Bounding. Leaping. Racing through muddy banks and glowing waters, pouncing on precarious paths above superheated rock and galloping on air above purple stone. Then roaring. Calling out to the sea in a wavering cry, to the earth, then bellowing with the might of something forgotten. Something that had slept beneath the earth, beneath civilization, untamed and free.

Then a great flash of light and it was no longer a dream. Thunder echoed from all directions and the fretful worries and concerns of a lost people found and lives that had passed beyond this world were forgotten.

A tail twitched, and a creature awakened in more ways than one. Sea and sky called to each other, and it wondered how it had ever been forced beneath the ground.

It sat there for a long moment, bathing in the scent of fresh storms and salt borne in from the tide, calm as memory began to come back to it.
Him. Them.
They felt safe. And alive. So wonderfully alive.

And a small voice spoke from the background, reminding them how they got here.
"Do you feel better now?"

Kneading the earth with claws they had never had before, they peered down into the dirt. Yellow flashed, and they saw the echoes in the air, in the ground, the marks of life and magic. The child behind them glowed prismatic, white and red, a flower carrying the memory and life of another, a shell retaining the blood of others to resemble a creature of magic. They felt and saw it all, and it felt right.
"𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕜 𝕪𝕠𝕦."

They glanced out to the sea. It called from the distance, waves crashing endlessly on the sand, old as the world yet weak. It pulsed like blood, hummed like magic, and sang its ancient song. Something slept just beneath those waves, buried under silt and long dead coral. Something capricious and wry, awaiting a day to awaken in freedom once again.

They took a step out, the dormant mana pulling at them, telling them they had a duty, a duty to wake…
What?

Distant voices shouted from lower down the mountain, aggravated, afraid, concerned.. they blinked, returning to a more civilized mindset.

What the hell just happened? No, scratch that, what is happening?
𝚂𝚊𝚗𝚜? 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞..
...Got any clue what's happening, Nappy?
𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢.
It wouldn't be too much to hope that this is a dream?
𝙸 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠.
...Oh screw everything, this is just ridiculous.

They approached the cliff edge, spotting a group at the bottom racing to the top at alarming speed. They recoiled in surprise as monsters riding bone attacks flew up in their face, soaring over the edge and hopping back down to flat ground.

Voices were shouting from all directions, a spear of cyan energy slamming into the recesses of their nasal cavity, throwing them to the ground with a flash of agony in their skull. Asriel was screaming, they recognized Undyne's voice shouting furiously among a cacophony of others. It hurt.

They dragged their face across gravel to dislodge the excruciating needle and snarled as it came free. On frustrated and incensed impulse, they whipped up and hissed at the red flashing hair.

Their vision came back into focus to see her hissing back with a spear on hand. "Come at me you bastard!"
"Undyne! Please, stop! Stop!"
"She's trying to distract it!"
"Napstablook is not an it!"

They had time to blink at the words before they were suddenly shoved into the ground, a hundred sharp needles and the like stabbing into their spine and ribs. Sans screamed, he knew it, but there was no sound from it apart from a whimper.
"Stop, you're killing him!"
"It's just an attack, Napstablook will be fine, kid!"
"No- you don't understand!"

One of them, Sans or Napstablook, opened it's maw in a cry, energy building up.
"It's about to flame!"
"Guys, please, something's wrong we gotta stop!"

Electricity crackled and several needling attacks were destroyed by the energy, giving them the chance to rise up and back away, yowling. Tears welled up in fear, white and opaque as they were imbued with magic. They hit the ground, splattering everywhere like rain.
Blinded by pain, confusion, and chaos, they did the only thing they could think of.

A whine built up in its jaws, then white light exploded forth, razing the ground in a carved path. The creature snapped it's heavy jaws shut and growled at the ensuing silence.

"... What the fuck was that." They heard Undyne deadpan as the tears cleared. She was crouching defensively, eyeing them as she regarded the scorched earth.
"You said it could spit fire! That was a laser! A literal laser!" She snapped at a skeleton nearby. It was Bodoni, who stared in bewilderment.

