Void Stone
They’d been waiting for nearly eight hours for Sans to wake up. When he finally opened his eyes, Papyrus enthusiastically hugged him. “BROTHER! IT IS GOOD TO SEE YOU AWAKE! I WAS SO VERY WORRIED ABOUT YOU!” Papyrus had arrived from work some time during the midst of the procedure and had been pacing frantically back and forth in the hall while Flowey, Monster Kid, and DT watched him. Finally Gaster had appeared and told them to come in but stay quiet because Sans would need to sleep off the effects of the anesthesia and the procedure for a while. So the four of them had been playing a boardgame on the floor next to the bed where Sans had been placed while Gaster insisted on returning to work, saying that he had to adjust the method of treatment before he could help his own assistants and the Amalgamates. “Hey Bro,” said Sans, who clearly wasn’t entirely awake yet but happy to be hugged first thing anyway. “How’d I do? Do I get a lollipop for being a good boy at the doc’s?” He grinned cheekily, despite his tiredness. Papyrus rolled his eyes. “WELL I WAS CONSIDERING GETTING YOU SOME NICE-CREAM, BUT NOW I’M NOT SURE IF I’M GOING TO.” “Aww, c’mon Bro.” “OH VERY WELL, BUT ONLY BECAUSE I’M SO VERY FORGIVING AND GENEROUS.” Sans actually laughed. “You’re the coolest, Papyrus.” Gaster, who had noticed the commotion and come over, was smiling slightly. “Well, I’m glad to see you feeling well. That is an excellent sign. Now, would you like to know more about the procedure you went through? Or would you prefer ignorance?” The way he said it made everyone feel like he was going to be judging them very hard for making the second choice, and Sans must have felt the same way because he agreed rather quickly to hear what his Uncle had to say. “It was actually much simpler than you would expect. I simply placed a fragment of the crystal in this cave, a substance called Kenón which is formed by exposure of igneous rock to the influence of the Void, in your soul and added a minuscule amount of Determination. The resulting reaction is the same as that which saved my life after my accident, and I was certain that it would keep you anchored in this reality instead of in the Void. I sent out my assistant to ensure that you were now remembered by those in the Underground and they returned with the news that Monsters did indeed remember and care about you, though none aside from the King and Queen are aware of anything distressing with their memories. And I’ve managed to permanently halt your transformation into the memoryless and mindless state that befell my own assistants, which would have been the eventual result of your condition. All in all, the whole procedure was a success.” Sans gulped slightly, looking like he had suddenly decided he would rather not have known quite how bad it had actually been. Thing’s hadn’t seemed nearly as dire when he was still going through it all. But not everyone was quite ready to close the book. Flowey piped up from the corner where he’d retreated, and he sounded generally irritable, which wasn’t that unusual for him anyway. “Are there gonna be side effects? Will he sprout bat wings? Or suddenly learn to speak that crazy language you write all over your notes?” The Scientist frowned, looking vaguely unsettled, but he chose to direct his answer at Sans instead of Flowey. “There is the possibility of some side effects. Kenón is crystalline in nature, with exposure to your soul in this way, with its increased determination and everything else, it might continue to grow and spread to your body, which is an extension of your magic as you know. You may find that over time you will have to remove crystals growing upon your bones. I doubt any will be big or particularly troublesome, but left untended they it could cause discomfort.” It was a lot to take in, and though not impossible, it was proving difficult for most of them to tell what he was feeling. No one had told him yet, but his eye sockets hadn’t yet returned to normal. There was no white iris in the middle of black shadows. Instead it was simply the pale grey void, the emptiness that mirrored the eyes of Gaster’s assistants. Still, Papyrus had long since learned the telltale signs of his brother’s body language, and the slumped way Sans was sitting and the careless way he had his arms folded in front of him told him that Sans was exhausted and probably not really processing any of this. No, he needed time. “ALRIGHT, I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT I AM SAYING THIS, BUT MY BROTHER NEEDS HIS SLEEP! CAN HE STAY HERE FOR THE NIGHT?” This last question was aimed at Gaster, who nodded. “EXCELLENT! I WILL RETURN FOR YOU LATER, SANS! AND I’LL BRING THE NICE-CREAM WITH ME!” They all began to crowd out the door, Papyrus shooing them on the way. Monster Kid grumbled about waiting all that time and only getting to see Sans for a few minutes and DT echoed the sentiment, but the younger skeleton brother was not moved and firmly pushed them out the door ahead of him. In the fuss, none of them noticed Flowey resurface back into the room before the door closed. Gaster sighed and returned to his work. In the short time that it had taken for everybody to leave, Sans had already fallen asleep.
