Sir Pouncival

Warning: There is a small touch of childlike drama in this chapter, but it's going to be fine.

After preparing for a big event like a wedding, it is always strange to get on with normal life like usual. Frisk thought it was absolutely ridiculous that so much could happen in one day and then two days later they were expected to just go to school like nothing happened. Asriel agreed wholeheartedly. At least the weather did its best to make the days special; there had never been such lovely weather. Frisk and Asriel spent every possible second they could outside, preferably barefoot and in as few articles of clothing as Toriel would allow.

When it was cloudy on one of their free Wednesday afternoons, after days of golden sunshine, they were highly insulted.

"Now we have to think of something to do inside," Asriel complained.

"I know," Frisk said. "Let's draw pictures."

"Alright," Asriel agreed, cheering up.

They gathered pencils and paper and installed themselves in the living room. Sir Pouncival came to lie on the table, overseeing their work. They had hardly begun their first drawings, however, when the sun came out from behind the clouds and streamed in through all the windows.

"It's doing it on purpose," Frisk scowled.

"Let's just go draw outside!" Asriel said.

"Yeah!" Frisk agreed, jumping up. "I'll get one of Mom's tea trays to draw on."

They ran to the kitchen while Asriel gathered their drawing stuff. Sir Pouncival meowed disapprovingly when Asriel pulled a piece of paper out from under him. He gave Asriel a very accusing feline look. Sir Pouncival did not approve of being abandoned like this.

Frisk came back from the kitchen with two tea trays and two juice boxes.

"Sir Pouncival wants to come outside with us," Asriel informed them.

"Then we'll take him with us!" Frisk said, tucking the trays under one arm and picking Sir Pouncival up with the other.

Toriel had decided it was best to keep Sir Pouncival inside, but occasionally he was allowed out into the garden if someone kept a close eye on him. So Frisk and Asriel went to the backyard and sat down in the grass to draw, while Sir Pouncival nestled beside them, lazily swatting at a fly every now and again.

"I'm going to draw a picture of Papyrus and Mettaton," Frisk decided.

"I'm going to design a garden," Asriel said. "Just like Dad."

It was nice to sit in the grass and draw while the sun warmed their backs and the fluffy clouds drifted by overhead. Occasionally Sir Pouncival would let out a soft purr and Frisk or Asriel would give him a stroke.

"Frisk?" Asriel asked, colouring the trees. "What were your first parents like?"

Frisk didn't answer right away. They carefully drew Mettaton's hair, swept over one eye.

"Soft," they said eventually.

"So are mine," Asriel grinned.

"No," Frisk laughed. "Not that kind of soft. Just…I don't know, soft. Warm and quiet?"

"They talked with their hands too, right?" Asriel asked. "Just like you can." He took a blue pencil for the echo flowers; he missed echo flowers.

Frisk nodded.

"I'm sorry they're not here now," Asriel mumbled. "But…but I'm real happy you came to the underground."

Frisk looked up into his anxious face and smiled. "Me too," they said. "The people I had to stay with after the accident were not very nice."

"Did you run away?" Asriel asked. "I ran away once, just to see if I could."

"I didn't run away," Frisk said. "We were all playing on the mountain. I wanted to explore a cave and then I fell."

"Who were you playing with?" Asriel asked, surprised.

"The other children," Frisk replied.

"What other children?" Asriel asked.

Frisk hardly ever talked about their past and Asriel was certain they had never mentioned other children.

"The other children that didn't have parents anymore," Frisk said.

"Were they nice?" Asriel asked.

"Nicer than the grownups," Frisk said. "But they were all bigger than me."

"Mmmm," Asriel hummed. Older children were often difficult to deal with.

Frisk dug in the box of pencils looking for the one silver coloured pencil they had. They couldn't draw Mettaton without silver.

"You'd like my parents," they said suddenly and they grinned at Asriel. "They like you."

"Really?" Asriel said happily. "Cool…"

"Done!" Frisk said contentedly, laying down their pencil.

"Me too," Asriel said.

They swapped drawings to admire each other's work. Asriel's garden was lovely. There were big yellow buttercups and blue echo flowers everywhere. Frisk's picture of Papyrus and Mettaton was full of sparkles drawn with silver and gold pencil; it was a happy drawing.

