Christmas Wishes || Undertale

Chapter 1: Nightmares

A/N: Okay, so here's the deal! This is an old fic, posted back in 2015, so it is NOT up to par with my new stuff. Not even close. But I saw some of my peeps here are Undertale fans so why not? Enjoy!

The cape was covered in dust.

Sans couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from the scene before him. He was too late. How long ago had this happened? An hour? Two? Long enough for everything but his brother's iconic scarlet cape to be buried in the path's constant snowfall. He had had a bad feeling about the human that came through the door ever since they had arrived but he never would have imagined this, not even in his worst nightmares.

He slowly knelt down, hesitating a long moment before brushing a bony finger against the cape. There was no mistaking the light gray dust that clung to its surface. He felt his eyes well up with tears and a dim blue clouded his vision.

"No..." the word came out barely a whisper. He pulled the cape from the snow, clutching it to his chest. "No, no no no no no please no... not him, anyone else but please not Papyrus, not my brother..."

*You feel your sins crawling down your back.

Sans barely had time to spin around before he felt the blade slash across his chest. All breath seemed to leave him as he stumbled back, falling into the snow. Frisk sauntered up, a sadistic grin spreading across their face and their irises glowing a dull red.

"How many times is this now?" Their voice had multiple tones, as if there were two people speaking at once. They took another step forward, their grin broadening unnaturally wide. "How many times have I killed you?" Another step, their cheeks splitting to add to their hideous grin. "How many times have I killed that sorry excuse of a sentry you call a brother?" Another step, the snow crunching under their boots. Globs of skin melted off their face, revealing nothing but a chilling, dark emptiness underneath. Sans tried to scurry back, to look away, to do anything but it was as if he were paralyzed, every part of his frozen in place. He could only watch in terror as Frisk charged towards him, blade held high over his head.

"How many times do I have to kill you until you stay out of my way?!"

-xxx-

Papyrus rarely slept. He didn't know why, he just never really felt tired. Instead, when the designated "night time" came, he would lie in his super cool race car bed and let his thoughts wander. If he got bored he could always get up and play with his action figures or read one of the many books that sat in his bookcase. Tonight, however, was different. Tonight was only two nights away from Christmas and if he wanted more action figures this year he needed to get his letter to Santa as soon as possible. Because of this he, the great Papyrus, was using this time to write his letter. He would have to remember to give it to Sans tomorrow morning so he could have it delivered. Even if the smaller skeleton was too lazy to get off his bony butt to do much else, he always made sure Papyrus' letters got to Santa.

After finishing the letter he read it over one last time before signing his name at the bottom. "Nyehehe! There, now to--"

Papyrus went rigid as a piercing scream rang through the house, tearing him from his thoughts. He instantly recognized the scream as Sans' and jolted from his seat, wasting no time getting to his brother's room and pounding on the door.

"Sans! Sans are you alright?" He called, noting the dim blue glow radiating from under the door rather than the usual flame-like light. Sans putting forth enough effort to use his magic was never a good sign. After a long moment of silence he tried again.

"Sans, I heard you scream," Papyrus said, worry ending his voice. "Please let me in."

Papyrus waited outside the door, anxiously tapping his foot. Just when he has waited long enough that he was entertaining the thought of breaking down the door the lock clicked and the door opened a crack, Sans peeking through from the other side.

"Oh, hey bro," he greeted with a small smile. "Whatcha need?"

"I heard you scream," Papyrus stated, crossing his arms.

"Scream?" Sans seemed to ponder this a moment before shrugging. "Nope, wasn't me."

"If it wasn't you then who was it?" Papyrus demanded.

"Did you check our pet rock?"

"Sans, be serious!"

"But how can I be serious if I'm Sans?" Sans asked with a wink.

"You're impossible!" Papyrus cried.

"No, I'm Sans, remember?"

"STOP!"

Sans just chuckled, stepping back away from his door. "Relax, Pap, everything's fine. I'll talk to you in the morning, okay?"

"Well, alright..." Papyrus wasn't exactly convinced, but he wasn't going to get anywhere if Sans insisted on making terrible jokes the entire conversation.

"Great, g'night, bro." Without waiting for a reply Sans closed the door, leaving Papyrus alone in the hallway. Having little options left, Papyrus hesitated a moment before going back to his room.

What was he going to do? He knew Sans hid things from him, he had always known, but they had never hurt him like this. Avoiding the subject or not, screaming in the middle of the night was not healthy. But how could he get through and help without Sans trying to throw him off'? He sat at his desk chair and tapped his finger against his jaw, brow furrows. There had to be some way to--

And just like that it hit him.

"Nyeheheheh, brilliant! The great Papyrus strikes again!"

Without another word the tall skeleton picked up his pencil and began to write.

-xxx-

Sans breathed out a sigh of relief. He hadn't been sure how well he'd be able to hold it together through his brother's interrogation but he did. Now Papyrus was gone and the crisis was averted. Though he has been having the dreams for a while, the screaming was new. He would have to find a way to fix that so Papyrus wouldn't worry.

For now, however, he needed to sleep. He slowly made his way over to his bed, careful to only step on the designated clear patches on the floor. With a tired sigh he let himself fall face first on his bed, curling up in the mess of blankets. No doubt Papyrus would bring this up again in the morning, he just hoped he'd have the energy to avoid it.