#i also liked to put a twist on the ��everyone forgot gaster” thing

[rdps01]

close enough

[kittysukagasterfics]

A New Hobby

Note: Ahhh! I’m so sorry for the wait! School work kinda got out of hand and I had to take care of that! Anyway, onto the fic!

Handplates belongs to: @zarla-s

Requested by: Anonymous

Summary: The Human seems to have picked up a new hobby in bow-making! How will their skeleton family react to it?

     Sam groaned as they laid face down on the floor of the common room. They were beyond bored with nothing to do. Subjects 1 and 2 were too tired from tests earlier to play with them and were taking a nap. Gaster had told the Human not to bother him and the tiny clones for a while as they would be busy working for most of the day. They had Toby with them but all the pup seemed to want to do was sleep and be lazy. It seemed like it was going to be a boring day.

    “*You ask Toby what you should do today.” ‘*He blinks at you before ‘motioning’ you to follow him...’

     Confused but also curious, Sam followed Toby down the hallway and to a door leading to a room they’ve never been in before. Entering the room, the Human saw that the room was covered in an assortment of miscellaneous arts-and-crafts materials. Sam stared in awe at everything. There’s no way someone could get bored in a room like this! The Human looked through all the boxes with Toby’s help. They couldn’t really find a good art project to do that didn’t require making a huge mess for Gaster to yell at them for and then make them clean up.

    ‘*You start to give up and go back to the common room when Toby’s barking grabs your attention.’

     The Human walked over to Toby, who had something in his mouth. They had him hand it over so they could get a good look at it. It was a bow-making kit with an assortment of colored ribbons with the instructions still intact. Sam smiled brightly as they gave the dog pats on the head.

    “You thank Toby for his help and promise him extra treats later.”

     Taking the kit into the kitchen, Sam sat down at the table and got to work. They decided to make Subject 1′s bow first. The Human picked out a light blue and white ribbon and cut a decent amount of both of the colors. After folding over and making a loop with the two materials, Sam once again made another loop before twisting the ribbons around and tying them together. The Human then glued an adorable skull accessory that they had found onto it. Finally, Subject 1′s bow was complete.

     Smiling at their first completed bow, the Human started on Subject 2′s bow. They grabbed a piece of orange ribbon and a piece of white ribbon and repeated the process with this bow as well. They folded, looped, and finally twisted and tied it all together before gluing another skull accessory onto it. Getting a bit carried away though, Sam also made Toby a bow, a red one. Just as they were finishing, the brothers and Toby walked in.

“HUMAN SAM, CAN WE HAVE SOMETHING TO EAT?”

“yea, i’m hungry...”

The Human smiled and nodded, getting up from their project and heading over to the cabinets. Some grilled cheese sandwiches sounded pretty good so Sam searched through the kitchen for the ingredients to make some. Before they could get started however, 2-P piped up with one of his many questions.

“WHAT ARE THESE COLORFUL THINGS, HUMAN SAM?”

“are they candies? can i have one, sam?”

“You explain to the brothers that you made the bows just for them.” ‘*They look surprised...’

Taking a couple pieces of tape, the Human taped the ribbon bows on the babybones’ skulls. The two of them looked adorable yet confused. But the two looked happy nonetheless. The brothers thanked Sam who turned back to the counter top to continue making lunch. Before they  could however, 1-S asked another question.

    “did ya make one for him too?”

     Sam froze, stopping their spreading of butter on the slice of bread they were holding. They had completely forgotten about Gaster! The Human was so excited about making presents for the brothers that they forgot to make their soulmate a bow as well.

   “*You tell Subject 1 that you’ll make Gaster one while the brothers and Toby eat lunch.”

    After quickly making the grilled cheese sandwiches and pouring some dog food for Toby, Sam sat down and got to work on Gaster’s bow. They chose to use black and purple ribbon for him. Once again, the Human folded, looped, twisted, and tied their ribbons while Subjects 1 and 2 watched them as they ate.

~~~~~~

     After lunch, Sam sent the brother and Toby to go play while they give Gaster his bow. They made their way down the hall towards Gaster’s office room. He had told them earlier not to worry about getting him lunch but Sam prepared a bag of chocolate candy hearts just in case. They came up to the door and knocked on it softly before entering the room. The Human was about to greet the skeleton and his clones only to realize that they were all fast asleep. Not wanting to disturb his slumber, Sam placed the bag on a nearby and used a piece of tape to stick the bow to the top of Gaster’s head.

     The Human then turned to leave, but not before planting a kiss on the skeleton’s forehead. Gaster hummed in his sleep as Sam turned and walked out, shutting the door behind them.

~~~~~~

     Sam wasn’t really paying attention to their surrounds as they washed the dishes left from lunch since they had their headphones on. So when Gaster walked up behind them, the Human didn’t notice until he tapped them on the shoulder. Taking off the headphones, Sam turned to face the scientist, who had a stern look on his face. He was also holding the bow out towards them.

    ‘*You start to greet Gaster but he interrupts you before you can...’

    “*Sam, do you want to explain to me what this is?”

    “*You tell him that it’s a bow...”

    “And why, pray tell, was this on my skull?”

     Sam didn’t get to answer since Gaster began to explain how he had woken up and went off to work, not realizing he was wearing the bow. The scientist only found out when Alphys and Asgore questioned him about it.

    “Luckily for you Sam, I was able to clear up any suspicion by saying that it was just a prank done by one of the monsters in Snowdin...”

    ‘*You start to apologize but he puts his hand out to stop you.’

    “Spare me the excuses, Sam. I don’t need to hear them.”

     The Human looked upset by this and was about to turn back to finish washing the dishes when they suddenly felt Gaster grab their SOUL with his magic and yank them backwards. Sam began to struggle while the skeleton tightened his grip on them.

