’t say it. Don’t say you’re doomed and damned for all time. You’re already in a better starting place than Dante was, since he never admitted what he did was wrong until he was partway through Hell. But you on the other hand do realise your mistakes, so you can skip the whole trip through Hell bit and go straight for Purgatory. Then it’s just a matter of serving your sentence out, it may not always be easy but as long as you stick at it you will make it to Heaven. Plus you’re still alive so you still have time to balance the scales a bit and shorten the time you have ta spend in Purgatory.”

“That simple huh?” Dust murmured as he tiredly lent against his friend.

“Yeah,” Emma whispered, carefully drawing Dust into a side hug. “And hey, if they don’t accept your apology after all that, you can just come hang out with me and my folks instead.”

“Thanks.”

This would have been the perfect peaceful moment for the pair to drift back off to sleep. Safe and warm in their little nest where nothing could reach them. Except for the incessant banging coming from downstairs.

Emma groaned and reluctantly withdrew her arm from around Dust, “I guess I better go see what that is.”

Dust nodded and tiredly started to stand until a gentle pressure stopped him.

“D, you don’t have ta come. If you want to continue your nap, I could put on some music and close the door, that should drown out everything from downstairs.”

He shook his head, “don’t want to be alone.”

“Okay, but you do realise that the moment Axe sees that you’re awake, he’s gonna badger ya until you eat something.”

“I can live with that,” Dust said with a tired smile as he shuffled after Emma.

By the time the pair had made it to the bottom of the stairs, the frantic pounding on the front door had reached a fever pitch.

Papyrus let out a frustrated huff as he struggled down the hallway with a very growly Axe clinging to his side.

“I’ll get it Pap, you deal with your bro,” Emma called as she quickly headed towards the door.

“Thank You Friend,” Papyrus gratefully called back as he started to try and steer his brother back into the living room.

Emma had barely managed to turn the key in the lock when the distraught elemental on the other side thrust the door open and forced his way in.

“Where is he?” Ember demanded, anxiously looking around the hall.

“He who?” Emma asked in confusion.

“Sans!” The panicky elemental exclaimed, turning to face the human.

“Why? I don’t think his tab has ever warranted this much attention before.”

“Not his tab! This!” Ember cried in frustration, thrusting his phone in the girl’s face.

Emma blinked and stared blankly at the screen as her brain tried to comprehend what it was seeing. The second she realised what was playing Emma buried her face in her hands with a deep groan.

Dust curiously leaned over her shoulder in an attempt to see what all the fuss was about. It only took a few moments of watching the events from that morning before he turned to incredulously stare at Emma with a raised bone ridge. “You hugged my blaster?”

She opened her mouth to respond but her own voice cut her off as the sharp command of “SIT” came from the phone.

A panicked squeak escaped Emma as she tried to cover the screen, “Grillby please turn that off before I lose my snack privileges.”

“Sans?” Ember asked, raising the phone out of reach.

“Is in the living room,” she said, quickly blocking the elemental’s way. “But he’s still coming down from that bad episode he had and the fact he collapsed is not exactly helping things.”

“And you’re worried how he will react to someone else entering his territory?”

She nodded hesitantly, earning a crackly chuckle from the fiery monster as he put his phone away and pulled out several bags from his inventory. “Don’t worry, I came prepared.”

“Okay, but are ya going to be able to keep ya cool?” Emma asked, pointing at the scorch marks on the still-open front door. “My house is pretty flammable.”

“Arr, yes, sorry about that, I’ll pay for the repairs,” Ember apologised, his cheeks darkening with embarrassment.

“It’s alright you don’t have ta do that. I just brought it up because it was one of their older relatives who gave us a lift home and he’s still here.” Emma explained, uncertainly eyeing the monster.

The gaunt elemental chuckled as he gently patted her on the head. “Don’t worry, if he was kind to Sans then I think I can keep it under control. But I’m still going to pay for the door,” he added as he closed it.

“Honestly you don’t have to, but thanks,” Emma said with a small shy smile. “Now shall we go feed the skelly?” Gesturing towards the living room.

As the trio entered the room Dust tugged on Emma’s top. “But seriously you hugged my blaster?”

“Yes D, I hugged it and named it Skully. And before you ask what else I said, I’m going to take a page from the Americans and plead the fifth.”

“Plead the what?” Dust asked, utterly confused by the odd phrasing she kept using.

“The fifth, it basically means that I refuse ta say anything more in case I incriminate myself,” Emma explained as she looked for a place to sit.

In the room, there were the two old armchairs where her parents used to sit, one of which Tuffet had claimed. Dings had found the old stool her mum had reupholstered some years ago. He had dragged it over to the sofa on which Papyrus and Axe had now settled, so he could continue to monitor the stout skeleton’s condition. There was still some space on the sofa, but it was probably best to give that to Dust. That just left the armchair or the floor because she was just too tired to fetch a chair from another room.

Emma quickly shoved the selfish thought of taking the chair from her head, Ember was both older and their guest. So as Papyrus greeted his old friend she gently ushered Dust towards the sofa and took the bags from Ember, gesturing for him to take the armchair.

But Emma’s plan to just grab a cushion and claim a spot near Tuffet was scuppered when Axe snagged her around the waist and in one swift move swept her up onto his lap.

“Sheesh Sans, I know ya hungry but couldn’t ya wait a couple of minutes for me ta sort this lot out.” Emma laughingly chided her friend as he leaned over her shoulder to look at the bags she was holding.

Dust tiredly lifted a bone brow at the pair, before he levitated the contents of the bags. This caused Axe to issue a warning growl as he made a grab for the floating food that drifted just out of reach.

“D, stop being a gremlin and give your bro back his food.” Emma wearily reprimanded him.

But instead of complying straight away, Dust instead levitated everyone else on the sofa and
rearranged them, so he could comfortably lie down with Emma as his pillow.

Once everyone had settled down Axe snatched up a box of fries and forced a fist full down Dust’s non-existent throat.

“Pap? Can skeletons choke?” Emma asked as she anxiously watched Dust struggle to swallow the large amount of food.

Papyrus blinked, “I Am Not Actually Sure. It Has Never Really Been An Issue Before.” He turned to the older Skeleton, “Uncle? Do You Have Any Idea?”

“Mmm, well technically any food we can’t absorb should just fall out,” Dings said, indicating their general hollowness. “And as long as our bodies can maintain their magic flow we don’t actually need to breathe.”

“So, little chance of suffocation?” Emma asked, curiously looking down at the skeleton resting on her lap.

Dust sighed as he finally finished his mouthful. “Yeah, it’s pretty hard to kill us that way, it’s better to just go straight for the soul.”

“I’ll bear that in mind,” Emma murmured, passing down the remaining fries to Dust.

Axe huffed and grabbed another box, sniffing it before he held it out for Emma to take.

Hesitantly she took it, “thanks Sans, but shouldn’t your bro have it? I’ve already had something to eat, remember?”

“It Is Alright Dear Friend, There Is More Than Enough Food Here For All Of Us,” Papyrus said cheerfully, retrieving another box for himself.

“But Pap, the magic con…” Emma began to protest.

