(( >:3 ))

Asriel blinked at the strange hovering structure drifting in from outside, an orangey figure standing at the front where something stuck out from the bottom. He was crouched down in the hollow behind the ledge, unsure of what it was but assuming it was humans.

He could hear voices as it approached, details becoming clearer. Whatever the thing was, it's sides were ridged, the ends of the walls interlocking with the ceiling and floor. Other than that, it was boxy, the front wall sloping backwards from the floor.

Asriel stared suspiciously, afraid of the strangers getting into something they couldn't handle by entering the den of the dragon that might not like humans and monsters. He remembered the enormous, rumbling voice that had echoed up from below, words blending together in low, earthshaking tones.

As the structure passed, he suddenly recognized the pale figure beneath their clothes, the strange white object and the ridges it was built from.
Bones.
A skeleton?

"Hey! You're- I thought you were a human, don't go down there!" He leapt up to shout.
The craft jolted to a stop, then backed up, coming closer. He could see the reds, yellows and browns of the skeleton's outfit, orange eyelights regarding him.

Suddenly, more faces emerged from the entrance of the craft, most notably a pair of lightless sockets he knew all too well.
"Papyrus?"

Papyrus stared at him with wide sockets, tense in a way he had never seen the other before.
"Prince.. Asriel?" He hesitated briefly on the name.
"Yeah, that's me. I know it's a lot to explain, but you can't go down there right now, there's a dragon- PAPYRUS!"
He and several others lunged even as he threw himself off the craft, running in the air at absurd speeds.

Asriel jumped, wings bursting forth even as the orange one took off running on air as well, several others flying on bones, everyone yelling.
The shouts bounced off the rock walls, filling the tunnel with a cacophony of voices even as Papyrus was emerging into the main chamber.

The prince entered just as the first stranger was tackling his friend, both falling to the hard ground before a skeleton in teal threw his hand out and they were blue.
Papyrus was screaming, the haunting, incoherent cries splintering off the walls, words lost amidst the noise.

A high-pitched twang then caught his attention, leading his eyes to the sight of the giant rainbow, feathered beast standing on four wings on the other side of the cavern, staring with stark white eyes. He couldn't make out it's expression before a blue dragon erupted from below, eyes blazing yellow, silver, cyan and red, snarling.

The guttural sound raged through the cavern, wings flaring open as it flew towards them.
"OH SHIT-" The one Asriel remembered was a lost cousin screamed, turning and bolting away, a few others copying the action.

The orange one then flung out a hand, flames roaring as a wall formed, quickly resolving into patterns. The blue dragon landed, claws screeching on stone as a throaty growl lanced through the air. Asriel landed to the side, paws on his head in panic.
"Wait! Please, wait! It's okay, no one's hurting anybody!" He shrieked frantically.

"Where is Sans?! Where is my brother?! Please!" Papyrus then screamed, tears running down his face. The rage on the dragon's face abruptly died, recoiling as blue overtook their multicolored eyes.

Anger drained away now, they quietly stepped forward, passing through the flames as though they weren't there, the blazes dissipating shortly after. Asriel jogged over, briefly noticing the others pausing near the tunnel, staring anxiously.
"𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐠𝐨."

Wordlessly, he cooperated, stepping away as Papyrus stiffened, clearly recognizing the voice before a talon wrapped around him and pressed him to the dragon's broad chest.
In that moment, blue scales vanished, leaving bones behind.

Everyone stood around in silence, nothing but quiet sobs filling the vast space, only accented by the distant crackling of bleached flames in all recesses of the cave, casting a moody glow over the stone mounds.

With a sound like distant thunder, the great rainbow dragon approached, breath rustling the fur atop Asriel's head as it stopped behind the skeledragon.
Without moving, he spoke in a low voice.
"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐮𝐩, 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮."

"ℑ𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔢𝔡 𝔴𝔢 𝔡𝔦𝔡." The tremendous one replied in a deceptively soft voice.
He turned, glaring at the great one.
"𝐀 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞." He growled.
"𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔢𝔫𝔡 𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔲𝔩𝔱 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔟𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔞𝔪𝔢. 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔨𝔫𝔢𝔴 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔩𝔦𝔱𝔱𝔩𝔢 𝔭𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔶𝔬𝔲. 𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔭𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔥𝔦𝔩𝔡 𝔬𝔲𝔱𝔰𝔦𝔡𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔰𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔱𝔲𝔞𝔯𝔶 𝔟𝔢𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔬𝔨𝔢 𝔪𝔢. ℌ𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔟𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔞𝔠𝔱 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔪. 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔢𝔫𝔡 𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔲𝔩𝔱 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔟𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔞𝔪𝔢." He repeated to cement the point.

Sans only growled in response, turning and leaping over Asriel, landing gracefully on a tremendous boulder, hopping over them until he was at the other side of the cave, out of sight. Quetzalcoatl watched quietly, new voices rising up before he could hear Papyrus cry out, though for what, he didn't know.

Asriel flinched as a hand rested between his horn nubs, looking up to see the skeleton from before.
"Come." He spoke with a thick accent.
"It is private moment here. We should not interfere."

"But-" He cut off at the shouts and short scream from the entrance, both spinning to see the dragon now over there, picking up a small skeleton and strutting back singlemindedly.

"Please don't hurt me please don't hurt me oh crap please I actually have a family-" He slapped the boney muzzle, kicking in a panic before the dragon snorted, vanishing in a flash of blue.

Asriel strained hopelessly to peer over the boulder resembling an animal he had never seen before, the skeleton grabbing his shoulder.
"Si, yes, it is time to let them be."
"But how will we even go back home now?" He asked, bewildered.
"There is time and place for such talk, now is neither. Come now." He guided Asriel away, leading him to the others.

The goat child glanced back repeatedly, uncertain as he was brought to a group of skeletons, monsters he had never seen before in his life except just before what felt like everything began to go wrong. They were all tense.

"They're.. okay, right?" A light blue one asked, clutching a fish-decorated thermos close.
The one wearing teal with lime eyelights glanced at Asriel, then the massive rainbow dragon anxiously.
"I think so? I'm not versed in dragon behaviors. Andalé?" They faced the one beside Asriel, who chuckled.

"His family is returned to him, he is simply.. ah, protective? I believe is the word."
"Possessive?" Asriel suggested nervously.
"No, I think not quite. Similar, yes, but not quite."
"So no one's dying or anything?" The one with slightly darker green eyelights and a baby blue sweater asked.
"Of course not."

