PATCHWORK SOUL - NEW MEDIUM

by Spark the Barkivist

DIRECT SEQUEL TO "PATCHWORK SOUL" — A few months later. A family of monsters and their little human kid try to start life anew beyond the confines of a giant mountain. Maybe they find something. Maybe they lose something. Time flows ever onwards, but sometimes it goes sideways, and it's heavier than they thought.

110. SAVED!

SAVED! Chapter 110

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Before Frisk and Suzy headed out, the little crocodaur called into her house to say she was leaving for a while. Her sister, Fey, was taken aback by the sight of the little human at the door. After a quick explanation of where they were going and why, Fey was happy to let them go on their way. Frisk was surprised that the teenager seemed a little starstruck. She also felt as if she recognized her from somewhere. Maybe she'd seen her up top at some point. Maybe she'd had a car? That felt sort of familiar.

.

As they headed for Asgore's place, Suzy still seemed baffled. It was like she was in a daze; seeing some of the streets for the first time. She probably was, now that Frisk thought of it.

.

When they arrived, the big King greeted them with a beaming smile. Suzy was so shocked that he remembered her that she almost fell over.

.

"I'm so glad to see you're alright, little one," Asgore said as he sat the two kids at his dinner table and poured them some tea. "I hope you were not too alarmed by what happened at the end there."

Suzy shook her head. "That part was fine. It was after that was weird."

"Oh?"

"You know. For it to be so… boring again," Suzy said. "Almost thought, like… Well, how could it have been real? Everything was so… I dunno, normal? But I could still make the instrument Miss Toriel made me when I tried, so—"

"Mom made you an instrument?" Frisk asked excitedly. "Can I see?"

"Uh? Sure." Suzy put a hand to her chest and a glow concentrated from there and into her fist. She dragged a muddled light from her soul and thunked her axe-like guitar onto the table.

The teacups and saucers clattered lightly. Frisk stood up on her seat and leaned over, smacking both hands onto the table.

"That's so cool!" she said. She reached down the front of her shirt and pulled out her fang-shaped ocarina. "My grandma made me this one!"

"Oh. Dude." Suzy's eyes widened. "Get one more guy and we could make a crappy band."

Frisk snickered as she flopped back into the chair.

"I'm sure it would be a lovely band," Asgore said. "Oh! Hang on a moment, I think I still have some cookies in the kitchen, I'll be right back."

"Thanks, Asgore!" Frisk called as he slipped out.

.

Suzy's eyes darted around the room and she settled heavily in her seat as a faint frown weighed on her face. She let the instrument dissolve into dark embers and then, cautiously, rested her hand against her chest. "Uh. So. Your dad tell you 'bout me?"

Frisk smiled. She wasn't about to explain the whole memory-share-by-becoming-a-bone-dragon thing and the amount that she'd seen, but she nodded anyway. "I know a whole lot about you."

"Do you, like…? Remember my soul stuff or whatever?"

"Yeah."

"What d'you think? Does it, like…? Should I be trying to fix it, or askin' your dad to, or…?"

"I dunno, really," Frisk said. "But it kinda gives you a type of time magic, right?"

"Guess so," Suzy said with a thoughtful frown. "Or, like… void magic? Is that the same?"

"I think some of it's kinda the same." The kid drummed her fingers against the tabletop. "Hm. I mean, like… if you don't want it, I'm sure we can try to find a way to get the void outta there. Or something?" She perked up. "But, if you want, we can try to learn the weird magic stuff together. Az— My brother, Asriel, he's gotta learn all kinds of weird new things. And, like… Heck, I just started doing magic like three months ago, I got a ton to figure out, too."

.

Suzy couldn't help but look taken aback. Before she could say anything, Frisk pulled her phone out of her pocket.

"Let's trade numbers, okay?" she said. "So we don't lose each other again."

"…Wh…? O-Okay." Suzy cautiously took Frisk's phone and typed her own number in. "My phone is kinda old, though. Doesn't work that good."

"That's okay. Alphys can get you a newer one." Frisk tilted her head. "Oh! You didn't have everyone's numbers after the reset, right? I'm sorry."

"Yeah."

"If it ever happens again, you can call Undyne or Asgore, okay? They can help for sure."

Suzy's cheeks flushed and she passed the phone back to Frisk. "Didn't know if they'd remember, since everything was so weird."

"Oh! Yeah! Don't worry 'bout that." Frisk grinned proudly. "Sans always does. Even if there's something really, really weird, Sans's got it. And if he doesn't pick up, Undyne'll get you to him."

.

Suzy's yellow eyes gleamed. She took a big swig of tea and then rested her cheek on her fist. "That's funny," the monster mused. "Half-expected you to be different in person."

"Oh yeah?" Frisk couldn't help but look a little puzzled.

Suzy nodded. "More smug. You could probably be way more smug and nobody would think it was weird."

The kid snickered. "I dunno. I'm just however I am, I guess."

"That's probably good." Suzy gave a little shrug. "I'm not super sure how I am, yet."

"Well, you're really brave," Frisk said swiftly. "And you're smart, too."

"…Uh. Y'think so?" Suzy's cheeks flushed a shade darker.

Frisk nodded hurriedly. "Yeah, of course! The way you pulled me through when I couldn't even remember who I was, and… a-and everything Sans told me about you." She smiled brightly. "You did a really good job! 'Specially 'cause you didn't know what was going on."

The crocodaur let out a little laugh. "Yeah, I had no clue. I'm, um…" She smiled sheepishly. "I'm glad your, um, family didn't mind havin' me around and stuff."

"Of course they didn't." Frisk smiled sympathetically. "I… I think having you around when Az and I weren't here was super helpful to them, too. So, I'm really glad you stayed."

"O-Oh." Suzy looked at the table sheepishly, but a little grin began to spread across her face.

.

"I found some!" Asgore returned proudly with a large plate covered in slightly-too-dark sugar cookies and slid them onto the table as he took his seat again. "Are you two excited to go out so far from the mountain?"

Suzy's cheeks flushed a little and she shrugged, cautiously grabbing for a cookie, but Frisk grinned.

"Yeah! It's gonna be nice, I think," she said. "Oh! I wonder if I should have invited Kid, actually. Do you think I could?"

"Next time, perhaps," Asgore said. "Just in case something goes a little askew with the rescue. We wouldn't want his parents to worry, hm?"

"Oh. Right. Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Frisk said, albeit a little reluctantly. It'd probably take half the day just to convince Kid's parents to even let him get on the bus, she thought. "Yeah, next time."

"Who's Kid?" Suzy asked.

"Oh! Um, you met Flora, right? Her little brother. He's my friend. He doesn't remember time stuff but he knows about it." Frisk smiled sideways. "It can all get kinda weird sometimes. I'm pretty glad there's not really anything else we have to redo except this thing with the bald guy's kid."

"Is it not something you'd get a little used to?" Asgore asked curiously.

"Well… Sometimes," Frisk said. "Like, now it's kinda good because we get to do it better this time, but like… I guess it's the peoples' feelings and stuff is what I sometimes worry about. It's kinda hard to explain."

"I think I understand," Asgore said with a nod. His ears perked up a little and he looked off towards the front hall and smiled. "Someone's here."

.

Just as he said, the door opened in a crash and Undyne strode in, grinning.

"Eeeyyy, you found her!" She mussed up the little purple kid's hair roughly. "Hey, Suz!"

"Aah! Uh! H-Hi!" Suzy said shrilly.

"Suuuuzy!" Alphys was right behind her. "Ah, I-I'm glad to see you! Also, g-good morning, Frisk!"

"Hiiii!" Frisk said.

Alphys hurried over to the kid and grabbed her hands. "I-I heard I m-missed the dragon again!"

Frisk snickered. "We can do it more often, now!"

"Paps!" Undyne called out the doorway. "Frisk got Suzy!"

.

The nyeh that followed was long and prolonged and Papyrus burst into the room past Undyne with a big, sunshiny grin on his face. He whipped off the sunglasses he was wearing so hard that they flew off and would have smashed against the wall if Frisk hadn't reflexively frozen them right before contact.

"SUZY!"

Suzy hardly got a word out before she was yanked off her chair by the skeleton and pulled into a tight hug. He spun around and hefted her up into the air before letting her drop down against his shoulder again.

"There's my favourite purple assistant!" he said.

"H…" Her throat hitched. "H-Hi, Papyrus."

"Hi yourself!" He held her back a little to look her in the face. "Gosh, it's good to see you, I'm glad you're alright!"

"Y-Yeah. Yeah, 'm fine," she said swiftly.

"And you're coming with us! You are coming with us, right?"

"Yeah?"

"GOOD!"

.

Frisk couldn't help but snicker. She got up on Asgore's armchair near the fireplace to fetch the time-locked sunglasses and returned them to her brother as he put Suzy down on her seat again.

"Ah! Thank you, little sister!" He put them back on and stood proudly. "Cool, right?"

"So cool," she agreed.

.

"Hellllooooooo, darlings!" Striking a pose and accompanied by a smattering of magical stars, Mettaton leapt into the room. Though he'd detached his pointed shoulder pads, he was still decked out in an eye-catching outfit. He wore a half-jacket in pink pleather with rhinestones on the shoulders and sleeves over his normal form, tight black pants, and matching, pink, star-shaped sunglasses. "I'm here for the adventure!"

"Hellllloooo, Mettaton!" Papyrus said.

"Ooh, Papyrus, you're looking flashy today!" Mettaton said.

"Eavesdropping again, huh?" Undyne teased.

"Only a teeny tiny bit! And what do you mean, again?!" His eyes laser-focussed on Frisk and he held his arms out and ran to her. "Friiiiskkky-beeeeean!"

Frisk snickered and let the mechanical monster swoop her right up and give her a boop on the nose.

"I heard yooooou and your cute little brother went out on a dangerous time-travel mission again to save the Kingdom!"

"Yeah, it was pretty crazy!" she said.

"It was sort of the whole world, actually," Papyrus said.

"Oh?!" Mettaton's eyes flashed over with stars. "Well, that's even more impressive! Tell me about it!"

"We had to go to another dimension and back in time!" Frisk said. "And fight like two other versions of my dad!"

"What?! No!"

"Yeah! We did a big battle in the CORE!"

"Aaaaah, tell me; tell me everything!"

.

As he whisked her away and she gladly regaled him with a smattering of action scenes, Alphys leaned in close to the others and smiled sheepishly.

"Th-This is okay, right?" she said.

"I don't see why not," Asgore said.

"As long as he doesn't jump the gun on the kid-rescue thing," Undyne said. "Hey!" she called. "Chrome-dome, y'won't leave the bus unless I say it's okay, right?!"

"Moi?! I wouldn't dream of it, Captain!" Mettaton said very dramatically.

Undyne shrugged. "Eh. Keep an eye on 'im, I guess. But I think it'll be okay."

"He was actually extremely helpful last time!" Papyrus said.

"Yeah, but he's a diva. Does what he wants. You've seen 'im."

Alphys laughed. "I m-mean, true. I'm sure it'll be fine, though."

.

"I suppose we're just waiting on the rest from Snowdin, now, hm?" Asgore said. He poured more cups of tea and slid them close to the other monsters. "What have you three been up to?"

"Oh! Just p-putting the finishing t-touches on this!" Alphys clunked a large, metal box onto the table. "Aaaaand a-all the data inputs and a few little e-extra, helpful things."

"Ah, that's wonderful!" Asgore said. "What is it?"

"S-Simplest answer is it, um, connects straight to the human internet and it's a t-transmitter for our phones and i-it's a digital map! I-I'm going to attach it to the bus once w-we get outside."

Suzy leaned over to look at it and gave it a light poke. "…It's all in a box?"

"It's like a mini-computer!" The lizard gave it an affectionate thump. "I-I put in the coordinates t-to where we need to go a-and it'll automatically use the internet to t-tell us everything we'd possibly need t-to know about the area on top of, um, the basic g-giving us directions stuff."

"Ah, that sounds like an excellent idea," Asgore said. "Especially the phones!" He rubbed his beard. "I really do need to work out the communication logistics with the outside world, don't I? Hm."

.

"Asgooooore!" Frisk called from the other room; Mettaton ferried her in quickly. "Asgore, make a new castle!"

"I'm not sure if that will really help with the phones, little one," he said with an apologetic smile. "Plus, I thought maybe of doing a more down-to-earth approach and—"

"People love castles, though, castles are really cool," Frisk insisted.

"She has a point, sire," Mettaton said.

"And you can put stuff in the big towers," she asserted.

"Also true!"

Asgore chuckled. "We'll see how everyone feels about it this time around."

"Might not be so bad," Undyne said with a little shrug.

"Are you thinking o-of that place you saw in the other world?" Alphys wondered.

"Yeah," Frisk said. "It was like, a huge hub and it was really cool."

"Hm… I don't mind the idea of having the castle as a hub, like we used to," Asgore mused. "I will need to take a look at your photos again."

"Yeah!"

"Wait, you got photos back from another universe?" Suzy asked.

"Oh! Yeah!" Frisk's eyes lit up. "Wanna see while we wait?"

"I do," Mettaton said, and when Suzy nodded quickly, one of his mechanical arms shot out to scoop her up, too. Holding both kids, he plunked down in the huge king's chair by the fire and Frisk pulled out her phone to show them.

Papyrus bounced over to join them, even though he'd seen almost everything already.

.

Undyne shook her head and took one of the teacups to down its contents in one swig. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out to check the screen. "Oh. Speakin' of, the other guys are nearly here."

"We just got here ourselves, though," Papyrus said.

"I do wanna get goin', though," Undyne said. "Sooner we get the work bit done, sooner that kid is safe, and sooner we can go to the beach." She shot Suzy a grin. "Hey kid, you're gonna love it!"

"Th-This is pretty exciting," Alphys said. "I c-can't wait to see some of what you guys got to see." She looked up at Asgore. "Um. D-Do you think we should contact the human, now?"

"You're right." He fished inside his pockets for his phone and slowly scrolled through his contacts. "Oh. What should I say?"

"Ask where she is," Undyne said. "Paps wants to pick her up, if we can."

"Yes! We'll be heading to Gullport!" the skeleton said. "Because that is where Boyd lives, and he is the one whose daughter we're rescuing! Aannnnd hopefully he isn't on the road already because that will make it a bit of a chore to find him."