"Who should I draw next?" Frisk asked, taking a new piece of paper. "Mom and Sans or Asgore and Katla?"

Asriel didn't answer. He stroked Sir Pouncival silently and pulled a face. Frisk put their pencil down and leaned back, looking at him.

"What?" they asked.

"Nothing," Asriel said sulkily.

"Why can't your dad like Katla?" Frisk asked. "You're not mad at Sans for liking Mum, are you?"

"No…" Asriel mumbled. "But it's different."

"Why?" Frisk demanded to know.

"It just is," Asriel frowned, looking away.

Frisk gave him a long, silent look. Finally they reached out to pet Sir Pouncival as well. Asriel was stubbornly staring at his own hand and didn't look at Frisk.

"I thought you didn't want your dad to be alone," they said after a while.

"He's not alone," Asriel huffed. "He's got me. And Gaster."

"Yeah…" Frisk said. "But we've got each other and Mum and Sans and Papyrus… And really we've got Gaster and Asgore too…"

Asriel wrinkled his snout in frustration. "But so does he! And Undyne and Alphys," he said.

"So why can't he have Katla as well?" Frisk asked with a smile.

Asriel sighed and let himself fall onto his back in the grass. The truth was he didn't know why any of it bothered him; it just did. Frisk decided to let it go and flopped down beside him, on their stomach with their feet in the air.

"We don't have to draw any more pictures," they said, changing the subject. "We can do something else."

"Like what?" Asriel asked, turning his head to look at them.

"Mmm…" Frisk pondered. "I know!" they cried, their face lighting up. "We can play with my magic book!"

They ran into the house and came back with 'The Big Book of Forgotten Magic'.

"I can't find the wand," they said, sitting down in the grass beside Asriel and opening the book.

"You don't need a wand for magic anyway," Asriel said.

"You don't," Frisk said reproachfully and they gave Asriel a dark look as he conjured up a few green sparks from his fingertips.

Asriel laughed.

"You can save," he said.

"That's not magic," Frisk said.

"Why not?" Asriel said. "No one else can do it."

"Hm," Frisk hummed, they had never really thought about it like that.

"Let's do this one," Asriel said, pointing to a page of the book that read: "Transmorphication."

It was a spell to turn things into other things. Asriel found it really funny. Everyone knew you couldn't just make things into other things. Monster could make raw magic into things, like Undyne's spears and Sans and Papyrus' bones, but that was different. And you could always tell what was a real thing and what was a magic thing. You couldn't turn a real thing into a magic thing.

"It says you can turn a stone into a toad!" he laughed. "But only if the stone already feels like a toad."

Laughingly Frisk got up and hunted around the garden in search of a stone. They found a nice big, lumpy one and brought it back to Asriel.

"This one looks really toady," they said.

"Very," Asriel agreed, grinning.

"Alright," Frisk giggled, putting the stone of the ground in front of them. "Tell me what to do."

"You have to point at the stone and imagine that it's a toad," Asriel said, reading the book. "But first you have to turn around three times counter clockwise, hopping on one leg."

"It does not say that!" Frisk laughed.

"It does too!" Asriel chuckled.

"Where?" Frisk demanded, reaching for the book. "Let me see."

"No!" Asriel grinned. "I was giving your instructions! Come on, do the toad thing!"

"Fine," Frisk said, sticking out their tongue. They stood up on one leg and hopped around three times counter clockwise, yelling: "Toad! Toad! Toad!"

Asriel dropped the book and snorted with laughter. Frisk pulled some extra funny faces, pointed both their hands dramatically down towards the stone, and said in the most solemn voice they could command: "TOAD."

Frisk's face and voice flooded with determination and Asriel could have sworn he felt his fur crinkle. A red glow flared up around the stone and Frisk let out a cry of surprise.

"Frisk!" Asriel yelled.

Instead of answering, Frisk kicked at the stone and jumped backwards. Nothing happened. The stone was just a stone. The red glow was gone. Everything was fine.

"What was that?" Asriel gaped.

"I don't know!" Frisk said. They were as surprised as he was. The glow had looked a little like the magic glow that Sans and Papyrus created when they used their telekinesis, but much weaker than that. It hadn't done anything however. The kicked stone lay on its other side now, but it was definitely not a toad. "What if I had actually done it?" Frisk gasped. "Could I have turned it into a toad?" They let out a nervous laugh. "Sir Pouncival might have eaten it!"

