Reply to Too Lazy To Login: Thanks for sticking with it! Sorry I didn't reply in the last chapter, that upload was a little on the frantic side XP
Reply to Xinexi: Not sure... Little Frisk doesn't seem like one to harbour resentment, but they also don't want more things to break on them. I guess we'll see...
Toby Fox owns Undertale and all associated characters.
"Missing!?" the rest of the group outside of Mettaton exclaimed in a panic.
Mettaton raised his hands. "Wait-let's try to figure this out!" Thankfully, the group had gotten used to adjusting to these situations. Gerson breathed out, while Muffet clenched her hands tight. There were the faint sounds of flames snapping, as well as a worried moan from the little ghost.
The skeleton seemed to frown and muttered to himself for a moment.
"Yeah, I know. It was… never mind." He looked back up. "It's still here, sort of. Apparently there was a... temporal disturbance of sorts. It threw our worlds slightly out of alignment. The hole is still there, but we can't access it right now… and it might not be where it was when we came through."
"Then...it's only missing?" Muffet managed. "It'll come back?"
"It's not even missing… technically speaking. It just doesn't currently exist within the same laws of space-time as we do."
"In English for those who barely know how all of this works in the first place?" Gerson asked. "Is it coming back?"
Sans was quiet for a few moments, then he nodded.
"It's definitely coming back. The problem is, we don't have any guarantee on where or when. I don't think it'll take more than… a few days? A week tops?" he shrugged, the fabric of his hoodie shifting over his bones. "I'm not an expert on this stuff, but I will do whatever I can to find out, and hopefully speed up the process a bit for ya."
"Oh no…" Napstablook moaned.
Grillby raised his head. "We can manage a day or two so long as we can find it again...though I am a bit concerned with leaving things on our side unattended for that long..." Some relief flooded through the group...but...Muffet was nervously wringing her hands, and Dogamy looked akin to a kicked puppy as a soft whine emitted from his throat.
"In the meantime, you should go let the others know," The skeleton said quietly. "We may need to set up food and a place to stay for you. I'm gonna head home and see if I can narrow down when and where this thing'll pop back up."
Sans took a step backwards, vanishing before his foot hit the ground.
The group looked at each other in concern. "Grillby," Muffet murmured.
"It'll be all right, dear," he stated quietly. "The where doesn't matter as much as the when. The worst case scenario seems to just be staying here a few extra days."
Gerson nodded. "So long as that whatchamacallit reopens, I'm fine with that."
Dogamy looked back to where the rift had been, ears drooping low as he suppressed the urge to whine again.
Papyrus looked around the group.
"Not to worry, friends! While I admit I'm not completely certain what's going on, despite my brother's laziness, he can work really hard sometimes! Everything will turn out alright, Papyrus guaranteed!"
Mettaton smiled, rolling with the skeleton's mood. "I'm sure he's right, everyone. We just need a little time. Considering how things go, we'll surely figure this out pretty quick."
Frisk still quietly groaned into Rex's shoulder. They weren't sure if they could handle being on this side of the Rift that long…or if their side could handle it...
The smell of cooking filled Toriel and Asgore's house, and the sound of the two Boss Monsters could easily be heard from where the otherworlders were gathered in the living room. After realizing that the Rift was inaccessible, and would continue to be for some time, the couple had insisted that the group come back to their house while they figured things out.
As evening had arrived, the two had retreated to their kitchen, and had been working furiously for some time now. It seemed they were devoted to ensuring that their guests were as comfortable as they could be while in their current predicament.
"I can't believe I have to catch up on homework… now of all times." Frisk grumbled from his spot on the staircase, papers spread out around him.
"It wouldn't be a problem if you didn't put off all your work till the last minute," his sister commented smugly, walking down the stairs and maneuvering herself around him.
Frisk threw a glare at her, then narrowed his eyes in confusion.
"Chara… does Kid still have your locket?"
His sister looked down in surprise, as if just realizing it was gone.
"I guess so…"
"I can't remember the last time you took that thing off, I figured you'd've taken that back a while ago."
