A/N: It's not long, but I'm on time! :D

Toriel grunted as she landed on the cold metal floor of the jail cart, thrown as carelessly and unceremoniously as a bag of trash. Like a spring, she bounced back up and scrambled for the door, but the two Elites who had placed her there slammed the metal gate shut before she could escape. She crashed into it, then grabbed two of the bars that composed the door and pulled as hard as she could. It didn't move.

"Guards!" She slammed her cuffed fists against the door. "I demand to see your leader! I am Toriel, the rightful Queen of the Kingdom! Guards!"

The crowd of people gathered around the cart murmured amongst themselves, Snowdin residents disturbed by the loud commotion caused by the Royal Guards giving their sleepy town an abrupt visit. Now they stood, all in their pyjamas and nightwear, watching the new live-in housekeeper of the Skeleton house, thrown in a cell. Everyone heard her shouting, but not one understood. They pitied her, feared her in their confusion. The friendly old lady whom they've been talking to not few hours ago was a criminal. How had they not known?

"yeesh, why are prisoners always so loud? if you're innocent, we're gonna release you eventually. there's nothing to freak out about, seriously."

Toriel stepped back, and glared at the newcomer with her fangs bared. "Sans."

"sup," Sans greeted with a wave. "huh. this is kinda familiar: you, me, a door between us?"

"Enough!" She slammed her fists again, causing a chorus of gasps to erupt from the crowd. "Where are my children? What have you done with them?"

"meh. hell if i know."

Toriel growled. "Guards! I demand to see your leader right this instant!"

"again with the shouting?" Sans rolled his eyes. "look, the captain's not here. she and paps are close friends so she's handling that situation herself, which means you are our problem to deal with."

"If the Captain is not here, then I demand to see the next person in charge. I will speak to them and end your mad ploy!"

"my ploy? well, that's a bit dramatic, don't you think? let's not blow this out of proportion." Sans' eyes turned cold and he continued in a low voice. "you wouldn't want me to do anything nasty to your kids now, would you?"

Toriel's heart stopped, and her anger faltered along. "You… What do you mean by that? They have escaped. I know they have."

"maybe. maybe not. who knows, right?" Sans said with a wink which, to Toriel, seemed like the blade of a guillotine coming down. "i mean the guards certainly don't know where they are, and let me tell you, no one will know where they are until i'm done with them. whoa, hey now, shh," he shushed as soon as she opened her mouth. "no more shouting. people are already looking at you like a nut job. you don't want to make that worse?"

Toriel clenched her fists. "You will not get away with this. The moment I am at the castle, I will demand a meeting with Asgore, and have you under arrest."

"i'm pretty sure asgore doesn't just go and see any random prisoner that demands to see him."

"That may be so, but you forget who I am. I know him better than anyone. I know my ways."

"riiight. that's probably a good point you're making there. okay then, how about this: if you try anything to stop me, either by meeting the king or anyone else, you'll find your kid by the castle gate as a lifeless corpse."

Toriel's throat tightened but she managed to still herself from showing any reaction. "Your threats ring hollow. I know you want their SOUL. If you had your way, they will turn up dead regardless."

"huh. yeah. i guess you're right. okay, how about this: you try anything to get yourself out of this situation, and i'll make sure the kid dies screaming."

Another empty threat. Toriel knew it was, but just for a moment, her logic was thrown out the door, and the sound of Chara's scream rang in her ears, Frisk screaming along as they are forced to watch their friend be murdered in front of them.

"and," Sans continued, twisting the knife he buried within her mind."i'll put your kid's soul out in public, so that everyone knows that we have the final soul we need."

Toriel's glare turned furious. "You…"

"oh yeah, you know what that means." Sans nodded. "can you imagine? everyone will be super excited. there'll be fanfares, celebrations, parties on the street. asgore will have his hands full then, wouldn't he?"

Indeed, Toriel knew what he was saying. Asgore, while a loving father who will do anything for his children, was still the King, a good King, better than he was at being a father sometimes. He will not put his personal wants and needs above the people's, and when the entire kingdom is looking at him to free them, he will not be able to spare much power to find and arrest Sans. The divide between her and him would be vast, and Toriel would be left to handle things alone, childless once more.

"You are despicable," she spat.

Sans chuckled. "yeah. sorry. i don't really want to be."

"Then why are you?"

"'why'?" Sans scoffed. "why should i tell you?"

Toriel threw herself at the bars. "I am imprisoned and you are threatening the lives of my children. The least you can do is tell me why," she hissed through grit teeth.

Sans leaned closer, grinning all the while. "not my problem."

"You bastard." Toriel growled. "You despicable creature! You promised me!"

Sans blinked. "promised you what?"

Toriel took in a shuddering breath. "You promised me, you will watch over all of the human children that comes out of the Ruins to the castle. You promised me you will not harm them!"

Sans' laughter was void of any humour. "the fuck? no. no, i didn't promise you anything. you asked me to protect all the kids, and i said i'll try when i can. and you know what? i can't this time. i really can't. so don't put that shit on me. don't judge me based on your expectations, because that shit? it's all. on. you."

For each of those last three words, Sans took one step towards the cage, and by the end, he was so close, she could have thrown her fist up and struck him on his chin even with her being only able to squeeze her hand through between the bars. But what would have been the point?