"I told you it's a Blaster!" Asriel scowled at her before facing them again, still being held tight in Toriel's protective arms behind Asgore, who was wielding his trident.
It occurred to Sans that apparently this thing was supposed to spit flame and not pure energy.
Wonderful.

They backed away until one foot met air, the edge of the mountaintop.
For the love of everything, stop attacking.
And for once, it seemed things would cooperate.

"Are you guys sure it's wild?" Candara spoke up from one side.
"Did you not see how it ran? Howling like a demon?!" Bodoni demanded.
"That's my fault!" Asriel cried out at them. "We were trying to teach Napstablook scream therapy! And all he did while running was growl- you should have seen him up here!"
"Asriel, are you sure that's what happened? It- he attacked us." Bodoni pointed out.
"𝔹𝕖𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕤𝕥!" They shrieked, half in rage and half in sheer panic.

It took them half a second to realize that Sans had spoken as well, which was half a second later than everyone else.
"...Sans are you fucking kidding me."
"Undyne, langu-" Toriel was cut off by an earthshaking growl.

"Oh no, you little coward, you're explaining this shit right now." She stabbed a spear into the earth as most of the needle-sharp pains on the beast dissolved into aches. He was impressed that he was still alive- let alone pretty much fine. Maybe it had to do with the form. Napstablook, on the other hand, he was still terrified. And it showed in how the creature trembled.

"Why don't you start off with the bone.. dragon thing going on here, huh?"
He snarled on impulse, but it died quickly.
"Undyne, Napstablook's still possessing-"
"I know what I heard, and I heard Sans!" She cut off Candara furiously. He growled throatily, creeping forward.

"Uhh.. Undyne? Dragons are.. very protective of family. Can you not do that? At least until we know how there he is?" Spade suggested cautiously.

Undyne gave him a long look, incredulous and nearing her wit's end. She then spun and marched forward, directing her spear at him. "For once in your life, start talking damnit! How are you a dragon?!"
"𝐆𝐞𝐞 𝐃𝐲𝐧𝐞, 𝐈'𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠." A few sparks flew off his tongue as he spoke harshly.
Her arm lowered. "You seriously don't know?"

"...How can he? He doesn't even know about his own kind." Constantia murmured from behind a rock. He blinked at her, Napstablook choosing to retreat from the conflict and let him do the talking.

Sans blinked as he realized nothing was stabbing him anymore, left feeling like the victim of a giant hedgehog attack. He stretched out his claws experimentally before sighing.
"𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭, 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐒𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐞, 𝐞𝐡?"

"Um.. that.. is the problem. No one turns into a dragon. Skullsummons don't even have bodies, and ghosts don't get trapped in them!" Constantia all but ranted. "This is crazy!"
"Everything else aside, it is kinda cool though." Spade murmured.
Sans sighed at that, catching the distinct sound of a skeleton facepalming.

"𝐈𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞." Sans explained wearily, before uttering a menacing growl. "𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐱 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫! 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬.."

He stared out at the distant sea in frustration, but something in the back of his mind began longing for it again, yearning to join it's kin, to wake up, wake up, you have slept for too long-
"Hey Sans! What's with the yellow eyes?"

He snapped back to himself, several voices correcting the fish woman with eyelights as he blinked. "𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰, 𝐢𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞."

"No, they were entirely yellow." Candara explained tensely.
"𝐎𝐡. 𝐖𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥. 𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡." He sat back on his haunches, tired of crouching. Candara snorted, covering his face. Sans squinted at him.
"𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐩, 𝐤𝐢𝐝. 𝐁𝐚𝐝 𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲."
That shut him up.

"Hey wait a minute, since when did Papyrus have bad luck?" Undyne questioned. Sans gave her a look.
"𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟."
"..Are you okay?"

