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Sans sat oustide the Ruins Door. The lady was late for their usual meeting at the Ruins door. When she did arrive she wasn't in the mood for jokes. “I’m sorry to ask this my friend, but do you know healing magic?”
“a little, why?”
“A human was hurt when they fell down here. They are very young. I can’t heal them alone.” She sounded distraught. “They’re just a child. I understand if you don’t want to help.”
“I’ll help. Just let me get papyrus, his healing magic is much better than mine.”
“Alright, but please hurry, the child won’t last much longer.”
Sans explained the situation to Papyrus and returned to the Ruins to find the door propped open with a rock. Papyrus was thrilled to meet a new friend, see a human and help someone. Which is why Sans didn't hesitate to bring him along. They followed the tunnel until reaching a flight of stairs.
“HELLO? IS ANYONE THERE?”
“Up here!” A goat-like monster wearing the deltarune symbol greeted them at the top of the stairs. Sans had never seen her before but he had a good guess who she was. “This way,” she led them into a small bedroom. A human child lay on the bed. Their head was wrapped in bloody bandages. As they watched, the human’s HP slowly drained. 5/20 4.5/20 “The poor dear must have hit a rock on the way down. I’ve bound their injuries best I could.” The former queen laid her paws on the child. Papyrus and Sans quickly lended their magic as well. Even with the three of them, the human’s HP stubbornly refused to rise above 10 out of 20
“IT…IT LOOKS LIKE THEY ARE FALLING DOWN.” Papyrus used the term for a terminally ill monster.
“Well, I realize this is probably a secret but…I heard once that skeletons have some manner of racial special healing.”
“Uh…” Sans was caught off guard by that.
“SPECIAL HEALING?” Papyrus didn’t understand what she meant.
“it’s not really healing, it’s uh…” supposed to be a race secret.
“I’M CONFUSED.”
“She means how skeletons reproduce,” Sans whispered this in wingdings. Toriel looked at him curiously as he spoke in gibberish. Oddly familiar sounding gibberish.
“OH…WE COULD TRY IT!”
“Paps?”
Papyrus bounced in place with excitement. “Like what Father did for us. Only we will use their whole soul not just pieces.” He said this in their secret font. Toriel understood it was a racial secret and didn’t ask for a translation.
“Bro, as far as I know Father is the first one to try that and he did it in his lab.”
“Well, with both of us I’m sure we can do it. If you need supplies I can keep healing them while you prepare.”
Sans mentally ran a few equations. “With both of us and their red soul…they might need to be stabilized afterward but we’ve got as good of a chance as we’re going to get.”
“YES! NEVER FEAR, ASGORE’S CLONE, WE WILL REVIVE THIS HUMAN.” Papyrus declared this in his name font.
“we’ll try. But you gotta know, this may not work.”
“I understand,” Toriel nodded.
Sans started taking off his gloves and prompted Papyrus to do the same. “I need you to promise not to interrupt. No matter what happens don’t intervene unless we specifically ask you to do something.”
“Alirght.” Toriel agreed and stepped out of the way. She stood in the doorway to wait and watch. The skeletons are waiting. For what you don’t know.
The child’s HP continued to decrease. When it reached 2, the brothers spoke.
“READY SANS?”
“Yep, are you ready?”
“ABSOLUTELY! BUT YOU LEAD, YOU SAW FATHER DO THIS FOR ME.”
“heh, as a babybones,”
The human’s HP dropped to 1. The skeletons placed their hands over the child. The child took a last weak breath before their red soul rose from their body and started to crack. Sans gently caught the heart and with Papyrus’ help pushed the soul back into the humans chest and held his hands there.
For a moment nothing happened then the child gave a full body shudder. They jerked violently against the bed as if in pain. The human clutched at their throat and chest and made stifled gargled noises. Sans cursed and tugged off the remainder of the human’s clothes.
“WHAT? WHAT’S HAPPENING? IT DIDN’T WORK?” Papyrus stood confused as Sans summoned a bone that was sharp on one end.
“It worked too well! They need all this off!” Sans didn’t explain very well, fortunately Papyrus caught on. Their HP decreased as the child chocked and gagged.
“OH? OH!” Papyrus also materialized a bone attack with a bladed end. To Toriel’s increasing horror the brothers then stabbed these magic weapons into the child’s chest and neck.
The boss monster gave a gasp as she watched both skeletons tear the human apart. Sans sliced through the human’s trachea, grabbed a handful of flesh, and sawed at it until it came away from their vertebrae.
“What are you doing!?” She didn’t get in their way but couldn’t stay quiet. She sidestepped to avoid a piece of gore carelessly thrown away.
“It was supposed to turn them into a skeleton. They’re choking on their own lungs!”
“A skeleton…” Toriel tried to process.
“WHY ARE THEY SO FLESHY?” Papyrus was obviously distressed by the dirty work but didn’t hesitate to peel skin off their torso, revealing their rib cage. Intestines spilled out of the slash he made in their gut. Trying to pull out their intestines was proving to be very difficult as more and more of the long organ unfolded from the small body.
