Shattered Youth: An Undertale Fanfiction

Ignorance

        "Come here son. I'd like to show you something." A low calm voice called out. Sans looked up almost instantly and dropped his How to Space book, without caring where it ended up. He gasped with excitement after hearing the voice. He knew exactly who it came from. His eight year old mind was racing with anxious thoughts. He stood up without wasting a second and ran to where the voice came from. And there he was. W. D. Gaster. Sans' caring father and brilliant researcher. He was probably three times the size of little Sans and had no striking resemblance other than the skeleton structure. He, Sans, and six month old Papyrus were the only skeleton monsters left. But apparently humans are skeletons with squishy armor? Gaster could explain this matter to Sans for hours. Sans never really understood what his father talked about all the time. But he sat and listened intently. Like a good skeleton should. Gaster was holding the front door open, while offering him a hand. There was something he wanted him to see outside. Sans grabbed his hand tightly, looking up at him intrigued.

        "Can Papyrus come to?" He asked innocently. He and Papyrus did everything together. If Gaster was at work late, he'd have to feed him. But he didn't mind. All he wants is to see is his brother smiling.

        "I just put him to bed. Besides, I want YOU to see this." Gaster explained happily. Sans' heart lifted gleefully with anticipation on the surprise. He got excited easily along with other kids. Usually his father would be putting him to bed at this time. So the chance to stay up a little bit later made him excited. They stepped out into the cool night air with the sound of cars zooming by on the streets. There was a slight breeze, sending a chill down Sans' spine, causing him to shudder slightly. Fall was almost over so it was colder than it usually was. Gaster noticed him shiver and he instinctively took off his large blue coat and draped it over his son's shoulders. Sans smiled widely at his dad, showing a sign of thanks. They walked onto their front lawn as the fireflies shined brightly. Sans could hear the grass crunch from underneath his oversized yellow boots. He got them as a present on his eighth birthday and he didn't wear any other shoes. Gaster let go of his hand and laid down on the middle of the lawn, motioning him to follow. He stared confusedly for a bit but laid down next to Gaster anyways, trusting him fully. He pointed to the sky and said, "Sans, look." Sans looked up to where he was pointing and was star struck by the sight. The sky was filled with with millions of strange bright lights. Some large, some little. Some white, some gold. He dropped his mouth in awe and whispered,

        "Woooah..."

        "Do you know what those are?" Gaster asked, not looking for an exact answer. Sans squinted his eyes, searching his mind for an answer.

        "Um... A million Mercuries?" He answered unsurely. The only thing in his How to Space book from the library is the planets and moons. He could recite every single one in order. He's been fascinated in space ever since Gaster introduced it to him. His father used to work as a researcher at a human space company. He was sadly fired after monsters started being discriminated. The monsters had no idea why, but the humans suddenly started treating them very poorly. All of them were infuriated including Gaster. But he knew that humans are a far larger species and there's no use fighting against them. Tensions are heating up but the skeleton brothers had no idea. Gaster tried to keep their minds pure and young for as long as he could. He loves them with all his heart. If anything were to happen to them...

        "Hahaha. No son. Those are called stars." He chuckled. Sans looked at him and raised his non existent eyebrows.

        "Stars?" He mustered, amazed. Gaster nodded and looked back up at the sky. It was especially clear that night without a single cloud in the sky. The perfect night for stargazing. He pointed at a particular set of stars and explained,

        "See that set of them? What do you think they look like?" Sans squinted and sat up slightly, trying to make out what was in the sky. Gaster pointed out every star with his finger and Sans gasped,

        "It looks like a spoon!" Gaster smiled and nodded.

        "Correct. That is called the Big Dipper. It's a constellation. There are many more of them." He declared excitedly. He went on to show Sans many more constellations and how stars are formed. Sans watched in amazement and his head was racing with even more excited thoughts. He could get a book about stars from the library! He could watch the stars with Gaster every night! Suddenly, he saw something fly in front of his face. He and Gaster sat up quickly and looked over at what flew by them. A large rock that could easily be picked up, but can seriously hurt someone was rolling on the ground.

        "Aw dude, you missed." A teenage voice rang out. Gaster and Sans quickly stood up and saw a group of teenagers watching them. Gaster grabbed Sans' hand and pulled him behind his leg protectively. Sans peeked from behind his leg and stared at the teenagers in fear. He didn't interact with humans that much but these ones seemed scary.

        "We don't want trouble. I suggest you leave me and my son alone." He said threateningly. The teenagers laughed and the tallest one walked closer and yelled,

        "Oh yeah, what are you gonna do? Huh? You weaklings. You don't belong with us you freaks." Sans whimpered nervously and gripped his fathers jeans. Gaster took a deep breath and closed his eyes, attempting to calm himself.

        "I'll say this again. Leave my property. Now." He said, his voice growing louder and angrier. The tall one laughed once more and picked up another rock nearby.

        "Hey, would you be mad if I did THIS!?" He yelled, aiming and throwing the rock at Sans. It flew towards him very fast and Sans shut his eyes in terror. A swish was heard and the rock stopped in the air. Sans opened his eyes and saw the rock surrounded in blue and orange magic. Gaster reacted quickly and levitated the rock before it hit Sans. He threw the rock next to the teenagers, careful to not hit any of them.

        "Leave. NOW." He shouted protectively. The tall one scrambled away along with the other teenagers shouting,

        "Yo! Did you see that!? That freak tried to kill me!" Gaster sighed, relieving some stress and looked down at Sans while caressing his head lovingly.

        "You alright?" Gaster asked quietly. Sans nodded and whimpered slightly. Gaster got down at one knee and rubbed Sans' shoulder. "Don't worry ok? Some people need to learn some... Manners..." He attempted to explain, trying to make the matter less worrying. He opened his arms and said, "Come here." Sans went in for the hug and looked over Gaster's shoulder, watching the rest of the teenagers run away. They hugged tightly for a bit before they released and began walking inside. Sans turned around and looked up at the sky, seeing the Big Dipper again. He smiled small, and took a deep breath. Everything was ok. He felt safe. Unfortunately, he won't feel that way for a long, long time.