"Damn, kid…" Undyne's voice worriedly appeared from the right, "That was one hell of a panic attack. Those becoming more frequent now?"
Frisk wanted to nod yes, but they couldn't find the strength within themselves to do it.
"someone call tori and get her home," Sans said, lifting his hand away now Frisk wasn't violently thrashing around screaming incoherent nonsense.
"I'll do it!" Papyrus piped up, presumably walking away to get his phone.
Frisk forced an exhale again and closed their eyes, glad to hell that episode was over.

A/N: From here on I'm gonna be occasionally referring to frisk as a she; using 'they' was making my sentences pretty awkwardly written when there was more than 1 person in the room and my writing didn't feel right for me. Thanks for understanding x)

Toriel gently patted Frisk's head, worriedly looking at the small child. "My poor thing, I wonder what had upset them so…is that the whole story?"

Sans, who had just finished explaining the entire ordeal, nodded meekly, "yep. Pap and I are pretty sure she's seeing things that aren't there," he exhaled with a smirk, "and Undyne just thinks the Frisk's gone mad."

Toriel kept all her focus on Frisk and added nervously, "This is awful…I cannot begin to imagine what they're going through,"

"yeah. sorry for bringing you home from the school like this. kid needed their mom I guess."

"How on earth did you get them to calm down?"

He pondered this for a moment, "kid reacted to my healing magic. i noticed she were focusing intently on it so i carried on. i'm gonna need to go back to gaster to get another healing boost. took a lot outta me."

Toriel turned to face him, "Thank you, Sans. You were wonderful today. Especially to risk your own health for Frisk."

Sans shrugged it off, "nah, it's nothing, tori."

Toriel sighed, glancing over to the unconscious child and gritting her teeth. "Sans…bad things are happening to my child all too often. The panic attacks especially. I need to know what's happening. I cannot ignore this any longer. If possible, I would like to help."

Sans' shoulders visibly dropped, as if knowing that statement was to come soon. "heh. you really wanna know, huh."

"I do."

"well…" he ran a hand over his face in exasperation, "the kid has the ability to mess with timelines, you remember me telling you that when we came to the surface?"

"Of course. I did not believe you at first, but, considering their power, their determination to bring us here…it must make sense."

"yeah. well, these so-called timelines, someone's been messing with them, and it ain't the kid. 'til today."

Toriel gasped, "Frisk destroyed the timeline? Why on earth would they do that?"

He snickered, "nah, that's not what I meant. she tried to fix things. the other timeline we're merging with, it was…a genocide run." Sans paused, allowing Toriel time to process the information as her eyes grew wide in shock.

"Oh goodness…is that why…?"

"yea, i had this wound cos i was killed in the other timeline, when the kid faced me. and they had the burns, cos I killed them with my blasters. over and over again. 'til they won."

Toriel gaped at him wordlessly, trying to stutter a sentence together, "I…I…"

"ah don't worry about it. i've said too much anyway."

"I am so sorry, Sans. For asking, especially. I just do not wish to see my child hurt again."

"nah, i get it, trust me. i'd kill if someone hurt my bro. and that's not an exaggeration. as you well know."

Toriel clamped her mouth shut as Sans' eyes went empty at the mention of his brother. "Should we be worried? Will they do it again?"

Sans heavily exhaled, "it wasn't our Frisk. not the one we know. don't worry."

"And what now?" she held Frisk close to her chest again, "If Frisk is seeing things, what do we do?"

"well, i'd say wait for 'em to wake up, then get Alphys to pay a home visit. take it easy for a while, y'know?"

"Of course," Toriel gently rolled the child on their back again, "I will stay here until they awaken."

With that, Sans stood up from kneeling on the floor and made his way to do the door. "cya, tori. call me if you need me," he winked, "i'll be here so fast you won't see me coming."

Toriel sat in her chair and smiled, "Goodbye, Sans, and thank you."

As the door shut, Toriel sighed softly and watched over her child sleeping peacefully on the coach. "Poor thing…" she thought to herself.

Whoosh.

"hey, G."

"Sans," the tall skeleton glanced up from his desk, "You were gone for longer than I anticipated."

"yeah, well, something came up."

"The human child, I presume," he frowned and stared at the younger skeleton's chest, sensing something was wrong. "Sans, your soul is depleted." he reached out a hand and summoned it forth.

"heh, yeah, it's nothing," he squirmed uncomfortably with his soul out of his body, covering his anxiety with a forced nervous smile.

