The weeks after that meeting were a blur to the child, and yet, they seemed to pass agonizingly slowly. Since word had gotten out, things had to step up their pace and it also meant a lot of conferences, and meetings. Right now though, the child was so exhausted that they were sitting on Gerson's lap in a chair outside one of the meetings, with their head throbbing.

Gerson gently coaxed them into taking some medicine to help ease the throbbing in their head due to the clamoring of the monsters within their mind. Frisk sighed, and leaned against the turtle. They were tired, but more so mentally than physically. It was just one meeting after another, and while the others in Frisk's mind could handle them…Frisk was still just a child. The conversations were full of things they didn't fully understand, and they just found themselves mind-numbingly bored.

Frisk knew that this wasn't what Asgore had in mind when he asked them to be the Ambassador. They whined their complaint. "Grandpa Gerson…" they grumbled. "I'm bored…" Gerson ruffled their hair affectionately as he gave a hum of thought.

"Hm, all right, Neck-Warmer…let's see if I got something to pass the time." Frisk looked up, watching as the turtle pulled a few things out of his shell. They giggled, and he gave a lopsided smirk. Even children of the monsters found it amusing, when he could whisk something from out of his shell. "All right, I got a paper and pen…and…a book to write on."

He took the pen though, testing that there was still some ink in it, before giving it to Frisk. The child glanced to the paper, tilting their head at the odd symbols. A hand pointing downwards, something that looked like the letter 'M', two black circles, and a square with a white center.

At first Frisk thought he had just made some random things, but suddenly, they made sense of it. It wasn't random images…it was a 'hello'. Frisk gasped, as it made sense to them. They weren't sure why the strange symbols made sense, but hastily they wrote back in the odd language, and handed him the message.

Gerson looked at it, blinking in surprise when he realized that Frisk replied to it. However, he remembered that one of the souls was likely Gaster hidden within them, and perhaps that explained it. He chuckled, and then they spent the next half an hour passing short messages back in forth on the paper.

They paid no mind to the humans that went pass. Some were disgusted, some were wary or scared…but some simply showed genuine curiosity. The one good thing, Frisk had learned, was that the humans were split in half. There was the one half that just wanted to trap them back behind the barrier, but then the other half was like William, in some ways, genuinely willing to give it all a chance.

"Oh," they heard, and then soft laughter. "Look, he's passing notes to the little one. How cute."

"Hm, what do you think they're talking about?"

"Probably just something silly."

Gerson picked up the paper, and then laughed at the child's next message. They were still bored. He ruffled their hair. "Sorry, Kid. Next time I'll bring some other things to occupy the time."

A shadow fell over them, and Gerson looked up to see William, while Frisk curled up a little, still a little wary of the human after he had halted time in the Capital Building. He hadn't done it since, but it had been frightening all the same.

"I do apologize for all these long meetings," William said, crouching down. "It must be exhausting for our little ambassador."

"Just a little," the turtle said. "Anything I should know?"

The human shrugged. "Well, tomorrow, we don't have any formal meetings." Frisk slowly raised their head at that. "I was thinking that, perhaps, we can have a bit of a walk around, and see the city more up close." Frisk and the others within their mind realized though, that he was inviting them to also have that conversation.

Gerson looked to Frisk…and Frisk heard insistent murmurs, so the little child nodded. "That's fine…" they mumbled. Still, they could feel wariness in some of those that were within them. As Gerson and William started to talk, Frisk tuned into their conversation, quietly closing their eyes as they focused.

'Should we really trust him?' Undyne asked. 'We saw what he can do! If he wants to stop us…'

Sans's quiet voice came next. 'I can't say I appreciate his ability…but the thing is, it's clear that if he was our enemy…he'd have already tried to dispose of us. What does he gain from keeping us alive?'

'He—he has a point,' Alphys stammered. 'Currently, we don't provide an obvious benefit. He has no reason to keep us alive…besides, how do we combat that?'

'Well,' Toriel murmured. 'While he gave us a scare, I think he's not dangerous—not to us. After all, he openly admitted his weak point. He can't affect us.'

'But…what if that was a trick?' Muffet asked. 'And in reality, he can ensnare us?'

'If it's a trick,' Asgore murmured. 'Then it's to see what we would do with such information…to see if we would take advantage of his seemingly obvious weak point. However, he cannot trap us. Not with that…'

'How come?' Papyrus asked out of genuine curiosity.

'Because outside of Resets,' Sans started…

'A time manipulator cannot alter another manipulator's perception of time,' Asgore surmised.

