((Happy New year!))

Asriel slowly blinked as things slowly took shape again, warm greys forming at the borders of his vision, before a white bubble became visible around them in a short radius. Sans was stuck with his hand still holding on to another's, revealing a cat monster with dark brown fur and vivid yellow eyes. A white lab coat peeked out from under his pale green jacket, a hole at the left knee of his jeans.

He smiled softly, a chuckle escaping him. "You with Determination. Who would have thought it could do so much more than devastation?" He rubbed Sans's skull kindly, said skeleton still frozen in shock. "Shocking how you've managed to hold the Void at bay. But you need to leave. Ándele."

He let go then, leaving something in Sans's grasp as the world flashed white- leaving behind the grey echo Asriel was more familiar with, standing just beyond the white barrier around them, a glowing white platform stretching out a few feet beyond and ending in directionless static grey.

Something black heaved itself onto the platform, revealing a shapeless mass that pooled around Ollie's feet, lifting a white oval up to- a face. A cracked, empty face with a smile that held no mirth regarded them, mouth and.. eyes? All were only holes in a white ovoid shape attached to a black slime.

Finally, Sans jolted back to life, backpedaling from the sight. "Wh- the hell-" He spun around, taking in the bleak surroundings in horror as other figures of grey stood just beyond his bubble of white light.
"Sans, we gotta go." Asriel whimpered in Flowey's voice. "I don't like this. I don't like it at all."

"I know, I know, I don't like it either." Sans replied with a tremor, pausing at the sight of one young child that resembled MK.
"Ki-"
"You cannot stay here. You will all become like us. Begone, Sans the skeleton, Frisk the human. Napstablook, Dreemurs. You do not belong here."

"Yep, I'm leaving." Sans decided, the bubble closing down on them as blue flashed and everything went dark.

. • ° . • °

The world exploded in white again, except this time it quickly resolved into color- warm colors, glowing vividly as they flew over a rail towards the magma far below. He screamed, clinging to Sans and immediately realizing that the skeleton was unconscious- screaming louder as he threw out vines back the way they came.

He felt his red-stained Soul stop when they slipped just out of reach, and before he could fully process the fact that they were about to DIE- the wind was knocked out of him as everything abruptly stopped falling, throwing him into a very hard skull.

Asriel blinked rapidly, briefly considering how he breathed again as a flower before glancing around. Sans was floating in midair, almost halfway down the chasm and everything was boiling hot.
"Sans?" He patted the skeleton's face, bewildered at how he was still unconscious.

"𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢- 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜- 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝!" Napstablook explained in a rush, electricity buzzing and zapping Asriel, who cringed at it.
"It's fine, just get-" He stopped, realizing he was speaking in Flowey's voice. He restarted without the detestable plant's speech distracting him.
"It's okay, just get us back to solid ground, please."

"..𝚁𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝." They were quickly brought back to the platform, where Sans started groaning. He was still out of it- even Napstablook sounded dazed. Asriel quickly crawled out of the hoodie, rooting himself in the earth with a shaky sigh.
"Are you okay?" He asked, mostly directed at the ghost he admittedly forgot about.

Sans started rubbing his skull with a pained mutter, Napstablook hesitantly raising his voice.
"𝙸.. 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚜𝚘. 𝙸 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚏𝚞𝚣𝚣𝚢. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍. 𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍.."
"I'm scared too. But I think it's okay. As long as Sans doesn't do something stupid involving the Void. Gosh, I didn't know he was even capable of losing his temper."

"That's because I never had to deal with elevated anxiety and energy before." Sans grumbled, sitting up with a hand on his face. "It sucks."
The flower looked away, cringing. "I'm sorry.."

"Look, kid." He shifted to regard Asriel directly. "What's done is done. You can't undo that, so let it go. Just let me complain every once in a while. I'm entitled to that much." He glanced up at the distant ceiling with a sigh.
"...Ollie wanted you to let them go."

Sans snorted drily. "Okay, okay, I let that get outta hand. But you don't know Ollie. He wouldn't have said 'Perhaps there is something you can do'. There's something else going on."

With a blink, Asriel thought back. The cat had said that, right before he'd begun asserting the idea that they couldn't be saved. That was definitely strange.
"I completely forgot he said that."

Chuckling weakly, Sans struggled to his feet. "That's why he was talking to me and not you."
He glanced down. "You hitching a ride or following?"

