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.

46. Time to be a mess together

Time to be a mess together Chapter 46

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The warmth of the bright sun was more than welcome on Asriel's fur, and the cool moonwater in the pond was refreshing as it nourished the magic in his body. After the void and its numbing, impenetrable cold, everything solid felt great. Not to mention, having some strange dogs shampooing his ears with fruity suds was enough to almost put him to sleep. He was glad he'd let them convince him to try it out.

.

Every one in a while, though, when he closed his eyes a little too long, he saw those creeping hands and had to shake himself awake again. Wasn't real. Wasn't here. That guy could be anywhere in the infinite void, but whoever he was and whatever he wanted, Asriel didn't care much. If he found them again and pointed that weird blaster anywhere near his sister, he was going to headbutt him into the sun. This place seemed safe, though. No tears in the universe that he could see.

.

Frisk was resting. There were dogs all around her. Strangers. None of them seemed to care. They lay in the grass nearby while she lethargically pet them, every once in a while looking his way and smiling to herself. He felt bad every time she did. He didn't think anyone had been so happy to see him since his parents had found out he wasn't dead anymore.

.

He eyed over the skeletons sitting in the water nearby. The smallest one— though she wasn't really that small— was pretty loud, and she laughed a lot. The taller one with the stern and spiky face looked a bit bashful as dogs sudsed up his large horns. Avenir was asleep with just her elbows on the edge of the pond supporting her as she slumped. They said she hadn't slept in days. He wondered if that was where Papyrus got it.

.

When he heaved himself out of the pool and shook his fur out, the dogs presented him with replacement pants for his wet ones and a new, simple blue tunic with a large, darker paw print pattern on the front. He patted their ears as a thank you, which went over very well, and changed in a bush before slumping in a heap beside Frisk.

.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey." She folded her arms under her head and made a face as she held in a yawn.

Asriel smiled sideways. "You feelin' a bit better?"

"Yeah," she said. "I'm not dreaming, right?"

"Nah." He propped himself up on his elbow and shot finger guns her way, a little star of magic flicking from them and bouncing away. "I'm Dreemurr though."

"Ohmigosh." She snorted couldn't help a grin. She sat up and flicked her fingers in the same way he had. "I gotta learn that, that's so cool." Only a piddly sparking of red came from her fingertips. She sighed. "Show me again?"

"You sure? Remember last time?" He smiled sympathetically. "Hours of nothin but fffflp." He wiggled his fingers to mime the little sparks.

"Yeah, but I been using magic a lot now!" she said. "I feel better about it, I dunno! Please?"

"Okay okay." He touched on her soul, bringing out the hidden, iridescent white points. He tilted his head. "Oh. That does feel a lot better, now that you mention it. Just concentrate. Borrow this. It's easy as heck. It's not even a spell, it just kinda is."

"Umm… Oh!" Frisk's eyes lit right up and she crossed her index finger and thumb into a heart shape like the spiral-tailed Alphys had done. A glimmer of red and a little heart of magic shot out and sparkled off to nothing. She beamed.

.

Asriel barked out a loud laugh and gave her a congratulatory hug. "See?! Easy!"

"Yeah!"

"Okay, now just…" He shot finger guns with an iridescent star her way again. "Star!"

"Aaaand…" She copied him. "Star!" A red, four pointed star exaggerated her motion before vanishing as his had. "Aaaah! It worked!"

"There you go!" He winked. "See? Like I said, it's not even anything."

"Man, why don't people do that all the time, it's so fun," she said.

Asriel shrugged. "They didn't watch enough anime."

She snickered.

.

Asriel smiled fondly. He leaned back where he sat and she flopped into him. She pointed a finger up and a little star flowed from it.

"Pew," she said under her breath.

The boy snickered. He mimicked the gesture she'd done, too, to form a little heart in the air. She grinned and contentedly rested with him.

.

Frisk was so strange to him sometimes. He liked seeing her bounce back from being upset so quickly. They'd still only really been officially family for a couple months, but the layers of timelines compounded made him feel like they'd been stuck together for much longer. He still didn't fully remember that he'd shattered the barrier with her a few times before they'd figured out how to make him a soul. But, like Sans always said, feelings stuck. He hadn't understood then, but he did now. He was very grateful.

.

As the sun dried his fur, he caught his thoughts wandering off to Chara for a moment. They often did in the quiet, inserting a lonesome ache into the bit of relief that had reached him. He tried not to miss her, but that never worked. How long had they been stuck in that horrible dance together, he wondered? How long had Frisk been caught between them? How old was he even at this point? He sighed quietly and stomped that down as much as he could. Chara probably would have loved this place, though. She always got along with dogs way back then.

.

He grabbed Frisk's hand and pulled her to her feet. "Bit of privacy, I figure," he said, tilting his head towards a dog-free area a little ways away. "And you can tell me 'bout that other world, yeah?" He lifted her arm and tapped the red band around her wrist. "I guess these rings probably have something to do with it?"

"A-Ah. Yeah," she said. "There's a lot."

He smiled and jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "They're still chilling out, I think we got time."

She nodded.

.

They sat off in a corner and Frisk told him everything she could about the world they'd be headed back to and what she'd been through already. She even had some pictures to go along with it, but most of them were too blurry to be of use, except ones that were of buildings or Papyrus. Deep down, Asriel was a bit excited. That dream connection was fascinating. The thought of another time kid came with an existential chill, though. Frisk assured him that she was really nice. She wasn't one of the ones who had infiltrated their world; she had a world all her own. And, as for being another Frisk, she looked a lot different by Frisk's description, and neither her voice nor her powers were the same. That was a relief.

.

He wondered if there was a ghost of him or of Chara there, since the place was so different than theirs. Frisk hadn't seen anything like that yet, though. He hoped they wouldn't at all. Seeing another version of their brothers, or Gaster, or his dad was weird but manageable. He wasn't sure if he could handle meeting another Asriel. Another Chara in any form at all would be more difficult than he could imagine. Another Flowey would be wise to stay far, far away from him.

.

"So. That's about it." Frisk raised her arm a little to look at the red band. "I think these just kinda stuck for now. But Paps… Papyrus, over there, he put a potion on them so whatever the warning sound on it is a lot quieter for normal monsters."

"Kinda lame, but I get it," Asriel said with a sigh. "Oh well, at least they match you."

"Pff, I guess." She hugged her knees. "You'll like it there. For… For being stuck so far from home, we couldda done a lot worse. It's thanks to Pidge, in a weird way."

He nodded. "I'm mostly into this magic book stuff. Think we can buy a bunch to bring home?"

"Ooh, yeah, we should definitely do that." She pulled out the spell book for little monsters she'd got. "Alphys there gave me this. A-And thanks to Avenir's little ocarina thing, I can maybe actually do some of them now!"

"An oca…?" Asriel tilted his head as he accepted the book. "Was that what it was?"

.

She nodded and lifted the little vessel flute from around her neck to show him. He carefully held it, then grinned.

"…Of course it'd be an ocarina." He laughed and rubbed his temples.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"You ever play a Zelda?"

She blinked blankly. "What's a Zelda?"

"Okay, we're doing that when we get home," he said. "It'll be nice to try with thumbs instead of dumb leaves this time." He grinned at her slyly. "And I like how I still know more about human culture than you do. And Sans, too, I guess; he never heard of it?!"

She shrugged widely. "Nope!"

"What a dork," he teased. "There's one where you can time travel by playing songs, is all."

"Oooh!" Frisk laughed. She rubbed her head and looked at him curiously. "They didn't have that stuff when you were really little, right?"

He shook his head. "Nah. But I had a lot of time after I came back. Sometimes, if some anomaly kid was looping for a really long time I'd just sneak into the lab or someone's house and play video games. I mean, resets sucked 'cause there goes my progress, but I got it so I could beat Chameleon Twist 3 in like twenty minutes. So there's that."

Frisk clapped. He snorted and nudged her in the rib with his elbow.

"It sucks, by the way, don't bother," he said.

"I won't!" she said.

.

Asriel took a moment to look at the spell book. It reminded him of one copy they'd had at his tutor's when he was tiny kid. She'd passed away, though, and he hadn't seen one like it again.

"So. That grey guy. He's… pickin' us up?"

"Guess so," Frisk said. "I still have no clue how this works. And if this… place? If it's the same world as home, then… I dunno. Sounded like he couldn't just send us back, but I'll ask again." Her face fell. "…But I promised Papyrus I'd go back and say bye, at least. I dunno. They did so much to help me, I wouldn't want them to just be left worrying if stuff worked out or not."

"We'll figure it out," Asriel said.

.

Frisk nodded. After a few moments of looking worried, she scooted closer to him and held his hand. "Hey. Um. You sure you're okay?"

"Hm?" He looked up with a puzzled frown. "Yeah. Sure. Why?"

"That stuff you said sounded really freaky," she said quietly. "Like, the getting shot outta yourself thing? That sounds like the worst."

"Got to see mom and G, though, so it wasn't all bad. Too bad my mind was melting." He smiled ruefully. "T'be honest, it was really freaky. But being back together, w-with, uh… With you, I just… I dunno. I'm doing good."