She looked down, away from Sans' burning eyes and down onto cold metal floor she now sat on. "Perhaps you are correct," she said somberly. "Perhaps I was a fool to trust someone I barely knew. But I had believed… From the way you spoke of your friends, of your brother… I thought you were a good person. I thought you would be good."

It wasn't an insult, just a statement of fact. Her words hung in the air, and Sans let out a slow sigh. "i'm not good," he said. "but you know what? i am in a good mood right now. things were pretty bleak, but you know as they say: after rain, there comes a rainbow. and i see a double rainbow for me, baby. so maybe i'll answer your question this time. i'll answer your question on… 'why?'"

Toriel glared at him, disgusted by his nonchalance, but sat motionlessly to hear what he had to say.

"i have these powers, see?" he began. "it allows me to see things about people that others can't. just… things about their lives, the past, the present, the future. it's all very weird, and complicated, and sometimes i want to bash my head against the walls because i genuinely cannot turn this power off and it's so freaking annoying. but sometimes it does me good. like with your kids." He chuckled, dark and humourless. "oh man, your kids. i didn't think much of them at first. then i really looked at them. and the feeling i got when i did: it was like being dunked into a tub full of writhing snakes."

Toriel frowned, listening but not following. What he was spouting sounded like complete nonsense. "What is it that you saw?" she asked regardless.

"nothing."

"Pardon?"

"nothing," he repeated. "when i looked at your kids. i saw nothing. i see nothing. and before you start going on about it, i know how that sounds. but you just don't get it. you don't know what that means. nobody does." Sans dropped his gaze and let out a long sigh. When he looked up again, his eyes seem to have aged an aeon. "there's nothing there for your kids. nothing where they came from. nothing where they are. nothing where they will be. i've never seen anything like it. there's nothing. nothing."

"What does that mean? How does that justify anything that you do?"

Sans chuckled. "you see? you don't get it."

"Of course I do not get it. You are not making any sense!"

"then listen to me," Sans hissed, even his faux-humour now gone like the light of a candle. "all things come with possibilities: the what-ifs, the will-bes and the could-have-beens. when shit exists, shit happens around them. that's how existence works. that's how everything not when those kids are around. those kids?" -He took in a shuddering breath- "they're like a black hole. shit that used to have the most colourful past, the most beautiful future, just… stop when those kids appear. those kids leave nothing in their wake. they have nothing in their future. they. show. nothing."

He stopped, and for an instant -just for an instant- as his ghostly pupils gazed into her own, Toriel saw something that shook her far more than any threat that the skeleton ever could.

Terror.

"What does that mean?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Sans stared. Stared and stared, until he blinked. He looked to his side, scratched his head, then back. He raised both of his hands and shrugged. "i don't know," he said. "i really don't. but i'm not gonna find out. nobody will. not the king, not the people, and especially not my brother." He took a step towards the cell. "mark my words, those kids will not be allowed to roam free, and they will be dead by my hands before it ever comes to that."

"You are insane." Toriel let out a shaky breath. "And you will be stopped."

Sans chuckled, not in a humourous way, but in a bitter huff that said he too was surprised that he was laughing at all. "yeah. yeah, maybe i am. and… maybe i will be. but not today." He whipped his head to the side. "guards!"

An armoured soldier came running to his side.

"Yes, Judicator?" the soldier said, saluting.

Toriel blinked. And though unceremonious, her jaw proceeded to drop as she stared at both the guard and Sans.

The skeleton grinned. "well, i guess that cat's out of the bag." He turned to the soldier. "you're new around here, huh? listen, i don't like using titles at work. i'm just sans, no matter where, okay?"

The soldier shifted slightly. "Um, okay, Sans. Sorry."

"aw, come on dude, lighten up. we're all friends here, doing our best to protect the kingdom." Sans turned to Toriel. "sorry lady. we never actually talked about this, have we? i guess this is good as time as any for a proper introduction." He pointed at himself with his thumb. "i'm sans. high judicator sans. sup'."

Toriel could have laughed, should have laughed, because what he was saying was ridiculous.

The High Judicator: The highest ranking judge in the Kingdom, the one who passed the final judgement on all criminal charges of high felony and above. The title was only ever given to the wisest and the fairest of the judges, favoured by the King himself. It was the title for the most courageous, the most responsible. The best of the best. But more importantly, it was the title given to those who could stomach handing out the punishments no other Monsters had the heart to do. It was the title of the cold. The most ruthless.

"How have you gotten this position?" she asked, almost in a daze.

"the same way as all the previous high judicators: apply and pass the exam, get the approval of at least seven of the twelve other judicators, and get the approval of the king. i passed it all, baby. first try."

"Impossible."

"hey now, don't judge a judge by his cover," Sans winked, and turned to the guard next to him. "hey man- uhh, sorry, what's your name?"

"Um, it's prison guard 05."

"right, 'oh-five', can you tell the others to be careful with this one? she's freakin strong, but more importantly? she's a bit coo-coo in the head."

Toriel nearly slapped out of her stupor. "I beg your pardon?"

"tell everyone not to listen to her. she's been going on about how she's the long lost queen and her daughter is that old human princess from the history books who came back to life, yadda-yadda."

"You-!" Toriel began but a blue glow wrapped around her snout and jaw and clamped them shut.

"she convinced my brother already, and look what's sure that everyone is on their guard, okay?" -Sans winked at the pun- "and no need to tell undyne. i already did that, and she is not in the mood for anything."

