Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You wince slightly as the thin needle pricks your skin. The pinching sensation lingers as thick blood runs through the small tube and into the vial that Alphys has waiting. You do your best to wipe any emotion from your face as she watches you carefully for any sign of discomfort. “I-it’ll only be another m-minute” she stammers, as she turns a small valve in the tube and switches out the full vial with an empty one, placing the ruby colored container in a small rack off to the side. 

You fight the urge to roll your eyes at her, you’re scared of a lot of things but needles aren’t one of them. You’ve been stabbed by much larger things at any rate. Across the room, Undyne shifts uncomfortably, pointedly looking away. “I’m f-fine, take your time” you mumble. 

Alphys fills one more vial before carefully plucking the needle from your forearm and taping a square of gauze over the tiny wound. You flex your hand as you pull your arm back, gratefully rolling down your sleeve. “A-all done!” She says, giving you a nervous smile and stepping back. 

Undyne pushes off of the wall she is leaning against and walks over, “Thanks for agreeing to this punk, you didn’t have to.” This time you do roll your eyes, you both know that's not true but you don’t argue the point, instead hopping off of the exam table that Alphys set up in her private lab. 

You don’t know what they want your blood for exactly. The ostensible reason is that Alphys found a bunch of stuff about human diseases on the internet and wants to make sure you aren't about to come down with anything, but you sense that there’s more to it than that. It hardly matters, the monsters were adamant that she be allowed to take some samples and you have long lost the energy to protest such things. 

“It’s fine” you say as you retrieve your coat from a chair by the door, “ ‘S no big deal…” You slip into it and fumble with the zipper for a moment before getting it. Neither of them offers to help you, they know better. “Can we g-go?” You ask, looking up at them expectantly. You want to be home before the streets fill up and you have to endure even more mothering and stares from people you barely know. 

The two monsters look at each other, a silent conversation happening in front of you. “J-just a minute.” Alphys says, picking up the tray of vials and placing it in a small refrigerator off to the side. “O-ok!” 

Turning away, the three of you make your way up the stairs leading out of the lab and emerge into the living room of the house. Alphys and Undyne immediately beeline for the coat closet and begin putting on their own coats. 

“You sure you don’t want to hang out here for a bit punk?” Undyne asks earnestly as she hands Alphys a long scarf. “We got some new shows you might like.” She winces as she says it and you feel yourself do the same. She’s been trying really hard since you ran away a month ago. You would prefer it if she and the others would give up on trying to connect with you. You duck your head and shake it, 

“ No I’m… n-no thanks” She looks like she’s going to push more but Alphys puts a hand on her arm and she drops it. You shoot her a grateful look. 

A few minutes later the three of you make your way out onto the street, slush and grit crunching underfoot as you begin the short walk across the small town that has been your home for the last seven months. As you do you find your mind wandering back through the last few weeks. 

Undyne’s attempts to spend time with you are far from unique. Most of the monsters that are regularly chosen to watch you have tried, with varying levels of success, to help you relax around them. You don’t know why they insist on pretending with you, you made it perfectly clear how you feel about them, but they don’t stop. 

 You look up as the three of you emerge onto the main thoroughfare that contains Gerson’s new shop, and you feel a little ill as numerous monsters all look up from what they are doing as they notice you. You turn right and hurry along, eager to get out of sight. Next to you, Undyne makes a cutting motion across her throat, and several people seem to get the message as they very deliberately look away and make a show of ignoring you. You do your best to ignore them back.

Everyone treats you like you’re made of glass now. It makes you feel a little ill to imagine that you’ve somehow become important to so many people you barely know. You glance at a fish monster who is holding his newspaper upside down and sigh. 

You still don’t know what changed, you were surprised to find out how many had joined the search for you, people you’ve never even talked to, whose only contributions to your journey were at best an indifferent bystander or at worst a member of a cheering crowd went out of their way to watch you as if you needed their concern, as if you needed their protection.

You didn’t ask to be important to them, you’re still the same person who’s death they awaited, the only thing that's changed from then to now is that they’ve decided that they care about you. Your foot slips on the wet pavement as you put it down, sending you sliding forward half a step and causing you to gasp as you stumble. You manage to catch yourself, but you don’t miss the way everyone on the street takes a half step towards you. 

Undyne catches your shoulder to steady you and tries to hide the hurt in her expression as the contact causes you to jump. You can’t stand it when they look at you like that. It makes guilt crawl down your spine. You shrug her off, making a show of brushing yourself off and doing your best to hold your head high as you keep walking. 

Finally, you turn off of the main thoroughfare and onto the smaller residential street that you live on. You feel your heartbeat begin to slow as you pass out of line of sight, though you still keep your guardians in your peripheral vision.

Your skin prickles, and you nearly groan as you become aware that you are once again being watched. You turn around, hoping to pick out whoever is following you but see no one. You glance at the window of the house across the street, but the blinds are closed and the driveway empty. Frowning, you slow to a stop, turning to look down the road when you see it.

A long ways down the street, shadowed under a large tree in one of your neighbors' front yards, a small silhouette watches you. The shape is that of a child like yourself, but colored in dark grays and blacks as if shrouded in smoke that makes it impossible to pick out any details. You feel your lips curl into a frown as they continue to watch you, making no attempt to hide their interest in a way that sends chills down your spine, they seem…familiar? 

You’re weighing the pros and cons of approaching them when they suddenly collapse, face planting into the frosted mud at the base of the tree as if injured. Your mind goes blank with panic and you are about to rush over to them when a strong hand clamps itself on your shoulder. You let out half a shriek as you whirl around to whoever grabbed you, coming face to face with an equally panicked Undyne.

“-isk! Whoa! Are you alright punk! You totally zoned out there!” 

You take several deep breaths as you stare up at her, wide eyed. Remembering the figure, you whirl back around, but when you turn to look, the small shadow is gone, not even an indent in the mud where they landed to mark that they had ever been there. “I-I Thought I saw…” you whisper as a deep ache makes itself known on your shoulder where Undyne touched you.

You massage the area with one hand, failing to hide a wince. “I didn’t hurt you did I?” Undyne asks, unable to hide the note of horror that enters her voice at the thought and you shake your head. 

“N-n-no you barely touched me… I think i-it's just a cramp.” Mercifully the pain fades after a moment, it really was just a fluke.  

You look up back at the tree, still half expecting to see someone collapsed there and shake your head when there is no one. All of this stress is getting to you. 

The three of you continue on your way. You try not to think too hard about what you saw, but as you walk home, you can’t shake the feeling that for once you were on the outside looking in.

__________________________________

Your legs fold up underneath you as you come to the bottom of the stairs. You can’t stop shaking as you catch your breath, this isolated corner of the castle is a small but needed mercy from the monsters that surround you. You put your head in your hands as you sit on the bottom step, trying desperately not to think about the shadow’s words.

Are you seriously supposed to believe that they love you?

You want nothing more than to curl up on the floor of this quiet corner and cry, but you can’t. You can’t . You are not safe here, the only reason the monsters in the rest of the castle didn’t attack you is because they knew you were marching to your death anyway. It's almost over, you just want to cry .

Taking deep, gasping breaths, you wipe your nose on the sleeve of your jumper and blink against the persistent burning in your eyes. The sharp edge of the ivory step cuts into the backs of your bare knees that are scraped raw and bleeding from countless desperate flights. You’re almost out, you’re almost home.

You’re going to be free.

You give up on regaining your composure, the king won’t care if you’re crying or not when you go to meet him. And you have to go to meet him. You can’t turn back now, no matter what anyone says. You wipe your eyes one last time, and slap your cheeks. You’re just turning to start heading back up the stairs when you see them.

Your blood immediately runs cold as you realize what you have found. What little composure you had managed to regain instantly vanishes. Six, no, seven small coffins sit on a slightly raised platform, arranged in an orderly row down the small room. Your knees knock together as you approach.

You don’t want to look, you want to be anywhere but here right now, you don’t even know where home is but you want to be there. You stumble, but catch yourself on the first coffin. You feel like a passenger in your own body as you look down at the crimson gem embedded in the lid. There is no doubt, it's a perfect match.

It’s You!

__________________________________

You shoot awake with a gasp, hands fisted in bedsheets as you roll over the side of the bed and grab the small trash can that sits next to your dresser. You clutch it to your chest with shaking arms as you drag in air and try not to vomit.

You’d forgotten. How had you forgotten? After a moment, the nausea passes, and you drop the can and sit back against the side of your bed. They had known, hadn’t they? They had known that it would be you. Just like they had known it would be the others. 

You find yourself thinking about them for the first time. You had never spared your fellow children much thought on your journey, you didn’t know them. Even after they saved you, you forgot them. Why did you forget them? Were they like you? Did they have missing pasts? Did they come to the underground by choice? 

You were so preoccupied with your own deaths that you had completely forgotten that not everyone was lucky, or unlucky enough to come back. The thought makes your stomach churn, guilt sticking to your ribs as you tilt your head back to stare at your ceiling. Were they like you?

Flowey never mentioned anyone else being able to come back like the two of you could, but you don’t know if he ever met any of the other humans either. Either way, the seven of you already have more in common than you’ve ever thought about before.

…You wonder how they died; you hope it was quick.

You let your breath out through your nose as you begin to climb back into bed. You wonder if anyone but you even remembers them. 

 That thought keeps you awake until morning.

Chapter Text

“Where is that young man…” You watch from your perch at the bottom of the stairs as Toriel wears a groove into the hardwood floor. It’s unusual for her to be this impatient, but she always gets antsy whenever she’s faced with the prospect of leaving you. She smooths out her robes as she doubles back.

“I’m sure he will be here shortly.” Asgore thrums from his seat in the living room, taking up the entirety of the massive recliner that Toriel had bought when you first moved in. She stops and breathes out slowly. For a moment you think that she is about to yell at him but she seems to calm down slightly after a moment's consideration.

“Are you sure you would not like someone else to watch you, my child?” She asks, frowning, “I have some friends who would be more than willing…” 

You shake your head, you’ve already had this conversation at length. If you have to be watched at all hours of the day and night the least she can do is let you pick who gets to violate your privacy. Asgore speaks up, “I appreciate your reluctance Tori- Toriel… but I can vouch for young Felix’s character, he can be trusted, and he would never do anything that might harm Frisk.”

“I am not concerned about that, heaven knows he came through for us before, it’s just… he does not have any prior experience… with children…” There is a knock at the door, and Toriel sighs, “At any rate I suppose it is too late for debate.”

The boss monster makes her way over to the front door and opens it to reveal a much shorter cat monster, clutching a baseball cap to his chest and grinning awkwardly. Toriel sighs, and the two of them exchange a few words that you can’t quite make out before she steps aside and lets him in.

You wave from the step as Felix walks in, skirting nervously around the queen and he winces and returns the gesture. “While I am sure I don’t have to say this, I expect you to behave while we are gone, I should only be a few hours.” Toriel tells you before turning to Felix. “Do not hesitate to call if there is any trouble. Thank you again for agreeing to watch them on such short notice.”

“It’s really no trouble, me and the kid get along pretty well, I’m just surprised they requested me.” His eyes dart over to you momentarily before his faux smile widens. 

“Yes.” Toriel muses, “I am sure you have… a lot to talk about.” She retrieves her coat from the stand by the door and looks over at you one last time. She looks as though she wants to say something, before she swallows, “be good.” she says and hurries out the door, Asgore claps a massive paw on Felix’s shoulder before following swiftly behind.

Then the two of you are alone. You shift uneasily, the two of you haven’t spoken since your last panicked encounter during the blizzard, you had been so distraught at the time that you immediately assumed he wanted to hurt you as well. That was before your talk with the others, you still aren't sure what the monsters who weren’t in the room at the time were told about your predicament.

“So…” Felix says, cringing as though he knows why you asked to see him, “how are things?”

___________________________

You idly kick at a fallen pinecone, watching as it skids across the sidewalk and drops off of the curb. Bright sunlight reflects off of the scattered patches of snow and ice, almost blinding. After a few minutes of the two of you dancing around each other, you suggested you go for a walk, you spend enough time cooped up in your room as it is.

Felix follows a respectful distance behind you, looking like he wants to say something but doesn’t know how to begin. You’ve been getting a lot of that recently. Eventually he works up the courage to ask. “So uhh, why did you ask to see me?” You slow to a stop, looking over your shoulder at him as he does the same. “I mean! Not that I don’t want to see you or anything it’s just… I thought you were avoiding me.”

“I-I wanted to be sure.” You say as you push past the uncertainty that's hung around you since you first saw each other again. “I w-wanted to know if you were mad at me for running.” He looks at you confused.

“Buddy I- why would I be mad at you for that?” he asks, looking more lost than ever and he takes a half step back as you turn to face him fully and he sees the miserable expression your face morphs into.

“Because e-everyone else is! Ever since I ran no one t-trusts me anymore! I know it's just ‘cause they feel guilty but- they don’t…” You’re crying now, you don’t remember the last time you did that where someone else could see. 

“Kid- aw man don’t cry. I’m not mad at you, I promise!” He stammers, poised like he isn’t sure if he wants to rush over to you or run away. After a moment he seems to steel himself and closes the gap, kneeling down to be on your level, he doesn’t touch you and for that you’re grateful. 

You wipe your eyes on the back of your sleeve, you wish you could just stop crying . You’re so tired of being helpless, of being weak . You don’t even know where the tears are coming from, you were fine just a minute ago, you don’t even know what set you off. “I thought you’d be mad too…” You quietly admit, “I’m not s-supposed to run. I have to stay…” 

“Buddy, why do you think people are mad at you? We just want you to be safe is all.” You choke back a small laugh at that. 

“What’d they tell you about what happened after you all b-brought me back home?” He shifts uncomfortably

“Most of us weren’t told specifics…” He says, “Just that you were mad at all of us and wanted space. I know some of what happened between you and the humans, how you wanted to leave.” 

You sniff and rub at one eye, “D-did you always know? Does everyone else?” He hesitates, but shakes his head.

“I think only the people close to the king and queen knew the details. I talked to her after you woke up and she told me. I can’t say I really blame them for keeping it close to their chests, the more people who knew the more likely it would get back to you.

You feel your hands clench into fists, and your voice comes out raw, “They should have told m-me!” You growl, a spark of anger replacing some of the despair, “I d-don’t know what’s worse, that they agreed to something like that or that they didn’t even tell me!”

Felix just looks sad, “They were only trying to spare you kid, no one wants to hurt you… not anymore.”

You grit your teeth, “They were trying to s-spare themselves ! I can handle the truth, I’m n-not stupid. ” you look away and your voice drops to almost a whisper, “I know what the word property means.” 

The cat monster hesitates a moment, and you brace yourself but nothing happens. “... Is it ok if I touch you?” he asks quietly, and you feel yourself tense up even as you give a small nod. He freezes for an instant as if he still isn’t sure it's ok before reaching out slowly and pulling you into a hug.  

You blink moisture into his shoulder as he rubs your back, and you can't help the small sob that escapes you as you roughly inhale. The embrace only lasts for a few seconds, but when you pull back you feel a little better.

Felix staggers to his feet, and you blink up at him owlishly. After another minute, the two of you resume your trek. A few minutes later he speaks up again, “So why did you want to go to the park today? I thought you were avoiding going out in public.” 

You look up at him as you walk, “I w-wanted to talk to someone, I have to ask him a question.” 

He looks at you quizzically, “You didn’t need me for that.” he says, “Anyone else would have agreed to take you. 

You crack a watery smile, “Anyone else would want to know about what we were talking about. It's private.”

He blinks before looking away, you momentarily worry that you’ve said something wrong, but after a second he looks back and holds out a hand. You have to consider the offer, but eventually you reach up and grasp it as the two of you walk on.

_________________________

When you get to the park, the place is mostly empty. You ask Felix to give you a few minutes, and wander off out of earshot while he sits down at the base of a nearby tree. After making sure no one else is listening, you impatiently stomp a few times on the mossy ground.

“I k-know you’re there.” you say when there is no response “Come out, It's important.” A few seconds later, the bed of green moss bulges upwards and a large golden flower that comes up to your knee sprouts from underneath, shaking himself to dislodge the sheet of plant matter that clings to his ‘head’.

“Uhhhhgh What do you want ? I don’t stomp on your roof! Don’t you have a phone?”

You blink, a little taken aback. “D-do you?” You ask incredulously.

“Of COURSE I have one you moron! How do you think I called you back in the underground?”

You frown, you suppose he has a point, you had kind of just assumed that he stole someone else’s. “Whatever that’s besides the point” he grumbles, “What the hell do you want? I know you didn’t just decide you liked my company.”

You cross your arms and stare down at your shoes, “I wanted to ask… do you know anything about the other human kids? The ones who f-fell into the underground before me?” 

Flowey rears back, “What? Them? Why the heck do you want to know about that?”

Your frown deepens. You get down on the ground to be more level with him, sitting cross legged and picking idly at the twigs and acorns that litter the forest floor. “I dunno… I guess I feel like no one ever talks about them. Everyone keeps saying their sorry because I died but… they died too, and they never came back like I did. I-I think, It’s just a feeling… But I feel like remembering them is something I’m supposed to do, like it's important somehow.”

Flowey’s pauses before his expression softens, “Well…  I don’t know that much about them, they all fell and died before my time. I know the last one was about 7 years before you fell down, all I know is the king killed them. No one really talked about the humans much in the underground, most people didn’t really want to think about it I guess.”

You sigh, you had hoped that Flowey would know all about the fallen humans. He seemed to know everything about the underground, but you seem to have bumped up against the limit of his knowledge. It seems that if you want to know more you’re going to have to work for it.

Flowey looks at you uneasily. “Frisk… you should know. Things get weird whenever the fallen humans are involved. I tried digging into it once when I was trying to get their souls, and I barely managed to turn up anything about them. Toriel and Asgore wouldn’t talk to me about them, there are no pictures of them anywhere, and even the guard couldn't give me a good idea of when their souls were taken. It's as if everyone doesn't want to remember. He sighs, “I’m telling you this because you’ve already been riling people up about what happened to you. If you really wanna dig into it, I’ll help you, but I don’t recommend it.” 

You have to think about that for a moment, you know that if even Flowey doesn’t want to look into something too closely then there's probably a very good reason for that, but… You have to try, no one else is going to remember your fellow children if even you won’t. Besides, something about how Flowey talks about them seems eerily familiar, maybe learning about them could help shine light on your own missing past.

“Whatever, just don’t say I didn’t warn you, stupid.” Flowey says, the conversation apparently over. You stand back up and brush the dirt and leaves off of your pants. You look over your shoulder towards Felix and he seems to realize that you’re done and makes his way over  

“Oh great it's this guy” Flowey says, making no attempt to hide his disdain. “Just so you know I’ve been stealing fertilizer from the groundskeeper's shed and I’m not stopping” The cat monster shrugs the confession off and lights up a cigarette. 

“No fur off my snout, just as long as the king doesn’t find out.”

Flowey looks back over at you, “Also give me your phone number idiot, you might as well if you’re going to seek out my sagely advice.”

You reluctantly hand over your phone. “So… You guys sort out whatever it was you needed to sort out?” Felix asks.

You and Flowey stare at each other before looking back at him. 

“Nope.”

“N-not at all”

_____________________________

Sans: Hey Alph

Sans: You know that sample you sent me?

Sans: There’s something you need to see.

Chapter Text

“ At least it will be over after this.”

The pencil clatters to the desk as you lurch back in your seat. You hiss something unintelligible as you arch around the furious cramp that’s made itself known in your side. You feel dizzy and lightheaded all of a sudden, your vision spins as a piercing pain makes itself known.

After a moment, you straighten out with a slight gasp as something gives and it feels as though tremendous pressure has been relieved. Sucking in a ragged breath, you blink rapidly to clear your head and press a hand to the offending spot. Left side, two ribs down.

You desperately don’t want to look, but you push past the irrational fear and pull back your collar, looking down to see… nothing. No new marks mar your skin and you let out a sigh of relief as you let go of the collar of your jumper, allowing the stretchy fabric to snap back into place. That was the worst one yet.

The past few days you’ve felt achy all over, like you’ve run a marathon every day and pulled several muscles in the process. Thankfully it always passes, and you feel fine afterwards aside from the occasional bout of vertigo. You haven't told anyone yet, they worry enough as it is and you’re familiar enough with injury at this point that you think you’d be able to tell if it was anything serious. It's probably just all of the stress recently.

Shaking your head, you briefly consider picking your pencil back up before slumping back in your seat. You regard the worksheet before you with disdain. You haven’t been to school since your “incident”, but Toriel and the others were adamant that you continue to study during what they insist is a temporary break. 

You twist around to look at the alarm clock that sits on your bedside table. Blinking red numbers tell you that it’s almost noon, late enough to break for lunch then. You plant your hands against the edge of your desk and push backwards, the wheels of the small desk chair glide across the carpet as you hop up and stretch. 

You make your way out into the hallway and down the steps, footsteps unconsciously becoming quieter as you near the ground floor. You hear activity from the kitchen and swallow against the sudden dryness in your throat. Peeking around the doorway, Toriel has busied herself at the stove and you are just considering turning around and sneaking back upstairs when she turns around and spots you. 

“Ah, Frisk. I was just about to call you.” She turns around briefly and shuts off the stove’s burner. You blink up at her in confusion; she never uses the burners, but you smooth your expression back to neutrality before she can turn around and see your puzzlement. 

“I’m afraid I got a late start on lunch today so I hope you are alright with lighter fare.” She sets down a plate with a cheese sandwich on the countertop as you clamber up onto a stool. “How are your studies going?” She smiles down at you but it doesn’t reach her eyes.

You shrug slightly, fidgeting with the napkin she sets down next to the plate. “Fine I g-guess, I almost finished with h-history.” 

Toriel places the pan she was using in the sink as you pick up your sandwich, “That is good to hear. It amazes me still that human history is archived in such detail that humans can spend their whole lives learning about it. Perhaps one day monsters will be able to do the same.”

 You look up, confused. And she smiles slightly more genuinely as she glances back at you. “During the war, monsters lost a great deal of the knowledge that was passed down to us by our ancestors. When we were forced to flee our cities, few thought to save the contents of the libraries that stored our history.” 

She turns on the sink and begins to scrub the pan with a sponge. “As a result, most of what we know about the time before the war was lost, even those who have lived long enough to remember those days eventually began to forget.” 

You see her shoulders slump slightly as her scrubbing slows, “After we were sealed away… most people stopped cataloging events altogether. Life in the underground was repetitious, every day seemed the same as all of the ones before, most people found it too depressing to keep a record of such monotony. That didn’t change until…”

You see her back slump before she perks up, “Well! Never you mind. Suffice to say that we eventually pulled ourselves out of our slump.” 

You blink slowly, your sandwich slowly slips out of your hands and drops back onto the plate. You’ve lost your appetite anyway. You stare down at it, you aren’t sure you want to know, but you think you already have an idea of what could have caused monsters to start caring about their past.

“C-can I ask you something?” You start, unsure. Toriel pauses, then reaches over and shuts off the water. You both hesitate as she turns to face you, but after a moment you press on.

“You met them didn’t you? The o-other humans that fell down?”

Toriel inhales sharply, and you worry that you’ve crossed a line, but she just sighs. “May I ask what brought this on?” She says quietly.

“I’ve b-been wondering for a while now. No one ever talks about them.” 

Toriel blinks rapidly, then walks around the counter. You cringe as she approaches, and she isn’t quite able to hide the hurt in her expression as she grabs the other barstool in one massive paw and carries it over to the other side of the counter. Your breathing calms as she takes a seat opposite you, staring into the pale granite.

“They were like you in many ways…” She says after a moment. “It was so long ago now. They were all confused… and afraid.” She traces a circle with one claw and huff a small laugh, “Like you, none of them could remember their pasts, at least that is what they told me on the rare occasions that I worked up the courage to ask.”

“They never seemed surprised to meet me, really they never seemed confused by much during the short time that I knew them, they even seemed relaxed around monsters as long as they were not attacked.” She blinks, “And yet, they were never trusting either. I don’t believe any of them ever seriously considered staying with me, though I always offered my home and did my best to warn them. And like you, they all left in the end. Some stayed for weeks, one or two only a few hours. It felt like we never really talked, they never spoke more than a few words at a time, I don’t think I ever really saw the real them.” Her eyes grow shiny, and you have to resist the temptation to look away, “I can’t remember much beyond that… It's been so long. I never even knew their names.” 

“Did you ask?” The question escapes before you can stop yourself, hissing past your teeth as your stomach churns.”

Toriel looks taken aback for a moment, but her face falls into that expression that most adults seem to get around you nowadays, like you’re making her sad. “No. I don’t believe I did… That is another way in which you are similar. And it is another thing I am so very sorry for, my child.” 

She gets up then. The conversation apparently over, she pauses by the door and for a moment you think that she’s going to try and hug you again, but she pulls back just as quickly. As she hurries out of the room, you have to stop yourself from reaching out.

You’ve hurt her enough for one day.

____________________________

Back upstairs you spend a few minutes sitting on your bed and staring at your desk before you take out your phone. Skimming through your contacts, it only takes a moment for you to find the most recent addition. You hesitate for a moment before tapping the screen. The phone rings a few times, and for a moment you worry that he’s not going to pick up before his name appears and you hold the phone to your ear, cupping the bottom with your other hand.

“Yeah? What do you want.”

“F-Flowey? Can I a-ask you something?”

You hear a rustling sound on the other end of the line before he replies. “I don’t know, can you? I gave you my number moron, you don’t have to ask if you can talk to me, you can just talk to me. That's how phones work .”

You let out an irritated breath, “O-ok. How long did you say it’s been since the human before me fell down?”

You hear a sigh through the receiver, “Still not letting it go are you? Like I said before it’s been about seven years.”

You blink at that, your mind racing. “A-are you sure? Toriel said it was a really long time.” 

There’s a long pause, then Flowey titters, “Oh wow you asked her about them? I’ll make an inconsiderate jerk out of you yet.” You cringe at that, he has a point but he keeps going. “But that is weird, I mean seven years is a long time for most people, but not for a boss monster like her, maybe she just meant it felt like a long time?” 

“Maybe b-but it didn’t seem like it, she acted as though it was so long that she forgot.”

“Not likely… m-Toriel was devastated when those humans died, she blamed herself you know…  If there was one thing she’s not likely to have forgotten its them… then again, it wouldn’t be the first time…”

You pause at the uncharacteristic bitterness that seeps into his tone. Sensing you’ve touched a nerve, you aren’t sure it’s a good idea, but you have to ask. “F-first time?” 

“... She never talks about her first children either.”

“You mean… you and your sibling?”

“Yeah… I mean, I get it… Emotions suck, I don’t blame her for burying them, but… It sucks to be forgotten too. No one cares about Asriel and his sibling now… not where anyone can see.”

You feel your shoulders slump, there’s something bitterly familiar in his tone, you think this might be something else you and Flowey have in common. “Would you tell me about them?” you ask.

Flowey is silent for a moment and you worry that he’s going to hang up on you but he lets out a small laugh. “Sure, might as well.” There’s a ruffling sound through the phone as Flowey gets comfortable, and you flop back on your bed, allowing your hair to splay out above you. 

“They loved gardening and plants, especially the lamp trees in waterfall… They hated being indoors… they were really sad for a while after they fell down until Asriel showed them the throne room… They were hard to read at times, but whenever they were happy or shy they’d do this weird thing with their right foot… They hated crowds and would always hide behind Toriel or Asgore whenever they went out in public… Asriel used to get freaked out by…

_____________________________

Toriel stepped into her office and took a deep breath. Out in the hall she heard the creaking of the steps as Frisk went upstairs. She waited a few minutes, then locked the door to her office. Pulling out her phone, she hesitated a moment to regain her composure, before dialing the first number on her contacts list. The phone rang only once before a rumbling voice responded. “Hello?”

“Asgore, hello. It is me, I am calling because. I am… Can I ask you something?”

“Gosh Toriel, you sound worked up, is everything alright?”

“I am… fine, I supposed I just needed to hear a familiar voice…” 

“Well, I’m glad that I could help… Ask away.”

“Go-Asgore… Do you remember our child?”

The line was silent save for the sound of heavy breathing. Eventually the king responded. “Of course I do… Asriel was such a sweet boy. How could I ever forget? His loss was a tragedy for the whole kingdom… You and I not least of all.”

Toriel let out a breath and closed her eyes, “Not… not Asriel. I meant our other child.”

“Oh…” Asgore sighed, “I suppose that It was only a matter of time… Of course I remember them, Tori. They were our child just as much as our son was… How could we ever forget?”

The queen let out a shuddering sigh, “Of course… how indeed. I don’t know what came over me… I suppose I just needed to hear that from someone else.”

“Toriel… I know how you feel, after our child died, it seemed as though no one wanted to speak of them… People knew them just as well as Asriel, but… and I try not to blame them, most did not want to think of how we had loved a human as our own… especially since it seemed as though we would never be able to do so again… May I ask why you needed to hear from me?”

Toriel felt her breathing slow, “I spoke with Frisk about the other children today… They asked me about them during lunch. I feel as though they are still trying to process what happened to them, and seek to understand others who shared a common experience.”

Asgore sighed… “I see… Well, if they come to me I will answer their questions as best I am able, it is the least I can do after…”

Toriel felt her eyes fill with tears “Gorey?” She asked, her voice rising.

“Yes?”

“I loved them…”

There was a wounded noise from the receiver. “I know you did Tori… I loved our child too.”

Toriel felt a weight grow in the pit of her stomach as a dawning realization took root in her mind, a glaring omission that could no longer be ignored. She desperately didn’t want to, but she had to know. “Asgore?”

“What was our child’s name?”

Chapter Text

You stare into the closet with apprehension. Down the stairs at the end of the hall you can hear the muffled sound of the television playing some sort of comedy, if the occasional bout of prerecorded laughter is any indication. 

You had chosen your guardian today with great care, normally he wasn’t on the short list of options you were given but for whatever reason today had been different. You wouldn’t be surprised if Papyrus had pressured Sans into being available to watch you but you won’t complain, this early in the morning he’s almost certainly asleep on the couch, and you can’t afford to be discovered during your mission.

Swallowing your fear you start removing the handful of wooden shelves that block the attic entrance. It’s slow work, you can’t afford to make much noise and with the door shut to muffle the noise you do make you barely have room to maneuver. Eventually you clear a path to the small door in front of you that leads to the small attic space. 

Trying to stay quiet, you pry it open and clamber through the opening, its plenty large enough for you, but you have no idea how Toriel got through it, much less while carrying boxes. Deciding to leave that mystery for another day, you emerge into a short staircase that you creep up slowly.

As you surface, you have to resist the urge to cough, the air is choked with dust from the naked insulation that lines the ceiling. A set of small windows set into the dormers on either side of the space shed a small amount of golden light upon the particles that float through the air. The space is filled with boxes and a few old fashioned trunks, interspersed with rough furniture and piles of fabric and books. You reach up on tiptoes and pull a string hanging down from the rafters, illuminating a lightbulb and dispelling most of the remaining shadows. 

You keep your footsteps careful as the plywood flooring that covers the joists creaks underfoot and you wish you had thought to bring your shoes before coming up here, but it's too late to turn back now. You suppose you just have to make the most of the time you have.

You aren’t sure exactly what you’re looking for as you begin your search, only that there has to be something that sheds light on the underground's past. Your mind flashes back to the small journal you had read in the underground, if anything was likely to have been written down besides jokes it would have to have been about the subjects of your curiosity. 

You rummage through a few of the boxes, but find mostly odds and ends. A few mason jars, various cards, a few appliances and tools that you don’t know the name of, and plenty of parts that look like they go to appliances and tools that you wouldn’t know the name of.

You open one of the trunks, and find it’s filled with blankets, both knit and otherwise. Lowering the lid in disappointment, you look over at another trunk that catches your eye. It was probably a pale green at one point in time, but so much of the paint has flaked off that it looks almost patterned in camouflage with the brown of the wood underneath peering through the cracks.

It seems older than most of the other boxes, and you immediately turn your attention to it. The clasps creak as you unlatch them, and you have to strain against the rusted hinges to open it, lifting your arms above your head as you raise the lid. As you peer at its contents you can immediately tell you’ve found something of significance.

A pair of framed photographs rest atop a long bundle of fabric, the space around them filled with books and even a few yellowing scrolls. Inspecting the photos, you find they depict a pair of boss monsters standing in front of New Home. It takes only a moment to recognize them as Toriel and Asgore, only a few years younger. You put the photo down quickly when you notice the small bundle Toriel is holding. Another shows the two of them standing amongst a much larger group of monsters that you don’t recognize. 

Placing the photos off to the side, you unroll one of the scrolls, only to find that it’s written in a language you don’t recognize, an inspection of the other scrolls and books show the same. Moving them out of the way, you take a closer look at the bundle. It’s as long as you are tall, maybe longer, and runs all the way from one corner of the trunk to the other. Unwrapping one end, you are surprised to find the hilt of a frankly enormous sword. You briefly try to lift it, but you can barely raise the hilt at all, you feel watched.

Deciding that you’d rather not know the history of that particular item you go to set it down, only to notice a photo album laying underneath, squirreled away in the corner of the trunk as if whoever placed it there hoped to never see it again. With some difficulty, you manage to pry the album out of the corner. The simple cover was probably white at some point in time but has yellowed with age. You hesitate for only a moment before sitting back and opening it in your lap. 

The first few pages feature Toriel and Asgore heavily, you find copies of the framed photos as well as many others featuring monsters you don’t know. As you flip through the pages, you feel a sense of dread settle in the pit of your stomach. That feeling of dread comes to a head when you get to the first picture of Asriel. 

Unlike the pictures before it this one is in color. He’s much younger than when you first met him, cupping a fireball in his paws and looking at the person behind the camera with the kind of wonder and excitement you’ve never seen from him before. You turn the page and find another picture, he’s older now, and pointing at something out of shot as he pulls at Toriel's hand, a pleading expression on his face. 

You feel your stomach twist as you keep turning the pages, the book is filled with pictures of him, every one of them showing an innocence and openness that you have a hard time associating with the sad child you knew for only a few minutes but felt as though you had known for a lifetime. You turn the page one final time and stop, hands trembling as you trace the photo.

Asriel stares back at you again, but for once he’s not the only child in the shot. He stands clutching a bouquet of flowers, visibly laughing at something as his parents stand behind him, but the focus of your attention is grabbed by the unmistakably human child standing next to him, their face obscured by a bouquet of their own.  

You study every inch of the photo, excitement and unease warring in your chest. There’s only a few more pages left of the album. With shaking hands you turn the page and stare unblinking at the photos on the other side.

You… don’t know what you're looking at. Several of the photos depict Asriel and his parents as the other pages did… but every photo that contains the human is wrong . Their face is open and looking at the camera but it's also missing , like someone held a lit match to the film as it was being developed, burning away their features while miraculously leaving the paper itself undamaged. Their face is obscured by an unnatural darkness, any details washed away.

There's something deeply unsettling about the images and you feel your heart beating uncomfortably in your chest. You frantically flip the page over again and scan the images only to find the same wrongness in every image that contains the human child. 

The album slides out of your hands and thumps open on the dusty plywood floor. Your limbs feel weak and it's hard to get enough air, you scramble backwards and press yourself against a stack of boxes. You feel your breath coming in shaky, quiet bursts and pain flares along your body in a thousand bursts as your vision goes foggy. 

You’re dimly aware in some far off corner of your mind that you’re panicking but the realization is drowned by horror and something you can’t quite remember that begins to slot into place in your mind. You try to count your breaths with little success as you huddle closer to the cardboard at your back and your vision begins to darken at the edges as your body gives out and you fall into blissful unconsciousness.

______________________________

You come to an unknown amount of time later. Your head is pounding as you raise it off of the ground with a groan. The attic is darker now, the windows that once illuminated the space pitch black. You must have been out until nightfall. You pick yourself off of the floor and sway slightly as you get your bearings. 

You're sore all over and you have no idea if it's the normal soreness or if it's from your panic. Remembering what happened, you stagger forward and pick up the mercifully closed photo album off the ground. A small, self destructive part of you wants to open it again, wants to see the distortion and prove that it wasn’t just your imagination, but sense prevails and you stuff it back into the chest before you can be tempted further.

You shake your head and busy yourself putting things back where you found them. It takes a moment of straining against the rusty hinges to get the chest closed but you manage. Reaching up to turn off the light, you pick a splinter out of your foot as you creep down the steps, doing your best to stay quiet. 

As you emerge from the small door, you hear voices downstairs. A bolt of panic shoots through you, but you resist it long enough to put the shelves back where they belong and slip out the door quietly. You creep down the hall and get down on your hands and knees to peer between the posts of the bannister into the living room. The room is filled with monsters, you gulp as you quiet your breathing and try to listen. 

“-cause a panic, especially with how it backfired last time.”

“Are you serious?!” Undyne asks incredulously, “Because it sounds like you want to not bother to search for a freaking runaway child!”

“I am quite sure that Sans is not…”

“that's exactly what I’m saying actually, kid’ll have to come back eventually, you really think we’ll be able to find them again if they don’t want to be found? it’s not like last time where they were panicking, this was premeditated.”

“Listen here you lazy bastard! We are not taking chances with Frisk! Not- Not again! I can’t believe I even have to-”

“yeah I gathered you’re not too happy ‘bout it, but if you got a better idea of how we can find the kid without getting the whole town involved again I’m listening. besides, I have a feeling they’ll turn up eventually…

“isn’t  that  right?”

The voice comes from right next to your ear and you fail to muffle a shriek as you shoot to your feet and throw yourself away. You bounce as you land on something soft and you look up incredulously as you realize you somehow moved from the upstairs hallway to the couch.

“Frisk!”

“My Child!”

“told ya.”

You look up at the monsters in the living room nervously.

_______________________

The kid stared up at him like they were going to bolt, beside him, the other monsters shot to their feet as well and he could tell they didn’t miss how Undyne put herself between them and the front door. Sans couldn’t help but think that might be doing more harm than good right now, but he wasn’t about to bring it up.

“My child, where have you been ? We’ve been searching everywhere for you!” Frisk winced and shook their head, “I-I was… outside… I went through the back door.” This time Sans had to stifle a wince of his own, he didn’t have to be a genius to call that lie, and from the look on her face Toriel could too. 

She tried again “Frisk, I understand you may be upset, but I assure you you are not in any trouble, now… where were you?” She’s doing her best to be stern, but can’t quite mask the pleading undertones that slip into her voice. Pressing themself into the back of the couch, the kid clams up and shakes their head, apparently done speaking. 

“Punk we talked about this, you can’t just run off whenever. Do you have any idea how worried we were when Sans called us and said he couldn’t find you?”

The kid crosses their arms, “I was f- fine ! I just needed to be a-alone for a while! You don’t have to babysit me!”

“My child we would not be so concerned if you did not keep disappearing without telling anyone where you are going.” 

“I said I’m fine! I’m not in any danger! How could I be when no one will l-let me out of their sight for five minutes, I’m not made of g-glass, you should know that I can take care of myself!”

Toriel scowled beside him like she was going to start with a lecture, and Undyne looked like she was about to start shouting, and the kid started pouting like they’d chosen now to start acting their age, and maybe it wasn’t his place, but before he knew it he was putting a hand on Toriel’s shoulder.

She turned to look at him, words dying on her lips and he gave her a look that he knew was going to come back to bite him later. Meaning passed between them without words and he gestured at the kid. Trust me he tried to say, and for a moment he thought that she was going to protest, but something stopped her, maybe she’d finally started to realize that Frisk’s problems weren’t something she could deal with on her own. 

“... Very well. Undyne, may I speak with you for a moment?”

Undyne looked at her strangely before her eye went wide with realization, “Oh! Yeah! Sure, lets… go talk.” The captain sped out of the room with Toriel following at a more leisurely pace, leaving Sans and Frisk alone.

The kid looked up at him uneasily, still doing their best to disappear into the back of the couch. Sans sighed and sat down on the coffee table in front of them, putting him about at eye level with them. He supposed that it would be too much to hope for them to relax a little, if anything they seemed even more afraid now that they were alone with him.

“Kid…” he started.

“Don’t” they interrupted, “d-don’t you dare.”

He leaned back, regarding them with surprise, “you didn’t even hear what I was gonna say.”

“You were g-going to tell me you ‘get it’. No you don’t.”

“Huh…” Sans supposed that he shouldn’t be surprised that they could read him, they saw through everyone before after all. “ok then, maybe I don’t… but you still can’t be disappearing for eight hours without telling anyone where you are, if everyone else found out there would have been a panic.”

Their hands clenched around the fabric of their pants, “I k-know I’m not supposed to, I know that, but… I can’t do it. No one will leave me alone and I just… I wanted five minutes. I wanted to be able to b-breath without someone listening to make sure I was still doing it. And, and I know it's because they care but I-I just… It’s not f-fair.” 

Sans winced, because… really, what was there to say to that? What could he say to this child whose trust he had broken before he even knew their name? He was well aware of how all this protection must look to them, were they right ?

It must seem monumentally selfish, to decide to love the kid after everything they’d done to them. Everyone tried to care for them as best they could, but it wouldn’t change the fact that they could never trust each other. The kid couldn’t take their love at face value, couldn’t escape the memory of when they were just a means to an end, and weren’t they still? Were he and the others just trying to assuage their guilt? Were they using Frisk as an outlet again? This time an outlet for guilt instead of fury? He could see how the kid could come to believe that, how it must seem to someone who had never known anything that was unconditional.

“it’s not always fair kid. you don’t trust us, that’s fine, I’ll talk to the others, maybe we can work something out, give you a break from the spotlight. I can’t promise we’ll leave you alone, but… I don’t know, maybe we can try backing off a little, if you need some alone time, tell us and we’ll try and give it to you if the alternative is you vanishing entirely. I know you don’t trust us, but I owe it to you to try and change that… so from now on whenever I have my eyesocket on you, just say the word and I’ll look away.” 

Frisk looked like they were going to protest further, but their mouth snapped shut, and they nodded resignedly. Sans sighed, this wasn’t a battle he could win today, it would be a long time before this foundation of trust was built upon. Sans didn’t hope very often, but he hoped they would be ok in the future, even if they weren’t now. He hoped that what he had found a few days earlier was just a fluke, that nothing worse would happen to them and that he could still make this right. 

Sans extended his hand to shake on it and Frisk regarded it with suspicion, their gaze flicking back and forth between his outstretched palm and his face before they reached out and took it. Nothing happened as they clasped the dry bone, and their eyes shot to his face in surprise at the absence of a joke. This wasn’t a battle he could win today, but as the kid’s eyes filled with something like relief,

He considered it a victory.

_________________________________

Gerson shot awake with a gasp, dry breath rasping out of his beak. He felt the ground beneath his house shake with buried fear and rage as the memory of distant screaming echoed in his head. His skull pounded, two memories in the same place clashing for dominance as the phantom sensation of something around his throat faded away. After a moment, the earth settled, and the old turtle calmed himself. Not for the first time, he was glad that he had made his peace with the memories that continued to return to him. 

Somehow, he doubted everyone else would be so forgiving.

Chapter Text

Frisk jumped as the tea kettle shrieked. “I’ll get it. Sit down.” Undyne ordered, as she clambered to her feet and made her way into the kitchen. She sighed as they reluctantly sat back on the kitchen chair they had dragged into the corner of the room.

The captain busied herself with readying the tea, loading one of the cups with sugar, kids liked sugar, right? She cursed as she spilled a small amount of the scalding liquid onto her hand, and only then realized that her hands were shaking. Undyne inhaled deeply, and when she opened her eyes, she was still. 

She glanced over the counter and into the living room. Frisk was still attempting to watch the colorful cartoon playing on the tv, but their gaze kept being drawn back to her almost unconsciously. The child was barely even able to see the television from where they were sitting, in the corner just opposite the front door. It had momentarily confused her why they had chosen to sit there, but she figured it out.

Finishing her task, Undyne made her way back into the living room, Frisk slid down so that their legs were touching the floor when she approached, and didn't get back up into their seat until she had handed them their mug and returned to her own. 

Undyne tried to focus on the action on screen, but didn’t miss the way their face scrunched up after taking a sip of their tea. Too much sugar she supposed. The show continued. They kept drinking the tea. 

Undyne couldn’t help but stare as the human took another sip, followed once again by a look of disgust. Why did they keep drinking it if they didn’t like it? Did they think they had to? They… just gagged. Frisk raised the mug again.

“Oh screw this…”

She sighed at how quickly the kid sat up when she shot to her feet. “You’re not in trouble, I’ll be right back." she said.” They nodded uncertainly, and drained the last of their tea. Undyne just rolled her eye.

 The captain made her way up into her bedroom and opened the drawer of her desk.  Her hand paused over the small stack of notebooks that lay within. As with every time before, she desperately wanted to open them, to see what was inside.

She could know, her bridges had already been burned, she could find out what she needed to do, she could help! She could… She swallowed down her curiosity and tucked them under her arm. That brief peek she had gotten was enough, she could read between the lines. 

Frisk looked up at her as she made her way down the stairs. They shot upright as they realized what she was holding. “Y-you!” they stammered, small fists clenching at their sides, “Those aren’t yours!” they snapped, “T-they aren’t!... Give them b-back!” 

“I didn’t look, I promise. The dogs found them and I kept them hidden from the others.” The captain held out the books and suddenly her hands were empty, as was the room. “Frisk?!” she called, and heard the sound of dragging wood in the kitchen. Jogging over, she entered the room just in time to see Frisk clamber on top of the counter stool they had dragged over to the sink and throw the notebooks into it desperately. 

“Whoa! Kid, don’t you want those? I told you I didn’t-”

The child yanked the handle of the sink and soaked the books, reaching into the water and shredding the pages as fast as they were able. Undyne felt her heart sink as she watched them, she felt better about her decision not to violate their privacy, but Frisk’s face was a rictus of misery as they tried to destroy whatever thoughts or memories were contained within. 

Undyne walked over to the sink and reached around Frisk to shut off the faucet. The shaken child looked up at her, and she sighed and plucked what remained from the drain before dumping it into the trash. “Look, we should talk.”

The human slid off the stool and onto the ground, looking up at her “W-we don’t have to, can’t- can’t we just forget about this?” 

The captain shook her head and handed them a dish towel that was draped over the counter, which they reluctantly accepted. “We could.” She conceded, “But then neither of us would be able to be in the same room as each other for the rest of our lives. You’re mad at me, I get it. But you don’t have to feel like I’m going to start throwing spears at you the second you turn your back.” 

