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After that emotional conversation, Harry and Sans made their way down to the lab. Gaster was closing the door behind him when they came up. “Oh, Hello. Did You Need Anything?”
Sans and Harry smiled at the older skeleton. “nah, just lookin’ for ya. find anything interesting?”
Gaster shook his head. “No, Everything You Had Done, I Would Have Done The Same.”
Harry glanced at Sans from the corner of his eye. “Did you research the barrier before you were, uh, lost?” Gaster snorted at the wording.
“Yes, I Was Tasked With Finding A Way To Destroy It. After The Royal Children Perished,King Asgore Demanded I Use Every Resource We Had To Find A Way. My Experiments Were….Unsuccessful.” Harry’s face fell before growing determined.
“Tell me everything about the barrier.”
After a few hours of talking, Harry getting a history lesson and some theorizing, the trio took a break to eat lunch. They were sitting at the table, heated spaghetti on their plates,eating silently. Harry was deep in his thoughts on any spells he could use. He thought back to when he had fallen. It had felt somewhat similar to when he walked onto the Hogwarts grounds. After they finished eating, Harry excused himself to the bathroom. He quickly relieved himself; water was water, even if it was infused with magic. washing his hands, he looked up in the mirror and noticed he didn't look as gaunt and sickly as he had for the last year. Running his fingers through his hair, his gaze caught his scar. Before Hogwarts, he always compared it to a lightning bolt, but now thinking on it….
“Oh Merlin's saggy balls!!!”
Harry ran out into the living room where Sans and Gaster were talking about ways to advance the CORE’s technology. Both looked up at him when he skidded to a halt in front of the couch.
“Runes!”
“what?” Sans asked confused. “what about them? did you forget something at tori’s?”
“No! Look, my scar. I had always thought it looked like a lightning bolt, but-” He stopped suddenly and smacked his palm to his forehead. “Oh fuck, uh, lightning bolts are when there’s-”
“We Know Of Most Weather On The Surface, Though It Has Been A Long Time Since I Experienced A Thunderstorm.” Harry’s mouth flapped open and shut for a moment before shaking his head.
“Not gonna ask right now. Anyways, I always thought my scar looked like a cartoon lightning bolt, but, Looking at it now, it looks like a rune, magical markings that can be used to charm items, or create a shield, or a wish for fertility or strength. We were taught them at school. a teacher of mine helped me learn them and how to use them safely.”
At the understanding and curious expressions of the other two, Harry vowed to teach them more about it when they got to the Surface. “As Interesting As That Is, What Does You're Scar Have To Do About It?”
“It looks like a rune, Sowilo. It means “Sun”, “Success”, “The life force” and “Health”. Other runes have many other meanings. What if the barrier, if it was constructed using runes and wards?”
Sans sat up suddenly. He took off for his room, returning with a history text. Flipping through it, he turned the book around so Harry and Gaster could see.”are these those runes?”
Harry laughed and nodded, pointing at the one he was talking about. Gaster studied the rune and remarked, “It Also Means Power, Elemental Force, And Contact Between Higher Self And Unconscious.”
They spent the rest of the day discussing the possibilities of what could have been used if the runes were used at all. Papyrus called Sans, letting him know Undyne had kept him for the night as punishment for losing the human. Harry had a brief moment of panic, thinking the worse before Sans reassured him that the tall skeleton wasn't being tortured or whatever he was thinking.
“how do we know if the barrier was erected using these?” Sans asked later. Harry thought for a minute.
“They would be inscribed at a point where the barrier is strongest, or where it was first powered. You can draw any of these, but they won't work without powering them. Stronger the power, stronger the outcome.”
“The Barrier Is Strongest At The Entrance, At The Other End Of The Underground.” Gaster said. Sans sighed and looked out the window, where the magic lights were turning down.
Harry followed his gaze and grabbed Sans’ hand, gaining his attention. “How long will it take to get there?”
“a full day if we leave early enough, but for a human it will take longer. we would have to get passed undyne, and frisk always had to deal with mettaton.”
“Okay,” Harry took a deep breath, letting it out with a squeeze of the short monsters hand. “Okay. We should leave first thing then.” Sans nodded silently as Gaster stood up.
“Harry, I Feel This Is A Trip You Must Make Alone.” Harry sighed again and stood from where he had sat on the couch.
“Was getting the same feeling,” he muttered, pulling Sans up.
“you know i’ll look out for you.”
Harry nodded and smiled. “Of course. What would I do without you, Bonehead?”
“fall into a underground network of caves with magical beings inhabiting it against their will?”
Harry stared, not sure if he should laugh or not. A snort escaped him anyways, causing Sans’ grin to widen in mirth. “Alright. I’ll give you that. We should get some rest then.”
Sans and Harry made their way upstairs after wishes of a good night were exchanged. They silently took off the outer layers of clothing and crawled into bed together. They didn't say anything as they shuffled around trying to get comfortable before Harry huffed and curled into Sans body. After a moment of tension, Sans wrapped his arms around the teen and they quickly drifted off.