YES I KNOW IT'S ANOTHER SIDE STORY SO DON'T EXPECT IT TO BE UPDATED OFTEN! (at this point I'm just writing what I feel like writing. Expect more coming updates for Tears That Scar. I want to finish Arc 1 and Let Me Breathe by the end of this year).

AU stuff: The stuff with Chara and Frisk never happened. They still exist, but they'll come in later. That basically means that Toriel and Asgore are still together so yay, but Sans still hates humans. And uh, Gaster's still the royal scientist. Alphys is probably sitting in a hole somewhere. Metatton is still around, though. The end.

Uh, and review and stuff. Please.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Barrier

Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS.

One day, war broke out between the two races.

After a long battle, the humans were victorious.

They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell.

Every Human child was told the story of the war. There were always a few slight changes and exaggerations in the way that the tale was told, but the basic details were always the same: There had been a brutal war, the Humans had won, and a magic spell was woven to trap the Monsters underground. And as far as anyone knew, that was the end of the story. The Monsters, sealed away. All the troubles of the world reduced to mere nothingness.

At least, it had stayed that way for years after the war had ended. Not a peep from the ancient race which had once coexisted with the Humans on the surface. No one even questioned as to why the war had taken place. It had just been accepted its place in history, no one concerned for the fact that no Human document contained the details of the sudden divide between the two races. But then they had found Ebott.

Seven of Humanity's best magicians had done a fantastic job at keeping the Monsters underground. But in the process, they had forgotten the entire point of separating the two feuding races in the first place. And in the end, they had accidentally left a way to get into the underground. An entrance to the place where the race which Humans had persecuted now lived, never again able to harm Humanity.

It wasn't long before word of the entrance began to spread across the land. Crowds of people came to see, looking on in interest at the mountain housing the great drop to the land down below. But no one went down there. No one dared to even lean over the edge of the great, gaping hole to see how deep it went. Because no matter how much they denied it, the Humans were terrified of the Monsters. Terrified of what they might do, if one of them was found down there.

Soon, Mount Ebott became nothing more than a tale, just as old and timeless as the war itself. Everyone knew of its supposed existence, but there had been a unanimous agreement through Humanity, that no one should ever really know that the hole really was real. And so it became so, that when people spoke of Ebott, it was not about the hole which led to the underground, but of natural landmarks and scenery. The mountain was just another shape on the horizon, for the Humans to look at and wonder.

And for years, the new order remained. No one questioned the rules, and thus the new generations of Humans became more and more doubtful of Monsters truly existing. More and more reckless teenagers traversed their way to Ebott, but never found the hole which led to the underground. It was as if the mountain itself had decided that Humans and Monsters should remain separate, for their own good.

And so, that was how the legend of Undertale truly began.

xXx

Melanie still remembered the day when the Human leaders had announced an inevitable second Human-Monster War. It had been broadcasted on TV screens, on newspapers, through bugging little texts automatically sent to anyone in possession of a mobile phone. No one was entirely sure what had made the government so alert to this all of a sudden, but once again, like all times in history, no one had questioned it. No one except for Melanie.

From the age of 5, she and all of the other children her age had been forced to participate in basic training; they claimed that to prepare for the upcoming war, but even a 5 year old wasn't stupid enough to just believe that. They were turning children into soldiers, mindless, emotionless machines to be used in the future for economical gain. But she's had no say in it, so like the others, she had mindlessly stepped into line, following every command she was given, every order that was issued.

That was, until she had turned 7, and Instructor Mitchell had placed that handgun into her hand. It had almost been like every other day. Melanie had turned up for 'school', placed her things into her locker, and headed out onto the field. There in the harsh sunlight, she and her entire class had done their daily workout, then gone to their respective classes. First came Maths, then English, then double Science. After that, it was training with Mitchell. She had been prepared for more basic martial arts. Maybe she'd get to try those sticks that she'd seen the older kids using. But instead, Mitchell had announced a surprise. Namely, the guns.

Melanie hadn't been sure how to react, at first. The first thing she said to him was 'Is this a joke?' most of the other kids had repeated her question, but Mitchell had grinned that stupid grin, and told them that no, this wasn't a joke. They were going to be using these guns. They were going to learn how to kill with these guns. It was then that she'd felt so tremendously sick. Her thoughts had exploded into a violent array of incomprehensible worries and concerns. Then she had felt the instrument of death laying in the palm of her hand, barrel facing to the side and the handle resting on her thumb.

And she had said no.

Mitchell sent her home after that, worried that perhaps she was just flustered by the sudden confrontation. You didn't just give a child a gun and tell them to shoot. But he had done that anyway. Her parents had been supportive at least. They'd said that it would be fine, etcetera, etcetera. But it hadn't been that Melanie didn't want to shoot that gun. It was that she'd come to a revelation.

