:-"...before the oncoming Horror."-:

Chara decides to sneak out and go to the Library.

They still aren't very coordinated, however, so they have to be extra careful.

Peeking out from their room, they look into the living room to see if Marceline is in there.

She doesn't appear to be.

Carefully, slowly, Chara opens the door to their room.

They look around again, checking to make sure Marceline hasn't come out of whatever room she is in.

No one is there.

Chara gently closes the door to their room.

On the tips of their toes, as much as they can manage to be, Chara slowly walks through the apartment and to the front door…

It takes several minutes, but once Chara is at the door they feel a sense of ease… and a lingering feeling that tells them that it was too easy.

After brushing the feeling aside, Chara gently turns the door nob on the front door and begins to open it.

Chara looks around the apartment to make sure Marceline hasn't snuck up on them, but no one is there.

When Chara looks back, Marceline is standing outside the door with an eye brow raised.

Chastising themself, Chara thinks, 'of course she'd have been outside… she was probably talking to that lady. God, I must be an idiot.'

With an awkward smile, Chara tries to cover their tracks, "welcome back! How did it go?"

Marceline ignores the greeting and asks, "where are you going?"

Chara chastises themself again for thinking they could pull the wool over her eyes so easily. 'How stupid am I?! This is Frisk's mom! Of course I couldn't just pretend like I wasn't doing anything wrong… I really am an idiot.'

Knowing they've been caught, Chara replies, "…I wanted to go to the library."

Marceline opens the door and walks in to the apartment past Chara, and says, "be back by lunch."

Chara stands at the doorway, confused. They were sure that Marceline would punish them or something for trying to sneak out, not let them go…

After walking out of the apartment, Chara realizes that they don't actually know how to get to the library.

They slowly return, 'She must've known that I didn't know how to get there. Guess I'll just go back to my room, then.'

As Chara walks back to their room, Marceline asks, "changed your mind?"

Chara shrugs, "I remembered that I do not actually know how to get to the Library, so I am just going to go back to my room instead."

Marceline puts the book she had picked up back down, and replies, "nonsense. I will take you to the library. A curious mind should be fed."

Chara is confused, but they don't question it.

:-:

Alphys is rushing back to the Underground lab in Home Town, because she remembered the Amalgamates.

Fortunately their family members are allowed into the facility, so they were not starved or alone the whole time.

With a box full of tech parts, Kathryn hops out of the back of the Aircraft after it lands.

Looking around, they whistle and comment, "wow… this place looks almost like a pre-war city! You've gotta show me around sometime!"

Nervous, Alphys replies, "s-sure! Let's just get this over with… The f-faster we can de-amalgamate these monsters, the better…"

Kathryn nods, "Of course! Not to mention, I need to get back so I can study more magic! Now that humans are starting to be able to use magic again, I can hardly wait to enhance all my babies!"

Alphys is shocked momentarily, until she remembers that Kathryn is talking about their magi-tech creations. "R-right! Though, some of those don't look very… uh… safe."

Waving a hand dismissively, Kathryn says, "ahw it'll be fine! I'm an expert with magi-tech! (…Theoretically.)"

Alphys doesn't hear the last remark, since the thrusters are still winding down.

Briefly, Alphys considers pointing out that Kathryn couldn't even use magic until recently, but she decides not to.

As the two approach Alphys' new lab, something about it gives them both the creeps; they aren't sure why.

Kathryn pipes up as they get near the door, "hey… is it just me, or are you getting like… a really creepy vibe from this place?"

Alphys, having not felt this ominous feeling from the lab before, replies nervously, "heh… it uh… just has that *gulp*… 'new lab' feel… r-right? Like… you have no clue… w-what to expect, but you hope it'll be, uh… good?"

Not convinced, but not too worried, Kathryn decides it must have been built over an old graveyard or something.

The two enter the facility, somewhat hesitantly, and begin setting up scientific instruments for examining and testing the properties of the Amalgamates, in hopes that they may find some way to de-amalgamate the monsters.

