Arial once thought that a whispered "do you know who that is" was a greeting of some kind, some sort of secret handshake that the daycare lady gave with parents bringing in their children. It wasn't until later, after Frisk moved back in with her parents but before Arial found out the truth about her SOUL, that she figured out that it was referring to her and her siblings. That was about the time when she'd been given a very special talk, in which Frisk had told her that she'd always be treated special by other people no matter what she did, and Frisk knew it wasn't fair and Arial knew it wasn't fair, but the little girl had a royal title and a pair of deific parents to live up to, and there was no getting away from that. Mom had held her until her tears dried up.

But she wasn't a little kid anymore, she was nine, nine years old and with a big brain and a huge spell list, and she actually knew what all the spell-words meant. Her little sister did too, which Arial found impressive and her parents found a little scary. They'd taught Michelle to always write down her spells, run them through a calculator first, and never, ever cast anything that her little body couldn't support. Arial had helped teach her, and it'd only strengthened their bond. Arial felt responsible for all her siblings, but she tended to spend time with Michelle the most, because Nomie was too little and the other three were (ugh) boys. Besides, somebody had to get Shelly out of her room and away from her books sometimes. There were monsters to meet, and some of them didn't even go to their school.

The adults had decided that the six-year-olds' birthday party would be just with their family, probably because their birthday was close to Christmas and because it was guaranteed to be hectic even without more people. Arial was old enough to plan her own party, thank you very much, and she'd expected her mother to complain when she said that to her; instead, Frisk was proud of her and had only restricted the number of people she was allowed to invite and how long it could last. (The room set aside for guests and events wasn't infinitely large, and the week before Christmas was test time.) Arial had picked out her school friends, an eclectic selection of humans (no boys) and monsters, and she'd told her grandmother in advance because one rule of the Dreemurr household was There Shalt Be Enough Cake for Everyone. She even shared the same birthday with a friend named Mindy, who'd told her mother that what she wanted for her birthday was to go to Arial's birthday party. Mindy's mother had immediately agreed and told her to be on her best behavior. Another one of those 'being a Dreemurr' things, Arial and Mindy had agreed. Her friends and siblings weren't expected to bring presents, either, because they already knew that she pretty much got anything she wanted anyway.

Besides, Arial had already received her real, secret present early that morning, just before her mother SAVEd the state of the entire universe. She had access to the memory password, the youngest person to have it, which meant that she'd repeat every day of her life from then on. It made her a bit anxious, having a power that her friends didn't, but of course her parents had just laughed and asked "Well, how do you think we feel?" and reminded her that with power comes responsibility. Arial was used to responsibility; it was in her nature, and she'd spent her life with five little siblings to take care of, after all.

The only thing she didn't like about her birthday was that it fell on a Wednesday that year. That was the day when all her classes gave their 'No, Really, This Is the Big Test of the Semester So Get Ready to Suffer' tests, the kind of classes that separated "middle school" big girls like her and her (mostly older) friends from "elementary school" little kids like her siblings. (Toriel's school had never followed a standard grade-level system, and Arial didn't know what 'elementary school' and 'middle school' were until her grandmother had explained them.) The next day, the teachers would prepare their students for the next semester; Friday was Christmas Eve.

Arial didn't worry about it. Tests were easy; birthdays were hard. Gym class was the only exception; Undyne's idea of a final gym test was a blisteringly brutal obstacle course that required intense application of magic and muscle. There were no waivers for physical disability or incapacity, not when every human student in the school had a visit with Asriel every semester. Mindy and Arial were the youngest in that class as well, but Mindy took regular ballet classes that gave her plenty of stamina and Arial was Arial Dreemurr and would not be surpassed by anyone other than the most athletic older kids. Undyne did, in fact, understand mercy; even the fattest kid, who was barely awake near the end and had Twinkie-smelling vomit covering his shirt, got a C-.

Mindy and Arial were joking about him as they waited for their friends to meet up outside the school. It wasn't nice to joke about people who weren't there, Arial knew, but Mindy was having fun not being nice, and she looked like she needed to distract herself from something. Besides, Arial thought with guilty pleasure, this won't actually have happened. She didn't like keeping secrets from her friends, but her mother and grandmother- who had worked out an educational plan for her long in advance- had convinced her that it was a good idea. Her friends and siblings convinced her of another good idea: Pop the safety cap off Magmus, the Vulkin member of their group, and cluster around him for warmth, especially as they walked up the hill. There were a lot of introductions going on, although most of them were one-way. James and Shelly tried to remember all of Arial's friends' names, Gary was good with people so didn't have to try, and Mander and Nomie were just too young to be expected to remember any of that stuff. Arial had invited three other slightly older girls (Betty, Jennifer, and Janice), the Ur-Sign Arthur, who couldn't talk but whose bearlike body featured a color-changing board prominently in his hefty middle, Lucretia, a golden dragon who was mostly wings, and Kid and Kim, who were already waiting for her at home.

