Enjoy the read.

Chapter Eleven

"We found it," declared Alphys.

"In the waterfall," said Undyne. "When I was younger there were rumors that someone could find a red sphere if you could play the right music. That's how you can get it."

"The music box!" Sitting down at a table, Frisk had managed to collect herself after a few hugs from the skeletons. She twisted the heart necklace in her hand. Placed around her neck the chain felt almost heavy. Memories of an old statue flashed in her head. Chara and Arsiel played around it. "I know where to go!"

"You do?!" said everyone else.

"Do you think that dog will move at all?" Frisk glanced over her shoulder as if to see if the dog stood in the dining area.

"I'll keep an eye on it," said Alphys. "You guys go find that orb."

"Sans," said Frisk, "Can you take us on your shortcut?"

"I can." Sans stretched his arms. "But only to the labs."

"Take me there now!"

"Good," said Papyrus, "I like to exercise, but all this running around is making me tired." With that said they left the hotel.

Walking right into the lab, Frisk blinked. She looked back to see the lab door. She opened it and saw the land bridge that led deeper into the caverns. Undyne and Alphys seemed surprised that they were back so soon. Yet Frisk stared at Sans for a moment.

A skeleton who disappeared right with the blink of an eye. Chara hummed. It wouldn't be a surprise if he's the one.

The one for what?

The one that killed Gaster. Of course, I have no proof. Although Chara's tone betrayed a bit of mirth.

"So Undyne," said Sans, "you know where this orb might be?"

"I have an idea." Undyne pulled the kid into a tight hug. "Mind if I come with you? I'd really like to get out of here and back home. What about you, Alphys?"

"Pardon?"

"Care to accompany us to the waterfall?" Undyne stretched her arms above her head. "You have been here for a while now. When the last time you've gone outside?"

"A while."

"Then it's settled." Patting the scientist on the back, the knight grinned. "Let's go find that orb."

"O-okay."

"Papyrus and I will stay behind." Sitting at the monitor, the shorter skeleton flipped through the screens. "I would like to take a closer look at something anyhow."

"Sounds good to me." Papyrus went up an escalator. "Alphys, do you mind if I lay down in your bed for a while?"

"Sure, but please leave my stuff alone."

"So what's the fastest way back to the Waterfall?" asked Frisk.

"The River Person." Undyne led the way down to a river. A hooded person stood upon a boat. "Excuse me, but we need a ride down to the Waterfall."

"Okay." The River Person hummed to himself. "Down to the waterfall we go." The group stepped onto the boat and by an unseen propulsion the boat sailed down the river. "Careful where you step. One wrong move and you'll release joy."

"What?" Frisk glanced to her friends who just shrugged.

"The river person is a little odd," stated Undyne. "They will say pretty much anything."

When they came to a stop the duo headed for the musical statue. They had to cross a river that would let them backtrack through the region. A duck offered to fly them across, but Undyne tucked her companions under her arms and leapt over. A long walk later Frisk heard music echoed through the tunnels. Chara started to hum it and the child join in.

"Here we are." The knight stopped in front of the statue. "Hey, it is playing music. I didn't it could do that know that."

Frisk pointed to the umbrella. "The statue was just too wet."

Go into the next room. There's a piano in there.

Doing as told, Frisk found the piano under an odd set of characters on the wall. "Why are there arrows on the wall?"

"Nobody knows," said Undyne. "They have been here for as far as I can tell."

Humming the tune, Frisk looked down at the piano keys. She never played this instrument in her life. Yet she pressed down on the keys and made an awful noise. Her companions and even her partner cringed at the sound.

"What are you doing?" Undyne lifted Frisk up as she sat down. Putting the child in her lap, the fish woman studied the keys. "What are you even trying to play?"

"The song from the statue."

Undyne placed Frisk's hands on the piano and then overlaps hers fingers over the child's. "Okay kid. Follow my lead." Nodding, Frisk allowed Undyne to guide her fingers. "Yeah. Just like that. Don't be too harsh. You can't make it sing by pounding away."

Alphys stood off to the side and smiled as the lovely notes flowed into the air. She yelped when the wall beside her fell. Rushing over to it, she stuck her head in.

"I found the orb."

"What?" Undyne dashed over with Frisk in her arms.

Frisk was set down before they walked over to an orb. It was colored like that of blood. "It looks like we found what we needed." She picked the orb up.

