Hopes, Dreams, and DETERMINATION

by Dragonsrule18

Frisk grew up in a home with neglectful, drug using parents. With a little sister to take care of, she takes a job getting a rare flower specimen from Mt. Ebott, only to fall into the Underground. With the help of a mysterious ghost girl named Chara only she can see and hear, she tries to get home to her sister, facing danger, but also making new friends along the way. Good!Chara.

25. When Worlds Collide

When Worlds Collide

Hey guys! I'm finally back with a new chapter of HDAD after so long! Sorry it took forever! It involved a lot of police stuff and some discussion about the very serious subject of the six dead humans, which took forever to write. I hope you guys enjoy!

I'd like to give a big thanks to J-Farraday, who put up with me sending scene after scene to her in anxiety that I hadn't written it correctly, and also gave me some awesome ideas for the chapter! Thanks, July, you're amazing! And if you guys get the chance to check out her stories, she's an incredible writer who does amazing and sympathetic Handplates Gaster and adorable Papyrisk.

...

"All right, we'll be splitting up into groups of three and four." the search coordinator told the police officers, the search and rescue party, and the very few civilian volunteers that were willing to search a "cursed" mountain, including Dan's wife Marianne, as they stood at the base of the mountain. He divided the groups, making sure the groups with civilians had a police officer or search and rescue worker to help the civilians. "Groups A and B, you'll be searching the woods. C and D, you'll take the mountain. Call if you find anything suspicious."

The groups agreed, setting off to do their task. Dan, Jessie, and Marianne were part of Group D, and they, along with Group C, most of which were members of the search and rescue team, began to climb the mountain.

"Do you think we'll find them? Alive?" Marianne asked very softly.

Jessie and Dan exchanged concerned glances. Being in the police force, both knew that the chances of finding a missing person alive diminished greatly with every day that passed, and Frisk had been missing for a week, and Tina was so small and young. They knew it was very possible they could find them as corpses. But that didn't mean they were going to give up yet.

"We're going to do everything in our power to find them, Mari." was all Dan could tell her.

Jessie nodded. "We won't give up."

...

But what they didn't know was that the two girls were not only alive, but blissfully happy as they sat down with their new family at the table, ready to have lunch.

Asriel watched eagerly as Toriel sliced the snail pie and quiche. "You guys have to try Mom's snail pie. It's her specialty." he told Frisk and Tina.

Frisk looked at the snail pie curiously. "I didn't even know you could bake snails into pie. What's it taste like?"

"Like absolute heaven on a plate." Asriel told her.

Tina eyed it dubiously, though she tried to hide it. Chara patted the little girl on the shoulder. "It's okay, little sis. Mom made quiche if you want that instead. I prefer it myself."

"Chara is right, my child." Toriel reassured her. "You can have whichever you like. Would you girls like to try a little bite of each to see which you like best?"

Frisk and Tina nodded with smiles and "Thank you's," and Toriel cut little bits of both for each of them, serving the others as well. Asriel got a slice of snail pie while Chara got the quiche, and Asgore got some of both. Toriel piled salad on their plates as well.

Frisk decided to be adventurous and tried the snail pie first. Her eyes lit up. "It's great!"

"Yes! Another Dreemurr with good taste!" Asriel cheered jokingly and gave Frisk a high five.

Frisk giggled at this and tried the quiche too. "This is really good too."

Tina nodded happily as she tried her own bite of quiche. "It's so yummy!" She then looked at the bit of snail pie with slight uncertainty and gave it a small poke. Then her eyes shone with bravery and she scooped it up with her fork and ate it. She had a very unsure expression as she chewed, but still finished it and gave a smile up at Toriel, clearly worried about offending her and trying to make her feel better.

Toriel just chuckled warmly. "It is all right, little one. Snail pie is not to everyone's tastes." She cut a child sized piece of quiche for the little girl and put it on her plate. She then turned to Frisk. "Which would you like, my child? Or would you like a piece of both?"

"Can I have the snail pie please?" Frisk asked shyly, knowing she might not even be able to finish one piece, let alone two, and liking the snail pie just a little bit more. Toriel nodded with a smile and gave her a piece of snail pie before cutting herself one as well. This surprised Frisk as her birth parents always fed themselves first and Frisk and Tina had to share whatever was left, but she didn't speak of this to her new parents. Instead she thanked Toriel once again and happily ate, enjoying every moment of this new experience, happy to watch Tina eat and talk to her new family, slowly savoring every bite of the delicious snail pie and fresh garden salad.

However, she could only finish half her pie and most of the salad, her shrunken stomach not used to regular meals. She still tried to finish as much as she could though.

Thankfully, Toriel was very observant. "Frisk, you do not have to force yourself. We do not want you to make yourself sick. I can wrap it up for you and put it in the refrigerator for you to eat whenever you wish." she told her gently.

Frisk nodded softly and looked down. "I'm sorry."

Toriel smiled sadly. "You have nothing to be sorry for, my child." She wrapped the remainder of Frisk's pie in plastic wrap and added a sticky note with her name on it, putting it in the refrigerator. Tina too couldn't quite finish and Toriel wrapped the rest of her pie too.

Just as they were finishing up, the doorbell rang. Asgore got up, smiling. "Oh good, that must be the furniture for your room." he told Frisk and Tina.

Frisk and Tina's eyes went wide in shock and awe as Asgore and Toriel went to help the delivery monsters bring in two beautiful and soft looking twin beds and two lovely oak dressers. The items were moved into the room that Frisk had noticed earlier that had been under renovation. After everything was set up, Toriel and Asgore thanked and paid the movers, who gave them bows and soon left.

Frisk turned to her sister. "Tina, can you get my bag from the bedroom, please?" Tina nodded immediately and ran to go to do it, quickly returning with it. Frisk thanked her and pulled out the little pouch she carried her gold in. Chara and Asriel looked confused and like they were about to ask Frisk a question, but Asgore and Toriel soon returned, smiling.

"Come, children. Let us show you your new room." Asgore said, smiling. He gently picked Frisk up in his arms as Toriel took Tina's hand, and brought them to the new room.

Frisk's eyes were wide as she saw the cozy room. It was much bigger than their old one, with the two twin beds settled on each side of the room, giving both girls their own space rather than the single bed they shared in their old house.

Tina bounced in delight. "It's so pretty! Thank you so much, Mr. Asgore and Miss Toriel!" She gave them both big hugs which they happily returned, ruffling her hair.

Frisk nodded. "Thank you. We really appreciate you doing this." she said gratefully.

"We are glad you like it." Toriel said, smiling.

"I know it is a little plain right now, but once you both feel better, we will go out and you can pick whatever you like to decorate it." Asgore told them.

Tina's eyes got even bigger, sparkling with happiness. "Really?"

"Really." Asgore reassured her and Toriel nodded.

Tina hugged them both again, saying, "Thank you!" over and over. Frisk smiled in delight to see her sister this happy, but was worried about how expensive this must be for Asgore and Toriel. As Tina pulled Chara and Asriel in to see their new room, Frisk turned to Asgore. "Here." she blurted out, handing him her gold pouch.

"What's this?" Asgore asked in utter confusion.

"It's money for the room." Frisk told him. She didn't see him open his mouth to speak as she continued. "I know it's probably not enough, but I'll get a job and I promise I'll pay you back and pay for the rent and the food and I swear we won't be any trouble. I'll take care of Tina, and I can clean and..." Her voice was more frantic now, trying to make sure Asgore and Toriel knew she could help, that she wouldn't be a burden on them.

Asgore and Toriel exchanged worried glances and Asgore hugged her close. "Frisk, it is okay. You do not have to do all that. Remember what I told you this morning?" Frisk looked up at him and he smiled sadly. "We are the ones supposed to be taking care of you, not the other way around. You do not have to pay for your room or food or rent. Those are things every child should have." He gently pressed her money pouch back into her hand.

"But...this had to be really expensive and a lot of trouble, and..."

"Frisk, sweetheart, we have more than enough to take care of all four of you, and not only that, we want to." Toriel reassured her, wrapping her arms around her daughter and Asgore as well, cuddling Frisk between the two of them. "You deserve to be loved and taken care of, all right? You do not need to worry about providing for your and Tina's needs any more. We will provide you with everything you need. That is what parents do."

Frisk could hardly believe what she was hearing. "But...I've always taken care of Tina, and paid for things..."

"And you never should have had to." Toriel told her gently, tears in her eyes. "The people who called themselves your parents never should have expected that of you. You are still a child, and you deserve to be well cared for and happy. You and your sister are not alone any more. You have Asgore and I, and all your friends, and we will take care of you. We promise."

