What Blooms in Shadow

by PaddieFrog

In the dog days of summer, a happy event sparks a terrible realization in Toriel regarding her immortality and the future consequences it could entail. She knows there is only one way for her to age again, to avoid such a fate. But things are no longer as simple as they were over a century ago. (Soriel, Sequel to All These Broken Pieces)

17. Uncertainties

In a field of golden flowers, a much younger Toriel carefully crept up on another monster sitting amongst the blooms.

He was sitting with his back to her, his face buried in a large book that hardly fit in his small hands. His black and gray striped shirt stood out like a dark stain amongst the brightly colored flora, making him an easy target. There was a gentle wind that carried the scents of spring and made the flowers gently sway in its wake. Toriel relied on the soft sound of their rustling to hide her pawsteps as she continued her approach.

Once she was in range though, she pounced with a playful giggle and hurriedly plopped down what she had been carrying in her paws on his head. He drew back from her with an exclamation of surprise and annoyance, glowering up at her before warily reaching up to see what she had put on his head. From the expression on his face, he likely expected to find a wiggling mess of caterpillars or a particularly slimy slug. But no, it wasn't anything bug related… this time.

It was a flower crown weaved from golden flowers, as well as a few other white wildflowers mixed in here and there. All threaded expertly together using long strands of bright green grass.

"Do you like it, Wingdings?" She asked with a bright smile, stepping back to admire her work. "I think the golden color suits you!"

The skeleton narrowed his sockets at her from behind his large round glasses. With a huff, he pulled the crown off his head and held it away from himself like it carried a foul stench. He dropped it on the ground beside him and picked up his book again as though using it as some sort of shield. As he did, two magically conjured hand shaped bullets appeared over his head.

(What are you trying to do, get me stung by bees?) The hands singed in the air above him as he continued to frown at her.

Toriel crossed her arms and gave a mock pout, but she had long since come to expect this behavior from him. Wingdings never seemed to want to do anything but read day in and day out. The few times he'd "tried" (or had more or less been forced) to try the activities she liked, like bug hunting and making crafts such as these, he'd failed so badly at each that he had given up on all of them on the spot, declaring them silly wastes of time.

Toriel, ignoring Wingdings' continued glaring, picked up the flower crown and dusted it off carefully.

"Oh, come on now. Me and Adean worked hard on it!" She said, regaining her smile regardless of the skeleton's sour attitude. "I think this one is our best one yet. And personally, I think it would be awesome to have a crown that attracts bees. Bees are awesome!"

Wingdings rolled his eyelights and pointedly turned away from her, putting all his focus back on his book. She opened her mouth to say something else, but was cut off when someone else suddenly spoke up from behind her.

"Stop bothering Wingdings, Toriel." They said, and as she turned she saw it was Asgore standing next to the ever quiet Adean.

The prince of monsters and the prince of humans both wore their respective kingdom's slightly oversized robes. Asgore's being a deep purple and Adean's an earthy brown. Asgore was puffed up and clearly trying to seem confident. While Adean just regarded them all with casual amusement, their own flower crown sitting proudly on their head.

"He's probably studying something super important!" Asgore went on, ignoring the teasing smile on his human friend's face.

When Toriel grinned mischievously in his direction and took a step towards him, he cowered back and held up his paws protectively.

"And don't put it on me either!" He clarified quickly, his voice rising a bit in pitch.

She giggled at his expense but conceded, putting it back up on her own head instead. She shared a look with Adean, enjoying the fact they were now matching. They gave her a thumbs up but they playfully hid it when Asgore looked in their direction again.

"We should be practicing our magic instead of messing around with flowers anyway." Asgore declared, laying a paw proudly over his chest. "My father says that with my lineage, I will surely turn out to be the strongest boss monster there ever was!"

Now it was Toriel's turn to roll her eyes, though she kept a smile on her face all the same.

"You are one to judge about messing around with flowers, Princey." She said, sticking out her tongue at him. "You practically have whole bouquets growing in your room's window boxes back at your castle."

The other boss monster's ears turned slightly pink at the ends as he blushed at her comment, expression becoming indignant.

"Hush up! That's not relevant right now!" He exclaimed, before taking a deep breath and suddenly getting into a fighting stance. "Come on and spar with me, I've been wanting to practice some new techniques I've been learning."

Humming thoughtfully, she took a purposefully long time to consider his request. All the while he was getting increasingly annoyed to be standing still in the same, not properly balanced, pose. Eventually though, when she felt he was on the verge of nearly falling over she jumped towards him and landed in such a way that their snouts were nearly touching.

He let out a surprised sound somewhere between a squeak and a gasp and fell back onto his rump into the flowers. His ears flushed even redder than before, and she and Adean shared a little laugh at his expense. He puffed up his cheeks defiantly, but softened his expression some when she offered her paw to him to help him up.

"Alright! But I have been practicing too, so you better be ready, Gorey." She warned him, flashing him a toothy grin.

He blinked at that, but then nodded and allowed her to pull him back up to his feet. And with that, Adean and Wingdings backed up to give them space. The latter doing so with plenty of grumbling, though Toriel could tell he was paying attention all the same.

Asgore made the first move, firing off a volley of orange colored flame attacks in her direction. As he did, his orange eye flashed briefly in turn, like brightly colored sparks. Toriel timed them carefully in her head, just like she did when trying to track and catch a grasshopper leaping through the castle gardens.

She weighed the options of dodging the attacks or simply moving through them as her father had taught her. But admittedly, she wasn't too confident about that second option yet, so she just ducked and weaved around them before firing off a few targeted flame attacks of her own.

Asgore saw her attack coming though, and deflected the flames by striking them with his own. She raised an eyebrow, somewhat impressed. Both of them were turning out to be pretty fairly matched after all.

For all of her earlier teasing, Asgore put up a good fight. Even compared to the last time they sparred like this. It was all controlled fun and games for now, attacks that wouldn't do much but knock someone down if they did land, but he'd be a truly formidable opponent had he been fighting her for real. Maybe strong enough to fend off a human…

No, she shouldn't think that way. She sounded like her mother.

Time for her to try her new technique…

She drew in a deep breath, sparking the flame magic to grow hot inside her. She then summoned up a small wall of flame. Asgore's fire attacks struck the wall and were consumed, vanishing into the pale purple blaze. Toriel's eyes sparkled in response, impressed by her own ability. Her friends seemed fairly impressed too, especially Asgore. He was staring up at the fiery attack with wide eyes, not moving to summon any more flames of his own for that moment. Not wasting any time, she took advantage of the opening.

With a grin, she backed up a step and then leapt through the small wall of fire, passing through her own flames unharmed. The fire had hidden the oncoming attack from Asgore, who was blindsided when she came flying through the purple blaze and tackled him. They both rolled through the golden flowers for a few feet until coming to a stop. When they did, Toriel was on top of him, holding him down like a lioness who had just pounced on her prey.

"Pinned you, I win!" She declared cheerfully, her short tail wagging behind her.

It took Asgore a moment to respond, blinking up at her with yet another clear blush on his face. But once he'd shaken himself back to reality, his annoyed pout returned.

"Fine, fine. Let me up." He grumbled, and she conceded, giggling as she rolled off of him.

She stayed on her belly in the flowers as Asgore got up and she gave him a warm, more genuine smile.

"Do not worry, you did really good, Gorey." She said, resting her head on her crossed paws. "I am sure you will beat me next time."

Well, that was lie. She almost always won against him in these scenarios, and she had no intentions of going easy on him in the future. But still, no need to bruise his ego. And a little bit of playful teasing never hurt.

The red tint to his ears and the thinner-furred areas of his face remained as he dusted himself off, purposefully turning away from her with a grumble. She just giggled softly in response, watching him for a few more moments before a soft footstep beside her caught her attention.

She looked up to see Gaster standing over her, sockets narrowed behind his large glasses and sweat beading down his skull.

(You shouldn't be showing your abilities off in front of a human) He signed with the hand bullets floating above him, eyeing Adean warily. (They could end up using that knowledge against us.)

Toriel frowned at that and stood up quickly, drilling the skeleton with a sharp glare.

"Wingdings, you should not say such things!" She said, stepping over to the human prince and taking their hand. "Adean is our friend, our parents are all inside having peace talks right now. Dad said they have been making real progress. Things are going to get better soon, you will see!"

Everyone went quiet at that, with Adean quietly squeezing her paw back in thanks and Asgore nervously letting his gaze fall to the ground. Wingdings however held her gaze, and there was a surprising pain and ferocity behind it.

(You're naive if you think that.) He signed harshly, the movements stiff and jerky. (more monsters from my village have been disappearing lately… more skeletons...)

Toriel blinked at that, surprised and disturbed by the implications. She wondered if her father knew about that and purposefully hadn't informed her. It made unease stir within her, but she didn't let it become overwhelming. She couldn't let Wingdings poison her with the same fear and distrust that tainted his soul.

