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.

102. Bloomba Kaboomba

Bloomba Kaboomba Chapter 102

---

"Okay. Are you ready?"

"No."

"Oh, c'mon. Chara, look. Just… Okay, just look at me, I'll hold the thing, the lens is right here." Asriel tapped his thumb over the small lens of the camera built into Frisk's phone.

"Make sure it's on ghost mode," Frisk advised.

"Oh! Yeah." Asriel snickered and double-checked the settings. "Yeah, that'd be smart."

"No, leave it off." Chara's eyes glinted. "Let them see my real face."

Asriel scoffed and Papyrus snickered, strolling over to her and patting her reassuringly on the shoulder.

"Come on, sister, it's going to be fine! You'll do great!" He beamed, his eyes glimmering. "They're going to be so happy to see you, I'm absolutely sure of it!"

.

Chara crossed her arms tight to her chest. She leaned back against the wall of the cavern and looked off at nothing. She puffed out a little sigh. "Maybe it's too dark here," she muttered.

"Nah, it's fine," Asriel said with a grin. "Cameras now are a ton better than that clunky junk we had as kids."

"Hm." The girl's face scrunched up a little.

"Az." Frisk nudged her brother gently. "She's nervous."

"O-Oh. Right. Um."

"Here!" Papyrus waved his hands and a row of bones plunged into the ground around her in a wide, out-of-frame arc and began to glow softly with white light. "Is that a bit better?"

"It looks good to me, but, uh—" Asriel tilted his head. "Sis, do you…? Uh. D'you wanna sit, or—"

"It doesn't need to be a long message, if you don't want," Frisk said.

"Are you planning on going over the whole thing?" Asriel asked.

"Do I have a choice?" Chara wondered.

"Well, kinda, it's not like Frisk and me won't be around to explain."

"I don't mind doing it!" Frisk assured her.

Chara sighed. "…Fine, get me a seat."

.

Papyrus was about to take off, but Asriel wrapped his magic into the ground just beside his sister and popped the grass up into a little, solid mound. She raised a brow and cautiously pressed on it with her palm before sitting down.

"Not bad, fuzzball," she said.

"Thanks," he said. He aimed the camera at her again, frowned thoughtfully, and then backed up and knelt down. "Okay, I think that looks good." He waved to Papyrus and the skeleton swiftly jumped out of frame. "Just lemme know when you're ready to start."

.

Chara's brow furrowed. She pulled at the hem of her tunic-like shirt as if to straighten it out and readjusted herself on her seat. Stiffening her posture, she held her legs rigid as she folded her hands in her lap. She drew in a slow, steadying breath and blew it out again, letting her shoulders sink a little. "Okay." She nodded, mostly to herself. "Go ahead."

Asriel hit the record button and stuck his thumb up.

.

Gleaming, honey-coloured eyes locked onto the camera lens unblinkingly. "Greetings, mother; father." Chara frowned. "No, that's… too formal. Hi. Hello. Howdy." She rolled her eyes at herself and her gaze darted towards the others.

Papyrus stuck his thumbs up and Frisk clasped her hands together and nodded.

"It's fine, keep going," Asriel said.

"Right. Okay. Ah. As you can see," Chara said. "it's your… daughter. Chara. I apologize that this makes everything more complicated, but I'm still alive, somehow… Despite my best efforts."

"Chara!" Frisk squeaked.

"Ugh, I don't know," Chara said, rubbing her hand through her hair. She began to get up. "Can we start over?"

Papyrus bounded over and knelt down, putting an arm around her and holding her hand. "Sister, it's okay. Don't worry." He rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand and smiled at her. "Just imagine we're the Papyrara, okay? Very big. Very confident. Possibly on fire. Right?"

Chara took a deep breath. She nodded. "Okay."

"We're all right here," Frisk assured her quickly. "I know you got this."

.

Chara nodded, trying to settle herself. She fixed her gaze on the phone again. "Okay," she whispered, before raising her voice. "Hello. Mom. Dad. I… know this has to be a shock. It must have… been a few hundred years for you, right? I'm… a little older than when I saw you last, as well." She locked her fingers tight together. "I'm sure Asriel and Frisk will tell you all about where I live now. The most important thing I can say about that is: I cannot return. I don't know that we'll be able to see each other again in person. I… I-I hope that, some preparations we made might allow it, but there's no guarantees for any of this. Not that… I mean, if you'd rather never see me again, after what I've done—"

"Chara!" Asriel scolded, eyes wide. "They already know; they love you no matter what!"

Chara's pale face flushed. She flinched. "Azzy, I'm sure the emotions are going to be really complicated." She shook her head. "A-Anyway…" She sighed and cut her eyes at him with a teasing smile. "You have to stop interrupting."

The boy gulped. "Sorry!"

.

Chara couldn't help a dry chuckle. She rubbed her fingers through her hair and tried to resettle herself. "Seriously, should I start over?"

"Only if you wanna," Frisk said.

Asriel nodded. The freckled girl sighed.

"I really, really don't." She straightened up again. "Sorry. I guess, the other most important thing I'd like to say is, that I'm sorry for… everything. For what happened after my plan failed. I never meant to take Azzy— Asriel, from you. I wanted him to come home a hero. A… Well, a god, really. And I…" Her eyes dropped to the ground and she clenched her fingers into the hem of her shirt. "I never meant for what happened afterwards, too. The… whole ghost thing. Whatever is happening now with the world degrading, it's my fault as well. I know it doesn't help in the moment, but please know that I never meant for any of that to happen.

.

"I know that… all of this, it has to be a shock. And, I'm sorry for that too. Remembering how you were when I was little, and assuming you aren't fuming—"

"Chara, they're not," Asriel whispered.

Chara flinched. "I-I'm sure this has made a whole new list of worries for you. To… see me again. But, I want to assure you, I'm well taken care of. This place it… It's parallel to ours, I guess, is how we'd explain it. So there's some familiar names and faces. Mom. There's… another monster with your name here, who used to be the Queen. She took me in right away, when I arrived. And… And two skeleton brothers did the same." She cracked a tired smile. "Life's sort of funny that way, isn't it? Dad, sorry to say, the monster with your name caused a whole lot of trouble and is now on the run, but… I know the trouble he caused was because he had such a good heart to begin with." She frowned a little and looked to Asriel. "I'm… not sure what else to say?"

Asriel looked puzzled. "Uhhh…"

"What about what you been doing?" Frisk suggested.

.

"Oh. Um." Chara relaxed a little. "Well. Things here aren't always easy, but I've been… training, a lot. With a sword. And because of… I guess, what I am now, I can do a little bit of phantom magic." She smiled sideways. "Just enough to do things like turn an umbrella into a shield. Ask Frisk, she'll show you. And… Uh."

"Gardening?" Asriel suggested.

"Oh! Yeah, I still do gardening. We live in Snowdin, so not a lot there, but they let me do whatever I like at the castle. And I've been painting and drawing a lot. And, don't worry, my oldest brother has been tutoring me on the other things. I think you'd approve.

.

"After all this, it's… It's been really strange. I never thought… that I'd last this long anywhere. I, um…" Chara chuckled at herself. "There's so much to say that I feel like I can't even pick. So. I'll… I'll count on that we will see each other again. I… have to believe that. And. Again, I'm sorry, that everything happened like this. And I love you both, and I always will." She dipped her head forward slightly. "Thank you for opening your home to me back then. I will always be grateful for everything you did for me. And I will always think of you as… mom and dad, no matter what. I hope that's alright." She smiled faintly. "Every part of me that has ever been good came from you two. And… Ah. Say hello to old Gerson and Uncle Gaster for me, if you don't mind."

.

Chara let out a little sigh and looked at Asriel. "I think that's about what I can manage, for now. Sorry it was—"

"No way," Asriel said as he stopped the recording. "It was perfect, don't worry."

The girl's cheeks flushed and she nodded. She bit her lip and gritted her teeth, and her eyes glossed over. The instant the tears started, Papyrus was already pulling her off her seat and into a tight, warm hug. As Frisk raced to them, he bent down to let the short kid push in close, wrapping her arms around Chara as well, her red soul gleaming. Chara choked quietly and hid her face in her hand.

.

Asriel couldn't help his eyes welling up. He pocketed the phone and hurried to join the others. He sat on his knees and cupped Chara's cheeks, pulling her in to smooch her gently on the forehead.

"You did so good," he said.

She laughed incredulously and shook her head. "I… I'm…" Her voice was tight and her throat strained. She coughed awkwardly.

"It's okay, sister, it's okay." Papyrus rubbed her back. "Deeeeeep breaths."

"I just k-keep picturing their faces," she croaked, digging frantically at her eyes with the heel of her hand if there was something stuck in them. "Ah, damn it… M-Maybe this was a mistake."

"I-I'm really sorry, Chara," Frisk said quietly. "This must be super stressful for you."

Chara shook her head weakly. "I-It doesn't matter." She drew in a long, ragged breath. "It's not even a fraction of what I've put them through. This… all of this, I deserve so much worse."

"Nyooo, no, sister!" Papyrus cooed as Frisk squeaked in alarm and squeezed the girl tight. "That's not true, not at all!"