Alphys is not sure how long it will take, but she hopes it wont take long.

The faster she can abandon this lab… the better.

Clutching the upper part of her shirt, Alphys looks to the general direction of the Sanctum and thinks to herself, 'Undyne… Please… Please stay safe.'

:-:

Practising with the other guards, Undyne prepares to defend the Sanctum against a horde of Wälder beasts that was spotted. There is an estimated 15,000 of them.

What is causing them to horde like this, let alone why they are targeting the Sanctum, is still unknown to everyone… except one individual.

Hiding among the excited people in the Sanctum, a man with sinister purposes begins to initiate his plan; one that has been in the works since he escaped Sans' onslaught before the Great War.

Since magic is returning to the area, he can work more freely without suspicion.

It would have been a pain to have been labelled as the red SOUL, due to having access to magic before everyone else, and would complicate matters since he isn't a red SOUL. He'd rather not have to deal with people asking questions.

His first task, now that sufficient time has passed since magic has returned, is to set up discrete magical traps in various inconvenient locations. 'wouldn't want too many lambs to get away from the slaughter…'

He walks confidently through the halls of the Sanctum, having spent time to memorize the important parts of its layout long before Frisk arrived.

Many of the runic traps he is placing are simple and only meant to disorient the people within the halls.

Some, however, are more lethal.

He hides the traps by making the runes both incredibly small and dim.

Their magic signature is easily hidden due to the magical protections throughout the Sanctum.

Speaking of magical protections… He takes extra caution when near the front gate. One small slip and those statues will attack him. 'Quite the nuisance, but, in this inter-timeline boardgame, I am only a pawn, and those are Rooks… I have to avoid them for now.'

The man snakes his way through a crowd, placing small runes on people as he passes them.

Someone notices a rune on someone ahead of them and asks about it… 'Tch! There goes that part of the plan. I'll have to re-enforce the other traps to ensure they can get the job done…'

He makes his escape from the crowd unnoticed, and proceeds to the tech side of the lower Sanctum.

:-:

Frisk's father wakes them up, by gently rubbing their back. They must have dosed off at some point…

Chuckling lightly, he says, "Frisk, your appointment is soon. Lunchtime is approaching. You should get ready."

Worried, because they fell asleep without noticing it, Frisk gets up and rushes to their room to check their phone for the time.

Frisk's Phone reads: 11:15 A.M. April 8th, 2045 | No Messages

Their phone is almost fully charged.

A sigh of relief, followed by a question, 'I wonder how the monsters are doing in Home Town… it's too bad our fancy door portal can't take us there …'

Frisk remembers that they are supposed to pull a prank on people with Asriel and Sans today.

They walk to the playroom, where Asriel and Papyrus will no doubt be…

No one is there.

The living room is empty too.

… Frisk isn't sure where Asriel and Papyrus are.

They decide to check the kitchen.

Asriel and Papyrus are making something. It looks like… a mess.

Curious, Frisk asks, "what'cha makin'?"

Slightly surprised, Asriel responds, "oh! You startled me. I'm trying to show Papyrus how my mom makes pies… You guys have butter, right?"

Frisk nods, "yea, we should have some left," then goes to their fridge to get the butter.

They have three and a half sticks of butter. Frisk takes two sticks and hands them to Asriel.

With a smile, Asriel says, "thanks Frisk," and smashes the butter into the bowl.

Frisk comments, "you should let it warm up first. Or use some fire magic."

Asriel stops his stirring and replies, sadly, "I uh… can't use fire magic. I've been a flower for so long, I've forgotten how."

Showing off, Frisk points upwards with their index finger and creates a small fire. Making bullets is almost second nature for Frisk now.

Asriel scoffs, feeling insulted, and Frisk brings their small flame over to heat the butter in the bowl.

They put it out once the butter is nice and melty.

Upset, but appreciating the help, Asriel says, "thanks… I guess."

Frisk waves, and says, "no problem, I have to go now though. You can get back to the Sanctum with the dial on the door. Just have to set it to… yellow, I think. That was the colour on the door in the Sanctum. Just let my dad know when you leave, so he doesn't get worried."

