:-"Madness"-:
Frisk starts to panic.
They are in too much shock to look away, to yell out for their mother, or to do anything meaningful beyond letting out a pathetic whimper and wish it were all just a dream.
As they continue watching the distant barrier hesitantly, the red cracks continue spreading, and beams of pure Determination force their way through the weakest parts.
Then it happens.
The barrier gives out, and a large explosion of magic, and destructive Determination, washes over everything. Peeling away magic, matter, and reality itself.
Within moments, Frisk is looking out at a mostly blank void with small grey chucks of random debris floating in place.
There is no green, no gold, no blue… Nothing but splotches of grey, and the purest black Frisk has ever encountered.
A blackness as deep as the void, and a grey that is reminiscent of that one monster they encountered.
That is, until they notice a splotch of red in the distance.
Frisk tries to move, but their whole body feels heavy and sluggish.
They try to cry out, but their voice is weak and pitiful.
A strong force brings them face to… faces with the Gibbering Horror.
Blood seeps from almost everywhere on its horrifying collective of amalgamated human bodies, as various innards swing about haphazardly, and severely damaged limbs flail about reaching, clawing, and kicking at Frisk.
Frisk can only look on in horror as it slowly approaches. The multitude of mouths babble and the neck stumps, where heads should be, make gurgling sounds.
Fortunately, but creepily, the stumps of its severed arms, legs, and heads slowly begin to regenerate their lost parts…
Frisk, unable to do anything but stare at this horrifying creature, notices a face, similar to their own, looking at them with a terrifying expression; a hopeless face of rage, filled with a stubborn determination to not give up despite everything.
CU-270's frail face is nowhere to be seen.
Pushing their fears away enough to move, Frisk begins to try to escape.
They run as fast as their unwilling body will let them, but the horror catches them easily.
Frisk tries to scream as loud as they can, hoping someone, anyone, will hear them; hoping that their trust in CU-270 hasn't been misplaced.
But nobody comes…
They fight as much as they can to keep the biting heads and clawing hands away, to no avail.
They try to reset, but the menu they normally see won't show up.
Suddenly, everything stops…
It all fades away, and Frisk starts to feel different. Like they are being gently rocked in someone's arms.
They start to hear their mother's voice, quietly singing a soothing lullaby, hoping to calm them down.
Frisk opens their damp eyes slowly, and realizes that they fell asleep while looking out at the beautiful scenery.
Wiping Frisk's tears away with a cloth, Marceline asks, "would you like to talk about your nightmare, sweetheart?"
Lightly shaking their head, Frisk looks around to check if they can see outside; they can, but not much.
The barrier is shining much brighter than before, and there is not even a single crack-like pattern on it.
Frisk also feels oddly refreshed, and feels that their magic has been completely replenished.
Tucking their head closer to their mother, Frisk asks, "can I sleep in your bed tonight, mom?"
Marceline caresses Frisk's head, and replies, "yes, I think that would be fine for tonight. You seem to have had quite the nightmare."
Glancing to the window for a moment, she continues, "I can only imagine what sort of pressure you are going through, my little angel… Please remember that your friends and family are here for you, alright? You don't have to do everything alone."
Frisk is already asleep again .
Marceline gently walks to her room and lays Frisk on the bed, then lies down next to them and holds them close, so they feel safe.
:-:
CU-270, twelve skeletons, the Red Sage, and an older human gentleman are standing around an incredibly complex series of arcane circles; which all link to a pentagram with five empty circles, two of which are marked with arms, two marked with legs, and one marked with a head .
Worried, the Red Sage asks, "CU-270, your condition, that you keep insisting is not actually there, seems to be getting worse. Are you sure you need to provide me with your SOUL? Can we not borrow from our friend here?"
CU-270 replies, "no, we cannot. Not enough Determination. Besides, I've already removed it ."
Grimly, the Red Sage nods and instructs the skeletons, "begin chanting as instructed."
The skeletons obey, and chanting fills the large stone room.
In the center, Flowey is bound and unconscious.
The human begins to feel invigorated and takes a deep breath in, before saying, "the barrier has been reinforced. Excess Determination, that would otherwise now be spilling out, is being converted into magic… Let's get this over with."
Years of theoretical practice, along with special magical patterns woven into his clothing and tattooed onto his body, are now being used for practical application. Restoring a Monster's SOUL and body is not as difficult as restoring a human SOUL and body, meaning one does not need to be a Green primary with Red secondary… but this ritual is also theoretical.
After nodding, the Red Sage begins drawing highly complex runes in the air around the ritual circle.
The human begins drawing runes as well, but they are less complicated.
Together, they fill the air around the circle with magic.
A skeleton brings a heart shaped diamond, which was hidden in the center of the legendary "Eye-Tim" artifact, to the Red Sage.
When the Red Sage takes it, another skeleton arrives carrying a jar of dust, and a white tuft of still-living monster fur.
The human, having finished his simpler runes, takes the ingredients and the two skeletons depart together.
Carefully, the human slowly pours the dust into the empty circles on the left and right sides, then places the tuft of fur in the circle on the top. Once done, he stands at the bottom of the ritual circle.
When the Red Sage finishes making runes, he holds the heart shaped diamond above the center of the patterns; the skeletons stop chanting.
The shadows in the dimly lit room grow deeper, as darkness consumes the room, and flecks of glimmering crimson come floating out from within.
