Frisk laid in bed in her room, staring blankly at the ceiling. It was late in the afternoon, so she didn’t feel tired or anything. Just…mentally tired. It had been a few days now since her last conversation with Sans…when he just randomly left her at the door without an explanation. He said they would talk later but…she had gone down to the door every day to see if he would be there, but he hasn’t shown up yet. She was getting worried and the knots in her stomach wouldn’t go away.

She could hear her mother just outside, making her way down the hallway to her door. She knocked on it.

“Frisk, dear…”
Frisk could hear the concern in her mother’s voice through the door.
“I’m going to go fetch some water for tonight’s dinner…Would you…like to come with me?”
Toriel hesitated a bit before asking if Frisk would like to come. It was pretty obvious that she could sense something was bothering her daughter.

Frisk’s eyes drifted to her door. She knew the place where her mother goes to get water is pretty far off. If it weren’t for her not wanting to miss Sans in case he finally comes back, a long walk with her mother actually sounded like it would be nice.
“I…I’m kind of tired, mom. Sorry…maybe next time?”
She felt a little bad telling her mother “no”...but she had to go back down to the basement. Maybe this is the day Sans finally visits again.

Toriel let out a little sigh.
“You know you can talk to me, dear. Whatever may be troubling you…”

Frisk’s heart sank a bit. She almost wished she could talk to her mother about this. But if she knew…that for almost 7 years Frisk had been deliberately disobeying her mother by going to the door several times a week to speak to a monster on the other side…Frisk shuddered at the thought. Her mother would be furious.

“I know, mom. I’m fine, though…really. I’m just tired.”

Toriel most definitely didn’t believe that, but she let it go…for now.
“...Very well. I will…return home in a couple of hours, then.”

She paused briefly.
“I love you. Behave yourself.”
She added the “behave yourself” as a sort of inside-joke at this point. She always knew Frisk would - even though Frisk very much does not.

“Love you too, mom.”
Frisk said as she heard Toriel walk the rest of the way down the hall, open the front door of their house, then close it behind her.

Frisk looked back up at the ceiling and sighed. After a few minutes, she slowly got up from her bed and made her way out of her room and down the stairs that led to the basement. This would be day number four of her going down to the door and waiting for Sans. It wasn’t often that they would go so long without meeting, but usually when they did they gave a reason for it and decided on a day to meet again - so this was definitely something new that Frisk didn’t really know what to do about other than come down every day and see if Sans shows up.

As soon as she made it to the door, she just stood there and stared at it. At this point, she felt like she had a very love-hate relationship with this door. On one hand, it was her best friend…but on the other, it was the thing keeping her trapped in the Ruins. She didn’t really know how to feel at this particular moment, so she just sat down on the ground in front of the door, leaned her back against the cold, stoney wall…and waited.

Minutes passed…Frisk wasn’t sure how many - maybe almost half an hour or longer? There was still no sign of Sans. She was starting to feel uncomfortable sitting on the hard ground and considered calling this day a flop as well. She began to slowly get up off the ground, when suddenly-

“Frisk…”
Frisk jumped and almost fell back on her behind as she heard Sans’ voice come through the door.

“S-Sans!”
Frisk was breathless as she recovered from being startled like that.

“Wh-where have you been? What happened? Why did you leave like you did last time?”
She was just word-vomiting out all the questions that had been swirling around in her head. She didn’t even care that he didn’t do their secret whistle - she just wanted to know what was going on.

Sans was quiet for a moment before he let out a sigh.

“There’s something important I need to tell you, Frisk…”

The dejection that was so prominent in his voice before was gone, replaced with something that sounded almost worse. Sorrow. He sounded so despondent that Frisk wasn’t sure what to say or how to feel. She was reminded of how he sounded when he came to her after his father died.

“Sans what’s wrong…?”
She was genuinely worried. Did something happen? Did…did someone else die? She was confused and wanted answers.

“I’m…”
Sans started, then paused briefly.

“I’m in the Royal Guard, Frisk.”

Silence. Frisk was at a loss for words. The Royal Guard? Sans? What did that mean? She knew what the Royal Guard was…they were basically human hunters. Sans had told her this many times…so why was he ONE of them??

“I…”
Frisk began, her heart feeling like it might implode. She started to feel scared and even more confused than before. Sure, that explained a lot now…but it also raised more questions.

“I don’t…I don’t understand…”
She said simply. Was Sans going to take her soul? That’s what Royal Guardsmen do, right? Her legs started feeling like they wanted to run, but she resisted the urge to try and give Sans a chance to explain.

“You wanted to know why I was acting different…Well…I’ve been in the Royal Guard for almost a year now.”
Sans was talking relatively quickly, like he was in some kind of hurry.
“And before you start to panic…no. I’m not here to take your soul.”

A bit of relief washed over Frisk at hearing this. Okay…so he wasn’t here for her soul…but…she was still confused and had a lot of questions swimming around in her head now. She opened her mouth to speak, but Sans cut her off.

“I was drafted. Which means I didn’t have a choice. Look, I just need to tell you this quickly, but…almost all the monsters out here have been drafted into the Royal Guard now. If your mother thought it was dangerous for you before, it’s nothing compared to how dangerous it is for you now.”

Frisk wasn’t sure what to say. This was information overload and she was having a difficult time understanding what exactly was going on. She only managed to get a single word out.

“...Why?”

Sans sighed again.

“I have theories but…it’s not important. I’m sorry I worried you, and I hate that this is probably only going to worry you even more…but…”
He fell silent, the concern in his voice so prominent it was really starting to bother Frisk.

