BIRDS ARE SINGING CHAPTER 10:

The quietest creaking of door hinges in the wee hours of the morning was enough to shock Gaster's mind straight awake. He saw a lot of green in the low light, heard soft footsteps, and felt a chill of cold air across the top of his head. A female voice yawned. Undyne up for breakfast, maybe? When he felt a giant, soft paw on his shoulder, however, he realized how wrong he was.

"Papyrus, honey, what are you doing sleeping down here?" Toriel asked somewhat rhetorically.

He could have been sick with nerves. She pulled away and he heard her yawn again and the sound of paws on the kitchen tiles.

.

Cautiously, he sat up and, seeing no one, he bolted for the stairs. He had no idea what to do or what to say, but before he could even attempt to regroup somewhere quiet and alone, Papyrus burst from the bedroom with a grin on his face. He gave his frozen father a hug and then bounced down the stairs.

"Mom! Is that you? It is, right?" he said brightly.

"Good morning," Toriel said with a laugh. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"Well, of course, I'd notice right away as soon as you came in. Naturally," he said proudly. "You're home early! We missed you. Did you have a good time?"

"As much as I could," she said. "Did the kids steal your bed again, hun?"

"What? No. Why?" he asked.

"Well, it's just usually it's Sans, if anyone, on the couch, is all," she said.

.

Gaster quaked. Especially when Papyrus let out a loud exclamation of understanding.

"Wait right here," he said. "Promise you won't peek?"

"Um, alright, honey, whatever you want," she said with a tired chuckle.

Before he knew it, Papyrus was in his face, smiling wide and grasping his shoulders. Gaster shook his head. Papyrus's brow furrowed and he cocked his head to the side.

"Come on," he insisted.

"But I—"

"Dad. Honestly. You really have to get over this hangup," Papyrus scolded gently. "She'll be glad to see you."

"I'm… not so sure," he said quietly.

Papyrus put his hands on his hips and frowned. Gaster chuckled. He was still so bad at saying no to this kid. He patted him on the shoulder and tilted his head towards the stairs. Papyrus's face instantly lit up and he raced back down towards the kitchen.

.

"Okay, so, please don't panic," Papyrus said quickly, "but we have a new and old someone here who really needs to see you."

"Okay, hun." Toriel didn't look entirely awake, but she nodded. "It's not that dog, is it?"

"Nnnno, no, better than that annoying dog," Papyrus said. He stepped back a little and seized onto Gaster before he could change his mind, and then pulled him forward. "It's. Our. Dad!"

.

Gaster froze. Toriel woke up instantly. Her eyes grew huge and round. The skeleton awkwardly raised his hand. The woman let out a choking sound and then crushed him against her chest. He grunted and wilted, clinging to her gently. Papyrus grinned and backed off, shooting finger-guns at his father.

"I will leave you two alone to catch up, then!" he said.

.

"Papyrus, w-wait…!" Toriel stopped herself— he was already gone. She grasped Gaster by the shoulders and stared him down with shock on her face. "What. The. Hell. Gaster?!"

"I know. I'm so sorry," he said.

"Don't you dare…! Don't. You've seen Asgore?"

He nodded. "And Asriel."

"Oh my god." She cupped his face. Her eyes scanned the cracks in his skull. She seized his hand and clutched it close, a worried look on her face at the realization that his palms, too, appeared badly damaged. "What happened?"

"An accident or two." He shrugged sheepishly and smiled. "It's so good to see you, Tori. I… When I heard you were with them, I…" He wiped his eye sockets quickly as he felt them bubbling up. "I'm so happy you made it through."

.

Toriel stared at him blankly for a few long, silent seconds. "…What have you done to yourself?"

"I'm not sure what you—?"

"The holes. They're not natural. What on earth…?" Her eyes went wide. "Oh. My god. Don't tell me. Sans and Papyrus?!"

He nodded. She put a hand to her brow. Her eyes welled up.

"Of course…" She croaked out a laugh and grinned at him. "Sorry. I've stolen them. Do you mind if we share?"

"Please. They love you so much." Gaster smiled. "Come on, now, Tori."

Toriel snickered. "We have quite a strange, wonderful family, now. But, Gaster. What's happening? In my memories?"

"I'm sorry," he said. "I… I was erased from time. I'll explain everything."

"You must." She laughed and put her paw gently against his face. "It's… It's funny. Now that I can see… They're very much like you. Aren't they?"

"Better," he said with a laugh. "And. Um. There's one more thing."

"What is it?" she said.

"Maybe over coffee?" he suggested. "It's… big. It's about Frisk."

"Wh…?! Oh! Right. That must've been a shock for you, to find a human here with your boys, hm?"

"Oh, not at all," he said quickly. "Frisk and I have… a history. It's a little complicated. I'll explain everything, though."

xXxXx

Throat tight, Frisk awoke in a cold sweat. Eyes wide, shivering deep into her bones, she cast around in the dark, looking for a faint blue shimmer. It wasn't too far, below on the floor, but her whole body felt stiff and achey. She weakly stumbled out of bed, dragging her blanket with her, and found her brother in his spot amongst a pile of pillows.

.

She flopped down and gripped him tightly, squeezing her eyes shut and focusing hard on his soul. The pit was deep but to reach up out of it wasn't so bad anymore. His soul clung to hers and he let out a relieved sigh.

"Thanks." His voice was a gravelly whisper. "Oof." He chuckled dryly. "My bad."

"Nooo, no, no," she said quietly. "S'okay. Um. I… didn't remember that one. Did you?"

"No," he said.

"Is that seven or eight now?" she asked.

"Seven."

Frisk sighed. She slumped against his side and rubbed her eyes with her palms. "Why's it doing this?"

"Who knows why it does anything?" Sans sighed. He shifted up to rest his back against the mound of pillows and then pulled Frisk over into his lap and hugged her close. "…Sorry, kid."

"Nah," she said.

.

He huffed out a rough laugh. Frisk snuggled right in and tried to rest. He wasn't rattling, but she could feel the tremor in him. She was similar, so she certainly didn't want to let him go anytime soon. Their souls shifted to purple effortlessly and it felt substantially better.

"Funny," he said. "Bet Paps wasn't gone for more than five minutes."

"Then we gotta stick together," she said.

He made a soft noise of affirmation and rested his chin on her head. "Try to get some rest."

.

Despite her nerves, Frisk had almost dozed off again after just a short time, but was roused from her drowsy stupor by a female voice thumping under the floor boards. An exclamation and some laughter. She thought maybe she was dreaming for a second, but then she heard it again when she was sure her eyes were open. Her stomach dropped, but she couldn't help a grin. She gently grabbed her brother's shoulder as she scooted away from him.

"Sans," she said at a whisper. "Mom's back."

"Hm?"

"I'm gonna go see her, okay?"

"Mmmhm." He patted her head lazily.

.

Frisk slipped out of the room on soft feet, doing her best to be quiet for Undyne as well, who was clocked out on Papyrus's bed. She snuck down the stairs, only to see that someone had pulled their side table into the living room proper, and that Toriel, Gaster, and Papyrus were sitting around it, drinking coffee. There were some papers laid across the thing as well, and she could see that there was what appeared to be a timeline drawn on one that was almost falling off.

.

Papyrus noticed her first and perked up and grinned immediately. Toriel whipped around and, as soon as their eyes met, she left her seat in a flurry and trapped the kid in a hug. Frisk froze up for a second. She didn't know why, but she almost cried. She clung to her mother and hid her face on her shoulder.

"Glad you're home," she said quietly.

"Me too," Toriel said.

"How long you been back?"

"Oh. An hour or two, I… I've certainly lost track of time. It's been a bit of a whirlwind." She drew back and cupped Frisk's face gently, smiling, her violet eyes warm and bright. "What a surprise, hm?"

"Well, part of it," she said with a laugh. "I… I always hoped he'd come back."

Toriel chuckled. She pulled her in and gently kissed her forehead. "An enigma as always, my child. I'm just so glad everything went well. In all regards. Have you done another of your saves, yet?"

Frisk shook her head. "They're not out of the mountain."

Toriel's fur bristled. "Of course that couldn't have just gone smoothly, could it?"