"Exactly."

"Alright, let me see…" Asgore dialled very, very slowly, and then waited.

.

A few extra beeps and boops sounded in the unusually staticky speaker sounds. Then, an answer.

"H-Hello, King Asgore!" came June's voice. "How can I help you today, your Majesty?"

"Hello, young one!" Asgore replied, unable to help a smile. "No need to be so formal! How are you?"

"Oh! I'm…? I'm fine, thank you. And yourself?"

"That's good! I'm doing very well! Sorry to get right to it, but I was wondering, where are you today?"

"Uh." The woman sounded puzzled. "Gullport, your Majesty."

"Oh! Perfect," he said. "Thank you, my friend. We might see you there! Have a lovely day!" There was a strange beep and Asgore lifted the phone curiously. "Oh. Uh. I… hung up on her. Oops."

Undyne snorted laughing and gave him a thump on the shoulder. "We'll surprise her."

"Well, I could just call her back."

"I'm very excited to see her again!" Papyrus said.

"That's that lady that was disguised as a deer, right?" Suzy said. "Good that she's okay and stuff."

"She probably won't remember anything that happened, though," the skeleton said with a tinge of sadness in his voice.

"Just like me!" Mettaton said. "Don't worry, doll, it'll be fine. Just tell her your story and I'm sure she'll be captivated!"

"Nyeh, I hope so!"

.

"Hey." Sans appeared in the blink of an eye, Asriel latched tight to his arm. "Oh. Hey. Look who you found, huh?"

"Yeah!" Frisk said brightly, patting Suzy on the shoulder.

The crocodaur's eyes widened. She looked between the slightly dizzy-looking prince and the short skeleton and got to her feet. "Yo, you're not sick anymore?!"

"Nah," Sans said with a grin. "Good t'see ya, Suz. Doin' alright?"

She nodded and approached him cautiously, and then gave him a quick hug. "Stupid."

The skeleton snickered and patted her on the head. "Yup."

.

Suzy drew back swiftly, only to find herself under the probing, pale gaze of the goat boy. She clenched her fists. He leaned forward and sniffed, his ears pinning back.

"So you're Suzy, huh?" he said.

"Uh… Yeah?"

Asriel's face split into a wind, fangy grin and he patted her heartily on the back. "Great! Thanks for helpin' my sis out when she was stuck in the weird grey space."

"Oh! Uh. You're… welcome?" The crocodaur grinned sheepishly. "Didn't do much."

"Yes you did!" Frisk said brightly. She jumped down from mettaton's lap and bounced over. She greeted Asriel with a quick, warm hug. "Wanna go out?"

"Kinda," he said. "…Suddenly feelin' kinda stuffy down here."

"I know, right?" The kid looked up at the others. "You guys don't mind, do you?"

"I'll join ya," Undyne said.

"Me too!" Papyrus jumped upright and rushed towards the stairs. "This is going to be so exciting!"

.

They headed out, but Frisk swiftly doubled back to give Sans a tight hug before rushing after the others. The skeleton had to laugh a little. Alphys shot him a fond smile and then looked up at the King.

"D-Do you, um, need any more information on the technical things, while w-we're here?" she asked.

Asgore shook his head. "You two go on," he said. "I just have to make a few more phone calls. I'll wait for Gaster and Tori."

"Gotcha," Sans said, turning on his heel and slowly meandering out.

.

Alphys grabbed her box and strolled up to him, gently elbowing him in the ribs as they headed to the stairs. "C-Call me next time, ne?" she teased.

"We'll try." Sans rubbed the back of his skull. "Hard not to just pass out."

"Set an a-alarm," she said. She paused for a moment, her fingers pinching the material of his coat, and smiled. "There's, um… st-still so much I need to look into."

"Same," he said.

"This jacket was made especially f-for you, right?"

"Seems like it," he said.

"I sh-should learn to do that," she mused. "O-Or maybe at least figure out a process t-to do it. I know your condition i-is, um, pretty unique, but I bet there's o-other people that kind of thing could help." She smiled. "A-And when I get a proper prosthetic-works up and running, th-that style of enchanted material would b-be great, don't you think?"

"Gotta be in the books they brought back, yeah?"

The lizard nodded and grinned. "Ugh, the m-minds on those kids. So good. Who knows h-how many lost skills c-can be…" Her eyes glittered. "Can be brought b-back from just those books?" She clenched her fists, drumming in the air. "I c-can hardly wait to really d-dive into it all."

Sans nodded.

.

Back in the day, he would've been all over that kind of thing. Now, all he wanted to do was laze around with his siblings, watching movies and eating fries dunked in milkshakes. Maybe after a week or so he'd be ready to delve into new magic, though. It definitely piqued his curiosity, even if he still didn't quite have the energy for it.

.

"Can, I, um…?" Alphys stopped again. Her cheeks flushed.

Sans stalled to match her and waited patiently as she fumbled her words for a few seconds. She sighed heavily, rolling her eyes at herself, and then quickly pulled him into a tight hug. He wasn't sure what he'd done to deserve it, but he didn't mind.

"G-God, I'm s-so glad you're okay," she said under her breath.

"Alph, I… Uh." He caught sight of her tail wagging, and his face softened. He grabbed her in return. "Thanks."

She snickered. She drew back and rubbed her eyes. "Everything still f-feels so crazy."

Sans shrugged. "We'll be able to crash soon. Probably." He winked. "Hopefully not the bus, though."

Alphys snorted and gently whacked him. He couldn't help but laugh.

.

Outside, the sun peeked out between puffy, white clouds, warming the world beneath. Papyrus stood at the edge of the plateau, pointing out some things to Mettaton— the fragments of conversation Sans could catch informed him that his brother was going over some of the events the metal monster wouldn't have recalled at all. Nonetheless, Mettaton was clearly enthralled.

.

From up on the plateau, there was a clear view of a portion path that climbed up the mountainside. Things looked exactly as they had been before everything had gone wrong. What little had been built on the outside was just as it should have been. At the moment, a few, scattered monsters were making the trek back— probably to visit relatives or do some grocery shopping. The old tortoise, Gerson, was one of them, wandering upwards at a slow, steady pace. A small pack of tiny Tems, conversely, were on the way down.

.

As Alphys moved past Sans to join Undyne, he shoved his hands in his pockets and simply observed everyone. There was something odd about it all to him, watching them all in the sunshine. Strangely normal and yet still deeply connected to the time that was forced backwards. He hoped it would never happen again, but he supposed he'd always be a liability as long as things stayed like they were. It wasn't as if Frisk was going to change her approach without a viable alternative, so he'd somehow have to get a little stronger. He wasn't sure that he could, but he wasn't about to rule it out, even if it was exhausting to even consider.

.

He leaned his back against the warm mountainside for a few minutes until he caught a break in he conversation the three kids were having. Asriel plunked down on the stone, dangling his legs off the edge of the cliff. Suzy flopped forward over a nearby rock and looked out, too.

"Hey. Friskit," he said, before she'd had a chance to sit by her fuzziest brother.

Frisk perked up and whipped around to look for him, pointing to herself when she caught his eye. He nodded and she hurried to join him.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Don't forget to save, huh?" he said.

"Oh!" Her eyes widened. "Y-Yeah! Jeez, you're right. Um." She crossed her arms and frowned thoughtfully. "Uummm… There's a spot somewhere near the bus stop, I think? D'you think that's a good time?"

He nodded and gave her a pat on the head. She smiled, but then reached up to grab his hand.

"You worried?" she asked.

"Nah. What for?"

"I dunno, you just feel…" She cocked her head to the side as if she were a puppy listening for an unusual sound. "Hm."

"Yeah, tell me about it," he joked.

"But you're not worried?"

"Not 'bout this."

"Oh." Frisk scrunched up her face. "Well. Don't be about something else, too. I'm gonna protect you. And everyone. So. You don't gotta worry. Okay?"

"Kiddo—"

"There's a reason I'm human," she said with a bashful smile, "and it's so I'm strong enough to help you guys. I decided. So. It's all gonna be fine. Even if bad stuff happens again, it'll be fine."

Sans could see that determined gleam in her eye. It would be no use telling her it was too much. She'd already heard it inside his head. He sighed quietly and let out a tired huff of a laugh as he rubbed the heel of his hand against his brow.

"Let's just hope you're more than a pipsqueak if that time comes, huh?" he said.

Frisk snickered. "That'd be kinda nice."

.

"Are you teasing our sister for being tiny again?" Papyrus asked, suddenly looming over them.

"Oh. Yeah. Always," Sans said as Frisk snickered. He patted her on the head, just barely being mindful of her short little horns. "I know it's low-hangin' fruit but, I mean, my joke standards are pretty low, too."

The kid snorted and Papyrus scoffed loudly.

"You could say that again, they are beneath the mountain!" he announced.

"Well, yeah, that's where we still live, bro, where else would they be?"

"NYEH!" The tall skeleton shook his head. "Impossible. Anyway!" He bent down to Frisk and rubbed her head. "Still feeling okay, little sister?"

"Yeah, for sure!"

"…And how do you like Suzy?" he asked at a whisper, his eyes glimmering.

Frisk laughed quietly. "I already knew I liked her." She smiled sideways and tapped her fingertips together. "I hope she likes me."

"I bet she will!"

.

Papyrus was about to ask something more, but the sound of feet on the steps coming up to the surface stalled him in his tracks. Finally, Toriel, Gaster, and Asgore had joined them. As Papyrus waved to them, Toriel beelined for Suzy just as he had, and was quickly shown the axe that had sustained through the reset. Gaster, too, hurried to her side.

.

"Alright, everyone," Asgore said, clapping his hands lightly together. "Everything is settled and we can head on our way! Careful on the walk down, it can be a little steep in spots, especially after all that rain."

"Just stay a bit behind me," Undyne announced, rushing ahead. "And if I fall off, well, don't go that direction!"

"I can catch you!" Papyrus called.

"Actually, Paps, stay back a bit so you can see everyone!" she suggested. "I'll be fine, remember?"

He jumped up and saluted her. She grinned and beckoned everyone along, and so the rest of the monsters moved out. Asriel paused to wait for Frisk. She cast a look back at her brothers, but Sans waved her on. She stuck her thumb up and instantly latched onto Asriel's hand. He snickered at her but did not let her go.

.

Papyrus lingered so he had a good view of the whole group before he began to trail along, only for a small, white shape to speed by at the corner of his eye. He twisted swiftly to catch the tail end of a critter disappearing behind a rock. He turned back to look for Sans to ask if he'd seen it, too, but his brother had already vanished, as he often did.

.

The tall skeleton took a few more steps, straining to look for the interloping creature. A flicker of movement caught his attention again. He peered out over the crags off the edge of the plateau. It took him moment more to realize that there was nothing to be concerned about— it was just that little white dog again, prancing around on the rocks. Papyrus rolled his eyes and was about to move on, but when he turned back to the path, the dog was right in front of him, on top of a chunk of stone; backlit by a bright, golden glow. Papyrus let out a nyeh of surprise and received a little dog sneeze in reply.

.

"Hello, you fuzzy little menace, what are you up to?!" Papyrus asked.

The dog woofed. The tall skeleton frowned, puzzled. Before he could ask any more, the dog hopped up, defying gravity, and touched his snout against Papyrus's boney forehead before cartwheeling away and vanishing down the side of the cliff.

"Hey, wait a—!" When Papyrus reached his hand out, he was holding the red, crystal orb. "—minute. Nyeh." He raised the artefact up to eye-level and stared at it in bafflement. "Dogs. Are. Weird."

.

He waited for just a moment to see if the suspicious summersaulting spitz would come back, then stashed the orb into his jacket pocket. He turned to leave, only to be disrupted by a scaly old face, big yellow eyes, and furrowed, bushy eyebrows. Papyrus squawked and the old monster cackled.

"Sorry, kid, thought you wouldda heard me! Wah ha ha!" Gerson laughed.

"Nyeh! Hello there! Sorry for the loud noise, I was distracted by a tiny annoying dog!" The skeleton flashed a smile. "How can I help you?"

"I, uh…" The old turtle dug into the pocket on his jacket. "Actually. I got somethin' for ya."

Papyrus's brows shot upwards. "You do?"

Gerson nodded. He pulled out an envelope: Papyrus's name was scrawled on it in big, capital letters. "Was cleanin' up after the move and I found this in some old stuff that belonged to a friend 'o mine. From a loooong time back." He raised his bushy brows. "You weren't even born yet. Funny, eh?" He offered the letter to the skeleton. "Wanted to deliver it in person, actually, so thanks for not being all the way in Snowdin today. If y'don't mind, I'd be interested in knowin' what's in it."

"Oh! Sure, I don't mind one bit."

.

Papyrus took the envelope and slid his pointy thumb-tip under the seal to pop it open. Inside, there was a folded piece of paper with the cute face of an owl drawn to meet him as he pulled it out. Taking off his sunglasses, he opened up the note and was greeted with words scrawled in fantastic penmanship.

.

Dear Papyrus,

.

I'm not sure when this will reach you, as you will not be born until a hundred years or so after I am already gone. However, I wanted you to be reassured that I did find the message you left me, though somehow it ended up under a carpet! I have never felt so fortunate to have spilled soup all over the floor! Thank you very much, my friend. I knew time was fickle, so I hope you don't hold any guilt whatsoever that our last meeting did end up being the final one, though it was a lovely one as well. When you didn't come back, I knew it was not because you didn't wish to. I was very impressed that, even so, you found a way to reach me.

.

I know we didn't know each other for very long, but rest assured that the Great Papyrus holds a fond place in my heart. I was very glad to have met you, and I know you're going to do wonderful things out there in the sunshine. Think of me in its warmth sometime.

.

Your grateful friend,

Minerva

.

P.S. Please send my love to Toriel and Gerson, and thank your father for keeping my secret. Some of my notebooks may have something of interest to you, so consider this permission to read anything you find.

.

Papyrus put a hand to his mouth. He read the letter three times. His eyes swam with golden tears and he sniffled heavily before passing the note to the turtle. Gerson skimmed it, frowning deeply, as Papyrus wiped his eye sockets on his scarf.