“Sans, what is it?”
Clear concern was showing through her own voice. She instinctively shuffled herself closer to the door, putting her hands against it and wishing she could actually see Sans right now. Something was very clearly wrong and she only wished this door wasn’t stopping her from being able to properly comfort him.

The next sentence Sans says causes Frisk’s breathing to stop abruptly.

“They’re coming, Frisk. They know.”

Frisk’s heart starts to race and her hands begin to tremble slightly.
“Wh…What? What do you mean? Who knows? Who’s coming?”

Panic is clearly taking over in the sound of her voice. She thinks she knows he’s talking about the Royal Guard, but she needs him to confirm it before she has a full-blown panic attack.

“The Royal Guard. Someone heard me talking to you. Heard you say that you were human and…”
Sans stops abruptly and lets out an annoyed huff.

“I was worried this would happen. I’ve been debating if I should even come to the door anymore. I should…I should have been more careful.”

There was silence. Then a faint high-pitch ringing as Frisk was slowly understanding the meaning behind this terrible news. The room around her felt like it was spinning and she had to fully lean against the door to keep herself from falling over. She stared blankly at the floor, her heart pounding against her chest. She was speechless again for several seconds before she finally managed to breathe out a sentence.

“What do I do…”

She was past the point of tears and was thrusted into a state of pure panic. Her voice sounded meek and was shaking with anxiety.

“Nothing. I’m handling it. I just…I wanted you to know. In case…”

Sans stopped mid-sentence. He sounded like he was having a crisis of his own.

“I…”
Frisk was still staring blankly at the floor. She was immeasurably terrified now. Was this it? Was this all that was left of her meager life? To just sit here and wait for the Royal Guard to come and kill her? Her hands started shaking even more and her breathing was becoming unsteady.

“I’m…I’m s-scared, Sans.”

There was a sound of movement outside the door, and another brief silence. Frisk’s head was spinning and she only just realized how erratic her breathing had gotten. Then suddenly-

SHWING!

Frisk’s soul appeared in front of her chest and slowly began to glow a calming dark blue color. This had happened before - almost a year ago, now - when Sans had found out her secret and she had told him to take her soul to save everyone. Sans retaliated by doing just this in an attempt to shut her up - but this time was different. This time it felt…calming. Her soul felt lighter than air and she could feel her heart slowing in pace a bit. Her breathing began to steady itself. What on earth…? She looked up at the door, feeling a little less panicked now.

“...Sans…?”

She was confused, not sure what he was doing or how it was calming her down…but she was grateful for the relief regardless.

“I know, Frisk. But try not to worry. I know that’s probably a lot to ask right now…but…I’m going to take care of it.”
Sans said simply, still having a calming hold on Frisk’s soul through the door.

As Frisk’s mind slowly started to collect itself now that she wasn’t having a panic attack anymore, she took a deep breath - trying to calm herself down further. She moved to situate herself on the floor better - to sit on her knees - and noticed her entire body felt immensely lighter. Almost like she was moving in water. If the situation didn’t feel so serious right now, she’d probably think this was incredibly fun.

“What…What are you going to do?”
The shakiness in her voice was also stabilizing. She was feeling a lot more calm now, thanks to whatever Sans was doing.

Sans didn’t respond immediately. They both sat there in silence, Frisk’s soul still glowing a calming blue. After several seconds, the glowing stopped and Frisk felt the pressure of her regular body weight return to her knees.

“I’ll fix it.”
Sans said simply.

Frisk wasn’t sure what that meant, but clearly Sans didn’t want to get into detail. She thought for a moment, trying to think of any ideas. Now that she felt much calmer, she felt that she could think more clearly.

“What…What about Papyrus? You said your brother doesn’t like the idea of killing anyone…I know…I know you said that’s probably changed but…maybe he could…I don’t know…maybe he could help?”

Frisk was hopeful, even though she knew that might not work…she thought that surely Sans’ brother would listen to him. That…maybe there could be some glimmer of a chance that he would help…

Sans was silent for another moment, then spoke.

“Papyrus is dead.”

Frisk’s heart sank and her eyes widened. Did…did she mishear him? Dead? Why wouldn’t he lead with that?

“...D-Did you say he’s…”
Frisk began, needing confirmation, but Sans cut her off.

“I killed him.”

Sans said simply, matter-of-factly.

Frisk clasped her hand over her mouth to stifle an audible gasp. There’s no way…no way Sans just said that. She had to have misheard.

“S-Sans…?? Wh…What did you say?”

Her heart was picking up pace again.

Sans was silent again, as if contemplating what to say next.

“Listen to me, Frisk. Whatever you do, do not respond to anyone at this door other than me. Do you understand? I’ll…I’ll be back…to update you on whatever happens next. Just…”
He stopped talking and there was a sound of movement again. Was he leaving again? He was just going to gloss over what he had just said and leave??

Frisk stood up from the ground and started shouting, not even realizing that she was shouting at first, but didn’t stop herself once she had realized it.

“Sans! What do you mean!? You…You killed your brother?? You can’t just say that and leave! What’s going on!?”
Before she knew it, her tears finally made their appearance. Whether they were derived from sadness or anger, she wasn’t sure. All she knew is that she was sure as hell confused, and Sans’ lack of response only made her more frustrated. She slammed her fist against the door.

“Sans!”

She was demanding a reply.

“Answer me! Please!”

“I’m sorry, Frisk.”

Sans finally replied.

“I’ll be back…I promise…”

There was a sound, one Frisk couldn’t really make out to be anything specific - and then there was silence. Frisk knew Sans was gone, leaving her head flooded with questions and her heart feeling nothing but anguish.