"How can you tell these two birds apart?" Asriel was asking.
Chara gestured at the two birds that were hopping around on their desk. One of them turned to face Chara's hand and chirped.
"The one that chirps a lot is Toby," Chara explained. "He has longer and darker feathers. But Toby doesn't like being touched very much. The other one, Tem, doesn't mind if I pet her softly."
Asriel watched with mild interest as Chara let Tem hop onto their finger. They brushed the bird's feathers lightly with the fingers of their other hand, eliciting a single chirp in response. Toby hopped away and back into his cage.
"How does it feel?" Asriel asked.
"They're really fluffy. Aren't they cute?"
Asriel made a sound like a chuckle. "I didn't know you liked birds so much, Chara."
"I didn't either."
Frisk walked into the room, dressed already in their duffle jacket. "Chara. Alphys is going to meet us at the station in twenty minutes. What are you still doing?"
"All right, all right," Chara said. They let Tem off their hand and ushered her back into the cage before shutting it. "Come on. The trains always run late. If we get there on time, we'll probably have to stand around for at least ten minutes before Alphys arrives."
"Alphys is taking the train?" Asriel asked. "Doesn't she have a chauffeur?"
Frisk shrugged. "She said that she couldn't be driven here today."
"That's odd."
Chara closed their laptop screen, stood up, and grabbed their jacket. After putting it on, they waved goodbye to Asriel and walked out with Frisk.
The weather had gotten colder lately. Today, the sky was blue and cloudless, but the air was frigid, and the wind stung when it blew against their face. Snow covered the sides of the roads. Frisk walked closely beside Chara in an attempt to gain warmth, bumping into them often and nearly pushing them off the sidewalk. In response, Chara bumped back playfully, until their walking together turned into a mini bumping contest.
More than a few strangers gave them curious looks as they walked by.
"Quit it," Frisk said at last.
"You started it first," Chara replied, smirking.
Frisk gave Chara one final bump. "Okay. Now, let's stop."
"Hey!"
Frisk giggled.
The train station was a fifteen minute minute walk from their apartment. Along the way, they passed by multiple familiar stores, like Blooky's Pet House, Shyren's Music Emporium, and Vulkin's Warm Shelter (which provided free heating and rent for the poor homeless people throughout the winter). Frisk felt the temptation to stop by and warm up their frozen face, but decided against it. They had to hurry to meet Alphys, and the lineup in front of the shelter was humongous.
Near the station, they passed by a new building which they had never seen before. Its entrance was located at the end of a long alley, which looked fairly suspicious. There was a sign board above the door which displayed a pale face with enlarged eyes and a black, overly stretched mouth. Nothing indicated the name or purpose of this store.
"That's...disturbing, isn't it?" Frisk spoke up, pointing at the sign.
Chara stopped at the entrance to the alley and stared.
"Is that like some horror shop?"
"They ought to put up a sign, at least."
"Maybe they're trying to be mysterious on purpose."
Something about that face on the sign made Frisk feel uncomfortable, and they wished that they hadn't brought it up. "Let's just keep going."
"Okay."
When they finally arrived at the station, they rushed in through the door and huddled beside a wall. Frisk took off their gloves and rubbed their hands together. Their fingers felt numb. They could barely feel their ears, and as they felt warmth returning to their body, they experienced a sensation of their ears growing hot. Frisk rubbed their face with their hands, feeling the coldness of their skin.
Chara seemed to be doing a bit better. Smiling, Frisk leaned towards them and brushed their face against their cheek.
"Uh...Frisk? We're in public..."
"I need your warmth."
Chara blushed. "Come on...people are going to look at us funny..."
Frisk wrapped their arms around Chara and hugged them, still leaning against their face. "Just a bit longer."
The station was loud and crowded, as always. Announcements were made every ten seconds about the next departing or arriving train, or which ones were going to be late. As Frisk expected, Line Twenty-seven, which was the one that Alphys was on, was behind its schedule. They had arrived at the station on time, but the train wouldn't get here for another six minutes.
"Told you so," Chara whispered after the announcement was made.
