((This one's a fun one. ;3 It's also where everything takes a drastic turn. Self-indulgent fics, am I right?))

He saw his own face, twisted in loss, anger, betrayal, saw his own hand lift as the one he saw himself through was flung back, slamming into a wall, crunching into a pillar, bones snapping against the ceiling as pain radiated from every inch of their being, yet even then their actions were not their own. Screaming inside for it to end, yet outside they were smiling.

They struggled to their feet even as they wished to lay down and let it end. Their very will no longer belonged to them as Sans's voice spoke, fading in- strange to hear from somewhere that was not himself… but he wasn't in his own body.

"You, uh, really like swinging that thing around, huh? … Listen."
...He remembered this. Oh, he remembered this. It hurt so much just remembering how he felt, how desperate he had been, how scared he had been.

"I know you didn't answer me before, but…"
Frisk was screaming inside, begging, not for Sans to stop, but for Chara to stop. Chara ignored them with practiced ease, smiling emptily as they looked on with intrigue.

"Somewhere in there. I can feel it. There's a glimmer of a good person inside of you. The memory of someone who once wanted to do the right thing."
Sans wanted to cry.
Frisk never blamed him. Frisk never did. They never even considered him, they had always begged Chara to be kind.
No. No. No no no nonono- why?! Why? WHY-
"Someone who, in another time, might have even been... a friend?"

FRISK I'M SORRY! He screamed into the vivid memory, yet nobody heard him.
"C'mon, buddy. do you remember me? please, if you're listening... Let's forget all of this, okay? Just lay down your weapon, and... well, my job will be a lot easier."
I'm so sorry…

Chara had no intention of turning back now. They smiled, but from this new perspective he could understand it had been a sort of grimace all this time. They raised their blade, Determined to continue on, to find a new ending, searching, searching, forever searching for something they still could not yet identify…

"Welp, it was worth a shot. Guess you like doing things the hard way, huh?"

Sans blinked awake, unable to move. He could feel a dampness on his cheekbones and in his sockets, something aching in his very Soul. He knew now how Frisk had felt, and regretted his decisions more than he ever thought possible. His mind wandered around, now imagining Frisk in that state, Reset after Reset as they slowly faded away.

His room blurred as the horror gripped him. In spite of everything, Frisk had been a child. A pure Soul that wanted nothing but everyone to have the best new lives beyond the Barrier as possible.
His Soul ached.

Faced with this cruel and unfair truth, Sans wished to forget, trying to go back to sleep since he was currently immobile.

Time crawled by before his sockets grew heavy, yet his mind wide awake. His Soul was pounding, even as his external self seemed ready to return to rest. The hammering within ached, almost as though it were cracking under the force of its own pulse, yet he was still caught in a paralysis. The pain slowly bloomed into his ribs, stinging and even beginning to burn.

Sans was starting to panic, unable to move as pain radiated out from his Soul without reason.
Then without warning, he felt like he was falling.

His mind was black, a sensation of something warm somewhere within as his awareness of the outside world faded away. Sans was fully prepared to give up and let his consciousness drift, but instead he felt something study him rather than saw. The gaze felt unfocused and vague, almost as if largely blind.

You're not Chara.
The voice spoke brokenly, slow like it hadn't used words in a long time, with a dreamy cadence that was reminiscent of a sleepwalker. It was vaguely familiar, yet in his bewilderment Sans was unable to place it for a moment.
However, the sentence itself told him all he needed to know.
Frisk..?

There was a long, sleepy pause.
Who are you?
Kid, I'm so sorry.
Who are you? Where is Chara?
Chara won't be bothering you anymore.
Did you.. kill them?
...No. But they're gone now.
…

It was silent as Sans felt a distant sensation of thoughts that weren't his own, moving sluggishly to a pattern that was very much unfamiliar to him and his own self. He couldn't make out the details of what the other was thinking, but he was definitely aware of it.
...Sans?

He felt his Soul jump at the recognition.
Yeah, buddy. It's me. He softly answered.
I can't feel anything, Sans.
... I'm sorry, kiddo. I can't either.
. . .
.  .  .
Did you take my Soul?
He fumbled with his thoughts for a moment.
I.. did take it, but I was hoping to put it back. Your body was dead.
..It was?
Yeah.. look, kid. I'm sorry. I never stopped caring about you, y'know? I wanted you to come back. I never wanted it to be this way.
That's okay, Sans. I guess some things don't go the way we want them to.

