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Scene 28: The Air Is Cleared

or

"Small Shocks"

When Sans got home, he wasn't even able to set down his box of badly packed junk before both ladies descended on him, talking about some weird thing from the past they'd unearthed. So he left his stuff by the door and they all went to the living room to talk about it. It was going to be one of those days.

"you guys seem pretty worked up. everything ok?"

"We are not in danger, if that is what you are wondering. But I am quite affected by what Alphys has told me!"

"It… it could be good news, right? In a way, w-we can see it as good news!"

Too much. Sans held up a finger. "ut! one at a time, ok? what's going on?"

Maybe they were talking one at a time now, but they were still both chattering like it'd just been invented. Okay, so no one had been attacked—all that had happened was a conversation. Still, conversations could be dangerous. They could make or break lives, and Sans knew that. So he gave this his full attention, and what he heard chilled him.

"a talking flower, huh? 'bout yea high?"

"Yes," said Toriel. "Somehow, I had not realized how much it looked like the flower that grew from my son's dust. But with one thing and another, I did not have a proper chance to reflect."

"well, i've got good news for ya. if that thing is your son, and assuming you didn't kill him… turns out he's capable of making friends."

Toriel's eyebrows got tight. "Friends?"

"yeah, a few days before the human came through, papyrus started talking about a new best friend of his. said he was a talking flower."

Now her nostrils flared. "Your brother made friends with my reincarnated son?!"

"besties, apparently. i just figured the flower was imaginary. until pap started telling me about the things it made him do. things he wouldn't have thought of on his own."

"Wh-what kind of things?" asked Alphys.

Sans shrugged. "writing notes and leaving them for people. stealing books and putting them back later. slipping tabasco sauce into people's food. honestly, i'm worried it might have been something worse than tabasco sauce."

They gaped silently. "Can we be certain it was the same flower?" Toriel asked.

Of course it was the same flower. But sure, he'd play along. "well, he called his friend 'he' and said he was a golden flower. said sometimes the flower used to tap him with something called 'friendliness pellets' that, wouldn't you know it, look and feel exactly like bullets. he said they even did damage, but that it was 'affectionate damage'. i told he should stop seeing this flower if it hurts him, but he was loyal to a fault. wouldn't turn his back on a friend, even one i thought was imaginary."

Toriel froze. "What shape of bullet?"

"i think he said they were like seeds."

She exhaled. "We are speaking of the same flower, then. It is so strange to think of my Asriel doing these things! But then, he was confined within the flower for hundreds and hundreds of years. I cannot fathom how that kind of experience could change a person."

No kidding. "yeah. probably one of those things you can't understand without going through it."

She clenched her hand on the arm of her chair. "I am not certain I would want to understand it."

Sans knew the feeling. But he was past that point. If this freak creature was really out there, talking to—oh shit. Alphys had said she'd used DT to make it happen, hadn't she? Oh shit.

Doing his best to stay cool, he leaned over toward Alphys. "out of curiosity, alph, how much determination did you give him? was it more than any one of the human souls had to begin with?"

"N-no. It was about thirty percent of that. Um… 0.3 HDUs, I called it. Human Determination Units."

So the kid had been stronger. Still, the kid was gone, and that sounded like a lot. "is there any other creature in the underground with that kind of determination?"

The lizard swallowed, looking away for a moment. "I th-think Undyne has a lot of DT," she confessed. "B-but not that much."

"you know that for a fact?"

"Um… no… I never got the chance to test her…"

"Why do you ask?" inquired Toriel.

Oops. Wasn't being exactly subtle, was he? "no reason. just curious."

"S-so… what do we do now?" asked Alphys.

That was a good question. Sans couldn't think what else to ask. Seemed like neither of the others was having any better luck, since they sat in silence for a while.

At last, Toriel rose brusquely from her chair. "Perhaps I should have started by making tea. It is what Asgore would have done."

"I could go for some tea," Alphys put in.

So she set the kettle warming and came back. "It seems likely to me," Toriel resumed, "that this flower, whatever he may be, is aware that we are here. If I did not… inadvertently kill him, that is. And as such, if he is not introducing himself to us, it must mean he does not wish to reunite."

"Unless… unless he's lost his mind," Alphys pointed out. "Could it be he doesn't even remember you?"

Toriel only sagged in her chair at this thought, saying nothing.

This was no good. Time to break the ice. Maybe he'd even get some kind of insight. "so i've got a question for you," said Sans.

Both women turned their attention toward him. "Yes, Sans?"

"it's kind of a weird question, so let me think how to put it." He leaned back to consider. "ok. so, you know how sometimes you do something, and you wish you could take it back? it didn't go like you planned, and now you'd give anything if you could undo it?"