"Heh. Yeah, I saw her with the other prisoner. I am not going anywhere near that," the guard said with a shiver. "Thanks for the heads up. That does sound pretty crazy. I'll make sure to tell everyone."

"thanks. oh, and can you also tell everyone not to tell asgore about this?"

Toriel screamed between her closed mouth.

"the queen is a… complicated issue for him. i don't want him to get upset for something so stupid."

"Right. Definitely. I'll make sure to do that."

"awesome. you're good guy, oh-five. i'll talk to you later." Sans dismissed him with a wave, and the guard ran off after a salute, spreading the words as was ordered.

Silence ensued as Toriel glared at Sans. Sans smiled, and dispelled the magic keeping her silent.

"you know, i almost made that promise," he began before she could get a word in. "when you asked, i knew that i shouldn't, because my job would have made me break it eventually. but truth be told, i really did want to." He sighed. "but then it stopped me. my hunches, to the rescue. told me that i really, really shouldn't, and so i didn't. didn't understand why. i never do. but i guess it's pretty obvious why now, huh?"

Toriel closed her eyes, his words from then echoing back to her.

"sorry, old lady. i don't like making promises i don't intend to keep."

"Would it have been different if you actually, honestly made the promise?" she asked, her eyes downcast on the chains around her wrists.

Sans was silent for a long time. "i… think so. yeah. it would have made an enormous difference. that's the feeling i'm getting."

And with that, Sans left her, away from the barred door and out of her sight. The crowd was dispersed as well, and cart began to slowly move.

Now, alone in the cold, Toriel sat down next to the door, her back pressed onto the wall of the metal prison. There, she pressed her hands on her lap, closed her eyes, and prayed her children safe.

Chapter 20

"Come on. Come on, we're almost there. We're almost there."

Chara repeated their mantra as they stumbled through the woods with a silent Frisk clinging onto their side. The two of them were on the move towards east, towards Waterfall where they could stop and regroup while not freezing to death at the same time. Even now, after all that walking and adrenaline pumping through their veins, Chara's entire body shivered, their hands stung with the cold, their feet completely numbed over from the constant wading through the snow with only a pair of indoor slippers. As much as they detested agreeing with Sans, he had been right: If they stayed here, they were going to die.

"Ah!"

Frisk tripped on something, a rock hidden in the thick blanket of snow, and fell to their knees despite clinging onto Chara for support. Chara spun around and knelt down besides them. "Get up, darling. Come on, you have to get up."

Frisk didn't though. The child was in no better shape than them: their skin pale, eyes hooded up and red from their crying earlier. They had their arms wrapped tightly around themselves, grabbing onto their upper arms as they shivered. Chara coaxed them again, but instead of getting up, Frisk began to cry with shaking sobs.

"Oh, darling, no," Chara cooed, and wrapped their arm around Frisk, rubbing them on the back quickly in the hopes to create some warmth via friction. Creating a fire was not an option. They could risk the light being seen by others, and they lacked anything to properly burn in this frozen forest. They were already depleted of mana from their escape. Keeping a fire going big and long enough for them to stay warm was gonna cause them to collapse.

But even still, Frisk was crying. Frisk was so scared and so sad, they didn't even have the sense to keep their mental barrier up. Chara could feel every one of Frisk's emotion as their own, and it drove them insane that they were powerless to stop it.

How did we get here? they wondered. Everything had been good. They were happy, just until that morning.

Idiot, they wanted to call themselves. A complacent fool. At the first sign of peace, they had instantly let their guard down, buried their head in the sand of happiness and remained blind to the storm that brewed around them.

They should have done more, should have been more diligent. It should have been obvious that Sans would find a way to escape. Even in the tightest prison, Sans was the type that would have found a way to escape, and in truth, Chara had not even tried to keep the skeleton in check. They just placed a single magic suppressant cuffs on him and called it a , because of their tardiness, everything was ruined.

They had learned this lesson before: that happiness never lasted long, and especially not for those who did nothing to protect it. Frisk was crying now, their mother and Papyrus gone, all because they had been lazy, so drunk in bliss that they'd gone stupid.

Chara's eyes watered, but they bit down their sobs. As much as they hated their stupid self, there was no time for this pathetic self-pity. Frisk was crying, and they -the only remaining adult in this situation- had to be strong.

They caressed Frisk and coaxed them to look up.

"Hey," Chara said softly, smiling wide. "It's alright now. How about we continue that conversation from yesterday, huh? Tell me all of the old singers you know. I know I didn't know the ones you mentioned, but there must be more right? Why don't we try and find one we both know?"

Frisk shivered and stared at them vacantly, as though they barely understood what was being said.

"Frisk?" Chara repeated, doing their best to keep up their smile through their own shivering.

"M… Michael Jackson," Frisk said, their voice a whisper through their hoarse throat.

Chara let out a small laugh of relief. "No. I don't know who that is." They patted Frisk on the back. "Come on. Tell me who else. Good music lasts forever, you know? I'm sure you'll find someone. Keep trying. We must keep trying."

Chara gave Frisk's back a firm push with that last word, and Frisk finally stumbled back up to a stand. "W-whitney Houston," they said.

"No. Though, that's a lovely name. Who's next?"

"Madonna?"