Asgore nodded, gently stroking Frisk's hair. "We're here for you, Frisk."

Frisk teared up, snuggling into her new parents' embrace as they cuddled her close. "Thank you..."

...

After Frisk had calmed down and the girls had a chance to explore their new room, Asgore and Toriel began taking care of the house chores, and going through things to see what they would need for all their children. Frisk and Tina had, of course, wanted to help out, but Asgore and Toriel had gotten them to rest and a quick thinking Chara had reminded Frisk about the outfits she had gotten for Tina, suggesting a little fashion show to entertain Tina and make Frisk smile. Tina happily tried on the three new outfits Frisk had gotten for her; a little pink heart shirt with a jean skirt, a purple flower shirt with a big pink daisy in the center and three smaller flowers underneath as well as jeans with little flowers on them, and a yellow shirt with a puppy on it and black sweatpants. The older kids oohed and ahhed for Tina, who posed like a supermodel, and then Asriel decided to get in on the fun, trying on his own old outfits and Halloween costumes in ridiculous combinations and parading around with a giggling Tina, making the girls laugh.

Asgore smiled at hearing the laughter that used to be so absent from his life as he and Toriel began putting fresh sheets on the children's' beds. Still, he couldn't help but worry.

Toriel of course noticed. "Is everything all right, Asgore?"

"I am just thinking. There is much to be done to prepare us for going to the surface, and I am worried about the children." he admitted, keeping his voice low to keep said children from hearing. "I do not wish to be pessimistic, but I fear how the humans will react after...after what happened to Chara and Asriel. And Frisk and Tina were clearly not treated well at all on the surface. We will have to tread very carefully. I will not lose anyone again."

Toriel sighed softly as she smoothed a blanket down, then went over to Asgore, gently placing her hand over his. "They are not all bad, Asgore. Frisk and Tina are proof of that, as is Chara and the other fallen humans. I know we will be able to make a peaceful transition and forge peace with the humans."

Asgore nodded though still looked worried. "We will need to be careful though. We cannot afford to make a mistake that will lead us to another war. We need to figure out a plan."

"We will." Toriel reassured him. "Everything will be okay. We just need to remain calm. We can talk to Tina and Frisk later about what the humans nearby are like so we know what we are dealing with. Once Frisk is recovered, we can go to the surface with a small group of our best diplomats. Frisk or Tina may be able to take us to whoever is in charge so we can speak to them." Asgore still looked uncertain and she gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "We will figure this out, Asgore. But for now, it would be beneficial for you to take a break for today. You look exhausted. We can discuss this tomorrow with clearer minds." she suggested. She smiled to him. "We are nearly finished with the room, so why not go take a little nap before dinner, or do some gardening to help you relax?"

Asgore had to admit Toriel was right. He was indeed exhausted and gardening always did relax him. "That sounds like a good idea." he admitted. "I think my potatoes and carrots are ready for harvest anyway, and I have a lovely vegetable soup recipe I can make for dinner tonight." He looked to Toriel, noting with concern the bags under her eyes. "Please, try and get some rest too, all right?"

"I will." she promised. Asgore smiled as they headed out.

They found the kids on the couch, having finished their game of dress-up. Asriel and Chara had brought out their video games and controllers and were showing them to Frisk and Tina while telling them what they were about and how to play.

"Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad. What's up?" Asriel asked, looking up from the game. The girls greeted them too.

"I'm headed out to pick some vegetables for dinner." Asgore told him as Toriel greeted the children before settling down in the easy chair.

Little Tina's eyes lit up. "Can I help? I love gardening!"

Asgore chuckled. "Of course, little one."

Tina looked to Chara and Asriel. "Can we play the game with the cars when I get back, please?" she asked shyly.

"Sure." Chara agreed with a smile and Frisk and Asriel nodded.

Tina grinned happily and jumped up to join Asgore, bouncing excitedly. Asgore smiled even wider and ruffled her hair before holding the door open for her. She happily headed out with him, skipping and humming.

"You must really enjoy gardening." Asgore said with a smile.

Tina nodded. "Uh-huh! It's really fun! We grew a tomato plant for school once and I got to take mine home! I accidentally overwatered it and it fell down, but Frisk put magic soil on it, and told me it would get better, and the next day it was!" she said happily.

"That is wonderful."

"Yeah! Frisk has magic powers!"

Asgore hid a chuckle. "Does she now?"

Tina nodded happily. "She always makes everything all better!"

Asgore smiled warmly. "She is very good at that. And so are you. You have the same magic she does."

Tina looked up at him curiously. "I do?"

He nodded. "Before you both came, I was very sad. I missed my family very much." Tina teared up at this and gave him a huge hug. He hugged her back, rubbing her back soothingly before speaking again. "And then you both came, and you helped bring them back, and became part of my family as well. And now, I am happy again."

"I'm glad. I want you to be happy, Mr. Asgore." Tina told him.

"And you made it so, my little magician." he told her, smiling, giving her another hug and then lifting her onto his shoulders for a ride, making her giggle. They headed for the garden, Asgore eagerly anticipating some relaxing time with his plants and having some bonding time with his youngest daughter.

Little did he know, their time in the garden wouldn't be exactly as relaxing as he planned.

...

Meanwhile, Dan, Marianne, and Jessie made their way to the top of the mountain, looking around for any sign of the girls.

Dan's phone buzzed with the number of the leader for Team D. He quickly answered. "Do you have anything?"

"Yes, but I'm not sure it's good." the leader sighed. "Our K-9 officer led us to this gigantic hole in the cliff, and we found a scrap of pink fabric there. Your wife last saw Tina in a pink dress and sweater, right?"

"Yes."

"It's-It's highly likely that she fell. And...while I don't want to jump to the worst case scenario, that hole has to be at least fifty feet down... I don't know if she would have survived that."

Dan very quietly relayed the message to Marianne and Jessie. Jessie looked down in sadness and Marianne's eyes filled with tears.

"We're going to go down there to...to see if there's any chance she made it." the leader said softly. "We'll send word as soon as we know."

Dan agreed to this and told his wife and Jessie what had been said. Marianne let out a soft sob, and he hugged her tight.

"This is my fault...I should have made sure she stayed..." Marianne sobbed. "If I had done something different..."

Dan stroked her hair. "It's not your fault, Mari. You didn't do anything wrong. You did everything you could."

"But I should have..."

"There's nothing more you could have done." Jessie said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

It was a little while before the leader called back. Dan was quick to answer the phone.

"We made it down." the leader reported. "There's no body. No sign of blood either. All I see are golden flowers."

Dan then heard one of the team members yell, "I found something!" and his heart raced, praying that it meant Tina was alive, not dead.

The leader came back on the phone, sounding both relieved and nearly breathless. "We found two little footprints in the soil around the flowers. Somehow our kid survived the fall and got up and started walking. We're going to check the area." A moment later, he gasped.

"What?" Dan asked worriedly.

"There's some sort of weird footprint here, close to the little ones. I can't tell what it is, or even if it's human or animal. No signs of a struggle though."

"Maybe some people are living down here and found her." Dan suggested.

"It could be. We're going deeper into this place and it looks like an old building. I don't see anyone, but it's definitely been inhabited recently. There's some sort of puzzle or something, and a plaque saying some weird stuff. I think it's about how to solve the puzzle...This place is huge. We're going to need help."

"We're on our way." Dan said immediately. After hanging up, he turned to Jessie and Marianne with a smile. "They found evidence she's still alive." He told them everything.

"Thank god." Marianne whispered as Jessie smiled widely.

"They need some help checking the area. I'm going to head there and contact the rest of the teams so we can get some more equipment to check the area." he said.

Marianne nodded. "I'm coming with you."

"I don't know if they'll let you down there since you aren't trained." Dan admitted.

"It doesn't hurt to ask, and I can always wait up there." Marianne reasoned.

Dan couldn't see a reason to refuse. "All right."

They started to head that way, but as they passed near a large cave, Dan stopped suddenly, nearly causing Jessie and Marianne to bump into him.

"What's going on?" Jessie asked.

"Did you hear something?" Dan asked. Not waiting for an answer, he stepped closer to the cave, wanting to know if something was really there or if he was going insane.

Jessie and Marianne followed, and by the way their eyes widened, Dan realized they heard it too.

And then he heard it again. The faint echoing whisper of voices, coming from the cave. "Hello?" he called out. His voice echoed back, along with the whispers, though there was no verbal acknowledgment of his call. He wondered if it was the other team and might be too far to hear him.