He slowly turned and stared dryly at Cabana, who took a step back. Sans held her gaze for an uncomfortable amount of time, then abruptly stood up and walked right by them all, completely done. He slid down the mountainside until he reached the cave entrance, where he stared into the Underground for a minute.

...I give up. He decided, curling up on the ground and closing his sockets.
I'm going to wake up in the morning, and I'm not going to be stuck in my own dragonified attack.
...
Napstablook silently agreed.

. . .

A few minutes later, something was poking at his face, sharp and insistent.
With a low growl, he shifted to glare at the pest. Candara stood there, grinning sheepishly with Undyne pinching her face behind him, the others arrayed further back.
"Heeyyy… so we all really need to get home, and you're still our only way there. Corbel has been, uh, I think he's gonna kill me." He glanced at his phone anxiously.

With an irritated rumble, Sans rose to his feet, tail swinging over to wrap around everyone present, regardless of whether or not they were a skeleton. With one foreleg, he grabbed Candara and Undyne, teleporting before the captain could fight her way out of his grasp.

She collapsed into the dirt and echo flowers and was about to snap at him before she recognized where they were.
"Wait, I thought you said theirs was on the other side of here?"

The Dreemurs shushed her as the rest glanced around in awe, Sans staring at the wall that started off this chaotic day. How was it even possible for one day to become so overwhelmingly.. insane? He still had to figure out a way to rescue those in the Void! Something he'd found was possible just hours ago.
"Hey Sans. We need to be on the other side of this wall."
Thank you, Captain Obvious.

He snorted, steam billowing from his nasal cavity before he braced himself and almost instinctively understood how to blast through the wall with the different form, carving out a wide tunnel.

His jaws snapped shut with a heavy clack, the intense buzzing dying down as he strode forward amidst stunned faces.
He could afford a little satisfaction.

Sans slinked through the stunned faces, hesitantly stepping through the overhang onto a pool of molten rock, more dripping from the ceiling and cooling in midair into twisted strings that clattered on the ground.

Under normal circumstances, he would steer clear of such things. But as it was, part of him knew he wouldn't be harmed- and it was right. An aura of blue radiated out from his talon and protected him from the searing heat.

He picked his way through until he could see the high ceiling of the other side, sitting down and studying the glowing ferns among the trees.

Yellow gleamed, blended with blue, and he saw the vibrant, deeply rooted swathes of magic glowing like it's own ocean, some areas denser than others. Sans had.. no clue why he could see this, why now, nor did he know how he knew what this light even was. Just that some part of him that he'd never noticed before was awake, and it knew.
Fuck, this is a nightmare.

Undyne was the first to find her way through, hopping on spears she embedded in the wall to avoid the molten sludge and glowing rock.
She landed beside him with a grunt, regarding the vast vast cavern in awe.

After a moment, when the rest were starting to follow, she looked up at Sans.
"You know, I wouldn't have been bothered if you had told me what you were actually capable of, Sans. Not even Papyrus… I think it's cool as hell."

He glanced down with a sigh that hummed from his ribs.
"𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝."
"Then why'd you hide it? Hide everything?"
He stared off to one side for a moment.
".. 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐲𝐧𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫- 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬." He studied her one eye as it grew disappointed. He smiled a little.
"𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲."

Now she scowled, lightly punching a femur. "You prick, the most active thing you've done was just for money, wasn't it?"
He blinked, considering what she knew now.
She knew his business with the king.
"..𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐉𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡."

"Did you ever even need those sentry jobs? Once?" She asked.
"𝐓𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐈 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧' 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞. ..𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐡, 𝐈 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦."
"..."
"..."
"Why didn't you tell your own brother?"

By now, most of the others had found various ways across and Sans stood up.
"...𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫." He murmured, barely a little more than a rumble.

He sighed and started off down the faint path he remembered Lucida dragging him down, a little hesitant as he realized his memory of the moment was a little foggy- most likely from the initial shock of seeing another skeleton.

