"Or not?"

"What?" Chara looks over to the bus Aofil's pointing at standing in idle the end of the lot. They shake Frisk's head, "No, that one's going the other way. Towards..."

Aofil catches the name on the sign at the front of the bus.

"Mt Ebott."

They also catch Chara with Frisk's palms together over their face. Chara takes a deep breath, and exhales with the wind, "Yeah, that way."

Aofil nods, "Does that one also have sections for-," their head jerks to the side at the pain building up inside their skull, "them?"

"Yes, actually," Chara answers while keeping Frisk's head away from the bus, "They were the monsters that Frisk left with, the first monsters back on the Surface. So, naturally, we should plaster their faces all over!" Chara caresses Frisk's head tiredly with an equally tired sigh, "Sometimes even I'm baffled by the monsters. Good thing it's mostly the cross city buses left with that kind of advertising, and they're about to be phased out. Thankfully."

Chara beckons for Aofil to follow them, and the two humans head towards the local section of the bus terminal. As they pass the ticket booth the monster inside folds together the newspaper it was reading and greets first with a smile, but then with a worried frown.

The monsters leans out its eyes out the ticket booth, and then swivel them to Aofil, "You missed your bus."

Aofil is forced to put on a smile, "Yes," they nod, "it appears I did."

The monster moves its eyes around Aofil. A bit too close for their taste, but the monster pays no mind, since it can't see Aofil leaning away as much as they possibly can, "Did something go wrong in there?" the monster asks, indicating towards the bathroom with a claw, "Sorry if that's too personal a question for you humans."

"No," Aofil lies, "that's fine. Just human business."

"Unfortunately you did forego the option for a refund, I'm afraid," the monster returns its eyes to its body with an audible slurp, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Yes, actually," Aofil glances down towards Chara, "Right?"

Chara nods, "We need to head to Royal Street, please."

"Frisk!" the monster in the ticket booth fumbles with its hat before managing to stick a claw through the top and take the hat off its head, "My apologies, I didn't see you. How can I help the child of the Royal Couple?"

Chara needs a quick elbow from Aofil to be able to shake off the words that suddenly grip them like an invisible hand. They flub trying to form something to say, "Yes..."

"They're a bit tired," Aofil steals the attention of the monster by stepping in front of Chara, "but yes, I guess one adult ticket that can take me to Royal Street? I'm also guessing Frisk already has a pass."

"Y-you're going to see the Royal Couple, right?"

"Yes," Aofil lies, "we are."

"Then you're a guest of them, correct?"

"You could say that."

The monster lights up, "Ah, then I'm sure that Asgore-"

Aofil doesn't manage to suppress their pained grunt. They motion for the monster to continue though, "It's fine."

The monster isn't convinced, but still continues, "I'm sure you've been cleared as a Royal Guest, so public transportation should be free for you. As long as you have the card, that is."

Well shit.

"And if I don't?"

The monster points towards Chara, "Frisk should be able to vouch for you then. The bus departs at spot 'H' down the lot. There's a stop at Royal Street, so you shouldn't miss it."

Aofil nods as thanks for the information, and ushers Chara towards the spot the monster pointed towards. The lot is still somewhat empty, much to Aofil's delight. There are monsters waiting at other stops, but Aofil should be able to position themselves so that Chara stays out of sight. Having Chara around is bound to raise questions, so the less anyone sees of them the better.

No to mention that Chara, who is not Frisk, is Frisk. If what just happened at the ticket booth is any indication, then this might be a bit tricky.

"Squint when people get close, Chara," Aofil suggests while leaning against the glass wall of the bus shelter so that they're covering the view of Chara from that angle, "Or do you want me to say 'Frisk' instead?"

Chara shrugs as they sit down on the bench next to the bus stop, "I'd rather stick with Chara when we're alone. Not entirely comfortable pretending to be them. Feels as if I'm violating their personal space."

Aofil smacks their lips and tugs a smile, "Yeah."

"Very much aware of the borderline hypocrisy, thank you very much. What with me being in control of Frisk's body and everything, thank you even more much, Aofil. Good on you for reminding me," with a last flail of Frisk's wrist Chara crosses Frisk's arms over their chest, "Seems like impersonating monster adopted human children runs in the family."