Thankfully, the skeleton didn't press the issue. He simply turned around again with a sigh and stepped away. But like before, Toriel got the distinct sense he was paying attention, keeping an eye on what was going on behind him even if it wasn't obvious. She frowned at him, but didn't try and bring him back into the argument either.

"Do not worry about him, he has always been a grump." She said, trying to reassure Adean before changing the subject. "Come on, you should try sparring too!"

She began guiding him back to the area she and Asgore had had their little mock battle. Where the flowers and grass had inevitably been flattened some by their antics. But she was surprised when Asgore suddenly stepped in front of her, expression firm.

"Wait." He said, holding out a paw to stop her before resting it on his chest. "I should spar with Adean. I've only had a chance to practice with other monsters, and we don't have any humans around my castle like you do here."

His bi-colored eyes then met Adean's gaze, and some silent communication seemed to pass between the two. Something about it made Toriel feel somewhat uneasy, but the human prince rested a comforting hand on her shoulder and gave her a soft smile before stepping over to face Asgore more directly.

"It is important to be prepared for any potential adversary we may face in the future." Asgore continued to explain, in a way that sounded as though he were directly quoting his father.

There was a long moment where the weight of his words seemed to hang over all present, though it seemed to take him just as long to notice. He blinked and quickly added to his statement.

"I'm sure Adean doesn't get to spar with monsters back in their kingdom either." He pointed out.

Toriel still didn't like what she was hearing, and was now wished they could go do something else. Swimming in the river, playing hide and seek in the castle gardens, looking for slugs under rocks, anything that didn't involve violence. With everything going on in their world… the prince of monsters and the prince of humans fighting, even in a friendly manner, wasn't a comforting sight. But the two of them looked to already be getting into position, and she knew there was little chance of changing their minds at this point.

"Okay… just be careful you two." She conceded nervously, stepping back to stand beside Wingdings.

They both nodded, though they kept their gazes on eachother. Asgore took a deep breath in through his nose and summoned two formidable flame attacks into each of his paws. Adean responded by silently pulling their spear out from its sling on their back. They gripped it tight and held it out in an attack stance, its sharp tip pointed right at Asgore. The weapon was oversized in their small hands, but they held it confidently.

For a painful few beats, neither of them moved, watching the other intently. Toriel wrung her paws nervously, becoming more uneasy with every moment. But Asgore broke the stillness before she could even think of expressing her feelings aloud.

The boss monster swept his paw through the air in front of him, firing the flame attacks in the human's direction. Adean stood their ground, waiting for the balls of fire to get right in front of them before they deflected them with a swift sweep of their spear. It was an impressive move, but not perfected, as they only managed to knock back two of the attacks successfully.

The one they'd missed partially struck Adean in the shoulder, making them wince slightly. As much as seeing that bothered Toriel, it also partially relieved her. Had Asgore been attacking with any actual intent to harm, that attack would have done a lot more damage. As it was, Adean hardly paid it any mind before lunging at Asgore with the spear.

They jabbed it in Asgore's direction, with the boss monster dodging away each time it got close to him. Toriel could tell they were being mindful with the attacks though, not actually following through to the point where the spear could actually touch Asgore. With Adean so close, Asgore couldn't effectively aim another attack of his own, and was left having to fake out the human in order to get past them. With that, he had the chance to summon up another line of flames and shift the battle in his favor once more.

The sparring match went on that way for some time, with both sides gaining and losing ground against the other. Asgore was fighting even harder than he had been with Toriel, breathing heavily and putting much more magic into each ball of flame sent the human prince's way. Clearly he didn't want to "lose" two of these theoretical matches in a row, but it seemed he just couldn't stand against Adean's natural human strength.

The human had him pinned, albeit in a very different way than Toriel had. Asgore had overdone the physical movement of one of his moves, leaving him easy to knock back into the flowers. Now he was sitting looking up at Adean, who was silently enforcing their victory by keeping the end of the spear pointed at the boss monster as they stood over him. Everyone was silent as they waited to see if Asgore would accept his defeat or not.

Toriel saw some defiance in his eyes, but after a few long moments of heavy breathing, he shut them and let out a sigh.

"Fine, you win." Asgore conceded, with a tone more akin to a child losing a race than that of a young prince losing in a sparring match.

Toriel let out a sigh of her own, one of relief that it was over. Adean's flat expression softened into a kind smile, and they held out their hand to help Asgore to his feet. But the boss monster didn't take the human's hand. He'd kept his eyes closed the whole time and reached up to grip at the body of the spear instead, using it to pull himself up.

Something flashed in the human's eyes then, something almost… fearful? Toriel only noticed it for a moment. But whatever emotion had been, it drove Adean to quickly pull their spear back to themself and out of the boss monster's grip. Unfortunately, this led to the sharp edge of it catching on Asgore's paw as it was wrenched away. Toriel couldn't help but gasp when a soft cry of pain left Asgore's mouth unbidden.

"Ow! Ow! You pricked me!" He exclaimed, gripping the injured paw tightly and gritting his teeth.

Adean pulled back in response, eyes wide and apologetic. After a moment of looking panicked, they threw down their spear into the flowers and hurried over to Asgore, but they were abruptly stopped in their tracks by a sudden wall of sharpened bone attacks. They glowed with a fierce aura and hovered inches from the human's face, forcing them to take a few steps back.

The summoner of the attacks planted himself firmly between Adean and Asgore, glaring absolute daggers at the human. Wingdings, who'd often seemed so frail and withdrawn to Toriel, now stood there like one of skeletons at the frontline of the Great Monster Army, imposing and immovable despite his less than intimidating appearance.

He shouted something at Adean in his strange, incomprehensible voice, the words sounding like some otherworldly, garbled mess. And even though she couldn't understand him when he talked like that rather than sign, the message he was going for got across clear enough. "Stay back."

There were more bone attacks in the air then Toriel had ever seen, and more appearing ever moment. Some were even pushing up from the ground, slicing through petals and leaves of the golden flowers as they emerged. It was a display of magic Toriel had never seen from the skeleton, no, from any skeleton. And judging from Asgore's expression and the fact he'd all but forgotten his injured paw in the moment, it was new to him too.

Toriel didn't let the surprising spectacle stop her from intervening though. Before things could escalate any further, she rushed to stand in front of Adean, spreading her arms wide in an attempt to shield her human friend from any of the bone attacks Wingdings dared to fire in their direction. If the skeleton knew what was good for him, he wouldn't dare attack the western monster kingdom's reigning princess.

"Wingdings stop it! It was just an accident!" She demanded, jabbing a clawed finger at the ground. "Drop those bones, now ."

For a long moment, Wingdings didn't move, and his baleful gaze continued to all but bore a hole through her. He was so still and focused, Toriel wondered if he had even heard her and she briefly feared the skeleton may actually attack her. Wingdings was usually so quiet and docile, but now rage seemed to flood off of him like intense heat from a roaring fire.

Then with a sound somewhere between a scoff and a growl, he turned his skull away and the wave of bone attacks turned to a shower of harmless magic that quietly rained down on all of them before disappearing. His eyelights had gone out entirely, leaving his sockets dark as a starless night.

No one seemed to know what to say or do, as all three royal children stared at the skeleton with a mixture of fear and worry. Toriel's soul was still stirring so quickly in her chest, it made it difficult to even breathe. A gentle wind rolled up the hill, and the golden flowers swayed with a rustling sound. It was only after everything went still again that she finally broke out of her own frozen state.

She didn't demand Wingding's explain himself, or explain his mysterious display of magic. She acted on what were her budding nurturing instincts and ran past the bespectacled skeleton to Asgore. But still not fully trusting the situation to be truly over, she pulled Adean along with her by the hand. They followed without complaint, and Toriel could feel from the emanations of their powerful soul that they were still quite shaken up as well.

After quickly looking them over to assure herself Wingdings hadn't actually harmed them, and that the skeleton in question wasn't going to make another move, she turned her attention to the prince of monsters.

"Are you okay, Gorey?" She asked, kneeling down beside him.

Even before he answered, she took his injured paw in her own and began summoning up her healing magic. She still wasn't great at it, but she had been practicing whenever she had a chance, much more than battle training. Nadia had taught her what she could, and her father had given her lessons when he had the time. Now was as good an opportunity as any to put them to the test.

"Y-yeah it's fine. Just a little cut." Asgore stuttered out, sounding embarrassed and still a bit unnerved.

Toriel confirmed his words as she cradled his paw in her own. The sharp end of the spear had nicked the middle of his paw pad, but it wasn't deep and it only wept a small amount of magic. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, she summoned up a distinct green glow to her paws, and began focusing the magic behind it into the wound.

