Aeon

by ReadingForever

Sequel to Overmyth. Thirty years passed without any progress in the creation of the timeline he wanted, and other people were getting involved now. Now he finally had a chance to achieve it, but there were two conditions: One, Syphus must accept responsibility for ALL his actions. Two, the Barrier must be broken without using human SOULs. What's the power of Persona, though?

10. Fool Arcana

"Each Arcana has its own meanings. For example, the Fool Arcana...do you know what it symbolizes?"

"I have no idea, Alphonse"

"There's a reason why most of our guests are of the Fool Arcana. It symbolizes spontaneity, faith in oneself, infinite possibilities, and influencing oneself and others. A good guest of the Velvet Room needs all those four"

"Golly...I had no idea it could have so many meanings...so the opposite of those meanings would be..."

"Someone invaded by doubts and constricting themselves, of course. It can be more complicated than that. Want some candy, ASRIEL?"

---

The light pouring through the holes on the ceiling gave the scene a surreal look, as if it was out of a fairytale. Sans, Papyrus and Syphus advanced slowly, Syphus lowering his halberd. Frisk seemed to not to have heard the group arrive, they were still near the edge of the hole, the SAVE point hovering between their hands. The child was staring into the SAVE point as if it was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen. "...Frisk?"

"FRISK! OVER HERE!" Frisk turned around, having recognized Papyrus' voice.

"...Papyrus?" Frisk stared for a moment, surprised, then a sincere smile graced their face "And Sans! And...who are you?" the smile shrunk a bit when they saw Syphus. The three started to approach, relieved.

"They seem to be okay. Come on, Frisk, let's go back"

Frisk didn't reply to that nor moved towards Syphus, instead moving to a side so they could go towards Sans or Papyrus if they wanted. "Where am I?"

"It's a long story. I'll explain later" Syphus said, not really planning to tell Frisk anything. Frisk didn't move, though. The SAVE point hovered closer to their hands while they looked away. "Frisk?"

"...mister...are you in the Underground?"

"Does that really matter?"

"something bothering you, kiddo?" Sans asked, trying to salvage the situation. Syphus in his human form was a complete stranger to Frisk, after all. Maybe talking to someone they already knew would help.

"Who is he?" Frisk asked mutedly to Sans. The question didn't go unheard by Papyrus, who patted Syphus on the shoulder several times, unintentionally making the piece hunch over.

"THIS IS OUR FRIEND, SYPHUS! YOU MUST BE CONFUSED BY HIS HUMANNESS, BUT YOU HAVE MET HIM BEFORE!"

"...really?"

"HE WAS DISGUISED AS A MONSTER! AND HE SAID HE WAS YOUR FRIEND TOO!" Papyrus turned his head towards Syphus "RIGHT?"

"I did, and of course it was the tru—"

"Syphus...? Is that you? But you were a monster—" Frisk shook their head, their expression twisting as if they were in pain. They'd have grabbed their head if they weren't holding the SAVE point.

"Again, I'll explain later. We need to leave, Frisk"

"I don't understand...I don't understand any of this. What's going on?!"

"It's a long story, but—"

"Why is everything so...different? I don't get it, what's going on?!" Frisk raised their voice stepping back and closer to the hole "What's happening in this timeline?!"

"frisk, calm down"

"I can't calm down! I don't understand..." Frisk closed their eyes, cringing, and grabbed their head with their right hand, still holding the SAVE point with the other. No one was sure how to react, none of them had foreseen that Frisk would be reacting like this. They didn't even have time to approach Frisk before the situation got out of their control. How did this happen?

"WHAT'S GOING ON? DID WE SAY SOMETHING BAD?"

And then they opened their eyes.

"I don't...understand...anythiiing..."

Frisk's eyes had turned golden. They seemed to be about to cry although they had no tears in their eyes, but they refused to get any closer to the group, instead clutching the SAVE point to them as if their life depended on that. "Why is everything SO DIFFERENT?!"

"frisk? is this still you?"

They ignored Sans' concerned question, recoiling. "Nothing has gone like it should go! This timeline...it's something I had never seen before. I don't understand! What else is going to happen now?!"

"FRISK?"

"I don't want any of this! I want—I want Mom, and I want to be able to SAVE, I want things to be like they were before!"