He turned on his flashlight and stepped inside. There was a sharp slope, but it still could be walked down, though a fall would be nasty.

Carefully, the three made it down the slope and made their way through the long cavern. The voices grew louder as they walked. Dan tried to make out what they were saying.

"See how the vines are brown, little one? That means the potatoes are ready." a man's voice, warm and fatherly, said.

"Can I dig it up?" a little girl's voice asked eagerly.

There was a warm chuckle. "Of course. I'll show you how."

Dan's heart raced. He looked to Marianne to see if it might be Tina. Her eyes wide, she nodded.

Dan and Jessie looked to each other, motioning to Marianne to stand back, just in case this person was dangerous. He didn't sound like it, but they didn't know for sure. The two police officers crept forwards, towards the end of the cavern, and cautiously took a look.

What they saw turned their world on its head.

...

The "man" who they had heard talking to Tina was not a man at all, but a massive monster who had to be around eight or nine feet tall, bi-pedal with a broad, muscular body and white fur. He had long golden hair and massive curved horns with a crown resting on his head. He was wearing a soft pink sweater, which slightly lessened the intimidating factor, but Dan was still glad his back was to them. This creature looked like it could crush him and Jessie in one blow.

"There you go. Just like that." the creature said kindly, still clearly not seeing Dan or Jessie. Dan turned his eyes to the little girl beside the monster. It was clearly little Tina, dressed in a yellow shirt. She was completely relaxed, no fear at all of the monster beside her, who had his massive hands wrapped gently around her tiny wrist, showing her how to dig up the potato. The little girl was so calm, Dan started to wonder if there was toxic gas in the cave that was causing him to hallucinate and the monster was either an ordinary man, or neither girl nor monster were there at all.

He looked to Jessie. Her eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her skull. He gave her an "Are you seeing this too?" look and she silently nodded.

"I got it!" Tina cheered as she held up the potato to show the monster.

"I see! You did a very good job, little one." the creature praised. "Here, let me show you how to tell if it's ripe. Rub the skin with your fingers or thumb. If the skin doesn't rub off easily, that means it's ready."

The little girl nodded, then did what the monster told her. "It's ready!" she said happily.

"That is wonderful. We can put it in the basket then. Thank you for being such a good little helper, Tina."

"You're welcome, Mr. Asgore!" Tina said and shocked Dan and Jessie by giving the monster a huge hug. He hugged back with extreme gentleness, ruffling her hair softly.

Dan moved back slightly and pulled Jessie back so that "Mr. Asgore" wouldn't see them if he turned around, but still kept a look on the scene. This was so surreal, and how normal the two acted, seeming for all the world like a father and daughter gardening together on a nice spring day, made it even more so.

What the hell were you even supposed to DO in this situation? The police handbook certainly didn't cover anything like this!

And it was, of course, at this moment the phone started to ring.

Dan and Jessie jumped, and so did Tina and the monster. Tina's eyes were wide and the monster gently nudged her behind him as he got to his feet. "Who is there?" he called out. His voice was wary, but not hostile. Not yet, anyway.

Dan exchanged a look with Jessie. There was only one thing to do.

...

Dan stepped out of the cavern with Jessie, hands up to show they weren't carrying weapons. "Sorry for the intrusion." Dan said politely and calmly, though his stomach was tying itself in massive knots. "I'm Officer Dan Emerson and this is Officer Jessie Spring. We're with the Ebott City police department." He held out his badge to prove he was indeed a cop, though he had no clue if the monster would even know what the heck he's talking about.

The monster relaxed a little at their lack of hostility, though Dan could still see some wariness in his eyes. "I am Asgore Dreemurr, king of the monsters." he introduced himself. He moved his paw out very slowly for a handshake, clearly trying not to startle them. Jessie took a deep breath and shook his hand, then Dan did. His hand was the size of a child compared to Asgore's. "Might I ask what brings you here?"

"We were searching for two girls who were reported missing yesterday, Frisk and Tina Adams." Jessie explained. Little Tina stiffened up as Jessie said this. "We can see you have Tina in your care. Is Frisk with you as well?" She held out a picture taken from one of Ebott High's security cameras, as the girls' parents had no pictures of her in their home. While the picture was slightly blurry, you could still tell what she looked like.

"Yes, Frisk is here too. She's resting in the castle with my w- Queen Toriel, and our other two children." he explained.

"Is she all right?" Dan asked in concern.

Asgore relaxed further at seeing his concern. "She will be. She is rather exhausted, and both girls are far too thin from the neglect they dealt with on the surface, but they will recover." He gently ruffled Tina's hair as she stood slightly behind him, the little girl looking at Dan and Jessie nervously.

"How long has she been with you in your care? How did she end up here?" Dan asked.

"They arrived at the castle last evening. I cannot remember what time exactly." Asgore told them. "Frisk had been traveling through the Underground trying to get home, and she arrived with the friends she had made to help break the barrier..."

"The barrier?" Jessie questioned, confused.

Asgore blinked as if he expected them to know this. "The magical seal humans put up to imprison us underground. It was meant to keep us from escaping and would also trap any humans who fell in with us unless specific, terrible circumstances were met.' he said softly, looking to Tina after saying this, clearly not wanting to scare her. Tina looked worried anyway and he wrapped an arm around her before continuing. "But that centuries old barrier...it was no match for separated siblings, and Frisk was determined to find a way to break us free and get Tina." He was smiling now, like a proud father. "She and her friends came up with a plan, though Tina had a plan of her own and arrived with Tori. It's...a long and confusing story and here's not really the best place to explain it, but all my children teamed up together and broke the barrier. Frisk was very exhausted afterwards, and my son needed medical help to restore him to himself, but they are all fine now." he explained. He fidgeted his hands a bit. "We planned to give them a few days to recover and then figure out how to reveal ourselves to humanity without causing a panic."

"I can see the dilemma you were in." Jessie admitted and Dan silently agreed, knowing that if a bunch of monsters suddenly walked into Ebott City, it would likely cause some people to panic. "But we at the Ebott City Police Department should be able to help smooth things over."

Provided we can explain this without sounding drunk. Dan thought to himself, though didn't say this aloud. Instead he said, "We'll do what we can to help, but first we need to see Frisk."

Asgore nodded and was about to say something, but then little Tina clung to his leg, looking at Dan and Jessie with tears in her eyes. "Please don't take her away! I don't want to never see her again!" she pleaded. "We want to stay with each other and with Mr. Asgore and Miss Toriel! Please don't take us away!" She started to cry, clinging to Asgore as if terrified she'd be torn away.

Dan and Jessie looked at each other in concern, and Asgore picked Tina up, cradling her in his arms. She clung to him. Dan reached out to comfort her, but she flinched away, burying her face in Asgore's chest.

"It is all right, little one. No one is going to take you or Frisk away from us." Asgore told her reassuringly, hugging her close.

"Tina?" Marianne's soft voice asked and Dan turned quickly to see Marianne coming out of the cave. She looked a bit nervous when she saw Asgore, but not shocked, and Dan guessed she had snuck closer to listen.

Tina looked up when she heard Marianne's voice and looked over to her. "Miss Marianne?" she asked, sniffling as she wiped her face with her hand.

Marianne smiled to her. "It's me. Are you all right? I was very scared when you ran away." She looked up at Asgore. "Thank you for finding her."

Asgore nodded with a soft smile, and Tina looked down. "I'm fine. I'm sorry I scared you. I-I didn't want CPS to take me away and to never see Frisk again..." she whispered. "Please...don't call them..."

She buried her face in Asgore's chest again and he rubbed her back softly, giving the three adults a concerned, questioning look.

'Tina, honey, Child Protective Services won't hurt you, or take you away from your sister and neither will we. We just want to make sure you both are okay and safe." Marianne reassured her.

Dan and Jessie nodded. 'We're not here to hurt or separate you. We just want to help. All right?" Jessie asked gently. Tina sniffled and gave a tiny nod, though didn't let go of Asgore.

Asgore kept the little girl close. He seemed to feel a little better after their words. "Come. I'll take you to see Frisk."

He led them down long, winding hallways and up a set of stairs that led them to the back door of a house. As they went inside, Dan could immediately hear a video game blasting.

"X button, Frisk! Now, Y button! B to jump!" a teenage girl's voice called.

"Don't be a backseat gamer, Chara." a boy's voice answered with a laugh, receiving a loudly blown raspberry in return.

"Children..." a woman's voice sighed. Dan could see Jessie and Marianne hide a chuckle at this.