She'd locked herself in her room, and read up on every bit of magic that she could find. She knew that the new weapons Humans had invented were far superior to magical powers in raw strength. But magic was flexible, was it not? It could adapt to what the caster wanted it to do. What was a gun, when magic could conjure shields into thin air?

That night, when her parents had finally fallen asleep, Melanie had become the first human to cast magic in hundreds of years.

xXx

"Happy birthday to me!" Melanie laughed to herself as she lay on the roof of her house, back pressing against cold hard shingles. "Here's to another year of sadness and mockery!" She tipped her head back just a little, raising the bottle of beer to her lips. She was nowhere near the legal drinking age – she had only just turned 9, after all – but tonight was the one night where she allowed herself to reign free. No one could tell her what to do on her birthday, not even her parents, who would be furious if they found out that Melanie had been drinking from their secret stash at the back of the fridge.

But then again, they were already furious at her anyways. They had been furious from the day that she'd used magic to defeat her partner in a training exercise. It hadn't been much, just a thin line of blue magic, but it had been enough to set them off. They had been mad, sure, but they hadn't officially kicked her out of the house until last month.

That hadn't really been a problem to her. Melanie still found it easy to sneak in and steal food from her old house, occasionally sleeping on the roof but mostly taking shelter in a small cave west of the town of Bellum. It certainly wasn't an unpleasant lifestyle, considering that no one actually knew that she had been kicked out of her house. Her parents, despite their obvious hatred towards her using magic, knew that suddenly withdrawing her from school would be suspicious. So as of yet, they still payed her school fees, even if they were spending thousands of dollars.

Melanie, of course, had taken full advantage of this situation. She still went to school, despite the frowns which greeted her in the hallways, or the disapproving looks that Mitchell gave her whenever he saw a streak of magic burst from her hand. She just did what she had to do to survive. After all, the school also gave free lunches, which she definitely wasn't going to turn down.

"Fuck you!" she screamed at the town, standing up and swaying groggily in the pale moonlight. "Screw you all! Goddamned gun lovers!" Of course, the school's arsenal didn't only consist of guns. Blades of various lengths were also put into practice, and Melanie could recall one or two lessons involving whips, though she was pretty sure that it had only been Mitchell's sick perversion which had allowed such a lesson to make its way into the curriculum.

Melanie sighed, dropping down from the roof onto the gravel pathway in front of her house, smacking her cheek as she drained the contents of the bottle, then letting it slip out of her hand and clink against the pavement. Her parents could clean that up later; it wasn't her problem, not anymore. Right now, it was her birthday, and she was the goddamned queen of the universe.

"Oh, what to do, what to do?" she pondered out loud as she walked through the streets drunkenly, occasionally hiccupping between steps. "What to do, on the night of all nights? Perhaps I'll just take that walk? God known I need the exercise." Settling on this decision, Melanie tuned out the rest of the world, wandering absentmindedly through the winding streets of Bellum. She looked up for the first few times at the sounds of insects chirping or late night birds singing songs of fatigue and despair, but after that her interest wore thin, her mind latching onto anything which she hadn't yet seen that night.

Upon realising that she'd probably been seen by at least a few people, Melanie slunk into the darkened alleys, unconcerned about the possibility of strangers lurking in the dark. She was confident enough in her own abilities to defend herself. The alleys themselves, however, were a complete mess. Splattered bird droppings, year old posters, soggy with water and caked with grime, cigarette butts and broken beer bottles. The very lowest of humanity's standards.

Melanie snickered as she thought of what people would think of her hanging around places like this. Considering that only she and her parents knew about her current status, it would certainly raise some questions. Deciding that she had been here for long enough, she casually walked out the other end of the alley, a stupid grin on her face. That same grin died within seconds of seeing the situation unfolding on the opposite side of the street. She couldn't see very well, and her vision seemed to be twisting in circles, but she could make out the figures of a girl and two boys, noticeably larger than her.

It didn't take her very long to recognise them. The girl, Alice, was in her class, and one of the few people who tolerated Melanie's existence without constantly berating her, something which she was extremely grateful for. The boys, she knew went by the names Dylan and Darren, though she couldn't remember which was which. Was Dylan the tall one, or the large one? She hadn't bothered to get to know them well enough, but by reputation, neither were the kind of person you'd want to meet at the dead of night. That thought brought up questions of its own; what were the three doing out at this hour? Melanie really couldn't criticise them considering that she was doing the same thing, but she still found them extremely suspicious. Besides, they were whispering. If that didn't shout odd, then what did?

