"Wake up Semi." Calibri shook me awake.

"Huh...? Are we dead...?" I glanced around me.

"No, we are alive." she laughed.

We were... in New Home, near the Palace. The place was dead quiet.

"And right where we need to be it seems." I got myself up off the ground.

I staggered while finding my balance, but Calibri kept me up. I looked down the street, towards home, and thought of Arial, then looked behind me towards the Palace, just a few blocks away.

Asgore first.

I hurried Calibri along with me to the Palace, and once inside, we made a mad dash for the throne room to find Asgore. As we reached the long corridor that came before it, we noticed there was no light coming through the old stained glass windows, and no eerie sounds from the Barrier. It was dark, and completely silent.

Was it... gone...?

We found the throne room empty, rightfully worrying us both. We quickly passed through it to the back of the Palace, and walked outside to the underground's exit, where the Barrier would be. But we found it... wide open... The Barrier...

"Is gone.." I said under my breath in shock.

"How...?" Calibri gasped.

We cautiously walked forward together, out to the surface world that was open before us. We walked out and stood at the edge of a cliff overlooking the wide open world. It was a clear, crisp, night, and the stars were out in full view above us. I felt like I was falling as I looked up at them, they were mush higher up then I had imagined. On the horizon ahead of us were lights; a city maybe? A human city no doubt. The sight of it all shook me to my soul, and sent my mind spiraling with questions.

"What did I miss...?" I asked.

"Much more than I it seems." Calibri said in disbelief.

I tore my attention away from the sights of the surface world, and turned back to the dark underground behind us. I had no time for sight seeing, we needed to find everyone and tell them what was going on.

"Do you think that is where Asgore has gone?" Calibri looked out at the city.

"Maybe. I hope so." I glanced back at it hopeful. "But something's telling me we need to go back in order to find everyone else." I stated.

"Arial you mean?" she turned to me.

"I can check on the Rift and whatnot while we look at least." I shrugged with a wink.

"Yes, o-of course." she replied a bit nervous.

Something was drawing me back in to the underground, a nagging feeling of both dread and hope. It was like an instinct telling me that I needed to go that way, but it of course had no reasoning to back it up. Something was not right I could sense, something was still wrong here. I needed to apologize to everyone, and clean up the mess I spent far too many years rebuilding, that much I knew for sure was still in the wrong. But this feeling pulling me in was something else, and I didn't like how it was tugging at my emotions.

I did my best to convey hope as I looked up at Calibri for a moment. Her worried expression soon softened a bit, and she finally smiled down at me. With a hearty nod to each other, we walked back into the underground.

We found the entirety of New Home empty, and decided to head towards home, just to see if anyone happened to be there. There were no signs of fighting in the city, nor monster dust, so that was a VERY good sign about where everyone had gone. But if everyone just left for the surface, why did I feel like someone was still here? Thatthey were still here.. Arial and the others… I had the bad feeling of being followed as we crossed the city towards our home. Someone was watching us. I kept an eye socket out, but never saw any movement or signs of life. Just empty, silent streets. I stopped us at one point, sensing something... I didn't like.

"What is it Semi?" Calibri asked.

"You sense that?" I replied.

"Sense what?" she looked around.

Something felt... off. Maybe only I could sense it, as it felt like a bad reset had happened. Like something, at one time or another, had gone terribly wrong at this exact spot. A quick glance around found an anomaly in this area; a SAVE Point. It was glowing brightly along the street, right at the corner. I walked over to it and reached out with my magic and WP to interact with it. It flickered in reaction to me and I felt healed by it as expected, but I wasn't able to use it to the full. I wasn't able to SAVE. Something was... No. Someone. Someone overpowered my WP with their own now. Who though?

"What are you doing...?" Calibri asked with concern.

"Uh, WP thing." I turned to her. "There's a little anomaly here that only I can see." I explained.

"Oh?" she looked at me curious.

"It's not really of any use to me right now due to... someone else having power over the timeline." I stated.

"Someone... else...?" she grew fearful.

