A special thanks to my beautiful friend Poptart Kitten, once again, for helping big time! She's really helping me stay loyal to you guys.

Thank you for reading! If you notice any mistakes let me know, thanks again! I'm pretty proud of this chapter and I hope you guys enjoy it too. Things are getting deeep.

Seriously my theories are sick.

Love you! :D

The walk from the underground to their house was extremely long and tedious, not to mention painful in the sense that Frisk's legs wanted to fall off. When she finally reached the house, it wasn't relief flooding her senses, but rather exhaustion.

Chara tried to convince her to climb through her window, but that would be impossible.. So, still somehow managing to keep her steps quiet, she tried to sneak in through the front door. Despite being very late, her plan didn't work.

There was a very frantic horde of monsters waiting for them.

Undyne was the first to notice the exhausted child slinking in through the front door. She lept up from her seat and charged at the little human. Everyone was soon to follow the rapid fish, who had scooped Frisk up in a tight hug.

The child immediately went limp in her arms and she stared down at the fragile thing. Her mouth opened to scold, but simply hung there without anything to say. Frisk looked exhausted and had already dealt with a punishment inflicted by herself.

A sad smile crept up on the warrior, who only held Frisk tighter.

It's so comfortable. She sighed, sinking deeper. Her consciousness was fading away, and Chara tried her best to slow the inevitable.

Frisk! Stay awake! You can't sleep, remember? Not yet. You still have the papers! Frisk! Chara was practically screaming at her exhausted friend, trying to keep her conscious just a bit longer.

But she couldn't help it. Her eyes weighed too much to stay open, it was too much effort. She was staring up at Undyne, seemingly paralyzed to the others, when her gaze flickered to those huddled around.

Papyrus and Mettaton were holding hands, standing close to each other. Alphys stood in front of them, her eyes narrowed not at Frisk, but the notebook clutched close to her chest. Sans wasn't around, but it was Toriel and Asgore who grasped her attention.

Toriel was glaring at her child. There were no words from her, and she was completely silent. Frsk barely managed to meet her gaze, though it petrified her. She was too tired to move her hands, and unwilling to let go of the book, so she somehow managed to speak.

"Sorry…" Her voice cracked with the one word, still hoarse from screaming at Sans, and she shut her eyes in pain.

They never opened, no matter how much Chara tried to wake her.

"Oh my God…" Undyne muttered, finally managing to overcome silence.. Her speechless recovery was followed by everyone else as they burst into confused chatter. Only Toriel remained quiet, her jaw tense.

Even the shy Alphys was speaking , though her words were nothing but a stuttered jumble of syllables. Her eyes did not leave the familiar leather journal encased in Frisk's arms.

Finally she took a deep breath and looked up at her wife, determination set in her features. Undyne paused after a low rant that would usually be done with more volume had Frisk not been sleeping.

She raised an eyebrow and Alphys gestured to the journal. That was when Undyne really noticed it. She had seen it before of course, but didn't really process it until the short scaled monster gestured to it. With a gentle grace she managed to pry it away from Frisk, who barely stirred.

The others had returned to speechless staring, very confused.

Toriel finally conveyed some of her thoughts on the matter, despite her anger being obvious in her refusal to speak. "What is that?" Her voice was lined with irritation, and Alphys didn't want to be the subject of it.

She flipped it open, just to make sure. "T-tori...it's...it's my royal log book…."

'Your royal log book?" Mettaton interjected. "But didn't you loose that in the Underground?"

Alphys shut the old thing, pushing her glasses up her nose. She looked over at the robot. "Exactly, Mettaton. I left it in the Underground."

"So Frisk's been there this entire time?" The king looked bewildered, and moved towards Undyne, taking his child from her, and holding her tightly. She had papers clutched to her chest as well, but he decided to leave them be.

"No, of course not, simply the walk to the Underground, and then my lab, would take several hours in itself! The poor thing must be exhausted!" The full grandeur of what Frisk did weighed down upon them, and Papyrus came up with a great idea.

"I'LL MAKE HER SOME SPAGHETTI FOR WHEN SHE WAKES! THAT WILL RESTORE HER ENERGY!" He seemed very excited and tried to make a bolt for the kitchen, but Mettaton grabbed his hand.

