:-"...for things to go bump in the night"-:

The day is passing by faster than Bernard expected, it is already evening. Even so, he still feels hot in his armour, and the broadsword on his left hip feels heavy. The sun is low in the sky and the chirping of cicadas is growing louder, drowning out the sound of crickets. This is always one of the worst times of year for the village, the high amount of noise at night lets Wälder beasts sneak up on them. Scouting parties have to be sent out to track the beasts' moments and predict where they will migrate, one of those parties is nearby. Bernard begins to approach the Scouting party, making sure his presence is known; wouldn't want an accident. They are in an area with a heavy amount of shrubs and other foliage, because it is easier to hear the rustling of leaves than to spot the creatures.

As Bernard meets up with the active scout patrol, the leader informs him of some bad news.

"Sir Ward, we've confirmed the reports; there is a forest headed towards the village from the mountain in the South West. From what we could tell it's about the size of the village itself, the largest in years."

Bernard sighs, then opens his helmet's visor to speak. "I told you to stop calling me Ward, Anthony... As for your report, any news on the sounds heard near the village last night?"

"Nothing concrete Sir... Bernard, but we found traces near Ebott Mountain not long ago; though we are not sure what made them."

Katsuro appears and joins the conversation. "That is always the case with Wälder beasts, isn't it?"

Anthony replies "Yes, but these look like they may have had tracks mixed in, possibly villagers trying to hide their tracks. Has anyone left the village recently?"

Bernard replies, somewhat worried, somewhat thoughtful. "Yes... actually. Three monsters from Frisk's group left the village to investigate something. You didn't find any signs of a fight, did you?"

"No, we lost the trail not far from here."

Bernard calmly replies. "Alright, head back to the village and prepare our defences; and while you do, drop by the Addams' Manor and see if the monsters can help. I'm going to take Squire Katsuro and join with the monster group."

Anthony and his team leave Bernard and Katsuro behind, heading for the village.

Katsuro asks "Sir Bernard, why are we going to group up with the monsters?"

Stoically Bernard asks, "Squire... young Squire, do you have the time?"

Katsuro replies with a confused tone "Well, Sir, by the position of the sun, I would say it is near dinner time."

In a disappointed tone with a serious face he looks at Katsuro, Bernard replies, "wrong, squire it's..." then closes his visor. "Knight time."

Katsuro Sighs in exasperation.

Bernard takes on a serious tone. "In all seriousness, it 's getting dark and that means the beasts will wake soon. We need to provide the monsters with backup; they are not familiar with the dangers."

"Oh, right. Well, bad jokes aside, lead the way."

Bernard and Katsuro head up Mount Ebott, staying close to the path but out of sight. The entrance to the Underground is just a few minutes away from where they are, but as they approach Bernard stops. Down the path, towards the village, they see the monster group. Two of them are carrying a three foot by four foot Cylinder that looks like it's easy to draw, and the skeleton is watching for danger. On the other side of the path, however, Bernard sees unnatural movement following behind them; leaves dancing in an intangible wind.

In a whisper, Bernard says "Get down, stay quite... Something isn't right here."

Katsuro responds in kind "I see the monster group, what's wrong?"

"There is a Wälder beast stalking them, do you see it? Branches and leaves growing and moving faster than they should?"

"What should we do?"

"You will get ahead of the monster group and attack from the side."

"And you?"

Before Katsuro gets an answer, Bernard leaves and positions himself behind the monster group.

The two crouch behind the foliage, moving carefully and staying hidden from view. The wolf-like beast begins preparing its attack. Bernard jumps out from the foliage, and onto the path, as the beast makes it's play. In a single attack, the beast tangles up the two carrying the easy to draw cylinder, and the third is knocked over; the skeleton's reflexes save it, but the attack continues wider than expected. Bernard sprints forward and swifty draws his broadsword, cutting through the branches holding the monsters, as Sans begins attacking it with bone magic. The beast evades Sans' attack while shooting darts at the group. The two monsters still encased in branches are fine. Katsuro is not as lucky, however, and his leg is hit. Sans avoids them easier than work. From the side, Katsuro runs up to the beast -while it is focused on Sans- and swiftly draws his blade, cutting into the branches that make up its form. The beast howls in agony, and Bernard sprints forward to follow up Katsuro's attack with a lunge; he plunges deep into the mass of branches. The beast falls silently to the ground and golden flowers begin to bloom as it stills, leaving a sickly sweet aroma. Alphys and Undyne don't seem to notice, but Sans does; he keeps it to himself.

Sans is the first to speak up. "good timing, we could have been done for."