"Let's uh, keep moving." I walked past her.

"But Semi, our house is—"

"I know." I stopped her. "But knowing there is someone else in control of time right now, someone with a lot of WP, we need to make sure they're not trying to use the Rift. Or worse, already used it." I told her.

She agreed, and we headed out towards Hotland.

The elevator that went down to the CORE worked for us, and riding it together was... unsettling for me. There was still so much we needed to say to each other, but, neither of us spoke up. She finally gave in to the awkward silence, and began asking me about our grand-kids. I somehow didn't find talking about them too encouraging. I used to… I explained things to her, getting her up to speed on everything that had happened since she disappeared, and about what had happened between me and the others last I saw them, even what happened with me and Sans... She wasn't too surprised about it, but was surprised by my reaction, saying it was nice to see me with a guilty face for once.

Heh.

Please let me find all of you...

Once we reached the CORE, finding it in standby mode, we wasted no time heading for the Rift at its center. The maze rooms had been left in a straight path we soon found out though, making it impossible to reach it. The only way to move the rooms would be to reactivate the CORE, but I wasn't sure about doing that, neither was Calibri. It was in standby for a reason I was sure. At least this meant no one could reach the Rift, or maybe that was the point? Maybe they were already there and had blocked the way in? Not knowing for sure was worrying to say the least… Regardless, with the Rift out of reach, we decided to check on something else, or rather, someone else. They came to my mind as we walked out of the CORE into Hotland proper.

Lillian.

Her soul had been locked away in the lab here since W.D forced their souls to separate. I had almost forgotten about her, as I didn't have the heart to go near her after what me and my brother did to her soul. I wonder, is she even still there, alive? And if so...

Stars, I hope no one's found her.

We reached the lab, finding it without power, save for the little coming from the CORE in standby. It was enough to open the automatic doors but not to turn the lights on. It was almost pitch black in here without the lights, so me and Calibri stuck close together.

I shuffled in cautiously with Calibri close behind me and didn't sense anything in the dark room with us. I listened to our echoing footsteps, telling me this room was void of any furniture or equipment. The place was completely vacant. I wonder if whoever worked here took Lillian with them? If they even knew about her. Calibri held out the Star Blade, using its faint glow to light up the area around us. In its glow I saw specks of dust floating in the air. Some of the specks... sparkled.

That's not a good sign...

I suddenly sensed a familiar dark energy in the room. Dark magic; the monster. I stopped Calibri and glanced around through the darkness for the source. Ahead of me, near where the elevator would be, I saw... something... It turned its gaze towards me, showing its melting white and black face. It was trying to hold a smile of some kind, but their entire body was melting away and reforming constantly, just like I had seen with the Dark Soul Monster when I faced it in the Abyss all those years ago. Their very being was slowly being destroyed, possibly by WP overload in their soul. They were in the same condition... as...

"Mystrium?" I guessed out loud.

It rose its face up and stared at me as its smile seemed to wane. I stepped a bit closer and peered at its face as it looked at me confused behind its melting expression. The expression seemed familiar… and the scar over its eye— It was Mystrium. His body had been destabilizing since his direct encounter with the monster, but now he… he was much worse. What has happened to him?

"Hey there friend." I reached out to him. "You're uh... looking worse then me." I said. He hunched over and made a low growl like noise. "It's alright." I stayed calm. "Let me help you out Rimmy." I said softly as I tried to approach him.

He lunged towards me as a warning and made me step back.

"Semi..." he wheezed in a broken voice.

"It's me alright, Semi. I got something that will likely help you." I approached him again as I gestured back at Calibri for the Blade.

"No..." he replied, he moved back a bit. "Your soul... your pride... give it to me..." he reached out towards me.

I stopped to keep my distance.

"Mystrium, I have the Star Blade, let me try and help you with it. It can destroy that monster, so it must destroy his magic on a soul too, right?" I informed him.

"Your soul..." he began. "Is far too weak!" he shouted in attack.