"Hey, you big oaf, you're going the wrong way!" Spade called out. Sans blinked, noticing how he'd left them behind as they were going in a different direction.

Huffing, Sans trotted over and followed the swarm of monsters riding bone attacks, Undyne looking more than a little unnerved as Asriel was chatting up a storm with his parents- keeping them busy.
"𝐈𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞, 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝."

"Yeah no, wasn't worried about that. This place is.. it's huge. Are those stalactites over there?!" Undyne squinted at the distant towers. Sans chuckled.
"𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲."
She blinked. "No.."
He nodded.

Undyne sat up straight, staring hard. "You can't build a city in the Underground!"
"And I thought you couldn't build multiple towns in the Underground, but look at your side." Cabana called out.

"How the heck did you build a city here?!"
"I don't know, I didn't build it!"
"You gotta have an architect or something I can pound answers from!"

"I think it would be best if we refrained from hitting city planners." Toriel called out shakily, wobbling slightly on the bone Bodoni was visibly struggling to hold straight across from her.

"Uh.. Sans? Why are you looking at her like that?" Candara's voice had him turning, only for him to realize that suddenly everyone was looking at him.
He shook himself and summoned one of the skulls beneath her. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲."

With some hesitation, Toriel maneuvered herself onto the attack, staring into its sockets as it watched her. Asriel leapt after her, a little overexcited. Bodoni shot Sans an equal part awed and thankful look. Toriel thanked him even as he turned away, recognizing the quaint house sticking up from the forest ahead- being so tall definitely had its perks.
"𝐏𝐫𝐨 𝐭𝐢𝐩:" He started, getting ready to prance over. "𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬."

And with that, he took off, lightly bounding through the trees until he slid to a stop right at the edge of the treeline, returning to his original pace and properly studying the mural on it's side.

He ignored the others as Cabana ran up to the door, running inside almost like her life depended on it- though he did wonder why the paranoid mother that lived here would leave her door unlocked. It seemed counterintuitive.

He was following the flat rocks embedded in the ground around to the back of the place when an unfamiliar voice coughed. Sans blinked up at a strange robed skeleton dressed like some kind of desert nomad.
And he had no idea when the other had snuck up on him, just that they were on the roof, and hopping down to the ground.

They both stared at each other, each expecting the other to make the first move. When none were forthcoming, the older skeleton chuckled.
"Cabana really knows how to pick her friends. Wouldn't you agree?" He spoke in a rough voice despite the trilling accent.

Sans thought back to the group of skeletons he'd quickly become close to over the past few hours. They certainly were a ragtag group, but not so much like his own friends.
"𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬." He agreed.

"I'd say that you are exactly right." The stranger grinned beneath his hijab. "That girl found Candara and told me he was special. And it seems now he most certainly was."
"𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐝'𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞."

"Oh, not at all. You seem to think your bloodline only carries power from your father's side. I happen to remember Calluna. He was just the boy's uncle, yet that pair were one of a kind. It's a shame neither of you came to know them."

"𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞, 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨." Sans sighed, laying down. "𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐬." He then introduced, regarding the other. The yellow garbed one chuckled wryly, arms unfolding as his gravelly voice rose up. "Abbadon."

"𝐀𝐡, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐀𝐛𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝." He studied the strange old man, now understanding how he'd snuck up on him in the first place.
"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐨, 𝐡𝐮𝐡?"
"Yes, I'm afraid I've been dealt that card. Very unfortunate. I do all sorts of surprising."

Sans felt a grin creep up on him. "𝐀𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭. 𝐀𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝."
"My thoughts exactly."
"Eh now, we can't have two porters gettin' along too quickly." A new voice of similar, if not richer accent spoke. Up walked another skeleton dressed much like Abbadon, but in charcoal grey with red highlights, an empty black mask concealing his face. "That'd spell disaster for all us stuck walkin'."

He strode up fearlessly and patted Sans on the side of his snout as though it were a casual greeting. "Urbane. How're you feelin', DragonSoul?"