Chara laughed as they got up as well. "Okay, so, first of all, that is not a name-"

Chara didn't know how long they continued on like that, with Frisk giving one or two worded names, and them giving a short commentary to keep the both of them going. Thankfully, Frisk continued to play along, listing the names diligently as though it was their lifeline, even repeating ones they both knew they had spoken about before when they couldn't think of anyone else.

Time could have been standing still then, the world could have ended and all there was left could have been the woods and snow surrounding them, but the two of them continued on. They would not stop, because there was nothing else for them to do.

And then suddenly, Frisk stopped.

"Do you hear that?"

Chara blinked, their mind sluggishly catching onto Frisk's shift in topic. They looked around to suddenly found the forest shrouded in heavy fog. The snows on the ground were gone, leaving only dark, wet dirt. And in the distance, once they perked their ears, they heard a feint, but unmistakable sound of water pouring down in gallons.

It was Waterfall.

"Come!"

The two ran towards the sound as quickly as Chara's legs would allow. The fogs began to recede, the trees getting thinner until there were none around at all, and the rustle and crunches of their indoor slippers on the forest floor became wet shuffles against moist soil. Though now exposed to public eyes, the two did not stop, and before they knew it, they were by a river bank, one that had dozens of rocks being swept up in its current before it all fell off a cliff not a few meters away.

Chara shuffled over and peered down where the rocks dropped a good three storey height, then be swept away for a short stream towards yet another waterfall. They also found that the waterfall below was right next to the main road that lead straight from Snowdin.

"Okay. I'm going to create us a portal to cross the streams. Then, we'll continue down the-"

"No."

Chara whipped around. "No?"

Frisk shook their head. "It's warm here. We should stay."

"Stay? We're right next to Snowdin. The guards will be searching for us and will most likely come to us soon enough. Where do you even suggest we stay?"

Frisk looked down at the waterfall. "There. Hidden cave behind the waterfall."

A hidden cave. Chara found the idea somewhat flimsy. A cave behind a waterfall seemed like something the locals would know well about, and therefore so would the guards. Hiding in such a place seemed like someone hiding in the closet in case of home invasion: A decent idea, but somewhat predictable. It felt as though they were setting themselves up for failure.

"Darling, I'm not sure if that is a good idea. Wouldn't it be better if we move a bit further away and take shelter less close to the main road?"

Frisk looked up at them, and their trembling lips had Chara take in a sharp breath. "Chara… I-I'm really tired."

Chara's eyes stung, and they quickly blinked it away and gave a wide smile. "Okay."

They strained the last of their magic to create a portal to the dry ground below, and the two proceeded to wade through the admittedly shallow water to behind the waterfall, dodging the boulders that swept by.

The cave was not as big as Chara had expected, being much smaller than Papyrus' room had been. Crammed, muggy, and extremely loud thanks to the sound of the crashing waterfall reverberating about the small space, the only thing the cave had going for it was the large patches of Fluorobello mushrooms that grew on each side of the chamber, lighting up the place in their eerily bluish light. At least they weren't sitting in the dark. It wasn't a cosy hotel room by any means, but given their situation, they could be doing a lot worse.

Chara gestured to the ground next to the main entrance, and Frisk helped them to sit down on the dirt with their back pressed into the hard wall. Frisk shuffled over and squeezed the head of one of the Fluorobellos on the patch closest to them before they returned to Chara's side. With a loud squeak, the light switched off, leaving them in the dimmer light of the other mushroom patch further away.

Chara shifted and looped their arm around Frisk so that the child didn't have to press so hard against the solid rock wall. They were both soaked from wading and passing through a waterfall, still chilled from the snow, and exhausted from pushing themselves during the middle of the night. Comfort was out of the question, but that didn't mean that Chara wasn't going to do everything they could to make Frisk's night as agreeable as it could be.

"Are you okay?" they whispered, their eyes already heavy at the first sign of being able to rest.

Frisk curled up further, pressing themselves into Chara's hold. "Chara, I'm cold," they whispered back, their voice strained from exhaustion and the lack of sleep. Chara bit down on their lower lip to keep themselves from crying out loud.

"Charlotte, I'm cold."

"I know, sweetie. I know." There was nothing to burn here still, and to create fire in this stifled environment would only make it difficult to breath. They held Frisk closer with their lone arm and placed a kiss on their forehead, hoping to god that it was enough.

The thunderous sound of water crashing down was a constant, but it was the tiny whimper that got Frisk to open their eyes. Frisk blinked once, twice, then tried to turn their head, only to wince as their neck clenched up with a terrible ache. It wasn't clear to them what had caused their body to feel like a squeaky door, but only for a moment. The muggy air, stony floor and the dim light of the glowing mushrooms in the distance, caused the memories of the night before to surface like bitter bile.

Frisk paled, a sudden urge to hide under a blanket hit them like a truck. But there were no blanket here. There was nothing here, nothing but the dreadful reminders of their dire situation. They couldn't even close their eyes to ignore it all, thanks to the ache that laden their body. Everything was terrible, and Frisk sniffled as tears began anew.

Then, a whimper echoed in the cave, the same whimper that had woken them up in the first place.

They turned to the side, up to Chara whose sleeping face was marred by a pained scowl. A sharp ache stabbed at Frisk's heart, a sick twisting sensation that made them almost cry out. Chara was having a nightmare, and it probably didn't help that Frisk was feeling so openly awful as well.

