PATCHWORK SOUL - NEW MEDIUM

by TakaiWolf

DIRECT SEQUEL TO "PATCHWORK SOUL" — A few months later. A family of monsters and their little human kid try to start life anew beyond the confines of a giant mountain. Maybe they find something. Maybe they lose something. Time flows ever onwards, but sometimes it goes sideways, and it's heavier than they thought.

75. Thank you for your patience

Thank you for your patience Chapter 75

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The moment Chara made herself seen— coming around the side of Papyrus's barrier with a hand in the air— the great, silvery monster's large fangs flashed. She swooped the girl up in her arms, beaming; nuzzling her with her large snout and cooing gently. Papyrus was next, pulled into an embrace that dwarfed him.

"My children." She softly kissed the skeleton on the head before drawing back, cupping Chara's face in one, huge hand. "Sweetheart, I received your letter. Was that the villain you spoke of?"

"Y-Yeah," Chara said. Her eyes glistened as she held the monsters fingers with both hands. "Thanks for coming home. I-I know you were busy, but—"

The woman tutted gently. "I am never too busy if you are in trouble, dear one. Not even if I am at the other end of the world."

"Thanks." Chara's voice cracked. "I missed you."

"Wheeew, I'm very glad you're back," Papyrus said.

Their mother chuckled. "As am I." She looked at Chara. "Is something the matter, dear?"

"No! No. Nothing," the girl said quickly.

.

"TORI!" Undyne shouted from across the roof. She jogged towards them, a big grin on her face. "Toriel! Welcome back! Been a while, huh?"

"Too long, I'm afraid."

"Glad to see ya, but, uh, thing is…" Undyne rubbed the back of her head. "We were tryin' to arrest that guy."

"Oh? Surely a banishment from the city for a troublemaker such as that is enough?" the silvery Toriel wondered.

"Aah, not quite? See, uh, he's hunting a kid. So, as long as he's out there, he's just gonna keep tryin' over and over."

Toriel's brows furrowed and her long ears drooped slightly. "Oh my. I do apologize," she said. "I suppose I was caught up in the moment. But…" She frowned. "He was hunting a child?"

"It has been incredibly, extremely awful, let me tell you," Papyrus said.

"Yeah." Chara quickly wiped her eyes on the back of her hand. "H-He's trying to get… Frisk."

Toriel's eyes brightened. "…Your Frisk."

The girl's face flushed, but she nodded quickly. She turned back to where the other kid was still crouched, looking as if she'd just seen a ghost.

.

"Frisk," Chara said, squatting down beside her.

Frisk jolted as if woken from a dream. "Th-That's your—?"

"Yeah." The girl smiled. "Come on. She'll love you."

Frisk gulped. She cautiously peeked around the bones. Papyrus was closest, and he smiled brightly at her and beckoned her closer. Chara straightened up and offered her hand. Frisk reached for her, but paused before her fingers touched. The girl's right hand had red on the knuckles.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Hm? Oh." Chara scoffed. "Don't worry." She switched hands anyway.

.

Frisk grabbed her friend and let her pull her upright. Her heart ached and her head felt like it was full of fizz. She looked for Asriel across the roof, but she could only see the tips of his horns where he'd slunk down behind some of the plants he'd overgrown during the fight. Papyrus caught her eye and turned around— he seemed to catch her worry, too, because he was quickly jogging over there to join the hidden goat boy. His barriers evaporated into sparkles and drifted away as he left.

.

Chara squeezed Frisk's hand and gently lead her out into the open. Toriel loomed so large she made even Undyne look small in comparison. Her silver fur carried a subtle, shifting darkness, the same way feathers might, and her long tail made a soft, deep chime as it swished back and forth in the air. Her curled, ram-like horns were faintly streaked with bands of grey, like they were carved from white agate. She stared down at Frisk, her red irises subtly shifting as if fire lurked just behind them. The kid gulped, her insides fluttering. Though the differences were stark, the shape of this monster's face, especially the softness of her snout and the shape of her eyes, were identical to Frisk's mother's.

.

The kid opened her mouth, but before she could get a word out, the huge monster swooped forward and dropped onto a knee.

"Little one," she said quietly. "It is nice to finally meet you."

"It is? I mean…! Y-Yeah, you too," Frisk squeaked.

"Oh, dear, do not be afraid," she said.

"I-I'm not," she said quickly.

"Then what is wrong?"

"It's nothing, really," the kid assured her. "It's… You… Um." She sighed. "You have the same name as my mom."

"Oh, dear…" The monster smiled sympathetically. "Then, while you are here, please think of me as you would an aunt, if you so wish." She held out her hand. "May I?"

Frisk wasn't sure exactly what she wanted, but she nodded anyway. A faint, pink glow glistened under Toriel's long, sharp claws and she reached out, passing her fingers over Frisk's face. Wherever she touched, the illusion over the kid vanished for only an instant.

"Ah… What a clever trick," she said. "I have never seen one of your kind disguised in such a way." She tilted her head as the shine of her magic dimmed. "So, it is… true that you are from the same land my Chara comes from?"

"U-Um. Yeah. We're, um…" Frisk had to suck her dry tongue for a moment. "W-We're from the same, um, family, even."

Chara's cheeks flushed. Toriel's smile grew.

"My, my… I never once expected that that we would be so fortuitous as to meet." She turned her warm gaze on Chara. "My child, you must have been thrilled. Here is the little sister you so pined for."

"Mom!" Chara squeaked, her pale face flushing indignantly as she raised her hands. "N-No, I—!"

Frisk grabbed her hand and squeezed it. Chara gulped. She shot Frisk a look at was almost apologetic, but the kid smiled in reply. Chara went a little stiff, but her expression softened. She huffed out a warbling sigh.

"She can't stay," she said quietly.

"I know. Even so, what a gift." Toriel pulled Chara close and bumped her snout against the girl's brow. Her eyes flashed and she paused thoughtfully. "My child. Tell me. She is not alone, is she?"

Chara winced. "…No."

Toriel drew in a sharp, quiet breath. "And so… it must be him, is it not?"

"It's the only reason her disguise works."

.

Behind them, Undyne cleared her throat. "Uh. Sorry to interrupt," she said. "But you guys wanna get off the roof?" She jerked her thumb back over her shoulder and grinned bashfully. "We kinda did a number on it."

"Ah. Yes. Of course." Toriel rose up again and turned around to join them. "Come, children. Oh! And hello, Alphys, dear."

"H-Hi, your H-Highness!" Alphys squeaked from somewhere.

.

"I'm sorry," Chara whispered, "I know it's—"

"I knew already," Frisk said,

"…Huh." Chara's eyebrows raised. "And you're… okay with that?"

"Yep," the kid said, shooting her a grin.

"Even after I—?"

"Yep."

"O-Oh." Chara still looked a little sick, but a small smile crept across her face. "…Alright, then." She gave's Frisk's shoulder a squeeze, then hurried to keep up with her mother. "Mom, can I talk to you for a sec?!"

.

Frisk's tail wagged, her soul tingling and warm in her chest. A prickle of pride ran through her, too— she hadn't collapsed or started to sob, yet, so that was pretty good. She tried to steady her thumping heart and used the moment of quiet to take stock of everything around her. She was borderline startled when she caught sight of Pasithea, slumped on the roof behind her. The pesanta looked stunned: ears back, eyes wide; mouth agape. Frisk hurried to her and wrapped her in a hug. The monster came back to life under her touch and cautiously embraced her, too.

"Oooh, that was… That w-was…"

"I know," Frisk said gently. "Thank you so much. That was super brave."

"W-Was it?!" A high, nervous laugh slipped from Pasithea's mouth.

"Yeah, I mean, that was a tough boss monster you stepped in front of, right?"

"WAS IT?!" Pasithea pulled back, her eyes bugging out, and looked as if she might faint. "Oh my god, I-I'm an i-idiot." She pressed her hands against her cheeks. "I am a huge idiot."

Frisk laughed. "Kinda know how you feel. But it worked out, right? Plus, you can say you helped in a big castle fight."

"I… I guess so." Her shoulders sagged and she looked like she might melt. "Oh. U-Um! You're… okay, right?"

Frisk nodded. "Yeah. Sans…" Where was Sans, actually? She hadn't seen any sign of him since his blaster had snatched her out of the air. "Um. Sans caught me. When I went out the window. So I was fine."

"That's… That's good! Because that was awful." Carefully, Pasithea stood up. Her knees wobbled and Frisk grabbed her as best she could. "Th-Thanks. It's just. Um." She shivered down to the end of her tail. She put her hand out to hang onto the wall of the castle. "N-Never mind! I'm fine! Go catch up with your friends!"

.

Frisk tilted her head. The monster smiled wide, pressing her shoulder against the wall and gesturing towards the others.

"Are you sure?" the kid asked.

"Absolutely!"

Frisk wasn't so sure, but she turned. Toriel and Chara, at least, were waiting near the edge of the roof for her. Undyne was a bit farther back with a big chunk of debris in her hands, trying to shove it back into the wall. Papyrus and Asriel were still behind the plants, and Alphys was out in the open beside them, waving her arms around as she talked about something very emphatically.

.

"Hey, um, has anyone seen Sans?" she called.

Toriel perked up and glanced around. "Was he here?"

"Somewhere, um…" She frowned thoughtfully, scrunching her snout up— she didn't see Leirak around anymore, either. She headed for where Asriel and the others were gathered. "Hang on."

"You want us to help you down?" Chara called.

"Don't worry, I'll catch up!" Frisk shouted back.

.

She scampered across the roof to the twisted mass of plants and ducked around to join the monsters there. Asriel's fur was a scruffy mess and he had a frantic look in his eyes. Even so, he perked up and reached out for her as soon as she got close. She grabbed onto him and squeezed tight.

"Didn't land too hard, did you?" he asked.

"No, you?" she asked.

Asriel growled. "Ugh, that guy's gettin' too good with those teleports," he grumbled. "He caught me off guard."

"Y-You could also try, um, a little more strategy," Alphys suggested gently. "I-It takes a lot of skill to beat an o-opponent that's stronger than you, but it's definitely possible."

"Technically, I should be stronger," he said, his ears drooping. "He's doing that to me."

The lizard's face flushed. "O-Oh!"

"Stronger or not, it reeeeally doesn't help if we can't catch him," Papyrus said. He peered off into the distance as if, somehow, he might see the offending skeleton way out over the horizon. "I didn't realize mom had such a good throwing arm."

"He's gonna come back," Asriel said. "No way he won't. He's— Crap! I forgot about the crystals."

"I didn't," Frisk said. "But I dunno if I got him or not."

Asriel drooped with relief, clinging to his sister a little more tightly. "Glad one of us has thoughts in their head."

.