She shrugged softly.
"I'll get it back at some point."
The Human teen's eyes narrowed in concern.
"Are you alright? I know how important that thing is to you…"
"Just focus on your homework okay?" Irritation had entered Chara's synthetic voice. "I'm fine."
The young Rex stepped forward as their friend's counterpart returned to his work with a groan They looked at the mess, idly wondering where their own Frisk had disappeared to this time. "Yo...that's a lot of work." They found an empty spot on the stairs, looking it over.
"I know…" The teen groaned, watching his sister settle down in an armchair out of the corner of his eye. "I've been behind almost since school started up, every time I think I'm caught up again, someone assigns a ton of homework. It just had to be math this time too."
He grabbed at a sheet of paper and stared at it, then ran a hand across his face, the other waving the paper about.
"I mean, look at this! Solve x=y+10 given that x is a variable with a common denominator of... " his voice trailed off as he shook his head. "What does it mean? Who cares? I'd rather be back in the Underground with everyone trying to steal my soul again than do this…"
"...what language are you studying?"
"I dunno, but whoever invented it is seriously making me reconsider this whole pacifist thing…"
Rex tilted their head with a hum of confusion, not understanding that at all.
"Need some help there?" Gerson asked as he entered the area, lured in by their voices.
"Be my guest, if you think you can figure any of this out." The boy gestured at the spread of paper and textbooks around him. "When am I ever going to use any of this anyway?" He muttered to himself.
"Probably never for about half of the nonsense they're putting on your papers," Gerson replied. "What is this? Algebra?" With a soft groan he settled himself down near the boy.
"Algebra… ancient Egyptian… who knows?"
"I think you might be over exaggerating there a bit, champ," Chara called from her position.
Frisk glared at her.
"Shut up, brainiac,"
Gerson picked up the piece of paper, eyeing it. "Algebra-in my opinion-is the answer, and they make you go back and figure out the problem. Anyways, here…" He pulled out a piece of paper and a writing utensil. "Now, let's go through this step by step-and pay attention, or you're not gonna get it."
Meanwhile, soft voices could be heard from the kitchen, if one was close enough to hear them around the clattering of pots and cooking. The only one who was, however, situated in the entryway, was the younger Frisk.
"I'm not sure about those ones though." Toriel sighed. "This is very important… I want to get her name right."
"Well, we do still have a few months to figure it out, dear," came Asgore's voice. "Rome was not built in a day, as they say."
Frisk looked up from where they sat in the hallway, their ear fins twitching. Curious to the conversation, they crept toward the doorway, but stayed outside of it, not wanting to actually become a part of it.
Now that they were closer, they could see Toriel flattening dough with a rolling pin, while Asgore was stirring something in a boiling pot. The female Boss Monster gave a little hum of concentration.
"Rya? Sophia? Talahuviel? No…"
"Talahuviel?" Asgore asked in surprise. "I haven't heard that one since before the War."
His wife shrugged.
"I'm willing to try just about anything at this point. And there were some lovely names back then."
"Perhaps you could take some inspiration from Emerald?" Asgore suggested. "She has a nice name, and perhaps that is a good theme to go with?"
Toriel was silent for a few moments, thinking.
"Hmm, Ruby, Sapphire, Amber… I will have to think on those." She shot a glance at her husband. "I'm impressed, Fluffybuns, perhaps one can teach an old dog new tricks."
The two laughed softly, then each turned to face the other, smiling and stepping close to nuzzle at each other before breaking apart.
Frisk's dual colored eyes widened, and then they backed up a moment, covering their face, shaking their whole form. Now they had a slight idea of what Gerson had meant when they had visited him after the barrier broke. Though they bit their lip, a hand on a horn as they shuffled white furred feet. It hurt a little to listen to...but it was better than the suffocating silence in their head, plus, they were curious if they would keep thinking up names.
"Still," Toriel said, putting the rolling pin to the side and transferring the flattened dough into a pie bowl. "Don't be surprised if I throw a few more out there, I want to make sure it's perfect."
"Fine by me." The former king chuckled. "I'm all ears."
