"SANS", Papyrus called out, " SANS?!"

Papyrus looked around, he was nearing his brothers sentry post, expecting that once he got there, to find him sleeping on the job, once again. It had almost become a tradition for Papyrus to march into the forest, wake up his brother, then Sans would tell one of his puns to annoy his younger brother, just to then claim that he was "on break".

Papyrus looked off into the distance. He spotted a silhouette, about the size of his brother.  He quickened his pace. This was new. 'Why wasn't Sans sleeping on the job as usual,' Papyrus asked himself.  As he neared the small area, he saw that the silhouette wasn't his brother, it was... it was... what was that? It certainly wasn't a monster, and there was no way that thing was a human. That thing lacked any sign of life in its blood red eyes. Its eyes seemed glazed, and it had a veil of darkness covering its face. It almost seemed dead and looked as if it was being controlled like some sort of ... puppet.

Papyrus began to approach it. He looked over his shoulder to see that his brother wasn't at his post either. He cocked his head curiously at the creature. Even if wasn't monster nor human, maybe it knew where his dear brother was. After all, there weren't exactly hundreds of short, pun loving skeletons in the Underground, it would surely know where his brother had wandered off to if it had seen him.

Papyrus cleared his non-existent throat, " EXCUSE ME, SMALL... um ... SMALL WHATEVER YOU ARE, BUT I WAS CURIOUS IF YOU KNEW WHERE MY DEAR BROTHER WAS," he exclaimed in his booming voice, " HE IS ABOUT YOUR HEIGHT, HE IS WEARING A BLUE HOODIE, AND HE TELLS AN EXTREME AMOUNT OF ANNOYING PUNS. BY ANY CHANCE DO YOU KNOW WHERE HE--"

Papyrus was cut off by the creatures maniac laughter. He looked down at the thing wide-eyed. Did he say something funny? No. Surely he didn't. This was quite puzzling, even to The Great Papyrus. What in the Underground had caused this creature to erupt in such great laughter? Papyrus took a cautious step back, even though he wasn't quite sure why he suddenly felt so endangered.

"NYEH? WHAT ARE YOU FINDING SO HILARIOUS TO CUT SOMEONE OFF FROM A SENTENCE? YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT IT IS QUITE RUDE TO...," Papyrus spotted something in the creatures hands. It sparkled and glimmered with a strange red liquid. He couldn't make out what it was, due to the creature having most of it hidden behind their back. "...TO... um... IF YOU DON'T MIND ME ASKING, WHAT IS THAT OBJECT YOU HAVE STASHED BEHIND YOUR BACK?"

The creature stopped laughing and looked up towards Papyrus. They blinked at him with no emotion crossing their face. They then looked down as the revealed what was hidden behind them. A knife. The knife itself was cover in red liquid and a strange white powder. With the reveal of the knife also showed that their fingernails were caked with powder, their hands and sleeves were covered in the white substance, with a few drops of the strange liquid staining the fabric of their sleeve. They then looked back up at Papyrus, a crazed grin splitting across their pale face.

Papyrus felt uneasiness set into his soul. He took a cautious step back. Something was wrong. Something was VERY wrong. Why did that creature have knife and why was it.... why was it..... . . . !!! If Papyrus had a heart, he was sure it would have skipped a beat. That powder. That was dust. Monster dust. Had the creature...? Did they...? Papyrus tried to shake the thought from his skull before it had anymore time to develop into the horrors that would come from it. But the thought was persistent. Had this creature killed a monster? More than one monster? Dozens of monster?! No, that surely wasn't the case, this was probably just a huge misunderstanding... probably.

Papyrus took in a deep breath and put on the most cheerful grin he could, " B-BY ANY CHANCE COULD YOU TELL ME WHERE THAT DU--, WHITE POWDER CAME FROM?" He quickly corrected himself and awaited a response.

The creature cocked its head at Papyrus, then its grin widened, even more than Papyrus believed possible, as the tense silence was filled with venomous giggles. The giggles then erupted to full out hysteric laughter as the creature clutched its middle in amusement.