"Chara?" they said, rubbing away their own tears and placing their hands on Chara's lap. "Chara. Wake up. It's a dream." They sniffled. "You're having a nightmare."

Chara's scowl deepened, their teeth baring as whimpers turned into sharp grunts. The sensation in their connection worsened, and Chara swung their head violently from side to side as though they were trying to break free of something. From the corner of their eyes, small beads of tears gathered bit by bit.

Frisk looked left and right, as if the solution to Chara's pain could be found somewhere in this dingy cave. They had to do something. Anything.

Another whimper, and they simply couldn't watch anymore. Without much though, they threw themselves at Chara and wrapped them into the biggest hug they could manage.

Chara's struggles stopped with a sharp gasp.

Frisk jumped back, and found Chara's eyes half open, expression still dazed but now awake.

"Chara?" Frisk said.

Chara turned their head sluggishly and looked down at them with hooded eyes. Frisk smiled in what they hoped was a reassuring look.

"Hey," they said. "Are you okay? You were having a bad dream."

"Leslie?"

Frisk's heart dropped along with their smile. "N… No. It's Frisk. Do you remember where you are?"

Chara slowly blinked. Their awareness seemed to snap back into them in an instant, and without a word, they sat back up, taking a long, slow breath in a half yawn. They looked about the cave, the ground, the walls and the ceiling before settling back on Frisk. They reached over with their arm and caressed their partner, running a thumb over their cheek. "Hey."

The word was so quiet, Frisk barely heard it over the crashing waters. "Hey."

"How are you? Are you feeling alright?"

Frisk nodded. Though it wasn't the entire truth, they did feel better than before they had gone to sleep, and they did not want to bother Chara with their issues when Chara had only just woken up. There were bags under their partner's eyes, their SOUL raw to the touch through their connection like a scraped wound. Despite their smile being as gentle as a flower, it was just as fragile. It hurt Frisk to see, unnerve them. One small touch and it seemed Chara would crumble apart.

"Great," Chara whispered, their carefree tone so fake it made Frisk want to cry all over again.

They turned away to search for their cane, no doubt intending to get up and force themselves to stand strong, be the adult and protector to Frisk, because that was their duty.

Frisk grabbed their upper arm, and stopped them in their track.

Chara turned back, eyed their arm, then up at Frisk. "What is it?" they asked, concern marring their face.

Without saying anything, Frisk reached up, wrapped their arms around Chara's head, and pulled them into a full bodied hug, burying them deep into their chest.

"Frisk, what are you-" Chara began, but Frisk shushed them.

"Don't talk," Frisk told them, reassured them. "You don't have to talk. You don't have to do anything right now."

Chara was silent, shocked or confused, Frisk did not care. All that mattered was that Chara got the moment's rest they sorely deserved.

It took a minute. Chara's arm slowly rose up, and wrapped around Frisk in a soft hug that became tighter and tighter. Then, Chara's entire body began to shake, bounce with silent sobs.

Chara cried. And Frisk wanted to cry too. There was so much wrong with their situation, so scary and bleak. But now was not their time. Now was Chara's: Chara's turn to let go, to cry, and to be loved. As their partner, it was Frisk's duty to provide.

Everything will be okay, Frisk said, not in those exact words, but through their feelings. A feeling free of blame, free of fear, doubt or any hatred. It was a feeling only of love, and Chara cried harder from it.

It was difficult to tell time without a clock, but by the time Chara eventually pulled back, blinking and wiping away their tears, the ache in Frisk's already stiff body had doubled. They didn't mind, though. Chara's heart, which had been rigid to withstand the storm around them and was about to break apart under the weight, was now softened. And though the storm still brewed in its unrelenting winds, their heart now swayed into its flow rather than fight back.

"Oh, goodness," Chara said, dabbing at their eyes. "I do not know where that came from. I look a right mess now, don't I?"

"That's okay. You're still pretty to me." Frisk beamed.

Chara scoffed. "You're so ridiculous. And I just woke up as well. Can we please keep your silliness down to a minimum at least for an hour?" Despite saying this, Chara still reached over, took Frisk's hand and ran their thumb over the back. "Thank you," they said and placed a kiss on Frisk's finger.

It was supposed to be a rewarding moment for Frisk, but the instant Chara's lips touched their finger, they yelped.

Chara pulled back with a gasp and studied Frisk's hand. "Your fingers are all red," they said with a frown.

Frisk looked too, and indeed, the tip joints where their fingernails were were all pulsating red. "It's itchy," they said, flexing their fingers. "And it stings when you touch it. My feet too."

"So do mine. It's frostbite."

Frisk gasped. "I-is that bad?"

"Not what we have. It's only surface level. Here." Chara closed their eyes and the inside of their hand began to glow yellow.

Frisk stared at the light in amazement, then tensed up as their fingers began to tickle, growing strong and stronger until they wanted to start hopping about in place.

The light stopped.

"Hm," Chara hummed as they studied Frisk's fingers which was no longer red, but still a very bright pink. "That did half the job. I don't have enough magic."

"What should we do?" Frisk asked.

Before Chara could answer, a thin growl echoed about the cave.

Chara and Frisk stared at one another, then laughed. "I think your stomach just answered your question," Chara said. "Come, help me up. To those Fluorobellos." They nodded at the patch of glowing mushrooms that lit up the cave.

Frisk frowned as they helped Chara up. "Those have names?"

