Chapter 30: The Truth

It was going to be a bit of a long trip to backtrack to the rainy path. And it started with... a bird.

"Undyne," I spoke up, taking in the small yellow duck that sat in front of us, "what's so important about this bird?"

"What's so important about him!?" Undyne replied, dumbfounded. "This bird will carry anyone across that gap." She pointed past the bird, where the water split the land, blocking our progress. "And it NEVER says no."

"I see."

"When I was younger, it gave me a lift. It took an hour... But this bird NEVER once thought of giving up! Cheris this bird!"

The bird's expression never changed with all of this praise, remaining completely neutral.

"Must've been the most patient you've ever been," I teased.

"HEY, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!?" Undyne cried out.

"Calm down. It's just a joke. Also, loud sounds scare Frisk," I warned.

Frisk did seem to keep a distance between her and Undyne, but she made her way to the bird... and gave it a hug.

"Now there you go!" Undyne responded. "Cherish it as hard as you can!"

"So, it can carry you across?" I asked. I took a look at the gap, and noted, "but if I use my Blue Magic, I could probably jump across. It's not that big of a gap."

"Oh, I can totally jump across without magic," Undyne gloated. "But would you deny the bird the chance to carry you?"

"Um... no...? Actually, you know what, how about Frisk goes with the bird?" I offered. "She doesn't have a way across without someone else's help." I leaned down, and signed, so how about it? Think you can do it?

Frisk nodded, without hesitation. She then nodded to the bird, and held out her arms. And in turn, the bird flew up, grabbed Frisk by the head, and took off.

He... wasn't very fast. In the span of about... twenty seconds, he managed to get Frisk to the other side.

Still... "Wow, if it took an hour before, he really did improve," I said.

"Right?" Undyne replied, before she effortlessly made a running leap, crossing the gap with ease. I grabbed Toby, and activated my Blue Magic, following suit.

"Well, okay, this is the only way to loop back to where we need to go," I stated. "So let's not waste any more time."


After a small journey retracing our steps, we found ourselves back on the rainy path, with a new umbrella. Well, Undyne decided to just get drenched. Well, she was a fish, so fair, but her clothes weren't immune to getting wet.

We made our way to the waterway, and the lone Echo Flower from before, isolated on its lone platform.

"Here we are," I exclaimed.

"Here?" Undyne sounded. "There's nothing here, except for that Echo Flower."

"That's how well it's hidden. Like I said, my friend likes his isolation." I pointed past that Echo Flower, where everything quickly faded into darkness. "We need to go past there. Past the flower"

Undyne smirked, and was about to ready a stance to make a leaping jump, but I held up a hand.

"No," I said. "The way across is simple. You just need to know the secret." I knelt down, holding the umbrella above me with one hand, and placing the other on the ground. "Should be right about... here."

I made a small pulse of magic, hitting the secret trigger. In moments, several Bridge Seeds popped out from below the water, floating to the top, and sprouting into pink flowers once they did.

"Cool," Undyne said.

"There is a device under the water that grows Bridge Seeds in a safe container," I explained. "Creating a simple magic pulse in the right place will signal the device to release some of the seeds out into the water, where they'll float to the top, in perfect rows, so they sprout into usable bridges. Eventually, they'll disappear, and as they do, it closes off the path again. But for us, we just need to cross, and then step into the darkness."

"Awesome!" Undyne replied. "You're friend knows his stuff!"

Toby excitedly barked and rushed ahead, leaping across the flowers and into the darkness.

"I'm sure he knows where he's going," I said. "It's not as easy to get lost as you might think. Come on Frisk, hold my hand." Frisk did so. "Now, follow me, this won't take long."

I remembered the first time I had come down this way. I had just run away from the Dreemurr's home, and had met Gaster and his father for the first time. The bridge certainly wasn't as advanced back then, that was a later addition that Gaster created in his adult years.

...But at the time, the darkness was creepy. Traveling through it the first time was unsettling, as Gaster was a stranger to me at the time. But over time, I got used to it, especially knowing that light was on the other side.

The walk through the darkness wasn't long, and soon, the light slowly returned, as we delved into a deeper valley, the very same marshes we saw before, where we could see the castle in the distance. You could still see just a little bit of the castle above, and you could vaguely hear the hums of the CORE in the distance, Gaster's great accomplishment.

