Bah! Chapter 109

Early morning arrived with the scent of pancakes and butterscotch sauce. Asriel blinked groggily up at the ceiling. He was snug in a blanket with a toasty, magical warmth flowing all around him. He cast a glance to the side. Papyrus, of course. Asriel was a little taken aback that the skeleton was still asleep at all, and not sitting up and reading like almost every other time the goat boy had crashed in his bed.

.

He pushed himself upright and looked around. There was no Frisk or Sans at all in the room, but there was an odd, cool comfort tingling against Asriel's soul. It wasn't something he'd felt before. For some reason, it made any worry he had for his siblings vanish.

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He turned and made sure Papyrus was tucked in, then slipped onto the floor. He stretched his arms high above his head, popped his back, and then, very quietly, snuck out of the room.

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From the top of the stairs, he could see Gaster was asleep on the couch, blackened arm draped over his eyes. There was only the softest of clamour from the kitchen. He walked on soft paws to the threshold between there and the living room, and peeked inside to see Toriel gently blowing flame over the top of a pot that smelled of dark sugar and butter.

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His mother turned the moment he stepped onto the tile. He smiled bashfully and waved and she gave him a big, fangy grin so bright it took him aback. She shifted the pot off the heat and knelt down to pull him against her chest.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Toriel said quietly. She drew back to cup his face and stroked his floppy ears, then pressed her large, soft snout against his brow.

"H-Hi, mom," he said a little more shrilly than he intended. "You're, um, feelin' better, huh?"

"Oh, my child, I feel fine," she said. "I apologize for racing off last night, but—"

"No, no way, don't," Asriel said. "I totally get it. It's fine."

"You are very kind. But, I would just like to say, it was not anything you did. It was a wonderful revelation, but after the entirety of what happened yesterday, I was a bit overwhelmed."

"Of course, it was so much," Asriel said. "I can tell you all the rest, like I told dad and Gaster, okay?"

"Frisk told me quite a bit already, but I would love to hear what you have to say," his mother assured him. She tilted her head curiously. "Oh. How silly of me, I should have stayed a little longer."

"No, it's fine," he said.

.

Toriel looked upon him with a deep, melancholy fondness in her eyes. She took his small hand in both of hers. "And, after all that," she said quietly, "how are you feeling?"

"I… Well." He smiled sideways and shrugged. "Miss her, y'know? Always. But I just feel so… I dunno, relieved, I guess."

"You have no idea how glad I am to hear that, dear," she said. "She looked well, did she not?"

"Yeah, she did." Asriel smiled. "She, uh, wasn't quite as red as that in person, her eyes are still a little gold-ish. It's the ghost filter, or else she looked all weird on camera."

"So, the nature of her being is still… a little odd, then" Toriel wondered.

"I guess. She's still a ghost, kinda. But she's got a human body and a soul that has some time stuff to it. I dunno." He shrugged. "I don't think she knows, even."

Toriel nodded. She caressed his head. "As long as she is alright, it doesn't matter, does it?"

Asriel's eyes brightened. "Exactly."

His mother smiled. She bumped her snout gently against his brow and then straightened up again, letting out a quiet, satisfied sigh. "Alright. Back to it, I think. If you do not mind waiting just a few minutes, breakfast will be done."

.

Asriel nodded, and she turned back to the stovetop. He was about to leave when a little, gnawing question from the night before struck him.

"Mom. Uh. I… kinda hate to bring it up," he said, "but, like, could I ask you a sorta dark, Chara-related thing?"

"Anything you'd like," she assured him.

"Could you, uh…" He rubbed the back of his head. "Y-You don't have to if it's too much of a bummer, but, um… Could you tell me where she's buried?"

"Oh." His mother did not miss a beat. "She is not buried, exactly."

Asriel blinked. He cocked his head to the side. "Uh. So. Where is she?"

"I'm sure you will remember," Toriel said, "how your sister always, always wished to be like a monster, hm? Since that was the case, when I brought her back to the Ruins, I thought it best to perform a similar funeral rite with her to one we would do for any of our own kind."

The boy scrunched his face up with confusion. "…How d'you scatter a human around on their favourite stuff, though?"

"Cremation, dear one," she said. "We did such things on the surface for the few humans we knew who passed away as our respected friends." She let out a soft, wistful sigh. "Her pyre was beneath the hole, where she came to us, and I scattered her ashes around that tree she so enjoyed reading beneath when we lived in Home."

"You…" Asriel blinked. The thought had never even occurred to him. "Really? With your own fire?"

"Yes. Of course."

The boy rubbed his head. No body or bones to return to at all, even if Chara were ever able to somehow overcome her own lock-out. Even so, he couldn't help a smile. "Y'know, actually, I think she'd really appreciate that you did that."

"I was about to ask that you do not mention it to her, once you reach her again," Toriel said with a soft laugh. "Imagine hearing of your own mother doing something like that. Goodness." She shuddered. "How macabre."

"You're takin' all this really well, though," he said.

Toriel smiled. "My daughter lives. Even if it cannot be here. She is alive. And she is cared for." Her ears drooped. "I miss her with my entire soul, as I always have, but for all the things that could have occurred after that horrible ghost nonsense she was forced to do, this is… Well. It's wonderful, is it not? She is free."

Asriel's eyes brightened and he couldn't help his ears from perking. "Yeah. Guess so."

His mother shot him a fond smile. "Go on, it'll just be a minute."

.

Asriel slipped out again. Gaster hadn't moved, but there was a little bit of a different energy about him. The boy approached him.

"Hey, you awake?" he asked.

The skeleton grunted out an answer in the affirmative.

Asriel tilted his head. "You alright?"

"Been better," Gaster said.

"You go too heavy on elixirs or something?" the boy teased.

"Hah. Just ginger ale and Alphys's shows, until five in the morning."

It was probably around an hour later than that now. Asriel couldn't help a laugh. "Why?"

"Because I'm an irresponsible mess."

"I dunno, maybe you kinda needed it, then," the boy said.

Gaster slowly sat up and rubbed his skull, and looked down at the boy with tired eyes. "How are you feeling?"

"Good," he said. "You seen Frisk?"

"…I haven't, why?" Gaster asked with a cautious tinge to his voice.

"Oh. Guess she stayed out, then."

"Pardon, is Frisk not here?" Toriel asked worriedly.

.

Before Asriel could answer, there was a loud bang from upstairs as Papyrus kicked his bedroom door open. He leapt down to the ground floor in his pyjamas and nyeh-ed loudly.

"Has anyone seen—?! Oh! Dad!" Papyrus whirled on Gaster and yanked him up and off the couch and into his arms. "Where were you?! Why do you look so exhausted?! Why do you smell like cheesy snacks?!"

Gaster blinked. "Uhh—"

"Oh! Right!" Papyrus whirled around. "Mom!" He pointed at her in the kitchen. "How are you?!"

"Fine, dear," she said.

"And! Where are our siblings?! Does anyone know?!"

"Could always call 'em," Asriel said.

"OH!" Papyrus whipped his phone out of his pocket. "Of course! Thank you, little brother, you're very on top of things!"

