Brr chilly! chapter 97

The kids barrelled out of the quiet forest town as fast as they could. Despite Frisk's chagrin at hardly even getting a glimpse of the place high in the trees, it was her urgency that spurred them onwards.

.

A portal trip and a race across an open, grassy field later, and the three of them arrived in the Soul, out of breath. Papyrus, waiting near the portal, greeted them with a bright smile that swiftly dropped with confusion.

"Wowie, what—?"

"Did something happen?" Frisk blurted. "Was it the Soul? Was it my dad?"

"…Uhhhh." Papyrus's brows shot up and he looked back towards the cabin, where Alphys and Gaster were sitting and chatting. "Nnnno, I don't think—?"

"Wait, what's wrong, then?" Chara asked. "What's the urgency?"

"Well, it's getting late and we didn't know where you were," Papyrus said apologetically. "It's basically dinner time. And the Archwizard wanted to check in on Frisk after what happened." He looked beyond her to Asriel. "Ooh, what's that?" He pointed to the large seed pod. "Have you guys been training?"

.

The three kids drooped with relief and Frisk let out a little, tired laugh and rubbed her palms over her face.

"Aaah!"

"I guess we could have waited for those dumplings after all," Chara teased.

"Sorrrry!" Frisk squeaked.

"At least nobody blew up?" Asriel volunteered.

"Ugh." The kid squished her hands against the sides of her head. "I really though it might be him, guys, sorry."

The boy shrugged. "I mean, I don't blame you."

.

"Wait, slow down, what made you three so thoroughly spooked?" Papyrus said.

"Frisk's scars were glowing," Chara said, looking to the short kid with her brows raised. "As far as I understand, that often happens as a reaction to her father."

"I thought maybe he'd managed to peek through the world again or do something in here," Frisk said apologetically. "I kinda freaked out."

Papyrus smiled sympathetically and bent down to pat her on the back. "Don't worry, everything's fine. Nyeh heh, sorry to cause such a commotion!"

"Nah," Asriel said. "I mean, it'd be great to see him, but if he popped outta the Soul or something right now, I bet it'd be a huge disaster."

"You think?" Frisk wondered.

"Well, yeah, someone'd probably arrest him or something."

"Oh, right." The kid let out a little sigh and she cast her gaze around Papyrus and towards the cabin. "So. Um. How is he?"

.

Papyrus let out a long hum of contemplation. "Welllll… He's… I mean, he's better, for sure! But he's… a little quiet. I feel like he's thinking a lot."

"He should be," Chara said, folding her arms. "After what he did."

"Well, that, and that puzzle cube's been drawing a lot of his attention," the skeleton said, and he lowered his voice to a rather loud whisper. "I think he thought I wouldn't notice, but he's been talking to it, I think."

"…Talking to it?" the girl repeated, raising a brow.

Papyrus nodded swiftly. "Yes! I noticed him sort of mumbling to it, but I didn't catch much of what he was saying. I don't think it's anything to worry about, but…"

"Do you think there's something secret about it?" Chara asked, turning to Frisk. "Some sort of… secret power or a hidden chamber or—?"

"I mean, he'd know better than me," Frisk said. "But I dunno, Avenir didn't say anything like that about it." She scratched her head. "I don't think it has any power except what someone puts into it."

"Hm." Chara's brow furrowed slightly, but she nodded. "I see." She let out a little sigh. "Should we get back to it, then?"

"Frisk should get over to the Archwizard before you do anything else," Papyrus insisted. "Also, back to what?"

.

"We're trying to make a thing to help Gaster, kinda," Asriel said. "It's… Uh." He looked at Frisk. "It's kinda complicated. Like, a lotta magic and stuff."

"Oh?!" Papyrus's eyes lit right up. He grabbed the boy's hands. "Asriel!"

"Wh-What?!"

"You're actually going to try to help him?!"

"Well, yeah." Asriel's cheeks flushed a little. "It's…! It's important to Frisk, so…"

Papyrus absolutely beamed. "Tell me all about it!"

"There's a lotta steps," Frisk said, "but—"

"Nooo no no, you go," the skeleton said with a laugh, ruffling her hair. "Don't worry. We'll catch up."

"A-Ah! Right. Okay." Frisk tentatively looked back at Alphys and, in turn, Gaster. She bit her lip. "…I hope he doesn't mind me, like… You know. Existing?"

"Just ignore him if he does," Chara said.

.

Frisk wasn't sure why her nerves were acting up, but she nodded and made her way towards the cabin. Alphys and Gaster were near the new trees Asriel had grown, seated on cushions taken from inside, chatting quietly. The skeleton, mysterious cube clutched in his hands, still looked exhausted, but a little lightness had returned to his bones. Alphys perked right up and Gaster, at least, did not flinch.

.

"Heeeey!" Alphys cooed, holding out her arms. "Frisk! Come here, l-let me see you."

Frisk came close and let the lizard grab her and sit her on her lap. Alphys smiled warmly, supporting the kid's back with one arm.

"They told me everything. How are you?"

"I'm okay. Tired, though," Frisk said.

Alphys nodded swiftly. "Of course you are. I-I mean, after that, who wouldn't be, right? Would it be okay if I feel your magic?"

"Sure." Frisk let her soul swell with warmth down into her fingers until it ebbed a red glow through her skin.

The lizard was exceedingly gentle as she took the little hand in hers and traced her claws lightly over the kid's palm. She let out a thoughtful hm, squinting off at nothing, and then huffed softly. "There's a lot of… s-strain going on here, isn't there? Tired feels, um…" She laughed awkwardly. "…kinda like an understatement, huh?"

"It's not that bad, I was napping just before we got here," Frisk said.

"I d-don't blame you." Alphys pointed her snout off towards the cabin door. "How about we, um, g-go in for just a minute?"

Frisk tilted her head. "Uh. Sure." She got up headed for the cabin, shooting Gaster a small smile and a wave as she passed.

The skeleton reflexively raised a hand before quickly lowering it, drumming his fingers gently against the cube sitting on his leg.

.