Toriel's look saddened further. "I know very well how that feels."

Alphys put her elbows on the table. "Sometimes I feel like my whole life is like that."

"alright. sure. now in the real world, if we do something we don't like, we can't take it back. if it's done, it's done. but let's say you could. let's say you've got the power to just… will yourself back to when you were about to do the dumb thing, and do something else instead."

"I am with you," said Toriel, clearly concerned.

"That would be great," opined Alphys. "But what's your question?"

Sans sat forward and thought about how to phrase it. "the question is… what happens to the people you leave behind? when you go back to do things over… what happens to the people who just lived through the dumb thing you did? do they just…" He snapped his fingers ripely. "…go back to the way they were? is everything they did since then just… lost? or do they keep on going, but without you? or…" His eye gleamed for a moment. "…do they keep on going with you… only it's a different you? when you go back to do things over, do you leave one of yourself behind? so now there's a you who did the dumb thing, who's got to live with it, and another you, who's got the chance to make things right?"

"I… am not sure I entirely understand the question!" said Toriel.

Alphys thrummed her fingers nervously on the table. "I think I understand. This is… this is an awfully weird hypothetical question. But what does it have to do with Asriel?"

Well, he couldn't exactly answer that, could he? So Sans just sat there, staring into the distance.

The tea kettle began to whistle.

Toriel shoved her chair back with a start. "I will get that. One moment." She hurried into the kitchen and bustled about. Sans felt Alphys watching him and leaned crosswise over the table to meet her eyes.

"Is this about that old story about King Donegan?" she murmured.

She was sharp, this one. Sans made his grin into a mask. "he wasn't the only king who got do-overs."

Her claws dug into the tabletop. "You're saying that old human story is true? About their king who was so determined he could turn back time?!"

Sans nodded. "dunno about king donegan. but i know king asgore used to have the power. i know because he told me."

Alphys stared. "He could turn back time? R-really?"

Since he'd come this far, he might as well keep going. Just so long as Toriel didn't hear. "yup. he didn't like doing it, though. i wouldn't either, if it were me. he said it made him feel like he was killing everyone in the underground, if only a little bit. for all i know, he might be right."

"I… I don't understand. That just raises so many questions!"

No kidding, right? "the first time he used it was to save us all," Sans went on. "when we first fled underground, we left a path open and the humans came down after us. we didn't get out of home fast enough. so he went back and made sure there was no path back. after that, he only ever went back a little bit, just to see how it worked. a few minutes here, a second or two there."

"And he never told anyone?"

"he told a few people. mostly only after they were about to figure it on their own, like me. he might've told toriel. but if she doesn't know, i think she'd be happier not knowing."

"But… but he's gone! Why are you bringing it up now?"

"because he's gone," Sans answered. "and undyne's still around."

That only made her more tense. "What does this have to do with Undyne?!"

"not sure if i should say. not my secret to tell." Still, if you're as smart as you look, you should be able to put the pieces together.

Alphys glared. "Come on, Sans! Y-you can't just drop a… an intellectual bomb like that and not explain why it matters!"

Fair point. "well, lemme just say this. one day, asgore lost his power. a few hundred years ago, he told me, he tried going back a few seconds, just to see if he could still do it… and he couldn't."

"What? Why? Wh-what happened?"

Sans shrugged. "they say when you get older, you can't do everything you used to. here today, gone tomorrow."

"But Asgore wasn't getting older!"

He widened his grin. "i know. funny how that works, isn't it?"

And there was Tori, coming back. Padded footsteps and the clinking of cups and saucers. Looked like the service wasn't arranged perfectly, but a frazzled state of mind'd do that to you.

She set it down on the table. "Here is the tea. Shall we drink?"

Alphys looked uneasy, but she poured herself a cup and drank. They all did, even though it trickled down Sans' ribs and along his spine.

"Ow," murmured Alphys. "Too hot."

"That is what occurs when you expose water to flame," said Toriel acerbically. "It is customary to sip until the liquid is comfortably cool."

Ouch, Tori. Coming from her, that was a cold burn.

Alphys blew on her tea, spilling a little. None of them spoke.

Then Toriel closed her eyes. "I am sorry. I am just… upset about what I have learned." She took a breath to calm her temper, then looked at Sans. "Was Alphys able to answer your rather strange question, Sans?"

"nah. but i didn't really think she would. i've been mulling it around for a while now."

"And what is its importance?"

Let it go, Tori. "didn't say it was important, did i?" Sans replied, sipping calmly from his cup. "just something that's been on my mind. what happens to the folks who get left behind?"

Toriel huffed. "Are you speaking of Undyne and Mettaton?"

Totally wrong track, Tori. He leaned forward quizzically. "did those two get left behind? they're in charge of the kingdom."