"Wait, how…?" The old turtle looked up at Papyrus with his brows raised. He sighed, a sympathetic smile spreading on his face. He patted the boy reassuringly on the back and slipped the letter into his hand. "There there, kid, it's alright."

"I know it's n-not possible, but I wish she was here," he said.

"Eh. Me too," Gerson said. "Lot of people I wish were here. But. Partly thanks to her we're even out here at all, huh?"

Papyrus wiped his eyes again and nodded. "E-Even… if it's sad, I know she would like that."

"Hah! Yup. Think you're right, kid." He tilted his head. "Guess it's a bit of a mess of a story, how you two met."

The tall skeleton sniffled. "Oh. An extremely huge mess and a very long story, absolutely, which I would love to tell you but I have to go on a road trip to go rescue a human kid from her kidnapper grandma."

"Uh-huh. Well. Have fun with that, huh?" Gerson patted him on the shoulder. "Alright. That's me done. Got some shopping to do. See you out here sometime, eh? Maybe you can tell me that long story." He ambled off towards the way into the mountain. "Oh. And, uh, most of her old research is copied out into the Archives under the name Minerva Mirroreyes, if you wanna take a look someday."

"Alright! Thank you!" Papyrus called after him.

.

He clutched the letter close and breathed out a long, soothing sigh as he peered along the path. The rest of the group weren't that far ahead yet. He wiped his face one last time and bounded away down the mountain to catch up.

xXxXx

The walk to lower ground was uneventful, but the paths through the unfinished town were not. All of it was completely foreign to Suzy. She also didn't understand floor plans, food gardens, the wind on the surface, or almost anything new that she was seeing. Asriel was flabbergasted, but Frisk quietly reminded him that the crocodaur hadn't existed in reality until around the same time Gaster had returned. That turned the boy around immediately, and he was more than happy to give quick explainers of anything and everything as they went to the bus stop.

.

Gaster hadn't been outside much, either. He was happy just to walk, mostly in his own thoughts, unless one of the others chose to point something out to him. The sunshine was nice today. A little toasty, with a cool breeze to temper it, carrying the faint scent of flowers and the tittering of birds along with it.

.

The skeleton's gaze drifted to his old friends, then to the younger monsters and his children. His eyes settled on Frisk and he was overcome with pride and guilt that made the inside of his ribcage ache. He felt as if he'd hardly spoken to her at all; was sure he'd fall apart if he tried. That just made it worse.

.

He caught Asgore's mismatched eyes upon him. He smiled awkwardly and received a grin in return.

"Nice day today," Asgore said.

Gaster nodded. His old friend reached out and gave him an affectionate squeeze on the shoulder, then tilted his head towards the three little kids.

"It's good to see them in the sun, isn't it?"

The skeleton cracked a small smile. "It is." There was still one missing, though, he thought. Of course, what Asriel had told him was correct, but he couldn't help the way this particular issue jabbed him inside his skull. If there was anything he could do to facilitate even something as simple as an occasional visit, he would. "Is there anyone who still hasn't been out?"

"Just the monsters in hibernation," Asgore said. "But, some of those are in risky states of health, so the thought is, I'm hoping we'll carve shafts into the mountain to let the sunlight in, to make sure they can get out alright."

"Good." Gaster tapped his chin as his mind began to whir. "Send some sort of probe through the rock. Since we have access to the topside, now, we can make sure of the structural integrity, and I believe with the time in the sunlight, I'll be strong enough to create something from my own magic that can bore through. If not, I'll find a way around it."

.

Asgore turned his face up into the light. A soft smile, half-nostalgic and half-rueful, spread across his face. "Sometimes, I think back to the first days."

"Especially now, I imagine," Gaster said.

The huge monster nodded. "Do you remember all those cockamamie schemes we had? Trying to climb out, or dig upwards…?"

Gaster nodded. "Do you remember the lens contraption I tried to make after we reassembled what we could of the stairs?"

"Oh!" Asgore chuckled loudly. "I had forgotten that one, actually! I was thinking about all the little holes. Remember that?"

Gaster recalled it quite clearly, despite how long it had been. With the height of the mountain and absolutely no knowledge of the stability of the rock above— "It's a wonder we didn't cause more trouble than we did."

"Yes, thank goodness for that!"

.

Of course, it didn't bear mentioning that all their work back then had been for nothing. It didn't take very long to learn that what sunlight that filtered through the barrier was only of use to the plants and did nothing for monsters. Even seeing that glimmer had become bitter to some, knowing what it lacked.

.

When Gaster's thoughts wandered back to the present, he caught Asgore's gaze drifting to Toriel. She was walking just slightly behind the children, a fond, tired smile on her face. Her fur carried a faint, silvery sheen that the mountain kept dim. Asgore let out a wistful sigh. Even so, he was smiling. Gaster didn't pry. He stuffed his hands on his pockets, becoming uncomfortably aware of how the cloth didn't do anything to warm his blackened bones.

.

"Gaster?" Asgore tentatively voiced. "Do you think Frisk would….? Ah… Never mind."

The skeleton shot him a quizzical look. "What?"

The King shook his head. "It's nothing. I'm just… trying to think of something to… Ah. I'm not sure how to word it. But, she and Asriel have done a tremendous thing for us. For the second time in just a few months! I feel like… there must be something I could do for her." He stroked his beard thoughtfully. "And, little Suzy, she deserves something for all her help, as well. And the rest of those with the void in their souls, hm? For service to the Kingdom!" A bashful smile spread on his face. "They… wouldn't refuse that, right?"

Gaster was still puzzled. "I'm sure they wouldn't, but what were you thinking, about Frisk?"

"Well, it's just…" Asgore's brows furrowed but his eyes softened. "Her brother's the Prince."

"…Oh." The skeleton chuckled. "I don't think she's too concerned with titles."

"I know, I know, it's not just that, but… some sort of… recognition or—"

"Most of what happened won't be remembered at all by anyone," Gaster pointed out.

"That's true, but surely we can come up with some story about the magic recovery she and Asriel did," Asgore said. "Actually, we'll have to, won't we? We intend to share it with everyone."

"Leave that to me. I'm sure I can invent something," Gaster said. "For example, it could be absolutely plausible that there was some hidden archive she stumbled upon in her time on the surface and only put two and two together once she met monsters. And, consequently, lead us to it."

"Ooh! That could work." The huge monster grinned brightly and nudged Gaster with his elbow. "This is why I need you around."

The skeleton laughed. "True."

.

Soon, along a dirt road near the forest's edge, the blue and pink bus that typically carried newcomers to town and residents safely away, came into view. It was huge, almost a house on wheels, and was lined with windows in polished black. It waited for them near the little convenience store, parked off to the side of the road beside its small, wooden shelter. Since a few days ago, the Delta Rune had been painted onto the side in white and someone else had spray-painted the face of a Tem with cartoonish frowning eyebrows into its circle.

.

"Yo, what's that?" Suzy asked, pointing ahead.

"The bus?" Asriel said.

"Yeah but I don't really know what that is."

The goat boy hummed and rubbed his chin. "I guess you could kinda think of it like a long, moving room, right?"

"B-Basically," Alphys said. "One person d-drives it around and a bunch of people can sit in it." She looked back at Frisk. "Did you ever go in one b-back in the human world, Frisk?"

"A couple times," Frisk said. "The seats are usually kinda comfy and warm, so sometimes, like, in the fall or in the rain I would. I think they cost a little money in the human world but kids could go for free. Or, at least, they never asked me for money."

"But why? Uh. How'd you find one to ride in?" Suzy wondered.

"They would go around streets on a timer or something, I think."

"Huh. What if you had to go somewhere and it wasn't on the timer?" Undyne asked.

"Uh. I guess you just wait?" Frisk said.

"Hm. Nope. Boat's better."

"Can we get a land boat?" Papyrus wondered. "Or is that just a car?"

"Eh, we'll figure it out," Undyne said.

.

Another monster came around the side of the huge vehicle: a white-scaled, bat-faced critter in well-worn pants, a dark purple jacket with BUS written up the sleeve in silver marker, and a matching cap. Upon taking notice of them, the monster's long ears lifted straight up and she whipped off a pair of sunglasses as she stuck an arm up to wave.

"Hey, Captain!" she called to them with a big, sharp-toothed grin. "You're taking the bus on a ride, yee? You want the bus coat?!"

"Nah!" Undyne shouted back. "It's cool, though!"

"Thanks! So I show you how to do the buttons and the wheely thing?!"

"Yeah!" Undyne turned to Papyrus and beckoned him to come along. "It'll be you and me, Paps."

Papyrus eyes gleamed with starbursts. "Me?! Nyeh! Of course, I'll do my best!"

"I know!" She grinned and took off towards the bus, with Papyrus close behind her. "Hey, can my girlfriend stick some tech in the dash?!"

"Oh yee, s'all good, s'all good, tech away, eh?" The pale monster turned to Asgore and her dark eyes glimmered as she waved again. "Hiya, your Highness!"

"Howdy!" Asgore replied with a big, warm smile. "How's it been treating you out here, my friend?"

"Eh, been alright, hasn't it?" She grinned. "Only a couple screamin' humies, yee? Not too bad, not too bad!"

.

As Alphys, and also a very curious Mettaton, hurried to catch up with their friends and meet the bus bat, Frisk turned to look at the rest of the adults. Toriel had shifted over to speak quietly to Gaster, and Asgore was approaching the other side of the bus curiously. He hadn't ridden on it yet, she recalled. Actually, now that she thought about it, had Asgore even really left the Kingdom since the monsters had been freed a second time? Her mom had, a fair amount of times, but she wasn't sure that Asgore had. Maybe it was sort of nice he and Gaster would get to do it together, then.

.

Suzy wore a perplexed look on her face, eyeing the bus with the same caution she would afford a lightless passageway. She carefully stepped towards it, then looked back at the other kids as if to ask permission. Asriel thumped her on the back and they went on their way. Frisk lingered for just a second more, skimming the area for a spot of blue before following along.

.

As the crocodaur circled around the back to look at the lights near the bumper and Asriel trailed her like a careful babysitter, Frisk peeked around the bus shelter.

"I'll, um, come in a sec," she said.

"Need a break?" Asriel asked over his shoulder.

She nodded. "Just a quick one."

He stuck his thumb up. "Take it easy."

.

Frisk hid a yawn behind her hand and she wandered just barely off the beaten path. A glimmer of gold guided her way. By the edge of a forest, a star flittered at the base of an old oak tree. Frisk reached out, but hesitated for a moment. Sticking everyone here, to this moment, for a little while, gave her a knot in her gut. She had to take a deep breath.

.

Everyone was fine. Sans was fine.

.

She put her hand into the light and warmth surged through her body. For some reason, she felt as if approving eyes settled upon her. A strange sensation, yet it sent a spark of determination flaring in her soul. She saved, anchoring the world to that moment, for now.

.

Frisk rejoined the group, where it seemed as if she had not been missed. She took a seat on the bench at the bus shelter and leaned back to stretch her arms high above her head before allowing herself to slump. She lightly kicked her legs as she watched the others chat with the bus monster. Mechanical stuff she didn't quite understand, but a couple words from her brother's memories that she did. She yawned again. Suddenly, it felt like it had been quite a long walk.

.

She glanced towards her parents. They seemed happy, though Gaster increasingly looked like he hadn't slept in a month. A strange ache hit her in the chest. Why did she still miss him when he was standing right there?

.

Frisk was about to get up when Toriel excused herself to step towards her instead. Her mother leaned in with a smile and planted a quick, gentle kiss on Frisk's forehead. The kid giggled.

"Tired, my child?"

"Just a little," Frisk said sheepishly.

"You will let me know if you wish to be carried, will you not?"

The kid nodded and her mother smiled before lightly ruffling her hair and leaving to join the others.

.

When Frisk's view was cleared, Gaster was gone. However, there was movement over by the small convenience store that drew her eye. She perked right up. Her eldest brother was slipping out through the door, awkwardly hauling two large bags along with him. He saw her, too, and paused in his tracks. He took a quick glance behind him, then disappeared.

.

Without an instant of pause in-between, Sans sagged into the bench beside her, letting his stuff settle onto the ground. He shot her a wink."Didn't flub the timin' too bad, huh?"

She smiled and shook her head, and quickly gave him a hug. He snickered and put his arm around her, gently mussing up her hair as he did.

"You weren't in there the whole time, were you?" she asked.

"Nah." His thumb brushed against one of her new horns and he stared off at nothing for a few moments.

She blinked up at him, but before she could ask a thing, his expression softened and he shifted to stretch, interlacing his fingers and cracking his knuckles.

"Popped to the Archives," he said.

"Ooh." She scooted up against him. "Did you learn any secrets?"

"Not really. Topic was, uh, the whole soul-takin' stuff."

"And?" she pressed.

"Welp. Stuff's a bit sparse, but nobody's done what you've done. Not here, at least," he said. "I mean, time magic's the key, so I figured that'd be the case." He paused, his attention caught as the bus's doors flung open and Papyrus and Undyne leapt inside in a rush. "I, uh… I took a peek at the reverso, since, uh… When a soul separated from Paps, he was kinda left with horns, too."

Frisk's eyes shimmered. "Oh right!"

"It ain't quite the same," he continued. "With him and, if we extrapolate a bit, with anyone else, what's left is more like… a burn. A scar. Y'know? The magic of the body bein' kinda twisted and pulled, and then stuck right where it ends up, like when a monster can't make it to a healer in time after somethin' real catastrophic. Soul just sorta internalizes the change as itself and makes it stick. Makes sense?"

The kid frowned thoughtfully as she tried to arrange the idea inside her head. It drew on a memory lingering deep within her brother's; a cold, visceral fear tied to an image in an old book, a sketch of an abominable-looking creature, nothing like even the warped versions of monsters in the other world had resembled. It evoked Asriel's massive plant form more than anything. Frisk hurried to shake it off.

"…So, if a monster gets hurt bad enough, their soul just always remembers it?"

"Basically, yeah. But, normally, it takes a bit of time." Sans shrugged. "With this, it's instant, the second the human soul decides to vamoose."

.

Frisk nodded. She could see Papyrus's altered form in her mind's eye. The blast through his ribcage and the swirls of green dyeing his bones were pretty dramatic, but the little antlers he'd kept had been cute, actually. He definitely hadn't seemed too bothered by any of it.

