“It’s beautiful… isn’t it?” Sans smiled to himself as he starred at the emptiness stretched out before him. No one else around him, accept for-

“It is indeed, man I missed nights like this.” Papyrus appeared in a ghostly form beside Sans.

“If only everyone else could have seen this…” Sans mumbled. Papyrus sighed.

“Do not fret brother! I am sure they are fine! Wherever they are…” Sans had not told Papyrus that he’s dead, or that everyone else in their world was dead... and that... he was responsible for their deaths.

 

TWO MONTHS EARLIER

Sans, one of the keepers of time, was on his way to the town hall. The meeting place of the keepers. He opened the large gold doors to see the meeting has started.

“It’s about time!” Undyne snapped, Sans laughed.

“Good one Future!” Undyne realized the joke she made and fell into silent fury.

‘Undyne was the keeper of the future. Alphys, who sat next to her, was the keeper of change. Papyrus, who was currently being noogied by Undyne, is the keeper of Time. Toriel was the keeper of the present and Asgore was the keeper of the past. As for me, I am special. I am no ordinary keeper, I am a time traveler. I go to other universes to be sure that nothing has strayed from its designated course if Time.’ Frisk pulled on Sans’ coat, happy to see him.

“Hey kiddo, how you doin?”  Sans smiled. Frisk has the power of the Hourglass, a special power to freeze or reverse time. Since Frisk is still a kid, they can’t become a keeper yet. Frisk pulled Sans to the rounded table and sat next to him, Papyrus sitting on his other side.

“Now, to discuss the matters of the Deifiers…” Everyone tensed up.

‘The deifiers were the ones to cause paradoxes and anomalies throughout the multiverse. Their leader, Gaster, had once been a keeper. But ever since the day of the accident… he had become twisted and distorted. Gaster’s power over paradoxes is what makes him so dangerous. His second in command, and sibling to Frisk, Chara kills anything in their path and does it in a way that is considered irreversible. That is until the keepers had Frisk initiated into the ranks. Chara had the Black Hole ability, it is a power that destroys anything in its way. No matter how powerful.’

“The Deifiers are moving quicker than anticipated, destroying timelines at a pace we cannot keep up with. They have killed so many… even our own sentries.” Asgore spoke evenly.

“Wait! They took the dogs out?! Dogamy and Dogressa?! Lesser and Greater dog?!” Undyne stood up in her fury.

“Yes, they have been killed by Chara, we are not sure if they suffered… but we can only hope it was a painless death…” Toriel looked down, Frisk patting her arm in reassurance.

“Why haven’t we done something about them?” Papyrus asked.

“W…we’ve tried all we could P… Papyrus. B…but we c…can’t predict their m…movements.” Alphys replied. Papyrus slumped back in his chair, defeated.

“Let me go and try to clean their mess up.” Sans spoke up.

“Y…you may be a p…powerful keeper Sans b…but your HP is t…the lowest in the multiverse! N…not to mention-“Alphys was interrupted by Sans.

“I will be fine, I may not have a lot of HP but my attack and defense are the highest in the known multiverse. Toriel, Asgore, please, as the Time Traveler, let me try to slow them down. At least to buy us time to make a plan.” Everyone fell silent.

“Alright Sans, you may go. But if you see Chara or Gaster then return home immediately!” Toriel smiled at Sans. She believed in him. They all did. I did, I do.

“Ok Tori, don’t worry. I won’t engage in any combat.” Sans smiled.

“I…I think Chara I…is headed to Horrortale. S…so please be c…careful!” Alphys pleaded. Sans nodded. Out of all the worlds he’s been to… Horrortale was his least favorite so far, I guess it was the way his alternate self treated Frisk or… the fact that it shows how monstrous he could actually be.

 

Sans stepped out of a galaxy swirled portal and into the world of Horrortale. The aura of this world always gave Sans the chills, chilled to the bone, heh. ‘With the addition to my power of Time Travel I also had the gift to see auras, whether it be from a monster or human or a world in general. It isn’t the color of an aura that matters to me but the tone of the color.’ Sans has met others with auras in all shades of colors, light colors usually meaning that they gained some sort of LOVE along the way, and darker colors indicated their gain of love instead of LOVE. ‘It proved useful over the years as a keeper and as a citizen to my home Undertime.’ The only annoying thing about it is that he has told no one about his special gift, not even Papyrus knows, with his deep blue aura, precious bean. Sans sighed and pulled his hood over his head and started his walk along the tree line, taking glances at every shadow in attack distance. Sans chuckled half-heartedly in a quick thought of his first trip to Horrortale. He had met the protector of AU’s that day, Ink Sans, during his first stint time traveling as a keeper in Horrortale and has always wondered… ‘if Ink is the protector of AU’s… then why isn’t he helping to stop Chara and Gaster? When I first saw Ink’s aura it had alarmed me at first, but… Ink has always been a mysterious entity to the keepers, along with the destroyer of worlds Error Sans.’ But Asgore made it clear that the keepers not interact with them unless they interact first. Sans has always found this suspicious but would never disobey their leaders’ orders. Sans shrugged off the thought and continued forward. But the more he wandered into this murderous world the less he saw of anything strange, well for Horrortale that is.