    “Stop moving, Sam. You know you deserve this...”

~~~~~~

    “and yer in trouble now?”

    “*You tell him that you are...”

    “WELL, YOU LOOK VERY CUTE IN THE RIBBON, HUMAN SAM!”

     Sam blushed and mumbled out a ‘thanks’ while the brothers just giggled. Gaster was watching the three with an amused expression. He had forced Sam to wear the bow themselves for the rest of today. They weren’t very happy about it at the moment. Hopefully, the Human will realize how dangerous their little gift was. After all...

     A person can only get so suspicious before they start to investigate...

Note: Foreshadowing? Never heard of her >w>. Thank you everyone so much for reading! Once again, I apologize for wait. Hopefully I can get back on schedule. Thank you so much for reading! I love all of you! Stay tuned for more.

[hahanoiwont]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Undertale (Video Game) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Papyrus & Sans, Frisk & Sans, Alphys/Undyne, Papyrus & Undyne, Frisk & Everyone, W. D. Gaster & Papyrus & Sans Characters: Sans, Frisk, Papyrus, Alphys, Undyne, W. D. Gaster, Gaster Follower(s) Additional Tags: playing with the FUN mechanic, The Void, Magic, Determination, spacetime shenanigans Summary:

Shortcuts are an exact science.

Shortcuts are an exact science. They move through the Void—an infinitely-collapsing nothing dimension that takes up no space and time, but at the same time is uniform all across whenever it is accessed. The Void is a constant, while Sans and anyone following him and the starting point and the destination and a couple other environmental considerations are the variables. Most of the magic cost of a shortcut comes of enforcing regular six-dimensional reality onto the Void long enough to use it as a path to a regular six-dimensional destination.

If it’s just Sans taking a shortcut, he can cut out most of the cost—a relative second or two in the void won’t remove him from reality like it would most folks.

Sometimes he remembers why that is, sometimes he doesn’t. But he always remembers that the Void will hesitate to destroy him. The Void is as safe for Sans as…well, a relatively safe space in a dimension of infinite entropic constants. If he’s gonna have trouble with a shortcut, it’s gonna be in the world of variables, in himself or where he pops out or what he did wrong in his calculations.

Sans is very fast and very accurate in his calculations. He hasn’t shortcut himself into a staircase or table since…he can’t remember when. There was one time in particular, he thinks…

He’s pretty sure it’d scared…someone…Papyrus(?) so bad that he’d gotten a strongly-worded lecture about respecting the seriousness of his studies and not using highly advanced, theoretical magic to save ten seconds of walking. And the dangers of the Void, which always makes him snort when he thinks about it.

Come to think of it, he’s pretty sure he remembers Pap also being there for that conversation, saying he’s sure Sans knew what he was doing, and Sans wouldn’t endanger himself carelessly, so it must have just been a mistake, right, Sans?

That had actually made him feel worse than the lecture.

And then Papyrus had taken him quietly aside later, and asking him Could You Have Fallen Down If You Did A Mistake? in the way that meant Tell Me You Care More About Your Life Than This, I Know You Are Better Than This, I Am Already Impressed By Your Accomplishments And Wish You Wouldn’t Show Off If It Could Hurt You. If Sans recalls correctly, he’d said something like…

“nah, paps, i was just—i was just being dumb, wasn’t thinking, forgot we moved that table, didn’t even hurt, right? just felt weird for a bit, it’s, uh, um.” He’d let out a breath and hung his head, unable to look at his brother’s increasing distress. “sorry. i shouldn’t have been showing off. i was just…yeah. that was stupid of me.”

He’d just been having fun with having a part of his studies he could show off to Papyrus and ****** without having to practically write a thesis to explain what it was and why it was kinda cool. Theory is great—Sans loves theory—but it was fun to have a practical application, and a useful one at that. He’d just gotten kinda carried away.

He’d thought he was being all responsible, owning up to what he did wrong (at least to Papyrus; he’d taken his brother’s out in front of ******) and apologizing for it, but Paps had seen right through him.

“That Was Actually Pretty Cool, Though,” Papyrus had said. Sans had perked up entirely, forgoing scuffing his shoes on the floor in favor of basking in his brother’s admiration.

“right? isn’t it? i can teleport!” he’d said. “i mean. maybe i should have…tested it out a bit more. it kind of was an ‘irrational and dangerous misuse of untested theoretical physics,’ and all. lab safety is cool. that was…kinda not that.”

Not to mention how the shortcut that had taken him halfway through a table in the lab hadn’t been his first shortcut—he’d shortcut straight to Papyrus once he had a decent idea of how to balance out his equations for it, and spent most of the afternoon tweaking his technique and teleporting circles around his brother. That had been the opposite of lab safety. Especially when he left the lab to do it.

Somehow, Sans had figured he was just smart enough that nothing would go wrong. “You’re never too good to make mistakes” is a lesson he’d learned later.

“I Was Not Really Encouraging Good Science Habits, Either,” Papyrus had admitted at the time. “It’s Very Cool That You Have Discovered This Neat Way To Use Your Magic! But! In The Future! Maybe We Can Make A Corner Of The Room That We Don’t Put Things In? And Then? You Use Your Cool New Magic To Go There? And Not In A? Table???”

Sans hadn’t said it then, because he’d had some sort of hang-up where he didn’t say it out loud, but that had been one of the many times that Papyrus had been so cool. Even when Sans had been, in hindsight, kind of insufferably proud of his scientific leanings, Papyrus always let him know that he thought what Sans was doing was cool and impressive, and that he was proud of his brother’s accomplishments.

Sans can remember that incident most of the time, even though it doesn’t really make sense with the memories he also has where he never told Paps about his interest in science, and told him he was going to dentistry school instead. The dentistry story is the one he always remembers, though, so that must have…ugh. It always gives him a headache to remember this stuff.

Not worth the effort. He’s never gonna get that past back anyway, so why bother sorting out what really happened? Better to take what he has now: the coolest brother in the world, some pretty good friends, some pretty bad jokes, the sky. The Surface.

He’d never been as impressed by the idea of the Surface as other monsters seemed to be—seemed like it couldn’t be that great when Sans already had everything he needed underground with him. Not worth risking that for some world they’d been cut off from for thousands of years, right?

Stars, he’s never been happier to be wrong.

What he has now is everything he’d ever had underground, plus an ever-widening world of friends and family; sights to see, foods to try, things to avoid doing. He sure is glad he did absolutely nothing while Frisk did all the work of getting the Barrier down.

At least, he assumes he did nothing. Frisk won’t say what happened, and no one else remembers.

There are a lot of things Frisk won’t say. And it’s not just because they don’t talk much.

Doesn’t stop them from being a curious kid, though.

Today, Sans is relaxing, enjoying his escape from Alphys’s “SELF-ESTEEM TRAINING!!!” with Papyrus and Undyne, when Frisk trots up to him and stops, staring down at him insistently.

“‘sup, buddy?” he asks. “you find a cool rock somewhere?”

Frisk sometimes brings artifacts back from their adventures—clothes, tools, toys; almost always human artifacts that they seem to pick up from where no human had any business being in the first place.

Doesn’t look like that’s what’s going on now, though. They just have their stick with them, and the locket they picked up somewhere Underground. They’re clutching their shirt hem.