Asriel continues mixing, but says, "Ok, see you later Frisk."

Frisk goes back to their father's study to say goodbye, then goes to their room to get their phone before taking the portal door back to the Sanctum.

When Frisk arrives, they notice that the apartment is empty.

They assume that Chara and Marceline went out and will be back soon, so they take the time to practice magic.

After pushing the furniture aside as much as they can, which ends up not being much at all, Frisk stands in the middle of the living room and closes their eyes.

They exhale slowly, focusing on the sound and feeling of air leaving their mouth.

Then they inhale slowly, this time focusing on how their body feels as its supply of oxygen is replenished.

Frisk reaches out with their SOUL to feel the area around them.

It is full of magic. The walls, the floor, the ceiling, even the air.

They continue reaching out with their SOUL, extending their view as far as possible, while continuing to also focus on breathing.

With every exhale, the distance their SOUL can reach out extends, and with every inhale the information they are receiving becomes clearer.

Frisk can feel small pockets of magic moving around. Some feel Brave, but most feel like Perseverance. One feels like pure Kindness, and another, further away, feels… Playful.

Another slow breath… and their field of view increases again.

Now they can feel… something. Frisk isn't sure what it is.

There are a lot of them, and they are small. They feel like Danger.

Frisk decides to stop practising that, and moves on to more active and flashy magic uses.

They stop feeling the people in the other apartments, but they can still feel the magic in their immediate vicinity.

Focusing on their SOUL, Frisk pulls some magic from themself and focuses on it.

They want to find a way to keep people away from them, without using fire.

Fire is dangerous and hard to control sometimes.

Deciding that air is not nearly as dangerous, Frisk alters the bit of magic they set aside to be Patience.

Knowing that they probably cannot sustain a constant gust of air in the same way they can sustain a cloak of fire, Frisk manipulates the magic into a dense ring around their body…

They guide it with their intent, and speak, "Strong, Outward, Burst."

A rather simple command set, but it should be effective enough.

Frisk waits Patiently and gathers more magic. They pull the ring in closer, causing it to become denser, then release it.

The moment Frisk releases it, however, they realize how badly they messed up.

The magic follows their commands and creates a strong burst of wind that pushes the furniture around, knocks the knick-knacks off the shelves, and generally makes a huge mess of the living room; the kitchen was not spared either, as some pots that were hanging are now on the floor.

The book Marceline was reading falls to the floor, after being thrown up to the ceiling; the bookmark seems to still be in place, fortunately.

Frisk panics, and starts cleaning the house as fast as they can.

Halfway through cleaning the house, the front door opens…

It's Marceline and Chara.

Frisk becomes as stiff as a plank and stops moving.

A book that had not been placed properly on the shelf falls off.

Chara is worried for their new friend… 'nice knowing you, Frisk. Here's hoping you have a good excuse.'

Marceline crosses her arms, looks around the room, spots her book and picks it up, then checks the page…

Once she has confirmed that her place was kept, she asks, "Frisk. My darling child. My sweet little angel who would never lie to me. What happened? Are you okay?"

Embarrassed, and knowing that they are going to get in trouble for this, Frisk lowers their head in shame and says, "I was practising magic in the living room…"

Playing with something on the floor with their foot, Frisk pushes it aside and continues, "I made a really big gust of wind and accidentally knocked everything over…"

Chara thinks to themself, 'being adorable won't stop you from getting into trouble, Frisk.'

Marceline gets closer to Frisk and places her hand on their head, and says, "well, this mess wont clean itself up, will it? From now on, no practising magic in the house; do you understand?"

Frisk nods.

Marceline looks around for anything that may have broke, but doesn't find anything. She starts to go into the kitchen and says, "Frisk darling, you will have to cancel your pranks today."

Protesting, Frisk says, "Aww! But moom!"

Turning back with one hand on her hip, Marceline replies, "no buts. You are going to go to the red tower to practise magic for the rest of the day, after your meeting with Catarina."