Sans started slowly stepping back, there was something very wrong going on with Frisk and he didn't know what to do. Maybe... "you should drop that thing" he said, pointing at the SAVE point "it's making you crazy"

"I'm not crazy, I'm—" Frisk shook their head "This is what I need. If I can't SAVE I'm going to die. I can't continue ahead, but if I don't then no one will leave the Underground. Everyone must leave. That's what I always try to do..." their eyes started welling with tears. "...that is all I know to do"

In that moment the SAVE point started moving. While Frisk talked, it rippled and trembled as if it was a living being starting to wake up, and then long strands sprung from it, wrapping around Frisk's arms and ascending to their torso. Black smoke and red particles, just like what the Shadows turned into when killed, surrounded Frisk, obscuring them. Frisk didn't react at all to the smoke or to the tendrils of the SAVE point trapping them, instead taking a deep breath and stopping crying. "frisk, drop that!" Sans, alarmed, tried to approach, but Frisk turned around and started running. Both Syphus and Papyrus were stunned, caught by surprise by Frisk's tirade and the change in their eyes. They could only stare, horrified, at the changes Frisk's body was going through.

"That's all I know to do...but now..." the SAVE point started engulfing Frisk's body, phasing through their chest and into them. They started oozing a strange golden liquid, as if the SAVE point had melted, and it started enveloping them. Frisk fell down on the floor, and Papyrus, snapping off the stupor, hurried to approach Frisk.

"HANG ON, FRISK! WE'RE GOING TO HELP YOU!" Papyrus tried to grab the bright mass enveloping Frisk, but instead, as if the child had been pulled away, their body was dragged away in direction of the hole in the center.

"Stop them!" Syphus jumped and tried to catch Frisk before the child was dragged over the edge, but they were too slow, slamming against the rocky ground with a groan. During all that Frisk was mostly silent, but the few times they said something, their voice sounded strangely clear despite their body and head being almost entirely enveloped in the SAVE point.

"...I feel so lost..."

Frisk flew over the edge and towards the center of the hole full of ink, levitating in the air right over it, the light filtering from the ceiling shining on them. The slimy yellow film that had covered Frisk started to subside. What was that?! Slowly, Frisk started being shown, and what everyone could see started changing right in front of their eyes. Frisk was undergoing a freaky transformation, their Shadow completely overtaking them. Slowly, their skin and clothing converted into a transparent and fragile glass.

The SAVE point was floating inside their chest. Thick black cords enveloped their wrists and ankles, all tied together and linked to their neck, imprisoning, forcing them to hunch over, not being able to move a limb without pulling everything else. They tried to straighten up, but the binds stopped every single attempt, the most they could do was arch their back and stare ahead. Their face had turned into a cast iron mask of their usual neutral expression, the yellow eyes of Shadow Frisk dimly glowing behind it.

It didn't seem like a strong Shadow, despite it being as big as Papyrus. In fact, it was kind of underwhelming. The Musha had been a more intimidating Shadow, but if this thing had come out of the innermost places of Frisk's SOUL, then it was likely it had something menacing and dangerous prepared. Hang in there, Frisk, we're going to fix this!

Papyrus let out a scream of horror at the transformation and scooted back all the way to the wall while Syphus took out the halberd, trying to look braver than they felt. Sans wasn't entirely calm, but he disguised most of his trepidation and hurried to Syphus. "okay, what's going on now?"

"I don't know, but it's not good"

"believe it or not that was kinda obvious. what's up with this...metaphorical thing that overtook frisk?"

"I said I don't know! But we may need to fight" Syphus eyed Shadow Frisk. They seemed to be observing the three, waiting for anyone to make the first move.

"FIGHT? BUT THAT'S FRISK! I DON'T WANT TO HURT THEM!"

Frisk was overtaken by that thing. We either fight or we let it kill us. But was it even possible to hit Shadow Frisk without harming the child it had trapped inside?

Shadow Frisk, seemingly tired of waiting for the group to make their first move, started contorting, trying to move their arms but making their legs and neck twist and move as well. That didn't stop them from using a command, though.

Summon

Oil and ink seeped through the rocky walls, streams of viscous matter pooling on the floor, forming Mayas, dozens and dozens of them, crawling all over the floor and towards the three. The skeletons and Syphus huddled together, looking around to try to see a way to escape from the Mayas, but there were too many to consider such plan. "WHAT DO WE DO? I DON'T WANT TO ATTACK FRISK!"

"any ideas, 'phus?" Sans' grin seemed to have weakened, he was looking around with attention, the Mayas getting closer and closer.

"...I don't know! I never thought..." something like this would happen. Syphus swallowed, grasped the halberd until his knuckles turned white, and forced himself to calm down. "Keep those Shadows at bay, guys. I'll try to deal with Frisk"

"DON'T HURT THEM!"

"be careful with them. that kid is counting on us"

Syphus nodded, wishing with all his heart he had a lot more knowledge about the situation, but there was no more time for commiserating about his lack of information. Shadow Frisk was too far away to be hit by the halberd, it seemed the only option would be to use a Persona, preferably one that wouldn't harm it too much. What are we supposed to do, knock it out?!

