Frisk Pov

*The door to the ruins hangs open.

*You are filled with Determination.

The halls to Toriel's cozy home in the ruins were dark. Bricks had crumbled in with no one watching them. Not a monster was in sight, silence weighing them down, Frisk's footsteps echoing through the empty house. The fire was still going; as was expected of fire magic. Toriel hadn't wanted anyone to fall into the underground and not have a place to stay. It appeared that someone had been here recently, though they hadn't accepted the hospitality. Toriel's chair had large tears in it, and where the table had been, large claw marks dug at the floor. Frisk almost opened their eyes to examine the marks thoroughly, though they had to find the beginning of the Ruins, rather than waste time.

The large black tree was scarred, the leaves disrupted. Following the paths, Frisk could see the spikes at the end of each room were down; someone had been here; most likely with the ability to reset the underground as it was.

Following the paths, Frisk came to the hidden path, though all places but the path were broken through. Cautiously, they followed the destruction, making their way through the spike maze and to the room where they had fallen down.

"Chara?" Frisk asked, hoping for a response. "Chara, we have visitors on the surface. They have different souls than the average ones. Besides, I'm looking for answers as well."

Was that a flicker of motion in front of them? Chara's pale form flickered into place in front of them.

"You search for me after that? After the Genocide? After what you've done?" Chara's red gaze wasn't upset. It burned with anger. "I suppose you're wondering where your LOVE and EXP went as well?" Chara massaged their temple with a ghostly hand, then began to rub their palms, as if to remove an ache.

Nodding slowly, Frisk feared the worst.

"My soul existed for the longest time after my death. When your determination woke me up, your soul was beginning to shatter. My past determination managed to restore yours, bringing your soul from the brink." They glanced at Flowey."When you abandoned the Genocide Run, the LOVE retreated to the far reaches of your soul, in case you ever needed it, or chose genocide again. Unfortunately, those Levels of Violence tainted my soul. I still have those levels, Frisk. If you'd like, I could give them to you." Chara stopped.

Frisk couldn't blame them for their actions, though they didn't exactly want to blame themself, either. The feeling of not being in control had been horrible, and they knew that Chara had felt that before to some extent, if what they had said about the soul was true.

"You're certain?" Frisk asked.

"Wait, wait, wait." Flowey broke in. "You're telling me that you're talking to Chara right now?"

"Yes, Flowey." Frisk looked at the flower, catching a moment of sadness. Perhaps having all of those souls in him a few weeks ago had impacted him, explaining the moments of emotion.

"In that case, great. You got your answers. We can go now!" Flowey was looking around nervously, as if expecting something to jump up at the pair while Frisk was talking.

"I agree with Asri- Flowey. We should get out of here. They're coming." Chara's hand went through Frisk's shoulder, then pulled back, realizing that they couldn't do much to get Frisk to leave.

"Who?"

"No time for questions. Let's go." Chara beckoned for their portion of their determination, manipulating Frisk's soul into following them. The exit of the ruins wasn't far, now, and Toriel's home was in sight. Chara entered the door in front of them, spotting the dark divots in the floor, the torn chair; This was a nightmare. Dark creatures rose from the shadows; skeletons to be exact.

"Doctor… Gaster?" Chara murmured, though Frisk knew as well as them that it wasn't the doctor. These skeletons weren't like Papyrus and Sans. These were the bones of dead humans.

"Frisk, I highly advise running. I don't feel like dying here." Flowey looked up at the human with a look of disdain. Frisk gladly took the advice, Chara always a few steps ahead, checking for more of the suspended remains.

How many humans died here? Frisk thought. Maybe they're just being called by some outer force. I hope.

The skeletons did seem to be conjured up by something that wasn't there. Frisk could see faint glints in the darkness, where the skeletons would arise through the Snowdin area.

"Frisk, what are you-" Flowey exclaimed.

Annabeth Pov

Morning arrived sooner than she had expected. Annabeth had lay in bed for hours, chilled, though the house was warm. Her discovery of the black goop had bothered her. Perhaps she should ask the science monster. The one that looked like a mini dinosaur.

Annabeth didn't feel at ease when she woke up. Hazel must have woken up before the others, as she wasn't in the room. Piper was still asleep, and, judging by the clock, it was 7 a.m.

Stretching, Annabeth got up. A note was attached to the door, she could see as she approached. It simply stated that the girls could use the clothing in the drawers, if they would like. Apparently the boys had their own reserve.

