Nah. Sans couldn't blame Al or Juleyard. They understood most of the timeline deal, but they didn't know that Frisk actually reset Genocide. The fact that she was getting blamed for killing someone didn't help the confusion for them because if she had reset, things would have been perfect and the issue would have never come up. How were they supposed to know?
Kids. Pictures. Flirting. Fighting. And now, claims of complete genocide? Frisk lost all concentration on not only the fight, but on being able to piece everything easily together. I have children? They are here?And? G . . . Genocide? I killed everyone? I killed . . . Papyrus? She actually killed him? Dogamy and Dogaressa? All the Temmies? Aaron's? Pyrope's? I killed everyone. Tsunderplane. The Royal Guards. I was never stopped. Undyne. Mad Jick. Muffet. Everyone. I almost wiped out the Underground. I have children and I am a genocider. I . . .
"If she saves everyone, then she's cool." Sans voice came again sharply. "If the kids are boss and they break the barrier, then she lives. If they aren't, then she don't. She's still like your queen in another time or something, right?"
Frisk murdered. She killed almost every monster without hesitation. She killed, back and forth, stalkingly, making sure she got anyone around her area. That would be how she would remain. She knew that. Just a killing machine.
Just like the Ruins.
But she was a mother too. A murdering mother? She looked at Asgore's face. The empathy in it, the little she had seen, was almost completely gone.
"You? In the other reset? You destroyed everything? Do you deserve to live after committing Genocide across my kingdom, human? After killing the sweetest goat that ever lived? After killing anyone I have ever loved or known down here, and still not getting it right afterward?! Still destroying Toriel! Do you?!"
Saying no would end her children's chance at life, and might jeopardize the others she didn't even understand or know about before.
Nothing in the world made sense right now. All Frisk knew was that, "the little monsters need me to live."
"Everybody can change," Papyrus said to the king. "She went back and reset to set things right, Majesty."
"Then why is Toriel dead?!" Asgore let him have it. "I can understand if she wanted to make this kingdom feel better after the fact, somehow, but was Toriel not a monster that deserved to live?"
"Or Doggo?" Undyne asked, scooching to seeing Asgore's point of view. "Or Lesser Dog? What the heck did they do to get denied a second chance if she 'went back'?"
"And how did you go from good to bad? How did Sans stop you? How did I ever end up with you?" Asgore asked. He looked back toward the children. "Was it love, or . . . is humanity still the brutes of the world? Did they wipe us out, get a hold of the monster's DNA and create these children for their own sick purposes?"
"I don't know," Frisk said genuinely. "Speaking from my very heart, I don't know. I don't remember."
"Probably not that cold," Sans spoke up, but Asgore had a weird look in his eye and he was speaking to Undyne softly now. "Look. Something happened, something out of control," Sans tried to help her. "I um. I left myself a letter here."
What? Frisk glanced toward Sans. Sans knew something?
"It was something I wrote before I lost all the memories. Something happened, and we needed to flip it. Give it another chance. It's just that . . . the past repeated itself, but I got into her head sooner this time. Making her stop. But, if they could have been saved she'da done it, I'da done it, so if you wanna blame someone for not bringing the queen back? You'll have to blame me too."
Sans didn't remember, but he knew about it? I once killed everyone. He never let me know that, but he knew that. Then why did he? How could he be so friendly to her each day? Knowing what she had done, what she had been capable of?
Asgore kept quiet but looked back toward Frisk. "Sans lived while the majority died. You snapped out of it. And then, no one knows what really happened, except the children." He looked toward the children. "It is dangerous to ask about the other time. Knowing about other times never brings anything good with it, but I . . . I need to know this. Do you remember me?"
Al and Juleyard nodded.
"We met you in the other timeline," Al said. "See, you and momma-"
"No, no." Asgore touched his head. "Don't. Knowing about another timeline never brings anything good with it. That's quoted, directly from our ancestors, and I've messed up enough in my life not to want to add anymore to the fire of karma." Asgore lifted his hand from the child's head. "They remember me though, so it was me, not just my DNA. I don't want to get into semantics of different times. It will make things harder, but . . ." He looked at the small crowd that seemed to only become larger over time, especially since Undyne joined the fight. "I cannot ignore this."