Gaster cornered him towards a seat and waited for him to sit down. "Did you use magic?"

"uh…yeah. maybe a little."

A frustrated growl, "Sans, you know that is dangerous in your current condition! Had you used any more, it could have killed you," Gaster's own eye glowed orange as healing magic surrounded them both. He knelt down beside him.

"you didn't see her, G. nothin' would calm em down," Sans exhaled quietly as Gaster's magic fed his soul, "tried everything, in the end the only thing i could do was use magic."

Gaster considered him, "Well, healing magic does have a sedating effect," he couldn't hide a small smirk; watching Sans drowsily blinking, fatigued himself.

"ya know what…i think you're right. might even just…take a nap…right here."

Gaster huffed, pleased with himself, "Indeed."

Of course, Sans was always tired anyway, so no doubt the sedating effect would be twice as hard on him.

In curiosity, Gaster lifted the sleeping skeleton's white shirt and looked for the laceration wound. To his surprise, it was gone. Not even a scar to show where it had been.

It seems that whatever the human had done to the timeline, it had corrected the injury error; but Sans' magic still depleted rapidly. Gaster would stay there healing him until his HP had restored.

….

From the depths of heavy slumber, Frisk pulled herself into alertness, exhaustion weighting heavy on their body. They couldn't feel their arms or legs, but their back ached from laying on the sofa.

Then, she remembered.

Her eyelids cracked open slightly, wincing as the daylight's beams burst through the window and attacked their eyes. Gradually, the noise of her surroundings began to kick in, as words became more intelligible, her brain patching sentences together.

"I-I haven't seen a-anything like it…I don't understand…"

"It's alright, Alphys. I do not understand what Frisk has done, but I'm sure it was for a good reason."

"Oh! H-here she is! Um, hello Frisk!"

Frisk blinked, narrowing her eyes in confusion. It was still Toriel's house, and she was still on the sofa. Alphys was sitting in front of her, Toriel kneeling behind.

"Hello, my child. How are you feeling?"

Frisk sluggishly gave a thumbs down and promptly shut her eyes again.

"Um, exhaustion is quite normal. B-but the matter with their soul is new to me. I think Sans has a better understanding in soul magic. I-I think it's best if we did more tests to make sure t-they don't fall down," Alphys nervously scratched her head, "U-uh, if that's okay with you, of course!"

Interested, Frisk opened their eyes again, to see Toriel looking crestfallen. "I see…you are saying there is a chance Frisk will die?"

Alphys waved her hands around in alarm, "I-I don't want you think that! It's j-just a possibility and I'm probably being pessimistic again…"

Toriel looked away, nervous, before addressing the child. "Frisk, dear, what have you done to your soul?"

Internally, Frisk began to panic, "I…I don't know."

I do know but I don't want to say.

Alphys chuckled nervously, "Um…Frisk, I-I can tell you're lying, I have your vitals here…"

Frisk remained silent, watching Alphys observe her tensely.

"It's…split in half. Y-you only have half a soul. I…don't understand how. Or why. O-or even why you're still alive. It's just impossible…"

Pursing their lips into a thin line, Frisk tried to push back the memories of the vision she was having just hours before.

"I don't want to talk about it right now, sorry…"

Alphys looked nervous, but Toriel narrowed her eyes, "Frisk, do you understand the danger you are in? If Alphys cannot fix it, there is a chance you will die."

Frisk shook her head, "No, no, I know, but…I just…can't…"

"A-and, it's not just me," Alphys piped up hopefully, "There's always Sans, he knows more about this than me. A-and if that fails, there's Gaster. H-he's amazing."

Toriel sighed, "But not so good with children."

"Um…yeah, but it gives Frisk a fighting chance."

"Alphys, mom, its fine," Frisk insisted, sitting up from the couch and feeling a lump in their throat when both of them turned to look at her. "I promise I'll be ok. You're just overreacting."

"Of course, but you must understand my dear that we do worry about you!"

"Y-yes, Toriel is right, we do c-care about you a lot Frisk and…"

The rest of their words fell onto deaf ears when Frisk thought she saw something out the corner of her eye. She swiftly spun her head around, but there was nothing behind her except the back end of the sofa.

"Frisk? Are you even listening to us?"

Sighing, Frisk turned back aro—

There.

"Mom! Get down!" Frisk startled at the glitching figure behind them, it was standing so close that it was odd Toriel couldn't feel them behind her.

"What?" Toriel leapt up and whirled around, fire magic in her hands ready to attack.

