((I am so very sorry to all of you who have waited. This has been a very long week for me, between the holidays and going to see family, and I haven't really been in front of my laptop as much as I'd like. That said, I truly hope this chapter makes up for that, and I promise the next won't take near as long. Thank you so much for your patience.
Also, Please feel free to drop me a comment and let me know how I'm doing? It's yet another thing that kinda keeps me going, and I'd appreciate it so much. ♡
Theme for this chapter:
Song: Down
Artist: Jason Walker
This song put me in Sans' head.... There's a lot to be said about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXs8Cv8U02k
And as always, I truly hope you enjoy!))
Sans rubbed his face, pacing the space in front of his couch in the livingroom. What was he thinking? If he let the Human get through the Ruins and into the rest of the Underground, would she really be so merciful? He'd blatantly murderer her over and over, each time feeling that much worse about it....
... especially the moment she tried to hand him her Soul.
It was in that moment that he'd realized something. Could it truly be possible for a Human to have compassion? To have any regard for other living things that weren't of their own kind? Why else had she thrown that knife to the ground and stood there, resolved to be killed as many times as he was willing to dish it out? Then again, was he really prepared for the consequences of his actions if something went terribly wrong? He was so tired... so worn out from all the time lapses and rebooting of his world. He'd watched so many people that he'd loved turn to ash right before his eyes.... He'd seen Papyrus turn to-....
"WHAT UP, HOMESLICE?"
Sans smirked, looking up to his brother who was on the ledge, peering over at Sans' meandering form. "YOU LOOK TENSE, SANS. EVERYTHING ALL GOOD?"
"Yeah, Pap. It's good. Don't worry about me, yeah?"
"YOU KNOW I ALWAYS WORRY. YOU NEVER JUST CHILL ANYMORE, AND YOU ALWAYS LOOK LIKE SOMETHING IS BOTHERING YOU...."
"Nah, Pap. Everything's good. Just go do your thing."
Papyrus stared at him with a long, meaningful glance and finally nodded. "ALRIGHT. I'M 'BOUT TO TAKE A SHOWER. LET ME KNOW IF YOU NEED ANYTHING." To that, Sans just nodded before heading to the kitchen. He had an absolute affinity for Honey, and made sure to stock up on it since Grillby never seemed to have any. Grabbing a bottle from the cabinet, he shoved it into his pocket. The Human would be returning soon, and he needed to be there to see what she was going to do. Especially if things took a turn for the worse. Oh, how he hoped that wouldn't be the case. Walking up the stairs, he figured he'd let Papyrus know he was leaving. Stepping slightly through the door, he opened his mouth to speak until he heard....
"I'M THE GRIZZLE PAPIZZLE, AND MY SPAGHETTI IS THE SHIZZLE, DIZZLE!"
Sans snorted.
"SANS? IS THAT YOU? ARE YOU SPYING ON ME IN THE SHOWER AGAIN?!"
Doing his best to stifle his laughter, Sans straightened himself and cleared his throat.
"Nah, Pap. I forgot to tell'ya that Undyne called. She wants you to go over there early for your training and shit."
"EARLY?! YES! SHE'LL BE AMAZED AT MY NINJA STYLE AND PROWESS! AND IN NO TIME, I'LL BE THE MOST BAD ASS IMPROVEMENT TO THE ROYAL LEAGUE OF ASSASSINS YET!"
Sans snorted again, but did his best to hide it. "Whatever you say, Grizzle Papizzle."
"SANS!!!! YOU WERE SPYING ON ME AGAIN!!! DON'T MAKE ME THREATEN TO STOP COOKING FOR YOU AGAIN!"
"Would that be a promise?"
"DAMMIT, SANS!!! GET OUT!!"