The Red Sage reveals his SOUL and holds his hand underneath of it, while keeping his occupied hand outstretched over the arcane circles with the diamond heart.
The flecks fly towards his SOUL and embed themselves within it, causing it to turn red.
Under his hood, seemingly floating within the illusory darkness, the Red Sage's eyes glow in the new colour of his SOUL.
He returns his altered SOUL within himself and forcefully shouts, in an unknown language, "RESVITHEMA! CRENEBOFMA! RESTHSOUMA!" As he makes gestures with his free hand to activate the floating runes he made.
As he completes the final gesture, the large interlinked arcane circles flash white, then start to glow in shifting hues representing all the colours of human SOULs.
The intensity, and sheer power of the spell activating, causes the air to move around violently; which prompts the skeletons to begin chanting again.
After a few moments, the air in the room calms down to a moderate breeze.
The glowing magic builds up within the circles and begins to shift and move, then eventually gathers to where Flowey is being kept.
Once gathered in the center, the magic begins to stabilize and glow white, then shoots up into the diamond heart with a loud crackling sound.
The chanting grows louder in order to overcome the constant crackling sound, as magic pours into the upside down heart.
The human begins activating the runes he made with gestures, as he shouts, "CREATE, RESTORE, FORM!"
Determination creeps out from the darkness and seeps into the marked circles, then consumes the ingredients and begins to overflow, like liquid, into the lines of the pentagram.
After several exhausting minutes, the entire network of circles has been filled with Determination.
The Determination begins to dissolve Flowey, and his greens and yellows all fade to white before shifting to red.
When his body is completely dissolved, the room becomes unbearably bright and begins shaking for several moments.
Then the room slowly returns to normal.
No bright light, no shaking, no abnormal air currents.
No Flowey.
Just a monster's SOUL, and a series of complicated arcane circles that are pulsing with a white, heart-beat like, glow.
The Red Sage releases the SOUL and it gently floats downward.
When the SOUL reaches the center of the arcane patterns, the magic within them rushes towards it.
It begins building up around the SOUL into a formless blob, and a small shape slowly begins to form.
The Skeletons cease their chanting.
A Skeleton arrives with a pair of pants and a shirt, fit for a child.
When the magic surrounding the SOUL stops changing shape, and begins to solidify, the skeleton dresses the newly reborn goat monster.
The gruff gentleman slightly upturns one side of his mouth, and softly says, "welcome back, Asriel."
Asriel, still unconscious, shifts a little to get into a more comfortable position.
The Red Sage turns to the human, "we need to get the copy of Sans. Time is of the essence. "
:-:
A vaguely familiar voice pesters Post-Time-Jump Sans, as he sits in the slowly deteriorating facility under mount Hume.
'Can you feel the Eternal Hunger, Sans?'
It torments him with his fears…
'Playing with reality has consequences, Sans. Your little stunt ruined everything.'
… And it tempts him.
'I can help you stop it, Sans. All you have to do is sacrifice David, and we both know how much you hate David. I won't lie, sacrificing David won't stop him… He has too many echoes for you to stop him alone; so work with me, Sans. Work with me, and I can stop them both for you.'
'Wouldn't that be "Good?" Wouldn't that make everyone "Safe?" Would it not keep Frisk from having to face them?'
Though Sans still can't remember Frisk, the last sentence pulls at his SOUL.
He shakes the thoughts away, and turns to apologize to his hallucinatory family for stopping the card game .
But no hallucinations are there. Even Jerry left, and he is annoyingly persistent for a hallucination.
Sans is alone again… with not even his thoughts to keep him company.
He begins seriously considering the offer.
'on one hand, sacrificing people is bad no matter what.'
'on the other, david won't technically die… so, is it actually a sacrifice?'
'on another imaginary hand, the necronomicon isn't needed. so… maybe that altar i saw wasn't an altar for who i think it's for?'
Sans' suspects that something is trying to altar is mind, so he decides to make himself busy.
But the voice comes back.
'Do you know what your SOUL colours represent, Sans? Let's find out… I hope you don't mind if I- Ah, why should I bother asking. Of course you don't mind, it isn't like you are using it right now anyway.'
'Let's see… Purple for perseverance? What a joke! Purple is for Poison; finding patterns, and breaking them down. Though, I suppose that is close enough since poisons last.'
'Yellow for justice? What a crime! It doesn't show you criminal acts, or "just" acts, it shows you everything… Because justice is entirely up to you. yellow isn't for justice, it's for sight.'
'Blue for Integrity? What are you, the priest of some "holy god?" blue is for altering the structure of things around me… Did you know that includes minds? isn't it funny how humans think transmutation only applies to "objects," but forget that the human brain is an "object" too? an object that is squishy, and malleable; i don't even have to know how it works. magic is great.'
At some point, the voice stopped being vaguely familiar and became his own, but he can't quite tell when the change happened. It's all starting to blur together.
Fear finds its way into his mind, despite his efforts to stay calm.
He feels like has to do something, anything, to make the voice go away.
To make HIM go away.
Sans starts to pace, as he begins thinking about what to do.
The dawn of a new day approaches.
Frisk checks their new phone: 9:28pm January 1st, 1970| 2 new messages.
The time is obviously incorrect.
