Frisk slowly sat up, their side burning as they did. While their experience with gunshot wounds was limited, the fact it was taking so long for them to get better was concerning. They weren't sure why it was taking so long for them to heal. Every time they stepped with their right foot, it sent a shot of pain up their side.

Frisk didn't want to leave the comfort of the covers. They felt really cold. But they had to get up. Carefully, they stood up, their side throbbing as they did. They grabbed their cloak and wrapped themself up in it, hoping it would help them warm up. They went to the kitchen and saw a tray of cupcakes on the counter. They picked one up and felt that it was cold. How late was it? Did they sleep in? They had been getting up later than normal.

They took a bite out of it. They could tell from the taste that Toriel made these. Where was she? Maybe she was out shopping.

"heya."

Frisk slightly jumped as Sans showed up behind them. How long had he been there?

"how ya feelin', kid?" the skeleton asked.

"Hungry," Frisk answered, taking another bite of the cupcake. Merely standing was taking most of their energy and they could feel their legs wobbling.

Sans looked at Frisk, concerned. "well, i think i know a place where we can chow down for a while," he suggested. "my break just started, so i'm going to grillby's. wanna come?"

"I'm not sure," Frisk admitted. "Papyrus said it's a greasy trap and unhealthy."

"that's what makes it so good," Sans defended. "you'll love the food there, i guarantee it. c'mon, i'll even pay."

"Well, I guess," Frisk conceded, putting the empty wrapper on the counter. They started heading for the door, but their wound flared up, making them stop and pant as they clutched their side.

Sans patted Frisk on their left shoulder. "how about we forget the walk? i know a shortcut." Before they could answer, they were inside Grillby's.

"How did…?" Frisk muttered.

"don' worry about it," Sans deflected. Then he turned to the rest of the patrons. "heya, everyone." Everyone returned his greetings. Frisk got a good look at all the Monsters around. There was a big toothy Monster, a rabbit with spirals for eyes, a horse in a track jacket, a humanoid bird, a humanoid fish, and several dogs. Frisk had seen those dogs around and Papyrus had said they were the Snowdin Canine Unit, a part of the Royal Guard.

"Sans, weren't you in here for breakfast a few minutes ago?" the fish asked.

"nah. i haven't had breakfast in at least half an hour. you must be thinking of brunch." Everyone laughed at that. "here, kid. get comfy." He led them over to the stools. Frisk sat on one and a loud fart noise went off. "whoops. watch where you sit down. sometimes weirdos put whoopee cushions on the seats." He said that with a very cheeky grin and as Frisk had fallen for one in his hand the other day, they were pretty sure he was responsible. A fire elemental dressed in a tuxedo was standing behind the counter, polishing a glass. "anyways kid, whadaya want?"

Frisk looked over the menu, squinting more than normal to read it. "Um… I guess a burger will do."

"cool." Sans faced the fire elemental. "grillbz, we'll have a double order of burg." The Monster nodded before walking to the back to get their order. "anyways, kid, how are ya enjoyin' snowdin so far?"

"Aside from the cold, it's pretty good," Frisk answered. "There's so much here and all sorts of new faces. It's better than the Ruins."

"yeah. it is pretty good. just remember to not go too far east. waterfall ain't exactly the safest place for ya."

"I'll remember."

"how's the injury doin'?"

"Still hurts," Frisk answered. "At this point, I'm not sure if it will ever go away. But don't worry. I'll find a way to live with it. Your brother does a good job helping me forget about it and he's always ready to help me out with his magic."

"yeah. papyrus really cares about ya. its one of the reasons why i'm helping ya so much." Sans pulled a comb out of his pocket and started running it along the back of his skull. Frisk was pretty sure he was trying to comb nonexistent hair. "so, about him, my brother's cool, right?"

"Super cool!" Frisk said excitedly. "His enthusiasm for puzzles is incredible."

"yeah. he loves them. though he always tries to find challenge in the most interesting places. 'bout a month ago, he got stumped trying to solve the horoscope."

Frisk raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Grillby came back then, a burger on a plate in each hand.