"What about him?" The small, light brown one asked, raising an arm and pointing to the feathered one that towered over them all.
The accented one, Asriel was sure named Andalé, turned.

Seemingly aware of being watched, the great dragon turned to regard them with pale, blank eyes. They all backed away as Quetzalcoatl bent down, a low hum emitting from him- so deep it was felt more than heard.
"ℑ 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔥𝔢𝔩𝔡 𝔞𝔫𝔦𝔪𝔬𝔰𝔦𝔱𝔶 𝔱𝔬 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔨𝔦𝔫𝔡𝔰 𝔦𝔫 𝔞 𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔤, 𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢, 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔤 𝔬𝔫𝔢𝔰. 𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔫𝔢𝔢𝔡 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔣𝔢𝔞𝔯 𝔪𝔢." His voice was thick, with an unknown accent.

"But you used to hate us?" The one with navy blue eyelights asked, promptly getting elbowed by another.

The rainbow one sighed, breath breezing past them as thin, yellow-gold eyelids slid shut over his eyes, the light so vibrant it dully shone through them. "𝔒𝔫𝔠𝔢, 𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔤, 𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔤 𝔞𝔤𝔬, ℑ 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔤 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔦𝔯𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔞𝔟𝔩𝔢. 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔪𝔞𝔩𝔩, 𝔰𝔢𝔢𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔩𝔶 𝔦𝔫𝔰𝔬𝔩𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔫𝔢𝔴 𝔯𝔞𝔠𝔢𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔫𝔬𝔶𝔢𝔡 𝔪𝔢. ℑ 𝔡𝔬 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔣𝔢𝔢𝔩 𝔞𝔰 ℑ 𝔡𝔦𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔫. ℑ 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔟𝔢𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔫𝔬𝔴. ℑ 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔟𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲, 𝔴𝔞𝔩𝔨𝔢𝔡 𝔞𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔤 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔱𝔞𝔩𝔨𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔳𝔢, 𝔬𝔭𝔢𝔫 𝔯𝔞𝔠𝔢𝔰. ℑ 𝔲𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔯𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔫𝔡."

When no one spoke up, all confused, Asriel hesitantly did, thinking.
"You're sounding a lot like.. uh, kinda Sans…. Did you die?" He cringed, but the titanic dragon leaned closer, eyes crinkled as he smiled.
"𝔜𝔢𝔰, 𝔩𝔦𝔱𝔱𝔩𝔢 𝔭𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔠𝔢. ℑ 𝔞𝔪 𝔞𝔩𝔰𝔬 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔦𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔯𝔢𝔢. ℑ 𝔞𝔪 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔣𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔫𝔡𝔰."

His eyes went wide even as Andalé choked on a gasp.
"Wait wait wait a minute." The girl swung her thermos as she gestured.
"Died? And you're like Sans? He's a skeleton dragon dude, not-"
"He's a dragon." Asriel interrupted, and the others blinked at him in surprise.

Glancing up at Quetzalcoatl, he took a deep breath and continued.
"And it's not just Sans. I thought you knew that part already. You know he has Frisk's Soul, and you know Napstablook is with him. But I found them first, and I found them with one mind because their Souls were put together. Saecshiun was a dragon who died. The little bits of his Soul ended up becoming them. And now they're coming back together?" He glanced back at the four-winged one, who spoke.

"𝔚𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔨𝔦𝔫𝔡 𝔡𝔦𝔢𝔰, 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔖𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔰 𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯. 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔩𝔡 𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔦𝔳𝔢𝔰 𝔱𝔬 𝔨𝔢𝔢𝔭 𝔲𝔰 𝔞𝔩𝔦𝔳𝔢, 𝔲𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔩 𝔴𝔢 𝔡𝔢𝔠𝔦𝔡𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔣𝔞𝔡𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔫𝔢𝔰𝔰." He shifted on his wingclaws, leaning closer. "𝔈𝔳𝔢𝔫 𝔰𝔬, 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔠𝔬𝔯𝔢𝔰 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯. 𝔘𝔫𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔨𝔦𝔫𝔡𝔰, 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔖𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔰 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔦𝔫 𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔦𝔠𝔲𝔩𝔞𝔯 𝔴𝔞𝔶𝔰, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔰𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔶𝔰 𝔪𝔦𝔯𝔞𝔠𝔩𝔢𝔰 𝔠𝔞𝔫 𝔬𝔠𝔠𝔲𝔯."

With a nod, prismatic light appeared, swirling in the shape of conjoined Souls, meeting at the tips. They swirled with colors before snapping apart and then shattering into chunks rather than fragments, landing on the ground and bleeding incandescent color.

"ℑ𝔫 𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔥, 𝔦𝔱 𝔦𝔰 𝔭𝔬𝔰𝔰𝔦𝔟𝔩𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔲𝔯𝔯𝔢𝔠𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔭𝔦𝔢𝔠𝔢𝔰 𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔬 𝔫𝔢𝔴 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔪𝔰, 𝔦𝔫𝔡𝔦𝔳𝔦𝔡𝔲𝔞𝔩 𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔡𝔰: 𝔞 𝔥𝔲𝔪𝔞𝔫, 𝔞 𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔞 𝔤𝔥𝔬𝔰𝔱." They rose up, two draining to white as their colors seeped into a third.
"But a ghost is a monster?" One of the skeletons asked.
"ℑ𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔢𝔡." Quetzalcoatl agreed. "𝔅𝔲𝔱 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔴𝔬 𝔪𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔟𝔢 𝔞 𝔤𝔥𝔬𝔰𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔭𝔯𝔬𝔠𝔢𝔢𝔡."
"Why?"
"𝔗𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔦𝔰 𝔞 𝔮𝔲𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔞𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢."

With that, hearts appeared, two upside down and white on either side of an orange one. One of the two eventually drifted over and merged into the orange, causing it to shift through a few colors and swell slightly.
"ℑ𝔫𝔢𝔳𝔦𝔱𝔞𝔟𝔩𝔶, 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔥𝔲𝔪𝔞𝔫 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔬𝔤𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯. 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔡𝔯𝔞𝔴𝔫 𝔱𝔬𝔤𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔫𝔬 𝔪𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔥𝔬𝔴 𝔣𝔞𝔯 𝔞𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔪𝔞𝔶 𝔟𝔢. 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯, 𝔣𝔯𝔞𝔤𝔪𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔰 𝔩𝔬𝔬𝔨𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔣𝔢𝔢𝔩 𝔴𝔥𝔬𝔩𝔢 𝔬𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔪𝔬𝔯𝔢."