Only to be cut off by Ember’s crackly chuckle. “Don’t worry, I know you can’t handle heavy magic foods. So I made sure to include some bits for you in there.”

“And My Brother’s Nose, Even In This State, Can Easily Tell Them Apart.” Papyrus happily proclaimed as he started to eat his share of the food.

“Alright Sans, I surrender. You can stop prodding me, I’ll eat.” Emma giggled tapping the impatient skeleton. “Oh, and Ember, thank you.” She added smiling shyly at the elemental.

“You’re most welcome my dear Fortune,” Ember said happily, returning the smile.

“Looks like you have picked up another new nickname, Doodles dearie,” Tuffet said teasingly.

“Yeah, it seems so, but I have no idea what I did to earn this one,” Emma bemoaned playfully as she leaned back into Axe.

Ember chuckled, “would it help if I told you that it’s actually Fortune Cookie?”

A soft groan left Emma as she buried her head in her hands. “Yeah, I think I know where it’s from now. I just wish you guys weren’t so food-obsessed.”

“I Do Not Think I Truly Understand What You Are Trying To Imply There My Dear Morsel.” Papyrus said, innocently smiling down at his little friend. This earned him another deep groan and a small betrayed “et tu Papyrus?” From Emma, which in turn earned her an amused head pat from Axe.

His mind still felt a bit fuzzy making it hard to follow the conversation. But that didn’t really matter when it was so obvious how relaxed and happy all of his were right now. So even with the presence of outsiders in the den, Axe felt comfortable enough to indulge in his curiosity about what was going on with his littlest one’s hair.

Normally Emma’s hair fell in gentle waves, its tips just softly brushing her shoulder blades. But as it dried those gentle waves had turned into a mass of messy curls that hugged her head closely.

Unconsciously, Axe reached out and gently took hold of one of the silky curls and gently pulled it straight. He marvelled at how the light rippled through the strand, as well as how soft it felt between his clawed phalanxes, so different from the humans that had fallen underground.

“He…… Sh-in…y,” Axe mused as he released the silky strand and watched it bounce back to join its fellow curls.

The two other horror monsters incredulously stared at Axe as he gleefully repeated the process, a happy rumble emanating from his chest.

“Oh, my” Papyrus breathed uncharacteristically quietly as he watched his brother happily playing with Emma’s hair.

Even as the two horrors continued to watch in amazement at their fellow monster’s behaviour. Tuffet couldn’t help but be concerned for her little friend’s comfort. “Doodles dearie? Are you alright?”

“Um yeah, why?” Emma asked in confusion as she turned to face her friend.

“Well, he is….your hair,” Tuffet said, vaguely gesturing at the pair as she struggled to articulate her worries.

“Oh, that. You do realise that the only reason I freaked out at that time, was because I hadn’t realised that your little one’s were there and they startled me. Normally as long as I know they are there and I trust them, I’ve got no problem letting someone play with my hair. Otherwise, how would I ever survive going to your sister’s salon.” Emma chuckled as she shook her head earning a whiny pout from the stout skeleton. “Oh hush you,” she playfully scolded him as she leaned back into his chest, “see, now you can easily reach the rest of it.”

“Emma, My Dearest Friend You Never Cease To Amaze Me.” Papyrus breathed, managing to regain some of his normal volume as he continued to stare in awe at the pair.

“Um, thanks for the compliment Pap. But I don’t think I’ve done anything to deserve it.”

“Maybe it’s your hair, that’s a pretty amazing transformation,” Dust said nonchalantly as he reached for a burger.

“While I Will Admit The Way Emma’s Hair Reacts To Water Is Fascinating To Observe. I Was Actually Referring To The Fact That She Managed To Draw Out A Recognizable Word From My Brother.” Papyrus commented as he pushed some finger foods towards Axe.

“Wait, how long does it normally take your brother to regain his voice?” Dings asked, looking up from his monitors.

“At Least 24 Hours, Sometimes More. And Then Anywhere Up To A Week For It To Fully Recover.”

Dust tuned out the rest of Dings and Papyrus’ discussion in favour of paying attention to Emma. “So your hair does this every time it gets wet? Is this why you hid away after your bath on Sunday?”

“Yes and no,” Emma giggled as Dust raised a brow at her. “Yes my hair does this every time it gets wet, but no it’s not the reason I retreat after my bath. Um, the fact is, I like really long hot baths but they tend to give me a headache so I normally just go up to my room and sleep it off.” She explained, blushing faintly.

“Heh, well if my bro remembers this tomorrow you’ll not be able to do that again.” Dust tiredly chortled as he watched Axe happily bury himself in her curls.

“Well, I guess there are worse fates than being a living fidget toy.” Emma sighed as she reached behind her and gently petted her stout friend on the back of his skull.

Dust hummed and turned his attention back to his burger. But Emma wasn’t quite ready to end the conversation just yet. “Hey, did you just call Sans your bro?”

Dust’s skull lit up a brilliant violet. “Nope,” he muttered, pulling his hood further over his head before stuffing the rest of his burger in his mouth and burrowing deeper into his blanket wrappings.

Emma had to bite back a laugh as Dust’s pretend snores synced with Axe’s real ones.

“Dings dearie? I think that’s our cue to leave and let these poor dearies rest.” Tuffet said, smiling softly at her friend.

“Hum, you might be right Tuffty,” Dings murmured as he went to retrieve his sensors.

“Careful, Axe is a very light sleeper and the last doctor that disturbed him almost got impaled,” Emma warned, causing Dings to instantly freeze. He then slowly nodded his head in understanding before carefully using his magic to retrieve them instead.

After he finished putting everything away, Dings gave Papyrus a couple of pill bottles. “Right, here are the supplements I promised, make sure you follow the instructions precisely when giving them to your brother.”

“Yes Uncle,” Papyrus said as he cautiously extracted himself from the heap on the sofa.

Axe grumbled sleepily when his brother stood to escort the others out, but Emma’s soothing presence soon had him settling down again.

Papyrus sighed in relief as his brother’s snores filled the room again. Silently he gestured to the others to follow him, but stopped and raised a brow at Ember when he didn’t move.

“I’ve got the day off. So if you don’t mind, I’ll stay and help you with dinner. Just in case your brother decides to act up later.” The gaunt elemental explained, earning him a grateful smile from his tall friend.

“Thank You My Friend, That Would Be Very Much Appreciated.”

While Emma said her goodbyes to Tuffet, Dust’s breathing evened out and his body relaxed as he joined Axe in sleep.

Dings popped his head back into the room. “Oh, Emma, I almost forgot, you don’t have to make an appointment anymore.”

“Okay, why?”

“The assessment includes a full health check, so I’ll just add your soul check-up onto their appointment.” Dings said brightly.

“Okay, thank you,” Emma said, smiling nervously at the skeleton.

Dings smiled as he happily waved goodbye, then disappeared back the way he came.

Ember raised a concerned eyebrow, “soul check-up?”

“Urr, yeah, Dings tried to check me earlier and it hurt. So I’m going to go to the Clinic and get it checked out.” Emma said, wincing slightly.

“Then perhaps you should join the boys in their nap,” Ember said, brows now fully furrowed in concern.