Frisk perked up. She offered a hug and he snickered and took it. He liked being his regular size again for this. He'd almost forgot how strong her skinny little arms could hold. He let his shoulders sag.

.

"Kinda feel like we're gonna have to deal with that eventually, though, right?" she said. "I mean, we can't just let some weird guy stay out there and blast people."

"…I think he'd only really be blasting us," he said apologetically. "Unless he… creeps in somewhere. Ugh. Good point." He folded his arms and frowned thoughtfully. "Hm. You pull him out and I deck 'im?"

"I d-dunno!" she squeaked. "Maybe we can talk him down?"

"That'd be nice," he said. "I just wanna know how he kept finding me. I am pretty sure he's some Gaster, though."

"Y-Yeah?" Frisk asked nervously.

"If it's void stuff and he looks kinda like he's got skeleton hands, and he definitely has skeleton blasters, it makes sense to me," Asriel said. "And now that we know there's really a big dumb multiverse or whatever… I dunno, it fits, right?"

"I guess," Frisk said reluctantly.

.

The kid pouted. Asriel sighed quietly.

"I know you probably don't wanna hear this. I'm really sorry. But I still think all this happened because of him coming back," he said. "Not on purpose! Just… it's too weird that he comes back into the world and suddenly all these other ones start clawing their way in, y'know?"

Frisk huddled up, grimacing. She looked so small. "I know. H-He warned me. About others. I just… I mean, it's not really his fault. I'm the one that brought him back. A-And I'd do it again. So. I guess it's just me—"

"Don't start," Asriel said, rolling his eyes. "If you wanna play it like that, it's his fault for making you and blowing up in the CORE. Besides! I'm not saying fault, really. Just cause and effect." He grabbed her around the shoulders. "It's okay. Neither of you did anything wrong, right? But… I mean, if this guy is another Gaster, and he's already that strong, it's gonna be trouble if he's really bad."

"R-Right," she said.

"And if it's true, he's definitely smarter than us. G's been the smartest guy ever since… Forever." He sighed. "He's probably tracking us with science or something. So."

"Like, I just dunno what to do, though," Frisk said glumly.

"Same. But." He held out his pinkie. "Whatever we do. Together, right?"

"Pfff, of course." She latched her finger onto his and smiled tepidly. "Thanks for putting up with me and all this."

"It's the least I can do," he said with a wink. He booped his snout against her head. "Nah, I'm glad to help. I'm glad about all this except the bad parts." He sighed. "Man. I do really hope that bonehead back home is okay, though. Hey, tell your dad to use less euphemisms next time you see 'im, okay?"

"Youf…? Oh! Yeah. For sure," Frisk said with a small laugh.

.

"Timechildren." Soggy Foredog had approached them on silent paws, taking them off-guard. She smiled at them warmly. "How are you feeling?"

"Not bad," Asriel said.

"And you?" She looked at Frisk. "The spell does not seem to have taken much out of you, thankfully."

"I don't think I did much, to be honest," Frisk said sheepishly.

"I was wondering. Would you play that tune for me once more?" she asked.

.

Frisk nodded. She grabbed her ocarina and carefully tooted the melody of Asriel's soul. The boy's fur stood up on the back of his neck. The giant dog nodded. Her forehead eyes lit up with red and she turned her gaze on him with a forlorn smile.

"Ah. Little Prince. Keep an open mind, alright? All your thorns are yours now, truly. Be careful where you point them."

"Uh. Okay?" he said.

"And yours?" she asked Frisk. "If you don't mind."

"Oh, um. Gimme just a…" Frisk blew a note with every hole covered and then took a second to calculate. With a little less confidence, she played her own song. Her soul lit up on its own despite her hesitance.

The red in the dog's eyes increased. "Ah, yes. I see. Timechild. Frisk. Be assured. There is a reason you are what you are. "

Frisk looked a little puzzled but she nodded regardless. Foredog smiled fondly.

"Greatest Dog found you worthy. Please trust in that," she said. "I wish you the best of luck."

"Guess it is pretty nice to know a bunch of big dogs believe in me," she said.

"That's the spirit. Now. I have… a small favour to ask. If you don't mind. Before you go."

"O-Of course we don't mind," Frisk said quickly, getting to her feet. "What d'you need?"

.

Foredog looked troubled for a moment. Her ears drooped. "You've seen us where you are from, haven't you?" Foredog asked. "Would you tell me? Dogs and humans; dogs and the rest of monsterkind…? Do we… get along?"

"Super yes to both," Frisk said.

"Yeah, just about everyone loves dogs. And if they don't," Asriel said with a wink, "I don't trust 'em."

Foredog chuckled. "You needn't go that far. But. Thank you so much. I see… Or. I saw. A great mountain. With molten rock and monsters. But not so many of us. So I wondered…"

"You saw…?" Asriel frowned. Then, his eyes got big. "Oh! You're red! You're doin' prophecy, right?"

"Yes," she said bashfully. "I… saw you were both red as well. I sensed your time looping around and around."

"Look for the snow instead," he said. "Or the big city. Plenty of dogs."

"What a relief," Foredog said with a laugh.

.

"If you're doing prophecy…" Frisk squeaked. "…C-Can I ask something?"

"Ask," the huge dog said with a nod.

"C-Could you tell me if my brother Sans is gonna be okay?" she asked.

"He will," she said with a nod. "When you can hear him. He will be."

"O-Okay, thank you," Frisk said.

Foredog smiled. "Thank you as well. It's nice to have a vision cross-checked. And! It was really such a pleasure to meet you both, even for such a short time. I was happy to be a part of such a grand casting."

"No, no no, thank you!" Frisk hugged the big dog tightly. "It really means everything to me. And I'm really glad to meet you."

.

The dog smiled warmly. She touched her nose down into Frisk's hair before perking up suddenly again. "Oh! One more thing. Did Greatest Dog say much to you?"

"Um. Mostly he seemed really proud about how good dogs are at finding stuff," the kid said.

"Hm! That is true, we are very good at that," Foredog agreed. She tilted her head back towards the moonwater, where the skeletons now stood in clean, paw print patterned clothing. "Home awaits."

Frisk perked up, especially as Vera waved excitedly at her. "Az, they got a small castle and a horse and everything, it's super cool."

"That does sound cool," he said. He reached up and patted the big dog's neck. "Thank you for everything."

She nodded, then gave each kid an affectionate lick on the head. "I hope to see you in the future."

xXxXx

Refreshed and relaxed, the group left the dog's fortress with many woofs of goodbye following them. The grand structure zoomed away into the sky, leaving a paw print shaped sprouting of flowers in the meadow where it had stood. Nimbus was grazing outside as if nothing had happened.

.

Asriel was excited beyond words upon arriving back at the castle. He wanted to look at everything, and did, running around the outside, checking out the small stable; even saying hello to the ghost in the well. As he explained it, even though he didn't know if Asgore or Toriel were born yet, this outside era was where they were from, and so getting to see any of it was very exciting to him. It hadn't really occurred to Frisk that they were as old as that, but she guessed they had to be.

.

The inside was even more exciting for Asriel, and Avenir was happy to allow him to run all over, dragging Frisk with him. Even though Zapf had just cooked over the hearth, there was an entire kitchen. There were books in there, too, though. The tower was mostly storage, but the very top was an observatory. There was star charts and books scattered across tables and a big telescope pointing through a window up to the sky.

.

Asriel was very careful touching things in here. He lifted a journal of star information to peek inside. "So," he said, "she's a huge nerd, too, huh?"

"Well, I mean, look at dad," Frisk said.

"True." He grinned. "Hey, have you been taking pictures at all?"

"Oh yeah, tons," Frisk said.

"Good! You never know." He folded his arms. "We lost so much stuff in the war. So. Any of this is good to have a record of."

"It's kinda nuts to think about." She scoffed at herself. "I keep sayin' that."

"Can't blame you," he said. He carefully placed the book back exactly where it had been, but a scrap of parchment fluttered out. "Whoops." He bent to pick it up, but then stalled, his brow furrowing and mouth twisting to the side.

.

The image there was mostly in black ink: a long, straight line that then became a tangle near the end, where black consumed the entire rest of the sheet. A red line cut through the black ink, and there was a repeated character of skeleton script all over the page. Frisk stood on her toes and peeked over his shoulder. She patted herself down and had to grab her striped hoodie to pull her skeleton cipher from the pocket. The character was a question mark.

"That's you," Asriel said, gently tapping the red line. He slipped the page back into its journal and, after looking it up and down, took Frisk's hoodie from her hands and blew gentle flame over it until it wasn't damp anymore.

"Shouldda taken a dryer from the hotel," he joked as he passed it back to her.

"Thanks." She gladly pulled it on and revelled in the toasty warmth.

.

Asriel nodded, though he had a thoughtful frown on his face. "I wonder how many psychics saw this junk and just had no idea what to even think of it."

"I hope not too many," Frisk said. "It's kinda scary to think about. Y'know. The world getting erased and reset like a billion times. It's hard to understand how it even works and I'm right in there."