"I only did it to try and help," Aofil reminds with a weary sigh, "Would've done differently if I had the luxury."

"Same here. I'm already dreading having to talk to Sans. He's bound to pick up that something's amiss. Hopefully just amiss, and not extremely wrong."

"You want me to do the talking?" Aofil offers, "Frisk have never spoken to me before today, so we might be able to use that to our advantage."

"Hopefully," Chara stares into the setting sun, "Hopefully..."

"You sure he has a memory box?"

"The," Chara corrects, still with Frisk's eyes towards the orange horizon.

"There's only one?"

Chara nods.

"That's strange," Aofil tilts their head down in thought. It hurts a bit to think about it, but they're pretty sure they're remembering correctly, "The turtle, what was his name?"

Frisk's brow furrows involuntarily, "Gerson?"

"Yes, Gerson. I visited him when I was in the Underground for the first time. Was it the first time? Did I go down there during the first reset?"

Chara shrugs deeply, "How should I know? I only saw it through Frisk's eyes, not yours."

"Fair," Aofil returns to thinking for a minute or so, but to no avail, "Anyway, he used it on me, after telling me that he got one of many."

"He did?" Frisk's brow furrows, "Must've been your broken soul. Easier to influence, I guess, being broken and all. A bit curios why he said there were more than one though."

"Thank you for reminding me about my broken soul," Aofil says with sarcasm drooling from every pore.

"Makes us even," Chara retorts, "but to my, and Frisk's, knowledge, there is only one memory box, and it's with Sans. If there were more..." Chara widens Frisk's eyes and blows through Frisk's lips, "Then all hell would've broken loose. How did Gerson even get hold of it?"

"He said he got it from the wedding or something?"

"Wedding?" Chara thinks for just a split second before realizing, "Oh," and uncrosses Frisk's arms in bewilderment, "Oh!"

Aofil looks over their shoulder to check if two humans together in an almost vacant bus lot is still as uninteresting to the monsters as it was a couple of minutes ago. It seems to be the case, as the monsters waiting on the other stops are busy with themselves and their phones, "Is it bad that he had one?" Aofil asks Chara, who's now almost falling off the bench in silent fear.

"Do you know what the memory box actually is?"

Aofil never had time to ask, so, "No."

Chara prepares themselves, "Think of it as a test for the soul extractor. A prototype. The first machine that could store a part of a soul. Gaster invented it to test if it was even possible."

Gaster, who? "Who?"

"Gaster," Chara repeats, "Royal Scientist before Alphys?"

Aofil shakes their head, "Not a clue."

"Okay, Gaster was the Royal Scientist before Alphys," Chara explains quickly.

"Alright."

"He invented, and fell into the CORE, and died."

Aofil didn't really need to know that, "Alright."

"He made plans for the soul extractor, and also made the memory box."

"Alright!" that's enough for Aofil, "and why did he do that?"

Chara smacks Frisk's lips, "Because of me. He was appointed to soul research after Asriel and I died."

Just keeps getting better, doesn't it! Aofil nods while averting their eyes, "Gotcha."

"He managed to get a memory box working, like I said, and it seems like Gerson was a test subject for it. Would explain his hazy memory."

"I mean," Aofil shrugs lightly, "isn't Gerson incredibly old?"

Chara stops in their thinking, "True...but it would also explain why he had the box in his possession to begin with. Gaster and Gerson worked close to Asgore, and I'm pretty sure they had some form of friendship. I didn't meet Gaster much after I fell down. He was not really the most social one, always in the CORE. Him working on the memory box would explain his sudden interest in Gerson, now that I think about it. One of the oldest monsters, who's soul is one of the fullest of memories."

"How do you know this?"

"About the memory box?" Chara replies, but they soon realize that there's no way Aofil could possibly mean anything else, "Well, you remember when you were down in the True Lab? Remember carefully, so that you don't hurt yourself. There were signs with notes?"

"Can't remember that there were any notes," Aofil thinks for a couple more seconds, "No, no notes. Just something about it being deleted."