It strained her more than it should, but she held the proper flow of magic regardless. Adean hovered over them nervously, watching while shifting anxiously from foot to foot. To Toriel's relief and joy, Asgore's small wound did indeed start to pull in at the edges and close up. Once it had, she let out the breath she didn't know she was holding and let the magic in her paws sputter out.

Her father probably could have eliminated the wound entirely, but this was better than nothing. And it at least had restored whatever small amount of HP Asgore may have lost.

"There, that should do it." She said, giving his paw a pat before returning it to him.

Asgore lifted it up to his face and turned it back and forth in front of him, looking impressed by her handiwork. A genuine smile formed on his face, along with another hint of a blush. He opened his mouth and began to thank her, but both of their attentions were abruptly drawn back to Wingdings as he began noisily stomping through the flowers away from all of them.

"You're leaving?" Asgore called out, sounding disappointed before quickly putting on a positive tone. "Dings, it's okay! You were just worried and protecting me, right? You don't have to leave, I'm fine really!"

Wingdings stopped, but didn't turn back to face them. He stayed that for a beat, as though considering what Asgore had said, before his familiar hand shaped bullets manifested above his skull.

(I'm going home. don't invite me here again if you keep insisting on hanging around with humans, Asgore.) He signed, the words stiff and deliberate.

Then without waiting to hear any further arguments, he continued his march down the hill, clutching the book he brought close to his chest. Toriel, Asgore and Adean all watched him, no doubt simultaneously wondering if they should try further to stop him. But Toriel couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't potentially only make the young skeleton angrier than he already was. And given the two princes' similar lack of action, it was fair to say they had come to the same conclusion. It was probably best not to pursue him at the moment, and let him cool down from… whatever that was.

Behind her, she could hear Adean and Asgore making up further for what had happened between them, and quietly agreeing not to mention what had happened to any of their parents. It would surely only lead to furthering tensions no matter how they explained it, and that was the last thing any of their kingdoms needed right now. It was a blessing from the stars that there hadn't been any guards watching them this time. But Toriel mostly tuned them out, keeping her gaze on Wingdings as he continued to storm off down towards the road that led to the many monster villages just beyond the hills.

She watched the skeleton until he vanished from sight, unable to banish that new uneasy feeling that swirled about her soul. She couldn't help but still feel sympathy for him too, for whatever was clearly tormenting him.

Just what was going on in that mysterious skeleton's skull?

...

Toriel blinked, irritatedly pushing away the vivid memory. She wasn't sure why her mind decided to make her recall that now of all times, but it was certainly unwelcome given the current situation. She had to take a moment to compose herself and calm all the sudden warring emotions swirling about her soul.

Not so long ago, she wouldn't have been able to recall that memory without seeing Gaster as a void in space that caused her pain to look at. Now it was clear, including all the details regarding his past relationship to her and the others in that memory.

How painful it was, to fully realize that all three of her former friends she'd been with in that memory had all come to betray her in some way...

"you alright?"

Sans' concerned voice pulled her from her thoughts. They were still lingering just outside the door to the guestroom that Gaster was residing in, and the oppressive aura coming from the door was stronger than ever.

Doing her best to pay that no mind, she managed a weak, but reassuring smile down at Sans.

"Yes, I am fine dear." She assured him, giving her head a small shake to clear it of any remaining memories clinging to her like cobwebs. "I was just remembering something…"

He gave her a briefly appraising look, eyelights soft with concern. But, seemingly convinced by her explanation, he didn't press the issue. Instead he took a slow, steadying breath and reached out to turn the icy handle of the guestroom door.

Inside, Gaster was waiting for them as he always was. Staring in their direction with a feverish intensity even before they had opened the door, jagged mouth twisted in an unnatural grin. His form had visibly degraded further, even if it was only somewhat, with the edges of it that touched the floor looking more liquidy than ever. She unfortunately had to look at him everyday, otherwise she may not have noticed the small difference.

"BACK SO SOON?" The robotic translator voice crooned, as Gaster pressed himself close to the glass separating them. "AND HERE I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT BE AVOIDING COMING TO SEE ME."

Somehow, even looking at his warped, twisted form, seeing him made her recall flickers of that memory. And it made her skin crawl. Was this really the same monster she'd known back then? Perhaps he was… and he wasn't.

They were clearly the same being, but the Gaster she'd known all those centuries ago had likely died along with his parents in that human raid that had taken everything from him. His body and mind may have lived, but his already embattled soul perished in that blaze. All that was left now was a corpse that refused to turn to dust, rotted from the inside out. And he'd been in the process of rotting for a long, long time.

But none of that was important for her to focus on for now. Gaster would meet his inevitable end soon enough. She and Sans just needed to get whatever information he was still keeping to himself regarding what he intended to do come the weekend.

"Yesterday when we were discussing your plans regarding the children, I do believe you promised us more information if we agreed to your offer." She reminded him, keeping her tone flat and cold. "I would suggest you adhere to that now."

A ripple passed through his tar like form as he chuckled, and his sockets narrowed in amusement.

"AH YES, I DID IMPLY SUCH A THING DIDN'T I?" He said, steepling his floating, gnarled hands in front of him. "VERY WELL. I WILL SHARE A BIT MORE REGARDING THE THEORIES I PLAN TO PURSUE WITH THEM. BUT I'M AFRAID THERE ARE SOME ASPECTS OF IT THAT ARE BEST LEFT A… SURPRISE, I SUPPOSE."

He tilted his head a bit with the word "surprise", and something giddy and unsettling flashed through his expression. Her distaste with his response must have been written all over her face, as he quickly waved one of his bony hands in a dismissive motion.

"IF I TOLD YOU IT ALL NOW, YOU MAY GET COLD FEET. AND THAT'S HARDLY FAIR WHEN THE LITTLE ONES AREN'T HERE TO ARGUE THEIR CASE." He rasped, tapping his crooked phalanges together. "THIS IS ALL FOR THEM AFTER ALL, IS IT NOT?"

Her soul's magic churned at that, and she suddenly found it hard to swallow around the knot in her throat. Confliction all but burned inside her, and she wanted nothing more than to shut him down entirely, wreath her paws in fire, anything to get rid of that vile, smug expression of his. Sans looked up at her then, seeking her gaze. Upon giving it to him and looking into the soft, familiar glow of his eyelights, she felt some measure of calm return to her and let out the breath she'd unknowingly been holding.

The child within her was no doubt affecting her emotions more so than usual, perhaps more active in the wake of little Dogriel being here, stirring up all those maternal instincts in her. Accepting that, she silently handed over the metaphorical reins of the conversation to Sans. He understood, and subconsciously stepped a little in front of her. Sweat visibly shone on his skull, but his expression was stone cold as he met his father's cavernous gaze.

"just tell us what we were promised, g." Sans demanded darkly.

There was perhaps just the slightest twinge of disappointment on Gaster's face at Toriel's lack of a more dramatic reaction. But if it was there, it passed just as quickly as it had come.

"VERY WELL." The ghoulish monster agreed, coughing once and wiping his mouth before continuing.

When he did, it was like a switch had gone off in his mind and started speaking far more fervently. And his eyelights returned to his sockets to appear large and manic, occasionally twitching in different directions.

"MY THINKING IS THIS. USING INFORMATION AND EXPERIENCE GATHERED FROM MY PREVIOUS EXPERIMENTS, WE TEST TO SEE IF WHAT REMAINS OF CHARA'S SOUL AS A SPIRIT IS STRONG ENOUGH TO MAINTAIN STABILITY IF SEVERED FROM FRISK'S SOUL." He explained, gesturing with his floating hands as he spoke.

"WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO TEST THIS RATHER EASILY WITHOUT ANY RISK TO THEM USING THE EQUIPMENT I INSTRUCTED YOU AND ALPHYS TO BRING THE DAY OF THE FIRST STAGE. AT MOST, THEY MAY FEEL A LITTLE JOLT AT ONE POINT, BUT IT SHOULD BE A PAINLESS EXPERIENCE FOR THEM BEYOND THAT."

His grinned widened, and his unfocused eyelights seemed to stare at something neither she nor Sans could see. Whatever he saw only made his sickening smile split further across his face, like someone gouging out a dark wound in his skull.

"IF THE RESULTS PROVE FAVORABLE, WE WILL MOVE ON TO THE SECOND PHASE..."

"which would be…?" Sans asked after Gaster trailed off, crossing his arms in front of him.

"WHY, THE ACTUAL SEVERING , OF COURSE." He replied, as though the answer should have been obvious.

He chuckled when they both balked at his choice of words, trailing off into a few rough coughs before continuing.

"TERRIBLY HARASH VERBIAGE I KNOW, BUT I FEEL IT IS MOST APPROPRIATE. SIMPLE SEPARATION OR DIVISION DOESN'T QUITE GET ACROSS THE IDEA WITH THE SAME… IMPACT."