“Just think of them as a vegetable or something.” This comment may have been as much for Papyrus as himself. The skin around the kid's nose and mouth needed to be removed next.
The child’s HP continued to drop as they suffocated. “HANG IN THERE SMALL HUMAN, WE’LL GET ALL THIS RED STUFF OFF YOU.” Papyrus used his healing magic to keep them alive. The healing magic also caused their bones to detach from ligaments and muscle. Their skeleton was truly trying to reject the rest of their body.
“I’m an idiot!” Sans chastised himself and quickly shrugged off his now bloodied jacket. “Do you have a bathtub?”
Frisk woke to the feeling of literally puking out their insides. Everything was tinted red. Their body felt heavy, achy and numb. They could barely breathe like that time they fell into the swimming pool.
They barfed again. Something cool and wet wiped their sweaty face. Their vision was still blurry, were they crying? Frisk realized they were propped sitting up. They couldn’t feel the rest of their body very well, only look down at the bucket they were drooling blood into.
Only the haziness of their thoughts and lack of pain kept them from panicking. Blood should not be coming out of their mouth. Shouldn’t this hurt? They managed a wheezing breath in and felt more vomit rushing up their throat. Frisk vomited blood and raw meat. It tasted horrible. It looked worse. The sight and smell alone made them queasy enough to cough up another mouthful. Shouldn’t this hurt more? It felt like a normal stomach bug, not like they were dying. That must not be their blood. Did they eat something weird?
“hang in there kiddo, you’re almost done.” Someone spoke. Frisk looked up best they could. Seeing a skull made them hack in surprise. A moving skeleton sat in front of them. It looked a bit different than the anatomy pictures Frisk had seen before, not least because it was wearing a t-shirt. “hey, there you are.” He, judging by the voice, helped Frisk sit up a little straighter and wiped Frisk’s forehead with a red washcloth.
They tried to say something only to be forced to lean over the bucket again. Frisk coughed up pink and wrinkled flesh that looked like it should never see open air. This was particularly disgusting. The skeleton seemed to agree because he moved the pail away. He passed it to someone standing behind him. Frisk’s vision was still a bit blurry, this person wore a purple dress and had white hands and hair. This tall person and the skeleton swapped buckets and the skeleton placed an empty one in front of Frisk.
“THERE. ALL DONE. YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO BREATHE NOW, SMALL HUMAN.” A new, loud voice made Frisk look to their left. Another skeleton, this one much bigger. Like the skeleton with the bucket, his arms were dripping wet with red liquid. Frisk experimentally took a few deep breaths.
“hey, much better,” the smaller skeleton had a permanent grin carved into his features but also seemed to be happy.
Frisk realized they were in a bathtub. Their chest was propped against the side while the rest of their body lay in the tub. Their whole body felt heavy and numb. They tried to flex their limbs but felt like they were struggling against great weight.
The large skeleton spoke and moved out of Frisk’s view. He leaned over the bathtub, where the rest of Frisk’s body lay. “WHOOPSIE, JUST A MOMENT, I’LL REMOVE THE REST OF… THIS...” as he spoke, Frisk tried to turn and look at themselves.
“whoa, you don’t want to see that, trust me.” the shorter skeleton grabbed Frisk’s face. He shielded their eyes with a bony hand and forced their weak neck to face him.
Frisk tried to say something. It came out as quiet groan.
“My child,” the person in the purple dress knelt so Frisk could see them easier. She looked like a goat. “How do you feel?”
Frisk put all their pain and confusion into a inarticulate groan.
“heh,” the skeleton found this funny. He ran a washcloth over Frisk’s head, still not allowing Frisk to see anything. Something heavy shifted and slid off the back of Frisk’s neck. It landed behind them in the tub with a wet splash.
Frisk sighed, that felt a bit better. Whatever just came off left their head far less achy. Their vision also started to clear up a bit. When Frisk looked at their companions, they seemed less happy. The feminine sounding goat in particular, looked ready to be sick.
A weird ripping and tearing sound came from what Frisk judged to be their own body, or close to it. They wanted to see but the skeleton continued to very purposefully block their view.
“hey, I’m sans. Sans, the skeleton. My bro Papyrus is healing you right now.”
“HELLO, HUMAN.” The loud voice said from somewhere beyond Frisk’s limited range of vision.
“And I’m called Toriel, my child.” The goat woman said. “You must be very tired and confused. What do you last remember? Do you remember falling or being hurt?” Frisk tried to display agreement. “We will explain it all later. Just try to rest for now. We are doing the best we can to care for you. Please trust us.” Frisk managed to grunt in something resembling acceptance. “Poor dear, would you like some water?” Frisk nodded weakly. “I’ll be right back.” The goat woman stood and carried two buckets out of the bathroom.