Soon, we came upon an old house, a simple two-story building, a tool shed built into the side. Its blue paint was faded and peeling off in a few places, but the building generally remained in good condition.

"Come on," I said, leading them to the front door.

I was nervous. After what happened in the last timeline, I was concerned about what would happen. Would Gaster still be mad at Frisk? Did he think about what happened?

I took a deep breath, and gave a couple of knocks. In a few moments, it opened.

"Chara," Gaster exclaimed, happy to see me. Then he saw who was behind me, and his expression changed. "Captain Undyne," he greeted, cold, but with an air of respect.

"It's good to see you, Wingding," I greeted back. "May we come in?"

"Of course." And the skeleton led us inside.

Gaster, known to me as Wingding, seemed to be doing alright, for the most part. A tall skeleton, wearing a long grey trench coat, black slacks, and black loafers. His face was cracked up, and his left eye was melted in, which I knew came from an accident when he was a young kid, where he struggled to control his natural power.

Inside, we found ourselves in a simple living room, with dark blue walls, gray coaches, and simple TV set up.

"I hope your journey's treated you well, Chara," Gaster said, as we found ourselves a place to sit, while Toby happily prounced around. "And Frisk, she seems to have gained some confidence," he noted. "She's not trying to hide from me."

"Even still, she'd be right to do so," I countered, my mood souring.

"Fair, that should not have been the first thing I brought up," he replied. "I want to apologize, but we need to talk more about it first. As for right now, I want to ask why you brought Captain Undyne here. I don't wish to judge your choices, but it seems... risky."

"Risky?" Undyne responded.

"I know that Undyne... wanted us dead," I stepped in, "but we made up. We're friends now."

"Yeah, besties!"

"I see... Still doesn't explain why you brought her here," Gaster replied.

"Undyne, would you care to tell him?" I said to the fish monster. I knew that it should come from her mouth.

Undyne sighed. "Well, I... my house may have caught on fire."

"Your house burned down?" Gaster replied. "...Must've been quite the battle. Chara is usually great at controlling her magic."

That stung a bit. He wouldn't have known this, but I did lose control. Not in her house, mind you, but I nearly...

"Actually... it wasn't because of her magic..." Undyne continued, interrupting my thoughts. "In fact, it's my fault."

"Yeah, and the flames were too intense for me to do anything about it," I added.

"Your fault..." Gaster replied to Undyne. He sighed. "I don't need to know the details right now, but I am guessing that Chara offered you to stay here?"

"Well, I said we should ask," I said, defending myself.

"It's here or Papyrus's," Undyne added. "Or maybe Alphys's. Actually, Chara mentioned that you're Pap's dad, uh, Wingding, was it?"

"Only my closest friends call me 'Wingding', Captain Undyne," Gaster responded. "And while we have a friend in common," he motioned to me, "doesn't mean that we're at that level. You may call Gaster. But yes... I am indeed Papyrus and Sans's father." He then turned to me. "Are they aware you three are here?"

"I... don't think so," I replied. "Papyrus was there at the beginning, then he kind of... vanished. And I haven't seen Sans since his little telescope prank."

"Ugh, he pulled that one on me, too," Undyne complained.

"Perhaps I should message them," Gaster replied, pulling out his phone.

"...So, what about it?" I spoke up. "Can Undyne stay here? She can stay in my room. I just think that I owe it to her to help her."

Gaster sighed, as he finished sending his message. "For now, yes. But just because I live isolated, doesn't mean I'm unaware of what goes on in the rest of the Underground. I know of your recklessness, Undyne, and I ask that you control yourself while here."

Undyne opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but didn't. She didn't know what to say. Gaster gave off a rather intense expression, and she knew that he wasn't messing around. Even she could see that this was someone she didn't want to mess with.

Then there was a knock at the door.

"Huh, who is it now?" I asked. "I thought we were your only guests. There aren't many people who know where your home is, right?"

"There aren't," Gaster replied. "But I know who this is." He got up, and opened the door.

"DAD, WE HAVE RECEIVED YOUR MESSAGE, AND HAVE COME TO SEE YOU!" a familiar voice said.

"sup', g," another said.

"Sans, I am your father," Gaster replied. "Would you please refer to me as such?"

"sure, g," Sans replied, as he and his brother, entered the house.

