"here, give me your arm," Sans helps a struggling Aofil to their chair. They sink into it, still clutching their chest and straining to breathe. Sans puts his arm on their shoulder, "aof, look at me," they don't answer, they're in too much pain, "aofil, look at me," Sans tries again.
With great effort Aofil manages to lift their head up, "It burns, it's like I'm being pushed out from inside. What's happening?"
Their black and long nails push against the skin on their head. It's barely holding together, "Something's pushing against my skull!" Aofil shouts in panic, clutching their teeth against the pain, "Sans!"
Sans grabs the increasingly fur covered arm, "i'm here. move your hand," he says before doing it himself. Inquisitively he runs his hand over Aofil's head and parts their hair. Underneath it he feels two growths pulsating violently, and as he leans in to look closer the quivering skin starts glowing white. A pair of sharp and slim horns shoot out from the growths and Sans is forced to dodge them. He manages, but just barely. As he recoils back from the horns he stares at them in disbelief, "how?"
Aofil reaches up and their eyes widen in horror as their new fingers grab something above their head, "What?" they exclaim and swing their head around to see. The fabric on the back of the chair is ripped wide open and stuffing starts pouring out. Aofil stares at the hole torn open and again puts their hand over their head, "I did that?" not only do they feel the rough bonelike and angled back spurts emanating from their head, they feel it through a layer of hair, but not on their head. They put their hand in front of their face again.
Long black nails have replaced their human ones, and their entire hand is covered in glistening white fur. Their arm still shows skin, but the snowy hair is slowly enveloping it. They form a fist with their hand, and open it slowly. It feels strange, alien to them. It's a part of them, but it isn't them. It doesn't feel the same, and it hurts. It's not theirs, why is it like this?
They look at Sans, pleading for an answer, "What's happening to me?" but suddenly their vision fades from them. Frantically they wave their pelted hand in front of them, "I can't see!"
Sans meets their eyes, and after Aofil grunts in pain again, he sees that they've changed as well. Aofil blinks and tries to adjusts themselves their new vision. Everything's blurry for them, they can barely see anything. They close their eyes and feel the skin around their eyes stretch. After it stops they open them again and their vision finally manages to find focus.
Sans catches a glimpse of them under Aofil's fringe, and he instinctively takes a step back as he sees the angled and dark eyes looking back at him. They turn soft after a second, and again Aofil begs for help, "Sans?" they ask before biting themselves on their lips. Two fangs have grown from their upper jaw, and is now resting uncomfortably on their lips.
"i, i don't know what to do," he stutters out, "but we'll figure this out, i promise."
They both look at each other in silence.
"It hurts!" Aofil cries, "It all hurts," they cry again, with another voice. It's deeper, more gravely, "Make it stop!"
Pained growls rumble inside Aofil chest, and a shock is sent out throughout their entire body. They roar in agony as they feel their entire body tense up from it. They grab their chest, "Out!" they gnarl and focuses all their strength.
A pink shines fills the room as they draw out their soul.
Sans walks up slowly, struggling to believe his eyes, "impossible," is the only word he can say.
Caressed between two completely fur covered hands is a red soul, with shards of white filling in the cracks present throughout it. It's pulsating quietly, and the shadows cast by the long fingers and nails around it dance with each beat. Aofil tilts it towards Sans, "He missed," they say again, just now realizing the deep and feral tone present in their voice.
Sans nods, "he missed."
Aofil massages their throat, but the overwhelmingly strange feeling of fur and their new form forces them to stop. They return their eyes to the new soul that is theirs. They remove one hand and tries to come to terms with it before extending a careful finger towards the white of their soul. They touch it.
Another voice screams in their head, and they clutch it with both their hands, "Quiet! Stop crying!" they scream. Their soul cowers back into their chest as they wry from the scream, "Shut up!"
"aof, what's happening?"
"No!" Asriel shouts as he sees the one that couldn't stop Chara coming after them, "Get away!"
He stands up and knocks the chair against him. It tumbles towards Sans and he sidesteps it in the last moment. The chair smashes into the pile of pipes and parts, and Aofil snaps their head towards the sound.
Asriel remembers the sound, the crashing sound from when he fought Frisk. The bombs he threw against them.
"No!" he shouts to scare away the memory, "I'm not Flowey!".
Aofil grabs their head "Out!" and tries to shake away the memory, causing their long ears to flop against their burning cheeks.
"aof, calm down!" Sans yells, "focus, you're fusing with asriel!"
