Snowdrop, a flower that means hope and a new beginning.

The thick blanket around you did very little to calm your nerves. It did bring feeling back into your limbs, however, which was why it'd been wrapped around you. You stare at your pink fingers as they trembled and burned.

"How are you doing?" You look up, meeting Gaster's gaze. He stood at the back of the very small cellar, just about two arm lengths away from your shivering, sitting form.

"I can feel." You mumbled. Gaster sighed through his nose.

"Humans seem to find that pushing themselves beyond their natural limits is fun." You can hear the humor on his tongue but you don't laugh. Instead you watch him as he continues working on the large machine. The machine you never knew existed until a handful of minutes ago.

The moment you agreed to listen to Gaster he immediately led you back through the woods to Sans's house. Instead of going inside he went around back. For a moment you thought he had led you to a dead end on purpose, but then summoned hands to push the snow away.

There was a cellar door hidden at your feet.

You assumed it was going to be locked, but Gaster pulled the doors open with his magic hands and led you inside.

It was dark and rank and when the small light bulbs swinging overhead turned on you had felt a surge of nerves.

Blueprints and notes hung on every wall like a mad man's ramblings. They were everywhere, covered with red threads leading and weaving back and forth like a labyrinth. At one end of the room there was a small chair and blanket and in the other a large tarp covering something that pulsed and glowed.

Before you could even fully take a step inside Gaster was pulling the blanket over your shoulders and ushering you to sit.

"This might take a while." He'd said. "Warm up." Then he pulled the tarp off and your mind went fuzzy as you stared at the machine.

Parts of it you could see fine but there were other sections that, even as you tried to look, just wouldn't… come into focus. As if parts of it were blurred out so you wouldn't recognize it. It hurt to look at for too long so you stared at the papers on the walls.

"What is that?" You asked Gaster.

At first glance, you couldn't read the writing on most of the blueprints. They were covered in a series of symbols written around designs. Most of it looked like numbers spewed out- calculations and possibilities. By itself the equations didn't make sense and you're sure even if you were given the context you still wouldn't understand.

"This is a version of the machine that I built." You peeked at him, trying not to look at the semi-mind breaking contraption. Instead you focused on how his summoned hands worked while he stood still.

"The thing that… Made you like this?" You see him flinch.

"Yes. While mine was destroyed along with me, my notes on it were left. I watched Sans pick up my work without knowing who I was." That made you frown. You pulled the blanket tighter around you.

"Why would he do that?" More on the nose, how. No offense to Sans, but you never really saw him as some scientific machine expert. Between the horrible puns and his laziness, he didn't seem to have time to learn rocket science. Then again… Sans always seemed to know more. Whether it was about Frisk or how he was the only one to be aware of you and the kid jumping through time. You cast a glance around the notes on the walls.

Maybe this had to do why he knew about the resets when no one else did.

"I...Am still not entirely sure. It works to our advantage, however." One of his hands floated back to beckon you over. You stand, refusing to discard your blanket, and shuffle over to his towering side. "He not only rebuilt my work, but improved it, a feat in itself. I believe with what determination you have left you will be able to power it and-"

"Determination that I have?" You interject. "Why do I keep hearing "determination" as a form of measurement?" The skeleton looks down at you and his bones shift. He frowns in confusion.

"Do you know of souls?" He asks and reflexively your hand moves to your chest. He takes that as your answer. "All monsters' souls are created, and kept together, by "hope", "love", and "compassion". Human souls need nothing but "determination" to keep persisting. Determination is a powerful energy, one that can even stop a person from dying. Monsters' are not, and will never be, built to handle that type of power."

"So…" You think back to the time you were in the Underground. Technically it was a decade ago, but for your jumbled memory it felt like yesterday. "Is that why Frisk and I had the abilities we did while in the Underground?" The saving stars, the resets, those weren't normal features of your day-to-day life.