Papyrus froze wide-eyed. Now, only one thing rang through his skull. R U N. R U N. R U N. But, Papyrus refused to listen. He wanted answers. He wanted an explanation. And most of all he wanted to know where Sans was. All of these questions, he knew the creature had answers to.

Papyrus squeezed his eye-sockets shut and the put on the most determined face he could manage, "F-FINE, IF YOU DON'T WANT TO TELL ME THAT, YOU DON'T HAVE TO. I SUPPOSE IT'S NONE OF MY BUSINESS ANYWAY...."He paused as composed himself, "BUT WHAT IS MY BUSINESS IS FINDING OUT WHERE MY BROTHER, SANS, IS. CAN YOU PLEASE, FOR ASGORE'S SAKE, TELL ME WHERE MY DEAR BROTHER IS?"

The creature, once again cut off their own laughter and their smile vanished. They raised an eyebrow at the skeleton. The tall skeleton stood, awaiting their response. They knew that the could just slice his stupid head off right now, but where's the fun in that? They made direct eye-contact with the monster and felt a mischievous grin spread from cheek to cheek as they pointed to the wooden bridge behind them.

Papyrus sighed a breath of relief. Finally, he got an answer out of the strange thing. He trotted past the creature before he stopped himself and turned around. "THANK YOU.... WHATEVER YOU ARE... I APPRECIATE THE ASSISTANCE."

He was about to continue when he froze as uncontrollable laughter ruptured from the small creature. He desperately wished that they'd stop doing that, it was ... quite frightening and sent shivers down his spine. He heard the laughter growing distant . He peered over his shoulder to find that the thing was now gone. He shrugged as he continued towards his hand-made, expertly crafted, bridge.

As he got closer, a strange blizzard of heavy snow came from nowhere. He staggered closer to the bridge using his arm to block the snow from entering his eye-sockets.

"SANS?"He called out his brothers name through the heavy snowfall. He waited. He received no answer in return other than the whistle of the wind.

He was about to cross the bridge, slowly he removed his arm from his face to see what was ahead. He spotted a small, balled up, figure, on the opposite side of the small bridge. His soul fell to his stomach as he realized... it was Sans.

He quickly sprinted across the bridge, through his human-proof bars and knelt down in the deep, red-stained, snow. He swiftly scooped up his smaller brother into his arms. There was deep slash across his rib cage breaking through the bone, with a mix of magic and that eerie red liquid leaking out of it. The area around his left eye-socket also seemed to be completely shattered. His brother seemed to be unconscious and fell limp in his arms. But, he wasn't gone, he hadn't fallen yet. His chest was still rising and falling. Sure, it was slowed and shaken, but he was still breathing. Papyrus couldn't figure out how for the life of him, but he was, and that's what mattered.

Papyrus looked down at his own hands and found them shaking. He felt tears well up in his eye-sockets. His brother was going to... he was going to... NO! Papyrus refused to think that. He might be able to save him, there was still a glimmer of hope. Papyrus wasted no time. He put his hand across his brothers rib cage and closed his eye-sockets. He felt his right eye light up with green magic, and focused on transferring it to his brother's soul. He opened his left eye to check his brothers stats. His breath caught itself in his throat and he felt as if his own soul was about to shatter, as he saw his brothers soul, dimly shimmering a faint light blue, split cleanly down the middle and his Hp at, 0/1.

Papyrus knew deep down, in the darkest part of his soul that there was nothing he could do. No amount of magic could save his brother, but... he refused to let that stop him. He kept his hand above his brothers soul, above everything that made up his brother, above the accumulation of magic that created everything from his brother's silvery laugh, his soft -spoken voice, his bright, cheerful eye-lights, that always promised a smile or a laugh, to his lively grin that could coax even the most unpleasant of people to crack with amusement. Papyrus wanted to-- NO, he HAD to save that. He couldn't let him turn into a pile of dust, with his last memories being from some sort-of horrible night-terror, where he was alone, fearing the inevitable.