I flinched and summoned a Gaster Blaster firing at him. The light from its magic filled the dark room and blinded me momentarily as I heard a loud crash. Once my eyes readjusted back to the darkness, I saw I had shot the elevator with the blaster, snapping the cables and sending the carriage down to the bottom of the shaft. Mystrium came into view, having dodged my attack, and rushed down the shaft without hesitation. He had only one reason to go down there.

"Mystrium!" I chased after him.

Without a second thought I jumped down the shaft after him, letting natural gravity pull me to the bottom as quickly as it would take me, and reversed my gravity at the last second to save myself from a nasty impact on the top of the elevator carriage. I got into the elevator through the maintenance shaft at its top, and found he was in there to my surprise. I immediately fired a blaster at him out of fear, the blaster too big for the compartment, getting me caught between it and he wall when it appeared. I quickly recalled it after firing and raced out through the now shattered doors.

Mystrium fired black magic at me from the darkness, making it hard to see and dodge. I managed to dodge the wave of attacks, but some strays behind it caught me off guard in the dark. They hit me harder than Calibri's frying pan, and sent chills and feelings of fear through me. I had forgotten what these kinds of magic attacks felt like when hit by them. He sent a second attack wave at me as he took off down the main hallway. I pushed through the attacks and raced after him, ignoring the damage I received. And by ignore, I mean, hardly taking any damage at all. Even those first few hits didn't seem to damage me as much as they felt they had. It was like my defense had gone up, but—

The locket!

I held Chara's locket I wore around my neck as I kept up with Mystrium. The locket must be giving me extra defense somehow, making it a worth wearing piece of gold. Thanks for letting me have it Chara.

Mystrium suddenly stopped and summoned black magic attacks from the floor. I managed to get around them without getting hit. He followed up with magic from above and it shattered as it hit the floor around me. The shots that hit me tore through me, leaving a horrible cold feeling behind that slowed me down. It felt like getting hit with ice magic.

Don't give up Semi!

He kept himself far ahead of me as I chased him down the hall, towards the door that would lead him to Lillian's soul, as well as the WP Extractor, should it still be in there. I took a wild guess on my aim as I shot bone attacks to stop him, aiming hopefully for the control panel for the door through the darkness. Bright sparks lit up the end of the hallway by the door, confirming my hit, Mystrium roared in anger as the door slammed shut on him. He looked back at me, his angry melting face lit up by the sparking control panel. His melting face reminded me that he had a human soul. I wonder if he still does, or was it gone? Did the Dark Soul monster have it now, or was the soul's WP the reason he was falling apart now? I hope the latter is true and not the first.

He summoned magic attacks to hold me off as he began to pry the door open enough for his melting body to fit through. I got past what was left of his attacks and hurried up to the door behind him, forcing myself through the narrow gap he had made. I tripped out the other side, hitting the floor feeling like I had gone through a compressor, and was instantly under fire. I heard his magic be summoned and instinctively rolled to one side, narrowly dodging black magic attacks. I fired back with a pattern of bones, but they all struck the wall across the room, missing Mystrium completely, wherever he was in the darkness. More attacks quickly came at me from every angle in the darkness and I was unable to dodge any of them. I bared through the damage it dealt and heard the next batch be summoned ahead of me. I immediately summoned and fired a Gaster Blaster in hopes of blasting them away, and maybe hitting Mystrium. The light from my attack faded, and the room was quiet. Except for my panting, trying to catch my breath after all that action. I looked around for Mystrium but found him missing. The Extractor seemed to still be in this room, as I caught a glance of it in the dark on one side of the room, but I had no time to really look. I staggered forward in pain a bit as I began running to the next room. To Lillian.

Please oh please don't get her.

I rushed into the generator room and found him already here. He turned back to me and I summoned a Gaster Blaster out of instinct the moment our eyes met. His black magic tore through the blaster and struck my soul directly, somehow bypassing my defense. The attack paralyzed me for a moment as my body tried to handle the damage he dealt me, giving him the chance to make another attack. He grabbed hold of me and swung me over him to the floor, slamming me down on it as hard as he could. I threw my weight forward along with my magic to get myself up and wasted no time summoning a bone sword to strike back with. He narrowly dodged my attack and countered by knocked me back to the floor with magic attacks. His magic came up from the floor under me, tearing at my coat and soul. I had not time to dodge it and took all the damage it dealt out.