"Uh." Asriel smiled sideways. "Sure?"

"Ugh, I slept too long," Papyrus said as he texted with a frantic intensity.

Asriel had to hold back a laugh. "It wasn't even six hours, dude."

"That is way more than enough!"

.

"Was Frisk… alright, last night?" Gaster asked quietly.

"Kinda," Asriel said. "Worried 'bout you and Sans, though."

"Ah." The skeleton tried not to flinch. "I wish she hadn't."

"Yeah, well, whatcha gonna do?" Asriel replied with a shrug.

"Nyehh, neither of them are picking up their phones," Papyrus said.

"If they're still out, they probably need a little time," Asriel said. "Frisk was in like, constant panic about him for a solid week, or however long we were gone."

"Pardon," Toriel said, slipping out of the kitchen. "What has happened?"

"Sans was out somewhere last night probably doing a moping thing and Frisk went to find him," the boy explained.

"And they have not yet returned?"

"Pretty much." Asriel tapped on his chest. "Feels fine, though."

"Ah." Toriel smiled sympathetically. "Knowing them, I would not be at all surprised if they are napping somewhere out there. Perhaps in the Ruins. Or Waterfall. Somewhere quiet."

"Oof. But. You're probably correct, mom," Papyrus said. He folded his arms and impatiently tapped his foot. "Okay. Alright. I'll give them a few more minutes. And then I'll go look."

"While you're waiting…" Asriel held out his arms. "I sure could use some of that magic you got, bro."

Papyrus lit right up. He scooped Asriel into his arms and sat down with him, instantly glowy. The little goat grinned and leaned his ear against Papyrus's chest, letting out a contented sigh.

"That's the good stuff," he said, sticking his tongue out.

.

"Golly," Asgore popped out of the kitchen, having snuck up and squeezed out of the too-high cabinet door. His golden mane was a little squished with bedhead and he was wearing the one of his two sweaters that was geometrically patterned and red, white, and green. "It smells lovely up here. Good morning, everyone."

"Hey, dad," Asriel said as Gaster raised a hand to greet the huge monster.

"Good morning, Uncle King Asgore!" Papyrus said brightly, gently placing Asriel onto the couch.

"I trust it was not too cool down there?" Toriel asked.

"No, no, it was just fine," Asgore said with a smile. "Especially with all those dogs!"

"Dogs?" Toriel repeated. She put a hand up to pause him and ducked into the kitchen. "One moment."

Asgore watched her go with his brows raised. He turned back to the others. "Was there not supposed to be dogs?"

"They do have a habit of pupping up, don't they?" Gaster said quietly.

Asgore chortled while Asriel smushed his palms against his own face and Papyrus held in a loud nyeh of objection.

.

"Whoever they were, they are gone for now," Toriel said as she stepped back in. "Well. It's early, but breakfast is ready, if any of you wish to eat something."

"I think I should head out to start looking, because nobody seems to have text-answering as a priority!" Papyrus said.

"Eat the food," Asriel said.

"Could you spare a few minutes more?" Toriel asked with a gentle smile. "You might as well have some pancakes while they are hot, wouldn't you say?"

"Wellllll…" Papyrus drew out the word far longer than he needed to as he pondered, until his father put a hand on his shoulder.

"It would be good for you. I can go take a look, it should be me, anyway, I can—"

"NOPE!" Papyrus said loudly, striding swiftly towards the door before doubling back and heading straight for the kitchen. "Nope, no, absolutely not; mom, I will take those pancakes to go please and thank you, I ammmmm leaving!"

.

And so, he did exactly that.

.

Folding a pancake up like a soft taco, Papyrus chomped it down as he rushed down the street. Leave it to mom's cooking to make him a fan of something so sugary sweet as butterscotch sauce, he thought.

.

Waterfall was his first pick for the search. Even on a normal day, the caves were frequent napping grounds for Sans. Aside from his sentry stations, if Papyrus had to guess, the wishing rooms and some of the other, quieter caverns nearby were the most likely places to find the short skeleton dozing, outside the house or the lab. Frisk was a little smartypants as well, so the chances that she had found him were fairly high, he figured. He was certain they'd be in the same spot.

.

He hadn't been searching for very long at all until he saw something odd amongst the reeds in one of the cool, calm caverns. Bones. Very large bones. A pang struck him in the ribcage and he stalled, wide-eyed. No other skeletons existed anywhere under the mountain, so his mind did a little flip trying to process what he was looking at.

.

With long, careful strides, he approached the bony anomaly and peered down through the reeds. The form began to emerge. Very large. A little reptilian. There was a long tail draped languidly across the ground. A chest, rising and falling with breath. He recognized that t-shirt. When he caught sight of the draconic face, some memory— an image? A photo?— from a time long since erased triggered in his head. He drew in a sharp gasp and darted forwards towards the snoozing beast.

.

"Helllllo?" he asked. "Siblings? Is that…? Is that you sleeping as a huge dragon right here?" He snuck even closer. "It's meeeee, your cool and definitely-not-at-all-concerned brother Papyyyyrus."

The big monster on the ground shifted a little. The right eye opened and blinked blearily, a large, shiny red iris gleaming in the black of the socket. As soon as that eye rested upon him, however, the boney dragon grinned and sat up lethargically out of the reeds.

"Paaaapyrussss." The huge monster's groggy, slightly distorted voice sounded just like a certain little someone the skeleton had been looking for, and long arms reached out to grasp him tight and pull him close. "Hiiii."

Papyrus tingled all over at the contact. There was such power and warmth in the creature's touch. "Nyeh! Frisk?!" he yelped.

The big beast nodded and nuzzled against his skull.

.

An unconscious coo seeped out of Papyrus and he clutched her in return. This dragon-like form's chest was so warm, but he could still feel the essence of both his siblings humming lazily in the purple soul that was in there. The sensation filled him to the brim with an awe and pride he hadn't expected. His soul glowed in response to theirs and he felt the huge monster's posture slump comfortably around him.

.

The dragon blew out a contented sigh. Papyrus couldn't help but snicker.

"You fell asleep all the way out here, hm, you surprisingly large and silly Frisk?"

"Yeeeeeah, sorry." She rubbed a palm against her eye and let her brother down onto her leg. "G'morning."

Papyrus snickered. He reached up and held her large snout in both hands. If he was recalling the photo right, he remembered this form to be cool and borderline ferocious-looking. Up close, somehow, he found his sister's dragon face to be quite cute. He patted her cheekbones. "I have to say, this sure is something else, isn't it?"

"Hm? Oh! Yeah. Sorry." Frisk shot him a lopsided grin. "Guess I don't have to tell you I found Sans, huh?"

"No, you certainly don't." He tilted his head. "Is… he alright?"

"He's still asleep." She rubbed her eye groggily again. "He's so tired. Ah…" She let out a little sigh and her expression turned pensive. She gritted her fangs. "Paps, um. He… showed me what happened."

"Oh. OH!" Papyrus scratched his chin. "Then you'll know almost everything now, right? I guess that's one way to do it, but…!" His eyes bugged out. "A-Actually, quite a lot of that was a very big mess, are you alright?"

