Chapter Text
A young human boy looked out over the peak of Mount Ebott, his cousins standing by his side. “Nick, are you sure about this?” his elder cousin asked, her flawless body in perfect form. Nick had always thought that she could be a model someday… or an actress… “Oy Maddie quit being such a wimp! Nick is actually doing something fun! Don’t ruin it for him!” his other cousin barked. “Maddie…Mark… please don’t fight…” Nick was never a fighter, he was never brave or courageous… but the one thing he loved most was his music, the one place where all his worries went away. Nick put his headphones over his ears and waited for his cousins to stop fighting. On this day these three humans would be the first to fall, but they would also be the last to escape.
Many Years Later
Napstablook put his headphones on and turned on his music, letting the sound drown out the argument of his cousins. It has been years since they fell into the underground and even after all they had been through… they never changed. “I will be a star! That scientist said she would help me achieve my dreams!” Maddie hissed, her ghostly hair as perfect as ever. “YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING!” Mark yelled back as he stormed out, Maddie went after him, their argument continuing. Napstablook sighed heavily, the sound of heavy metal blaring into his ghostly eardrums. As the song was at its end a knock sounded at the door. “Ooohhhhh… a visitor… I wonder who it is…” Napstablook opened the door, but… there was no one there, just a sealed letter on his welcome mat. “Ooohhhhh no…I must have scarred them off…” Napstablook picked up the letter and opened it carefully. The text was strange, it wasn’t like anything he has seen before…but…somehow… it seemed familiar… “Ooohhhhh… I wonder if Maddie or Mark know anything about this…” Napstablook thought for a moment, then a vague memory emerged. It was of him sitting in the rain at home, his parents in a fight and his cousins away on vacation. But that was also the day that Nick met the first ever monster he has ever seen. He was a skeleton in a black trench coat, his umbrella now covering Nick from the rain. The monster had tried to speak to him, but he couldn’t understand his accent, but instead of yelling at Nick the monster smiled kindly and gave his umbrella to Nick, leaving as soon as he arrived. “I wonder…” Napstablook, in over twenty years, looked determined. It didn’t take long for Napstablook to reach Snowdin, his attention skyward instead of ahead, the one way transparent ceiling of the cave casting down the start of twilight. It was going to be a full moon, which means to stay away from Papyrus and Maddie. During the phases of the moons, monster’s personalities change. It was part of the curse that locked monsters down in the underground. And during a full moon Papyrus becomes a deadly drama queen and Maddie becomes very self-conscious and blood thirsty. That’s why Napstablook was in a panic, but so was most of the underground. Napstablook didn’t have to worry about Sans until the new moon. It wasn’t the fact that Sans became aggressive during the new moon, it was that he became very emotionally open and very much harmless during that time. Napstablook had always felt bad about asking Sans questions during that time because he usually breaks down and cries. But this time it would be different, this time Nick would be brave. Napstablook knocked on the door of Sans and Papyrus’s house. He waited, and waited, and when he was about to leave, Sans opened the door. “You do know what tonight is don’t you?” Sans asked with a harsh tone. Napstablook nodded. “I…um… wanted to ask you a question…” Napstablook kept his eyes to the ground, Sans sighed. “Look if it’s another of those ‘do you know why the full moon affects my cousin’ then no I don’t know.” Sans was about to close the door, but Napstablook forced it back open, startling Sans. “It’s not about my cousin… it’s about this…” Napstablook held the letter in front of Sans’s eyes. Sans instantly became horrified and nervous. “Inside. Quickly.” As soon as Napstablook entered Sans shut the door and barricaded it. “Where did you get this?!” Sans threatened Napstablook, his eyes ablaze. But Napstablook held his ground, Sans was put off guard. “It was on my welcome mat, I can’t read it so I figured you’d be the one to go to when it comes to things others don’t know…” Sans took a step back cautiously. “What’s gotten into you today? You aren’t usually… so… well-“ “Brave… determined…” Napstablook finished Sans’s sentence. “Uh… yeah… so, what changed?” Sans’s eye had stopped glowing, but Napstablook could tell that he was still tense. “Look, you don’t know everything about me… or my cousins… so please don’t assume things because it’s not visibly in front of you…” Sans grinded his teeth, him and Napstablook locking eyes. “I recognize that look…” Sans hissed. At first Napstablook had no idea what Sans was talking about, but then he remembered the day that him and his cousins fell into the ruins and emerged into the underground. It was noon at