“…home?” they ask, craning their head to look behind them. They scan the surrounding buildings and trees at the edge of town before they check on Paps and crew.

Sans scans the area, too. Frisk hadn’t gone far—he’d been keeping an eye socket on them, or at least their SOUL; they hadn’t been out of his sight for more than a few minutes.

Then again, they do get nervous when they haven’t seen Toriel or Asgore for a while, even after years have passed and their new parents have failed to abandon them. Maybe they’re just antsy?

Undyne suplexes a dumpster unexpectedly, and Frisk whips around to face the noise, one hand outstretched like they would shield Sans from Undyne’s reign of terror against his fellow piles of garbage.

A tense moment passes. Frisk stares at Undyne, who is attempting to suplex Alphys, who is being carried by Papyrus. It looks like they’re playing some sort of keep-away game.

“pretty jumpy there, buddy,” Sans notes. Frisk glances at him, before going back to scanning their (still perfectly normal) surroundings. “makes a guy wonder. what’s rattling your bones?”

Not even a huff. Frisk just shrugs uncomfortably.

“come on. you can trust me, right? tell your buddy sans what’s wrong.” He winks his right eye.

Frisk squirms. They’ll break in a second, Sans is sure of it. Just a little more pressure…

Frisk’s eyes dart away, focusing intently on nothing, and their body twists to follow their gaze. They trot towards it two paces without even seeming to realize it, before their movement is arrested.

They reach up to clutch at something—hard to say what, from Sans’s vantage point on the ground behind them. Their collar, maybe?

They back up a half pace, making the tiniest conflicted noise. They shake their head.

“uh. frisk?” Sans asks.

Frisk glances at him, turning to keep both him and the point of nothing that’s caught their attention in their field of view.

Sans doesn’t know a lot about human eyesight, but if he doesn’t miss his guess, they’re focusing far away. Are they looking at the end of town or past it?

He can’t see anything there, but Frisk sometimes knows things he doesn’t. He’ll have to come back here later and see if he can rustle anything up.

“Home,” Frisk insists. “We shouldn’t be here.”

They reach down towards Sans, and Sans forgoes jokes for a moment to let them pull him up. Frisk doesn’t seem like they’d take the old whoopee cushion joke too well right now.

Normally that wouldn’t stop him, but he doesn’t want to be the shout that causes the avalanche. Frisk is pretty fearless normally. Whatever’s spooked them could be pretty…spooky.

They don’t let go of Sans once he’s on his feet, choosing instead of grab his sleeve and tug insistently. He lets them propel him along, taking an arcing path towards the others.

If the kid’s keeping an even radius from whatever’s scared them, that puts it past a stand of trees. Nothing he can see right now, and they shouldn’t be able to, either.

Sans stares at the back of Frisk’s head. what’s going on here, kiddo?

Frisk doesn’t seem to notice, focused between Papyrus and the trees, until they glance back at him again.

“Do you…” they start. Then they shake their head, apparently deciding that whatever it is, he doesn’t.

“oh, yeah. all the time,” he says vaguely.

“No, no. Nothing. Nothing,” Frisk says. “It’s—did you ever—work with—nothing. Never mind.”

“i’ve had a few jobs, kiddo, i’ve worked with a lot of people,” Sans comments. “maybe a name would jog my memory?”

It’s not a joke, but Frisk snorts, only a little off-beat.

“No, it wouldn’t. Never mind. You should go home. Bring everyone. Game night.” They tug Sans forward and push him the last few feet, to Papyrus, Undyne and Alphys.

The training crew has politely paused midway through a game of catch with Alphys as the ball. Undyne sets her down by the head as Sans and Frisk approach.

“What’s up? Here to join in our EPIC TRAINING SESH?!?” she shouts.

The force of her passion generates a gust of wind that goes right through Sans. Frisk, on the other hand, has to cling to his hoodie to avoid being pushed back, at least until Papyrus’s blue magic anchors them more firmly to the ground.

“Brother! I Am Glad You Have Finally Chosen To Join Us, Instead Of Sitting Under A Tree And Being Lazy All Day! I Am…Surprised You Have Finally Chosen To Join Us! Shocked, In Fact!” Papyrus says. His eye sockets narrow. “…This Wouldn’t Happen To Be A Jape That You Are Concocting With Frisk, Is It? Human! I Have Told You Not To Succumb To My Brother’s Lazy Trickery! You Should Join Us In Training Just To Block Out His Tomfoolering Influence!”

Sans cuts in before he can get on a tangent—normally he has fun egging his brother on, but Frisk just might try pushing them all home if they dawdle too long, and funny as that would be, Sans doesn’t want to know what lengths Frisk would go to to get them all settled into a relative “safe” area.

“frisk just wanted to head home a bit early. too much fun out here, figured we’d ask who’s up for game night,” Sans says.

Frisk lurches and looks at him strangely, even though he’d pretty much just said what they had. Unless “too much fun” means something different to humans. Sans should remember to look that up some time after he stalks Frisk’s encounter with whatever’s out there.

It’s not stalking if you have parental consent, right? It’s, uh…temporary…guardianship. That promise he made to Tori all those years ago counts for that, right?

Welp. Too late to be quibbling over moralisms, anyway. Sans is in this deep, and it’s not like the kid is gonna let anyone else know what’s going on.

Papyrus hesitates, a bit thrown by the sudden plan change—they have a game night already scheduled for tomorrow, tonight was supposed to be relatively free so he could prepare a Meal of Epic Proportions for it—but Alphys is perceptive as Sans knows her to be.

After being placed on the ground, she’d gotten her bearings and read some part of Frisk’s frantic discomfort off of their posture. Their face has resumed a blank expression, but their free hand is clutching their locket, and they’re standing half-hidden behind Sans closer than usual.

Or, from the perspective to the point they’re avoiding, Sans is half-hidden behind them, with Papyrus and Undyne grouped behind them both.

While Papyrus is talking, Alphys makes a subtle gesture to Sans—??—and he shrugs one shoulder and tilts his head back—dunno, but i’m going along with it.

This is not the first nor the last time Alphys will be frustrated by Sans’s staunch refusal to get overtly involved in a puzzling situation, but she does trust him, and she knows him well enough to know he’ll be doing his own investigation later. She pipes up in support.

“I-I think th-” The weight of everyone’s attention makes her flinch, but not as bad as she was during the worst of the amalgamates mess. She steadies after a moment. “I think that that would be f-fun. We c-could bring over something to…”

Frisk’s grip on Sans’s sweater, still there, tightens a fraction—again on the word ‘fun.’ Their stick shifts against his back. Where they’re holding it it’s sort of like a weird seat belt, or some kind of really ineffective shield.

Frankly, if anything were to get through the human at his back, there’s not a lot that would make an effective shield, except maybe magic. Given that Frisk only has DETERMINATION, a stick is as good as anything else, Sans supposes.

Sans shifts slightly, not even enough to be adjusting his weight, and moves his hand a bit. nope. Hopefully Alphys’ll get his meaning—Frisk said they should go to Sans and Paps’ house, and they seem to want to keep everyone together. Whatever is suggested needs to fill both of those conditions.

Jeez, this is really straining his teamwork muscles. It’s been forever since he and Alphys have had to be this in sync. Last time they worked together on something sensitive was…uh…

“Actually, I think! We left off right before the series finale of Kissy Kissy Mer-mew! And even if it’s not! As good as the original! Th-that’s still at your house! So we can watch that! And try making popcorn again!” Alphys quickly course-corrects, and Frisk relaxes. Sans nods, and Alphys relaxes, too.