"And it's too late. Asriel killed me again." another girl, presumably Frisk, groaned dramatically, though Dan could hear a smile in her voice. "Damn, how are you so good at this? I swear this game takes more thumbs than I have."

"Practice. Lots of practice. It's a tough game." the boy, Asriel, admitted. "You should have seen me trying to play it with vines. It took me forever to beat my high score."

"Seriously? You managed to play this insanely hard game when you were a flower?! You are a true legend, Asriel! Teach me your ways, oh great one!" Frisk proclaimed dramatically. Dan blinked in utter confusion. Asgore gave him an "I'll explain later," look, cuddling Tina, who had calmed enough to stop crying.

Dan, Jessie and Marianne followed Asgore into the living room as the kids laughed together, and Dan got his first look at them. The boy was a white colored goat monster like his father and the goat woman sitting in the easy chair that he knew to be Toriel, but much to his surprise, there were TWO human teenage girls on the couch, both brown haired and brown eyed, looking surprisingly similar, but there were differences. The one he guessed was Chara had lighter skin and was wearing a green shirt with a yellow stripe and was at a much healthier weight than girl sitting beside her. The girl he now knew to be Frisk was wearing a red sweater and had a blanket wrapped around her. She was far too thin for a girl her age, but it was clear that even in the short time she had been with Asgore and his family that she was starting the process of recovery. She had color in her cheeks, light in her eyes, and her expression was carefree as she laughed with her family.

As she and the other two teens caught sight of him though, the laughter stopped, leaving a long, awkward silence. Frisk and Chara froze completely and Asriel looked startled. Toriel's eyes widened in surprise as well, but she soon relaxed and stood up, greeting the three adult humans with a warm smile.

"This is Dan, Jessie, and Marianne from the Ebott City police department." Asgore introduced them.

"Actually, only Dan and Jessie are police officers. I'm Dan's wife." Marianne explained.

Toriel nodded with a welcoming smile as she came over to shake their hands. "It is very nice to meet you three. Might I ask what brings you here?"

"Frisk and Tina were reported missing on the surface and they came to search for them." Jessie explained.

"Someone reported us missing?" Frisk asked in a shock that made Dan's heart ache. "Was it our parents? Or Tina's teacher?"

Marianne shook her head sadly. "It was my dad and I, actually." Frisk gave her a confused, slightly suspicious look and Marianne clarified. "My dad is Andrew Williams, the professor you work for. When Tina showed up at the lab asking for you, we were very concerned, especially since my dad hasn't seen you in a week and he knew it wasn't like you not to be there. And I had seen your sister at the food pantry at the day before, and saw how thin she looked, so I knew something was wrong. By the time we put the pieces together, Tina had run away, and we called the police, who sent out a search party."

Jessie nodded. "When they made the call and Dan heard your last name, we realized we had a couple in custody for drug possession and dealing that had the same last name and lived in the same area you two did. I questioned them and got them to tell me the truth. They're going to be in jail for a very long time."

Frisk nodded softly. "Thank you for helping us." she said politely, then looked worried as she turned to Marianne. "I still need to get your dad the flower I promised! I'm sorry it's so late, but I'll go get one right away, and I also saw another flower specimen he'd love. Hopefully that will make up for the delay..." She started to get up, but looked wobbly. Asriel and Chara quickly made her sit back down.

Marianne frowned worriedly. "Frisk, my dad's not worried about the flower. He was worried about YOU. He feels terrible for getting you into this situation."

"It's not his fault. It was just an accident." Frisk reassured her.

"What exactly happened?" Dan asked gently.

"The cliff around the hole was more unstable than I thought and it broke under me and I fell into the hole. I knocked myself out and sprained my ankle, but Mom healed me." Frisk said, indicating Toriel. "I left the next day to go back home to Tina, but it took a while."

"Can you tell me what all happened while you were down here?" Dan asked gently, pulling out his notebook. Frisk tensed a bit, and he also noticed Chara eyeing him suspiciously.

"What's the notebook for?" Chara asked.

"We need to take statements from all of you so we can make a report on what happened." Dan explained. "We need to know what happened with Frisk and Tina down here, and we also need to know about you since we weren't expecting to find another missing person here." Dan explained. "Can you tell us your full name, Chara, and who your parents are?"

"My name is Chara Dreemurr, and my parents are King Asgore and Queen Toriel." Chara said firmly.

Dan sighed inwardly. It looked like this one was going to be a stubborn one, and he could tell she really didn't like him. "I know, Chara, but I need to know the names of your birth parents."

"Sorry, but I really don't want to talk about them, or see them. Those people aren't my parents. Mom and Dad are my parents in every way that matters, and I'm not going to leave them. They've been my parents for a long time and they've officially adopted me. As far as the surface goes, I wish to remain missing." Chara told him, her entire body tense. Dan noticed she had scooted closer to Asriel and her parents despite her angry words, as if seeking protection.

Asgore wrapped his arm around his daughter, and Toriel moved closer as well. "Chara, it is okay. They are not going to take you away." Asgore told her before turning to Dan. "It is true that we did officially adopt Chara. I have the paperwork and her adoption certificate in my office. Do you wish to see them?"

"Yes, please." Dan requested and Asgore went to go get them, soon returning with them. Dan took them and looked through them. To his surprise, monsters seemed to have a fairly similar system of adoption to humans, though it was more simplified, and Asgore and Toriel had clearly gone through the process for Chara. While a social worker or lawyer would probably be needed to look at it, it was definitely a legitimate adoption and probably could be considered an international one.

"As you can see, we have all our paperwork in order." Asgore explained. "We also wish to start the process to adopt Frisk and Tina too." Dan didn't miss how Frisk and Tina's eyes lit up at this.

"You'll likely need to speak to CPS about that." Dan told them. "We'll help you get in touch with the proper authorities once we clear up everything. We need to speak to Frisk and Tina first though to make sure everything is okay, and Chara as well."

Chara still looked like she didn't want any part of this and Tina half hid behind Asgore. Frisk however spoke. "What all do you need to know?" she asked politely, though Dan could tell she was a little afraid.

Dan smiled warmly, hoping to reassure her. "Anything that comes to mind. If you forget or don't mention something, that's okay. I'll ask you questions on anything I need you to clarify."

Frisk nodded, relaxing a bit. "Well, I spent most of the time traveling the Underground and talking to and calming down monsters while I tried to figure out a way to get home. Chara helped me out, as did some other friends I made. I ended up having to stop to do some training as well." she admitted.

"Training? And what do you mean by calming down monsters? Did any give you trouble?" Dan asked, concerned.

Frisk stiffened up a bit again. "Some were very anxious as there was a human before me who attacked monsters. He...wasn't a bad person, but because of something really bad that happened, he made the wrong choices, and he did kill, so some of the monsters were terrified of me. Most were very quick to calm down though once they realized that I wouldn't hurt them." she explained.

Dan noticed she was being honest despite the fact that the question upset her, and also noticed that Asgore, Toriel, Chara and Asriel looked worried, with Asgore also looking like he felt really bad. But something she said did concern Dan more than the rest. "Most? Did anyone hurt you?"

"Only two, and I'm not naming names. They only did it to protect other people." Frisk said firmly. "And they quickly came around. One became a close friend, and the other was the first to notice I needed glasses and gave me these." She took a pair of cloudy glasses out of her bag, a soft smile on her face as she showed him them. Dan was still a bit worried, but felt better at this.

"I see. Do you feel safe around them?" Dan asked gently.

"Yes." Frisk said in a tone that left no doubt to her honesty. "They truly are good people. And I feel safer here than I ever did on the surface." She smiled up at her new family, and Dan could tell that she was truly happy.

Another question nagged at him, and he looked to everyone. "Is there going to be any problems between humans and monsters? Are any hostile to humans?"

"While there were a lot of monsters who were afraid, young Frisk as well as Chara and Tina showed them humans could be truly kind. I do not anticipate trouble with most of them, and any who do try to attack without provocation will face punishment." Asgore reassured him. "I will make a statement today to let everyone know what is happening."

A chill then ran down Dan's spine as he remembered something important that he had forgotten in all the chaos. "Shit!"

Everyone looked at him in concern. "What is wrong, my child?" Toriel asked.

Dan ignored being called a child when he was a grown ass adult. "I completely forgot in the chaos. There's another group of searchers that came through the hole Frisk and Tina fell down, and they don't know about you guys.'

"I'll contact Undyne and have her meet them and escort them safely here. She's the captain of the Royal Guard." Asgore said worriedly, grabbing his phone.