The child flinched at her bluntness, but Undyne held her ground against the instinctive desire to drop the conversation. “Listen, do you know why I came after you so hard back in the underground?” 

The human, who had been making an effort to put the island between the two of them, scowled at her. “Y-you needed my soul. Y-you told me b-before we fought. Everyone k-kept telling me. All the time.”

Undyne took a seat on the stool that Frisk had dragged over to the sink and nodded. “Yeah, we did, but that’s not the reason I went after you personally. You… did you know there was only one time that I really thought Asgore was gonna die?” 

The human child blinked at the change in subject, and their eyes glanced at the doorway to the kitchen, but they stayed put. “It was about six or seven years before you fell. I hadn’t been inducted into the guard yet, but I was squiring for an old monster who was looking to retire soon. I was still training with Asgore, but we had word of another human that had fallen down.” 

“The other guards were starting their search, but he knew that me and the king were friends, and he told me to go to new home and tell him about the human.” as she spoke she stared at the utensils that hung over the stove. “The kid was already dead when I got there… Asgore was just kneeling over them. At first I thought that the human hurt him, but he didn’t have a scratch on him. The look on his face… I never wanted to see him like that again.”

Undyne took a deep breath and forced herself to meet Frisk’s eyes. “We talked. He asked me to resign from the guard.” The child looked up at her, startled, and Undyne huffed a humorless little laugh.

 “I didn’t get it at first, but he told me that he didn’t want me to have to do anything like that myself. He told me about the other humans, about his own kids… I’d heard about it before, in school, and from other people, but it was different coming from him. It didn’t sound like anything to be proud of.”

“It took me a minute to figure out why he was talking about them, I think he wanted me to judge him.” She scoffed, “He said he didn’t want me in the guard because I wanted to be a hero.”

 She smiled distantly as Frisk stopped hiding behind the island. “He said that he had to pretend for everyone, that when he told the underground that another soul had been taken people would cheer and thank him and he would have to play along. He told me he didn’t want me to have to pretend like that.” 

“I told him that that was the reason he needed the guard. He had to keep up appearances, we didn’t have that obligation. We could take on the burden of the fallen children’s lives, and make it easier to hold his head high for everyone. I still think he wanted me to resign, but he didn’t force me to. I was captain within three years.”

She looked back at the small human and shook her head. “It's been said before, but it's worth repeating that none of that should have been on you. I know you tried to tell me a few times that killing you wouldn’t work.”

Frisk flinched and kneaded the towel in their hands uneasily, “I-I tried… You never believed m-me.” Undyne felt herself cringe, part of her wanted to backtrack, but she pushed forward.

“No- I… I always believed you punk. I just couldn’t let you make it to Asgore, no matter how useless it was. I only stopped after we got to hotland because you saved me, that convinced me that the two of you could figure something out.”

The child’s eyes went wide and they shuddered with disbelief and something darker, Undyne felt herself inch back in her seat. “Y-you knew ?” 

Undyne felt something in her gut twist, she knew she was probably destroying any slim chance she had at reconciliation. “I’m sorry Frisk… I should have stopped, it was cruel to keep going. I promise you, me and the other guards… we never hated you, most of us knew Asgore well enough to know how he felt about taking souls. I told them that when they caught you they should take yours on the spot.. Make it quick. It was never personal.”

The captain fell silent, the human child’s breathing was ragged, punctuated by half formed whispers as they tried to regain their composure. She felt a familiar weight in her stomach, the more time went on the more she wondered how Asgore had lived with this for so long. 

Eventually the child’s trembling stilled and they were able to meet her gaze. “I-I think. I get to be. The judge of that.” 

Undyne smiled at the spark of defiance she saw in the human’s golden eyes. “Yeah, you do.” She jerked a thumb at the fragments of shredded paper still floating in the kitchen sink. “I’m not any good at this whole heart to heart thing, but I know from experience when someone is putting up a front. It’s clear to me, and I’m sure it’s clear to the others, that you haven’t been honest with us about where we stand with each other. I want to help you, but I’m not going to ask you to be honest with me when I haven’t been with you.”

She reached over and turned on the garbage disposal, watching as what remained disappeared down the drain. “And I promise that I’ll listen next time if you ever decide you want me to.” 

Frisk looked up at her, and despite the grief in their eyes, she knew she had made the right choice. “C-can I have more tea?” They asked.

Undyne grinned.

_________________________

“Absolutely not!” Toriel said.

“I-I really hate it too but I-it's probably for the b-best?”

Toriel glared at the monsters opposite her and set the pitcher in her paws down on the counter with more force than was strictly necessary. “I understand how Frisk must feel, but they are still a danger of running away. Our child only just disappeared for an entire day!”

“Yeah. They did, and I’m not happy about it either, but how exactly do you plan to stop them if they decide to leave?” Toriel glared at the short skeleton lounging at the kitchen table. 

“Don’t you dare. You were the one who was supposed to be watching them, we still do not know where they went during that time.” The queen sighed and made an effort to calm herself, “I feel for Frisk, truly I do, but they are a child. A very young child from what we can tell, and they cannot be allowed to simply disappear like that.”

“So what do you want us to do? Lock them up? Keep them home in a small house forever just so that they’ll never get hurt?” The queen flinched, and Sans pressed forward, confident that he’d struck a nerve. “Frisk is going to leave if we keep smothering them like this. The entire underground couldn’t stop them when we were actively trying to kill them, we can’t stop them now that we only want to protect them. Yes, they are a kid, but they aren’t innocent Tori, that ship has sailed.”

“I-I hate it too, but Sans is right,” Alphys said from her seat across from him. “Things are n-never going to get better otherwise.” 

The queen sighed, “I admit that we must rebuild the child’s trust, but we cannot simply ignore them.”

“I’m not saying we should. We didn’t have an issue giving them the run of the town before all this started, let them check in once every hour or two over the phone, let them see the few friends they have without someone breathing down their neck. It will mean a lot to the kid to show that we trust them enough not to run away.” 

Toriel sighed, “I will… discuss it with Frisk and Asgore.”

Sans relaxed somewhat as Toriel busied herself pouring glasses of Iced tea. Across from him Alphys was still sweating bullets. “We should tell her” She mouthed at him, and he winced and shook his head.

“I must ask, is this the only thing you two wished to discuss?” Sans sat up straight as the queen placed a glass in front of him. “Uhh, yep. Just needed to talk to you about that. I sort of promised the kid that I would.”

Toriels expression softened, but he didn’t fail to notice the distracted look in her eyes, that expression… “What about you? You need to talk about anything?” The queen met his gaze for a long moment before looking away.

“... No, no. There is just some… private matters that me and Asgore have been discussing.”

“...welp, let me know if you ever need to talk, I can take a secret to my grave” he said with a wink.

The queen gave an accommodating chuckle, “Of that I have no doubt.”

________________________ 

Deep in the underground a small waterfall tumbled down over a rocky crevice, in a place that shared its name. The smaller cave that it concealed still vacant save for a lump of fabric, and idle, childish drawings scratched into the moss that grew on the walls.

Beyond the waterfall, along a path lit only by the glow of mushrooms and algae, small, frantic footprints stamped themselves into the mud.

Chapter Text

“Just a moment! I have almost finished watering these flowers.” You wait patiently, silent. The heads of the golden flowers bob gently below your knees. The king rises from his crouch where he faces the throne and despite the sea of inexplicable calm that you feel within you, instinct screams at you to flee as he reaches his full height.   

The towering monster turns to face you, and you are overwhelmed by an aching familiarity. The king of monsters stares blankly over your head for a moment before his gaze tracks down to meet your own and he stumbles back. Several flowers are crushed by the enormous watering can as it falls from his grasp. 

His expression briefly turns into one of instinctive horror, before morphing into that same profound sadness that you've seen reflected in every face since you first came to this greyscale city. “Oh…” He looks to the side, he won’t meet your gaze anymore. “I want so badly to ask if you would like a cup of tea… but you know how it is.” 

He turns towards the archway at the rear of the chamber. “You know what we must do… come into the other room when you are ready.” He pauses at the sound of the flowers swishing around your legs as you carefully follow him, trying not to crush any of the blooms underfoot. He disappears into the blackness beyond the archway and you pointedly ignore the light that swirls next to it.

“How tense…” he muses as you pass underneath the stone. His smile is awkward, compassion and duty fighting a losing battle against pity. “Just think of it like… a trip to the dentist.” He pauses beneath another arch, a rough stone slope leading up from it illuminated in eerie, flickering light. “Are you ready? If you are not, I understand. I am not ready either.”

The king disappears into the next cavern. This time you do not ignore the light next to the archway, its soft golden glow casting shadows that only you can see, bleeding into the pale light from the arch. You close your fist around the light, and for the briefest of moments a sense of strength breaks through the all-consuming numbness in your soul. You step through, your spine stiff against the hard leather pressed against the small of your back. 

You clamber up the slope and into a cavern that could house a small town. The sickly light of the barrier pulses before you, its surface swirled with veins of twisted shadow. Stalactites hang far above, the darkness and irregular lighting seem to multiply them and give the impression of countless fangs, like the mouth of a cruel god. You suppose you are to be its sacrifice. 

“This is the barrier. This is what keeps us all trapped underground.” The king says, staring up at the towering form. “If… If by chance you have any unfinished business, please do what you must. Anything you might want to do is important enough, even something as small as reading a book, or taking a walk. I will inform the guard not to harm you. This… It can wait, at least a little while.” 

He turns to face you, his face almost begging you to leave, to run away. You think back to your journey thus far, and your jaw tightens. You’re sick of running, of these monsters and their worthless pity that they have never acted upon, and never will. You don’t budge, your gaze drops so that you are looking at the monster through your bangs. 

“I see… this is it, then.” He turns to face you, “Ready?” He asks, and there it is, the pity . His mantle flies aside, and you fight the urge to flinch as he draws a massive trident from underneath it, planting its wicked tines into slots etched into the ground. Glowing holes open before you, and six canisters rise to greet you, softly pulsing lights nestled into each one. 

You feel a surge of horror well up within you at the sight of them, the numbness fighting against something you can’t remember. 

You feel off balance. The world seems to tilt and it is as though you are seeing yourself and the king from half a dozen angles at once. Your heart thunders in your chest, and for only a moment it seems to beat in tandem with your soul and the souls of the other children and the barrier and the world itself.

“Human… It was nice to meet you… Goodbye.” he raises his weapon, gripping it in shaking paws.

You look at the empty canister, the one that had likely been prepared before you were even born, and reserved, specially for you. You glower up at the monster before you, and reach behind your back. 

You pull out the worn dagger from where it sits tucked into your waistband, its hilt fits your hand like an old friend. The faded sheath clatters to the stone as you draw it, knuckles white from the force of your grip.

In. 

Our.

Way.

________________________________

“Goodness! Are you alright my child?” 

Toriel reaches out to catch you as you stumble, but she pulls back when you catch yourself, paws hovering nearby just in case. You plant your feet steadily and nod up at her, careful to school your expression into one of neutrality. “Mm’ Fine.” you hum, fisting a hand into the leg of your jeans. 

She stares at you for a few seconds, then nods reluctantly. The two of you continue walking down the quiet street. There’s a chill in the air today. After that first snow, things had thawed somewhat, it's been teetering on the edge of freezing ever since. You can see your breath in the air. 

You stay silent for a few minutes before Toriel speaks up again. “I spoke with Asgore about how you might want to talk with him a few days ago… After you asked me about the other fallen children.” 

She isn’t looking at you. You bring up a hand to knead at your side. “I d-don’t really…” Your steps slow, and she chances a glance at you over her shoulder. You consider a moment, “I need t-to.” You decide.

Her gaze softens, “Do… you want me to be there with you?” She seems hesitant to ask, like she isn’t sure her presence would be a comfort. It wouldn’t.

“No. N-no.” The two of you keep walking, your steps are increasingly stiff and deliberate. Toriel thankfully doesn't notice the sweat beginning to bead on your forehead. She seems more subdued. “Thank you.” It's barely a whisper, but she seems to hear it anyway.

The street curves, allowing you to make out the squat form of Asgore’s cottage. “I have been speaking with some of the others… You are recovered now, and while it would still make me and I believe many others feel better to keep you in sight…” She sighs. 

“Sans reminded me of the promise we made to you. I still do not know where you went, during that period you disappeared, but I do know why you did not think to tell us.” The two of you come to a stop at the front of the small path that leads across the King’s lawn to the front door.

“I promised you that despite the arrangement we have with humanity, we would only seek to give you a happy life here. We… I have been failing at that. I do not know if you will ever be able to have a normal childhood, but we should allow you to try, if that is what you want.” 

You look at her with a frown, part of you wants to cut her off. “We will be laying down some different rules for you. You do not have to be accompanied as long as you remain within the main area of town.” You can't help but perk up a bit at that. “We will discuss the details later. Would you like to make your own way home this afternoon?”

You nearly give yourself whiplash from how fast you nod, part of you is astonished by the offer, but you won’t turn it down despite your misgivings. “Very well, then I will leave you to it.” She turns to leave, paying no attention to the inquisitive noise you make. She isn’t even going to say hello?

But no. She looks haggard, and not for the first time you wonder what she is hiding, Toriel hasn’t been quite the same the last few days. You don’t make any move to stop her leaving however, you feel a surge of relief as she passes from sight. 

As soon as she does, you take in a gasping breath and collapse. 

You spend a few minutes there on the ground, just taking in air and allowing yourself to feel relief that Toriel left in time. The shooting pain you feel in your side is almost enough to smother that relief completely however, and you clamp your fists into the grass of Asgore’s lawn to give yourself something to focus on. 

You grit your teeth and do your best to ride out the waves of discomfort, waiting for the pain to pass. Mercifully, it soon does and you take in air with a gasp and force yourself into a more upright position. Only when the pain begins to fade somewhat, do you work up the courage to lift your shirt and inspect the site of it. Thankfully, you find no trace of a wound. It may just be your imagination, but the area seems to be darker than usual.

The pains have been getting worse, you can barely even hide them now, and they last longer than ever. What if they don’t stop? What if they- You force yourself to stand up and shove your sweater back into place. It’s just your imagination. You refuse to accept any other explanation.

 You refuse to acknowledge the dull ache that persists just out of sight. Something like this was always inevitable, the pain will pass in time. 

You take a moment to try and make yourself more presentable, though you doubt you’ll be getting rid of the green and mud that stains your pants and hands anytime soon. Steeling yourself, you hold your head as high as your meager height can manage and practically stomp your way up to the front door.

______________________________ 

Asgore nearly dropped the small stack of books he was holding as a series of knocks sounded from the front door. The old king fumbled and managed to grab all but one, setting the stack on the coffee table and stepping over the last in his haste to answer the door. The door swung open to reveal a human child, though he was surprised not to notice anyone standing behind them. 

The two of them regarded each other in silence until Asgore stood aside and the human robotically shuffled into the house. He momentarily ignored them and peered up the street out of the open door, just to make sure that, yes, they were indeed alone. He doubted that would make this any easier. The king shut the door, and stood facing it, his paw resting on the wood. 

“I have heard that you wished to hear about the other humans.” he began, finally working up the courage to turn around. Frisk had walked over to the coffee table and picked up the book he had dropped, staring blankly at the cover. Asgore froze, overwhelmed by a surge of misplaced familiarity. 

The way Frisk was standing there, staring at that book in particular, the unreadable expression on their face as they held it in slightly trembling hands. They bore such a resemblance to-

Frisk set it down on top of the others, and the moment passed. “I did.” They said, their crackling voice hushed. “Do you r-remember anything about them?”

Asgore paused, they were getting straight into it, he supposed. “I am sorry. I remember some things, but I do not think that I have the answers you are searching for.”

Frisk turned to look at him and the king swallowed. The child’s expression was perfectly blank, their eyes half lidded and shoulders square. A casual glance would have given the impression of indifference, but for the characteristic steel in their warm brown eyes that flashed nearly golden in a trick of the dim light. 

He had only seen that expression from Frisk twice before, once a few weeks ago, and the other… “Good. I want to hear e-everything.” They said flatly, taking a seat on his worn old couch and gesturing at his armchair that sat across from them near the hearth. 

Their voice betrayed no hint of fear or uncertainty, a stark contrast to the handful of other times they had met here on the surface. “I also want to know w-what you don’t remember.”

The king took a seat, the ancient wood of the chair creaking under him as if in sympathy. “Very well.” and so the king began to speak. 

He told them that he could not remember what each of the children looked like, only that they were just that, children. 

He told them of the vague memories of how the first child who he had personally executed had pleaded with him. He told them that they had been escorted to New Home by the guard, of the grieving resignation that was his only memory of their face. 

He told them that he had never seen the third child to fall, they had been deposited in the throne room, wrapped in cloth. The guards would not allow him to remove it, and he could not bring himself to argue with them.

He told them that the fourth child had been silent, they had prowled Waterfall for months before the guard found the dust near their hiding place. No one had known who that dust had belonged to. 

He told them that he could not recall anything of the fifth child, they had disappeared entirely, save for a scrap of bloody, striped fabric hanging from some garbage in the dump, and the soul that had been deposited on the doorstep of the guard’s captain. 

He told them that the sixth child had been confident. They had strode through the underground like a tiny colossus, paying no heed to the blows that struck them. They had made friends out of enemies, and touched the lives of many of his people. They had been found dead in Hotland, hair reddened from a blow to the back of their head, and soul totally untouched. A few weeks later, he had asked some of their friends about them. They hadn’t known who he was talking about. 

He told them about the seventh child, how they had shuffled into the throne room flanked by a young guard. How she had looked on the verge of treason until the human had told her to leave them. He told them how they had battled. How the child had seethed with bitter hatred and helplessness and a nameless, faceless regret until they too fell. 

There were things he did not tell them as well. 

He did not tell them of the times, shortly after each of the children had died, where he had felt as though the world had shifted around him. Of the lost time, of the feeling of repetition amongst new things.

He didn’t tell them about how just after he had killed the seventh child, Undyne had found him kneeling over their ruined form. He did not tell them that he fleetingly saw the other guard’s horror mirrored on her face. He had known in that instant that he had done something terrible to this young woman who he loved. She refused to hate him for it.

He did not tell them about the times he had stumbled from his bed, sweat-soaked, in the dead of night and raced to the children’s tomb. He did not tell them about standing there, gripping the lids of the sarcophagi hard enough that the stone threatened to split, ready to throw them off just to see, and remember for himself, what the children looked like. He did not tell them about slinking back to his chambers, having never summoned the courage to do so.

He did not tell them of the cheering that had accompanied him whenever he left the palace, of the stiff handshakes and waving children with wide eyes that surrounded him. Until, as the guard grew in size in advance of their freedom, and the human children had lingered for the short time they were remembered, that joy had shrunk into a sense of oppressive inevitability. The bloodlust withering and giving way to pity and gratitude and fragile hope.

He did not tell them anything about the first child at all. He was too afraid to test the true limits of his memory.

As Asgore fell silent he finally worked up the courage to look at the human child sitting on the couch. He couldn’t help the twinge of horror to see that throughout the time he had spoken, their expression had not changed. They just stared blankly at the coffee table, their legs dangling from the edge of the cushion they sat, like always, at the very edge of. 

“I-I don’t know what I expected.” Frisk said, their voice hushed and far less confident than before he had started. “I don’t think I should t-thank you for telling me. But..”

“There is no need.” Asgore interrupted hastily, and Frisk nodded. 

“D-did you ever… Did you ever feel like they m-might have something like me? E-even, if you didn’t know it at the time?”

Asgore stared at the child, at the way they were barely sitting, at the haunted look in their eyes and the bags beneath them. “No.” He lied. 

Frisk nodded and picked at the fabric of their jeans. “Good. I-I don’t think, I don’t think it would have helped.”

“No. It would not have. If we had met before, I-I would only have-” The king cut himself off and tried to regain his composure. 

“I know . I was there. ” Frisk snapped, their voice cold and sharp like a blade between his ribs. Asgore nearly lurched back in his seat, but Frisk beat him to it, the child all but launched themselves into the back of the couch. Asgore blinked at the sudden change in Frisk’s demeanor. The human curled up against the backrest, mumbling hushed whispers into small hands clasped to their mouth. Their eyes never left him. “I-I’ll be good.”

Asgore felt his frown deepen. “I have a question of my own, if you are willing to answer.” The king waited patiently for Frisk to calm themself. Slowly, the child uncurled just enough to nod apprehensively. 

 “Why did you come back after you killed me?”

Frisk sucked in a sharp gasp. The child’s eyes went wide and half unseeing, hands fisted into their sweater. Asgore cringed, he had expected this reaction, but that did not make it any less unpleasant.

“I-I didn’t think y-you remembered that. E-even after everything else.” Frisk let out a shallow breath, and he didn’t fail to notice the way their eyes flickered to the front door. “W-why didn’t you s-say anything? I didn’t- You-” Frisk sucked in another gasp, clutching at the center of their chest as if in pain. They stared at him with a familiar horror in their eyes. “W-why didn’t you tell e-everyone?” 

Asgore stared at them sadly, “You had already made it clear how you felt about us, and had already been forced to relive so many painful memories. I did not wish to force you to relive another. And besides that… I never blamed you. I was the one who put you in that position. I was the one who tried to take your life, and when that failed, I tried to take your future.”

“You should.” The child insisted, “I meant it. I really, really, meant it.”  

“I understand.” The king of monsters said, doing his best to keep the bottomless pity he felt from appearing on his face. “I… should have known better. Even before we agreed to accept the human’s gift, I had… calling it a memory would be inaccurate. I had a feeling that I had done something similar before, and it had hurt you. I am sorry, my child. Knowing what I know now… I understand more than ever why you would come to hate me for such a thing.” 

The child looked as though they were going to protest, but fell silent. “You used me to kill yourself.” They accused, a spark of anger burning itself out before their voice had even died.

 Asgore nodded grievously.

“I-” the child coughed, and when they spoke again their voice was little more than a hoarse whisper. “I d-don’t think I’m sorry.” 

Asgore tried to hide his relief, “That too, is something I understand. Which is why I wonder why you chose to return, even after everything that I and my subjects had done to you.”

The human child swiped at their eyes, “I-I was punished.” They whispered. “F-for killing you.” 

The king felt his expression become stern, “Someone harmed you on my behalf?” He asked darkly. 

“N-No! Not- It wasn’t b-because of-” The child let out a frustrated whimper, “T-they… They didn’t h-hurt me because I killed y-you. They…” The small human took a deep breath and when they let it out their trembling had lessened. “I broke the rules.” They said flatly. “I b-broke the rules and so I g-got punished.”

“You-... May I ask, what these rules are, that you broke?” Asgore said, his voice hushed.

Frisk made a wounded little noise, “I… ‘m not supposed to get m-mad. Not supposed to f-fight people.”

“Oh child…” Asgore breathed, heartbroken. “Why would you ever think such a thing?”

Frisk let out a noise that was half a laugh and half a sob. “I don’t- I don’t get the good ending I-If I hurt p-people b-back. I d-don’t get to go to the surface, I g-get punished instead.”

Asgore sucked in a sharp breath, “And… the punishment?” He asked hesitantly.

Frisk just wheezed and shook their head violently enough that Asgore feared they would hurt themself.

“Ok! Ok child, you do not have to speak of it… Thank you for answering me.”

Frisk nodded shakily, “C-can I go now?” They asked, their voice almost pleading. 

Asgore looked at the human child, at their reddened eyes and disheveled hair, and nodded. 

Frisk climbed down from their perch gratefully. Asgore went to stand as well, only to find himself the only person in the room. The door creaked gently where it swung on its hinges.

Alone once more, the king of monsters quaked where he stood, mind overtaken by the memory of-

“I can not take this any longer. I just want to see my wife. I just want to see my child.” The king looked up at the human before him imploringly, “Please, young one. Take my soul and leave this cursed place.”  

The human’s small hand tightened around the hilt of the dagger, thin grains of dust crunching between their hand and the grip. The human child had suffered a severe burn to their shoulder, but gave no indication of pain. What could have happened? The king wondered, to have created such stoicness in one so young? He supposed it did not matter, soon they would be free, and their own people would see to their comfort.

The king hung his head and waited for the inevitable. He waited a full minute. Then two. He heard a soft footstep, and looked up despite himself. The child had taken a step back, their grip on the blade loosened. For the first time since they had met, the child refused to meet his gaze. 

“... After everything that I have done to hurt you… You would rather stay down here and suffer… than live happily on the surface?” 

The king breathed a disbelieving little huff that was almost a laugh, and could not help the small smile that graced his features. “Human… I promise you, for as long as you remain here My wife and I will take care of you as best we can.”

His smile reached his eyes as in front of him the human’s small body completely relaxed, they looked contemplative, like something was making sense for the first time in a long time. “We can sit in the living room, telling stories… Eating butterscotch-! Hng!”

The king was cut off by a wave of indescribable agony that radiated throughout his entire body, emanating from a chink in the side of his cuirass. The king’s eyes went wide in shock, and he shakily looked down, at the small dagger embedded just under his arm, and the small hand still gripping it.

The king of monsters looked at the human child’s face as though he were seeing it for the first time, and on it he saw written every emotion that had been absent throughout their battle. The child’s visage was a rictus of terror, their shoulders shook and their eyes were wide as saucers over a mouth that hung open in a silent scream.

They released the knife and stumbled back, looking at him as though he were the worst thing they had ever imagined. “Child, I-!” He reached down and gripped the hilt of the dagger with pause. The temptation to pull it out was overwhelming but… this was what he had wanted, he decided. 

The king tried his best to ignore the tidal wave of killing intent that pulsed through him with every second the dagger remained, fighting against the tide to focus on the fragile, almost primal fear that lay at its heart.

As he slipped away, the king cradled that fear to himself, and in those final moments, finally recognized the familiar shape of it. “C-”

There was a sound like gunfire, and the human’s eyes snapped up to something looming behind him. The king felt a dull impact against his back, and that thought was lost along with everything else as the world went dark. 

Asgore shook his head as he pulled himself from the depths of his memory. He crossed the room and picked up the stack of worn books, crossing back to place them on the thin bookshelf by the hearth. 

He placed each of them in their place one by one, pausing for a moment to stare at the oldest of them all, one of the first books to ever be printed in the underground. After he and his people had decided that they would have a future after all, and needed to preserve their past. 

After a moment of contemplation, Asgore shook his head and placed The Royal Lineage Of The House Of Dreemurr back in its rightful place. 

Then he turned around and pulled out his phone.

Chapter Text

You all but bolt down the street as soon as you leave Asgore’s house. You aren’t really paying attention to where you are going, just that you need to get away. You… you really didn’t think he remembered, not that, not after everything. Something about that raw understanding you had caught a glimpse of, just before you fled, had touched something wounded deep inside of you. 

You slow halfway back to Toriel's house and sit down on the curb. There’s just too much right now. He had wanted to know what happened to you after you killed him. And for just a moment you had wanted to tell him. And, really, what was stopping you? Flowey had never demanded your silence, and unlike Asriel you got the impression he wouldn’t hold your honesty against you. If anything he’d probably be as close to thrilled as he could manage. 

But you… you just can’t . You don’t know how to explain it to him, Flowey punished you for taking his life, but it wasn’t really him that was doing it. It was just the way of things. You aren’t allowed to fight, those are the rules. Your hatred has always been rewarded with more hatred, monsters you insulted or hurt struck you down in retaliation. You should have known before you struck that final blow, before you even raised that dagger to defend yourself at all, that if you actually killed someone it would lead to something worse than you could ever imagine.  

You run your hands over your face and try to settle yourself down. He thought you hated him. It scares you that he may be right, you don’t think you would have been able to kill him if you hadn’t. You wish you could say that it had been an accident, that you hadn’t meant to kill him, but you did mean it, and it wouldn’t matter if you hadn’t anyway, that's not how it works.

You haven’t really allowed yourself to think of it before, what might have happened to you if you had spared him, if he had taken you in the way he offered. You won’t delude yourself into believing that you would have been happy, living as a cure for his grief. You’d have been a consolation prize, something monsters could hold up to themselves as proof of their better nature. You have no doubt that life would have been another kind of death. 

Everything had made a terrifying amount of sense in that moment, if nothing else it was familiar ground. You had been so scared . Just like everyone else he was going to let you live. For him.

You feel tangled up inside. You don’t know how you are supposed to feel about the other humans. Asgore had been so quiet when he had spoken of them, and you know that he didn’t tell you everything, but you feel like that ignorance is a mercy. 

It’s clear to you now, no one truly remembers the other children beyond their deaths. Everything is exactly the same as before they were killed, only they don’t exist . You don’t think that thought should feel as comforting as it does. 

So consumed are you in these racing thoughts that you barely notice that you aren’t alone until someone sits down beside you.

You look up, eyes slightly wide at the skeleton monster who is doing his best to sit on the curb, despite needing to contort himself in order to try and get comfortable. The two of you regard each other for a few seconds, before you wordlessly turn back to stare into the street. You let your eyes fall shut in resignation.

 “...”

“DOT. DOT. DOT.”

“...”

“I DON’T REALLY SEE THE APPEAL.”

You peek up at him with one eye. “IS THERE SOMETHING INTERESTING ABOUT THE ROAD?”

You let out a defeated sigh, “Asgore called y-you didn’t he?”

Papyrus cringes as best he is able to without skin or muscle, “HE… MAY HAVE GIVEN SOME INDICATION THAT YOU WERE IN NEED OF COMFORT.” 

“W-when was the last time I w-wanted ‘Comfort’ from anyone?”

“I… COULD NOT TELL YOU. YOU ARE VERY AGAINST THAT FOR A YOUNG HUMAN. IT’S KIND OF UNSETTLING IF I AM HONEST.” He scratches at the sleeve of his sweater.

You huff at that and hug your knees to your chest. “Well, I-I’m fine.”

“DO FINE PEOPLE NORMALLY SIT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SIDEWALK AND MUMBLE TO THEMSELF FOR TWO HOURS?”

That earns him an incredulous look, “T-two- what do you, h-how long were you standing behind me?”

“AROUND AN HOUR… AND FORTY-FIVE MINUTES. TO BE HONEST WITH YOU I WASN’T SURE HOW TO START?”

“I don’t want a p-pep talk. Go away."

“OK!” he says brightly.

You blink up at him in surprise.  “ON ONE CONDITION!”

You fail to stifle a groan. There it is! “W-what?”

“YOU HAVE TO TELL ME WHY YOU WANT ME TO LEAVE.”

You stare at him for a long moment before putting your head down against your legs. “Y-you know why. I already t-told you. I told e-everyone, and you told everyone e-else.”

“I KNOW THAT YOU ARE AFRAID OF ME, AND I KNOW THAT YOU DISLIKE ME BECAUSE I HURT YOU. ARE YOU AFRAID THAT I AM GOING TO HURT YOU RIGHT NOW?”

Your breath puffs out in a hazy plume, “I-I’m always afraid of that.” He stares at you sadly, and you hate that you've become so good at recognizing that expression on people.

“I SEE. DO YOU BELIEVE THAT I AM GOING TO HURT YOU?”

That… is a harder question, it taps at the root of something you’ve been trying not to think about. You suppose that this is a day for unpleasant thoughts. “No, no I-I know you won’t, I know none of you w-want to hurt me anymore.” You laugh, an ugly little sound. “I’m scared of that t-too.” 

Papyrus listens, the expectation that you will continue hovering between you. You can’t find it in you to resist. Someone is going to pry all this out of you eventually, it may as well be him.

“You can do whatever you w-want to me” You breathe, not quite able to mask the horror that seeps into your voice. “Y-you know that?” You let your legs away just enough to bunch your fists up in your sweater. “I could just disappear. You could make me disappear, and no one would be able to stop y-you.” 

You don’t look up at him, you know what you’ll see. Your eyes remain fixed on a patch of mud under a tree across the street. There’s a big dent in it. “I feel like nothing has c-changed. You and e-everyone, you haven’t stopped hurting me because you can’t, you haven’t hurt me because you want me to live now and you d-didn’t always want that! I-I have to earn it. I don’t like it when you’re n-nice to me.”

“FRISK…”

“It feels like rubbing it in! You all c-changed your minds once and I’m waiting for you to change them b-back!” You shudder and press the heels of your palms against your eyes. “None of you s-spared me until I changed your m-mind. It had to be the right thing to do for y-you, not me.” 

You feel a little giddy, you’re crossing a line here. You got lucky the last time you broke down like this in front of someone. They were just confused, that’s why they didn’t punish you right? Maybe… maybe this will finally be enough, he’ll drop the act and do the right thing and you’ll finally know where you stand again. 

“... CAN  I HUG YOU?” You huff a choked laugh, wasn’t he even listening? You nod, not bothering to try and hide the way you tense up. “DO… YOU WANT ME TO?” 

A soft noise escapes your mouth and you shake your head and press it back to your knees. “I-I don’t understand…” You whisper into them, “Why?... W-why are you being so nice to me?”  It doesn’t make any sense! There isn’t any reason to pretend, unless… No. No you won’t think about that, that's even worse. You feel faint. 

“BECAUSE EVEN IF YOU DON’T LIKE ME, I CONSIDER YOU A FRIEND. FRIENDS DON’T HURT FRIENDS JUST BECAUSE THEY CAN! THAT IS NOT HOW FRIENDSHIP WORKS! IT'S OK IF YOU DON’T OR CAN’T THINK ABOUT ME THAT WAY, BUT THAT WON’T CHANGE EITHER WAY!”

“FRIENDS… DON’T HURT EACH OTHER BECAUSE THEY WANT SOMETHING EITHER. I KNOW I HAVE SAID IT BEFORE, BUT I AM SORRY THAT I HURT YOU IN THE UNDERGROUND.” He looks sad, and that expression looks so horribly out of place on his face. You feel the sting of that ever-present guilt, you hate that you have this effect on people. They don’t need to feel guilty, even if you sometimes want them to. 

“Can a person l-like me even have ‘friends?'”

“WHY NOT? BUT IF THAT'S THE CASE THEN I WILL JUST HAVE TO BE FRIENDLY ENOUGH FOR THE BOTH OF US!”

He gets quieter, for a given value of quiet. “THE KING WAS WORRIED ABOUT YOU TOO… A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE, ACTUALLY. I DON’T THINK THAT WE CAN JUST STOP DOING THAT, BUT WE TALKED AND WE AGREE THAT WE CAN GIVE YOU MORE SPACE, I DON’T KNOW IF THE QUEEN ALREADY TOLD YOU.”

You don’t really understand that either, but you are grateful regardless. “PLEASE JUST… CHECK IN EVERY HOUR OR TWO? IF YOU WANT SOMETHING FROM US, TELL US. IF WE CAN’T GIVE IT TO YOU WE’LL JUST TELL YOU, YOU DON’T NEED TO BE AFRAID TO ASK.”

He finally stands up, and you make no move to stop him. “AND WITH THAT I WILL BE ON MY WAY.” 

“Thank you.” You manage, voice thick. “I-I don’t know if I can believe you, but… thank you.” You don’t feel much better, but you need him to know that the attempt matters. He just grins like always.

“OF COURSE! I AM ALWAYS THERE FOR MY HALF-FRIENDS!” and with that he races away. Your gaze follows him, before you turn back to the empty street. You watch the curls of your breath in the frigid air and your cheeks sting a little from being outside so long. It’s a while before you get up.

_______________________________

Late that night, you are dragged into wakefulness by a hissing, shooting pain. Your eyes shoot open and you are fully awake in an instant. You strangle a cry as it erupts from your throat and curl around the dagger that has made its home in between your ribs. You lay there, writhing for a moment, waiting, hoping that it will fade. You muffle another cry into your pillow.

Every second is torture, but slowly, it withdraws like someone has pulled it out. Only then do you dare to uncurl, stifling a whimper as you throw back the covers and slide from your bed.

It still aches horribly. You fumble for it in the dark and press a firm hand to the place it has appeared. It doesn’t help, but you grit your teeth and stumble to the door. You manage to get it open after a minute of fumbling, just the act of reaching up to the knob is enough to make you bite your arm to try and steel yourself. 

You only take a moment to make sure that your episode hasn’t woken Toriel, before padding the short distance down the hallway to the bathroom. You pull a rickety stepstool from the closet and manage to set it up in front of the sink while keeping your hand pressed to your side. You clamber up it so that the sink is at waist height and carefully lift your shirt.

Your reflection stares back at you, the same as ever if only more sleep-addled than usual. You stare at yourself for a long moment, your breaths coming faster and faster and you have to clutch the sink to stop from toppling off of your perch. 

You let your shirt fall, mercifully hiding the ugly scar that wasn’t there yesterday.

Chapter Text

Alphys pulled back from the microscope and rubbed the bridge of her snout. Her eyes burned from the light beneath the tray, and from moisture that she refused to acknowledge. Sighing, she picked up her glasses and settled them back on her face. 

The small laboratory was dim, the fading afternoon sun filtered through the half-shuttered blinds casting lines of light along the wall her workbench sat against. Standing up, Alphys flicked a lightswitch and the room was momentarily illuminated before the lights flickered and went out once again. 

She rolled her eyes and busied herself with cleaning up. The vial of blood was placed back in its cooler, and the slides in the small washer she had cobbled together near the sink. As she did so, she heard a knock on the open door and the lights came on once again. 

“Hey Alph.” Sans said, his omnipresent grin didn’t make his expression seem any less somber. 

Alphys blinked, and gave him a shaky smile. “H-hey, I was just cleaning up.”

Sans walked over to the counter and stared down at the printed images that sat there side by side, depicting human cells superimposed against a background of light. One image depicted them whole and in line with the research that he and Alphys had done before requesting to take some from Frisk. Another showed the same cells deformed and elongated, decomposing. Nothing was out of the ordinary in these images, except for the order they were taken in.

“Any luck?” He asked softly, eyelights dim.

Alphys shook her head, “N-no. It's the same as all the o-other samples.” She tried to smile, “I-I could be wrong though, I-Its not as though I have anything to compare them w-with!”

“Yet.”

Her smile lessened as the lights in his eyes extinguished themselves completely “Y-yeah. Does t-that mean?”

“Yeah. It’s ready.”

________________________________

You let out a breath as you inspect the newest mark. The cold air stings your cheeks and the rough bark against your back is almost a comfort. The cut runs down your forearm, a line of ugly brownish-red barely healed over. It’s a scar, but it shouldn’t be. You can remember when it was new, it never got the chance to heal before the damp and moisture of Waterfall had caused it to swell and your blood to turn pale and yellowed with infection. You don’t even know if the fever was what killed you or if someone found you while you were unconscious. 

You screw up your face and deliberately jerk your sleeve back down, allowing the mark to keep its siblings company. It’s only been two days and you are already littered with them. You count your blessings that it is winter, not that you expect anyone would complain about you dressing warm regardless… It’s better to keep this to yourself for now, you don’t want to be a prisoner in your own bedroom for a third time.

They don’t even hurt much after they appear, slight twinges and stings when you move the wrong way. Nothing like how you remember them, so you don’t need to worry and neither does anyone else. You’re good at this game.

Good enough, in fact, that some people have seemed less pushy lately. There was less staring and stalking on your way here than usual, though… you suppose it couldn’t last forever. You heft a large pinecone and chuck it at the suspiciously-rustling shrub that you hadn’t noticed until now. 

“Ow!” The shrub says, before the rustling increases tenfold and Flowey sticks his head out and shrieks. “Did you just throw a pinecone at me you little shit!? Do you have any idea what I could do to you!?”

“…Yes.” You say, picking at the ground. 

“You- Ugh, right.” he pops under the ground and emerges next to your foot. “I forgot how hard it is to intimidate people who know my best material. I need to go find someone else to play with.”

You suppress a shudder, “So w-why haven’t you?”

“Don’t read too far into it stupid, it's called self interest. I just got up here and I’m not about to risk going back to the underground because you got eaten by a bear or something.”

Ah. You suppose you shouldn’t be surprised at that, at least he has the grace to admit it.

“Bears d-don’t come this close to t-town usually.” You point out. “A-and everyone else is already doing that.”

This time Flowey shudders. “Uugh, tell me about it. I did a lot in my timelines but I never got people to act this creepy all of the time. A bunch of people gave me really weird looks on my way here and I could be wrong but I think one of them threw something at me? I don’t even think most of them realize they’re doing it. Also- Stop doing that!”

You blink and lurch back, your heartbeat in your throat at the sudden shout. “W-what?!”

“Stop relaxing around me you idiot! This is why people are concerned!” 

You stare at him incredulously, “What? I-I wasn’t? Why would I…?”

Flowey shakes his head, “Ugh, this is what I’m talking about, you don’t realize it either.” His ever present scowl deepens, “As soon as I started talking your weird human heartbeat slowed down.” 

“I- what? ” 

He rolls his eyes, “How did you think I was able to track you in the underground? I can feel that weird gross sound you humans make. Especially when you’re alone or sitting down.”

You stiffen at that, the bark against your back suddenly feels a great deal less comforting. 

“You see, that is the normal reaction. I still have no idea why you aren’t freaking out whenever I show up, why do you hate being around all the others when they’re being all gross and coddling but you don’t even care when I show up after everything I did to you.” His face splits into a twisted grin, and you don’t bother to hide the way you scoot back instinctively. “You don’t need a reminder do you? Do I have to knock some sense into you again?”

“No!” You shout, and Flowey deflates almost instantly.

“So why don’t you? I know it's not as simple as me remembering, and I know it can’t just be that I’ve died too because It’s not like I could feel much about it either way after that first time…” He snarls, showing a little more of that familiar frustration “Why did you let me live you idiot!? I was so sure… so sure that after you offed that old fool you’d finally learned your lesson, that I wouldn’t need to be alone anymore. That you got it !”

“I do!” You snap, “I… I get it. Kill and be k-killed, those are the r-rules. I should have l-listened.” You glare at the shrub, “Everyone else are the ones who don’t make sense. ”

“Wait- I, what are you talking about?” 

You cringe, this is all wrong, why doesn’t he get it? He should know better than anyone after-

The deafening wind howling through this empty place blows damp and cold, you add your own hoarse breaths to it as you lay shivering on the invisible ground. Your hands make contact with bare stone but your eyes can’t make anything out through the endless darkness beyond your tormentor and the faint sensation of being watched. 

You feel like you are in pieces, it's hard to think and you wish they would just shut up . You’re done, right? You’ve reached an end, and the only thing you have to do is finish him off.

You crawl forward by inches, reaching for the dim glimmer of the dagger. You don’t remember why you still have it, there are too many memories in the same place. You lay there, trying to muster the strength to stand, but it eludes you. “What are you doing?” Flowey rasps, impatience making itself known over his ragged breathing. “Do you really think that I’ve learned anything from this?” he huffs a ragged laugh “No.”

You feel your grip tighten on the knife's handle, and make some headway towards getting to your feet. Shut. Up.

“Sparing me won’t change anything. Killing me is the only way to end this.”

You pause, arms shaking beneath you. You’ve heard that before . 

He turns a wide grin towards you, the holes you ripped into him dripping iridescent, glowing ichor. “If you let me live… I’ll come back.” Your grip tightens, and your efforts to get upright resume. He grins with vindication. “I’ll kill you.” You barely even register the threat. 

He lets out a cruel chuckle, “I’ll kill everyone!” You pause again, and he frowns. “I’ll… kill everyone you love.”

You freeze completely, your grip on the blade going slack before you send it sliding a few feet away from you and collapse. You don’t feel right, your chest is shaking and an awful, awful sound keeps tearing out of you like ragged hiccups. 

“You… You little freak… are you laughing ?”  

Is that what this is? You guess you are. You wet your lips, when did they get so dry? 

Flowey is quiet for a moment, staring at you contemplatively. “What’s wrong with you? You- heh…. Hehehehehahahahaha!” He breaks out into cackles, “You… after all that? You don’t even care do you? You’re just as empty as I am.” His tittering trails off and he stares blankly into the darkness, that frown returning to his face. 

“Why then…?” He seethes, “After all that? Why let them live in the first place?”

You cough again, sucking in a dry gasp and shaking your head. You know better. You should have known better, before you ever picked up that dagger in the first place. You’ve died so many times, and not a single one of them did the person who killed you seem to have anything personal against you. And it didn’t stop them. What would everyone do to you if you gave them a reason to want to hurt you? You won’t underestimate them again. You’ve learned your lesson.

This is your fault, isn’t it? You should have known that there would be consequences before you decided to fight. But you had been tired, and scared, and angry, and more afraid of what was behind you than what was ahead. Either the king would kill you forever, or you would find a way to leave. You couldn’t go back, not with everyone waiting for you to die. It matters that the king died, because people need him to live. No one needs that from you , this is what you deserve for being so selfish. 

“You don’t even know, do you? You just… ran away.” Flowey hunches over on his stem, and you can see his mind racing. “You ran through the entire underground, You never hurt anyone… and you died all those times. You gave up, didn’t you? That's why you killed him. And now both of us are stuck here. Forever.”

You want to deny it, you want to say that you just didn’t have a choice, that he had taken it from you. You know you did. You were so angry and so, so, scared. The only thought running through your head, over and over as you struck him down was…“I-I-I’m not g-going b-back.” 

your voice is barely a whisper but it is deafening in this place. “W-we can all rot for all I c-care. I d-don’t owe you that.” You are surprised at how much you mean it, you’ve already died for these people, you don’t have to live for them too. You can’t die, not for real, the way everyone wants you to, the best way to make sure no one ever sees you again is to just… stay like this. 

“So that’s it then…” Flowey says, “We just sit here.” 

You don’t have the energy to respond, your head falls and you press your forehead against the invisible stone. 

“Pathetic.” Flowey growls, “I can’t believe I forgot how pathetic you are. Why are you the one who gets to-!?”

He doesn’t finish that thought before a loud ringing echoes through the void. You look up, wide eyed, and meet Flowey’s baffled expression with one of your own. It takes a moment for you to realize that the sound is coming from the pocket of your shorts. 

You crane your neck to watch it ring, the dim light of the screen shining through the ragged, bloody fabric. “Are… you going to get that?” Flowey asks. You… don’t want to. This isn’t fair,   you reached the end . They can’t want to talk to you now! Haven’t you given enough!? 

Why won’t they leave you alone?

The phone keeps ringing… and ringing. Flowey says nothing, just lets a judgemental silence accompany the bright tones. 

Go away! you silently beg, I don’t have anything left to give you!

‘Brring… Brring…’

Please!