Then the second white Soul drifted closer, it's tip flashing with impossible iridescence before meeting with the end of the human Soul, points flashing until they fused, new colors seeping into the human Soul even as it's own swirled into the white. It became the strange Soul they had seen in the beginning again.

"𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔣𝔯𝔞𝔤𝔪𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔰 𝔠𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔦𝔯 𝔩𝔞𝔰𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔯𝔡 𝔲𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔩 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔣𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔡, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔲𝔰 𝔟𝔢𝔤𝔦𝔫𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔭𝔯𝔬𝔠𝔢𝔰𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔯𝔢𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔞 𝔭𝔯𝔢𝔳𝔦𝔬𝔲𝔰 𝔢𝔵𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔢, 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥 𝔫𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔞𝔪𝔢 𝔞𝔤𝔞𝔦𝔫. 𝔈𝔳𝔢𝔫 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔞𝔴𝔞𝔨𝔢𝔫𝔢𝔡 𝔞𝔤𝔞𝔦𝔫 𝔦𝔫 𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔡 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔪𝔢𝔪𝔬𝔯𝔶, 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔯𝔢𝔟𝔬𝔯𝔫 𝔡𝔯𝔞𝔤𝔬𝔫 𝔦𝔰 𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔞 𝔤𝔥𝔬𝔰𝔱, 𝔞 𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔞 𝔥𝔲𝔪𝔞𝔫. 𝔚𝔢 𝔯𝔢𝔪𝔢𝔪𝔟𝔢𝔯 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔴𝔢 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔴𝔢 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔟𝔢𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢. 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔦𝔰 𝔫𝔬 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔰𝔦𝔪𝔭𝔩𝔢 𝔣𝔞𝔠𝔱. 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔬𝔠𝔦𝔞𝔟𝔩𝔢 𝔯𝔞𝔠𝔢𝔰 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔦𝔯 𝔪𝔞𝔯𝔨 𝔲𝔭𝔬𝔫 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔫𝔞𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔶 𝔰𝔬𝔩𝔦𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔶 𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔡, 𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔡𝔰. 𝔚𝔢 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔡." He explained in a gentle voice, almost crooning.

"So are you three too?" Asriel asked.
"𝔙𝔢𝔫𝔲𝔞𝔩í, 𝔎𝔲𝔨𝔲𝔩𝔨𝔞𝔫 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔈𝔥𝔢𝔠𝔞𝔱𝔩." His voice shifted with each name, as if each one was speaking in turn.
"𝔚𝔢 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔯𝔢𝔢."

They all flinched when Andalé laughed, a short, abrupt, relieved chuckle.
"I had been right all along." He said incredulously.
Quetzalcoatl peered at him, seemingly recognizing something.
"𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔱𝔬𝔲𝔠𝔥𝔢𝔡."

The elder skeleton- for he was certainly older than the rest- smiled gleefully.
"Si, I am touched. My people were good friends of a dragon phoenix. Now I pray they are safe under his wings."

There was a soft hum from the other, dipping his head quietly.
"𝔒𝔲𝔯 𝔨𝔦𝔫𝔡𝔰 𝔡𝔬 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔟𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔨 𝔭𝔯𝔬𝔪𝔦𝔰𝔢𝔰. 𝔜𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔭𝔢𝔬𝔭𝔩𝔢 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔰𝔞𝔣𝔢, 𝔦𝔫 𝔞 𝔰𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔱𝔲𝔞𝔯𝔶 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔰𝔬 𝔡𝔦𝔣𝔣𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔬𝔫𝔢." He gestured slightly to the dark, moody cavern.
"How is this a sanctuary?" Another asked, turning to slowly drink in the dreary view.

A low chortle sounded from the amphiptere, shaking a few stalactites from the ceiling.
Lifting a wing, he set his claws down on one of the many enormous mounds around them.
"𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔡𝔢𝔢𝔭 𝔦𝔫 𝔞 𝔣𝔞𝔩𝔰𝔢 𝔰𝔩𝔲𝔪𝔟𝔢𝔯. 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔞𝔴𝔞𝔨𝔢 𝔲𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔩 ℑ 𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔬𝔴 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔪 𝔱𝔬, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔩𝔡 𝔦𝔰 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔶𝔢𝔱 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔶 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔪, 𝔰𝔬 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔲𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔩𝔢𝔢𝔭."

"They're.. stone, though." One rapped curiously against the rock, fascinated.
"ℑ𝔱 𝔦𝔰 𝔱𝔬 𝔨𝔢𝔢𝔭 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔦𝔯 𝔟𝔬𝔡𝔦𝔢𝔰 𝔰𝔞𝔣𝔢. 𝔗𝔦𝔪𝔢 𝔴𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔰 𝔲𝔭𝔬𝔫 𝔞𝔩𝔩, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔲𝔰, 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔰𝔬 𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔪𝔞𝔫𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔩𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤. 𝔈𝔳𝔢𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔞𝔦𝔯 𝔠𝔞𝔫 𝔴𝔢𝔞𝔯 𝔞𝔴𝔞𝔶 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔦𝔯 𝔰𝔩𝔢𝔢𝔭𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔪𝔰, 𝔰𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔪𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔟𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔠𝔬𝔬𝔫𝔢𝔡 𝔦𝔫 𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔫𝔢, 𝔥𝔢𝔩𝔡 𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔩𝔩, 𝔲𝔫𝔪𝔬𝔳𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥 𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢, 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔥 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔫𝔬𝔱."
"So.. it's like a time capsule, but living beings are the contents, not just random stuff!" Asriel exclaimed.

Quetzalcoatl hummed. "ℑ 𝔞𝔪 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔣𝔞𝔪𝔦𝔩𝔦𝔞𝔯 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔪, 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔦𝔱 𝔰𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔡𝔰 𝔞𝔭𝔭𝔯𝔬𝔭𝔯𝔦𝔞𝔱𝔢."
He then turned, glancing back at the blue dragon perched on one of the mounds, regarding him.
"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬?"