The lights inside the cabin were comfortably dim. The warm, fragrant scent of the tomato sauce filled the air as it bubbled away on the stove. The low table they'd used for breakfast was completely occupied by half-empty potion bottles and instruments made from crystal and golden wires and tubes. The lizard's bag— the one she'd hauled in— was on its side on the floor, with just the edge of a thick book peeking out of it.

.

Sans was in there, too, in a heap on his back, sunk deep into the couch cushions; an arm dangling down to the floor. As soon as she looked at him, Frisk was hit with a shock of heartache almost as painful as the first time she met him. Her mind stumbled and she put a hand in her chest, absolutely flummoxed. Maybe she was just way too tired, she thought. Maybe she'd had some lingering dream of home that she couldn't quite recall.

.

Sans's dark eye opened suddenly and the kid froze. He could probably sense her soul's energy distorting already. She smiled bashfully. The skeleton yawned as he sat up a bit and leaned forward, rubbing his hand over the back of his skull. He scratched at his bad eye and turned his good one on Frisk, blinking groggily for a few seconds before he straightened up and opened his arms.

"Need one?" he asked.

"…Yeeees please." She joined him and let him scoop her up. She gladly nestled against him and slumped, content in the feeling of his cool soul ebbing nearby. No matter what, this was still pretty nice, she thought. She huffed out a tired sigh. "Sorry, I'm all weird."

"Eh." He readjusted himself to let one side of his jacket settle across her back like a blanket and gave her head an affectionate pat. His bad eye lingered on her, shifting slightly as if he were reading words suspended in the air. "Put yourself in a rough spot, huh?"

"It's not that bad," she said.

The skeleton chuckled. "Whatever ya say, kid."

.

Announced by a soft creak of the door, Alphys slipped in, clasping her hands together. "Whew. Alright. Oh, Sans, y-you're up."

"Barely," he said.

"D-Do you want to put her on a chair, or—?"

"I think she's alright here." He looked at Frisk. "You good?"

"Yeah." Frisk twisted where she sat to better face Alphys. She sort of wished she could just flop and take a nap, though. "So, um, what's up?"

"Y-You've, uh, just been through a lot r-recently, right?" Alphys said. She headed for the table and plucked up one of the crystal devices that looked a little like a perfume bottle with the end of a trumpet instead of a spray nozzle. "I may not be an e-expert of human, um, bodies or anything, but I do know a lot about magic and souls and… and what you did, today, especially, it's—"

"Really weird, yeah," Frisk said.

"U-Unprecedented," the lizard said with a smile.

The kid tilted her head to the side. "Un…? Oh! I did it a couple times before, actually."

"Did it to me," Sans volunteered. "How was that, kiddo?"

"Oh! Yours was sorta easy," she said. "It was just a little one."

"How far'd you send this guy back?"

"A week, I think?"

.

"…Aaah, so that's why h-he said I'd have to redo the dampeners," Alphys said. "It… wiped that out because it was on his body?"

"I think so," Frisk said.

"B-But his clothes didn't change."

"I didn't really aim at his clothes."

"I see!" Alphys's eyes gleamed. "Stars, that's r-really fascinating." She came in closer with her crystal device and lined it up with the kid's chest. "O-Okay, do you mind? Just do a small glow and hold it f-for, um, about five seconds?"

Frisk nodded. She put a hand to her chest and let her soul shine, though the feeling was a little weaker than she would have liked. A few motes of light drifted from her and into Alphys's contraption. The crystal tinted with a red that shifted very faintly with a rainbow iridescence when the light caught it.

"O-Okay, that's good, thanks." The lizard drew back and pressed the trumpet-like apparatus to the side of her head and squinted with focus. "Hmm."

"What's that?" Frisk asked.

"It just lets me get a better s-sense of what's going on with you without having to get u-up in your space for m-maybe a l-little, um, longer than is comfortable," Alphys said. "Sorry, just… quiet for a minute?"

"Oh, sorry!"

"N-No, no, it's okay," the lizard laughed.

.

Sans slumped tiredly against the back of the couch and Frisk settled with him. Before long, he was preening her hair, pulling out a few little bits of grass here and there and flicking them aside. Under other circumstances, the kid would gladly have dozed right off. She rubbed at her eye and blinked hard to try to rouse herself a little. She turned her focus on what Alphys was doing, even if it didn't look like very much. Frisk wondered if listening to the magic that way was a bit like how Alphys back home would have the computers do it, with all the wires and nodes that stuck on the body.

.

"Hmm. Okay," the Archwizard said finally, placing the apparatus down on the table.

"Is it really bad?" Frisk asked.

"Nnnno, no, I w-wouldn't say so." Alphys reached for one of the potion bottles. She gently shook up the purple liquid inside when she got hold of it. "But you, um, d-definitely are within some frequencies that could be, um, concerning if w-we don't take care of you. At least, um, that's what it would mean if you were a monster. B-But, I think you're magical enough that the same principles p-probably apply." She picked up a tall glass and filled it up just shy of the brim and offered it to the kid. "Here, try a s-sip of this."

Frisk carefully held the glass in both hands. Up close, the purple liquid smelled so sweet it was almost like a fruit on the verge of going off. She winced and took a sip, only to find it tasted like nothing but a cool, clear water with no more than a spoon of sugar stirred in. Alphys looked at her expectantly.

"H-How's the flavour?" she asked.

"It's almost nothing," Frisk said.

The lizard smiled with relief. "G-Good! Okay, then, finish that," she said. "As long as it doesn't turn bitter. N-Not that it does anything bad if it does, it just means you, um, hit the limit for it having any e-effect."

Frisk took another sip. "What's it do?"

"Oh! Well," Alphys said as she turned back to the table. "It's an elixir based on the, um, Perseverance school of magic with just the smallest hint of Fortitude."

"Oh."

"Means it'll help stop ya from gettin' the shakes for a bit," Sans said. "And it'll probably keep ya from gettin' much more tired than y'already are, at least for a few hours."

"A-And it'll keep any, um, weakening debuffs from settling into your limbs or… a-anything like that, you know," the lizard added.

Frisk still wasn't a hundred percent sure what that meant, but she nodded anyway. "Kay."

.

Frisk chugged the rest of the elixir and, once it was gone, Alphys quickly replaced the empty glass with smooth, flat crystal that resembled a sand dollar. She swept it around the kid's palms until it shone with red, then pulled it back and plunked it into a small jar on the table with a few others that were stained blue and gold.

