Time for a chapter. Sorry for the wait. Thanksgiving caught me by surprise. And I have finals in a few weeks, so don't expect much, ahah. The story will continue soon after, and I'll try my best to write stuff during break!

Minary: I do occasionally lucid dream, but in a weird way. My dreams tend to be so surreal that I tend to be in too jarred a state to really do anything to them. I know that I'm dreaming, but I can't seem to focus enough on them.

Anyway, thanks for the wait. This chapter might be a bit short, but please, do enjoy.

OH AND MAKE SURE TO CALL ME OUT IF I EVER MESS UP SAM'S PRONOUNS; I CAUGHT MYSELF DOING THAT LIKE THREE TIMES IN A ROW


Chapter Twelve

It had been a little over a month since Monsterkind emerged from the Underground. Tensions were quite high for the first few days, but Frisk (with the steady council of all her friends) was proving an able ambassador. After all, while a few monsters were quite frightening, many were actually rather adorable, and even the most frightening looking of monsters had their charming quirks that humans managed to adapt to surprisingly well.

Oh how the world changed since I left… Chara mused. People seem… kinder. Maybe the barrier shattering left a bit of an impact on them as well… who knows? They didn't attack on sight, for one.

Papyrus helped with that. Frisk murmured, admiration for the tall skeleton burning strong. Of all the monsters to meet with people first, Papyrus was possibly one of the best first impressions that could have been made. When the nation's leader had come to meet with the Monster's, he was greeted by the ever-enthusiastic, eager to make friends and sheer bundle of energy that was Papyrus. Seeing that man in a suit struggling to hold in amused laughter at the sheer friendliness that Pap had been practically glowing with had quickly relaxed a great deal of tension.

Of course, things weren't perfect. While most humans were accepting and insatiably curious, there were more hostile groups that decried them, and tried to convince the world to seal them back Underground, but they were for the most part just rabble-rousing. All they did was harm their own image.

And now, here Frisk was, curled up in a warm bed in a large house that had been built into sections; on the ground floor was the kitchen, living room, and bedrooms for Toriel and the Fallen Children- Frisk's included. Frisk loved her room. It was small, to be sure, but cozy. The walls were painted a pleasant shade of blue, and she had a window that the sun peeked through in the mornings. A desk was built into a wall, and she had a small dresser in the corner.

Perched on the windowsill, in a dark brown flowerpot, was a single golden flower.

Flowey spent most of his time just soaking up sunlight. He had gone back from being the sweet, friendly boy that was Asriel to a passive-aggressive, slightly caustic presence. For the first few weeks, Frisk had agreed to not even mention him to Toriel, but eventually, the two were introduced in a rather minimal fashion; not as Asriel, of course. She didn't want to give her new mother a heart attack.

On the second floor of the house, were rooms for Sans, Papyrus, and a room for Alphys and Undyne. Sans' room looked… well, exactly like his room in Snowdin, self-sustaining trash tornado and all. Frisk had shot it a rather quizzical look upon first seeing it.

"oh. that's just there because i'm a real windbag." Was the only explanation she got for it.

Papyrus's room had more decorations every time she glanced in; at first it was just his skull flag and his action figures, but soon he had an MTT poster, a poster board covered in pictures of everyone, and an incredibly detailed, painstakingly taken oil painting of himself. In a very fancy-looking victorian-era robe.

...He's not a bad artist. Chara remarked dryly. Although it seems he's moved on from muscles and biceps to "nobility".

The room that Frisk had dubbed the "Alphyne" room was a bit less decorated, but that was because Alphys had too much anime to really have more than a Mew Mew Poster and a signed poster from Mettaton. It didn't help that Undyne had lined an entire wall with axes, spears, swords, morningstars, flails, and a dozen other weapons Frisk didn't know the names of.

Toriel had tried to make her get rid of those, but she eventually was satisfied by Undyne keeping them under glass display cases instead (A compromise that sans of all people had suggested. Good ol' Sans.)

The only person who did not live in the same home was Asgore. He had found a small house with a large garden and a greenhouse. He lived alone there, but Frisk visited him occasionally, more than happy to visit.