“But…”

“Emma you’ve had a very stressful day so far and if you truly do have a soul injury, then the best thing you can do is try to relax and not aggravate it anymore.” Ember stated firmly.

“But it’s impolite to sleep when you’ve got a guest,” Emma blurted out.

Ember chuckled as he stood, “oh my sweet little cookie, I hardly think I count as a guest anymore. Now try and get some rest while I help Papyrus clean up.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, now rest my sweet fortune,” he said, smiling fondly down at her as he quickly gathered up the cups from earlier.

Papyrus had just finished seeing the others off when the elemental exited the room. “Ember? What Are You Doing Out Here?”

“Giving the others a chance to rest in peace.” He chuckled holding up the cups, before his expression became serious. “Papyrus, I’m sorry but I have to ask, did you know about her soul?”

Papyrus sighed as he led the way to the kitchen “Yes, Sans Tried To Judge Her Shortly After We Met.” He stopped by the sink and gripped the edge tightly as he started to shake. “It Looked So Fragile Grillby, That I Feared A Single Misplaced Breath Would Shatter It.”

Ember carefully put down the cups and placed a comforting hand on his distraught friend’s back. “Then it’s a good thing that she’s going to get it professionally looked at isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Papyrus said softly, wiping away a stray tear from his socket. “Though I Must Admit That If My Uncle Had Not Intervened I Was Going To Make An Appointment The Moment That I Was Registered. But I Believe That This Way Is Better.” He added as he turned the water on.

“Why’s that?” Ember asked as he passed over the cups to wash.

Papyrus stopped and looked over at his friend. “This Way There Is Someone In A Position Of Authority Watching Over Emma. Though I Am Still Concerned If I Am Doing The Right Thing.”

“But that seems like a sensible precaution given our history. So what are you truly worried about?”

“My Instincts,” Papyrus mumbled.

“Your instincts? They haven’t led you astray in years, so what’s the problem?” Ember asked, looking at his friend in confusion.

Papyrus sighed again and turned off the tap. “My Instincts Keep Telling Me That If I Want To Keep Emma Safe I Must Keep Her Close. But If she Truly Has A Soul Injury, Is That The Right Thing To Do? Staying With Me And My Brothers Will Only Cause Her To Experience Greater Stress Than She Is Already Experiencing Because Of The Loss Of Her Mother.”

Ember silently passed him another cup as he pondered over his friend's problem. “I won’t say your concerns are unfounded, but from what I have observed of her I think Emma can handle it. So in this case I think you can trust your instincts, but if you truly want Emma to stay, you should sit down with the others and have a frank discussion about this with them just to make sure you are all on board with this, Okay?”

“Yes, You Are Right As Ever My Friend. Thank You, I Do Not Know What I Would Do Without Your Help.”

“You’re welcome, my friend. Now come on, these cups won’t clean themselves. Then perhaps you can show me that cookbook collection you’ve been bragging about.” Ember said cheerfully patting his friend on the back.

Papyrus chuckled softly as he turned his attention back to the task at hand. Silently pushing his worries and concerns to the side for the moment. He would deal with them soon enough but for now he just wanted to enjoy this moment of peace with his old friend and mentor. Tomorrow would be soon enough to deal with everything else.

Chapter Text

Emma sighed as she found herself once again confronted with the closed doors of Grillby’s. It was Saturday morning and as normal she had come to the bar to hang out with her friends. Axe’s deep chuckle next to her reminded Emma that this Saturday wasn’t quite like the other ones. This afternoon she was meant to take the guys to the Parlour so they could finish their chat with Venom, but for some reason, they had decided to follow her to Grillby’s.

“So are ya gonna stare at the door all day or are we gonna go in?” Axe asked, grinning down at her.

“Um, Sans I may be dyslexic but even I know what the word closed looks like,” Emma said pointing at the sign on the door.

“Well, that’s easily solved,” Axe said as he banged on the door. “Hey flame brain let us in.”

“Axe, ya gonna get me banned,” Emma groaned burying her head in her hands.

“What? He scorched our door, I banged on his, fair is fair.” He pouted, crossing his arms.

“And you call me a gremlin,” Dust murmured, hugging her from behind as he rested his chin on her shoulder.

“That’s because you are,” Emma replied, leaning back into the embrace. “But Axe is a bit too big to be a gremlin, he’s more of a hobgoblin.”

Papyrus chuckled as his brother huffily rolled his eyelight while he continued to try to get the elementals to let them in. It truly warmed his soul to see how comfortable they all were with each other, especially Dust. After his previous episode, he had become severely depressed and suicidal, and it had taken all of Papyrus’ powers of persuasion to talk his new brother out of it. But this time Dust had just become quiet and thoughtful, often seeking out one of them for company and in Emma’s case snuggles. Papyrus was slightly upset about this because it cut into his own cuddle time but it was worth it to see his new brother so happy and relaxed.

Papyrus tuned back into the conversation as Emma groaned. “Anyway, why are you guys even here? I thought you were avoiding this place like the grim plague.”

“I Believe You Are Maybe Mixing Your Metaphors There Emma,” Papyrus chuckled, “But That Is Beside The Point. Ember Invited Us To Hangout With Him Out Back, While You Have Breakfast With Your Friends.”

“So that’s why I’ve got a bunch of skeletons banging on my door at this hour,” Chillby grumbled, glaring at a grinning Axe.

“Sorry, I’ll try and keep him quiet if ya still setting things up,” Emma softly apologised.

“Just get in here,” Chillby sighed, “you know there’s no stopping one of them when they decide to be annoying.”

“Oh, there is,” Dust said quietly as he walked past the elemental, “you just have to know the right threat.”

“And that is?” Chillby enquired as the others trooped in behind Dust.

“I’ll let you know as soon as I figure it out,” Emma muttered as she wandered over to her regular seat.

Axe sniggered and patted her on the head, “don’t worry, snack you’ll remember one of these days.”

“Yeah, I’m not too sure that one of Paps’ threats would work for me,” Emma sighed as she removed her hat and bag.

“I believe you already have quite the effective threat, my dear fortune.” Ember chuckled, as he appeared from the kitchen with a tray of hot drinks.

“Oh, and what’s that?” Emma asked, accepting a mug of mint tea from the gaunt elemental.

“Deny them access to that wonderful little cookbook of yours,” Ember said, as he passed out the rest of the drinks.

Axe opened his mouth to retort, but the words that came out were something totally different from what he intended. “Hey, Grills, who's the mirror over there?” He asked, gesturing towards the bar.

Ember glanced to where his counterpart was prepping the bar for the day, before turning his attention back towards Axe with a sigh. “Sans, that’s my brother Grillby.”

Axe’s eyelight became fuzzy and unfocused as he picked at his hole. “Huh, but you're Grillby.”

“Yes Brother, But Just Like The Rest Of Us He Had To Choose A New Name, Remember?” Papyrus reminded him as he gently pulled Axe’s hand away from his skull.

“Oh, right.”

“What’s the betting he will forget again in the next few minutes?” Dust murmured, leaning slightly into Emma’s side.

“Most likely.” She sighed, “but as long as he remembers that humans are off the menu, I think I can live with him being a little bit more absent-minded than normal.”

