Sans's tears began flowing again before he knew it.
He reached up and gently wiped them away, then tried to describe what he had seen and felt.
"...paps..."
"I'm here, sis?"
"In my dream... I saw my own death... it was like I'd become a corpse. That feeling..."
"Wait, what did you say??!"
"Yeah. It felt so real... so real... like it had happened in some timeline... and I wasn't the only one who was killed..."
Sans looked at his palms. Those memories overlapped with the present, and he almost seemed to see crimson blood on his hands.
"I only saw scattered bits of memories... but I also saw... in my dream, Undyne insisted on fighting the human... but... all of us survivors knew perfectly well... that what she was doing... was nothing short of walking to her death..."
His snow-white pupils slowly turned black. Before this, Papyrus had only seen that expression when Sans was deadly serious or furious.
"And I also knew... the monsters were on the verge of extinction... everyone was dead... I also saw... I also..."
Sans's voice grew quieter and quieter, even beginning to choke up.
"...And, and... papyrus... papyrus..."
The surrounding air grew colder, and Sans's magic power once again showed signs of slipping out of control.
"What do we do... what should we do... I don't want to see any of this... I can't escape these nightmares... why do I have to see these memories of Snowdin..."
Papyrus gathered Sans into his arms and gently stroked his back.
"It's okay... it's okay... Sans, don't cry... look, you're all right, aren't you? So am I. Everyone's doing fine...
...Everyone's safe and sound..."
Sans's restless magic power slowly settled, and some of his helplessness seemed to find release in that moment.
*...Papyrus was right. At