Oh, he is really not getting out of this without explaining something to her later. He owes her several favors for this one.

Well, maybe one less, with the popcorn suggestion. She has essentially sacrificed his kitchen.

“Good,” Frisk says, pushing at Sans again.

Undyne and Papyrus, watching this interplay like a particularly subtle ping-pong match, decide it’s not worth questioning. Except…

“Hey, isn’t you guys’ house that way…?” Undyne points back to their house, snowy roof clearly visible, a hundred or so feet from the Dreaded Copse of Evil Trees.

“don’t worry.” Sans winks. “i know a shortcut.”

Frisk jerks his shoulder back, and-

Sans takes a shortcut. Taking four other people with him is a bit more costly, magically speaking, than he usually prefers; but whatever’s intimidating Frisk will probably be disconcerted by the Void, right? Home field advantage.

He makes up the calculations for his shortcut on the fly, like he always does. It’s a short trip spatially, and he has a good grip on everyone’s magical signatures to pull them with him. It should be an easy trip. Something he’s so accustomed to at this point that it’s barely math, more intuition. He knows what the hit to his magical reserves will feel like, he’ll be a little hungry and a little sleepy; he knows where he’s going; he knows he’s going to dump Frisk in a snowbank because they could use a laugh.

It should be totally forgettable.

Instead, the Void bucks and writhes, around him and through him like a living thing, like drowning or being crushed or ripped apart into infinitude, and in that endless instant of travel, he grasps every atom, every scrap of energy that makes himself up, and desperately scrabbles for something to keep it together. What shape is he supposed to fit together in? What is he? He’s—

Magic. Magic, that’s what he’s doing. He’s using magic to travel, and he can use it to hold things, move things, can’t he? A stray photon attempts to escape form him and he grabs everything near him, everything he can feel, with blue magic, drags it to him—

Sans. He’s Sans. He’s Sans the skeleton, whole and in the corrupted void—it acts almost like a physical space, right now, flashing lights that he experiences as numbers and words, FUN on a little graph that spikes up and up. If he looked deeply into it, he’s certain that he would understand what went wrong, what happened, how it all works; the void could show him so many things he doesn’t understand.

Instead, he reaches out with his blue magic. someone, anyone.

Falling apart in the same way he was, he can feel his friends. He grasps for Papyrus first; he’s similarly resilient against the Void normally, but Sans isn’t sure “normally” applies right now.

It’s the work of an hour, the work of an instant to crush Papyrus’s magic back into a workable SOUL, and in that infinite moment he gathers his brother’s flaking dust and forces magic and light into it. Intense blue gravity fuses dissipating particles back into one being, and he reaches for Alphys. She’s the least DETERMINED, therefore, most vulnerable to harm.

His magic falters. It’s been a long time since it’s had this kind of workout. He grits his teeth and pushes harder. Time doesn’t work in the Void, so technically, he hasn’t spent any of that magic yet, right? He can use it simultaneously with himself. He’s only experiencing this in linear time because his mind is trying to make sense of what’s happening to him. As long as he doesn’t die or anything, he can reuse the same magic and the same moment. Right?

Sans is clumsier this time as he reaches blindly, messily towards Alphys’s relative direction. Her own magic should keep her alive as long as she’s not actively disappearing into the Void, right? He pushes her magic and dust into a general shape with a crack! and moves on.

Oh. That crack might have been him, actually. Ouch.

…so, turns out he does still have limited magic in nonlinear time.

Undyne isn’t falling apart so much as getting…gooey. Her DETERMINATION is trying to keep her together. Good, he just needs to get her out of the Void and hope it’s not too little, too late.

With effort, Sans searches for the other end of his shortcut, the inevitable finish to the calculation he’d based their path on, but…the Void is twisting, jerking around him—he can’t find it without looking through the Void, and once he looks, he’ll be lost.

Sans blindly tears a hole with a SOUL-deep tug that tell him he’s reached the end of his energy. Weakly, already falling back into physical reality, he turns back to find Frisk—

--who’s watching him, reaching with wide, wet eyes, as he and the others are saved, just a touch too far away to reach them.

Sans, out of magic entirely, reaches his physical hand back towards them, knowing already how futile it will be. Frisk’s mouth sets as they see something in his expression. He’s able to see an echo of their immediate future, how their hand will drop, how it will be taken up be an off-color afterimage of them, how both humans—human-shaped beings—will hold on to one another as they watch the tear in the Void close without them. Abandoned.

And then that future vanishes like a puff of smoke that someone put a bullet through, as someone else’s blue magic scoops Frisk up, sending them crashing into Sans and then both of them to Papyrus.

Sans’s brother is so cool.

Sans is able to see through his darkening vision that they’re falling through a dizzying expanse of gray and white, or at least that’s how it looks to him, before he passes out cold.

Paps can stick the landing for them.

(read it on ao3)

[secret-horror]

Holidaytale Slight Expo of Characters

SOOOOOO. No one asked for this, but I'm getting my thoughts out there for the peeps wanting to know. Forgive my grammer if they're there. I'm not so good at it, and I have problem with it.."

And I haven't really explained much of Holidaytale. So I guess here is my expo on it, since I'm always slow on development, take all of this lightly, THINGS MAY CHANGE AND SHIFT! It's just a little bio, I guess.

In Holidaytale each monster is a spirit of a holiday. (The main monsters, are main or well known holidays. While smaller monsters are given random days, ex. National day's.)

Each monster get that holiday by personality, or what was saw fit. And dresses to that day and/or season.  

So here they are:

Frisk, the fallen child, they had become the spirit of birthday. Fell in and and was stripped down to their "Birthday Suit". Luckily to find a wrapped box to wear and cover themselves with. But now must travel through Holidaytale to get out. And the monsters don't take to kindly to NON-holidays.

Flowey, the spirit of Day of the Dead, you meet and his area is covered with shines for the dead. His face stained with the beautiful bright colors and bones on his stem and leaves with a red bow. He has a small Spanish accent and if angry enough he will cuss you out in Spanish.

Toriel, the spirit of Thanksgiving. Her heart is still pure with kindness, she is always thankful for what she has and for everyone she meets. She makes the most delicious Pumpkin Pies with some cinnamon dashed on top and whipped cream.

Sans, or know as Holi, is the spirit of April Fools. He is small, very very small. But don't let those puppy eyes and smolness get to you, he is the prank king of all. His hat produces pie magically, and at random flavors. And if over joy he will burst into confetti, he also sneezes it. He loves to drink Whipped Cream.

Papyrus, or Star, is the spirit of New Year's day. He enjoys a bottle of wine any day. And enjoys experiencing new things, new friendships. He admires Undyne's strength and admiration for every monster's Independents. Hence why he has a set of Roman Candles as a weapon.

Grilby, the spirit of Saint Patrick's Day. He runs the Irish Pub, "Fear an Lasair" (which means The Flame Man in Irish). The jukebox only play Irish music and folk songs, sometimes a live band will play. Fear an Lasair serves more Ireland cuisine (still to be looked into) and of course alcohol.

You will see Star there most night, when he is not watching Holi, drinking more refine alcohol that Grillby keeps for him in the back.