Curious, Frisk checks the new messages.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
From: ALPHYS
Sorry for hte late message Frisk but I
forgot to set the tien on your phone!
I sent this message at exactaly 4:30AM
despite what ti might say,,,
If you canxt figure it out, stop by later
nad I'll set your phoen's time for you.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
From: ALPHYS
OMG I am so sorry Frisk, when I sent
that I was super tired! Just stop by
when you can and I'll set the time.
Oh yea, I got the antenna set up, but it
can only connect to local devices right
now. I'm trying to get Mettaton to help
align the transmitter to the receiver in
Stag hill.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Frisk puts their phone down and drifts off back to sleep…
Their mother gently nudges them to wake them up not long after, "time for breakfast, Frisk ."
Groggily, Frisk sits up and rubs their eyes while yawning.
The usual routine of self-care is performed, albeit a bit slower.
In the kitchen/dining room, Frisk dispassionately eats their food.
Worried, Marceline asks, "Frisk, you don't seem to be playing with your food. Is your nightmare still bothering you?"
Frisk nods.
Marceline thinks for a while, and continues eating.
When done, she says, "perhaps we can find someone you can talk to about it? The Sanctum has people who specialize in listening to the worries of others, then helping them overcome them."
Unsure if they would want that, Frisk simply shrugs in reply.
Marceline, having finished her food, stands from the table, takes her plate, and replies, "well, you should consider it. I will be with you, of course, but it may be best to seek guidance from someone who knows how to put your worries to rest."
Frisk continues eating their meal, and nods lightly.
:-:
After Frisk finishes their meal, they take their plate to the kitchen and put it in the sink. Then, they go to their room and look for their pendant again… They still can't find it.
Marceline walks in and reminds them, "we are going to go see the Red Sage today, and then get you registered for classes. You should prepare."
With a mischievous smile, and a gleam in her eye, Marceline continues, "we wouldn't want anyone going a day without a prank, would we?"
Frisk nods and starts getting supplies together…
Some things to write with, some Frisk-brand parchment to write on, a small cup of water, their monster magic book, a paper clip, some flower with corn starch mixed in, and a bit of string.
They don't seem very motivated.
With their supplies ready, Frisk and Marceline leave to go to the magic teleporter room that links to the towers.
Marceline opts to stay behind when they reach the library section of the red tower, knowing that she wont be able to proceed further.
Frisk enters the topmost room.
This time, it is lit up when they arrive, and the Red Sage's eyes are glowing.
Frisk feels like they can make out more detail this time… but isn't sure.
The Red Sage gestures for Frisk to sit in front of him.
Cautiously, Frisk approaches and sits. Despite being so close, the details still seem fuzzy. Frisk decides that the Red Sage is using magic to mask his identity… Which means he is definitely a monster.
To Frisk's surprise, the Red Sage pulls his hood back and reveals his face…
Smiling sadly, the Red Sage sits in anticipation.
Frisky doesn't recognize him immediately, because of the damage, but when they do… more questions come to mind.
So they ask, "Are you related to Papyrus?"
Papyrus shakes his head, "no, I am Papyrus! Oh… I am so happy to finally be able to be myself again!"
Not convinced, Frisk says, "but… you don't sound like Papyrus, and… Papyrus is in Stag hill still."
Nodding, Papyrus answers, "yes, this is all true! I don't sound like me because of… long complicated things. I am both here and in Stag hill! Sans approached you yesterday, correct? Knowing how much he cares about you, he probably wanted to vaguely say goodbye."
Frisk nods.
Continuing, Papyrus raises his hand and points upwards with one finger, "that is because Sans was going to jump backwards in time, and didn't know if he would be able to return! He didn't know what would happen at all! So, I decided to go with him… foolishly. I got us scattered across time and space… but someone saved us… I can't remember who. Anywhosie! What actually ended up happening is a copy of ourselves got sent back, and so now there are two of us! Isn't that great?!"
So many questions… and Papyrus answers them all. About how he became the Red Sage, how CU-270 orchestrated everything up to that point, but hadn't previously, how he learned about "Failures," and how he is the best at human and monster magic.
The answers fill Frisk with more ease. They were sure that something was off, but they couldn't put their finger on it, and now everything makes sense.
Papyrus concludes, "… and now here we are today! I don't have to pretend any more in fear of screwing up the future! Ah… but, the bad news is my body-body is falling apart. That barrier really did a number on me. My Battle-Body has never been cooler though! "
Hearing that makes Frisk feel… sad.
Though mostly at ease, Frisk still feels wary of the old/new Papyrus, but they decide to ask something else, "so, what am I gonna learn today?"
Papyrus pulls the hood of his cloak back over his head, and says, "today, you are going to learn how to face your Failures. You have already encountered one, but there are more."
Curiously, Frisk asks, "What do you mean?"
Momentarily surprised, Papyrus responds, "oh, CU-270 must not have told you this time… probably to keep the things going in the right direction. Well, CU-270 is you from an alternate timeline, and the CU-270 you have interacted with is one of CU-270's Failures, and thus one of yours."
Papyrus can see that Frisk is still not quite comfortable, so he clears his throat, and tries to speak more like he used to. "I CAN TELL YOU ARE WORRIED, HUMAN, THAT I AM NOT THE TRUE GENUINE PAPYRUS, THAT I AM… AN IM-PASTA! BUT I SWEAR ON MY HONOUR THAT I REALLY AM THE GENUINELY-REAL GREAT PAPYRUS!"
