For once, upon opening my eyes, I had been greeted with the absolute silence of the grand hall I had come to know so well. There was no one else here, just the scattered rose petals along the grand marble floors.

It was a calming desolateness, with nothing at all. A stagnant, yet fresh kind of air wafted through my nose, unmoving and stationary. Though this place did have a sense of placate, my  nerves couldn't help put feel on edge. I could still feel the sharp pain in the back of my head, as I touched it lightly with two pads of my fingers.

What happened to me?

Anticipating Sans' arrival, I looked around, trying to see if he were actually here, as if I had not seen him yet. However, that was not the case. I was completely solus.

It was rather lonesome not to find Sans here awaiting my return. I had grown used to seeing the skeleton immediately upon waking up here in this room. The border of Life and Death. Where had he gone? Was he late? Why is he not here? The questions seemed to go on, as troublesome as they were. They caused alarms to go off at a rapid pace inside of my small mind, and suddenly, an urge of drapetomani rushed through me, as my eyes darted around the room.

I didn't know where to go, or what to do. Could I leave this place? Would that be a bad choice?

"You look quite distressed." Sans' voice came from behind me. Gasping, I turned around, and held my hand over my chest in fear. He only chuckled, finding amusement in my frightened eyes. He was the same as usual, the black robe and hollow eyes, the only question I had is how he got here? Had I missed him? "Why so fearful?" He chuckled once more.

"You gave me such an outright scare!" I said, inhaling to calm down my beating heart. "Of course I would be fearful!" I said, sighing, and regaining my composure. "You're late." I said, after a moment of silence. My worried tone had not changed, as much as I had wanted to calm back down. I was sure Sans could even see it in my distressed expression by his first few words he spoke to me.

"Time is noting but relative." He said, winking at me. "Am I late, or is it that you are early?" He asked, causing me to think for just a moment, before shaking my head.

"You're always here before me." I said, a puzzled look spread across my face. "Why change it now?" I asked, causing Sans' amused expression to change slightly. Was he keeping something from me? After a moment of silence, I spoke again, "What is that face for?" I asked, watching his empty eyes gaze straight past me, as if he were thinking about something specific.

"Do you know how you arrived here?" Sans asked, looking at me now, exiting his entranced state.

"I'm not sure." I said, watching him inhale deeply, only to let out a large sigh. "I don't really know why I go here either. I just started coming here one day out of the blue." Looking at the ground, I mumbled the last little bit of the sentence, talking more to myself than him.

"When you fall asleep, Li—" He stopped, clearing his throat, and shaking his head, "Your conscious goes to this realm due to a deep connection you have to this specific area." He said, words seemed to flow straight out of his mouth like a smooth waterfall. "I greet you here when you are scheduled to sleep every night." Sans said.

I felt the back of my head, where the pain had not yet ceased, as things started to click inside of my small mind. "You were hit in the back of your head, bringing up a state of near—death, or as you humans like to call it, a concussion." He said, and my eyes darted to meet his in confusion. "You're in danger, Frisk." He said, staying planted where he stood, but his voice held a sense of urgency.

"Wait a moment!" I said, taking my hand off of my head swiftly. "How would you know that specific detail? You were not there!" I said, "Only the attacker could know that, or, you would be manipulating me through lies." I stayed where I stood, not being able to tell if he were about to move or not. My eyes immediately went towards the ground, and the rose petals that were there under him were not black and decayed, rather than the red, vibrant ones around me.

Sans sighed, and only held out his hand, looking at nothing but me as he stood there in silence. "Allow me to show you." He said, as a crow flew in through the opened windows up atop of the walls.

"That bird!" I said, cutting myself off, as I soon recognized the familiar bird as the crow that had greeted me back in my home for those few times. "I thought you had gotten hurt!" I said, walking over to the bird with my hands out, however Sans held out his other hand in protest.

"Stop." He said, and I halted in my tracks swiftly, putting my hands back down to my sides. "Yes, the crow was my doing." He said, "I had sent him to watch over you to make sure you were safe in your realm, and he reports back to me."

I thought about what he had said just now. "Then.." I said, trailing off and looking back at Sans, "There is someone after me?" I asked him, looking up with a trouble expression, as if I were about to cry. I couldn't understand as to why I had deserved this? Who was after me?

"Not someone." Sans said, and He had fought me attention once more. "Your high officials are suspicious, and you need to be carful. You're not safe where you are." A sinking feeling in my gut emptied my smile, and my eyes showed a petrified glimmer in them once Sans has said these words. The chairmen were after me? Why? "Someone from your government knocked you out because of their suspicions."

