Fell tapped his right foot impatiently. It was only because he was alone that he allowed himself such an obvious show of disrespect towards the King. There was no need for him to do these meetings in person but, he insisted upon it if only to remind everyone in the Royal House that he was the one in charge of their armed forces.

The Golden Hall had seen better days. The metal that gave the place its name was stained and darkened around the edges not for lack of care, - the Royal House was full of monster servants to do the work - but because of the King's influence. His powerful magic had, at one point way before Papyrus and Sans' time, corrupted the entire Underground. The details on what had happened changed depending on whom you asked; the only thing that the older monsters seemed to agree upon was that the Core had been built to help offset his influence and that it had thankfully worked - for the most part. Magic became wild and difficult to master. To the younger monsters, this was just part of everyday life.

Fell wondered what Underfell had been like before the corruption. He guessed that it probably was closer to what Underswap was now. That thought lingered in the back of his mind, bothering him a little more than he cared to admit.

Steps on marble interrupted his thoughts. The King's Liaison was approaching him slowly and purposely. Fell had never seen her before. The previous Liaison had been an elderly dragon that liked to ramble. Perhaps the King had finally decided to dust the old fool.

The new Liaison was a light teal fire Elemental with feminine traits. She wore black robes with red trimming and the seal of the monarchy on their chest. It was very hard to tell age with Elementals but to Fell experienced eyes, she looked like she was too young for a job like this.

"Captain Papyrus?" She asked when she was only few feet away. Her voice had a bit of a crackle behind it and she kept her flames subdued. A sign of respect among Elementals.

"Yes"

"I am Mana" she said quietly. "I sincerely apologize but The King is currently busy with my mentor"

An assistant, that explained things.

"It seems that there had been some unusual reports from the Royal Scientists that our King decided to oversee himself" she continued.

Papyrus raised an eye ridge. A sickening feeling sprouting in his soul. "Unusual … reports?"

"Yes, so if you could just hand your survey reports to me. I'll make sure the King gets them as soon as he is …"

"Why wasn't I informed about this?" growled Papyrus as he handed over the envelope with his written reports "As Captain of the Royal Guard I should know about any potential threats to the Kingdom"

"I don't know. I am not privy to the details myself. Perhaps it's just something out of your jurisdiction?" She said, neither her tone or flame wavering, giving Fell a hint as to why she may have been chosen for the job. "I'm sure that not everything that happens at the Capital needs to have the Captain of the Royal Guard involved"

Fell grinded his teeth. "I WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK WITH THE KING, NOW" He commanded.

"I'm sorry, but like I said, the King is currently busy with other matters. Perhaps he will be available tomorrow. Would you like me to pencil you in?"

Fell glared at the fire Elemental. "I AM NOT…."

"CAPTAIN PAPYRUS!"

Fell and Mana turned their gaze to see the greater dog guard running into the Golden Hall.

"CAPTAIN PAPYRUS, I HAVE URGENT NEWS" he said, panting as he tried to catch his breath. Fell leaned expectantly but the dog guard eyed the Liaison unsure if he should continue.

The tall skeleton cleared his throat getting the hint. "IF WE ARE ALL DONE HERE, I SHALL GO AND SPEAK WITH MY ASSOCIATE OUTSIDE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND PLEASE GIVE THE KING MY REGARDS"

Mana blinked at him confused. "So you don't want me to see if ..."

"I WILL CONTACT THE KING PERSONALLY IF I NEED TO. THANK YOU" said Fell waving his right hand in dismissal and ushering the guard to walk alongside him with his left.

He heard a huff behind him and the sounds of steps walking away from them. He allowed himself to smile briefly before his brain reminded him as to why they been interrupted. Once he made sure they were in an area they wouldn't be overheard, he turned to the guard.

"What is your news?" he asked crossing his arms and keeping his voice low.

"You need to go back to Snowdin, Sir. We received word that your home has been broken into" whispered the guard following his Captain's example.

Fell stared at the guard. The tips of his gloved bony fingers digging into his upper arms.

"When?"

"I'm not sure Sir. Sometime ... yesterday. I was just told to come get you…"

"YESTERDAY? Why am I only being told about this NOW?!" growled Fell, making the guard take a step back and hiding his tail between his knees.

"Sir … the guard posted near your home was dusted. His absence wasn't noticed until this morning"

Fell's soul thumped against his rib cage. He turned on his heel and started walking fast towards the exit startling the Guard. The dog had to practically run to catch up to his superior.

"My brother?" he asked. His pace not slowing down.

"... We haven't been able to find him, Sir"

Fell broke into a full run.

For the Captain of the Guard It had taken too long to get back, even if other monsters would disagree. Nobody had expected him back within a few hours of sending news. Travel between Snowdin and the Capital could take close to a day if everything went ok. The giant chasm between Waterfall and The Core being a huge factor for this. There were monster birds that would fly you across if you had the gold and a flexible sense of survival, since these particular birds were known to lose their 'cargo" terrifyingly often. Otherwise, you had to travel by foot or by river around it, then deal with a steep climb.

However he had managed it, Fell had made it back to Snowdin before dark.

Too long.