As Katsuro removes the thorn from his leg and begins breaking away the branches around the two monsters, Bernard replies. "Our scouts reported possible traces of a Wälder beast, I concluded that you may have been stalked up the mountain and came to check."

"makes sense... i would ask how you managed to sneak up on us, but you weren't the only one." Sans looks at where the beast lays for a moment.

"I actually wouldn't mind explaining that, at the village of course. Undyne, Alphys, how are you?"

Undyne and Alphys groan, Alphys rubs her head and Undyne her side. Undyne speaks first, "could be better... looks like that thing broke the straps we were using to haul this thing."

Bernard looks over at the not easy to write about cylinder and asks, "what is it?"

Alphys enters hyper-nerd mode. "Oh! Its actually an antenna that we are going to s-s-set up at the village to extend the Undernet and CELL n-networks to the surface!"

Not understanding, but genuinely curious, Bernard asks "oh? What will that do for us?"

"Oh Uh... I-it is a device that talks to other devices from a distance... to t-talk to other... devices..." Alphys is more shaken up than she thought, her mind is starting to go all over the place now... "Sans c-can you explain?"

Undyne helps Alphys calm down now that the initial rush is gone, while Katsuro bandages his leg.

"sure alphys," Sans replies. "it will let us talk to the monsters in the underground. i also brought some spare cell phones for the guard to use, it'll help organize your defence efforts."

Very keen on that idea, Bernard replies "that sounds fantastic. We'll have to learn how to use them effectively, and as soon as possible... I have bad news."

Undyne pipes up "if you are gonna say that more of those things are on the way, NGAHHHHHHHH! ! I SWEAR I WILL SUPLEX MOUNT EBOTT! ! !"

Bernard moves to the cylinder, relieved with how feisty the fish monster is after the attack. "Lets get this to the village, I'll explain on the way there."

While Undyne Suplexes a boulder near the path to burn off some steam, Sans replies. "sounds good. and don't worry about her."

Bernard is impressed. When Undyne returns, she and Bernard carry the esoteric Cylinder. Sans and Alphys walk on the sides of the party while Katsuro takes the lead. They begin heading to the village, it is almost dark out.

Despite the oppressive feeling from the potential of danger, the group walks silently down the peaceful forest path. Occasionally they pause and switch out who is carrying the device, Sans never carries it; but Bernard is OK with this. Bernard saw Sans' reflexes and, if anything will give them an edge against another attack, Bernard wants that advantage. Bernard informs the monsters of the oncoming danger, explaining that the creatures are various types of wild life that were affected by the magic from the barrier; and how, in close enough proximity, they act like a hive mind. Near the end of their trek back to the village, Bernard suggests that a third person help carry the device. From that point on the party continued to make good progress. It is dark out now.

With a grin on his face, Sans looks up at Bernard and asks "hey, bernard, what time is it?"

To which Bernard huffs in amusement and replies. "Knight time. I already made that joke Sans, sorry."

"heh. well, can't blame a guy for trying."

"We're approaching the Village... Does this need to be behind the walls or...?"

Alphys answers. "Y-yes, if it isn't it might get damaged. It is currently packed, but when it is set up it will be much thinner and less sturdy"

"I see... Well, at least we are close. Alphys, you can switch out with Squire Katsuro, take a break."

"O-oh OK... t-thank you."

Undyne is intrigued by the prospect of a knight and squire, so she asks "squire huh? So Bernard does that mean you are a Knight?"

Bernard replies "technically no. But... also yes? We don't have any kings, after the Great War people went up in arms against anyone who declared themselves King. We have Elders instead, elected leaders that have passed certain trials and were proven to be wise; at least, as wise as the trials are concerned."

"Huh, so does that mean anyone can be a knight?"

"No, not at all. You have to be knighted by the Elder. That is why it is a yes/no answer. I was knighted, but not in the traditional way."

"Oh OK, that is still pretty sweet though! Hey, so who trained you?"

"The last Martial arts master, and his rival, the last Kendo master; the Martial arts master was master of several fighting styles, but I never bothered to learn their names. The Last Kendo master is one of the few of Japanese descent I have met, though I know there are more in the Sanctum."

"That's awesome! It's just like ANIME! I can't believe Frisk said Anime wasn't real! So do you offer lessons or anything?"

"Not currently, no. I spend most of my time training Katsuro, he is my Squire after all."

"Oh... bummer. Well, if you ever get time I would love to learn!"

Bernard pauses thoughtfully... "Hmm, well I don't see any harm in you watching his lessons... but keep in mind that I am training him, so I can't help you as readily."

