[This is the sequel to One falls, More rise. To understand the story better it is recommended that you read One falls first.]

Aofil peeks their head out the window, "Undyne, before you start, could you collect the cut grass in the corner that's not occupied by the apple tree."

Undyne nods with a smile before conjuring up a scythe, "Grass, you have three seconds to shrink before I make the decision for you," she threatens as her scythe cracks with magical energy.

To her credit she did give the grass three seconds before descending upon them with a maniacal laugh and a lust for a properly maintained lawn. Aofil laughs at the spectacle and cheer on Undyne while cleaning the dishes. Upstairs Papyrus is fighting a similar battle with the dust rabbits.

"I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE BEEN CHOSEN TO EXPEL YOU FROM THIS HUMAN'S DOMICILE! OBEY MY COMMAND OR FACE THE WRATH OF THIS CLEANER OF VACUUM CHARACTERISTICS!" he states with a prideful voice that finds its way down one flight and into the kitchen.

Aofil empties out the dishwater and places the last plate among its brethren. They fill two water bottles and bring them to Alphys and Frisk.

"Oh, h-how did you know?" Alphys ask as she is handed the water.

Aofil gives the other bottle to Frisk, "I just thought that you might want to have something to drink," they smile to Alphys, "call it a gut feeling," they wink to Frisk.

"no water for me?" Sans enters, "i know that i'm a skeleton but i still like to have a glass from time to time," he throws his thumb over his shoulder, "my bro wanted to talk with you, alphys."

Alphys tilts her head, "Me? Why me?" she pushes up her glasses, "What could Papyrus want with me?"

Sans puts his thumb back into his jacket, "i don't know, didn't ask him."

After some thinking on Alphys' part she stands up and waddles out to the hallway and up the stairs. Sans slouches down on the dusty sofa and some dust flies up.

Aofil sees Sans' hand emerge from his pocket, "If you're gonna run your finger against the top of the sofa and then blow away the dust I'm gonna smack you," they firmly inform the skeleton.

Sans hand stop and snuggles back down into his pocket, "see, this is why i asked alphys to leave."

Aofil fetches a chair from the dining room, "Didn't Frisk explain?" they shout back into the living room, "Or is there anything else you're wondering about?" they place the chair in front of the sofa and seat themselves on it backwards with their arms hanging over the back, " Because I sure as hell am. So, do you want to start or should I?"

Sans glances at Frisk before clearing his throat.

"You don't have to be so dramatic about it," Aofil comments.

"it all started with me making a promise to a door," Sans starts as he leans even further back into the sofa," the promise turned out to one of my less brilliant of moves, believe or not."

"How so?"

Sans snaps his finger towards Frisk, "this one right here, or, as they told me," he retracts his hand, "the one in their head."

Aofil nods, "Your old acquaintance."

"yup, we had a, confrontation, of sorts."

Frisk walks away.

"I guess things didn't end very well between you two."

Frisk puts their hands over their ears.

"is it ok if i spare you the details?"

"Sure," Aofil scratches their arm as they remember the Flowey fight, "I'm sure I can survive without them."

"good, because frisk didn't tell me."

"Oh, you don't remember it?"

"there was something nagging at the back of my head when i first saw them," Sans explains, "when i first remember seeing them," he corrects, "they told me what happened, and that this time they would save us. they stayed true to their word and i was inclined to believe them."

Sans nods towards the hunched up kid, "frisk saved us, frisk saved us all. i'm not sure what made their change their mind or if they managed to push back the voice in their head," Sans sits up, "speaking of that, you said you were family with them."

Aofil nods again, "Yup, I'm their twin, curse and all."

Sans tilts his head up, "what curse?"

"Don't you remember?" Aofil snaps their fingers, "Oh, right, you weren't there, at the trial."

"trial?"

"You know, the trial," Aofil tries one more time.

Sans' pupils shrink leaving only two dark holes in his head. He turns to Frisk, "so, you did it again."

Aofil steps in between Frisk and Sans, "Frisk didn't do it just for giggles. They had no choice. It was a," Aofil pauses as images before the reset flash before them, "it was a slaughter, everyone was dead. Frisk had to reset. I don't know how I would live otherwise after seeing Toriel crumble in my hands."

Sans pupils return, "dang, sounds like they had a good reason."

Aofil sit themselves down again on the chair and runs a hand through their hair, "You have no idea how much I wanted to throw myself into Toriel's arms when I saw her today."

"we're you two," Sans giggles, "close?"

Aofil throws a disapproving look towards Sans, "She melted away in my hands."

Sans tone drops, "oh, i see."

