"SANS, HUMAN, I'M HOME!"

Papyrus entered the house with the same aplomb as always, lugging a load of paper bags as he came. Groceries, Frisk guessed. The skeleton set the bags in the kitchen and turned around.

"HUMAN FRISK, YOU'RE HERE! WOULD YOU HAPPEN TO KNOW WHERE MY LAZYBONES OF A BROTHER IS?"

She shook her head. "He disappeared a couple hours ago." She'd been on the couch ever since.

"I SEE. IN THAT CASE, WOULD YOU BE ALRIGHT IF I SAT ON THE COUCH WITH YOU AND WATCHED TV?"

Frisk paused. Neither of the brothers had ever asked to do something like that before. "I...sure, I guess."

She scooted over to one side of the couch; Papyrus plopped down on the other. His massive size meant he took up practically the whole sofa, leaving one tiny corner for Frisk.

There was silence for a moment. The two of them just sat there and watched what amounted to a monster version of a rom-com, Mettaton and all.

Then Papyrus turned and said, ever so casually, "SAY, FRISK. I HAVE BEEN MEANING TO ASK YOU SOMETHING."

That couldn't be good. She turned to face him. "Yes?"

Papyrus hesitated, a move that was strange for the normally impulsive skeleton. "FORGIVE ME, BUT I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO HELP MYSELF FROM NOTICING THAT YOU..." he paused, seemed almost to swallow. His voice dipped in volume. "You are not very...comfortable. With monsters."

While that was true, Frisk hadn't expected Papyrus to pick up on it. She'd always thought most things flew straight over his head. Now she couldn't help but wonder if he was in actuality perceptive, just good at seeming like he wasn't. Or maybe this Papyrus was just different.

"I originally thought it was simply that you were unaccustomed to the Great Papyrus and his awesome ways, but now I believe it is something else." Another pause. "...Frisk, you fear us, do you not?"

Swallowing, Frisk found that the hatred and venom she would've given any other monster who dared ask such a question was missing. Papyrus's eyes were sincere, as was his tone.

"I..."

"It is alright, Frisk." Papyrus's voice was strangely gentle. "Undyne told me about your soul. I understand it must be very difficult to be alright when your soul is in such a state."

"Undyne told you about my soul?"

Papyrus nodded his head sagely. "She did. Well, she didn't say exactly what had...happened to it, but I understand it is not strong enough to break the barrier. Something happened to you that made you afraid of us, and it has also weakened your soul. Am I right?"

Frisk took a deep breath. She was alone with Papyrus, no Sans or Undyne to interrupt. If she was correct in thinking that Papyrus was truly different, maybe he'd understand. Maybe he would even sympathize!

"Papyrus, what gender am I?"

Papyrus paused. "I...something tells me you are nonbinary, but I do not know why I- I do not want to assume-"

His awkwardness was almost endearing. "I'm female, actually. It's strange that you instantly thought of me as nonbinary, isn't it?"

"YES!" in his anxiety over messing her gender up, Papyrus's voice rocketed up in volume. "I AM VERY SORRY, HUMAN FRISK! SOMETIMES I JUST GET THESE STRANGE FEELINGS AND-"

"No, no, don't apologize. That's actually the point I was trying to make." Frisk leaned forward. "You keep getting these strange senses of deja vu, right? Here's the thing: you aren't the only one."

"I'M NOT?" Papyrus asked, then repeated a little quieter, "I'm not?"

"Nope. Undyne and Sans have both referred to me as a they. Sans automatically knew my name, just like you. He's also made references to things I've never actually done..." Frisk paused very deliberately. "...in this timeline."

Papyrus's eyelights widened, then narrowed. She had his full attention now.

"I'm aware I sound completely insane, but hear me out. You know how monsters all have magic?"

Papyrus nodded, that strangely intense concentration not wavering.

"Humans did, too - that's how those human mages sealed you here in the first place. The thing is, after that, we pretty much lost our magic. There aren't any mages up on the surface anymore, at least as far as I know. However, as soon as I fell down here, something changed."

She remembered it still. Her first death had been pathetically anticlimactic: she'd tripped and fallen headfirst off one of the Ruins' few cliffs. She remembered an intense agony through her entire body, then a moment of curious detachment. When she'd next tried to open her eyes, it was to utter darkness.