"Glad Paps didn't get it too bad," she said.

"He was lucky," Sans agreed. "Some people back in the day weren't."

"But mine's not like that?" she wondered, reaching up to cup her hands over the little boney nubs.

"Nope. Yours is… growth? Like, a magic sprout-out, if that makes sense. I almost wanna say it's like that Decept y'did, but even then, that's not quite it. From what I could feel, it's bein' sustained by that star in your soul. Which I guess got strengthened by the, uh… What'd they call it?"

"Soulbonding?" she suggested.

He hummed thoughtfully. "We have that word for somethin' else."

"The thing Undyne did to you, right?" Frisk asked.

"Yeah."

"Ooh. So should we think of a new word?"

"If it were me, I'd leave it with Alph," he said. "She loves that kinda thing."

"Kay." Frisk filed the thought away. Asriel had some cool name ideas, too. Maybe they could come up with something together.

.

"Anyway," Sans said as he lightly tapped on one of her horns again. "Might even be able to dust 'em and then regrow 'em, if that's the case."

"What, you think so?" Frisk squeaked. "That's weird!"

"Kinda. But, I mean, you're a little weirdo, so it kinda checks out."

"Pff." Frisk gently nudged him in the side with her elbow. "Come on."

He snickered. "We can do some tests or whatever sometime, no big deal. Unless you decide you hate 'em."

"It's fine so far," the kid assured him. "I had way longer horns than this as a blue goat, I didn't mind."

"Phew. My favourite kinda urgent," Sans said, folding his arms behind his head and closing his eyes.

"You mean 'cause it's not?" Frisk teased.

"Mhm."

.

Frisk snickered. She caught Suzy and Asriel coming around the front end of the bus, so she sat up on her knees to give Sans another hug and a quick smooch on the cheek, then hopped down from her seat to join them.

"The dirt on the tires smells weird," Suzy announced.

Frisk blinked. A dozen questions shot through her head, but her mouth settled on: "Why?"

"I dunno!" The crocodaur scratched her head. "Maybe human world dirt just smells weird? You notice?"

"I had to stop her from tasting it," Asriel teased.

"I forgot I couldn't, okay?!" Suzy protested.

Frisk snickered and looked at the monster with an earnest smile. "Can you learn about it by tasting it?"

The flicker of embarrassment on Suzy's face blew away. "Oh! Uh. Yeah. Seems like it."

"Different minerals and stuff like that, I guess," Asriel said.

The crocodaur looked at him with wide eyes. He shrugged.

"I was a flower for a couple years, basically lived in dirt," he said.

"Oh?! Is that why you smell like that?!"

Asriel blinked. "Uh. Like what?"

"I dunno, kinda like tea."

The boy looked absolutely flummoxed. He gave his arm a deep sniff. "…I don't smell it."

"Well, yeah, it's hard to smell yourself, you smell yourself all the time."

Asriel opened his mouth as if to protest, only to retract it with a thoughtful hmm. "Frisk, smell me."

"But I also smell you all the time," the kid said.

"Do I smell like tea?"

Frisk shrugged. "I dunno, maybe a little?"

"Huh." He scratched his head. "I guess that's a step up?"

"From what?" Suzy asked.

"Eh, never mind, it's not a big deal."

.

A commotion of metallic clanking and a prickle of static in the air shattered the relative quiet and, as the bus bat politely dipped out, Mettaton's melody bipped and bopped from crackling speakers. Suzy just about jumped out of her scales, and Frisk darted over to the doors of the bus. Inside, parts of the metal console near the driver's seat were up in the air, suspended in blue, as Alphys and Mettaton tinkered around inside. Undyne was attempting to weld two pieces of a small switchboard back together.

"Do you need any help?" Frisk asked.

"We're alright," Undyne said, raising her voice a bit above the music. "Why don't you guys chill out somewhere? Take a seat? We're almost ready."

.

"Friiiiiisk?" Papyrus poked his head into view and held up yet another disconnected panel. "You wouldn't happen to recognize any of this stuff at all, would you?"

"Me? Uh." Frisk gave him a lopsided smile. "I can't drive, dude."

"I know! Of course not! You're tiny! But maybe you might know what the buttons do?" He beckoned to her, a hopeful look on his face.

"Um. Well…" Frisk climbed the steps, edging around the monsters at the front to join Papyrus a seat behind them. She looked over what he'd kept, a board of unlabeled things, buttons in mostly grey, red, or green. "I mean, in most human things, green means go and red means stop, does that help?"

"That's true! I've seen that in the movies," Mettaton agreed.

"I think that's kinda all I got, though," she said apologetically.

"That's n-not bad, though," Alphys said. "I-It gives us an easy answer to what cables do what, at least."

"You could just let me haaaandle it," the metal monster said in a sing-song voice.

"He could definitely do it, for sure, judging by what he managed to do in the redacted rescue adventure," Papyrus said.

"Is that really what you're calling it?" Asriel asked as he entered the bus.

"I'm open to suggestions," Papyrus said brightly.

"Focus, pal," Undyne said, pointing up at the hovering components.

"Ah! Right!" The skeleton beckoned to the three kids. "Come on, siblings and Suzy, it's quite nice!"

"It'll be nicer when it's not so loud!" Undyne said.

"It's allllll just part of the process, darling," Mettaton said.

.

The interior of the bus smelled faintly of mint. The seats were large and cushy-looking, paired two on either side of a row until the very back, where they were set up more like a bench. The kids headed straight there, and once the tech was installed up front and the commotion died down, the others finally joined them.

.

Magic made the seats malleable, allowing them to shrink and grow to the needs of the occupants, just as the door could change to accommodate larger monsters. Even so, Asgore had to duck a little.

.

Sans was last on the bus, but any impatience from the others was placated with the cans of cold tea, soda, and bags of snacks that he'd picked up from the shop. He was all but tossed onto the back seat with the kids by his brother, and then they were off. With Undyne at the wheel and Papyrus right beside her just in case, they gunned it down the rough road that ran beneath a thick canopy of foliage, away from the mountain.

.

Frisk's heart beat in a quicker rhythm than usual, anxious and anticipatory. With a breeze flowing in through a few cracked windows and music playing up front, a little excitement carried in the air. She remembered the ventures to the coastal city in the time that was gone. Trips by way of Papyrus's car, sailing down the dirt roads of old Starhome until they smoothed out and the human world began to stick up out of the landscape, metallic towers and distant chunks of block.

.

She pointed out little landmarks she recognized to Suzy, up until the moment the little monster accidentally dozed off.

.

Suzy wasn't the only one. Sans had started to snooze within minutes of setting out, despite the growl of the engine and the bumpiness of the ride. This was much to Asriel's chagrin, as the skeleton had inadvertently chosen him as an armrest. The boy's grumbling didn't last long, though. He'd fallen asleep, too, a fluffy comfort to an exhausted monster on either side of him.

.

Instead of sitting and napping as well, Frisk got up and wandered the aisle. All of the other monsters were still up near the front, except for Asgore and Toriel. They were surprisingly close to each other, Asgore leaning over the back of the seat beside her. They were whispering. She thought she caught Chara's name, so Frisk left them alone.

.

Her father also looked busy. He was standing in the aisle close to the front, next to Alphys, peering down at some device she had with her. It looked like it might be connected to the box she'd installed in the console. Mettaton leaned over it, too, nodding sagely.

.

Frisk sat down in one of the rows and scooted over to the window to watch the trees dance by. Everything was so green and vibrant, and she couldn't help but think of the world she'd just left behind. She stared out until her gaze became unfocussed and her attention was caught by her own reflection. The brightness of the red in her eyes; the little horns on her head. She pursed her lips and looked at the faint star pattern burned into the back of her hand. A deep ambivalence rattled around inside her, and yet, she didn't feel too differently than she ever had before. A flash of Chara shot through her mind. She wondered what she would think of all this.

.

The seat beside Frisk settled and shifted form, causing hers to shrink a little as well. She could see her mother reflected in the glass behind her; felt the big monster's paw rest warmly against her back. The kid turned and Toriel smiled at her. Her eyes were tired; filled with sympathy and a hint of pride. She took Frisk's hand, tiny in hers, and gently ran her thumb over that mark.

"It has been a long few weeks, has it not?" she said quietly.

"Yeeeeah," Frisk said.

Toriel opened her arms and the kid didn't hesitate to grab on, letting herself be scooped up. Her mother cradled her gently and carefully shifted over to the window herself, where the magic in the seats allowed that one to fit her instead. She settled comfortably, holding Frisk close, and the kid relaxed into her. Toriel kissed her gently on the head and they looked out at the shifting world together as it sped by their window.

.

A while passed. Mettaton got control of the music again. Gaster moved back to join Asgore. Alphys snored softly. Toriel almost drifted off.

.

Finally, the sea broke the horizon on the left side of the road, its ripples and waves gleaming with sunlight. Undyne couldn't help but whoop. Frisk perked right up. She scrambled off her mother's lap and raced to gently jar Suzy and Asriel awake.

"Ah heeeck," Asriel said groggily through a snort. "I sleep?"

"…Whahappun?" Suzy muttered.

"Look." Frisk guided Suzy up to the window and pointed out.

Suzy looked flummoxed. She brushed her shaggy hair out of her eyes and her jaw dropped. "…Big."

"Yeah," Frisk said.

"Why's it so big?! How…?" She looked back at the kid, and then at Asriel, who leaned close behind her. "Why is outside just like, huge stuff?!"

"There's a lotta space? I dunno. I… Uh…" Asriel rubbed his head bashfully. His eyes sparkled. "Man, that's really nice, huh?" He got off the seat and headed up towards the front. "Undyne, we stoppin' over there?"

"Yup, before we go home," she called back. "Hey, Alph, whatchu think, now about right for the map thing?"

Alphys snorted loudly and suddenly flailed in the air. "Aah! Sorry! S-Sorry! I—? Wait, a-are we there?!"

"Sign's comin' up," Undyne said.

"Aaah!" Alphys scrambled from her seat and up to the front console. "Okay! I'll, um, s-start setting up!"

"That means we'll get June?" Papyrus asked brightly.

"Th-That's the plan! I mean, i-if she's still in town, that is."

.

Wiping the tired corners of her eyes, Alphys got to work. Booting up the screen in the dashboard caused a digital icon of a spinning dog to dance across its surface and the edges of the box they'd installed to light up. After a few seconds, every phone in the bus let out a soft blip.

"N-Nobody panic, that's just the signal, um, s-syncing up," Alphys said. "Annnnd…" She queued up the map and typed in a code, and then a phone number. A hit of the confirm button, and— "There we go!"

"And that will let us find her?" Papyrus asked, leaning closer.

"Uh-huh! It, um, w-will sort of… search for her phone. Like, um, e-echolocation! When we get a reply, we'll be able to find her on the m-map."

Papyrus nodded eagerly. He clasped his hands together and turned to stare out the windows of the door.

.

"That's the lady that came here, right?" Asriel asked Frisk at a whisper. "The one who, uh… You know." He drew a finger across his throat.

Frisk nodded. Her brother's ears dropped a little and he let out a quiet sigh.

"Man, that has to feel crazy," he muttered.

"So, uh, what about the time travel stuff," Suzy said quietly. "Do we tell her time went backwards, or—?"

"We don't say Frisk is the cause." Sans had roused a bit, and though his voice was rough from sleep, his tone was uncharacteristically serious. "That's a thing we gotta keep close to the chest."

"But don't, like, almost all monsters at least kinda know about it?" Suzy said. "Heck, I just started existing and pretty sure I'd heard she could do something weird, at least."

Asriel turned a puzzled frown on Sans. "What, after all that, you don't trust her?"

Sans shook his head. "Ain't her that I don't trust." He lazily shrugged one shoulder and cracked a lopsided grin. "And, who knows, maybe we can play that hand some other time. After she's lived in town a bit."

"But what if I have to do magic in front of her, is that okay?" Frisk asked.

"You can't expect to just not do magic," Suzy blurted.

"Do what you're comfortable with, kiddo," Sans said, "but, uh, aside from that, maybe just stick with the psychic stuff as an explainer when you have to."

"I think I can do that," Frisk said with a sturdy nod.

.

"Right, uh…" Asriel stood on the seat and raised his voice. "Everyone gets not to tell the humans Frisk can literally time travel, right?"

All the answers came back in the affirmative.

"O-Of course we won't, but, um, h-how exactly do we explain the time stuff?" Alphys asked. "Or, d-do we?"

"It's true that we don't want them to just go frolicking off to their big bosses and tell them we have time travel or some such uber-powerful-magicstuffs, though, right?" Mettaton said.

Asgore laughed nervously. "Very true. Um. That's not a situation we'd like to place Frisk in, I think."

"Just blame it on me," Gaster said. "Or the CORE. Or both."

"We are not going to offer you up as a target either," Toriel scolded.

"Keep it vague," Undyne suggested. "At least until we get our stories straight, yeah?"

.

Most eyes turned on the tall skeleton standing up front, with the exception of Undyne's and Sans's. Papyrus rubbed his thumb across the back of his opposite hand.

"I'm positive I can figure it out," he said. "I am the great Papyrus, after all."

"What are you planning on telling her, dear?" Toriel asked.

"Well! I guess something not too different from last time, that something time-magic-related went a bit off the rails, and… And, um. That she won't remember that it did. But we have photos of at least a few things."

"That's always a trip!" Mettaton said. "And I should know! There's movies I made out there that I've never actually made!"

"Saves you the time, I guess," Undyne said.

"Well, yeeeeeesssss, but it's from a totally different state of mind!" Mettaton thoughtfully tapped on his chin. "I do find myself wondering if I would have ever come up with it."

"Well, whatever the case," Gaster said, locking his eyes on his youngest son, "I'm sure you'll handle it well, Paps. Let me know if you need my help with some, ah… forged technicals."

"I will," Papyrus assured him.

.

Despite her brother's confidence, Frisk could see through him from a mile away.

"Paaappyyyrruusss!" She beckoned him to join them. "Come here?"