"Oh my God, Arial, you didn't tell me you knew them!" Janice squealed. This was typical for her, and Arial just laughed. It was nice not being paid the most attention to. Kid and Kim worked as freelance actors, hosting a wide variety of shows on all the major video channels (there was no longer any difference between 'television' and 'video streaming sites'), especially Mettaton's. Arthur showed a faithful rendition of them hosting Super-Gaming Live! on his signboard, and the group clapped.

Betty was looking around with every step she took, and Arial could practically read her mind. Betty's vice was envy, and she'd always wanted to know what the inside of the Dreemurr mansion looked like. She was expecting ostentation but found strict cleanliness and organization instead; Toriel's husband often brought home gifts from around the world, but all such displays were behind glass recessed into the wall. Colorful carpet covered most floors, and nothing was ever left out for someone to knock over and break. (Arial had told her friends about the Temmies, and Betty realized why the place hadn't turned into a complete wreck.)

Jennifer took a big whiff through her small nose. "It smells like cake in here," she said, smiling.

"That's because it is," Gary replied, tossing off his overcoat and heading to the kitchen. Toriel had rushed home to start baking a layered cake before rushing back to the school, and the oven's timer had shut it off minutes ago. Icing and other edible decorations were neatly arranged on the counter. "Help me put this together," Gary said, and the group enjoyed building the cake, arranging the candy flowers, and putting nine candles on top, setting the confection onto the dining room table. They needed no lighter. Singing Happy Birthday, the kids had a wonderful little celebration all by themselves with no adults to mess things up. Arial blew the candles out with Mindy the same way her twin siblings did (Mindy seemed hesitant for some reason), and then they started eating and it was pure heaven, although it was funny watching Lucretia eat with her long neck, whiplike tongue, and dislike of utensils. There was still too much cake for everyone, so they retreated to the reception room to play.

"Mindy, I have a birthday present for you," Arial said, smiling. She picked up a small package out of the corner of the room and delicately unwrapped it for her friend, showing the bright red heart on a silver chain. "It's the same kind of locket my uncle gave my dad way back when." Mindy gasped and thanked her, just as Arial knew she would, and Arial was proud and happy because Mindy was officially her best friend forever and she officially had someone outside of her family to tell all her problems to, and Mindy could tell her all her problems too. She just wished that Mindy would do that, because there was definitely something weighing on her mind.

The party continued, with Betty carefully exploring the common rooms and Janice asking Kid and Kim about their exploits. Shelly was playing with the Ur-Sign, the bear letting the little girl use him as a markerboard with her finger. Arial found it hard to keep track of her friends. She didn't have to watch them- it wasn't that Magmus would pop off his lava cap or Lucretia would start breathing fire indoors- but she felt like she needed to be on high alert for drama, because there was almost always drama, as Mindy had tried to warn her. Arial didn't see the danger. Maybe drama was something that only happened at Mindy's house? Arial was about to quietly ask her something about it, as Arthur showed a rapt Shelly what he could do with his signboard and Nomie and Mander looked over Lucretia's gleaming scales, but Mindy had grown downcast and didn't seem interested in talking. Which was really bad to be at their birthday party.

"Hey, Mindy, what's going on?" Arial quietly asked.

"Nothing," Mindy replied, but it was so obviously not nothing that she had to continue. "I think I screwed up a test."

"Which one?" She was briefly distracted by the outside door opening. Lucretia had taken the twins outside. That dragon loved it when people paid attention to her flying. James had brought Jennifer outside with them, and Arial vaguely wondered if Jennifer had some kind of puppy-love crush on her little brother.

"Recent American History, the politics part. The birth certificate thing was part of why Obama lost to Donald Trump, right?"

"No, he didn't run against Donald Trump. That was Hillary Clinton," Arial informed her friend, and the sheer terror on Mindy's face took Arial off guard. Mindy's hands started shaking slightly, and Arial spotted tears forming in her eyes. Arial blamed their teacher, who had gone over about 40 years of pre-Return election history for a couple of weeks a few months ago and was sadistic enough to put it as a critical, essay-question part of the final exam. Post-Return politics were going to be covered next semester, and Arial expected herself to score perfectly on every single assignment, quiz, and test involving that stuff because studying involved asking her mom.

"That... no, that can't be, I though Hillary lost to Obama..."

"She did, I think, but that was way earlier." She checked her phone, sitting next to her friend, who was quivering with disbelief. "Yeah, see? That was during the 2008 primary, before the email stuff in 2016."

"I thought the emails were in the primary..."