"More or less." The machine suddenly shudders to life and you lurch away from it as it began to rumble. "Even though humans produce it naturally, very few have a soul of determination, as does Frisk. You were given determination, how or from who I am still uncertain. What you were given was depleted, for the most part, while holding you here."

A bolt pops and steam hisses out of the crevices. You hold the blanket edge over your mouth as you back up more. The machine creaks and groans. Then, there's a buzz and you watch a front panel slide to reveal a small screen.

"Your determination brought you to this reality, whether it was a conscious decision or not." He looks at you over his shoulder. "It will also take you to a new one."

He uses his own hand for the first time. He touches the black screen and it flickers to life under his fingers. You creep a step closer, catching the glimpses of thousands of numbers flashing across the screen.

"I am able to set the machine so that it locates the pieces of my soul in the different realities." His bones click a few more times before the screen turns green. In the middle of it you see the words "New Game". "However it is your power, your determination, that will power the machine and transport you to those said locations. I will need you to recover them and bring them back to me."

"Wait, hold on, how is this supposed to help both of us? And what do these "realities" even look like?" Gaster holds a hand up, to quiet you, but your anxiety was already building. "I have a family here, I'm not going to risk my life for this-"

"For how long?" You flinch. He shakes his head, as if biting his tongue. "Once I am whole, I will have enough power to stabilize our reality, giving it the ability to keep both of our souls here."

"That doesn't make sense." You mumble, crossing your arms. You could see Gaster was getting frustrated, but he was trying to stay patient.

"Think of it as… Every reality has a capacity. It is like a bubble filled with souls. It can only hold so many souls, monsters' and humans' alike. If too many are taken away or put inside, it becomes unstable. I tried to push at that capacity and it pushed back until I was outside of the bubble of this reality. If you do not do anything, you will be pushed out as well. Only an unstable reality can push and pull souls in and out of it's bubble."

A bony hand ghosted against the small of your back. You're sure it was supposed to be a reassuring touch, but staring at the machine before you unnerved you too much.

Were you really going to do this? Trust some ghostly, semi non-existent monster who appeared out of nowhere?

Did you have any other choice?

"What am I looking for?" You ask and you know he sees the way your demeanor shifts.

"I am not entirely sure." When you send him a look he pats your back. "You will know a piece when you see one. I can only assume they linger in places that are familiar to me. It will want to be brought back to me." His fingers curl into your side and he nudges you to stand in front of his drooping form. "The realities will be altered versions of our own. You may see monsters and humans similar to the ones here." He leans down until his head is next to yours, over your shoulder. "They are not the same. Approach everyone with caution and do not interact unless absolutely necessary." He hand moves down your, picking up your wrist and hand and pulling it up to hover over the screen.

"What do I do when I get one?"

"Once a soul is in your possession the machine will automatically transport you to the next one." You take a shaky breath. "You will not be able to return here until all the pieces have been collected."

"Wait what?" As you push back against him, his hand curls around yours and pushes it down.

The moment your fingers touch the screen you feel your soul being tugged forward out through your fingertips.

Then there's a pop.

You're in Snowdin.

You shudder as you breathe, knees buckling as all of your senses wash over you at once in an angry, gut punching wave. For the second time today your hands curl into snow under your face, using the coldness to ground you in reality.

Squeezing your eyes closed tightly, you try to shake the nausea and the dizziness rolling through you.

Listening for noise to ground you, you heave a slow, deep breath. There's the murmurs of voices over your head, the shifting of feet through snow, and the distant sound of someone laughing.

"Are you alright?"

You know that voice.

You pull up onto your shins, looking up to see the brown eyes of a familiar human child. He looked about ten, large cheeks and nose pinked by the snow falling around you both. His hair was messy and disheveled but it looked like he didn't care whether he walked around with a bed-head. He wore a white long sleeved sweater, with a solid black line across the middle of it, that reached his knees.

You knew this child, even though he tilted his head at you in question. He didn't recognize you.