"Well, to be fair," Papyrus said, tapping his fingertips together, "Asriel said the storm was really bad. It is, isn't it?"

Toriel's mouth went thin and her brows furrowed slightly. "I suppose, if it was a pain for me to get up, then…" She sighed and got to her feet, looking back at the skeletons worriedly. "They have not tried to return here, have they?"

.

Papyrus shook his head quickly. "Nope! Asriel's been keeping an eye on them all day."

"I still can't believe they'd send two," she growled. "Did they at least have some goal other than terrorizing a little girl?"

"I wouldn't say I was terrorized," Frisk said bashfully.

"They seemed to be looking for more missing children," Gaster said. "And Asriel… Oh! Frisk, I'm sorry, I saw a text pop up on your phone and—"

"S'okay, I don't care," Frisk said, clambering up on Papyrus's legs to see over the table. "What'd it say?"

"It seems like that man that was there with the Ambassador, he was looking for someone that looked a little like you."

Frisk frowned and tilted her head slightly. She wondered, then, if that photo the woman had shown her from her bag had been his. Gaster leaned towards her.

"That doesn't worry you, does it?" he asked.

"No, no, it's not that," Frisk said. "…Ah. Crap. He's not gonna leave, is he?"

"I will make him leave," Toriel stated bluntly, taking her seat and flipping her ears. "Both of them. They will not have a choice."

"I'm sure if we ask nicely, they'll go home," Papyrus said. "The lady who came wasn't so bad."

.

Gaster looked uncomfortable. He took Frisk's phone and slid it along the table to her. She checked Asriel's text herself and her heart sunk.

"Oh. He… wants to see me?" she said.

"Absolutely not," Toriel said. "It was bad enough for one human to come here and interrogate you. For one who wasn't even invited…!"

"I dunno, mom," Frisk said quietly. "As long as it's not here, I… I guess I wouldn't super mind talking to him, if it gets them outta here faster and without making trouble."

"What?!" Toriel couldn't conceal her incredulity. "We should not reward them for flagrantly disregarding the rules we set."

"It's not about that," the kid said.

"We do kind of want them to go, don't we?" Papyrus said. "But, Frisk, don't put yourself in danger. You're not allowed, okay? No danger."

"It's unacceptable that some stranger can just waltz in here and try to dictate…" Toriel shook her head. "And Asgore will permit it, of course. That old fool." She cut her eyes at Gaster. "And don't you take his side, you know I'm right."

Gaster raised his hands slightly. "I agree with you. To a point. But in some situations, maybe—"

"No maybes. I will not let them bother our daughter any more with this nonsense," she growled.

.

"I'm glad you guys can argue like old friends," Frisk joked, resting her cheek on her fist.

The adults froze. Gaster's bones flushed and Toriel's raised hackles flattened.

"Ah… Frisk. Honey. I'm sorry, it's just…" Toriel sighed. "So much has happened to you. I just thought, the last thing you need is more of… this."

Frisk bit her lip. She drummed her fingers on the table. Papyrus hugged her gently, and she felt a little reassured in that.

.

"You know something more, don't you?" Gaster said with a tired smile, and he turned to meet Toriel's eyes. "I think maybe that look means she'll do what she wants, regardless."

"But what is it that you want to do, Frisk?" Toriel asked worriedly. "You can't put yourself in danger for this."

"I'm not worried about danger for me," Frisk said. "It's… I mean. If all this means what I think it does, the guy who came with the Ambassador lady, he's missing his kid. He thinks I might be her. If he sees me, I know he'll realize I'm not."

"What makes you think that?" Papyrus asked worriedly. "You can't be his kid, you're our kid. How can you confuse kids like that?"

"The lady showed me a picture," Frisk said. "A missing kid. She looked a lot like me in some ways. I think maybe the guy just wants to know for sure, after coming all the way here. But… we can't do it in Snowdin."

"Agreed. It's too far into the mountain," Toriel said. "If something goes wrong, too many of our people can be exposed to danger."

"And… your dream, right?" Papyrus asked his sister gently.

She nodded. "Can't happen if he never comes to Snowdin."

"So, you're saying to see the human where you can control it, rather than him sneaking here and fulfilling what you saw." Gaster turned to Toriel. "Sounds reasonable. And we can very easily protect her that way. And don't take Asgore lightly, he cares about Frisk very much. He will be there. I think that would be enough. What do you think?"

.

Toriel folded her arms tight and grimaced. She didn't look pleased at all. Her ears pinned back. "Did you talk to Sans about it?".

"No, I just kinda thought it up now," she said bashfully.

Toriel smiled slightly. "Well. Talk to him. He's the one who will have to get you in and out quickly, should something go wrong. If he can do that, I won't say another word about it. Otherwise, I'm sorry, sweetie, but I will not let you be alone with some strange human again, especially considering your dreams have you worried about him specifically."

Frisk smiled sideways and slumped onto her fist. She felt a little bad. There wasn't a thing Toriel could do to stop her, really. If this was the only way to make the man leave without coming to town… But, she was getting ahead of herself. She nodded and her mother blew out a relieved sigh and patted her head affectionately.

"Thank you. Now. Back to something more pleasant." She smiled at Gaster. "Where were we? Just about at Sans, right?"

"Ooh! Oh. This is a good story," Papyrus said, squishing the kid and leaning forward eagerly. "You'll all like this one, I'm sure. And then you can hear the one about me!"

.

Despite the tired heaviness in her mind, Frisk enjoyed listening to Gaster's stories. She was mostly paying attention to Toriel, however. It must've been so strange for her, to have known this skeleton for however long, and then have lost contact for possibly even longer. To come back and have had unknowingly adopted all his kids— for that to be possibly the skeleton's best-case scenario. Things around here never seemed to want to be simple, but for a story so baffling and twisted as her father's, Frisk was happy it turned out the way it had.

.

She already knew Sans's story, and sort of knew Papyrus's. The tender development of a floating, warm soul in a capsule of liquid magic— watching it grow through months until the hatch was released and the little baby skeleton formed right in Sans's arms. Though, the version she recalled had a distinct lack of adult involvement, other than a vague someone. Weird how she'd never really questioned it. Her own inception, though, that was new.

.

Gaster had known he was going to what he could only call his death— without context— for quite a long time ahead of the date. However, he'd only seen Frisk in his premonitions for the first time a day and a half prior. He hadn't had the time to prepare anything but a letter but, nonetheless, a vision of her and Sans meeting outside the stone door to the Ruins had given him more hope for what was to come than he'd had in a long time. He was vague on his actual death, though. He did say that he had to stop Sans from saving him but, other than that, he wouldn't describe more except to say that he'd seen Frisk's soul start to form, pulled straight out of his own. He hadn't known the human he'd seen was to be made of his soul until that last instant. He seemed rather fond of that memory, despite everything.

.

The kid didn't realize how early in the morning it had gotten until Undyne, scruffy-haired and yawning, thumped down the stairs to get some coffee. Papyrus was especially excited to see her, and gleefully bounced off to the kitchen to help her out the with a "special Papyrus blend", which wasn't all that different from the normal coffee except he added some spices, one of which may have been oregano.

.

Frisk slipped back upstairs to check on Sans. He'd migrated to a bed at some point, but was still on top of the blankets and was facedown in an unceremonious heap. She snuck up to him and rested her hand on his shoulder and listened to his soul. It sounded, much to her relief, very low and normal.

.

She was about to turn away when her soul was seized with blue magic and she found herself hefted into the air. Rather quickly, she was plopped down onto her brother's chest, knocking the wind out of him as she grunted with surprise.

"Aah, why did I do that?" he grumbled, holding back a laugh.

"I have no idea." She took the opportunity to slump and hug onto him. "Ugh, it's soooo early."

"Why you up, then?" he said.

"Mom met dad. Dad told stories. It was good," she said. "But now it's like six in the morning and I don't wanna be up. Oh. Also. News? I, um, might wanna meet with that other human."

"Hm? Why?" he said.

"Got a text from Az. Guy might be missing a kid," she said. "Thinks it might be me, so…"

"Ah. Let him move on. From the mountain, at least, right? Gotcha," he said. "Good idea."