After saying all of that, Papyrus coughs violently into his sleeve for a few moments. Though he doesn't have lungs, a build up of magic got caught in his "throat" from talking so differently than he is used to.
Frisk shakes their head, and replies, "well, the voice was good, but that pun was Sans-level… Speaking of Sans. You never said anything about finding him."
Papyrus sighs and becomes teary-eyed, "that is correct. We went to the facility where he was supposed to be… but all we found were strange marks all over the walls and floors; we don't know where he went, and we can't read the markings. I miss that lazybones… I miss him so much…"
Frisk stands up and gives Papyrus a hug, having decided that it is, indeed, Papyrus.
Hugging Frisk back gently, Papyrus says, "thank you, Frisk, for your Kindness. Now… Let's face your Failures."
Frisk lets go and nods, before sitting back down in front of Papyrus.
Slowly, Papyrus begins to draw some simple runes in the air with magic.
He explains, "these runes are needed to speak with your failures. They guide the magic to create the needed effects that grant you access. Please, take some time to practice them."
The runes are simple… Frisk decides to write them down.
Once done, Frisk uses their own magic to draw the runes in the air.
Papyrus looks over their handiwork, and continues, "very good! Now, I am not sure if you are aware, though you are quite a smart cookie, but to cast a spell you need to give it instructions. Verbal or mental commands are needed to guide the magic once it has left your body. Intent, after all, is key… but human magic is tricky. Even if you don't intend to hurt someone with it, you can."
Frisk nods, they get what he is saying… they have to be careful.
Continuing, Papyrus says, "now, when giving a spell commands, it is best to limit yourself to how many commands you use. Using one command is the quickest, but can be very imprecise. Using two commands is better, but really if you are going to say two commands you might as well go on to three. The optimal command count is three. No more, no less. Three is the best number of commands to use. Four is asking for trouble, and five is right out! You can consider commands as utensils, and if you use too many then a lot of magic will end up being wasted, or worse!"
Looking up from their notes, Frisk nods.
Papyrus continues. "Now, each command can only consist of a single word…"
He loses himself in thought as he tries to remember something…
Frisk clears their throat, and Papyrus realizes that he got distracted, "Anyhow, the words themselves… Well, they don't actually matter at all! You can literally say whatever you want! Isn't that great? The only thing that matters is the meaning and intent that you put into the words. That means magic can tell when you are trying to say 'chest' as in a box, instead of 'chest' as in an upper torso! Alternate words can also be used to mask your spells, or create highly intricate spells."
After taking a moment to let Frisk write, Papyrus continues, "you see, even though three command words are best, you can assign more meaning to each of those words than they normally have. You can even make up your own words! Isn't that neat? As long as the words have actual meaning to you, it doesn't matter how they are formed. The effort and intent is all that matters! What I prefer to do, for example, is make words out of other words. Like… 'Levithmarob!' Which is a smash up of 'Levitate the marked object!' "
Furious writing ensues, so Papyrus waits until they are done.
Wanting to make sure Frisk understands, he asks, "so, do you have any questions for the Great Papyrus?"
Frisk nods, and asks, "yea… you said three command words are best, but if you can use words that have the same meaning as more than three words… how does that work?"
Papyrus clears his throat and answers their question, "Every command word is paired with a rune. The more complex the meaning of the word, the more complex the rune becomes. There are some cases where several less complex runes are helpful, but for high level magic you want as few as possible. Every rune you have to activate takes additional time, so activating one complex rune is faster than activating twelve or twenty simple runes. "
Frisk nods, now understanding better.
Papyrus snaps his fingers and the runes he made start to glow stronger. When Frisk tries, nothing happens.
Papyrus responds, "no need to worry about that, I'm just being fancy! Now… Repeat after me: 'VOID,' 'REVEAL,' 'SELF!'"
When Papyrus finishes speaking, the room turns as dark as the void… Frisk expects a copy of him to show up, but one doesn't.
Explaining, Papyrus points to himself, "My failures have all been… resolved."
Frisk nods, and repeats the phrase. "VOID, REVEAL, SELF!"
:-:
Slowly, other people that kind of look similar to them, and some that are obviously different, start to appear within the void; but Papyrus is gone now.
Worried, but curious, Frisk moves around and looks at everyone.
There are too many to count, and none of them seem to react to Frisk at all; they are all just standing in place.
Some of them look nothing like Frisk at all, but others are like an exact copy!
One of them is super tall, another is really short, yet another looks like a weird boy…
There are some that have really weird outfits too, and stuff Frisk has never seen before! One of them even has a giant sword!
Another looks like someone out of an anime!
A few look really gruff… and another looks worse for wear.
There are a lot of them, with so many different shapes and sizes. 'So many new outfit choices!'
Frisk is excited to see all these different versions of themself.
They eventually get to one that has blue ish skin and looks like it has been eating moss, 'What a weirdo! I wonder how the moss tasted…'
Then, Frisk goes to an area that is completely empty, to the left and right, for as far as their eyes can see. Going over, they see horrible things. Evil, terrible faces. People with blood covered weapons, things that look like some of the guns that were salvaged, bone chilling expressions, and super edgy clothing.