Seeing him again… hurt.

Your last memory of this kid was holding his crying, trembling form in your arms, trying to calm him, give him some kind of peace, as his soul melted back into a buttercup.

It was Chara.

"I'm okay." You mumble, finding your voice. Standing up, you dust the snow from your legs, trying to save face. You couldn't help but stare at the child in front of you.

In the Underground, when you traveled through with Frisk, Chara was the original fallen human child of Toriel and Asgore that had… Died. He had lingered, though, along with Asriel. You'd met him face to face in the final fight to lower the barrier. You even traveled to the very beginning at Frisk's goading to say final goodbyes to the small boy and the prince. There was more to the story of Chara in the Underground, parts that you didn't know and didn't have the energy to try and decipher. You thought you'd seen the last of the lost child.

But here he was. Standing very much alive in front of you, not like the ghosts of him you'd seen prior.

"You're human." He says and you meet his brown eyes again. When he tilts his head, the brown shimmers red.

"I am, I-" You think back to Gaster. "I fell." You finish lamely. You look around Snowdin, trying to find any other differences than just seeing the very much alive Chara.

This wasn't your world - your reality as Gaster put it. This was a different one. You didn't know the first thing about "alternate realities". Would everything be different? Was there a "you" in this reality? Were you supposed to travel through the Underground like you had the first time, with Frisk, until you found this… Gaster chunk?

"You fell too?" He asks. He looks surprised. "When? Did you go through the ruins?" His words get faster as he pressed in and you took a step back.

"Uh, just now. I did go through the ruins I-"

"How is Asgore?"

That made you stop. You opened your mouth and then quickly shut it. Asgore? In the ruins?

"He…" You trailed off. If Asgore was in the ruins… Was Toriel there? Or was she somewhere else? "Was very kind but… Sad. He didn't want me to leave." Chara nodded slowly and then deflated when they sighed.

"I got into a fight with him when I tried to leave." He pouted, rubbing at his arm. "At least he's alright…" At that he looks back up to you. "You're old. Asgore said he'd only ever seen kids fall."

That was blunt.

"He said something like that. I don't know what that means though?" You laugh and Chara grins at that. "You're trying to get back to the surface, right?" He nods, rubbing his arm again. It seemed to be a nervous habit of his. "Let's go together then." His look changes to apprehension. His eyes flicker over you and you see the distrust in them.

"I don't know you." He says and you give him an "are you kidding" look. You gesture around to the many monsters meandering around the streets.

"Do you know anyone?" You ask and he avoids your stare. You glance around again. "I heard this skeleton shouting about capturing humans," He perks up at that. That let you know at least Papyrus was still being Papyrus in this reality. "We should stick together. Watch each other's backs." He looked you over one more time before sighing and nodding his head.

"Fine. You're right." You smiled at him again and he avoided your eyes. Instead he gestured off his shoulder towards the direction you remembered Waterfall being. "I was going this way." He mumbled. Chara seemed… shy? Maybe not shy, but just not used to having to talk to others. You think if he had the choice he'd completely avoid you. Bring trapped in a monster filled Underground with only one way out gave very few options. You'd know.

"This way it is, then." Chara starts off and you follow close behind. He seemed to try and walk faster, to put distance between the two of you, but with your long strides you easily stayed next to the kid. Since you matched his pace, it gave you ample time to look around Snowdin.

You couldn't see many differences. For the amount of time you stayed in Snowdin, which wasn't long, your memory did have the clearest picture of the small town. You knew many of the monsters, but the ones you remembered were walking around just like they had when you'd gone through yourself.

A chill goes down your spin and you wrap your arms around yourself. You hadn't grabbed your coat when you ran out of the skele's house. Your short sleeve wasn't doing much for you and the current snowfall was just making you colder.

