Chapter 1 - Saving a Dead Man's Life
A deep breath, and a sigh. A tired eye gazes upon a single corpse. The cause of this whole mess. Hundreds, no, thousands dead, personally, by their hands, now dead before him. He grabs a bone from one of many piles littering the golden halls, and as he looks down at their corpse, his smile grows. "i never did find out if you were a boy or a girl. not like it matters, now."
Tightening his grip on the bone, he glares hatefully at their mangled face. "i never thought i'd desecrate a corpse... ah, well." With a sudden, powerful swing, the femur in his hands shatters with the corpse's skull at impact. Looking at their bloody, battered, deflated head, he smiles. "i warned you. i warned you a long time ago." He bends down to pick up their glowing, red soul, and holds it carefully.
"hmhmhm.. it's finally over. no more do overs, no more living the same days in an infinite loop." Tears stream down his face. "If only my brother were still here..." He sags, scarf touching the ground for a moment when he lowers his head. With a heaving sigh and a smile that might never reach his eyes again, Sans opens the door, walks the hall, and greets the king.
"'Sup, Asgore? Kid's dead." The king looks sorrowfully at the red soul in Sans' bony hands. "Yes... it is time for us to go free..." Asgore mutters, grabbing the soul, and taking it into himself. He opens the canisters containing the other six souls, and absorbs them as well. With a burst of power, and a grunt of exertion, Asgore launches his trident at the barrier with as much force as he can muster.
It shatters, chunks of magical pseudomatter flying everywhere. Asgore smiles tiredly at the sight. "Tori... would have loved this..." He mutters sadly. Sans looks out over the forest to see a massive city in the distance. "Pap would have loved this, too." He tugs at the reddish orange scarf wrapped around his neck, and Asgore gives him a comforting pat on the back.
"It could always be worse," The king advises, but Sans has little to offer in response. It could be worse, yes, but it could have been so much better, too. The squat skeleton shoves his hands into his pockets, burying his face in the neck of his hoodie, and Asgore gives his back a comforting rub, before pulling out his phone.
"Dr. Alphys? It's safe, you can all come out now..." Sans doesn't listen in to the conversation. It doesn't matter. None of the monsters leaving that cave are Papyrus, and that's the only monster he wants to see right now. He firmly plants his rear on the edge of a rather sheer cliff. He looks down at the forest below, and turns to see Asgore facing the other way. Sans stares at the foliage so far below, and thinks to himself, 'Pap wouldn't have wanted this.'
'Papyrus is dead, and now that he's been avenged, I have no purpose,' another voice argues, 'all my friends are dead... and no pacifist run is going to bring them back now that Frisk is, too.' He huffs down at the expansive green, and, making his decision, pulls the hood over his head. "Wouldn't do to have that snag on a branch at the last minute..." He mutters to himself, sliding off the cliff.
His pupils blink out of existance as he falls to his ultimate doom, unaware of all that surrounds him, only concerned with that, wherever Papyrus is, he'll soon be there too. And yet, it is not to be. His left socket ignites in blue, flaming mist as a new presence overwhelms him.
--ROOMIES--
With a crash, and a pained yelp, Sans lands in a dumpster. Not intentionally, of course, that's just where he happened to land after his unscheduled flight. He grabs the rim, slowly pulling himself up, out of the dumpster, pausing only briefly to wince in pain.
As he sits up, he realizes two thing right off the bat. One, he's still alive. He's rather torn about that fact because, yay, he's alive, and, oh no, Papyrus is dead. Two, it's either night, or he's back underground. He can tell because the alley is very blue, courtesy of the ethereal blaze in his eye, and a quick glance at the sky confirms that, yes, it is night, and no, he's not back underground.
"hehe. and here i thought i'd reset back to newhome or something." He sags, not even bothering to get out of the garbage, "that's just my luck, ain't it?" He sits there, wallowing in his own misery, for almost forty minutes, before another glance upwards reveals the moon hanging over his bony head. Tears stain his face, continually leaking from his eyes as he thinks of how much Papyrus would have loved to see it.