"Bella is a nice one…" Toriel said after a moment. "And I've always thought Jezebel had a nice ring to it..." She shook her head in frustration. "Oh, there are so many good ones… it's so hard to choose!"
The little Frisk watched, listening to the names. They thought back to Asriel, his image coming to them in their mind. It had been a bit of a clever name-though certainly of Asgore's doing due to how it was formed.
Toriel...Asgore...two names could make a new one. They did it once, certainly it could be done again? Frisk could hear more names being murmured, but still… Toriel...Asgore… Ri. As…
"Rias," they stated quietly, testing it out without thinking.
The two Boss Monsters turned, both looking at the child in the doorway.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Toriel asked gently.
They jerked, and shuffled out of sight, before slowly poking their head back in. "...Rias…" they mumbled.
"Rias? What does that-" Toriel's eyes widened as it clicked. "Was that… your suggestion for a name?"
They mumbled something incoherently with a nod, assuring that it was what they had meant, but, realizing that their mumbles couldn't be heard, they spoke a bit louder. "It...fits your theme," they insisted.
The couple looked at each other and chuckled lightly.
"Rias… I like that." Asgore rumbled.
"So do I. It would appear that we needed a fresh mind to help with this one." She smiled at the horned Frisk. "Thank you, little one. We will certainly consider the suggestion."
They looked up in surprise, and then yanked their hood over their face in embarrassment before slowly shuffling their way back out of the kitchen.
Asgore gave his wife an apologetic grin.
"They're still shy, apparently."
The woman sighed in response, her gaze lingering on where the child had been.
"I just wish I could help them…"
"You can help them fill their belly at least. Who knows? Perhaps the little one will be more responsive on a full stomach…"
After dinner, and the former Royals cleaning up, the Dreemurr family sat down with the otherworlders in the living room. They were quickly joined by Alphys and Undyne, as well as Sans and Papyrus, all at Toriel's behest. The living room was a little crowded, but with a few of the occupants seated on the carpeted floor, it certainly was not uncomfortably so.
"Well, Sans," Toriel began, looking to the short skeleton. "I believe we should start with you? Did you learn anything about why the Rift disappeared?"
"I might have figured out a few things… enough to stop something like this from happening again, anyway." Sans slouched back into the couch, sinking slightly into the soft cushions. "Still haven't been able to pin down where or when it's gonna pop back up though. But I did set up an 'early bird' system of sorts.
"If it works like it's supposed to… then I should get an alert maybe half an hour before the Rift shows up again… give us at least some idea of the when at least."
"There's something," Mettaton murmured from where he leaned against the wall to take up as little space as possible. "And that gets us a heads up to get ready so that we can hunt it down."
"That sounds nice…" Napstablook managed where they rested on the robot's shoulders.
"Well, I'm glad that's coming along." Toriel smiled. "Now, what are we going to do for sleeping arrangements for you all? We have the couch and a spare room here, but I do not think we can hold all of you…"
"Well," Alphys spoke up hesitantly "We have some space at our place, it's not much but…"
"I'm fine with a couch," Dogamy assured.
"And Blooky and I don't need much," Mettaton added. "I can power down right here even," he stated. "Though, I wouldn't mind a proper spot for Blooky as they're still recovering."
"Sorry…"
"I told you to stop apologizing for that…"
Gerson shrugged. "I'm not too finicky either-but the two love birds-"
"Gerson," Muffet muttered.
"Will probably need something more than a couch-even if they are too polite for their own good." Then he glanced to the children. "They could probably survive with that…" Though Gerson wasn't too keen on the idea, and he knew Frisk would want a more sheltered area.
"Fortunately, most of you won't have to deal with that kind of thing." Chara said, walking into the room from the kitchen. "I was just on the phone with Kid, and he says that Napstablook is willing to let us use the house for space. It's a pretty big place, and they've still got excess furniture from… before." She looked to her mother.
"Also, I'd like to spend the night over there, Mom."