Huffing at the thought, the great feathered one glanced at the entrance behind the others, raising his voice slightly.
"ℑ 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔢𝔵𝔭𝔩𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔥𝔬𝔴 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔥𝔲𝔪𝔞𝔫𝔰 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔩𝔡 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔞𝔟𝔰𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔪𝔞𝔤𝔦𝔠, 𝔬𝔣 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔨𝔦𝔫𝔡𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔪𝔲𝔠𝔥 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔩𝔡'𝔰 𝔩𝔦𝔣𝔢𝔟𝔩𝔬𝔬𝔡. ℑ 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔪𝔭𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔢𝔵𝔱𝔢𝔫𝔡 𝔭𝔢𝔞𝔠𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔲𝔫𝔦𝔱𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔯𝔞𝔠𝔢𝔰 𝔞𝔰 ℑ 𝔞𝔪 𝔞𝔟𝔩𝔢, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 ℑ 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔞𝔴𝔞𝔨𝔢𝔫 𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔰𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔱𝔲𝔞𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔴𝔞𝔯𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔦𝔯 𝔨𝔢𝔢𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔱𝔬 𝔩𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔫 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔞𝔤𝔦𝔠𝔩𝔢𝔰𝔰 𝔯𝔞𝔠𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔤𝔯𝔦𝔭𝔰 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔥𝔬𝔪𝔢."

"𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰?"
The amphiptere looked the seastorm in the eyes.
"ℑ 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔟𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔩𝔬𝔬𝔨𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥 𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔞 𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔤, 𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔤 𝔴𝔥𝔦𝔩𝔢. ℑ 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔦𝔰𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔠𝔞𝔲𝔰𝔢𝔡. ℑ 𝔞𝔩𝔰𝔬 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔦𝔰𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔱𝔢𝔡. ℑ 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔯𝔰, 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔢𝔰, 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔢𝔳𝔦𝔩𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔤𝔬𝔬𝔡𝔰 𝔠𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔦𝔫 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔞𝔟𝔰𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔢. 𝔚𝔥𝔞𝔱 ℑ 𝔡𝔬 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔦𝔰 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔥𝔬𝔴 𝔦𝔱 𝔞𝔭𝔭𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔰 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔬𝔫 𝔥𝔦𝔤𝔥. ℑ 𝔡𝔬 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔥𝔬𝔴 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔞𝔦𝔯 𝔣𝔢𝔢𝔩𝔰 𝔟𝔢𝔫𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔥 𝔪𝔶 𝔴𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔫𝔢𝔴 𝔞𝔤𝔢. ℑ 𝔡𝔬 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔫𝔬𝔴. ℑ 𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔢𝔢 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔪𝔶𝔰𝔢𝔩𝔣."

Tucking his chin to his breastbone, the blue dragon rumbled softly, the greater quietly thundering closer to the entrance.
"..𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲."
Quetzalcoatl paused, tilting his head so one eye was peering at the skeletons and Dreemur before regarding Sans.

"ℑ𝔱 𝔦𝔰 𝔬𝔫𝔩𝔶 𝔯𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱. 𝔑𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔡𝔢𝔰𝔢𝔯𝔳𝔢𝔰 𝔰𝔲𝔠𝔥 𝔱𝔬𝔯𝔪𝔢𝔫𝔱." And with that, he stepped over the group, gleaming multicolored belly scales passing overhead as he ascended the tunnel, barely fitting through. His long, feathered tail swept by, an enormous, scarlet feather almost brushing against Asriel in their passing. The ground tremored as Quetzalcoatl pushed off into the sky beyond, and with a thunderous flap of four wings, he was off.

Slowly, everyone turned to see the blue dragon also gone, regarding each other before noticing footsteps. Without a word, they stared in the direction it came from, prince taking a few steps forward before gasping at the figures appearing around a corner.
"Rhyme guy!"

A cat monster with yellow eyes blinked, adjusting a sleeve as his ears perked up. Behind him strode a veritable wall of blue, beside which was Papyrus, an intense look about him, hugging close a familiar round shape, helping a strange figure seemingly made of black goo shamble along. Off to the side Candara shuffled tensely, regarding the strangers in concern and anxiety.

As they entered the semicircle between stone bodies, Cabana surged forward, marching across to grip Papyrus by the humeri and shake him.
"You scared us half to death! What if you died?! What part of someone warning about a dragon do you not get? Angry dragon means people die!!"

A snort from the blue had her falling silent, flinching back.
Then the skeleton being carried spoke up in a weary, but not irritable tone.
"He was scared, pal. My bro has a right tibia scared. Everything here's been really new and really freaky, 'kay?"

She stepped away, nodding softly, unable to meet his gaze.
Asriel walked up, glancing at the frighteningly disfigured vaguely skeletal face that peered at him. He forced out a smile and waved, the other slowly lifting a hand that didn't quite look.. attached.
"Sans, I thought like the you you disappeared or something!" He then exclaimed, trying not to be unsettled by the malformed one.

Papyrus held him tighter, frowning worriedly.
"Nah, I just wasn't in sight, y'know? Out of sight, out of mind." He chuckled kindly.
"It still worries me." Papyrus murmured.
"I'm sorry, bro." He sighed, reaching up to grab one of the arms holding him.
One of the dragon's wings lifted to curl around them almost protectively.

"So like, this is everyone that got erased?" Asriel asked, regarding the others. They seemed somewhat dazed and tired, worn out as they leaned on each other.
"Yep. And that right there is Pops, in all his goopy, broken across time and space glory." He pointed at the mess of a monster.
Staring for a long moment, the former Royal Scientist eventually shrugged.

Sans seemed to peer at him more intensely.
"Do you not know?" He asked.
The goopy one made a harsh fizzling noise before hissing some kind of slurred.. approximation of a language Asriel had never heard before. It sounded painful just listening to it.

Papyrus perked up as Sans appeared to understand it effortlessly, replying in a smooth tone. It sounded like much of the hissing was just a part of the language itself, made of harsh, throaty noises he wasn't sure anyone not of skeletal descent could manage. It still sounded much smoother coming from Sans, but still somewhat jarring.

When Papyrus spoke up, his higher tones made it sound almost natural, almost like a reptilian tongue with how normal he sounded, tone carrying over as something kind and concerned.
Asriel eventually stepped back, next to the orange cousin.
"Do you have any idea what they're saying?" He whispered.
"No, I never learned Wingdings. It's an extra language and a dragonblood thing."

"Oh it has a name?" Papyrus turned, overhearing. They both blinked as the conversation was paused.
Slowly, a harsh, low laugh coughed brokenly out of the goop monster. They blinked at him as he slowly spoke, this time slurring words they recognized.
"̷̅̊I.̸͛..n̴̅̅n̸̈͂̈́̓ȇ̷..̴̃͠v̸̋̚͝è̵r̷̋̽̍̆͂͘͝r ̵č̷̓̌̏̾͊̅ò̷͂̃t a̸͒̓̾́͌̍̌̄̚aâ̴̛̽̿͆̃́͂rr̴oo̶̊̀̈̅͆̚un̶̾͊́͌̂nd̵͂ to.̸͓͋̂..̸̛̈́͠tha̴͐̉̾t."