She drew nearer, standing on the road. It was a quite night; no cars passed, and so she remained in the relative darkness. Usually at this time, she was the only one up and about. But Bellum was a strange town, and its inhabitants were known for their unpredictability. Soon, as soon as the clocks hit 1:00 am, the first patrol was scheduled to start (though it usually began at least 5 minutes later), and all of them would be caught in the headlights of a speeding police car. She needed to resolve this before something like that happened.

"What's up, guys?" she said cheerily, startling all three of the people she was addressing. Alice's expression was grateful, while Dylan and Darren looked ready to pummel her. The tall one (she still couldn't recall who was who) snorted at her, tilting his head.

"What are you doing out at this time, Gomez? Go crawl back home." Melanie frowned, but otherwise ignored his attempt to insult her.

"It's my birthday. I'm gonna stay up as long as I like. But tell me, what are you doing here? Do we all suddenly share the same birthday or something?" She feigned excitement, clapping her hands and plastering a fake grin onto her face. "Wait, do we share the same birthday?"

"Shut up," hissed the other one. "It's none of your business. Continue your midnight stroll somewhere else?" Melanie let out a fake sigh, slumping over in false despair.

"But it's so boring. It's all so quiet, and the patrol doesn't start for another 3 minutes…" He suddenly paled at the mention of a patrol, while Alice perked up.

"Patrol?" she said curiously. "In 3 minutes?"

"Something like that," Melanie muttered. "But it's always starting late."

"Darren, we should get out of here," the tall one whispered to the large one; well, at least she knew who was who.

"Why, though?" she questioned, spreading her arms out and grinning. "I thought the party was only just starting? Now, you want to tell me what you guys are doing here? Because may I remind you, you're unarmed." All three drew back as she traced her finger through the air, leaving a thin streak of blue magic, the boys visibly paling. "And, well, I never am." Alice let out a low whistle, clearly enjoying this spectacle, while Dylan and Darren were now nervous. Dylan spoke first, stepping forward.

"We're not unarmed." He flicked out a switchblade, flipping the switch so that a thin, sharp blade popped out of the shaft. Melanie eyed the small weapon, hardly concerned. She looked over at Darren, beckoning for him to take out his own weapon. His eyes flicked over to Darren uncomfortably, before reluctantly flicking his own blade out. "Leave, Gomez. This is your final warning."

"Not without answers," she growled. "Now, I'm fuckin' tipsy and hanging on the edge of getting real damn pissed. You don't want to test me, idiots."

"Don't bother," Alice told her wearily. "I just owe them money and haven't paid them. It's fine." Melanie snorted, holding up her hand and preparing to cast.

"What do you owe them for?" Alice frowned, but answered nevertheless.

"Uh, not kicking the crap out of me, apparently. They're not backing down." Melanie sighed, shaking her head at the two.

"Dammit, guys. You know I don't tolerate bullying." She placed both index fingers together, then drew them out, both leaving trails of blue magic. The trails began to thicken, entwining until they formed a light rod of magic. "Looks like I'm just going to have to explain why you're not meant to squeeze people." Darren slashed out with his switchblade, an attack which Melanie sidestepped with ease, before swinging the rod against his head. She heard a satisfying crack as the magic weapon made contact with his head, before changing her attention to Dylan. The boy snarled at her, lunging forward and feigning an attack to the left before kicking at her stomach. The blow fell short as Melanie stepped back, then slammed the rod into his exposed back. He groaned in pain as Melanie laughed, relishing his pained cries before delivering another blow to his side. He lurched forwards, then fell to the ground apparently defeated. She looked up at Alice, who was surprisingly calm despite the situation.

"You alright?" she asked, receiving a nod in response. "That's good." She looked down at Dylan, nudging him with her shoe. He didn't move. "I hope I didn't kill them."

"Mm," Alice hummed disinterestedly. "They'll be fine, I'm sure. Don't worry about it." Melanie looked doubtful, but shrugged.

"Alright. So–" She cut herself off as she was suddenly enveloped in a bright light, causing her to blink in surprise. She turned around, eyes widening as she realised that she source was the headlights of the first patrol car, the driving officer glaring at her furiously. "Oh, shit."

"Hold it!" he yelled, only to be hit in the face as Melanie threw her rod towards him. The weapon instantly changed into magical vapour after it struck, leaving no trace of its existence. "Darn it!" he pulled a gun from his holster, pointing it at Melanie. "You're under–" A streak of white magic burst from her outstretched hand, knocking the gun out of his hand. "GODDAMNIT!"

Melanie snarled at him, unable to stop the inevitable grab for the walkie-talkie. Her eyes darted to Alice, who gave her a firm nod. The message was clear; I'll buy you time. So go.

And she went. Ran. Faster and faster.