Frisk shrugged and continued hugging them.
"We might as well go and sit somewhere."
"All right," Frisk said, pulling away.
They moved to a bench and sat down beside each other. Crowds of people streamed by. Monsters were sparse amongst them, but most looked happy. It made Frisk glad to see that humans and monsters were getting along so well. Things could have gotten a lot worse, and perhaps that was in the case in other timelines, but – at least in this one – things were...peaceful, if one ignored the massive threat looming over the entire world.
A few minutes passed, and they noticed four people walking by, dressed entirely in long, flowing black robes. This was eyebrow raising enough.
"Are they going to a cosplay con?" Frisk asked, pointing towards them.
To Frisk's surprise, Chara giggled.
"That can't seriously be cosplay," Chara said. "It looks too plain. And boring."
"What if they're just pretending to be a bunch of wizards?"
All four people turned around at once and stared at Frisk and Chara. Frisk froze. Something about their eyes made Frisk feel uncomfortable. A shiver went down their back.
"Ummm...they're looking at us..."
Chara stared at them back. A moment later, they turned their heads around in perfect sync and walked away at once.
"That was...odd," Frisk said.
"It was. I didn't like the way they were staring at us."
"Me neither."
"Frisk! Chara!"
Frisk turned their head around and saw Alphys walking towards them. Immediately, they brightened and smiled at her.
Behind Alphys were three familiar monsters. Frisk recognized them instantly as Final Froggit, Whimsalot, and the rather oddly-named Astigmatism, the monster who was mostly just a giant eye. Actually, on a closer glance, Frisk noticed that the monsters looked a bit different than when they had last seen them. Their skin appeared rubbery and slightly wet.
"Hi, Alphys," Chara said, waving to her.
"Hello!" Frisk said as well.
Alphys walked up to them while the three monsters followed her silently.
"I know th-this looks a bit strange," Alphys began. "But I'm g-going to explain everything once we get back!"
"Are you coming over?" Frisk asked.
Alphys nodded, smiling nervously. "I presume y-you don't mind me bringing these three monsters into your house?"
Frisk looked at each one of them. Final Froggit and Whimsalot glanced back nonchalantly. Astigmatism was...well, staring at them with its one giant eye. It raised a hand and waved.
"It's okay, right, Chara?" Frisk asked.
"Yeah."
Astigmatism's eye transformed into a face with two smaller eyes and a mouth.
"Don't pick on me," it said.
They were all gathered at the dinner table, eating together. Frisk hadn't been sure about what the monsters wanted to eat, but they agreed on trying out some human food. Having learned how to make Japanese food from Alphys, Frisk made a big bowl of miso ramen soup and salmon sashimi with rice and ginger.
"It's r-really good!" Alphys said while eating the noodles. "You're a great cook, Frisk!"
Frisk smiled humbly and scratched their head. "Thank you."
Froggit made a thoughtful croak as it took in a piece of salmon sashimi with its tongue. Then, it nodded twice, and made an impressed-sounding croak.
"I've made my choice," Whimsalot said, shaking its head as it slurped up some noodles. "...I'm going to eat human food forever."
Astigmatism grinned widely. "Finally, someone gets it."
"Anyways...h-how have you two been doing?" Alphys asked.
Both Frisk and Chara threw a glance at each other, then turned away. Chara had already started blushing.
"We've been...fine," Frisk replied.
"Oh, they're doing quite well!" Asriel said, his face appearing upon the flower. His pot was on the dinner table as well, and all three monsters turned to stare at him.
"In fact, they've been doing SO well, they've been having nothing but 'fun' ever since they started living alone!"
Chara slapped one of Asriel's petals.
"Oh, ummm, I s-see..." Alphys said. Beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.
Frisk and Chara cringed at the same time. Chara was glaring at Asriel.
"I guess the two of y-you like living alone, then? Without having any 'parents' around to s-supervise you?"
"It gets lonely sometimes," Frisk said. "I miss you, Alphys."