"Well, of course they do, darling. What have you been calling them?"

"'Glowing mushrooms'."

Chara laughed. "Okay, yes, that is what they are, but that's like calling chips: 'potatoes which has been cut'. Right then, here we are. Help me down." they ordered when they arrived at the patch.

Frisk helped them kneel down, and once there, Chara grabbed a few of the smaller mushrooms by the base and rip it out of the ground. Standing back up, Chara now held a bouquet of glowing mushrooms, each head a size of a potato.

"What are we doing with those?" Frisk asked.

Rather than saying their answer out loud, Chara took in a deep breath, pressed their lips to an 'o', and blew out. A stream of white fire flew out of their mouth and over the mushroom heads. Only a few seconds later, the pale blue of the mushrooms turned into a healthy, steaming red.

Frisk gaped at the sight. "You can cook that? You can breathe fire?"

"Oh good lord, I thought you've been through the kingdom hundreds of times over? How do you not know these things already?" Chara said, offering the bouquet.

"I blame you. You never told me." Frisk harrumphed before they plucked one of the red mushrooms out by its still-blue stem. They sniffed at the trailing smoke and smiled. It smelled like smoked meat.

They took a bite, a mouthful out of the edge. It was chewy but light like a cloud bread, and as soon as the deep flavour hit their tongue, Frisk look up at Chara with twinkling eyes and bounced on their feet. "It tastes like jerky!" they said.

"Quite. And look," Chara said, nodding downwards.

Frisk did and saw the familiar healing glow of monster food rising out of their fingers as well as their feet. Beaming, they continued to munch on what was to be their breakfast for the day.

For the first few bulbs, the two ate in silence, sitting back down where they had fallen asleep the night before. But soon, once Frisk had enough to satisfy their immediate hunger, they slowed their chewing and finally brought up the subject that was no doubt on both of their minds.

"Chara?"

"Hm?"

"We should go to the castle."

Chara's chewing stopped and they stared at Frisk. What, just like that? they said, refusing to speak with their mouth full.

"I don't think there's another way to do it, so, yeah, I guess."

Chara swallowed. "You make it sound like we'll just waltz up to the castle gate, carefree."

"I know it won't be easy. Duh," Frisk said, rolling their eyes. "But, like, it's the best thing we could do, right? I mean, unless you think we should just wait this out. Ms Toriel is going to the castle, so she'll be able to see Mr Asgore there. Maybe she'll tell him about everything and make everyone stop trying to take our SOULs!"

Chara frowned and shook their head apologetically. "I fear that is unlikely to happen. The castle is enormous. It's not somewhere two people can meet through sheer chance just because they're both there, especially when one's in the throne room and the other in the dungeon." They sighed. "And I somehow get the feeling that Sans would do everything in his power to stop mother and father from meeting. It would turn the entire table on him if that were to happen."

"Okay, then we should definitely go to the castle. We're the only ones who can now."

"Just because we can, doesn't mean we should. I don't think walking out there and making our way to the castle all willy-nilly is the smartest move."

"But it's only move we can make. Come on, Chara. Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Darling…" Chara spoke with such pleading tone, laden with exhaustion, Frisk couldn't help their mood be dragged down as well.

They turned to face Chara properly. "Chara," they began. "I know that you're worried, about me especially, because you think that you need to protect me and everything. But we can't let that stop us from doing what we have to do."

"I can't put you in danger," Chara said, plain, blunt, and somewhat dismissive. Frisk frowned, and after a moment with a puffed out cheek, they stood up with their hands on their hips.

"Well, you know what? That's not up to you."

Chara's head whipped up at them. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"What I mean is that I'm already in danger, Chara. We both are. You're the one who said this cave is too close to the main road, and you know what? It is. But you're not the one who put us here. Sans is. It's him and the guards who did that."

"But if I was stronger. If only I had been smarter, I-"

"Oh my god. Can we not?"

Chara blinked in shock at their frustrated tone. "P-pardon?"

"Like, I know you're older than me. You're stronger than me, and yeah, you're smarter than me and whatever, but that doesn't mean I need you for everything I do."

"Of course, I know that. But-"

"Do you?" Frisk shot back. "Because you sure don't sound like it. If I want to put myself in danger -if I really wanted to- do you think you can stop me? No. You can use all the magic and tricks you want, but I'll get out, and I'll throw myself in danger and I'll get hurt. And you know whose fault that would be? Mine. Not yours. Are you the one asking me to go to the castle right now? Do you see me begging you not to do this?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Then stop blaming yourself!" Frisk shouted.

Chara stared at them, eyes wide and mouth agape.

Frisk took in a deep breath, and continued in a gentler tone. "If anything, I should be the one blaming myself. I'm asking you to go to the castle with me. I'm the one who is putting you in danger."

"You are doing no such thing," Chara quickly said.

"But I am," Frisk said with a wry smile. "And that's why I need to ask you, Chara: I want to go to the castle and save our friends. Will you come with me?"

Frisk's eyes were on Chara's, firm and determined. Chara's, on the other hand, faltered and was quick to dart away. "I can't protect you," they said. "Not as I am now."

"And I'm not asking you to," Frisk said. "I'm not asking you to come with me as my protector. I'm asking you to come with me as my partner. We'll protect each other, and if one of us gets hurt, it won't be either of our fault. So, will you be my partner, Chara?"