  Muffet, the spirit of Chinese New Years. She speak fluent Chinese, but not much English. She made write English if she need to speak, but she only uses enough english for business. She sells items associated with the day, and even some small chinese snack or finger foods. Her little spider minions are dressed in chinese dragon suits.

Undyne, the spirit Independents Day, is filled with freedom and goodwill. She will always pull monster's freedom and rights before things. She is a free spirit that loves explosions and fireworks. Her spear is make from the fireworks that sparks her soul! She will never turn down lighting them off. She is crazy sometimes and loves to watch historical documents or history movies, or war. But in times of need she will be serious.

Alphys, the spirit of Easter, I... I really haven't put much thought into her personality and such, aside from the norm. I will think more on it when I draw her again. Besides that her lab is made from dirt to form a hut and her floors are grass. She sleeps in a straw nest with colored egg pillows and she watches Hop hop Hoppity Bunny 2, instead of mew mew Kissy cutie 2. Cuz reasons.

Mettaton, the spirit of Valentine's Day. "LOVE IS IN THE AIR, DARLINGS <3 WELCOME TO METTATON'S LOVING LOVE DATING SHOOW! IT'S ABOUT TO GET HOOOT~ <3"

..... I hope that sum up what Mettaton is. XD

He is a Hopeless Romantic, and love those cheesy Romance, he loves to wear roses in his hair and wear fancy attire as if going on a date. Depending on his mood he will wear either gender of clothes. He tends to flirt a lot but he doesn't really notice he does it. He runs a dating show, and loves to ship other together for possible love.

Asgore, the spirit of Christmas. He was a proud soul, using his joys of Christmas spread to all the monster of the underground. He would every year bring everyone a thoughtful gifts, sing carols with them, and treat them to all a nice warm cup of Hot Chocolate. After the war when they were forced to go under and after the death of his son, his joy and spirit started to deplete and the gifts stopped after a while and he would lock himself away. Toriel, his adoring wife, tried her very best to cheer him up. But it didn't work. The cold from the snowflake season of his holiday had hardened his heart and he swore to break out of these cage and return to the surface. His holiday slowly twisted ( Krampus ) and he forgot his old self that brought joy to all. His wife in fear fled the castle. Now he sits in his throne with his holly garden, he waits for the humans to come and kill them.

Chara, the spirit of Halloween, the first child to fall.. They were innocence to begin and became family with Asgore and Toriel, and their son, Asriel. After some time passed they were accepted as family, even through they were a human. ....Until the day. They were playing with Asriel, and a voice heeded her. Taking control of her body and killed Asriel.

Once they were killed, they wander in waiting to control the humans path to kill. All their attempts has been failures so far, but she will continue. Every child she changed her outfit. For the Fallen Child she took on the costume of a witch. But they refused to control the Fallen Child, from them reminding them of Asriel. They just try to influence the child.

Asriel, the TRUE spirit of Birthday, when he was born he became the spirit of Birthday. Though that was not a true holiday. He would try to remember everyone's of the monster's birthday. So he could make gifts for them, just to be like his papa. But after his dead. His birthday became memorial day. Unknown to his parent that he is now the Day of the Dead.

Gaster, spirit of $#@!!?@...

[as-breakable-as-glass]

A few days after Gaster’s return came and went in an odd combination of peace and uncertainty. Everything about them was calm, but at the same time no one knew what the next step to take was. Gen had called off training to spend time with him, and Glass didn’t have anywhere to call in so of course he was there as well. Gaster himself was quiet, a near shadow that wandered between rooms. It was the first time they had everyone under the same roof together in ages, yet conversation was lacking. It was their father, as quiet as he usually was, who finally broke the fine layer of tension that had begun to settle by inquiring how they should go about explaining his disappearance. It wasn’t like Dings could stay in the house forever. They decided to leave any mention of the void out of their explanation about Gaster’s disappearance. Gen would go out spreading the news of Dings’s return and would say that after the accident Gaster suffered amnesia- which wasn’t really a lie- and in his altered state, had wandered to Waterfall where he stayed hidden for years- that was a lie. He didn’t seemed too bothered by having to twist the tale a bit. He seemed more excited than anything else in fact, saying it would be the beginning of Gaster’s “return to his social life!”

From the initial telling of their story, word would get around and people would fill in any gaps with their own fables. That was one of the wonders of living in a gossip starved community; monsters loved to invent their own news. Now that they had started, Gen insisted there were other things that needed addressing. Such as their living space. Their house had never been big, but it had been enough for Glass and Gen. With an additional family member however, their two bedroom cabin had never felt smaller. For now, Gaster was staying in the couch, but that couldn't be a permanent solution. Gen was adamant about that. It was decided that it was best they moved. Hotland was the area Gaster had lived in the longest after monsters had spread out from Old Home. Gen hoped the familiar area would jog some of their father’s memories, and Dings was optimistic. Glass liked to think it would help too, but he couldn’t shake the feeling going back would change things in ways none of them expected. That was the future, go figure right? Any apprehension he had put aside, Glass was near set. He’d say one or two goodbyes, definitely have a chat with the lady in the Ruins before going, but that was all he had on his to-do list. He had nothing else holding him. Most of the tying up of loose ends was going to be Gen’s job. Maybe that's where his reservations stemmed from in the first place.

And since today was full of addressing issues… “What are you going to do about the guard?” “Hmm?” Gen looked up. Glass made a useless gesture in the air. “You can't keep training in Hotland can you? All the available guard positions are out here in the boonies.” “You’re right, I’ll have to tell Undyne that I’m resigning at our next training session.” “What, just like that?” Glass asked. “Come on bro, joining the royal guard has been your goal since coming here. Even as a kid you looked up to them.” “My dream was bing capable of protecting everyone yes, but I can do that anywhere in more than one way. I will adjust! “I’m sorry…” For a moment the brothers had forgotten their father was still in the room. He hadn’t uttered a word in a while and they jumped at the sound. Gen gave a confused smile. “I don’t understand why you are apologizing?” Gaster was looking down at his lap. “I didn’t want to make you upset.” “Why does everyone think I am upset? Do I look upset? I’m fine! This move will be good for us all! If you blame yourself for something that we should be celebrating, then I will be upset!” “But this was important to you?” “Yes,” he admitted, “but there are plenty more things that are important to me.” Gen smiled “Like family!” And with that the subject was dropped. Gen wouldn’t hear another word against it, genuinely insisting that the three of them should do something to celebrate.

