With morning came the smell of cinnamon-butterscotch pie and the sound of Flowey grumbling for Frisk to wake up. They considered sleeping in to annoy Flowey, especially since it was summer break and thus had no important reason to get up early.

* You should still get up.

"Not you too," Frisk mumbled.

"What?" Flowey said.

Frisk begrudgingly sat up. "Nothing."

0~*~0

"All right, now what does this map say…?" Toriel said as she looked over the map.

It was after lunch, and Toriel had taken Frisk and Flowey to a hiking trail she had recently found out about. She was currently looking over the map of the area she had brought along. They weren't lost; far from it, in fact; Toriel just wasn't sure where the trail continued from where they were.

Flowey, his head poking out of Frisk's backpack, said, "They should really do a better job of maintaining this trail."

Frisk had to agree; there was a lot of overgrowth on the trail, which was covered in decaying wood chips. Near where they were was a small river bridged by a fallen tree. It looked sturdy enough for Frisk to walk across.

As Toriel tried to figure out the map, Frisk looked over at the other side of the river. There was a hill blanketed with trees and other plants, like bushes, ferns, flowers, and something…moving…

Frisk stared at the other side of the river, wondering what kind of animal was over there. When it emerged from the underbrush, however…

* …That's no animal. It's a monster.

It wore clothing, was a gray color, walked on two legs, and had small, pointed ears. It was holding something bowl-shaped, but Frisk couldn't tell what it was. It seemed about as tall as they were.

Flowey whispered, "What the…?"

Before Flowey could say anything else, Frisk took off and started across the tree bridge. When they were halfway across, the small monster noticed them and ran off. Frisk picked up their pace and went into the underbrush just as the other monster disappeared into it. Frisk nearly ran into several bushes and trees as they fought to keep up with the small monster. Flowey kept giving directions.

"Right! Left! Turn around! No wait, go left!"

About a minute later, Frisk heard their cell phone go off. They ignored it. The mystery of the other monster was more important.

After a few more minutes of running, Flowey stopped giving directions.

"What's wrong?" Frisk called back.

"I…don't see them anymore," Flowey replied.

Frisk slowed down to a stop and looked around. He was right. There was no sign of the small monster or of anything else moving.

And they had no idea where they were.

Frisk took out their phone and started walking forward absentmindedly. There were several worried texts from Toriel.

Frisk typed in, "I'm okay. I saw a monster on the other side of the river. One I didn't recognize."

"Careful," Flowey warned as Frisk nearly walked into a fallen branch.

Frisk looked away from their phone as they trampled through the underbrush, their clothes occasionally getting caught in the bushes.

Their phone went off again. They looked and saw it was another text from Toriel that said, "A monster out here? That's odd. But that's not important! Are you all right!? Where are you!?"

Frisk typed and sent a reply that said, "I'm fine, but I'm not sure where I am. I'm somewhere in the forest across the river."

They put their phone back in their pocket as they resumed walking forward. After a minute, they passed a rotting log.

"Wait," Flowey said.

Frisk stopped. "What is it?"

Flowey pointed with his head to something on the other side of the log. Frisk looked over and saw an enormous hole in the ground. It was too big to be the entrance to an animal's burrow, and the hole slanted to one side. It wasn't a straight drop down.

Before Flowey could try to stop them, Frisk vaulted over the log and landed in the hole, sliding down the slanted bottom.

When they came to a stop, Flowey fiercely whispered, "What the hell did you do that for!?"

Frisk stood up. "I wanted to see what was down here."

"Is that how you fell into the Underground?"

Frisk didn't answer. Instead, they walked forward, soon running into a black cloth that was hanging down. They pushed it aside and came into a little room.

The small room had a low ceiling and was lit by crystals. There was a table against a wall and some bits of clothing and trinkets scattered around the room.

* Looks like this is where that monster's been living.

Frisk took a few steps forward as they looked around. Their foot bumped into a toy ball that rattled as it rolled.

Frisk flinched as a voice said, "Oh Charlie, is that you?"