"No," Asriel said. "Sir Pouncival wouldn't do such a-" He looked around. There was no black cat in sight.

"Pouncival?" Frisk said, following Asriel's gaze around the garden. "He was with us a minute ago, right?"

"I… I don't know," Asriel said uncertainly.

"Pouncival!" Frisk called out. "Here, Pouncival!"

Asriel clicked his tongue and made purring sounds. There wasn't a meow or purr in response. Sir Pouncival didn't come.

"What if something happened to him?" Asriel gasped.

Frisk looked at him with wide, panicked eyes.

"It's our fault," they squeaked. "We shouldn't have let him outside…"

"Maybe he's in the front yard!" Asriel said desperately.

They ran to the front yard, calling Sir Pouncival's name.

"Pouncival?" Frisk cooed. "Pouncival?"

Asriel looked under all the shrubs, but he didn't even see a single paw print. Frisk thought of the night they found Sir Pouncival alone and cold in the dark and they felt tears pricking in their eyes.

"Asriel…" they whimpered.

"He's not gone," Asriel said hastily. "He can't be."

Mr. Denny from across the street was watering his plants and looked up to see the children running around.

"Everything okay over there?" he asked.

He put down the hose and crossed the street. Asriel and Frisk looked at him with quivering lips.

"What's the matter?" he asked, concerned.

"We've lost Sir Pouncival," Frisk whimpered.

"Our cat…" Asriel explained.

Mr. Denny nodded; he had guessed as much. "When did you see him last?" he asked.

"I don't know," Frisk wailed.

"Only a couple minutes ago!" Asriel said. "It can't have been longer." But he didn't sound very sure.

"And you've looked all around the garden?" Mr. Denny asked.

The children nodded.

"I wish we hadn't taken him outside," Asriel said in a small voice.

"That can't be helped now," Mr. Denny said kindly. "We have all done things that make us wish we could turn back time, but sadly that isn't how things work."

Asriel looked over at Frisk, slowly. Frisk's eyes were wide and shocked. They stared at each other, not even hearing Mr. Denny talk anymore. Frisk had gone very, very pale and Asriel stood so still he might have forgotten to breathe. Turn back time…

"Children," Mr. Denny said suddenly, startling them from their panicked thoughts. "Where are your parents? Have you told them what happened?"

Asriel and Frisk looked up at him, dumbfounded.

"You aren't home alone, are you?" he said.

To tell the truth, they had absolutely forgotten they weren't.

"SANS!" Frisk yelled, bolting into the house.

"We…we forgot…" Asriel stammered.

Mr. Denny smiled. "That happens sometimes when you get really startled by something," he said sympathetically. "Makes it hard to think straight."

Meanwhile, Frisk was storming down the basement stairs, still yelling. There was a flash of light and an extremely startled and still sleepy looking Sans appeared out of nowhere right in front of them. Around his neck, draped like a furry shawl, lay Sir Pouncival.

"Pouncival!" Frisk shrieked and they nearly tackled Sans in their attempt to hug both him and the cat at the same time.

"Woah! Woah!" Sans sputtered. "What's the matter?"

Asriel had heard Frisk scream and he came running too. "You found him!" he cried and he dove on top of them.

"It's a good thing I technically don't have to breathe," Sans said, sounding muffled. He gently disentangled himself, leaving Frisk and Asriel on the floor, hugging the purring Sir Pouncival tight. "Mind telling me what all that was about?" he asked.

Frisk and Asriel looked at each other. They were so happy they could have cried. Asriel almost did.

"We…we were playing outside," Frisk gulped.

The garbled explanation that Frisk and Asriel managed to give Sans didn't clear things up at all. Before they could try again however they heard a voice upstairs that called:

"Hello? Frisk? Asriel?"

Sans looked up. He didn't recognise the voice immediately.

"Oh!" Frisk said, remembering. "That's Mr. Denny!"

"We left him outside," Asriel said ashamed.

"What do you mean left him?" Sans frowned.

They all went upstairs, where Mr. Denny was standing in the hallway. He had just wanted to make sure the children were alright. When he saw the cat in Frisk's arms, he smiled.

"Ah," he said. "I see the crisis has been averted."

