“Hmmm, who should I pair with you? Let’s pick one at random, shall we~” 9 rolls the dice.
At a friendly gathering, you end up Under the Mistletoe next to a tall skeleton wearing a long brown coat and a red scarf, who introduces himself as Prose (UnderPage!Papyrus). He offers a gloved hand to you with a kind smile, “Well, I Do Believe We Have Been Caught In One Of Those Human Christmas Traditions I’ve Been Told About. Human, Would You Like To Participate With Me?”
If you accept then he will place a chaste kiss on your forehead and wish you all the luck in the coming new year.
If you decline then he won’t push it, he is a Gentle-Skele after all.
Either way, afterward he would like to become acquainted with you. Fate had put you two together after all, so why not take the opportunity to make a new friend.
Hidden in the cave of a mountain, so deep in the sun cannot reach, lies an immense set of doors with intricate runes and images of times long forgotten. Behind these doors is a sanctuary of knowledge. A giant, labyrinth-like Library where almost any soul who wished could learn something new or add their own books and scrolls to the collection. It was the pride and joy of the monster kingdom. In the times of peace, the King of Monsters had no qualms about allowing those who wished to come and go as they pleased, whether they were of monster-kind or human. There were only two things he forbids. No human may learn how to use monster magic, and those who use taboo magic are forbidden to enter.
Of course, there were those who tried to find the monsters secrets, a select group of mages that refused to let go of what can’t be theirs. These mages went to their kings and whispered the potential secrets and treasure the monsters were hiding away from them. War eventually broke out and the monsters numbers dwindled. During one of the final sieges, the King of Monsters ordered his subjects to retreat into the Library, as those who fought tried to hold the human armies back. The old king fought till every last monster was inside before he himself fell. Now, with only one visible entrance, and more than enough magic and ancient spells to call on, the monsters could easily defend themselves against the humans.
The scorned mages came forward then and cast a powerful spell on the Library. That day, the sanctuary became a prison. Any being could enter, but anyone who tried to exit the Barrier would have any magic they had drained away. To a monster, whose physical being was made using magic and dust, it was a death sentence.
Years became decades, decades became centuries, and eventually, the Library and its prisoners were forgotten...
~*~
Footsteps echoed down the aisles of the Library, loud compared to the silence that surrounded him. Sans walked amidst the almost empty shelves, looking at the few titles curiously. His eye lights darted across the summaries on the backs, trying to look for something new or at least useable. He placed most of the books back on the shelves, the few that did catch his interest went into his bag. If he was to find anything worth keeping he had to look quickly, especially if he didn’t want to get caught trespassing again.
In the distance, the Hall doors banged open and a very loud very annoying voice started barking orders. Cursing under his breath, Sans kept going. He was almost done, all that was left was one last aisle of shelves. Coming across the last of the books, he found a new copy of a title he hadn’t seen for a while. Opening the book to a random page he had a nostalgic smile on his face. Papyrus would love to see this again. The nearing footsteps snapped him back to reality. Bagging the book he quickly teleported to the top of the bookshelves as Lesser Dog rounded the corner.
Shit, that was close. He watched them for a moment as they looked around just to make sure they didn’t smell him. Satisfied he wasn’t caught yet, he moved quietly across the shelves and headed for the Hall exit. Armored Guards were loading the remaining books into carts to be “sorted”. Sans frowned in revulsion, knowing full well many of those books are just gonna be burned if they have a hint of the “forbidden subjects” that king Fluffybutt decided were unfit for the monster populous. Shaking his skull he kept going, knowing he couldn’t linger any longer. Luckily, no one seemed to be guarding the doors so after a check to make sure no one was looking he teleported outside of them.
On the other side, he reappeared facing the doors. On the handles, there was a sign that read, New Hall is Closed for Sorting. Trespassers will be Punished. New Hall, really? Every time he sees the name he can’t help but roll his eyelights. Sure it’s the place where new books from the surface appear, but the name is still horrible.
“Looks like you’re going to have to check back later, sans.” His gaze shifted to the person to his right. Undyne leaned against the wall in her guard uniform and chest armor, her yellow eye fixed on him. “Unless you’ve already been in.”
He gave her a cheeky grin, “who, me? naw, i’m just passing through. wouldn’t want to interfere with your important work.”
Her eye narrowed at his tone, “I don’t care if you’re Paps brother. If I catch you in there stealing forbidden books, I will have you locked up.”
They stared each other down, the atmosphere becoming tense. But after a moment, he just smirked at her and walked away, “good luck catching me then.”
~*~
Sans walked own the corridor, giving an occasional greeting to the passing monsters. There weren’t that many out as most preferred to stay inside their homes. Approaching his station, he spotted his brother waiting for him. “Sans, Where Have You Been? You’re 15 Minutes Late For Patrol, Again.”
He grinned and shrugged, “no need to ‘rattle your bones’, paps. i just found something so ‘page turning’ i couldn’t put it down.”
Papyrus gets a worried look on his face, ignoring the pun, “Please Tell Me You Haven’t Been In New Hall,” sans flinched, “Sans, You Know No One Is Allowed In Right Now. Undyne Has Orders-”
“i know, i know. you don’t have to worry about me, bro. no one saw me take a thing.”
“But What If They Did.” Papyrus sighed, “I Know You And Many Others Don’t Agree With His Majesty's Decrees, But You Can’t Just Break The Rules.”
“if he was just keeping the actual dangerous books locked away then i wouldn’t have a problem with his sorting.” His hands clenched into fists, “but instead, anything that references a real place or events on the surface gets burned.”
Papyrus looked at his brother. He rarely showed any signs of anger. Stepping up to him, he put a gloved hand on his shoulder, “Sans, Please. I... I Can’t Stop You, But Promis Me You’ll Be Careful.”
Sans relaxed a little, taking a deep breath. He didn’t like making promises, but for his brother, he could try to keep that one. “sure, paps. i will.”
“Thank You.” There was a small look of relief on his face before he clapped sans shoulder, “Now, Let’s Do Our Patrol. I’m Sure There Are Some Who May Need The Help Of The Great Problem Solving Papyrus!” he stated, walking off to begin their patrol with Sans at his side.
Sans smiled, “heh, of course, bro. right behind you. by the way, i’ve got something you might like.”
“If It’s You Being On Time For Once, Then Yes, I Will Like That Very Much. Punctuality Is Important,”
“but bro, i’m always ‘pun’-tual.”
Papyrus lightly batted the back of his skull, “That Was Bad Even For You.” He kept walking trying to fight the smile on his face as Sans chuckled beside him.