"I still want to do it, but I don't know how she'll react."

Frisk tightens their grip on their legs.

"Heck," Aofil smiles, "I even wanted to hug you, Sans, despite everything."

"and what do you mean by that?"

"Let's just say that you're easy to see through, my bony friend, more so now than before."

Sans throws up his hand flats up over his shoulder, "what can i say? i leave an impression."

The sound of the void blasting Sans into dust returns to Aofil, "Yeah, you can say that. So, what now? We continue? Should I do the same things I did or?"

Sans shrugs, "no idea, guess that is up to you," he jerks his head towards Frisk, "frisk chose to save the monsters after their reset."

"I mean, I've already improved your brother's cooking," Aofil chuckles, "so I guess that I'm on the same path."

Sans nods, and falls asleep.

Aofil walks over to Frisk and sit down next to Frisk's level. They put a careful hand on Frisk's shoulder and Frisk seats themselves on Aofil's knees.

"Listen, Frisk, is Chara still there, with you?

Frisk puts a hand on their chest and nods.

"Can I talk to them?"

Frisk shakes their head.

"Can you talk to them?"

Frisk shakes their head again.

Aofil nods weakly, "I see," they think for a bit, "What should I do now? This reset, what does it mean for me?"

Frisk smiles and gives Aofil a hug. Aofil returns it.

"OK, kiddo. I understand, I'll be good," they put down Frisk, "So, you've done this before? This reset thing?"

Frisk wrings their shirt and looks down.

"But you did it to be good?"

Frisk looks up at Aofil with pleading eyes and nods. Aofil picks them up again. Frisk grips the back of Aofil shirt, "Don't worry, Frisk, I believe you, we all do, "Aofil comforts with a rub on Frisk's back, "From what I've heard you're the sweetest angel there is."

Aofil drums on Frisk's head, "But, even angels have their dark sides," they feel Frisk grip tighten, "but that is in the past right?" Frisk nods and Aofil puts them down again, "Or the future? I don't know, this whole reset thing is messing with my head."

They ruffle Frisk's hair, "Still, good to know that you used your power for the better. Thank you, again."

The patio door opens and Undyne steps in, sweat and grass covers her body. A blue scythe dissipates as she enters, "Mind if I use your shower?"

Aofil releases Frisk, "Would I have to fight you if I said no?"

Undyne smiles and a couple of straws fall off, "You humans do that? You fight for the right to shower? Cool."

Aofil breathes through their teeth as they realize their mistake, "Oh, um, no, I mean. You're the leader of the Royal Guard and all, I thought you'd appreciate my joke."

Undyne stretches and more grass flutters down on the kitchen floor, "Can't remember telling you my job."

Aofil body tenses up and their head conjures up a myriad of lies to try to save the situation, but none is good enough. They hum in panic.

Undyne stands up and lifts her arms up over her head before shaking herself loose, "But I think I know why you did?" she flexes and laughs.

Aofil's sigh of relief could knock down trees and they laugh with Undyne, "Yup, only a high ranking officer could cut grass this elegantly."

Undyne rolls her shoulder, "Does that mean that I can use your shower?" she asks again.

Aofil nods and motions for the stairs, "Go right ahead."

Undyne nods and head up to the upper floor. Aofil shakes their head. Too close.

"Gotta be careful," they sigh out, "Did you have the same problem with talking about things you remembered, but they didn't, Frisk?"

They get a blank stare in response.

"Right, sorry."

They both return to the living room as Alphys steps in.

"Sans, Papyrus said that he didn't send for me," she asks the sleeping skeleton.

"he likes to have company when he cleans," Sans answers with his eyes still closed.

"So why weren't you with him?"

Sans nestles back into the sofa, "you ever try to sleep with a vacuum cleaner next to your ear?"

"Sans, you don't have any."

"because it sucks," Sans interrupts.

Alphys face sinks into a tired frown. She shakes it loose and waves over Frisk, "Toriel said that we should finish your homework."

"They're here?" Aofil asks, "Toriel and Asgore? Aren't they at the," Aofil manages to catch their mouth in the last second, "at the, uh, I don't know."

"Upstairs?" Alphys asks with a perplexed look.

"Yeah, upstairs."

"Yes, they are."

Aofil nods with a sheepish smile,"Good."

"Anything you wanted with them?" she points to the roof, "I mean, you can see where they are."

Aofil looks up and sees that the roof is bending from Asgore and Toriel's combined weight, "Oh, would you look at that. Not sure if I like that this is happening. Still," they give Alphys a thumbs up, "now I know."