Thinking of warmth, as the two of you are coming up on the other side of town, you can't help but think of your friend Grillby. Immediately you start looking to the store fronts, trying to find the familiar sign so you could duck in and just see him. You'd been avoiding him, and all of your friends, on the surface after the anniversary and, even if he didn't know you in this reality, it'd be nice to see him.

You stop.

"Muffet's?" You read aloud. Chara stops walking, sending you a look over his shoulder.

"Muffet's" was right where Grillby's should've been. Instead of the warm and comforting bar you'd grown so close to, you're met with a cold purple one. You step closer, peering into the large windows.

It's the same interior setup of the bar you knew, but instead of dark reds and warm browns, the walls with a cool purple and the floor reminded you of a 1980s diner. Monsters sat drinking tea or eating doughnuts, all ones you recognized or at least looked similar to ones you knew. At the front, at the counter stood Muffet, polishing a glass. She was dressed in a similar uniform as your Grillby always had and she looked far less eccentric as you had known her.

"It's a cafe." Chara filled in bluntly. You snort.

"Yeah I see that. That's not…" You let your words die, unable to explain to the kid why it was so confusing to you. So if Muffet was in Snowdin, running a cafe… Was Grillby in Hotland running… a pop-up bar?

"Let's keep moving." Chara pressed. "I wanna get out of Snowdin before the skeletons get back."

"Right, yeah." Just as you pull from the bar your chest squeezes and you hesitate behind Chara.

That feeling wasn't just an emotion, that was the feeling of your soul pushing against your sternum. That was funny. You've never felt that kind of tug before. You glance around, checking to make sure you can't see any hostile monsters making your soul react. Odd. That was odd.

You turn to follow the kid-

"HUMAN!"

You and Chara both freeze. Your eyes meet and then the two of you look back to the entrance of the town.

A figure is bounding towards you in the distance.

"I FOUND YOU HUMAN!"

It's a familiar scene and a familiar figure but… not put together. The voice you were hearing… The voice you were hearing was definitely-

"THE MAGNIFICENT SANS HAS FOUND YOU!"

It's Sans. Sans with a giant toothy smile as he skids to a halt in front of Chara, striking a pose reminiscing of Papyrus. This Sans laughs loudly as Chara groans.

"Great. Good job." Chara said dismissively. You looked between the two for a moment before blatantly staring at Sans.

He was all smiles and big, star filled eyes. Literally on the star filled- his sockets that usually had simple white pin pricks now had white stars instead. He wore, simply, a blue and grey full-bodied version of your Papyrus's battle body, along with thick blue boots and eccentric blue gloves. You've never seen Sans's eyes so open for so long or heard his voice so loud.

"YOUR HIDE AND SEEK RIDDLE WAS TOO EASY FOR THE MIGHTY SANS!" He proclaimed again, hands on his hips. You side eyed Chara, who looked disappointed that he'd be found. You assume he'd used that as an excuse to escape the skeleton. That or he was bad at hide and seek?

Hold on, was this Sans… shorter than your Sans?

As if able to hear your thoughts Sans's starry eyes flicker over to meet yours. His big smile turns into a giant gasp of excitement.

"WOWZERS! ANOTHER HUMAN!" He shouts, rounding on you. You happily point at yourself.

"Another human." You repeat, laughing when he only seems to get more excited.

"IF I COLLECT TWO HUMANS, I'M SURE ALPHYS WILL BE EVEN MORE PROUD!" When he gave a triumphant laugh you nearly lost it hearing him. "Myeh heh"? Really?

"Oh, hey bro, I was wonderin' where you went." You hear the ring of the bar doors shut behind you.

"Now they're both here." Chara says, running a hand down their face at the same time you turn around.

It's… Papyrus? But this Papyrus was slouched over and looked tired. He was wearing an orange hoodie with some weird quote in it and had his hands pocketed in the grey mesh shorts he wore. When your eyes trailed down him to land on his feet you had to cover your mouth to not out right laugh.

He was wearing socks and sandals.