"Sans! Papyrus!" I called out, as I got up to greet them. "What are you doing here? Wait, how did you get here? Didn't your dad just message you a few seconds ago? There's no way you could've gotten here so quick."

"well, i took a shortcut," Sans explained.

"Of course you did," I replied, getting the idea.

"AND IT WAS AS NAUSEATING AS EVER," Papyrus added. "REGARDLESS, FATHER SAID THAT YOU, FRISK, AND UNDYNE HAVE ARRIVED. SO, I KNEW THAT WE SHOULD COME AS WELL. FOR WHAT... I DON'T KNOW YET!"

"Of course you don't."

"STILL, I AM GLAD TO SEE THAT MY PLAN TO MAKE YOU AND UNDYNE FRIENDS WORKED!"

"Right, but... you know that Undyne burnt her house down."

"SHE DID!? HOW!?"

"I, uh... gave her the cooking lesson YOU were supposed to have!" Undyne answered. "But... maybe it was for the best..."

"Hold on," Gaster interjected in disbelief. "You gave Chara a cooking lesson, and that's how you burnt your house down?"

"Well, uh, yeah..."

"Didn't she tell you that she's already a skilled cook?"

"...She never gave me the chance to tell her," I noted.

Undyne, as well as Papyrus, turned to me in shock, although, all Undyne could say was, "oh..."

"you really that good of a cook?" Sans asked.

"Yep, I've been practicing all sorts of meals since I was young. My pies are the best," I told him. "Though, of course, I know how to make spaghetti," I added, directed toward Undyne.

"no kidding? and my dad knows about this too? you seem to know chara pretty well," Sans noted.

"We've been friends since we were young."

I hadn't caught onto what Sans was saying, at least not until Papyrus did.

"WAIT A SECOND, YOU KNOW MY DAD? I THOUGHT YOU JUST ARRIVED IN THE UNDERGROUND?" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, good point. Reports say that you two left the Ruins yesterday," Undyne added. "How could you two have already met?"

I looked over to Gaster, unsure of what to say.

He sighed, before telling me, "Perhaps... it's time they knew."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded, then asked, "would you like me to prepare us some tea? Perhaps some hot cocoa for you, Chara, and the kid."


A short while later, we were all sitting down. I sat by Gaster, Frisk sat in a chair, with Toby on her lap, and Papyrus, Sans, and Undyne on the couch adjacent to us. Frisk and I had some hot cocoa, and everyone else had tea. Well, besides Toby, of course, and Sans. He had a bottle of ketchup. I still didn't get that.

Gaster decided he would start the conversation. "So, to start, Captain Undyne, are you aware of my history?"

"Uh, no," she replied.

"Understood. Well, I am certain you know of Alphys, the Royal Scientist?"

"Oh, yeah. We're best buds!"

"Well, I actually was the one to hold her position before she took it. In fact, I was the first Royal Scientist."

"Really? No kidding?"

"No kidding," he jested. "I was actually the one who made the CORE. With the rising use of technology, Asgore wanted a means to power it all. So, he hired me to develop the plans and oversee its construction."

"DAD IS PRETTY COOL, ISN'T HE?" Papyrus said.

"Yeah, he does sound pretty cool, Paps," Undyne replied.

"Yes, well, there is more to it than that," Gaster continued. "You are aware of Sans's... 'shortcuts', yes?"

"Yeah... And I have to agree with Paps. He took me on one of the 'shortcuts' once, made me nauseous and confused. Never again."

"heh, my shortcuts 'cut' the distance for us 'shorties'," Sans joked. "but i guess it's too much of a 'tall order' for the rest of you."

Papyrus and Undyne groaned, and I was a bit annoyed too, but not because of the pun. "Sans, you know I don't like the fact that I'm short," I told him.

He just chuckled at my comment, but at least I could tell it wasn't malicious.

Gaster cleared his throat (so to speak, being a skeleton), to take back control of the conversation. "Anyway, these shortcuts of his are actually simple teleportation spells, simple, yet highly advanced magic us skeletons can use. I was the one who taught Sans the spell, ...despite my height. I would've taught it to Papyrus too, if he wished to learn it."

"That sounds awesome!" Undyne exclaimed. "But, what does this have to do with the CORE?"