"Yeah?" She grinned. "I thought so, but the other grown-ups were all worried and stuff."

"Welp. Can't blame 'em, really," he said. "Got your back, though."

"You're the best," she said brightly. She yawned and snuggled up. "Ugh. Deal with it later."

.

Sans held her against him and sighed. His voice was a bit rough again. There was a subtle melancholy about him. "Hey, uh… Kiddo?" he said quietly.

"Mmmmhm?" she said groggily.

"I'm, uh… Sorry. About before," he said.

"Huh?" She opened one eye and looked confused. "What for?"

"…You had no business bein' where it put you."

"Oh! Hey, no, don't worry about it," she said quickly.

"Sometimes… I dunno. Stay too close, it gets worse; get away, still gets worse." He sighed. He sat up, a little tint of distressed blue flickering in his eye. "Just seems like it's not fair. Not like it ever is. But you don't deserve it. Especially at a time like this. And I guess sometimes I just kinda feel like I really screwed up, and there's… no way I can make it better for you, no matter what I—"

Frisk stuck her fist into his eye socket. He went quiet for a few, heavy seconds, frozen mid-gesture. His smile twisted upwards just a little.

"Uhh… You… don't care, huh?" he said.

The kid reached up and held both sides of his head. "I love you, bro."

"Thanks, kid, but that's not really—"

"No. I mean. Listen. You're right. I don't care." She tilted her head and smiled. "I like that we're the same. And whatever weird thing it picks, doesn't make it your fault any more than it's mine, right?"

.

The blue dimmed and Frisk couldn't see anything anymore. Her brother snorted. He hugged her and bumped his head on hers.

"…Sorry I keep fallin' back."

"S'okay, everyone has bad nights. And… Well, I mean, maybe we got more than most, but that's okay! I'd rather be like this if you're like this. I'll say it a million times, if it helps! I like that you're not alone. It's real important to me."

"Oof, kid, you're breakin' my heart," he said with an exhausted laugh. "I want better for you, y'know."

"Listen, we're either broken together or fixed together," she said certainly. "And I don't think that second one's super likely, and I'm perfectly comfortable with that."

"You… Hah. What the hell am I gonna do with you?"

"I dunno. Sorry for stickin' my hand in your eye, though."

"S'okay, I needed it." He laughed. The magic in his hands tingled, cool and affectionate. "Am I too old to be whinin' like this? Probably, huh?"

"Oh stop. You can whine as much as you want, I don't mind!" Frisk snickered as his eye lit blue again. She looked up at him and tilted her head. "Wanna go get breakfast with me?"

"Hope nobody's on the couch."

.

Frisk winced in the light of the living room as they seamlessly appeared on the couch beside Undyne, who almost choked on her cinnamon bunny as she jolted with surprise.

"Good morning," she said shrilly. "Jeez."

"Hiiii." Frisk flopped off Sans's lap and landed on the floor. She heaved herself up and headed for the kitchen. "Foooood."

"I'm comin'," Sans said tiredly.

"No, you stay. I got this," she said. "Undyne, make sure he stays, okay? He had a really bad night."

.

"Oh yeah? Huh. Sorry," Undyne said, looking at the grey-eyed skeleton. "Hard to tell."

"S'cause it's my default state," he joked. He put a hand to his brow and huffed out a laugh. "Why the hell am I like this?"

"I dunno," she said.

"Where'd everyone go, anyway?" Frisk called.

"For a walk, I guess," she said. "So, how you holdin' up? They mentioned your weird plan. So I'll stick around a bit longer."

"Thanks!" Frisk said. "I'm okay. I feel better."

"I mean," Undyne said, "it's not like we have to worry a ton, anyway. Someone comes at you, I guess you could just freeze 'em for a sec, right?"

"Guess so." The kid came back with two cinnamon bunnies, one iced with red. She handed that one to her brother. "Oh! By the way. Dad showed me a new weird power thing."

.

Undyne blinked back at her. "What? Really? Just outta nowhere?"

"He said I could always do it." She shrugged. "I can watch a memory from someone if I try, apparently. They have to wanna show it to me, though." She took a big bite of her pastry. "Maybe I can send 'em, too? I dunno."

"Huh. That's weird," Undyne said. "So, like, you're a mind-reader, now?"

"I don't think so? I mean. It sorta reminds me of a thing I could do anyway, with, like, super hugs? Sometimes I could kinda feel how someone else is feeling. I think that's pretty normal, right?" she said as she sat down between the monsters.

"Yeah, for someone you're close to, sure." Undyne nodded. "Okay. C'mere. Do it to me."

"What? Really?" Frisk asked.

"Sure, let's see how this works."

.

Eyes brightening, Frisk clambered onto Undyne's lap. She quickly wiped her hands on her slacks and the reached out to touch a hand to her friend's soul and temple. With a little focus, Frisk sunk into what looked like a hovering, all-encompassing stream of pitch black water. The colours shifted to blue and white, running downwards, and the spray of cold mist. Undyne stuck her hand into a waterfall and then looked up at a sky that was mostly shrouded by clouds, though some blue did peek out. A few large birds in a V-shape flapped by above, making a loud honking noise that Undyne found very funny. She heard Alphys's voice giggle, and the vision faded.

.

Frisk blinked and looked up at Undyne. The monster was staring back at her expectantly.

"So did you see it?" she asked.

"The waterfall?" Frisk asked.

"Yeah! And those hilarious birds!" Undyne grinned. "What a bunch of weird crap, huh? I don't remember seeing those honkers before."

"I think I saw them before! They're called, um… gooses?" Frisk said. "That's really cool."

"Geese," Sans said groggily.

"Geese?" Frisk repeated.

"One of those is a goose, more are geese, I dunno why," he said.

.

"Hey, Sans? Can you do that, too?" Frisk asked. "I mean. You're stronger than him, right?"

"Hu-what?" He stared at her blankly.

"I mean, your determination. It's higher. Right?" she said.

"Oh. I get it. Nah. I mean. Yeah, but it's not really like that," he said. "S'why I can teleport and you can't, y'know?"

"Oooh, okay," she said.

Sans looked at her thoughtfully. He tilted his head slightly. "Actually… Y'know. Wanna come with me?" He offered his hand and then looked at Undyne. "Be back in a minute."

.

When Frisk grabbed her brother, they were standing in the attic beside the starlight. He levelled his finger at it.

"Do me a favour," he said. "Touch that but don't save."

"Um. Okay." Frisk reached into the light and then looked back at him with confusion. "Why?"

"S'just a power dad has," he said. "Figure you probably picked it up."

"Huh?" The kid stared back at him blankly.

"Let's pick somewhere okay with bare feet. Ruins, maybe," he said. "Picture a star there, alright?"

"What?" she said.

"Just give it a shot. Close your eyes and focus real hard. Maybe, uh, the one between the stairs."

.

Frisk wasn't sure what he meant, but she shut her eyes and did as he asked. Saw that glowing star and the red leaves around it in her mind's eye. She felt a sort of steadying presence, a little like what she'd normally call a save. Her stomach tumbled. The entire cadence around her shifted and she toppled onto the ground without realizing she'd fallen. Leaves crinkled below her body. Her eyes went wide. She was right where she'd pictured.

.

She began to let out a high, alarmed whine until Sans pulled her to her feet, grinning.

"Knew it," he said.

"AaaaaaAAAAH THAT'S SO WEIRD!" she yelled.

He laughed loudly and ruffled her hair. She pulled away and spun around, looking at the place, and she put her hands to her head.

"Could I always do that?!" she yelped.

"No clue," he said. "Pretty neat, though."

"Oh. My. GOD. Oh… OH!" Frisk's face lit right up and she grabbed his hand. "Wait. Wait wait. Come with me."

.

She touched the light again and closed her eyes. She remembered something, from a while ago. A fleeting image of a forest. Like a faded old photograph through an amber lens.

.

Wind brushed the side of her head, the feeling cool grass between her toes, and the sounds of birds chirping made her eyes shoot open instantly to be greeted by bright, fresh greens. They were at the edge of a sunny glade, surrounded by forest. The sky beamed down vibrant, cloudless blue. Frisk spun— fell over into the grass and stared up, gawking.