"I don't think he's talking about anyone in particular," said Alphys.

"Then what do you mean, Sans?"

Damn—should have just made a joke and changed the subject. Too late now. "i guess i'm just worried all of us might get left behind. at any moment. and i'm wondering, what happens then?"

"Left behind by what, Sans?" demanded the former queen.

"tori, i'll be honest. i don't think you really want to know."

She sat up a little higher, and the light gleamed off her horns. "Do you think I wanted to know that my son had returned from the dead, only for me to strike him down unawares? That I may have killed my own son, thus ending his rarest of second chances?!"

"nope. you probably didn't want to know that either. i'm trying to protect you, tori."

She set down her teacup with a loud clink. "I am tired of not knowing the truth! I was glad to learn of this, Sans! Even if I am disturbed, it is good to know." She looked at Alphys. "And I was glad to learn about the sacrifice my children made ages ago, trying to save our people. Did you think my heart could not take the knowledge on that fourth videotape? My heart is stronger than either of you think."

"I—I didn't think you couldn't take it, Tori, I just… thought maybe it wasn't the best time, since you were about to make your speech…"

Toriel paused a moment. "Yes, that is true. I appreciate that. But I am tired of you speaking in riddles!" she said to Sans. "You are supposed to be in my employ! Are you my judge, or are you working only for yourself?"

Flip. He'd expected her to be piqued, but this was a level of anger he hadn't bargained for. "i work for you, tori. but i really don't think you want to know what i'm thinking."

"Then why are you hinting at it? You are always hinting at things that you wish to keep secret, as if you wish to appear mysterious."

"that's just my style, tori. i like to take the long way round sometimes. come at things from another angle."

"Are you coming at this from another angle, or are you trying to prevent me from coming upon it at all?"

Alphys stood up. "I… I think maybe I understand what he was trying to say, Tori, and, well… he might be right. You might be better off not knowing." Thanks, kid.

"Is that how weak you think I am, Alphys? That in my tenderness I cannot handle knowledge?"

"I—I don't think you're weak, Toriel!"

"Then why will you not tell me what Sans is driving at?"

"because you're already upset," Sans interjected. "you're not acting like yourself. you even spilled your tea."

Toriel looked down at the drops on her saucer. "And can you blame me? I have been exiled from my rightful throne, and now here in my own home, I am beset by people intent on teasing me with hints of the truth, only to treat me like a child and keep me from it!"

"I would never treat you that way, Toriel!" blurted Alphys.

Her brows narrowed. "No? Then why did you claim to me that you fancy Sans, when it is clear you do not?"

Alphys squeaked and blushed, her hands flying to her muzzle.

Wait. Alphys was saying she liked him? "what's this about?" Sans demanded.

But the lizard didn't say anything—her blush just got redder.

"She is maintaining the fiction that she is fond of you," said Toriel sardonically. "She told me today that she finds your figure alluring."

…Now that was a new one. "my… my figure? do i have a figure?"

"You are very fat for a skeleton, according to Alphys. That is apparently what she is drawn to."

He stood up, clutching the edge of the table. "it's not nice to mess with a guy, alph."

"I wasn't messing with you!" she burst out. "It's just… Toriel was pressing me, and—I didn't want to say—"

"No, you did not, did you? That is becoming a rather common theme with me, is it not? No one wants to tell me how they truly feel!"

She wasn't the only one irritated with Alphys and her dumb cover story. "would you rather i'd told you i couldn't stand this lizard?" he snapped. "at the time, i would've thrown her out myself. you think that would've made things happier, toriel?"

Toriel's ears rose. "Perhaps it would have! The two of us had enough trouble getting you to confess your feelings!"

As if that was something they were entitled to. "oh, believe me. there's plenty i haven't confessed."

"You wanted to th-th-throw me out?" interrupted Alphys.

He really had. "what can i say? i'm not like my brother. i hold grudges."

"B-b-but… I needed a place to recover from my hypothermia!"

He shrugged. "ruins aren't that cold."

Toriel stood up. "Sans, that is heartless even for you!"

Oh shit—she really went there. "you think i'm heartless? tori, you don't know the first sliver about me."

"And whose fault, exactly, is that?"

"it's no one's fault. it's my choice."

Toriel planted her huge hands on the table. "Then prove me wrong! Give Alphys your forgiveness!"

"is that what this is about, tori? i already told you. i can't do it!"

"All I ask is that you judge her formally!"

"i can't. toriel, you understand what you're asking of me? to let go? i've done the whole judgment already, all but the forgiveness. but i just can't forgive the girl. it'd go against everything i am."

"Everything you are?" Alphys objected. "I know I'm a mess, but I'm not the opposite of everything you are."

