As Asriel stared down at the charred corpse, he felt a small pang of guilt. Lin's betrayal had left dead men and women behind her, and now, Asriel was witness to the results of but one of her killings.

"Never should have trusted her. She tricked me, and Karen, and… Mom…" he sighed, moving towards the stone arch at the entrance of the forest. Following the path he had taken in in reverse, Asriel was met with a setting sun. His eyes widened in alarm, and he dug around in his pocket for his phone. As he pulled it out, he saw a text message from Frisk.

"Home. Now." was all it read. Two hours ago.

"Asriel?!" called a confused voice from the bottom of the hill.

"Karen?!" Asriel called back.

"You… You got the staff?! Wh-When…? Where's Lin?" asked Karen, looking around.

"No time to explain. We have to get Pepper and get home. Now." Said Asriel, grabbing a hold of Karen's hand, and teleporting back to the village.

"Azzy, what-" stammered Karen, before her bag hit her in the face.

"Pepper, come on. We're going home! Liza, here's some money for postage. Mail the luggage to this address." Said Asriel, pulling a hundred-dollar bill from his wallet.

"Um… O-okay…?" blinked Liza, before Asriel grabbed Karen's hand again. Pepper climbed up onto Asriel's back and clung on for dear life.

"Hold on tight, and don't let go." Said Asriel, bracing himself for the wave of nausea to follow.

"Asriel, please! Wait a min-" started Karen, just as Asriel snapped his fingers.

The three were thrown through time and space at an alarming rate, and as they reappeared in front of the hospital, Asriel was stumbling towards the hospital, leaning on the staff, while Karen was on her knees, spewing everything that she had eaten into the lawn outside.

"Wait here." Asriel called, moving towards the counter.

"Your Majesty? Are you alri-" started the receptionist, before Asriel rushed past her.

"I'm fine. I'm going to my mother, and that's not up for debate." He said, pushing open the doors leading into the ER.

"But… Your Majesty, she's… not here." Said the receptionist. Asriel froze in his tracks and turned around slowly.

"Where… is she?" he asked hotly, as the receptionist moved from behind the counter towards him.

"You have to promise me… that you won't hurt me." said the receptionist cautiously.

"Where's… my… mother…?" Asriel asked, the tears building. But before the receptionist could even open her mouth to speak, a hand fell sharply on his shoulder. He turned, and saw Frisk standing there, her eyes red. She'd been crying, and her cheeks were still stained with tears.

"Asriel… I think…. It would be best if you followed me." she said quietly, but with such a fierce undertone, that Asriel dared not disobey. She led him through the hospital, and as she did… Asriel noticed that her fists were clenched so tightly that her knuckles had gone white, and blood had begun to seep through the cracks in her fingers.

"Frisk, you're bleeding…!" started Asriel, before Frisk turned and punched a hole in the wall.

"WE HAD IT! WE FUCKING HAD IT FIGURED OUT! WE WERE FIVE MINUTES AWAY FROM THE HOSPITAL WITH THE ANTIDOTE! AND NOW, SHE…" Screamed Frisk before a now-stunned Asriel. She retracted her fist, and stared down at it, and sighed shakily.

"She's gone."

"You're lying… You have to be…!" babbled Asriel

"Why don't you see for yourself, furball…?" snapped Frisk, her pupils now red. "I think a kid should see his mother before she's buried, don't you?"

At that, Asriel dashed forward and grabbed Frisk by the collar, slamming her against the wall.

"I didn't travel half the globe to get this staff, just to be told that I was too late by you, Chara…!" he shouted. "Especially now… after what I learned… She needs to know…"

"What can you tell her now? She's gone." Said Frisk. "Dad's just sitting in there, devastated. She dusted in his arms, begging her to keep holding on for you. And yet, here you are, staff in hand when it doesn't even matter anymore."

"You may not think so, but I know that I can fix this! Just lead me to her; Sombus wasn't just the Patron Saint of Monsters, he was the Curator of Youth. If anything, with this staff, I could turn back the clock and bring her back." Begged Asriel.

"Or fail trying like we did." Said Chara.

"I'm not going to give up on her! She never gave up on us; why are you giving up on her?!" shouted Asriel. Frisk stared down at Asriel, and shook her head. He let her down to the floor.

"Asriel, if Sombus had that power once… Why did he die?" asked Frisk.

"Because… because he gave up that power, that's right!" said Chara. "Just like from the book we read as kids!"