Just stop…

‘Brring…’

I’m sorry…

I’m so sorry!

‘Brring…’

pLeAsE…

‘Brring…’

…

…

The phone is in your hand. You don’t know when that happened. It doesn’t matter. This isn’t about you.

“-Beep!”

There is a long pause before…

“hey.” You grip on the phone tightens, the plastic creaks under your fingers. “you didn’t look so good the last time we talked, so I’ll keep this brief. a lot of people were really angry when you killed the king, if that is what happened, especially because all the souls are gone now. after you left… the queen came back and tried to convince people to let it go… It didn’t work out. Undyne is in charge now, and she says that the first thing she’s going to do when we get out of here… is personally track you down and kill you.”

“SANS!? WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?”

“uh, nobody.”

“NOBODY? CAN I TALK TO THEM?”

“... sorry pap, they’re kinda shy. I’ll introduce you some other time.”

“OH… WELL, TELL THEM I SAID HI!” You hear the sound of retreating footsteps through the speaker.

“heh… pap says hi.” on the other end, Sans sighs. “I’m not really sure what else to say. I told you before we went our separate ways that I believed you could do the right thing… I don’t think this was it, and unless I was even more off-base than I thought I don’t think you do either. seems like a lot of stuff went down without me knowing heh…” 

“I guess, all I’m asking… if you do have some way to make this right… something I don’t know about… Isn’t it your responsibility to do the right thing?”

You suck in a sharp breath.

“... nevermind. forget I said anything. you probably shouldn’t come back here, things aren’t looking too good for you if you do.”

“Sans you lazy bastard! Get over here! Who are you even talking to?”

“uh. the human?”

“WHAT!? Why the hell are you calling THEM!” The shouting voice gets closer, “If you can hear this you little freak, you played us all for fools with that ‘helpless child’ act! WHEN I FIND YOU YOU ARE DEAD YOU LITTLE SHIT!”

“…” 

“heh… get in line.”

‘ Click.’

The silence is deafening in the empty space, broken only by your increasingly ragged breathing. You refuse to cry, this is your fault, you have no reason to be upset for having to lie in the bed you’ve made.

“... what if I told you that I could get you a better ending?” Flowey asks over your sniffles. You look up at him and he quickly looks away. “You… never really tried to understand any of them, it seems like you could have been better friends. They might be willing to help you, if you gave them a reason to.”

No. No! You… you can’t do that… anything but that! Just the thought of putting your life in their hands makes you feel like you are going to pass out. Why is it your job to make this right?

It isn’t fair. You just wanted to be left alone…

Isn’t this what you deserve though? You broke the rules, everyone was perfectly upfront with you on what the conditions for being allowed to live were. It’s the right thing to do, what’s one more time?

You… you have to go back. Maybe they’ll forgive you if you let them… maybe they’ll forgive you.

You reach out for the faint glimmer of the worn dagger. The hilt fits your hand like an old friend

________________________________

“I don’t know w-what I’m supposed to do.” Frisk says quietly. “I don’t know w-what everyone wants from me!”

Flowey stared at the human child for a long moment, a sinking feeling where his soul should be. “I know it's filthy rich coming from me, but that isn’t how relationships are supposed to work. I’ve been following you around for… a while, and it doesn’t seem like anyone wants anything from you except to maybe stop being so miserable all the time? Also stop getting killed… that's the big one, and probably why everyone loses it if you so much as scrape a knee.”

Frisk sags at that, “That’s what everyone k-keeps telling me. It isn’t supposed to work like that- I… It’s not supposed to go both ways, that's the whole point !”

Flowey grumbled  “I am really not the person you need to be talking to about this. I’ve already made it perfectly clear that I don’t care about you , what makes you think I’m not just going to take advantage of this like… ” He blinked, coming to a sudden realization “... like last time… You do realize I was just manipulating you right?”

Across from him Frisk made a wounded noise and nodded, “O-of course I d-do. But you were r-right anyway. W-we never would have made it out unless I went back.”

Flowey felt his leaves curl in discomfort, he thought he could see where this was going but he wasn’t the person for this! He didn’t know how he was supposed to feel about any of this. Frisk… they needed a real friend right now, someone who didn’t keep looking at them and hoping to see someone else. Someone who would listen to them patiently and help them figure things out.  

It didn’t matter what they needed, he was what they had right now. Patience was never his strong suit, “Frisk… What are you so afraid of?” and neither was tact.

The human child was huddled into themself like they expected to be struck, “Everyone keeps saying they were w-wrong…” Frisk said, “What does that mean for me? I-if what h-happened was the best possible outcome for everyone e-else, how can that be wrong if everyone is h-happy now? I only d-did my job, I-I went back for them and-!” 

Frisk shuddered, and Flowey reared back on his stem instinctively as the child’s voice shook with barely contained rage, dripping hatred like poison from every word hissed through clenched teeth, “And I let them hit me and hurt me and kill me again and again even though it was over because even when I was gone they weren’t happy and now that we’re on the surface they have the gall to say that hurting me was the wrong choice and I didn’t have to let them and they didn’t have to hurt me and then they act like they care and keep me like a pet and say ‘It’s for your own good’ and-”

The child coughed, and spent a few moments trying to regain their composure. “I- ‘mm sorry.” they croaked, “I s-shouldn’t get mad, bad things h-happen when I g-get mad.”

Flowey relaxed slightly as the human’s voice lost its fire, “... I think I understand. I-... Asriel used to know someone who thought that it didn’t matter if they got hurt as long as it meant something to someone else. They used to get mad whenever he would try and tell them that was wrong.”

Frisk sniffed, “Y-your sibling? You never mentioned that before.”

The flower monster scowled, “Yeah well, it never came up.” His expression softened, “You kind of remind me of them sometimes, not like in the underground where I thought you were them… they always thought we took them in because we wanted them to be-”

“The future of humans and monsters.” Frisk blurted out. 

He looked up at them sharply, “Yeah, how did you… nevermind. Yeah that’s exactly it.” He shook his head, “They killed themself because they thought that was what people wanted from them.”

Frisk looked uneasy, “W-was it?” 

He huffed a laugh, “No. Of course not, but I think that was the impression we gave anyway.” Flowey was quiet for a moment, “Don’t make the same mistakes we did, ok?”

“We’re not f-friends.” Frisk said, not bothering to hide the question in their voice. Flowey just laughed, he sounded pained.

“No, we’re not. But I think Asriel wanted to be, at the end. Asriel wanted a lot of things.” He failed to hide the bitterness in his voice.

“And w-what do you want?” 

“I… don’t know. I’m still trying to figure out the difference between what he wanted, and what I want to do now he and our sibling are gone forever. I thought that being him again would help me do that… I know that won’t be enough now. I think I only wanted our soul back in the first place because Asriel wanted to be himself. I’m still trying to decide who Flowey is. 

The human child nodded, then seemed to think of something. “You never say their name… your sibling.”

Flowey paused, “I… yes I have?”

“N-no, you always just call them your sibling.”

Flowey felt himself begin to shake, “I- I don’t…” He bared his teeth at the human child, “Get help Idiot!” and burrowed into the ground before he had to hear them respond.

As he tunneled away, he did his best to ignore how hurt Frisk had sounded.

______________________________

Alphys sighed as she unceremoniously dumped the bag of dog food in the freezer. She shivered in the residual cold, even with the fans off it was freezing. As she stood there, she took a mental note of what remained of her supplies, doing her best not to look at the faintly glowing canisters in the corner. 

She would find a cure soon, right? Everyone would forgive her, just as soon as she found a way to reverse the… the melting. 

Alphys heard a shifting sound and looked up at one of the air ducts, waiting a few minutes to make sure that none of the Amalgamates crawled out. She still didn’t know why they seemed to like tight spaces so much, but she had a theory that it helped them feel more… whole. 

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she turned to leave, only to stop again at a louder noise behind her. Alphys turned to see that what looked like a healthy vine had wormed its way out of one of the ducts, a sticky-note neatly impaled on one of it’s thorns.

With shaking hands, she removed the note from the vine and read.

‘I Know What You Did.’

She sucked in a sharp gasp, her glasses fogging up as she blinked back tears. Choking back a sob, she went to rush out of the room, only for the freezer door to slam shut just before she could reach it.

“H-Hey! Who’s there?!” She pushed with all her strength, but the door didn’t budge. “L-let me out!”

The scientist’s eyes went wide as she heard a faint cracking sound behind her. She turned to watch in horror, as another vine she hadn’t noticed before wrapped around one of the canisters and constricted it, causing the glass to crack.

“No. N-NO!

She began frantically banging on the door. “H-Help! HELP! L-LET ME OUT! ANYONE!”

She became aware of a faint light in the air as the contents of the canisters saturated the room, fueling her struggle. “I’M SORRY! I’M SORRY! PLEASE!” She pounded at the door relentlessly, until, driven by a strength she had never before possessed, she somehow managed to dent the cold steel. 

Yes! If she could just make a crack wide enough to reach the handle! Alphys furiously beat against the steel, causing it to dent and buckle… until her claws began to drip and splatter harmlessly against the door instead.

“NO! NO! UNDYNE! SANS! SOMEONE Hel..p m…ee!”

It was no use, Alphy’s mind began to fracture and she lost consciousness, as she did she resigned herself to dying alone, surrounded by her crimes.

She didn’t.

_______________________________

Alphys shot awake with a horrified scream, tumbling out of her bed. The scientist lay there sobbing for some time, glad for the soundproofing she had done to her room. As the dawn broke over the horizon beyond her bedroom window, the scientist got up and dragged herself over to her workstation. 

 Soon she would have her answers. She couldn’t fail again.

Chapter Text

Sans sighed as he trudged up the sidewalk towards the small house the queen called home. Every inch of his calcified body wanted to be anywhere else, but he forced himself to keep walking. He owed his friend some answers, and with any luck she could help him tell the others.

The short skeleton stopped at the entrance to the short path that led to the front door. He… could come back later, right? Or call her, this was probably a conversation that was best had from out of fireball range. He sighed, no. Alphys had been right to call him out for keeping secrets. They’d made the mistake of waiting too long before, they couldn’t allow it to happen again. 

Sans went to take a step towards the door, “HEY!” only to be mercifully interrupted by an angry shout from the direction he had come. Sans turned to look at the rapidly approaching, infuriated fish monster that bore down on him. He had no inkling of why Undyne was mad at him, but he did have a very good idea of what that entailed. 

Thankfully, Undyne came to a stop, and Sans immediately felt his grin lessen at the expression on her face. “There you are. What the hell is going on, huh?!” 

He took a cautious step back, only for her to take a much longer one forward. “uh, I don’t-”

“Don’t give me that crap! Alphys wouldn’t come out of her room at all this morning, and I know it's your fault! You were the last person other than me who talked to her, what the hell did you say ?” Each word was punctuated by melted snow from the ground shooting upward in increasingly sharp and pointy ways.

Sans frowned, and Undyne’s eye went wide at the unfamiliar expression, “what do you mean she won’t come out? I didn’t say anything, did something happen?” 

“No! That’s what doesn’t make sense! She was fine when we talked last night, I wake up this morning and she won’t even talk to me! I know you’ve been working with her! Did you find something that made her this upset!”

Sans blinked, and looked over at the front door, “I… maybe? she seemed alright yesterday, we had a bit of an argument but she didn’t seem that mad. ‘s why I’m here, actually.”

“Wait, you- you found something? This doesn’t have to do with that time travel stuff does it?”

Sans cringed, “maybe?” he looked up at Undyne’s expression and sighed, “probably.”

She opened her mouth, presumably to yell at him some more, before she was interrupted by an exasperated “Ahem!” 

The two monsters turned to look at the irritated boss monster standing a short distance away, the front door to her house still ajar. “Were the two of you going to knock? Or was my yard simply the ideal place for this exchange?” 

Sans looked up at Undyne, before turning to address Toriel, “I was… tori, we uh, we need to talk.” 

The queen had a sinking feeling as she stared at her friend's face. “... Very well. Inside .” 

The monsters made their way inside the queen’s house. Sans shut the door behind himself, as he did, he failed to notice the sound of soft footsteps receding rapidly from around the side of the queen’s home. 

Toriel eased herself into her armchair and gestured for her guests to take a seat. Undyne flopped down on the couch. Sans stayed where he was, eyelights dim.

The queen frowned, “We are alone at the moment, you said that there was something you wanted to tell-”

“frisk is dying.”

The queen’s mouth shut, and there was silence for a few moments. “You- If this is a joke it is in very poor taste Sans.” 

He just shook his head, “I wish I was tori. we confirmed it yesterday.” 

Toriel sat back in her seat, her eyes fixed on a point just above him but not seeing anything. “Why…” She trailed off, and Sans resisted the urge to step out of the room and put his foot down anywhere else, that urge doubled as her eyes suddenly snapped to him and the temperature in the room began to rise. “What do you mean, confirmed ?” She hissed.

Sans cringed, “we- look, we found some anomalies in the kid’s blood when we first started looking for long term effects, we-”

“You are telling me, that you have known that our child could be dying, for over a week and you are telling me now ?” As she spoke, she began to rise from her seat, the fibers of her armchair beginning to fuse beneath her paws.”

“I didn’t want to worry you guys until we were sure we-ack!”

Sans was cut off as he was suddenly yanked from his feet, a dark yellow eye bored into his own empty eye sockets. “Go ahead! Tell me why I shouldn’t be worried. No wonder Alphys shut herself away this morning, she’s been keeping this a secret for your sake, hasn’t she?”

Not for the first time Sans was glad that he couldn’t be strangled, as Undyne’s fist made his collar increasingly tight. Alphys was right, keeping Frisk’s condition a secret was a terrible idea.

The small glass door slid down with a hissing sound, sealing the small vial of blood within the chamber. Sans looked over his shoulder at Alphys who was inspecting the display of a nearby monitor. 

“S-so, you t-think this will give us a better r-resolution?” He ignored the skepticism in her voice. 

He walked over to the console and Alphys stood aside as he selected a few icons. “It should, remember how the old scanner was set up to ping off of the barrier and everything kept coming back fuzzy except that one weird shape caught in it?” 

“Q-quantum physics was alway more y-your thing, but yeah I r-remember.” 

Sans nodded, “right, we’ve been assuming that whatever-it-was that was caught inside it was frisk at the moment they fell down. the old theory was that the barrier existed across all of time simultaneously, that certainly seemed to be proven by our experiments. problem is, we didn’t have a good reference point for when that anomaly showed up.”

Alphys nodded, “The r-range was too big, the larger the timeframe we scanned for disturbances, the less accurate the imaging was.”

“exactly. the only thing we could be sure would be there was the barrier itself. It was like trying to tell time without the sun, you can trust a clock, but you can’t know it’s accurate without a reference. this time, we have something else we know for certain will be in every prior timeline.”

He gestured at the vial of blood sitting within the machine. “...O-oh.” Alphys’s voice was hushed. “Yeah, that d-does make sense based off of what we k-know. 

“we’ll ping the barrier superposition like before, but we can use frisk’s blood as a secondary target to refine the data and find out what we missed. with any luck the new data will give us an idea of what’s wrong with them and how to fix it.” Sans turned to look at his friend who was being extremely quiet. 

“Right… That w-would be for the best.” Alphys removed her glasses and pinched the bridge of her snout. “L-look Sans, we need to talk. We c-can’t keep this a secret any longer.”

Sans felt his grin lessen, “look Al I already told you-”

“I know what you s-said!” She snapped, “A-and I don’t care! Frisk could be- is d-dying!”

San’s eyelights dimmed, “I know, that’s all the more reason why we need to work fast and not get distracted by-” 

“By what?! T-talking to the k-kid we agreed to take care of? They could-” She paused and took a deep breath, “Frisk could just collapse, they may have already started feeling the s-symptoms of whatever’s going on. T-they could die from this and none of us w-would even k-know about it until w-whatever future version of ourselves woke up in the n-next timeline and remembered it. W-we’d just have to hope t-that we remembered fast enough to d-do something.”

Sans paused, and continued more hesitantly “I’m sure they haven’t started yet, someone would have noticed if they had, this is frisk we’re talking about, half the town comes running if they so much as cough.”

“Are you sure ? No one n-noticed last time, no one paid attention to how they used to f-freak out whenever someone used magic, or how even before we remembered they still c-counted the number of exits to every room. What makes y-you think they couldn’t hide something like this? What makes you think they wouldn’t ?”

“that was different, things have-”

“ What changed?! I-If anything Frisk t-trusts us even less than they did before! We were t-too late last time! We d-didn’t g-get the chance to talk to them before everyone started to l-lose it and t-they didn’t give us a chance to explain! Who are you t-trying to protect by not telling a-any-”

“I’m trying to protect the kid!” Sans snapped, “we didn’t get through to them last time, but that isn’t the only thing that went wrong. you remember how they were after they lashed out at us, I’m trying to prevent a repeat. If people freak out again it’ll only hurt them even worse, smothering them won’t help us find a cure any faster.”

Alphys glared at him, “Frisk has a r-right to know. And the others do too, I w-won’t keep lying to everyone. I know you w-want to protect them but I’m speaking from experience that the o-only person you're actually protecting by keeping them i-ignorant is yourself. ”

She turned and stormed out of the room. “I-If you won’t come clean about w-what we found, then I will . ”

“Well?” Undyne hissed

“put me down and I’ll tell you what we found.” Sans’s head spun as her grip tightened before she abruptly dropped him. He swayed and tried to regain his bearings, before locking eyes with Toriel who hadn’t said a word while Undyne was manhandling him. He took a deep breath and began to talk.

_______________________________________

You stare up at the two story house that Alphys and Undyne call home. You do your best to push down the uneasy feeling in your chest and the uncomfortable racing of your heart. Your right arm shakes slightly, branching scars from wounds you never recovered from tingle across it and down your back.

You doubt that Alphys wants to see you right now. You find that you don’t particularly care what Alphys wants.

You raise your fist to knock on the door, and wince as the motion pulls at the raised and bumpy scar that appeared on your shoulder the night before. You rap the wood a few times and quickly pull back, gripping the offending limb. 

You wait a few minutes, nothing happens. You scowl up at the door. “A-Alphys!” You call, “A-are you home?” You pause, but are greeted with nothing but silence and the door. “Open u-up!” you shout.

She still doesn’t answer, of course she doesn't. You’re going to have to go in and get her, just like last time. Your stomach twists and you cross your arms. You wait impatiently for a few more minutes before frustration gets the better of you. “Open the door!” You scream, “I know you’re in there!”

Nothing. Still nothing. Every. Single. Time. Nothing . Why would there be anything? You have no idea what prompted her to lock herself away like this, but you have your guesses, and of course now it's your job to bring her out like you are going to have a fix for whatever-this-is. Maybe it’s guilt, again. You’re sick of that too.

You whirl around and stomp off of the porch and shove your hands into the shrubbery to its side. It only takes a moment of digging until you find the inevitable camera lurking in the bushes. “Undyne is w-worried about you. We n-need to talk!” 

It doesn’t work, of course, so you call her. You stand there letting the phone ring in your hand and glaring at the screen. You hang up on the third ring. You are unable to help the small lump of worry that snakes its way up your throat. What if something happened to her? You remember reading in her lab that monsters who give up eventually die, could that have happened to her ? 

You decide at that point to throw a rock through her window. 

You heft one of the smooth decorative stones that line the porch in your hand, and chuck it at the pane next to the door. The rock chips the corner, but does little more. You somehow forgot that Undyne lives here too, of course the house would be durable. You pick the rock up, and this time you manage to make a small crack in the center. A startled yelp sounds from within and a few moments later the door flies open.  

“F-F-Frisk! What are y-you doing?!” 

You cross your arms. “Undyne was w-worried about you.” You say as flatly as you can manage

Her eyes widen, “She sent y-you?”

Your scowl deepens, “Not this time.”

Her eyes blow open even wider and she waves her hands, “Nononono! It wasn’t like that! I-I just- something came up and-” You feel a twinge of guilt as she kneads her tail between her claws and you worry that she might begin to hyperventilate. “I-I-I don’t you shouldn’t be here! You need to- I didn’t mean-”

You close your eyes and let out a deep breath. “Okay.” Time to do your job.

  She pauses when you put a hand on her arm and push her towards the door. It takes some convincing but you manage to get her into the living room. “S-sit down.” You order, and she does after a moment. You look around the space and see that it is uncharacteristically messy, papers are scattered around the coffee table and a colorful laptop sits open to some kind of graph you doubt you would be able to understand.

“I’ll b-be right back.” you say, Alphys has gone strangely quiet. You make your way into the kitchen and rummage around for a while. You can’t reach most of the upper cabinets but it only takes a minute to find a box of tea. You reach up and set it on the countertop with a wince and go looking for a stool. 

“F-Frisk…” Alphys is standing in the doorway, and you shoot her a glare as you pick up one of the chrome seats that sit against the countertop.

“Go sit down.” You say, not sparing her another glance as you set it down by the oven and use it to snag the kettle from where it sits on the rear burner. 

“Stop I-It.”

You carry it and the stool over to the sink and fill it, your muscles burn as you haul yourself up but you ignore it. You set the kettle back on the stove and push the stool back over, clambering up to reach for the dial. 

“You d-don’t have to take care of me!” She shouts, and you flinch at the noise. Something cramps in your leg, some muscle remembering it was supposed to be torn, and it causes you to topple off of the stool with a yelp. You manage to avoid hitting your head, but can’t stop yourself from curling around the offending limb.

Alphys cries out and rushes over, your eyes widen and you try to shove yourself away, arms coming up instinctively to protect yourself and… she stops. Everything seems to stop for a minute, you pressed against the door to the oven, crumpled in a heap with the stool laying on its side and water from the kettle seeping into the cracks between the tile. 

“F-Frisk…” Alphys’ voice is gentle, like she’s afraid you’ll run away if she’s louder than a whisper. You curse yourself, she knows now, she has to. You blink back moisture, what are you going to do now? “-Is it o-ok if I come closer?” She asks, still talking and you manage to calm yourself to nod. 

Her claws click on the tile and she kneels down next to you, arms hovering like she isn’t sure if it’s ok to touch you. “You’re h-hurt, aren’t you?” She breathes, and your stomach roils at the lack of a question. “When did that start?” 

You feel a hoarse laugh bubble up in your chest that you force down before it can escape. She doesn’t seriously expect you to have an answer for that does she? “T-they s-started appearing a few d-days ago.” You choke out past the tightness in your throat, “I-I thought they would g-get better but they just- get worse.” You lose the fight against the moisture in your eyes, “I d-don’t know what's happening to me.”

Alphys stares at you for a long moment, “I-I might.” She admits, “W-we’re still trying to m-make sure, but… we found something in your b-blood Frisk.”

You look up at her wide-eyed.

________________________________________

“we don’t know for sure what’s causing it.” He sighed, “there doesn’t seem to be any pattern for it, and it changes constantly.”

Toriel and Undyne stared at the images Sans had placed on the coffee table.

“The kid’s cells are… they aren’t just dying, they’re decomposing . breaking down totally.” He shook his head, “that’s not the weird part though, parts of human bodies do that when they get separated all the time, the weird part is that they aren't staying that way. alph got the samples under refrigeration within a few minutes of taking them. She went to check on them at the end of the same day and they were totally spoiled. an hour later they were alive again. that’s kept happening since.”

“I understand that there are some illnesses that humans can suffer that would have a similar effect, do you believe that this could be one of them?” Toriel asked, not bothering to try and hide the tremor in her voice. Sans shook his head.

“I’m sorry, but no. It isn’t just some of frisk’s cells dying off and others staying alive, it’s the same ones dying and then coming back repeatedly. we think it might have something to do with whatever power allowed them to turn back the clock…” He scratched his head, his phalanges rasping dryly against his skull. “It’s just a theory right now, we won’t know for sure until we have more data, but It’s like gravity.” 

Sans reached down and picked up a coaster from the coffee table. “let's say this thing is frisk,” He tossed the coaster into the air and snapped his fingers, blue fire igniting in the space between the bones. The coaster froze in midair, bobbing gently in place. “I can keep this floating for a long time, my magic is stopping it from falling down. I couldn’t do it forever though, it might take a day or a week but eventually I'd be too tired to keep it up.” He let his magic go out and caught the wooden disc as it fell.

“now if there were more of them it would be harder, maybe I could only keep it up for an hour or so, my magic would give out sooner. that's what we think is happening to frisk, every time they died they used their soul, or what was left of it, to force things back to how they were before they were killed. every time they died frisk caught themself before they could go over the edge… but they had to catch themself over and over, and they’ve been trying to hold that weight up for a long time… I think their body has started to remember that they shouldn’t be alive…”

Sans’ eyelights dimmed and he trailed off. Across from him, Toriel sat back in her armchair and stared at the papers on the table, not seeming to see them. 

“So what can we do?” Undyne spoke up, “We have to do something !”

“I don’t know.” Sans admitted, “me and alph are running some more tests on the timeline itself, we think we found a way to clean up the data and get a better idea of what we’re looking at, but beyond that, I don’t know if there is anything we can do.”

“This theory,” Toriel spoke up, her voice hushed. “Could it affect things beyond Frisk themself?” 

Sans blinked, his mind racing, “maybe? I don’t see why not, if anything was different in a prior timeline to how it is now it would have been pulled back in time along with them. That’s why we all lost our memories when frisk went back. It's probably also why we’ve been regaining them, now that their grip is slipping. why?”

“Asgore and I have been talking recently… I am not sure if you are aware, but Frisk has been inquiring about the other fallen children.”

“Makes sense.” Undyne said, “If I had been through that, I’d have wanted to.”

Toriel nodded, “Yes…something odd was brought to our attention however. Neither Asgore or myself can remember any of them beyond the most broad details of their time in the underground. Having spoken to several other monsters, and consulted what records of their deaths exist, none of them are any more comprehensive.” She leveled a steely gaze at her friend. 

“Tell me, and I want you to be honest. Could the other humans have suffered a similar fate to Frisk?”

Sans’ eyesockets widened, “...maybe. If they were fighting to hold on against a different version of events like frisk… maybe something besides just them gave out. time isn’t usually something that likes being stretched like a rubber band.”

“They aren’t totally gone though,” Undyne piped up, “I know for a fact that Asgore remembers how they died. If they could come back to life like Frisk then why would they have ever died for good?”

Sans’ eyelights went out entirely. “maybe they didn’t want to.”

The three monsters sat in silence, the implication hanging heavy in the air. “When will you know more?” Toriel asked, blinking back tears. 

“It should be about a day until the scan completes, two at the most.”

“Good. We should keep a closer eye on the child, for now. I- I am not sure, but I do not think that it would be a good idea to bring this to Frisk’s attention just yet.”

There was a long pause and Sans felt his eyes widen, “tori-”

“Are. You. Freaking. Serious?! ”  Undyne roared standing up from her seat. “You want to keep something this important from the squirt again ?! It's like you haven’t learned a single thing from the last two times !” 

Toriel rose as well, “Do not begin to lecture me Undyne, not after-”

“After what? No wonder the kid hates being around us, you just learned that the punk is dying, again , and your first instinct is to huddle them away and not tell them about it. They have a right to know about this! You don’t have a right to keep it from them!”

Sans’ phone dinged.

“I have every- we agreed to care for Frisk!”

“We didn’t agree on anything! You and Asgore decided that we were going to take them in to keep the humans happy, we didn’t agree on anything. Frisk didn’t agree on anything.”

“uh, guys?”

“Frisk is just a child, Undyne! It is our job to protect them.”

Undyne bared her teeth, “It’s our job to raise them, this is Frisk’s life, they have a right to know that it’s in danger. They can decide how to feel about it.”

“hey guys!” 

The two much larger monsters snapped their mouths shut and turned to glare at him. Sans sighed and turned his phone around to show the message from Alphys. “alph already beat us to it. kid’s been there for almost an hour.”

The queen and the captain stared at him for a long moment before Undyne flopped back onto the couch and crossed her arms. “Fuck.”

_________________________________

Across from her Frisk stared into their tea. The child sat on top of the stool they had fallen from, a bag of ice tied around their leg. Alphys wanted nothing more than to run, look away and go somewhere else where no one would ever find her, but she forced herself to stay.

After a long moment, Frisk piped up. “T-theres nothing you can d-do?” Even at the best of times, the human child’s voice was hoarse and scratchy, but now Alphys had to strain and lean forward in order to hear them.

Her heart sank, they sounded so hopeful that they had missed something in her explanation. “I-I’m so sorry Frisk. We- we aren’t sure yet, its… there’s still hope, we don’t know for sure yet, all of this is still just theory.” 

The human child hunched over and put their head down on their arms. Alphys went to reach out, before folding her claws in her lap. She stared down at the island, feeling like an intruder in her own home as she tried to ignore the quiet sniffles making their way out from between Frisk’s arms, and the way their shoulders shook. Frisk was always quiet, they spoke quietly, moved quietly, even died quietly. Alphy had never heard them raise their voice until they revealed just how deeply she and their other caretakers had wounded them. 

Eventually, the child sat up, and Alphys’ breathing hitched at how blank their expression was, even with the tears still drying on their face. She needed to leave, she realized, needed to get Frisk out of here so they could break down without having to look at one of the people who’d doomed them to this. Even so, she couldn’t help herself. 

“You…” She swallowed, “Earlier, when you fell you looked like you were hurt. I k-know you don’t want to t-talk to me about this s-stuff, b-but any information could h-help.”

Frisk stared at her for a long moment, before reaching down to their sleeve and beginning to roll it up. Alphys sucked in a sharp breath as the fabric was pulled away to show branching paths of raised red skin like a lightning bolt, tracing up the limb and disappearing up their shoulder. Her glasses started to fog up despite her best efforts. 

That wasn’t the only mark on just that small area of the human child, a set of three jagged lines were raked down their forearm like claws, interspersed by small pits and a thick band of darker skin that wrapped around their bicep. “A-are those the only ones?” She managed to choke out, already knowing the answer.

Frisk sagged and shook their head. “A-all. They’re all o-over. I-I don’t-” 

“Do they h-hurt?” She whispered.

“Only at first. Then- every once in a-awhile.”

Alphys took a deep breath and tried to compose herself, “Ok. O-o-ok. I-I think you need to go and- d-do what you need to do to f-feel better. D-do I need to call someone?” Alphys failed to suppress a shudder, she was on the verge of another breakdown herself, she realized. 

“I can just go.” Frisk said flatly, pushing their stool back. “I can talk to Flowey. Or someone. It doesn’t matter. It's ok, I know It makes people uncomfortable. I’ll be fine.”

Flow- “W-wait!” Alphys stuttered, getting out of her own seat and rushing to follow the human child. They had already discarded the ice she had put around their leg and were reaching for the door by the time she caught up. 

“I-I-I dont’t t-think you s-should-” Frisk let the door swing open and turned to look at her, face still carefully, deliberately blank. Alphys cringed, how was she supposed to explain? Frisk might even already know what he did. “I-I just don’t think you can t-trust him!”

“I know.” They said, their expression morphing from empty to unreadable. “I can’t trust you either.” There was no malice in their voice as they said it, the human child spoke as if they were stating a simple fact, the bitterness that had colored their interactions with their guardians up to now entirely absent. Alphys realized that she couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard Frisk so calm. 

“O-Oh. Right.” She whispered, as the door closed on her charge.

_________________________________

Asgore hummed as he worked, the rake was like a twig in his massive paws, and its motion was accompanied by the rustling of dead wood and leaves still moist from their time beneath the snow. 

He paused and turned back to regard the respectable pile he had already made. Come spring the bed would once again be ready for planting. He couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pity at some of the shriveled up stems among the debris, not all of the seeds had had their chance to bloom before the frost killed them. 

That was the way of things, he supposed. Soon there would be new growth where they once stood like-

Asgore blinked, staring blankly at the pile as the rake slipped from his fingers. A drop of rain fell and splattered on one of his horns. The old king didn’t notice, no longer seeing the world around him.

“Oh my son…” He breathed. 

Chapter Text

The world feels fuzzy and out of focus as you step off of the porch to Alphys’ and Undyne’s house. You feel oddly calm, all things considered. Alphys had looked on the verge of tears as she explained to you what was likely to happen, if they couldn’t find a solution in time. It was almost funny, how much more distressed she was than you are, even now. You’re… fine. Fine is a good word for it, you’ve learned from bitter experience that panic never helps, you just have to stay calm.

…You’re failing.

 You feel thin and weightless, like you're floating away from yourself. The feeling is familiar.

An old burn sears itself into the palm of your right hand and you hiss as you bring it up to your face. The skin there is burnt nearly black, the area around it colored by a thick bruise like you’ve been holding onto something hard and sharp as rock for days and weeks. You don’t remember what that one is from, maybe you tried to save yourself from being dragged away. Maybe you tried to save yourself from falling.

Closer to the bottom now, you gasp as your breath is snatched away by the wind.

You curl your aching fingers around the new scar, and concentrate on your breathing. You can’t afford to panic when you aren’t somewhere safe. Slowly, the world moves a little more into focus. You hurry on your way, trying to find a place to yourself. 

It’s no use. You find yourself moving faster, even as you try to force yourself to slow down. The desire to flee is overwhelming, but you don’t know where you could go, this isn’t something you can run from. You… don’t know where you are right now, it's hard to think. You hear someone call out, and a small part of you registers a note of concern, some passerby noticing your state, calling out in worry that you don’t want, don’t need, getaway!

Slightly taller buildings loom overhead, cold air stings your cheeks and you notice a smear of color out of the corner of your eye. Something about those things feels familiar, memory breaking through the noise. 

It's brighter than usual, and you don’t recognize most of the monsters here, but you press forward, can’t stop, can’t let them see you like this. There are more calls from around you, your bad leg smarts at the movement, and your skin feels too tight, but you ignore them and press on until you collide with something solid. 

You yelp as you lose your balance and try to catch yourself, your hands make contact with the cold sidewalk and your vision nearly whites out as your bad hand takes the brunt of the impact. Your yelp turns into a cry of pain and you curl instinctively around it, vision blurring as you peer up at the tall figure you collided with, chrome and bright colors making your head spin.

“... Frisk?” Mettaton looks down at you, confused, and his expression seems to stall at the same time as your mind starts to catch up with your body. You glance up at the small group of people that are staring down at you, their expressions unreadable. 

That sight makes something catch in your chest as the frosted ground reflects the blinding light from the gantry above and the monster’s chrome expression morphs into one of worry as he takes a confidant step towards you that becomes a stomp and reaches down to try to help you up heedless of your cries as the crowd erupts into worried murmuring and the pain flares in your leg that isn’t broken, bone jutting- and you scramble away, ignoring the cries of alarm from the monsters who mean well like they always do. 

Someone makes a grab for you, as you try to leave, the movement is almost instinctive, and you nearly fall again as they do. A chrome arm reaches out and intercepts the offending pair, you duck underneath only to encounter several more bystanders that have come over to find the source of the commotion. 

You glance over your shoulder, Mettaton is shouting and other monsters are shouting back and you can’t make out a word over the rising noise and your own fear but you see an opening, and lunge for it, stumbling again as a dog monster blocks your way and you momentarily forget where you are. 

Your knees nearly buckle as they forget they are attached to your body as you stare up at the cloaked figures, their own wide-eyed horror mirroring your own and one of them whirls around and you hear retching as the other grimaces and raises her paws in a placating gesture, telegraphing every movement.

They don’t get out of your way, and you ball your hands into fists prepared to fight your way out if that is what it takes, you already know how this ends , can’t stop, we aren’t going back and if they think you’re going to let them do that to you again if they think you’re just going to sit there and take it you’ll drag them down with you screaming into hell, two can play that game if that's what it takes for me to finally- 

And then your opening arrives, you catch movement out of the corner of your eye. Shadowed, watching from between the brick of the buildings that flank you. Your soul pulses as a fist-sized stone arcs over the heads of the monsters in front of you and slams into Dogamy’s head, causing him to stumble back, clutching it, and the other monsters whirl to look at him. 

“Hubb-!”

“Who threw-!”

“It’s that damn flow-!”

You don’t waste a moment, seizing the opportunity and ducking between legs and around arms until you’re free, the still infighting crowd disappearing behind you as you vanish from sight.

It feels like you can breathe again, your veins burn red hot and for a brief and frightening moment you feel the temptation to turn back. The memory of the fear on the dogi’s faces burns bright, and you find it doesn’t even matter that that fear was for you and not of you because for just a moment it outshone your own and burnt that ever-present terror back into the corners of your mind. You… don’t like that feeling. 

You feel yourself slowing to a stop, the cold air cutting through you as surely as the horrible feeling of that familiar guilt that claws its way into you. What are you doing ? They had to have seen it right? For just a split-second you were going to fight, going to cut your way through a crowd of monsters who were just trying to comfort you, trying to figure out why you were panicking like the world was going to end. 

… It kind of is, isn’t it? For you? It took longer than anyone realized or could have intended, but… they’ve killed you haven’t they? You hug your arms around yourself, fingers curling into the threads of your sweater, maybe this is justice. A horrible sound chokes its way out of you, a small bark of laughter, bitter as poison. You broke the rules again . Made it all about you, and now…

Your phone rings.

You inhale sharply, looking down at your pocket with growing resignation. The keychain clinks merrily as you pull it out and-

Toriel: 3 missed calls

Asgore: 1 missed call

Papyrus: 2 new messages

Alphys: 5 unread messages

Sans:  1 missed call

You grit your teeth as the screen darkens again and Toriel's name flashes. You forgot to check in this morning didn’t you? Forgot to tell Alphys where you were going before you left, forgot to answer your phone, forgot to go back ‘home’.

The phone buzzes in your hand incessantly, the cheerful tunes Alphys installed echoing out across the street and bouncing off the snowflakes that begin to fall gently around you. Mettaton would have told Alphys what happened, and she would have told everyone else. You probably only have a few minutes before someone comes along and drags you off somewhere warm and comfortable.

  You barely hesitate before you jam your thumb against the screen and decline the call. No point putting off the inevitable. You go to put the hated piece of plastic back in your pocket when your injured hand spasms and you stifle a curse you doubt anyone would think you’d know as it clatters to the ground. 

You lean down to pick it up and your thumb brushes the screen. You feel a lump in your throat as the muffled droning whispers through the speaker, staring at the flashing name until the soft sound cuts off and a voice speaks from the other end. 

You hesitate, you should hang up, you should know better than to try and go to someone. Haven’t you learned your lesson? Nothing good could come of this… but you can’t bear to hit that button, you’re tired, and your leg hurts, and you’re terrified of where the next mark will appear, of the horrible concern from the people who gave you them, and the horrible, aching familiarity in all of this that you can’t shake or bear to confront. 

Against your better judgement you lift the phone to your ear.

“Frisk?! Little buddy- I got a call from Asgore, and my old boss, where the hell are you? Are you…” Felix trails off as he seems to notice your ragged breathing, “Kid… what can I do?” 

A wounded noise escapes you, and you run the sleeve of your sweater over your eyes. The last of your resistance crumbles at the lack of a demand and you don’t even try to stop yourself as you sob into the receiver, “I-I n-need you to c-come get me.” 

There is a pause on the other end, “O-ok buddy, do you know where you are right now? You aren’t injured are you?”

You sniff and shake your head even though he can’t see. “I- no, I mean, not really? I’m not sure.” You probably aren’t reassuring him, and you frantically look around until you spot a street sign. It takes a minute, but you manage to compose yourself enough to tell him the name.

“Alright, I’m on my way. Just hang tight, ok kid?” there's a pause, and then “... Is it alright if I tell someone else where you are?” You draw in a sharp breath, and he immediately continues, “I’ll make sure the others know not to come near you, I promise, I just- I don’t want anyone doing anything rash. I need you to trust me.” 

You pause for a long moment, emotion and logic warring within you. You should hang up. You can’t! You can’t see them right now! You need time! But… he’s right, that’s the worst part. You know he’s right. And… if he’s lying about not giving you up, if he changed his mind about you… at least you’ll know , right? You don’t have any other choices left. “O-o-ok. Just- please.”

“Ok. Alright kid, I’ll be there soon. We’ll figure something out.” 

The line goes dead, and you stand there, phone clutched in your hands like a lifeline as your mouth moves in a near silent whisper.

“... I can’t hold on much longer.”

_________________________________

Felix cursed as he slammed on the brakes, nearly missing his turn as he clumsily fumbled with his phone. It rang for only a moment before Toriel picked up.

“Hello? Who is this?” 

“Your majesty, hi, It’s been a minute. Uh, Felix?” He cringed. 

“... Yes, I remember we spoke briefly a little over a week ago. I am sorry, I really don’t have time to talk right now, Frisk has-”

“That's what I’m calling about. I got a call from them and I’m on my way to pick them up now. Just, letting you know.” 

There was a sigh of relief from the receiver as Toriel let out her breath. “I am… relieved to hear that. Where are they now? We will meet you there.”

“... I’m sorry, I can’t tell you that.”

The line went silent for a long moment before, “... what?” Felix felt the fur on his tail stand on end as the queen’s tone blackened. “Listen here young man, I understand that they had an encounter with some other monsters earlier that may have frightened them, but this is not open for discussion. Frisk has undergone an ordeal today, people saw them panic at the sight of monsters and-”

“And nothing.” Felix growled, the tips of his fingers itching as he resisted the urge to flex them. “The kid only agreed to tell me where they are because I promised I’d come alone. I get that people are messed up over what happened to them, but, and I need to be clear, fuck whatever complex you have going on that makes it so that they have to call a guy they barely know to feel like its safe to go to an adult.” 

There was a sharp intake of breath from the receiver, and Felix pressed on before he could lose his nerve. “I’m going to take them back to my place. We can talk in the morning once they’ve settled down. Until then, don’t call. Keep everyone away, or I don’t know what I’ll do, but I know none of us are going to like it, and the human media will.”

He hung up and slammed his phone down on the passenger seat. Felix glanced out of the corner of his eye, and saw the street that Frisk had said they were on. He forced himself to take the turn more slowly this time, scanning the sidewalk until he spotted the small human child. 

He pulled over and was out the door before the car had finished rocking on its tires. He jogged over to them, slowing as Frisk turned to face him and, “... oh.” 

He… wasn’t sure what to expect, he knew they had to have been pretty upset for them to call for help but he felt his soul ache at the way the kid looked at him. The child shivered slightly as the gentle snow fell around them, they still held their phone, clutched in their too-small hands like they’d been frozen like that since he hung up on them. Their lips curled into a miserable frown as they lifted their arm to scrub at their reddened face.  

“Oh buddy… what happened?” he knelt down to be closer to their level and reached out, only to pause. They weren’t a fan of being touched when someone else initiated it, he remembered. He let his arm fall to rest awkwardly on his knee. Frisk seemed to startle at that, lifting their eyes to meet his own as a fresh wave of tears flooded them. They moved forward to-

Their phone rang, he glanced down at the screen at the same time they did.

Incoming Call: Undyne

Felix felt his expression begin to morph into something indescribable, only to startle as Frisk’s own transitioned from one of despair to incandescent rage in the span of a heartbeat. He lurched back and nearly lost his balance as the child whipped around and hurled their phone to the ground with a hoarse scream. 

Felix watched numbly as Frisk stomped on the phone and pulled at their hair, they looked so young . Leaning forward to stomp on it again. Then again. And again. Seeming to calm down some with every crunch of glass and plastic as their aimless fury grew colder, quieter, more hateful with every passing moment. 

Felix felt his heart sink. As he watched, the human child’s tantrum banked itself down to coals and solidified into something hard and sharp as diamond. He felt like he was watching the slow death of something precious, it was unbearable.

 Against his better judgement he reached out again, the tips of his fingers barely brushing against their shoulder. The child whirled to face him, and he managed to hide the flash of fear at the steel he saw in their eyes. 

He pulled back just a little, and refused to look away, holding his arms open in a wordless invitation. 

The child’s gaze swept over him, searching diligently for any sign of a trap. Felix forced himself to meet their gaze, and stifled a sigh of relief when their eyes once more welled up and they rushed forward, their small body colliding with him with a desperation and heartache every bit the equal of the hatred that had nearly consumed them. 

“I-I’m dying.” Frisk choked out, over their ugly sobs where their face was pressed into the front of his shirt. Felix felt his soul shudder at the utter despair in their voice. “I-I-I don’t w-want to go b-back.” 

As Frisk collapsed against him, Felix tightened his hold on them. He didn’t speak, there was nothing he could say, and they were past the point of platitudes. But for the first time since he had seen them stumble their way into his workplace, terrified and alone in a world full of people who wanted them dead, Felix felt something well up inside of him. A sense of strength and purpose like he had never known before.

He didn’t know what that feeling was, but he held onto it just as tight. 

__________________________

Your soft breaths stir your hair gently as you slumber. The worn couch in Felix’s living room is surprisingly comfortable, as is the faded throw he draped over you after you cried yourself out. It's a small place, but cozy, and you feel a sense of safety for the first time in a long, long time. For once your sleep is peaceful and dreamless. 

…

I’m so sorry. It’s not so bad down here, I promise. 

Forgetting only hurts for a little while.

Chapter Text

Felix cursed as the egg was once again crushed in his hand. The feline monster grumbled as the majority of its contents wound up soaking into the fur of his paws and dribbling down the countertop. What did land in the skillet was filled with fragments of shell. Sighing, he reached over and turned off the burner, setting the pan atop the others.

He blinked the sleep from his eyes and resisted the urge to rub yolk on his face, instead snatching a towel from near the sink. This was what he got for living off of stolen glue-patties and microwave dinners for three years, he thought as he regarded the majority of his cookware that would now need to be washed before he could make another attempt, and most of the months grocery budget that stained it in various shades of blackened sludge.

In his defense, he never really expected to be cooking for anyone else, not at home certainly. The stuff he made at the resort wasn’t really food as much as it was a craft project that looked like food. Clearly, making things that were edible was more difficult. 

He decided to try again in a few minutes, the kid probably wouldn’t be awake for a while anyway, after the day they’d had. He shook his head and made his way out of the small kitchen. 

Sure enough, Frisk was still asleep on the couch, curled up under the blanket he’d draped over them the night before. Even asleep, their small body was wire-tight, as though the slightest touch would wake them fully and send them shooting across the room. 

He… had no idea what he was going to do now. He certainly wasn’t prepared to take care of a child, he thought as he glanced around his admittedly quite dirty living room. He didn’t have the space, for one. Or really any idea on how to take care of a kid, much less a human kid, much less a human kid with serious issues who was openly terrified of everyone in their life.