"Oh man, no way," she breathed.

"Whew." Sans looked up into the sky, shielding his eyes. He plopped down beside her. "Now that was somethin', kiddo. How'd you find this?"

"I… I'm not sure, I saw it in there, I think," she said. "Oh… Oh! Wait a sec." She jumped to her feet. "I…! I should go tell Undyne."

"Bring her back here," he said.

"Wh…?! Can I…? Um! Okay, I'll try!"

.

Within seconds of touching the starlight again, Frisk clunked down onto the floorboards in the attic. She scrabbled to get to her feet and raced to the living room. Undyne was still just as she'd been left, and was caught with her tongue out as she licked the frosting from the cinnamon bunny off her plate.

.

Frisk grabbed her phone, grabbed the monster, and dragged her up to the attic, and before they knew it, they were sprawled in the grass out under that blue sky,

"Holy shit," Undyne said, blinking upwards. "…Could you always do that?"

"I have no clue." Frisk rolled to sit up and waved at Sans, who hadn't budged. She blinked and he was gone.

"Pretty nice out here," he said from her other side.

"Where are we?" Undyne asked.

"No clue." He flopped back into the grass and stretched his arms out. "We gotta bring Paps here."

Undyne sat up and rubbed her claws through her hair, wincing and making a quiet growling sound. She cast about and then stood, looking into the distance. "Seriously, dudes, what the hell?" She stood on her toes, wobbled for a moment before regaining herself, and then sprinted for a tree.

.

In a quick, powerful leap, she was up in its branches. She scaled it to the top and peeked out into the distance. She swung around the tip of the tree to look the other way, her red hair streaking behind her in the wind. "Uhh… Hey guys?!"

"Yeah?" Frisk called.

"I, uh, kinda don't see a mountain at all."

"What, really?" Frisk ran over to her and reached her arm up.

.

Undyne swung down and whisked the kid up with her, letting her clamber up onto her shoulders as she scrabbled to the top of the tree again. Frisk's jaw dropped. The view was an unending ocean of leaves spread out under the bright blue sky. White cottonpuff clouds only dotted the farthest distances from them. Shielding her eyes from the bright sun, the wind blowing around her ears, Frisk looked around them, squinting at the horizon. The only gap in in the foliage seemed to be some sort of vague, stone something, probably kilometres away.

"Wow. Yeah. We must be super super far from home, then," she said.

.

Undyne let her down into her arms, and then Frisk twisted to look at her brother.

"Hey Sans! There's no mountain anywhere!"

He stuck his thumb up— if he hadn't, she would have been sure he was asleep. Undyne grinned. She settled somewhat comfortably, ears perking.

"Hey. You know… This is pretty awesome," she said. "No monster's been this far away from the mountain for like a thousand years or something crazy, huh?" She looked down at the kid with a fond smile. "Thanks for draggin' me out here."

"Yeah, super didn't expect this," Frisk said.

.

The cool wind picked up and Frisk pushed her hair back behind her ears. Undyne began to somewhat resemble a shaggy fish-mastiff. She laughed and ran her hand over her head to sweep her mane of hair out of her face.

"This is real nice," she said. "But, uh… Kinda doubt our phones work this far out, huh? Think we should head back?"

"Ah. Yeah. Guess so," Frisk said. She turned back for Sans again, but couldn't see him. "Sans?"

Undyne followed her gaze and her brows lifted. "Uh… He didn't just go, did he?"

.

The monster hopped down from the treetop and let Frisk onto the ground. The kid scampered back over to where she'd seen her brother last, but there wasn't much sign of him save for a bit of bent grass.

"Sans?" She felt a bit of cold worry kick her in the guts. "S-Sans?!"

"Whoa, relax."

She spun at the touch of his hand to her shoulder and she grabbed him tight. He laughed and patted her head sympathetically.

"Jeez, kiddo, I was just gone a second," he said. "Hey. C'mere, lemme show you somethin'."

.

He headed for a small gap between bushes and beckoned for her to follow. She blushed fiercely and took a deep breath. He didn't bring her far, just to a little extra splash of colour in the green. She noticed a sweet scent here, where the wind wasn't blowing between all the leaves.

.

There were a few flowers, blue and white, star-shaped, sprouting steadfast in small patches. Frisk looked at her brother, brows raised.

"Flowers?" she said.

"Those are pretty nice, bud," he said, "but look." He carefully stepped over the plants and lifted her up in blue magic. "Heh. Gimme just a sec. It's a little prickly." He brought her over just beyond one more bush. "I was kinda checkin' it out when I noticed this. Thought it was kinda gneiss."

.

In another small gap in the trees sat a tall, stone totem— it reached half the height of the surrounding trees. Faintly egg-shaped in the curve at the top, and reclaimed by moss and vines, it might have been hard to say this was anything more than a big rock if the aged, worn shape of a snout and some fangs weren't poking out between patches of green. Frisk squinted up at the thing and gestured upwards. Sans floated her higher.

"Oh wow, weird," she said. "Hey, is this, like, a statue or am I losing my marbles?"

Sans snickered. "Tuff call, kiddo. "

.

"Hey." Undyne had followed them in and stood behind them. She plucked Frisk out of the air and held her up in one arm as she put a hand to her hip. "Hm. Kinda looks like a goat."

"A goat?" Frisk squinted again. "Where you seeing a goat?"

"Well, look." She pointed. Her fingers traced between some old, weathered lines around where the snout was. "See, there's the beard? And the eyes? Or one, anyway. And up there, see how it twists back?"

"Huh. Guess you weren't kiddin', Cap," Sans said.

"Oh wow, do you think it's supposed to be Asgore?" Frisk asked, wide-eyed.

"Could be. Or maybe an even older King than him." Sans jerked his thumb back towards the clearing. "I mean, we know who made the tears now, huh? Maybe he did it for a reason. Y'know, somewhere in that confused head of his."

.

A cool breeze brushed the leaves around them, and a buzzing cheep lightly disturbed the air. A bird, lightly grey and orange with a little tuft poking back from its head and a black bandit's mask pattern around its eyes alit on the side of the stone. A second joined, ruffling dark wings marked with red and yellow, and the two of them ducked under some of the leaves and seemed to disappear into the rock. Frisk leaned around to look, but couldn't see them anymore.

.

"Maybe he knew this place," she suggested. "But it is pretty far from the mountain…"

"Monsters came from all over before getting stuck in there," Undyne said. "Maybe he lived around here. Maybe a bunch of monsters did, if they even built this."

"Hm. Could be hundreds of years old." Sans laid his hand against the stone and was quiet for a few seconds. "Ah. Even older than that. It's faint. But. Yeah. Magic touched this a long time ago."

"So, like… How old are these old frickin' monsters, exactly?" Frisk asked.

"Older than rocks." Sans shot her a wink. "Who knows, really?"

"Yeah, I think you probably stop countin' birthdays at some point." Undyne folded her arms and smiled sideways. "Ever think what it'll be like that long from now? We'll probably see some crazy junk."

"Might go to space," Sans said.

"Um. Will I make it that long?" Frisk asked quietly.

.

Undyne froze up, her cheeks flushing dark, but Sans laughed.

"Seriously?" Sans said. He jerked his thumb at her, grinning knowingly at Undyne. "Time god's askin' how long she's gonna be around."

"Oh. R-Right." Frisk smiled a little. "Oh, hey! So! If I'm… I mean. I have a lot of time, right?"

"Literally all of it," Sans said.

"So at some point I should get over all this panic stuff, then! I mean, I have all the time in the world. Right?" She looked hopeful.

Sans laughed. "Yeah. I'm sure you're gonna be just fine. Hey, who knows, few more trips like this might even do ya good."

.

Frisk paused to think about it. She put a hand over her soul spot and felt strangely secure. It was the first time she'd been to the surface since the barrier went down and she didn't feel the sharp, breathtaking sting of anxiety. She smiled.

"We should come back! All of us," she said. "And we'll look around and…! And maybe we'll find more cool old stuff like this!"

Sans grinned at her. "So. Maybe outside's not so bad, huh?"