Alphys blushed. "Oh! I'm sorry that I've been so b-busy, Frisk. I would've visited you m-more often, but..."
"It's okay." Frisk smiled.
"No, really! I miss you t-too, Frisk...once we have all this timeline business sorted out, you w-won't have to live by yourselves anymore. I mean, unless you want to, then-"
"Frisk isn't THAT lonely," Chara interrupted.
Asriel wiggled his eyebrows. He pointed his leaves at Frisk and Chara.
"With Chara here, Frisk is NEVER lonel-"
"Shut up," Chara snapped.
Alphys was sweating furiously now. She was blushing almost as red as Chara. "A ch-change of topic, I suppose...?"
"Yes," Chara replied.
"Whew." Alphys breathed a sigh of relief. "Frisk. The reason for me c-coming here is to tell you about my new invention. I've created a chemical th-that can, it could, well..."
She pointed at the three monsters sitting beside her.
"It can reverse the effects of excess d-determination on a monster's body," she said. "I've already t-tested it out on these three. They were the 'Reaper Bird' amalgamate before, whom you m-must have met back in my old laboratory. But! As you can s-see, after absorbing this chemical, they've separated from each other! They're no l-longer melting, even if they do look a bit thawed..."
Alphys sighed. "Unfortunately, it can't actually r-reduce the amount of determination that already exists within a body. That's why these monsters continue to live, even th-though they don't have a soul anymore."
"I've made my peace," Whimsalot said.
Final Froggit made a hopeful-sounding croak.
"What are you so afraid of?" Astigmatism said to Alphys.
"It's because it w-won't work against Killer," Alphys answered. "If we could find some way to reduce or d-disable all the determination within their soul, then we could conceivably beat them!"
"You've done a great job already," Frisk said in a reassuring tone. "I'm sure if you continue your research, you'll figure something out!"
"Thank you, Frisk," Alphys said, smiling. "I needed that."
Astigmatism blinked, then turned to face Frisk. "That takes guts."
"Awww," Chara said, putting an arm around Frisk's shoulder. "All the monsters still love you!"
Now Frisk felt like blushing. "Thanks."
They continued eating their dinner, and when they had finished, Alphys stood up and prepared to leave. At the door, Alphys opened up her handbag and took out three books, which she handed over to Frisk.
"I thought you m-might be interested in these books from the university!" Alphys said.
Frisk perused over them. There were two books on politics and history, and the third one was...an introduction to first year physics?
"Why this book?" Frisk asked.
An embarrassed expression came over Alphys' face again. "In case you ever become interested in science, y-you know! And I can help you get into the science f-faculty as a student! Just call me if you want to enrol!"
"Thanks," Frisk replied. "I'll read it when I have the time."
Alphys turned towards Chara.
"Undyne really misses having piano lessons with you," she said. "She t-told me that you were her best student."
Chara blushed deeply. "Uh...tell her I said thanks. I really appreciated her tutoring."
Alphys nodded. "I will! And, ummm, Chara..."
She took out a stack of notebooks from within her bag.
"Here's your homework for this month."
"What?!"
"You d-don't really have to do them..." Alphys said, looking away. "But, you know, in case you want to stay sharp. It doesn't h-hurt to brush up on algebra every once in a while!"
Chara groaned. "Fine."
As Alphys went out the door, she waved goodbye, and Frisk and Chara both waved back. The three monsters lined up in front of the door as well.
"Don't give up!" Whimsalot said.
Astigmatism's face transformed back into a giant eye. "Take your last look."
Froggit made a determined croak.
Then, all three of them turned away and left.
"I forgot to buy food for the birds!" Chara exclaimed.
Frisk turned over on their bed. "Is it urgent?"
"Well...I don't want my pets to starve..."
"We can get some food from Blooky's, right?" Frisk said, sitting up. "I'll go there right now."
Chara looked flustered. "Frisk..."
"I don't mind-"
"You're too nice!"
Frisk stood up and put on their jacket, then grabbed their wallet. "It's just a fifteen minute walk."
"But it's dark and so cold outside!"
"I can handle it."