Closing the door quickly before Papyrus opened the curtain to throw something at him, he hurried up down the stairs and out the front door before busting out laughing. "Grizzle Papizzle. He really needs to relax on all that shit." he thought to himself as he walked toward the area of the Ruins. He had to lie to Pap. He needed him out of the house and far enough away in case the Human made it that far. The closer he came to the Ruins' door however, greater was the sense of foreboding that clung to every one of his senses. Then, in the distance, he saw her. She had a certain aura about her... it almost seemed... gentle? Or maybe that was just the strange feeling he had now whenever he was near her. Another thing about this whole situation that he couldn't yet understand. Out of nowhere, a Froggit hopped near her. The life of one Froggit was worth the sacrifice for the rest of the Underground. If she killed it, he'd wreck her like a 70mph car meeting a tree. Hiding and keeping himself from being noticed, Sans watched curiously. She appeared apprehensive. Unsure if that was a good or a bad thing, he once again poised himself to attack....
.... and then she bent down and...
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Walking through the strange little house, Frisk took note of several details. There were blue flowers in almost every room. The tiny kitchen appeared to have been abandoned for quite some time, being that there were cobwebs almost everywhere....
...which meant there were spiders everywhere.
Frisk shuddered. She was honestly petrified of spiders. Leaving that room in hopes that she'd not run into any, she took in the fireplace and bookshelf, heavily corroded with dust. Wiping away at one it read:
"The Many Different Uses For Snails."
"Snails?" Frisk thought, sneering. Why would anyone need a use for snails of all things? Through the area with the staircase, she decided to check out the next hallway before the stairs. There were several doors, the first one appearing to be a child's bedroom. Upon further exploration, she noted some odd looking toys, a closet full of jumpsuits and an empty picture frame. This only made her wonder what had happened here that a child's bedroom would be deserted this way. Almost as if the family had fled for some strange reason....
The next room was definitely an adult's bedroom. It too appeared to have been quickly abandoned, but the amount of dust collected everywhere was a direct indicator that it'd been some time ago. Had Sans done this? No... He'd been protecting whomever lived in this place. That was why he'd killed her as many times as he had. She found it almost... heroic in a sense, and found her cheeks flush at the thought. One brow quirked and she paused.
"What the hell was that...." she thought with an almost uncomfortable grimace, then shook her head as if that would clear the thoughts away somehow. Backing from the room, she tried the last, but it was locked. "Well, down the stairs it is then." But first, Frisk stopped and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Tucking strands of hair from her face to behind her ear, she could have sworn a flicker of red tinged her eyes, which caused her to jump slightly. Finally, she squinted, trying to study them harder. As quickly as it'd happened, Frisk was beginning to think she'd been simply seeing things. A trick of the light or something.
When she began to walk away from the mirror however, an ominous laughter resounded in her head. It was so quiet, but even after it was gone, just the memory of it over time gained the volume of a thunderclap. Honestly, it frightened her as apparently, there was something inherently evil living within her mind, and from what she assumed, it wanted out.
"You're not going to win. Do you hear me? I won't let you." Frisk thought within her mind, but the only response that came was silence. This disturbed her even more...
Taking the stairs carefully downward, she walked the long corridors, passing through the first door and through a room that looked strangely like the one from the very beginning of the Ruins. Was there even more to this place? The moment she reached yet another door, the cold draft coming in from underneath was evidence enough that no, the Ruins weren't going to continue. This door led outside. Taking hold of the handle, Frisk pulled with all her might. The hinges screamed in protest, not wanting to open from years of corrosion. Yet another thing she'd noted that desperately needed care. It slammed behind her the moment she stepped outside, just as the other door in the Ruins and also locked. The air was freezing, skin pebbling even within her sweater with the slightest of breezes. Arms raised to wrap around herself, cupping her palms to run over the tops of them in a poor attempt to keep warm.
Clenching her jaw to keep from shivering, Frisk began to walk. Hopefully she'd come to another building at some point soon to get out of the cold, or she'd become a hypothermia statistic. Taking note of her surroundings, the long line of trees made her feel almost claustrophobic. They stretched as far as the eye could see.... and now her thoughts of finding a town or a building were beginning to dwindle. The trees also seemed to spread deeply into a vast forest, which meant she couldn't go any way but forward.
"At least everything here seems linear...."