Abbadon clucked in disappointment as Sans blinked. "𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟."
"It's just a stupid story." Cabana explained quickly, walking up ahead of yet another.. skeleton? Walking between the Dreemurs as the trio spoke with one another like he was an old friend.
.. Likely was, but why was he tinted brown?

He averted his gaze before it began to seem rude, peering at Cabana as she stopped before him.
"𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞? 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲?" He was beginning to tire of all the dragon references. There was only so much he could take in one day.

"It's just a legend that started in the war or something." She waved dismissively.
"Legends have a basis in fact." Abbadon stated.
Sans let out a long sigh.
"𝐈'𝐦 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐈'𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝, 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲? 𝐈'𝐦 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐠𝐮𝐲, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐈'𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲?"

Abbadon and Urbane shared a look- they were definitely brothers- while Candara called out from afar, approaching. "Real heros say that, too!"
"𝐎𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧, 𝐤𝐢𝐝."
"Still not a kid!"
"You're the youngest out of all of us!" Cabana argued back.
"Cabby, he wasn't supposed to know that!"
"𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭." Sans snorted, amused.

Candara stared at him, first in disbelief, then quickly turning to surprise and then awe.
"You really are a Judge."
Sans shifted his talons under him, self-conscious.
"...𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭? 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐀𝐬𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐞?"
"Alphys had a pretty strange recording of you and a human."
He felt his sockets go empty. Candara flinched, suddenly nervous.

Sans leapt to his feet and swung his skull over to Undyne, who yelped and swung impulsively at the object behind her before recognizing him- and his tense stance.
"𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆'𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒂𝒍𝒍?" He demanded in a low hiss. She stepped away, briefly confused before understanding.
"There are.. Alphys had them installed throughout the Underground."
And he thought Asgore told her what he was.

This couldn't bode well- that meant Alphys had seen his conversation with Chara, and showed the others what to her would look suspicious-
"Sans, they know about the Resets."

Asriel's voice jolted him back into the present, but not before he instinctively snapped at what disturbed him-
"𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐩. 𝐒𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲." He apologized to the prince who was on the ground.

"Big teeth! Very big teeth!" Asriel stammered in a high-pitched voice as Undyne helped him up.
"Do you like, automatically bite what spooks you now?" She asked.
Sans recoiled, insulted. "𝐍𝐨! 𝐈𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞."
"Dragons were apex predators." A quiet voice spoke up.

Sans turned to glare at Spade, who'd spoken.
"𝐈'𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧."
Spade just blinked at him. "What would you call that, though?"
"Dude, Sans isn't a dragon, he's a bone dragon." Undyne corrected. Sans set one talon over his sockets in frustration.
"𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬."
"You're welcome."
"𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐦."
"I know."

He scoffed, but it turned out as more of a chuff, a puff of steam wafting out.
"Dude, you're literally breathing smoke."
"𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦." He quipped, irritable.
"Which is basically water as smoke." Undyne grinned, Asriel facepalming. Spade was just silently laughing into his hands.

Sans decided he did not feel like arguing, turning sharply and stalking off to the edge of the property, laying down and huffing more steam.
He wished he could go back to normal- he was sure he wouldn't have even cared if she had said that then.
...Well, when he was normal, he didn't exactly resemble a dragon.

As it was, the only normal thing at the moment was the fact that he was tired. Beyond tired. And the unusual glowing moss here was thick and soft, as if made for sleeping.
His gaze drifted over to the multiple conversations happening nearby, everyone distracted by each other.
The hulking figure that was Corbel was chasing Candara angrily, the younger shouting something about being able to live without it, and Sans tuned it out, sockets sliding closed.

A minute later he was getting bugged yet again as Candara ran into his foreleg, yelling triumphantly.
"The power of the dragon repels you!"
He cracked one eyesocket open, watching Tahoma march up furiously- though he could see the fear in his posture.