"Darling, I think our poor Frisk is going to sleep for a while. If you make your spaghetti now it will get cold, so wait a while, alright? And try to keep your voice down. She's tired." He smiled at Papyrus and received a grin and a nod in return.

Toriel and Asgore exchanged glances. A mutual agreement passed between them and as Asgore turned to take Frisk to bed, Toriel remained, grasping her friend's attention.

"Asgore is putting my child to bed. You are all welcome to head home and get some rest, because I am sure you are tired as well. It is late, after all. I am going to go and talk to Sans. I bid you all a goodnight." She smiled and then turned, preparing to do just as she said.

There was confusion left behind, but eventually the monsters did do as suggested. They went to their homes in their couples.

Meanwhile, Toriel was very surprised to find Sans already awake. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, head in his hands, waiting for her arrival. The interaction was inevitable they both knew, and she gently shut the door behind her.

"Sans. Why did you lie?" There was no sense in weaving around her point.

He looked up, his smiled fading a bit. When he had gotten home, after the encounter with Toriel and an attempt to cover up lies, he had taken a nap. After that Frisk still wasn't home, and Toriel was getting worried.

After a quick shortcut through the Judgement Hall and several places on the way home, he couldn't find her. Frisk wasn't anywhere to be found, and that resulted in a panic. After the initial fear died down, it didn't take much thinking to deduce another lie, that would once again result in Monster Kid's cooperation.

" i didn't lie, Tori." He stated. His smile was once again flawless and there was no hesitation in his voice.

Tori frowned, glaring daggers. "Sans. I don't want to hear anymore lies! You're just digging your grave deeper!"

"seriously, Tori. all I did was take the kid to her friend's, alright? ain't done nothing wrong. i think the kiddo is the one you should be questioning."

Toriel threw her hands in the air in frustration. "But she's sleeping! And what reason would she have for going down there and grabbing Alphys' lab journal!" Her hands came down as quickly as they came up, and she buried her face in one hand. "I don't know, Sans. I just...the nightmares won't stop coming and then Frisk disappeared…"

Sans shot up from his seat, his grin completely gone. Surprise shot across his face and he took a step towards her. "you got them too?"

She nodded. "Asgore and I have been for the past couple nights...Wait...you as well?" Now she looked surprised. Her initial irritation was reduced by a bit with this newfound information.

His smile returned for a moment. His lies were better than he figured. Sans let out a sigh, plopping back down on his bed, and glanced up at her. 'ya should probably get some sleep. me too...im bone tired."

Despite herself Tori laughed. She bid him a goodnight and snuck out the door, hurrying to her room. Asgore would want to know that Sans was dealing with it too!

Sans watched her leave, his grin returning. It was sadistic, and the small laugh that followed was as well. I'm no better than Frisk...he chuckled, falling back onto the mattress. A dirty liar. But, you know, I'm good at it. They'll never know.

He was right in more ways than one, but wrong in others. Chara and Frisk knew, of course. Chara had even witnessed the whole conversation between him and Tori.

After his weak chuckles faded into snores, she floated back to Frisk's room. The kid was fast asleep, curled up nicely under her covers where Asgore had placed her. He had removed the papers from her grasp and neatly set them on the bedside table.

"I'll probably be lonely for a while…" Chara muttered to herself, glancing around. Frisk was sleeping like a rock, and unless a particularly bad nightmare plagued her sleep, she might be that way for a while.

Out of boredom and curiosity the ghost headed over to Undyne's house. She wanted to know what happened to the log book.

As she arrived, Chara saw Undyne and Alphys. They were talking, and as she floated closer, the conversation was about the log book. Undyne was pacing around while Alphys was staring blankly, deep in thought

'Why would the punk have that?' Undyne questioned. Alphys looked up at the sound of her voice, startled out of her trance.

'I-I don't k-know' She stuttered out, clutching the leather book harder.

'Why did you even have a diary anyways? Who knows what Frisk might have found out from that book?!" The dinosaur looked startled at Undyne's sudden outburst. Unlike other times where she may have stayed quiet, Alphys' temper flared. It had been a long night and Undyne was yelling at her.