"She . . . uh." Papyrus didn't know what to say.
"She has your kids, Majesty," Undyne said to Asgore. "That means the ones inside her are most likely yours too. I don't understand it all, or how the others could be here, but I'm no scientist. I just know that . . . that she also murdered the Underground! You can't kill her, but you can't be easy."
Frisk felt Asgore's eyes over her. Such a lost feeling welled up inside. He was holding their other children so closely. She could see the bond he must have missed with his own child, even after all those years. And yet? He can't let this go. How could he? Ignoring that she killed almost everyone in his entire kingdom? Even if he felt some sympathy, they weren't alone with this as some sordid secret. There was a crowd around them, only growing bigger.
They knew. And so, all Frisk could do was wait. Wait to find out what the King of Monsters was going to do next with her.
"You wiped out all the monsters. You killed Toriel. Twice. You." Asgore stared at the little ones in his arms and back toward Frisk. "The only amount of empathy I could gather from the kingdom . . ."
Frisk just lowered her head. The only thing keeping her alive now was what was in her stomach.
"Are you sure it's . . ." Asgore sighed. "Oh, even if they weren't mine, now you would say they were so I wouldn't kill them." He turned slightly, jostling the children in his arms, clearly thinking. "Doctor Sans says you displayed signs of them being boss. But."
"What's to think about? She did what she could," Juleyard said. "Please? Let her live?"
"Yeah? Please?" Al said. "Come on, please? You'd be cool in my book."
"Fate is bitter. Fate is not a friend. It is neither good nor bad. It's just fate." Asgore sat the children down and then whispered back to Undyne again. Frisk felt herself being dragged away from Sans and Papyrus.
A bright shining red light flashed around everyone, leaving it impossible to see anything of Frisk except her and Asgore's shadow. Sans watched as another shadow, Undyne's, came rushing to Asgore's side.
When the light was over, Frisk looked down at her arms. She was handcuffed with heavy iron chains around her arms. She could barely lift them. On her feet were the same kind of heavy iron that linked her feet together.
Yet, she lifted the iron weight on her arms to let her fingers touch her neck. Not only was there a heavy collar on it, but there was a long chain to it being held by Asgore. He gestured toward the leash he was carrying that was attached to her iron collar. "These are null chains. No one can teleport with these chains. No one can use magic against these chains. Nothing but very high LOVE can break them." Asgore held the leash out to Sans. "Doctor Sans. Doctor Papyrus. Step forward."
Sans and Papyrus crept closer. Sans took the leash connected to Frisk, almost grabbing it out of Asgore's hands once it was offered to him.
"Some thing. Some creature that killed my queen in cold blood . . . that marched across the Underground, killing everything in its sight . . . has my unborns within her. Has beared my little monsters before. And perhaps even stole my heart in another time. For all I know, she could have been here to try and reverse the hurt." Asgore stared at Sans.
Sans grip tightened on the leash, making a cracking sound. Sans looked to Undyne again.
"I got the chains, I didn't do or say anything against you or against my liege," Undyne said. "I haven't picked a side."
"And there will be sides," Asgore said to Sans. "I can let Frisk continue to live after everything she has done and try to have these little boss monsters that will open the barrier in nine months. Or, I can just destroy her now, and we all can get out."
"It doesn't work that way!" Papyrus scolded him. "You're not being fair. You were all for Frisk before."
"Before I knew she murdered almost my entire kingdom," Asgore reminded Papyrus.
"In another timeline, and that timeline reset, so it don't count. Nobody remembers anything," Sans said. Harshly. Pointing it out firmly.
"I know. It is not good to dwell, but at the same time, I cannot just let Frisk go without proving herself. Without making amends. No, in this case. Everything counts," Asgore disagreed. "I am not being cruel. I am being precautious, just, and fair." He spread his arms out, gesturing to the very large growing crowd that had found their way there. "Go ahead. Ten Undergrounders."
"Ten Undergrounders?" Frisk asked.