Chara's blush came back. They stepped towards Frisk and hugged them.
"I don't know what I'd do without you."
Frisk smiled brightly. "Chara, it's okay."
"I'd go with you, but I already showered," Chara whispered. "...Thank you so much."
"You're welcome."
Frisk kissed Chara on the cheek, which made them blush even more. They left Chara's embrace and stepped towards the door.
"Stay safe," Chara said.
"I will!" Frisk replied, nodding, and went out the door.
The chill of the nighttime winter air stung Frisk's face. It wasn't as windy as it had been in the morning, but the normal temperature had definitely decreased. They stuck their gloved hands into their pocket and tightened their scarf.
Now that new year's was over, the city at night had become dark and quiet. They were nearly alone as they walked down the streets. Only a few people passed by, though there were still a lot of cars.
There was a bright moon above in the sky, which remained cloudless as it had throughout the day.
The street near Blooky's was quiet and empty. It was probably the perfect place for a ghost. Frisk walked alone, but had a strange feeling that they were being followed. As they walked, they started to hear footsteps behind them. They saw shadows at the corner of their eye, but when they turned around, there was never anybody there.
At about a block away from the store, Frisk heard a noise like feet running. Glancing at the wall beside them, they saw four shadows approaching. Immediately, they spun around.
"Do not scream," a man's voice said.
Frisk froze.
Four black-robed figures walked up to them and surrounded them. They were two women and two men. One of the women unveiled a knife from within the sleeve of her robes and held it up to Frisk's chest. Another, a man, took out a gun and held it to Frisk's forehead.
"Do not make a sound," the man repeated. "You must come us."
Frisk was terrified. But, before they had a chance to react, they felt a hand touch the back of their head.
Instantly, their entire body became tense. A dark vision flashed before their eyes. It was the sight of a tunnel – a swirling tunnel of shadows, full of screaming faces. Limbs reached out towards them.
They felt their body being flung into this tunnel.
Frisk woke up, but they couldn't see a thing when they opened up their eyes. They realized that they were probably looking at a piece of dark fabric. They had been blindfolded.
Their body felt sore, especially their arms. Upon trying to move them, they felt strong resistance. Their hands were bound together. They tried to move their fingers and felt themselves touching cold, hard steel.
"You're awake now," a man's voice was saying.
Frisk felt their blood turn cold. So, it had happened. Those four people had actually taken them away, and now they were trapped somewhere.
"You are the one we've been looking for," a woman said.
Frisk tried to muster up the courage to speak. They opened their mouth, but the words wouldn't come out.
"We've been told about you," the woman continued. "You sick, twisted, disgusting little thing."
"Degenerate," the man added.
Fear gave Frisk a newfound strength to speak. "Who are you?!"
"Us? We are the people who have been chosen to destroy you," the man replied. "Chosen by our almighty saviour."
"We are the Order of the Rising Shadow," the woman said.
Frisk was confused and scared. "The...what?"
"The great shadow came to us," the woman replied. "They are the one who look exactly like you. They told us about the truth of this world."
"Yes, yes," the man said. "They told us when this world was going to end – the exact time of its destruction. And They promised us salvation. When the world ends, it will be consumed by a massive shadow. Everyone, human and monster, will die. Only those who have served Them will be allowed to live."
"And They ask of us only one thing. They ask for us to find the one, true enemy. The one who is a deceiver, who is a false copy of Them, the one who will try to stop Them...you."
"We have finally found you," the woman said. "Now, They will save us. When the shadow consumes all, we will live on. We will be granted eternit-"
"After we do one thing," the man interrupted. "They said that you have too much determination. They said that, before the shadow comes, we must break you. We must destroy your will, your spirit. We must dismantle you, we must eradicate your power, we must annihilate your existence!"
"And then, we will be saved!"
Frisk was completely terrified.
They had an inkling of what was going on, and it had everything to do with Killer. Somehow, Killer must have reappeared in this world. They must have used their shadow and convinced people to obey them. Now, there were these four scary, misguided people in front of them, and they had probably been instructed to destroy them by breaking their determination – which was exactly what Killer would have wanted.