Frisk nodded. She reached out for Papyrus's hand, and he gladly gave it to her.

"I'm so sorry for everything I put you guys through. Dude, you were so brave."

"Wh…? Nyeh! Well, of course I was! That's how things go around here! But thank you!" He grasped her huge talon in both hands and gave it a little, insistent shake. "And you absolutely don't have to apologize! Listen, we were only put through so much because we love you so much, obviously!"

"The world was turning to crazy mush, though."

"Oh, that." Papyrus shook his head. "You throw that directly from your mind and into the garbage, that was not your fault." He flashed a wide grin. "Forget about that. Did you see how cool I was flying that car?!"

.

Frisk's eye brightened as she snickered and nodded. Papyrus had to keep himself from blowing out a huge sigh of relief.

"So cool!" she agreed.

"And our rescue efforts in New Home! Sorry about the sporadic bits of cursed words, though. I'm sure Sans will remember that for a long while."

She smiled fondly. "…You were amazing. I mean. You're always amazing. But. Extra amazing. And… And that thing that happened with, um, June—"

"Yes, that was absolutely something that I was not expecting at all."

She gently bumped her snout against his head. "How was it? For real."

"You don't have to worry about—!"

"Paps, of course I do," she said. She put a hand against her chest. "There's probably only five people on the whole planet that know what this whole thing is like right now. And it can be kinda a lot."

.

Papyrus stared up at the draconic face, that one, beaming red eye locked right onto him. She was looking more and more like a sad, worried puppy the longer he thought about it. He held in a snicker and shook his head.

"Honestly, it was okay except the heartbreak part," he said. "I was happy she trusted me so much."

"Couldn'ta picked a better guy, honestly." The dragon's voice shifted to a much, much deeper register, and the left eye opened up, shining bright blue.

.

Papyrus's eyes widened. "Oh! There you are!" He gave the dragon's left arm a light whack. "Sans, what the heck were you thinking staying out so late that Frisk had to come find you all the way out here and turn into a dragon with you?!"

"Good mornin' to you, too, bro." The huge monster smiled sheepishly. "It was fine! Promise!"

"Frisk." Papyrus crossed his arms. "You don't have to cover for him."

"I-I'm not!" They scratched their cheek and shrugged. "He's got a point." A swift shake of their head clashed with their words. "Nooo, no, it's fine, it's fine." Frisk jabbed their thumb into their chest, saying, "It's fine," and then pointed squarely at Papyrus. "It's fine."

"Come to think of it, why are you two like this, anyway?" Papyrus tilted his head. "I know you said it's not a big dramatic death thing anymore, but there's a much easier way to share memories now, isn't there?"

"It, uh…" They leaned back on their hands and frowned thoughtfully. "It wasn't about that at first. It was… Uh… Well, I mean, I dunno, I saw that sometimes that this was a helpful thing they did with Chara when she wasn't feeling so good, so… I guess I just thought…" They lightly shrugged one shoulder. "Whole thing's kinda melodramatic, though. Become a god just to cheer up some dumb l…" They didn't continue, their gaze drifting off into the air above Papyrus's head.

.

"Uh." Papyrus frowned worriedly. He waved a hand in front of their face. "…Saaaaans? Frisk?"

"Sorry! Sorry. Um." They shook their head. One hand grasped the other and they smiled bashfully. "Did end up helpin' a bit, but, uh, can't overcome however many years of bein' a mess in a couple hours, huh?"

"But you can scrub off a bit of the self-deprecating dirt!" Papyrus said, patting them on the arm. He put a hand to his chest. "It is… a sort of reassuring feeling, though, isn't it? Wh-When it's someone nice."

The dragon's expression turned inquisitive, the red glistening a little brighter. Winking the blue eye closed, they leaned forward. "Right!" The voice that was mostly Frisk's was back. "Oh, man, I can't believe you—! How was that? Was it freaky?"

"It was… interesting, for sure! It felt like a lot of responsibility. Nothing I couldn't handle, of course. But she wasn't like how you two seem to be; she was like a sometimes-there, little groggy voice deep in my soul."

"That's kinda nuts that you had that happen at all, though. And—!" Frisk giggled. "And like, with those humans that came here!" She shook their big head back and forth. "Dude, I didn't expect you'd even see them again so soon. So, the fact that you guys all sorta became friends—"

"I know, exactly!" Papyrus said. "…I doooon't think they're going to remember any of that, though, to be honest, which does sort of make my soul hurt a little, but I did promise I'd tell June everything once we met again, so that'll be both nice and a little bit complicated and hopefully not too traumatic."

"Might be today," Sans pointed out.

"Right! Yes! Road trip! Gosh. And—"

The huge monster scooped their brother up into another hug and snuggled him gently. "Sorry about Minerva, too," Frisk whispered.

"Oh." A little sting of sadness hitched in Papyrus's throat. "Thank you. Me too. But, it was good to meet her."

"Really went through it, huh, bro?"

"It was nothing I couldn't handle!"

"Hm." The dragon let out a tired, rough, deepening laugh and released him, rubbing the back of their spiked skull. "Shit." They gave their temporarily littler brother a pat on the head and a big, fond grin spread on their face. "Kinda funny, seein' ya small again, bro. Whodda thunk, huh? "

"You're absolutely cheating," Papyrus said. "Buuuuut I guess I'll accept it for the time being, since Frisk deserves a chance to be large and tall for once."

The dragon snickered warmly.

.

"Heeeeey!" a familiar voice called in the cave. "Paps, is that you I heard—?!" Undyne cut herself off with a shocked yell the moment she stepped into view and a jabbing finger levelled straight at the dragon. "YOU!"

"Undyne!" The huge monster perked up and grinned brightly. "Hey, Cap."

"Hellloooo, Undyne!" Papyrus said.

"Wh…?! GUHH?! WHAT?!" She gaped. "Oh shit, kiddo, don't tell me you freakin' DIED on your first night back?!"

"Oh! No, no no no, it's fine," the dragon said swiftly. "It's like what I did with Asriel, like I said, it's okay! S'all good. We, uh… I mean, we could split whenever." They paused. "Where's Alph, she with you?"

"Just, uh… Had a bit more to do at the lab." Undyne rubbed her head. "I was 'bout to finish a patrol and uh, I… was headed for your… place, I was gonna, uh… God, sorry, this's distracting." She stomped forward, giving Papyrus a hearty pat on the shoulder, and then glared, hands on her hips, at the huge, boney monster. "You sure?!"

"Yup."

She reached out to grab their head and leaned in close. "Man, those chompers look like they could bite through a wall."

The dragon grinned. "Maybe they could."

"Let's not start biting giant walls of rock, okay?" Papyrus said swiftly before turning his attention on Undyne. "What were you heading over for? I mean, not that you need a reason, but you seemed to be walking with a lot of purpose!"

.

"Oh! Right." Undyne scoffed at herself. "Jeez, head's on backwards, sorry. First. Your dad get home okay?"

"Oh! He was with you two!" Papyrus said brightly.

"Yeah, ol' guy was kinda down in the…" She caught an unnervingly wide grin spreading on the dragon's face and she gave them a gentle shove with her elbow. "You know, he wasn't feeling so great, so Alph invited him over for anime and snacks."