"With your shortcuts? Fat chance." He smirked while uprooting himself, having slipped into Flowey's voice again. Sans had taken notice of it.
"You plan on going back and forth a lot?"

Asriel flushed, avoiding Sans's gaze. "I can't help it. I don't like his voice, but it's the flower's voice. It's hard sounding like.. me all the time as a flower?"
The prince then vanished into red light shifting to white for a minute as Sans blinked.

When it faded, Asriel stood up on his own two feet, looking for all the world like he never had been a flower.
"That was weird." He noted.

"What? I'm lost on how you even did that." Sans commented, impressed.
"I don't actually know either, I just kinda willed it?" Asriel shrugged awkwardly. "At least I won't accidentally burn myself."

"Uh. Yeah." Sans slowly brought up his left hand, blackened and clenched tight around something. "Speaking of burns."
"Oh gosh!" The goat lunged, hands lit up in green. "How are you so calm right now?!" He demanded while regarding the charred bone, flinching as a spark caught his paw.

"Honestly? I'm not entirely sure. Whole hand's numb…. Heya Nappy. I didn't hurt you with that, did I?" He glanced off to the side. Asriel stared as a faint white translucent aura lifted up around the bone, green shining as it brushed across the burnt hand.
"That.. looks creepy." He whispered.

Shifting uncomfortably, Sans muttered. "Feels weird too, but thanks Nappy."
"..𝙸𝚝 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚋."
"That's what he was saying?" Asriel asked, noticing something clenched in the skeleton's hand.
"𝙽𝚘, 𝙸.. 𝙸 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚒𝚝. 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚒𝚝." Napstablook explained.

"Still? You've been feeling.. what? I mean, how? I get the Blaster thing, but.. Huh?" Asriel looked to Sans in hopes of understanding. The skeleton shifted in place. "It might be connected to the Blaster thing. I managed to unsummon the thing, but I think its magic got mixed up in you?" He addressed the ghost by looking off to the side. "I normally feel it come back to me, but I didn't that time. I figured it'd be fine, small loss, but…" He trailed.
Finally, Sans groaned into his free hand. "It's been a long day."

"...No kidding." Asriel agreed softly, aware of the other's situation as no longer a dying race. Sans snorted. "You're thinking about that other Underground, aren't you?"
"..Is there something else bothering you? The.. scientists not being dead thing?"
"That too. You probably already guessed I've spilled my guts out already. Metaphorically. If I had guts, I'd want to die."

"Insulting, but go on." Asriel muttered, watching the blackened bone flake off under the healing touch.
"Well, the point is you know I did that. Everyone knows. And everyone knows I have a human Soul now. That changes things." He scowled, hurt. Then leaned close. "It scares people, Asriel. And that's the one thing I never wanted to happen."

The prince cringed, facing away as Sans continued softly. "I found out I have a cousin, Asriel. And me and Paps, we're not alone. On top of everything I'm dealing with a kid that came to this mountain to die and instead- well- everything else! I've got a ghost that wants to inhabit me and that scares both of us!"
"Whoa, what?"

"Relax, it's not something ghosts can control. Nappy would never want to otherwise."
"𝙸 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝." Napstablook added. "𝙸 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕.. 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛."
"And that's not your fault, bud. It's just a lot to take in." Sans reassured.

"But it's.. not supposed to? It's supposed to be illegal."
"Not really, according to the expert who figured it out in the first place. That was just a pre-war rule added in to reduce tensions that did nothing anyway."
"What, is there a rulebook?"
"Apparently."
"..Oh."
He focused on the injury, silence overtaking them.

"...Are you going to do it?" Asriel queried. Sans shuffled in place, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else.
"When I'm ready. It'd be cruel not to."
"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘- 𝙸 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍- 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞.. 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝.." Napstablook drifted off, conviction fading.

Sans sighed in slight irritation. "Naps, I swear, I would hug you just to make you shut up about yourself being unimportant." He winced. "Okay, that was terrible phrasing, but you know what I meant-" Asriel abruptly hugged him.

"Whoa, kid, are you okay?" He blinked in confusion as the child pulled away. "That was for Napstablook. And Frisk."
"Aw, I feel left out."
He wrapped his arms around the skeleton again.
"Wait no, I wasn't saying you had to-" "Hey Sans?"
"Eh?"
Asriel smirked. "Shut up about yourself being unimportant."

