((In my frenzy to write and update Andlátkyn I yet again forgot about Skeleghost, so I'll just drop this chapter here!))

He slowly awoke, feeling nothing but a faint buzz. He slowly opened his sockets, seeing nothing but vague, watery shadows. Everything was heavy and weightless. It made his sense of self feel foggy.

... Actually.. who.. was he?

Names flickered by, names of those he knew, animals, dragons, serpents, monsters, humans, elves, spirits, multiple species of plant- but. But what?
Damn, he was a mess.

What could he last remember?
..Right. He had been afraid.
More than afraid. He had been overflowing with complete, overwhelming, primal terror.
He was dragged underwater after slamming face-first into- wait no- he was pulled under through a window?
He remembered..

Warmth blossomed from within, spreading along every bone with gentle sincerity, pushing out the cold numbness in his wingtips, bringing sensation back into his hands and tail, soothing the ache in his face and neck vertebrae from the painful collision as his tension left.

…
Saecshiun. He was and was not.
The sense of self was beginning to return, yes.
He was Frisk, the final human to fall into the Underground and singlehandedly freeing monsterkind. The one who could turn back time, who once lost hope only for it to return a thousandfold in a family he had never had before. To belong, to feel closer to who he was meant to be.

He was Napstablook, the overcharged and downtrodden ghost, who once fought so hard to be the kindest, gentlest monster in the Underground, fought to keep his family together.
But no matter what he did, they grew further and further apart, and slowly he lost his will to keep going, his desire to keep on fighting, his.. Determination.

And he was Sans. He who could slow time. He who could teleport wherever he so desired. He who dabbled in science alongside his father at much too young an age, and lost everything but his brother and became entwined with the Void itself. He who saw into the Souls of others, who simply gave up one day when he saw just how dangerous a mere frightened human child could be.

Yes, they remembered now. They remembered now. And yet, bubbling up like a pot set to boil, more memories surfaced, almost as though a barrier keeping them back had been broken. Shattered even, leaving the old memories to come surging up on the forefront.

Saecshiun. He was them.. and perhaps they too, were he.
He had lived a long, long life. He had a youth of intense curiosity, forever seeking knowledge, forever delving into the untold histories of the world and it's races as he learned how it worked. Science and history, he grew to love these things.

Gradually, his burning curiosity dulled with time, and he retreated to a secluded stretch of beach and acres of ocean, far from other sentient creatures. He desired solitude as most do.
But it did not last.

Centuries went by, and he came to know of the new race that emerged in the world, slowly banding together in large groups and building their own collection of homes together out of the trees, the grasses, the earth and stone. Something he had not seen before, and though it was strange, he felt indifferent to it and his curiosity.

But not long after he began to hear of many new races similar to humans yet obtaining a likeness to the Elder Folk. Time went on and magical subsets of man came and were far more agreeable than the first. Perhaps not always peaceful, but cooperative in ways that humans were not. It was irritating, to say the least.

In his woods around the beach they had infiltrated, cutting down old trees for their precious unnatural and fallible dwellings. They burned their fires near constantly, leaving the smell of smoke to continuously pervade their claimed territory. On some days the wind would blow it and the beach would be stuck with the smell.

Annoyed by this, Saecshiun had considered driving them out of his land- but when he approached one night, he saw something strange.

A human far from the others, not in his own structure but on the ground, staring almost forlornly into the fire. He had a large grazing animal tied to a tree and carrying bags, and he periodically peered back through the trees toward the main.. hive? Would it be appropriate to call it a hive? Cluster? He did not know.

But the human was alone where most humans he had seen to always travel in pairs or packs.
So for once, Saecshiun found himself intrigued by the humans.

He retreated then, moving downwind and watching throughout that long night as the fire died out and the lone human shivered. The night was chilly, but the human was rapidly falling ill. He did not go to the structures for their heat, though, only gazed longingly at the clearing they sat in.

It was then that it occurred to the dragon. Was this human perhaps banished from their territory? Weak and unable to fight off the cold? Why would this eerily social race do such a thing to one of their own?
After centuries of no interest, an old flame rekindled in his center. Saecshiun chose mercy.

He turned and quickly bit off the tips of three trees, crushing the bundles together and setting them on the embers of the human's first one. Said human had fled behind the nearest tree, near his tamed beast and watching in terror as the dragon lit the bundle with a small flash of his concentrated flame.

