The most super-awkward pancakes to exist in any timeline ever Chapter 92
When morning came and Sans strolled into Gaster's cabin to check on the old skeleton, he was greeted with chaos befitting a mad scientist's workspace. The table was coated in books and papers, as well as pots of ink and a smattering of pens. A few large books were open on the couch— history and geography, marked up with little bits of paper and ink. One former journal was left completely stripped of its pages, each sheet now stuck up on the walls between the reading area and the bed. Most were scrawled with lines of glyphs and jots of dates and times. Some little splotches of ink shifted back and forth between the pages, an animated recollection of a startled mistake.
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Amongst the notes were several drawings: scribbled flowers and cavern with a pinprick of light high above, a pruning knife and a heart-shaped locket; careful, precise sketches of all three of the kids that had been touched by time. Arrows and glyphs marked each one. Though Sans couldn't read them, he was reminded of the observational notes Alphys would make on the blueprints of new inventions or the hybrid plants she would sometimes grow.
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A long, forked line, like the twisted branch of a tree— scrawled in the shifting, magic black ink— spanned over several pages, its offshoots reaching and retracting on loop. The notes that accompanied it were written more sloppily than the rest. Above it, another sketch was hung, one of a gaggle of strange, shadowy children with faint, faded features— all but one, standing at the centre, marked by red eyes and a faint scar on the left side of her face.
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"Yeesh," Sans said. He shot a glance at Gaster, who was sitting up, hunched, on the bed, scribbling feverishly on a page propped up on a book against his knee. "Didn't sleep, huh?"
"Haven't had the time," Gaster said.
Sans shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels to look up at the wall. He caught sight of the letter Frisk as Asriel had sent, but the drawing that had been on the bottom was torn off. "Huh." He cut his eyes at the other skeleton. "So, uh, guess you're a pretty dramatic guy."
"Hah. I'm not sure." Gaster got up and reached for a little bag of supplies he'd left on the bookshelf and pulled out a small bit of sticky putty. He used that on the back of his newest page and placed it on the wall near the sketch of Chara. "I hope I don't sound ungrateful, but this place doesn't exactly have a lot of table room."
"…Noted." Sans cocked his head to the side. "And this is, uh… helpful?"
"Oh, I hope so."
"Mind fillin' me in?"
"Feel free to read whatever you like," Gaster said.
Sans shrugged. "Can't."
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The old skeleton's brows shot up. He looked between Sans and the wall for a few seconds, tapping his teeth. "You can't…? I apologize. It's… Hm.." He crossed his arms. "Unusual. This world is… more different than I expected, but—"
"Eh. It ain't important," Sans said.
"It is, actually." Gaster reached up onto one of the sheets near the branching line and jotted down a few more words. "You've never heard of Creatlach?"
"Nope."
"Hm. So, I guess the time god wasn't lying about the lack of healing, either?"
"Nah. Gotta get some special water or talk to one of the uh, three or four people up at the Mirror Lakes for anythin' speedy. Not even the old queen can pull out that kinda magic without help, these days," Sans said. "Curse stuff, whatcha gonna do?"
"I see." Gaster stepped away from the wall and folded his arms. "Anyway. When we battled, I noticed your soul contained many of the same notes I recognized from…" He tilted his head back towards the other skeleton. "Are you aware of who I am to the Sans of my world?"
"Yup."
"Did…? Does the Gaster here take on the same role?"
"He ain't takin' on any roles," Sans said.
"Right, right…" The old skeleton raised his brows. "You said that you…?" He frowned lightly and clenched his fingers into his arms. "I'm sorry."
"Uh. Okay," Sans said.
"For you to do whatever you did, things must've been horrific," he said.
"And that don't bother ya?" the sharp-toothed skeleton wondered.
"Of course it does. But, in every world I've seen, you've been… Hah. Consistent. I trust your judgement. Even if it's… disturbing, on a very existential level. If that makes sense."
Sans's grin widened. "Dunno, that's pretty messed up."
"Hm. Not if you'd seen what I have."
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A stark, tired gloom suddenly crept over the old skeleton like a storm cloud. He let out a faint sigh and dropped back to sit on the couch, rubbing a hand across his forehead before gesturing to his work. "I've just been trying to piece together everything I know of… this. When things occurred. Why. The whole… timeline of it. Where I fit into all this. Chara was kind enough to share a couple memories with me."
"Hm. She mentioned," Sans said. Though his smile didn't falter, a coolness settled in his gaze. "Hope y'realize that shit's real rough for her, yeah?"
"I do."
"And she won't talk about it with anyone."
Gaster grimaced and gave a little nod. "It… definitely filled in some gaps," he said quietly. "But I—"
"She didn't show ya for no reason."
"I…" The skeleton sighed. "I know. I know."
"Oh great," Sans said, his grin twisting sideways. "What's gettin' in the way now?"
"She was trying to take every ounce of guilt onto herself," Gaster said. "I think she expected me to be mad at her." His face fell and his gaze was suddenly far away. He started to say something, but then thought better of it and was quiet for a moment longer before trying something else. "For something to… even be able to bend a phantom like that—"
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"Ah, this crap again," Sans cut in. "Yeah. They're dangerous. Got it. Y'know that wasn't this one, right? Y'even realize what Chara was showin' you?"
"She was… trying to absolve the time god," Gaster said.
Sans leaned towards the other skeleton. "Absolve her of what, exactly?"
Gaster didn't answer, preferring instead to stare at the floor, and the sharp-tooth skeleton scoffed.
"Y'know that time god's the reason none of us were actually tryin' to dust ya, right? Despite you comin' in blastin," he said. "She didn't want anyone t'hurt ya. Behind the scenes, she was the one hopin' y'were okay. Hoped y'could talk it out."
"That's not happening," Gaster said quietly.
"Y'felt her magic. There ain't a chance ya didn't get a glimpse of how she is." A glint of colour gleamed in Sans's good eye. "You're a stubborn ol' bastard, y'know that?"
"Hah. I'm sorry," he said. "I… did tell Chara I would talk to the time god, but—"
"You're gonna," Sans said. "That was part of the deal, in case ya forgot."
The old skeleton nodded. "I know." He tented his fingers and frowned thoughtfully, his eyes darting to the note in red ink he'd stuck to the wall. "It's been on my mind constantly."
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Sans stared at him for a few seconds before he shrugged his shoulders and winked. "Welp. Fine. We'll be out there. Y'good for breakfast, or do I gotta send Papy in?"
"I'm fine. Thank you."
"Eh, I'll send 'im anyway." He took a final glance at the wall, then left the old skeleton to his own devices.
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Asriel was lurking just outside, back to the wall and ear tilted towards the door. A frustrated scowl darkened his face and his magic prickled the air around him. Sans shot him an amused look.
"Don't light the place up, alright?" he said.
"I-I won't!" Asriel sighed. "…So annoying."
"I'm in perpetual big-bro mode, it's kinda my job," Sans said with a wink.
The boy cracked a smile. "Not you."
"Hm. Sounds like I gotta crank it up a notch, then."
Asriel huffed out a quiet laugh and stepped up off the wall, stretching his back. "Just, the way he… twists everything around in his head like that." He shook his head, though his soul ached uncomfortably. "Ugh. Whatever." He turned to the shrub that masked his strange little realm and beckoned to it. "Come on, it's, uh… It's getting a little harder to hold up from the outside."