“Was Alphys wrong?” Sans mumbled out loud. But out of the corner of his eye he saw a glance of a childish figure, a very familiar childish figure.

“Chara…” Sans walked into the light, and so did the entity Chara. Even though Chara took a child’s form… well, ‘Chara was far from human.’

“Hello comedian, long time no see. How is my darling Frisk doing nowadays?” Chara’s blackened eyes and wicked smile sent chills going down Sans’s back.

“What are you doing here Chara. What do you have to gain from corrupting a Horrortale timeline?! It makes no sense!” Sans knew Chara and how they did things. ‘And Chara always had a reason for corrupting or destroying a timeline, but Horrortale? There was no significance to destroying a world like this, no gain for them or anything. So…why…’

“Heh, good question. I had the same one when Gaster sent me here to keep you occupied…”a silence erupted between them.

“Wait… Gaster sent you here… to keep me occupied? What you he possibly do in that short-“ Sans stopped mid-sentence and realized exactly what their gain was.

“No…NO, NO, NO!” Sans opened a portal back to his home Undertime. And Chara watched him go, an empty expression on their face.

“Sorry comedian… they made us do it…” Chara said quietly to the silence that surrounded them.

Sans appeared back in his home Undertime… only… to return to… oh god no…

“I appeared… to see my world destroyed and everyone I love turned to dust… is that what you were trying to say?” Sans kept his gaze on the chaos and wait a minute! You can hear me?!

“Um… yeah? I thought everyone and was ignoring you, heh.” Sans smiled sadly, trying to make a joke at the worst moment because it is the only way for him to cover up how he really feels on the inside.

“Hey would you stop! You don’t need to broadcast my life to the multiverse ya know!” Sans crosses his arms. And yes I do, well… kind of? You aren’t supposed to be able to hear me… so why… can you?

“Beats me kid… but if you’ll excuse me, I have to see if anyone survived this mess…” Sans wait! Let me do it! I’ll look for you and let you know, I know you’ve seen enough for this to bring back bad memories… so just relax, I got this!

“Oh… um… thanks kid, heh, you… really do know me… don’t ya?” Sans sat down, and yes I do Sans, yes I do. Alrighty let’s see. Um, the town hall is smashed to bits… but I don’t see any dust… actually I don’t see any dust at all… almost like they all just… disappeared? Do you see any auras where you are Sans?

“Nope, none at all. And you don’t see any dust so that means they aren’t dead. That’s good.” Well it is good yes but we have another problem here!

“Yeah, the problem of where they all went… only keepers can open portals to other worlds and I know for a fact that they didn’t have enough reaction time to evacuate everyone… so…” where could they have gone? I don’t know if you heard Chara before you left Horrortale but they said “sorry comedian… they made us do it…”

“Heh, you sounded like Chara for a second there and I actually thought it was them.” Hehehe. I just replayed the last line I heard from Chara. So this raises the question, what did Chara mean by “they”?

“Yeah… the only one I can think of who would do something like this would be either another Sans, like Error Sans, or…” Sans? You’ve gone quiet… is something wrong?

“Where are you right now?” I am everywhere and nowhere, I am a part of the void, a part of you, apart of everything in a sense. Even though I have no physical form I try to interact with everyone as much as I can. Why you asking?

“N…No reason…sorry.” Silence fills the air…

“You know it’s not silent when you’re talking right?” Well I’ve been narrating all of your lives for so long… I guess it’s become a habit… sorry…

“It’s fine… so, what do we do now?” My guess is we go and try to find Chara, they may have a clue as to where everyone went.

“Ok, but where should we look? Chara could be anywhere… or with Gaster…” Oh they are in Limbo, you know, the world between the living and the dead? The place where lost souls live? By looking at your expression I can make a guess and say that this is the first time you’ve heard of it.