It quickly began to grow, encouraged by his breath before he turned and gazed at the human. The other had been frozen, perhaps fearing like the animal beside them that they were prey.

"𝔻𝕠 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕗𝕖𝕒𝕣, 𝕀 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕟𝕠 𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕞." He told the human in a gentle voice, moving aside in an attempt at kindness.
The strange two legged and nearly furless being stared at him cautiously, both drawn to the fire and repelled by his presence.

He gradually grew irritated at the continued fear. This was a sapient being, not a cowardly animal! Why did it not see assistance when offered?

The dragon glanced through the human's core, pondering it's contents only to be shocked at it's appearance.
It was like that of an animal! With the difference of being filled to the brim of the essence commonly found in.. others like himself. It entirely lacked inherent magic. Only condensed forms found in kinds like dragons and otherwise. This human had no way of expressing itself.
It.. was saddening.

He felt for a moment, a swell of pity.
Of course, he then swept it away. This creature did not desire pity. No intelligent being with pride left would want to be pitied.

In fact, it seemed humans were more of a miracle than any other sentient race. They had evolved from lowly animals and acheived sapience as a species all without the interference of magic.

In that light, the strange, unusually weak and social creatures made more sense. And with this understanding, Saecshiun found his curiosity piqued once more.

How did an intelligent species independent of magic operate? How did they communicate? How did they express themselves? How did they even function with their own deeply rooted and instinctive fear?

His musings were interrupted by a scuff, blinking down at the human crouching opposite of him near the fire, watching the dragon and warming their forelimbs.

Saecshiun felt impressed.
After understanding the true nature of humans he had begun to expect it to never relax enough to come any closer, but here the human had proved him otherwise.

He was fascinated.
Fascination led to the desire for investigation.
He was naturally a curious creature, it was in his blood.

That day, Saecshiun decided he was going to keep this settlement of humans on his turf, so he could study and discover their secrets from afar.
As for the lone human before him, he had other plans.

As intelligent creatures somewhat above animals, Saecshiun had an open opinion, one he would build upon as he learned more.

That was perhaps the first decision in a line of many that would lead the blue and silver seastorm dragon to monsterkind and the great dream to unite all races together for the good of all.

And that fantastic dream was almost within reach. In the now. As Saecshiun was no longer one.
A dragon that was not the same.

A dragon that was both no more and still alive.

                            .             .
                               .       .
                                  . .
                               .       .
                            .              .

Sans jolted awake at the same time as Napstablook, spluttering as he coughed up water, dragon thrashing beneath him before calming into a dog paddle in the brine, hacking up liquid as well, blinking repeatedly.

Minutes passed as they found their bearings, spotting the listing ship far off from the shore, bobbing in the waves. Sans blinked at it blearily, hands splayed out and gripping the scales under him to keep steady.

"Oh.. kay. Let's.. check on the three in there, yeah?" He said hoarsely, still confused by the influx of memories swirling around in his mind, simultaneously familiar and foreign.

Aren't you.. confused, Sans?
𝙳𝚒𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚝𝚘𝚘?
He blinked again, shaking his skull.
It.. yeah. Saecshiun's.. stuff. Used to be fascinated by humans.
Doesn't that sound like a certain skeleton I know.. Frisk said drily.
..Shut up, I don't want to think about that comparison.

The dragon turned in the direction of the boat, glancing through the water to see no sign of life anywhere. The octopus was gone.
So was Moyoletic.

Sans hesitated, finally looking down at the illusionary scales.
... We're bigger. He noted distantly.
A lot bigger.

Napstablook paused, glancing back at Sans and studying him in surprise.
Sans met the gaze, seeing himself as well.
They stared for a moment in shock before the skeleton broke it by glancing at himself.
"Why the fuck do I have claws?" He all but demanded in confusion, peering at his hands.

Back claws, too. Frisk added, the beastial gaze grazing over the digitigrade feet. Sans scowled, regarding them himself.
"Where the hell are my slippers?"
Back on the boat, maybe?

"Better be, they're my favorite shoes." He mumbled, then glared at his jacket.
"How am I gonna wash this out?" He whined then, mourning the loss of his comfort. They reeked of seawater and were beginning to crust.

