A/N: This is a kind of challenge to myself, to tell basically the same story that I've told before (in Load State Three) with mostly the same characters and some of the same concepts, but enough changed so that it comes across as a different story. Hope you enjoy it.

Chapter One: The End

Loop 57

"What are you doing?"

In everlasting blackness, in endless darkness, a single red light tried to shine. Shadow fingers gripped tight, squeezing. He felt nothing even though he knew it was hurting him. He struggled. With no other light, with just the emptiness, there should be nothing he could do. He still struggled.

"You're pathetic. You've lost everything: your morals, your emotions, your voice, your name, your body, your life, even your very soul. All you have is determination and that one power."

Which meant, he hadn't really lost everything.

"Yet you keep struggling to move on. You don't know when to quit. Why keep going back? What is there that you care so much about that you can't let it go? You shouldn't be able to care at all. There's no point. All you have to do now is give up and it's all over. Even if you try, for whatever masochistic reason you have, you've already lost.

What reason? What reason was there? He just kept going, that's what he always did. Even as he lost so much, he kept going. Why? A distant memory came in: a wooded air full of life, fresh summer shining down through healthy green leaves, high up in the trees with nothing to bring him down, a realization that he could do anything, really anything he desired because he could just keep trying until he got things right, a youthful ambition to experience everything life had to offer. That was it. He could not regain his innocence, but he could get back close to that feeling. Just keep going, even if it was towards a new goal.

"I own you. I control you."

Not fully.

"There's nothing you can do that I won't be able to counter. Now, give me what I truly want. Give me your power."

He had no voice... no. he would force himself. He'd regain what he'd lost.

"No!"

And time moved backwards, back into the world that had been.

Loop 106

He would regain it all.

Pausing in his task of shoveling snow, the teenaged boy looked over the edge of the cliff. The cold winds and swirling snowflakes hinted that this storm wasn't over, but he had a feeling something was going to happen. His heavy black wizard cloak was good protection, although he kept thinking that he should have brought out something to protect his eyes too. Past the cliff, there was a wide valley dense with trees. This brought the eyes up to a mountain a mile off, piercing the icy sky with a dark looming spire. There were other mountains around, but that one was cursed.

A flicker of magic, white against the gray overcast, caught his attention. He knew what it was. "And the end begins again," he said, catching the flicker when it raced towards him.

It was a paper airplane with a familiar note. 'do you believe that anyone can be a good person if they just try? i believed that some people simply couldn't be good. you never seemed to try. but your situation is more complicated than i believed. there might be a glimmer of a good person in you yet. if you have any heart at all, prove him right. if you want to be redeemed, bring the children back home.'

This time, there was more to it. 'you haven't shown up down here in a while. maybe you're trying, maybe you're just being lazy. sometimes doing nothing is the better option. but perhaps doing nothing is its own sin when you know what will come. still, you're the one with that power, it's only your choice that matters in the end.'

"I can't as I am," he said. Although time was short, there might be time enough for one thing.

"Nevyn, are you okay?" an old man called out. His boots crunched in the snow, his black scarf not tied as neatly as usual.

That wasn't his name, just a placeholder. "The end's coming, Master Joachim." He showed the unfolded paper airplane. "I got the note, that's one sign."

After flickers of magic appeared in front of his eyes, he nodded. "You were right. In that case, let me tell you something. You really have to stop isolating yourself."

Of all the potential advice he might have given, that was it? "What do you mean?" Nevyn asked.

"Your gaze is still cold," he said. "It is amazing how much you throw your whole self into your goals, but that limits your view of the world. You need to open up to others, be less cautious. When you first came to me, I could believe your story because of how serious and cold you acted for a nine-year-old boy. But there is warmth and kindness in you when you stop being guarded. You were so happy back when you made that cake for my birthday, even if all you did was relax some."

"Was I?" he asked, able to feel but not able to put names to all feelings yet. "When we next meet, I'll be a stranger to you." He could feel a prick of loneliness just saying that, even with him right here. "That's why I didn't want to get close, I knew that I wasn't going to solve the issue with this loop."

Joachim shook his head. "I don't think you're going to get your corruption any lower until you care more about others. Look, you know the jewelry box I have?"