“Emma? Are You Alright?” Papyrus asked, concerned, shimmering in his eyelights. “You Do Not Normally Bring Up Our Past Eating Habits.”

“Oh, um, sorry Pap. I know you’re not really comfortable with that subject at the moment and I Know none of you would.” Emma apologised, before she sheepishly smiled up at her friend. “I guess I’m more distracted than I thought…sorry again.”

Dust sighed and gently nudged her. “You’re not still overthinking what to say to your friends, are you?”

Emma winced, “I was actually trying not to think about that.”

Dust quirked a brow in disbelief, “ah huh.”

“Honestly, right at this moment it’s more of a memory thing.” She said smiling hesitantly at the group.

“Oh? Is That So? Then Why Not Share It? We May Be Able To Ease Your Worries Over This And Perhaps This Will Distract You From Your Needless Fretting.” Papyrus cheerfully stated.

“Um, sorry if this sounds rude or anything, but every time you call Grillby your brother, I don’t know it just feels... wrong somehow.” She apologised looking up at the older elemental hoping her words hadn’t upset him.

“Oh, that’s because he’s Grillby,” Axe piped up pointing at Ember before any of the others could say anything.

“Yes he is. He is also the oldest of us.” Grillby stated, joining them from behind the bar.

“Yeah, this old fart got trapped underground before the rest of us were even born,” Chillby added, throwing a companionable arm over the gaunt elemental’s shoulder.

Ember chuckled nervously. “Yes, it was quite a shock to suddenly find myself with siblings when for centuries I had thought I was an only child.”

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Since the only memories of you I could have gotten from Pap would’ve been from his time underground.” Emma murmured thoughtfully. Yet even as she said those words the niggling sense of wrongness still lingered.

As if he could read her mind Dust sighed and gently nudged her again. “Hey don’t worry about it, when you can remember how Pap and I are truly related you will have your answer.”

“Oh, are ya talking about ho….” Papyrus quickly snatched Axe up, cradled him against his chest and firmly placed a hand over his mouth.

“YES BROTHER, THAT!” Papyrus practically shouted, “But Remember This Is The One Memory That Emma Must Figure Out On Her Own.”

Axe only blinked owlishly up at his brother and shrugged in response to this.

Ember cleared his throat, “uh perhaps we should turn this conversation towards breakfast? If you boys want to eat out here,” he suggested calmly.

Emma sighed as Papyrus sent her an apologetic look, she knew because of certain monster laws there were some things he couldn’t tell her. But it didn’t make it any less frustrating when she had a memory niggling at her like this. “Yeah, that sounds like a plan,” she said with another sigh, before adding with a smile. “And perhaps if we feed Axe, we can kickstart his memory a bit.”

Axe huffed and rolled his lone eyelight as Dust sniggered something about brain fuel, which sparked a pun war between the pair. As the war intensified the elementals dispersed to finish setting things up for the day. While this was going on Papyrus let out a despairing groan, dropped his brother and picked Emma up before walking to the other side of the bar to settle down hugging her to his chest, complaining the entire time.

A ceasefire was finally called when Ember emerged from the kitchen with their breakfast. The conversation flowed around Emma as she quietly ate her food, once again retreating into her mind as she tried to figure out what to say to her friends when they arrived.

Noticing the mental absence of his dear little friend, Papyrus took it upon himself to coax her into joining the conversation. This happy banter continued until all the plates were cleared away and the first of Emma’s Larper friends drifted in.

Being his normal bright cheerful self, Papyrus happily greeted them, before he discreetly ushered his brothers out back.

“So those are your housemates?” Emma’s tall friend Paul asked as he took a seat while their quiet friend Nick went to order their breakfast.

“Yeah, they’re a nice bunch once you get used to their quirks.”

“Quirks? Is that what you call starting a fight at a closed Sim?” Patch asked as he came up to the table with a stern look on his face.

Emma guiltily looked up at him, “Patch…. I’m so sorry, I honestly don’t know why they were there and I am truly sorry for the trouble they caused.” She apologised bowing her head, “please tell me you guys managed to salvage the Sim after we left?” She asked, hesitantly raising her head to look at the ex-biker again.

Patch sighed as he sat down, “yeah, we managed to get it back on track. And even with the late finish, the reviews from the participants were good, so that’s fine.”

“That’s good, even if I end up getting blacklisted because of all the trouble we caused, I’m glad it worked out for everyone else.” Emma said with a relieved but rueful smile on her face.

“Whoa, hold on there Em, who said anything about you getting blacklisted? It wasn’t your fault,” Patch protested.

Paul nodded in agreement, “he’s right Emma, you said so yourself, that you had no idea that they were following you. So there is no way that this is your fault.”

“Yeah I know, I’m just worried that Steve won’t want to hire me, especially since I can’t guarantee that those two won’t show up again.” She mumbled, nervously fiddling with her necklace.

“Pff, Em after the way the Director of the Centre was raving about you, Steve is more likely to give you a bonus, than blacklist you.” Patch sniggered, waving her concerns away.

She silently let out a sigh of relief as Nick returned with everyones drinks and the rest of the group, who had just arrived.

As the others settled down to eat, the conversation started to drift to other subjects, which finally allowed Emma to relax a bit and truly enjoy her time with her friends. Especially now that she had been reassured by Patch’s words that she was going to get paid, as that money was earmarked for some important bills.

Things continued in a more normal fashion until Stephanie, Emma’s childhood friend, came storming in at eleven o’clock, yelling, “Emmmmyyy!!”

“Stephhh, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?” Emma whined as she was crushed to her friend’s chest in a breath-stealing hug.

“I don’t care! It’s what you deserve for scaring me like that and then banning me from coming to your house!” Stephanie stated loudly, shaking Emma with every word.

Taking a firm hold of her friend Emma stood and gently drew her into a hug. “Look Steph, I’m sorry about that and I’m sorry I scared you. But Axe can get pretty territorial after a bad episode and I didn’t want to risk it when he doesn't know you that well.”

“In all fairness, Emma you have only known him a few months.” Nick quietly pointed out as Emma gently guided Stephanie onto a free chair.

“Mmm, true. But we’ve been living in the same house all that time, so I’m practically part of the furniture as far as he is concerned.” Emma laughed as she returned to her seat.

Stephanie took the chance to whack Emma on her shoulder as she sat down.

“Hey, what was that for?”

“That was for scaring me! Seriously Em what were you thinking? That thing could’ve killed you!” Steph huffed glaring over at her friend.

“Let’s see,” Emma murmured with a faint playful smile tugging at her lips, as she thoughtfully tapped a finger on her chin. “Mmm, dragon and oh yeah, not letting the ambassador get incinerated in front of me.” She added, glaring right back at her.

A groan rolled around the table with a couple of them shaking their heads at her words.

“Oh come on guys, you all know my preferred way to go is instant incineration by dragon.” Emma said jokingly, turning to grin at the others.

“No, Emma, why?” Stephanie groaned in despair as she dramatically flopped forward onto the table.

“Well, you see, this way you don’t have to pay for a funeral and since it is instantaneous it shouldn’t hurt much and I hopefully get to see my favourite creature before I die.”

Paul blinked, “that’s strangely logical.”