Alphys looks at Sans, and then at Frisk, and then back at Aofil, still with the same foolish grin," Y-yeah, now you know."

Aofil nods deeply, "Yes I do."

An uneasy silence hangs in the air for a couple of awkward seconds, "Excuse me for a moment," Aofil asks Alphys before leaving for the kitchen. There they curse their stupidity as quiet as they can. They debate whether or not to smack their head with the frying pan so that they can forget and be on equal footing. They decide against it.

"did something kitch your eye?" Sans cracks as Aofil returns.

"No, I just had to do something."

"really?"

"Yeah, something human."

"and what would that be?"

"For being a skeleton without one," Aofil taps theirs, "you're very nosy, Sans."

Sans giggles and returns back to sleep. Aofil nods and seat themselves next to Sans.

With a hairband in her teeth Undyne rounds the corner from the hallway, "Hello, nerds. You're doing your homework, Frisk?", she mounts the band in her hair, "Already?"

Frisk and Alphys nods without looking up.

"See, Frisk, you need to carry the two," Alphys reminds Frisk. They're both heads are deep in Frisk's homework.

Undyne rolls her eye and falls down on the sofa, causing Sans to jump in the air a bit. She slides down until her neck is on the edge of the back.

"I'm bored," she says after a while. She huffs and her fingers starts wandering on her leg. She attacks them with her other hand but she abandons it quickly. Her fingers instead tap gently on her leg. They move in a way that's familiar to Aofil. They look up at Undyne.

"You never told me you could do that."

Undyne stops mid crescendo," Do what?."

Aofil nods for the hallway, "Follow me."

Undyne follows with a mix between confusion and anticipation.

The basement is quite stuffed. A darkened spot indicates where Asgore's sofa used to be. Aofil flicks the light switch and Undyne follows them down the stair.

"Sorry that we took your sofa, Asgore didn't want to risk ruining the one in the living room," Undyne explains, "it looks very expensive and the one down here wasn't that fancy too be honest," she flashes a worried smile, "Not that the one down here was ugly or anything it was just that," she backtracks.

Aofil laughs and waves it off, "Don't worry, Asgore promised to compensate. Help me locate it."

Undyne peers over the unsorted sea of stuff, "Look for what?"

Aofil smiles at Undyne, "The piano."

Undyne's eyes explode with glee and her mouth stretches a smile across her entire face. She grabs Aofil by the shoulders and lift them up to her face, "You didn't tell me you had a freaking piano!"

Aofil blows Undyne's hair out of their face, "You didn't tell me you could play," Undyne puts them down, "After all this time."

Aofil fails to catch their mouth again but Undyne's too busy scanning for the piano to notice.

"Look for a white sheet," advises Aofil as they help with the search.

"I see it!" Undyne exclaims, "It's in the back."

"Great, let's clear a path so that we can move it without scraping," Aofil suggest.

"We?" Undyne rolls up her sleeves, "Watch and learn, whelp."

She pushes the, to her, debris out of the way and the sound it makes forces Aofil to cover their ears. Undyne is unfazed and marches on, creating a ravine of old furniture and boxes. She rips off the sheet covering the piano and dust falls down like confetti before a concert.

She runs her hands gently over the lid and when they reach the end she opens it. She plays a couple of notes and shakes her head in disappointment. She opens the top and to her delight she finds a tuning lever. She closes the top and walks around the piano.

Aofil is a bit taken back seeing their old piano floating in the air. Strained exhales comes from it and Aofil scurries up the stairs. They're soon followed by the piano and Undyne.

"Where do you want it?"

Aofil moves a table out of the way and with a silence that's out of place she places it down with ease. Undyne wipes off her forehead. She grabs a chair and leans into the piano and begins her tinkering.

"HUMAN! YOUR HOUSE IS NOW HALF CLEANED!"

Undyne jumps as the voice comes from right behind her. Her head hits the top of the piano and it falls down on her. She massages her head and snap her eyes to Papyrus. She pouts her lips in frustration but Papyrus just smiles at her.

"WOW, A PIANO! DID YOU BRING YOURS WITH YOU TO THE SURFACE, UNDYNE?" Papyrus asks with his hand on his chin.

Undyne lunges at Papyrus and they end up brawling on the floor. Aofil runs to the shelf and holds it up as a shoulder hits it. It sways but they manage to keep it up, but only barely. They look to Alphys for help but she's curled up with Frisk and her own tail against the sofa. Aofil calls for Sans, but they only get a snore in response.

A stern hawk freezes the fighters in place. They turn to the source of the voice and they see Toriel with her arms crossed and her look even sterner than her voice. Asgore walks up to her a moment later.