Felix sighed as he sunk into the stained armchair that took up the other half of the small living room. In any other circumstance this wouldn’t have been such a big deal. Monster kids were usually raised by their communities as much as their parents, the side effects of growing up in tightly-packed isolation from the rest of the world. Everyone knew everyone in the underground, a monster child might have slept in one place, but home would have been everywhere.

That clearly wasn’t going to be possible for Frisk. It would have been one thing for their physical or social needs to be different, but it was increasingly clear that the kid lived in constant fear of everyone around them. Felix… didn’t know how to solve that problem. After how Frisk had sounded yesterday, he was less than convinced that it was a problem that should be solved. It wouldn’t be fair to expect them to move on from what had been done to them, especially not for the sake of the people who did it. 

Frisk was angry… and they were human. He was aware enough of how dangerous a combination that could be around monsters, but if he was honest with himself, Felix would take that in a heartbeat over the stoic acceptance that was the only thing they were willing to show anyone for weeks after the truth came out. 

It wasn’t normal for a kid like them to just… take stuff like that. That tantrum yesterday was the closest he’d come to seeing Frisk act their age since they passed out behind the resort counter. He never knew them that well in the underground, he didn’t really know exactly what happened to them. He’d just been going about his day…. and then he’d do it again, and again… and again. Losing a little more each time .

 Sometimes someone in the lobby would get a text or a phone call and give him the good news. Most of the time the ground just gave out under his feet and… Felix shuddered. It happened so much . He must have made that damned starfait over a hundred times before he lost count. No wonder people didn’t know what to do with them now, where the hell did they even start ? 

…Breakfast was probably a good idea. And a change of clothes… And getting them to let him take a look at those injuries he knew they were hiding but didn’t know what they were from… Dammit he needed to talk to the king and queen again now that he was actually calm. 

Felix massaged his temples as a lump of fear crawled up his throat. Why the hell did he do that?  He tried to blackmail the queen of monsters, after kind-of-but-not-quite-kidnapping the kingdom's literal trophy-child. Oh god, the king was going to kill him.  

Felix didn’t know what the penalty for kidnapping was in the Kingdom of Monsters, but he wouldn’t be surprised if he had a mob on his doorstep sometime in the next few hours. Legally he was Frisks ‘guardian’ as much as anyone else, but somehow he didn’t think that excuse was going to fly with anyone.

Across the room, Frisk groaned and rolled over, their hand hanging limp over the edge of the cushion. Felix echoed the sound with a much quieter one of his own. He’d acted off of instinct, but somehow… he didn’t regret his decision.

Felix frowned as he caught sight of a blackened bruise, almost a burn, that stained their right hand. The mark was oddly uniform, shaped like an arrowhead, with red lines running up the child’s fingers and ending in painful-looking bumps near the knuckles. He reached out… only to startle as a soft knock sounded through the door. Felix jumped to his feet, and shot a glance to the couch as Frisk stirred and tossed once again. 

After a moment, the child settled, and Felix let out a sigh as he moved towards the door. The knock sounded again before he reached it, soft, almost apologetic. “Hang on… I’m coming.” He pulled the door open and stepped out into the hallway.

Felix frowned, and blinked in confusion at the wall of floral-print fabric that took up the entirety of his field of view. That confusion lasted only a moment, Felix felt his tail grow stiff, and his vision panned up to meet the stern gaze of the king of monsters looming over him. 

“Is now a bad time?” Asgore Dreemurr rumbled.

________________________________

Flowey hissed as he ducked his petaled head back underground. What the hell was going on with everyone? The earth vibrated around him as several sets of feet passed overhead, the sound of angry murmuring barely audible.

He waited for a few moments to make sure that he was alone, before tunneling deeper and digging a small hollow for himself. He scowled, he knew people didn’t like him but this was getting ridiculous. Flowey did his best to contort himself enough to inspect the place where one of his petals used to be. 

“Great, it’s going to take me a week to regrow that. Should have just killed him and been done with it.” He had no idea why the dogs seemed to have it out for him, but they certainly attacked with enthusiasm. 

Flowey scowled, and not for the first time he wished he still had arms to cross. It was like the whole town had started to lose its mind, he’d made the mistake of surfacing out in the open and suddenly it was like one of those runs, everyone seemed to want a piece of him, and he was sorely tempted to give it to them. He doubted that Frisk would be too mad. 

Maybe he should go back to the underground, lay low until all of this blew over. He still didn't know what got people so worked up, but it wasn’t as though he wanted to be around them anyway. 

Flowey huffed, his mind made up, when someone tapped the ground above him. “They’re all gone now, son. If ya wanted to know.” 

He blinked in confusion, he was sure he was at least ten feet down, but the voice could have come from right next to him it was so clear. He sent a root snaking out, already knowing who it was.

Flowey growled and reluctantly surfaced. 

“So I guess you didn’t wanna take my advice.” Gerson said, sounding far too smug for his age.

____________________________

“Uh… no, now’s fine boss.” Felix cringed, and was suddenly acutely aware that he had shut the front door behind him, leaving him trapped between the door and the eight-foot-tall boss monster that could easily kill him with his bare paws. 

“I understand that you insulted my- the queen. May I ask why?”

Felix took a deep breath and tried to compose himself. “Yeah, I got a call from Frisk. They were losing it, I still don’t know the whole story, just that they were freaking out and got swarmed by a bunch of people. I had to promise them I wouldn’t take them to anyone else to get them to tell me where they were.”

Asgore studied the feline monster carefully, “I appreciate your concern for the child. Young Frisk’s trust is very difficult to earn, it is a difficult situation.”

Felix sighed, “Yeah, look, I think it would be best if the kid stayed with me, at least for a couple of days, long enough for them to figure out what they want to do.”

“… how much did Toriel tell you about Frisk's… status, among monsters?”

Felix blinked, “ I mean, she told me that the humans apparently didn’t want them.”

Asgore’s mouth tightened, “And tell me, have you been in contact with someone from the human government?”

“ What? ”  He asked, incredulously.

Asgore’s voice grew stern, “I was told that you made a threat to go to the media with details about the arrangement between us and the humans regarding the child. You would not have thought to make that threat unless you knew the details of that arrangement. Who have you spoken to?” 

“I’m not stupid… I know what the word property means.” 

Felix stared at the king for a long moment, before baring his teeth. “You… you have some nerve to accuse me of something like that. Really? You are gonna accuse me of going behind people’s back?”  

Felix’s paws flexed and balled themselves into fists. “You wanna know who told me what you did to them? Frisk told me what you guys did to them! Frisk is the one who came to me!” 

The feline monster seethed, jabbing a finger into the front of Asgore’s shirt. “And no one told them about it! They had to figure it out themself because even after you took control of their whole life away from them you still couldn’t own up to it. You know, I defended you to them! I told them that you lied to protect them, but even a kid like them could call that lie. You weren’t thinking about Frisk when you put your seal on that paper, you were thinking about you . Your freedom, your ‘hope’, your child .” 

Asgore met the much smaller monsters’ gaze evenly. After a long moment, Felix pulled back, jerking his hand to dislodge the claw that had embedded itself into the front of the king's sweater. 

The king raised a massive paw from his side, as he did Felix recoiled instinctively, bumping into the door and squeezing his eyes shut. This was it, he thought, he was going to be executed for insulting royalty not just once but twice .

…A moment passed, then two. Felix cracked open an eye and stared in confusion at the large duffel bag that Asgore held out to him.

Instinctively, his arms raised to accept the bag’s weight. Glancing up at the king, he unzipped it, and looked inside, his eyes widening. A few sets of small clothes, a handful of toys and books, toiletries,  a cell phone, still in its box. Felix looked up at the king in surprise.

“You are right… Frisk went to you when they were too frightened to seek help from others. That should be enough. I believe that Toriel came to the same conclusion as well, that is why she asked me to come.” The king's face fell, and Felix nearly dropped the bag in surprise at how haunted the old monster looked as he turned away, pausing as he walked down the hall.

“Boss?”

The king's great shoulders shook, “How do you… earn the trust of someone who is unable to put their faith in others?” Felix stared at him for a long moment, somehow he didn’t think that Asgore was talking about Frisk anymore. 

“I don’t really have a good answer for you boss… but you just listen. Maybe that will be enough, and if it isn’t, it’s a start. It’s gotta be up to them.”

The king nodded grievously, and with that he was gone, his massive bulk blocking the hallway until he turned a corner and passed from view. 

Felix let out a deep breath and turned to go back inside. The feline monster paused just inside the door; Frisk looked like they were still sleeping on the couch. Sighing, he set the bag down with shaking paws and left once again, making his way down the hall, and shutting himself inside a small laundry room.

“OH GOD! OH FUCK! I CAN’T BELIEVE I JUST DID THAT!”

_________________________

“That’s not possible,” Flowey hissed, glaring up at the old monster who had him trapped. “I don’t care what people have started to remember, I’ve been following people around for weeks, I’d know if they remembered me from before.”

Gerson’s beak lifted a little at the edges, “Yeah, yer right about that. I don’t remember the details myself, but I got a bad feeling when you showed up, and I’d wager there’s a reason fer that.” Flowey swallowed dryly, and Gerson huffed a laugh, though it was mean. “Yeah, I know that look. Whatever happened with you, it was a whole other thing compared to the little’un wasn’t it?”

Flowey felt his face contort into something vicious. “So what, then? You’re going to judge me around? I know what you and the others did to that kid, the third one, you told me everything about it once. You’re no different, I know you didn’t earn that old title of yours during the war.”

Gerson leaned back on his makeshift stool, and regarded the flower silently for a long moment. “Yer right about that I suppose. All that… it wasn’t pretty, kind of hard to remember really… but in the end I had to pick between that kid and my people, and my friend, and I made my choice. Was a long time before I could get to sleep after that. I’m going to take a guess and say it wasn’t like that for you, prince.”

Flowey blinked in confusion, before his expression warped and he snarled, beneath the earth his vines surged in an attempt to break free. “Don’t call me that! Asriel’s dead, and he isn’t coming back. He died a worthless coward trying to make up for someone else’s mistakes, I don’t need your pity!”

Gerson nodded, “No pity, then. But I’ll give you some friendly advice.” The wizened old monster rose from his seat. “Maybe yer right about the old you, you’d know better than anyone. I appreciate you givin us all a heads up as to where the young’un ran off to, I hope they live. If I were you though…”

The old turtle leaned down to be closer to eye level, “I’d keep away from em. People get real riled up when they think that kid’s in danger, I know firsthand what guilt like that does to a person, and now everyone’s feelin it. I don’t know why that stuff’s comin back to people now, but I wouldn’t bet on it stopping. They ain’t gonna be happy with you when they remember what kinda monster you are. You keep hanging around Frisk… you might just wind up dying for someone else’s mistakes all over again.”

Gerson straightened up, “That’s just what I think though. Maybe I’m wrong huh? Wouldn’t that be nice.” 

As the monster left, Flowey felt the stone trapping his roots recede. It was still a long while before he was able to move.

_______________________________________

Flowey hissed at the old turtle, “Don’t give me that! I didn’t do anything this time!”

Gerson glanced over his shoulder, “I warned you, that stunt you pulled yesterday got people all worked up. Even if I think it was probably the right move, the little’un was pretty out of it from what I hear.” 

Flowey scowled, puzzled. “What do you mean- whatever, they can get over it. Where’s Frisk now?”

Gerson stared at him for a minute, “Not sure to be honest, but you got bigger problems right now, I have a feeling people are only gonna come after you more from now on. I can’t say I’m not sorely tempted to join em, after what you did.”

Flowey’s petals paled. “You can’t… now ?”

Gerson shrugged, “Pretty bad timing for you ain’t it? Things have been coming back for a while now, but other people look to be catching up. Not sure how I feel about being right about you. If I were you, I’d get out of town and lay low for a while, don’t expect me to step in if people come after you for what you did to em.” 

Gerson turned to leave, as he did Flowey realized that he was shaking.

He needed to find Frisk right now.

________________________________________

You stumble into BP’s bathroom in a daze, dimly aware of a call of concern from the other room. Not now! You thought you had more time !

Your arm burns where you have it hidden, pressed against your stomach. Familiar warmth soaks into the fabric of your sweater and stains the bright blue fabric a muddy brown. 

It takes a minute to roll up your sleeve, the fibers of your sweater sticking and you hiss as you pull them away, adrenaline pushing you through the pain. Your breath hitches. 

It’s- it’s not new . You’ve had that scar for a few days, a jagged line sliced across your arm by an icicle. But it’s not faded anymore, it’s real, it’s open . Thick red blood seeps from the wound and drips sluggishly down to your hand. It’s not fair, this isn’t how it’s supposed to work! 

You thought you had more time, you thought it was over, we’ve never gotten this far before. They don’t need anymore! You dying wouldn’t mean anything now! It feels familiar in a way that you can’t bear to examine. 

This is it, isn’t it? They broke you like a wishbone, snapped like a rubber band, a rope drawn too tight. Was it always going to end this way? Can it? 

It’s not right.

A drop of red spills from your fingertips, traces over the scars on your hand and splatters on the floor. You’re aware of Felix standing in the doorway, watching in barely-contained horror. It’s too late for that but,

Someone “help,” us!

Chapter Text

Undyne swallowed dryly as she crept through the empty hall. Her gills flared and she resisted the urge to shiver. The air was filled with fog, yellowed fluorescent lights flickered overhead, woefully inadequate in the gloom of the laboratory. 

She grit her teeth and advanced, one foot after the other, the tip of her spear pushed back the dark, illuminating the grimy linoleum floor. Undyne glanced around, she had no idea what Alphys was doing down here, but the number of empty beds did little to reassure her, neither did that gruesome-looking machine. Why hadn’t she told her about any of this?

Shattered glass crunched underfoot once again. Undyne wasn’t surprised to find another broken monitor, electricity crackling somewhere within. She didn’t know what destroyed them and wasn’t about to stay to find out. She just had to find Alphys…

There was something else here. She’d seen shapes, disappearing in the corner of her eye. Some kind of slime coated the walls near the vents and plumbing. A few beds looked like they were slept in. 

She approached what looked like a freezer, a heavy door sat shut tightly. Oddly enough, the handle was wrapped in what looked like decayed plant-matter, winding around it and disappearing into the ground. The brownish vines disintegrated at her touch. Undyne swallowed, her every instinct screamed at her not to open that door.

She gripped the handle, and in one fluid motion threw it aside, shoving her spear into the empty space to ward off whatever might lurk within. The freezer was empty. Undyne swallowed, the air had an unusual glow to it, but she felt more confident then she had since she came down here. 

The corner held several glass cylinders full of a faintly glowing gas, one of which was shattered with another decayed vine dipping into it. What caught her attention though was a pile of discarded clothing, just visible beneath a lab coat and sitting in a puddle of that same slime she had seen throughout the lab. 

Undyne’s eye widened as she recognized the coat, rushing over instinctively. As she approached the puddle she stumbled back as it was suddenly sucked towards her as though by a magnet. 

Undyne just barely managed to fling herself out of the way, hurling a spear at the amorphous mass, she stumbled from the room and slammed the door shut. She breathed heavily as nothing impacted the other side, only to look down in horror as the liquid began to seep from underneath.

The captain jammed a spear into the handle of the door, slowly backing away as the liquid emerged in full, before rising up and swelling into a floating ball. Dark shapes flickered within, almost lifelike. 

Instinctively, she swiped her arm forwards, paralyzing magic arcing out and connecting with the mass. To her surprise, it stopped. “What the hell?” She whispered, horrified, “Is that thing alive ?”

She attempted to take a step back, but her legs seemed slow, her muscles like jelly in her armor. Undyne began to sweat, and poured all of her concentration into maintaining the paralysis. The green light around her fist shone like a beacon, brighter than she had ever made it before. 

As strong as she inexplicably felt, she shook, off balance. This wasn’t right, where was Alphys? Did… did this thing do something to her? 

“Where is she?” She demanded of the mass, “Where’s Alphys?!” She summoned another spear, leveling it at the creature even as her vision began to blur. 

“T-id -ll no- -am-” the creature swelled as it spoke, the shapes within flickering and twisting. Undyne felt like she was going to be sick. “-are runnin-? I’m -ot so -ad? w-y d-d-don- you w-n’t to -e aroun- me? D-on’t -eave me -lone.”

Undyne began to back up again, fresh horror fueling her even as her body refused to cooperate, trying to push her forwards into danger even as she pulled back. “-oin me. P-please j-joi-” Lightning began to crackle over the surface of the creature.

Undyne’s phone rang and she stilled, looking in confusion at the creature who had suddenly stopped pushing against her magic. Her hand shaking, she pulled it out, blinking in shock as Alphy’s number flashed at the top of the screen. Without hesitation, she answered the call and held it up to her ear.

“ Come join the fun. ”

Undyne screamed and stumbled as she lost her balance, jeans skidding on the sidewalk. She blinked, blinded by the sunlight bouncing off of the icy ground. She spent a few moments gasping for air, forcing down the desire to retch “O-oh god. Alphys .” 

What was that? For a moment it had felt like- Undyne bared her teeth and stood up. Suddenly, that unnatural strength was no longer a memory. 

________________________________

Sans’ eyelights went out as he stared at the screen. “O-Oh god.” Alphys breathed as she peered over his shoulder. “What is t-that?” Sans shook his head and tapped a few keys, across the room, a large screen came on and displayed the chart, the two monsters regarded the map of timelines with dawning horror. 

It resembled an umbrella that had been turned inside out, or a laid-out cloth being lifted from its center. Timelines continued on as normal until something reached up and grabbed them, pulling them all downwards in a funnel until they met. Time and space pulled down towards a single point.

It was just an abstraction, Sans knew, a simplification of the results of the wider scan and it was only the first frame of the simulation at that. Even so, the image filled him with a visceral dread, his skull pounded at the implications. “Sans!” Alphys shook him, and he startled, eyelights returning in a flash. 

He shook his head, “I’m not sure. looks like that one stream is tangled in all of the others.” He reached behind him and tapped another part of the keyboard, Alphys raised her claws to her mouth as the simulation played.

The chart returned to normal as playback began, countless white threads flowed along a dark background. The threads, Sans knew, represented the individual timestreams of everyone he knew, along with the world around them. 

Normally, they all flowed together, like a river, until another thread reached up and wrapped around the others, squeezing tight and pulling as though it were trying to drag them downwards. Sans was aware of Alphys biting her claws beside him.

As the simulation continued, the thread strained against the combined weight of the others, struggling, until hopelessly, that lone thread began to fray, its color shifting and smaller strands shooting out and ending just as quickly, burning themselves out before they were fully formed.

 Finally, the thread snapped at a point near its center, the other timestreams snapping back to the same configuration in which they began. The exact same configuration. What remained of the single thread floated back down, save for a tiny fragment near the top, carried along by the timelines it nearly strangled, fitting in seamlessly as though it belonged. 

“time usually isn’t something that likes getting stretched like a rubber band.” 

“O-oh. O-oh no.”

Sans felt a hopeless little laugh bubble up inside his ribcage. Of course, that made sense, didn't it? Funny that he had almost allowed himself to hope that he could have a future. “we’re going back.” He said, his sockets creasing at the edges, “no wonder it looked like they all ended.” 

Alphys whirled around and began rummaging through a nearby filing cabinet, “N-no! We are NOT d-doing this again. W-why did we e-even bother m-modifying the scanner if we were just going to g-give up at the first result?” Alphys pulled out a folder and slapped it down on the desk. She flipped it open to show the images he had shown Toriel, among them the chart from their first experiment. 

“L-look, this is the old scan, right? Here there's only one timeline, we didn’t have the range to s - scan for everything, so we focused on whatever we found in the b-barrier. It's - just a hunch, but I’d bet that o-one timeline we saw deform and end totally was the one that s-snapped at the end there. I d-don’t know what caused that but the p-point is we missed it.” 

Sans looked at her strangely and Alphys continued, her confidence growing as she spoke. “W-we already knew there was a problem,” She gestured behind him at the large monitor, “a-and now we know more. T-there could still be a solution.”

Sans stared at the screen behind her, a theory forming. He glanced at the vial of blood, still in its housing, before his gaze tracked towards the timestamp in the corner of the graph. Alphys still hadn’t noticed, he wasn’t sure if he should tell her. “hey alp-” he started.

“O-oh no.” She whispered, and he turned to face her, only to notice what had drawn her attention. With shaking claws, she reached out and pressed play again.

The two monsters watched in horror as playback resumed, and the lone strand reached out once more.

_______________________________

“You… HOW DARE YOU!” Toriel roared, her paws igniting and dripping sparks that scattered on the stone floor. “Of all the wretched cruelties you might have chosen to taunt me with…”  The queen bared her teeth at the flower, this fool who thought it would be amusing to tear at the worst of her many wounds. 

“Mom! I’m not-”

“SILENCE!” She all but shrieked, a volley of fireballs coalesced almost without her will and rocketed down the corridor. The flower ducked underground and reappeared elsewhere a second later, its petaled head shaking slightly. 

“I knew our people had fallen far… that Asgore had poisoned you, but even after what happened to those children I had thought…hoped that there was still something in this cursed place worth saving. I see now how wrong I was! LEAVE! Before I turn you to cinder!” The queen hurled another volley of fireballs at the flower, and this time it snarled back, a tendril of vines erupting from the earth and batting them away.  

“Shut up!” It howled, “I’m not lying! Why won’t you listen? It's me! Asr-”

“I SAID GO AWAY!” Toriel screamed, a final wave of fire shooting towards the flower monster. The flower once again raised a wall of vines to shield itself, only for them to ignite on contact, nearly exploding apart under the force of the barrage. 

The flower shrieked as it was ripped from the ground, flying backwards and colliding with the door. It didn’t move, and for a moment Toriel wondered if it ever would again, the flames that flickered in the edges of the hall died down to embers. The queen breathed heavily, doing her best to hold back tears.

“I was wrong.” The flower said, raising itself on its stem to look at her. Toriel did her best to hold its gaze as the monster lost all expression, looking through her more than at her. “There’s nothing for me here. Just a miserable old hag trying to replace what she lost with whatever she can get her bloody claws into. I thought you could make me feel something again, but you can’t, can you? You can’t even save my pathetic replacements; how could you save me?”

Toriel flinched as the flower seemed to notice her again, its face swelling unnaturally and splitting into a horrifying grin. “There’s no going back, is there? None of you learned a damn thing from my death, and you know the best part?” The flower threw its head back and cackled, the distorted sound bouncing off of the rock and echoing down the corridor. 

“Neither did I! No matter how many times I should have learned. Kill or be killed, that's the rule of this world. I should thank you for finally hammering that lesson home, you always did want to be a teacher, right?” Vines began to emerge from the ground and creep up the walls of the hallway, worming their way into the ceiling. 

“Don’t worry, that old fool still needs a few more souls for that deathwish of his. I won’t let the next human meet the same fate. I’ll teach them better than you ever taught me, they won’t have to die to learn their lesson.” The flower’s eyes split open along the vertical axis, exposing neon-green pupils floating in crimson sclera. “ I always wanted to be the big sibling. ”

The vines rippled, straining just before they ripped down the ceiling of the corridor and the mountain came crashing down on the queen’s head.

______________________________

You resist the urge to squirm in the backseat of Felix’s car. The fresh bandages are hot against your arm, red starting to seep through the white. You jolt back suddenly and Felix muffles a word he probably thinks you don’t know and presses on the horn.

You peer between the seats in time to see a group of monsters glaring at him, a few make rude gestures before they run across the remainder of the crosswalk. “I don’t know why there's so many people out this early but they’re sure getting in our way.” Felix peers at you through the rear-view mirror. “Still doing all right back there?”

You wince and manage a nod, still cradling your arm against your stomach. The cut isn’t deep, but you still have to bite back a fearful whimper. Your leg and shoulder are starting to sting worse, you’re too afraid to look at them. “ ‘mm ok for now. Just hurry. Please .” 

Felix cringes at the obvious lie, but puts his foot down regardless. “Are you sure I can’t convince you to go to literally any doctor instead? I know you two have some kind of codependency thing going on but I really don’t see how that creepy guy is going to help.” 

You shake your head helplessly, you can’t explain why you want to see Flowey without breaking his confidence… you probably should anyway. You definitely don’t owe him anything and you aren’t even sure he’d care the way he is now. Even so, the idea feels wrong , like you should still care even if he doesn’t. You don’t look forward to Toriel or Asgore’s reaction once they find out you lied to them either. 

“The park. H-hurry… please.” To his credit, Felix doesn’t push you further. You still aren’t sure where you stand with him now. 

Felix growls softly and pulls out his phone. You’re once again pushed into the seat as he steps on the gas.

______________________________

Mettaton stared at the door to the hotel with uncharacteristic grimness. He glanced down at his arm, now unrecognizable after the hasty modifications Alphys had made to it. He wasn’t a fan of the crude copper color of the weapon, a sleek black would have been much more his style, but at least there was no longer anyone else around to see. 

He glanced behind him through the sliding doors that led into the core. The security shutters had been lowered over the entrance, and hopefully would stay that way. He had never envisioned himself as the heroic type, not offscreen at least. When Alphys had called him in a sobbing fit and demanded to know where he was he had been baffled.

Eventually she had managed to calm down enough to explain the situation, something had been picking people off. It had started slowly, a few monsters disappearing at a time, until entire sections of the underground were going silent at once. Something had dragged Captain Undyne away, struck her down before she even had a chance to fight back. 

Mettaton felt a familiar pulse of shame. He was so caught up in himself that it had taken the death of one of his best friend’s closest companions for her to be able to snap him out of it. He hoped that this would go some way towards making up for it. 

By now, Alphys would have started evacuating New Home and gotten word to the king to either absorb one of the souls and fight back or seal them away for good. Whatever this thing was, it couldn’t be allowed to get that kind of power. 

His gaze snapped up to the front doors, dark tendrils slithered just beyond the glass, barely obscured from view. Mettaton’s lights flickered and became a dangerous red, and he summoned a bomb in his remaining hand. “Oh darling, you picked a fight with the wrong star!”

_______________________________ 

Flowey winced as the earth around him thumped dully, a few grains of dirt shaking loose from the hollow and scattering on his petals. “...go away.” he mumbled, turning his attention back to the cell phone that he had propped against a wall. 

He dialed Frisk’s number, only to curse when the call once again failed to connect. “Dammit! Why the hell won’t you pick up!” He scowled at the useless lump of plastic and glass, only to duck as the thumping sound repeated. 

Flowey bit back a frustrated yell and sent a vine snaking up to get a look at whoever found him, only to pause as he recognized the familiar frantic drumming of a human heart. The thumping repeated, three stomps in rapid succession. “Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me.” He grumbled, folding his petals and erupting from the ground. 

“Oh my god!” He shouted, “I’ve been trying to call you for ages ! Do you have any idea what I’ve been through the last few hours! Call off the stupid protection squad already before they turn me into-” Flowey cut himself off as he noticed the bandages wrapped around Frisk’s arm. 

“ Help .” They wheezed, looking at him with a desperation he hadn’t seen since he had them at his mercy. Flowey extended his stem to be closer to Frisk’s meager height, getting a closer look at the injury. 

“When did that happen?” he demanded.

“A little less than an hour ago.” Felix said, and Flowey turned as he noticed him for the first time. 

“T-they s-started appearing a few days ago.” Frisk stammered, their eyes wide. “T-they’ve never been b-bleeding like that though.” 

Flowey scowled, “And of course you didn’t tell anyone until now. I really ought to just stay away from you, it's natural selection at this point.” Frisk winced, and he sighed. “Whatever. I don’t think it's just you though, I think- and I need you to not freak out, people have started to remember my runs.” 

Frisk stared at him, wide-eyed. Behind them, Felix frowned, “Your-”

“There he is!”

A new voice shouted, and Flowey lowered himself back down as the three of them turned in time to see a mob of monsters emerge from the narrow path that led into the memorial park. For a moment, it was as though time stood still, until the air was suddenly charged with killing intent and Flowey barely had time to get out of the way before a barrage of spears shredded him where he stood. 

As he ducked underground, he was aware of Frisk yelping as Felix grabbed them under the arms and yanked them out of the way. He had problems of his own, however, as the earth suddenly dried out, becoming stiflingly hot and he was forced to move again. Flowey emerged just in time to avoid being fried by a geyser of flames that shot from the ground. 

“...” 

Flowey glanced around and saw that he was surrounded, a crowd of monsters standing in a half circle around him, their expressions… it was nice to see that some things never changed, he supposed.

Behind him, Felix set Frisk down and pushed them behind him with one arm, fur standing on end and claws out. It might have been intimidating if he wasn’t so visibly terrified. Flowey turned his attention back to the mob just in time for Undyne to level another spear at his face. Behind her, he saw the Dogi heft their weapons and Grillby roll up his sleeves. 

“So, who’s first?” He snarled.

_________________________________

Mt. Ebbot towered far above the small town on the surface, and the memorial park built into its foothills. Well out of sight, hidden by foliage and shadow, was a hole in the mountainside that was just the right size and height to admit a small child.

Within the hole in the mountainside lay a small cave, its surfaces coated in twisting vines and roots that crawled inwards, stretching towards a large hole in the ground. 

Within the hole in the ground, far, far below lay a world that sunlight never touched, save for a small bed of beautiful golden flowers. 

As the blooms rustled in the breeze, the flowerbed dipped and sunk, like silk under the weight of a stone. A cry echoed throughout the empty underground, as the flowers sank deeper and deeper down, becoming a hole in the world.

Chapter Text

Flowey snarled as he swatted aside a volley of spears, their razor-sharp points chewing through his vines almost as quickly as he could summon them. Grass around him smoldered, turning the scattered snow to slush as Grillby and Pyrope did their best to immolate him. 

Despite himself he felt a little excited, as much as he could anyway. None of the usual tricks were working. He fired a hail of pellets at Undyne, only for Lesser-Dog to block the way and catch them on its shield. It let out a bark that failed to be intimidating. 

“I really don’t see the point of this!” He shouted, “You know I can’t actually die, right? Or feel pain? What do you want? An apology?” The earth churned as he burrowed, dodging around Snowdrake and exploding up in a shower of brambles and dirt “Soulless abomination here! Hello! I knew you were never the brightest, were you?” 

He could see Undyne grind her teeth, resisting the urge to overextend in her desire to skewer him. “Shut. Up. You’re going to pay. I can’t believe I let a bastard like you run free!” His face warped into a twisted smile as he lassoed a vine around Dogaressa’s legs and yanked her off of her feet. 

“Oh, now you’re going to get on your high horse. Couldn’t wait to be the hero again, could we?” He bobbed to the side to evade a golden spearhead as it bounced back. “Of course, the noble knight. You'd do anything to protect people.” He was aware of Felix holding Frisk back somewhere behind him, their scratchy and wavering pleas barely audible over the splattering mud and pulsing magic. “Present company excluded, of course.”  

“Stop! S-stop fighting!” they cried, trying to make themselves heard over the furious monsters. Flowey had to resist the urge to groan, that idiot. He slammed a bundle of vines into 02’s breastplate, sending him flying back. He was forced to relocate again as Snowdrake launched a volley of icicles that threatened to pepper him. 

“What’s your damage?” Flowey hissed, “What, my murders are worth punishing because they happened to you?” a swarm of insectoid projectiles narrowly missed him. He resisted the urge to smirk at the chorus of angry shouting that earned him. Almost.

“Cut the crap!” Undyne snarled, as the crowd continued their assault. “Don’t pretend what you did to us is the same!” She swiped her arm forward and he was forced to duck to avoid being paralyzed. “You went out of your way to be cruel; you didn’t have a goal in mind, you were just bored.” 

So close, he could tell he’d struck a nerve. He cackled, “Yeah, I’m sure your motivations mattered a lot in the moment. Did you really have to throw them off a bridge after stabbing them through the legs?” He sneered as Undyne roared and her attacks intensified. 

It was growing easier to avoid the attacks, the other guards losing their cohesion as their de-facto leader’s bullet patterns stopped reinforcing their own and began acting alone. The other monsters didn’t seem to know what to do anymore either. Dogaressa, having extricated herself from his vines with her spouse's help seemingly gave up on bullets entirely in favor of rushing him with her axe brandished. It only took a moment to make her regret that as she was once again snared. Enraged, Dogamy charged to her aid only to meet the same fate.

Finally, things were starting to get back on track. Memory or no memory, he knew how these people thought. Even so, things were rapidly spiraling out of control. His smile lessened as a few fireballs flew overhead and exploded dangerously close to where Felix was trying to shield Frisk. He needed to wrap this up, and soon.

 “What are you DOING you idiot?” He shouted without bothering to turn, “Get them out of here!” A tendril of vines exploded out of the ground and whipped outwards like the ribbons of a maypole, forcing most of the group to scatter. He could hear yelling from behind him but was no longer paying attention, “There's your opening! GO!” 

He tunneled again, this time to avoid being impaled by an array of spears that erupted from the ground. “Get away from them you little freak! You think I’m going to let you get a hostage!?” Despite himself Flowey felt a tinge of annoyance, why was he pulling his punches again? That lasted only a moment before his face tore into an evil grin. 

“You don’t know, do you?” He launched a few pellets at pyrope, not bothering to check if they connected. “You really think the worst thing I ever did to someone happened to you?” He tittered, “You should know better. For a guard you were pretty lousy at your job. You’ve never been very good at protecting people, have you?”

Flowey blinked in surprise as a cheerful ringtone emanated from somewhere within Undyne’s armor. His previously fake grin morphed into one of downright glee , he couldn’t have planned that if he tried. It was nice to know that chance was still on his side. “You should probably get that.” He sneered.

He could tell the moment he had succeeded, Undyne’s face morphed into an expression of pure rage, and she bellowed, abandoning her bullets entirely and charging him head on. His grin simmered down to a satisfied smirk as she passed right over the vines he had lying just beneath the earth. Like always, she played right into his metaphorical hands. 

Flowey laughed as he closed the trap. Countless brambles burst from the earth and struck like serpents… only to be shredded by a dozen spears that erupted from even deeper below the ground. Flowey blinked in shock as Undyne’s enraged expression morphed into a vicious grin, all semblance of blind rage gone as her strides became more confident. 

He’d let her get too close, he realized. The captain barreled towards him like a freight train, now well inside the reach of most of the vines he had summoned. He hastily summoned a ring of pellets and launched them at her, only for them to be batted aside almost effortlessly. 

He tried to burrow away too late. “Ack!” He was helpless as a gauntleted fist closed around his stem, and Undyne effortlessly plucked him from the ground, holding him out at arm's reach. He gulped as her gaze became predatory. Flowey suddenly found himself hoping that she wasn’t about to call his bluff on the not-dying thing.

_______________________________

Not again. You desperately try to dodge around Felix, failing to get past him as he does everything in his power to keep himself between them and you. Between you and Flowey. The other monsters continue their assault and even though you know he’s more dangerous than this they get back up almost as soon as they go down. 

He doesn’t realize that you can see him slowing down, doesn’t realize the kind of singular focus Undyne and the others have on him. Flowey is playing them like they're out for revenge but it’s not about that and they know it too. They’ve realized that he has power over them, that he doesn’t just have the ability to hurt them but the willingness to hurt them in the worst ways possible. They won’t be able to feel safe again until he’s gone. 

The bullets are flying and Flowey is yelling and Undyne and the others are yelling, and your screaming is mixed into all of it just as unimportant as it’s always been. 

It’s not fair.

Why do they get to be angry? Why are they allowed to just… get rid of the people who scare them? Why are you expected to sit still and be quiet and share a house and a school and a block and a town with people who beat you to death in front of screaming crowds and burnt you to ash in the privacy of their homes and chased you through blizzards and mud and scorching heat so that you could only get a semblance of rest crouched silently in filthy holes in the wall where no one with dignity would even bother to look? 

You’re allowed to be angry. You just aren’t allowed to act on it. They told you, after you ran from them, that they wouldn’t ask you to forgive them. They didn’t ask, they just… expected it. Wordlessly. Because they care about you, because they are sorry, because they wanted you to be happy. Why don’t you get a say on how you’re going to be happy? They didn’t ask you when you got to the surface if you wanted to live with them… they just decided. They didn’t question for even a moment if they were the best people to raise you and help you deal with it after the truth came out… they just decided they were. It doesn’t even matter if you forgive them or not, because you’re theirs either way. 

Why do their deaths matter? Because he was cruel about it? Because he was motivated by boredom instead of desperation or revenge or duty? Why are you expected to be content with ‘sorry’? Like that’s enough? As though because they felt bad afterwards that somehow means something? Having to live in a town with one person who hurt them is intolerable, but you're expected to grow up around thousands? Having to watch someone they care about get hurt by him is unforgivable, but you’re supposed to move on with your life after watching him get torn apart in front of you? 

That realization almost makes you pause in your desperation. Somehow, Flowey has become someone important to you. You realize that you aren’t surprised by that idea. Flowey hurt you worse than anyone. He dragged you into hell and tore you apart and tried to make you think it was your fault after. But he didn’t apologize. He didn’t try to make you happy now , like that would make up for it, he just… listened. He didn’t try to spare your feelings, he was honest. He didn’t try to fix it… he just told you what he thought you should do. 

He asked you what you wanted. In your room, after you woke up. It occurs to you that he was the first person to ever do that. You didn’t have a real answer for him then. What do you want?

You want to feel safe again. You want to feel like it's ok to be angry with the people who hurt you and tell them as much. You want to have a future that you have a say in. You want to feel like your happiness matters for its own sake, that it's important for more than being a prerequisite for someone else’s. 

You used to wonder if you and Flowey could be friends, it’s only now that you decide you want to be. 

    You stifle a cry as a handful of fireballs explode in front of you. You shield yourself instinctively. Despite Felix’s best efforts a few embers sting you, the fresh burns joining the free-bleeding wounds from all the people who want you out of danger. 

You feel weak. There's warmth leaking into the leg of your jeans from some unseen wound, and your shoulder is cut by an invisible weapon, but you push past the pain with bitter practice and seize your opportunity. Dodging around Felix, you try to intervene, only to shriek as something grabs your wrist. Whirling around, you catch sight of Felix’s terrified and pleading expression. 

He stands there, holding fast while you do everything you can to pull away, meeting his pleading gaze with your own steely one. “Don’t do this buddy!” He all but begs you, “It’s not your job! We’re adult monsters, if they can’t work it out then that's on them!” 

Your arm shakes in his grasp, your bad hand clenched in a fist. You know that better than anyone. You don’t have a responsibility to them, no, but you’re so sick of every interaction you have with someone else being about that. Responsibility. That's not how people are supposed to work . You shouldn’t need an obligation to care about people killing someone right in front of you. You shouldn’t need to be friends with Flowey for him dying to matter. 

You’re tired of being responsible for people's happiness, and you’re tired of them deciding that they’re responsible for yours. You aren’t a list of mistakes they need to make up for, you can find that peace on your own.  

“It’s not safe!” And he really is begging now, you crack a sad little smile at that. You wish you’d had a chance to find out where the two of you stood before everything went to hell. You’re dying anyway, whether they kill you now or not. Felix can’t spend the rest of his life blaming himself for your decisions. 

“I know,” you say, steeling yourself. “But I d-didn’t call you to protect me, I called because y-you didn’t need me to want you to.” His eyes go wide at that, you knew he’d missed the point. Part of you wants to reassure him but there’s no time. You slam your free hand down on his wrist, letting your intent speak for you. He recoils in shock more than pain, just enough that you can pull your arm free from his grip.

 Then you’re running, faster than you have since your own life depended on it. Your injuries slow you down. Your body is weak and frail, but you push past it, something you don’t understand driving you forward, even against the weight of everything that tries to drag you down. 

Undyne rips Flowey from the ground in front of you. Her face the same grim and vaguely triumphant grimace you’ve seen too many times already. You never thought there’d be something worse than being on the other end of that but seeing the hateful crowd around him fuels something deep within you that you didn’t know you had. 

You push through the circle of monsters, shoving and kicking and punching and then you’re through. Undyne’s gaze slides away from the flower monster in her grip just in time for you to hurl yourself at her, eye wide in surprise and you summon up all the anger you can muster at every injustice you’ve endured since you woke up on that bed of flowers with someone else’s sins crawling all over you and slam your fist into her stomach. 

It doesn’t even matter that she’s wearing armor. It doesn't matter that you’re a third of her height, or that she’s a trained soldier and you’re a child. Intent is everything to monsters, the thing that gives them form and purpose and even though you have to bite back a scream as you nearly break your fingers on her breastplate she stumbles back with a noise of pain, falling into a crouch and Flowey drops to the ground behind you. 

You pant, exhausted. That short burst of action has torn at your already withering body and you don’t know how much longer you can rely on that newfound strength that drove you. Even so, you do your best to put yourself between Flowey and the monsters as Undyne struggles to her feet, breathing just as hard from that one blow.

“Frisk! Get away from him! He’s dangerous!” You can hear Flowey trying to root himself back down behind you. You scowl up at the Captain of the Royal Guard. 

“No!” You say, baring your teeth in what you highly doubt is an intimidating display given your stature. “I don’t care what he did, I’m not going to let you h-hurt my friend.” Undyne scowls at that, and you glower up at her. 

“This isn’t up to you punk. You don’t know what he did, what he did to all of us. He’s manipulating you!” Her fist clenches at her side, a fresh spear forming in its grasp. For a moment you’re tempted to attack, before she can get her strength back, before she can hurt you and Flowey, but you didn’t get this far by taking the easy way out. 

“ What don’t I understand?” You hiss; eyes narrowed to slits. “Every one of you did the s-same thing to me.” She looks at you sadly and you can tell she knows she isn’t going to convince you. You don’t have any illusions that any of the people around you are going to let you or Flowey go, either. Hurting you is worth it if it means everyone else will be safe from the past. You know how this works. 

You don’t budge. You can’t be the Frisk they want, you can’t be their role-model, the panacea for their hatred. It would have been nice, you think, to forgive them. Easier, if you didn’t have to live with this horrible, aimless sense of loss and anger that buzzes under your skin and makes you want to tear at everyone around you. 

You realize, standing here now, you’re never going to forgive them. You’re never going to be able to look at these people who have come to genuinely love you and see anything other than this, a crowd of angry monsters standing around you with buzzing magic and brandished weapons. 

You look up at the expressions on the monsters’ faces, and you know in your heart that this isn’t going to stop.

You’ve had enough. If they really want you to be a part of their lives then they can let you have your own. “You said you’d listen.” You try, doing your best to mask the pleading edge to your voice. 

Undyne approaches you slowly, still with that unreadable expression. “I’m sorry punk.” She says and seems to genuinely mean it. You let your eyes fall shut in resignation, body too exhausted to fight as the bloodstains of the past rise up to smother you again.

“I don’t care.”

________________________________

Undyne stared at the human child in front of her. Frisk’s shoulders were hunched around their ears, their arms ramrod-straight as they did their best to use their small body to shield the hateful parasite behind them. 

They’d clearly been caught in the crossfire during the battle, their clothes singed and splotches of red starting to leak through their pants and sweater. They didn’t attack her, or try to defend themself, they just… stood there, a little bulwark against the hatred and fear of people much older than them. 

Undyne blinked and saw a familiar scene. A lone monster child, quaking as they stood in defense of a lost human. Defending against her. This wasn’t fair to Frisk, she knew. It wasn’t fair that they kept getting dragged into all of their messes and expected to solve them or take the blame. She didn’t want to have to kill anyone for the people she cared about to have a future. 

It didn’t matter. Just like it hadn’t in the underground. She told Frisk as much when she last watched them. It was wrong, she knew, and it wasn’t fair or just or even remotely forgivable what she had done to them. This was bigger than her, and bigger than them too. Flowey could take all of this away from them, a home on the surface and the people she loved and an end to generations of despair and isolation miles below a world that had forgotten them. 

She felt like something in her soul withered at that realization. Frisk was right about her, maybe about all of them. The captain grimaced as she reached out with one gauntlet. They wouldn’t forgive her for dealing with the weed, but she thought could live with that if it meant she wouldn’t have to watch them die again. 

She laid a hand on their shoulder, prepared to shove them out of the way, but no sooner had she touched them then Frisk let out a strangled gasp and collapsed. Instinctively, Undyne stumbled back as the child caught themself on their hands and knees, limbs trembling as though the effort of holding themself up was more than they could bear. “Kid! Are you-” She reached out again, and caught sight of that horrible, familiar shine of dark blood staining the end of her gauntlet. This wasn’t right! She’d barely touched them! 

They were hurt much worse than she thought, she realized. Splotches of red seeped through their clothes all over their body. “What did you DO to them?!” The flower roared, and suddenly she was retreating, fighting and blocking as countless vines erupted from the earth and swung at her, too many to avoid.

The flower was holding back before, she realized, as she was driven back under a storm of lashing vines and buzzing pellets until she was driven to her knees. Undyne was vaguely aware of the other monsters doing their best to come to her aid, but the vines and brambles blocked their path, swatting at any who tried to intervene. 

There was a sound like gunfire, and Undyne found herself surrounded on all sides by a ring of bullets. The flower’s head engorged itself to horrifying proportions, “ D I E .” he snarled. Undyne squeezed her eyes shut as the pellets advanced.

Suddenly, they evaporated as quickly as they had formed, and Undyne stared in surprise as a ring of bones formed around her, shielding her from the pellets and boxing her in further. “U-Undyne!” She turned in time to see Alphys emerge from the trees, only to pause as she processed the carnage around her.

“O-oh my god.” She said, claws clutched to her snout. 

“what the hell happened here?” Sans asked, as he emerged from behind her, His eye sockets going dark as he saw Frisk lying bloodied on the ground, still trying to raise themself on their arms. 

The crowd’s ranks broken, Felix ran over to the human child and collapsed to his knees, skidding the last few feet. “Dammit kid! Why didn’t you say it was getting this bad?” 

“D-don’t hurt him.” They slurred, “It’s- he’s not…” They seemed to fail at their attempts to get upright, collapsing entirely. The gathered monsters watched as the fallen child’s shoulders began to shake, doing their best to hide the despair and relief that crushed them. 

No one reached out to them for some time. They knew when their help wasn’t wanted.

Chapter Text

Flowey stared up at the king and queen from his place on the coffee table. He resisted the urge to stare at one of colorful posters that plastered the walls of Alphys’ living room, instead meeting the boss monsters’ gaze flatly. 