"here comes the grub," Sans announced. Grillby put the orders down in front of his customers, then resumed polishing. Sans held out a ketchup bottle to Frisk. "bone appetit." Frisk took the bottle and turned it over to squirt out some ketchup but the lid fell off and the contents of the bottle spilled out on Frisk's burger. "whoops. eh, forgeaboutit. you can have mine." He shoved his burger over to Frisk.

Frisk started munching on the food. The blend of textures and tastes was amazing to them and they ate it with so much enthusiasm that it caused Sans to giggle a bit.

"anyway, cool or not, you have to agree papyrus tries real hard. like how he keeps trying to be part of the royal guard. one day, he went to the house of the head of the royal guard and begged her to let him be in it. of course, she shut the door on him because it was midnight. but the next day, she woke up and saw him still waiting there. seeing his dedication, she decided to give him warrior training. it's still a work in progress."

"I think I see why," Frisk said between bites. "When I was making one of the fails for our puzzles, I tried to make this spiky pit, but Papyrus kept going 'no! That's too dangerous! Humans are very fragile!' So I just made it a regular pit. In fact, every time I make one of my puzzles too dangerous, he insists I tone it down. Your brother is cool and all, but… he's just too soft." Frisk waved a hand. "Not that that's bad! But… it's probably too dangerous for him to join the Royal Guard if I've heard what their function is. If he got sent into battle, he'd get torn into shreds."

"yeah," Sans agreed. "but still, he tries. in fact, it's his dream to be in the guard."

"Is that why he wears that outfit every day?"

"yeah. we made it for a costume party a while back. he hasn't taken it off since. oh well, at least he washes it. and by that, i mean he wears it in the shower."

Frisk let out a loud laugh at that which was cut short as their side gave a painful spasm.

"you okay?" Sans asked when Frisk suddenly stopped laughing.

"Yeah," Frisk groaned, clutching their side. "Maybe let's not try to make me laugh. Let's talk about something else." After recovering from that, they picked up their burger and resumed eating it.

"okay. i've got a question for ya." He faced Frisk and the lights in his eyes were gone. "have you ever heard of a talking flower?"

Frisk froze when they heard that. Their mind flashed back to when they first fell into the Underground. The first person they met was a flower who had tricked them into running into its bullets, then tried to kill them.

"Yeah. In fact, I met one when I first got here," Frisk answered. "Why?"

"well, papyrus told me something interesting a while back. sometimes, when no one else is around, a flower will appear and say things to him. flattery, advice, encouragement. predictions. at first, i thought someone was using an echo flower to play a trick on him. but judging by the look on your face, you've seen it, too."

"I haven't just seen it. It attacked me," Frisk admitted. "It tricked me into running into its attack. I would have died had it not been for mom. She scared it off and healed me. Weirdly, though, I haven't seen or heard about that flower since."

"interesting," Sans muttered. "i'll have to look into it." He glanced at Frisk, seeing them finish up the burger and only now he noticed how pale they looked. "you okay, kid?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"well, you seem kinda pale." He placed a hand on their forehead and realized they were sweating. He could also feel that they were burning. "you hot?"

"No. I'm cold," Frisk shivered, wrapping their cloak around them tighter. "It feels like it's freezing in here."

Sans looked around. Everyone was lightly dressed. Sans couldn't feel any difference in temperature, but he could tell it was warm in here. In fact, Grillby was only a few feet away. Now Sans was worried. Frisk should be burning up, not freezing. He didn't know a lot about humans, but he knew enough to know that that was a warning sign. "maybe we should get you home, kid," he suggested. "you look like you could use a rest."

"Yeah. That sounds like a good idea," Frisk agreed. They spun around on the stool, Sans doing the same, hopping off. Frisk followed, but the moment their foot hit the floor, a sharp, stabbing pain, greater than any before, flared up in Frisk's side. It was so much, Frisk collapsed. Their face hit the floorboards and they felt themself scream but they couldn't hear it. Instead, there was a loud ringing in their ears.

Two hands shook them as they writhed in pain. Frisk could hear a voice but it was muffled to the point they couldn't understand it. After a moment, they felt themself flipped over and Sans was shaking them. They could hear his voice but as his mouth didn't move as he spoke, they couldn't make out what he was saying.