"I'll ch-check if it worked once we're back inside," Alphys assured her. "We might as well… Um…" She peeked around. "Oh! Where'd…? Did Leirak already leave?"

"I wouldn't blame him," Asriel said quietly.

"What? Why?" she wondered.

"Oh!" Papyrus stuck his index finger into the air. "Because he's—!"

"H-He's shy!" Frisk blurted.

"…Shy?" Alphys asked.

"Yeah, and Toriel just showed up!" She raised her brows. "She's really famous, right?"

"Nyeh! I… guess so! To me, she's just mom," Papyrus said with a grin.

"Really? T-To me, it was like meeting someone o-out of a storybook," Alphys said with a smile. "I guess I understand, n-now that I mention it. Oh." She sighed. "But I n-needed to measure his legs, actually…"

"…What?" Asriel asked blankly.

"Oh! Um! N-Never mind!" Alphys laughed. "Let's go get this sorted out."

.

As Alphys headed away towards Queen Undyne, Asriel still hesitated. His hackles were raised as if static coursed beneath his fur.

"Ooh, man, I hope she… knows that I'm… I'm not…"

"Chara told her about us, I think?" Frisk said. "I think she knows."

"It's just hard," he whined. He rubbed his fingers through the scruff of fur between his horns. "It was tough enough with Asgore from the last place."

"…Yeah. I know," Frisk said.

"What was?" Papyrus asked worriedly.

"I'm, like, dead as heck in most places," Asriel said. "So if… Y'know. If that Asriel's parents see me…"

"Oooh. I get it." Papyrus gave him a quick, reassuring hug. "Whatever happens, it's going to be fine. I know it. I can be right beside you, if you like!"

"Thanks." He grimaced, then took a deep breath as if to sturdy himself. "Okay. Let's get this over with." He took off with quick, nervous strides.

.

Papyrus was about to follow, but Frisk grabbed his hand, stalling him in his tracks.

"Have you seen Sans anywhere?" she asked.

"Nope, not at all!" He frowned. "That's odd, actually, he usually shows up if there's trouble."

"He was here for like a minute," she said. "Or, at least his blasters were."

"Hmmm." Papyrus raised a brow and rubbed his chin. "Iiinteresting." He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted. "SANS?! ARE YOU LURKING AND-OR LAZING AROUND HERE SOMEWHERE?!"

No reply. He shrugged.

"He'll turn up," he assured her. "He always does."

"Guess he might just be vegging out somewhere," Frisk said under her breath.

Papyrus scoffed loudly. He mussed up her hair. "Don't worry, I'll tell him you filled his slippers well if I see him first."

.

Papyrus bounded to the edge of the roof where Asriel was standing and jumped off without hesitation. Asriel didn't seem to notice— he stared off into the far distance, ears pinned back; brow heavily furrowed. Frisk slid up beside him.

"You okay?" she asked. "He didn't do anything to you, did he?"

Asriel shook his head. "He just… talked." He ripped his eyes off the horizon and looked at her worriedly. "He's… Ugh." A shiver down his neck, all the way to the tip of his tail. "I dunno how we're going to stop him, 'cause he's, um, real determined."

"Oh. Great," Frisk said. "I'm really glad he didn't wanna hurt you, though."

The boy grimaced. "I almost wish he did. It'd make more sense than what's happening." He sighed. "I… I can do that memory thing with you, if you want. Maybe you'd get something out of it?"

"O-Okay," Frisk said. "Inside?"

He nodded. "I'm not letting him do his stupid plan," Asriel said quickly. He growled. "Not in a billion years."

.

He grabbed Frisk and leapt down to the ground to join Papyrus, landing at the edge of the large hedge his magic had left distorted and overgrown. As soon as they stepped out around it into the courtyard, they were met by Toriel's intense gaze. She stood no more than a few metres away, barring the path like a stalwart guard. Asriel gulped, hard, and he looked at Frisk, then to Papyrus. The skeleton smiled reassuringly. Frisk reached up to give his hand a squeeze. He braced himself and stepped forward.

.

"H-Hi. Um. Toriel. I'm, uh, Asriel, I'm—"

"You are not my son," she stated plainly.

Asriel froze. His insides flipped over, but a strange relief lightened his shoulders. He nodded. "Y-Yeah, um. I just, uh… Don't want stuff to be super awkward, I—"

"Do not worry. Come along." She beckoned to them. "We can speak inside the castle, if you wish." She turned and strode off, her long tail swishing.

.

Asriel stayed standing stiffly in place. His eyes darted to his sister. "Sooo, she hates me, right?" he muttered.

"No she doesn't!" Papyrus assured him, though his brows furrowed. "At least, I don't think so. Mom?" He raced off to catch up with her. "Moooom!"

.

Asriel sighed, but his breath rattled. Frisk grabbed onto him and gave him a squeeze.

"I don't want it to be too hard for her," he said. His ears drooped and they followed along slowly. "Where'd Leirak go, anyway?"

"Maybe he wasn't ready to see her again yet," she said with a pout.

Asriel nodded. "Yeah. It's… I mean, it sucks. But, hell, if anyone gets that, it'd be me."

Frisk folded her arms tight, but she nodded. He smiled a little.

"Don't worry so much," he said. "Can't fix everyone's relationships."

"I know, I just don't like hiding big things like that," she said. "It was really hard not telling mom and Asgore about you sometimes; I had to, like, run out of the room or have Paps cover for me more than once."

The boy snorted with amusement. "I appreciate it. I kinda wondered for a while why you were so… loyal, I guess? Guess that's a good thing about getting those memories back."

Frisk smiled sheepishly. "We were friends."

"Yeah, I know! I… knew. I felt it," he said. "But I'd always kinda wondered— even when I was garbage— what the heck I did to trick you into liking me."

"It wasn't a trick!" She laughed. "I told you. We always sorta felt… the same, I dunno."

Asriel snickered. "I know, I know. You're such a dork, I—"

.

The sound of a branch's snap severed his sentence and the two siblings were instantly alert, pressing closer together. Frisk clutched tight to her parasol, ears straining for anything more. Asriel sniffed loudly. His pupils narrowed and he took off in the direction of the sound.

"Az?!" Frisk hurried to keep up. "What is it?!"

.

They rounded a corner of the building to find a few large trees scattered around the courtyard, surrounding a stone fountain with a sculpture of a dog shooting water from its mouth on top. Beside it, facedown, was a skeleton in a thick black coat, and a smear of deep red on the ground. Frisk let out a shrill, pained yelp. The two of them were by his side in an instant. A strange, sweet scent lingered in the air.

.

Asriel grabbed Sans and carefully flipped him over. Red stained through his white shirt. The skeleton's eyelights spun in his head and he put a hand to a dark, fresh crack in his skull above his right brow.

"Oomf," he grunted.

"Sans! A-Are you okay?!" Frisk demanded, her eyes watering. "Ohmigod, oh no, i-it's all over you, l-let me—!"

"It's ketchup," Asriel said.

"What?! You sure?!" she squeaked.

"Yeah, that's the smell." He leaned in worriedly. "What happened?"

"Got chucked," Sans said. "Hit the tree. Heh. Whoops."

"Let me," Frisk said, reaching up for his skull.

The skeleton grabbed her hand tightly and held it where it was. "Thanks, kiddo, but don't bother. We got moonwater here. I'll just dunk m'head in it."

"It doesn't look good, though," Asriel said.

"Course it don't." Sans laughed. He lifted his shirt and shook some goopy, red shards of glass out from it. "Damn, what a mess."

"J-Just let me fix it," Frisk insisted.

Sans shook his head. "You're on your last charge, yeah? Can't afford t'drag ya back out to the Soul while this shit's goin' down, kiddo. Can't teleport right in. Won't risk it."

"But that's not as important as your—!"

"Look. Kid. I get it," he said. "But ya lookin' human at a time like this is just gonna put all those suspicious eyes on ya again. This is stressful enough without that crap, and we still wanna avoid ya gettin' chucked in the dungeon by any guard who doesn't happen to recognize ya, alright?"

"But—!"

"Frisk, relax," Asriel said gently. "His way won't take much longer, right?"

"I…" Her ears drooped. "I guess not."

.

Sans grunted and forced himself to his feet— he'd lost both slippers somewhere along the way and was left standing in only patched-up socks. "Not that I don't appreciate it. Whew. So. How'd it go?"

Frisk wiped her eyes on the back of her hand. "Toriel flew in and chucked the guy out of the city, I think."

"Pffff. Okay." Sans grinned. "That'll buy us a bit of time. Guards okay?"

"Dunno, we haven't even seen any," Asriel said.

Sans's brow furrowed. "…Hm. Alright." He pulled his hood up to cover the injury. "I miss anythin' else?"

"No, the fight just stopped like a couple minutes ago." The boy rubbed his head. "And I have no clue what we're doing now."

"First thing…" Sans grabbed the both of them and winked. "Let's hope we don't get stuck in a wall."

.

The grass beneath their feet was suddenly purple carpet and polished stone. Though the small hallway they'd dropped into was vacant, sounds of chaos echoed from nearby, amplified by the high ceilings.

.

Around the corner, limp guard monsters were being rushed down the hall and into a large room in wheelbarrows or carried in the arms of larger guards. Sans's brow furrowed.

"Wrong floor, hang on."

"Hang on," Frisk said quickly. "These are the guards, right?" She hurried across the hall and pressed up against the wall to keep out of the way as she peeked inside.

The room the armoured monsters were being carried into was laid out with many beds, most of them already full, their occupants tucked in snug and still. Nobody she recognized, but a decent amount of large spiders stood out. The place echoed with snores. Frisk felt like she might be sick.

.

Mistral— as exasperated as ever— was at the far end of the room, speaking to a squiddy, blue nurse in a white and pale green robe and a matching little, round hat with a green heart on the front of it. As the final bed was filled by a guard carried in like a sack of potatoes and deposited in a heap, the blue monster hurried to the door, clacking her beak and waving her long, flat fingers at the next one to come in.

"No more beds!" she said, shooing them out. "We're full, you have to go to another room!"

"What the heck happened?" Frisk asked under her breath.

The nurse whirled on the kid so fast her tentacle-like hair flew into the air. "Aw, hi there, cutie!" She squatted down to look at Frisk with big, bright eyes. "You're not hurt, are you?"

Frisk quickly shook her head but she pointed inside. "A-Are they?"

"Oh! No, no, they're just sleeping, they're not hurt at all!" she said in a high-pitched voice. She smiled sweetly and her "Are you looking for your parents? Or a sibling?"

"Um, no, but—"

"Frisk, is that you over there?" Mistral called.

Frisk perked up and stuck her hand in the air. "Hi!"

"Yo, what's going—?" Asriel, as he hurried to join her, bleated loudly at the sight before him. "Did he do all this?!"

