Frisk held onto Sans, sobbing and begging him not to leave.. not to die.
The skeleton could only smile at her, sadness in his dim lit eyes. "It'll be okay kid.." He murmured. Each time he spoke, a trail of fresh blood rolled down his chin, dripping onto the fabric of his white shirt and the red scarf he still wore.
"I think I need to just.. relax a bit. Ya'know? T-take..take a load off.." His voice lowered, nearly whispering.
"..I'm..I'm goin' to Grillby's." Frisk looked up at the skeleton, tears still streaming down her face "W-What are you even talking about?!" She shrieked.
"P..Papyrus.."
His voice was soft now, and it took the skeleton a lot of effort to speak. It was clear he was no longer with her. "D-do.. you.. want.. anything?" He whispered, eyes slowly closing as each word left his mouth. His skeletal body slowly slumped forward, and Sans went limp.
Frisk hugged him tighter and as the skeleton began to fade into dust she placed her hands against the red scarf that he'd been wearing; her body trembling uncontrollably as she clutched one of the only things left of Sans and his beloved brother.
With blurred visison, Frisk pulled the scarf to her chest. She hugged it tightly, and shift so she was sitting with her knees to her chest, her face burying into them.. and with a heavy heart,
All she could do was cry.
- - - - - - - - - -
"Hey buddy, what's up?"
"Papyrus told me you were working in Hotland today, so I came by to say Hi." She smiled at the skeleton, her hands behind her back; lacing her fingers together. She wore a sheepish smile.
"That so?" Sans chuckled, wearing his usual toothy grin. Frisk nodded and curiously tried to take a peek over the counter. "Um.. what exactly do you do here?"
"I sell Hotdogs." He said matter-of-factly, giving her a wink. "Want one? It's only 30G."
Frisk blinked, her expression puzzled for a moment, but she slowly nodded. "O-oh sure!" She reached into her pocket and got out 30G, handing it over to the skeleton.
Sans took the money and placed it somewhere behind the counter and then pulled out a hot dog in exchange, holding it out to Frisk.
The girl smiled and opened her pockets to see if she had room to place it for the time being. They were full however.
Sans stared at her, smile still spread across his face. "It looks like you're holding too much." He murmured. Frisk smiled sheepishly. "Oh- yeah..I guess I-"
Her eyes widened.
Sans had leaned forward and placed the hotdog on her head. "Guess I'll just put it on your head." He said, sounding very matter of fact as he had before. Frisk knew better. Sans was teasing her.
So she decided to tease back, naturally. "Hey. Can I get another?" She flashed a knowing smile at him.
Sans was taken off guard, his smile twitching a moment, but he quickly composed himself. "Another Dog? Sure. 30G, please."
Frisk handed him the money and Sans stacked the hotdog on top of the first one.
"Hey Sans, can I get another?"
"Sorry, looks like I'm fresh out of dogs. I'll give you a hot cat instead." He joked, placing it on top of the others; earning a giggle from Frisk. "C-can I have another?" She snickered, tears welling in the corners of her eyes as she tried to hold back laughter.
"Man you really like hot animals don't you?" Sans chuckled, placing another h'dog on her head. "But hey, I'm not judging. Without folks like you, I'd be outta business."
- - - - - -
"Hey pal, how's it goin?" Sans stood behind another makeshift hut, his usual smile spreading across his skull. His chin rest lazily in his boney fingers and he was leaning against the counter slightly.
"Oh, Hey." Frisk blinked, taken off guard by the skeletons presence. "You work here too?"
Sans only nodded.
"That case, I'll take a dog." She teased. Sans chuckled but shook his head. "Don't sell dogs here." Frisk became curious. "What do you do then?"
"Well, I was thinking about getting in the telescope business. The gems and stones up there look pretty, like stars or something, so everyone always wants to get a better look."
Frisk nodded. "That's true. I did kinda wonder what they looked like up close." She admit. "Up on the surface, I used to look through a telescope at the stars too."
Sans stepped out from behind the hut and gestured towards a quite nice telescope. "Well there's this one. It's usually 50,000G to use this premium telescope.. but since I know you.. you can use it for free." He gave a wink.
Frisk's eyes widened slightly. "Are you sure?"