The skeleton looked a little puzzled, but he bounded to the back of the bus in a hurry, a wisp of worry giving a faint crease to his brow. Before he could ask what she needed, Frisk hugged him tight. He let out a quiet nyeh and lifted her, slipping into her spot on the seat between Asriel and Suzy and cuddling her. She let her soul brush his and he couldn't help but relax a little bit.

"We'll figure it out," Asriel assured him with a pat on the shoulder and a sympathetic smile.

"Of course!" Papyrus asserted.

"Even if you don't, like, you're really good at friend stuff, huh?" Suzy said. "So. I bet you can be friends again."

"Here." From nowhere, Sans produced a folded square of green and gold fabric and passed it to Papyrus. "Might help."

"Wh…? Oh! You brought this?!" Papyrus's fingers dug tight into the fabric. His dark eyes glistened. "Thank you, Sans."

Sans shrugged. "Maybe she'll feel somethin'."

.

"…What is that?" Asriel asked.

"He had it when he changed," Suzy said. "When he grew antlers and stuff."

The boy looked baffled. Frisk reached out, then shot a questioning look up at Papyrus. He slipped the folded cloth into her hands. She could feel the magic running through it the second it touched her skin. It was like the warmth of the sun seeped into stone. A phantom scent of fresh water and oranges filled her nose.

"Oh, dang," she said softly.

Asriel carefully touched it, too. His fur bristled and he sniffed sharply. "Ooh."

"Right?" She passed the scarf back to Papyrus and held his hand. "S'okay."

Papyrus nodded. "I know."

.

As the buildings of the town began to close in on the road, Undyne finally slowed the bus down a little bit. There were more regular cars driving around them now, and humans walking the street. The monsters' transport definitely stood out compared to what else was around, but most people only seemed to give them a passing glance at first.

.

Deeper into town, though, there was a bit more gawking and pointing. It must've been from people that knew what the bus was, since there was no way to actually see inside, Frisk thought. She figured that was a good thing, especially now, because Suzy had her face pressed right up against the glass, staring so intently that her yellow eyes seemed to glow. Mettaton was similarly squished up against his window, though his gaze was bright with excitement, instead of like that of a cat fixated on a laser pointer.

.

"Guys, looks like we got 'er on the map," Undyne said suddenly.

Papyrus just about jumped to his feet, and Asgore got up as well to move towards the front. He peeked over the back of the driver's seat and the skeleton climbed up over chairs until he could see as well.

"That's wonderful," the huge King said. "Whereabouts?"

"Not sure, uhh…"

"Let me read it for you!" Papyrus said swiftly.

"Cool." Undyne raised her voice. "Hey, everyone stay on the lookout for a pale human lady with black hair, okay?!"

Suzy squashed her face even closer against the window.

"Aah, turn right, turn right!" Papyrus called.

.

The bus veered to the right. They rounded a corner just a little too fast. The kids in the back squished into Sans awkwardly.

"Okay, now go past their lights and then take a left!" the skeleton said.

"There's a lady!" Mettaton called.

Undyne slowed abruptly. Behind her, a car beeped out its indignation. Alphys leaned over Mettaton and squinted out into the world.

"I d-don't think that's her?" she said.

Papyrus leapt over more seats and crowded in to lean over the two of them. "Ah, it's—! Not her!"

"Gotcha." Undyne stepped on the gas again.

"What about that one, there?" Mettaton asked.

"Still nope!" Papyrus said.

"Hm. Is the description too vague, darling?"

"Uhhhh. I dunno. Glasses?" Undyne said.

.

Undyne turned them left, a little gentler this time. Asgore, peering hard out the opposite side, let out a sharp gasp. He pointed up the street a bit, to a woman carrying a purse over one shoulder and a bag of groceries in a white-knuckled hand. She wore a light, white jacket over top of t-shirt with a dragon on it and had straight, black hair down to her shoulders. Glasses framed her bright, dark eyes.

"There!" he said. "That's her!"

.

Undyne hurriedly pulled off to the side of the road and slammed on the breaks. She yanked on the lever that opened the door and smashed it off into its frame loud enough to make the woman jump just as she was passing.

"Hey! June Yamada!" Undyne called.

June turned sharply, blinking. Her mouth fell open in shock. "…C-Captain Undyne—?!"

"Get in, punk, we're goin' on a rescue mission!"

"A…? A what?!" The woman hurried to the door. "A rescue—?!"

"Yeah, we're goin' after Ellie!"

June gasped sharply and, with hardly any hesitation, rushed up the steps and into the bus.

.

Undyne shut the door and the human woman immediately found herself greeted by the massive form of Asgore, smiling down at her.

"Welcome, Ambassador!" he said. The bus jostled as it began to move and he put a huge hand on her shoulder to steady her. "It's very good to see you again! Though, I suppose it hasn't actually been that long, has it?"

June stammered for a moment. "Y-Your Highness, I—!"

"JUNE!" Papyrus leapt over the seat and instantly grasped the woman into a tight, boney hug.

June froze. Her eyes widened. Cautiously, she reached up to return the embrace. Barely a second later, the baffled woman relaxed. "Oh… Friendly." she breathed.

Asgore chuckled warmly. "We're all very glad that you've joined us." He stepped aside just enough to clear a fraction of the middle aisle. "Come, sit."

.

Frisk hadn't gotten much of a good look at what was going on up front until that moment, but when she saw June, it struck her how normal she looked. No longer did she carry that sense of tallness and authority that came with the title of Ambassador of Sollund. She seemed like just a normal person. Or, maybe it was that Frisk didn't feel even the tiniest shred of anxiety about meeting her this time around. Either way, she waved. Ahead, Alphys did, too, albeit sheepishly. June's eyes widened and she cautiously waved back.

.

"Nyeeeh." Papyrus grasped June's shoulders, his eyes glimmering. "I'm so happy to see you."

"Um. Thank you very much," she said.

"Welcome back," Gaster said.

"Th-Thank you! But, how did you find m—?"

"Aaah, June! June the human! Juuuunebug!" Mettaton cheered, getting to his feet. "It's lovely to meet you, doll! Wow, you're gorgeous!"

"Uh. Thank you?"

"You're very welcome! Welcome to the party bus!"

"More like the snoozin' bus," Sans commented.

"Okay, no and no, this is the rescue bus, and go sit down before you fall over!" Undyne called.

"Ah, yes, sorry," Asgore said with a bashful smile as he shuffled off to the side himself, just in time to avoid a rough jostle as Undyne pulled back onto the road. "Take a seat anywhere you like, my friend."

"You guys need to chill, you're gonna blow her brain up," Asriel joked.

.

"Wait, what is happening here?" June asked, fumbling with her things as Papyrus hurriedly guided her to a seat. She caught Toriel's eye and her polite, friendly smile, and almost froze again before the movement of the bus forced her to sit. "What did she say…? Wait, actually, how do you know about—?"

"I will answer everything!" the tall skeleton said as he scooted in beside her. "But, first! I am the great Papyrus! Now, you may not be extremely familiar with me because I believe we only really met briefly when you came to make sure my little sister wasn't some mysterious missing human from your country, but actually—"

"No, no, I remember you," she assured him. "From Snowdin, right?"

His eyes glimmered. "Yes! But! There's more than that. After you left, there was a big mess of time magic that happened. My two little siblings here went missing and everyone's memories were very incorrect. You noticed something and came back to the mountain while all that was happening and stayed there for a while and we're all actually friends."

June blinked. "…Uh."

"I know that sounds completely ridiculous because you have no context and I know you won't recall any of what I just said, but I promise you it's actually fairly… Well, I don't want to say normal, because it's not quite that, but it's not completely unusual to all of us," Papyrus continued.

"Is this a spell you're talking about?"

"More like an unfortunate natural phenomenon," Gaster added. "One that often goes unnoticed because it alters memories, of course. Bloody pain."

"Right! Exactly!" Papyrus agreed, nodding a few too many times. "In the time you were here, we all teamed up to go rescue Boyd's daughter, but because that time now sort of undid itself, we have to go do it again. Does that make sense?"

"I… I don't know what to say…?" she croaked. "But, Ellie is—?"

"The grandma took 'er," Sans said, leaning over the back of the seat in front of them. "She's in Arrow Valley."

"She what—?! Wait! But…!" June looked around, eyes wide, flickering with desperation, almost as if to ask if she was being pranked. "How do you know that?!"

"Saw it." Sans shrugged one shoulder. "You will too, probably."

"When you move into Starhome, you're gonna have to deal with stuff like this," Asriel said, leaning casually against her chair and jerking his thumb at the short skeleton. "Especially that guy just knowing stuff."

"Speakin' of," Undyne called. "You think whatshisname left yet?"

"Check his house, it ain't far," Sans said.

"Gimme the deets, my head wasn't on that good back then."

"Kay."

.

As Sans slipped off towards the front of the bus, June gulped heavily. She shook her head.

"I don't understand," she said softly, her voice warbling a little.

"Ah! I know! I know. It's extremely weird," Papyrus said. "But— and I know you don't remember— I promised I'd tell you everything that happened, so that's what I plan to do!"

"Promised who?" she squeaked.

"You! From the time that didn't happen anymore." He carefully offered her the green scarf. "I have a lot of the evidence, too, so I hope that helps."

The woman still looked utterly flummoxed. Asriel snickered. Frisk quietly snuck up to join them and offered her phone.

"I have the pictures of stuff," she said.

"You…! Ah." June's gaze softened. "Is…? I'm sorry to ask." She looked around almost as if expecting one of the older monsters to intervene, but when nobody seemed concerned, she cleared her throat. "Is this… connected to what you told my friend? He… Well…"

"Thinks she's psychic," Sans said as he returned. "Which ain't too far from it, really."

Frisk shrugged and smiled bashfully. "We just wanna help." She nodded at the scarf. "I dunno if it'll explain much, but I think it might help you understand stuff a bit better."

.

June looked Frisk in the eye, a question hanging in the air. The kid blinked and stepped back sheepishly. How had this tiny child's tone of voice changed so much in just a few days, was probably what the woman was wondering. That, or she'd caught sight of the horns or red eyes and had no idea what to think.

.

Whatever it was, June didn't give voice to it. With cautious fingers, she reached out for the scarf and laid her hand against it. She drew in a sharp breath through her teeth and she looked up at Papyrus, her eyes glossy. Before she could say a word, a sound like a heartbeat thumped out of her, loud enough to be heard by anyone within a few feet. A glimmer of green shone from her chest. She gasped and smashed her palm against it, the fingers of her other hand clenched, claw-like, into the arm rest.

"Wait. Waaaait, wait wait wait," she whispered so fast the words almost slurred together. "Oh my god. Oh my god."

.

Papyrus carefully put his hand on hers. Toriel's massive paw slipped in from behind, cupping the woman's shoulder. June whipped around, wide-eyed, to find the huge monster smiling fondly down upon her.

"Though I do not know what you've felt," Toriel said softly. "I hope you realize Papyrus's intentions are nothing but good."

June gulped heavily. She managed a slow, stiff nod.

"In truth," the ancient monster continued, "though you may never recall, what you did here to help our people was very brave. And very much appreciated."

"Th-Thank you, Lady Toriel, but I don't know that I—"

"I know. But, it does not matter."

June clenched her hand into her shirt. The glow, though dim, had not faded. Her eyes welled up and she took her glasses off. "It… Ah…" She swallowed, hard. Her voice was tight. "Why does that… cloth feel like… touching my own hand?"

"Beeeeecause it's thanks to you that it even exists," Papyrus said. "I can explain—

"Yes!" She leaned forward to grab the skeleton's hand. "Yes. Please."

The skeleton lit up like a ray of sunshine. Frisk offered him her phone again and he swooped it up.

"Stuff's in Sans's texts, 'kay?" she said as she took Asriel's hand.

"Thank you!" he said as the kids left, past their mother and back to the bench seat.

.

Frisk kind of wanted to listen in. Offer some help, if she could. But, with Toriel and Sans around them, and Papyrus already so animated, she settled on the back seat and latched tight onto Asriel's arm. She caught Sans surreptitiously shoot her a thumbs up. That lightened her mind a little bit.

.

Down a residential street they went, according to Sans's directions, until they came to a couple of unremarkable bungalows. They pulled up in front of one with a very large tree and a porch, beside which a tan woman in overalls and a sunhat tended to a flourishing garden. She looked up with the utmost of confusion at the sight of the huge, colourful bus and the wheeze of its breaks.

.

Undyne threw the doors open and got to her feet with a stretch. Mettaton did, too.

"Alright, I'm gonna look for our guy," she announced.

"Golly," Asgore said, "don't you think I should—?"

"Allow me, your Highness," Mettaton said with a graceful bow. "Yooou should not be put into any accidental harm's way, and I look the most human! Aside from the two actual humans, of course."

"I think I'd be fine." Undyne looked back at Gaster. "Or, what about you?"

"Oh, absolutely not," Gaster said. "That woman in the garden will probably faint just seeing my face." He nodded at Alphys. "Aside from Asriel or Suzy— or Frisk, obviously— I believe Alphys would be the least unnerving for a human to see."

"M-Me?" Alphys's dark eyes glimmered. "Well, I-I don't mind, I—!"

"Eyyy, great, then you two, come on," Undyne said.

"Waaait! Wait!" Frisk rushed up to join them. "Me too. If he's here, he'll recognize me."

"Oh. Uh." Undyne looked at Gaster, and he gave a little nod. "Okay. Just, uh, stick close."

.

When the three monsters and the kid unloaded from the bus, the human woman in the garden froze, wide-eyed, clutching a trowel as if for dear life. Undyne scanned the area. Mettaton strutted up to the front door and knocked. Frisk followed him, peeking around curiously. She leaned her ear against the door and Mettaton squatted down.

"What do you hear, sweetie pie?" he asked quietly.

Frisk scrunched up her face. "Uhh. Nothing."

"Yo! Boyd?! You home?!" Undyne called.

As Mettaton tried to peer in the windows, Alphys looked around the yard. She caught the sunhat woman cautiously edging a little closer to them, and quickly waved to her.

"H-Hi! Um! D-Do you know if your neighbour is h-here?" she called. "W-We're, um, from Starhome. We work f-for the King. Um, of m-monsters, of course!" Her face flushed. "O-Oh! It's n-nothing bad, though!"