Toriel swallowed hard at that, curling her paws into fists as her claws slid out unbidden. The way he was describing this made her magic churn sickly and conjured up no shortage of horrible imaginings in her mind of just what such a procedure could entail. Gaster's continued explanation didn't help matters.

"I CANNOT PROMISE THAT PROCESS WILL BE TOTALLY PAINLESS." He confessed, his eyelights going fuzzy with thoughts once again. "IN MY EXPERIENCE, THOSE SUBJECTS WHO UNDERWENT SIMILAR EXPERIMENTS WERE NOT EXACTLY EAGER TO GO THROUGH IT AGAIN. BUT THE RISK OF ANY DAMAGE TO THEM OR TRUE FAILURE IS EXCEEDINGLY LOW. WHY I'D BE SURPRISED IF THEY FELT MORE THAN WHAT ONE MIGHT CALL "HEARTBURN" AROUND THE AREA OF THEIR SOUL."

His dark gaze turned to Sans then, pinning him with an expression far more difficult to read on his distorted features.

"I AM SURE SANS HERE CAN ATTEST THAT I KNOW HOW TO ENSURE THE PROPER PARAMETERS IN ANY SCIENTIFIC ENDEAVOR I PARTAKE IN."

All he earned for that was a flat glare from the skeleton he'd brought into the world. Toriel offered her own as well, feeling her lips itching to pull back to expose her fangs. Had Sans not been silently communicating that he was okay, she would have happily given quite the venomous retort to the ghoulish monster's cruel taunts. But as was best in the current situation, she managed to maintain her level head.

When Gaster realized he was not going to get any sort of response from them, affirming, enraged or otherwise, he shrugged what could barely pass as shoulders and continued speaking.

"IN ANY CASE, IT WON'T TAKE LONG, AND IT WILL BE DONE USING THE SAME BASIC PRINCIPLES I DEVELOPED FOR EXTRACTING DT. EXCEPT THIS TIME, WE'D BE TARGETING AND EXTRACTING ALL OF WHAT REMAINS OF CHARA'S SOUL THAT EXISTS WITHIN FRISK." He explained, gesturing with his gnarled hands as he spoke. "THOSE EXTRACTED REMAINS WOULD BE STABILIZED FURTHER WITH RAW MAGIC AND THEN ENCOURAGED TO BOND WITH A NEW VESSEL."

"OF COURSE, BEFORE THE SEVERING OCCURS, THE CHILD WOULD NEED TO DECIDE WHAT SORT OF VESSEL THEY'D LIKE TO MAKE THEIR NEW BODY ONCE THEIR ESSENCE IS EXTRACTED, EVEN IF IT'S ONLY A TEMPORARY ONE."

Toriel found her thoughts spinning again at that. In all her worrying over if and how this whole idea of separating Chara from Frisk would work, she never got to the point of considering just what kind of body Chara would then be inhabiting. Various options for such a thing raced through her mind, each growing more outlandish than the last. And many not too far off from a certain famous robot they all knew well. Thankfully Gaster didn't just leave it at that, keeping her imaginings from going too off the rails.

"I HAVE SOME POSSIBILITIES IN MIND ALREADY, SOME OF THEM YOU ALREADY HAVE ENCOUNTERED IN THE PAST DUE TO THE INNOVATIVE WORK OF MY SUCCESSOR. BUT I'LL SAVE A FEW OF MY IDEAS FOR THAT AS A SURPRISE FOR LATER." He explained, attempting another icy grin but devolving into another brief, but harsh coughing fit.

She narrowed her eyes at him as he did, not happy that he kept building up these apparent "surprises" that would come in the future. Anything they weren't prepared for from Gaster was the last thing she wanted. But there was little she could do about it without potentially stopping him from sharing what he was talking about. So she held her tongue even as it burned.

"WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS THIS." The ghoulish monster rasped once he could speak again. "IF WHAT REMAINS OF CHARA'S SOUL PROVES IT HAS ENOUGH OF ITS OWN INDIVIDUAL POWER TO SUSTAIN ITSELF, THEN JUST LIKE A GHOST MONSTER, IT SHOULD BE ABLE TO BOND WITH A SUITABLE VESSEL GIVEN OPTIMAL CONDITIONS AND SUPPORT."

Gaster's jagged smile widened, and a flicker of manic energy sparked in his eyelights once more.

"SHOULD ALL THAT HAPPEN AS PLANNED, IT WOULD BE ACHIEVING SOMETHING TRULY UNPRECEDENTED… AND CHARA WOULDN'T EXACTLY BE CONSIDERED PURELY HUMAN ANY LONGER…"

With that, a portion of Toriel's building suspicions about Gaster's plans were suddenly realized and she felt her magic pulse faster within her. The revelation was not necessarily shocking, as she had known that if Chara's spirit were to be seperated from Frisk, they'd require a new body. But she hadn't really considered just what that would mean. Gaster wasn't lying about it being unprecedented. Though her had used the comparison, this wouldn't be like when ghost monsters possessed a new body.

Those ghosts would always have the souls of monsters no matter what they ended up inhabiting. But a human spirit possessing something… would not yield the same outcome. A human soul was not capable of such an act the same way a ghost monster's soul was. For such a thing to happen… that would mean…

"You… you are planning to try and turn Chara into a Fae..." She breathed out dazedly, more to herself than anything.

Sans' gaze snapped up to her, confused. But Gaster just wheezed out a chuckle and further pushed his splitting smile, eliminating any lingering doubt.

"THAT IS NOT EXACTLY THE SCIENTIFIC TERM, BUT YES, PRECISELY." He replied with what could almost pass as a cheerful tone.

He then tilted his skill quizzically at her. Notably past the point that he should have been able to.

"WHAT IS IT TORIEL, DO YOU HAVE SOME MYSTERIOUS GRUDGE AGAINST SUCH BEINGS? HOW CURIOUS"

She bristled a bit at that, pulling her out of her sudden intense rush of thoughts.

"No, no of course not." She retorted, shooting him a renewed glare. "I have just not heard that term in a very long time. Such things were hardly all that relevant to monsterkind while we were Underground"

"mind filling me in here?" Sans interjected, looking somewhat bewildered. "can't say i ever heard about anything called that while living in the labs."

While he was directing the question at Toriel, she thought Gaster would be all too eager to leap in and explain. But when the ghoulish monster only gave her an expectant, slightly mocking, look it was clear she was going to have to do it. She sighed and tried her best to focus and recall what she did know, still baffled by the sudden turn things had taken.

"Fae are… well... Fae is a term used to describe a number of things. Primarily the concept of monster human hybrids. Or at least it was back in the days before the war." She explained, flickers of dull memories flashing through her mind. "It can refer to the theoretical offspring created from a pairing of a human and a monster. Though to my knowledge there were no known proven examples of them, only rumors and old stories."

She swallowed, still feeling Gaster's icy gaze piercing her. The air felt heavy from his clear anticipation of what she'd say next.

"It was… also used to describe humans who… became monster-like beings through the use of forbidden or unknown magic." She continued uneasily. "Beings somewhere between human and monster, but not fully either. Creatures like... "werewolves" for example…"

"WEREWOLVES, VAMPIRES, MERMAIDS, FAIRIES, ELVES, CENTAURS, SATYRS, AND PLENTY MORE." Gaster finally chimed in, listing off the creatures while counting on his gnarled floating phalanges. "COUNTLESS POSSIBILITIES, BE THEM ABOMINABLE OFFSPRING OR HUMANS TWISTED INTO SOMETHING UNKNOWN ENTIRELY BY SOME DARK SPELL. ALL ONLY THEORIES AND LEGENDS OF COURSE, VERY MUCH UNPROVEN. BUT STILL INCREDIBLY FASCINATING WOULDN'T YOU AGREE?"

She and Sans didn't answer, simply staring at the former royal scientist in disconcerted silence. But Gaster didn't even seem to notice, rattling out a few harsh coughs before continuing to speak.

"AND IN CHARA'S CASE, IF MY HUNCH HOLDS TRUE, THEY'D BE A HUMAN TURNED SPIRIT POSSESSING A NEW BODY. PERHAPS NOT THE ONE OF THE TRADITIONAL EXAMPLES OF A "FAE", BUT CERTAINLY WITHIN THAT MOST MYSTERIOUS CATEGORY."

He rubbed the bottom of his skull in thought, heedless of the fact he smeared black ooze across it as he did so.

"THE IDEA OF THESE KINDS OF CREATURES HAVE ALWAYS FASCINATED ME AS A SCIENTIST, EVEN IF I DO FIND THE BASIC CONCEPT QUITE DETESTABLE." He admitted, chuckling hoarsely to himself. "I HEARD SO MANY RUMORS ABOUT THEM WHILE I WAS GROWING UP AND READ EVERY REPORT I COULD FIND ON THE SUBJECT EARLY ON, EVEN THE LESS THAN REPUTABLE ONES. AT FIRST TO TRY AND CONVINCE MYSELF SUCH AN ABHORRENT CONCEPT COULDN'T POSSIBLY BE REAL, AND THEN LATER TO SATIATE A MORE HEALTHY CURIOSITY."