Asriel's thoughts shot away to Chara. He snorted and rubbed his head. "Same. I… used to want that. Crazy, huh?"

"Chara really thought the world was that bad, huh?" Frisk wondered glumly.

"I think, when we came back, we both did," he admitted quietly. "…I mean, we couldn't even die right, y'know?" He laughed quietly. "Did you…?" He paused and then shook his head quickly. "Never mind."

"What?" she said. "S'okay. You wanna talk about her?"

"I guess… I sometimes…" He sighed and rubbed his head. "N-Nah. It's okay."

"Whatever you need," she assured him.

"Just… d'you think… if she stayed? Maybe she'd forgive me?"

"Forgive you for what?" Frisk asked.

"Getting us killed. Not… just going along with…" He frowned and grumbled under his breath, "She was so stubborn. Just like mom."

"I dunno, to be honest," Frisk said. "But the way she was, when she left me, I think she would."

.

Asriel nodded. He frowned. He didn't realize that his eyes had welled up. "Maybe it doesn't matter. I guess… it wasn't really her, y'know? I'm not really me either. Not in the same way. But still, I sometimes wish she was still…" He sighed, and shot Frisk a forlorn smile. "Heh. Sorry. I know. We're what's left. A-And… And it's good. Don't mean to get all mopey like this, I just—"

Frisk hugged him. He wilted onto her and closed his eyes, hiding his snout against her neck.

"I dunno if it'll ever be okay," she said quietly. "It hasn't been that long. So… S-So don't feel too bad about it, okay? I wish I could've done something but—"

"She took that option away herself." He smiled fondly. "Always had to be in control. I'm…" He laughed. "I'm actually glad!" He pulled back and quickly wiped his eyes. "I… talked to Sans about human ghosts a bit, y'know? I know those other anomaly people could influence her. I'm just glad that whatever you did, she got… to be free. And she got to see the sun with you."

.

Frisk looked like he'd just speared her in the heart. Her cheeks flushed, eyes teared up, and she quickly wiped them with the heel of her hand. Asriel snickered quietly and booped his nose against hers. She sniffled and laughed.

"That m-means a lot to me. Ugh. N-Now you got me crying again," she squeaked.

"What doesn't get you crying again?" he teased.

"Sshhh, shshshsh." She batted his arm gently.

.

A soft clatter of bones drew their attention as a large, skeletal bird flapped up the stairs and perched on its railing. Frisk smiled and stuck her hand up, though Asriel frowned with confusion.

"H-Hey, Zapf? You need us?" she asked, hurriedly wiping her eyes.

Footsteps rushed from below them to the base of the stairs.

"Ah! Down here!" Zapf waved at Frisk all the way from the bottom when she peered down. "I was just checking for you. We were going to have breakfast, would you like to join us?"

"Heck yeah we would," Asriel said.

The big skeleton smiled bright. "I have made my first peanut butter, I would love for you to try it."

"That was fast." The goat grinned. "I'm starving, actually, let's go."

.

They followed the bird back down, where it vanished in a shimmer of pink once it entered the big library room. The large table had been cleared and was laid out with bread and fruit and a large bowl of the aforementioned peanut butter. The skeletons were all there already. Avenir still looked sleepy, but she smiled fondly and stuck her hand up.

"I trust you didn't get into any trouble," she joked.

"Trouble? Nah," Asriel said as he and Frisk joined them at the table.

Zapf was instantly offering them each a spoon of peanut butter. Frisk tried it. The texture was right, but it was more savoury, with sweetness coming from a mysterious fruitiness, and there was a hint of the char of toast in there. All in all, pretty good. Frisk stuck her thumb up and Zapf grinned brightly.

"Thank you! I will continue to refine it, but I think it is a very solid first attempt."

"You did great!" Vera said. "What d'you think, fluff—?" She turned to look at Asriel, only to stall when she saw he already had a bread piled high with the stuff and was cutting up one of the fruits with a small, iridescent magic blade. "…That looks good."

Asriel grinned. His knife vanished and he blew a gentle flame on the underside of the bread to toast it. He dumped the fruit on top and offered it to Vera.

"Whaaaaat, really?" she squeaked.

"Yeah." He winked. "I'm doin' free toastings, let's go."

.

The toasts were perfect. The two younger skeletons were ravenous. Avenir was a slow nibbler. She still looked exhausted. Frisk scooted closer to her to hold her large, clawed hand and injected red warmth through her bones. As she did, however, she noticed an off-colouration on the solid palm bones of her hand. It was shaped like a star. Before the kid could ask, Avenir drew her hand back and stared at it for a moment. She laughed tiredly.

"Of course."

"What's up, Boss?" Vera asked.

Avenir laid out her hand across the table and Vera gasped so loudly she almost choked on her food. Zapf hurriedly grasped her hand in both of his.

"Boss…!"

.

The kids looked at each other. Asriel shrugged.

"Did that just happen?" Frisk asked quietly.

"Must've been during the casting," Avenir said. She chuckled. "I suppose it would have been stranger not to receive it from that, actually?"

"Is it a scar?" Asriel asked.

"Well. In a sense, it is," she agreed.

"It's a Star Mark, fluffstuff! Don't they have those back where you're from?" Vera grinned sideways. "By that look, I guess not! It's a mark y'get when your soul kinda does its true big burst for the first time. Right, Boss?"

"Full attunement with its own nature," she said with a nod.

"So a… star?" Frisk asked curiously.

"There are ones of Sun, Star, and Moon," Zapf said as he counted on his fingers. "Vera and I are both Moons. So. If we ever receive one, it will be… moon shaped. Most people do not, but, it's nice to think about."

"Oh. Oh!" Asriel perked up. "I think I know what you're talking about, actually, my mom said dad used to have a sun on his back before… b-before…" He waved his hand dismissively. "Anyway! That's really cool, congrats!"

Avenir smiled and dipped her head slightly. "Would you like a short lesson? If this is something you do not know very much about?"

"I would," Frisk said quickly. "…Could I record it?"

"Record?" Avenir asked. "I may talk a little quick for transcription, but I can try to slow down."

"Oh! Um, the um… This," Frisk said as she held up her phone, "can do it really easy."

"Dude, is that okay?" Asriel asked quietly, leaning in close to Frisk. "I dunno if we invent that until another few hundred years from now."

"I have seen the picto-device," Avenir said, "but, I apologize, I'm not sure I understand."

"It's like…" Frisk frowned to herself. She pulled out her phone and took a quick video of the table, and then scooted up close to Avenir to play it. "Like the other thing but it moves and with sound."

Avenir's irises flared bright when she saw it, as did the star in her palm. "…Oh. I…! And…? It preserves these? Through replicas? Many pictos all in a line, very quickly? Hmm…" She smiled nonetheless. "Fascinating. Please. Record away."

.

Blue magic flaring, Avenir quickly reshuffled the room so all the seats faced her and, somehow, the light around them dimmed. With her irises glowing, she quickly drew four symbols that lingered in the air: a circle at the top, a star and a crescent on either side, and a leaf at the bottom. Frisk propped her phone up on the table against a bowl to film.

"The current knowledge says that there are four soul states. All monster souls fall into these three." She set the sun, moon, and star glowing more brightly. "Called the Celestials. Humans, with few exceptions, belong to Natura." At her touch, the leaf shimmered as well, and lines, like spiralling vines, crept up and bound them all together in a circle. "These were all intended to coexist and balance our world. Natura is steadfast and solid; an anchoring force. The plants and natural animals. The energy connecting them. The humans. The Celestials— the monsters— are the magic essence. We channel it into all facets of the world; use it to repair when things go wrong. Magic from the Sun nourishes everything. Without it, everything begins to wither and die."

Asriel held Frisk's hand tightly. She gritted her teeth and held him in return.

.

"A monster with a Sun soul. Let's say, your father, little Prince…" Avenir erased her symbols and drew instead a great sun with a large goat monster below it, with a big golden mane. "These monsters draw directly from the Sun. They are more powerful in its light, and typically stronger compared one-to-one with a Moon soul. They often specialize in fast and powerful bursts of magic." Her drawing replaced itself with one of Vera and Zapf, under a crescent moon. "A Moon-souled monster is able to take the light bounced from the Moon and use that to their advantage. They are more proficient in darkness than their Sun-souled cousins, and have much more endurance." She put a hand to her chest. "I am a Star soul. We are… uncommon. We can draw equally in day or night."

"Which makes 'em super buff," Vera volunteered.

"Well… I suppose so," Avenir said with a chuckle. "As for humans. They do all possess the trait of Natura, as far as we know. But, red souls who are able to express magic will fall into one of the three Celestial categories for how they process the magic their souls receive as well."

.

"So Celestial, it's not a spell, it's about how we work," Asriel said quietly. "Interesting. Okay. But, this Natura stuff… That's…?" He folded his arms and tilted his head thoughtfully. "I don't think I've heard of that."

"Is that 'cause y'don't have wizards?" Vera asked. "Y'said that, right, shortie?"

"R-Right," Frisk said quietly.

"So, there aren't wizards in your future? That's… odd," Zapf said.

"No, it's good," she grumbled.

