A/N: Hey, remember when I said I'll see you guys in 2 weeks?

I lied. (◉▽◉)

I'm sorry. (._.)

Well, this chapter is actually twice as long as any other chapters, so you could say that this is a double release. So essentially: I'm really, REALLY sorry for the delay. Here's a double length chapter to make it up to you.

I must admit, I rushed a bit in the end but I can't seem to think of a way to fix it (unless I took a look at it in about a week or so, which I definitely do not want to do). I write/revise/edit this story all on my own, so all mistakes and funky bits are mine.

So, here be the chapter. Onwards!

P.S. Under a reader's suggestion, who I thought had a very good point, I tried writing Sans and Paps' dialogues in normal cases. Unfortunately, when I actually did it, I personally felt... really weirded out, so I sort of abandoned it. But that's just my opinion, you know? If you can, please message me on whether or not you'd like me to stop using all uppercase for Paps, and all lowercase for Sans. You're the reader, and if it helps the story read better for the majority, I'll do it (It's no biggie for me. I can write their dialogue the way I like first, then edit the cases before uploading)

Anyway, as I was saying: Onwards!


"... And that's how we break the barrier! Whadda you say to that?"

"I think I should throw you off a bridge."

Huh. Was that too tactless? It probably was. Yet Chara couldn't bring themselves to regret their words. Not with what they've been subjected to so far.

They've been sitting there for the past hour and a half, listening to the child yammer on about how they've destroyed the barrier in the previous timeline, and they liked to think that they've been very patient so far: They've pressed down on most of the scoffs, the sneers and blatant insults, and managed to be the perfect host. They've only asked minimal questions when things started making absolutely no sense (which was difficult to decide considering everything the child said was complete lunacy most of the time), such as when the child told them that showing up on a gameshow with a sentient robot was an essential part of the barrier breaking process, or not a few minutes ago when the child sort of ended the list saying that fighting their father and convincing him not to kill humans will lead to the barrier breaking… somehow. Chara knew that there were information that the child did not wish to tell them, they said it themselves: They thought the monarch wasn't ready for it, whatever the hell that meant, and honestly Chara was okay with that. Knowing the future just seemed like a huge burden and would have made them question their every decision, making them think of what should be, rather than what must be. But despite their rather generous amount of patience, there was a limit to things. And Frisk, unfortunately, had reached it.

"What? Why?" The child frowned, blinking at the unexpected response.

"Because you, my dear, are raving mad, and I should put you out of your misery while I can. It'll be the humane thing to do."

"Hey, I'm not!" They jumped, pouting. "This is all true. I've done this several times before."

Chara was too appalled to even scoff. They snatched the note from the child's hand, slapped it open to a random page and began listing out the items. "'Teach dog how to pet other dogs'? 'Have a flexing contest with Aaron'? 'Shake our hips at every Moldsmal that we come across'?!"

"Oh, I'm really good at that one!"

"I don't care if you hold the Guinness World's Record at 'shaking your hips'! How does any of this equate to breaking the barrier?!"

"It's not just about breaking the barrier, remember? It's about making every monster in the Underground have a better life." Frisk huffed, crossing their arms.

The notepad opened again. "'Make Shyren give up on her dreams'?"

"She's too shy for the pop idol life. She wouldn't have been happy. More money and fame doesn't mean a better life."

"And 'Pick on Astigmatism'?"

"He will literally ask you to pick on him. It's what he wants and he does not take no for an answer, trust me."

Chara leaned back, pinching the bridge of their nose to fend off the impending migraine. They couldn't do this anymore. When they had agreed to listen to the child's plan, they had expected themselves to be skeptical, knowing that whatever it was that Frisk did, it'll be unusual, unconventional, and unbelievable, but they weren't prepared for this. Nothing could have prepared them for this. That half a bar of chocolate they were granted helped but it was nowhere enough to get them through. They were going to need at least half a dozen more.

"Okay." They began slowly. "For the sake of my own sanity, let's say that we are giving them a better life by doing all of… this, and I am indeed the last person to object to such noble deeds. But I still don't understand how all of this leads to us breaking the barrier. This! I just don't… I just... How?"

"Well, it all adds up. Every little good deed we do makes us friends with every monster we face. And every friend we make is a soul contributing to power our cause. We have to bring everyone together. It's the only way to break the barrier for good."

"That's it? Well, I don't know if you know this but monsters have done that before, dear. Many times in fact. They've all come together and poured out their magic on the barrier under father's order. They wished and hoped and dreamed... and every time it all turned up for naught." Chara breathed deep and sagged, feeling the weight of their kingdom's depression sink on them as their own. Their tight expression released their anger and turned into one of exhaustion. "Without the human souls the barrier is unbreakable."

Frisk knelt down, and ducked down to meet their down-trodden eyes with their soft brown. "But we do have them. Six of them, remember? Or at least Mr Dreemurr does. With six human souls and the collective magic of every monster in existence, we can break the barrier."

Chara stared into the child's sparkling brown orbs for a moment, then began mulling over the idea. It did sound somewhat plausible in theory, but everyone had thought the same when they decided to try the whole 'combine magic' thing in the first place. They wanted to believe in the child, they truly did, if only for their people's benefit. Yet every time they even thought of what they've been writing down for the past hour and a half, their mind immediately switched on the 'skeptic' mode and simply screamed 'lies!'. The things the child had written down were so far-fetched and ridiculous, they appeared more like tasks to distract one from the mass depression plaguing the kingdom rather than solving it.

"I don't know, dear. I just…" Chara raised a palm over their forehead. "There are so many nonsense here. Are you sure that this is what you did to break the barrier? What if all of these are just things that you thought helped out but in reality they were just you running about willy nilly?"

Frisk stood up and placed their hands on their hip. "Hey, who's the one that broke the barrier here?"

"Well, you. But-"

"And if it was only one or even a few things that you had to do to break the barrier, don't you think someone else might have figured it out already?"

Chara scowled. "I'll appreciate you not cut me off next time. It's terribly rude."

"Rude, but am I right?" Frisk bounced smoothly.

The monarch growled, annoyed. "Well, what if you're not? What if we're wasting our time and we no longer have the means to break the barrier? What then?"

Frisk smiled at the monarch's skepticism, as though they'd been expecting it all along. They plopped themselves down besides Chara, on the floor with their back resting on the side of the bed. "We can't hesitate on our decision based on 'what if's." They said softly. "Trust me. We can do it. We will do it. And if it doesn't happen to work, we can always come back here right? That's the thing about time travel. We have infinite chance. Probability says we can't fail."

"Infinite chance does not equate to infinite attempts." Chara huffed. "There is a point where one will either give up or go completely insane."

"Hey, I'm still here."

"Yes, but you're insane. You want to be friends with me of all people."

"Hey, you're plenty nice." Frisk defended.

"And there you have your proof. You are a deranged lunatic who needs to be locked up." Chara deadpanned but it proved futile against the bubbly child. Frisk's little smile was so bright right then, the monarch feared they'd get burnt by the sheer brilliance of it. They turned away with a huff and after a few seconds of brooding, they finally gave up. "Ugh. Very well. We'll stick with your so called 'plan'. It's not like we have any other options anyway. I suppose if this doesn't break the barrier, it'll at least make some people... 'happy' somehow."

If possible, Frisk's smile got even brighter, and they leaned their head closer to Chara's shoulder. Closer, but not exactly touching. "Thank you. I promise, you won't regret it. You'll see."

Chara huffed again, but whisked their sight to the child from the corner of their eyes, watching them relax as best as they could in their odd leaning position, as though they were resting their head against the monarch's shoulder.

They had always done their best to avoid actual contact when they could. They were trying to be considerate, something Chara was very grateful for as they were still trying to sort out how they felt about it all.

Ever since they'd first met, Chara realised in both horror and fascination that brushing skin with the child made them feel… nothing. Which was saying a lot, as normally they associated any sort of physical contact with a human in a less than positive light. That little kiss on their hand wasn't… unpleasant, that was for sure. They couldn't help feel a little curious about it: The prospect of letting their skins touch, if only for a moment.

If only they had a good excuse to tell the child it was okay to touch a little without… well, actually telling them that? Maybe they could start with something small first, like brushing their hand with each other a little every now and then? I wonder what will happen if I just cut off their hand and held it? Would I feel nothing again, or does it have to be attached to the kid?

"Umm…." Frisk hummed rather loudly and Chara looked to see their pale face staring up with an uneasy smile. "N-no hand cutting. Please?"

Crap. "How... much did you hear?" Chara stammered, their cheeks filling a rosy red at the thought that the child might have heard their curiosity for a skin on skin contact.

"I blocked out most of it out, but that last part was particularly loud. I'm sorry, I wanted to keep your privacy."

"Oh." They suppressed a sigh of relief. "No dear. It is I who should apologise. It wasn't… well, it was exactly as it sounded, but I didn't mean it in a bad way."

"Cutting my hand off is not bad?"

Chara winced. Yes, alright, that does sound bad.

Thinking quickly, they tried to appease the pallid child by placing their hand on top of theirs. It was a terrible idea considering what the child had been worrying over, but besides the light flinch at the touch, Frisk quickly took the hand like a lifeline, their cold, lingering fear becoming mixed by warm comfort.

Chara shook their head. Frisk was fearful yet being clingy with them at the same time. How did that even work? Such a strange child. They mused. But at least they're easy to please. "I think you should take it as a compliment, dear. You have a very pretty hand. I was simply envious."

"Oh, okay." Frisk mumbled with a blush, and Chara could feel happiness slap over the fear like a splash of paint. "Thank you, I think? I don't think my hand will suit you though. They're kinda small."

"Ha, indeed." Chara laughed, then peered down at their intertwined hand curiously.

Nothing. They didn't feel any of the usual repulsiveness that came with the sensation of human flesh rubbing against their own.

They leaned back, taking their eyes off the child and staring at the blank wall ahead, just… feeling. Hm. I guess this isn't too bad.

"So…" Frisk started, cutting through the silence and their thoughts.

"So?"

"When should we start? The plan, I mean."

It was a good question. Chara picked up the notepad, flicking it to the first item on the list. Their expression sobered at the sight, having pushed the item to the back of their mind since the beginning. They didn't argue with the fact that it was there. It needed to be done, no matter what the situation was. They've simply refused to think about it until it was truly necessary, which, unfortunately, was now.

'Talk to Ms Toriel and convince her to let us go. Note: She will be sad :('

"Soon, my dear." They replied in a quiet tone, dread filling them within, "Let's get this over with."


Chapter 7

'What is it?'

Sans tapped the base of the pen on his shin, looking down at the question he just wrote, down at the disembodied hand, then back to the question. He narrowed his eyes, shook his head and proceeded to write down the answer.

'It's a hand. Duh.'

The next question came easily.

'Who's hand is it?'

And so did the answer.

'Mine, but not mine. Time travel?'

He scratched his head, then continued on.

'How did the machine work?'

'Didn't work. Must have worked from the other side. Still broken on this side.'

'Why did the heat not burn anything?'

'Not sure. Maybe only exists on the other side. Don't know why I felt it though.'

'Why is the hand here?'

He paused. No immediate answers came so he moved on.

'Who sent it?'

'Me...?'

'What if it wasn't? The implication is disturbing.'

'Why send a hand at all? Why not a disk or a post-it note? There are less dramatic ways to send a message.'

'Is it a message?'

'What is it if not a message?'

'A warning. From an ally or foe?'

'Can't tell.'

'Too many unknowns.'

'Too many variables.'

'Not. Enough. Information.'

The pen came to a halt with a hard press on the last dot. Sans sighed and threw the pen aside, leaning back on his chair as he eyed the hand that sat on the desk like a morbid decoration.

He knew he should get a protective container for it or whatever, but in all honesty, he just wanted a break. He hadn't tried to investigate anything in so long, just starting the whole brainstorming session was giving him a headache. How awesome it would be if he was at Grillby's right now, having some hot mushroom burger with a side of fries. Or he could be at one of his 'guard posts' getting a bit of late morning nap. He was sure that whoever sent the hand wouldn't much appreciate him ignoring the appendage but really, who'd rather stare at their disembodied hand rather than having some good food and rest?