"Sans help, he's trying to end me-" Candara whispered loudly, leaning away from his caretaker. Sans just shifted to the side, curling away. "𝐍𝐨𝐩𝐞, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐚𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧."
"Traitor!"
"Candara, get the hell away from that thing!"

That did it. I am not an it.
Sans turned and rose up to a half-crouch, growling as he leaned in close, not caring that the other fell over backwards in sudden terror, not caring that suddenly everyone present was staring.

"𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐲. 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐭. 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐦𝐩 𝐰𝐡𝐨'𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐠𝐮𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥. 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐩. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰? 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐚𝐲. 𝐒𝐨 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟𝐟, 𝐨𝐫 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞."

He watched as Corbel crawled backwards at an impressive rate before bolting for the house. Sans continued to glare after him even as the door remained shut.

When the wilder, instinctive part of him had calmed enough, Sans turned and teleported away, all the way back to the entrance of his Underground, sitting down roughly and staring at the sky outside, waiting for the moment that his now swirling mind would let him sleep.
...Still hoping that he would wake again as himself, and not his own Blaster turned some sort of creature.

He sighed, knowing it was very likely not going to be that simple.
Simply because life wouldn't be that nice to him.

. • ° . • °

Undyne leaned on one of her spears, pinching her face and picking at her eyepatch strap while sighing. "I can't believe I'm saying this.."
"Saying what?" Candara asked in a small voice, still shaken.

She waved at the space the bone dragon had previously occupied. "Sans is terrifying! Actually terrifying. I know you don't know him, but Sans has never been even remotely intimidating before. He's kind of a pushover with literally everything except people being mean to Papyrus. That's literally the one line, and.." She shook her head. "This is insane."

"I will admit, there have been many surprises from him recently." Toriel murmured, glancing at Asriel in concern. The child was quiet.

"I know you all keep saying he's not supposed to be scary and all that, but I honestly have a hard time seeing that now." Cabana mumbled.
"He started out so awesome and just zoomed down the holy crap lane." Constantia added, Perpetua standing silently behind him.
"You just don't know him." Asriel said quietly.

"But how do you know him and we don't? I don't mean to be rude, but I've known him for years and you've honestly been sort of dead." Undyne pointed out. "I'm sorry."

There was a very strange look on his face when Asriel replied. "It's okay. You don't know."
"You have, like, someone else's memories?"
He hesitated. "You know, it's more like someone had my memories, then I came back with the memory of what they did with mine."
".. What?" Constantia asked.

Asriel shrugged. "Flowey wasn't, but kind of was me…. I hate what he did, but being Soulless makes someone desperate. And he wouldn't even admit it to himself, but he was desperate."

"...Did Flowey really kill everyone on your side?" Spade whispered.
"I don't think it is necessary to ask that." Asgore explained, stepping in front of Toriel, the goat woman scoffing at him.

".. I'm okay." Asriel sighed, glancing up at him. "And Flowey did. Hundreds of times, in many different ways…. Flowey was cruel because he was jealous."
"... Jealous." Undyne stated flatly.
"Everyone had a Soul except him." Asriel explained plainly. "Everyone could smile, laugh, love, care, hurt, and Flowey was empty, and just had a shadow of.." He hesitated.
"All he had was what Chara last said when we died."

Asgore sighed faintly as Spade asked the question. "What did they say?"
Asriel stared at Spade's feet before the oddly colored skeleton dressed in hunter's clothes rested his hand on the child's shoulder.
"Boy, you do not need to explain everything. Let it lie until you are ready to pick up whatever pieces lay shattered at your feet. You will only cut yourself deeper if you do not allow yourself to heal."

Asgore smiled at him before crouching down and pulling his son close. Toriel reached out, but hesitated, slowly pulling her hand back.

"...On a more immediate note," Undyne began somberly. "What can we do about what's happening to Sans? Is he really related to dragons? Him and Papyrus?"