Through muddied pathways and cracked pavements she raced, brown hair flying behind her and the wind rushing in her ears. The only thing that tonight had achieved hadn't been worth it. Now the cops were after her, and they wouldn't even bother asking for an explanation; magic users were frowned down upon. There was nowhere to go. Because Bellum was her sanctuary no longer. As the sirens reached her ears, Melanie cursed, considering her options. The cave wouldn't be safe; they'd follow her there. Her parents wouldn't hide her. She needed a place where nowhere went the stuff of legends so revered that no one would dare chase her. And as these thoughts went through her head, she looked to the dim horizon, and the dark lump rising from the ground in the distance. She realised that there was such a place, and it really wasn't far. That was what Ebott had always been, hadn't it? A legend.

Without hesitation, she set the legendary mountain as her waypoint, running towards it through the straight road leading directly to it. Cars would follow her easily, but none would dare to truly ascend the mountain with her…or at least, they shouldn't. Most people feared the mountain as much as they feared the Monsters which supposedly dwelt in its underground. Melanie had doubted the Monsters' existence before, but after discovering the power of magic, she supposed that anything was possible in this world. If there really were Monsters, would they slaughter her? Better slaughtered than imprisoned, she supposed. She didn't fancy either idea, but at least when you were dead you didn't know about it.

Soon the sirens grew louder and louder, until the cars were almost right behind her. Melanie had always been a fast runner, but there was no way that she could outrun speeding cars. She could already see the red and blue flashing onto the road in front of her. Red and blue…

She spun around for just a second, extending both hands towards the ground in behind her. A blue spike shot up from the ground, piercing the tires of the cars pursuing her. A loud hiss of air escaped from the tires as the leading car skidded to the left, rolling over and coming to a halt. The second car smashed loudly into the first, shattered shards of glass flying through the air as is too began to slow down. Melanie breathed a sigh of relief, allowing the spike to retreat back into the ground. It wasn't as if she'd taken out the entire force following her though; there was still a sizeable amount of cars in pursuit, sounding sirens and flashing coloured lights. If she wanted make it to Ebott, then she'd need to get rid of them.

There wasn't much she could do to stop their assault without completely draining herself. First she began to fire streaks of blue magic at the cars, but they didn't do much apart from crack their windscreens. Soon it was apparent that they would catch up soon if she kept on repeating this. They were still gaining on her. Left with no other choice, she lifted up both hands, spreading them as wide as she could and pushing forward. A thin blue rectangle began to expand behind her, rapidly spreading out before the cars. Before the vehicles could stop, they were slamming into the massive barrier, some flipping over as car alarms sounded and sirens died.

Melanie stopped running, looking back with an expression of horror on her face. She had done that? Had she really? Her knees trembled as her eyes searched through the wreckage for any sign of life, but as the vehicles lay unmoving and no people came into sight, she dropped to the ground in despair, grazing her legs in the process. She hissed in pain, drawing her legs in and lightly tapping the wound with her finger, then withdrawing. She shuffled backwards, hands scraping against dry blades of grass. Wait, grass…?

Melanie spun her head around, gasping at the sight. Not once had she ever seen Ebott up close before. The mountain, even with half its vegetation dried up and withered, was still as majestic as the stories had said. Standing at an incredible height, the peak reached up to the sky, beyond even the clouds. She tilted her head back, gaping at the sight as suddenly behind her, she heard a metallic scraping. She turned around, breathing a sigh of relief as she saw a single figure, hunched over with pain, walking towards her while scowling. At least she hadn't killed everyone in that crash…

Something panged in her chest. A revelation, of sorts. If she allowed these people to survive, then they'd never stop following her. She would always be on the run. This man, whoever he was, was no different. Closing her eyes in regret, she raised her arm and fired a single bolt of orange magic. The man had definitely seen it coming; he yelped in alarm, quickly diving out of the way. But he hadn't been what she'd been aiming for; Melanie's target was the pile of immobile scrap metal lying around on the road. Anyone who actually took the time to read up on magic would know that there were three common forms of magic, which expanded into their own various subcategories; white, blue and orange. White was a completely solid attack, blue extremely effective only against things which were moving. Orange however, only affected things which were motionless. And when it did manage to hit something, it was always extremely destructive.

The pile of heaped cars exploded, a massive fireball bursting from its centre as the flames enveloped the entirety of the crash site, burning everything within its radius. Melanie sighed as she stared at the leaping flames, guilt overtaking her. Why didn't she feel bad? She had just killed a whole bunch of police officers, who were just doing their jobs. Who was she, to do such things and feel hardly any regret? She shook her head, rising shakily to her feet and stumbling up the mountain. She still needed to get away. Get away, clear her head, figure out her next move–

Melanie shrieked, falling forwards as a bullet ripped through her leg, a gaping hole teared into her flesh. She fell forwards, gasping for breath as she turned around to see the man from earlier, his left arm reduced to nothing but a bleeding stump and his right pointing a bloodstained handgun at her head. She'd missed. That explosion hadn't killed him, just injured him terribly. He wore a snarl on his face as he staggered forwards, index finger twitching against the trigger.