Probably hijack a laundromat. Frisk shrugged mentally. Sans regarded the back of the dragon's head. "I have no other clothes at the moment. You expect me to just strip in public?"
No! Just steal some clothes from a store or something!

He hesitated.
On one hand, he didn't want to steal, on another, he didn't have many choices.
"...Guess I'm resorting to crime." Sans sighed, falling back.

A few minutes passed in silence before they arrived at the side of the once nice boat, now a halfway sunk wreck. It was a miracle it wasn't completely underwater by now.

He felt his eyelights spark greedily as he spotted his favorite footwear on the deck- one slipper floating and the other on a dry patch of floor.
The skeleton teleported to the deck, snatching them up and breathing out a sigh of relief.

He was immediately tense again as he heard shuffling in the cabin, staring at it before a figure exploded out the door, slashing wildly with a long shard of glass.

"Whoa whoa whoa- hold up! It's me! I'm a friendly!" He yelped, stumbling on new feet as he clutched his shoes to his ribs.
The man stopped, eyeing him in shock as the skeleton awkwardly crouched.

Sans slowly held out a hand. "We good? Not gonna kill me or anything?"
"You.. were taken, though?"
"Yeah, and I'm back. Not dead. Pretty sure I'm traumatized." He chuckled nervously.
"That thing had no right having that many toothy tentacles."

The man stared at him, still a little cautious.
"What did it do to you?"
Sans hesitated, glancing back at the dragon that was himself and two others.
"I.. don't know. Really. Gave me claws I don't want." He scoffed, showing off the sharp points in annoyance, intentionally leaving out the strangeness involving the memories.

"Why?" The other asked, unsettled.
"That's what I'm asking." Sans answered honestly. "I'm not a fan of having sharp edges." He was standing now, kicking out a foot and studying it's changed physiology. He couldn't help but whine softly.
"Why can't I just stay good ol' huggable me?"

".. Huggable?" The man asked incredulously. Sans looked up at him, a little hurt.
"What? Don't like huggabilty? That's a shame. It's my brother's favorite thing."

He paused then, glancing over at the distant shore as the human said nothing.
"... Wouldn't the Coast Guard have rescued you by now? I mostly came back for my shoes." He indicated the pink slippers.

Now the other let his shoulders fall. "That.. the radio and emergency alert's shot and our only working phone got waterlogged."

Sans blinked. "You're stranded."
The other shrugged. "We didn't come out here with the emergency raft."
Skeleton nodded. "A slight lapse in foresight, but hey, not even I could have predicted this."

He peered over at the rising water in the ship, watching it lap slowly upwards. "I can get you back to shore." He offered with a light shrug.

"What, riding a whole ass dragon?" The other questioned intently, staring at said dragon watching him.
Napstablook shyly waved with a wing.

"I mean, that's one way. Don't even have to fly if you don't want to. Helping ya outta here is the least I can do after what happened here." He regarded the massive holes that allowed the ocean to seep in.
"Pretty sure no insurance covers kraken attacks or whatever."

The other winced. "No.. we won't be able to afford another boat between the three of us in a long time."
Sans frowned, then slowly reached for what little money he had on himself.

"I don't have much, but I know gold is expensive to your currency, so.." He dug out half his bag, offering it.
"Think it'll help?"

He bit back a snort at the way the man's eyes bulged, hyperfocused on the money.
"Where- how- how the hell did you- What??"
Keeping the laughter from his voice, Sans explained.
"Where I'm from, all our currency's made of gold. And I figured, you with your lesser metal coins and paper composite muns would probably find it helpful, y'know?"

".. What kind of country are you from? Atlantis?" The man muttered while studying the coins. Sans broke, laughing at the suggestion.
"No! No, no, I wish I was, that'd be so damn cool…. But nah, I'm basically just from a mountain."

"You come from a mountain in New Jersey." Came the deadpan.
With another snort, Sans nodded, the dragon beginning to push the boat to the shore.
"Mt Ebott, we were trapped for a whole century in there. At least, for us it was. The whole shenanigans with the Barrier kinda put us in a bit of a quantum slipstream and had time slowed down so much for us it allowed several hundred years to pass for you humans." He shrugged. "So technically, I'm like a thousand years old." He finished with a grin.

".. What?"
He blinked. "Right, that probably went right over your head, didn't it."
"How did you slow down time inside a mountain??"
"We didn't." Sans said flatly. "You did."

