Broken Souls

Chapter 18 - You Can Stay With Us

As it turned out, there had been no need for Gaster to be so angry with Sans' electrocution. Despite it having been a direct shock to the Soul, it had done no damage and had merely woken Sans up (maybe with a little more burning than a regular alarm clock but still). C explained Eev3e to Sans much like she'd done with the rest of his family, quickly realising that Sans was a lot more interested than he let on. She assumed Gaster was too, but he was better at hiding it.

"Muffins are ready!" Papyrus announced, sweeping into the dining room holding a large tray of slightly burned muffins. They smelt pretty good, all things considered and C was the first to try one. She half regretted the decision; being too hungry to get something else but not exactly enjoying the burnt texture. At least it was edible, and if she had to guess then it would taste pretty good when cooked normally. After eating, Gaster quickly left for the Lab, soon followed by Papyrus who complained he was already late for his duties.

Sans did not leave for work, his excuse being that if he stayed with C to keep her company then he could learn more about her robot and therefore be productive. C didn't mind exactly, she liked explaining things to people, even if Sans probably knew a lot more than her. Unfortunately, as interested as Sans was, he still managed to fall asleep, leaving C alone with her thoughts. Which wasn't exactly what C wanted, she needed a distraction from her current thought pattern, but she was no longer getting one.

Her dilemma lay in her plans for the near future. Before she helped to save Gaster, C planned on leaving straight afterwards. That had of course been changed when she'd passed out for three days and the skeleton family had looked after her rather than throwing her out. That in itself had messed up everything C believed, and her talk with Papyrus had only worsened it. She had honestly meant everything she said, he was nice, very nice in fact and she believed him when he told her the others were too. Back to her original plans however.

After healing Gaster, C wanted nothing more than to disappear from the lives of these monsters. She didn't need to bother them with more trouble than they had already, nor did she want to hurt them in any way. But she had nowhere to go, no place to call home. So, the only solution was to... dispose of her current self. Stage some sort of freak accident that would lead to her 'unfortunate' demise. The monsters would forget her, everything would go back to normality. It was so simple...

Wasn't it?

There was no need to get confused over this, C scolded herself. Her only purpose in this form was to save Gaster. After that, she was unneeded. And yet every time she tried to tell herself that, images of the people she'd met over the past few days surfaced in her mind. Frisk's beaming smile when she'd agreed to help; Papyrus' muffins that still sat in her stomach; Sans' attentive gaze when she explained robotics; even Gaster's attempts at insulting her. She slapped herself, careful not to wake the sleeping skeleton on the other end of the couch. Then, with a steely resolve forming in her black Soul, C stood up and went upstairs to the balcony.

As she took a deep breath of fresh mid-morning air, C felt a small bubble of happiness in her stomach. It was time. Much like the characters she idly wrote or read about, it was her time to go. Creativity was a way to construct stories, worlds and people. But no world could escape its end. Some lasted longer than others, but all would eventually fall to time.

C felt a small tap on her leg, looking down to see Eev3e staring back. She smiled, letting the small robot climb up onto her shoulder. Together, they stepped over the balcony rail, ready to end the adventure. C had a mission, she was adamant to finish it. This form had done well, it was time to go elsewhere.

The two didn't notice Papyrus hurrying back to the house, or that he began to run faster when he saw C's position. By the time he reached the house, C stepped off, letting gravity take it's hold. She closed her eyes...

"SANS WAKE UP"

... And felt something grab her around the waist. A flash of bright blue through her eyelids. A lurch in her stomach followed by a wave of nausea. And finally solid ground under her feet.

===

"got her." Sans said, releasing his grip from around C's waist. Papyrus let out a relived sigh, coming over to check her over.

"Human? Why did you do that?"

C opened her eyes. She was standing in the skeleton house, with Papyrus glaring at her and Sans already moving to sit down. C's resolve from mere minutes ago had begun to fade already, leaving behind a faint feeling of relief.

"Uh. human?" Papyrus asked, "Why would you do such a thing?"

No matter how hard she tried, C's resolve shattered entirely and she cracked. Papyrus noticed instantly, scooping her into a hug. C wanted to move, didn't want to be part of the hug, but she couldn't. Her mind was in turmoil, so she only uttered two words.

"I'm sorry."

"That's okay. Tell me why, then I can help."

C shook her head, glancing over to Sans and almost begging for help. Couldn't they just understand? Her plan had failed and she didn't have the Determination to try again. She'd done this so many times before after completing her self-set missions, why was this time so different?
Now she was lost, with nowhere to stay. Maybe she could leave and find something else. Yes that might work, except that she once again didn't have the Determination to try. She wasn't strong enough.

"Did you want to leave that badly?" Papyrus questioned. C shook her head once again.

"I can't leave Papyrus. I have nowhere to go." C explained. Sans raised a browbone and patted the space next to him,

"here, sit down."

She did so, Papyrus following. The three sat in silence, suddenly realising that Sans hadn't thought past getting C to sit down and was now wallowing in awkwardness. Finally, a plan forming in his mind, Papyrus spoke,

"You know, C, if you don't have a place to stay, you could continue to stay here." He said, expecting one of the two reactions he received. Sans was mildly shocked, but Papyrus knew he wouldn't object. C was unsurprisingly deep in thought, looking ever so slightly uncomfortable.

"I don't know Papyrus." C mumbled, "Wouldn't you prefer for me to leave?"

"No of course not!" Papyrus admonished, "I may not be able to speak for Dad, or even Sans, but I would not mind whatsoever. I would hate for someone to be left without a home."

Sans glanced up at his brother with a good natured smile. He raised a hand and set it on Papyrus' shoulder.

"k then bro. she'll stay if she wants. i'll speak to dad."

With two sets of eyes on her, C felt even worse. She both didn't want to agree and did want to. If she did stay, what would happen? And if she didn't, the result was inevitable. Would prolonging her stay have that much of an effect? Probably not.
So, forcing one side of her mind to submit, C replied.

"I'll stay. Thank you Papyrus."

"Nyeh heh heh! That's great news!" Papyrus laughed, standing up so fast that C wondered how he didn't just fall over again. Sans stretched, made as if he were about to stand, then fell back asleep. C chuckled, turning around to Papyrus,

"Just one question Papyrus."

"Yes human?"

"Why did you come back home so early?"

Papyrus let out a nervous laugh, looking over to Sans still sleeping on the couch.

"Well I couldn't just let my brother sleep all day. Also, I realised you haven't seen the whole city yet, so I decided to give you a tour. It was lucky I came back when I did."

C grinned, a small spark of happiness growing in her mind.

"It was indeed. Now, how about that tour eh?" she asked, joining Papyrus by the front door. His smile widened as he began to stride outside.

"Oh yes! Come on then."