"Come over here, you two," Mistral said, beckoning to the kids. "Voices down a little, if you don't mind."

"Sorry," Asriel said. He grabbed Frisk and they hurried to join the skeleton. "What happened?"

.

Mistral's brow furrowed. She sighed and gestured to the occupants of the room. "They've taken a sleeping draught mixed into an elixir."

"So he poisoned them?!" Asriel demanded.

"I wouldn't say poisoned, exactly," the nurse said, hurrying to join them. She looked at Mistral. "Who are these two?"

"The assailant's targets," Mistral said. "They're… concerned about the situation, obviously."

"Oh! I understand! Well!" The nurse put her long hands on her hips. "Don't worry too much, kids, the guards are going to be right as rain very soon! You just have to be a little patient!"

"Yeah, well they look like a lotta big patients," Frisk said quietly.

"It's a harmless draught," Mistral said. She held up a purple bottle and sloshed the liquid inside. "Case in point, I could drink this entire thing right now, and if I did not already wish to take a nap, it would do nothing. They'll wake up on their own."

"Wh…? How'd he get that?!" Asriel asked.

"He may have made it himself. Or he may have purchased it somewhere," she said. "It's not important at the moment. What's more important is how he breached the barriers. Do you think he could have teleported through?"

"Sans has to know where he's going for the teleport to work," Frisk said. "If this guy's is the same, he wouldn't know, right? So he mightta got in before it closed up? If that's, um, a thing?"

"Bang on, kiddo." Sans flicked finger-guns at them from just behind Mistral.

The nurse jumped and Mistral whirled and glared down at him.

"Do you have something useful to add, you hooligan?" she demanded.

"Just from watchin' the guy move, I think the kid's right," he said with a shrug. "And he still has that distance limit. My one worry would be he could scout ahead usin' those creepy hands o' his."

"What kind of creepy hands, hun?" the squiddy nurse asked worriedly.

"Kinda shadowy," Frisk said. "Floating? With, um, a hole in the middle." She pointed at the back of her own hand for emphasis.

Sans grinned. "What she said."

The nurse let out a little eep of surprise. "I think I saw something like that out the window! But I thought it was just a weird butterfly!"

.

Mistral frowned thoughtfully. She picked up a long parchment and quill and began to quickly scrawl across it. "Alright. If we give him the benefit of the doubt and include eye-line as within range, that still does not account for the barrier, since there is a stone wall right behind it. So I think you may be correct. Anything else any of you noticed?"

"He smelled like what that skeleton at the big stupid interrogation suggested for a smell shield or whatever," Asriel said. "Mint and sesame."

Mistral's brows raised. She nodded and added more to her note. Frisk looked around the room at all the snoozing monsters, and then at Sans.

"Do you think I could just t—?"

"Nope," he said. "Wait it out. It's for the better."

The kid pouted. It didn't feel right. Her soul was getting hot in her chest. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," he said. "C'mon, kid. Like I said before. Remember?"

"…Right," she said reluctantly.

Mistral rolled up her note and offered it to Frisk. "I have a few things to investigate. Will you give this to Undyne, for me?"

"Yeah, of course," she said, taking the parchment to store both it and her parasol safely in her phone's item box. "Can you guys take a look at Sans, though?"

"Why, what happened?" Mistral asked.

"Got stuck in a tree," Sans said.

"Don't say catnapping or I will put you back up there," she said.

The short skeleton snorted and barked out a laugh. "Heh. You're crackin' me up." He pulled down his hood and pointed at the wound in his skull. "So did the fall."

.

Mistral spluttered indignantly and the nurse let out a gasp, her tentacle-like hair flaring out in alarm.

"Ah! I-I'll go get some moonwater, right now!" she squeaked, rushing towards the doorway.

"How long?!" Mistral demanded, clapping her hands onto either side of his head.

"Ten minutes-ish," he said.

"Why didn't you say something?!"

"Huh." He smiled sideways. "Thought I just did."

Mistral growled and took a step back, grabbing his stained shirt and pulling it out straight with a heavy furrow in her brow. "Take this garbage off."

"Nothin' wrong with my—"

"Now." She pointed him off into the corner and glared at him until he acquiesced, then turned on the kids with an apologetic frown and a frustrated sigh. "I'll deal with him, don't worry. He'll be fine. Bring that to Undyne and we'll join you soon."

"So all these guys, they'll be okay, for sure?" Frisk asked quickly.

Mistral nodded. "The biggest wound will be to their pride, I think. Go on."

.

With a wave to Sans, the kids slipped out of the room. Asriel shot Frisk a puzzled look.

"You wanted to turn them back?" he asked.

"I could. It would be easy," she grumbled. "…He wouldn't stop me unless it was really a problem, right?"

"Don't think so," Asriel said.

"I don't like not doing stuff when I can," she muttered.

"I know." He sighed and looked around. "I, uh, have no clue where we are."

"I think I know, I just dunno where anyone else is," she said bashfully. "I guess we just find a portal?" She looked around, wracking her brain for which way was which— they'd just been there a little while ago, after all. By the time she picked a direction, Asriel grabbed her shoulder.

"Before that. Let's find a quiet spot," he said. "I… gotta show you what that Gaster said."

"Right. Was it really bad?" she asked.

"It's, uh… Definitely a worry," he said.

.

A little ways down the hallway, there was a small storeroom with the door left slightly ajar and no-one inside. They plunked themselves on the floor near some sacks of rice. Frisk clung close to him and tapped against his soul with hers, then closed her eyes, letting him direct her to exactly what he wanted her to see.

.

Though the tower room and that skeleton painted themselves before her, as did a cage of bones, her brother's eyes were focussed mainly on Chara. The girl lay in a heap on the floor behind bars of magic with a pillow tucked beneath her head. Red hot anger blazed beneath Asriel's fur and a plethora of choice words raced through his head.

"I apologize that this will be a lot like a school lesson, but… hear me out," Gaster said. His hands were clasped tightly together and his expression carried the tiniest spark of hope. "It is about the fate of… Well. Everything."

.

Asriel hadn't paid any attention at the time— and in the midst of the fight, it hadn't been very obvious— but the skeleton's outfit had changed slightly. His coat, though similar to the one he had arrived in, was now dark purple, with a black metal plate of armour beneath it, protecting his chest and neck.

.

Every strand of fur on the boy's neck was bristling and he frantically smooshed his phone's screen with his thumb, hoping that something was working. His mouth was parched and fire blazed hot in his soul as his thoughts raced— oh god, Chara, I— We have to get out of here— This is a trap, he's gonna hurt Frisk, I— "I don't really have a choice."

.

"Hm." Gaster nodded. "I know. Again, I do apologize. What I… need you to understand is the truth of the being you defend. These… anomalous entities. I assume it arrived in your world one day? Perfectly ingratiated itself with the residents? Presents itself as a child?"

Anger, frustration; a growl and a spark grumbling in the back of his throat. "Get to the point or let me out."

"Whatever these entities are. However they form. They are powerful. Supremely so. They have the ability to rewrite time as they please. Change universes. Destroy them. Erase them entirely. Then, travel to another. Repeat the process. And they do. Endlessly."

.

This was familiar, Asriel thought, his brow furrowing. Something Sans had talked about back home, with the anomalies that had come before Frisk— the ones that had corrupted Chara's ghost and, in turn, been possessed by her. He shook his head and his gaze darted back to his sister. "This doesn't have anything to do with us."

"It does. The anomaly that travels with you is capable of all of that. And more. Localized disruptions." The skeleton settled back on the windowsill and let out a sigh. "I have… tracked them. Tracked this one. There is a universe beyond this that it rips apart as we speak. It cannot continue, or S… Untold numbers of lives will vanish as if they never existed."

The boy's insides dropped and a chill made his ears hurt. "Then leave us alone and let us get back home, we—"

"The more chances the anomalies have to interact with the void, the more dangerous they become," he said. "The longer they live with their power, the more they will use it. The more they think they are above reproach. It isn't just some child that travels with you. You know that, don't you? It is a god."

"Yeah, time god, blah blah, I know that already," Asriel snapped.

The skeleton froze. The light in his eye sockets dimmed. "Then… you have experienced what it can do." He fell silent for a moment, blank eyes staring off past the boy's head as if the door behind him had opened up into a nightmarish void.

Asriel gritted his teeth. He prodded harder on his phone, trying to remember the texting layout that he hoped desperately that he'd brought up by now. The fire was roiling within him. Maybe if he bided his time long enough he could burn the room down, and then—

.

"Do you remember, then?"

Asriel's eyes jerked up from his sister to lock onto Gaster. "What?"

"Time… shifting. Do you remember?" Gaster asked.

The goat boy bared his fangs. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"You do, don't you?" He extended his hand. "Help me to help you. Let me end this."

"Back off!" Asriel barked, recoiling until the magic on the door jabbed into his back. He felt his phone vibrate under his thumb. Text sent. "I-If that's true, why did you attack me in the void?!"

"Ah." Gaster wilted and withdrew. He tented his fingers. "I am… very sorry for that. I can hardly see in that place. The two of you were hard to distinguish. It was never my intention to harm y—"

"Doesn't that tell you something?!" The boy clenched his fists. "This is crazy. You say don't wanna hurt me; you don't wanna hurt the guards— but you're still gonna fight us all just to get her?"

"…I am."

Asriel balked. "Whatever you're trying to do, it's nuts!"

"I know." The skeleton sat up, his face very still and serious. "But if I can just… If you let me. I may be able to stop all this."

"As if I would help you for even a second!" Asriel yelled.

"…I suspected that would be your answer. But, I thought I would ask, regardless. " His brow furrowed. "You care a great deal for this anomaly, don't you?"

Asriel snarled. "What do you think, dingus?!" He thought, for a second, he heard Chara snort. "She's my sister."

"Hm." The skeleton looked just a little sad. "Then. I am sorry, once again." He straightened up. "Small consolation, but it will not hurt— and you won't recall it, so there will be nothing to miss."

.

Asriel's jaw dropped. "What the hell?!" His chest tightened and he locked his hands onto the bone bars before him, ignoring the frosty pain that ached up from them. "What do you mean?!"

"Exactly as I said," he said.

"Who the hell are you to—?! You don't even know what's going on!"

"I do," he said.

"You don't! And what makes you so sure you're right?! What gives you the right to—?!"

"Nothing," he said. "I am just… the only one left who has a chance."

Asriel blinked. Confusion rattled around in his head. "A chance to what?"

"Stop this. Stop them," he said. "I have no choice. As I said, Prince Asriel. It's about the fate of everything." He leaned forward. "If you had seen what I've seen—"

"I've seen plenty," Asriel said.

"Not enough." That vacant look again. The skeleton folded his arms. A little light in his eye brightened. "I can show you." He got to his feet. "Allow me to show you."

.