A thought occurred to him. Is that why my hand was sent? Because I'll be less likely to ignore it?

Well a fat load of good that did. If they, whoever they are, really wanted him to pay attention, they wouldn't have used his own hand. They would have used one of his friends or even better, his brother's. The idea made his insides squirm but it was the truth. His own hand was a strong medium of message, but there could have been many more options that would have worked better.

Sans blinked. Then he straightened up in his chair, his eyes pressing into a worried frown as another, more horrifying thought came to him.

What if there were no other options left?

A shiver ran down his spine that had nothing to do with the subzero temperature of his lab. He snatched up the hand in haste and began re-examining the appendage for the eighth time that hour. It was so similar, the size and the shape. One would it an expected outcome seeing how this was indeed his hand, but the level of similarity implied something else. This hand didn't seem a year older than the one still attached to his body. If the machine had indeed worked for its originally intended purpose, he was going to find himself without a hand very soon.

He couldn't imagine what could possibly happen in the coming future where he would lose his freaking hand. Everything in Underground was mundane as ever. The King was gardening, the royal guards training, Mettatton's fan base grew by one in the past week, and the people were just pushing through day to day lives, looking forward to a brighter future that may or may not come in their lifetime.

The time manipulations, though. Sans considered thoughtfully. Whatever was happening in the Ruins could be fact, it was most likely that it was. The timing was too perfect for it to be otherwise.

He sagged into the chair, lifting the hand over his head.

"come on, me. what are you trying to say?" He drawled at it, and as expected, the appendage remained unresponsive.

The door decided to be very vocal in its stead.

"SANS!" The door burst open as though been kicked, and through it marched in Papyrus, donned in his royal guard armor, pristine clean after the waxing he no doubt gave it all night. He turned his head left and right and lifted an accusing finger when he found his brother sitting on his chair, hands in his pocket, lazing about as always. "AH HA! I KNEW YOU'D BE HERE! IT'S TIME FOR US TO ATTEND TO OUR GUARD DUTY! NO SLACKING OFF THIS TIME, I SWEAR IT!"

Sans greeted his brother with a shrug. "hey, i told ya paps: i wasn't slacking off. i was just meditating really hard."

"ABOUT WHAT?" Papyrus challenged, his eyes narrowing to a slit.

"sleeping?" Sans shrugged again.

"A VERY LIKELY STORY! HOWEVER, I HAVE SEEN THE CLOUDS OF 'Z'S THAT FLOATED OUT YOUR NOSE AND TEETH! YOU WERE WITHOUT A DOUBT NAPPING ON DUTY, AND THEREFORE... SLACKING!"

"well, i guess you could say that i'm the… slack king of my job."

Sans gave a pause for the laughter to come, or rather, the groans. But neither came, and he was surprised to find his brother looking at him with what seemed like concern in his eyes.

"uhh… i think that's your cue to groan at me?"

"SANS, ARE YOU OKAY?"

He blinked. "uhh… yeah, of course i am. why wouldn't i be?" He stuttered, caught off guard by the question.

Papyrus tilted his head. "I DON'T KNOW. YOU HAVEN'T MADE A SINGLE PUN THIS MORNING, AND NOW THAT YOU'VE DONE IT, IT'S NOT EVEN WORTH A SMALL GROAN. THERE SEEMS TO BE SOMETHING OFF ABOUT YOU."

Sans chuckled. He forgot that his brother could be quite perceptive when it came to his friends and family. "aw, shucks paps. thanks for looking out for me, but i'm fine. i just realised that i've been using the same puns for a while now. i ran out of all the good stuff and i felt that it was time for me to take a break and come back fresh, you know?"

"SINCE WHEN DO YOU RUN OUT OF PUNS?" Papyrus quizzed. "SANS, IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING TROUBLING YOU, JUST TELL ME, OKAY?"

Sans grinned, though the smile didn't quite catch up to his eyes. "thanks bro. but really, i'm fine." A glint caught in his eyes, and his grin became wider, more real. "i guess that my pun reserves are just... bone-dry right now."

"HA! THERE YOU GO!" Papyrus smiled, then as the realisation dawned on him, he immediately scowled. "I MEAN, OH MY GOD! I TAKE IT BACK, YOU'RE PERFECTLY FINE. LET'S GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE YOU MAKE US BOTH LATE!"

"yes sir." Sans mock saluted his brother out but instead of following him, he kicked his feet and rolled the chair over to his desk's drawer. He fished out his hands out from his pocket, all three of them, and placed the disembodied one into the said drawer.

He didn't want to go to his human watching duty, not only because he just didn't want to, but because he wanted to study the hand a bit more. There was something there, he knew there was: some sort of clue that could give a hint on what had, or rather, will happen. But for now he'd have to listen to his brother. Papyrus was like a hawk when he put his mind to it. It would be very difficult to study the appendage with him behind his back all the time.

"SANS! HURRY UP!" Papyrus' yelled from outside.

"yes sir." Sans drawled a reply once more. besides, he thought. it would be a good opportunity to chat with the lady behind the door again. she might have some insight to what might be happening in the Ruins.

He rolled over to the door on his desk chair, hopped off and gave it a gentle kick, letting it roll back over to his desk. In the end it didn't even make it half way, and all Sans did was shrug and walk out the door, locking it firmly behind him.


The book dropped to the floor with a heavy thud, jolting Toriel from her daze. She mumbled an apology and knelt down to grab the tome back. She sat back up and stared at her children with a bewildered look once more.

"I… beg your pardon?"

Chara and Frisk looked at one another worriedly before the former spoke up. "We wish to leave the Ruins and enter Underground."

Toriel felt her heart drop yet again but managed to hold on to her book this time. She suddenly had the need to sit down, which was quite unfortunate seeing how she already was. Perhaps a drink was what she needed. She hadn't touched a single glass of wine since the day she became a mother after all. Maybe it was time to break the record? She blinked once, then twice, trying to see if this was a terrible nightmare she found herself in. It wasn't.

She licked her lips and gulped down her dry throat. "Of course. M-May I ask why you wish to do that?" She stuttered, her voice less stable than a house of cards on a trampoline.

"To go home, of course, back to the castle and to our people. You must know that I need to go and learn the ways of the new world?"

"But you can do that here can you not?" She spoke much too quickly. Too eager. She scolded herself and took a moment to reinforce her composure, "I may not have much here but I have all the necessary materials for a child's education and growth. You will find no better environment for your well being than this."

"But be that as it may, I cannot simply stay here all my life. I am a monarch! I must familiarise with my people if I am to be a ruler in the future." Chara reasoned, and she couldn't help but smile piteously at their naivety. They didn't realise how much the world had changed, how much the kingdom has changed.

"Oh my sweet, the world is not what it was. The monarchy is… less important now than you remember. Why, I have been here for sixty years, and I have found that the kingdom is no worse than it has been."

"But neither is it any better." Her child countered with a slight rising tone, and immediately the smaller human placed a supportive hand on their arm. The two seemed to share a look again, and from where she was sitting, it appeared as though they were communicating with each other through their eyes alone. It was something she wanted to note with more interest and investigate just what was going on between the two, but before she could formulate any questions to ask, Chara brushed the child off gently and continued, notably calmer, "And that also brings me to another point of this trip: It's father. I wish to meet him. We must tell him of my return."

She stopped, her hands gripping hard at her book as her heart did a flip at the mention of her ex-husband. Truth be told, she had known that this question was coming. She knew this whole conversation was coming really. It was only logical that Chara would want to go home after waking up in an unfamiliar place where everything had changed so much. Her presence helped, but it was a band aid upon a wound that required a full bandage. Her child wanted to be where they felt most safe, most familiar. She just wasn't prepared for them to want to go so soon.

"An understandable desire." She spoke in a somber tone, and though she knew she shouldn't, she couldn't stop herself from adding bitterly, "Your father had always been your favourite, has he not?"

"That's…" Chara stumbled, visibly shocked, and it broke her heart to know that she was the one who made them do it. "You make it sound as though I somehow love you less."

She didn't reply and simply looked away, refusing to meet gaze.

"Mother, you know I love you dearly." Their voice was soft, kind, and it only succeeded in adding on to her guilt. "But at the same time I am also father's child and I love him dearly too. And you know for a fact that he loves me just as much. If you wish, we may keep my return from the other monsters, but not him. It will be unfair."

Toriel tensed her jaw, and felt her heart punch at her chest with sudden rage that swallowed up her shame and unlocked her lips once more. "Unfair?" She almost laughed out loud at the thought. "Do not speak of fairness with that man. Six humans, my child. Six humans died because of him. Six children were taken in the name of what that man calls 'justice'. Do you understand that? Do you understand what that man has done?"

"Mother…" Chara spoke in a pleading tone, but she wasn't having any of it.

"No. You don't. You don't know what it was like." Memories of the six, long buried in the past, came back to her and she suddenly choked, her throat tight with a suppressed sob, her lower lips trembling as her eyes became misty. "They were so young Chara. So little, and so scared. All they wanted to do was to go home, like you. And your father… That pathetic whelp of a man...He just murdered them all. Didn't they deserve a chance? Where was the fairness in that?"

Chara's shoulders sagged, no longer meeting eyes with her. They probably couldn't. How ugly she must seem now, seething in her anger. She needed to stop this. She was scaring her children. She closed her eyes, and took in a deep, calming breath.

"He took those children's lives, my sweet." She began softly. "He took them away from their parents. And if you leave now he will do the same for the little one here, and to you as well."

Chara's eyes widened. "Father wouldn't hurt me."

"No, not directly. But the people will, under his order." Toriel laughed. "That sick coward doesn't even have the gut to do the job himself. What right does a man like that have to have his own child back? He doesn't deserve you, my sweet. You don't deserve to have a man like that for a father."

Chara fidgeted in place, no doubt shocked at the level of pure spite she held in her words at the mention of their father. Sixty years ago, she and Asgore used to be so much in love, and now they were separated in what her child perceived as overnight. How traumatising it must be for them. Yet another child who is hurt by his rash decisions. Curse you Asgore. If we ever meet again I will repay this debt a hundredfold, do you hear me?

She continued to seethe, her rage growing at the thought of her husband more and more. But suddenly, Chara was talking, and their soft spoken words cut through her emotions like butter against a hot blade.

"It's... not about deserving, mother. I am not something to be given or taken. I have my own free will."

She nearly gasped. The words cut deep, through her sorrow and her hatred.

Her child spoke true, she knew, but she didn't want to listen. She couldn't afford to. She nibbled on her lips, biting them so hard that she could have drawn blood. If she hadn't remembered to smile before her children, she probably would have lost it right there and then. She had to smile. She had to smile for the good of her children.

"I think, perhaps, that it is time for us to have our morning tea." She announced cheerily, her voice just over a whisper and dangerously fragile. "I was thinking of making some crumpets. I will have chocolate spread over for you, my sweet. Would that not be nice?"

"Mother..." Chara's word was one of shock, and she evaded it by turning her attention to Frisk.

"And for you, little one? What would you like to have on yours? I have salted butter of course. If you like it sweeter, I can put chocolate spread over yours as well, or some strawberry jam."

"Mother!"

"Yes?" Toriel turned casually and met eyes with the deep, sorrowful eyes that pierced her like a spear. She was quick to look away, focusing on the younger human once more. It turned out to be a mistake, however, because the moment she shifted her gaze, Frisk looked up at her with the saddest pout she'd seen since her own son.

A pincer attack. She giggled shakily. Now this is truly unfair.

"You cannot keep us here forever." Chara growled at her, their voice filled with such determination.

"Maybe." She smiled to herself. "But I will be damned if I do not try my best to keep it that way as long as I can."

Chara gaped at her response. "Then what of this child? Will you keep them prisoner here too? Will you keep them from finding their way back home?"

"Oh Chara, this is no prison." She laughed as though they were being ridiculous. Which they were. So very ridiculous. "This is Frisk's home now. I will take care of both of you. You two will be like siblings. Is that not exciting?"