"I don't know…" Toriel mused. "Tomorrow is a school day…"
"He's got school too, Mom. We can go there together. Besides, this'll free up my room for you guys to use tonight." She gave the Boss Monster a pleading glance.
Toriel still hesitated for a moment before giving in.
"Very well, just make sure to behave yourself alright? Especially since Napstablook is being kind enough to let us use his home…"
Grillby looked up. "There seems to enough places, we just have to figure out who goes where."
Muffet paused. "There sounds like a lot of room at their Napstablook's…"
"Probably the best for you two," Dogamy stated. "I can take you there-and if there's a couch left over…" He shrugged, and then looked to the robot. "You and your cousin should stay at Alphys's and Undyne's."
Mettaton seemed to raise a brow as he folded his arms. "Is that just to escape doctor's orders?"
Dogamy smirked. "How am I going to listen to them if you're suddenly out of order and no one with any know-how is there to reboot you because of some delayed interference with the Rift?"
"You are an infuriating patient, just so you are aware."
Gerson glanced to Frisk. "Sounds like you might get a room to yourself with the way this is going."
"Yo…" Rex murmured. "I could have the couch here, Gerson."
The turtle raised a brow. "What are ya getting at?"
"...neither of us want you to fall on your shell," the reptile mumbled.
"Well then, Gerson can have the spare room, and your Frisk can take Chara's." Toriel clapped her hands together firmly. "Does that account for everyone then?"
Grillby and Muffet looked around, taking quiet notes, and seemed to be in agreement as Grillby nodded. "It sounds like these arrangements can work," the fire elemental said.
"Then," Dogamy stated as he rose. "Sounds like we should start moving soon," he continued as he ignored Mettaton's glare.
"Welp, guess we should head back then, Paps," Sans noted, looking up to his brother. "Gonna be a long day tomorrow."
"Wait, are you not teleporting back?" The taller skeleton asked in confusion.
"Nah, I still got some stuff I want to talk to you about on the way."
Papyrus looked confusedly around the room.
"Alright Sans, where are you hiding? I know this can't be you, I'm not falling for that again!"
Grillby's flames began to crackle softly as he bit back a small bit of amusement. "You have to wonder," he joked gently.
Sans threw a look to the fire elemental.
"Aw c'mon, Grillbz, I'm not that bad!"
"If you ladies are quite finished," Chara said, shrugging on her leather jacket. "Everyone coming out to Kid's place can come with me, it's not too far from here."
In a moment, Dogamy had the worn out couple again. "Well, I suppose we're ready if you are," the dog replied, while Grillby's flames dimmed.
"I guess we're stuck with the cousins, huh?" Undyne grinned. "Alright punks, come on, let's hit the road!"
Mettaton smiled. "It seems we're going now, Blooky."
Gerson looked over. "Where's this room for our Frisk? Rex can take them up there now-it's getting late."
"Upstairs," Asgore said, rising. "Here, I will show you where."
"And Chara! I had better not find out you used this as an excuse to skip out on school, young lady!" Toriel called as the robotic girl led her group to the entryway.
The turtle shook his head. "Rex, take them-I'm not climbing stairs if I don't have to."
Rex smiled, slipping off their seat. "Coming, Frisk?" The child nodded, and slipped down, quietly grabbing onto the collar of Rex's shirt.
"I suppose that it's about time for us all to retire," Asgore murmured, a yawn breaking his features as he led the children up the stairs.
"I can get behind that," the teen Frisk muttered, distractedly rubbing at an eye. "See you later guys." He waved to Alphys's group as he spoke, managing a smile as he did so.
"Gerson, the spare room is just over there," Toriel pointed to the door right beside the couch as she spoke. "It should be fully stocked, though if you need anything, please let us know."
"Hold on a second," Gerson murmured to the former Queen. "Before everyone hits the road..." He looked up to her slowly. "I want to talk to a handful of you about something."
Papyrus looked over from where he had been lingering in the entryway, and Toriel turned to give the elderly turtle a questioning look.
He folded his arms. "You, your husband, the brothers...the Urchin, and Alphys. I have a question for the six of you." He shrugged. "Should only take a few minutes."