Well, whatever they did, Glass couldn't say he was that sorry to go. He was sorry this was uprooting his brother again, but Gen didn’t seem sad, and Gaster was eager to find something familiar he could latch onto. If his bro was happy, and Dings was happy, then he would be too, regardless of their residence. He wouldn’t miss this place. Sure it had it’s moments and acquired pleasures. There was the lady behind the door, the woods, the lack of people. All were good things he’d regret leaving once he was actually gone, but as for the general nothing that was this town, Glass had never found himself deeply attached. The next day Glass found Gaster curled up on the couch, a bunch of half packed boxes and piles of things around him. Gen must have assigned him a job to keep his hands busy, but Gaster wasn’t packing anything at the moment. He had his full attention on a framed photo in his hands Glass pushed a box out of the way and sat down next to him. “Hey Dings, what’d you find?” He started a bit and looked up smiling. Instead of answering, he turned it around and presented the picture to Glass. It was an old one, so old Glass had forgotten they still had it. It was him as a kid, couldn’t have been older than five. He was in Gaster’s lap, reaching up towards his face and not even trying to pose for the camera.

Ding’s face was how he remembered it, marginally less cracked and broken and his eye lights a steady glow. The arm that Gaster wasn’t holding Glass with was wrapped around the shoulders of another skeleton. She was a bit shorter than Dings, but stood in a way that made up for every inch. In a way, she almost appeared to be standing taller.

A look of mirth on her face softened any firmness it may have held as she tried to encourage kid Glass to look at the camera. Ironically, not even she was looking at the lense. It had been an accidental shot, the angle was crooked, and the taker’s thumb could be seen at the edge, but Glass remembered Dings had gotten a frame for it anyway. To Glass it felt like he was looking at a relic. “Wow you found that. Heh, it’s been awhile since I saw that one.” “That is me and you, but where is Papyrus?” “He wasn’t born yet.” Glass’s eyelights jumped between Gaster and the photo. “How much do you remember about mom?” “Ah, not much…” “You don’t remember her name do you?” Gaster’s following silence said enough. “It was Alegreya. Heh. I can’t believe you can remember bits about your coworkers, but you completely forgot the love of your life’s name.” “Glass.” He snapped. He raised his hands. “Hey, what happened in the void wasn’t exactly in your control.” Glass looked away. “Besides, sometimes I thought you wanted to forget her anyway.” The way Gaster stared at him made it impossible for him not to elaborate. “Sheesh, don’t give me that look… it’s just that you never talked about her after she passed. You left most of the describing to me when Gen started asking about her, and all I had to remember her by were the first six years of my life.”

He looked down at the picture again. “Heh, she would have been pissed at us for forgetting about her.” “You didn’t forget.” Gaster replied. “And I don’t think I would have wanted to either. Not her. If I did, then I was a fool.” “Well, you were, but you were also a genius. Kind of balanced itself out in its own way.” “That… is not very comforting in this context.” He ran a finger along the frame. “Skies... I want to be able to look at my life and have it make sense. Glass, I didn’t even recognize your mother.” His shoulders hunched inwards more as he stared at the photo. “I must have known her for years... decades, but I didn’t remember. “I want to remember… More than just her. I-I have gone so long without my memories and now I don’t even know who I am anymore… Do I even act like the man who raised you?” “Hey.” This was the most Gaster had said about his memory, let alone in one sitting. He’d known it had been bad, but he didn’t know the extent of his memory wipe. He still didn’t. It was a lot for a guy to go through, it was a lot for him to just listen to. Glass put a hand on his shoulder, it was soft and almost malleable. “You’re different Dings, but you’re still you. Uh, you know, you still do that thing with your hands when you're nervous, you’re still a night owl, and you still drink your coffee with two creams and no sugar. Things are different, but you’re still you.” Gaster looked like he was trying to be reassured, but wasn’t quite managing it. Still, he nodded.

“Will you help me remember her?” His voice sounded even more like a croak than usual. “That's why we’re moving across the Underground Dings. Me and Gen’ll always be there to help you.” That seemed to make him too choked up for words. ‘Thank you.’ He signed. A moment of silence passed. Glass almost thought Dings was going to cry, wouldn’t be the weirdest or least expected thing Gaster has done since coming back, and honestly, he looked like he needed it. Well, while that was fine, sometimes there were better ways to get your emotion out besides crying about them. “Hey.” Glass took the photo from Gaster’s limp hand. He slid the picture out of the frame and went into the kitchen, getting a pen. He return immediately so Gaster could see what he was doing with it. Plopping back down on the couch next to him, Glass used his knee and wrought ‘don’t forget’ across the bottom in careful letters before handing it back to him. “Here. It’ll be a reminder for the both of us.” They’ll never forget mom again, neither of them. Gaster took it with gentle fingers as if the paper would crumble to ash if he weren’t careful. “Thank you.” He murmured. “I would like a picture of Gen too.” Well, this was something he could do. “We got a lot to pick from.” He said standing. Gaster followed suit only after Glass said. “Come on they’re all upstairs.” There were a lot of boxes up in Glass’s room, more than needed to hold his own possesions. That was because a good portion of them weren’t even his. The ones stacked behind the door weren’t at least. Well, soon enough they’d have a new home, and Gaster would choose it. He patted one of the boxes on top. “These are yours.”

‘Mine?’ He signed, too startled to speak. “You kept my things in your room?” “Uh, yeah. Gen would go through your stuff sometimes, but neither of us knew where else to put them so they just ended up staying in here. Not a lot of room in the house you know.” Glass picked a box off the pile and set it aside with a huff. “All the family pictures, some of your cloths and lab coats, your ID, old notes, and some of the things you were tinkering with are in these.” Gaster watched, a hand materializing to trace the curling tape on one of the boxes. “You kept all of it?” “Most of it.” Glass amended as he moved aside another box. “Gen didn’t want to leave your stuff behind, but we couldn’t pack everything with us when we moved. We settled on taking the things we thought were most important to you.” Gen had done most of the decision making. He’d been too busy lying in a corner of self pity and guilt to be much help for anything. Glass finally found the box he was looking for and picked it up. Set it on his bed, not minding if some of the dust got on the sheets. After tearing the tape off he dug in its contents and handed a thick book to Gaster. “That one’s mostly filled with baby pictures of Gen… and this one’s mine. You sure liked taking a lot of pictures Dings.” “And I have never been more grateful I did before in my entire life.” He said as he took a seat on the bed and began thumbing through the book. Glass smiled. “Yeah I bet.”

[theskelejournals]

Entry 40

I'll be honest. I don’t even know where to begin with this one. Heh. I’ll… I’ll just get right into it I guess.

That flower came back after being away for awhile. Knew it was too good to be true. He said he tried to do things differently, that maybe it would make him happy. No idea what that means, but. Well, surprise I guess, it didn’t. So he came back to try and do things his way. And of course, I’m always in the middle of his way. So we fought, and I was careful not to be predictable with him. He noticed and the fact he couldn't read me made him progressively more irritated through our fight.

“heh, you've gotten rusty over time, bud,” I told him nonchalantly, grinning without much feeling, “maybe you should just leaf again and do whatever else it was you were doing. away from everyone else.” It probably wasn't a good idea to taunt him, but it felt good after what he's put me through in the past.

“Can it, trash bag,” was his growled response, obviously struggling to keep up.