Think we can summon demons with it with the right words, asked Chara.

Tempting, but maybe later. The orb was about the size of Frisk's head. "How am I going to carry this?"

Just put it in your phone." Walking over, the scientist pressed a button. "Just do this and that and…" A beam shot the orb and it disappeared. "There. It should be stored now."

"Is it that easy?" Looking around, the knight waved her hands. "Isn't there going to be some trap or something?" The beautiful song answered her. "Well… Who wants to go to my house to grab a bite to eat?"

"Me!" Frisk threw a hand into the air. "I'm hungry."

"We should return to the labs." Alphys rubbed her hands as she looked to the ground. "Though a quick break can't hurt anything. It's not like that dog is going anywhere."

"Let's get something to eat." Picking her friends up, the knight sprinted off. "It would be quicker if I carry you guys." Frisk laughed while Alphys hid her face in her hands. Minutes later they arrived at Undyne's house. It looked to be an angry fish with a tail.

Hoping off, the child noted a familiar dummy near the building. "Hey! You attacked me!"

"Yeah, so," asked the angry dummy. "Want to make a deal about it?"

"Why are you shouting at the dummy?" asked Undyne.

"He attacked me earlier with an army of dummies."

"Which you then tore apart with a plastic knife!"

"You did that with a plastic knife!" The knight slapped the child on the shoulder. A rock might as well have hit her. "That's incredible! Maybe we should spar sometime."

Lady, you don't want to mess with me! Chara remarked, sounding a bit smug. I'm your worst nightmare.

"Can't we just play video games?" asked Frisk. "I can play those fighting games."

"Oh!" Undyne clapped her hands. "I know a few good fighting games. How about it, Alphys?"

"Aren't we on a special mission?" questioned the scientist. "Though I wouldn't mind playing later."

"Is Alphys any good?" asked Frisk.

"Alphys is one of the best!" Opening the door, the knight gestured them inside. "Come on now. I should have some snacks somewhere." The guest sit down at the table. After a bit of searching the knight walked back over with some chocolate. "I found some in the fridge. I don't normally eat it, but Asgore has a taste for it."

Chocolate! exclaimed Chara. Give me! Give me! Give me!

In a moment, replied Frisk. Taking a bar, she took a bit out of it.

Yum! It has been ages since I had a taste. I missed the taste of chocolate.

Have you eat anything before now?

Yes and no… Before I ran into you, I was in a rather odd place. I think some people call it limbo. I wasn't really alive or dead, but floating in an odd state.

So you were undead.

I wished! If I were a zombie I would had set everything right long ago. No, I'm gonna stick with you until I can achieve my main goal.

And that is?

How many times do I have to tell you of our abuser? I'm going to set them straight!

Munching down on the chocolate, Frisk watched the knight and scientist chat. The signs were subtle, but she saw Alphys rubbing her hands more often than before. Her face seemed to glow. The knight had gotten energetic and waved her arms about. Maybe it would be best if she left the two in peace.

"Hey Undyne," said Frisk, "Does a ghost by the name of Napstablook happen to live nearby?"

"He does." Undyne gestured to the west. "He's my next door neighbor."

"Do you mind if I go over and see him. He's a friend of mine."

"Sure kid, but stay in the area. I want to be able to get you easily."

"Okay." Rushing over to Napstablook's house, the child knocked on the door. The ghost stuck his head through wood. "Hey Napstablook! How you doing?"

"Hey Frisk." The ghost smiled. "I didn't think you would be back so soon."

"Got any new music to listen to?"

"I working on a piece right now." Just as the ghost pulled back in Frisk's glanced to her right. A house similar to her friend's stood only a few feet away. Opening the door, she went inside and followed the ghost over to the computer. For a while they just stood there and listened to the eerier music that floated out of it. Sitting down on the floor, the child hummed along with the melody. A wide smile crossed her face. Chara commented how cool it would be if she could be a ghost like Napstablook. Then she can scare as many people as she wanted.

"So do you like it?" Napstablook looked to Frisk with a small frown. "I know that it a little odd, but it's still being work on."

"It's good!" Frisk clapped her hand. "Once it's done I'm sure it's going to be one of the best you made so far."

He should give it to a horror movie set. Chara growled. One where humans go crazy and start eating one another.

Can't we just have them kill one another? I don't want to see people get eaten.

"Thanks."