...He felt saddened knowing why Frisk had that view, but the pity faded into confusion as a sense of warmth washed over him, the thoughts that were not his speeding up and growing coherent.

I always liked you too. You were an interesting person.
I'm.. interesting?
I always wanted to know you. You.. I guess you're like me.
How?
I don't know. You're just the most human monster I ever knew. Monsters don't really keep secrets, you know? All except you.

He was very much confused at this point. Plenty of monsters had plenty of secrets, his just made him sort of depressed. Okay, maybe it was more than a little.
But how does he seem like a human in all this?

He suddenly realized he had a sense of red.
Not like the red that always unsettled him from Chara, but something closer to that enticing glow that had been Frisk's Soul, or the red of the fallen leaves that littered the Ruins, red like the scarf Papyrus always held onto, a warm, kind red that was tired and older than it should have been. He didn't understand how he could place so many meanings to a sense of a color when he couldn't actually see anything.

All of a sudden, Sans was jolting awake.

His magic had spread throughout the room, but the moment he shot upright with a gasp it had slammed back into him, crackling with more energy than he'd felt in his entire life. He choked on it, arms wrapping around himself in bewilderment as a pale red glow illuminated his shirt, ribs casting stark shadows upon the fabric.

There was an odd pressure in the back of his skull, as well as a tightness on his tailbone and ache in his legs, phalanges itching. Sans groaned, before remembering something- specifically a line from a well-known story.
OH NO OH HELL NO-

He curled in on himself, gasping as he willed his body to stay the way it was. He refused to let it change, refused to become anything more than the skeleton he was. The blood and mana in his bones burned, eager to adapt to something new within it's system, but he would not allow it to be anything more than himself.

Something clicked, the growing pain suddenly flashing white-hot, startling the wind out of him as the burning decreased dramatically, as if listening to him. Sighing shakily, he leaned back on the bed, ignoring the stinging all over. It was easily tolerable compared to before.
"𝚂𝚊𝚗𝚜... 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎.." A trembling voice spoke, vibrating dully within his skull.

He blinked as it set in, somewhat mortified.
"Oh shit, Nappy I'm sorry." He shook himself, resulting in a faint clatter while he loosened. As soon as he was no longer holding his mana close, Napstablook wrenched himself away, crying out in a surprising amount of pain as he did so.

The ghost shuddered and looked back at him, face full of fear and confusion as a few tears welled up out of habit. Sans shivered, rubbing his humeruses as he glanced up.
"I'm sorry, buddy. I don't know what that was. Are you okay?"

Napstablook didn't reply at first, eyes darting around uneasily before he answered with his words tripping over each other.
"𝙸'𝚖 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢 𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙸 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚢 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎."

Sans straightened, understandably concerned as Napstablook shuddered violently and darted through the window, fleeing. Sans watched him go in confusion, jaw opening to reply but at a loss for words.
"...Nappy?"

. • ° . • ° . • °

He sped through the Underground, terror gripping his Soul and radiating electricity everywhere he went as he searched for someone who would have an answer to what he was feeling.

He knew full well he would have to calm down before he spoke to anyone, as it was right now he'd just shock every monster standing in a five-foot radius of him. His Soul was pounding, wanting to be somewhere else, was pointing him somewhere else. Specifically to someone else.

He didn't understand. He didn't like it, what his Soul was saying. It sounded like something he was taught as very, very illegal, a lesson his entire family was very much ingrained with.

He wasn't in love, no, he'd thought about that in a moment of confusion and that wasn't it. He didn't like Sans that way. He just felt.. impossibly comfortable with the skeleton. When that wave of magic had locked him in place earlier, a certain energy to it made him crave more in a sense- another terrifying thing- but he wanted to lock himself in.

He wasn't sure what that was, but he wanted to be there continuously and that was the most terrifying thing in his entire world in the moment. That sounded exactly like what Hapstablook had said before leaving to be Mettaton forever after, except this was a living monster.