"And the Gods held his powers in the staff. This staff is our one Hail Mary." Said Asriel, looking down at the staff. "If it fails, I'll accept the loss, but I'm not going to stand by and watch my family come apart again without trying!" Frisk looked up at him, a smile slowly starting to play across her lips.

"Room 1031…" she said, motioning her head down the hallway. "Good luck getting Dad out of the room."

"I want him there. I want her boys to be the first thing she sees when she wakes up." Said Asriel, moving towards the room in question, before stopping. "Oh, and you're welcome, too, if you want."

"There's no way I'm missing out on this." Said Frisk, standing up and grabbing a roll of gauze from the nurse station to wrap her hand. As they made their way to the room, the two of them could hear wails from behind the door. Asriel took a deep breath and pushed through the door. Asgore's head snapped towards him, and without thinking, he bellowed, "Leave us…!" A fireball shot towards Asriel, and Asriel raised the staff. The fireball fizzled out midair. Asgore's eyes widened in realization.

"A-Asriel…? You… You found it…?" he stammered.

"Yes, and I can fix her, too. But I need you to do me a favor, and step away from the bed. I can't have you interfere." Instructed Asriel.

"B-But, son, she's-" started Asgore, before Frisk placed a hand on his shoulder, and pulled him away gently.

"Let him try. It's the least you can do for his efforts." Said Frisk. Asgore, though still shaken, nodded understandingly. He turned back to Asriel.

"Bring her back, son. I don't want to be alone, again." He sighed. Asriel nodded, and moved to the foot of the bed. He stared down at the ashen gray spot upon the sheet, and swallowed the sight of it, before holding the staff in both hands.

"Gaea… Abris… Iona… Uldona…. Typhos… Miphos… Lend me aid in this task. As the heir to Sombus, I wish to use this power to restore life to the woman who once laid upon this bed. She did nothing wrong and did not deserve the death she got. If I am truly who I was told I was… please… please let me bring her back… She gave me my life… so why should hers be stolen from her? I pray that you allow me this one thing... and this one thing alone."

From the crystal of the staff erupted a flurry of different colored lights and enveloped the bed. The ash that dotted the bedsheets began to glow and reform. Asriel closed his eyes and exhaled.

"Let it be known, that she shall live until Asgore's passing." Said a voice from the staff. "A prodigal son of a prodigal son. I can choose no better heir." Asriel blinked and stared at the staff; in the crystal, another monster stared back at him. He looked so similar to him, that Asriel thought it a reflection. But the eyes were softer, and the features less angular.

"…Thank you, Lord Sombus." Said Asriel.

"You bow to no one, Lord Asriel." Replied Sombus, as the face disappeared, and the lights died down. Asriel lowered the staff, and in the bed… was Toriel, sound asleep, breathing normally.

"Mom…? Mom, can you hear me?" asked Asriel, moving towards Toriel's side, as did Frisk and Asgore. Toriel's eyes reflexively scrunched from the light through her window, and she blinked up at them.

"Well…? What's everyone staring at? Do I have something on my face?" asked Toriel, confused, before Asgore picked her up from the bed, and hugged her tightly.

"Oh, Tori…! T-Toriel…! Toriel, I thought I lost you again!" he wept.

"Lost me…? What are you talking about? And why are we at a hospital…? Did little Yuna spear herself again?" asked Toriel.

"Mom, don't you remember? You were attacked, and you fell into a coma. You were out for a week, and just an hour ago-" started Frisk, before Asriel stopped her. Toriel then turned her attention to the object in Asriel's hand. Immediately, she slapped her hands against Asgore's chest to put her down.

"Asgore, let me go…! Right now, put me down." She demanded, and Asgore obliged. She moved unevenly and unsurely towards Asriel, her eyes shining like stars full of hope, shooting between the staff and her son.

"…A-Asriel… Is… Is that…?" she started. Asriel looked to the crystal, and Sombus' face nodded.

"So, he wasn't lying… my Father… He… Oh, sweet Sombus…" Toriel wept, her hands cupping over her snout.

"Can she…?" asked Asriel to the crystal.

"She may." Replied Sombus. Asriel then offered the staff to Toriel. Slowly, Toriel reached for it, and as she felt it in her fingertips, the tears began to flow even harder, and she fell to her knees, holding it close to her chest.

"I knew it…! I knew Daddy wasn't lying…! Oh, Rayburn… Oh… Oh, Asriel! This is going to clear his name!" cried Toriel. "Oh… I… I can't… I can't breathe…! I can't believe it…! I-I have to call Lin…! She'll be over the moon!" Asriel tensed and smiled at the mere mention of Lin.