Chara shook their head in distress. "Mother, listen to yourself. This is not Frisk's home. The choice should be theirs to make."

"Then we shall ask them now!" She turned to the little human. "Child, do you not wish this to be your home? I have seen how happy you are here, how great you are with the monsters of the Ruins. I would be happy to have you as my child, and I promise I will be the best mother you will ever have."

Toriel sent the child a kind smile, but it was returned with a sad, almost teary frown. Frisk ducked their head and almost reluctantly shook it.

Her smile slowly vanished, and she sat there, staring at her children.

Her two, unhappy children.

She quickly stood out of her chair, making the humans back off in fright. "I… I think this conversation is over. I will be in the kitchen if you need me."

She turned away and shuffled briskly towards the kitchen but was brought to a stop when her child rounded before her and blocked her path.

"You cannot run from this." Chara strained and the desperate expression they gave her stabbed at her insides sharper than any blade ever could.

"Step aside, my sweet. This conversation is over."

"Please, please, you must be reasonable."

"Reasonable?" She nearly laughed. "Am I not being reasonable? Is it not reasonable that I want my child safe? Is it not reasonable that I wish my child not to go through such dangerous trials if I can help it?"

"A child is one only for so long. They must grow up and learn to fend for themselves."

"Oh my dearest Chara, you know so little. A child will always remain one in their mother's eyes."

"You are not thinking straight-"

"That is enough, my sweet."

"Please, mother listen to what I'm-"

"I said ENOUGH!"

The outburst was like a grenade explosion at dawn at an unsuspecting family home: sudden, unexpected and unprepared.

Toriel breathed heavily once, then twice, then blinked as she realised what she had done. She looked down and saw her Chara, their eyes wide with shock and horror. If she didn't know any better, she would say that they almost looked frightened. Of her.

She slapped a palm over her mouth to suppress the impending sob. She closed her eyes, brushing the sight away into the darkness.

"I have only just gotten you back. I will not risk losing you again. Never again." She placed a gentle but firm hand over her child and forcibly ushered them aside. "I have made myself clear. Now be a good child and go to your room. I will call when tea is ready."

With that, she headed into the kitchen, leaving the children to deal with the tense atmosphere alone. It was only a few second after that she heard Chara slam their room's door shut, and though normally she would have never tolerated such behaviour from them, she decided to let them go this time around. She had better things to do, after all.

"Make crumpets… Yes. That's what I need to do. Chara loves crumpets. It'll calm them down. Then we'll forget this ever happened."

She marched to the fridge like a woman possessed, and immediately busied herself with her work, ignoring the beads of tears that slid down her furs.


"Well that went swimmingly, no?"

Frisk watched Chara pace the room in silence, watching them nibble at their thumbnail while walking endlessly in circles like a wind up toy. Was this a habit of theirs, the child wondered, not remembering a single instant in the past where they'd seen Chara do this. It was a new part of their partner that they were learning and that fact alone filled them with unbridled glee, but it was immediately squashed by the tense air around them. They pouted sadly, fiddling their thumb as they waited on Chara to finish… whatever it was that they were doing. They hoped that it would be over soon. They hated to see their partner like this.

"Ugh, I can't believe… Did you hear her? She sounded borderline insane!"

"She wasn't that bad." Frisk defended their foster mother instinctively, but shrunk back when Chara whipped towards them incredulously.

"Is that what you really think?"

It wasn't, and all they could do was pout sadly in response.

Chara huffed and resumed pacing the room, nibbling at their thumbnail once more.

Frisk wanted to tell them that they were going to hurt their teeth but decided against it. Jittery nerves were booming out of the monarch like the air from a fog machine. They knew Chara was already going through a lot right then: they're death of the past sixty years, the death of their brother, their parents' separation. The last thing Chara needed, they were sure, was a little bubbly kid telling them the harms of biting one's nail.

"Are you okay?" Frisk asked and immediately wished they could slap themselves for it, knowing that it was a dumb question.

Chara turned to them, eyes wide and agleam. They winced back, fully expecting Chara to scream at them, but all the monarch did was stare, hard and unmoving. It was as though they had turned into a life sized statue.

"Ch-Chara?" Frisk called and it earned them a confused blink.

"What? Oh. Yes. I'm fine. Of course I am."

That doesn't sound fine. They thought.

"Well, I am. Far better than mother anyway." The monarch paced again, their nail biting reaching a new height. "Did you see the way she stared when we first told her?" They asked, their eyes dangerously wide. "Why, I half feared her eyes would pop out they were so wide. Wouldn't that have been funny? POP!" They yelled, then barked a short, unstable laugh that splashed over Frisk like a bucket of icy water. "I swear, I've never seen someone so shocked. She's usually so composed, you know? Seeing her act like this is like seeing the sun rise from the west. Maybe monkeys will grow wings next, yes? And pigs wear top hats and dance under the pale moonlight?" They giggled again, and Frisk shivered. To them it was starting to appear as though Chara was losing their mind as well.

The child peered at them sadly, sending a wave of the said emotion which washed over the monarch and sobered them right up. Chara blinked, then duck their head to the floor, mortified at their own behaviour.

"Ehem." They cleared their throat, dropping their hand and the well chewed thumbnail to the side as they tried to save as much dignity as they could. "M-My apologies. That was not... I just…"

Frisk raised a calming hand. "It's okay. I understand."

"Do you?" Chara asked sharply. They began pacing again. "Shit. Shit shit shit! What the hell are we supposed to do now? She's not going to let us go. And I really don't think badgering her again now would be the smartest of ideas. We're stuck. We're stuck and it's… it's stupid that's what it is."

Frisk twisted their lips in thought, leaving the monarch to seethe. In a situation like this, the solution was usually quite obvious to them: close their eyes, think of the past and they were back, free to retry the encounter and see if things could work out better for everybody. But right now, the story was a touch different.

"Chara...?" They called.

The monarch whipped their head towards them, eyes flashing wide. "What?"

Frisk held gaze with the cold, red eyes for two whole seconds before shaking their head with a smile. "N.. nothing."

Chara didn't even sneer at them for wasting time, just turned back and hung their head in thought.

Frisk quietly sighed in relief, and complemented themselves for being smart enough not to ask Chara if they wanted to go back in time. After so many iteration, Frisk had long learned how to mimic their behaviour of the past, making each timeline as authentic as possible. Knowing that they were helping others made them try hard and they weren't the type to be angry at others so it was relatively easy for them to master the skill. Chara on the other hand, was a completely different story. They've never been through a time travel where they had to go through the same conversation again and unlike Frisk, they were easy to rouse and anger, and have proven to be quite stubborn about those feelings as well. The way they were now, they were in no shape to go back and try that conversation again. If they did they'll probably end up shouting from the start, "Oh mother dearest, I've never seen such stubbornness out of anyone. It simply does not suit people of our status and refinement. You simply MUST correct your behaviour, or else I shall be forced to give you the hardest flick of my nose I've given anyone in my life. Hmph!"

"What are you doing?"

Frisk blinked, and looked to find Chara glaring at them with a less than happy expression. "Uhh…. nothing?"

"Were you having a laugh out of me in your mind?"

"No?" It was a blatant lie and they both knew it. "Sorry. My mind sort of trailed off."

"If you have the time to entertain yourself, how about you help me think of a way to get mother to see reason?" Chara hissed at them with an increasingly annoyed tone.

With a sheepish nod, Frisk apologised and got to the request immediately. They've already dismissed the idea of reloading their SAVE. So they had to think of something else.

What would a normal person do in a situation like this? They wondered. If they've gotten into an argument and want the other to forget that they've had a fight without going back in time, they would…

Frisk frowned at the simple but effective solution that came to them. They had a distinct feeling that Chara wasn't going to be much appreciative of it.

"I think…" They began and caught Chara's attention, knowing that they had to at least try. "I think... we should wait."

As expected, Chara was not amused. "Okay, you know what? Return back to your musings, dear. I will ponder on this myself."

"Wait, no, I'm serious!"

"What, you want us to wait?" The monarch scoffed. "You mean us to do nothing?"

Frisk raised a pair of calming hands. "Sort of. What I'm saying is, I think we should give Ms Toriel some time to cool down a bit. Who knows? Maybe she'll rethink her words later. She's really smart right? She'll realise that what she's doing is not right. And to be honest, I think you could use a bit of rest too. Your feelings right now, they're a bit..." They grasped at their chest, just over their heart. "Jumpy."

Chara snorted but didn't argue back. They probably agreed with their jittery state, albeit begrudgingly. "We cannot wait forever you know." They growled.

"And we won't. We'll give her until lunch or something."

"And then what?" They laughed bitterly. "Shall we try talking to her again? Because that went so great the first time around, no? Lord save me, she's such a stubborn mule sometimes. There's no talking to her when she's like this. We might as well be banging our heads against a brick wall." Chara barked another laugh, but it was less bitter this time and more shaky. It sounded... sad. "Damn her. Damn that silly woman!"

"Chara-"

"No!" They roared, but didn't continued. They just stared at Frisk with wide angry eyes almost daring them to speak. But Frisk saw through it, saw through them, and they knew it too. Like a candlelight being blown away, the anger vanished, and in it's place was a sad, frightened child who just couldn't cope with what was happening to them. Their lips began to tremble and their throat bobbed. "I just…" They began in a hoarse tone, but couldn't continue. They turned away, hiding their face from the world. "I just don't want mother to be like this. She was so happy before. She's usually so strong, so wise..."

They trailed off, tiny sniffles taking over, and Frisk's heart ached for them.

The child approached the monarch and placed their hand over their pale arm. They didn't caress it or anything like that. They were sure Chara wouldn't appreciate such intimate gesture from them just yet, but they kept their hand there, letting the monarch know that they were here with them, that they were here to support and help, only if they were wanted.

Chara's entire body froze at the contact, but the tension soon left. They didn't lean into the touch but didn't brush the hand off either. They just let the child be, their eyes slowly filling with tears.

"Oh, Chara…" Frisk squeezed supportively, their eyes watering as they shared the helplessness that Chara felt.

The monarch remained still for another moment before stepping away, away from Frisk's touch. "Enough." They sniffled. "You made your point. I'm in no shape to confront mother again right now. I'm sure even if we go back in time, I won't be able to say the right words to her. We'll just end up coming back here again. Possibly worse."

Frisk nodded and mumbled a small thanks, knowing that it took a lot for Chara to admit that. "It's going to be okay." They assured.

"You can't possibly know that."

They smiled. "Actually, I do."

"Oh really?" Chara snorted, quickly wiping the tears from their eyes. "Alright, how is that, then?"

"Because we're together." Frisk spoke in a tone as sincere as they could get. "You and me, when we put our minds to it, there's nothing we can't do. I say we're going to free the monsters, and we're going to do it. I say it's going to be okay, and that's why I know it will be."

Chara stared at them, not knowing whether to scowl or laugh. "That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life."

"And it's true." The child insisted.

"No, you fool. You can't..." Chara shook their head. "Where do you even get these nonsense from? Do they teach you to be cloudwalkers nowadays?"

"Don't know what that means but I'm guessing it means something bad."

"It means you're of an empty mind. Always daydreaming with your head in the clouds." Chara flicked Frisk's forehead in emphasis and the child placed both of their hands on their forehead for protection.

"I guess that makes sense." They grumbled. "But hey, anime teaches me lots of good things about the world, and that was just one of them."

"And what, may I ask, is an 'anime'? And why is it teaching youth these ridiculous ideas?" Chara frowned, and Frisk almost collapsed in shock.

"You... don't know what anime is?" They couldn't hide their disbelief. What kid didn't know anime these days,they thought, then they quickly remembered that Chara wasn't a kid from 'these days' at all. They were more like the grandmas and grandpas of the present day.

"No. Should I?" Chara quirked.

"It's… Japanese cartoon." Frisk tried to explain in the simplest form possible.

"Japanese? Why would I know anything from Japan?"