"Can't run now, bitch," he growled at her. "I was supposed to bring you back alive. But after that spectacle you just pulled off, I think that killing you would be a better choice." He winced and clutched his arm, but continued his march, gaining easily on Melanie as she limped on her only uninjured leg, gasping in pain. She turned around, firing a stream of white magic at his chest. However, the attack was weak and lacklustre, barely a mist, only causing him to stagger backwards before he regained his footing. He grunted, aiming the gun at her head once more and squeezing the trigger. Melanie made a half-hearted attempt to dodge, the bullet slicing open her cheek. But at this point, she had no more energy to spare for crying out. Her vision blurry, Melanie forced herself to use her injured leg to gain as much ground as possible. Though she couldn't see clearly, there was definitely what appeared to be a cave in front of her. Jagged stones, a darkened entrance; yeah, it seemed like a cave, alright.

"Get…" Another bullet raced past her, mere inches to the right from blowing her brains out. "Get back here, you bitch…" Another shot, this time landing in the dirt right next to her foot. Melanie stumbled briefly, stealing a glance at the new hole in the dirt before continuing. She grasped the cold stone wall of the cave, leaning against it to rest for just a moment and pressing her cheek to the icy stone. Another bullet jolted her back to reality, causing her to grunt and let go of the wall, staggering forwards as her left leg seemed to lose all its strength. She peered into the darkness, eyes widening as she came across what appeared to be an enormous, gaping hole.

It was almost perfectly circular in shape, the only irregularities being small chips in the side. As she peered over the edge, all she could see was darkness. A thick, endless darkness, a void with no end. No one had ever found the entrance to the underground in years; how could this truly be it? She took a step back, looking for another place to go; and then she heard the shot. And she felt it. The bullet hit her square in the back, sending her stumbling forward, eyes widened as her nerves registered the pain. And then she was falling. Down, down, into the endless darkness, until her vision was only pitch black, and a small pinprick of light directly above her. As her eyes closed while she fell, Melanie saw the officer's face, watching her all the way until she could no longer be seen. She hit the floor, and then she saw nothing.

xXx

"I know, Tori. You said that already. No, I won't. I promise, okay? Alright, I'll talk to you later. I think she's waking up." As Melanie began to stir, she could hear someone talking, apparently on a phone line with someone else. Their voice was low, almost equivalent to a mechanical droning, and only differentiable by the slight tones, words and pitches which could be made out by the sound. She opened her eyes to be greeted by a plain white ceiling, as she heard the distinctive click signifying the end of a call. She turned her head slightly to the left, cringing at the sudden snap in her neck. There was a figure standing next to her bed, dressed in a blue hoodie which had suffered years of wear and tear, small patches of faded colour on the shoulders. The hood was pulled over their face, obscuring it with dark shadows. Suddenly, a hand emerged from the pocket of the hoodie, and Melanie jolted upon realising that it was completely comprised of bone. No skin, flesh or blood was enveloping the hand as it rose up, pulling back the hood to reveal a grinning skull with tiny pinpricks of light in the sockets as its eyes. Suddenly, the skeleton winked at her, clearly enjoying her moment of shock.

"Hey there, kiddo." Melanie screamed. The skeleton didn't even blink, simply staring back with a peaceful expression. "Sorry for startling you. Although, I'd say that's good payback considering how much you startled me, falling through the Barrier like that." Melanie blinked in confusion, not understanding what he'd said.

"Barrier?" She had a feeling that if the skull was capable of showing anymore expression, then he would have been scowling.

"Yes, the Barrier. The thing that seals the Monsters underground. The only reason why the Human and Monster races aren't tearing each other apart. That thing." Melanie shook her head, as her eyes adjusted to the harsh light.

"Sorry. We don't have a name for it. Wait a second…" Her eyes snapped open as she came to a realisation. "Wait. Monster. Shit. You're a Monster."

"What else would I be?" the skeleton asked, clearly annoyed at her lack of knowledge. "Yeah, I'm a Monster. So is everyone else down here in the underground. That is, everyone except you." Melanie stared at him for a moment, as everything clicked into place. She'd attacked those boys. She ran to Ebott. She'd found the entrance, and that officer had shot her. And then she had fallen…

"Oh, God," she muttered. "I'm underground." The skeleton let out a sound which sounded suspiciously like a snicker, before answering her.

"Yes," he agreed. "You're underground. Several thousand feet. If that bed of flowers hadn't been there to break your fall, you surely would have been killed by the fall. Hell, you look like you were half dead before you even fell. What happened up there, kiddo?" Melanie stared blankly, collecting her thoughts.