Chara stared at them, eyes wide in shock, in awe. "Do you really think we will make it?"

"I don't know." Frisk shrugged. "But I also know that we don't have any other choice. Worrying about whether we'll make it or not will just make us sad and scared, and that's just… silly, you know? If we need to do it anyway, why not do it with a smile? That's what I think."

Chara scoffed, but their awe remained. "How are you so strong?"

Frisk giggled. "Um, what do you mean? All I know is how to dodge."

"I meant your heart, darling. You have a steel heart I can only ever dream of having, and it…" Chara couldn't seem to continue.

Frisk hummed. "Well, that's definitely not true. Because it's yours too."

Chara frowned and shook their head. "What do you mean?"

"My heart." Frisk bit the tip of their tongue with a coy smile. "It's yours. It's always been yours. So now you have a steel heart too."

Chara stared, their eyes wide, before they burst into laughter once more. "What sort of ridiculousness is that?!" they said inbetween their guffaw.

Frisk blushed and laughed along too. It was a few seconds before the laughing died, and the silence that ensued had both humans at peace with one another.

"Yes," Chara said with a smile, a genuine smile. "Yes, I will be your partner."

"Awesome." Frisk beamed back. "This is going to be awesome."

"Is that what you think?" Chara scoffed.

"Chara," Frisk said with their hands on their hips. "I have travelled the road to the castle a thousand times over, and I have never learned the name of these glowing mushrooms, and I have never thought that I could cook them into delicious meat-tasting roast. You've shown me something new in a journey I thought I knew everything about. And it hasn't even been a day! I so mean it when I say, this is going to be awesome."

Chara smiled, their heart so warm it nearly burned Frisk through their connection. "You really are so very strong. How did you even come to be?" They reached up, and Frisk leaned down to place their cheek into Chara's hand. Chara pulled them down further, leaned up and placed a kiss on Frisk's other cheek. "Thank you," they whispered.

Frisk's entire face heated up, their fingers tingling with excitement. "Well, come on!" they said. "Let's finish eating and get out of here. There's no time to lose! We have a day to save!"

The two finished their meal quickly then, and after a short rest, they gathered what supplies they had and cleaned up as best as could in the falling water.

Within the hour, the two stood by the entrance of the cave by the waterfall, Chara with their hand on their cane, Frisk with their hands holding the rest of the Fluorobellos in the cave they've plucked to go.

The two turned to one another, both eyes twinkling with determination.

"Shall we?" Chara said.

"Together?" Frisk asked.

Chara's eyes flashed red, and Frisk's messy bangs swept into a neat side way form. They smiled. "Together."

And together, the two humans stepped through the veil of the waterfall and out into the world beyond, heading out into the unknown for their adventure.

"Eek!" Frisk screamed as the water soaked them.

"Gah!" Chara grunted along. Shivering, they turned to Frisk with a fiery glare. "Okay. First thing's first: We're going to go to a shop and buy ourselves some new clothes."

Two pair of heavy boots marched down the hallway, accompanied by a much lighter footstep whose erratic patterns indicated his reluctance to be here. Undyne closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. It was time.

She turned around to face her men. Donned in her heavy armour, the sight of Papyrus' nervous fidgeting through the slit of her helmet made him seem like one of her sparring opponents who always cowered before her when they fought. But in those cases she would trip the kid, help him back up, scold him for his cowardice then laugh about it with him later. This… This wasn't training. This was a real situation, and she knew that no one would be laughing about this in the future. Not ever.

"Leave us." She said to the guards who escorted Papyrus. The two dogs nodded and backed down, walking out of the room and -hopefully- out of earshot.

As the door slammed shut, Papyrus' nervousness visibly doubled, his eyes darting left and right while his fingers tapped at one another like a castanet. When he accidentally looked Undyne right in the eye, he froze, began to sweat profusely, then formed a sorry excuse for a smile that was on the verge of a terrified scream.

"Nyeh heh… Hey Undyne," he said in an even tone so unlike his boisterous yells.

Undyne marched up and backhanded him across the face.

She didn't use much force. No, the action itself had far more impact than her physical strength ever could. The skeleton's head turned, and when he came to stand before her again, his face was awash with knowing guilt. Unfortunately for him, it did little to sooth her anger.

"What the hell are you doing?" she growled, her cold breath shooting into his face. "Breaking protocols? Making friends with the enemy? Turning against your own friends? Your brother?!"

"I.. I was just-"

"I never thought you could be so stupid!"

Silence followed her words. She waited, hoping that her friend had something to say, some excuse that he could come up with.

But none came.

Undyne ran her hand over her head, through her hair, but had to stop when her blade like claws scratched at her scalp. Her ear fins were standing razor straight, a sign she used often to strike fear in her opponent, be they enemies or her own men. But she was doing neither of those right now. Now she was talking to a friend, one who was very confused, very scared, and very manipulated into imprisoning his own brother despite him being an adult and should have more fucking common sense than-

Her fins widened further. Then rattled.

Shit.

"We-" Undyne took a deep breath. "We did everything for you."

Papyrus' eyes darted left and right. "Wh-what?"

"The guards. Your friends. We did everything we could to delay the trial. We asked all of the Judicators -begged them- not to make any judgement on you until the High Judicator came to put his own opinion. Because we knew that your brother would have found a loophole to get you out. We were just waiting for him to get off his lazy ass for once and get back to work." Undyne scoffed. "Who could have thought that he had been there right under our noses, locked up, by his own brother."