Frisk didn't even know what to say to that. "What else don't you know? Do you know what a TV is?"

"Of course I do." Chara said, sounding almost offended.

"What about cars?"

"Cars came before TV, darling."

"Cellphones?"

"What's that?"

Frisk gaped, speechless. They stumbled, then fell back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling in a daze. "I have so many things to show you."

"Well, I'm afraid you won't be showing me anything if we stay stuck here."

"Chara." Frisk warned.

"I know." Chara rolled their eyes. "And don't take that tone with me, child. We will give mother time. She is a smart woman, as you've said. She will come to her senses soon enough, I'm sure."

Frisk smiled, glad that Chara was feeling calmer, better. "What shall we do now then, while we wait?"

Chara tilted their head in thought, then turned to the child with a curious gaze. "Why don't you tell me about this 'cellphone', thing? I have much to learn of this world, after all. I might as well start with that."

Frisk jumped up, and grinned wide. "Gladly."


Tea was tense. Beyond tense.

Toriel and the children spent the break sitting in silence, each doing their best to drink their tea to the bottom without seeming too hasty to leave. The lunch following hadn't been much better either. The trio ate their individual snail casserole in muted silence with only the clinks of utensils filling the uncomfortable gaps.

On numerous occasions Toriel felt the need to start a conversation but could never built up the courage to do so. In the end, she only got to speak to Frisk who had merely come to ask her for a cellphone. How the child knew she had one was anyone's guess, but she'd provided them with one regardless, feeling that it was the least she could do after her display. The child thanked her before giving her a sad smile and scurrying away to follow Chara into their room.

Toriel set down the now clean dish and sighed, slapping the drenched dry cloth on the hanger a bit harder than necessary.

Silence blanketed over the motionless kitchen, leaving her to her thoughts uninterrupted. She had done her best to ignore them for the past two hours, but now there was no more to do, her mind was yet again free to be dominated by what had happened before in the living room, by her regretful words as well as actions.

She knew that she would hate herself for saying those things to her child, knew it from the moment the words left her mouth, but even still nothing could have prepared her for the sheer amount self loathing and disgusted she felt. Even now, she felt an overwhelming urge to take a long, scalding bath. She wanted to claw at her skin if only to distract herself from these crawling sensation that ran all over her body, like she was covered in thousands of tiny insects clicking their pin like legs over every one of her furs.

I am doing this for my children. She told herself just as she had done time and time again that morning. I am doing this for their safety. I am doing this for their happiness. I am doing the right thing. I am. I AM.

Yet no matter how much she repeated the mantra, her hands gripping at the counter top's edge, her teeth biting into her lips till the upper skin broke, it didn't make her feel any better about it all. Not even a little.

It was funny, really. She had lived for nearly a millennia now, centuries upon centuries of life experience and knowledge had accumulated inside her. Yet in the end she was still ruled by her emotions, rash actions and decisions. She was still the same scared old woman, dreaming of becoming a mother and a teacher. What had she been doing all these years? Where was all the wisdom that she was supposed to have gained from her age? For the first time in a very long time, she felt silly, foolish, and useless.

Wiping the tears away, she checked the clock on the wall. One thirty. Way too early to be cooking dinner. Perhaps it was time for some spring cleaning?

She moved to the sink, and was about to pull the duster from the cupboard underneath when a loud ring of her phone made her jump. Closing the cupboard, she quickly reached down to her robe and pulled out the blaring device. It was odd hearing the ringtone again. She didn't think she'd received a phone call from anyone in decades.

She checked the cover for the caller.

Spare phone #1.

She frowned, confused, but pressed on the receive button nonetheless.

"Hello?" She spoke tentatively, if not slightly fearful.

"Oh my goodness! It works! It actually works!" Chara's excited voice exclaimed in delight.

Toriel blinked, checked the caller id again and placed the phone back to her ear. "Hello?"

"I told you it does." Frisk's smaller voice came from further away. "I still can't believe you didn't have cellphones back then. How did you contact anyone? What if you got stuck in traffic and had to tell Ms Toriel you were going to be late?" There was a pause. "Wait, did you just call someone?"

"Well of course I did, dear. How else am I going to check if you weren't talking utter baloney? I mean, a mobile telephone that one carries in their pocket? That's science fiction! Oh, how rude of me: Hello, operator? Terribly sorry about that. I would like to speak to the royal receptionist if you can, please."

Toriel blinked again. "Chara?"

A long bout of silence ensued from the other end.

Suddenly, there was a rushed whisper from her child which sounded liked "Oh my lord! How do I end the call?!", followed by Frisk's little voice saying "This button here." Then the call was cut and the phone's speaker blared with the hang up tone.

Toriel blinked and pulled the device away from her ear once more.

Her first thought was to call her child back and ask them what that was about before realising that she could just walk over to their room to speak to them directly. She was in the middle of deciding whether or not she wished to face her child in person when her phone rang again.

Once more, the caller id read Spare phone #1.

"Hello?" She received again.

"Ehem, hello operator. I would like to speak to the royal receptionist if you'd please."

She frowned. "Chara, it is your mother again."

Another bout of silence reigned.

"O-oh…" Chara finally stuttered. "Hello mother."

Toriel winced at their awkward tone. "Hello, my sweet." She couldn't decide if she wanted them hang up again or not.

"I... suppose you haven't become the local telephone operator recently?" They asked tentatively.

"No. I'm afraid telephone operators no longer exist."

"Oh." They sounded shocked, if not a bit mortified. "But I pressed the zero button and it called you."

"That is because your cellphone has my number on what is called a speed dial."

"I... see." The phone rustle a bit, and she heard her child speak away from the receiver, "What on earth is a 'speed dial'?"

She was beaten to the answer by Frisk's voice over the line. "It's a feature where you store the phone number of the people you love."

Not... exactly accurate. Toriel thought, but was endeared by the child's honest view of the feature nonetheless. "Is Frisk introducing you to the cellphone?"

"Umm… yes, they are. They've mentioned it, but I honestly didn't believe them. I suppose I stand corrected, however. It's... a fascinating device."

Toriel hummed. So that's why they asked for it. "I can only imagine. It is much smaller than the ones we used to have, are they not?"

"Small?" Chara chuckled. "This device is positively miniscule. It doesn't have cords. And it has push buttons! Have you ever imagined such a thing?"

Her lips spread into a thin smile despite herself. "I understand how you feel. I was amazed at the advancement in technology when I first gotten hands on it myself."

"Indeed. And the child tells me that we can play games with these device, which I find hard to understand." Chara's voice became further away as they spoke to Frisk. "What are we supposed to do? Surely we cannot play catch with it. This thing must cost a fortune."

"No, silly." Frisk giggled. "We play small video games with it."

"And what, pray-tell, is a 'video game'?"

The child's shocked gasp was audible both through the receiver as well as from down the hallway.

Chara must have nearly dropped the phone because the speaker rattled with the fumbling of hands. "Goodness." They huffed into the receiver. "I think I may have said something I shouldn't have."

"Y… you don't know what a video game is..."

Toriel stifled a giggle at Frisk who sounded as though they were about to faint. "Is the child alright?"

"I think they're having a stroke." Chara spoke as though they were commenting on the weather.

"I am sure they are not."

"Oh you'll think differently if you can see their face right now."

She giggled again. "Well, I shall leave you to help them out then. Call out if you need anything. Perhaps you can use the cellphone to do so?"

"Perhaps." Chara answered wryly. "I'm afraid my mastery of it is not complete just yet."

"I am sure you will catch on quickly. You are a smart child, after all."

There was a small puff of air that told her that Chara had laughed and was smiling. She smiled too, but the silence soon continued on after, moving into the uncomfortable territory. After what seemed like hours, her child spoke up again. "I… I suppose I should hang up."

Toriel's smile sobering a touch, reality popping the small bubble of happiness that had formed during the short phone call. "Yes, if you would like to." She replied.

The two hung on the line waiting for the other to speak or hang up.

Chara broke the silence again by clearing their throat. "Well then. I... will see you soon."

"Of course."

"You always carry your phone around then?"

"Indeed. I will not miss the call. You need not worry."

Another pause. Long uncomfortable pause.

Her child sighed heavily, as though they had been placed a world upon their shoulder. "Mother?"

"Yes?" Toriel answered, her grip on her phone tightening.

"I… I know... that I've said this many times before, but I want you to know that… I love you. You know I always will. No matter what happens in the future."

Toriel bit her lower lips, feeling a wave of tears coming on at the proclamation. "I love you too, my sweet." She answered in a hoarse whisper. "And so it shall be, forevermore. Nothing will change that."

"Yes, well then…" They coughed, no doubt embarrassed by such 'sappy' mood as they would call it. "I will see you soon."

"See you soon."

The hang up tone slammed down on the speaker.

Toriel hung on to the call for a moment longer, as though if she waited long enough the connection would come back to life and she would speak to her again. It was a foolish notion of course, and she soon clicked the phone shut, ending the call and leaving her to stand in the silent kitchen, alone once more.

She looked down at the small device in her hands, replaying the conversation in her mind, and smiled. Her child's first introduction to modern technology. It was so endearing just to hear how excited they were for it. Chara always loved to learn new things, she remembered. She couldn't imagine how her child would react once they see all the things the years have brought to the world, not just new technology, but new ways of life, new kinds of people, beliefs and even words. There were so many things for them to learn, they were going to need so many people helping them out.

Toriel stopped, her heart jumping. The thought repeated themselves over and over, a broken record only heard in her mind: Her child needed to see so many things, do so many stuff, meet so many people. They had so much to learn… And they couldn't do that here.

She placed her hand over the countertop, dropped her head in despair as tears pooled at her scrunched shut eyes.

But can I allow them to leave? Will they survive the trip home? Do I have the courage to let them take that chance?

The questions bounced endlessly in her head. Echoing, reverbing, crashing, like ocean waves on a rocky cliffside.

She let out a shaky breath and looked up, her eyes suddenly filled with purpose. A decision was made.

She turned, and without a single look back, headed out: out of the kitchen, out of the living room, and straight down into the basement.

Her hands were beginning to crackle with magic.


As it turned out, the cellphone was much too old to carry any of the 'video game' Frisk was talking about. They seemed oddly angered by it, though Chara couldn't imagine why. If these 'video games' were just games that were on a television screen, they couldn't imagine it being too exciting. Wouldn't it be better to play chess or tic tac toe in real life than do it on a grainy, colourless screen?

"You don't have to show me this 'video game' of yours, child. The device itself is fascinating enough." Chara said, trying to subtly inform the child that they wanted to play with the device themselves.

"No! You have to see it! You have to!" Frisk insisted, pushing the phone's buttons aimlessly. "I never realised how old this thing really is. I knew it doesn't have texting, but games too? Seriously?"

"It's plenty new to me. Can you please just let me see it some more?" They tried to be more direct.

"No."

"That was not a request."

"No!"

"Grr, I said gimme that, you little brat!"

"Noo!"

Chara leapt at the child and Frisk ran, going around the room in circles, playing a sudden game and cat and mouse.

After two rotation, Chara leapt diagonally and caught the child around their waist.

"Gotcha!" They yelled as they brought the struggling child to the ground. "Now, gimme that device before I s-"

The world turned black, then became normal again.

Chara blinked, confused.

They were still in their room, but the child was no longer in their grasp and rolling on the floor. Instead, they were standing two arm's length away from the monarch, the cellphone still in their hand.

Chara charged again, then in a blink of an eye, they were back in the same place, standing normally.

They frowned at the child, then just as they took a step forward, they returned to the same place.

"What the-?" They began, turning to Frisk incredulously. "Did you just use your power to get away from me?"

Frisk's cheek reddened. A small cheeky smile was playing on their lips.

"Oh you selfish little-!"

They charged. Time rewound.

They charged again. Time rewound.

"Ugh! I will have you whipped for this!" They yelled. Time rewound.

With a loud, frustrated growl, they turned to their bed and grabbed their pillow and one of the small plush dolls sitting around it. They threw the plush to the side towards the room's door, making Frisk followed the doll's trajectory with a confused frown. Then, when the child turned back Chara slammed their face full of fluffy pillow.