"REALLY!? THAT IS FREAKING AWESOME! ! I CAN'T WAIT TO TELL FRISK! I AM GONNA BE THE BEST ANIME-WARRIOR EVER! ! FUHUHUHUHUH!"

Bernard chuckles.

They approach the gate and see two armoured guards, where previously two in padded armour were, Bernard speaks to one of them. "Johnathan, take my spot carrying this thing."

Johnathan replies hesitantly, "Uh. Alright, Sir Bernard; where are we taking it?"

Alphys answers. "T-the center of the Village would be a good location, that will give us even coverage."

"Alright then. Are you going to the Addams', Sir Bernard?"

"Yes, I am. I won't be gone for long."

As Johnathan assists the monsters in taking the device to the center of the town, Bernard heads to the Addams residence. Once there, they begin to unpack the antenna. The main pole segments uncurl into a roughly 50ft pole and lock together, four tethering cables are set up to keep it stable. Several leaf shaped antennas unfold near the top and lock into place. The base is a three foot wide cylindrical prism, part of it is flat and has a screen and a panel below it; Alphys moves the panel to reveal a keyboard and begins typing. With the Antenna all set up, Sans checks his phone for reception, it all checks out.

Sans sends Papyrus the knight time joke, and chuckles at the explosive response from his brother.

"we're good to go, it's all set up and working."

Alphys responds while closing the panel and turning off the screen. "Alright, t-that is good. The Less problems we have from here on out, the b-better."

Johnathan, curiously asks "what is this thing?"

Alphys responds, making sure to keep her hyper-nerd in check. "I-it will allow us to communicate with the monsters in the underground. Sans also brought some Cell phones to help the guard coordinate defences."

"Oh? That will come in handy... So where are these 'cell phones?'"

Sans pulls out an old cell phone that has had other cell phone parts attached to it. "right here, i am going to give them to bernard to hand out as he sees fit."

Katsuro responds to Sans, saying "I can take those to Bernard for safe keeping, we can go over how to use them tomorrow; if that is OK with you."

Sans pulls out four Cell phones and hands them to Katsuro. "sure thing, here ya go. don't drop them."

Taking the devices, Katsuro thanks Sans and heads off.

Cautiously curious Johnathan replies. "Huh, interesting... I should probably head back to my post, actually." Before heading off in the wrong direction.

Sans notices and asks, while pointing to the south east gate, "isn't your post that way?"

Johnathan is flustered "Oh! uh. We were about to rotate out, so I am actually going to my new post." He chuckles awkwardly.

Sans shrugs "alright, if you say so."

Johnathan heads off. The three monsters look around the center of the village. It's a fairly large clearing and looks like it's used by kids, and adults, for all sorts of things. Signs will have to be put up to keep the curious from causing problems. At least they can speak to the monsters in the Underground now, that will make everything easier... which reminds Alphys to send a message to the Underground to warn them, so that they have time to set up a barricade to keep out the Aberrant creatures. The group heads off to the Addams' Manor to inform them of their findings and get a night of well earned rest. Dinner is already prepared for them and in the fridge, apparently everyone else is already sleeping. Sans heads into the kitchen and gets the food, there is a note with it. It reads:

"TO: SANS, UNDYNE, AND ALPHYS.
MARCELINE AND I MADE YOU
SPAGHETTI! ! I HOPE YOU LIKE IT! !
SHE SHOWED ME A LOT OF NEW
WAYS TO MAKE IT! ! ! SHE MAY BE
JUST AS GREAT AS ME! !

-PAPYRUS"

Sans chuckles softly, and grabs the plates of spaghetti. The group eats their meal, it's delicious. When they are done, they split up and head to their rooms quietly.

Sans makes his way to his bedroom, right next to Papyrus', and steps in. Flicking on the light reveals a small child. Frisk is inside waiting for him.

"sup kiddo, shouldn't you be in bed?"

"Uh... yea, but I knew you were gonna go right to bed and I couldn't wait any longer. Did you figure it out?"

"huh?"

"The time japes."

"heh, not quite. but you were right, it seems. we've done all we can for now though."

"The History book says an Artifact was used to make the Barrier, maybe finding it might help?"

"yea, that could. you happen to know where it is?"

"...the only Artifact I found was absorbed by an annoying dog."

"weird. small and white?"

"Yea! how'd you know?"

Sans winks. "i could feel it in my bones."

"Pfff, that was lazy even for you."

Sans shrugs. "well, kid, i am bone-tired. how 'bout we do this talk to-marrow?"

Frisk giggles quietly. "Sure, see ya later Sans."

"see ya kiddo."