"Undyne, I-"

"Why?" she cut him off. "Why did you shelter those humans? What was your reason?"

"Well… Th-they said they were the princess!" Papyrus stuttered. "I mean, you know the story! Th-the human princess who fell to the Pit all those years ago! The one our late Prince found and befriended!"

Undyne stared at her friend. So Sans' words were true. She knew it would be, but hoped that even Papyrus would have had more common sense than to believe such crap. "Papyrus. The princess is dead," she said evenly.

"I know! And she's back! They're back! Oh, everyone calls them 'them'. I have no idea why."

"And how is she back? From the dead, let me remind you."

"'Them'. And, uhh, magic!"

"Magic."

"U-um, I mean, that's what they told me!"

"And did they ever specify what sort of magic?"

"Um… No?"

"Did you ask?"

"Well-"

"Did you ask them anything? Did you ask them to confirm that they were the princess besides all the information they gave themselves? Did you ever think that they were lying? Did you think at all?"

"Uhhhh…"

Undyne ran her hand over her face, smoothing her fins once more. "Okay, so, the princess is back, from the dead, and they told you to, what? Lock up your brother? Fight your friends?"

"Umm, no. I mean, sort of, but, not in a direct way. I mean-" Papyrus stopped, gulped down his invisible saliva, and continued in a pleading tone. "Undyne… Sans was hurting them. He was hurting children."

"He was hurting humans."

"Does it matter?"

Undyne's fist rose, but with shaky motion, she lowered her arm, and Papyrus stopped wincing as well.

"Is that why you helped them? Because they were hurt? Because they were children?"

Papyrus shuffled his feet. "They were nice too."

"'They were nice'." Undyne's fins trembled again. "You are joking."

"Does there need to be anything else? We can't hurt nice people. That would make us the bad guys!"

"Papyrus," Undyne said so simply, so sharply that Papyrus instantly froze up. "Enemies are people too. All humans come from a family. They all have a mother, a father, a friend somewhere out there that they think of. They laugh, they cry, they can be kind, and they can be nice."

Papyrus visibly seemed at a loss for words. "But then… then why are we-?"

"Because we are soldiers," she answered. "We've taken up the oath to be the sword and shield of this kingdom, and no matter who the enemy is, no matter how friendly, how young, or how nice they are, if it is for the kingdom's happiness, we must strike them down. We must be the bad guys so that our people don't have to be. That is the deal."

Papyrus was quiet for a long time. He slowly sagged, looking like a kicked puppy. "I… I can't…"

Undyne laughed, scoffed, and nodded to herself. "I know," she said. "I've always known." She closed her eye and took in a deep breath. "Give me your badge."

Papyrus blinked. "Wh-what?"

"Your guard badge. Give it to me."

"But.. Why?"

"Because you aren't a guard anymore!" Undyne's words echoed about the room. "You allied with the enemy, you attacked our friends, and helped a human escape when we could have all been finally free. You broke your oath! You aren't a guard anymore! Badge! Now! HAND! IT! OVER!"

As the echoes of her voice faded away, Papyrus stood still for a very long time, his gaze fixed on Undyne's open palm as though he didn't understand what the gesture meant. Eventually, however, he slowly raised his hand to his chest, opened up his armour and tucked his hand into the pocket on the inside of the door. When he pulled his hand out, his badge came along.

He held it over Undyne's palm, hesitated, then with his eyes firmly shut, dropped his dream onto his now former boss.

Undyne held the badge in front of her, examining its spot-less condition, knowing that the skeleton spent every night polishing it with pride. And without a single word of condolences, she crushed it in her hand and threw the pieces on the floor.

"Men!" The door to her office opened and the same Royal Guards from before came in. "Take this criminal away."

With a salute, the guards grabbed Papyrus by the arm, one on each side, and took him away as commanded.

Neither he nor Undyne spoke to each other again, and when he was taken away so far that not even his footsteps were audible, Undyne grabbed her personal desk and threw it against the wall. The wooden furniture crashed and exploded into dozens of pieces from the impact, and in the rain of barks and splinters, Undyne trembled, her breathing loud and harsh.

A minute later, she grabbed her helmet from the floor where it had fallen along with the rest of the content of her table, shook away all the chips and woods, and put it on tight and firm.

She marched out of her office without a word, her hand ready to conjure a spear at any time.

She had humans to hunt.

A/N: Okay, so I feel rather uneasy about this chapter. I feel like I should be reviewing it more, reconsider a few elements and do more restructuring... But that's how I usually fall into the trap of spending a year to update a single chapter. I don't want that. Nobody wants that. So I shall (re)learn how to bite the bullet and publish things that I'm not fully happy with!

Thank you everyone who posted a review/comment on the previous chapter! It still amazes me that I still get such quick feedback despite the multiple hiatus I take. You guys are all so awesome :')

As I said, I'm feeling rather uneasy, but I do hope that the chapter is still entertaining! It's not as long as the previous few chapters, but I did get all the scenes I wanted to put in the order that I wanted, so at least I'm happy about that.

I'm gonna challenge myself to update the next chapter in 2 weeks as well (though I get the feeling it may take me 3 for some reason). Thank you for reading, and see you all then!

Wish me luck, and be sure to stay safe!
SSB

Up next: A new adventure!