Sorry for my extended absence! Dealing with depression, a new therapist, and life in general has been pretty time-consuming.

Also, writers' block. It's a nightmare. Anyways, here's a short-but-sweet Chapter 12, in which our heroine has an important chat.

Following a long, heartfelt conversation with your mother, you're left to your own devices.

And to a delicious jar of snails.

Just as you're about to dig in, the door swings open behind you, letting in a blast of ice-cold air. It slams shut, and you turn around to come face-to-face with Sans.

That's not good.

Sans is evidently quite surprised to see you awake- he takes a sharp breath and steps back into the door. "uh, no hard feelings, right?"

Why is everyone apologizing for things that are your fault?

"Sans, I, uh… Haven't… Been… Truthful? With you? Uh, I mean…"

You watch as his expression softens a little. He walks on over and plops down on the couch next to you with a sigh. "whaddaya mean? what's got your goat?"

That was totally meant to be a goat pun, wasn't it?

"Well, uh, remember our… Fight?"

"yeah, kiddo, sorry about that."

"No, no, no, don't be! That was my fault! It's just, uh, that your suspicions were… Maybe… Not totally unfounded."

The skeleton's grin droops a little as he gazes upon you with what you think is concern. "kiddo, what are you talkin' about?"

"I… Wasn't always a boss monster."

Sans' grin quickly shifts into a grimace. "buddy, you're not very humerus. put a little more backbone into your jokes, yeah?"

You groan at the dreadful duo of puns before summoning it from your chest… A familiar heat builds from your sternum, radiating outwards. A pale yellow glow fills the room as you summon forth your soul.

Sans is visibly uncomfortable with seeing your soul outside of your body. "th-that's a neat trick and all, but i don't really see what it's proving."

And that's when you break.

"It's a human soul, Sans. A dirty, depleted soul that used to belong to a human, anyways. This is all that I have left, you know that? This soul has seen sunlight, and massive cities filled with humans, and the stars at night. It's been to the ocean, a great body of salt water covering most of the world, it's been to the mountains and deserts of my homeland. All of that's gone, and I'll never see it again. I lost so much freedom, but you know what? It was worth it."

"still waiting for the punchline."

You don't particularly care about what the skeleton is saying- you're entirely too busy venting. "That's… That's the real reason I wanted to come out here, out of the ruins. Not for new experiences or new friends, but to ensure that the barrier would never be broken." A lie, but it sounds like a good plan now that you think of it.

"still waiting."

"Sans, you don't know humans like I do. They'll treat us like wild animals, they'll murder us or stick us into ghettos to starve. That's what humans do to people who are different. I've seen it happen before, and I'll be damned if I let it happen again. As long as we stay down here, the humans will remain ignorant. They think we're the stuff of legends and fairytales and they won't hurt us."

"you sound awfully scared, pal."

"I have every right to be. If the barrier is shattered, we'll be hunted down and driven into dust."

"ya sound awful sure of that."

"I used to be one of them, Sans. Humans don't need love or compassion to get by. As long as they have a goal to work towards, or something to be afraid of, they keep going. They're the most determined things alive. If the barrier is shattered, we'll all die. Plain and simple."

"determined? heh. kiddo, A."

Eyesockets black and grin vacant, Sans grins at you yet through you. You struggle to maintain your composure, but just as you're about to lose it Sans reverts to his normal self.

"y'know, it's kind of obvious that you are- i mean, were a human."

"How so?"

"you suck at magic."

"Thanks, Sans."

The skeleton winks lazily at you and slumps forward, elbows resting on his knees.

"anytime, pal."

"So, uh, you're not gonna interrogate me about any of this? If I was in your shoes I'd be asking a lot more questions."

"being curious can only get you so far," the skeleton mutters cryptically. Gee, Sans. How helpful.

"Nothing, then. Okay. If that's what you want, I guess I can't-"

Sans' grin widens as he looks you up and down before flashing you a knowing wink. "kiddo, if i was you i'd move this conversation to my bedroom."

"Why?"

"we have visitors."

Well, that's one way to get your ass off of a couch and scrambling up the stairs. Sans is, somehow, already at the top of the stairs, cheerfully waving to you.

Somewhere downstairs, you hear the tell-tale slam of the front door. "YES, HUMAN, COME IN, COME IN!" Papyrus is home. With a human.

Shit.

You quickly veer right after Sans as he opens the door to his bedroom. Papyrus begins to bemoan your absence as you slip inside.

Sans quickly locks the door behind the two of you with a sigh. His bedroom is…. An absolute mess. A greasy, unwashed ball of sheets sits in one corner of the room, a pile of dirty socks sits opposite it. To your right is a literal self-sustaining tornado of garbage, and in the centre of the room is a treadmill running on its minimum speed.

None of this really surprises you- you're pretty much immune to surprise at this point. Yeah, sure, Sans has a sock collection, why not? It's not like anything else about him makes sense.

"heh. i usually don't let people in here, but i'll make an exception for you, sweetheart." He winks 'flirtatiously,' sending a blush to your face. You're certain that he can see it through all of your fur because his shit-eating grin just grows wider. "what, am i not allowed to be bonely? i don't have a skele-ton of close friends." You can practically hear the rimshot going off at his… Sans-sational puns.

He's corrupting you.

"uh, anyways, i figured we should talk in private about this 'i used to be a human' thing of yours. sounds kinda important."

"Oh, so you do care?"

"i've gotta keep up appearances, buddy. can't let people start thinking they can count on me for anything. too much work."

The scary part isn't that Sans is disgustingly lazy- it's that you kind of agree with him. He really IS a bad influence.

"anyways, start from the top of your story. i want to know exactly what happened."

You tell Sans about your terrible excuse for a life on the surface- your cultishly devout mother and layabout drunkard of a father, your few "friends" and your many tormentors. You tell him about your old hobbies and theories about Mount Ebbot and the secrets it might hold.

"i think i'm starting to see why you dislike humans so much."

You laugh and continue your story in the underground- starting with Toriel's vague description of a "demon that is neither human nor monster," which earns you a frown from Sans. You discuss waking up, finding your new body, learning to control it and your budding magical abilities. A small smile comes to your face as you talk about hunting snails and cooking pies with your mother, or sitting together in the living room and reading old novels. It was a simple life, sure, but a good one. So much better than the surface.

Sans' grin widens when he sees the smile on your face. "heh. sounds like you've really come to enjoy being a monster."

"Duh."

He plants a hand on his chest and gives you a fake gasp. "you offend me."

"A-anyways, back to business, right? You want to know about my soul or something, right?"

"nah, i don't really care about that."

"What do you want, then?"

"a promise. i promised to never call you a human again. i need you to promise me something- that you will never hurt papyrus or the human downstairs."

Your left eye twitches a little at the mention of leaving the human be, but if Sans cares so much… You can't bear to deny him his request. He deserves it, especially after what you tried to do to him.

Y'know, attempted homicide.

You crack a pitiful smile and affirm that you will, in fact, ensure that you do not hurt the human child.

What an interesting timeline this will be!