"Hey Napstablook, who lives in the house next door?"

"My cousin used to."

"You have a cousin?!"

Nodding, the ghost sighed. "We used to hang out together, but then he got something to do and moved away. I haven't seen him for a while now."

"Have you tried knocking on his door to see if he is home?"

"I tried. He's never there. I can't even seem to call him. If I could get his cell phone number I could call him directly more often. Yet, the only way I can think of getting it is to go into his house."

"You're a ghost." Frisk gestured to Napstablook. "Shouldn't that be an easy task for you?"

"I wish, but my cousin put a special barrier around his house. The only way in is with opening it with a key."

"Key?" It may be absurd, but Frisk did have a key in her pocket.

Frisk, your entire life to this point is rather absurd. Let's add one more act to the list.

"Like this one?" Frisk pulled the key out.

"Maybe." The ghost floated toward the exit. "Might as well give it a try."

So the duo went over to the cousin's house and tried the key. To everyone's surprise, it opened. The child walked into a bright pink room. The walls, the carpet, TV, poster, and even the bed was pink. Only the wooden floor escaped the coloring. Scattered on the floors were a series of books.

"What are these?" Frisk picked a book up and read one. "This is Mettaton's diary."

"We shouldn't read them," said Napstablook.

"But aren't you curious to what happened to your cousin?"

The ghost held his silence. With a nod he floated over and the duo read through the books. By the time they were done Frisk blinked in surprise. Mettaton the celebrity happened to be Napstablook's cousin. She remembered Alphys telling her that she took an existing soul and using it to power a robot.

What she forgot to mention was that Mettaton was a ghost that wanted a body. The two met each other, had a get-a-new-body conversation and the scientist agreed to make a body. Frisk heard the voice laughing.

This is just rich! Chara might as well be grinning. Once we find Mettaton, maybe we should tell the world his secret.

Would it matter that much? asked Frisk.

Well he isn't going around telling people about it.

Sighing, Napstablook laid on the ground. "I wanted him to do it. He always had a personality that captured people's attention, but we ghosts have limitations. His biggest desire was to make people happy and gain fame. He couldn't do that, so he got himself a body."

"Do you miss him?"

"He was my best friend before he left. Now he barely even calls me."

"That isn't right."

"It doesn't matter really. He's got a life and I got mine. It is better this way anyhow."

"No it isn't!" Leaping to her feet, Frisk crossed her arms. "It isn't right for family to just abandon you like that."

"I guess."

Good grief. Frisk, get that ghost's lazy behind moving.

"Do you want to meet him again?"

Napstablook stayed quiet for a while. "It would be nice."

"I know that he is in the core. Tell him how you feel! You have the right to do so."

"I don't know…"

"I'm going there this soon enough." Frisk nodded. "It will be easy. Just walk up to him and tell him. Okay."

"Can I bring my music along?"

"Sure."

"Then I guess I could be bothered." The ghost frowned. "Though I would still have to leave the snail farm…"

"It won't take more than a few hours." Frowning, Frisk crossed her arms. "For all its size, the underground is rather easy to cross."

"Then I guess I can go."

"Just as soon as Undyne and Alphys are ready... and what is with that expression?"

Looking to the ground, the ghost quivered. "Undyne scares me."

Frisk smiled. "There's no denying that she can be a scary person at times, but I think she is good at heart. Come on. Let go over to her house and see what they're doing."

With a nod Napstablook followed Frisk to the house. They got to the door when half of the building exploded upward while the other crumbled to dust. Even the dummy wandered over to the door- the only thing that still stood. Frisk knocked on it and the door fell to the ground.

The refrigerator laid on its side. Peeking over it, Alphys's glasses rested crooked on her face. She looked as if she released a monster. Leaping to her feet, Undyne pumped her fists into her air and screamed in joy. She kept on screaming for a few minutes.

"Science is awesome!" shouted Undyne.

"Can I go home now?" asked the ghost.

"No." Frisk turned to the ghost. "I will give you my determination if I have to."

Can't we just ditch the fish, asked Chara. She's scary in her own way.

"Hey." Undyne looked around. "What happened to my house?"

Please!

Ignoring her partner, and maybe her own sense of perseverance, Frisk laughed. "Undyne, does your house take this must abuse all the time?"

"Three months ago she somehow destroyed it with an earthquake." Napstablook shivered. "It almost destroyed my house."