“Yep, that’s our Ems, strangely logical,” Patch chuckled as the others nodded in agreement.

“Well if I’m strange what does that make the rest of you? Considering our shared hobby of running around and beating people up in the bushes with foam and latex-covered sticks, while wearing bits of leather.” Emma asked poutily, glaring at her friends.

“Emma, please don’t describe Larp like that. You make it sound like some weird fetish.” Peter, another tall friend of hers, who also happened to be the head of their Larp group, begged.

Emma grinned impishly at him, before turning her attention towards her best friend. “You’ll back me up on this won’t you Steph? As the only non-larper here right?”

“Um, considering you keep calling my precious unicorns' stab horses. No, I’m siding with them on this.” Stephanie’s statement started a good-natured argument that lasted right up until the group left the bar and met back up with the brothers.

As the group slowly meandered their way towards The Parlour, the larpers started to say their goodbyes until only Stephanie and the skeletons were left. Emma smiled to herself as her extroverted friends happily chattered around her. It truly warmed her heart to see two of her dearest friends getting along so well.

“So, what actually was the thing Em ended up hugging in that video anyway?” Stephanie asked, drawing Emma’s attention back to the conversation.

“Oh, That Was My Brother’s Blaster,” Papyrus happily replied.

“But what is a blaster?”

Dust sighed, “it’s a magical tool force from my power.”

“Huh, I thought Skully was your familiar beast the way he was acting.” Emma said blinking, as she turned to look at him.

“No, it’s a construct,” Dust stated tiredly.

“Are you sure?” Emma asked.

“Yes, it’s my magic,” Dust monotonously answered, “Why?”

“Well Skully seemed to really like being petted for a mere magic construct,” Emma commented with a shrug.

Axe cocked his skull to the side with a mischievous grin. “Oh, is our little Dust Bunny in need of a hug?”

“No,” Dust was quick to deny as he deftly dodged Axe’s hug attack.

As the pair continued their impromptu game of tag Stephanie turned to face Papyrus. “Um, I think I’m missing something here?”

“Oh? What Would That Be Friend?” Papyrus politely enquired, as Emma yelled directions to Dust's retreating form.

“Well, why would that thing…..”

“Skully,” Emma helpfully piped up, before calling out to Axe, “Sans no shortcutting the last thing we need is you having a relapse!”

Stephanie rolled her eyes as she continued, “why is Skully liking being petted or not, is such a big deal?”

“Mmm, Well Let Me See If I Can Properly Explain It,” Papyrus said as he thoughtfully scratched at his chin. “It Basically Comes Down To The Difference Between A Construct And A Familiar. Now, As My Brother Stated Earlier, A Construct Is An Advanced Magical Tool, It Has No Thoughts Or Feelings Of Its Own, Only Those of Its Creator. Where As Familiar Beasts, Though Still Created With Our Magic, Have Minds And Wills Of Their Own And Can Exist Without Us Continuously Feeding Them Our Magic, Unlike A Construct That Will Disappear As Soon As The Magic Runs Out.”

“Ooookky soo what does that have to do with that?” Stephanie asked, gesturing at the game of tag ahead of them.

“Well, it either means that D’s Blaster is evolving into a familiar, which would be totally awesome, or….” A skeletal hand suddenly appeared behind Emma and clamped itself firmly over her mouth. As Dust rested his head on her shoulder and quietly finished her sentence for her. “Or you’re so weird that it’s affected my Blaster.”

“Nope,” Axe said, appearing out of nowhere and gleefully snatching up Dust into a bone-crushingly tight hug. “It means you want hugs so bad that it’s affecting your magic.”

“I’m not…I don’t,” Dust spluttered as he struggled in Axe’s hold.

“So if ya not touch starved, are we gonna have a pet blaster in the near future instead then?” Emma asked innocently, grinning at the struggling skeleton.

Dust ceased his struggles as he stared incredulously at her. “Seriously Em? You do realise that Blasters are weapons right? Not cuddly little pets.”

“But dragon!” Emma said playfully, if a little childishly, pouting at the skeleton.

While the others sniggered and shook their heads at her antics, Dust’s deadpan stare became deeper, “no.”

Papyrus chuckled as he stooped and picked up his siblings. “As Enjoyable As This Debate On The State Of My Brother’s Magic Is, Perhaps We Should Table It For A Later Date. We Do Have That Meeting With Miss Venom To Get To And We Do Not Want To Be Late.”

Stephanie nodded, “yeah, I better get going too if I don’t want to miss my bus.”

So goodbyes were said and the group set off again, with Emma leading the way and Papyrus happily following along, still hugging his brothers to his chest. They got some odd looks from curious passers-by as they travelled, but it was nothing compared to the fascinated stares Emma received upon arriving at The Parlour.

This was mainly because the moment she set foot inside the building she was engulfed by a swarm of the little spiderlings, who not only stole her hat and replaced it with a crown but also somehow managed to put a robe and sash on her that proclaimed her ‘the mighty beast tamer’. They then proceeded to kowtow to her while holding up small banners stating (ALL HAIL DOODLES THE TAMER OF THE DREADED BLASTER!)

Emma groaned and hid her face in her hands, she could almost feel the stares of the people around her. But if all the years of larping had taught her nothing else it was how to ignore the odd looks she got and focus in on the things that really matter. So with a bit of an effort Emma shoved her embarrassment to the side, straightened her robes and looked imperiously down at the little spiders. “All right you tiny terrors as your newly appointed queen I shall allow you the great honour of escorting me to your lady mother.”

The instant the command left her mouth the spiders jumped into action. Some scurried off to clear the way, while the rest of them formed up in front of her. Then they started marching forward still waving their banners as they led Emma towards the V.I.P. section.

Off in the distance, Terry watched the strange parade as it slowly progressed through the store. A mischievous smirk spread across his face as he left the wall he had been leaning on and made his way over to a door marked staff only. Seeing Emma looking at him, Terry’s smirk grew broader as he raised his phone and hit record with one hand, while the other one opened the door releasing the pastry beasts from within.

As the pair enthusiastically charged forward, Emma quickly let off a sharp commanding whistle, praying that for once she wouldn’t be sent flying by Muffin's ecstatic greetings. The effect was almost instantaneous, upon hearing her command the pair of familiars came to a skidding halt. In Muffin’s case, he skidded to a stop a mere few inches from her, causing all the little spiders to scatter to avoid being crushed.

As the little ones sorted themselves out, Emma smiled fondly and held out her hands then trilling softly, invited the beasts forward. Tiffin happily trotted over joining Muffin in fusses and head pats. The patrons continued to watch on in amazement as she gently murmured to the pair causing Tiffin to kneel down and allow Emma to mount him. Then the two mutant pastries joined in the spiders’ stately parade over to where Venom was sitting.

Terry sighed and shook his head as he put his phone away and wandered over to join the others. “Damn, I thought I had you this time,” he complained as Papyrus decorously helped Emma dismount.

“Terry, I've told you before. I’ve been too well-trained to fall for that kind of thing.” Emma said, haughtily turning towards the spider.

“Well, it works perfectly at Aunt M’s place,” Terry muttered, mainly to himself.

“That’s because Muffet’s place is smaller than here,” Emma stated with an accompanying eye roll.