"What?! No way, I…!" Asriel gulped, but then, a tug on his soul.

Something was there. Relief washed over him. Was that the distant trousling of bones? A smile crept across his snout.

"I think you're about to have a real bad time."

.

He ducked as fast as he could and—

.

Frisk jerked back, her chest heaving; eyes watering. She looked up at him, mouth agape. He sighed and wrapped his arms around her, pushing his snout into her hair.

"Mess, right?" he muttered.

"H-Holy crap," she said shrilly. "He… really isn't gonna stop, huh?"

"Nuh-uh."

"Uuughh." Frisk squished her ears against her head. "What do I do?"

"W-We… We stay here, I guess? We hide out? Or, you do? And I just keep trying to headbutt that guy until I knock him out?" He groaned. "How did I do that plant dimension crap?! Do you think I could stick him in there?!"

"I have no idea." Frisk let out a shaking sigh and nestled into him miserably. Her chest hurt. "…I don't understand. What does he think I'm gonna do?"

"I don't know and I don't care," Asriel grumbled.

"I… I don't…" The faces of family back home shot through her brain. Her eyes got hot. She tried to take a deep breath, but the air rattled in her throat. "I-I'm not… I c-c-can't…"

"I won't let him," he said.

"I-If… If something… I-If I… Oh god. Oooh no, oh c-c-crap, I—!"

.

Asriel's eyes bugged out. "Whoa. Whoa, whoa, deep breaths," he said quickly. "Come on." He inhaled deeply. "In. Come on."

Frisk shook her head frantically and she clapped a hand against her face as her vision dotted with grey static at the edges. "H-He… If he…!"

Asriel held her face and forced her to look at him. "You're okay. You're fine. It's gonna be okay. Keep breathing, I promise, you'll be—"

"Ifhegetsmetheyareallgonnadie," she wheezed.

"…What? Sis, slow down, okay? Keep breathing, I know you can do this."

.

Her fingers clung desperately to his shoulders and tears poured down her face as she tried to catch her breath. Barely a squeak made it out of her throat. Asriel drew in a breath and let it out slowly. She gulped and tried to mimic him. Deep breaths. In and out. In and out. In and—

"I-If he gets us, h-home's not gonna m-make it," she said, the words tumbling from her mouth so fast they were still a little slurred. "T-Time's messed up, right?! If w-we d-d-don't go home, i-it's g-gonna keep doing that! They're…! They won't make it, it's broken or something, I d-don't—"

"Okay. Okay, hang on." Asriel gently kissed her forehead and pulled her into a close, tight hug. "Relax. Reeeelax." His soul warbled, but he synced it up close to hers, beaming as warm as he could. "Nothing's gonna happen to them, okay?"

"B-But if—!"

"Nooo, nope, c'mon," he insisted. "We're good, right? We're super tough, right?"

.

Frisk grimaced. She focussed on her breathing until her chest didn't hurt with just in the simple intake of air. "I… I don't know," she said quietly. "H-He already got in and got you and Chara before, and—"

"Then forget what Sans said and use your magic," he said. "We'll bust you outta jail if we have to."

"I… I might have to," she said quietly. She heaved out a sigh and put her face in her hands. "I hate this."

"I know. Same." He rubbed her back and smiled awkwardly. "A-At least he doesn't hate you 'cause you're human, I guess?"

Frisk grumbled into her palms.

"Doesn't help?" His ears drooped. "Uh. Guess not."

.

Frisk curled into a miserable, nauseous ball of fluff. She wrapped her arms around herself and gritted her teeth, her throat tightening uncomfortably. She couldn't help but think of her brothers; her parents. She wanted Mom. She wanted Sans even more. She wanted to go home. She wanted this skeleton with her father's face and voice to be just some awful nightmare.

.

"Frisk. It's gonna be okay," Asriel said. "…D'you, um, feel any better?"

"I'm… super tired," she muttered. She sniffled and wiped her snout with the back of her hand. "Ugh. S-Sorry. Thanks for g-getting him to talk to you, at least."

"Heh. I kinda wanted him to shut up," he said sheepishly. "But I guess it's good that we know something."

Frisk nodded. She heaved out a deep breath and rubbed her forehead. Asriel stole her phone from her pocket and pulled out a can of sea tea from her items and handed it to her. She popped the tab, but then offered it to him.

"No, you drink the whole thing," he said.

She pouted a little. "Have something too, though," she said before leaning back and chugging the can.

Asriel held in a snicker and grabbed a candy from his own inventory, flicking it up on his thumb and catching it in his mouth. He settled back against the bags of rice and put his hand on his sister's head, absently patting her hair. "Still need a minute?"

"…Yeah."

"Kay. We can just hang out, then. I'm sure Sans'll find us if they get worried."

Frisk nodded. She rubbed her palms against her eyes. "Just until I stop f-feeling like I'm gonna puke."

"Mhm."

.

Five minutes later and Frisk still felt sick, but they'd sat around for long enough. They left the storage room and wandered the halls until they found one of the exit portals. It took a couple tries before they turned up near anything they recognized. The sound of Undyne's clomping metal greaves bounced down the hallway, and her voice reverberated somewhere far away— loud, but behind too many walls to be understood.

.

They followed the voice and quickly found Chara on her own, peeking into large doorways down the hall. As soon as she caught sight of the two goatish forms, she abandoned her search and ran towards them.

"Where the hell were you guys?! I…" She bounced to a stop and stared at Frisk intently. "Were you crying?"

Frisk's eyes got large and round, but before she could answer, Chara's hand were squishing her face, fingers testing the damp fur on the kid's cheeks.

"You were!" The girl's words were almost accusatory. She pulled Frisk close. "What happened, did you get hurt?!"
"I showed her what Gaster said," Asriel said.

The girl gawked. "You what?! You showed her?!" She crushed the kid to her chest protectively, ignoring a little, surprised squeak, and shot the boy a narrow-eyed glare. "Why didn't you just summarize it?!"

"I thought she needed to see for herself," he said sheepishly.

"I k-kinda did!" Frisk said.

"He's a freak," Chara growled. "Oooh, let me help you help me help you help me. Scumbag."

"How'd you know that?" Asriel asked, brows shooting up.

The girl's expression softened and she pursed her lips."Aw, you actually thought I was unconscious?"

"Wait, you weren't?!"

"No!" She laughed and shook her head. "Of course not. I was hoping to get the jump on him if he thought I was down, and then you showed up and got him to start spilling his soul out onto the floor." She finally released Frisk, giving her a pat on the head. "I sort of wish you'd have let him show you what he wanted you to see, to be honest."

"Seriously?" he asked.

"Yes. Any extra information about him could help." She gave him an affectionate smack on the arm. "Welp! It was definitely better than nothing! Now we know he's delusional!"

"I guess."

.

"I dunno how to deal with this, though," Frisk said quietly. "Sans said he didn't wanna bring me back to the Soul until this is done because it's too dangerous to be where he can't teleport."

"I thought he was talking about your disguise," Asriel said.

"It's our way home, too," she said.

"Oh. Oh! Right." Asriel rubbed his head.

"Sucks that trapping Gaster in that zone didn't exactly work," Chara said. "I doubt he'd fall for something similar a second time."

"It almost worked," Frisk said. "Maybe whatever Alphys's doing will have better luck?"

"That'd be nice." She nodded back down the hallway. "The others are this way. Oh, right, did you find Sans?"

"Yeah," the kid said as they started to walk. "He hurt his head fallin' outta a tree, though."

Chara winced. "He's okay?"

Frisk nodded. "Yeah, now he is." She smiled sideways. "Scared the heck outta me, though."

"I bet."

.

Up ahead, Undyne and Toriel waited with Arnbjörn, chatting and looking to be in fairly high spirits. As soon as Toriel caught sight of them, though, her smile faded down to a thin line as her cheeks flushed faintly. Arnbjörn elbowed her gently and she jolted as if she'd been jarred from her thoughts.

.

Frisk grabbed the scroll from her phone and hurried forward to offer it to Undyne. "Mistral asked me to give this to you."

"Oh yeah?!" The fish monster grabbed it and unrolled it, her eye skimming it quickly. "Oh?! …Hey, okay, this is good sh—shtuff. Thanks, punk." She bent and ruffled Frisk's hair. "Looks like we gotta, uh, reevaluate a bit, huh?"

"What plan're we on now, eh?" Arnbjörn teased. He looked at the kids apologetically. "Wish I'd waited another twenty to go look for breakfast."

"It turned out okay," Chara assured him. "With the exception of the roof, I guess."

He laughed loudly and Toriel gave her a calm, warm smile.

"From the sounds of it, you were all very brave," she said. "I believe I have been mostly brought up to speed?" She pointed her snout down the hallway. "We are convening with a few others just down the hall. Normally, I might suggest you three venture to the dining room in the meanwhile, perhaps for some ice cream, but since it is very much relevant to you, if you wish to sit in and observe, please come along."

Undyne nodded emphatically. "We're gonna be goin' over security stuff and anything new we learned. We'd love to have you guys there."

"Definitely," Chara said. She looked at the others.

Asriel nodded. Frisk felt a little twinge of nerves, but she stuck her thumb up.

"Hey, great! Come on," Undyne said, waving them along.

.

"…I almost forgot mom used to talk like that," Asriel whispered as they followed behind the grownups.

"What, she doesn't anymore?!" Chara asked.

"She's eased up a little on the formality." He grinned sideways. "Somehow, I feel like that's a skeleton's fault."

Frisk snorted. "You gotta talk fast when you live with Papyrus."

Asriel's smile grew and he cut his eyes at Chara. "She even cursed in front of us a couple times."

The freckled girl spluttered out a laugh. "That's definitely a skeleton's fault!"

.

The room they were brought to already sounded like raucous classroom from the outside, and peeking in revealed a wide array of monsters squished onto benches, notes spread across wooden tables. It looked like a little like Arnbjörn's place, but filled with worry and discussion instead of revelry and food.

.

Undyne and Arnbjörn strode in to take a seat, but the noise didn't halt until Toriel joined them. It was plainly obvious that just about every eye focussed right on her. The great monster smiled warmly around the room and dipped in a polite bow.

"Please, do not stop on my account," she said.

The fancy goblin that had helped with the ice dome got to his feet, wide-eyed. "Y-Your Highness—!"

"Oh, my dear, I am retired," she said with a light chuckle. "Do not let me interrupt." She sat down comfortably at Undyne's side and only then did the chatter resume. A flicker of relief shot across her face and she looked back to the doorway, catching Chara's eye, and beckoned for the kids to come in as well.

.