"Asgore, Undyne lost her phone. She ended up setting her house on fire and left it behind." Frisk told Asgore, a worried expression on her face as well. "She's probably with Papyrus or Alphys though."

"I will call them." Asgore told her, then looked to Dan. "Can you try to contact your group and make sure they do not hurt anyone? I do not want any of my subjects to be harmed."

"On it." Dan said, already starting to dial. He just hoped he could reach them before anything happened, and that he could tell them what was going on without them thinking he was crazy.

...

Meanwhile, the second search team had made their way through the Ruins and to Toriel's house, following the lead and sharp nose of Rascal, their K9 officer. The door was wide open as if someone had rushed through without remembering to close it.

With no other exits, one of the search and rescue team, a young red haired man named Cam, knocked on the open door. "Hello?" he called.

No response.

"We'd better check this place out." Rascal's handler, a dark haired, dark skinned police officer named James, said. "It's likely Tina could have run to or been taken in here, and we haven't found any other exits in this area."

The others nodded and cautiously entered the house, James making sure his gun was at the ready in case anyone hostile was hiding in there.

The place was completely abandoned, but had clearly been lived in recently, as evidenced by the lack of dust and a large robe draped over the chair in the living room along with a book resting on the cushion. A check of the kitchen revealed the fridge was filled with fresh food...and a bucket of snails.

They made their way downstairs and came upon a long corridor that freezing air was blowing through. As they reached the end, they found yet another open door, this one leading into a snowy forested area.

"This is weird. How is snow falling and trees growing underneath a mountain?" Bill, a blond-haired man who was on Cam's search and rescue team asked.

"I don't know, but I think we have bigger problems." Cam said shakily, looking at a set of footprints on the ground that clearly weren't human. Whatever the creature was had four toes and a paw print that looked more like a very large animal's, but was bipedal and weighed as much as a human if not more.

"Where the hell are we?" Bill asked shakily.

James looked as nervous as Cam and Bill. "I don't know, but we need to stay together and cautious."

The group slowly made their way down the path, coming upon a wooden bridge that had thick iron bars across it spaced too far apart to really stop anyone. Seeing no other way to get through, they started to make their way onto the bridge and across.

And then they saw two humanoid figures come from around the corner, walking towards them. At first thinking they were the other rescue party, Cam was about to call out, then his voice froze in his throat as he got a better look at them.

The two figures weren't human after all, but walking skeletons dressed casually in human clothing. One was wearing a bright blue T-shirt with a Super-Man logo and some writing on it, and the other wore a white lab coat. Cam stopped short in shock, causing the others to bump into him. They gasped and stared at the creatures heading towards them.

"...AND TO HOLD MY SENTRY STATION TOGETHER, I USED ROTINI, THE SCREW SHAPED PASTA! THAT WAY MY STATION WOULD BE FORTIFIED WITH CARDBOARD-HYDRATES!" the skeleton in the T-shirt told the other proudly, then groaned. "DON'T TELL SANS I SAID THAT."

Cam's head spun as the other skeleton laughed and said something in a language he couldn't understand. Was he dreaming? Going insane? Was this really even happening?

The two skeletons suddenly noticed them. The one in the labcoat froze, though the other one seemed to smile even more.

"OH, HELLO, HUMANS! IT'S NICE TO MEET YOU! ARE YOU FRIENDS OF FRISK'S?" the skeleton in the T-shirt asked in a friendly way, heading towards them.

Surprised by the friendly tone and the skeleton knowing the name of one of the girls they were looking for, Cam froze, but Bill backed up in shock, then slipped off the edge of the bridge, starting to fall, Rascal's frantic bark alerting them to this situation. Cam and James rushed to help him, but the skeleton beat them to it, throwing out his hand, which became surrounded by a blue glow. A heart shape formed above his colleague's chest and turned bright blue, and he stopped falling, then floated up to safety, like the skeleton was using some sort of telekinetic force. Cam, the police officer, and the other search and rescue worker helped steady him as he was set softly on the bridge. The skeleton then hurried over, his smile replaced by a look of concern on his surprisingly expressive face. The other skeleton quickly followed behind him.

"ARE YOU ALL RIGHT? PLEASE BE CAREFUL. THE BRIDGE CAN BE VERY SLIPPERY." the tall skeleton said worriedly.

"I-I-I'm fine." Bill said said shakily. Rascal licked his face, then panted happily up at Papyrus, the dog not at all scared by the skeleton.

Cam looked to the skeleton, fear now replaced by awe. "Thanks for saving his life. How'd you do that?"

The skeleton looked proud. "I USED MY BLUE MAGIC TO REVERSE THE GRAVITY AROUND HIM SO I COULD LIFT HIM UP. IT WAS ONE OF THE TECHINIQUES I'VE LEARNED WHEN TRAINING FOR THE ROYAL GUARD. MY BROTHER AND FATHER CAN DO IT TOO." He spoke about reversing gravity like it was the simplest thing around, and Cam's eyes were wide as he listened.

"Man, we could definitely use someone like you in Search And Rescue. That would make things a lot less dangerous." Cam said. "So what's your name?"

"I'M THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SENTRY AND ROYAL TRAINER EXTRARODINARE!" the skeleton said cheerfully, striking a heroic pose that made even the normally grumpy James crack a smile. "THIS IS MY FATHER, DR. GASTER! HE'S THE ROYAL SCIENTIST!"

Gaster nodded and signed, "It's nice to meet you." in American Sign Language. Grateful he knew it, Cam signed, "It's nice to meet you too." back, prompting a smile from the scarred skeleton.

"It's wonderful that you know sign. You can speak aloud if you wish though. I can hear you, and speak English, but my font is rather hard to understand for those who aren't skeletons." Gaster explained, and Cam nodded before translating for him to those in the group who didn't understand.

"SO WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE? ARE YOU LOST?" Papyrus asked.

"No...well, sort of." the police officer in the group answered. "But we're looking for two missing girls that we think fell down here?"

Papyrus's eyes lit up. "FRISK AND TINA?"

"Yes. How do you know them?" James asked. "I heard you mentioning Frisk earlier."

"FRISK IS A VERY SPECIAL FRIEND, AND WHILE I HAVEN'T KNOWN TINA AS LONG, SHE IS A WONDERFUL FRIEND TOO! ARE YOU FRIENDS WITH THEM AS WELL?"

"We're part of the search and rescue group the police sent to look for them." Bill explained. "Are they all right? Can we see them?"

Papyrus smiled. "OF COURSE! THEY ARE AT THE CASTLE, LIVING WITH THE ROYAL FAMILY! THEY'RE VERY HAPPY THERE." He then looked a bit worried. "They won't have to go back to their old family, right? Their parents didn't take good care of them and Frisk was really malnourished." he asked softly.

'Hell no." James informed him. "Those scumbags are in jail. Probably going to be there for quite a while."

Papyrus seemed to feel better at this, but before he could answer, Cam's phone rang, and literally a second later, Papyrus's did as well. Both human and skeleton picked up their respective phones.

It was Officer Emerson on the other end of Cam's line. Cam could also hear someone with a deep voice talking to Papyrus in the background, as Papyrus himself stood next to Cam and explained the situation to someone he called King Asgore. "Cam, this is going to sound crazy, but you need to listen to me. You see..." Dan started to explain.

"The legends about monsters being under Mt. Ebott are true. We know. We just met two talking skeleton dudes." Cam answered. "They're right here with us. Said their names are Papyrus and Gaster."

"Okay, good, that makes it a lot easier to explain then. Is everyone all right?" Dan asked.

"Everyone's fine thanks to Papyrus here. He saved Bill from falling off a bridge." Cam reassured him. He'd tell Dan about the magic thing later. That was so weird that it had to be seen in person.

Dan sighed in relief. "That's great. Not the falling part, I mean, but that he saved him. I'm glad no one's hurt. We're at the castle with the king and queen of monsters and their family. The two missing girls are with them and completely safe."

"I know. Papyrus told me. Should we come to you or head back to the surface to explain things to the others?"

"KING ASGORE WOULD LIKE YOU TO COME TO THE CASTLE." Papyrus told him, overhearing the conversation. "DO NOT FEAR, HUMANS! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL ESCORT YOU! ALONG WITH DAD OF COURSE! WE'LL HEAD INTO SNOWDIN AND TAKE THE BOAT TO THE CAPITAL! YOU CAN ALSO MEET MY BROTHER! I'M SURE HE WON'T MIND WAKING UP TO MEET SOME NEW HUMAN FRIENDS!"