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Everyone else was still within the cozy plant chamber, clustered in the soft grass around Toriel and the heap of blankets that was resting half-across her lap. Asriel, scales of bark running along the side of his neck and one of his arms, reluctantly stood back a bit, but Sans wandered towards them without a care.
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Frisk noticed him first, turning to shoot him a small smile. Toriel took note and and her eyes met the skeleton's before she bent her snout low to the lump she cradled.
"Dear. Sans has returned," she whispered. "You would like to see him, would you not?"
Chara, from deep under the blankets, groaned. Papyrus patted her gently on the back.
"Sister, it's alright," he said. "You're alright."
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Sans sat down. Chara still didn't move.
"Sup?" he said. "Still bummed?"
The girl snorted.
"She doesn't even want any cocoa," Frisk said quietly.
"Yeesh." He looked at the others. "How long's she been like this?"
"Since last night," Papyrus said.
Sans folded his arms and tilted his head. "Need me to go get some croissants or somethin'?"
"I don't wanna eat, I feel like throwing up," Chara grunted.
Toriel cooed softly and rubbed the girl's head.
"I wish you had mentioned your plan," Asriel said. "I wouldda told you not to."
"Shut up, that's exactly why I didn't mention it," Chara grumbled.
"Chara, are you sure you don't want anything?" Frisk asked quietly.
"…I just wanna sleep." She huffed. "I'm fine. I don't want to talk about this anymore."
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Nobody looked convinced. Frisk pouted. Sans shrugged and settled in his spot.
"Okay. So. Uh. Anyone here read, uh, Creatlach?" he asked. "Or… Uh. Some old skelescript?"
"No, but, um…" Frisk fished in her pockets, then offered him a folded sheet of paper— the key to a cypher, matching the skeleton glyphs to plain letters they could all understand. "I got that, anyway. Does it match?"
Sans scanned it and smiled. "Yup."
"But, like, if it's written in Creatlach words, I got nothin'," the kid said apologetically. "Dad offered to teach me but I, um, said not yet. And then we kinda had to leave the whole world and, um… Yeah." Her brows bent with worry and her eyes got big. "I-Is he really writing in Creatlach? He is, isn't he?"
"That's what he said," Sans said.
Frisk puffed out a little sigh. "Oooookay." She crossed her arms as her stomach did a flip.
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"He's trying to figure out timeline crap," Asriel said, creeping a little closer. "Sounded like it's kinda eating at him."
After a little grumbling, Chara sat up stiffly, the blankets falling away from her shoulders. Toriel stroked her head and, as the girl turned, Frisk offered her a hug. She wilted and accepted, gripping to her with cautious fingers.
"I'm okay, I'm ooookay," she said softly.
"Like heck," Frisk said.
"Hmph…Can't give me a break, can ya?" Chara teased quietly.
"Never ever." The kid pressed closer and lit up with warm, consoling red.
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Chara huffed. She let herself slump for a moment as Papyrus snuck in and grabbed the both of them, his soul glowing warmly.
"You are doing very well, my dear," Toriel said gently.
The freckled girl nodded reluctantly. She straightened up a bit and her eyes settled firmly on Sans.
"Did it do anything?" she asked quietly.
"Which bit?" Sans asked.
"My bit. Just don't tell me I did this to myself and it didn't even budge him," she said.
"Ah. Welp. He budged," the skeleton said. "But, uh… Maybe not a whole lot."
Chara sighed heavily. "Damn it." She shook her head. "I… can read a little of it. The skeleton language."
"What?! Really?!" Papyrus grinned. "That's great! How?!"
Chara shrugged tepidly. "I learned a bit from… Uncle G. I can at least get you a few words, if it's the same one from home." She patted Frisk on the head before she pulled away and looked to Sans. "Grab my soul and let's do some work at the same time."
"Uh. Pigeon, it ain't been that long since last time," Sans said.
Chara flinched. She shook her head. "I just… I don't… Ugh." She sighed. "I don't… want to be out here right now," she said under her breath.
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"In that case," Sans said, "why doesn't the good ol' Papaya make an appappearance instead?"
As Papyrus brightened, Chara looked between the two with confusion.
"I'd be more than happy to help," Papyrus assured her.
"But we can't work like that," she said.
"So what?" Sans said.
"So, the whole point is that you can do Soul work while… while I just… You know…" She sighed. "Tap out for a little bit."
"Sweetheart, I am not certain that is the best strategy to deal with your distress," Toriel said softly.
"It's not like it's any worse than trying to sleep through a headache," Chara grumbled.
"It is quite a bit more dramatic than that, dear."
"Just give Papy a half-hour or somethin'," Sans said, returning the note of glyphs to Frisk. "Go freak out the ol' grouch and read his notes. Then we'll work and see where it goes. Okay?"
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Chara looked a little uncertain, but Papyrus got up and offered her both hands.
"Come on, little sister, let me at least give it a try."
Frisk gave her a little nudge and Asriel stuck his thumb up. Toriel placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder and lightly squeezed it.
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Chara rolled her eyes, but she took Papyrus's hands and let herself get pulled to her feet. He guided her a few paces back and, with a bright, fond smile, wrapped her in a hug. They erupted with sparks and were swiftly engulfed in a spiral of magic. Papyrara— the version with the orange streaks across their eyes— burst forth. They had no armour or weapon this time, the cuirass replaced with a modified version of Papyrus's new alchemy coat. They let out a little, satisfied sigh, putting a hand to their chest and shooting a smile at the others.
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Toriel rose to meet them, engulfing them in a tight, strong hug. She whispered something against the side of their head and then held their face, planting a gentle kiss between their eyes. The large skeleton's shoulders sagged and they wrapped all four arms tight around her.
"We're alright," they said in a voice that was almost entirely Papyrus's. "I promise." They grinned and took a step back. "Okay, we're off to go steal information from the criminal! Aaand possibly start cooking breakfast! I'm not sure in what order yet." They leapt out through the leafy wall of the chamber without a second thought.
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Frisk let out a quiet sigh. A little relief warmed her but concern still beat heavy in her heart. Chara hadn't been specific about what she'd shared with Gaster, but if it was her time as an angry ghost or even remotely similar to what Frisk had seen in Asriel's head, it was no wonder the girl was so out of it.
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Frisk was no stranger to memories that felt completely off-limits— ones that would only make her mind spiral, bones freeze, and throat tighten. Ones that dumped her into a hole of aching, weeping darkness. If not for being completely out of control when she'd lent Sans her soul to cross the barrier all those months back, there would not be another person in the universe that would ever have known about them.
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Chara was way, way braver than she was, Frisk thought. She was glad that the girl had Papyrus. She knew syncing her soul with her own sunshiny brother's always managed to light her back up, and she hoped that this Papyrus would do the same for Chara, even if she was almost certain that he would.
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When the kid caught Asriel's eye, he looked exactly how she felt. She took a breath to try to steady herself, but before she could voice any concerns, Toriel spoke.
"Sans, you are staying here for a while, are you not?"
"Yup," the skeleton said.
"Then I will depart for the castle for a while," she said. "I must prepare to set out for the End once more, and—"
"Wait, you're going?" Asriel bleated. "What about Chara?"