They all stared expectantly as he gurgled again.
"̸͒Mm̵͒̐͘͝mỳ̶̀̉̓̈́͋̕.. ̷̬̽pa̶a̵rŕ̵͑̏͐͑́͝en̵͊̌n̴̈́t̸́̊̊.̸̂̚.s.̶̧̨̝͔̋̍̍͆̋̅̀̕͘͝ ̸̜̬̍̈́̂͆ͅthh̸͛̐͌̾o̶̐ư̴͋̀̓͒̈́̕͝g̵͋̐͌̀h̵̃̏͠t̵.̴̢͇͖̺̘̠̼̰̉̏̎ it̵͑͐ w̸̿woȯ̴͘͝uu̵̔̎͋ld̵͛ ̵̇̿̈̔bee̴̍̍̋͛̂̕͘ a ̷̘͕̖̌̒͊͌̓̀͐́g̴͒́͐̾ooood.̵̢̢̡̛̺͕̞̼͙̤̘͊ ̷̨̮̹̜̹͙̰̾͂͌̈́͌̿̅͋Id̵e̵eea.  ̸͎̲̪̹͍̤̈̇̃̃̈́̋̚͜͠ͅn̴aá̸̋͒̑a̸͆̈̈́͐̚mmme m̴͒̏̋̾̑͆̉͋mmme̶̛̋̿́e̷͆́ ã̷̈͊̀̏͌̋̿͋aaftë̶́er̷̂͑r tth̴̒̑h̸h̴̋̈̍̕e ̶̍ļ̸͔̜̩͓͉̌̈̌̋̔ͅlll̸̑́͋̓͗ǎ̶̒͂̈̍̈́͝a̶̋̊̀͆̑̌͂̑̽͝n̵̛͋̅̏̈́̚gû̸̈́̀͋̀́̀͛uaġ̴̇̾̈ë̶̐.̵"̸
Asriel winced as he struggled to understand the garbled speech.
"You're uh, named after it?" He figured. Gaster nodded, blessedly choosing silence.

"Is it okay to ask.." Candara winced as they all looked at him. "..Why you sound like that? It's worrying."
"He was the first to hit the magma that sent us to the Void." One of the others explained in a mostly dead voice, barely standing at waist height.
"While it only removed us from the timeline, it utterly and completely decimated him across time and space. You shouldn't even be standing." He shifted to address the goop.
The other's disfigured face only fell into the approximation of a scowl, mostly failing and simply.. melting a little bit.

Candara danced awkwardly away, shuddering as Asriel flinched and averted his eyes.
"Well at least you're standing on your own two feet outside of the.. Void." Papyrus proclaimed, concerned. Gaster made an inarticulate glitching noise and looked down.
"...He just needs time." Sans muttered.

Steeling his nerves, Asriel approached the shattered one, clasping his paws around a hand that had a little too much give to it and shaking slightly. "It's nice to meet you at least." He smiled as reassuringly as possible.

Slowly, Gaster smiled as well, face shaping up to something a little more alive, lights flickering in misshapen sockets, long, unnaturally straight cracks set into the approximation of bone.
"Yo̶͆͌͌̍́o̶uu̷͛̒̑́́̉͌.̸̊̏̍͝͝.̵̹̖̣̥̣̍͘͝ ̶̛̫̚ú̷̎̓sed̸̃̊̅.̶̿.̵̽͊͆͝ ̷to̸͑ ̴͠b̷̓̕e̵̐̓̆̕.̸̜̼̄̚.̶̊͒͆̈̆̓̾́̅ ̸̕sssooo̷ ̸͚̯͗̂͒̑̏̕š̷s̷̽͑̆̋̃̍̚ss̴̈́̂̎͗̓̉̀m̶̉m̶͗͝m̸m̷̛͊̒͆̍a̴̍̆aal̷̽́̓̈̄͘l̵l̷̀̽̀͗̅̔.̴͑͑.̴̈̊̎̆̂"
He couldn't help the slight grimace as the words grated against his ears, eyes widening as he understood.

"But I don't remember you at all.."
There was a sad, hacking and painful chuckle as the large-headed avian spoke for him.
"We were removed from the timeline. No one remembers us. Only him." She pointed at Sans, who blinked and added.
"Napstablook too."
She only smiled. He groaned and looked away, Papyrus holding him closer.

After a moment, Sans kicked his slippered feet and announced.
"We should get outta here."
"And go where?" Another voice reminded Asriel of the other skeletons.
"Back home, obviously." He snorted.
"Do we know the way back?" The one with lime eyelights glanced at the rest in concern. Andalé was about to speak when Sans pushed out of Papyrus's grip and spoke instead, rocking in place. "I know the way."

Everyone blinked at him in surprise. "You do?" Another asked.
Walking forward with the now anxious Papyrus in tow, he replied mysteriously. "I remember."
Asriel was likely the only one who understood what that could mean, following beside Papyrus, the goopy once-skeleton on his other side.

"How did you guys get here?" He asked, and everyone pointed at Andalé, who chuckled.
"We flew upon attacks for part of the way, and now have a small.. cheap balsaérea, sky raft. It is like.. small home of attacks."
"Neato. Can it fit everybody?" He indicated the new monsters behind him.

"It should, but would be small. We can remake it, but it will take a bit." He answered thoughtfully.
"I think it would be best to make it bigger." Another added. "Si, yes yes."
"You won't be teleporting us?" Asriel asked.

Sans regarded him incredulously and he cringed.
"Kid, that would kill me. I can't jump across America like that. Only so many times a guy can die before things stay dead." He snorted at his own odd joke, shaking his skull.
"... You're really a dragon, aren't you?" The navy themed skeleton murmured. Sans blinked, looking away nervously.
"I dunno." He shrugged unconvincingly.

"Quetzalcoatl showed us how it happens." Asriel explained quietly. Sans blinked at him in confusion, half turned to look at him.
"Uh. You know, how dragons died and came.. back. Different."
Immediately scowling, Sans rolled his eyelights, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Great help they were." He muttered, dragon growling faintly, a cold reminder of what he really was.