Mettaton paused at the door of the living room. "Gerson?"
"I rather keep it to the six, Mettaton. Can you wait out front if they agree?"
"Of course."
Papyrus leaned out of sight for a moment, though his voice was still easily audible.
"Sans! Hang on a moment! Gerson wishes to speak with us!"
Undyne and Alphys also filed back, seating themselves at the couch and watching Gerson closely.
Asgore quickly reappeared at the top of the stairs, frowning slightly as he looked down at the group.
"Did I miss something?" he asked.
"Nothing too much," Gerson murmured. "Got a few minutes to talk to an old Monster?" He adjusted himself, sitting tall, hands folded quietly.
"For you? Always." The former king chuckled, making his way down and settling himself into the reading chair, his gaze joining that of the other five Monsters as they looked at the elderly turtle.
"All right," the turtle stated quietly once it was just them. "To cut a long story short-our Frisk has been having nightmares-unfortunately that's nothing new, but, ever since the draining… I've been hearing something quite often from them when they mutter. They claim to not remember when I ask about it. It could be the truth… You might not have the answer either, but I figured I could ask you while I had you all here, then try to track it down elsewhere."
He looked at them quietly. "Does this mean anything to you…? 'Just give up, I did?' They're not ones to think like that, so...I'd like to figure out the origin-maybe finally talk it out to them if they're trying to dodge conversation." He shrugged. "I'm just worried about them."
The Monsters looked at each other in confusion, brows furrowing as they racked their brains for an answer. All except for one.
Sans had closed his sockets, and was rubbing a boney hand across his skull.
"Frisk… I keep telling ya, you really shouldn't be using me as a role-model," the skeleton muttered to himself, his voice so low the others could barely hear him.
"What was that, Sans?" Asgore asked, turning to look where the short skeleton stood. At the sudden attention, Sans's sockets opened and, though his ever-present grin remained, he seemed sadder somehow.
"That's uh… that's my line," he admitted quietly. "If things went down there the same way they did here… I may have said that to Frisk once or twice during uh… especially rough spots." His grin became bitter. "Seems like they may have taken it a little more to heart than they should have."
Gerson breathed out quietly, closing his eyes for a few moments. "Well, there's the origin point," he said softly, his voice not hinting at any bitterness, and only quiet confirmation.
"Sans! That doesn't sound like positive reinforcement at all!" Papyrus scolded. "You need to tell Frisk not to listen to that, and tell them how great they are!"
Sans looked up in surprise.
"They've already gone to bed Paps… and you're way better at that kind of thing than me anyways."
"Fine, you can wait until morning," the taller skeleton relented. "But! You must still fix your mistake! In the morning! If they listened to you saying things like that, then they'll listen to you when you correct it!"
"That might be a good course of action," Gerson replied quietly. "They dodge it with me whenever I try to ask them about it-and while I could say that our Sans could talk to them... I have no idea when that could even happen."
"That's a very good idea, Papyrus," Toriel supplied.
"Of course! All of my ideas are great! And of course, I will make sure little Frisk knows that they have my full support and attention! With the great Papyrus guiding them, they cannot help but to succeed!"
"That's right!" Undyne enthused. "Don't worry old man, we'll get you guys home, and get your Frisk in better condition than they've ever been before!"
The turtle smiled. "That's a good thing to hear," he replied, before slowly standing with a tired sigh. "Well, I think I kept the lot of you long enough."
"Yes, we need to get home!" Papyrus exclaimed, rising, his movements mimicked by Alphys and Undyne. "Sans and I need to work on what he's going to say to little Frisk in the morning!"
"Papyrus…" the short skeleton groaned.
"Don't Papyrus me, Sans! This needs to be done with proper Papyrus care! As your elder brother, it is my-"
"What do you mean, "elder brother"?" Sans asked as they began walking of the room. "We're the same age!"
"Not true! I was born nearly five seconds before you were! Therefore, that makes me the eldest!"
Gerson shook his head in amusement. "Well," he murmured, before looking to the formerly royal couple. "I think I'll be turning in."