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.

79. Uh oh! All watermelons!

Uh oh! All watermelons! Chapter 79

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Despite all the niceties packed into Queen Undyne's throne room— from blankets and pillows, to boardgames and a crystalline music player, to trays of snacks and warming teas— Frisk was still restless. She stalked the chamber, back and forth, fists clenched and tail swishing.

.

The kids were on their own for now, though there was a dog guard stationed at the door playing cards with himself. Sans was presumably still preoccupied with whatever Alphys had asked for help with, since neither of them had returned. Undyne had set most of the comforts in the throne room up herself, with a little help from Papyrus, but she'd left afterwards to rejoin the rest of the monsters collaborating on their next course of action. Frisk wanted to go, too, but had been refused. The persistent notion of take a break, relax; be patient, was reiterated to her, much to her chagrin.

.

"At this point, it's nothin' that'll be interesting to you punks, anyway," Undyne had assured her. "Patrol routes and logistics. Don't sweat it. Just, uh, relax for a while, alright? That's an order from the Queen! For whatever that's worth."

.

Papyrus had been trying to get Frisk to settle for about twenty minutes so far, but it had been no use. She would get antsy and begin again, prowling across the width of the chamber like a caged beast. The red in her eyes gleamed in every shadow she passed through. No offers of a hot drink or a puzzle game would slow her down, and every inquiry to her level of okay-ness was dismissed with a noncommittal shrug and an unconvincing reassurance.

.

At the tea table, Asriel clutched a temporarily-forgotten scone in his claws, his eyes following his sister around the room. It might have been meditative in a strange way, like watching the pendulum swinging at the base of an ancient clock, if it weren't for the anxiety radiating from her.

.

Chara slid up beside her brother, her lips pursed and her brow furrowed. "How long do you think she'll keep going?"

"Until she thinks of something else to do, I guess," Asriel said.

The girl folded her arms, cocking her head to the side. She puffed out a little sigh and settled her back against the edge of the table. "Ugh, she's making me antsy just watching her."

"I think she feels like crap, probably," Asriel said.

"Isn't there something we can do?" Papyrus snuck up behind them and leaned over the table, lowering his voice to a loud whisper. "I'm actually getting kind of concerned."

"Maybe…? We could go see how mom's doing?" Chara suggested. "She might already be in the tower working on the spell."

"I dunno. Don't think she wants to see me, at least. You guys can go. Give Frisk something to do, at least." Asriel frowned thoughtfully. He took an absent bite of his scone and then held it up. "Frisk, come get a—!"

"Are we gonna know when it happens?" Frisk asked, whipping around on her heel.

"Which thing? The Gaster thing or the spell thing?"

"The mirror thing!" Frisk held out her hands. "Are we gonna get flipped? Are we gonna get opposite bodies?"

"We don't get flipped," Chara said. "It's just the rooms."

.

Though Frisk nodded, her face softening, her fur was still standing on end. Asriel's snout crinkled and stuffed his half-a-scone into Chara's hands before striding across the hall and scooping Frisk up under her arms. She squeaked.

"Waitwhatwhy, I'm not—!"

"What're you getting done?" he asked as he turned her around to look at him.

"I-I dunno, I just wanna move," she said.

"Don't you want some tea?" Papyrus suggested, a steamy mug already held aloft in his hands. "Or maybe some snacks?!"

Frisk's ears drooped. "I-I'm… I'm not that hungry. Ugh, I dunno, I just hate all this waiting. I don't like being in here while everyone else is working on stuff, it doesn't feel right."

.

Asriel frowned sympathetically. "What can we even do, though?"

"…If we do battle prep," Chara said cautiously, gnawing on the edge of the scone. "Not that we're going to battle. Would that… help? Would you feel better?"

Frisk's ears pinned back. "I mean… Yeah, kinda? I…" She grimaced and rubbed her head. "I'm not making sense, am I?"

"You also haven't slept since Pasithea's magic thing," Asriel said, drawing her a little closer to his chest so she wasn't dangling. He could feel the hurried beat of her heart. "So I don't blame you."

"Actually, I think it makes perfect sense," Papyrus said. "You're anxious and you hate doing nothing, so even the smallest notion of maybe-this'll-be-useful is better than nothing, right?"

Frisk nodded. "I just keep thinking, what if he shows up?" she said with a pout. "Like, what if the Mirror Mod takes too long and he gets in and I'm asleep or something and—"

Her brother smiled from the side of his mouth. "As if you'd fall asleep."

"I could set up traps again," Papyrus suggested.

"Didn't he get around that last time?" Asriel asked worriedly.

"He just took the hit in the head," Chara said. "It didn't really deter him once he saw me in the room."

The skeleton pouted. "Oh." His eyes brightened and he perked up again in a blink. His shoved his hands into his pockets and flared the sides of his jacket out. "Maybe we could test my Potion Pockets, instead!"

.

Asriel put Frisk back down, but kept a hand reassuringly plunked between her horns. "Most of us got something new we could work on, right? You could work with that umbrella or something? And I, uh…" He reached back over the table for a piece of pink fruit off one of the platters and plucked a dark seed from it with his claws. A little shimmer of magic bloomed beneath his fingertips. "I could… I could try… growing stuff, right? Like, I could—"

The seed rattled in his grip and he hurried to cup his hands around it as it swelled up and burst into vines and leaves, tendrils pouring down onto the floor and unfurling as everyone else recoiled.

"Aah! Crap, um…!" He lifted it high up but the vines spread like streaming water. "How do I stop it?!"

"Just stop?!" Frisk squeaked.

"I did!"

.

Chara's face twisted and she almost buckled as a laugh burst from her so violently it shook her shoulders like a sob. It was contagious. Frisk snorted loudly, mouth stretched in a sharp-toothed grin, and she patted the girl on the back.

"I-It's not that funny!" Asriel protested, eyes bugging out.

All Chara could do was wail with inarticulate laughter.

.

The leafy tendrils had reached the wall and sunshiny yellow flowers blossomed alongside the foliage. As one of them shot up and bonked Frisk in the face, she spluttered and giggled loudly. Chara slammed her fist down onto the table. What little was left of the scone collapsed into crumbs.

"H-How—?!" She wheezed. "How d-did you go from f-fighting Gaster with trees to this mess?!"

"I don't know what I'm doing!" Asriel protested frantically. "Why would I know what I'm doing?!"

"Here!" Papyrus got up on the table and scooped his hands under all the leaves to steal the seed away from Asriel; in doing so, vanished Frisk behind a curtain of foliage.

.

The skeleton froze in anticipation, but the plant continued to grow and stretch its lengthening tip up the far wall for a few seconds more before it clung onto a sconce and stopped. Asriel blew out a sigh of relief and Papyrus grinned proudly. Chara had not stopped cackling.