Chara looked back at the other two. Asriel shrugged. Frisk leaned a little closer to peer inwards. She picked out the unicorn, Sabre, and Archon Marama amongst the monsters near Undyne. Grumf and Soleil were seated in the hall as well, and so were both goblins from the interrogation. There were a ton of other people she didn't recognize at all but, to her surprise, she caught sight of Pasithea, seated at a table with some knights and a fancy caribou, looking completely out of place and petrified. She pointed her out to Asriel and then took a step back.

"I'm… not super sure I'm ready," she said.

"We can go sit with my mom," Chara said. "Or, hell, you're small— sit on Undyne's lap or something. They'd have to be crazy to go after you in there."

"I dunno," Frisk said with a sceptical pout.

.

"How 'bout a bit of detective work instead?" Sans had appeared just behind them, shooting them a tired smile. The crack in his skull was gone and he wasn't wearing a shirt under his jacket, though he still smelled faintly of ketchup. The mess had stained a streak across his ribcage with a faint, tomatoey off-colouring.

"Hey, Sans, you okay?" Chara asked.

"Yeah." He smiled sideways. "Had to sneak out while the nurse wasn't lookin', though. You?"

She held up her hand and grinned proudly. "Broke my fingers punching the floor."

"You what?!" Asriel barked.

"Seriously?!" Frisk squeaked, grabbing the girl's hand gently. "Do you want me to—?"

Chara laughed. "I already took care of it, don't worry."

"Sheesh, kiddo, what'd the floor ever do to you?" Sans teased, ruffling her hair.

"It harboured a dangerous fugitive," she said very seriously.

Sans snickered. He zipped up his coat and turned his good eye on Frisk. "They're gonna be waitin' on Mistral anyhow, wanna go help 'er out? Think ya might be able to answer a couple questions we can't."

Frisk's eyes glimmered. She nodded. "Yeah. For sure." She looked back at Asriel and Chara. "We'll meet up with you guys back here?"

"Sure, hope it's not too long, though," Asriel said.

"I can come," Chara said, then looked to the goat boy. "You, get your soul fixed up now, yeah?" She pulled a crystal from her pocket and put it in his hand. "And give that to her, would ya?"

"Actually, pigeon, why don'tcha go spend some time with mom?" Sans suggested. "It's been a while."

"Hm?! No, it's fine! I'm fine!" Chara said quickly. "This is more important than—"

"It's okay," Frisk assured her. She took the skeleton's hand. "If Sans is there, I'm safe."

The skeleton's cheekbones flushed faintly with blue. Chara scoffed, but she smiled and thumped him on the shoulder.

"Don't let her down, then," she said. "See you soon."

.

Light shifted before Frisk's eyes. She and Sans were out on the roof again, near where the fight had taken place. The sky, clear and bright, was tinted by the glassy sheen of a barrier above them. It stretched out much farther past the castle now, encompassing a section of the Inner Circle as well.

"You think people are okay out there?" Frisk wondered.

"Hm? Ah. Yeah. Not the first time somethin' like this's happened," he said, strolling towards the spot just below the tower window the battle had burst from. "Human attacks. Rebel attacks. Pigeon attacks." He winked. "Anyway." He scuffed his sock on the hard shingles and shot her a curious look. "Has t'be where magic touched, yeah?"

"Seems like it," she said. She squatted down to inspect the roof near him. "Oh! Thanks again for catching me, by the way."

"Eh. No problem," he assured her. "So, uh. What happened up there?" He pointed to the tower's battered window.

"Gaster got in the window, I think," Frisk said. "He… wanted Asriel to help him. The stuff he said, I dunno, it…" Her heart already started beating a little harder than she would have liked. She breathed out a sigh as she steadied herself. "It freaked me out pretty bad."

"You were there?" He tilted his head. "No. After, right?"

She nodded. "He… knows what I am. N-Not a human, I mean, but a time… thingy. And I guess he hates that? He thinks I'm gonna do something bad, so he wants to…" She gulped. "Whatever he wants to do to me, he told Asriel he wouldn't even… remember me, so… So I think it's probably pretty bad." Her ears pinned back and she tried to force the knot in her stomach down. She focused on the feelings in her fingers of the magic running beneath them. "A-Anyway! Um. Just a sec."

.

With a little concentration, her mind shot back in time and was assaulted by an array of sound and magic so intense she wasn't sure whose eyes she was seeing through in the midst of the colourless smoke. The vision jerked and clipped around like a broken video. She yanked back out of it, shaking her head, her ears flopping back and forth.

"Too many at once, it's all mixed together," she said, "It's not—"

Sans grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back into a light hug. "S'okay. Don't bother, then. Do y'need a break?"

"No, I'm okay," she assured him. "Maybe we could try to follow his steps but, like, backwards?"

"Mist's on it," he said. He leaned back, flopping onto the roof and frowned thoughtfully. "Question. Whole barrier's magic, but it sorta counts more like an object than a regular spell. Do ya think there might be a chance y'could find where he got through?"

"I don't mind trying," she said.

.

He touched her arm and they weren't on the roof anymore— they sat on cool stone on one of the battlements, behind a protective line of merlons instead. Sans got up and stretched, and Frisk stood, too. She was far too short to see over the wall at all from here.

.

"Hey!" Mistral's voice carried down from up on the tall keep behind them. She waved at them when they looked up. "Are you two almost done there?!"

"Just got here," Sans called back.

"Come up afterwards, then!"

Frisk leaned back and shielded her eyes with her hand. "What's up there?" she wondered.

"Some guards were," he said. "Should have been a couple out here, too."

"I am here," someone whispered. One of the merlons near them was suddenly blinking big eyes at them and a tiny beak smiled at them. "Oh hi Oracle."

"Hey," he said. "Y'see a strange skele come this way this mornin'?"

"No, nobody. Heard the commotion just a little bit ago, though."

"Good to know," he said.

"D'you know if any guards were pulled off the walls?" Frisk asked. "I mean, like, 'cause they fell asleep or something."

"Ask my cousin," the monster said. "Above the gate. They've got a way better view of the other walls than I do."

"Perfect." Sans put a hand on Frisk's shoulder and whisked them away again.

.

He plopped them on the wall just beside where it raised up to accommodate a large gate and portcullis. Sans wandered up the stone stairs and tapped on a merlon just off to the right of the one centred over the gate.

"Aw! How'd you guess?" As before, a big-eyed, birdlike face appeared in the stone. "Oracle? No wonder! What can I do for you?"

"Hey. Gotta question," he said. "Is there one of ya on every wall?"

"Sure are!" The block monster looked quite pleased. "A ternstone on every wall makes for…! Safe walls! Old family motto."

"Gotta ask 'bout this mornin'," Sans said.

"Oh, yeah, that was crazy," the ternstone said.

"Notice a weird guy on the walls?"

"Nowhere," they assured him. "Not a ternstone was budged!"

"So he didn't notice you guys," Frisk said quietly.

"Exactly the point!"

"But I bet he wouldda noticed spiders, right?"

"Well, sure, they were all over the keep," they said.

.

Frisk folded her arms thoughtfully and looked at Sans. He nodded.

"Targeted guards," he said. "But didn't hurt 'em. Think he wanted to sneak by?"

The kid tilted her head one way, then the other. "Nnnoo, I don't think so," she said. "The way he talked to Az, it sounded like he was pretty sure that he wasn't gonna agree with him but he was gonna try anyway. Gaster probably guessed there was gonna be a battle at some point."

"Hm. Backup plan. Checks out," the skeleton said.

"Oh! Also! He changed his clothes," Frisk said. "I dunno if he looked like a guard, but he definitely had some armour on this time."

"So he mightta just been walkin' around like he owned the place." Sans frowned. "…Interestin'." He turned to the ternstone. "Y'happen to see Desyrel?"

"Hmm." The stone cube raised up, unfolding four long, twiggy grey legs that pushed them up several feet in the air. "Yep! Northest wall!"

.

As they sat down again, Sans gave the ternstone an appreciative pat.

"One more thing," he said. "Y'open the gate at all last night?"

"Not a single time," the block monster assured him. Their face vanished for a just moment before reappearing. "Ah! I'm going to have to in a second, though. Take a look over the front."

Sans took a peek, but Frisk couldn't see over the wall. He plucked her up in blue magic to give her a boost enough to lean over the battlements. There was a small entourage approaching the gate as they spoke, headed by an alabaster figure wearing a sparkly pink and purple poncho. He was holding something that resembled a microphone, and a bright crystal floated just barely above him.

"Mettaton?" Frisk asked.

"Oh great." Sans smiled sideways. "Can't imagine how that could go wrong."

"Are any of those your guy?" the ternstone asked.

"Nope."

"What're they doing here?" Frisk wondered. "Does he do TV— err, VC stuff, too?"

"Yup." Sans let her back down onto the stone. He folded his arms, a pensive frown on his face. He held up one finger, then vanished.

.

The ternstone blinked with surprise. Their big eyes shifted to Frisk. "So. Um. Are you… a tiny detective?"

"Guess so, for today," Frisk said.

"Oh! That's interesting." The monster looked curious. "You seem pretty young to be working with the Oracle, though."

"Don't really have a choice," she said with a sheepish smile and a shrug. "I don't mind, though. We, just, um… We want everyone to be safe, y'know?"

The ternstone smiled. "I see! Um… So are you a feucapra?"

"A wh—?"

"Back." Sans appeared at Frisk's side. "On our way?"

"Oh! Sure," Frisk said. She looked to the stoney monster. "Thanks for the help."

"Of course!" the ternstone replied brightly. "Any time!"

.

Sans grabbed the kid and, again, they shifted off to another part of the wall. The skeleton with the flop-eared hat was waiting for them, her hands clasped; a long, boney tail swishing nervously behind her.

"Ah…!" She jolted. "Oracle! That was… fast. You… wanted to see the barrier, right?"

"Show us where ya started from," Sans said.

Desyrel nodded. She took three very deliberate steps backwards to stand between merlons and turned to the side to face the keep. "It's here," she said. "So he… definitely had this smell then, right?"

"Yeah," Frisk said.

"Oh." The skeleton's face flushed awkwardly. She nodded. Carefully, she raised her hands and laid them against what looked to be empty air.

It shimmered slightly beneath her fingers to reveal the barrier, dyed lightly purple in a circle around where she held it. The scent of mint and sesame wafted over them.

"So, what… exactly is your plan?" she asked.

"Kiddo can see back in time through magic." Sans shifted in the blink of an eye to stand on top of the wall, making Desyrel squeak and step backwards. He snickered. "Sorry, Dez." He squatted and offered his hand to Frisk. "Give it a shot?"

Frisk grabbed onto him and he pulled her up to stand on the wall, too. Desyrel's eyes widened. She snuck back up to them, carefully avoiding Frisk's horns, and leaned over top to put her hand against her barrier again to give it some form. The kid reached out, mimicking her. The magic felt like slowly flowing sand beneath her fingertips. She closed her eyes and focused.

.