Asgore’s cup clicked frantically against its saucer as he lifted it to his mouth, downing its contents in a single gulp. Toriel glared at him out of the corner of her eye, paws clenching in the fabric of her robe. The queen, for her part, was almost perfectly rigid, her posture straight and shoulders squared as she carefully inspected every part of the room except the part that Flowey occupied. 

Flowey coughed, “So, uh. About the murder?” Both monster’s eyes snapped to him and not for the first time, he was glad of his inability to feel discomfort. After a few moments, Asgore croaked a disbelieving little laugh.

“To be honest… I’m not sure where to start?” Toriel’s glare was rapidly starting to burn a hole in the shoulder of his shirt, “Asr-” he paused as Flowey’s previously tolerant smile stretched, “... Flowey, what happened?” 

Flowey’s brow scrunched up, “It’s really not that complicated. I wanted something I couldn’t have, and I decided to settle for what I could.” He bobbed on his stem in an expression of a shrug, “I got bored fast, I can’t feel much anymore, but I still get some satisfaction from finding new things. When I ran out of new things to find I decided to make more. Does the reason really matter?” 

“You used to like exploring in waterfall.” Toriel spoke up in a hushed voice, “The two of you would spend hours picking through the dump or the marsh.” 

Flowey turned his rigid smile to her, “I think you have me confused with someone else.” 

The queen’s throat bobbed, but she didn’t argue. There was a long pause before Asgore spoke again. 

“The reason may not matter to others.” He admitted, “But thank you for speaking with us.” his voice became choked, “I am sorry you had to go through that.” 

Toriel reached over and rested a paw on the kings’ before turning to address Flowey again. “Yes, I am… I am so sorry that you were forced to endure this. I- we will find a way to… to make this right. And it goes without saying that no one will try to hurt you again, what happened earlier today was inexcusable. You cannot be held accountable for your actions when you lack-”

Flowey barked a laugh as his smile widened into a grin that tore at the edges, splitting his face in two. “If you’re about to say it's not my fault, I’m going to kill you again. ” The queen recoiled at the threat, her mouth snapping shut. 

Flowey’s false grin faded as he dropped the act. “Let's make one thing clear, I am not your son . Asriel is gone , the last of him died when the barrier broke, and he isn’t coming back. I’m not about to sit here and listen to you cry about how ‘ oh you didn’t know what you were doing’ or ‘ oh he’s just a child’ because I did know exactly what I was doing and I’m not about to watch you grasp at straws to excuse me for the sake of your dead brat.” 

Asgore recoiled as if he had been punched in the stomach and Toriel inhaled a sharp breath, looking as though she might burst into tears. Flowey’s hateful expression dimmed after a few moments, and he looked contemplative. His petals drooped and he groaned emphatically.

“... Sorry. That was uncalled for.” He looked up at the king and queen tiredly. “Look… I can’t be that for you. I have Asriel’s memories, but I can’t be him again. I already tried.”  

The room was silent save for the royals’ ragged breathing. “I remember, after you woke up you sought us out.” Toriel said, regaining some of her composure. “Did you want to be?” Asgore reached out and clutched her hand.

“... At the time? Yeah, I did… I was scared and confused. Everyone changed so much, and no one recognized me. But now? I don’t think I do… I think I just want the old me to be able to rest.” 

The queen’s lip trembled, “Is it because I-"

“No!” Flowey snapped, before his expression softened again. “No, it isn’t because of you. I think… I tried to be Asriel again from the moment I woke up in the garden. I did everything I could think of, I helped everyone, I killed everyone, I read every book and learned every secret just to try and feel like him again.” Flowey gave a bitter smile, “And when I finally did manage to be him again? He gave it up almost immediately, because he decided that he would rather be me .” 

“When was this?” Asgore asked softly, and Flowey’s expression went blank for a moment.

“... Right, you wouldn’t know.” Flowey sighed, “Asriel was the one who broke the barrier. After I ambushed Frisk and the rest of you.” He stifled a snort at the wide-eyed stares that earned him. “Afterwards… he decided to let everyone’s souls go. He said it wasn’t ‘right’ to keep them, whatever that means.” Flowey frowned, “I think that was just an excuse though. It was a reason, but it wasn’t the reason. I don’t think he could live with what I did, it was just too much. Even with his emotions back, he couldn’t be who he was before. He couldn’t be happy.”  

For a few minutes the room was silent save for the sound of sniffling boss monsters. 

Toriel dabbed at her eyes with the sleeve of her robe. “... I am sorry. Thank you for telling me, I-” She cut herself off, and Asgore shot her a concerned glance as she choked back a hysterical giggle, “I wish I could tell him how proud I am… but you are right.”

Her eyes grew haunted, “It is not fair to place that on you. I… have placed the burden of Asriel’s memory on too many children already.” 

Flowey leaned back, looking somewhat relieved. “...Yeah. I can’t actually feel bad about what I did to you and the others, but for what it’s worth…” He scowled once more, “If you two want to forgive me that’s fine, but don’t forgive Asriel and pretend that that’s the same thing.” 

There was a long pause before Asgore spoke up. “For someone who lacks a sense of emotion… you are quite perceptive of them.”

Flowey’s expression darkened, and he glanced up the stairs. “Yeah, well… I’ve had some good influences.”

____________________________

You bite back another scream as it rips through you, corrosive hate boring through the only body you have now. Your agonized cries turn to desperate pleading as he stumbles under the weight of the old me, begging him to drop it, to run away, to fight back, anything so that this won't be for nothing. 

Days and weeks wasting away, rotting from the inside out for their sake. Choking down the things you want to say because, really? Now they’re sorry? Now they act like this isn’t what they wanted? Like you didn’t see the traitorous gratitude in their eyes even as they begged you not to go? 

Now he can’t go through with it, couldn’t have second thoughts for your sake, only his. Let it go! We were never worth anyone’s life. 

He stumbles back through the horrible twisting light, and it latches onto me as he passes, biting down like a starving predator and you know, we never really got back up. We died and it's taken until now to realize it. There are screams as he stumbles back into the garden. He drops it, not able to hold on any longer and you wish you could say the same as that horrible, irresistible force tries to tear you away from him. 

You shouldn’t be here, this is only a dream. Our cries are cut off by a surge of horror as he begins to crumble, huffing a miserable little laugh as he does and it must be so nice, to not be afraid.

No. He doesn't get to die like this, he can’t die. He won’t die, you won’t let him die . You can feel the fangs digging into you, pulling you back and down and away from the world, and you’re scared. 

You can see him breaking at the seams, without anything to hold him together, and as you’re dragged away you reach out and grab on tight and pull , his sudden screaming matching your own as he tries to hold you up, doesn’t want to let us go either. 

It’s not enough, but you’re so scared . He doesn’t let go, and neither do you, both of you acting on instinct alone. It’s too late, you can’t both make it. It’s like weights are tied to your ankles, like I’m being ripped in two. Something you can’t see pulls you down as the two of us are dragged over the edge.

Cut it off!

________________________

You wake up with a strangled gasp, tears drying on your face. It only takes a moment for you to regret that decision as pain flares across your body. You stifle another cry and fall back onto your pillow, eyes squeezed shut as you focus on taking in air. You hear voices in the corner of the room, worried tones that cause you to crack open your eyes and try to raise yourself again.

“W-wait!” A scaled claw reaches out and bars the way, trying to settle you back onto the pillows. You try to break Alphys’ hold on your shoulder and hiss as the motion tears at your wounds. She hastily pulls back and allows you to sit up, “You need to s-stay still!” She says, “You’re hurt and y-you’re going to make it worse!”

She meets your confused stare with wide eyes, and you take a moment to look around. There are colorful posters on the wall depicting various cartoon characters. A large computer workstation dominates the corner. Your eyes widen as you notice Felix leaning against the far wall, his expression equal parts worried and hurt. You swallow dryly. 

Felix straightens like he’s about to protest as you swing your legs out from under the covers and scoot to the edge of the bed. You’re too vulnerable here, but your throat is parched and just that small movement makes your head swim. You settle for a compromise and stay sitting, allowing your legs to dangle from the edge of the bed.

Old pains make themselves known and you glance down at yourself. You’ve been changed out of your bloody clothes. White bandages wrap your arms and legs, a few still seeping little dots of red. You remember collapsing, and your head shoots up as memory floods back.

“Where’s Flowey?” You demand, your shivering voice rising against your will, “Is he o-ok? He’s not-” 

“He’s fine buddy!” Felix says, pushing off the wall and coming to stand by the bed as Alphys frets behind him. 

“H-he’s just downstairs, actually! I c-can go get him if you want? Sans is supposed to be c-coming back soon to talk to everyone about…” She trails off and mumbles something under her breath, fiddling with her claws.

Your shoulders slump and you try not to let your relief show on your face. “Good- I, Undyne was…” You look around, lost. “Where is she?” you manage. 

“Not sure exactly, she and the king had a long talk, and she said she was going out to try and calm people down.” Felix’s expression darkens.

Your own mouth tightens into a line at the memory of facing her down. You’re alive, still… that's more than you expected when you got in everyone’s way. “I-I think she’s coming back s-soon too?” Alphys adds, “I’m not sure. She… she feels really bad about e-everything.” 

Of course she does, everyone’s always sorry. Until they need something, anyway. You grip the sheets tight and have to bite back a yelp as you remember your injured hand. “C-careful!”  Alphys snaps, and cringes when that makes you jolt. 

“We still don’t know how to help with your condition buddy.” Felix says, reaching out. You hesitate for a breath but allow him to put a paw on your good shoulder. “Until then, all we can do is try not to make your injuries any worse.”

You want to protest, don’t want to be bedridden again. You don’t want to give anyone the wrong idea, but you feel a bone-deep exhaustion and even though you feel sick at the idea of climbing back into what could be your deathbed you know he’s right. You reluctantly allow Felix to settle you back against the pillows, still sitting against the headboard. 

“A-actually…” Alphys stammers, her glasses misting. She takes a moment to compose herself, taking them off and rubbing the lenses with her T-shirt. “Me and Sans found s-something.” The scientist takes a deep breath and looks you in the eye, somehow you know what she needs to tell you before she even says it. You want to cry, you’re so tired of forgetting things.

“Frisk… we need to talk."

Chapter Text

 “this has happened before.” Sans’ permanent grin thinned at the edges as the room fell silent. Undyne crossed her arms where she was leaning against the wall and scowled. Across from him, Toriel and Asgore looked at each other before the queen turned to him with a frown. 

“We are aware of the issues with time, and I do not think that anyone here is unaware of what exactly happened in these ‘timelines’ as you call them.” 

“no.” Sans sighed, “ this has happened before. us remembering.” 

There was a long pause

“The hell is that supposed to mean?” Flowey snapped, sneering from his position on the coffee table. Across the room, Undyne failed to hide the way she tensed up. 

“exactly what I said.” the skeleton monster reached into his jacket and pulled out a bundle of papers wrapped in a manilla envelope. He dropped the packet on the coffee table and Flowey gave him a look before pulling out one of the sheets and regarding it blankly.  

Toriel peered over Flowey’s head with a frown and he handed the paper to her after a moment. “I’m afraid I don’t understand the meaning of these images, you are going to have to elaborate.”

“right… we've been assuming all this time that these resets revolve around frisk specifically, they seem to happen whenever frisk dies.” several of the monsters nodded, “well, we think that's only part of the story.” 

Toriel blinked in confusion as Sans was suddenly holding the printout that had been in her paw. “we thought before that what was showing up on the scans was Frisk’s soul, at some point they were inside the barrier. could have been when they fell down, could have been later.” His eyelights flicked to Flowey briefly. “we found something else when we refined the scan. there’s another timeline tangled in the others, not part of the normal stream. It’s going sideways .”

Sans tapped the page he held out to the others, “we still don’t know what it is, it may be a person, maybe not. Either way it’s trying to pull itself back into the stream, but whatever it is is too far removed.”  

“Get to the point.” Undyne snapped, speaking for the first time. She shrunk a little at the withering glare Toriel turned towards her. 

“frisk seems like they’re the closest thing for it to grab onto, like an anchor, or maybe a piton. their soul, specifically. you remember how it shatters?” 

The gathered monsters nodded uneasily, “we think this is why. once the connection to their body is severed the connection to that other timeline is too, they break apart. so what happens then? It reaches a little farther back to the last stable point where they were still around. once it makes contact, what’s left of frisk latches back onto the other timelines and everything collapses back to that point.”

Sans dropped the paper back on the table, and Asgore stared down at it with an unreadable expression. “we still aren’t sure how much of this frisk is aware of, it may be subconscious, but they aren’t the first person this has happened to.”

“You are speaking of the other humans.” Asgore said softly, paws clenching in the fabric of his pants. Sans hesitated before nodding 

“yeah… we think something similar happened to them. they died, but when whatever it is tried to pull them back they just… let go.” Sans’ eyelights went out, “they cut themselves loose from their own souls and the rest was pulled back without them. that’s why so much of them is missing, their personal timelines were… snapped. there’s just pieces left.” 

The room was silent save for the sounds of sniffling boss monsters. Across the room Undyne looked like she was going to be sick. “So what does this have to do with us?” Flowey said, puzzled. “You said we’ve remembered stuff before, the implication being that we forgot.”

Sans nodded, “that's right, it wasn’t a clean break. that rogue timeline put a lot of tension on the others before the kids were yanked out. once that tension was removed the timelines snapped back to how they were before they fell down, just with things reorganized with the bare minimum causality required for their souls to stick around. that’s probably why the only people who seem to remember anything about the kids are the ones who killed em.” He glanced at Asgore, who didn’t look like he was seeing anything in front of him. “everything else went back to how it was, they just didn’t exist anymore. our memories of it included.” 

Toriel went to place a paw on the king’s shoulder, but let it fall after a moment. “And… it is happening again.” 

Sans’ eyes fell shut. “I’m sorry, but yeah. we think so.” 

“Why now?” Undyne asked, her voice rough. “Frisk isn’t dead, shouldn’t that mean it's over?”

“no. them not being dead is part of the problem.” that earned him several murderous glares and Sans decided to elaborate before they had a repeat of yesterday. 

“they’re alive, still tethered to our timeline, but that thing… it's still got a hold of them. it's still dragging them down, but they’re anchored too tightly and so it's dragging everything down into wherever it is, pulling all those other timelines where they died closer together. the same thing happened with the other kids to a lesser extent, except, this time they haven't given out, so there's nothing to stop those timelines getting closer and closer. stuff has already started to bleed through, until one day they’ll make contact and… everything ends.” 

“How do we stop it?” Asgore asked, finally looking up. Sans paused, for a moment he considered telling him the rest. That little theory that had been bouncing around in his skull since yesterday. 

“we have to untangle that other timeline.” he said, “which means we either find a way to cut it off at the bottom, or…”

“Or?” Undyne demanded.

“or we cut frisk off at the top,” He finished. 

Sans was used to the cold, having lived in Snowdin for most of his adult life, but the silence that followed that statement felt like it could have frozen hell itself.  

“Heh… Heh heh. Hehehahahaha!” The room was put on edge as Flowey threw back his petaled head and laughed. “Wow! You guys really had me going for a while there!”  His mouth tore at the edges and his face split into a wicked grin. “Here I thought you’d decided they were important to you. That sure changed quick once there were consequences, but let's make something clear.”

The flower’s head swelled as he bared his faux teeth, beneath him the terracotta pot that Asgore had transplanted him into cracked as if something inside were straining to break free. “Frisk is my toy, they’re way too fun for me to give them up for you. I learned a lot from playing with them, so before you think about cutting them off just ask yourselves if you want to play with me again, because I’m a lot better at that game than you are.” 

Sans’ eyelights extinguished themselves and he opened his mouth to speak-

“Yeah. Screw that.” Undyne snapped, pushing off of the wall. “I can’t believe I’m saying this but the weed is right. Unless I’m wrong that’s how we got into this mess.” 

“Oh, now killing’s not about the greater good. Nice to know there’s exemptions for friends and family.” Flowey grumbled.

“Just shut the hell up.” Undyne growled, not bothering to look down at him. 

“How far back would we go if Frisk were to die?” Asgore breathed, not reacting when Toriel turned to glare at him. 

“I… I dunno,” Sans said. “we still don’t know how that gets decided, or if frisk has any input on it. from what I remember it could be a few minutes, could be months. for all we know it could be before the barrier even broke, and there’s no guarantee that our memories would come back in time for it to make a difference.”

“It does not matter ,” Toriel snapped, “Because we are not entertaining it regardless.” 

Sans stared at the queen for a long moment before nodding. “I'll start looking into ways to access that other timeline, it would help if we had some idea where to start.”

“I-It would probably be a good idea to g-go back to the underground.” Everyone turned to see Alphys coming down the staircase, her grip on the banister failing to mask the trembling of her claws. “T-that’s where Frisk died before, a-and the other humans.”

“It's as good a place to start as any.” Sans said, before looking at his friend more closely. “...how’d it go?” 

Alphys sighed, “...bad. Frisk i-is- they took it better than expected? T-they didn’t seem surprised at l-least, but I’m not s-sure that’s a good thing?”

Sans closed his eyes, “yeah, I was afraid of that.” he said before he could stop himself. 

Across the room Undyne threw him a strange look. “How are they doing?” She asked, “Physically, I mean.” 

“A-also, bad. I t-think their injuries are g-getting deeper. T-they say they w-were all fatal when they f-first got them, i-if they keep getting worse… it could kill them again.”

Toriel dropped her face into her paws, and Sans tried his best to ignore the increasingly distressed noises that emanated from beneath them.

“...ok, so we have to figure it out before it gets that bad. we should start prepping to head up the mountain sooner rather than later.”

Undyne crossed her arms, “Fine. In the meantime, I’m going to go see if Papyrus and Mettaton have had any luck calming people down. Let me know if you need my help with something or when it's time to head up the mountain.” She pulled open the front door and stormed off, the heavily reinforced wood slamming shut behind her. Sans made a mental note to talk to her later. 

“I think,” Toriel said, standing up, “That I could use some air as well.”  Asgore reached out as she left, and Sans shook his head in warning. After a moment, he let his arm down. 

The queen made to follow Undyne, and blinked as she opened the door to find her talking to a blue rabbit monster that the queen remembered sometimes operating an ice-cream cart during the warmer months. “Hello? Can I help you?”

Undyne looked at the queen and swallowed, her face the kind of stoic carefully crafted to hide her underlying panic. “Show her.” She said, gesturing towards the queen. Toriel’s eyes widened as the rabbit monster took a step forward and yanked down his collar to expose the jagged and pitted scar that wrapped around his throat.

_______________________________

You lay back against the colorful pillows of Alphy’s bed and try not to think. You’re vaguely conscious of Asgore dropping Flowey off and exchanging a few words with Felix before leaving again. 

It’s becoming harder to breathe, your ribs creak and even the meager weight of the blanket feels uncomfortable. If you went to sleep now, would you ever wake up? Or would someone else open our eyes? That thought scares you more than anything. 

The petals almost tickle, as they sway with your breathing. You can almost imagine that you see real daylight as you stare up through the sky. “You’re, uh, taking this better than I thought you would.” Felix says from the other side of the room, and the imaginary daylight fades into the real thing shining through the window.  

“Really? Because they’ve been staring at the ceiling and crying for the last twenty minutes.” Flowey snaps from his place on the bedside table.

You bring a hand up to your cheek and your fingers come away wet. You struggle to free your arms from the covers, and pointedly ignore the sounds of protest from the two monsters as you sit up against the headboard. “S-sorry, I zoned out.”

“Kid, you’re fine. It’s ok to be upset about this. It's ok if you’re scared too, because honestly the idea of having to go back to working for Mettaton scares the crap out of me.” 

The attempt at humor is enough for you to crack a smile, though it comes out wobbly and lopsided. “A-awful.” 

“... hey, Frisk.” Flowey says quietly, and you turn to look at him.  “Back in the park, why’d you jump in front of me like that?” 

You frown at him, “Why’d you save me when I r-ran away?”

He scowls up at you, “That was different.”

“How?”

“... you called us friends.” 

You blink at him. You did, didn’t you? “D-do you want to be?” You ask, hesitantly. 

His frown deepens, and for once you don’t think he’s pretending to be confused. “Can someone like me even have ‘friends?’” 

That makes you pause, you think you know how he feels. What would that even mean, after everything that’s happened between you? “... Partners, then.” You offer, and his frown deepens, twisted by something like recognition. 

“I think I could manage that.” He says after a moment, “…just don’t die, ok?” 

Your expression crumples at the reminder, you’re so sick of dying. “I-I’m trying.” You say, rubbing your wounded hand. “I-I don’t want to go b-back either.” What would everyone do to you? If you took all of this away from them? 

“You’ll get better, buddy.” Felix says, leaning forward in his seat to clasp your hand.

You close your eyes and sink back against the pillows. “I know.”

Chapter Text

You shiver as you step out of the elevator, skin slick with sweat as the oppressive heat of the CORE fades away. You lean against the cool grey stone of the hallway you find yourself in, wincing as the motion causes your jumper to rub against the fresh blisters and bruises beneath it. 

“ I-I’m sorry, I lied. A human soul isn’t enough to cross the barrier on its own.”  

You begin to shake, you want nothing more than to curl up here and never move again. It's not fair. 

Nothing about this was ever fair. It wasn’t fair when you woke up on that bed of flowers, it wasn’t fair when you met the people who were going to be your murderers, and it wasn’t fair when you had to keep going after they were. It’s not fair that you’re here, now, where no one wanted you to be, but everyone knew you would end up one way or another. 

It doesn’t matter, what’s going to happen will happen. Has happened. There’s no point being afraid of the inevitable. 

You push off of the wall, hands clenched into fists at your sides. Your steps are stumbling, uneven as you make your way down the corridor. Everything is the same color, even the stone that forms the walls and ceiling lacks seams, it's disorientating. Your head swims with vertigo as the corridor ends and you emerge out onto a raised walkway. Your eyes go wide as you take in the cityscape around you, the same pale stone stretching upwards towards the ceiling of the cavern. 

There are no lights in any of the windows, the city seems eerily quiet as you make your way down the path. You steady yourself against the wall that stretches opposite the walkway and you realize that these must be the battlements of the castle you had seen from across the lake in waterfall. Your unease only grows as you pass through an archway and emerge into a familiar place.

The cozy home sits nestled in the center of the courtyard, a monochrome copy of the place your journey began in earnest. Your head swims at the symmetry. You pause to touch the softly pulsing light at the center of the courtyard, where the great dead tree stood in its twin. The light tugs at something thin and tight in your chest. 

You try the front door and find it unlocked, As you pass over the threshold that sickening familiarity only deepens. There are noises from the other rooms, sounds of conversation and casual laughter. You try to ignore it. If this is really a mirror of Toriel’s house, then the way forward is straight ahead anyway.

There’s a decorative chain barring the stairs, a note hanging from it. “ Howdy! I’m in the garden, if there is anything you need to get off of your chest, please don’t hesitate to come. The keys are in the hallway and kitchen. ’

 It would be simple enough to duck under it but something about that just feels… wrong. You think it's a little silly that you would care about boundaries in the home of the monster who is going to kill you… but you wouldn’t mind putting that off for a little longer.  

You glance furtively over your shoulder at the sounds from the other room. If this place really is laid out the same, then the living room is over there. Deciding not to try your luck with whoever it is, you head down the hallway instead. 

…It really is just the same as before.

You try the handle of the first door you come to and find it unlocked. There’s no hesitation as you enter into a child’s bedroom. No, a children’s bedroom. There are two beds pressed against opposing walls. There’s macaroni art of a golden flower above one of the headboards and you step closer and smooth your hand over the covers. If you laid down here you might never get up.

You feel the sudden urge to puke. 

Shaking your head, you step away and try the wardrobe instead, it's filled with a variety of striped shirts. You’re half tempted to replace your ratty, bloodstained jumper, but the thought makes your skin crawl for reasons you don’t understand. 

No part of the room is dusty or unclean from what you can see. There's a little mess, a few toys scattered on the carpet, but only the kind you would hope to see from a room like this. 

You feel an irrational urge to put the toys away, there’s something deeply wrong about this place in a way you can’t understand. It’s as though the room’s occupants could scurry through the door any minute.

… something terrible happened here. 

The toys in the chest are all dusty, the only part of the room that isn’t pristine. You do your best to ignore them, turning your attention to the gifts on the ground. Your hands shake a little as you unwrap the first, drawing out a small dagger in a worn sheath. You pull the blade out a little. It's old but well maintained, the blade sharp as a razor when you slide your thumb along it. 

You stick your thumb in your mouth and shove the dagger into the back of your waistband, something tells you that you’re going to need a weapon soon. You hesitate at the second gift, but eventually curiosity gets the better of you and you unwrap it, pulling out a locket in the shape of an inverted heart.

The locket feels like it could burn a hole in your palm as you hold it. The simple inscription strikes at something deep and painful that you can’t quite remember. You leave it dangling from the bedpost just below the macaroni art. Maybe one day its owner will return, wouldn’t that be nice? 

As you exit the room, you nearly step on a froggit waiting outside the door. You clap a hand to your mouth to muffle a surprised yelp as the monster begins to speak. “A long time ago, a human fell into the ruins.” 

You meet its gaze wide-eyed as another hops up behind it, seeming to pick up where it left off, “Injured by its fall, the human called out for help.” 

You brace yourself for the attack you’re sure is coming, but after a moment, they simply move aside. You take the opportunity to flee deeper into the home. 

You only get a few steps before two whimsums descend from the ceiling. “Asriel, the king’s son, heard the human’s call.”

“He brought the human back to the castle.” You try to push down the weight in your stomach as they too retreat.

You pass a few golden flowers, blooming in large pots.  Stopping at a small hutch, a silver key sits on it. You only hesitate a moment before pocketing it. Something makes a sound from behind you and you once again have to stifle a shriek as a group of moldsmals seep out from the cracks in the floorboards. “Over time, Asriel and the human became like siblings.”

“The king and queen treated the human child as their own.”

“The underground was full of hope.” 

Your breathing goes funny as they retreat, why are they telling you this? You chance a peek into the door at the end of the hall, a large bed dominates the room. Your hands tremble as the door clicks shut, and your gaze is drawn by a large mirror nearby. 

The face of a stranger greets you. Your skin is soiled by dirt and sweat, scratches cover your cheeks and what parts of your sweater are visible in your reflection are stained a reddish brown. It feels like forever since you stood in front of this mirror’s twin, having just woken up with no idea who you were supposed to be.

You still don’t really know, but maybe that's ok. Maybe you can just be you, despite everything. 

There’s the sound of a footstep, and this time you aren't surprised to see another pair of monsters approaching. “Then... one day,”

“The human became very ill.” 

You hurry back the way you came the moment they step aside, dread rising. You have to find the other key and get out of here. It doesn’t matter what they say, there’s only one way this can end. You stumble to a stop as you emerge into the living room and find it full of monsters. They all pause in their conversations, as they see you. They all look so… happy . Your breathing becomes ragged as they politely look away, allowing you to rush into the kitchen.

There’s another key on the countertop, stuffing it in your pocket to keep the other company you rush back out. “The sick human had only one request.” a vegetoid pipes up.

“To see the flowers from their village.”

The room goes quiet for a moment, a few of the monster’s smiles fading away. “But there was nothing we could do.” 

You cast a glance at one of the flowers in its pot as you return to the foyer and unlock the chain, stepping over it. You enter another familiar corridor as you descend the stairs, another monster waiting for you at the bottom. 

“The next day.”

“The human died.” 

Your eyes sting as you push past them. Why? Why are they telling you all this? What do they want from you? 

“Asriel, wracked with grief, absorbed the Human’s soul.”

“He transformed into a being with incredible power.”

The monsters are approaching you faster now, emboldened by the others. You stare at your shoes as you make your way down the empty corridor, hands clenched into fists at your sides. You hope the monsters can’t see your expression. 

“With the human soul, Asriel crossed through the barrier.”

“He carried the human’s body into the sunset.”

“Back to the village of the humans.” 

“Asriel reached the center of the village. There, he found a bed of golden flowers.”

“He carried the human onto it.”

You aren’t able to stop the wounded noise you let out as you emerge from the hallway onto another elevated path. The monsters are everywhere now, barely any pause in the story as they flank you on the path. Something curdles deep inside you at the bittersweet look they give you. You glance over the edge of the battlements and see even more people crowding the streets below. They’re… all here. 

“Suddenly, screams rang out.”

“The villagers saw Asriel holding the human’s body.”

“They thought that he had killed the child.”

Shut up! You want to scream. Stop talking, you don’t have to say any more. You already know how this ends, there was never any avoiding it. The monsters seem to notice your distress, less of them meet your gaze. 

“The humans attacked him with everything they had.”

“He was struck with blow after blow.”

“Asriel had the power to destroy them all.” 

“But…”

“Asriel did not fight back.”

Your lip trembles as you march down the path. Is that why you need to die? To make up for what the other humans did to them? That’s what this is, then, not a story, but a sentence. They’d never told you any of this, up to now. What would be the point when you were just going to die? Somehow, knowing the reason doesn’t make you feel any better. 

“Clutching the human…”

“Asriel smiled and walked away.” 

You should have known it wouldn’t be that easy. All those monsters you met, all those people you talked into letting you go, or giving up the chase… Every single person you met knew this was going to happen to you. No one ever pulled you off the block, just handed the axe to someone else. Every one of them, passing the buck down to the next monster until you wound up here, at the end of the line. There’s nowhere for you to run now, and no words that can change the way things are. Maybe that’s why they all look so… sad.

“Wounded, Asriel stumbled home.”

“He entered the castle and collapsed.”

“His dust spread across the garden.”

“The kingdom once again fell into despair.” 

“The king and queen had lost two children in one night.” 

“The humans had once again taken everything from us.” 

And now all these people are here to… what? To apologize? For what they did to you? For what they’re going to do? 

“The king decided that it was time to end our suffering.”

“Every human that falls down here must die.” 

“With enough souls, we can shatter the barrier forever.” 

No. There’s no regret here. Just pity, a sense of inevitability. Maybe even a hint of gratitude, if you’re lucky. The monsters on the streets below wave up at you.

“It’s not long now!”

“King Asgore will let us go!”

“King Asgore will give us hope!”

“King Asgore will save us all!”

You grind your teeth as you give up on holding back the moisture in your eyes. You can’t bring yourself to look them in the eye, you can hear it in every word, in the way the taller monsters look down at you. ‘We’re sorry. You don’t deserve this. It doesn’t change anything.’

You catch a flash of red fabric disappearing into the crowd, and your miserable frown deepens. You didn't want to be proven right. You open your mouth to call out, only for your attention to be dragged back as the monsters continue. 

“You should be smiling too!”

“Aren't you excited?” 

“Aren’t you happy?” 

Your nails leave crescents on the flesh of your palms. You’re sickened by the attempt to comfort you, even more so by the overwhelming temptation to accept it. You shouldn’t, you know it wouldn’t help… but you can’t help it. You don’t want to die alone. 

An archway looms above you, the delta rune inscribed at its apex. Your back is to the monsters now, and you take the opportunity to scrub away at your eyes, trying to get rid of some of the redness and weakness before they can see. When you open them again, a lone froggit sits in front of you, it croaks sympathetically. 

“You’re going to be free.” 

You do your best to hold your head up as you pass through the arch into what has to be the deepest part of the castle, the closest you’ve been to the surface since you’ve fallen. The soles of your boots click on the checkered tile as you emerge into a large hall. Warped sunlight floods from the massive windows that flank you, bathing the room in extremes of light and shadow. 

Somewhere outside a bell tolls, and you suddenly become aware that you aren’t alone. A lone figure stands in front of you, hidden by the long shadow cast by one of the pillars that flank you. “so. you’ve finally made it.” 

____________________________

Sans grimaced and rubbed the back of his skull. Alphys’ lawn was covered in popup tents, swarming with monsters doing their best to hide their unease. He glanced over at her as she once again raised her camera and snapped a picture of the current subject. 

The Astigmatism blinked and recoiled at the bright flash, and the scientist lowered the camera, looking down at it before giving a short nod. “T-that’s good. We’ll let you know when we k-know more. If it g-gets any worse, or more show u-up then give one of u-us a call.” 

The monster's face shifted, and its oversized eye was replaced by a frown. “What if it starts hurting again?” Its arm elongated and rubbed at one of its horns, one of which was conspicuously shorter and more jagged than the other.

“then come get us immediately. if you can’t get ahold of us, contact the king and queen.” Sans said.

“How are they supposed to help?” It demanded.

“I-I’m sorry, we’re doing what we can. I have to a-ask you to leave now, there are other p-patients.” 

The monster grumbled and shuffled away, and Alphys sighed as she dropped the camera on the folding table in front of her. Sans chuckled as she lifted her glasses and rubbed at her eyes.

“not what we signed up for huh?”  

She shook her head. “I-It’s not that, I just… I thought I was done with all this. Watching p-people die and not being able to h-help…” 

“… you know this isn’t your fault, alph.”

“I made him.”

Sans paused, “huh.”

“The f-flower.” She continued, unprompted. “I t-took him from the garden and I just… I didn’t have any idea what I was doing. I was so d-desperate for it to work.” She turned to look at him and a self-deprecating smile crossed her muzzle at the empty eyesockets that greeted her, “d-doesn’t that make all of this m-my fault?”  

Sans’ eyelights slowly returned and he stared at her thoughtfully for a few moments. “yeah. and it's my fault, for not stopping him, and for not stopping you from messing with the souls.”

“T-that’s not-” 

“and it’s asgore’s fault, for declaring war and killing those kids, and it’s tori’s fault for not stopping him . It’s everyone else’s fault for helping him, and my bro’s fault for wanting to be a part of it, and undyne’s fault for leading the charge, and the kids’ fault for falling down, and the humans’ fault for putting us down there, and probably someone else’s fault before that too.” 

The scientist’s frown deepened, “I’m not s-sure that’s how it works.”

“does it work?” he asked, “It doesn’t seem like it. This whole thing started from people wanting to blame someone, anyone, for what happened to em. the humans, asgore, the flower… don’t make the mistake of blaming yourself too.”

Alphys let out a nervous laugh, “I c-can’t believe you're trying to give me a pep-talk.” She went quiet, “I still m-messed up.”

Sans sighed as he stared at the line of anxious monsters, currently being kept at bay by a furiously gesticulating Undyne. “yeah, there’s a lot of that going around right now. don’t get too distracted by it, it’s not too late to make things right. there’s a difference between feeling guilty and making amends.” 

Alphys shook her head, “I’m at a loss on how we’re supposed to do t-that , but you’re right. I don’t really have time for the self-pity thing right now. I’m going to upload the latest b-batch while U-undyne has things under c-control. I could use a minute to c-clear my head anyway. And Sans? Thanks.” 

Sans shrugged as he began to saunter away, “no problem, we’re all gonna have to have a huge talk after all this is over. clearly some things need to change.” The skeleton stepped out from the shade of the tent and made his way over to Undyne just as she threw her hands up in frustration.

“WE DON’T KNOW! BACK OF THE LINE! NOW!”  The bear monster in front of her growled and crossed its paws before seeming to realize that it wasn’t going to get better results. Grumbling, it turned and limped to the rear of the crowd.

“that could have gone better.” 

“Ugh, I can’t blame people for freaking out but this might be more than I can handle on my own. If more people keep showing up then we’re going to have to start turning them away.” The two monsters stepped back and Undyne crossed her arms as she swept her gaze over the chastised crowd as it reorganized back into a line. “My big worry is if the wounds start getting worse, like what’s happening to Frisk. If that happens, I’m not going to be able to keep a lid on it. We could wind up with another mob on our hands.”

“yeah…” Sans said, “so, about that, are we going to talk about yesterday?”  

Her scowl deepened. “If you’re going to chew me out too, don’t bother. The king and Alphys already beat you to it.” She shrugged, “Look, I’m not sorry I went after the plant. Even less now that this is happening.” She nodded towards the other monsters, “But you're right that I shouldn’t have done it the way I did, and I definitely shouldn’t have let the punk get involved.” 

“frisk would have involved themself regardless. but I get it, you’re not the only one who lost people to that thing.” 

Undyne growled, “Just the thought of that freak getting to just… walk away from everything he did makes me want to break something.” She sighed, “But… Frisk was right earlier when they called me out too. I thought it was right to go after them in the underground too and look where that got us.” 

“welp, either way I won’t judge you for it. between you and me, I have a hunch we’re going to need his help to figure this out anyway.” Sans’ eyelights dimmed thoughtfully.

The fish monster glared at him out of the corner of her eye. “Stop beating around the bush, what do you know?”  

Sans looked up at her “I went over everything earlier, you know as much as we do now.” 

“Yeah, but I could tell you were holding something back around the others. What’s got you spooked?” 

He looked away, “It’s just a hunch, you don’t need to worry about it.”

Undyne eyed the slowly moving line before turning back to him with a blank expression. “I have time.” 

“... right. something’s been bothering me about the scan. we got data back from what I’m guessing were the other human kids when we ran it again. I had the idea of refining the results by searching for frisk’s blood.” 

“So?” 

Sans turned back to her, eyesockets empty. “so why the hell would the other kids show up?”

Undyne’s eye widened and after a moment she opened her mouth to reply-

“BROTHER!” The two monsters whirled around to see Papyrus waving from the front door. “THE HUMAN IS ASKING TO SPEAK TO US!”

________________________________

Your legs fold up underneath you as you come to the bottom of the stairs. You can’t stop shaking as you catch your breath, this isolated corner of the castle is a small but needed mercy from the monsters that surround you. You put your head in your hands as you sit on the bottom step, trying desperately not to think about the shadow’s words.

Are you seriously supposed to believe that they love you?

You want nothing more than to curl up on the floor of this quiet corner and cry, but you can’t. You can’t . You are not safe here, the only reason the monsters in the rest of the castle didn’t attack you is because they knew you were marching to your death anyway. It's almost over, you just want to cry .

Taking deep, gasping breaths, you wipe your nose on the sleeve of your jumper and blink against the persistent burning in your eyes. The sharp edge of the ivory step cuts into the backs of your bare knees that are scraped raw and bleeding from countless desperate flights. You’re almost out, you’re almost home.

You’re going to be free.

You give up on regaining your composure, the king won’t care if you’re crying or not when you go to meet him. And you have to go to meet him. You can’t turn back now, no matter what anyone says. You wipe your eyes one last time and slap your cheeks. You’re just turning to start heading back up the stairs when you see them.

Your blood immediately runs cold as you realize what you have found. What little composure you had managed to regain instantly vanishes. Six, no, seven small coffins sit on a slightly raised platform, arranged in an orderly row down the small room. Your knees knock together as you approach.

You don’t want to look, you want to be anywhere but here right now, you don’t even know where home is but you want to be there. You stumble, but catch yourself on the first coffin. You feel like a passenger in your own body as you look down at the crimson gem embedded in the lid. There is no doubt, it's a perfect match.

It’s You! 

Your knees threaten to give out as you do your best to support yourself with the coffin. Your head swims and you nearly collapse but manage to catch yourself when the lid slides back slightly from your weight. The stone of the coffin makes a grinding sound as it moves, and you take a stumbling step back. 

Your stomach twists, and you know that there’s no going back if you do this, but you’ve come so far, you have to know . Gingerly, you plant your palms along the side of the lid and push with all your meager strength. The lid slides slowly back until the top of the coffin is uncovered.

Empty. 

You aren’t sure if that makes you feel better or worse. You notice an irregular indentation on the lid of the coffin just below the ruby heart and rub your fingers over it. Maybe it was an inscription once, but time has worn it down to nothing. 

The stone grinds again as you pull the lid back into place. You can’t get it the last few inches, but it will be open again soon enough. You look up at the other coffins and you try to steady your shaking limbs as you stumble to the next. You feel a little delirious, part of you knows that nothing good could come from seeing what is inside, but it’s like you’re a passenger in your own body. You don’t want to remember this. 

You ignore your misgivings and set your hands to the lid. The grinding of stone nearly blocks out the sound of static in your ears as it slides back, further and further until it falls clean off with a loud boom.

You stare down into the coffin and for a heartbeat the worlds appears to stop, the echo of the coffin lid hitting the floor cut off mid-reverb as your vision tunnels, head pounding like something is trying to escape your skull as your vision warps in a futile attempt to obscure the deathly image of your own face that stares back up at you. 

It's you. 

The world fractures like a pane of glass and your scream joins another far below you, color bleeds from everything around you as the shards of the world spiral downwards towards a single point. 

Everything stops.

The world stutters back into place and you do your best to hold your head up as you pass through the arch into what has to be the deepest part of the castle, the closest you’ve been to the surface since you’ve fallen. The soles of your boots click on the checkered tile as you emerge into a large hall. Warped sunlight floods from the massive windows that flank you, bathing the room in extremes of light and shadow. 

A horrible pain sears through your head and you stifle a whimper and clutch at it, stumbling to a stop in the center of the hall. You blink around at your surroundings and try to push down the uneasy deja-vu that courses through you. After a few moments the pain fades away and you uncurl your fingers from where they are clutching your hair. That hasn’t happened since you woke up on that bed of flowers.

You’re forgetting something important; you just know it. Why can’t you remember? Trying to hold onto that certainty feels impossible, like the world itself wants you to forget.

You suddenly become aware that you aren’t alone. The thought vanishes like smoke as you turn to see a lone figure standing in front of you, hidden by the long shadow cast by one of the pillars that flank you. “so. you’ve finally made it.” 

__________________________

Your eyes shoot open and in an instant, you’re throwing back the covers and rolling onto the floor. You come to a stop on your hands and knees and retch uncontrollably, bile flooding out of your mouth. You kneel there, chest heaving when it finally stops and choke back a cry as your wounds remind you of their presence. 

You glance at the open door of Alphys’ bedroom and hear noise from downstairs. Footsteps point on the staircase and you lift a shaking hand to the edge of Alphys’ workstation, shakily getting to your feet. 

You feel your stomach settle, for the first time in what feels like forever you know what you have to do. 

Chapter Text

You cup your hands under the cool water and lift a handful of it to your face. The cold shock against your eyelids relieves some of the ever-present fatigue that seems to seep out of your bones, trying to stop you before you’ve even set off. Your reflection doesn’t look the same when you look into the mirror. You doubt you’ll ever be able to look at yourself the same way again. 

All that missing time, the life you knew you must have had but could never remember. It always felt like you opened someone else’s eyes, on that bed of flowers. Even now, your memory still feels like an impenetrable wall, someone else’s life seeping through the cracks. You’re not sure you’ll ever be whole again. 

… don’t think about it too hard, nothing good can come of it. 

You look around at the cool blue tile of Alphys’ and Undyne’s bathroom and roll your shoulders, wincing as the cut along your collar reminds you it's there. You feel… a little better, now that you’ve managed to get some sleep, no longer like you’re going to collapse at any moment. You still feel weak, and you don’t want to think about what will happen if your wounds continue getting deeper, but for now at least you can move around under your own power. You’re good at living for now. 

The tap hisses merrily and you take the opportunity to quench your thirst, finding yourself grateful for Alphys’ short stature that lets you reach her sink. You reach out and shut off the water, grimacing one last time at your reflection. Your body is covered in bandages, you haven’t yet worked up the courage to check underneath them. 

You reach out for the duffle bag Felix set on the ground and pull out a change of clothes. Finally feeling a little more human, you tug on the hem of your striped sweater and turn to the door.

Felix straightens as you tug open the door with your good hand, standing up from where he was leaning against the wall. You turn and look up at him as he does, and he isn’t quite able to mask his concern. “Are you going somewhere buddy?” He asks, noticing you’re no longer in your pajamas, and you nod. 

He winces, “I don’t think the others are gonna be too happy about that, Is it something you can tell me about?”

“I’ll talk to them.” You say, “Before I go.” 

“Kid…” He begins, before cringing and kneeling down to be closer to your level. “I know it probably seems like you have to do everything alone, but we’re working on finding a fix. It’s not your job to figure this out for everyone.” 

You twist the hem of your sweater in your hands, “It’s my life.” You say, hoping that’s still true, “I’m not doing it for a-anyone else.”  

“You shouldn’t even have to do it for you.” 

You shrug helplessly, that doesn’t matter either. Felix just sighs, “I know that look. I’m not going to convince you, am I?”

You shake your head. “Sorry…”

“Don’t be, buddy. Can you at least tell me what’s so important?”

You nod again, “With the others.” You suppress a nervous shiver, you can’t properly explain why it's so important for you to leave without giving away the truth that you remembered. You… aren’t ready for that. You still don’t know how to feel about it yourself, much less how you’d convince someone else.

Felix sighs, you can tell he isn’t happy with how vague you’re being. “Well, I got everyone together like you asked.” 

You nod gratefully. It occurs to you that this might be the last chance the two of you have to talk. You don't know what’s going to happen next. “I never thanked you.” You say, “For letting me hide with you, before.” 

“Buddy… you don’t have to thank me for that.” He tries and fails to crack a reassuring smile, ‘please don’t thank me for that’ it says. “Anyone else would have done the same.”

You bark a small laugh at that, but it sounds pained even to your own ears. “No one e-else did . It meant alot.” Your breathing hitches and you take a moment to try and steady your voice. “If… If it doesn’t work, can I come find you again?” It's a stupid thing to ask, whatever version of us that came after our failure won’t know to look, but it’s something to hold onto. More things to hold onto would be nice. 

He doesn’t seem to know what you’re talking about, but he doesn’t press you for an explanation. “Of course kid. I promise, I’ll be there when you need me.” He goes to stand up, but freezes as you lunge forward and wrap your arms around him. A paw comes around to pat your back.

You pull away almost as fast, cheeks warm, but Felix doesn’t mention it. You take a moment to swipe at your eyes and when you look back up at him you feel a little bit more stable. “Okay. I’m ready.” 

Felix leads the way downstairs, and you hear murmuring from Alphys’ living room. You stumble partway down the steps as a fresh pain flares along your side, and the murmuring goes quiet. Felix turns to look at you with concern and you reluctantly accept the hand he offers to help you down the remaining way.

You let go the second you reach the bottom and look up at the gathered monsters. You take a deep breath and steel yourself before looking up and meeting their gaze for once without a hint of fear. “I need to go back to Mt. Ebbot.”

The monsters are silent. You expected them to protest immediately, for them to insist that you go back upstairs, get back in bed and let them handle things. Somehow the quiet is even more uncomfortable. 

“Child… may I ask why?” Asgore says hesitantly, finally breaking the silence.