.

The seed in Papyrus's hand was now the size of a baseball. As he took a seat on the table, he carefully passed it back to Asriel. The goat boy clutched it at the end of his claws as Frisk brushed the leaves aside and emerged with a big smile on her face. She thumped Chara on the back and the girl choked to catch her breath.

"I know that wasn't what you were trying to do," Frisk said to her brother, "but it was kinda cool anyway."

.

The goat boy's ears perked a little and his eyes brightened. He cleared his throat and carefully plunked the seed onto the table. "L-Like I was saying—"

Chara burst out laughing again. "Azzy, oh my god. I'm gonna puke."

"I need more practice!" he bleated. "I've only done fights with it, I dunno!"

"D'you think it could be that it's, like… weird magic?" Frisk wondered. "Y'know, that Natura thing, right?"

"I mean, it could be," he said.

"Riiiight, right right." Chara sucked in a deep breath, trying to regain some semblance of composure. "Azzy's a Druid now."

"Ah, I see!" Papyrus grinned and stuck his finger in the air. "I understand perfectly!"

"Understand what?!" Asriel asked.

The skeleton grinned. "What you need is to hone your magical precision!"

"I, uh…" Asriel looked over the errant plants and raised his brows. "I guess?"

"You're very big and actiony about everything you do! Which is good!" the skeleton said. "But— and correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I am— it's sort of all new to you, isn't it? That's what I'm getting. I mean, everything, for some reason, not just the plant-growing stuff."

Asriel's face flushed. "Y… Yeah." He smiled bashfully. "I oooonly kinda got myself back after being a weird soulless husk a couple months ago, so—"

"AH! And that's why, then!" Papyrus grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. "Think of it like… you're doing a huge punch when really all you need to do is a little tap!"

"…I guess it's sorta been like that with the plant stuff," Asriel admitted. "But I think I'm pretty good with the fire stuff! Um." He looked at Frisk. "Right?"

"Oh, yeah, the fire's perfect," she assured him, sticking both thumbs up. "He snorts fire on me all the time and it's hardly even hot."

The boy perked up right away, his short tail wagging. Chara wiped a tear of mirth from her eye.

"Ah, yeah, I miss that," she said. "Remember when dad would…?" She stoped herself short, her cheeks ruddy.

"What did your dad do?" Papyrus asked, bright-eyed.

"Oh!" Asriel flushed a little, too, but his smile was warm with nostalgia. "He'd grab us and he'd—"

"Nnnno, no no no, don't you say a word!" Chara said, pointing an accusing finger at him.

A wide, fangy grin spread across Asriel's face. "Oooh, but siiiis! It's cute, though!" His eyes were gleaming smugly. "So, with dad, he'd—!"

.

Chara shushed him loudly and then grabbed Frisk's hand. "We're going up!"

"We are?!" Frisk squeaked. "Up where?"

"If you're so worried, we'll go find mom and see the Mirror Mod ourselves," she said, pulling Frisk towards the door. She shot Asriel a suspicious glare before turning her nose up. "You guys can come, too, but don't you dare—"

"Actually, I should probably stay," Asriel said.

"Oh." Chara stalled in her tracks. "I'm just teasing, Azzy, I'm not really offen—"

"No, it's not that, it's… her." His ears drooped a little. "You know."

"You sure?" Frisk asked.

"It'd be okay," Chara assured him sympathetically.

The goat boy shrugged. "It's okay. On her time. It… I know it's not easy, even if I'm not hers."

"Then I'll stay, too," Papyrus said.

The boy whipped around to face him. "But she's your mom, too, you can—"

"Don't worry, there's plenty of time," Papyrus said brightly. He waved to Frisk and Chara. "Maybe we'll practice magic on some plants!"

"I don't mind that," Asriel said.

"Oh! Okay, see you soon, then," Frisk called back. She crossed her thumb and forefinger into a heart.

Asriel smiled sheepishly and waved. Chara turned just enough to stick her tongue out at him and he replied in kind, satisfied by the smile she tried to hide. She gave a wave to the dog guard and slipped out between the two giant doors, pulling Frisk with her.

.

Papyrus leaned in close to Asriel the moment the doors shut. "So what's the story?"

"Hm?!" Asriel's brows shot up. "What, you actually wanna know?"

"Of course! You can't just tease a cute story and then say nothing!"

Asriel snorted in amusement, smiling from the side of his mouth. "It's not much. Sometimes dad would grab us and breathe this, like, really cozy fire over us and call it making s'mores."

"S'mores?" Papyrus tilted his head to the side. "I'm not sure I've heard of that."

"Oh, it's, uh… these sorta honey crackers with marshmallow and chocolate put in like a sandwich, and then you…" He whistled out a little, warm flame, then shrugged, his cheeks flushing again. "ChocoChara and Marshmallowsriel." He couldn't help a fond, if not somewhat mortified laugh. "Dad's such a dork."

Papyrus's eyes gleamed as he smiled wide, his hands clasped tight together. "It sounds nice to have a dad like that."

Asriel wasn't sure why, but his soul ached. "Yeah. It is." With cautious fingers, he lifted the seed up off the table, taking a deep breath as if to hold back any wayward spark of magic. He squinted at it suspiciously, but it didn't sprout again, at least for now. He let out a sigh of relief before turning his attention back on the skeleton. "Were your parents anything like that?"

"I have no idea! Sans was, though. The saccharine levels were too high to manage. He used to tell me that skeletons were born from ice cream, which was why I was so sweet." Papyrus shrugged widely, rolling his eyes, though his cheekbones flushed. "Nyeh heh, I can say with confidence, it has nothing to do with ice cream!"

.

Asriel snickered, but the ache in his soul grew. As he inspected the seed, his thoughts drifted back to his father: of the way Asgore's dark eyes absolutely lit up at the sight of him, and how he glowed with adoration for Frisk, even if he was a little quiet about it. Of the big, dopey smile on the great monster's face as he'd squeezed Asriel tight in his arms. Of lounging lazily in front of the hearth, leaning on Chara, as their father's deep voice lulled him to sleep with the lyrical words of a fanciful story. Of mucking about in the dirt as that huge man showed Chara how to take care of the flowers of the garden he so lovingly tended.

.

For the first time in a while, he thought of that other Asgore from the strange, distant timeline as well, and had a fleeting hope that he was doing alright.

.

A little sigh slipped from Asriel's mouth. He carefully put the seed down again and looked over its vines, rubbing his head. Papyrus leaned forward into his peripheral vision.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"…Nah, nothin', just a little homesick all of a sudden," Asriel said.

"Big magical adventures can end up being a lot more difficult than you'd think," Papyrus said with a sympathetic smile.

"It's… It's not that. I mean…" His ears drooped. "It's kinda that. But, it hasn't… been that tough on me, you know? But…" He grimaced. "Ugh, it's lame, never mind."