"As long as we're all together," she said sheepishly. "And, hey. If it turns out we do have to go on the run, this isn't so bad a place. And I don't even know where it is."

"Why would you have to go on the run?" Undyne said, holding back a laugh.

"Long story," Sans said. "C'mon. We should get back before they notice we're gone, hm?"

.

It was just a touch of the bright starlight before all three of them clunked back into the attic in Snowdin. Before they could right themselves, Papyrus stomped up to meet them with a scowl on his face.

"Were you hiding from me?!" he demanded.

"Nope," Sans said.

"Didn't you hear me calling?!"

"Not exactly," Undyne said, nursing the back of her head.

"Oh." All the frustration faded from the skeleton's face and his brows raised. "Well. Okay. But, Asriel called. He said he couldn't reach you, Frisk. Did you turn your phone off?"

Frisk sat up and rubbed her head bashfully. "Well, um…"

"Well, never mind, but apparently the humans are getting a little antsy," he said.

"Oh great," Frisk said.

"They want to meet you and the King doesn't know what to say," he said.

The kid sighed. "I'll call them."

"Oh good! Excellent! By the way." Papyrus raised his brows. "What is that smell? Sans, did you actually get your clothes washed without me nagging you and nagging you and then doing it myself?"

"Not quite." He winked. "Alright, should we go deal with this garbage?"

"Yeeeeah," Frisk said reluctantly.

.

Frisk went on ahead, only to be followed soon afterwards by Papyrus's shrill voice shrieking something like, "She did WHAT?!" from up in the attic. She was a little relieved that she wouldn't have to explain it herself.

.

She found Gaster waiting near the bottom of the stairs. He perked up upon seeing her, his hands quivering. He quickly folded his arms to his chest, but he smiled brightly.

"Hello, Frisk! Did you get any more rest?" he asked.

"Not much, but that's okay," she said. "So. Seeing mom went okay, right? I'm glad you did it."

"As am I," he said. "I just…" His voice seized up. He looked uncomfortable for a second but he smiled and shrugged. He knelt down and gave her a gentle hug before he sat down on the stairs and got his curative cakes out of his phone.

.

She plopped down beside him. "Is it feeling any better?" she asked as he tossed one in his mouth.

"Actually, it is, despite my appearance," he said, his voice croaking. "It's a lot less frequent. What is that smell?"

"Which one? Oh no, do I stink?" She pulled up a bit of her shirt around her collar to sniff herself.

"It's… Floral." His brow furrowed and he leaned a little closer. "Is that…? Beltaine?"

"Um. What?" Frisk asked.

"A blue flower? With five petals?" He saw the recognition in her eyes and swooped her up on his knees, a little glimmer of magic in his sockets. "Where did you go?"

"Um! I'm not sure, really. A forest," she said. She grinned bashfully. "I saw it in one of the saves and I, um… can kinda go through them?"

.

She was surprised when Gaster laughed and smiled at her fondly.

"Well, of course you can," he said.

She stared back at him blankly.

"Oh! You didn't know? You must not have," he said. "That's funny I could've sworn I… It must've been from within that bubble, no wonder."

"What?" she asked.

"Never mind, it's of no consequence." He shook his head. "Kiddo, I'm so happy it worked."

"…Did you help me get that power, too?" she asked.

"Well. Technically. But it belonged to you anyway. I just sped up its arrival." He hugged her gently. "I'm so glad. Your soul's adapted so well."

"To what?" she asked.

"Magic, of course." He bumped his brow on hers. "Frisky, I'm so proud of you."

"O-Oh! Thank you!" she said shrilly. "Um. What'd I do?"

He simply snickered and cuddled her gently. Frisk hugged onto him. He was strangely cozy despite the chill that still emanated from him.

.

At the sound of footsteps, he put her down, though he was absolutely beaming. Frisk hardly had time to ask him what had made him so happy when Papyrus barrelled down and gave her a hug.

"They told me everything, you need to show me that place sometime, okay?!" he said.

"Yeah, of course," she assured him.

"Good! What a strange bunch of stuff, though, honestly," he said.

"What is?" Toriel called from the kitchen.

"Frisk can teleport, it's all very odd. But good. But odd," Papyrus said.

.

Toriel popped out of the kitchen smelling faintly of dish soap, bubbles trailing behind her. "What's that? Did you say she can teleport?"

"Between rips in time," Gaster explained. "It's a very basic power: a slight elaboration on her ability to "save" the timeline. Traversing the void between the rips is very simple for a time anomaly like Frisky, so—"

"Alright, forget that, is it dangerous?" Toriel said quickly.

"Not for her," he said.

The woman raised her brows and looked at Frisk. The kid shrugged. Toriel laughed tiredly and rubbed her brow.

"Okay. Alright. Just… Honey. You know what I'm going to say."

Frisk stuck her thumbs up. Toriel smiled fondly. She put her hands on her hips and looked up at the ceiling.

.

"So, I was thinking," she said, "this place, it stands to get rather crowded now, doesn't it? And, Gaster, you cannot just stay on the couch forever."

"I don't mind," he assured her.

"But since you're here, and we're still down here for another few months, what do you think about clearing the attic? Turning that into a room for you? And I suppose we could even divide it in half and I could give Sans his space back."

"Ooh! And I could finally dust all up there, and we clean out all that old junk!" Papyrus grinned. "I like that idea! Can I help?"

"Ah, I could sort through all my old books…" Gaster nodded. "That's a great plan, Tori."

.

"Hey, uh, so cleanin' is a real riot and all…" Sans had appeared, leaning up against the table casually, arms folded. "But let's say we take out the trash first, before we get too ahead of ourselves."

"What trash? Sans, you didn't make a mess up there, did you?!" Papyrus said.

"No, he means… Right, I gotta call Az," Frisk said. "Um. Guess we'll do that stuff first."

"Don't go without me," Undyne called from upstairs. "Kid, let's go together, okay? I wanna be there."

"Ooh, should we go Frisk's new special way?" Papyrus asked excitedly.

"Nah, I'm gonna walk," Undyne said. "Kinda makes my head spin, and I think I had enough of it for today."

"Oh, jeez, I'm sorry," Frisk said quickly.

"No, no, don't be," Undyne said with a laugh. "That you could bring me along at all was super cool. I'll just probably need breaks in between."

"Oh, okay, phew," she said. She looked around the room at the mostly concerned monster faces and smiled bashfully. "We're gonna be fine."

"Yes! Of course! That's the spirit!" Papyrus said brightly. "Ooh! Let me go prepare! Hang on just a miiiiinute!"

.

Papyrus raced up the stairs and away. Frisk bit her lip and looked at Undyne. She hesitated, then folded her arms tightly.

"What's wrong, hun?" Toriel asked.

"He'll probably take a long time to pick an outfit…" she mumbled.

"Hm? Want me to rush 'im?" Undyne said.

"No, um…" She bit her lip. "Can we…? I mean. Can you come without your armour?"

"Uh. I guess? Why?" she asked.

.

Frisk flinched. She bit her lip, and then looked up at her parents with big eyes. "Can you do something for me?"

"What is it?" Gaster asked worriedly.

"Can you… slow him down?" she asked. "I… I don't want him there. I don't want him to go near that human. You too, mom."

Gaster stared at her, brows raised. Toriel looked concerned and knelt down to her level.

"Is this about your dream?" she asked.

Frisk nodded. Toriel frowned. She looked back at Gaster and, though she opened her mouth, her words lagged uncertainly.

"Please," Frisk said. "It's… It's really important."

"Are you sure?" he asked,

"But then we could not go with you…" Toriel said.

"You can. Just… after," she said. "Just… I dunno. I don't wanna risk it."

.

Toriel looked at Sans quickly, wide-eyed. His arms were folded as he kicked back against the wall.

"Agreed," he said. "We'll go now."

"What?! Sans, really?" Toriel said shrilly.

"Yup."

The woman looked between the skeletons with wide eyes. She grimaced and then stood, tall, towering. "But I am your mother, Frisk. I should be the one to protect you."

"You are. By not coming right now, you super are. I promise," Frisk insisted. "Please."

"I'd just trust her on this one," Sans said.

Toriel sighed. "I… I know. I understand. But… Papyrus, he's going to want to race right after you."