We bobbed and weaved, vines against bones, until I wore him down enough so that I could quickly catch my breath, holding him to the ground with blue magic. As I stared him down, ready to do this same song and dance again, something clicked in the back of my mind. Out of nowhere, the words I’ve seen in the snow came back to me. I paused. Maybe this was my shot to try them out? I had Flowey in the position for what would usually be a killing blow. If my shots could ever actually kill him. So maybe...

Galahad’s jaws opened wide at my signal, then I threw my hand down. The beam fired. As soon as it struck, reality around us began to splinter like broken glass.

Now, during these battles, I’ve gotten a feel for how they flow and how it leads to the next reset. The area around us will start to shatter like a cracked picture frame, falling away to white. Then there’s this… tug on my soul. I feel like I’m being sucked down into water and then wake up feeling groggy and almost out of place. I felt the tug then, the pulling of reality in and around me as it began to shift from the fatal blow. Just when it felt like it was about to snap me out of the scene, I closed my eyes.

Sans. Teleport. Killing blow.

And I teleported.

I don't know if my teleporting somehow bends time, and by doing it in the seconds before a reset affects it but… before I knew it, the tug stopped and I stumbled from the teleport. It wasn't until I opened my eyes to foggy vision that I realized I almost passed out and had been eased to the ground. If there even was a ground.

“Sans? Sans, are you alright?”

It didn't click at first.

“mmm yeah…” Raising an arm, I rubbed my sleeve over my eye sockets to clear my vision with a groan. It was always disorienting waking up from a reset. Like a really involved dream that you couldn't quite shake.

But I wasn't waking from a reset. I hadn't went back yet.

Then the voice registered. Sucking in a breath, I yanked my arm down to stare upward. My soul skipped behind my ribs, eyes widening as I stared upward. While for a second I had been expecting Papyrus’ face, that wasn't whose lap I was in and who stared right back down at me.

Though they were deeper now and his right eye was more damaged, I wouldn't forgot those cracks. That face. His brows rose when I caught sight of him, gasping softly himself.

“Easy, it's alright. Are you ok? Can you... see me?”

“...y-yeah. i.” I breathed out shakily, just staring upward. There was no way. This was impossible, I had to actually be dreaming this time.

“Oh thank heavens,” he sighed shakily, shoulders slumping, then shifted his hands to my shoulders. “I... wasn’t sure you’d understand my instruction, but I’m glad you did. I'm so glad you're alright. Can you stand?”

Nodding slowly, I moved out of his grasp just as slowly, trying to wrap my head around what I was seeing. I couldn’t speak, could barely breathe as I felt like my soul would pound out of my chest. I could only stare at the cracked face that I would recognize anywhere, marred by the magic of the Core. His clothes, nearly as black as the void we stood in, dripped into nothingness. He didn’t look real.

But there he was, right in front of me. Once I was standing up, he rose to his full height, looking like nothing more than a pair of hands and his head attached to a raised, black blanket that vaguely resembled his body shape. I must have startled because immediately after, he reached out a gentle hand slowly, face concerned as he looked at me. “Oh, Sans, don't be frightened. Please. I know this is strange but…”

“...what… what happened?”

“You did as I asked, and now I can speak with you for a moment,” he said, voice still gentle. He didn't move any closer, just held out a hand toward me. Hovering. He didn't want to scare me off.

“i… so. so it really was you who wrote…”

“Yes, it was me. I'm here. What you're seeing is real.”

Releasing the breath I didn't know I was holding, I stared harder into his face, swallowing back my shock. He was here. He was right here. All this time thinking I was losing it by seeing the writing, by thinking there was still some chance, and he was right here.

“i… ok. ok. it's, it's... really you?”

He gave a gentle smile, brows arching a little sadly. “Yes. It's really me.” Swallowing hard, his voice dropped to a whisper. “Hello, Sans.”

“...h-hey, pops,” I finally managed almost just as quietly.

Dr. Wingding Gaster smiled a little wider in relief.

“I realize you have a lot of questions,” he began, his voice clearly coming from him but sounding like it was everywhere at once, “but we... don’t have a lot of time.”

Before I could speak anything more than a half-hearted laugh of disbelief, he moved that last little bit carefully and held my shoulders.

“But first and foremost, I want to say how sorry I am for putting you through so much pain.” His face, though not how it used to be, was recognizably twisted in despair. I was shaking uncontrollably, unsure what to think. How to think. This couldn’t be real, couldn’t be Gaster, couldn’t be happening. Had to be a dream. Something.

But who’s to say it’s not possible when I’m constantly fighting a talking, time bending flower?  

Gaster bent down and pulled me into a tight hug, shuddering with emotion as he squeezed me close. That was probably the first time he'd had physical contact in a year, and with how cold and still everything was, I'm not even sure he felt it. But he held on, and even though I still wasn’t 100% sure he was really there, that this was real, I held on for dear life as well. Even if it was a wild dream, I'd take it.

“It’s been so long since I’ve been able to communicate with someone... To speak with you boys… I’m so sorry, Sans. I’m so, so sorry.”

“hey, s-snow worries, yeah?” I squeezed even harder, just trying to keep him there. I didn't want to let go.

But he pulled away too quick, too soon, holding me at what would be arm's length instead.

“i can't believe… you're here, you're alive,” I said, slowly grinning as the disbelief started to fade. As the tears started at the back of my eyes.

In his face I saw my own sad but relieved grin, and he raised his hands to cup my face.

“I am… I’m here.” He wiped whatever tears had escaped like he'd done when I was a child, and I could see his own building at the edges of his sockets. “Oh, Sans, I've missed you boys more than I can bear to describe. I…” Gaster let out a shuddering sigh, trying to swallow back his own emotion hard.

“then, then come back with me, wherever we are, just come back with me,” I said, raising my hands to cup his. “you're alive, we can figure out something, i bet that would bring everyone's memories back too and--”

“Sans…” He was frowning now, looking torn. He squeezed his eyes closed tight, pulling me into another hug. “I can’t… I've tried so many times to leave this place, there's just--”

“how about teleporting with me? i mean that's how i got here, maybe if we teleport at the same time while having a hand on each other we can get you--”

“No Sans,” he intoned, but there was pain in his voice. Pulling back, he held my face again, expression conflicted. Begging me to listen. “I can't see that path clearly. I can't risk something going wrong like you possibly getting stuck here with me, or losing you here in my place. I… I can't. I could never put this maddening place on you. Never.”

I paused, shoulders sinking. I could see why he wouldn't risk it, but I had been… so desperate to bring him back when working on the machine, it had all come back in that brief moment.

“what about papyrus and grillby? there's got to be a way to at least get them to remember--”

“Absolutely not,” he interrupted, shaking his head and furrowing his brow. “You've seen what pain remembering me has brought you. Can you imagine if Papyrus actually remembered too? And Grillby?”

He almost choked on the name, but his point was taken. I'd been trying to hide this from Grillby for as long as I could, and I was telling Papyrus as little as possible. To have them both remember and not be able to do anything like me… No. I couldn't do that to them. I wanted them both to remember, but the pain it would cause was just. Something I couldn't put on them. I couldn't bring them into this when there was nothing any of us could do about it.

“alright… i see your point.”