Undyne whipped around and locked her gaze on the stunned human, who abruptly shrank. Frisk's eyes widened and she left the door, running to Undyne's side and grabbing her closest hand. She smiled innocently at the lady.

"Hiya! Sorry to surprise you!" she said brightly. "We wanna find the guy that lives here to help him out with something, it's really important."

Undyne nodded. "Right. We're doin' an investigation on this guy's missin' daughter; got a lead. He around?"

"Wh…?! Uh." The human lady took a moment to regain her words, her eyes darting between the three before her. "Well, no, he said he was leaving town for a little. I'm… I'm watching his cat."

.

"H-His cat," Alphys repeated shrilly, looking back at the others. She beckoned to Mettaton urgently.

Mettaton rushed over to join them and Undyne dragged them into a huddle.

"What now?" she asked.

"Do we take the cat?" Mettaton wondered.

"We are not stealing a cat," Undyne growled.

"Not stealing! Delivering!"

"Do cats like buses?" Frisk wondered.

"…D-Do cats eat magic food?" Alphys added shrilly.

Mettaton shrugged. "Gooood questions, darling."

"That guy should be comin' back here before anything else, probably, right?" Undyne frowned. "Unless the human cops try to arrest him, that might take a while to sort out."

"Cat's safe here, right?" Frisk said.

"O-Okay, so… cat stays?" Alphys said.

Mettaton nodded. "Cat stays, I guess."

.

"Alright!" Undyne broke away from the others and turned back to the cautious sunhat lady. "Y'wouldn't mind pointing us in the direction he went, would you?"

"H-He didn't say," the human said apologetically. "But there's only really two big roads out of town, not counting the one to the mountain, of course."

Undyne frowned and scoffed quietly. "He couldn't make this easy, huh?"

"Don't get disheartened, my dear grouchy Captain, I'm positive there's another way," Mettaton said.

"Did he mention anything about, like… Anyone he wanted to see?" Frisk asked.

"Yeah, any names, any sorta… cryptic mumblings?" Undyne said. "You'd be surprised what could be a lead."

"I'm sorry we gotta push," the kid insisted, "but it's about his missing kid, so we really wanna help him out."

"Well. Just that he'd be gone a few days," the neighbour said with a little shake of her head. "He left late yesterday, if that helps."

"Hm. Maybe a bit," Undyne said.

Alphys smiled awkwardly and bowed to the human. "Th-Thank you for your help."

.

They hurried back onto the bus and Undyne dropped herself heavily into the driver's seat. Just as they began to leave, Asgore opened his window and called out to complement the lady's garden. She almost fell into a bush.

.

"S-So what now?" Alphys asked.

"Dunno." Undyne raised her voice. "Hey, Paps, you almost done?!"

"About half-way!" the skeleton replied.

"Can you guys take a break to call this guy?!"

"I tried while you were outside," June volunteered. "But he didn't answer."

"Try again?"

June nodded, clutching her phone tight. "R-Right."

.

It took three more tries and a message left before June managed to get a reply, but it was in the form of a text. Boyd told her he was on the way to Anthelion. She told him to turn around. He said he wouldn't. She called him again. He didn't pick up.

.

When June lowered her phone in frustration after the fifth try, she'd acquired an audience of every occupant of the bus, save for its driver. Toriel patted her reassuringly on the back.

"Yo, why's he being like that?" Suzy wondered.

"I… don't know," June said quietly.

"Maybe the same reason he didn't tell you why he took off the first time this happened," Papyrus said.

The woman looked at him blankly.

"Oh right!" Frisk cut in. She and the other two kids had taken the seat just across the aisle from her, with Asriel partially draped over her. "Like, he said he didn't wanna get you in trouble when he talked to me back at Asgore's."

"But that's not… Oh." June rubbed her temples.

"So what do we do?!" Undyne called. "My vote's keep goin' to Arrow Valley."

"And do what, exactly?" Toriel asked. "Observe? Intercept the kidnapper?"

"We'll have to be cautious." Gaster crossed his arms. "What state was the girl in when you found her before?"

"Nervous. Was told her dad was a bad guy and cops were fake," Sans said. "Bleached hair. Otherwise fine."

"Bleached?" June repeated. Her face hardened. "That's… not something we like to see. Not at all."

"Why would that be, Junebug?" Mettaton asked. "…Oh, is it like a piece of a disguise?"

"Exactly," she said. "It's not at all uncommon for someone to try to change the appearance of a child if they don't want them to be found."

"Oh, creepy," Suzy muttered.

"What an awful situation," Toriel agreed, frowning deeply.

.

"On top of all that, though," Gaster said, "no matter what we do, we have to be careful. We're not exactly in our element up here. The last thing we need are the humans turning on us. And showing ourselves might cause the people who took the child to run."

Asgore hummed thoughtfully. "Before we left, I did contact Sollund's authorities, as a courtesy, to let them know we'd be out and about. If we have to handle some of this ourselves, I believe the humans would be willing to cooperate with us."

"Sounds like we just need to call the human cops before the evil grandma does," Asriel said.

"Right. So we'll start dealin' with it and catch the guy up," Undyne decided.

.

"Sorry, um." Frisk leaned forward towards the human lady and Asriel sagged more heavily into her. "Do you think he'd talk to me? Since, y'know, I'm… the psychic kid?"

"Oh! I can…! I can try that," June said, texting quickly. "We'll see."

"I'd answer the phone for a psychic kid," Asriel said, sticking his tongue out.

"I knew you'd say that!" Frisk joked.

.

"Here," Sans said, holding out his hand to June. "You guys keep with the storytellin', I'll annoy your pal 'til he answers again."

"Ooh! Yes, definitely let him do that," Papyrus said with an enthusiastic nod. "He is extremely good at message spam."

June cautiously handed the device over. Sans stuck his thumb up and disappeared, only to show up on the back seat again, kicking his legs up across it and leaning back against the side.

"H-How did you do that?!" she yelped.

"A whole lotta math," he replied.

xXxXx

It wasn't until they had almost reached Arrow Valley that Boyd finally replied, and instead of answering anything else, Sans simply told him where his daughter was and to meet everyone there. The man was a spluttering mess, but he managed to convey that he'd been on his way to Anthelion to chase a lead . It was no longer necessary. He'd done most of the hard work in a time that no longer existed, but Sans didn't tell him that.

.

The next issue they encountered was that the monsters were rolling into town in what might have been the least inconspicuous vehicle on the planet. It was double edged sword, then, that Arrow Valley was so sleepy and small. One the one hand, getting noticed was inevitable. On the other, it meant that actually reaching their destination didn't take very long at all.

.

In the town under the shadow of a mountain, Undyne parked just up the block from the house they'd visited once before. As Mettaton used a zoom-in function on his eyes to keep watch on the place, Sans huddled up with Undyne on the floor near the steps, comparing notes on what they recalled from last time. June, too, scooted in, providing what info she could. Alphys worked at the main console, searching for official frequencies to access. It seemed as if humans had some that were open to their police lines, but she was looking for the head of a local department.

.

"It does look like someone's home, darlings," Mettaton asserted. "Though I just see the movement. Maybe… two adults?"

"Question," Asriel said, scooting up under Undyne's arm. "What if I just like, climb into the window and get this kid? And we get outta here? Wouldn't that work?"

"Why you?" Undyne asked, mussing up the fur between his horns.

"Just look at me, dude," he said. "I'm cute as hell. The chance a human kid is gonna be scared for more than two seconds is like, nothing."

"We sorta did that last time," Sans said. "But, uh. That part was my job."

"Right! It did work pretty well at first, actually! But then eventually the police got called and we had to go on the run and the fly the car away," Papyrus said.

"We probably only had the time that we did 'cause these weirdos hesitated, since they'd kidnapped the kid before we did," Undyne joked. She sighed and glared out the front window. "Know how far Boyd is from here?"

"I can try calling again," June suggested.

.

"Perhaps we should just do this the proper way," Asgore said with a smile, "and contact the human authorities."

"And if things go bad we can just stash the kid in the bus," Undyne agreed.

"I-I think I have who you have to contact," Alphys said. She pulled a two-way speaker wired into the dash out of a little compartment and handed it over to Undyne.

The blue monster nodded. "We in?"

"W-We can be." Alphys accessed the console and pressed a couple buttons. She stuck her thumb up.

.

The radio buzzed. Undyne squeeze the button to turn it on and held it close to her mouth.

"Hey. This is Captain Undyne Dreemurr, Royal Guard, Mount Ebott, requesting access," she said, slyly smiling when both Asriel and Frisk's faces lit right up. "Reporting a crime in human territory. Needs action ASAP. Don't wanna step on any toes."

"10-4, Captain Dreemurr," came a man's stoic voice in reply. "Got word you might be around. Go ahead."

Undyne's ears perked. "Arrow Valley. Got someone sendin' the address and name deets to the station," she said, nudging Sans with her elbow. "Had a man come to the mountain lookin' for a missin' kid, so we opened an investigation. Leads brought us here."

"Oh." The faintest hint of surprise raised the man on the line's voice. "What's the situation?"

"Kidnapping. Kid's name is Ellie Dunleavy, missing for about three years. The father lives in Gullport. Grandmother has the kid against the knowledge or wishes of the father. Don't know the first name; family name is Aiza."

"Roger that. Familial kidnapping… Details confirmed. Any weapons on scene?"

Undyne looked up at Mettaton. He could only shrug in reply.

"We're down the road," she said. "Can't tell. Two adults inside."

There was a short pause, and a crackling of empty audio."Confirmed. Officers on the way. We'll ask you not to participate further unless in case of immediate bodily harm to anyone involved."

"Got it," she said. "Thanks, man."

"…You're welcome."

.

The line cut. Undyne let out a deep breath, only to find Frisk jumping at her to give her a tight hug around the neck.

"Undyne Dreemurr!" she cooed.

The big monster snickered and squished her close. "Heh. Yeah."

"About time," Asriel said with a grin. He shot a look back at his father and the old monster was beaming.

"Captain Uunnnndyyyne Dreeeemurrr!" Papyrus cheered.

"Okay, okay!" Undyne's cheeks flushed, and even more so when Alphys put her arms around her shoulders and gave her a quick smooch on the cheek. "S'all good, huh?

.

"Sorry to cut in on your good vibes, and massive congratulations on your overdue adoption, darling," Mettaton said, "but, is that all we need to do? I feel like I should still be keeping watch. I should, shouldn't I?"

"Yeah, probably," Sans said as he crashed to laze on the driver's seat. He returned Alphys's phone to her and kicked his heels up onto the wheel.

"Sans, don't put your scruffy old slippers up there, someone has to touch that later!" Papyrus chided. "That someone being ME!"

"Eh, it's fine, they're clean."

"Unlikely!"

.

Frisk tried to climb up with her brother and his blue magic caught her and lifted her up onto the seat. She stood up, hands on the top of the wheel, and looked out intently, like Mettaton was doing. From there, though, she couldn't see anything of interest.

"I have to admit," Toriel said quietly, "it's… a little difficult to simply sit and wait, knowing that child is in there and should not be."

Asgore nodded, and Gaster reached out to take her arm.

"Our presence there would only cause a panic," he said. "Maybe even in the child."

"That's extremely true; she hid from us when we went looking until Sans sat in a closet with her and convinced her that her dad was not actually a horrible villain," Papyrus said.

"It's… It is best to let the proper authorities take care of it, when you can," June said quietly. "Even if it… might make you want to throw up. It's… You know, it's for the safety of the child."

"Well." Undyne got to her feet. "I'm the proper authorities."

.

June's brow furrowed thoughtfully. She looked up at Undyne. "I'm wondering, how do you normally deal with this sort of thing?"

"Dunno. Bust in the door?" Undyne shrugged. "Never had something like this happen."

The woman stared back at her blankly, and then turned to look at Asgore. He shrugged as well.

"I can't recall anything like it," he admitted.

"But… How can that be?"

"Well, normally, a missin' kid is… Well, unless we're having a really bad day, a missing kid is," Undyne said, counting it out on her fingers, "they stayed too long at a friend's place and fell asleep outta view, they took a dip in the canal and floated off to a different region, they got stuck behind a puzzle somewhere; they went up a tree or an old tower and couldn't get down." She shot Frisk a grin and patted Asriel's head. "Or they got lost outside of time and space for a bit. That kinda thing. Nothin' like this."

June nodded, but she didn't look any less troubled.

.

An uncomfortable silence settled in the bus. Suzy ducked back to get some snacks, and Toriel took the opportunity to give her another hug. In the meanwhile, Alphys returned to the console and began to enter more frequencies for it to track— those of the local police, which were publicly available via a Bloodhound search. She tapped her foot as the system updated with its additional targets.

"Someone r-remind me t-to install some longer range apparatuses i-if we ever have to do something like this a-again," she said quietly.

.

Mettaton abruptly let out a squawk, startling just about everyone. He jabbed a finger forward. "Someone's moving over there!"

Asriel rushed up and squeezed in between the metal monster and Alphys, standing on his toes to see. Just as Mettaton said, a lady had come out of the house they were spying on. Not old enough to be a grandmother, but still with a few wisps of grey in her light hair and a slightly puckered face. She had a phone clutched tight in one hand and the wrist of a little girl in a pink hoodie in the other. Frisk couldn't help a sharp gasp and Undyne pressed forward, baring her teeth.

"Oh n-no, we weren't too obvious, w-were we?" Alphys whispered.

"There's no way," Undyne said.

"Can y'see what's on the phone?" Sans asked.

"Bad angle," Mettaton said. "Whyyyy?"

"Welp. If we could get into cop stuff…" He gestured to the woman.

"Oh heck," Frisk breathed.

"M-Maybe it's a coincidence?" Alphys wondered nervously. She didn't sound like she believed the words as they were coming out of her mouth. "It c-could be, right?"

Frisk looked at her eldest brother worriedly. "Should…? Should we try again?" she asked at a whisper.

He shook his head. "Not yet."

.

From there, they could see the dour lady drag the kid that had to be Ellie to a car, and all but toss her in the back. A faint heat began to emanate from the bus— Toriel was flaring around the shoulders, her fangs shown in a snarl as she clutched to Suzy in the way she sorely wanted to grab that little human girl. Gaster hurriedly held her and June rushed to her side.

"Lady Toriel, please, we just have to wait a little longer," she said.