"After seeing what I have, I believe he is more than just related to dragons." Abbadon explained with a faraway look in his yellow eyelights.
"Abbadon, it's just a legend!" Cabana argued, frustrated. "There is no DragonSoul!"
"What is it, though?" Undyne prompted, more than a little frustrated at her lack of knowledge.

"Basically, the old dragons all disappeared when the war took a turn for the worse, because humans were turning on them too. All that's left are relatives like drakons and other races with their blood left behind. The popular theory is they died out suddenly, but the legend is basically that they all vanished to sleep underground until us monsters were free again. Then someone with the Soul of a dragon-" "Spirit, actually." Urbane interrupted Constantia's speech. He turned and stared at the elder. ".. Like a ghost?"

Urbane snorted, chuckling behind his mask. "Oh no, not that kind of spirit. Though from what we hear, it would certainly make this Napstablook's involvement quite the coincidence, would it not?" Blood red eyelights glinted through the holes in the mask.

"A monster cannot exist with the Soul of a dragon. Theirs is too different from ours."
"What, are they like humans'?" Undyne asked.
"Far from that. If anything, dragons and the other greats had Souls much like both monsters and humans at once. Some say dragons were born when our kinds took mates with one another, even." He stared upwards thoughtfully, the bone attack he used as a cane tapping the ground.

"I would say that a dragon's Soul is like someone overlaid a monster's and human's atop one another and fused them."
"That sounds painful. And weird." Undyne commented, crossing her arms.
"It is the way they are. The higher races of magic are far greater than even humans, and had magic vastly different from both our kinds and humans. They are the world itself made flesh and mana, blood and bone."

"Okay, no offense, but you've been going on about dragons and I just want to know what all this has to do with Sans turning into that thing." Undyne gestured behind her at the memory of the enraged beast snorting steam and glaring at Candara's unfortunate caretaker. Spade jabbed an elbow at her for the slight disrespect, but Urbane chuckled.

"I'm an old man. We elderly like to tell stories."
"I know, I know, but can we get to the point first?"
Abbadon grunted, his bone staff thudding on the lawn moss.
"It is said that one with the essence of a dragon as well as their blood would awaken when monsters were truly freed, as destiny has been written by the dragons themselves to do so. This would be the DragonSoul, and they would be the hope of our future beyond the mountain, in a time when humans were not the violent, hateful barbarians we remember them to be. They would take the form of a dragon and draw from the same sources of beyond that the Elder Races did. Of fire, earth, sea, sky, and so on."

He gestured vaguely. "Of course, dragons and their kinds guarded their secrets greedily, so no one can be quite sure how and in what way it would manifest. The only sure way to either confirm he is indeed the DragonSoul or it is not he, is to ask of his experience in his more dragonish form. I, for one, believe I have seen enough to decide that this is, indeed, the one we have hoped would appear with such vigilant caution."

"That sounds.." She winced at the thought. "Sans? I mean.. he's never been one for huge responsibility, not to mention how he's lived through hell and is still mostly.. him. Isn't that just too much?"

"That is where the dragons appear to have miscalculated. If he is truly their charge, then his mind is distracted and focused on family in distress, and for a dragon, there is no greater priority than their family. And yet, with their power and magic, it could perhaps be the dragons that could save his people." Abbadon explained.

"You think he really means to bring people who were erased from reality back? How?" Candara asked.
"I haven't a clue." Abbadon grunted. "But a dragon is not to be denied."
"I thought you said he wasn't actually a dragon, though." Undyne noted.
"Well.. more like a dragon forced into a monster's body." Urbane barked out, cackling. "And what that really means is for all of us to find out, eh?"

"Is he going to be stuck like that?" Undyne questioned, pensive.
"How would we know? We're a bunch of rambling old men. Only time will tell of what shall become of him." Urbane told her, Abbadon silently snickering beside him.

Undyne glanced back the way they had originally arrived here fretfully.
"What is anyone going to tell Papyrus?"
They all shared looks with one another.
How could this be explained in the first place?