At the confused expression, he corrected. "Or, the humans that created the Barrier did. The Barrier was a magical construct enveloping the entire hollow mountain, one can go in, but not out. It caused a temporal distortion that forced timespace into a slower state inside it, hence the time slippage." He paused.
"..That didn't help at all."
"No." The human agreed.

Sans sighed. "Just think of it like this: Time was slowed down where I came from."
"Why are you talking in science jargon anyway?"
"Well gee, maybe I considered myself a bit of a mana physicist once upon a time."
"When you're from hundreds of years in the past."
"What? Is it really so hard to believe that human societies just develop at a snail's pace?" Sans fired back, feeling snarky.

He waved off to the side absently. "It's not my fault humans are resistant to change. Stubbornness is a part of your nature."
"And what? You just act as a hive mind with your other bony people?"
"My-" He doubled over for a second, completely caught off guard by the bizarre sentence.

"Okay first off, there are a lot of different kinds of monsters, and two, I spent most of my life thinking me and my bro were the last skeletons, and third, where did you get.. hive mind from?"
"You're literally talking telepathically with those- dragon and kraken and eel thing!" The man gestured wildly into the water at the dragon. Napstablook blinked, glancing between the man and skeleton.

"Oh no, none of that is normal. Like, at all. It's a long story."
"You were talking through that dragon."
"I was, but technically I am the dragon? It just happens to have a ghost friend of mine stuck in it and a lot of other details I don't fully understand myself."
"How are you the dragon?!"

He sighed, pinching the bone between his sockets.
"Look, I.." He sighed again. "I've explained this so many times already.."

With a deep breath, Sans wove his phalanges together and gazed up into the human's grey eyes.
"I'll keep this as simple as I possibly can."

With that, he carefully summoned a bone. "Humans have no real magic of their own aside from their Souls. Meanwhile, us monsters- and apparently those other races I'd never known about before- are made of the stuff. These are what we call our attacks." He moved it over to let the other hold it. The man did not, instead stepping away.

Sans continued. "Now, while they can hurt someone, it's only dependent on how you use it. If it has malignant intent of any kind and touches a monster or a human's Soul, it can hurt. If a more solid attack is thrown hard enough, then regardless of intent, it's gonna hurt someone. But while they're called attacks and you humans have a certain definition of 'attack', it's not like that. These are basically.. expression of self, extension of self. This is me." He took the man's hand and placed it on the bone, a little hurt when the other cringed.

He hid his disappointment and continued. "Every monster has their own kind of attack. Most are based off of their race, like me being a skeleton is bones. But other factors come into play too. Essentially being personality and genetics. Some races have specialized attacks, some individuals have their own. An avid artist might even have sketchbooks as an attack. Meanwhile, some reptilian monsters might have colored scales as an attack or not."

He checked the other for understanding, grateful to find that the human seemed to be following along.
"I actually happen to have examples. Napstablook here, he's the ghost that's a little stuck, he has tears as an attack." He glanced back to find the other already crying out a few, more forming around him.

"That's a personality based attack there." He pointed out before slowly lifting his arm. "Now what I have is a little weird. You might recognize it. This is a genetic based attack." He summoned his trademark Blaster with a familiar drone.

"The fuck it sounds like a laser?" The man backed up before identifying the skull. Sans almost smiled when he started looking at the dragon and Blaster, raising one hand to point.
"That's it's skull."

"Yep." Sans confirmed, the dragon's illusionary scales vanishing to reveal the skeletal creature. "Now while I can't explain how, I can tell you that these are also just me. And by some awkward chance, my friend back there got himself stuck and unintentionally inhabiting one of these things. And for whatever reason, it suddenly has a full body."

"Inhabiting?"
Sans blinked at the question.
"Dwelling inside an object or person as.. basically a ghost's own body."
"𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚟𝚊𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚑𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗." Napstablook said suddenly, perking up slightly. Sans blinked. "Dummy never mentioned that to me."

While the human leaned on the door to the cabin and Sans stood in a centimeter of water, Napstablook hesitantly continued.
"𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢.. 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑, ..𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛..? 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠.."

"Huh." Sans pondered this, his curiosity piqued as the human spoke up.
"Shouldn't you know it already?"
It made Sans scoff as Napstablook recoiled.
"Do you inherently know you can write when you're born? Do you automatically know how? No. You gotta learn that. Are you born knowing how to walk? Nope. That's basically what it is; learning you can walk and learning how if you decide to."