"Chara, it's okay, I promise," Asriel said gently. He wiped her tears with his thumbs. "Really. Really, really."

She shook her head again. "All I see in my head is h-how disappointed they'll—"

.

"Chara Dreemurr." Toriel's voice rang clear and commanding through the trees. The great monster, leaving a painfully worried-looking Leirach in her wake, strode over as fast as she could.

The other kids gave a little space, allowing Toriel to drop down onto the grass and pull Chara into her lap. The girl slumped and took a long, deep breath, trying to gather herself.

"I'm sorry," she muttered.

Toriel tutted softly and nuzzled Chara's head. "My dear girl, you have nothing to apologize for."

"I have everything to apologize for," the girl said. "What happened then— what's happening now. All of it. I cursed that world with everything I did. How c-could I ever think that facing them would be—"

"Chara, no," Frisk said quietly. Sneaking in close, she snatched one of her sister's hands to hold it tight in both of hers. "Please don't… I mean. I know it's hard. Like, super hard? But please don't do that to yourself. Love you, okay?"

"We all do," Papyrus said.

"You know we do," Asriel said quietly, his ears drooping. "So do they. All that old stuff, i-it… It won't matter to them. I know it won't. They forgave both of us."

"Tch… It's not the same. I was the one who got you in trouble to begin with. Don't… Don't talk like my hatred for humanity didn't start all this," Chara growled through clenched teeth.

"Darling girl…" Toriel pushed in to gently kiss Chara on the forehead. "When do you forgive yourself for a cruel twist of fate?"

.

Chara could only grimace in reply. She gulped back a heavy lump in her throat and crossed her arms tight to her chest, but her mother slipped one giant paw towards her, gently cradling the girl's hands in her palm.

"You have always had this light of fire in you, my child. But. That was never all, hm?"

The girl looked up Toriel with a tearful, puzzled frown. The monster smiled fondly at her.

"I believe, very firmly, if you had not been born red," she said, "that your soul would have been the purest of gold. That nature, to me, is clear as the shine in your eyes. Of course, it would make sense why this affects you so. Fairness; justice… vengeance. You care about these things with every fibre of your being, do you not?"

Chara gulped again and sucked her parched tongue. Her throat hurt. "I… I guess… that's true, sometimes."

"It is what has driven every action," the monster said. "All that you described— all that was truly you— stems from those principles. And you believe you have not gotten what you deserve."

"I never can," the girl said.

Toriel let out a quiet sigh. "Nobody holds you to that standard but yourself, dear one. Vengeance enacted against yourself for the ill deeds of a child in the deepest of pain— all this does is harm those who love you with all their hearts and souls. And they do not deserve that, just as you do not. Do you see?"

.

A wince strained Chara's face. She squeezed Toriel's fingers. "I… I know. I know. I do. I just…" She shook her head. "I don't know if I can stop for good. I really don't. I… I try. I do. But this… I just don't… I dunno."

Toriel pursed her mouth, but then smiled softly and touched her snout against the girl's forehead. "Then, I will have to be here to remind you, will I not? As many times as you require."

"Me too," Papyrus said swiftly. He snuck closer and put a hand on Chara's shoulder. "Always will! For literally forever, if that's what it takes." He grinned. "I can be just as stubborn as you can, don't forget!"

"I-It's gonna be a lot," she said, managing a little chuckle as she wiped her nose on the back of her hand. She scrunched up her face. "Ugh."

"And that is okay!" the skeleton assured her.

"We… might not be able to be here in person," Asriel said. "But just like, picture me grabbin' your shoulders and shaking you, okay?"

"Pff." Chara rubbed her eyes. "…Yeah. I'll try that."

"I'm serious!" Asriel feigned a frown. "Or picture me falling and rolling down a hill, whatever makes you laugh more."

"Let me know if there's something I can do, too, okay?" Frisk said.

"Just as long as you don't put mom and dad through what I did, you're doing great," Chara said with a tired smile. She sighed at herself and rubbed at her eyes. "Damn…"

.

"Chara?" Leirach had come closer, ears drooped, dark eyes wide. "Sorry to, um… Well." He put a hand against his chest. "I know it isn't the same, but… a good chunk of me is the same as you are, so—"

"You never ended up ruining a whole universe, though," Chara said, "so, you're a whole lot better than I am."

"Even so, it was still my fault that we— Asriel and Chara— were killed to begin with," he said. "It was my trust in the human that was our assassin that let us get hurt, and made our father—"

"My child, that was still his choice," Toriel said.

"It was more like insanity than a real choice, though," Leirach said. "Anyway, I just… I wanted to say, I understand some of that guilt. So, if you ever need a sympathetic ear…" His floppy, petal-shaped ears perked a little bit. "I have two big ones."

Despite herself, the freckled girl couldn't help a small, tired smile. "Well. I appreciate it. Thank you."

The floral monster's eyes brightened and he nodded readily.

.

"Child," Toriel said, looking to Asriel. "Would you help me, perhaps? I think I would like to leave a message for your parents as well."

"You…? You would?" Asriel's face was blank and confused. "Oh, uh. Yeah? Sure, I mean, I don't mind."

"Are you sure?" Chara asked, wide-eyed. "Wh-What would you even say?!"

"Just as I told you, I would say how wonderful a daughter we have, of course," Toriel said with a smile. "Among other things."

"Mom!" The girl's cheeks flushed. "I thought you were joking!"

"Hah! Not at all, dear one. Of course, your brother can choose whether or not to deliver the message. Though, I would hope that he will."

"I mean, it'd freak 'em right out," Asriel said with a sideways smile. "But, like… I can't imagine they wouldn't appreciate it, too."

Toriel nodded. "I know I certainly would, if I were in their position."

.

Chara sighed. The tension in her thin form started to drain away, replaced instead by a heavy exhaustion that made her limbs sag. She slowly got to her feet, rubbing her temples tenderly. One of her mother's huge hands settled on top of her head and gently rubbed her hair. The girl cracked a tired smile.

"Sorry I did this again," she said.

"Nonsense, dear."

.

Papyrus was on his feet in a leap. He plucked Chara up under her arms and easily hefted her into the air. "Alright, that's it, it's time for my patented Papyrus HCBLUAH Plan!"

"…That's just a sneeze sound," Chara said.

"Not at all!" He winked. "It stands for Help Chara Become Less Upset At Herself! Frisk, you'll help, right?"

"Yeah, of course!" Frisk said.

Papyrus beamed. He slung Chara over his shoulder and grabbed Frisk by the hand. Together, they left the woods, giving the goat-like monsters some privacy for their recording and bringing Chara out into the lighter area of the cavern.

.

The other monsters— Undyne, Bahmata, Sans, and Gaster— were still about where they'd been when the kids left, while moonghosts drifted about, inspecting all different aspects of the chamber like curious cats. Whatever was going on, Bahmata seemed to be monopolizing the conversation.

.

Sans's dim eye darted in their direction and, after a second, he excused himself and strolled on over. "Sup?"

"HCBLUAH!" Papyrus said brightly.

"Ah. Gotcha." Sans cocked his head to the side and held out his arms. "Give 'er."

"You two are the most bizarre people I've ever met in my life," Chara said. "And I'm not a sack of potatoes!"

"Uh-huh." Sans squished Chara tight and finally let her feet back onto the ground. He cupped her face and his fingertips glowed with cool blue. "Y'out here blamin' yourself for the end of the world again?"

"Oh, stop," she said quietly, though she was still sniffling a little. "I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine."

"We did the video," Frisk said quietly. "For mom and her dad."

"Ah, that'd do it."

"Sans!" Chara protested. "Come on." She pouted and folded her arms. "A-Am I really so predictable?"

"Yup. Lemme know when the headache's a little better."

"Fine, fine…"

.

Frisk tented her fingers worriedly. Her heart ached. She couldn't imagine how tough this all was for Chara. Asriel was probably the best person in the whole world to understand it, but even then, he hadn't had to plan out a message and wait on it like she would. He'd been thrown headfirst into everything when Toriel had found them in the flower field in the Ruins. Once that was set in motion, everything else had happened pretty fast. Even though she hadn't been in the room, Frisk was certain that she'd never, in her whole life, forget the sound Asgore had made when he saw his son alive for the first time in hundreds of years.

.

"Chara?" she voiced quietly. "I… I really think it's gonna be a good thing."

"I know. It is. It…" Chara took a deep breath and let it out as a tired sigh. "Yeah. I just… I get too in my head, sometimes." She frowned at herself. "Ugh. Frequently. I'm sorry."

"You don't gotta be sorry!"

"It's embarrassing," the girl grumbled under her breath.

"Why should it be embarrassing?!" Papyrus asked. "You're in one of the most unique and weird situations for anyone to be in, and you're just a young teenage kid!"

"You're barely any older than me," she joked.

"So?! No matter the age, even a Papyrus as great as myself would have a lot of complicated feelings if I'd been through what you had."

"You would never have let it get this far," Chara said.

"That doesn't matter even a little bit!" the skeleton protested.

"You're alright, pidge," Sans assured her. He carefully tilted her head up to look her in the eyes and squinted thoughtfully. "How's the noggin? Any better?"