He slid in behind a cousin he didn't talk to often enough, tears rolling down his face. His presence alone made the dummy jump, flinching from the volts striking him as he looked up from a magazine he'd been staring at.
"Oh! Cousin!" He paused, seeing the other's distress. "What is it?"

Napstablook backed away a little, giving him some space from the electrical aura as he gathered the strength to speak.
"𝙸.. 𝙸 𝚞𝚑.. 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐…"
"Okay, ask me."
"𝚄𝚑.."

He shivered, sorting out his wild, panicky thoughts.
"𝙸..𝚟𝚎.. 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐.. 𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚢... 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜.. 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙸'𝚖 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐.. 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖, 𝚋𝚞𝚝.. 𝙸.."

Dummy peered at him for a moment, then smiled wide, the look slightly loopy as he danced a slight jig. "That sounds like you found a body, cuz! You should be glad! Tell me about it!"

He whimpered, the sound giving the other pause. ".. Cousin? Are you alright, cuz?"
"𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢'𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎…"

Dummy froze, an odd look stuck on his face. He glanced at Napstablook curiously, seeing the confused distress. After a long moment, he shifted back into a more serious position. "So you came to me."
Napstablook nodded.

"... Okay, this is a little bit different. It's not a human, right?" Napstablook shook his head wildly.
"...Well, in my studies I'd heard about ghosts pairing with monsters, but it's really uncommon from what I know." He scratched his head with a loosely floating fragment. "They're more common with races related to ours and other phantom types but.. eh. I personally don't give a fluff about the inhabiting rules, they're just there to stop unwilling possession of a free mind and I know you wouldn't do that to anyone." He grumbled thoughtfully, gaze drifting to the side.

"... 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢?" Napstablook asked, somewhat hopeful. Dummy nodded. "Yeah, it was in the Book, scribbled in like a last-minute thing. I think when I asked around it was because it came from pre-war times? Ghosts were trying to stop the monster-human tensions. Didn't work, obviously. You gotta understand cuz, when we find a body that resonates with our Soul, it's hard to resist. Every last part of you wants to settle down and be tangible. I'm really happy for you, cuz... but I gotta ask. Have you been with them? Are they okay with the shocks?"

He nodded slowly. "𝚈𝚎𝚊𝚑... 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖.... 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝.. 𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍, 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜.."

"That's fantastic!" A twitch ran through the Dummy. "What sort of monster is it?" He asked eagerly, leaning forward. Napstablook flinched. There were only two of those known in the Underground.
".. 𝚂𝚔𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚘𝚗…"

Dummy blinked. "You like Papyrus?"
Napstablook shuddered. "𝙿𝚊𝚙𝚢𝚛𝚞𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚍.."
Now Dummy stilled again. "You.. Sans is okay with your..?"
"𝚈𝚎𝚊𝚑.." He nodded, still shivering slightly. Dummy hummed thoughtfully, considering the information.

"I mean, in my old research it'd said the most common monster and ghost pairings were with skeletons, but I didn't know he'd be immune to your aura."

"𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝙸'𝚖 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚍." Napstablook explained with more confidence than usual before backing away again. "𝙻𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜…" He couldn't help but add softly.

Dummy didn't seem to not hear that, a little surprised about the first part. "I never did research into our conditions nearly enough.." He mused guiltily. Napstablook refrained from adding what else Sans had said on the topic.

Then he lit up again. "Right! I forgot! You probably want to know if it's okay to inhabit him, right?"
Napstablook hesitated, then slowly nodded.

Dummy did a little spin with his body. "Well, you can! It just has to be with full permission of the other party. I don't know exactly what happens with the Souls when a ghost takes a monster as their body, but I do know that they bond. Deeply. You have to understand that you are becoming someone else when you do this."

He turned serious again. "Your magic as a ghost becomes part of the other's. It does not change to match your preferred form, not really. You get your ecto and mana manipulation into the ideal form if you choose to fully bond, but it is something your now partner will be able to willingly control. If you choose to bond, you both will have to balance who is in control. Or you could just idly inhabit him, like myself half the time!"
"...𝙾𝚑.."

Dummy peered at him quizzically, then sighed. "You're anxious about it."
Napstablook cringed. "𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢.."
"Don't worry about it, cuz! I can help! If Sans really doesn't mind, it should be easy!"