"Hm. In ages past, humans took up what was called a Druidic role. Meaning, they tended to the natural world. And we, the etherial. This has all but faded away," Avenir said. "And what magic they can use has turned back on us."

"But didn't monsters have to teach them that?" Asriel said. "You'd think they wouldn't be so ungrateful."

"It's… true," the skeleton said reluctantly. "It is thought that Divine Beasts taught them, eons ago. Back when things were in balance. They were known to be great healers and bulwarks against natural disasters."

The boy frowned. "So us and the humans, we were supposed to work together. But someone decided nah."

"Even I am not old enough to know what began our split," Avenir said. "I do know the animosity has increased rapidly over the last hundred years."

"H-How bad is it now?" Frisk asked quietly.

"It is… quite bad," Zapf said quietly.

"The balance is askew. The world is beset by more disasters that come deep within it, and from the oceans. They grow worse every few years." Avenir's brow furrowed. "The human King tries to claim our territory as his. He takes all red-souled humans with any propensity for magic and teaches them his ways from as young an age as he can. Raiding parties raze towns, aiming for Lords and slaying anyone in their way to gain more strength," Avenir said. "My territory here has a population that is more spread out. If I become a target, the people in Crios Cnàmh will be able to escape." She smiled. "Hopefully it will not come to that! I have some defensive measures about. Anyway…!"

.

Avenir went on a little longer, but Frisk's eyes had glazed and her ears were filled with heavy heartbeats. She folded her arms, her fingers gripping tight into her sleeves. She couldn't get the thoughts of the raiding party out of her head; the snarling face of that human man her grandmother had branded with her dying breath.

.

What could she do? Could she warn her? Would that change history? Would it even matter?

.

"Frisk?" Avenir asked.

All eyes were levelled on the little kid. She gulped hard and tried to unclench her fingers. She realized how loud she was breathing.

"S-Sorry," she squeaked.

"Little demon, what is it? Was it too much? I know you are a human, but none of this is your fault."

Frisk shook her head. "S'not that," she mumbled. "S-Sorry. Um. I'm okay."

"Hey." Vera loudly dragged her chair closer and put her hand on Frisk's shoulder. "You're good, yeah? We know y'are."

The kid nodded stiffly. "Sorry. I… I didn't mean to interrupt."

Avenir shook her head. "Don't worry."

"Maybe a little break," Asriel suggested, leaning back over the table behind them and grabbing Frisk's phone. He took the kid's hand and pulled her from the seat. "C'mon, fresh air?"

Frisk hardly had the energy to protest.

.

Asriel took Frisk out into the grassy courtyard and sat her on the ground with him, pulling her into a reassuring hug. She slumped.

"Keep breathing," he said. "Your eyes okay? Gettin' any dark spots?"

"N-No, no, it's not like that," she said. She took a few solid, long, deep breaths anyway. "I just…! Az, I…! I saw her die. From in her own head, I—! What do I do?!"

"Oh. Shit." His eyes got big and he was at a loss for a few seconds. "When you and Paps came here?"

"Y-Yeah! I…?! I dunno what to do, I can't just…! B-But how much would that change?! Would it change anything?! And Vera and Zapf, I…! I don't want them to die, too! W-What if they got killed before, or if—!"

"Frisk. Frriiiiisk. Breathe," Asriel said quietly. "Just breathe."

"What do I do?!" she demanded. "I-I have to tell her, right?!"

"I, uh… I dunno," he said quietly. "It… might just be one of those things, though, right? How if… she doesn't do what she did, a whole lot of other people might not make it. Ah… That doesn't really help too much, does it?" He shook his head. "Maybe she already knows. She's red, right? Before your dad and Alphys called it determination, red meant foresight. She might already know."

"She…!" Frisk ground to halt. "Oh, no, she totally already knows, she knows I never met her in the future, I… Ohh nooo. I know I didn't come here just to screw up the world, right?" Frisk asked shrilly. "If… If I was gonna do that, he wouldn't have brought me here, right?!"

"I sure hope not," he said, his ears drooping. "Sis, I don't know what to tell you. Sorry."

.

Frisk put her face in her hands and groaned. "…And those guys are such garbage. Ugh. W-Why'd I have to be this?"

"Anchoring's hard," he said, patting her on the back.

"N-Not that, why'd I have to be human?" she muttered glumly. "I don't wanna be a wizard. I don't wanna be like those guys that kill my own grandma, I d-don't…! I don't even get to be a skeleton or something, I have to be this." Her eyes started to water with hot tears. "I just don't g-get how you mix a skeleton and time and the CORE and you get… human."

"I dunno if anyone in the whole world gets it," he said gently. "But you're Frisk. Before anything else, alright?" He held her face in both hands and gently squished her cheeks. "And. I love you just how you are. Weird squishy face and all."

She snorted and couldn't help a weak laugh, and she leaned forward to gently bonk her brow against his.

"I'm just kiddin', you're pretty cute," he said.

"Buuhh… A-At least I got that goin' for me?" she said quietly. "…I dunno what to do. Sh-Should I warn her about what happens? Wh-What d'you think?"

"I feel like I'm the wrong goat to ask," he said, smiling wryly and rubbing his head. "I've been either overthinkin' or totally ignoring consequences for years, with kinda no middle ground? But. I do know you. Somehow." He winked. "And… Well. I do know that you won't be able to live with yourself if you don't say anything. But you also won't be able to live with yourself if you say something and something else screws up. So. I guess my answer is…" He could only shrug. "Sorry, sis. I got nothin'."

"Same." She pouted and wiped her eyes. "What would you do? If it was you?"

"…Well. I guess…" He folded his arms and hmm-ed quietly for a few moments. "I think I'd tell 'em. Let 'em decide what to do. I mean. Heck. It could be that all this was supposed to happen to begin with. Like… Us being here, maybe it already happened like that. And it won't change anything. I've seen time travel movies where that happened." He tapped his chin. "But I've also seen totally the opposite in one where a guy almost had himself not be born by accident."

.

Frisk groaned. Asriel patted her on the back.

"I wish I could talk to that other Sans," Frisk grumbled.

"Oh? Why?" Asriel asked.

"If you make a choice like you're super sure you're gonna do it and let him read your future, he can tell you if you make the world blow up or not," she said.

"That's useful," Asriel said with big eyes. "…Can we teach our Sans to do that?"

"He's got enough dumb junk in his head, dude," she said with a sigh.

"Maybe your grandma can do it. Or… Zapf? He's got some sorta sense, right?"

"I think he's doing more like a weird soul and feelings reading thing," she said.

"Hm. I mean. Wouldn't hurt to ask, then, right?" he said. "You could be vague. And maybe, since, y'know, you're related to Avenir, she could hook into your soul a bit and get a boost if she had to. Y'know, like how you said that other Sans did when you were trying to reach me that one time?"

Frisk's eyes brightened. "O-Oh! Yeah, maybe! I-If she can do that kinda thing, that might work. Thanks, Az."

"Hey, I'm more than just an adorable face and fur," he said with a wink, and he tapped the side of his head. "Sometimes I think of something not dumb and that doesn't involve me elbow droppin' whatever."

"Or head-butting it," Frisk added. "Or throwing it in the river."

"Or Chaos Sabre-ing it." He snickered; had an idea that might cheer her up. "It's fun, right? Hey. We should come up with some new ones sometime."

"New ones?" she repeated.

"Yeah! New super moves," he said, grinning. "I can do all kinds of flashy stuff with stars and lightning, and whatever, right? We could make up some new combos. And maybe you can do something, too, soon, if you get really casting." He stretched and flopped back in the grass, his arms folded behind his head, mostly to keep his horn tips out of the dirt. "Y'know, Chara and I came up with most of that stuff just playing around. Like Star Blazing and Chaos Buster, all that junk. Maybe that's dorky? But. We'd draw it and make up super moves for when we… For when w-we'd grow up, y'know?"

.

Frisk smiled fondly. She flopped down on the slope beside him. The sky was bright and dotted with puffy white clouds. They kind of looked like dogs.

"It's dorky. But its super my kinda dorky," she said. "What'd Chara get?"

"Oh!" His eyes lit right up. "She had, like, a red sword called Crimson Claymore, and she made up this really cool move where she'd, like, paint a colour and have it do an element, right? She loved painting, by the way, did I ever tell you that? I don't think she ever named that one. She ran through like, twenty things but we… never quite got the right one." His smile faltered a moment but then quickly brightened again. "But she also had one that was like, the opposite of mine? Star Raising, shoots up instead of down. Get it?"

"Yeah! That's cool," Frisk said. She spied a bone bird come to settle on the horse statue across the courtyard and she raised her hand to wave at it. "I dunno if I do anything cool enough to get a name."

"Well. You will, I bet. And your reverse thing, you could give that a name," he said. "Like, uh… Time… Crusher. Or, uh, Red Reversal. Or something." His face flushed when he caught her grinning. "I dunno!"

"We could make a list," she said.

"Yeah, now you're talkin'."

.

Bafflingly, there was a knock on the castle door from the inside. Frisk sat up and looked at Asriel, who merely shrugged.

"Yeah?" she said.

