Sans' P.O.V

Giant balls of confetti exploded in the air as we went back to my "throne" and as everyone prepared for the fun part of the special day to begin. I knew Frisk was confused about what games were to be held, but she didn't ask about it, and even if she had, I would have told her to wait and see.

Most of the games were for younger angels, from young teens to young adults, and the others were for all ages.

"First up, folks," a booming voice sounded, sounding even louder through small speakers placed throughout the roof, "is the relay! I need those who believe they are the fastest to step up to the ledge. And may I remind all of you that this is friendly competition, so no pushing, shoving, or cheating of any kind just so there's the chance you can be first. Since there are no rewards other than boasting privileges, being first or last does not matter."

As angels stepped up to the ledge, I saw my brother, Undyne, and Alphys come make their way to me and Frisk, who was paying close attention to the current event.

"BROTHER!" Papyrus shouted once he was within earshot. "ARE YOU GOING TO PARTICIPATE IN THE DIVING THIS TIME? OR ANY OF THE GAMES FOR THAT MATTER?"

"eh, who can tell," I said evasively.

"BUT YOU DID SO WELL BACK WHEN YOU WEREN'T QUITE AS LAZY!"

"Yeah, I heard you won every single one and then suddenly quit joining in the games," Undyne added. Paps and I met her and Alphys after our mother's death, thus why she said heard, and why I quit participating in any of the events.

"yeah, but that was back then. i probably lost my touch after all these years."

"Oh, hey guys!" Frisk said, finally noticing them. Now I'm wondering if she heard anything from the conversation.

"Hey Frisk," Undyne and Alphys greeted.

"HELLO, PRINCESS FRISK OF THE ANGELS. ARE YOU GOING TO PARTICIPATE IN ANY OF THE EVENTS?"

"You can just call me Frisk, Papyrus. And, I don't quite know yet."

"H-Have you ever been to a-any of the love angel-angel m-meetings?" Alphys asked straight out.

"No," Frisk admitted. "I was stuck in Heaven until I turned eighteen."

A loud boom rang out, the signal for the relay to start, and me and Frisk both jumped. I had wanted to forget it, thus why I had been anxiously waiting for all this to start, but the scenes from Heaven's court came rushing back to me. It felt as though something was suffocating me. Darkness crowded around the edge of my vision, and everything all blurred together. The pain from my wing became unbearable, and I knew I was shaking pretty badly. I held onto my skull with my hands, it feeling as heavy as a rock, with my elbows on my knees.

"Sans!" many voices shouted, mixing together and sounding so far away. A loud, racing heartbeat also almost drowned out their call.

"i... i can't," I managed to shakily breathe out. "all of it wouldn't have happened, but it did because i thought that fuckin' dream was important enough. i shoulda just let my old man do everythin'."

I was deeper within in the hole of my own creation, and no rope was long enough to reach me.

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Frisk's P.O.V

I sat there frozen, scared of what was happening to my love... and terrified that I didn't know what to do.

"Papyrus!" I shouted to his brother, hoping he knew what to do. "He's your brother! Has anything like this happened before?"

"Y-YES, BUT IT WAS NEVER TH-THIS BAD," he stammered, gazing worriedly at Sans. He took a deep breath, trying to appear calm. "WHATEVER HE SAYS, YOU HAVE TO SAY SOMETHING GOOD AGAINST IT."

I nodded and turned back to Sans. What caught my eye made me more scared than what I already was. Now pooling on the top of the structure we were sitting on was blood, bright and glistening in the sunlight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sans' P.O.V

I could feel the fiery pain from my wing even in the silent, suffocating darkness, with only now a blink of light directly overhead. I was shaking, and although no one could see me in this pit I had created, I tried my best to remain steady.

"Sans!" Frisk's scared voice called to me. I looked up to the light, seeing it closer than before, and spotted her hand among the hundreds of my friends' and brother's.

she's scared, I realized, standing up. I reached my hand out to her only to hesitate and draw it back. i made her scared. I fell back onto my rear, not noticing the chain that had suddenly appeared around one of my legs.

"frisk," I said to the darkness, knowing whatever I said would be repeated in the real world, "i'm sorry. it's all my fault."

"What do you mean? Have you not heard me all those times?"

"ya wouldn't be hunted down by your family if i hadn't gone."

"I didn't want to leave you. Besides, they wouldn't have approved of it anyways."

"i shoulda just let gaster deal with ya."

"By the sounds of it, your father wouldn't have done anything nice, like what you did. And you know that."

"frisk, please-"

"No, Sans. Listen to me. Anything that happens to us is all my fault. Understand? You should not have any guilt resting on your shoulders. And if any of it rests on mine, then you must have done something very, very wrong, bonehead."