Now the ghost was more uneasy. "𝙽𝚘, 𝚗-𝚗𝚘, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘.. 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝.."
"No, it's my pleasure! I know Sans, and I know you won't be able to get to it on your own! C'mon, cousin! Let a cousin help, eh?"
"𝙸-𝙸-𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝- 𝙸 𝚍- 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠.."

Dummy stared at him sincerely. "Please. I haven't done enough for my family. I want to help."
After a few moments of staring, Napstablook caved, looking down.
"𝙾-𝚘-𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢.."
The Mad Dummy lit up, dancing in place. "Thank you!"
"𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖.."
"Oh! You just have to follow where your Soul is pointing! If he's really your other half, you'll be able to tell where he is all the time!"

"..𝙸𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎?"
Dummy smiled at him, a rare smile only family had the privilege to witness. "When you find something- or someone in cases like yours- your Soul wants to stay close and not lose it or them. It's nothing to worry about."

He paused. "Well, Mettaton might blow a fuse at the idea, but this isn't something one can control and he'll understand that."

"𝙷𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚂𝚊𝚗𝚜.."
Dummy raised a brow. "So? He can't control what your Soul chooses any more than you can. Everyone knows this."

"𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙺𝚒𝚗𝚐…"
"What about him? You worried he won't allow it? He's King Asgore, for crying out loud! He wants what's best for us all, he'll understand it too! It's okay, cuz. You're overthinking things again!"

He hovered there tensely for a few seconds, trying to rationalize his fears and confusion and finding no other real reason. Sighing deeply, Napstablook hesitantly turned to the pull that guided him, afraid of losing his nerve if he spoke again.

Dummy leapt up and hovered after him, bobbing in encouragement and a wild smile. He didn't complain when Napstablook moved through walls and obstructions, instead darting around them until they grew closer to Snowdin.

They slowed down to a figure walking out of the snowy region, looking around and pacing quickly into the bluish gray of Waterfall.
The familiar lazy skeleton stopped short as he spotted the ghost, then leapt closer in concern. "Nappy, shit, are you okay bud?"

The ghost had frozen in place, caught between fear and impulsive desire. He stared, wanting to speak but finding himself unable to, on the verge of shutting down entirely.
"Napstablook?"

"Sorry, I knew this'd happen." Dummy sighed, somewhat fond.
"I thought I did something." Sans sighed, a little relieved but still fairly unconvinced.
"I wouldn't know if something happened, he just showed up all panicky and asking questions! And I thought I'd help!"
"..What exactly are you helping with??"

"Well, he told me he wasn't feeling normal and we had a little discussion and this may sound strange to you, but his Soul has decided that you are his tangible form."

A few tears slipped down the ghost's face as he felt so utterly judged. He felt wrong, completely illegal and evil, Sans was going to hate him, Sans was going to fear him, it was his own fault-

"Heya Nappy." The familiar calm voice startled him out of his spiral, hand faintly illuminated in blue grasping the nub that was his own indefinite arm.
"Chill out, it's okay."
"𝙸-𝙸 𝙸-𝙸'𝚖 𝚜- 𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚘- 𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚛𝚢𝚢…"
"Relax, Naps. Nothing to apologise for. It makes sense. I'm just a little confused, s'all."

He glanced between the two, ghost and possessed dummy, then faced Napstablook again.
"Look, I get what he's saying. I get it. We all have stuff we can't control. But what I know is I'm definitely not ready for all that yet. And I think you could use a little time before considering inhabitation. I don't mind sharing the same space as it is though, alright?"
Napstablook nodded shakily.

"Okay. With that out of the way, are you alright? You look a bit like you've had your fill of dealing with people already."
He nodded again, softer.
"Aight." He put his hands in his pockets, opening up his jacket. "You up for sharing the same space again?"

For a moment, he considered flying off and hiding at home or in the dumps, but then he remembered how lonely it was, being stuck with only his increasingly negative thoughts for hours.

He jolted forward, phasing through with hardly a gasp at the suddenly more intense power being held just out of detection of others around. He could feel the power of a Human Soul just on the secondhand and it was sharp.

Sans turned to face Dummy, who'd been watching with slightly unsettling and intense fascination.
"We've been doing that lately. Y'know, my issue and all. Dude's a safeguard and gets to avoid people he don't wanna interact with."