You stifle a sigh of relief and bring your bad hand up to clutch at your sweater. The oddly shaped bruise is darker now, almost black, like a brand burnt into your skin. “I-I left something there. Something important. I have to get it b-back.” 

“Whatever this is, could it not wait until you are healed?” Toriel says, “You are seriously injured, my child, is it truly worth risking your life?” 

“ Yes ” You insist, “It is. I think it’s what’s c-causing all of this. I n-need to do something there.”  

“COULD WE NOT SIMPLY DO IT FOR YOU?” 

“W-we were going to go b-back to run some tests anyway!” Alphys pipes up, fidgeting with the buttons of her coat. 

“Then I’ll come w-with you!” You say, desperately hoping that that will be the end of it.

Sans reaches out to put a hand on your shoulder “kid, we don’t know what will happen if you-”

“No!” You snap, shrugging him off, and he takes a step back. We aren’t getting anywhere. You take a few seconds to steady your breathing, and when you speak up again your voice is flat and cold. “I’m going . I have to go b-back to the ruins, I started something a long time ago. I have to finish it or something a-awful is gonna happen.” You clench your hands into fists, the swollen knuckles on your right burning as they move. We’ve left so much of ourselves behind, you won’t let go of what might be your last chance to make it right.

The monsters stare at you sadly. You can tell they want to protest more, try and make this their problem. It isn’t, and you refuse to let them take it from you. You tried to play along, after they remembered. You tried to pretend that things could go back to how they were those first few months on the surface, when for just a little while, it felt right. Even now, it feels like you should give in, like making them happy is what you’re supposed to do. Never again.

They only want to take care of you. Nothing would make them happier than seeing you happy after everything you’ve been through, but you need to believe that your happiness is worth more than what it means for theirs. In the underground it felt like when people wanted you to be miserable, that was what you were supposed to do. Now everyone wants you to be happy again, and for the first time in closer to an eternity than you could know, you don’t care what anyone else wants.

You’ve given so much of who you are to these people. You can’t even really remember why we started on this journey, you can’t remember being me. There are people we’ve loved, that we don’t remember loving, and people we’ve hated, but don’t remember why. We’ve lived entire lives trying to make their wish for freedom come true, trying to be the future everyone else wanted. ‘I wanted to forgive you.’ You think, but that isn’t really true either, you just wished there was nothing to forgive. 

They seem to realize that you aren’t asking.

 Undyne raises a webbed hand from where she is leaning by the front door. “I’m in.” She says, and doesn’t acknowledge the incredulous look you give at her agreement. “The squirt says they have a plan. I won’t pretend to know anymore than the rest of you, but we don’t exactly have many other options right now.” 

“I-I really don’t think that they should risk t-traveling so soon-” 

“So what? Are they just supposed to go back to bed and wait to bleed out?” Flowey snaps from his place on the kitchen counter. 

“We won’t allow it to come to that.” Toriel looks at you pleadingly, “Please, my child, won’t you trust us to do this for you?” 

“tori…” Sans sighs, “when has that ever worked?” 

Toriel whirls to face him, ready to retort, but seems to pause after a moment. She glances at Flowey and you wonder what is going through her head. “There is truly nothing I can do to convince you?” She asks, and her gaze falls as you shake your head. 

“N-no. I need to go back.”

She leans back in her seat and gives a resigned nod, next to her Asgore clears his throat. “So be it. If you would allow it, may we accompany you, little one?” 

You stare at him for a long moment before you nod your assent. You don’t know what you’re going to find back in the underground, part of you would prefer to go alone, but this is probably the best you are going to get. 

“Glad we’re on the same page.” Undyne says, “How soon do we have to leave?” 

“I-I only need a few minutes to get what I n-need from my workstation.” Alphys pipes up, not bothering to try and hide her fidgeting. “I can p-probably ask Mettaton to take over with the w-wounded, at least for a few hours.”

“everyone should do what they need to do before we head out, it’s a long walk to the back of the cavern.”  Sans says.

The room erupts into conversation as the monsters begin planning for your trip up the mountain. Felix puts a paw on your shoulder, a question in his eyes as you look up at him. You shake your head at the unspoken question and he goes off to get ready. You feel… lighter, you honestly didn’t expect it to be that easy to convince them. 

While they’re distracted, you make your way into the kitchen and over to the stove. You have to jump and hold yourself up with your good hand to reach over the counter, but you’re just able to snatch the handle of a small paring knife from the knife block. Dropping down, you wrap the blade in a napkin and stuff it into the back of your waistband. I hope you won’t need it.

 You turn around and notice Flowey staring at you from his place on the countertop. If he saw you take the knife he doesn’t mention it, and you walk over to him, reaching up on your toes to swipe his pot from its perch. 

You hold him to your chest and duck out of the kitchen door and into the backyard, sitting down on the simple concrete step that leads out to the small fenced-in lawn littered with exercise equipment. 

“So,” Flowey starts, “Care to share why it's suddenly so important that you go back up there?” He jerks his head up at the mountain looming over the town and you look down at him nestled in your lap.  

“I told you. I left something important there and I think it’s w-what’s causing… all this.” 

“This wouldn’t have anything to do with your memory, right? I know you started looking into the other humans for a reason.”

Your expression must betray you because he snorts. “Fine, keep your secrets, but I’m coming with you!” 

“I don’t think the o-others will be happy about that.” You say with a frown. 

“They can get over it!” He snaps. You nearly recoil as the soil in his pot bulges and shifts and he crawls out of it. You do your best to remain patient and still as he extends his stem and winds it around your upper arm. “You said we’re partners, right?” He demands, “So I’m coming with you. I’m not about to miss this!” 

You crack a small smile at him and set the pot aside, looking up to stare at the mountain. Somewhere up there, is a way to end this. You hear noise from the front yard, monsters talking, some shouting, as they do what they can to tend to their own wounds. 

It feels futile, to think that you could do anything to stop the world from crumbling, that you could change what’s already happened to you and so many others. We have only one thing to say to that feeling, whispered under your breath and barely audible over the wind and the voices it carries. “Determination.” You breathe, like a prayer.

“What was that?” Flowey asks from his perch.

“Nothing.” 

Chapter Text

You wince as Undyne’s truck jostles on the unpaved road. Though the huge blue vehicle is easily large enough to accommodate the five of you with room to spare, even it is struggling on the muddy dirt track running up the foothills of Mt. Ebbot to where the barrier once stood. 

Glancing through the window behind you, Toriel’s van is somehow coping with the terrain. You expected it to get stuck a mile back, it certainly wasn’t made for roads like this. You notice a faint blue glow emanating from underneath it, that could explain how the others have managed to keep up. 

The trees are getting thinner as you get further up. The mountain was never the tallest or most impressive on the surface, but you can still see the whole town if you peer past Felix and out the opposite window. Felix himself is staring back down the foothills, and notices you watching. He gives you a reassuring smile that fails to hide the way his fur bristles, you can tell he’s nervous. 

You all cringe as the truck goes over a particularly large bump in the road, sending you flying a few inches out of your seat. You stifle a yelp as the jolt irritates your injuries, you feel warmth leaking into the bandages on your thigh. “Sorry!” Undyne calls from the driver's seat, and you wave at her that you are fine. 

“Can’t we go a little slower?” Flowey snaps from his place on your arm, and Undyne clutches at the wheel a little tighter. 

“Can’t.” She says by way of explanation, “If I slow down our wheels might get stuck, if that happens we’ll never get going again.”

“We are nearly there, try to bear with it a little longer.” Asgore thrums from the passenger seat, reaching up to rub at the base of his horns with a wince. 

“I’m gonna hurl.” Flowey mumbles, You shush him and clutch at the edge of the seat. 

Undyne grins ferally and sits up in her seat. “Well in that case…”

By the time you reach the clearing that leads to the barrier’s exit, you’re confident that Undyne’s car is going to need to be completely rebuilt. The vehicle is sagging on its suspension and it takes you a minute to unlatch the door, sliding down and swaying woozily on your feet. You glance behind the back tires as Felix is sick on the other side of the truck. 

There's a screeching noise as Asgore pulls his horns from the car's roof and clambers out of it. “Undyne…” He says.

“Yeah?”

“Felix is driving back.” 

The fish monster huffs, “Wuss.”

Flowey shakes himself off and you glance down at him, half expecting him to start screaming, but his expression is flat as he stares up the slope towards the mouth of the underground. You follow his gaze and tense up at the sight.

The clearing was lush and green when you all came down here months ago. The snow and rain had done their job and killed the grass and flowers that had grown here, leaving a long expanse of browns and grays stretching towards the jagged opening where the barrier once stood. The incline is steep enough to be treacherous, almost clifflike when viewed from the right angle.

You turn as you hear a rumbling noise and Toriel’s van comes trundling up the path, coming to a stop just behind Undyne’s truck. The monsters clamber out one after another, including an oddly sweaty Sans. 

Toriel frowns at the dents along the underside of her own car, “Well I suppose it could have been worse. Thank you for your help, Sans. I doubt we would have made it here so easily otherwise.”

“don’ worry about it.” He wheezes, leaning on his brother 

“Dude, are you all right?” Undyne asks, and he waves off her concern.

“MY BROTHER IS SIMPLY OUT OF SHAPE.” Papyrus says, “HONESTLY SANS, YOU NEED TO JOIN ME IN MY TRAINING. UNDYNE LIFTS CARS ALL THE TIME WITHOUT TROUBLE, ITS BASIC FITNESS.” 

“sure thing bro…” he mumbles, swaying before shaking his head and seeming to jolt himself awake. 

“E-everyone ready?” Alphys asks, scurrying around the van with a messenger bag hanging from her shoulder. 

The monsters all go quiet and look at you for confirmation. You swallow dryly and nod, turning to look up at the mountain. It’s only a few hundred feet from the track to the barrier’s entrance, but the ascent is grueling. Your shoes seem to stick into the muddy ground, and your injuries flare up with every movement. You have to lean forward until you are nearly on all fours to make it up the incline, the handle of the knife digging into the small of your back uncomfortably. 

The adults are having an easier time, and despite their best efforts to keep pace with you, you find yourself falling a little behind. Your head swims as you plant one foot after the other. Your vision starts to blur and you nearly lose your balance as for just a moment, it looks as though you’re standing on a slope far above the peak of the mountain, the terrain warping and rising like a wave. You nearly fall, but Flowey shoots out a vine and anchors the both of you to the slope, the odd vision disappearing as he does. He meets your gaze grimly; did he see it too? 

Finally, you make it to the top of the hill and accept the paw Toriel offers to help you up the rest of the way. “You alright squirt?” Undyne asks, and you shake your head to ward off her concern. You’ll be fine, probably.

You stare into the shadowy depths of the cavern, the inside is so dark it almost seems to absorb the light from the outside world. “I never thought I would return here.” Asgore thrums next to you.

“Nor did I.” Toriel says, “But at least this time the way out will not be barred.” 

Your palms feel sweaty as you clench your hands into tight fists, the burn on your right aching as you do. You never wanted to return here either, even if this place was the closest thing to a home you’ve ever had. You take a deep breath and lead the way into the cavern. 

The stone clicks under the soles of your boots as you pass through the barrier chamber, light from the outside world illuminating your path as you pass between the uniform holes cut into the floor at the far end. You pointedly ignore our old resting places as you pass through the arch, not giving the others time to remark on them. 

You have to blink and raise a hand to ward off the light as you emerge into the throne room, the sunlight here is almost blinding compared to the darkness of the adjoining chambers. The flowers swish around your knees as you walk through them, in the king’s absence they’ve erupted from their original bed to swarm through the entire room, clambering up the walls in ranks of twisting vines. 

You crouch down and brush your fingers over the petals of one. They’re soft, the heads bobbing gently as you move. I used to love these things, but you… I don’t blame you for disliking them. Too many bad memories. 

“...You should get going.” Flowey mumbles to you and you stand up, all too ready to leave the flowers behind.

The other monsters shuffle into the room behind you, and Asgore gasps as he takes in the flowers, he must be glad to see them doing so well. “this place got colorful while we were gone.” Sans remarks.

“They are resilient, are they not?” Toriel says.

“We’re stubborn like that.” Flowey preens and you ignore him, instead wading through the flowers and gesturing for the monsters to follow you. 

Something tightens in your chest, as you pass through the threshold of the throne room. You don’t know how but… you don’t think there’s any going back now. Something itches in the back of your mind, and you stifle a gasp as you catch movement out of the corner of your eye.

A flash of familiar color disappears down the hall, turning the corner down into the other children’s tomb. Your eyes go wide, and your breath comes faster but you immediately look down and away, pretending not to notice. Flowey looks at you with a puzzled expression as you peek back at the monsters. Did they see?

You feel a chill of fear as Undyne frowns, turning to peer down the hall as she comes through the door. “Was that…?” 

“Is s-something wrong?” Alphys asks.

“I thought I saw something down there.” she says, pointing down the hall, “I’m gonna go check it out. Be right back.”

Nonononono!

Flowey squawks as you lunge forward and grab her hand with both of yours, trying to stop her from investigating. “Don’t look!” You beg.

She turns to you with a frown, and you’re conscious of the other monsters reacting similarly. “I’m just gonna check. I thought I saw someone else down here, don’t worry about me punk!” She flashes you a reassuring grin, but you can tell that your behavior is bothering her.

You shake your head as hard as you can and clutch at her arm. “Don’t… please. You- You d-don’t wanna go down there.” You silently beg her to trust you, even… even after everything, you wouldn’t wish the truth on her. She can’t afford to see what you just saw and you can’t afford to be proven right. 

Undyne stares at you for a long moment, and you feel a well of hopelessness bubble up within you. You’re convinced that she’s going to pull her hand from your grasp, but she seems to consider something and straightens up instead, giving you a curt nod.

Your knees feel weak with the weight of your relief, and you hastily push past the other monsters, waving down the hall in the opposite direction. 

_________________________

The monsters looked at each other with worried expressions as Frisk beckoned them forward down the hall. Reluctantly, they followed the human child who failed to fully hide the relief that covered their small face. 

Felix looked back down the hall, feeling a deep unease settle in his gut. He met Undyne’s gaze as they passed into the golden corridor and she shook her head. Something had Frisk scared, but somehow none of them thought that it was their usual fear. The child had sounded terrified, but more like they were scared for them than of them. 

The group of monsters emerged into the golden hallway, following the limping human child as they walked down its length. The end of the corridor was in plain sight, but an uneasy reverence filled them, stopping them from moving any faster. The corridor seemed to go on forever. 

Beads of dust drifted through the beams of sunlight that cut across their path, seeming to shroud the human child in a halo of gold and bleach the features from their face. The human child was so small, compared to the monsters and the enormity of the hallway’s architecture, but they drew the attention of every monster there. 

One by one, the monsters slowed and came to a stop, standing in a crowd behind the little human. Frisk hesitated mid-step, letting their leg down and turning to look back at the monsters, standing in a shadow cast between the great windows. 

They stood that way, seven monsters shrouded in darkness, and a single human child bathed in light. The monsters shifted uncomfortably, feeling like this moment was important somehow, like one of them, all of them, should say something. Maybe it was the eerie quiet of this place, like time stood still in an eternal sunset, or the bell that tolled as if on cue somewhere off in the abandoned city. 

Maybe it was the human child, waiting patiently for them on quaking limbs, body littered with wounds and scars their hands had inflicted. Maybe it was that for just a moment, as their expression flashed cold, Frisk looked more like a force of nature than a human child.

…They weren’t. It wasn’t a force of nature that had stayed their hand, when freedom came within reach. It wasn’t power that had pushed its way through blizzards and mud and scorching heat, to this haunted city. It wasn’t strength that shouldered the grief of a nation, and it wasn’t fear that had made each of them rush as fast as they could to the limit of their prison ready to cast aside everything they had ever hoped for, to spare an innocent life. 

The monster's expressions were shadowed in grief. That mercy had come too late. None of them could spare this child from the past. A few of them opened their mouths, as if to speak. To say something, an apology, or a reassurance, anything.

… But there was nothing to say. 

Frisk’s expression softened, and a ghost of a smile touched their lips. On their arm, Flowey frowned and looked away, feeling like an intruder. The child turned and continued on their way, and after a moment the monsters followed from a distance.

The group passed through the great archway at the end of the-

“ HELP ME !”

Every eye widened as their vision was suddenly obscured by a blanket of fog. 

________________________

That's not right! 

Your eyes go wide as the snow and fog swirls around you. The sudden cold sends a shock through your body, causing you to clutch your arms to yourself and shiver. You don’t know where you are. You search around blindly, flailing in the fog to try and find the others, but you can’t make out anything over the howling wind and the sound of rushing water. Squinting against the miniature snowstorm, you press forward and sigh in relief as you emerge from the fog. 

You stumble back in surprise as you realize where you are, the lights of snowdin twinkle up ahead. You spin around and recognize the icy fog as the place where the town meets with the border of waterfall, tiny crystals of snow floating around in the steam. Your head spins as you hear a slamming noise and you turn to look at papyrus’s shed as the door flies open and out he walks. 

…He hasn’t worn that thing in months. 

You gape in horror as Sans follows him out, a bundle of… something cradled in his arms. Papyrus talks at his brother loudly, though Sans seems oddly subdued. Eventually the shorter brother starts to walk off and you take a few steps further out of the fog, you don’t know how you got separated. You reach out a hand to call out to them but the words die in your throat. As Sans turns to leave, a pale, limp hand flops over his arm. Your vision focuses on your own outstretched arm, identical in every way. 

No. This can’t be happening, we should have had more time!

Papyrus turns around and seems to catch sight of you, his plastered-on grin fading into a confused frown, and you stumble back in horror, desperately hiding yourself back inside of the fog. 

No sooner do you retreat than a large paw clamps itself on your shoulder. You shriek and whirl around, coming face to face with a terrified looking Toriel. “My Child!” 

You clutch your chest and take deep, gasping breaths. “Are you alright young one?” She stammers, “I do not know how we arrived here, but I am glad to see that you are safe, you aren’t injured are you?”

Your breaths are still coming hard and fast, but you have the presence of mind to shake your head and Toriel smiles. “Thank goodness.” She turns and calls over her shoulder. “Hello! I found them!”  

She leads you deeper into the fog until you are surrounded by her, Asgore, and Undyne. “Well we found the squirt at least.” Undyne says. “Any sign of the others?”

“I am afraid not, whatever moved us may have left them behind.” 

Asgore’s eyes widen and his gaze focuses on you, “Frisk! Where is Flowey?” 

You glance down at your arm, frantically patting it as if he is simply hiding beneath your sleeve. “I-I don’t know! He was right h-here!”

“Dammit!” Undyne shouts, “They’ve gotta be around here somewhere.” She whirls around and disappears towards waterfall “Alphys! Where are you!?” 

Suddenly, the ground begins to shake, and your heart skips a beat as you realize what is about to happen. “NO!” You shout, lunging for Undyne as a pit opens up in the earth between you. You throw your whole meager bodyweight against her and just barely manage to shove her out of the way as the hole becomes a chasm, cutting the two of you off from the others. 

You tumble as you land, the both of you rolling out of the fog and into an unnatural darkness. 

_________________________________

Flowey groaned as he came to. Looking around, he blinked in confusion as he took in the sights of a dark city around him. “What the…?” He realized that he was on a rooftop somewhere, or maybe some kind of overlook, a gust of wind blew through the cavern, shaking hundreds of pink petals from a blossoming tree that loomed over him. 

His eyes widened as he noticed a large pile of dust sitting beneath it, almost buried beneath the petals. “Uh… Anyone there?” He called, looking around. He gaped in shock as he came face to face with another monster. The two of them regarded each other silently, an expression of surprise perfectly mirrored on each of their faces.

“Well, that's never happened before.” The other Flowey said. 

Chapter Text

The two brothers froze as they passed through the great archway and onto the battlements of the castle. Sans’ eyelights faded into nothing as he took in the countless monsters milling about on the path, an oddly somber expression written on each of their faces. 

“BROTHER…” Papyrus said nervously, “IS IT JUST ME OR IS THE UNDERGROUND LESS EMPTY THAN WE BELIEVED?” 

He shook his head slowly, “I-I don’t-” Sans whirled looked around and suddenly noticed that Frisk and the other monsters had vanished. “where’s everyone else?” He noticed some of the other monsters starting to stare as they blocked the entrance to the hall and grabbed Papyrus’s arm, leading him down the path to stand near a huddle of chilldrakes perched on the battlements. “something went wrong. we can’t be here.” 

Papyrus peered over the walkway and down towards the streets of the city below. He blinked as he took in the enormous crowd that choked the flagstones, staring up at the walkway as if in anticipation. “SANS, WHERE ARE WE RIGHT NOW?” 

“It shouldn’t be this bad yet…” Sans mumbled, not seeming to hear.

Papyrus put his hands on his brother's shoulders, lightly shaking him to get his attention. “SANS! WHEN ARE WE RIGHT NOW?” 

Sans looked up at him and Papyrus’s bones rattled, he’d never seen his brother look so afraid before. Suddenly, the crowd’s murmuring rose in pitch and it began to flow down the battlements, monsters swarming around something in their midst just out of sight. 

The two brothers were jostled by the other monsters and quickly found themselves pressed against the stone behind them as the crowd passed them by. The quiet murmuring had mostly died, replaced by occasional words from different monsters too distant to understand over the heads of the crowd. A chill ran down San’s spine at the eerie contrast between the sheer number of people and the oddly subdued atmosphere. The monsters around him, too numerous to count and too exotic to describe, carried themselves with the somber reverence and bittersweet reminiscence of a funeral procession.

Papyrus craned his neck to look over the edge again and saw the crowd below reacting similarly, arms and other appendages stretching upwards despite the impossible distance between them and whatever had grabbed their attention. He frowned as the huddle of people passed the brothers, heading deeper towards the part of the castle they had just emerged from. His eyesockets went wide as the crowd reached the end of the pathway and the sea of monsters parted just enough for him to catch a glimpse of the human child at its heart. “THAT’S-” He started, cut off as someone rammed their shoulder into his.

Frisk flinched and looked fearfully over their shoulder as the crowd erupted into cheers. Papyrus recoiled as if struck and the little human’s expression crumpled into one of pure misery as they caught sight of him. Open distress clouded their features, everyone had to be able to see it, why was no one stopping ? He started forward, prepared to push his way through the crowd when a hand grabbed his arm and suddenly his surroundings changed. 

Papyrus nearly stumbled as he emerged into the lobby of the MTT resort, almost slipping in the widening puddle of water Mettaton’s statue gleefully sprayed on the floor. “oh angel it worked.” Sans said, his voice tinged with relief as he sat down on the lip of the fountain and dropped his skull into his hands. “I wasn’t sure if we were gonna end up inside a wall or somethin.”

Papyrus whirled around and had to restrain himself from grabbing his brother again, hands clenching at his sides. “TAKE ME BACK!” He demanded, “THE HUMAN WAS RIGHT THERE! WE CAN’T SIMPLY LEAVE THEM BEHIND!”

“bro…”

“DON’T YOU ‘BRO’ ME! DIDN’T YOU SEE THE WAY THEY LOOKED AT US? THEY WERE CALLING FOR HELP!”

“ papyrus! ” Sans snapped, “It wasn't them. you said it yourself, this isn’t our timeline. that frisk isn’t ours.” The corners of his eye sockets creased in something like grief. “there’s nothing we can do for em. the damage is already done.

“I-” Papyrus clutched his skull and groaned, turning to sit on the fountain as well. “HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? THIS IS THE UNDERGROUND BEFORE THE BARRIER WAS BROKEN, RIGHT?” He glanced around the empty lobby. The monsters that usually loitered here had all gone, presumably up to the city to try and catch a glimpse of the human before the barrier was broken. 

“I dunno. our old wounds have started appearing on us, maybe the older versions of the underground are starting to show up too. It makes sense, there wouldn’t be a difference between different versions of the surface, the changes we know about all revolved around stuff that happened down here. this could have been going on for weeks and we wouldn’t have known.” Sans awkwardly reached around and scratched at one of his vertebrae that had been starting to bother him the last few days.

Papyrus stared at him, “IS THERE A WAY BACK?” 

Sans closed his eyes, “to the surface? probably, but we’d have to either put a stop to all this or luck out and find our way back to our timeline after the barrier was broken. I don’t think I could move us there before you ask, I had to pull out all the stops just to get us here . at least… I think we're still in the same timeline.” He shook his head, “stuff is all in the wrong place, different timelines layered overtop of each other but they don’t line up right. I bet the others stumbled into a different version.” Sans waved his arm out in the air next to him, “they could be standing right next to us and we wouldn’t know.”  He sighed, “our best option is probably to try and link up with the others, wherever they are. I’m just glad we got out before we did even more damage to the timeline, I don’t wanna know what happens if we meet ourselves.”

“… WHAT WAS THAT, UP THERE?”

“pap…you don’t wanna-”

“I DO. WHAT WAS THAT ? AND YOU- WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE COULD HAVE MET OURSELVES? I WAS NEVER THERE FOR THIS, WERE YOU ?”

Sans remained silent, his eyelights dimming.

“YOU WERE…” Papyrus said, his voice tinged with disbelief, “WHAT WERE YOU DOING IN NEW HOME WHEN THE HUMAN CAME THROUGH SANS?” 

“I was trying to help them out!” Sans snapped, then flinched with regret. “you remember how people were those last few days before the barrier broke… people were starting to lose it. everyone knew another human fell down, but no one could catch much more than brief sightings until mettaton cornered them. half the underground saw the broadcast… everyone who did wanted to see the kid for themselves. one way or another it was gonna be the end of our imprisonment, people had their reasons to want to meet frisk before the end, and so did I.”

“AND WHAT WERE THOSE?” Papyrus asked quietly. 

Sans’ eye-sockets fell shut, “you remember how I used to slack off on-shift?” He asked, cracking an eye open to look up at his brother.

“OF COURSE, HOW COULD I FORGET. YOU CAUSED ME ENOUGH HEADACHES!”

“heh, yeah… well I used to go out into the woods past my station and nap against the door to the ruins. not always though, sometimes I’d practice jokes for my gig at the resort, or just to annoy you, and one day someone on the other side laughed.” Sans’ grin widened, “I didn’t know it at the time, but I wound up meeting tori. we used to talk whenever I was on break, but once… she asked me if I had seen any humans come through the door. I told her no, cause’ that was the truth, and she asked me to protect them if one ever did.” Sans shrugged, “I didn’t have the bones to refuse, but I guess I’m as bad at my job as you always said I was…” 

Papyrus let out a sigh from between his teeth. “I DON’T THINK YOU ARE GOING TO FIND MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE PREPARED TO JUDGE YOU FOR THAT BROTHER…” He shook his head, “WE ALL HURT THEM, IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER… THAT, HOWEVER, DOES NOT ANSWER MY QUESTION!”

“I couldn’t stop em from going to the king.” Sans said, “I thought about it, I did, but you saw how the kid looked just then… they came through all that, there was no way I was gonna convince frisk to turn around and spend the rest of their life down here with us. and frisk… I was scared of them, of what they might do because they didn’t see a way out.” The admission tasted like ash in his mouth. “so, I decided to just… try and reassure them.” 

Sans’ eyelights seemed to glimmer a bit, and his voice turned fond. “I tried to tell em that they’d done good... made it all the way across the underground, past me and you and everyone else… they never hurt anyone, even though they could have. I told them I believed they’d find the right answer, if anyone could’ve gotten through to the big guy it would’ve been them.” 

Sans looked up as a violent tremor rattled his brother's bones. “SANS.” Papyrus said calmly.

Sans recoiled slightly. Papyrus wasn’t an angry person by nature, it was one of the many things he appreciated about his brother, but this was the closest Sans had ever seen him get. “Yeah?”

“DID IT PERHAPS OCCUR TO YOU IN THE MOMENT, THAT EVERYONE ELSE IN THE UNDERGROUND HAD, QUITE LITERALLY, JUST TOLD THEM THAT THE ‘RIGHT THING’ TO DO WAS TO HAND OVER THEIR SOUL?” 

Sans looked shaken, “I didn’t-” his eyelights went out completely, “ oh. ” 

“QUITE.” Papyrus sighed, “I AM BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND WHY THE HUMAN DISLIKES ATTENTION SO MUCH.” 

Sans suddenly thought back to the morning after Frisk ran away. The way the child had looked at all of them, how they just… gave themself up.  Did he put that idea in the kid’s head? “papyrus I didn’t- I didn’t mean it like that.” His skull throbbed, something unknown prodding at the edges of his memory. He did his best to shove it down, now was not the time.

“I’M SURE YOU DIDN’T BROTHER, BUT I AM NOT THE ONE WHO NEEDS TO BE CONVINCED.” Papyrus stood up and gestured for Sans to do the same. “WE CAN CONTINUE THIS CONVERSATION LATER. AS YOU SAID WE NEED TO FIND THE OTHERS.” 

Sans reluctantly got to his feet as well, staring out the glass doors of the lobby and into the gloom beyond. “that's gonna take some doing. the layout of the underground is all wrong, if one of us takes a wrong step we could wind up somewhere completely different.” 

“AGREED, WHICH MEANS WE ARE SIMPLY GOING TO HAVE TO GET LUCKY. FRISK SAID THAT THEY NEEDED TO GO TO THE RUINS, IF WE CANNOT FIND THEM AND THE OTHERS WE WILL SIMPLY DO OUR BEST TO REACH THE END OF THE CAVERN. HOPEFULLY, WE WILL BE ABLE TO FIND OUR WAY TO THEIR VERSION OF THE UNDERGROUND AND MEET THEM ON THE WAY THERE.” Papyrus rolled up the sleeves of his sweater.  

Sans nodded up at his brother and jerked a thumb at the doors to the lobby. “I can try and keep us from stumbling into the wrong place and time like the others, but I don’t think we should risk another shortcut.” The shorter skeleton led the way out of the lobby.

The two brothers blinked and stared up at the towering stone wall that cut its way through the forest. Before them, a large stone door sat firmly shut. Papyrus scratched his skull, and Sans sighed next to him. “I swear it wasn’t me.”

________________________________

The thin crust of ice covering the snowy ground crunched underfoot as the king and queen made their way down the path. Asgore glanced behind them, as though the chasm that had separated them from Frisk and Undyne would pursue them, but no. The king wasn’t convinced that it would still be there, if the two of them were to return to the fog. Somehow, he knew that even if they were to follow after the monster and human child, they would never find them in waterfall.

“Asgore, try to keep up please.” Toriel said impatiently, noticing that he had stopped. “I know that you want to go look for them, but I fear that the layout of the underground has changed. We should stick to the original plan and make for the ruins of Home. Undyne will take care of Frisk, and with luck the two of them will meet us there.” 

Asgore shook himself and hurried after the queen. Snowdin was oddly quiet, the ground devoid of the footprints and claw marks that normally criss-crossed this area. Snow and fog swirled around them, a blizzard in miniature that covered their tracks. After a few minutes, he frowned. “Tori? Should we not be able to see the town by now?” 

Toriel frowned and slowed enough for him to catch up. “Yes… I would have thought so.” The two of them continued walking, and Asgore breathed a sigh of relief as several blocky buildings emerged from the snow and fog. 

The king reached up and scratched his beard as the town came into view. “This place seems smaller, no?”

Toriel came to a stop before a house and peered through a dimly lit window. “Yes… most of the newer buildings are gone. I do not understand why.”  The king and queen turned as a dim shout echoed through the fog, deeper in town. Toriel’s eyes widened, “Someone is calling for help.” 

Asgore had to hurry to keep up as she broke out into a sprint, running deeper into town. The king tired to shake his unease. Snowdin seemed more like a small hamlet than the larger town he had known it as before the barrier was broken. He nearly lost sight of Toriel as she disappeared into the blizzard, heading deeper into the town. Asgore nearly bumped into her as she came to a stop next to a small tree.

“Tori? What is wrong?” He peered over her shoulder and squinted against the storm. Toriel stared transfixed into the fog, her maroon eyes wide with horror and lips pulled back to expose her teeth. The queen’s paws shook at her sides. 

Asgore blinked as he made out several blurry shapes through the snow, what looked like monsters milling about. Something was very wrong, he knew. The king glanced at Toriel, but she seemed not to notice him. As he did, he noticed that the tree she stood sheltered behind was familiar, though devoid of its usual decorations. He couldn’t remember the last time its branches were barren. A shout echoed through the fog, and it cleared slightly. Asgore gasped in horror.

No… that wasn’t possible. It had been decades . He had to force himself not to squeeze his eyes shut against the horror, the king had never wanted to feel this way again. Asgore found himself wondering, not for the first time, how accurate Gerson’s account of the incident had truly been. Is this what he had turned his kingdom into? 

The king tore his gaze away from the child’s ruined and unrecognizable form, landing on the queen’s back as she stayed transfixed. “Tori-”

There was an impact and Asgore’s vision went white as the world seemed to stop. The king stared up at the swirling snowflakes, dully wondering why he could see the roof of the cavern. The pain faded in gradually, starting from his chest and radiating outward like fire. Asgore choked and rolled over, dryly retching onto the snow as his mind caught up with his body, the center of his shirt had been burnt away, and the fur underneath scorched almost black. He shakily looked behind him and saw that the attack had blasted him backwards, carving a furrow into the snow and ice that hissed in the open air, melting into puddles of water and slush and adding steam to the impenetrable fog. 

“I should have killed you when I had the chance!” Toriel snarled, “To think that I protected you when you and Frisk were about to fight. To think I might have forgiven you.” The queen stepped out of the fog, the crowd of monsters disappearing behind her, too taken by their own cruelty to notice. Fire dripped from her claws, hissing as it touched the ground. A swarm of fireballs hovered around her shoulders like a burning halo, casting light and shadow into the storm around them. Her expression, however, was one of sheer disgust and disappointment that somehow stung even worse than the fireball she had struck him with.

 Asgore turned to face her, though he stayed on one knee. He didn’t need to inspect himself to know that he wouldn’t survive another attack like that. His own magic pulsed sickly within his chest, helpless. The guilt was an old friend, it threatened to smother him, drag him down into a world where he was past the point of no return, where nothing mattered. Toriel came to a stop before him, glaring down in disgust. 

“Well?” She demanded, teeth bared, and paws clenched into burning fists. He saw himself in the hatred that glimmered in Toriel’s eyes, tears welled up and shining in the light of her fire. Asgore knew that he was past the point of no return. He also knew that this… it still mattered. 

“All I can say is I’m sorry.” He croaked around the burning in his throat. 

Toriel snarled and formed another fireball between her paws, raised to finish him. All this time… she had at least dared to hope that her people had been merciful, that she had misjudged them. Wails echoed through the storm around them, those of a child whose life she had taken. She didn’t have to turn to know that they weren’t really there, the child was already dead. Toriel was so sick of the children being dead, even after she returned to the past, she was still too late. 

This was a distraction. She could not be too late again.

The queen let the fireball drop to her feet, it fizzled out on the frigid ground. “We will speak of this.” She hissed. “Once we have put an end to this madness. ” Toriel turned on her heel and walked off into the storm.

The king hung his head. A drop of water fell from his face and evaporated on the heated ground.

________________________________ 

Undyne groaned as she picked herself up off of the ground. A patch of echo flowers threw the sound back at her as she got to her feet, rubbing her head. She wiped off some of the mud that had splattered her face and clothes and looked around her with a scowl. 

This was nowhere near the road to Snowdin, she knew. Gemstones glimmered far overhead, reflecting the light from the algae populating the scattered ponds around her. “Kid?” She called, searching for the human child. “You here?” 

She sighed; Frisk was nowhere to be found. “They gotta be somewhere,” She grumbled, before clapping her hands to her ears as a sound like a crack of thunder echoed through the cavern. 

A young voice screamed off in the distance. “LEAVE ME ALONE!” 

Undyne’s eye went wide, “Frisk?!” There was a flash of light in the distance, accompanied by another of those thunderous sounds and a noise like static. The captain didn’t waste any time, breaking out into a full sprint and leaping one of the pools of water as she raced towards the sound. 

Undyne ducked around a corner, entering a narrower area just in time to see a monster crumble to dust. She skidded to a stop, unable to get a glimpse of the monster’s face before it disintegrated, a long labcoat floated away under a sudden gust of wind. Something huge dissolved as the monster did, letting out a noise like a dying animal. 

The Captain of the Royal Guard stared in horror at the familiar human child clutching a muddy pair of shoes by the laces like flails. They looked up as they seemed to notice her, their breathing heavy and expression feral. Undyne swallowed, “Punk?”

Chapter Text

The other flower’s face split into a twisted grin, mirrored on his counterpart by a disturbed frown. “So we aren't the real him after all. I had always wondered…” He tittered, “Figures that idiot scientist made more than one of us, did you just wake up? Or have you been hiding from me?”

Flowey’s scowl deepened, doing its best to hide the confusion and unease that roiled inside him. Slowly, his gaze tracked to the pile of dust beneath the tree, before snapping back to his counterpart. This was all wrong, he knew. Something had to have happened to the timeline, or perhaps he had finally cracked and started hallucinating, he had thought it would take longer. Something prickled in the back of his mind, a memory pushing at the edge of his consciousness before it drifted back out of reach. 

The Other Flowey’s smile dimmed, shrinking back to normal proportions. “Uh, hello? You can talk, can’t you?” 

Pieces began to fit together in Flowey’s mind. The other flower didn’t know . Flowey decided that it would be best to keep it that way until he knew more. He perked up and his frown inverted into a chipper grin of his own. “Howdy!” He said, bobbing on his stem. “It’s so nice to meet someone else like me! I was scared I was going to be all alone when I woke up!” 

The other flower’s smile widened at the edges, “Wow! So you’re new to the underground, arentcha?” He winked, “Well, don’t worry friend! You’re already doing better than I did, up and moving about like a champ! It took me ages before I learned how to dig from place to place!” He tittered and his smile warped into a cruel facsimile of Flowey’s own. “It's probably enough of an adjustment, being empty as you are. How stupid do you think I am?” 

Flowey started and ducked underground as a sound like gunfire echoed through the deserted streets and several pellets impacted the place he had been. He popped up behind the other flower, a swarm of his own hovering around his head as the doppelganger turned to face him. 

The two flowers regarded one another, all traces of friendliness abandoned. “ Please .” The Other Flowey sneered, “We both know it wouldn’t do any good.” 

Flowey stared at him before reluctantly allowing his bullets to fade away. 

“Don’t worry pal , I wouldn’t kill you. This is so much more interesting.” The Other Flowey said, “I’ve never had a real playmate before! And I was just about to get some new toys too!” He jerked his head back towards the looming shape of the castle where it rose above the far edge of the city. “That airhead is probably halfway to the king by now with the human in tow.”

Flowey's eyes widened, but the other flower continued on, oblivious. “It's funny, when they first fell down I thought it might have been… but no, they could never be them. I was almost prepared to just take their soul and be done with it, I’d thought I’d seen everything ______ had to offer. I could never get them to change, much … but with two of us, maybe it's worth another run. They got desperate this time, finally did what needed to be done.” He glanced disdainfully at the pile of dust resting beneath the tree. 

Flowey felt the familiar ache of something missing. An emotion that should have been there, but wasn't. He should feel something, he knew. Disgust, at the indifference of this older version of him, or perhaps fear, at finding himself in another place and time, horror at the gaping hole in his memory. He felt only the familiar pressure of curiosity, the drive to explore this new yet familiar place. He didn’t remember any of this, he certainly didn’t remember another human falling down. “Who are you even talking about?” Flowey demanded.

The Other Flowey’s eyes narrowed, “Don’t play dumb. Everyone from here to snowdin has heard that there’s another human in the underground at this point. The guard isn’t known for subtlety , and ______ wasn’t hiding.” 

Flowey stared at him, feeling like his roots were encased in ice. “Why won’t you say their name?” 

The Other Flowey glared at him like he had grown a second head, “Who, _____? Maybe we have less in common than I thought If you’re this dumb.” 

Flowey reared back as his doppelganger spoke. It was like his words were simply cut off. His mouth shaped the human’s name but the sound died before it could be heard, like it had been excised from the air before anyone could dare to hear it. “They’re already gone…” Flowey muttered to himself. The ache of forgotten emotion grew stronger, and the other flower seemed to notice.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” The Other Flowey demanded, glaring at him until a glimmer of something like recognition crossed his face. “You’re scared.” the other flower said, seeming to realize something. His tone blackened with anger “I can’t believe I didn’t see it before. You’re not like me at all , are you?” There was a deafening sound as a halo of pellets appeared hovering around the Other Flowey’s head. “You really had me going there. I can’t believe I thought someone as weak as you could be an equal!” 

The doppelganger launched the pellets at Flowey who hastily summoned a swarm of his own to intercept them. He hissed as a bullet made it through and cut a circular hole out of one of his petals. Flowey didn’t waste time inspecting the damage, firing back immediately. The pellets hurtled towards the other flower, who made no attempt to dodge or intercept them. Flowey felt a familiar tug in the center of his stem, like a cord going taught and- 

-Nothing happened. Flowey’s eyes went wide as the Load failed, that… wasn’t him.

The Other Flowey shrieked as the pellets struck him, peppering his own petals. “You…” the Other Flowey hissed. “You can’t have taken my power, I used it just a few hours ago!”

“I forgot how annoying I was.” Flowey muttered, fed up with humoring him. “Look. Something’s wrong , I shouldn’t be here, and apparently neither of us can Load right now, so either back off or we can both stay dead.” He snarled.

“No!” the Other Flowey said, “You’re messing with me! You can’t have control of the timeline, if you did you would have used it already!” 

“I don’t have control you idiot!” Flowey shouted, “I told you, something went wrong- !” 

“So if it wasn’t you then… Ha. Hahaha!” the other flower cut himself off with a startled laugh. “Hahahahaha! That little shit! Were they just toying with me?” His face warped into a furious snarl. “No, I refuse to accept this. They don’t get to get off that easy! They think they can just take my power and run? After everything I did for them?”

The tug in his stem returned but stronger, and Flowey’s eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen. The foggy memory from earlier returning with a vengeance and pounding on the walls of his mind. Desperate to be let in, to warn him. “ WAIT ! They’ve already been era-!”

Everything seemed to stop. 

The petals drifting in the wind froze midair, the shape of the currents carrying them made perfectly visible. Even sound seemed to freeze, Flowey’s warning hovering in the air and growing louder with every second until it was painful. Flowey stared at his frozen counterpart in dawning horror as behind him the world began to darken, an unnatural shadow seeping upwards like mud in a black ring that began to surround them, cutting them off from the world. 

Beyond the dark halo time still moved, the lights in windows flickering. Petals from the tree that managed to escape floated away even as the ring began to close behind Flowey, a slowly narrowing gap as the world corrected the flaw his counterpart had caused, protecting itself. 

Flowey’s screaming grew louder, frozen in the suddenly confined space. Flowey didn’t move to try and save the other flower, he knew a lost cause when he saw it. Taking one last look, he turned and fled just before the door snapped shut, the hole in the world sealing as fast as it had appeared. Flowey didn’t slow down, racing off of the rooftop and making his way out of the city.

A few minutes later… a flower emerged onto the empty rooftop, feeling like he had forgotten something, and not sure why he was there.

————————————— 

Undyne stared wide-eyed at the human child. They were covered in dust from head to toe, panting and hunched over as they stood over the dust of the monster that she had been too late to save. The human’s small hands were clenched into fists, the laces of a pair of worn shoes wrapped around them. Their sleeve was torn off, the skin underneath burnt and blistered as dust collected in the wound, though they didn’t seem to notice as they stared up at her in barely concealed terror. Undyne swallowed, “Frisk… punk, what’s going on? Who was that?” 

The human took a shaky step back, faintly glowing water coursing through the river behind them. The child looked around panickedly, seemingly searching for a way past her. They shakily looked down, mumbling to themself, “...Away, go away. Go away, go away… go away.” 

“Punk?” She asked, not able to stop the note of fear that entered her voice. The human child no longer seemed to be seeing anything in front of them, their eyes dead and glassy as their words trailed off. Something was very wrong with them, she knew. Frisk didn’t seem to recognize her, and that monster… there shouldn't have been anyone else down here. Had something happened after they were separated from the others? Whoever it was that they had killed… they would have to deal with it later. It seemed like it had been self defense, if their wounds were any indication, but they didn’t have time to sort it out. They needed to find the others.

Undyne swallowed, “I… I’m not mad. We need to get out of here, we can talk later, ok?” She took a careful step towards the human child, stepping around the dust. The human gasped and took a step back, seeming to remember that she was there. Undyne cringed as their heel came to the bank of the river behind them, she raised her hands in a placating gesture. “Can you walk?” She asked, “I don’t think I can heal something like… that, but Toriel should be able to help if we can find her. Or at least stop it hurting. We need to get moving, squirt.” 

The human stared up at her blankly, what happened to them? “Go away.” They breathed, not seeming to understand. 

Undyne frowned and took another step towards the small human, starting to crouch down to be closer to their level, “Punk? What happened to yo-” 

There was a crunching sound and Undyne gasped. Her right knee gave out as the human swung out with one of the shoes and impacted it, causing it to twist slightly. The human child dove to the side as she collapsed, quickly getting out from between her and the river as Undyne just managed to catch herself with her hands and uninjured knee. She managed to avoid toppling into the river but choked as she felt something soft and thin wrap around her throat. 

“Goawaygoawaygoawaygoaway!GOAWAY” The human shrieked from behind her, their small knee digging into her back as they pulled on the shoelace they had wrapped around her neck. Undyne tried to reach up and pull the lace away from her throat, but her vision swam as her bad knee pulsed and threatened to send her toppling into the river. Her fingertips grazed the fabric before she was forced to catch herself again. 

Undyne’s vision tunneled from the lack of air, her gills flaring above the lace. She groped blindly for her magic. Instinct compelled her to lash out, but the magic slipped out of reach before she could give it form, unable to manifest the intent. She tried to stand, but her knee gave out again before she could raise herself more than a few inches. The child pulled harder on the shoelace, their shouting inaudible over the rushing sound in her ears.  

Suddenly, the band of pressure around her throat came loose, and Undyne gasped as she collapsed onto her side. Her body felt like it was on fire, pain pulsing out from her knee and the bruise around her neck, making it hard to focus. Shouting sounded from behind her, distorted by the pain in her head as she did her best to roll over to see what had happened. With great effort, she managed to turn her body to see. 