And how much Undyne would have loved to see it.
And how much Grillby would have... loved... to... see... i...t...
It takes all Sans has not to completely break down into a sobbing mess. He sits there, quietly crying for all he's lost, for what seems to him as an eternity. He hangs his head lower when, an hour later, a voice comes out of the darkness behind him. "Uhm... hello?" Sans pulls himself out of his misery for a moment to adress the newcomer. He's only got 1 HoPe, no need to look even weaker, after all.
He turns halfway to the voice, a white pupil blinking into his right eye, left still blazing blue. "yeah? 'sup?" He sees the silhouette of a... 'human...' he internally grumbles. His gaze turns darker, pupil getting smaller, and blaze burning brighter, illuminating far more of the dirty alley. The human steps into the light, revealing herself to be female, with a leather jacket, and strange, two-tone, wavy hair.
Sans barely pauses to note that abnormality before he gets right back to glaring. "I..." She coughs into her hand, looking at the being hidden, all but their tiny, pinprick white light of an eye, by a hoodie, and takes a deep breath, straightening her back. "I heard you crying, and... I wanted to see if you were okay."
Sans scoffs at the girl, "okay, huh?" He turns further, revealing his blazing eye, but not his skeletal features. "nah, you just wanted to see if the poor, sobbing weakling in the alley still had any valuables after he got mugged. i know your kind. scum. filth. i want nothing you have to offer, so leave me be, or i will make you leave me be, human."
"Human...?" the girl mutters, staring into Sans' glowing eye. Suddenly the girl inches closer, and closer, stopping only a yard away. "i'm warning you, human, if you-" "Stop. You aren't human, then?" She asks the question gently, but her command is firm. Sans pauses to note the air of nobility in her actions, and the genuine kindness, understanding, even, in her tone.
"...no. i'm not." Sans shifts away uncomfortably, ready to beat a hasty retreat should the human call for reinforcements. She comes closer, and Sans raises a hand to ward her off, but she approaches too quickly, and the only thing he can do before she speaks is glance curiously at her.
"Me neither."
--ROOMIES--
Sans has a bit of a chuckle at Sunset's expense, the girl pouting as Sans makes another pun, "don't be horse, dear, i won't judge. your situation might be furrier, but mine was worse. you see, the mane idea of my life is living it over and over." He sighs, all humor gone from his voice. "watching my friends and family die... over and over..."
Sunset cringes at the sudden change of tone. She hangs her head, knowing good and well how serious the mood swings grief can bring are. "Sans... I have no family, either. You know that. I told you that. I may not have watched them die, and most certainly not more than once, but I know, d-deep down in my h-heart, that you c-can come back f-from this. I-I did-d, and I h-had n-nothing to s-support m-m-me. You'll..." Sunset swallows hard, her voice cracking, a few tears glittering in her eyes. "You'll have me."
Sans smiles, though he always does, and it almost reaches his eyes. "thank you," he nods to the flaming-haired girl, "but these are my problems..." He backs away slowly. "i won't pull you into them, sunset. besides that, i avenged pap. i've already found closure."
"Bullshit. You found revenge." Sunset sighs, tears streaking down her face. "You know... you know that I learned why revenge doesn't work, and I learned it the hard way." Sans stops dead on his heels. He slowly blinks at the Sunset, and lowers his head, his own tears beginning to fall again. As he raises his head, he smiles, genuinely, intentionally, but it still doesn't quite meet his eyes.
"you're right, sunset. though, even if i do... try and find closure, you know? ...how will i get on in the world? i'm brand new here. all the monsters... that survived... are lost, and, and confused up here." Sans sighs, sitting down on a crate next to Sunset. The skeleton clicks the tongue he doesn't have, and mutters, "They have Asgore, at least. Who do I have?"