"Why would they...?" I had no words to describe what I was feeling at this very moment. I couldn't control my tears as they began to fall down my porcelain face. "Why me?" I hugged myself, looking down to the ground, as my tears begun to fall onto the floor. Slowly, I lifted my head up, and looked at Sans in the eyes, "I'm scared." I said, shaking from the built up anxiety and fear.

His expression shifted from an urgent, yet calmness, to a sad, shocked expression. He himself did not know what to do, and maybe that was why he said things so bluntly. Did he lack the empathy to feel what I felt? Was he a different creature altogether?
What even was he?

Why hadn't I asked these questions before?

As much as I wanted to ask these questions, I couldn't, for my mind was focused on the sheer shock of my situation at hand. I couldn't take it anymore, as my legs gave out under me, and I sat helplessly in the floor. "I don't understand!" I cried, as Sans stood awkwardly in front of me about three feet away. He was still and unmoving.

Suddenly, Sans began moving, in an urgent and worried tone. Sticking his hand into his robe pocket, he pulled out something I couldn't see myself. "Hey! I've got an idea." He said, trying to calm himself down. "Follow me." He stepped forward, reaching his hand out to me with a small, blue orb about the size of a marble. "Take this." He said, throwing it high, as I looked up to catch it. "Don't let go of it." He said, as he walked out of the hallway corridor.

There was a moment of silence, and for a second I thought that he had actually left me here alone. However, soon, a wave of dizziness came over me, and the world itself warped around in a spiraling motion, and soon, I was outside in a fresh bed of grass.

"I like to come here to calm down myself." Sans said, a few feet away from me.

Looking around, I didn't see the chapel in sight, only the bright green grass and a river down a few feet away from me as well. The rushing water was calming and satisfying, synchronized with the lush, soft grass that I felt with my hands. I didn't realize that the back of my head no longer hurt, after minutes of me putting my fingers along the pained area. "This is called the River of Souls." Sans said, sitting in a patch of decayed, black grass.

"The River of Souls?" I sniffled a bit of mucus that threatened to fall down my nose. "Why is that?" I asked, wiping the tears from my eyes and cheeks. My eyes felt puffy, and I knew immediately they were bloodshot.

"When someone dies, their memories are played in this river, and you get to see the happy lives they had lived." He said, looking into the river with a sense of calmness. "The scenery also helps, I guess." He said, sitting Alongside of the river, watching. "I figured It would help you calm down some."

Turing my gaze towards the river, I could see flashes of happy memories every second, as if I were watching a PowerPoint. It was pulchritudinous, and oddly peaceful. "Why do you not ever come close to me?" I asked, looking at Sans with a confused look. "Do you not enjoy my presence?" I asked.

There was a moment of hesitation, and Sans shrugged. "I do not enjoy being touched." He said, grumbling, almost. "Let's call it a habit." Sans sighed, looking into the distant horizon. This... place was beautiful, nonetheless. Distant cries of unknown animals whistled and sang beautiful music, while a gentle breeze wafted through the air surrounding me. It was soothing and calming, running my hands through the grass once more as Sans spoke once more: "You have to go back." Sans said, and I turned my head swiftly towards him.

"I do not want to go back!" I exclaimed, turning towards him. "I cannot look at them the same as I did before!" I said, in a rather hurried tone. I didn't want to return to my realm. "I want to stay here! Where I'll be safe!"

"Listen to me." He said, turning to face me once more, and the door to cross back over into my land appeared a few feet away from us. "You might not be as safe as you'd like in your world, however, you are better staying there than here." He said, in a hushed tone. "It is dangerous here, and the people here are ravenous. It isn't safe for a mortal such as yourself." Sans said.

I said nothing, and looked towards my home. The door back was decorated just as the chapel was where I arrive every day. Covered in stained glass, the mahogany wood was polished and pristine. "And whatever you do," He said, looking at me. "Do not draw more attention to yourself than you have already done." Sans eyes were unmoving and serious. "I will send Crawa to watch over you." He said, and all I could guess was that bird he carried.

"Why do you do so much for me?" I asked, and he stiffened, hesitating on his answer. "You have only just met me, so why?" I asked, genuinely curious about his actions upon helping my lost soul.

"I just need to keep you safe." He said, standing. "Now go." He pointed towards the door. "You are much stronger than you believe you are, Frisk." He said with a smile, despite the permanent grin plastered onto his face, his eyes told the story of bravery and faith.

"Thank you, Sans." I smiled, and walked through the large door.