As Frisk silently leaves, Sans thinks to himself 'what a little trouble-maker... sneaking around hiding in other people's rooms, in the dark no less. heh. what a dork.'

Sans takes the hand-held core drill out of his pocket and places it on the night stand next to his bed, must have forgotten it. He pulls out his Cell and checks for messages, none. Undernet is buzzing with activity though, seems like everyone is excited about what the future holds. A lot of them are upset that they can't leave the Underground, understandable... He flings a zinger out onto the UnderNet to his followers, the chat switches from impatient brooding to laughter and self perpetuating jokes; his job is done. Now to sleep. He checks under his bed for a "surprise," then lays down.

Frisk lays their head down on their pillow, and begins to slowly drift to sleep. The night is calm, the bugs are annoying, the stars are bright... Frisk drifts off.

* UNINTELLIGIBLE WHISPERS ECHO IN THE VOID...
"...F...S...r...a...i...H...v...s...i...k...e...m..."
* FRISK DOESN'T SLEEP WELL.

:-:

Frisk's Cell reads: 8:15 A.M. March 27th, 2045 | No messages
Their alarm didn't go off, weird since it is Monday.
'Oh, it was snoozed. That makes sense.' Frisk thinks to themselves.

Frisk feels something in their pockets, then tries to remember what they left in the dimensional boxes... They can't remember.

Frisk checks their Pockets and Dimensional boxes:
Pockets: BadMemoryx8
Box A: Dream x10
Box B: SnowPiece, HushPupe, DogResidu x8

Frisk doesn't remember having Bad Memories in their pockets... Oh well. Frisk puts the dreams into their night stand, and the Bad Memories into Box A.

The morning goes on much as usual. Frisk changes, flails around while avoiding the previous night's shenanigans (though, there are less now), and everyone goes to eat breakfast. Today, oatmeal is served with a side of hash browns. With everyone gathered in the Dining room, they begin to talk about the previous day; mostly for the benefit of the group that went to the mountain. Papyrus starts off the conversation, telling Sans about how some of his new human friends got over excited by his greatness; and how one almost did a violence against him, but Katsuro stopped him. No one is particularly happy to hear that Papyrus was attacked, even if he is unharmed. A few moments of uneasy silence pass.

Frisk begins to loudly proclaim, in the best authoritative voice an eight year old can muster:

"HEAR YE HEAR YE! ! ! With the aid of Sir Daddums and Dame Mommy, I have decided the theme of the celebration, which shall take place when King FLUFFYBUNS' nation sees the light of day! ! ! The theme shall be... THE MONSTER MASH! ! ! All Monsters are here by requested to come as themselves, and all Humans are required to wear costumes, or be sentenced to Dog Residue costumes! ! !"

The group lightens up from Papyrus' disturbing news.

Asgore begins speaking. "Well, in regards to the celebrations they will have to wait for quite a while. I am sure you have all heard by now, but there is a... forest of creatures headed our way; and from what I understand, they are not friendly. With that in mind, the Elder informed me of what Monsters can do to assist the village; and with the help of some of those in the Underground, the village... might survive. They would just leave, but they do not have the means to do so quick enough."

Asgore clears his throat before continuing. "I have coordinated with several officials, and worked out a way to allow some monsters to move up to the surface early; they will stay with any human willing to house them. There will also be more monsters here, in the Mansion, thanks to the Addams family's generosity."

Undyne asks "what sort of things are we going to help with? Defence, building, nerd stuff?"

"All of the above, monsters are asked to do anything they can. We have planned a second defensive wall, to divert the creatures away from the village rather than try to fight them. Apparently, when they are close enough to each other, they form a limited hive mind; attacking one would get the attention of all of them. So it is either we kill them all or we kill none of them. I would much rather kill none of them, if possible."

Sans speaks up, "hey asgore, did they mention that these creatures bloom golden flowers when they die?"

Asgore responds, calmly, "yes, and it is to my understanding that Marceline has been performing experiments on them, to find their properties. So far, beyond making a good tea, they do not seem harmful."

"well, as long as they are safe..."

"The villagers burn them every spring, many think that they are dangerous or may be how the creatures spread. I would disagree, but they didn't survive this long by taking unnecessary risks."

Alphys speaks up. "S-so do we know which monsters are g-going to move here?"

"Yes, we will need the Dog clan here -I am sure they will be received well- and Ice Wolf is needed too. Some of the Vegitoids may be helpful with increasing the growth in the farmland. We will need the Royal Guard as well, it looks like we won't be disbanding it after all; at least, not yet. Washua, Muffet, Mettaton, and Vulkin will also be needed. So, all in all we will be moving... about 32 monsters. 33 if Napstablook is willing to help."