"How do you feel? A-Any better?" she asked.

"About the same," Frisk said.

"Hmm. Okay." Alphys plucked up another clear crystal and began the process again.

"So, um, what's this for?" the kid wondered.

"Think of it like… Um. Well, like a preventative attunement." She held up the crystal and gently tapped a claw on it. "There's, um, a neutral magic inside that sort of… w-well, let's say it smooths the resonances it comes in c-contact with. When the flow of y-yours is how it should be, your soul will absorb what's in the crystal and stain the inside instead."

Frisk nodded. Alphys smiled fondly and took the kid's hands again, rubbing the crystal against her palms. This time, Frisk could feel a pleasant heat after a few seconds, and her blinks didn't seem quite so heavy anymore.

.

"So, um, how was Gaster?" the kid asked.

"He was alright, a-all things considering," Alphys said.

"He wasn't way too freaked out?"

"I'd say he was… p-pretty quiet?" The lizard looked at Sans and raised her brows. "I mean, he was a little more chatty with, um, P-Papyrus, but otherwise I'd say he was… not tooooo too bad."

"I'm not sure if ya finally got to him, kiddo, but y'broke some sorta wall in that thick skull o' his," Sans said.

"As long as he's not so bad that he just falls down again,' Frisk said. "I mean, I think I can pull him back more times, but I've never done that many of those so close together before."

"I think we're probably past that d-danger, thankfully," Alphys said. "Could you explain to me what e-exactly you did to him? As in, um, how that magic works?"

"I wish I knew a bit more," the kid admitted. "But, like… if I focus really hard on someone, I sort of see all these… I dunno, it's hard to explain, but like all these different versions of them all through time, for a minute. Then I kinda pull backwards on their soul but like, not with my hands or anything, but with my soul? I think? I'm not really sure how I know when I'm putting them, I just kinda know. I don't think I've ever done more than like… seven or eight days, though. It's hard to tell sometimes." She perked up a bit. "Oh! I can also do it on just, like, body parts. Like if you got a cut on your finger right now, right? I could put your hand to, like, the second before you got the cut but the rest of you would stay just where it is. That's my favourite one so far, it's really good 'cause then it's like I can heal people." She grinned. "I really like that; it's been super helpful!"

Alphys's dark eyes gleamed behind her glasses. "Oh wow." She let out a little squeak of realization. "Can you do it to y-yourself, too?"

"…Uh…?" Frisk blinked. "…I'm, uh… I'm not sure?"

"For example, c-could you make yourself less tired right now? By turning yourself backwards?"

.

Frisk tried to wrap her mind around it. It definitely wasn't something she'd tried beyond a reset or whatever the tears in time decided to give her. Usually, when she healed someone, she froze their entire body for the moment she was working, and she wasn't sure that she could do that to herself. To think about it, the tiredness was kind of in the mind, and that was one aspect she always made sure to leave alone. Add to that that she had an actual brain in her head rather than whatever the monster equivalent was that she'd been working with, and she was completely at a loss.

.

"I dunno," Frisk admitted. "It's like, a brain thing, and I dunno how all that works."

"So you can't… send yourself backwards?"

"I'm not really sure, I think, uh… I mean, I do that when I die or something."

"When y-you d-d-die?!" Alphys yelped.

"Like what happened to Chara, yeah?" Sans said, and he gave Frisk a little tap on the head. "But it's not a midnight thing for this one." He shrugged one shoulder. "Plus, uh, back in the day, apparently it was kinda hard to cast a healin' on yourself. Maybe it's the same for her."

"I only started to be able to do this stuff like a couple months ago," Frisk said apologetically. "A lot of learning how to do anything happened outta, like, panic and stuff, or just sorta… attuning? It's hard to explain. I still mostly dunno what I'm doing."

Alphys tilted her head. She smiled sympathetically and pulled the crystal away, flipping Frisk's hand over and rubbing her thumbs across the star-shaped brand on the back of it. "Well, I think you h-have to be doing something right," she said. "Th-That's okay, the last thing I want you t-to do is, um, toss yourself through time when you don't know how it works on your own body. A-Anyway! How do you feel now is that, um, any better?"

"I think so, it got kinda warm," Frisk said.

"Good!" Alphys tossed the second crystal off into the jar, where it chimed faintly as it touched the others. "I'm really relieved." She smiled bashfully. "S-Sorry to interrupt whatever you kids were d-doing before. Were you having a good time?"

"Guess so," Frisk said.

"Well!" The lizard patted the kid fondly on both shoulders. "I'll let you r-relax a bit. Make sure you eat something aaaand d-don't forget, if a-anything goes wrong at all, you can come to ol' Archwizard Alphys, o-okay?"

"Yeah, of course," the kid said.

Alphys smiled wide and headed for the door. "I-I'll let the others know things are fine," she said as she left.

.

Frisk blew out a little, tired sigh and Sans flopped against the backrest and rubbed his head. The kid twisted a little and slid off his legs to settle on the cushion beside him.

"You doin' okay?" she asked.

"Me?" He chuckled. "I'm fine, kiddo. Why?"

"I dunno, you just got, like… a feeling."

"Oh yeah?" His sharp-toothed grin stretched a little wider.

"Is it Gaster?" she asked. "Yours was bad, right? Is it tough? To, like, be around him?"

"Hm." He pushed the heel of his hand against his forehead. "Gotta admit, it ain't my fave. He's, uh, real familiar with me an' Papy, which is… good. But also, shit." He winked. "Pity I can't just chuck 'im right out the door, huh? Would if I could."

"I know." Frisk gently drummed her fingers together. "Hey, um. Thanks for, like… taking all this on, y'know?"

He shrugged and closed his eyes. "Don't need t'thank me, kid. I'm hardly doin' anything. Besides, I figure… exceptin' that goon, it's been a pretty good thing going' on here, yeah?"

The kid smiled. "Yeah. Um. Hey, Sans?"

"Uuuuhuh?" He already sounded half-asleep.

"Could I, um, get you to check a future for me?"

"Sure." He slowly sat up again. "You know the drill."

.