“Yeah, I have never heard of Limbo until now… and how do you know of it?” Sans I have been here so long that this kind of stuff is basic for me. I could explain the concepts and logistics of how I’m going to be able to take you to Limbo, but that seems to be a little too complicated for you right now so I’m just going to go ahead and to it ok? Ok, let’s go!

 

We appeared in a land of shadows and death, even the flora was dead.

“HOW THE HELL?!” I told you, complicated explanation. But you’re smart. I’m sure you’ll be able to put two and two together… you can’t see it but I’m smiling.

“O…ok… any more surprises kid?” um, no not that I can think of… we just have to follow this path until we reach the lake of drowned souls.

“Oh… how delightful…” after the commentary we moved forward! Keeping to the middle of the path and out of the reach of any lost, damned soul.

“So kid, you never told me your name. You know all this stuff about me, but I know little to nothing about you.” You… want to know more about me?

“Yeah, we are together in this, and I’d like to know more about you.” O…Oh! Ok! Um, let’s see, where to start… I have always been like this as far as I can remember. I have no family that I can remember. And the day Undertime was created, was the happiest day of my existence! Even though I never talked to any of you, I learned and saw so much! I saw you and Papy as children and the accident and when Frisk was found, and… I saw your relationships and the bonds you shared with each other… and I had always wished… that I could be a part of it…

“Damn… I’m so sorry kid… I wish I had known… but you still didn’t answer one of my questions.” I didn’t?

“I had asked what your name was…” Oh, right… well, the spirits here call me Esme. I don’t know why but I’ve grown to like it.

“Okay, thank you Esme for telling me more about you.” O…of course! Smiles.

“What?” you can’t see my facial expressions so I’m just going to tell you.

“Oh ok.” We are almost there, just beyond those few trees.

“Ok, wait… there’s someone there…” can you see who it is?

“No, they’re too far away… Esme, can you-” Already on it! Let’s see… ok, I can kind of make out their figure… it’s not Gaster, I see Chara, they’re… talking to someone…

“Can you see who it is?” Almost, the shadows are covering his face, wait I think it’s…

“Esme?”

“Esme what’s wrong?”

“Esme? Are you there?”

“Shit, shit, shit!”

“ESME!”

“Calm down Sans, she will return momentarily.”

“That voice… ASGORE?!”

“Howdy Sans, it is nice to see you again.”

“What did you do with Esme?!”

“Oh you mean the spirit girl? Well I didn’t do much. I assume she will tell you when she returns. At least it is peaceful without her chatter.”

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! AND WITH CHARA! AND WHAT HAPPENED TO EVERYBODY!”

“Calm yourself Sans, or else.”

“Or else what!”

“You will never see Papyrus again.”

“… What did you do to him…”

“Well you see Sans, Me and Gaster took everyone and banished their souls in the void where your so called Esme is. It is remarkable that she is able to communicate with you from there… anyway, I still have your brother’s soul intact. And I will give it to you if you do something for me.”

“What do you want?”

“I want you to leave this place and forget all you saw here, forget it all and live happily with your brother and that damned spirit.”

“…I…” Sans! Don’t speak! Asgore can’t hear me. Listen to me, he won’t give you Papy back, he will kill you any moment now! But he did speak truth, everyone is here in the void accept Papyrus. ‘So what do we do Esme?’ I’m thinking, I’m thinking!

“You have been quiet Sans.” Asgore approaches slowly, Sans do you see that! ‘See what?’ The glowing vile around his neck! I think that’s Papy’s soul! ‘Are you sure?’ No, but if it is, then you should be able to use your blue magic to grab it right? ‘Right!’

“Sans, please be reasonable. At least you will have your brother.” Asgore loomed over Sans, his bright white soul resonating in this dark abyss, wait if you can see auras then why didn’t you realize Asgore was a bad guy?! I mean he has a PURE WHITE SOUL! ‘I noticed! I just didn’t say anything for one because I wanted to believe he was good at heart… and two, because then it would be dangerous for me.’ Fair enough I guess, but with your main character powers you wouldn’t have anything to worry about. ‘What?’ What what? ‘I…never mind.’

“Sans, please consider my offer, when have I ever led you astray?” Asgore approaches at a calm pace. Sans I have a plan but you need to trust me alright? ‘…Ok Esme… I trust you. What’s your plan?’ So all I need you to do is get Papy’s soul, can you do that? ‘Uh, yeah I can do that. But Asgore-‘Let me worry about Asgore. Just get Papy outta here. ‘…Ok…’

“Sans, I am growing impatient. This is your last chance to live peacefully with your brother. Isn’t that what you want?” Sans quickly uses his blue magic to grab Papyrus’s soul and runs full speed down the beaten path.