A pink ghost suddenly appeared. They stared at Frisk for several moments before saying, "You're not Charlie…"

"No," Frisk said, "I'm not."

"Who's Charlie?" Flowey asked.

The ghost didn't answer, continuing to stare at them.

Finally, the ghost said, "You look like you're a human, but…that flower… Are you…like Charlie?"

Frisk was confused. "I…don't get what you mean by that."

Flowey said, "Is Charlie a little gray monster with small, pointed ears?"

The ghost said, "Yes… Did you see him earlier?"

"We did, but he ran away."

"Oh, well, that's perfectly understandable. Monsters and humans have been enemies for over half my life."

"Not anymore," Frisk interrupted. "The barrier is broken."

The ghost's eyes appeared to get wider. "It is?"

"Yes," Flowey said. "Thanks to this kid, it's been down for a while now."

"R-Really!?"

"Yes," Frisk said. "All the monsters are free and are living next to the humans."

The ghost gave a joyful squeal and began doing loops in the air. "That's even better than I would've hoped for!"

The ghost suddenly stopped. "Although…" They gave Frisk a look of suspicion. "How do I know that that's true?"

Before Frisk could say anything, the voice of a young boy said, "Margle? What's going on?"

0~*~0

Toriel anxiously waited on the other side of the river, staring out over the tree bridge, watching for any movement. She figured that she probably should've gone after Frisk the moment she realized they were gone, but there was no way the fallen tree would hold her weight, and she didn't know of any other bridges across the river, especially ones that were nearby. And what if Frisk came back while she was looking for a proper bridge?

She was relieved when Frisk had finally answered one of her texts, but she became concerned again when they didn't text again for several minutes afterwards.

Just then, she got another text from Frisk. It said, "We're coming back. Be there soon."

Toriel texted back, "We?"

There was no response.

How odd… Oh wait, Flowey was with them. Perhaps they could also mean the other monster they mentioned.

After a few more minutes, Toriel noticed something moving in the underbrush on the other side of the river. A ghost, Frisk, and an unfamiliar monster appeared and began to cross the tree bridging the river. Flowey's head was sticking out of Frisk's backpack.

The moment Frisk and the other monster had stepped off, Toriel went over to Frisk and said, "Don't ever do that again."

"S-Sorry, mom…" Frisk said, looking down sheepishly.

"Oh, it's quite all right!" The ghost interrupted. "If not for this child, we wouldn't have found out about the fall of the barrier."

"…I see. Who are you?" Toriel asked.

"I am Margle," the ghost answered with a flourish. "And this," they gestured to the small monster, "is Charlie."

Charlie was unlike any monster Toriel had seen before. He was covered in short, gray fur, had cat-like ears, and his facial features were a mix of a human's and a boss monster's. He seemed to be young, being about the same height as Frisk. He looked nervous.

"Please excuse his shyness," Margle continued. "I taught him to run from strangers, a valuable asset in a world of hostile humans."

"Well," Toriel said, "most humans have been quite accepting of us."

Margle tilted to the side. "Most?"

"Some were not very…welcoming towards monsters. But on the whole, there's been a very positive reception to us."

"If it's not too much to ask," Margle said, "I would like to see where the other monsters are living."

"It's not too much to ask at all," Toriel replied. "But first, we must get out of this forest."

"Let me lead the way. I know this forest as well as my puppet's body."

Toriel looked…weirded out. "Your…puppet?"

"You'll see later."

0~*~0

"F-Frisk…" Charlie said hesitantly. "I-I'm not sure this is a good idea…"

"It'll be okay, Charlie," Frisk said, holding his hand to reassure him. "They're really nice."

Margle and Toriel had apparently decided to talk in private, so they had sent the two children out of the house. Frisk decided to take advantage of this and introduce Charlie to the other monsters.

They stopped in front of a large, white building. The word "Laboratory" was on a sign above the door.

"Frisk…" Charlie mumbled, "what's a…'laboratory?'"

Frisk contemplated how to tell him before saying, "They can explain it to you."

"Th-They?"

"It'll be okay. I promise."

The doors to the lab slid open as the two of them approached. Charlie flinched, but Frisk pulled him forward.