"Yes!" Frisk said, a little awkwardly but still very relieved. "He had just gone down to Sans' workshop."

"There you go," Mr. Denny said kindly. "The cat had more sense than you gave him credit for."

"Thank you for helping us," Asriel said with an apologetic smile.

"Not at all," Mr. Denny shook his head. "I'll hurry back to my plants now." He nodded at Sans and left, closing the front door behind him.

Sans gave Frisk and Asriel an inquiring look. He was fully awake now, but still didn't fully understand what had happened.

"We thought Sir Pouncival ran away," Asriel explained.

"Because we took him outside…" Frisk joined in.

They told the whole story again, a lot calmer this time, and when they were done, Sans chuckled and shook his skull.

"Alright," he said. "Well, crisis averted, I guess. I could use a glass of ketchup. Do you want juice or chocolate milk?"

"Chocolate milk," Frisk sighed and Asriel nodded in agreement.

They were sitting at the table, drinking and each nibbling on a biscuit when Toriel came home from her work at the Council.

"Hello," she said cheerfully. "What a cosy gathering."

"Yeah, well," Sans chuckled. "Be glad you didn't come home a little earlier."

"Oh?" Toriel asked, sitting down.

Asriel and Frisk exchanged a guilty glance and told her what had happened.

"Luckily it was only a scare," Toriel smiled, stroking a purring Sir Pouncival. "And I am sure you will be more careful next time."

"Yes," Frisk nodded.

"We probably scared him away with the magic," Asriel sighed.

"Magic?" Toriel asked, surprised, and Sans looked up from the cracker he was dunking in his ketchup.

That particular detail had slipped the children's minds when they were giving their explanations.

"Um," Frisk said nervously. "We were playing with my magic book and…I did…something?"

"Humans can't use magic, right, Mom?" Asriel asked urgently. "Except it really looked like Frisk did!"

They both tried to explain what they had seen and Toriel and Sans listened attentively. Sans relaxed after the first couple of sentences and Toriel didn't look very concerned either.

"I suppose I should have talked about this to you sooner," she said. "Especially since I gave you the magic book! That was likely a little irresponsible of me." She shook her head, but smiled when she saw the confused stares of her children. "All monsters can use the magic flowing through them," Toriel explained. "They do it in different ways, but essentially all magic is the same. Technically there is no reason why humans could not do it too, except the human body is not made for magic. A human needs an incredibly strong soul to be able to channel magic. Humans with souls strong enough to do it are very rare, but Frisk, I do think you are one such human."

Frisk stared at her and Asriel looked very wide-eyed.

"In fact, I am quite certain you possess the ability to use magic," Toriel said seriously. "And I am sure it helped you make your way through the Underground."

Frisk glanced at Sans, but he looked almost as surprised as they were by this sudden admission of Toriel's.

"Perhaps," Toriel said calmly. "When you are a little older, it would be wise to try and find out in what direction your magic naturally flows and perhaps let you practice with it."

Frisk opened and then shut their mouth again, not sure what to say. They glanced at Sans, who looked back blankly. Finally Frisk said:

"But…there might be other humans that can do magic too?"

Toriel sighed. "Well," she said. "It is certainly a possibility… I did know of one other once."

Asriel made a soft sound and Frisk glanced at him before looking back at Toriel.

She looked into Frisk's eyes. "Tell me," she said solemnly. "Are you truly surprised about all this, or are you mostly surprised that I know?"

Frisk cast down their eyes and Toriel nodded slowly. "A bit of both, I see," she said.

For a moment, her expression was very serious and Frisk thought they were in trouble. Sans was waiting nervously, wondering if he should say something and Asriel almost spoke up in defence of his sibling when Toriel smiled. The grave look had passed and her face was soft and cheerful again.

"Well," she said with a sigh. She smiled and her eyes began to twinkle. "Truly, Sans," she said. "We shouldn't be surprised. After all, both our children are absolutely magical."

Frisk and Asriel cheered up immediately and Sans chuckled. "They sure are," he agreed.

"Do you want to see what I picked up on the way home from work?" Toriel asked, taking a plastic bag and putting it on the table.

"Yes," Frisk said, sitting up.

"What?" Asriel asked eagerly.

"I seem to remember you two wanted to do some crafting…" Toriel smiled and she emptied the bag's contents on the table.