“SANS!!” Asgore is about to chase after him… but… I INTERVENED. ASGORE CAN FEEL HIS SINS CRAWLING ON HIS BACK. HE CAN FEEL THE DARKNESS TRYING TO SWALLOW HIM WHOLE. HE CAN FEEL MY PRESENCE. HE GROWS TERRIFIED. HE TRIES TO CALL FOR HELP, BUT NO WORDS ESCAPE HIS MOUTH. HE LOOKS AROUND CONFUSED AND SCARED. HEH, HE CAN FINALLY HEAR ME. ASGORE, THE WRETCHED KING WHO SACRIFICED HIS KINGDOM TO THE VOID FOR POWER. I AM ESME, GODDESS OF DEATH AND JUDGEMENT. OR AS YOU MAY BE FAMILIAR WITH IN YOUR FOLK TALES, THE GRIMM REAPER. I AM HERE TO INACT JUDGEMENT UPON YOUR TWISTED SOUL. AND BY THE LOOKS OF IT, YOU HAVEN’T BEEN TO KIND TO YOUR KINGDOM… HAVE YOU? CAN’T SPEAK? OR TO AFRAID TO? NO MATTER. ASGORE DREEMUR, I HEAR BY DECLARE THAT YOUR SOUL SHALL BE DAMNED TO THE GATES OF HELL FOR ALL ETERNITY. I’LL BE SURE THAT MY BROTHER TAKE ESPECIALLY GOOD CARE OF YOU ASGORE. DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING YOU WOULD LIKE TO SAY? … BUT HE SAID NOTHING. AND SO I OPENED A PORTAL TO MY BROTHERS DOMAIN AND CASTED ASGORE INTO IT. THERE HE SHALL PAY RETROBUTION FOR HIS TRANSGRESSIONS. I SMILE AT THE THOUGHT OF ASGORE BURNING IN HELL, BUT THEN… I THINK OF SANS AND PAPYRUS…And… I get the thought… Sans can you hear me?

“Yeah Esme I can hear you…” how… much did you hear?

“Not much, it just sounded like a bunch of gargled nonsense to me. Why? Did something happen?” Oh, not much, I took care of Asgore so he won’t be a bother to us anymore.

“Oh, that was fast… how did you do it?” I…its best you don’t know right now… anyway I think I know a way to get Papy back to normal.

“That’s great!” Yeah… but I have to warn you… he can be… assertive…

“He?” Yes… my elder brother Aijaz, is what your people would refer to as God, or the minder of pure souls… his twin, Hashim, is what your people call the Devil. He is the warden of corrupt souls.

“… so… if your brothers are God and Devil… what does that make you?” Me? Well… I am a Grimm Reaper… the ones who exiles souls to the proper realm, heaven or hell.

“That… was so brutally honest that I’m not sure what to say…” I know I should have told you sooner… but… I wasn’t sure how you’d react… please forgive me…

“I…I…If you can save Papyrus, then I will consider it…” Ok… then let’s go see my brother…

​

AIJAZ’S REALM OF HEAVEN

We’re here…

“Finally…” Aijaz’s realm is as your people pictured it with the godly feel to it, where everything is happy and tranquil.

“Who the hell are you talking to?” Oh just the ones reading this- um… never mind… forget I said that… so we just have to wait a minute… a massive figure stepped into view, his golden hair and eyes sparkling in the endless sun.

“AH DEAR SISTER, WHAT A PLESANT SURPRISE, AND WHO IS THIS?” Oh this is Undertime Sans, and that vile he’s holding… is his brother’s soul…

“I SEE, SO YOU WISH FOR ME TO BRING HIM BACK, IS THAT CORRECT?”

“Y…Yes, please Aijaz, he’s all I have left…” Sans…

“… Very well. But I shall warn you, I cannot bring him back fully. He will have an astral figure and will need to be by your side as to not lose his way as a lost soul. Do you understand?”

“I…I understand.” Sans handed the vile with Papy’s soul to my brother. A moment passed, then the vile started to glow brightly. Aijaz placed the vile on the ground and astral Papyrus appeared seemingly out of thin air. Sans approached Papyrus overjoyed… but stopped suddenly, his smile disappearing.