“What’s that got to do with anything?” Terry asked, blinking down in mild confusion at his little friend.

“For such a smart child, you can be such a silly boy. It’s no wonder you could never outwit Black back in Snowdin.” The quiet chink of china accompanied Poison’s tired reply.

“Mum?”

“It’s quite simple really, nephew. With just how enthusiastic Muffin can get, even if someone commanded him to, there is just not enough room for him to stop at the bakery.” Venom calmly explained as she refreshed her sister’s cup. “So if you truly wanted to humiliate our little tamer here you should have waited a bit longer before unleashing my babies on her.” She added, gesturing towards Emma.

As everyone turned their attention towards her, their fond gazes turned to concerned ones, when they discovered Emma just staring blankly ahead, not paying any attention to anything going on around her.

The mention of Snowdin had set something off inside her head, like pieces of a puzzle were starting to come together.

“Ha, I guess that Marvel had it right all along,” Emma murmured, absently letting Papyrus guide her to a seat.

“Dearie? Are you alright?” Venom asked, gently tapping her friend on the shoulder trying to gain her attention.

Startled by the touch Emma blinked before awkwardly grinning while rubbing the back of her head. “Oh, yeah, um, sorry…I guess that memory knocked me for a loop there. So what were you saying?”

“Perhaps We Should Table That Discussion For Now And See What We Can Do To Settle That Memory,” Papyrus said, sitting beside her. “You Mentioned Something About Marvel Being Right All Along?”

“Okay, so how can one of Pap's memories have anything in common with some silly comics?” Dust asked, squeezing into the booth with Axe following close behind.

“Hey, don’t knock Marvel. They were one of the first companies to create a consistent universe for all of their characters to live in. Where the events of one series would have consequences in other ones and in recent years….”

“Em, however fun your nerdy rambles can be, we do have things we need to discuss today, so maybe cut this short.” Terry commented, resting his head on one of his hands as he took the last seat.

“Okay sorry,” Emma said resignedly. “The reason the memory made me think of Marvel is because they are the ones that have brought alternative universes and timelines to the forefront of popular culture, with things like Spiderverse and Loki.”

A tense silence fell over the table after Emma finished speaking.

That was until Dust suddenly burst out with, “FINALLY! Now you realise why they can’t be my brothers!”

“Well okay, but technically Papyrus is your brother just from another universe and secondly my point still stands. If Muffet and Grillby can accept their counterparts as family why not you? It’s not like you have to accept the others, just do what feels right to you.” Emma stated, nonchalantly shrugging.

“Yep, she’s right ya mine, ain’t giving ya back now.” Axe chuckled as he flipped Dust’s hood further over his skull.

“Yes That Is Right, I Do Not Call You Brother Because You Are Sans. I Call You Brother Because That Is What Feels Right To My Soul.” Papyrus happily added, patting him on the back.

“Ya both idiots,” Dust muttered, burying himself deeper into his jacket.

“Okay, Okay, this is very sweet and all, but Em how are you not freaking out right now?” Terry demanded.

“Terry, I think my freak-out metre has been broken for years. Especially after monsters emerged from the mountain.” Emma stated deadpanly.

“Plus Emma’s Upbringing And Love Of Fantasy Has Left Her Much More Open-minded And Accepting Than Most Folks.” Papyrus happily chipped in as he hugged his friend close, feeling so grateful that he did not have to keep anything from her anymore.

“Yes dearie, she certainly is. But I do believe we need to discuss your non-existent survival instincts, Doodles dearie.” Poison stated rather crisply, raising a beautifully sculpted eyebrow at the girl.

Emma silently winced, she had hoped that the light teasing she had gotten from the little spiders would be the end of the matter. But that hope died rather quickly as Poison continued to reprimand her for her foolish actions.

“I mean seriously Emma, I know you love dragons and have a strong affinity for animals, but I have witnessed those things dust so many monsters that you could make a three-tier cake with their remains. So whatever was going through your little mind when you disciplined a ginormous one like it was some naughty puppy?” Poison shook her head before sadly looking at her young friend. “Look dearie, I know you miss her, but….”

“Perhaps we should give poor Doodles a chance to defend herself, sister dearest?” Venom said sharply, cutting the other matriarchal spider monster off before she could say anything she would regret.

“Look, Poison, I am truly sorry I scared everyone, but what else was I meant to do? Axe was in the middle of an episode and D was…um…lost in his head? Skully was reacting like a dog so I treated him like one. It was the only thing I could think of doing to avoid an even bigger disaster from happening. Can you imagine the uproar if members of the monster embassy got incinerated by another monster? Especially Frisk!” Emma vented, letting some of her fear and frustration over this whole situation slip out with her words.

“Shoulda let them burn if ya ask me. Frisk is nothing but trouble, we'd be better off without them.” Axe growled, clawed phalanges inching towards his dead socket.

“You better forget that attitude dearie,” Venom warned the angry skeleton. “I don’t know what Frisk was to you but here she is the saviour of Monsterkind, the symbol of peace and harmony between the races. Her death, especially at the hands of a monster, would cause a political nightmare that would make the race riots of a few years ago look like a walk in the park.”

Papyrus suppressed a shudder as he stopped his oldest brother from scratching at his damaged socket. Emma’s memories of those riots were nothing but pain and sorrow, he truly did not want anyone to live through something like that again. So, as he gently moved his brother’s hand away from his socket, he set about calming his agitated sibling. “Brother, I Can Understand Being Cautious Of This New Frisk, But You Must Remember This Is Not Our World. They Are Not The One That Doomed Our People. This Version Of Them For Whatever Reason Has Chosen To Play The Hero. We Must Respect That If Nothing Else.” Papyrus stated calmly, he may not be able to ever forgive that human for what they had done, but he would try his best not to let it ruin his chances of a better life here.

Axe looked at his brother’s serenely determined face for a moment, before huffing and turning away. “Fine, I’ll give them a chance, but I’m gonna keep a socket on them. If they even look like they’re gonna hurt what is mine then all bets are off.” He muttered as Dust raised his hood and nodded in agreement.

At that moment Emma’s stomach decided to break the solemn atmosphere that had settled over the group, by loudly reminding them that part of the reason they came here was to eat.

“Sorry about that but could we continue this discussion after we have had lunch, please?” Emma asked as her cheeks darkened in embarrassment.

“Ahu hu hu of course doodles dearie,” Venom chuckled as she signalled some of the smaller spiders to fetch the menu, while the others stayed in place to ensure their conversation remained private. “Actually, why don’t I give you dearies a little history lesson and a rundown on the current state that the tribes are in? Then afterwards we can check your forms and make sure you’re properly prepared for your meeting with the assessment team.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a good plan,” Emma said, silently grateful that Poison had seemingly dropped her interrogation, so they could actually concentrate on the stuff they had come here for.

It seemed to take but a moment for the club’s excellently trained staff to have their food delivered to the table and once everyone had settled down with their meals Venom started speaking. “Alright dearies, since your counterparts have been rather spotty in the information they have shared with you, I’ll start with the emergence of monsters and go from there. Now most of this information is publicly available, but of course, some of it is only meant for monsters' ears, for obvious reasons.”