"Do not fret. I will remain in the Kingdom until all this fuss is over with," she said.
"O-Oh." The goat boy looked embarrassed. "Cool. Um. Good. Sorry."
Toriel dipped her head. She approached the wall. "I, um… Oh dear, I just…? Push? Or—?"
"Just walk through, it's fine," Asriel said.
She put her hand out first, but she had no problem simply slipping out into the leaves and vanishing.
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"Us, too?" Frisk said. "I don't wanna miss anything."
Asriel nodded. "That's… smart." He looked a little embarrassed. "Can't just hide in a bush all day, I guess."
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They cleared up the junk they'd brought in to make the place more comfortable overnight and then chucked themselves back out into the cavern of the soul. Sans opted to flop and slide down the hill to reach the Soul. Asriel felt the strain of the realm on his soul as soon as he left it, weighing heavier than even just a few minutes ago. He peeked back inside one last time and then focussed his magic, attempting to seal it up. He wasn't sure if he'd succeeded but, after a few moments, he felt lighter, as if he'd just let a boulder down from his shoulders. His ears lifted hopefully and gave the bush a kick. His foot met only leaves and spindly branches.
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Asriel let out a little huff of relief and plopped down onto the grass, laying on his back. Frisk sat beside him and, after a moment, flopped over him like a cat. He grunted, but patted her on the head nonetheless.
"How's the planty panic?" she asked.
"The what?" He raised his brows. "Oh. I… guess it's okay?" He folded his arms behind his head. "I've been getting used to this stuff. I think it helps when it's not just flowers."
"That's good."
"Papyrus had this idea that I just, like, keep a vine or something around my wrist," he said. "Might start sometime."
"Ooh. Smart," Frisk said. She shifted, rolling awkwardly back onto the ground and staring up at the ceiling. "Maybe later we should ask Chara to take us out of here."
"…Y'think so? Why?" Asriel asked.
"She seems really stressed," she said. "And, I mean… it's not like we can rush this thing that she's gotta do with Sans to look in the Soul, right? She'll just pass out."
"Yeah. That's fair." Asriel sighed. "It's not so bad in here, but it kinda reminds me of… the mountain, y'know?"
"'Cause it is one, I guess," Frisk teased. "…Maybe if Gaster starts being nice, we can take him to see the city."
The boy scoffed. "Why would you wanna do that?"
"He's just been fighting like, forever. Even here. Right? It'd be nice to… Y'know. See what monsters can do in the sunlight, after all that time. At least, I think so."
"Hm." Asriel's brow furrowed a little. His ears pinned back a little. "…Maybe."
From his tone, Frisk was pretty sure she'd convinced him. She smiled to herself.
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After a few minutes, Frisk sat up and peered down the slop at Sans. He hadn't gotten up.
"Uh. You okay down there?" she asked.
"Yuuuup." The skeleton stuck a thumb up. "Just chillin', don't mind me." He paused. "Hey, y'still got that box thing with ya?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Bring it here for a sec?"
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Frisk got up and grabbed her magic cube in its harness from where it sat with the other stuff they'd pulled out of the plant realm and made her way down to Sans. He sat up and gestured to the Soul.
"Hold it up there for a sec?"
"Um. Sure?" Frisk lifted the cube up to the light and held it there for a moment. When she pulled it back, there was a faint, white glow in a few of the runes that had been closest to it, but nothing else. She showed it to the the skeleton.
He tilted his head and beckoned her to him.
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Frisk sat on the grass beside Sans, doing her best to ignore the little fragments of time that glittered before her as she drew closer to the Soul, and handed the cube over to him. He spun it around, peering at it with curious eyes, and lightly touched the illuminated markings.
"Hm."
"Did it do anything interesting?" Frisk asked.
"Nnnnope, not really." His brow furrowed a little. "Hm."
"…Did you see something?" she wondered.
"Nah, just thought it might react up close." He gave a wide shrug and passed it back to her. "Oh well. Ya said y'had a vision about it?"
"Yeah. Or, I guess I was sorta given a vision, I guess." She put the strap back over her shoulder to let the cube rest at her side again. "I don't really do future stuff normally, though, so I'm not super sure how to, like… read it?"
"Hm. Interestin'. But y'can kinda predict attacks and crap like that, can'tcha?"
"Oh! Yeah. But that's because of my brother. It's his," she said. "Not a hundred percent sure how he did it, but he kinda… stuck it to me? Because he can do that. I couldn't before." She gently tapped on her temple. "I sorta see… I mean, I sort of sense stuff? And I see this blue in my head in the direction something's coming at me. But that's all from him." She smiled bashfully. "I still have to, um, move fast enough to not get hit though. Doesn't always work out that good."
"Hmm." Sans drummed his fingers in the grass. "Then, from your own power, y'see stuff that's already happened."
Frisk nodded. "Guess so. In weird dream things. Sans saw future stuff, though." She blinked. "Oh! I guess maybe I can see a right-now thing too, sometimes. I think that's what happened with Gaster. When he escaped?" Her brow furrowed. "…Or it couldda been a little behind, too. I dunno."
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"Heeeey!" Asriel slipped a little coming down the hill to join them and landed heavily on his tail. He winced, then slouched around Frisk. "Nothing, huh?"
"Nope," she said.
"Bah…" He pouted, slumping to drop his chin down onto her head. "What a pain."
"You got time magic, too, big guy?" Sans asked.
"Uhhh… Nnnnot really? Not something I can use, anyway," he said. He grinned slyly and poked Frisk in the head. "Not since this little goober got control of our timeline."
Frisk snickered. "You have the weird dreams, though."
"Trrruue." He gave a little shrug. "Did I mention it's been like, three months since I even got a body back? I have no idea what's going on."
"Saaaame," Frisk said.
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Sans chuckled quietly. He held out his hand to Frisk and she shot him a puzzled look. She offered hers and he took it, carefully inspecting the mark that had formed over the scars he'd made. He rubbed his thumbs across it and she could feel his cool magic prickling just beneath her skin as if her hand had fallen asleep. He nodded thoughtfully to himself.
"Let's see yours," he said to Asriel as he let the kid go.
"I guess it's pretty common on the hand, right?" Asriel said as he let the skeleton poke around in his fur.
"Mhm. Probably the most. But, uh, it could be wherever. Saw someone with one on their tongue once." He let the boy go. "Kinda nuts, how similar you two are."
"We're made of a lot of the same stuff," Asriel said.
"Right. Hums that go together," Sans said.
"I really like that part," Frisk said.
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The skeleton cracked a smile. He leaned back on his hands and eyed the Soul for a moment. "Question," he said. "Ya got any idea why y'see into that skeleton's head?"
"Uh." Frisk's eyes got big. "Nnnot really? But I saw through my dad before. So. Um." Her cheeks flushed a little. "Ah, heck."
"And another thing." Asriel leaned forward and hugged her gently. "Sorry."
"S'that new?" Sans asked.
"Sorta? It's been… weird. I mean, mostly if I'm not me, I'm seeing another time kid," Frisk said. "I can do like, lucid stuff now, I think it's called? But I used to be just stuck there. That was all Sans's memories, though. The dad stuff started up not that long ago."
"This whole thing is freaky," Asriel grumbled.