But nobody came.

Alphys stared at Frisk sheepishly.

"Um…"

Toriel slowly turned back around, tilting her head dubiously, "…Frisk, dear, are you quite alright?"

"I…" Frisk froze in place, tugging at her hair humiliated, "…I was…just joking!" she offered a small laugh. Alphys returned the chortle but it was apparent by the look on her face that she was suspicious.

"Frisk…" Toriel began in a demanding tone, "If you are seeing things again you must tell me immediately."

Flustered, Frisk cried, "I'm not! I was just joking and you took it the wrong way! Can't I do anything anymore without everyone getting suspicious!?"

Alphys tapped her finger on the monitor repeatedly in thought. "Hum…maybe we should go and see Sans and Gaster now," she offered, standing up and glancing over to Toriel, signifying for her to follow the idea, "After all, we can't do much else in the living room!"

Toriel got the messages and arose also, "I agree, we are simply wasting time in here."

Shaking her head, Frisk began storming out of the room in irritation, "I'm staying here!" she promptly hurried up the stairs.

"Frisk! Get down here this instant!" Toriel yelled out the door and strode after her, leaving Alphys to sigh and tap around on the tablet as a distraction.

"Aww man…" Alphys mumbled to herself.

Back in Gaster's lab, Sans was still sleeping, although his HP was nearly restored. Gaster had been sitting in the same spot for the better part of an hour trying to fix him.

When his soul was replenished, Gaster's eye finally stopped glowing and he sighed, exhausted.

"Sans, you can wake up now."

Grunting, the small skeleton slowly came to at his name, seeing Gaster's face in front of him and nearly jumping out of his skin—if he had one.

"jeez, gaster, i nearly used my magic on you," Sans pulled himself forward from his slouched position and took in his surroundings. Still the CORE, then.

"Well don't. I've just finished restoring it. There is no point wasting it on a simple spontaneous reaction."

"alright, alright, learn to take a joke, jeez," Sans narrowed his eye sockets at him and leapt up off the chair, making his way over to the timeline monitors.

"So. What happened with the human child?"

Sans snorted, "ya mean Frisk? didn't I already tell you? they had a panic attack."

Gaster straightened his coat, beginning to get frustrated with him, "Yes, I know that. I was enquiring as to why. You simply teleported back in here, vaguely mentioned the child being out of control and fell asleep," his speaking was stilted

Sans couldn't help but laugh at his retort, "you make me sound like an ass, G. well, I dunno what happened. the kid was seeing things, freaked out, the only thing that would calm them was my healing magic. i already told you this."

The doors whooshed open at that, Alphys pacing inside seemingly visibly stressed.

Sans glanced over to her, "heya, what's up?" Gaster remained silent, observing.

"I-it's Frisk, their soul, it…it's split in two. I-I know what you're thinking, I thought so too, but they seem fine, they're not ill or fallen down, they just seem upset…"

Gaster nearly choked on the disgusting but mandatory coffee-for-unwanted-social-occasions he was drinking and stared at Alphys. A split soul?

"upset?" Sans asked instead.

"Well…Toriel and I both saw her freak out over something that didn't exist…she told Toriel to watch out behind her and there was nothing there…when we tried to talk about it she just…stormed off upstairs."

"huh. wonder if these visions she's getting is something to do with the split soul?"

"I think the better question is; where is the other half of Frisk's soul?" Gaster interrupted, suddenly extremely interested in this conversation, "Another monster wouldn't have absorbed it. The human would have had to give it away willingly."

Alphys nodded, "Y-yeah, and I've checked it with my lab before I came here," she whipped out her tablet and starting sifting through results, "It corresponds to the timeline alteration, so that white light…"

Sans for once had his full attention on the conversation, "hold up, are you saying there wasn't a new timeline. it was an alteration?"

"I-I can't think of any other possibility. Looking at the charts here, Frisk's soul split at exactly the same time that the timeline was altered."

His eye sockets became empty, "so, she lied."

Gaster stepped in, "I once again must bring your attention to this matter; what, or who has the other half of Frisk's soul?"

Sans grunted, sockets empty in near anger, "i dunno, but considering they haven't bothered to tell us yet, i presume no-one good."

To be Continued...

i've had this sitting on my desktop for like 3 days lmao in the end i just submitted this, it was a decent ending to the chapter. i hope y'all are coping with everything alright, i sure as hell am struggling to get out of bed now lmaooo love to u all and stay determined 3