"Little bit," she said quietly.

Sans mussed up her hair gently. "Wanna go flyin' again?"

Chara shook her head. "We have to save our strength, still, right? For that final… you know, the lock-on?"

"…Hm. True, but—"

"Ooh, then, what about me?" Papyrus suggested. "I don't have to save anything!"

The freckled girl snickered. "No, Papy, it's fine. Thank you though. I think…" She frowned thoughtfully. "I just need to calm down a bit more, I'll be okay."

"OH! Then! I know something!" Papyrus grinned and raced towards the cabin. "I'll be back soooooon!"

.

Chara snorted out a soft, tired laugh and rubbed her head. She put out a hand to give Frisk a gentle squeeze on the shoulder and then peered around at the three much older monsters that were still talking amongst themselves. "Huh. Looks like Undyne's puttin' up with the old guy surprisingly well."

"Oh yeah?" Frisk followed her gaze, wide-eyed. "Oh! She doesn't even look mad!"

"What's going on over there?" Chara wondered.

"Eh. Not much. 'Cept, me and him got banned from the big Moonghost Convention for the next two years."

"What?" the girl said with a startled laugh. "Why?"

"Well, we crashed it."

"You crashed their convention?" Frisk asked with a puzzled frown.

"Yup. Usually pretty quiet up there; it's Bahmata and maybe, uh, three or four other guys." Sans stretched lazily. "Dropped right into the middle of their shindig grabbin' the crap I needed."

"Oh. Oops," the kid said.

The skeleton waved a hand dismissively. "Eh, not the first time."

"What, seriously?!"

"Sure. Around the same time o' year we crashed it a while back, when Chara just got here." He smiled. "Got banned for a year after that one, too."

.

"Wait, I thought they said they weren't mad," Frisk said with a puzzled frown.

"They ain't, it's political," Sans said.

"Sans is the youngest guy on basically any important council in the whole Kingdom," Chara explained, lowering her voice. "And because of that teleport and the future-sight, Undyne sometimes asks him to, uh… subvert certain, slower customs in emergencies." She smiled sideways. "He's sorta seen as an upstart by a few of the older monsters because of that, so if they can ban him from somewhere for a bit, some people like to at least try."

The skeleton couldn't help a laugh. "Imagine takin' me that serious."

"It's your own fault, Oracle of the Soul," Chara said.

He scoffed. "S'not like I called myself that."

"I dunno if I ever heard of, like, council stuff like that," Frisk said.

"Mhm, far as I know, back home wasn't like that," Chara said. "Not enough monsters to have big complicated systems, maybe; I'm not sure." She paused and rubbed her head again, grimacing uncomfortably.

"Sure you don't want that flight?" Sans asked.

The girl nodded. "Thanks, but… I'll be okay." She sighed and chuckled incredulously. "I should've braced myself more. I thought I would somehow, for no reason, be perfectly fine this time. Against literally all common sense."

.

Frisk frowned and grabbed the girl into a hug that made her jolt with surprise at the speed of it. Chara's face softened and she patted the kid on the head.

"Alright, alright," she said gently. "…Sorry. This is the last thing I wanted to—"

"Nope," Frisk said. "No sorry."

"But I am, though."

"Yeah but you don't gotta be."

"Listen to your sis," Sans said. "She's a smart little nerd."

.

"I RETURN!" Papyrus bounded up so fast it was as if he had appeared from thin air. With a huge grin on his face, he presented Chara with a mug patterned with brown paw prints, a spoon sticking straight up out of the top. "And I bring a surefire cure for sad sisters! The great Papyrus's most chocolatey hot chocolate to ever be contained with a cup, mug, or stein!"

With a raised brow, Chara accepted the mug. What was inside was certainly chocolate, but was more akin to a pudding than a beverage. It took the girl a little effort to pull the spoon out. She stuck it in her mouth and her eyes seemed to gleam.

"Oh. Thanks, Papy."

"Of course!" He looked at Frisk and Sans. "Would either of you like some?"

"I'm good, bro," Sans assured him as Frisk shook her head. "Might just go take a nap for a bit." He began to stroll back towards the cabin. "You kids take it easy, yeah?"

"We could just go back inside too and chill or something?" Frisk suggested.

"Yeah, kinda need that," Chara said.

.

There was something a little surreal in returning to the cabin, even though they hadn't been gone long at all. As Sans flopped onto the couch and dozed off almost as soon as he hit the pillows, Papyrus went back to the tiny kitchen and the kids settled in again with their paints. Frisk, snug beside Chara, started on a new picture, and the abundance of blues made it clear what was on her mind.

.

From the corner of her eye, Chara watched Frisk curiously. Her own paintbrush felt stiff and a little unsure in her hand. She shifted it to her other hand and cracked her knuckles before getting back to it, trying to let the lines flow freely on the page.

"Hey, Frisk," Chara said absently.

Frisk was trying to get skeleton hands right and it was not going to plan. "Uuuuh-huh?"

"That, um… That picture you did before," she said. "Would it be okay if I keep it?"

"Huh?" Frisk perked up, eyes wide. She blinked blankly. "You wanna keep mine?"

"Well, yeah, it's a fun little scene, you know?" Chara said absently.

The kid absolutely glowed. "Oh! Okay, yeah, sure!" She carefully picked the battle painting up and shifted it closer to Chara's pile of things. "It's not that good but I'm glad you like it!"

Chara chuckled quietly. "It's fine."

.

Papyrus was soon done with all the dumpling preparations, and Frisk joined him to watch. There were a lot of different methods to cooking dumplings, he explained. Boiled, steamed; fried, and in several different styles, too. It seemed pretty complicated to Frisk— she only knew the one way Chara had showed her shortly after she'd arrived— but the skeleton assured her that it wasn't. With so many people around to feed for dinner, there was a lot of work to do.

.

They weren't long into cooking when the door opened and Gaster wandered in, rubbing the back of his skull and puffing out a tired sigh.

"Hiiii!" Frisk said.

"Welcome back! We're cooking!" Papyrus announced.

"I can see that," the old skeleton said fondly. "I've finally been dismissed."

"Mm. Bahmata talk holes in your skull?" Chara asked.

"Very close to," Gaster said. He picked up his book and sat down on the bed exactly where he'd been before.

.

"So, what happened, anything interesting or dramatic?" Papyrus asked.

"Oh. Not a whole lot. We had a decent chat. And your Queen was fairly amicable, surprisingly. But, I've been banned from, uh… What was it, some convention or other, for about two years?" The old skeleton cracked a sideways smile. "What a shame." He flipped through the pages of the novel until he settled somewhere in the middle. "I can't imagine I'll be here bothering you for as long as that."

"Well. Even if you are, don't try to jump out ahead of time again, Uncle," Chara said.

"Yeah, that was scary," Frisk said.

Gaster scoffed quietly. "Don't worry, I won't be making that mistake again. Anyway, I'd much rather be reading than ruining more conventions. I think I could probably spend a lot longer than two years on that in a place like this."

.

"Hm." Chara couldn't help a little smile. "That sounds about right. Must be a good book."

"Oh, it's not," Gaster said.

Chara turned from her painting to shoot him a puzzled look.

"It's not very good story-wise," he explained, "but it's fascinating."

"Nyeh, if it's not good, how is it fascinating?" Papyrus asked.

Gaster couldn't help but grin, his dark eyes sparkling. "I'm reading a book from a whole other world, with archetypes a little different from what I recognize, and references or analogies I don't understand— with the exception of a few little historical things I read previously. For example." He flipped back a few pages and tapped on a sentence. "He sailed through the sky, impervious; might of the goblin guiding his path. The character is not a goblin, so this is clearly a reference that would mean something to a monster from this world, right?"

"Oh! That's from an old play, I think?" Papyrus said. "I think it's the name of a poem. The might of the goblin part."

"Poem, worked into a play, referencin' some little goblin General in a real battle way back," Sans said groggily. He didn't even open his eyes. "Supposedly, secret skill was gettin' thrown in a high-speed summersault at a target and knockin' 'em out."

"So, you're saying, by including the reference, the author means that this character is meant to be both flying and spinning rapidly," Gaster asked.

"Probably."

The old skeleton grinned and delved back into the book. "See? I never would have known."

"Good t'know it won't take much to keep ya entertained," Sans teased.

"It absolutely won't," the old skeleton assured him.

.

"So, um, you gotta start all over again with the searching thing for him after we go then, right?" Frisk asked.

"Basically, yes," Chara said. "There's a chance it might be easier than ours, if his is… you know. What we suspect. But, at the same time, I have literally no clue if that means there's any actual proximity out in the whole void-space."

Frisk nodded, but she scrunched up her face a little. "Proxi…?"

"How close it is."

"Oh! Right, yeah. It's kinda confusing, huh?"

"Oh, for sure," Chara said.

"Almost impossible not to be," Sans said. "People like us, we ain't even suppose to see the place, y'know?"

.

A gentle tapping on the door announced Toriel's arrival just before she peeked inside. "Ah. There you are."

"Greetings, mom!" Papyrus said brightly as Gaster quickly tried to hide behind his book.