Sunset places a hand on Sans' shoulder. "I already told you, you silly skeleton. You'll have me. I'll help you through this."She extends a hand with a rueful, but friendly smile. "Pals?" Sans looks uncomfortably at the offerend hand, but takes a deep breath, chokes down his apprehension, and shakes her hand. "Pals."
--ROOMIES--
"So," Sunset starts awkwardly, "This is my home!" She flings her arms out in a 'look at all this stuff!' sort of way, ending her awkward welcome with an awkward gesture. "awkward," Sans notes, "and a bit... tacky. i feel like i'm home already." His grin turns grateful, "thanks, sunset, this means a lot."
Sunset smirks, shrugging. "Aw, 'salright! I know how hard it is to start completely over, after all." Sans nods in agreement, looking around. A twinge of sadness strikes him as he realizes that the building has a layout identical to his own... former... home. He shakes his head with a strained chuckle, choking back the tears.
"heh... so... should i sleep on the couch tonight, or...?" Sunset shakes her head. "Nah, I've got a guest room upstairs. I've only got a couple requests. Keep it clean, help around the house, and don't... eat me, or whatever." She shrugs, "Not that I think you would, but I thought saying that might break the tension a bit. Did it work?"
"hehehe... yeah. thanks, sunset. 'preciate it." Sans places his bony hands back in his pockets. "so, i figure we should think this through now rather than in the morning. how are we gonna do this? you know, the roomates thing. i might be able to disguise myself with magic, but..."
"You don't know much about this place. I understand." Sunset nods sagely. "Let's start with the schedule. Today is friday, so the weekend lies ahead of us. I work all day saturday, from nine to seven, and I have to go to school on weekdays from eight to three thirty. After that I work from five to nine." Sans nods at the explanation, grimacing a bit.
"so, even with the disguise..."
"I have an idea for that." Sans tilts his head, and nods for her to continue. "Well, see, since you'd otherwise be here all by yourself with nothing to do all day... maybe we could get you a job, and get enrolled in school." Sans raises an eyebrow. "Yeah, I know, you're older than me, but I was thinking if we took the same classes, I could help you, you know, get used to everything, and you'll of course, be able to interact." Sans accepts that with a shrug.
"well... that makes sense. and... the job?" Sunset wrings her hands nervously.
"That's... tougher, even if you have magic. Forging birth certificates and old school records is easy." Her face loses all expression, and her gaze turns steely as she mutters to herself, "really easy... too easy..." She shakes her head, and continues. "You have to actually apply for a job, and... wait."
Sans looks up at her, a strange look on her face. "what is it?" he asks, scratching his head, then putting his hand back in his pocket.
"If the monsters are free, why disguise yourself?" Sans freezes, a sad look on his face. He takes a deep breath, and lets it out slow.
"..." He shakes his head, and takes another breath. "i can... teleport, sort of. i call 'em shortcuts. i, uh... well, you look different from the humans i've seen, and i've seen several. the others look different too, there's so much... variety. it's not what i'd expected. coupled with the weird presence..." Sans shrugs, and sags, "i took a shortcut to mount ebott, while we were walking here. it doesn't exist. either the monsters here aren't free..."
Sunset's eyes widen, and her expression turns sympathetic. "Or they never even existed," she finishes. Sans straightens up. "not like i didn't expect it. i knew i'd pretty much be on my own, but... hey," He bumps her side, "i got someone. better than i expected, right?" She looks down at his forced grin, and gives one of her own. "Yeah... I guess."
"we'll talk about jobs in the morning. i just killed the same psychopath over six hundred times, i need some rest." Sunset gives a little laugh.
--ROOMIES--
Sans sits up in his bed, stretching the muscles that he quite clearly doesn't have. He yawns because he feels like it, and looks around. The room is pristine. His eyesockets narrow for a full three minutes before the last few days come flooding back. He bites back tears as he raises a hand to his mouth.
With a shuddering breath, he shakes his head, and slowly gets out of bed. He looks at the window, sunlight streaming into the room. He smiles softly through the permanant grin on his face, and slips his white sneakers on. He shuffles slowly to the door, and opens it just as slowly. With a heavy blink, he trudges down the stairs.