Frisk could see at the edges of their blurry vision several other Monsters around them. Their voices were all overlapping. Frisk still couldn't make out any words. They felt like they were still moaning but their own voice was silenced.

"frisk? frisk!" After a while, Frisk could hear Sans' voice, but it was still largely muffled. "frisk, can you hear me?"

"Yes," Frisk groaned out, their own voice much clearer now. Their side was throbbing, the pain intense. Something was definitely wrong. It felt like they had just been stabbed in the stomach.

"what's wrong?" Sans asked, his voice still muted.

"I dunno," Frisk slurred. "It feels like someone's stabbing me."

"is it where you got shot?"

"Feels like it." What was wrong? Did Toriel not heal them right? But she had used her magic to heal their wound after she got the bullet…

A disturbing possibility came to mind. The Monster's general ignorance of guns and how they worked was the reason why Frisk had to instruct Toriel to take the bullet out before healing them. Though she claimed she got it, there was a very real possibility that she hadn't gotten it all out and they hadn't been in any state to examine what she got to make sure she had gotten the entire bullet and not just a piece of it.

"Bullet?" they got out.

"what about it?" Sans asked, his voice a little clearer, the ringing going down.

"Still… in me…"

"but… she said she got it out," Sans fretted.

"Fragment… left behind…" they grunted. "Causing… pain…"

"a piece is still in you?" Sans questioned. "and that piece is what's causing your problems?"

Frisk nodded, gripping Sans' sleeve. "Need to… get it out… before… sickness…"

"i can't do that! especially if tori sealed the wound," Sans fretted. He thought it over, trying to come up with a way to help them. Eventually, he settled on a solution. It wasn't a great idea but if it saved Frisk's life, he had to take it. He picked Frisk up in his arms. "alright, don't panic. i'm going to take you to the only person who can help you. she knows more about humans than anyone down here."

"Not… safe… outside…"

"i know, i know. but i think you'd agree with me that we have to make an exception. if anyone can help you, it's alphys."

Frisk sighed. "Alright… let's go."

In a flash, Sans shortcut to Hotland, right outside the Lab. If Frisk had not been in so much pain, they would have taken the time to marvel at the change in scenery, especially at the white building they were just outside and how large it was.

Sans didn't even bother knocking just walked through the power doors and into the lab proper. Frisk took only a moment to look around at the white walls having never seen anything this clean. The skeleton walked through the hallways and found the scientist at her desk, evidently hard at work on something.

"alphys!" he shouted, getting her attention, making her jump slightly.

"Sans! What are you doing here?" Her eyes looked at Frisk. "And why did you bring the human here?"

Sans only noted the way she said that for a moment, before filing it under the 'not important right now' cabinet. "they're hurt. real bad."

"Oh! Uh, this way." Alphys gestured for him to follow. "So, what happened?"

"we were just chowing at grillby's when i noticed how pale they looked. when we got up to leave, they took one step with their bad foot and collapsed. they think a piece of that projectile i gave you yesterday might still be in them."

"So… why did you come to me?" Alphys asked.

"you know more about humans than anyone else down here. plus, you've got all this equipment. you're the kid's best chance."

"Well, okay. If the fragment is metal, I could do an x-ray to find it. But… to get it out, I'll have to give them surgery and I don't know if they have the strength for that."

"whaddaya mean?"

"If that piece of metal has been in them for this long, there's a good chance of infection," Alphys explained. "If it's too advanced it won't be safe to operate on them as there's a good chance I could make it worse and they could die from blood loss."

"do what you can," Sans said.

Alphys led him to a spare room with a gurney in it. He laid Frisk down, taking the cloak off and hanging it on the side. Alphys got a scanner out and started looking them over, switching to an x-ray to look for the fragment.

"how long will this take?" Sans asked.

"It could be a while," she admitted. "You'd better inform the former queen and your brother what's going on."

Sans would have asked how she knew that but dismissed it for now. She was right. Papyrus and Toriel needed to know. He left the room, taking his phone out of his pocket and calling Papyrus. He didn't have Toriel's number, so he had to have Papyrus inform her.