Undyne raised a brow. 'Sans I understand with knowing how this all works…but why you, Asgore?'

'Red magic is always associated with time in some way,' he explained. 'I do have a bit of sway over it, like how I was able to remember Frisk's resets when we fought…however, I do not have it to such a degree like a human, as Red Magic requires what Alphys referred to as…'

'Determination,' she supplied. 'We do not have a strong enough physical form to use Red Magic to its fullest. However, the opposite is the same to the humans. While they may be able to wield red magic best, we are better at harnessing the others. However, the point is that we're immune to William's alternations of time.'

'Then…should we worry?' Muffet asked.

Sans chuckled. 'Guess we'll find out tomorrow, hm?'


Mettaton cried out in alarm as a dark purple goop hit his face. "Oh, for the love of the—"

"You all right up there?" Felix called from down below where he sat at the computer, pushing back his wheeled seat as Mettaton came over with a towel, cleaning up his face as he did, his head poking into the cat's view.

"Yes, I'm fine, darling," Mettaton managed. "My hair not so much, but I'll survive."

Felix gave a snort of amusement, but his humor soon faded. "Any luck with that purple magic sample?"

"I don't think the result of it exploding in my face is what Muffet wants."

The cat huffed. "Thankfully, Catty said we're welcome to ask her for more. She doesn't use her magic crazily, so…"

"At least that means we can run tests into the foreseeable future. I know we wouldn't get it on our first try, but the sooner we figure out how to get Muffet back, the sooner we can fix the rest of Frisk's interesting situation."

Felix nodded as he looked back at the screen, running his hands down his face out of exhaustion. "I didn't realize how much goes into making magical properties; this is difficult to look at."

"Agreed," Mettaton said as he turned back to the workshop. "It's an overload to my system trying to comprehend it, but…we have to try."

"The real question is how any scientist put this together…"

"We'll have to ask Alphys the next time Frisk comes in." The robot paused as he heard a door slide open, and he went back to the edge as Felix pushed himself away from the desk to look down the hall, and then he glanced back up to Mettaton with a smirk.

"Well, speak of them, and they shall arrive. Useful, don't you think?" the feline joked as Frisk came into sight, waving to Felix, and then to Mettaton, before racing up the stairs. Yet, the robot picked up that the child seemed…tired, and he felt that asking them to stay and explain things may not be the best course of action.

Instead, he smiled as he knelt down. "And what brings you here, little darling?" he asked, though he already knew the answer. They asked, and he smiled. "Yes, I have a little something for you." He moved to the dresser, and pulled it out. A simple blue cloak, a little darker than Sans's hoodie, but perhaps it was reminiscent of the River Person.

Frisk took it, and slipped it on. It only had two sleeves, but that was upon Frisk's request. It draped down, only slightly brushing the floor. However, as they closed it up, it hid most of the other features perfectly. "And I designed the hood so that you can use it despite the horns." With that, he pulled it up for them. There were slits in the hood that the horns would slip through into perfectly cut holes.

Then, he fiddled with a Velcro latch he made, so that the hood would stay in place and the horns wouldn't slip out unless it was undone. "Now there we go, darling," he said as he grabbed a mirror for them. "Now, the horns I can't exactly hide, unless we want you wearing the most ridiculous hat—which, by the way, I forbid you from doing. I'll find some way to ground you if you do."

Frisk sighed, stroking one of the horns. They had thought maybe they could file them down, but most of the monsters were against the idea. "However," Mettaton said, getting their attention back as he smiled. "I have a compromise. I can't make the horns invisible, but, what I can do is make it look like it's not actually part of you, if you'd like that."

The child blinked their dual colored eyes, and then tilted their head fully to the side, humming their confusion to the robot. "Well, what I'm trying to say is I could make the horns look like they're part of a head piece, instead of you." They blinked. Mettaton sighed, and then grabbed a sketch book that had been laying on the work table, swiping some goop off it in light disgust.

"Here…" He opened the book, and the first thing that was noted was that the drawings were very mechanical in appearance. The ghost he had been likely couldn't draw, but as a robot, he could manage…but it was devoid of actual life. However, what he was trying to convey became evident. There were several designs, mostly with jewels as the makeshift example that would decorate the horns, and around their bases to make it look like a headdress of sorts.

Frisk hummed their understanding, and then pointed at one of the designs. Mettaton smiled. "I'll get to it when I can, darling," he said as they took the cloak off, neatly folding it. They gave a little smile, a wave, and then ran off with the cloak.