It was clear that this concept was new to the human, though they didn't mind.
"Do you at least understand how.. all this works?" Sans asked, broadly gesturing behind himself at the skeledragon.
"...Who was Napstablook before he died?"

𝕊𝕒𝕖𝕔𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕦𝕟. They all simultaneously thought, though no one said this. Instead, Sans shook his skull- partly to clear it of the strange sensation and flush of memories.
"He's not a human spirit. Ghosts are just another kind of monster, more on the phantasmic side than physical."
"..Oh."

"Oh, don't be so disappointed. Human spirits exist, I know one personally. They were a troubled kid.." He repressed a shudder. "Really prone to violence."

He slowly glanced at the camera that had been sticking through the jagged glass of the broken window beside the cabin door for some time. He winked at it as the human was peering at Napstablook.

"What I still don't understand though.."
Sans faced him again, attentive.
"Why? Why even tell us this? We're completely different species that might as well be from different planets!"

Sans blinked. He'd been blinking a lot, actually.
"...You do realize it's because we're so different I'm telling you this?"
"No. It just seems.. why tell us about yourselves and not even so much as expect the same?"

"Well, because we already know about you. We knew humans before the war and imprisonment under the mountain, and we kept updated from all the garbage that came through the Barrier. You guys have completely violated the planet, but at least we're mostly up to date with the goings-on. We don't need you to tell us anything. We have your old newspapers, we have your anatomy books, we have your psychology books, we have your stories and religious texts, what else could you give us that we don't already know?"

He paused at the bewilderment before him. Sans glanced down, thinking.
"... Personally, I've always been a fan of the books on physics, theoretical mathematics, astrophysics and the cosmos. I've also read the Bible. It's an interesting glimpse into the human mind, just like Shakespeare and Lovecraft. Those were popular."

He then shuddered, glancing at the line between sky and sea. "Part of why I completely panicked at that.. octopus. I was not expecting Lovecraft to become any kind of reality. I don't care if it was benevolent or not, those tentacles had teeth."

"Benevolent? It fucking destroyed the boat and dragged you off!"
"Believe it or not, she kept saying she was 'helping'. Sorta. It was some really broken speech." He rocked back on his feet, then back to his metatarsus. "Apparently that idea of help was to give me sharp edges." Sans shrugged.

"How? Why-" The human scoffed, confused.
"Well, I mean, she did also make.. whatever we're calling this bigger." He indicated the dragon.
"I don't know. You?"
"Well, yeah, but also Napstablook."
"Just call it Dragon." Came the immediate response.

Sans deadpanned at the answer.
"If I run into another dragon, I am not going to call myself or Nappy that."
The human shrugged. "I don't know, some combination of your names?"

At that, they both hesitated, glancing at each other.
"That would be weird." A new, familiar voice said.
Everyone tensed, shocked.

Sans turned to the Blaster he'd left out, identifying the sensation of no control over it, recognizing the stream of consciousness dwelling inside and red taking over it's eyelights.
"Frisk!"

"So the Blaster idea worked."
"It worked!"
"𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚍."
"What worked??"
They all froze, facing the speaker.
"..So I didn't mention the third." Sans started.
"..Why?"

"Well I couldn't exactly do anything." Frisk answered. "Cause Napstablook can't stop controlling it and only Sans can override that when he's too anxious and I'm just stuck watching everything."

"You actually can do that just fine." Sans muttered under his breath.
"But it's weird! It's already two people controlling the same body- I'm used to that! I don't wanna make it three! That's confusing.."
"You are literally the one responsible for waking up real life Cthulhu and now you say it's weird?"
"We're supposed to wake them up, though. I mean, I was right, she turned out nice!"
"That was anything but nice and you know that."
"Okay, I guess I should say friendly."
"We were dragged underwater by dozens of tentacles with razor teeth!"
"But we weren't hurt."

"Oh, for-" He cut off, sighing into his hand.
"We could have drowned." He growled.
"Wait, skeletons can drown?" Frisk blinked.
"Yes, we can." Sans assured angrily.
"I'd really prefer that didn't happen."

"Do you want me to leave so you can have this argument in private?" The human suggested.
"No, no, it's fine, it's something for later anyway." Sans sighed defeatedly, waving away the idea.