"That's a pretty decent cheer-up plan!"

"Heh. Well. Hope so," Undyne said. "Anyway, thought we could start the figuring out the Ellie rescue and all that. Alph's finishing up some of the logistics; stuff that involves gettin' into the human Internet."

.

"So we're really gonna go today?" Frisk asked, leaning forward, eye bright.

"Yeah!" Undyne grinned. "I got us a bus!"

"A whole bus?!" Papyrus demanded. "That's amazing! Why?!"

"Well, I figure, there's gonna be a whole lot more of us than'll fit in a human's car, right? And I kinda doubt we can just recruit June to drive us around again. Plus, what if your mom wants to come and, uh…" She looked up at the dragon. "You guy's plannin' to stay like that, or…?"

"Nah, not long." They interlocked their fingers and stretched them out, cracking their knuckles. "Maybe one teleport to get us back to Snowdin and that's it, huh?"

"Ooh, are you going to show dad?!" Papyrus asked.

"Nnnnno, nope, noooot today." They shook their head quickly. "He kinda freaked out after what happened to you, right? We don't want him to have to deal with all that stuff. We can get to all this another time." The dragon nodded, as if agreeing with themself. "Right. He, uh, either tends to go into shock or into research mode and we kinda don't want either."

"Hm. Fair, I guess," Papyrus said. "So, should we meet you back home or—?"

"Oh. Uh." The dragon grinned."We thought we might try somethin'. Seein' as we're kinda a time-and-space entity at the moment."

"Isn't Frisk always that?" Undyne wondered.

"True, but this is a bit… Well." They got to their feet, suddenly making the others look like kids, put an arm around each monsters' shoulders, and shot them a wink. "Hang on tight."

.

The dragon's form shimmered and everything went dark for the briefest of instances before all of them toppled into cold snow beside the wall of a building. Undyne barked out a muffled curse as she righted herself, but Papyrus cackled and cheered.

"Ooh, that was easy! Great job!" He leapt up and looked around; they were just a little ways behind their house. "Did you hit your mark?"

"Looks like it." The dragon's bones carried an iridescent shimmer. "Kay, we're done."

.

With a burst of light, the monster's form burned and then split, leaving Sans standing casually in the huge, taloned footprints dented into the snow while Frisk tumbled onto the ground. A red glow stained her body for just a moment longer. Her brother offered her a hand.

.

The cold didn't even touch Frisk. Her soul burned warm all through her and she felt better than she had in months. She beamed and hopped upright, throwing her arms around Sans's shoulders, and instantly sunk into him. He snickered and clutched her close as the red faded away from her. Their souls synced right up again.

"Knneewww it," she said.

"Yeah you did." Sans rubbed her head, but then froze. "Wuh-oh." He put her down and ran his hands across her scalp.

"What wuh-oh?" she asked.

"Yes, Sans you shouldn't just wuh-oh and not—!" Papyrus leaned in, too. "OH! Sans, is that…?! Nyeh!"

Frisk's heart did a little thump, but she waited as Sans leaned in close. He stared blankly for a few seconds before breaking into laughter and mussing up her hair.. "Heh. Oh boy, what'd I do, huh?"

"Yeah, what the hell did you do?!" Undyne teased, though her eye was wide. "Damn!"

"What?" Frisk asked. She copied Sans, only to feel two small, hard nubs on the top of her head, about in line with her ears. Her stomach dropped as a tingle ran through her neck and all the way down her spine. "What?!"

Sans grinned wide, eyes sparking in amusement. "Looks like we took a couple steps back, huh? Heh, of course, why wouldn't somethin' go weird?"

"Do I have horns again?!"

"Yup."

Frisk sighed, but couldn't help but laugh, too. "Dang."

"You are part goat, I guess," Undyne teased.

"And part Avenir!" Papyrus squatted down to look more closely. "Hmmmmm. Hmmm. Hm." He put his hand on her head and and carefully searched around with his pointy fingertips. His eyes widened. "Oh! Come to think of it, do you think maybe…?"

Sans nodded.

"What?" Frisk asked again.

"Well, I thought I might have felt something before, but…" Papyrus shook his head. "Never mind, it doesn't really matter."

.

Frisk was still utterly perplexed. "Okay. Well. Are they, like, cute at least?"

"Oh, adorable!" Papyrus assured her.

"Very," Undyne said.

"How could they not be?" Sans mussed up her hair. "Lemme just, uh…"

Papyrus shifted aside and Sans took his spot in front of her. He cupped either side of her head, rested his thumbs against the horns, and gave them a light tap. "Feel that?"

"Yeah," Frisk said.

"Hm…" He pulled back with a thoughtful frown on his face. He looked at Undyne. "Mind checkin'?"

"Uh. Sure?" Undyne pushed in towards the kid. She tapped her claws against the short, white horns as he had done and hummed thoughtfully. "Oh. That's… interestin'."

"What is?" Frisk asked. "Is it, like, Az's magic goin' nuts or something? Or mom's?"

"Nnnnno, no, not that. I don't think so."

.

"Hang on." Sans put a hand on Frisk's shoulder and another near her chest, and carefully drew out the glow of her soul.

The three monsters leaned in curiously, listening in dead silence. The starburst that shone through the bright red sung for just a moment. Sans and Undyne shared a look, and he nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah," she said quietly.

"Welp," Sans said, giving the kid a pat on the shoulder. "They sound like yours this time."

"What?!" Frisk blurted for the umpteenth time.

"She can do that?!" Papyrus demanded, pulling Frisk into a protective hug. "Why's that happening? And how? And what?!"

"Welp. Dunno. But, last time they sounded like Tori and Asgore's. Now…" Sans grinned sideways. "That's pretty funny, kid."

"Well dang." Frisk took a deep breath. "Okay. You know what? That's fine. It's fine." She smiled sheepishly. "I was ready to keep them the first time they showed up, so if they're just there now, guess that's okay."

"They are really, honestly very cute," Papyrus assured her. "Also, you are very cute!" He squeezed her a little more tightly. "Also, I'm so glad to see your tiny face."

Frisk snickered. She reached up to hug him and gave him a quick smooch on the cheek. "Love you," she cooed.

As Papyrus's face flushed, the kid pulled away and shot the monsters a sideways grin.

"Guess I'll go try to explain this?"

"Eh, don't sweat it. Everyone handled you changin' colour pretty well that one time, too," Undyne said as they began to walk around the side of the house— Sans almost followed, but Papyrus put a hand on his shoulder to pause him.

"Yeah, that's true." Frisk snickered. She and Undyne rounded the corner. "I always turn blue, even as a goat!"

"Hah, yeah, my bad."

"Nooo, it looks kinda good, I think!" The front door opened. "Hiiiii, good morning, I grew horns aaggaaaain."

The sound of Asriel's howl of laughter was almost as loud as if he was standing outside with them.

.

Sans couldn't help a snicker, too. He looked up at his brother. "Sup, bro?"

"I just wanted to double and triple check on you," Papyrus said, tilting his head. "You… look good, though."