He remembered the version of the events that he had been told about the day Blue had disappeared. Stretch had waited until night to start the search for him. Nobody had expected Blue to be home earlier than that. Stretch had tried calling his brother but had received no answer, but he hadn't worried. Why would he? Blue tended to get really hyper focused when working on a puzzle. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility that he just hadn't heard his phone buzz.

Later on they found his phone inside the tool bag he left behind. Along with an uneaten lunch.

Too many parallels.

Fell looked at his own phone. He had called Red several times with no answer. He ignored the guards that came up to him as he reached his own front door and hit redial for the 20th time. He spun around when he heard a buzz and saw a rabbit guard holding his brother's phone as if he just been caught holding something precious.

"WHERE?" demanded Fell, snatching the phone away.

"Its was on the living room floor, Sir" answered the guard.

Fell's eyes went wide and he opened the door to his house. The remains of furniture and claw marks on the walls immediately giving him hints of the terrible things that had happened. The captain took a long, sharp breath. He felt his hands shaking, so he balled them into fists to hide them.

"Who's out looking?" he asked without turning around. He hoped that the tremor in his voice was only evident to him.

"Patrol 2 is searching the Forest, Sir" reported the guard that had kept his brother's phone "Patrol 1 is rounding up and questioning possible suspects"

"DO NOT LET ANYONE GO BEFORE I INTERROGATE THEM" commanded Fell. He walked further into the living room and started taking stock of where everything was.

"Yes, Sir"

"I'M HOLDING YOU PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY COMMUNICATIONS FROM PATROL 2. THE MOMENT THEY FIND SOMETHING -ANYTHING- I AM TO BE INFORMED. IS THAT CLEAR?" Fell looked at him over his shoulder. His eyes flashed red.

"Yes .. YES SIR!" stammered the guard and made his way out of the Underfell home barely avoiding slamming himself into the doorway.

As soon as he was left alone, Fell released a shuddering breath. The heaviness in his chest now more evident than before.

"Too many parallels" he whispered to himself.

"What's bugging you now?" asked Fell. Red had been increasingly quiet that day. They had just been in Underswap for the third time.

"It's just weird, ok?" Red said.

Fell snorted as they exited the room that held the machine that had connected their world to Underswap. An undignified sound he would only emit in front of his brother. Honestly, wasn't it obvious that Underswap was a weird place? What was his brother going to say next? That snow was cold?

"Sans, you are a master at stating the obvious"

"I don't mean that kind of weird, boss" sighed Red as he made sure the door to their storage room was properly locked "What I meant is that it's weird how many parallels there are"

Fell stopped walking and looked at his brother suddenly intrigued. "Parallels?"

"Well, you know … it seems that everything that happens there, eventually happens here. Didn't you notice the calendar in their house? Is off by like a year from ours"

Fell had to give it to his brother. He had not noticed such a thing. He had barely noticed the color of the couch in their goddamned living room.

"Are you saying they live in our future?" scoffed Fell.

"Nah. Not exactly. It's just that Blue was telling me about how he had been the one to convince Alphys to let Stretch be a Sentry" Red waved his hands as he tried to bring his thoughts together "While here, you were the one to convince Undyne to let me be a Sentry. You know, before you took over her job"

"Ok, but that little blueberry version of you is not the Captain of the Royal Guard in Underswap" said Fell with a sarcastic smile "Not that it would be that HARD"

"I know, I know! That's what I meant by not exactly!" said Red exasperated. He really hated explaining things that made sense in his head "They don't live in a future version of our world or anything like that. It's just that it seems that if something major happens there, there is a good chance that it is going to happen here too, or at least something very similar"

"Pfft"

"Whatever" said Red stomping past Fell and towards their front door.

"Tell you what brother" said Fell following him "If you are right, this means we will get advance warning of when humans decide to try and invade us"

Red grunted a noncommittal response.

"And you'll be able to know what you are getting for all your birthday gifts"

Red opened the door to their home and rolled his eyes at his brother. "I was just making an observation, alright boss?"

Fell chuckled. "It was a fine observation brother. I just think it's a little out there"

"We just were in an alternate version of our world, making a treaty with monsters that are us in that world, and … and this is what you think is a "little out there""? scoffed Red back.

"Fair point" agreed Fell as they entered their home. He made a mental note to notice more of these "parallels". Despite the teasing, he did trust his brother's judgment.

Parallels

When Blue disappeared that word had come back to haunt him. He had dismissed the notion at the beginning especially since Red didn't seem to be particularly worried about it. Looking for their friend was more of a priority then, but as the months passed the dread had come back.

"It's just that it seems that if something major happens there, there is a good chance that it is going to happen here too, or at least something very similar"

Fell ran his hand against the claw marks on the wall. They were big but feral in shape. Not a proper monster's claw mark. There was a faint smell of decay in the air as well. Their living room table had been crashed into by something heavy, demolishing it. Sans was chubby but not that heavy. He would've had to be thrown extremely hard for his body to be able to destroy it. And a force that big would've … dusted him.

And thankfully, there was no dust here.

There had been no dust where Blue disappeared as well.