"PAPYRUS!" Sans flew around you to sidle up to his amused looking brother. Their height difference seemed even more extreme than what you were used to. "WHY ARE YOU HERE?"

"What ya mean, bro?" He asks, slouching even further as the small Sans glares at him.

"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE ON WATCH FOR HUMANS!" Papyrus grinned lazily down at his brother. Then his pinpricks rolled over to stare at you and Chara.

"I am watchin' humans." He momentarily stared at Chara's eye roll and then he looked to you. He winks.

"Anyway." You blurt. "Who're you guys?" You ask and then immediately introduce yourself.

"I'M THE MAGNIFICENT SANS!" Sans quickly says, posing again. You look up to Papyrus, but he was staring sweetly at his little brother. "AND THIS IS PAPYRUS." Sans introduces his brother for him. Paps looks down at you and gives a small nod.

"Nice to meet you two." You say as Chara huffs next to you. He crosses his arms and pouts, looking away from all three of you. You open your mouth to comment but you notice Papyrus staring intently at the child. It was a look you knew all too well.

It was the same look Sans had always given Frisk back in the Underground.

"You were talking about Muffet's." Chara pipes up suddenly. His eyes slid over to Papyrus's. "You should show it to her." They hold each other's looks for a beat before Paps gives you a lazy grin.

"Ya sure. C'mon kid number 2." You snort as he takes a step back and pushes at the cafe's door.

"ARE YOU TAKING ANOTHER BREAK, PAPYRUS?" Sans begins, already looking ready to grab his brother. Chara intervenes though.

"If you keep messing around I'm going to get away before you can capture me." Chara smirks as he darts off. Sans sputters and then grins.

"ESCAPE SANS? NOT A CHANCE HUMAN!" He laughs as he bounces off, chasing after Chara towards Waterfall. You pause to watch the two until they disappear into fog and then you send a smile Pap's way.

The cafe is warm and welcoming as you step in. You sigh as the feeling returns to your chilly arms.

Just like every time you'd come with Sans to Grillby's, the customers in Muffet's great Papyrus loudly and sweetly. He waves them down, sending out his own sets of greetings as he ushers you to the stools at the front counter. As you sit you're reminded of when Sans took you out to eat on his breaks in the Underground.

Papyrus turns away from you, rooting around in his pockets, before bringing something up to his mouth. When he turns back you're surprised to see a cigarette hanging between his teeth.

"Oh." You say as he takes a drag and puffs it away from you.

"Bother you?" He asked. You shrugged, watching him. You couldn't help but notice the sign behind the counter that strictly said that there was no smoking inside. The patrons around didn't seem to mind, probably used to the skeletons habits. Muffet, on the other hand looked to be having none of it. She quickly stepped over to the both of you, peering over the top of her thin glasses.

"Papyrus." She hissed. Not that she sounded all that mad, but more like her voice was just low and raspy.

"Muff'." He greeted back, big shit eating grin pulling at his bones. She immediately decided to ignore the skeleton to instead smile at you.

"Welcome, what can I get for you?" You went to say you only wanted a water, but Papyrus pulled his cig out.

"Two donuts." Paps said, "And my usual." Muffet stared at you, still ignoring the skeleton.

"Two donuts." You ask and Muffet finally nods.

"Coming right up." She slides off, not before sending one more glare to the smug skeleton.

"Muffet's got good grub." Papyrus said before grinning and pointing up to the menu board. "A lil' pricey, but you get what you pay for."

"It's a really nice place." You comment, smiling. It had unnerved you seeing it instead of Grillby's, but it still warmed you up and made you feel welcomed.

Muffet returns with two plates of purple decorated donuts and a yellow bottle. Papyrus takes it with a wink. The spider quickly pinches the end of the skeletons cigarette with a sweet smile.

"No smoking, Papyrus." She hisses and then quickly stalks off to another customer. You snicker at Paps dumbfounded look. He doesn't take the ruined cigarette out of his mouth though. Instead he turns to you as if nothing happened.