She'd started to panic there for an instant, disoriented and scared and terrified that that was it, she'd died without even realizing it. Then two buttons had appeared out of the void.

❤ Continue

Reset

Not even knowing what she was doing, she'd selected the first option. She ended right back up at the buttercups, this time with a startled Flowey who explained everything.

"Something about the inherently magical nature of you monsters activated the latent Determination inside me and gave me magic. I gained the ability to turn back time."

She paused to check on Papyrus. He didn't seem surprised, just like this confirmed something he'd already suspected. Was it possible he remembered more than she'd thought?

"Over the past three months - for me, anyway - I've used these powers to...um, basically come back to life every time one of you...uh, killed me. Again, I know it sounds crazy, but if you look at it from this timeline I've only been in the Underground for a handful of days. There's no way for me to know the stuff I do, unless you accept that I've been here longer."

"So...what you are saying, human, is...we have killed you? Multiple times?" Somehow, impossibly, there were tears gathering in Papyrus's eyes.

"Yes, but uh it's- it's fi- don't cry it's-"

But it was too late. Papyrus began to full on wail, letting out a stream of pitiful nyoo hoo hoo's.

"IT IS NOT FINE! NO CREATURE DESERVES WHAT YOU HAVE GONE THROUGH, LEAST OF ALL A FRIEND OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS! OH-" here he broke off to sob some more, clutching a couch cushion in lieu of Frisk.

Frisk slid her gaze from side to side, feeling intensely awkward. She had no idea how to deal with this. How in the world was she supposed to comfort the same monster - or at least a similar one to the one - who'd killed her multiple times? It was hard enough even sitting next to him. Yet, some long-lost sympathy woke inside her and she found herself reaching out a tentative hand to settle on top of the cushion.

Hey, it was something.

"THAT SETTLES IT!" Papyrus said, a few minutes of intense crying later.

"...what settles what?"

"YOU ARE NOT LEAVING HERE UNTIL YOUR SOUL IS IN MUCH BETTER SHAPE! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, MUST MAKE SURE MY FRIEND'S SOUL IS IN TIP-TOP CONDITION!"

"Papyrus, that's- that's really nice, but I promised Sans-"

Papyrus abruptly locked eyes with her. Frisk fought the urge to jerk backwards. "I DO NOT CARE WHAT YOU PROMISED THAT LAZYBONES! IT HAS NOT ESCAPED MY NOTICE THAT HE IS HOLDING A GRUDGE AGAINST YOU, FOR ABSOLUTELY NO GOOD REASON."

"Uh, it's complicated but basically-"

Papyrus glared. "I DO NOT CARE WHAT THE REASON IS, IT IS NOT A GOOD ONE! THERE IS NEVER A GOOD REASON TO HOLD A GRUDGE. YOU STAYING HERE WILL NOT ONLY HEAL YOUR SOUL, IT WILL ALSO ALLOW SANS TO GET OVER HIS PETTY GRUDGE! IT WILL KILL TWO BIRDS IN ONE STONE! A GENIUS IDEA!"

She couldn't help but feel touched. No monster had been so kind to her before, not even Flowey.

"I...thank you, Papyrus. That's really sweet of you."

"BUT OF COURSE IT IS! YOU SHOULD EXPECT NOTHING LESS OF SOMEONE SO GREAT!"

Frisk smiled.

And somewhere deep inside her, something felt a little lighter for it.

When Sans came back, shortcutting straight into the living room, it was to find the anomaly and Papyrus sitting on the sofa together companionably and watching one of Mettaton's sit-coms. Papyrus had a bowl of spaghetti and a steady stream of commentary running: "OH! THAT POSE JUST THEN WAS SPECTACULAR!" and "OH MY, HOW IS HE GOING TO GET OUT OF THIS?" The anomaly occasionally had their - her - own feedback, too - "Damn, that family trees' as twisted as your spaghetti" and "Wow...that was...something."

He'd ended up right by the door, and either due to their inattention or sheer obliviousness, neither noticed him. That gave Sans a moment to do what he did best: observe.

He couldn't deny that instinct screamed at him to get that mass-murdering freak away from his brother. He couldn't deny that just seeing them, her, whatever, made a rush of hatred and anger and fear rise up in his soul.