"Oooooooh… About Lin… Mom… There's something you need to know about Lin… and this is gonna be very difficult. Both for you and me." said Asriel.

"What is it? Is Lin okay…?" asked Toriel.

"Well… Lin's… more of a backstabbing liar." Sighed Asriel. "You remember how she told you that he took his own life…?"

"Yes, how could I forget? It was right after we got back from the interview with Jorin."

"That was a lie… He didn't kill himself; he was murdered." Said Asriel, causing Toriel's eyebrows to shoot up.

"That can't be true." Said Toriel.

"It is true. I had a bad feeling about her from the moment I met her… from the moment she asked me how far along I was at the airport." Said Frisk. "And Asriel… who killed him?"

"Actually… it's quite a story…" laughed Asriel. "Turns out that Lin fancied him, and even managed to seduce him on one of their trips, and that led to the fallout between Iris and him." Toriel's eyes widened.

"So, he did cheat. Mom wasn't making that up. How could he…?" she asked.

"It was a one-time thing… according to Lin, Rayburn regretted even doing it, and he was so ashamed that Lin tricked him into doing it. She tried to convince him to leave Iris several times, but… he stayed loyal to Iris. And that made Lin jealous." Continued Asriel. "Jealous that he chose, and I quote, a 'ugly, overweight, wart-covered cow of a Boss Monster' over her. But even after you were born, she never gave up on trying to make him hers. She was the one who told Iris that he cheated… though I doubt she revealed who with."

"N-No… she didn't… she couldn't have… She was FAMILY…!" Toriel shouted, her eyes blazing with a barely contained rage. Asriel then took the staff from her, for fear of the staff doing to her what it did to Lin.

"I'm sorry, Mom… But when you and Grandma left… she went to visit him at his house, and gave him a chance to be with her, and when he refused… bang. She shot him in the head." Said Asriel.

"Where… is… she… now… Asriel…?" asked Toriel, trembling with fury, her lips wavering.

"Dead. She tried to take the staff from me, after telling me everything I'm telling you. And not only was she behind Rayburn's murder, but also the attacks on you and Asgore. Every single assassination attempt, the attack that put you in a coma? All of it was her. And you want to know the best part? She wanted to use the staff to bring back Aberon… in your body. Or mine, if yours dusted before she got it, which she didn't."

"B-But how? Lin was a very accomplished magic user, how did you-" asked Toriel.

"I guess she wasn't in the right state of mind. She tried to grab the staff from me after I'd surrendered it at gunpoint. The only reason I did that was because of you, Sis… and little Cooper." Said Asriel, turning to Frisk.

"…You were thinking of me? And… C-Coop- Who's Cooper?" asked Frisk, a little confused. "Is that someone I should know?"

"He's only growing inside of you. It's a boy, sis." Said Asriel with a smile. Frisk smiled wider and placed her hands on her belly.

"Oh, my goodness…" gasped Toriel. "Frisk, are you pregnant, again?"

"I was going to tell you when everything calmed down… but… I guess Asriel ruined the surprise. But to think, Arial and Segoe are getting a brother…!" laughed Frisk. "I-I have to call Sans! He's with the kids and Anastasia!"

"Anastasia? Miss Fuschia? The one who wanted me fired?!" asked Toriel.

"Oh, wow… there's a lot we have to catch you up on." Laughed Asriel.

"Asriel, why don't you go check up on Karen? We'll catch up when we've informed the doctor of your little miracle." Asked Frisk. At that moment, a beep could be heard from the bed. Everyone turned and saw that Toriel had pushed the red button for emergencies.

"If anyone's going to inform them, it should be me." said Toriel, as a pair of nurses rushed in.

"King Asgore! Are you h-" started the nurses, before one of them fainted at the sight of Toriel, the other running out of the room to grab the nurse that had taken care of her before she dusted.

"Well, that didn't take long." Smiled Asriel. "I'll go check on Karen, see how she's doing. Last I saw, she was on the front lawn, puking her guts out. We had to teleport from Ireland to get here."

"Be careful, Asriel. That girl's a real firecracker when she's sick." Laughed Toriel with a wink, as Asriel left the room. Asgore nuzzled into Toriel as soon as Asriel was gone, before Frisk chimed in.

"Do you two want some privacy?" she said, as Toriel nodded.

"That would be appreciated, before they come back and start asking questions." She replied, as Frisk walked out of the room to follow Asriel. But he was nowhere in sight. Frisk chuckled to herself, and then continued towards the parking lot.

"Oh, Asriel… You saved our lives again… I can't wait for the day you finally become king…" she sighed to herself.