"What else was i supposed to do! I was all alone in that. I had nobody to talk to…. It was my way of coping! And it was a freaking scientific logbook at first!" The lizard yelled back, shocking both her and Undyne.

The fish's expression quickly morphed into rage however.

'What was I then?! I was never there huh? Well, I guess I wasn't, and you still don't trust me! You won't even let me read the endnotes…." As her anger began to subside it began to leaving an empty hole. "I think I need time to think...about everything…." She turned around, crossing her arms, and faced the door. Her emotions were going crazy and it was getting confusing. She was about to reach out and open the door when claws gripped her own. She didn't move.

"Undyne, please... I started that logbook to document my experiences as the Royal Scientist. I knew you, of course, but you didn't even know my name until I was the Royal Scientist! I obviously wasn't going to spill my secrets to a silly schoolgirl crush!" Alphys didn't know where the words were coming from, but as she poured her thoughts out to Undyne her confidence grew.

Undyne's heart swelled a bit and she tightened her grasp on her wife's hand. She didn't turn around, but the small gesture was reassuring to both of them. "We still need to think this over, alright? I love you, Alphys, but with everything that's happened we need space."

With that, she left. It took only a few seconds to leave the room, but she didn't fail to hear Alphys' reply as she closed the door. "I love you too…."

Undyne smiled as the door clicked shut.

Alphys wasn't so happy. She was glad their fight didn't end with tears and hoarse voices, but the book was still in her hands, and the questions flying around her mind were giving her a headache.

"Why...did Frisk grab my log book? Why would she go down there just to grab it? And those papers? And...how much did she read…" Her eyes widened and Alphys leaned back in her chair, considering the prospect.

Frisk had been the first person to know about her lies other than Mettaton, who really didn't understand the full extent of her sins.

Even now, when everyone had forgiven her, she still regretted it. She regretted the thought of those monsters who had to stay in the underground because of melted family. It had been for the better, of course, but would never have to happen if it wasn't for her mistakes!

Most experiments were bound to fail the first time through, and she knew that. That's why testing was necessary, but Alphys didn't have any of the dim-witted creatures the surface was rumored to hold. She had dead bodies of passed monsters.

They were her experiments, and they failed. The consequences were bad. The families of course claimed to be happy their loved ones were back, although melded with others, but there was still hesitation. And the lies she had told to Asgore in order to gain the title of Royal scientist. She never deserved any of it. She was smart, sure, but that was no excuse to lie in order to get something. She regretted all of that, but her friends were forgiving and helping her move on.

The log book brought back those memories, however. It also brought back another realization as she skimmed through it.

There were several chapters dedicated to the core, and most of them mentioned W.D. Gaster. Nobody remembered him, oddly, and her only evidence was his notes and logs. He mentioned memories several times.

That hit a nerve. The subject of memories had always been confusing to Alphys. There was a room hidden under the core, according to the original blueprints, and no way to access it. It took a lot of work to gather enough information to put together some theories, but she had managed.

This unused, accessible room was made to store the excess junk the core picked up. Because, considering it was magic, there was other stuff that could be dragged along with the energy that would be eventually brought back to the core. According to Gaster, some of those things were memories. In humans memories simply fade from the mind, but since monsters are made of magic theirs' don't simply disappear, but instead get cast out into the world like trash, inaccessible.

He figured it out through experimentation with his son, Sans, who had special short-cutting abilities. Once the skeleton teleported into the room he was assaulted by previous memories. Only his own, however. Gaster claimed another theory from this that memories could only belong to the monster that made them.

"It made sense…so much sense…and now I don't want to believe it…" Alphys muttered to herself, burying her head in her hands.

The core was probably beginning to shut down. The magical force that kept the extra magic in the room would be fading, and without it to hold trash in then everything was free game. Generally small memories faded away after a short time.

It was all making sense, but she didn't want to believe it. The nightmares were memories. Huge, impacting memories like those would never fade, and generally not leave the monster in the first place, but if they were stolen somehow…

"Somehow...our memories…." She sighed, leaning back in her chair again. "Were stolen."