As he mentioned it, Nevyn could recall it clearly. It was hand-carved out of cedar, with brass hinges and a lock. On the top, there was a nicely done carving of a unicorn in the woods. It had once been a gift to Joachim's wife. He kept mostly small mementos in there, like the wedding rings. "What about it?'

"Let's say a pin gets bent and I put it in the box. It's not going to fix itself being locked inside; I'd have to unlock the box and take it out to get it repaired." The old man took his arm, braver than most. "And you're not going to completely fix this problem if you keep your heart locked up. You've done much, but your corruption level is still over two hundred percent."

"But that means making friends when I know I have to say goodbye to them," he said. And often before they died, like what would happen soon.

"Do you regret meeting me?" he asked.

"No," he said quickly. "I... I did feel sort of normal for a while, which I guess made me happy because I've never felt like I could live a normal life. It, well, hurts to know the end of our relationship is here."

"I know, but you don't give up trying to fix it."

The young man shrugged. "When you know everything is going to end but you've got a chance to stop it, you have to keep your eye on that chance and not let the magnitude get to you. Take strength from the little things because you need it for times like now."

"But you don't fix things with a broken tool," he pointed out. Nevyn took a chance and looked at him, seeing concern in Joachim's eyes. "You've got to fix yourself and I know you know it. I want you to promise me that no matter how many more loops this takes, you'll try to make at least one new friend each time. When you've got friends to support you, you can take strength from them too. I know there's times when this life is easier because of my fellow forest rangers, the friends I have in the city, and you."

For a moment, he didn't say anything. The two thoughts bantered fiercely in his mind. He could keep playing it safe and not hurt himself like this again. But then, doing this alone didn't make him happy. He had hoped that maybe this time, the mountain wouldn't fall and he could grow past eighteen for once. And there was that point that the corruption worked to distance a person from others. Logically, the way to degenerate the corruption further would be to get closer to others. But it was also logical to agree to satisfy his master and not do anything to make friends. When they would meet again, Joachim would never know that he made him promise this.

But, Nevyn would know. Like he knew many other things. One of which was that this lifetime didn't feel as much of a grind thanks to his friendship to his master. "I'll try, I promise," he said.

"Good, I hope the corruption doesn't keep you from keeping that," the old man said, patting his back in approval. "Since we must part here, let me give you the unlocking spell for the master's study in the Hearthstone Library."

"You're really going to give that to me?" he asked, pleasantly surprised at the offer. It had become a joke between them that he would ask once a month and be refused.

"Your plans require information that can only be found there," he said in an echo of his continual argument. "By the time I could agree that you needed that information, there wasn't enough time between then and now for you to really get a grasp on what needs to be done. I thought you might head back once you got the key spell, but I believed you'd benefit more in relearning importance of friendship and caring. Now that we've come to a point when there's no time left, I'll give it to you so that you can take one of your loops to study. You might just need that time, maybe even more."

"I can squeeze time for all it's worth," he said. "Although, it gets easier the less I do that."

"Do what you must. I believe in you, kid. And I'll be seeing you in the past."

"Hopefully," Nevyn said, bringing his tablet out. He needed to jot down the new part of the note too. "This note always says that my redemption is through bringing the children home. I want to take a quick look in the underground and use a tracking spell to figure out where they might be. Of course, they're hardly going to be children anymore."

"This would be a good time to do that. Good luck; I hope it doesn't take too much longer to reclaim your self." Joachim then taught Nevyn the key spell for the library, a valuable resource that had always been out of his hands. Once the notes were made, the young man bowed to his master, then cast a fleetness spell on his feet. There was time, but not a lot of it.

A shimmering black glow appeared at his soles. When he backed away, he skimmed over the snow. As long as some contact was made between the magic and some object, this enchantment would speed him up and keep him from needing to hit the ground. Nevyn then raced towards the edge, sprung off the fence, and darted across the tops of the trees. His cloak warmed in response to shield his body from the effects from moving so fast; the fluttering bottom hem dissipated the heat and kept it from building too much. Keeping alert to always make contact with the treetops, he made it across the valley in seconds without dropping down to where the tree trunks would make this more dangerous.