A faint hum of energy flowed through her mind, but any image was foggy. It wasn't sure where to go. She held out her hand to Desyrel. The skeleton stared back at her with a worried tilt to her brows.

"I need you to direct it," Frisk said. "Like… think about right when you were putting it up."

"Oh. Um. Alright." The skeleton slowly lowered a hand into Frisk's as if she was afraid that, somehow, the kid's fingers might become a beartrap. After a moment, she grasped her lightly and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "I am… now thinking about that."

.

Frisk tried again. Now, the time of day shifted in her mind's eye, but it was quickly blurred as the energy carried her up and above the castle, only to scatter downwards. She travelled along the feeling of the magic, her vision compromised as it tried to exist through Desyrel's memories and the flow of the barrier's magic itself. For the briefest of seconds in the tiniest of spots, the magic was disrupted, then contacted solidly with the ground. Then, the kid was ejected. Her head spun and she blinked hard in the daylight as the skeletons leaned in to look at her.

.

"That one's tough," she said quietly.

"What d'ya figure?" Sans asked.

Frisk shook her head. "It was like it was trying to show me the barrier's point of view, if that even makes sense, but…" She stuck her hand against it again. "Is there a way to find, like… a blip in it?"

"There may be… a few," Desyrel admitted. "If a large insect or… anything like that happened to hop through it at the last moment."

"Give it a try," Sans suggested.

.

The other skeleton nodded. She pressed all her fingertips against the barrier and let out a chime of magic. The whole thing shimmered faintly with a pale purple, with the exception of one slightly brighter spot at the base of it, near the gate. It was almost like tinted fabric had bunched up, the colour becoming a little stronger and more saturated at the point of overlap.

"There." Frisk pointed it out and Sans took her hand.

They were next to the aberration instantly, though on the opposite side of the barrier.

.

Frisk knelt down, touching the ground and the suspended magic. This time, as the night overtook daylight before her eyes, she caught the back heel of a boot stuck through the barrier as it had fallen. The form was hard to make out but the intersecting magic was clear. Gaster. He'd simply walked through, a moment before it had connected with the ground.

.

The kid pulled back and looked up at Sans, her heart thumping nervously. "He was already in when she put it up. It just barely got him," she said. "…C-Crap. He was here all night. How did—?"

"Y'said he was dressed a little different, yeah?" Sans said. "If he had some local clothes, and all he needs is line o' sight…" The skeleton folded his arms, a troubled frown weighing on his face. "Shit, he mightta just warped right in through a window or the portcullis or somethin'. No openin' required."

"Great," Frisk said dismally, her ears drooping.

"Good news is, there shouldn't be a repeat." He pointed upwards at the thicker, glassy barrier far above their heads. "That thing's opaque from the outside."

"Unless he's already in," Frisk grumbled.

"Nah, kiddo, can't be," Sans assured her. "Even jumpin' like he can, he wouldn'tve been able to close the distance back here that fast."

"You sure?" Frisk said.

The skeleton smiled sideways. "Y'want me to do the math?"

"Nnnno." She let out a small, quiet laugh. "No, it's okay. I trust you." She got to her feet and brushed off her pants. "We good?"

"Yup," he said. He pointed up to to the keep. "Last one."

She nodded. Sans waved to grab Desyrel's attention and then stuck his thumb up. She replied with two thumbs up and her barrier's colour faded away, leaving it invisible once more.

.

Up on the keep, Mistral waited around near an area marked off with red string. There were several other similar spots farther along; even a couple pinned into the peaked roofs of the adjacent towers. The skeleton had her hands on her hips, her toe tapping impatiently. Her posture relaxed as soon as she caught sight of the skeleton and the kid heading her way.

"Ah. A little more punctual than usual," she said. She gestured to the stringed area. "Let's start, quickly. Each of these is where we found a guard."

"Sheesh," Frisk said quietly. "…Did they not notice each other passing out?"

"The set up usually involves several stationary guards," Mistral said, "and a few patrollers making the rounds to be sure everyone stays awake, among other things. All the patrollers are currently unconscious."

"O-Oh."

"Your power lets you see things that already happened, right?" Mistral gestured to the lines of red beside her. "If you wouldn't mind?"

"I can check," Frisk said. She ducked extra low under the string to mind her horns. "But, um, it'll only work if there was some strong magic stuff going on."

"Result or no result, either way is good, believe it or not," she said.

.

Frisk nodded. She wandered around the stone, feeling for energy as much as she could, but she felt nothing. "Ah. Sorry, I don't think—"

"One more," Mistral said. She headed for the nearest one, waving for them to follow her.

Frisk scampered to keep up. Sans beat them both there.

.

The kid repeated the same steps around the next spot, but still felt nothing. She shook her head. Mistral looked thoughtful, cupping her chin and letting out a ponderous hmm.

"Sorry," Frisk said.

"No, don't be," Mistral assured her. "This tells us he didn't use any powerful magic to debilitate the guards. That should be—"

"Captain Mistral!" came the voice of the ternstone above the gate. "The Lieutenant you asked for is here!"

"Thank you!" the skeleton called back. Her brow furrowed. "Right. I'll get some things organized and I will see you two at the meeting soon."

"Wait, that's it?" Frisk asked.

"Yes, that just about does it," Mistral said.

"You don't need me for anything else?"

"No, not that I can think of. Take it easy for a while, okay, kid?"

"I'll… I'll try."

The skeleton nodded. She pointed at Sans. "And you! Be more careful! You fought with a boss monster! You could have been killed."

Sans grinned and shrugged. Mistral responded with a glare and then rushed off, her metal boots loud on the stone top of the keep.

.

"I feel like I kinda didn't do too much," Frisk said, rubbing her head.

"Nah, that was good," Sans said. "Ready?"

Frisk sighed. "Guess so."

"Somethin' wrong?" he asked. He knew the answer already, that much was clear by the look on his face.

The kid grimaced. She tented her fingers. "If they try to look at my soul all weird again, can you…? I mean. Would you mind? Maybe you could teleport me out of there? I-I mean, I just don't want them to get… too scared and send me to jail or something."

A sympathetic smile spread across his face. "…Yeah. Sure thing, kiddo."

She perked up a little and her tail gave a small wag. "Thanks, Sans."

He patted her on the head. "Ready?"

She nodded.

.

Faster than she could blink, they were back in the chaotic, crowded room of monsters— Sans stumbled over a bench and Frisk awkwardly flopped across Soleil's legs. The dog yelped with surprise and caught her, wide-eyed.

"Aah, sorry!" Frisk squeaked.

"Goodness, dear, how did you—?!"

Frisk pointed at the skeleton, who steadied himself casually against the table. He flicked finger guns her way.

"Sup?"

"Oh! That… makes sense. Hello, Oracle." Soleil chuckled and placed Frisk back down on the ground. "There you go."

"Thanks." Frisk rubbed her head and took a quick peek around for Asriel. She didn't see him, but she did catch that a lot of eyes were suddenly on her. She edged a little closer to Sans.

.

A soft paw closed around her hand. She whirled quickly. Old Grumf's fuzzy snout was right in her face. She gave her a stern look up and down.

"Did you sleep?" the scruffy terrier asked.

"Um! N-No. Not… Not really," Frisk said, lowering her voice. "I was… too nervous, I guess."

"Hm." Grumf didn't look pleased. She patted the kid on both shoulders, pointed back to the head table, and then trundled off on her own.

Frisk's face warmed under her fur, and she caught Chara from the corner of her eye, hiding a laugh behind her hands. Sans did no such thing, snickering loudly and absently mussing up her hair.

"Looks like you got a new pal, huh? Not a bad one to… uh…." His cheekbones flushed and he turned to look at the head table as if he'd heard something out of place.

Toriel was staring right at him, ears perked and eyes glimmering. She looked as if she was holding herself back from leaping to her feet. He rubbed the back of his skull.

"Guess I should say hi, huh?" he said.

"Yeah, definitely," Frisk said.

.

As they went up to the table, Toriel immediately got to her feet— causing a tiny lull in the incessant talking— and she bent forward and crushed Sans into a hug.

"Hello, dear boy," she said gently. "I have missed you."

"Y-Yeah, you too, Tori," he croaked, laughing hoarsely.

"We have so much to discuss. Shall we take that corner, there?" She nodded across the chamber to a small table at the back, where the only occupant was the bat monster, Councillor Myotis, who happened to be sleeping like a log. "I would love to talk with you for a while before this begins."

"Gladly," he said.

.

Frisk hurried to join Chara, who greeted her with a smile and patted the seat beside her.

"How'd it go?" she asked.

"Not sure, but Sans and Mistral seemed happy," she said as she snuck in, slumping halfway onto the table. From there, she could see Sans and Toriel were already laughing together at the back of the room, and Grumf had grabbed the goblin, Swampum, by the ear and was yipping at him quite intensely. Frisk leaned her cheek on her fist and looked at Chara, raising her brows. "Hey, why d'you think Mettaton might be coming here?"

"Mettaton?!" Chara's eyes widened and she twisted in her seat. "Crap."

Undyne caught the name in the air. Her ears flared out and she looked in the kids' direction with a combination of shock and disgust on her face. "He ain't comin' in here, is he?!"

"Is it that bad?" Frisk asked.

"Shit, how did he even hear about—?!"

"There is a big dome over a quarter of the Inner Circle now," Chara said.

"Ugh. You're right." Undyne sighed. "Gonna have to make it up to those dweebs, huh?"

"Just throw a big festival after the fact," the girl said. "That always goes over well."

"Guess so." She grinned from the side of her mouth. "Takes a lot more planning than you'd think, though. Anyway." She stretched her arms out in front of her, lacing her fingers together and pushing them to crack her knuckles. "I can't wait for this to be over."

.

Frisk sighed quietly. "Sorry."

Undyne glared at her and leaned closer, jabbing a claw close to the kid's snout. "What'd I say about that crap, huh?!"

"S-Sorry!"

"Quit it!"

"Go easy on her," Chara said with a laugh, holding Frisk's shoulder.

"I am!" Undyne said. "I'm tryin' to make her go easy on herself!"

"I told her and mom what the guy said," Chara said to the other kid. "He sounds delusional."

"He's a freak. You know what we found with the guards he knocked out?" Undyne asked.

"Um. No?" Frisk said worriedly.

"Guy tucked pillows under their heads! Can you believe that?! And you know what else he did?"

"No," the kid repeated shrilly.

"He left… every one of 'em… with an apology note!" Undyne shook her head. "Sicko."

"…What?" Frisk stared at her blankly. For some reason, that seemed exactly like something Gaster would do, though she wasn't sure why.

.

Alphys entered to a cheerful greeting from the other monsters and Undyne instantly perked up.

"Hello! H-Hi, everyone, s-sorry we're a little late!" Carrying a clear, flat and round crystal in both hands, she moved to what little vacant space was in the centre of the room between two of the tables.