"I… I think I know what to do," Gaster said quietly. "…Don't worry. I will keep him safe."

xXxXx

Frisk was quiet, chilled by guilt, on their way to Asgore's. However, every time she looked at her brother, he had a strange expression on his face. What was it, pride?

.

Asriel met them outside Asgore's home, and grabbed Frisk into a tight hug as soon as he could. She slumped on him— hadn't realized she'd missed him so much.

"They've been being pretty quiet," he said. "But they seemed really relieved when you said you'd meet them. Dad's has them at the garden right now. Save, okay?"

"Will do," she said. "Thanks for everything."

"Mhm." He looked up bashfully at Sans and Undyne. "H-Hi, guys. Um… Where's everyone else?"

"Papyrus's grounded for an hour," Sans said. "He just doesn't know."

"Oh? Oh. Well. It's for his own good," he said.

"So, like, all of you are that worried about it?" Undyne said.

"Not worth the risk," Sans said. He grinned and ruffled Frisk's hair. "Kiddo acted real quick."

"I'm just glad dad was on board," she said.

.

She backtracked to the bright golden tear in time and eyed it with a little trepidation. This was the right thing to do, wasn't it? The nerves were coming back full force. She took a deep breath and let time stick right where it was.

"You're doin' good." Sans put his hand on her shoulder. His grip was strong; reassuring.

"Hope so," she said.

"Hey, you're doing way more than anyone could ask you to," Asriel said. "If it were me, I probably woulda told 'em to get outta my damn house."

"Pfft, I wouldda picked 'em up and chucked 'em outta my damn house," Undyne said.

Frisk snickered. "This is less trouble," she said. "And if I'm right, well… I dunno. At least that guy won't be looking in the wrong spot."

"Must be desperate, though. To come lookin' here," Sans said. "How old you say the kid looked?"

"I dunno, honestly," she said. "Like… Younger than me."

"So an infant, then?" Asriel joked.

"Stoooop." She couldn't help a laugh. "I dunno. Like, little. But not a baby." She locked her fingers together and stretched her arms forward to crack her knuckles. "Okay. Let's go."

.

They took over the dining table quickly. Frisk moved more flowers away behind a jar of spoons in the kitchen, Undyne stole a brush, sat the kid on her lap, and ran it through her hair a couple times. Sans flopped out across the table, and Asriel finished setting up his phone to covertly record in his bedroom, convinced that the humans would want to speak to Frisk alone. She thought he was being a little paranoid but, honestly, she appreciated it.

.

The Ambassador returned to the house first. She was holding a couple flowers when she entered, but she froze with shock when she came into the room. "Oh! I… Hello!"

"Hi again," Frisk said.

Sans lazily raised a hand to wave and Undyne straightened up a bit, tightening her hold on Frisk with one arm and draping the other over the back of the chair. She nodded curtly.

"I don't believe we've met," June said with a bashful quiver in her voice.

"Nah, we met," Undyne said. "Just was wearin' different clothes."

"Wh…? Oh! God. Are you…? You're the Guard Captain?" the woman asked. "I'm sorry, I didn't—"

Undyne waved a hand dismissively. "Drop it, will ya?"

.

June gulped and nodded, and then cautiously edged in towards the table. She placed the flowers into a small glass vase in its centre. "I'm… I'm sorry to cause you all any trouble."

"Well, kinda late for that," Sans joked, floating the flowers farther down the table and away from Asriel. "Kid said yes to bein' troubled, though."

"Uh-huh!" Frisk said.

"It shouldn't take long," she said. "My associate just would like to confirm something."

"Associate?" Frisk tilted her head.

"The guy she works with," Sans said.

"Oh! Right, okay." The kid tapped her fingertips together. "He's not scary though, right?"

"No, no, he can sound a little gruff, but he's a nice man," June assured her.

.

Frisk wondered how nice the man she'd seen lose it could really be. She didn't know how to rationalize the two concepts in her mind. Asriel reached out and held her hand. She blushed— she must've looked nervous. She nodded. Undyne's earfins perked and she tilted her head towards the stairs.

"Sounds like they're on their way up," she said. "We'll be right here, okay, kid?"

"Yeah," Frisk said.

"Um. It might be better to do this with a little privacy," June said quietly.

Just like Asriel had thought. Sans shrugged. He looked at Frisk.

"Okay with you, sweetheart?"

"Well… Ummm…" Frisk pretended to look even more nervous. She pouted. "Okay."

"If you want, use my room," Asriel said.

.

Frisk slipped off Undyne's legs and hesitantly made her way to the first room down the other hallway. She sat on the greyish bed in the greyish room, wondering what to expect. She closed her eyes and did her best to listen through the walls. The images that filled her head weren't good ones. She hoped Papyrus would forgive her for leaving him behind.

.

She heard male voices, unintelligible. One clearly Asgore, but the other… Almost done, she told herself. And she'd just saved. She took a deep breath and settled on the mattress, realizing rather abruptly how cramped her shoulders and legs felt as she let them relax. Nothing to worry about.

.

A knock on the door made her jump.

"Frisk, my child, the human would like to talk to you now, okay?" Asgore called.

"Y-Yeah," she answered. Why was her heart beating so hard?

.

The door creaked open and, even though she'd dreamt the human, she half-expected to see someone ghoulish before her. But, he was normal. Average. A human man with no hair and stubble on an unshaven face. He had broad shoulders but he wasn't particularly tall or imposing. Asgore'd taken them clothes shopping, because he wasn't in that pseudo-military outfit she'd pictured. He looked grey, and tired, and pale.

.

The second his eyes locked on Frisk's, he had to have known. The line of his mouth went thin. His eyes seemed to glaze. The kid pushed forward on the bed slightly and stood up. He put a hand to his mouth. Frisk tilted her head; was about to apologize, but the man wobbled and dropped to his knees. She squeaked and recoiled, but couldn't keep herself back as she heard the man let out a choked, rough sob.

"O-Oh no. Um. Are you okay?" she asked quickly.

"Idiot… Idiot." He kneaded his fingers into his eye sockets. "Selfish bloody idiot."

"Hey…! Hey." Frisk darted over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "C'mon. Wh-What happened?"

.

Frisk was taken aback when the man grabbed her into a tight hug. She froze up utterly.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he muttered.

"Wh… What?" she asked.

"I'm such a selfish pr… Oh my god. I… I thought… But of course you're not…" He coughed to try to clear his throat. "I'm sorry, kid. I… I didn't even think… I shouldn't have put you through this or…" He hurriedly drew back, wiping his face quickly. "Sorry. God. I'm… sorry."

.

Frisk stared back at him, wide-eyed. Again, reconciling what she saw in her dream with what was right before her eyes made her mind spin. She gulped. "You were looking for someone. Right?"

"This never should have happened," he said quickly. "I didn't even stop to consider that… I could have disrupted your whole life with this, I…"

"Yeah, it was pretty stressful," she said. "But, dude, there's obviously something more than that going on."

He shook his head and mumbled something into his fist.

.

Frisk sighed and she sat down with him. "Tell me about it."

"Wh… What?" he said.

"Tell me who you're looking for. What's going on?" she said. "Maybe I can help."

"Not sure that would—"

"Try me." Frisk raised her eyebrows.

He looked at her with a probing expression. He sighed quietly, his voice still craggy. "I was trying to find my daughter."

Frisk wasn't surprised at all. She nodded.

"I-It's been three years. She… ran away. A little after her mother died, right after the funeral," he said, voice taut. "I've been looking, but… nothing. I was desperate. Al… Uh. The Ambassador, she's an old friend of mine. She told me there was a human here that looked a bit like my little girl, but…"

"Oh. That was me, huh?" she said quietly. "Sorry."

"No, no, don't…" He rubbed his face. "Ugh. I… don't suppose you'd mind keeping that bit quiet, would you? She's a good person, but that's a huge c… uh… She could get in a lot of trouble with her job if they knew that's why I was picked to…"

"Don't even worry," Frisk said. "I understand. I can't even imagine…" Her hand moved to her soul spot as the dismal feeling that had sunk Sans into a pit when he thought he'd lost her after the reset settled in on her. "I'm, um… I'm really sorry. The last human before me was fifteen years ago. Do you…? Do you think she would have actually tried to get here?"