"It's okay to miss your family," Papyrus said.

Asriel bristled, but he clenched his jaw.

"Sans and I usually aren't apart for too long," the skeleton continued, "but when we were all trying to save the Kingdom, there was a time when we and our sister got separated for over a week and let me tell you, even that much was one of the most difficult weeks of my life!" He let out a quiet snicker at his own expense. "I think it's really the not knowing. At least, that's what it was for me."

"Yeah," Asriel said. "That's, uh… That's definitely part of it. I'm hoping the dream thing might help, but who knows?"

"That'd be a relief!" Papyrus said. "Can you talk to your parents that way?"

"No, but I can see our brothers sometimes."

"That's pretty good!"

.

Papyrus hopped off the table, confidently bouncing around the leaves until he stood in front of Asriel. "I have an idea!" He pointed at him and grinned. "Hit me with an attack!"

"What?!" Asriel bleated.

"Come on, friend, let's see your fire!" he said.

"Oh. Sure, easy." The goat boy flicked his hand and a wave of harmless flame erupted from the air around it.

The magic surged forwards and blew across Papyrus's body, dissipating just behind him. He emerged from the blaze, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Could yoooou… do big tornado around me?"

"I, uh… I think so!"

.

Asriel frowned in concentration, laying magic into the ground around Papyrus's feet. The flame sparked and burst upwards in a radiant blaze. Asriel clawed his hand and dragged it upwards, pulling the fire up and twisting it into a spiral until the skeleton was completely overwhelmed. After a few seconds, Papyrus hopped out, looking at the tower of flame with bright eyes and a smile on his face. He waved to Asriel, who cut the fire. It drifted off like wisps of mist.

.

"Your control is almost perfect!" Papyrus said brightly. "Does it feel like an extension of your body?"

"Not quite, but it's close," Asriel said.

"Alright! That's excellent! Good first steps!" He winked. "Guess you've been practicing a lot!"

"A little, but, um…" He looked at his hands. "I feel like this bigger body is helping, somehow. I've felt a lot stronger since going through the void."

Papyrus tilted his head to the side in puzzlement. Asriel smiled bashfully.

"Normally I'm just a little taller than Frisk is. I'm a few years older than her, but the type of monster I am, we grow a little slower than average, I think."

The skeleton slapped his hands to his cheeks. "Oh my god." His eyes shone with stars. "That's adorable!"

"It's true," Asriel said, tossing his ears casually, "I am." He laughed at himself. "A-Anyway. I got this extra stuff I can do outside the world, but—"

"Are you sure it's only out there?" Papyrus asked.

"I… thiiiink I can do it here, too, but it can get really big so I, um, mostly try to stick with what I know won't just blow up." The boy's eyes darted down to the plants that draped from the table. "I… definitely don't know enough about this plant stuff, but if it's something I got, then—"

"Hit me with it," Papyrus said.

"What?! You sure?!" Asriel yelped. "I-I'm not sure how well I can control how strong it is."

"I trust you." Papyrus winked. "Believe in the great Papyrus who believes in you!"

.

Asriel wasn't so sure, but he gulped and pushed down a prickle of anxiety as he felt through the vines with his magic and raised new tendrils up. A sick loathing of their familiarity rose with with them. They swayed around him like cobras waiting to strike. He took a deep breath. It was just a part of him. Nothing he could do but use it for good.

.

It didn't seem quite so good to be chucking them at Papyrus, but he aimed square on and willed them to not hurt as he sent them hurtling forward. They collided with the skeleton and bowled him over with a loud OOF.

"Sorry!" Asriel rushed over, squatting beside Papyrus.

The skeleton grabbed Asriel's arm with one hand while holding the other to his ribcage. "Owie."

"Crap, are you okay?!"

"Mhm, yep, absolutely." Papyrus laughed. "That's a hard-hitter, for sure! Annnnd now I think I have a good sense of your magic!"

Asriel blew out a sigh of relief and sat down with the skeleton. "Well, that makes one of us."

"My feedback is this!" Papyrus grabbed the goat boy's hand and patted it. "You trust the fire! But you don't trust the plants! So I think you have to work on that."

"Well, yeah." Asriel slumped. "I am working on it."

"I can tell! The movement is really good! It's the hitting you have to work on. Plus I feel like it's a lot more physical, so that could be where the issue is coming from. You just have to try to get your magic to work with something it was never intended for!" He held up his index finger. "Once you do that, I really think you'll feel a lot more confident! And you'll be able to do more! And you won't get flung around so much in the future!"

.

Asriel grimaced. "…Yeah, I guess, but watch it be totally useless next time even if I figure it out." He snorted. "…As if I'd get it that quick, anyway."

"Why the heck would it be useless?" Papyrus asked.

"I bet by now that Gaster's gonna have figured out to torch any grass around him, if we fight again."

Papyrus frowned. "You really think we're going to have to fight him again?"

Asriel pouted. "Well, yeah, he's not gonna give up, so why wouldn't we?"

"Because mom's back, and Queen Undyne's going to—"

The boy scoffed, but instantly regretted it as Papyrus took on a look of alarm. He quickly raised his hands as if to apologize.

"I-It's not that I don't think they'll do a good job," Asriel said swiftly. "It's just that… we have really bad luck." He grimaced. "I don't plan for stuff to go well, y'know? Haven't in a long time. I-I'm not always right! But I don't wanna get caught by surprise again."

Papyrus looked thoughtful, nodding to himself. He perked up, bright-eyed again. "Then… Then! I know exactly what to do!" He reached for the vine that had struck him and carefully sliced the end off with the claw on his thumb. After plucking the leaves from it, he twisted it into a loop and slipped it around Asriel's wrist. "There you go."

"Uh." Asriel raised his arm and, under his gaze, the vines slithered together. He gulped, his fur tingling at their touch. "…Thanks?"

"You want to have something you can use, right?"

The goat boy's eyes widened and he looked at the vines curiously. "Oh, man, uh… I guess that's a way to do it." His brow furrowed and he got up quickly and hurried back to the table and began to pluck the dark seeds out of the fruit. "What if I just carry a bunch of seeds in my pockets or something?"

"Now you're thinking!" Papyrus leapt to his feet. "Oh! Maybe you can make them do different things?!"

Asriel turned. "Whatchu mean?"

.

Papyrus opened his jacket and reached inside the front to pull out a few different potion vials filled with brightly-colour liquid. "Well, for example, like my potions. Not a ton of them are for battles, but I have some where you throw it on the ground and it becomes a smoke-bomb, or an ice slick, or—"

"What, you think I could do that with these?" He squinted at the black seeds in his palm. "I dunno if just a melon plant could do anything like that."

"Melons! That's perfect!" Papyrus said. "You could rig the melons to—!"