"Here we go" Syphus didn't drop the halberd, in case any Mayas got past the skeletons' efforts, and summoned Angel. As it was the weakest Persona he had that could attack, he thought it'd be a good idea to use it, but he hesitated. The child...would they get injured if he attacked the Shadow? They hoped there'd be some other way of subduing the Shadow that had taken over Frisk, that it wouldn't be necessary to hit it and risk harming Frisk, but they just couldn't think of any alternatives.

Sans and Papyrus worked on their part of the fight, too, keeping the crowd of Mayas away. Every time one of the Mayas died, it was quickly replaced by a new one. Bolts of electricity from the Frivolous Mayas and clouds of poison from the Desirous Mayas drifted through the air, aiming towards the three. Papyrus had formed a wall of blue bones as a measure to guarantee the Mayas wouldn't be able to reach them, but the attacks were an entirely different matter. Trying to deviate the electric spells and the poison with bones was a difficult task, but Papyrus didn't hesitate to try. Sans was more focused on attacking the Mayas taking advantage of those minor Shadows' reduced self-preservation instinct. Blasters and bones hit and hurt the Mayas relentlessly, those who tried to attack getting the brunt of Sans' attacks.

Since the skeleton brothers were rather efficient at fighting back to the Mayas, Syphus had the liberty to focus on Shadow Frisk, being able to use his Personas. Before trying anything he decided to mentally ask for an analysis of the foe.

Shadow Frisk. Fool Arcana. No information available

That's of no use at all, damn it!

"It's your fault. You shouldn't be in this timeline" Shadow Frisk said, glaring.

"It's not my—"

"Shut up!"

Shadow Frisk writhed, unable to escape the bindings that sprung from themselves, and flipped in the air, spinning aimlessly. Their body acquired a dim glow, which exploded outwards before retreating back. Syphus raised the halberd, expecting a beam or any kind of attack, but nothing happened, Frisk continued floating up there. What was that?"

Their evasion has increased.

The voice said without Syphus requesting it. Oh, fantastic. Just what we needed, a harder time hitting it.

"what are you waiting for?!" Sans chided, a second Blaster appearing and firing on the increasingly numerous Mayas.

"I DON'T THINK WE CAN HOLD THEM AWAY FOR LONG!"

Spurred, Syphus directed Angel to move towards Shadow Frisk and start attacking with Garu wind spells. It was rather difficult, though. Shadow Frisk's newfound evasion allowed them to spiral and propel through the air without any trouble despite their binds, curling and floating gracelessly. The wind gusts that tried to hit them missed by mere inches, Shadow Frisk being completely unaffected, even though Syphus willed Angel to use the spells in quick succession, forming a trail.

As soon as the foe had a chance, they uncurled and writhed again, this time focusing on Papyrus. The light blue wall of bones that used to pulverize Mayas effortlessly rapidly started to weaken, the Shadows slipping through the wall. "WHAT HAPPENED?!"

"...that thing possessing the kid isn't going to attack us. they're going to stall us all until we're overcome by these Shadows" Sans' assessment seemed correct, so far Shadow Frisk hadn't tried to attack directly. Could they even attack?

Shadow Frisk seethed so hatefully Syphus shuddered. "You...you can SAVE. You stole that power. Give it back!"

Sans glanced at Syphus. "anything i should know, 'phus?"

"I have no idea, but I need a Blaster here!" Syphus requested, starting to sweat from the mental effort of uselessly trying to hit Shadow Frisk. Attempting to corner them until their evasion boon ran out of juice seemed like a good idea. Sans, having heard that, made a third Blaster form, but the effort of keeping two constantly attacking, as well as using bones, was starting to weaken him. It was one thing to create various Blasters, fire for a couple seconds and make them disappear, what he was doing now was tiring him way more than he usually would be in a fight.

Since Angel didn't work very well, Syphus changed to Ouroboros, hoping ice would work a bit better than wind despite Ouroboros' bulkiness and lack of speed. He started attacking right when Shadow Frisk's evasion returned to normal, the ice magic scoring a hit on them. A few cracks appeared on the glass forming the body, many chips of glass falling into the abyss and sinking into the viscous ink. In an attempt to fend off Syphus, Shadow Frisk reduced his attack again.