The ghoulish monster's misshapen sockets twitched, and a bit more of a manic expression began creeping across his features.

"I NEVER GOT TO SEE ONE IN PERSON OF COURSE, NEVER GOT TO OBSERVE HOW SUCH AN ABOMINATION'S SOUL APPEARED AND BEHAVED. SURELY IT'S UNNATURAL STATE OF BEING WOULD MAKE FOR CORRUPTED FORMS OF MAGIC FOUND NOWHERE ELSE. THE POTENTIAL OF SUCH MAGIC IS NEAR LIMITLESS . SO YOU CAN SEE WHY I'D TAKE FURTHER INTEREST WHILE I WAS ROYAL SCIENTIST."

He drew his amorphous body up somewhat, as though puffing up with pride. Given the poor state he was in though, it didn't match up to the enthusiasm flickering in his eyelights. Nor did it hold up as well the second time after he was briefly beset with racking coughs once more.

"I OF COURSE COULDN'T RISK TAMPERING WITH THE PRECIOUS HUMAN SOULS ASGORE HAD HARVESTED TO SATISFY MY CURIOSITY THOUGH." He rasped out more softly once he could speak again. "EVEN IF DID HARBOR SOME THEORIES ON HOW A MONSTER-HUMAN HYBRID BEAST COULD POTENTIALLY HOLD THE KEY TO OUR FREEDOM. I GOT TO TOY WITH THE IDEA SOMEWHAT BY INFUSING SANS AND PAPYRUS WITH TRAITS EXTRACTED FROM THE HUMANS, BUT IT WAS HARDLY AS GROUNDBREAKING AS IT COULD HAVE BEEN. WITH THIS SITUATION THOUGH…"

The edges of his jagged mouth twisted upwards once more, heedless of the rush of black fluid that was summoned at both ends as a result.

"NOW IT SEEMS THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO APPLY ALL MY AMASSED KNOWLEDGE ON THE SUBJECT HAS BEEN DELIVERED BEFORE ME, LIKE A LAST GIFT FROM THE UNIVERSE BEFORE I AM TO MEET MY DEMISE."

That last part didn't seem as though it were meant for Toriel and Sans, as his eyelights had once again unfocused, leaving him seemingly staring at nothing at all. Regardless, they lit another spark of anger deep within her, but Sans spoke up before she could act on it.

"weren't those kids… already something like that once?" He asked hesitantly, eyelights briefly flicking up to Toriel before continuing. "when asriel absorbed chara's soul way back when... before they… y'know."

He trailed off, lowering his gaze to the floor. Toriel felt a sharp pang from her soul, but did her best to focus on the point Sans was making, rather than the sudden rush of deeply painful memories. Gaster clearly was having no such issue.

"AH MY LITTLE PROTOTYPE, YOU ARE INSIGHTFUL YET SO WOEFULLY OFF THE MARK AS USUAL." The ghoulish monster chuckled, still not looking directly at either of them. "WHAT THEY WERE THEN WAS ONLY A FUSION BORN OF MAGIC, ONE SOUL ABSORBED BY ANOTHER. TWO WARRING, OPPOSITE SOULS INHABITING ONE BODY, TWISTED BY THEIR COMBINED ENERGIES."

His words made the Toriel's magic turn sickly within her, remembering how her children had looked when they had staggered back into the throne room that day. Their appearance had been shocking. While Asriel's monster features had dominated, twisted and exaggerated but still recognizable, Chara's intense red eyes had been unmistakable as well. They'd bored into her then, carrying a million emotions at once. And all of them fiery despite the grievous injuries they'd sustained.

But if she was being honest with herself, she was more focused at the time on the litany of spears, arrows and throwing knives jutting out of their back then their changed appearance. So many that it had clearly been a struggle for them to even keep balance from the weight of them. How they made it back up the mountain at all in that state, she'd never understand.

She couldn't linger on the thought anymore, not without seriously risking being sick. For once she was almost grateful to focus back on Gaster's blathering, even if what he was saying continued to unnerve her.

"NO MATTER HOW MUCH THEY MAY HAVE APPEARED TO BE ONE BEING THEN, THEIR SOULS WERE STILL ENTIRELY SEPARATE WITHIN. GREATLY FASCINATING IN ITS OWN RIGHT FOR SURE, THE ORIGINAL GOAL IN FACT FOR OUR DEAR KING ASGORE! BUT NOT WHAT I AM HOPING TO ACHIEVE HERE." The ghoulish monster rasped, waggling one gnarled phalange.

"WHAT WE ARE DISCUSSING CHARA BECOME NOW IS NOT A FUSION OF SOULS, BUT A NEW BEING ENTIRELY. STILL THEMSELF, BUT WITH A NEW BODY… AND A SOUL TRANSFORMED TO BE UNLIKE ANY HUMAN OR MONSTER. UNLIKE ANYTHING EVER SEEN OR PROPERLY STUDIED IN ALL OUR RECORDED HISTORY."

His grin widened again, bringing with it a fresh wave of black ooze. Heedless of it, he held himself high once more, much like he did back when he'd give speeches as the royal scientist.

"IF MY THEORIES HOLD TRUE, OF COURSE."

The tone he used indicated he had little worry that he'd be wrong, and he pressed on without missing a beat.

"AND WHILE NOT A "FAE", YOUR SON ALSO IS STRUGGLING BETWEEN TWO STATES OF BEING, RUNNING THE RISK OF BEING TRAPPED SOMEWHERE BETWEEN MONSTER AND PLANT."

The ghoulish skeleton interlocked his phalanges as if to demonstrate, seemingly oblivious to the black fluid sluggishly oozing out from between the joints as he did so.

"YOU CAN EASILY SEE THE SIMILAR INTRIGUE HERE, HOW HE IS JUST AS UNIQUE IN HIS SITUATION AS HIS SIBLING, IF NOT EVEN MORE SO."

A particularly harsh, rattling cough shook through him again, briefly making his features lose definition. Once he recovered, he attempted to straighten up once more as if nothing happened, but his facial features remained somewhat more askew than before.

"IN HIS CASE THOUGH, I WILL SEEK TO IDENTIFY HOW FAR THESE CHANGES IN HIS FORM AND SOUL WILL GO AT THEIR CURRENT RATE, AND FIND WAYS TO EASE HIS TRANSITION TO THAT POINT. PERHAPS EVEN HASTEN IT, IF IT CAN BE DONE SAFELY AND BE STUDIED IN DETAIL THROUGH THE PROCESS."

He trailed off then, looking casually contemplative. In contrast, Toriel was struggling to keep the building blaze of anger in check. No doubt her imbalanced hormones were making that more difficult. But after taking the few moments of silence between them all to center herself, she managed to reply without outright shouting.

"So is this the true reason you offered to "help" my children?" She asked, low and cold. "To use them to satisfy your morbid curiosities regarding centuries old myths and legends? Things we still do not even know are possible?!"

Her voice raised unbidden on the last question, but she was able to keep her fire magic from manifesting this time. Even if she most certainly did want to render the smug imprisoned monster's face into a smoldering sludge at that point.

As expected though, Gaster didn't so much as flinch at the accusation. He simply wheezed out another cough and chuckled hoarsely to himself.

"THE ORIGINAL REASONS I GAVE YOU FOR MY OFFER WERE NOT LIES TORIEL." He assured her, folding his floating hands in front of him. "BUT WOULD I EVER BE A PROPER SCIENTIST IF I WASN'T ALSO INTERESTED IN WHAT DISCOVERIES COULD BE MADE IN THIS MOST UNIQUE SITUATION?"

"You were never a proper scientist, Wingdings." She shot back with a growl. "No proper scientist would have ever done the things you have done."

Beside her, she sensed Sans stiffen and thought he may add something. But if he did intend to say anything, he chose instead to stay silent, just continually pinning Gaster with his lightless sockets. The former royal scientist just let out a raspy sigh, resting his malformed skull on his floating hand as though terribly bored.

"I SUPPOSE FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE, THAT IS A FAIR ASSESSMENT. BUT REGARDLESS OF MY OWN REASONS FOR BEING INTERESTED IN THE IDEA, YOU MUST ASK YOURSELF… DOES IT REALLY MATTER?" He asked, quirking the brow ridge over his less damaged socket. "YOUR CHILDREN WILL STILL ABSOLUTELY BENEFIT FROM THE FINAL RESULTS AFTER ALL, SHOULD WE ACHIEVE THE DESIRED RESULT. IS THAT FACT NOT WHAT SHOULD BE FOCUSED ON?"