"Well, while Asgore wanted to supply the Underground with electricity, I intended to use the CORE for a greater purpose. To cast the strongest teleportation spell possible, using it to open a portal to the surface, allowing all of us to bypass the Barrier completely, and escape to freedom."

"No way..." Undyne sounded.

"I... DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THAT," Papyrus replied.

"So, why didn't you complete the project?" Undyne asked.

Gaster took a deep breath. "Well, you see, the project failed. Actually, I probably could've successfully completed the project, but the first test run... was disastrous. Many lives were lost. The cost of completing the project was too high, so in the end, I scrapped it, or at least secret purpose for it. I gave Asgore his generator, but shortly after, I left my position as Royal Scientist.

"Oh..." Undyne sounded.

"What's important here is... that Chara was there,"

"WAIT, SHE WAS?" Papyrus exclaimed. "HOW!?"

"Like we mentioned, we were friends. I helped with the CORE's construction, in small ways, at least, since I'm not a scientist or a builder," I explained. "When the CORE's accident happened, I actually saved Gaster from falling in, but..."

"She fell instead," Gaster finished. "This is where things become complex."

Undyne groaned. "You science nerds, always with these 'complex' explanations."

"I thought you were friends with the current Royal Scientist?" Gaster poked.

"It's not because of that!"

"Very well. Regardless, this is important. Chara fell into the CORE. For all intents and purposes, she should have died. But that isn't what happened, which at first, may seem like a good result, as clearly, she is still here, but what did happen is far worse." Gaster took another breath. "The accident turned the empty depths of the CORE into a rift that led directly into the Void."

"The Void?"

"The space between dimensions, between realities, where nothing exists," Gaster explained.

"Where... nothing exists?" Undyne asked. "How... how did Chara survive?"

"It's difficult to fathom, but Chara ceased to exist. Not dead, but simply gone. Not a part of our world, or any world."

"How does that work!?"

"As I just said, it's difficult to fathom. But let me give you the basics. Not only did Chara disappear, but all memories of her vanished. No one who knew her before even recognized her name."

"Wh-wha- Then how do you remember her?"

"I have a unique gift. My Soul has both stronger aspects of Determination and Perseverance. My Perseverance aspect is why I remembered her. It literally preserved my memories of her, making me an exception."

Papyrus spoke up. "I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT I WOULD'VE FORGOTTEN CHARA!"

"...You don't need to be concerned with that Papyrus," Gaster told his son. "Both you and your brother were born after this happened. And Undyne probably was too young to understand what was going on."

"Yeah, I was living in New Home at the time. I remember the explosion," Undyne said. "I... don't remember much after that."

"so... g, you haven't told me yet," Sans spoke up. "how did chara escape the void. frankly, that shouldn't be possible."

"It was Frisk," I explained. "Her Determination was strong enough to safely open a door into the Void, to see me, and leave. I couldn't go through the door at first, but eventually, my own Determination reignited, and I was able to break through."

Undyne smirked. "Now that's how you do it! Don't let any obstacle stand in your way!"

"Actually, it wasn't... quite like that. While I couldn't go through the door, I could look through it... like a window. But it was weird, because I could see anywhere, and see it clearly. And what I saw... was... Frisk getting attacked... by a monster." I ended up dancing around the specifics. I quickly realized that it wouldn't make complete sense, but had I a little trouble wording it right.

"Oh..." Undyne sounded.

"BUT WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO ATTACK YOU?" Papyrus asked innocently.

"The monsters want her Soul, and perhaps Chara's, too," Gaster told his son. He didn't elaborate further.

Frisk, however, looked unhappy. She was quiet, obviously, being mute, but she wasn't making any attempt to get my attention and sign anything. And she was starting to show signs of guilt.

Hey, Frisk, are you okay? I signed to her.

Did I deserve to get attacked? She signed back.

I wasn't sure how to formulate an answer... but, I forgot that Papyrus knew sign language himself.

"WHAT, OF COURSE NOT HUMAN!" Papyrus exclaimed. "NO ONE DESERVES TO GET ATTACKED."

"Uh... Paps, where did that come from?" Undyne asked.

I sighed. "Undyne, Frisk is physically mute. She can't speak. So instead, she speaks with her hands, making signs that each mean a different word. It's called sign language." I began signing every word I said in that last part, as a demonstration. "I just happened to already know sign language myself. Gaster was the one who taught me. Seems he taught Papyrus as well."