..Are you afraid of drowning, Sans?
A brief moment flashed to the surface of his mind; trapped in a cave-in surrounded by only water, unable to breathe for hours until he couldn't keep conscious anymore, vision fading to black.
Later. He asserted before looking up at the pier in front of them.

"How long have we been sitting here?" He asked somewhat rhetorically. The human turned around in surprise as Napstablook answered.
"𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝.. 𝚏𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜."

"How are we still afloat?" The man questioned in bewilderment.
"Oh, I've been holding it up the whole time." Sans told him, only to do a double take at the expression.
".. It's called blue magic, it's gravity based." He explained then. "Higher control makes it sort of a.. not quite telekinesis."

"You can hold objects with your mind."
"With magic."
".. What exactly are you capable of with magic?"
"Eh, you've seen everything important."
"You just told me you're capable of telekinesis and saw it as not exactly important."
"...I guess you got a point there.." Sans relented. "It's really not that different from just picking something up by hand, you heard what I told you, magic's exactly like that. I mean, would you consider your hands something worth mentioning?"
"Sans, you can teleport." Frisk said drily.

The human made a dying sound as Sans turned. "Okay, I prefer that to be kept a secret. Now it's not."
"How?!"
"It's just a rare ability, it's not as big as it sounds." He explained to the man silently freaking out.
"What else, pyrokinesis?!?"
Frisk deadpanned as Sans sighed into his hand.
The human let out an inarticulate noise of amazement.

"Alright, my fire's terrible. It's always wayyy hotter than any flame should be, so no, I'm not exactly a firetosser. Tori, however, she's good. She's real good. Lady can throw a ball and light a target 300 feet away."

There was a strange lull in conversation as he and the human stared at each other, Frisk leaning in closer.
"Simp."

Sans blinked, looking over. ".. What?"
"You're totally a simp for Goat Mom."
"The heck is a simp?"
Frisk gasped, the Blaster falling with a clatter onto the deck. Sans winced as it's jaw was scraped against the splintered wood, but Frisk continued on with the act.
"How could you not know what a simp is!"
Now the animalistic skull rolled to the side with a tragic expression.

They stared at each other for a long moment, then red eyelights flashed, blue sparking vermilion and violet as a memory of something was passed from one to another.

The skeleton immediately gained a light blue tint to his cheekbones, snorting awkwardly.
"No. I'm not- no. Friends, Frisk. I admire the queen, but she's not.. uggh." He buried his face in his hands.
She's not my type. He explained internally. The Blaster immediately gained a crimson violet glow.
"So much for that ship."

"Alright, I'm leaving." Sans said much too loudly as he stiffly walked to the edge, twitching his left to lift the boat up level with the pier, walking straight onto the wood planks.

A few seconds later, the human stumbled after him. "You're not actually leaving, are you?"
Sans glanced over, watching the taller fall into step beside him as the possessed Blaster followed under the edge of the pier, ducking under walkways.

"Eh, why not? I wasn't exactly hanging around for no reason."
"What?"
"I mean I was heading somewhere when we happened to encounter each other in the first place."
"..Is it important?"
"....To me, it is. Part of other complicated things."
"Saecshiun's dream.." Frisk muttered under the pier. Sans shook the wave of flickering images out of his mind.

"Is Saecshiun another person in the dragon?"
"No, he is a dragon. Or was. He's dead." He felt himself saying in a slightly dazed voice.
"Saecshiun wanted peace with humans, monsters and the Older Ones." Frisk added dreamily.
"I'm sorry..?"

"It's. Strange. Very strange." Sans explained vaguely.
"We're stuck with his memories." Frisk whispered loudly.
"Yeah. That."
"..How the hell..?"
"Didn't want to say anything because of how weird it is, but that's what Y'zataé did. Not just the claw stuff."
"Do I want to know?"

They reached the end of the pier, pausing as Sans flipped his hood up and glanced at Frisk, replying.
"Honestly? No. It's mind-breaking enough as it is. I doubt you can handle any better- though how well you've been taking all of this so far is pretty impressive as it is."
".. I'll take your word for it, then."
"Good."
They faced each other.