"Look, let's just ignore that for now." He waved dismissively. "Let's get to the raft thing, alright?"
"Sans, you are literally a dragon."
"I'm not!" There was a hint of desperation, eyelights flicking briefly to Papyrus.
"Not.. yet." He stressed, oddly panicky.

"What yet is there to it?" The avian behind him asked mysteriously, teal eyes staring almost through him.
"You shouldn't deny what you are. You're still the same to us. Always have been."
Sans was standing much too tensely, dragon half crouching, loud whine grating the air.
"I'm- please stop." He whispered loudly, Papyrus finally approaching with purpose, grabbing him.

"You are my brother. Dragon or not. Sans, it is okay. Do you think I will not like it? It's.. very, very cool." He dropped to a whisper. They all stepped away to let them have their moment.
Instead, everyone was distracted by the enormous, faintly glowing white tears pouring from it's eyes, looking away.

They whispered to each other for a bit before the blue abruptly stood, approaching from behind.
"I just.. need to tell you something."
They suddenly vanished in a flash.

"Oh shit they're gone." Candara stated, sockets wide.
"Language." Another glared, indicating Asriel.
The prince promptly facepalmed.
"That's what's important to you right now? Not Sans disappearing? I already know all the words!"
"Wait, you do?"
"That doesn't matter, he's gone!"
"Relax, little cabro." Andalé called, walking over.
"He would not go far."
"How can you be sure?? He's always disappearing when things are too much!"

Andalé waved behind him and Asriel turned, seeing the melting pile of goo and monsters.
"After so much done for them, you think he would leave them behind?"
The prince fell silent, mostly concerned for the tar resembling a melting candle.
Candara voiced the concern.
"Sir, are you okay? You look like melted plastic."

Gaster jolted, abruptly reforming and firing off a round of incomprehensible, broken noises.
"We don't.. understand." Cabana explained with a wince.

After a minute, he seemed to settle before speaking in an intense, albeit far clearer voice than ever before.
"₱är+ ø£ mm̶̮̱̓̊͗̊̾m¥¥$$$€l£ rr̶̹͎̻͔̼̪̫̀͜rêm̶̮̱̓̊͗̊̾åīπ$ ïîíiñπñn +h€ √øîd. Ì ww̵̩̙͛̎̋̌̅̈̑͗͠ͅw̸̦̱̍̽ã$ wä+¢híπg."
Asriel could even note a bit of an odd accent now, seeing the smiles of the other formerly erased monsters.
"Part of you is still in the Void?" He echoed for clarity. Gaster nodded, blinking more animatedly.
"You're okay though, right?"
Another nod, hands now wringing each other.

"Wait, you said you were watching- you can watch people?" Candara lit up in surprise. Gaster gestured slightly, dripping as his arm waved.
"Tîm€ £løw$ îñ āll [)īrë¢+ìøπ$ wí+hiñ +h€ √0ïd. $₱墀 ߀¢øm€$ m€ãπiñgl€$$. I ¢aπ $€€ äñ¥ ₱0iñ+ îπ +īm€, @ñ¥ ₱l墀 I wäñ+. I [{π0w +hïñg$ πø.. mør+ãl $høūld kñøw." He shuddered.
"I äm π0+ $ürē í£ I rêgrët it ør ñòt."

"We have all glimpsed things that might have been better to leave lost to time." The small, amber eyed monster explained sullenly.
"But we are not so broken. With said token, we can no longer look through time. And yes, I am the one who rhymes." The cat added.

"You must get a kick out of that." Bodoni mused, and all the monsters groaned at once.
"He does." The orange lizard bemoaned, leaning back on her tail. The cat only grinned conspicuously, yellow eyes twinkling.

Then Andalé clapped his hands, the clack echoing in the vast cavern.
"Well! We must busy up! We shall travel back to Underground, and bring new friends with! Help me remake balsaérea to fit! Come, come." He waved them to follow, glancing at Asriel. "Would you like to help, little cabro?"

"I don't have bone attacks.." He pointed out nervously.
"Balsaéreas are not all bones." He waved off the statement. "The one you saw is very simple, very simple indeed."
"Okay.." He followed them to the beginning of the tunnel, where the boxy structure floated down above the mass of gravel, sliding into the ground as the walls and ceiling dusted away.

The skeletons quickly retrieved everything streen about the floor, it quickly dissolving as well. Then Andalé stepped forward, summoning two incredibly long bones, so long they looked easy to snap if one stood in the middle. He arranged them at right angles to each other, gesturing to the shorter one.
"We will make this-" waving down the longer one- "down to the end."

"That's a lot!" Spade cried out in dismay.
"We work together." Andalé reassured him with a smile. "We have time." He began to create another, setting it near the other end.
"Here. We will make front point. It will cut through air better." He created another pair, angling them with their ends pointing at each other. A third, more normally sized bone rested lengthwise between them.

Candara crouched by the narrow end, beginning to create more bones to fill the indicated space. Spade moved over to help him as Cabana took charge of the other side, Bodoni helping her.
Andalé then led Constantia and Triton to the side, showing them the length needed for walls, letting the pair get to it.

That done, he approached Asriel with a soft smile. "I have big task of you."
He straightened, tail twitching anxiously as he was guided to part of the floor already made.
"Can you make thin pellets to fill gap here?" He asked, indicating the crevices were the sides of bones sloped downward and met others. "It be flat." He swept out.

"Oh." Asriel blinked, surprised. "That's not hard." He noted, already forming a hundred large, thin pellets. He shifted their ovoid, malleable shapes to better fit the gaps before settling into the indicated space, bouncing on his paws.
Andalé hummed, impressed. "Good, good, very good."

He stepped onto the bones, creating more pellets with a grin, forming a storm of them as he mentally shaped them as he desired. The pairs working on creating the floor cheered as the last bone was placed, Candara reaching up and clasping hands with Spade, the pair jumping up and down in excitement.

Bodoni quickly ushered them off as Asriel came through, giggling despite himself as he slowly moved forward, giving the floor a sort of scale-stripe pattern as he went. The rest quickly moved to help the pair with walls, Andalé cutting in briefly to create gaps, setting up short bones on the top and bottom in apparent windows.

