Chapter 13
Darkness is what the older human woke up to. Her single eye gazed around the dark void she was floating in. She couldn't make heads or tails of anything in this place; no sense of direction, or time, or even if she was still alive. Selenia was thoroughly disoriented and yet she felt like she had been here multiple times before.
"I see you have returned to this place again, child…" A scratchy, echoing voice called to her from the surrounding darkness.
"Who are you?" She turned, trying to pinpoint the spot the voice resonated from.
"This time you are… alive." The voice seemed puzzled but satisfied.
"What do you mean?" The human continued to stare around the void, but found no trace of another being. "Have we met before?"
"You do not remember… Ah, that is why…" It laughed, but dissolved into a coughing fit.
"Are you alright?"
"Still just as kind as ever… No matter the timeline you are still the same…" The voice echoed about.
"Okay… so I'm guessing you're not going to answer my questions and just babble to yourself then." She shook her head, stopping her search.
"You really do not have any memories of being here… It is such a shame; you were a great conversational partner in the past…" The voice, which Selenia determined was masculine, continued.
"Never mind all of this… just leave me alone." She sighed, knowing she wasn't going to get any answers. She rubbed at her chest, a hollow feeling flowing through her.
"Stop teasing the poor girl, G." A more feminine, yet still echoing voice called out. "You should know better." It scolded.
"Wait…" The human started to look around once more. The second voice was oddly familiar and sent shivers through her entire being.
"You know better than to show yourself to her…" The first voice warned.
"I know, I know, but you're just torturing the poor girl by not answering her questions! Honestly, G, I thought we were passed that by now." The second continued its scolding.
"I am not going to argue with you." Two figures started to appear in the darkness; one was tall, wearing a dark, robe like coat and reminded the girl of the skeleton brothers, while the other was a head shorter, in more form fitting, feminine clothes.
"Oh, G~" The female teased, moving some of her dark hair, which was tinged with silver, out of her coffee colored eyes. "Has talking to me affected you so much that you lost the ability to keep your concealing magic up?"
"Of course I can keep it up, you troublesome-"
"M-m-mom?" Selenia was staring at the pair, her eye more focused on the woman.
"Hi sweetie!" The woman waved, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "So what were you saying, G?" She continued to tease her companion.
"Vivianne…" The skeleton man rubbed at his non-existent temples. "How many times have I asked you-"
"To not bother you when you're working, blah, blah, blah, I get it. This is my daughter though, and you did ask for my help to keep her soul safe so stop worrying." Vivianne grinned as the male glared at her for interrupting him. "Now, come and give your old momma a hug!" She opened her arms for the younger woman.
"Mom!" Selenia floated forward quickly, embracing her mother and sobbing. "I've missed you so much!"
"I've missed you too, moonbeam." The mother was quick with trying to calm her child, gently stroking her back.
"What is this place? How are you here? Hell, how am I here?" The daughter mumbled out.
"Care to explain this one, G?" Vivianne teased the male again.
"Very well… First off to your earlier questions… My name is W.D. Gaster and this place we are in is known as the void between worlds. Most of you humans tend to like calling it purgatory from what I've seen though." His eye lights were focused on the younger human, who was still clinging to her mother like a life line. "As for why you are here, well…"
"We took a good chunk of your soul for safe keeping while Frisk deals with what they need to." The older woman was still grinning.
"Wait, wait, wait…" Selenia finally pulled away from her mother. "My soul is here, but it's not? Is that what you're saying?"
"Yes it is, for you see if that flower had gotten a hold on your soul as well, the child would not be able to stop him from eradicating the whole of the world." Gaster explained. "Without your whole soul being there he will not be able to achieve this form. Though it will be more difficult for the child to call you back from this realm, like they will do with their friend's souls."
"Frisk is supposed to do this all on their own?!" Worry was in the young woman's voice.
"They've done it plenty of times before; they'll be fine, moonbeam." Vivianne tried to soothe.
"What do you mean?!" Selenia backed away from the older woman, her eye glancing suspiciously between the two.
"This isn't Frisk's first rodeo down here." Vivianne finally became more serious. "Different timelines actually exist, and the kid has been living through them over and over again."
"Huh? Timelines?" The younger woman was confused.
"The child is filled with unbound amounts of what we call 'determination.' This power makes them able to reset a timeline at their will." Gaster picked up where the woman left off. "As such they have seen more than they let on. The other that is able to do so was the flower, or now what he used to be known as, Asriel Dreemurr."