"I…I tried to defend someone, but it all went wrong. They chased me, and then they shot me…I ran here because I had nowhere else to go. If I hadn't gone into that cave, I would have died." She looked into his eye sockets, at the tiny pinpricks of light. "I owe you my life."

"Yeah." Any lightheartedness which had been present in his tone instantly vanished, leaving only a passive hostility. "And you better damn well remember it. If I hadn't found you, the Froggits would have made quick work of you." Melanie frowned, frustrated at having little to no knowledge of this new world. The skeleton, clearly noticing her confusion, sighed and rubbed his head. "Another type of Monster. Don't ask; you'll meet them soon enough." She attempted to nod, but only received a bolt of paint through her spine in response. "Don't try and move. Your back was very badly injured by something, probably a bullet. Moving will just make it worse. Melanie sighed, but obeyed his words.

"Why did you help me?" she asked hesitantly. "I…I thought that you would hate Humanity after the war."

"Oh, I most certainly do," he admitted. "But as a friend of the Queen, I've kind of gotta keep a promise. And damn, do it hate it. Because if I hadn't agreed to it…" Suddenly both lights in his eyes completely died, leaving his eye sockets empty. "If I hadn't agreed, you'd be dead where you stand. Or uh, where you lie down." Melanie attempted to move, recoiling as another bolt of pain shot through her body. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," he advised. "That bullet tore right through your spinal cord. You won't be walking any time soon."

"You mean forever?" she groaned, shifting a little into a more comfortable position. "If what you say is true, the damage is irreversible."

"You mean irreversible up there," he made a sound akin to a snort, motioning upwards with his head. "Here, we use healing magic. Much more effective than that stupid medicine you Humans use. Pf, medicine." Melanie frowned, craning her neck a little.

"Healing magic?"

"Yeah. Green magic. What, they don't teach you that at school?" She winced, shaking her head slowly.

"They don't teach us anything about magic at school," she admitted. "They made us use weapons. Because they said…they said there'd be another war." The skeleton tilted his head, shaking it with an accompanying sigh.

"Trying to turn the young ones against us, huh? Slimy bastards." Melanie was about to protest that Humanity wasn't only comprised of slimy bastards, or whatever other string of unpleasant insults were on the tip of his tongue, but instead she found herself saying, "I never got your name." He stared at her, apparently surprised at her question, but quickly righted himself.

"The name's Sans, kid. Sans the skeleton." Melanie snickered, then winced at the pang in her chest.

"Argh. Um, I'm Melanie. Melanie Gomez." Sans winked at her.

"Nice to meet you, kiddo. If you need me, just holler real loud. I'm gonna go take a quick snooze."

"Okay. So–" Melanie blanched upon realising that Sans had literally began snoring while standing in front of her, head drooped down and eyelids closed – hell, how did he even have eyelids? Then again, he was a Monster. Human skeletons were probably different from skeletons. But she was more or less just concerned about whether he would wake up easily. Besides, his snoring was making it difficult to clear her head.

"Hey!" she yelled, causing the skeleton to jitter a little before his eyelids snapped open. However, only his left eye was illuminated, and instead of the usual white dot it was a burning blue flame, hovering in his eye socket.

"What is it?" he asked. "Something wrong?"

"I can't sleep when you're snoring," she explained. "Can you, uh, go somewhere else?" Sans grumbled, but moved himself nevertheless, closing the door behind him and shutting off the light. Melanie sighed, thinking about the injury in her back. Sans had said that it would be possible to heal her, but the idea had seemed farfetched, even for healing magic. How did one replace pulverised vertebrae, irreplaceable tissue? How did you reverse paralysis?

Magic, said the voice in the back of her head. Magic solves everything. But just as soon as that thought entered her mind, it began to drift to other places; the Monsters predominantly used magic. Perhaps they could help her powers grow? She shook her head, sighing. The Monsters, whether she liked it or not, probably all hated Humans. Then again, what was it that Sans had said? He'd made a promise to someone, the Queen apparently, to not kill her. Then did that mean she didn't hate her…? God, everything was so confusing. She didn't know anything about the underground, but was already drawing up rules and trying to figure everything out. The little pieces of information which Sans had given her probably wouldn't get her anywhere.