Asriel laughed. "How the heck do you rig a melon?!"

"I aaaam not sure! But!" The skeleton grinned. "It's a start. If you could make a strange plant realm in a bush or whatever it was, I'm prreeetty confident you can make a large seed or a melon that could burst. That sounds a lot simpler."

"Well…" Asriel's mind ran away with him— the thought of blasting Gaster off his feet with a big exploding fruit made a grin creep over his face. "Wouldn't hurt to try, right?"

Papyrus beamed. "That's the spirit!"

xXxXx

In search for Toriel, Chara first brought Frisk to the dining hall where all the adults had been holding the big meeting, part two. It was plainly obvious that the huge, ram-horned monster wasn't there from a simple glance, but the goings-on in there were far from uninteresting.

.

There were several chalkboards and hovering magical diagrams of terrain and troops scattered all over the room, as well as some VC screens set up near where Undyne stood, arms crossed and a heavy furrow shadowing her bright eye. Beside her was Mettaton, who was being helped into a dark outfit that was padded at the joints and feet by a three-eyed stork.

.

Chara squinted inquisitively. "…Are they seriously…?"

"What?" Frisk asked quietly.

"Looks like they might be sending him out for recon," she said.

"Is that… good?"

"Might be," Chara said. "Think Undyne might not be too happy about it, though."

Frisk nodded. She scanned the room curiously, wondering if Leirak had returned. She didn't see him, but she did see Pasithea there, squished between two much larger, guard monsters. The pesanta's ears were pressed so flat it almost looked like she didn't have them and she seemed to be surreptitiously trying to slip below the table she was seated at. She caught the kids from the corner of her eye and her ears lifted again. She carefully nudged the monster beside her with her elbow, then gave a subtle point towards the door. The guard was like stone for a moment, but a hurried whisper from Pasithea seemed to change their mind. The guard shifted and Pasithea slunk down and slid out as if she had the spine of a snake.

.

The pesanta snuck from the room as quickly as she could despite her metal leg making a distinct clomping sound on the floor. She let out a deep breath as she caught up with the kids and snuck around the corner quickly. "Th-Thanks for the excuse."

"You probably could have just left," Chara said.

Pasithea shook her head, whispering, "I think they mistook me for someone important?" She looked around as if she was afraid she would be snatched back inside but when nothing happened, she straightened up a little. "You two wouldn't, um, happen to know if the castle is locked down yet, would you?"

Chara shrugged. "You'd have to ask someone."

"Oh." The monster rubbed a hand across her head. "I… was supposed to open the shop up a while ago."

"Sorry about all this," Frisk said.

"Ah! No, no no, don't worry!" Pasithea said swiftly. "It's… It's not the end of the world if I'm late today. Or, um…" She smiled bashfully. "If I don't open at all."

.

"Would it be a safe bet to say that my mom already left to work on the Mirror Mod?" Chara asked.

"Your…? Oh! Right. Yes. A little while ago," she said.

"Great." The girl turned back the way they'd come and took a few steps before realizing Frisk wasn't following. "Frisk, come on."

"Oh, uh! Right. Um." Frisk looked up at Pasithea. "Thanks again. I hope you can go home."

"That and I have a letter to send," the pesanta said with a smile. She looked around cautiously and then put her hand on the wall and began to slink away. "I-I better go before I get mistaken for a criminal or something this time." She paused and gave a bashful wave. "Good luck, kids, and um, stay safe, okay?"

Frisk stuck her thumbs up and Chara gave the monster a polite nod as they parted ways. She turned to Frisk and tilted her head down the hallway the other direction.

"Portal," she said quietly.

The blue kid looked puzzled. "But didn't we come from—?"

"It's about the same." Chara grinned. "Nothing worse than saying bye and then everyone heading off in the same direction."

A shiver ran up Frisk's neck. She stifled a laugh and followed Chara the other way.

.

Just as Chara said, there was another portal station just around the corner and down the hall in the other direction. The girl pulled out her dove pendant and passed it close to the crystals. A red swirl of energy unfurled and enveloped them as they stepped into it. With a whoosh and a whistle of magic in their ears, the kids were elsewhere, so high up that Frisk had to hold her head from a little bit of instant vertigo.

.

Before them was a chamber bathed in sunlight, shadowed only where ancient, petrified vines twisted across the clear surface of a high steeple, painted blue and white by the sky beyond it. Five crystal pillars stood resolute within, one at each corner of the room and one in the centre, reaching all the way up to the peak of the ceiling. Prismatic shards of light speckled the pale runestone floor, painting colours across lines of old tomes on thick shelves and rippling down a short, wide staircase that lead to a portal pedestal and a small library.

.

Frisk looked around with bright, curious eyes, as Chara grasped her hand and pulled from the entry point and towards the stairs.

"Whoooaa, where are we?" Frisk said quietly.

"Top of the highest tower," Chara said. "I think it was Alphys's for a bit?"

"Dear one, is that you?" The storm-coloured Toriel craned her neck out over the stairs from behind the wall. A smile bloomed on her face. "Oh, and your Frisk! Hello, dears, do you have need of me?"

"Mom, I…!" Chara faltered for an instant, but then quickly pulled Frisk up the stairs. "Frisk was feeling a little anxious, so I thought maybe we could… watch you cast the spell? That's okay, right?"

.

Toriel stood back before a large, wide table with a crystal ball on it. She folded her hands and her face glowed with warmth. "Of course, my child." She beckoned them closer. "Come, come." She bent and rested her hand on Chara's head to gently rub her hair before dropping down to one knee. Even so, she still towered over both kids. She carefully cupped Frisk's face. "My my, you look absolutely exhausted, little one. Have you not rested?"

Frisk gulped. Her eyes dropped to the floor. "It's, um… It's kinda hard, uh—"

"She's nervous. She doesn't want to be caught off guard," Chara said quietly.

"Oh…" Toriel tutted gently and passed her thumb along Frisk's brow. "Poor thing. Well. That suits you, does it not?"

Frisk blinked. She caught Chara's face flushing from the corner of her eye. "I, uh… Yeah, I guess I kinda… worry a lot."

"You have been through much for someone so young. Is there anything I might do to help?"

"I dunno," the kid said. "Is there anything I can do?"

Toriel blinked. She looked at Chara, who gave a little shrug in reply. The grand monster's mouth pulled thin for a moment. She carefully ruffled Frisk's hair, then straightened up.

"Perhaps you might spend a little time exploring up here. There are many wonderful books around that might catch your eye. Reading does wonders for the mind and the soul as well, does it not?"

Frisk's ears drooped, but she nodded. Toriel smiled at her approvingly, then turned back to the desk she'd been working at, her tail giving a long, languid swish.

"I will be here. Come to me if you need anything at all."