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"Friiiiiisk!" Papyrara called from somewhere, making the kids jolt. "Frisk, are you still in here?!"
"Yeeeah?" she answered.
"Do you want to come inside and cook with us?!"
Frisk's eyes grew wide and she looked back at Asriel worriedly. He gave a big shrug. Sans's response was similar. The kid got to her feet and crept up the hill, peeking just over it to peer at the large skeleton.
"You serious?" she asked.
"Yes! Of course, why would I not be serious?"
"Beeeecause Gaster hates me?" she said. "He probably won't even eat anything I touch."
"Nonsense!" Papyrara grinned. "That pasta sauce we worked on together was amazing and definitely irresistible!" They beckoned to her quickly. "Come on, I have all the ingredients here!"
Frisk looked back at her brother. He shrugged again.
"Might be… a good start? To get Gaster used to you?" he said.
The kid wasn't so sure. She didn't like the idea of crowding the old skeleton. But, she supposed, he could always leave the cabin for a walk if he really couldn't stand to be around her while she was in the middle of making tomato sauce.
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Frisk straightened up and got over the top of the hill. Papyrara beamed. They beckoned to her and then rushed back into the cabin. A little, anxious ache beat in Frisk's heart. She took a deep breath, and quickly brushed off her pants and pulled her t-shirt straight.
"Kay, I'm goin'," she said.
"Be careful!" Asriel called. "I'm probably gonna follow you soon!"
"Just be chill," Frisk said.
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As quickly as she could without running, Frisk went to the cabin door. It was much bigger than usual, stretched upwards to accommodate Papyrara. Now that she looked, she was pretty sure the roof was higher, too.
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Inside, she was met with the sizzle of pancakes and the chopping of vegetables as Papyrara gleefully handled both with their two sets of arms. Frisk was momentarily fascinated, but her attention was taken by Gaster, who stood stiffly up against the wall near his bed.
"Um! Hi," Frisk said. "I'm just here to help cook"
"And you will!" Papyrara announced. "You had a really good technique! And! Since it's so early, we can let a nice sauce boil for a long time, just like you said we should!"
"Simmer," Frisk said.
"Right! Simmer! So, we can have the ideal spaghetti sauce for dinner!"
"S-Sure"
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Frisk hurried to join the huge monster, but she paused for a moment as she looked up at all of Gaster's notes on the wall. She was starting to recognize some of the letters, but few of the words. She was certain she saw Sans's name, though. What really caught her attention, however, were the drawings. The ones of her had an air of spookiness to them, but the ones of Asriel and Chara were dead on. The kid's eyes gleamed.
"Oh wow," she breathed. She pointed up at the pictures and looked at Gaster. "You drew all these?"
"…Why?" he asked stiffly.
"They're really good!" she said. "That looks just like them! …I guess that looks just like me, too, huh? Ooh!" She pointed up at the one with the many time children in it. "Ohmigosh, you even got my scar! That's a lot of detail, it's really cool." Her cheeks flushed and she laughed bashfully. "Oh, duh, why wouldn't you be good? You're like a thousand or something, right?"
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Gaster looked absolutely flummoxed. He nodded stiffly, as if he had a crick in his neck.
"Frisk?" Papyrara called to her, though the tone of their voice had shifted ever so slightly. "Come over here?"
"Oh! Um. Sure." She headed over and the huge monster pushed a stool over for her to stand on in order to reach the counter.
The skeleton rested one hand against her cheek. "Tell me again. How did you get that scar?"
"Oh! S'just from Sans saving my life and everything," the kid said with a laugh. "When I kinda blew up. He had to shove a soul piece into me. But I guess it made him overload with magic a bit, so when he touched me, it left a mark." She cupped her hand over it. "S'kinda dumb, but I like it."
"You have a lot of those, yeah?" Papyrara asked.
"Oh sure, tons," Frisk said. "My dad accidentally did a whole circle on my back! It glows sometimes, even."
The tempered, fond smile on the the huge skeleton's face spread into a big, bright grin. "Wowie, that's exciting! Do they all glow?"
"Sometimes!"
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Papyrara reached over to the stove to deftly flip the huge, fluffy pancake in the pan out onto a plate with a stack of others before pouring in a new scoop of batter and beginning again. At the same time, they passed some magic veggies to Frisk, along with a big, wooden cutting board.
"Are you okay to ch—? Oh. Wait. Knives. Um." They glanced around.
"I could use this?" Frisk fished her brother's utility knife from her pocket and flipped out the short blade. "It's a different shape so it doesn't really get me like that."
"Ah! Perfect!" They grinned slyly. "It's you-sized."
Frisk scoffed. She began to chop carefully, leaning back a little and hoping the magic onions here— pink ones this time, like she'd never seen before— wouldn't release the stinging vapours. They did.
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"…Was it…?" Gaster's voice caught their attention. "Was it… necessary to borrow Chara's soul for more efficient cooking?" Somehow, he looked a little worried and amused all at once.
"Nyah! Of course not!" Papyrara said. "It's for emotional supp—!" Their jaw slammed shut and their spine went rigid for just an instant before relaxing again, breathing out a quick, quiet sigh. "It's fine. We can use more arms."
"I see." The skeleton took a deep breath. "I'm… glad." He got a smidge closer. "Is it… unique to this world? The ability to do this?"
"Hmmmyes and no," the large skeleton said. "We only learned it by accident! I beeeelieve it has to be a human with no shell around their soul, that can do some form of magic. And then you have to learn the method, too." They smiled proudly. "Frisk learned it."
"It's only 'cause…!" The kid had to sniffle. "Chara's a really good t-teacher!"
"Nyahh, is something wrong?!" Papyrara asked, whirling on her worriedly.
Frisk sniffed again and wiped her eyes, letting out a little laugh. "Onion stink."
"Onion stink?! …Ah. I forgot about that. Sorry, Frisk."
The kid snickered and shook her head, though she felt like Gaster's eyes were drilling into the back of her skull. "Don't worry."
.
Frisk had made pasta sauce so many times and with so many variations that it was second nature now. Onions first, as well as carrot and celery. Even the little leaves crushed with some salt were good for the flavour. Frisk handled that part and Papyrara dealt with breaking down tomatoes at the same time as working on breakfast. They rested one arm around the kid's shoulder to help keep her steady on the stool, every once in a while giving her a pat on the head when they had to move away to plate another pancake.
.
By the time Frisk got her veggies into the pot to start to cook them down with a little oil, most of the pancakes were done, too. Just as the last one was coming off the heat, there was a loud knock on the door.
"Contraband check!" Mistral opened the door and and looked around with sharp eyes, pausing at the sight of Papyrara. "…Oh!"
"Heya!" Frisk said brightly.
"Welcome to the cabin! We didn't know you were stopping by!" Papyrara said brightly. "Would you like to stay for pancakes? There's plenty!"
"I… Hm. We'll see," Mistral said. "I wasn't expecting to find you like this, did something go wrong?"
"Not particularly," they said. "Don't worry about it."
.
Mistral nodded. She turned to look at Gaster and her gaze hardened. "The Queen sent me for this morning's inspection. I advise you cooperate."
Gaster gestured to the room. "Do as you like. All that I've changed here is on the walls."