Frisk is less upset, but doesn't show it.

Chara is speechless. 'Something like this would have gotten me a significantly worse punishment… If you can even call cleaning up the mess you made, and then getting to do the thing you got in trouble for, punishment… A real punishment is a series of smacks on the butt so hard you can't sit down, cleaning up the mess you made, and then having to stay in your room all day.'

They are curious now about what they can get away with…

Deciding not to try their luck just yet, Chara joins Frisk in cleaning the living room.

Frisk gives them a slight smile, and says, "thanks Chara, but you don't have to help… I made the mess, so I have to clean it up."

Chara looks at the displaced furniture, and asks, "OK, but how are you going to move the furniture alone?"

Staring at the furniture, Frisk realizes that they hadn't thought of that yet… They shrug, then continue cleaning.

The two get the living room cleaned up quickly, and, with some adult assistance, also manage to get the furniture back in place.

When they finish, lunch has also been made.

:-:

After their filling meal, Chara gets Frisk to plan pranks with them; they are jealous of having been left out before, and they're sure they have better prank ideas than Asriel.

Part way into their plotting, however, they are interrupted by someone knocking on the door.

It's Catarina, here to talk with Frisk and Chara; though Chara doesn't know that.

Marceline greets her and offers her something to eat, but Catarina declines. "No, thank you; I just ate."

Frisk sits on the couch and waits for Catarina to start talking.

Catarina pulls out her worn clipboard and a pencil.

Chara feels like they already know what is going to happen, 'probably trying to see how much of a risk they are…'

After writing something down, Catarina asks, "How are you feeling, Frisk?"

Frisk shrugs, "I'm OK."

Catarina asks, "has anything been troubling you lately, or made you feel upset?"

Thinking to themself, Chara comments, 'I knew it. She want s to see if Frisk is unstable. Probably to find a way to manipulate them… or to see if they need to be locked up.'

Chara considers speaking up, but they decide not to. They have been wrong a lot lately, so they'd rather not risk it.

Leaning back in the couch, to try to get more comfortable, Frisk considers what to say…

They decide to be honest, and blunt. "Well, there is a giant thing made out of humans locked behind that barrier down in the valley, along with someone I don't know that well, and I may or may not have to face it again when the barrier eventually breaks. I'm not looking forward to that."

After writing some notes down, Catarina replies, "I see, that does sound troubling… You said that someone is trapped in there with it? Are you worried about them?"

Frisk nods, "yea, but they're probably dead now." Frisk is lying, they think CU-270 is still alive.

Catarina takes note and replies, "I see. That's a pretty grim outlook to have… Is there anything else troubling you?"

Chara notices that Catarina has only been asking questions and making small comments. 'She is definitely here to evaluate Frisk… But why?'

Frisk doesn't say anything, So Catarina asks, "Your mother said you had quite a bad nightmare, would you like to talk about that?"

Chara decides to leave, they can't understand what is going on.

Sitting alone in their room, Chara decides to practice magic. They haven't used magic in a long time, and even then they only used it to make their face look creepy.

Opting out of bullets and monster magic, Chara has decided to only practice human magic.

Chara decides to focus on making things look different than they normally do.

Their first test is to try to make something have a different colour.

They try this for what feels like forever, but is really just half an hour, without making any progress.

Frustrated, they attempt to make their "creepy face" again… but they realize that they can't even see it without a mirror.

Chara decides to sit in silence.

They aren't sure how long they sit there for, but eventually someone knocks on their door.

Upon opening the door, they see that it is Catarina. 'Of course. Why would she only want to talk to Frisk? I'm the odd one here. Maybe she was trying to get Frisk comfortable enough to talk about me?'

Chara looks past Catarina, and sees Frisk drawing on their paper.

Catarina kneels down and greets Chara. "Hello there, Chara. You probably don't remember me… I must admit that I did not remember you… But I'm one of the people who helped bring you back to life."