"Hello, my child. Smells lovely in here." Toriel smiled warmly and turned her attention on Chara. "Chara, sweetheart, are you feeling any better?"

"I'm fine," the girl said.

"I was about to take a stroll with my… my son, outside. Get a little light," Toriel said. "We would love if you would join us."

Chara blinked. She pointed at herself and Toriel nodded. The girl shrugged a little.

"Sure," she said. "Just let me clean my brush."

"We will be waiting." Toriel gently closed the door.

.

As Chara began to tidy up, Frisk turned back with a puzzled frown.

"Was Asriel with her?" she asked.

"I didn't see him," Chara said.

Frisk pouted a little. She looked up at Papyrus and gently tugged on his shirt. "I'm just gonna go check for him, okay?"

"Of course!" he said. "He should come back and see what all his work's turning out like, too!"

.

Frisk slipped out before Chara did and took a look around the cavern. She didn't see her brother anywhere, but she did catch quite a lot of ghosts still drifting around, but they seemed to be heading towards one of the portals. If Bahmata was still there, she was out of sight. Undyne was near the Soul, arms crossed, staring into the blue glow swirling in the iridescent, white light.

.

The kid began to head back to the trees, but the tall, deep blue monster noticed her as well.

"YO!" Undyne stuck her hand in the air and then sprinted over. She stood before Frisk with her hands on her hips. "Hey, you little punk! You doing okay?!"

"M-Me? Uh… Yeah, I'm okay," Frisk said.

"I heard you just about lost all your juice!"

"I-I dunno if it was that bad!" the kid squeaked.

"Man." Undyne dropped to one knee and smiled sideways, mussing up Frisk's hair. "You sure get into it a lot, huh?"

"Yeeeeeah, sorry," Frisk said bashfully.

The Queen snorted in amusement. "Just a goofy little troublemaker!"

"I don't mean to be!"

Undyne laughed. "S'okay! Sometimes it happens, y'know? I got into all kinds of crap when I was your age. Not exactly bein' hunted by a guy from another universe and explodin' all over the place, though."

"Yeah, I hope not," Frisk said.

.

"So," Undyne said, her eye glimmering. "On top o' that. Heard you guys got a way home?"

"Y-Yeah! Yeah." Frisk smiled. "My big brother found me."

"That's real good." A lopsided grin spread on the big monster's face. "I'm not gonna pretend I know exactly how all this works, but I'm happy for ya. And your Asriel. Wanna let me know before you go?"

"I think it's like, soon? Sans said maybe a day; maybe a little more? And Paps wants to do a thing," the kid said.

Undyne perked right up, her ears flaring and the bioluminescence in her fins shining brightly. "Oh! That's great! I'll talk to him, then." She straightened up and nodded at the cabin. "He in there?"

"Yep," Frisk said. "We're making dumplings."

"Oh yeah?! Nice!" She headed straight towards the door.

"Thanks for not beating up Gaster again!" Frisk called.

"Huh?! Oh!" Undyne guffawed. "Yeah, I said I had my eye on 'im and he didn't cause any trouble! He's been bein' nice to you, yeah?!"

"Yeah, not too bad!"

"Good!"

.

As Undyne blustered inside past Chara, Frisk headed off through the dark trees again. It wasn't hard to find Asriel, even where the light was low. He was wandering slowly, hands stuffed in his pockets, his gaze turned slightly upwards. He noticed her before she'd gotten very close and snapped out of his thoughts to shoot her a tired smile.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"Wh…? Yeah, I was gonna ask you that," she said.

He shrugged a little and began to amble again once she caught up. "Guess so. Video went well, I think." He tossed the phone to her and she caught it in both hands.

"Cool." She tilted her head. "So, why you still out here?"

He shrugged. "Just thinkin', I guess."

"Uh-huh," she said, her tone lightly probing.

"Mostly about parents. Y'know." He smiled sideways. "I miss 'em, I guess. I hadn't really been thinking about it that much, I've been so worried about Chara, and Sans, and you, and what's going on with Gaster…"

"Yeah, it's been a lot," Frisk said quietly.

"It's weird. I'm like… kinda excited? But I kinda wanna throw up, too?"

"Yeah! Yeah, exactly," the kid said with a swift nod. "It kinda feels like garbage, right?"

Asriel nodded. "Like, if… if I could just drag both worlds together with like a super… world tunnel or some crap, I'd do it so quick you don't even know."

"Buuhhh, that'd be coooool," Frisk whined at herself. "Man, if I could do stuff like that—!"

"I know that's not a real thing," Asriel assured her quickly. "It's just so crazy. To find her. And then to get separated again. I mean, don't get me wrong, knowing that she's even okay at all is… everything. Y'know? The other parts just also kinda—"

"It sucks," Frisk said. Her gaze dropped to her feet. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's… It's good. Even though that part sucks," he said. "I mean, we've known this was coming. Had to be." His snout wrinkled a little and he nodded again, mostly at himself. "Had to be. Yeah. But, I mean, I know I probably said this already, but that she's not just in the void or all alone makes it about a billion times better."

Frisk nodded. "Well, yeah, if she was in the void, I'd be trying to pull her out."

"Which would just make her go all evil ghost again back home," Asriel pointed out apologetically. "I mean, not that she can get there with what she did or whatever."

Frisk's eyes went wide. "What, you think so?"

"Chara told me that she's pretty sure dragging her new body and that soul into the void will have it break up," Asriel said. "So she'd hypothetically be back to square one without them, wherever she ends up."

"A-Ah." Frisk flinched. "Dang. That's so rough."

"None of this…" He rolled his fingers across his thumbs. "…came easy, right? I got lucky, y'know? I mean, she did, too, but it's not like… It's not like we can be what we were, not with what we did. Even making my body and soul almost wrecked you. Which, uh…" He grinned sideways. "Wouldda been way worse than we even thought, huh?"

"I mean, I dunno, I wouldda at least still sorta been in the world or something," Frisk said sheepishly.

"Still." Asriel sighed and he huffed out a quiet laugh directed at himself. "Sorry, my mind's just been going all over the place."

"That's okay," Frisk said.

.

"How 'bout you?" the boy asked. "I mean, a ton happened in the last little bit."

"I'm, uh…" Frisk let out a little sigh. "I'm worried."

"About what?" he wondered. "You must feel a lot better about Sans, right? I know I do."

"Yeah, but about you and Chara!" she said. "Duh! You're both gonna be sad and I'm gonna be sad and—"

"You feel guilty for wanting out," he interjected. "And guilty for wanting to hang out longer, too."

Frisk's face flushed. She bit her lip and nodded, only to bristle with surprise when her brother laughed.

"Knew it," he said. "Don't. We're all like that."

"It just sucks," she said.

"Of course it does. It wasn't ever not gonna suck."

"I want it to not suck, though."

Asriel gave a wide shrug. "We're stuck, sis. Totally doomed."

"Can I make it suck less?" she asked.

"Not really," he said. "Count on Chara's crystals. That's what we got."

"Kay." Frisk pouted a little. "I'm gonna make it work."

"Don't worry," he said. "It'll probably be fine."

"No, Az, no matter what, I'm making it work," she said. "Even if I gotta learn crystal magic back home from a bunch of weird giant books, I'm gonna do it."

Asriel snickered, his grin widening at the sight of her determined frown and her little, clenched fists. "I know. You're stubborn."

"You're gonna see her again," the kid said. "There's no way I'm letting you just never see her again. No way."

"Frisk, I know, but—"

"I'm serious," she said. "I'm super super serious. There's no way."

.

The red that had dyed Frisk's irises suddenly seemed a little more intense. Asriel's ears perked up a little and he squatted down, ruffling her hair. Didn't seem like that healing water had quite cleared up those little bumps on her head, but she didn't flinch when he touched them.

"You're so tough," he joked.

.

Standing on her toes, Frisk hugged him tight. He smiled fondly and squeezed her close, bumping his snout gently against her head. Their souls, lightly warm, ached in tandem despite his best efforts.

.

He kind of wanted to say something sappy. Something cheesy. Something to make her laugh. He couldn't come up with much, so instead he puffed a little, harmless flame into her face. She sputtered and giggled, waving it away quickly, and he was instantly grinning. She blew a raspberry at him and he did the same, his fur fluffing up a little. He gently pressed his forehead against hers and she gladly leaned into it.

"Bonk," she said.

"I need to teach you to breathe fire instead," he teased.

"What, really?!" Frisk's eyes lit right up.

Asriel snickered and pulled her in to muss up her hair again. "Come on. Let's quit lurking in this weird forest."

"But could I?!" she squeaked.

"I dunno!"

"Aaah, don't get my hopes up like that!" she protested, feigning a pout. She could hardly hold it, though, as her brother burst out laughing and she did, too.

xXxXx

The little cabin was starting to feel pretty crowded with so many people gathering up inside but, somehow, it made Frisk feel right at home. Undyne had kicked Sans off the couch, but he seemed just as comfortable on the floor cushions. Gaster was still reading, and Papyrus was still cooking. The incoming kids joined him, squishing into the tiny kitchen to help out.

.