"Dreemurr… as in Toriel and Asgore's child?" The girl looked between the two in front of her.
"It's true, and if he doesn't leave the underground once everyone is free to roam the surface, he can reset the timeline himself. That's no good." The older woman sighed. "That's the reason we wanted to talk to you, sweetie."
"What am I supposed to do? Take the plant, put it in a flower pot and bring it home with me?" Selenia still held a bit of a grudge on the flower.
"That sounds like a brilliant idea!" Vivianne was once again grinning.
"There is no way I'm doing that." The younger woman growled.
"There is something else you could do though." Gaster stared the girl down. "You could break your soul in half and give it to the plant."
"Okay… that doesn't sound any better." Selenia crossed her arms. "What would happen if I did it though?"
"We have been studying dual souls for a long time now, figuring out that they can be split from that seam in the middle." The skeletal man pulled the soul from her chest effortlessly. Its colors were dimmer than their usual vibrant green and purple.
"There is a downside to it though." The mother walked up, gently touching her daughter's soul. "It hurts like hell and you may not wake up from it for a long time."
"If it stops these resets from happening… gets everyone to the surface I'm all for it. Tell me though, what happens when I do give him half my soul?" The girl wanted to know every detail she could about this.
"Through half of your soul he will be able to remember what happened; that he returned to his true form for a short amount of time. He will also be able to have feelings again, which he lacked as a soulless plant, through the connection of your soul." Gaster continued to explain.
"Alright then… so why do I not remember anything about the previous resets or whatever they're called?" Curiosity was killing her.
"You have not been alive to experience them." The skeletal man went straight to the point.
"What?!"
"This is the first timeline where we haven't died together or that you didn't take your own life after meeting Frisk, moonbeam." Vivianne tried to soothe the younger woman, but it had no effect.
"What the fuck! I know I've wanted to die a few times here and there but actually killing myself? If I could get ahold of the other incarnations of me I'd strangle them for being so fucking stupid!" The girl growled.
"Calm yourself, child. We do not have much longer to speak with you and now is not the time to concern yourself with other timelines." Gaster scolded her.
"We need to know what you're going to choose to do so we can place that idea into your soul when Frisk finishes the battle." Vivianne watched her daughter carefully, seemingly startled by her outburst.
"Fine, fine." Selenia drew in a deep breath and exhaled it slowly to calm down. "How do I break my soul in half then?"
"Just think of the line in the middle as a perforated line you use to tear a page out of a notebook. You may have to twist it a little though." The older woman finally started to look worried. "It'll hurt like hell, kiddo so be prepared for that."
"It is time now to send you back. The child is starting to call for you." Gaster let the girl's soul fade back into her chest. "Tell my sons I said hello, and thank you for looking out for them."
"I-I will." The woman embraced her mother one last time. "I love you, mom."
"And I love you too, moonbeam, always and forever." Vivianne squeezed the girl tightly before releasing her and stepping back. "Now go save everyone else you love." The girl was once again shrouded in darkness, watching the two figures before her fade. They became distorted with Gaster's tall form dissolving into a black blob, while Vivianne's seemed to decay. The darkness the girl slipped into felt colder, drawing forth negative emotions from the human.
~~~ This break is here for you to grab popcorn~~~
Frisk stared at the Lost Soul in front of them, the image of their sibling forming before them from what appeared to be particles of dust. Her face did not fully form, just like the rest of them had not, but her hair was fluttering about in nonexistent winds, still held in two pigtails.
"Lenna!" The child called to her, to which the Lost Soul turned away.
"What is the point in continuing on with this pitiful existence…" The monotone voice resonated through the blank space. No attacks came toward the child, which they were grateful for, but found it rather odd.
"Hey, let's make some cookies!" They called to the soul again, watching as it perked up.
"It's not worth it…" The Lost Soul replied.
"Um…" Frisk had to stop and think for a moment. "Come on sis, let's go watch your favorite movie, or criticize a really bad one!" The soul once again perked up, as if remembering something.
"Everyone dies… Maybe I should just…" A humorless laugh escaped the female. Once again no attacks came, puzzling the child further.
"That's right…" They started thinking out loud. "I'm not dealing with a monster soul this time. Lenna is a human and her soul is stronger… It's going to take more than just me talking to her to bring her back…"
"Just give up… I have…" The Lost Soul turned toward the child just a fraction, as if it was staring straight through them. The words resonated with them, reminding them of another.