Inwardly, Chara is very surprised; They hesitate to respond as they think to themselves briefly. 'Does that mean… She genuinely cares? This… isn't just to lower our guard? No, NO Chara! You can't think like that! You can't lower your guard for Anyone! Not friends, not parents, and definitely not people you don't even know. You can't let anyone see you as weak! If you do, they'll just exploit it…'

Concerned, Catarina asks, "Chara, are you alright? You seem to be thinking quite a bit."

Chara stops thinking to themself, and replies, "I am fine. What do you need?"

Standing up, Catarina gestures into Chara's room, "I would like to sit down and talk with you, see how you are doing. You were resurrected recently, and I'd like to make sure that there are no complications."

Hesitant Chara responds, "I just told you, I am fine."

Frisk walks up to Chara from behind Catarina and whispers something to Chara.

Chara giggles briefly, before catching themself and saying, "Frisk, that's really childish."

Catarina takes mental note of the change in speech and demeanour.

The bell hanging on the front door rings, and Marceline goes to check who it is… but she can't open the door. "Frisk, how does this work? It is ringing, but I cannot open it."

Frisk rushes out to the living room to help their mother, as Chara hesitantly moves to the side and gestures into their room for Catarina to enter.

When Frisk gets to the door, they notice that the black part of the dial is flashing, but it is locked and can't spin to it.

Frisk adjusts the dial and the door opens, revealing Conrad and Asriel.

Excited, Asriel rushes in holding a small wooden box.

Frisk looks at it curiously, and Asriel gives them a mischievous grin.

Nodding, Frisk determines that it is for the prank they were planning, but then they get a morose look on their face and say, "we can't do pranks today, I got in trouble. I… tried to practice magic in the living room and made a big mess."

Conrad walks in to embrace Marceline, as Asriel replies to Frisk, "there's always tomorrow, right?"

Frisk replies, "yea, I suppose so."

Asriel walks over to his room to store the box.

Feeling like they are forgetting something, Frisk checks their phone and their pockets…

Frisk's Phone reads: 12:43 A.M. April 8th, 2045 | No Messages

Frisk's Pockets: SnowPiece, Hot Dog…?, Stained Apron, Ribbon, Frying pan, .

They remember now! In order to help Chara stay here, they need to sign up for classes, but in order to do that they need to have somewhere they can stay. Frisk isn't sure why Chara cannot stay with them. Probably something to do with complicated adult logic.

Frisk considers telling their parents about their plan.

Deciding to worry about it later, they go to get ready to leave for the red tower instead.

Frisk remembers that they don't have to bring anything to the red tower, shortly after entering their room.

They leave their room and see Asriel drawing in the living room, and decide to join them.

Marceline gets Asriel's attention, "Asriel, Frisk is going to be practising magic for the rest of the day, in another part of the Sanctum; would you like to join them?"

After thinking about it for a moment, Asriel nods.

Marceline replies, "very well, thank you. Chara will likely be joining you two as well. Conrad and I would like to spend some time together."

Frisk, in a poor imitation of a French accent, remarks, "ah, oui, ze par-aunts de-si-aire alune thyme."

Conrad ruffles Frisk's hair, "yes, we do, but remember that it isn't because we don't want to spend time with you too."

Nodding, Frisk replies in their normal voice, "yea yea, I get it."

Conrad and Marceline leave for the kitchen, as Frisk and Asriel return to their drawings.

Asriel comments, "my mom and dad use to want alone time too, but I never understood it…"

Taking on a look befitting one who has been scarred for life, Asriel stares blankly as he continues, "until I… accidentally walked in on them in their bedroom. They started locking their door after that."

Frisk snickers, and says, "you don't have to worry about walking in on my parents, they never spend alone time together unless there's no one else in the house. Besides, humans and monsters are totally different, I doubt my parents do whatever your parents were doing; heck, I'd be surprised if my parents did anything other than kiss each other a lot, danced all day, and teased each other with food."

Asriel shakes his head to rid himself of the traumatic memory, and continues drawing, saying, "yea, probably not… It was super weird."