"Huh. Weird," Sans said.

"True! Do you feel good?!"

"…Kinda?"

"Oh! Excellent!" Papyrus grinned. "Maybe you and Frisk should make a schedule of becoming a big huge dragon, because you always seem to perk up quite a bit afterwards."

"Dunno 'bout that. But, uh…" Sans's cheekbones tinted ever so slightly with icy blue. "Yeah. Not garbage."

"Good!" He winked. "I guess it's pretty hard to feel too bad about yourself when your sister is injecting how much she likes you straight into your soul, right?"

Sans rubbed the back of his skull and let out a quiet chuckle. "Damn."

.

With a loud squawk of a laugh, Papyrus patted his brother affectionately on the back. He perked up and stole a cautious glance around the corner of the house before darting back and sneaking closer to whisper loudly to his brother. "Don't tell me if it's a secret, but did you discover anything important?"

"Welp. Got a lot to think about, that's for sure." Sans tapped his teeth thoughtfully. "Hm. They… mightta time-paradoxed peanut butter into existin' a lot sooner than it would have otherwise if their new pal decided to make some."

"Oh?!" Papyrus's eyes widened.

"Then again, seemed to be our past, so I guess it was just like that the whole time, which is a bit weird to think about, but, in the grand scheme o' things, it ain't that big a deal."

"Nyeh, that's interesting and everything but noooot exactly what I meant." The tall skeleton drummed his fingertips together. "I know our sister is very much into keeping us from worrying— and I was very happy that she actually told us about all those scars she got, that already feels like big progress— but I was just curious if there was anything else? Anything we can help with?"

.

Sans gave a little shrug. "It was, uh… Y'know. Kinda rough out there, sometimes."

"More than she said," Papyrus concluded. He pressed a hand against his forehead and sighed. "She's too little and too physically tiny for all this stuff she had to do. Asriel, too, actually." He smiled sideways. "I didn't want to say it in there, but can you believe she fought humans?!"

"Wasn't a fan o' that," Sans admitted. He tapped himself on the chest. "Felt like shit."

"I can imagine!"

"But, she… had to, y'know? She never wouldda done anything different."

"Mhm! I'm really, extremely proud of her," Papyrus said. "But, gosh, I can't imagine…" He drew in a sharp little gasp and snuck even closer to him. "Sans."

"Yeeeah?"

"What about all those villain-dads?" he asked. "You don't think any of them will come try to find her again, do you? Did you notice anything she might have missed?"

"Eh, she was pretty on the ball," Sans said with a shrug. "For that most recent guy, I doubt there's gonna be any more trouble from him." He crossed his arms. "Still dunno exactly why he gave her his gun, though."

"He gave her his GUN?!"

"Time gun."

"The one he SHOT her with?!"

"Yup."

"I don't know that that's better?!"

Sans laughed. "I'll have to take a look at it."

"Yes, please!" Papyrus sighed heavily. He started off around the house, but then doubled back and grabbed Sans up off his feet to give him a tight hug. "Ugh, I'm so happy you're better."

Sans slumped over his shoulders. "Thanks."

.

When the brothers went back into the house, it seemed as if they'd missed the initial shock of Frisk's return. Everyone but Gaster had already seen something similar, though, so nobody was too bothered as long as Frisk wasn't. The old skeleton, though, was sitting on the floor with the kid on his lap, leaning over her, preening through her hair; tapping the new little horns the same way Sans and Undyne had done already.

"Can you believe this kid?" Asriel joked, gesturing to Frisk as the skeletons arrived.

"My bad," Sans said.

"It's fiiiine," Frisk said with a wave of her hand.

"Humans don't have a gene for horns somewhere deep inside them, do they?" Gaster wondered.

"What's a gene?" Papyrus wondered.

"Isn't that pants?" Undyne asked.

"It's like, uh, a code, inside their bodies," Sans said. "Determines how they look and how they grow and stuff like that. Think people can sorta read them now, through blood and stuff."

"Why's it called the same thing as pants, then?"

"Coincidence. It's, uh… It's like, part of a bigger thing called genome," the skeleton said.

Undyne nodded. "Oooooh, okay. Got it."

"…Wait, does she even have those?" Asriel asked. "She wasn't made the same as a human."

Sans shrugged. "Hard to say."

"I-I don't think I ever saw someone on the surface with horns," Frisk said. "But, like… I've only been to a few places, so I haven't seen everyone, maybe people from another part of the planet have horns?"

"Oh, I don't think so. If they do, it'd be extremely rare," Asgore said. He knelt down and patted her back with a large, warm paw. "But, golly, they are very cute on you, Frisk."

The kid grinned. "Thanks!"

.

"I shouldda guessed," Asriel said. "I thought you just had like, bonk-bumps from all that fighting."

"So she was growing them for a while?" Gaster mused.

"Maybe?"

The skeleton sighed. His inquisitive posture slumped and he put his arms around Frisk.

"It's alright, old friend, she's alright," Asgore said quietly. "This is not the first time."

Gaster wilted and cuddled the kid, grumbling quietly in Creatlach. Asgore chuckled and patted him on the back.

.

"Oh, Gaster, you do not need to stress so much," Toriel said. "Frisk is very resilient when it comes to this sort of thing." She came out of the kitchen with three plates of pancakes, passing one out to Undyne, then another to Sans. "Welcome back, hun," she said, bending down to give him a little smooch on the head before joining the other ancient monsters on the floor, gathered around the tiny kid. She passed the warm, syrupy breakfast over to her. "Here, sweetie."

"Oooh, thanks," Frisk chirped.

Toriel rubbed the kid's head with a fond smile on her face. "Asgore is correct, they are quite cute."

"Goat bias, goat bias," Asriel joked.

"I don't mind," Frisk said.

.

"Tori, I don't get it," Undyne said loudly. She waved a forkful of pancake in the air before shoving it into her mouth. "How come when you make super sweet stuff, it's like the best thing I ever had in my life, huh?! I don't even like sweet stuff that much!"

"Hah! I am glad you enjoy it, honey," Toriel said. She winked. "It really is easy as pie with some practice and a good snout for it."

Sans snorted quietly, but Undyne was far too busy scarfing to scoff. Papyrus did so on her behalf and Toriel chuckled warmly.

.

"So," Asriel said, flopping down on the couch, "now that most you guys are here, you wanna do that big explanation you owe us?"

"Frisk knows," Sans said. "Did the memory thing."

"What?!" the boy blurted.

Frisk nodded.

"Damn, that's brave of you guys," Asriel said. "Okay, so? Could I just take it from Frisk, then?"

"Eh. Wouldn't recommend it," Sans said. "You'd get her reaction, my reaction to her reaction, her reaction to my reaction to her reaction, and—"

"Okay, okay, I get it," the boy said with a laugh. "You're right."

.

"I don't mind speaking on it," Gaster said.

"I'm sure we can all contribute certain parts," Asgore said. "It's… Well… It is a little complicated, though. I believe Sans will be the one with the most information overall."

"Ooh, true, since he could see through the weird and spooky world shifting the entire time," Papyrus said. He looked at his brother. "Well? What do you think? You should start, right?"