As he put his fingers against her temples, Frisk closed her eyes and focussed on their plan. She could feel the skeleton's cool magic skittering through her head.

"Hm," he muttered.

"Bad?" Frisk asked worriedly.

"Hang on," the skeleton said quietly. "Focus."

The kid gulped and squeezed her hands together as she set her mind back on the reset bomb. She walked through the steps they'd tried and the ones they were planning, as well as offering it to Gaster.

.

When Sans pulled back, he looked down at the kid with a puzzled squint. Frisk blinked her eyes open.

"No good?" she asked worriedly.

"I, uh… I dunno," he said. "Whatever you're goin' for doesn't blow up on us, at least. But, whatever happens after that is up to the ol' bonebag, so I got no way to see."

"Ooh. Okay. Not blowing up is good, though," Frisk said.

"Looks like ya laid that groundwork already." He frowned. "Probably shouldda mentioned that before, yeah?"

"I…" Frisk's face flushed and her heart sank. "Y-Yeah. You're right. Sorry. We… got kinda excited to try."

"Yeah, t'the point where ya did something whacko." He cupped her scarred cheek and looked at her with concern bright in the gleam of his eye. He sighed and drew back, rubbing his skull and laughing hoarsely at himself. "Just, careful, alright?"

The kid nodded vigourously. "We will be! Promise." She stood up on the couch and gave him a hug around his shoulders. "Sorry for worrying you."

He stiffened up for a moment, but chuckled and squished her gently. "I know." His eye gleamed with blue. "You, uh, wanna show it to me?"

"Oh!" Frisk perked right up and grinned. "Yeah!"

.

Out in the cavern, Gaster still hadn't moved from his spot, and Alphys was over with the other kids, explaining something with her hands waving in a very animated way. The seedpod seemed to be a large part of her gesturing. Sans strolled on by to join them but Frisk was paused by a cautious gesture from Gaster. She felt a little prick of worry, but also couldn't help the lightness in her chest as she hurried over to him.

.

"Yeah, what's up?" she asked. "Still doing okay?"

"Tell me," he said, tapping on the cube, "the name of the monster that gave this to you."

Frisk smiled awkwardly. "You know who it was."

"Say it." He grimaced. "…I just want to be sure."

"It was Avenir," she said.

Gaster shuddered. His sharp fingertips grasped tight into the cube's surface. He nodded. "How… did you meet?"

"Well, um." Frisk looked around. She pointed towards the other cushion. "Is it okay if I…?"

Gaster gestured to it as if to invite her. She quickly sat down beside him.

"Before you got here, me and Az got separated and I was kinda stuck on my own and he was still in the void. But I have this, like… I guess it's a little grey pocket space thingy, out there. I'm not super sure how it works but it's supposed to keep my brain from exploding or something, I dunno. I thought maybe if I got there, I might be able to get some answers or help, but when I went there, this… aspect of… me? Or time? Or something…" Frisk rubbed her head. "Sorry, I'm really bad at explaining this stuff. Anyway, it sent me to, I guess, the past of my world? Or somewhere really similar. It was supposed to help but I didn't get it at first. I met these skeleton knights that helped me, and they brought me to Avenir." The kid smiled fondly. "She basically got Az out of the void, it was really great. She was so nice."

"And she was…? Happy? Healthy?" he asked. "Did she…? Was her s—? Was her child—?"

"I know she's your mom," Frisk said apologetically, trying to ignore how mortified he looked. "She was doing really well. She had this nice, small castle and a ton of books and inventions and stuff. And she had some really good knights and she made a deal with some dogs that dropped out a giant fort that fell from the sky, it was super cool."

Gaster's dark eyes widened. "…You saw the fortress?"

"Oh! Yeah, we went in it," she said, leaning forward. "Did you ever go in?"

"Just a handful of times," he said.

"Did you see the pools at the top?"

"I did," he said. "They were kind enough to allow me access even after she…" He shook his head. "I wonder, does the name Nimbus mean anything to you? Was she…?"

"I met her! Vera— one of the knights— really extra loved her," Frisk said. "They got her some cool armour and Vera liked to braid her mane a lot."

"Hm. That horse was an absolutely glutton for attention." Gaster cracked a small, nostalgic smile. "I'm sure she loved…" His expression flattened. "Ah…" He rubbed his head. "…That's enough." He nodded, mostly to himself, it seemed. "…Thank you."

.

Frisk nodded. Her eyes darted to the cube and she clenched her hands together. "Um. Hey. I… still kinda need that box for, like, some vision thing I got? But, like… if it happens, or me and Az can go home without figuring that out, if you wanna, you can have it."

Gaster's stared blankly at her. "Pardon?"

"I mean, it's your mom's, right?" she said. "You can keep it."

The skeleton stared at her with skeptical eyes. "What do you want?"

Frisk gulped. If she were honest, what she really wanted was to know where Gaster would like to be sent back to. But, that expression on his face told her that now wasn't the time to ask. She shook her head. "Nothin'. It's cool."

Gaster looked down at the cube and absently traced a finger over its small, rune-marked panels. "I… will take you up on that."

The kid grinned. "Cool." She got to her feet. "Talk later?"

He shrugged one shoulder. Frisk's smile only grew. She waved at him and raced away to join the others.

.

Chara greeted her with a hug, shooting a cold stare across the chamber towards Gaster. "He say anything mean to you?"

"Nope!" Frisk said brightly.

"Frisk," Alphys said shrilly. She gestured pointedly to the seed pod, eyes wide. "S-Sweetie, a-are you sure about…?! Is it…?! This works?! Are you sure?!"

"Aah! Um! Not yet," Frisk said quickly. "We're working on it and… and it doesn't blow up, I think, so…" She looked at Sans for help.

He stuck his thumb up. "Current plan, doesn't blow up," he said. "At least, not here."

"If it gets kinda rough, I mean, I'm pretty sure we could do it all as, like, God of Hypertime," Asriel said.

"That ain't the current plan," Sans said.

"Can we check again if it turns into that?" Frisk said.

The skeleton shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"Thanks!"

Alphys still looked worried, but she nodded. "Ooookay, just… k-keep me updated? Please?"

"Don't worry so much," Chara said. "You're the Archwizard, of course we'll tell you what's happening."