"No, I'm not him," Aofil looks at their hands, "I'm not them!"
"aof," Sans finally manages to catch their attention. He nods carefully and waves his hands carefully, "sit down, use my chair."
"Where's Chara?"
"aof, don't think. just sit down in the chair. you too, asriel."
They both nod in agreement, and sit down. Their horns get caught at the top of the back of the chair and they bite their lips with their fangs. They dry it off with their hand, leaving a couple of white strands in the wound. They recoil back in panic, "Blood!"
The pain comes surging back. The faces, the screams. Chara's angry screaming inside their head as they finally managed to take control. The small child that lay still among the flowers. Their cracked soul hovering above their lifeless form.
No, that doesn't make sense. How could they be attacked, and attack at the same time? "It's impossible!" they shout as they look around, "I need to find Chara!"
"chara's dead."
Asriel's eyes sink, "No."
Aofil shakes their head again, desperate to get it back under their own control, "Yes, they're dead!" they scream to Asriel inside them.
"we're on the surface, your name is aofil, and asriel is fusing with you. sit down again," Sans explains sternly while pushing Aofil down in the chair again.
"Where's mom and dad?" Aofil asks, "I mean Toriel and Asgore," they cough as something pounds inside their head, "I mean, mom," they put one hand up against their forehead, "No, Toriel."
"mom is not here, asriel. neither is asgore, aofil."
A quiet creak catches Aofil's ear. They look up the stairs, "Frisk?"
The child doesn't answer.
Aofil and Asriel stand up, "Frisk?"
Still no answer.
With a small gesture of Sans' hand Frisk is pushed back and the door is closed, "aofil, asriel, sit down," he advises again carefully.
Both Aofil and Asriel ignore him, and with unsteady legs, they walk up the stairs.
"you need to stay here, you can't be seen like this. that goes for the both of you," Sans tries desperately to convince, feeling the despair that was lifted from him crawling back up on him, "we need to figure this out."
Aofil rattles the handle, but Sans holds it close. Asriel releases it and tenses their hand. A orange glow flickers to life and a crackling ball of fire forms within their grasp. They throw it against the lock, and it explodes. Sans grunts in pain, and the door swings open. The horns scrape against the top of the door frame as Aofil and Asriel walk out together into the sunfilled hallway.
Their new eyes stings, and both feel confused, and relieved by the warmth of the sun. They turn the corner and find Frisk sitting on the sofa with their head in their hands. The child squeal in fear as they spot the amalgamate walking up to them.
"No, it's me, Asriel, Aofil," they stumble as their head starts spinning, "Asri, Aofi," they slur. They take strain against the wall, "Save us," they beg before collapsing heavily on the floor. Their vision again darkens, and they fail to muster enough strength to stand up.
A breeze ruffles their fur, it feels very uncomfortable. Sans squats down into their reduced sight. He coughs, "got me pretty good there. it hurts a bit," he puts his hand into his pocket, "listen, asriel, you're not supposed to be in there," and pulls out the memory box, "and aofil, you're not supposed to be in here," he places it on the floor, "but this is only thing i can think up right now," and grabs the lid, "good luck in there, both of you."
A heart monitor beeps rhythmically. Asriel squirms in his mother's arm, and a gentle hand brushes his ear, "Aren't they beautiful, dear?"
Asgore leans over the edge of the hospital bed. His beaming smile outshines the sun gushing in from a nearby window. He brushes away the hair covering his wife's face, and gives her a kiss on the cheek, "Our royal heir. I'm so proud of you two."
"Well, they are half your fault, so."
"Citizen of the Underground," Asgore proudly announces, "join me in this celebration."
Asriel looks over to the other package of cloth and towels containing their twin. They reach out with their paw towards them.
"I know, they are so cute," his mother laughs lovingly, "I was thinking," and bumps Asriel carefully with her nose. Asriel retracts his arm. No, this isn't his mom, it's a human, "that this one would be Aofil. And this one, Chara."
In a blink the hospital room vanishes, and a grand castle balcony replaces it. The distant sound of a large crowd talking with excited voices catches Aofil's ears. They're loud, Aofil doesn't like it. With a whimper they squirm in their mother's arm.
"There's nothing to worry about, my child," Toriel calms with a with a careful finger, "Isn't he beautiful, dear?"
Their dad leans over Toriel's shoulder, "Yes, they both are," he gives Toriel a peck on the cheek, "Can't believe you grew two of them," he smiles out.
"Finally, he is now heir," Toriel chuckles before returning the peck.