"Um. Okay. Th-Thanks," Frisk said.

.

Clenching one hand around the other, Frisk turned to Chara. The girl looked a little apologetic, though Frisk wasn't exactly sure why.

.

That look in Toriel's eyes made her stomach sink a little. She recognized it— her own parents had it, sometimes, when she talked about time stuff. Avenir had it, too, when they first met, as did Sans from the last world. She wasn't sure what it meant, but she worried maybe she'd said the wrong thing, somehow.

.

She didn't know what she was doing. She had no idea where to start.

.

Chara turned to the side of chamber, where there was a ladder with rungs large enough to be stairs up against one of the bookshelves. She beckoned and Frisk was happy to follow her. The top of the shelf was easily big enough for them both to sit and look out over the city and the shimmering, glassy dome covering it like a snow globe. They were so high up that much of the city looked like a model.

.

Frisk stared out with wide eyes, her heart thumping. It wasn't as high as her Mount Ebott, but with nothing else close to obstruct the view of the sky and the clouds sailing by, it almost felt as if they were flying.

"That's pretty cool," she said quietly.

Chara snorted out a quiet laugh. "Yeah."

Frisk grabbed her phone from her pocket and snapped a photo, then scooted a bit closer to Chara and turned around. "Ooh, c'mere."

The girl looked a little confused, but she mimicked Frisk. The kid squished close, grinned, and took a selfie of the two of them. She pulled it closer to give Chara a better look — Ghost mode had done it's job. Frisk snickered and put a hand to her cheek.

"I keep forgetting how sharp my teeth look!" she said.

Chara scoffed. She smiled fondly, then took Frisk's hand with cautious finger. "Uh. Frisk? Since, uh… we're here. Could we… talk?"

Frisk turned her bright, red eyes on her friend curiously. "Yeah, course we can, what's up?"

.

"I, uh… I know you said it was fine," Chara said, lowering her voice, "but I'm sorry if that whole, um… little sister thing put you on the spot. It—"

"Nah, it's still fine," Frisk assured her with a grin.

"Wh…?" The girl's face flushed and she gritted her teeth. "…You sure?"

"Yeah, duh!" The blue kid nudged her gently with her elbow. "C'mon, Chara, we got the same brother, we gotta be family, right?"

"We don't have to be anything," she said. "We could be absolutely nothing. But… for what it's worth. Thank you."

Frisk snickered She grabbed Chara's hand in both of hers and squeezed it. "I mean, I was a little surprised when… When I heard it, y'know? But!" She grinned. "I guess I left a good impression, huh?"

Chara scoffed. "It was as persistent as you are."

.

Frisk giggled bashfully. She settled back on the top of the shelf, heart growing heavy. She traced her claws in absent circles. "S'gonna be hard, huh?"

"Yeah." Chara's gaze hardened. "I… have some ideas, but… I can't go back. You know that, right?"

"Maybe we can come visit," Frisk said. "Um. Sometime. When we figure out how to make home not screw up without us there."

The girl smiled ruefully. "Maybe."

"I don't wanna never see you again," Frisk said shrilly. "That's dumb." She kicked her feet and pouted. "And you and Az shouldn't have to go through that."

Though Chara's expression stayed rigid, her cheeks flushed a little. "Thanks. But. I don't want you to worry about it," she said. "Plus, it's not like I don't have anything I'm willing to try. Even if I'm here and you're there." She cut her eyes at her. "And don't worry, I'll let you know if you can help."

"Good! You better." She leaned back, her shoulders slumping as she stared up at the bright, blue sky above. She was no good at missing people.

.

Frisk turned on the shelf and peered out over the Kingdom again. She squinted off into the distance, knowing that she would never pick Gaster out but hoping she might nonetheless. Her tail swished anxiously.

"What, did you hear something?" Chara asked.

"Mmnoo, just kinda…" She sighed. "Bleh."

The girl raised her brows. She leaned forward a little, then smirked. "What, you're looking for that skeleton?"

"I just wanna know where he is."

Chara laughed. "Come out, Gaster! We just wanna talk!"

"I literally do, though," Frisk said.

"Hey. When you dreamed about him, it was correct, wasn't it?" Chara said. "Do… you think you could track him? Instead of the other way around?"

"Um. I dunno. Maybe? But I can't really control what I see in dreams unless I, like, want to go into my brothers' dreams so I just stick my soul super close to theirs," Frisk said apologetically. "Something like this, I dunno, I've never done it on purpose."

"Hm. Oh well. Hopefully he doesn't notice all those crystals stuck in his clothes or whatever happened." The freckled girl folded her arms and her mouth twisted to the side. "I wonder why he connected to you like that at all."

"Time stuff, maybe?" Frisk shrugged. "Az and I did before we made him a new soul or anything. Before he had any bit of me, or Sans, or anyone. The one thing we had in common that was super weird was time travel."

"Do you think he's the reset guy back where he's from?" Chara wondered.

"Could be." The kid's ears drooped. "That's a tough thing to be."

"If that's true, then he's a massive hypocrite," Chara growled. "Ugh. I'm sick of him. I hope Alphys's super-jail or whatever works on him."

"Super-jail?" Frisk repeated. "Is she making a super-jail?"

"I dunno, but she's been hinting pretty hard that she's making something that'll contain him, don't you think?"

"Oh. Yeah. Guess so," she said. "Hope she doesn't get Sans stuck in a wall while she's figuring it out."

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Chara said with a chuckle.

.

The sound of Toriel tutting froze both kids, but when they turned, she was still leaned over her table, the admonishment for herself alone. Frisk and Chara shared a look.

"Mom? Is there an issue?" Chara asked worriedly.

"Ah. Do not trouble yourself, dear one," Toriel replied.

"Can we help?" Frisk asked.

The huge monster chuckled. "Now now, you are supposed to be taking it easy, are you not?"

.

Chara pursed her lips. She grasped the side of the ladder and bounded back to the ground down the plank rungs and returned to her mother, reaching up to grab her sleeve. "Seriously, mom. If there's something wrong, let us know. Frisk's powerful. She might be able to help."

The silvery monster looked down upon Chara fondly, then up to where the blue child perched. Frisk perked up right away, her red eyes gleaming.

"It is… not much," Toriel said finally. "To be able to interweave the Mirror Modifications with the other spells working in the castle— this is difficult, but doable. But I worry for the strength of the spell. The balance of it. It has not been tried on something so large as an entire castle and grounds. I am confident I can do such a thing, but I confess, it will be extremely taxing."

"…O-Oh," Chara flinched and looked up at Frisk.

.

The kid's heart sunk, but she had a thought. She quickly grabbed her phone again and yanked the book of Hymns from the sun dogs out and into her hands. She hurried down to the ground, flipping pages until she landed on the song that had so fascinated her grandmother. She held it up to Toriel.