Being the only one able to attack Shadow Frisk was the biggest problem during the fight. While he was able to hit it a few more times, making the foe's glass body break more until they started to be smaller, he never thought he wouldn't be able to count with Sans and Papyrus' help. Sans' Blaster was helping a lot, limiting Shadow Frisk's movements, but he hadn't managed to hit the foe not even once. Shadow Frisk had kept Papyrus and Syphus' attack down despite having to endure being hit a few times by Syphus' Personas. It seemed more and more that this was more a battle of endurance than of strength. Who would fall apart first? Their defenses or Shadow Frisk?

"Stay away! Go away!" Shadow Frisk would shout at him while decreasing Syphus' attack again. Syphus represented something ugly and unnatural Frisk wanted to avoid, and such feelings were getting overblown by the Shadow that had invaded them. There was no sense in trying to argue with them right now, as Syphus quickly found out. They'd simply refuse to listen, no matter what was said or who said it. Papyrus even tried to intervene, but Shadow Frisk ignored him, continuing their frantic dodging.

The Mayas had gotten closer and closer, passing through Papyrus' wall of bones. Several times they had gotten close enough to physically attack the group, forcing Papyrus to attack them in close range. Sans, having only 1 HP of health, made sure to stay behind Papyrus, attacking as much as he could.

Papyrus had endured several blows already, both from electrical attacks and from the Mayas' arms. Their chest plate was covered in scratches and holes, and a hit on one of his legs was making him have a bit of difficulty moving. The space between the Mayas and the group was getting smaller, and the number of Shadows kept increasing constantly.

"I DON'T MEAN TO ALARM ANYONE, BUT THIS IS GETTING TOUGH!"

"hurry up already!"

"I'm doing what I can!"

Shadow Frisk had increased their evasion again, but they had suffered considerable damage already, moving with less energy. They even were pretty close to Frisk's size, the glass having been chipped away from the formerly larger frame. Trying to seize the advantage, Syphus decided to take a risk. He had no idea if it was even possible, but it was worth trying. Could this be done...? Getting Ouroboros close to him meant it was in the range of attack the Frivolous Mayas had. Several electric spells crossed the air, aiming to hit Ouroboros and achieving it a couple times. Syphus groaned in pain, cringing, feeling the electric current as if he had been hit, but forced himself to keep bringing Ouroboros closer. They were running out of time, he had no time to let something like the Mayas stop him from trying one last thing!

Personas were solid enough to be hit. They never showed damage, merely getting swatted away, and were otherwise solid to be touched. That was why Syphus took the kind of stupid decision to use Ouroboros as a way to get closer to Shadow Frisk. It was the only Persona bulky and large enough to be able to hold him. Grasping the halberd in one hand and immensely grateful it was rather light thanks to it being collapsible, Syphus grasped the empty-looking yet startlingly solid robe, standing on the edge of the triquetra that was the Persona's base. "what's he doing?" Sans muttered, stopping the third Blaster from firing any further.

"Don't stop, Sans!" I'll need that kid to stand still! Sans acknowledged the order, restarting the beam and trying to use it to force Shadow Frisk to move closer to Syphus.

"SANS, WATCH OUT!" Papyrus pulled from Sans just in time for him to dodge a stray bolt of thunder. They were all running out of time. Knowing that the possibility the skeletons would be swarmed by the Mayas and killed was more likely by the second, Syphus hurried up, trying not to look at the yawning void right underneath him.

Shadow Frisk was rather weakened, floating with their head hanging down, sluggishly moving and dodging Ouroboros' magic attacks with difficulty. They were aware Syphus was approaching, halberd ready, but didn't make much effort to get away, mostly because the Blaster Sans had in their direction was forcing them to move towards Syphus.

"HURRY UP!" a Maya tried to grab Papyrus' arm, he managed to get it away with a bone, but more and more started swatting at him, trying to hit him. Syphus didn't even look behind, he let go of Ouroboros' robe, standing precariously on the edge of the triquetra, and swung the halberd, holding it from the bottom of the pole and moving it with great difficulty. He barely got to swing it without losing his balance and plummeting down the hole in the cave. The blade collided against Shadow Frisk' glass body, a grating noise echoing in the cavern from the contact of glass against metal.

Shadow Frisk let out a pained cry, but Syphus didn't give enough time for them to move away. He positioned their feet further ahead and mustered his strength to swing the halberd back in the opposite direction, hitting Shadow Frisk with the rather dull spikes on the back of the pole, a sound like glass breaking emanating from the body. The cracks extended more, the glass seemed to be about to break in a thousand pieces. There, I'm close! Syphus raised the halberd over his head, like an executioner, and swung the halberd blade with all his strength right on Shadow Frisk's iron face.

Shadow Frisk levitated downwards, holding their face with their hands and spinning uncontrollably. Unable to be chipped away any further, the last layer of glass started falling apart, revealing fabric underneath. "Frisk!" Syphus, elated, followed them, grasping the halberd with strength as if he had a baseball bat, and got ready for the final strike "Sans! Be ready!"