They speak their mind out loud, since it doesn't seem like any of them even notice that Frisk is there. "Why… why do all of these look like bad guys? I'm… I'm not a bad guy!"
Frisk is startled when they feel a hand on their shoulder pulling them away from all the evil looking people.
When they turn around, they see themself, but… different? This version has longer, and lighter coloured hair; they are also wearing what looks like a Dreemurr royal dress, but the symbol is slightly more fish like.
The mystery copy introduces themself, "hey, you're a new face around here… Don't worry about them, everyone has their dark sides. I'm Kate."
Frisk nods and replies, somewhat flustered, "I'm… Frisk."
Kate gives a playful wink "well, you are one in a million… literally, there are a million others named Frisk; probably even more. Anyway, you're obviously lost and confused. So, what mean person brought you here? "
Shaking their head, Frisk retorts, "Papyrus isn't mean, he was just teaching me how to talk to my, uhh… alternate selves. "
Frisk opts not to call them 'Failures,' in case it is a sore subject for them; it seems a bit too on-the-nose.
Kate walks around them and looks them over, "ah, I see, you're not a new one then. You're a Poten."
Confused, Frisk asks, "a what? What's a 'Poten?'"
Kate replies cheerily, "a Poten is someone with potential, heh. See how that works? I got my terrible naming choices from Asgore. Where I used to live, we were a family… So! Tell me what you know."
Frisk recounts their knowledge to their alternate self…
Thoughtfully, their alternate self slowly nods while listening, then replies, "ah, I see. A classic mistake. We're not 'Failures,' well… most of… half of us are not Failures. See, when a red SOUL's reality comes to an end, they will persist; because they will have built up so much determination that even reality collapsing won't destroy them. Pretty Determined, huh? Sadly though, most of us can't actually do much with the determination; and only a few can even use magic. It would be more accurate to call us 'alts.' That's short for Alternates. Heh. "
Kate gestures for Frisk to follow, "here, let me introduce you to some of the others. There are a lot of weird characters here, but not all of them are… 'alive' so to say."
Curious, Frisk asks, "Oh, yea, I noticed. Why is that?"
With a confident face that says, "I thought you'd never ask," Kate replies, "You can only interact with the 'alts' that your SOUL resonates with the most. Also, if someone exists, there is a version of them that is a version of you. That's especially true if they're a 'main character' type. Pretty neat, huh?"
Frisk shrugs, "yea, I guess," and then starts to follow Kate.
:-:
The situation at Stag hill is getting worse.
After the successful take-off of the improved aircraft, the villagers have become very scared.
More people are joining the ranks of the "Anti-Monster" group, and the group has come out of hiding; since it is now about half of the population of the village.
Gerald, having fanned the flames and being the reason the small groups are uniting, which otherwise didn't know each other existed, is having trouble keeping their loyalty.
The more they press for definite action, the clearer it is that he is too hesitant to do anything.
As such, a few of the more outspoken people in the group are challenging his leadership.
On e in particular being Derrick, who is insistent with his claims that the golden flowers are linked to both the monsters and the aberrant creatures; to such an extent, in fact, that he calls both the same name. No longer are aberrations and monsters different, they are all monsters.
To him, the Wälder beasts are monsters that managed to take over animals. He also believes that monsters can do that to humans too… And the war, in his opinion, was actually an attempt to exterminate an invasive and hostile species that threatened to take over humanity.
When asked about the barrier and the Sages, he claims that the Sages were allied with the monsters and wanted humanity to be destroyed, and that the barrier was to save them from their rightful destruction.
Because the Anti-Monster faction is gaining so much support, neither the Elder nor the guards can quell the misinformation without looking like tyrants… They do their best to provide accurate information regardless.
Some council members are also taking the Anti-Monster faction's side.
All in all, it's a mess.
So much of a mess, in fact, that some of the villagers are watching over the Addams' manor, from behind a wooden barricade they put up in front of it, because they believe that the Addamses have sided with monsters to kill off humanity.
Because of the hostility towards monsters increasing significantly, Thing can no longer represent them.
Meanwhile, in "Home town," monsters have all of their infrastructure and buildings up now, but are not satisfied with the decline in the quality of leadership they are getting.
Asgore holds a meeting to let the monsters decide what they want to do, and it results in the monsters electing a mayor.
Because of this, Toriel decides to relinquish her title as Queen to teach in the school, and Asgore opens a flower shop.
Asgore still holds the title of King, but for most things regarding the town it is just an honorary title; anything involving humans and outside relations, however, goes to him.
With that being said, he is not that busy with those duties since the humans are unwilling to speak with him.
Despite the growing hostility, humans are too scared to attack the monster town directly; let alone go near it.
Many humans, in fact, are considering picking up what they have and trying to settle a new area.
:-:
Frisk follows Kate for what feels like forever, and when they look at their phone the time is jumping all over the place randomly from present to future to past.
Kate looks back and notices, so they comment, "time doesn't work the same in the void, so neither do electronics… trust me, we've tried. See, anything that doesn't belong in the void, or isn't connected to it in some way, won't work properly in the void. There are a lot of people who have tried to get here, but they always end up scattered all over the place."
Frisk takes note of that, then notices a grey building in the distance. It reminds them of Newhome.
Cheerily, Kate says, "here we are!"
The two enter the building.