"Would this help?"

.

The grand monster carefully accepted the book and lifted it, her bright eyes skimming the melody that graced the pages. "Dear, where did you get this?"

"A dog. At a sun temple. In another world. About a thousand years ago," Frisk said. "Sorry, it's pretty weird, but my grandma said this is a thing that can really help with strong spells or… making them stronger? Something like that."

"Well! It certainly can," Toriel said. "You do not mind if I borrow it?"

"Of course not!"

"Thank you, child." She turned back to her table and grasped a massive plume of a quill, scribbling lines of magic on parchment that sent a chime and a soft, lavender aura up into the air like faint wafts of smoke. "Just a little more time, if you would."

Chara gave Frisk a nudge. Her eyes darted to the phone. "…Did I ask if you have any cartoons?"

"Lemme, um…" Frisk scrolled through her files quickly. "Oh, actually, I have some anime."

Chara's eyes gleamed. "Can we?!"

"You wanna…?! Sure, but I think I only have Mahō Utyū Ryū VS Gekkō Kisiden: Kazan Sensō season one 'cause I just picked it up from my friend Kid, but I have no idea if it's any good and—"

"Stop. Don't care," Chara said. "I want to see it." She grabbed Frisk's arm and pulled her back towards the ladder.

"O-Okay!" Frisk squeaked. "But if it stinks it's not my fault!"

.

As Toriel worked, the kids settled back in on the top of the wide bookshelf, and began to watch the anime about a magic dragon high school in space with a science fiction aesthetic. Frisk wasn't sure if it was any good yet or not, but she was sure Kid wouldn't have recommended it unless there was some cool fight scenes or sakuga somewhere in there. For the time being, none of that mattered to Chara. She stared at the small screen, transfixed and unblinking, as if she thought there might be an exam on it.

.

They'd hardly gotten through two episodes when Toriel called to them again, snapping them out and cutting the fanciful end credits song short.

"Please come down and join me, little ones," Toriel said. "Just in case it causes disorientation."

Frisk pocketed her phone and, when the two of them reached the ground, Toriel passed a little tablet of stone to Chara.

"Would you mind, dear? It would be a shame to catch everyone unawares."

"I got it," Chara assured her. She hurried down the stairs back towards the crystals that made up a portal base.

It ignited with magic before her and she tossed the stone in. The energy shifted purple and overran the chamber in a quick pulse of lavender that tingled the ears. Frisk stuck her palms under hers and rubbed them.

.

Chara came back to them and Toriel nodded her thanks. She handed Frisk her book of Hymns, then rolled up her long sleeves and extended a hand that flared up with deep, melodious flame like amethyst given life, which she cradled between her claws.

"We will begin," she said. "Do not be alarmed as the room grows dim."

With a soft whistle, she stoked the flame in her hands and strode to the crystal pillar at the centre of the chamber. She pressed her magic against it and the entire crystal absorbed its purple hue and flickering vibrance. The glass above darkened as if night had come, and the centre pillar flooded lines of lavender light across the floor, like flame igniting a wick until each of the crystals at the corners shone.

.

Toriel took a measured step back from the pillar and closed her eyes. She drew in a deep breath and expelled it as flame. At once, circles and geometric patterns within them drew themselves across the floor beneath her in burning energy.

.

Frisk jolted so as not to step on one, only to land on another that, to her relief, was not hot to the touch. She bent down curiously as more concentric rings appeared like ripples in water and carefully laid her fingertip against it. Her mind flooded with song and images so bright and convoluted she couldn't have parsed them even if she had the time to— they ceased the moment she pulled her hand away. She held the side of her head and let out a shallow breath.

.

A few seconds more and the melody Frisk had heard surged to life in the air, making the crystals hum its tune. Toriel's fur bristled, standing on end along her neck and the backs of her arms. Her fur darkened, shimmering with iridescence, and massive, strong wings appeared at her shoulders and spread as if to hold the room steady.

.

The magic swelled. Chara's eyes began to glow and she held her ears. She nudged Frisk, so the kid did the same. Even through that, Frisk could recognize the notes of what Avenir had called a solar augment. The crystals vibrated with such strength that the floor trembled, then— stopped. The air cracked loudly. Daylight returned as the purple magic dimmed to embers and Toriel let out a long, heavy breath and fell to her knees, her wings crumpling to glittering dust.

.

"Mom!" Chara yelped, her voice cracking. She raced to Toriel's side and grabbed to her tightly. "Mom, are you okay?!"

"Ah… Dear one." The huge monster straightened up stiffly. She looked exhausted as she put an arm around Chara's shoulder and touched her snout into the girl's hair. "It… was a little more than I anticipated, but…" She looked around and smiled.

The kids followed her gaze. The chamber they were in had twisted clockwise and the one they had come from was opposite to where it had been. Frisk puffed out a loud sigh of relief and hurried to join Chara and Toriel.

"Th-Thank you so much," she said. She held out her hand. "M-Maybe I could—?"

"Frisk," Chara said sternly.

"B-But it's your mom," the kid said shrilly.

"What is the matter, little ones?" Toriel said.

"It's nothing," Chara said quickly, shooting Frisk a pointed look.

Frisk frowned. She rolled her eyes, but quickly reached into her phone and pulled out her last can of sea tea. She popped the tab and offered it to Toriel. "Here," she said. "Um. Food from my world seems to work a little faster for healing. I know it won't be much, but—"

"Are you certain you wish to give that up?" Toriel asked.

Frisk nodded and held it forwards insistently. "Please."

.

Toriel carefully took the can, tiny as it was to her, and sipped it daintily. She let out a little, pleased sigh. "How interesting. Thank you, little one."

Frisk nodded and the huge monster slowly eased back to her feet, but it still looked like a struggle. Chara held onto her.

"Should we go get someone tall to help you out of here?!" she demanded.

Toriel chuckled. "I suppose that would be a good idea." She walked stiffly to the steps and sat back down. "Goodness."

"Want me to go?" Frisk asked, looking to Chara. "You can stay with her."

"Thanks." Chara reached down the collar of her shirt and pulled up her dove medallion, then slipped the chain off over her head. She handed it to Frisk. "Just think about where you want to end up."

"Got it," she said. "I-I'll be quick."

"I'll meet you with the others," Chara assured her.

.

Frisk hurried for the portal's pedestal and held the medallion out between its crystals. She guessed the mess hall might be the best place where someone might listen to her if Undyne's group was still there. A portal in red opened up and she hopped through.

.

The hallway before her rattled with the sound of clanking boots. Frisk's ears pinned back and she hurried back towards where everyone had been gathered. As she turned a corner opposite to the one she had last time, she saw a big block of soldiers rushing towards the way out in the opposite direction. She gulped and she stuck to the wall and hurried to the mess hall.