But here, no one would hate her for her magic, right? Sans had clearly expected her to at least know of healing magic, something which she had never even heard of before. She raised her left arm, wincing a little at the strain on her muscles, but still persisting. She clicked her fingers, a small blue flame flickering to life in the palm of her hand. Up on the surface, she'd had to balance everything; her school, finding shelter, food and water. But now, as she lay injured and paralysed on this bed in the underground, she had time. And she would make use of it.

xXx

The next few days were a blur. Whenever Sans was asleep, Melanie poured all her focus into her magic, manipulating the white, blue or orange energy into different shapes and forms. She found that she was most powerful when it came to blue magic; she had always favoured it above all other types anyway, especially in a heated close combat battle. It had been extremely useful against her unsuspecting fellow students, who expected staffs and knives, only to receive a blue rod cracking into their face. Sans never questioned the strange sounds which came for her room, only coming in to give her food at regular intervals and trace lines of green magic across her spine. She could feel the cooling, relaxing sensation which came with the touch; it didn't take long for her mind to change about the possibility of healing her back. He gave her a few suspicious glances whenever he came in, as her hand was almost always raised and poised to cast. It was only a week after she'd first arrived when they finally had another full length conversation.

"You should be able to get out of that bed now." Melanie blinked in surprise, shifting in her bed to face him. His expression was completely serious as he gazed at her exposed back. "It's about time you tried."

"Are you sure?" she asked, clearly doubtful. "Even with magic, wouldn't it take months to heal my spine?" Sans made another snorting sound, shaking his head.

"I wasn't expecting you to start walking around. I meant a wheelchair, so that you can actually eat at the goddamned table."

"Oh," Melanie muttered in surprise. "I, uh…thanks?" Sans shrugged, pulling a wheel chair out from behind him and propping it in front of him. "Do I just…?"

"Get. The fuck. In."

"Okay." Without much protest, Sans carried Melanie out of the bed, plopping her into the wheelchair and briskly pushing her out of the room. She frowned, shifting forward a little and crossing her arms over her chest. "How big is this house?" she asked as they turned yet another corner.

"Bigger than most," was the only answer she got. The halls seemed identical, plain white walls and a matching ceiling, brown wooden floorboards with the occasional coloured carpet. No pictures were hung from the wall, no decorations populated the house at all. Sans either didn't have time to decorate, or was far too lazy to bother picking out furniture. The second possibility seemed far more likely than the first, considering how easy it was for the skeleton to fall asleep.

A few twists and turns later, Sans pulled into a large dining room, a simple wooden table with six chairs in place. A merry fire was crackling on the stove, which by his expression, he'd forgotten to turn off. The skeleton cursed, walking over to the stove and turning the fire off, before pulling a chair to the side and wheeling Melanie to the table. She opened her mouth to thank him, but before she could he had dumped a plate of warm spaghetti with a dollop of tomato sauce on top, accompanied by a sprinkle of parmesan. She raised an eyelid upon seeing the meal, looking across the table to see Sans with a near identical plate of food. He winked at her, his permanent grin seeming to widen just a bit.

"I'm not so lazy that I don't know how to cook," he said. "Just be grateful that I'm not as bad at cooking spaghetti as my brother. The last time I came round to his house, he managed to cook a batch which stuck to the plate." Melanie's eyes widened in interest as she picked up the fork and spoon lying at her place at the table.

"You have a brother?" she asked curiously. "You never told me about him."

"Of course I didn't," he grumbled while picking up his own cutlery. "This is only our second conversation. All we did the first time was establish that you're underground, and exchange pleasantries."

"And you basically threatened me," Melanie added through a mouth half filled with warm spaghetti. Sans made another one of his snorting noises, but otherwise didn't react to her statement. Melanie was briefly disappointed, but not for very long. The food was easily the best meal she'd had for months. It wasn't easy to find good food when you were essentially homeless. She had little to no cooking experience, the only meals she'd ever fixed for herself being cereal or sandwiches. But Sans, despite the way he'd talked about the food, clearly knew what he was doing. She wondered whether what he'd told her about his brother was true.

"Do you Humans practice magic often?" he asked her suddenly, not looking up from his food. Melanie almost spat the food out of her mouth, shocked. Upon seeing her expression, Sans rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "Damn. You think I don't know what you do at night?" He clicked his fingers, a blue ember sparking to life in the palm of his hand. "Yeah. I know the sounds, kiddo. You practice that magic of yours every spare second you get. You're real damn attached to it." She held her breath as he leaned forward a little, the chair creaking from the shifting weight of his body. "So, you want to answer my question?" She stared blankly at him for a moment, before averting her eyes to her plate.

"No," she muttered, her voice barely more than a whisper. "On the surface, I'm pretty sure that I was the only one who used it. Most people thought it was some kind of curse. In school, during fighting lessons I was at the top of my class, and everyone hated me for it." She clenched her hand into her fist, accidentally digging her flesh into the metal of her fork. "My parents kicked me out of the house because of the shame. They said I was defective. I didn't find out what that meant until I snuck back in and stole myself a goddamned dictionary." She looked up at Sans, who stared at her with a surprisingly high level of attention. She was surprised he hadn't started snoozing again. "When I, uh, ran to Ebott, it was because I was defending a classmate of mine. I used magic to knock them out, but the police didn't see it that way. So I ran, and they followed me, all the way up the mountain to the cave. They'd already shot me twice by then. I couldn't think straight, my vision was getting darker by the second…I panicked. I got to the entrance, and I got shot in the back. And then I fell. So, uh, no. Humans don't really practice magic." Sans suddenly snickered, prompting Melanie to frown.