“You’re not real!” The human child screamed, trying to get up as another, identical human child did their best to hold them down. “GO AWAY!” Undyne’s eye widened as a much more familiar-looking Frisk wrestled with the other human, eyes wide and teeth clenched in a horrified grimace as they wrested the shoe from the Other Human’s hand. 

Frisk managed to pull the laces free and yelped as the Other Human kicked out and hit them in the chest, sending them toppling back. The shoe bounced and came to rest by their head and the Other Human lunged forward and grabbed for it. 

Undyne’s mind raced as the two children fought, she tried to get up again, but her injury thwarted her efforts. Teeth clenched in frustration, she grabbed her bad knee and green light seeped out from between her fingers. Immediately the pain lessened, and she felt movement as her knee started to realign itself. She growled, not fast enough. 

Frisk choked and clutched their chest where the other child had kicked them, reaching out and grabbing for the shoe, trying to throw it into the river, but reeled back as the Other Human’s fist collided with their face. The two humans continued to fight over the makeshift weapon, there was no refinement or skill behind any of their attacks, each of them fueled by pure desperation as the two devolved into punching and kicking, rolling on the muddy ground while Undyne tried desperately to heal herself enough to intervene. 

The Other Human managed to grab the shoe and lifted it above their head, bringing it down to clock Frisk over the head with its sole. The child made a pained noise and raised a hand to shield their face, Frisk tried to sit up and push the Other Human off of them, but only succeeded in raising themself a few inches. They groaned as the Other Human brought the shoe up again, their eyes filled with something like grief as they lashed out with their other arm, causing the other child to gasp in pain and jolt back, staggering to their feet and hands clutching their side as red seeped out from between their fingers. 

The human child shakily pulled the small paring knife from their side, looking down without comprehension at the red seeping from under their sweater. They looked up in shock at Frisk who started to kick themself backwards, trying to gain distance from the other human who started forward again, not dropping the knife. 

Frisk yelped as the human raised their new weapon, and Undyne desperately tried to form a spear, her leg nearly healed. Suddenly, a flash of red pulsed from the shadows at the entrance to the room, and the Other Human was bowled over as a ball of red energy collided with their side. The human child gasped and struggled to raise themself, their terrified eyes locking with Undyne’s for just a moment before their arms gave out and they collapsed. 

Undyne stared at the human in horror as red began to seep out from under their crumpled form, before looking shakily up as a mechanical whirring sound emanated from the entrance to the cave. Frisk struggled to regain their feet, staring horrified at the cave entrance as something moved within the shadows, another red light beginning to build as it leveled itself at them. 

There was a cracking sound as Undyne’s knee realigned itself and she wasted no time, lunging forward across the muddy ground and grabbing Frisk before rolling back, the two of them toppling into the river. 

Frisk choked from the sudden submersion, and though her knee still burned, the captain did her best to hold their head above water. She turned to look back at the fading wisps of red dissolving into the water as the current carried them away, the soft glow of the algae drowned out by the burning blue of the human soul that hovered above the fallen child. 

Chapter Text

You let out a pained groan as you wake up. Your head throbs like it's stuffed with cotton, sound and sensation is dimmed except for a pounding in your temples and a hot stinging around your right eye. Its lids don’t fully cooperate when you force your eyes open and stare up at the faintly sparkling ceiling, countless gemstones flashing overhead in the dim light. 

You’re lying on something hard and sloped in a vaguely uncomfortable way. The fabric of your clothes are soaked when you move. There's an ache in your chest, making itself known even over the countless aches and burns that cover you, it hurts when you breathe. Your muscles feel sluggish as you manage to lift your head, eyes going wide when you see the shaft of buzzing blue magical energy impaling you to whatever you’re laying on. 

A cry nearly escapes you at the sight, terror strangling the sound before it can escape your throat as you stare at the spear, trying not to hyperventilate. It takes a minute for you to realize that there's no blood, and the pain in your chest is well above where it sits. The shaft of the weapon is a far deeper blue than you are used to seeing. 

Other things make themselves known. You realize that you are laying on a familiar bench, you think you hid here for a few hours once to avoid the guard. Your soaked coat has been removed and draped over the far corner of the backrest. The air is hazy, and smells faintly of old wood and you turn your head to see a small fire, mossy greenish-blue wood smoldering in front of the bench. The flames are sputtering, failing to catch the damp fuel, but the monster that sits next to it barely seems to notice, yellow eye wide and filled with the closest thing to fear you’ve ever seen from her. 

You try to slow your breathing, hand wrapped around the shaft of the weapon and doing your best to resist the urge to squirm. “Are you going to attack me if I let you up?” Undyne asks quietly, her eye not leaving yours. 

You have to take a moment to parse that question. You move to shake your head, but pause when you remember the spear. You cough a little, the pain in your chest fighting you. “I… won’t.” 

Undyne searches your face for any sign of deception and nods curtly, making a small gesture. The spear evaporates and you gasp, letting out a breath you hadn’t realized you’d been holding. You grab the back of the bench and sit up. 

“It was you…” Undyne says, looking down at the fire. “The other kids. The other humans… all this time, it was all you.” 

You swallow dryly; this wasn’t how you wanted people to find out. The events of the last few hours come rushing back, the climb up the mountain, catching a glimpse of another time and only realizing it wasn’t just a glimpse a few minutes too late, being separated from the others and waking up in waterfall… that other me. You know you won’t ever forget the way they looked at you. The angry denial in their eyes when you attacked them will haunt you for the rest of your life, the sudden realization that they weren’t the version of us that was going to make it. 

You had been so afraid when you saw them, momentarily convinced that you were going to be sent back like before. And then that had been overridden by another, even sharper fear, that if they killed Undyne… she might suffer the same thing that happened to us. You wouldn’t wish that on her, on anyone, even after everything. Instead nothing happened, and you aren’t sure if you’re more grateful that the world didn’t fracture around you, or afraid that things are now so broken that there being two of us didn’t seem to matter. 

“It w-wasn’t. N-not really.” You say, finally breaking yourself out of your thoughts. “I-I don’t remember being anyone e-else. Does it really c-count?” 

“That's not-!” Undyne snaps, then takes a deep breath to regain her composure. She’s handling this better than you’d expected. “Frisk, what’s going on ? That human died years ago, and they- their soul, it wasn’t like yours was.” 

You scratch at the sleeve of your sweater, dried blood flakes off your nails and finds its way onto the fabric. “I don’t know, not really. I was telling the truth when I said I d-didn’t remember anything from before I f-fell down. I only found out a l-little before you did about the others.” You swallow, “I just had… a feeling, that I’d done things before, talked to people.” 

Undyne’s face is frozen in a mask of false calm. You saw that expression on her face a lot, the last time the two of you were in waterfall. It does nothing for your racing heart. “Why are we really down here Frisk? What did you lose that could have caused all this?” 

 “I just know I have to go back to where I fell d-down, I think the a-answers are there. Maybe something can h-help me get my memories back, if I can find out, for sure, what’s happening…” Your swollen eye aches, and you know that's not enough for her after what she saw. “I think… this all happened before.” You ignore the sharp breath she draws, choosing your words carefully. “Not all of it, at least, I don’t think so. But something sent us b-back, like it did after I d-died but worse , when the other humans died for real. I think I forgot too, and I left something behind when I did.”  

Undyne looks down to where she’s holding her knee, hands pulsing with green light, and you think you may have given her enough. You hope she’ll drop it, let that thing go unsaid. You don’t know how all this works any better than she does, but you think back to that final thing, that final battle before the barrier, where for just a few minutes you felt strong enough to move forward, strong enough to care when you shouldn’t. 

Asriel pulled you back in time, but you remained . You’d wanted to live then, managed to piece yourself back together even after everything, even while the world was trying to drag you back into a past you couldn’t remember. You wonder… if maybe they had done the same, and it wasn’t enough. Maybe a part of them wanted to move forward, even as they slid back down. 

___________________

Undyne stared at the human child, a cocktail of emotion roiling inside her and making her chest tight. The green light seeping from between her fingers dimmed to nothing, and she pulled her sore leg up, resting an arm on it.

The other human… that other Frisk had nearly killed her. She still couldn’t wrap her head around it. It was clear that Frisk still wasn’t telling her everything, and yet Undyne couldn’t help but feel glad that they had chosen to keep some details to themself. 

Even now, looking at the kid, she couldn’t figure out whether she wanted to pull them into a hug or put another spear through their chest. Something was deeply wrong with the human child, she knew. Their eyes kept glazing over at odd moments, head tilting as if listening to something only they could hear. They barely even seemed to notice the deepening wounds that littered their body, or they were simply so used to the feeling that it was inconsequential. 

Up until now Undyne had been convinced that the only thing wrong with Frisk was what should have been expected, given what they had gone through. Now she wondered if she had even known the half of it. 

She’d remembered as she was hauling Frisk from the river, the human child that Asgore had killed. The memory wasn’t like the others, it didn’t come naturally, like it was always there. She’d had to work to pull it up, wracking her mind for what she knew had to have been missing until the image of their face had been dredged up as though from mud. Until she remembered-

- horrified shaking, white paws reaching out and eyes widening as if in recognition, in memory. Beads of red dripping down the petals that nearly blocked the human child from her sight. Her friend’s face going slack with despair, unbearable to watch as she snapped herself out of her stupor and called out to him, shock breaking through the inexplicable grief as he turned to face her.

Her head swam as he did, the eerie sense of Deja Vu that had plagued her the whole way to the castle roaring in her mind. Vision seemed to distort, and a sound like someone crying for help from the bottom of a well echoed through the throne room. Suddenly Asgore was no longer wearing his cloak, the human corpse covered in purple cloth as he blinked in confusion, as though no longer certain where he was-

That human was just the same, the same as Frisk, and that other child that had almost killed her. For the first time, Undyne wondered if Asgore’s devastation had only been due to their age, or if there was something more. And then… the two of them had simply forgotten. The soul was locked away, the body buried deep, and the memory of the fallen child had drifted away as though they had simply ceased to exist the instant they were placed in their tomb.

Frisk said that they had forgotten the other children too, and Undyne couldn’t deny it. They had seemed familiar; the first time she saw them crouched among the tall grass. Like she had seen them laying in those flowers. 

Frisk sniffed and slid off of the bench, staggering and clutching their shoulder before their bruised face flattened back into the sculpted neutrality that they had worn the last time the two of them had met in this place. Undyne had never seen that expression as frightening before, but the idea that the kid was still going , even after that… it sent a chill down her spine.

Frisk said that they left something behind when the other humans died. Undyne couldn’t help but think that she knew what that thing was, the only thing it could be, for the little human to have lost so much of themself in the process. She felt ill. 

Undyne staggered to her feet as well. She winced as her knee pulsed, sending waves of discomfort through her body. “This is so messed up…” she muttered. “Look, thanks for helping me out back there.” She swallowed, her voice thick. “I know that must have been hard. I didn’t mean to scare you like that when you woke up, I just wasn’t sure-” 

“I’m still me .” Frisk said, sounding a little insulted, but looked down at their shoes after a moment. “I t-think.”

Undyne stared at them, less than reassured. “Come on punk…” She sighed, “We still have a lot of ground to cover.” 

Frisk nodded and made to follow her, but paused as a splashing sound echoed from the pond that served as the only entrance to the room, their head cocking to the side. Undyne whirled around in time to see a clump of bridgeseeds drift into place and unfurl. 

The water’s surface rippled, and Undyne called a spear to her hand, gesturing for Frisk to get behind her. Frisk’s eyes widened, “W-wait!” the child yelped, rushing in front of her. Undyne shoved down the urge to snap at them to get back, but the human ignored her and crouched down at the water's edge as a familiar set of yellow petals emerged from the pond.

“Ugh!” Flowey shuddered, “Who set moss on fire?” He looked up at the human child staring down at him with one wide eye and another slightly less so “What happened to you?!” 

“I got in a fight.” Frisk said dismissively, “Where did y-you go?” 

“I… I don’t want to talk about it.” Flowey said after a moment, and Undyne nearly did a double-take at the flower’s expression. He looked almost afraid. Frisk stood up and Undyne walked over to stand next to them.  “Wait- a fight with who?!” 

“We ran into a-!” Undyne winced as Frisk jabbed a bony elbow into her waist. 

“I’ll tell you l-later.” They said, “Did you s-see any of the others?”

“Ha! I wish. I only found you guys by chance, are you sure you’re okay though? I heard your heartbeat from two rooms over.” Flowey stared at the child suspiciously. 

Frisk flinched, “I-I’m fine.” the human pressed a hand to their side, “Or, not any worse.” They shifted uncomfortably under the monsters’ unconvinced stares. 

Flowey sighed, “... that aside, I don’t know what direction the ruins are in, if that is still where we’re going.” A thornless vine snaked its way out of the water and pointed, “New Home was about three chambers back that way, but I don’t know if it still is.” He shook his head, droplets of water flying off of his petals. “Something is really wrong with the timeline, if you hadn’t noticed.” 

“Fine. Then I guess we pick a direction and start walking.” Undyne grumbled. “Listen, keep an eye on each other. I don’t think there's anything we can do if one of us vanishes again, but there’s no reason to make that easier.” 

The human child crouched down in front of the pond and whispered a few words to the flower. He stared at them for a few moments, before ducking back underwater. Undyne frowned as Frisk stood back up and turned to face her. “C-could you… could you not tell a-anyone? About what happened?” 

Undyne grimaced and crossed her arms. “I don’t think this is something we can afford to keep secret, punk.” Frisk glared at her and she sighed.

“I-it doesn’t need to be forever. I’m just still f-figuring it out myself, and I don’t want anyone… deciding something, about me. Because of the other kids.” The child’s voice shivered as they spoke, like their words were crawling out of their throat, but their tone was unapologetic.

Undyne tapped a finger on her arm, her nail scraping against the scales on her bicep. She felt the urge to protest, this secret… it didn’t just affect Frisk, it could hurt the people she loved in ways they might never recover from. But… the same thing was true before. She’d promised to trust them, when she gave them back those notebooks, decided that whatever secrets or feelings they’d needed to write down, they weren’t hers to know. She’d already broken that promise once, so convinced that decision had been a mistake, when they defended what should have been her enemy. 

She glanced out of the cave, the water still rippling in the weed’s wake. He could still be here, eavesdropping underground, but somehow she didn’t think so. Somehow she knew that he’d let the two of them have their privacy when Frisk asked. “Does Asgore know?” She asked, finally. 

Frisk blinked, and they scowled. “I don’t t-think so. Not yet anyway.” They looked away. “I don’t think he should. I’m not them, I don’t care if he wants me to be.” the child picked at a small burn on their finger. 

Undyne’s heart felt heavy. It shouldn’t matter. It hadn’t mattered in the underground, or on the surface. As much as the injustice made her want to tear her hair out… this was bigger than them. This tragedy had touched the lives of everyone she knew. It was bringing the world around her crashing down, stone by stone. It had been bigger than them, before the barrier was broken, and again, at the meeting with the humans, and again, when they ran away, and again, in the park just a few days before. The little human had been so important, to so many people and for so many reasons, but… maybe never for the right ones. She’d already made this choice, Undyne realized, and it had only felt right once. 

“Okay.” She said, “I won’t tell anyone. Not until you figure out what you wanna do.” 

Frisk’s eyes widened, and Undyne had to suppress a snort at their shock. “O-okay. I uhm… t-thank you.” 

“Don’t.” She said, “You’re right… it's not for me to decide.” 

Frisk smiled faintly, and Undyne’s eye widened. She realized that she had never seen the human child do that before. The thought made her soul twist. “W-we should catch up with Flowey.” they said, and Undyne nodded.

“I’m right behind you.”

Chapter Text

The crunching of ice echoed through the forest. The path that connected the ruins to Snowdin town was seldom used by anyone other than the guard or the occasional rambunctious teenager, and this was the most traffic it had seen in days. Near the end of the trail, the snow grew thicker on the ground, and the canopy of twisting, leafless branches blocked the stone sky from the view of anyone who enjoyed solitude enough to stray so far. 

Toriel lowered her head from where she had been staring up at the canopy, returning her gaze to the thin path that stretched out into the woods. Behind her, Asgore staggered his way through the snow. The king’s stride was far less sure, far more uncertain of where their journey might take them. 

Neither of the royals had ever spent much time in this part of the underground. The ruins had been all but abandoned, and afterwards monsters had settled as far away as possible, their civilization pressed against the barrier like a hand against glass. It was not difficult to see why the woods had remained deserted. The darkness that seeped from between the bare trunks was impenetrable, crowding into every empty space like liquid. 

As the royals walked, they paused at a large gate, though the bars were far too wide to stop anyone that wanted to pass through. There was a change in the air, something hard to place that made the shadows between the trees feel less oppressive, less like the two monsters were being watched. After a few moments, they pressed on without a word, the queen turning to throw Asgore a glare as the bridge creaked under his weight. 

Toriel continued down the path, pausing to step over a large branch that had fallen across the middle of the road. They froze as a sound like someone talking echoed through the woods, coming from the station behind them. The two of them turned to look back the way they had come, but no one was there. 

Asgore exchanged a look with her as he stepped over the branch. The massive wall that guarded the ruins loomed over the tops of the trees in the distance, and they hurried towards its foot, only to freeze once again as a loud cracking noise sounded from just behind them. Asgore whirled around, and saw nothing on the path except for the large branch, still untouched. “Must have been my imagination.” He mumbled, turning to continue after Toriel, before both monsters cringed and clutched at their ears as a sound like a crack of thunder echoed through the cavern.

“What was…?” Toriel said, straightening up, “Asgore, It came from that way!” She said, pointing towards the ruins. She turned and raced off towards the source of the commotion, leaving Asgore scrambling to follow her. As the two approached the wall the trees began to thin, and voices echoed back at them, far clearer than the ones they had heard before. 

“-ESTLY BROTHER. WHY WOULD THAT HAVE BEEN YOUR FIRST INSTINCT? DON'T YOU KNOW A PUZZLE WHEN YOU SEE ONE?” Toriel perked up at the sound of a familiar voice.

“hey, if I knew how to get this thing open I would have done it before the barrier broke… really thought that would work.”

“I’M NOT SURPRISED IT DIDN’T, HAVE YOU BEEN REMEMBERING TO FEED-”

“Sans?!” Toriel asked, a little breathless as she slowed to a stop. The brothers turned to look at her and failed to hide their relief as Asgore stumbled to a stop behind her. 

“tori!” He grinned, “finally a familiar face, it nearly chilled me to the bone when we got separated.” His perpetual smile faded slightly as she failed to react to the joke. He took in her ragged look, and the state of the king behind her. “... is everything ok?” 

The queen blinked and straightened up, swiping at her eyes. “Ah- yes… some things happened after we were separated from the others.” Her haunted gaze begged him to drop it, and he nodded slowly, glancing behind the royals at the lack of other monsters or human children that were with them. 

Sans cursed under his breath, “so I guess you guys got separated from everyone too?”

“We did.” Asgore said, “Though not by choice.” 

“WELL… PERHAPS THEY WILL CATCH UP. YOU DID, AFTER ALL!” 

“In the meantime, we were going to wait for them here. I don’t suppose either of you know how to open this thing?” 

Toriel stared up at the looming wall of purple stone, the scorched emblem of the Deltarune sat immobile on the face of the door, mocking her. She would not be too late again. The queen cracked her knuckles, and behind her the king took a wary step back. 

________________________ 

Felix’s eyes widened as he emerged into a large green and white room. He stumbled and turned around, looking back the way he had come and nearly bowling over an equally confused Alphys. “What the-” he nearly shoved the lizard aside and peeked back out the chrome door behind them, eyes widening as he took in the burning expanse of Hotland, the tiered industrial park rising above them. 

“ Oh n-n-n-no! ” Alphys cried, squeezing her head into the part of the doorway not occupied by the cat monster. “N-not yet!” 

The two monsters tried to pull back at once, having to squirm free as they briefly blocked the others' way. “What do you mean, not yet ?” Felix demanded once they had extricated themselves. “Where is everyone? Where are we ?” He frantically glanced around the sterile surfaces of the lab, yellowed fluorescent lights buzzing overhead. 

Alphys didn’t seem to notice him talking, mumbling to herself as she searched their surroundings. “H-have to figure this out…”

“Hey!” Felix snapped, then cringed as the scientist jumped. “Would you mind telling me what’s going on?!”

Alphys stared up at him with wide eyes, and his heart sank. 

_____________________________

You suppress a shiver as the air of Snowdin hits you. The freezing cold stings your cheeks and you find yourself missing the winter coat you’d worn up the mountain. It was soaked through from your dip in the river and you know it would have only been dead weight, but thankfully your clothes have mostly dried as the three of you had made your way back. 

Glancing around as you emerge from the fog, the lights of the town are dim, and the streets empty. It must be late, whenever we’ve found ourselves, though the light outside the buildings hasn’t changed. You find yourself feeling glad that your group made it back here so easily, you haven't found yourself in the wrong place again since you woke up in waterfall.  

Undyne shivers beside you, tucking her hands under her arms. “I hate Snowdin.” She grumbles to no one in particular. 

You continue down the path and you have to suppress a shudder of your own at the oddly uniform furrows plowed through the snow. Your legs ache with old bruises left by bones that weren’t yours. “So where is everybody?” Flowey pipes up from his place on your arm. “Are we back after the barrier broke?”

“I h-hope so.” You mumble, “But I’m not sure.” 

“We still have a job to do at any rate.” Undyne says, “Let’s not stick around to see if anyone shows up, I’ve been attacked enough for one day.” You wince and subconsciously lift a hand to prod at your swollen eye.

“Stop that, you’ll make it worse.” Flowey says without looking at you. Reluctantly, you let your hand fall. 

The three of you hurry down the road, Undyne occasionally stopping to let you catch up as your injuries slow your stride. The three of you pause as you pass Grillby’s, a clamorous noise echoing from inside.  

Undyne reaches out a hand as if to stop you as you creep over to the window, standing up on your toes to peer through the glass despite the pain in your chest. You blink owlishly; half the town must be inside. Most of them are talking animatedly among themselves, and you notice a large variety of drinks sitting on the counter. 

Most of the Snowdin guard is among them, though they’re oddly subdued compared to the raucous crowd around them. You notice Grillby staring at them as they toast something, and duck down with a gasp as he looks your way, crawling away from the window and dusting yourself off as you stand. Your heart feels oddly heavy. 

Undyne looks at you quizzically and you shake your head, pointing further down the road and three of you move out of earshot of the bar. “M-most of the t-town is in there.” You say, “W-we’re not back y-yet.” 

“...Right.” She says, “Man this SUUUUCKS!” She groans, before her eye widens in alarm and she claps a hand over her mouth. “Sorry.” She says sheepishly. 

“W-we should-” You stumble as the ground rocks under you, a sound like an avalanche echoing in the distance and you have to suppress a scream as an awful pain lances through your heart. You fall down into the snow, barely managing to catch yourself. It feels like fingers are digging into your soul, like you’re being ripped in two. It’s all you can do not to sob as the pressure increases with every passing moment and the scars that litter your body scream in harmony with the light in your chest. 

You’re conscious of Undyne and Flowey shaking you, trying to get you to tell them what’s wrong, before the pain vanishes as quickly as it came and you nearly collapse from relief. You gasp on your side, fingers digging into the fabric of your sweater. Your leg stings like something is lodged in it, though your other wounds fade back into a dull ache. 

“Punk?! What’s wrong, are they getting worse?”

You grit your teeth and nod, trying to get to your feet, before the rumbling sound returns with a vengeance, getting louder with every second. Undyne looks over your head where she’s crouched next to you, her eye going wide with horrified realization. Flowey twists to follow her gaze and curses. “Shit. They died! We need to move, now!” 

You try to turn around to look, but yelp as Undyne grabs you around the waist, throwing you over her shoulder as she breaks out into a sprint. Behind you the ground collapses in the distance, Waterfall unravels and disappears, replaced by a yawning emptiness.

Undyne is running hard to keep ahead of the destruction, and within moments you’re out of town, staring back over the bridge. You nearly gasp as you see it for the first time since you got to the surface, the light that only you can see, swirling next to the inn. As you watch it spins faster, sinking towards the ground that dips and sinks beneath it like silk under the weight of a stone, disappearing from sight. The ground gives out around the deepening hole, snowdin being dragged down into the singularity. 

Is this what happened to everyone after you died? You don’t have time to think on it as Undyne picks up speed, Flowey screeching on your arm as the three of you race into the forest and the end of the world vanishes from your sight.

——————————— 

“So, like a funnel then.” Felix said, tapping his claws on Alphy’s desk. 

Sitting down at her old office chair, Alphys nodded up at him uncertainly. “I-it’s not perfect, but yeah. Things get c-closer to each other near the bottom.” The scientist reached out and clicked a few icons on the desktop of her computer. “Most of my stuff is s-still here. I’m not sure how accurate the date and time is, b-but look.” She reached out and pointed at the corner of the screen with one claw.

Felix leaned over her shoulder to look, and his eyes went wide. He hissed, “Shit.” 

“Y-yeah.” Alphys removed her glasses and rubbed at her eyes, “I think I can figure out how to map us a path back, I still remember most of the work me and sans did on the scanner, but it’ll take time.” 

“Do we have that kind of time?” Felix asked, looking at the door to the lab. 

“H-honestly, probably not.” Alphys rummaged around in her pocket and pulled out a flash drive, plugging it into the computer. “If things are this bad a-already that we can stumble into another timeline by m-mistake…” 

She trailed off, and Felix looked over in concern as she stood up, her chair rolling back. “Oh no.” 

“What is it?” Felix asked, but the scientist ignored him and opened a new window on the screen. 

“H-hang on!” A few more icons were selected, and the scientist abandoned the desk in favor of the large screen that took up much of the adjacent wall. Alphys crouched down and fiddled with something beneath it, before the monitor turned on and displayed a camera view of the road outside the lab. 

Felix cursed “Is that live?” 

“Yes! We have to d-do something, y-you need to distract them-“ 

“If I can get them in the elevator, could you-?”

“I’ll turn it off from here!” Felix was already moving towards the door, the chrome metal panels sliding open at his approach. The heat of the lava hit him like a blast furnace and he shivered at the transition from the air-conditioned lab. The elevator to the upper levels of Hotland sat open and waiting to his right. As he watched, a pair of pylons rose from beneath the stone walkway, and arcs of blue electricity jumped between them, blocking off the path. He frowned but had no time to question it.

Felix waved at the small figure that was sprinting down the road, their face red from exertion and chest heaving with exhaustion and terror. The blood drained from the human child’s face when they saw him, and Felix had to force himself not to run and meet them. Something had clearly happened to Frisk since they were separated, they could fill him in later. 

“This way kid!” He shouted, gesturing behind him, and the human child slowed, frantically looking around. The child seemed to despair at the sight of the pylons blocking the elevator, and peered back the way they had come, the sounds of metal echoing in the distance. “Quickly!” 

The human child looked back and forth between him and the road, before seeming to come to a decision and running into the lab. No sooner had the chrome doors shut behind them, then the pylons dropped back out of sight. It was only a few moments before a squad of armor-clad monsters came jogging down the path, and Felix frantically gestured towards the elevator, feigning fear of his own.

“The human! They went that way, upstairs!” The guards immediately changed course, one of them waving their thanks as they filed into the elevator. The doors shut behind them, and the pylons rose back into place, blocking the way they had gone. 

Felix breathed a sigh of relief, peering back up the road and seeing no more signs of pursuit. He turned on his heel and made his way back into the lab, resisting the urge to back in the cool air. The human child was standing towards the back of the lab, hugging themself and looking around uncertainly. “You gave us a scare buddy, glad you’re ok. 

Alphys shot him a warning look, and the fur on his tail stood on end. Frisk jumped when he spoke, whirling back to look at him, and his soul dropped into his stomach as he saw their face.

“I’m sorry, w-who are you?”

Chapter Text

Felix grasped the steaming cup to stop his paws from shaking. A wisp of steam drifted up from it and he scrunched up his nose at the smell of artificial flavoring and preservatives. He leaned back against Alphy’s desk, not quite sitting on it as next to him the human child wolfed down their own cup of noodles, kicking their legs in Alphys’ desk chair. 

The sight made his stomach clench for reasons that had nothing to do with the food. 

He met Alphys’ gaze where she was fiddling with the large monitor on the far wall, pretending to keep an eye out for the guard, but looking over at the human child so often it was like her head was mounted on a swivel.

Felix was convinced that she knew what was going on here, the horrified expression that she shot him once it was clear that Frisk had forgotten them… it meant something. Something more than what it meant to him. His head was still spinning after her earlier explanation, he wasn’t sure he could handle another.

More had changed than just their memory, he could tell. They didn’t seem to be hurt, not like when he last saw them, aside from a few small bruises and scrapes. Frisk wasn’t wearing what they were before, either. They were dressed for warmer weather, like they had been the first time the two of them had met. 

More significant than all of that, though, was the way the child held themself. They seemed… lighter, less afraid. They stole occasional glances towards the steel door of the lab, but otherwise seemed relaxed now that they were inside. There was none of the almost habitual paranoia that he was used to seeing from Frisk, the need to check every wall, every corner for an exit or a hiding place. Their eyes traced the room, inspecting their surroundings with curiosity rather than suspicion. Their bright green eyes…

Felix muffled a curse as he squeezed his cup of noodles a little too tight, his claws punching through the thin styrofoam and causing near-boiling water to leak out and scald his paws. Alphys and the human child jumped at the sound as he reached over and dropped it into the small trashcan next to the desk. 

“Are you alright?” The little human asked, and he brushed off their concern. 

“I’m- fine . I’m ok buddy, just surprised me is all. 

The human nodded slowly, looking down at their own cup of noodles in consideration before setting it on the desk behind them. “W-why… are you guys helping me?” They asked, hesitantly. “I know that everyone needs my s-soul… so?”  

Felix cringed and stuffed his paws into his pockets. “Frisk, I don’t know what happened to you, but…”

“Who’s that?” They sat up, staring at him with wide eyes, “Do you k-know me?” They sounded so hopeful, like their name was a lifeline.

 Felix felt his stomach churn, there had to be a way to fix this, to help Frisk remember them. And yet… they seemed so much happier having forgotten, so much more like the kid they were. “Frisk, I-” 

The monitor behind them sparked conspicuously, and Alphys jolted back with a yelp. “O-Oh no, I think I shorted something out.” She said, shaking out her claws. “I was t-trying to get it to display more feeds at o-once but… but don’t worry! I can fix it!”

Frisk slumped back slightly in their chair, looking unsure. “I really don’t think I n-need it.” They insisted, “Most of the monsters I’ve met have been really nice! E-even if at first they… I-I can convince them!” They flinched where they sat, as if remembering something they’d rather forget.  

“Kid… you don’t have to let anyone hurt you.” Frisk looked up at him with wide eyes, before a shadow of something bitter crossed their face. 

“T-that’s nice of you to say…” They looked down at their feet, seeming to be lost in a memory he didn’t know the meaning of. “I’ll be ok. I just n-need to make it to the king, right? Everyone says he’s really nice! And I… I always come back; I just need to talk to him.”

Alphys let out a distressed noise, “I d-don’t think that's a good idea…”

“Why n-not?”

She sighed, “…Your soul won’t be able to cross the barrier on its own. It would take a human soul… and a monster’s soul too.”

Frisk’s frown deepened, “I… I know that. Someone a-already told me. I’m not gonna hurt him if you’re worried! I just need to convince the king to let me s-stay… as long as no one’s attacking me, I’ll be f-fine down here.” They looked up at him, steel flashing in their eyes, “We’ll see each other again, I know we will!”

Felix cringed, “Just… please stay? Just for a little while?

“I-It’ll only take a few minutes!” Alphys said, “I promise! J-just let us make sure the coast is clear, I’ll swap out the fuse and we’ll figure it out!” She shot him a look over the child’s head and gestured towards the escalator. “F-Felix, mind giving me a h-hand?” 

Frisk looked back and forth between them, before giving a small nod, hands clasped in their lap.

Felix looked between Alphys and the human child, feeling his stomach twist. “Sure. We’ll be right back buddy. The two of them made their way over to the escalator and stepped on. As they rode up to the second story, Felix noticed Alphys slip a small screwdriver back into her bag. 

“What gives?” He snarled as they stepped off, out of earshot of the bottom floor. “Why do you keep looking at them like they’re a stranger?”  

Alphys whirled on him, “T-t-that’s not Frisk!” She hissed, “It’s not! I don’t know w-why but it's one of the o-others!” 

Felix’s face smoothed out, and he felt like his mind was going blank. “That’s not possible. You know that’s not possible, they look just like them for Asgore’s sake!” 

“I k-know but- look, you saw the date! They aren’t h-hurt, they aren’t d-dressed the same! They don’t remember us Felix!” 

“Frisk doesn’t remember a lot of things!” He growled, trying to stop himself from raising his voice, “You know they don’t remember anything from before… they fell… down.” His voice slowed as he spoke, tinged with realization.

“E-exactly!”

“No.” Felix said, “No, that isn’t true. It can’t be, it doesn’t work like that. If that’s true then how did we get out ?” 

“I… I don’t know.” Alphys slumped, “B-but it's the only thing that makes sense. We s-scanned for their blood and… I should have noticed it immediately, the other k-kids' timelines showed up too. That shouldn’t have happened!” 

“We needed seven of them! I know we had them.” He said, “How did one kid give us seven souls!?” 

“I d-don’t know! B-But… we only had six, remember?” She looked up at him apologetically. “I d-don’t know how this happened, but none of this should have been possible. It happened a-anyway! And now we have to figure out w-what to do with them!”

“We still have to get back to the others. We can take them with us, right? If we leave them here they’ll die.” 

Alphys was quiet, and Felix felt his fur stand on end. “I don’t know. I want to, but… things are already so broken.”

“What are you saying?” 

“I’m saying that if we take them b-back to our version of the underground, time might break even w-worse! I don’t know what will happen if there are two Frisk’s in the same t-timeline, but it can’t be good! For all we know, that was why they were forgotten in the first place!” She took a deep breath “ Maybe it will be fine. A-all the other timelines have started appearing, so maybe they can come with us and it won’t m-make a difference, but I don’t know !” She nearly raised her voice, and Felix cringed as the two of them fell silent listening to hear if the human child had heard them. 

“...Fine, we don’t know.” He started, paws clenched into fists “So lets act on what we do know! They’re going to die if they stay here! You can’t just ask me to be ok with this!” He hissed. 

Alphys’ eyes filled with tears, and she took off her glasses to clear the lenses. “I…I know. We c-can’t just leave them.” She shook her head, “You’re right. I think… the damage is already done, anyway.” 

Felix slumped with relief, feeling like his legs were going to give out. “Ok… ok. So what’s the plan?” He frowned as Alphys shifted nervously, not meeting his gaze. 

“I… can probably put them to sleep. If you can carry them for a-awhile.” 

“...What?” Felix said, a lump in his throat.

Alphys reached into her bag and drew out a plastic clamshell-style case, popping it open to reveal a syringe and a vial of clear liquid. Felix stared at her for a long moment, his hackles rising. “...You brought that for them, our Frisk, didn’t you?” He said coldly. 

“I-I wasn’t going to use it!” She insisted, “I t-thought that we might n-n-need it, if they decided to do something d-dangerous. They weren’t in a good p-place before we came up here! A-and they were hurt! I-if things kept getting w-worse for them…” 

Felix bared his teeth, “That’s not the-”

There was the squeak of a small shoe across linoleum tile. The rest of Felix’s fur stood on end, and the two monsters turned wide, horrified eyes to the human child staring at them from the top of the other escalator. 

“Buddy…” He breathed, “How much did you hear?”

The human child flinched and took a step back, “I-I wasn’t eavesdropping! I j-just… you were taking so long…” 

“W-we’ll just be a f-few more minutes!” Alphys tried, hiding the case behind her back. Frisk followed the motion; their expression tinged with fear and something else indescribable.

“I-I’m just gonna go-” they started, inching their way back.

Felix felt like his soul was encased in ice. “Fri- Kid… why don’t we go back downstairs and talk about this. There’s- there’s something I need to tell you and-” They were still inching back, “No one wants to hurt you kid, I promise!” 

“Then w-why does everyone keep doing it?” They snapped, “I don’t- need you to p-protect me!”

“B-buddy, wait-!” 

“No!” They shouted, “You- you’re just like her!” Their voice was tinged with realization, “You’re just… like her.” They stole a glance behind them, and Felix realized what was about to happen just before it did.”

“No!” But the human child was already running, the escalator working for them as they scrambled down the steel steps. Felix broke out into a sprint as well, racing after them. He was conscious of Alphys on his heels, begging them to come back. The child raced to the bottom of the stairs and past the bathroom. The two monsters made it to the bottom almost as soon as they did, picking up speed as the child made a break for the far door, their shoes pounding on the tile. 

He was gaining on them, Felix reached out a paw, desperately trying to grab the back of their shirt as ahead of them the steel doors slid open. His fingers grazed the fabric as the three of them raced out the door…

Felix kept running. He ran past a large, white pillar, he ran as the sounds of his claws clicking on dark, purple stone were thrown back at him by the narrow halls of the ruins, past Alphys’ calling out to him, slowing down herself. He ran through an archway, until leaves crunched underfoot and he was forced to stop to avoid crashing into a wall, leaning on it, panting. 

A clawed hand rested itself on his shoulder, and he looked back at Alphys, her eyes red. Felix’s hand slid down the wall as his legs gave out under him, the leaves crunching as he knelt. “They’ll be alright…” He whispered, “...We’ll see each other again.” 

Chapter Text

You struggle to breathe as you’re jostled in Undyne’s hold. Over her shoulder, the forest whizzes by, the trunks of trees blurring from her pace. You can’t hear the sounds of destruction anymore, the screaming from Snowdin has gone silent. You wheeze as Undyne takes a particularly large step, causing your chest to bump into her shoulder, a flash of pain shooting through your ribs. 

Flowey looks at you with concern, and you reach out to tap Undyne on the back, motioning to be set down. She doesn’t seem to notice, eye still wide and breath coming hard. Flowey scowls and speaks up. “I think we’re ok! Slow down!” She seems to hesitate, but your pace slows, and Undyne looks over her shoulder.

You let out a sigh of relief as she comes to a stop. She hesitates again, arms squeezing around your waist before letting you slide back down to the ground. Your feet hit the snow and you nearly tip over from the combination of vertigo and the pain in your chest and arm. Undyne reaches out to steady you and frowns. “I didn’t hurt you, did I punk?”

You hesitate, but shake your head, your breath coming fast and short. “I-I don’t think it was you.” You lie, clutching at your chest. 

Flowey frowns and closes his eyes. A few seconds later you feel the tingle of magic across your skin, seeping into it and filling your cuts and bruises with an almost uncomfortable heat. You flinch at the sensation, but the green glow fades and you feel a little better. Your chest still throbs, but you shoot him a grateful look. “We should probably take a break soon.” Flowey says, “We can take a closer look once we find somewhere to rest. Where are we now?” 

All of you take the time to peer at your surroundings. Above you, the massive wall that guards the ruins from the rest of the underground looms until it darkens against the ceiling of the cavern. “Good a place as any.” Undyne mumbles. You make your way to its foot, stepping over a shattered branch on the path. You listen intently as the three of you walk, vigilant for any disturbance, but the woods are so silent you can hear the blood rushing in your ears. 

Undyne comes to a stop before the doors to the ruins. The stone slabs sit open just barely wide enough for someone your size to squeeze through. She takes hold of one of the doors and drags it open, the stone grinding and digging up soil from beneath the snow. 

The inside of the corridor is pitch-dark, and your head swims as the path seems to tilt under your feet. We’re so close… 

Your eyes adjust some as you make your way inside, past the single patch of sunlight in the otherwise dark courtyard, and deeper into the ruins. Undyne pauses as you reach the hallway to Toriel's house and holds a hand behind her to stop you. “Do either of you smell burning?” She says, eye narrowing. 

Flowey bobs on his stem in an approximation of an indifferent shrug, but now that she mentions it… you raise a hand to your hair, fingers brushing the burnt tips. “We should keep moving.” you whisper, your stomach lurching.  

The three of you inch down the hallway. Undyne’s hands twitch like she’s itching to summon something, but she doesn’t want to scare you. The smell gets worse as you walk down the hallway, until it threatens to make you gag. Eventually your shoe bumps against something and you stare down at whatever it is blankly. 

The flames that Toriel used to keep burning along the wall are all extinguished, and you can’t make out anything in the darkness beyond the yellow of Undyne’s eye as it stares at what you’re standing in, seeing something you’re not. The air feels hazy and choked with something that threatens to make you cough. You can’t see a thing, but it doesn't matter, you already know what we’ve found. You squeeze your useless eyes shut as memory sears across your skin.

It’s all too much. A vine curls itself around your ankle, thorns biting into your skin. The smell of burning hair fills your nose, bruises bloom across your legs and stomach. Your ribs creak as something sharp slides between them, you can’t move your muscles… he won’t look you in the eye. You clap your hands to your ears, a quiet whimper tearing its way out of your throat.

“Ok, we are not doing this!” Undyne bites out, loud enough to break through your hands and the panic, and you gasp as she scoops you up and races down the hallway. Flowey screeches indignantly at the sudden whiplash but falls quiet when she sets you down. You keep your hands held to your ears, not opening your eyes, mind trapped in another time. 

You are vaguely aware of conversation happening behind your fingers, and a hand takes your shoulder and leads you gently on wobbly legs towards the living room. They give out and you find something soft underneath you. When you crack your eyes open, Undyne stares at you with an unreadable expression, knelt to be on your level as you sit in Toriel’s old armchair.

Her mouth moves, blurred sound coming out and you… you’re going to be alright, the worst is already over. Just a little farther and then we can rest. For real this time. I promise.

You slowly lower your hands and sound seeps back into the world, “Do you want me to leave?” Undyne is saying, her voice unsure. 

You… do , or you wish you did, but if she left… there’s no guarantee that she’d come back , and then you’d be alone here, with nothing to stop you from stumbling into another time or place where everyone wants your soul again, and that thought scares you more than she does at the moment. In the end you half-nod, and then shake your head furiously. 

“Okay… okay. Look, I’m just going to be in the kitchen, ok? If you need me you can just call or… Flowey?” 

“I’ll call,” he says quietly, and you almost forgot that he was there. “Whenever this is, the queen probably has food or something here.” 

“I’ll see what I can do.” She agrees, standing up. She pats your shoulder as she passes, and you manage to hide your flinch until she’s out of the room. It doesn’t feel like as much of an accomplishment as it used to.

______________________________

Toriel reached out and grasped the stone angel at the top of the Deltarune in one paw. The queen yanked it down hard, and to the skeleton’s surprise a click sounded from somewhere within the stone, causing two of the three triangles to pop out slightly. The queen grabbed hold of them and dragged the doors open, the stone making a harsh grinding noise as they moved. 

“I’M NOT SURE WHAT I EXPECTED.” Papyrus said, putting his hands on his hips and giving his brother the side-eye. 

Toriel dusted some of the inexplicable soot that coated the doors off of her paws and gestured inside. “Shall we?” 

As the queen and Papyrus disappeared into the runs, Sans looked up at the king who was still staring after her with wide eyes. “I…I forgot that it opened that way.” He mumbled, looking absolutely downtrodden. Sans just sighed and gave him a sympathetic pat on the back. 

The king scratched at the scorch mark on his chest and the two of them followed the others.  The courtyard on the other side was shrouded in gloom, and the monsters paused as they crossed the beam of sunlight that shone down from some hole in the mountainside far above. Asgore peered up, shading his eyes and attempting to see if the barrier was still in place, in whatever time they had ended up.

He nearly stumbled into Toriel, who had paused just beyond the patch of sunlight, brow furrowed as though listening. She turned back to frown at him, mouth opening to scold him, before the four monsters were nearly shaken off of their feet by a tremor that rocked the cavern. 

The two boss monsters steadied each other, and Papyrus nearly picked up his brother entirely as a wave of sound and air pressure came rushing down the corridor from deeper inside the ruins. Those who had ears cringed and clutched them, before the tremor died down as quickly as it had come. 

The monsters straightened up, the sound of loose bits of dirt and gravel trickling down over stone overpowering the sound of their ragged breathing. “That was a cave in…” Asgore realized, “Tori-” but the queen was already moving.

The others scrambled to keep up with her as she rushed down the corridor. Sans made to follow them, but paused as a chime sounded from the pocket of his shorts. He reached inside and pulled out his cell phone, staring at the new notification with confusion. 

Voicemail Delivered Successfully. 

Playback Voicemail? Y/N

The skeleton paused, before turning off the screen and stuffing the phone back into his pocket. He had more important things to worry about at the moment. By the time he caught up with the others, they were halted in front of a pile of debris that clogged the hallway entirely. 

Toriel stared at it with a mixture of horror and guilt. “This was…” Toriel’s paws trembled at her sides and Sans resisted the temptation to reach out to her.  After a moment the queen shook herself as if to chase her thoughts away. 

“I am not sure that we will be able to get through here.” Asgore rumbled.

“THERE MUST BE ANOTHER PATH, RIGHT?”

“only if we can find it.” Sans sighed. 

The queen’s paws curled into fists, a shimmer of heat building around them. Asgore noticed and raised his paws, “Tori- Uh, Toriel, why don’t we…?” The queen leveled her paws at the wall of earth, teeth bared in frustration, before a rumbling sound once again echoed through the corridor.

“uh, that's probably not a good thing.” Sans said, taking a wary step back as thorny vines began to worm their way out of the soil.

__________________________

Undyne glanced back at Frisk as she ducked into the kitchen. The child was still staring off into space, eyes wide like they weren’t certain where they were. 

Flowey leaned over from his place on their arm to talk into their ear, his voice low and lacking its usual edge. Undyne shook her head, feeling like she was intruding.

The captain shuddered as she walked through the doorframe, trying to push the memory of what she’d seen in the basement from her mind. She felt glad that Frisk hadn’t been able to see what was left of them, but even so, that horrible burning stench and the haze of dust in the air had been enough to push them into panic. She didn’t want to know what happened between them and Toriel to have caused that .

Toriel hadn’t lasted long either, after she… Undyne didn’t know how to feel about it.  

They needed to get moving, she knew, before that… thing, happened again. They’d barely made it out of Snowdin in time but… the kid wasn’t in any condition to move right now. Undyne had outrun it once before, she could do it again if she had to. They had to be close, they had to, if this went on for much longer Undyne thought she might lose her mind. She could only imagine how Frisk was feeling. 