It's a near exact replica of Newhome, the differences being that a lot of drawings have been put up, there are extra decorations, a couple more rooms, and the living room, kitchen, and dining areas are larger.
Asgore and Toriel are even there, which confuses Frisk.
So they ask, "wait, why are Asgore and Toriel here? I know for a fact that they're not me at all!"
Kate giggles, and replies, "that isn't Asgore and Toriel, silly! Their names are 'Oditang Faerth' and 'Anne Saires!' They're not a couple, by the way. Anne can be a little blunt and too the point, but Odi is super sweet!"
Frisk is still confused, "but… why are they here?"
Instead of answering, Kate grabs Frisk by an arm and starts moving quickly to another room.
It's a bedroom full of bunk beds. There is hardly any space to walk around in.
There are also a couple hammocks. The room looks rather boy-ish.
A bunch of kids are lazing around reading, drawing, and playing board games… It looks like fun.
One looks over to Frisk and waves, then starts speaking in sign language… but Frisk can't understand them.
Kate translates, "He's saying that he likes your outfit, and he wants to know what your favourite colour is."
Frisk thinks about it for a moment… then answers, "thanks, I guess. My favourite colour is black."
The boy signs some more, and Kate says, "he says 'then you are really going to like it in the void. There is black everywhere!'"
Frisk shrugs, "yea, I guess so."
One of the kids, whose left eye is a different colour than their right eye, says, "we should let them settle in before asking them a ton of stupid questions."
Another one elbows them, "Eric! Don't be rude to John, you know how excited he gets to see new people. Besides, it isn't like asking about their favourite colour is that bad."
Eric rubs their side and snaps back, "that hurt, Gene! At least be a little more gentle."
Kate pulls Frisk out of the room as they say, "come on! There are more this way."
Going down the hall, Kate opens the second door, it's also full of kids and bunk beds, but this one has a more girly look to it.
Frisk is almost immediately surrounded by excited kids all asking questions, it makes them feel uncomfortable…
Kate gives the kids a hard stare, and they calm down.
One of them, who is wearing a light blue dress, says, "sorry! We just get so excited to see new people… You can thank John for that, it kinda rubbed off on us while he was over here."
Another one nods, "yea, but some drama made it so he had to sleep in the other room."
The others nod in unison.
Kate adds, "yea, we don't want to talk about it though," and squints at the others.
They all go back to their beds, and a few of them roll their eyes on the way.
Mischievously, Kate says, "I'm like the big sister here, so I get to boss everyone around."
The others begin to protest after that comment, but Kate squints and points two fingers at her eyes and then points at the room.
A few retort by sticking their tongues out while Kate takes Frisk out of the room.
In an embarrassed tone, Kate rubs the back of her head and says, "we can introduce you to them later, heh. They are still riled up. There is one more room."
Curious, Frisk asks, "where do Tori-… Where do Anne and Odi sleep? Also, you haven't answered my question about why they are here."
With a wink, Kate replies, "silly, I've already told you. If someone exists, there is a version of them that is a version of you."
Less happily, Kate continues, "They sleep downstairs with the other adults. Us kids used to sleep down there together but a big fight happened, and so we were separated. Everyone chose their own rooms… then another argument happened, and we got shuffled around so that there would be less problems."
Frisk feels like they would need to have had siblings to understand why the kids got into a fight.
Opting not to comment on it or ask questions about the fighting, Frisk asks, "so, are the boys all in one room and the girls all in another?"
Kate shrugs, "it kinda worked out that way, but no not really. Gene isn't a boy, for instance. A tomboy, but not a boy-boy. You know? All of that doesn't matter here anyway, we're SOULs."
Frisk shrugs.
With overly exaggerated motions, Kate dramatically leans and opens the last door while saying, "without further ado… my room!" And then gestures into the room.
It has less beds in it, and there doesn't seem to be any particular style; every bed area has its own thing going.
Kate explains, "the other kids are young, and they want their whole room to look the same and all that, so they usually rotate out how the room looks every uhh… well there is no time, but we call it a voik. Anyway, we're older, and we don't care about that as much. So we just decorate our own areas."
Frisk thinks that is probably better than having to change the whole room every so often, but they don't comment on it.
One of the kids looks up from what they are doing, and playfully says "hey Kate, are you harassing a new alt again?"
Annoyed, but playing along, Kate says, "nooo!"
Then adds on in a smug tone, "besides, they're not an alt, they're a poten. I found them running around all the bad guys, so I saved them and brought them here."
Playfully dismissing what Kate said, the other kid retorts, "riiiiight, and I'm the king of Voidhome."
Taking on a less playful tone, they continue, "anyways, kid, Kate is good people… She's just annoying sometimes."
Kate quickly walks over to the other kid's bed, takes their pillow from them, and starts hitting them with it while yelling, "yea, and Frisk here has the intelligence of an intellectually stunted rock!"
Frisk is confused… and a little hurt, so they ask, "wait, what? Why would you say that?"
The question makes Kate realize their error, so they reply while continuing to whack the other kid with their pillow, "oh, right, sorry Frisk; I meant this Frisk! He's super annoying!"
Frisk starts to feel… weird.
The other Frisk points at them and says, "hey, aren't you gonna say goodbye?"
Kate looks over and says, "oi! Why are you leaving, we haven't even-"
Before Frisk knows it, they're back in the red tower with Papyrus… they also feel really exhausted.