The door opened a crack and Zapf stuck his head out.

"I'm sorry, I promise I don't mean to spy," he said quickly. "I was just wondering if you are alright? Do you need to be reminded to breathe so you don't die, again, Frisk?"

Frisk smiled and shook her head. "I'm okay. Thanks, Zapf, I appreciate it."

The skeleton nodded and began to close the door again.

"Hey," Asriel said, waving him over. "C'mere?"

.

A little puzzled, Zapf did as he asked and sat in the grass with them. Asriel rolled upright and shook his ears out.

"So, you saw Frisk's time magic, right? The big one," he said. "What would you name it?"

"Name it?" Zapf repeated.

"Az, nooo," the kid said sheepishly, her face flushing.

"No, c'mon, every special attack needs a cool name," Asriel said. "Like, I got Chaos Sabre and Star Blazing and stuff like that."

"Is it really a special attack if it's all I can really do?" Frisk wondered.

"Yes," Asriel said certainly.

"Um…" Zapf looked thoughtful. He tapped his chin. "Well. It is… time, right? How about… Chrono Shift?"

"Ooh," Frisk said.

"Damn, he's good," Asriel said under his breath. He looked at his sister with his brows raised. "Chrono Shift?"

"Chrono Shift," Frisk agreed. "Thanks, Zapf."

"You're welcome! Though. I'm still not entirely sure what you're doing," he admitted.

"Don't worry 'bout it," Asriel assured him.

.

The goat boy was about to continue on the same train of though, but he stalled and his ears perked to the sound of approaching hooves. The others noticed as well. Frisk pulled up her hood with the little horn points sticking up and nervously clung to Asriel's arm, and Zapf got to his feet. He walked to the wall as— to the kids' relief— a serpent monster road up on a big, shaggy brown horse. Zapf greeted him and gestured him to the doorway into the castle. The newcomer nodded and slipped inside.

.

Frisk got up and snuck over to Zapf. "Who was that?" she asked.

"A citizen of the Boss's territory," he said. "She gives advice. And help. And permits. And sometimes star readings. Oh, and fortune-telling. Among other things. During most days, I believe."

"Aaaand I kept her up all night," Frisk said, rubbing her head.

"Don't worry," he said. "Though. Monsters may be coming in and out all day. You never know."

"Fortune telling," Asriel said, raising his brows as he joined them. "I know she's your boss, but, uh, it's legit, right?"

"It is, definitely," Zapf said. "Her trait of Foresight is very strong. Strong enough to be overwhelming, a bit, actually. Hence the soup."

"She showed me some drawings she did," Frisk said. "She saw me coming a little while ago."

"Ooh, interesting," Asriel said.

"Really? That…" Zapf tapped his chin. "Actually. Doesn't surprise me at all."

.

A few more monsters appeared from the trees. A fluffy blue owl in a warm cloak, a round, green ooze, and a tallish skeleton in a frequently stitched-up traveller's garb and a brown mariner's cap, with the faintest of golden tints to his bones. Zapf paused to greet them and beckon them inside. Frisk looked up at the sun to check the time. Just about noon. She wondered how long they had travelled to get here.

"Maybe I… should ask, huh?" Frisk said quietly.

Asriel nodded. "Looks like there might be a line, though."

"That's okay," she said. She headed for the door and Asriel hurried to join her.

.

The throne room already seemed full. A couple of ghosts had slipped in as well, all gathered towards a the bone chair where Avenir sat, talking to the serpent. She had donned a regal-looking red cloak and a gold circlet, with glittering rings on her horns as well. Vera was up there, too, standing guard, but she grinned and waved at the kids when they came in. They waved back.

.

One of the ghosts, hanging back against the wall, was very deep, dark blue with long arms and sharp, pointy fingers, a stark contrast to their soft form and cute, big-eyed face and moondust freckles. Frisk slid up close to them and they twiddled their long fingers at her in a wave.

"Waterghost, right?" she asked.

They nodded. "I waited tooo loong. I was gooing to ask aboout sooup."

"Zapf put it in a big pot with a lid behind the fire in the library," she said.

"Ooooh, thank yoooou." The waterghost vanished as if they'd never been there to begin with.

.

The kids waited. More monsters came in. They let them cut ahead. Avenir was very personable and the atmosphere in the room was relaxed, if not a little reserved. Seemed like she knew the serpent well: she left her seat when they were done and bumped brows with him before he went on his way. Others asked advice on where to put a new house, or help decoding a puzzle found in a treasure chest, or how to best convince natural trees to grow into archways. The skeleton asked nothing, but had brought Avenir a brass spyglass from the coast to add to her collection of trinkets, which she graciously accepted. He waited around a little on one of the seats as others passed through the line. Some, like him, stayed after their turn to rest as Avenir continued to address the others.

.

"Guess it's just that kinda day, huh?" Asriel said quietly. He nudged Frisk in the ribs. "Give ya some time to think of what to say, huh?"

"Guess so," said said. The thought of it still turned her stomach.

The boy took out his phone, tilting his head. He scanned the room and pointed to each remaining monster as he did. Zapf came in with a smile on his face, followed by a familiar family of rabbits.

"Plus five, okay, think I have enough," Asriel said under his breath.

Frisk perked up. The spotty baby waved frantically at her from her mother's arms and the kid gladly waved back. The mother rabbit took note, dark eyes wide, and she handed the spotty bun off to one of her sons and beelined across the room to Frisk. She bent and squashed the kid into a hug.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "I'm so glad you're alright."

"Same to you," Frisk replied, patting her shoulder.

"I'm afraid we lost your bottle in the forest," she said.

The kid shook her head. "Don't worry about it."

The woman smiled. She was about to say something more, but she seemed to notice Asriel for the first time. She froze, but then dipped her head in a bow. "My Lord."

"Oh! Uh. Howdy." He bowed in return. "Hey, your kid drink tea?"

"…Pardon?" she asked blankly.

"I was gonna make some tea for everyone, does the smallest one drink it?"

"Ooh, that's a good idea," Frisk said quietly.

"I'm sure she would try it, m'Lord," she said.

"Only if she wants." He nudged Frisk and tilted his head towards the hall. "Comin'?"

"Yeah," she said. She waved to the rabbit as they slipped out, and shot Asriel a sly smile. "Lord, huh?"

He smiled and shrugged. "Just didn't wanna embarrass her when she was tryin' to be polite, y'know? Probably mistook me for some other goat."

.

The waterghost was at the library table, sipping from a bowl of soup. The kids went into the kitchen and raided it of mugs and cups, and then Asriel set a cauldron bubbling with an exhale of flame. He had a box, and more than enough floral tea within to make some for everyone sticking around. Frisk also found some honey stashed away in a pantry and stirred a generous spoonful into each. She added a little extra to the three for the bunny kids. The waterghost was given a mug, too, before they left.

.

The monsters were surprised, but pleasantly so, when the kids came out again and passed the hot tea to everyone. When Frisk came to her last mug, she handed it off to the skeleton who was sitting near the front. He took it with a grateful nod, but his dark eyes lingered on her a little longer than usual. She hurried back to Asriel, hoping that if he'd noticed she was human, he wouldn't say anything.

.

When everyone else was finally done and most of the monsters had left, Frisk approached the throne. Avenir tilted her head.

"Were you waiting all this time, little demon?" she asked, getting to her feet. "You could have come up to me."

"Oh! But. All those people probably had to walk like all day to see you," Frisk said.

Avenir smiled fondly. She bent down on one knee. "What do you need?"

"I was… just…" Frisk hadn't really taken Asriel's suggestion to prepare. "I-If I… tell you something. Something important?" She lowered her voice. "About the future? D-Do you know, will that screw things up? Like, change the future and stuff?"

The skeleton chuckled. Her eyes flared with bright red. "Of course it will change. Every action changes the course of the future, does it not? But. I think I understand what you mean. You want to know if it will alter your home?"

Frisk nodded sheepishly.

"It will not. Your past has already happened one way," she said. "It's a bit of a paradox. You are solid. With you, your world is solid. It happens as it has happened. The past does not change. If it's true that this time links to yours, you were always intended to come here. You've already done this in the past of your home."

"You're sure?" the kid asked.

"Very sure," Avenir said.

.

Frisk nodded to herself. She clasped her hands together tight. The heavy door clunked behind them and she winced. More monsters were coming in. The kid was embarrassed to feel as relieved as she did.

"One moment, please," Avenir said to them.

"I-It's okay, I can wait," Frisk said.

"It's alright, I…" Her eyes flickered. "I see. It's important to you. But you'd… rather in a moment of quiet, is that right?"

Frisk nodded. Avenir smiled. She held the kid's face and gently bumped her brow on hers.

"Go on, then. You don't need to wait in here, it must be terribly boring," she said with a smile.

.

Frisk gulped. She nodded, then quietly excused herself. When she turned to Asriel, he was grinning and had both thumbs stuck up. She smiled. She grabbed him and took him back into the library with her. The waterghost was gone.

"Okay. So. If she wants, I'm gonna tell her everything," she said.

"Good. Cool." His ears drooped. "Too bad she won't… You know."