Frisk didn't want to stay here any longer.
They calmed their mind, even as they listened to the man and the woman's crazed laughing. They thought of going back in time, of resetting. They put all their determination into making it come true.
Slowly, the world started to fade away. Everything became distant again. They felt their arms becoming free. They felt their body being flung through another tunnel, a tunnel that went back through time. They felt themselves returning to a place that was safe, a safe where everything would be fi-
They crashed into a wall.
Frisk opened their eyes. In front of them was a familiar and massive looming wall of shadow.
"Not so easy, is it?" Killer's voice spoke, echoing across the entire tunnel. "You can't reset if Chara isn't here with you. Now that the two of you have separated, I've got you into my trap!"
Frisk dashed towards the wall and punched and kicked it with all their strength. It didn't even budge.
Killer laughed.
"If anything bad happens," Frisk whispered, "Chara is going to reset. They'll come to this tunnel, and we'll break through the wall together."
"Not if I kill you first!'
Suddenly, Frisk felt themselves losing control of their body. They were picked up, held by some invisible force, and then flung forward through time – all the way out of the tunnel.
They landed with a thud, back in their own body, in their present time and predicament. All they could see was black.
"Now, let us begin the breaking," the man was saying. "We will start with some torture."
Frisk tensed up. They held their breath, horrified.
They wanted to cry.
They heard some disturbing sounds around them, like metal creaking, and then a knife being sharpened. Something was laid down on the floor beside them. Two strong hands pinned their shoulders against the wall. Then, they felt it.
A thing that was very cold, and very sharp. It was sliding slowly across their neck.
They thought immediately that it was a knife, and braced themselves for pain.
Seconds passed.
They winced, imagining the agony of the life-ending pain.
But it never came.
Then, they felt it. Wetness against their neck.
Initially, they thought it was their blood. It had to be.
They would die soon.
Everything would go dark, and they would have to say goodbye. To Chara, to Asriel, to Alphys, to Sans, to Toriel...to the world.
It was time for their life to end.
But...wait.
It wasn't their blood.
They didn't feel any pain.
There was just cold, and wetness.
It came to them.
They realized this method of torture.
Pressed against their neck was probably just some ice.
Then, the man screamed.
They felt their shoulders being released from the hands that pinned them against the wall. The woman screamed as well, and they heard them shuffling away, feet banging against the wooden floor. Then, the blindfold was lifted off their eyes, and their arms became free.
Frisk blinked several times, adjusting to the light that flooded their vision. They looked around and saw that they were in a small room. Four black-robed people were standing to their left, backing away. To their right was...the River Person?
It was definitely them. Their robes were different – shorter, thicker, more bluish. And, as usual, there was nothing under that hood, nothing but a black void.
"I can hardly think of anything more despicable than torturing children," the River Person said in a low, ominous voice. "You are degenerates."
"Who are you?!" one of the robed men yelled.
"Who am I?" the River Person repeated. "I am the riverman. Or am I the riverwoman...? It doesn't really matter." They shook their head. "For now, I am one thing: your worst nightmare."
One of the women stepped forward. "You...you are an enemy of our saviour," she whispered. She lifted up her hands. "An enemy of the great shadow."
To Frisk's horror, they saw something appearing beneath the woman's feet. Something like...a pool of darkness. Tendrils of shadow rose out from this pool, curling around her body. It spread out to the other robed people, and now they were all surrounded by writhing black streams.
"Humans? Using magic?" There was a sound like a chuckle from the River Person.
"This is the magic granted to us by Them," the man said. "Resist us, and we will destroy you."
The River Person shook their head.
"Magic disappeared from the human gene pool long, long ago," they said. "Only monsters have the capability to use magic now. If you attempt to use magic that does not belong to you, you will have to face the consequences."
"KILL HIM!" The woman yelled.
A stream of black shadows burst out from the robed figures and surrounded the River Person. Horrific faces and gnarled limbs rose out of the streams and began to attack the River Person.