“Hey, don’t give me that look Venom. I’m not going to blab about this to anyone. The last thing I want ta do is put any of you in danger.” Emma stated, raising her hands in self-defence.

“Of course dearie,” Venom nodded her approval before continuing. “Now after Frisk freed monsterkind, Asgore Dreamurr, who is the current king of monsters, started negotiations with the human government for the rights we currently enjoy. Now the king and his advisers, leveraging the vast mineral wealth of Mt Ebott, managed to quickly secure some basic rights for monsters. So within the space of a year, they were able to leave the mountain and start building new lives for themselves among the humans. Of course, there was some pushback from certain groups within the human community, but with Frisk and the skeleton called Papyrus acting as mascots and goodwill ambassadors for our race, things were basically running smoothly. That was until the Swaps showed up.”

“The Swaps?” Axe asked between mouthfuls.

“The second group of monsters that emerged from the mountain,” Emma explained before returning her attention back to the female spider. “From what I can remember the explanation that was released at the time, was that whatever Frisk had done to free the original tribe of monsters had set off a chain reaction that had resulted in another tribe breaking free.”

“That’s right dearie, the explanation that was given to monsters was quite different. We were told that an old experimental machine by the former Royal Scientist Dr W.D. Gaster malfunctioned while being prepared for storage and managed to break the boundaries between realities, dragging the monsters from another universe to this one. Of course, this information was only released after some hurried explanations and negotiations between the two groups. It also came with an appeal and a royal decree to keep our origins secret from humans and to help the new monsters adapt to this world.”

Terry excitedly interrupted at this point. “Yeah, but that wasn’t even the whole truth. I learned from Rus, one of my colleagues, that it was the Sans of this universe who turned on the machine. Evidently, Gaster, who was his father, had disappeared mysteriously during a lab accident, and everyone thought he was dead. But Sans figured out that he had just gotten stuck in the void between worlds. So he repurposed one of his dad’s old machines to try and yank him back, and oh boy did it work! Not only did he get his dad back, but that machine has been snatching whole universes' worth of monsters and depositing them here, ever since.”

“Yes, yes, while that may be true. These boys do need to know the official version of things, to avoid getting into any more trouble than they are already in. So please refrain from interrupting me again while I finish my explanation.”

Terry raised his many hands in surrender before grinning and miming zipping his mouth shut, while also indicating for his aunt to continue with her narrative.

“Thank you, nephew,” Venom said curtly, “now where was I?”

“The Swaps Had Just Been Forcefully Pulled Into This Universe,” Papyrus helpfully supplied.

“Aaa yes, thank you, dearie. Now then, three months had passed since the Swaps had arrived and things had pretty much settled back down. That was until my people, the Fells, were pulled through. Now unlike the rulers of the Swaps and the monsters of this universe, who wanted nothing more than to peacefully coexist with humans. Our version of Asgore wanted nothing more than to conquer and destroy the human race. So after the disorientation from being dragged to the surface had worn off he started to prepare for war. Luckily for everyone, there were still quite a few monsters on the mountain so his plans were quickly found out and put a stop to. He was then officially deposed and his former queen was put in charge instead. After that mess was finally sorted out, protocols were established in case anyone else was dragged here by that dratted machine. It was also around this time that the Centre and the Sanatorium were established. Now after that nothing real….”

“Hang on what is this Sanatorium thing? I have never heard anyone mention anything about it before,” Dust asked quietly.

A soft sigh left the three spider monsters before surprisingly Poison chose to answer. “That’s because it’s become something most monsters are uncomfortable talking about. Originally it was just meant to be a small facility for the research and treatment of the few long-term illnesses that monsters have. However, with the arrival of the Fells, it was extended to include a holding facility for the monsters that the Royal Council deemed dangerous to the general public. And after that little scene you dearies caused, it’s most likely where you boys will end up.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Dust said, quietly shrugging.

Noticing the concerned and worried look that crossed Emma’s face. Venom placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry doodles dearie, I have a few ideas of how to get your boys out of the mess they have gotten themselves into.”

“And they would be?” Axe demanded, suspiciously eyeing the spider lady.

“We’ll discuss that after I have finished our history lesson. Now if that is everything, shall I continue?” Venom inquired, waiting a few moments to see if anybody had anything to add. When nobody spoke up she just nodded her head and started speaking again. “Good, now as I was saying after my people had settled and the contingencies were in place, nothing really significant happened until around the 2nd anniversary of monsters being freed. That was when we were granted full citizenship by the human government, so now we have the same rights as everybody else. It was also around this time that Poison’s people, the Swapfells, were brought here.” She said, nodding towards her sister.

Who took up the narrative with a sigh, “though my world was just as violent and dangerous as Venom’s one, if not more so. Our adjustment and assimilation into this new world went surprisingly smoothly.”

Terry snorted derisively, “yeah if you’re referring to how our Asgore, Gore, smoothly took over when his former wife mysteriously died a few days after we arrived here. Then yeah that was pretty smooth, but if you’re talking about what we had to go through with the Centre, then I would have to disagree. That was just plain torture.”

“Terry, dearie, therapy is not torture,” Poison exasperatedly rebuked her son.

Terry rolled his many eyes “yeah, sure.”

“Taran….”

“Moving right along,” Venom said, seizing control of the conversation again. “There are only two more major events between the arrival of the Swapfells and the appearance of your tribe, the Horrors.”

“And they are?” Dust prompted, when Venom fell silent.

The matriarchal spider looked apologetically at Emma, who sighed and took over speaking. “I’m guessing the first one would be the terrorist attacks that evolved into the race riots.” She paused, taking a deep breath to centre herself before continuing in a cold clinical voice. “They happen in the autumn after the S-Fells show up. A human terrorist group set off a series of bombs around the university where my brother worked, it was just before the new academic year began, so there were a lot of people around the campus. It killed so many, including my brother. After the incident, the terrorists tried to blame it on the monsters and started attacking anything remotely related to them. They claimed they were doing it to protect us from those vile creatures and soon other hate groups took up the cause, resulting in open rioting in the streets.” Emma’s face took on a malicious grin worthy of Axe with her next words. “But their plans to drive a wedge between the two species were a complete failure. If anything it drew everyone closer together, right Venom?”

“That’s right dearie, those idiots severely underestimated just how strong our sense of community is, and just what we monsters would do to protect our friends.” Venom stated giving Emma a side hug.

Papyrus smiled serenely as he placed his own arm around his friend, “I Am Glad To Hear That. After The Way The Others Had Been Treating Us, I Had Feared That The Fundamental Nature Of Monsters Was Different Here. It Is Nice To See I Was Wrong, And Our Protective Instincts Are Just As Strong Here As They Were In Our Underground.” He said giving Emma a gentle hug.

Terry sighed and rolled his many eyes “Okay, we get it, you’re both super protective. Now can we wrap this up? Some of us do have other things to do today.”

“Nothing stopping you from leaving, Terry dearie,” Venom said sweetly as some of the little spiders cleared the empty dishes from the table. “Now then, the last event that happened before you boys showed up would be the arrival of the Lust tribe two years ago. Of course, with the Dreamurr’s bad habit of naming things quite literally, you can imagine the controversy that has dogged my sister Silk’s people since their arrival.”