"Ack!" Frisk yelped then burst into giggles as Chara's arms wound around them and tripped them over.

"Gotcha, you little crap! Give me that phone!"

"Noo!" Frisk giggled again even as they struggled to be free. They could have rewound again at that point, but they didn't really care about who had the phone then. They were having fun, and deep down, they knew Chara was having fun too. No way they were going to undo that, even if both of them would have remembered it happening.

A loud boom in the distance stopped the children in place, Chara clawing on top of Frisk who was using their feet to kick them off while trying to creep away with the phone in grasp. The boom was quickly followed by an earth shaking tremor that shook the entire room like a rattle. The light above swung wildly as pictures fell off the shelves. Frisk was quick to hug Chara in fright, and for once the monarch allowed it to be.

The tremors soon stopped, and all was quiet once more.

"What the hell was that?" Chara gasped, gently pushing the child away.

"I… I think it came from downstairs."

The answer came to them in an instant. "Mother."

They jumped to a stand and ran out the door in a flash, Frisk scrambling to catch up.

The pair ran down the stairs, jumping off the last four steps in their haste and continued down the long corridor. When they finally reached the last turn, they came face to face with the sight of their mother's back, the magic in her hands burning furiously as she charged her next attack at the Exit. The purple gate was covered in black soot with hairline cracks spreading out over to the adjacent walls. The explosion and tremor had been from her previous attack, that much was obvious, but thankfully it hadn't destroyed the gate completely. They still had some time.

"Mother!" Chara yelled as they stepped forward.

Toriel whipped her head back, angry to see her child down there with her, but not surprised. "Go to your room, my sweet. This place is dangerous for little ones such as yourself."

"Mother, stop this at once! That's the only way for us to leave the Ruins. If you destroy it you will condemn us all to an eternity here!"

Toriel barked a laugh, short and crude. "Why do you think I am doing this in the first place?" The fire in her hand burst out and doubled in size. "Stand back. I will be done here very soon."

Chara shook their head. "You... you cannot do this. This is not a choice you can make for us all!"

Toriel's eyes when she looked back was cold enough to freeze the blood in their veins. "You are a good child, are you not? Go. Upstairs."

Frisk's hand grasped at theirs fearfully, and Chara squeezed back pushing their fears into the hold as well. "No."

"You will listen to your mother."

"Then you must listen to reason first!"

"No!" Toriel's magic flared with her word. "I HAVE listened to reason! Six times. And do you know what that has resulted in? Deaths. Nothing but deaths for the little ones I loved. I refuse to make the same mistake again. I will do this while my mind is still addled, while my conscious is clouded and my judgement impaired! I will regret this in the future but at least with this you will live! You will be safe! I will protect you all!"

She raised her arms in the air and threw the magic with all her might. The flames struck the door, creating a loud explosion that created a shockwave so powerful it nearly lifted Chara up in the air. It certainly would have blown Frisk away had the two not held on to each other. The tremors quickly followed just as before and clouds of dust and smoke filled up the chamber like a fog.

When the quaking ceased and the dust settled, Toriel was still standing unfazed, facing the gate that appeared just about ready to collapse. Her hands lit up once more, preparing her one final attack.

We have to stop her! Chara yelled to Frisk who was shaking like a frightened pup, covered in grey dust.

H-How?

You are the one with the knowledge of the future! What did you do last time? How did you stop her?

I don't know! She never came this far with me. I've never been in this situation!

Chara growled but couldn't push, feeling the child and knowing that they wouldn't do much good pressuring them while they were scared like this. It didn't help with the fact that they were in trouble however. They had to think of something to stop their mother from completely obliterating their chance to leave the Underground, but what could they do? She was already halfway done charging. One more hit like that and the door would surely be destroyed. They needed more time to think, more time to...

Oh, wait.

They turned to the child. Rewind! Now!

Frisk blinked, taking a moment to realise what was being said before jumping into action. They slammed their eyes shut, concentrating hard.

The world was consumed in black.


The darkness receded and Chara blinked at the new position they were in. They standing in their room with the child standing not two arms length away from them. They were holding the cellphone in their hands.

The two children shared a look, and Chara was the one to say what they were both thinking at that moment. "Crap."

They turned and immediately made for the door, and the moment they were out, the entire house shook with tremors.

"Crap!" Chara yelled again as they steadied themselves on the floor with the child holding on to them. "Can't you go back further than this?!"

Frisk looked up at them sadly. "I'm so sorry. Only one SAVE at a time! That's the rule!"

"Oh, and you just had to SAVE over…!" Chara growled, but decided that there were no time to lose and dragged themselves and the child up to a stand. They ran down the stairs to find their mother standing before the Exit, her hands burning in white. It was exactly the same situation as before.

They half thought to yell for her again, just as they did last time, but then realised that they had an option to play things out differently. They ran, straight past her, ignoring her shocked gasp and placed themselves between her and the door.

"Mother." They began sternly. "You must stop this."

Toriel blinked at her child's sudden appearance, then blinked again when Frisk ran past her as well and stood before Chara, facing her while spreading their arms and legs wide, using their body as a shield. A shield from her. As if they feared she would harm her own child. What a foolish notion. She thought bitterly. Can they not see that I am doing this to protect them?

"Step away, my children. This place will collapse soon and I do not wish for either of you to get hurt."

Chara stepped next to Frisk, pushing one of their arms down. "We will not. If you destroy this gate, you will not only isolate us, but every single monster in the Ruins. You will be condemning them all to an eternity of imprisonment!"

"We are already condemned to an eternity in this land, what is one more barrier? It will be a small sacrifice."

"A 'small sacrifice'?" Chara was appalled. "How can you say that? You are their Queen!"

"And you are my child. I am a mother before I am a queen. I will lay down the entire kingdom if it meant saving your life."

"This is madness."

Toriel clenched her fists and glared with burning ire. "That is enough. Be a good child and go upstairs."

Chara took an involuntary step back, a primal response all animals had in the face of something far greater than themselves. They've never seen their mother so fierce before, so stern.

A hand clasped over their shoulder, and they turned to find Frisk next to them, giving them an encouraging look.

Don't back down. The child said. We have to leave the Ruins. We have to save the monsters.

She is not going to let us go. I don't know how this will turn out if we continue to push.

Don't worry. Frisk beamed. I'll be with you the whole way. I'm supposed to protect you, right?

"Well?"

Chara looked to their mother who stared them down with a stoic gaze, waiting for their response. With a deep inhale, they stood tall, straightening their back. They felt the child's encouragement from within. When they spoke, their words were filled with a burst of determination. "We refuse."

Toriel's brows crinkled, just for a moment, and her eyes suddenly lost a few centigrades, becoming icy and aloof, a stark contrast to their usual warm, inviting light.

"Do you wish to leave that badly?" She whispered, but her flames doubled in size and intensity, appearing as though it had a will of its own, a will to burn and turn everything into white ash. "Very well. If you will not listen to my words, then I shall remove you by force." She turned her body to the side, her knees bending to a half crouch while her burning hands rose to her chest level. "I apologise for what I must do, my sweet. But rest assured, you will not be harmed for long. I will heal you as soon as I have you subdued."

Frisk frowned at the martial artist pose Toriel was taking. They've never seen her take such pose before. Suddenly, there was a light crackle of air, and they looked down to find Chara's hands forming their magic blades. They gasped. Chara...

Worry not, dear. Chara reassured. I won't hurt her. I can't. My love for her makes my magic weak. They took a step forward, placing the child behind them. Stand back. We are in danger.

There was a whoosh in the air, and suddenly a pair of flames were flying towards them, far faster than any fire Frisk had ever seen Toriel throw.

Chara pushed the child far to the side and immediately swung their blades to cut the flames down from either side. The clumps of burning magic split in two, and they held their arms back up to prepare for-

Oh crap.

They saw the following palm strike come at them from head on, and only had a single moment to raise their arms back up to block. They took the chance and succeeded in creating a makeshift shield with their blades, but it mattered very little in the end.

The palm met the blades head on, and instead of being cut, the fire surrounding the hand collided with their magic with such force, it flung Chara back, almost off their feet. The monarch only had an instant to be shocked by the unexpected result before they tumbled on the floor and scrambled back on all fours.

They looked up.

Their mother was nowhere to be found.

Frisk's voice came at them like a freight train. Behind you!

Curses!

They swung their arm around in a backhand and hit nothing but air. Toriel had jumped back, withdrawing her hand that had been an inch away from her child's neck.

She held her hands out to the side and summon a series of flames that flew at Chara in multiple angles. The monarch stood up and began slicing away at them, but there were too many of them to keep track. They repelled five or so before one slipped through their guard and came for their head. They covered their face in anticipation, but the flame disappeared with a puff just before making contact.

And in it's place, Toriel came down on them with a chop to their head.

They rolled to the side, and in the moment they regained their focus on their mother, she grabbed the skirt of her robe and flung it at them, slapping their face full of the purple silk.

"Gah!" They shouted and thrashed about, trying to cut the fabric away. The curtain slipped past them, however, almost dancing around the blades to safety. Chara were about to swing again when they realised their mother had disappeared once more.

There was a sound of air bending behind them.

They immediate they whirled around and-

"Hurk!"

Chara stopped, their magic blade shattering away like thin glass. They clutched at the center of their chest, right where they'd been struck by an open palm stab. They stumbled around, and raised their shocked gaze up at their mother who looked down at them with sorrow filled eyes.

"I am sorry for hurting you, my child." She sobbed with tears. "I am so sorry. I am not a good mother."

Her fingers flew at them and jabbed them at the back of the knees, elbow and spine.

Without another word, Chara fell to the ground, their limbs shaking as though in seizure. They lay there helpless as Toriel glided past them to finish her job on the Exit. The last thing they saw before the world became black was the crumbling doorway with their mother's silhouette looming over the burning room.


"Jesus Christ!" Chara gasped and would have fell to the ground completely had it not been for Frisk scrambling over to help.

"Are you okay?" The child fretted over the monarch as they slowly supported them back up to a stand. "Wh-what happened to you? What did she do?"

"Stupid pressure points!" Chara growled between deep breaths. "She just… She stopped my airflow and paralysed my entire body. How the hell has she maintained her skills living in isolation for so long?" They glared at the child. "Why didn't you warn me of this? I would have been more prepared!"

"I-I didn't know! She never did that to me before."

"She didn't?" Chara turned a disbelieving look. Pressure points had always been their mother's specialty, being one of the more effective way of winning a fight without seriously harming the opponent. 'Soft fighting' she used to call it, but as they were quickly realising, there was nothing 'soft' about it. "What did she do to you when you fought her then?"

"Stand in place?" Frisk shrugged. "She sort of just… threw magic at me. I didn't even know she could move like that!" They exclaimed, still in awe at the frightening speed in which Toriel moved. How she did that for someone her size was beyond them. She was like a kind, pie-making ninja the size of a professional boxer.

"Ugh, of course that's what she did." Chara spat in disgust. "She can't ever bring herself to fight seriously against little kids."

"Hey, you're a little kid too." Frisk huffed indignantly.

Chara rolled their eyes. "I'm not a little kid, child. If I'm a little kid, you're a plush doll. You're four foot nothing!"

Frisk didn't appreciate the comment and showed it by scowling and puffing their cheek, which probably didn't help much in their argument but it certainly made them feel better. Before they could say their piece, however, the entire house shook with tremors. The children shared a wide eyed look.

"We must go." Chara said and hastily ran out, leaving Frisk to chase them out.

The two quickly made it downstairs and came to the familiar sight of Toriel's back standing in front of the crumbling door.

Okay, now I've got you, mother dearest. Chara hissed and summoned their magic blade.

What are you doing?! Frisk gasped again.

Do you really think I can defeat her in a straight up fight? I'm using whatever advantage I can get!

But you can't just attack her while she has her back turned!

Chara rolled their eyes. I've fought dirty before, darling. Watch me. With that they launched into a full sprint.