"Well.. I guess this is it?"
"Yep." Sans popped. The other fidgeted.
"..I guess. Thanks for the help after the boat got fucked up."
"Least I could do after the trauma of.. that." He shivered, clothes stiff and crusty with dried salt.
"Well, I think it's just about worth it if I get paid this much for the damn thing."

"I guess that's fair." Sans shrugged as the other held out his hand.
"Jonathan."
The skeleton chuckled, taking it. "About time you introduced yourself."
"Yeah, I think the whole talking dragon then skeleton then.. everything else just kind of blindsided everyone."
"Fair enough." He let the other shake, aware of the cautious grip.

"Y'know." He started as Jonathan let go. "I'm made of bone, not glass.
The human laughed awkwardly. "Sorry, it's not everyday you shake a skeleton's hand."

Sans nodded, understanding. "I get that. Though, tibia honest,"- he winked- "I expect soon enough that will be pretty common."
"You think so?"
"Well with the Barrier gone, most aren't just gonna stay there. Everyone wants to integrate with human society. Especially the fanclubs."
"The what?"
"Fanclubs. There's a bunch of different fanclubs on humans and the culture."

Jonathan was visibly flabbergasted, though he quickly let it slide.
"We won't be meeting again?" He asked instead.
Sans was a bit impressed by the way the human handled the information, but latched on to the new topic.
"Ya never know. Maybe. Maybe not. Time will tell."

He paused, glancing at a vehicle pulling into the nearby parking lot.
"For now though, we definitely gotta go. C'ya, Jonathan." He smiled, saluting before falling backwards into the water, teleporting away at the last second.

Sans felt a little sad knowing that Jonathan was probably right; it was likely their paths would never cross again.

So he walked along the beach, nothing but the Blaster possessed by Frisk and Napstablook's thoughts to keep him company as his inhuman feet left prints in the wet sand.

The dragon was swimming over as Frisk began, surprisingly hesitant from the abrupt departure.
How should we get you clothes, anyway?
He shrugged, glancing at the nearby buildings facing away from the wet, debris littered coast.
Probably just walk in and hide, change and shortcut out.

Wouldn't you be caught by cameras?
They keep cameras on the clothing?
Most shoplifting happens with clothes.
Huh. Keeping the hood up should help.
Preferably with your head- or, uh, skull I guess- down?
That too.
…

I can't believe I'm actually going to steal clothes.
You're okay with stealing food, though.
Because food is different. No one's missing a hotdog or anything if they leave it out.
I guess that's fair.

Sans paused at the sight of a young boy staring at him from afar, dressed in swimming shorts and carrying a plastic bucket.

After a minute, he slowly raised a hand in greeting, finding the moment synonymous with another event. It was like deja vu.
At that, the boy took off back down the beach, kicking up sand as he dashed around the corner.

"Welp, I scared him off."
"He didn't look scared." Frisk argued.
Sans deadpanned at the other.
"I'm serious."
The sound of voices in the wind caught their attention.

They both gazed across the sand, then at each other.
"Parents?" The skeleton asked.
"Parents." The human spirit replied.
".. I'm gonna put you away."
"Like a toy?" Frisk asked.
"No- you know what I mean!" Sans scoffed at the other's sass before dissolving the skull.

Now he felt a certain discomfort at the sense of another mind shifting into his own body like his own mana, another consciousness seeing from his own sockets.
He decided he didn't very much like it as three figures rounded the edge of the rocks.
Sans had a good look at the trio as they approached.

A woman, a man, obviously parents. The mother had her mud blonde hair tied up in a bun behind her head, wearing a somewhat frilly teal and green patterned two-piece, the bright straw haired boy tugging her along excitedly. Her dark-haired husband was trailing along, dressed in beige trunks and a white shirt. Both were trying to tell the boy not to bother the stranger as he hollered back near nonsense in his glee.
It was an amusing sight to behold.

They stopped in front of them, woman wiping flyaways from her eyes as she automatically began apologizing, only to freeze at the sight of his face.
"...Sup. Cute kiddo you got there." Sans started.

"That's.. quite the mask there." The man commented, both still taking in his appearance.
Meanwhile, the skeleton was laughing internally.
"Mask, huh? Maybe I should get one of those. Along with fresh clothes. I'm currently as salty as a salt shaker." He lifted his elbows by demonstration, hoodie crackling painfully.