Sans replies. "so, not many humans are willing to house monsters huh?"

"Actually, more could be brought, but Toriel and I have worked on the numbers; we think this is the optimal number of monsters. Not so many that people are scared and decide against it, but not so few that we are not helpful."

Toriel nods.

"well, in light of all this news sharing... alphys you wanna share what we found?"

Alphys reluctantly replies, having been too busy playing footsie with a certain fish. "Uh, s-sure... We discovered that, for one or more unknown reasons, t-time in the Underground was significantly different than time on the surface. Almost like it was accelerated. From what we c-can tell, this stopped when the barrier was broken."

"they kid told me that some artifact was used to make the barrier, and the only one they found was absorbed by that annoying dog."

Alphys is frustrated. "F-figures! If we could find t-that artifact we might learn what happened."

Papyrus bellows out in displeasure "THAT LOATHESOME SCOUNDREL! IT TAKES EVERYTHING THAT DOESN'T BELONG TO IT! ! ! I AM SURPRISED IT IS NOT CALLED... A TERROR! ! BECAUSE IT TERRORIZES ME ALL THE TIME, STEALING MY ATTACKS!"

Sans chuckles, "it's a bone-glar."

Papyrus becomes even more visibly frustrated, "SAAAAAAANS! ! IF YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE A JOKE, AT LEAST PUT A LITTLE MORE... BACKBONE INTO IT! NYEH HEH HEH! ! !"

After the skeleton brothers trade puns, everyone finishes breakfast. The group decides that it would be best to notify the monsters when they have somewhere to stay. No one feels a need to leave the mansion. Asgore tends to the Greenhouse, Alphys works in the lab on random experiments, Undyne asks Conrad for fencing lessons, Toriel and Marceline read in the library -putting Frisk's school work together-, Frisk works on their homework as fast as possible, Sans is no where to be found, and Papyrus practices the new spaghetti making techniques he learned. After a few hours, Bernard comes by with some of the village guards; Alphys works with them and teaches them how to use the Cell phones. They leave shortly after.

:-:

In a secluded part of the village, two men meet together.

?1 "Can you believe it? They set up that thing in the middle of town, apparently it'll let them all talk to the monsters in the underground."

?2 "So they are just infiltrators? Does that mean they are collecting information about our defences, so killing us will be easier?"

?1 "Who knows, some of the guard started talking about how monsters gave them 'Cell phones' to help with defences."

?2 "I don't know, man. Sounds like they are winning our trust, and making us dependent on their gizmos. For all we know, they could be using the things to collect our strategies."

A third man appears. "Did either of you see the display near the town hall? The thing that skeleton did?"

?2 "Yea, I did, that was freaky. If it can do stuff like that... who knows what else the monsters can do. Didn't humans have magic at one point?"

?3 "Yea, but after the barrier went up we lost it."

?2 "Figures... I was going to suggest trying to find a way to get magic back for humans, you know even the playing field, but if it vanished with monsters... it should stay that way."

?1 "We should leave, the guard is going to get suspicious; we don't know who we can trust... remember, we need a horse so we can warn the Sanctum and tell them the truth."

With those words, the group scatters and goes about their day; pretending like nothing happened.

:-:

The rest of the week goes by slowly. The monsters help build a second defensive wall, hoping it re-routes the Wälder beasts. Alphys manages to find a way to Camouflage the village as well, making it harder to spot from the defensive wall. If all goes well, the creatures will avoid the town... With Vulkin's help they were able to melt metals faster for construction, even employ something called "welding." The Dog Clan began assisting in patrols, using their more precise senses to detect intruders. Mettaton opted to stay underground to keep monsters entertained, but sent some mini-metta bots up to help. Napstablook did come to the surface, he is staying in the mansion upon Marceline's request; he helps make sure everything is put together properly.

Frisk's Cell reads: 10:00 P.M. March 31th, 2045 | No messages

They are having trouble sleeping... but they are not the only ones awake.

In the dark of night, four men stealthily approach a large section of the newly erected defence wall. In hushed voices they speak.

?1 "I don't know what the monsters are playing at, why would they build a defence wall if they can just escape to their cave?"

?2 "I have a feeling that they may be trying to get us to let our guard down, make us trust them. Then, when we least expect it, they leave for their cave; letting those other monsters, that sprout the damned golden flowers, do all the dirty work."

?1 "But the wall is sturdy... I was part of a group that helped test it. I am not so sure any more that they are trying to hurt us..."