"R-Right! Okay!" The lizard smiled and nodded. "Thanks."

"Plus, it's not as if we'll be working on it more tonight," Chara said.

"…We won't?" Asriel wondered.

"No, of course not, you're going to hit a wall in an hour or so and I'm actually shocked Frisk is still awake," she said.

"I drank the purple juice, I think it helped," Frisk said.

"Well, good, but still," Chara said. "We're done for today."

.

"Wait, does that mean," Papyrus said, eyes glimmering, "it's time to complete the amazing and ascended level of pasta sauce?!"

"You wanna?" Frisk asked, perking up.

"I DO!" His cheekbones flushed. "Unless you still need to take it easy, that is. Then, you can leave it up to me!"

"N-No, no, I can handle it!" the kid insisted. She reached up and grabbed his hand. "Let's go, I bet it's really good now!"

.

They raced away, Papyrus's enthusiasm gifting them speed. Chara couldn't help a little chuckle, and she looked at her brothers and Alphys with a tired smile.

"Almost time for another painfully awkward meal, I guess," she said.

"Maybe it won't be that bad this time," Asriel said. "Maybe he's, like, too tired to be crappy."

"It's not impossible, but—" Chara's eyes were drawn to a sharp burst of movement and she leaned to look past one of the new trees.

Papyrus had Gaster by the arm and was helping him to his feet, nodding and grinning brightly. The old skeleton didn't look like he was in the mood to argue, and was quickly shepherded inside. The girl's mouth twisted into a wry smile.

"Well, I sure hope that won't backfire," she said.

"Yeeeeah." Sans strolled back towards the cabin. "Stickin' around, Alph?"

"I h-have some plans, unfortunately," she said.

"At the castle?" Chara asked. "Can you remind my mother to come back?"

"Mhm, of course I w-will," Alphys said. She gave Chara a quick, warm hug before she departed.

.

Chara watched the glow of the exit portal shine amongst the black-barked trees with a thoughtful frown, crossing her arms over her chest. Asriel's ears drooped.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Hm?" She raised a brow. "What for?"

"Your mom's probably still staying away because of me," he said.

She scoffed quietly. "I asked her to because of Gaster, remember?" she said. "Don't worry your big fuzzy head about it."

Asriel snorted. "Still." His face softened. "Hey, um, sis? Can I ask you a stupid question?"

A sly smile spread on Chara's lips. She didn't have to say a word. The boy's snout scrunched up and she laughed.

"Ask away," she said.

"Do you…? I mean…? Is it weird?" he asked. "To have another mom that's… the same name as mom, and…?"

"You know," she said, "because of the amnesia, it wasn't. At least at first. After Sans recovered my memories, it was… I mean, it's been a little hard, absolutely. I miss them. Always will. But, I guess I just feel like I have three parents. Four, if I'm feeling extra nostalgic, for some awful reason."

.

Asriel nodded. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and frowned thoughtfully.

"I can hear your mind cranking from here," Chara teased. "What?"

"When whatever we're doing to try to still see each other after this works," he said, "d'you… think you'll talk to 'em?"

A hint of ruddy red flushed into the girl's freckled cheeks. "I… I don't know how I couldn't."

"Phew. Good," he said with a bashful smile. "Because I, uh, dunno if I could keep you still being alive a secret for that long."

"Oh, god. Right. You… Um." She took a deep breath. "Right. That makes… sense." She frowned. "…Unless you think they'd… suffer less if they just didn't know—"

"Never," the boy said quickly. "Don't even think that, that's crazy." He winced. "I… was worried, kinda… when I told them everything. I mean, I was still kinda mad at ghost-you at the time, but—"

"Understandable," she said.

"But, Chara, they never stopped loving you. Ever," he insisted. "Not even a little bit."

The girl swallowed back a sudden lump in her throat. "Silly old goats," she said softly.

.

Asriel's ears drooped and he dipped down a little to squish her into a tight hug. She leaned into him and sighed quietly.

"I'm fine," she said.

"Love you," he said quietly.

Her face flushed again and she held him, fingers digging tight into his hoodie. "Mhm."

.

When the two of them went to join the others in the cabin, things were surprisingly calm. Papyrus had somehow coaxed Gaster towards the kitchen to help him with the pasta— the younger skeleton brightly encouraging him. Just to their left, Frisk standing on a chair, struggling to grate a big block of cheese. With the table already set, the bustle of dinner's finishing touches, and Sans slumped over on the floor across the cushions, the whole thing looked strangely normal to Asriel. A nostalgic ache hit him all of a sudden, but it wasn't unpleasant. With Gaster's back to him, he could picture his Uncle instead. It almost felt like he was back home for a split second.

.

Dinner was, thankfully, completely uneventful. The spaghetti was cooked to perfection and the sauce with a bit of sharp cheese over top of it was a good, comforting meal. There was still some awkwardness in the air— some long pauses of nothing where it seemed as if Gaster suddenly remembered he'd almost died from hopelessness earlier in the day— but the moments were fleeting, even if conversation was slow and simple.

.

To nobody's shock, the old skeleton could hardly keep his eyes open after the dishes had been cleaned up, so they let him be and took to the cavern again. Papyrus decided to go take a jog around the field outside, but all except Chara were too low-energy to join him. Instead, the kids gathered around the Soul with Sans and told him their plans for the reset bomb. They explained the theoretical mechanism and what they'd already done, in far more detail than he'd gathered from the snippets of Frisk's memory.

.

The whole thing certainly piqued the sharp-toothed skeleton's interest. As soon as Papyrus returned, Sans slipped out again with some vague words and a hand-wave, as was his custom. Asriel decided to take some time to finish up turning his phone into Chara's other-world-cartoon-watching-machine, while Papyrus pulled out his potion supplies and Chara took out her paints again, and her unfinished picture of Frisk.

.

The kid in question flitted between the three, finally settling in beside Chara and watching her with large, glittering eyes. The strokes Chara made with the paint looked casual, but each one built the picture more fully out of colours that seemed not to make sense until they were beside the others.

"That's so cool, how'd you learn that?" Frisk asked quietly.

"Practice," Chara said absently. "There was a lot of free time underground. Lots of playing, reading, painting; music."