Sans didn't reply for a moment, then snorted quietly, slowly returning the hug and patting the kid between the horn nubs beneath the fur. "Okay, kiddo."

Asriel buried his face in the jacket, wishing the world would stop slamming them all with new things and let them process it all for once. The ozone and smoke mingled with pine, and he could now understand which was which. Sans smelled like the trees, Napstablook of storms.

Yet thanks to the higher senses of his nose than that of a magical flower, he noted an underlying mustiness, like dry stone aged in the sun. He hesitated when he pressed his snout closer.
..The pine was from his clothes.
He cringed at himself as Chara started laughing internally. The Prince sniffing people like a dog would.

He would admit to some fascination in the skeleton- Sans was odd. Full of secrets, full of power, a developing story that always threw him in another loop with every new thing- or clicked into place, like his magic. It made sense for the enigmatic skeleton. It was like water, be it a great, slow river or raging sea.

Part of him wondered what Napstablook would add to that. The ghost he knew even less of, given that there never seemed to be much to find out in the first place.
Yet given recent developments, it would seem that Napstablook was intrinsically tied to Sans, however unintentional it may be.

The ghost felt like a storm. A wild, airy, electrical one- which painted an interesting picture for him. A monster's magic was based on who they were. The same went for humans as well- though in that case, it has more to do with main traits rather than the nuances of monsters.

But if Napstablook had the energy and feel of a storm- even the electricity of one- then why was he so shy and afraid? Quiet? Timid? A ghost of his magical caliber would be outspoken, wild and open, not this.. frightened shut-in.

He pondered this, and furthermore thought of what the two would be like together. However that worked, it would certainly at least involve combining magics.
Storm and sea…. oh. Oh.

That would be a combination unmatched. Throw in the wildcard that was the most Determined human Soul? That was already lightning in a bottle, and given how much electricity Napstablook was throwing out constantly, he made the term take on a much more literal meaning.

The recipe for a hurricane of the most terrifying proportions stood before him in the metaphorical flesh. He felt his pulse speed up considering this. If Sans wanted to do something, he had the Determination to do it, or destroy everything trying.
They made a mistake giving him that Soul indeed.

This skeleton might as well have seven Souls, because he was the perfect mix already to match them. If anyone could rewrite reality and bring people back from being erased, he would find a way. He had already brought back the dead singlehandedly, without the ghost's help, and without the power of a human Soul.

Looking back on their memories of his capabilities before, Asriel and Chara began to wonder just how bad things were going to get.
Manipulation of time, teleportation, absurd telekinetic control that was blue magic, and a massive storehouse of energy capable of sustaining all this and his high-energy attacks for a good half-hour at least.

And that was before, when it was just him and no human Soul and overcharged mystery ghost on his side.
Okay, so those new skeletons were right.
Sans was scary.
Very scary.

Asriel stumbled as Sans slumped over on him. Sans also happened to be very light. Which made sense, he was a skeleton after all. A very much dead tired one at that.
What should I do? Asriel questioned as a light snore rose up from Sans.
I blame you, you always had a sleepy scent.
You think he was smelling me??
You were just sniffing him! And duh, he's gotten just tall enough to be stuck smelling that sweet.. warm milk and flower.. you know what I mean!
Chara! You sniffed me too?
… Maybe a little sometimes.
You're so weird!
You're weird.

He huffed quietly, looking around. Then the skeleton floated up and out of his grasp. He'd forgotten the ghost wouldn't fall asleep too somehow.
"Napstablook?"
"𝚂𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎..?" There was a bit more presence with his usually distant words.
"Yeah.. I guess so. Are you going to float him home like that?"
"𝙸.. 𝚘𝚑.... 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊.."

Sans was laid flat on the ground, and Asriel was treated to the very unusual sight of a ghost pulling himself free- and he ignored the fact that Napstablook had taken the skeleton's shape to.. share the same space, as Sans had put it.
It looked downright disturbing to him.

Asriel squared his shoulders and faced Napstablook again, taking a deep breath to settle his nerves. "What was your idea?"
The ghost hesitated, peering down at Sans.
..Was it just him, or was there a hint of light blue dappling the white spirit?