Great. Now he had to say it baldly, and he didn't want to. "forgiving you would mean i'm willing to let my brother go."

"He is gone already," countered Toriel, eyes fiery. "It is a tragedy, but he is gone. There is nothing left to let go of but a memory!"

"and you think i want to let go of that?"

"Judge her!" Holy spuds—she was actually roaring.

"Why are we yelling?" yelled Alphys. "W-we should be happy! We learned something amazing today!"

Toriel turned on her. "Did we? Is it really so amazing that my son did not simply die nine hundred years ago, but was forced to suffer, confused and alone, turning gradually more evil until quite possibly dying by my own hand? The word I would use for that is not 'amazing!'"

Alphys held up her hands and waved them. "No! You're missing the point! Don't you see? This means that when we sprinkle the dust of dead monsters on things, it really does imbue them with their essence! And apparently if you inject them with determination, it brings them back!"

"now hold on," said Sans.

"It means we can bring monsters back from the dead!"

"Without a soul!" screamed Toriel.

"W-w-well yes, it's not perfect, but—"

"that sounds like a really bad idea, kid."

"I'm not a kid! And I'm not saying it's a good idea, but…isn't p-part of a person better than none?"

"if the part that's missing is the soul? i don't think it is. what, are we gonna take the scarf i sprinkled pap's dust on and stick it with a needle? turn it into an evil talking scarf without a soul?"

"That's not what I'm saying! I'm just saying, e-even if it's not a good idea, sc-science is still advanced!"

"Well, tra-la-la!" said Toriel. "You will have to forgive those of us who are not scientists if we are not dancing on our—"

Brrrrrrrriing.

Toriel stopped short and looked across the room. They all did.

Brrrrrrrriing.

It was Toriel's phone. Its old-fashioned ringtone hadn't been heard since Sans and Alphys arrived. Not once. And there was only one person Sans could think of who might be calling.

Holy flip.

Brrrrrrrriing.

Toriel walked across the room and picked up the phone, examining its display. "It is the narrow-eyed child," she numbly told her companions.

Brrrrrrrriing.

"seriously?" said Sans. "the human is calling us back?" He had not expected this when he made the call. He really hadn't.

"P-p-p-pick it up!" cried Alphys.

Brrrrrrrrii

Toriel pressed the talk button and held the phone to her ear, taking a shallow breath. "It is I, Toriel," she said cautiously.

There was nothing for a few seconds. Then the boss monster's jaw started to quiver. "Is it really you, my child?"

Her face went tight and strained, her eyes wide. She clapped one hand over the other. "My child, are you all right?"

A good ten seconds went by. Toriel shifted her position only slightly, her ears rising on either side. "Climbing? Do you mean you have been climbing the mountain? All day?"

"Put it on speakerphone!" Alphys shouted.

Toriel dutifully pressed the speakerphone button, and now a blend of mountain wind, background noise and emotional breathing filled the room. The reception was poor, making subtleties hard to pick up.

But there was a voice—meek, ragged, and familiar. "I've been calling all day, and all day yesterday. I tried to call from home, but I couldn't get through. 'Call recipient is outside of reception zone,' it said."

Toriel's eyes drew closer together. "You could not call us back, but you did receive our message?"

"Yes!" cried the child on the other end. "I got Sans' message. I listened to it over and over. I just wanted… I just wanted… to call back and say how sorry I am."

Well how about that. How the everzotting flip about that. Sans walked over and leaned tensely against the banister.

"And so you decided that you would climb the mountain until you were able to reach us by telephone?" Toriel surmised.

A choked sound. "Yeah. I kind of didn't think it would work. But I had to try."

Toriel's face was awash with compassion, but she kept her voice neutral. "It seems odd that the towers would be able to transfer our message to you, but unable to relay your call in return."

"Search me! I don't know why it is either. Toriel…" The child sighed deeply. "Toriel, Sans said you tried to rule as queen, but it didn't work out. I'm so sorry."

She smiled. "It is all right. I am really more suited to keeping a home than ruling a kingdom. But I was willing to do it, for it was my responsibility."

"The reason they threw you out… it was me, wasn't it?"

"Yes, my child. I am afraid that you have stained the image of humankind rather terribly among us." Aw, Tori. Always the diplomat.

The child sniffled. "I should never have come."

"Perhaps not, my dear one. You have caused despair to bloom in many hearts, and hatred in others."

A broken sigh. "I didn't even get what I wanted," muttered the child. "It was all so stupid." No, thought Sans. Calling this stupid is an insult to stupid things.

Now Alphys pattered closer. "Wh-what did you want in the first place?"

It was a few seconds before the child answered. "There was someone I wanted to meet. Someone who'd told me to come."

"Who?"