Then, he was on Mt. Ebott itself. The ground trembled when he got himself to a long enough area to slow down to a stop. Why did the mountain always collapse in this year? It wasn't always now during winter; sometimes it lasted into spring. It was a fated event, but something had to be intentionally causing it to collapse. If it were natural, it would fall at the same times.

Nevyn knew of several entrances to the underground; there'd probably be more around due to the frequent rock slides in the past few years. But he also wanted to check on the barrier itself, so it would be best to go where it had been cast. After taking a moment to assure himself, he reset the Fleetfoot spell and darted up the mountain.

There were several reasons this mountain was said to be cursed, including that monsters were sealed underneath it. However, the main reason that concerned locals was that it was a treacherous climb. The native magic was powerful, leading to enchanted landscape that might or might not be there. The slopes were of varying degrees, the paths winding and narrow. According to his master, sometimes expert climbers or people who thought they were expert climbers would attempt to scale it. Very few ever came back; those who did would not walk away unscathed.

Thus, it wasn't a big surprise when he tried to land on a rock jutting out of a cliff and found nothing there. Fleetfoot wouldn't work on walls and the ground came up fast. Still, it didn't scare him. He activated his native power, causing time to rewind back to when he'd started the climb. That power was the only reason he was even trying this. Checking the cliff that had stopped him, he noted another potential route up and tried again.

It took over a dozen rewinds, pausing any time he found reasonable ground to keep himself calm. He couldn't jump to a point he couldn't see well, thus he most often ended up landing on a frail ledge that broke into pebbles. Although they should have triggered rock slides, rewinding time set the frail ledges back in place. He'd nearly gotten stuck at one point when no spot seemed safe to jump to. A careful check of the native magic was enough to locate an invisible ledge on a crumbling slope that let him get to the next real flat area.

And that was where he found the barrier's origin. On a surprisingly sturdy ledge with a wide expanse of the landscape in view, there was a tall cave entrance that was covered in ancient magic. It filled the entrance like a vast hall to infinity, light and dark racing inward. When he brought his hand up, runic designs lit up in racing colors; the door was flat instead of infinite. Seven circles inscribed with magical script and symbols proved that this was the work of seven individuals. Nevyn could interpret some of the meaning off-hand, but completely solving it would take more time than he had.

Taking out his tablet, he adjusted the camera settings until he could photograph the rune circles. Then he tried touching one. Magical forms raced around his senses, in the dream state that many spells operated on. He could smell hickory smoke, feel a sensation he couldn't quite describe. However, the forms didn't make immediate sense. This was a riddle lock and he had no context to form a key spell or make a solution. But he had the key to the library now. He dismissed the lock and walked into the barrier.

Magic poured around him like rain, fire, dust, wind, smoke, and more, all shifting traces of its construction. It spilled away gently before him only to seal up firmly behind him. Once he got through, Nevyn was in an enclosed hall filled with the shifting light. The walls and floor had once been smoothed flat, but now sported long cracks. An arch supported by classic pillars led further in. Just to see, he turned around and pressed his hands against the barrier. It was as solid as concrete. Interestingly, the runic circles appeared again. So it could be undone from the inside if the locks were solved. None of the circles were broken or frayed; the magic was not decayed.

He decided to go into the next hall to cast the tracking magic. That way, the barrier wouldn't interfere. He clasped his hands together and thought of the names of the lost children. Chara. Cora. Miguel. Heath. Elise. Becca. Tony. Hopefully, their names were enough. He cast the tracking spell, tracing the forms with his fingers in the air.

Eight arrows appeared in front of him, each a different color. Interestingly, six of the arrows were bright and short, indicating the same close location. The red one was long, pointing downward and elsewhere while the white arrow was freaking out with indecision. Since the white one would be distracting, he dismissed it. He touched the shorter ones to learn that he was in a castle. The long one suggested one was off somewhere in a place of ruins. This could be good... or really bad.

After getting through a dark hall, he entered another arched doorway and was shocked to see a room full of sunlight and flowers. A large horned throne sat near the center of the bright golden flowers; another throne covered in a large white sheet was sitting to his left against the wall. Magic was dense here, filled with a soothing sense of nature. It was almost enough to reach through his soul. Going to kneel at the edge of the garden, he touched the stem of one flower and turned the blossom about. This wasn't just a magical flower, it was a flower considered sacred by his kind.