He winced as they backed away, mother keeping her hand on her son's shoulder.
"Ow, it's glued to me." He twisted the wrinkled shell around his right humerus until it caved, separating from his arm.
How much salt is in the water here?? He questioned. There's no way this is normal.

"I'm sorry for interrupting you sir, Jeremy is still struggling with manners." The woman excused, all but picking up the kid as if to protect him.
"Mommy, he has bird feet!"
"Uh-huh, sweetie." She agreed absently while smiling apologetically.

Sans chuckled. "Nah, I don't mind. I know what kids are like." He winked at the boy with a wave, then held out his hand.
Neither parent went to shake it.

"Oh come on." He let it fall. "I don't bite. Just a guy on a beach enjoying the sun."
"Do you have a home nearby.. or something?" The man asked abruptly.
"Zach!" The woman hissed, slapping his arm.
"I'm surprised I look homeless, but nah, where I live is a bit far from here."

Sans bit back a sigh as the scratching started to get overwhelming.
"Hold on a sec, this salt's getting in my joints." He muttered as he pulled off the jacket slowly, to much crackling and grit.
"Just had to get dragged underwater by a giant octopus, didn't you." He couldn't help but huff under his breath, finally getting the stiff fabric off.

Now both humans took a few steps back at the sight of his very clearly skeletal arms. Sans snorted. "I told ya already I don't bite."
And promptly held out his hand again.
"Sans. Sans the skeleton. Just passing through."

After a long moment, the man, Zach, took it somewhat roughly, shaking so hard his bones clattered.
"Ow. Ease up a bit, would you? I still have salt up in there."
"Just.. checking your grip. I'm Zachary. A living human."
"Well I'd be concerned if you weren't, cause I'm pretty sure no one's ready for the zombie apocalypse." Sans joked, grinning.
Zachary coughed. "Er.. if you don't mind me asking, what exactly.. are you?"

"Didn't I tell you? Just a bone-a-fide nobody here." He squinted at their faces.
"I'm not dead, if you're wondering. Can't even see how I'd look dead."
"But you're bones!" Jeremy exclaimed, jabbing a finger.

"Yep, all bones." He smiled at me boy. "Just not the same bones like yours."
"Do doggies bite you?!"
"Sweetie, not now."
"Nah, dogs don't bite this bag of bones."
"Where are you from?" Zachary spoke up with suspicion.

Sans waved vaguely. "Ah, you know. You look like the type to have heard already, if those videos they kept making meant anything- then you've probably heard about Ebott? Maybe? Is that asking too much?"

"..The magic animal civilization." The woman responded flatly.
"The what." Sans deadpanned, unable to believe the name.
"Are they seriously calling us that."
"Well I never saw anything monstrous about those fluffy people." The lady explained hesitantly.
Sans stared in disbelief for a long moment before sighing.

"No, no, you must have only seen Asgore. Maybe Toriel, maybe even Asriel. They're the royal family. They're the only ones that even look like that. Last of their race. Most of monsterkind doesn't look like that at all. I mean, I'm not fluffy at all. Though I wish I was." He admitted.

"My point is, that's me. I'm a monster a little away from home. I'm sorry I spooked ya."
"But that place is all the way in New Jersey. How are you in Florida?" Zachary questioned.
Now Sans perked up.
"I'm in Florida?"
"Yes."

He did a few mental calculations before smiling. "I was heading somewhere specific down south." He explained, memories of maps he'd seen blending with memories of the dragon that once flew around this region frequently.
Five day flight, but nine day swim… Damballah's island is.. It's Haiti! ..Whale Island doesn't really look like a whale anymore..
Erosion does that.

Sans breathed, smiling despite himself. "I know where I am and how far I'm going thanks to you. Seriously. Thank you." He nodded to both of them, giving Jeremy a smile as he started walking backwards into the surf.

As he did, the awaiting dragon erupted from the waves, easily wrapping a talon around him and flying over the humans in a remarkable display, wheeling in the sky to gain altitude before heading inland.

The pride at being such a spectacle infected even Napstablook, the dragon.. the dragon that was three going forth on it's current mission before it would then resume the current goal:
Find and wake the amphiptere Quetzalcoatl, and bring Gaster and his scientists back from the Void.

Yet somewhere inside, another dream was taking root, one that had once been forgotten, lost when one gave his life for a cause.

Saecshiun was waking, but not as a dragon anymore.