"That is so clever!" Dummy exclaimed, obviously intrigued as his eyes glittered maddeningly. The skeleton chuckled. "Yeah, it was kinda his idea, too. Don't give me the credit. Only issue is those that know are concerned about the inhabiting part, which it isn't.. yet."

"Who knows? I could help explain for you!"
"Eh, the king and Mettaton, that's about it. I explained how it ain't inhabitation, but I guess with this new stuff you could be a help. ...I wouldn't mind having access to those books to know more 'bout it myself, though."

"Most are in the Libraby already." The dummy shrugged. "The lawbook you wouldn't really be allowed to see, but uh-" He hesitated momentarily.

"Napstablook could check it out on his own time. If he could borrow it for a little bit, you'd be able to read it together. I never read much on ghost monster pairings, they weren't my interest."

"Speaking of which, have you found a way to make yourself into the form you really want yet?"
Dummy paused, a little conflicted. A confused but fond look crossed his face.
"I might've.. just not completely sure yet."
"You can never be sure until you try."

He hesitated, then spoke softer than what was usual for the slightly crazed one. "If I get it right, you'll call me Mew Mew, right?"
"Of course, buddy."
A smile spread across Dummy's face. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."

With that, Dummy paused, then abruptly danced all over the place for a few seconds before taking off into the air, zooming back where he'd come from.
"He's excited." Sans commented, half hoping Napstablook would reply. All he got was an electric pulse near the core of his being.

Humming non-committally, he turned back to go back home. Instead, he was greeted with the sight of Papyrus bursting out the front door grandly, all smiles. The younger of the two spotted him and shouted. "Sans! I am going to see the sun again! We shall begin packing for our move later on in the afternoon- and you'd better not slack this time!"

The whole time he'd been talking, he had been coming closer at a high speed thanks to his long legs and boundless energy. "'Kay." Sans agreed, debating whether or not he would actually do that.
"Sans, I'm serious!"
"Oh I thought you were Papyrus."
"SANS!"
"Heh."
"That was terrible!"

The taller fumed at him a few seconds longer, then scoffed and spun around to continue through Waterfall, climbing up into the air to avoid having to traverse the landscape and lose time.

Sans chuckled after him, considering going out to experience the sun as well. After an internal debate, he decided to walk through Waterfall first. He never did that often enough anyway, and this was the last of the Resets. They were no more. The extra Soul in him definitely proved it, if nothing else would.
...Still didn't want to think about that.
You can't pretend I'm not here, Sans…

He froze, thoroughly unsettled.
Please don't do that. He hoped the message could be heard.
Okay..
Don't read my mind.
...I didn't mean to. The slowly waking voice explained sadly.
I just did.
Try not to, I like having my own thoughts.

He started forward, sighing. This was definitely going to be the start of a long, irreversible connection to another, the privacy of his own mind now not as private as it should be anymore.
...And maybe there'd be another joining it soon, if he could handle it.

He understood ghosts and their need to bond with what their Souls automatically chose as tangible bodies. It wasn't something they could consciously control. It was the subconscious seeing the most desirable possibilities in something that fit all needs and wants of the subconscious.

They could hardly influence it willingly, and it was something he himself didn't really want to stand in the way of. The idea of a ghost having a living being getting selected was new to him, but if it didn't really have any threatening aspects or dangers, then he didn't really see what was wrong with it.

...He rather liked the idea of not being alone in a sense, particularly with the possibility of not dying at the slightest injury. He just didn't have the clotting mana others did. He loses magic in seconds and dies in less than a minute from an injury that other skeletons could bear and survive easily.
The weakness hurt, but at least he could technically last longer than a minute due to how much he naturally had.
Depression just stole his energy away.

Sans was surprised to recognize magic that felt oddly similar to Papyrus, yet different. He blinked, glancing over to see nothing. There was no sign of his brother, just a small but lanky clothed figure in black and violet staring at him.

He slowly turned around to check if there was anyone behind him, but there was nothing but a froggit sitting by the water and croaking animatedly on the phone.

He turned back around, kind of expecting the figure to have vanished, but instead they were still staring at him from under their hood. Sans, confused, just slowly raised a hand in greeting. The other stared for a long moment, then with a tilt of the hood they raised a gloved hand as well.