Undyne shook herself from her thoughts and glanced around the kitchen, eye widening at the terrifyingly large pie that dominated half of the counter. It only took a few moments of digging around in the cabinets for her to pull out some plates. 

Frisk and Flowey straightened up as she walked back into the room, Frisk glancing over the arm of the chair. They looked to have regained some of their composure during the few minutes she was gone. Frisk hesitantly accepted their plate, and she briefly held the other out to Flowey before realizing that he didn’t have hands. The flower rolled his eyes and waved a leaf at her dismissively, and Undyne shrugged, leaning back against the brick of the hearth and taking a bite. 

“... Not bad.” She mused around a mouthful of cinnamon, “Needs more tomato.” She glanced at the human child, “You feeling any better, squirt?” 

Frisk didn’t answer immediately, and instead hesitantly took a bite of their own slice, before their face scrunched up from discomfort. “Mm not really h-hungry.” They mumbled, setting the plate on the arm of the chair. Frisk flinched as they pulled their arm back, and Undyne noticed how shallow their breathing was. 

Undyne sighed. This little punk… she should have known better than to expect an answer.

Flowey stared at Frisk’s slice of pie for a few seconds, as though debating whether it would be worth it to shove his face into it. He seemed to give up on the idea and turned to Frisk. “If you’re done freaking out, you should let her look at what was bothering you back on Snowdin road. She probably knows more about that kind of stuff than I do anyway.” 

Frisk looked unsure, shifting in their seat as Flowey extended a leaf to poke them on the side of the head. “We’re almost there.” They said, “Can’t it wait?” 

“There’s no point pushing yourself Frisk.” Undyne said, “You know I can keep a secret if you don’t want the others to worry. At least until all this is over.” She gave them a long look, and Flowey’s brows rose, as if to ask what she meant by that. 

Frisk nodded dejectedly, their hand curling into a fist as Undyne crouched down in front of them. They lifted their shirt a little and Undyne managed to keep her expression neutral as she saw the red seeping through the bandages that covered them. “… shit.” She muttered, “they’re still getting worse. Does it hurt when you move?” 

Frisk shrugged and winced as they did. “A-all over. But it’s getting h-harder to breathe. It wasn’t doing that before.” 

“Anywhere in particular?” 

Frisk hesitated, and brought a hand to the side of their chest. Undyne recognized it as the place where the other child had kicked them. Frisk visibly flinched when she brought a hand up to touch the area, and she sighed. 

“What’s wrong with them?” Flowey snapped, leaning down from his perch.” 

“I think they have a cracked rib, but I can’t say for sure. I’m not sure if it was like that before and it’s getting worse like the others or if it’s from the fight with-“ Undyne winced and bit her tongue. “Uh, nevermind. It’s probably like the others.”  

“Well can you do anything about it?” 

Undyne ignored the indignant flower and looked at Frisk apologetically, “I wish I could, but not really. I can’t patch something like that with just magic.” 

“Well that was helpful.” Flowey said dryly, and Undyne scowled at him. Before she could give in to her sudden urge to rip his petals off, she was startled as Frisk reached up and flicked him on the back of his petaled head.

Flowey spluttered, and Undyne stifled a snort at his expression, her anger dying. “Did you just-”  

“I feel b-better.” They said flatly, letting their shirt drop back down and hide the splotchy bandages from sight. The child’s expression turned serious after a moment, and they failed to hide the glimmer of fear that seeped back into their eyes. “We should keep g-going, though. We m-might have to find the others a-after we…” Frisk trailed off and frowned, cocking their head to the side. “… do either of you h-hear that?” 

“-ence!” 

Undyne turned towards the foyer, her ears straining. If she tried, she could just make out the sound of muffled shouting. The smell of smoke drifted up the stairs, and her brow furrowed. There was silence for a few moments, before Undyne’s eyes widened as her ears popped, and she recognized the familiar sound of earth collapsing. Her mind raced with the memory of the last time she hadn’t been fast enough and Frisk had saved her, immediately picking the child up and ignoring the pained sound they made. 

“W-wait!” Frisk yelped, as she made a break for the front door, not bothering to check how much distance they had from whatever was coming. She made it halfway through the door before a sharp tug nearly yanked her off of her feet. 

Undyne whirled around, trying to see what had snagged her, and nearly did a double-take at the vines anchoring Frisk, and by extension her to the doorframe. “It stopped, idiot!” Flowey snapped, the vines pulling themselves free and withering away from his stem.

She paused, but sure enough the rumbling had ceased, leaving an eerie silence in its wake. Peering back through the doorframe, a haze of dust rose slowly from the stairwell. “...Dammit.” She gritted out, finally noticing the distressed noises coming from the child over her shoulder. She set Frisk down and they stumbled away, leaning against the doorframe and breathing heavily. “Sorry…: 

Frisk waved her off and coughed. “No- it’s, it’s ok. Just… please stop picking me up like t-that.” They straightened up and curled an arm around their waist. “It sounded like a cave-in. A n-normal one.” Frisk said, “Maybe we should c-check it out?”

“That sounds like a terrible idea.” Flowey snapped, “What if more collapses?”

Undyne walked over to the stairs and peered over the railing. “I don’t hear voices anymore.” She said. “Whoever it was could be trapped.” 

“Good! One less thing to worry about!” Flowery groused, and Frisk moved up next to her, peeking around the bannister and down the curve of the steps. 

“I-if you wanna check, I’ll come too.” Frisk said, looking up at her.

Undyne stared for a long moment at the rising plume of brown dust from the basement. If she tried, she thought she could see motes of silver floating within it. “Alright, but stay behind me.” 

Undyne crept down the stairs slowly, Frisk and Flowey staggering along behind her. The tunnel was just as dark as it had been before, Undyne was glad that she had decent night vision, but even her sight was largely blocked by the haze in the air.

The smell of smoke still lingered, nearly drowned by the dust and dirt that stuck to her gills and threatened to make her choke, but that horrible stench of meat was gone. It wasn’t long before they came to a dead end, well before the end of the hallway. 

Frisk bumped into her back as she came to a stop, and looked around, unsure. “I-Is everything ok? I can’t see.” 

Undyne felt like kicking herself. “Right, I forgot. Don’t freak out, ok?” A faint blue light pooled in her hands, sharpening and elongating into a spear. Despite her warning, Frisk flinched back a little, but seemed to relax some as the faint glow of the weapon dimly illuminated the walls of the corridor. 

She passed it back to the kid, who hesitantly took it, leaning on the shaft and staring past her at the wall of dirt and rubble that blocked the way they had come. “I-is that what caused the e-earthquake?” They asked.

“Probably,” Undyne said. “Not sure what caused it, but no one’s here.” 

“I did.” Flowey said quietly. “It was me.”  

Undyne stared at him, “Now, or…?” 

“No, before. It was a little while after I got the ability to turn back the clock, I was staying with Toriel at the time and… she was the first person I ever killed.” Flowey stared at the rubble with an odd expression, not quite remorse, but something close. If Undyne didn’t know better, she would have thought the weed was sad.

She bared her teeth. “Not the last though, right? Hadn’t had your fill yet.” Not for the first time, Undyne wondered why she was tolerating him.

Flowey didn’t respond, but Frisk looked down at their arm as his roots uncurled and he unceremoniously dropped to the ground. “Would the o-other you, still be here?” Frisk asked worriedly. 

“That’s what I’m checking.” He said, “I remember dying in the cave-in and loading right after but… you're here, so maybe it was longer than I thought.” He closed his eyes and his roots branched out, anchoring him back down. “… I’m not feeling any other roots. Wait!” He looked up at Undyne. “I hear voices on the other side.” 

Undyne’s eye widened, “can you dig them out?” 

Flowey squeezed his eyes shut and Undyne took a step back as the tunnel shook once again. Brambles burst from the ground, weaving together and forcing the earth aside, building on  and reinforcing each other. 

Undyne squinted and saw a glimmer of light on the other side as the tunnel grew. “Keep going!” She said excitedly, “I can see something!”

Flowey grunted and appeared to be starting to sweat. “I’m… trying-” the top of the tunnel started to bulge from the pressure of the mountain above it, and a few clumps of dirt fell through the weave as a vine dissolved.

Undyne swore and held out a hand, the tunnel was illuminated by pools of blue light that formed on the ground, before they shot up, anchoring themselves into the weave like pillars. Flowey breathed a sigh of relief as she took some of the weight, and he quickly reinforced her work, the weave growing thicker.

Slowly, the tunnel expanded, until there was no longer anything blocking the way. The light on the other side flooded into their half of the tunnel, cast by a fireball cupped in a white paw. 

“Is that…” Toriel breathed, and Undyne’s shoulders slumped as the tunnel stabilized and she lowered her arms, her breathing heavy. “My child!” Toriel cried, rushing through the opening. Frisk recoiled as for a moment it looked like she was going to pick them up, but instead the queen dropped to her knees in front of them. “Are you hurt, young one? We feared the worst after we were separated.” 

“Undyne! It is good to see you. I knew that you and Frisk would be alright.” The king stood next to her, a fireball cupped in his own paw. Undyne’s eye widened at the state of him, his shirt in tatters and much of the fur beneath burnt black. 

“What happened to you?” She asked, incredulously. The king’s expression hardened, and he shook his head.

“We had some, ah, misadventures on our journey here. It is nothing, really.” His eyes begged her to drop it, drifting towards the human child behind her, and her heart sank. A question hovered on her tongue, but she thought she would sleep better not knowing.

“WE, ON THE OTHER HAND, ARE UNHARMED!” Papyrus exclaimed, and Undyne forced a grin for his sake, which faded as she saw no one standing behind him and Sans. 

“Where’s Alphys?” She asked, suddenly breathless. 

“we were hoping she was with you.” Sans said, eyelights dimming. “we haven’t seen her or the other guy since new home.” 

Asgore, sensing her train of thought, put a paw on her shoulder. “I am sure that wherever Alphys is, that she is alright. She is a smart woman, we will find her again.” 

Undyne nodded dully, and behind her Toriel set a paw on the top of Frisk’s head, green light seeping into their hair. The child’s legs still wobbled with pain and exhaustion, but when it faded they looked a little less sickly. 

“Well, now that we have managed to find each other,” Toriel said, standing up. “Shall we compare notes?” 

Chapter Text

You find yourself tuning out as the others talk. Their voices echo softly off the dark stone in the courtyard outside of Toriel’s house, drowning out the faint rustling of the leaves at the base of the great tree as you lean back against it.

Sans is doing his best to explain what he thinks is happening and Undyne her best to avoid breaking your confidence. Toriel and Asgore are… strangely silent, now that she’s finally stopped clinging to you. For a moment it was like those first few days after the two of them remembered, a frantic, almost desperate kindness as they fretted. Your mind wanders as they talk amongst themselves, standing a way apart and trying to focus on the bark under your fingers instead of the rising pain pulsing through your body. 

Your bad hand throbs as it brushes against the wood, we don’t really need Sans’ explanation. You peek behind you, around the trunk and deeper into the ruins, debating if you should leave them behind. We didn’t… really want them here to begin with. It only complicates what you have to do, you know they aren’t going to like it. 

Flowey follows your gaze and seems to keep up with your train of thought. “If you want to leave, we can.” He glares, “I won’t stop you, but that’s a really stupid thing to do.” 

That gets a wince out of you, cheeks burning with shame. It’s not a good thing that he’s learning to read you so easily, you know he’s right, but… it's only a little further. After some consideration, you abandon the idea and lean back against the tree. You try to pay attention to what the others are discussing, but the throbbing in your head makes it hard to focus. 

You’re so close! So close!

Just when the temptation is becoming unbearable, the huddle of monsters across the courtyard breaks apart. You push off of the tree, bad hand curling into a fist. “Are you ready, my child? It is not far to the end of the ruins… assuming that is still our destination?” 

You nod up at the half-circle of monsters around you, heart racing with anticipation. “Y-yeah. Let's go.” Without another word you turn and leave, nearly leaving them behind in your haste. Your chest still throbs, even after Toriel’s best efforts, but it pales in comparison to the fear you feel crawling up your throat, what if you’re too late? 

It wouldn’t take much to stop you the way you are now, anxiety and instinct war in your chest. You don’t know what lies ahead… but you have an idea that it isn’t going to be as easy as we hope. Neither of us can afford to falter, now, at the end of everything. You only hope the monsters behind you won’t prove to be too much of an obstacle. They’ll understand, they’ll have to understand. It’s been so long . They didn’t stop me before, you can’t let them stop me now.

There’s murmuring from over your shoulder and you snap yourself out of my thoughts in time to realize that the Underground is changing once again. It starts slowly, almost imperceptible, but as you walk the ground starts to slope. Walls curve, bricks and all, and the light from the flaming torches that flank you grows dimmer, even though they burn just as bright. 

Undyne moves up beside you. “This is it, right?” She asks, and you clench your hands.

“Y-Yeah.” You say, not bothering to mask the tremble in your voice, even stronger than usual. Flowey stares at you out of the corner of his eye and his roots curl tighter around your bicep as though he’s trying to hold you up. You’re glad he’s here, in a way that surprises you. You hadn’t expected him to try and comfort you when you panicked. You didn’t realize you had that in common with him too. 

“But nobody came.” He finishes, not meeting your gaze. At some point during Flowey’s story, your heartbeat has slowed, limbs no longer shaking. It feels like there’s something lodged in your chest, heavy, like a stone. You don’t know how to feel about Flowey’s story, it's… nice? To know he wasn’t always like this, that there was a time he was just as frightened as you were, waking up in a different body, in a world that wasn’t like he remembered. 

He’s still sulking, hunched over on his stem like he’s forgotten you’re there. Your other hand lifts, reaching out to brush against his petals, but falls before it can reach him, resting instead on your arm. You can feel the sharp point of the arrow-like indent across your palm as it closes around your wrist. “I-I’m sorry you had to go through that,” You say, and you’re surprised at how much you mean it. 

“Don’t be.” He mutters, “I’m better off anyway.” 

“I’m still sorry.” And you really do mean it… for more than he could ever know. 

You pause when you get to the room with the cracked floor. As you stare down the unnaturally sloping corridor, your ears pop like there’s been a change in air pressure. You glance over your shoulder at the others, Toriel rubs one of her large ears uncomfortably, and Asgore seems to wince from his place behind her.

It’s impossible to be sure, but you instinctively know that the underground has changed again, no longer the same version of the ruins that you were in just a few rooms ago. “you guys alright?” Sans asks from beside his brother, brow creased with concern. 

You wave him off and the two monarchs straighten. “I am alright,” Asgore thrums, “Tori?”

“Fine.” She says sharply, “I believe the ruins have changed again, however. Only time will tell if it is to our benefit.” Toriel takes the lead, putting a gentle hand on your shoulder as she passes. She leads the others across the damaged floor, and you follow after them, Asgore right behind you. 

You stumble near the end of the hidden path, your foot punching through the cracked tile and nearly sending you toppling over the edge. Flowey screeches as you barely manage to catch yourself, ribs crying out and your shoulder burning, before Asgore reaches down, plucking you out of the hole and carrying you the rest of the way. You squirm out of his arms the second the two of you are on stable ground, breathing ragged.

“Watch where you’re going, moron!” Flowey snaps, twisting to glare at you, and Asgore frowns at him as you catch your breath.

“T-thanks.” You manage, peeking up at him gratefully. He nods wordlessly, even though your frantic heartbeat makes your words feel like a lie. Toriel and Papyrus hover as you reclaim your place at the head of the group and lead the way further into the ruins. 

The light from the torches grows dimmer and dimmer, seeming to almost seep out of the air. Your shoe collides with a handful of pebbles, and they go tumbling down the corridor’s slant. You find yourself on-edge, shivering like someone’s walking over your grave. Ha.

Eventually the awful tension is broken by a surprised shout, and you have to stumble out of the way to avoid being bowled over as Undyne races past you. “Alphys!” She hollers.

You nearly do a double-take as a familiar lizard monster walks around the curve of the corridor. “U-Undyne!” She stammers, sagging with relief that then turns to near-terror as Undyne crosses the distance between them in seconds and pulls her into a bear hug you can feel from across the room. 

“You had me worried babe!” She says over the cracking of her girlfriend’s vertebrae while Alphys frantically taps out.

“Ah! Undyne. I think that Dr Alphys is having difficulty breathing?” Ashore says hesitantly, laying a large paw on her shoulder. Undyne seems to come to her senses, letting go and allowing the lizard scientist to drop to the floor.

“It’s, ugh… g-good to see you t-too.”  Alphys managed between gasping breaths. The others all go to greet her, and you slump with relief as another familiar figure comes around the corner. You don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been able to find the two of them, you’re glad you don’t have to find out.

Felix waves to Asgore as he comes around the corner, eyes widening slightly at the sight of the barely-healed burn across his chest, before he seems to notice you. You smile weakly and wave, but he flinches as you get close, looking at you in a way you’ve never seen from him before…

It's the same look. The same way that everyone else has looked at you but worse. Like he’s scared for you and… of you, at the same time, eyes wide and fur standing on-end like he’s looking at a ghost. An icy hand grips your heart, and you just know it… he knows.

__________________________ 

Sans met Alphys’ gaze as she recounted where she had been to the others. Felix and Frisk had wandered off to the far corner of the corridor, trying and failing to be discreet. Conspicuously, Frisk had set Flowey down before the two of them left, and that was almost as concerning to him as the weed’s lack of protest.

It quickly became apparent that Alphys wasn’t telling them everything. She and Felix had apparently stumbled into Hotland, and then the Ruins shortly after, but that didn’t explain the way she kept glancing over her shoulder at the cat-monster and human child talking in hushed tones… or why her eyes were so red. 

Undyne did her best to comfort the scientist, slinging a muscular arm around her shoulders and whispering between the two of them. As she did, Sans took the opportunity to duck behind a pillar and pull out his phone. The notification blinked back at him steadily, right where he’d left it. 

Playback Voicemail? Y/N

Sans’ eye-lights dimmed as he stared at the date next to the voicemail in question, something he had missed before. Hesitantly, he lifted the phone to his head and pressed yes. 

“ Hey. You didn’t look so good the last time we talked, so I’ll keep this brief.”

Neither the other monsters, nor the human child noticed when the gloomy corridor grew very slightly darker.

   ———————————— 

“I-I was going to tell you.” You whisper, staring at your shoes.

“Buddy… when? Felix asks from where he’s knelt down to be at your level, making it very hard for you to avoid his gaze. “After all of this was over? In a month? Two?” You stay silent, your throat tight, and Felix sighs. “Did… you know this was going to happen?” 

That gets a flinch out of you, and you shake your head furiously. “No! I didn’t know we were going to get separated like that, I-I don’t know what’s going on anymore than you do!” You stare up at him, desperately hoping he’ll believe you. Your heart aches with guilt at the half-truth, but you shove it aside.

“But you do know what you need to do to stop this.”

“...Yes.” You say, “I d-do.” Your shoulders slump and you peer at him through the fibers of your hair. “I left something behind, someone . Someone who n-needs my help with something.” Your hands curl into fists, “A-and I need their help too.” 

Felix’s brow furrows, “I thought I heard something… just before we all got separated. Was that who you’re trying to find?” You nod firmly and his expression softens. “But you won’t tell me who.”

It isn’t a question, and you don’t treat it as one. This is between us. “N-no. I’m sorry.”

He sags, looking upset but resigned. “Just… promise me you’ll be ok?” 

You shudder at the request. You can’t promise him that, not really. It’s one untruth too far. “I-I’ll try.” You whisper, not meeting his gaze. 

Felix frowns like he wants to protest, but he pauses when he sees the other monsters approaching. “ARE WE READY?” Papyrus asks, staring ahead with anticipation. Flowey pops out of the ground next to you, and scoffs when you offer him your arm like before.

“Oh, now you want me around.” He grumbles, “We’re close enough I can tunnel to the end of the cavern.” 

You stand back up, unaffected by his irritation, and look up at the monsters around you. Asgore looks exhausted, Toriel harried. Undyne puts a hand on Alphy’s shoulder to stop her glasses from shaking themselves off of her head from the force of her trembling. Papyrus is as eager as ever, Sans is… oddly calm. 

No reason to put it off. You turn on your heel and lead the way, deeper into the darkness of the cavern. 

The slope grows more and more treacherous, as you cross the short distance to the place our journey began. It takes effort to stop yourself from sliding down it uncontrollably, but slowly you pick your way down the incline. Just when it seems like it might go on forever, until it becomes a sheer cliff, until, impossibly, it levels out. 

You hear your heart beating in your ears as you pass through the archway… and there it is. A bed of flowers, so soft you might never get up, that tilts and warps and stretches like silk under the weight of a stone, stretching down and down forever until it becomes a bottomless pit, so deep that the sunlight from the hole above could never hope to reach the bottom, so deep we could never hope to escape.

In this single spot, the world is stretched to its breaking point, like a rubber band drawn too tight, ready to snap back and catapult us back to the beginning, to when we first fell, when we first thought 'I don’t want to die'. You can hear it now, like it was always there, ringing in your ears, it reverberates off the walls of the cavern, bounces back somehow louder, like a cry for help, like a scream from the bottom of a well, like- like! P-please.

Please.

Someone!

Anyone! 

Help Me!

Help Me!

“HELP ME!”

The others flinch back, startled by the sudden cry even as you surge forward, instinct screaming of danger. All this time, all those deaths, finally just to have a chance , a chance at no longer being trapped, just a chance at being able to live, you won’t let it go to waste. 

Your feet trample the golden flowers as you race towards the hole in the world. Reaching out, ready to answer that cry for help. It’s almost over, you’ve come so far, you only need to take one last leap of faith. 

It was never going to work. As you near the pit, something happens, you feel a strange tightness in your chest and your legs give out from under you. You come crashing to your knees, weighed down by something you can’t see. Instinctively, you reach out, trying to crawl to the edge, but brambles burst from the ground and ensnare your legs, dragging you back. 

You turn to look at the monsters staring at you with fear. Blood seeps from under your sweater, and the burn on your hand stings from the mixture of dirt and chlorophyll that stains your fingers. Your hands shake with fury, clutching the ground. Even now, after everything…

In.

Our.

Way.

Chapter Text

“YOU IDIOT!” Flowey shrieks as he drags you back, “Do you really wanna die that bad?!” Your hands scrabble against the ground, fingers digging into the dirt and pulling up the flowers that layer the floor here. 

You try to push yourself up, but the weight in your chest stops you from finding purchase as hope of rescue grows further and further away. Finally, Flowey lets go, a few errant thorns scoring your skin as the vines pull back into the ground. You manage to find enough strength to face them, but the weight in your chest keeps you on your hands and knees. 

Your chest burns like fire and your limbs tremble as you push yourself up and raise your head. Toriel's paws are clasped to her snout and her eyes are wide with shock and something like betrayal. Next to her, Felix grimaces with resignation and hurt. You can’t bring yourself to look him in the eye. 

Papyrus and Sans stand next to each other, each holding out a hand to keep you down. The brothers blink and seem to realize that they both acted at once. An entire conversation passes between them silently, and Papyrus reluctantly lowers his hand. The awful pressure abates somewhat, and you gasp as the weight in your chest lightens by half, though you still can’t get to your feet.  

Asgore’s limbs shake almost as much as yours do as he stares past you at the hole in the world, his expression creased as though the mere sight of it causes him physical pain. Undyne puts a hand on his shoulder, following his gaze thoughtfully, her expression carefully neutral. She’s the only one who doesn’t look surprised. 

Your attention is dragged back to the furious flower in front of you, his face swollen into a twisted snarl. “After everything, all that talk, now you’re just going to throw your life away? Do you even know what’s down there?!”

Your fingers curl into the flowers and you meet his snarl with one of your own. “L-let me go! You don’t understand-”

“What don’t I understand?” He sneers with the kind of disdain you haven’t seen from him since you first met, “You want us to trust you? You haven’t been honest with anyone since coming down the mountain! If you want people to stop smothering you, here’s an idea! DON’T JUMP DOWN BOTTOMLESS PITS!” His face swells in a horrifying smile that fails to mask the raw anger and… and hurt in his eyes, the sight strikes something small and fearful inside of you and the terror lets you briefly stagger to your feet only to be dragged back down by the blue magic. 

You yelp as you catch yourself again. One of your wrists twists painfully and the sound echoes through the cavern, seeming to snap the others out of their shock. 

“M-my child! Come away from there!” Toriel stammers, her voice bright.

“Hey! You’re hurting them! Let go!” Felix barges past Asgore, reaching out to put a paw on Sans’ shoulder only for Papyrus to intercept it with a shake of his skull.

“I THINK, IT MIGHT BE BEST TO KEEP AN EYE ON THEM?” he’s somehow sweating, “AT LEAST UNTIL WE KNOW WHY THEY TRIED TO… UM?” He looks back at you as if expecting reassurance. 

Felix tries to dodge past the taller skeleton, only for his path to be blocked by a large bone that pops out of the ground. His hackles rise like he’s going to start shouting, but is interrupted by Undyne.

“This is what you came here to do?” Undyne asks you, ignoring the others. Your mouth tightens in a line and your limbs tremble as you continue to fight the unnatural gravity pinning you down. 

“let’s talk about this.” Sans mutters, almost too quiet to hear. His eye sockets are empty and his voice tinged with something you can’t place. A strange mix of fear and sorrow. “kid- frisk, you don’t have to do this for us.” 

He- what? You glare up at him like he’s grown a second head, why can’t you make them understand? They have to let you go, you have to make it right! Please!

“L-let, me, go!” You shout, staggering to your feet even as he does his best to keep you down. 

“My child!”

“F-Frisk!” 

The bed of flowers all but yanks itself out from under you and you’re once again sent sprawling in the blooms, something gives inside your chest, and you wheeze desperately, trying to bring in air through the aching, shooting pain that radiates through your chest. You momentarily forget your struggle as it shocks you out of your previous desperation, all of your concentration focused on just taking in air. 

There’s shouting and you look up just in time for Flowey’s shocked expression to meet your own. For a moment you almost mistake it for remorse, “I didn’t mean-” He starts, only to rear backwards to avoid being skewered by a neon-blue spear that nearly takes his head off. 

“THAT TEARS IT!” Undyne roars, all semblance of her previous composure lost. Sans stumbles in surprise as she charges the flower, the oppressive weight in your chest vanishing. Flowey ducks underground and pops up near the entrance to the chamber, pellets forming in a halo around his head as the enraged captain once again goes after him. 

Undyne ducks his volley, bringing up her spear, only for it to be intercepted by the prongs of Asgore’s trident as he defends the flower monster behind him. “Captain,” he hisses, his voice low and dangerous in a way you've never heard from him before. “Stand down!” Their weapons unlock from each other and the two of them step back, Asgore shielding Flowey with his body, and Undyne unintentionally doing the same to you. 

All eyes are on the two most dangerous monsters you know, and you glance furtively behind you at the Absolute, inches from freedom. You don’t have time to entertain the idea of running while they’re preoccupied, as Sans seems to follow your gaze and the weight in your chest reappears instantly. 

“Really?” Undyne asks in disbelief, “After everything that freak has done to us, WHY ARE YOU STILL DEFENDING HIM?!” The king’s brow lowers until his eyes are hiding in shadow, the sight brings back memories that burn across your skin, tracing the places where he ran you through.

“Put the spear away, Undyne,” Toriel growls, the sudden burst of violence tearing her from her shock. “Flowey did not mean to hurt Frisk.”

“Don’t give me that!” She snaps, “That bastard has meant everything he’s ever done!” 

“You wanna go again?” Flowey sneers, brambles curling out of the ground around him as if to punctuate his words. “Frisk won’t interrupt us now! And don’t think that trick will ever work a second time!” 

“Be quiet!” Toriel snaps, whirling to face Flowey, sparks flying from her paws unintentionally. “I have had quite enough of your bickering! There is enough to worry about without this nonsense.” 

“THE QUEEN IS RIGHT!” Papyrus says, putting himself in front of Undyne. “THERE HAS… T-THERE HAS BEEN ENOUGH FIGHTING FOR NOW. PERHAPS FOR A VERY LONG TIME…”

“Come on… c-come on!” Your gaze is stolen by the sound of Alphys’s frantic muttering as she fumbles with a small box. You catch a flash of silver as she almost drops whatever it is, instinct screams at you to run. Across from you, Sans begins to sweat as your struggle renews, his attention torn between you and whatever is going on behind him.  

“..Hey” Felix says, his voice wavering. ‘There’s no need for that. Come on, let's just talk about this!” Your heartbeat quickens at the fear in his voice as you try fruitlessly to see behind Sans. 

“Babe… have you had that this whole time?” Undyne says, sounding disturbed.

‘I-I didn’t want to u-use it!” She says, and Sans finally turns to look, allowing you to see past him to the far end of the room. Your eyes widen with fear and- 

No.

“N-no!” You say, “Let me go!” Your injured wrist screams as you push yourself up, causing black spots to dance across your vision. “You can’t! You don’t understand! I-its going to take us back! I-I don’t w-want to go back…”

Your words fall on deaf ears as Alphys manages to fill the syringe with shaking claws, nearly dropping it in the process. “I’m not doing this again!” Felix snaps, making another grab for the needle, but a bony hand grabs the back of Alphy’s coat and yanks her out of the way with a squawk. Felix snarls as Papyrus blocks his way, trails of sweat tracing their way down his skull. 

 “I AGREE WITH YOUR PREVIOUS STATEMENT! WE SHOULD DEFINITELY TALK ABOUT THIS, WHY DON'T WE DO IT AFTER THE SMALL CHILD STOPS TRYING TO THROW THEMSELF DOWN A GIANT HOLE?”

“...This isn’t right.” Undyne says, quieter than you’ve ever heard her before. “I can’t let you do this babe, you’re gonna regret it!” She marches forward, regaining her conviction, only to come to a dead stop as Asgore bars the way with his trident. “Don’t do this,” She breathes.

He stares down at the golden flowers between his feet, looking lost in another time. “I’m sorry.” He croaks, “I won’t let another child die because of me.”

“Flowey…” You croak, “Please! I can’t d-do it again! Don’t m-make me do it a-again!” He won’t even look at you, hunched over on his stem and facing away like he wants to vanish among the other flowers.

“Shut. Up.” He seethes, “You’ve already betrayed me once, I thought we were in this together, but you tried to leave me the second you had the chance!”

“Please…” You sob, forehead pressed into the ground.

Alphys kneels in front of you, claws still shaking as she reaches for your arm. Behind her, Sans looks away, his eyes empty as the hold on your chest redoubles. Is this really it? After everything we’ve been through? It's too much, too familiar, like so many times before. 

You can’t make them understand. Your mind races for a way out of this, back to Sans’ words. Do they really think you came here to die? Do they really think you came here to die for them? The thought makes you wheeze from a combination of pain and morbid amusement, after everything… you can’t stand it. We can’t stand to have the rest of our lives defined by our deaths, why is that the first thing they thought? 

You can’t stand it. You don’t need them to make it up to you, you just need them to let you go. They just can’t let you go… I can’t let go. Is it guilt? Is that what’s keeping us here? Did you get back up and face them all those times, because deep down… we deserve this?

No. We refuse. We’re not their mistake. They can’t save us from this, just like they couldn’t save you before the barrier, you don’t want them to apologize! You don’t want them to make up for anything! You just want to live! The monsters stumble and you gasp as the entire mountain seems to shake, several stones falling from the cavern’s ceiling.  

Alphys screams and tumbles backward as the hole in the world behind you yawns even wider, the ground collapsing until you are right on the edge, inches from the precipice. Sans stumbles, enough for you to push yourself up onto hands and knees. Blood runs down your arms beneath the sleeves of your sweater, dripping out over your hands. 

“alph! we gotta get out of here! make a choice!” Sans shouts, sweat beading on his skull. 

“I-I’m t-trying!” She stutters, choking back tears as she frantically searches through the flowers for the fallen syringe. “I c-can’t find it!” 

“Stop! Don’t do it!” Felix shouts, ducking a bone that flies over his head, only to stumble straight into a line of blue-tinged femurs that trip him up. 

“I-I got it!” Alphys cries, as the earth continues to shake like it's struggling in a hold of its own. She reaches out for the needle but freezes as a white paw reaches down and picks it up. Her gaze trails upwards along with your own, gliding over purple fabric until they land on Toriel’s unreadable expression, the needle shaking in her grip. 

“T-t-tori-” Alphys stammers, as the queen turns around and crosses the distance between you, kneeling down in the flowers. Her paws shake, holding the needle so tightly the plastic threatens to crack. You grit your teeth and shove yourself into a kneeling position, the weight in your chest lightening just enough for you to do so. 

You glare up at the queen, who meets your gaze evenly, her eyes are watering, but for once she doesn’t look away, even when you find your own gaze sliding to land on Sans. You’re helpless as she pulls you into an embrace, your mind flashing back to the morning after the blizzard as your throat fills with bile. 

“Is this really what you want?” She asks, her voice hoarse, “To disappear?” You hate how upset she sounds, like the thought causes her physical pain. You hate the part of you that hates it just as much. They all care so much, enough to follow you here to the end of the world, enough that even the thought of hurting you has them at each other’s throats. But… not enough to trust you with this, with your own life. Not enough to trust you with the one thing that’s always been completely certain from the moment you first met.

You don’t want to die.

And that has never changed, not once in the several lives we’ve lived, even after all our uncountable deaths, things that made you wake up screaming in the dead of night. Even after you lost your freedom, even after they all remembered, even… after you killed Asgore, and Flowey made you regret it. You’ve never wanted to die.

…

You push against her, squirming to get out of her embrace, and to your surprise she lets you go, keeping you in arms reach. You choose your words carefully, avoiding looking at the needle in her paws. “I-I know you wanna fix it, I know you want to help but… it’s not your job. Time’s broken because of m-me, and I gotta be the one to fix it… because otherwise it’ll take us back, and it’s never going to end. I won’t just keep dying, I’ll never get to live.” 

You cough and a few specks of red fly from your lips, splattering on the golden flowers. “And I wanna. I want to live, e-even if it’s not with all of you… and if I do… maybe we can still see each other around.”  You look up at her desperately, begging her to understand, begging her to care about this as much as you do. “I don’t want to disappear. I just have places to go.”

Toriel regards you sadly, her eyes glazed over while she looks at you, like she’s in another time… like she’s seeing someone else. You hardly dare to breathe, all sound fading into the background. Felix’s begging, Undyne and Asgore’s arguing, Alphys’ sobbing… it all seems to stop as the syringe shakes in her paws, before falling to the ground and disappearing among the flowers.

“… Be good, won’t you? My chil-”

Things happen so quickly you can barely process them. A thorn-coated vine wraps itself around Toriel’s neck, dragging her backwards and away. Across the chamber, Asgore and Undyne rush to her aid and Sans turns around, eyelights vanishing in shock. 

The hold on your soul vanishes, and a line of bones ruptures from the earth and severs the vine around Toriel’s neck, leaving her gasping without time to recover before a swarm of others encroach upon the two of you from all sides. 

“I WON’T LET YOU MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE!” Flowey howls, and Toriel gathers herself, reaching out and putting two huge paws on your chest and shoves, sending your meager weight flying backwards and down.

And then you’re falling.

The underground disappears and the last thing you see is the horrified expressions of the monsters racing towards you with arms outstretched.

The wind screams in your ears, and the blooms lining the endless pit race by, faster and faster until they become a golden blur that fills your vision. You twist midair, wounds burning and catch sight of something below you, a twisting mass of darkness barely visible behind a curtain of unnatural light. 

It yawns towards you, like you're dropping into the mouth of a cruel god, but no matter how far you fall, you can never reach it. Instead, you fall faster, and faster still, until your vision darkens and you mercifully black out.

——————————-

You wake up on a bench.

Chapter Text

You groan as you come to, your entire body feeling like one big bruise. You try to sit up, but the screaming pain that radiates through your body halts you, causing you to slump back against your rest. It's a few minutes until you can quiet the screaming of your wounds, and when you finally manage it your eyes blow wide as you stare up at the stars.

A yelp escapes you and you bolt upright, grabbing the cold metal of the bench to lever yourself into a sitting position. Your breath comes short and fast as you frantically search your surroundings, taking in every detail even as your lungs fill with ice. 

You’re… on the surface.

Is what you’d like to think, though something tells you it's not so simple. The night air is cool and clear, with no sign of the slush leftover from the blizzard. You’re sitting at a bus stop, if the sign to your right is any indication. You recognize it even though you’ve never had a reason to sit here. Right on the edge of town…

It isn’t possible, you know. Any more than stumbling from one time to another back in the underground, but it's far from the only strange and frightening thing about your surroundings. Despite the stars twinkling in the sky, there’s no light on the street, not from the lamp next to the bus stop, or from any of the windows in the houses across from you. 

Thinking for a moment, you rummage around in your pocket and pull out your cell phone. There’s no connection, not that you really expected there to be, but it only takes a moment to turn on the flashlight. It only just illuminates the ground, seeming weaker than usual, like the light can barely clear the lens. 

You look down at yourself, feeling even worse than before. To your surprise and more than a little fright you are coated in monochrome. You turn your hand over, your skin dyed an unnatural grey, even the sleeve of your sweater has had the color leeched out of it. To your shock, you notice the same happens to the bench when you touch it, the dark green of its paint dulling to black until you take your hand away. 

Gritting your teeth, you grab the edge of your seat and scoot off, managing to stand despite the weakness in your legs. The town is dead silent, save for your own breathing, but if you focus, you can barely hear a voice on the wind. 

Too far to tell if it was mine again, there’s nowhere else for you to go regardless. With one last glance at the bench, you wander off into the darkness.

It seems to thicken as you walk, your speed limited by the pain in your chest, the weakness in your legs. After a few minutes you can barely even make out the silhouettes of the houses around you. They start blending into the background, even the stars overhead go out.

The vague shapes of the buildings seem to warp and change as you go. Becoming gnarled and twisted, thinner and taller, until you catch sight of a light up ahead. You clutch your arms as a sudden, icy wind cuts through you, howling in your ears. Your eyes widen as they finally make something out.

Countless lights dance and bob between the trees. You instinctively drop to a crouch as you move forward, hands parting the thin, brittle branches ahead until you can make out.

There’s… so many.

You knew, of course. How could you not? Almost everyone tried to talk to you about it in one way or another. It still doesn’t prepare you for the sheer number of people milling about in the clearing, passing out flashlights and blankets, organizing. Were they really all looking for you? It should be flattering, but you can’t help but remember New Home, and the concern makes your stomach twist in a way you can’t explain.

You nearly call out, only stopping yourself by clapping a hand to your own mouth as though the sound could escape without your help. It’s tempting to go to them, but you only just escaped from the others, and something tells you that these aren’t the same as the monsters you just left. You don’t think they’d be any more willing to let you go your way, especially if you’ve stumbled into the time and place you think.  

You instinctively crouch down, gently easing the thin branches you parted back to their original positions. The woods are far darker than you remember, looking over your shoulder, and just as cold, but somehow they still seem like a better choice. There’s an unshakable fear in you for what could happen if you’re spotted, would the world break the way it did for the other children? Or is it already so broken it wouldn’t matter. You can’t be seen, you decide. No matter what else happens you can’t be seen.

In the end you wind up skirting the edge of the clearing, staying low to the ground. The snow helps cover your tracks and you manage to get away without having to go back the way you’d come. Thankfully, most of the monsters are searching through the forest and not the town itself, and the way is clear even if the all-pervasive sense of wrong won’t go away. 

It’s like it was in the underground. You never get the sense that you’re staying in one place. It’s like you set your foot down in another time and place every time you take a step. You blink and for an instant it’s daytime, then night. The snow on the ground vanishes, replaced by leaves, then piles up a few minutes later. You turn down a street, not really having a destination, and find yourself by the school instead. 

Your head spins as days pass in the span of minutes. It’s like everything is happening all at once, like time has been crushed in a fist. And through it all you follow the echoes of my voice, the only constant in the chaos, always seeming just too far away. 

Your body grows weaker as you move. A burn flares up on your elbow where it rubs against your jumper. Under your jeans you can feel a diamond-shaped puncture growing deeper on your thigh, you’re a little scared you won’t be able to walk soon. Your breaths come short and painful as your ribs creak with every step. Eventually you’re limping, no longer able to put one foot in front of the other. You see a few more monsters, in different places and times, ducking behind fences and crouching in bushes until you can be certain they haven’t noticed you. 

Eventually you find yourself walking through an alley in what has to be the center of town. You take a moment to rest, leaning against the brick of a building and trying to catch your breath. The wind blowing through is warmer than before, and the sun outside the alley is dimmer than it should be, casting shadows that seem too long. 

Your hand stings, and you peek down at it again. The red lines running up your knuckles are darker now, the bruise starting to wrap around to the back of your palm. That one seems to hurt worse than it should, somehow worse than all the others. 

There’s voices beyond the alley, and you turn back the way you came to avoid them, resigned to continuing to wander. Your eyes widen as you nearly stumble onto the wrong street. You only just manage to duck back into the shadows without being seen by the small crowd of monsters at its entrance, tucking yourself against a trashcan to stay out of sight. 

You frantically look back once again, but the voices are still there. No matter where you go, you’ll be spotted. You’re trapped. Tentatively, you peek between the trashcan and the wall, keeping a hand clasped to your mouth. 

The monsters are milling about, huddled around something you can’t make out. A voice calls out from the crowd, and more and more people on the street seem to take notice. You catch sight of a familiar chrome face as Mettaton clasps an equally chrome hand to his mouth with a rasping sound. 

Someone yelps, and the crowd parts a little in response, just enough for you to see your own face, wide-eyed and disheveled, like you’re about to burst into tears. You rear back a little at the sight, nearly crying out as a stone digs into your bad hand. You stare down at it for a beat, then a second, a plan starting to form in your head.

There should be another alley on either side of the buildings that form the one you’re in. If you can get out of this one, you can duck into one of them and maybe… maybe it’ll take you somewhere else. You can rely on yourself to run away,  you just need to remember where you ran to. 

No time to think. The crowd cries out as the other you pushes their way out of it. Mettaton is shouting, trying to calm them and you stumble away from the trashcan and into the cover of the shadows against the far wall. Every monster’s attention is fixed on each other or on the fleeing child and you rear back and throw the stone, not even bothering to aim. You already know where it will land.

“Hubby!”

“Who threw that?!”

“It’s that damn flower!”

You force yourself not to run as the monsters whirl around, scanning the surrounding area. They don’t see you, and in the chaos, the other you slips away. It's only seconds until their attention is grabbed again by their escape. “Forget him!” Mettaton shouts, still trying to contain the confusion, and you slip away as he fails.

Skirting the brickwork, you duck out of the alleyway and scoot along the building, slipping into the next alley over. You stumble as you escape, but don’t allow yourself time to catch your breath, limping down the alleyway and out the other side, emerging into twilight. 

Your legs nearly give out from relief as you come out on a quiet residential street. You weren’t sure that part of your plan would work, but the back of the buildings are gone when you turn to look. You nearly sit down on the curb, but you’re scared that if you do you’ll never find the strength to get back up. That short burst of adrenaline has sapped what little strength you still have, and now it's taking nearly all of your concentration to stay upright. 

“Help me!” 

You hear me louder than ever, straightening up to peer down the road. Your heart pounds sickly as you finally recognize where you are. You’ve lived here for nearly eight months. You stumble down the sidewalk, gait uneven as your vision swims and you put all your attention on the ground in front of you and on following my cries. 

Toriel’s house is just ahead, you know, and the calling grows clearer the closer you get, until you’re just down the street. You cough, and something ruby-red spills from your lips. You only just manage to catch yourself before you faceplant, leaning on a tree that dominates the yard of one of your neighbors. Not yet! You just need a little more time! 

The sound of conversation reaches your ears and you look up. Familiar faces walk down the other side of the street, having a conversation you can’t hear as they follow a small figure. The other you turns around, coming to a stop that the monsters trailing behind them don’t notice, walking past. 

They catch sight of you, in the shadow under the tree, and you can only hope that the shadow is enough to protect you from being seen as your legs finally give out and you collapse in the mud. 

You don’t know how long you’re lying there. The pain and heat seem to seep out of your limbs and into the freezing earth beneath you as you try to muster the strength to keep going. It’s a familiar feeling, reminding you of the times when you only just escaped from one fight or another, too weak to move, just waiting to open your eyes a few hours earlier.

You push yourself up, crawling on hands and knees to the trunk of the tree. It’s almost too much to get back up. You just want to be done… 

The bark scrapes your arms through your sleeves as you wrap them around the trunk and struggle to your feet. Your legs wobble for a while before you feel stable enough to let go, and you have to catch yourself as you nearly collapse again as you try to take a step. 

The world has changed again, bathed in that same unnatural darkness you first woke up in, the only light the glow from the windows of Toriel’s house, even the stars have gone out. The short distance to the front steps feels like crossing a desert. Climbing them feels like scaling a mountain. 

The cold brass of the doorknob soothes your aching fingers. Bracing yourself, you throw open the door to this house that could have been your home if not for so, so much. You have to squint at the light as you step across the threshold, and you nearly collapse at the sight within. 

You’re… all here.

You crouch down next to the couch and take the other child’s hand in your own. Around you, children with your own face lay slumped across the furniture, laying on the floor. The child’s hand is cold, clammy in a way that reminds you of death, if not for the slow rise and fall of their chest. 

They don’t wake up. None of the children do, no matter how much you shake them or how loudly you yell into their ears. Their sleep is so deep that you don’t think they ever will. Your heart aches, and you are suddenly overcome with the desire to join them here. 

Your whole body hurts, and you’ve been awake for so, so long. You’re hungry, and cold, and terrified of this strange place you’ve found yourself in where nothing makes sense. You don’t want to see this through, to maybe become someone else. You don’t want to face anyone, ever again. It seems terribly peaceful, this sleep the other children are caught in, and you don’t even know if what you’re seeing is real or just your imagination’s attempt to make sense of something else but right now it barely matters to you.

The thought of continuing… it fills you with regret.

It’s all you can do not to slump down against the foot of the couch, close your eyes and finally sleep.

Please don’t. Please.

There’s someone missing from the others, you know. Only six short lives end here. You glance past the kitchen out the back door, the window on it glowing with light from the other side. You won’t be able to come back here, you know. If you get up now… there won’t be another chance to rest.

But… despite yourself, you get to your feet. With one last glance at the others, your hand pushes against the latch, and you step through the door, falling from the steps into an endless expanse of gold. 

It’s time for all of you to go free.