Toriel returned to the brother's house after her shopping trip. She had to do it more often as she was now making food for four people, instead of just two. She pulled her hood down and noticed Papyrus sitting on the couch.

"Greetings, Papyrus," she said. "How is everything?"

"NOT GOOD," he said and it was only now Toriel noticed that he seemed sad.

"What is wrong?" she asked, fear gripping her heart.

"YOU MAY WANT TO SIT DOWN," Papyrus suggested.

Toriel sat next to him on the couch.

"SANS CALLED WITH… NOT SO HAPPY NEWS," he began. "IT SEEMS THAT FRISK'S CONDITION IS… NOT GOOD."

"W-what do you mean?" she asked.

"IT SEEMS THAT WHEN HEALING THEM, A PIECE OF METAL WAS LEFT BEHIND. WHEN THEY WERE TALKING WITH SANS, THEY SUDDENLY COLLAPSED. HE TOOK THEM TO ALPHYS AND SHE'S EXAMINING THEM RIGHT NOW. BUT… SHE FEARS THAT THEY MAY HAVE AN INFECTION AND IF THEY DO, HEALING THEM WILL BE VERY PROBLEMATIC."

"But… but I got the metal out!" Toriel insisted.

"YOU GOT PART OF IT OUT," Papyrus emphasized. "THEY THINK IT MIGHT HAVE BROKEN INSIDE THEM AND PART OF IT WAS STILL THERE WHEN YOU HEALED THEM."

Toriel covered her mouth with her hands, fighting back tears. "You said there might be an infection?" she asked, the tall skeleton nodding. "If that's true, they could die."

Papyrus tried to think of something to reassure her but nothing he said would be true. Instead, he laid his hand on her shoulder to reassure her. When he touched her, the tears broke and she started crying.

They sat like that for a minute when Papyrus' phone rang. He glanced at it, and saw it was Undyne. He almost got up to answer it but he could see Toriel needed him right now, so he chose to let it go to voicemail.

After a minute, the phone rang again, once more from Undyne. "Perhaps you should get that, dear," Toriel suggested. "I can see it is your boss."

Papyrus shook his head. "YOU NEED ME MORE RIGHT NOW. BESIDES, IF WHATEVER IT IS IS TRULY IMPORTANT, SHE CAN COME HERE AND TALK TO ME."

Just then, the door went flying across the room, an armored foot kicking it open. Then, a fully armored warrior leapt in, spear in hand. "Nyagh! Papyrus! Where are you?"

"UNDYNE!" Papyrus shouted, standing up from the couch. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT? WHAT DID THAT DOOR EVER DO TO YOU?"

"Papyrus!" the armored figured turned its helm to him and Toriel could hear from the voice it was definitely Papyrus' boss. "What are you doing?! I just got a call from Doggo saying that a human was spotted here. I thought when you didn't answer that you might be… uh…" She stopped talking as the helm faced the other occupant in the room. "Uh… Papyrus… where did…"

"I DIDN'T ANSWER UNDYNE BECAUSE LADY TORIEL HERE NEEDS ME MORE," Papyrus explained. "OH, BY THE WAY, UNDYNE, MEET ONE OF MY NEW HOUSEGUESTS, TORIEL. TORIEL, THIS IS MY BOSS, UNDYNE!"

"I gathered that, Papyrus," Toriel said. "Greetings, Undyne. Papyrus and Sans have told me about you."

"Really? Well, neither one told me about you." Undyne took her helmet off, revealing blue scales and fins for ears and one eye was covered by an eyepatch. "Papyrus, why didn't you tell me she was living with you?"

"UM, WELL, YOU NEVER ASKED?" Papyrus said. "AND SHE DID REQUEST THAT I NOT TELL YOU UNDYNE."

Undyne groaned. "Do you not know who she is?" Undyne questioned. "And what do you mean she needs you more?"

"UH…. WELL…" Papyrus wasn't sure what to say to Undyne. He couldn't very well tell her that they were waiting to hear about the condition of a human kid. But… "WELL, HER CHILD HAS BEEN SEVERLY INJURED. MY BROTHER HAS TAKEN THEM TO DOCTOR ALPHYS TO SEE WHAT'S WRONG. WE'RE WAITING FOR HIM TO CALL AND TELL US WHAT SHE HAS FOUND OUT."

