UnderCorrupt

29 ~ Looking Back

Gaster decided that if the best part of Sans' Soul being partially Pure was that he could love again, then the second best part was his willingness to cooperate.

Because now that he had a friendly disposition towards Gaster, he was actually optimistic and eager to answer any questions Gaster might have, or participate in whatever experiment Gaster had cooked up to learn more about the Corruption.

Granted, he still complained. He complained a lot, but he didn't really mean it. Well, actually, he probably did, but it was all more or less in good nature.

And, of course, this came especially in handy since learning of Sans' ability to mix Pure and Corrupt Magic. They spent a good week or two trying to figure out a safe way to do that, until Sans eventually passed out one day and couldn't move without puking for the next two days.

But he had still participated in that eagerly. Never once did he resist doing something because it would help Gaster.

He also continued to call Gaster "Dad". That was, shamelessly, Gaster's favorite part of it all.

Today, Gaster didn't have an experiment, so much as a question. And, admittedly, Sans might very well decline to answer, as he had before, but Gaster was still curious.

So, instead of going to the lab with Sans, he led his son into the living room, and sat down on the couch.

Sans sat next to him, looking slightly concerned. "is... is everything alright?"

Gaster blew out a breath and nodded. "Yeah, just... Sans, I have a question for you. And, I realize that... it maybe is... a little difficult, and you don't have to answer, if... if you don't want to."

Sans just looked at Gaster. "... okay...?"

Gaster hesitated a moment. "What... What happened?"

For a moment, Sans just looked at Gaster, confused. But, as realization dawned across his face, he shrank back. His arms pinned to his sides and his shoulders hunching, he pulled back in a subconscious effort to hide away from the world.

Gaster reached out, grabbing ahold of one of Sans' hand. "It's alright, Sans. You don't have to talk about it. I shouldn't have asked."

Sans closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "n- no. i... i'll... i'll tell you. i- ... i just need a couple of minutes. and-..."

"... Yeah?"

When Sans looked up at Gaster, there was a sort of desperation in his eyes. "...and promise me you won't tell papyrus about this. ever. i- ... i think... it would hurt him, and..."

"I understand. I won't tell him."

Sans nodded slowly, took a few deep breaths, and began.

⎰Prior to This...⎱

Sans became aware slowly.

It couldn't be said that he woke up slowly, because he wasn't sure if he was awake. For one thing, he was completely blind, in darkness. He couldn't even tell in his eyes were open or not. For another, he seemed to recall taking copious amounts of damage and receiving a massive number of wounds, which said that his body should be screaming in pain, but he could feel nothing. That wasn't just saying he wasn't in pain, he literally could not feel anything. When he tried to move, he couldn't tell if he had succeeded. On top of that, he couldn't hear nor smell nor taste anything.

So, essentially, he was aware of his own consciousness, and that was about it.

He couldn't exactly remember how he had come to be this way, either. He could remember fighting in Waterfall, telling Undyne to get out...