"She loved the stories of the King under the mountain," he said quietly. "She would always play pretend on the monster mountain, stuff like that, I… I just don't know."

.

Frisk bit her lip. She folded her arms and tapped her fingers. Her heart broke for this stranger. But, a little kid going missing three years ago— was there anything she could even do about that? The words hung heavy on her tongue but she forced them out anyway. "Are you sure she ran away?"

"What?" The man looked like anything else hadn't even occurred to him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean…" Frisk scratched her head. She had an idea. "Hmm… Do you remember the last day you saw her?"

"Yeah, of course," he said. "Look, kid, I'm sorry, I—"

"Wait a sec, I think I might be able to… well… Maybe give you a different p-perspective?"

.

Boyd stared at her blankly for a long, silent few seconds. He laughed wryly. "What's with you kids here?"

"Ah. Um…" Frisk's face flushed. "Sorry, um… I was kinda… pretending to be a bit more, um… childish? Az was too. We're, um… We've seen a lot more bad stuff than a lot of the grownups in our lives really understand, if that makes sense."

"So I guess we both kinda have a secret, huh?" he said quietly.

"I kinda got another one." She held out her hand and let the red magic crackle across her fingertips.

.

The man recoiled, his eyes fixing on the kid's fingers. "That's not possible."

"It's kinda new," she said. "But, um, I have magic? And it has a lot to do with memories and stuff. So. I was thinking, maybe… you could show me that day?"

He eyed her up and down suspiciously. But, he edged closer. There was a hint of hope glimmering in his eye. "How?" he said.

"Basically, I just gotta touch you and you just think of what you want me to see, and I can see it."

"I've replayed that day over and over," he muttered. "But… A set of fresh eyes… I mean. If it wasn't obvious. I'm pretty desperate."

"Okay." Frisk held out her hand. "Let's try."

.

A tremor in his fingers, Boyd rested his big, battered hand on hers. She set her other hand alight, too, and touched two fingers to his temple. His memories whisked her away instantly. Through fog, she could see a dour room, with people dressed in black. He supported the wall, heavyhearted. This wasn't unexpected, but it was harder than he'd though. And his daughter— she could see her, tiny, well groomed, and in a black gown, being fawned over by people the man carried some ire for.

.

"Who are these people?" she asked.

"Wh… What are you seeing?" he replied.

"Your brain says it's a… funeral? After the funeral," she said.

"…God. Okay. Uh. Which people?"

"The ones you don't like," Frisk said.

"Oh, them, they're… My wife's family. They were estranged. Um. She didn't talk to them," he said. "They didn't help at all when she was sick, but boy did they like to talk about how much they… I'm sorry. I… tried to let it go."

"It's okay," Frisk said.

.

She watched through the lens of Boyd's eyes. Though he was focused in on his daughter, Frisk could wander, just a little. She could see these people he didn't like treating the girl rather kindly. She seemed to like the attention, but she kept looking back at her father as if for reassurance. She could also see the Ambassador, helping set up a table far in the back. These two must've been old friends.

"How old is she here?" Frisk asked.

"Three," he said quietly.

.

The kid noticed two women whispering to each other. Boyd hadn't heard them— hadn't been paying attention, so the words weren't there. Frisk instantly didn't like them, probably because the man didn't either. One was an older woman, tall and thin and lithe, with prim silver hair and a face like all she ate was lemons. The younger one bore a resemblance, though she had cool blue eyes and sheer blonde hair framing a long face.

"These two?" Frisk asked.

"Who?" he said.

"The grumpy old lady and the sad looking one with her," she said.

"Oh. That's… My wife's mother and sister," he said. His tone was heavy and carried a little venom.

.

The memory shifted. The same group were outside an old stone building now. As Boyd's focus once again was on his little girl, nodding along with something a bearded man in black told him, the others in the group got into cars. Blue and silver, grey with a dent, rose gold with the emblem of a horseshoe on the front, and glossy black marred with mud around the wheels, and— the vision blurred. Maybe it wasn't important.

"They didn't stay," Boyd grumbled. "Nobody stayed."

.

The sludgy mess of colours brightened slightly, repainting a new sky in pink, orange, and dark blue, as a blazing gold sun lethargically settled behind a row of houses. There was grass tickling the man's feet as he sat off a porch and watched that little girl running amok with a skinny, big-eared calico cat. His head was heavy and his eye sockets felt bruised. The kid ran up and he ruffled her hair affectionately. She asked something about her mother— something that made his heart ache. He told her no and she pouted dramatically. She stomped back into the house. He sighed and sat there for a long time.

"She left that same night," the man said. "I… I called the police, but, nothing."

Frisk flinched. The memory started to fade. "Wait. Hold it," she said quietly. "Run it again."

"It's… not easy," he muttered.

"I know, I know, just… I need to look around," she said. "Gimme just one more time."

.

To her relief, the swirling colours took her back. She braced herself and forced her eyes to stop following Boyd's tunnel vision. He was so out of his head; she couldn't blame him. She looked at the cat, and at the tiny kid. A toddler, really. How far could a toddler really have gotten? Then again, she had gotten pretty far herself, not being much bigger than that.

.

She squinted through the man's point of view, looking at the yard— for any dangers he might have missed. There was a picture book beside his hand on his porch. The King Under the Mountain— with a picture of a friendly white dragon that vaguely resembled Asgore. Then, a colour struck her. One that had been there but didn't look out of place. Rose gold. The sun glinted off the emblem on the front, obscuring its shape. But it seemed to be that same car. Parked down the street with another one.

"What colour's your car?" she asked.

"Black, back then," he said. "Why?"

Frisk squinted. She tried to focus. There wasn't much memory there, more of a blur, but she could make out an indistinct person in that car. She bit her lip and kept her eyes focussed as hard as she could on that spot. There might have been a second person. Boyd had long since checked out.

"Anyone on your street have, like, a small car that's this kinda weird gold-pink colour?" she asked.

"No," he said. "Why? What do you see?"

.

Frisk blinked and pulled back and away from the man. He looked back at her with wide, worried eyes. The expression reminded her a little of Gaster. She rubbed her brow.

"It had, like, a bright emblem thing on the front. You know anyone with a car like that?" she asked.

He scratched his scruffy beard, his brow furrowing. "Well… I think maybe my mother-in-law. But she couldn't be, she had no idea where we li…" His eyes went wide and round. "She followed us." Suddenly, it seemed like everything made sense. "Oh my god. I… I gotta go. I gotta—"

"Go," she said. "Good luck."

.

The man scrambled to his feet and rushed out of the door, shouting for June. Frisk pushed back the sudden pressure and dizziness in her head. She held to the wall as she wandered out of the room. She was in a bit of a daze. She watched the humans quickly excuse themselves from Asgore, gather their bags, and then rush straight down the stairs in the centre of his house.

.

"Goodness, I hope it's stopped raining, then," he said quietly. He looked at her with a concerned smile. "Oh, sweetie, you look a bit sick." He bent and swooped her into his arms, hugging her gently. "I heard what you did for that man. Sorry. Big ears."

"It's fine." She clung to him. "I… I really hope he finds his kid."

"I think you've given him a chance," he said. "Funny. I had no idea that's what his true intentions were. Suppose you can't really judge a book by its cover, hm?"

Frisk shook her head. "N-No. Guess not."

xXxXx

When the rest of Frisk's family arrived, heralded by Papyrus's typical kicking-in-of-the-door, the kid and the others were already decompressing in Asgore's living room floor, huddled up with tea and pillows and blankets in front of a warm and cozy fireplace. Frisk had insisted she was fine, but the fact that she was shaking like a leaf and had a problem keeping her feet under her told a different story.

.

The skeleton lurched into the room, panting, eyes blazing amber. He dove for his sister, wrapping her in his arms and squishing her. "I'm so sorry we're late!"

"Don't be!" Frisk said.

He breathed a sigh of relief and found a blanket draped over him like a cloak. Undyne patted his head.

"Everything was fine," she said.