He glanced back the way he'd been heading, then to the other- oh, they were approaching. Very cautiously, too, like an injured dog when asking a stranger for help.

"You seeing this, Nappy?" He muttered quietly as the mysterious figure approached.
"𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙿𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝙶𝚒𝚛𝚕…"
"I have literally never heard of them."
"𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚞𝚙 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜.. 𝚑𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚜 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝. 𝙸 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚔𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎... 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜. 𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚖 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜…"

"That's awful. Why's she called that?"
"𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚕𝚎, 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜... 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎."
"Where does she even live??"
"𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠.. 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘."
"What."
"..𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝? 𝙳𝚒𝚍 𝙸 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐..?"
"No, it's just.. I'm the only one who can do that. There's never been anyone.. else."

He trailed as the supposed Purple Girl came within hearing range. Out of curiosity of this possibly fellow teleporter, he took a careful step forward, hoping not to startle them.
The other paused, tensing.

They both stared at each other in some kind of contest before the stranger took a step back.
"You don't hide.." A little girl's voice whispered.
"Uh.. what would I be hiding from?"
"Them."
"And who's them?"
"You- you don't know? I-I- are-" She hesitated.

After taking a step back, she asked something in a frightened whisper.
"You are a skeleton, right?"

Weirded out, he made a show of checking himself.
"Yep, didn't suddenly become something else." He faced her again, hands returning to their pockets. "Still a skeleton." He caught a glimpse of a striped purple and grey sweater under her oversized hood. This was a child. Definitely a child.

"But- why are you out here? With all of them? They'll kill you, eat you alive, chew you up and spit out you- yo- your dust!"
He blinked. Once. Twice. Three times.
"... Okay, what on earth are you talking about?"

She gestured wildly behind him with a few inarticulate frustrated sounds. He glanced back, seeing only a Whimsum talking to a fish monster in the water.
"What great and terrible evil am I looking for?"

She whined, throwing her arms around in frustration. He remembered what Napstablook said and it clicked.
"Are you scared of other monsters?"
"They'll kill you!"

"Uh.. no. They won't. I'm friends with with everyone where I live, and trust me when I say that no one is killing anyone."
"Wha???"
"Yyyeeaaahh… who put that idea in you?" He asked, suspecting the answer.
"... Momma did.."

"Well." He patted her shoulder, noticing something off but oddly familiar about its thin stiffness. "Where do you live? I think your mom could use a little info on everyone else here."
"But. I'm not- I'm not supposed to be out here."
"Well I'm an adult, I think you'll be fine if I come with, eh?"

The logic made sense to her as she slowly relaxed, hesitant and confused.
"..I guess so.."
"See?" He patted it again, trying to place it. "You're okay, kiddo."

She jumped up then, animate as she grabbed his hand in mittens- she was dressed like she didn't want any part of her exposed- and started pulling him after her, leading Sans through Waterfall at random, keeping to walls and corners to avoid being seen, but in her rush she skipped a few, passing by a few cameras he could tell she didn't know existed.

It was a wonder she had been so unheard of before now with how careless she was being.
And for someone he'd been told could teleport, she sure didn't use the ability for any shortcuts.

They suddenly stopped in the aged, silent place that was the Wishing Room. She took him over to a corner with fewer flowers, hesitating before whispering. "I, uh, I live on the other side of this." She poked the wall.

He regarded it, not sure how to react. "Uh-huh… so how we going to the other side?"
"I have this thing, uh, nobody really knows about. Um. Can you promise not to freak out?"
"You're making me promise?" He asked with a hint of discomfort.

"Please?" He saw twin dots of lilac staring from her hood and face scarf, small but insistent as they bore into him. The eerie familiarity grew all the more unsettling as something started making sense in the back of his mind, but on the forefront he was.. unwilling to consider such an impossibility.
"I promise." He spoke with utter conviction despite not feeling any of it at all.

"Okay!" He suddenly recognized the feeling of shifting locations, completely different in the fact that it wasn't himself doing it, but a stranger's magic that was straining to do what came to him so easily.

He blinked when it was over, letting out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding.
"You can take shortcuts just like me."
"What?"

