Chapter 9

Volcano roared as he tried to enter some of the alternate timelines, but the fiery chains and protective spells on them stopped him from doing so. He looked around to see that there were only a few alternate timelines left that the child had not gone to yet. "I have to find her," he said, jumping into a nearby timeline and finding a place to gather his thoughts.

Frisk was protected now by not only the guardian of the timelines and his mate, but also Error, Refract, the two fire monsters that were alternate versions of himself, and now Stretch. "There's no way I can get to her with them all guarding her," he said to himself before he got an idea.

He scouted the timeline, but frowned as he found that it would be impossible for him to get to the child. Sighing, he then realized something and nodded. "My timeline," he said. "I can wait for her there."

He quickly headed out, reaching his own timeline and finding Tala waiting for him and she looked at him sternly. "Volcano, this has gone far enough!" She scolded him. "Remove the chains off the portal to the Classic Timeline or I will be forced to lock you away!"

"You don't understand, Tala," he said, his anger rising. "The child will misuse that power. She has everyone fooled."

"Then why does Ink have PreciousTale Grillby and Lullaby Tale Grillby placing protective spells and protective chains on the alternate timelines she's helped so far?" Tala asked, not backing down. "You cut off her way home, Volcano! Her family must be worried sick about her!"

"That is not my concern!" He roared at her.

The protector of OceanPatch looked at him in shock before she grew angry. "Are you really that heartless?!" She asked. "She's just a child, Volcano! She's proven that she wants to help! You can't judge her based on how the humans here have treated us!"

"Humans are all bad, regardless if they are adults or children!" Volcano said.

"No, they're not," GlassPatch said as he came up to them. "Miss Charlotte is really nice."

"She is only fooling you," the fire monster said to him, his tone still stern, but not yelling. "Don't believe her, GlassPatch. Ink's mate will only betray us, as will that child."

Tala felt her eyes fill up with tears and she closed them before opening them again, revealing them to be glowing with her magic. "Then you leave me no choice, Volcano," she said, her hands glowing with her magic too. Opa appeared and he looked saddened as he gathered his own magic.

"What are you doing?!" Volcano asked.

"Volcano, please, listen to us," Opa pleaded. "We don't want to do this, but you're forcing us to make this decision."

The fire monster felt both magics surround him and lift him up. "Volcano, until you remove the chains off the Classic timeline and apologize to Frisk, you are to be confined to the deep caves," Tala said.

The deep caves were deep underground and had a few hollowed-out areas, but the only exits were either by water or by the door that Tala and Opa had set up. Volcano's eyes widened before he roared with anger, his fire burning bright and hot before he threw down a few fireballs. The fireballs landed and exploded in front of Tala and Opa, making them jump back and the magics released their friend, who looked at them in both anger and disbelief. "Traitors!" He yelled. "You side with a human that will doom us all!"

"Volcano, wait!" Opa cried out, but it was too late as the fire monster left through the portal, throwing fiery chains at it. Before the chains made contact, Tala and Opa quickly threw out their magic, managing to stop the chains, but the fire magic pushed back, making both skeletons grunt in surprise.

"We need help!" Tala said. "If those chains hit their mark...!"

"We'll be cut off from the others!" Opa said, increasing his magic to help his mate.

GlassPatch quickly slipped past them and went through the portal, moving quickly as he saw other portals with fiery chains, but he could see that the chains had been made by someone other than Volcano. He continued to run as fast as he could until he stopped and looked around, unable to find anyone. "Mr. Ink!" He called out. "Miss Charlotte!"

Ink and Charlotte both lifted their heads at hearing their names being called and quickly ran for the window, the young woman reaching it first and gasping as she realized who it was. "My love! It's GlassPatch!" She said to Ink.

The painter skeleton quickly opened the door. "GlassPatch! Over here!" He called out.

The small skeleton turned to him and ran to him, tears starting to run down his face as he leapt towards Ink, who caught him and brought him inside the house. "What happened, little one?" He asked.