Emma smiled at the blank looks on the elder pair of skeletons’ faces. “Silk is the last of the Spinner sisters, unless there was one with the most recent lot?” She asked the spiders, who just shook their heads in response. “Ha, I guess that’s why I missed it. Any way Silk owns and runs a spa resort on the outskirts of town. As for the controversy that surrounds her people, it basically boils down to a failed government initiative that was meant to help bolster their falling population problem, which backfired spectacularly and just ended up leaving them trapped in a permanent heat cycle.”

Venom sighed heavily as she took over the narrative again, “as you can imagine, the heightened sex drive they now have has many people looking down on them as little more than nymphomaniacs.”

“Narrow-minded idiots. As long as no one is hurt and they don’t do it in the streets, who cares what they get up to behind closed doors.” Emma muttered, glaring down at the empty tabletop as if it had personally insulted her.

“Yes, dearie, I personally believe people like that should be put down so their idiocy can no longer pollute the population. But that’s a different matter, right now I believe it’s about time for us to take a good look at your forms and see what we can do to make your assessment as smooth and profitable an experience as possible.” Venom said removing several documents from her inventory.

“Yes, That Sounds Like A Marvellous Idea, Miss Venom,” Papyrus confirmed, placing a notebook and a couple of plastic wallets on the table.

“Well, since I’m no good with written stuff, I’ll leave you guys to it and retrieve my belongings from the tiny terror brigade.” Emma said, glaring at the little spiders that surrounded the table.

The spiders in return did their best to look innocent, even to the point of holding up small placards with halos and wings on them.

“Yea no, we all know those signs are the wrong way round, it should be tails and horns, not wings and halos you little menaces. Now give me back my hat!” Emma paused, her glare turning suspicious as she quickly patted herself down, “and my keys, and my bag, hand them over right now you tiny terrors!”

The only response she got to these demands was the miniature monsters blowing a load of raspberries at her, before beating a hasty retreat out back, sniggering the entire time.

Emma sighed and shook her head at the spiders' behaviour before turning her attention towards Venom. “Well, it looks like I’m gonna have ta negotiate to get my stuff back again. So is there anything you don’t want me to give them?”

“Just the normal dearie. No rude words or gestures, if they want to swear at the customers then they will have to get a bit more creative than that. We do have a reputation to maintain after all.” Venom said absently, reaching for one of the plastic wallets.

“Okay,” Emma murmured as she escaped her seat by crawling under the table.

Terry snickered while the two older spiders sighed and shook their heads at their little friend’s antics.

“What?” Emma asked, standing up and straightening her robes. “Considering I was in the middle, that was the fastest way out.”

“You Could Have Just Asked, And We Would Have Moved,” Papyrus gently chided.

“Yeah, but I didn’t want to be a bother. Anyway, I’m off to free my belongings from those dastardly spiders, wish me luck.” She said with a smile and a shrug, before turning with a wave and heading towards the back.

The two pastry familiars scrambled after their favourite small human.

“Oh drat,” Venom sighed as she looked up from the papers spread out in front of her at the retreating pair.

“Don’t worry Auntie, I’ll make sure those mutts don’t destroy anything else on their way back to Ems.” Terry said as he stood and calmly followed after the pair of pastry beasts.

He found Emma quietly discussing something with his smaller kin in his aunt’s office.

“Look guys Venom won’t let you use a placard of the ‘middle finger’ emoji. So how about a spider version of the ‘cheeky tongue-out face’ paired with the ‘innocent face’ emoji? And if you still want something that involves swearing? How about a couple of cartoon-censored bars? Then you could use your threads to lower them down on people as a little reminder of just how outnumbered and vulnerable they truly are.”

The spiders went into a quick huddle as they chittered among themselves. After a bit of heated back and forth, the little monsters broke apart and held up a sign that said (Deal).

“Thanks,” Emma said, smiling as her belongings were dropped into her waiting arms.

As she settled down to draw, Terry fully entered the room bringing the mutant pastries with him, who quickly approached Emma for more fusses. Once the pair had been satisfied and had curled up for a nap, she turned her attention towards her friend. “So did you come to lecture me too?”

“Nah, I believe Mum got that covered. I mainly came out here to make sure those two didn’t destroy any more doors on their quest for fusses.” He stated, jabbing a finger at the napping beasts.

“Mainly?” Emma asked, suspiciously raising an eyebrow at the spider monster.

Terry sighed and took a seat opposite her, “I’m not gonna yell at you, I think you've been scolded enough for your stupidity today.”

“Alright, so what did you want to talk about then?”

“I just wanted to check and see how you were doing?”

“I’m fine,” Emma murmured, not bothering to look up from her drawing.

“Yeah right, because nothing screams I’m fine like a panic attack.” Terry huffed sarcastically, rolling his many eyes.

Emma frowned as she finished her drawings and handed them over to the little spiders. “Mmm, yeah, I’m gonna have ta do something about that. I guess I’m gonna have to see if Pete and the others would be willing to have a weapons practice before the next event.”

Terry pinched the bridge of his nose, “for the love of….Emma! Could you not go off on one of your weird tangents and focus! This is important! You can’t just ignore things and hope somehow everything will just magically work out!”

Emma quietly sighed and started to gather her belongings before standing and calmly addressing the frustrated monster. “Terry, I know I’m stressed, who wouldn’t be? I’m unemployed with zero work experience, and no I don’t count the years I spent as my Mother’s carer. That was just me doing chores for my Mum just like any kid would do. I’m also on the verge of becoming homeless, plus two of my housemates could very well end up in jail, after everything that’s happened. Oh yeah, let's not forget that one of them collapsed and was on the verge of dusting in front of me. So yes, I’m stressed.”

Terry quickly stood and went to comfort his friend, “Em….”

She held up a hand stopping him in his tracks. “But I know that Pap has already told Venom everything, and that sneaky aunt of yours has most likely already figured something out for most of this stuff. So yeah, all things considered I’m doing fine.” She said as she tried to move past the spider.

“Yeah, that’s all well and good Em, but you still haven’t addressed that panic attack you had.” Terry accused, placing a hand on her shoulder.

With a soft sigh, Emma gently removed his hand, “that’s why I want a weapons practice.”

“What?”

Emma looked up at her friend, “as far as I can figure out, the thing that triggered that attack was seeing someone holding a knife. And considering my system has combat in it, I need to find out if I can still fight or if I need to prioritize making an appointment with that victim support group. The one the police gave me the info for.”

“You haven’t already contacted them?” Terry asked, staring incredulously at her.

Emma shrugged, “this is the first time it’s really affected me negatively in any way, so I haven’t bothered. Now if that’s everything, I’m gonna head back and see how the guys are doing.”

“Yeah, that’s about everything, but you know there’s no need to rush, they aren’t going anywhere,” Terry said as he moved so Emma could pass him.

“Yeah, for now, but they are going to leave as soon as things are sorted out,” Emma said quietly as she headed towards the door.

“Are you sure? They seem pretty settled to me.” Terry asked, following after his friend.

“Yes,” Emma said, pausing by the door. She looked back over her shoulder and smiled sadly at the spider. “Because everyone does eventually.”