"No, they couldn't be. All that stuff happened after she was working for him." Arial couldn't remember if it was 'after' or 'while', but that wasn't on the test. Mindy became even more distraught, and Arial tried to console her, reaching over and giving her a hug, finding a small towel to dry her tears with. "It's okay, Mindy. You're not going to fail the class."

"I was getting a B for the year," Mindy replied, upset. "And my dad, his company is doing this thing, where only a certain percentage of employee... of, uh, sons and daughters of employees get to go to your grandma's school if they get good grades. If I get any C's at all, someone else gets my spot." Arthur laid a fat bear paw on her shoulder, and his signboard had only a single symbol: 9.

"Yeah, we're nine, today, we're not supposed to be worrying about this stuff when we're nine," Arial said, and Mindy started sobbing into her towel. Who put that kind of pressure on an ordinary nine-year-old? Mindy wasn't a Dreemurr, she wasn't like Arial, who had-

Who had a choice to make.

Her family had been very clear that she wasn't allowed to let anyone, even her siblings, know if any particular day would actually happen or not. They hadn't said much of anything else as to how she should handle her new ability. She could wait until her mom came home and just ask, but what if the answer was no? Wouldn't it be cheating if Arial helped her with a test after she'd already taken it? Would Mom get mad? Would Grandma get mad? Mindy sobbed again and Arial made her choice. She couldn't let her friend suffer like this, especially not after giving her a locket binding them together. If Mindy was thrown out of Toriel's school and forced back into a regular one, it'd ruin the rest of her life forever. And Arial would not spend the rest of her life wishing that she'd used her power to help her friend. "Can you talk to your grandma?" Mindy suddenly asked, eyes hopeful.

"Yeah, I can do that," Arial replied, and Mindy abruptly hugged her, getting tears and a few crumbs of birthday cake on her school dress. But I won't. It wouldn't work. Grandma would say it wouldn't be fair, and she'd be right. Whether after-the-fact cheating was fair was something Arial didn't want to think about, and she really didn't want to think about how her grandmother might react. Two decades of being a principal hadn't changed Toriel's base nature, but they had slightly changed her approach to dealing with children. She was still soft-hearted, still kind and loving, but needing to be the disciplinarian had given her steel when she needed it, and she didn't have any patience for liars, bullies, or cheaters. A flash of insight came to Arial: she couldn't let Toriel see Mindy like this, or she'd spot the difference instantly. "Come on. It's our birthday today. Let's just eat cake and have fun today, okay?" She thought up another excuse. "If Nomie and Mander see you crying, they're going to cry too. Even Gary might. They're six. Don't worry about anything until tomorrow. It'll be okay. I promise." I promise never to have made this promise. Arial's little sister was watching the exchange, and she was chewing her lip nervously. Michelle couldn't remember the last time she saw someone get that upset. "See? You've even gotten Shelly upset."

"I'm not upset, she is," Michelle replied, and Mindy had to smile and dry her tears because she couldn't be upset in front of her friend's little sister. Mindy started asking about how Michelle's life, and Michelle talked about her favorite books and what she hoped to get for Christmas. Michelle loved pre-Return fantasy, from back before people knew what monsters were and magic became a science. She knew that curses and enchanted items didn't really exist, but she loved pretending that they did. Mindy, who'd never even heard of the genre, was fascinated, and Arial was proud of her little sister for keeping the older girl's mind off her predicament.

Toriel came in then, checking her home and mildly admonishing her sons for chopping up the cake so unevenly. (They'd returned to it multiple times, of course.) The family called her Grandma and the monsters unfailingly called her Your Majesty (mute Arthur bowed deeply), while the other humans uncertainly referred to her as Mrs. Dreemurr. Toriel only glanced at Mindy and Arial breathed a tiny sigh of relief. The party drew to a close; the other girls had to get home, after all, and Toriel sent Sans to drive them. Arial's parents and uncle came home, all at once, and Arial received another Happy Birthday chant. Planning on what to say to her friend the next day, Arial went to sleep nervously that night, but she realized that it didn't matter how much sleep she got; she'd be awoken at the same spot she was at when her mother SAVEd, there in front of her.

From her perspective, she went to sleep and reappeared in front of her mother wide awake, from dreamland to mild anxiety in an instant. This is going to take a lot of getting used to. But she'd made her plans. Her uncle smiled at her, running his fluffy fingers through her hair, and she went back to bed, trying not to give anything away. Arial tried her very best to act like it was the first time her little siblings wished her a happy birthday, and she picked out the exact same clothes and ate the exact same breakfast.

Fortunately, Recent American History was the first class of the day; the buses always came early enough that Arial had time to talk to her friends before the teacher came in. "Hey, Mindy, wouldn't this class be totally different if there were no such things as term limits?"

"Term limits?"

"Yeah, the reason all the recent presidents are only eight years. Except for, uh, Carter and Bush. The first Bush, I mean. You remember how that list went, with the years?"