Toriel opened her mouth to instinctually reply, but slowly shut it again as she took in his words. Confliction clawed at her soul, and she found she couldn't find the words to counter his question in that moment. Thankfully for her, Sans wasn't struck equally silent this time.

"heh, you really think we're just gonna overlook your ulterior motives here, g?" Sans asked, narrowing his empty sockets. "if anything, all this nonsense about "fae" and scientific curiosity and whatever just convinces me more that you're plotting something a lot more devious with all this. and you're the last guy that we'd just take at your word."

Gaster's jagged smile grew wider in response, leaking black sludge like a bleeding wound.

"YOU TRULY THINK THERE IS STILL HOPE FOR ME, PROTOTYPE?" He asked, before laying a gnarled hand over his chest with a feigned expression of gratitude. "I SUPPOSE I SHOULD FEEL FLATTERED IN A WAY. THAT YOU CONSIDER THIS SICKLY, DYING, OLD SCIENTIST STILL CAPABLE OF SUCH CONSPIRACY."

Not seeing fit to allow either of them to continue questioning him on the matter it seemed, the ghoulish monster was quick to change the subject.

"SO!" He injected quickly, rushing up to the edge of the glass and leering at them. "NOW THAT YOU KNOW MORE WHAT I INTEND WITH ALL THIS AS PROMISED, DO YOU PLAN TO BACK OUT OF THE IDEA?"

Genuine curiosity played upon his features beneath the manic energy. He turned his skull slowly back and forth to look at both her and Sans, tapping his phalanges together in anticipation. Though she was growing more used to it, his utterly pitch black gaze sent shivers down her spine.

"I WOULD SUGGEST IN ANY CASE THAT YOU ALLOW ME TO DIRECT THE FIRST SESSION AS PLANNED. AFTER ALL, IT SHOULD REVEAL TO US IF MY THEORY IS AT ALL POSSIBLE. IF NOTHING COMES OF IT, YOU SHALL KNOW THAT I WAS WRONG AND THIS WHOLE THING CAN END WITHOUT ANOTHER WORD. THEN YOU CAN JUST WATCH ME WITHER AWAY AND DIE AS I KNOW YOU ALL WISH TO DEEP DOWN."

His tone was far too lighthearted during that last sentence for Toriel's liking. It only added to the indecision she felt about going forward with this. The answers they'd gotten from him really didn't make her feel more confident about what was to come. If anything, it only re-ignited her initial fears she'd had at the start of all this.

A quick glance at Sans told her that he was no more sure of his answer than she was. Left to find her own conclusion alone, she felt somewhat hopeless. It was so hard to fight the temptation to just shut this whole idea down. To tell Gaster to go to hell and forget this whole mess.

But one major thing continued to keep her from doing that… the thought of Chara and Asriel. Throwing away all this would mean throwing away all the potential life changing benefits that could be in store for them. And in the end, they along with Frisk would be the ones directly affected by all this. Not her. or Sans, or anyone else. Toriel couldn't make this decision for them, they needed to be part of this.

"I must discuss this with the children. We... have much to think about, in regards to all of it." She finally replied, avoiding Gaster's intensely staring sockets. "In the end though… it is their choice to make. It has to be…"

Even just out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gaster's sinister grin creep even further up his skull.

"A WISE DECISION."

With that, the ghoulish monster pulled back from the glass and slowly settled his amorphous body on the pop up cot that had been provided for him. He sat on the edge as casually as a monster like him could manage, even as parts of his dark lower half continued to ooze over the sides. Toriel absolutely hated how downright pleased he looked at how things had gone.

"FAREWELL FOR NOW THEN." He rasped out rather cheerfully, politely inclining his head in their direction. "I GREATLY LOOK FORWARD TO WHAT'S TO COME."

Though part of her was still itching to argue and try and wipe that smug grin off his face, she knew it was best to just get the hell out of there. The oppressive aura of the room was starting to get to her, and she didn't even want to think about how that could affect the little one.

She shared a long look with Sans, and he eventually nodded to her silent question. Though she could tell he wasn't exactly feeling fully satisfied with how they were leaving things either. Neither of them bothered to even look at Gaster as they left, but Toriel knew he was watching them still. Her sensitive ears may have even picked up on the sounds of him quietly speaking and chuckling to himself in that strange language of his, but she didn't stop to confirm it before they'd left the room and firmly shut the door behind them.

The two of them had entered that room hoping for more clarity on what was to happen, but really, Toriel now felt she had far more questions than answers.

For some reason, that memory that had entered her mind shortly before confronting Gaster flickered through her thoughts once again. She pushed it away irritably, not at all in the mood for such a thing after what they'd just endured. But it did only leave her with more to ponder, even beyond what was to happen with her children.

Was there any honesty in what Gaster was claiming and proposing, or were they just walking deeper and deeper into his carefully laid out trap?

...

"He wants to… what? "

Chara's question rose over the cheerful sounds of recess going on around them on the following Monday morning. They'd just patiently sat through quite the lengthy explanation from Toriel on what had happened with Gaster that weekend.

They seemed to get the idea of what was described, but they looked confused more than anything as they continued to nibble thoughtfully at the chocolate bar Toriel had brought for them. Beside them, sitting on a section of the stone garden wall, Asgore looked to be far more shocked than his child at what he'd just heard.

"I… I always believed most ideas surrounding "Fae" were just myths." He said with mild bewilderment, running his claws through his beard. "But I suppose if Chara really were to go through the process Gaster is describing… they truly could be considered one."

He blinked as the idea seemed to be really setting in and reached over to rest a paw on Chara's shoulder.

"Golly, how about that..."

Chara finished chewing their bite of chocolate and swallowed before answering, still looking more perplexed than anything.

"I don't see the big deal, personally." They said with a dismissive shrug of their shoulders. "I'm already a ghost or spirit or whatever the hell you want to call it, I don't think that exactly counts as human. So what if separating from Frisk would make that official or whatever?... But…"

They trailed off, looking towards the ground and knitting their brows together.

"I never really thought about… choosing a new sort of body for myself." They admitted, and Toriel could practically see the gears in their creative mind turning. "i've been tethered to Frisk so long that its hard to remember what it was like to be in control all the time. That all feels… fuzzy now."

On the other side of Chara, Flowey chuckled to himself from where his pot was perched on the wall beside them. The tiny digits on his paws had lengthened further since the last time Toriel saw them, and had taken on a redder hue at the tips then the surrounding leaf. The thorns on his leaves had grown more pronounced as well, now apparent even at a distance.

And it may have only been Toriel's imagination… but she could have sworn he seemed slightly bigger in general. The pot that contained him suddenly appeared a bit cramped, as though he was starting to outgrow it.

These small but notable changes since she last saw him only added to the myriad of emotions she was feeling about the subject at hand. They were reminders of what was at stake with all this, and of the very real unknowns that still surrounded her children's states of being. Gaster's words threatened to echo through her head, but she held strong and tried to focus on the current conversation.

"So... what? Are you going to end up in a robot body like Mettaton?" Flowey teased his sibling, not showing any obvious signs of being bothered by the furthered changes of his body.

He purposefully set his expression into a dull, emotionless stare and moved his leaves stiffly up and down as though they were made of metal. Without his ability to morph his facial features, the intended effect was less impactful, but enough to get the idea across.

"Beep Boop, I'm Chara the Edgelordbot300." Flowey declared in his best imitation of a robotic tone. "Hand over all your chocolates or I shall deploy my knife hands."

Chara rolled their eyes and took another bite of chocolate, purposely speaking even as their mouth was full.

"You're one to talk, Mister God of Hyperdeath. " They shot back at their brother with a huff.

With that, the two siblings threatened to sink into further petty arguments and move away from the subject at hand. Toriel lifted her paws to get both of their attention again, and once they looked at her she gave them a look that was both imploring and authoritative.

"Now children, please, do try and take this seriously." She sighed, doing her best to ignore another uneasy rolling of magic in her system. "This is very important to consider before we potentially do anything else."

Thankfully, the two of them conceded and sat still again. Though she did catch Chara sticking out their tongue at their brother when his back was turned. Toriel took a steadying breath, too caught up in her thoughts to bother scolding them. She shifted a bit on the uncomfortable garden bench she was sitting on and checked the digital clock on her phone. Her anxiety kept telling her they were running out of time to talk about everything, but no, it had only been twenty minutes. There was still plenty of time in their recess hour. She needed to relax.

Beside her, Sans sensed her uneasiness and she felt his small hand rest on her side. His touch managed to help steady her, and made her realize what she was feeling must be all the hormones getting to her again. She had thankfully found the ideal time to take her medication so as to avoid any more mornings hunched over the toilet bowl, but that didn't mean she was free from all the other symptoms that came with carrying a little soul.