?3 "Tch, I'm not going to wait around to find out. I say we find a way to sabotage it, prove what their real goals are."

?2 "What do you suggest? How are we going to sabotage it?"

?4 "Simple, we take some of the nails and bolts out; make it so it can't stand on its own... Then, we find a way to knock that thing in the center of the village down. It seems important to them."

?2 "I'm not sure about the last part, they assigned someone to watch it in case anyone got bad ideas; apparently a lot of people are voicing opinions about it. But... It's taking up space that the kids used to have, so maybe there will be an opportunity."

?1 "You guys do whatever, I... I need to think about it."

?2 "If you rat us out, I will blame this all on you. You know I can."

?1 "I- I wont... I just... I need to think."

As the first mystery man departed, the other three moved further down the wall to avoid the guard patrol.

?3 "I just had an idea, what if we use breaking the wall as a distraction to get to the stables? Then one of us could take a horse and ride to the Sanctum?"

?2 "That might just work, but we will need to make it significant enough to draw the attention of all the guards... If we can't break the wall by hand, I might be able to get a hold of the last bit of explosives the guard has."

?4 "Dangerous, but I think it would work. Do either of you know how to ride a horse?"

?2 "You know me, of course I can ride a horse."

The group of ne'er-do-wells begin looking for the best spot to start their sabotage, but find that there are no nails or bolts holding anything together; it's "welded." So the group resorts to plan b... Mystery man two... "requisitions" some explosive material without anyone anyone catching on, and then places it near the wall. For a moment Mystery man two hesitates, but he remembers that the Wälder beasts are stronger than humans; If this explosive stuff can damage the wall, then so could they. So he lights the fuse and runs before it detonates. It explodes far more powerfully than expected. He had only seen small demonstrations of the material, so he wasn't overly familiar... No way the creatures are that strong, but at least the point is made; and that is definitely a distraction. One of the men is knocked unconscious because they are too close as explosion goes off and breaches the wall. The rest of the mystery men run away from the area, as fast as possible, to the stables. Everyone in the village wakes up from the explosion, and many cautiously step out to see what is going on.

At the stables, a cloaked man stole supplies and a horse while another opens the way; allowing the first to ride off into the night. The other horses were injured to prevent anyone from catching the man riding off. With the deed done, the man runs to the commotion, and blends in with the worried crowd.

Frisk leaves the manor and uses their SAVE star.

* FILE SAVED.
* FRISK FEELS REJUVENATED.

:-:

Frisk starts walking in the direction they heard the explosion. On their way, someone they think they recognize rides off on a horse; they are probably going to request emergency aid. When Frisk gets to the scene, it is chaotic. People are panicking, and the wall has a gaping hole in it. Some start to cry out, blaming monsters, and others join in... The people who attacked Asriel while he was carrying Chara's body are very vocal. Distrust in monsters grows. Bernard catches sight of Frisk, and sends them back home with a stern expression.

When Frisk lays their head down, sleep does not come peacefully... The night is calm, and the bugs are quiet (thanks, explosion), but something is nagging at them from the back of their mind...

Eventually, though, reality blurs as Frisk drifts off into sleep.

"A...r...Y...n't...for...ou...getting... someone?"

:-:

Frisk wakes up late, It's Saturday. They don't quite remember their dreams from last night. They check their phone.

Frisk's Cell reads: 9:00 A.M. April 1st, 2045 | 1 message

From: SirGrandpa
If I catch you sneaking around outside late
at night again, you will wish your parents
only grounded you! Especially when there
is danger! Do you understand little missy!?

To: SirGrandpa
Yes sir...

From: SirGrandpa
Good. I won't tell your parents, but your
"Anime-Warrior-Princess" training will
be "delayed" until I decide you have
learned your lesson.

To: SirGrandpa
But... All I did was go n look!

From: SirGrandpa
No buts, just looking could have put you
in a lot of danger.

To: SirGrandpa
Wat happned? I saw... sum1 riding
a horse last nite, did u send 4 help?

From: SirGrandpa
No, I didn't. Did you get a look at their
face?

To: SirGrandpa
Noe, they wer too fast. I am sure
u will find out who it was tho.
This is a smal village.

Other than the upsetting conversation with Bernard, the weekend goes on rather boringly. Frisk, no longer being grounded, helps around the village. It turns out that some people just mishandled the last of the explosives, why they had it is unknown... Frisk feels like Bernard isn't telling the whole story, but can't get him to speak. The monsters, despite the voices opposing them, fix the wall and begin work on a better irrigation system.

:-:

After their Monday lessons, Frisk checks their phone to see if they got any messages.