"How did you get here?" Charlotte asked in shock as she didn't see Opa or Tala outside.

Stretch, PreciousTale Grillby, Error, and Lullaby Grillby came out with Frisk following them. "What hap-happened?" Error asked.

GlassPatch looked up at them. "My brother and sister need help," he said. "Volcano."

He broke down crying then, clinging to Ink, who rubbed his back soothingly. After a bit, the young skeleton calmed down and looked at them all. "Volcano still doesn't believe Frisk is good," he said. "Opa and Tala were going to put him in the deep caves until he apologized to Frisk and took the chains off the portal to her timeline, but he fought back and he threw fiery chains at the portal to our home."

Gasps echoed the room as they all knew what this meant. "Did you escape before the chains hit, kiddo?" Stretch asked.

GlassPatch nodded. "Yes, but my brother and sister are trying to hold the chains back with their magic," he said. "They are trying, but it's so strong."

He looked at the two fire monsters in the room and reached for them. They went up to him and each held out a hand to him. He grasped their hands firmly, looking up at them with teary eyesockets. "Please," he pleaded them. "Please help my family."

"We will, young one," Lullaby Grillby said.

"Can you lead us to your portal?" PreciousTale Grillby asked.

"Yes," the little monster said.

They nodded and Ink nodded too. "Let's go then," he said. "Stretch? Refract? Will you both guard my mate, our friend, and our niece?"

"You don't even have to ask, Ink," the tall skeleton said with a nod. "We'll be alright."

"Be careful out there," Charlotte said.

"We'll wait for your return," Refract said.

"Wait!" Frisk said, making them look at her. "Let me go with you too. I can heal OceanPatch. Maybe if he finds his timeline healed, Volcano will stop trying to hunt me."

"You'd really heal our timeline?" GlassPatch asked hopefully.

"Yes," she said. "I know the caves are your guys' homes, but maybe we can have it to where you guys guard the areas by the ocean and the humans there can see that you guys are good. Maybe the humans are just unsure of you guys, like how I was when I first met Toriel."

"And now she's your mom," Charlotte said with a smile.

"Yeah!" Frisk said before looking at the painter skeleton. "Please, Ink? Let me help."

He smiled. "Your determination is glowing bright," he said before taking a deep breath. "Alright, you can come with us, Frisk, but stay close to one of us at all times, okay?"

She nodded and they headed out, soon finding the portal to OceanPatch and seeing Tala and Opa struggling to keep the fiery chains away. Quickly Lullaby Grillby took hold of the chains and began to pull them away, pushing his own fire into them. PreciousTale Grillby did the same, burning the chains with their own fire. The chains, unable to withstand the two magics, melted to the ground and vanished.

No longer feeling the magic fighting against their own, the protector of OceanPatch and her mate looked up to see them all. Frisk walked up to them. "Are you two okay?" She asked in concern.

"A bit drained, but we're okay," Opa said.

"You must be the child our brother spoke so highly of," Tala said.

"Your brother?" Frisk asked in confusion before it hit her. "Refract?"

Opa nodded. "Yup, that's him," he said as he stood up and held out a hand for the child to shake. "I'm OceanPatch Sans, but I'm better known as Opa."

"And I'm Tala, both the protector of this timeline and Opa's mate," the female skeleton said. "Welcome, Frisk. I do apologize that our first meeting is under grave circumstances."

"It's okay. It's not your fault," she said. "Miss Tala, will you allow me to heal your timeline?"

Tala was stunned by the child's request. "You wish to heal our timeline? Despite what Volcano has done? Despite what he has said about you?" She asked in surprise.

Frisk nodded. "I promised to help out all the timelines," she said. "That includes this one too."

Opa smiled at her. "Everything we've heard about you is true," he said.

Tala smiled too and looked at her mate, who looked at her and nodded. She nodded too and looked at Frisk. "Alright, little one," she said. "You have my permission."

Will Frisk be able to heal OceanPatch's timeline? Let's find out. :)

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GoldGuardian2418