''PleAsE," Papyrus shakily spoke, his tear-stained face reflecting off some of the light that the green magic was emitting, " PlEasE, saNs, plEaSe, . . . wake up," his voice was barely above a whisper as he tried to choke back tears. The magic began to mend the cracks around his eye-socket. "PLEASE, SANS, JUST....just.... wake up...," he paused as he saw the magic put the last pieces of his eye-socket together, yet his Hp remained at zero, "I...I... I'm trying to--... I.... I.... I CAN"T... I... I can't save you u-unless you want to w-wake up too. PlEasE bRothEr, dOn't gIvE Up nOw..."

Papyrus couldn't hold back anymore. He was scared, he was SO scared. He felt like he was going to burst. He broke down into pained sobs. He hugged his limp brother close to him and clutched the back of his jacket. He felt like he'd be stuck like this for all eternity. Regrets began to emerge inside of him.

He was too late, he didn't make it in time, he'd never be able to talk to his brother again, would he? He'd never be able to hear his brothers awful puns that he had enjoyed telling so much, he'd never hear another bed-time story, he'd never be able to watch his brother's face light up when ever he came by his sentry post to check on him, he'd never get another beaming smile after his brother tried another new recipe for spaghetti, he'd never be able to carry his brother back to bed when he would accidentally fall asleep on their couch after staying at Grillby's too long. He'd never hear those three simple words that his brother would tell him, when he thought he'd fallen asleep after his bed-time story, love you, bro and now he'd never get to say them back. He'd never be able to say thank you. Thank you for everything his brother had done for him. Thank you for sticking around through the ups and downs, for never giving up on him, no matter how crazy or outrageous his dreams became.

"pyrs?"

Then he heard something. Papyrus felt himself stop breathing. He listened closely.

"p-papy-r-rus?"

There it was again! It seemed so quiet, not even a whisper could describe the volume. Then it dawned on him. Was it really?

"p-p-pap?"

"SANS?" Papyrus pulled his brother away from his chest plate so he could see if it was really him or if he was just hearing things.

Sans coughed as some of the red liquid sputtered from his mouth. His eye-sockets slowly flickered open. Papyrus looked at him in a mix of shock and horror. His once playful, lively, eyes now seemed distant and lethargic, as if he was looking at something that no one else could see. His smile had faded to nothing. He looked so ...lost.

"s-sAnS," Papyrus called out.

His eye-sockets shot open, wider than Papyrus thought possible causing him to jump, and his eye-lights shrank into, barely visible, pinpricks. He doubled over from the excruciating pain that flowed from his soul and through the rest of his being. He clenched his eyes shut as he let out an feral cry of agony.

"Nggggggggghh pa-pa-paAaAAaAAAAAGGGGHHHH!"

"SANS! I AM RIGHT HERE!"

Through the fog of pain, Sans could feel someone holding him, trying to comfort him. He couldn't tell who it was though, the ripping pain from his soul made it impossible for him to open his eyes.  He was only slightly aware of the voice beckoning him, but it didn't matter to him, he just wanted to get to his brother before that.... thing did.

He tried to squirm free from whoever was holding him." hnnngggh i-i wo-won't let-t it geeeEAEAAaAAAA!" He quickly contracted himself back into a ball in an attempt to smother the pain.

"SANS, PLEASE, OPEN YOUR EYES, ITS ME!".

Sans recognized the voice. He felt like his brother was in reach but the pain was unbearable, every fiber in his body wanted to explode. He clenched his jaws together so hard that he felt them shift and click. His body twist and curl around itself in an effort to make the agonizing pain stop. He gripped and tore at his rib cage, in an attempt to cease the growing torment. He could barely hear anything over the chaotic clamor that filled his head, screaming at him, telling him to stop trying, telling him it was hopeless, telling him to give up. But he refused.

"pa-pa-pap?" He managed between gasps.

"SANS, YES, IT IS ME, YOUR BROTHER! NOW PLEASE, OPEN YOUR EYES!" He was practically begging.

" i-i-i can't-t, it-it huRTS!" His soul began to burn with no mercy. The last syllable broke off as a whimper as his body was wracked with a spasm.