Frisk's Cell reads: 1:00 P.M. April 3rd, 2045 | No messages

Frisk decides to visit Alphys in the Manor's lab.

"Hey Alphys, whatcha workin' on?"

"OH! ! F-frisk, you startled me... I- uhh... I'm working on ... s-something."

"Sounds pretty important, what does it do?"

"W-well! I am hoping that we can use the dimensional box technology t-to transfer energy... If we c-can do that, the village would have access to more power."

Interested Frisk replies. "Oh, that sounds really handy!" Frisk waits patiently, staring.

"D-do... you want to help?"

With a hint of excited helpfulness Frisk says "Sure!"

"Okay, I... Let me think... We n-need a source of contained magic to kickstart the dimensional link, c-could you see if there are any glass tubes or containers? Preferably not cracked."

"Ok."

Frisk leaves. As they search the house, they remember about the Dreams they have in their nightstand. 'Maybe those would help?' Frisk goes and grabs a few of them then returns to the lab.

Pocket: Dream x3

Frisk shows one of the Dreams to Alphys and asks, "Do you think this would work?"

Alphys takes it and examines it. "Where... did you get this? It... it looks like a... I don't know exactly... b-but it's... beautiful."

"Oh... I uh... made them. They're called "Last Dreams" or "Dreams" for short."

Flabbergasted, Alphys asks "wait wait wait!... Y-you MADE these?! How? I thought humans lost access to m-magic!?"

Frisk, nonchalant, Shrugs. "I was really determined when... things happened before the barrier was broken."

Alphys ponders this for a moment... then moves on. "Frisk, from what I can tell, this little ball holds enough magic and determination to... to cheat death... it's overkill... no pun intended... Are you s-sure you want to give this to me?"

Frisk Nods.

"You are a really... mysterious little child, you know that?"

Frisk nods.

Alphys sighs and turns back to her experiment. "Perhaps you s-should get someone to t-teach you how to use magic."

Holding back a laugh, Frisk asks "Sans?" in a comical manner.

Alphys turns around too quickly in panic, causing her to lose balance, and almost loses hold of the Dream. "OHGODNOTSANS! ! ! !"

She catches herself before falling and straightens out, while catching her breath. She continues "I w-was thinking someone l-like me, or Undyne, o-or Papyrus! Y-yea Papyrus is p-pretty good with magic and he is super c-careful! Sans... uh... heh... Y-you d-don't want to train with Sans..."

A little worried about her response, Frisk asks "What about Toriel?"

"OH! ! YEA ACTUALLY! ! Uh... heh... Actually, Toriel would probably... wait... how does human magic work anyway?..."

Frisk shrugs.

"W-well... I guess there is only one way t-to find out..."

Frisk nods. They are curious about why Alphys had such a reaction to the thought of Sans teaching magic... maybe puns? Yea, would probably be pretty punishing lessons.

"H-hey... Frisk... It would probably be best if you didn't tell anyone outside of the manor, we d-don't know how they will react..."

Frisk nods, and leaves.

Frisk holds in a giggle as they think about learning all the pun magic from Sans... Mission accepted, "Learn magic from Sans." First, though, they will ask Toriel about learning magic; they can learn from Sans in secret. Frisk runs off and finds Toriel, who is pleasantly surprised to see Frisk.

Excitedly, Frisk says "Hey hey hey, Tori!"

"Yes, Frisk?"

Now a bit hesitant, Frisk continues. "Can you... teach me how to use magic?"

Surprised, Toriel asks "I am not sure anything would come about it, are you sure?"

Frisk nods.

"I... suppose I could teach you the basics of magic, and magic theory... If you really want to learn, what sort of teacher would I be to turn you down? We can start magic lessons tomorrow, if your parents say it is ok."

Frisk squeals in delight. "Thank you Toriel!" Then runs out of the room... before running back in.

"Oh, I almost forgot, Alphys is worried that people might not like me being able to use magic; so maybe we should have the lessons in private?"

Toriel thinks for a moment. "Hmm. I understand her concern, but I do not think it would be a problem; we can hold them in private if you wish, but I insist that your parents know."

Frisk nods.

"Alright, I look forward to their answer."

Frisk runs off again, a smile almost visible on their face. Frisk goes to their mom first, dad may look like he is in charge but it is really mom.

Frisk speaks with a hint of anxiousness, and hopefulness.

Hey, mom?"

"Yes my angel?"

"Can I start taking magic lessons with Toriel?"

"You want to learn about magic?"

Frisk nods.

"Well, I am very happy to hear that. Would you mind if I joined?"