Asgore was one of the few people Flowey seemed to be able to tolerate as well. Frisk, obviously. And Papyrus as well. But he got extremely antsy whenever Sans was in the room, took up a rather caustic, passive-aggressive tone with Alphys, butted heads with Undyne (which she interpreted as them having friendly "verbal sparring matches") and was melancholic and indifferent around Toriel. Something about how peaceful the King's home was, along with how patient Asgore could be seemed to give what little comfort that Flowey could find. As such, he spent about half his time there, and the other half perched in the sunlight, in a flowerpot painstakingly decorated with paint, stickers, and a ribbon, donated by Ana to make the pot look a bit less bare. Although the flower complained and hissed, it was clear that the decorations did make him feel better, but not much.

Speaking of Ana, her room was right across from Frisk's. The tiny girl had adapted surprisingly well for a six-year-old who was born something like twenty years ago. She must have fallen not long after Toriel had separated herself from Asgore.

The girl was, like most six-year-olds, full of boundless energy and curiosity, constantly bouncing about to explore some new part of the world she had found herself in, before finally wearing herself out and falling asleep in someone's lap. (It didn't really matter who it was.) Luckily with such a full house, everyone could keep tabs on her.

Jamie was in the room next to Frisk's. He, much like Ana was always moving; he was a bit older than her, yet seemed to have less common sense. He was also absurdly strong for his size, as he had proven when he had tackled Undyne and knocked her on her rear. Undyne could outmuscle the boy a hundred times over, but was always careful when roughhousing not to break any little human bones. The same could not be said for any furniture or decorations around the house.

Tara would almost always have some soft music playing in her room. She loved to dance. She even took lessons from Mettaton, when he wasn't off on tour with Napstablook and Shyren. (Even Burgerpants, who seemed to be incapable of escaping the robot). She had taken to trying out different kinds of dance. She was cheery and likeable, if a bit on the meek side, on occasion.

Sam didn't talk much. They were blunt and quiet, often hiding their eyes behind their glasses like someone out of Alphys's anime. However, if you could find something to chat about that they were passionate about, it would be like flipping a switch. They would suddenly begin excitedly babbling, going on for great lengths of time. Usually their long conversations were with Alphys about anime or video games, but they had once gotten into a quantum physics debate with Sans. Frisk supposed she should have expected that; Sans did seem to have a surprising knowledge of science. He had several PHD's, which she really didn't expect.

To be fair, she was sure that "Punology" was not a real degree. The others were, according to Alphys at any rate.

Alex was quiet too, but less out of introversion, and more because he preferred to listen for a while before answering. He had a kind, gentle demeanor, and a deep love for cooking. His food was good enough to rival Toriel's. Although no-one made pies better than hers. He also seemed to love sharing his passion; Papyrus and Undyne had become his model students- once he had made them learn self-restraint. He also seemed to enjoy being in the middle of everything; once, he even outright called himself "a meddler".

Jack was… well, a bit of a sullen teenager. He wasn't mean at all, just… reluctant and slow to warm. He had an incredibly cautious nature and was a bit harsh at times. Chara had a feeling that he had more in common with Frisk than either of them realized. He had a tendency to flinch from sudden noises like she did, for example, and he tended to stutter when in a stressful situation. But nobody pressed him on the matter, as it was clearly an uncomfortable topic.

All together, they lived in an environment that was chaotic, noisy, occasionally a bit crowded with guests, but overall…

Overall, it was the happiest anybody that lived in the house had ever been.


Hey Frisk…?

Yes?

...I um... So... Can we talk about... before you fell?

...Oh... I... Yeah. Okay. I think I can.

...You never had anything like this, did you?

I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up, I just-

It's okay Chara. Frisk's tone was earnest. I understand… Before… You fell, you didn't have a home like this either, did you?

...No… But… Are you okay with me and Mom knowing?

...I am now.


Three Weeks Earlier

Frisk was finally- finally going to get a bath. She really did need one; despite her best efforts to stay clean, it had proven impossible. Her sweater was frayed, her jeans were mud-covered, and her face was just dirty in general. There was even still a bit of soot, from Hotland.