"Please...Sans!"  Papyrus squeezed his brother closer as a sob escaped him.

Sans' soul felt like it was imploding and exploding at the same time. He felt as if any moment he would be blown into a million pieces. His head snapped back. The burning of his eye and soul was like a supernova and its heat was all consuming. Everything burned and ached. His skull was throbbing from the indescribable sensation. Every bone in his body was screaming in pain. When would it end? He could feel his brothers soul, so close to him, yet he couldn't seem to find a way out of this fiery agony.

" Sans....please don't go!" Papyrus wept as he clutched his brother as if he was the last real thing on earth.

Sans' whole body began shaking uncontrollably. The pain was dying down but it still hurt. He gave a strangled whimper and his body went rigid. He began hyperventilating as he felt his soul give a few violent twists. Then it stopped. It just, stopped. The pain finally started to dissolve. His breath was still labored and he was still shaking but everything began to cool down. The strange burning sensation melted away. He felt himself begin to relax.

Papyrus noticed the change in his brother's demeanor and felt instantly more at ease. His brother was no longer in pain, for this moment that's all Papyrus cared about.

Papyrus sat there, rocking himself and his brother, waiting for the shaking to subside and his breathing to go back to normal. As he was sitting there, he realized, he was holding a fallen monster. Sure, he wasn't dusted yet but, he wasn't exactly alive either. He seemed to be in some temporary limbo. Papyrus felt the tears coming back and he made no effort to stop them.

Sans wasn't sure how long he was lying there, he was still breathing heavily and he was shaking like a leaf but he had to see his brother, he had to make sure he was okay. He slowly opened his eyelids. He felt his stomach drop as he looked up to see his brothers tear-stained face. The realization hit him, his brother had been there the whole time. His brother had been the one comforting him, trying to free him from the pain. So many emotions bubbled up inside him, fear that his brother was scared, anger towards himself for freaking out Papyrus and not realizing sooner, and over-joyed that his brother was okay and that creature hadn't harmed him, that's all that Sans truly wanted, was to make sure his brother was safe.

" heya pa--," Sans couldn't get out a second word before his brother's booming voice overtook his own.

" OH MY GOODNESS, SANS," Papyrus wrapped the smaller skeleton into a tear filled embrace, " I-I THOUGHT THAT--" His voice broke into merciless sobs.

Sans felt a pang of guilt run through him, " woah, woah, i-it's okay. . . i'm right here bro... i'm...i'm...," Sans felt tears well up in his eye-sockets as he too, crumpled into sobs, " Oh, gOd, I'm So, sOrRy, PleAse, dOn'T bE scArEd, I DidN'T m-- i--I'm-- PleAsE fOrGivE mE...."

Papyrus pulled back just enough to look his brother in the face. "Forgive you?" He sniffed, " Sans if anything, I should be the one asking for forgiveness, I wasn't there when you--"

"d-don't say that! i-i was the one who trusted that thing! i-it wasn't your fault...this whole time, all i-i've done was lay here thinking that thing had killed you! . . . and i d-did nothing about it..." Sans buried himself into his brothers scarf, unable to look him in the eye.

" Sans... what are you talking about?" Papyrus tried to pry his brother from his scarf but he seemed to be glued in place.

" i was.....an idiot, heh.... i-i thought that it was a good idea to play a prank on 'em.... guess they didn't find it very knife of me....heh heh..... that's not funny" Sans waited for Papyrus to scold him for the pun. But he didn't. "heh, really? no, SAAAANS or BROTHER, WHY?" He mimicked his brothers voice.

Papyrus remained silent.