The dumplings were starting to stack up on plates, kept warm by drifting embers of magic. Asriel had never cooked them before, so Papyrus gleefully went over it all again as Frisk carefully panfried a few in the meanwhile.

.

Chara returned on her own after some time. She looked tired, but she was less tense than she had been. Toriel and Leirach, however, had not come back, presumably to keep allowing Gaster breathing room in the place he was not supposed to leave.

.

At dinner, the low table was laid out with plates of (mostly) perfect, steaming dumplings, some soft and tender; others golden and crispy. There was also a warm and savoury broth to go with them, and couple dipping sauces that Papyrus whipped up from some extra condiments.

.

A half-a-day's worth of work was decimated in under an hour. Even so, somehow, it felt worth it.

xXxXx

Late that night, while the cavern of the Soul was quiet and her siblings were taking a much-needed nap, Frisk sat out on the edge of the slope that looked down into the glowing, coalescence of magic now swirling with Sans's magic. The glistening stones above it still shifted, a star chart rearranging before her eyes.

.

She hugged her knees. The air, she'd noticed, hadn't felt cold at all since they'd returned with Avenir's cube alight with Sans's magic. Maybe that had been him trying to reach out, somehow. Or maybe it had been her soul reacting to him without realizing it.

.

"Here of your own volition now, I hope?"

Frisk leaned back to look at Gaster as he strolled a little closer and shot him a puzzled smile. "I dunno what that means."

"You came on your own. You didn't sleepwalk."

"Oh! No, I'm good," she said. She leaned back on her hands. "I'm too excited for sleep yet. How 'bout you?"

The old skeleton frowned thoughtfully. "Hm. I've… always kept strange hours," he said. "I just wanted to stretch my legs."

"Cool." Frisk turned her gaze back on the light and let her legs hang down the slope. "The cave forest is pretty. I dunno how it grows like that but it's nice to go around it sometimes."

.

Gaster dipped his head. He didn't move much, though. After a few moments, he sat down on the slope as well, a few feet away from her. She was surprised, but tried not to show it.

.

"So," he said, gesturing to the light, "this means that Sans is… alright. In your world."

"Yeah. He's gonna be fine." Frisk couldn't help a smile. "I was super worried about him, like, this whole time. So… So today was really really good."

Gaster nodded. He looked a little relieved. "I'm glad. The state things were in when I went there…" He shook his head. "…Let's just say I'm… happy that my assessment of the situation wasn't completely correct."

Frisk's eyes brightened. She smiled bashfully. "Thanks. Just for like, how many there are, we can't all be… awful, right?"

"I suppose that's true," he said. "But… Power corrupts. Always has. Especially in humans. There was more than one reason the red in your souls was called by that name for a long time." He frowned and folded his arms, staring uncomfortably off at nothing. "You… at least have a family around you, hm? People to help when… things are uncertain."

The kid nodded readily. She sat back a bit and smiled ruefully. "I know it's, like… this whole, huge mess of everything. And I know that… you won't ever trust someone like me all the way. I get it, honestly. I saw what Sans did, when he was stuck in time loops and stuff. I really… really get it." She lifted her hand and she let red magic tint her fingertips, then rubbed their warmth into her palm. "I worry about it a lot, to be honest. I sometimes feel like… it'd be better if there were nobody like me. And if things could just run normal, you know? Without… all this. But my world can't, so… So, it had to be somebody, I guess. And if it's me, then… another person doesn't have to go through it. Because, like, it's not…" She cracked a sideways smile. "It's nice to not die for real and stuff, but it's a lot to deal with."

"Hm." Gaster's frown deepened.

"Ah! Um! Sorry!" Frisk's face flushed. "That, um… must not sound so good, actually, b-but I—"

"Actually. It's a bit reassuring," he said.

"Uh…" The kid blinked. "It is?"

The old skeleton nodded.

.

He was quiet for a little while. Frisk could tell from the look on his face that he had more questions. She didn't press, and quietly yawned to herself and settled a bit more comfortably in the grass.

.

After some time, Gaster spoke again. "Do you know how long it all went on for?"

"Hm?" Frisk looked at him. "How long what, sorry?"

"How long the time loop was."

"Oh. Um." She frowned thoughtfully. Running what she could of Sans's memories in her head was almost dizzying. She frowned, pursing her mouth. "Uhhhh… Yeah, I dunno. Sorry. Sans, like… He lost track, I think? There was so much stuff."

"Ah." A cloud of gloom settled over the skeleton. "Years, then."

"Yeah. Sorry. Asriel can maybe tell you a little bit, but I don't think he knows either. I know it was like… I guess now it's…? Uh." She scratched her head. "Years, for sure. And there was stuff happening before all the time anomaly stuff, too. That part went about ten years in normal time. I think. With Sans controlling the time thingy, and then Asriel doing it. 'Cause that's how long it took until I got there."

Gaster winced. "Right."

"Or, it mightta been eleven-ish? But with a gap? Because we had to do a big reset," she said. "Because, like… world-ending stuff that wasn't so good happened. But that was me doing the time stuff 'cause Sans said to, not 'cause of someone else just messing around."

"I see."

"Sorry, is that worse?"

He shook his head. "I'm trying to get a feel of it."

"It's really crazy, honestly."

"Must've been." He frowned thoughtfully. "May I ask you something else? Unrelated."

"Sure," she said.

"…How old is Papyrus?"

"Oh! He's nineteen," she said brightly. "His birthday was not super long ago, actually."

.

The cloud over Gaster seemed to dissipate a little. He smiled. "Twentieth of March, you said."

"Did…?" She snickered at herself. "Yeah, I did."

"It's the same for my son, as well."

"Ooh, so that's three of them, then, that's cool," she said. She wondered for a moment if all other time anomalies had the same birthday as she did. Then again, she still didn't know her own birthday, or another time anomaly, so the question was just left hanging. "I didn't know birthday things were a big party until like, last year, so that's kinda fun." Her eyes brightened. "Hey, wanna see him?"

"…Pardon?"

.

Frisk quickly scooted up beside him and pulled out her phone. She preemptively scrolled back through a ton of pictures of the more recent things, book pages, and the other worlds, to arrive squarely back at home. She leaned close and showed him some of the pictures she'd taken with or of her brothers. Gaster's eyes glimmered despite himself. Frisk passed the phone over and let him look, as she'd done with a large handful of others. He was the first one to pay close attention to the little blaster charm attached to it, though.

.

After a minute or two, he smiled. He passed her phone back as he fished inside his pocket with his other hand. He pulled out his wallet and flipped it open. Behind some card keys for the lab and some neatly folded notes, he revealed a set of shiny, printed photos, the topmost of which was unmistakably a small, tired Sans in striped pyjamas, cradling a grinning little baby Papyrus in his arms. Frisk couldn't have helped the squeal she made if she'd tried.

"Oh my goooossh, look at themmmm!" she cooed. "Aaaah, they're so cute!"

"They are, aren't they?" He had just a few more: an even tinier Sans snoozing on Asgore's lap as he, too, dozed off in his throne, Sans draped in a lab coat far too big for him and surrounded by a group of smiling monsters; Papyrus posing and grinning with a winner's medallion from a magic competition, and one of both skeletons playing with a tower of a puzzle game, though it was about to fall over.

.

She recognized the old apartment in that picture. In fact, a lot of those scenes were familiar, from the other side of the camera. It was hard not to offer the tall skeleton a hug.

"Thanks for showing me," she said.

"…You as well," he said as he gingerly put the photographs away again. "You… really do care about them, don't you?"

"Yeah, duh," she said. Her cheeks flushed and she smiled. "They're the best. I love them, y'know?"

"Hm." A forlorn look clouded Gaster's eyes for a moment. He tucked his wallet away again and, to her utter surprise, gave her a single, solid pat on the shoulder, then he got to his feet. "Think I'll take that walk now."

Frisk waved him off, then turned back to the light again. The resolve in her soul was even more solid than it had been before.

.

It wasn't long after the old skeleton had wandered off that still-groggy Chara and Asriel emerged from the cabin, the latter sporting the type of squished and fluffy bedhead unique to furry beasts.

"Yooo, you're still up?" Asriel asked groggily.

Chara frowned. "Didn't you get any sleep, Frisk?"

"My brain was goin' too fast anyway," the kid said. "Don't worry." She scooted back to get to her feet, then stretched her arms high above her head until her back cracked a little. "I'm not too bad."

Asriel yawned. He got close and grabbed her head in both hands to lightly squish it. "Why's it speedin', huh?"

"Thinkin' about home; thinkin' about here," she said. "Sans. Gaster stuff. Stuff we gotta do. All the things."

"Hmm." Asriel nodded thoughtfully.

.

Chara slid up to gently elbowed the monster to get him to let go of Frisk's noggin. "Speaking of Gaster. He wasn't inside."

"He's walking," Frisk said. She couldn't help a smile. "But, guess what?"

"Nope, just say it," Chara said.

"He showed me some pictures of Sans and Paps when they were little."

Chara's eyes bugged out and Asriel's ears perked up.

"You got to see little baby skeletons?" Chara asked.

"Yeah!" Frisk chirped. "Oh man, I mean… I seen Paps before, but—"

"Oh my god, baby Papyrus," Asriel said under his breath. "Was he like the one from that other place?"