Sans turned, grinning. "Kid, you can do the same thing I can do."
His gaze landed upon the shy child just as her hood and scarf fell away.
His mind went blank.
".. You're not…"

A young girl with lilac eyelights and a purple bow stuck to her skull stared at him, sockets a good deal smaller than his own, jawbones slanted at an angle neither he nor Papyrus had, cheekbones slim and soft.

She peered at him quizzically, a face both disturbingly familiar and alien.
He was supposed to be the last, only with his brother.
It was just him and Papyrus.
Who is this girl?
"Who- who are you?"

She didn't seem to notice his bewilderment, hopping up and down briefly as she answered.
"My name is Lucida! What was yours?"
His mind was still flatlining.
"It- I.. thought it was just me.. and Paps..?"
She tilted her skull to one side. "But sir, what's your name?"

After a brief stutter, he managed to collect his thoughts enough to reply. "Sans. I'm Sans."
She nodded with her whole self. "Eyyup! Lucida!" She shook his hand wildly and removed her gloves. "Come on! You have to meet Momma!" She explained while turning to drag him again, leading through a part of the Underground he had never seen before.

The crystals in the ceiling were brighter, mostly white with a great deal more colors speckled throughout than in the rest of Waterfall, trees similar to that of the ones in the Ruins growing here and there, shedding their ambient lighting across the ground beside numerous vines with multicolored gleaming leaves, attracting insects to the carnivorous plants. Faintly glowing moss on the rocks shone brighter as they neared, ferns with leaves covered in something sticky shining until they got to close, to which they darkened and curled up on themselves.

He struggled to take all this in while his arm was being tugged out of it's socket, an entire extra ecosystem in the Underground that was cut off from the rest- how, he had no idea. He was busy dealing with the idea of not being as alone as he had previously imagined.
I thought the rest died in the war. They died in the war. They died in the war?

There was a simple house rising up ahead of him, one side visibly covered in a vivid mural with a child's skeletal handprints painted in numerous colors around the painted sky on one side. He blinked a few times at it, distantly wondering if this kid made it somehow before she told him to stay there and darted off.

"Wh.. what the fuck..?" He whispered incredulously when she disappeared around the side of the building.
"𝚄𝚑.. 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢, 𝚂𝚊𝚗𝚜?" Napstablook asked softly, sounding a bit breathless himself.

"I don't know? Buddy, we were alone. I've lived with that my entire life, this is.. I.. what do I say?" He spun around, taking in the surroundings with convuluted, racing thoughts.
"It was supposed to be the last Reset, not… am I dreaming?"
"𝙸𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕.."
"I…. I have to tell Papyrus about this."
"𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗?"
"A.. Soon as I have a chance."

Napstablook hummed in understanding as Lucida came leaping over gleaming stones, excited yet still a little anxious. "Come on! Come on! You have to tell Momma!"

She dragged him inside into a short foyer with off-white walls and dark wooden highlights, yellow ribbons painted on in wide, twisting streaks along the wall above simple furniture like a stand fitted with a single drawer, a basic lamp seated on top.

Before he could observe more he was out of the room and getting tugged down a side hall into a room with books lining the walls up to the ceiling, a simple recliner resided behind a desk with engravings on the legs, yet another skeleton seated in it.

Sans gaped, still barely recovering from one new skeleton. This one had Lucida's cheekbones but somewhat higher, a broader jawline and was definitely older. His eyelights held a worn, whitish sage color that landed on Sans with a note of curiosity.

"Lucida, did you wander off without telling us again?" Said the elderly one while sitting up, shutting the book in his hands with a bookmark.
"But Daddy, I was looking for Momma! Sans came from outside, and the other monsters are actually nice! They didn't eat him!"

There was a pause as the new one processed this, then he stood up carefully. "Lucida, why don't you go to your room for a minute? Your mother went out a few minutes ago regardless."
"Uh.. oh. I'm sorry." She turned to leave, crestfallen.
"Please close the door on your way out."

Sans was suddenly concerned as he heard the door click behind the girl, keeping his gaze locked on the stranger standing a good deal taller than himself.
"Uh.. heya. Didn't catch your name.." He was so out of his element with this situation he was turning awkward.