Down below, Grillby was once again, visiting Muffet's form. He knew that the spider herself was a part of Frisk…but it felt wrong to just not visit at all. Though, one could argue that broken soul deserved a visitor of some sort. However, he wasn't the only one down there. Chara was there as well, quietly watching.

The little ghost child was hiding for the most part, but lately, they had started to poke their head back out, and the elemental would sometimes speak to them, but today, Napstablook was also down there, and soon enough, the child was coaxed into talking again. At first, it was just idle chatter, until Grillby finally asked them what they had been doing after the garden incident…and so they explained their side of the story.

"I was…absorbed by the flower along with the other two," Chara murmured, while Napstablook translated. "Flowey and I were trying to keep the wild one down, but that other one…they never did anything. They were gone…defeated…just waiting for death to fully claim them."

They were quiet for a few moments, wringing their hands. "Eventually…Flowey and I lost control…and the corruption decided to show we weren't needed. We were tossed out…the soul is broken, and I needed to place it somewhere…when I…when I saw Muffet's soul leaving her form…I put that soul there."

Grillby and Napstablook's attention was fully grabbed at that point. The elemental's flames brightened. "You're the one that put the soul there?" Chara nodded, and looked away, while Grillby stood up, staring at the little ghost. "…you saved her life."

Chara folded their arms, and turned away, and Napstablook was hesitant to relay what they said next. "Don't," they had stated simply. "I only did it because of that soul. If it were just me, I wouldn't have bothered."

"It wouldn't have mattered though…" Napstablook mumbled. "If you had, her body probably couldn't handle it…"

Chara turned slightly, but was otherwise silent. "And if you had no obligation for Muffet," Grillby murmured. "What obligation did you have to the other soul?" Chara frowned, confused by his words, but were able to gather what he meant.

"…because that other human…" they mumbled. "Is like me…" They hung their head low. "What they did to this broken soul…if given the chance…I could have done the same thing to your Frisk… I just feel a little responsible. That's why I did this…this is why I'm still bothering to stay around." …though they had nowhere to go.

Frisk stumbled as they teleported into Waterfall, and staggered along, a wave of relief coming to them. After another long day, they just wanted a moment to themselves. Lately now, over the past few weeks, they had been forming a habit of coming here…to the statue with the hidden music box.

The former human slid down next to the statue, and closed their eyes, letting their mind slip away for a bit. The tune played softly as the rain fell, but Frisk didn't mind the feeling of the water falling on their face. It felt nice, and relieving, and they just needed these moments. Every day, another meeting, another conflict, and Frisk was still a child. They could only handle so much.

They dozed slightly, as they sometimes did when they came to the statue where they could be allowed to relax. In the area next to them though, Shyren sang softly to her sister, but paused as another figure came in. "Uh…yo…" Shyren looked over timidly, and waved. "Hey…did you see them…are they there this time?"

Shyren looked them over, and then nodded with a smile, pointing toward the statue. "Yes!" the other quietly exclaimed, and then hurried past her. "Thanks!"

Frisk stirred as they heard small footsteps, but inwardly, they ignored it, at least, they did until they weren't giving a choice. "Yo…" They raised their head, tilting it in confusion when they spotted the monster kid that they had seen on their journey. "Hey," they said with a smile. "You're up, haha…I uh…I've been going through Waterfall a lot lately…and uh…" The armless monster scratched at the ground with a foot.

"Anyways, I brought a snack this time, but um…I got too much, so I was wondering…would you like some?" They turned to the side, and raised their tail high. Between some of their spikes, was a basket. Due to the lack of arms, the monster had found other ways to carry things, it would seem.

Frisk looked at the reptile, blinking quietly, and then nodding. "Yo, that's great; I didn't want to waste anything." They approached, and flicked their tail expertly, the basket slipping free of their spikes, and landing neatly by Frisk, while they took a seat near them by just dropping roughly down with a little grunt. "You can have whatever you want in there," they informed the fusion.

They quietly reached forward, and then opened the basket, peering in to find it full of Cinnamon Buns. They took one out, and began to nibble on it. Kid leaned closer, but didn't take anything. Frisk paused, and then took another one out, holding it out to them. They perked, and smiled. "Yo, thanks. Haha, it's a little difficult to grab something like this."

The reptilian monster leaned forward, and took it carefully, before drawing back, and eating it. Frisk watched them, and then tilted their head. "Um…so…why are you out here in Waterfall? …won't your parents worry?"

Kid tilted their head. "Oh, haha…guess I need to explain that, don't I? Well, if you really want to know…"