"Her child?" Undyne asked, confused.

"Frisk is my adopted child," Toriel explained. "I… I have cared for them for over a month now."

Undyne nodded in understanding. "You said they got hurt? By who? Was it that human?"

"WHAT? WHAT HUMAN?" Papyrus asked.

"Doggo called me and said that he saw a human near your brother. Did that punk hurt her kid?"

Papyrus was nervously sweating.

"A human is responsible for Frisk's injuries," Toriel explained for him.

"Where are they now?" Undyne asked, spear in hand. "Doggo didn't give any details."

Before anyone could answer, Papyrus phone started barking. Papyrus picked it up and the caller ID was Sans. "SANS! WHEN DID YOU CHANGE MY RINGTONE?!" Knowing he wasn't going to get an answer, he swiped the green button, answering it. "HELLO, BROTHER! SO, DO WE HAVE ANY NEWS?"

"yeah. we do," Sans said. Papyrus noted the lack of energy in his voice. "is tori there?"

"YES, SHE IS, AS IS UNDYNE," Papyrus answered. "I'LL PUT YOU ON SPEAKER." Pressing a different button, he turned on the phone's speaker.

"you there, tori?" Sans asked.

"Yes, Sans. Please, tell me about my child," she asked.

"I'll chastise you over what happened earlier later, Sans," Undyne said. "I told you, call me if any humans came out of the Ruins. But that can wait."

"right. well, alphys did a scan and there is in fact a piece of metal still in them," Sans informed. "probably been there the whole week."

Toriel tried to suppress the nausea. No wonder Frisk hadn't been recovering.

"anyways, alphys thinks she can get it out, but it's really deep. and… it gets worse."

"JUST TELL US, SANS," Papyrus urged. "WHATEVER IT IS, JUST GET IT OUT."

A sigh came through the speaker. "it seems the fragment's pierced their large intestine. it's caused a large infection. and… alphys doesn't have the antibiotics to help them fight it off. it's spread far already."

Toriel clutched her chest, tears running down her cheeks. Papyrus came over and hugged her.

"alphys said that they might not have long," Sans continued. "you'd better get over here, tori."

"I… I…" Toriel tried to say but couldn't.

"bro, can you take me off speaker?" Papyrus did as asked, putting the phone next to where his ear would be. "alph said the kid might only have a few hours. you need to get tori here before it's too late."

"I UNDERSTAND. I WILL DO MY BEST."

"good. before you hang up, does undyne know that frisk is…"

"NO," Papyrus said simply, hoping the fish in question didn't get suspicious.

"well, try not to say anything," Sans recommended. "kid needs time with their mom, not with her."

"I SHALL BE BRINGING TORIEL OVER AS QUICKLY AS I CAN," Papyrus said, answering Sans. He ended the call then and turned to see Undyne doing her best to comfort the crying goat woman. "LADY TORIEL. WE NEED TO GO. FRISK NEEDS YOU."

"I know. But… I am not sure I can. I… I do not want to see my child die. I do not think I can take it."

"Hey, lady," Undyne said gently. "I might not know what's going on, but you need to be there for the kid. They're expecting you to be by their side as they die. You need to go."

"I know," Toriel wept. "I… I am not sure if I have the strength, though."

Papyrus came over and gently helped her stand up. "WHY DON'T WE START WITH JUST LEAVING THE HOUSE AND GO FROM THERE?"

Toriel nodded. "Yes. Yes, that will work."


Sans finished the call, putting his phone away. Alphys came out of Frisk's room at that moment, her face down.

"is there really nothing you can do?" Sans asked. The small shake of her head was all the answer he needed. "well, while we're waiting for the kid's mom to get here, i have to ask; how did you know?"

"How did I know what?" Alphys asked.

"well, you weren't too surprised by frisk's appearance. and you knew their mom was the former queen. how'd you know?"

Alphys lead Sans to the main part of her lab, where a large monitor was set up. With the press of a button, it switched to a view of the doors in Snowdin. "I have cameras all over the Underground. It wasn't hard to guess."