Sans made the Blaster vanish and nodded, trusting Papyrus would be able to keep the Mayas' attacks at bay for a moment. Without even waiting for a reply, Syphus swung the halberd for the last time, impacting Shadow Frisk with the flat part of the halberd blade. The foe was launched towards the rock wall, unable to deter what was going to happen, and crashed against the rocks with a resounding sound.

The glass body completely shattered, the metal mask snapped off Frisk's face. The child seemed to be conscious, as soon as they were free from the glass, metal and SAVE point that had formed their Shadow they screamed. In a moment they felt a familiar tingling in their chest, one they knew very well by now.

"gotcha!" Sans, having turned Frisk's SOUL blue and stopped their fall, held them away and out of reach of the Mayas. None of the Shadows paid attention to them, trying to finish their onslaught on the skeletons.

"HELP! I GOT CAUGHT!" Several Mayas grabbed Papyrus' arms, pulling from them and trying to get him to fall down.

"see you outside, 'phus" Sans said before vanishing with Papyrus and Frisk, the Mayas all piling up, their targets long vanished.

"Sans?!" Frisk seemed to be safe now, the main objective had been achieved. Trying to get away before the swarm of Mayas noticed Syphus was still there, Syphus moved Ouroboros and himself to the entrance of the cave, jumping off the triquetra and dispelling the Persona before running outside.

The movements didn't go unnoticed. Syphus had barely ran a few feet when the Mayas turned around. A few dozen minor Shadows pursued him, dragging their oily bodies towards the outside, where Sans, Papyrus and Frisk were waiting. Frisk was sobbing, clinging to Papyrus. "IT'S OKAY, FRIEND. YOU'RE OKAY"

"Get ready!" Syphus shouted when he exited the cave, turning around when he reached them. Papyrus looked around awkwardly.

"come here, buddy" Sans took the sobbing child off Papyrus and led them aside, away from any Shadow that may come.

"This is it, our last stand. Do you need healing?" Syphus asked and smashed the halberd over the first Maya that arrived. Papyrus claimed to not to need healing – "THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS FULL OF ENERGY AND HEALTH!" – but Syphus used a Persona to heal him nonetheless, just in case. The Mayas kept coming out of the cave, one after another, and since Syphus was once again running out of energy to keep any Persona attacking, he restricted himself to using the halberd. Papyrus was doing most of the job, able to fight several Mayas at once without hitting Syphus, while Sans kept Frisk away. The child had stopped crying and was watching Syphus and Papyrus fight, trying to come to terms with the timeline's strange deviations.

Since Shadow Frisk was defeated, no new Mayas emerged after any got killed. Slowly, the number of Mayas was reduced without any of them managing to hit Papyrus or Syphus, other Mayas running away once it was clear they were outnumbered. The clear signs their efforts were being successful lifted Papyrus and Syphus' spirits, hitting the foes with more energy, until it was all done and the ground was littered with small metallic spheres dropped by the Mayas. "...ARE WE...DONE...?" Papyrus was finally showing signs of fatigue after fighting constantly during quite a while, having to rest his hands on his knees and somehow gasping for breath.

"Yes! We're done. We can finally—" no, there was something else coming, dragging itself slowly and pitifully. The tinkling of glass and metal sounded from deep inside the cave before the source of the sound was visible. Pieces of glass and half of the iron mask was slowly dragging itself towards the group, the SAVE point was trailing just behind. The foe didn't even have the strength to attack or use any kind of command. A low moan sounded, undoubtedly from Shadow Frisk, unintelligible and garbled.

"What is that...?" Frisk had approached behind them, looking at what remained of their Shadow self. No one replied to them, unsure of really what to say. Frisk didn't try to approach their Shadow self, looking from behind Papyrus.

"WHAT SHOULD WE DO?"

"...there's nothing to be done other than...finishing it" It may have tried to smother them all with Mayas, but there was something very pitiful in seeing the remains of Shadow Frisk crawling like that. He didn't really want to approach and callously split open the remains, even if it seemed that was a necessary thing to do.

"I'LL DO IT" Papyrus said solemnly, extending a hand towards the rests of Shadow Frisk. He sighed contritely, a single bone extending from the ground, striking the SAVE point. The SAVE point froze, shuddering.

"...I don't...understand...anythiiiiing" Shadow Frisk's distorted voice sounded before the SAVE point disappeared in the usual poof of black smoke and particles. The four looked at the now inanimate pieces of glass and metal, not saying anything. The adrenaline of fighting Frisk's Shadow Self was gone, replaced with a feeling of melancholy.