"Ooh."

"You know, there weren't any cartoons when we were little," she continued. "So, you're pretty lucky now."

"True," Asriel said. "We had some basic recording stuff way back then, but nothing like what they got now."

"Azzy, do you happen to have the show where the humans live in a fantasy world and cast magic doing martial arts, by the way?"

"Uhhh…" Asriel frowned thoughtfully. "I dunno. Don't think so. Where'd you see it?"

"Someone in Snowdin, I think. It's hard to tell, it was during the drifting-around-doing-nothing era, so it may have been a decade ago," she said.

"Uhhh… I can ask around and… Well, I dunno how to get it to you, but I can try."

"Thanks." She looked at Frisk. "You kept a copy of that MTT broadcast, yeah?"

"Yeah," Frisk said.

"I'll grab you a player from the castle tomorrow," Chara said.

"Ooh, give her some of our broadcasts," Papyrus said. "The Secret Radio Records! And I think there's some footage of us storming the castle, too!"

Chara chuckled, her face flushing a little. "I'm not sure why anyone would want that at this point."

"Historical value!"

"From a completely different world," she said.

"I'd watch it," Frisk said.

"Good enough!" Papyrus said brightly.

Chara shook her head and rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling a little. "We'll see."

.

After a few minutes, Chara's painting was complete, and she put it aside in the grass and began on another one. Frisk watched curiously, unsure of what the splotches of gold and green she was working with were going to form. The cavern was starting to feel a bit cooler, so she shifted a little closer to Chara, hiding a yawn behind her hand.

"Tired, hm?" Chara said.

"S'not that bad," Frisk said, quickly rubbing her eyes.

"Wanna paint?"

"Can I?" The kid perked up.

"Sure." Chara plucked a medium-sized brush from a small array of them that she kept beside the paints. "Just don't smash the bristles too hard. And don't mix the paints on the tray."

"Okay!"

.

On her own page, Frisk started with just some random blobs of colour. She wasn't really sure what she wanted to do, but the act of painting itself was a bit soothing.

"You're still kind of new to this, yeah?" Chara asked absently.

"Yup," Frisk said. "I mean, to be fair, I guess a lotta things are still kinda new. I started drawing with pencils and markers and stuff a bit at home, but your pictures are way, way way way better, though."

"So, what does a street kid do for hobbies?" the girl wondered. "Did you ever get to have any fun out there in the world? Before you, uh, fell?"

"Ummm…" Frisk's brow furrowed lightly, but she couldn't help a smile when she caught Asriel's pale eyes focus intently on her. She gave a little shrug. "Climbing, maybe? Trees. Old buildings sometimes. There's like, these… towns, I guess? Really small ones, in some places. But nobody lives there," Frisk said. With awkward, certain movements, she outlined a house in orange. "So there was lots of places to climb or look at. Exploring, I guess. That's still pretty fun. I still do that a lot, actually."

"Hm." Chara smiled a little. "I'm glad there was that, at least."

Frisk paused mid-brushstroke and looked at Chara worriedly. "Not for you?"

"Mm. Nothing comes to mind," she said.

"Wait, why were you out just climbing things in abandoned towns?" Papyrus asked worriedly. "Where were your parents?"

"Stuck under a mountain and in the void," Frisk said with a sideways smile.

"O-Oh! Right, that… makes sense," the skeleton said sheepishly.

.

Frisk snickered. She swirled some bushes around the bottom of the house and twisted vines up around its chimney and broken roof, a little shiver in her fingers accidentally making the plant look like it was dancing. She looked over at Chara's painting and instantly felt incompetent, as the freckled girl's page was already looking like a whimsical field. Chara's plants looked lovely as she mixed in yellows and blues with the green in her picture. Frisk tried the same thing, but now her shrubs simply looked like they were wet and filled with lemons. She giggled at herself.

.

After a little while, the trembling in Frisk's fingers and the chill in the air started to get to her. She sat back in the grass and rubbed her hands together. "Whew." She looked around, but everyone else seemed preoccupied with their own things. "Is anyone else kinda cold?"

"No," Chara said.

"I think it's pretty temperate," Papyrus said.

Asriel got to his feet and pulled off his blurple hoodie. "Here." He put it around her shoulders like a cozy cape. "Take that. You getting tired?"

"A bit, I guess," she said.

"You can go to sleep, you know," Chara said.

"I know." Frisk looked down at her mess of a painting. "Maybe soon."

.

Frisk went back to the painting, laying down absent lines and swirls as her mind wandered. She wondered, for just a moment, if there was something more she could be doing. Some magic, some training, some—? She shivered. Tried to force it away. It was late. She'd done some intense magic already. She'd be better at it if she actually slept, probably. A reset bomb was so big; so important, she probably couldn't afford to collapse like she'd done earlier.

.

She let out a little yawn and blinked heavily. Her focus went down to her page and she almost balked at the sight of it. Her abandoned house had been almost completely subsumed, taken over by inky black and deep indigo, cut through with messy streaks of white and blue. How long had she been mindlessly laying down colours? Frisk sighed and rubbed her head.

"Ooookay, I should go to bed now," she announced.

"Yeah, I said that like ten minutes ago," Asriel teased.

"Did you?" she asked.

"I also said you weren't listening," he said with a smile.

Her face flushed. "Oops. Sorry."

"Hmm." The boy's ears pinned back a little. "D'you guys think I should set up another—?"

"Don't," Chara said. "Save your energy. We have sleeping bags, right?"

"I have as many as we need!" Papyrus announced. "Also a large, padded tent, or some smaller tents, or—"

"Just get that doofus something cozy before she falls asleep and rolls down the hill," Asriel joked.

Frisk stuck her tongue out at him and he replied in kind. She snickered.

"Yes please," she said.

Papyrus grinned brightly. "Then! I have just the thing!"

.

Frisk gave everyone a hug goodnight and Papyrus went with her to a spot she picked— just behind the first line of trees so it was a bit darker than out near the glowing Soul. The grass was soft and plush in the whole cavern, so a nice pillow and a sleeping bag was more than enough. The skeleton left her and she settled down there and got comfy but, despite the borrowed hoodie and the cushy, padded blankets, she was still cold. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore it. The faint sound of Papyrus's lyra echoed through the cavern and she couldn't help a smile.