"Yeah, ah... Reagan beat Carter in '80, then it was George Bush in '88, then, uh, Bill Clinton beat him in '92, then there was Al Gore and the hanging chads who lost to, uh, George W. Bush in 2000, then Obama in 2008, and Donald Trump in 2016. Wait, I thought Donald Trump beat Obama?"

"No, he couldn't have. I think he said some stuff about him, but he couldn't have run against him."

"Who'd he... oh, that was Hillary Clinton. That was the election with the email stuff, wasn't it? Oh my God, Arial, you're such a lifesaver. I would have gotten that so wrong, and I really can't mess up on this test." Yeah, I know.

The teacher walked in shortly thereafter, and Arial probably did slightly better the second time around, but she didn't care because she knew she aced it the first time anyway. The rest of the tests were the same way; for some reason, the fat kid didn't puke the second time around, and Mindy was in much higher spirits, so they talked about completely different things on their way up the hill together. Mindy reacted with total, unbridled excitement when presented with the locket, and she listened in fascination when Michelle started talking about her favorite books which Mindy had never heard of. It was, all in all, a much better birthday, and Arial hoped her grandmother wouldn't notice the differences. She seemed not to, and then Frisk came home with her husband and Asriel, and Frisk had whispered in her daughter's ear about a special present for her rememberer girl and Arial had eagerly followed her mother upstairs to her parents' room, only noticing that Toriel had followed her in once the goat had closed the door behind her.

"So, would you like to discuss the difference in Mindy's test scores?" Toriel asked without preamble.

Arial drew in a long, sharp breath. "How did you know? Were you always checking tests or-"

"My child," Toriel said, laying a fluffy hand on her granddaughter's shoulder, "did you not think I knew that your friend had been crying?" Her smile grew wider, and Arial was uncomfortably reminded of sharks. "And the guilt in your expression and voice- yes, you did show it!- I had thought you had done something to hurt her. I spoke with your mother, who suggested what it was before the day had even been repeated."

"Then why didn't you tell me then?" Arial asked.

"And have you miss out on the chance to make your own moral choice?" Frisk rhetorically asked, smiling. "I think we'd all be dodging gasterblasters for a week if Sans heard we did that." Frisk chuckled. "Come on, Arial. A crying friend, a brand-new power, and a guilty expression? You'd never do anything to hurt a friend, but to help her? You couldn't not do it, could you? Even if it meant going behind our backs, even if it meant doing things you didn't want to do, even if it meant risking yourself, you couldn't let your friend cry. How could you live with yourself if you did? She was more important than anything that might happen to you." Arial was shocked that her mother understood so well. "I'm just surprised you did it just for a test."

"She'd get thrown out of the school if she failed it," Arial explained. "She said her spot would go to someone else if she got a C for the semester."

"Seriously?" Frisk asked, amazed, looking to her own mother. "Mom, is that right?"

Toriel scowled. "I should never have let your father make that wretched agreement with that vile company," she told her daughter. There had been an open slot in Toriel's school for a child roughly Arial's age, and she'd foolishly let her husband use it as a bargaining chip. "They seek to use my school as a carrot to dangle in front of their employees. Arial, as far as I am concerned, your friend is now a student here like any other, and if her father's employer wishes to dispute the issue, I will not send Papyrus to negotiate; I will send Charles instead." Frisk pursed her lips and started chortling, her hand covering her mouth. Sending Charles to get her point across was not unlike killing a fly with a flamethrower. "Now, tell me, my child, how exactly did you go about altering your friend's answers?" Arial told her in detail, and Toriel smiled and nodded. "I had hoped you would be so wise. And at such a young age..." She shook her great goat head, her floppy ears waggling much like her natural son's. "The things we do to make our children into adults."

"So, am I in trouble?" Arial asked.

"Oh, heavens no," Toriel replied. "Reminding your friend of things she already knew, to keep her from an unwarranted expulsion? I wish that all the children of the world would get into such trouble. She did much better on all her other tests that day, were you aware? And, I imagine, better on every future examination she will have for a very long time, now that her confidence is improved." She smiled again, and Arial saw no more shark in it but the great big monster smile it always was. "I, too, have placed reminders in certain classes when they did not do as well as I had hoped." Arial's jaw dropped.

"Rememberers help people," Frisk reminded her daughter. "It's why I give the password out at all. It's why I even LOAD and SAVE regularly. Otherwise, what would be the point?"

"So, Undyne probably told that one kid not to eat so many Twinkies before the test..." Arial started.

"If that had caused something bad to happen, she almost certainly did," Toriel said. "I would expect no less of her, nor would I expect less of you. Now, come along for dinner, my little rememberer. Cake cannot be your only meal this evening." Beaming with joy, Arial decided that Christmas would have to be absolutely fantastic to be better than her birthday.