"I do not understand what happened exactly, but at the same time, I should not. We should not explore other timelines. But, I cannot let a danger keep moving through my kingdom. Especially with what you have already done in this reset," he said softly. "I will be waiting for you, next to the entrance of Snowdin," he said. "You will walk from here, to there, and find ten Undergrounders who are still on your side," he said.
"Walking to Snowdin in chains, in her condition?" Doctor Sans wasn't happy with that. "She's pregnant, it could kill her! You just gonna risk your little ones like that? You won't be able to get out of the barrier ever that way."
"Well, letting her continue is a risk in itself. She could die at any time, and I might not be near enough to take her soul," Asgore said against him. "I know that I now have two wonderful little monsters." He looked toward Juleyard and Al. "I should just be grateful enough for them, but I must try and give her a chance to redeem herself." He paid attention to Frisk again. "Do your best. When you reach Snowdin, I will have a full list of instructions you must follow, or I must take your soul, and end this all."
"You do that and your little monsters will never forgive you," Sans practically growled.
"I know that," Asgore said, "and if the fire inside of them can't be settled and understand why I did what I had to, then I will take them from this world too if I must."
Sans? Did? Papyrus looked toward Sans, speaking telepathically. Even believing the lie, did he just . . . threaten Al and Juleyard's lives?
Sans didn't answer him back. "Well, guess you better not get to know them as well. Man oh man, killing the little humans' moms while learning to be a dad again wouldn't make for a good time at all between you three. Better let them spend time with her, for their memories, and for her own determination. If the whole mess clears up, then you can play good daddy. Until then, it's best with mommy. It's what's best, health wise."
"Yes, I can see your point of view Doctor Sans," Asgore agreed. "After the fact, and this mess is over, then I will decide what is best. For now, they will stay with her. Keep her determination lifted. Her chances higher." He smiled at the children anyway. "I hope you can see reason little ones. Understand that this is for the best."
"Doctor Sans says 'no, it's not." The word it's not was so strong, it came out as one word. Hard and fast. "The human is going to need more help."
"You don't understand this situation,"Asgore said. "I will have someone get an insert from the lab, I will place my power within it, and it will be brought to you through a third party. That should be enough help for a chance to survive." Asgore turned his attention back to Frisk. "When you reach the beginning of Snowdin-"
"Our place," Sans interrupted. "Our house. Privacy reasons."
"Your house?" Asgore was taken aback a second. Frisk could tell from Asgore's expression, he was tired of her doctors' interruptions on him. "Fine. Your house is fine." The king tried once again to talk to Frisk. "If you have gathered ten monsters who can forgive you, then I will give you duties that you must perform. If you do them accurately and above board, I will have no fear of the future. I will accept our children and you into the castle, making you the Underground Queen, knowing you will be accepted. If you accomplish the bare minimum? You live at least. If you cannot accomplish what I set out for you to do, then I must end it all for you. Now. I will travel to Snowdin," Asgore said as he trotted away softly. "I must make the decisions, that will affect our future forever."
"If you get a chance," Sans called after him, "cause she might not even make it there!"
"That is fate, Sans. That is fate."
"That is bullcrap is what that is."
Luckily Asgore didn't hear that, but Frisk did. Sans and Papyrus are adamant about helping. So, it must be true. They were her doctors, they would know what kind of children she was carrying.
"I must be fair. I must." Asgore stopped his walk and seemed like he was fighing with his own self until he addressed Frisk again. "Human. Your children would be automatic allies to use but they were not here to suffer your atrocities. Therefore, they do not count as allies."
Frisk simply nodded.
"Neither do your doctors," Asgore said.
"Hey, hang on, that is not fair!" Papyrus protested. "We were here to witness. I remember her shambling quite well."
"You are her doctors. Both of you have outside interests for being her ally," Asgore said.
"Helping the twins inside of her survive is 'outside interest'?" Sans almost spat it out. The ferocity toward Asgore? Frisk was the one who caused the pain in the other timeline. Why were he and Papyrus trying so hard for her?
"Yes, you two are concerned on what's inside physically instead of in a LOVing manner. You cannot be biased." Asgore addressed them before he paid full attention to Frisk again. "Each ally must be fully aware of what you are capable of." With that, he turned and walked away.