It was interesting, but not immediately helpful. Thankfully, the sacred flowers didn't fill the room and he could safely walk around them on the low vines that filled up the rest of the space. The arrows led him to a hall to the left and down a long coiling staircase. Some of the steps had cracks in them. Outside of the throne room, there was a deep air of melancholy that filled this space with a grayness. His eyes could see color, but his mind felt the unhappiness and hopelessness that someone who lived here felt. Was this a prison? Because that would explain it.

Except as he got closer, more worrisome patterns appeared in the magic of this place. He hurried down the last few steps and came into another room. "Oh no."

It was a morgue. Seven black coffins were entombed here; six arrows were pointing at six different coffins. Checking them over, he found names inscribed on the lids. The children he was supposed to bring home were dead. From the looks of things, they'd been dead for some time. The most recent was from over fifty years ago; the sole empty coffin belonged to Chara, who had disappeared a hundred years ago. He couldn't rewind time back to before he'd been born. Actually, he couldn't go back to before a point when he'd been eight.

He started to wonder if he really was impossible to redeem when he realized that the arrows shouldn't have lit up at all. Scanning the area, he located six human souls in the room, held captive in glass containers at the head of each coffin. He didn't think they'd have the strength to pass the barrier on their own, meaning that he would have to break it in order to bring the souls home. Would that be sufficient?

Whether it was or not, it was a plan. He headed back upstairs, tossing around the idea of following the red arrow to where its soul was. It could be good to know. Still, the mountain was going to collapse. The end had always come this way after a certain loop: he'd get the airplane note and in the next few hours, Mt. Ebott would collapse in on itself and crush all the monsters underneath it. What few survived would not survive the on-coming apocalyptic event. Not even the world would survive that. And he didn't want to last that long again. He didn't have much left to sacrifice before it got what it really wanted.

Being in the collapse might help avoid that. He went down another staircase to come to another brightly lit room, one that seemed to be golden... his heart stopped for a second. He had nightmares about this room, a shining gaze and desperately vengeful presence. To soothe his nerves, he scanned the magic within the room. Nobody here. Still, he crossed the hall quickly, trying to stave off the memories as they pressed in.

Asgore's song, though modestly sung, filled the room with a frail tint of cheer. Now, he had a quartet of flowers to arrange in this vase. Two of them had small blooms like large coins, but they were cute that way. The other two were larger than he normally saw, enough that he could hide his hand under one of them. With the sizes, a balanced look would be best. Set them up so the small and large pairs crossed stems, using that to secure them in place... there. The two larger ones were protecting the small ones, much like...

Or maybe he shouldn't use this arrangement. But now that he'd put them together, it didn't feel right to take them apart. It shouldn't matter, they're just flowers, and yet, reminders. Yes, no? He should decide soon, since Undyne was coming over. They were going to discuss if she should come back on duty, so he needed a clear head to listen to her. See if she had a clear head and the will to return. He understood that kind of pain.

On hearing footsteps, he decided the arrangement would have to stay for now and walked out of the little alcove above the stairs. But wait... those were shoes. Few monsters wore shoes. And they were coming up the stairs instead of to the front door. That wasn't Undyne. Who was it to be coming from that direction?

Seeing the robed figure approach and feeling a sharp chill radiating from them triggered memories from long long ago. The close fit of the torso and sleeves, the sweeping looseness of the hood and lower hem, the tight knit patterns of fabric enchantments: this was the armor of a human wizard. This one chose black cloth with gold trim, including a gold emblem with the Delta Rune on their left chest. That meant this was a highly powerful wizard. Underneath their hood, shadows covered most of their face but not the bright red glow of their eyes. Some kind of enchanted rosary was attached on their neck with a choker band, but he couldn't identify that as readily as the meaning of the emblem.

This was exactly the kind of human one did not want to see on a battlefield, especially not with the LOVE 25 that could be discovered from a quick scan of his soul.

"Oh, hello," he said, feeling like he'd just met his doom. At least he should be polite. "I'm King Asgore Dreemurr. Who are you?"

"I don't have a name," he said, flat in tone as if he couldn't care less. "I'm here for the children."