Sans took a large bite of pancake and pointed at Frisk. The kid perked up a little.

"Ooh, yeah, I could—" she began, only to be cut off by almost everyone in the room telling her not to at once.

"It's alright, my child, you spent so much time on it yesterday," Toriel said. "Take a rest."

"Sans, don't outsource the story to her!" Papyrus scolded, giving his brother a gentle bonk on the head.

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

"I was eatin'," Sans said. "Uh. I dunno. There's a lot of stuff."

"Just start at the start," Papyrus suggested. "You don't have to do alllllll the details."

"Uh. Welp. Alright." Sans leaned back against the table and turned his focus on Asriel. "Woke up, memories were missing for everyone, got depressed, stuff was a mess, had to rescue a human kid on the way to get a magic book, almost died— think everyone but Alph almost died at some point, actually—met a void kid, almost died again, had to fix the time machine, Cap and Paps pulled some super-hero moves, mountain just about blew up a few times; almost died. You know how it goes."

"Damn," Asriel said.

"That's not nearly enough detail!" Papyrus said shrilly.

"Oh. Uh. Kay." Sans scratched his head. "Welp. First thing, I woke up in sorta a daze tryin' to remember Frisk's hum because I thought I heard it in the back of my head and I just lay there a bit, and when I finally looked around and I saw I was in lab, there were all these wires on me, then I got up and Papyrus was there and he said nyeh, are you okay? You're up, how are you? And then I said not bad and—"

"That's way too much detail now!"

Sans grinned and shrugged.

.

"Could always save it for the drive," Undyne suggested.

"Drive?" Asriel's ears perked right up and his eyes brightened. "We goin'?"

"Are you?" Asgore echoed.

"Yeah!" Undyne grinned. "That's why I came so early, to lay out the plan!"

"So soon?" Toriel asked with a worried tilt to her brow.

"Yup! There's a kid in trouble out in Arrow Valley, so the sooner we help, the better." The blue monster knocked her fist against her chest. "Feels like my duty. Makes sense?"

Asgore beamed proudly and Toriel nodded.

"Very well," she said. "Shall I prepare—?"

"You should come!" Papyrus said brightly. "Everyone should! I have a feeling it's going to be a really excellent day and I think it'd be nice for us all to do a thing! And also! We could grab June on the way!"

"Uh. I dunno, she could probably chill, we mostly need the guy if anyone, right?" Undyne said.

"That's true, but I'd really like to talk to her," he insisted. "I promised I'd tell her everything that happened and even though that isn't a promise she'll remember at all, I do, so I plan on keeping it."

.

Undyne hummed thoughtfully. She finished the last bite of her pancakes and tossed the plate aside onto the table near Sans. "Fine. How do we find 'er?"

"I can call her," Asgore volunteered. "I doubt it'll be a problem. Though, I'm not sure if I should come along myself, I can—"

"You should!" Asriel said swiftly.

"Oh, I don't know," Asgore mused with a bashful smile on his face. "I wouldn't want the humans to feel alarmed that the King of Monsters was coming out of his mountain and parading around with no warning."

"It's not fair if we all get to go out and you have to stay here," Frisk said quietly.

"We can just give 'em a heads up, right?" Undyne said. "Anyway! Lemme tell you what I'm thinkin'."

"Here," Sans said, yanking some notes he'd made from his jacket pocket. "Might line up."

"Huh?!" Undyne skimmed his writings quickly and grinned. "Ah! Thanks!"

.

As Undyne explained her trip ideas— routes included, Sans slipped over to where Asriel was sitting. The goat boy looked bored to tears. Sans tapped the kid on the arm and leaned in close.

"Hey," he said. "…Did good out there, huh?"

"Oh! Uh! Thanks." Asriel smiled bashfully. "Thanks for bein' cool about all this… other stuff, y'know?"

Sans shrugged. He turned his gaze on Frisk. She seemed to notice and when she caught his eye from the corner of hers, she slunk away from Gaster and came to join him. Sans patted her on the head and she lit right up.

"Mind if I see the time gun?" he asked.

"Oh!" She swiftly pulled out her phone and produced the Temporal Blaster, though it was awkward in her grip. She offered it to him. "Here. You can keep it, if you want, I dunno what to do with it."

"Huh." He carefully took the weapon from her and assessed the weight in his hands; the hum of its energy against his bones. Felt sturdy. Solid. Extremely powerful. Something only an ancient boss monster could craft. A strange gift for a little kid who'd been the prey targeted with it. "Thanks."

Frisk nodded and hopped up onto the couch beside Asriel. She gave him a hug, which he gladly returned, and buried her face against his ear. His eyes widened— Sans could just make out her whispering vaguely through the fluff.

.

"Alright!" Undyne said loudly. "Paps, you wanna come with me and Asgore to get Alph and make sure everything's good?"

"Gladly!" Papyrus said.

"And you guys—!" The blue monster turned on the group near the couch and her eye widened. "Sans, what the hell is that?"

Everyone else turned to look at him, too.

"Time gun," he said.

"Goodness, that's quite the weapon," Toriel said.

Gaster stood. "Could I see that?"

Sans shrugged and offered it up.

.

Gaster plucked the weapon from his son's hands and turned it over carefully, fingers inspecting the ridges. Asriel unwittingly squeezed himself back against the couch, but Frisk held him tight. Asgore got to his feet to curiously peek over his old friend's shoulder.

"Have you ever seen anything like it before?" he asked

"Oh. Absolutely," Gaster said. "I… made a defensive blaster that looked just like this, years ago." He raised it up to peer into the chamber.

"Oh?! What for?!" Papyrus asked.

"It was around the time we started suspecting there was some sort of consciousness behind the anomalous behaviour in time we were detecting," the old skeleton explained. "I recall I had even considered inviting something in to see if there was a way to learn more. The device I made was intended to send any unwelcome visitors back out. It was never something I ended up pursuing anywhere outside of a saved fragment in the void…" He shook his head. "Not important. Anyways, none of that came to fruition and it ended up simply repurposed into lab tools a long while ago."

.

Frisk and Asriel shared a look. Gaster didn't notice, but when he tore his focus away from the weapon and onto his daughter, he wore a concerned frown on his brow.

"This is what he gave you?" he asked.

Frisk nodded. Her father's frown deepened.

"…Huh."

"That's what I said," Sans joked.

"Yeah, don't bother asking why, the guy's a mystery to us, too," Asriel said.

"Fair enough." Gaster returned the long blaster to Sans.

"Well, at least you guys got a ton of cool weapons outta this whole thing," Undyne said. "Anyway!" She looked at the others. "Goin'?"

"Going!" Papyrus agreed brightly.

"Hug first!" Frisk said, holding out her arms.

Her brother beamed. "Of course!"

.

Frisk gladly accepted a hug from every monster that was heading out, but as soon as the front door shut, the house felt a bit quiet. The kid took a moment to snap a selfie of herself so she could check out the horns. She had no idea how long they'd last this time, but they did look pretty cute to her, so she wasn't mad about it.

.