Semi...! Don't give up!

I jumped back up and grabbed hold of him while he was close, summoning my magic along with WP to create an anomaly to transport us somewhere else. I could try to at least get him out of here and keep the soul out of his grasp if nothing else. As I summoned my WP along with magic in my hand, I felt his black magic tear through me from behind.

Everything went black for a second.

Reality flickered around me as my WP tried to reset things, but it wasn't working. It was being hindered by whoever was stronger with WP.

Frisk...!

Chara told me to find a Frisk because they were the only one strong enough to stop the monster. Was it them? A human with powerful determination? Were they here?

I held my magic together despite the hit, and used my gravity magic on it to complete the spell. I cast the magic and created an anomaly to take us both someplace else, and then...

nothing...

"Semi!" someone shouted at me.

I turned and saw no one around, I didn't see anything.

"Do not let such power corrupt your thinking." another voice said.

I turned back around and saw my house, but no one was home it seemed.

"Just because you can..." another voice said.

Everything around me flickered, as if it wasn't real.

"Does not mean you should." a stern voice said.

Fear filled me suddenly and I began to shake. All these words struck my soul.

"But no matter what my friend." I kinder voice said.

Everything around me began to break down. Reality was slowly shattering apart, bit by bit, and I was powerless to stop it.

"Do not give up...!" a familiar voice said.

I woke up.

That was all... a dream...? A dream of a memory...? A memory of a dream? A— No I'll stop there, heh.

I sat up rubbing my aching skull, and saw I was back in New Home. It wasn't the place I had in mind when I was using the anomaly, but it will work I guess. But wait, did Mystrium come with me? Is he here? Where—

"Are you alright?" a voice asked me.

I looked up, and standing in front of me was— A HUMAN?!

I quickly used my magic to pull myself away from them and summoned a bone sword out of fear, ready to defend myself. But they... just stood there and smiled at me. They didn't seem afraid, or even fazed by my actions. I looked them over and realized they were just a tad taller than Chara was. Maybe a bit older then? They wore a purplish striped shirt, proving they were still a kid, just not a kid kid it seems judging by the number of stripes. At their neck was a gold heart shaped locket just like Chara's. I instinctively reached up and grabbed Chara's that I wore. Was this Chara's 'best friend'? Was this… Frisk? They were patiently waiting on me to take my turn... but I wasn't sure what to do with it except to keep checking them over. They didn't seem very tough, I didn't sense any LV from them, but I could tell their attack and defense were high.

"Hey." they got my attention. "What did the skeleton order at the restaurant?" they asked me.

I glanced around to make sure they were speaking to me.

"What...?" I meekly asked.

"Spare ribs." they grinned and snapped their finger.

Oh, uh, that was uh, unexpected, but, a welcome ice breaker.

"You got tibia kidding me." I tried not to laugh.

"I thought, being a skeleton monster, you would find a joke like that quite, humerus." they smiled.

"It's making me less coronoid about you that's for sure, heh." I side-glanced them.

"Sorry for surprising you." they shrugged their hands. "I didn't mean to scare you out of your skin." they winked.

"Stars kid where'd you learn jokes like that?" I laughed.

"A friend of mine— well, a couple of friends of mine actually." they looked off and chuckled.

"You got good friends, heh." I replied.

"Oh yeah, Toriel and the skele-bros are some of my best friends." they said.

"Skele-bros?" I snickered at the nickname.

"Sans and Papyrus." they told me.

"Heh, yeah, those two—" I stopped. "WAIT! You know them?!" I panicked.

"Uhm, yes." the answered confused by my reaction.

"W-Where are they? Right now?" I quickly asked them.

"That's one of the reason's I'm here actually." they said, looking at me surprised. "I tried calling them both but... neither one of them answered their phones, which is odd. Well, for Papyrus anyway." they explained.