"Even smaller!"

The boy squished his own ears. "Yo, that's really cute, though."

"I know!" Frisk grinned. "And I got to see Sans, too, but really small!"

"I can hardly imagine," Chara said quietly. "Cute?"

"So cute!"

"That's funny, I can't really picture it, either," Asriel said. "I always just picture him as the deep-voice-big-brother type."

"Imagine a little baby skeleton with that voice," Chara said, her smile hardly concealing the laugh she was trying to hold in.

Frisk snickered loudly and Asriel snorted into his hands.

"He sounded like a kid when he was a kid!" Frisk said.

"Well, yeah, of course he did," Chara said. "But, still."

"That's nuts." The boy shook his head. "Heh. If I didn't know better, I'd be worried this was some kinda friendliness trap, y'know?"

"You would think that," Chara teased.

"I don't actually!" he protested. "S'just…" He turned to look off at the trees, his ears perking. "Guess I'm a little surprised."

.

Frisk followed her brother's gaze. She could see the paleness of Gaster's skull flitting between the shadows off in the distance. He seemed to have noticed them. She shrugged loosely.

"He's… I dunno, even when he's all suspicious and having a hard time, he's still just a big dad, though." She tented her fingers. "So, I gotta super make sure this thing works."

"It'll work," Chara assured her.

"But it's gotta really, really work," Frisk insisted. "He's gotta get a chance."

"He will." The freckled girl nodded off towards the exit of the chamber. "Come on."

Frisk blinked. "Huh?"

"Well, we're not doing it here," she said. "Too loud; too many questions. Plus, I want to give us the best possible chance."

.

Frisk still looked confused. Asriel simply shrugged, but he followed Chara without question. Frisk rubbed the back of her head and trailed along.

.

"It's a bit late for you kids to be heading out, isn't it?" Gaster had come out of the trees, eyeing the group curiously.

They stopped in their tracks. Asriel bristled a little, but Chara smiled easily.

"It's not dangerous, Uncle, don't worry," she said, her words smooth and unbothered. "There's no wild animals that eat monsters, and the chances of running into a criminal out there are basically zero."

A spark of amusement lit in Gaster's eyes. "Especially now that I'm in here."

"You said it," Asriel teased.

"Ah. I'm sorry, I know it's not really my business," the skeleton said. "But, it does put me in sort of an odd position if all three of you suddenly go unaccounted for."

"Oh, right," Frisk said quietly.

"Hm. Fair," Chara said. "If anyone asks, we're at Alphys's."

Gaster nodded. "And in case of emergency?"

The girl chuckled. "Same answer. We're only in the position of sneaking out because waking everyone would be rude."

"We're fine," Asriel added. "I don't think we'll be too long."

"Hopefully not," Chara said. "Don't wait up."

The skeleton smiled sideways. "I apologize, I know it's been a while, but Uncle Mode doesn't really turn off."

The girl tutted and rolled her eyes, turning to leave, though her amusement was still plain on her face. Frisk gave Gaster a little wave and he nodded politely.

.

Chara brought them through the portal and out onto the field under the bright moon and glittering stars. Asriel immediately pulled her aside.

"So, uh, where are we going?" he asked.

"Did all that fluff clog your ears?" she asked with a sly smile.

"What, you were serious?"

"Of course," she said. "Alphys's place has those crystal rooms. You saw one, right?"

"Wh…? O-Oh! Yeah. Heh, I sorta forgot about that."

"So that'll help?" Frisk asked.

"Yeah. I think so." Chara cracked a sideways smile. "It definitely won't hurt, at least. And it's private. Except…"

"Except?" Asriel repeated worriedly.

"Well, if Alphys catches us, she'll probably want to watch what we do."

"Oh? Is that all?" He laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "I thought you were gonna say something bad."

"Yeah, that's totally fine," Frisk said.

"Oh! Well. Good, then," the freckled girl said. "If you guys don't care, it doesn't bother me."

.

Frisk stretched again. She tilted her head up to look at the magic streaming from the mountain and across the dark sky like a faint, rainbow aurora. "Man. I miss Alphys. She'd totally love this."

"She'd be wheezing all over the place," Asriel said with a smile. "D'you think her and Alphys here would be like, really hype or would they both be too awkward to talk to each other?"

"I think they'd like each other a lot," Frisk said brightly. "I actually can't wait to show her all this stuff. Oh!" She looked up at Asriel. "D'you think she'll get bigger?"

"Who, Alphys?"

"Yeah! I know it's like, pretty different here, but this Alphys is a lot bigger," she said. "Oh! And she's got a long spiral tail, too, d'you think that'll be a thing?"

"I dunno, depends on that whole curse thing, right?" he said. "Plus, like…" He looked at Chara. "She's probably about as old as Undyne here, right? Like, over a hundred?"

"Over two-hundred," Chara corrected.

"Wow. Uh." Asriel scratched his cheek and an awkward smile stretched his face. "They're not all that different from being like, thirty, huh?"

"I dunno how old anyone but Papyrus is," Frisk said sheepishly.

The boy snorted out a laugh and ruffled her hair. "But, uh, yeah, I dunno. Some monsters keep getting taller for a while. Some just keep getting taller until they bite the dust, y'know? So. It's hard to say."

"Dang," Frisk said quietly. Her eyes suddenly bugged out. "Oh, heck, we're probably gonna have to do some kinda short reset or something when we get back, right? If stuff's all weird?"

"We might," Asriel said. "Or things might just fix when you show up. Why?"

"Well, like, if we do, it'll be like there wasn't any time going over there," the kid said. "And then like, explaining we had to go on a big huge quest and stuff's gonna be super weird. I dunno who's gonna remember what."

"Ah. Crap. Yeah, true." He scratched his head. "This is all so weird, I'll be kinda surprised if anyone but Sans and maybe your dad have it stick."

"Ugh." Frisk pouted. "You might be right. I hope not, though. I don't wanna leave Paps out. Or Mom. Or Undyne, or Alphys, or Asgore. I dunno."

"It's fine, we'll just explain everything, it'll be fun," he said.

"Yeah, but what about all the stuff they've been doing since we been gone, what if it was important?"

"Oh." Asriel winced. "Aaah, yeah, fair."

.

"It's funny," Chara said quietly, "that you went to a whole new world and ended up hanging out with almost exactly the same people, isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah, kinda did that twice," Frisk said. "I didn't expect that. But, I'm happy about it."

"It's surreal as hell," Asriel added. "Still pretty proud of myself for not having a nervous break about Leirach, though, not gonna lie."

"Yeah, that hasn't been anywhere as close to as strange as I expected," Chara admitted. "Maybe it's just because I don't see my own face looking back at me."

"That probably helps," the boy said.

.

Tonight, the portal at the edge of the wide, clear stretch of field whisked them away to Alphys's Academy. They landed in a dim hall with a grand set of intricately carved doors on one side of them and a set of thin cupboards with names and markings etched into them on the other.

.

As Chara guided them a little farther in and the area opened up, Frisk realized she recognized this place, and a big statue of a dozing dog cradling a crescent moon that stood in the middle of the floor. It was where Sans had brought her to attune her to the Soul.

.

Chara walked the room as if she'd been there a dozen times, even in the dark. She headed to an unassuming door built into the wall beneath the stairs that lead up to the second floor and opened it up.

"Where's that go?" Asriel asked.

"That purple crystal room, right?" Frisk said.

"Yeah. But…" Chara tilted her head and frowned thoughtfully. "Actually. I don't know if it's big enough for you two if you're going to be doing the whole goat-time-god thing."

"Oh. Um. Is there somewhere else, then?" Frisk wondered. "Back out to a field or something?"

"Hm." The girl closed the door and then turned, leaning against the wall and folding her arms. "No, I think I'd still prefer to go somewhere with crystals."

"So, where's that?" Asriel wondered.

"I'm… not sure, honestly." She straightened up and headed for another unassuming door off to their left. "I'm gonna see if Alphys is in; you two can stay here if you want."

Asriel and Frisk only had to meet eyes for a moment before they both rushed after their sister.

.

The hallway they entered was dark, but there was only one way to go until they reached the other end. A tall door barred their path— one without a doorknob. However, all Chara had to do was bring the faintest of magic to her fingertip and trace a symbol against the wood and the way opened up.

.

Beyond the door was a great, towering library, bathed in a cool light and arranged in a spiral in its centre. The walls were massive, curved shelves as well, filled almost to bursting with books and lined with stairways that seemed to be floating, connecting here and there to narrow balconies. The parts of the walls not coated in tomes were unevenly spaced panels of glass— almost as if they'd dripped down the sides of the tower— that eventually formed into a dome at the apex of the chamber. It seemed as if it amplified the starlight to be more than enough to let one see properly.

.

Frisk was in awe. She couldn't help but think about how much her dad would have loved this.

.

The library wasn't their destination, though. Chara brought them around the outer edge and up one of the sets of stairs to one of the few balconies. Besides a couple of books and an armchair, a plain-looking door was the only thing of note there. Chara tapped on it sharply with her knuckles and stepped back to wait.

.