Papyrus, a big, proud grin on his face, followed her closely, a huge, rolled-up scroll slung over one shoulder and a box clutched close to his chest. He stood at her side and she smiled at him appreciatively.

"Okay!" The lizard said. "Are we r-ready? Looks like it, right? I th-think we all know why we're here. F-First, let's just, umm…" She looked up at Papyrus. "The map?"

"The map, absolutely!" Papyrus put the box on the table and unrolled the map. With a twirl of his finger and a glimmer of deep blue, it lifted high enough into the air for everyone to see, turning translucent, like a magical hologram.

"It's the whole Kingdom," Chara whispered to Frisk.

.

"So…! O-Okay, we are, um, lucky enough that someone tried to throw tracking c-crystals at the, um… I guess we'll call him the, uh, Interloper, for now. So…!" Alphys lifted her clear crystal and it floated up along the map. "We can s-seeeee if we have him on here."

Wherever it went, the crystal distorted the map slightly and revealed glowing dots of all different colours scattered throughout the land. The concentration was particularly high in the castle, but there were more dots freckling the map across all regions. Way beyond the city, and out in the wilds, a couples dot in black, gold, and blue stood out. Alphys smiled and pointed up at them.

"And th-there he is," she said.

Undyne got to her feet. She pointed at a small group made up of armoured knights. "You guys. On him. Trail 'im but don't engage," she said. "Make regular reports back, got it?"

The knights saluted and rushed out of the room with a hup hup hup.

.

"So! Um! Some good n-news," Alphys continued, "is that I-I've been working on, um, s-something to help contain the Interloper. A-As most of you know, o-or, um, for those who don't, I guess, he can d-do three short-range t-teleports in quick succession, s-so keeping him actually in anywhere is b-basically our entire problem d-dealing with him."

"And before anyone gets any bright ideas," Undyne growled, "yeah, we know he's essentially after one kid. And we're protecting that one kid. This is non-negotiable. Anyone with an issue can get the heck out of this meeting."

Nobody budged despite a tingle of unease in the room. Alphys cracked an awkward smile and clasped her hands together.

"Right then! S-So, um…!" She froze, her eyes growing wide. "O-Oh."

.

It wasn't just her. All the monsters noticed it. A strange, energetic song with a strong beat was creeping up the hallway. Frisk's fur bristled. She'd know that tune anywhere.

.

Lights! Camera! Action!

.

"Hey there, darlings!" Striding in on immaculate pink boots, Mettaton and his floating crystal burst into the room. "Mettaton here for MTT news, and we're here with the Queen, and the Archwizard, and oh my! So many important people in one room!"

"Mettaton," Alphys squeaked, "wh-what are you—?!"

"Nice to see you again, too, my dear friend!" he crooned into his crystal microphone. With a wave of his arm, a VC screen flew straight into the room to interfere with the view of the map. "Now, here I am! To get your reactions, darlings! To the absolute chaos going on just beyond these walls! Watch!"

.

With a gesture, the screen turned on to show the streets outside. Chaos was a bit of an overstatement. Monsters near the barrier seemed a little perturbed. Some whispered amongst themselves. Mettaton turned off the screen and peered around the room.

.

"Who first?!" he demanded.

"Mettaton, you…!" Undyne got to her feet and slammed her hands down on the table. "Are you nuts?!"

"Eloquent as always! You're on live, your Highness!" He slid over and pointed his mic into her face, putting one foot up on the table. "Barriers appearing over the capital; strange attacks near the Soul of the World— not covered by MTT programming, might I add! The people have a right to know what's going on."

"It's confidential," Arnbjörn said.

"Oh?! Something to hide?!"

"Mettatonn…." Chara groaned, putting her face in her hands.

"Yeeeesss, Princess?" He fluttered his eyelashes.

"W-Wait, just a second," Alphys said. "We… W-We're just—!"

.

"If I may!" Papyrus said loudly. He slid in front of the floating crystal and put a hand to his chest. "Hello, MTT viewers! I am the great Papyrus, as at least a few of you will know already. The truth is, there is a strange Interloper in the Kingdom right now! He's not dangerous to normal people, though, but we definitely would like for everyone to watch out for him!"

"Well said, darling!" Mettaton said. "So! Now, as you can see, dear viewers, there is a meeting of all the best and brightest, and we're here to give you the scoop—!"

"METTATON!" Undyne yelled. "TURN THAT CRAP OFF! If you broadcast our plans, then this problem guy could just watch the VC and see our plans, get it?!"

"Oh?!" Mettaton recoiled. His eyes went wide. "Ooooh. One second dear viewers! We will beeeee! Right! Baaack!" He snapped his fingers and his floating crystal dimmed. "Well, why didn't you just say so?!"

"Wasn't it obvious?!"

"No?!"

.

"Alright, alright, relax," Arnbjörn said, gently motioning up and down with his hands. "We got a lot of work to do. I'm sure y'can sit around and make some… report after the fact, if y'really wanna." He looked at Undyne. "Transparency ain't bad so long as it's all safety-first, hm?"

Undyne clenched her fists tight, but she nodded. "…Fine."

"Ooh, sounds good to me, darling," Mettaton assured them, shooting them a wink. "But! I mean, it'd be even better if I was able to give the viewers something. Like… an image of the villain, maybe? Something to look out for."

"D-Do we have that…?" Alphys wondered.

Chara looked at Frisk and Mettaton zeroed right in. The kid cautiously pulled out her phone.

"Um, I… might."

"Ooh?! Let's seeeee." The tall monster glided over as if he had wheels under his boots. "Show me what you got, darling!"

.

Frisk nodded. She didn't have a good photo of this Gaster, but she did have that picture her father had accidentally taken of himself when he was holding her phone. She winced. She duplicated the photo and, on the copy, quickly used her finger to scribble out the scar the offending skeleton didn't have. It was uncanny.

"Sorry, dad," she said under her breath before turning it around to show Metatton. "There. This guy."

"Oooh. Thank you." He carefully plucked the phone from her hands and pointed to the door. "I will be riiiight back with this." He slid off, crystals in tow.

Undyne leaned towards Arnbjörn. "Keep an eye on 'im?"

"Gotcha." He hefted himself off the bench and wandered out after him.

"O… O-Okaaaay," Alphys said a little shrilly. She sighed and reached up to hold Papyrus's arm for a moment. "Thanks, P-Papyrus, you really calmed things down."

"I am pretty great at reasoning with people, if I do say so myself," he said with a proud grin. "Happy to help."

.

"On that n-note!" Alphys said, puffing herself up before the group. "I w-was going to save this for the e-end, but, since he's been s-so helpful, and for h-his really brave actions up until this point, defending multiple people out on the roof today, I'd like to r-request a…! A special A-Permit! F-For Papyrus! Is there any objections? D-Don't forget, he was a b-big part of the group that saved the Kingdom, even if he is quite young!"

When nobody voiced anything in the the brief seconds afterwards, Alphys smacked her hand down on the table. She looked at Marama— the Archon gave her a solemn nod.

"G-Great! Special A-Permit a-accepted!" Alphys took the box he'd carried in from the table and opened it. She pulled out a thick, white coat with orange detailing— one that looked like a hybrid between Sans's jacket and one of the magus coats from her university— and presented it to him with a smile. "I m-made this! For you!"

"FOR ME?!" Papyrus gawked and he took it like it was a precious and delicate artefact. "Wowie, thank you!"

"And! S-Since your A-Permit was approved w-with no contest!" She grinned and winked. "Y-You may still not b-be able to use cauldrons on your own yet, but you can d-definitely have my patented P-Potion Pockets!"

"Potion… pockets?!" he repeated.

"Herbs into the pockets, a charge of magic, and a potion comes o-out," she said proudly. "It's… a bit experimental, but—!"

Papyrus cawed loudly and pulled Alphys into a hug. She snorted loudly and patted him on the shoulders, then gestured to the head table.

"Y-You can sit down, if you want, we're d-done with the map."

"Thank you!" He put her down, bowed to her, and then bowed to the other monsters, who seemed mostly pleased and amused. Pulling his new jacket on proudly, he bounded over to the head table and sat down beside Frisk, beaming.

.

Alphys cleared her throat. "O-Okay! So. I… o-observed most of what has happened so far, so until Captain Mistral shows up, I'll start the recap?" She looked to Undyne. "Just, um, j-jump in whenever you want, okay?"

"Yup," Undyne said.

.

The lizard began back at the battle to trap Gaster in the ice dome, to get everyone up to date. Mettaton and Arnbjörn slipped back in after just a minute, and once Frisk had her phone, she hid it beneath the table and texted Asriel to ask how things were going. It wasn't long before he replied with a photo of himself throwing up a peace sign and Pasithea smiling awkwardly beside him. Relief washed over her and she allowed herself to slump on the table. Chara looked like she was paying a lot more attention, which Frisk was very grateful for. She was having a bit of trouble focusing again. She would have loved a long, cozy nap right about now.

.

When Mistral finally arrived, she was heralded by a gust of wind and accompanied by two other monsters: Lieutenant Saffron and a spiderish creature with a face a little like a boar's.

"My investigation, for now, is complete," the skeleton announced.

Alphys gestured for her to take the centre floor and Mistral positioned herself there, chest puffed, a serious frown on her face.

"Thank you, I…" She paused, her eyes darting to the door as Asriel and Pasithea slunk in to listen. "I believe this will be useful. First thing." She gestured to spider-like monster. "This is Sentry Anaphira, she is the first of the afflicted guards to wake up. Please make your report. What happened last night?"

The spidery monster nodded. "Um! Right! A-As you said, I'm a sentry, and I was posted on the side of the wall last night. As I came down for one of my legally-mandated-breaks, a skeleton approached me. So, as I had never seen him before, I asked for his name and he said Rineva. A—"

Frisk's hand shot up right away and she stood on the bench. All eyes turned on her.

"Yes, Frisk?" Mistral said.

"It's Avenir. Backwards," she said. "It's his mom's name. I mean. Gaster's… The Interloper's mom. Her name was Avenir." She quickly sat back down.

There was a little, concerned rumble in the crowd. Mistral nodded.

"I see." She gestured to Anaphira again.

"Oh! Well. As he was dressed pretty similarly to the Rangers, he didn't alarm me at all. And, as we chatted, he seemed very pleasant and thoughtful."

"Did anything else about him make you think he was employed by the Kingdom?" Mistral asked.

"Yes! As a matter of fact, he had a medallion around his neck with the Delta Rune on it," she said. "A silver one. Like Queen Undyne's. Anyway, as we parted, he left me a drink. As I recall, he said it was supposed to be helpful if one starts to get too tired." The eight-legged monster wilted. "As I had no reason to distrust him, I took that to mean it was a pick-me-up, not a… help-me-nap. I am very sorry, everyone. Your Highness."