"Gaster also kept notes, but his were in the CORE. It's where he worked. Frisk found it with Sans. I may or may not have helped them. I tried, but I don't know if Frisk heard me."

"When did Frisk do that?"

"Around the time that Above Lab was beginning construction. At first Frisk just wanted to learn more so that maybe they could help with the construction, but they learned a bit more than what they wanted. The True Lab had barely sunk in for them, so it was a bit uncomfortable to learn about the memory box too, to say the least."

"Fun stuff."

"No need to lie, Aofil."

Chara's got Aofil there.

"So this Gaster made the memory box, and the soul extractor? With one of his fellow monsters as a test subject? That sounds a bit morbid."

"Well," Chara throws Frisk's thumb over Frisk's shoulder, "you know all about Alphys' research. Hard choices had to be made after Asriel and I died. Desperation can do a lot once you get it rolling."

"Like offering control over your own body to a human who's only a piece of soul inside you to try and talk to said soul's alive twin?"

"That's..." Chara tugs Frisk's head to a tilt, and then back up again, "oddly specific, but yes."

Aofil glances over to the setting sun, squinting at the intensity of it, "I mean that much to them?"

"Yup," Chara nods solemnly to themselves, "you do. Wouldn't risk this," they motion up and down Frisk's body with a forlorn hand, "otherwise. If only you could understand, Aofil."

"Yeah," Aofil mirrors Chara's nod, "if only I could."

It has to go both ways though. The monsters have to understand Aofil, otherwise Aofil can't allow themselves to even consider. To top it all off they're now under the same affliction they sacrificed so much to save the monsters from. If they could they'd slap themselves before they stepped on that bus yesterday. They went right back to the monster's den, and literally as well!

And even worse…

Aofil angles their fur stained arm upward.

Even worse is that they've lost something to blame it on. Aofil's lost the one thing they could point to and offload their problems onto. Now with it gone, they're not sure if they can shoulder the weight.

Why are they staying though? Why are they agreeing to this? If they just leave and distance themselves from all magic it should be enough to not have their memories flare. If it was a valid option before, it should be a valid option now. There's bound to be buses that are headed to somewhere that's not Mt Ebott. Should just take one and be done with all of this.

But Aofil doesn't move.

Why? Why aren't they moving? Frisk will come back, because it's probably Aofil keeping them away. Chara could be holding Frisk back to garner sympathy from Aofil too. Hell, it could just be Frisk pretending to be Chara. Frisk can swear, Frisk can be mean. They're human, not an angel.

So why is Aofil still here?

They swivel their head towards Chara, sitting quietly with Frisk's arms crossed over Frisk's chest. If anyone is none the wiser that it is Frisk's body they'd think it is Aofil's kid.

Aofil turns away their head.

Here they go again, sympathizing instead of trying to distance themselves which was their plan.

Why can't they leave well enough alone? Alone without magic, alone without memories, alone without monsters putting all their bets on Aofil. Looking up to a human they just stumbled across to help them with everything.

What did Aofil get in return?

They got their twin back… Not that Aofil can remember their twin. No memory, no recollection.

And that's the only positive they can think of. The rest that could be slightly positive is hurting their head!

So

Why

Are

They

Not

Moving?

An audible, but involuntary, huff escapes Aofil. Chara looks over, "You alright?"

"No..."

Chara returns Frisk's eyes to the sunset, "Sucks."

"Yup."

They truly are an idiot.

"Still alone, by the way?"

Chara closes Frisk's eyes for a moment, "Yup, still alone."

Aofil glances over to the time table, shouldn't be too long until the next bus comes. They sit down next to Chara, "'Royal couple' seems to works."

"What?"

"'Royal Couple', the ticket booth monster said it, and it didn't hurt."

"They've never been a couple to you, so figures you wouldn't react. Might want to not think about how they are now though."

Aofil's not sure, "Are they really it now?"

With a furrowed brow Chara tilts Frisk's head, "What?" but a second later they realize what Aofil means, "Oh! Yeah, yes and no. Or, to be more specific, no and yes."

"Alright?" Aofi's head shakes on its own as even their spinal chord is confused.