Mistral didn't budge. "Alright. Hold still." She reached for his chest and, with a little spark of her soul, pulled out the bicoloured glow of his. "This will just take a minute."
Gaster froze completely, the metal around his neck taking a faint, green hue as the other skeleton tested his energy. When she was satisfied, she let the glow dim.
"Thank you. Please wait outside for a few minutes."
Gaster nodded. He headed for the door, but then paused and turned back. "Sorry, I just wanted to ask: do you happen to go by Mistral?"
"Yes. Mistral, Tempest of the South; Captain of the Dragonguard, " Mistral said. "Why?"
Gaster's eyes brightened and a genuine smile spread on his face. "Nothing, it's… I'm glad," he said. "Thank you. I'll be just by the door, unless the, uh… Oracle pulls me away."
"Ah." Mistral's expression flattened. "Fair enough. He may."
.
"I'm about ninety-nine percent sure that it's fine," Papyrara said as Gaster left.
"I know, but I'm here in case of that one percent," Mistral said as she began to inspect beneath the sheets of the still-made bed and the fluffy pillow.
"Whatcha lookin' for?" Frisk asked.
"Traps. Wards. Weapons," Mistral said. "Secret communications. Soulbonder?"
"Mmhm?" Chara's voice stood out a little more in Papyrara's.
"I was told you know his language." The skeleton bent to check beneath the short bed. "Is there anything hidden in those glyphs on the wall that you can decode?"
"Hidden? No. It's all observational notes, as far as I can tell," they said. "Some of it's too complex for me, but what I can read is all what I'd expect. Things he noticed about us, or about the… Well. The world he's from, compared to ours, and compared to a letter Frisk sent him." Their tone of voice shifted a little. "It's really interesting to be able to suddenly read some of a foreign language like this, actually!"
"Hm. Okay. Thank you."
.
Mistral did a loop around the room; checked the floorboards and inside the cabinets; even inside the icebox. Once she was satisfied, she took a seat, crossed her leg, and pulled out a notebook to write a report. Papyrara leaned over to her with a plate of two huge pancakes.
"Toppings?" they asked.
"I'm alright, after this, I should be on my w—"
"Come ooon, they're really excellent, I promise!" Papyrara's red eyes were glittering.
Mistral sighed, but she cracked a smile. "Fine. Just do as you would normally, Chara."
The huge skeleton grinned. "Good choice." They whirled back to the small counter. "Frriiiissk, how's it going over here?"
Frisk had to stand on her toes to look at the mash of veggies that was just starting to caramelize. "Looks right to me. Could you help me chuck in the tomatoes and some water?"
"Absolutely we can!"
.
As the prepared tomatoes sloshed into the pot, the door opened again. This time, Sans wandered in, followed closely by Gaster. Asriel made up the rear, and instantly headed for the little kitchen, eyes wide.
"Ooh, it smells really good!" he said.
"Of course it does!" Papyrara asserted proudly. They passed Asriel a plate, then quickly looked around. "Where's mom?"
"Castle," Sans said as he plunked down on the floor near the table.
"Oh! That's fine, we have extra, then!" With just a few, quick, smooth movements, the giant skeleton had divided the stack into twos, with a whole extra tower leftover. "Toppings, toppings!"
"Up to you," Sans said.
"Yeah, I'll trust you with it," Asriel said, handing the plate back.
"Excellent! Go sit, go sit!" A little burst of magic hovered Frisk off the stool and plunked her beside Sans onto one of the seating pillows. "Just a minuuuute! I hope you know that means most of you are getting chocolate."
"That's fine," Sans said with a tired wave of his hand.
.
Asriel flopped down with his sister and they were promptly served with cups of steaming chai. Four more flew by them and safely plunked onto the table. Before long, plates of chocolate-covered pancakes were delivered— all but one, for Sans, which was layered with an extremely generous squiggle of ketchup. Frisk felt a tiny bit weird looking at it— she recalled bringing a very similar breakfast to Sans back home, just a little while before he'd gotten sick. A nostalgic pang struck her in the gut.
.
"I've also got jaaaaams, and a sugar-spice mix!" Papyrara said, plunking some jars and spoons onto the table with a little rattle in their fingers. "And…!" Their bones shimmered. "Oops, guess we're d—!"
The two of them popped apart in a flash of magic, Papyrus flopping onto the floor and Chara tumbling straight into Mistral. The skeleton caught her and chuckled.
"Looks like you're out of luck, Soulbonder."
Chara groaned. "Yeeep…" She slid to the floor, rubbing her head. She caught sight of Gaster trying not to gawk in her direction and turned her nose up as the red began to vanish from her body. "It's rude to stare, Uncle."
Asriel almost spit his tea and started to cough. Gaster looked like he might have done the same had he been drinking.
"Hey. Come, sit," Sans said, waving the old skeleton closer.
"I… I'm fine," Gaster said, "don't bother with me, I—"
Sans's eye flared blue. "Sit."
The old skeleton froze. Papyrus recombobulated himself and grinned, beckoning Gaster to them.
"Yes, please! Come on, you look like you could use it, you're getting all grey up here." He pointed to his own eye sockets. "Anyway, like I was saying, there's other toppings, I think most of them go well together."
"Oh cool," Sans said. He took a big dollop of raspberry jam and dumped it onto his pancakes, too. "Super combo."
Papyrus made a face like he'd just taken a big whiff of garbage.
.
Gaster still didn't move. Frisk looked between him and the others.
"Um, I could go eat outside if it's—"
"No," Sans said. "You stay. He stays." He smiled sideways, cutting his eyes at Gaster. "Man, it's just pancakes. Chill."
"I-I didn't touch them, if that helps!" Frisk said.
"Why would that help?" Mistral asked as she moved in to join them. She took the spot on the other side of Sans and removed her gauntlets.
"He's paranoid," Asriel said.
"It's not— I'm not…" Gaster sighed. He stepped to the low table and took a seat on the ground, closest to Papyrus but still across from the rest of them. "It's fine."
.
Mistral looked around at the group, brows raised. Sans shrugged and took a huge bite of one of his pancakes. Papyrus cringed. Asriel couldn't help a laugh. He cut a chunk from his, mopped up some chocolate sauce with it, and then shoved it in his mouth, which the others took as a sign to begin as well— all but Frisk and Gaster.
"Oh, dang, that's almost as good as Alphys's was," Asriel said, tail wagging.
"Thank you!" Papyrus said, instantly all smiles again. "She taught me how to do them! She called them soufflé, which I think just means fluffy."
"It's an egg dish," Gaster said quietly.
The younger skeleton perked up. "Oh?!"
"It's… often a custard, mixed into whipped eggs," he continued, cautiously poking at the food with his fork. "The intention is that it rises with a light, airy texture."
"Wowie! You know a lot about cooking!" Papyrus said brightly. "I just started learning a few years ago, so even though I know quite a bit, I still have a long way to go. Where did you learn?"
"…Ah." Gaster finally managed to spear a piece of the fluffy pancake. "Books, at first. Then from… a dear friend. I've never been proficient at creating food just as-is, but with the separate ingredients, I've found it… fairly relaxing, believe it or not."
.
The old skeleton finally put the small morsel of food into his mouth. Papyrus leaned forward a little. Frisk clenched her hands together. They waited as Gaster settled a little and then gingerly sipped at the spiced tea. Under the fixed gaze of all the kids, he put the cup down again with a gentle clunk.