Before Frisk even got a chance to think about who to pick, Papyrus was already asking someone for her.
Someone she probably wouldn't have chosen to anger about it.
"Will you speak for her, Undyne?" Papyrus asked Undyne. "Please?"
Undyne looked toward the kids near them. "This situation is weird."
"Hey, Undyne? Don't you want to be known as the soldier that helped bring down the barrier?" Sans tried to appeal to her. "I just need some help from you. Just a little bit? A squidgy bit?"
"Please?" Juleyard latched onto her knight outfit. "Please, please? Pleeeasse? Pretty please with bunches of strawberries and whip cream and cherries on top?"
"With nuts," Al added, "and extra chocolate on two huge scoops of ice cream."
"With syrup filled with love and all fluffy and wonderful things?" Juleyard finished. "Don't let our mother die?"
Undyne glanced to each boy, over and over. Each of their eyes were big and full, almost watery like sad puppies. She growled almost against herself before looking at Sans and Papyrus again. From the kids to them. Them to the kids. "Eh?!"
Yeah. It didn't take long with kids. Asgore was so consumed with his own feelings and duties, they hardly had time to show off their 'personalities'. But Undyne caught it loud and clear. At least Juleyard's. "This is real important to Doctor Papyrus and I," Sans said softly. "You clearly figured out why."
"How the helllll?" Undyne looked toward Frisk's stomach. She looked back toward Sans. "And?"
"Yah," Sans added quick.
"This situation is getting weirder and weirder. These are-"
"Important to us!" Papyrus said toward her. "The others are too. Look what little Asgore is offering with what he thinks he knows."
"You say it out loud, you're killing everything," Sans said to her. "Please?"
Undyne looked disgusted at Frisk, then confused at the little ones staring at her. Both Sans and Papyrus picked one up a piece, resting any unsure thoughts to rest. "Meh." She grumped her answer. "For you and Papyrus, and for those little guys. Not for her."
"Good enough for me," Sans said. One.
"Oooh! Ooh! I must be a part of this!" Mettaton wheeled himself over by Frisk, between Sans and her. "I agree to save her since I did make the little faux pas of thinking it was Burgerpants' and almost getting her killed. Oh dear me! You know me, I think a lot of love and drama and action adventuuuure! Oh, and because we must save a mother and her child, of course." Mettaton leaned closer into Sans. "Not to mention, these next few months are going to be some of the greatest shows ever. Correct?"
"Well." Sans looked at Mettaton. "Can't afford to be picky." Two allies.
"I-I volunteer!" Alphys said rushing past Mettaton. "It's only right considering what good friends we all are." Alphys leaned closer to Sans and whispered. "The chains are absolutely secure on the human, right?"
Definitely. No matter what determination power Frisk had, she still had a certain amount of raw human strength, keeping her physically weak. She could never break the chains. "Absolutely safe."
"Okay. Then? I-if the determination kind of mess can stay my own thing?" she asked softly.
"My favorite form of mail, Alphys," Sans said. "Blackmail. Three."
Frisk just stared at the children in Papyrus and Sans' arms. Both of them were reaching out to her. She didn't know what to react to first. Sans and Papyrus didn't even ask if they could help her find allies when they begged Undyne on her behalf. Alphys and Mettaton volunteered themselves but there seemed to be different reasons than they would genuinely care.
Which made more sense. Why help someone who was so genocidal they almost wiped out the Underground, just to try and start over to mess up the same way?
She noticed the grip that Sans and Papyrus had on the children that were apparently hers too. Asgore must be right. Maybe something happened to them that triggers the need to help children? Maybe they had a hard childhood themselves? Then, the children themselves.
She had children. She. Actually. Had children. I don't feel like a mother. Even being pregnant now, it had only been a couple of weeks. The hardest day by far being that particular day. Frisk believed she'd have nine months to get used to being a good mother, and at least the judging party would be a newborn that couldn't judge.
These children weren't big, but they were certainly old enough to know whether she was being a good mom to them or not. And with her history so far?
"Yeah, I know," Sans addressed her, probably reading her expression. "It's overwhelming, but those are your kids and . . . and you once weren't so Beautiful inside," Sans said to her. "But this isn't the end."