Sans felt himself begin to shake again, but this time, it wasn't from the injury. "p-paps...i thought you were d-dead." He tightened his grip on his brothers scarf as if it was the only thing holding him together anymore. " th-they tricked me.... i didn't see anything wrong, so i held out my hand... they took it but just used it to get close enough to take out my magic." He clutched his left eye socket sub-consciously, to find out that it was healed now. "then while i was still in shock they.... well, i think you know....i-i wasn't--", he sighed to himself, "i....i couldn't even stay standing for more than two seconds.... then they just stood there, staring at me like i was some k-kind of trophy..... like a new achievement... something different." His eye-sockets narrowed in thought. " th-they knelt down and told me, that they were gonna kill everyone, that there was nothin' i could do anymore." Dust cant fight. The words rang through his skull. " they t-told me that they were gonna hunt you down, and make sure you were the next to die." I promise. He clutched his skull, trying to block out those words. "b-before i could react, they were already gone, the last thing i heard was that creatures hideous laugh, then it all went black.... to be honest i thought i was already dead.... but all that i could think about was trying to... save you from them.... that's... all." Sans decided to stop himself, he really didn't want to talk about what happened right after he woke up.

" Sans... I saw them and i spoke with them." Papyrus broke the silence.

" wh-what?! did they hu--"

" No Sans, they didn't. They didn't even say anything back to me... but they showed me where you were.... i believe that they assumed you to be fallen by now, and if i had known before, I'm afraid that i would have too... but you weren't.... you were still here."

Sans narrowed his eyes as he felt anger creep through his bones. That little freak wanted Papyrus to find his dust, just to weaken him so it'd be easier to drain his HoPe. Why did they even know so much? Sans remembered them turning around before he asked them to, as if they already knew it would happen. As if...... oh no.....oh no no no no no. He knew he should of checked his lab before he left today, after all, everything in there was safe from any time shenanigans. He had been keeping a note book to write in events that happened that day, then he'd usually go down there to see if anything he couldn't remember was in it. He had a feeling that he'd been through this whole day before, well at least up to the handshake, but everything after that felt.... new. This wasn't supposed to happen, was it....but it did. The anomaly realized they could do this, and because they could, they had too.

The anomaly seemed familiar too, like an old friend...but how could that be, from all he saw, they seemed crazed and blood-thirsty. He could of sworn that he knew them, but from..... the memories flooded in like tsunami. His soul gave a violent jerk and he began to panic. That thing had done so much, it had killed so many innocents, so many harmless monsters.... it had killed his brother.But worst of all, it had freed them.... no IT didn't, THEY did...... Frisk. Yes, that was they're name. But,why.... why did they reset.... why did they go back, hadn't everything been perfect. They had everything they could of wanted, friends, family, fun, stars. What more could they want to have to go back and reset it all, then kill all the people they had befriended.

Why?

The word made his skull ache. He had to get Papyrus to understand, but he was running out of time, he could feel the last bits of determination seep out of his wound. He wasn't going to last much longer, he had to warn Papyrus in the quickest way possible, even if he couldn't be there when he found out. He knew it would break him, but he had no other choice, it was the only way to convince him to stay away from the anomaly.

"hey.....p-papyrus?"

"Hm?" His brother seemed to be in some sort of trance.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver key. "papyrus, i w-want you to listen very closely to want i-i'm about to tell you... this key is the only key that opens up the side door to our house. Now, once you go down there, go to the last drawer, look underneath the blueprints and you'll find a notebook. Now i want you to r-read the last..." he had to pause for a moment as he counted up the resets in his head that he could remember, "...seventeen entries. p-possible more."

" Sans, why do you--"

"no t-time to explain, t-trust me, everything you n-need to know is in that book....now, this might seem odd to you right now but please.... i'm b-begging you.... don't fight the creature."

"BUT THEY--"

" papyrus.... I know you're probably thinking, HOW COULD I SIT AND DO NOTHING?! THAT'S CRAZY, but, try to understand.  If you wait, things will fix themselves, everything will go back to normal, probably when you least expect it. you won't even know i was gone..... look, i'm n-not a fortune teller so i can't tell you what they will do, but just stay away from them. don't fight them, it doesn't matter how strong you are, it doesn't matter how much HoPe you have, it doesn't matter how determined you are, you will lose, it will kill you. no matter how bad it gets...keep waiting please... stay away from them, and just wait p-please..." His voice broke on the last syllable, "i l-love you too much, to l-let you die."