"Well." Taking off her glasses, Alphys cleaned it on her lab coat. "Note to self: Keep all chemicals away from Undyne in the future." She nodded to the ghost. "Hello, Napstablook. It had been a while since we last met."

"How is my cousin?"

"He's doing well, though he is as self-absorbed as ever."

"Do you mind if I accompany you to the lab? I wish to see him."

"You're more than welcome to." Alphys sighed. "It would seem that even one of my greatest achievements mocked me."

"Alphys." Undyne wrapped an arm around the scientist. "How were you to know that the guy can be a jerk? Let's get back to the lab."

By the River Man they got back to the lab. They found Sans looking over notes while Papyrus stood over him. The smaller muttered about something. The taller skeleton took the note and darted off with the papers. Just as he brought back a new ones he noted the arrivals.

"Hey guys! Who's the ghost?"

"A friend," said Frisk. "What are you doing?"

"We are trying to solve a rather peculiar mystery." Turning the chair around, Sans tapped the paper in hand. "Remember all of those disturbances I had been recording."

Dashing over, Alphys snatched the paper away. "I see some random letters…"

"I have to use some imagery math to make sense of thing." Shaking his head, the oldest scientist leaned back in the chair. "It's silly really, to use something that isn't real to understanding something that is. Yet at the same time it's appropriate."

"Pardon?" Undyne frowned. "Mind explaining that a little more clearly?"

"The greatest difficulty I'm having at the moment is measuring how 'real' the future or past that Frisk came from. The problem being that now that Frisk has changed the future, this timeline is the new reality. The other one is little more than the imagination of a little girl." Leaning forward, Sans patted the child on the head. "But does that mean her imagination is unreal? She had an idea. It may not have physical form, but yet it exist." He laughed. "Now I'm getting into entirely different field of interest entirely. In layman terms, despite all the jumping Frisk had done she hasn't managed to destroy the world."

"What?"

"Frisk, you know that the universe has rules?"

"Like the rule of gravity," said Napstablook.

"Correct. Even when an object is flying it still has gravity being pulled on it."

Frisk nodded. "I once learned about that in class. To break away from the Earth's gravity a rocket has to go very fast."

"Correct. No living being can escape gravity unless they can get away from every large mass in the galaxy. Now, imagine if someone had found a switch that could turn gravity off at will. What would happen?"

"Everyone would go into space," declared Papyrus.

"And die," added Undyne.

"There are rules in place within the universe. They are hard to see and sometimes make no sense." Sans glanced over his shoulder. "Yet with any sort of rule it can only be bent to a certain point."

"So?"

"So imagine what could happen if you could bend it beyond that point." Sans spread his hands over his head. "You think that life would stop if gravity went out? Everything in the world would literally stop in place and be paused in time if you break it. That doesn't include the effect it may have on the other timelines."

"Pardon?"

"Let's just say that the timelines might or might not exist at the same time. If they do, they would either be unaffected or do a cascading effect that pretty much screws up the universe."

"Sans," said Papyrus, "This is interesting and all, but what your point?"

"My point being that the world is somehow refusing Frisk to break it completely." Sans shrugged. "It appears to have a built in mechanism to keep it from completely falling apart. If that's the case then there is a formula to the world."

"And?"

"In theory, I could find out what it is and use my time machine to go through the time lines."

"You have a time machine?" asked Papyrus.

"Look, for now, let's just say that I might be happening on a big discovery. If Frisk would go back in time a couple more times I might find a way to fix everything."

Keep dreaming, comedian. I tried breaking the timeline before and found myself stuck in the same situation.

"That's nice and all, but can we return to my quest?" asked Frisk.

"Sure thing kid." The shorter skeleton returned to his work. "I'll be here and hoping to solve our problem. Go deal with that loony tin can."

"I will." Frisk turned to the others. "Who want to come with me?"

"I'll stay here," stated the scientist. "I would like to go through the results with Sans. This is rather interesting to say the less."

"Ditto." The knight sat down. "I hate traveling through Hotland. Unless you need me to do something, and I will not hurt Mettaton, I'm staying put."

"So that just leave me and Napstablook." Frisk offered the ghost a grin. "Ready for an adventure."

"I guess."

"At least it should be easy to get up to the hotel this time around. The guards blocking the elevator are gone."