Frisk's smile fell. "B-But… Maybe in an alternate time she will, right? …Even i-if it can't be ours. Right?"

"Yeah! Yeah, maybe," Asriel agreed, nodding quickly. "But… those other guys…"

"M-Maybe I could… warn them, or something," Frisk said.

Asriel nodded. "And if she's wrong, what does a few more skeletons really hurt, anyway?"

Frisk sighed. "I hope… I mean. I dunno. I just… really like them all, y'know? And I…" She flinched. "I just wish I could be sure."

"Yeah. I know that feel, too," he said. "But. Y'know. Almost nobody gets do-overs. We were lucky. Plus, uh…" He grinned sheepishly. "You never did it because someone made fun of you for sayin' the wrong thing, huh? That puts you one up on me. Er… Probably more than one up, actually."

"Oh yeeeeah." She grinned sideways. "Sans thought that was so annoying."

"Hey. To be fair. I didn't know he felt it," he said.

Neither of them were sure that would have stopped him, even in the early days. He rubbed the back of his head bashfully.

"I'm glad it's you, now. You're actually, like, responsible. Well. Sort of. Minus the running headlong into stuff that blows you up, anyway."

Frisk smiled and shrugged. He booped his nose against hers and then leaned up on the side of one of the cushy chairs and stretched his arms high above his head.

.

"Tired?" she asked.

"Yeah. Whew. Big day," he said. "Two worlds and shot with a stupid laser beam. Kinda nuts. Gonna be weird to spend the night in another dimension, huh? "

"Two…?" Frisk's eyes went wide. "Wait, so. Waaait. It's… all the same day for you?! So this morning you were home?!"

"Yeah, guess so," he said. "Home, then bad-G-tiny-Papyrus world, then shot back home with my mind all melty, then here." He rubbed his head. "Right, you said… you've been out for a few days, huh?"

She nodded and sighed, drooping where she stood. "Man… Wish I couldda seen them this morning." She trudged over to him and flopped her arms around his shoulders and slumped. "Glad I got to see you this morning, though."

"Me too." He squeezed her. "I'm sorry I left you alone so long."

"No, no no, it's… It's okay," she said. "Why don't you take a nap? You only had a little back at the other Snowdin house, right?"

"Hm… Maybe. But…" He looked around. "We dunno how much time we have here, right?"

"Guess not," she said.

"…Might just start taking pictures of books," he admitted. "And some other stuff. Maps, maybe. Since. Y'know."

Frisk nodded. "Yeah. Okay."

.

Frisk took pictures of every wall of Avenir's study, and then the kids gathered up some books that sounded interesting from the shelves: spells, map tomes; historical records. Frisk was happy for the distraction. As they were taking pictures of pages, Vera wandered in.

"Howdy! Done over there?" Asriel asked.

"Yup! I'm on break!" she said, stretching. "Zapf took over. Think we're nearly done for the day." She patted Frisk's head as she got close and leaned over her shoulder. "Hey, shortie, whatcha up to?"

"Kinda… making book copies," she said.

"Ooooh, that's weird," she said, her eyes lighting up brightly. "With your little pictothingy? Man. Looks like that'll take forever."

"Remind me to ask Alphys to make some easier way to do this, huh?" Asriel said.

"Big magic book scan," Frisk said. "If she can do one for souls, I bet she could."

"You guys sure do a lot of work for tiny kids," Vera said.

"Yeah, kinda the nature of what we do," Asriel said. He nodded at Frisk. "Really hopin' we can at least get this dork a vacation at some point, though."

"Maybe after… I dunno," Frisk said sheepishly.

"One day, you're gonna learn the feeling of true relaxed, and it's gonna be great," he said. "Don't have to worry 'bout your family ditching you, or Sans passing out, or humans being dumb, or timelines exploding, or evil versions of your dad breakin' your fingies. Hey, how are they, anyway?"

Frisk blinked. She looked at her hand and Vera leaned in over her shoulder to follow her gaze. Tiny bit of crookedness in her middle finger still, but she had almost completely forgotten that had happened. "Oh. Fine, actually," she said.

"Good!" he said brightly. "Anyway. It's gonna be good. Has to be. I'll make sure."

.

Vera grinned big. "That's real good. You guys, y'should always look out for each other, y'know? It's a good way to be." She looked over what they were doing again and then snuck over to Asriel. "Why don't you, uhh…" She gently took his phone from him and then erected a little bone stand on the table to hold it up over top of the book he was working on. "How 'bout that, huh?"

"Oh. Yeah. That's smart. Thanks! Anything you think might be good? You know. For the future?"

Vera tilted her head and tapped her teeth. "Oh! Yeah! Hang on."

.

With some small books on riding and a couple novels added to the bunch, the kids clogged up their phone albums with all that they could until Avenir returned. She looked exhausted, but she smiled at them with curiosity in her eyes as she pulled he cloak off and tossed it haphazardly onto one of the cushy chairs.

"Having fun?" she asked.

"Not really," Asriel said with a laugh, sticking his tongue out. "But it'll be helpful."

"I'm sure," she said as she began to pluck the jewelry from her horns. She turned to Vera, who was sitting beside Asriel with her eyes locked on him, slumped on her elbow. "And, how did you enjoy your first guard session as a proper Knight? Not too boring, I hope."

"Nah, Boss, not boring at all!" she said brightly. "I kinda like listen' to what everyone's got going on out there. And seein'… everyone. Yeah."

"Feel free to contribute, if you ever have any thoughts," Avenir said. "You look a little distracted."

Vera grinned bashfully. "Man, sorry, right now all I can think of is I wanna pat this kid's fur."

"I'm surprised it took you so long to say something," Asriel said with a sly smile. "Don't think I didn't notice you getting closer every couple minutes."

Frisk snickered and Vera blushed.

"Listen. You can pet my ears. It's fine. Everyone wants to," Asriel said.

The skeleton's eyes glittered with stars. "Y'serious?! Aaah, thanks, fluffstuff!" She gently grabbed his ears and her sharp-toothed grin spread wide. "Man, who ever thought the King of Monsters would be so soft!"

.

Asriel laughed and Frisk took over finishing up their book as he let the skeleton scritch his ears.

"Ooh, s'cute… Hope you don't mind these ol' pointy digits, huh?" Vera said.

"Nah. Skeletons actually have some of the best fingers for it 'cause of that," he said. "Sometimes, our brother, he just kinda does it without noticing, I think? It's hard not to just fall the heck asleep."

Avenir smiled fondly. She got closer to examine their setup, and nodded to herself. She put a hand on Frisk's shoulder. "If you like, we can speak now?"

Frisk gulped. She nodded. She left Asriel to his ear massage and went with Avenir into the kitchen, just as Zapf came back to the library reading a scroll.

.

"So." Avenir fetched a loaf of bread and began to slice it as her magic shut the door behind them. "What's worrying you, little demon?"

"Um…" Frisk suddenly felt extra small. She gripped her hands together. She still hadn't really put her thoughts together. "It's… bad."

"About my death, right?" Avenir asked sympathetically as she buttered the bread.

Frisk's jaw dropped. The skeleton smiled.

"I'm sorry. It's singing right out of you," she said. "Please, don't concern yourself with that."

"It's just… Okay. I just…" She sighed. "Do you know how it happens?"

She chuckled and turned to offer the kid a slice of bread while nibbling the corner of one herself. "It doesn't matter, does it? My son survives."

"N-No thanks, I… But h-he… He's the only one left, though," Frisk squeaked. "The skeletons, th-they're all…!" Frisk winced, her eyes welling up. "They're gone. We're… My dad and brothers, they're the only ones. I c-could tell you, it's—"

"It's alright," she said. "I will see it if I'm meant to. Which. Knowing my luck. I am. Don't worry. My choice is made."

"But I-I don't want all you guys to d-die." Frisk said shrilly. "I…! I don't want all you guys to turn to dust and nobody e-even knows where or h-how or—"

.

Avenir gently shushed her, bending down to hold her shoulder and pat her hair gently. "It's alright. Don't cry, it will all be as it must be in the end. You and the Prince are proof of that, don't you think?"

"B-But it was so b-bad getting there!" she said. "There's… There's a war."

"I am not surprised."

"And we lose really, really bad," Frisk mumbled. "I-I mean… Monsters. Lose."

"But we endure." Avenir smiled. "Frisk. It's alright."

The kid grimaced. "I-I just… I just wish I could save you."

"Little one, I don't need saving," she said with a fond smile on her face. "Everything that lead to your future has already happened. "

"I g-guess, it's just… Isn't it scary?"

"Of course it is!" The skeleton's eyes were shimmering, but she was still smiling. "But that's alright! Little demon, I'm sure you know this, but we cannot erase every bad thing that has ever happened to us. Or we would not be us. Others would not be them. But you know this, don't you? In your time, in that future, we've already discussed this. I already made my choice. You being here— you haven't changed a thing. This has all happened already."

Frisk nodded stiffly. "It's just…" She grimaced, unable to help the tears that dripped down her cheeks. "I a-already love you. A-And… And it's not fair that I'm… the one who got to meet you."

.