"Don't be, you got tricked by a tricky guy," Undyne assured her. "Mist, I'm comfortable moving forward as if this story is true for the others, too, until we're told something different."

Mistral nodded. "Agreed. Anyone opposed?"

.

Sabre the unicorn stuck her hand up. "Not opposed, exactly, but if he forced anyone to drink it, permission to kick his ass later?"

Undyne held in a laugh, though several others in the group did not. "If you get there first."

"Sick."

"Leaving it up to the guards themselves, and then giving them both a pillow and a note of apology is bizarre, but it does line up with the prior behaviour of the Interloper," Mistral pointed out. "Combat with him is exhausting, but all actual injuries have been minor, except for the ones inflicted on his target."

"Do we know why that is, yet?" asked the grey goblin, who was last seen dozed off in a sleeping cap on the night of the Crescent Court. "Err, I mean, that the blue kid is a target."

"Yeah," Sans put in. "The guy's delusional." He pointed at Frisk. "He thinks that tiny kid can end worlds."

Frisk gulped and Chara held her hand, but the dismissive scoffing and harrumphing of the monsters put her more at ease.

"Alright, now that is patently ridiculous," the goblin Swampum added. "Strange she may be, but that is still just a child."

"Wait, why is she strange?" the grey goblin wondered.

"Please, be more polite," Soleil said, standing up. "That puppy has Dog's blessing; it may be unusual, but strange is a little crass, isn't it?"

"I-I wasn't referring to that!" Swampum squeaked.

.

"Moving on," Mistral said abruptly. "I've conducted some interviews, and some classified magic research with the help of the Oracle. What I can conclude is the Interloper used his limited teleportation spell to enter the castle grounds early in the evening, before the scent barrier was deployed, and only encountered it by accident. Then, he made his way through the grounds, and possibly parts of the castle itself, undetected.

.

"I don't believe he took the guards out of commission to harm them, specifically, but instead to reduce the numbers and response times when he took steps towards attacking his target. We know he has much more power than he used today, and I believe this is evidence of two possible things— he is running low on energy, or his reluctance to cause massive damage to a building that has occupants he couldn't be sure of."

.

"Let's treat it like the second one. And that's twice he's made it a focus to take guards outta the equation," Undyne said. "Saff, the ones from the time trap thing, they're still on bedrest, right?"

"Yes ma'am!" Lieutenant Saffron stood at attention and saluted. "We, uh, didn't wanna risk somethin' else happenin' to 'em so soon, since we ain't seen a thing like this before. We're really runnin' low on souls out there, though."

"Yeah, tell me about it, we've had like a single new recruit in the last three months," Undyne said.

"Throwing guys at him isn't gonna help if all he wants to do is kill me," Frisk muttered softly.

Chara nodded gave her hand a squeeze.

.

"Lieutenant Saffron, I asked you to investigate the inside of the ice dome," Mistral said. "Did you find anything interesting in there?"

"Hmmm… Not too much, t'be frank," she said. "The Interloper didn't leave any of his junk. All he did was take apart an auto-catcher and—

"Crap!" Asriel barked from the side of the room, drawing every eye in there straight to him. "Those are garbage, then!"

"…Excuse me?" Mistral asked.

"Ooh, spicy," Mettaton said.

"Listen, this is really, super important," Asriel said, hurrying to the middle of the room. "Anything you do to this guy, he's gonna know how to counter next time you fight, get it?! He's like a thousand years old and his job is basically just to be a genius. This guy knows how to keep monsters alive with no sunlight, do you know how crazy that is?!"

"Kid, what are you saying?" the skeleton asked worriedly. "How do you kn—?"

"Forget how I know, it's the least important thing about this," the boy said. He took a deep breath to try to calm himself, but the fur on the back of his neck was standing almost straight up. "What I'm saying is, he took apart your auto-catchers. Those are his auto-catchers now. He knows how they work. He can make his own or reprogram yours. So. Assume they're either junk or worse now."

.

"S-So… So do we pull the operators out?" Alphys asked. She rubbed her chin. "N-No, wait, they may be able to hear tinkering, we'll a-at least have an early warning, then."

"Ugh, what a mess," Undyne grunted. "Keep Ungol near the Soul; pull the rest out."

"On it," Arnbjörn said, getting up to leave. "Fill me in later, eh?"

Mistral nodded gratefully. "Thank you. And, you, too." She took Asriel by the shoulders and sat him down between Swampum and a tiny rhinoceros who was furiously taking notes.

.

"Back to it," the skeleton said. "Some of you may have seen strange dark butterflies around. These weren't insects at all, but magic spies created by the Interloper to expand his teleportation range." She grimaced. "Therefore, I've concluded that our barrier is useless against him now."

.

An alarmed ruckus erupted from the group. Frisk's heart sunk and so did she. Papyrus rubbed her back.

"Would a Mirror Modification Barrier help, perhaps?" Toriel got to her feet, her brow furrowed with concern. "If so, please allow me to aid you."

"A Mirror…?" Mistral blinked.

"Wait, T-Toriel, you can cast a Mirror Mod?!" Alphys squeaked.

"It would not be easy, but if we limit it to the castle alone, I believe I could," she said.

"What's that?" Frisk asked quietly.

Chara shrugged.

"It is a barrier reflects the contents, inside and out," Toriel said, her eyes levelled on them. "For example, if I were to cast it upon the castle, the outside would become an opaque, incorrect vision. The inside would mirror itself randomly. So, prior knowledge of the layout would be useless."

"Mom, could you really…?" Chara's eyes lit up. "If you did that, he'd be stuck outside no matter what!"

"Yo, that sounds great," Undyne said. "Could you do that now?"

"I will need to augment a composition first," Toriel said. "But, today, yes."

"Okay! That's something!" The blue monster blew out a breath of relief. "Now, we got a couple more things. Anyone wanna move to the dining hall to continue? I'm starving."

.

After a resounding, "Yes, your Highness!", the room quickly began to clear. Frisk rushed to Asriel to give him a hug and the kids regrouped with Sans, where he was casually supporting the wall as the other monsters hurried out.

"Everythin' work out?" he asked, turning his gaze on the goat boy.

"Oh! Yeah. It was easy," he said. "She just waved her hands around and this, like, smoke came offa me." He rubbed his head. "Not sure if it'll fix the dreams, but at least the guy won't be able to just zoom right at me."

"That's good," Chara said. "But this whole thing is…" She shook her head. "Papy, did we tell you the guy's a psycho?"

"Nnnnnot recently?" Papyrus said.

"He wants Frisk gone because of her time powers," Asriel said quietly.

"What?! Why?! She hasn't done anything to him, or anything that was bad, right?!"

"…Maybe even going out into the void was bad enough," Frisk muttered.

"We had no choice, thanks to some other idiot," the goat boy said.

"I know! I know we didn't," Frisk said. "Just sucks." She looked off at the stormy-grey Toriel, who stood close to Undyne, whispering in a short, concerned tone. "I'm glad your mom can do that Mirror thing."

Chara nodded. "Yeah. Hopefully that'll let us actually get some rest." She held Frisk's shoulder and gave her a very steady, certain look. "It'll be safe here. For real."

.

Papyrus's brow furrowed. A little glow of magic flickered in his eyes and he crossed his arms, tight. "So he knows what he's doing."

"…Yeah," Asriel said reluctantly.

"No… mistaken identity? No thinking that Frisk is some other, actually awful time creature?"

"Nope," Frisk said, her ears drooping. "Don't think so."

"Huh." Papyrus rubbed the back of his head. "Nyeh. I guess convincing him is going to take a lot longer than I thought."

"Forget convincing him, Papy," Chara said. "It's not worth it."

"It might be!" he said.

.

"H-Hey, guys," Alphys said, sliding in to join them. "Sorry to interrupt. Sans, d-do you have some time?"

"Probably," he said.

"Want to come t-to the, um, Academy with me and h-help me test something?" she asked. "It's about… You know. This project." She smiled hopefully. "Y-You're, um, kinda the only one who can… make sure it works."

"Oh yeah? Hm." He tilted his head to the side and went quiet for a few seconds as Alphys's face began to flush. He grinned. "C'mon, Alph, y'know I'm sayin' yes."

"Ah! Thanks," she said.

"Is there anything we can do?" Frisk asked.

"Oh! Oh no, not a-at all!" The lizard said with a fond smile. "Just… st-stay in the castle. Stay safe. B-Be patient. Let us grownups handle things from now on, okay?"

.

Frisk bristled. Her ears drooped. "But I—"

"Chill for the rest of the day, at least," Sans said. "You did a lot."

"I don't feel like it," she said. She reached out for his sleeve. "I can't let this keep happening, though."

"Not up to ya to let it or not," he said gently. He raised his head and looked to Undyne. "Hey. What d'ya say to a big slumber party type deal in the throne room?"

"Sure, why the hell not?!" Undyne said with a big grin. "Uh, isn't it the afternoon, though? Ah, who cares?"

"There ya go." Sans shot Frisk a sympathetic smile. "We'll figure this out." He looked up at his brother. "Cool coat."

"Thank you, brother!" Papyrus said brightly. "But. Um. I'm pretty worried, too, are you sure—?"

"We're s-sure," Alphys said. "G-Get some lunch and then, um, just relax in the throne room. We'll see you later, okay?"

.

As she and Sans headed on their way, the kids all shared worried looks. Frisk folded her arms tight, her tail swishing uncomfortably. Asriel put a hand on her head.

"…Maybe it'll do us some good? I dunno."

"Maybe," Chara said, though her tone was lukewarm.

Nobody really looked convinced. Frisk grimaced.

"If… If he shows up before the Mirror thingy—"

"I will personally beat him up and lock him in a closet as many times as I have to," Chara said.

"Same," Asriel said. "I'll—! I'll burn all his stuff!"

"I understand that you're frustrated, Frisk," Papyrus said gently. "I also hate waiting. Especially waiting because you're a kid."

Frisk nodded. She squeezed her fingers into her arms for just long enough for Chara to pull them away.

"Don't," she said. "Listen. He might do weird stuff, but he's not hurting them, right?"

"…Yeah, I guess so," Frisk said.

"So, it's… It's better. If we stay," she said. "Look, you know me, I'm not risk-averse at all. So. Trust me? If he can't hit you, there's nobody to try to hit. Does that make sense?"

Frisk shrugged and nodded.

.

Her friends looked a little relieved but, as they followed Papyrus to their next destination, Frisk didn't feel it. Her soul was restless in her chest and she couldn't help but run bad scenarios in her head. It still felt like everything was just one blaster-shot away from falling apart.

.

Be patient. Slow down. Wait. Hide.

.

She wasn't sure how much longer she could take it.