Chara had been watching the fight go down. She wasn't worried, they still loved each other, but both needed some time to sort things out. As Chara stayed behind to observe Alphys for a bit, she began regretting Undyne's decision to give herself space.

The dinosaur was putting the pieces together. Luckily, she hadn't pinned it on Frisk, but the few words she had whispered were enough to prove she was getting there.

Chara frowned and turned away to catch up to Undyne. She wanted to see if she might be able overhear a little from the fish's perspective.

Undyne was going to attempt to sleep on the couch, but that didn't seem far enough, and she wasn't going to sleep much anyway. So, grabbing her well-worn leather jacket, she stepped out of the house and took a quick walk to Papyrus' house.

Chara watched as she knocked on the door and was hastily welcomed by Mettaton.

Undyne was very grateful for the robots understanding. She was immediately taken into their arms, and while Papryus wouldn't stop asking questions out of confusion, Mettaton was managing to dodge his way around them. Eventually they got the skeleton to bed, and both talked for a little while.

"I mean, I know I love her, Mettaton. And she loves me. We just both lost our temper and need some space I guess."

The robot laughed. "Alphys lost her temper? Goodness darling, you both definitely need a bit. Besides, her brain is probably focusing on why Frisk had her lab book."

Undyne smiled in response. "Yeah, knowing her she probably already got it figured out. I hope she'll let me know. Thanks, Metta."

"Always," he responded with a hug. They continued conversing, but Chara quickly got bored. Their idea of good topics weren't parallel with hers, and she had other things to do. Finally she left the fish's side, deciding to check up on her friend. The flight to Frisk's room was pretty short. The monsters all lived in one pretty big neighborhood after all. When she did arrive, however, something seemed off.

The atmosphere was dark, more so then just the lights being off, but Chara felt uneasy. She drifted over to the bed, where her friend was sleeping with a small smile on her face.

That made Chara smile, relieved that Frisk was getting some good sleep. It made her consider the nightmares, and how close some might be to discovering their secret. At that point it might have been good to tell the others, but that would be up to Frisk.

And the way things were going nothing like that was going to happen soon.

As she looked down at her friend, something stirred inside of Chara. It started to reach out of her soul, trying to pull itself out and take root. Her hand twitched and tightened around an imaginary blade that pierced her imagination.

Frisk had been to exhausted to put up her walls, and was completely vulnerable. That dark atmosphere Chara had been feeling was her friends vulnerability.

It was a weakness, and she tried to snap out of it, recoiling in horror. The blade faded from her mind, but the want to control remained. That feeling of utter control and the power behind the LOVE…

In frustration, Chara stepped back, turning away from Frisk. The temptation died a bit, and that filled her with enough determination to shove the evil voice back down. The thought of LOVE slipped from her mind, and within a few deep breaths she had gotten the situation under control.

With Frisk so vulnerable, she could have easily taken control, but Chara wasn't going to let that happen. Especially not now.

She did, although keeping her thoughts from straying to love, tried to formulate a plan that might get her and Frisk out of the very real danger of being discovered, if they hadn't already. There were no excuses that came to mind, so eventually she left her sleeping friend and headed to her parent's room.

They were attempting to sleep, from what it looked like. Both were facing away from each other, but at the same time had eyes that were wide open. Either they were fearful or the gears were turning in their minds.

They might figure it out on their own if Alphys decided to provide the rest of the puzzle. Chara cursed under her breath at Frisk's exhaustion. She regretted not telling the girl to hide the papers and notebook. At least Asriel had let her keep the papers.

If anybody read those it would make the whole situation worse.

Chara, her head hurting from all of the information, left Asgore and Toriel to get some sleep. She drifted outside into what she could only call chilly weather. The sky was perfectly clear, and even though the moon was missing, the stars were luminous.

A breeze passed by as she watched the tops of the trees rustle, where leaves still continued to descend to the ground. It was beautiful.

Chara decided to stay and enjoy the sight for a while. Nobody would wake up for a while, for it was already early in the morning. As the darkness enveloped her, she smiled at the peace, and for once, everything was still.