Rifling through the drawers, it was a mass of repetition. Violet and blue striped loose turtleneck sweaters, green and cream toned striped sweaters, and jeans. Occasionally Annabeth would see something new, like a hair ribbon, or a tutu. An apron came to the top several times, though average clothes were found scattered through the mix; a student's uniform, a western themed dress, and a pale blue torn shirt.

Opening the wardrobe, she caught a pair of ballet shoes that fell from one of the top shelves. Shoes lined the metal shelves that had been added to the old piece of furniture. Setting the shoes back in place, Annabeth closed the wardrobe and grabbed a green sweater, along with some jeans, then made her way to the bathroom on the far side of the room.

After she had changed, Annabeth brushed her hair and left the room, Hazel brushing past as she headed for the washing machine and dryer down the hall.

Seeing her confused expression, Hazel explained.

"We're washing our clothes. For when we leave, or if we want to wear them tomorrow." Hazel nodded to the basket on top of the washing machine, which had Camp Half-Blood T-shirts and Camp Jupiter shirts settled in it. Annabeth re-entered the room, picking up her dirty clothing, and brought it out to the basket. Downstairs, the door slammed shut. Through the railing, Annabeth could see that Frisk had just arrived back. Where had they gone?

Percy emerged from the boys' room, clad in his Camp Half-blood Tee, which was still wet, from the looks of it.

"Miss the ocean, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth teased.

"Yeah, actually. They have a lake nearby, though I don't think I have the 'clearance' to go." Percy replied, his shoulders falling. "Anyway, have you seen Nico? He's been gone all morning."

"No, but I'll keep an eye out for him." Annabeth headed for the stairs, seeing Alphys sitting at the table. Turning around, she entered the room again, taking the paper with the black stuff on it. The more she looked at it, the more it seemed like dried blood.

"Uh, you're Alphys, right?" Great. A wonderful start to ask about an unknown substance.

"Y-yeah, that's me!" Alphys turned to look at her. "Wh-what do you- you need?"

"I found this in the room that I'm staying in. Since you're a scientist accustomed to monsters, perhaps you could shed some light on this?" Annabeth handed the paper to the monster, watching her examine the substance.

"It makes me think of the Amalgamates." Alphys stated, whatever that meant. "A Determination experiment gone wrong. A horrible thing to see." Alphys' gaze grew saddened, with a hint of hope.

"Do you know what it is?" Annabeth wanted to know what it was, not past experiments of Alphys'.

"It's human, though not with the same toxicity to monsters as average Determination. I've never seen it before, though. Do you mind if I experiment on it a little? It would help if you'd show me where you found this." Nodding Annabeth ran up the stairs, bursting into the room on a half asleep Piper.

"Wha-!" Piper shrieked as Annabeth almost stepped on her head.

"Sorry!" Annabeth exclaimed, rifling through the drawer to get to the bottom, where she had stored it for future reference. Pulling it out, Annabeth checked for reassurance that she had gotten the correct shirt and ran out, apologizing to Piper as she stepped over her friend.

"Annabeth, have you seen Nico?" Hazel called as she saw her.

"No," Annabeth said. "Why?"

Hazel's perplexed look had concerned undertones, and Annabeth, despite wanting to find out what the 'determination' was, wanted to know what had bothered Hazel so much.

"What is it?"

"I think I'm seeing dead people. Their… souls, rather than skeletons. Like when Gaia was rising; almost as though they've escaped the underworld." Hazel looked Annabeth over.

"What?" Annabeth asked.

"You're wearing the same shirt." Hazel turned slightly to examine Frisk. "The ghost is wearing the same shirt as you."

Hades Pov

There had been disappearances from the fields of Asphodel. Six mortals had managed to leave, their souls the only material thing in the living world. Were they trying to return? The king of the Underworld clenched his fist, glaring down over the death. Did they find it boring here? What did he have to do to gain their respect?

There was one thing that he was certain of. They all had a connection with the mortal child who Apollo had envisioned months ago. They had 'soul traits'; whatever that meant. Apollo had always been a little daft, in Hades' eyes; his nephew not always the most discerning. These 'souls'were going to be a problem if they resisted dying. They were ruining his reputation. Honestly, how could one expect to stay the fearsome god of the underworld if mere mortal souls were resisting your control in your domain? It was preposterous.

His gaze lifted from the floor and settled on Tartarus' darkness in the distance. Would this mortal who was defying death go there? Or would there be a better fate for them? Only the fates knew.