"Ah, yes." This was it, then. Maybe he should take this out of this part of the castle, lock the door so as not to endanger Undyne (as excellent as she was in battle, he wasn't sure if even she could handle a human wizard like this one). "If you've come to challenge me on that,"

The nameless human was quick to interrupt with, "No. Where's the Ruins?"

The way those intense eyes drove right through him, Asgore felt further unsettled. "They're at the far end of these caverns, a long journey from here. Why do you ask?"

Still blunt, he answered, "One of the coffins is empty, without even a soul. My tracker indicates I'll find Chara there."

So she had run that far to get away from him. His heart sank further. Perhaps he wouldn't be helping Undyne much today after all. Or any time soon. "Ah, well, it has been a long time since Chara..." he felt sick with sadness and hoped that the human would challenge him.

"I know," he said. "My tracker wouldn't activate unless the person's soul is lingering. They're there. Now, how much do you know about how the barrier works?"

Chara's soul was still lingering? Why? Before Asgore could put that to words, the human jumped subjects to something he knew less about. "Not all that much."

With a slight shift of tone, he was clearly disappointed. "I see. Do any monsters study the barrier currently?"

There had been plenty who tried. "Currently? The only one who's done a significant amount of research was my Royal Scientist, Dr. Alphys."

"And where would I find her?" he asked. Although if he could use tracking magic to identify Chara's grave without ever hearing of the place before, surely he could track anyone he knew the name of.

Except he wouldn't find her. "She died about a year ago."

The human grumbled at that, thankfully pulling his piercing gaze away from Asgore and to his hand. He summoned up a tarnished silver sphere that occasionally looked like a clock. "Hmph, a range of three years for her death. That's going to be an obstacle."

"Where did you get a chronograph like that?" Asgore asked. Something like that could not be summoned up at whim, and was of such limited use in normal life that few people would even try.

That made the human look back up into his eyes. Studying him. Lightly tossing the chronograph, he dismissed it. "It's embedded in my body."

Then the door opened up behind him. Undyne looked right to the nameless human with suspicion. "Who're you?" she demanded.

Strangely, the human recognized her. A sharp intake of breath, a shift of posture. Casting a spell. "I don't have time for pleasantries," he said, then burst past them with an incredible speed, enough to cause the door to slam out into the wall and break a hinge.

"Hey, get back here human!" Undyne shouted, using her own Fleetfoot enchantment to chase after him.

"Undyne!" Asgore called out. But it was too late. Sighing, he got out his phone to message the rest of the royal guard and anyone else who might muster some effort. It wouldn't be enough, but he didn't want them caught off guard.

'Warning- a human male has entered our kingdom directly from the barrier's origin. Wearing a black cloak with gold trim, Delta rune on left torso, LOVE 25. Also a powerful wizard, only engage with extreme caution. Advise civilians in the whole underground to stay indoors for now, try to incapacitate before confronting.'

Not long after, he got a call from Undyne. "That freak just jumped straight into the ventilation chimney down to Hotland! Probably squashed himself or fell in the lava."

"I wouldn't count on his death," Asgore replied. "He was interested in the Ruins, so you might be able to cut him off in Snowdin or at the door in the forest."

"Well good, if he survived, we can trap him there since nobody can get in the door."

"Don't count on that either. And check my message; this individual is extremely dangerous and shouldn't be taken on recklessly."

"Then what were you doing talking to him? I heard you both and didn't recognize him, that's why I came right in."

Maybe if he could keep her on the phone long enough, she wouldn't have the time to reach the Ruins before the human got there. "I had to. We crossed eyes and I knew he could kill me in an instant; he can do the same to you."

Fleetfoot was not recommended for enclosed passages. Especially not a winding uneven cavern where the lighting was unreliable. Following his tracker required dozens of rewinds to keep himself from staying a blood spatter on the wall. But Nevyn didn't know where exactly he was going or how much time he had before the mountain collapsed. He wanted to get to the last grave to make certain of it.

Once past Waterfall, he ended up in a huge cavern that housed an entire forest. Snowdin, if he recalled correctly. Names and specifics often got lost in all the memories he had, but he knew this was now an open run to the Ruins. While the town itself wasn't far in, that gave him a shed and then a house to leap up to in order to cross across roofs and treetops again. It was almost a straight shot too, with a road through the forest right to the door.