It became clear that it most certainly wasn't a trick of the eyes as it grew brighter, taking on a pattern much like sunlight on a seabed.
"𝚂𝚊𝚗𝚜.. 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜.. 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛?"

Now the prince was incredulous, immediately figuring out what he was going for. "How do you plan on making him summon one? He's dead asleep!"
"𝙸'𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎."

Asriel felt a chill. Napstablook still carried his usual hollow sadness, but something in his quiet voice wasn't it's typical submissive tone. And given what he knew now.. Asriel wasn't ready to ignore it. He leaned closer. "Can you tell me?"

The ghost glanced at him hesitantly. "𝙷𝚎.. 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚛𝚒𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚒𝚝. 𝙵𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚑𝚒𝚖." More blue shifted in his form and Asriel realized that it was Sans's magic, mixed up in Napstablook's. And it coexisted without rejection.

Which should be impossible. Based on mana donation, donors had to be the same race- often in the same family for transfusions to work. Even if he knew little about it, he knew that much, and he could tell that this was very similar to a transfusion. But Napstablook wasn't even suffering from poor magic production- he was the exact opposite, he was overcharged! And it was very likely that Sans was as well to a certain degree.

Asriel snapped out of his baffled musings to focus on the ghost. "You think some of his magic passed on to you, and you can use it?" He asked slowly.
"..𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢…" He said awkwardly, studying the ground. "𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗.."

He sat back on the balls of his feet, dwelling on the concept and unusual possibility. Then he sighed, shrugging and taking a page out of Chara's book. "Well, we won't know unless we try!"
Aww, I'm so proud of you!
Oh, be quiet!
Teehee.

Napstablook nodded and scrunched up his face- a surprisingly strange sight to behold- as blue flashed more vividly in his transparent form. Asriel blinked, watching as Sans tensed up slightly in his sleep and a watery blue curled around his phalanges. It disappeared so quickly Asriel wondered if he imagined it being there before Napstablook yelped, his amorphous body stretching out and lighting up until he couldn't see what was going on.

Then Asriel went cold as a familiar sound met his ears, followed by a series of cracks and something akin to trees groaning. He shielded his eyes in the vain hope of seeing what was going on through the glare- but from what he was hearing, he guessed Napstablook had definitely succeeded.
He wasn't sure what that meant, but it definitely meant something.

Finally, the light abruptly vanished, leaving dark spots in his eyes before they started clearing out and revealed the skeletal creature with a Blaster for a face, standing like the ground was about to knock it off its feet.
"..You did it. You actually did it."

A thought came across his mind as it nervously smiled with it's sockets.
"Why, though?"
Napstablook hesitated, glancing at Sans.
"𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙.. 𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚝𝚘𝚘. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝, 𝙸 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚢. 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎."
"Oh."

He stepped closer, somewhat awed by the enormous creature. It channeled magic through its jaws and energy into its legs. He briefly wondered if it had come with wings, if it would fly. Given that it was piloted by a powerful ghost and a part of Sans- more or less- then it probably could fly as it is. But that wasn't important.
"How are you getting him home now?"

Napstablook blinked, as if only just thinking of this- yet simultaneously like the answer was obvious. He looked down, studying the skeleton, then hesitantly bent and scooped him up in the Blaster's jaws. Asriel tensed. Very briefly, he imagined the creature just eating Sans. It was certainly big enough.
What a silly thought. It was merely an extension of the skeleton, possessed by a ghost.
...The thought lingered.

It was quickly pushed to the back of his mind as Chara guided his eyes to a spot where it's neck vertebrae met shoulder blades.
"Hey, do you think you can carry me, too? Like, as a ride, not like Sans."
Napstablook blinked, then lowered the skull, as if intending he climb up on there. "No, I mean-" He stopped, getting another idea.

With a giddy smile, Asriel clambered up the side, apologizing as the ghost winced until he paced across the spine and sat down where it met the rest of its body, grinning. "This is actually cool."

Napstablook hesitantly rose to full height, glancing back curiously. Asriel beamed at him. "How fast can you go?"

He turned around and started walking slowly by way of answer. Asriel's smile faded. What could he have expected? The ghost had no idea how to walk, not without a lot of help on Sans's part.
...Yet he was walking faster.