The boys missing? Wonder where— The Star Blade—! Calibri! I need to find her! Even with the Star Blade she could get in trouble! And I needed the Blade to give to Frisk! God dang it Semi you idiot why did you just run off and leave her like that?! Stupid stupid—!

"I usually wouldn't be too worried about them but..." they continued, breaking my thoughts. "Some... strange things have been happening lately." they stated.

"Strange?" I asked.

They looked at me anxiously for a moment.

"Do you know anything about DT?" they asked me.

"DT?" I replied unfamiliar with the term.

"Determination. The power that human souls have that lets them persist after death." they explained.

They must mean Will Power. When did it begin to be called Determination? Not sure if that fits it better, heh. How do they even know about it? Do humans already know about it since they have so much?

"I... might..." I hesitated to answer.

"Well, currently, I have the most DT out of anyone else, so—" they began to explain.

"So you have control of the timeline and can reset back to any point in your life when you were still top doggo." I finished for them.

"Uhm... yes." they said in shock of my knowledge

"So lemme guess..." I scratched the side of my skull. "You've sensed someone else trying to reset time and have come here to investigate? That your 'strange things'?" I guessed.

"There is only one other person, a monster, who comes anywhere close to being able to reset time." they said.

"They live here still?" I asked.

"Sort of." they tilted their head. "He decided to stay here so he... wouldn't hurt anyone." they stated.

"Sounds like a fun guy." I said.

"He can be, once you really get to know him like I have." they forced a smile. "But despite everything that happened... I don't quite trust him. If he had the chance to, he would reset time and start his little game all over again I'm sure. Though I like to believe he wouldn't." they explained.

"He sounds like a really fun guy now." I replied.

"Can I ask what happened to you? Do you know anything about what's going on? Who might be trying to reset time?" they asked.

I scanned the area around me and found it was just us here in the street. It was chilly, dark, and dead quiet. I took the moment to let myself think before replying with anything. Whenever I was, things were now drastically different. Monsters were free, the boys had a human friend, Toriel was still around, and so was the monster, but not in full control of Mystrium's soul it seemed, because he wouldn't be here if his soul had been absorbed. The boys were also missing, and someone was trying to reset time… I hope this kid didn't come here because I tried to reset time. Surely it was someone else they sensed. Then again, if it was me they had sensed, that meant there was nothing to worry about. But I knew that was too good to be true.

"I uh… I created an anomaly to escape... an enemy of sorts." I hesitated to admit.

"Anomaly?" they replied with interest. "You mean like a SAVE point?" they asked.

"Yes." I answered

"How—?" they stopped, looking at me in shock.

"I think you already know kiddo." I said.

"H-How though? Monsters can't handle DT, it destabilizes their magical form! They can much less actually use it. Unless they..." they trailed off in a worried tone..

How did they know all this? Just who is this kid?

They cautiously walked up to me suddenly, standing about a foot above me as they looked down at me with concern. Their eyes widened as they peered at me, grasping and taking hold of the locket they wore, having probably noticed Chara's locket that I was wearing.

"Random question, but, are you Frisk by chance?" I asked while they were stunned. They hesitantly nodded in answer. "Good. Chara told me to find you." I told them.

"Cha—!?" they gasped in terror

"Long story short; they told me to find you so you could help, uh... take care, of some things." I explained. Sorta.

I wonder... Do they know about the monster too? They waited for an explanation from me, so they must not. I ignored that for now and changed the subject to something more important.

"You think the boys are here?" I redirected our conversation.

"M-Maybe. Let me try calling them again..." they reached into their pocket.

They pulled out some kind of device and began tapping on it, then held it up to their ear. A communications device, huh? Odd design for a portable one, and so small. The kind from my time were pretty clunky, which is one reason I never had one. Just how far in the future am I for that tech to be so simplified now?

They hummed with worry and tapped the device again to make another call with it. Still no reply it seemed.

"Nothing?" I assumed.

"N-No... just... strange static noise… It's almost like... it's being blocked." they stated.