"They live together in the same house, but they're not together. It's…," Chara shuffles uncomfortably around, "weird. I'd say complicated if I knew more, but I don't."

"Does Frisk know?"

"They don't want to admit it."

"Asriel?"

"Frisk haven't asked."

"Why are they living together then? Just for show?"

"To be honest?" Chara nods once, "Mostly. They don't hate each other, but they're not clinging over one another either. It's like their relationship is in this state of, how to say it, like a caramel filled chocolate bar without any caramel inside."

Chara holds Frisk's open palm towards Aofil, who blinks quietly. They don't find a connecting thread though, "Do you want another minute to expand on that analogy, Chara?"

"Say that you buy a caramel filled chocolate bar, but then when you bite down on it it's hollow. I grew up with it being filled with caramel, but right now it's just the shell. It's not entirely gone, but the gooey and succulent filling is gone. They both have done taken this whole 'New Chapter' spiel to soul, Asg-" Chara halts Frisk's tongue just in time.

"Thanks."

"He took it straight away," Chara continues, "but for her, it took a little while longer. He had a chance to be the one that she fell in love with again, and he took it. He's been the king he was before, you know."

Aofil does, "Yes."

"Asriel definitely helped as well. He, as in Asriel he, not as in he he, gave them both a common ground to build on. I don't know if the two of them have talked about it, but Frisk hasn't heard anything, and they're too nice to ask. Live and let live in the household, basically. Everyone involved knows what it feels like when a house of card topples, so none are too eager to push the question."

"Fair enough, I guess."

The bus comes into view shortly after, and Aofil motions for Chara to squint.

"I can see surprisingly well," they comment after an inquisitive hum.

Aofil hushes Chara as the bus rolls up to their stop. The doors are opened, and the bus driver glances over, "Frisk!" the driver fumbles with his hat, "A pleasure to drive you today, Frisk."

Chara nods towards Aofil.

"Ah yes, and your human companion."

Despite behind behind Chara, Aofil still notices them tugging Frisk's lips into a smile. Not a friendly one though, an amused one. Aofil gently pokes the back of Frisk's leg with their knee so that Chara gets a move on, and the two of them find an empty pair of seats.

Aofil feels eyes in their neck, torso, legs, everywhere, as the murmur of monster whispers surround them. Chara's not too pleased with the situation, but the whispers seem to be content with conversing about the two humans that just entered, and not with the humans that just entered.

Chara looks out the window, and when the first shadow passes and darkens the window so that Frisk's face is seen in the reflection, they turn their head away with a sigh.

Monsters come, monsters go, as the bus stops on its journey through the Monster City. The constant influx of new monsters means that the whispering stays constant, but Aofil forces their mind to regard it as just white noise, and they pay no attention to what the monsters have to say. The only word they pick up is when the speaker system informs that, "Up next, 'Royal Street'," with a robotic voice not unlike Mettaton. It's clearly not him though, as the announcement wasn't accompanied by either confetti and or strobe lights.

The whispers follows Chara and Aofil out, but disappear when the bus door closes behind them.

Royal Street.

Back again, after promising never to return. Aofil takes a long and deep breath. The street is quiet, no one's outside despite the nice sunset bathing everything in a glistening orange glow. Weather might be nice outside, but inside? Probably overcast with heavy rain and sulking thunder.

"Let's get this over with," Aofil proposes and heads in the direction of the only house that could belong to the skeletons.

Chara follows them closely behind, "This might go without saying, but I'm gonna keep quiet for as much as I can. We have a reason for me to, and the less I say, the less Sans gets wiser."

No disagreement there.

Aofil's distrustful of the doorbell at the door since it's clearly connected to a buzzer designed to mildly shock anyone naive enough to press it. Aofil knocks three times on the door and backs off.

"What if Papyrus opens?" Chara whispers.

"He's busy."

"You sure?"

"Unless the world somehow got a lot smaller."

Hazy and dragging footsteps close in from inside, and Aofil steps back to let the door swing open. It opens slowly, with Sans standing in a pair of bunny slippers. He looks up and down Aofil, and raises one eye socket.

"didn't i tell you to stop being so dramatic, aof?"