Avenir looked taken aback. "A stór…" The skeleton wrapped her in her long arms and cuddled her close. "Why don't you think that's fair?"

"I-I'm not even a skeleton," she muttered. "And you're…! You're a skeleton Lord. You're so cool. Dad misses you, and Papyrus would love your magic, and Sans would love how smart you are."

"Oh, Frisk… I wish you didn't feel that way, because I am very glad to have met you," she said. "Is there… not something for you, here, as well?"

"O-Of course there is, I'm so h-happy to see you. I d-didn't even know I even h-had a dad until just a little while ago, so I never even thought about having anyone else," the kid said quietly.

"You didn't…? But from what you shared to me, you seemed so close," Avenir said, puzzled.

"We are, it's just… a big dumb complicated time thing where he was like a ghost and…" She heaved out a sigh. "I j-just…" She quickly wiped the tears that dribbled down her cheeks. "I wish I was one of you and I… I wish I wasn't the same kind of thing that hurts so many monsters."

.

Avenir stroked her hair. She smiled, her eyes twinkling. "Do not be ashamed of what you are, little one. You are not responsible for anyone's actions but your own. Just as every human and monster is."

"It just sucks," Frisk grumbled. "I… I wish they could have met you."

"Please don't worry about that, I… Hm. It's very important to you, right?" She perked up and grinned. "Actually! If you wouldn't mind. I have an idea. May I borrow your recording device?"

Frisk's eyes went wide. "Oh! Yeah, of course!" She wiped her eyes and quickly handed it over, and then pointed out buttons on the screen. "This one to start, this one to stop, and this little bit is the lens."

"Perfect. I won't take long. Hopefully." She straightened up and smiled warmly at Frisk. "I know there's something else you were considering." Her eyes darted towards the door. "Though… I know you've said there are no more skeletons but our family. Do not forget, whatever your choice, you've already made it." She drifted away, humming softly.

.

Frisk followed and peeked out into the library. Asriel was snickering with Vera, but she and Zapf were putting their armour and cloaks on. Heart sinking, she hurried out.

"Are you guys leaving right now?" she said.

"Ah! Shortie! There you are!" Vera said brightly. "Yeah. We gotta make tracks. Got a summons from the Temple back at Goblin Grotto. Big surprise, right? Seems like a DB rushed out there after we left and it's real important for some reason."

"Something about star alignment," Zapf added.

"But! You'll be safe here with the Boss, promise! Unless you wanna come trek with us." She turned towards the closed study and called, "BOSS, WE'RE GOIN' FOR A BIT, SEE Y'SOON, OKAY?!"

"Have a safe journey!" Avenir replied from inside.

"We understand if you would rather not make the trip. It is still long, though we are allowed to borrow Nimbus," Zapf said quietly to Frisk. "We don't want to put you in danger again. Don't worry. We will return."

"Yeah, we'll be back this way in a day or two, I figure," Vera said with a nod.

Frisk gulped. Zapf caught her look and his brows furrowed with worry.

"Guys, um. We're… gonna have to go home soon," she said.

"What?! Aww…" Vera said.

"A-Ah. Of course you do." Zapf's voice was soft and a little sad. "That's a shame. It was nice. To meet you. And you, Asriel."

"Yeah, it was good," he said.

.

Frisk bit her lip. She nodded. Before she could stop it, big, wet tears dribbled down her cheeks. She hurriedly wiped them, but it didn't help. The thought of these two being gone— it was nauseating. Vera snorted and her face crinkled up as faintly turquoise tears began to well up in her eye sockets. She ran to the kid and crushed her into a hug.

"Aaah, look what y'made me doooo," she whined. "Don't crryyy, shortie, now I'm cryiiin'."

Frisk snorted and laughed despite the hitch in her throat. She hugged Vera tight. "Sorry. I-I know."

"W-We monsters get attached very quickly," Zapf said. His voice was a little tight and his eye sockets were glimmering as well. "…In a way, I'm glad you are the same, Frisk."

.

As Vera clung to the kid, weeping in sympathy, squished up against her, she waved her cousin closer. He knelt down before them and gently patted Frisk's shoulder. She sniffled and rolled her eyes, then grabbed the huge skeleton into a hug. He froze for a moment before buckling around her. His soul was humming softly.

"We will miss you," he said.

She nodded. "I-I'm gonna miss you, too. It was so g-good to meet you."

Vera made an audible wah and had to pull away, shoving her palms against her eye sockets. "Buuuhhuuuhhh I'm a messssss, cuz!"

Zapf let out a weak chuckle. He pulled back and then, cautiously, moved to gently bump his brow on Frisk's. She grabbed his big, spiky face and held him there for a moment. Pink shone in his eyes and he coughed when he drew back, but he smiled and gently ruffled her hair. Vera whinged.

"Waaait, wait, I wanna skull-bump, tooooo."

Frisk laughed through the tears. "C'mere, then!"

.

The short skeleton grabbed her and bonked her forehead against hers, muttering something hurriedly in Creatlach. Frisk was glad to hug her again.

"S'gonna be okay," she said quietly.

"H-Hah! Shortie! Don't tell me that! I should b-be tellin' you that!" She drew in a deep sniff and pulled back to stand up steady, hands on her hips. "It's gonna be fine!" She pointed a finger squarely at Asriel. "You, keep her safe, y'hear?!"

"Do my best," he said.

"And you!" She put her hand on Frisk's head. "You keep bein' a good wi… You keep bein' our demon, okay? Just, whatever you do out there, be good. Okay?"

"Okay," Frisk said. "Promise. Um!" Her heart beat hard in her ears. "I, um… I have one thing. T-To tell you guys."

"Anything," Vera said.

"Um…" Frisk took a deep breath and tried to gather her thoughts. "If… If, sometime, in the future, something happens, um… With the humans. Like… Like a war? Please run."

"Wh…? What're you sayin', kid? We're Knights, there's no way we could—"

"Please," Frisk said. "Just… Just get away. Don't fight. Hide."

Vera blinked. Zapf couldn't conceal his surprise, but he put a strong hand on the kid's shoulder.

"We will do our best," he said.

"Wha…?" Vera looked between them. She rubbed the back of her skull. "Sheeh, you're really serious, huh? Alright. If somethin' crazy happens, we'll try."

"Thank you, guys," Frisk said.

.

With one last hug goodbye, the skeletons headed out into the sun-stained world, leaving Frisk and Asriel alone in the library. Frisk was still mopey and sniffling. Asriel grabbed her and she squished him so tight she almost knocked the wind from him.

"Alright, alright," he said gently. "…Hey. I know it… might not help, but… You never know, right?"

"Y-Yeah," she said. "It… probably won't. Avenir said, whatever choice I make, I already made it in the future. But, I guess, I couldn't let them go without saying anything." She couldn't help but think of the raid again: if they were Avenir's Knights, they probably were killed protecting the castle. She tried to take a deep breath, but it got caught in her throat and she had to do her best not to start weeping again. "…I hope they live a long time."

.

Asriel tilted his head with a thoughtful frown on his face. He slumped and closed his eyes. "I'm excited to rest a bit, is that weird?"

"Nooo. Same," she said. "Ugh, I already miss them."

"And that Vera's gonna be cryin' the whole way back to Goblino or whatever she said."

"Aaah, don't say that, I don't want her to," Frisk whined.

"Heh. Sorry." He smooched her head. "I just mean… I don't think they'll be forgetting a weird time kid any time soon."

"Especially 'cause I almost got them killed," she grumbled, sniffling.

"No, y'dope, 'cause they loved you!" he said with a laugh. "Honestly, sis, you're hopeless."

"S-Sorry." She sat down and slumped over the table. "…Is it bad I'd bring so many people home with us if I could? H-Heck, even those guys at that bar or whatever, I'd bring them too, and the dogs, and waterghost. And the bunnies. Probably all Goblin Grotto. And all the people that showed up today, and—"

"Sounds familiar." Asriel teased gently. "It's too much, okay?"

"I knooww…" She pouted. "…Crap. I… I just don't like the whole never again thing."

"Mhm. Hey." He thumped her shoulder. "Let's just rest, okay?"

"What about the books? What if we don't have much more time?"

Asriel shrugged. "You're tired. I'm tired. We did a bunch. Let's have some tea and chill out."

"I…" She flinched— he really did look exhausted. She nodded. "Yeah."

xXxXx

By the time Avenir emerged to return Frisk's phone, tea was made. She didn't look well, but she was smiling nonetheless. The hot, floral drink removed some of the grey from around her eye sockets, but something was definitely off. She, on the other hand, definitely didn't need to be psychic to know Frisk was upset. She sat with the kids near the fire, blankets and pillows brought close, as they lounged and read and snacked on buttered toast. The chatted about the world, about their hopes for the town they were building; about a few things that had come undone that they could do better now.

.

As the moon rose high, they received a note on the back of a tiny messenger bat that said Vera and Zapf had arrived safely. It had a cute drawing of each of the skeleton's faces on it, and Vera had attached one of the regional coins for them to take as a souvenir. Frisk kept the letter, too, and wrote one back wishing them luck, signed A + A + F, with a few similar drawings in reply. They paid the bat in gold and toast to take the reply.