Sans chuckled. "Of course. Go ahead and have a look."
"O-okay." She gave a sheepish smile and then stepped over to the telescope. She leaned in and placed her eye to the hole. A deep pink was all she could see.
"Um.. Sans.. I don't see any-"
"PFFFF.."
Frisk pulled away from the telescope, looking at sans with wide eyes. "W-what?" She could see the skeleton was trying desperately to hold back a laugh. His cheekbones at gone blue, and the corners of his eye sockets watered, his toothy grin held tight. "W-whats wrong? Not satisfied?" He weased. "D-Don't worry. I'll give you a full refund."
He raised a skeletal finger to his eye socket and wiped away one of the forming tears.
Frisk still didn't get the joke and gazed at him with a puzzled expression.
Around her eye was a deep pink circle, stamped there by the lense of the telescope.
- - - - - - - - -
Frisk stood silently, letting all the soft voices of the echo flowers sooth her as they whispered and carried voices along in a soft breeze. Little orbs of blue light fluttered around her, reminding her of fireflies up in the surface world.
She breathed a content sigh and slowly walked into the glowing water, allowing the warm liquid to raise up just to her knees. Her fingers moved along the surface, leaving glowing ripples in the water.
This was her favorite place.
Gazing down at her reflection, Frisk couldn't help but smile. It was now that she could see what her skeleton friend had been laughing about much earlier when she'd caught him at work.
Slowly she raised her fingers, and trailed them along the deep pink circle. He'd tricked her again.
"Hey. Whatcha doin in there? Isn't it a bit early for a bath?" Sans chuckled, causing Frisk to look back at him on the shoreline. The skeleton was as he usually was, smiling down at her; his hands slung in his pockets.
Frisk smiled back at him. "I was just out here for fun." She murmured. "It's so beautiful here." Sans nodded. "It's one of my favorite places."
"Mine too."
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
Sans slowly waded into the water, moving over to Frisk's side. "If you had one wish. What would it be?"
Frisk's gaze shifted to the skeleton curiously. "A wish..?" She was silent, and then sheepishly looked away from him. "Tell me yours first.."
Sans looked at her out of his peripheral vision, and then smiled. "Hmm..if I say my wish, you promise you won't laugh at me?"
Frisk looked at him again, this time her expression more serious. "Of course I won't laugh!"
Sans closed his eyes, his smile lingering. "Someday.. I'd like to climb this mountain we're all buried under." He was silent a moment before he continued.
"Standing under the sky.. looking at the world all around.. that is my wish."
Frisk looked down at the water and a soft laugh escaped her lips before she began to giggle.
"...Hey! You said you wouldn't laugh at it." Sans protest, opening an eye to gaze at her.
"Sorry.." Frisk giggled, gazing back up at him with a soft smile. "It's just funny.. that's.. my wish too."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Wounded, in more ways than one. Both emotionally and physically, Frisk slowly stood. She brought the scarf around her neck and wrapped it once, letting the long pieces fall loosely down the front of her striped sweater.
She left the knife on the floor and slowly stepped forward. Her head hung, full of shame and guilt.. a burden too heavy for her to carry. Her heart felt as if it had been torn into a thousand shreds and then formed into some kind of rock that just weighed on her chest and made it hard to breathe.
When she finally reached the end of the hall, she placed her hand on the door to the exit. She lingered there for a long while, her eyes locked on the ground, dim and full of sorrow;her gaze basically that of a corpse. A match to how she felt on the inside.
"Chara.." She whispered after a long silence.
She pressed against the door slightly and pressed her forehead firmly against it; her short messy hair falling disheveled around her face and casting a shadow over it. "Chara.. you.. you said this would be fun."
"You said that.. we could reset the world and I could make it anything I wanted.." her lip quivered. "That I could.. have who I wanted."
"But.. then.. you killed Toriel!" Her voice hitched slightly and she hit the door with a balled up fist. "You killed her and I wanted to stop! I never wanted this!"
"I never wanted to hurt anyone.." She pressed against the door again and slowly slid down it until she was sitting on the floor, her knees sliding up to her chest and her arms moving around them. "I.."
"I WON'T DO THIS ANYMORE CHARA!"
"I'M GOING TO RESET!"