"Tried calling a different number with it to make sure it's not the device itself?" I suggested.

They quickly tapped it and made another call. They winced with worry and stopped it.

"Same." they reported.

"Interesting..." I tapped my chin. "I'm guessing that's not common, even down here." I asked, to which they shook their head. "I'm not sure where to start concerning that, but, I have someone I need to find besides the boys." I told them. "I um... kinda lost her..." I admitted, a bit worried and embarrassed.

"A friend?" they asked.

"A very important friend yes, she... has something we're going to need." I replied.

"And I need to find Flowey. He's usually at the far end of the underground, so if you come with me, maybe we will find her along the way." they suggested.

"The fun guy?" I chuckled. They nodded with a serious expression. "Guess I ain't got much choice." I shrugged my shoulders. "You don't mind if we make a stop at the CORE do'ya?" I asked them, hoping they would say yes.

Because I REALLY wanted to get to the Rift and check on it, even if it meant having to jump start the CORE. Anything could have happened in the few minutes I was out just now. That's assuming I've only been out for a few minutes anyway.

They smiled and nodded in answer.

Thank you.

As we rode the elevator down, we realized the CORE was now active. I wasn't too surprised, and I had a good idea as to why. If the monster still had a hold on Mystrium, it no doubt still had Goners under its control. I quickly explained everything Frisk would need to know about the possible situation, keeping the details to a minimum so they didn't get too confused, or worried. Just about as I was finishing up, the elevator reached the bottom, and we walked out into the now active CORE.

"Semi!" Calibri shot up from the floor. She had been sitting in front of the elevator here waiting it seemed. "What happened? Are you alright?!" she panicked over me.

"Relax Cally, I'm fine." I assured her. "I even got me a human friend." I winked and pointed back at Frisk. "Are you alright?" I asked her.

"Yes." she answered calmly. "I was not sure what to do, after you just ran off on me!" she threw her hand up in anger.

"Euhhh yeah... sorry about that… heh..." I tried to laugh off.

"You best be." she tapped her foot. "Not a moment after you ran off down that elevator shaft I was napped by W.D's followers." she told me.

"Followers? You mean his assistants?" I asked surprised to hear they were here.

"I assume you met them while in the Void." she looked right at me.

"But somehow they're here now?" I wondered.

"It's not impossible." Frisk said. "I've met them before, here in Hotland actually." they explained.

"You have?" Calibri was first to ask.

"Why would they be after you?" they asked her.

"The Star Blade most likely." she glanced at it, slid between the black sash she had tied around her waist. "I escaped them as they were bringing me here and managed to lose them. After waiting some time, I came here looking for you." she looked at me. "I figured that if I waited here long enough, you would eventually show up." she sighed and pinched her brow.

"You know me so well." I chuckled.

"Far too well..." she groaned.

"Those goons are probably the ones who activated the CORE if they were heading this way." I suggested while listening to the CORE's multitude of noises. "Which means the Rift is definitely a part of whatever's going on right now." I stated.

"It was on when I got back here, so I do not doubt that at all." she looked down one of the paths.

"Which also means we don't have much time." I said. "Frisk." I turned to them. "You got any experiencing in battling monsters?" I asked them.

"Lot's actually." they said with surprise. "B-But I-I never killed a-any...!" they stuttered with fear.

All my experience in dealing with real life criminals told me they were straight up lying. Their smile was forced, their eyes betrayed their words, and their posture was stiff. But I'll let it go. There wasn't any LV or EXP in their soul, so what they're saying was true.

In this timeline.

"Good." I simply replied. "Because there's probably going to be a lot of it coming ahead here. But luckily," Calibri was already handing the Star Blade to me. "we got this." I took it from her and tossed it to Frisk. They caught it and it knocked them to the ground under its weight. "That there is the Star Blade, the only weapon capable of combating black magic. Only a human soul can wield its true power." I explained.

Frisk got up and struggled to lift it, as it was almost as long as they were tall. In their hands, the Blade began to glow brighter than I had ever seen.