The door to Chara's room opens, and Catarina walks out with a sad expression and goes to speak with Marceline… Frisk isn't close enough to the kitchen to over hear what they are saying.

Chara doesn't come out of their room, but instead they close their door.

Frisk waits for the adults to finish talking, while Asriel continues drawing.

Catarina walks out of the kitchen, waves and smiles goodbye to Frisk and Asriel, then leaves…

Marceline walks out of the kitchen, and announces, "slight change in plans Frisk, before you practice magic we need to get you and Chara signed up for classes."

Frisk nods, and looks over to Chara's room… They hope Chara is okay.

Marceline then knocks on Chara's door before entering.

Thinking to themself, Frisk wonders, 'I wonder if Chara told Catarina what happened to them?'

After a few moments, Marceline leaves Chara's room and says, "Chara needs time alone, we will be going without them. Asriel, please get ready to leave."

Excited, Asriel replies, "I'm a monster, I was born ready!"

Marceline chuckles lightly and goes to the front door, then says, "well then, I am sure you can teach Frisk a thing or two about proper fire magic."

Unbeknownst to Marceline, Asriel can't do fire magic… So that comment actually made Asriel feel significantly less enthused.

Asriel chuckles awkwardly, and says, "y-yea… That'd be as easy as… uh…"

Frisk interjects, and teasingly suggests, "baking a pie?"

Blushing from embarrassment, Asriel retorts, "n-no! As easy as making a cake!"

He then turns slightly away and crosses his arms…

Marceline giggles at the sight, as she opens the front door, and says, "now now children, play nicely."

Conrad stays behind and says, "I will keep Chara some company, dear."

It is quite obvious that he doesn't want to stay, since he misses his wife, but being a responsible and caring father often requires one to make sacrifices to ensure the safety of children; even if they are not of your own blood.

Marceline departs as reluctantly as Conrad stays, but when she does she hurries to the administration office with Frisk and Asriel in tow.

The halls are empty as they walk through them, though neither Frisk nor Marceline are aware of any events going on.

They decide that everyone got super excited about magic returning, and are all going to brush up on their magic lessons; which is just fine, since they would probably smother poor Asriel.

Frisk pats Asriel's head as they think about how everyone would want to pet the fluffy goat monster.

Asriel blushes, feeling like he is being treated as a pet or something, but doesn't object to the head pat.

:-:

It seems to Frisk that their trip to the admin office is very fast, because they arrive quicker than expected; probably due to wanting to spend alone time with Conrad.

The admin office is a small room with a couple desks –only one of which is occupied–, that has a smaller room with some chairs in it.

Marceline approaches the person at the desk and gets their attention, saying, "pardon me, I am looking to register two children for classes."

Without looking up from their paper work, the person says, "Ah, well you're speaking to the clerk; I can help. Normally children are signed up for classes at birth, so you must be from Stag Hill. Alright, we should probably get them signed up for basic fundamental classes first. How old are they?"

Marceline replies, "one is eight, the other is ten."

Frisk looks up at Marceline, curious as to how she learned Chara's age and intrigued that Chara is only two years older than them.

The clerk asks, "and their names?"

Marceline replies, "Frisk Addams, and Chara Dre-. Pardon, I mean Chara Teufel."

The clerk looks up, noticing the difference in last names, and asks, "what is your name and relation to the two?"

Frisk walks up and stands closer to their mother, as she replies, "My name is Marceline Addams, Frisk here is my child. Chara Teufel is the child of someone who could not leave Stag Hill due to their obligations."

Leaning back in their chair, the clerk says, "I see." Then they notice Asriel, and ask, "w-wait… They are a monster? Is that monster Chara Teufel? Why do they need magic classes?"

Asriel crosses his arms and huffs, upset, and replies before Marceline can, "I'm not Chara! I'm Asriel, and I can do magic just fine, thank you very much…" He then begins to grumble to himself.

Embarrassed, the clerk says, "oh dear, I'm sorry. We just haven't seen monsters in so long, I was completely caught off guard… Well, either way, I will need to see some paperwork showing that you have been given permission from the parents to sign Chara up for classes. As much as I hate to say it, but we can't let you sign children up without permission… Wouldn't want any weirdos taking advantage of the system we have here, would we?"