Frisk then watched as the strange giant Frog hopped near her. Almost paralyzed, the heart hovering in front of her chest seemed to glow a little. Curious, she watched the frog, wondering if it was going to attack. Her body was rigid, ready to flee at any given moment. But the frog just stared at her. Maybe if she showed it some sort of kindness, it would leave her alone.... A shaking hand then reached out, her soul growing just a little bit brighter and finally, she began to pet the frog. It only cocked it's head off to one side, appeared to smile and then hopped away. Were all the creatures.... well, save for Sans anyway, this docile and gentle? If so, maybe this wouldn't necessarily be so bad after all.
Then she heard a rustle in the long line of trees and froze once again. Her breathing hitched, then shallowed into short, ragged pants as fear gripped her lungs. When nothing appeared, Frisk sighed. She couldn't allow herself to be afraid of every little sound or she'd have a heart attack before this little adventure was over. Taking a few more steps, she rocked back on her heels when Sans appeared out of nowhere. Her heart began to beat a mile a minute. He seemed..... surprised?
A Save Star hung between them, but at the moment, Frisk found herself not wanting to touch it. She wanted to know more about this place.... about Sans. "Why weren't you in the Ruins?" she asked. He appeared thoughtful, silent for what felt like forever before he spoke. "I wanted to see what you'd do. Why didn't you waste that Froggit?" Frisk perked a brow. "Froggit? You mean that giant frog?" He nodded. "Oh... I tried to tell you, but you can't seem to get it through your skull. I don't wanna hurt anyone. I don't understand why you won't believe me." Again, he stared at her for the longest time, almost scrutinizing every inch of her as if taking everything into memory. Oddly then, without another word, he simply turned and started walking away from her.
"Wait!! Don't go..." she called out, but the closer she came to the Save Star, the more the wash of light blinded her vision. Once she made it past and the light faded, he was gone... just as quickly as he'd come. Where had he gone though? There was only a few seconds, not nearly enough time for him to even duck into the trees without her seeing. "Sans?" She tried again, but still got no answer. He really was gone, which made her sigh. Not really wanting to go any further, as the cold was beginning to literally bite at her fingers, Frisk turned back to the Save Star and brought her hands to the only available option....
The darkness took hold once more, claiming her sight. This time however, Frisk initiated the conversation. "Why do you taunt me? Why not just show yourself already? This darkness is just ridiculous."
There was a long silence. Long enough that Frisk thought there wouldn't be an answer. And then finally, the voice spoke up. "And where would the fun be in that? I find this whole charade rather enjoyable to watch. You... thinking you're going to spare them all. It's quite funny."
Frisk, irritated already, wasn't going to deal with this. "Just let me wake up already. I'm not in the mood for your ridiculous banter tonight." The voice laughed again. "But what you don't understand is that it's far from ridiculous. What's ridiculous is that you think you can escape me. I am a part of you, whether you like it or not." ..... "Bullshit. If you were a part of me, you'd have shown yourself before this. No... what I think is that you believe this should be you, and you're desperate to go where I've already been for reasons unknown to me. The better part of my judgement though tells me that I can't let that happen." the voice didn't take too kindly to this, however. "YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" a pause... "I think this conversation is over." with Frisk finishing... "Yeah. I think it is."
Opening her eyes, this time she didn't panic when taking in air like she hadn't been breathing at all for however long she'd been asleep. Instead, she simply lay there in thought. Something was definitely off about all of this. That voice, maybe it was a part of her, but only in the dreams. There, it wanted out. Did it want to.... control her? Obviously it couldn't do anything else as it was within her mind. She couldn't allow that. It had severely bad intentions, and the pacifist within her was screaming not to allow anything it said to get to her.
And what had been up with Sans? Why had he acted the way he had? As though he was still surprised that she hadn't brutally slaughtered that poor.... Froggit, was it? No... she'd prove to him that she wouldn't hurt him. Wait... him? No. Not just him. Every and anyone. Why had she singled him out? Balling her fists, Frisk rubbed at her tired eyes, almost wishing that the day was already over and she was laying back down to go to sleep. Never.... not even in her wildest dreams had she ever thought she'd actually be looking forward to going back there. But then again, this was just that... A wild dream, wasn't it?