"ah. guess my measures to make sure you were unaware of them weren't needed, then," Sans guessed.

Alphys nodded before grabbing her phone off her desk. She dialed a number and Sans saw it was the king's.

"what are you doing?"

"Informing Asgore. The seventh Soul is about to be ours. I had kept the human a secret from him until now. But now there's no point."

Sans sighed, agreeing with her.

The phone rang a few times before he answered. "Howdy, doctor! How can I help you?" he asked.

"I've got news," she said. "Um… you heard how several humans were discovered in the Ruins a week ago?"

"Yes. It was all over the news," Asgore answered.

"Well, up until now, I had kept hidden that one, a child, did leave the Ruins. They've been living in Snowdin this whole time. But… they've been hurt really badly and there's nothing I can do to heal them."

"Oh." The other end was silent for a moment. "What… what happened?"

"It seems like they were attacked by their own kind with a weapon we haven't seen from them before," Alphys explained. "The injury from the weapon was healed, but a piece of it was left inside and now an infection has spread too far into their body and I can't cure it. In a matter of hours they will be dead."

Asgore was silent yet again. Alphys wondered what was going through his mind. "Doctor, you said that this human has been living in Snowdin for a week. Have they made no move to leave?"

"No?" Alphys answered, confused.

"Hmm. I shall be there in short order. Can you ensure the human remains lucid enough to answer questions?" Asgore requested.

"Y-yeah, I can," she answered.

"Good. I shall see you soon."


Step by step, Papyrus and Undyne got Toriel to Hotland. She had been hesitant the whole trip, but they were able to get her to Alphys' lab. They were standing just outside the doors. Papyrus could see Toriel quivering.

"WELL, HERE WE ARE!" Papyrus informed. "SO, ARE YOU READY TO GO IN?"

"No," she said quietly. "But I could stand here for another hundred years and would still never be ready." She took a slow intake of air, then let it out just as slowly. "I have come this far. I might as well go all the way." She walked forward, the doors sliding open. She glanced around at the lab. She hadn't been here since her self-imposed exile. Papyrus and Undyne followed her in.

They reached the main area of the lab, where Alphys was working on something on her desk and Sans was leaning on the wall.

"i was starting to get worried you wouldn't come," Sans said.

"I almost did not," she admitted. "I… I do not want to go through this pain again."

"i know. but the kid needs you."

Toriel turned to the yellow lizard in the lab coat. "Where is my child?"

Alphys gestured to one of the rooms and Toriel rushed there.

Undyne walked up to Alphys, who shyly hid her face. "So… how is the kid?" she asked.

"Deteriorating," was the succinct answer. "There's nothing I can do to stop it."

"Well… you're doing your best. That's what counts!" Undyne gave her a thumbs up as encouragement.

"Thanks, but it feels like I could be doing more."

The doors opened once again and in walked Asgore. "Doctor, I came as fast as I could."

"Your Majesty!" Undyne shouted in surprise, saluting him. "What are you doing here?"

"I came for the human," he answered. "I need to talk to them."

"Why do you think they're here?" Undyne asked.

"Do you not know, Undyne?" Alphys asked.

Undyne's single eye narrowed, then widened in realization. "THE KID'S THE HUMAN?" She rounded on the skeletons "Why did neither of you tell me that?!"

"ya never asked," Sans said nonchalantly.

"What's your excuse?" she demanded of Papyrus. "I told you to call me if any humans fled the Ruins."

"BUT THEY DIDN'T! THEY EVACTUATED WITH THE REST OF THE MONSTERS. YOU ONLY ASKED IF ANY HUMANS HAD LEFT SINCE THE EVACTUATION AND FRISK DEPARTED WITH THE OTHERS!"

"That doesn't… urgh. Papyrus, they're our enemy!"

"BUT FRISK WAS INJRED AND WEAK! THEY AREN'T A THREAT TO ANYONE! AND! LADY TORIEL'S GAZE CAN BE A BIT… SCARY."

"That doesn't matter, Papyrus. You're supposed to-"

"Wait," interrupted Asgore. "Toriel? My wife?"