Aofil's dad walks up to the podium and stretches out his arms with pride, "Look at their cheeks, I love them," he whispers into the microphone.
No, wait, Toriel isn't their mom, and why are they in the Underground? This isn't right!
Asriel wakes up in the middle of the night to Chara tugging at their cover. He sits up, "What is it?" he asks while rubbing his eyes.
Chara beckons Asriel to lean in closer. They put up a hand up to Asriel's ear, "Aofil, have you heard of the legend of Mt Ebott?"
Asriel recoils back, "Legend?"
Chara nods, "I heard the pastor talk about it a couple of days ago. There's an Underground filled with monsters, and magic! We could find a cure!"
Asriel looks around, this isn't his room. It's not even his house. And why is Chara here? He looks down, why is he here?
Chara runs back to their bed as faint footsteps close in from the other side of the door. Asriel sees some shadows move past the space underneath between the door frame. After a silent whisper from the other side of the door the shadows walk away, and Chara sneaks back to Asriel's bed, "Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
"Yes," Asgore nods with a smile and closes his book, "Tomorrow we'll have our picnic, my son."
Aofil lets go of the long and purple mantle they've wrapped their fingers around. Asgore laughs warmly and bends down to pick them up, "You're excited, I can tell."
Aofil looks around. They're in Asgore's throne room. But how? And why can Asgore carry them? They look down. Why are they a child?
"Scared, Asriel?" Asgore asks and tilts Aofil's head up. He smiles again, and gives Aofil a hairy kiss on their forehead.
"How are the first and third best men of my life doing?" Toriel teases with a chuckle as she makes her way around Asgore.
Asgore leans his muzzle towards her and they rub it together, "Now I'm curios who number two is," he mumbles playfully.
Toriel flicks Asgore's horn, "A queen has her secrets."
He raises an eyebrow in return, "Does she now?"
"Perhaps," she winks to Aofil, "like what I'm making for our picnic tomorrow."
Aofil's scared expression shifts between the two boss monsters. What are they talking about?
"Scared, Asriel?" Toriel asks with the softest eyes she can muster, "Don't worry, my child. Who knows, maybe you'll make a new friend?"
"Chara!"
They turn around, "What is it, Aofil? We have to hurry!"
Asriel looks around confused. Where is he? He catches a glimpse of the mountain looming over him and Chara, and takes a step back in fear.
Chara grabs his hand and drags him along towards the intimidating mountain. With every step Asriel feels it crashing over him more and more, "Let's go," Chara whispers loudly, "They are both still sleeping, but we have to hurry before they wake up."
Asriel jerks their hand back, "Chara?" he asks his human twin.
"What's happening?" Aofil asks their monster parents.
"This is," Asriel continues.
"Not real!" Aofil ends.
The world turns dark. There's no wind, no sound. No ground, no ceiling. Just the void, as far as they can see.
Aofil turns around, and faces themselves. They look down at their striped sweater, and at their white paws. They look up, and see a small goat child looking at their paws. They see that they were also looking at their hands.
"Aofil?" Asriel asks to himself with Aofil's human mouth.
"Asriel?" Aofil asks themselves with Asriel's monster mouth.
"Why are you me?" Asriel wonders with fear while rubbing Aofil's arm. Aofil's body shudders as the feeling of skin doesn't sit well with Asriel.
Aofil can't really fathom that they need to look up to meet their own eyes, there also this long and white muzzle covering their view, "I don't," they grab Asriel's throat and accidentally poke themselves with a claw. Talking with a more childish voice than they're used to, it doesn't really do them any favors right now. They hawk, but it doesn't really help, "I don't know, Asriel."
"It feels really weird hearing me say my name," Aofil's voice starts.
"But not talking to me," Asriel's voice ends.
Aofil touches their nose, "OK, good. We switched."
And continues holding their claw on Asriel's muzzle, "Back to our own bodies," they remove it, "Wait," and look down, "Dammit!" they bleat out.
Asriel is visibly shaken hearing his voice swear, and bleat, "Sorry, didn't mean to," Aofil apologizes. They run their palms over Asriel's cheeks and blow through their own lips, "OK, first things first, let's see if we can stay as ourselves."
Aofil nods to themselves, "What I'm thinking is," before lowering their upraised claw and sighing deeply, "This is really getting on my nerves."
"You said you had an idea, Aofil?" Asriel asks carefully, "If not, then I think I might have one."
"No, forget it," Aofil shakes Asriel's head, and an ear flops on his muzzle, blocking Aofil's sight. They sigh again, "Shoot, let's hear your idea instead."