After a few seconds, a muffled voice replied, but what it said was unintelligible. Nonetheless, Chara let out a little sigh of relief.

"We're good," she said, then raised her voice. "Alphys, it's Chara. I have Frisk and Asriel with me, we have a qu—"

The door flung open so quickly that the girl jumped and Asriel's fur stuck straight up on his neck. Alphys, with dark circles under her eyes; in baggy pyjama bottoms and a pink tee with a cartoon cat creature on it, all but leapt from the threshold.

"Wh-What's wrong, what's g-going on?" the lizard said as she fumbled to put her glasses on, grasping Chara by the shoulder. "Is something h—?!"

"Aah, we're fine!" Frisk said swiftly.

"Sorry to wake you up," Chara said.

Alphys looked around the group. Her tail, which had been wound up so tight it was almost a circle, slowly uncurled. "…So nothing happened a-at the Soul?"

"No, nothing interesting."

"Oh." The lizard drooped as she puffed out a relieved sigh. "Oh, st-stars, I w-was worried something else…" She shook her head and smiled, laughing quietly at herself. "Sorry, kids. So, um, what's g-going on?"

.

"We wanted to do our plan with the, um, seed pod stuff," Frisk said.

"What, r-really?!" Alphys's dark eyes lit up. "N… Now?"

"Yeah," Asriel said.

"We're looking for a spot," Chara said. "That's what I wanted to ask you about. Do you know any rooms that are built with crystal, like the purple one near that one entrance?"

"That one's p-probably one of the best ones," the lizard said.

"We won't fit, though," Asriel said. "Me and Frisk."

It took Alphys a moment. "OH! O-Oh, okay, o-okay, alright, I…" Her eyes gleamed and she hurried out of her dim room, waving for them to follow her back down the stairs. "Then, I think I know the p-perfect spot!"

.

The Archwizard rushed the kids though quiet halls and through more book-lined rooms and large reading areas until they arrived at an unassuming wooden door squished between a painting of regal, wizardly Tem and a rack of wooden staffs. She drew a symbol with her finger in the centre of the door and some little cracks in the wood flared with yellow for just a moment before fading away. Behind the door was a stairway down into darkness. Alphys tapped on the wall and some little crystals embedded into the stone flared with pale magic to light the way.

.

"Watch your step," Alphys said as she lead them down. "There's a lot of, um… steps."

That seemed to be an understatement. The path lead deep beneath the ground, and spiralled around, too. They had yet to catch a glimpse of the bottom.

"Is this new?" Chara asked. "I don't remember this."

"N-Not really, it was just, um, storage, before," she said. "B-But, I found a vein of crystal d-down here maybe, um, t-two years ago? When I was cleaning it all out."

"What'd you keep this far down?" Asriel wondered.

"Oh! Um. You know. Things that we, um… Things w-we didn't want the King or his, um, t-top people to find. Before the curse w-was broken and everything. Things my, um, p-predecessors wanted to keep safe." She smiled back at them a little. "Chara, d-did you know your brothers' grandma used to run this place, about a hundred o-or so years ago?"

"No, I had no idea," she said.

"Wait, Avenir was here?" Frisk asked shrilly. "Oh, but she's… gone, right?"

"Mhm, a bit over twenty years ago," Alphys said. Snout scrunching in thought, she continued, "M-Maybe closer to thirty, now. She was the, um, p-predecessor to my predecessor. I didn't know her r-really well or anything, unfortunately. B-But she seemed very nice, and I bet she'd be r-really proud that Sans became the Oracle."

.

"…So," Asriel said quietly. "Monsters… live a long time here, huh? Even if they have kids?"

"Well, y-yeah, of course," Alphys said brightly. She suddenly looked worried. "Is… Is it not like that where you're from?"

"Well, I mean, monsters… age. When they have kids," he said.

"Oh! Mhm, here too," the lizard assured him.

"But wasn't Pasithea's grandma, like… actually her really really old grandma? Like four extra grandmas or something?" Frisk wondered.

Alphys could only shrug. "Well… Sometimes a line gets, um… interrupted, unfortunately. O-Or, sometimes, some monsters just… I mean, everyone kind of grows or ages at a different rate, you know?"

"But if it works the same here," Asriel said, "maybe…?" He blinked and his fur bristled. "Maybe it's 'cause there wasn't a war? Didn't Gaster say the death rate went way up when the curse was going on?"

"That's t-true, for sure," Alphys said glumly.

"But before that, and now, everyone's a lot healthier."

"Maybe monsters just live for a really long time when they're not miserable," Chara suggested.

Frisk's fingers reached out to latch onto Asriel's hand. "Man, I hope so," she said quietly.

.

Around one more corner, and finally they came to another door at the bottom of the stairs. Alphys opened it up for them and beckoned them in. Stepping out onto a floor of smoothed stone, the group emerged into a cavern quadruple the side of their house. Though it wasn't fully crystal like the room upstairs, swaths of gemstones in purples, whites, and pinks cut through the deep grey of the walls like cracks in a geode. Larger chunks in different clusters of colours grew in more organized patterns in certain sections, often near work desks and glass cases reminiscent of a greenhouse. Other than that, though, the place was sparse, except for a stack of crates in the corner farthest to them.

.

"W-Well? What do you think, will this work?" Alphys asked.

Chara folded her arms and looked around. Her eyes gleamed. "I think it'll work just fine." She tilted her head towards her siblings. "You can feel the charge in the air, yeah?"

"Yeah, it's pretty solid," Asriel said.

"That's the tingling, right?" Frisk said.

Her brother nodded. She grinned.

"Then, yep!"

"Perfect," the girl said.

.

Chara headed right for the centre and the other kids hurried to follow. At her instructions, they pulled out all of the things that they needed and laid them all out on the ground. The book of Dirges, to lend them a burst of strength. The four-pointed container with its stabilizing aspects. Asriel's crystal, to ground his magic. Frisk's opal that would hold the reset. Chara's sharp trigger. And, of course, the seedpod itself, to be the vessel.

.

"I think we can just get to it," Chara said, taking a seat on the floor. "Make what you can? And I think the trigger can come last." She plucked up the narrow, sharp crystal. "Seven and a half on the timer, yeah? Or should we just make it eight?"

"Uh… I'm not sure," Frisk admitted. "I don't think overshooting would be too bad."

"Maybe more time to prep would be better," Asriel suggested. "You're trying to give him a chance to get ready for…" He grimaced. "Dying, I guess?"

"He might find a way around it," Frisk suggested, though her voice cracked a little.

"Uh." The boy smiled sardonically. "I think this might be the result of his getting around it."

"Oh…" Frisk sighed. "…Yeah." She grimaced. "S'not fair."

"He'll do what he has to for his world," Chara said. "Just like your dad did. Just like you're trying to do."

"I-I guess."

.

"Sorry," Alphys cut in. "H-He's going to die?"

"To make the anchor to keep his world from collapsing," Chara said, "he has to be destroyed by his version of the Soul of the World. We don't know if that's the only way. But, it's the only way we know about."

"O-Oh…" The lizard's face fell.

"He might turn out okay," Frisk said half-heartedly. "My dad did. So, maybe…"

"Don't worry too much about that," Asriel said. "This is Gaster we're talking about. He knows what's gotta happen." He offered Frisk his hand. "Wanna get started?"

"I-Is it okay if I, um, hang around to watch?" Alphys asked.

"I don't mind," Frisk said instantly.

"It's fine," Chara assured her, and she shot Asriel a teasing smile. "Step back before you do that, or you're going to vaporize all our stuff."

"Oh! Heh. Sorry."

.

He and Frisk backed away and the boy offered his hand again. Frisk braced herself and focussed on her soul's energy until it was channeled into her palm. She grabbed him and they exploded into light.

.

An instant of starlight in a whirlwind and they burst out into the world again as the God of Hypertime. Alphys squealed and was rushing to them before Chara could say a word.

"Look a-at you two! O-Oh! You're gorgeous!" the lizard all but wailed.

The huge monster couldn't help a bashful smile and Frisk giggled. "W-Wow, you think so?"

"B-Bend down, let me see!"

They did as Alphys asked, and she was instantly running her fingers through their fur; leaning up into their face and staring into their eyes curiously.

"O-Oh, wow, it's… amazing, I can feel all this heat coming o-off you," she said.

"It's a pretty warm feeling. But—"

"Okay, talk about it after, though," Chara said. "Don't forget the tiring-out part."

"Oh. Right, yeah." They straightened up again and drifted over to settle beside Chara. Dipping to one knee, they put one hand around her shoulders as they leaned in to look over everything. "Book first?"

"Let me do that f-for you," Alphys suggested. "You can j-just focus on the seed."

The great monster's fuzzy ears perked a little. Frisk cooed about how nice a gesture that was, while Asriel was relieved to get to skip a step. "Yeah, okay, thank you," they said with a smile.

.

Chara showed Alphys the right page and the lizard skimmed it quickly.

"Ah!" she said. "That's… a very nice one. Alright. E-Easy!" She smiled and closed her eyes. Her magic buzzed around her, a light melody letting electric sparks crackle across her scales as if she were imbued with lightning.