He cracked a smile and Frisk hugged him tight. She felt like the weight of a boulder had been lifted from her back.

.

"Frisk did an excellent job," Asgore said proudly. He smiled warmly and waved at Gaster and Toriel as they found their way in. "Everything is okay, don't you worry at all."

"I apologize, this was my fault," Gaster said.

"Pffft, you were sick, it's not like you could help it!" Papyrus said.

The man sighed and rubbed his face as he plopped down on the floor with the others. He reached out and took Frisk's hand. The tremor in his fingers and the look in his eyes told her that whatever he'd thought of to delay Papyrus hadn't been necessary.

.

"So. They won't be back until the city is done. Right?" Toriel asked.

"Well, not on business, no," Asgore said. "But the Ambassador seemed to really enjoy her time here, though. I think she'll be a good fit."

"Asgore." Toriel frowned.

He grinned sheepishly. "Listen, I signed all the papers, they're going to leave Frisk alone, and she helped the man get some answers about his daughter. I think it's all good news!"

"His daughter…?" Toriel's expression softened. "I see. Well. Hopefully that's the last of that."

"Was pretty funny to see that lady, like, freakin' out a little at every monster she saw, though," Undyne said casually. "Guess it must be like that for them, huh? Most humans are kinda the same shape, which is super weird. Hey, Frisk, what'd you think when you saw a monster the first time?"

"That I was dreaming. Or dead." She laughed and looked at her mother with a smile. "But, I mean… It was just mom, so, like… it wasn't hard to not be weirded out."

"I was scary, though, right?" she asked with a grin.

Frisk laughed. "Only 'cause you were so grumpy!"

"Pfffft, okay, fair enough. So who was the scariest, then?"

"Ummm… I dunno," she said. "Nobody, really. Umm… Maybe Lemons, the first time. They were just, like, super loud with huge teeth, and they were also reeeeeally grumpy then, so maybe them."

"Doesn't sound too different from Undyne, though," Sans said.

She knocked him on the head. He snickered. Asriel peeked just his snout out from under a quilt.

"Not me?" he asked.

"Oh, well, yeah, actually, for sure," she said with a laugh. "I didn't know if you counted or not."

He bared his big fangs in a grin, hunkered down, and then pounced on her, cackling as he was scooped up by Papyrus, too. She squeaked and giggled, and he put his arms around her and rested his chin on her shoulder. Their souls hummed their conjoined tune, contented and warm.

.

Their mother watched with a big smile on her face."Good job, you two," she said. "I feel much better knowing how you're watching out for each other."

"Gotta." Asriel winked. "Frisk's self-preservation instinct is, like, nil, so…"

"My monster preservation ones are pretty high, though," she said.

"Oh no, not you, too," Gaster said, eyes wide. "Who put that in your head?!"

"Um. Nobody?" she said, puzzled.

He sighed and reached out to her, holding her face gently with shaking hands. "Please be careful."

"You too," she said.

"I know, I know. I… may be a bit of a hypocrite in this regard, but…" He caught Sans giving him an amused look. "Okay, I'm a massive hypocrite. But still."

.

Asgore let out a booming laugh and moved over to thump his friend on the shoulder. "Well. If she's from where you say she is, she most certainly got it from you, my friend."

His bones flushed and Sans cracked up faintly from wherever under the blanket he'd vanished to. Frisk smiled. There was something very reassuring about all of this.

.

She heaved herself out of Papyrus's lap and reached out to grab Gaster's hands again. She held one of them tight in both of hers, feeling his shivers deep into her own soul. She set her fingers ablaze and smiled at him as the worried expression on his brow relaxed. He almost looked like he might fall asleep right where he sat. She snickered fondly and stood on her toes to hug him around the neck. He froze up for a brief moment, then crumbled and grabbed her tight and blew out a sigh that shook his shoulders.

.

Though this obviously didn't phase anyone else, and Papyrus grabbed onto Gaster to gently to bonk his brow on his affectionately, Asgore went a little stiff. A big, warm smile crept over his face and his eyes glistened.

"I have an idea," he said. "Let's take a little break, and then how about we grab Alphys and I treat you all to a meal downtown, hm? I think everyone here has earned a nice, long rest after this."

.

As the younger monsters took the aforementioned rest near the fireplace, the elder ones gathered themselves in the kitchen. As usual, Asgore put the kettle on, more so out of habit than anything else. He took off his crown and unhitched his purple cape. He draped it over a chair near the counter, but Toriel tsked at at him and took it to fold it neatly.

"Honestly," she said in a low voice. She placed the cloth down on the counter and gave him a narrow-eyed look. "Dreemurr. That was risky."

"I know," he said. "Trust me, I know." He rubbed his hand through his golden mane. "If it wasn't Frisk— if I didn't know how well she can handle herself— I would never have even considered it. I am very sorry to have put your daughter through something like this. Both of you."

.

Toriel's fur bristled. She looked at Gaster and snorted out a laugh. He rubbed his face and snickered as well.

"Never imaged myself co-parenting with you," Toriel teased.

"And I will do my best not to be a pain," Gaster said.

"You will do fine!"Asgore assured him, thumping him warmly on the shoulder. "And, don't forget! Good old Uncle Asgore is here to lend a hand, wherever you need." He smiled. "She really did do an excellent job. Of course. She was so brave for agreeing to meet that man."

"You are amazingly lucky she still likes you, you know," Toriel told him.

"I know. Absolutely," he said, nodding swiftly. "After what I did, I… I don't…"

"Oh stop," Toriel said, rolling her eyes. "Yes, yes, you don't deserve it, ad nauseam." She smiled sideways. "The kids feel how they feel. But you had better not inflict your complex on them."

Asgore cracked a sheepish smile. "You're right."

"Of course I am," she said. She leaned back on the wall and blew out a tired sigh. "I am gone for a day or two and the whole world turns on its head, hm?"

Gaster laughed. "Sorry."

She shook her head. "Anything else I missed?"

.

"Oh! Actually!" Asgore brightened and nudged Gaster with his elbow. "Did you show her the book?"

"The…? Oh!" The skeleton pulled out his phone and, after fumbling for a second, summoned the book of Dirges he'd squirrelled away out and into his hand. "A human brought this back to us. Look." He handed it over to her carefully.

Toriel's brows raised and she gently flipped open its pages. She froze, eyes wide. "…You're kidding."

"Isn't it something?!" Asgore grinned. "With notes like this and just a bit of work…"

"I thought they were all lost," she admitted. "Destroyed or… Gone with the monsters that wrote them, but, if we could start teaching this sort of thing…"

"Isn't it exciting?" Asgore asked.

"You'll have to walk me through this later," Toriel told Gaster.

He nodded. "Gladly."

.

"Hey, guys, whatcha readin'?" Asriel wandered groggily into the kitchen and headed for the fridge. "We got any razuperi drink? Got a craving."

"Ah, in the very back, behind the soup," Asgore said. "Have you heard of Dirges, son?"

Asriel paused. He looked up at the adults with a brow raised. "Those spells from way the heck back? Yeah, sorta, why?"

Toriel showed him the book. His jaw dropped as his eyes skimmed the open page.

"Wh…?! Oh! Okay! I thought all those and Cadences and Arias and stuff were all mute spells now," he said. "But you guys found some?! Is it all Dirges?"

"It may not be," Gaster said. "I will need to translate it."

"Hey, good news, then, right?" Asriel said brightly, pulling a bottle of red juice from the fridge and bumping the door closed with his hip. "I just remember, we used to have those magic classes, right? But they kinda had to stop because… What was her name? That moose lady?"

"Alcie. Yes, she fell down, the poor thing," Asgore said.

"She was the last composer we had," Gaster said.

"Yeah, that sucked," Asriel said, ears drooping slightly. "This is good, though. I'm glad." He shot Gaster a smile. "What a time to come back, huh?"

The skeleton nodded. Toriel patted his shoulder and returned the book to his careful hands.

"Keep it safe," she said.

He nodded and stashed it back inside his phone's dimension box. He smiled. "It's odd, but I enjoy that I already have so much to do."

"Not today, though," Asgore said.

"Yeah, jeez, take a rest already," Asriel joked. He headed back for the living room. "We are."