"Far from it," Papyrus said as he adjusted the little child in his arms and held his fist over his ribcage. "You must be strong, Frisk Carlisle! Stronger than ever because without making those chains lighter or Sans' shortcuts, this will be a long and hard journey on you in your condition. Keep your determination up."
How? How was she supposed to want to? Frisk just felt around her neck. Bound. Maybe forever in chains. And she deserved it. Even if she didn't remember, it didn't mean she didn't do it. I. Killed. Everyone. It was bad enough knowing she killed so many innocent monsters in the Ruins, and the birds and icecap monsters, and the two guards in Snowdin.
But she would have killed so many if she kept going that way. It would have just been a ghost town, with dust blowing in the wind. She closed her eyes, not wanting to imagine it! And yet knowing it was real.
"No, I know what you're doing," Sans gave her a slightly tighter yank on the leash as he put one of the children down. "This situation is bad, I know, but it's true, Frisk. The kiddos by your feet and the kiddos inside you. You gotta think of them. You lose determination, you destroy more than yourself."
"Momma?"
Frisk looked back toward the little humans that were on the ground now. They sure were tiny little humans. Monsters. Human monsters. Between her and Asgore. How?
"You don't remember us either, huh?" The little human continued to hug her while taking her hand, and trying to shake it. "My name's Sunburstal, but everyone calls me Al."
"I am Juleyard!" The little boy next to him said, jumping up and down next to her, almost eager to jump into her arms for an ambitious hug. "I love you! Stay strong."
These children love me. Knowing what I've done, they love me. The amount of guilt inside weighed so heavy, yet their little pleas. Not even knowing where they came from, but seeing the looks on their faces. She could feel strength from them.
"What am I, completely forgotten back here?"
Frisk looked down at Flowey, attached to Al's scarf. "You want to ally with me?" Without Sans or Papyrus even bothering with asking. "Thank you."
"Ew, don't get all sentimental," Flowey warned her.
"Alright, four. We can do this. I'm sure there are monsters out there, that, you know. Don't mind that you kind of killed them before . . . and still kind of took out the Ruins and . . . we should get going," Sans said.
Frisk watched the little monsters in front of her walking. Something seemed wrong besides their size. "Are you okay to walk, children?"
"See, momsy does still love me!" One of them grabbed her by her legs, nearly knocking her over as they walked.
"Whoah, easy, Juleyard," Papyrus warned him.
"Sorry," Juleyard said as he clung to her. He looked up to her, looking so lost.
Imagine being a child, and your own parent not remembering you? Frisk knew the feeling of being completely lost. Her heart hurt for him. She extended her arms toward him, but the chains wouldn't let her comfort him.
"Come. We need to get going. We can get to know each other later." Papyrus pulled Juleyard gently more toward his side. "Come on."
"Hang on, we don't always walk the best," Al pointed out. "That whole core thing was really weird too on us. We shouldn't push too far or it'll hurt to walk again. We're just bone on skin on the bottoms of our footsies."
"Papyrus, slow down," Sans said instead. "Go the kids speed. We need to keep it slow. It's our best chances for Frisk too."
"Oh, yes. Okay."
Frisk continued to walk behind Sans and Papyrus, while the children walked on either side of her. My children. This must be so hard on them, me not remembering them. Their mother not remembering them. And yet, they just walked like they were happy she was still alive. What kind of world did I come from for them to act like this? If only she could comfort them. Even though she didn't know them, she wanted to care for them. Show them that she understood the kind of hell they were going through.
It wasn't exactly the same. She remembered her mother and father. But being lost, separated, and away from them. And then, not remembering large chunks of her life. Her chains gave her a small spread, but not enough to hold them, and not even enough to hold each of their hands. She did the second best she could.
She reached out toward the little one that hadn't cried out for her so bad, but was clinging to her hospital gown. Her hand gently touched his, making him look up at her. She smiled at him, wishing she could convey how she felt to him.
He just matched her smile. Somehow, he seemed to understand. Frisk touched the hand of the other boy.
And felt him start to grip her hand and her gown now. Twins. As she walked, she'd have to figure out how to balance favor between each one.