"How is Frisk?" Syphus asked after a while, putting away the halberd.

"they're fine. shaken up but who wouldn't be after what happened"

"So they're not hurt after everything I did?"

"nope. whatever that thing was it kept frisk protected" Sans gently pushed Frisk towards Syphus and Papyrus before going to pick up the glass.

Good. That's a relief! Syphus gave a small smile. "Frisk, we're going to return to the Underground, alright?" Frisk nodded, looking to the ground. Once Sans and Papyrus had their hands on Frisk's shoulders, ready to return, Syphus crouched and pressed on the lighted-up firefly brooch that was still attached to Frisk's sweater, turning it off. The environment around them turned black, no one could see anything. It was done. The first expedition was over.

-ooooo-

The second day of their stay in the Underground was getting to its end. Syphus stared at the ceiling, resting his hands on his chest and trying to keep his mind blank for now. What a day...

Syphus had been the last to wake up. Frisk was already sitting on Papyrus' car bed, holding a bowl of Papyrus' sludge-like soup. Sans was nowhere to be seen, and Papyrus apparently was bringing another bowl of soup, presumably for Syphus. Syphus had asked Frisk again if they were okay. The child hadn't replied to that, staring into the soup without any expression.

Papyrus had returned shortly after that, bringing the soup for Syphus. "HERE YOU GO, SYPHUS! A BOWL OF SOUP AND A GOOD DEAL OF CARE WILL HAVE YOU AS GOOD AS NEW IN NO TIME!"

"...a good deal of care?"

"I HAVE PREPARED THE COUCH DOWNSTAIRS FOR YOU TO SPEND THE NIGHT HERE"

After a pause Syphus sighed with relief and plopped on the floor, smiling. "You're too good, Papyrus. Thank you"

"I'LL WATCH OVER FRISK TONIGHT"

"Right, I'll leave it up to you" Syphus raised his head "Where's Sans?"

"I DON'T KNOW. GRILLBY'S? I TOLD HIM HE SHOULD TAKE ONE OF HIS LONG NAPS, BUT NOW THAT HE ACTUALLY SHOULD HE ISN'T DOING IT!"

Papyrus settled aside Frisk, laying a blanket on the floor and claiming that was where he was going to sleep, so Syphus stood up from the floor and descended to the ground floor of the house. Just like Papyrus had said, the couch had been prepared. There was a blanket over it and that was it. Perfect. Syphus got under the blanket, intending to quickly fall asleep from the fatigue of the day, but he didn't. There were way too many things in his head.

Apparently, the whole Persona thing's purpose had been revealed now, and it had been more difficult than he thought it'd be. He had no idea how many times Sans and Papyrus had saved his life during the exploration, and he was grateful for that, but now what? Papyrus seemed to be content with not being told all the details regarding Personas and Shadows, as well as that strange world, but Sans surely had a few questions about that. How to answer them, how much could Syphus tell? And what should he do in the future? It was very likely other monsters or humans would go through the same calamity Frisk had gone through, there was no way it'd be a one-time thing. The thought of bringing Papyrus and Sans with him didn't seem like a good idea, mostly because of their lack of Personas. How can other people obtain one? The skeletons weren't weak at all, but without Personas he wasn't sure how long they'd last.

Talking to Alphonse about the matter was a good idea, though. If there was anyone who could tell him more, it'd be them. It'd also be a chance to find out what exactly were the Velvet Room's services and tie up those loose ends. Overall, Syphus felt like he was starting to be in control of the situation, but there was a lot of work to do.

"SYPHUS?" Syphus turned his head around. Papyrus was peeking from his bedroom "FRISK WANTS TO TALK WITH YOU" Guess I should see what they want. Although he would have preferred to try to sleep, Syphus stood up and went to Papyrus' room.

Frisk seemed to be feeling better than just a couple hours before. The bowl of sludge was still untouched, left beside Papyrus' action figures, but Frisk seemed to be in a cheerful mood, several of Papyrus' favorite books near them. When Syphus entered they waved at him, truly glad to see him. "I SHALL STEP OUT NOW!" Papyrus announced, doing exactly what he said. Once Papyrus was gone, Frisk exhaled, getting themselves comfortable.

"...I didn't think you were a human too" they said, not getting a reply. What am I supposed to say? "Are you hurt?"

"Don't worry about me. You're the one who went through some tough things"

"But I remember I attacked you guys with..." Frisk made a face of confusion, looking at a side "...I don't know what I attacked you with. What were those things?"