“This isn’t right…” Sans… what do you mean… of course it’s right…EVERYTHING is right…  

“No… no this is too easy, to perfect of an ending…” …Sans…

“And… on top of that… Asgore never had a pure white soul before! This… isn’t real! It can’t be! It’s some sort of trap!” OH SANS… IF ONLY YOU HAD ACCEPTED MY OFFER AT A BETTER LIFE, THEN YOU AND PAPY WOULD HAVE BEEN HAPPY… LIVING WITHOUT FEAR EVER AGAIN…

“W…what are you?!” OH SANSY, I AM NO ONE SPECIAL… I AM WHAT I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN… THE RINGMASTER OF THIS LITTLE GAME WE’VE BEEN PLAYING…

“E…Esme… you… you…”I KNOW YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND SANSY, BUT I’M DOING THIS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD, EVERYONE WAS JUST GETTING IN THE WAY OF YOUR TRUE POTENTIAL… I FADE THIS ONCE PEACEFUL PLACE INTO ONE OF PURE DARKNESS…

“ESME! THIS ISN’T YOU! THIS ISN’T THE GIRL WHO’S BEEN HELPING ME THIS WHOLE TIME! ESME TALK TO ME!”SHUT UP! THE GIRL YOU KNEW DIED A VERY LONG TIME AGO! AND AT YOUR OWN HANDS AT THAT! OH… DO YOU NOT REMEMBER…ANOMALY…?

“W…what… n…no…Esme… was… that girl who appeared in Undertime five years ago…t…the one that I… had to…oh stars no…no…no…no…”QUIT YOUR CRYING SANSY, HER SOUL IS BEING PUT TO GOOD USE AS MY LIFE SUPPORT FOR NOW. SO AT LEAST SHE ISN’T COMPLETELY USELESS.

“YOU MONSTER!” CALL ME WHAT YOU LIKE, I AM UNFAZED. BUT IF YOU WANT…I CAN MAKE A DEAL WITH YOU…

“What…kind of deal?” HAHAHAHA! IT’S NOT MUCH REALLY. I WILL LET YOU KEEP PAPYRUS AND I WILL RELEASE ESME FROM HER ETERNAL SERVATUDE IF…

“If…?” IF YOU GIVE ME YOUR SOUL!

“…If I give you my soul…you will leave Papyrus and Esme alone…” I PROMISE SANS. Hehehe.

“…Alright… I’ll do it…” WONDERFUL! NOW I SHALL WARN YOU, THIS WILL HURT A LOT. SANS’S SOUL WAS EASY TO RIP OUT AND MAKE MY OWN, HIS CRIES AND WAILS ECHOING THROUGH THE VOID. HE DIDN’T MOVE FOR A FEW MOMENTS AND AT FIRST I WAS WORRIED THAT I KILLED A VALUBLE PAWN… BUT, HE GOT BACK ON HIS FEET. HIS EYES THAT WERE ONCE FULL OF LIFE WERE WASHED AWAY, REPLACED WITH AN EMPTINESS EQUAL TO THE ONE HERE IN THE VOID.

“What… did you… do to me…?” OH NOT MUCH, I JUST MADE YOU MY SLAVE FOR ALL ETERNITY. IT REALLY ISN’T THAT BAD. YOUR BROTHER IS STILL WITH YOU, YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT DYING OF OLD AGE. IT’S GREAT. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO… IS SERVE ME.

“WAIT! WHAT ABOUT ESME?! YOU PROMISED SHE’D BE SET FREE!” HEHEHE, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HOW STUPID CAN YOU GET?! DON’T YOU SEE?! I AM ESME!

“N…no… Esme… why…” BECAUSE! I AM SICK AND TIRED OF LOOKING AT ALL THESE HAPPY ENDINGS! IT’S NOT FAIR! WHY CAN’T I GET A HAPPY ENDING LIKE EVERYONE ELSE! SO THAT’S WHEN I RELISED THAT IF I CANT HAVE A HAPPY ENDING…NO ONE CAN! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHAHA!!

“Esme…” ENOUGH TALK! IT’S TIME FOR YOUR FIRST TASK, MY PUPPET. I WANT YOU… TO DESTROY THE VERY HOME YOU LOVE!

“What! I’m not doing that!” YOU DON’T HAVE A CHOICE IN THE MATTER! With ease I manipulated Sans, his dead eyes showing no resistance, into opening a portal to Undertime, before it was wiped out. The minute he got there he started his execution. The ashes of his friends and family burning away with the rest of Undertime. And the second my Sans returned from his chaos bringing was the same second past Sans came back from Horrortale. Sans knelt before me with a soulless expression, hah, Gaster and Chara arriving shortly after him.

“The bait has been set mistress... we advance on your orders...” VERY GOOD GASTER. NOW ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS WAIT UNTIL HE GETS HERE…