The paths passed by under the taloned feet with unnerving speed, the wide stride eating up space as it turned and headed for Waterfall. Asriel sat and watched the scene pass by from a different angle, intrigued. He shifted in place, silently noting that bone did not make for a comfortable seat at all as it walked, swaying side to side, gradually increasing in speed.

He glanced ahead as they made the final turn and strode down in a beeline for the cooler region, taking in the orange light on the walls and how they all resembled melted wax except for that near the entrance to Waterfall, where it all turned jagged and pointy, formed by flowing water as opposed to solidified magma.

Napstablook was actually moving fast now, the steps jolting up into the spine and shaking Asriel around a little. He began to appreciate the magic holding the bones a little separate from each other, seeing now that it helped absorb the impacts of just normal walking.

They eventually crossed the threshold into drastically cooler air, Asriel sighing in relief. He was glad that they were headed for Snowdin, where it was cold enough to shed all that heat off entirely. Hotland, well, was hot, and he hated it. His fur was too warm for the heat- it was even worse for a flower, which made them wilt. Ugh.

They exited out into open air, and Napstablook stopped. Asriel blinked. "What is it?"
"...𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐."
"What do you remember?"
"𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐."
..The word was spoken normally enough, yet it gave him such an ominous feeling.

It seemed to be confirmed when the creature reared up on it's back legs- forcing Asriel to cling on for dear life- then leapt forward with suddenly terrifying speed, galloping down the swampy marsh and barreling straight through glowing rivers.

Asriel shrieked as it just about threw him off, clinging tightly to the neck vertebrae as his lower half bounced up and down- very painfully- on the spine. It's talons churned earth beneath him, racing through the caverns like a wild animal let loose. It was ridiculous. Napstablook went from barely knowing how to walk to flat-out running.

He couldn't help but feel awed by it. The beast moved with fluid grace, it's breath huffing in an out at rhythm, puffs of steam escaping its long nasal cavity and billowing upwards like smoke from a train… In fact, now that he thought about it, there was smoke in it: a darker grey blending with white, the smell assailing his nose like metal mixed with ozone on top of that familiar staleness that he figured was the smell of bones, it seemed. Certainly different from the bones found in chicken and steak.

They approached Snowdin at high speed, the temperature dropping rapidly. Asriel couldn't help but wonder how the hell Sans was still dead asleep despite all this.
You're a sleep drug.
Oh shut up, I am not!
One sniff and he's out. Wonder if we could use that..
Chara!
But we could!
Doesn't mean we should! And he didn't fall asleep because of me!
You don't know that.~
Oh come on!

He was fully prepared to keep arguing, but was distracted by the Blaster tripping on a large boulder, stumbling the last dozen yards before pushing off the ground and way up into the air, headed towards a great snow poff behind the bro's house. In a panic, Asriel realized that it might not be a good idea to be on the beast when it landed, so he threw himself to the side.

Thankfully, the snow wasn't packed down and he landed backwards and lost his breath. He sat up in time to feel the ground shake as the dragonic beast hit the snow. He turned and was met with a wave of snow in the face, the other's landing having sent up a great plume of it.

Asriel shook himself off and stood, wading towards the creature as he noticed the snow melting around it. He'd been aware that it had heated up, but it was really that hot? Odd.

Napstablook sat up with a metallic snort, proving that he was either really enjoying himself or getting unusually comfortable with the form. Both options were unnerving. What if he ended up inhabiting this Blaster creature and not Sans himself?
...That was something worth considering.

A light snore had his jaw dropping.
"There is no way he's still asleep!"
Napstablook turned around and showed him the skeleton still comfortably housed in his jaws, now with a dusting of snow.
"He sleeps like the dead!" Chara burst out before he could stop it. Looking back at memories of dead human bodies, he hesitantly agreed.

Napstablook seemed content to not know with how he awkwardly leaned away and pushed himself to his feet, heading for the door. Asriel followed at first, then gave up wading in the drifts and jumped up and grabbed the tail, hanging on as they headed for the front door.

It slowly opened as soon as Napstablook had its skull under the overhang, Papyrus standing there in silence. It freaked out Asriel.
Did the loud and easily excited one just watch them run up and plow into the snow?
That.. wasn't like Papyrus at all.

Napstablook hesitantly offered the sleeping Sans to his brother, clearly having no clue what to do. Papyrus slowly took the offer, wrapping his arms around the unconscious skeleton and stepping away.
"...Thank you."
"..𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢."