But Sans was logical, and Sans was fair - as fair as he could be, when Papyrus was involved. Past experiences with a child wearing that woman's face dictated he kill the anomaly on sight, by any means possible. But he'd seen her soul. He'd felt her soul. It was different from theirs.

When he'd first seen them after that reset, dust speckled across the front of their shirt and a knife in one hand, he hadn't recognized them for a moment.

You see, monsters were primarily soul-based creatures made out of magic instead of physical matter. Humans were opposite, physical creatures with a phenomenonally powerful soul. And so, whereas humans focused almost entirely on the physical, monsters focused almost entirely on the magical. Humans saw creatures' physical forms; monsters sensed their souls.

Obviously, this ambient sense didn't go very deeply - prying into others's souls was invasive and offensive. But monsters recognized each other by the unique magic each soul gave off, and they recognized humans in the same way. Most monsters only used this during encounters, when it was deemed acceptable to feel another's soul (whether this encounter was a fight or a date dictated how far one could go). However, the more powerful monsters - the Froggits, Tsunderplane, Aaron, all those who'd fought the anomaly - used this ability all the time.

When Sans had first seen the anomaly, he'd felt their soul and something deep inside him had whispered wrong. Papyrus and Undyne and all the other monsters who'd met the anomaly had agreed with him; all had felt that creeping unease, that fingernail-on-chalkboard sense that something was openly, blaringly wrong with the human's soul.

Because they didn't feel human anymore.

It had taken him awhile, maybe a dozen loads, but he'd finally figured out what it was.

"NO! METTATON MUST REUNITE WITH HIS STAR-CROSSED LOVER! THEY MUST GET THEIR HAPPY ENDING!"

Frisk eyed him, looking faintly amused, but said nothing.

Sans allowed himself a huff - they really weren't observant, were they? Then he continued to think.

Sans, for his low physical strength, was fairly strong magically. What made him exceptional, though, was that he was attuned to his and others's souls in a way not many monsters were. It was why he was able to turn souls blue instantly, while Muffet, Papyrus, and Undyne - strong warriors in their own right - had to make contact first. He wasn't sure how, just like he wasn't sure why he was the only one who remembered resets as clearly, but he could sense souls at a level no one else could. It was why everyone liked him - he knew what to say, how to say it, and when to do so.

So when Sans had focused enough on their soul, when he'd felt it shatter time after time, he'd finally realized.

There wasn't just one human in there. There were two. Two consciousnesses, two willpowers, one soul. They didn't feel human because they'd gone beyond the definition of it. The amount of determination, the types of determination residing in the anomaly's soul, rendered them part human and part something else - a travesty of nature, an amalgamate worse than anything Alphys could ever have created.

But, as Sans stared at this anomaly's soul, at her soul, he only sensed human. One human.

It was strangely ironic that sensing a human soul made him relieved. After all, for months he'd lived through timelines of being told to capture any humans and hand them over to be slaughtered. It used to be that sensing human souls filled him with dread - dread of what he had to do. Then the anomaly's soul wasn't human anymore, and the dread he felt wasn't over his actions, but theirs.

But this anomaly was different. This one was fully and completely human. Broken and battered, but still human. Almost disgustingly human, really, but then no one had asked him, a monster, what he thought about humans.

However, Sans was fair, and in any case he'd Judged her already - she didn't deserve the death they did. She hadn't done anything worse than saying some bitter words to a friend or slapping a guy in the face for looking at her wrong.

That still didn't mean he had to like her, though, Sans thought sourly as Papyrus turned to her and shouted out his disbelief over something Mettaton had just done.

Papyrus could befriend her all he wanted to, now that Sans was reasonably certain she wasn't a threat. Sans refused to do the same until he could look her in the eyes without seeing their eyes, cold and determined, staring back at him. He refused to do the same until he could hear her voice without sensing Chara's underneath it. He refused to do the same until he could touch her and not feel Paps's dust coating her skin.

In all honesty, that probably wouldn't happen until hell froze over, or until the monsters got to the surface - whichever was the more unlikely of the two.

Sans took a step forward. In any case, she was leaving soon and he hopefully wouldn't have to deal with her for awhile, assuming she wasn't fond of resets. He didn't believe her promise about never coming back. Not for one second. The kid had promised him, once, never to reset again. Just look where that'd gotten them.

He sighed. Enough of that. He'd thought about the anomalies enough for a lifetime. He needed a distraction. And as much as he hated watching Mettaton, this was too convenient to ignore.