"So, ya new, huh?" You nod as you slide the plate closer to you.

"I fell down." You say, "In the ruins." You rip a piece of the donut off. The Muffet you knew made her food and drinks out of spiders, for the spiders. You wonder if this one was made differently.

"Then you ran into the guy in the ruins." Paps comments. You assume he's talking about Asgore… which was just the way Sans talked about Toriel before he met her.

This universe was so similar to yours and yet just when it was normal, it switched on you.

"How do you like my brother?" He asks, taking a drink of the yellow bottle. You eyed it, wondering if it was some kind of condiment, like mustard.

"He was really cool. Haven't talked to him much but I really like him." Papa sees you eyeing the bottle and, with a grin, passes it over to you.

"Yeah. My big bro is pretty cool." He's all too happy.

"It makes me wanna stay around Snowdin." You say.

If you weren't on a mission to save your very existence, you probably would've. If you didn't feel an impending doom looming over you since the moment you landed in this Snowdin, you would've been open to getting to know the new versions of Sans and Papyrus.

But the thought of hanging around too long made you feel like you were drowning.

Papyrus snickers when you sniff the bottle in your hands. It was sweet like… Honey.

"Are you drinking honey?" you asked, giving him a look that makes him laugh more.

You don't notice the way he glances to the room behind you and freezes up.

"Well, I guess I've seen people drink worse." You say with a laugh. At least honey was sweet. You'd never let your Sans get away with drinking ketchup like it was normal.

"...Kid." Papyrus says, suddenly. The earlier humor in his voice was gone and you look up at him, slightly startled by the tone shift.

"Papyrus?" You ask. His sockets narrow at you and he looks confused as he stares. "Is everything-" Your question chokes off as you notice something odd about the room. "-...okay?"

It's completely silent.

You turn, looking around the cafe that had been buzzing only seconds ago.

Everyone had just… stopped. Frozen in place, mid sentence, mid bite, mid drink.

You slowly look back to Papyrus, who was still moving and still staring at you.

"And here I thought you were just a normal kid." He says, turning to pick back up his bottle of honey from your hands. You feel your heart start to sink as he takes a swig. "The humans fallin' in recently have been pretty weird." He continues, as if he didn't notice the way you've started to sweat.

"What's going on?" You finally get out. "Why did everyone just… stop?"

"Dunno. You should ask your little friend though." He comments. "Probably did somethin' they weren't supposed ta do."

You feel your soul ripple. A sudden and scary feeling. A bubbling swelling that made you slide off your stool. Papyrus watched you with seemingly little interest.

It's only then do you recognize the feeling.

Part of it, a small part of it, you knew. It was the feeling of a reload. But why it's amplified in your soul, why you felt so much pressure on your chest like never before - you didn't know.

It felt like someone had grabbed your soul and was forcefully trying to pull you back. Pull you back through time with them so that they could reload, but your soul, your small determined soul, refused to go until you consented.

"Be careful kid, ya might unravel yourself doin' that." He chuckled but it was humorless. It was more a worried warning as he turned fully to watch you. You gritted your teeth, trying to hold on.

Your vision started to be eaten away at the edges.

"Just let it happen." Papyrus said. His words resonate somewhere in the depths of your soul and you can't breathe. "You'll get used to the resettin' and the reloadin'. Kids never happy and never nice for too long. Jus' give up."

For a moment you think you see a flash of Sans standing in front of you, soul weary, eye sockets bagged with fear, nightmares, and insomnia. "Jus' give up. I did", he says.

For a moment a memory devours you, coming from the ten years you'd forgotten. It's of Sans confessing how scared he was that one day, Frisk would decide that they were bored with their happily ever after, that they would reset and take everything, take you, away from him again. That he'd have to live through the looping hell he'd been trapped in for months on end until you had arrived.

For a moment you're standing in front of Papyrus, eyes wide and lost in your mind.

The next you're gone.