Chara! Frisk yelled after them, but it was too late. The monarch had already reached their mother and was catapulting themselves at her legs.

I'm sorry mother. They thought as they swung their dull blade at the back of her knees, trying to use it like a baton to knock her to the ground with a mix of force and surprise.

The blade touched Toriel's robe.

And in that instant, the Queen hopped forward, then skipped back, leaping over Chara's blade and landing safely behind it.

Chara didn't have time to be shocked as the instant she landed, her arms shot down on them, catching them in a caring embrace with one arm while jabbing them hard on the neck with the other.

"Urk!" Was all Chara said before they slumped into their mother's embrace, unconscious.

Gasping loud, Frisk closed their eyes and reloaded their SAVE.


Believe it or not, the process repeated itself two more times. Each time Chara claimed that they knew what to do next, but whatever dirty tricks and tactics they came up with, Toriel didn't fall for it, overpowering them and knocked them out without fail. Needless to say, Chara was not a very happy person when they returned.

"Damn that woman, looks more like a stupid cow than a goat, sod it, I'll show her..." They muttered incoherently as they marched for the door and Frisk was quick to stop them by blocking their way.

"W-wait! What are you going to do?"

"I'm gonna murder that woman!" Chara roared as they tried to push past but the child didn't budge.

"No, come on. Let's chill for a bit, okay?"

"I don't know what that means. Now, get out of my way."

"Chara, can we just-?" Frisk paused when a magic blade was held at their throat. They scowled at the glowering monarch, clearly unamused. "Ehem. Can we please just talk about this? We literally have an eternity on our hand with my powers and I think we should use it."

Chara continued to seeth for another minute, annoyed that the child wasn't even fazed by their blade. Finally, they let out a loud huff and turned away to sit on their bed.

The blade on their throat gone, Frisk breathed in relief. "Okay. So... Let's talk."

"What's there to talk about?!" Chara threw their hands up in the air, "What the hell are we going to do? We can't go back further than this point; Mother's so stuck in her delusion that she'd willingly condemn us, herself, and every monster in the Ruins to a lifetime of imprisonment; And I'm no way good enough to defeat her in a one on one battle!"

"Well, we don't wantto hurt her, right?"

Chara sighed. "No. Of course not. She's my mother."

"Then what were you even planning on doing to her?"

Chara shook their head. "I don't know, dear. Immobilise her somehow? I just wanted her to stop. I want her to snap out of her delirium and see how wrong she is!" They sighed tiredly.

"So, you're not strong enough to beat her, but you have no idea how to stop her without hurting her, which you can't, by the way."

Chara didn't much like the way the child put it but nodded begrudgingly.

"Okay, so. What we need here is a plan."

"A plan?" Chara scoffed. "Let me guess, you're going to hug her and cry? Or maybe you'll take a note out of your ridiculous monster appeasing methods and shaking your hips at her." The image sent their sarcastic smile into a disgusted frown. "Alright, I'll warn you right now: If you ever do something so foul to mother I'll cut your legs off, right there and then."

"Oh, ha-ha." Frisk scowled, not appreciating the threat. "Better that than charge in blindly and end up falling on the floor. Every time you're all, 'Geeeh, Frisk I'm paralysed! Reset, rewind, or whatever word you use to describe it because I'm a big stubborn mule who doesn't know when to listen!'"

"You are ridiculous." Chara hissed back, their cheeks turning a rosy pink. "Ugh, fine! We'll think of a plan. Do you have something in mind?"

Frisk smiled and proceeded to elaborate happily. "Well, yes, of course I do. We wouldn't be talking otherwise. From my experience, the only way she ever stopped her attacks are when I got really hurt-"

"Which won't happen because she'll just knock you out instead."

"-OR..." Frisk continued with a warning glare. "Or, when I kept on telling her I won't fight her. It took me twenty times or so, but she did listen in the end."

"And again, it's difficult to speak when you're lying on the floor paralysed." Chara drawled.

"And that's exactly my point!" Frisk snapped their finger. "The key here is not to get hit by her, because once you do, it's immediate game over. You're not bad at dodging magic, but you're not too great either. She's using that to her advantage to sneak her pressure point attacks in. Once the bullets comes in a wide spread pattern, you're pretty much hopeless."

"Why thank you, child. You sure know how to compliment someone." Chara spat. They already knew that they weren't the best at dodging magic bullets. It was the primary reason why they learned the spell to slice them apart in the first place. It helped them counter against larger bullets that were travelling in a single file line, but not against complex barrages like the ones their mother liked to use.

"But now you have me to help!" Frisk clapped excitedly.

"You?" Chara raised a suspicious brow.

"Yeah! I mean did you see? Every reset, she wasn't aiming at me at all. She probably thought I was useless in a fight. But I can help big time! With our connection I can be your second set of eyes. I can help you dodge and stop her without actually hurting her!"

"Can you now?" Chara was still not convinced. They were starting to get how the child would help them dodge, but stopping their mother?

Frisk nodded vigorously. "It's a similar plan you and I used before when you were a ghost. But this time, it'll be even better because unlike a ghost, I can touch things and move them. We'll win for sure!"

Chara kept their brow raised, yet was intrigued by this so called plan the two of them had had enough that they were willing to listen. They patted the place next to them on the bed, a message which Frisk understood in an instant, and ran over to take a seat.

"Elaborate." Chara commanded, and the child was only happy to oblige.

"Okay, so here's what I was thinking..."


"Do you wish to leave that badly?" Toriel whispered, her flames doubling in size and intensity as all of her resolve and determination to protect her children fed into her magic. "Very well. If you will not listen to my words, then I shall remove you by force. I apologise for what I must do, my sweet, but rest assured, you will not be harmed for long. I will heal you as soon as I have you subdued."

With a single breath, she threw a pair of flames to the side in an arc and launched into a wild dash. Chara push Frisk to safety and focus on repelling the two flames, taking their attention off of her.

Chara was never good at dealing with magic bullets, she remembered, even after months of training with the guards. The child had way too much one on one, close quarter combat in their mind. They could never wrapped their head around how to eye each bullets and differentiate the dangerous ones from the mere decoys.

She threw a palm blow at their chest, and as she predicted, Chara defended themselves with their blade. She pushed back with her magic, using her physical strength to her advantage and pushing them hard enough for them to tumble back. Even as they fell, she followed forth, sticking close then quickly jumping behind them as they regained their balance.

I'm sorry for this my sweet. She thought sadly as she reached out to her child, preparing a finger jab to the joint between their spine that will temporarily paralyse their entire body.

It was an unfair fight, she supposed. She was faster than Chara, smarter, more experienced in battle and tactics, and despite being weaker in terms of raw magic due to them being a rare savant, she was bigger and was much stronger physically. In all honesty, Chara never stood a chance in stopping her, and they both knew it.

Which was exactly why it was such a surprise when in that moment, Chara jumped back, avoiding her attack and running their head straight into her gut.

"Oh!" She yelled, then quickly grabbed the magic blade that came at her with her hands.

She stared down at her child in shock, not having expected a counter attack. She didn't think Chara had noticed her presence at all, and on top of that, she didn't think Chara knew how to react to a sneak attack besides wildly swinging at their assailant.

What in the…?

She didn't have time to think.

Despite Chara's love for her making their attack weak, the sheer amount of magic within them could cause some bruises if she wasn't careful. Concentrating, she amplified the magic burning around her hands and snapped the blade she was holding in half. Chara jumped back, then growled at their broken blade. It only took them a moment to regrow it, but it was an insult to their ability. Chara lost their cool easily when it came to a fight, and she knew this would make them hasty and rash.

They charged forth again, a lot more wild than before, and she quickly grabbed her robe and threw it at their face.

"Gah!" She heard them yell in frustration, and took the opportunity to jump behind them again. Her child recovered and reacted faster than she'd expected, but not fast enough for her not to follow their movement and keep herself directly behind their line of sight at all time.

She reached out besides their one ear, clapped once, then positioned herself on the other side. Visibly jumping, Chara swung their blade at the side where the noise had came from, putting their back towards her. She lashed out with a jab, this time certain that her pressure point strike will hit.

It didn't.

She had been so certain that her child had no idea where she was, but the moment her fingers were just a hair's breadth away from hitting their mark, Chara jumped forward, away from her attack. She only had a moment to be stunned before her child turned around and came at her with their burning hands.

She stepped to the side to avoid them, and yelped loudly as her legs were suddenly caught and pushed off balance.

She slipped, and fell to the floor with a short, "Eek!"


Chara winced as their mother hit the floor with a less than graceful thud, the back of her head hitting the ground with a harsh 'Thunk!'

They stopped their attack and quickly ran over to her and helped the child who was struggling to get out from under her robe.

Ouch. Frisk commented as they stood with Chara's help.

Indeed. Chara stared at their mother's groaning form. I... can't believe that worked.

Ah-ha! See? I told you. Teamwork is the best! Frisk boasted in glee.

Quite. You're rather good at this sneaking business.

She just wasn't paying attention to me. Sneaking only works best with a distraction, after all. Frisk tapped their lips. Hmm, you know, it's fun being the observer for once. No danger to me and I get to help out my partner at the same time. We should totally do this more often. I'll be the ghost this time around, and you can be the human that breaks the barrier.

Chara ignored the child's musing and approached their struggling mother. When was the last time she had a fall like that, they wondered. She must be in quite a shock.

"Mother, are you alri-"

With a single kick, they jumped back, and narrowly dodged the jab that was aimed for their lungs.

Chara! Frisk yelled worriedly.

No, get behind the pillars, quickly! Chara commanded, then turned to growl at their mother. "That was cheap."

"And I care very little." Toriel muttered as she stood up. "It seems that I may have misjudged the little one's capabilities. Don't you agree?" She looked about the chamber and approached her child with a dark expression. "Where are they hiding?"

Chara took a wary step back. "Mother, please, cease this foolishness."

"If my wish to protect you and the child is 'foolishness'," Her hands began glowing with magic. "Then I'm afraid I must remain a fool for many years to come."

"Mother-"

"No. No talk. I will save you. You will see. I will protect you all. I will keep you alive!" With a yell, she threw her magic barrage in an odd snake like waves. It was an attack Chara was very familiar with as the attack that they always failed to dodge whenever they had trained with her. Luckily, this time around, they had a helping hand here to guide them.

Left! Frisk's voice yelled, and they hopped in the said direction, placing themselves in a perfect position where all the flames simply snaked around them as though they were standing in the eye of the storm. Okay. Hold it. Now… Take a step forward.

They did, and the eye of the storm moved along with them.

Now step back!

Once again, the flames moved with them, as though they were a rock in the middle of a stream, parting the water flow. Slowly, they smirked. They knew it wasn't them doing this, but having the flames move around them like this was making them feel invincible, like they were untouchable and could take on just about anything if they'd just put their minds to it.

Don't get cocky. Frisk sang, their smugness oozing through their connection.

Oh shush, just let me have this moment, alright?

The streams of fire flew by and left Chara staring at an empty chamber, their mother nowhere in sight.

To your left!

Chara rolled forward, narrowly dodging the swift neck chop their mother was aiming for.

Block! She's coming head on!

The moment they scrambled on their feet, they raised both of their blade as a shield, and clashed heavily with their mother's burning hands. She pushed, gently but surely, and they felt their feet slipping bit by bit as she leaned her face close, her eyes aloof.

"Have I underestimated your skill?" She wondered out loud. She must have noticed that there was something off with their movements. Their mock-battles in the past never went for this long.

"I don't think so." They shook their head, their pride not allowing them to take credit for Frisk's help. "Just lucky today I think. Perhaps the fates want you to stop?"

Toriel smirked. "I've learned over the years that fate can be overrated at times." She gave one powerful shove that sent Chara flying. They rolled to their feet and found a pair of flames coming at them. They sliced them apart and once safe, looked around the empty chamber. Their mother was gone again.

Not to be worried, they thought. The child was on the lookout for them still, they just needed to wait for their instructions.

Come on, darling. Tell me where she is…

They waited, both for the child's command and their mother's next attack.