Marceline doesn't show it, but she is upset… She figured this would happen, but wanted to try anyway. She replies, "Ah, I am afraid-"

Frisk interrupts by raising their hand and saying, "I brought it with me!"

After pulling out the " " from their pocket, Frisk hands it to the clerk.

They look it over then nod, saying, "I see. This is definitely valid for signing Chara up for classes, but it is primarily for getting somewhere to stay. Do they need somewhere to stay?"

Frisk replies, "no, the Elder in Stag Hill just didn't have a different one that was for only classes. Chara can stay in our apartment."

Marceline pats Frisk's head, who looks up with a slight smile.

The clerk puts the voucher to the side and pulls out some more documents, saying "very well. There are a few more things we will need to go over, if that is OK. Since Chara isn't here right now, you can take these forms with you and fill them out later."

As the two adults talk, Frisk goes to goof off with Asriel in the waiting room.

Marceline turns around at one point to see Frisk hanging upside down from a stack of chairs –their black and white stripped leggings keeping them modest,– as Asriel tries to keep his balance on the highest backrest. It doesn't look very safe at all, and appears to be about to collapse.

The clerk gets Marceline's attention, saying, "we will need to know their SOUL colours for proper placement, some do better in certain classes after all. For Chara… We can check their SOUL colour later, but for now let's check on Frisk."

Marceline replies, "oh, that will not be necessary. Frisk just needs to be signed up for the 'practical' classes, their magic classes will be taking place in the red tower."

Surprised, the clerk looks over to Frisk, then back at Marceline, and says, "oh my… Well, they certainly have a lot on their plate. I can't say I envy them. Do you happen to know Chara's SOUL colour as well?"

Frisk, still hanging upside down, pipes up, "em ekil tus… tsuj, der… erup era… …yeht!"

Marceline giggles and relays, "Frisk says that Chara is pure Red, just like them."

The clerk puts their papers down slowly, "two? … There are two Pure Reds?"

After considering the implications for a moment, the clerk shakes their head and says, "that is not important right now… That just means less paper work for me. Chara only needs to be signed up for practical classes then?"

Marceline nods, and the clerk holds out their hands, "then you won't need the magic form I gave you, I can take it back."

A loud clattering sound is heard behind Marceline, as she holds the appropriate form out for the clerk, but she doesn't look back.

Asriel, underneath a couple chairs somehow, lets out a small "ow…" as Frisk gets up and dusts their dress off.

The clerk shakes their head and sighs, saying, "children can be naughty little things, can't they?"

Marceline replies, "they are just playing, let them have their fun. No harm, no foul."

The clerk shrugs, and the two work on filling out the form for Frisk.

It takes a few minutes, but they are eventually done with the boring paper work.

With Chara's form in hand, Marceline turns around and says, "alright children, it is time to go."

The clerk resists the temptation of asking Asriel if they can pet him, but they ask, "Asriel, pardon but my curiosity is getting the better of me… Your fur looks rather warm and soft, does it feel like animal fur or does it have some other feeling? With monsters being made mostly of magic, I would assume it feels lighter than normal fur."

Asriel, knowing where this is headed, sighs and says, "yea, it's soft and fluffy just like animal fur… Do you want to pet my head and feel for yourself?"

Holding back their enthusiasm as much as possible, the clerk replies, "if… if you wouldn't mind. The only furs we have are from the rather hostile and mutated beasts… Rather hard to pet them."

Having long since come to accept that people in the Sanctum are going to want to pet him and feel his fur, Asriel replies, "yea, it's fine; but only a little, I have to go."

Nodding excitedly, the clerk gets up from their desk and goes to pet Asriel on the head…

Asriel is putting on an expression of "I don't care," but his little tail betrays him.

Frisk giggles, and thinks to themself, 'Asriel is almost like a tsundere… heh.'

