Horrortale : Rotten apple | Horrortale AU

Chapter 9 : What the past taught us

Sans partially opened his eye sockets, with extreme difficulty. Arms and legs still shaking uncontrollably, it took him some time to understand his brother was carrying him. Papyrus held the skeleton a little closer against his chest when he realised he was finally awake, then smiled slightly at him. Sans looked around him, confused. Toriel was walking ahead of them, and they were circled by royal guards in armour. They were crossing the MTT Resort. Anxious, he turned towards his brother.

"Pap'... Where... What's going on ?"

"You don't remember ?" asked the taller skeleton, worried.

He tried to, but his memories were still hazy. Well, at first at least. Soon, the images of the explosion came back in his mind. The screams, the panic all around Snowdin... Everything was mixing together and he couldn't manage to remember what he was doing during all this time. Did he pass out ? He looked at Papyrus worringly when one precise detail came back to his mind.

"You... You're ok ? You took the explosion in the face. You're not hurt ?"

"I'm fine... As fine as you can be in a situation like this, I guess." he grimaced. "Thanks to you, we escaped the worst part of the explosion and almost everyone made it alive."

"Al... Almost ?" asked Sans, horrified. "Who...Grillby ?"

"No, mister Grillby is alright. Lady Toriel protected him during the attack. He stayed in Snowdin to help. Lady Rabbit, the mother, came out of this unscathed, but not her sister. Only two of their six children got out too. Monster Kid is alright too... His parents fell down. Grillby is taking care of him for now, until we can find other people to do so. He is shocked, but I think it will be alright."

"I... I killed seven people..."

"Stop that ! You killed no one. You did the best you could. You overused your magic already by getting us out of here and I got scared that..." He sniffed, trying to hide the tears in his eyes. "But fortunately, Lady

Toriel is the strongest healer in the Underground and she managed to stabilise you. I'm fine, you're fine and right now, this is all that matters. We can replace the house later, but I can't replace my big brother so never scare me like that again."

"I'll do my best to not die, then. That's alright baby bones, I'm going nowhere, I promise."

Sans grabbed his brother's neck and hugged him. Papyrus answered the same way. When they let go of each other, Toriel was watching them, a small smile on her lips. She waited for Papyrus to catch up and they kept walking.

"There's nothing left of the house ?" asked Sans after a few seconds of silence.

"I don't know. I didn't go in, it was too dangerous. Some neighbours said they will bring what's left in New Home. That's where we're going. Lady Toriel is welcoming us, so don't start throwing your dirty socks everywhere."

"Ow, but I'm sure Tori would love my socks. Well, not this one..." he said, moving his toes out of the huge hole at the edge of his left sock. "Bro, where are my slippers ?"

"I hope they died with the house. These things could barely be called slippers anyway. Maybe it will teach you to wear proper shoes next time."

"I don't think you can reboot my bad habits, bro."

"You are very lucky I'm not authorized to throw you through a window right now."

A loud sigh interrupted them. Sans turned around and caught a monster staring at them angrily on the sideroad. Others were doing the same thing. The skeleton shivered, uneasy. Something bad floated in the air. Hotlands was one of Undyne's fiefdom, with Waterfall, and it seemed the monsters here didn't want them on their lands.