The familiar song swelled and, in a burst of lemon-yellow, a swath of magic pulsed from the Archwizard like a flash of light. Frisk and Asriel could feel it through every facet of their being; down to the tip of every strand of fur. Chara, too, was touched, and she squeaked and put a hand against her chest as, just as last time, she began to glow.

"D-Don't think I'll ever get used to that," she said. She picked up one of the seedpods and tossed it to her siblings. "There. Good luck."

.

Just like last time, Asriel assured Frisk. She braced herself and nodded. They lightly cupped the seed in both hands and let the magic flow from their palms, spiralling out to wrap around and into it like creeping vines. It was so easy this time; the magic effortlessly smooth. As simple as breathing.

.

They conjured the image of what they'd crafted before, holding it steady in their mind, and the hum of their magic sunk through the shell, guiding the shape into every note of magic. The seed grew in their grasp, hardening into glimmering gold and forming its pointed top. The melody inscribed spirals of green along its sides.

.

Once the shape was right, the monster clutched it tight to infuse the interior. Red flashed in their palms, illuminating the seedpod as if it was lit with a roaring flame from within. Once they could feel their hum clearly echoed back to them through the pads of their fingers, they gently placed the newly-formed, incomplete World Seed on the ground near Chara. Its opalescent star marks gleamed cheerfully.

.

"Look at that," Alphys breathed, leaning in close to it. Her eyes were misty. "I-It's beautiful."

"It looks almost identical to the first one." Chara breathed a sigh of relief. "Great job, guys."

The God of Hypertime snickered, crossing their fingers into a heart, a spark of red magic emphasizing it with a sparkly bubble accompaniment. "So, we should go in, then?"

"Hang on." Chara reached for the opal. She spun it around in her hands and then, seemingly satisfied, offered it.

The huge monster plucked it up in a claw, then did the same with the case and the crystal now attuned to Asriel. "…I hope we can get in there," they said.

As if on request, the top of the seed twisted and opened up into stark darkness. It didn't look as if they'd fit, but Frisk assured her brother that it had actually worked just fine the first time. Asriel shrugged a little. They reached their arm into the blackness and scrunched their eyes shut.

.

When they looked again, they were standing in a smooth, round chamber of autumn leaves, with light beaming in from above as if it were the middle of the day. Asriel squinted up in puzzlement, but quickly put it aside. Within their body, he took a little step back and allowed Frisk most of his share of the control. Their posture slackened a little and she took a moment to stretch before she looked up into the light. She stuck a finger up and shifted until it aligned right with the centre.

.

Asriel wondered what she was doing. Gaster would have to either stab the seed or drop the trigger into it, and so, Frisk reasoned, the bubble to pop should be right below the opening. That made sense to him, and he was a little embarrassed that he hadn't thought of it. Frisk gave him an affectionate squish.

.

First thing, Frisk put the star-shaped, crystal box on the ground and then bent down to push it in solidly. It sunk in, as if into earth, and tendrils of vines crept up to safely lock it in place. Then, she took Asriel's crystal. His magic was strong; easy to feel from simple contact with it. She stuck her tongue out with concentration and, very carefully, got the lid off the box with their claws.

"Okay," she said. "Not so bad."

Asriel snickered at her. She couldn't help a smile. She'd never tried to do something precise with hands this big before, she insisted.

.

Just as carefully, she socketed Asriel's attuned crystal into the empty slot right at the centre of the star. It shot in as if magnetized, and the clear facets of the container shone with red. That felt like it worked. She closed the lid tight again and it, too, shone.

"Something happened!" Chara called from what sounded like very far away. "It's like… there's embers in it or something."

"I think that's good!" Frisk shouted back. "We're doing the bubble now."

"Good luck!"

"Jalbwayo!" Alphys added.

.

For a fraction of a second, Frisk wondered how exactly this would work in a body that wasn't all hers. Asriel wasn't sure either. He pulled back farther, sliding out of control completely and holding tight onto his sister instead. Frisk's heart swelled and she snuggled him within them as, on the outside, she cradled the opal in her palm.

.

She stood above the box and braced herself. Embers ran along their fur and she closed their eyes in focus. However, with just the slightest of efforts, the field of stasis burst from her, forming a perfect, glassy, crimson orb.

.

Clasping the opal in one, huge hand, she pressed it against their chest and, very carefully, reached deep within herself for the threads of a reset. Asriel held her tight, but he shivered a little. It had been years since he'd felt that type of energy against his body. There was something so deeply unsettling about it to him now. Just reaching out into nothing and pulling at the fibres of the universe. He was kind of happy it was Frisk's and not his.

.

Inside, he grasped his sister's hand tight as she gently tugged on the threads. Little flecks of red and gold shimmered in their fur. She grasped the opal tight and focused, and the melody of their soul slowly began to spiral around the stone, burning directions through it and into the energy that was slowly pooling inside.

.

It felt, somehow, as if it were reluctant to go. Frisk pulled more insistently, her fingers rolling as if she was lightly coaxing a string along. It was more important than almost anything else.

.

Beyond that, it had a job to do.

.

The world it was to enter was grey and frayed. It was to hook in where damage was done and, the instant exposed, it was to reverse time by eight years.

.

She repeated this a few times as the energy slowly coalesced. It made their chest hurt. Frisk's soul strained, but Asriel squeezed her close, his own soul burning with warmth and reassurance.

.

Frisk thought of Gaster. She thought of his sons. The grey world she'd seen flashed through her memories more loudly than she'd meant for them too, and Asriel winced. His soul ached and he let his hand clench into the one that was holding the gem. The reset energy flowing through their fingers was as clear as day. He'd know that feeling anywhere. It had to be working.

.

When it felt like there was nothing left to unspool, Frisk opened their eyes. The facets of the opal reflected a four-pointed star back out. Her heart jumped and Asriel whooped gleefully inside them. She gently placed the stone near the peak of the stasis bubble and released it. It stayed exactly where she'd left it, defying time and gravity, exactly as it needed to.

.

As Frisk stepped back out of the bubble, a flicker of electric energy ran over their fur and, despite their immensely powerful form, a hint of the weight of exhaustion settled on their shoulders. The boosting spell must've run out, they thought.

.

Asriel slipped back into their body properly and, together, they leapt out of the top of the seed, startling Chara and Alphys as they did.

"You could have said something!" Chara protested.

"Sorry," Asriel said. They knelt down to the seed and clasped both hands tight around it. "I think… it's almost there."

"Did the opal hold the spell?" she asked.

They nodded.

"Oh, thank god."

Alphys came close and put a hand on their arm. "A-Are you two still steady?" she asked.

They nodded again. Carefully, they used Asriel's magic to wrap around the seedpod and force it to shrink until it was about the size of a basketball. Their eyes darted to Chara and she leaned inwards to put a hand against it. She frowned with focus for a few seconds, then nodded.

.

The girl got to her feet, the trigger crystal in hand, and she raised it high above her head. Alphys got up, too, and held the girl gently.

"Let me," she said.

"…I… Okay. Thanks, Alphys," Chara said quietly. She closed her eyes and her red soul began to blaze through her shirt, lightly tinting her body as well.

The lizard smiled and her soul lit up again, too. Electric sparks ran all over her scales and danced along Chara's skin. Around them, the crystals in the walls pulsed gently and the air wobbled with energy.

.

Chara began to hum softly, a strange, rhythmic song that her siblings had never heard before. Once she'd finished and started again, Alphys hummed along with her, until both their souls began to play the tune. The colourful facets, glowing all around them, filled the air with the same melody. After the song had played through another six times, the trigger crystal glittered brightly, then dimmed. The rest of the light in the chamber faded down as well, as did the song.

.

Alphys grinned and Chara puffed out a sigh of relief. The Archwizard giggled and hugged the girl close.

"G-Great job, sweetie," she said.

"Thanks for the help," Chara said. She looked at the crystal and smiled bashfully. "I feel like I might've been humming for an hour otherwise."

"Is that it?" the goat-like monster asked.

"That's it," Chara said, sitting down beside them. She showed them the trigger crystal, which was now marked with a faint pattern resembling lines of musical notes, spiralling all the way along its length. "The failsafe. Frisk, if your directions don't work all the way, this will."

"So, we're done?" they asked, eyes brightening.

The freckled girl smiled. "Done."

.

The huge monster gently released the World Seed. It was glowing, sparkling with motes like embers, and completely stable. Heaving out a relieved sigh, the God of Hypertime disintegrated, leaving two gleaming kids behind. Asriel almost fell over. Frisk, aglow with a red aura, did, flopping right into Chara, who grunted but caught her nonetheless. The kid hardly looked conscious.

"Uh. Frisk?" Chara asked. "You okay?"

"Mmmmyeeeaaaah," Frisk mumbled. "I'm fiiiiine, I can… Uh…" She tried to sit up, but failed.

The girl smiled sideways and, rubbing his head, Asriel came closer and held out his arms. Frisk was promptly delivered to him, and he hugged her close. He stuck his tongue out at her.

"Looks like someone shouldda took that nap before we came here."

Frisk laughed hoarsely. She managed to force her eyelids apart to look up at him, and then at what they had done.

.

Their World Seed was complete. It was time for bed.