"You could have just ended it at no," he explained. "Instead, you give me the story of your life." Melanie sighed, shaking her head.

"Well, I figured that I should probably tell you now, instead of me telling you the next time we have a conversation." Sans raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment further. He just dug into his spaghetti, clearly not looking for further conversation. Melanie appreciated the gesture, quietly doing the same. She picked up her fork again, but suddenly Sans reached across the table, grabbing her arm and holding it in place. She frowned at him, pulling at his grip.

"What are you–"

"Shut up," he hissed quietly. "Someone's outside." Melanie froze, her eyes going to the square windows which illuminated the room with the dim glow of underground plants. Sans motioned for her to stay where she was, which Melanie answered to by rolling her eyes. It wasn't as if she could move on her own, anyway. She had no clue how to operate this wheelchair – for some reason, the wheels had been covered along the top, likely because Sans didn't trust her to move around on her own. Damn, he was smart.

"-shouldn't have agreed to this," she heard someone say outside. "This isn't worth it, I'm telling you. We should just head back home." Another person snorted, clearly pissed off.

"You're chickening out on me? Come on man, how hard can it be? It's just one little girl. We just need to confirm that she's dead, and we head home." Melanie's eyes widened as the Humans came into view; both were wearing metal armour, with a helmet with two tips extending out the sides. At that moment, Sans chose to snicker, looking back at Melanie.

"Looks like a Loox." When she stared at him blankly, he scowled, shaking his head. "Never mind. Just another monster you haven't seen."

"Hey did you hear something?" Sans cursed, looking at the door. He motioned towards Melanie, raising a finger to his mouth. She nodded, eyeing the men through the window. Their heads were turned towards her. "It's the–" He never got to finish his sentence. Before Melanie could comprehend what was happening, one of the men was impaled in the stomach by a plain white bone, keeling over in shock. His partner looked down at him, with an equal amount of surprise. "What the–" He was answered by Sans suddenly appearing in front of them, hand outstretched. The skeleton grinned, left eye glowing in a blue flame.

"Hey there," he greeted. "Sorry, did I surprise you?" Yes, Melanie wanted to say so badly. And you scared the crap out of me. DO IT AGAIN.

"You son of a bitch!" the man yelled as his friend fell backwards, body completely limp. "You killed him!" Sans shrugged, tilting to the side a little.

"Eh. You did kind of come into the underground. And you're armed," he said, pointing at the man's gun still in its holster. "And I heard what you said. Now if you've a bone to pick with me–" Melanie snickered, "-then hell, pick it. But you aren't laying a hand on the kid. She's under my protection, numskull." The man yelled out, enraged. He pulled his gun on Sans, firing a bullet but horribly missing as the skeleton easily dodged to the side, raising both arms. A barrage of bones appeared in front of him, which flew at top speed towards the man. He rolled out of the way, firing once more. Sans jumped over the bullet, clicking his fingers. A large, abnormal skull snapped into life behind the man, growling aggressively. Sans grinned as the man turned around, raising his gun to shoot at the beast. The skeleton shrugged, clicking his fingers once more. The skull opened its jaw, firing a blinding white beam at the man, completely enveloping him until Melanie had to shield her eyes. When she finally lowered her arm from her face, the man was nothing but dust. Sans turned back to her, swiftly moving over and sitting in his chair again.

"Sorry about that. Shall we get back to dinner?" Melanie just stared at him, mouth gaping.

"That was incredible." Sans rolled his eyes, looking to the left.

"So I've been told before," he muttered. "Everybody assumes that I can't fight because I'm lazy. The truth is, I just do it so much when no one's looking that it's real damn tiring to go about the rest of my day."

"I want you to teach me," Melanie suddenly blurted out. Sans looked at her, a suspicious expression on his face.

"What are you–"

"I'm serious," she insisted. "I never had anyone on the surface willing to teach me, because most Humans hate magic. But what you just did…that was incredible. Please, I just…I need this." Sans sighed, but nodded once, looking her in the eyes.

"Well, if it'll give you something to do," he said. "But only once I've completely fixed that back of yours." Melanie nodded, eager that he had actually agreed to her.

"Don't think that I'm doing this because I like you, kid. That promise is the only reason why–"

"Why I'm not dead where I stand," she finished. "I know. And I understand. But uh, we have a deal?" Sans grunted, nodding again.

"Yeah, we've got a deal. Now finish your spaghetti, or before you know it it'll be stuck to the plate."