He wanders into the kitchen, muttering as he wraps his brother's scarf tighter around his neck. He opens the fridge before realizing with a start- this is his chance to make a good impression. He smiles a little wider as he starts to make pancakes.
Sunset sits up in bed, lazily pulling her hair from her face, and slips on her slippers. She meanders down the stairs in her pajamas after checking the clock to see it's only six fifty-three. When she steps into the kitchen, her sleep addled brain only recognizes three things. First, the smell of pancakes. Second, that she didn't make pancakes. Third, the unfamiliar mass of blue standing in front of her stove.
"'sup?" it asks her, "i woke up before you and thought that, as the gracious guest i am, i'd better make you some breakfast to say 'thanks.' and so, here it is." It gestures to the table, where her clearing vision reveals a stack of pancakes. She turns back to the mass to see it has cleared into a a skeleton wearing a blue jacket, smiling at her.
She almost screams, but she crushes it when she realizes how familiar it looks, how very... "Oh, I had thought you were a dream. My bad." Sans chuckles, placing his own pancakes on a plate, pouring some syrup over them, and sitting down at the table. Seeing her just standing there, he pats her seat, joking, " i didn't have chairs at my house, 'cuz a friend suplexed 'em, but that don't mean you have to stand up in yours."
She sits down slowly, licking her lips at the thought of pancakes, and she reaches for the syrup even before she sits do-PFFFFFFFFFFFFT... Sans just grins wider as Sunset throws the floppy pink piece of rubber at him. Eventually she can't hold it in, and they share a good chuckle at her own expense. "just 'cuz i'm gracious doesn't mean i'm gonna stop being me."
"So..." Sunset uncertainly starts, swallowing a bite, "what did you do for a job before... you know..." Sans sits up a little straighter, and tells her, "well... i was several things. i'm good at multitasking, you see, and, even though i'm lazy, i never failed a job, or ever did a poor job unless it was on purpose.
"let's start with... sentry. that was my main job, though i also did vendoring, and serious guarding." Sunset nods, thinking it over. "i'm thinking i'd be best suited working at a fast-food place or something for now. i hear those are the easiest places to get jobs."
Sunset nods again, humming to herself. "I'm guessing that by 'serious guarding', you mean defending the king from this Frisk bitch, right?" Sans nods. "Well, we don't really have anything like that around here... yeah. Fast food would probably be your best shot for a first job."
She shifts uncomfortably when they finish their pancakes, and she asks the obvious question. "Uhh... Sans? How are you, uh, eating?" Sans pauses to consider that. he rubs his chin for a moment, and eventually answers with a shrug.
"dunno. underground, everything was made of magic, or something, like us monsters, so i can explain that. here? not so much. should have just fallen through me, but i woulda stopped if it did that."
"Hmm." Sunset grunts, getting up and stretching. She rolls an achy joint, and Sans gets up too, depositing their dishes in the sink. "you know," he chuckles, "pap decided, not too long ago, that he was gonna make the sink taller so he could fit more bones under it. why he needed the space, i have no idea, but he did. now, keeping in mind that king asgore is ten feet tall... he'd need a step ladder to wash his hands."
Sunset blinks once, twice, three times, and then laughs. two minutes later, she's still laughing, another three later, and she's finally calming down. "Ahahaha... the king... ten feet tall... needs a step ladder.... to wash his hands..." she gasps, "THAT... is the funniest thing I ever heard. EVER." she gives a heavy sigh, looking at the half joyful, half depressed look on her roommate's face. "You miss him, huh? I miss my family, too."
Sans looks up to her empathetic smile, and shrugs it off, wrapping the dusty scarf a little tighter around his neck. "i know." They stand there for a moment, just silently standing, before Sans takes another deep breath, and loudly starts, "well! i need to get my, uh, disguise set. care to help me get a... believable one?" Sunset nods, and they head into the living room to get ready.