Taking the easy way up, the duo returned to the hotel. Frisk summoned the red ball, but before going outside to meet the dog she saved. Good thing too, for the moment the dog saw her it blew up.

Chara laughed. You got to hand it to that damn mutt. He's one stubborn dog.

Reappearing in the lobby, again, the child sighed. "Hey Napstablook."

"Yes."

"Can you do me a big favor and see if this dog will eat the sphere? I'm tired of being blown up."

"The dog blew up?"

"Just do it."

With a shrug the ghost took the sphere and went outside. After a few minutes, he returned. His body waved about as if to tell her to follow. Creeping over to the door, Frisk peered around it. The dog had fallen asleep. Its soft snores echoed. It would had been cute if it wasn't so annoying to begin with.

Walking over to the dog, Frisk kneeled down and pulled out her phone. "Hey Alphys, is it possible for me to defuse the dog. I don't want someone coming along and blowing themselves up."

"There's an app on your phone for that," declared the scientist.

"You thought up of everything."

"I did build Mettaton and know what he is able to do. The problem being that he is his own person with his own goals and drive. Do not underestimate him."

"Yes ma'am!"

Can't we just throw the dog over the bridge? A noise of sharpening knife came from Chara. He deserve it and it will say us some time later on.

I'm not throwing a dog over the bridge. Yet Frisk glared at the mutt for a while. It is tempting though.

After defusing the dog, the duo walked into a room with three locked doors. Humming, the child tried the elevator. It refused to work. She tired the other door and it refused to budge. The last door proved to be the same problem.

Calling Alphys, the child tried to work the elevator again. "I got a problem. The path is block off!"

"What?! That shouldn't be possible. There should always be access to the area. If something wrong happened to the core…"

"Pardon me a second." Frisk pulled the phone away from her. "Napstablook, think you can go and see if you can open the door from the other side."

"I can try." The ghost fazed through the elevator door and then came back out. "Someone is holding it shut with vines."

Flowery, growled Chara. Why can't he act more like Asriel?

"How can he even get here?" asked Frisk. "This place is made out of metal. Go check on the other doors. There got to be a way out." Frisk held the phone to her ear. "Think you can open them?"

"I'll try, but if a physical object is keeping it closed, it will be difficult."

"I can come over," said Undyne. "This is right up my alley."

"Undyne, even if you managed to tear the doors open, you don't even know what on the other side. You can't wear you're amour in the area and I doubt getting hit by a misplace attack would do anyone good."

"So do I just wait here until something happens?" asked Frisk.

"Again, just give me a few minutes. I'm accessing the main computer for the core. Odd."

"Meaning?"

"There are symbols that shouldn't be in the computer. Sans, come take a look at this."

Silence came over the phone. Then with a sharp shriek the connection went die.

"Hello?" said Frisk. "Are you guys still there?"

"Frisk!" The ghost rushed over with a panicked expression. "The rooms, they are changing?"

"What are you talking about?"

The phone chimed and Frisk looked down.

"It's time for the real fun," said the message. The elevator door opened.

Blinking, Frisk glanced to Napstablook. The look they traded told of their distrust of the machine. Yet what else could they do than walk forward?"

The two entered and rode the elevator up, but it only got halfway. When it opened the two were greeted by tubes. Both the large and small glasses around them contained a dark green substance. Rays of light shot out of from the walkway that weaved through the area. Looking over the path, Frisk stared down into a dark abyss. One wrong step and she'd have another nasty fall.

So Gaster wants to stay in touch? Well, I hope he can play some more.

"Frisk?!" shouted Alphys. "Are you still there?"

"I'm here." Bringing the phone to her ear, the child frowned. "What 's the problem?"

"You're in a room that shouldn't be accessible through normal means!"

"Timeline frequentations are off the chart!" shouted Sans. "How the hell is this possible?"

"Because I am everywhere but nowhere," stated a voice. "Even time holds no border for me." Frisk glanced the place over in confusion. There had to be a speaker somewhere. Yet the walls contain no just things. "Do not fear child. Soon, you will be free of everything, but first…"

"It would seem you would have to go through me!" The walls transformed into the face of Mettaton. "Good grief. I heard of people who are picky, but this is getting insane. I think I had been through six rooms in a second."

"Frisk." The ghost hid behind the child. "I'm scared. What's happening?"

"The rules of this world are unraveling," stated the fallen child. "It's almost time to rewrite them."

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