"You'll get use to the weight." I snickered.

"As far as I have heard, it does not actually harm souls that are pure." Calibri stated. "If you wish to test that, we are both available." she offered.

"You just wanna see me get whacked with it don't you?" I replied to her, knowing what she was planning.

She looked down at me with a smug expression.

"Go ahead Frisk." she invited them, shoving me in front of her. "His soul is corrupted anyway. He could use it!" she laughed, and I felt her gravity magic hold me in place.

"A-Are you sure?" Frisk asked nervously.

"Mostly." she admitted. "But he will be fine! He has taken his fair share of hits and survived them all." she assured them.

"YOU ARE ONE SICK WOMAN CALIBRI." I told her.

"This is for your own good Semi." she leaned over me and whispered.

She then stepped away as Frisk got a good grip on the Blade and prepared to attack. I struggled to move but Calibri's magic held me down good. I wasn't sure myself how this would go. Would I be hurt by it? Would my old soul be able to take it? This attack was coming from a human, who could easily kill me! Frisk suddenly came running at me, no hesitation, and swung the sword right through me and my soul. The white enchanted magic of the Blade ran through me, but I only felt it for a moment. Then I felt... nothing...? There was no difference in how I felt overall. Better yet, no damage dealt. Was there a trick to it or something that we missed?

"Semi, how do you feel?" Calibri walked back over.

"Uhm, no different...?" I responded confused.

"Wha—? But it...!" she gasped in surprise.

"His soul is not corrupted." Frisk stated. "I sensed his soul as I hit it, and sensed nothing that could have been corrupting." they looked at the sword curiously.

So I... I was fine? How? I swear I was just... Maybe I... I really have changed. I escaped it on my own somehow. I somehow escaped my corrupting pride all on my own! Well… Maybe with some help… A lot of help. Maybe I'm not completely over it just yet, heh. Regardless, I immediately turned my attention to Calibri at this discovery.

"HA! I TOLD you I had changed!" I stood with pride. "I, Semi Gaster, can overcome ANY obstacle! Even my own pride!" I stated with, well, pride.

"Are you sure about that?" she replied with doubt.

"I'm allowed to gloat a bit aren't I?" I laughed.

"Not in this instance Semi!" she shouted angrily at me.

"Hit her with it next kid! Who knows, maybe SHE'S the one with a corrupted soul!" I laughed as I stood beside her, ready to shove her up to the plate.

She summoned a bone and whacked me clear across the room with it.

"Perhaps they need to slice you through a second time, dear." she told me.

"Alright, but that means you get hit twice too, honey." I replied, getting myself up, and noticing Frisk behind her.

They looked upset, concerned almost. They got worse as Calibri went on complaining, as she always did with me, and I tried to stop her before Frisk was truly upset by all the arguing.

"You might be clean in your soul Semi, but your mind is still—" she kept on.

"Calibri wai—" I tried to interrupt her, but she just got genuinely angry.

"Don't interrupt me Semi!" she shouted.

"No, seriously—" I told her with a hard glance.

"No you—"

"You're upsetting Frisk!" I gestured towards them to show her.

She glanced back and saw them, and her angry expression quickly changed to one of grave concern. Frisk wiped some tears away while smiling, an odd combination. Me and Calibri both approached them, both our parental instincts kicking in not doubt at the sight of a kid crying.

"I'm sorry. You just reminded me of Asgore and Toriel." they chuckled.

"Eh, I don't recall them ever yelling at each other." I replied even more concerned about those two now.

Last I saw of them they were pretty happy together, even with the kid.

"They don't so much now, but, for a time, Toriel especially, was never happy around Asgore. It honestly makes it hard to live with her." they explained, still smiling. "Even Papyrus getting mad at Sans upsets me sometimes because of the arguments I've heard..." they said softly.

"I-I can assure you my child, we do not hate each other if that is the idea you have." Calibri was quick to assure them. "We just... do not always get along." she glanced down at me with a forgiving expression.

"Makes you wonder how we ever got married doesn't it?" I tried not to laugh.