Asriel removes his ear from his muzzle, "Close your eyes, and think about yourself. Think about who you are, and who I am. Try to remember that we are two, and then try and separate us."
Aofil closes Asriel's eyes, and Asriel closes Aofil's eyes. Trying to make two out of one, they focus hard on what's human, and what's monster. Silent, they stand opposite each other, trying to figure out who they really are. They are fused in soul, but not in mind. That's where they are separate, that's where they are two. They both think about how they feel, what makes them an individual. They breath in as one, and breath out as two.
Aofil opens their own eyes, not monster eyes, not amalgamate eyes. They feel it, it's their own eyes, "I think it worked?"
"I can't see," Asriel stutters out in light fear while waving in front of him aimlessly.
Aofil stiffens a laugh, "You have my hair, that's why. Sorry, that might've been me. Give me a second."
Aofil imagines their hair on their head, and Asriel's on his head. They open their eyes again, and nod in comfort as Asriel twirls his tuft with a smile.
"So," Aofil starts while squeezing their hands. It feels good only feeling skin on skin, "how did you figure that trick out?"
Asriel rubs his own arm this time, "I've had experience with this sorta thing before."
"You and Chara?"
He nods with a quivering mouth, "Yes," he interrupts himself with a loud sniffle, "And when," and another, "and when I absorbed all the souls," before looking at Aofil, and breaking down into tears, "and now I'm a parasite in your soul! It's not fair to you! Why do I keep doing this?"
Aofil hastily rushes up to Asriel, "No, no, no, you can't blame yourself for this."
Asriel pushes away Aofil and turns around, "I should just disappear, give you your mind and soul back."
Aofil spins him back, "Asriel, listen to me," but Asriel lets his eyes wander, "Asriel," Aofil grabs his chin and turns it back, "we're gonna figure this out, you and me. We're both together now, but we'll figure out how we'll be two again. I can't have my form be what it is right now, and neither can you. We're in this together, literally."
"You seem so," Asriel dries his muzzle with the arm of his sweater, "sure about this. The last something like this happened to me, I died, and Chara too."
"This is different, I think," Aofil helps dry off Asriel's eyes, "Besides, I've had experience with this sort of thing as well, you know. And you helped me, remember?"
Asriel nods weakly before failing to keep in another loud sob.
"Hey now, if I can come back from being dead, then so can you," Aofil stands up, "Now," and offer Asriel a friendly and helpful hand, "let's see if we can find anything."
"Which way?"
Aofil surveys the infinite dark around them, "I don't know."
Asriel looks around as well, but he doesn't see anything either. He still takes Aofil's hand, and squeezes it in his.
"So, which way?"
"You want me to choose?" Asriel asks with a confused look.
"Your guess is as good as mine."
Asriel points into the void, "This way?"
Aofil nods, "Sure."
They both walk together, but separate, into the unknown.
Despite feeling that time doesn't happen, Aofil can still feel Asriel getting heavier and heavier. They finally stop and squat down again, "You want to sit on my shoulders?"
Asriel nods, and climbs up on Aofil's back, swinging his legs over their shoulders.
"By the way," Aofil asks as they tilt their head up to meet Asriel, "What did you see?"
Asriel leans over and meets Aofil, "See?"
"Yeah, I think I saw when Toriel and Asgore made the announcement to the Underground that you were born. There was also something about a picnic, I think?"
Asriel ponders for a second, "I saw a human, and I felt that they were my mother."
"Really?," Aofil thinks, "now that I think about it, I felt the same about Toriel and Asgore being my parents."
"I remember her being it," Asriel continues, "but the human couldn't be my mom, because Toriel is," he lifts a finger, and scratches his head, "I also saw Chara, but they were a baby. My twin."
Aofil stops walking, "Wait, you saw Chara being a baby?"
"I was also a baby, I think. What if I were you?"
"And I was you?"
Asriel shrugs, "Maybe, I don't know."
"Did you see something else?"
"I saw Chara planning on going up Mt Ebott with you."
After a moment of furrowed thinking Aofil resumes their walking, "Strange."
Asriel cocks his head, and his ear flops down on Aofil's face. Aofil nods it away, "Strange?" he asks.
"Because I don't remember it."
"Strange," echoes another voice from all around, "if you don't remember," before converging behind Aofil and Asriel, "then why am I here?"
Aofl and Asriel turn around to meet the voice.
A crooked smile emerges from the shadows underneath a low hanging fringe.
"Greetings."