.

Avenir was trying to stay awake to play the good host, her back propped up on a pillow against one of the chairs, but it was getting to be a bit much for her. Asriel was slumping, too. Frisk was the only one whose nerves still wouldn't let her sleep properly.

"You can go to bed," Frisk said to the skeleton. She looked at Asriel, who was laying down, cheek propped up on his hand. "You, too."

"I'm alright," Avenir said, though her voice was getting drowsy. "Would you like me to read aloud? Or…" She yawned.

"No, you should rest," Frisk said. "I, um… I'm not too great at reading still, but I could try if you want?"

"Maybe…" Avenir's eyes glimmered. "Tell me. About my son. Just a little. What does he like?"

"Books. He's the smartest guy," Asriel said quietly. "So smart. And he's nice. And such a nerd."

"He likes to make goofy word jokes," Frisk said. "And I think he probably saved the world?"

"Probably a few times," he agreed with a quiet laugh.

Avenir smiled fondly. "And my… heh. Grandsons? That's still a little odd. The tall one. Papyrus?"

"Papyrrusss…" Frisk whined quietly. "So sweet. The sweetest."

"Great friend. Put up with my crap," Asriel said. "Resilient. Like, so stubbornly positive. But shrill though. Easy to make him shriek with a bad joke."

"Which we do all the time," Frisk said with a smile. "And so good at puzzles. And cooking, now, too! And healing magic. Really good. Ugh, I miss him."

"Hmm. How about Sans?"

"Science. Space," Frisk said. "The stars. He's always loved that, before he even saw them."

"Ketchup," Asriel joked. "Papyrus. Frisk."

"…Yeah, I think, being a big brother's something he really likes," Frisk said bashfully. "Oh. And really bad jokes."

"These little weird cushion things that make fart sounds," Asriel said drowsily.

Avenir chuckled. "They sound quite different." She turned her eyes on Frisk. "…And what about you, little one? What do you enjoy?"

Frisk blinked. "Um. I dunno, I… also like books? I like… my family a lot. I dunno. I-I'm not too interesting, I—"

"She likes practice battles and learning everyone's hums," Asriel said. "And reading with Sans. Cooking with Paps and our mom. She likes loud music and cool rivers and watching bad… plays. Bubbles. Also stars." He cracked a smile. "She seems to think hanging out with me isn't too bad, either."

Frisk snickered. "It's good."

.

Avenir smiled. She reached out and patted the kid's head, and then slowly pulled her over to hug her. After a few moments, her grip slackened. She had dozed off. Asriel snickered softly. He yawned and let his eyes droop closed.

"Get some sleep, sis," he said softly. He yawned again and then slumped with his head on his folded arms. "Oomf. G'night."

"Night," she whispered.

.

He dozed off, and yet Frisk still couldn't. She looked up at the sleeping skeleton who was leaning awkwardly to the side. She gently propped her up and then dragged one of the blankets around her shoulders. After a second's hesitation, she snuck into her lap and settled in. She hoped she wouldn't mind. She sat there for a while, listening to the faint hum of the old skeleton's soul. There was nothing familiar about it, but at the same time, she already liked it.

.

"A… Avenir?" she asked very quietly.

"Hm?" The skeleton's voice was soft and small. Nonetheless, she carefully put an arm around the kid.

Frisk's face flushed and she slumped comfortably. She held her hand. "Um. I… I don't know how any of this works, but if… i-if we're gone. When you wake up. We made it home, okay? A-And… And thank you, so much, for everything. Love you."

Avenir made a strange sound. Frisk looked up. The skeleton's eyes were blazing red and blue and tears were streaming down her face.

"Ah!" Frisk squeaked. "I-I'm sorry, did I—?"

The big skeleton cuddled her up and laughed softly. "I l-love you too, little demon. I'm sorry, I… I hoped I could k-keep it together until you left."

Frisk snorted a quiet laugh and clung to her tight. "E-Even if you just liked me a little bit, that would be okay with me."

Avenir chuckled. She wiped her eyes and bumped her brow against Frisk's. "Get some rest."

.

Her magic crept through the kid, warming her up. Frisk glowed red for her. It was cozy. They dozed off to the crackling of fire and the gentle thrum of their souls wrapping together and tinting the room red.

.

Then, cool mist. Frisk blinked. The world was calm, dim clouds. She looked around quickly. She was standing in endless grey. Asriel was there, his colours muted, tucked snugly into a cloud like a puffy sleeping bag. She rubbed her head with the heel of her hand and then checked herself over. She had all her stuff in her pockets and phone. The photos were still there. She gulped. They must've made it. Done what they had to. She reached out and grabbed Asriel's hand.

"Az?" she said quietly. "Bro, I… I think we're good? Are you…?"

.

A chill brushed her skin, giving her goosebumps. She turned quickly. There was the grey Sans way in the distance, beaming and clapping. She raised her hand to greet him and he was in front of her in the blink of an eye. He put a hand on her shoulder and, suddenly, he faltered and grimaced. He grabbed her into a gentle hug. She was a bit surprised, but, for some reason, he seemed a little upset. She held him.

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

"You're doin' great out here, sweetheart," he said quietly. He pulled back, his eyes glossy, and held her cheeks. "Dang, lookit you."

"D-Did I do something weird?" she asked worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm just fine," he said. "I just… uhh…" He shook his head at himself. "Heh. Sorry. Sometimes I forget just how young you are, y'know? And how much all this is."

"I-It wasn't so bad, I'm okay," she said quickly.

"Yeah, you're not, though." He gently ruffled her hair. "All of this, it's gonna help. I promise."

Frisk raised her eyebrows. He laughed and wiped under his eye sockets.

"I know. Promises, right?" He snickered. "I mean it. Thanks for trustin' me, kiddo. You ready to head back?"

"Um! Yeah, but… b-before that," she said quickly, "can you tell me who you are?"

"You know already," he said with an amused grin.

"Yeah, but…" She didn't know how to explain. "Why?"

.

He barked out a loud, boisterous laugh, and then smiled at her warmly. "I'm what you needed. Right?"

"But, like, sorry if this sounds rude, but what are you?" she pressed.

He grabbed her hands and tilted his head. "What does a time god need to function, exactly?"

Frisk's brow furrowed, but then her eyes went wide. "Wait, you're literally just t—?!"

"I'm a lot of things. That's one. I been around… welp. Forever, I guess," he said. He ran his thumb along his cheek and a faint scar was revealed in the bone. Exactly like hers. "But maybe I change a little every now and then."

Frisk stared back at him blankly. She touched her scar herself. "Oh my god."

.

He grinned. His form seamlessly shifted to a ball of light, then the shape of Frisk herself, an exact replica. Then, that massive bone dragon, grinning warmly down at her. He was Papyrus, sticking his thumb up with a wink, and then Toriel smiling at her with pride. He was Sans again in the blink of an eye, as if nothing had happened at all.

"Of all the voices in the whole universe, this the one you needed the most. Funny, huh? There's some level in him that still doesn't get it, but always wants to do his best to at least come close to what you think of him." He patted her head. "Now if only you could feel the same way about yourself, hm?" He winked. "Besides that, though. Big reason I'm here is so all this time junk doesn't go straight into your little head and make you go bonkers."

.

Frisk stared blankly back at him. Of course. Same way she was able to compartmentalize her brother's memories in her dreams. Except, this was a whole lot bigger than that. "Oh my god," she said.

"I know, right?" He grinned. "Sorry. Hope that's not too weird."

"No, no no, that's… You and me, we're…" She pointed between herself and him. Her eyes sparkled. "Oooh, that's why I could still find you even all the way over in that other timeline."

"Got it," he said.

"So, wait, that other world—?"

"Oh! Yeah. The one that needed the reset? That was real," he said. "It leaked in in a dream like a month ago, but your real bro got in so it kinda went under the radar."

"And what about this one?" she asked. "It's way in the past from ours, but—"

"It's a whole thing, don't worry about it," he said, waving a hand.

"Will they be okay?" she asked.

"As okay as they always were," he said. "Sorry to be vague. Kinda have to be. See, been around forever, right? But we're also pretty young. Doesn't really make sense. It'll get better the longer this goes. But for now, just gotta pick and choose from what I can find so your noggin doesn't burst. Alright?"

"Okay, but, like, I left a bunch of coins here?" she said. "Is that… bad?"

"Eh. Already did that. I'm sure it'll confuse a historian at some point. Small fry."

"This is a lot," she admitted.

He smiled sympathetically. "I know. Sorry. Ready to go back?"

"Sorry to ask. But, can you help us get home?" she asked.

"Ah. Don't think so, I'd be shootin' you right into some guy's laser beam, and I see you gettin' wrecked a hundred percent of the time," he said apologetically. "And, uh… Even if that worked, I can't send Az."

"No way, then," she said swiftly.

He pulled her into his arms again and squished her. "I dig how fast you said that. Don't worry. I know you'll get it." He grinned bright and a faint purple sheen flashed in his eye. "Alright. See you later, kiddo, and good luck out there." He winked. "And. Don't forget."