The clerk notices the somewhat harder spots on Asriel's head and asks, "oh, do you have horns growing in?"

Asriel's face lights up and becomes as happy as his little tail, which also starts waggling faster.

Marceline sits down in one of the chairs as Asriel gets super excited, saying "Golly, you can tell!? Yes, they are growing in! Thanks for noticing, unlike a certain someone. I'm gonna get big horns, just like my dad! They are gonna be all long and curly and AWESOME! I'm gonna use them for stuff like… Um… head butting competitions! And… to protect people! And and… uh… Well, that's all I've thought about so far."

Frisk and the clerk both giggle, causing Asriel to become a little embarrassed with his outburst.

Going back to their desk, the clerk comments, "well, your fur is the softest fur I've ever felt, and I'm sure your horns will be the strongest horns ever too."

Asriel blushes from being complimented.

The clerks, before focusing on their paper work, says, "thank you for letting me pet your head, Asriel. It must get rather tiresome for you, since everyone else probably wants to pet you as well…"

Shrugging, Asriel says, "I haven't run into that many people yet… but you're probably right."

Waving goodbye, Asriel leaves with Frisk and Marceline to the teleporter room for the towers.

Once there, Marceline says, "I will be back in time for dinner, I need to go and fill out this paper work with Chara. Hopefully I can convince them to join you two here…"

Frisk nods and holds their hand out for Asriel, then waits for their mom to leave the room before placing their hand on the pedestal.

Asriel is confused, and asks, "why'd you wait for your mom to leave? Doesn't it only teleport people that are touching you?"

Frisk shakes their head playfully, saying, "no, it teleports everyone in the room, I just wanted to see what your hand felt like."

Embarrassed and blushing, Asriel quickly lets go of Frisk's hand and leaves the teleporter room.

Frisk giggles at Asriel's reaction, and proceeds into the tower proper.

:-:

Marceline makes her way back to the apartment as fast as she can, without running.

Fortunately, it does not take long.

She goes to Chara's room and knocks on the door.

Chara stirs within the room, and Marceline can hear them shuffling over to the door.

With a click, and some creaking, the door cracks open.

Marceline enters the room, and sees Chara is already back to sitting on their bed.

She steps in and sits with Chara on their bed, and says, "I have paperwork here for you."

Chara tenses up, and asks, "it is to send me to my mother, is it not?"

Marceline shakes her head, and replies, "no, you are staying with us. This is to sign you up for classes."

Relaxing a bit, Chara looks up to Marceline, their eyes on the verge of tearing up, and asks, "after everything I have done, everything I wanted to do, everything I said to the therapist lady… I do not understand. Why are you not mad? Why are you not scared?"

With a sly smile, Marceline replies, "darling child, the Addams family has had much worse. Indeed, one of Frisk's ancestors was a notorious serial killer. Another was burned on a stake as a witch, after dancing around town naked; that, of course, happened well before humans accepted magic. You are a troubled youth, in need of guidance. What sort of mother would I be if I did not reach out to help?"

Chara doesn't reply, instead they look down at their feet.

Marceline stands and holds out her hand, "come now, let us get you signed up for classes. It will make it harder for your mother to take you, should she find out that you are alive. Regardless, you have no need to worry. Your mother is turning 61 this year, and is likely to pass in the winter."

Surprised, Chara looks back up and says, "well, good riddance then."

Marceline leaves the room, gesturing for Chara to follow.

They wait for a bit, thinking. then get off of their bed and follow Marceline.

When Chara enters the living room, they see Sans waiting there.

He's talking to Marceline, "so the kiddo went and got in trouble. well there's always next time, right?"

Sans waves to Marceline, then walks into the kitchen.

Chara and Marceline head to the dining room to fill out the paperwork on the table.

Conrad joins them, to give assistance where needed and to spend time with his wife.

But something gets their attention.

A loud banging is heard on the front door. It sounds urgent.

Conrad offers to go, and opens the front door to reveal Undyne.

With a worried and angry look on her face, Undyne immediately shouts, "where's Frisk!?"