"Hey bro, what's up?"

Papyrus spun around. Sans didn't miss the anomaly's instinctive jerk at the sound of his voice.

"SANS! YOU LAZYBONES, WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG! I HAVE COME UP WITH A GENIUS SOLUTION TO OUR PROBLEMS BUT HAVE HAD TO WAIT FOR THREE HOURS IN ORDER TO TELL YOU!"

"Sorry bro, I'm just tired. Bone tired, you could say."

"SANS!"

"Sorry, sorry. You were saying?"

"AH, YES." Papyrus stood up and clapped his hands. "AS I WAS SAYING, I HAVE FOUND A WAY TO SOLVE TWO PROBLEMS AT ONCE! TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE, AS THE HUMANS SAY! YOU SEE, WE CANNOT LET FRISK LEAVE WITH HER SOUL LIKE THAT, CAN WE? AND YOU ARE HOLDING A COMPLETELY NONSENSICAL GRUDGE ON HER THAT YOU NEED TO GET OVER!"

If Sans had had a stomach, it would've dropped. He had a bad feeling he knew where this was going.

"THEREFORE! THE SOLUTION! FRIENDS ARE GOOD FOR EMOTIONAL HEALING, ARE THEY NOT? AND FRISK IS IN NEED OF HEALING. SO, YOU SHALL BECOME HER FRIEND AND HEAL HER SOUL!"

Yep, he'd been right. "Bro, I don't think-"

"EXACTLY! YOU DON'T THINK! HOLDING A GRUDGE IS HARMFUL TO YOUR HEALTH, SO GETTING OVER IT WILL BE BENEFICIAL TO YOU! BOTH OF YOU WILL BE HEALING AT THE SAME TIME. IT IS A BRILLIANT PLAN!"

"Not that I don't think it is, but aren't you, uh, already friends with th- her? Isn't your friendship enough to, uh...heal her, or whatever? I mean, you're such a great friend and all."

"YOU ARE RIGHT! INDEED I AM. BUT FRISK NEEDS MORE THAN JUST ME, AND YOU NEED FRIENDS TOO, SANS."

Well. Paps had him there. Still, he had to make one last effort.

"Paps, I just don't know if I'd be the best friend. Y'know, don't have a whole lot going on up here," Sans pointed to his skull, "and I'm heartless, so to speak, and-"

"SANS! YOUR PUNS WILL NOT GET YOU OUT OF THIS!" Papyrus stamped a foot. "THIS IS FINAL!"

Sans sighed. He'd resigned himself to this eventuality from the beginning, but he'd still tried anyway. "'kay, bro."

He looked over at the anomaly. They looked just as resigned as he did, which made him feel a little better. At least someone was just as unhappy as he was.

"NOW, FRISK, SANS. YOU WILL SHAKE HANDS AND DECLARE YOUR FRIENDSHIP FOR EACH OTHER!"

"Shake hands?" that was the anomaly, giving Papyrus a dubious look.

"I think Paps's other idea would be a hug, so just let it be," Sans muttered.

"Oh. Shaking hands is, uh, fine then." She didn't look fine with it - Sans imagined she was just as averse to the idea of touching him as he was with her.

It was ironic, really. When he'd first met the anomaly, he'd greeted them with a whoopie cushion and a handshake.

Sans extended one bony hand. The anomaly eyed it dubiously, maybe a bit distastefully, and extended her own. There was a moment of awkward silence when neither of them wanted to make contact, but then finally Sans clasped his hand in hers and gave it a firm shake.

"GOOD! NOW PROCLAIM YOUR FRIENDSHIP!"

Again, an awkward silence. The two of them looked at each other, at Papyrus, then back at each other.

"Um...I'm glad to be your friend?" The anomaly gave Sans an uncertain look.

"Likewise," he muttered, giving a one-shoulder shrug in response.

"ALRIGHT! NOW, I SHALL COOK DINNER, AND THE TWO OF YOU WILL SIT ON THE COUCH TOGETHER LIKE CIVILIZED INDIVIDUALS AND WATCH TV!"

"But-" the anomaly started.

"NO BUTS!"

She subsided and sat back down on the couch. Sans joined her.

Well, he thought, at least he knew one thing. They would never have shaken his hand like that.