She gave him a thankful smile, and a silent communication passed between them. He shifted forward a little bit on the bench and cleared his metaphorical throat to gain the other's attention. Meanwhile Toriel just took a few moments to get her mind and soul to settle within her again.

"well, if it is like how it is for ghost monsters, there's tons of things you could end up, er… "possessing"." He said with a chuckle, before tapping a phalange against his chin in thought. "let's see…if i'm remembering right, the other ghost cousins ended up in a giant doll… and a dummy."

"Wow, even more perfect options." Flowey cut in with a snort, earning himself a flick from Chara.

He hissed in response like an irritated cat, but the human ignored him, keeping their attention on Toriel and Sans.

"None of those really sound that great if i'm being honest." They said, crossing their arms as they started crunching their last bite of chocolate.

Asgore hummed thoughtfully, thick brows gathering in thought. Toriel could already tell by the tone of his voice that he was going to make a less than astute suggestion.

"Perhaps you and Flowey could um… both inhabit plants?" The other boss monster suggested with an uncertain smile. "Like a little pair of twin flowers, that might be cute. Though I suppose, Flowey already stole your favorite kind now didn't he?"

Chara blinked, looked at their brother, then looked back at their father incredulously.

"Yeah… sorry Dad, but I think that sounds like an even worse idea." They replied rather bluntly, grimacing at the thought. "no offense Azzy, but going off your experience, I'd probably take my chances being turned into a hunk of metal rather than a flower. Even a golden one."

The flower monster didn't reply other than to roll his eyes, but he did look down at his leafy paws for a moment in thought. Asgore recognized the lack of interest in his suggestion and left it at that, rubbing his neck sheepishly.

A brief silence stretched between them all then, partially prompted by a group of monster and human students rushing by with a frisbee. One of the young humans tossed it as they ran, and it was enthusiastically pursued by Stormy, an excitable young wolfdog monster. The group rushed along after him, and their cheerful shouts and giggled slowly faded as they left the area.

When quiet settled over them again, Toriel felt she had calmed her anxieties enough to re-enter the conversation herself.

"Gaster claimed he had further ideas about what your new body could be." She told Chara, wringing her paws a bit. "But… I highly doubt they will be anything we will be eager to consider."

Her mind came up with all sorts of dreadful possibilities, and she had to catch herself again and force them away, not wanting to let her unsettled emotions bubble up once more.

"knowing him, it'll be something unexpected, that much i know." Sans added with a sneer.

That certainly didn't keep everyone's imaginings under control either, and it seemed for the moment all this little meeting had accomplished was leaving her child even more confused and unsure of what was to come than before. She gave them a sympathetic look and was working out what she wanted to say, but Asgore beat her to it.

"Well, in any case. You will have time to think about it Chara, and I'm sure Alphys would be happy to talk about what she did with Mettaton if you decide to consider that route." He said, standing up from the wall and resting one of his large paws on Chara's shoulder. "But remember, we still don't know if any of this is going to work out as Gaster describes, so I'd temper your expectations and not worry too much about it right now."

Thankfully, that did seem to relax them some and they managed a smile again.

"I know, Dad." They assured him, before giving their shoulders a shrug. "Don't worry, i'm not getting my hopes up."

Toriel wasn't sure how much she believed them, given the emotions she could see shining in their scarlet eyes. Asgore gave them another light pat at that, this time on the head. His gaze then traveled over to her and Sans, and his expression grew a bit more serious.

"Once whatever he has planned for this "first session" is behind us, I think we will all have a better idea of how much of this to take seriously." He said quietly.

Chara and Flowey both nodded, rather casually agreeing to the idea despite all that had just been discussed. The lack of any vying for control from Frisk made it clear enough that they didn't have any overt objections either. It made that knot of fear in Toriel's chest grow tighter again, and she debated perhaps arguing with them.

But she knew they had already made their decision on the matter long before this. This new information, odd as it was, wouldn't deter them now. And she had made the promise to herself that she'd let them be the ones who decided this for themselves.

She swallowed hard, forcing back her own worries and willing herself to give a small nod.

"Yes, I suppose so." She conceded, carefully getting up from the bench.

Turning back to her children, she worked up a small smile. One she hoped was convincing enough.

"Go on and enjoy the rest of your break, my children. I am sure your friends are eager to have you back."

Chara gave her a thumbs up and hopped off the garden wall. They picked up Flowey's pot, and seemingly noticed he was a bit heavier than usual just as she had, having to readjust their grip to hold him steady. The flower monster gave her a prolonged, somewhat appraising look as they did so, enough so that she wondered if he was seeing through her attempts at appearing unbothered. But in the end he just lifted one of his changed leaves and waved a lazy goodbye to her.

She waved back and watched as the two siblings headed off towards a group of their classmates nearby who were playing beneath a large oak tree in the center of the school gardens. She stared after them for a moment, allowing her worries to fall away briefly as she watched their classmates cheerfully greet her children.

It was easy to forget that it was just another school day for her students, blissfully unaware of the dramas being dealt with by the adults around them. She could relate on some level, remembering her own past. But those youthful days felt so far behind her that they may as well have happened in another lifetime.

Monday classes had gone on without issue so far, and it seemed her children had still managed to refrain from revealing her pregnancy to the rest of their classmates. The normalcy was a welcome relief from what they all had been dealing with at home. She didn't know how long it would take for one of her children to finally spill the beans regarding their future sibling, but she'd enjoy the peace while it lasted.

She thankfully didn't worry too much about them talking about Gaster or his uncertain offers. Beyond her advising them against it, she knew they were also invested in keeping the ghoulish monster cut off from any others he could potentially manipulate or hurt. The less people who knew about him, the better.

A sudden shadow falling over her drew her attention back to Asgore, who stepped over closer in her momentary distraction. It was clear he wasn't sure what topic to direct the conversation towards. Further comforting distraction… or the great pressing uncertainty hanging over all of them. In the end, he chose the former.

"So um… I saw the pictures Dogaressa posted, I was not aware you had agreed to be the godparent of one of their pups." He said, putting all the positivity he could into his voice.

There was a brief moment where Toriel considered not allowing the blatant attempt to ignore the more important subject at hand, but she found the temptation to continue clinging to normalcy just as tempting. She cast a glance down at Sans to see he was lying on his back on the bench, partially dozing. He wasn't going to be any help here it seemed.

"Yes, we got to watch over the little one for a while during the weekend." She replied, taking the easy way out, but happily so. "It was wonderful, they are such a sweet child, and it was certainly good practice for the near future."

She paused, suppressing a giggle with a paw.

"Their name is um... Dogriel."

Asgore blinked at that, taking a moment to process what the name meant. Once he realized though, amusement twinkled in his eyes as well.

"Ah, I see." He said, poorly stifling a chuckle of his own. "Well, what an honor for you Toriel. The Dogi must think highly of you."

With that, they chatted further on the subject for a bit, Toriel feeling pleased to be sharing the details of her time watching over little Dogriel. It felt good that the discussion felt natural, and that her once instinctive paranoia and discomfort around her ex-husband wasn't constantly flaring up and getting in the way. It wasn't gone… but it was manageable. Quieter.

But when an inevitable lull appeared in their back and forth, things did not drift into discussion of Gaster as she expected. Instead, Sans surprised them both by suddenly chiming in. She thought he'd surely fallen asleep. But then again, she should have known to expect him to be listening.

"what about you, asgore?" Sans asked from his place on the bench, tapping a slippered foot causally against the armrest."word on the street is you've been spending a lot of time with the human lady who runs the teashop down by city hall. and that it's not just because she makes great tea."

He ended the statement with a wink, and Toriel rolled her eyes a bit. She hadn't told him about Asgore and his date with the human woman, but it didn't come as a surprise to hear that he already knew. How bold of him to tease others about this topic when he himself would get quite flustered in the past whenever someone would poke fun of his feelings for her. But old habits die hard it seemed.

Thankfully Asgore didn't seem bothered, rather the opposite. He smiled warmly, even casually in response, though there was a hint of a blush at the tips of his long ears.

"Well yes, she and I have been on a few dates when we've found the time… it's been quite lovely so far." He admitted freely, in a tone that implied that it was something he'd had to clarify quite often as of late. "I am surprised it ended up feeling as natural as it did, given how long it's been for me."

He chuckled to himself a bit at that, running his claws through his beard thoughtfully.

"She is a wonderful person, I hope you can all meet her sometime." He went on, fondness evident in his tone. "It is still rather early to say if anything more will come of this… but we shall see how it goes."

Sans seemed a touch surprised that his bit of ribbing hadn't gotten to Asgore more. He blinked, then his wide grin softened to be more genuine.

"huh, no kidding?" He replied, before giving Asgore another wink. "well congrats then, hope it continues to be tea -riffic for the both of you."