"Shut up. Concentrate" he murmured to himself. The shaking in his hands was growing.

He's alright. He's ok. He will be found. He will NOT hold a funeral for his own brother.

He looked around again, rage and anxiety clouding the edges of his vision.

Concentrate. Where… Where is the exit point?

A hastily covered window gave him the answer. Something had crashed through it. Again, it had had to be something really heavy and powerful to do such destruction. His home windows were as secure as possible. He paid a lot of gold for them.

He pushed aside the covering with one hand and looked at the destroyed tree branches just outside the window. There were no footprints even though it hadn't snowed yet. How could something that powerful not leave a trail?

Especially if they had been carrying something.

He turned around to leave and meet up with the Patrol looking for his brother when he noticed the backpack leaning against the sofa. An old thing that Red used to carry when they went camping in the Forest. Fell hadn't seen it in years.

He opened the backpack and saw some food and extra clothes packed in there. As well as some assorted camping equipment.

Had Sans planned to leave?

Why?

His brother had never liked being a Sentry. Never. He'd been embarrassed when he was dismissed but, Fell was also sure he was also relieved to be done with that obligation.

Hadn't he been?

Fell threw the backpack onto the couch. NO. This would not end the same way.

He would not allow it.

As the readings counted down to zero he felt his Love slowly increase

Such a weird, unwelcome feeling.

He had loved this one as much as the last one. Not at all. Yet, he still felt regret when their numbers finally became a flat line on the monitor. Part of him still wondered about this one's loved ones. If he would be missed.

He held his breath by habit as he waited for the results.

Perhaps this was the last one.

The machine churned and beeped. The screen coming alive with the same damned words as always:

MORE DATA NEEDED.

He took a deep breath in biting back the expletive he so dearly wanted to shout. Processing took about a week. Some of them had taken more time and some less. During this waiting period, he entertained himself reading up on things, checking equipment he only half understood and trying to get some sleep. But none of that worked. He was always plagued by the sounds and memories of begging and questions he had stopped caring to answer. It didn't matter, if he did or not, they wouldn't remember anyway.

And forgiveness was impossible.

He usually avoided having more than one in the ship. It helped avoid even more confusion and drama. Most of them weren't even remotely aware that alternates of themselves existed. Meeting another one of you was bad enough. Watching each other slowly die was even worse.

Still, he wished Alphys could've created more than one fully functional chamber. She had barely had gotten the first one working. Her computer notes contained some mumbo jumbo explanation of "energy allowances not being sufficient" and "unexpected temporal load" and blah, blah, blah blah.

The whole thing just made his head hurt. He had been lucky to understand as much as he did on how to use the machine.

Grunting with exasperation, he switched the thing off so it could recharge for the next subject.

He heard sobbing behind him and reflexively closed his eyes. His anger replaced by weird mix of guilt and annoyance. He knew that the young one had been trying to stifle it for awhile now. Seeing that soul finally shatter into its final pieces had been the last nail in the coffin, he guessed.

"Stop that" he grumbled without turning around. "What do you care? You never even talked to him. Trust me, it's better if you don't think about it"

Banging. Fists against glass.

Their voice was muffled by the same glass they were hitting, so he couldn't quite make out what they were saying. It was an easy enough guess though. It was a several days old argument by now.

He turned around to face his next potential subject. He had taken him early. The opportunity had been too perfect to ignore. The readings had been strong. Promising. If it hadn't been for the one already in the Chamber, he would've processed him already.

But he had made a mistake.

They had talked.

He was used to shock and surprise, but this one had just greeted him. He had been curious, but not afraid nor confused. In fact, he had been a little overexcited to see him come up to him.

Exhaustion. That had to be it. It clouded his judgment. Stars, when was the last time he had gotten any real sleep?

He usually let his gasters do the capturing. But this time …. maybe the place reminded him of what his own world used to be. Maybe it had been the fact that this target had been working on a very interesting looking puzzle at the time.

So they had talked.

He had almost walked away. Left this world alone.

Then he remembered his machine's readings.

What if...

He had put him in the spare chamber with the intention of keeping him asleep until his turn came. He followed this plan for the first couple of days, but he often found himself peeking in. Wondering. Fighting the temptation to wake him. He couldn't quite put a bony finger on what exactly, but something about this one bothered him.

Like they all did. He looked like his brother.

But unlike the others, he didn't -feel- like him.

He should've stuck to his plan. It was in place for everybody's good. If he put them to sleep first, there was a chance that they would never wake up again, not even after the processing started. They just went quietly. The ones that did wake up, suffered. There was nothing he could do after the machine started its deadly goal. He couldn't even give them unconsciousness.

The chamber could not be opened once it started working. He was glad for the thick glass that muffled their cries. He only stayed in the room out of obligation, at least that way they wouldn't be alone.

Eventually, they would go quiet and stare at nothing. Their minds taken. The machine would then keep them alive until the very last moment. Their soul the last part of them to be deconstructed and analyzed.

If only they would only understand that it was all necessary, to save the universes from his own brother's arrogance.

If only…

He looked at the sobbing young skeleton. Could he afford to spare him? Maybe this one would understand.

Maybe…

Forgive him.