Broken Souls

Chapter 1 - A Familiar Voice

-- s p o i l e r s --

Snow had fallen that January, covering the monster city in a crisp white blanket. It had been all but cleared from the pavements and roads, now only covering roofs and lawns or having been turned into snowmen by monster children. In the area surrounding the city and Mt Ebott, the snow hadn't been touched save for a single line of footprints leading down from the city gate and up onto the mountain. The maker of these footprints was enjoying the beautiful view of the city as he climbed the mountain.

And it really was beautiful. The monster city, remaining unnamed even after four years due to the King's former choice having been so terrible, was certainly a sight to behold. It resembled New Home in many ways, with its tall white stone buildings and the large Royal Palace sat in the centre. Most of it had been built within two years of the monsters arriving back on the surface, partly due to Frisk's hard work as ambassador and partly due to the absolute amount of wealth monster kind had. As it turned out, most of the minerals and ores that monster kind had used as currency were actually incredibly valuable in human terms, giving monsters more than enough to buy the land and resources they needed for their newer New Home.

As much as the builders had tried to keep a resemblance between the Underground and Surface, the city also did not resemble the old New Home. Each and every single building had been specifically designed so that they had some sort of balcony or rooftop area that faced East. This meant that when the sun rose every morning, all the monsters could watch and be grateful that they could finally see it. It was almost an unspoken oath, but all of monster kind had decided that they would make up for the hundreds of years spent underground by cherishing the sunlight every day. Many monsters who watched the sunrise did so for their family members who could not do the same; those monsters who had died in the Underground, never able to see the sky.

Back on the mountain, with the city spread out underneath him, Sans still found something amiss. When he had first seen the sunrise, he had been filled with a hope he hadn't felt for years and had begun to move a lot more, even putting effort into his new job as a city sentry. But over time, that hope had begun to vanish until he had just as much as before. Sans' younger brother, Papyrus, couldn't understand why his brother was so sad all the time, as surely being on the surface was the best thing ever. Apparently not. Every time Sans tried to explain why he had lost that hope, he came back to the same, indecisive conclusion of "I can't remember".

This was one of the reasons why Sans had begun climbing the mountain in the first place. He had wanted to go clear his head and try to remember what was causing him this lack of hope. He didn't really know what to expect as he neared the summit, other than the gaping hole in the side of the mountain of course.

Sans reached this hole and found a suitable overhang that would bear his weight. As he sat down, Sans realised that below him were the Ruins and that this hole had been the every same one that many humans had fallen or jumped into. Sans felt a dead weight in his Soul and he pushed away the thought that had just occurred to him. He doubted he'd survive the fall and even if he did, the Underground was empty. With the oppressive nature of his thoughts about to explode out of his ribcage, Sans took another look down at the hole and could just about make out the patch of golden flowers below. He paused for a moment, then spoke.

"knock knock."

The flowers didn't respond.

"wooden shoe."

Still no response.

"wooden shoe like to hear another?"

Sans' voice was carried away by the wind and there was still no reply. He sighed, shifting into a more comfortable position with his back against a rock and his legs dangling over the hole.