Neither came.

Instead, what they heard was a loud, physical scream from the child echoing about the room.

Their heart did a flip.

"Child?!" They yelled and turned towards where the scream had come from to find the child running towards them with a frightened look marring their small face.

"Chara!" They screamed again. Then in a blink of an eye, Toriel was right there behind them like a ghost.

Chara watched with wide eyes as she reached down and pinched Frisk on the shoulder.

The child's eyes widened in shock, then slackened as they rolled back into their skull.

"Char…" The name died on their lips and they fell right into Toriel's waiting arms, unconscious.

Chara watched the scene with haunted eyes, and felt their heart drop to the bottom of their stomach.

Something cold exploded out from within.

"Hmph." Toriel hummed as she cradled the child in her arms. "I had thought it odd. I remember how far your trainings went, and I know for a fact that you are not capable of following your opponent with such keen eyes. You two were somehow communicating to each other, were you not? This child was giving away my position to you. I may not have underestimated your skill, but I certainly have underestimated your ability to work in a team." She walked around to the pillars and placed the child behind it, making them lean against it. "Now. Now that that's out of the way, it appears that we can continue this uninterrupted. One on one, just as you like it, no?"

She stood to face her child, fully expecting them to be in their battle stance, but oddly enough, she found them standing stock still, their hands slack by their side. They weren't even paying attention to her anymore. Their royal red eyes were wide with horror, fixed onto the unconscious child. They appeared catatonic.

"Chara?" She called out, her dark expression fading in favor of worry. "Chara, my sweet. Are you alright?"

They didn't answer.

They didn't even hear.

Their eyes were glued on the child, the sleeping child who's bright expression were wiped into a blank slate under their unconscious state. From the distance, Chara couldn't see them breathe.

From where they were standing the child appeared dead.


They're hurt.

They're not hurt.

They're hurt.

They're not hurt.

They ARE hurt. She hurt them. She HURT THEM.

Shit. Chara stumbled as a skull splitting headache assaulted them and they slapped a palm over their eye. The image of their mother tailing the child, a dark menacing look on her face, and the terror on Frisk's, it was burning them from within. The way the child just slumped over… It was...

Shit! They cursed again. Fuck! Why should I care?! The kid dies, things just go back. They've been through worse!

She hurt the kid. She hurt the kid. The voices continued, singing the phrase like an old nursery rhyme.

Stop it… Stop saying that!

She hurt the kid. She's gonna hurt the kid again, and then, she'll hurt you.

A wave of cold spread through their body, and they gasped at the chilling shock. N-no, mother wouldn't do that. She loves us.

It always happens. It happens despite everyone's intentions. Remember what happened to them.

Faces of little children, looking up to them with such hope, such love, it filled their heart with warmth they never knew. Then, in a flash, the images were replaced. The children weren't smiling anymore, there were no hope. They were frightened, scared, in despair. Then soon, they changed again, and now they were all blank. The faces stared with half open eyes, looking at nothing, feeling nothing. They all blended together into a swirl of thick, oozing red, and disappeared into the void, leaving Chara colder than ever.

NO! They grabbed at their hair, hoping the pain will take the images away. Mother wouldn't! She can't-!

She hurt the kid for love. How long before she hurts you?

I… They made a series of twitchy blinks. I-I have to talk to her. She'll explain it… She didn't hurt them. She will-

Why should you talk to her? The voices cut them off.

She's my mother. She has the right to be hea-

Don't talk to her. You don't need to talk to her.

But-

NO.The cold boomed through their body, crawling out from the inside and filling every inch of their body, right up to the fingertips. Don't talk to her.

She's… she's…

They tried to speak, but the voices… They were so much louder.

Don't talk to her. The voices roared. She's not worth talking to.


"Chara?" Toriel called for the third time, concern now the only emotion in her voice. Her child was acting strange. They were stumbling about with their hand over their face as though they had a migrane of sort, a severe one at that, which was odd since they'd never been the type who got those in the past. They were acting just fine a minute ago. "Are you sick, my sweet? Is there something-"

There was a burst of magic, a glowing halo of red booming out of her child's body and splashing over everything in its path, along with her. It didn't hurt. No, the magic wasn't formed into any sort of spell and wasn't capable of hurting anything. What it was, however, was dominating, crushing. The halo was a burst of pure magic, so raw and powerful that it could not be contained within the small vessel that was Chara's still growing body. She knew that her child was a savant in terms of magical power, but this was the first time that she felt anything like this from… anyone.

"Chara…?"

There was no warning for the attack.

In one moment, Chara was standing in place, head in their hands, and the next, they were flying toward her far faster than she'd ever seen them move, their eyes dangerously wide, oozing with red magic that ran down their face like bloody tears. A pair of magic blades were crackling wildly in their hands. She raised her burning palms to grab them as she'd done before, but the split second her flames touched the blade she saw it, all in slow motion, slice through her magic like butter, and keep going through until it reached her skin, cutting through the flesh and making a papercut worth of wound on her palm.

She gasped and quickly sidestepped the attack, slipping her hand away before it was lofted off.

The next swing came without pause, aimed straight for her chest. She leaned back just far enough to let the blade slide over her, and in the same instant, used the opportunity to jab on the attacking arm's inner elbow. Instantly, the limb drooped lazy.

Her child stopped.

They looked down at their limp arm, turned to her and just… shrieked.

It was an animal sound, loud, guttural, and full of anger. She staggered back, a frozen chill running down her spine. She never knew that a human was capable of making such noise, much less a child. Her child.

Chara leapt back and held their still functioning arm up in a pose that normally indicated that they were about to shoot a fireball. But what flew at her was a small red ball of magic, slow and perfectly circular. It was a spell she did not remember teaching them before.

Copycat skill. She immediately thought. The red hue indicated that the spell was still immature and unstable, meaning it had been copied not long ago. She ran through the list of monsters that lived in the Ruins and quickly guessed that the spell was copied from a Moldsmal, and from the way it moved in a straight line it was most likely-

The ball exploded, scattering into a shower of shrapnels.

She took no time in swiping a wall of white flames before her, creating a barrier that swallowed the little red shards up. And in the next moment, the barrier parted in two and Chara catapulted through the gap, slamming into her in a full body tackle.

The two fell to the floor in a tangled heap, but there was no moment for Toriel to rest. Even as they fell, Chara came at her with their blade, trying to pierce her chest, right through her heart. She grabbed her child by the elbow, locking the limb in place while keeping the deadly blade away from her.

It didn't stop her child from doing their best trying to stab her dead.

"Chara!" She grunted as she steadily pushed back her child who seemed to have doubled their physical strength all of the sudden. "Chara, what has gotten into you?!"

Her child looked up at her, and she gasped at the expression on their face, so full of hate and rage, their red magic dripping out their eyes and mouth like thick tar.

"Hurt… You hurt children….!" Her child heaved like an enraged ox, their magic flinging like hot spit that evaporated upon touch. "You are dangerous! You are a danger to us!"

The accusation hit her like a train, and she almost lost her grip on her child if she hadn't remembered the deadly consequences of it. "No…" She rasped. "No, I am only doing this to protect you!"

"Lies!" Chara screamed, then vanished their blade to direct their open palm at her face.

She immediately kicked the child off, making them roll in the air and misfire their pellet like bullet into the ceiling. The magic struck and shook the room with a heavy tremor, making mountains of dust shower down from above.

Toriel narrowed her eyes to shield away her dirt but didn't lose focus on her child.

A triplet of glowing red dots shuffled amongst the haze like flashlights, giving their position away.

She threw a weak fireball at them, then waited as her child shrieked in surprise then ran straight for her in their continued frenzy. Their malicious intent could be sensed even from the distance, and Toriel briefly wondered how things had gotten to this point.

Chara came within sight through the parting clouds, and she casually threw the skirt of her robe at them.

They shrieked again but immediately cut the offending robe, and it was exactly at this moment that Toriel circled around them, grabbed the edge of the sliced fabric and wrapped it around her child's eyes, blinding them. Then as the monarch began flailing about, she jabbed them in the lower neck.

With a single, choked, "Urk!", the child fell limp on the ground.

The red aura surrounding them dissipated into thin air, their magic blade vanishing along. Steadily, the dirt clouds sank to the floor, revealing the unconscious child in its wake, covered in yellow dust and a piece of ripped robe loosely wrapped around their neck.

Toriel let out a shuddering sigh.

The fight was over.

In haste, she knelt down and rolled Chara over to their back, to examine them for any wounds. There was none. Her child was asleep, their face released from their hate-filled scowl and now just a passive blankness, not a single drop of overflowing magic to be found.

"Chara?" She called, wondering if they'll wake up to their manic state once more, but they didn't. They remained unconscious, peaceful. She sighed again, this time in relief.

Carefully, she lifted them up in her arms, carried them over to where Frisk was lying and placed them next to the smaller human. When a stray hair covered their face, she gently reached out and brushed it away. It was a pleasant sight, two children sleeping side by side, their head rolled towards each other, as though they were seeking each other out in their sleep. It made her want to smile, and made her want to protect them from everything in the world no matter the cost.

Her eyes whisked towards the cracked gate, the one and only escape from the Ruins, from safety and tranquility, and towards the world beyond. Her first attack on it had done quite the number on it. It was only a fireball or two away from complete destruction.

I can do it. She thought. Right now. I can destroy the gate and we can finally stay here in this haven as a family. Undisturbed by the darkness outside.

Together forever.

Safe.

Secure.

"You are dangerous! You are a danger to us!"

Her child's roaring words came back and stabbed her in the gut with its sharp accusation. She gasped, and sealed their lips shut in order to press down on the sob that came to her.

She looked down on her sleeping child and recalled just how crazed and wild they were scantily a few minutes ago. They were having a breakdown, she realised now, though at the time it seemed to be something a lot more serious.

She'd seen it happen before a few times when Chara had first came to live with them. It was a shocking experience the first time around, and she briefly questioned her decision on letting this human live with them as a family as the episodes often involved them throwing things around and violently lashing out at anyone that came near them; be it the guards, their new parents or even their little brother. Soon, however, she learned that they didn't do it out of spite or the urge to hurt other, but out of fear: Fear that someone or something was out to get them, and that everyone around them was a threat.

It took them months to get through, but by the time near their death, the number of breakdowns Chara experienced had halved. If she didn't count the years that they had been deceased for, Chara hadn't had an episode in two months. It would have been the third if Chara had lived another week and they were all going to have a celebratory feast once they reached it. She remembered she planned it for weeks in advance. She'd been so thrilled and proud of her child back then.

And now I went and broke that record myself.

"I am a danger to them."She spoke to herself, each word like acid in her mouth. "I am… a danger… to them."

It was difficult to admit, but it had to be done. She was not helping them this way. She wasn't protecting anyone by keeping them here. Only herself.

She tried to tell herself that it was for their good, that she was protecting them from death, that any sort of life they would have was better than the things they had to face out there. But it wasn't true. Living here like this, forever stuck in this well called the Ruins, they wouldn't be living, they'd be existing, stuck with nothing to truly do, wasting away day after day.

Chara was correct when they called this place a prison.

She had to be better than this. She wanted to be the best mother in the world for so long. Maybe it was time for her to look back on what that really meant.

"I truly am not a good mother, am I?" She made a sound, and she didn't know if it was a chuckle or a sob.

Whatever it was though, she pressed it down again. There were tears welling up in her eyes, but she quickly brushed them aside. She didn't have time for it.

She knelt down and picked her child up, and began bringing them upstairs one by one.


Chara opened their eyes groggily and was greeted with the sight of-

"Chara!"

"Aaahh!" They squealed, then slapped a hand over their mouth.

Frisk blinked then slowly grinned in mirth. "Wow, that sounded really girly."

"Oh, shut it you." Chara hissed, their face filling red from the bottom up. They rolled around a bit, studying their surroundings to find out where they were first. They were in their room, that much was obvious, but they didn't know how they had gotten there. They tried to remember but their memories were fuzzy at best. The last thing they remembered was the two of them actually getting an upper hand on their mother and then...