"Someone, anyone I need help!" Frisk called to the surrounding darkness.
"But nobody came…" The soul seemed to look toward her feet.
"actually, someone did show up." A slow moving figure came from the dark, its hands stuffed into the pockets of the hoodie it wore. "so what's the problem, kid?" The grinning skeleton looked from the young human to the Lost Soul before them, his eye lights widening.
"It's Lenna… I don't know what to do, Sans… I have no idea on how to save a human soul!" They were breathing hard.
"alright pal, calm down, deep breath and let it out slow." Sans knelt by their side, placing a hand on their shoulder to help calm them. The child did as they were told before looking between the skeleton and the soul.
"I've tried calling her back like I did with you guys… but she seems to resist… I haven't gotten to know her as well since we met again… and you seem like one of the closest to her now…" Frisk bit their lip as they watched the Lost Soul.
"let me try something, pal." Sans stood up walking over to the soul. His grin faltered slightly as she turned away from him. "hey kiddo, wanna hit Grillby's with me?"
"Nothing really matters…" The soul perked at the suggestion, her body shivering slightly, but returned to that normal, faraway look almost immediately.
"c'mon kid, I'd be patella-ing you a fibula if I said I wasn't worried about you." He watched as the soul laughed at the puns, finally turning toward him. He desperately wished he could see her face, but the particles blocking it would not budge.
"You're worried….? It must be a lie?" The female seemed unsure.
"Selenia. It's still you." The skeleton murmured, watching closely as she stiffened. A flash blinded his and the child's vision for a second before the girl's face was revealed.
"I'm still me! I'm still here and nothing is going to take me away from the people I love!" Selenia grinned at the two. The human and skeleton took hold of one another's hands before Frisk went to finish their battle against Asriel.
~~~ This break is here for your bathroom break~~~
Selenia slowly felt herself becoming conscious, her body in pain from lying at an awkward angle. "Oh, she's waking up!" A familiar, female voice reached her ears, making her head pound. "My child, are you well?" The human opened her eye, letting it roam about the multiple faces before her. The faces slowly came into focus; it was all of the monsters that she had become close to while in the underground.
"F-Frisk… where is Frisk?" Her voice was rough, she definitely needed a drink.
"they're fine kid, sleeping just like you were." Sans held out his hand to her, which she took and he helped her to her feet. Toriel was sitting with the child's head in her lap, worry evident on her face but she gave the older human a smile.
"What happened to us? Where are we?" Selenia took the time to study the small room everyone was in. Her mind was foggy and she didn't have memories of falling asleep in this room.
"We cannot recall what happened either, child." It was Asgore that spoke this time. "The room we are in though is just past the throne room and leads up to where the barrier was."
"Wait, was? Does that mean?" The human's eye widened as everyone nodded at her, smiles on all of their faces.
"Yeah punk, the barrier's down!" Undyne was grinning, exposing her sharp teeth for all to see. "We were just waiting for you and Frisk to wake up." The sentence was barely out of her mouth and the child started to stir.
"Morning, everyone." Their voice was hoarse as well. As soon as they locked eyes with their sister, the older human clutched at the place her soul resided. Whispers entered the girl's mind, talking about timelines and how to put a stop to what were called resets. As soon as the whispers stopped, she knew what she had to do.
"Hey squirt, anyone you want to talk to before we lead everyone to the surface?" Selenia smiled at her sibling, who gave her a look.
"Yeah, I want to go see my friends in Snowdin before we go." Frisk was quick to catch on to the double meaning of their sister's words.
"WOULD YOU LIKE AN ESCORT BACK?" Papyrus spoke up.
"Uh, I kind of wanted to talk to Frisk in private on the way there…" The older human hinted.
"We shall wait here for you both to return then." Toriel smiled at them.
"We'll see you guys in a bit then!" Selenia waved to everyone happily, secretly memorizing everyone's faces. The siblings quickly and quietly walked away from their group of friends, heading back the way they had come.
"Lenna, what's bothering you?" The younger human caught on to her emotions quickly.
"Well…" The older sighed, a sad smile slipping onto her lips. "I know some what of the different timelines and the constant resets." The child stopped for a second before continuing to walk.
"Who told you?" Their curiosity was bubbling.
"His name was… Caster? No wait, Gaster that was it." She nodded. "He and my mom told me."