Gaster began to clear the scattered dishes away and Sans plunked the blaster onto the table. Toriel eyed it suspiciously and ran her fingertips across the top of it. Her brow furrowed and a little gleam of crimson shimmered across her irises like an ember of flame. Whatever she was thinking, she didn't say it.

"You just gonna leave that thing out?" Asriel asked.

"Dunno. What d'you guys wanna do with it?" Sans asked. "Chuck it in the CORE?"

"Kinda."

"Can you use the bits?" Frisk wondered. She looked at her father. "Like you said about the thing you made?"

"It's possible," Gaster said. "Though, it might just crumble to dust if someone were to try."

"Also good," the boy said.

"Can we trust it to not fire off?" Toriel asked.

"It's not rigged to do so, if that's what you mean," Gaster said. "Sans, maybe you could…?"

"Mhm." The short skeleton pulled out his phone. "Just a big ol' uncomfortable conversation-starter." He stashed the blaster away again, safely out of sight.

.

"Speaking of uncomfortable conveerrssaaaatioooonsss…" Asriel leaned forward where he sat and pointed to himself, ears perking. "Eh? Eeeeehhhh?"

Gaster and Toriel shared a worried look. The boy frowned and hopped to his feet.

"Hey! You guys promised. Don't make Frisk do it, you said she shouldn't."

"You're… right, my child," Toriel said. "Though… I would like a moment to speak with Frisk, if you don't mind."

"S'cool," Frisk said.

"Then, come with me," Gaster said to Asriel, tilting his head towards the stairs. "I… certainly missed some things, but I can fill you in on some of it, at least. And… maybe a few memories, for things that are less… stressful."

"Oh yeah?" the boy grinned. "Uncle G comin' through, alright! Thanks."

Gaster nodded. "Sans, the rest will be up to you."

"Ah." Sans instantly looked exhausted. "We really need that junk? Dunno if what you missed was all that—"

"But Saaaans, the university stuff," Frisk said with big eyes. "And the flying car!"

"A flying car?!" Asriel said. He grabbed Sans's sleeve tight. "You're coming, too."

Sans sighed dramatically. "Betrayal," he said as he was tugged towards the stairs.

"Love you," Frisk said brightly.

"Yeah yeah yeah." He couldn't help a grin.

.

Once the three were upstairs, Toriel hurried over to Frisk to sit beside her on the couch. She cupped the kid's cheek.

"Tell me, truly," she said, "are you alright?

"Uh. Yeah?" Frisk shot her mother a crooked, confused smile. "Do I look really tired?"

"Honey. You grew horns."

The kid couldn't help but blurt out a laugh. She nodded. "Yeah. They're just little. I don't mind." She grinned. "It's kinda cool, being a human with horns, right?"

.

Toriel blew out a quiet, relieved sigh. She shifted to sit cross-legged on the couch and scooped up the kid to sit on her knee. "You are very brave," she said. "And… Goodness. I am so glad you're home."

"I'm really glad, too," Frisk said. "A-And, I'm really glad the time stuff went better for you this time."

"Yes, it…" Toriel gulped back her words. "Ah. So. You… found out, did you?"

The kid nodded. "I'm really sorry; you didn't have to hide it, though, mom. Maybe I couldda figured it out—?"

"My child. You take too much upon yourself. Anyway, do not concern yourself with me. Everything is alright now."

"You sure?" Frisk asked.

"Very." Toriel gently stroked the kid's head. "What little I lost is more than made up for."

.

Frisk huffed. She leaned into Toriel and was more than happy to be cuddled. "You're gonna come, right? On the trip?"

"I think I had better," Toriel said with a light laugh.

"Good." She looked up at her mother with glittering eyes. "I wanna see it all for real. And…" She frowned. "Man, I hope they find Suzy, I wanna bring her."

"If not today, then soon," Toriel assured her. "It will be lovely to see her again." She chuckled. "Leave it to you to make a friend here when you were not even in our universe."

Frisk snickered. "I mean, I hope she wants to be friends. I like her. And she helped so much."

"It seems like you made a great deal of friends out in those other worlds, as well. I do hope you'll be able to see some of them again."

"Yeah. Same."

.

A little heaviness rested in Frisk's heart at the thought of it. Faces from all sorts of worlds ran through her memories. She frowned thoughtfully and tented her fingers.

"Mom, were there… ever any other skeletons here?" she asked. "Like, way back?"

Toriel winced. "It's… hard to say." She paused to consider her words. "There were not any besides your father with the main group, but I… cannot rule it out. The issue is…" She winced. "I am sorry, dear, it is very dark."

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Frisk said quickly. "If you don't wanna talk about it, then—!"

"It's not that," Toriel said. "I just… worry. About you."

It took Frisk a moment to understand, but when she did, she smiled sympathetically, tilting her head to the side. "Mom, come on, the stuff I've been though… I can handle it."

.

Toriel locked eyes with her for a long, silent moment. She sighed. "When we were first banished, it was actually to that chamber you arrived in. Of course, we could not stay only there, so we began to build outwards as soon as we could. However… What we didn't know was that humans were still catching stragglers and, if they did not kill them outright, they tossed them in through the same hole you fell through."

Frisk winced. "Th-That's a long way down."

"We are… usually not harmed much by large drops," Toriel said. "But they were throwing down monsters who were already injured. Usually at night. So, by the time the day came…" Her voice faltered and she gulped. Her fangs were showing. "We did not even realize until we started finding ropes still tied in knots." Her eyes glistened, like a violet fire smouldering. "We have no idea how many died during that time, nor who they were. We were able to save many after we'd learned what was happening, but it was still far too late."

.

Frisk flinched. Her chest hurt. She sat up and grabbed her mother into a tight hug. Toriel sighed and cuddled the kid up to her chest.

"I'm sorry," Frisk mumbled. She laughed mirthlessly. "Why are we going out there again?"

Toriel kissed her on the head. "You know it is not the humans of today who are to blame," she said gently.

"I know, I know," Frisk said quietly. "I do. It's just… It's frustrating, I guess?"

"You were hoping for someone," the woman said gently. "Those two you mentioned from so long ago?"

Frisk grimaced. She shook her head. "I-It was dumb to think… They probably got killed defending A-Avenir, I'm pretty sure." She sighed. "Kinda wouldda been good to even see the monsters that ran the pub or… or Foredog, or…" The kid pulled back, eyes wide, and she squeaked. "Wait, Foredog's still alive!"

.

"Foredog?" Toriel's face lit up. "Ah! Wait, how on earth do…? What have you seen?"

"The big dog Sans and Papyrus and all the other dogs and that huge wolf helped out of the mountain," Frisk said swiftly. "That was Foredog, they found her the valley not too far from here!"

"I knew they went through quite an ordeal, but I never met the monster they'd helped, now that I think of it. It was her?" Toriel smiled. "Oh, that is some good news."

"You know her?!" Frisk asked, her heart suddenly pounding.

"I certainly did," Toriel said. "She was the Royal Oracle for a time, but she retired when she felt herself slowing down. She vanished and hadn't been seen since, until… Well. I suppose until your brothers found her, if that's the case. She knew your grandmother well. I recall that she claimed Avenir had given her an extra prophetic eye, and she told us the prophecy of the Delta Rune, all those years ago." She smiled slyly. "You did not happen to create a paradox there, did you?"