"It's… good," he said quietly. "Thank you, Papyrus. Chara."
Frisk all but melted with relief and Papyrus beamed. Chara scoffed a little.
"Of course it is," she said.
"Aaand you're very welcome!" Papyrus said.
.
The air finally settling a little lighter on them, Frisk carefully grabbed for the marmalade and put it on her breakfast, mixing it with the chocolate. Asriel's eyes were on her instantly, staring as she gave it a try.
"…Yo, is that good?" he asked.
She offered him a bite and he gladly took it.
"Don't tell me you're spoiling perfectly good chocolate with jam," Chara teased.
"Oh! No, no no no, it's really good!" Asriel said. "You wanna try?!"
"Eh." Chara shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a purist."
"Whatever, it's great," Asriel said, taking a big spoon of the orange goo and splatting it on top of his food.
Frisk couldn't help a snicker.
.
"This is very nice," Mistral said. "But, you know that you aren't required to cook every meal, right? The Interloper is in custody. You can send to the castle for meals if you'd like."
"Thaaat…! Is good to know, actually," Papyrus said.
"I knew that," Sans said.
"And you were going to mention it when?"
"When ya got tired of cookin'."
"Saaaaaans!"
Gaster let out a little chuckle, but caught himself, quietening quickly and returning to his food.
.
Mistral turned to Frisk. "Kid. Or, should I be calling you Demon of Starhome, now?"
"Oh! Just call me whatever," Frisk assured her.
The skeleton chuckled. "I meant to ask: that ring didn't shatter after its final use, did it?"
"Nope!" Frisk held her hand up to show the amethyst band was still there. "It's just fine."
"Good. I wasn't sure if it would react differently with a human or not. I'm happy to see the answer was not," she said. "Infuse it however you like from now on, alright?"
"I will," Frisk said. "Thanks a bunch." She looked at the ring and her eyes glimmered a little. "Um, Mistral? Is there, like… a limit? To how strong a thing a crystal can hold?"
"Hm… Not really," she said. "But some crystals are more fragile than others and might only hold a powerful charm for a short time."
"Kay. Thanks."
.
"…Are you openly scheming?" Gaster asked under his breath.
Chara almost dropped her fork and Asriel glared. Frisk felt her heart jump, but she steadied herself.
"Yep," she said.
Gaster looked up and met her eyes— his gaze was cold and flickered with colour. "Brazen, hm?"
"Yep." Frisk gave a little shrug. "It's my big evil plan, to put spells in crystals and then just have 'em in my pockets."
"It works better with potions, you can just pour them out," Papyrus suggested.
Frisk snickered and smiled fondly at him. "Yeah, I think if I chucked a spell crystal at the ground or something, it'd just kinda fall there." She stretched her hands out across the table. "I got little arms!"
"You have strong little arms, though," Chara said.
"I think I could break one by chuckin' it," Asriel said.
"Maybe," she said.
.
"I hadn't noticed all those scars," Mistral said sympathetically. "I guessed you'd been in battles by how you engaged with Undyne, but that looks like many fights."
"Frisk's a little scrapper," Asriel teased.
"N-Not on purpose!" Frisk protested said. She looked at the little marks that laced her skin. "Anyway, most of them are from bushes and stuff, don't worry about it."
"You gotta stop losin' fights with shrubs, then, kiddo," Sans said.
"Nuh-uh, I won! You don't see any shrubs here, do you?"
The skeleton chuckled loudly. "Okay, fair."
.
The kid grinned. Asriel snickered. He grabbed her and gently bumped the end of his snout against the scar from his vines that had cut through one of her eyebrows. Her cheeks flushed bashfully.
"A-Anyway," Frisk said, "um, Gaster? I… I know you don't like me or trust me, but, like… I'm…" She sighed. "Kay, I know you think it's stupid probably, but I do wanna help you. With your world? I'm just… trying to figure some stuff out." She gave a little shrug. "I'm not that old yet, I don't know a ton of stuff. I'm gonna need help, but if you'll let me, I wanna try."
"What on earth could you do?" he asked, his voice low and gritty.
"That's the problem, right? I dunno," she said quietly. She flinched. "Could we talk about it? Would that be okay?" She jerked back and smiled bashfully. "Um! We could do that later, though, you could just eat first."
.
Gaster flinched. He was quiet for a little while, except for a sharp tapping of his fingers against the table. "Why?" he asked.
"…Why what, which part?" Frisk asked.
"This… help. Whatever that means to you," he said.
"I saw your world when you shot me," she said.
The skeleton froze, his eyes growing wide. "…What? You…? What?!"
"Yeah, when you shot me outta my body and stuff," Frisk said. "I saw… you? I saw you making your time gun, and how your world was all grey and—"
"Enough," he said sharply.
"Let her, Uncle," Chara said quickly. "Let her finish."
Gaster flinched. His brow was furrowed into a deep scowl, but his eyes were sad. He gripped into the table with his sharp fingertips. "Fine," he rasped out.
"I'm sorry, I know it's hard," Frisk said.
"You have no idea," Gaster growled. "Your own world is—!"
"I know!" Frisk said, wide-eyed. "It's a mess!"
.
The skeleton froze up. He simply stared back at her, brows raised so high they might have leapt off his head. Frisk took a breath.
"I saw you. I saw Sans. Papyrus. Asgore. A whole bunch of other people, too, but mainly them," she said. "I saw… what was happening. How things fell apart. It all went grey. You said… Papyrus deserved to grow up. And that… That if you knew this would happen, you wouldn'ta invited one— I guess, a time kid? You wouldn'ta invited one in."
Gaster's shoulders sagged a little. Papyrus reached out cautiously and touched his hand. The old skeleton jolted, but didn't recoil. Papyrus scooted closer to him and grasped to his hand with a strong, reassuring grip. Frisk tilted her head to the side.
"Wait. Was that…? Was that who you dreamt about?" Frisk wondered. "The person who told you to not die in the CORE? Do you know who it was?"
"…It was one of… whatever you are. But the image is gone," Gaster said. "…No features. No voice. I couldn't tell you its name even if I wanted to."
.
Asriel and Frisk shared a worried look at the familiarity of that. Some of the time kids, long gone from their own timeline, had that strange, unmemorable quality to them in the nightmares, or even in Sans' and Asriel's own memories. In fact, even Gaster— their Gaster, Frisk's father— had been exactly like that at times when he'd still been lost in the void.
"Damn," Asriel said softly.
"R-Right. Okay," Frisk said, hoping she was holding her nerves down on the outside better than she was on the inside. "You tryin' to kill me and stuff doesn't matter right now. We're both stuck here for a bit. And… nobody deserves their universe to be like that. So… So if you can think of anything a time god or whatever can do to help out, tell me, okay?"
.
Gaster gritted his teeth. His eyes traced from the kid, to Chara and Asriel, and then over the three other skeletons at the table. When he looked back at Frisk, there was flame in his eyes and he carefully pulled his hand from Papyrus's. "You want me to trust you," he said. "I can't."
"Okay, fine, but—"
"You are a god of time. No matter your choices, you face no consequences, at the expense of universes. How can you be expected to treat anyone as more than dolls? The others didn't. They won't."