Sans took a swig of his ketchup, put it down, and then signed, yeah, dad taught me, too. got to say, it's quite... 'handy'.

I couldn't help but snicker a bit at that, while Papyrus just looked annoyed. Undyne, confused, then replied, "wait, what did he say?"

"A pun, Undyne," Gaster explained, "it was a pun."

"Oh, of course it was. Okay then, what about Frisk? She was asking if she deserved what she got, right? I mean, maybe I thought that at first, but... she seems like a nice kid. So, no... I don't think so."

This just made Frisk look more upset. Gaster, seeing this, sighed, and asked, "Sans, Papyrus, can you look away for a moment? I need to ask Chara and Frisk something privately." They nodded and did so, and then Gaster signed, Should we tell about Frisk and the Resets?

I don't know, I signed back. Undyne is pretty steadfast in her opinions on humans, and she's probably not going to react well. I'm worried it'll get out of control. Not to mention, how is Papyrus going to react to the fact that Frisk killed him before?

...I'll handle Undyne if it comes to that. You know very well that I can. And as for my son, he is strong-willed, even if he doesn't share the same level of natural Determination that I do.

I... think that it should be up to Frisk. This is going to affect her the most.

Gaster turned to Frisk, and signed, well, do you want us to discuss your past with them. It won't be a fun conversation.

Frisk didn't respond right away. I couldn't blame her, even as a kid, that's a hard question to answer. But then she nervously nodded in agreement.

"Hey, Frisk, why don't you sit next to me for this?" I spoke out loud. I wanted her to be close, in case things went sour.

"So... what's up?" Undyne asked.

"Our story is not done," Gaster started. "But now, it's time to move on from Chara and the Void, and on to Frisk. But I need to warn you, you are not going to like what you hear. It is going to be very uncomfortable at the very least, especially for you Papyrus."

Papyrus's expression shifted to worry upon hearing this. "IT CAN'T BE THAT BAD, CAN IT...?"

"Unfortunately, it is. To start... Frisk has obtained an... unnatural ability. I still don't fully understand how it happened, but through her Determination, upon her death, time will... rewind. To the best of my knowledge, it rewinds to the point she first arrived in the Underground, somewhere within the Ruins. It is the only known entrance down, aside from the exit past Asgore's throneroom."

"So, if she dies, time rewinds..." Undyne repeated. "Meaning... she can't die. Not really, anyway. She just goes back to a time where she was still alive."

"Yes, but, in turn, we all have to repeat everything again. Without even knowing it."

"THAT SOUNDS HORRIBLE!" Papyrus replied.

"But if we don't know about time repeating, then how do you know about it?" Undyne asked.

"The same reason I remembered Chara," Gaster answered. "My Preservation allows me to remember each timeline. Sans also shares this same ability. He may not have been born before Chara fell, but he's been here to remember everything else."

"...makes it hard to want to accomplish anything," Sans said sullenly, "when all of that work would be undone with just one reset."

"SANS... I DIDN'T KNOW," Papyrus replied. Frisk also looked sad.

"So... Frisk kept dying to monsters, kept Resetting..." Undyne remarked. "How did she keep going?"

At this point, I figured that we could've stopped. All I had to do was say that I helped her after she helped me. But Frisk...

I hurt all of you, I... killed you, she signed. Everyone was attacking me, and I... I didn't know what else to do.

Undyne saw Frisk's expression, and grew concerned. "Paps, what did she say?"

Papyrus hesitated. It seems even he didn't want to say it. But with Undyne's intense expression, he felt he had to. "She... She said she had to... kill us?"

Undyne's expression hardened. "Excuse me?"

"Undyne, please, listen-" I started, but she wasn't having it.

"I thought you were a good person!" Undyne shouted, getting up angrily. "How dare you kill monsters! How could you-"

"And do you think that we're any better!" Gaster interjected, outmatching Undyne's intensity with his own. This actually shut her up, for the moment. "It isn't like the humans on the surface know that we're even down here. Not after so long. They fall down into the caverns, not only getting trapped like us, but then to get killed, none the wiser."

Undyne sunk away a bit. "Okay... yeah, but..."

"But we monsters have decided to kill any human that comes down here, and they'll never know why until it's too late, if at all," Gaster retorted. "Tell me, if someone attacked without warning, wouldn't you try to defend yourself?"