"What happened?" They asked the child whose excitement seemed to double at the question.

"We did it! Well, you did it. But still!"

They didn't understand. "Did what, dear?"

"Convince Ms Toriel to let us go, silly!"

They blinked. "I did?"

"You must have." Frisk shrugged. "I mean, I don't really know. I got knocked out before you."

The image of the child fainting into their mother's arm flashed before their eyes, and something cold exploded inside them. It was quickly calmed by the sight of the child though, simpering as always. They tried to hold on to the image in their mind, but it quickly slipped away from their grasp. "I… don't remember too well."

"Me neither." Frisk frowned. "But I did check downstairs. The exit was still there, so that proves that you've convinced her, right?"

"Yeah…" Chara frowned, still confused. "Um, where is mother?"

"Oh, she's in the-"

The sound of the doorknob turning interrupted them, and soon the door creaked open, revealing Toriel who came into the room holding a tray of steaming mug. She paused when she saw that they were awake but quickly changed her look of surprise into a smile. "You are awake." She stated, placing the tray on the floor near the bed as she knelt down. "How are you feeling, my sweet? I hope you are in the mood for hot chocolate?" She handed a mug over to Frisk who accepted it with a small smile.

The sense of dread that crept over Chara disappeared at their mother's soft tone. The cup of hot chocolate, of course, helped quite a bit too. "When have I ever not?" They smiled small, sitting up on their bed so that they can receive a mug as well. Their mother was quick to give them one. "Thank you."

The two children sat about sipping on their mugs, until Chara noticed their mother staring at them intently without a single break. They sighed, knowing that their mother wanted to talk to them regarding… well, everything. They gave her an understanding smile and she quickly turned to the child who was sipping at their drink obliviously.

"Frisk?" She called. "Can… Can Chara and I, perhaps, have a moment alone?"

Frisk volleyed their gaze back and forth between her and Chara.

It's alright. Go ahead.

Frisk nodded in understanding. They jumped up, their mug in hand. Then, in a single breath, they approached Toriel, placed a small kiss on her cheek and skittered out of the room, a stream of giggle trailing behind them.

Toriel placed her palm over the kissed spot while Chara rolled their eyes, exasperated.

She giggled. "Interesting child, are they not?"

"You don't know the half of it."

She looked out at the open door and sighed. She seemed to ponder on something for a bit before she spoke without turning, "They are such a tiny thing. Would you believe me if I told you that I was actually frightened of them only half an hour ago?"

Chara turned a quizzing eyes.

She laughed. "Oh yes, after what I said and done in front of them, I am surprised that they aren't trying to escape my presence the first chance they get."

"Mother…" Chara whispered.

"I literally knocked them out, and I was so scared of how they would react when they woke up, I nearly thought of hiding away." She giggled again, a hushed noise just barely above a sigh. "But I stayed there, watching over you both, and do you know what they said to me the moment they woke up?"

She didn't wait for an answer.

"They said, 'Hey, Ms Toriel, are your fur made of cotton candy? Because you sure look sweet today.'"

Chara gaped. "They did not."

"They did." She giggled.

"Oh, the nerve of that child. Where do they even get off being that uncouth?" They grumbled. "Is this the norm these days? I do not remember the youth of my days acting so foul."

Their mother giggled and was still giggling after a few moment, so Chara smiled to themselves and sat there, waiting for her to be done.

Soon, however, it became apparent that she wasn't going to stop, because as the giggles went along, it slowly, but surely, turned into a series of sobs.

By the time they realised what was happening, she had buried her face into her hands, bawling, her shoulders shaking as her wails filled the air.

Unable to bear the sight, Chara placed a supportive hand over her upper arm.

"I'm sorry." She finally gasped at the touch. "I'm so sorry, my sweet. I'm sorry for what I've done to you and Frisk. I am a fool. A silly old fool who doesn't know any better."

"Mother, no. It's alright. I understand."

"No, it is not alright. I told myself that it was for you, but that was a lie. It was for me. All for me. My expectations. My loneliness. My fear. I was being selfish. I couldn't let you go and I almost ruined your life because of it. Forgive me, my sweet. Please… Forgive me."

Chara pulled her into an embrace, their arms wrapped around her neck. "Everything is alright. We still love you, mother, the child and me both. Nothing will change that."

Toriel buried herself into the embrace, sobbing harder, letting all of her fears and guilt pour out into the cry. Chara held her through it, petting her back and allowing her to just… let it all go.

From the corner of their eyes they saw Frisk peeking into the room, hiding behind the doorframe. They sent the monarch a worried look which Chara returned with a quick shake of the head and a small reassuring smile. The child smiled back weakly and quietly left.

The crying session lasted a few minutes, and when it was done, the two of them still clung onto each other, just enjoying each other's presence and not wanting to do anything else. Eventually, though, Toriel pushed herself out of the embrace, wiping the little remnants of her tears.

"Oh, well, that was embarrassing." She laughed.

"Not at all." Chara reassured, and waited for her to clean up. "Umm… mother?"

"Yes, my sweet?"

They twiddled their thumbs. "I noticed that your robe is cut when you walked in. That definitely wasn't there before lunch. What… exactly happened downstairs?"

Toriel looked down at the cut in question and frowned. "You do not remember, do you? I was thinking you wouldn't."

Chara shook their head. "I only recall up to the point where you slipped and fell."

"Oh, of course you would remember that." Toriel joked, then continued seriously. "I'm afraid you had a breakdown of sort. Possibly triggered by the stress of our fight. You… lost control."

"Oh." Chara sagged, knowing how violent they tend to get when they were having an episode. They once hurt one of the guards enough to warrant stitches. At least that explained why they have no real memories of it and the odd sensation they got when trying to remember it. "Did I hurt you?" They asked guiltily.

"No. Just my poor robe." Toriel joked again. "And there is no need for you to feel guilty. If anything I should be apologising to you for putting you in such a stressful state."

Chara smiled and placed their hand upon her shoulder, which she reciprocated by placing her own hand over theirs.

The pair stayed like that for some time, but like before, it needed to come to an end. Again, Toriel lifted her hand first.

"Now..." She cleared her throat. "I suppose I must ask, when do you plan to leave?"

Chara lingered their hand on her arms a moment longer. "We can stay for a bit longer if you want."

She seemed to consider the option. It was tempting, for sure, but eventually she shook her head. "No. You need to go soon. It is as you said: Your father needs to know. It is unfair to keep the truth from him. And Frisk must be dying to go home as well. They must have a family waiting for them after all."

"Yeah..." Chara said, though it was only now that they were realising that they didn't know anything about the child when it came to their life above ground. Why was that, they wondered. Chara didn't like talking about the world above, but did the child not like it either? What was their life like above? They did say that their mother was going to adopt them. That gave sort of a hint, but not really much in the end. It wasn't important right now, Chara supposed, but it was something to think about in the future.

"Besides, if you stay any longer, I cannot guarantee that I won't start acting irrational again." Toriel smiled wryly. "You need to go before I'm tempted."

Chara nodded in understanding. "Then we shall leave today."

She winced, but nodded along. "A wise decision." She took Chara's hand into her own, and grasped it tight, feeling the smaller digits in her palm and marvelling at how big the difference in size was. Her hands were enveloping theirs completely. How long will it stay that way though, she wondered. Her child will grow up very soon, she wasn't going to get much more chance to do this anymore. "But even so, would it be possible if we could just… stay like this for a bit? Just a moment would be enough. I just…"

Chara placed their other hand over hers and rubbed their thumb in a soothing circle. "I don't have to leave right this instant."

She smiled gratefully, then sat back, leaning into the bed for comfort, as well as better proximity to her child.

They remained like that for another half an hour, along with Frisk who came in to join them after they got bored of waiting.

Toriel sat, sandwiched between the two children, holding their hands. She didn't know whether or not she'd made the right decision then. She didn't know if she could handle being responsible for another's death, but she had decided: better to give them a chance to live, than to let them rot away for the rest of their lives.

Chara was strong, and despite their puny appearance, Frisk appeared quite resourceful too. She had to trust her children and their abilities.

All was going to be alright.

It had to be.


"Do you have everything you need?"

The cold air slapped onto them, but Chara managed to appear strong in front of their mother. They rolled their shoulder and made their bag rustle, an action Frisk quickly mimicked with their own mini backpack. "I believe so. Thank you for everything mother."

Toriel patted them both on the head. "You two be good now. And remember to call every day, and to call if you ever need anything, yes?"

"We'll remember." Chara smiled. "Well then… We're off."

Toriel hesitated only for a second before nodding in understanding. "Of course. I love you, my sweet. Be home soon. And though we've only just met, little one," She turned to Frisk. "I feel this great sense of connection with you as well. Please stay safe. And goodbye. I hope you find your way home safely."

Frisk ran to hug her, and she knelt down to return the embrace. Chara moved in next, giving their mother one last hug and an embarrassed peck on her cheek which Frisk mimicked as well.

With a final smile and one extended look down at her children, Toriel turned and walked back into the Ruin. The gate groaned shut behind her, leaving the children to face the dark, snowy path alone.

Not alone. Frisk reminded themselves, facing the road that they've walked so many times before. They turned to the monarch. Are you ready?

Chara bit their lips, staring down the dark, lifeless road. They sighed. As much as I could be. Shall we?

Yeah, let's.


The sound the phone ringing pulled Sans out of his thoughts. He picked up the call without checking the number.

"'yellow?"

"Sans. It's Alphys. Where are you?"

Sans dropped his legs from the countertop and sat upright on his chair. "at work. one of my guard stations around snowdin. why?"

"You have to… oh my god. You have to go to the Ruin's exit. It opened a minute ago and…" Alphys breathed heavily into the speaker several times. "Sans, it's happening. It's the seventh human. The final human is here."

Sans nearly jumped out of his seat, and unfortunately, it wasn't due to the same reason as his friend whose excitement stemmed from the prospect of breaking the barrier. No, his non-existent veins were pumping right now due to the secret info that his friend wasn't privy to: All those time manipulations originated from the Ruins, his hand came to him from a time machine, and now a human was coming out from the gate that had been sealed off for decades on end. There was no way this was a coincidence. They were all linked somehow, and this human was a huge, huge part of it. "w-wow. that's some heavy stuff to lay on me, alphs. who is it? is it a kid again?"

"Kids, actually. There're two of them. They came out of the Ruins together. They seem to be friends."

two humans. crap. that's never happened before either. Sans was beginning to sweat. "where are they now?"

"They just passed camera W-002. You can still catch them if you're-"

"i'm already there." He didn't bother saying goodbye before hanging up. His eyes lit up, consuming his world in a shroud of darkness.

When he looked around again, he was standing by the exit to the Ruins, and before him was a snowy path with two sets of footprints walking out of it. Just over in the distance was a pair of silhouettes walking side by side.

He shoved his hands into his pockets, and took a deep breath. "okay, sans. it's cool. just relax and act natural." He rummaged his pocket until a whoopee cushion was in his grasp.

He was ready.

"time to get my game on."


A/N: Yeah… that was a bit long. I thought maybe I should split it in two but couldn't decide where the best place for that would be. Plus if I did split it in two, I'd have one scene for Sans each chapter and that'll be a bit disjointed. The placement is already weird (to me), I didn't want to mess it up even more. On top of that, I think I rushed a bit in the end, but I've been slaving over this for a month, and really just want to get it out there.

As you can see I have my doubts about this chapter, but I think I need to leave it be. I'm thinking, if I really wanted this thing better/perfect or whatever, I'll need to do a full revision AFTER I finish the entire story first (I guess it's the thing about most fanfictions. You're always releasing what is essentially your first draft).

Anyway, regarding Toriel: There're different types of portrayal for her around the net, but I personally like to think that underneath all that purple robe she is ALL! MUSCLES! She just doesn't like to use it much, especially against kids like little Frisk :P

Ideas abandoned for this chapter: Charisk karaoke, Charisk slow dance, and Charisk hip shaking competition with Chara totally not staring at Frisk's ass.

Up next: Meet the skelebros