the time, two days after they had entered the ruins. The trio were so ecstatic about meeting Toriel and the other friendly monsters that they had forgotten about any hostile ones. The first hostile monster they met was… “Sans… you… remember me?” Napstablook was shaking, but he didn’t move, or couldn’t move from his fear. “Yeah I remember you! Don’t you think I’d remember the first human I killed?! I regretted that day my entire life! And when Asgore couldn’t recover your souls just made it worse! But what really makes me mad is the fact that you three have been living here this entire time!” Napstablook thought Sans was going to explode in rage, but… he fell silent. “I’m sorry… I… didn’t want to do it… my father forced me… Napstablook… Nick… I am so sorry for what I did to you…” Napstablook was at a loss for words. “Hey…it’s ok… being a ghost isn’t all that bad… it did help us blend in down here… no one questioned where we came from, which was nice… my cousins didn’t change a bit… and we still have our souls which is cool, I guess…” Sans looked at Napstablook in a curious fashion. “You still have your souls?” Napstablook nodded. “Y…yeah…had them this whole time… but I guess being dead made our souls whiter than normal… disguising them as monster souls…” Sans nodded, understanding the logic behind it that Napstablook didn’t understand. “Who else knows?” Sans glanced out the window. “No one but you…” Napstablook replied. “Good, because we still need one more soul to open the barrier, and if anyone finds out, you and your cousins will be used to open it… wait if you’re a dead human then why didn’t you open the barrier?! You’ve been a ghost for what twenty years?! Since I was a kid that’s for sure!” Sans turned to face Napstablook, glancing out the window occasionally. “We tried… it didn’t work… we think it’s because we’ve been dead to long that we’re losing our human traits… that’s what Maddie says…” Napstablook sat on the floor. “Maddie?” Sans echoed back. “Oh, my cousin, you may also know her as Mettaton? She’s helping Dr. Alphys in exchange for fame…” Napstablook fell silent. “I knew it…” Sans mumbled. The star Mettaton has claimed fame in such a short amount of time that it was almost unnatural. But it wasn’t her talent that made her a star, it was the fact that everyone believed that the great Dr. Alphys has made a robot that functions with a human soul… technically she DID make a robot suited for a human soul, but the mild of the soul control the host, which was a little detail that Alphys and Maddie kept to themselves. “The moon is rising…” Sans muttered. Napstablook rose and joined Sans by the window. Then they heard the shrill laugh of Papyrus’s twisted self. “Sans… what does the letter say?” Napstablook whispered as they watched every monster in Snowdin barricade their doors and windows against Papyrus. “…it says ‘I know your secret’…” Sans looked at Napstablook, hoping to get something of a reaction out of him. But Napstablook stayed as blank as paper, his expression unchanging. “Is that a joke…? Or are you serious…?” Napstablook kept his eyes glued to the window. “I’m serious… that’s why I asked if anyone else knows…” Sans motioned for Napstablook to follow him as he walked into the kitchen. “This is the font my dad used, Wingdings, but he’s been… gone for some time now… so I’m wondering… why is he trying to make contact again, and with you of all people…?” Sans eyed Napstablook enquiringly. The ghost trembling all over. “I don’t know… I mean… I did meet a very nice skeleton monster once before… when I was a kid… but that was before the war…” Napstablook was cut short by Sans’s outburst. “YOU WERE ALIVE DURING THE WAR?!” Sans was both shocked and surprised. “Uh…yeah…things were so simple then…when I could be nice to both humans and monsters… I was raised that way…I can’t help it if I’m too nice…” Napstablook took his place on the floor, eyes avoiding Sans. “Wait, you parents WANTED you to be kind to humans AND MONSTERS?! That’s not normal, especially for a human.” Sans crossed his arms, waiting for a response. “Well…I guess it would have to be because I’m half monster… I guess…” Napstablook waited for another of Sans’s outbursts… but none came. “That… makes a lot of sense actually… and I’m guessing your cousins are half monsters as well?” Sans’s eyes had become kind, but Napstablook knew his trick. He would be kind to him for a bit to get information. That’s how he found out about Maddie’s curse and why Toriel still lets Napstablook into the ruins. “I…I’m…I’m sure you can put the pieces together yourself… why would someone as smart as you need a simple answer from someone like me…” Napstablook rose and started making his way to the door. “I have one more question for you Nick…” Sans called after him, Napstablook stopped for a moment, waiting. “If you and your cousins are all half monsters… then why are you not affected by the moons like everyone else?” there was silence between them for a few heartbeats. “I don’t know… but I will find out.” Napstablook floated through the door and out into the icy cold night.