Uncertainty cut through the voice. "Someone called Suzy? She talked to me in my dreams. She told me I had to come… I was their… your… only hope. Over and over she was there in my dreams, saying I was the only hope of monsterkind."

Now this was intriguing. And unexpected. "did she say what exactly you were supposed to do for us?"

"No… no, and I was going to find her and ask her. I just wanted to meet her face to face. But… I never found out where she lived. I passed through the whole Underground, and I never found out what I was supposed to do, and I never found Suzy…"

"you sure she was real?" Sans asked. "maybe she really was just a dream. i don't know anyone by that name, and i know a lot of people."

Another sniffle. "She had to be real. At least I thought she did. They didn't seem like normal dreams!"

Alphys spoke up. "I—I know someone called Suzy. She works in the core! She asks me questions sometimes. Well, she used to, anyway. I… I guess I won't be seeing her anymore."

"Was she a mouse?" asked the voice, now tinged with hope.

"Yes! She's my f-former coworker's daughter. Wh—why didn't you ask me about her?"

"She didn't want me to tell anyone about her. She said it was important that the fact she visited me in my dreams had to be secret. So I didn't tell anyone!"

Scratch what he'd thought before. Calling this plan an insult to stupid things was an insult to things that were insults to stupid things. "great plan," said Sans. "then how were you gonna find her?"

"I just thought… she'd be there! I thought I'd stumble into her, or she'd meet me. I guess that was really stupid though."

"no. i'll tell you what's stupid. coming to the underground with a pristine soul and leaving with three levels of violence."

The kid was suddenly silent.

Sans walked up to Toriel and gently took the phone from her. "you must be some kind of class a idiot," he said into it. "if you're gonna kill helpless monsters with your powerful human soul, why not go all out? why not a murder spree? wouldn't that have been more fun? why in the chilly, frigid world did you just let yourself go a little bit?"

All he got was a hesitant "Um—" before he went on.

"i know asgore didn't give you much of a choice. he made his choice a long time ago. but why…. why? i can't believe i'm asking this. i can't believe these words are gonna come out of my mouth. why did you do it, kid? why, for all that's holy, did you kill my only brother?!"

"Sans." It was like a plea for clemency. "Sans, I'm sorry. You're right to be angry. He was trying to capture me—I thought he was a bad guy. He was going to bring me to the castle, where I thought I'd die. That's my only excuse."

"are you flipping kidding me? capture you? kid, you let him capture you! he stuck you in a cage with bars you could walk right out through. he could have killed you in that fight, and he didn't. so after that, you knew he wasn't gonna kill you. if you were paying any attention at all, you would've known he was gentle and wouldn't hurt a soul!"

"He was tough… he hurt me. I was having trouble with his blue attacks, and I'd already lost to him once…"

"i tried to tell you, kid, blue attacks mean stop."

"I know! But it was hard, and… I was getting sick of fighting him, and I'd already lost to him once… I just… thought I'd start fighting and see what happened."

"see what…" Sans was flabbergasted with disbelief. "kid, you... you couldn't figure out any other way to get by him? this is papyrus we're talking here. the sweetest, big-heartedest guy you could ever... are you seriously telling me you thought the only way to get past... you could have asked him nicely and he probably would have let you by. you could have told him puns until he fell over cringing. you could have made a puzzle to distract him. you could have even tried flirting. hell, you could have just lost to him two or three more times and he probably would've gotten sick of capturing you and let you go! stars' sake, kid, how could you think the only option was to kill him?"

"I… was dumb. I know that. I guess… it's just that I was getting frustrated, and I hadn't killed anything yet, and I was wondering what would happen. So I… so I tried it."

Sans was momentarily struck speechless. But he got over it, because some things had to be said. "you tried killing. you were curious, so you tried killing. just for a lark. kid, do you have any idea how horrible you sound?"

"I know. I'm sorry."

"and why him? if you were gonna snap and dust somebody, why him? undyne actually tried to kill you, like, for real. and instead of killing her, you gave her water. muffet tried to feed you to her pet, and you paid her for the privilege. toriel tried to keep you in the ruins, and you hugged her for trying. you had a whole humming concert with shyren. mettaton tried to kill you on television four times. an army of dogs tried to bring you down. all through the underground, monster after monster attacked you, and you didn't lift a finger against them. but somehow, out of all the monsters in the underground, out of everyone who stood in your way, the one monster you chose to kill was a guy who went out of his way to design puzzles he thought you'd like. a guy who cooked for you. a guy who shut down his bridge of doom 'cause it wasn't sporting. a guy who would have been your friend for life if you'd just tried. everyone else gets mercy, and my sweet, sweet brother gets destroyed. where was your mercy then? huh? where was it then?!"

The child was sobbing audibly now. "I'm sorry," they said.