"Uh… Okay, but—"
"And, beyond that, your soul is still an abomination," he said. "No amount of words or offers can change that."
"Oh." Frisk's cheeks flushed.
"Yeesh," Sans said.
"That's extremely rude," Mistral said.
"And it's super not true," Asriel growled.
"Then what do you call it?" Gaster asked. "Stealing shards of monsters to patch up some shattered—"
"She didn't steal crap, okay?!" the boy snapped. "You really wanna know why I'm here?!" He jabbed his finger into the table. "You wanna know exactly why?!"
The skeleton's eyes narrowed. "I do. Enlighten me," he said.
.
Asriel gritted his teeth. He held tight to Frisk's hand. She gave him a reassuring squeeze.
"Fine. I… I died, back then. When… everyone thought I did. But my dust infused into flower seeds," he said. "Hundreds of years later, for whatever stupid reason, I… grew. And a bunch of determination injections brought me back. But I had no soul. And… And after a long time like that, I turned into a nightmare.
"But, that isn't all. The world was already starting to veer out of control. Sans had been holding it steady as much as he could, but I took it from him and I started to mess it all up before stuff went really wrong. We started getting a bunch of weird time kids, too. Tearing everything up. Just like your place. Until Frisk."
.
Asriel had to take a deep breath. Frisk squeezed him again and he leaned a little closer to her, his soul sparking softly.
"A-Anyway. That's all backstory, whatever. It took a lot of work, but Frisk and our family eventually figured out how to… make me a new soul. And with that, I could keep my body again, too. But, the method they planned for, it… wasn't enough magic to bind everything together. So Frisk gave me a piece of herself, right outta her soul."
.
Sitting back a bit from the table, Asriel cupped a hand to his chest and let his burning red soul shine out, complete with the blazing, iridescent star shifting and gleaming across its surface. The sight took Gaster's breath away.
"Whatever she did worked. But, human souls aren't supposed to do that. So she went into a coma," Asriel said. "So, our… our family. Mom, Dad, Alphys, Undyne, Sans; Papyrus— all of them sacrificed a small piece of themselves to make sure she didn't just stay like that." He frowned deeply. "Because she…! Because they loved her! Everyone did. And NOT because she was some time god! We hardly even knew that back then, only Sans really took it seriously."
"…And the whole thing was Sans's idea, wasn't it?" Chara added softly.
"From the way Papyrus told it, he was literally afraid Sans was gonna dust just to save her. Nothing would have ever stopped him," Asriel insisted. "So…! So you gotta understand that it's…! It's not stolen, nothing is, they all wanted her to—"
.
Frisk sniffled and let out a little squeak and Asriel froze. All eyes were on the kid as she hurriedly wiped her eyes.
"S-Sorry," she said quietly.
"O-Oh crap, Frisk, I—"
"S'okay," she said, her voice raspy. "I just… Heh. Sorry. I miss them." She shook her head quickly and wiped her eyes again. "Sorry." She got up and and gave her brother a quick smooch on the cheek. "Just, um… Sorry. I'll… be outside."
She rushed out before anyone could say a thing. Mistral got up as well, taking her gauntlets with her.
"You continue," she said, following the kid out, "I'll keep an eye on her."
"Thanks, Mist," Sans said.
.
Asriel's ears drooped. He snorted quietly and shook his head. "A-Anyway. This whole thing, it's… It's like you're just mad at her for what some other jerks did!"
"And what about your own world?" Gaster asked quietly. "She's tearing it apart as we speak."
"How do you…? Ugh, it's not HER doing that!" Asriel insisted.
"Abandoning it isn't tearing it apart?" the old skeleton asked.
"It's not abandoned, we got stuck!" he said. "We're trying to go home!"
"Sans is dying," Gaster snapped. "I saw it myself."
"Wh…? You saw…?!" Asriel asked. "How?!"
"I followed the culprit," he said. "In the void."
"Wha…?" Asriel shook his head back and forth quickly. "I dunno what the hell you mean, but those two are like…! We used to joke he might as well have been her dad, he loves her so much! Hell, she even learned how to heal to help him; there is no way in the whole universe she would ever hurt him."
"I know what I saw."
"You clearly don't!" Asriel snorted flame. "I know my sister. You don't. All you've done is throw out stupid accusations and try to kill her."
"Chara is your sister," Gaster said. "Whatever the time god is, is—"
.
"She's my sister, too, Uncle," Chara cut in. "Like I said. I consider her family. She… freed me."
Gaster grimaced. He let out a little sigh. "I… I'm sorry, I've said too much."
"Didn't… we want you to say more, though?" Papyrus asked quietly.
"You saw my memories, didn't you?" Chara pushed. "It's all because of me that the world collapses."
"Nothing you could have done would have helped that, a stór," Gaster said gently.
"If Frisk hadn't worked so hard to save Asriel," Chara said, her voice soft and steady, "I never would have released her to try to pass on. If she hadn't reset her world in desperation because of something Asriel did when he lacked control, I would never have woken up again and fallen here. I would never have found a body. I would be trapped, too." She took a deep breath but, even so, there was a little glimmer of red in her honey-coloured irises. "I hope you reconsider."
.
The old skeleton flinched. He dug his fingertips into the table and his bones gave off a faint rattle. "I… don't know what to say," he muttered.
"Maybe don't, then," Sans said, still munching on pancake. "You're a smart guy, supposedly. Maybe just think for a bit." He tilted his head towards the door and pointed his fork at it. "Pretty sure even that bullshit won't have deterred the kid— offer's still good until she's gotta go. Don't know if you're gonna get a better one than that."
"It's true," Asriel said. "You… Ugh. Dude, you really piss me off," he growled, slapping his palms onto the table before getting to his feet. "But I don't want you to have to go home to that crap, either!" He stormed out, closing the door so hard behind him that the wall trembled, though a faint, exasperated apology was called back.
Chara got up to leave as well. "We'll talk again later."
.
The skeletons sat on their own for a moment, the air prickly and stiff.
"He's right, though," Papyrus said, cracking the silence. "None of us do,"
Sans shrugged.
"Sans!" the boy scolded.
"Can't help someone who don't wanna be helped," Sans said cooly.
"But you can try!"
"Eh." Sans cut his eyes at Gaster. "Who knows, huh?"
.
"I think! Maybe. If I could suggest something," Papyrus said, looking to Gaster. "Maybe… if you thought of her more like… a kid who happens to be a time god? Instead of a time god that happens to look like a kid?"
"…I wish it were that easy, Papyrus." He rubbed his brow and took a hearty gulp of his tea.
"Why isn't it?" Papyrus wondered.
Gaster frowned at the tabletop, but he said nothing.
"'Cause bein' wrong's tough and he doesn't wanna consider what he really did here," Sans said.
"Well, he isn't entirely wrong, though, is he?" Papyrus said. "A lot of those other time kids were really awful. We know that from Chara."
"Sure, but even the guy who had to deal with it where she was from didn't just come out shootin' every time," Sans said.
"Nyeeehh, true." Papyrus looked to Gaster. "I do really wish you hadn't done that."
"…I know." He sighed and leaned his head back. "He refused to. Always did. Method of least harm was his plan. He tinkered with it for ages. It didn't matter. Poor boy."