.

Before she knew it, some shift beside her made her blink a sheen of blue out of her mind's eye just in time to feel a fuzzy arm settle around her.

"Hiiii, Az," she said groggily.

"Heeyyy. You were glowing again."

"Anything weird happen?"

"Nnnnope." He settled his snout against the top of her head. "Sorry, go back to sleep." He paused. "…You bang your head?"

"…I don't think so?"

"Hm. Feels like there's a bump or something." He gently bonked his chin on a spot on her noggin. "There. Does it hurt?"

"Nope."

"…Kay." Asriel settled down again and threw a much bigger blanket over the both of them. "Night."

"Goooodnight."

.

Frisk closed her eyes and huddled up with her brother. Swirls of blue danced on the backs of her lids and she did her best to turn her brain off, despite that prickle of cold still bothering her. Deep breath in— then out. She tried to picture sitting with Undyne beneath the waterfall, where she'd first learned magic.

.

Brain off. Go to bed. Just rest. No dreams unless Sans shows up. That'd be great.

.

A little warmth tingled on her back. Finally, she thought, only to instantly be annoyed with herself that she was still awake enough to think any of that at all.

.

A hit of uncomfortable vertigo struck her— her stomach dropped, and the heat blazed over her in a wave so intense that she spluttered. When she jerked upright, all she could see was stone and blazing, orange light. The growl of churning magma, the howl of wind, and blaring notes of magic filled her ears and she half expected to turn and see Asriel as a flower behind her, deep in the CORE, but she couldn't turn at all.

.

Instead, arms that weren't hers wrapped around some blueish shape made of feathers and pulled an unsteady someone— a monster?— upright. Streaks of red soared by like flame and the pulse of magic grew so loud in her ears that it took her a moment to realize it was the song she and Asriel shared.

"What the heck?!" she blurted.

.

The ground shook so hard that she staggered down to the ground and, as she braced to rise again, she saw the hand of a large skeleton.

"Dad?" she wondered.

Heaving upwards and clinging to the other monster, it took a second to reorient. There was some bizarre, off-kilter black save star just to the side, but the kid hardly had time to process that before they whipped around to look back down the stone walkway.

.

Frisk's eyes just about bugged out of her head. There was Suzy, standing in a tornado of red magic, streaks of black and purple burning from her form like wings as she tried to keep up with that whirling melody on some kind of guitar.

"Suzy!" she squeaked.

"Suzy!" Gaster's voice yelled over Frisk's. "We can't stay!"

"I gotta!" she said.

"It's not stable, kiddo!"

"Ghost's is!"

Ghost. Frisk gawked. That was her.

"Wait, wait wait wait wait, what's going on?" she demanded to nobody. "Dad, can you…?! What's—?"

Gaster heaved the other monster up over his shoulder and sprinted for the little purple kid, making Frisk squeak with alarm, and he whisked her up as fast as he could. Suzy yelped.

"B-But Doc—!"

"Keep focus on it as much as you can, but we're going to the lab," he said. "Okay?"

"I—! O-Okay!"

.

Frisk had about a million and one questions that nobody could answer, and the heat and light tore away from her before she could process much more. She fell through darkness and breathed out a sigh of relief. She wondered what she'd seen. When it had been? Wondered why the heck her father was with her new friend and someone else, playing that melody, in a CORE that looked like it was about ready to blow?

.

She guessed it couldn't have been that long ago. Suzy knew Ghost. She hoped with all her heart that they'd be okay. Hoped that they already were.

.

Why had she seen that?

.

She floated down into darkness, pinpricked with stars. Her head felt heavy, body lethargic, the cold coming on again. Flits and flickers of blue drifted over the black like a distant aurora, and the anxious beat in her heart began to fade. Somehow, it felt… nice. Like laying in a snowbank, looking up and the cavern roof in Snowdin.

.

She imagined she was lazing in the snow with Sans and Papyrus, like she'd done many times before. She could almost see them from the corners of her eyes. She put a hand to her chest and a little flicker of red beamed out, cutting the chill just enough to warm her skin. A sudden prickle of blue in the back of her mind sent a shiver up her spine and she sat up, looking around in the void. Had that been a reply?

.

She sent out feelers of magic, embers in the dark. It was like there was something there, but it wasn't quite connecting. Maybe Sans was trying to reach her again, but she had no direction to follow back to him. Whatever was there, she sent out a note of warmth and reassurance as best she could. The strange feeling slipped away like the grip of someone dozing off.

.

Frisk lay back again with a sigh.

"Bro? If that's you," she said softly, "sorry it's a mess, okay?"

The stars above her danced, forming puppies in the shifting constellations. The glitter in the void moved as one and Frisk watched, mesmerized, as the biggest dog of all the dogs, made of stardust and darkness, took shape, staring down at her with a big, friendly smile. She reached up into nothing and, still, a cool nose the size of a mountain dropped down to softly rest just a minuscule portion of itself against her tiny palm. She giggled. She could do with a few more dreams like this.

xXxXx

It was past midnight by the time the portal into the Soul lit with a spiral of violet magic. Chara turned her eyes from the screen of the phone in her hand and she quickly paused the anime episode she'd been watching and got to her feet in time to see Toriel step through, arms full with scrolls and books. The huge, silvery monster's eyes widened at the sight of the girl and she swiftly put her things aside on the grass and rushed to embrace her.

"Oh, dear, I am so sorry to have kept you up," she said. "You called for me? Are things alright?"

"They're… okay." Chara nestled deep into Toriel's embrace. "Thank you. I just… wanted to talk, I guess."

"Anything, my child," Toriel assured her, drawing back a little. "Would you like to…? Where shall we…?"

"The hill's alright," Chara said.

"The hill, then."

.

They approached the slope around the Soul. Chara sat down first and her mother placed herself right beside her, carefully draping her long tail around behind the girl. Her eyes skimmed the place and she took note of the device in Chara's hands.

"What do you have there?" she asked.

"Oh. It's, um… They call it a phone. It's a multipurpose communication tool from my home world," she said, and she smiled sideways. "They weren't invented when I was alive. But they can carry a lot of things. And, um. Play recordings, and make them, too."