With her gone there was an awkward lull in conversation. “wanna hear a joke?”
“SANS, NO! I’M TRYING TO CONCENTRATE.”
“come on, Paps the kid’s in pain. what does an egg do when it laughs? It cracks up.” Frisk cracked a smile despite their brains feeling scrambled.
“Did you hear about the dog who gave birth to puppies on the side of the road? She was ticketed for littering.”
“AAAHHH!” Papyrus wailed.
“why did the can crusher quit his job?”
“It was soda-pressing.” Toriel answered as she reentered to room. She and sans giggled at their own joke. Toriel handed Sans a glass of water. “I don’t have a straw I’m afraid.”
“I’ll hold it for you.” Sans lifted the glass to Frisk’s face. “Just try a sip.”
For some reason Frisk couldn’t fathom, it took an inordinate amount of effort to open their stiff jaw. Thankfully, cold water in their mouth caused a automatic reflex. Frisk realized how raw and sore their throat was after swallowing. Sans waited between each gulp before slowly allowing them to drink the whole cup.
“ALL DONE! YOU MAY MOVE NOW, HUMAN.”
Frisk experimentally flexed their limbs. Their body felt pins and needles now rather than numb. Their chest felt cold and wet rather than heavy. Sans still wouldn’t let them see whey.
“ready to move someplace more comfy?”
Frisk managed to nod.
Toriel arrived with towels. “Papyrus, let’s wash your hands quickly.”
Sans dropped a towel over Frisk’s head before they could look around. He patted their head in a way that should have ruffled their hair. Frisk didn’t feel it on their neck though.
“probably, shouldn’t try standing yet. You cool with Paps carrying you?”
“Mmhmm”
Frisk was lifted into bony arms and dried by multiple pairs of hands.
“we’ll replace your towels,” Sans whispered to Toriel.
“Don’t worry about that. Set them in my chair by the fire.”
“OKIE DOKIE.” Papyrus cocooned Frisk in a dry blanket then carried them off. Frisk managed to peek out of the blanket bundle enough to see a normal looking house. Something smelled horrible. As they passed the front door Frisk spied a bonfire giving off black smoke in the front yard. That was probably the source of the gross meat smell. Thankfully, the smell lessened when they reached the living room.
Frisk smiled as Papyrus settled them into an overstuffed reading chair.
“My child, how are you feeling?” Toriel crouched next to the chair. Frisk raised their hands to sign. They got their hand free of the blankets and froze. Their hand was white. Frisk yanked the blanket aside and stared down at their body. They were just bones. They could see through their ribcage.
Frisk screamed, causing the two skeletons to hurry to their side. The three monsters tried to say comforting things.
Frisk frantically signed their confusion with muddled questions. ‘What happened? Where am I? Blood?’ Papyrus and Toriel were speaking but Frisk’s attention was captured by Sans, who responded in sign language.
‘You were hurt when you fell, do you remember?’
‘Yes.’ Frisk nodded. ‘I hit my head on the rocks’ Toriel and Papyrus finally realized Frisk wasn’t listening to them.
‘you were hurt really bad. We couldn’t heal you. The only way to save you was to turn you into a skeleton monster, like us.’ Sans gestured to himself and Papyrus.
‘like you?’ Frisk tried to understand.
‘skeletons make more skeletons by creating a new soul and placing it in the skeletal remains of a long dead human. we used that magic but just sort of kept your soul.’
“YES WE PUT YOUR SOUL BACK INSIDE YOUR BODY. SO YOU ARE A SKELETON NOW.” Papyrus said this out loud and with his hands. “ARE YOU DEAF?”
‘No. I can hear. I can talk too just…” Frisk rocked back and forth a bit nervously. They startled themselves when their normal comforting movements made their bones rattle. ‘words are hard sometimes.’
“no biggie,” Sans continued. “Paps and I speak in hands.”
“YES HUMAN, NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT.”
“I’m a little rusty in hands, I’m afraid. I’ve been living by myself for a long time.” Toriel joined their conversation. “I realize we did this without your consent, dear child. It was the only way to save your life.”
Frisk looked down at their new body again. They didn't want to look at their torso. Seeing an empty rib cage and spine was freaky. They covered that with the blanket. Their hands weren't so bad, though. They could still feel everything. Frisk poked their fingers between their tibia and fibia which tickled. Wiggled their toes under the blanket and briefly touched their face, which was hard and smooth, before signing again. ‘It’s okay I guess. I can’t go home but that doesn’t matter. Nobody will miss me.’ The monsters all looked upset by this news. ‘if you saved me using magic skeletons use to make babies, does that mean I’m you child now?”
“NYEH? YES!” Papyrus scooped Frisk up in a hug. “THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL BE YOUR PAPA!”
Sans gave Toriel an apologetic look, he assumed she wanted the kid to stay in the Ruins with her. Toriel just smiled, she wouldn’t try to separate the new family. She would probably guilt them into visiting, though.