"But shouldn't we do something, though?" Papyrus asked. "More than nothing? This is awful! Can't we—?"

"This is unbearable," Toriel said.

"Perhaps we step out," Asgore said. "Shock them silly. And then we could—"

"A-As the Ambassador between our peoples, for now, King Asgore," June said swiftly, "I can't have you getting into trouble out here so quickly, just in case people think this is something that it isn't."

Asgore's ears drooped. "But what good am I if—?"

.

The car in the driveway started. Undyne snarled.

"No more waiting," she announced. She pushed past the three monsters at the console and shoved into the driver's seat, hoisting Frisk into her lap and squishing Sans against the window.

The engine rumbled to life at her touch and she jammed on the gas, jerking the bus forward so swiftly that everyone standing— with the exception of Toriel— lost their footing. Sailing over almost a block in just a few seconds, Undyne rushed across the suspect driveway and smashed the breaks just in time for the car that was backing out to bonk into its side.

.

The human woman who had been driving the car threw her door open and ran out, yelling and gesturing aggressively. Alphys eeped loudly and Mettaton rushed to brace himself against their door as if to shore it up with his metallic frame. Undyne quickly passed Frisk towards Asriel and jammed her finger back down the aisle.

"Kids to the back!" she ordered.

"Undyne, we're fine," Asriel said.

"Just in case, got it?! Paps, watch them. And Mettaton, get the hell away from there!"

"What if she breaks in?!" he demanded.

"Yeah, that's why I said to move!"

"The worst she could probably do is break a window," Gaster volunteered. "The door is fairly solid."

"Good." Undyne put the bus in park and sat back, their mobile, solid wall firmly in place. "Then, we're just here to draw agro."

.

Outside, the woman smacked the side of the bus. Mettaton flitted away swiftly, wrapping his arms around himself and standing near Toriel.

"I didn't expect a human to be so… yelly," he admitted.

"I will protect you, dear," Toriel assured him.

.

The lady outside began to shout about her car. She waved her arms, and then turned back to the vehicle, pointing forcefully at what seemed to be the kid in the back seat.

"Ugh, just leave her alone, you nasty punk," Undyne grumbled.

"Got an idea," Sans said. "Window?"

"Uh." Undyne raised a brow. "You sure?"

"Yeah, just a crack."

Undyne shrugged. She did as he asked.

"EY, LADY!" Sans shouted, exaggerating the rough tone of his voice. "WHAT YOU SHOUTIN' 'BOUT, YOU HIT ME!"

The woman whipped around to glare at the bus's door."Excuse me?!" The incredulity was so thick in her voice it was as if he'd said something incorrigibly disgusting.

"You heard me! What the hell was that, huh?! Look both ways when you're backin' up! This thing's expensive!"

Undyne snorted loudly. Behind them, Toriel couldn't help a little laugh. In a huff, the human woman stormed up to the door and beat on it heavily with her fist.

"Ey, ey, back off!" Sans continued. "Who knows what you already broke, eh?!" He slammed his elbow into the wheel and activate a horn that blared like a foghorn.

As the woman jumped out of her shoes, the skeleton looked at Undyne with a big grin.

"Oops." He looked around and hit another button, causing some fluid to shoot out from the top of the windshield, enough to splash a little. "Oops."

.

The tension inside the bus was broken. As Sans continued to muck about, the adults were caught between mortification and hysterics. The three kids, however, had their focus elsewhere.

"I feel like the human system is dumb," Asriel said quietly.

"Yeah, what's takin' them so long?" Suzy asked.

"They always take a long time," Frisk said. She got up on the seat and then looked out the window. "…Man, she must be scared, huh?"

"I'm sure she was scared before this," Asriel said. "But, yeah."

"What's going on here?" Papyrus slid in in a hurry, lowering his voice as much as he could in the ruckus. "…Are we scheming? Planning? Because I really hope we are and I will not give whatever it is away, I promise on every bone that I have."

"Like, what can we do though?" Suzy got up beside Frisk, grimacing. "Ugh, I dunno if that's the weird grandma or not, but—"

"I think it might be the weird aunt," Frisk said.

"Well, whoever it is, kinda wanna bite her legs."

"Same," Asriel said.

.

"Maybe we…? We could, like, just get the kid here?" Frisk asked hopefully. "Bring her in the bus? She could hang out with us just until her dad and the human police show up."

"That sounds fantastic, little sister! But…" Papyrus tilted his head back at the door, where the human woman was getting increasingly agitated, smacking her palm against it as Sans complained at her through the gap in the window. "I'm pretty sure the front door is not a very good option."

Frisk raised her brows. She tapped on the window. Asriel's ears perked up and he grinned.

"Man, I love when you scheme," he said.

It took Suzy a second longer, but she looked eager, too, her fangs gleaming. Papyrus's brows shot right up. He spun around to look at the others. Almost all of them had moved up towards the front, with Alphys starting to hit disruptive buttons as well. Only Mettaton had moved towards the back at all. The skeleton put on a determined frown and turned back to the little kids, nodding resolutely.

"That's a perfect idea," he said. "And I can—!"

"Stay here to pull us back up?" Asriel asked hopefully.

"Ah. Well." Papyrus only looked disappointed for a fraction of a second before he smiled brightly. "Of course! That's a very important job, and I will be more than happy to do it."

Frisk grinned. "Thanks, bro."

.

With another quick check over his shoulder, Papyrus straightened up and opened a window on the other side of the bus, where the kids would not be seen right away. With just a little indigo magic, he had all three of them on the pavement in a matter of seconds. Frisk thanked him with a little, heart-shaped bubble of magic and pulled up the hood on her sweatshirt.

"Do you wanna talk to her?" Frisk asked Suzy. "Like, at least start it off?"

"But, uh… Won't she not remember me?" the little monster wondered.

"I mean, she won't, but… sometimes feelings stick, y'know?"

The crocodaur frowned with puzzlement, but she nodded anyway.

.

Moving quick and quiet, the kids slipped around the far side of the bus and up to the front. They ignored the periodic honking and the shouting of the adults as the woman tried frantically to get the bus to open up and Sans continued to insisted she'd broken it and he wasn't getting out. Asriel smushed a hand against his mouth to try to stop from laughing at the woman kicked at the door in frustration and Sans leaned heavily on the horn again.

.

The kids, crouched low, snuck up the driveway and towards the silver four-door stalled there. Through the tinted window, they could just make out the form of Ellie, curled up in the back, her hands pressed hard over her ears. Once they reached the door, Suzy tapped hard on it with her claws.

"Hey! Hey, Ellie?" she hissed.

After a moment, inside, the little kid scooted up to the window, eyes wide and glossy. Suzy popped up and waved and Ellie gaped and froze. Suzy faltered and quickly looked at the others, hurriedly waving for them to join her. Frisk peeked out, too, and Asriel stood up fully and shot the little kid a big smile. The small human kid gawked. She stared at them and suddenly looked a lot more intrigued than scared.

.

"We wanna get you out. We're pals. You remember?" Suzy said. "Come with us!"

The girl glanced between the woman at the front of the car and the strange kids to her side. She clearly didn't know what to do. Frisk stood up on her toes and got a bit closer.

"Someone who really cares about you sent us to find you," she said. "We know your grandma said some stuff to you about hiding. But she was really just trying to hide you from people who wanna help you. I know this isn't easy, but please don't be scared."

"Yeah! And, I'll give you a big hug if you come out," Asriel said. "It's gonna be safe, I promise."

"Can you open the door?" Frisk asked.

"We can rip it off if you can't," Suzy offered.

.

Ellie bit her lip. She looked around again nervously, then reached for something. They could hear a latch clunk and a little bit of pushing, but the door didn't budge. Ellie looked at them with wide, watery eyes, and shook her head. Suzy held her claws up. Frisk snickered.

"I got it," she said, laying her hand against the door. A little glimmer of red, and a lock inside clicked. "Easy."

"Here." Asriel grasped the flat door handle and pulled. "Careful."

.

Slowly, Ellie slipped out through the small opening, and Asriel opened his arms to give her the promised hug. She ran to him eagerly and he squeezed her close, grinning proudly.

"Alright, kid," he said, holding her shoulders and dipping down to match her eyes, "we gotta—"

She booped him on his nose and smiled through her tears. "Y-You're so cute!" she squeaked.

"Hah, I know. Come on." He nodded back towards the bus. "Hang out with us."

"B-But—!"

"Just until everything calms down," Frisk said gently.

"Don't worry, if someone comes too close, I'll bite 'em," Suzy assured her.

Ellie stared at her, eyes bugging out. Before she could say another word, the sound of the latch of the door to the house opening caught them. Asriel hefted the little human up off her feet and they all fled back to the other side of the bus as fast as they could run.

.

At the window, they were greeted not just by Papyrus, but by Mettaton and Gaster as well, who looked to be close to a full-blown panic.

"What were you three thinki—?" The old skeleton froze. "Torann m'anam."

"Sorry," Frisk said. "We couldn't wait."

"Here!" Mettaton stuck his arm out the window. "Allow me!"

"Don't worry at all, we've got you!" Papyrus said. He waved. "Hi, Ellie!"

The little kid in Asriel's arms, pale and wide-eyed, stiffly waved back at him.

.

As fast as they could, the monsters inside grabbed the kids up and huddled them inside again— not a moment too soon, either, as the sounds of cars began to echo up and down the otherwise still street. Gaster wilted onto a seat and pulled Frisk into his arms as the other adults were taken by the commotion. Asgore was the first to see, though his bulk mostly blocked the others as he froze in the aisle. Ellie's jaw dropped.

"M-Mountain King," she breathed.

"Oh!" Asgore blurted. He quickly regained his composure. "H-Howdy, little one."

"Wait, what has…?" Toriel poked her head around his side. Her gaze darted over to the other kids and her eyes widened. The realization on her face swiftly shifted to relief. "Oh, thank goodness."

"Ellie?!" June attempted to clamber over the backs of the seats, which generously gave way to allow her.

The child was hit with the umpteenth shock of last few minutes and her legs simply gave out. "M-M-Miss June?!"

.

Ellie was swept up in June's arms. Despite the commotion that was still going on outside, things inside were suddenly much, much lighter. June, once she was able to clear her throat enough to speak, pulled the little girl aside to quietly explain what was going on. Frisk knew the story; had heard it as Sans told it. For some reason, she felt a little sad that it wouldn't be his words that convinced Ellie of the truth about her father this time around. But, either way, a kid was going to be safe when she would have otherwise been hidden from her family, and that's all she could really hope for.

.

After a few minutes, a loud nyeh from Papyrus alerted the group to more happenings. Up front, they closed the window of banter.

"Looks like our pal's here," Sans said. "Ooh. He, uh… looks pretty pissed."

"Same, though," Undyne said.

They could hear a ruckus outside; the screech of tires and the slamming of doors. A man and a woman yelling at each other. Then, more cars. June clutched Ellie a little closer, her heart beating so loudly that the flop-eared of the group could catch it easily. Asgore put a large, reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Oop, a-and theeeeere's the, um, p-police," Alphys said. "T-Timing could've been worse, I guess…"

"So what do we do?" June asked sheepishly.

"D-Does that mean daddy's outside?" Ellie wondered, looking around. "What do I do?"

"I'm… not sure, I…" The woman flinched. "I don't know that we should be involved, but—"

"Why not just let Ellie out and tell the truth?" Papyrus asked.

"That's true, we're kids, we won't get into trouble," Frisk said.

"Better idea," Asriel said. "Let 'er out same way we got out." He looked at the little human girl. "You wanna see your dad, right?"

She nodded readily. "…He… He really wasn't mean this whole time, right? I wanna see him."

"Okay." Asriel tilted his head towards the window. "Then. We let you out. You go to the nearest cop and tell them exactly how you feel, okay? Can you do that?"

"Here." Suzy offered the kid a magic bonbon. "You need it."

"Th-Thanks." Ellie chomped on the candy quickly and wiped her eyes on the back of her sleeve. She sniffled deeply and looked Asriel in the eyes. "Okay. Thanks, bunny. Thanks dinosaur. I'll go."

Asriel had to keep himself from balking. He nodded sturdily. "Good. Be brave, huh?"

"Allow me!" Papyrus said, hopping towards the back of the bus again. "We can be extremely sly! Right?"

He offered Ellie his hand. The girl gulped. She almost shrank in her seat.

"You will be alright, dear girl," Toriel said gently.

"Stay determined," Asgore added. "It will be easy! And then you'll be with your father again. Won't that be nice?"

The child nodded again. She cautiously took Papyrus's hand.

.

Once again, with just a light touch of indigo, Ellie was safely on the ground outside the bus. She hesitated for just a moment before rushing to the side of the nearest police officer and tugging on his pant leg. Nobody could hear what she was saying, but she was quickly hurried past the front of the bus. Everyone inside rushed to look out the other side, just in time to see Boyd— haggard and red-faced— drop to his knees to accept Ellie into his arms. The woman who had dragged her to the car was moved back and away from them by a stern-faced officer. Another, older woman peering out the door of the house, tried to retreat as a different cop marched up the steps towards her.

.

The monsters waited around for just a little while longer. Eventually, an officer— who looked like she was bracing herself in anticipation of what she might see— came to knock on the door. Undyne opened it up, but before she could get more than a greeting out, June ran to the front to quickly introduce herself and explain what had happened. She neglected to mention the brief spiriting away of the child into the monster bus, though, something that certainly didn't go unnoticed by Undyne.

.

Ellie and Boyd would be out for the count for the rest of the day, at least. They had to go to a police station somewhere to get the whole ordeal sorted out. The officers also wanted a little more detail from Undyne, so they traded numbers so she could send a report along, but that wouldn't be for another day or so. For now, they had a beach to get to. It wouldn't be the last time the group would see those two humans, though.

.

It was time to head back to Gullport, and Papyrus's turn at the wheel. Undyne was glad for the break.

.

As the rest of them chilled out, June's nerves were still completely shot. Toriel took a seat beside her to gently console her, and after a quick chat, the others decided to extend an invite to the ocean to her. She was taken aback, but sheepishly agreed.

xXxXx

After a smooth drive along long roads, the beach awaited.

.

