" ✌☠👎 ✌❄ ❄☟☜ ☜☠👎 ⚐☞ ✡⚐🕆☼ ☹✋☞☜📪 🕈✋☹☹ ✡⚐🕆 💧❄✋☹☹ ☼☜💣☜💣👌☜☼ ❄☟☜ ✌👍❄💧 ⚐☞ 👍☼🕆☜☹❄✡ ✋ 👎✋👎 ? "

You woke up exhausted. 

Last night had definitely taken a toll on your mental state to say the least. It was like patching up any other wound, honestly. It stung as if you had finally brushed it off to clean it, but after wrapping it up, it could finally heal with time. At least you managed to sleep through the night without incident, despite Sans' loud snores. 

"quit hoggin' the blanket." Ah, it seems he was awake. 

You lifted your head off the plush of the pillow and stared at his smug grin with a deadpan expression. You didn't bother saying anything to refute his teasing, you just smirked as your yanked both blankets and cocooned yourself in them. 

"hey!" He finally sat up and tried to wrestle you for one of them, but you continued to wrap yourself tighter. By the time he had finally wrestled the edge of one of them from your grasp, he gave a quick tug, and before you knew it, you were sprawled on the floor, one leg on the edge of the bed, and the rest of your body on the floor. 

The second blanket had been yanked from your grasp and slowly slid down the edge of the bed and onto your face. As soon as you pulled it off, the two of you burst into fits of laughter. You might have woke up with a heavy heart, but your horseplay lifted your spirits in record time. 

Soon enough, the two of you scrambled to get ready for the day, Sans getting ready for school, and you suiting up to apologize to the fire elemental family for just up and leaving the other night. Hopefully you two didn't worry them after leaving the restaurant once you finished talking out some of your issues. Sans would stop by during lunch to apologize for himself as well...

Although, the two of you didn't exactly expect for your plans to be disrupted at breakfast once again. 

"both of us..?" Sans clutched the fork in his hand a little tighter, the piece of syrupy pancake flopping back down onto his plate as he sat beside you. "you want both of us to go with you to the lab today?" 

As subtly as you could, which honestly didn't do you much good anyways considering Gaster's eye lights trailed not far behind, you reached under the table to clutch the edge of Sans' sweater. Your grip was vice-like, and your knuckles began to turn white as your hands trembled. 

You didn't dare take another bite in fear that you may just upend the food you had already eaten. 

"Yes." Gaster replied. "I've already called the school telling them you'd be absent." He didn't like to force Sans into these things so soon, but it was unlikely you'd come back to the lab with him without a fight. Neither you nor Sans said anything in response, only sharing a worried glance before Gaster stood to clean up breakfast, leaving the two of you and Papyrus to drown in the heavy atmosphere. 

+

+

+

You stayed always within arm's reach of Sans - and at some point in your walk through the lab, Sans took your hand to hold. It was unexpected but comforting, considering the calculating stares the two of you got as you inched closer to him. By the time the three of you reached the wretched test room, you and Sans were shoulder to shoulder, and Gaster could see that separating you two would be ill-advised. Especially with the uncharacteristic protectiveness that his son had over you lately. 

Gaster gestured for the two of you to hop onto the same slab of metal you had been pinned to last time before turning to grab his scanners and other tools. As soon as he took his eye lights off of the two of you, Sans could see how you shook, tears rimming the bottoms of your eyes. Still, he pulled you up onto the flat surface, hoping that his tightening grip on your hand didn't convey his own nervousness. His father wouldn't hurt you if Sans was here with you... right? 

Thankfully he was correct. 

The rest of the tests you had done were for soul strength and stamina, and despite the discomfort that came from some tests, Gaster never laid a hand on you, especially not when he saw the way you clung to his son. Eventually though, he heard you and Sans whispering back and forth. 

"it's ok - i can ask for you." 

"I - are you sure? What if you get in trouble?" 

"don't worry, i've had talks about it with my dad before, everything will be fine." 

"What is it you two? Just spit it out," Gaster interrupted, dread and frustration settling in as Sans shifted to sit in front of you. 

"dad, how is their soul supposed to help break the barrier if we don't have enough to break the barrier..?" With that the two children knew, they needed seven souls... How could they make do with... one? 

For a moment, the scientist thought hard on how to answer their question. There were so many more questions to ask than there were answers to those questions. He himself asked that same one, but as much as he thought it to be difficult - if not impossible - he was nearly wracked with grief every time he thought of Asgore needing to kill seven humans instead. So they... would make the most of what was at their disposal. 

He pulled one of the rolling chairs forward, floating the same book that you had read before down from a shelf before opening it and flipping idly through some pages. "From what we know, humans have seven different traits at their core. I've briefly read - perhaps in one or two passages - that traits could meld with time. Someone's experiences - usually traumatic ones - will affect their core soul traits. Someone patient will turn restless and eager to enact their will because their sloth caused harm. Someone kind will turn vengeful because someone else crossed a line they shouldn't have..." 