"Alright, that is enough out of you." Toriel cut in, playfully shooing him away with a paw.

He snorted in amusement but didn't argue, returning to his "napping" without another word. Toriel gave Asgore a slightly apologetic look before replying herself.

"I agree. I am happy to hear it went well, Asgore." She said, in as warm a tone as she could manage. "I look forward to meeting her someday."

Whether or not the anxiety still swirling about within her had leaked into her words, Asgore didn't acknowledge it. He simply nodded his thanks before sweeping his gaze across the school grounds all around them.

"Is Papyrus not here today?" He asked after a moment, quirking a brow. "I don't recall seeing him in his office."

Toriel couldn't help but wince a bit at that. The younger skeleton brother's recurring odd behavior ever since speaking with his father was yet another thing she'd been trying not to worry too much about. But hearing Asgore bring it up flung it back to the forefront of her mind. She tried not to look too outwardly concerned, but she was sure that she was failing in that endeavor by this point.

Papyrus had been distant as of late, going to school earlier than ever and not engaging as much when he did return. His demeanor seemed the same when Toriel did see him, if a bit more tired than usual. But it still stirred up feelings within her that something was wrong. She and Sans both tried not to think much of it at first, trying to give Papyrus the space in his adult life he'd clearly requested, but the trend of this following after Papyrus' meeting with his father didn't make that task any easier.

Today had been no different. He let her know most apologetically that morning that he'd be busy with school and unable to come into work for a while. She'd assured him it was fine and to focus on his studies for the time being, and in the moment it seemed fine. But in hindsight compounding with everything else, she couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right.

She opened her mouth to reply to Asgore, but it seemed his question had pulled Sans from his dozing again.

"he's uh… been busy with a college thing." He answered in a more subdued tone before working some lightness back into his voice. "i'm sure he'll be back here soon though. he wouldn't want to miss seeing all the cool topiaries you finished lately."

He lazily pointed over in the direction of the decorative bushes Asgore had cut into various designs. Most were depictions of monsters and more generic shapes like hearts, and standing most proudly among them was a depiction of Papyrus' brightly grinning skull, a match for the one in the school's front gardens.

It was a popular climbing fixture for the children, and recently it had gained a companion that its twin in the front garden lacked. A depiction of Sans's skull now sat beside it, accurately cut from a shorter clump of hedge than that of Papyrus. Its wide grin was most comical and endearing, and certainly added to the cheerful landscape around them.

"gotta say, you've really captured my essence." Sans praised him, flashing a matching grin that stretched from cheekbone to cheekbone. "one of your best skull -ptures for sure."

Despite all her internal stressing Toriel had to stifle a giggle at that. Asgore managed a less enthused chuckle as well, but the joke succeeded in banishing the bit of worry that had been on his face before.

"I am glad to hear you approve, Sans." Asgore said, beginning to turn to leave. "Do tell Papyrus I wish him good luck then. And that if I could possibly be of any help with his studies, he is free to reach out to me."

He took a step and then paused, indecision flickering across his face. After a moment though, seriousness seeped back into his expression and he looked back at both of them over his shoulder.

"Well then, I will see you both this weekend... to see how things go with Gaster." He said in a quieter tone.

Toriel inevitably tensed up a bit at that, but nodded once her own expression sombered to match his.

"Yes… we will let you know if anything changes." She assured him.

"As will I." Asgore replied before inclining his head politely towards them. "Take care you two, and good luck with this week's lessons."

With that, he turned and headed deeper into the school gardens. Toriel watched him until he was totally swallowed up out of view by the surrounding greenery, still internally grappling with the trepidation flitting about her soul.

Part of her had been hoping that the discussion with him and the children would lead to her feeling better about what was to come, but alas, she was only left just as adrift in her own worries as she had been before. Maybe even more so.

They all really were going to let a depraved and decomposing mad scientist experiment on her children. There was no other way to put it. They were risking so much, pinning her children's future hopes and dreams on someone as twisted as Gaster, all in the hopes that her children may end up better off than they had started in all this. No matter what bizarre reasons Gaster claimed to have for doing this, or any of the reassurances he offered, none would remove her fears that this was too much of a gamble.

But it had been decided, and it felt far too late to turn back now. She just needed to trust that Sans and Alphys would make mindful decisions no matter what Gaster attempted to get them to do come that first session. Until then, all she could really do was worry over it all, or distract herself from the worry.

Suddenly, as though on cue, she found her thoughts rapidly drifting away from the subject. As pressing as her anxieties were regarding what the future could hold, even they couldn't fully hold her attention when competing with the side effects of her pregnancy.

A most interesting scent was in the air, emanating from a source nearby. She recognized some of it, and while it wasn't something she remembered being particularly fond of in the past, it suddenly smelled quite appetizing. It made her mouth water a bit just thinking about it.

"tori?"

Sans' voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she blinked as her attention refocused.

"Hmm? Oh… sorry, I suppose I am just hungry, haha." She explained, flushing a bit with embarrassment. "Whatever that was, it smelled quite nice."

Sans looked at her incredulously, quirking a brow ridge. It took her a moment to realize why. In her lapse of attention, she failed to notice the quite obvious source of the scent. One of her students, a purple slime monster named Goobert, was sitting in the grass just a short distance away. The purple slime monster was indeed eating something out of his lunch pail, but it didn't look like anything… traditionally appetizing.

"a barbeque sauce, pickle, and ice cream sandwich?" Sans asked with a snort of amusement. "heh, i thought only slime monsters could stomach a combo like that. but then again… you do eat snails. so maybe i shouldn't be surprised."

"Oh you are one to talk." She thought. But she didn't offer the retort aloud. Some of the things he'd mentioned were unfamiliar to her and that held her interest more than mentioning any of his own less than ideal eating habits.

"Is such a meal… unusual?" She asked, tilting her head a bit. "I do not think I have tried this "barby q" sauce before. Though I think it was the smell of the pickles that caught my attention, oddly enough… I do not ever recall caring much for them before."

Sans' brief fit of chuckling was answer enough to her question. It became clear to both of them then what was occurring here. It was not the first time this had happened, nor would it be the last.

"oh boy, hope these cravings aren't a hint as to what the little guy's favorite foods will be." Sans said once he could speak without laughing. "though i guess we should be grateful you're craving actual food and not like… i dunno… worms or something."

The hint of fear in his tone was enough to leave her the one laughing this time. His expression only made it better.

She decided it was probably not the best time to tell him that she had indeed tried to eat one of those as a small child. But, to put it gently, it did not taste anywhere near as good as snails did. There were many bugs out there that did make for a tasty treat, but worms, from her experience, did not fit into that category. Even so, she couldn't help teasing him a bit.

"Hmm, suddenly I have some ideas of what to prepare for dinner tonight." She said whilst tapping her chin in thought, still stifling giggles. "I wonder if Papyrus' marinara sauce would still compliment a spaghetti dish if the pasta was substituted with something with a bit more protein…"

"nooooo." Sans lamented playfully, hanging onto her arm as though pleading. "i must in-sect you don't do that."

"Worms are not insects, my dear." She corrected him with a grin, purposely lifting her arm so that he dangled a bit in front of her. "Do not think you can, worm your way out of that one."

His subsequent wheeze of a laugh at the pun almost caused him to lose his grip, so Toriel carefully lowered him back on his feet. Once steady, he slipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

"c'mon, i'll order us a little something extra for us to eat." He said, giving her a wink. "with plenty of pickles and bbq sauce… and maybe some gummy worms on the side."

That had her giggling all over again, picturing what such a layout of food would look like. Despite the fact she'd already had her carefully prepared lunch earlier, her hunger had come right back only a few hours later. It seemed the little one was already starting to demand a lot of her magic, so supplementary snacks throughout the day may need to become a new normal for her. What Sans was suggesting were certainly not healthy choices, but she'd been pretty careful about what she'd been eating as of late. It wouldn't hurt to indulge her cravings a little in moderation.

Just where he intended to order such a combination of foods, she hadn't the foggiest. But if anyone had prior knowledge of a place that would offer such choices, it would be her dear skeleton.

"Alright then, thank you, my dear." She said, eyes still twinkling with amusement.

The two of them began walking back towards the middle of the school recess grounds, and as they did Toriel found her gaze drawn back to her children. They were still all playing with their classmates beneath the tree, seemingly listening to Annie the sheep monster recount some sort of scary story. Some of her jovial mood faded then, as she was once again reminded of the reality of the situation.

Her gaze fell on Chara, spotting the red hue of their eyes that showed they were still in control of Frisk's body. Part of her wanted to be excited about what the near future could hold for them, of a new independent life in a new body that they could very well achieve. But when she thought of Gaster's smug expression, awash in cruelty and selfish intent, she found it hard to hang on to any optimism.

All there was to do at this stage was wait and see what happened at the first session, and prepare herself for the worst.