Asriel plopped down a little past the front of the raft, tail wiggling as he watched the structure being built. Eventually, another child joined him, eyes a cloudy white, but not blind.
"What's your name, by the way? I'm Asriel."
"Ania." She replied somewhat dully, staring at the construction.

He hesitated, a little put off by it.
She then faced him, face eerily blank before a white scale formed between them.
"I want to help." Ania stated.
"You could probably as-" "Ah! Yes yes, scales! You may help, little lagartija!" Andalé hurried over excitedly, eyelights bright.
"Can you make blue?"

The scale vanished, replaced by a glowing cerulean one.
"Good, good." He turned with a smile, forming another long bone at an angle from the front, quickly replicating his blueprint for the floor, but as a trapezoid for the front half.
"Can you cover this in blue scales?" He asked, offering the scaffolding.

Ania pushed herself to her feet, nodding as she created a dozen large scales.
"Orange is easier." She mentioned with a faint smirk, a nod to her own color.
"If you would like to, you may cover the outside walls with orange."
"We'll see." She stated, very much not acting as young as she looked, arranging scales over the frame.

Then the bird monster approached, lifting an arm shyly.
"Is there anything I can do?" She asked.
"Si!" Andalé was ecstatic, eyelights practically ablaze as he scurried to the main portion of the structure taking shape, creating a rectangle the size of the roof. "There will be bone supporting, but can you make blue feathers?" He asked excitedly.

"Colored magic isn't always my strong suit, but I can manage." She nodded, visibly affected by his cheer. Andalé exclaimed in Spanish, nodding as he skipped away, setting up an inside wall near the back half of the balsaéreas, leaving a space for a doorway, wedging a bone near the top of the gap.

As the rest began building a roof of bones, Andalé worked on a second wall near the front, now leaving two doorways on either end, setting up horizontal bones between it and the outer walls as if to hold it in place.

There were some cheers as the others' work finished, watching as the child began layering orange scales over the side, avian slowly finishing her mat of blue feathers and setting it on top, more hanging over the sides, thick, round and like those of a duck, like the feathers she was covered in. They actually paired well with the rounded, slightly pointed scales Ania formed.

As she moved to the back, the entire balsaéreas gently lifted up a foot into the air, Andalé beaming at it's head, setting up bones extending from below the doorway, building a rail along their sides, pausing for a moment as he finished before whipping his hands. As he did, an enormous, sharp-beaked skull appeared with a crackle, shifting in place for a moment before slotting itself over the plank and railing, clacking it's beak briefly.

With that, it lowered again and he hopped off, no worse for wear. Everyone threw up their hands in cheer, astounded by the structure built entirely of attacks. Andalé had a look of blissful reminisce on his face, leaning on the side of the sky raft.

When he'd built up energy again, he gestured in the door, standing aside so that others may enter.
Asriel was the second one in, Spade the first. Both gasped at the comfortable space, floor even and flat, extra bones set along the walls, yellowish flames burning at their tops and casting a warm glow across the otherwise greyish white interior.

"I can see how this is a home!" Cabana exclaimed behind them, aqua eyelights starring.
"I helped make it!" Asriel bleated, dancing in place.
"This is the coolest thing I've ever seen!"
"Wait for when you see a traditional balsaérea." Andalé chuckled from the corner.
"We paint them and furnish them. This would be nice with red rug. Deerskin on walls, si."

"Wouldn't animal skins catch on fire?" The short, round monster was eyeing the blazes suspiciously.
"Oh no no no, spiritflames, not true flames. There is a place for fire, and it is on the ground in a pit or a cage in the back."

Asriel peeked around the wall into the next room, shocked to find a low rectangle with bones blocking the front settled against the back wall, a sort of tube of bones leading out of it and through the ceiling. "Is that a bone fireplace?" He asked incredulously.

More folks trickled in, spotting the box as well.
"Yes, it is. Up high it is cold. Skeletons are not bothered, but others, they are. Too high, and the air is thin and no one can breathe. You need to breathe more than we, and so we shall not fly so high again." Andalé explained as he sat on the box.

"You flew that high? What for and why?" The cat asked.
"That.. actually rhymed." Cabana realized.
With an amused snort from Andalé, Bodoni explained. "There was some kind of flying machine built by humans. Papyrus called it a 'plane' and it appeared to be carrying a hundred or so humans. It was made of metal!"

"Ah." The cat nodded before the bird started. "We've seen them. The history behind their creation is fascinating, and the results even more so."
"You know about them?"
"Of course we do." The small one replied. "With so little to do in the Void except wither away, we took to observing different ends of time. Only about two of us could do it at once though, because it was easy to get lost without being connected to the singular timepoint that was our bridge to the now. Regardless, we watched."

"We saw all the timelines. We saw pasts and futures. There is much to do soon. The world needs fixing, and we need to cooperate with races entirely unlike us and each other. You know it will be long, winding and difficult." The bird explained seriously before her voice dropped.
"We believe Sans is the key."

"Is it because he's a dragon or super powerful as a skeleton alone?" Cabana snarked.
"Both and more. You do not know what we do." The child answered, pale eyes boring into her.
"I think I get it." Asriel mumbled, and the cloudy gaze landed on him.
"You only know a fragment yourself. You will see."

"... Creepiness aside, can we get going and find where Papyrus and Sans went?" Constantia asked nervously.
"Yes, let's." Bodoni animated, glancing out the open window on the side of the craft as it lifted.

"How is this thing steered anyway?" Asriel quested distractedly, noting that everyone was in the same room.
Andalé tapped the side of his skull. "My skullsummon sees for me, I am the guide. I lift with some blue and we fly."
"Huh." He noted, reminded of Sans.

They gathered near the small openings in the sides, and Asriel made his way to the front, the goopy mess that was Gaster joining him as they peered over the railing, watching as the balsaérea pointed outside, zooming up the tunnel.

It was almost surreal, flying in a house made of attacks, guided by a massive bird skull who's owner was just inside.
The sun was almost blinding, perched on the horizon amid a backdrop of oranges, reds and magenta that slowly faded to purple, turning to navy in the far east.

On the shoulder of a mountain sat a large, blue dragon, two figures pressed against it's side.
"There!" He called excitedly, pointing uselessly as Gaster was already staring, a few others calling out from further back as they spotted the dragon from the windows.