The crash of the waves and the salt spray in the air was invigorating. The sea grumbled, a little temperamental, perhaps from the storms above that had rolled in recently. The gulls that gave the surrounding city its name sailed overhead, plaintively squawking to each other as they rode the cool wind. Sunshine cut through the chill, though. The temperature was just right.

.

However, the wide stretch of pale sand was vacant, save for one man at quite a distance, strolling around with two, moderately sized pets, trotting around amongst the meagre dunes and rocks. It was a little early for swimming season this year, June explained. The ocean was still too cold for most people, but by next month, the beaches would be packed.

.

This suited the newcomers from Mount Ebott just fine.

.

Ditching her hoodie and shoes, Frisk rolled up her pantlegs and stood at the edge of the water, her feet sunk into soft, damp sand where the waves met the beach. She stared up at the white gulls that seemed to hover in place for a few moments before gliding onwards. The breeze caught in her hair and, she had to admit, it felt pretty nice.

.

She'd been here before, in the world she'd had to reset. Not for long, and not much in the water. This time, she'd learn to swim, she promised herself.

.

"Friiiiiiisk!" Asriel smacked into her from behind and grabbed her shoulder. "Aah! Oops. Hah." He grinned. "Good day, huh?"

.

"Long day," she said with a laugh. "But, yeah."

"Saved the kid, got the Ambassador…!" He turned and looked back at the beach, back to where June was sitting, chatting with Toriel, Asgore, and Gaster, while Mettaton luxuriated nearby on a pink and sparkly blanket.

Frisk followed his gaze. She couldn't help but think how much younger those three ancient monsters looked all of a sudden, but she wasn't sure why.

"Hey." Asriel lowered his voice. "…You don't think Papyrus told her she died, do you?"

"…I dunno, I don't think so. Don't think she'd be so, like… chill about it," Frisk said.

"That's what I thought, too," he said with a nod. He shivered and snickered, looking down at his feet. "Sheesh. Freezing." He grinned sideways. "Who'd really wanna—?"

.

"NNNNGAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

"NYEEEEEEEEEEH!"

A little ways off, the ocean erupted with a cannonball as Undyne and Papyrus flung themselves into the ocean with reckless abandon. Alphys squeaked and tossed herself in after them, only to exclaim loudly about how cold it was.

.

Asriel snickered. "…Never mind. That makes sense." He cut his eyes at his sister. "You're not gonna drag me in, are you?"

She shot him a sly grin. He balked and shoved her lightly.

"No you wouldn't!"

Frisk snickered. "You're right." She breathed in deeply. Tasted salt on the back of her tongue. "This is nice, though."

.

"Whoa." Announced by the light squish of her steps, Suzy finally joined them. Without care, she waded knee-deep into the ocean and stood there, staring out into the blue. "Whoooooa."

Frisk snickered. She braced herself and took another step in. Before she could ask what Suzy was looking at, the crocodaur pointed a claw way out over the horizon.

"What's over there?" she asked.

"What, across the water?" Asriel asked. "…More water?"

"I think there's islands, eventually," Frisk said.

"I can't see anything! Must be super far," she said. "What happens when you get to the edge?"

"The edge isn't that way," the kid said with a snicker. "It's up!"

"Up?!" Suzy tilted her head back to look and frowned thoughtfully. "How far up?"

"Like, super super far, they needed big rockets and stuff to go out there."

"Damn." Asriel looked up, too. "That's that stuff Sans talks about, right?"

Frisk nodded.

"Well, what happens if you just like, go that way, though?" Suzy said, pointed out at the water again. "Is there a wall?"

Frisk grinned. "Nope! It just goes around!"

"What?!"

"Yeah!" Frisk carefully waded a bit closer, despite the shiver running up her spine and the bottom of her pants starting to soak. She followed Suzy's eye line and held onto her outstretched hand. "See, if you followed this line and just went straight forever, you'd come right back here, but like, from the other direction!"

"What?!" Suzy turned around swiftly almost as if she'd expected someone to come up from behind her right at that moment. "Seriously?!"

"Apparently," Asriel said. "I'd kinda like to try it sometime. Just, you know, to do it." He shot Frisk a smile. "We got all the time in the world, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Guess so."

.

"Hey," Suzy said. She waved as Sans drifted by, lounging on the top of one of his blasters and sipping a can of sea tea. "I forgot he could do that."

"I'm jealous," Frisk joked.

"Hm." Asriel's ears perked and he snapped his fingers. His Hyper Goner appeared in the blink of an eye.

Suzy squawked. "YO?!"

"Cool, right?" Asriel said with a grin. He sent it out just a little into the water and then climbed on top. He offered his sister a hand. "Come on. Suzy, you too?"

"I, uh…" She stared up as Frisk managed to sit on the top of it with him. "O-Okay!"

They each took one of the crocodaur's arms and pulled her up, and once they were all in a good spot, Asriel set them adrift into just slightly deeper water.

.

"Be careful, you three!" Toriel called from up the beach.

"Mooooom," Asriel said as he got to his feet. "I've been around a while, I know what I'm d—!" He slipped in the water's spray and plopped back off the side of his blaster.

Frisk squeaked and she and Suzy leaned over, only to see him hanging off its horn and grinning. Frisk rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm, and he snickered and climbed back up. Their mother was on her feet already and he waved at her.

"It's fine! See? Frisk'll catch me, it's fine!"

"Sweetheart, you are a little menace!" Toriel called, shaking her head.

Asriel beamed. "Love you!"

"I love you, too, you silly boy!"

Frisk snickered and gave his shoulder a gentle whack. He smiled and shrugged, and set them moving again.

.

"Yo." Suzy trailed her fingers through the water. "Feels different, a bit, you know?"

"Like, compared to Waterfall?" Asriel said. "Yeah. It does."

"Hey." Sans had somehow appeared beside them, making Suzy jump so much she nearly stumbled. He quickly caught her in a little bit of blue magic to steady her. "Heh. Whoops. Sorry."

"I'm fine," she said swiftly.

"What's up?" Frisk asked.

"You guys want any soda?" Sans asked.

She shook her head, but Asriel stuck out his hand.

"Give."

Sans pulled out a bag and rifled through it until he found a can and passed it over. It had a little white bunny mascot on the side of it. Asriel narrowed his eyes at the skeleton, who merely grinned innocently in reply.

"Suz?" he asked.

"Oh." The crocodaur looked up from the water. "Uh. No, I'm good. Thanks."

.

A raucous splash erupted just off to their left, and Undyne breached the water, wiping her bright red hair from her eyes. Her earfins flared and the stark red on them and the scales around her eyes gleamed in contrast with the blue, even more so than usual.

"Hey! Any of you guys wanna swim?!" she asked.

"Not me this time," Frisk said with a bashful smile.

Asriel, with a mouthful of soda, shook his head.

"I… kinda wanna," Suzy said.

"Eyyy, thatta kid!" Undyne held out her arms. "Careful, it's cold."

Suzy braced herself, carefully stood up, and took a leap. Undyne caught her as she spluttered and snickered.

"Aaah, whoa, it's deep!" she said.

"Yeah! Don't worry! Gotcha." She hefted the kid up and pointed to Papyrus, who wasn't too far away, standing on a sandbar where Alphys was floating on her back. "Paps!"

Papyrus put his arms up and Suzy was unceremoniously hurled all the way over to him. Undyne chortled, saluted the others, and then dove straight back into the depths and disappeared. The kids leaned over the edge of their ride to watch, only for her to breach like a shark beside Sans and tackle him down into the depths. Asriel spit his drink in a howl of laughter, only from the two of them to reappear with the others. Sans tiredly stuck his thumb up before he sank slowly below the waves again. Papyrus cawed and dove down to retrieve him.

.

Frisk snickered and waved at them. Asriel coughed, trying to catch his breath, and he leaned around his sister and slumped.

"We could go, you know," he said. "I'm sure Undyne'd hold you up."

"I know," she said. "Don't worry." She lowered her voice, even though there wasn't anyone around to listen in. "Sometimes, I just… really wanna chill, you know?"

"Yeah." He put his snout on her shoulder. "…I wish Chara were here."

"Same."

He snorted. "She probably wouldda thrown me in, though."

"Oh. Did you want me to?" Frisk teased.

Asriel snickered. "Nah." He sighed lightly. "God. For… For all that mess. I'm so happy. You know?"

She grabbed one of his arms and held it around her. "Me too," she said.

.

They drifted in a comfortable silence for a while. The hijinks of the monsters provided a playful counterpoint to the distant sounds of the gulls. A shadow of clouds soon cut some of the sun's warmth, and the wind blew stronger. Still, the fresh air was nice.

.

A look back at shore, to Frisk's surprise, showed a small crowd of humans had gathered, including the man who had already been on the beach. Mettaton was absolutely revelling in it, but Asgore seemed to be the main attraction. Two little beasts— the ones that had been with the beach walker— like miniature red and spotted yaks, pranced around Toriel, which she didn't seem to mind. Gaster, however had flitted off somewhere else.

.

Before Frisk could voice a wonder, Asriel tapped on her shoulder and pointed off into the distance. Gaster, it seemed, had taken a stroll far down the beach and now stood out in the ocean, looking off at nothing. The kid's face scrunched with worry and her brother patted her on the back.

"Go on," he said. "I'll bring you back."

"Thanks," she said.

.

Asriel and his Hyper Goner delivered them both back to the shore, where the boy decided to go give his parents a hand with the curious, but friendly, crowd. As expected, humans erupted in coos at the sight of him. Frisk couldn't help but snicker and a fond warmth glowed in her chest.

.

She followed her father's tracks across the beach. He'd done as she had, leaving his jacket, a light sweatshirt, and boots just out of reach of the lapping waves. Underneath that, the faded grey t-shirt he had on, now damp with ocean spray, only served to reveal his bones, darkened to the elbow on his arm. Despite how tall he was, for the first time since she'd met him, he looked, somehow, a little fragile. She remembered feeling the same way about Sans, a while back, too.

.

She carefully stuck a foot into the water. Rerolled her pant legs. Then, walked a little farther in. Gaster turned his head.

"Oh. Frisk," he said. "Be careful, alright? The pull can be… unexpected."

"I'm good," she assured him. She cocked her head. "You good?"

He nodded. She frowned. He was lying.

.

Frisk wanted to get closer, but it meant the water would soon be up to her waist. She puffed, sucked it up, and waded in deeper.

"I don't think I told you this," he said, "but my father was a mariner. He practically lived out on the ocean, for almost his whole life." He reached down as if to cup a little water, but, of course, it dropped right through the hole in his hand. He chuckled tiredly at himself. "I hardly got to know him. Shortly after I was born, he went out to sea and never came back." He crossed his arms. "…I guess I'm a little more like him than I'd thought." When he turned to look at her, his dark eyes were shimmering. "I never wanted that for you, or for the boys."

"Aw, dad," Frisk said. "It's okay, I—"

He shook his head. "If you could have just had a normal life, I—"

"I couldn't," she said. "It's fine. It's good."

Her father turned to face her, his brows bent with sympathy. "Frisk…"

"I'm serious." She smiled. "Don't worry 'bout that anymore, okay? I'm how I am, and it's all gonna be fine. I know it, 'cause I got you, and mom, and my brothers, my sister, and everyone, right? This is how it's gotta be."

.

Gaster sighed. He dipped down and rested his hand on her head, gently rubbing her hair— skimming those short little horns, too. "Frisk, I… I have to tell you something."

"Kay," she said.

"It…" He sighed; his eyes dipped down to the glistening water. "It was me. It was always me. I was the one that caused everything," he said. "Everything with Sans, this entire mess, it was—"

"I know," she said.

He shook his head. "I mean, very literally. It was my return that sparked all this and drew those others to us and if I just hadn't been so—"

"I know." Frisk smiled sideways. "I figured that out while we were out there."

"Wh…?" The skeleton's eyes shot up to lock onto hers. He gaped for a moment. "…I don't understand. Why did you…? You both spent so much time trying to make sure I could separate myself from the man with green eyes and the more direct parallel, I—"

"Well, yeah, duh, that was important too, since they did so much crazy stuff." The kid shrugged. "But we don't always know what's gonna happen when we do a thing, right?"

"I should know. I should have known."

"Nah. This part was way, way way too complicated." She smiled. "Hey. Remember what I said when I found you?"

Her father blinked back at her, running their conversations through his head. She snickered and grabbed both of his hands.

"I'm glad you're here!" she assured him. "Always am. You know? That stuff doesn't matter. And. I forgive you, if that helps? Not that I blamed you to begin with."

.

Gaster froze. Petrified. It took a moment, but his dark fingers hesitantly brushed her hair from her face and he cupped her cheek. He dipped to lightly bonk his brow against hers and she giggled and reached up to hold his head.

"Bonk!" she said.

"Frisky," he muttered. "Ah…" He plucked her up out of the water and stood up, holding her close.

The kid's heart lit and she snickered and hugged tightly onto his shoulders.

"Just look at where we are," he said quietly.

"I know, right?" She peeked back towards the beach. It still looked like everyone was having a good time. "Hey," she said. "Things are gonna be different this time. I'm gonna make sure."

"A stór, you are still just a kid," he said.

"Yeeeeah, but I'm also a time god and the Demon of Starhome!" She grinned. "So I think I can do something, at least."

.

Her father stared at her quietly, then wilted and smiled tiredly. He picked up her small hand and rubbed his thumb over the star marking her skin. "I suppose you are."

He would have said more, but the distant rumble of thunder turned his gaze seaward again. Far off, above the ocean, dark clouds plumed like smoke and sparks of lightning danced between them. He frowned.

"Ah. Maybe we should—"

"Wanna watch that thunderstorm with me?!" she asked.

Once again, the old skeleton was taken aback enough to pause. "…Pardon?"

"It's been a really long time for you, right?" she said. "We should find a spot and we should watch it!" She grinned. "Everyone's already soaked, anyway, right?"

"I… Huh."

Frisk watched the gears in his head turn. His eyes darted across the beach to the monsters there, and the crowd of humans who were starting to vamoose, then to the group in the water, where Undyne pointed and cheered at the deep, far-off sound.

.

The kid waited eagerly. Finally, her father smiled, more earnestly; more brightly this time. There was a little spark in his eyes.

"…You're right," he said. "I think we all should."