"Yes...?"

"Precisely. Furthermore, Frisk is only a child. A child in an unfamiliar land, with no one to guide them. And most monsters will attack her unprovoked, she didn't know what else to do, other than fight back. Add the fact that, as Chara stated, she is mute, so she can't just talk to the offending monsters."

I had to admit, I was impressed. This was exactly what I had to say to Gaster before the Reset. I guess he did think about what happened.

"Look, I understand how you feel, Captain Undyne, I felt the same," Gaster continued. "But we both judged her too quickly. Chara was the only one here to consider what might really be going on. And she likes humans even less than us, despite being one herself."

Undyne huffed. "But she..." she groaned. "Did she kill any of us?"

I tensed up, harder than I already was. That was a hard question to answer. But Gaster simply closed his eye sockets. "You were the last monster Frisk faced, her latest roadblock," he explained. "She had yet to beat you, at least until this timeline we are currently in, if it counts. She always died to you, Resetting back to the beginning."

I could see what he was trying to do, dodge the question, but give an answer that could be vaguely satisfying.

But Undyne didn't buy it. In fact, she showed a surprising amount of understanding. "So she couldn't get past me... but that means she got past Snowdin, Sans and Papyrus's station."

Papyrus froze upon hearing this, but Sans simply replied, "i never even fought her. sure, we met, and i asked her to help my bro, but i never lifted a finger against her. for many reasons, the top of which being that i was too lazy."

"...And did she help Paps, or...?"

Sans didn't answer.

"She killed him, didn't she?"

Still no answer, but that said everything. Along with Gaster looking down in solemn disappointment.

"And you were too lazy to stop her!" Undyne shouted at Sans. "To stop your own brother from dying!"

She summoned her spear, and Frisk started to tear up.

And this was when Papyrus decided to intervene.

"UNDYNE, STOP!" he exclaimed.

"Paps, she killed you!" she countered.

"NOT IN THIS TIMELINE!" he replied. "AND DAD SAID THAT SHE HAD NO ONE TO HELP HER, BUT SHE'S BEEN WITH CHARA THE WHOLE TIME WE'VE KNOWN HER THIS TIME AROUND RIGHT?"

"Yeah," I finally got to say. "I actually returned in the previous timeline. I was able to help Frisk Reset without dying, and well, I figured if I didn't... exist when she first arrived, I might be able to go back with her. And it worked. And I specifically that so I could help Frisk get through the Underground."

"SEE, CHARA BELIEVES IN HER," Papyrus added. "AND SO DO I! I'M STILL HERE, RIGHT? AND HAS ANY OTHER MONSTER DIED?"

"Pretty sure everyone is alright."

"EXACTLY, FRISK HAS DONE SO MUCH BETTER. I THINK WE SHOULD BE PROUD OF HER!"

Undyne stopped at that, and dispelled her spear. "Well, I guess if no one is dead this time..."

"Thank you Undyne," I told her.

Frisk slowly got up, pushing Toby aside, and came up to Undyne. And then gave her a hug.

It wasn't immediate, but Undyne gave a soft smile. "Okay, come here!" And she gave Frisk a noogie, which caused the kid to wince, but smile at the same time.

I sighed, and looked up at Undyne. "I... I should probably apologize, for what I did. You know, when we fought. I mentioned that I saw a monster attacking Frisk. Well, that monster was you, Undyne, in the last timeline. I didn't know what was going on with Frisk, the monsters she had to kill. I didn't find out after the fact. All I knew was that someone was attacking an innocent kid."

Undyne took a moment to take that in. "Did you stop me?"

"Actually, Wingding intervened. But after that... Undyne, I have a bad habit of holding grudges. And I held one against you, for what you did to Frisk, into this new timeline. It didn't help when I saw how you treated Papyrus and Red. I know you had their best interests at heart, but I didn't really believe that. And all that rage..." I sniffled. "I had no right to burn you the way I did. I just let my emotions control me."

"Well, I guess we both got a bit angry." Undyne then turned to Papyrus. "But if we're apologizing, then I need to apologize to you, Paps. I should've been honest with you, when I realized that you wouldn't be a fit for Royal Guard, right from the get-go."

"OH..." Papyrus replied. "SO AM I REALLY NOT CUT OUT FOR IT?"