"yeah. good," said Sans. "you be sorry. you just sit on that mountainside, miles away from anyone who's got the power to kill you without breaking a sweat, and you be sorry. that'll fix things."

"Sans!" cried Toriel.

He sighed heavily and held the phone at arm's length. "someone else talk to this kid. i'm done."

Toriel retrieved the phone. "I am here, my child."

There was only crying and wind.

After a while, Toriel frowned.. "I am not going to instruct you not to cry, my child. It may be that your tears are the healthiest tool you possess. And you have done a great wrong. Even so, when you are finished crying, I will be here."

"hang up the phone," said Sans. He was slumped on the floor now. Couldn't she see there wasn't any point?

"I will not hang up the phone," she retorted. "My ninth child has called to talk to me, and I will not refuse them."

Sans felt his darkness compounding. "hang up the phone, tori," he repeated, more darkly this time.

Her eyes flared at him. "I will not."

Alphys hurried over to cuddle Sans. Strangely enough, it actually helped. "I-it's o-okay, Sans," she assured him. "The call won't last forever… and the human can't hurt us… and you don't have to listen if you don't want to."

He knew he didn't have to listen, but really, he had to listen. "don't give that murderer the dignity of comfort," he told Toriel. "comfort is for good people."

"Comfort is for everyone," she countered. "Even the sinful."

The voice blubbered indistinctly over the phone. "I didn't want to be sinful. I wanted to do the right thing."

"You know," reflected Alphys, "Papyrus wasn't the only monster the human killed. Um.. wh-what about Woshua?"

The blubbering stopped. "Um," said the child after a while. "Was that the… the one shaped like a bathtub, with a bird floating in it?"

"Yes! He was beneficial to the Waterfall ecology! Why did you kill him?"

The child took a breath. "Um… I was trying to beat him up so I could spare him, but I hit him too hard by mistake."

Sans stood up, his eye glowing. "are you kidding me?!"

"It was a mistake! He was attacking me!"

"kid, he just wanted you to wash up. you were a mess by then. you had mud on your ankles, snow on your face, and my brother's dust all over you."

"It felt like he was attacking me. I didn't know. I didn't know how to communicate with any of the monsters. I didn't think they'd be so hard to talk to."

"Was I hard to talk to, my child?" asked Toriel.

"Not at first. But later… when I wanted to move on… I just don't understand why you had to fight me over it."

Toriel winced. "In hindsight, I was wrong to. I should not have tested your combat strength… as if that was the best measure of your readiness to wander the Underground. Perhaps I should have destroyed the way out instead, as I originally planned."

"Then I'd still be stuck there with you!"

"Yes," said Toriel resolutely. "And I with you."

Wow. Tori really was amazing, wasn't she?

A gust of wind, perhaps snow, picked up over the phone. "Is that really what you would have wanted? For me to grow up there, and die there with you, and never see my family again?"

Toriel pressed the phone tightly against her face. "Child, I would have been your family. I know it is not the life you would have wanted. It would not be my choice, either. But I knew that the only alternatives would lead to death."

In frustration then: "Why—why wouldn't Asgore just talk to me? Why wouldn't he give me the cup of tea he wanted to offer? I told him I wanted the tea! I just wanted to talk things out, and he… he fought me so hard…"

"I do not fully comprehend what came over his heart in the years since I left, my child. The man whom I once loved more than anything must surely have changed a great deal. But I suppose he believed firmly that there was simply no alternative—that one of you must die."

"But… but that wasn't true!" cried the child. "Alphys, you were wrong!"

Alphys jerked to attention. "Wrong? Wh-what do you mean?"

"You told me I couldn't pass through the barrier alone! You said I'd have to kill Asgore if I wanted to go free. And I didn't want to kill him. I was terrified. I was mad you hadn't told me sooner so I could have gotten used to it. But when I reached the throne room, I thought I was almost ready to do it, if I had to…"

"But you did kill him, my child!" cried Toriel.

"No! No I didn't! I fought him until he was weak, and I thought maybe then he'd be willing to talk, but then… someone else killed him! And they destroyed his soul before I could even think about absorbing it."

All three of them were wide-eyed. Sans remembered standing over a large pile of dust while the walls moaned in agony, thinking, Yep. Lucky seven's the charm. They finally got him.

"what are you talking about?" he demanded. "who killed asgore, if not you?"

"…a flower," said the child. "An evil flower did it."

Holy batflip.

Tori and Alphys gasped. Sans thought fast and decided to play dumb. "a flower, huh? you expect us to believe that?"

"It's true! He was the first creature I met in the Underground… he called himself Flowey the Flower… he said in this world it was 'kill or be killed.' I don't know if he meant the Underground, or the whole world including the surface."