I blinked, the muffled heartbeat fading, and saw Frisk in front of me, a small smile on her face. I smiled back and hugged her.

"thanks, frisk." For once since my unpleasant to Heaven, or rather, since my mother died, my shoulders and wings drooped, relaxing.

"BROTHER," Papyrus said, sounding relieved, "MAYBE YOU SHOULD GO HOME AND TEND TO YOUR WING."

I lifted the one he mentioned, seeing trickles of blood like little rivers travel down my ruffled feathers.

"i would, but the king shouldn't remove himself from his throne before his royal duties are finished."

"WHAT ROYAL DUTIES?!" he fumed. "YOU HARDLY DO ANYTHING BUT SIT ON YOUR SO CALLED THRONE UNTIL THE FAMES ARE OVER."

"a king's gotta protect his kingdom." I patted the little structure, an echoing sound coming off it, which could barely be heard above the shouting and yelling as the racers were close to finishing, as I heard from the crowd.

"YOU ARE IMPOSDIBLE TO FIGURE OUT, SANS. AT LEAST LET ALPHYS HEAL YOU."

"fine." I scooted off my throne and landed before my friends and brother, leaving Frisk to "protect my kingdom," as I had stated. I held out my wing, leaning against the little structure as the yellow lizard angel examined the wound.

"Alphys can heal?" Frisk asked, peering from above.

"Mhmm," Alphys hummed. "I-It doesn't look th-that bad. Just a small c-cut."

"cuts don't bleed this much, alph."

"Everyth-thing's different with you, Sans," she retorted flatly, glancing over at me while a green aura surrounded her hands. She quickly turned her attention back to the "cut" as I looked away, irritated, crossing my arms. My brother and Undyne had turned back to the current game, watching who would come first, and I decided to join. Since I couldn't get the advantage of height from the sea in front of me like those two, nor could I fly, I relied on who flew highest into the air.

Not even a moment later, a dog angel flew straight up, with a bunch of the other dog angels flying up to meet him. What surprised me was that it was Doggo, the mostly blind, former royal guardsmen that always stayed dressed like one of Alphys' anime characters. How he managed to win the relay is beyond me.

"No way!" Papyrus and Undyne shouted at the same time. "Doggo won!?"

"i didn't realize he participated," I thought aloud.

"G-Guess he's a faster f-flyer than you thought," Alphys commented.

"i'm wonderin' how, though."

"H-he probably just stayed with a group o-of racers and dashed ahead when he heard h-how close the finish w-was." I could picture that, since I knew that Doggo could still see things as long as they were moving.

stay with a group of them, since he could see their wings movin', and when the finish was shouted by the crowd, dash ahead of all of 'em and become first. very excellent thinkin', doggo.

"That's his thinking face," Alphys snickered quietly, catching my attention. "I'm sure you'll see it from time to time."

"Very handsome in my opinion," Frisk giggled, kissing the top of my skull.

"are ya done, alph?" I asked, irritated and flustered. The girls laughed.

"Y-Yes, almighty King Sans. You c-can return to your e-e-expertly crafted throne, now."

"thanks," I muttered, flapping my wings once so I was now sitting on the structure beside Frisk. She wrapped her arms around me, her head on my shoulder, trying to catch my gaze with a big smile on her face. I refused to meet it, however, still a bit irritated.

"Are you mad at me now because I called you handsome?" she asked in a soft, teasing voice. She started giggling when I blushed.

"w-who knows," I stuttered. I then smiled when an idea came to my mind. "would ya mind if i played ruff?"

"Sans!" she laughed, pulling away from her hug and playfully pushing my shoulder.

"what?" I asked innocently. "do ya not olive me?"

"Of course olive you!" She wrapped her hands around me again, laughing her ass off. Only when she calmed down did I say it again.

"would ya mind if i did?"

"I don't know what you're barking about."

"oh, really? need me to give ya a demonstration when we get home?"

Before she could say anything in response, the sky flashed with a yellow light, which signals the beginning and end of the special day. Multiple voices rose up from the crowd.

"What happened?"

"Is this a joke?"

"It's not even sundown!"

"What is the king thinking?"

"Everyone!" the announcing voice spoke up above the questioning chaos. "Please, go home. Whatever the reason for this special day to be cut short, King Asgore must have his reasons!" Multiple aww's and mutters could be heard, but no one protested, since that would be said against the angel king's demands.

"AWW, BUT I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO THE SPARING," my brother pouted.

"maybe next time paps," I told him, getting off my throne with Frisk. "right now we all need to get home." He sighed.

"OF COURSE, BROTHER. GOODBYE!"

"see ya, paps!" I shouted to him as the sound of multiple wingbeats almost drowned out my voice.

"Aren't we joining them?" Frisk asked as she saw that we were the only two left on the roof.

"nah. i know a shortcut."