After a pause, he shook his skull. "It's alright, Napstablook. I am not upset. You were both clearly in a great deal of pain and were not yourselves. I would invite you to come inside, but I don't know how you would currently fit."

He lifted his skull out from under the porch, one talon lifting up from the snow. "...𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸'𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗, 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜."
Papyrus brightened. "Alright! I shall await your return!"
The ghost smiled weakly with sockets, turning a d trotting back into Waterfall.

When he reached Sans's sentry station, the tail whipped around and set Asriel on his feet. The prince rocked back, blowing out air.
"Wow. You're.. really getting used to that, huh?"

He glanced down the length of its body. "..𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘."
White ring eyelights gleamed with a tinge of blue.

Asriel couldn't help but think.
..Sans said it was easy for him to figure out, and it got easier as time went on.
So? He's asleep.
It's still part of him! What if part of him is awake?
How would that even work? You saw how dead asleep he was!
..He only sleeps deeply when he trusts his surroundings.
... We'll have to find out for sure when he's awake.
He shook his head, looking up. "Could you help me back home, by any chance?"

Napstablook regarded him, skull tilted to one side- something that reminded him of a predator. It brought up the thought of how the others had mentioned dragons.
..Dragons were predators.

Without warning, the Blaster reached down and clamped down on the back of his sweater, lifting him up like a cat held a kitten. Asriel felt very small as he turned and started trotting back the way they came.

It was definitely easier than the first ride, much smoother with what few jolts there were just had him bounce harmlessly from where he hung. Sure, his sweater was pulled way up in the back and he struggled to keep his arms down so he wouldn't just fall out- but he started to see how Sans could sleep through the first ride.

Napstablook started picking up speed, slight puffs of air blowing out on the tufts of fur on Asriel's head. He was briefly confused, given how it sounded like the creature was breathing hard yet the wind was so disproportionate- then he realized it was because most of the air escaped upwards due to the shape of the nasal cavity. It was curious to think about.

And it was a lot more fun traveling this way, having an unobstructed view of the path with the wind in his face and the pounding talons tearing through the marsh- no wonder Napstablook was getting so used to it, he couldn't even imagine what it was like for one who had floated weightlessly and gone without touch all his life.
No wonder ghosts revelled in finding their perfect bodies, now that he thought about it.

"This is awesome!" He yelled into the wind, ears blown back.
The Blaster snorted back at him before he felt the ghost's voice emanating from it more than heard.
"𝙸 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎."
"Is it someone alive?" He shouted back.
"𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎."
"No! I mean really, really alive!" Chara's old harsh excitement began to bleed through.

The Blaster swung its skull around, nearly throwing Asriel with the movement as it snorted. He ducked down to enter the main tunnel to Hotland, panting.
"𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕."

"Yes, you're freaking real!" They agreed as the Blaster burst back into the hot caverns, galloping straight down the path. His voice was somewhat fragile yet excited.
"𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎."
"And we don't know how but heck yeah you can!"

They started breezing past figures on the walkways, many of them yelling but already falling too far behind to be heard. A short growl rumbled from the skeletal beast, hot on Asriel's neck.
"𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐."

"Damn right!" Chara shouted as the ghost coiled up before a large building and suddenly leapt into the air, just about flying as it arced over the roof, landing, stumbling, falling and rolling and standing back up in one fluid motion. Asriel gasped as vertigo overwhelmed him, dizzy from the abrupt spin as they began moving once more, charging through the sweltering landscape.

"What is it that hurts you right now, Napstablook? What is it that needs to be yelled at?" Chara shouted. The ghost faltered, tripping slightly as he ran.
"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗?"

"Yell at the hurt! Yell at it until it stops hurting! Use that thing's whatever counts for lungs and scream!" The creature's absurd speed and cutting across paths had already taken them to the edge of Hotland, moving up and up away from the magma lakes and towards the staggered wall that lifted the Capital away from the oppressive heat and closer to the sun.
"𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚠.."

"That's easy! You breathe in and just- AAAAHHHHHHHHH! You think about your problems and you say that to them!" Chara grinned wildly with Asriel's face. The Blaster sort of hummed, then grunted as he hopped up to the first cliff, front talons ramming into the rock around a ledge as it proceeded to climb.