.

The large room was almost empty now, with notes and blackboards scattered, and the layout flipped. The only monsters left there were a few of the ones in fancier dress. The tallest one she could see was the moose who'd been with Arnbjörn when the ice dome had been cast. Frisk hurried up to them and cleared her throat.

"S-Sorry, can I interrupt?" she said.

The monsters turned on her skeptically, but she put her attention squarely on the moose.

"Toriel did the spell in the big tower but she's super tired now and she can't really walk that well," Frisk said. "Do you think one of you could help?"

The monsters looked at each other, and suddenly were scrambling over each other to race for the doorway, each one announcing that they would help Lady Toriel as fast as they could. She sort of wished one of them had stayed so she could ask them what the heck was going on.

.

Frisk hurried back to a portal and this time used it to get back to the enclosed path to the throne room. She rushed up the carpeted steps and shoved herself in between the massive double doors.

.

Within, her view was blocked by the huge throne and platform that it rested upon, but it was tangled in vines. Frisk hurried around it, only to find a jungle before her. Vines and leaves had claimed more than half the room, ceiling and all. Yellow flowers served as pleasant pops of colour and many with melons of all sizes sprouted from the vines that lay thick on the floor. Some of fruit looked like something had burst out of them, and pinkish smears marred what little could be seen of the stone or carpet around them.

.

Sans was back, sitting on a massive fruit and using a smaller one as a footrest as he snacked on chunks of melon and watched a gleaming VC screen that certainly hadn't been there earlier. The skeleton's eyes brightened when he saw her and he leaned forward a bit.

"Eyy, look who's back," he said.

"FRISK!" Papyrus leapt from the plants just ahead of her with a huge smile. "Welcome! Looks like everything worked! How is mom doing?"

"She's really tired," Frisk said, leaning around him a little to try to see her brother, "but I think she's okay."

"That sounds about what I'd expect," he said with a nod. "Is Chara with her?"

"Yeah."

"Excellent!"

.

Frisk snuck in farther, looking around curiously. "What the heck've you guys been doing?"

"Plant practice," Papyrus said proudly. "We were trying to think of things Gaster won't have seen, in case of another battle."

"O-Oh! That's cool." She wandered over to Sans and peered up at the screen he was watching. It looked like drone footage out over some pink and golden forest— the volume was very low, and some subtitles saying some rambling advertisement scrolled across the bottom. "…What's that?"

"MTT junk," Sans said.

.

"Frisk?!" Asriel strode out from the mess of plants towards the back of the room. He grinned. "Watch this!" He held out his hand and, almost as soon as he had, a seed unseen grew to the size of a baseball in his palm. "Cool, right?"

"Oh! Yeah!" she said.

"And now watch this!" He squeezed it in both hands and gave it a toss.

As it sailed through the air, the seed sprouted, flowered, and blossomed into a large melon that promptly fell to the ground and cracked open. Asriel grimaced.

"Oops."

"That's pretty good, though!" Frisk said.

"No, no no, wait. Wait. I got it."

"H-He does!" Alphys emerged from the foliage, too, smiling brightly. She had some pink splatter on her scales. She gestured to all the leaves around them. "Isn't th-this fascinating?! I've n-never seen anything l-like it!"

"This is, um, mostly me screwing up," Asriel said sheepishly. "But…! But! Okay. Okay okay, watch this." He pointed at a big melon a fair distance away from everyone. "Okay. Here we go."

.

His magic shimmered in his hands, but nothing happened. Even so, Frisk grabbed her parasol from her phone and shifted to stand beside Papyrus.

"Okay. Okay, so imagine," Asriel said, "that the stupid creepy villain Gaster shows up, right? And he walks by the plants and then… BOOM!"

At the same instant, the melon exploded, blasting pink goo everywhere. The ghost enchantment on Frisk's parasol took what little bits made it to them, and Asriel punched the air with both fists and whooped.

"Yeeeah! That's what I'm talkin' about!" he cheered.

Frisk couldn't help but burst out laughing. "NICE!"

"But that's not all, right?!" Asriel's eyes gleamed. "Watch, watch! The seeds!" He gripped the air and lifted his hands up, and all of a sudden, dozens more vines erupted, only to plop over onto their sides when the boy released them.

"Plus if we make the melons early," Papyrus put in with a big grin, "we can load them up to be smoke bombs or something else equally helpful and distracting!"

.

"So you're just gonna make a ton of watermelons as, like, a trap?" Frisk asked, wide-eyed.

"And seed bombs! Maybe. Kinda." Asriel grinned sheepishly. "I'm working on it."

Frisk snickered. She shook the goop off her parasol and closed it up again. "It's really cool."

Asriel smiled proudly. "Papyrus helped a lot."

"Of course I did!" the skeleton said brightly. "That's what friends are for!"

"Also," Alphys said, taking one of the smaller melons and cracking it in half. "They're, um, a-actually really t-tasty, too!"

"Imagine we beat Gaster with a good snack, though," Frisk said. She turned to Alphys. "Did stuff go okay?"

"Hm?" The lizard swallowed a mouthful of fruit. "Oh! Y-Yes! Don't worry." She shot Sans a smile. "I think… I th-think we're very close t-to ready! Just a little more, um, f-fine tuning."

.

Frisk's shoulders sagged with relief. Alphys offered her half a melon and she gladly took it and dug into the bright pink fruit. It was crisp and cool, and turned to sweet juice in her mouth almost the instant she chewed it, before it sparkled into magic down her throat. Her whole body felt a little zip of pep.

"Oh dang, that is good."

"Kinda didn't intend for that," Asriel said bashfully. "But, y'know, I'll take it?"

"Asgore is gonna love this so much," she said brightly.

Her brother grinned. "Yeah, I think so."

.

"I-I'm sure glad someone o-organized a fruit platter," Alphys joked. She went to join Sans, leaning over his shoulders to look at the VC screen. "How's h-he doing?"

Sans shrugged with just his arm. "Nothin' interestin' yet. Saw a patrol, though."

"Wait, is that live?" Frisk asked.

"Yup. Or, uh. Live to us," Sans said. "Heard Undyne had to agree MTT could, uh, broadcast any fights, but we're playin' it safe as long as we can."

"A-And hopefully this Interloper doesn't notice… Y'know… B-Birds that are, um, made of marble." The lizard smiled sheepishly. "I think we're ready this time."

"I hope so," Frisk said.

.

"What the hell is all this?!" Chara had returned, too, and stood near the reversed throne with her mouth agape. "Azzy, did you lose it?!"

"Oh! No, it was just practice!" He frowned in concentration and lifted a vine up beside her, dragging a large, heavy fruit up with it to hang in front of her. "Melon?"

"Uh…" She grabbed it awkwardly and it released into her hands. "Thanks?"