All of the attacks went through the River Person's body and disappeared as soon as they struck.
"Wh-what's...happening?" one of the robed men said. "Why...why doesn't our magic work?"
"You are using magic that does not belong to you," the River Person responded calmly.
"But...this is the magic of our saviour!" the man shouted. "It is their great shadow!"
"Oh? You claim to know shadows?"
Frisk didn't understand why, but they felt like a smile was spreading across the River Person's face.
"I know something of shadows, too."
A sleeve extended out from the River Person's robes. There was a bony hand at the edge of the sleeve.
Streams of red, purple, and black electricity exploded out of the River Person's hand. They coalesced together, morphing into a twisting, multi-coloured shadow, which shot towards the robed men and covered them in its entirety. Instantly, the robed men and woman fell onto their knees. Each of them grabbed their heads, and then fell face first onto the floor and began screaming.
Red and purple streaks of electricity coursed through their bodies. Frisk watched in a mixture of fascination and horror as shadow after shadow ripped through them, bursting out of their mouths, then their eyes, then their ears and even their noses – shadows were erupting out of every corner of their faces. Their screaming reached feverish pitches, becoming shrieks, and they started to shake and twitch and shiver. All of them banged their heads against the floor, begging for it to stop, begging for the shadows to stop engulfing them, begging for release from this anguish-
"STOP IT!" Frisk shouted, standing up. They turned to face the River Person. "Stop it now!"
In an instant, the electricity and the shadows disappeared. The robed people now lay on the ground, twitching uncontrollably.
"My apologies," the River Person said, their hand and their sleeve disappearing back into their robes. "I thought it appropriate for me to inflict upon them tenfold what they had tried to do to you."
"They're still human!" Frisk replied. "You tortured them."
The River Person shook their head. "My apologies."
"But...I have to thank you," Frisk said, sighing. "You saved my life."
"As I was tasked to do. I apologize, also, for coming so late."
"It's okay."
"Then, shall we leave?"
Frisk nodded.
They walked out the door, and Frisk realized immediately where they were. They were standing at the entrance of that mysterious shop at the end of the alley beside the train station. The shop with the disturbing sign above the door, right above their heads.
They turned around, taking another look at the robed people who were still lying on the floor inside.
"They'll live," the River Person said. "Shadow magic inflicts suffering, but rarely kills."
"I...see."
"Shall I walk you home?"
"Yes, thank you."
It was a long, cold walk back. Frisk spoke little along the way. They trusted the River Person, but, at the same time, they didn't know who they were. All they knew was that they had a bony hand, and they had powerful shadow magic, and they also liked riding in their little boat...
"Oh. I have also bought your bird feed for you," the River Person said. A sleeve appeared out of their robes, and a bony hand was holding a package of bird food.
"Ummm...thank you," Frisk said. They tried to muster up a smile. "How did you know?"
"I...I am sorry, but, having been tasked with watching over you, I often know of what you need when you go out," they said.
"Oh...umm, okay."
"I do apologize indeed."
"No, it's fine," Frisk said. "You...really did save my life back there."
"Then I shall take my leave."
Frisk nodded. "Well...take care of yourself."
"And the same for you. Farewell."
Frisk turned around as the River Person left. They walked up the stairs and down the balcony walkway until they were standing in front of their apartment door.
They unlocked the door with their keys and pushed it open.
"Frisk!" Chara yelled, dashing towards them. "Frisk, you were gone for so long! I was so worried! What happened to you?"
Frisk opened their mouth, but found themselves unsure of what to say. They froze before they could say a word.
"Frisk? Are you okay?"
Frisk stepped forward. They felt themselves losing their balance, and when they took their next step, they collapsed against Chara's shoulder.
"FRISK!" Chara exclaimed. "What happened?!"
They still didn't have the right words to say. They placed their arms around Chara, embracing them tightly.
"Frisk...I'm so sorry," Chara was already saying. "I should've come with you. I should've..."
Frisk closed their eyes. Chara was here. Chara was finally with them again. They never wanted to let go.
"Frisk..."
They never wanted to let go.