"It's alright. It just means you're not willing to admit you're still friends." they stated.

Me and Calibri looked away from each other embarrassed by the statement, because it was true. I hated all her nagging, but especially now after years to think over her words, I knew she did it because she wanted to help me. Heh, I did the same with her a lot of times over the state of the house, she wasn't the neatest person I found out after marring her. I hoped Calibri felt the same concerning me as she looked away. We were such a mess, heh...

"Asgore and Toriel are the same way." they continued. "I can tell Toriel still cares about him behind all her anger." they smiled.

"It seems all I do is worry about Semi, as much as I hate him." Calibri lamented. "He is a selfish and inconsiderate monster..." she said angrily. "But..." she sighed, looking at me with a faint smile. "I know it is possible for him to do better. I have seen him in much better straights." she stated.

"Is that how you felt about me when you left?" I dared to ask her.

"It is why I never should have left in the first place Semi. We were both in the wrong that night..." she said somberly.

"Pretty sure it was just me that was wrong." I nudged at her leg and winked up to her.

She smiled at me, just like I was hoping for.

I'm willing to take all the blame Cally...

"I think the rooms are moving as we leave them." Frisk looked behind us as we came to another intersection.

"I think you're right." I stopped us. "The only way that could be happening is if someone it at the controls, so someone knows we're here and is keeping us lost." I glanced around at our choices going forward.

Not that it mattered which we took it seemed. We had been wondering around in the maze of the CORE for some time now, completely lose in its ever-changing maze.

Calibri suddenly gasped and walked backwards into me. I turned around and looked past her to see what spooked her.

"Mystrium—!" I said harshly in a whisper.

Didn't take him long to catch up to us did it? He stood a ways down the path, staring our way with his melting expression. I stepped up beside Calibri and got ready to defend us if he attacked. If, heh.

"That is... Mystrium?" Calibri asked with fear.

"'Fraid so." I answered. "Glad you remember him." I glanced up at her.

She looked more confused than scared suddenly.

"I know him." Frisk stepped up. "He ran away when I tried to talk to him once. I never found him again after that." they explained. "It's nice to see you again!" they shouted, waving to him down the path. Mystrium flinched in fear and instantly disappeared into thin air. "Aw... He did it again." they said disappointed.

Why did that...? How did this kid meet him before now? I'm beyond confused...

"Well… at least he is gone. I was getting a dreadful feeling from him." Calibri stated.

"Word of caution to'ya kid." I got Frisk's attention. "I wouldn't recommend trying to make friends with him, not as he is right now. Next you see'm, try using the Star Blade on his soul." I explained, pointing at the Blade in their hand. "A good whack or two from that should release his soul from the dark magic on it." I told them.

"Like it was supposed to with you." they understood.

"Yup." I winked.

They looked at the sword for a moment, then nodded to me.

"Now..." I turned on my heels. "If I'm right... west should be down this path." I looked at. "If we can keep our bearings and keep heading in that direction, we should eventually get out of here into the center of the CORE." I explained.

"How far to the Rift from there?" Calibri asked.

"Not far." I answered.

"Let's go then!" Frisk charged ahead.

"Whoa! Slow your pace there! We DO NOT need to get separated!" I chased after them with Calibri.

The CORE's sounds suddenly grew louder, or had they been that loud and I just didn't notice until now? If so, something was going wrong somewhere in the system. Something was probably skipped during the startup process seeing how it was activated so quickly. But if W.D's people did it, surely they knew how it worked and wouldn't have made such a mistake. Unless they were in a hurry. I picked up my pace and ran beside Frisk, helping to keep them heading in the right direction as they charged ahead with determination. We did our best not to get turned around in the maze while Calibri kept us from charging ahead too quickly, and I kept us orientated. Frisk was good at solving any puzzle locks we were met with along the way, so we got through them pretty quickly. At this rate, we could find our way to the center in no time.

Worry filled my mind as time went on though. If Sans and Papyrus had been missing, could this be why? Will we find them deeper in? Or worst...?