"You actually saw and talked to them? What do they want you to do?"
"They want the resets to stop. I know what I have to do, but I need your help on finding the flower, or Asriel." She looked down at the child pleadingly.
"I know where he is. He goes back to the beginning of the underground where we fell down… but what are you going to do, Lenna?" They were guarded, wanting to trust their sister but scared of what would happen to Asriel.
"I'm not going to hurt him; I'm going to help him…" She shook her head with a sigh. "If I told you how though, you would probably try to talk me out of it so I can't give you the details."
The rest of their walk from the capital to Hotland was spent in silence, as was the walk to the river person who would take them to Snowdin. The ride was quiet except for the sloshing of water against the boat and the river person's incoherent humming.
The duo departed from the boat as snow started to fall. Snowdin was bustling with activity; word that the barrier had fallen had already reached the monsters here. They all seemed so happy and excited about the development that few seemed to notice the two humans walking among them. The older human smiled as they strolled past Endogeny and the rest of the Snowdin guard dogs. Even Grillby was out of his bar, conversing with others while snow melted at his feet.
"Everyone is so happy." Selenia observed, hoping to start a conversation with her sibling.
"They always are after the barrier breaks… I forgot how happy it actually makes them." Frisk had a sad smile on their face as they quietly responded.
"If all goes according to play, the resets will stop… Everyone will get the happily ever after they deserve." Determination radiated from the older human, a serious look on her face.
They were soon in the forest outside of Snowdin, closing in on the door to the Ruins. The snow was falling faster, building up on the permanent layer already coating the ground and giving the humans some difficulty in their walk. Frisk was shivering so much that their teeth were chattering. Selenia halted, kneeling down in front of them.
"Come on, squirt hop on." She grinned at them.
"Are you sure? I won't be too heavy?" They hesitated.
"You'll be fine; you're not the first child backpack I've had and you probably won't be the last." The duo laughed as the child climbed onto her back, locking their arms securely around her neck. "We'll be out of the snow soon; the door is right up ahead and then we can take a break."
The older human trudged through the snow as quickly as she could. The child on her back was still shivering but not nearly as much as before due to her added body heat. She was whispering to them to stay awake, bringing up the memory of what Sans had done for her when they first met. She found it funny that they were back tracking the whole way back to the beginning of their journey. It would all be worth it though, even if she wouldn't get to see the true happiness on everyone's faces when they got to the surface; she was just glad to help bring the true end to the story.
Upon reaching the door, Selenia pulled it open as far as she could; the stone was heavy and with Frisk on her back and the buildup of snow in front of it made it extremely difficult. She got it open enough for the two of them to slip inside before the door closed behind them and blocked out the cold air.
"Okay then, break time squirt." She carefully slid the child from her back before looking them over. "A little red and cold but otherwise unharmed. Good." They smiled at one another and sat back against the closest wall. "So when we get back home… what would you like to do?"
"Get some chicken nuggets." Both ended up laughing before Frisk turned serious again. "What is everyone going to do once we get up there though? No one really has a place to go to once we get home."
"Well, I still live in the old farm house at the base of the mountain, so we could use that as our base of operations." The woman shrugged. "You remember where it is right?"
"Yeah, and that you hide a spare key under a loose floor board at the end of the porch." They grinned.
"Okay you little sneak." Selenia grabbed the child, initiating a small tickle fight.
"Sis, no!" They laughed, trying to squirm away from the offending digits.
"What's that? You want more tickles?" She giggled as she moved her fingers faster.
"Uncle! Uncle!" Frisk had tears in their eyes from laughing so hard. The older human stopped, smiling down at her sibling.
"I don't like seeing you so serious, squirt, so let's have some fun for the last leg of this okay?" She ruffled the child's hair before standing up. "Last one to the beginning has to pick up Sans' sock collection!" She then trotted ahead, letting her sibling have a few seconds to catch up to her.
"Ew, no thanks!" Frisk quickly got ahead of their sibling, a look of determination taking over their face due to not wanting anything to do with the skeleton's socks.
The duo raced through the ruins, poking fun at one another the entire time. Selenia was happy to take the child's mind off the matter at hand, especially since she didn't know when she would see them next. She wanted to give Frisk a good memory to reflect back on before the inevitable came to pass; before she went comatose for an undisclosed amount of time. They stopped right at the entrance of the final room, Frisk being the victor of their race.