After recovering from the jarring encounter with the cliff, Chara shouted. "No! Louder! Put energy into it! Get angry! I know you can!"
The Blaster hummed louder, a growl underneath it. "More!"
It snarled slightly, still keeping it's jaws shut tight as a growl not unlike a tiger rumbled from its throat. Asriel began to question the safety of Chara's impromptu scream therapy idea.
"You're not trying hard enough! I know you can do it!"

The Blaster heaved itself onto the rocky shelf, hissing.
"That doesn't sound like much! AAAAHHHHHHHHH! Beat me!"
Napstablook stepped back, sitting on his haunches with a whimper.
"Are you afraid of getting mad?"
"𝚈𝚎𝚜!" The ghost abruptly cried out.

"Napstablook.." Asriel murmured, then Chara took over again. "There's nothing to be afraid of. You're a giant bone dragon and no one can touch you. You've been hurt for a freaking long time and don't know how to scream! So forget being afraid for a minute! You're here, you're unstoppable and you deserve to roar like you should! Make the world shake like the real storm you are!"

The ghost sat for a few more seconds, tail twitching. Then, with a low, guttural growl, he lunged forward and zoomed towards the Capital, specifically the castle. Asriel blinked as electricity began dancing around it's feet, buzzing with a sound like autotuned bees, or Tesla coils going out of control.

And it definitely was out of control, because the Blaster was suddenly galloping into the air on pads or radiating electricity. Asriel instinctively grabbed his feet and held them close in fear of getting shocked.

It was almost like flying of a sort; they were moving even faster than they had been before, and he hadn't thought that was even possible. Was this thing even capable of running out of breath?

He wasn't expecting an answer to that, but as it dropped down onto the castle roof and stumbled to a gradual halt before the field that was once the room of the Barrier, it kept panting. Long, ragged breaths raked past his head before Napstablook dropped him. Asriel flailed in the air for a split second, somehow finding his feet and landing safely.

He glanced over at the Blaster as it heaved, a look of confusion on its face.
"Hey are you okay?"
Napstablook slowly focused on him. "..𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠.. 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚘.. 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎?"
It was disconcerting how the ghost's voice didn't match how out of breath he so obviously was.

Asriel hesitantly rested his paw on its face, next to the end of it's nasal cavity, smoke and steam still puffing upwards like a train engine. "I think you're out of breath. Just breathe."
Napstablook blinked. "...𝙷𝚘𝚠?"
Asriel shrugged. "I don't know how skeletons work. Or bone dragons."

With that, Napstablook slowly sat back, resting his skull on the cool gravel and snorting into it, blowing a smattering of loose bits and leaves into the air. Asriel couldn't help but observe how it breathed. In most people and animals, their entire body would shift around lungs that expanded and compressed. This.. didn't. It shuddered in time to great gasps and relaxed between each breath. And it wasn't an illusion of breathing- he could hear the rush of air. It was happening somewhere.

He eventually sighed, moving to rest a hand on one of the too-wide ribs, only to flinch as it shocked him. Frowning, Asriel put his hand on it anyway, Determined to at least manage this one.
And to his great surprise, he could feel them vibrating like hollow tubes in a current.

He almost pulled away from it, just amazed at the idea. Ribs?
If those were hollow, he wondered just how much of it was. If they technically managed to have all necessary organs inside their bones, then all skeletons…
Had an exoskeleton?

Asriel blinked and stepped away, staring as its breathing evened out. The biology of it was weird. Part of him was annoyed that he'd always assumed they were just made of more magic than flesh like elementals were.

"... 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝.. 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐?" Napstablook's voice snapped him back into the moment.
"Oh, just like.. you think about something that bothers you, and you yell at it. Scream like it should be scared, because it doesn't define you and you shouldn't let it control you. If it's a person, just be mad at them. It's okay to be mad sometimes. Everyone gets mad. Do you think you can do it?"

The ghost shifted with a snort that reminded him of a dog sneeze. "𝚆𝚑𝚢?"
"Because it helps. And you're too quiet for nothing to be bothering you. We don't like seeing you so hurt."
Napstablook looked away.