.
"Welp," Sans said, stretching his arms out and cracking his knuckles. "I suggest, if you wanna see 'im again outside of a collapsin' time loop, you maybe start talkin' to a kid that actually knows how to deal with that kinda thing, hm?" He raised his brows. "What other choice ya got? Or is your pride too much?"
"I wish it were just about pride," the old skeleton said with a dry chuckle.
"Then. Um. What is it about?" Papyrus asked.
"I'm… not sure there's a strong enough word for it," Gaster said. "I've seen whole universes of untold souls simply… erased. Because one of these entities got bored. How do I even describe that?"
"So. It's too late for them. Sorry," Sans said. "But it ain't too late for you. Papy's right. Just like I said: don't talk to a god. Talk to Frisk."
.
Gaster frowned at the ceiling. Papyrus reached out to give his shoulder a pat, allowing a little glitter of golden-orange to spark out. The old skeleton slumped a little. Carefully, he grasped Papyrus's hand and held it. Tentative at first, his fingers were still strong, and his soul ached with cold desperation, chilling the air before he could help it.
"…I hope he would have been a bit like you," he said under his breath.
Papyrus tilted his head to the side. "Um? Sorry, what was that?" he asked.
Gaster shook his head. "It's alright. Thank you, Paps." He released him and folded his arms tight to his chest. "May I have a moment?"
"Yup." Sans got up, grabbed his brother by the arm, and pulled him up.
"Let me clean first," Papyrus said.
"Seriously?"
"Yes, I'm not letting our guest just sit around in half-eaten pancakes, even if he is a criminal!"
"…I can help," Gaster said.
"No, no, you sit there and take your moment, mister!" Papyrus said. "Leave this to the great Papyrus!"
xXxXx
Meanwhile, Asriel had wandered the chamber of the Soul, only to find Frisk and Mistral sitting behind the cabin. The skeleton had an arm around the kid's shoulders as Frisk blew her nose into a handkerchief.
"You are small but you're strong," Mistral was saying. "And the ache is okay. It's normal."
"I knooow, I know," she said. She wiped her eyes again, still sniffling a little, but she shot Asriel a smile when she caught sight of him. "Hiiii, bro, sorry I ran out."
"No, no, don't worry about it," he assured her. "I know he was being a jerk, but—"
Frisk shook her head. "I just missed everyone really bad for a second there, I thought I was gonna puke."
"Oh." Asriel let out a tired laugh. He plopped down onto the ground beside her. "Same."
.
Frisk sniffled again. "So, um. How'd it go?"
"I dunno. He's stubborn," he said.
"You may have to get right at his heart," Mistral said. "If he doesn't care about his own safety, maybe someone else's will spur him to action quicker."
"Sounds like a threat," Asriel joked.
"Not a threat, but maybe helping him will help… someone else? His family?" She raised her brows. "Kid, to be honest, I'm still not exactly sure what you want to help him with."
"His timeline melting and being horrible," Frisk said. "If it's still like I saw right now, it won't even be safe for him to go home to."
"Ah. Well." Mistral rubbed the kid's back gently. "It's not really your responsibility, though, is it?"
"If I can do something, I should," Frisk said.
"Admirable. Just don't overtax yourself," the skeleton said.
.
"Frisk? Mist? Azzy?" Chara poked her head around the cabin and cracked a relieved smile. "Is everything okay?"
Though she was still sniffling, Frisk stuck her thumb up.
"She's alright," Mistral said. "You?"
"More or less." She folded her arms. "I think we may have whittled his defences down a little."
"Is that what you'd call it?" Asriel asked.
"Yeah. I think so," she said. She flopped down beside them and sighed. "What a pain."
"Did you spill the beans?" Frisk asked.
"Hm?" Chara looked up at her with a puzzled frown for a moment before her eyes widened. "Oh. Yeah. I think we all did."
"He said something interesting, too," Asriel said.
Frisk perked up. "Oh yeah?"
.
Asriel quickly recapped what Gaster had said about Sans, trying to repeat it as verbatim as he could remember. Chara corrected him when he flubbed it. Frisk, however, was left utterly confused.
"He thinks I'm KILLING Sans?!" she squeaked. "That's why he was chasing us?!"
"At first, maybe? Sorta?" Asriel said.
"Well, crap, no wonder, then," Frisk said with a pout.
"But you're not, so—"
"I gotta ask him more about that, that's crazy," the kid mumbled.
"Well, if you're lucky, you'll just be accused of murdering your brother, again," Chara said with a roll of her eyes. "I don't know if that's a helpful line of conversation."
"It might be, though," Frisk said. "It was him, back home, right? And Sans warned me he was coming. But Gaster already found us before we even got the warning."
"So time's all goofed up in whatever order, sounds about normal," Asriel said with a sigh.
"It's weird, I dunno," Frisk said.
"Messy," Chara grumbled.
.
"…I'm sorry you kids have to deal with this," Mistral said. "I wish I understood it more deeply."
"Don't worry about it, we're in it and we hardly get it," Asriel said.
"I know. That's why an older mentor would be helpful," she said.
"That was… my oldest brother. Back home," Frisk said.
"What if you tried dreaming at him again?" Asriel asked. "I mean, I know you couldn't exactly talk because of dumb bubbles or whatever you said, but maybe he could help somehow? I mean, at least it'd do you some good to see him, even if he can't."
"I dunno, I guess I could try," Frisk said.
"Welp. That's something, at least," Chara said. "You could make sure he's not dying."
Frisk suddenly had a knot in her gut. She nodded.
.
The door to the cabin swung open again and they could hear the skeleton brothers coming out.
"Eevvverrryyooooone!" Papyrus called. "We were—! Or, I was going to take a walk in the field for some fresh air, does anyone want to coooooome?"
The kids looked at each other. Asriel shrugged. Chara got up and stretched.
"We could all use it," she decided.
"Kay." Frisk got up, too, and as Mistral did, she gave her a hug. "Thanks a million."
"Ah. Don't worry about it," the skeleton assured her. "I'll come for a while, until I can head for the Castle. I have to patrol Snowdin a bit today, but I'll be back again for another check tomorrow morning."
"Good," Chara said. "Keep him on his toes."
"As if he needs that, though," Frisk said in jest.
.
As they headed towards Papyrus and the portal, once again, the door hinges creaked.
"Wait." Gaster's voice. He strode swiftly until he stood just a few feet from the kids as they turned to face him.
Mistral took a defensive step forwards and Papyrus jogged a little closer. Sans was nowhere to be seen.
.
With everyone's attention on him, the tired-looking skeleton quietly cleared his throat. His dark eyes settled with laser-focus on Frisk.
"Time god," he said. "Let's talk."
"…What?!" Frisk blurted.
"Wait, right now?" Asriel asked. "After all that?"
Gaster nodded. "Just us. A short chat. That's… what you were looking for, right?"
Chara moved in close to Frisk, holding her arm, a glare fixed right onto the old skeleton. "Why now?"
"…Because I've worked up the courage," he answered, his gaze never shifting an inch. "Well?"
Frisk gulped. She looked at her siblings, and then back to the tall, cold skeleton before her. His eyes were completely black; he hadn't moved an inch. She puffed herself up a little.
"Yeah. Okay. Let's talk."