Gaster had finally settled on a page to stare at. "Ironically, the changing of traits actually weakens their souls. It goes against what they were born with and because more often than not, was caused by trauma, causes cracks and scars on souls. Monsters aren't as resilient. We don't have that same determination, nor the traits to shift to as a defense mechanism. If we're hurt too badly by trauma, then we fall down and die." 

He pointed to you, eyelights cold and unwavering - a sight foreign to his son. "Not only do you have the strongest trait of the seven, but you are young and have not yet had your soul's defense mechanism shift your soul color. Meaning this is the strongest type of soul you're going to get... Aside from ones that are also completely flawless." He himself had caused a scar on your soul already after all. 

"But how does one soul amount to seven?" You suddenly spoke up, still gripping Sans' hand tightly. "How does mine even-" 

"It doesn't." Gaster interrupted you, an exasperated sigh falling from his mouth. He'd known it doesn't - and yet he kept grasping at straws, trying to force it to be... "It doesn't... But it might... Measure up to two." If he forced it to... 

Just... one less life to be taken.

Just as you opened your mouth to ask another question, he held up his hollow hand to stop you, waving it dismissively. "That's enough questions for now..." He sounded tired... exhausted by the weight he was carrying on his shoulders. "We'll continue the tests." 

You shifted your grip on Sans' hand again, turning to look at your friend with an expression that pained his soul. 

You'd already come to terms with your pre-determined fate...

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+

+

Eagerly tipping the bowl of broccoli and cheddar soup up past his teeth and sipping the last of its contents, Papyrus grinned as he rushed the empty dish to the back of Grillby's, where he placed it in the sink. Although before he could run outside to play with Grillby, Blaze stopped him in his tracks with a laugh. 

"Whoa there, sparky!" He called Papyrus that often. "Here, let me just-" He took a towel off of one of his many apron pockets and used it to wipe the excess contents on Papyrus' face. "There you go, brand new." 

"THANK YOU MR. BLAZE!" 

"'Course, it's no problem. Hey! I got an idea!" He leaned down with a grin to the boy who beamed at him just as brightly. "Why don't you head up to Waterfall with me? I gotta go pick up a shipment of crab apples that Captain - er... Mr. Gerson has. What do you say?" 

Papyrus gasped, clasping his hands together as sparkles appeared in his eye sockets. "YES PLEASE!" Anything to explore a little more! Last time you and Sans had gone without him - so now he was going to go without you two! And with Mr. Blaze! "IS GRILLBY GOING TO COME?" 

"Ehh, afraid not. He's gotta help his mom with running this place while I head out." Blaze pulled the apron off from around his neck and untied the back, hanging it up. "Why don't you collect your stuff and meet me out front in a couple minutes and we can head out?" 

"YES, SIR!" Papyrus didn't waste any time, rushing to shove anything he'd pulled out of his backpack back inside and running out the door like a bone bullet of his own. Blaze wasn't too far behind, holding his hand out to Papyrus to hold as he walked the two of them to Waterfall. 

It was always fun for Papyrus to stay with Mr. Blaze. Whenever Sans and Grillby were too caught up in their own games, and if Papyrus didn't feel like playing them, he would run to the fire elemental's father. Something always felt comfortable about him - the two of them were so similar after all - always moving a mile a minute or talking excitedly about whatever put them into a tizzy in the first place. 

It didn't take them too long to get through most of waterfall - the Underground was never very big - but Papyrus didn't expect to see another kid, perhaps a few years older than him, beating a dummy with a stick and screaming random battle cries. Mr. Blaze didn't seem to bat an eye at it, even when Papyrus looked up to see what the adult thought of the feral child. Instead, the elemental waved hello. 

"Good afternoon, 'Dyne!" He greeted. "Is your grandpa in?" 

The blue fish monster stopped mid-swing of her weapon and lit up when she saw Blaze, waving a happy hello back and pointing inside the turtle shell shaped house behind her. "Yeah! He's in the back looking through some boxes!" 

"Sweet!" He looked down at the skeleton monster, watching as he stared at the beaten up dummy with wide eye sockets. "What do you say, Paps? You wanna play with Undyne for a little bit while I go talk to Mr. Gerson?" 

"YES!" He answered immediately, eagerly jumping on the tips of his toes and rushing forward to meet the red-haired girl. "IT'S NICE TO MEET YOU, I'M PAPYRUS!!" He shouted, even more excited than he usually was. 

She looked him up and down for a moment, staring at him with an intense gaze, but he didn't flinch, even when she began to circle him. "I'm Undyne!" She finally returned his loud volume back to him, crossing her arms and grinning wide. "You seem sturdy enough. How's about you come with me to hunt the human I saw a while ago?" 