"ok. sure. so let's say i buy that," Sans continued. "why did this flowey the flower kill the big guy?"

"He wanted to… steal the souls of the other children? He killed Asgore, then he took the other souls and turned into a huge, terrible plant monster. Then he… fought me. He nearly killed me… but the souls didn't want to be in him, and they healed me so I could survive."

Sans let his grin fall away. "Be honest, kid. Did he nearly kill you, or did he kill you, and you came back?" The question was a calculated risk—hopefully the others wouldn't think too hard about it.

"What?" asked Alphys.

"…I came back," said the voice. "He brought me back. He wanted to kill me a million times. I almost thought he was really going to."

"H-how did you…?"

The child went on. "But then the six souls left him, and he couldn't defend himself anymore. I hit him and hit him, and they kept healing me… and then they circled around and around him, and the next thing I knew… he was just a flower again, wilting and… and weak, in front of me."

"And then what did you do, my child?" asked Toriel, nearly breathless.

"I talked to him. And he told me I… that I should kill him. That if I didn't kill him, he'd come back, just as bad as before."

Toriel was clutching the phone hard with both hands, as if in prayer. "And… and what did you do, my child? Did you kill him, or did you show him mercy?"

Moment of truth for goatmom, thought Sans. The child was silent for a long, painful moment.

"I showed him mercy. He ran away."

Toriel exhaled deeply in relief. Sans did too.

"I thought I'd be trapped, then. But when I went up to the barrier, I passed right through. It was all swimming for a moment, then everything went white, then it went dark again. And then I was back on the mountainside, next to a cave. I ran down the mountain without looking back, and I'm lucky I didn't fall and break my bones."

"You… you never absorbed a monster soul?" asked Alphys.

"No. I got through alone. Just like I fell into the Underground alone."

She wrung her hands. "I wonder what this means."

"I guess it means whoever told you it takes a human and monster soul together to get back was lying, or wrong," said the child. "I didn't have to kill Asgore after all. If he'd just listened… and if he'd just let me try going through on my own… I would have been fine, and he wouldn't have had to die."

"B-but he didn't want to let you through," said Alphys. "He wanted to kill you, so we'd have the seventh soul we needed to break the barrier, and we could all go free."

"Are you sure I'd have to die for that? Are you sure we couldn't have just worked together to break it?"

"I… I think so! I—the legends all say the souls need to be together in a single vessel. And humans can't absorb other human souls, so someone like Asgore would have to t-take yours. I r-really thought it was you or him. But… if I was wrong about the barrier… then who knows what else the legends might be wrong about!"

"All he had to do was pour a cup of tea," said the child resentfully. "Then we might have found out."

"Are you well, my child?" asked Toriel suddenly. "Are you back with your true family?"

"…Yeah. I went back. They don't know I'm up here now, though. And it's getting cold, and I'm getting afraid. I should really be going down again."

"Yes! Please do not endanger yourself on our account, my child. Go back to safety."

"I will."

"And thank you for going to so much trouble to call us. I had not imagined it would be so difficult."

"Yeah. You're welcome."

Sans felt the need to say something, even if it was ugly. "hey kid. you know i could never forgive you, right? never ever. not in a million lifetimes."

"Yeah," said the voice sadly. "I know."

"If you ever come up in the mountains again, dress warmly!" called Alphys. "Warmer than you think you need!"

"Okay."

Toriel sniffled. "Goodbye, my child. It was… it was good to hear your voice."

"Yours too, Tor… Mom. And, uh… by the way, I've got a name."

She gasped happily. "Will you tell it to us?"

"Yeah. It's Frisk. I'm called Frisk."

Toriel's face wore a silly, baffled smile. "Frisk? Is that truly your name?"

"What kind of a name is that?" asked Alphys.

"A better one than Mew Mew," said the child.

"That is not truly the name your parents gave you, is it?" Toriel asked.

"Maybe not," said the child. "But it's the one I've got."

Toriel's smile went true. "Very well, then. Take care… Frisk."

"You too, Mom. Byebye."

Abruptly, the howl of wind ceased. They stood in silence again.

"Wow," said Alphys.

"Oh my gracious," said Toriel. "What a surprise."

"So… so your son is still alive!" Alphys exclaimed. "You didn't kill him!"

"No… and neither did the child, thankfully. Oh! I should have asked what happened to the other human souls."

Alphys slapped her forehead. "You're right! Oh well… the kid p-probably didn't know, anyway."

"And to think! Asgore was done in, in the end, by his own bloodlust. It seemed as though the child… Frisk… was actually hoping to bargain."

"And brainstorm."

"And yet Asgore would not be swayed from fighting."