"Let me go in first, Lenna. He normally expects me to show up and I don't know how he will react to someone else coming here with me." Frisk's hands were clenched into tight firsts at their sides.
"Of course, squirt. Give him the heads up that I'm here, and then give me a shout." Selenia smiled at them as they ran ahead. She leaned back against the nearest wall and pulled out her phone. She had at least ten text messages from Toriel, who had apparently gotten her phone upgraded by Alphys. It amused her greatly at watching how the goat woman's first texts were sloppy and that she even came up with her own emoji.
A humorless laugh bubbled up from her throat. She was going to leave everyone she knew and loved for a little while and it hurt knowing that. If it hurt her this badly, how much was it going to hurt the others? She was going to regret causing everyone pain, but it would be worth it in the end. No more resets and everyone will be happy. The sound of her sibling calling for her drew the woman out of her thoughts. She slowly pushed herself away from the wall and wandered into the room where the two were waiting for her.
As she moved out into the room, Selenia quickly scanned over the boy standing beside Frisk. He was definitely a goat monster like his parents, with mauve eyes and snow colored fur. He wore a simple green and yellow striped, long sleeved shirt and dark slacks leaving his feet bare.
"Hey kiddos." The woman knelt down to their height, a small smile breaking through.
"Asriel, this is my big sis, Selenia. Lenna, this is Asriel." Frisk introduced them to one another.
"Hello ma'am." The boy was a bit shy, twiddling his fingers around one another.
"Oh please no formalities like that. You can call me Lenna as well if you want, or sister, whichever works." She slowly extended a hand in his direction, which he timidly shook in return.
"O-okay Lenna." He smiled at her, though it seemed rather sad. "I'm glad I got to see you before I turned back into a flower. I want to apologize for what I did as Flowey."
"There's nothing for you to worry about, sweetie, I understand." Her own smile shifted as well. "I need you to promise me something though, okay?"
"Um… what do you want me to promise?"
"Stay strong, help look out for everyone. Now do me a big favor… Pull my soul out for me." She was still smiling, and still holding onto the young monster's hand.
"What? Lenna what are you going to do?" Frisk was becoming panicked. Asriel was scared as well, but the reassuring smile on the woman's face brought him some kind of calm. He took her hand with both of his and started to concentrate. A gentle burning feeling encompassed her chest before her soul was drawn forth, the violet and green heart lighting the trio's faces.
"Thank you, sweet boy." Selenia raised her unoccupied hand, giving the boy a gentle pat on the head. She then carefully took the soul into her hands, gazing into its depths for a moment. "I need you two to stay strong okay? What I'm going to do is going to put me into a deep, deep sleep for a while.
"Because I have a dual soul I can split it in half and still be able to survive, meaning I can give half of it to you, Asriel. Even if you do turn back into a plant you will hopefully remember all of this through my connection. This is not going to be pretty but please accept half my soul." She gripped the soul on the rounded parts, feeling pressure on her whole body.
The sound of cracking glass reached the children's ears as they stared on in shock and horror as Selenia twisted the soul in opposite directions. She bit her lip to keep in a scream of pain, which felt like she was being stabbed, burned, and drowned at the same time. It was unbearable, but she wasn't going to give up when she had come this far. Her breathing was ragged as she continued to twist and pull the soul apart. She finally broke it in half and a crushing weight pulled her to the ground.
Tears were in her eye as she clutched the purple half of the soul to herself, holding out the green part to the goat child. "P-please take it…"
"Lenna what have you done?" Frisk was almost sobbing, tears cascading down their cheeks.
"No more r-resets… True h-happy ending…" The woman rasped out before gripping the green half and using the rest of her strength to lift herself enough to forcefully thrust the soul into Asriel's chest. His body absorbed it almost instantly, tears flowing down his furry cheeks at the warmth it radiated. The broken, purple half faded back into her chest and a pained smile crossed her lips. "You're in charge f-from here, F-Frisk. Take c-care of everyone w-while I'm away." Her eye closed as she fell to her side, darkness surrounding her.
"You did well, moonbeam." The voice of Vivianne echoed in her daughter's mind before all consciousness left the girl.
~A/N~ Well here we have it! Don't worry this isn't the end, I'm not cruel enough to leave you guys hanging like this, there will be an epilogue! And sorry for the wait, I got writer's block for a little bit on how I wanted it to play out so my fault. Anyway if you enjoyed let me know! Have a great day lovelies!