"What was she talking about there?" The older one asked fretfully. Sans shrugged, still staring.
"I.. don't know…. I was minding my own business when I noticed a kid wearing too many layers for Waterfall staring at me and.. just got weirder from there.."
The other was clearly put off by his staring, but he couldn't help himself.

"Where exactly is this Waterfall? I haven't heard of a place called that."
"You… it.. it's another part of the Underground. Holy.. I.. crap, I-" He felt his mind spiraling from the overload and paused, focusing on the ground.
"I don't know what this place is. Kid just dragged me here after saying some things that sounded a lot like how humans see monsters then.. fuck, how do I put this?"

He noticed the other staring at him curiously, hands folded in front of him. Sans sighed. "Look. You are obviously cut off from the rest of the Underground. Your kid was just wandering around and saw me and took me with her, but in the part of the Underground where I'm from, me and my bro are the last skeletons. I-" He huffed, starting to lose it. "Just- where the hell have you been?! Where were you in all this crap?! We were alone and just- I didn't have.." He blinked in surprise as a wet tear dripped onto the carpet beneath his furry slippers, soaking into the fabric.
"How many of you have there been this entire time?"

The other leaned over and hugged him, giving off a juniper and hickory scent from his sage turtleneck. "I am so very sorry. You grew up alone?"
"It was just me and Papyrus…"
"Did no one take care of you at all?"
"I.. we had Dad for a little while, but he kinda.. kicked the bucket early on and no one could take in babybones like us for long."
"..I am so very sorry about that."

Sans sighed. "...Not your fault, you didn't know about the rest of the Underground."
"No. If it is any consolation, I know that we were separated from the other races via a cave-in early on."
"All of you happened to be split off perfectly like that?" Sans questioned, not really believing it.

The other skeleton held his shoulders and looked at him. "You have to understand, at the time we were the most capable of the races. We were sent in the right region when it collapsed. It was a very long time ago."

"But if every damn skeleton was sent in, why? There had to have been kids-"
"There were no children but two babybones when we were imprisoned in the Underground."

Sans blinked several times, slowly connecting the dots as the older one studied him.
"I think you see it now."
"...Fucking.. I do."

The older skeleton smiled a little, looking at him. "Here I thought Candara looked like his uncle. You're definitely Calluna's boy."
Sans blinked yet again. "That's.. you knew my mother?"

"We were friends before and during the war. He didn't deserve to go so soon. He would have been a wonderful mother."
That was definitely overwhelming. Today was not stacking up in his favor.

"Do you need to sit down?" The elder asked while swishing the chair over, using a bone attack to push it around.
"I.. I don't know. I guess I do." Sans muttered weakly, collapsing into the seat when it was close enough. He could feel the springs poking him, but it was otherwise quite comfortable for such a worn-out thing.

The other smiled at him, moving to the door. "I'll give you a minute to think while I talk to Lucida."
"I still don't know your name." Sans sat up, now really hoping to find out. The older chuckled softly. "Garamond. My name is Garamond."
With that, Garamond slipped away, the sliding shut behind him with a faint click.

Sans sighed, zoning out slightly as his thoughts whirled as fast as his personal tornado. About a minute later, he jolted back to the present due to a particularly painful shock.
"Nappy?"

The ghost's somewhat distressed voice answered him.
"𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙺𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎.."
"...I think it's pretty clear he doesn't know."
"𝙳𝚘 𝚠𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚒𝚖?"
".. Well yeah. We definitely tell him, we just need to do one thing at a time."
He glanced at the bookshelves lining the walls, impressed by their detail and craftsmanship.
"Personally, I kind of want to see more of this place. Wouldn't you?"

Napstablook hesitated, then hummed in agreement.
".... It's definitely different." Sans muttered ruefully.
The ghost quietly agreed, but then mentioned something else.
"𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐.."
Sans blinked. "...Holy crap Nappy, you're right. That's horrible."

He paused. "..How would we get them out of here? Dig out the Wishing Room's wall?"
"𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝.."
"I-... Guess it'd work."
Napstablook shrugged, the electricity phasing through Sans effortlessly.

"Looks like that's what we're doing, then." He muttered, slowly falling back into the seat. He was a bit drained from the absurdity and chaos of the day, despite it still being early.

Even though he fought against it, it was all too easy to fall asleep in the old recliner.