"Oh! Um. No, I don't think so," Frisk said. "She met me and Az, but we didn't talk about that, I don't think. She and Avenir are who really saved him, so… So I'm glad at least she didn't get murdered or something."

"Small comforts." Toriel gently rubbed Frisk's back. "I'm sorry for the bad news about the others, my child."

Frisk shook her head. "I-It was so long ago, but…" She grimaced, pushing the hot sting of tears away with her fingertips and shaking her head. She laughed wryly at herself. "It's dumb. Still feels like it just happened."

"It did for you." Toriel leaned forward and kissed her gently on the forehead. "They were knights, were they not? I'm sure, no matter what, they did their best. And you can carry their memories forward with you."

"Y-Yeah." She sniffled, but she nodded resolutely. "Yeah. I'll do my best."

"Of course you will."

.

Frisk took a deep breath and settled close to her mother. She rubbed her eyes again and laughed quietly at herself. "Man… I'm really tired."

"You have been through quite a lot," Toriel said gently.

Put everyone through a lot, too, Frisk thought. There was still guilt aching in her chest from everything she'd seen through her brother, but, at the same time, she felt a little strength in her own skin. Some reassurance that maybe protecting everyone could be easier now that she knew more about how the universe— and her own powers— worked.

.

"Hey. Undyne called." Sans had appeared near the stairs. "She found 'er."

"Suzy?!" Frisk blurted.

Sans nodded. The kid grinned.

"Where where where?!"

"New Home. Off, uh, Waterlily Way. Wanna—?"

"I'll go!" Frisk said, leaping to her feet. She rushed to get her boots. "You guys finish up. Text me the address?"

"Gotcha."

Sans vanished. Frisk's phone buzzed in her pocket.

"Should we expect you here?" Toriel said. "Or… shall we meet at Asgore's?"

"Dunno! Lemme know what you guys are doing!" Frisk said, scampering upstairs. "See you soon!"

.

Latching onto the starlight up in the attic, Frisk jettisoned herself across the underground and appeared on a street in New Home, much to the surprise to a couple monsters strolling around the shops nearby.

"Frisk? Nice horns!" called a rat monster across the road.

"Thanks!" Frisk said with a wave, taking off to look for a street sign.

.

At the corner, she found the label of Hollyhock Street plastered across the back of a small shop. She tried to recall Sans's mental map of the city. Waterlily wasn't super close, but she could get there soon enough if she ran.

.

Frisk hurried onwards, checking her phone as she went. Sans had sent her the exact house address. Had also told her he'd let the others know she was handling it, and that Asgore's was the meet-up spot. The kid was excited, especially now, seeing everything that Sans had. He really did have a habit of picking up outcast people and making them feel right at home, didn't he?

.

When Frisk finally found the right street, she had to slow to catch her breath a little. It was one of the darker areas off by one of the canals, and houses were packed in close between lattices of vines and mossy boulders. A few scattered, blue crystals that glowed like the ones in Waterfall were placed as ornaments on the homes, some of which were shaped like castle towers, while others looked a bit more like bubbles with a circle of merlons on top.

.

The second last house on the street was the one Frisk was looking for. It was a bit plainer than some of the others, but it had a tiny bit more space on either side compared to the others, afforded to it by some boulders that were stuck into the ground and made into decoration. The area around it was overgrown in mushrooms and wild-looking weeds.

.

All of a sudden, Frisk was a little nervous. She wasn't sure what Suzy would or wouldn't know. Either way, she puffed herself up and approached the door and gave it a solid knock.

.

The street remained quiet. Anxious excitement drummed in Frisk's heart. She couldn't tell if it was taking a long time for someone to answer or if she was just being impatient.

.

Just as Frisk was about to knock again, a latch clicked. She almost jumped. With a cautious slowness, the door opened. A little, purple crocodaur in a pink and white striped shirt and dim, blurple hoodie blinked back at her from the threshold. Frisk would have known her anywhere. She couldn't help but grin.

"Heya!" she said. "You're Suzy, right? I think you called me Ghost. I'm Frisk."

Suzy stared blankly. Her jaw slowly fell open to gape before she found her words. "Wait, you're…?!" She looked around quickly. "W-Wait, what the heck are you doing here?! You're not a ghost again now, are you?! You—?!" She grabbed Frisk's shoulders, but then hurriedly pulled back. "Ugh, sorry, I—"

"Don't be sorry!" Frisk grinned. "Sheesh. I wanted to say, thanks a million for your help the other day."

Suzy gawked. She clenched her sharp-clawed hands together tightly. "You… remember that?"

"Yeah, of course!" Frisk winked and shot finger guns, accompanied by a little red sparkle, the monster's way. "Time god! Kinda my job. I'm really glad you do, too. But, that's a whole bunch of junk; I came here to ask you something."

"Um. Okay," Suzy said.

"Wanna go on a road trip?"

"A… road trip?" the crocodaur repeated.

"Yeah! With me and my family." Frisk twirled her index fingers around each other. "See, 'cause time went all loopy, there's a human kid we gotta help rescue up top, and we figured we'd maybe see a beach or something while we're up there, what d'you think?"

.

Suzy stared blankly back at Frisk for a few, long seconds. Then, she pointed at her own chest. "You really want me to…? Why?"

"Well. You saved my butt. And my brothers said you were super cool. And you could probably do with some sun, right?"

"Wait, they remember me, too?" Suzy asked, wide-eyed.

"Heck yeah," Frisk said. "I think everyone does? We just, um, didn't know your phone number and Undyne had to find your address." She tilted her head. "Was the, uh, reset okay? Did you feel it?"

"The thing where time went backwards super suddenly?" Suzy nodded. "Yeah. My sister doesn't remember, but it was fine."

"Aah! That's pretty normal. I'm glad it didn't suck too bad."

"Yo, wait, does that mean Sans is alive and stuff?!"

"Yeah! He's doin' good!" Frisk smiled sheepishly. "So. What d'you say? You wanna go?"

.

Suzy gritted her big, pointed teeth. She took a deep breath; shook her head at herself, tossing her shaggy mane of hair. Frisk jolted; almost apologized, but the crocodaur grabbed her tight and crushed her into a hug. She squeaked and laughed and threw her arms around the other kid gladly. How funny, she thought. This felt very familiar.

"Thanks," Suzy said under her breath.

"You honestly saved my life," Frisk said. "And, uh, 'cause of that, you saved the world."

.

When Suzy put her down, the crocodaur grinned."So! Guess since you do owe me, I'll take any road trip you got!"

Frisk beamed. "Hype as heck! You're gonna love it! Have you been up top much?"

"Yeah a bit, but it was when everything was messed up, so dunno if I saw anything, like, real," she said. "I was, like, apparently in the time void for my whole life before this junk, so, uh… Got a lot of catching up to do, I guess."

"You were…?" The kid grabbed Suzy's hand with both of hers and squeezed her tight, locking bright, determined eyes on her. "We are gonna have so much fun."