The door was obvious, a massive gray structure sitting on a wall in the cave. He dropped down well before it in order to have the space to slow down safely, passing by a fish lady with bold red hair. How did she get here ahead of him? He'd been surprised enough to realize she too knew Fleetfoot, but did she teleport or did the monsters have methods of quick travel between major areas? No matter, he just needed to keep from fighting her. Memories of glowing spears big and small tried to grab his attention.

"Hold it, human!" Undyne said, summoning one of her spears. "You've no right to invade our..."

She could carry on for quite some time, so he turned to focus on the door. There were enchantments keeping it locked, but mostly around the handles carved into the metal. Lifting his left hand, he focused his thoughts on metal-cutting fire.

Behind him, there was a stomp and growl. "Turn around while I'm challenging you! I want to see what kind of power you humans really have."

The shriek of stressed metal interrupted her. The hinges buckled under the pull of his telekinesis once the fire weakened them enough. Shift the door slightly to make sure it was fully loose. Then, sweep his hand back to hurl the door over Undyne's head to crash into the snowy road behind them. The way into the Ruins was opened. Still, he turned back in order to look at her. "Does that satisfy your curiosity?" he said, casting Fleetfoot against so he could rush the rest of the way.

Past a long hallway of many shades of violet, he darted up some stairs and briefly wondered if he'd somehow come up to the castle again. This looked exactly like where he'd spoken to Asgore just now. Never mind that. He rammed his way through the closed door before someone called out to him. This was another area of winding passages, even smaller than what had been in Waterfall. While there were some puzzles, there were no more doors and nothing that Fleetfoot couldn't just dart over.

When the tracking arrow got bright red, he slowed down to a brisk walk within a dark passage broken up by a single ring of sunlight. Something about this place seemed familiar. Maybe he hadn't come down this way often, with nothing as striking in his memory as the golden hall and the bridges of Waterfall. But the memories were there, lurking about in the shadows of his mind. A massive threat from a tiny being, soft words, inexplicable feelings like the twist of a knife to a new reality. Golden flowers.

He walked through a doorway and turned to see a small room with a domed ceiling, a greater fragment of sunlight falling upon golden flowers.

He gripped a fist near his chest. "Wait... this is your grave, isn't it?"

Although he considered leaving right away, he ended up walking slowly towards the patch of flowers. The sunlight changed shape as he got closer, forming a child wearing a striped shirt and jeans. They were young enough that it was difficult to tell their gender, but old enough that it shouldn't have been that way for long. Opening charming eyes, they smiled sweetly and appeared innocent. Then dark shadows burst out of the child's heart, forming a familiar shadowy being. For a brief moment, the child's eyes were afraid.

His mind snapped to work immediately, flipping through memories of old tomes that he had studied. Shadows from the heart, negative emotions, the young age of the child, the form and abilities of this shadow, the way it enveloped the child. A ghost that had died a painful death with strong negativity could warp into a great many forms. This one had their pain and negative emotions overwhelm them until it became its own creature, a remnant. To deal with a remnant, it was best to separate it from its source, purifying and pacifying the ghost. The remnant would then be weakened next time it was encountered, easier to dispatch.

"Why have you betrayed me, Nevyn?" the remnant asked in a hoarse voice, expanding itself to look down on him. "You showed me the importance of power, you erased all fear in me. Why do you only come back now? Why do you sacrifice your earned power for an empty ideal?"

"I made many terrible mistakes showing you such things," he replied. "I will redeem myself. I will get my name and soul back from you."

"You could always give me your power if you no longer want it," the remnant replied, reaching out towards him with impossibly long fingers.

Without hesitating, he brushed the hand aside. "No. I will never give that to you. But I finally have a name to put to your old self. Chara!"

The remnant flinched so hard that it whipped away from him, screeching indignantly. At the same time, its lower half unraveled, revealing the child within. "What are you doing?!" the child screamed along with the remnant.

The whole cavern shuddered; the collapse was beginning. There wasn't time to purify the child, not that he could do such a thing. However, he knew who could. He knew who would. Blasting the remnant away with fire, he ran forward and grabbed Chara. They screamed again, balling up their fists and closing their eyes. After a quick check that they were separated from the remnant, he connected his natural chronograph to the ghost.

Then it was time to rewind, as far back as he could go.