"You remember?" That was unexpected! Syphus had taken for granted that the moment Shadow Frisk overcame Frisk, the child wasn't aware of what was going on. The thought that Frisk felt every blow and remembered almost successfully killing Sans and Papyrus was very nasty, he really hoped he was mistaken about that. "Did I hurt you?"

Frisk rubbed his forehead, where he had been hit by the halberd. There was no bruise or wound. "I...I felt you hitting me with that long axe thing, but it didn't hurt" Okay, that wasn't as bad as it could have been. "It was weird...I don't know how to talk about the feelings I had during that fight"

"Do you really think not being able to SAVE will mean you'll die?"

"...I'm scared I'll die. If I can't return, then does that mean everyone will have to stay down here?" Frisk looked at Syphus. The piece intertwined his hands, leaning his chin on his fingers.

"I understand you're scared, but it doesn't mean monsterkind will have to stay down here...or that you'll die. Don't lose hope, okay?"

Frisk raised their head with a determined stare. "I don't plan to stop. Syphus, I want to keep going. I want to meet my friends and help, I want to find a way to break the Barrier" there was another pause. This was significantly more awkward than when they met in the inn the day before, but the slight animosity and lack of trust he had felt in Frisk that time was gone. That's progress, I suppose.

"...why do you disguise yourself as a monster?" Frisk asked, looked at him with curiosity.

"I don't know how many monsters know how humans look like, but I didn't want to risk being attacked. There's not a single human SOUL captured yet, you know"

"There isn't?"

"Ours would be the first ones they'd obtain. Come on, Frisk, you know what happened to you with the Royal Guard when they saw you. They must have been more savage because you'd be the first step to achieve freedom"

Frisk frowned. The fact they were the only human to have fallen into the Underground besides Chara and Syphus was a deviation much bigger than any they had ever seen. How would that affect their friends? Would Undyne be more bloodthirsty, making it harder to befriend her? Would Alphys change in any way? Would Asgore be much less guilty about trying to kill them, not having six children's SOULs already?

...was Flowey not showing up because Frisk was of no worth to them, being only one single SOUL?

Now that Frisk thought about it, would this drastic change explain why Papyrus wasn't trying to hunt humans, or why he didn't have anymore his ambitions of joining the Royal Guard? And they hadn't seen Toriel at all yet, where was she?

Syphus extended his hand, conciliatory "I know I offered this to you a couple times already, so let me offer one last time: I could go with you. I'd protect you from any monsters that could attack you, and—"

"No. I need to go alone" that was the only thing Frisk had clear. While it was true being with Syphus would mean being generally safer, they thought having him around would make it much harder to befriend other monsters, whether it was because Syphus would shoo them away or because their friends wouldn't react the same way than if they were alone. They wouldn't be truly alone – despite everything they hoped Sans would stick around, watching over them from a distance – but they thought it'd be better than letting Syphus accompany them.

"Fine, I won't insist anymore" Syphus said, meaning that. I'll have to trust Frisk will be able to take care of themselves. They thought unhappily "I don't know if wanting to go alone despite having been attacked by someone earlier is brave or stupid"

Frisk shrugged and managed to give a smile. "I'll be okay. By the way...thanks for rescuing me from that place. I don't know where I was, but I'm glad Sans, Papyrus and you found me"

Papyrus, Sans and you managed to rescue Frisk

The Human Child Social Link has reached Rank 4!

Your power to create Personas of the Fool Arcana has grown!

Syphus opened the door of the bedroom. "Frisk, since you won't stop until you get to Asgore, the only thing I ask is that you remember you're not in a time trial here. You don't have to get there as soon as possible, or tomorrow, or in two days. Take your time, okay?" Frisk nodded. Once Syphus left the room, Frisk reclined on the pillow, closing their eyes. Until now they hadn't been alone, Papyrus staying nearby with his vow to take care of them. Although a couple times they felt tempted to ask him to leave them alone for a moment, they hadn't done it, glad to know Papyrus was concerned about them. Now they had the chance to talk with Chara about what happened, and they wanted to take advantage of it.

"...Chara?"

"I have no idea what happened"

"What do you remember?"

"I don't know. I woke up at the same time than you" Chara said. From their point of view, they just blacked out like Frisk, but unlike them they saw nothing at all. Although they were rather confused, they hadn't tried to talk to Frisk until now, trying to understand the situation from what everyone else said. Everyone may as well have talked about quantum physics, for as much Chara understood.