"Yeah! It's sad. B-but in a way it's my fault, because I told the hum—Frisk, that they needed a monster soul to get out again. And apparently it wasn't true! I wonder whether the magicians who originally created the spell spread d-d-disinformation about it to the monsters, in order to scare them." She looked tentatively at Toriel. "You… you were alive back then, weren't you? Do you remember hearing about the spell before it was cast?"

"It was so very long ago… I can remember so little, except that suddenly I knew we would be called on to fight or flee, and that I would be called on to lead…"

"gotta say," interrupted Sans, who'd been silent since the end of the call. "i wasn't sure i wanted the kid to call back, and i'm still not sure i'm glad they did. but at least now i know. they didn't have a reason for killing paps. they really are as terrible as i thought."

"Sans," said Toriel. "Is the child really as terrible as all that?"

"killing just to see what happens? just 'cause they were a little frustrated? yeah, tori. that kid's a real piece of work."

"Yes, but! A million lifetimes, Sans?"

He shrugged, not regretting his words one bit. "i feel the way i feel, tori. i won't tell you how to feel. i just hope they never call again."

"They seemed pretty broken up about everything," Alphys observed. "A lot like I was, the other day."

"they're broken up, all right." He brushed past Alphys on his way back to the hallway. But that was a good point—the lizard actually knew how to do repentance. "i'm gonna go lie down a while. let it all sink in."

"All right, Sans," said Toriel. "And… and Sans. I am sorry I spoke the way I did earlier. I do not know what came over me. It was unbecoming, and I apologize."

Like they hadn't all lost their tempers. "don't worry about it." He reached the hallway, then realized something was bugging him. Something unfinished. Something that needed doing, but that he hadn't been able to do until… until…

Oh. Yeah. "oh, and alphy? i forgive you."

She straightened herself in shock. "Wh-what?"

"you heard me. don't make me say it twice. see you later." With that, he disappeared down the hallway. But he heard the bell clang, three times, from out of nowhere in particular. Like it always did.

He was powered by hatred right now. It felt like a betrayal, to let hatred have its way even a little bit. But it was necessary sometimes. Right now, his hatred for the kid was opening up doors. It made things feel clearer. It made the future seem brighter. And behind him, Alphys and Toriel were holding hands and giggling while looking his way.

As he slipped into his bedroom at the end of the hall, the giggling became full blown laughter, and he caught a glimpse of them dancing awkwardly in a circle, holding hands and stepping around the furniture as if the three bells had been the start of a merry madrigal.

Good. If being forgiven meant that much to a person, it was a pretty sure bet they were worth it.


GUESS WHAT PART II HAS

PART II HAS BONUS SONGS

HERE IS ONE:


Carry On, My Child

(To "Carry On" by fun)

Well I came upon an evil flower
His bullets were cutting like fear through the darkness.
And I found you with a tiny toy knife,
Your hand in a bandage and heart like a child I once knew

You smiled and said
"May I call
May I call you Mom?"
And I took you as my own
despite knowing where you're from
And now you want to leave my care
And all I ask
is that you never look back.

If you're lost and alone
You are welcome here in Home
Carry on, my child!
Autumn leaves mark the sound
Of your feet upon the ground
Carry on, my child!
Carry on, my dear one!

So I met up with some friends
from a long time ago
At a bar in Snowdin Town
And we talked and talked
About which monsters would die
If a human should come.

But I like to think you will prove them wrong
To make up for all the children I woke up to find were gone
I am incomplete
But I dream sometimes
That the values I worked so hard to teach
might survive in just one child!

If you're lost and alone
And you want to just get home
Carry on, my child!
Crunching snow marks the sound
Of your feet upon the ground
Carry on, my child!

Ohhhh
I'm playing with fire!
But I'm not afraid
Because you are my child.
I will step aside from the door
Nevermore
will you look
on my face
But nobody else can stop you now!

All those specks of light
are not really stars
which is fine:
we never claimed they are.
If you make a wish
I will pray for you
even if your wish and mine
cannot both come true!

If you're lost and alone
I will give you my CELL PHONE.
Carry on, my child!
Falling rain masks the sound
Of your feet upon the ground
Carry on, my child!
Carry on, my dear one.

(Nobody will stop you now!)
(Nobody... will stop you now!)

Magma plumes mask the sound
of your feet upon the ground
Carry on, my child!

(Only ASGORE can stop you now.)

(to outro:)
Because you are
You are a shining star
But remember please
That you are who you are
On your darkest day
So I fear to know
How many lives you'll end
Before you find your way home!


A/N: Neutral Frisk isn't as interesting as pacifist Frisk or genocide Frisk. But here they are, warts and all. Did you expect them to call back? ;)

This was originally going to be the story's first scene with an omniscient point of view. But when I revised it, I decided seeing things from Sans' point of view would be juicier. You're welcome.

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