So Toriel had insisted; as soon as they were in a place that made it possible, she was to get a bath right away. And much to her incredible discomfort, her adoptive mother insisted that she help Frisk into the tub.

While Frisk had certainly been a bit scratched up in the Underground, Toriel knew that no monster would leave marks like those. Across her back were scabbed welts, freshly healed. Those weren't scars from a magic attack or a flame or a blade; something had lashed itself violently against her.

"My child... " Toriel had whispered, holding back tears of horror. Frisk flinched away, quickly submerging herself in the warm water, closing her eyes quietly. Toriel gently took Frisk's fragile hands, and examined them. There were more marks, though they were subtle and much lesser; particularly strange, pale marks circled the girl's wrists.

Frisk spoke in a low monotone. "...If I… m-made t-too much noise they… T-they'd… tie my h-hands tight and then…" Toriel gently placed a paw on Frisk's mouth, not needing to hear more.

"My… dear child…" She whispered, fighting back tears. "...That won't happen to you again." She gently soothed, as she began to lather some shampoo. "I swear it, we will always be there to protect you."

Frisk began to cry. They weren't entirely sad tears. There was some joy in them. Family. Family. What a wonderful word.

"Mom." She whispered into Toriel's paw. She didn't even have to look to see Toriel beaming.

Chara's emotions ran wild. She was weeping silently as well, but there was rage in her sobs as well. For the first time, Frisk felt what pure hate was like coming from her best friend in the world; pure loathing to the one's that would dare to harm her friend like that-

Chara.

Frisk's soothing presence wiped all the anger away in an instant.

It's okay. It's over now.

Frisk was fairly sure she felt Chara give a feeble whimper, and relaxing uncertainly.


I think I'm glad everyone kind of knows, now. Frisk leaned back in bed. But I'm also glad you waited so long to ask me anything else about it. I just... I needed to come to terms with it, but... You can ask me anything, now. Go ahead.

...When did you run away from them, finally?

...I didn't. Frisk hugged her knees a bit, gazing out the window. Chara made herself a little more solid, so she could lean close. I… I really am stupid, Chara. I stayed because I thought if I was a good girl it would stop and they would love me and I'd be happy.

She looked up, eyes dry and a bit glazed. They weren't always bad. Sometimes my… mother would rock me to sleep, or my dad would spin me around and call me such nice things and sometimes we'd go out and have treats and… I could pretend that bad things never happened.

But… sometimes it was like they were different people.

Chara felt a cold prickle at that.

It was like suddenly dad would be furious at me, and want to hurt me, and I couldn't understand why, and ma-mom would just kind of stare and shake… Other times, mom w-would scratch me with her nails and dad would pull her off- he was a lot bigger than her.

But sometimes, they'd both…

...One day, mama told me she wanted to take me out on a trip. She seemed scared and sad and I was worried. She took me to a bus stop and told me to wait a little bit and she'd be back with some ice cream.

Is that when…?

Almost. She drove off and then…

She never came back.

O-oh.

I… Frisk let out a harsh sound which Chara realized was a bitter laugh. It was unnerving. True bitterness sounded so wrong coming from Frisk. I think she wanted to keep me safe from herself. Or she didn't want me at all, but… Chara she looked so scared before leaving me there. She looked all alone, and I wanted to go up to her and stop her from leaving because I was scared, but I just sat there.

I just sat there like a good, stupid little girl and let her abandon me.

I remember… hiding under the bench when it started raining. And I looked and saw Mt. Ebott.

And I… I just didn't care if I disappeared or not.

Frisk… Chara hugged her close. ...If you disappear on me, I-I'll be furious.

Frisk giggled for real this time. I won't leave. I promise.

The two just nestled close for a bit.

And you're not stupid. You're just too nice and forgiving for your own good.

...Heehee. Thanks.

"Oh for the love of- Get a room." Flowey grumbled.


And that's all for now. I hope you found this chapter likable. :3

I'll see you guys sometime in December, hopefully before the holidays, but you know how it is.

Goodnight everybody~!