"Thank you, Papyrus." Cam could hear Asgore say on the other end of the line as Cam and his group thanked Papyrus as well.

Papyrus smiled happily at this, the tall skeleton teenager clearly happy to be of help. "ANYTIME, MY FRIENDS! NOW RIGHT THIS WAY!"

...

"Phew, I'm glad that ended so well." Dan sighed in relief as he hung up the phone.

Frisk was smiling. "They'll be in safe hands with Papyrus. He's wonderful and kind." she reassured the police officers. "He helped me throughout my journey, and he's absolutely amazing." The slight blush on her face told Dan just how amazing the young teenage girl thought the mentioned skeleton monster was, and Dan couldn't help but chuckle, though conceded that she was probably very much right. Papyrus's voice had carried through the phone, and he definitely sounded like a kind (and rather enthusiastic) teenager.

Though something did occur to him as he heard Asgore made a few more calls to other monsters, telling them about the situation and that the group of humans were no threat and to be welcomed. He and Jessie exchanged concerned glances, and when Asgore finished his calls, he turned to him. "Frisk mentioned earlier that there was an issue with another human that ended in some deaths, and that many monsters were rather anxious around humans. What happened?"

Asgore frowned and looked down. Frisk stopped smiling and looked up at him, clearly worried, with an expression of "What do you want me to tell them?" in her eyes. Asgore gently squeezed her shoulder with a sad smile before turning to Dan.

"I will tell you everything, but let us go into the kitchen. The story is very dark and I do not wish to upset the children." Asgore requested softly. Dan and Jessie looked at each other once again, then nodded.

"Would you be okay staying out here, Mari?" Dan asked his wife, who nodded as Toriel made room for her to take a seat.

Dan and Jessie followed Asgore into the kitchen and sat at the large table. Thankfully, Asgore had some chairs that were actually human sized.

"Would you like anything to eat or drink? Tea? A slice of pie?" Asgore offered politely.

"Some tea would be wonderful. Thank you." Jessie replied, and Dan could tell she had her "negotiator" face on. Asgore nodded with a small smile and started to prepare it. The two police officers jumped when Asgore shot fire out of his hands to heat the pot, and Asgore smiled and explained that it was fire magic, leaving the two with their heads reeling at the fact that magic actually existed. But they didn't have much time to think on it, as steaming cups of a golden aromatic tea were soon set in front of them, and the much more important issue of what happened with the humans in the Underground took priority.

Asgore sat across from them with his own cup of tea. He looked solemn and troubled. "The story actually starts long, long ago. How familiar were you both with the human/monster war?"

"We thought it was nothing more than a legend." Dan replied honestly. "We thought it was an old fairy tale to keep children from getting hurt on a dangerous mountain. But now...we can tell it was more than a legend."

Asgore nodded. "It was all too real. The war ended brutally, with so many monsters wiped out. There was no other option for us but to surrender, and we were herded into the mountain and trapped under a powerful spell. While it was easy for beings to come in, for both humans and monsters, it was impossible to escape, unless specific, terrible circumstances were met, as I mentioned earlier."

"The humans who created the barrier used the most horrible curse possible." came a voice from the doorway, and Dan and Jessie jumped, then turned, finding Chara standing there, Asriel right behind her.

Chara walked up to them, a bitter, angry expression on her face, though it wasn't directed at them this time. "I read all about the barrier in a book I found while hiding in the library when I still lived on the surface. There was no morality, no compassion in the humans who created the barrier. The lives of seven mages- humans who could use magic- were brutally sacrificed to make the spell possible. It was the worst kind of magic. They even made sure any "blood traitors," humans who supported monsters, couldn't get out if they happened to be trapped. They made it so the only way the barrier could be bypassed even for humans was for a human to kill a Boss Monster and absorb their soul...or...or vice versa." Dan felt a cold chill run down his spine, and saw Jessie tense. But before either of them could speak, Chara continued.

"And yet, when I fell, even though Mom and Dad had every reason to distrust or hate me after they lost not only their freedom, but their own families to humans, they took me in. Raised me as their own child, unlike my own, human parents, who hated me for existing." Chara looked up at Dan and Jessie, a cold intensity in her brown eyes. "There's another reason I refused to tell you my name before, beyond not trusting either of you, and that's because you'll believe my story to be impossible. My birth name is Chara Chandler. I fell down here sixty seven years ago."

Dan looked at her in disbelief. He had heard of the Chara Chandler case. It had, in fact, been highly publicized and shown on several crime shows, one of which he had even seen a few years ago. The daughter of a wealthy, influential family disappearing without a trace. The parents had made talk of doing their best to find Chara, but the show had also spoken of the whispers in the community that something much more sinister had happened. Some of Chara's classmates and teachers had reported seeing bruises on her, and a neighbor had reported hearing screams behind closed doors. Many had speculated that Chara's parents had murdered her, but no evidence had ever been found, and the family's influence and ability to hire expensive lawyers had gotten them off scot free. In the end, the case remained unsolved and Chara's parents had died of old age many years ago, shunned by their community, who knew the truth that had not been proven. He wondered if this Chara was simply lying, using the famous case to hide her true backstory. But what was truly eerie was that he remembered seeing Chara Chandler's picture on the screen, and Chara definitely looked like an older version of her. But that couldn't be possible! Maybe she was the original Chara Chandler's granddaughter, but she couldn't be her!

And yet, he hadn't believed monsters existed either, and one was sitting right in front of him with a cup of tea, nodding in confirmation of Chara's story while watching his adoptive daughter in concern.

"But how can that be? If you were Chara Chandler, you'd be seventy eight years old!" Jessie pointed out, her thoughts clearly echoing Dan's. "And you're only sixteen or seventeen."

"I am." Chara confirmed. "I killed myself sixty two years ago when I was only a few weeks away from being seventeen, and was brought back to life last night."

"What?!" Dan and Jessie both yelped, and stared at Chara and Asgore, expecting this to be some sort of elaborate practical joke, but Chara's face was completely serious and Asgore and Asriel had tears in their eyes at the mention of this. They were all telling the truth.

"I know it sounds impossible, but I'm not lying." Chara said softly. "I wanted to free everyone. There were monsters that were even dying from despair at knowing they couldn't see the sun, and...and I knew from reading that book that the only way the barrier could be bypassed was by the fusion of a human and monster soul. So...So I talked Asriel into helping me. He didn't want to, but...but I refused to take no for an answer. I poisoned myself with buttercups so it would look like an illness- Mom and Dad didn't even know until last night- and I had Asriel absorb my soul. As it would have taken the power of seven human souls to break the barrier, I thought we could sneak into a hospital or morgue and take the restless souls of people who had just died as they weren't using them any more, and we could break the barrier that way without anyone being harmed."

"What happened next was my fault." Asriel whispered, ignoring Chara who shook her head violently. "I had the idea to bring Chara's body to the village to bury her, and make peace with the humans. I thought they might have the counter spell, and I also wanted monsters and humans to be able to live peacefully and happily on the surface like they once did. But...It didn't work. They thought I killed Chara...and..."

Dan's heart ached as he remembered another legend, the legend of the White Beast Of Ebott Square. It too had been thought to be no more than a mere myth, an episode of mass hysteria. But it truly hadn't. And he knew how the legend had ended, and it hurt to think about it as he watched Asgore pull his son and daughter into a tight hug with tears in his eyes.

"I tried to defend Asriel, but it just ended up scaring the humans more, and...and they fatally wounded Asriel. He brought me back home and collapsed in the garden. He...He died right in front of Mom and Dad after telling them what happened in the village..." Chara sobbed. "I...I tried to save him, but I couldn't...and then everything went dark for a long time. I woke again as a spirit when Frisk fell. Her soul was so strong that it woke up mine."

"And I ended up as a soulless flower for a while." Asriel said softly. Dan looked at him in shock. "It's a long, weird, terrible story, but Dr. Gaster, Dr. Alphys, and my friend Sans were able to bring me back to myself after Frisk found out a way."

"I swear, that girl does not let the word "impossible' stand in her way." Chara said with a slight chuckle that still sounded sad. "She helped Asriel to save me too."

"Holy shit..." Dan muttered. He needed liquor for this, and he didn't even drink. Monsters, people being brought back from the dead... What was next?

"Well, I'm glad the two of you were able to be brought back." Jessie said surprisingly calmly considering the fact that her eyes were as big as dinner plates. She then looked extremely worried. "Chara said the barrier needed to be broken with the power of seven human souls. If their plan failed, what happened? How is the barrier broken now? Or are we all stuck down here?"