"OH! A HUMAN? WERE THEY WEARING A RED JACKET? I KNOW THAT ONE! THEY'RE STAYING WITH ME!" He declared triumphantly. 

"What." The fish monster stared at him, deadpanning and a finger going into her ear to clean it out to make sure she wasn't hearing things. "What did you say?" 

"A HUMAN WITH A RED JACKET?" Papyrus tilted his skull to one side. "THAT'S THE ONLY HUMAN I'VE HEARD ABOUT. YOU SAID YOU WANTED TO FIND THEM? AND I KNOW WHERE TO FIND THEM!" 

"Really?" She grinned, her teeth sharp and gleaming, especially at the ends as they twitched up. "That's perfect! Why don't you take me to them right now-" 

"I CAN'T. I HAVE TO STAY WITH BLAZE TODAY." He said matter-of-factly. "AND THEY'RE TOO BUSY TO PLAY TODAY. THEY'RE WITH MY DAD!" 

She groaned in frustration, running her hand down her face as she eyed Papyrus' oblivious expression. Just a permanent grin on his little skull. "Well, then when can I get to them?" Gerson wouldn't believe his eyes after she brings them back! Especially not after he finds out that someone was hiding them! 

"HMM... GASP!" Did he just say 'gasp'? "YOU COULD COME OVER FOR A PLAYDATE!" Papyrus clapped. "I HAVE DOZENS OF PUZZLES FOR US TO DO! WE COULD DO THEM TOGETHER!" 

"I don't really do puzzles..." She muttered. "There's no time for them in my sparring schedule." And there would be no time to do puzzles with him if she spent her time in an encounter with you. 

"THEN WE CAN SPAR!" 

"There's no way a little kid like you could keep up with me!" 

"YES I CAN! MY BROTHER SAYS MY BULLET PATTERNS ARE VERY COOL!" 

"Prove it then!" Well, at least she would be able to see just how sturdy this Papyrus kid was. 

Even in an encounter, Papyrus' bullet patterns were so predictable Undyne could deflect them all with her spear. And it wasn't even that Papyrus could dodge hers, but that he tanked most of them - all until the two off them were called out of the encounter. 

"Papyrus!" 

"Undyne!" 

The two of them quickly quit the encounter, looking to their guardians. 

"Papyrus, it's time to head out!" Blaze waved to the skeleton child with one hand still on the crates of crab apples that were stacked in his arms. "Did you two have fun sparring?" 

"I hope Undyne went easy on you, hahaha!" Gerson laughed. "I know she can be a little too eager to win sometimes." 

"YES, IT WAS VERY FUN!" Papyrus piped up. Despite that he was the one who was obviously losing, he didn't seem perturbed at all. In fact, he looked like he had barely taken any damage from her bullets at all! "SHE DEFLECTED ALL OF MY BULLETS, IT WAS SO COOL!" 

It was... cool?

Gerson gave another laugh, coming up to Papyrus to give his skull a playful pat. "I'm glad you two had fun!" 

"U-uh!" Undyne spoke up, seeing her chance. "Can we do it again later?" She spoke loudly, eyes wide, fishy scales sweating a bit. 

Gerson narrowed his eyes at her, knowing the smell of her nervousness anywhere. She was trying to pull something behind his back, and he wasn't too keen on finding out what trouble she was planning to get into. "Undyne-" 

"RIGHT! UNDYNE AND I WANTED TO DO A PLAY DATE SOON!" Papyrus rushed up to Gerson with shiny eye sockets and clasped hands. "CAN SHE PLEASE COME TO SNOWDIN SOMETIME TO SPAR WITH ME AND DO PUZZLES? MY BROTHER HAS A NEW FRIEND NOW AND WE HARDLY PLAY TOGETHER ANYMORE." He bat his eye sockets at Gerson. 

Wait... 

Gerson looked back and forth between Blaze and the small skeleton child, Blaze only shrugging and chuckling at Papyrus' eagerness. "Well... you'll have to ask your own dad first, but..." He looked to Blaze again, and since he gave no objection, Gerson sighed. "Fine, if Undyne's willin', then heh, why the hell not?" 

"YAYYY!" Papyrus jumped up and down, hurrying to Undyne's side before he gave her a little wink and a smug grin. "NOW YOU CAN COME AND VISIT SANS, HIS FRIEND, AND I! I KNOW WE'LL ALL GET ALONG WONDERFULLY. WON'T WE?" 

Wait, wait, wait - what was going on? What was this kid doing? He was planning something, and Undyne had no idea what... but, well... What was Papyrus supposed to do? He was predictable - even his bullet patterns were. There was no way he could have anything planned that she couldn't handle. 

She would find you, and she would capture you, and bring you back to Gerson to show that she was ready to be trained to be in the Royal Guard! She would help get all of the monsters out of the Underground. 

Papyrus' eager wave goodbye and the idea of catching you in Snowdin soon filled her with determination.