"No. You're really strong, but..."

"Perhaps you're calling is elsewhere," I offered.

"YES... YES, OF COURSE! BUT WHAT COULD I DO?"

"Well, I tried to teach you to cook, but... considering that doing caused my house to burn down... I don't think I can help," Undyne admitted.

It took the taller skeleton a moment to realize what she was saying, but he became distraught when he did. "WAIT, BUT I THOUGHT I WAS A MASTER CHEF. SPAGHETTOR EXTORDONAIRE!"

"come on, bro, you've been getting better," Sans tried to comfort his brother...

But Papyrus just fell to the floor, crying out, "NOHOHO..."

I sighed, and came up to Papyrus. "Hey, do you remember what your dad said earlier?"

"UM..." Papyrus sounded, looking up at me.

"I'm a cook. And I know how to make spaghetti. So I could teach you."

Papyrus's expression started to brighten up. "...YOU CAN DO THAT?"

"Yes. Heck, Undyne, if you want, you can join, too," I offered. "If you want to learn how to do it right."

"What!? O-of course," she exclaimed.

"Nervous?"

"Nope! Just... surprised you're offering. After... you know."

"Hey, we all should learn from our mistakes, and get the chance to do better." I turned to Frisk. "That's the point of all of this."

Frisk gave me a hug next, a smile on her face. I was glad she was feeling better now.

"However!" I said sharply. "You have to follow my instructions, down to the tee! I get you're passionate, but we also don't want to make a big mistake, especially after what happened earlier."

"Uh, yeah, of course," Undyne said sheepishly.

"Then let's wrap this discussion up," Gaster said. "Chara, I'm sorry for what happened... in the last time. And Frisk, I'm sorry that I never did more to help, when Sans and I were the only ones who could do so, remembering the timelines. I've been having Sans watch you, so I can study your... condition, when I should have asked him to help you."

"Would that lazybones have done more to help?" Undyne asked with a bit of skepticism.

"maybe," the short skeleton replied.

"I'm just happy we got to talk about this, and clear the air," I said. "It's just... so much to deal with, and there have been so many ways things could go wrong. I'm glad to have your guy's backs."

"hang on, there is one more thing i just thought of," Sans interjected.

"What's that, son?" Gaster asked.

"so, let's stop and think about this. frisk never got past undyne before, right? not until this timeline, and maybe the last one, when g intervened. sure, chara did all of the work, and apparently, things got... heated. that's not intended to be a pun this time, i swear. but this is the first time that the humans can move on from waterfall."

"So?" Undyne replied.

"so, unless i'm wrong, frisk also remembers the prior timelines. it may have taken a while, but each time, she did progress... just a little farther, before dying. she's been relying on her experience to make progress. maybe in this timeline, she did things differently, thanks to chara's help, and some things changed, but for the most part, we've been able to rely on past events playing out mostly the same. And I just realized... that unless there is another reset, we don't have that luxury anymore, for those of us who remember. from this point on, everything... is a blank slate."


Author's Note: Quite the ending, huh? Yep, from this point on, it's all a blank slate for Chara and Frisk. Though, perhaps it won't be that bad?

Anyways, this is just part one a short intermission from the main path. Including this chapter, the next three chapters will take place in and around Gaster's home. It'll be a lot of talking, just warning one. But there will be one big development coming up.

I had this part of the story planned since forever, and I've pretty much forgotten why I decided to add this. But I think the idea of Undyne and Papyrus learning about Chara and Frisk's predicament will be a powerful moment to increase their bonds. I just think that there are too many lies and secrets between everyone, even by the end of the story, and I just felt better having a moment where everyone talks about this.

Plus, this brings Gaster back into the plot, which I've been waiting to do. This does not mean that Gaster, Undyne, or the skeleton brothers will join the group. They'll still mostly be helping through the phone (which will be discussed in the next chapter), but now, they are much closer.

And before I forget, yes, I had to find a good place to add the "Bird That Carries You Over A Disproportionately Small Gap". Yeah, that's about it, but I figured it would be alright to add, since they'd need to backtrack a bit to get to Gaster's place. And yes, the rainy path was always the intended location to get to Gaster's home. That's why Chara was found so close to their back in Book 1.

Yeah... didn't have much to say here, but this is only part one of three. Expect the other two chapters later today. So keep an eye out!