The last thing they see, before they pass out, is Papyrus standing up and walking over to them.
:-:
Night falls, and the human gentleman walks into the room housing Chara's SOUL.
Chara notices that he has changed into a black dress coat that has the fabric in the back extending past the fabric in the front, as some sort of dress coat tail (a "tailcoat," Chara decides to call it), and has six buttons on the front; he also has an ebony cane with him. He looks older than they remember him last, more like a fifty year old than a forty year old… it might just be a trick of the light though.
They also spot some sort of accessory that looks like a butterfly with red gemstones, clipped to the front of some wide piece of fabric that is tucked into his dress coat; the fabric is reminiscent of an overly wide neck tie.
He gently picks up their container and holds it under his free arm.
Chara notices that he has some sort of frilly things around the end of his sleeves, and they think they look funny. Chara moves around subtly, but stops after remembering that they are not in the SOCdev.
Huffing lightly in amusement, the man carries Chara into another room.
The room is dark, but there is a dim glow around the corner.
The man carrying Chara says out loud, to no one in particular, "So far no one in the Sanctum knows that magic has returned, but everyone has noticed the change in the barrier. How long do you think it will take them to figure it out?"
A shadow darker than the room appears… CU-270 replies, "at least until tomorrow. The people who are alive now have never felt magic before, only the Elders are old enough to vaguely recall, and we have already alerted them in advance. There may be one or two people we are forgetting, but it won't be an issue. You have absorbed the majority of the initial burst, thanks to Frisk already being mostly full of magic already, and the rest of humanity not having that high of a capacity."
The man nods, then turns the corner and walks further into the room.
In the center of the room, on the ceiling and floor, large arcane circles have been drawn. The one on the floor is six feet in diameter, while the one on the ceiling is roughly seven feet in diameter.
Candles have been lit around the circle on the floor.
On the four walls there are more circles, each of those circles is only about five feet in diameter and start from the bottom of the wall.
The arcane circle on the floor has six medium sized circles surrounding it, and seven smaller circles in it; all connected with fancy patterns, and twelve rings of varying thickness with wing-dings in them.
The man can only barely make out that the circle on the floor is meant to restore power to the SOUL using seven ingredients, and create a new body with other ingredients. The rest of the arcane circles are obviously for stability, and to make sure the magic remains focused in the center of the circle.
If any of the raw magical power got out, it would be very problematic.
In the very center, of the circle on the floor, is one medium circle, with a somewhat larger second circle overlapping it; the symbols around that are plainly readable to him…
The gist of which is that he is going to be standing there to help power the ritual, having absorbed the magic that the barrier released.
The three Elders enter the room and stand to the eastern, western, and southern corners of the room, which are diagonal to the circle and not in front of any of the arcane circles on the walls.
They are followed by a couple skeletons carrying mummified remains, which are followed by six more skeletons that are carrying jars of various materials.
The jars are placed in the outer most circles, and the remains are placed in the center.
Post-Pre-Time-jump Sans enters the room with a small bag, and hands it to the man. Then walks over to the north corner of the room before asking, "so, did ya find my time jump copy?"
The man doesn't respond to Sans, instead he opens the small bag to inspect its contents.
He pulls out the seven multicoloured orbs, "so these are the fabled 'Last Dreams?' Why are they so ill made? The magic is all muddy and chaotic."
Sans pipes up, "well what'd you expect? a kid who didn't know how to use magic made 'em."
The new information makes him view these small spheres in a new light… "Well, that is most impressive then. Nevertheless, they need to be purified. Lucy?"
Lucy walks up beside her husband and takes the Last Dreams gingerly, "give me a moment."
She draws a small arcane circle on the ground with chalk and places the last dreams within, then provides the circle with magic.
The colours within the Last Dreams begin to shift around until each one is a solid colour.
They begin to glow dimly.
Lucy hands them back.
The gentleman looks them over, nods, then places one in each of the seven inner circles.
Papyrus enters the room and says, "Sorry for my late arrival, Frisk passed out from being in the void for too long, and I also wanted to check on Asriel. They are both sleeping soundly. I think they will have quite the pleasant surprise when they wake up."
Chara's SOUL seems to fill in a little, after hearing that.
The gentleman replies with a gruff voice, "We are not on as strict of a deadline now, but let's get this over with."
Papyrus nods and moves to the North corner of the room.
Lucy walks to the south corner to keep the participants balanced and symmetrical.
The gentleman hands his cane to Lucy, takes Chara out from under his arm and holds their container in one hand, then walks to stand in the larger circle in the center.
Shyly, another human walks into the room, "uhm… T-this is where I'm supposed to be, c-correct?"
Papyrus assures them, "yes. If you could please stand with the gentleman in the center of the circle, we can begin. Did you study the runes and learn the words I gave you?"
The human nods, "y-yes! They are for a resurrection, right?"
Papyrus nods, but then realizes that they cannot see it with his hood up, so he says, "yes, we are going to be resurrecting a human child that died, quite some time ago, while trying to save monsters. Their SOUL has persisted this whole time."
The human gulps, nervously, and moves into the circle with the extravagantly dressed gentleman.
He holds his free hand out for them, and they take it.
After the gentleman utters a few words under his breath, the shy human feels a rush of… something flow into their body.