Papyrus looked at his brother wide-eyed, unable to understand what he was telling him. He was terrified. He felt his eye-sockets fill as heaviness grew on his soul.

Sans hugged his brother tighter, nuzzling into his chest-plate, " p-paps, you're the best bro a guy like me could ask for.... you picked me up when i fell down, you stood by my side, even if you knew i was wrong, when things didn't go well, you'd be the first to help me.  you're the reason i laughed, you're the reason i smile, you gave me a reason to not give up. i-if you weren't there, i don't know who'd be my superhero to come save me, i don't know who'd be the shoulder i'd lean on, i don't know what i'd do without you in my life. You made me happy, you gave me strength, you believed in me, when i didn't believe in myself. i am who i am, thanks to you, because y-you have given me everything, even if i didn't deserve it. because i have you, i will always have a friend, no matter where i go, i will never be lonely. You've seen me at my best, you've seen me at my worst, you've seen me come last, you've seen me come first, you've seen me at my lows, you've seen me at my highs, and through all of this, no matter what i said or did, you s-still believed in me....." He felt his right hand crumple into dust. ".....and you know what's the best feeling of all.... knowing that i mean something to someone else, and they mean the world to me."

Papyrus looked down at his brother as his brother looked up at him simultaneously. His soul was truly shown through the soft smile that spread across his face and the pure love that sparkled in his eyes through the mist of tears threatening to emerge. Papyrus could barely even look at him without a sad smile spreading across his own face as, tears steadily dripped from his eye-sockets and rolled down his cheek bones.

"h-hey, no crying allowed," Sans humored as he wiped his little brothers tear away with his left hand, still keeping his now dusted right one hidden from view, "since when did the great papyrus cry?"

"Since his brother was dying in his arms and he couldn't save him," he choked on his own words as a sob escaped him.

"woah, woah, woah, bro, you're talking crazy. what do you mean you couldn't save me? you're the reason i've made it this far. and if you're only talkin' about right now, then you still did save me."

"HOW?" Papyrus demanded through a cry.

"isn't it obvious? you put me at ease, just by being here and being okay. you're the bravest brother i have!" He smiled at Papyrus as he jokingly gave his battle armor a playful punch. He began to feel sleep trying to take over him. Not.... yet.

Papyrus tried to stop a smirk but failed, " Sans, I'm the only brother you have."

Sans winked, "guess that makes you the coolest too. it would be a FIBULA to tell you otherwise."

"Sans.... did you just?" He looked at his brother who had a mischievous grin spreading across his cheekbones. "OH MY GOD, YOU DID!"

" come on bro, even your bridge WOOD find that HUMERUS," his grin only widened.

" SAAAAAAAAAAAAAANS! REALLY, NOW?!"

Sans chuckled at his brother before letting out a yawn as drowsiness began to overcome him.

Papyrus yawned back subconsciously. He looked at his brother blankly and Sans mimicked him. Soon after, they both burst into hysteric laughter that neither one of them could explain. Maybe it was nerves or maybe they had managed to find some bit amusement, neither one of them knew for sure.

Sans slowly stopped laughing as his eyes became lazy and drowsy. He leaned against his brothers chest plate as he felt more of his right arm turn to dust and blow away in the wind.

Papyrus noticed his brother's arm with alarm, "B-brother.... you're--"

" papyrus, promise me something," Sans cut his brother off before he could get another word in. " p-promise me that you'll stay strong, because things w-will get better.... j-just because its raining here now, doesn't mean it will forever, e-eventually it has to rain somewhere else." He held his brothers hand with his only good one.

"BUT--"

"please....look at it as my dying wish... a last request....i just...you don't deserve to die." He gave his hand a squeeze.

His brow bone knitted together is frustration,"That's like saying that you did! You didn't deserve this Sa--"

"STOP!"

They both fell silent. Papyrus was taken aback, his brother NEVER raised his voice, and now he was yelling and Sans seemed to have scared himself as well.

"i....i....s-sorry." He curled in on himself, wishing to just be able to disappear.