"The Barrier is broken." Asgore confirmed very softly. He again looked extremely sad, and Dan's heart sunk. "After seeing my son die in front of me, I was grieving and angry. I also feared the humans would send their soldiers to attack the mountain, and I did not want my wife or any of my subjects to lose their lives. In my anger and foolishness, I made a horrible choice. I-I decreed any humans who fell were to be treated as hostile, and their souls taken."

Dan and Jessie tensed, and Dan very nearly reached for his gun, but the true grief and guilt on Asgore's face stayed his hand. And it was also true that Asgore had not attacked them, or had even shown any hostility. And... in a way, while it was horrible, he also understood. Asgore had just lost his son, and expected a full blown attack on the mountain. He had already been through one war, and expected another to be coming. Considering his own country had had to prepare for war as well many times after hostile attacks, wouldn't it have been the same for the monsters?

"Was there an attack?" Dan asked, his throat dry.

"Not...Not at first." Asgore said softly. "The army I expected...it never came. And only when the first human fell did I realize the horrible mistake I made. It was a little girl, only five years old. Her name was Felicity, and she had been left on the mountain by her mother. She ran into a cave to escape a rainstorm, and fell down the slope you, Jessie, and Marianne came down. I heard her scream as she fell, and she struck her temple on a sharp rock. By the time I got to her side, she was too far gone for me to save her. She died in my arms..." Asgore again wiped tears away, and Dan knew he was genuinely upset. "I never wanted a child to fall and die here."

Dan and Jessie again were quiet. Dan again recalled a case, this one his own grandfather had remembered from his own time on the police force. Little five year old Felicity Amaya, whose mother had admitted to deliberately abandoning her a few months after she had been reported missing, though refused to admit to murdering her like many believed. Dan remembered how it had broken his grandfather's heart, and remembered how his own had ached at seeing the photo of the little curly haired girl smiling her gap toothed smile at the camera, innocent as to what would happen to her.

"We believe you." Jessie said calmly, though Dan could tell this was really bothering her as well. "What...What happened with Felicity's body? And her soul? Chara mentioned about souls being used to break the barrier..."

"Her soul's with Dr. Gaster and Alphys. They're working on creating a new body for her." a new voice said, and Dan and Jessie saw Frisk standing at the door, well, clinging to the doorframe while doing her best to stand. The poor girl's legs were shaking very hard as she tried to support her own weight.

Asgore quickly jumped up and rushed to her side while Toriel hurried in from the living room. Asgore tenderly scooped Frisk into his arms.

"Easy, child, you're going to hurt yourself." Asgore said gently as he carried Frisk to a chair, the tenderness and care for the human girl obvious to Jessie and Dan in every action. He made sure Frisk was settled and Toriel got a blanket, tenderly tucking it around the exhausted teenager.

"Are you all right, Frisk?" Dan asked gently. "Maybe it's better for you to rest in the living room for a while." Marianne too had showed up at the door with Tina behind her, both looking confused and worried at Frisk suddenly running into the kitchen.

"I'm all right. I want to be here to help, and I want to make sure you guys know everything. I don't want there to be trouble between humans and monsters." Frisk said.

"We don't either, and we just want to know what's going on." Jessie said soothingly. "Now what were you saying about building a body for Felicity?"

"Doctor Gaster and Alphys are really talented in robotics. Dr. Alphys has even built a robot body for a ghost before. Granted Mettaton's a ghost monster rather than a ghost ghost, but they think they might be able to do it for human souls as well. They're currently working on it." Frisk explained.

Asgore nodded. "It is true. While it is still currently in the blueprint stages, my scientists are working on ways to give the human souls their bodies back, and I am making sure they have everything they need to do so. While I cannot reverse what happened to any of them, much as I wish to, we are going to give them every opportunity we can, using both science and magic, to help them live again."

Dan was half worried he was being pranked again, but everyone around him had a straight face. And with monsters being discovered to be real, and magic, hell, anything was starting to become possible. Especially since two kids had supposedly already come back from death. This was so crazy he nearly forgot about what Asgore said about there being multiple souls.

Thankfully, Jessie had a far clearer head when it came to interrogations than he did. "You said souls, which I'm assuming multiple humans have died down here rather than just Felicity. How many?" she asked.

Asgore sighed softly. "Six."

"What happened?"

Tina was taken back to the living room with Asriel and Marianne going with her as no one wanted to scare her, and quietly, somberly, Asgore told each story, the girls and Toriel also putting in what they knew. And as they spoke, Dan Jessie remembered many of the cases. Seven year old Benji Bonner, who had disappeared from his backyard nearly forty years ago, leaving his devastated parents, including his dad who was very sick with cancer behind, they now found to have drowned while having slipped and fallen off a cliff while trying to bring a magic flower home to cure his daddy. Both Frisk and Asgore explained this, both exactly correct in the details of the missing child, both physical and personality wise.

The next was Violet Park, who Jessie recalled had disappeared in Ebott Woods after a field trip with her ballet class and never had been found. Asgore sadly confirmed that she once again had gotten lost and froze to death in the Snowdin Woods, being found too late by a member of the Royal Guard.

But while the first three had died in accidents, little David Anderson's death had been much more horrifying. He had actually been killed by monsters after having apparently killed their family members. Chara confirmed this, and also told them what David had told her, the three girls having claimed to have spoken to each soul. Dan could again tell they were being honest.

Dan was still disbelieving. "How could a ten year old boy kill monsters, especially if they can use magic?"

Chara looked down. "Monsters...are like snow. One wrong touch and they can easily fall down. Because their bodies are made of magic and less physical than ours, a hit that would barely hurt a human, if done with harmful intent, or even done out of self defense, can easily kill a monster. David didn't know this, or he never would have hit them, but...I don't know if their family members knew he didn't kill intentionally, or if they were so angry and heartbroken at the deaths that they didn't care. It was a truly messed up situation."

Dan turned to Asgore, still upset. "Did you ask your subjects to do this? To kill if they saw a human?"

"Dad would never do that!" Chara said angrily, standing up.

"Chara, calm down." Frisk pleaded, taking hold of her sister's shirt sleeve as Asriel placed a hand on Chara's shoulder.

"Chara, it is all right. After the horrible things I said, it is very understandable that they would think that." Asgore told his daughter gently, before turning to Dan. "While I did tell my subjects humans could be very dangerous, and I feel I may have escalated the situation, I also did tell them that if their was a hostile human to not engage and to get the Royal Guard. I do not expect my citizens to fight humans, though I admit at the time it was more for their own safety. As Chara said, most monsters are not built for fighting, and most are kind and do not ever want to."

Dan was again quiet, remembering a tragedy in his own life. He too had lost someone he loved to hostile humans when he was younger and lived in a rougher city that had a great deal of gang violence. When he and his best friend Brian had been walking home from school, they had gotten caught in the middle of a gang shootout, and Brian had been fatally shot. A group of police officers, including his father, had quickly come in time to save Dan's life, but too late to save his friend, who had died in the hospital later that night. Dan remembered how angry he felt and how he had wanted to kill the gang members and make them face justice. He had wanted to be a cop to prevent bad guys from hurting any more good guys, to protect the Brians and Felicitys of the world. Thankfully though, therapy had eased his anger before he had become part of the police force, and this had prevented him from becoming vengeful like the monsters that had brutally killed little David.

And apparently, facing his issues and getting professional help had prevented him from becoming like David's brother Justin as well. From what Toriel, Frisk, and Asgore told him, after hearing about the death of his beloved baby brother, Justin had lost it and, feeling that all monsters were bad, started to "take out the threat." Many monsters had been killed, and Undyne, the Royal Guard Captain, who was like a daughter to Asgore, had lost her eye protecting a child, and Asgore had had to kill Justin. Frisk had emphasized that while Justin was not a bad person, his anger and vengeance had taken him down the wrong path, which even Justin admitted to. This was also confirmed by Dan having had read the police reports on the case, which had stated that Justin had been in a troubled state and had gone searching for his missing brother, saying he'd either find him or make whoever took him pay. While it was horrible that Justin had died, Dan also understood as Asgore couldn't just let him kill Undyne or his subjects.

But twenty three year old Andrea Winters's death was senseless. This one a heartbroken Asgore admitted to killing when she had broken into his castle, wanting to get through the barrier and get home. The Andrea Winters case had been one Dan and Jessie had both worked on three years ago, and as a shaking and guilt ridden Asgore spoke of her fate, Dan knew the story would remain with him until his dying day.

...