"Ooh, here, l-let me crack it for you," Alphys said, hurrying to join her. "I th-think that's my favourite part! It's s-so satisfying!"

"Thanks," Chara said a lot more certainly as she handed it off to the lizard.

"They're doing big exploding fruit," Frisk said proudly.

"Oh. Really?" The freckled girl's brows raised. "Well. I mean. If it works."

"It like, seventy-five percent works," Asriel said.

.

"So how is mom?" Papyrus asked.

"She's going to be fine," Chara said. "She's just feeling a little weak. She's going to sleep it off, and she should be fine, maybe tonight or tomorrow, she thinks." She shrugged, taking her broken melon and stepping carefully over the vines on the floor to head for the table to grab a fork. "She said she's only done a Mirror Mod like once or twice before, so one that big was a little much after flying for like two days straight with no breaks."

"Eesh," Asriel said quietly.

"So… hold off on a visit, then?" Papyrus looked a little disappointed.

"I'm sure she'd love to see you anyway," Chara assured him.

"I know, but if the sleep is more important, I will definitely prioritize that over me wanting to go give her a hug," he said. "That's fine. We can just keep training in here in the meanwhile, right?"

"Yeah, for sure," she said.

.

Alphys bent and plucked up a huge fruit from the ground. "O-Okay, if you guys are all good h-here, I'm going to get back t-to work."

"We're good," Sans assured her.

The lizard looked very pleased. She hurried away with her prize, vanishing around the back of the throne.

.

As Chara munched, Frisk circled back to the VC and watched the overhead footage with curiosity and a lump growing in her stomach.

"I feel like it'd be kinda scary if we saw him," she said quietly.

"Can't get ya through the screen, kiddo," Sans joked.

Frisk stuck her tongue out at him, but she laughed a little. "I know." She sat down between leaves and rubbed her head. "Do you know where everyone went?"

"Out," he said.

"Out? What, like out out?" She pointed at the VC. "Like out there?! Looking for him?"

"That's what a patrol's for, yup," he said.

Frisk groaned and rubbed her face. "Man…"

"Isn't that good, though?" Papyrus asked, striding up with his hands on his hips. "He won't hurt them, and if Alphys is nearly done, they might actually catch him, right? And we know whereabouts he should be."

"Mmmmaybe." Frisk sighed. "I hope so."

.

The blue kid was pouting again. Papyrus shared a worried look with Asriel, and then squatted down beside her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"How about we try the Potion Pockets now, hm? That might be fun," he said.

"Oh! Yeah, d'you wanna spar a bit, too?" Chara asked.

"I, uh…" Frisk grasped to the handle of her parasol. "Aw heck, why not? Let's do both."

xXxXx

A smattering of bruises and some potions made of fruit and leftover beltaine later, and the kids finally took a break, chilling out around the VC and snacking on fresh melon and and cold tea. The footage from the false bird was almost relaxing to watch as it skimmed fields, small towns, and the tops of forests. The audio, on the other hand, was loud music and unending Mettaton commentary, which was not really what anyone was in the mood for.

.

Sans had long since dozed off on his watermelon throne. Asriel was starting to tire a little, too. He sat snug with Frisk and she took some photos of the room and everyone in it. As she was showing the ones from the tower to her sleepy brother, Sans jolted so suddenly that everyone else did as well. His hand rushed to his soul and he let out a little wheeze.

"Nyeeeeh, are you okay?!" Papyrus demanded, leaping to his side.

"What's wrong?!" Frisk yelped.

"Shit, I dunno." Sans grimaced. He sat up slowly. "That was weird."

"Oh, crap, were the early melons not magic enough yet?!" Asriel asked worriedly.

"Heh. N-No, no, I don't think it's… that." Sans frowned. His eyelights shrunk to pinpricks. "Do we, uh, have Alph's map anywhere?"

"Why?" Chara's eyes went wide. "Wait, you don't think—?"

"That's exactly what I think." He got up and a shimmer of shadow passed over his bones. He stood stiff, and his cheekbones flushed. He chuckled at himself and rubbed the back of his skull. "Oops."

"What oops?!" Papyrus cawed.

"Kinda forgot I gotta walk the castle again since the layout's messed up," he said.

"Wait," Frisk said, "what do you think's hap—?"

.

Asriel grabbed Frisk and turned her head to the VC screen. There were soldiers on it now. A wide field spread out before them, and a mountain spurting glistening rainbows of magic into the air. An extra light gleamed at its base.

"Oh. Shit." Sans grabbed the remote and turned up the volume.

.

"—annnnnd right on schedule, dear-soon-to-be-viewers and the control-board back home!" Mettaton's voice chirped through a harpsichord version of his familiar MTT theme. "As the stones say, as we say here! Or, in this case, some little tiny crystals snuck very bravely into his coat! Let's just do a little zoom in, now, shall we?"

The drone let out an artificial birdsong and its vision focused in at the light at the base of the Soul of the World's grand mountain home. There was the small, faint form of the skeleton. It was still hard to make out, but it looked as if he was trying to drill into the stone.

"What the hell's he doing?" Chara growled.

.

"My my my, this seems awfully dangerous, doesn't it, darlings?!" Mettaton said. He tutted. "No no no, we can't have that at all."

His camera zoomed back out to the field, where a legion of soldiers was gathering. Undyne was there as well. So, too, were strange, dark shapes, dotting the sky above.

"And, ta-daaa, my friends, here comes our grand, glorious Queeeeeen Undyne! What a show this is going to be, folks!"

.

Frisk shivered. Her vision tunnelled. She wanted to get up. She wanted to run straight there. Asriel held her tight.

"It's bait," Sans said, shooting her a knowing look.

"But—!" Frisk squeaked. "But look at that, he's—!"

"Bait." He put a hand to his soul spot and sat down again. "Let Undyne handle it. She's good at that."

"…But, brother, it's hurting you," Papyrus said quietly.

"Nothin' I can't deal with," Sans said. "Don't worry.

.

Frisk grabbed tight to Asriel's arms as the soldiers began to march. As soon as they stepped out onto the field, it cracked.

"Oh! A twist!" Mettaton said.

.

Autocatchers rose up. Rows upon rows. The soldiers raised their shields and the turrets began to build one in gleaming purple as well.

"Wait, is that supposed to—? I'm not sure that's supposed to happen, everyone! Is this a malfunction, or…? Oh! No, wait, could that cute baphomet have been correct? Has the villain really taken control?" His theatrical accent dropped. "Seriously, has he?"

"Bait," Sans said again.

.

Frisk knew. She understood completely.

.

She also knew she was falling right into it the second she saw a grey turret rise from the earth— the last clear footage before Mettaton's drone lost its view, much to his audible chagrin, as dark magic hands covered its crystal lenses and left everyone in the dark.