That sad smile came back and he closed his eyes with a deep sigh. “I know had badly you want me back, Sans. I want to return to you all so desperately myself but… we can't lament about it now. I brought you here for a reason. There’s a lot I need tell you.”

From out of the black, there began to spark countless little orbs of light that blinked in and out. Gaster stepped back waved a hollow hand toward them.

“Now. I know you've figured out that your time is being messed with. Surrounding me, each of these represents a timeline. A point in time where time itself was changed. Ones that have come to pass, are current, or that can or will happen. This is where they manifest, saved fixed points, and also where they die.” His eyes turned toward me, flashing purple. “I see every single one of them, the good and the bad. I’ve witnessed… many, many things. Everything.” I was left staring as he shuddered, looking for a moment that he might vanish. “That flower, Flowey, has access to this plane as well. He visits constantly either when he’s bored or when he’s killed. Unfortunately, I cannot interact with him to try and stop him. I’m a shadow in all of space and time. I barely managed to communicate with you, Sans.”

“...wow. ok, alright, trying to wrap my skull around all this,” I said to him, holding a hand to my temple. “so we’re in a place where all of time, all the timelines existences come together. and you’re stuck here?” Gaster nodded.

“Yes. I can visit any place, but I do not actually exist there and cannot be seen. I always end up returning here.”

“so you’re just kinda watching everything from the sidelines, unable to do anything.”

“Yes. I can interact in the smallest of ways, like writing in the snow if I concentrate enough, but that's... the extent of my ability.”

So the different times I'd seen shadows from the corner of my eye, the times Galahad would be staring off at something I couldn't see. It had been Gaster keeping tabs and watching because he wasn't able to do anything else.

“that’s… wow.” I'm still shaking in disbelief as I write. Then I blinked and looked up. “were you the one who gave me the journal in the hospital then?”

Nodding, Gaster clasped his hands in front of him. “Yes. I gave it to you in hopes that you would be able to piece together what happened. To... remember me. Perhaps it was selfish after seeing all that it's put you through but… I just wanted you to know what had happened. You're more clever than I ever would have imagined, and I knew you'd find something wrong if you hadn't recovered your memories fully. So I gave you the journal to help.”

“...heh. i have DT docster, remember? i would have remembered anyway, it wasn't the journals fault. if anything, the journal's really helped me. a lot.”

Smiling gently, he let out a soft huff of a laugh. “I know. I'm glad it was able to bring some solace to the confusion you've been given.”

“yeah. it really has.” Staring at him, I glanced at what remained of his body then at his face with a frown. “the Core’s magic, it did all this to you? when you fell?”

“Not entirely,” he said, and the lights of the timelines dimmed. “The Core’s magic is very unstable when tampered with, yes, but it reacted to a component in my soul.”

A word popped into my head. “determination.” He nodded again.

“As you know, it is a core element to a human's soul, a compound that monster’s bodies can’t handle in larger doses. You, Papyrus, Undyne and myself have handleable measures of it, with you and I having more. But you know all this.” Gaster paused. “And aside from being a flower... it is almost entirely what Flowey is made of.”

“flowey? i had a hunch but… how's that possible?” Gaster’s face darkened and his shape quivered.

“He was created in the lab. A project of mine that Alphys helped with and eventually took over when the machine was thought up. To surprise the King. He laid dormant after the injections, so we thought it was a failure. It was only after my fall that he awoke.” Gaster looked up, his eyes glowing and face twisted in remorse. “He wasn’t a failure, but he now has the power to alter time as he so desires from his point of awakening. He's an anomaly I can't control. And he, along with my absence, has caused immeasurable suffering. Especially to you, Sans. Were I certain I still had a soul, I…” He paused, breathing in and closing his eyes as a hand went to press against his chest.

“dad?”

“I'm fine,” he assured with a sad smile, sighing afterward. It took a moment, but his shape began to stabilize.

“Time is short,” he continued, opening his eyes, “It won’t be long before you’re forced back into reality. Whatever you do, Sans, keep fighting. There are many bad timelines, but there are also so many good. Fight for those, for yourself, for your brother.”

“i-- you’ve put a lot of faith in me, dadster,” I laughed nervously. My head was pounding. “heh. what can I even do? just delay flowey? what am I even delaying him for? i can’t control time, i can't kill him. what am I even supposed to do with something that powerful?”

Gaster smiled and kneeled before me again. “I see all in this Void, my son. I know you can hold on. You’ve always been strong. A fighter. There is a brighter horizon for you yet. For everyone. You just have to push it through. Just hold on. However, on that note...” His face grew serious. “Time will pass. There is one more soul needed for Asgore’s goal. Another human will come through, and they will have greater Determination than we have yet to see. There are two possibilities on who it will be despite it looking like only one person. One is very dangerous, and one is kind. You will understand who you are dealing with in time by watching them. Be careful.”

The darkness began to shift and I started to feel that pull on my soul again.

Putting his hands on my shoulders, Gaster began to say, “It’s resetting--”

“wait,” I interrupted, “the machine. could i have…”

Gaster smiled sadly, putting a hand on my face and shaking his head. “You did everything you could to complete it. Without the science that the humans have developed available to us, there was no way for it to work. In any timeline. You didn't fail. There’s just no way it's possible right now.”

“but if we got out of here. out of the underground. would it be possible then..?”

“Sans, I… I can't be brought back. I'm sorry. Please… don't ever touch that machine again.” With how it had made him behave and then what it did to me, I understood his words perfectly. I had thrown the energy core out to avoid such another scenario.

I let out a shaky sigh, eyes downcast. Then a small laugh. “i did try, at least. i’m sorry i couldn't save you, that i couldn't…”

“Oh son, don't apologize. I'm very proud of what you've done. You've tried so hard. Just please keep taking care of yourself and Papyrus.” I knew he wanted to say more, but time wasn't on our side. The black around us shifted, turning white as the pull became stronger. His next words were faster. “Please, don't try to return here. The results could be disastrous. I don't know what it will do to you or the timelines if you come here more than once. I can't lose you. Remember what I’ve said. If you can… it would be best if you forgot I was here. I will reach out to you if at all possible, but my limitations are large. I just… wanted to see you one last time. Wanted you to speak with you. I love you, Sans, please don't ever forget that.”

“you know i won’t forget, dad,” I said, “i did once. not again.”

He smiled sadly, proudly, giving my shoulder a squeeze. The white was almost blinding.

“I know, my little soul.”

I blinked seconds later to find myself halfway laying off the couch back at home in the dark, gasping. Scrambling up in a heap, I looked around, a shred of hope staying that I might see Gaster again. That he might not have vanished. There was a flicker of shadows by the arm of the couch, but when I looked, it was gone. Clutching my chest, I stared for a long moment, piecing together what happened, then stumbled up to race to my room and write down everything I could remember.

Gaster. Dad. He's alive. He's stuck and unseeable by any normal means, but he's alive. I'm. I'm going to need some time after this one.

⚐☟ 💣✡ ☝⚐👎 💣✡ 👎✌👎 ✋💧 ✌☹✋✞☜. - Sans