The shy human comments, "w-wow! This feeling… It's like… like… uhh…"
The gentleman offers, "it is like a part of you, that you never knew existed, is suddenly full to the brim? That is magical power."
Nodding, the shy human asks, "how did you do that? Has magic been back this whole time?"
Lucy interjects. "Notice: Questions later, ritual now. We have other tasks we must complete."
The gentleman nods in agreement, and Papyrus has the other skeletons leave.
From their back pocket the shy human pulls out a piece of parchment, looks at it, then puts it back.
After shaking away their nerves, they take a breath to focus and start slowly tracing out the four runes in the air. At first nothing happens, but after trying again they manage to figure out how to use their green magic to draw the runes.
Their magic has the occasional red streak in it, but it is hardly noticeable to the untrained eye.
With the runes drawn, they take out the parchment again and speak.
"Filtemsobemwithpocoitsdre," they activate the first complex rune and it begins to glow brightly.
"Rethfotbobemfrotcothjam," they activate the second complex rune, which also begins to glow brightly.
"Lithsotothbobabrelibithsotmacotog," They activate the third and second most complex rune, which outshines the others.
But nothing happens.
Papyrus nods to the others in the corners, and says, "I thought this would happen… You do not know how to use the magic yet. The power is in the runes already, but they will not activate. We will activate them now."
The shy human nods, and the others begin chanting.
Papyrus quickly draws a complex series of runes, and begins chanting as well.
Upon activating his runes, magic rushes to the runes the shy human made, and then even more magic rushes from them to the arcane circles in the room, which begin to slowly pulse with magic.
The candles goes out, but the room is lit up with the glowing of the six large arcane circles.
The room quakes for a moment, almost knocking everyone off balance.
As the chanting continues, the arcane circles get brighter with every pulse and stay bright for longer.
A darkness, deeper than anything the shy human has seen before, overtakes everything that isn't the participants or the arcane circles; the shy human is terrified, and feels as though one wrong step could cause them to be lost in that blackness forever.
The candles relight themselves… to no avail, since they are barely noticeable.
As the chanting continues, the fabric of space itself seems to bend and twist… Eventually, the stubborn and powerful magic within the circles begins to take action against the SOUL container.
The SOUL container shatters into small squared pieces of glass, which eases the burden of holding Chara's SOUL significantly.
The jars begin glowing, then shatter as well. They spill their contents and dissolve into goo, which begins to run along the lines of the circle until it reaches the mummified body.
The seven Last Dreams explode simultaneously, but their power is contained within the area of the circles they are in; causing pillars of bright energy to be created.
Another quake, but this one is more controlled.
Each pillar of energy begins to compress down into their circles, and then fill up their respective circuits within the entire arcane circle.
The sight is mesmerizing, and the sound is almost deafening.
Magic flows into the mummified remains as the ingredients reach them, and the body is slowly pieced back together and revitalized.
The gentleman holds Chara's SOUL out into the center of the arcane circle, and Papyrus shouts something that the shy human cannot comprehend.
After his shouting, beams of magic energy from the seven small circles shoot out at Chara's SOUL.
The air in the room remains stable, but a light breeze can be felt. The chanting continues.
Yet another quake.
Chara's SOUL is slowly filled with the power from within the seven Last Dreams.
The quaking intensifies, and begins to happen more frequently.
The gentleman let's go of the shy human's hand, and catches his cane as Lucy tosses it to him.
He is going to need it to remain stable, due to his injuries.
In order to further ensure he remains stable, he adjusts his stance as much as he can within the circle.
The shy human is not sure what to do now, but the gentleman says, "place your hand on top of mine. Do you remember the last command you need to speak?"
Nodding, the Shy human complies and tries to mimic his stance, albeit without the SOUL container.
When Chara's SOUL is full, and the beams of energy retract back to their circles, a quake strong enough to knock the Elders and Papyrus off balance rocks the room and shows no sign of stopping.
The magical power within the arcane circle seems like it is trying to escape now, and is threatening to explode.
The gruff human shouts, "now! Say it now! With conviction! Remember, it is a COMMAND!"
Scared, nervous, but wanting to help as much as they can, the shy human nods…
They gather their will, bring their kindness and love for others to the forefront of their mind, and shout, with conviction, "ALTPOWITANATHPOWITOTHBOANSTHLABEMYOMUGO!"
Then tries to activate the final rune.
Their heart skips a beat, and their blood runs cold as they panic, thinking they mispronounced the incredibly difficult word…
Everything suddenly stops.
The quaking, the noise, the chanting… their heart.
Dread, and Determination, lingers in the air.
Then, the magic explodes…
But the arcane circles on the walls and ceiling begin to glow blindingly bright and contain it.
All of that power rushes to the fourth rune, which glows so brightly and brilliantly that the deep darkness that overtook the room is forced to leave, and the room is bathed in a rainbow of colour.
Papyrus then shouts another word the human cannot comprehend, and the power from within the rune rushes to the body and SOUL.
The entire ordeal is so disorienting that the shy human ends up going unconscious.
The next thing they know, they are waking up in their apartment.
Unable to process what happened, they assume it was all just a dream…
They mutter to themself, "silly Catarina… still dreaming about saving people like an adolescent girl…"
Looking outside, she sees that it is still dark out, so she tries to go back to sleep