Royal Blue

Rise and Fall (Chapter Thirty Six)

There are very few things they knew about Zero.

'He is irritatingly secretive,' Undyne snarls to herself. It had been the first thing she'd known of him —somehow using his special attack to move without moving— and continued to stay at the most notable.
Every twist and turn of their relationship had been blocked by invisible walls. By things, by knowledge and abilities, that Zero never shared. And that nobody else could seem to explain.

'He is irritatingly secretive...'
'Because he has abilities no one else does.'

'He is intelligent,' Alphys considers, and in more than one way. It had been easy to recognize. From first seeing him barge into the castle, to immediately making executive decisions over making the address to the public and getting monsters evacuated to the ruins. His strengths lied in organization and planning, and as a close advisor to the king, who was older than many other known monsters; he had to've learned it from someone above him.

'He is intelligent...'
'Because he's learned from others.'

'He is powerful,' Frisk thinks. They'd run through timelines enough to have gotten every option, every scrap of dialogue and every secret trinket, everything to satiate their burning curiosity that barely felt like their own at times. And yet, only after they'd fallen ill, after they'd lost the ability to [RESET], was when this new monster, Zero appeared.

'He is powerful...'
'Because he is an outlier.'

'He is different than he used to be,' Asgore recognizes. He'd known it for a long time. Since his last royal scientist had brought Zero to him, he'd known Zero was something special. Sans had even monitored Zero's training, personally; which had been especially strange given Sans' most disinterest in physically fighting. And yet, Zero, Sans, and even Papyrus had a bond unlike any other.

'He is different than he used to be...'
'Because the years have changed him - just as they changed me.'

'He will do any and everything he can to protect those he values.' Toriel understands. She can tell in the way he holds himself; in the way he holds onto others. He may hide it. But it was obvious, the way he held Papyrus. His frantic magic, pulsing, almost physically pushing her, pushing everyone out- away, to safety. Even away from himself. Like he was afraid that somehow, among the collapse, he would fall apart too, and hurt them even worse.

'He will do any and everything he can to protect those he values...'
'Because he does not value himself.'

'He hides his identity.' Papyrus knows this. He's seen Zero's soul. And though something about the memory still feels fuzzy, he knows it's true. From the static language that the grey child spoke, there is something distinct about it that feels like coming home. A feeling he'd only ever found with his brother, and then, for a while, with Sans's friend.

He knew that Sans' friend had told him not to worry, not to try to remember, but it was so obvious to him. And though it may not be the whole truth, it was a piece:

'Zero hides his identity...'
'Because he does not have an identity of his own — because he has been protecting others for so long he's forgotten about himself.'

And though they all had different thoughts, though they all knew different pieces of Zero, of Sans... They all knew one thing:

'Zero is dangerous...'
'Because he is unpredictable.'

The cold metal doors to the core slide open.

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