Frisk told Chara everything they remembered about their Shadow. They didn't remember much from before Syphus and the skeletons had arrived, all they remembered was walking over the surface of Mt. Ebott, finding it completely empty, not even having Chara to talk with. Soon they had arrived to the cave, reaching the hole on the ground, and a SAVE point near it. They had taken the SAVE point in their hands. From there their memories were rather muddled up to the point Papyrus, Sans and Syphus arrived. "I'm not sure what happened. I know there was something inside me that fought my friends, but I don't what it was" Frisk grasped the blanket tighter "It knew what I was feeling..." It was hard to talk about it. Chara knew what Frisk's feelings regarding the timeline repeating – and their role in breaking monsterkind out of the mountain over and over – so despite their curiosity they didn't press any further about that matter. "I don't even know how I got knocked out. I remember I was walking through Waterfall, and then..." Frisk touched the back of their neck, not reaching the spot where the bruise was "...someone grabbed me from my back. They were too strong! They dragged me into that cave, they let me go...and something hit me on the back before I could turn around or run away. Do you remember anything, Chara?"

"I'm in the same body than you. If you know nothing, how do you expect me to know?" Chara said "Want to know what I think? I think that Syphus guy did it"

"Him? But you got him to go away with the Echo Flowers"

"He could have returned later"

"Papyrus said Syphus came out of Waterfall right after Sans brought me here. I don't think he could have run from so deep in Waterfall all the way to Snowdin"

That seemed to have silenced Chara for a second. "I don't trust that guy. Frisk, humans can't be trusted. We both know that"

"So you don't trust me? I'm human"

If Frisk's rebuttal regarding Syphus possibly having attacked them got them to hesitate, that line truly deterred Chara. It took a while before they replied, and when they did, they sounded almost contrite. "I never said I don't trust you"

"You're human too and I trust you" Frisk added. It was times like this that Chara was glad they didn't have a face Frisk could see.

"Stop that! You're doing it on purpose!"

"I trust you, and I trust Syphus too"

"F-Fine. But if not him then who? Sans?"

"Sans wouldn't do that!" Frisk replied with much more emphasis than when they defended Syphus. Chara had been about to reply when Papyrus peeked inside. "HOW DID IT GO, FRISK?"

The child waved vaguely. "We talked..." The vague reply seemed to be enough for Papyrus, who beamed with cheerfulness.

"YOU SHOULD DRINK YOUR SOUP! IT'LL MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE NEW"

Frisk took the bowl of sludge, moving it around with the spoon. "I didn't know you knew how to make soup"

"MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS ISN'T SOME KIND OF ONE-TRICK PONY! I KNOW HOW TO MAKE PASTA. I KNOW HOW TO MAKE SOUP. I KNOW HOW TO MAKE PASTA WITHIN SOUP" he replied, settling onto his makeshift bed right beside the car bed. Frisk prepared to sleep, not really sure what to do the next day. They felt okay now, at least physically, but losing their SAVE skills was forcing them to take it all much slower than they'd like to. Syphus' insistence made them reconsider going immediately towards Undyne, too. Maybe they could afford to be in Snowdin for a while, hang out with Sans and Papyrus...

Wait. Now that they thought about it, they accused Syphus of having that power, didn't they? Was that true? They wouldn't be surprised, but then why hadn't Syphus told them that yet? Was it something they needed to hide?

A bit uneasy, Frisk got comfy and fell asleep, trying not to overthink anything about Syphus' intentions and plans.

-ooooo-

The surface of Mt. Ebott was in complete calm. It was a cold night, there was no one on the mountain. Being the real Mt. Ebott, there were no Shadow, and everything had a solid base of rock.

Inside the cave with the hole Frisk always fell through, something bubbled among the tree roots and rocks. Slowly, a puddle of ink formed, reaching a meter of diameter. It didn't get any larger, but it also didn't stop bubbling, as if something nasty and dangerous was right under the surface of the puddle.

It was still there the next day.

CHECK AVERTED

CHECK IN FOUR MOVES

---

SOCIAL LINKS:

Fool - Frisk - RANK 4

Magician - ? - RANK 0

Priestess - ? - RANK 0

Empress - Toriel - RANK 2

Emperor - Cohen - RANK 1

Hierophant - ? - RANK 0

Lovers - ? - RANK 0

Chariot - Ananas - RANK 2

Justice - ? - RANK 0

Hermit - ? - RANK 0

Fortune - ? - RANK 0

Strength - ? - RANK 0

Hanged Man - ? - RANK 0

Death - Cornio - RANK 1

Temperance - ? - RANK 0

Devil - ? - RANK 0

Tower - ? - RANK 0

Star - Lucia - RANK 1

Moon - ? - RANK 0

Sun - Papyrus - RANK 1

Judgment - ? - RANK 0

Aeon - Syphus - RANK 1

Jester - Alphonse - RANK 1