"Goodness." Toriel chuckled. "Is it your brother's?"

"Not anymore." Chara chuckled. She looped the second chain around her neck over her thumb and pulled up the golden heart locket she wore. "The same with this. It's like when we were kids. I express an interest in something of his, and he just hands it over." Her face fell a little.

"You are using your choice of words to make yourself sound worse again, dear."

Chara's face flushed. She crossed her arms. "…Sorry."

The huge monster tutted gently. She cupped the locket in her fingers and passed her thumb gently over it. "It is lovely," she said. "And you will treasure these things, will you not? I am sure he knows this."

"I…" The freckled girl sighed. "Yeah. Of course."

.

Toriel put an arm around Chara's shoulders and gently bumped the tip of her snout into her hair. "Have you been alone here long? Where are the others?"

"Sans is who-knows-where, as usual," Chara said. "Frisk and Asriel are asleep in the forest, and Papyrus went to check on that old skeleton a little while ago."

"Hm." Toriel's eyes narrowed. "Shall I pay them a visit?"

"Only if you want to," Chara said. "Papy's fine. That man'll never lay a finger on him."

"Well. Some comfort, then."

.

Chara nodded stiffly. She folded her arms and stared quietly at the Soul for a while. Her fingertips dug hard into her skin and Toriel quickly slipped her hands in the way and held the girl gently.

"What is wrong, my child?" she asked. "Is this all becoming a bit much?"

"No, it's… It's not that," Chara said. She bit her lip and then, grimacing, looked up at the huge monster with big eyes. "Mom, if I…? If I could… send a message, to my other parents, would you be… upset?"

"Upset?!" Toriel's eyes widened and she had to suppress a laugh. "Moon and stars, no, of course not, dear!"

"No?" Chara repeated a little shrilly. "It wouldn't bother you?"

"Oh, Chara. My dear. My girl. My silly little ember," the monster cooed, cupping her cheek carefully. "Your family is your family. Us here, and them, there. There is nothing wrong with that. I would never dream in a million years that you should not speak with them if you can." She puffed herself up a little and took on a mischievous grin. "Perhaps I should like to speak with them myself!"

"Y-You?" The girl couldn't help the snag in her voice. "God, that'd be… something. What would you even say?"

"Thank you, of course," Toriel said. "For giving our Chara such a wonderful home, while they could."

"Mom…!"

"Perhaps we could sit down for a long-distance tea. Your other mother, she never suffered this curse, correct?"

"R-Right." Chara smiled sideways. "So, my father, he's maybe an Asgore that's redeemable, right?"

"I would certainly hope so! Goodness, that would be an odd exchange, would it not?" Toriel chuckled, but suddenly her gaze was far off, looking at some distant shore she hadn't quite reached. "Very odd, indeed."

.

Chara's smile faltered a little. "Mom. Um. About the King—"

"Do not fret, dear."

"Do you really still have follow him to the End?"

"I… I do. I am sorry." She stroked Chara's auburn hair with the light touch of her claws. "I promise you, I will not depart until all this business is done. And, I will not be away for nearly as long."

"Right," the girl said quietly. "Do…? I mean. Do you even know he's not dust, though?"

Toriel's hand went to her chest, where the glimmer of her soul burned a smouldering glow through her robe. "Yes. I know."

Chara let out a little sigh and held Toriel's hand. "Alright."

.

Toriel's face sagged a little as if the hour of night was catching up with her, but she smiled fondly and cuddled the girl. She nuzzled her head.

"Is there anything else bothering you, dear?"

"…No, actually, not too much," Chara said. "Aside from… you know, all the things you'd expect in this situation."

"That is more than fair."

"But, really, it's been… It's been good. I…" A movement from off across the chamber caught her eye and paused her. She squinted, and then pulled out the detail in the shadows of the trees when a little blue glow sparked up. "Oh. Frisk's up again."

Toriel followed Chara's gaze. "Oh, dear, it is so late, though."

"Frisk!" Chara called. "Go back to bed!"

.

Frisk didn't seem to hear. The kid wandered slowly and groggily. Chara rolled her eyes and got up.

"Hey! It's midnight, I know you're too tired, what are you doing up?"

Still nothing. Chara tilted her head. She followed the rim of the hill towards the kid, but Frisk seemed to be headed straight for the light of the Soul. That is, until she stepped out over the edge of the slope and plopped right down it and landed on her face.

.

Chara yelped and bolted down the hill in time to hear Frisk whine out a series of ows and start to push herself up with her arms.

"What are you doing, bonehead?!" Chara demanded, brow bent with worry as she helped Frisk to sit up on her knees. "You okay?"

"Ow," Frisk said, rubbing at her face. "Wh…? Uh." She blinked at Chara. "I think so."

"…Were you sleepwalking?"

"Was I…? Uh…" Frisk stared at her, then looked at the Soul, and frowned. "Uhhh. Maybe?"

"C'mere," the freckled girl said. She took Frisk's hands and pulled her to her feet, and then quickly brushed some of the dirt from her face. "Stupid."

The kid snickered and rubbed her cheek. "Sorry."

.

"Goodness, little one, are you quite alright?" Toriel asked as she joined them.

"Y-Yeah! Yeah, sorry," Frisk said. "I just, uh…" She scratched her temple. "I dunno! I guess I tripped."

"Brain's whirring too hard," Chara said, giving Frisk's head a squish between her palms. "Body's asleep, legs kept going."

The kid snickered. "I guess. Sorry."

"Come, dear," Toriel said as she stooped to pick Frisk up. "Ooh. You are cold, are you not?"

"Y-Yeah, kinda," Frisk said bashfully.

"Let us get you back to your brother," she said, carrying her back up the hill. "Do you need anything else? A warm drink?"

"I-I'm okay! Thanks, though. Sorry for the worry!"

"Nonsense, child."

.

Chara watched them go with a puzzled frown and her mouth twisted to the side. She turned back to look at the Soul, but it seemed the same as ever to her. She made a mental note to tell Sans, just in case, then followed her mother out of the ditch as well. If it was anything more than an overactive dreamscape for that kid, it could be dealt with in the morning, surely.