There were wooden rods, brightly coloured wax paper, broad ribbons, and rolls of tape. It took Asriel and Frisk a moment to process exactly what was before them, but as soon as they caught on, they both let out a cry of joy. Ever since they had seen Mary Poppins for the first time a few days ago, they had wanted nothing more than to make their own kites.

"Good to see you have not yet lost your enthusiasm," Toriel laughed. "We will see if we can manage to finish one before dinner, alright?"

So Sans moved to the couch with Sir Pouncival and took a nap to make up for the one from which he had been so rudely awoken earlier, while Toriel, Frisk, and Asriel made a kite. It was not a very good kite as the wax paper was giving the children quite a lot of trouble. When they had almost finished it, Papyrus came home and with his encouragement, they made a second one while Toriel prepared dinner. After dinner, they made a third one and that one looked like it actually could fly.

"Can we go try it?" Frisk asked. "Please, Mom?"

"There's still time, isn't there?" Asriel pleaded. "It's still light outside!"

That was not a very good argument and Asriel knew it, but Toriel only laughed. "Go on then. Fly your kite. I am sure Papyrus would love to help you."

"Absolutely!" Papyrus exclaimed. "How exciting! I have never flown a kite before."

The three of them ran outside and with a little cheating in the form of Papyrus' telekinesis they managed to get the kite high enough up in the air to catch the wind. It soared beautifully and its multi-coloured tail fluttered triumphantly in the wind.

"Mom! Sans!" Asriel cried. "Come look!"

Toriel and Sans came outside just as Frisk carefully handed over the string of the kite to Papyrus.

"Nyeh! Nyeh! Nyeh!" Papyrus laughed excitedly. "Look at it fly!"

"Isn't it pretty!" Asriel said proudly.

"It's awesome," Frisk proclaimed.

"Well done," Toriel smiled. "It is absolutely beautiful. And it flies so well!"

"Having fun, bro?" Sans grinned.

"I am!" Papyrus said. "Look, it is dancing!"

"Yeah," Sans nodded. "It's kite the sight."

"Don't distract me with your awful puns," Papyrus said happily. "I am flying."

"Oh, we can tell you are in full control," Toriel giggled. "There are no strings on you."

Sans gave her a loving grin and Frisk and Asriel laughed and snorted. They took turns flying the kite until Toriel said it was time to go inside, where Sir Pouncival lay in his basket and slept without a care in the world.


See, I told you everything would be fine. *Hums: "Let's go fly a kyte"*

Shout out to:

Glory56, who wanted to see a chapter where the cat runs away. I feel like I interpreted it a little differently than what you had in mind, but I hope you liked it anyway!

Shark Lord, who asked a while ago to hear a bit more about Frisk's past. Have this little glimpse.

Capricon Aquarius FOZ, who wanted to see Frisk and Asriel play with the magic book.

No Sleep Until Vacation, who suggested the kids should play with kites.

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Casper: Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. Sadly I do have to end Happy Family quite soon, the very last chapter will be an epilogue that takes place around 7 years into the future.

KScarborough: You're going to give me an inflated ego! Thank you, I'm so glad my fic makes you happy. There will be three more normal chapters, then the Grand Finale and lastly a happy fluffy epilogue.

C.W.: I have thought about what you said about writing a spinoff, please see the message below. :)

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I can't believe I'm saying this, but: A message for anyone that would like to write something based on/inspired by Happy Family:

If I inspired you to write something please feel free to write it! I am honoured to be part of your creativity. I do however have two conditions and one request:

Condition 1: Please tell me if you've written something and where to find it so I can read it! :D

Condition 2: I am not comfortable with someone literally rewriting the events in Happy Family. Either for an AU like Underfell or in any other way. I don't mind if you want to add to what I've written, but please don't rewrite. (If you have your heart set on it please PM me here or on Tumblr and we'll talk about it, but for some reason the thought of this makes me uneasy).

Request: If you choose to upload it, it would be lovely if you could link or refer back to Happy Family. I realise this might not be relevant if this is just one of the many things that have inspired you and I certainly won't insist on it, but it would be very nice ;)

So, those are my thoughts on spinoffs/fanfics/inspired works (never in a million years would I have even dared to hope that people would be writing something because I wrote something, gosh it's overwhelming).

Thank you for reading, you are all lovely and I'll see you in the next chapter!