The doors led to a long hallway lined with more doors. Some were closed while others were empty. Charlie kept pausing to look through the empty doorways, but Frisk kept pulling him forward. The hallway occasionally branched off or made a turn, but Frisk kept going.

They eventually got to what looked like a larger hallway. Along one wall were some tables and at large computer.

"Dr. Oswaldo!" Frisk called out.

After a few moments, a voice called out, "Be there in a moment!"

Charlie flinched again and tried to pull away, but Frisk held tight to his hand.

After a minute, a young man ran out one of the doors. "HELLO, FRISK!"

He stopped about ten feet away from the children.

"HOW MAY I HELP YOU TODAY!?" he boomed.

"I want to introduce someone to you," Frisk said calmly.

They turned back to Charlie, who was crouched behind them, trembling.

"This is Charlie. He's very shy."

"Charlie?" Oswaldo said. "My name is Oswaldo Maturana. I'm not going to hurt you."

Charlie looked up a bit, enough to make eye contact with the man. "Why are you wearing that white jacket?"

"It's my lab coat. It's a sign of my occupation."

"Occu…what?"

"My job. What I do for a living."

"What is your…job?" He still sounded scared.

"I am a scientist."

"What's a…scientist?"

"A scientist is someone who studies science. How the world works," Oswaldo explained as he began to walk back and forth. "There are many different kinds of scientists. There are ones who study the earth, ones who study water, ones who study the air, and so on. I study the monsters, so other humans may better understand them."

"Why is your skin that color?"

Oswaldo stopped. "My…what?"

"Your skin. Why is it that color?"

"I am Hispanic." Oswaldo looked and sounded offended. "And for your future reference, it's generally rude to casually ask people about their skin color unless it's a very odd color."

"Your skin is an odd color…"

Oswaldo looked at Frisk. "Frisk, where did you find this kid?"

"He was living in a forest with a ghost. Not the forest nearby, a forest at least an hour's drive from here. And they apparently taught him to stay away from people."

"I see. In that case, be sure to teach him about human skin colors when you get a chance."

Before either of them could respond, another voice called out, "H-Hello? Is s-someone there?"

Someone else came out the door Oswaldo had come in through. This time, it was a monster that looked like a yellow dinosaur or lizard wearing glasses and a lab coat.

"Oh, hi, Frisk," she said.

"Hi, Alphys," Frisk said back.

As she approached them, Alphys noticed the monster hiding behind Frisk. "Oh. F-Frisk, who's…?"

"This is Charlie. I found him living with a ghost in some woods about an hour's drive from here. He's very shy."

Charlie peeked out from behind Frisk, the sight of another monster making him feel more at ease. "Hi."

"H-Hello. I'm Alphys. I'm Dr. Maturana's assistant."

"A-Assistant?"

"I help him with his studies."

"W-Why are you assisting him?"

"He, uh, asked me to. He was sent here to study the monsters, so it'd make s-sense to have a monster as an assistant. I used to be a scientist myself, but, uh, that didn't…go very well…"

"That's not what I meant…"

"What did you m-mean?"

"A…Aren't humans and monsters supposed to be enemies?"

"Not anymore. We actually have a lot in common."

Charlie came out a little more. "Oh."

Alphys stared at him for a bit. "Uh… If you don't mind me asking… What kind of monster are you? I've…never seen anything quite like you before."

"I don't know. Margle doesn't know either, and she knows a lot."

"Margle?"

"The ghost that raised me."

"Oh."

There was a silence that lasted for a few seconds before Alphys said, "Is there…anything, uh…that you can do that others can't?"

Oswaldo raised an eyebrow.

Charlie shuffled a bit before saying, "There is…one thing…but…I'm not sure if I should show you…"

"What is it?" Alphys asked.

"I can, uh…"

"WASSUP, NERDS!?"

Author's note: If I don't update before August 22, then that means I wasn't able to finish the next chapter before I went back to college. After August 22, I have no idea if I'll have the time or motivation to work on this fic for the rest of the semester. All I can do is cross my fingers and hope.