"Asgore, your 'Royal Guard' is destroying the human's home. Get them under control."

Asgore looks at the destruction, a ruffled carpet. Toriel came just in time, Undyne and Papyrus were heading for the shelf again. He straightens out the carpet with his foot, with Papyrus and Undyne still on it. Undyne scrambles up on her feet and salutes. Papyrus follows suit.

"Undyne, new chapter," Asgore reminds with a fair but disciplining voice, "No destroying of the human's property."

Undyne takes a knee, "Yes, my king. Sorry, my king."

Papyrus kneels as well, "YES, FROM ME TOO!"

"Good, continue with what you did."

"MY KING?"

"Yes, Papyrus."

"I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO RETURN TOO!"

"Besides scaring me on purpose?" Undyne snarls.

"Why don't you help Toriel with preparing the dessert?" Asgore suggests.

Papyrus salutes again and marches into the kitchen. Undyne walks over to the piano again, mumbling something about Papyrus and her spear. She dives back down the piano to continue her tuning.

"Wasn't really that bad," Asgore whispers to Toriel. She huffs in response and makes her way to the kitchen.

"You done with your homework, my child?"

Frisk nods as they climb out of Alphys embrace. Alphys grabs a chair and pulls out a manga.

"Shall we prepare the tea then, my child?"

She takes Frisk hand and joins Papyrus in the kitchen. Aofil carefully releases the shelf and sighs out their relief. Asgore nods to himself and returns upstairs.

"did it go this well the first time?" Sans comments as Aofil lands heavily on the couch.

"I don't know if I like this reset."

Sans eye harden on Aofil.

Aofil puts up their hands, "I'm kidding, relax."

The sound of out of tune piano keys, annoyed grunts from Undyne, and a busy kitchen stays in the house for a good while before Undyne slams down the top of the piano with a grin. She runs her hands across the piano keys and laughs as they're all in tune. She sits down in front of it and pops her fingers and neck. Aofil and Alphys lean forward with eager suspense.

One finger massages a key, and then another. The fingers on her other hand count the elevated keys before finding the right one. Both hands play in harmony and a serene melody emerges from the dusty instrument. Her fingers dance on the ivories and her body moves with every note played. Her eye drifts close as she becomes one with the music. The tempo shifts and her movements becomes more rapid. Her fingers press down harder and the sharper tones increase in volume.

The kitchen is silenced as Undyne's art fills the house. Her fingers seem to move on their own, each one finding the right key without any guidance from Undyne. Her body tenses up and her arms move in bursts. Still, she hits all the right notes.

A brief pause hangs in the air before Undyne shoulder sinks. Three heads peak around the dining room corner. Undyne's eye opens and a concerned expression blossoms on her face. Despite the afternoon sun filling the room with glistening light as it bounces off the piano the mellow song coming from the piano drowns the room in dread and worry. The song speaks of something terrible, yet it is beautiful, and among the sad notes is a feeling of warm nostalgia.

Undyne scans her hands to make sure that the hope stays alive, how small it may sound. She lowers her head as she feels the dread taking over. She fights it valiantly, but she knows that it is a losing battle. Despite that she continues to fight. Her audience watch her in silence as they see her exhausting herself to keep the hope alive. They wish that they could help her but they also know that this is a battle she has to fight on her own and that they're powerless to help her.

Asgore enters the room and his eyes locks with Toriel's. She shakes her head and returns her focus Undyne. Asgore does so as well.

As Undyne's arms grow weak there's a pause. She looks around here and force herself up from her hunched over position. A determined grin breeds new life into her fingers and with newfound strength they oppose the dread. Like a beacon on a starless night she crushes the darkness with her light.

She weaves her hopes and dreams into the song and the dread whimpers as the inspiring sounds of her playing causes a roaring cheer from her audience. She laughs as the void pleads for mercy and newfound energy embraces her. She once again moves with the notes and every key press sends out waves of joy throughout the house.

She realizes that she's won and with a final verse of victory she lets the music go back to sleep now that the evil's been purged. Although the day is saved, the dread still lingers. She ends it with a final reminder that it is all a memory, a distant memory. A final keystrokes begs her not to play this song again. She doesn't know if she can make that promise.

Silence fills the vacuum that's created after Undyne's performance. The sound of two small hands hitting each other scares the silence away. The clapping spreads and soon a roaring applause causes Undyne cheeks to blush. She stands up and bows to her crowd.

Aofil leans closer to Sans, "Can I take back what I said earlier?"

"don't you mean, reset what you said?"

Aofil smiles as they shake their head, "We'll see, skelebro, we'll see."