"surprise. your wife adopted the kid and has been caring for them for weeks now," Sans told.

"Why didn't any of you tell me?" Asgore asked.

"WELL, SHE DIDN'T WANT US TO TELL ANYONE ABOUT HER," Papyrus explained. "SHE SEEMED TO BE… SURPRISINGLY ADAMANT THAT HER IDENTITY BE KEPT SECRET."

"i woulda told ya, but she made me promise not to," Sans added. "she's with the kid right now, comforting them. they don't have long, so she's probably going to stay by their side."

Asgore was astonished. He so desperately wanted to talk to Toriel, but he had other matters to attend to. "I need to speak to the human first." He took one step toward Frisk's room when Sans stopped him.

"hold on there," Sans warned. "tori's been teaching the kid since they first came here and from what i've gathered, she's told them that the king is a bad man. paps and i have been trying our best to fix that, but i wouldn't be so sure we succeeded. they see you, they might clam up."

Asgore took a moment to ponder on that. "I need to speak to them. I have questions that only they can answer."

"i understand that but i don't know what they think of the king of monsters," Sans warned.

Asgore considered that. He needed to speak to the human and get answers from them but they might be scared if he walked in dressed the way he was. He took his crown off and saw the solution. He placed it on Alphys' desk.

"a step in the right direction but not enough," Sans observed.

Asgore knew a way to solve that. "Undyne, catch."

Almost before she could react, the captain of the guard was assaulted with pieces of armor and the king's cape. She was able to catch them all, though the cape covered almost her entire person. "Please tell me the king's not naked."

"Relax, Undyne. I'm in my casuals," Asgore said, straightening his floral pink shirt. "How do I look?"

Sans gave a thumbs-down. "not at all like a king of monsters. kid'll just assume you're another member of tori's species."

"That will suffice," Asgore decided. He continued on to Frisk's room. He gingerly pushed the door open, not wanting to disturb the occupants. He could hear Toriel's sobs from outside the room. He quietly entered, taking in the sight of his ex-wife.

She hadn't aged a day though he could see quite plainly that he had caught her on a bad day. She was holding the hand and cradling the head of a human child, crying into their hair. He could see them crying as well, which told him they already knew what was happening to them. The child looked very pale, a sign of how unhealthy they were.

"I'm glad you're here," they whispered to her. "It's nice that you're… here with me… at the end."

"It should not have to be goodbye yet," she said softly. "I do not want to do this. I do not want to lose you. I… I cannot lose another child."

"I'm sorry," they said in their quiet voice.

Asgore padded closer, his footsteps quiet despite his large frame. As he did, Frisk was the first to notice him.

"Who… who are you?" they asked. Toriel turned to face the newcomer but froze when she laid eyes on him.

"Howdy," he greeted pleasantly. "I am a friend of the king."

"The… king?" they asked.

"Yes. You have caused quite a commotion, small one. I have been sent on his behalf to ask you some questions."

"Why?" Frisk asked.

"The king is worried. Several humans are on his doorstep and you might be the only one who knows anything about them. You have answers he needs. The king's priority is his people and he needs to know about these newcomers to protect them."

Frisk thought on it for a moment before speaking. "Alright."

"My child, I am not sure this is wise," Toriel advised.

"I'm already dead. What could be worse?" They faced Asgore, unaware of who he truly was. "But before I say anything, you need to tell the king he can't use my Soul."

"Why?" he asked.

"I know why he needs it. He needs it to break the Barrier that keeps us all down here. But, please, he cannot do that."

"I will try my best, but he will need to know why," Asgore assured. "Why can he not break the Barrier?"

"It is safer down here than up there," Frisk answered. Toriel looked down at them in puzzlement.

"Why is it safer down here?" Asgore asked. "Is it why you do not try to return to the surface?"

Frisk sighed sadly. "You really don't know, do you? None of you do."

"Know what, my child?" Toriel asked.

"Why do you not try to return home?" Asgore asked. He was starting to fear whatever the answer would be.

Frisk faced both Monsters. They had kept this to themself for too long. They had to know. "Because… there's no home for me to go to. The surface world… is gone."

End of Chapter 5