The sky raft- if ome could even call it a raft- drifted down, alighting on the shoulder of the mountain, and Asriel gasped at the sight of bones forming to support it against the ground, thick and sturdy, unlike all the rest.

He bounced off the craft, paws hitting packed earth with a faint cloud of sand rising up, jogging over to the dragon.
"Are you guys okay?" He called, noticing the faint red-orange hue beneath Papyrus's sockets.

"I am fine." The tall one replied wearily. "But the boat looks fantastic!"
"It does!! I helped make the floor!" He slid to a stop behind the pair, seeing Sans was asleep and glancing at the dragon in curiosity.
"Sans has had a very long day." Papyrus explained quietly, tugging him closer.

"I get it." The prince smiled sadly, blue reptilian shifting to peer at him with multicolored eyes.
Turning, he addressed the nearest skeleton behind him, it being Bodoni.
"What if we just camped here tonight?"
The other shrugged, lime eyelights glancing about. "I've always wanted to camp on the mountaintop I guess. It's not Ebbot, but it seems nice enough."

"𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕨𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕔𝕒𝕞𝕡 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕠𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥." Asriel- and apparently also Papyrus- stiffened at the voice, recognizing it as distinctly not Sans, but Saecshiun, who shouldn't be speaking.
Then the dragon blinked at them.
"𝐈𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠?"

"You sounded.." "Different." Candara finished for him.
The dragon blinked, curling his forelimbs beneath himself as it set in.
"𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐒𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲."
"It sure didn't sound like nothing." Bodoni noted suspiciously.
"𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐱. 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐝𝐨 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐚?" He teased lightly. Asriel noticed with a glance that an amused smile had settled on his sleeping face.

"What? No! I mean-" He spluttered awkwardly before Cabana spoke up.
"You do look terrifying."
Sans huffed, looking hurt.
"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞. 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐲."
"You really don't." She shook her skull, a hint of amusement glinting in her eyelights.

Sans shuffled dramatically until he was facing them, wings pressed to his sides before he rolled over with a crunch of the earth, exposing a pale belly of smooth scales.
He wriggled in place, a dopey grin on his otherwise brutish face.
"𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?" He questioned, a staccato hum rumbling in his massive chest.

She cracked slightly, looking away. "You're acting like a dog." Her voice shook slightly as Candara outright snorted.
Asriel grinned, slapping his paws on the smooth surface and rubbing in frantic circles.
Sans stiffened, legs curling inward slightly as he looked over with wide eyes. The prince slowed, caught up in the intense, unreadable stare.
The eyes of the predatory creature big enough to eat him whole made him nervous, whether he wanted to admit it or not.
Asriel stopped rubbing, and for a long moment they just stared at each other.

Without warning, the dragon turned away, rolling over and simply off the ledge, landing with a thud and a grunt a dozen feet below. After a moment, his head popped back up, blinking.
"𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐝."
"Sorry, that was really.. presumptuous of me." Asriel mumbled, avoiding his gaze.

Setting his hand-like talons on the rock, Sans shrugged his wings.
"𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐢𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥. 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐢𝐭."
"Feel it?" Spade echoed confusedly.
He gestured to himself. "𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥." Scales vanished, revealing a far more familiar boney figure, if not with the addition of skeletal wings. "𝐖𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡.." He trailed off, clearly thinking about something.

"How did you even get that in the first place?" Bodoni marvelled, lightly poking bone talons as if to check the illusion was truly gone.
He shrugged again. "𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝."
"What?!" "Who?!"

He didn't reply at first, glancing uneasily to the side before he decided to speak, bone wings shifting and clacking softly.
"𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐒𝐚𝐞𝐜𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐮𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬. 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝕨𝕒𝕤𝕟'𝕥 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝐰𝐞 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕕." It ended in a slight snarl. Everyone stared, unable to miss the shift in tone and presence of a voice. A few even recognized it.

He seemed ponder something, staring off to the side before Candara quietly asked.
"Did it hurt?"
Blinking back to reality, the bone dragon regarded him.
"𝐔𝐡. 𝐍𝐨. 𝐍𝐨, 𝐢𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦."
Asriel shuddered at the memory, turning away.
"𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐨?"
"I hated that. I don't even know if Chara can do that again. Please don't, um, don't get another dragon trying to force out Saecshiun again? He was nice and all but.." He shivered violently.

"..What..?" Candara murmured as Sans pressed his bony snout to the goat child's back.
"𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧." He spoke decidedly.
"Are you guys talking about an actual dragon? Like, a conscious one?" Spade questioned in shock.

Sans mused over the question for a moment, then huffed, dipping below the ledge.
A second later he surged back up, flying over their skulls and landing between them, sending them scattering in surprise even as the appearance of flesh reappeared, wings half raised. "𝐈'𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭." He said, picking his way between them, broad tail sweeping overhead as he left, calling over a shoulder.
"𝐀𝐬𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐨 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬."

With that, he sauntered up the mountainside, scaling cliffs that most others would hike or fly over until he was a good distance away, curling up on a sloping path and leaving them in silence.

"Was that his goodnight?" Cabana asked in bewilderment.
"I think it was." Asriel replied, also staring.
"Come along now, friends!" Andalé called from around the balsaérea, backside illuminated in firelight. "I have food!"
Waving a sharp attack with something skewered on it, he added. "Tell me what you learned!"

Shrugging, Asriel tugged Papyrus to his feet, leading him to the campfire.
"Are you okay?" He whispered, worried.
The taller shrugged, holding his brother's sleeping form closer even if said brother was conscious in a dragon.
"I don't know. I think.. I am still wrapping my mind around it. Sans is.. different. I don't know how I feel about that yet."

"Well.. I'm right here if you want someone to talk to." He offered softly.
"Thank you, but I just need to think." He smiled, but the expression was painfully fake. There was a lost, wondering look in his sockets, drifting to the side even before the smile faded.
Asriel frowned in worry.
Neither of the brothers were doing well, and he had no idea how to help.

They sat down around the campfire, Andalé gleefully handing out kebabs of some sort, sticks being thin bones sharpened to a point on one end.
At least the older skeleton was happy, seemingly reminded of early days from before the war.

Asriel quietly sighed, staring up at the growing number of stars even as the previously erased monsters attacked their food with the glee of starved folk.
Gaster in particular, seemed to ooze around the food, turning away to hide himself.

Things were better, multiple missions accomplished, yet nothing felt better.
The prince decided he hated it.
Chara silently agreed.