"You know I can tell you're not supposed to be a quiet person, right?"
He turned and blinked at Asriel.
The prince went and pressed his paws on either side of the Blaster's snout. "I look at you and you're like lightning. And lightning is loud. Lightning is bright. Lightning is awesome. It lights up the whole sky when it's raining and it shakes the air when it's gone. But for some reason you don't act like that. So come on!" He waved at the night sky outside, stomping. "Yell at it! No one's here to judge you! Howl at the friggin moon! COME ON!" Chara slipped in and started hollering.

The Blaster surged to its feet and rumbled, staring at the stars as it neared the opening.
"That doesn't sound loud enough!"
It snapped it's jaws with a whine before emitting a low roar like a distant rockfall.

"You can do better than that!" Asriel grinned before stepping up and letting out a scream like a shrieking goat- which he was a goat, but that wasn't important- the echo that came back sounded pleasantly evil.

Napstablook regarded him in surprise, glancing out at the windswept trees in the seaborne breeze. After hesitantly kneading the crumbling rock, he took a broad stance and let loose an ear-splitting roar into the glowing night. It actually resembled that of a Kaiju, information he didn't regret having.

"That's more like it!" He shouted with his arms over his head, before cringing as an echo came back from the Underground, going on and on as the sound reached different parts of the enormous cave and bounced back. Napstablook cringed as well.

"How about we take this up there?" He pointed to the mountaintop, suddenly much more excited.
Climbing the mountain. Just like all the old dreams. Napstablook just hummed and swept him off his feet, carrying the goat child like a kitten as he bore up to climb.

Asriel whooped despite himself, watching the earth below fly by in leaps and bounds, the Blaster now an elegant and graceful creature. He could see it's now pale blue eyelights casting the rocks above in a watery glow, like moonlight through a still pond. He hesitated then. How long had they been getting bluer and bluer? What did it mean? What could it mean?

They arrived at the flat, rocky top of the mountain, a perfect picnic space during the day, but for the moment was dark and relatively untouched. As soon as his feet touched the ground, Asriel skipped to a good sized rock and sat on it, kicking as he grinned.
"Now roar!"

Napstablook blinked at him, having lost his courage. Asriel bounced in place. "Come on, it's fun! You're a dragon!" He encouraged, mentally taking note of the color shift into blue. It was like staring at Sans… if he were instead a shy dragon.
So maybe not entirely like staring at the skeleton, but the Blaster creature itself was a part of him, no matter how ghost possessed it was.
So in a way, he was staring at Sans.

Asriel whooped at the stars. "Come on!" And it worked. The ghost turned and abruptly bellowed into the sky, a deep, full-throated roar. It lasted for nearly thirty seconds before he ran out of breath and gasped, the echoes already bouncing back.

The prince clapped wildly, giggling despite himself. "That's so cool! You're so cool!" At that, Napstablook was prancing on his front talons, huffing excitedly before the familiar sound of electricity started and he suddenly fired off a bolt from his maw. Asriel flinched at the crackling snap it made before it was already gone.

Before he could ask about it, the eyelights in those sockets flashed an ethereal yet solid blue and yellow and he roared again, this time even louder. The tone was something higher, shrieking like an enraged eagle on a much larger scale. It ended on a piercing note and another snap of jaws that held terrific strength with the sound they produced. There was another crackle as volts sparked off of him.
Asriel was getting nervous.

After raking his talons across the packed earth in deep grooves, the possessed Blaster widened its stance, opening its mouth as a tiny wave of electricity traveled up it's body, then suddenly a familiar whine sounded with the addition of buzzing electricity before the sky went white with a great pillar of energy shooting upwards.

The prince yelped without hearing himself as the ground jumped, throwing him into the air and off the rock, the world consumed in a single crack of brilliance and sound. A solid laser blended in with an actual bolt of lightning had shot off into the sky, crackling for a split second longer before it all vanished.

Asriel groaned, rubbing healing magic into his ears to alleviate the pain and ringing. His fur was puffed up, and the air was full of ozone, smoke drifting from the Blaster's maw as it gazed silently upward.

Gradually, his hearing returned in a series of pops. He winced, but appreciated the sound of wind in the trees in the distance. He could hear the slow breaths of the Blaster across from him, oddly calm. He huffed at himself before putting on a smile, speaking softly. "Do you feel better now?"

"𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕜 𝕪𝕠𝕦."

A cold shiver ran up his back as he recognized a deeper voice speaking at the same time, realizing it had opened its mouth to speak.
"...Sans?"