The Capitol, Three Years Ago

The dark skinned woman glared up at the monster king. "Look, I don't want to fight. I didn't come here to cause trouble. Get out of my way and let me go home."

"I am sorry, human. You cannot." Asgore said sadly. "You cannot get through the barrier. The only way you can leave is to kill me."

Her gaze hardened as her body tensed. "There's no need to threaten me. I just want to go home, okay? I miss my family."

"I told you, it is not possible. That was not a threat, it was a fact. There is only one way to escape the barrier, and that is if one of us dies. But...if you leave the castle, if you have unfinished business in the Underground, you may go back and I will not stop you. Leave, human, and we will not have to fight." Asgore looked at her with sorrow in his eyes, praying that she would do just that.

But she stood her ground. "No. I'm going home. Let me past."

"No. If you go any further, we will have to fight. I'm sorry, child. There is no way you can get home. No one can escape this cursed place." Asgore told her softly.

"I can. And I will. Fight me if you must, but my family is waiting for me! I'm not letting you stop me from going home!"

She lunged forward at him. Later, long after the fight had passed, Asgore would recall that she was actually trying to duck under him and get to the Barrier, not lunge to attack, but in the heat of the moment, he thought it was an attack and thrust his trident at her. She barely dodged and clenched her fists, prepared to fight.

The fight was brutal and bloody. Andrea was small and had no weapons other than her fists and a hardcover notebook, but she was fast, and she clearly had some martial arts training, and she fought valiantly for her life. She broke several of Asgore's ribs and his wrist, but in the end, he had more experience fighting than she did. His trident struck home and his flames incinerated her small body.

Asgore collapsed to his knees beside the dead woman. His body screamed in agony from the beating he had taken, but nothing hurt more than his soul as he reached out and took the softly glowing purple soul as it floated free. He looked down at the body of the pretty young woman that had been alive and well only moments before and thought of the vibrant life he had stolen away.

And he cried.

...

"How could you do that?! How could you just kill her like that when she just wanted to go home?" Dan asked angrily, though tried to keep his voice down to keep from scaring Tina and Marianne in the other room.

Asgore looked down and was about to answer before Chara cut him off. "Because the only way Andrea could get home was to kill Dad." she said very softly. "Remember what I said about the barrier? Only the fusion of a human and monster soul can escape. The barrier was built that way. That-That's why Dad told Andrea that she would have to kill him to get through. That's why he tried to get her to leave." Dan's own soul sunk as he understood in a way as it was extremely easy to make a horrible mistake when you were in a situation you thought was dangerous and were carrying a weapon, though was still horrified Asgore killed her.

"Granted...I...I don't think Andrea understood that." Chara continued quietly. "She's a good person, and I think she thought Dad was just threatening her, and didn't know he was telling the truth about the Barrier, and it wasn't her fault, but...but I think Dad thought she did know when she lunged at him."

Dan looked to Asgore, who nodded softly. "It is true that I thought she was attacking, but I should have handled the situation much better. I should have shown her the barrier so she could see for herself, and I never should have killed her. She did not deserve what I did. None of the humans did, and my actions were inexcusable." The giant monster lowered his head. "I will take whatever punishment you give me. I deserve it. But please," He looked into their eyes. 'Please do not punish my family or my subjects for my actions. My children were not alive then, and Toriel did everything she could to stop me." Toriel looked to him and opened her mouth as if to protest, but he cut her off. "She tried to talk me out of my decree, and when she thought I had gone too far, she left and went to protect the humans from me. She did everything in her power to keep them safe. So please do not blame her. And most of my subjects are very kind, and would never harm anyone."

Frisk spoke up. "While-While I don't want you to punish Asgore, he's right that Mom did everything she could to protect me." she said softly. "She took care of me and made sure I had a safe place to stay. And like I said before, the majority of monsters were kind to me from the start, and the others came around."

Dan nodded, believing them. "I promise I'll make sure it's known they didn't hurt anyone." he agreed. He then looked to Asgore. "Jess and I will make sure it's known that you guys weren't responsible for Felicity, Benji, and Violet's deaths provided the medical examiner proves your story, and that Justin's was in the defense of others, but with David and Andrea's deaths...Normally the situation would call for us to arrest you..." Frisk's and Chara's eyes widened in fear as they pressed close to Asgore and Toriel looked like she was about to protest, but Dan just continued. "But as you are a monster and the king of a foreign nation, the situation is a little different. Like you, we do not wish for a war. We will have to talk to the mayor and higher officials about this, and you will need to face the families of those you hurt." Asgore nodded, completely accepting this, though Frisk and Chara looked afraid.

Jessie could tell and spoke with a softer tone. "However, provided you're telling the truth about making them bodies, and you actually can succeed in this, things may work out well. The families may not want to press charges if they can get their loved ones back."

Asgore nodded again. "I will do whatever it takes to make things right or at least make them better for everyone I hurt." he said, clearly determined to do just that, and Dan believed him.

"Good." Dan said.

Frisk very shyly tapped on his shoulder. "Officer Emerson?"

Dan smiled a little. "You can just call me Dan, Frisk. What do you need?"

"Tina and I do want to stay with Toriel and Asgore, more than anything. They've been amazing to us, and we don't want to leave them. Please, can we just stay with them?" Frisk pleaded. Those frightened brown eyes went right to Dan's heart.

"We'll put in a word for you." Dan promised. "I do know you both are much better off here than in your old home, and that you're happy. We don't want to disrupt your lives or throw you both into foster care when you're somewhere safe. We can't do too much, but we can get you in touch with the right people. I don't know if Asgore can currently adopt you yet, considering what's going on, but things might be different for Toriel. I can't make any promises, but we'll do everything in our power to make sure you guys are together and safe. And considering Chara's already been officially adopted by your laws as a foreign nation, she should be perfectly fine to stay here."

While Frisk still looked worried, she managed to smile a little. "Thank you, sir." Dan nearly chuckled at her nervous formality. Professor Williams had been right, she was a very polite girl. Toriel too thanked Dan gratefully over and over, smiling widely in relief and joy at being able to keep all her children, and Asgore too smiled widely while even Chara gave Dan a small smile.

The doorbell rang at that moment. Asgore excused himself and got up to go get it, and the others followed him out of the kitchen, Toriel carrying Frisk in her arms.

As Asgore opened the door, the search and rescue workers that made up Group C headed in, along with three skeletons, the tallest clearly being the mentioned Papyrus as evidenced by his "Super Papyrus" T-shirt. He was grinning and laughing with the humans, talking a mile a minute, and when he saw Frisk being set on the couch, quickly ran over and hugged her happily before bringing the other humans over to meet her. He spoke of her with such praise and delight, a blush on his face, telling everyone how awesome she was, which of course caused her to start blushing too. It was pretty clear to Dan that Papyrus felt the same way about Frisk that she did about him, and it was actually really cute. Dan was glad to see Frisk thinking about crushes like a regular teenage girl rather than all the harrowing stuff she had went through. One of the other skeletons, tall and in a lab coat, was talking to Cam in sign about something Cam clearly found interesting, as evidenced by the red-haired man's rapt attention. The smaller skeleton, who was wearing a blue hoodie and slippers and looked like he'd just woken up from a nap, was telling the police officer in the group terrible puns, actually making the guy crack a smile. Rascal the police dog sat there wagging his tail, clearly unperturbed by the monsters.

As Dan nearly got his arm shaken off by Papyrus and listened to the skeleton's friendly chatter, he watched his wife smile and talk to Toriel, and Jessie have a conversation with the skeleton in the lab coat using sign. It was there that he came to a realization, watching humans and monsters interact so peacefully. He wanted to make sure this continued to happen. He wanted to live with his wife and possibly have a child in a time of peace, not war. He wanted to see Frisk and Tina smile like they were doing just now, and have the amazing family that they deserved.

While he was still angry at Asgore about the decree and what he did to Andrea, he wanted to make sure everyone had a happy ending, not one that ended in blood and tears.

And as he picked up his phone to tell his superiors what was going on, he silently vowed that he would do whatever he could to make sure that happened.

...

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!

For those who want to know, the reason I found it best to have Asgore tell quickly what happened to the fallen humans was that it would have been much, much worse if he tried to hide it and someone found out, not to mention Asgore's an honest person and would want to lay all his cards on the table and let the officers know the blame for David, Andrea, and Justin's deaths lay with him, not his family. Asgore felt he deserved to be punished and that the humans deserved to have the truth told. Things will work out though.

Now only the epilogue remains, though a sequel of a series of oneshots will likely come afterwards! Feel free to either leave a review or PM me and let me know what you think!