Frisk shakes their head excitedly.

"Wonderful, then we can work together and learn magic. I will even bring the books I have on magic."

Frisk raises an eyebrow. "I didn't know you had magic books."

"I do, and that is because I kept them safe."

"Oh, Toriel wants you to know your answer; probably in person."

"Alright sweetheart, let me finish this chapter and I will go let her know."

Frisk runs off to hang out with Papyrus. The rest of the day goes smoothly. At dinner time, the group is mostly quiet. Another spot is prepared for Napstablook, it doesn't look like there is anything there; but they are chewing contently. Napstablook showed Toriel how to make ghost food. Frisk decides that everyone in the mansion should know about their super secret lessons, so no one accidentally tells anyone else.

Frisk gets everyone's attention and says "I have something to say." Their face was subtly happy.

Frisk, sure that everyone is listening, continues. "I can use magic! So far I was only able to make some things called 'Last Dr-'"

Unbeknownst to everyone but Sans, the world around the group of humans and monsters begins to stand still. Sans is focused.

Frisk continues, "-eams, but I am sure that with practice I could do more."

Sans replies. "heh, well kiddo, i bet you could get into all sorts of treble with magic."

Papyrus reacts "SANS, CAN YOU NOT!?"

Sans chuckles, the danger seems to have passed. The world returns to its usual self.

Frisk nods "yea, I could. I am worried about how other humans will react. Lots of them think magic comes from monsters... and after the whole... explosion thing... not everyone likes monsters."

Papyrus declares "WORRY NOT YOUNG FRISK, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL PROTECT YOU! ! ! YOU NEED NOT FEAR THOSE NEFARIOUS NE'ER-DO-WELLS! ! NYEH HEH HEH!"

Undyne joins with a wide grin. "YEAH! Don't you worry punk! We've got your back!"

Frisk smiles subtly, and adds "even so. I am going to be learning magic from Toriel, but Alphys and I think it would be best if no one else but us knew."

To which Toriel comments "actually, in regards to your lessons Frisk, I think it would be good if everyone here helped teach you magic; within the bounds of my carefully prepared lessons, that is."

Alphys eyes Sans cautiously, his standard grin doesn't change. "I-I'm not sure that is a g-good idea Toriel... If we all try to teach Frisk, we c-could confuse them."

Napstablook starts to comment, but then decides against it.

Toriel looks to Napstablook and tells them "Yes, your help would be appreciated too Napstablook."

Returning to Alphys, Toriel says "I am aware of that, which is why I have been making very careful plans. All of you have one or more aspect you can use very well. We don't know what Aspects Frisk can use, so we will need all of you to help. If that is ok?"

Undyne and Papyrus shout "YEAH! ! !", Alphys gives a nervous smile and a thumbs up, Sans gives a shrug, Asgore nods, Napstablook is reluctant, but also nods, and Marceline smiles.

The group continues to eat their dinner, but after a few moments Frisk asks Sans, with a subtly serious face, "can we talk for a moment?"

Sans winks, "sure."

The world stands still, Sans and Frisk are the only ones not affected.

"you have a pretty serious face there, what's up?"

"I noticed when you stopped everything, like you did in Grillbys. Why?"

"last dreams are really powerful, kiddo. some people would... kill for one, as ironic as that is, since they prevent death."

feeling more cautious, Frisk continues. "Oh... Wait... how do you know that?"

Sans only winks in reply.

"Well... I do have something else I want to ask." Frisk puts on an almost noticeable mischievous grin. Sans' grin widens in response.

"ask away, we have all the thyme in the world."

Frisk eagerly asks, "would you teach me some of your awesome magic? You know, in addition to Toriel's lessons?"

Sans' grin fades slightly, he shrugs and says "i dunno kiddo, that sounds like a skele-ton of work."

"Pleeeeeeease? I need to know the secrets behind your punderful magic!"

Sans chuckles "well... if you insist... but don't say i didn't warn you."

Frisk replies happily "Thanks Sans!"

"no problem kiddo and, don't worry, we will keep it a surprise."

With Sans' final statement, the world returns to normal. No one the wiser... except Alphys. She doesn't know what, but she cam tell that Sans and Frisk are up to something... maybe they were just talking about pranks... yea... just... pranks.

The group of humans and monsters finish their meals, clean up, and head to bed.

:-:

The night is calm, the bugs are back, and the stars are shining brilliantly... Frisk drifts off to sleep, happy that their friends are all happy and safe. Happy to have something that connects them all together.

*Knowing that someday they can call themselves a 'magical-anime-warrior-princess' fills Frisk with... DETERMINATION.