"No brother, I shouldn't have taken it that way, i apologize.....and I promise..."

Sans looked up at his brother surprised, "huh?"

"I promise."

That's all that Sans needed to know, that his brother would be okay. "th-thank y-you....." His eye-sockets grew heavy and he let himself relax against his brother. His eyes slowly flickered shut.

"S-sans?"

His voice was barely audible, " d-don't worry bro....i promise....this will be the last time i sleep on the job...." He went silent.

Papyrus watched in horror as his brother's slipper fell into the snow, as his left foot blew into dust, as well as half his leg. He looked down at his brothers face, he seemed at peace, more than he had ever before.

He looked down at his brother and spoke, barely above a whisper, " Thank you, Sans, for everything you've done for me...I'm going to......I'm going to miss you so much, please wait for me.... I love you." He felt himself begin to shake as he leaned over and clicked his teeth against his brothers forehead. "So much."

Papyrus rocked himself. This was it. His brother was actually going to die. He wished for more time, but he knew it wouldn't happen. He was lucky enough that his brother lasted so long. He looked down at the key in his hands and made a mental note to do that, right after he gave his brother a proper farewell and spread his dust on his favorite things.

He felt tears coming forth again. He wanted his brother to go to "sleep" happy. He thought about the nights when he was little and would come running to Sans whenever he had a nightmare. His brother had also seemed to know what to do in those situations. His nightmares had usually been about everyone vanishing and him being stuck in darkness forever. Somehow Sans would calm him down, he remembered him promising that he'd never be alone, that no matter what happened, he'd always be found. Then he remembered that song that his brother used to sing to help him fall asleep after those bad nights. God, it had been so long, yet he still remembered every word. He could even hear his brother's voice singing it.

He looked down at his brother and started humming the tune as tears fell down his cheekbones. He took in a breath, and started to shakily sing.

" There was a time when I was alone, nowhere to go, and no place to call home," he held his brother close as the rest of his left leg disappeared as well as a bit of his right leg. "My only friend was the man in the moon, and even sometimes he'd go away too." His voice became more steady even though the tears seemed to fall quicker. " Then one night, as i closed my eyes," he mimicked the song and gently closed his eyelids shut, even though he could feel his brother becoming lighter in his lap. "I saw a shadow flying high. He came to me with the sweetest smile. Told me he wanted to talk for awhile. He said, 'Peter Pan. That's what they call me."

" i promise that you'll never be lonely."

Papyrus jumped at his brothers voice. His brothers eyes remained shut but he had a smile on his face that spoke more that Papyrus could say. They continued.... together.

"And ever since that day... I am a lost boy from Neverland. Usually hanging out with Peter Pan. And then we're bored we play in the woods, always on the run from, Captain Hook." Papyrus felt Sans become even lighter, yet he still continued the song. " ' Run, run lost boy, ' they say to me," Papyrus choked on tears and stopped, but Sans refused.

" 'away from all of reality,'" He opened his eyes and reached up with his left arm, which was also his only intact limb left, and used his thumb to wipe away his baby brother's tears, " neverland is home to lost boys like me, and lost boys like me are--"

He was cut off by his own body crumpling to dust, leaving behind his stained hoodie and a soul that was cracked but not shattered.

Papyrus carefully picked up the small hoodie and held it close to himself. He looked down at the dust that used to be his brother as he was wracked with sobs and buried his face into the hoodie. It smelled like him, blue magic and ketchup. Then he felt warmth radiating off his brother soul that still remained floating in front of him. It seemed to be waiting for something.

He gave a sad chuckle, he knew what it wanted.  He dried his eyes and took a last look at the soul. It was actually quite pretty despite being cracked beyond repair. 

He gave a sigh as a sad smile split his face.

"...free."

The soul shattered.

Author's note:

Heyyyyyy, thanks for reading. This was my first fanfic so I'm nervous and excited all at the same time. I wanted to give a shout out to msrose712. Thank you so much for helping me check over this and look for mistakes. Check out her Charisk fanfic! Trust me it's amazing and adorable. Thank you!!!!